Last week my phone told me there was a system update which I accepted. Since the boot up time has more than doubled and I am getting occasional hangs, particularly on completion of phone calls. Anyone else experienced this, before I go off researching?
It also introduced a few different features including a ring which I have to flick away to reach the usual swipe security (or drag and drop the required function into the ring) and the scrolling has been changed to a more slidey appearance. Not sure I should have rushed into that update!!
FWIW it's on
Android 2.3.5
HTC Sense 3.0
Software number 2.13.351.6
Kernel 2.6.35.10 (Oct 7 2011)
I don't know which module was updated...
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OK, I have a Desire S and it seems there are others with not dissimilar problems. Not lot I can do by the looks of it. :-(
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The stuff you quote is all the firmware/software, not the phone.
I suspect the update may have been "HTC Sense 3.0" as it seems to have been rolling out for a few months - quite slowly depending on network operator.
I have had no dealings with HTC sense as my phone is made by ZTE (but Android 2.3.5 "Gingerbread" is OK), however a quick google turns up people who are unimpressed with the "update", but not quite for the reasons you give.
If I was you I'd be talking to your network operator: they provided the "update" and it has broken the phone.
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Despite having done some fairly radical stuff to my phone (which doesn't matter to me, and is just being done for amusement) I have only a few weeks experience with android... So take that as a warning about comments below.
If the update is irritating beyond belief you can "hard reset" your phone which will turn it back to "fresh out of the box" state.
It's not something to be done lightly, and assuming yours is HTC (and they market dozens of different phones, so you need specific guidance) their website will tell you how, and give appropriate warnings too.
For example:
www.htc.com/europe/help/htc-desire/
at the bottom of the "how to" column
"Restarting or factory resetting your phone"
Hope this helps.
Last edited by: AnotherJohnH on Thu 23 Feb 12 at 10:07
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Thanks, I'd considered a hard reset but I am going to live with the problems for now. Slow rebooting is minimal impact (50 seconds extra, I'll just start it earlier). Most other things are OK, and the hangs after calls hasn't happened since the weekend. A hard reset would mean re-installing all the apps, which would be a pain as I have some that I don't know where the data is and I don't want to lose it.
Not sure a hard reset would downgrade the offending software either, often it wouldn't downgrade firmware in computers.
It's an HTC Desire S
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>> A hard reset would mean re-installing all the apps, which would be a pain as I have some
>> that I don't know where the data is and I don't want to lose it.
Wouldn't all the apps installed via the Android Market automatically re-install? Although you don't have to use apps from the market.
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I have been through several android phones and each time I have had to reinstall the Apps from scratch.
I do currently have some on my micro SD card but for some reason, many do not allow you to install on the card, insisting they are on the phone.
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>> but for some reason, many
>> do not allow you to install on the card, insisting they are on the phone.
Worried they might give the appearance of being slow due to the lower data transfer rate between phone and card? Just guessing.
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It's my understanding that a "stock" android has a back-up copy of the system in the ROM, and that's what is copied over for regular use with a hard reset: as first time out of the box.
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I would not be surprised if upgrading the firmware also upgrades the 'backup copy' that is used for a factory reset.
My Android phone came with Eclair (Android 2.1) but it might have been Froyo (2.2). It is now on Gingerbread (2.3). If you were to buy the same phone now I am guessing it comes from the factory with Gingerbread and with a factory reset would go back to that.
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>> I would not be surprised if upgrading the firmware also upgrades the 'backup copy'
>> that is used for a factory reset.
Further googling suggests that you're right. Which isn't what the words on the HTC site say.
That's not a clever way of doing things, is it?
Factory reset to recently broken update - brilliant.
I think if I ever again need a phone to use as a reliable phone - not a toy to play with - I'll probably get my old Nokia 1100 charged up again...
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Smokie, I think as this was an OTA update a hard reset will just put it back to this level. I have a rooted Desire and I find it sometimes gets a bit laggy after I install new Apps which i think is something to do with them being (or not) transferred to the SD card.
Have you installed a new app ? Sometimes these can cause this, for example I had a problem with the Autotrader app and so uninstalled it.
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Ah well, good enough reason to stick with the old Iphone.
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No new apps that I can think of, I'll have a browse.
I am a multi millionaire in an online poker game (pretend chips only unfortunately) though and I don't want to lose that - it's taken hours of effort!! Also some other apps where there is some "history" I'd sooner not lose. OK, none of it is life threatening, but loss would be somewhat inconvenient.
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Android does show its open source roots sometimes. Botched updates and weird, random bugs never seem to quite be a distant enough problem.
My Samsung Galaxy S works beautifully 99.9% of the time. But every now and again, as in about once a fortnight, it will get stuck in camera mode and need the battery removing to get out of it (power and home buttons stop responding). Also one time in twenty or so coming out of sleep mode, it needs you to press the wireless settings widget on the home screen to prompt it to reconnect to the wireless LAN. You don't actually have to set anything. Just click the wireless button and it will suddenly obtain an IP address and connect without any further action. The other nineteen times, it connects instantly when it wakes. Like I said, weird bugs.
Missus has an iPhone. Much prefer the Samsung hardware-wise, but iOS is much more polished and stable. But then it really should be given that it was developed for specific hardware.
Last edited by: DP on Fri 24 Feb 12 at 00:26
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>>My Android phone came with Eclair (Android 2.1) but it might have been Froyo (2.2). It is now on Gingerbread (2.3). If you were to buy the same phone now I am guessing it comes from the factory with Gingerbread <<
Any chance of adding a link somewhere to a translation site?
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All releases of the Android system have had code-names based on desserts and have been in alphabetical order. So we have had:
- Android 1.6 - Donut
- Android 2.1 - Eclair
- Android 2.2 - Froyo (Frozen Yoghurt)
- Android 2.3 - Gingerbread
- Android 3.x - Honeycomb
- Android 4.x - Ice Cream Sandwich
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I missed out Android 1.5 - Cupcake. I am guessing before this Android inc had not been purchased by Google.
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And here we have contained in the small thread all the reasons you need to avoid open source software in consumer devices.
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I agree zero. As a techie I like Android a lot. But I don't think it is suitable for the non-techies all the time. And if you don't take advantage if what it has on offer you could have done without a smartphone.
I saw a pensioner in the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester last night with an Android phone. I bet she uses it for phone calls and texts.
I should add I also think iOS is very good - as most do. Devices can be a bit pricey and the phones only work in the way Apple dictates. Mostly they have got it right. But I prefer a larger screen and the extra buttons. I can see with ICS 4.0 that phones will move to having on screen buttons instead but the screen is bigger than the iPhone.
I'm waiting to see if the iPhone 5 really does have a bigger screen.
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...and Android 5.x - Jellybean - rumoured for a Q2 launch
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Well I dropped the phone on Saturday and it's going back to HTC for repair. The power button is stuck in, which isn't very helpful as I can;t bring it off sleep. So I may ask them to return it to gingernuts or whatever...so long as my millionaire status is safe in Poker :-)
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Won't the online status of the game be stored on the website - you did mention online poker game. If the status of chips was stored locally then it's open to cheating.
I'd assume it's coming back with the latest software and back to factory reset conditions - possibly not the same phone returned at all.
As for Gingergerbread, Android 2.3.5 is still Gingerbread albeit a later release. There may have been an update to HTC's Sense UI too in the release you had updated to.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Tue 28 Feb 12 at 08:19
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I think it was the Sense upgrade which caused the problems (but not the "button stuck in" problem, that was gravity...)
I did manage to back everything up to the SD card, and sync to my computer. They say they wipe data from phones as a matter of course.
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Impressive service from Virgin:
Sat - called in fault
Monday - email from then to say they have sent a returns envelope (next day signed for, no cost to me)
Tuesday - envelope arrived, I took to the the PO to send
Wed - early (07:00) email from them saying they'd received my phone and passed it to a technician
Thursday lunchtime - email saying phone not repairable, a refurb one will be in my post tomorrow.
That couldn;t have happened much quicker!
So, tomorrow I will know whether I am still a poker millionaire or need to start at the bottom again.
I am hoping the phone will not have the latest Sense on which caused the problems above.
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More good reason to keep the old K800i active for as long as possible.
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So I got the phone back, refurb one but looks like new. All back at factory settings so everything needs to be set up again (incl email). I have all my contacts as they were stored on the SIM.
Obviously it won't see my old apps, which I'd installed on the SD card.
Anyone know how I get the apps back on my phone, with the old data? Had a quick browse but nothing leapt out at me. It must be a common problem, when people get a new phone.
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>> I have all my contacts as they were stored on the SIM.
I prefer to sync with something - then if you lose the phone or it is stolen you do not lose all your contacts.
>> Obviously it won't see my old apps, which I'd installed on the SD card.
I did wonder if you install on the SD card whether they would still be recognised and run. On Symbian this would be the case. Any apps on a memory card would automatically re-install.
Otherwise you need to reinstall all of them and restore data from a backup. Any data held in the 'cloud' won't need restoring. I'd be tempted to try restoring a backup of the phone if you had one.
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When you log in to the Android Market with your user account it remembers which apps you downloaded. Any paid apps will be free to download. Press the menu button from the Market home screen and select My Apps. Everything you have previously installed will be listed and can be reinstalled.
Not sure on the data side though.
Last edited by: DP on Sat 3 Mar 12 at 10:07
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Recent Android update - smokie