[Q] (HELP)Need help with a rather strange Photon... - Motorola Photon 4G

UPDATE 2:I have been officially forbidden to tear into this thing until after I take it to a cell phone repair shop. That will happen this Saturday. I also noticed another user on this forum managed to make a jigkick-type charge-only cord by splicing an old cord, the same way I made my battery-charging cord. Hopefully, I won't end up having to dive into the thing, but if I do, I'll make sure this forum gets a play-by-play.
UPDATE: Found a few pictures of a MoPho teardown that include where the + and - leads are... this could be dangerous, but since the Photon is uselss to me locked and nobody would buy it in its current state, I'm taking my redneck charger to it later today. I'll ipdate you fine folks when the magic happens, I know at least one other person must be in my exact same boat, seeing as this is a cheap, amazing phone with great hspa speeds and a reputation for generally troublesome charging hijinks. I can't link the thread, since it's on another forum, but google around for "Photon Tear Down for + & - leads" and it should turn up.
I bought a Photon from Craigslist to replace the aging Sidekick 4g this is being typed on, but didn't anticipate it would come with the OTA update, locking the bootloader. I just want to GSM unlock it, so I figure, no problem. I go to charge it after successfully using RSD and such... no go. Apparently, it will send and receive data with a PC(if it's not booted into Android), but will NOT take a charge. I dissected an old cord to make a redneck battery jumper for now. I can worry about that later or just buy 2 batteries and an external charger. My issue is that I can't get into bootstrap to flash KDDI without AC power and I'm running rooted stock US Cellular right now, with the unbrick package flashed.So close, yet so far... If I could just get into bootstrap, or flash the radio and/or ROM without it, I'd be golden. Is there a way to make KDDI into a signed update.zip or an electrical 'jigkick" I can get into bootstrap with, similar to a PSP pandora battery? I dropped 80 bucks and really love this phone, even stuck on gingerbread forever. And... well, both my wives are verbally beating me down about this and the guy that sold it to me vanished. Is there a way to gsm unlock it? I'd even pay for an unlock code, were there a place to enter it. ANY help at all is well-appreciated! Thanks, all!

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2058665

Huh?
mrinehart93 said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2058665
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, I must have missed something...I can't find any help in that thread. Everybody in there was using bootstrap, whicb I can't access because of my bum charging port.

Related

[Q] What should I do?

Alright so while on the USB cable my phone has started to show the scrolling left issue. I don't really love that because I got one of those portable battery chargers for christmas. So what should I do, unroot and ask for a new eris (or possibly incredible) at my Verizon store? Or will my new eris have the same problem?
Thanks,
CPCookieMan
On another note, I may get the Incredible HD for my next phone. I would just be really mad if they were teasing a phone for ATT here.
CPCookieMan said:
On another note, I may get the Incredible HD for my next phone. I would just be really mad if they were teasing a phone for ATT here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I doubt that. Verizon already has LTE out an running; at&t does not, and I can't believe that they will by Thursday. And the fact that they mention "first to 4G again" suggests that it is not another Sprint WiMax phone.
doogald said:
I doubt that. Verizon already has LTE out an running; at&t does not, and I can't believe that they will by Thursday. And the fact that they mention "first to 4G again" suggests that it is not another Sprint WiMax phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The ad is so true. It's not my dream phone, (Obviously the eris. When I bought this thing I couldn't ask for more.) it's the one after that. Still does anyone have any thoughts on what I should do?
CPCookieMan said:
Alright so while on the USB cable my phone has started to show the scrolling left issue. I don't really love that because I got one of those portable battery chargers for christmas. So what should I do, unroot and ask for a new eris (or possibly incredible) at my Verizon store? Or will my new eris have the same problem?
Thanks,
CPCookieMan
On another note, I may get the Incredible HD for my next phone. I would just be really mad if they were teasing a phone for ATT here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know you're knowledgeable, so just ignore me if I'm suggesting anything you already know or have tried. Have you already tried jiggling (a little hard) any USB cable around while it's plugged in.
Also, I would try this without anything plugged into it: press harder on the trackball than usual and while pressing hard, roll it around in all the directions.
I've also heard suggested that turning it upside down and rolling the trackball around on a piece of paper can also help clean it, at least.
This may at least buy you some more time for you and that phone, or get you out of a jam when it starts action up again.
You could try to get a refurb, but as you already know, it may have the same problem eventually. If it did, or did right away, though, you might be able to convince them to give you a free upgrade to something else, and hopefully not take away from your next NE2 option.
CPCookieMan said:
Alright so while on the USB cable my phone has started to show the scrolling left issue. I don't really love that because I got one of those portable battery chargers for christmas. So what should I do, unroot and ask for a new eris (or possibly incredible) at my Verizon store? Or will my new eris have the same problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To hedge your bets, I would recommend you install scary alien's v1.7.1 mod of Amon_RA's custom recovery - that way if the trackball goes out any further, you will have less hassles whether you unroot and return the phone, or continue to use it.
One in the hand is worth two in the bush!
If it's any consolation (misery loves company) I'll probably be where you are in a couple of months (no trackball issues yet, but my adb session drops sometimes if I move the phone while plugged in).
bftb0
I had this exact same problem. After 3 replacements I yelled at the verizon reps till they agreed to give me a new phone. I don't know that you will get an incredible. They have been giving eris owners a droid 2, which is still leaps and bounds better than the eris, besides the locked bootloader (thanks motorola and your efuse...)
Sent from my DROID2 using XDA App

Bricked. Cannot unbrick. Im going to cry.

I just bought this thing today.
Get home and install CWM and Root.
Try to install LiquidSmooth.
Now it won't turn on. I plug in to my PC while it's "off" and i hear windows "connected" sound then the "disconnected" sound and repeated "you need to format D: " every 5 seconds.
Tried booting in to recovery and ODIN mode and nothings working.
I seriously was so ****ing excited to get this and now I have a ****ing 5" paperweight.
What the ****.
Brand new phones need to be on the charger for several hours on the first charge. Perhaps you flashed when the battery was too low. Just plug into wall outlet using the factory charger for several hours.
Well I bought it used but it was working when I bought it. It was on stock and I decided it needed jellybean... Now its problems all the way.
I mounts and repeatedly asks to be formatted so my fingers are crossed that its fixable.
I am a long time Note user and I have flashed 20+ times. Recently I flashed LiquidSmooth and it hard bricked my phone too. Exactly the same issues you describe. I had it insured so I took it to Geeksquad(bestbuy) for repair. They simply replaced it.
Looking here today it seems like I could have bought an adapter to get into download mode.
Part 5: De-brick
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1586223
Sounds like you may have flashed a version of the rom that was for a different phone. If that is the case and it is showing no signs of life you will most likely need JTAG. mobiletchvideos has a service its about 60 bucks and he has a good reputation.
So apparantly it is easy to make your own jig using simply a microusb connector and 3x100ohm or 1x300ohm resistor. Can get a 5pack of 100ohmers for $1 at radioshack and will find a microusb connector i can solder up and hope for the best.
which liquid smooth rom did u use for the n7000 or i717
imranh101 said:
So apparantly it is easy to make your own jig using simply a microusb connector and 3x100ohm or 1x300ohm resistor. Can get a 5pack of 100ohmers for $1 at radioshack and will find a microusb connector i can solder up and hope for the best.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
100Kohms not 100.
that is a total 300,000 ohms compared to your 300
Quite the difference
Also the tolerance on certain samsung devices vary so you may need a 1kohm in there as well , i have a captivate I built the jig for that jig also works on my note. Bit on my brother in law's sgs2 (which a jig is supposed to reset the flash counter as well as force dl mode) it does nothing.
But given the symptoms it sounds like you flashed a rom for the international note... I which case a jig will do nothing And bobby's(RQuiett) answer is the only course of action.
Any idea on what AT&T would do if I went to a local store and told them "I bought it off a friend and was using it and there was an OTA update and it just stopped working!"?
Don't do that. You messed up. Take your lump and pay the price for your mistake.
What you are proposing is fraud. Plain and simple.
This is a result of something YOU did, not a flaw or defect in the manufacturing of the hardware nor a result of an official software update, Which aren't even done OTA anyway you have to use kies.
That is what makes carriers and manufacturers want to lock down devices, do you want at&t to go the way of Verizon and force locked bootloaders on every device?
Not to mention... If you "bought it from a friend" they would care less about your problem.
imranh101 said:
Any idea on what AT&T would do if I went to a local store and told them "I bought it off a friend and was using it and there was an OTA update and it just stopped working!"?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just based on the" bought it from a friend" phrase, they'd say "sorry.... you wanna buy a new one?" lol
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda app-developers app
Welp... Mobiletechvideos repair is ordered... Will be shipping it out tomorrow... if I ship it out at like 10-11AM tomorrow morning what time do yall think I might get it back? I'm guessing next Monday?
I'm putting money on 4:17 pm Tuesday.
TUESDAY? How damn long does it take for them to open the package plug in a jtag and click a button? Shipping isn't that slow!
imranh101 said:
TUESDAY? How damn long does it take for them to open the package plug in a jtag and click a button? Shipping isn't that slow!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Patience. You are purchasing a service from someone who has other orders to fill. Plus no one knows anything about when mobiltechvideos will do the work other than mobiletechvideos.
Obviously a lot longer than it takes to load a rom on a card and brick it.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Tapatalk 2
I read where Samsung is going to start doing something to start making their phones harder to brick and more user friendly for us. They need to do like computer motherboard makers and add a 2nd bios or the likes. People like us do like to play with our phones. So, yes I will be happily making a warranty claim and waiting for my repaired or replaced phone.
I wish mobile motherboards to become like computer boards.
Never go for htc...crap hardware
Sorry. Patience is a bit thin when I've just bought a phone for 250 Then had to pay another 50 and wait a week to use it.
sholsten said:
I read where Samsung is going to start doing something to start making their phones harder to brick and more user friendly for us. They need to do like computer motherboard makers and add a 2nd bios or the likes. People like us do like to play with our phones. So, yes I will be happily making a warranty claim and waiting for my repaired or replaced phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you kidding me dude?
"it's their fault I'm stupid and can't read I have no problems committing fraud and having it fixed on their dime"
They are already pretty hard to brick ff just follow instructions and only flash things built for this device... When trying to make something idiot proof you'll always Just find a bigger idiot.

[Q] Note won't turn on after Kernel flash didn't work.

I just got a galaxy note for my galaxy nexus last night (traded) and I took it home and install goomanager and downloaded a rom that was "compatible" it saved to the directory that goomanager puts it in so I rebooted into CWMR and cleared cache / data etc then proceeded to install zip from SD Card. it started by saying flashing kernel 4% or whatever and then came back with an error. me being as bright as I am recently...I fixed permissions and rebooted thinking that it would at least let me back into recovery.
I now have a "Dead" note sitting on the floor infinitely "charging" so to speak its just plugged into the wall, Will not boot. Is there a way I can at least get it into Download mode? Hell stick a magnet on it to erase everything even?
I don't need another paper weight..I have an iPhone for that.
Can you boot into download? If so, use Odin to flash the correct kernel.
Can you boot into recovery? If so, flash the correct kernel.
If you can't do either one, your phone is bricked and you will need to send it for a repair. $50 and one week later you will have your phone back with stock 4.0.4 ICS rom. Its called a JTAG service, from www.mobiletechvideos.com. Many note user have gone there, from just this thing.
The jig that works with other phones 99% of the time won't work with the note.
Don't trust CWR. Get your roms from our developers.
Jig 99% Of the time won't work... you made that statistic up. If button combos aren't working it's definitely worth a shot, resistors are super cheap, especially compared to jtag which doesn't sound needed here yet.
And what do you mean. "Don't trust cwr get your roms from the devs here"?
That is a recovery... he didn't download anything with it, he used goomanager.
And even if he downloaded it from here...he would've flashed it in cwm... xda isn't a custom recovery...
So you tried holding the down volume button+ power to get it into download? Flashing a kernel will not remove your recovery/download mode unless you flashed a Rom not made for your device that installed something on said partition(s).
As for the jig...don't know statistics, but I am a one percenter. Worth a shot imo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6K-lvaAop2w&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Xparent Gray Tapatalk 2
Volume down and power, then when prompted volume up, for download mode.
And I'm also a "1% er" and my jig isn't homemade. Josh from mobile tech gave me one of his he sells on the site.
As nun said, the combos should work, they are in the bootloaders, flashing a kernel won't effect those unless says kernel is for a different device, then you wouldn't get a single thing outta the device at all, no charging screen, no bootloop. Nothing. Whatsoever.
studacris said:
Volume down and power, then when prompted volume up, for download mode.
And I'm also a "1% er" and my jig isn't homemade.
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Click to collapse
Right amigo 99% + 1% = 100%. You and Nunhugger are the only ones who said a jig worked for them. So actually its way higher than 99%. . . But you guys are ninjas. Your phone would probably reboot if you just told it to. I just wanted to kill the eventual jig question early.
And my response about CWR was because it sounded like he used the old app Rom Manager to see what was available. Clearly it was wrong so I told him not to trust it, and put in a plug for our developers.
When an update is released the forum gets slammed with complaints about bad flashes of incorrect kernels, and I have seen several members heal their phone by flashing the correct kernel. I just figured he was not accustomed to the button combos of the note and would get to that eventually. But if it was for the wrong device I wanted him to get his mind around the $50 and week wait.
Sheesh. . . decaf.
Well seeing that I can't Get into either mode and no button combos will work, I am assuming I need the JTAG. I figured an app like GooManager would have at least gave me the right roms for my device. it did say i717 but that could just be my memory playing tricks on me.
Man, I'm real sorry. But the JTAG service has been used by many, and with lots of positive comments. Good luck.
hahah thats okay, I mean its a great phone, definately not worth keeping in a draw collecting dust so I will go with the JTAG service. Thanks Guys!
You still have signs of life, it shows the charging animation, therefore your phone isn't bricked.
Do some searching on making a jig, I personally think it's well worth a try.
You could very well fix your phone for under $10 and have the satisfaction of accomplishing this yourself And have the know how to do it again...
It doesn't have the charging animation. just a dead black screen.
Then why did you say this?:
leveliv said:
I now have a "Dead" note sitting on the floor infinitely "charging" so to speak its just plugged into the wall, Will not boot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's more than a little misleading...
Will not boot...could mean many things.
From a easily fixed bootloop down to a brick.
Saying it was infinitely charging made it sound less severe.
if it weren't for that line, I wouldn't have bothered to tell you to use a jig.
JTAG it is
cris, why do you need to experiment with finding the proper resistance? Why should there be any variability in that circuit? Perhaps that is why some users have used up as many as six usb port replacement parts.
By the way, my 99% statistic is, like my entire post, just my opinion, and strictly a figure of speech. If it were a fact I was quoting I would have included a footnote. Remember those painful things? Do we have to include disclaimers for any figure we use? Sorry to mislead anyone!
I said "dead" because its not necessarily dead because a JTAG thing can fix it..and I said "charging" because to the normal person who didn't know anything was wrong with said device it would look like it was charging. But anyhow. I'm sending the phone out this week. I just don't understand why all the phones can't be as open as the devices straight from google.
You're phone is dead.
JTAG is akin to zombie, the phone needs disassembled and a special rig is needed to hook to the motherboard and flash EVERYTHING back to the nand at the prebootloader level.
The I717 is pretty much just as open as a nexus as far as easily modified and rooted...
No locked bootloader even which nexus have though it's a single line in a terminal to unlock, that step isn't needed on this device.
Only thing that isn't as open is the hardware drivers.
You may have flashed an incompatible kernel for a DIFFERENT device... and that on any phone will brick you.
And ranger not sure if it's the circuits within the phones that vary from device to device, ands seem to require a more specific voltage across those pins to trigger download mode
Or, if It's the resistors that are the variable. They are only rated within a certain +/- tolerance the cheaper ones having a larger margin of error.
And lol yes I am a ninja, but I didn't do anything special to my jig at all, I got mine from mobiletechvideos, funny enough it's worked on 4 captivates, a vibrant, 2 note 1s, and an s3, but didn't work on an s2 I was fixing.
the one I got from Goomanager was probably for the i700 which shouldn't even be able to happen.
They have video proof of them fixing phones with dead black screens from exactly what happened to mine using the JTAG Method. As far as I am concerned this thread can be closed cause I got the answer to my question.
the JTAG rewrites basically everything anyways so it is being sent out later this week. Till then I'll use a blackberry or something...Take care guys hopefully next time you see me post it will be to help someone and not asking for help
You'll be up and running by next weekend. By then, lots of exciting development will be happening on the released rom.
I doubt it, I live in Canada and have to send it to the states. It probably be closer to the weekend. Unless I expedite everything.

[Q] Amaze got wet. Need help.

My girlfriend liked my HTC Amaze and bugged me until I bought her one. It was a used Amaze I found on Craigslist. It has worked fine for almost a year. She's been having some really weird problems with it and I was planning to dig into fixing it for her. HOWEVER, night before last she dropped the dang phone in a cup of soda. She did get it out almost immediately and took it apart and dried everything off. I'm not too sure she let the phone dry very long, I wasn't there.
Now the phone boots just fine and all the apps appear to work. However, it gets NO BARS. It doesn't matter where we are. I can have 5 bars and 4G connection and her phone shows nadda. So we took the phone in to T-Mobile for some help. The guy was a lot of help and spend a lot of time working with the phone. He even switched sim cards. But eventually he discovered that the phone has been rooted. DANG!!!! So that got dropped quick. Now I have to figure this out for myself.
I really need some suggestions. Obviously the antenna has been affected, right? I have done my research and have learned that the phone actually connects to the back cover to obtain a connection. So I will be double checking that as soon as I get my hands on the phone again. What else should I do?
The android version is now v2.?. We've been trying to update it to v4 and it never would download. Now we know why. I want to restore the phone back to the stock configuration and upgrade the OS but there's no use in that unless I can take care of the connection problem.
Please, please, please someone help me. Otherwise I'll have to go out and buy a new Galaxy III for her. I can't afford that right now.
TallRiderKy said:
My girlfriend liked my HTC Amaze and bugged me until I bought her one. It was a used Amaze I found on Craigslist. It has worked fine for almost a year. She's been having some really weird problems with it and I was planning to dig into fixing it for her. HOWEVER, night before last she dropped the dang phone in a cup of soda. She did get it out almost immediately and took it apart and dried everything off. I'm not too sure she let the phone dry very long, I wasn't there.
Now the phone boots just fine and all the apps appear to work. However, it gets NO BARS. It doesn't matter where we are. I can have 5 bars and 4G connection and her phone shows nadda. So we took the phone in to T-Mobile for some help. The guy was a lot of help and spend a lot of time working with the phone. He even switched sim cards. But eventually he discovered that the phone has been rooted. DANG!!!! So that got dropped quick. Now I have to figure this out for myself.
I really need some suggestions. Obviously the antenna has been affected, right? I have done my research and have learned that the phone actually connects to the back cover to obtain a connection. So I will be double checking that as soon as I get my hands on the phone again. What else should I do?
The android version is now v2.?. We've been trying to update it to v4 and it never would download. Now we know why. I want to restore the phone back to the stock configuration and upgrade the OS but there's no use in that unless I can take care of the connection problem.
Please, please, please someone help me. Otherwise I'll have to go out and buy a new Galaxy III for her. I can't afford that right now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol your title sounds a lil hahaha anyway all the signal antenna's are in the back door so try a new backdoor?? mite work ther're plenty in ebay
You can try a new back cover, but tbh, my guess is that it's probably not the problem. When it got wet it probably shorted something out or something. You have to take the battery out immediately, every .01 seconds count. And i wouldnt put the battery back in for like 2 days. Whenever mine gets wet I take out the battery then I try and suck out all of the water or whatever liquid out of the device as I can. Then ill let it sit in the sun for a while. I always waut at least 24 hourse before putting it back I
aj_2423 said:
You can try a new back cover, but tbh, my guess is that it's probably not the problem. When it got wet it probably shorted something out or something. You have to take the battery out immediately, every .01 seconds count. And i wouldnt put the battery back in for like 2 days. Whenever mine gets wet I take out the battery then I try and suck out all of the water or whatever liquid out of the device as I can. Then ill let it sit in the sun for a while. I always wait at least 24 hourse before putting it back I
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, that's certainly what I would have done. Unfortunately I wasn't there when it happened. She claims she immediately got it out. But she was falling asleep when it fell in so I really don't know. She did immediately take it apart and dry it off. But I don't think she was so anxious about it she put it back together to see if it would work. That probably did more damage than getting it wet in the first place.
We both have the same phone. I took the back off my Amaze and still have a good signal. It may have dropped one bar but not completely. It may get a boost on the signal from the back cover but it still works without. So I agree it probably is not going to be fixed by simply replacing the back cover. I'm going to stick my back cover on it this evening just to see what happens, but I think I know.
I am going to research the possibility of replacing the antenna completely. It seems the next logical option. I may also go ahead and take it further apart just to give it the opportunity to dry out. We'll see.
Any further comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated.
ravike14 said:
lol your title sounds a lil hahaha anyway all the signal antenna's are in the back door so try a new backdoor?? mite work ther're plenty in ebay
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are absolutely right!! LOL.. If it weren't for the cost of replacing the danged thing I would still be laughing. Why is it she wants ME to replace it and hasn't even suggested that SHE should be the one to replace it THIS TIME?????? She is on one of those pay as you go accounts. We were ready to set her up with a 2-year deal just to find they don't exist at T-Mobile any more. You pay full price for any phone now regardless of what sort of account you set up. I don't see doing that for quite a while.
I may be searching eBay for a replacement phone. But I'd like to try a few options with this one first.
Clean the contacts
TallRiderKy said:
You are absolutely right!! LOL.. If it weren't for the cost of replacing the danged thing I would still be laughing. Why is it she wants ME to replace it and hasn't even suggested that SHE should be the one to replace it THIS TIME?????? She is on one of those pay as you go accounts. We were ready to set her up with a 2-year deal just to find they don't exist at T-Mobile any more. You pay full price for any phone now regardless of what sort of account you set up. I don't see doing that for quite a while.
I may be searching eBay for a replacement phone. But I'd like to try a few options with this one first.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if she dropped it in soda, get some rubbing alcohol and a q-tip. clean the contacts very thoroughly. the soda is sticky and can prevent proper contact,
also clean the SIM card contacts on both the card and the phone.
Working Now
I cleaned the back of the phone and the cover this morning with rubbing alcohol then stuck my SIM and SD cards in the phone this morning and turned it on. To my amazement it is now working. What a great sigh of relief!!!!! I have heard nothing but moaning and groaning over this cheap phone I bought my girl until I could resolve this.
So it's off to phase 2 of this adventure. According to the T-Mobile store this phone has been rooted. I've read about it but I know close to nothing about rooting phones. There seems to be as many DIY pages describing how to root or restore a cell phone I am a bit reluctant to get started.
What do I need to look for in restoring this phone? Do I have to find the restore file that matches the Android version on the phone or can I just get the absolute latest one? Which one of these abundance of instructional should I be looking for? What is this about S-On/S-Off? It seems to be important. How do I actually check to verify that this phone has been rooted? I'm just going by someone's comments here.
I'd like to get this completed today. I'm expecting SIGNIFICANT appreciation this evening if I can hand her a working smart phone!!!!
My most enthusiastic and humble appreciation to those who responded. :good:
Been doing some investigations. The phone has super user installed in the aps. It also has 4ext installed. I let the phone download the latest ICS but the install failed.
According to "most" off the forums I have read all I have to do is place the stock image on the root of the external SD card and reboot. Is there anything else I need to worry about?
TallRiderKy said:
Been doing some investigations. The phone has super user installed in the aps. It also has 4ext installed. I let the phone download the latest ICS but the install failed.
According to "most" off the forums I have read all I have to do is place the stock image on the root of the external SD card and reboot. Is there anything else I need to worry about?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your s off just run a ruu and latest firmware then 4ext and flash supersu then you'll have a stable phone
Sent from my HTC_Amaze_4G using xda premium

Advice for proving RAZR Maxx is broken?

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?
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
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!!!
Click to expand...
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

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