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To get to the point, people DON'T UPDATE YOUR VIBRANTS and T-MOBILE HANDLES THE ISSUE HORRIBLY! Obviously this is not a universal problem, but if you do happen to be one of the lucky ones that bricks their phone with the update there is no saving it (at least with the help of T-mobile).
I just got off of the phone with tech support and they were less than helpful. After the regular punching in numbers, talking to two different people, and trying to re-boots that everyone with half a brain have tried, they informed me that they would replace the phone but I had to PAY for shipping. While I realize this is a normal policy when it comes to random malfunctions, which may or may not have been the users fault, this is absolutely ridiculous when the problem is 100% their fault. Seriously, T-mobile ships a top of the line phone that has some major flaws and inactivated software (media hub), then breaks the phone with it's official update, and somehow this is MY responsibility to pay to get fixed? The rep even asked if I at this point wanted to add insurance so next time I wouldn't have to pay for shipping and if I wanted to pay extra for expedited shipping! They were trying to make an add-on sale while fixing an issue THEY caused!
That's not even the end of it, because I was so irritated they sent me to a "loyalty specialist" (who sounded like a used car salesman). He rambled on about how he would waive the shipping fee (he made it sound like he just saved my first born child). I told him I appreciated that but it didn't fix the fact that T-Mobile was not handling the issue well. When a large number of phones break from an issue originating from the provider they should either 1) have re-furbished phones (or even set aside new phones if necessary) to replace these broken phones as they come up or 2) offer free over night shipping of the replacement phone. He told me that these options were too expensive for T-Mobile, and that if I like I could sign up for either of their two insurance plans, as they would allow me to do an in-store replacement (he later noted that one of them was only available within the first 14 days of owning the phone...). I couldn't believe they were trying to another add-on sale! The best part being, I later called around to all my local T-Mobile owned stores and none of them have the Vibrant available for in-store replacement (and never have).
So the Cliff-Notes of my rant:
1) DON'T UPDATE YOUR VIBRANT
2) If you did brick your phone, make sure to complain and they should refund the ridiculous shipping charge
3) If you don't own a Vibrant and are thinking about it consider the following (Don't let it stop you, just consider it):
- Still on 2.1, when Nexus One has been on 2.2 for months (and the Galaxy S 2.2 official ROM has been leaked so it does exist in some form.) => Meaning updates are super scarce and extremely late.
- T-Mobile is selling a good phone with many flaws, and their first attempt to fix it bricked many phones (do a google search I am not the only one).
- While it may be better than other companies, T-Mobiles customer service is FAR from flawless
P.S. My phone was completely stock (so please don't mention how I did this with a lag fix, etc.). I waited at least 15 mins before I pulled the battery, before which I had noted the T-Mobile sound starting without the animation (seems like a timing issue or something). And finally, I realize this is a duplicate post to many others but I want people to find this info (not be at the bottom of a really long thread) to get the word out how T-Mobile deals with their errors.
I hate when people mess with their phones then get angry at a company for "breaking" their phone. Im running stock rom with root and also got bricked, but, I manned up and knew I was in the wrong and accepted what happened. I didn't put the blame on TMo, because completely untouched vibrants that I was aware of had no issues with this OTA. If you added functionality to it after the fact that it wasn't originally on there before when you initially purchased it; then its YOUR fault that it bricked, NOT T-mobiles. Take some responsibility and stop crying.
Had the same problem but this is a pretty fix using Odin.
If you install an update from an OTA T-Mobile should be held responsible
I don't know about you guys but when you have been a customer for 10+ years, T-Mobile will pretty much suck your balls.
Either way, if you guys rooted it, then that takes the fault from T-Mobile to you. You changed the phone. The update was designed for a pristine un-edited Samsung Vibrant, if you changed anything in the system by rooting or flashing it is your fault for changing the equation. T-Mobile is NOT at fault for your actions.
Yeah why warranty the phone when you can just ODIN and fix it yourself? Do a xda search. If you're gonna use xda to complain at least use it to solve your own problems as well. Unless your phone is hardware locked it is 100 % fixable.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
starkiller86 said:
I hate when people mess with their phones then get angry at a company for "breaking" their phone. Im running stock rom with root and also got bricked, but, I manned up and knew I was in the wrong and accepted what happened. I didn't put the blame on TMo, because completely untouched vibrants that I was aware of had no issues with this OTA. If you added functionality to it after the fact that it wasn't originally on there before when you initially purchased it; then its YOUR fault that it bricked, NOT T-mobiles. Take some responsibility and stop crying.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
P.S. My phone was completely stock (so please don't mention how I did this with a lag fix, etc.). I waited at least 15 mins before I pulled the battery, before which I had noted the T-Mobile sound starting without the animation (seems like a timing issue or something). And finally, I realize this is a duplicate post to many others but I want people to find this info (not be at the bottom of a really long thread) to get the word out how T-Mobile deals with their errors
Did you not read that part?
I bricked two stock Vibrants with the update. The second one failed during Mini-Kies update and was hardware locked.
It is a known issue according to the Tech guy that I spoke to while getting my replacement.
First phone wouldn't power on after failure, second phone was hardware locked so un-fixable.
No, no.
This happened to me, I had a rooted phone I had uninstalled the inflight internet, etc on it and hadn't overclocked or anything like that. Phone kills itself. I went to the tmo store and they only make you pay for shipping if you take the overnight option.
PROTIP - DON'T ASK FOR EXTRA SPEEDY SHIPPING AND THEY'LL PAY FOR IT.
so i guess we are just SOL for the data on the phone? I just lost an entire vacation of pictures. I had not had a chance to root this phone either. this is ****ing awesome.
dechire said:
so i guess we are just SOL for the data on the phone? I just lost an entire vacation of pictures. I had not had a chance to root this phone either. this is ****ing awesome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess this is just an example of "store your pictures on the external SD card"
Then if you brick it you can still get your pictures back ....
watcher64 said:
I guess this is just an example of "store your pictures on the external SD card"
Then if you brick it you can still get your pictures back ....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Word. That's one of the first things I did when I got the phone and was playing with the features. Switched it from phone storage to memory card.
Sorry to hear you lost photos.
Protip: Pay the damn overnight shipping fee...it'll be deducted from your bill (flex pay) which makes it free: )
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Here is the business side
If I am T mobile every time some person has a problem and I offered free shipping, the Every moron would be shipping the device back for Any problem. Way way costly, so that is not going to happen. If you Really believe the phone is factory defective then, pay the shipping and move on. If you messed with it at all then the burden to resolve is yours and be honest about that. Remember the reason people are in here is to customize the phone and improve it. Like the XDA mantra sez.......... It is not just the result... but the journey....
Like one of the other posts stated:
If you rooted it, then that takes the fault from T-Mobile to you. You changed the phone. The update was designed for a pristine un-edited Samsung Vibrant, if you changed anything in the system by rooting or flashing it is your fault for changing the equation. T-Mobile is NOT at fault for your actions.
Gr8gorilla said:
First phone wouldn't power on after failure, second phone was hardware locked so un-fixable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a hardware lock fix now, you really should flash that before you do anything else. Yeah, you run the risk of bricking with the hardware unlock, but it's probably a safer bet than flashing away.
dechire said:
so i guess we are just SOL for the data on the phone? I just lost an entire vacation of pictures. I had not had a chance to root this phone either. this is ****ing awesome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you Odin it with the JI6 update, you might still be able to get a working system out of it. Worth a shot to see if you can get it without having to flash to stock first (which will wipe).
With all the time you spent with tech support, you could have found the thread that delineates how to fix your phone and update through odin. Its very easy and, frankly why be on a developers forum when you are not willing to tinker around a bit.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
dechire said:
so i guess we are just SOL for the data on the phone? I just lost an entire vacation of pictures. I had not had a chance to root this phone either. this is ****ing awesome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As long as the phone still powers on you can still use ADB Pull and save the data from the /sdcard folder. This update isn't a totally bricking the phone (at least it didn't mine) just making the display and inputs not work. To quote Billy Crystal: "He's only MOSTLY dead"
Odin was really simple to reflash the stock ROM and then I was able to do a nandroid restore from there.
The T-Mobile OTA update left my phone only booting to the vibrant screen, but it was a pretty simple fix with Odin. The hardest part was getting the proper drivers installed in windows!
Mini kies wouldnt even let me update,so I rooted and flashed bionix 1.8,works great.**** tmo.
Fyi to the people with hardware lock. I did the update on my gf's phone which was hardware locked and it failed. The phone would only boot to the vibrant screen. The good news is the ota update unlocks the hardware because her phone is able to get into recovery and download mode even thought the update failed. The point is don't worry if ota fail on you because you can just use odin to fix it since it unlocks the download mode.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
mr2t32 said:
Fyi to the people with hardware lock. I did the update on my gf's phone which was hardware locked and it failed. The phone would only boot to the vibrant screen. The good news is the ota update unlocks the hardware because her phone is able to get into recovery and download mode even thought the update failed. The point is don't worry if ota fail on you because you can just use odin to fix it since it unlocks the download mode.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the update even gets that far...
My name is AGiLiT and I'm a flashaholic.
It's been 10 days since my last flash; which was the day I took my beloved overclocked, themed, custom ROM'ed, custom kerneled EVO Shift back to stock in order to exercise my upgrade option.
My one year anniversary with my Speedy had just passed a few days before. I'd been debating whether to take advantage of the last time I'd be able to invoke the one-year anniversary update with Sprint sooner rather than later. I had really been missing the world phone capabilities I had with my Blackberry (pre-Hero, pre-Shift) and have some international travel coming up so the immediate need was there. On the other hand, the draw of LTE later this year is also enticing. Living in Houston, I've had spotty luck with 4G, but at least it's there and we will be getting LTE.
The stars aligned and BestBuy came out with a price on the Motorola Photon of $49 last week; on top of which they're giving away a $50 gift card, so basically the phone was free. On top of that, when I got the Shift last year, they were just introducing the Buy Back program and giving that away for free. I paid $99 for the Shift, so I figured I was getting $40 back. Lo and behold, the program pays back on the list price of the phone, so basically I got a free phone plus a$220 gift card for the buy back!
I immediately started hanging out in the Photon phorums. But it was like I had already traveled to another country where I knew a few phrases, but I really couldn't understand even half of what anyone was saying. SBF's; RSD; unlocking, pudding; docking; ...
I started experiencing the DTs as I cruised the forums late at night and into the early morning hours. I was barely functioning at work - waiting to at least get my phone rooted so I could get to all my apps sitting in my Titanium backup (more than 70; and obviously all essential; no?)
Four days later, I finally managed to get rooted with the AIO method. That offered some relief, but still nothing like the rush that comes from a good stiff flash. I was still desparate. Unlock; relock; what would be the effect? What ROM? What kernel?
A week later, I was still stock. And I started to realize that the pain was starting to diminish. I was finding that I was still able to function while stock. I was finding more time to spend with my friends and family. It's true that I still hang out in the phorums; probably almost as much as I used to, and the buzz is definitely not there, but at least I still can share in the comraderie that goes on in here.
So, I've made the conscious decision to try to stay clean and stock; realizing that this is will be an ongoing challenge. Will I ever fall off the wagon? Who can say. Seeing an Ice Cream Sandwich out there in the open and knowing that it will be months before I can have a taste is straining my willpower.
I haven't found any flashaholic anonymous meetings yet, so I hope you all won't mind me sharing here. I only ask that when you run across any of us flashaholics, you realize that we are people just like you; we just are trying to face our demons, one day at a time.
Agilit, I to am a flashaholic. Oh sure it starts out innocent enough, root, then maybe a battery mod, or speed tweak. Then the next thing you know, your staying up all night flashing oc kernels, the newest version of ics, or what have you. Now the wife gets no attention, she leave and dog goes hungry. No rom is ever perfect enough. There's always something better. If you go too long without flashing, you start have imaginary problems with your phone just to justify flashing something else. Ahhh .... I'm here for ya man.
Damn it, I wonder now if I am flashaholic too . I constantly check xda if there is some new room or improvment for my phone,I even published my modification of some costum rom. I flash my phone for "testing" purposes more than once a week,some times even couple of time in one day . Lets keep our phone clean for a while and reduce our flashing!
Sent from my GT-I8150 using XDA App
qzem said:
Damn it, I wonder now if I am flashaholic too . I constantly check xda if there is some new room or impeovment for my phone,I even published my mosification of some costum rom. I flash my phone fir testinf purposes more than once a week,some times even couple of time in one day . Lets keep our phone clean for a while and reduce our flashing!
Sent from my GT-I8150 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No doubt, my friend; you are a flashaholic. Recognition is the first step to recovery, though.
Hey guys, so I recently picked up the S4 as I had an upgrade and chose this phone specifically for it's support by developers here on XDA. Strictly due to my own aloofness, and not having checked the forums for a few weeks before walking into the store (fail), I ran the update as it popped up immediately and I figured "why not" (I KNOW, I went full-retard and expected something useful from a Verizon OTA... they screwed me last time with an OTA too ).
Anyway, I still have about ten days before my "Worry-free Guarantee" runs out, and I'm really considering going back and claiming a warranty replacement on my phone in an attempt to receive a non-VRUAME7-equipped phone (as I said, the 16GB versions in stock there didn't have the update initially). If I attempt to claim the phone as defective, do you think I could avoid the $35 restocking fee, considering I'd swap for the exact same model of phone?
I'm not sure what to expect when going back there. Some CSR's seem much more technical than others, so I don't know if I'd be drilled about the issue I'm claiming. Any advice here? Would focusing on a 'bad battery' or 'device overheating' raise any red flags? Should I bring it in drained of battery life? I've kept excellent care of the phone; it's in mint condition without a scratch or blemish, non-rooted, and fully updated.
Even if I have to pay the $35 fee, I would do it for a non-updated phone. I'm just worried that by chance the CSR that gives me my replacement would decide to run the upgrade, as it will pop up immediately. Also, any tips on ensuring I avoid the upgrade until I back up the phone and root it? Just yank out the SIM until it's good to go?
Thanks for any advice you may have. I'm new here so flame me relentlessly for any rules I may have broken . And yes, I know, ultimately I'm complaining about having an S4 (read: kinda being a *****).
I stopped the update by turning off WiFi and data until I had it rooted and ROMed
Sent from my SCH-I545 using xda premium
My understanding of the guarantee is that it can be returned for any reason. I can't tell from a quick Google search, but it sounds like you might have a shot at no restocking fee if you're exchanging for the same model.
Given those tidbits, I'd tell them you want to exchange the phone due to reduced functionality after the update, and leave it at that. If they offer to troubleshoot, you can then say "sure, remove the update", which they can't do. I think this approach will give you the best chance of leaving the store with an un-updated phone and no fee. No CSR is going to take the OTA after having to deal with the guy who really hates the update for nonspecific reasons.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using xda premium
TheJ0hnman said:
My understanding of the guarantee is that it can be returned for any reason. I can't tell from a quick Google search, but it sounds like you might have a shot at no restocking fee if you're exchanging for the same model.
Given those tidbits, I'd tell them you want to exchange the phone due to reduced functionality after the update, and leave it at that. If they offer to troubleshoot, you can then say "sure, remove the update", which they can't do. I think this approach will give you the best chance of leaving the store with an un-updated phone and no fee. No CSR is going to take the OTA after having to deal with the guy who really hates the update for nonspecific reasons.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting point, TheJ0hnman. I think turning window animations to something atrocious will help me have something that seems effed upon a cursory check, as well as some other developer options that undoubtedly make you think "wtf" if you don't know better, like flash on update etc. (wish I could then rehide the developer menu). Do you really think blaming the update would work well? I think I'd rather feign ignorance and say that the update "screwed with everything, battery life and runs slow", and act as if I'm unfamiliar with technical operation of android.
I don't think user error is covered under the 14 day WFG .
Why not keep it simple by saying you just want to swap colors. Whichever is less popular (white?) might have a bigger stock backlog & thus be more likely to have MDK firmware. Then either be bold and ask them not to update OTA, or be in a terrific hurry to get somewhere else and tell them you'll activate and set the phone up yourself.
cantare said:
Why not keep it simple by saying you just want to swap colors. Whichever is less popular (white?) might have a bigger stock backlog & thus be more likely to have MDK firmware. Then either be bold and ask them not to update OTA, or be in a terrific hurry to get somewhere else and tell them you'll activate and set the phone up yourself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That makes a lot of sense, cantare. Only thing is I might end up paying the restocking fee. I think I'll try the warranty replacement first. Imagine me going through all this just to get another VRUAME7'd phone!
soad1789 said:
Hey guys, so I recently picked up the S4 as I had an upgrade and chose this phone specifically for it's support by developers here on XDA. Strictly due to my own aloofness, and not having checked the forums for a few weeks before walking into the store (fail), I ran the update as it popped up immediately and I figured "why not" (I KNOW, I went full-retard and expected something useful from a Verizon OTA... they screwed me last time with an OTA too ).
Anyway, I still have about ten days before my "Worry-free Guarantee" runs out, and I'm really considering going back and claiming a warranty replacement on my phone in an attempt to receive a non-VRUAME7-equipped phone (as I said, the 16GB versions in stock there didn't have the update initially). If I attempt to claim the phone as defective, do you think I could avoid the $35 restocking fee, considering I'd swap for the exact same model of phone?
I'm not sure what to expect when going back there. Some CSR's seem much more technical than others, so I don't know if I'd be drilled about the issue I'm claiming. Any advice here? Would focusing on a 'bad battery' or 'device overheating' raise any red flags? Should I bring it in drained of battery life? I've kept excellent care of the phone; it's in mint condition without a scratch or blemish, non-rooted, and fully updated.
Even if I have to pay the $35 fee, I would do it for a non-updated phone. I'm just worried that by chance the CSR that gives me my replacement would decide to run the upgrade, as it will pop up immediately. Also, any tips on ensuring I avoid the upgrade until I back up the phone and root it? Just yank out the SIM until it's good to go?
Thanks for any advice you may have. I'm new here so flame me relentlessly for any rules I may have broken . And yes, I know, ultimately I'm complaining about having an S4 (read: kinda being a *****).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately it's yourself that screwed you. Not the OTA.
Root users know NEVER to take an OTA.
Hi Everyone. I just upgraded to the S4 last Sunday and while I was in the store and they were activating the phone, it started the update. I did not realize that this update locked everything down.
So, I decided that I would wait it out and see when the new update would be cracked. That was a couple days ago and I was having flash withdrawals. This morning I figured I would go to the Verizon store near work and just ask straight up ask if I could return my phone because of the new update....and as soon as the words update came out of my mouth, the girl interrupted me and said "Yes, we are having all kinds of issues with the new update and have replaced phones all weekend. We will get you a new phone".
5 mins later, new phone in hand with MDK software. AND the whole store told me not to take the update that another one is in the works. Can't wait to get home and root this thing and get Andy's Bone Stock ROM running.
anyone know the status on refurbs with the update?
i might have to get mine replaced due to brightness problems on my buttons and curious how well people are doing with the refurbs
kaos2569 said:
Hi Everyone. I just upgraded to the S4 last Sunday and while I was in the store and they were activating the phone, it started the update. I did not realize that this update locked everything down.
So, I decided that I would wait it out and see when the new update would be cracked. That was a couple days ago and I was having flash withdrawals. This morning I figured I would go to the Verizon store near work and just ask straight up ask if I could return my phone because of the new update....and as soon as the words update came out of my mouth, the girl interrupted me and said "Yes, we are having all kinds of issues with the new update and have replaced phones all weekend. We will get you a new phone".
5 mins later, new phone in hand with MDK software. AND the whole store told me not to take the update that another one is in the works. Can't wait to get home and root this thing and get Andy's Bone Stock ROM running.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow. I hope I have a similar experience! kaos2569, you got a black 16gig this morning and it was pre-ME7? This truly gives me hope.
Yes, I went to the store, and it was swapped out no problem. I didn't try to scam, or make up anything up. I just said what I posted and she stopped me mid sentence and knew about the update and how it was messing people's phones up and grabbed a brand new pre-updated one.
I just finished up rooting, installed a recovery, and installed Bone Stock. Everything went flawless.
kaos2569 said:
Yes, I went to the store, and it was swapped out no problem. I didn't try to scam, or make up anything up. I just said what I posted and she stopped me mid sentence and knew about the update and how it was messing people's phones up and grabbed a brand new pre-updated one.
I just finished up rooting, installed a recovery, and installed Bone Stock. Everything went flawless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my phone should be here weds, so ill give this a try this weekend. unless the doodoo brown ones come pre-update.
kaos2569 said:
Yes, I went to the store, and it was swapped out no problem. I didn't try to scam, or make up anything up. I just said what I posted and she stopped me mid sentence and knew about the update and how it was messing people's phones up and grabbed a brand new pre-updated one.
I just finished up rooting, installed a recovery, and installed Bone Stock. Everything went flawless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow do I feel sly! My experience was not quite as straightforward as yours, kaos2569, but I pulled it off! I had to convince two CSRs, one who actually also owned an S4 and was clearly no n00b (though he said he had the ME7 update so I guess not an XDA regular). I used one of the update screens in developer options to trick the first lady, who then restarted my phone and had me wait to be seen. While waiting, I went back and turned on developer options again, then turned them off, realizing beforehand that open apps will retain the "screwy" look even with the options off. The guy proceeded to investigate my phone for what must've been 20 minutes. I kept insisting the problem was intermittent and hinting at the possibility that the update played a role in the problem. After some skepticism (he noticed the developer options were off but the menu was available; I played dumb, saying I let a gadget-freak friend look at it for a bit), he finally offered me a free(!) replacement and I took it. I was waiting for a while once he got the new phone out, and was getting nervous that he might've been installing the update. He said "I'm downloading the update now, I'll run through it here to make sure there are no issues" so I immediately told him I had to be somewhere in ten minutes. He handed my phone back to me, I turned it off immediately, pulled the battery, and went home. Pulled the SIM card and booted-- still MDK indeed! Wow. It was a process but it was worth it. Can't wait to get some custom ROMs on this!
I can understand the animosity some people might have over doing something like this, but I was scarred by Verizon for nearly the entirety of the two years I had had my old phone, due to another damn OTA update, which didn't lock me out, but installed Gingerbread and made the phone basically impossible to use (legit, 12 seconds to open the ****** dialer). I just couldn't let Verizon lock me down again without a fight. And I will *SURELY* remember that guy the next time an upgrade comes along.
Thanks again kaos! You gave me the confidence to believe it could be done, and that it wasn't too late!
all i did was take it back within first 14 days... before i did though i went into app settings and disabled all apps including play store so they were not visible in app drawer. i told him it was freezing and soft booting itself after i updated the phone.. then i told him i called in and spoke with a tech n did a factory reset and everything dissappeared including my apps and i cant dl apps since my play store is gone.. he was lookin at it for a bit and was like wow thats weird! i told him the tech said since i was within 14 days he told me to go back to the store and exchange for a new one that wasnt updated.. worked like a charm! i told him not to update it that ill decline it until they come out with a new update n that was it! rooted n installed twrp soon as i got home been flashin every rom on here since! currently on hyperdrive n lovin it!
Sent from my SCH-I545 using xda app-developers app
soad1789 said:
Wow do I feel sly! My experience was not quite as straightforward as yours, kaos2569, but I pulled it off! I had to convince two CSRs, one who actually also owned an S4 and was clearly no n00b (though he said he had the ME7 update so I guess not an XDA regular). I used one of the update screens in developer options to trick the first lady, who then restarted my phone and had me wait to be seen. While waiting, I went back and turned on developer options again, then turned them off, realizing beforehand that open apps will retain the "screwy" look even with the options off. The guy proceeded to investigate my phone for what must've been 20 minutes. I kept insisting the problem was intermittent and hinting at the possibility that the update played a role in the problem. After some skepticism (he noticed the developer options were off but the menu was available; I played dumb, saying I let a gadget-freak friend look at it for a bit), he finally offered me a free(!) replacement and I took it. I was waiting for a while once he got the new phone out, and was getting nervous that he might've been installing the update. He said "I'm downloading the update now, I'll run through it here to make sure there are no issues" so I immediately told him I had to be somewhere in ten minutes. He handed my phone back to me, I turned it off immediately, pulled the battery, and went home. Pulled the SIM card and booted-- still MDK indeed! Wow. It was a process but it was worth it. Can't wait to get some custom ROMs on this!
I can understand the animosity some people might have over doing something like this, but I was scarred by Verizon for nearly the entirety of the two years I had had my old phone, due to another damn OTA update, which didn't lock me out, but installed Gingerbread and made the phone basically impossible to use (legit, 12 seconds to open the ****** dialer). I just couldn't let Verizon lock me down again without a fight. And I will *SURELY* remember that guy the next time an upgrade comes along.
Thanks again kaos! You gave me the confidence to believe it could be done, and that it wasn't too late!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And you are proud of this? It's because of people like you returning non defective products that the rest of the consumers have to suffer. tl;dr guess you have a total lack of integrity and morals to just accept your screw up. You sir are a douche bag.
Reading to learn about your device. Crazy, Who would of known.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 2
zetsumeikuro said:
And you are proud of this? It's because of people like you returning non defective products that the rest of the consumers have to suffer. tl;dr guess you have a total lack of integrity and morals to just accept your screw up. You sir are a douche bag.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hexitnow said:
Reading to learn about your device. Crazy, Who would of known.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You guys are certainly entitled to your opinions, and I really don't disagree. I have egg on my face from the whole event. After all, it was my fumbling that screwed me over in the first place. However, I'm curious as to your feelings about Big Red itself. Like I said, this phone enticed me exactly for it's support by this community, and Verizon obviously realized that if they in turn locked the phone down with an update. What of that?
zetsumeikuro; this device will quickly be determined a Certified Like-New Replacement. I took pristine care of the phone, didn't screw around with the internals at all, and even kept the touchscreen under the manufacturer-issued screen protector the entire time I had the phone. If someone (due to their own bumbling) drops their phone in water, loses it, etc. They will end up with that phone and be very happy with it, unless they expected to luck out on a replacement and receive a pre-ME7 phone as well. I'm sorry, I can't say I see the harm in that, or how any other consumer suffers outright. I could've gotten a replacement within my 14 days for almost any reason. Yes-- I got out of a restocking fee and got a pre-update phone; what if I just paid $35 and got a Droid instead?
hexitnow, absolutely. I goofed up, that's for sure. I could attempt to excuse that by saying how I've been working 65-hour weeks and attempting to orchestrate a move into a new apartment lately, but I'm sure nobody really cares about that. Yes, I was negligent, having read up on the phone in early June thinking our upgrade was sooner than it actually was (and being treated oh-so-rudely by a CSR when we thought our upgrades were available back then), but ultimately it was me being stupid. I believe I learned a lesson here, and you rightly may resent me and people like me for our stupidity, but people make mistakes. This isn't my first or last one, either. Ultimately, it's just a phone update, I screwed nobody in doing what I did except arguably Verizon, who I managed to avoid paying yet another $35 to. I... I just don't feel that bad. I've felt wronged by them at every turn, and honestly I feel worse sticking with them as my carrier then I do taking advantage of my "Worry-free Guarantee" (assuming you don't worry about $35 fees).
Note that I am known to be a "whimsical douchebag", however.
soad1789 said:
You guys are certainly entitled to your opinions, and I really don't disagree. I have egg on my face from the whole event. After all, it was my fumbling that screwed me over in the first place. However, I'm curious as to your feelings about Big Red itself. Like I said, this phone enticed me exactly for it's support by this community, and Verizon obviously realized that if they in turn locked the phone down with an update. What of that?
zetsumeikuro; this device will quickly be determined a Certified Like-New Replacement. I took pristine care of the phone, didn't screw around with the internals at all, and even kept the touchscreen under the manufacturer-issued screen protector the entire time I had the phone. If someone (due to their own bumbling) drops their phone in water, loses it, etc. They will end up with that phone and be very happy with it, unless they expected to luck out on a replacement and receive a pre-ME7 phone as well. I'm sorry, I can't say I see the harm in that, or how any other consumer suffers outright. I could've gotten a replacement within my 14 days for almost any reason. Yes-- I got out of a restocking fee and got a pre-update phone; what if I just paid $35 and got a Droid instead?
hexitnow, absolutely. I goofed up, that's for sure. I could attempt to excuse that by saying how I've been working 65-hour weeks and attempting to orchestrate a move into a new apartment lately, but I'm sure nobody really cares about that. Yes, I was negligent, having read up on the phone in early June thinking our upgrade was sooner than it actually was (and being treated oh-so-rudely by a CSR when we thought our upgrades were available back then), but ultimately it was me being stupid. I believe I learned a lesson here, and you rightly may resent me and people like me for our stupidity, but people make mistakes. This isn't my first or last one, either. Ultimately, it's just a phone update, I screwed nobody in doing what I did except arguably Verizon, who I managed to avoid paying yet another $35 to. I... I just don't feel that bad. I've felt wronged by them at every turn, and honestly I feel worse sticking with them as my carrier then I do taking advantage of my "Worry-free Guarantee" (assuming you don't worry about $35 fees).
Note that I am known to be a "whimsical douchebag", however.
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Click to collapse
Don't see the harm in falsifying issues with a non defective device? I'm sure Samsung and Verizon will beg to differ. Yeah your device will probably get turned into a CLNR but clearly someone will be taking a hit for the brand new device you got. I mean the whole issue here that you seem to not see is the utter lack of integrity/honesty on your part. You screwing with developer options to make it look like the phone is having intermittent software issues to some untrained CSR. What you did there just reeks of desperation of you not willing to accept a mistake you made. I'm not going to go into the whole Verizon/Sammy locking down the device debacle, as there is the developer edition of the device. I'm not trying to defend Verizon and their ways.. Simply put it I'm disgusted with the lengths/measure you took to get a replacement device.
zetsumeikuro said:
Don't see the harm in falsifying issues with a non defective device? I'm sure Samsung and Verizon will beg to differ. Yeah your device will probably get turned into a CLNR but clearly someone will be taking a hit for the brand new device you got. I mean the whole issue here that you seem to not see is the utter lack of integrity/honesty on your part. You screwing with developer options to make it look like the phone is having intermittent software issues to some untrained CSR. What you did there just reeks of desperation of you not willing to accept a mistake you made. I'm not going to go into the whole Verizon/Sammy locking down the device debacle, as there is the developer edition of the device. I'm not trying to defend Verizon and their ways.. Simply put it I'm disgusted with the lengths/measure you took to get a replacement device.
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Click to collapse
As I said, you're entitled to your opinions. I could've swapped the phone for any reason, even if I just "didn't like it", as per Verizon's policy. Even if I paid$35 and swapped for an iPhone both Verizon and Samsung would've taken the same "hit". I just managed to avoid the restocking fee. But as you imply, I'm sure Verizon and Samsung will gather in a circle and weep.
They can take that $35 from the device upgrade fees they failed to mention in store. But I'm expected to maintain my full integrity.gotcha.
You sound like my father :laugh:
I've got insurance for my cell phone through my credit card. If it breaks, they'll send me $250 to buy a new one. And my RAZR Maxx is definitely messed up.
The problem is, the problems are intermittent. And for me to make a successful claim, I have to get a technician to look at the phone and write a letter saying it's broken. I had to go through this process a couple of years ago with a Motorola Atrix that was clearly, obviously broken. And the technicians are always like, "what? what do you mean? what good is a letter like that going to do?" No matter how many times I try to explain to them. It's like they think I'm trying to trap them.
Anyway, is there anything short of throwing the phone off the top of my house that I can do to my phone that makes it easy to show to a technician and have him verify there are issues with it? I'd like not to destroy the phone in case my claim is denied. There are other criteria other than just proving phone is broken. And if the claim is denied, I may need to use the phone for a few more months till I can afford to buy a new one.
The phone is rooted. So I can install whatever software that needs the phone to be rooted. And I have asked in the past, rooting the phone does not cancel my insurance. The case is basically the cell phone insurance department doesn't seem very technologically savvy and don't have a lot of clauses you see when cell phone company's are describing cell phone warranties. Then they have other clauses that you would never see in a cell phone warranty.
If you want to know what's wrong with my phone, like occasionally, nothing it can do will it lock onto the GPS satellites, and I'm stuck somewhere trying to navigate my way to some place.. Occasionally it'll pop up on my screen saying "HDMI cable detected" and orient my screen sideways like if the phone were in a dock. It does this even though there's clearly no HDMI cable connected and I have turned HDMI detection off in the settings. Plus, the phone is just god awful slow a lot of times. Trying to use Chrome on the phone, a lot of times it'll hang and eventually I'll get the message "Chrome is not reponding", then I have options like do you want to wait for it, or go ahead and kill it.
levander said:
I've got insurance for my cell phone through my credit card. If it breaks, they'll send me $250 to buy a new one. And my RAZR Maxx is definitely messed up.
The problem is, the problems are intermittent. And for me to make a successful claim, I have to get a technician to look at the phone and write a letter saying it's broken. I had to go through this process a couple of years ago with a Motorola Atrix that was clearly, obviously broken. And the technicians are always like, "what? what do you mean? what good is a letter like that going to do?" No matter how many times I try to explain to them. It's like they think I'm trying to trap them.
Anyway, is there anything short of throwing the phone off the top of my house that I can do to my phone that makes it easy to show to a technician and have him verify there are issues with it? I'd like not to destroy the phone in case my claim is denied. There are other criteria other than just proving phone is broken. And if the claim is denied, I may need to use the phone for a few more months till I can afford to buy a new one.
The phone is rooted. So I can install whatever software that needs the phone to be rooted. And I have asked in the past, rooting the phone does not cancel my insurance. The case is basically the cell phone insurance department doesn't seem very technologically savvy and don't have a lot of clauses you see when cell phone company's are describing cell phone warranties. Then they have other clauses that you would never see in a cell phone warranty.
If you want to know what's wrong with my phone, like occasionally, nothing it can do will it lock onto the GPS satellites, and I'm stuck somewhere trying to navigate my way to some place.. Occasionally it'll pop up on my screen saying "HDMI cable detected" and orient my screen sideways like if the phone were in a dock. It does this even though there's clearly no HDMI cable connected and I have turned HDMI detection off in the settings. Plus, the phone is just god awful slow a lot of times. Trying to use Chrome on the phone, a lot of times it'll hang and eventually I'll get the message "Chrome is not reponding", then I have options like do you want to wait for it, or go ahead and kill it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried returning the phone to bone stock with a stock recovery image and rsd lite? Be fore warned, you will lose root but, you can get it back. Afterwards it will be like a new phone(faster, a lot less buggy and force closes) unless it is truly a hardware issue. I have a motorola xoom that started having serious issues, I went through the whole process, and it was like a completely new tablet when was done, battery life I hadn't seen in over a year, very responsive, it was like I had just unboxed it from the store.
Truthfully the technicians probably DO think you are trying to trap them when you are talking about intermittent problems. Intermittent problems are hard to diagnose with anything unless you can tell them a specific action or pattern of actions that leads up to the problem. I am sure they get a lot of people all the time with "it doesn't work right" claims to try to get money for a new phone.
IMHO it would be worth the shot to see if it legitimately has a goofy problem, or can be easily fixed at home.
Draxin said:
Have you tried returning the phone to bone stock with a stock recovery image and rsd lite?
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Click to collapse
Yeah, thanks Draxin. I've tried restoring to a factory image. And it seems to work okay for a couple of days before small things start back up. A couple of months later, the phone is as flaky as it ever was. It could just be software, that is possible. But it's not like I can go in and fix the software myself or anything. And I think hanging around the internet, looking for tweaks and fixes any more than I already have is really an unreasonable request by the insurance company.
What you say about an easily repeatable pattern, that's what I was hoping to figure out by posting here.
But getting no responses, I think I'm just gonna start my claim and when it gets to the point of proving it's broken, I'm just gonna microwave the phone. Googling all over the Internet that's the only advice people seem to offer.
Basically as it is now, I'm gonna have to pay for a new phone and hope this clumsy phone insurance through my credit card company makes good on my claim. I know I meet the criteria because I've read the policy. It's just the hoops they put you through to prove you meet the criteria that I'm worried about.
levander said:
Yeah, thanks Draxin. I've tried restoring to a factory image. And it seems to work okay for a couple of days before small things start back up.
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Click to collapse
With a full wipe and stock motorola firmware? Or just a factory reset?
Either way wish you the best of luck
Yeah try using rsd to fully restore. I fixed a lot of my problems that way .
Sent from my XT912 using Tapatalk
tydiamond11 said:
Yeah try using rsd to fully restore. I fixed a lot of my problems that way .
Sent from my XT912 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very true. It is funny/sad. Spend some time on a site like this and it seems like everybody knows these things. Talk to your friend or the typical consumer of smartphones and it is foreign to them. They feed into the advertising that the newest and greatest will solve all their problems, not realizing they are falling into the same viscous circle. They will actually disbelieve you, cause... well come on, the phone is two years old! "The guy at my carriers store is surprised my phone still works. Sure he got the job two months ago, won't be there five from now and has no idea what a OTG cable is, or a independently powered usb hub but, still he works there.. so he must know what he is talking about! I am sure it has nothing to do with commission of sales!" (that was facetious, by the way)
I am curious how many people have thought that their smartphone was dying or to old because a factory reset didn't work(not talking about you lavender, I don't know what you have done to fix your device( guess I am semi-hijacking your thread)).
Motorola(or any device manufacturer for that matter) isn't going to tell the typical user that a firmware reflash is required to get a couple more years out of their device when they can sell a user (that won't waste the time to Google)another device. Certainly won't advertise it right next to their latest and greatest device. Really how many people outside of the power users or gamers REQUIRE a quad core processor with 1500-1800 mhz, or 2-3 gb of RAM. When typically, it will end up the same way in a years time, depending on how much they use it.
Porn doesn't require those specs!!!
Draxin said:
Very true. It is funny/sad. Spend some time on a site like this and it seems like everybody knows these things. Talk to your friend or the typical consumer of smartphones and it is foreign to them. They feed into the advertising that the newest and greatest will solve all their problems, not realizing they are falling into the same viscous circle. They will actually disbelieve you, cause... well come on, the phone is two years old! "The guy at my carriers store is surprised my phone still works. Sure he got the job two months ago, won't be there five from now and has no idea what a OTG cable is, or a independently powered usb hub but, still he works there.. so he must know what he is talking about! I am sure it has nothing to do with commission of sales!" (that was facetious, by the way)
I am curious how many people have thought that their smartphone was dying or to old because a factory reset didn't work(not talking about you lavender, I don't know what you have done to fix your device( guess I am semi-hijacking your thread)).
Motorola(or any device manufacturer for that matter) isn't going to tell the typical user that a firmware reflash is required to get a couple more years out of their device when they can sell a user (that won't waste the time to Google)another device. Certainly won't advertise it right next to their latest and greatest device. Really how many people outside of the power users or gamers REQUIRE a quad core processor with 1500-1800 mhz, or 2-3 gb of RAM. When typically, it will end up the same way in a years time, depending on how much they use it.
Porn doesn't require those specs!!!
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Click to collapse
You are right. Just the last part is not really relevant to this form by the way.
Sent from my XT912 using Tapatalk
Hi guys! Long time lurker/flasher/tweaker here. Really not sure where to post this tho so mods please move to best area if this isnt it.
To start with this may sound a lil crazy but without getting too much into it I am a victim of something called "Gang Stalking". Google it if ya wanna know more, they know everywhere I am. Crazy crazy evil **** but anyways...
So I have always suspected to have trackers/keyloggers installed on any devices I have if someone manages to get their hands on it. Well I just purchased a new Dell Venue 8 the other day and had a weird experience buying it to start with. Im an American currently in Mexico (part of my journey trying to escape my persecuters) and I went to Office Depot to pick it up as they had a killer sale for it going on (a whole 1/3rd off and electronics are more expensive here)... Well i get the usual run around I get at any business if my persecuters find out im going there for something. Like "no you can only get that special online blah blah etc" when the site clearly says in store only lol. Anyway im used to management being paid off wherever I frequent to give me a hard time and such so as usual I demand the manager and when he tries to give me the run around I start asking for his boss and the number to corporate and threaten to call them there and often they cave. Well he did but says hes going to have to "pull some strings (just for me)" lmao but that to come back tomorrow afternoon and he would have me one at that price. So I say fine whatever. I come back the next day and pick it up and its not factory sealed but I dont say anything and think "well as long as it works fine then ill just take it to end the headache"... It looked brand new still.
I get it home finally and after playing with it a couple days I figure that after that weird scenario at Office Depot I would do some snooping to see if I could find anything on it out of the ordinary (like spyware) and it goes without saying that IF theres been something installed that its going to be the best of the best, probably government level software. Especially since they know Im a tech wiz. I have not got around to rooting it yet as the only method requires a PC so just havnt had a chance. When I first started it up it went through setup and updating to 4.4 as if it was factory fresh. Well I do a lil research and see that theres not much (if any) chance something of that caliber could be installed without rooting first. Well I didnt think it had been rooted, atleast I knew not by me, but I hop on the playstore to download (brother joeykrim's) root checker just to see and the WEIRDEST thing happened. I hit download, it came quick, and the INSTANT it was done and said " installing root checker" my screen went totally blank. Like I could still see the backlight so it was on still, just blacked out. Only way to cure was hit power twice and my pin screen came back up and things seemed normal, and I was able to run root checker and it said NO root but I still thought how odd is that with the screen? I knew better but checked a couple more apps out to verify they didnt exibit the same pattern, they didnt of course. I then tried installing another app called root checker and it blanked the screen out again. Tried with an app called just "root check" and all was normal. Once again with another "root checker" app and the screen blanked. This is super weird no? Almost seems like spyware thats detecting a root checker being installed and running some batch process to hide root or something. Well I also learned in one of the root checker apps that there was in fact a version of BusyBox installed, which I then verified by running. Wouldnt the phone have to be rooted for busybox? I know theres a no root version but I sure didnt install it. Any chance of it being factory installed? So what should I make of all this guys? Kernel level spyware? If so it could survive a factory reset right? How could I get it out and be 100% sure? If I flash a stock image from here would it remove ANY chance there could be spyware? Even of say a government level? Sorry for the long post but help please!
Bump. I know some of you guys know something about this kinda thing. Scared to answer jaha? Would it help if I removed the word government lol? I actually think I may have killed it anyway (fingers crossed)... It seems after doing the "installing root checker and blanking the screen" process a few times (seems like 5 times if I remember correctly) it no longer exhibits this behavior, and after this lil round of playing my tab was noticeably hot (like 3d gaming for a half hr hot). Its almost as if after going into "safe mode" a certain number of times the spyware "Self destructed" to avoid detection. Hopefully thats the case and hopefully this will help some other victim of this cruel torture one day. Knowledge is power guys! Dont let these psycho NWO pricks get you down! They want to rule and control the world but they can only rule you if you let em! Educate yourself about the BS going on in this seemingly FREE country. Heh. Much love!