** Scroll down for Issues with Official Fixes and Issues with no Fixes **
Confirmed Issues with Workarounds
This section contains issues confirmed by Sprint or HTC that the community, Sprint or HTC has provided a known, confirmed workaround for. These issues have not actually been fixed in any official updates yet. If an issue arises that a confirmed workaround has been found for, please send me a PM and I will add it to the list after checking into the issue. This thread is not for discussing issues and will remain locked. If you have further questions or suggestions, please search the forum for your issue or start a new thread.
Apps not showing in Market after Nov 18th MR
Issue:
After installing the Maintenance Release put out on Nov 18, 2009 (1.56.651.2), previously purchased apps are not showing up on the Android Market. If the app was installed before the update it will still be there, but if you uninstall the app, re-image your phone or obtain a new phone, the paid app will not show up in the Market to reinstall.
Workaround:
This issue has been found to be caused by the DRM (Digital Rights Management) used on the HTC Hero. The author of the application must turn off the copy protection on their app for it to show up on the Market. Please contact the app's author to see if they are willing to do this or refund your money if not. Also, contact Sprint & HTC support to report your issue. The more people that report it, the higher a priority it will be to them.
The only other alternative to this is to root your device and flash it back to an image version before the Nov 18th update. Your apps will show up again and you can install them before doing the Update. As always, rooting is only to be done if you're aware of its risks. You will loose ALL data not stored on the SD card when you re-image your phone.
Also, rooting your phone allows you to backup apps that have copy protection turned on. Without root access, the copy protection blocks standard backup utilities from backing up those applications (ex, ASTRO File Manager cannot backup copy protected applications).
Unable to receive SMS or Voicemail
Issue:
After Internal Memory reaches a certain low level of free space (one user heard around around 40MB free from HTC Support), you may stop receiving SMS messages and voicemail. No amount of clearing space will allow messages to resume.
Workaround (Source):
First, ensure your phone is in Hybrid mode for your Mobile Network. Settings -> Wireless controls -> Mobile network settings -> Mode of operation -> Hybrid. If you are in EVDO-Only mode, SMS messages will not come through.
You can also try setting the phone into 1x-Only mode and see if text messages come through then. Of course this limits the rest of the phone's fancy features, but it's a possible work around some have found if you don't want to exchange your phone.
Note, neither of these Mobile Network fixes will solve the issue if you've reached the maximum memory limit.
Also, try and keep your free Internal Memory space above 40MB. Settings -> SD Card & phone storage -> Internal phone storage Available Space. If you delete some apps and space doesn't appear to free up, try a soft reset (hold red button & Power off).
Note from HTC: We are investigating an additional issue that may cause devices to intermittantly receive an SMS but not display the message to the user. This issue is distinguished from the above in that it is resolved by a soft or hard reset. No exchange is neccesary for the intermittant unable to receive SMS issue, we will post an additional KI when a solution is available.
Headphone Jack does not work at all
Issue:
After booting the phone with the headphones already plugged in, the headphone jack no longer works.
Workaround:
Unplug the headphones, reboot the phone, then plug them back in. Do not leave your headphones plugged in if you turn the phone off.
HTC has acknowledged this issue and said a fix will be included in the next patch.
Clock Widgets showing wrong time depending on location
Issue:
The included HTC clock widgets appear to be basing the time solely on the name of the city you are in, not location or state. This can cause things like Albany CA showing the EST time for Albany NY. Fix is supposed to be included in next update.
Workaround:
Use another clock widget. Patch will be included in a future update.
YouTube app not working anymore and Flash not working in the browser for sites where it used to work.
Issue:
No official word has come out on this, but the reports have been pretty widespread. The phone has never really had a "full" flash player. And YouTube and other sites could've started using newer flash content that the Android 1.5 Lite player cannot support.
Awaiting any updates from Sprint or HTC.
Workaround:
For Youtube at least adding m.youtube.com to your bookmarks. This allows all videos to be played directly through the HTC Flash player the same way the YouTube app would allow.
========================================================
Confirmed Issues with Official Fixes
This section contains known issues that either Sprint or HTC has provided a working fix for. If an issue arises that a confirmed fix has been found for, please send me a PM and I will add it to the list after checking into the issue. This thread is not for discussing issues and will remain locked. If you have further questions or suggestions, please search the forum for your issue or start a new thread.
Unable to install Nov 18th MR Update
Issue:
When you force the phone to check for Firmware updates, it tells you none are available.
Fix:
Check your Firmware Build Number version. If it is 1.22.651.1, you must take it to a Sprint store for them to manually update you to 1.29.651.1. Without 1.29 you cannot get the OTA update. Unknown if you'll loose all your data this way, so make sure to do a backup before taking it in.
Workaround:
If you don't want to take it to a Sprint store, you can use an RUU ROM released by XDA to update your phone to 1.29.651.1. You'll then be able to update it yourself as normal.
You WILL loose all your data since this is flashing an entirely new ROM to your phone.
Link to Stock HTC Hero ROM - xda-developers
Broken Icons, Apps Downgrading/Crashing after Reboot
Issue:
After rebooting the phone (just a normal soft reboot by holding down the power button), certain apps will loose their standard icon, their icon text will change, and/or some will crash on startup. The one app that's been confirmed to do this consistently for most people is Google Sky Maps (Text changes to EULA Agreement and force closes upon startup).
Also, if you update an app via the Market, after a reboot, you may find that it has downgraded to the previous version before the update. This causes some of the same icon, label, crash issues above. You can use the ASTRO file manager application to backup your apps and compare versions before and after a reboot to see if this is happening.
Fix:
This has been fixed in the OTA update released 11/18.
Build Number/Software Version: 1.56.651.2
Poor Battery Life due to stock Messages App
Issue:
When you send an SMS/MMS message with the included Messages app, the phone no longer goes into sleep mode properly. Settings -> About Phone -> Status -> Awake Time will always show 100%. This causes an extreme drain on the battery and a full charge will only last hours.
Fix:
This has been fixed in the OTA update released 11/18.
Build Number/Software Version: 1.56.651.2
Some people are also reporting requiring an additional soft reset or even a hard factory reset to get this working consistently. Make sure you back up any apps and data you need to. Easiest way to backup Contacts is to sync with Gmail.
ROM Memory Leak Filling Up Internal Memory (Attn Bluetooth Users!); Unable to receive SMS or Voicemail
Issue:
After Internal Memory reaches a certain low level of free space (one user heard around around 40MB free from HTC Support), you may stop receiving SMS messages and voicemail. No amount of clearing space will allow messages to resume. Over time, Internal Memory free space dwindles and no amount of clearing apps frees the space. One confirmed cause has been the use of Bluetooth devices.
Fix:
This has been fixed in the OTA update released 11/18.
Build Number/Software Version: 1.56.651.2
Note that you can still fill up Internal Memory by installing too many apps and it may still cause you to stop receiving messages. This fix stops the Bluetooth memory leak and frees up some Internal Memory that may have been unavailable before. If you've already stopped receiving messages due to this issue, you may need to factory reset your phone or contact Sprint support to get them to resume.
3.5mm Headphone Jack outputting Mono instead of Stereo
Issue:
3.5mm Headphone Jack outputting Mono instead of Stereo
Fix:
This has been fixed in the OTA update released 11/18.
Build Number/Software Version: 1.56.651.2
After Nov 1st Daylight Saving, times in Calendar are off by 1 hour.
Issue:
Widget & notification clocks not keeping the proper time.
Fix:
This has been fixed in the OTA update released 11/18.
Build Number/Software Version: 1.56.651.2
Stock Voicemail App provides no notification & poor sound quality
Issue:
The included Voicemail app (sometimes called Visual Voicemail) does not provide a notification in the top bar that a new voicemail has arrived. Also, voicemails sound extremely choppy or have an extremely poor sound quality.
The Voicemail app that shipped in the initial release of the Hero does not have the current version. It will probably be several shipments until this fix is included in the stock release.
Fix:
Voicemail -> Settings -> Check for upgrade. You will have to allow app installations from unknown sources for this update to install (Settings -> Applications -> check Unknown sources).
Fixed in version: VN.5.0.0.32
=======================================
Confirmed Issues With No Current Fixes or Workarounds
This section contains issues that have been confirmed by HTC or Sprint but currently have no official fixes or workarounds. If an issue arises and you have confirmation from HTC or Sprint that they're aware of it, please send me a PM and I will add it to the list after checking into the issue. This thread is not for discussing issues and will remain locked. If you have further questions or suggestions, please search the forum for your issue or start a new thread.
Mobile Network Type (Settings -> About Phone -> Status) states it is EvDo rev. 0 instead of rev. A
According to Sprint & HTC, this is just a bug in the display of the network type. The phone is still running in rev. A. This has been seen on the phones without the Google branding on the battery cover. This was supposed to have been fixed in the first MR, but was not. Hopefully will be in the next patch.
Dust under the screen.
You can currently take your phone back for an exchange, but the issue has not been been confirmed as fixed on any phones yet shipped by HTC, so you'll probably just have the same issue again.
Gmail messages not showing up under Contacts in People app if they've sent a message through Gmail
Calendar app showing the wrong day for all day appointments
Search function in the Messages app only searches the last message of each thread.
Confirmed Issues with Workarounds
This section contains issues confirmed by Sprint or HTC that the community, Sprint or HTC has provided a known, confirmed workaround for. These issues have not actually been fixed in any official updates yet. If an issue arises that a confirmed workaround has been found for, please send me a PM and I will add it to the list after checking into the issue. This thread is not for discussing issues and will remain locked. If you have further questions or suggestions, please search the forum for your issue or start a new thread.
Apps not showing in Market after Nov 18th MR
Issue:
After installing the Maintenance Release put out on Nov 18, 2009 (1.56.651.2), previously purchased apps are not showing up on the Android Market. If the app was installed before the update it will still be there, but if you uninstall the app, re-image your phone or obtain a new phone, the paid app will not show up in the Market to reinstall.
Workaround:
This issue has been found to be caused by the DRM (Digital Rights Management) used on the HTC Hero. The author of the application must turn off the copy protection on their app for it to show up on the Market. Please contact the app's author to see if they are willing to do this or refund your money if not. Also, contact Sprint & HTC support to report your issue. The more people that report it, the higher a priority it will be to them.
The only other alternative to this is to root your device and flash it back to an image version before the Nov 18th update. Your apps will show up again and you can install them before doing the Update. As always, rooting is only to be done if you're aware of its risks. You will loose ALL data not stored on the SD card when you re-image your phone.
Also, rooting your phone allows you to backup apps that have copy protection turned on. Without root access, the copy protection blocks standard backup utilities from backing up those applications (ex, ASTRO File Manager cannot backup copy protected applications).
Unable to receive SMS or Voicemail
Issue:
After Internal Memory reaches a certain low level of free space (one user heard around around 40MB free from HTC Support), you may stop receiving SMS messages and voicemail. No amount of clearing space will allow messages to resume.
Workaround (Source):
First, ensure your phone is in Hybrid mode for your Mobile Network. Settings -> Wireless controls -> Mobile network settings -> Mode of operation -> Hybrid. If you are in EVDO-Only mode, SMS messages will not come through.
You can also try setting the phone into 1x-Only mode and see if text messages come through then. Of course this limits the rest of the phone's fancy features, but it's a possible work around some have found if you don't want to exchange your phone.
Note, neither of these Mobile Network fixes will solve the issue if you've reached the maximum memory limit.
- - Back up ALL data from the device. ASTRO is a good app from the Market that allows backup to the sdcard
- Power the device off.
- Hold the Home and Back buttons then press the End/Power button.
- Follow the on screen prompt to clear all user data.
- One the reset is complete, test the ability for the device to receive SMS.
- If the issue persists, you must take the phone back to a Sprint Store or other place of purchase for an exchange.
Also, try and keep your free Internal Memory space above 40MB. Settings -> SD Card & phone storage -> Internal phone storage Available Space. If you delete some apps and space doesn't appear to free up, try a soft reset (hold red button & Power off).
Note from HTC: We are investigating an additional issue that may cause devices to intermittantly receive an SMS but not display the message to the user. This issue is distinguished from the above in that it is resolved by a soft or hard reset. No exchange is neccesary for the intermittant unable to receive SMS issue, we will post an additional KI when a solution is available.
Headphone Jack does not work at all
Issue:
After booting the phone with the headphones already plugged in, the headphone jack no longer works.
Workaround:
Unplug the headphones, reboot the phone, then plug them back in. Do not leave your headphones plugged in if you turn the phone off.
HTC has acknowledged this issue and said a fix will be included in the next patch.
Clock Widgets showing wrong time depending on location
Issue:
The included HTC clock widgets appear to be basing the time solely on the name of the city you are in, not location or state. This can cause things like Albany CA showing the EST time for Albany NY. Fix is supposed to be included in next update.
Workaround:
Use another clock widget. Patch will be included in a future update.
YouTube app not working anymore and Flash not working in the browser for sites where it used to work.
Issue:
No official word has come out on this, but the reports have been pretty widespread. The phone has never really had a "full" flash player. And YouTube and other sites could've started using newer flash content that the Android 1.5 Lite player cannot support.
Awaiting any updates from Sprint or HTC.
Workaround:
For Youtube at least adding m.youtube.com to your bookmarks. This allows all videos to be played directly through the HTC Flash player the same way the YouTube app would allow.
========================================================
Confirmed Issues with Official Fixes
This section contains known issues that either Sprint or HTC has provided a working fix for. If an issue arises that a confirmed fix has been found for, please send me a PM and I will add it to the list after checking into the issue. This thread is not for discussing issues and will remain locked. If you have further questions or suggestions, please search the forum for your issue or start a new thread.
Unable to install Nov 18th MR Update
Issue:
When you force the phone to check for Firmware updates, it tells you none are available.
Fix:
Check your Firmware Build Number version. If it is 1.22.651.1, you must take it to a Sprint store for them to manually update you to 1.29.651.1. Without 1.29 you cannot get the OTA update. Unknown if you'll loose all your data this way, so make sure to do a backup before taking it in.
Workaround:
If you don't want to take it to a Sprint store, you can use an RUU ROM released by XDA to update your phone to 1.29.651.1. You'll then be able to update it yourself as normal.
You WILL loose all your data since this is flashing an entirely new ROM to your phone.
Link to Stock HTC Hero ROM - xda-developers
Broken Icons, Apps Downgrading/Crashing after Reboot
Issue:
After rebooting the phone (just a normal soft reboot by holding down the power button), certain apps will loose their standard icon, their icon text will change, and/or some will crash on startup. The one app that's been confirmed to do this consistently for most people is Google Sky Maps (Text changes to EULA Agreement and force closes upon startup).
Also, if you update an app via the Market, after a reboot, you may find that it has downgraded to the previous version before the update. This causes some of the same icon, label, crash issues above. You can use the ASTRO file manager application to backup your apps and compare versions before and after a reboot to see if this is happening.
Fix:
This has been fixed in the OTA update released 11/18.
Build Number/Software Version: 1.56.651.2
Poor Battery Life due to stock Messages App
Issue:
When you send an SMS/MMS message with the included Messages app, the phone no longer goes into sleep mode properly. Settings -> About Phone -> Status -> Awake Time will always show 100%. This causes an extreme drain on the battery and a full charge will only last hours.
Fix:
This has been fixed in the OTA update released 11/18.
Build Number/Software Version: 1.56.651.2
Some people are also reporting requiring an additional soft reset or even a hard factory reset to get this working consistently. Make sure you back up any apps and data you need to. Easiest way to backup Contacts is to sync with Gmail.
ROM Memory Leak Filling Up Internal Memory (Attn Bluetooth Users!); Unable to receive SMS or Voicemail
Issue:
After Internal Memory reaches a certain low level of free space (one user heard around around 40MB free from HTC Support), you may stop receiving SMS messages and voicemail. No amount of clearing space will allow messages to resume. Over time, Internal Memory free space dwindles and no amount of clearing apps frees the space. One confirmed cause has been the use of Bluetooth devices.
Fix:
This has been fixed in the OTA update released 11/18.
Build Number/Software Version: 1.56.651.2
Note that you can still fill up Internal Memory by installing too many apps and it may still cause you to stop receiving messages. This fix stops the Bluetooth memory leak and frees up some Internal Memory that may have been unavailable before. If you've already stopped receiving messages due to this issue, you may need to factory reset your phone or contact Sprint support to get them to resume.
3.5mm Headphone Jack outputting Mono instead of Stereo
Issue:
3.5mm Headphone Jack outputting Mono instead of Stereo
Fix:
This has been fixed in the OTA update released 11/18.
Build Number/Software Version: 1.56.651.2
After Nov 1st Daylight Saving, times in Calendar are off by 1 hour.
Issue:
Widget & notification clocks not keeping the proper time.
Fix:
This has been fixed in the OTA update released 11/18.
Build Number/Software Version: 1.56.651.2
Stock Voicemail App provides no notification & poor sound quality
Issue:
The included Voicemail app (sometimes called Visual Voicemail) does not provide a notification in the top bar that a new voicemail has arrived. Also, voicemails sound extremely choppy or have an extremely poor sound quality.
The Voicemail app that shipped in the initial release of the Hero does not have the current version. It will probably be several shipments until this fix is included in the stock release.
Fix:
Voicemail -> Settings -> Check for upgrade. You will have to allow app installations from unknown sources for this update to install (Settings -> Applications -> check Unknown sources).
Fixed in version: VN.5.0.0.32
=======================================
Confirmed Issues With No Current Fixes or Workarounds
This section contains issues that have been confirmed by HTC or Sprint but currently have no official fixes or workarounds. If an issue arises and you have confirmation from HTC or Sprint that they're aware of it, please send me a PM and I will add it to the list after checking into the issue. This thread is not for discussing issues and will remain locked. If you have further questions or suggestions, please search the forum for your issue or start a new thread.
Mobile Network Type (Settings -> About Phone -> Status) states it is EvDo rev. 0 instead of rev. A
According to Sprint & HTC, this is just a bug in the display of the network type. The phone is still running in rev. A. This has been seen on the phones without the Google branding on the battery cover. This was supposed to have been fixed in the first MR, but was not. Hopefully will be in the next patch.
Dust under the screen.
You can currently take your phone back for an exchange, but the issue has not been been confirmed as fixed on any phones yet shipped by HTC, so you'll probably just have the same issue again.
Gmail messages not showing up under Contacts in People app if they've sent a message through Gmail
Calendar app showing the wrong day for all day appointments
Search function in the Messages app only searches the last message of each thread.
