My phone keeps turning off!

January 4, 2008 4:29 PM

My brand new Sprint Mogul Pocket PC will restart itself, but only when I'm walking with the phone in my pocket. Why?

So I just bought a new Sprint Mogul (PPC 6800, the HTC Titan) on Wednesday, and I've been really happy with it except for one thing. When I go to walk my dog, the phone will soft-restart itself probably 2 times during the 20 minutes or so that I'm out--I can tell because it makes a start up noise, and when I pull the phone out of my pocket, it has the Windows Mobile logo on it, which appears when the phone restarts. I can have it sitting on my desk all day and this won't happen, but in that 20 minutes it will do it twice.

Pertinent information:
- This is a soft reset, which as far as I know is accomplished by using the stylus to hit a tiny button on the bottom.
- The device works perfectly otherwise.
- No programs are running when this occurs, according to the Memory screen.
- The pants I've been wearing do have rather large pockets, so the phone does move around a bit as I walk. My old Treo 650 never had this problem, however.

My theories:
- Perhaps I'm somehow hitting a button combination that causes a soft reset? I find this hard to believe because the only button that is active when the backlight is off is the power button, and it's in such a location that I probably wouldn't accidentally hit it.
- Could it have something to do with going in and out of a coverage area? Coverage is spotty near my house.
- My primary theory is that it somehow involves the battery getting bumped around and momentarily losing contact with the device.


Any help would be greatly appreciated!

posted by DMan to Technology (9 answers total)

You are most likely somehow hitting the soft reset doohickie or a combination of keys. Is there a key guard option?

I frequently dial out or hit the power button on my cell phone when I'm out with my dogs or doing some other activity where I've stowed the phone in a jacket pocket. I am pretty good about using the key guard but forget sometimes.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 4:36 PM on January 4, 2008

There are two ways to soft reset.

First, would be the small button on the bottom, and the second is by holding the power button on the right side of the device, which will ask you if you want to turn off the phone. You could, I guess, be holding the power button down and then somehow clicking 'Yes' to confirm the shut down, and then again pressing the power button to start back up.

If that is not the case, then I would consider trying a hard reset to make sure there is no software issues. Being that you just got this phone, you may not be on the latest ROM 2.17.651.0 (Start > Settings > System > Device Information). If you do not have the latest ROM, do update as it resolves some bluetooth issues as well as increases battery performance.

If you have further questions, you can ask me here or in mefi mail, but here are two forums that I frequent for info on my Mogul (Tytan, 6800, Hermes)

PPCGeeks & XDA-Developers
posted by B(oYo)BIES at 5:16 PM on January 4, 2008

I'd be inclined to think that the battery is slightly loose, and your walking causes it to lose contact long enough to initiate a reset.

Try shaking it in your hand for a minute or so and see if you can make it reset.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 5:16 PM on January 4, 2008

Another thought is that there are a good amount of apps out that have soft-reset options in them, such as some of the X-button apps. What apps have you installed yourself?
posted by B(oYo)BIES at 5:18 PM on January 4, 2008

Damn, sorry to keep posting, but updated ROM is here.
posted by B(oYo)BIES at 5:18 PM on January 4, 2008

Response by poster: I have the updated ROM, that was the first thing I did when I got the phone.

Steven: no luck on the shaking.

Apps I have installed: HTC X-Button, Google Maps, and a threaded SMS app.


So far the most likely option is looking like the power button soft reset, although I'm still skeptical due to how long you have to hold the power button.

Thanks for the help so far guys, if anyone has more suggestions I'd love to hear them. For now, I guess I'll just make sure to put it in a case and see if that helps (since buttons won't be pressed that way).
posted by DMan at 6:14 PM on January 4, 2008

HTC's X-Button app doesn't do soft-reset. Neither do either of the other two you have obviously. You are sure you see the splash screen? I am sure you are, but the reason I ask is because I had pocket problems as well. If you hold down the red, END CALL button, it turns your Flight Mode on, at which point you hear a sound similar (or identical) to the shut down and start up sounds. I didn't know this and kept pulling my phone out, only to see that my services were disabled.

If it gets to be too big of a pain in the ass, you might start locking your phone. No need to assign a pin or anything. If you lock it navigating your way to soft-reset is pretty impossible and as an added bonus, holding Power does not prompt for shut down.
posted by B(oYo)BIES at 6:34 PM on January 4, 2008

I used to have a Mogul. I got two defective ones in a row. Finally I gave up and got something else. It could be defective.
posted by rbs at 6:36 PM on January 4, 2008

I've had a Mogul for seven months and carry it all the time in my pocket. No reset issues.

Do you have the PIN entry option on, so even if you accidentally hit the power switch to activate the screen, and you have not click-locked or slide-locked the phone, you're still expected to enter a PIN to proceed (after a user-spec'd period of time has elapsed)?
posted by meehawl at 11:38 PM on January 4, 2008