Black screen and alarm issues following Marshmallow update

[dreamee]

Hi all,

I have a D5803 and since updating to Marshmallow I've been having a couple of issues. I was wondering if anyone else out there has been having the same problem/s.

1. A few moments after restarting the phone I experience a black screen. The only way to get the phone back is to hold down the power button until the Power off/Restart/Back/Home screen icons appear and then return to the home screen. This seems to happen only once, after turning on or restarting the phone.

2. The bigger issue. When the alarm goes off, it only shows the wallpaper, it doesn't show the alarm, or the snooze button, or the swipe to turn off icon. The only way to turn the alarm off is to hold down the power button until Power off/Restart shows and then restart the phone. Interestingly, this glitch doesn't occur when I take the phone out of its case; out of the case, the alarm seems to work fine, but when returned to the case, the issue returns. If I set the side keys to dismiss, it will dismiss the alarm and the phone returns to normal - but I don't always want to dismiss the alarm, some mornings I want to snooze, so this doesn't really solve the problem for me.

I attempted a software repair with Bridge/Companion, but the softwares seem to have issues with my set-up, I'm unable to either update or repair using either Bridge or Companion.

I'd love to hear if anyone else has had these problems, particularly the one with the alarm, Sony online chat support just said that there have been no issues reported regarding the update to Marshmallow.

[Qatrium]

@dreamee

This can be a 3rd party app acting up, can you restart your phone in safe mode and test if both issues still happen?

Also what type of case you're using?

[dreamee]

Thanks for your message.

I've actually reverted back to Lollipop now, and am not keen to go through the whole process of updating and reverting and setting up again. When I do update again, if I encounter the same issue I will try booting in safe mode to see if the problem persists. I'm just going to wait until another update comes out before I try again. I did do a factory reset while I still had MM installed, which didn't help.

Also, I'm just using the clock app that came with the phone, I haven't downloaded any others.

As for the case, it is below, I bought it from Etsy. It has two plastic brackets down the full length of each side, the top and bottom of the phone are free. I understand this issue occurred with the Roxfit cases years ago? What was the solution in that instance, just buying another case?

Many thanks for your help!

 

[calime33]

Hi dreamer,

I had similar issue to yours - 11 month old Z3 compact, working fine until mm update, then experiencing black screen when ending calls and similar problems with the alarm, plus alarm not playing and getting black screen when alarm was set to play in do not disturb mode. I used a case similar to yours and a gorilla glass screen protector since the time I bought the phone. After the issue occurred, I googled around and tried several fixes - removed the screen protector, checked the proximity sensor (it tested OK) etc. Achieved a workaround - pressed power off button once when black screen occurred, which in addition to power of/restart/screenshot options gave me arrows down on the edge of the screen, used home or back arrow and that worked. And then two days ago I found out that if I remove the phone from my flip case, the issue does not occur. Put phone back in the case, tested - black screen when calling, no alarm button. Took phone out - no problem. So I have to assume that whereas the case was OK before, now it is either blocking some sensors or some sensor is perhaps starting to give up the ghost. Tried with original Sony flip cower with screen in the middle (which I dislike) - no black screen issue. Have with sadness retired my good leather flip case and using the flimsy ugly Sony one now, but at least no black screen.

[dreamee]

Hi calime33,

On another forum, someone found a fix by going to Settings>Sound & notification>Notification access>Turn OFF Style Cover.

Would you mind testing this with your phone/good flip cover and seeing if it fixes the issue and let us know?

Many thanks.

[calime33]

Hi,

this fix - turning off Style Cover notification access - was one of the things I tried and that did not work for me. I have since repeatedly tried and using the flip case causes the black screen issue to return, and not using it means there is no issue. BTW, I don't even have the Style Cover app, because when i bought the phone I did not like the Sony cover for which you need the app and I have a personal preference for the clock to show on the top 1/3 of the screen

I have resorted to using the phone without any cover at home - and being annoyed and careful, as it's slippery - and using different cases when going outside. Probably going to keep using the good flip case at work still, as my work is of a kind where my phone needs to be protected and I cannot take calls while working anyway, so ...

[calime33]

...oh, and also cannot be 100% sure, but it seems to me that the flip case having plastic side brackets might be the dealbreaker for the phone now - no matter that the case was actually made for Sony Z3 Compact - because other cases without any pressure on the long sides seem to be fine, so far. Of course it might just be the case of some sensor hardware degenerating slowly, but...

[dreamee]

I see. Thanks for updating. Very disappointing. I guess I'll just stick with Lollipop for a while still. I just wish I could get rid of the "update available" notification

[Sascha73]

Hey there, i have the same problems. If the mobile isn't in the case there are no problems.

perhaps it's the magnet build in the case - so some sensors have a malfunction

[dreamee]

My case doesn't have a magnet. calime33 seems to indicate that case brackets along the long sides of the phone are what is causing the issue, as cases without long-side brackets don't cause the problem. Does your case have brackets along the long side of the phone? Do you have a case with brackets only at the corners or at the top/bottom of the phone that you could test?