White screen persists after restore

Question

Level 1

8 points

White screen persists after restore

Hello,

I just had my iPhone screen replaced, and it appears to be entirely functional. The apple logo is displayed upon bootup, and initially I was able to write a text message, so touch input should be OK too. However, after updating the firmware as suggested by iTunes, the iPhone freezes in a "white screen of death" ("wsod"). Before that, flickering lines are observed. When this occurs, the only option appears to be restarting by hold home+sleep for 10 seconds.

iTunes does not recognize the unit, unless it is turned on in restore mode (having the iPhone turned off, holding Home, inserting the USB connector, continuing to hold Home until the iTunes logo is displayed.) In restore mode, it can be reset to factory settings and updated through iTunes, but the white screen problem persists even after the update.

This iPhone is not jail-broken, but has had a 3rd party replace the screen. However, as explained the screen seems to be working, and I believe that I'm dealing with a software problem. Does anyone have any ideas?

iPhone 3G, Mac OS X (10.6.3), 16GB

Posted on May 1, 2010 6:46 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Allan Sampson

Level 10

123,683 points

May 1, 2010 9:20 AM in response to Recryl

If no change after restoring the iPhone with iTunes as a new iPhone or not from the iPhone's backup, more than likely this is not a software problem.

I would contact the 3rd party that replaced the screen. There may be a hardware problem that has nothing to do with the screen.

Reply

Answer 2

Recryl Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 16, 2010 2:24 PM in response to Allan Sampson

I read somewhere on the web that letting the iPhone run out of battery and just leaving it for a few days would fix this problem. As a man of science I had no hopes of this working, but having exhausted every other solution suggestion, I gave it a try.

I let the iPhone run out of battery (easy, because the bright "white screen of death" eats a lot of battery), and then made sure that it was absolutely empty by turning it on a few more times. Then I put it in the drawer for three days. When I then fully charged it and turned it on, it was actually working! I didn't believe it.

First time it went back on, it lasted for about 48 hours, then the problem returned. I tried the typical things until I gave up and tried the "drawer method" again. I still like to consider it coincidence, because it sounds so unlikely, but when I turned it on a few days later, it was working again. This time it worked for more than a week, untill the "white screen of death" returned. I was about to get rid of my iPhone, because having a phone that dies once a week for a few days is no good. However, when I picked it up from my drawer a few days later, it was all good. I havn't had any problems for more than a month now, and I'm pretty sure it's gone.

The cause seems as mysterious as the solution. If anyone else tries this far-out solution with succes, please post it here (just to prove that my drawer isn't magical!)

Good luck to anyone with this problem
Kristian

Reply