Venting - Picture Mail

[Langella7]

Ok,

well i got my phone two months ago, after 1 week of having it my picture mail messages were not coming in, they would get the download, then "unsuccesful download..." After dealing with Sprint they convinced me it was a problem on 1 in 4 phones and i had to give up my brand new phone for a stupid refurbished phone. It ended up working until now, around 1 1/2 months.

This is not a Wifi Issue, i dont have it turned on, and i am aware of that problem. I have 90mb free on my phone, ive cleared all my caches, pulled battery, turned mobile network off and on. Over the last month i have been getting the download button but they would come through. I would then get a picture message from someone i didnt have a conversation open with, then i would open it and the message would dissapear. Well now today none are going through, its extremely frustrating and i dont want to tell my fanboy iPhone friends they have to email me pictures.

The one workaround to go to the website and view them would be fine if i could view them on my phone. I dont want to log into sprint to view NWS pictures at work. I can log on through my phone, but when going to messages nothing shows. up.

I know about the wiping the phone, but that is hours of work getting all apps, setting up my custom scenes, adding all bookmarks, adding all my passwords in the password keeper, rooting, adding all my roms and kernels again. THIS IS REALLY ANNOYING. I love this phone except for this simple function it cant perform.

Thoughts???

 

[cooolone2]

Hmmm... lots of info, but much more left out. You're Rooted obviously, so I would suggest starting there. Check the threads if any of your ROM provider. See if this is a known, fixed or even a past issue. Then I would ask... are you using a messaging app? That goes too? Or is it happening in stock MMS/SMS?

I'm still not rooted, no problems though like you have so can't help much...

Keep us in the loop, let us know if you find info. or fix.

 

[Langella7]

yeah, its not a rooted problem, it happened on my first phone that was unrooted and not even a week old. It is a known problem with no real fix and a temporary fix if you wipe the phone. uggghhhh, think i might have to do it.

 

[dominicanyor]

why have the phone rooted if we are goin to have all this problems with the phones?

 

[Langella7]

Rooting is not the cause of the problem, rooting allows you to remove some stock apps, use other apps that require you to root, and speed up your phone a little.

 

[April_Fool_79]

This is a known issue with the Hero, as mentioned in numerous other threads (although from the sounds of it, it's affecting a few other Android phones as well). HTC is working on a fix, right now the only thing that they have passed on to Sprint (and therefore, that can be passed on to everyone else), is that the workaround is to go to the Picture Mail website and view them. No ETA on when a maintenance release will be, but since the 2.1 should be out within the next 2 months or so, I'm gonna say probably not until then.

 

[mbell75]

Stop crying and download handcent

 

[swoid]

Don't hard reset the phone. You'll throw it at a wall when it happens again quickly. And it doesn't matter if u have a different message app. I honestly think they're pulling a Toyota and are looking for the fix, but in the mean time, blame the phone and Android software.

 

[Langella7]

handcent, chomp, and stock do not work. Just wiped the phone and its working again, who knows for how long.

 

[mbell75]

This is a known issue with the Hero, as mentioned in numerous other threads (although from the sounds of it, it's affecting a few other Android phones as well).

Really? Then why dont I or about 8 others I personally know with Heros have this problem? Why dont thousands of others have this problem? Its NOT an issue with the Hero, if it was, all Heros (or the vast majority) would have this problem. Its either user error or you have a bad phone. Go exchange it. Since its happened to this guy two phones in a row, I would lean towards user error.

 

[t1jordan]

Stop crying and download handcent

lol get em!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[t1jordan]

Really? Then why dont I or about 8 others I personally know with Heros have this problem? Why dont thousands of others have this problem? Its NOT an issue with the Hero, if it was, all Heros (or the vast majority) would have this problem. Its either user error or you have a bad phone. Go exchange it. Since its happened to this guy two phones in a row, I would lean towards user error.

Well I did have this problem when I first purchased the phone. I had the phone the first week it came out. I noticed I was using the task killers the wrong way. I was completely jacking my phone up. I have to agree with user error. I never had problems with text at all. I haven't had a problem with pic mail in about 3 1/2 months. I think the problem is some of you guys are rooting your phones and messing it up. Most of the real problems on this forum come from rooted users. So I have to lean towards user error or the phone like mbell75.

I would like to thank my fellow Geeks for reading this post.
From Baltimore MD to Piscataway NJ

 

[April_Fool_79]

Please explain to me how the phone sitting there with me not doing *ANYTHING* to it, and getting a "could not download message" error is "user error". I don't have a task killer, and I'm using the stock SMS. This happens whether I've got Wi-Fi or the Sprint data on, or if it is off. So what, exactly, am I screwing up that is causing this to happen, since I'm not even touching the phone when it happens??

Oh, wait, I had to swipe downward to unlock the phone when it alerted me I received a message. Guess I gotta work on how to unlock the phone "properly".

 

[cooolone2]

Oh, wait, I had to swipe downward to unlock the phone when it alerted me I received a message. Guess I gotta work on how to unlock the phone "properly".

Sometimes, it's the little things that pass our attention, lol...

Mbell - go easy...

Like I said, I for one have not experienced this so it is hard to offer a work around or fix. One of the most frustrating things with the Android platform is that some issues like these pop up but don't effect all the handsets. So yes, a problem, but not necessarily with the handset itself, or the flaw would be evident in all, I agree.

Wiping sux as a fix and I hope you have a decent backup app.

Just remember, before these new handsets (smartphones) my old Palm would connect to the picture mail to get the image anyway... so it is better now, but for those experiencing this problem I can feel your pain.

Oh, and rooting does more than just the ability to remove unwanted built-in bloatware apps. There are many more functionality fixes you can do to performance and whatnot with rooting. For me though, I am waiting for the official 2.1 release, then I might root and then replace my ROM.

Anyway, Happy Trails...

 

[SamuraiBigEd]

Really? Then why dont I or about 8 others I personally know with Heros have this problem? Why dont thousands of others have this problem? Its NOT an issue with the Hero, if it was, all Heros (or the vast majority) would have this problem. Its either user error or you have a bad phone. Go exchange it. Since its happened to this guy two phones in a row, I would lean towards user error.

Why does one computer work perfectly with HP software and drivers while the next and sometimes identical computer go haywire?

And don't say user error, I have been building PC's for over ten years and have seen this first hand on systems I built.

These are, after all, just small computers and subject to the same variables that full size computers experience.

 

[scottmbolt]

Why does one computer work perfectly with HP software and drivers while the next and sometimes identical computer go haywire?

And don't say user error, I have been building PC's for over ten years and have seen this first hand on systems I built.

These are, after all, just small computers and subject to the same variables that full size computers experience.

+1

 

[mbell75]

Why does one computer work perfectly with HP software and drivers while the next and sometimes identical computer go haywire?

And don't say user error, I have been building PC's for over ten years and have seen this first hand on systems I built.

These are, after all, just small computers and subject to the same variables that full size computers experience.

Yep, just like i said. Its either user error or a bad phone. There are some bad phone out there most likely. Go exchange it.

 

[SamuraiBigEd]

Yep, just like i said. Its either user error or a bad phone. There are some bad phone out there most likely. Go exchange it.

It doesn't mean it is bad, it may work fine in all other respects and most PC manufacturers won't give you a new system because it does not agree with a particular driver or program, they would go bankrupt so why should Sprint or HTC.

There is a given variable to the operating parameters of any computer, if you are not outside those parameters then you are stuck with it. The program/driver support falls on the shoulders of the company producing such, not the equipment manufacturer or seller.

Since this is a native application HTC is supposed to be working on it, and as soon as a solution is found they will release it. They don't want to eat the cost of replacing phones.

 

[Langella7]

yeah, and replacing the phone is just another refurbished phone, not to mention i have a $25 body skin on i doubt they will replace. if i had the Motivation to dig up the countless thread on here and the sprint forum i would, but im not going to do it to prove to someone that it is a known problem.

 

[V425]

This is definitely the biggest problem with this phone! When MMS stopped downloading for me the first time, I eventually did a hard reset, but when that only fixed the problem for about a month, I decided its not worth resetting my phone once a month and having to re-customize it. (not rooted, using handcent, no wi-fi) In addition to disappearing messages that show up in the notification bar but not in a thread and "hiddensenderaddress" messages, messaging on this phone is quite sad, especially when its such a basic function. All we can do is hope its fixed in the next update. In the meantime, having pics emailed or using the picture mail site is better than resetting my phone all the time.

 

[DrWeaseL]

Stop crying and download handcent

I have handcent and it doesnt work either... its not the software, it seems over the past decade sprint cannot get picture mail to work right...