How to turn on phone without using power button (power button broken)

[goofyb]

Greetings!

Is there a way to turn on the phone without using the power button? Like, plugging it to a computer and sending a signal to turn on the phone from an application (android dev tools or other)?

For a reason I don't want to explain, the power button is broken on my phone (ok, I dropped it one time too many). I just hope it's the plastic button that is broken and not the actual "switch button" on the logic board.

To replace the power button, I will eventually need to unplug the battery which will turn the phone down. In the eventuality that the power button is still not working after that, I would really appreciate to find a way to turn the phone on again and continue using it anyway (thanks to the "Smart Screen On" app, I still can turn the screen on and off).

I also considered going to a place where they repair phones, but all the ones in my area (Montreal) are almost useless; they only do parts swapping if it does not take more than 5 minutes (all things I can do myself).

So, if someone has an idea, please share because it would totally suck if I have buy another phone only because I cannot turn it on.
Thanks!

P.S.: the phone is a Motorola Razr xt910

 

[leeshor]

Welcome to the forum

In my experience, simply plugging the phone into the charger "should" turn it on.

 

[goofyb]

Hello!

Unfortunately if the phone is already off, plugging it only charges it. If the phone is on, plugging it will turn the screen on tho.

:biggrin:

 

[leeshor]

OK, I can go with that but that means you're pretty much stuck.

 

[goofyb]

Well, just wanted to share how my power button story ended...

I ordered a power/volume switch, disarmed my phone, un-solder the old part then re-solder the new one (which was a tad bigger than the original part), put the phone back together and... to my greatest surprise, it worked!

BTW, I do NOT recommend anyone to do it himself. This kind of soldering is usually done under a microscope and doing it yourself will probably destroy the board (and the phone)... unless you really know what you are doing.

Bottom line is if the power button is physically broken, your best deal is to find a cel phone repair shop and let them fix it. Over here they wanted to charge me 75$ to fix it. But, what's the fun in that, right?

Cheers!
=o)