Help my phone turned on me

[snowdream]

This is my first post and I don't mean to rant because I love my epic, I really do . . . BUT in the past week the thing has turned on me and the more I see my husbands glorious EVO sitting there the more I wish I wouldn't have chosen the epic. I think in part my frustrations don't just lie with my phone but also Sprint. I have been anxiously awaiting the 2.2 update (as everyone did) and when I got it I was overjoyed! But that's when the trouble started... Here is a list of what has been wrong, Sprints fixes, etc.



1. the 4g quit working. At first I chalked it up as bad area yadda yadda, but when I held my husbands phone up to mine and he had 4g and my antenna wouldn't even stay green or try I knew something was up.

called sprint, they had me try to refresh data etc, but whenever they tried to update anything (prl, profile, firmware) it all said internal error. they advised me to go to the store and do a hard reset. So I drag my merry butt to the store they do a hard reset and UH OH the phone won't reboot. Sooo a tech takes my phone and swaps the internals (motherboard, battery, etc.) says it's fine now.

2. GPS quit working. yep, got home... updated to 2.2 since the gps was not locking onto satellites. It saw them, but wouldn't latch. Called sprint, data refresh and viola gps is fine.

3. Freezing, rebooting, general wigging out. Just when I think my beloved phone is back it starts acting like my 2 year old and throwing tantrums by vibrating, locking up, rebooting, and well being a major headache. The first inkling I had that my phone was not right yet, I was talking and it starts vibrating, I brought it down and looked at it, no calls coming in, nothing weird looking. . . I thought to myself, "that's odd" and then it reboots by itself. When it came back on nothing worked, so I turned it off popped the battery out and restarted it and then it worked fine until the next phone call; then it did it again. But then nothing for the rest of the night and I used my phone a lot. Then today it did it again, and it shut itself off while on the car charger. I drove straight to the sprint store and they said they were only taking phones for the next 30mins but they were backlogged so they wouldn't get to mine tonight and asked me to come back tomorrow morning or call sprint. So I called sprint again, who had me hard reset my phone again. Then more issues with the reboot, so off to my favorite store again. The Sprint technician on the phone told me that they put an order in for a phone swap and to tell the sales rep and they would just give me a new phone in the store. Well that's not what they did, instead they *who didn't have time for me* now wanted to look at my phone and take it to the techs, who say (and fix) my antenna that was apparently not even hooked up to the motherboard (why could I make calls? why did everything else work?) and gave me a new battery. They also won't bring up my account AT ALL (yes, they worked on my phone and fixed things without ever so much as knowing my name or number). They tell me it's fixed now. I asked them to look at my account and see the order, they refuse and say it's against policy to do that (then why did sprint tell me to do this in the first place?). So I leave and guess what. . . I take my phone out of my pocket when I get home and my phone is just vibrating with a black screen, completely locked up, but the bottom buttons are lit. So popped the battery out and a completely livid me called Sprint from the EVO. . . again.

Now they are sending me a new phone, but the epic is on backorder and they don't know when I'll get it They also said I might want to hold off on updating to 2.2 until further updates for bug fixes come out in either late june/july. This does not make me happy, but hey, as long as the one they send me works I think I can wait . . .

I'd love feeback if any of you have had these issues, or have any ideas what in the world happened to piss off my phone

 

[traumaj]

This sounds so much like my old hero! I'm not sure what's causing all the issues, but I lend you sympathy! I spent over a year of calls, going to the stores, and listening to broken promises with that phone & sprint! If all else fails, root and throw a custom rom on there. It took me all of 4 days to do this with my epic and I've not regretted once! Good luck!

 

[snowdream]

Hopefully the replacement will work fine! I don't think rooting my phone would be wise at this point with the issues it's currently having (although as tempting as it sounds!) It is still rebooting itself constantly, vibrating once (the warning lol) then continuing to vibrate a few more times and locking up. I've read in another post that this can be indicative of an app force closing although most likely something internal force closing that directly affects the functionality of the phone. I don't know if rooting would solve this or just give me a phone with even more problems to own lol.

 

[rounsy222]

Lol i can totally sympathise with you. That is the exact reason why i rooted in the first. Sprint/samsung both are terrible when it comes to this and the people who do this for "fun" have taken this phone to a few more levels of performance and enjoyment for me. If you ever get the inkling to root i am sure you wont regret it. ;-) good luck to you!

 

[snowdream]

Oh I've had the itch!! I seriously considered rooting my phone after having it for a week. I'm just not sure what it would mean for me if my phone did have a manufacture defect that would need to be replaced. Could I reset the phone back to Sprint stock to return it? void warranty? I pay for the blasted insurance, would that be null? If I could root and live fearlessly knowing that I could reset my phone back to stock without voiding anything it would be done. Honestly I haven't even researched any of that, because if I did it would be like hanging a carrot in the donkey's face and I would root no matter what given the possibilities I would have what you could say would be a minor lapse of self control

 

[traumaj]

Oh I've had the itch!! I seriously considered rooting my phone after having it for a week. I'm just not sure what it would mean for me if my phone did have a manufacture defect that would need to be replaced. Could I reset the phone back to Sprint stock to return it? void warranty? I pay for the blasted insurance, would that be null? If I could root and live fearlessly knowing that I could reset my phone back to stock without voiding anything it would be done. Honestly I haven't even researched any of that, because if I did it would be like hanging a carrot in the donkey's face and I would root no matter what given the possibilities I would have what you could say would be a minor lapse of self control

Our insurance covers lost or stolen phones... if it ever came to it, you could just "lose" it. Or you could odin it back to stock...

 

[snowdream]

Our insurance covers lost or stolen phones... if it ever came to it, you could just "lose" it. Or you could odin it back to stock...

i could bang my head against the wall with how obvious that is lol... Well I know what I'm doing when I get my new (refurb) phone in the mail!!

 

[traumaj]

i could bang my head against the wall with how obvious that is lol... Well I know what I'm doing when I get my new (refurb) phone in the mail!!

Happy rooting! The mods have thrown up some awesome stickies, with terms, how to's, and vids. The members on here are willing to offer help also. I too, was leery at first about potential negative outcomes, but found the whole rooting process to be very easy (with a good amount of research) and highly addicting! I now have a phone that is much more responsive and is customized to my likings. I no longer have sprint bloatware and I'm still finding apps to help tweak my experience. If I ever find stock to be better, I'll odin back. If all else fails, I'll run it over with my truck and get a new one...

 

[snowdream]

Well the plan was to read tonight, and read I WILL!! My replacement phone came today I'll see you on the other side . . . LOL

 

[rounsy222]

Happy rooting! The mods have thrown up some awesome stickies, with terms, how to's, and vids. The members on here are willing to offer help also. I too, was leery at first about potential negative outcomes, but found the whole rooting process to be very easy (with a good amount of research) and highly addicting! I now have a phone that is much more responsive and is customized to my likings. I no longer have sprint bloatware and I'm still finding apps to help tweak my experience. If I ever find stock to be better, I'll odin back. If all else fails, I'll run it over with my truck and get a new one...

Its funny how that phone got underneath that damn tire! That has always been my fallback plan if odin ever failed me lol

 

[kurtg]

"3. Freezing, rebooting, general wigging out. Just when I think my beloved phone is back it starts acting like my 2 year old and throwing tantrums by vibrating, locking up, rebooting, and well being a major headache. The first inkling I had that my phone was not right yet, I was talking and it starts vibrating, I brought it down and looked at it, no calls coming in, nothing weird looking. . . I thought to myself, "that's odd" and then it reboots by itself. When it came back on nothing worked, so I turned it off popped the battery out and restarted it and then it worked fine until the next phone call; then it did it again. But then nothing for the rest of the night and I used my phone a lot. Then today it did it again, and it shut itself off while on the car charger. I drove straight to the sprint store and they said they were only taking phones for the next 30mins but they were backlogged so they wouldn't get to mine tonight and asked me to come back tomorrow morning or call sprint. So I called sprint again, who had me hard reset my phone again. Then more issues with the reboot, so off to my favorite store again. The Sprint technician on the phone told me that they put an order in for a phone swap and to tell the sales rep and they would just give me a new phone in the store. Well that's not what they did, instead they *who didn't have time for me* now wanted to look at my phone and take it to the techs, who say (and fix) my antenna that was apparently not even hooked up to the motherboard (why could I make calls? why did everything else work?) and gave me a new battery. They also won't bring up my account AT ALL (yes, they worked on my phone and fixed things without ever so much as knowing my name or number). They tell me it's fixed now. I asked them to look at my account and see the order, they refuse and say it's against policy to do that (then why did sprint tell me to do this in the first place?). So I leave and guess what. . . I take my phone out of my pocket when I get home and my phone is just vibrating with a black screen, completely locked up, but the bottom buttons are lit. So popped the battery out and a completely livid me called Sprint from the EVO. . . again. "
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This is what my wifes phone is doing..It used to lock up once every few days...since getting the 2.2 update OTA last week, it became once a day, sometimes twice. Took it to Sprint Monday, tech reloaded 2.2, did some other things (his words), now it is doing all of the above things plus it rebooted last night and removed her gmail account.....

Took it back this morning. I was told that Samsung released a bad update, not Sprints fault, nothing to do but keep resetting until they can get a new update. They offered to order a replacement, but said it would have 2.2 and would probably have the same problems.

My wife called tech support after I got home. They said install a task killer. that is what is wrong with it. and wait until Android 3.0 is released for the Epic. Not sure I will still be alive when that happens........My wife is not happy.......she is going to call and have our account noted every time it locks up...which is what the store said to do.

Maybe the task killer will work........

 

[rounsy222]

Android 3.0 for the epic? I thought that was dual core only os not even close to being released yet. Wow. Plus sprint test all these builds before giving them the okay to be released so they are just as at fault as samsung. Nothing like passing the buck.

 

[snowdream]

"
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This is what my wifes phone is doing..It used to lock up once every few days...since getting the 2.2 update OTA last week, it became once a day, sometimes twice. Took it to Sprint Monday, tech reloaded 2.2, did some other things (his words), now it is doing all of the above things plus it rebooted last night and removed her gmail account.....

Took it back this morning. I was told that Samsung released a bad update, not Sprints fault, nothing to do but keep resetting until they can get a new update. They offered to order a replacement, but said it would have 2.2 and would probably have the same problems.

My wife called tech support after I got home. They said install a task killer. that is what is wrong with it. and wait until Android 3.0 is released for the Epic. Not sure I will still be alive when that happens........My wife is not happy.......she is going to call and have our account noted every time it locks up...which is what the store said to do.

Maybe the task killer will work........

From what I have heard task killers aren't good! We already have something similar on our phones which will kill active apps anyway. I'm on epic #3 now (running 2.2) and it's not acting like my last 2 phones; granted it's only been a few days. take the replacement they offered, after 3 returns it starts to become costly for them.if your wife wants a different phone (brand) they may at that point be willing to trade for a different phone of equal or lesser value. there are also state laws that you could research to protect yourself as a consumer. Personally I'm happy my phone now works, but I'm waiting at least a week to root. I totally understand your wifes frustrations, I really hope she gets a reliable phone soon!

 

[snowdream]

Also as a fyi, I read in the forum that the single vibrate followed by 3 more is indicative of an app force closing. When your phone reboots during this it could be a sign of an internal issue force closing. I'll try to find a link to that thread and post it later when I'm at the computer.

 

[Richie18]

"3. Freezing, rebooting, general wigging out. Just when I think my beloved phone is back it starts acting like my 2 year old and throwing tantrums by vibrating, locking up, rebooting, and well being a major headache. The first inkling I had that my phone was not right yet, I was talking and it starts vibrating, I brought it down and looked at it, no calls coming in, nothing weird looking. . . I thought to myself, "that's odd" and then it reboots by itself. When it came back on nothing worked, so I turned it off popped the battery out and restarted it and then it worked fine until the next phone call; then it did it again. But then nothing for the rest of the night and I used my phone a lot. Then today it did it again, and it shut itself off while on the car charger. I drove straight to the sprint store and they said they were only taking phones for the next 30mins but they were backlogged so they wouldn't get to mine tonight and asked me to come back tomorrow morning or call sprint. So I called sprint again, who had me hard reset my phone again. Then more issues with the reboot, so off to my favorite store again. The Sprint technician on the phone told me that they put an order in for a phone swap and to tell the sales rep and they would just give me a new phone in the store. Well that's not what they did, instead they *who didn't have time for me* now wanted to look at my phone and take it to the techs, who say (and fix) my antenna that was apparently not even hooked up to the motherboard (why could I make calls? why did everything else work?) and gave me a new battery. They also won't bring up my account AT ALL (yes, they worked on my phone and fixed things without ever so much as knowing my name or number). They tell me it's fixed now. I asked them to look at my account and see the order, they refuse and say it's against policy to do that (then why did sprint tell me to do this in the first place?). So I leave and guess what. . . I take my phone out of my pocket when I get home and my phone is just vibrating with a black screen, completely locked up, but the bottom buttons are lit. So popped the battery out and a completely livid me called Sprint from the EVO. . . again. "
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This is what my wifes phone is doing..It used to lock up once every few days...since getting the 2.2 update OTA last week, it became once a day, sometimes twice. Took it to Sprint Monday, tech reloaded 2.2, did some other things (his words), now it is doing all of the above things plus it rebooted last night and removed her gmail account.....

Took it back this morning. I was told that Samsung released a bad update, not Sprints fault, nothing to do but keep resetting until they can get a new update. They offered to order a replacement, but said it would have 2.2 and would probably have the same problems.

My wife called tech support after I got home. They said install a task killer. that is what is wrong with it. and wait until Android 3.0 is released for the Epic. Not sure I will still be alive when that happens........My wife is not happy.......she is going to call and have our account noted every time it locks up...which is what the store said to do.

Maybe the task killer will work........

My phone is doing this as well. Just started today, randomly. 2.2 has been terribly buggy. 2.1 worked so much better, it was solid.

Restarted my phone over 20 times and my battery drained within 3 hours. I was not able to complete one task on the phone while this was happening. Continuous resets, freezing, vibrating. So disappointed.

 

[kurtg]

From what I have heard task killers aren't good!

Thats what I have been told......by a Sprint tech when my Moment was having issues.

But...... It has been about 24 hours since she got advanced task killer free. So far, no lockups, reboots, random sounds, or other weirdness.....

We now have a tech at the repair center who actually seems to care if her phone works or not. We decided to order a replacement if we have another issue.

We shall see......

 

[gme109]

i could bang my head against the wall with how obvious that is lol... Well I know what I'm doing when I get my new (refurb) phone in the mail!!

I'm wondering though. If you "lost" your phone, would they ask for the $100 deductible? They no longer charge the $100 deductible if break, or are having trouble with your phone, and swap it out, but if you have no phone to swap out, I would think they'd charge you the $100.

 

[snowdream]

I'm wondering though. If you "lost" your phone, would they ask for the $100 deductible? They no longer charge the $100 deductible if break, or are having trouble with your phone, and swap it out, but if you have no phone to swap out, I would think they'd charge you the $100.

Yes I believe you would have to pay the deductible! better then paying full retail for it though if something went wrong and you turned your phone into a paper weight! You shouldn't root unless you are 100% comfortable with it, and for your sake do some serious homework on the topic! there are some serious advantages (and after a landslide of phone issues it can appear to be your magic ticket) but those advantages also carry risks that you should educate yourself about!! I haven't done it yet, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to soon. Honestly my greatest fear is not bricking my phone, it's having one of my kids (2 and 4 yrs) getting a hold of my rooted phone and doing something to it I can't undo....after some of the things they've managed to do with just a simple remote and a tv I am afraid lol very very afraid...

 

[snowdream]

Thats what I have been told......by a Sprint tech when my Moment was having issues.

But...... It has been about 24 hours since she got advanced task killer free. So far, no lockups, reboots, random sounds, or other weirdness.....

We now have a tech at the repair center who actually seems to care if her phone works or not. We decided to order a replacement if we have another issue.

We shall see......

Best of luck to you guys!! Keep us posted on the outcome!

 

[fareal]

My Epic is now stuck at black screen with only bottom touchscreen buttons lit up. I rebooted it, pulled battery, tried the vol.down, camera, power to clear cache first and then reboot, tried booting without flash card.. none of this helped. I see the Samsung text, Sprint animation, then Samsung Galaxy animation, then the screen goes black and I feel the slight vibration (same one you feel when powering down the device) and thats where I'm stuck with the touchscreen buttons lit up. Eventually it tries to restart on its own but fails at same spot.

I'm soon going to try a factory reset via samsung recovery util (hold vol.down, camera, power to power on the phone).