Help Problem with the clock! / Time Keeps Changing Despite Settings

[kpearsonxyz]

So true that another time is best.

I've moved my alarms to my Nexus 7, but that means I'll be carrying it everywhere from now until I replace my old 3g... It's about due anyway.

 

[freakshow85]

I had read a fix for it on these forums. Primarily dealt with resetting the system cache. I haven't had the problem again since I reset the cache 2-3 weeks ago.

 

[kpearsonxyz]

First, if a factory reset doesn't clear the cache I don't know what does, so I think it not happening since doing that may be coincidence.

But with that said, how did you reset the system cache? I'll go look it up though...

I hope it works.

 

[freakshow85]

Well, I actually am not confident it works, but I did want to say I was having the problem and that I saw a recent post on the Centura forums here and followed the directions and somehow I got lucky and it worked for me. You can clear the cache somewhere in the system settings. If I wasnt on my phone I would link the thread to you. It was posted within a month ago. I agree, I don't see how clearing the cache would do anything more than a factory reset.. and realistically it probably doesn't. Just wanted to share.

I had previously tried unchecking and checking the automatic time boxes and it didn't even work for 24 hours for me. I understand everyone's frustration. Such an annoying issue.

 

[freakshow85]

How ironic. I posted the previous post yesterday, and woke up this morning with my clock back 5 hours, and I am on EST. This is one annoying glitch. Also... I did install a new sd card yesterday. So, after seeing the glitch, I fixed the clock, set it back to auto and reset the system cache again. We will see how long this lasts again..

 

[kpearsonxyz]

I think we are seeing something that's outside of "Android" else it wouldn't be happening to so many different versions. I'm on 2.2 and an old 3g phone. It's not logical. My phone hasn't had an OS update for 2 years at least, maybe longer.

 

[SteveCampsOut]

No it doesn't work.

i have tried all the fixes suggested here and then some and none of them work. its still an issue.

even with the clocksync app the time still jumps back.

i found and even flashed a rooted rom then installed clocksync, still time jumps back by 6 hours

I never said ClockSync "Stopped" it from happening! It does however automatically correct it when it does happen. You just have to set the app to Auto correct as often as is necessary to keep from seeing the jumps back in time. I've only notice the jump back 6 hours once since I rooted and installed the app.

 

[SteveCampsOut]

First, if a factory reset doesn't clear the cache I don't know what does, so I think it not happening since doing that may be coincidence.

But with that said, how did you reset the system cache? I'll go look it up though...

I hope it works.

You clear the cache by booting into recovery mode. The same place that you go to do a factory reset, but it's NOT the same option as Factory Reset, so no, Factory Reset does NOT clear your cache! As far as "Clearing the cache in Settings", you can go to settings to clear the cache for each individual app under settings but to clear the system cache, you have to be in recovery mode.

 

[kpearsonxyz]

Thanks. I haven't done many of those since my G1 died and I got my 3g. I'm not as eager to get a new phone since:

1. A T-Mobile representative told me they can't track tethering on the 3g, and
2. I got rid of my slow Lenovo tablet and picked up a Nexus 7, which is fantastic.

I can put up with 3g when it's essentially free to tether.

Thanks for the information about clearing cache. I thought a factory reset cleared the cache.

 

[jmcook79]

I sent a message to the Samsung support Facebook page as well as the Straight talk support page. It can't hurt and since social media support seems to be better these days...

 

[jmcook79]

Here is the message:

I'm just writing to let you know about the time problem with the Samsung Galaxy Centura. Sometimes it will set the time back 5 or 6 hours depending on the time zone. For me, un-checking auto date and time as well as time zone and then checking them back fixes the problem. My wife's fixed itself within 10 minutes. However, others aren't so lucky. It's only happened to me twice but it is very widespread and happens to some people several times a week. It's all over several forums and no one has found a fix yet. I just thought that the more people let you know about it, the better the chance is for a fix.

Thank you

and here are the replies

From Straight Talk:

Hi Mike! Thank you for the information. We will surely consider providing the said troubleshooting for the time issue on the Samsung Galaxt Centura. We appreciate it so much. Happy holidays! ^Shannon

From Samsung:

Hi Mike, thanks for letting us know. We have your notes in our system which will be passed on to our engineers. Please keep us updated shall this issue occur again. Happy Holidays!

 

[freakshow85]

I am surprised you didn't get the generic "We are sorry... please call us at..." They surely have to know by now this is a common problem. I hope they find a fix, soon. It doesn't happen to me as much as some people, but I hate when it happens.

 

[jmcook79]

Yeah I have much more faith in Facebook support compared to phone or email support. As I posted in another thread, one of my issues was resolved in less than an hour. I think if enough people start sending messages via Facebook, Twitter etc. they may eventually do something. On Thanksgiving and the following week the Centura was $29 at Walmart and Walmart.com and even in my small town we have sold over 1000 of them between in store and site to store purchases. There are thousands of people nationwide walking around with the Centura so I have a feeling the complaints will start increasing. It rarely happens to me but I feel for the people who have it happen frequently.

 

[mrudge]

Can add me to the list of people who have the 5-hour problem. Tried all of the fixes and nothing works. It's a piece of junk and I'm convinced they are making them so cheap and fast that it is not worth their time to fix.

Also GPS rarely works and the voice2text interface is AWFUL. It freezes and runs slow so often. And I am not a 14 year old with tons of music & games on my phone.

I've had this phone 6 months and that is 5 and a 1/2 months too long. I will gladly try to fix it but I think this thing is destined for the trash can.

mrudge

 

[jmcook79]

Can add me to the list of people who have the 5-hour problem. Tried all of the fixes and nothing works. It's a piece of junk and I'm convinced they are making them so cheap and fast that it is not worth their time to fix.

Also GPS rarely works and the voice2text interface is AWFUL. It freezes and runs slow so often. And I am not a 14 year old with tons of music & games on my phone.

I've had this phone 6 months and that is 5 and a 1/2 months too long. I will gladly try to fix it but I think this thing is destined for the trash can.

mrudge

Honestly, bugs like this occur much more in low-end phones than mid to high-end phones. As I've said before, I don't use the alarm so it doesn't bother me enough to be a deal breaker. I also never use GPS so I can't comment on that. Voice to text is slow sometimes but at least I have it...my last phone didn't. If the time problem was a major issue to me, I'd probably consider selling it, cutting my losses and trying another phone.

In the meantime, all we can do is to continue to contact Samsung as well as Straight Talk, Net 10, and TracFone and if it is a software problem maybe after they get enough complaints they will fix it. If it's a hardware problem maybe they will replace it with a different model. Who knows...

 

[jmcook79]

I just found this email address to Straight Talk Corporate in a few different articles. I'm going to send the same message to this address as well.

ST.CorpResolutionTeam@straighttalk.com

 

[kpearsonxyz]

Since I'm on T-Mobile that address won't help me much, I expect. This bug is affecting users across versions and devices on multiple carriers.

So, I'm thinking maybe we have an Android virus from something we all picked up somewhere and there's a virus designer somewhere laughing in his beer at our futile attempts to get help.

 

[jmcook79]

Sorry once I read your earlier posts I forgot that you don't have the Centura. I find it hard to believe I've picked up a virus though since I only have a few dozen apps all from the Google play store. My wife only has Yahoo messenger, Facebook, and Touchpal installed besides that her phone is completely stock and she has had the time problem once.

 

[kpearsonxyz]

My phone is the T-Mobile 3g Slide, which is an HTC phone, and is quite old. It runs Android v2.2.1 and I haven't got much fluff installed, though I've tried perhaps hundreds of apps over the years. But like you, they are all from the Play Store. I currently only have a dozen or so installed. HTC is notorious for how little memory their phones have. That may have changed with their new phones...

But, my theory about a virus is still viable, if we all use our phones to browse the internet. A virus can be gotten from a jpg that has a payload in the meta data and which is on a web page we simply view. And it can be on a reputable site, such as CNN.

 

[jmcook79]

Here's my response from straight talk corporate:

Hi Mike,
Thank you for sending us an email and we do apologize for this matter. Yes, all you need to do is to uncheck and check it back to update the time settings of your phone. If this happen again, you can turn the phone off and back on to refresh the system of the device.
Also, you can clear the cache into the recovery mode under settings. If this persist, you can do a factory reset on the phone.
Kurt

Thank you for your patience, while we respond to your inquiry.
Kurt

I think that I'm going to start clearing the cache weekly as preventative maintenance. I just did it last week and I'm starting to think that it is what also helped the lag I was having while pulling down the notification bar as well.

 

[jmcook79]

Here's the deal. I've noticed this happening as well and the issue appears if you let the phone battery get drained to nearly dead. If you keep your phone well charged, it doesn't happen. At least it only happens to me if I let the battery get too low.

How low was your battery when it happened? I can't remember how low mine was both times it happened but it if it happens again, I'll make a note of it.

 

[freakshow85]

I have had it happen a few times... always early in the morning for me and at full charge with phone plugged in, because I leave my phone plugged in overnight.

 

[peteo3]

Same problem here. This morning it seems to have happened when the phone checked for updates. Could this have something to do with it? Or is it just the NSA screwing with us?

 

[hitesh123]

This might be network time server issue

 

[jmcook79]

If it were it seems like it would affect all Straight Talk Verizon based phones. But I'm no expert so you may be right.

It's too bad that un-checking auto time & time zone and re-checking them doesn't work for everyone. If it did someone could write an app that could do it automatically any time it happens. Another idea would be to leave your clock on manual and have an app that resets it to the amount of hours you normally lose. For example, if you live in the Eastern time zone it would set it to 5 hours ahead. I don't see why either of these app idea would need root access. I may be wrong so maybe someone much smarter than me will chime in lol.