HTC Sensation won't startup

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snonoz

80 posts

Master Geek

#107738 18-Aug-2012 14:08

PROBLEM!

Partners HTC Sensation (normal stock handset from Telecom running Android 4 after recent OTA update) won't start up. Powers up ok but stays on the attached screen - no Android starting up. He says he did a NeoReader app update this morning, then the screen never really started up properly after that. When booting up (after battery and SIM out) it says Android Is Upgrading - Optimizing Applications 1-28 (which it goes through ok), then says Starting Applications - then nothing but the attached pic.

Any way to get this up and running again???

HTC Sensation prob

uglyb0b

335 posts

Ultimate Geek

#673987 18-Aug-2012 15:06

I would try rebooting into recovery mode (power on while holding volume down key) and wipe the cache. If you're not familiar with this, there will be a menu that you can scroll through with the volume keys with something along the lines of

Apply update
Wipe data/factory reset
wipe cache partition
reboot

Select the wipe cache partition option and restart and see if that does anything. Otherwise you may need to do a factory reset on the phone.

There may be other ways of getting around this but we would probably need more information on the situation to help.

uglyb0b

335 posts

Ultimate Geek

#673996 18-Aug-2012 15:48

Was the phone working after the 4.0 update was applied? If so, how long did it work for before it started freezing like this?

The message "Android is updating, optimising applications" is the message that comes up after a new rom is flashed (OTA or manually) and the OS is rebuilding the dalvik cache.

If the update was applied successfully and has been working okay since then up until this point, I would probably think part of the firmware has become corrupted somehow. Just because when it starts up, the phone is behaving the way it would immediately after a rom update was applied.

snonoz

80 posts

Master Geek

#674000 18-Aug-2012 16:01

uglyb0b: I would try rebooting into recovery mode (power on while holding volume down key) and wipe the cache. If you're not familiar with this, there will be a menu that you can scroll through with the volume keys with something along the lines of

Apply update
Wipe data/factory reset
wipe cache partition
reboot

Select the wipe cache partition option and restart and see if that does anything. Otherwise you may need to do a factory reset on the phone.

There may be other ways of getting around this but we would probably need more information on the situation to help.

Sorry did that and still nothing :(

snonoz

80 posts

Master Geek

#674003 18-Aug-2012 16:07

uglyb0b: Was the phone working after the 4.0 update was applied? If so, how long did it work for before it started freezing like this?

The message "Android is updating, optimising applications" is the message that comes up after a new rom is flashed (OTA or manually) and the OS is rebuilding the dalvik cache.

If the update was applied successfully and has been working okay since then up until this point, I would probably think part of the firmware has become corrupted somehow. Just because when it starts up, the phone is behaving the way it would immediately after a rom update was applied.

Yes it was working fine after the update about a week ago. Does corrupt firmware need a factory reset then? Seems like apps are running in the background just can't get at them...

uglyb0b

335 posts

Ultimate Geek

#674006 18-Aug-2012 16:15

So you can't get past that screen in your first post? Does the screen respond and just not progress (are you able to turn wifi/bluetooth etc on and off) or does it just freeze?

Edit - I just compared that picture to a Sensation XL (similar phone) and that looks like the notification menu that you access by pulling down the bar at the top. Are you able to just swipe up from the bottom to get back to the home screen?

snonoz

80 posts

Master Geek

#674007 18-Aug-2012 16:19

uglyb0b: So you can't get past that screen in your first post? Does the screen respond and just not progress (are you able to turn wifi/bluetooth etc on and off) or does it just freeze?

That screen is the result of pulling the notifications bar down. It responds - can be swiped up and down, and the Quick Setting options changed. Phone also receives calls and txts, but can't do anything with them as it all seems to be in the background.

uglyb0b

335 posts

Ultimate Geek

#674009 18-Aug-2012 16:22

Are you able to access the settings menu by selecting the gear icon at the top?

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snonoz

80 posts

Master Geek

#674012 18-Aug-2012 16:29

uglyb0b: Are you able to access the settings menu by selecting the gear icon at the top?

Too late - partner got pissed off and Factory reset it - going ok again. Someone might remember to back their phone up from now on, and turn off Android updates :P Thanks for the help though!!

uglyb0b

335 posts

Ultimate Geek

#674015 18-Aug-2012 16:53

Ah, lesson learned then I guess. It might pay to check exactly what was done just before the phone started playing up, so you can pinpoint exactly what went wrong and avoid going through this all again.

If it was an app update that did it I would suggest emailing the developer and letting them know. I'm not sure how an app would do this but it's probably worth looking into just to avoid it happening again.

Feel free to let me know if you need any more help :)