User guide · 7

When something does not work.

The failures below are real: each one was reproduced on a test account on 12 October 2026, and the fix next to it was run and worked. Find your symptom, check the cause, apply the fix. If yours is not here, open a ticket and include the requestId from the error.

Checked on a live phone · 12 Oct 2026Reproduced, then fixed

Black screen

The picture is black or does not change.

Most of the time the phone's display is simply off, as on a phone lying on a desk.

How it looks. The live screen in the dashboard is black. A screenshot comes back, but it is tiny and all black. We switched the display off with the power key to reproduce it:

shell · curlcopy-paste

curl -s -X POST -H "X-API-Key: $ERIUS_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"key":"power"}' $ERIUS_API/device/$ERIUS_DEVICE/press

responsereal output · 12 Oct 2026

{
  "ok": true
}

shell · curlcopy-paste

sleep 2; curl -s -H "X-API-Key: $ERIUS_KEY" -o black.img \
  -w "%{http_code} %{content_type} %{size_download} bytes\n" \
  "$ERIUS_API/device/$ERIUS_DEVICE/screenshot?format=jpeg&maxSide=1280"

responsereal output · 12 Oct 2026

200 image/jpeg 5277 bytes

Fix. Wake the phone. In the dashboard press the power key beside the screen, or use Unlock now on the Screen lock panel. From the API, unlock wakes the screen and, if a lock is set through us, opens it:

shell · curlcopy-paste

curl -s -X POST -H "X-API-Key: $ERIUS_KEY" $ERIUS_API/device/$ERIUS_DEVICE/unlock

responsereal output · 12 Oct 2026

{
  "ok": true,
  "unlocked": true,
  "type": "none"
}

shell · curlcopy-paste

sleep 2; curl -s -H "X-API-Key: $ERIUS_KEY" -o awake.img \
  -w "%{http_code} %{content_type} %{size_download} bytes\n" \
  "$ERIUS_API/device/$ERIUS_DEVICE/screenshot?format=jpeg&maxSide=1280"

responsereal output · 12 Oct 2026

200 image/jpeg 24774 bytes

The picture is back: the same request now returns 24 KB instead of 5 KB.

Also check	What to do
The dashboard says the phone is Offline	Wait a minute and press Refresh. If it stays offline, open a ticket: you cannot restart a phone yourself.
The live picture is frozen, the phone itself is fine	Press Pause, then resume, or reload the page.
A screenshot fails only on the PIN pad	Expected. Android does not allow pictures of the PIN pad.
An app shows a black area where video should be	Some apps block screen capture of protected content, as on any phone.

ADB unauthorized

"adb connect" hangs, no device, unauthorized.

Expected: a direct ADB connection is not offered.

How it looks. adb connect waits and then gives up. Tools built on ADB (scrcpy, Android Studio) report that no device was found. You will not even get as far as the "unauthorized" prompt, because the port cannot be reached at all.

shellcopy-paste

timeout 30 adb connect api.eriusphone.com:5555 | grep -v daemon; echo "exit code ${PIPESTATUS[0]} (124 = no answer within 30 seconds)"

responsereal output · 12 Oct 2026

exit code 124 (124 = no answer within 30 seconds)

Cause. The phone's ADB port is not reachable from the internet, and only our own service is authorized on it. Nothing on your computer can change that: not a different port, not adb kill-server, not a new ADB key.

Fix. Use the live screen in the dashboard instead of scrcpy, and the HTTP API instead of adb shell. The table on Your phone maps each common ADB command to its replacement.

Key problems

401, "That key wasn't recognized", or the key is gone.

How it looks. The dashboard says "That key wasn't recognized. Check that you copied the whole key and try again." The API answers:

shell · curlcopy-paste

curl -s -w "\nHTTP %{http_code}\n" $ERIUS_API/whoami

responsereal output · 12 Oct 2026

{
  "ok": false,
  "error": "unauthorized",
  "message": "missing or wrong X-API-Key",
  "requestId": "4d7c3178c05f85bf"
}

HTTP 401

Cause	Fix
The key was copied with a missing character or a trailing space	Copy it again from where you stored it. A key starts with `sdk_` and has no spaces.
The header is misspelled	It is `X-API-Key: <key>` or `Authorization: Bearer <key>`.
The variable is empty in this terminal	`echo ${#ERIUS_KEY}` must print a number greater than 20. Run the `export` line again.
The key was replaced	After a reissue the old key is dead at once. Use the key from the newest welcome email.
You never saved it and the one-time link says "already used"	The key cannot be shown again. Ask for a new one: a lost key.

A request that reaches a phone that is not on your account gets 403, not 401. Check the phone id with GET /whoami.

0 minutes

A call will not start: "no call minutes left".

The account's call minutes are used up or have expired.

How it looks. The dashboard shows 0 minutes left and "Calls can't start until minutes are added." The API:

shell · curlcopy-paste

curl -s -H "X-API-Key: $ERIUS_KEY" $ERIUS_API/minutes

responsereal output · 12 Oct 2026

{
  "tenant": "ca9a4ca3f",
  "balance_minutes": 0,
  "usable_minutes": 0,
  "period_end": "2026-10-26T20:09:39Z",
  "unlimited": false,
  "expired": false
}

shell · curlcopy-paste

curl -s -w "\nHTTP %{http_code}\n" -X POST -H "X-API-Key: $ERIUS_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"app":"web"}' $ERIUS_API/device/$ERIUS_DEVICE/calls

responsereal output · 12 Oct 2026

{
  "ok": false,
  "error": "no_minutes",
  "message": "no call minutes left on this account"
}

HTTP 402

Check usable_minutes, not only balance_minutes. When expired is true, the period is over and the remaining minutes can no longer be used.

Fix. Ask for minutes: dashboard, Plan & billing, Ask for more minutes. See Minutes and billing. The phone itself keeps working in the meantime.

Call does not connect

The guest waits, or the start is refused.

Work through it in this order.

Symptom	Cause	Fix
The start answers `busy` (409)	A call is already up on this phone, maybe one that nobody joined.	Hang it up, then start again.
The start answers `no_minutes` (402)	See above.	Ask for minutes.
The start answers `calls_not_set_up` (409)	The phone has no calling setup.	Open a ticket.
State stays `ringing`	Nobody joined yet. Waiting is free.	Check that the guest opened the guest link and pressed Join call.
The guest's page says "waiting for the phone" for more than a minute	The phone left the room: the call was hung up or timed out.	Start a new call and send the new link. Each call has its own link.
The guest's page shows an error about camera or microphone	The browser was not allowed to use them.	The guest allows camera and microphone for the page and reloads it.
Both sides are in, but it never says "connected"	The guest's network blocks direct connections (some company networks and VPNs). There is no relay server yet.	The guest tries another network, for example a phone hotspot.
Connected, but the persona is silent or the picture is black	Our side.	Hang up, start again. If it repeats, open a ticket with the time of the call.

The "busy" case, reproduced by starting a second call while one was connected:

shell · curlcopy-paste

curl -s -w "\nHTTP %{http_code}\n" -X POST -H "X-API-Key: $ERIUS_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"app":"web"}' $ERIUS_API/device/$ERIUS_DEVICE/calls

responsereal output · 12 Oct 2026

{
  "ok": false,
  "error": "busy",
  "message": "a call is already up on this device"
}

HTTP 409

The fix:

shell · curlcopy-paste

curl -s -X POST -H "X-API-Key: $ERIUS_KEY" $ERIUS_API/device/$ERIUS_DEVICE/calls/hangup

responsereal output · 12 Oct 2026

{
  "ok": true,
  "state": "ended"
}

In our test the guest was connected 11 to 17 seconds after opening the link. If it takes longer than a minute, hang up and start again.

Other symptoms

Other things you may see.

Symptom	Cause and fix
A screenshot you asked for as JPEG arrives as a 2 MB PNG	For up to 30 seconds after the phone's fast screen reader restarts, the API falls back to PNG. Read `Content-Type`; ask again a little later for the small JPEG.
HTTP 429	Too many requests, or more than three uploads at once. Slow down and retry.
HTTP 404 `no route`	That endpoint does not exist. Compare with the API reference.
HTTP 500 `internal` with a `requestId`	Our side. Try once more; if it repeats, send us the `requestId`.
The sign-up page says "Today's new phones are all taken"	The daily limit for new phones is reached. Your confirmation link is valid for 24 hours; use it tomorrow.
The sign-up page says "That invite code is not valid"	Check the code for typos. Codes are case-sensitive.
The confirmation link says "This link is no longer valid"	It was already used or is older than 24 hours. Start again on eriusphone.com/start.
No email arrived	Look in the spam folder for a message from ERIUS PHONE. The sign-up page answers "Check your email" even when the address already has a phone; in that case no new email is sent.

Still stuck

Open a ticket.

Dashboard, Support, Open a ticket. Say which phone, what you did, what you expected and what happened. Add the requestId if you have one, and the time.

We answer in the ticket; the dashboard shows the reply. If you cannot sign in, write to info@eriusphone.com from the address on your account.

Stuck on something?

Open a ticket from your dashboard and we answer there. No key yet? Write to info@eriusphone.com.

Open a support ticket