CompTIA A+ 220-1201 (5.4 - Troubleshooting Mobile Devices)

Poor battery health

Replace aging battery

- There's only so many recharges

• Bad reception

- Always searching for signal

- Airplane mode on the ground

• Disable unnecessary features

- 802.11 wireless, Bluetooth, GPS

• Check application battery usage

- iOS and iPadOS: Settings/Battery

- Android: Settings/Battery

Swollen battery

• Buildup of gas

- Designed to self-contain

- Do NOT open the battery packet/container

- Significant fire risk

- You'll be sorry

• Faulty battery

- Stop using immediately

- Dispose of properly

• Device can be damaged

- Better than having a fire

Broken screen

• Time for a backup - Do this first!

• Replace the screen - No easy fixes

• The glass is sharp

- Screen protectors can help

- Use clear tape until repaired

Improper charging

• Check everything in the charging process

- Cables, interfaces

• Check the cable interface

- Remove any obstructions

• Check the cable

- Don't use frayed or damaged cables

- Try a known-good cable

• Verify the power adapter

- Check with a multimeter

Poor or no connectivity

• Cellular or Wi-Fi

- Location, location, location

• Cellular

- Signal strength

- Location matters

- Outdoor connectivity may be better

• Wi-Fi

- Limited range

- Interference can limit throughput

- May need a channel/frequency configuration change

Liquid damage

• Many phones have a Liquid Contact Indicator (LCI)

- Turns color when liquid has been present

• Power down the phone

- Don't power it back on. Don't do it.

• Remove the case, cards, back, and battery

- If possible

• Putting the phone in a bag of rice doesn't

actually work very well

- Silica gel is better

• Leave it alone

- Don't turn it on

- Do not charge the phone

- Don't connect it to power

- Don't press any keys

- Don't heat the phone

- Don't move it around

• Wait at least a day

- Or until the phone appears to be dry

- And then perhaps a few hours after that

• Once you're sure, power it on

- Hope for the best

Overheating

• Phone will automatically shut down

- Avoid overheating damage

• Charging/discharging the battery, CPU usage,

display light

- All of these create heat

• Check app usage

- Some apps can use a lot of CPU

• Avoid direct sunlight

- Quickly overheats

Digitizer issues

• Touchscreen completely black or

not responding to input

- Screen presses do not register

• Apple iOS reset

- Press power button, slide to power off,

press power button

- Hold down power button and Home|Volume

for 10 seconds

• Android device restart

- Remove battery, put back in, power on

- Hold down power and volume down until restart

- Some phones have different key combinations

- Some phones do not have a key-based reset

Physically damaged ports

• External interface

- Charging and data transfer

• Rough handling and accidents

- Damages the interface

• Not charging

- Look closely

• Not modular

- Requires a system board replacement

Malware

• Always a concern

- Even on mobile devices

- The device type doesn't matter

• Look for symptoms

- Unusual apps

- Large data transfers

- Pop up messages

- High CPU usage, device overheating

- Excessive battery use

• Try a security app or scanner

- Identify malware infections

Cursor drift

• Random input or cursor moves without touching the device

- Common on older screens

• Use a touch calibration app

- Requires user input

- Touch certain areas of the screen

• The system will adjust to the new calibration parameters

- No more drift

Unable to install new applications

• Available space

- Check storage capacity and delete unnecessary data

• Network connectivity

- Apps are downloaded from an external resource

• OS or app compatibility

- Upgrade the operating system and check for an

updated application version

• Store cache or user credentials

- Clear the Google Play Store cache or check

iCloud username and password

- Logout and log back in

Stylus does not work

• Power

- Check the stylus battery charge and recharge if necessary

• Bluetooth connectivity

- Check the connection and try re-pairing

• Stylus hardware issue

- A stylus can suffer through a lot of physical wear

- Check the tip and see if a tip replacement would apply

• Restart the device

- Resets the operating system, the network, and

everything else

Degraded performance

• Outdated OS and app software

- Time to upgrade and restart

• Low storage

- Slowdowns and crashes

• Hardware issues

- Bad RAM or storage drive

• Excessive background apps

- Excessive memory usage - try closing some apps

• Outdated hardware

- New apps may not support older hardware