iPad 2 home button fail

@ NINERST

Your solution works fine with my ipad 2 v5.1. Its logical as well... OFF the multitasking.

Thank you very much.

Just bought it two days before & facing the same issue...

On the first day, the home button was flacky and now completly stopped working!

Tried reset and worked for couple of times. Then gone again 😟

Ok... I dropped my iPhone 4, and the home button stopped working. While I truly believe this is a software issue... I think a swift jarring can cause/fix the problem as well. I dropped it again and the home button was fine. Sensitive little bugger!!! I have griffin military cases on all my apple consumer products (2 iPad 2s, iPhone 4, iPod 4). For what it's worth...

I have the same problem. When I sent mine to apple for repair, they said the problem was due to misuse or accidental abuse on my part so it was not covered by my warranty. I am ******!

OMG ! mines just started doing that like recently maybe like yesterday but i think it worked perfectly all the way up until now >:( and now im trying to fix it and im ****** off

I have some info that may help out some of you guys.

I too was having this issue with the home button not working on my iPad 2 and after a few hours trying to figure out what was wrong I eventually discovered what the issue was.

Firstly, I tried the rotate whilst holding the home button method, then a restore from backup, then a complete restore and none of these worked! Having failed with this I began looking at the actual button and found that the problem was indeed a hardware issue and not a software.

I have attached a photo below to try and show exactly what the problem is:

If you look at the photo, the screen has come away slightly from the body on my iPad and this has created enough gap for the home button not to function. Pressing the screen back into the correct position allows the home button to function as expected.

My problem now is that my iPad 2 has just passed the 1 year warranty (sods law) and like many other idiots, I do not have the apple care plan!

Does anyone know if there is something that I could do to get the screen to stay in it's original position or am I looking at a replacement?

One other thing wrong with my screen is that there is an area that looks like it has moisture trapped in it, approximately 60mm x 20mm in size, located near the bottom R/H of the screen:

Does anyone know what this is? Or if it is related to the home button issue? It doesn't appear to be moisture and isn't really visible when using the iPad but I'm curious as to what is wrong with it.

Ok... It happened the same with my IPad 2. It seems a software problem.

My IPad is working after this!!:

Hold the iPad in front of you in landscape mode.

Push the button and keep it held while you gently rotate it to Portrait mode, then release.

See if you get any response: 1 out of 2 times, 1 out of 3, etc.

If that works, its ok. If it doesn’t, close all running aplications (On the screen, drag four fingers up simultaneously, then will appear running apps on the bottom display.... hold your finger on any app for 2 or 3 seconds -they start brittle-, then close them all). After that, lay the iPad gently on a hard, smooth surface, so there is even resistance. Push the button, hold it a little longer than normal, then gently release.

In my case, it worked after I closed all running applications! Good Luck!

Brilliant, it works!!!!! Thanks x

Worked like a charm. Seems like they could fix this if they wanted to! I noticed that the button only worked properly in landscape, so this fix made perfect sense.

Thanks for the tip.

I've had my ipad2 for a few months now and the home button just in the last week has started acting up. there are times when i close apps with 4 finger pinch but lots of times just want to use the home button and it's completely unresponsive. I'm really irritated about this - $450 and a few months and it's already going out??? ***??? SERIOUSLY APPLE??? And NOW to see all these other people having the same issue?? Hmm...I love my ipad2, but this fills me with a raging desire to ask for a partial refund back - GIVE US PARTIALLY WORKING TOYS YOU SHOULD TAKE PARTIAL PAYMENT.

what's interesting tho is that when using the home button to WAKE my ipad it works every time just fine without fail. anybody else gettin that too?

although i admit life without my ipad would leave me feelin a bit nekked, I'm actually contemplating just getting a full refund the more i think about it....i can live witout a malfunctioning toy just fine.....

crazy. it worked. home button functioning again. what the heck's THAT all about?????

wtfeverman wrote:

alhough i admit life without my ipad would leave me feelin a bit nekked, I'm actually contemplating just getting a full refund the more i think about it....i can live witout a malfunctioning toy just fine.....

Sorry, you can only get a refund within 14 days of purchase. Since you are a couple of months out your only course of action is to obtain warranty service. Seriously though, you are experiencing "rage" over a failing electronic device? Really? That's not normal. Anything made by man is imperfect and will fail. Apple is famous for its quality and customer service. They will make it good for you. Get a grip.

Hey, I like my iPad just fine (I had an iPad 1 before this), but dude, try reading the rest of the posts. This isn't a hardware failure, this is a software issue and they haven't made it good since the iPad 2 came out last year. Some poster earlier up even got told by the Apple Store that it was hardware, only to look at this site and find the simple fix shown above. That tells me they either can't figure out how to fix it or don't care.

This did the trick for me thanks heaps!!!!!

JARZZZZ - you nailed it!

I just opened an iPad2 brand new out of box. Home button was not working at all. Went through setup and then started reading some of these posts.

All of the other posts describe workarounds to "deal" with the problem, none of them addressed root cause for me except yours.

"I conclude that it was definitely a hardware issue in my situation. I could get the button to work if I simultaneously pushed hard below the home button every time, but as soon as I let go it stops working."

I also conclude in my case that it is a hardware problem. I squeezed the shell of the device below the home button and that and only that would make it work for me.

Will be taking it to an Apple Store for replacement.