Samsung Captivate Lock Button not working

I know this is an old thread, but the issue of a stuck lock button is actually a software issue, not a hardware issue.  It can be solved if you can get into the camera app.  Plug it in to get the screen to turn on, open the camera app, and press the lock button a few times.  A lock icon should appear and disappear from the top of the screen.  Take a picture and then exit.  I did both and one of them happened to work, not sure which.  I know it sounds crazy, but it works!

Best of luck!

I have had my captivate for a little over a year now and i absolutely love it! It has worked great until now.I guess the lock/power button on the side is not working properly. If I take the battery out and put it back in then it will come on but I cant get the backlight to go off and lock when im not using it. If I leave it alone for a minute or two it will go off on its own but will not come back on when I try to use it again. To use it I have to take the battery back out and let it restart. It works fine if I dont let the backlight go off (which is pretty much impossible). I tried going into the camera app and doing as suggested but it didnt do anything either.   
Thanks in advance.

Thank you very much for this information.  I registered just to let you know this works,  I almost got a new phone because of it.

Okay Guy whats up! So it took me a while find a loophole to this problem. I am pretty sure some of you guys have problems with the Captivate's Lock/hold button (the button which you turn your phone off/on).

I realize there was two different type of same problem:
1. The lock button works but it seems like its always being pushed down. Like for example, when you pressed it once, the screen lights up & the pop-up menu(The menu with Airplane mode, data connection, slient, off/on) pops up even when you pressed it lightly! And you cant get it to turn off until wait for the screen lockout time.
2. The lock button does not work at all. You cant get it on or off, its totally unresponsive.

Now there are three solutions:
1. The most common one being if you have warranty , just drop by the store tell them the problem and they should either fix it or give you a new one.
2. Fix it yourself. You can dissemble the captivate yourself! If you go to youtube and search how to dissemble, there are couple of video that shows a step by step process of dissembling the captivate. Now the only problem is that there isnt a specific video locating the lock button and you will have to find that yourself. So after you dissemble your captivate, locate the lock and use CRC QD Electronic Cleaner I read that is the most reliable and decent one out of all sprays and all you need to do is spray around hold button area, and push the lock button 20-30 times and repeat the process a couple of times. After that you should let it dry for a couple of min and then put your phone back together and it should work fine!.
3. I THINK THIS IS THE BEST/SAFEST METHOD if you dont have warranty or dont want to risk dissembling your phone or pay money for the repair. This is just going to take a while to get used to! First you can go the market and download "No Lock". This app allows you to unlock your phone using the volume button. convenient eh? This is what I am using right now and the only problem I am experience is that sometimes (like 1 out of 10 times) it doesnt unlock when I press the volume button(just wait a couple min and try again) , and you wont be able to set up a screen lock or pw (every so often if you did have a screen lock or id pw already on captivate, it would just randomly pop up and you would have to put in your pw). Now you have a way to turn on your phone without using the lock button. NOW for turning your phone to sleep, You can get an app call "Screen Off and Lock", This app basically allows you to press the app, and then the phone goes to sleep. There is an another app that requires root called "virtual button bar" which cost 2 dollars i think. But this app is basically a small button bar that lets you put the phone to sleep at anytime. For the "screen off and lock" you have to go to that app and tap it, while the "virtual button bar" allows you to put the phone to sleep while playing a game to looking through photos, ect.

There you have it. Hopefully i didnt sound too confusing and I solve your problem. I was having this problem and it was very irritating.

*Side note: If you are not too comfortable about how you cant set up a pw for your captivate there is a couple apps like "Smart App Protector ( App lock)" which basically locks up an app. You can look that up in the market for more information.
Last edited by YellowYunicorn; 16th January 2012 at 06:16 PM.