Droid 3 - Can't Unlock Phone
SysKnight
Newbie

When I try to slide my unlock bar to the right to unlock the phone, it doesn't slide. Also, if i would try setting my ringer from silent to loud or visversa, it's the same thing. I can't switch them. I pretty much can't click anything on my phone anymore. If i press the power button and try to power off my phone. I can't click that option. I cant click any of the options. I must take out my battery then start my phone and then i can unlock. But if my phone goes back to standby and i try to unlock it again, it will not lock.

Also, last night i was talking on the phone and when i tried to  hang up, i couldn't press End call. Actually, i couldnt press anything. My phone was frozen. Same thing had to be done, i had to take out my battery. So everytime i want to get into my phone. I must take out the battery. It lets me unlock my phone once and then its fine. But it sounds like when my phone goes to the black screen and i want to resume what i was doing. My phone freezes.

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16 Replies
Wildman
Legend

Sounds like a possible app issue, try booting into safe mode and run it like that for a littlem if all works fine then I would start uninstalling apps to identify the issue..

 



 

Enable Safe mode

  1. Power the device off.
    NotePress and hold the Power button then select Power off.
    NoteIf the device doesn't respond to input, remove then re-insert the battery.
  2. Slide the keyboard open.
    Keyboard Open
  3. Press and hold the OK key.
    Hold the OK key
  4. Press the Power button.
    Power button
  5. Continue to hold the OK key until Safe mode appears in the lower left.
    Safe mode

 

 

 

 

 

Disable Safe mode

  1. Power the device off.
    NotePress and hold the Power button then select Power off.
  2. Power the device on.
    NotePress the Power button

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dwcooley
Newbie

I had the same issue a couple of days ago.  It started with the phone not processing notifications.  Events had occurred but the phone was not notifying of them. The the screen was unresponsive and  powerdown failed.  The end result was to remove the battery.

 

Overall, I can't say I am impressed with the D3.  While it has great potential its execution has fallen short. 

 

 

 

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Not applicable

SysKnight,

 

Hi there! I'm sorry to learn this is happening. I'm sure it must be very frustrating! Did the 'safe mode' recommended by the community help answer any questions? The next step I recommend is a Hard Reset. This will return the phone to factory settings. After it reboots, it will walk you through the activation and Google/Gmail sign-in. It's important to ensure your personal information is backed up to Google and/or Backup Assistant. The SD card will not be affected in the reset process.

 

Please advise of the progress so I and the community can assist further.

 

Thank you!

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fosterjc
Newbie

I'm having the same exact issue. It seems to be related to the 2.3.4 android OS upgrade possibly. If the screen blanks due to timeout or if you press the power button to blank the screen, when you come back to unlock the phone the touchscreen is unusable and requires a complete powerdown or battery pull to get the touchscreen back operational. Neither safe mode or factory reset fixes the issue.

 

I've have had 2 motorola droid 3's shipped to me now and both exhibit the same issue. A 3rd phone will be shipped to me in the morning from Verizon and I will test if the issue is still present. I'm hoping this is not a systemic issue with the device and android 2.3.4.

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johnnyr
Newbie

Please tell me this thread died because the problem magically fixed itself and nobody posted back

I just got this issue out of the blue today. I had not installed any apps in a few days. I tried safe mode and a hard reset. No Improvement.

Works as expected after powering on, but after the first sleep session the touch screen is non-responsive. Can only get it to work again by removing the battery.

Please Help!

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ChristinaB_VZW
Verizon Employee

Hi johnnyr and the community!

Thanks for all of your responses. I know that pulling the battery from your device is not something that you all want to do multiple times a day, in order for the phone to be responsive.

I want to let you know that our product team is aware of this issue occurring with the Droid 3 device, and a fix will soon be implemented. This will be in the form of an update that is sent to the devices automatically. You are also able to check for the update by pressing:

Menu

About Phone

System Updates

I trust this information is helpful. Have a good day!

Christina B

VZW Support

Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

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johnnyr
Newbie

Thanks for the update Christina. Please do rush the update.

To anyone else with this issue: Hard reset does not help, no need to wipe all your data. You will inevitably lose something you wanted to keep.

I found a way to unlock the screen until the patch is available. If you slide the keyboard out and mash some random key to wake the device before the screen comes on you can use the touchscreen. You have to use the power button to put the phone to sleep mode when it is ringing and use this hack to answer.

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johnfr
Newbie

This issue just started happening to me, please tell me something is still in the works for this issue.  It almost makes my phone unusable since I have to essentially wake it up with the keyboard every single time it goes on standby.  It is extremely frustrating!!!

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johnfr
Newbie

This issue just started happening to me, please tell me something is still in the works for this issue.  It almost makes my phone unusable since I have to essentially wake it up with the keyboard every single time it goes on standby.  It is extremely frustrating!!!

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SDMatt2012
Newbie

Same issue here with my Droid 3.. done the same troubleshooting... I now have a phone with no data on it and a screen that wont unlock unless you pull the battery or mash the keyboard like johnnyr describes.

Any word on a fix?

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MisterPeej
Newbie

Any word on this update?

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bork
Newbie

I am also having similar issues, and none of the aforementioned steps fixed it. Like the previous poster said, this started after I upgraded to 2.3.4 on my Droid 3.

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amberdc
Newbie

Same issues with my phone and I have tried all of the above and I have an unusable very expensive Droid.....is there any solutions that I can use??!!

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g00fy
Enthusiast - Level 2

My Droid 3 just started doing the same thing yesterday.  Tried safe mode, tried factory reset, nothing.  Touch screen works flawlessly until the screen gets turned off or times out, then you have to restart the phone to get it working again

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patdmbro
Enthusiast - Level 1

Ok, this is how I'm temporarily fixing my problem.  I use my phone on a daily basis for mainly texting, so this will help until a phone replacement comes along.  It'll also help you access any other app.  Once you're in an app, it'll all depend on whether the app you opened has physical keyboard navigation.

Problem #1: Cannot unlock phone (because entire touch screen doesn't work).

My Solution: Download an app called "No Unlock".  I don't think there is any way to unlock a phone by using just the physical keyboard,so this will help with that.

Problem #2: Can access apps using Search Button on physical keyboard, but once in an app, cannot return home and Search Button will only work within the app opened.

My Solution: Assign shortcuts.  Do this by going to Menu>Settings>Applications>Quick Launch.  Here, you can assign and use shortcuts by holding the Search Button on your physical keyboard, and then pressing the assigned letter on your physical keyboard as well.

I assigned only two shortcuts:  one that goes to Google Search, and one that opens my Text Messaging app.  This way, I can use the physical keyboard to navigate through my text message app and respond to someone.  If I want to respond to someone else, I'd normally be stuck in the current text thread, but because I've assigned the Text Messaging app to a shortcut, I can simply press that shortcut again and it will return me to the main text messaging menu.

If I want to open up any other app, I use the Google Search shortcut and then type in which app I'm looking for.  Once you're in an app, it all depends on the app's settings that determines whether you'll be able to use it or not.  If it's dependent on a touch screen (whereas the Text Messaging app is not), then you're out of luck.

Now I can turn off the display on my phone to conserve energy, and then reply to text messages or access any app when need be.  It doesn't fix the touch screen problem, but by the look of multiple Droid 3 threads, it's not a problem that can be fixed.

PhoneMan1
Newbie

Turn off phone, turn, phone back on in home. You're too button's enable reset mode and reset your phone.

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