Troubleshooting Motorola Atrix Problems

Keypad Problems

One of the most common Motorola Atrix complaints is the keypad not responding to your touches. This may be a sign of damage to the phone, which would require you to contact Motorola to arrange a repair, but there are a few things you can try first before you have to resort to that.

First, check if the keypad lock is on. To do this, look for the lock icon on the phone’s display. When you find it, press it with your finger and slide your finger up. If the keypad is locked, this unlocks it.

If that does not work, tap a key on the keypad – try any key if the entire keypad is not responding, or the problem key if only one key is not responding. If it still does not respond, tap the key up to twenty more times. If it still does not respond, move on to the next step.

A power cycle is another option. To do this, turn the phone off and wait for it to power down completely. When it does, remove the Atrix’s battery from the back of the phone. Re-insert the battery and power up the phone. Once the phone is powered on completely, try pressing the problem key (or any key if the entire pad is causing you problems).

The final step you should take before sending the phone in for repairs is to perform a factory reset. However, because this procedure wipes out everything you have added to the phone since the first time you turned it on, this should be a last resort. See the section on “Resetting the Phone” for the procedure.

Wi-Fi Connection Problems

Another complaint with the Motorola Atrix is trouble with the Wi-Fi connection, such as the phone being unable to establish a connection with a wireless network or constant connection drop-outs.

One option if unable to connect your Atrix to Wi-Fi is to have the phone “forget” the connection. Press “Menu” and select “Settings” and “Wireless & networks.” Touch the name of the network you are trying to connect to and hold your finger there. When a new menu pops up, touch the “Forget network” option. After doing this, re-scan for networks and see if your phone can connect.

If that does not work, re-enter the key on your phone to make sure that it matches up with the key that has been configured for your router.

Another step to try is to unplug your router and power the phone down. Once the phone is completely powered down, plug the router back in. Wait for at least one minute and then turn the phone back on.

For a connection that is constantly dropping, check your phone’s Wi-Fi sleep policy. Press “Menu” and choose “Settings.” Select “Wireless & networks,” “Menu,” “Advanced” and finally “Wi-Fi sleep policy.” If not already set to the option, choose the “Never” option.

It is also possible that your phone is simply too far away from the source of the router’s signal or the overall signal is just too weak. Check the signal bar to see the status of your signal strength. If it is low, move to a location closer to your router and wait until the signal strengthens.

Resetting the Phone

If you are experiencing frequent freezing of the Atrix, it could be a sign of a corrupted application or program. If something like this happens, you may be forced to perform a factory reset of the phone. This completely erases all the information you added to the phone since you turned it on for the first time and should only be used as a last resort.

Because the factory reset is such an extreme measure, you will want to try a soft reset first to see if that works. A soft reset is a simple reset of the phone that does not erase all your important information. To perform a soft reset, press the “Power” button and hold it. Touch “Power off” on the screen. Once the phone has completely powered down, press and hold “Power” again and let go when the phone turns on.

In the event a soft reset does not work, a factory reset is your only option. Press the “Menu” button on the left of the screen and select “Settings.” Scroll down and select “Privacy” and check the boxes next to “Back up my data” and “Automatic restore.” This will save important information so it does not get lost during the reset process. Touch the “Factory Data Reset” option and select “Reset Phone.” It could take up to ten minutes for the reset process to complete.

It is possible that the screen is permanently frozen, leaving you unable to access the options you need to perform a factory reset. In such a case, you can perform an external manual reset. Power down the phone and, once it is completely powered down, press and hold the volume down button. While still holding the volume down button, press the power button to turn the phone on. When the “Fastboot” screen appears, use the volume down key to scroll through the options until you come across “Android Recovery.” Press the volume up key.

Wait for the “triangle/Android” screen to appear. When it does, tap the bottom-right of the screen until a menu pops up. Select the “wipe data/factory reset” option and tap “OK.” Tap “Yes” when the warning screen appears, then tap “OK” again and the phone reboots.

While this covers the majority of Motorola Atrix problems, please do let us know if you have any other issues in the comments section below.

References

motorola.com - Motorola Atrix Product Support - https://www.motorola.com/Support/US-EN/Consumer-Support/Mobile-Phones/Motorola+ATRIX_4G

att.deviceanywhere.com - Motorola Atrix soft reset - https://att.deviceanywhere.com/MotorolaAtrix/tutorials/9289

Motorola Atrix image courtesy of Motorola.com