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Hi all,
After spending 2 days with my vario my dreams of a half-decent smartphone are shattered.
I've got a C500 which hasnt really caused me any problems in over a year, now 2 days after having a vario i'm almost pulling my hair out.. can this phone possibly have been released in such a bad state or is it just mine?
For starters it crashes, not now and then, but like it's a hobby of the vario's, i dont think i can leave it for an hour, come back and find it hasn't hung in some form.
Sometimes i have to do a soft reset, sometimes, i can press the power button, get the screen to light up but can't do anything. Sometimes I get icons but when I click them i'm told the shortcut doesnt exist.
Ooh another thing it seems to like doing is randomly going into flight mode, and one really good crash was when i called it and the source phone could hear the ringing but the vario was just sitting there doing nothing.
So is it just mine or is this the most unstable phone the UK has ever seen? Is it worth me asking for a replacement, or just flashing the k-jam/qtek rom over the t-mobile one? Is there a way to backup my t-mobile rom and flash it back should i find the qtek/kjam rom does the same?
I've tried hard-resetting then cancelling all the t-mobile gubbins that loads from extended rom, but that didnt make any diference.
Any advice gratefully appreciated
Thanks
Personally, I'd say get T-Mobile to replace it! Unless you've installed a buggy piece of 3rd party software (but if you did, you wouldn't on here complaining about the phone you'd be complaining about the software, right?).
I also have an MDA Vario. I haven't touched the Extended_ROM (was going to, had a look and decided it was running fine so don't mess with it).
It's solid as a rock. As per a thread on howardforums asking how many times per day have I soft-resetted the phone and my answer was an average of zero.
I hard reset it on the day I bought it (after installing GPRS Monitor which knackers the backlight turning back on after sleep) and took the battery out after T-Mobile decided to disconnect me from their network (at their support line's request).
Anyway, it's on 24/7, never needs a reset of any kind, gets mobile emails via ActiveSync and is generally a wonderful piece of kit!
List what apps you've installed (even if they're T-Mobile supplied ones from CD) since buying the phone as there may be something buggy there. If not, definitely get T-mobile to replace it as it's certainly not a crap model (mine is absolutely fantastic).
Thanks Andy,
I've literally not installed anything, i'm just about to install pocketcommander but that will be the first thing i've actually installed. I've hard reset the phone this morning and it's already hung once on me (
I'll give tmob a call and see if they can send me another out today or something
Yeah, then you've definitely got a knackered phone. They should replace it (how long have you had it) without problems.
Hope you enjoy the replacement, they really are a great bit of kit
Well just had my first ever dealings with tmobile supoprt and it's as bad as the phone
They say because my contract/phone is only 3 days old i need to go back to the people i bought the phone off to get a replacement, problem is they'l want me to send the whole boxed thing uip and all the box etc is at home since i work away during the week
That's got to be faulty, like others have said.
WHen I bought mine, (T-Mobile shop in Leeds), I was told that if it was faulty within the first 28 days, there'd be a straight replacement issued immediately.
Don't accept anything less.
For what it's worth, I always try to be exceptionally pleasant when returning things rather than going in "all guns blazing"; it gets results a lot more often than the "I know my rights" approach. Of course, when it all comes down to it, the "i know my rights" approach might be necessary, but hopefully it shouldn't be.
The phone is superb, so stick with it even tho it is a bit of hassle for you.
good luck!
hi there no problems with my vario either. seems to work fine. no soft/ hard resets needed so far. have had it for 10 days. only thing is after the xteended rom instals there is a file called canned text in words which opens up in a crazy language. does not go on hard resets. but does not cause a problem either. any ideas on what this file is. have othar vario users noticed this file. please help.
_Belial said:
Thanks Andy,
I've literally not installed anything, i'm just about to install pocketcommander but that will be the first thing i've actually installed. I've hard reset the phone this morning and it's already hung once on me (
I'll give tmob a call and see if they can send me another out today or something
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
may not be relevant to your problem, but if skype is installed on yours from the hard reset install, it may be worth removing, on the k-jam as soon as i removed skype, reseting stopped happening
OK, I know that may look like a dumb question (and maybe it is!!!)
I have just unlocked my Vario 2 using the "Pof" method with both Sim and SuperCID.
Problem is, my phone needs to be sent back (long story - but basically I am getting a replacement Vario 3). Now obviously I am concerned they will tell me "sorry youve been playing with your phone sonny - its no longer under warrenty", so need to get it back to factory settings if I can.
I appreciate a hard reset will basically wipe any files I have, contacts and settings etc, but will this remove the unlocks that have been done? ie It really does go back to factory settings - or do these unlocks stay on there?
I have been searching the forum and WIKI, but not found the solution. I did think I would need to install a T-Mobile Rom - but all I could find was a hungarian version - which whilst in English, would probably look worse than as I currently have it!
Any help appreciated.
Thanks
EDIT:
For the record, if it makes any difference:
ROM Version 1.21.110.3
Rom Date 06/19/06
Radio version 1.16.00.00
Herm300 IPL-1.01
SPL 1.40.0lipro
a hard reset simply formats the internal drive on the phone and resets it to the factory settings.
generally t mobile wont bother looking at things like that, i unlocked my vario, dropped it, it smashed, they just replaced it after trying to repair it.
A few people have flashed new roms and bricked it, sent it back, tmobile are none the wiser, they are probably unaware people to this to their handsets!
we are all just stupid customers as far as they are concerned!
personally i wouldnt worry about it!
andaroo said:
a hard reset simply formats the internal drive on the phone and resets it to the factory settings.
generally t mobile wont bother looking at things like that, i unlocked my vario, dropped it, it smashed, they just replaced it after trying to repair it.
A few people have flashed new roms and bricked it, sent it back, tmobile are none the wiser, they are probably unaware people to this to their handsets!
we are all just stupid customers as far as they are concerned!
personally i wouldnt worry about it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK thanks for that. So I assume a hard reset will not over write anything regarding the bootloader radio change and unlocks? I appreciated that it resets the OS - hence the question.
I agree that they probably wouldnt in most cases look into the phone and check, but they have put a note on my account about "charging if not found faulty".
The problem I have been getting is missing calls - even if I am in a strong signal area. I actually work at Waterloo Railway station - and I would doubt too many places would get a better signal! An incoming call is made, my phone doesnt ring and the caller gets a single ring, then nothing. From what I can now gather, this may be to do with the cell shaking hands but not really being connected. ie the phone/cell are duping each other. This appears to be a 3G issue (so is probably likely to still be there on exchange.) Now the silly thing I have noticed; the phone seemed fine until I got web'n'walk put back on and the problem happens once I have been online. Strangely at the moment, I dont think the problem is persisiting (ie Im not aware of missing calls - though of course thats difficult to quantify unless someone tells me!)
Anyway - I have a feeling they will be looking more into this phone as this replacement will be my 5th! (The previous had similar problems with calls being made or incoming that would just fall over before being answered and the signal being completely lost when it was happening. Slightly different this time - but sound related!)
So will there be a way to put it back to being locked and the correct bootloader etc being shown?
Many thanks
I had the same problem with rejected and dropped calls, tmobile couldnt care less from what i learned or are unaware of the problem! try this
1. lock the phone to gsm only (this solved it pretty much straight away)
2) remove the voicemail from your account
3) If you are using gprs data, you will rarely get a phone call through, and by using it i mean looking at web pages or having programs update in the background.
Downgrading the bootloader is way above my head so i wouldnt like to advise.
As regard to relocking the phone to the network, i dont think thats possible, in any event, why would they check the simlock if the phone is having problems with calls!
If its your fifth handset, you should be looking at changing the model at least because thats ridiculous.
It sounds like a network issue rather than a handset problem!
andaroo said:
I had the same problem with rejected and dropped calls, tmobile couldnt care less from what i learned or are unaware of the problem! try this
1. lock the phone to gsm only (this solved it pretty much straight away)
2) remove the voicemail from your account
3) If you are using gprs data, you will rarely get a phone call through, and by using it i mean looking at web pages or having programs update in the background.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeh, the problems on this phone didnt start until I began using the net again. They did suggest switching off 3G, but since I bought the phone specifically on the promise of a fast connection and HSPDA speeds, that really is an unacceptable solution! I appreciate that signal varies etc - but if a central location where I work isnt good enough, then T-Mobile really shouldnt be advertising themselves as a 3G network!
As it happens, voicemail was switched off on the account. It got put back on again a week ago - and sods law - things now seem to be working, though internet speeds are still very slow.
As regard to relocking the phone to the network, i dont think thats possible, in any event, why would they check the simlock if the phone is having problems with calls!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dunno really. Its just a concern they will and then use it to wriggle out of an exchange!
If its your fifth handset, you should be looking at changing the model at least because thats ridiculous.
It sounds like a network issue rather than a handset problem!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I phoned, I was just looking to get a repair, but it was them that offered a Vario 3 which I accepted. It was agreed for them to be sending the set to me (last Thursday) but all that arrived was a grey bag to send my old one back. I spoke with them at great length again last night and suggested a straight courier swap so I wasn't without a phone. They went through to their repair department, who have now flatly refused the phone change - despite it being agreed already!
Anyway I spoke to another manager who went through my "book" of notes and quoted the sale of goods act and merchandisable quality thing and he has agreed they really have to address this. He is phoning me back today and he did come across as helpful and reasonable. (The second one in 2 weeks - must be a record!!!)
I do agree though, that this issue is likely to be the network and not the phone. I would really love to use O2 as at work and home I get 100% coverage and never had any problems at all - but I ain't paying their data rates! Maybe 3 will be ok - but again, when I had them a few years back, at home they were dire so never bothered again. But one thing is pretty certain, in 5 months time, T-Mobile will be history unless they make amends in a big way and these problems become non existant.
Thanks for your help..... its appreciated.
Ok, so the vibrate feature no longer works on my device. Whether it be the vibrate profile (phone stays silent but no vibrate), Haptic feedback is no longer working in keyboard and neither is the haptic feedback in HTC Sense and inc bootup.
I sent detailed info on my fault, phone was sent last friday. Vodafone sent me a txt saying they had received my device on Monday morning and then sent me another txt at 19:50 saying that the device is on it's way back to me fixed and would be with me tomorrow by Royal Mail and make sure someone would be in.
I then took the day off unpaid and the device never arrived until this morning. I was so excited to get it back but already annoyed due to losing pay yesterday. Opened box and there was my baby. I popped in my battery and no vibrate during boot?? No haptic feedback in keyboard (checked settings)??? Then tried vibrate profile and rang my phone, surprise "No Worky" phone silent and no vibrate. ??? Checked accompanying documents. One is a check list from engineer. As Follows:
"Reported fault Resolved Tick (No it's not)
Data Content Cleared Tick
Latest Version Software Same as sent
Established Live Call Tick
Incoming Audio (speaker) Test Tick
Display Test Tick
Keypad Test Tick
Imei: *********************
Date Test Completed 25/01/10"
Then letter says:
"hank you for sending your phone to us for repair, we are pleased to say that the fault has been fixed.
What we've done
One of our engineers has throughly tested your phone. The fault on your device has been corrected by upgrading the software to the latest manufacturer approved version. If you mentioned any other faults when you booked the repair, these will have also been fixed.
As part of the repair process, we have given your phone a full internal service including upgrading the software inside the phone, as this is how many faults are fixed. The software is responsible for many aspects of how the phone actually works and though you may not expect it, upgrading the software can increase battery life and memory capacity, and provide you with a more up to date phone.
If you need us again
You can pop into the shop or call customer services, blah blah blah."
Well what BULL. The software is the same as previous (before sending) Phone has not been fixed. I lost a days pays (although my choice I surpose for doing as they asked) And I'm now worse off.
I popped into vodafone store and they said they could do nothing as they dont sell that phone instore and were not even aware of the model. See said call 191 from phone. And all they would do is send it off again. I'm reluctant to do this as I'd be without a phone for further number of days. working virtually non-stop over next couple of weeks so being in to recieve the phone may be a prob. I just feel like taking they phone and both signed documents to a solicitor.. They clearly state it's been repaired but it's not. Exactly the same as was sent. Well as soon as contract is up with vodafone I'm going back with O2. First time with Vodafone and also my last!!
Sorry for the rant. Any Idea's? What would you do? Should I send it off for repair again or demand a replacement or just shut up and take it like a *****???? Thanks for listening... Anyone a Solicitor?? lol
Just for reference, the shops, the internet shop, and the phone shop are 3 different branches of the same company. They do not share deals, devices, staff, or even knowledge. This is quite common, and normal for most (if not all) of the major providers.
Anyway, I'd ring back and just explain to them what you've explained to us. Try and stay calm with them but be very persistent. Don't end the call till they've acknowledged what the fault is by telling you what they've recorded on your notes, and they've agreed to once again collect the phone.
If you do need a phone while it's away (do you? You already received text messages from them last time it was away), they may be able to arrange one of the shops to do you a loaner for a while, but it will be a piece of crap that will make you blush when you have to pull it out in public.
My best advice would be to not get angry on the phone with them. It's done, and the person at the other end of the phone isn't responsible for the problem. Too many people start these conversations aggresively, and that won't get you any further. If I was CS staff and someone rang up and started ranting at me immediately, I'd be disinclined to be as helpful as I could.
I know it's crap, but it is what it is, and the phone simply needs fixing or replacing.
Good luck, and let us know how you get on.
Thanks for your quick reply. The only reason I popped in store was because the letter said I could and I was going into town anyway so took my chance. I was very pleasant on the phone (couldn't have been anything else as I have a really sore throat and a blocked nose, lol) In fact i'd say that the Welsh guy from customer services is about the only thing Vodafone currently have going for them. He was great and very polite. Just waiting on his supervisor calling me for a chat but said it could take up to 48hrs.
Will keep you informed, Just cant believe they say that the problem is fixed. Well gonna keep smiling and looks like i'll have to use my mates pink flip up phone again for a while. uughhh, I'm not gonna hear the end of that I can tell you.
Hi everyone,
So about five days ago I was in the middle of using my Galaxy S4 (I think I was playing a game or something) and all of the sudden my cellular signal dropped out completely—from 4 bars to zero with a little X in it. There it's remained ever since.
My first thought was that I ought to reboot the thing and see if that would solve anything. The answer was no.
My second thought was that maybe my contract was up (as that was due to happen this month), and rather than auto-renewing, they kicked me off. Weird, but possible. But that's not it: I phoned up my provider and they said that all systems are go, there are no outages, your account is active for a week still, and even past that contract expiry I'll just get bumped to month-to-month and never experience a blip in service. So that's not it.
So then I put my SIM in another unlocked phone, and lo-and-behold, it connects just fine. So clearly the problem is with my phone.
My i337M is running Liquid Smooth 2.9 and KToonSez' kernel. I decided to make a nandroid and flash back to stock ROM/kernel. Still I could not connect to the network.
I can only think of two potential problems. First, I unlocked the phone myself via FastGSM.com's tethered USB method. It was a Bell-locked phone, and I'm on Rogers. This was accomplished back in July, and since then, there haven't been any issues to speak of (i.e., the unlock worked flawlessly). I tried to see if those unlocks ever expire, and couldn't find any reason why they ought to. I personally don't think it's that, but I mention it out of interest in being thorough.
Second, I messed around with my phones NVData a few weeks back to enable the AWS network via this method. I didn't experience any signal problems after doing so. Again I mention this out of interests of being thorough. Could that have had something to do with it? I suppose I could try flashing back my original NVData, but honestly I don't see why that would suddenly kick in now since I did it weeks ago originally.
Any thoughts? This is really bizarre, and it sucks being without connection.
I was also thinking of flashing back to stock and going to a Bell shop to see what happens when I put a tester SIM in.
It sounds to me like it's hardware related. Don't see anything you've done that would have caused it. I'd flash back to stock and if it still persists I'd file a warranty claim.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda app-developers app
Hi, thanks for your reply.
An additional thought's occurred to me: I lost signal at or about the same day I setup Android Device Manager to allow for remote lock/wipe directly from Google. That couldn't possibly be responsible for signal loss, could it...?
Currently flashing back to stock, and I'll unroot/restore kernel/restore NVData and make it look factory, and see what the store says about it. Hopefully I don't have to pay for another unlock at some point.
Okay, this is very messed up. Nobody has any idea why my phone isn't getting signal. I can scan for networks and everything shows up, but in any case with any SIM it says "unable to connect to network". It doesn't matter what ROM I'm on. I flashed back to stock and updated to latest using KIES of all things, which found a firmware/modem/baseband update, and still no dice. I don't know what to do with this thing except take it to an unlocking store that might be able to figure something out for me, but it'll cost me. This is messed, I've never had to get someone else to look at my tech for me.
Okay, so the situation is that it most probably is a hardware failure related to the radio.
I am a Rogers customer who bought the phone from a guy from CraigsList who apparently got it from Bell. I went into Bell and explained the situation, and they scanned the IMEI and printed me out a proof of purchase of the guy's name and told me I should take that to the Bell service centre, and it doesn't matter if I'm not the guy. I also had them check to see if he reported the phone stolen; it turns out he did not—though it should be known that if he had done so, then that could have very well been the reason I wasn't getting signal from anyone, as all providers across Canada apparently share their blacklists with one another now (including the little guys like Wind/Mobilicity).
So now I am in the process of making it look like it's never ever been hacked before: I shall restore my NVData, unroot, and update everything using KIES, and then perform a factory data reset. I'm also on the hunt to figure out what the heck the "flash counter" is and whether or not I need to reset that, but perhaps since mine is the i337M Canadian variant, I don't need to worry about that. (Any advice on restoring my phone to factory condition would be welcome, thanks.)
Edit: Figured out TriangleAway and everything associated. I'm all stock now and ready to bring it back to the factory.
MAJOR UPDATE: PROBLEM IDENTIFIED
So I got my phone back from the factory today. They reported that everything is 100% a-ok on the hardware/software side of things. The radio IC is NOT blown as was suspected.
You know what they said? The problem is on the network. I have a story to tell that I think people should hear, as I've learned something very valuable today and people need to learn this lest they get conned themselves.
Today I phoned in Rogers again, armed with new information, to ask what's up. They ran the IMEI number, and this time... it's come up on the blacklist.
It wasn't there last week. In fact, it wasn't even there an hour ago. It actually only appeared there as the clock ticked past midnight Eastern time... as that is EXACTLY 90 days from when the phone was reported missing. It took them a long time to track down this information.
To reiterate, I did not steal the phone. I bought it from a guy on Craigslist who had it brand new in box with the screen-protector sticker still on the front of it. I checked it out, tried it, and unlocked it myself and have been using it since July without issue, until a week ago.
There is the trouble of, why now? Why only now does the IMEI come up blocked? What the senior rep at Rogers thinks happened was that the guy had it delivered to his house, didn't sign for it, kept it in box, reported it as "undelivered", and flipped it to me for cash. Insurance has meanwhile hooked him up with a new phone, and the factory kept my phone in the "we're looking for it" pile for the requisite 90 days, after which they officially publish its IMEI as "blacklisted". That would explain why it worked for a while but doesn't now; and this 90-day TO THE DAY period is the same for Rogers as it is for AT&T apparently (which is where the rep used to work for 10+ years).
I am in possession of stolen property. I've little hope of recuperating my losses. I've been advised to file a police report, and I think I will actually, given that I've got a receipt with the "anonymous" guy from Craigslist's name on it which I had printed out from Bell after they scanned the IMEI number for my factory warranty receipt. This phone will officially never work in Canada, as there is no way for it to be removed from the blacklist. I've been very unfortunate in this case, and it's a real shame.
People should take note: If buying a phone, ALWAYS do it in-store and have the IMEI number run first to check and see if it's on the blacklist. Next, have the phone transferred into your name so that the IMEI and you are officially linked, and the guy can't report his gear stolen or lost. That should suffice in most cases... except in the case of insurance fraud, which is my case, where there is a 90-day delay period in the IMEI number being added to the blacklist (which is why it didn't come up on the blacklist last week when I had the Bell rep run it in-store for me). Another point of interest is that in my case, I found it was possible to lose service BEFORE the number is on the blacklist—assuming the Bell guy didn't run the number wrong last week.
So f**k me. All I can do is try to hack the number, I guess, or find a way to spoof the IMEI.
Edit: Unf***ing believeable—I somehow reenabled data and texting by messing around with QPST. Calls still not happening, though.
Hello,
I think my topic title is pretty self-explanatory. However, here it goes....
I somehow put my phone on top of my visor in my car. This is a place I have never placed my phone before. I am not sure how I ended doing that. I parked my car and went to work. When I got to work, I couldn't find my phone. I retraced my step back to my car, and I couldn't find the phone. I called it from my work phone, and of course I couldn't find it since I was at my desk. I attempted to use Android Device Manager to locate the phone, and the phone showed as "unavailable." I am not sure why, and since I had lost my phone at work about four months ago, I came to the conclusion that I must have left/dropped it somewhere between leaving my CAR and getting to my desk and someone found it. This person did not intend to return it, so he/she turned the phone off.
I filed a lost/stolen claim with Asurion, and the claim was approved. Asurion already shipped the phone. When I got off work and got to my CAR, I then noticed that my phone was on top of the visor. There is nothing wrong with the phone, and it is basically only less than four months old. I want to keep my phone. I have spent the past hour researching what happens when you find your lost phone that you already filed a claim for, and I did not really find my specific scenario. One thing is clear: the "lost" phone legally belongs to the insurance company and must be returned if/when found.
However, here's my concern: although I am getting an upgraded model (I have the Note 4, and I am getting the note 5), I don't really want the new phone since I have found my phone. However, I do not want Asurion to impose keeping my $200 bucks and having me return a perfectly good phone with no issues. I want to "reject" their new phone, since I have not received it, get a refund, and continue using my phone. However, based on what I have read so far, once a phone is reported as stolen, the ESM is deactivated and blacklisted (sometime, that is not really the case from what I have read), I may not be "able" or "allowed" to keep my phone and must keep the new one I have not received or used (by the way, it should already be activated when I do receive it). I really want to keep my phone.
I understand that Asurion would be the one who can address my concern, but I am wondering if anyone has been in my shoes. I am not talking about finding your phone after you've received the new one AND used it. I am talking about even before you receive the new phone... and when you do receive the new one, you do not use it.
Thoughts?
It appears that I was concerned for no reason. I called the ins co, and I was told all I needed to do is refuse the package when it gets to me, and I should be fine. I tried making calls, and I wasn't able to. So, I called Sprint and I was able to take care of that without speaking to anybody.
The insurance company did tell me that they won't clear my ESN until they receive the refused phone. Hopefully, I won't get into a battle with them about the bill, which I was told would be getting rid of after they receive the package.