topic Re: Xperia Z auto-rotate not working in Z Series

Xperia Z auto-rotate not working

Toxxyc — Mon, 24 Mar 2014 09:59:19 GMT

So my phone is only a few months old. A few weeks ago the auto-rotate stopped working for a while, but it fixed itself so I ignored the issue.

However, it's back. This time, it's been like this for 3 days and the problem isn't getting fixed. I've tried:

Turning Auto-Rotate on/off

Hard resetting the phone (volume key + power button)

Factory Resetting the phone

Restarting the phone with auto-rotate on/off

To no avail. Now:

Don't tell me to download a third party app, I refuse. There were no updates involved before the issue started. The gyro sensor works - when I use the camera the controls rotate as needed - the problem only exists in things like WhatsApp (or anywhere I have to use the keyboard), the Album, etc. It is a huge issue for me as I use my phone a lot for photo viewing and texting, and the keyboard is too small for me to use in Portrait mode.

Please, any help? Sending the phone in to my service provider is a mess as they don't give loan phones and sometimes they keep the thing for up to 6 weeks. Anything else I can try? I'm starting to become incredibly disappointed in Sony. If this problem extends to my Xperia Tablet Z as well I'll be very, very disappointed indeed!

Re: Xperia Z auto-rotate not working

Alexander1 — Tue, 25 Mar 2014 14:33:24 GMT

Hi and welcome to the community! Since you're new please be sure that you have checked out our Discussion guidelines.

I would suggest that you try to boot your phone into safe mode to see if the problem may be related to any 3rd party app that you have installed in your phone:

http://talk.sonymobile.com/t5/FAQ/How-to-boot-your-phone-into-safe-mode/m-p/348008#U348008

You can also try to calibrate the accelerometer and gyroscope if you open the dialer > *#*#7378423#*#* > calibrations.

Re: Xperia Z auto-rotate not working

Toxxyc — Wed, 26 Mar 2014 06:45:30 GMT

Hi,

First off, thanks for the reply. Appreciate it! Then, I ran the calibration stuffs and everything is working fine.

Booting into Safe Mode did fix the problem while in Safe Mode. I don't know what happened or why, but I just rebooted back into normal mode and everything is fixed. So yeah. You're the best, if you were here with me in South Africa I'd buy you a beer. Or a lion. Maybe a giraffe.

I kid. Thank for you help man, I appreciate it!

Re: Xperia Z auto-rotate not working

Alexander1 — Fri, 04 Apr 2014 15:40:35 GMT

Glad to hear that it solved your problem!

Re: Xperia Z auto-rotate not working

Toxxyc — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 12:28:04 GMT

Yeah so guess who's back? The problem was gone for a while, but it's back - this time intermittently. Sometimes the phone rotates, other times it refuses. It's annoying as **bleep**. Is there not some way to fix this completely? Is this a software or hardware issue? It went gaga right after the big software update, I'm sorry to say...

Re: Xperia Z auto-rotate not working

Alexander1 — Mon, 28 Apr 2014 10:17:21 GMT

Hi,

Sorry to hear that. In that case i suggest that you try to reinstall/repair the phone software using PC Companion:

http://www.sonymobile.com/update

In PC Companion, press start on Support Zone > Start on Update the phone/tablet software > Press the blue link that says "Repair phone/tablet".

Before repairing the software in your device you may want to backup your information first. Check out this topic for more information on how to:
http://talk.sonymobile.com/t5/FAQ/Backup-amp-Transfer/m-p/407253#U407253

Re: Xperia Z auto-rotate not working

leady187 — Fri, 25 Jul 2014 13:30:33 GMT

I too have had this problem. I thought it was a 3rd party app so used the pc companion to repair the problem. But to no avail. The problem came back within half an hour so I can only put the problem down to the kit kat update. My phone was fine until I updated.

Re: Xperia Z auto-rotate not working

KevSp — Fri, 25 Jul 2014 14:09:44 GMT

That's exactly where I am as well.

Haven't changed my software load but the 4.4.4 update stopped auto-rotate

Re: Xperia Z auto-rotate not working

Pelleman — Sat, 26 Jul 2014 06:14:03 GMT

I had the same issue, it could act up a second, a hundred times a day. Then it stopped working a whole day. Now it's fine. Very random and confusing. It's not a calibration thing, it either works or it doesn't.

Re: Xperia Z auto-rotate not working

leady187 — Sun, 27 Jul 2014 17:41:39 GMT

In only on the 4.4.2 update. And it's still not working. Thinking of unlocking boot loader and installing custom firmware and see if that sorts the problem. Has anyone done this and had results? just before I go try.

Re: Xperia Z auto-rotate not working

Pelleman — Sun, 27 Jul 2014 20:14:41 GMT

Try stock 4.2.2, it's pretty solid. No need to unlock bootloader if you stick to a stock rom. Google flashtool, it's fairly easy to use. Don't forget to make a backup of your current rom.

Re: Xperia Z auto-rotate not working

leady187 — Mon, 28 Jul 2014 22:42:57 GMT

Flashed the 4.4.2 stock on my phone using flashtool. It's looking good so far. Thanks for the advice. I'll keep you updated to weather or not it worked.

Re: Xperia Z auto-rotate not working

leady187 — Tue, 29 Jul 2014 13:41:52 GMT

12 hours it lasted. Same thing happened again. Accelerometer and gyroscope stopped working. Can't understand why. Is it possible to flash an earlier android version? 4.3 or something around that.

Re: Xperia Z auto-rotate not working

Pelleman — Tue, 29 Jul 2014 18:46:04 GMT

Like I said, try Android 4.2.2. Build 10.3.1.A.2.67 worked pretty well for me, no accelerometer issues. It still might be faulty hardware and needs to be sent away for service.

Re: Xperia Z auto-rotate not working

leady187 — Tue, 29 Jul 2014 19:39:15 GMT

Sorry I misread. Thought you said 4.4.2. I'll give it a try. Thanks again.

Re: Xperia Z auto-rotate not working

leady187 — Wed, 30 Jul 2014 12:38:19 GMT

Awesome, it's working great. Thank you very much. Just got to put up with it telling me about a new update now. Lol

Re: Xperia Z auto-rotate not working

leady187 — Thu, 31 Jul 2014 12:26:33 GMT

Disaster, I opened my camera app and it rebooted my phone. Flashed 4.2.2 again and Same thing happened. Upgraded to 4.3 and it wouldn't even boot up. Just kept getting so far then rebooting. Flashed 4.4.2 back on it and no rotation issue for almost a day. Then it happened again. Gonna unlock bootloader and install cm11 see if that helps. My warrenty had expired Anyway.

Re: Xperia Z auto-rotate not working

leady187 — Sun, 31 Aug 2014 17:39:07 GMT

I finally got around to unlocking my bootloader, I'm gutted. It can't be unlocked. I found a method of fixing the problem. But need to boot into recovery mode. I've tried almost every method I've found on Google. (about 7 methods) and still no luck. It just boots up as normal everytime. Can anyone shed some light into why this is not working?

Re: Xperia Z auto-rotate not working

shauncoyle88 — Wed, 10 Sep 2014 18:25:13 GMT

I have same problem using update firmware 4.4.4 never had the problem before last update, it's a relatively new phone so about time Sony got their act together to fix the problem it's obviously software related and a bug in the last update

Re: Xperia Z auto-rotate not working

brettflint — Fri, 16 Jan 2015 21:36:53 GMT

I fixed my auto rotate issues by disabling and re-enabling 'Google voice typing'

You can find it under Settings > Language & input.

If it works for you please let me know.

I'm hoping this bug is resolved with the upcoming Android L (Lollipop 5.0 5.1) update coming in February / March