Examples of Restarting Problem
1. Restarting while selecting a particular option in settings.
This is a situation that I faced recently in my Android phone. One week before my phone was rebooting unnecessarily while I am selecting the option 'Accounts & Synchronization' in the 'settings' section of the phone. For some day I tried to figure out what the problem is?. At last I found that it was due to one app that I have installed in my phone previously. The name of the application was 'Quip IM '. This was an instant chatting app for Sametime chat client users. Actually the problem with this application is that there is a synchronize option in this application. But it was not working properly. In the 'Account & Synchronization' section there was a sync option added by this app also. Actually it was causing the restart of the phone while I was selecting the option. After I uninstalled this app, phone was working again smoothly.
Such problems usually comes in other Android phones also. Actually the cause of such problem is usually some misbehaving apps. As Android is providing full access to system by apps, they can override system operations. So it is better to read what privileges the app require before installing.
2. Randomly rebooting unable to find any particular situation
This is the worst rebooting problem to find a solution. This is almost similar to a doctor treating a disease, it will be much easier to find a solution if you have figured out what is the cause of restarting. Earlier I had a problem in my Galaxy 5 phone. Being one of the first phone in galaxy series and a low priced one, RAM was very less in this phone. only 180MB RAM was there and it was running in Android 2.1. It occasionally reboots. For example while opening gallery and zooming some pictures. While keeping some two or three apps running simultaneously. Such situations indicate that it is reboots when the RAM is exhausted. Being a low RAM device, it does not have enough RAM to run many apps. So while using heavy apps and many apps simultaneously my phone restarts. Later I almost solved this problem. While opening gallery, there was restarting problem. This is because the default gallery app is heavy. So I started using QuickPic an app available in android market instead of the default gallery app. It is less memory consuming and fast. Also I hid the default app from the menu using a launcher app called Launcher Pro, so that even my friends who is using my phone will not take the default gallery app but the custom QuickPic app only. The second problem was rebooting while many apps are running simultaneously. I started using task killing apps like advanced task killer to keep a track on what apps are running in my Android phone and I started killing unnecessary apps. Now the restarting problem is very limited
How to solve restarting problem?
So from the discussion so far, we have found that the major problem causing restart in android phones is the apps that we install from different sources. This is due to releasing apps for download without completely testing app. So to solve the phone restarting problem first step is to find what is causing(or which app is causing) the restart problem?
Types of phone restart (Complete and only software)
First step in finding the cause of restart is to find out whether it is due to hardware problem or software problem. If the restarting is due to hardware problem, while rebooting the phone will restart completely showing the initial flash display of hardware manufacturer logo. For example if it is a Samsung phone, it will display Samsung logo while restarting completely. If the random reboot is such full restart you can assume that the problem is due to hardware problems mainly
If while rebooting manufacturer's logo is not shown, it is a software reboot only. That is, your phone is not completely rebooting, but only the android operating system is rebooting. Such software problems are mainly due to the installation of apps having problems.
Finding the cause of restart
After finding whether the restart is complete or only android operating system reboot, you can think about solving the problem. If it is an android OS restart, first step in solving is to find what is causing the restart?.
Solve Operating system level reboot
The fist step to find the cause of restart. Restarting occurs mainly when the CPU usage by apps exceed a limit, so that system functions are unable to perform. First step is to find out which app is consuming so much CPU power. There are certain apps providing a log of operations in phone. For example apps like watchdog, aLogCat etc will provide a log about system activities. Also in watchdog app there is provision to get alert when the CPU usage exceeds a limit. By checking the log you can find which app is causing the restart. Just uninstall the app. Then you are saved.
If by doing this step problem is not solved, you will need to uninstall from the last app that you have installed. After uninstalling each app, check whether the problem is solved. If the problem persists even after uninstalling all apps, there is only one option remaining. It is to reset the phone to factory settings. A reset option will be available in the settings. Depending on the manufacturers, it can be found under different sections under settings. Also remember to take a back up of contacts and important files that you want for future. Also remember not to take backup of all apps. If you install these apps again after resetting, the problem may come back again. So collect those apps from internet via android market after resetting.
Solve Complete reboot showing manufacturer's logo
In most of such cases, the problem will be with hardware. In order to solve this problem, it will be better to approach an authorized service center. Also some apps that are very malicious may cause complete reboots showing manufacturer's logo. So you can try uninstalling apps, and resetting the phone as specified for operating system level reboots.
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