Help DROID Incredible random restart/reboot problem

[mike146]

Been there, done that, won't work.

Sorry for my curtness, but from my experience, a new battery didn't help my rebooting problem. What did? Rooting. I'm running the Cyanogen ROM now and so far, so good. I was running the Virtuous ROM for a while, but it was starting to act pretty buggy at the end. I think that was because I was out of space on the system partition though.

No problem...I didn't think it would work, and lo and behold it didn't. Same problem. Now have another replacement on the way. In the meantime, the person I spoke to today says that if you task the processor too much then that is what happens and is a problem on several droid phones. Not all apps make all phones over tax the processor leading to the HEAT problem that we know exists.

Asked him how many replacement phones I have to go through until they give me a free upgrade, and he said there are no free upgrades. I can have as many replacement incredibles I want until I am happy, but no free upgrades. He mentioned I can get a early upgrade for 20 dollars more than the normal phone price with 2 year extension of course if I so choose.

See what happens with the next one, then it is on to rooting.

 

[williegates]

Hmmm, no reboots on mine. Question for those who are having this issue...have you installed any apps, or is the device rebooting with just the stock apps installed?

On my Eris, there were a few Market apps that caused similar behavior. When I deleted them, the problem went away.

Nope. Opened the sealed box turned it on, and watched it power cycle continually.

 

[mike146]

Ok, just hung up the phone with Verizon Tech support.

- 2nd replacement phone, open box and tried to activate, wouldn't go thru, call customer service.

"We are having trouble, we cannot activate your phone, try again in about an hour or so. Sorry for the trouble."

ok, that pisses me off after all the trouble I have had with this phone, but ok, nothing in their control about this.

Finally get phone activated and start the set up process. reboots.

Call support. Oh sounds like the battery. I tell them I am on third battery. Then finally get a tech support person on phone. Tell me to remove battery and do factory reset. OK no problem. While we are doing this, she explains to me that I need to set up a new gmail account. Tries to tell me that this is a software problem and that the phone is certified like new and functions just fine. I explain that I need to have that email account and cannot just change emails. She then asks me why not. I explain to her that the reason why I use a gmail account is because I never wanted to have the problem and changing email accounts again. Doesn't matter who my isp is etc.. I will always have that email address. I do not want to contact all the personal and business contacts that I have and tell them that I have a new address etc....

She is trying to tell me that even though I may have deleted an app, once you get from the market, it is forever linked to that gmail account and therefore causes problems with the phone. I ask her to explain to me how that could possibly cause a problem and she has no answer for me, tells me to contact google. She is only responsible for the hardware of the phone, not software. Still waiting for the phone to finish factory reset during this conversation.

For that sake of argument, I tell her I will not even link that gmail account to the phone and run it through its paces and see if that is indeed the problem. Well lo and behold, the phone goes into an endless recycle again.

She then apologizes to me and tells me that I can pick another certified like new phone if I want to switch or if I want to try another incredible.

I have the extended warranty so I deserve a phone that works. I ask if they turn the phones on and boot them up before sending them out and she couldn't answer that question. I asked her if she thought she was doing me a favor by forcing me to choos from another phone that they have sitting in their warehouse "certified like new" and at comparable price if she thought she was actually taking care of my problem and then the nastiness really came out.

We don't offer that to anyone, your lucky it is only because of your trouble tonight and that it is your third phone etc. etc...

I felt that I should at least be able to go to a verizon store in the morning and pick out a phone at this point and not have to deal with another old phone that may or may not work.

I love the incredible form factor. Fits in my pocked, is not bulky, etc.

on top of that, the old phone did its own factory reset just before I was putting it out of commission and all the screens are blank. I had to put all the apps back from scratch. Even the HTC wallpapers have all disappeared. But at least I have the old phone working.

AAARRGGHHHH.


Has anyone heard of this issue with your gmail account before?

 

[coastal_carolina]

Verizon doesn't know what the hell they are talking about.

 

[awilliams309]

I'm having the same issue in Washington DC. I am also unable to download anything from the market. All file require WiFi to download, went to a hotspot but still can not upload market items

 

[mike146]

so after getting my sixth phone, things seem to be working out. Maps app is working now, no restarts or anything at this time. so far so good. Of course I haven't downloaded one app from the market place either. But my phone works and doesn't reboot in the middle of calls, using the gps, or listening to music. Can get all my emails and surf the web too.

Maybe moving over to the evil empire and getting the iphone 5 when it comes out. Still have time though. I do love android, but since I cannot figure out if the problems are hardware or software.

 

[RedHotLama]

My wifes phone was having this problem for a while last month, then it went away, but returned this weekend. Has rooting helped for anyone.

Sucks, we bought the phone when it first came out and still have 7-8 months left before we can do new phones with a discount.

Anyone have luck with HTC? Also we bought it at costco, do you think we could return/exchange there?

 

[msilvers50]

Costco is very liberal with returns, although their phone section could be subcontracted to someone else. It's worth a try the next time you go there.

With all the customer complaints reported here, it's incredibly bad customer service for Verizon reps to continue to deny there is a problem. I have an HTC Droid Incredible, don't have the loop problem, but it still makes me reluctant to renew with an HTC product when it's time for my next phone.

 

[unklejman]

I've been having this problem on both mine and my wife's phone. I use mine much more and the problem seems progressive, so mine is much more prone to reboot. I can tell you it is definitely a heat issue. It has been hot here the last few weeks and when I first get in the car it will restart if im on a call after a few minutes. One time it was just sitting while I was driving and started rebooting. I can get it to stop by holding it right in front of the A/C or by putting it in a refrigerator.

Tech support had me do a factory reset, and mine didn't even finish getting set up when it started rebooting. They sent me a replacement that should get here today. My wife's didn't reboot while I was on the phone with tech support so they wouldn't send me a replacement. But later I was sitting in the car browsing and it rebooted.

Today tech support called me to tell me my phone would be here, so I told them about the reboots on my wife's phone. Then they started the spiel about corrupted gmail adresses. I stopped her and told her no, my phone did the same thing and it was because it was getting too hot. THEN she said, "oh well we sent yours out for the wrong reason. You have to return it to a store and have them send it back. You should have told the tech support rep that it was an overheating issue." I told her I DID tell them, and then she apologized. I then called my store who is an independent store and told them that I was getting pissed with Verizon and their inconsistency and that I just want a phone that works, and would rather not go to the local corporate branch because of their crappy attitudes and incompetence, and they told me to bring it in and they will talk to tech support and make it happen.

While on the phone the first time with Verizon, they denied that it was a common problem and dismissed complaints on forums as evidence of it. They also said that it was normal for the phone to get hot under a lot of use and reboot. I really hate talking to these tech support people who take me for an idiot, when it is in fact them who are the idiots. Yes I'm angry.

 

[Incrediblian]

Another sad victim of the dreaded Incredible random reboot loop.

One year and three days of use, very happy with my Incredible - spreading the word and praising Android phones. Then suddenly and without warning, the thing starts going into this bloody reboot loop dance several times a day, and always when I try to use it for anything more taxing than a phone call. Of course, no one at Verizon has ever heard of such a thing happaening before <<@# SHOCK!!@#>> , and since my phone is out of warranty by three days they tell me they can do nothing for me and my 5 lines of service.

Goodbye Incredible, so long Android, hasta la vista Verizon. Go sc**w someone else! There sure seems to be plenty of us around to choose from.

I should have gotten an iphone from ATT to begin with.

 

[slappy magoo]

Hey, all...

This is going to sound like the dumbest solution to this problem, but I've been having the same problem with my Incredible for quite some time. Sometimes, it would turn off while I was using on it and reboot, other times I'd fish it out of my pocket only to find it completely turned off. And like a lot of you, it was starting to grind my gears. It got so bad one time, I opened the back of my phone on the subway, only to unknowingly halfway-eject my SD card, and slammed the case down on that fragile sucker, 16 gigs, gone (thank goodness I had backed up the pics and camcorder memory a few days prior). In fact, I glanced through this forum to find out if I was the only one, and if I wasn't, if there were a solution or a recall. Glad I'm not alone, but man, you guys could be better help

About 6 weeks ago, I thought: What if the stupid back of the phone is just loose enough for the battery to not remain exactly in place?

I know, sophisticated piece of electronics like this, it's like we're living in the future, that shouldn't be the problem.

But I took a thin piece of cardboard, folded it in half, and put it on top of the battery, away from the connectors, and clamped the back shut.

Since then, over 6 weeks, I've had 2 shutdowns, one of them random, one of them when I dropped it. It has been consistently on ever since.

I don't know if this will work for any of you, and I apologize if it doesn't. And of course for all I know, that piece of cardboard, where it is, is a fire waiting to ignite. But it has been working for me, I'll leave it to you to decide whether such a lo-tech solution is worth trying. YMMV

 

[nhindian]

Hi guys, I just started having this problem a few weeks ago as well (I usued to have the random reboot, but now it's an almost constant occurrence).

Does anyone know how to get help with this if my phone is out of warranty? It ended in June before it was a problem...

I just spent the last few hours between HTC, VZW, and HTC's 3rd party tech support team that handles VZW phone problems but pretty much got nowhere. I just want a smartphone that works.

 

[ilovethebeach]

I only had this problem once. Go back and delete the last 1 or 2 apps that you downloaded and see if that works. Also, make sure you don't hold the off button down too long or down on it too much (you,ll get into a look). Also check out the thread that talks about the date in which your INC was manufactored and what problems you are having. You could have just gotten a bad phone.

 

[Incrediblian]

I only had this problem once. Go back and delete the last 1 or 2 apps that you downloaded and see if that works. Also, make sure you don't hold the off button down too long or down on it too much (you,ll get into a look). Also check out the thread that talks about the date in which your INC was manufactored and what problems you are having. You could have just gotten a bad phone.

Have you even read any of the previous 17 pages in this thread alone?!

The fact that you only had this problem once is of little relevance to the many, many people on this and countless other similar threads discussing this common and growing problem. If you had you would know that deleting apps doesn't help. And telling nhindian that he "could have just gotten a bad phone" is not much help given that he stated his phone is out of warranty.

Hi guys, I just started having this problem a few weeks ago as well (I usued to have the random reboot, but now it's an almost constant occurrence).

Does anyone know how to get help with this if my phone is out of warranty? It ended in June before it was a problem...

I just spent the last few hours between HTC, VZW, and HTC's 3rd party tech support team that handles VZW phone problems but pretty much got nowhere. I just want a smartphone that works.

As I stated earlier, I had a similar unfortunate experience: phone out of warranty, been working flawlessly until it suddenly starts doing the random reboot loops, and neither Verizon or HTC care.

Now I don't care, as I need a working phone and was forced to upgrade. Was not an iPhone fan but after just more than a week I'd say it's a better phone than I thought - it works fine, and the battery life kicks ass all over my old Incredible ... I used to struggle to make it through a full day without my battery almost dying, and now I can go 2 full, busy days without a charge. Nice.

I'm a very reluctant convert to iPhone, and wish I had not been forced to do so, but have to admit it is an improvement so far. Still pissed that neither HTC or Verizon are doing the right thing by out of warranty customers affected by this defect.

 

[redtwo]

This is a long thread so I was not able to go through it all. I searched for my answer but nothing came up.

I am having a low on space issue. Have been for quite some time. When it occurs I go in and close down apps, sometimes a ton before the notification goes away. I was always closing bloatware so I rooted and removed all those apps that I was always closing.

Lo and behold, still having the issue and after reading it seems that bloatware is not the issue. My question is whether a new ROM will make this go away?

thanks in advance
H

 

[RedHotLama]

This is a long thread so I was not able to go through it all. I searched for my answer but nothing came up.

I am having a low on space issue. Have been for quite some time. When it occurs I go in and close down apps, sometimes a ton before the notification goes away. I was always closing bloatware so I rooted and removed all those apps that I was always closing.

Lo and behold, still having the issue and after reading it seems that bloatware is not the issue. My question is whether a new ROM will make this go away?

thanks in advance
H

This is the wrong thread. There is a whole different thread dedicated to that issue.

 

[redtwo]

This is the wrong thread. There is a whole different thread dedicated to that issue.

I am so sorry, posted in wrong thread.

H

 

[jonmchugh]

was there ever a fix for this rebooting cycle? i jsut got mine off ebay yesterday and noticed it reboot a few times. I am running the miui v 0.6 rom running android 2.2.1. i have 609 mb of memory available. so is there a fix for this? are there more stable roms than the other? thanks. awesome phone other than this.

 

[RedHotLama]

I'm thinking it is some sort of hardware issue, like bad ram.

 

[jonmchugh]

So is there nothing I can do to fix this issue?

 

[RedHotLama]

Not that i know of, besides a different phone. I was hoping maybe it would be fixed with the latest push by verizon, but doubtful.

 

[euph_22]

Not that i know of, besides a different phone. I was hoping maybe it would be fixed with the latest push by verizon, but doubtful.

You could try a a couple roms, different kernels with different settings. Also try a different sd cards, and try formatting. I'm 95% sure that this is a hardware problem that has to do with some component in the phone overheating so try settings that reduce power consumption.

 

[Incrediblian]

So is there nothing I can do to fix this issue?

Not that I ever heard. I, like many others, "fixed" it by switching phones. No doubt some of those who did so decided to recoup part of their loss by reselling the piece of s**t phone on ebay. I couldn't bring myself to do that. Too bad others may not share my reluctance.

Oh and BTW, I agree - the phone was awesome, other than the fact that I could never trust it to actually work when I needed it to. I hated being forced to give it up, but forced I was.

 

[Incrediblian]

You could try a a couple roms, different kernels with different settings. Also try a different sd cards, and try formatting. I'm 95% sure that this is a hardware problem that has to do with some component in the phone overheating so try settings that reduce power consumption.

Good luck with that. I've seen a thousand such suggestions, none of which ever worked consistently.

 

[Nick The Great]

I also think it's a hardware issue. My replacement has been fine for close to a year now . . . (knock on wood)