Touch screen suddenly inaccurate; goes crazy

[TigerFX]

Hey,

Got my Droid on Friday. Today suddenly I notice it's extremely inaccurate (touching the center activates a button at the top or bottom, for instance). I downloaded the free "Draw" application which confirms this: dragging left-to-right across the center creates what looks like a heart monitor, with spikes way to the top and bottom of the screen.

I thought perhaps it was the plastic case on front or the protective sheet film I bought which has been on since the unboxing, but lo and behold no, same problems without those on.

Unforuntately it isn't consistent. It will work fine for a few minutes then go crazy again. I guess I'll have to take it into a Verizon store to see if they'll give me a replacement, anything else you think I should try? (I've already power cycled the phone several times). The phone has never been dropped, I've been taking good care of it.

Other ideas (like recalibration methods?) you can think of? I should expect Verizon to fix/replace this for free, right?

Thanks

 

[JoeyNWZ]

I have not found a way to recal, but I've noticed things get whacky if you have alot of widgets running with say an app like open home. Download one of the free task lister/killer apps and see if you can free up some memory and if it goes away.

Another thing to check is if you downloaded any apps from the store they may not be 2.0 compatible and can potentially give you some odd behavior. Try uninstall anything you might have installed one by one and check if it goes away.

 

[cereal killer]

Try deleting that draw app then reboot. See if that fixes your issue

 

[wallstreet123456]

Was it plugged in for charging when you try the screen? I have a charger plugged in and when I try to enter the security pattern it never selects what I touch, when I unplug it it works fine

 

[sir]

I think Tiger downloaded the draw app post-issue to attempt to confirm the problem, so I don't think removing the Draw app would solve it.

Also, it was noted in a sticky that you don't have to kill processes to free up a ton of memory since, like linux, an app can be running but taking up 0M of memory until it needs to do something.

Now if you have a ton of open apps that are running and doing crazy stuff, sure you could try to kill them and see what happens.

I haven't seen a way to calibrate the touchscreen anywhere.

 

[andjarnic]

Only one app can run at one time.. the Android platform allows multiple apps to run at once.. BUT they aren't running, they are suspended while the front app that a user is using is running. All apps go thru various states.. if you are running a game, hit the HOME key and run another app, the game *might* still be running but Android sent it a message saying "Yo.. going to run a different app right now, you are going to be pasued for a bit.. save anything you want incase I have to shut you down later, and I'll resume you when this user switches back to you". Essentially, services can run in the background, and one foreground app can run. The rest of the apps are suspended until the user switches back to them. For apps that have a user interface AND seem to get notifications, as far as I know those are background services running. I am still very new to Android development tho, I am not sure if when you switch from one foreground app to the next, if the other apps that are suspended can still receive notifications or not. I think only the foreground app can receive notifications of any sort and other apps (that are not services) are suspended until the user switches back to one of them. I believe that is correct.. if another android developer knows for sure, please correct me if I am wrong.

 

[JoeyNWZ]

Yes that is true, an application goes into a suspended state unless it has a service counterpart. But I don't think people realize how many apps install themselves as service, and that every widget is an individual service.

Go to menu -> settings -> manage applications -> running services

 

[andjarnic]

Joey, kewl..I am glad I retained something I read about this . So.. an app like the Alarm Clock, which I "kill" with ATK. A minute later it is back. I assume that that one little app must have a service AND the user interface installed. Thus, the service must run all the time and I am guessing it basically checks if Alarm Clock is running, if not, start it but ONLY if there is an alarm set. I would guess if no alarm was set, the service would not start it up.

IF that is true, another question comes to mind.. why not allow the UI of the Alarm Clock just for changing settings, but then the service portion does the actualy duties of activating when the alarm time is reached? Why keep on starting the Alarm Clock app? My guess was that the Alarm Clock app that we see run ALSO has the code in it to check the time, compare it to any alarm clocks set, and sound the alarm if one is met. I would think this type of logic would make better sense in the always running service and allow the User interface piece just to make changes to settings, thus avoiding having to run the alarm clock UI portion all the time.

 

[djstar2k2]

i notice that my droid will do that when chargin with anfter market charger but not when hook to my pc or wall jack threw the usb

 

[Rodfather]

I'm having the same issue as well. It happens when I plug the Droid into the USB port of my computer. I'm using the cable that came with it. I haven't tried plugging it into the wall charger to see if it happens then.

update:
When I plug into any port of my netbook, it has the issue. When I unplug my netbook, it works fine. I'm using an aftermarket charger for my netbook.

When I plug it into my work laptophttp://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=1591620#, it works fine.

I posted another thread here: http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=1591620

From the response, it could be that there's no enough power running through the USB port.

 

[CappinMorgan]

Hello, i am using a Motorola Droid and I ran into the same thing and it was because I was using a 3rd party charger. I am getting the specs, but when I used my wifes Blackberry cord it worked fine. When I use the USB cable and the wall plug it works fine.

I firmly believe it is the amount of power being delivered, I am getting the specs between the two and will post.

One theory on the USB cable doing this is that USB ports provide different power depending on what you are plugging it into. On most PC's the USB ports on the back of the PC are fully powered, USB ports on the front, on USB hubs, on Monitors or Keyboards provide less power to the USB device plugged in.

Hope this helps.

 

[CappinMorgan]

Hello, I found that if your screen is acting wierd while charging, as described in the original post, that the power from the charger to the phone may be too low. My testings are below...

I purchased a 3rd party charger to have at work and the mA (milliamps) output was 350mA. It would make my Droids screen go crazy. I used my wifes Blackberry adapter which is 700mA and it worked great. The adapter out of the box is 850mA.

As for using your USB cord on your PC, USB ports like the ports on the back of your PC versus the ports on a USB hub, keyboard, monitor or even laptop will put out different voltages and mA's. Normally the ports on the back of a PC or USB hub that has its own power supply will be ok but this isn't something I have tested.

 

[ChrisK15]

Yeah, I guess that does make sense. Plugged into my laptop it jitters all over the place, but with the AC adapter, not so much. USB only puts out 5V at 500mA.

 

[Nobodyspecial]

just got the same issue i do have a non oem charger plugged into it right now and several apps but it doesnt seem to be the apps i have killed them all.

 

[delaen]

Only one app can run at one time.. the Android platform allows multiple apps to run at once.. BUT they aren't running, they are suspended while the front app that a user is using is running. All apps go thru various states.. if you are running a game, hit the HOME key and run another app, the game *might* still be running but Android sent it a message saying "Yo.. going to run a different app right now, you are going to be pasued for a bit.. save anything you want incase I have to shut you down later, and I'll resume you when this user switches back to you". Essentially, services can run in the background, and one foreground app can run. The rest of the apps are suspended until the user switches back to them. For apps that have a user interface AND seem to get notifications, as far as I know those are background services running. I am still very new to Android development tho, I am not sure if when you switch from one foreground app to the next, if the other apps that are suspended can still receive notifications or not. I think only the foreground app can receive notifications of any sort and other apps (that are not services) are suspended until the user switches back to one of them. I believe that is correct.. if another android developer knows for sure, please correct me if I am wrong.

You're really describing how almost any operating system handles running applications. You can make the distinction between "service" and GUI like they're not both part of the application, but I'm not sure it's the most accurate way to think about it.

A service+the GUI = the app. Android might not be drawing the screen of the application when it's in the background (why would it? no OS does), but if the service portion is still running and doing stuff, the application isn't paused or suspended - the GUI just isn't being rendered. At least from a user's perspective.

If I start my music and then switch to a GPS logging application, the music keeps playing. If I switch back to the music app, the GPS keeps logging. Both apps are running at the same time. Android does some fancy memory maintenance to try to optimize how much CPU/power these background apps use, but for all intents and purposes, both apps are running simultaneously and they'll both keep running in the background if you open a third app.

You're not wrong with what you're saying, but you're looking at it from a developer's perspective. To most people and for a majority of apps the background service IS the app and they DO keep consuming resources in the background.

So really it all depends on the app.