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Unresponsive touchscreen until lock/unlock? Software error?

J

JoQ

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 19, 2009
13
0
Hi!

I have a irritating problem. Sometimes when i use my iPhone 3G the touchscreen becomes unresponsive. The phone isn't stuck cause the homebutton works, but touch doesn't work at all.
But if i lock the phone, and unlock it, the touch works perfect again.

This happens sporadically, and I have no idea why. I'm thinking it's a software error, as it always works after a lock/unlock.

Anyone got an idea?
The phone is jailbroken, and i have various Cydia-packages installed (maybe some of them are causing this?)
 
You have no idea how happy I am to read this!

I have been having the same problems for a couple of weeks - ever since my 3GS was replaced due to a different hardware failure.

I too was jailbroken and thought it could be a software issue however it still persisted (randomly like your problem) even after normal and DFU restores to Apple firmware.

I went to the apple store but because I was not able to demonstrate the problem (some days it happens lots, some days not at all) they performed a restore not from a backup in case there was a glitch somehow in my iPhone backups that was being put back onto the phone everytime I restored it.

The problem still persisted so I went back to Apple a few days ago and they kept it in for an hour and performed a 're-seating' of the display in case the display connection was loose. They found no problems.

I am STILL experiencing the problem and it has gotten worse since Apple took apart and put my phone back together. I have noticed today that gently tapping or squeezing the speaker above the screen can cause and solve the problem so its definitely not a software issue.

I have another appointment at the Apple store at the beginning of next week and I am going to demand a replacement handset as the problem did not EVER happen on my original phone and that was only replaced because of a hardware failure.


Hope this kind of helps and can you post again to update with your situation - whether Apple were able to fix the problem or if they replaced the unit. Thanks
 
I am still pretty sure it's software error. When i first bought the phone, the screen was cracked, so i replaced it with an Apple-original one. My first thought was that the cable was a little loose, but pressing on the headphone doesnt help at all. But it always works after a lock/unlock. If it was a hardware-problem it shouldnt be solved by a lock/unlock.

So maybe i'll try to reinstall the firmware!
 
Exactly the same problem

Hi, I'm getting exactly the same symptoms. The screen does not respond to any touches until a lock/unlock. I've just done a firmware restore from 3.0 to 3.1.2 but the problem remains. Maybe a full reset to factory settings might help - haven't tried that yet.

Paul
 
I have no idea what is causing it and I'm not sure Apple do either.

They don't think it is software because of all the resets and firmware re-installs. Also, they found no problems when they reseated the screen (ie no loose connections).

I agree that temporarily solving it by lock/unlock makes it seem like a software error, however I can cause mine to start and stop happening without a lock/unlock by tapping (quite hard) or squeezing the main ear speaker above the screen which makes it seem like a hardware error.

I have an appointment today at Apple so I'm going to try and just get a replacement.
 
Seems like it was a loose connection. The guy at the apple store was great - cleaned up the connection, refitted everything and so far, so good!
 
from personal experience, this is fairly normal after you replace your touchscreen. the touch screen was not designed to be replaced without also replacing the lcd. after replacement, it takes a week or two for the new touch screen to sync correctly with the lcd.

if your on a refurb, i'd go out on a limb and say thats the problem. if you just got your refurb phone i would let it sit somewhere for a week- preferably somewhere around 80 degrees and then try it after the touch screen has a chance mold to the lcd.
 
applefool said:
from personal experience, this is fairly normal after you replace your touchscreen. the touch screen was not designed to be replaced without also replacing the lcd. after replacement, it takes a week or two for the new touch screen to sync correctly with the lcd.

if your on a refurb, i'd go out on a limb and say thats the problem. if you just got your refurb phone i would let it sit somewhere for a week- preferably somewhere around 80 degrees and then try it after the touch screen has a chance mold to the lcd.
Click to expand...
I replaced the digitizer 3 months ago. So it should have "synced"? I'm not sure about that tho, what could sync? There should not be any difference in the digitizers?
 
Storm Shadow said:
You have no idea how happy I am to read this!

I have been having the same problems for a couple of weeks - ever since my 3GS was replaced due to a different hardware failure.

I too was jailbroken and thought it could be a software issue however it still persisted (randomly like your problem) even after normal and DFU restores to Apple firmware.

I went to the apple store but because I was not able to demonstrate the problem (some days it happens lots, some days not at all) they performed a restore not from a backup in case there was a glitch somehow in my iPhone backups that was being put back onto the phone everytime I restored it.

The problem still persisted so I went back to Apple a few days ago and they kept it in for an hour and performed a 're-seating' of the display in case the display connection was loose. They found no problems.

I am STILL experiencing the problem and it has gotten worse since Apple took apart and put my phone back together. I have noticed today that gently tapping or squeezing the speaker above the screen can cause and solve the problem so its definitely not a software issue.

I have another appointment at the Apple store at the beginning of next week and I am going to demand a replacement handset as the problem did not EVER happen on my original phone and that was only replaced because of a hardware failure.


Hope this kind of helps and can you post again to update with your situation - whether Apple were able to fix the problem or if they replaced the unit. Thanks
Click to expand...

if u restore from a backup after a dfu restore, ur still putting jailbreak information on there, u have to set it up as a new iphone
 
pcs are junk said:
if u restore from a backup after a dfu restore, ur still putting jailbreak information on there, u have to set it up as a new iphone
Click to expand...

I also did a DFU restore as a new iPhone and this did not fix the problem. I am sure it is some sort of hardware fault because when Apple re-seated the display the problem started happening more frequently and I was able to stop/start the problem not only with the lock/unlock as people have stated but also my tapping the iphone quite hard by the speaker above the screen.

In the end, I caused it to happen by pushing on the speaker, just before I had my Genius appointment so that I could show them the problem and they replaced it straight away.

I felt a bit bad in causing it but otherwise they can be a bit sceptical and unwilling to help if they cannot actually witness the fault.

Still unaware of a fix to the problem for people without warranty though. And the fact that it is occurring on 3G and 3GS units is a bit strange.
 
100% Hardware issue

Hiya guys!

I have the exact same problem with my 3G. Sometimes (or actually quite often) my screen freezes an I can't use the phone fro anything, only after hitting the sleep button a couple of times i can unlock the screen and work with my phone a couple of minutes until the crap freezes again. The phone was on it's way to become a very expensive brick until I camo into this forum and saw this thread. I saw that one of you guys triggered the problm after squeezing the area around the speaker at the top of the phone. Tried this on mine and voila, no resonse from the screen. hit the sleep button again and it worked. but a thought occured to me, could this be hardware related? I noticed some flex between the back cover of the phone and the chrome around the phone and I thought to my self that this may be it. That said and done, I pressed the area around the speaker to make the screen unresponsive, but instead of pressing the sleep button I actuallu squeezed the phone top-side. Just about around the area around the SIM.card holder. And presto, the screen worked beautifully again!

Solution? Squeeze int topside. If that is a solution that won't work for you in the long run, re-seat the digitizer and glass or have it exchanged completely, preferrably along with the LCD scren to minimize the risk of having it flexing way too much. I'm gonna live with this for a couple of weeks more, but after that order a new digitizer and glass and have the whole shebang replaced. Oughta work after that. but with that said, now you know that it is hardware related, or at least in the case with my phone.

Regards

Daniel
Sweden
 
I've had the same problem for about 2 weeks. I thought it was a jailbreak app that was causing it but now I don't know. It happens to me after I respring but don't need to unlock. The icons will let me tap them but nothing happens. I can scroll pages and all but apps won't open. Once I lock and unlock everything works fine.

Was thinking of restoring my phone but it sounds like that doesn't work. I'll wait and see if it gets worst like others have mentioned.
 
Hey, what week was your iPhone manufactured, guys? Seems that some of you that are encountering the same issue are on "newer" phones.

Mine was manufactured at 2009, week 50 (digit 3rd, 4th and 5th from your serial number. Mine is (**950******NS)
 
Fix for Unresponsive Touchscreen until lock/unlock

My phone would randomly stop recognizing touch on the screen, but buttons still worked. When this occurs I would lock/unlock the phone & its ok again for a while.

I also disassembled my phone & reseated #1, #2, #3 connectors. I believe it was #3 that was the problem. Working so far. I'll update if it stops recognizing touch again. Also, I had just replaced my glass & digitizer & LCD. I may have not seated #3 correctly during reassembly.

**If you are going to attempt to disassemble your iPhone 3G and void your warranty, go to YouTube & search for Zeetron. Follow their instructions, especially if you are going to replace your screen. They show you how to get the LCD off without breaking it. I followed another YouTube video & that is why I had to replace my LCD.

Good Luck!
 
Same problem; software or hardware?!?

Hey everybody, I am having a very similar problem. I did have a front glass/digitizer assembly replacement (at a Apple certified place)... but it didn't start right away, at least a month later. My iPhone 3G stops registering touches all the time, at least every ten minutes, and hitting the hold button and unlocking ALWAYS fixes it. Which makes me think software, so I updated the firmware to the newest iOS and restored multiple times, which has not helped. Does anybody have any insight as to what might be going on?
 
Same problem

I'm having the same problem, however, I have never replaced anything on the phone. Everything is still as it was out of the box. This issue didn't start until I upgraded to 4.3.3.
 
I know how you feel

I've had an Iphone 5c for a while, and recently i can tap the screen a few times, and have it not respond and my screen completely spazz out, going to other apps and stuff. It's been confusing me, so if you have an answer, that would be great by now :)
 
I am having the exact same problem with an iPhone 5. I also think is a software issue because pressing the wake/sleep button solves the problem everytime. Has anyone find a solution?
 
I have noticed today that gently tapping or squeezing the speaker above the screen can cause and solve the problem so its definitely not a software issue.

thanks a lot man you helped me a lot "storm shadow"
 
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