Help How to Hard Reset?

[aml1025]

I'm having one of those mornings where I can't find an answer that I know MUST be right in front of my face. Virgin Mobile has directed me through email to hard reset my phone using the buttons, but their directions lead me to a warning about installing a custom OS (maybe another time....)

What do I need to do to hard reset this phone? (and why, oh why, isn't my coffee kicking in yet today??)

Thanks for the help!

 

[buzzcon]

Are they asking you to enter something like this (##123456#) using he dial keypad?

 

[aml1025]

Are they asking you to enter something like this (##123456#) using he dial keypad?

I've already been through the ##72786# method, which seemed to make things worse instead of better (started to get mystery texts from short code 8737, full of gibberish), and also a factory reset from the menu. Now they are telling me to hard reset using the keys, but instead I managed to get into Odin Mode, which is not what I wanted.

The underlying problem is a sudden unwillingness of my phone to send SMS or MMS, and only receiving them when I power cycle. I really like the Victory, but at the same time, the problems I've had with it have driven me nuts!

 

[buzzcon]

Are you running Victorious?

 

[aml1025]

Are you running Victorious?

No, I'm completely stock and never rooted. It was something I intended to undertake once my cycle of continual replacement phones stopped ( I believe VM has sent me 4 so far), but haven't gotten there yet.

 

[buzzcon]

Holy Schnike!!! 4 different phones? What keys do you use and what did they tell you it would do? I have never heard of this before and I am quite curious.

 

[aml1025]

Tell me about it... I may be the only person having problems with the Victory; for everyone else it seems to behave well, but I've been stuck with random reboots on every one I've owned. Trying to go with minimal downloaded apps never solved it either.

Their directions were to use power/volume down/send - well, this phone has no send button. Power/volume down got me to a screen asking if I was going to download a custom OS, with a big warning. Volume up then put it into Odin mode, and only holding the power button down for ~10 seconds got it out.

Right now I seem to be stuck with no SMS/MMS capabilities. I'm doubtful that another reset will do anything, but I'm following their directions. At this point, I'm ready to take another replacement and sell it to get a different phone - the Victory has given me more aggravation than every other phone I've owned, combined

 

[aml1025]

After more searching I found a You Tube video, short and to the point.

Volume UP/power is the magic combo for a hard reset on the Victory ( VM must be using copy/paste instructions in their emails, shocker).

Currently watching Andy Android wipe all the data on my phone, and rebooting. We shall see if it makes any difference.

 

[kwknott]

If you have had 4 phones and still have issues I bet something is screwed up with your account on their end.

I had a huge data issue a while back after upgrading phones and after multiple phones and b.s. I closed the account and reactivated phone on new account. After that no more issues.

 

[aml1025]

If you have had 4 phones and still have issues I bet something is screwed up with your account on their end.

I had a huge data issue a while back after upgrading phones and after multiple phones and b.s. I closed the account and reactivated phone on new account. After that no more issues.

That's certainly possible. A few months back I also had a problem where my data and calling were significantly out of sync on the website to what I was seeing from my phone. At that point they reprovisioned the account, performed "other resets," and restarted my whole month over. That problem hasn't reoccurred, but it doesn't mean everything was fixed, I suppose.

If nothing else fixes all these problems, I'll have to try that. I hate the thought of changing numbers, but it's not like my phone is really useful right now anyhow...

 

[Stingerxxx]

I am replying to this because I am a sprint customer care representative, and have some experience with this sort of thing. It sounds like the issue with your phone may be related to provisioning on the network, as the likelihood of the phone having hardware issues after constant replacements is very marginal, although with sprint replacements all phones are refurbished, and if there is nothing available of your exact phone you are provided with a similar model. VM may be the same as they are owned by sprint.

So that leads us to the solution. Something like this can be determined through the use of something called the DNA tool, although I am not sure if VM has access to the same tools that I do. If they do then they will be able to see, through DNA, what exactly is going on with your phone. This tool should be available to all care and tech agents, although it is a tech tool, and if they have the same call flows that I have then after troubleshooting with basic things (performing OMA and other refresh's that actually don't do much other then refresh the towers knowledge about the phone, data profile updates and ##sctrn#) the flow should lead them to check a few things in DNA. Most normal care agents don't do that as it also says xfer to tech support. Then again, most agents (myself included, albeit for separate reasons) don't follow their call flows and rather read documents and individual troubleshooting guides to try to solve a problem. As to the exact solution, I am not sure. This is not something that I have ever personally had to do. My advice to determine if this is a network issue and not a phone issue itself is to go into settings and turn off cellular network, if it is available as an option, and run off of wifi. Do the same things that you always do. If the issue replicates itself, I would be hesitant to say that this is solely a network issue. It might also be wise to plug the phone into KIES and see about any updates that you can perform via there.

I just want to say that I identify myself as a care agent for sprint to say that the information I have stated above regarding tools and processes comes from personal experience, and not to say that I am an expert by what I have provided or that I am 100% right. This is just what I have found through being on the job.

As with the reset, it is power + vol up button, release as soon as the screen appears that says recovery booting at the top left or your phone will powercycle and you will go to that screen again, or go through the boot process if you release too late. Performing the hard reset sets the phone back to factory settings and may fix the issue if it is related to something on the phone itself causing the issue, such as a problem creating a clear connection on the network or an issue with the software itself. You will also lose everything that is on the phone, as it restores from something called the recovery partition on the phone that is normally read only.

Hope this helps

 

[aml1025]

Thanks for offering your perspective!

My replacements were all new-in-box Victory models. Each and every one went through multiple reboots, although that is not my main problem right now(the reboots were somewhat alleviated after accepting the install of Mobile ID that kept popping up). My messaging seems not to be working correctly, so unfortunately going onto WiFi won't help sort that out.

Since the system update last spring transferred Virgin Mobile accounts onto Sprint systems, I would assume that you are correct in saying that Virgin Mobile's workers should have access to the same tools you do. I have been emailing with the Social Media team (easier for me to work with them than the phone reps), and it sounds like they will be creating a "trouble ticket" and handing me off to the engineers for some help. Improper account provisioning does sound like a possible culprit; I've heard of all kinds of problems being solved by re-provisioning.

I'll be sure to update this thread with any other fixes I'm told to try, and the eventual outcome as well!

 

[Chiral]

Yeah, that's not a handset problem. It's carrier side.

Nope. No way you got 4 bad ones in a row.

 

[buzzcon]

If cancelling your current account and signing up with a new one fixes the account provisioning, could something as simple as changing plans do the same thing? I have absolutely no clue about it, just curious.

 

[Stingerxxx]

No, something like that just affects what the network allows your phone to do and how much you are charged for doing it. The ways to fully change the profile the phone has on the network are swap out the phone for another one, then swap back, create a new account, have tech support or another capable agent reset the account (something I don't have the ability or know-how to do in care) or simply migrate/port out to another carrier. There may be other ways, but none that I am aware of.

 

[aml1025]

I wanted to check back in to say thanks for all the help and suggestions. After fighting all the problems with the Victory for so long, I decided to look at other phones... wanted the HTC Desire to show up, but got tired of waiting, and found a really great deal on the S3 a few weeks ago... so that was my "solution. "

Thanks again for trying to help. Part of me wanted to solve the mystery, but I really needed SOMETHING in my life that was doing what it was supposed to Y'all are a great bunch and I look forward to hearing about everyone' s continued phone adventures!