Motorola Atrix HD will not power on

Has your Motorola Atrix HD stopped responding? Is your Atrix HD frozen on a lit up black screen as though the screen is getting power but will not turn on? Will the phone not power on? Is it completely dead? Here is a tip that can fix it in less than 25 seconds.

Sometimes the Motorola ATRIX HD (MB886) OS 4.0-4.1 just gets a little confused and doesn’t want to work. On most other Android phones you would just pull out the battery count to 10 put it back in and then be good to go.

But guess what… you can’t pull the battery out of the Motorola Atrix HD, thankfully Motorola (my 2nd favorite Android manufacture) built in a solution.

Before we start getting into troubleshooting make sure that you have tried to hold the power button down for 15 seconds to see if there is any response.

Also try and charge the phone with the original charger that came with the phone. If the battery of the device has drained to zero percent then it can take a few minutes to a couple of hours for your battery to start charging correctly again.

If you have tried holding the power key and have already tried charging it with its original charger and there is still no response, then proceed to the next part of these instructions.

What you need to do is a Simulated Battery Pull.

Here is how you do it

  • Step 1: Make sure that the power is completely off. I know it doesn’t want to turn on and that’s part of the problem but make sure that the phone is not plugged into a charger either. Note: if the keys on the bottom of the device are lit then the phone is on, if there aren’t any lights currently showing or lit up then don’t worry about whether your phone is on or off, simply proceed to step 2.
  • Step 2: Hold the Volume Down button and then the power button and continue to hold these 2 keys for 20 sec (count out loud it could take 15-30 sec).
  • Step 3: The phone should power cycle, powering back on to full.
  • Step 4: Enjoy, your phone should now be working 100% and you should be good to go. If it happens again just do the same thing.
  • Step 5: if it didn’t go through then try it again. Seriously try it a couple times this should fix the issue, if not proceed to the next step.

If the simulated battery pull doesn’t fix the issue and the Atrix HD still doesn’t power on or it’s still showing a black screen then the problem might be more serious.

Try this instead

  • Step 1: Make sure the power is completely off and that the phone is NOT plugged into a charger, just like we did before.
  • Step 2: This time instead of the Volume Down key use the Volume Up key. Hold the Volume Up and the Power key simultaneously for 20 seconds and see if anything pops up on the screen.
  • Step 3: Release the Volume Up and Power keys if/when you get any response.
  • Step 4: If you get some options then use the volume down key to cycle through your choices. Look for an option to restart or reboot. (don’t do the wipe data/factory reset option… yet… that’s kind of a last resort)
  • Step 4: Once the option is selected use the power key to make the selection.
  • Step 5: The phone should reboot and you should be good to go.

If it doesn’t, which it should, proceed with the second method again but select the wipe data/factory reset option mentioned in Step 4 above. The Reset is going to wipe everything from the phone and if it is a software bug that’s causing these issues then it will fix it. It will wipe everything from the phone though (good and bad) so use this as a LAST resort.

If the keys on the bottom of the phone are lighting up and or you seem to be getting messages or calls but you just can’t see anything on your screen then chances are high that your display malfunctioned and will need to be replaced.

I suggest you look into Filing a Warranty Claim, or if you have physical or liquid damage or are out of warranty by date (if your phones over a year old) look into these other options.

Enjoy

Enjoy your working phone. If this has helped you in any way shape or form, whether it saved you from being phoneless for a couple weeks while the manufacture repaired your phone or just being phoneless for a week while AT&T sent you a warranty replacement, or just saved you the headache of being without a phone at all then help me help others by linking back to this page in some way. This helps search engines see how helpful this article is and allows this article to rank higher in the search results.

You can mention it on your Facebook, or post a few tweets about it, or use many of the other social methods available today.

Enjoy your phone, don’t hesitate to check out some of the other content on the site, make sure your using that memory card slot on your phone should it really malfunction that way you don’t lose any important information and remember not to listen to music from your phone while in the shower.

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109 thoughts on “Motorola Atrix HD will not power on”

    1. If you cannot tell if the phone is on then don’t worry about it

      If the screen is black, and the keys on the bottom of the phone are not lit. Then don’t worry about whether it’s turned off. Just make sure it’s not plugged into a charger and the simulated battery pull should restart your Motorola Atrix HD and get it working correctly again.  

    2. sudden power down
      We bought a used axtrx hd and have had to pull the sim out and put it back in 2x in the week and a half my wife has had the phone. Has anyone else had the same issue? If that is all it takes once a week to take care of a power down that’s ok. We just wonder if we should contact the seller we bought it from on ebay to tell him what’s going on, in case it’s a more serious problem.

    3. My phone would not turn
      My phone would not turn on and I was freaking out since I work construction and get 20-30 calls a day. This tip worked perfectly thank you!

  1. Motorola Atrix HD not coming up
    I have tried all the available options listed here and that did not work. You know what worked like a charm: Charging the phone with the original charger that came with the phone DID IT!! After trying all the options of key combinations I just plugged in the original charger that came with the phone. and charged the phone for 15 mins. It is always the best idea to use chargers provided by the phone vendors as much as possible atleast in case of Atrix HD

    1. Terrific Suggestion

      Great point hopefull12, your 100% correct. I even went back and edited the article. If you accidently drain your smartphones battery to 0% (try not to let it drain to zero, it’s bad for the battery) then make sure to try and charge it for a little while to see if you can get a response and see if you can get your battery to start taking a charge again. Using the original charger that came with the phone, or a manufacture approved charger is always the best idea as well.

  2. ATRIX HD Motorola
    WOW,THANK U FOR HELP… MY ATRIX SCREEN JUST WENT BLACK AND I HAD NO IDEA WHAT THE PROBLEM WAS,,,, BUT I TRIED UR (RESET)METHOD & IT ACTUALLY WORKED,THANK U-

  3. When I turn my phone off and
    When I turn my phone off and press the wolume + button and the power button. My phone boots up and shows a dead looking android with a red triangle that has an exclamation point in it?

    1. I have seen that happen before… try the volume down instead

      What happens when you get to that screen and then power the phone off normally by holding the power key for a few seconds and then turning it back on by briefly pressing the power key again? Does the phone boot up like it should? If not tell me what it’s doing.

      And make sure you try the 1st suggestion a few more times, by holding the “volume –“ or volume down button along with the power key. That’s the best way to reboot an Atrix HD.

      The volume + is typically for getting into a fastboot screen for more in-depth troubleshooting, other key combinations can get you on a screen with a bunch of gibberish looking characters. Some screens are intended for the manufacture, etc.

  4. Wont charge
    I have tried the above suggestions and tried charging with the original charger. Nothing works. Yesterday nothing worked except plugging it into the laptop. It finally started to charge. Today nothing will get a charge out of it.

  5. love my atrix HD
    but i still didnt get the problem fixed…anything that might be a factory issue with the phone that they could tell me why its doing this, first real problem ive had out of it. i love my atrix. just dont want to lose it.

  6. hating my love for Motorola
    Ugh. … this has happened to me with two Motorola atrix hd phones, so yesterday I replaced it with a galaxy s3. Sigh. .. just as I suspected. ..I had reception issues. I will be returning it and getting the atrix hd again. My last one only lasted two weeks. It was horrible.

  7. Something Clever

    It completely worked without a glitch
    just wanted to thank whoever made this article, after trying the simulated battery pull my Atrix HD started up without any problems. Whoever made this you are Awesome.

  8. Okay so I tried the methods
    Okay so I tried the methods to my phone and it still wont turn on. I tried the battery thing too but when it went blank it was already at 100%. My phone still wont turn on so should I take it back to the store or keep trying to do what this article says? eventhough its still not working.

    1. Hum… You might need to file a warranty claim

      Hum… Try it once more just for good measure. Try to charge it, if possible with a different charger, for an hour or two and then attempt another simulated battery pull (as mentioned above). If you cannot get ANY response from your phone whatsoever and it’s little more than a paperweight than you can take it back to the store.

      Keep in mind though if you’re past your buyers remorse period then the store might not be as helpful as you expect and the store representative might suggest that you look into your warranty options… if you want to get familiar with that process or get a jump start on the whole thing then check out “How to File a Warranty Claim on a Cell Phone”.

      Sometimes phones just stop working, that’s why warranties exist. If you cannot get your phone working again then I suggest that you file a warranty claim and get a replacement.

      Good Luck and thanks for reading.

  9. Still not working
    I bought my Atrix HD used and it had a damaged battery. I purchased a new battery and the phone has been working great for a month. Just picked it up and had the red M symbol with a bunch of gibberish on the top of the screen that said some error. Tried to reboot it without success. Tried the volume down/power trick. About the 3rd time it showed the red Motorola M but didn’t reboot. Tried the volume up and down/power without anything showing up on screen. I am lost now!!! I cannot return it and I have no warranty and I am not concerned with removing the back. I would like to take the actual battery out since I have the right screwdriver to do it but since I used the sticky stuff to hold the battery in I am concerned with ripping the battery terminals when I try to take the back off and I do not want to have to buy another new battery! Also, It did not come with a charger so I have been using another charger and I don’t believe it is Motorola. Please help me!!! Thank you!

    1. That’s not good. Try this…

      Hello Melissa,

      You are in a pickle my friend. Seeing a Red M on your Motorola is NOT a common issue and can be a hard problem to solve.

      Let’s see what we can do though.

      • You have tried to perform the simulated battery pull with no success.
      • You are willing to take apart the phone to get to the battery but let’s save that as a last resort.
      • Try holding the power button down for 15+ seconds a few times, try your hardest to get a response from the phone.
      • If you cannot get anything then try to HARD RESET the phone (which you might have already attempted as well). A reset is going to completely wipe the phone and put the phone back to its stock settings and the current base software, like it was brand new right off the shelf. If there is a software problem or an issue with the phones startup process (which is your issue) then a hard reset could most certainly get it working again.
      • Charge the phone to full and then try to boot it up again.
      • Try to run the battery to zero and then re charge it. I don’t usually recommend running a lithium ion battery to zero but your options are limited and it might help.
      • Try a different charger. Sometimes a universal charger isn’t so universal. Chargers can be really affordable check on Amazon. Try and use a Motorola charger though, charging with different brands can cause issues, usually hardware issues, but still.
      • Take it apart, and reinsert the battery.

      If you try all of these things and STILL have issues then you might have to look into replacing the unit. You didn’t buy a bad brand of phone. The Motorola Atrix is a great phone, but any phone can have issues.

      Good Luck Melissa, don’t forget to let me know how it turns out.

  10. It still won’t work
    I bought my Atrix HD used, about a month ago. It’s been working fine until this morning. I was using it normally, it was plugged in and charging at about 70%, I put it down for a minute, and when I picked it up again, the screen just wouldn’t turn on.
    I tried both methods several times, to no effect. I plugged it into my computer, but the computer doesn’t register that anything is connected. It worked perfectly fine less than an hour ago. Is there anything I can do?

    1. Hey Ben

      Hey Ben, can you get any response from your Atrix HD what so ever? A light that shows its charging, a vibration, a sound, power to the screen? Anything? Or is it totally dead? If there is NO response at all not even a charging light then try the simulated battery pull a few more times because it will usually fix it, I promise. NOW… sometimes phones just stop working… it happens. No phone will last forever, although for the price that we pay for them I THINK they should last at least 5 years, but since we upgrade devices so quickly I suppose we can cut the manufactures some slack.

      Since you bought your phone used the warranty might be a little fuzzy. If you try to file a warranty claim with AT&T they typically run the phones IMEI # (it’s a 15 digit number printed on a sticker on the side of your phone, its small so you might need to put on your reading glasses or grab a magnifying glass. Just FYI). AT&T will ask you for it. If they see that the phone was activated over a year ago then they might not be able to do an exchange.

      AT&Ts warranty is from the phones first use date, Unless it was sent out as an insurance claim (which is possible) in which case you will have a one year warranty from when the insurance phone was activated. But I’m getting too carried away explaining AT&Ts warranty if you want more information about filing a claim then check out How to file a warranty claim on a mobile phone.

      This is what I recommend. Call AT&T and let them know what happened and the troubleshooting that you have already tried, then have the representative look up your warranty and see if your phone is still covered. If your Atrix HD is not covered under AT&Ts warranty still then call Motorola and check with them as well. For Motorola’s warranty you might have to send it in for repair instead of being mailed a different phone but hey, a working phone is a working phone.

      If your phone is no longer covered under warranty and you do not have insurance to file an insurance claim then I recommend you look into those other options mentioned in the article above.

      Good luck Ben, don’t hesitate to come back and let me know how it turns out.

      1. battery and 4.1
        seems to be an issue with 4.1 and lower os. esp 4.1. ive had the problem with nexus 7 tablets as well running 4.1. the only thing that works all the time is to pull the battery and boot it with another charged battery, then do a proper shutdown. Seems that the os sometimes looses track of the battery whether it’s charged or not. i havent had the problem with os 4.2 and higher ever. I have fixed many tablets running 4.1 esp after a complete battery drain. Sometimes the above tricks work but usually i have to boot it with another battery then do a hard reset. My atrix hd did the same thing. Nothing would get it to charge or turn on. Using another charged battery to boot and reset has work 100% of the time . In all my devices ive fixed, the upgrade to 4.2 or higher completely solved the problem. Once the phone reboots and is shutdown properly or reset, charge the battery , then put the dead one back in. If it is completely dead, It will take a little while before it shows to be charging . Be patient.

        After 15- 30 or so minutes, the phone will come back to life. stash the charged battery in case you need it again. Very easy to swap and the extra used batteries are cheap to buy on ebay. eb20 Motorola. After your next upgrade, wont happen again.

        1. You make some good points

          Hi John,

          You make some very good points and YES when possible a second level reset or simply removing the battery from the phone is a great tool when troubleshooting as is can solve many issues on an Android smartphone.

          Some phones like the Motorola ATRIX HD (MB886) are not designed to have the battery taken out though and to do so would void the manufactures warranty as you have to taken apart the phone in a manner that it was not intended to be taken apart. The manufacture would likely consider it “tampering” and wouldn’t honor a warranty claim.

          If however your smartphone was no longer covered under warranty for any reason, especially if the warranty has simply expired then you have nothing to lose in trying a different battery and like you mentioned it can be a very affordable fix as batteries can be very inexpensive online.

          Thanks for contributing John, keep up the great work.

  11. rebooting instructions
    thank you thank you thank you!! these instructions worked and i literally was ready to throw the phone against a wall!

  12. charger input
    hey, my phone is completely dead, though the green light turns on. but i dont have the original charger… so can you tell me what is the input and output volatge and amperes of the charger.. its mostly written on the charger .. i have tried all the other methods of rebooting it..

    1. Hum… Good question.

      I don’t have the Atrix HD myself (although I know it to be a good phone to have) or I would read the specifications right off the original charger for you. I hate not being able to answer people when they ask questions though so I did some searching…

      I THINK that the features for that charger are as follows:

      Features:

      • OEM Motorola Charger
      • Universal Micro-USB
      • Input 100/240V
      • Output 5V @ 750mA

      If anyone reading this has the original Motorola Atrix HD charger if you would be so kind to help us by taking a moment to grab your charger (the original one that came with the phone) and leave a comment (reply to this post) as to the specifications of that charger. As Awais said it should be printed on the side of the charger piece that plugs into the wall. Thanks Guys!

      As for your phone giving you a green light though, that is great! Try the simulated battery pull a few more times I have seen it take like 6+ tries to get it to go through properly. Also don’t forget that you might need to hold your power key for a few seconds after words as well.

      If you have tried this already and think that you just need to charge your phone a little to breathe some life into it again then you can find a replacement charger online for some pretty affordable prices. I just don’t recommend a universal charger or a charger for a different brand of phone. Get one that is Motorola and approved for the Atrix HD and you will be in good shape.

      Side Note: When you try to turn on your phone, try and listen to it. If it sounds like it’s booting up or you hear any splash sounds or music then your screen might have just gone out and might need replacing.

      Thank you everyone, keep the comments coming.

      1. Phone issues
        Hi, I know this comment is late, but my phone just went black when using it with full battery. I can feel it vibrate back on sometimes. Does that mean that my phone screen died? If so does that mean I have to purchase a new one or do I need to get an entirely new phone? Thanks in advance and I really hope you are still here!

        1. Sounds very possible

          Hi David,

          From your description it sounds like you might be right on the money. If the LCD screen has malfunctioned then the screen will remain black, you may feel it vibrate as though its powering on but you won’t be able to know for sure by just looking at the display.

          There are a few more things that you may be able to do to find out for sure… after you think your phone may be on, give it a call. If your phone rings then it’s likely just an issue with your display, you may even be able to answer the call if you can remember the swipe motion or where to press on your screen to answer it as the touch screen can still be functioning properly.

          You can also plug it into a computer. If the computer recognizes it and you are able to browse the files on your phone through the computer then it means the phone is still working, it’s just an issue with its display.

          If this is the case you should be able to just replace the LCD screen and be good to go. You won’t even have to worry about losing your personal information. Before replacing it yourself or taking it to a local repair shop though, look into any possible warranty options first as a warranty covers things like this. If your phone is over a year old or is no longer covered under the manufactures warranty then just swap out the display and enjoy your working smartphone.

          1. Thanks for responding man
            Thanks for responding man this is awesome. The screen actually turned back on for a minute after trying your powering down trick, but then went away again. I have to think that it is the screen because I could feel it power down and I wish that I could call it, but currently out of the country and phone is on airplane mode! Awful timing I guess. I am going to try to take to repair shop today and see if they can fix the screen and save the phone. I really appreciate the help and that you responded.

  13. Nothing but flashig GREEN LIGHT
    Never had problem. woke up this morn. nothing but flashing green to tell me I had mess. Tried everything but nothin’. Tried to call it went direct to voicemail. Desperately looked on line found your link. tried power w/voice lower green light went out, tried it again and it worked great!!!!! thank you very much, will post link on all my sites…

  14. My Hd light comes on but my phone wont. please help
    A couple of days ago my phone was stolen at school. One of the security guards found it. my sim and my memory card are gone. The top part of my phone where the charger is looked like it had been smashed.my back comes off where the batter sits.(not sure if this is good).i called at&t and they said it was because i suspended my account so i called customer service and they “fixed it” but my phone still wont turn on. When i charge it the green light turhns on but my phone wont. pls help this is the best phone ive ever had!!

    1. That stinks

      So let me see if I understand this correctly…

      Your phone was stolen, you called AT&T and let them know your phone was stolen so that the thief wouldn’t cause you too much trouble later (which is the proper course of action, good job), AT&T found the IMIE # of your phone on file, marked that phone as stolen (which is standard procedure), the thief tried to make a call or access the internet without a Wi-Fi, couldn’t because AT&T removed pretty much any network functionality from the phone making it borderline worthless as a phone (which is also a good thing as thieves shouldn’t be able to use stolen phones), the thief probably got mad that they went through all the trouble to steal this nice Motorola smartphone only to find that it’s no longer working correctly, got mad smashed and then discarded the phone. A security guard found it, turned it in to the lost and found, who then gave it to you, but now your phone won’t turn on, it will charge as you can see the charging light come on, but the screen remains black and your phone is pretty much worthless at this point?

      Does that pretty much sum it up? If so… then cross your fingers, do the simulated battery pull a few more times and hope that the phone glitched when the thief was using it, don’t forget to unplug it from the charger before trying the simulated battery pull, and if there is no response on the Atrix HD then that thief physically broke your phone and the phone will have to be replaced. Unfortunately the manufacture and AT&T don’t cover lost, stolen, or physically damaged phones unless you signed up for mobile insurance through Asurion when you first bought the phone and have been making your monthly Insurance payments.

      Sorry to hear about your phone Courtney, but AT&T wouldn’t have caused the phone to stop functioning, they would have only cut service to that specific phone. So the thief broke your phone and you will have to look into your other options.

  15. Atrix started : )
    YEAH!!!!!!!!! Thank you so much for the info the first steps didn’t work but the second ones did. Just needed to sit patient. Thanks again!!

  16. Took Battery out
    I was on Facebook and then my phone locked up. Would not power down nothing. So I like other phones which I didn’t know with this one I took the back off and took the Battery out now the phone won’t work What do I do?

    1. Um, That’s not good…

      Hi Bruce,

      Sorry to hear about your phone. As far as taking the back off of the phone don’t feel too bad because you’re not the only one to do it. I know of a few instances where an ATT representative actually (and unknowingly) told a Motorola Atrix HD owner to remove the back plate and remove the battery, as a soft reset or a battery pull is often one of the first steps in trying to troubleshoot an Android smartphone, and your right, on the standard Android phone this is probably the first thing that you could have done to try to resolve the issue yourself.

      Since, as you now know, the Motorola Atrix HD isn’t designed to have a removable battery, by taking off the back of the phone yourself and by removing the battery this would and is considered “tampering” by the manufacturer and voids the warranty, which isn’t very fun.

      Unless you broke a physical piece of the phone when disassembling it, which is possible as the phone is not meant to be taken apart, then I don’t see a reason why the phone wouldn’t allow you to turn it back on again.

      Here is what I would in your situation to try and fix it…

      • Double check for any physical damage that might have occurred when taking the phone apart, and if you find any damage then try the best that you can to fix/repair it.
      • Put the phone back together as best you can.
      • Try charging the phone for 24-48 hours (try charging it with a wall charger and if unsuccessful try charging it through a computer).
      • After charging the phone, try and turn it on like you normally would. If there is no response then…
      • Try the Simulated battery pull that was mentioned in this article (don’t forget to unplug your phone from the charger before attempting the simulated battery pull or it won’t work properly).
      • If these steps haven’t seemed to help then our options are limited… you could also…
      • Try a different charger.
      • Try a different battery (if available).
      • Check the physical buttons on the phone to make sure that they seem to be responding properly (if they didn’t get put back together correctly when re-assembling the phone then the simulated battery pull isn’t going to work).
      • If all this doesn’t seem to help then you might have to look into your replacement options and look into getting another phone.

      I hope that this does help though, as I cannot see a reason why the phone wouldn’t work again unless an actual physical piece had broken. Best of luck to you Bruce, and if you have insurance you can file an insurance claim under physical damage. Some people don’t often like this option as the Motorola Atrix HD is (as of Oct 28, 2013) still a tier 2 device and costs $125 to replace under an insurance claim. I talk a little more about this and the Atrix HD with another reader here if interested. In any case, don’t hesitate to come back to the site and leave a reply/comment on how it turns out.

      Thanks again for reading and I wish you and your Atrix the best of luck.

  17. Nothing has worked
    so today at school it was working fine until I got on the bus and it refused to turn on. I showed my mom then looked this up but nothing has worked plugged into the computer nothing charger not even a green light shows when I destroyed my old one it showed a green light and it was cracked in half just about! so I did all your methods and still nothing at all.

  18. Atrix hd battery power unknown
    ok i was having such a hard time to turn on my phone and it finally turned on but the thing is that my phone had no battery power at all and when i put it to charge it said that the battery power is unknown….. its been like this for a while I really need help. All it shows is a question mark in the battery life

    1. Hi Danielle, try this…

      Hi Danielle,

      I am glad that you were able to get your cell phone to turn back on again. Make sure to backup your phones information to an SD card or computer, just in case, because it sounds like your battery might be going out and if it does die completely then you cannot simply buy a replacement battery to put into the phone as you can on other types of cell phones. As you know the Atrix HD’s battery is non-removable and you would have to take apart the phone to get another battery into the phone which wouldn’t just be a chore but it would also void the manufactures warranty if the phone is still under warranty.

      Unknown battery power can be a nuisance and can happen on any type of Android smartphone. I have seen it a few times as a software issue that can be resolved by removing the battery from the phone for a few minutes, re-inserting the battery, and then powering the phone on. Unfortunately this method won’t work on the Motorola Atrix HD. I am assuming that powering the phone off and on doesn’t resolve the issue either as you said in your comment that this has been happening for a while.

      You might be able to get the battery to read properly with a backup and reset but that’s typically a last resort.

      I’m not sure what version of Android your phone is running on but try opening your dial pad (as if you were going to call a telephone number) and type in *#*#4636#*#* or *#*#INFO#*#* click on “Battery Information” and review your batteries information. It should show your battery level (% your battery is charged), Battery scale should equal 100, etc. the main thing that you want to look at is the Battery Health. The battery health should say “Good” if it says “unknown” or “unknown error” then power the phone off and on and check again. If it doesn’t say “Good” after you have power cycled the phone then the battery is likely defective and will probably need to be replaced. If your phone is under warranty then you can replace the entire phone as it’s all considered a single unit. If you type in the Star Code and nothing pops up then this battery check might not be available for you and you can disregard this step.

      You might even be able to get it to go away by performing a simulated battery pull with the steps in the guide above.

      So to recap, try the following suggestions and then check your battery:

      • Power cycle the phone
      • Try the simulated battery pull
      • Try the Star Code *#*#4636#*#* to review the battery status (power cycle again if needed)
      • Backup and Reset
      • Warranty or replacement options

      I hope that helps Danielle, if you have any more questions then don’t hesitate to ask. The Motorola Atrix HD is a good phone the only thing I don’t care for about it is you cannot remove the battery. Don’t forget to keep these cell phone buying tips in mind when choosing a cell phone they can help you avoid problems that can creep up after owning your cell phone for a while.

      Thank you for commenting and visiting the site.

        1. No Problem

          I am glad I could help, and thank you for taking the time to come back to the site and show your gratitude. I appreciate it.

  19. Power is on, screen works, then goes black randomly
    Hello,

    My Atrix HD recently had some damage, i replaced the battery, LCD and Digitizer. After replacing these parts, the phone turned on, booted up and worked great for a few days. Now, when I turn it on, I feel it loads to the main screen much faster than it used to.

    The one really strange thing that is making the phone really difficult to use is that when I hit the power button to access my phone, the screen turns on, and will then go black and remain this way. The screen is still functioning though, as when I hit it, I can still feel it vibrating and functioning properly (just no image). This happens after about 1 second to 10 seconds, and its random. The only way I can get the screen back is to hit the power button (as if to normally make the screen go black) and then hit it again, and the cycle starts over again.

    I have tried the simulated battery pull several times, and have ensured all my connections physically within the phone are fine. Any thoughts? Is it worth it to back up all of my data on my computer and do a factory reset? Have you heard of anything like this, or is it perhaps a physical issue (just seems more software because everything is functioning).

    Thanks!

    1. screen randomly goes black
      I am having the same problem also, only I haven’t dropped my phone. I can sometimes press on the edges of the case and then push the power button and it will stay on a little longer (sometimes). This is my second phone in a year but now my warranty is up. Any help would be great.

  20. atrix hd dim light
    I replaced the touch screen because it broke. Then the phone would not get bright, everything works but it will not get bright only dim. Replaced the LCD and still is dim, please help

  21. Black Screen
    Nothing has worked, tried charging it, I don’t have the original, screen stays black and will not power cycle, I’ve never had this issue since it was brand new.

  22. I originally bought an Atrix
    I originally bought an Atrix HD in May 2013 and it stopped working October 2013. I tried the simulated battery pull many times to no avail. When I tried to charge it, the green notification light would turn on for about 30 seconds, but that was the only response I ever got. I went to an AT&T Device Support Center one week ago and got a new one. This new phone lasted 6 days before doing the same thing. What do you suggest I do?

    1. Some ideas and suggestions about your Atrix HD

      Hi Jason,

      Sorry to hear that your phone is giving you trouble. Phone issues can certainly be frustrating indeed, especially if you experience the same problem with a replacement cell phone. Not powering on properly seemed to be an overly common issue on the Motorola Atrix HD but a simulated battery pull typically fixes it, probably 90% of the time as a matter of fact. I have seen a few cases where phones are stubborn the first couple of tries though so make sure that you try the Simulated battery pull multiple times to try and get the phone to accept it.

      If you took your first phone to a DSC (Device Support Center) and they replaced it then it sounds like the phone or battery seriously malfunctioned. If the same thing happened to your replacement phone then that is uncommon and there are a few possible reasons. It’s possible that one of your apps is causing trouble… do you have any third party apps that you installed on both your original and replacement phones? Are you using the same charger as well? Is it the original charger? Does this happen when charging the unit? If it seems to happen when the phone is on the charger than there is a slight (very rare but possible) chance that your charger is causing the problem.

      A little side note, but your charger is covered under warranty as well. DSC’s don’t typically carry chargers so it would probably be better to call AT&T direct and ask for the warranty department so that they could mail you a replacement but heck a free charger that can prevent this from happening again… why not.

      It’s a strange malfunction as the phone isn’t completely dead; it’s showing you a charging light when you plug it in. It’s odd that the charging light wouldn’t stay on too. It raises a red flag as far as a possible power issue (which is one of the reasons I brought up the charger as a possible culprit) but it could also point to the battery, which stinks as the battery cannot be simply taken out of the Atrix HD the whole phone has to be replaced when it has a battery issue.

      Here is what I would do in your situation:

      • Try the simulated battery a few more times, and when I say a few I mean like 10 or more. Like I said phones can be very stubborn some times.
      • If there is no response then take it back to the DSC and let them know that the replacement has malfunctioned. If they cannot get the replacement to power on then they can replace it again, if you do end up getting a replacement, politely ask them to order you a replacement charger just to rule out the possibility of a charger causing the problem.
      • Enjoy the replacement phone and replacement charger and try to stick with popular applications with a lot of downloads and users.  It’s likely that you just hit the unlucky lottery and got two lemons. I don’t believe this to be a known issue on the phone and I highly doubt it would happen to a third device.

      There are a few things that you should consider in your particular situation that I think I should mention.

      The first and most important thing is that a warranty replacement from AT&T comes with a 90 day warranty or uses the original warranty of your first device, whichever is longer. If you signed a contract with AT&T then it’s likely a 2 year contract and the phone only comes with a 1 year warranty (standard warranty length on a new mobile phone). You don’t want your phone to malfunction when it’s out of warranty or you’ll get stuck between a rock and a hard place. There is not much you can do about this unfortunately but luckily No-Contract agreements are beginning to gain leverage and will hopefully become the norm, but I digress.

      If your next replacement malfunctions, and troubleshooting doesn’t resolve the issue, then call up AT&T when you have a lot of spare time, as it may take a while, but explain the situation patiently and be friendly (no call center representative wants to help an upset customer even if the reason they are upset is justified). They will be able pull up your account and see all of your transactions with these issues and they’ll be able to see the multiple exchanges as well. Just ask the AT&T customer service rep as to what better replacement options may be available so that you can try to avoid any more complications. You need to show them that all you want is a phone that you can use and depend upon (which should be easy as it’s true). Try to avoid getting transferred and talking to the same department more than once as well because getting lost in a transfer frenzy can happen when talking to someone at a call center, especially when the options available to help the customer are limited.

      Other than not having a removable battery, the Atrix HD isn’t a bad phone. You didn’t pick a bad device it sounds like you have just had some bad luck. Hopefully your luck will turn around and your next smartphone will work properly until you decide that you want to upgrade to a newer device with the coolest and latest features. When you do decide to get a new device don’t forget to consider some of the advice listed on this choosing a Smartphone guide.

      Good luck Jason, if there is anything else I can try and help you with then don’t hesitate to ask.

      1. Thanks for the advice
        Thanks for the advice. Just as a note, both times the phones quit working, I was receiving either a text or phone call. The phone would freeze, shut down, and refuse to turn back on. I hadn’t downloaded any new apps onto the replacement phone yet.

        I believe both instances also occurred while the phones were plugged into my vehicle via a 3 year old mobile charger. Could this have been the cause?

  23. Atrix HD won’t power on
    I did make the mistake of pulling out the battery. There is an orange tab sticking off the bottom left corner of the battery, where does the tab go? Is there any illustration I can look at? Thank you.

  24. Black Screen
    You may have covered this specific issue and I may not have seen it, but thought some additional information may narrow any solutions you may have. My atrix hd was bought refurbished a little over a year ago. Went on vacation a few days ago and had been taking lots of pictures. Of course this ran my battery down quick, so took it to my vehicle to charge for a bit. Before you ask, no, it was not a motorola car charger, and I have not had the original for nearly six month thanks to my cats lol. Came back to the vehicle and my screen was blank. Played with it for a bit, got the screen back on, and started a cycle where it would stay on for a few seconds then go blank and have problems coming back on or would be so dim I couldn’t really see it. My power saver is set for 1 min. Over the course of about 6 hours the phone got progressivly worse. Attempted the trick of holding the power button for a hard reset, power +vol up and power + vol down. I can power off using the power button only but oddly (and yes i know this was an odd test) the only way I can get it to power on is placing in a cold place i.e fridge. I have haptic feedback on so I can recognize when the phone is off or on, and the green blue and red info lights are still reading as they should. If the phone is on, I can press the unlock button and swipe to the right and feel the phone unlock. As of now it has been two days since i have seen the screen light up other than once with the power on screen. Also I can still hear when I recieve any notifications such as texts calls or anything else. Any suggestions?

    1. The LCD screen went out on your Atrix HD

      Hi Adam,

      I LOVE comments like yours because the more information I have about a problem the quicker I can pinpoint the cause and better yet the solution. So thank you for the perfect comment because of the details you provided I know exactly what the problem is.

      The LCD screen went out on your Atrix HD. That is why it seems like your phone is still working you just can’t see anything on the screen because the screen/display malfunctioned. Even your touch screen is working, as you can feel the phone unlock. I bet you can even take calls if you can remember where to press on your screen to do so.

      This isn’t a terrible position to be in as all you will need to do is replace the physical screen to have your phone back up and running properly again. It shouldn’t be too pricy either, especially if you fix it yourself. Local repair shops can be quite affordable as well though so shop around a bit for the best possible price. It may be more advantageous to just have someone else swap the screens for you.

      I hope this helps, thanks for visiting the site, and if you have any more questions then don’t hesitate to ask.

      Oh yeah, don’t put your phone in the freezer or fridge any more. There is moisture in there (especially the freezer) which can get into your phone and cause damage. You’re not the first person to do that, and some people online even recommend it, but it’s not a good idea. Extreme temperatures, moisture, and electronics don’t mix well together.

      1. Thanks
        Thanks for the info, have actually gotten the screen to come on twice today, but won’t be for about 3 more days before i can go to a repair guy that has been highly recommended by several sources. A person at radio shack mentioned it could be a connection problem with the video cable, which might make sense for the phone briefly working after being in the fridge, as metals expand or contract depending on their properties, but I will take your advice and leave it out lol. Thank you again for taking the time to help me, and have a blessed day.

  25. atrix hd stopped working
    I got a Motorola atrix hd about two months ago, worked great, the screen would occasionally stop working(stay on but stop registering touch) or completely misread where I touch the screen and select or open whatever, both instances I would just hit the power button to turn the screen off and then back on swipe to the right and be fine, last night I was on facebook and it froze and wouldn’t do anything. I hit the power button to turn the screen on and off thinking it would work, my phone didn’t do anything, no light up with a black screen just nothing,ive had it freeze before but the screen was on and just stuck. but this morning the phone still did nothing. I tried pulling the battery out somehow hopefully not breaking the orange connection or whatever you may call it and failed and the orange thing broke, I have a replacement battery coming off of ebay (don’t think its authentic Motorola battery), and I was planning to get an actual Motorola charger. I bought it from a guy who had an electronics store so it was phone only and he gave me a generic charger that has since stb. my girlfriend has a Samsung charger so thats what ive been using, after breaking the orangeness I have since tried putting it on the charger and then I got here. When I plug it in the green light at the top comes on blinks once and then stays on, during ive tried all the things mentioned above: holding the power button, then with the volume down button, and also with power and volume up and then power with both volumes down, and it hasn’t turned back on. The only one that does anything is when I hold the power and the volume down, and all it does is make the green light turn off and back on, and then it blinks again as if just plugging it in to the charger.When it blinks for the power and down button, as long as I have those buttons pressed when it initially goes off it stays off until I let the buttons go,then like I said the green light comes back on and blinks like I just put in on a charge.

    1. Hum, that is an interesting issue.

      You did a very good job explaining things in your comment, so thank you. Since you mentioned that your phone would occasionally have issues responding correctly then it froze, became unresponsive and now it won’t power on at all my first thought was that your display was malfunctioning. But then you mentioned that it would just stop registering your touch so I started thinking it was a touch screen issue, but then you mentioned that a quick sleep would get it to work properly again which doesn’t usually fix touch screen issues so my next thought was that it was a software issue.

      After it froze did it power off and or crash or did it remain frozen? It’s hard to tell what the cause is, especially if reinserting the battery didn’t seem to do anything. No restart or reboot from a simulated battery pull isn’t a good sign either.

      You tried a different charger, which is good, but using a charger by Motorola would be the best option, so good idea there. Let me ask you something… have you tried plugging your phone into a computer to see if a computer will pick it up as a media device? If it does then it means that your display has malfunctioned and would likely need to be repaired or replaced. Since your Atrix froze before it crashed this is less likely the problem but if I was in your place then I would check just to make sure.

      The phones no longer under the manufacturer’s warranty so you can’t file a warranty claim. Hopefully the new battery allows the phone to boot up properly. If it does start up and you notice that the screen isn’t registering properly again then you should be able to run a quick test on the touch screen using the Device Diagnostics tool. I have not run a diagnostic test on the Atrix HD in a while, so I’m going from memory here, but I believe you can access the diagnostics tool by opening your keyboard as though you were going to be making a telephone call and typing in *#7353#, there should then be an option to test your touch screen.

      If the touch screen passes the test or your phone still decides to open whatever it feels like instead of what you are attempting to open then a factory reset should fix it and get it to respond properly again. Just make sure to do a complete backup before the reset of course.

      Good luck Jayson, and don’t forget to come back and let us know what happens.

      1. So I got the charger…

        So I got the charger in the mail, its a Motorola charger. Plugged the phone into the charger and same results: nothing. this battery that is coming is not a Motorola battery but honestly I don’t think its going to make a lick of difference. I have no idea what is wrong with my phone or what went wrong I was on facebook and it froze and just wont turn back on since. if it wont turn on with a charger I highly doubt a battery in it is going to make much of a difference.

        1. I have my fingers crossed but your right

          Hi Jayson,

          Thanks for coming back to the site and providing an update to your situation. Hopefully the battery helps but you may be right, it may not make a “lick of difference” since you didn’t mention having any power issues or problems with your battery before this happened. It’s very possible that your phone, like many before it, has simply malfunctioned. Unfortunately some of our gadgets and tech don’t seem to last as long as I feel they should.

          Were you able to get any response by plugging it into a computer? Were you able to leave it plugged in for a few hours, even overnight, in the hopes of a possible resurrection?

          From your description it would seem like a long shot but I have my fingers crossed for you and hopefully the new battery helps. Keep in touch and don’t forget to let us know if the battery helped or not.

          1. no the battery didn’t help

            No the battery didn’t help, I tried calling Motorola to see what I could do, being that I bought it at an electronics store I didn’t imagine great things. They said that there was in fact still a warranty on it and I could send it in to be fixed, but then they heard that I took the battery out and broke the little orange tab. I was then told I could still send it in but it would now cost 159.99 for the repair because me taking out the battery counts as “physical damage”. So this phone is forever now a paperweight and im currently browsing ebay for a droid razr maxx, or another atrix although im sketchy on getting another one. I thank you for all he help you’ve provided.

  26. awesome!!! thank you so much
    awesome!!! thank you so much I was really freaking out!!!!!!!!!!

  27. Ok so this actually worked
    Ok so this actually worked thanks! This doesn’t just work for atrium it works for photon too

  28. Whew!!!
    Option 1 worked the first time. BTW my little green led was still blinking, but the phone was totally dead.

  29. None of this worked for me :/
    None of this worked for me :/ … the phone won’t even charge anymore, I get a green light when I first plug it into the charger then about 10 seconds later it goes off. Holding the power button with the “volume down” or the “volume up” buttons don’t do anything …. I am at a loss. Guess I’ll be going to AT&T after work today. :/

  30. Motorola Atrix HD fix
    Thank you so much for this information. I was so worried that my phone was dead and your tip to hold the volume down button and the power button together for 20 seconds worked perfectly! Thank you so much, I’m so relieved!!

  31. Motorola Moto G
    My phone crashed, did what you said about holding down the volume and power key, fixed the problem, Many thanks.

  32. You rock!
    Woke up to an unresponsive atrix hd. Fully charged before bed. Plugged into charger thinking it might help. Phone never responded even hours later. Found your site. Tried first battery pull technique didn’t work. Tried second with volume up + power got red M and then black screen with green android character laying on back, his front access panel open that had triangle with red exclamation point inside of it. Pushing volume keys gave no options. Held volume up power combo again phone gave several vibrations red motor M comes back up and phone goes into normal boot and is working fine. Thank you thank you thank you!

  33. Atrix HD has failed!!
    I have read through the above posts. I tried the hard reboot with just the power button, with the power button and volume -, and the again with the volume +. I also seen the Android robot on its back with its hatch opened and a red triangle with an exclamation mark in the triangle. And yet it is still doing the same thing. Now this is what it does. It will start up, the Motorola emblem will come up, then it will disappear, then reappear and pulsate three times (which is normal) all on a black screen. Then it will clear out and light up with the At&t globe and do a 180 (instead of the 360) and freeze. The start up tune that plays, does not. This is it. I have allowed it to drain and then recharged it till it was full (the battery and charge indicator works not the LED). Then went through the motions again. I am not really trying to factory reboot it, but if that is the only thing that is left, okay. I am hoping that you may have any suggestions.

    1. Motorola Atrix HD stuck on its start-up sequence

      That doesn’t sound very good. It sounds like a software glitch or bug is preventing the startup sequence from running correctly. Maybe it’s an issue with the phones bootloader… it’s hard to tell for sure.

      Since your phone is freezing and won’t turn on properly your options are a little limited but here is what I would do…

      1. Remove the memory card (if it has one) and then reboot to see if it will load properly without an SD card.
      2. Re-try the simulated battery pull (for good measure).
      3. Try the hard reset.
      4. Unlock and then relock your phones bootloader (look online for some how-to-guides if you’re not sure on how to do this).
      5. As a last resort, re-flash stock (or custom, I recommend stock) software to the phone using a program like ODIN, which should replace any problematic software with a fresh and working version and allow the phone to power on and function properly again.

      I hope that helps Jacob, if you hit any snags or have any more questions than just let me know.

  34. Green light ??
    My phone went black while i was unplugging it from the original charger. i have tried all the reboot methods none have worked, When I plug my phone into the computer the green light comes on for about 20 seconds and is gone. Is there anything else I could try???

    1. A green light is a good sign, but…

      Hi Cory,

      It’s hard to tell my friend. I suppose that some kind of response is better than no response but it sounds like the phone might have malfunctioned and if that’s the case then it might be VERY difficult to get it to work properly again.

      Do this…

      Cross your fingers and try those Simulated Battery Pulls a few more times. You have nothing to lose and if it works then you and your Motorola will be in great shape.

      Try charging your phone over night (with a computer if possible and then a wall charger if needed).

      Review How to try and fix an Android that will not power on or charge, and follow the advice on that page.

      If you simply cannot get your cell phone to power on again then you might have to consider those other options mentioned at the bottom of the article above.

      These types of issues can be difficult to resolve sometimes so I just want to wish you the best of luck.

  35. Phone stayed black through all steps!
    My phone was working perfectly fine and then I got home and it stayed black but my LED was still working for texts. So I came here and did the volume down trick and it didn’t work, tried the volume up trick, nothing. I’m scared at this point.

    1. Your display screen might have gone out

      Your notification LED still works for text messages but the display remains black? Does the phone seem like it’s on and working except for the display screen? If you call your cell phone using another telephone will your cell phone ring or indicate a call? If so then it sounds like your display screen went out and if the simulated battery pull didn’t help and you cannot get a response from that screen then it will most likely need to be replaced in order to fix your phone.

  36. battery
    my phone froze the other day so I took my phone apart & broke the battery connector so I purchased a new battery on Amazon now the phone will not charge over 5% & the battery life has a red ? please help I need my phone

    1. That’s not good

      Hi Renee,

      It’s hard to say with absolute certainty but I have seen that issue before a few times and it turned out to be a hardware problem that resulted in the phone having to be serviced. I don’t know if something else was broken when taking the phone apart but that is what I have seen in the past.

      Having a phone with a non-removable battery can be such a hassle. It works great until something goes wrong and you need to remove or replace the battery then you take a chance taking the phone apart and run the risk of breaking something. Sorry to hear that you are experiencing this first hand.

      I would perform a full backup (if possible) and then try to take your cell phone into a local repair shop to see if they can take a look and find out the exact cause. You could try a hard reset for good measure as it would likely resolve the issue if it was a software problem, but like I said, I have seen this issue in the past and a hard reset didn’t always seem to work.

      I wish you the very best of luck my friend.

  37. Please help!
    About 3 days ago I went to go look at the time, and when I locked my phone the screen went black. This has happened to me before, when I would try to reboot it the screen would be lit up black and after letting it sit on the charger for an hour or two my phone would function normally again. But I wasn’t so lucky this time. It is now Monday, and I’ve basically had my phone on the charger since Friday. I’ve tried all of your suggestions and I can’t seem to catch a break. Strangely enough, I took it off the charger and had it sitting in front of me (I wasn’t messing with it or even touching it) and the screen popped up with the red Motorola circle and then nothing, it went black again. It’s going straight to voicemail when I call it so I don’t think it’s a screen issue. The green light will come on for a minute or two when I plug it back into the charger (sometimes) but then it goes off. Any suggestions?

    1. Trying to fix your Motorola smartphone

      Hi Melissa,

      That is an odd issue you have there. My first impulse was a hardware issue but after reading your entire post I might agree with your assumption that it’s not a physical issue with screen after all.

      Finding a proper solution might be a challenge as well (as you are probably already aware of). Here is what I would do and what I recommend you try:

      • Try the simulated battery pull a few more times (Some phones can be extremely stubborn).
      • Try to boot the phone into Safe Mode (Try to turn the phone on and when you see the “Motorola” logo during power-up, press and hold both volume keys until you see the home screen, with Safe Mode in the lower left). If you can boot into safe mode then perform a backup and then start getting rid of some third party apps that were downloaded from the Play Store.
      • Hold the power key for a good minute to try to invoke a response.
      • Try plugging your Motorola into a computer (see if it will connect and see if a different charging source helps to charge it up).
      • Try to access the Android System Recovery (The Atrix HD has two different methods of accessing this screen depending on what version of Android it is running on. Check out the sites hard reset guide for more information about how to access the System Recovery screen on the Motorola Atrix HD).
      • If you are able to access the recovery screen then first try the “reboot system now” option. If that works then backup your phone and then perform a factory data reset under the phones settings. If the reboot option doesn’t work then you’re running out of options and I would try to access the recovery screen again to perform a hard reset using the “wipe data/factory reset” screen.

      If none of that seems to work then your Motorola might have just given up on life and you might need to start looking for a replacement.

  38. My phone is not letting me select anything
    My phone is not letting me select anything in the middle of the screen. No visible cracks or anything on my lcd nor digitizer.. What should i do?

    1. It sounds like your touch screen is malfunctioning

      Hi Mika,

      Even though you do not see any signs of physical damage from your description it sounds like your touch screen is in fact malfunctioning. This is a little off topic but it turns out that I do not have an article describing how to test the touch screen of an Android smartphone (which I now intend to write, thank you for bringing this to my attention) so do this…

      • Power your phone off for 30 seconds and then turn it back on and then test the touch screen.
      • Boot into Safe Mode to see if disabling third party apps seems to help or not, if not then reboot the phone to exit safe mode. Note: see previous comment for more information about using the Safe Mode feature on your cell phone.
      • If your phone allows you to then open the phones dial pad as if you were going to dial a telephone number and then type in *#7353# which should allow you to access the Device Diagnostic Tool on your smartphone (which I assume is the Motorola Atrix HD) and allow you to test the touch screen. If the test fails then your touch screen is malfunctioning and will likely need to be replaced.

      This is one of the few times that I would NOT recommend a hard reset as you might not be able to get through the setup process after it reboots with a non-working touch screen and you run the risk of going from having a semi-working cell phone to a cell phone you won’t be able to use at all.

  39. Wont work
    So my phone turns on half way. I first get the Motorola symbol blinking then when the att symbol comes on its frozen. What do I do?

  40. Thank you… Very helpful!!!
    Thank you so much for the help!!! My phone is now working!!! God Bless 🙂

  41. Motorola Atrix HD turns on but freezes
    Hello,

    So I have had my atrix for over a year and I got it from one of my dad’s coworkers. So, my phone can turn on, but once it gets to the white at&t page with the logo in the middle, it freezes. I tried taking out the battery – heck, I even replaced the battery with a new one but still same problem. The phone just stays on that white screen forever and I can’t seem to do anything about it. I for sure don’t have the original charger with me. Anything I can do? I am pretty desperate because I am in college and this is my only way to communicate. Help? Thanks in advance!

    -Alvin

    1. Trying to fix a Motorola that gets stuck on its startup screen

      Hi Joanna and Alvin,

      Two Motorola Atrix smartphones having the same exact software issue on the same day… Motorola or AT&T might have released a software update for that phone and the phone might be installing it OR might have had problems installing it…

      I originally wrote this for Android smartphones manufactured by Samsung but check out the advice listed at How to try and fix an Android stuck on its loading screen I think you might find it very helpful. It might be as simple as waiting for an update to finish or it might be as complex as re-flashing a fresh copy of software to the phone.

  42. didnt work
    i have a moto m and yesterday i went to power it off and it wouldnt come back on… the m sign standing for motorola comes up on my screen and it just sits there pulsating and i let it die and i charged it and now a little android guy comes up on my screen laying down with its belly open and there is a red triangle with and exclamation point in it? whats goin on with my phone? please help

    1. Motorola stuck on startup

      Hi Brooke,

      Another person posted a comment about a very similar problem with their Motorola and I am going to refer you to the advice that I gave to him which you can read HERE.

      This issue can be a hard one to solve so make sure to review the comments listed on this page and throughout the rest of the site as well. You are not the first person to have this problem and you won’t be the last but hopefully the advice scattered throughout this site can help point you in the right direction.

  43. This still didn’t work
    This still didn’t work, any other suggestions? Our car charger killed both of our phones and none of the above has worked.

    1. You can try replacing the battery…

      Hi Knels,

      If it’s the battery that’s just not holding a charge any more then you could look into buying a replacement battery… It would be a lot cheaper than having to go out and buy a new phone. The Atrix HD isn’t designed to allow you to simply take off the back plate and then take out the battery so you will have to actually disassemble your phone to replace it but it’s still an option.

      If you do decide to get a replacement battery you may want to consider only buying one at first to then try in both phones to make sure that it’s the battery that is the problem and not the phones themselves. From your description it does sound like a battery issue though so I suggest that’s where you start and then go from there.  

      You should be able to find a replacement battery for less than $20 online. Just do a little shopping on eBay or Amazon and you shouldn’t have much trouble finding a replacement at a reasonable price. I hope that helps Knels, if you have any other questions or if there is anything else that I can try to help you with just let me know.

      1. Thanks for the reply

        Thanks for the reply.  Both our phones were working fine and when they got plugged into our car charger (that we have used plenty of times previously) they immediately shut off and wouldn’t come back on.  After trying all of the above, sometimes the green light will come on a little bit when first plugged into original charger, but will go off after a couple minutes.  We will see about the new battery, thank you!

        1. Consider that charger as well

          Hi again Knels,

          If that happened to both of your phones after using that one charger… in order to make sure that it doesn’t happen again you might want to retire that charger and get another car charger as well, just as a precaution.

          Good luck my friend.

  44. Random black screen while in use
    Thank you so much!!!! I had a similar problem that took a day of waiting out until my phone decided to work a few weeks ago and I just had the problem of my phone going to a black screen while in use earlier this morning. This instantly solved my problem! Thank you so much for posting this!!

    1. You’re welcome

      Hi Lori,

      Thank you for taking the time to post a comment to show your appreciation for this article. I appreciate it.

      Keep an eye on your cell phone. If it seems to go to a black screen often and the screen remains black but the phone remains on then it may indicate a potential problem with your cell phones proximity sensor. You can read more about this type of problem HERE. Otherwise just remember this little trick and you should be in great shape.

      Thanks again Lori, enjoy your working cell phone and if you ever have any more issues or questions about your smartphone don’t hesitate to come back to the site and ask.  

  45. Blank screen and Thank you.
    Suddenly my phone got the black screen I followed the instructions and for me the second method worked, thank you for sharing this with us.

  46. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!!

    I have an Atrix, and love my Motorola products, I found your site and fix for my completely dead (or seemingly so) phone even though it had a full charge before it went to a black screen. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!! I shared your site as requested so that search engines put you at the top.

  47. Hi, I need help with my Atrix
    Hi, I need help with my Atrix HD. It has been acting strange (powers off, switches from app to homepage, freezes, ect..) for a week or so. Yesterday though it went haywire. I finally got to the menu and did a full factory reset on it. It worked normal after that for about 2 hours. Then today it won’t power on period. I mean it will come all the way up to the ATT logo and then freezes. It won’t do the battery pull, nothing. I finally somehow got it to a screen that had this info on it. I thought someone may know what this means or if the phone is even able to be recovered.
    AP Fastboot Flashmode (5 or s) wasn’t sure which
    10.98 (*) ********** if these numbers are important I will provide them.
    EMC Info – 8GB
    Device is LOCKED this worries me!!!!!
    Battery – Ok
    Connection – USB
    Data Cable
    Fastboot Reason: Keypressed

    Any help will be so appreciated. I have babied this phone, never even dropped it hard and I don’t know what has happened. Maybe I got a bug on website????

  48. Thanks a looooot…
    This really helped!
    I was so worried when my phone got a blank screen and stopped responding to anything.
    But this guide really helped me.

  49. att screen
    So I bought a used atrix and now it turns on but it gets stuck on the att screen. I tried to reboot and it turns off and back on but again gets stuck on the att screen. HELP PLEASE!!!

  50. I had a dead phone…
    I had a dead phone so I went to Best Buy to get a new one. They didn’t have the one I wanted in stock so I came home and searched on “Motorola dead phone” and found your site. THANK YOU! It worked and I really appreciate it!! Wondering what I did to cause the problem… but I am bookmarking this for future reference!

  51. I have a Motorola Atrix HD
    I have a Motorola Atrix HD that is 2 years old. Recently the phone has started shutting down saying the battery is dead even though the gauge says that it has 80% or 90%, the gauge is always over 50%. So I take it over and plug it into the charger and immediately the charge is 80 or 90% or whatever not dead though. Is the battery at the end of its useful life? I am charging now and will try the simulated battery pull methods.

    1. It could be a dying battery…

      Hello Marvin,

      Hard to tell for sure… do you get a message that the battery is dead or does the phone just shut itself down? Has it been doing anything else strange that you can think of?

      If the battery seems to die unusually quickly and also seems to charge unusually rapidly then it could be time to try and replace the battery (which can be a slight chore on the Atrix HD as the battery isn’t designed to be removed easily but it’s not impossible).

      If the battery seems to hold a charge and the phone just sporadically powers off or reboots for no particular reason then it could be a few other things that are causing problems such as a troublesome app, a software issue or even a hardware issue. If that’s the case you can take a quick peek at this guide for some tips on how you might be able to troubleshoot those particular problems.

  52. White screen
    I have been having problems with my Atrix shutting down and rebooting on its own. I have tried the different versions of the soft reboot. then the phone turns back on i get the white screen with the ATT spinning ball and then it stops spinning and nothing else happens.

  53. shahzaib hayat khan

    Simulated Batery Pull Worked
    You are the best. Thank you. This worked for me on my Moto G first gen.

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