tldr : what can be done against random reboots of a Fairphone 2, and how long is the battery supposed to last ?
I suppose these topics have been discussed 1000+ times already, but I just have to ask…
I recently got a Fairphone 2, flashed LineageOS 18.1 with MicroG on it, and rooted it with Magisk.
I have random reboots on it, sometimes up to three per day.
Also, how long should it hold with one charge ? Is it normal that after getting a new battery, I need to charge it twice a day if I use it to watch videos during a commute ?
Sorry again if this has been done already, but it’s just such a nice device, I would hate it if I couldn’t use it because of these issues
The FP2 is known to be very thirsty, indeed. Some things that might play a role in your case: The (likely) simultaneous double load of streaming and HD (?) video playback and (perhaps) encryption of the device.
One easy thing to check regarding reboots: The battery bay was a tiny bit too long on some FP2s, so the battery might lose contact from sudden movements. Try if you can force such an interruption when the back of the FP2 is open, by trying to move the battery away from the contacts at its top end. If you think that’s the case in your FP2, you might fold some slim paper and bolster up the space between the battery’s bottom end and the end of the battery bay.
You might also have a look at the #rebootsguide although what @urs_lesse mentioned would be the easiest fix if the long bay is the problem in your case.
Thanks for your answers.
While the small battery doesn’t help, it can be circumvented with a portable battery I guess… But those random reboots aren’t getting any better
I saw that guide already, but removing the sim and sd card, changing the charging cable, reflashing the OS anew does not help… I couldn’t trigger one by moving the battery either, and it doesn’t seem to be that, since the screen freezes before a restart.
Could it happen due to overheating ?
I doubt that overheating directly causes the reboots. In very rare cases my phone manages to reboot while idling around, most often it happens while I do some basic stuff like browsing the web. It never is really hot when it’s doing this. Fortunately it’s not quite often in general, then it can be twice or 3x a day again, so I think I at least partly know what it means if it happens much more often. If overheating is a reason then maybe only because it causes harm to the components in the long run - but that’s really hard to say and would first require a better understanding of what makes the phone restart. If we knew this we could start looking at why the particular component does this in some phones but not in others. But that’s definitely hard to debug…
I also experience random reboots with my FP2. Mostly every time the phone has been connected to the charger for some time while fully loaded. I had tried most solutions mentioned at #rebootsguide without much luck. Due to an encryption error a few months ago I had to do a full factory reset though and at first that did the trick. Unfortunately the reboots are coming back.
I am starting to have a sneaking suspicion it has something to do with my SIM and/or provider. This is why:
After a switch in network and or provider it has trouble reconnecting to 4G. I see this after I have used WiFi, after I have used the telephone, when using a different provider on vacation. Turning on flight mode for a couple of minutes helps to reconnect to 4G.
Using the system backup from Google seems to trigger a reboot. After charging for a certain amount of time this service automatically connects to Google Drive though WiFi and thus switches networks.
KPN only uses 4G/5G now and the FP2 has problems with VoLTE. So every time I place or answer a call it switches back and forth between E and 4G (btw whatsapp calls do use 4G, Teams calls don’t). I don’t recall exactly, but the problem seemed to have started around the time KPN discontinued 3G.
I am looking in a way to make Android system backups without using Google drive, because they don’t have the option to only manually create backups. I hope that will eliminate one cause.
Just in case you aren’t aware of this yet:
this type of reboots may often be averted by briefly pushing the power button when an app freezes, turning the screen off – then on again after a few seconds.
