4.2 update is extremely flaky | summary

[cooch17]

So, I 'blindly' hit the 'update to 4.2' option, went through the OS upgrade, and am now regretting it. Not for reasons of 'aesthetics' (although I think the new clock app is fugly, and poorly designed. I absolutely *hate* the new clock), but because of significant system instability. A number of examples, but here are the key ones.

1\ tablet new reboots itself, often 2-3 times a day. More or less randomly, more frequently if 'waking it up'. This is the big one for me...if this was one of my *man* desktop systems, I'd format the drive and start over.

2\ location of widgets and various bookmarks seems to move randomly (today, I found that half had moved to one homescreen, half to another).

3\ typing isn't as 'precise' as it once one - now, new characters seem to toss themselves randomly into the mix.

4\ battery life is shorter. Same apps, same environment, but with 4.2, instead of 4.1.2.


Alas, I'm not particularly impressed by 4.2. The usual explanation is 'not a bad OS, its a bad app'. Well, issue (1) (above) occurs even if I unload all my apps, except for the 'Google' apps. I don't have that many apps (15-20) so that performing this little experiment didn't make much effort. Results? Its the OS, not the apps.

 

[Rxpert83]

1)If you haven't already, do a factory reset or reinstall the factory image. This is no different from your computer you referenced


Otas by themselves can cause issues. Factory resets usually solve them. I'd highly recommend installing the 4.2 factory image. Nice and clean and I have 0issues

Its the update process itself, not the os

 

[tcat007]

That's really odd. I think the update effects everyone differently depending if they had been rooted or not. I never rooted, got the OTA update and see NONE of the things you're seeing. No reboots since I updated on Friday. Nothing "moves" (but I do use ssLauncher). Battery lasts 24 hours, maybe slightly shorter than I remember, but I am using it more to test things out. Swiping keyboard seems as accurate as Swype to me, got rid of Swype.

Lots of lockscreen widget options to change the clock ugliness.

 

[cooch17]

1)If you haven't already, do a factory reset or reinstall the factory image. This is no different from your computer you referenced


Otas by themselves can cause issues. Factory resets usually solve them. I'd highly recommend installing the 4.2 factory image. Nice and clean and I have 0issues

Its the update process itself, not the os

Seems like that might be worth a try, as long as the probability of turning the thing into a 'brick' is minimal.

Any link you can share for the specifics of where to grab the 4.2 image, and how to do the install? Does said install require I root the tablet?

 

[cooch17]

That's really odd.

odd implies rarity wrt to a distribution (based on inference from a sample). Given the *many* people who are reporting various problems -- including a *lot* of complaints about the 're-booting' issue -- I think empirical evidence suggests the problems aren't 'odd'.

I think the update effects everyone differently depending if they had been rooted or not. I never rooted, got the OTA update and see NONE of the things you're seeing.

I've never rooted the tablet either, so that takes that hypothesis off the table (wherein Android 4.2 does evil things to people who've rooted the tablet).

No reboots since I updated on Friday. Nothing "moves" (but I do use ssLauncher). Battery lasts 24 hours, maybe slightly shorter than I remember, but I am using it more to test things out. Swiping keyboard seems as accurate as Swype to me, got rid of Swype.

Lots of lockscreen widget options to change the clock ugliness.

Not so many, and most of them don't have the functionality of the original 4.1.2 clock. If you know of one, do tell! ;-)

 

[tcat007]

Link to some Widget info: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1993187

 

[Rxpert83]

You don't need to root to install the factory system.

Its the same thing as reinstalling the os on your computer.

I'd suggest using wugs toolkit to do this. Its typically used to root a device but can do that as well

 

[cooch17]

Link to some Widget info: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1993187

Thanks - but I'm not looking for a widget (per se; my mistake suggesting I was) but a full-blown app that does what the clock app does (alarm, stopwatch), that isn't as fugly (or non-intuitive) as the 4.2 app.

 

[cooch17]

You don't need to root to install the factory system.

Its the same thing as reinstalling the os on your computer.

I'd suggest using wugs toolkit to do this. Its typically used to root a device but can do that as well

Thanks - I'll check out wugs toolkit, as per your suggestion.

Do you have a link for the factory 4.2 image?