Ipad screen goes blank

[gertrud]

After about one minute my iPad screen goes blank when I look something up online.
The problem is getting worse.
Has anyone any explanations.

 

[skimonkey]

After about one minute my iPad screen goes blank when I look something up online.
The problem is getting worse.
Has anyone any explanations.

Hi Gertrud-Welcome to the forum!

I think that a little more detail will help us help you. What type of ipad you have 1 or 2? What operating system (OS) you are on? The latest for the ipad is iOS 5.01.
What have you done so far to try to resolve it?

If you have do not done this already, give this a try: May want to try these in order and proceed to the next step if it does not work.

Try to quit the apps that are an issue. To do this by pressing the home button twice to see the bar of apps on the bottom of the screen. Find the apps that are not responding and long press onto the app until it shakes. When it starts to shake, touch the red negative sign in the corner of the app. This will not delete, but will close the app. Than open and retry to see if it works.

If not, than restart the ipad. Press the power switch until you get the slide lock to power off. Turn back on and retry.

If not, than reset the ipad. Press the power switch and the home button until the screen turns off. May take a few seconds to power off.

Let us know if this is still giving you a problem.

 

[leelai]

Hi and welcome to the Forum!

Let us know if your issue is now fixed with skimonkeys's great advice!

The IPad Forum is a community of members from all walks of life and from all over the world coming together to share our experiences and to help each other learn about this wonderful piece of technology the Ipad. There is a wealth of information already here in the many threads we have so doing some searches will answer most of the questions you have. If then you cannot find the answer you are seeking then by all means post your question. There are many friendly and informed members here only too willing to help you.

We also have our own App - It is a very simple app to navigate.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/discussion-forum-for-ipad/id412896524?mt=8
Reading the IPad manual is a great place to start so please download a copy of these.
http://www.support.apple.com/manuals/ipad/
2 very informative threads from which you will learn many tips and shortcuts for the IPad.
http://www.ipadforums.net/ipad-general-discussions/21590-tips-tricks-those-us-who-dont-know.html
http://www.ipadforums.net/ipad-os/49581-ios5-tips-tricks.html
We have rules like any Community so please read these also
http://www.ipadforums.net/forum-rul...um-rules-everybody-please-read.html#post14697

Once again we welcome you here and are so pleased you have joined us!

Sent from my iPad using iPF

 

[gertrud]

I have an iPad 1 purchased when they first came out. I synchronize it with my iMac so the operating system should be current.
All the apps have been shut down as you suggested but the problem is still there. It will open up the pages that I want to see but only for a few seconds, then it goes blank and then goes back to the start up screen. Sometimes when I try again it lasts a little longer.
The device never used to do this so something has happened.

I appreciate your advise but it looks as though it's some other problem.

 

[skimonkey]

I have an iPad 1 purchased when they first came out. I synchronize it with my iMac so the operating system should be current.
All the apps have been shut down as you suggested but the problem is still there. It will open up the pages that I want to see but only for a few seconds, then it goes blank and then goes back to the start up screen. Sometimes when I try again it lasts a little longer.
The device never used to do this so something has happened.

I appreciate your advise but it looks as though it's some other problem.

Assuming that you have latest OS version on your ipad 1-this may be issue. Many members have reported issues of how the recent update seemed to bog the system down forcing them to close apps as needed to free up RAM.

Also, some of the developers for the apps that you have may not yet have done the appropriate updates to work with the current OS on the ipad. That too, may be the problem as well.

 

[leelai]

I have an iPad 1 purchased when they first came out. I synchronize it with my iMac so the operating system should be current.
All the apps have been shut down as you suggested but the problem is still there. It will open up the pages that I want to see but only for a few seconds, then it goes blank and then goes back to the start up screen. Sometimes when I try again it lasts a little longer.
The device never used to do this so something has happened.

I appreciate your advise but it looks as though it's some other problem.

Have a look in Settings - General - about and look for version. If you're up to date you would be on 5.0.1 right now. If you are only on 5.0.0 the update to 5.0.1 can be done on the iPad. It's the setting under About which is Software update. With the upgrade it has been noticed that the ipad1 is having trouble with a lack of ram. Ipad1 has 256mb of ram whereas the ipad2 has 512mb. There are steps you can take to minimize this disruption, which is closing your apps completely when not in use, which you do by way of the multi task bar, limiting your location services and deleting your history and cookies in Safari. Settings - Safari, clear history and cookies and data, now go to the advanced tab then website data and here you will find a list of little bits of data saved from every site you have been to, it's a good idea to delete this too to clear as much ram as possible. Do all this and let us know how your iPad then performs.

Sent from my iPad using iPF

 

[gertrud]

Ski monkey, I tried your final advice and it seemed to work. This was to shut down the iPad completely which has never been done since I bought the device. Now it is back to normal - no more blank screens. Many thanks!

Leelai, I checked for the version as you suggested. It is 4.3.5 (8L1) which is not the version you mentioned. Can I obtain the latest version via my iMac or can it be done on the iPad directly?
Thanks for your help.

 

[leelai]

Ski monkey, I tried your final advice and it seemed to work. This was to shut down the iPad completely which has never been done since I bought the device. Now it is back to normal - no more blank screens. Many thanks!

Leelai, I checked for the version as you suggested. It is 4.3.5 (8L1) which is not the version you mentioned. Can I obtain the latest version via my iMac or can it be done on the iPad directly?
Thanks for your help.

To upgrade to IOS 5 this will need to be done with your Mac and you will go straight to IOS 5.0.1. Make sure you have everything backed up and that you have the latest version of iTunes installed on your Mac. Here are a couple of links that will help you. There are a lot of new features that come with IOS5 and they are just great.
[video=vimeo;30421920]http://vimeo.com/30421920[/video]
http://www.ipadforums.net/ipad-faq/50385-how-do-i-upgrade-ios-5-a.html#post345719
I'll also include a troubleshooting link, but you should be fine. Most members had problems because of the high volume of people doing the upgrade all at once.
http://www.ipadforums.net/ipad-help/49411-ios-5-upgrade-troubleshooting.html#post339338
Good luck and let us know how you go.

Sent from my iPad using iPF

 

[skimonkey]

Hi Gertrud--So glad that you were able to get your ipad working again. Yes, sometimes a simple restart and/or a reset of the device is needed to work out the issues of the system.

I had a hunch that you were not running the current IOS, but was not sure how MACs communicate with ipads in terms of updates. I wasn't sure if that was an automatic update in the background or not. Having a PC and turning on itunes gives me a notification that either itunes and/or the ipad has an update waiting. At that point it asks if I want to proceed or not.

I see that Leelai gave you some very informative links to get you on your way. Just be patient, because it can take some time. I will also repeat what Leelai said and to backup important docs/photos that you have either by email to yourself or another method prior to beginning the update process.

The cool thing about the update to IOS 5.01--all future updates can be done over the air (OTA). However the downside is that there have been reports of members with the Ipad1 having issues afterwards, but are fixable/work around.

See here: ios 5 and problems - Google Search