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HTC Thunderbolt Random Shutdown

My Thunderbolt is shutting itself off every few minutes, even in Safe mode. I installed ICS the day it came out, and the phone has been fine for months. The other day I got a message that about 15 apps needed updating, quite a few requiring permission to not let phone sleep. I believe that is when the issues started. I have read various threads online and many talk about bad app if the phone is OK in safe mode, but since mine shuts off then as well I'm stumped. There certainly seems no easy way top cure this, and I am certainly hoping I don't have to uninstall every third party app on the phone - what a headache that would be. Anyone have thoughts on how to remedy this?

Comments

budone

I would backup any important info Contacts, pix, etc and do a factory reset.

pochemunyet

My HTC Thunderbolt has randomly shut down for at least three years. I've replace it probably five times, but it continues. Sometimes it is fine for a few weeks. I have no outside apps installed. The other day, the phone rang and when I looked at it, it shut down. Shuts down in my pocket, while charging, while just sitting on the desk, just whenever it feels like it. Randomly.

Then it says that the Sim card is activating, that I have to wait two minutes. Of course, it is not activating, nothing happens...

What a piece of crap.

no_to_HTC

its interesting that all blogs about this issue are DISconnected! There are 1000s of people complaining.

i solved the shut down problem by turning OFF the "search for cell service" feature on my thunderbolt. so much for using the device for a cell phone. this is the 4th phone i got from best buy. Verizon, HTC and Best Buy ALL pretend that they have never had a complaint about this. i'm done with all 3 companies!

This is definately an ICS issue no one will own up to it!

The problem with the device i haven't solved is that the device is froze while plugged into the charger.

dmwesq15

I'm not sure who or how this question was marked as answered - because it certainly IS NOT! I wiped out all my third party apps, did a factory reset, and the phone still shuts off at various times with no warning. The battery shows close to fully charged one second and then the phone goes dead. Could have been on for 2 minutes or 2 hours. Doesn't shut off at all when plugged in, but other than that it has turned into a total crapshoot.

Verizon_Support

@dmwesq,

Having a working phone is definitely important so I understand your frustration! But no worries because I'm here to help!

Is the phone rebooting or completely powering off? Does it turn back on right away or do you have to plug to the charge for it to turn on? Has there been any damage to the device? Have you tried using a different battery?

How long have you had this device? If the phone is under warranty it may be replaced at no cost as long as there is no damage.

JohnB_VZW

Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

no_to_HTC

The problem with the phone and the last 3 replacements I've and hundreds of

other owners are having is the ice cream sandwich update from HTC. I can

almost guarantee it will stay on if you put gingerbread back on it. Putting

it in airplane mode has fixed it shutting off and screwing up the battery.

That makes it great flashlight. Oh yes, and I can use my wireless

connection at home to surf the web.

pochemunyet

No, you are wrong. This problem has continued through five replacement Thunderbolts since over two years ago. It has nothing to do with any updates, nor any third-party apps, which I never installed. I've used three different batteries.

Verizon has absolutely no idea what the problem is. I pay so friggin' much every friggin' month for this friggin' piece of garbage.

Last week I got another replacement phone; the Rezound. It seems that Verizon ran out of the crap Thunderbolts, so I got an "upgrade" for free.

Not impressed with the Rezound, either, but at least it hasn't shut down randomly.

Yet.

Verizon sucks.

dmwesq15

John,

I would reply on the forum but every time I sign onto my account and then go to forums it asks me to register. When I put in my username and password in the registration screen it tells me my username and email address are already in use - of course they are - by Me! But there is no way to get past the registration screen so I frequently can't access the forums.

As for the phone, it powers off completely. It will restart and then shut off immediately unless I plug it in. Now it seems it will work plugged in but won't hold much of a charge. Could it be a battery issue? Maybe, but I don't have another battery to try and since I plan on upgrading the phone through my employer in the next few weeks I am not inclined to spend any money on a new battery. I have the phone about 2 years and no damage to the phone.

Since the phone is vital to my work as a police supervisor I can't play around, so I have a loaner phone from work until I get my new phone.

Dan

no_to_HTC

I found that if you put the phone in airplane mode the phone no longer turns

off and screws up the battery. This seems to be the result of the "ice

cream sandwich" update that replaced the "gingerbread" operating system.

HTC is the responsible party that apparently is not taking responsibility

for fixing their program. I feel they want us thunderbolt owner to throw

our $600 phone in the junk drawer and buy the HTC One.

The device can still surf the web if you have wireless access and the

camera, flashlight and calculator are awesome. However, until HTC fixes ice

cream sandwich it will never be a phone again.

KateaW

This seems to be an obvious issue with the Thunderbolt! I have had my Thunderbolt for about 18 months and have had 3 replacements. My phone started randomly restarting its self a couple of months ago and each day it is getting progressively more frequent, now it sometimes just shuts down and doesn’t restart. I also experience the battery issues with the shutdowns and restarts. I will have 75% battery, and then my phone will restart and only have 6% battery. Or it will shut off and I’ll turn it back on and it will have had a 20%-30% battery loss but if I try to use the phone at all it will say 0% battery and turn off. It has stopped giving me any battery warnings. It is really frustrating to have a phone that turns off every 5 minutes! HTC and Verizon need to fix this issue!

Verizon_Support

dmwesq, we want accessing the forums to be easy breezy for you. You can log into your My Verizon account online to access this forum with ease http://bit.ly/xB4iTc

The detailed issues that you've described with your HTC Thunderbolt device appear to be as a result of a software issue. Have you downloaded a few 3rd party applications to your device? Some application software can affect the performance of your device. I recommend that you uninstall a few applications and then power your device off/on to soft reset it. Keep us posted.

LasinaH_VZW

Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

Verizon_Support

Hi KateaW,

Let's get to the bottom of this! Have you experienced the same issue on each replacement device? Have you recently downloaded any new applications? Did we have the opportunity to replace the battery? I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Thanks for your contribution to our community forums,

AyaniB_VZW

Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

KateaW

AyaniB_VZW,

This is my 3rd Thunderbolt and it is the only one that has had this issue. I haven't downloaded any new apps and all my apps are from the play store. My phone is no longer under warranty so I haven't done anything about it. But today it had 100% battery and turned off. I turned it back on and it then only had 50% power, but when I tried to open the internet browser it shut off again. this happened 3 times within a 5 minute time frame and my battery went from 100% to 6% power.

I do have a GRIP plan through GoWireless and plan on talking with them this week as the problem seems to be increasing in frequency. I thank you for your reply and appreciate any help that you can give me.

Thank you,

KateaW

Edited for private info as required by the Terms of Service.

Message was edited by: Admin Moderator

no_to_HTC

Welcome to "our world". I'm on my 5th Tbolt, 4 of which had this very same

issue. I'm on my 5th phone cuz of my Best Buy extended warranty. I had no

problems till the "update" that came into my phone in the middle of the

night while I was sleeping in May 2013. When I woke up and looked at my

phone the screen was locked with a circle and when calls came in little

circles appeared that I had to drag to answer the call. When the phone

started "blacking out" when I tried to use it I went to the Verizon store

and they told me "a lot of people are having problems since the update."

They tried a new sim card and when that didn't help sent me to best buy to

get a replacement. That was 4 phones and 7 months ago. I had my phone

number switched to my backup samsung intensity (which also turns itself off,

but comes back on by itself) in May 2013. My original Tbolt was great from

November 18, 2011 to May 2013. I was starting to love this phone!

And yes it does get worse as time goes on. however, my 5th phone started

turning off at Best Buy while I was picking it up about 3 weeks ago. I

brought it home hoping I could download an update from HTC to fix the issue,

since so many owners are having the exact same problem.

I spent 2-3 hours on the phone with HTC support to no avail. Experimenting

with the phone I found that in airplane mode the device stopped turning off

and draining the battery. In fact the phone has been on for over 2 weeks and

the battery hasn't needed charging in all that time and is only down 50%. I

can use it to go "online" with the wifi app, use the awesome camera,

calculator and flashlight. If I want to talk or text on it I can go online

with my home's wireless wifi to googlevoice.

To be perfectly clear, I have never never download any apps to any of my 5

Tbolts. The only apps on these phones came with them from the manufacturer.

Hope you get someone that knows how to fix the phone part of the Tbolt.

Verizon_Support

Having three replacement devices can be very frustrating KateaW. I'm sorry your phone is continuing to power cycle and thanks for trying all the steps provided. If you have already removed apps, cleared the browser history, and ensured you have the most updated software, the last step is a hard reset http://vz.to/1cVHiz7. If the hard reset doesn't fix the issue, a replacement is definitely the next step. I'm happy you have insurance and can replace your phone with out any issues. Please keep us posted and let us know if the hard reset worked or if you were able to replace your device.

KinquanaH_VZW

follow us on twitter @vzwsupport

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