Random Reboot (Pixel 7a)

aop · 7 Jan

With my newly set up Pixel 7a I suddenly experience random reboots. The Shutting Down Menu (with the buttons Emergency, Lockdown, power off, Restart) appears out of nowhere. Without pressing anything from my side, it starts rebooting.
It happened already during a phone call, in other moments while I was in different random apps.

Any idea what could cause this or how to trouble shoot?

(PS: totally new to GrapheneOS for about 1 week, liking it so far, but getting really frustrated with this reboots I have since today)

Dde0u · 7 Jan

aop The Shutting Down Menu (with the buttons Emergency, Lockdown, power off, Restart) appears out of nowhere. Without pressing anything from my side, it starts rebooting.

Is the phone in a case? If so, try without for a few days?

aop · 7 Jan

de0u no, i am not using a case. I don't even have a screen protector.

Dde0u · 7 Jan

aop Is the device recently purchased? Perhaps it has a defective power button. One possible experiment would be flashing back to Google's stock OS to see if there are problems with the power button then.

aop · 7 Jan

de0u I got it recently, but second hand. Did not have any issues initially. I also did not find any weird behaviour as I was "wiggling" or "softly pressing" the power button. First restart happened as it was laying on a flat surface and I was only pressing on the touch screen. Due to this it seemed more like software than a hardware issue. Since I'd like to avoid flashing it back, I'll keep an eye on it for the moment. But you're right, I probably will not have any other way to go if the issue persists.

aop · 20 Jan

the behaviour disappeared as suddenly as it appeared. not sure if an update somewhere in between did it, or if it actually was a user issue :-)

Dde0u · 20 Jan

aop Thanks for reporting back. I hope it keeps working!

mkjmkj · 30 Jan

@aop @de0u
I'm experiencing this exact problem on my Pixel 7, with or without cover. Power menu appears delayed when pressing power button, restarting randomly, even during booting something (not having entered PIN).
Power button does not look damaged. Feels okay, with the usual tactile response. I bought mine August 2023

Quite annoying. To the point where my phone is practically useless. :(

Also tried reflash panther-install-2025012700.zip onto it, effectively factory resetting it. No difference at all.

I managed to get a "adb logcat" output once before it randomly restarted. Haven't made much sense from it yet.

PP04 · 30 Jan

de0u Why using it in a case can cause problems ?
I have the same issue with a pixel 6. It worked fine for a year and then multiple reboot by day...

Dde0u · 31 Jan

mkjmkj I suggest describing the symptoms to a repair shop to see what they say.

Dde0u · 31 Jan

P04 Why using it in a case can cause problems?

If the case's external power button has an issue and thus partially presses the phone's power button, that could cause trouble.

A properly working case should not cause a problem. But also a properly working power button should also not cause a problem.

If there is a problem, something isn't working right, so if a case is in use then removing the case is a simple thing to try.

mkjmkj · 31 Jan

de0u
I have been using the phone without a protective case for a while now, and the issue seems to be triggered whenever I press the power button. So it seems to be broken, probably inside, some circuitry fault, from wear and tear over "long" enough time...

Maybe a repair shop is a good idea.