Why does my Samsung Galaxy S3 no longer vibrate (except for right after boot)?

Question

Recently I switched my Samsung Galaxy S3 (model number SPH-L710) from TouchWiz (Jellybean) to SlimKat (KitKat) 4.4.2 build 4.1 stable. As of right now, the phone's vibrate function does not work except for when first booting the phone. The vibrate function works for around 30 seconds to a minute (I test this by repeatedly changing the volume from the quietest to vibrate using the rocker). Eventually, the phone just stops vibrating when this occurs, and no other app can get the phone to vibrate as well.

I double checked all my application settings, but I haven't installed any new apps aside from the ones I backed up using Titanium Backup, and the vibrate worked fine while it was on TouchWiz. Is this a SlimKat bug or do I just need to dig harder to find the app causing it? If so, what are some problem apps/services that can cause this?

Answer 1

In my case I had turned on power savings mode. Am not sure but I believe that in 4.4.2 power saving mode comes with "Disabling Haptic Feedback" turned on. This can be rectified by going to Settings->My Device and then clicking on Power Saving Mode. There uncheck the "Disabling Haptic Feedback" checkbox.

Answer 2

It shouldn't be possible for an app to prevent all apps from using the vibrator. This definitely points to an error in the custom ROM.

Answer 3

You can also check if you don't have an app that automatically selects a profile depending on a trigger. Although it could be a bug in your ROM, it could also be caused by an automatic change of profile. Make sure the profile that is selected when you turn on your phone is the same as the one when the vibrator stops working, and that the definition of the profile didn't change.

The behavior you describe could be consistent with a change of profile since some apps might take a few minutes to be loaded after you start the phone, including your profile manager.