Google’s older-generation Tensor chips were all over the news and forums for their ability to make users uncomfortable by operating at higher temperature levels, to the point that the heatsink inside previous Pixel releases had permanent scorch marks on them.
Looking at a number of these incidents, it wouldn’t be unsurprising if a Pixel rebooted, but one owner has found that a glitch with the Tensor SoC can also result in a spontaneous reset of the operating system, irrespective of whether the device is overheating or not.
More specifically, the Tensor’s Thermal Management Unit (TMU) can trigger a reboot if the temperature threshold exceeds 115°C or 239°F
A Pixel 6 Pro owner with the Redditor handle “Oshadhaviduranga” found that a “false TMU thermal trip” on the Tensor GS101 was causing the device to restart when running Android 16. What’s interesting about the smartphone’s behavior was that it wasn’t even warm to the touch. On the Pixel 6 Pro, the temperature threshold set by the TMU is 115°C, which is absurdly high.
When firing up the bug report, Oshadhaviduranga says that the TMU readings showed temperatures in the 56°C-57°C range, which is far below the aforementioned threshold and not even close to the overheating limit. Further investigation revealed that the boot reason displayed “reboot,thermal,tj” with tj meaning temperature junction, and is often used as a reading for desktop and laptop processors.
Evidence that the thermal trip happened is shown in the error code “RST_STAT: 0x40000 - PIN_RESET.” The Pixel 6 Pro also provides useful information on how to check if a reboot of your smartphone is happening because of the same reason.
“Take a bug report immediately after a reboot. Go to Settings, About Phone, tap Build Number 7 times to enable developer options, then Settings, System, Developer Options, Bug Report. Even better, use "adb bugreport" from a computer as it also captures the dumpstate_board file which contains additional crash count data. Then search for these keywords:
reboot,thermal,tj — in the boot reason or boot reason history
Thermal (TMU) HW Trip — in the RAMDUMP_MSG block
Reboot reason: 0xcdca — the specific Exynos thermal trip reboot code
RST_STAT: 0x40000 or RST_STAT: 0xc0000 — PIN_RESET from TMU
S2MPG10 OFFSRC 0x20 — PMIC thermal shutdown bit set
persist.sys.boot.reason.history — check for repeated reboot,thermal,tj entries with timestamps
Search [SLIDER] [TMU:0] and [SLIDER] [TMU:1] in the LAST KMSG section — if these show under ~80°C right after a thermal trip, your sensor misfired
In the thermal HAL dump, search getCurrentTemperatures — compare ThrottlingStatus values against actual temperature readings
PMIC REGISTERS — tells you the shutdown path:
Search S2MPG10 OFFSRC and S2MPG11 OFFSRC — value 0x20 or 0x21 confirms thermal shutdown, not a watchdog or power key event
androidboot.bootreason = reboot,bootloader — bootloader crash, different issue
androidboot.bootreason = reboot,watchdog — kernel watchdog, different issue
hard_reset_count in the Citadel/GSC section — counts hardware resets, useful for tracking frequency”
The Redditor was swift to send the report to Google Support, who state that random rebooting isn’t a known issue, but there are several Pixel 6 Pro owners who are experiencing this problem after updating to Android 16. Unfortunately, because they aren’t able to dig into the bug reports, they have no clue what’s going on.
It’s also unconfirmed if these reboots are happening on just the Pixel 6 Pro or different models. If your smartphone is also afflicted by the same problem, it wouldn’t hurt to reach out to Google Support and inform them so that a patch can be developed at the earliest.
News Source: Reddit
About the author: Omar Sohail is a reporter and analyst for Wccftech's mobile section, specializing in the technology and business of the mobile industry. His expertise lies in the intricate hardware supply chain, covering developments in semiconductor manufacturing, chip lithography, and camera sensor technology.
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