Hello Everyone! New Flash owner

[theandresperson]

Hey everyone, just catching up after quite a break due to college finals.

What I have noticed about this model of WP, it seems that when you take the phone out of your pocket, it unlocks itself to the slide up screen (it uses the proximity sensor for this). What I have done to avoid this problem is let the phone vibrate or ring, take it out of my pocket, and allow the screen to light up. Usually, the phone will not lock up this way. Give it a try.

1. Cover your phone's proximity sensor or lay it on a flat surface face down.
2. Receive a test text message. Let the phone ring or vibrate for a second.
3. Lift the phone WITHOUT pressing any buttons!
4. The screen should light up and you should be allowed to flick the lock screen up.

So far I haven't had a lockup in about a week. It seems to be a bug with the proximity sensor and any of the buttons that unlock the phone working simultaneously.

I encourage everyone here to test it out, as it has worked for me. And please provide feedback! I'd like to see how well this works out with everyone here. I will also be contacting Samsung as soon as college finals are over.

Thanks everyone for chiming and helping out.

Regards,
Andres

 

[waterboy15]

Proximity Sensor

Following up on the previous post, I agree with the idea that the proximity sensor is causing the lockup issues. I had noticed that most of my sporadic freezes occurred when I quickly removed my phone from my pocket after hearing a notification for my calendars or a text. I started waiting a couple seconds after the notification sound before removing my phone from my pocket pr picking it up from the table. This has nearly eliminated all of the freezes thus far.

I believe Samsung still needs to fix this issue with a firmware update. Until then, I suggest trying the delay method of checking notifications to see if it helps.

Thanks for everyone's contributions to this thread!

 

[edebuhr]

I have done the factory reset and the screen lock still happens. I will be trying the "solution" that has been provided to see if it fixes it.
Great phone, just wish it would lock up.

I do every once in a while get an email notification on the lock screen that isnt there. To clear it I have to power down the phone and the power it back on.

 

[geraldo5002]

I have done the factory reset and the screen lock still happens. I will be trying the "solution" that has been provided to see if it fixes it.
Great phone, just wish it would lock up.

I do every once in a while get an email notification on the lock screen that isnt there. To clear it I have to power down the phone and the power it back on.

I'm from Brazil. Here this phone is named "Omnia W". After the lockups i've returned de phone and got a new one. The problem occured again. So I returned it for a full refund.

Can please someone confirm if this "solution" works?

If the phone is stuck and and I perform the steps decribed above will it unlock?

Thanks!

 

[waterboy15]

I'm from Brazil. Here this phone is named "Omnia W". After the lockups i've returned de phone and got a new one. The problem occured again. So I returned it for a full refund.

Can please someone confirm if this "solution" works?

If the phone is stuck and and I perform the steps decribed above will it unlock?

Thanks!

The solution above is preventative to stop the freezes from occurring. It will not unlock the phone once it freezes up.

 

[dflynn5]

Following up on the previous post, I agree with the idea that the proximity sensor is causing the lockup issues. I had noticed that most of my sporadic freezes occurred when I quickly removed my phone from my pocket after hearing a notification for my calendars or a text. I started waiting a couple seconds after the notification sound before removing my phone from my pocket pr picking it up from the table. This has nearly eliminated all of the freezes thus far.

I believe Samsung still needs to fix this issue with a firmware update. Until then, I suggest trying the delay method of checking notifications to see if it helps.

Thanks for everyone's contributions to this thread!

Excellent troubleshooting waterboy15 and theandresperson. This is exactly the issue. Thanks for posting.

 

[JayKeebs]

I'm thinking Samsung has a clue there is an issue, seeing is they just dropped price to .99$ with contract
So maybe they are working on a fix

 

[Eirenarch]

Hey everyone, just catching up after quite a break due to college finals.

What I have noticed about this model of WP, it seems that when you take the phone out of your pocket, it unlocks itself to the slide up screen (it uses the proximity sensor for this). What I have done to avoid this problem is let the phone vibrate or ring, take it out of my pocket, and allow the screen to light up. Usually, the phone will not lock up this way. Give it a try.

1. Cover your phone's proximity sensor or lay it on a flat surface face down.
2. Receive a test text message. Let the phone ring or vibrate for a second.
3. Lift the phone WITHOUT pressing any buttons!
4. The screen should light up and you should be allowed to flick the lock screen up.

So far I haven't had a lockup in about a week. It seems to be a bug with the proximity sensor and any of the buttons that unlock the phone working simultaneously.

I encourage everyone here to test it out, as it has worked for me. And please provide feedback! I'd like to see how well this works out with everyone here. I will also be contacting Samsung as soon as college finals are over.

Thanks everyone for chiming and helping out.

Regards,
Andres

So did you get the information to Samsung. Maybe they don't know why the phone locks up so they can patch the bug.

 

[nm.drums]

Freezing

Hello everyone,

I have been looking through this thread and I decided to make an account and post. I have been having the same issues with freezing. I chatted with a Samsung Tech Support Agent today, and he requested that I send this in so they can examine it.

He also stated that there are not many people having these problems, yet I have seen threads in numerous forums about this issue. Something needs to be done, as it is ridiculous that I have to restart my phone up to 10 times a day.

Has anyone actually sent their phone in to Samsung, and if they have, has the issue been resolved?

- Nate

 

[Kryptonian23]

New owner of Windows phone!

My friend works for att and he had to really talk me into getting this phone and ive only had it for 3 days and its doing that damn lock screen freeze up! I hope theres a way to fix it or at least hope their working on it.

 

[scottsimsa]

I see this problem has been originating more and more.. This issue needs to be resolved! I just got off the phone with a Samsung Tech as well.. 1st solution: Hard reset.. No thank you sir. 2nd solution: Send us your phone.. And be without a phone for weeks? Negative. I ended the call with, "Can you please just catalog this issue, when you get more calls in about it maybe then something will be done."

Samsung Tech support is no help but with enough call in's maybe we can bring this issue to attention!

Its obviously an issue with the proximity sensor on the front of the phone. I'll be trying the "Wait for the vibrating to stop" method before taking phone out of my pocket.. But this is such a lame, temporary solution..

 

[pierrejo233]

unbelievable

I just got the phone, the issue occurred three times within the first 24 hrs. It definitely has to do with pulling the phone too quickly out of your pocket. This issue is making me considering selling it back and getting the iPhone I was holding off on. So much for giving Windows a second chance.

 

[skimmiks]

I've had the focus flash for some months now. Seems that the physical home key is the main issue, though the proximity sensor may also be culpable. Anytime I received a text and then hit the home key on the lock screen when the notification pops up, the phone completely freezes. I now completely avoid the home key when receiving a text until I have unlocked my phone or until the notification disappears. I don't have the freezing issue anymore since I've started taking this precaution without having to wait 5 seconds or so after receiving a text like mentioned earlier in this thread.
If your focus flash does freeze, instead of having to take out the battery, just hold down the power key, volume down key, and home key together until the phone shuts down. Then you can turn it back on.

Sadly, I still haven't found any news on whether Samsung is planning to address this issue.

 

[bergermeister]

Possibly the center windows button

Hey everyone,

I was also receiving this issue for some time and it is quite frustrating. I did eventually figure out that, on my end at least, after receiving a text message I would press the center button with the windows logo (The home button I guess?) which would cause the freeze. I've been using the power button to turn on and off my screen which has not caused the screen to freeze since.

I'm not sure if it's the same cause for anyone else but thought I'd offer my two cents.

 

[theandresperson]

It may be a bit late for this (and I managed to figure this out quite a while ago), but try pressing the Start button with the proximity sensor covered. The screen shouldn't turn on and you shouldn't be able to unlock it. The Start button is being disabled when something is near the proximity sensor. I am going to assume that the software is to blame and a simple patch could fix this issue. Simply allowing the Start button to allow for a full unlock of the phone, or disabling it entirely, would save us all the frustration we have to deal with when we have this lock up occur. It looks like Samsung just hasn't given any time to having to deal with this situation (or with Windows Phone in general), and it's looking more like I'll be replacing my Flash with a Lumia device in the foreseeable future. As many of us may have noticed, Nokia is really trying to keep their customers happy.