iPad 1 Crashing

[wa4otj]

When my iPad upgraded to the last 4.xx version before IOS 5, a new behavior developed. It crashes. Usually it crashes about every half-hour to hour or so, if left on the charger. Does the same whether on stand-alone charger or when docked with my iMac. When carrying it or using it normally, it is fine, save a strange behavior. The auto-rotation function stops working from time to time. The slide switch does not affect this. Once it stops rotating, only a restart will restore it. It will sometimes work perfectly for hours, then suddenly, the screen won't rotate. Moving the switch has no effect, it is simply stuck, and won't rotate. Otherwise it is fine, until I put it on the charger.

I had considered this behavior something involving the IOS4.xx, and expected IOS5 to fix things. It has not. Looking under General-> about -> Diagnostics and Usage, I see a few "panic.plist" entries, suggesting something is indeed encountering an error, but nothing in the list gives a clue what the error was.

It has never crashed when I am actually using it, but crashes when left alone and untouched, mostly on charger, but occasionally even when just left on a chair, etc, although just crashing when on battery is rare, but does occasionally happen if left idle. Has never crashed when actually in use.

Sometimes at night I would put on a "nightstand" clock programs for a bedside clock, or sometimes the "Candle" app to simulate a candle for evening bedroom atmosphere, on the charger, of course. It will run them a while, an hour or more, but eventually crash.

Has anyone encountered anything similar? I am suspecting some sort of hardware problem, but the behavior did start coincident with the 4.xx upgrade.

If it is hardware, is fixing it practical, or is it time to start planning for a new iPad 2? What does it cost, usually, to get an iPad fixed?

Nathan

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