Phone won't answer.

[PrincessB]

Phone is a Moto G 5 using Android 8.1.

Recently it won't answer calls, it rings but the display stays blank, so there's nothing to swipe in order to take the call.

I have backed everything up and have been trying without success to do a factory reset.

The reason I ask, is because I've tried and failed to get anywhere despite numerous searches (most of which return pages relating to other phones or older versions of Android. Everything else seems to work, barring the bit where I ask it to act like a phone.

Regards,

B.

[Slarti]

Try manually turning the screen on and then touching the phone app when it is ringing. It should then say Answer/Reject at the top of the app.

Slarti

[UncleEbenezer]

I've very occasionally (randomly) had that on an older Moto G. More often with a software phone (someone phoned my home number) rather than the mobile phone's own number. I've often wondered if that's associated with anything like it brushing up against something as I take it out of my pocket, but I have no evidence of that.

So far, the simple turn-it-off-and-on has always sorted the problem.

[PrincessB]

Managed to get the factory reset done. A process so unintuitive to defy all reason. Lot of pressing buttons for short or long periods of time on restart while Android did its absolute best to present no information of any use at all.

Restored contacts from backup and phone works like a phone again.

Time allowed to figure out what to do - A lot of the weekend and big chunk of Monday evening.

Time spent not pressing the buttons for long/short or at all. At least 20 restarts.

Thanks for the ideas, these phones are bonkers.

B.

[Itsallaguess]

Managed to get the factory reset done. A process so unintuitive to defy all reason.

Lot of pressing buttons for short or long periods of time on restart while Android did its absolute best to present no information of any use at all.

To be fair, it should be a fairly difficult process to carry out a factory-reset...

Not that difficult, I grant you, but on the few occasions that I've needed to carry out the procedure on a number of Android phones, a quick Google with the model number has always got me the correct instructions.

Glad to hear that you got there in the end, and that you're back up and running.

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

[Infrasonic]

To be fair, it should be a fairly difficult process to carry out a factory-reset...

It's probably been calculated by some Google nerd to be the least likely random button press combination that a child would do or something.

There is a fair bit of nonsense out there when searching, once I found a reliable short tutorial I printed it off and added it to the 'armageddon' folder...