My iPhone keeps turning off!!!

[softballchicky32]

I don't completely understand what problems Johnny Apple is having with his phone, but mine could be similar. I have the new iPhone 3G.

My screen shuts off (the screen turns black, but the phone is still on...like if you shut the monitor off on a desktop PC while the tower is still on) randomly which requires me to do a hard reset (holding the sleep button at the top of the phone and the home button at the same time until the Apple logo appears).

This happens without warning when I do the following:

1. During a call, when I need to use the keypad, put a call on hold, activate speakerphone, etc. the screen will stay black and will not turn on when I touch it. This means I can't even end a call unless the caller hangs up. It is clear that the phone is still on (I can hear the caller at the other end), but I cannot use the screen at all. The screen comes back on when I put the phone back up to my ear, but then when I pull it away to touch the screen it goes black again.
2. After I complete a call, the screen will shut off before I can press the "end call" button. Even after the call is terminated from the other end, I cannot make the screen come back on.
3. After the screen automatically goes to sleep (goes black), I cannot make it come back on.

In all 3 of these instances, I use a hard reset to make the screen come back on. In the first instance that I listed, I have to do a hard reset during the call in order to disconnect the call and get the screen to come back on.

These problems do not happen during/after every single call. For example, sometimes it will be after one call, other times it will be after five calls. It happens without warning and without reason. It is very inconvenient because I am resetting my phone several times a day. When I call customer service lines (for any company), I can't use the keypad to do things such as "Press 1 for English" without doing a hard reset in the middle of the call and calling back several times until it works.

I would really appreciate it if you could offer some advice on how to fix this problem.

Thank you.

[ChicagoGuy]

I completely understand what Johnny apple is saying, only because it's happening to me as well on my first-gen iPhone (otherwise I'd be confused also). Here's the breakdown:

1) The phone is on, I surf the web, make a call, whatever. Then I click the home button to take it to the main home screen, then press the sleep button to put it to sleep, watch the screen turn off, and put it in my pocket.

2) Some time later (it's happened after 5 minutes, and it's happened after a couple hours), I pull the phone out of my pocket and press the home button to wake up the phone, and nothing happens. The screen remains off.

3) I press the sleep/wake button to wake up the phone, and nothing happens. The screen remains off.

4) I hold down the sleep/wake button the way I would to power on the phone, and nothing happens. The screen remains off.

5) I hold down the sleep/wake button and the home button at the same time. The screen powers up, but all I see is an ugly & very dim interlaced lines (they look like black lcd, like from an old-school digital watch). At this point, the phone is still unresponsive.

6) I hold down the sleep/wake button and the home button at the same time again. This time, the screen goes black, then the Apple logo appears, and the phone boots up successfully (albeit after an unusually long time).

This happens to me approximately once a week.

[Jonny5]

Perfect explanation, Chicago. I just got my 3G iphone and have this behavior after just one day (except #5 - no faint lines or anything). A couple times yesterday and once so far today it has gone dark and been totally unresponsive to either the wake up key or the home key. Only pressing and holding both for a while would bring it back to life.

I'm trying the "reset all settings" to see if it helps. I also read that my version 2.0 (5A345) is not the latest although iTunes tells me so, and that 5A347 is out there if I do a restore through iTunes I'll get it.

I'll update everyone as to the progress.

Originally Posted by ChicagoGuy

I completely understand what Johnny apple is saying, only because it's happening to me as well on my first-gen iPhone (otherwise I'd be confused also). Here's the breakdown:

1) The phone is on, I surf the web, make a call, whatever. Then I click the home button to take it to the main home screen, then press the sleep button to put it to sleep, watch the screen turn off, and put it in my pocket.

2) Some time later (it's happened after 5 minutes, and it's happened after a couple hours), I pull the phone out of my pocket and press the home button to wake up the phone, and nothing happens. The screen remains off.

3) I press the sleep/wake button to wake up the phone, and nothing happens. The screen remains off.

4) I hold down the sleep/wake button the way I would to power on the phone, and nothing happens. The screen remains off.

5) I hold down the sleep/wake button and the home button at the same time. The screen powers up, but all I see is an ugly & very dim interlaced lines (they look like black lcd, like from an old-school digital watch). At this point, the phone is still unresponsive.

6) I hold down the sleep/wake button and the home button at the same time again. This time, the screen goes black, then the Apple logo appears, and the phone boots up successfully (albeit after an unusually long time).

This happens to me approximately once a week.

[Jonny5]

Well, "reset all settings" didn't help. The phone did it's blank and unresponsive screen within an hour. Now I'm wondering if it's an app I have installed, so I'm doing the total wipe and reset of the phone and data. It turns out that takes about 2 hours to complete so we'll see after it's done. I just won't sync it afterward and see if it's stable again.

[softballchicky32]

Someone told me on the Apple discussion boards that if you have a phone cover for your iPhone, it may be interfering with the sensors in your ear piece. This makes the phone think that you're holding it up to your ear and shuts the screen off. I took off my phone cover and I haven't had the problem again all day. I hope this is helpful to others.

[iAMCANADIAN]

I have. Had this prblem once. The process to solve this issue will erase your files on your iPhone.

Before doing this have the iPhone dock connected to a pc. Open iTunes. Disconnect iPhone. This is not for unlocked phones.

1. Turn off your iPhone by holding the home and lock button for few seconds.

2. Make sure your phone is not connected to PC or anywhere.

3. When your phone is off, press the home button and and as your holding the button dock your iPhone. Make sure you keep holding it untill you see the iTunes icon.

4. Now that your in iTunes you can restore your iphone.

5. If you already have a backup iTunes will sync the phone after.

[Jonny5]

Thanks Softball and Canadian for the advice. The complete reset on the phone didn't fix it either so I'm doing a restore through iTunes now.

Softball, this happens whether I have it in my shirt pocket, it's sitting on the table or it's in the belt case I purchased. There's no rhyme or reason in my situation to point to an external influence.

I'll let you know how the restore goes.

-J

Edit: Wow, the restore through iTunes is way faster than doing the full reset on the phone. My firmware is now 5A347 so there for sure is a change in something (any word from Apple on what is changed between revs? do they publish that stuff somewhere?).

I'll use it like I have been for the last two days (wow, only 2 days) and see if it's better. I'll keep ya posted.

[Sarcasalot]

Originally Posted by Jonny5

Thanks Softball and Canadian for the advice. The complete reset on the phone didn't fix it either so I'm doing a restore through iTunes now.

Softball, this happens whether I have it in my shirt pocket, it's sitting on the table or it's in the belt case I purchased. There's no rhyme or reason in my situation to point to an external influence.

I'll let you know how the restore goes.

-J

Edit: Wow, the restore through iTunes is way faster than doing the full reset on the phone. My firmware is now 5A347 so there for sure is a change in something (any word from Apple on what is changed between revs? do they publish that stuff somewhere?).

I'll use it like I have been for the last two days (wow, only 2 days) and see if it's better. I'll keep ya posted.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
I have the same exact issue and was wondering if that worked for you? I will try to do the wipe and restore via ITunes as well. I'll post the results.

[richard26]

Hi Guys,

My iphone 3g that I've just purchased also does the same.
Once a phone call is finished the phone goes dead, seems to be an intermittant issue but occurs on more longer calls than short ones.
Iinterstingly I have a phone cover and per below from someone it may be the reason affecting the earpiece!!! Any others have the problem with a cover on?

Returned it back to shop who deny all knowledge of the problem (surprise surprise) and have sent it back to Apple.
Will await to see what happens.
Phone been reset by shop and I could'nt replicate the fault in front of assistant.
All key presses are dead and the on off button is also dead till 10/15 mins later when it will turn back on and carry on as normal till next time.
Might be a heat activated issue - any ideas?
I cannot remember if the cover was on at the time as I often take it out and use it when on and off.
Would appreciate if anyone else has similar problems and or solutions.

Thanks,
Richard.

Originally Posted by softballchicky32

I don't completely understand what problems Johnny Apple is having with his phone, but mine could be similar. I have the new iPhone 3G.

My screen shuts off (the screen turns black, but the phone is still on...like if you shut the monitor off on a desktop PC while the tower is still on) randomly which requires me to do a hard reset (holding the sleep button at the top of the phone and the home button at the same time until the Apple logo appears).

This happens without warning when I do the following:

1. During a call, when I need to use the keypad, put a call on hold, activate speakerphone, etc. the screen will stay black and will not turn on when I touch it. This means I can't even end a call unless the caller hangs up. It is clear that the phone is still on (I can hear the caller at the other end), but I cannot use the screen at all. The screen comes back on when I put the phone back up to my ear, but then when I pull it away to touch the screen it goes black again.
2. After I complete a call, the screen will shut off before I can press the "end call" button. Even after the call is terminated from the other end, I cannot make the screen come back on.
3. After the screen automatically goes to sleep (goes black), I cannot make it come back on.

In all 3 of these instances, I use a hard reset to make the screen come back on. In the first instance that I listed, I have to do a hard reset during the call in order to disconnect the call and get the screen to come back on.

These problems do not happen during/after every single call. For example, sometimes it will be after one call, other times it will be after five calls. It happens without warning and without reason. It is very inconvenient because I am resetting my phone several times a day. When I call customer service lines (for any company), I can't use the keypad to do things such as "Press 1 for English" without doing a hard reset in the middle of the call and calling back several times until it works.

I would really appreciate it if you could offer some advice on how to fix this problem.

Thank you.

[rep602]

I am having the exact same issue on my 3g iphone. It happens to me only during or after a phone call. The screen will go black and becomes unresponsive. I then have to reset it to make it work again. This is getting very frusturating. I do have a rubber case on my phone though, I might need to see if that could be affecting it. This case I have does not have cut outs for those 3 dots to the left of the ear piece. I might just cut my case for them and see if that helps....