Database Users

Internal storage is broken?

I'm very disappointed After two+ month of Focus usage, it was broke yesterday... Handset was not damaged or broken or overheat or frozen, nothing at all! Works perfect as well before (yesterday I've used this handset for development). It's just happened, at night time (and phone was not connected!)
The symptoms are: first I've found there is no picture on "Pictures", and Outlook calendar doesn't display any events. Second, the downloaded apps icons are disappear.
I suspected my SD card (8 Gb class 4 from Kingston) but seems like card is innocent. I've tried to make a hard reset of damn thing, tested all 3 possible methods but NOTHING helps! It's ridiculous, I never suspect it's possible in the modern world (it is XXI century, guys!)
After reset from "Settings->About" the handset imitate a "reset" but "About" shows total storage 15 Mb (!), 10 Mb available.
Why it just imitate reset? I can tell... After this pseudo-reset, I've removed SD card, and did hard reset using 3 buttons method (seems like damn M$ like 3 buttons stuff). Phone asked me twice (another M$ bull****) "Am I sure to format damn thing", I've said "Yes" (pressed "win" button twice), and after few seconds (it's not enough to format 8 Gb internal flash and restore firmware) it says "Done!" and reboot.
After reboot the "formatted" and "factory restored" phone displays all "formatted" contacts, applications, mail records etc...
"Settings"->"About" now displays total storage: 7.38 Gb, available 5.39
Also tried hard reset from "Diagnosis", same sh... thing.
Any suggestions?
UPDATE: Just called ATT for replacement. Will hope the new handset will pick-up my old SD card... Or I need to reformat it (using Nokia S60) first? Anyone have experience?

You had a typical sympton of SD card acting up. Nothing new there. I personally will not use ANY SD card at present. None of them are safe.
But I failed to see what's problem after you formated your phone. You will never see full 8GB of the storage. It is about 6.xxGB or so free after a fresh format without downloading any contacts or mails. Your numbers seems alright.

foxbat121 said:
You had a typical sympton of SD card acting up. Nothing new there. I personally will not use ANY SD card at present. None of them are safe.
But I failed to see what's problem after you formated your phone. You will never see full 8GB of the storage. It is about 6.xxGB or so free after a fresh format without downloading any contacts or mails. Your numbers seems alright.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Samsung 16 GB hasn't had any issues reported, though.

FishFaceMcGee said:
The Samsung 16 GB hasn't had any issues reported, though.
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That could be also because not many ppl had the Samsung 16GB. They are not readily available to purchase.
A lot of ppl only encounter problems after couple months of flawless usage. And one day, it failed for no reason.
I think there is something wrong either in the hardware of Focus or Windows Phone 7 itself because Focus is the only phone had so much problem with microSD cards. I didn't read ppl who had their HD7 internal SD card replaced had any problem like Focus.
We also didn't see a single card being officially listed as compatible or certified for WP7. Something isn't right and Microsoft is not telling us why.
I'd strongly recommend against using any microSD card in Focus. Not until either MS or Samsung published their findings or recommendations.

foxbat121 said:
But I failed to see what's problem after you formated your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The real problem is: the handset internal storage was not formatted at all! I've tried to do hard reset with or without SD card - same shi.. result Most annoying thing is these stupid utilities reported "Done!", "OK" as fools but nothing is done (it means the software quality - programs didn't check the results!)
From my experience (as a developer) looks like the internal storage (nand?) is damaged and unstable. A few minutes after cold boot it working; I can run some apps etc. But after few minutes it become unstable. Apps show an exceptions on isolated storage file etc.
I'm very disappointed; didn't expect that "surprise" from Samsung and MS...
P.S. My "old" developers Samsung Taylor (what I received and worked since August 2010) still alive and works fine

I saw reports, as well as personally experience, that it takes a few tries to format the phone correctly. Samsung quality is nothing to write home about (I have so many Samsung hardware that half of them does not work right out of box). But I suspect this is also a Microsoft issue.
I doubt your internal storage is damaged. Keep doing the 3-button reformatting until it is probably done. You will know it is formatted when it reboots and asks for your Live ID.

foxbat121 said:
Keep doing the 3-button reformatting until it is probably done.
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Click to collapse
Hmm... Very strange advice. Tell me please what are you doing (for example) if your car engine doesn't start? Keep trying to turn engine on after slamming car doors and kicking the wheels? Or you just call mechanic?
Who tell you "I finally reset WP7 after 142 tries"? Any prooflink? Or you just guessing?

sensboston said:
Hmm... Very strange advice. Tell me please what are you doing (for example) if your car engine doesn't start? Keep trying to turn engine on after slamming car doors and kicking the wheels? Or you just call mechanic?
Who tell you "I finally reset WP7 after 142 tries"? Any prooflink? Or you just guessing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I personally have to format two or three times when my SD card crapped out. Just a suggestion. It is common on all Focus when SD card craps out.
You will have to switch to a different brand to avoid this issue then. Besides, warranty replacement gives you refurb phones only. Do you really want to return yours (which has a normal case of can't format the phone like every other Focus does) in exchange for a used one returned for other reasons by someone else.
But again, that's your choice.
As for your car analogy, save it for yourself. If Samsung is a car company, I won't ever buy a car from them. Simple as that.

Of course I've tried many times but have no luck at all. Seems like internal storage is damaged or it's a huge software bug (MS or Samsung).
Who's telling you about "refurb phones only"? I've spoken with AT&T rep and he told me it will be a brand new phone, not a refurb.
About Samsung quality: are you one from Samsung haters? I do have a Samsung Galaxy Tab, a few Android handsets (at office, development phones), Samsung TV, landline phone from Samsung - quality is PERFECT, never had any issue...
P.S. Or you just trolling me?

The only times you will get brand new ones are:
1. You're within 30 days of purchase and you exchange at the place of your purchase
2. AT&T warranty runs out of refurbed phones.
It is a standard practice for all AT&T warranty replacements to be refurb phones. I personally done twice in the past 10 years of with AT&T.
About Samsung quality: are you one from Samsung haters? I do have a Samsung Galaxy Tab, a few Android handsets (at office, development phones),
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Call me what ever you want, I've owned 7 different Samsung Smartphones (from Windows Mobile phones to WP7 and Android), one Samsung BD player and one Samsung DVD player. My success rate to get a perfect Samsung product out of box so far is 50%.

foxbat121 said:
My success rate to get a perfect Samsung product out of box so far is 50%.
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Then why did you buy a Samsung Focus?

sensboston said:
Then why did you buy a Samsung Focus?
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Click to collapse
Because I can't help it Same can be said with the Samsung Captivate I bought. I knew what I'm going to get into. But I still did it and now stuck with a phone that GPS never really works (but fortunate enough to not have the second critical issue, random shutdown). Basically, all Captivate produced from July to Nov 2010 are suspect to this randon shutdown hardware defects.

My DVP still crashes even after a OS update!

My 16GB DVP still crashes and forces me to do a COMPLETE reset as if I just turned on the phone for the first time ever from factory. I lose everything! EVRYTHING I say. I am mad!
Is it the 16GB card of the phone itself?

lemonspeakers said:
My 16GB DVP still crashes and forces me to do a COMPLETE reset as if I just turned on the phone for the first time ever from factory. I lose everything! EVRYTHING I say. I am mad!
Is it the 16GB card of the phone itself?
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Click to collapse
It's most likely the card. I'd give a warranty replacement a shot.
Also the NoDo update does not include the Dell firmware update which still has an unknown ETA.

I have to think the problems all the DVPs are having that lock up are SD card related.
Never had a problem with my phone, then it starts locking up. I pull the SD Card and it boots up. Swap a different card into it and it boots up. Put the old card back in and it locks up.
I think Dell needs to talk to the Card manufacturer and find out what the problem is.

os update =/= firmware update
the issue is firmware related not microsoft wp7 related...so the update wouldn't fix any f/w issues

I also really doubt the Firmware update will help a lot. Since most the lockups are on 16GB phones, but a number of 8GB phones are having problems too..
Find it hard to believe that a firmware upgrade will solve a problem with corrupt cards.. unless there is a way they are going to be able to workaround dead spots or errors in the cards themselves.

cdgoin said:
I also really doubt the Firmware update will help a lot. Since most the lockups are on 16GB phones, but a number of 8GB phones are having problems too..
Find it hard to believe that a firmware upgrade will solve a problem with corrupt cards.. unless there is a way they are going to be able to workaround dead spots or errors in the cards themselves.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. I have the firmware update and the issue is not resolved. Its possible its a bad batch of cards...who knows. Like someone said earlier in the thread, change cards...I've tried 4g, 8g, other 16g cards and a 32g card. Only problem EVER was in the card that came with the Dell.
I did a test....changed the 16g card and put in a 32g...no problems. Handed the 16g card to someone else, who updated his card. Problems. Handed him a different 16g card, one from the HTC HD2. No problems.
I'm not good at match, what does that add up to?

alodar1 said:
I agree. I have the firmware update and the issue is not resolved. Its possible its a bad batch of cards...who knows. Like someone said earlier in the thread, change cards...I've tried 4g, 8g, other 16g cards and a 32g card. Only problem EVER was in the card that came with the Dell.
I did a test....changed the 16g card and put in a 32g...no problems. Handed the 16g card to someone else, who updated his card. Problems. Handed him a different 16g card, one from the HTC HD2. No problems.
I'm not good at match, what does that add up to?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We know Dell is working on a firmware update that is likely newer than what you have. Since we don't really know why the card causes lockups, it's hard to say whether or not it can be fixed via software.

pjfan75 said:
We know Dell is working on a firmware update that is likely newer than what you have. Since we don't really know why the card causes lockups, it's hard to say whether or not it can be fixed via software.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lets hope so....but also, lets not put a great amount of faith in a firmware fix. The NODO release in INdia included a firmware update. I suspect the firmware update we all receive will be very similar to that release...if not the same one.
I'm hoping the reason the firmware was NOT included was because they came upon something at the last minute and not something like logistics.
Even still, with the new SD card....I am very happy after NODO.
What I really want is Save Settings in Camera....could care less about C&P

4th Faulty Streak (Restart Loop)

Hi all,
I am on my 4th faulty Streak in quick succession and need some advice.
I keep buying refurbished Streak from ebay that have the same problem.
The 1st time I boot them up they get to the unlock screen then I get the three capacitive button flashing and they go into restart loops. The symptoms are as follows:
1)Restart loop
2)Remove/replace battery and turn on
3)Stuck on Dell logo with screen at full brightness.
4)Even if remove/replace battery and turn on stuck on 3)
5)Need to leave battery out for 30 mins to stop 4) although pretty much straight away goes back into 1) within 5 mins.
The phone is a factory unlocked refurb running Android 2.2 although any further info I cannot give you as the thing turns off before I can access any menus This happens with or without the sim/SD card in or removed. The phone has not been modded in anyway and I have not installed any apps or messed around with any setting.
I have done hours of research on this and other Streak websites and the best I can find is removing the internal memory card for a new one (although I don't have the tools for this).
If anybody has any advice I would be very happy as this flawed, massive phone is giving me sleepless nights.
I do have a 90 warranty with the phone, so I only lose the postage fee (although after 4 returns this would stand at £28!) if I decide to cut my losses. Even so, I really want this phone to work and its almost becoming an obsession to have one working at least for a little while!
One last thing, I have been on the Orange San Francisco/ZTE Blade band wagon since the thing was released. This ostensibly crappy £100 Chinese Non-brand phone has had countless versions of Android thrown at it, been dropped, brought back from the dead and is still performing perfectly a year later. Its a unacceptable that Dell couldn't make a phone even half as reliable as the Blade for four times the cost.

Sounds to me like a software issue, not hardware.
You sure you are not loading anything on your streak?
Maybe you can do a factory reset and then allow it to boot up. Here is how. Power up the streak then when you see the logo hold down both volume button. Next select to do a factory reset.
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA App

Hi alperin1. Cheers for the reply.
I have tried a both volume buttons and power button factory restart and it has no effect.
As mentioned, I've not done anything with the phone apart from putting the battery in, putting the sim card in, inserting the sd and then turning on.
On one of the many pervious faulty Streaks I have been sent I did the OTA 2.2.2 update. This made no difference (in fact, on one of the streaks I tried this and in restarted before the update was complete leaving the phone with a blank screen).
I have also tried cooling the phone in the fridge to make sure its not an over heating issue. This also makes no difference and the phone restarts.

Wonder if you can check whether it's the internal sd card causing the problem before attempting to disassemble? Maybe move /data mountpoint somewhere else or making the init "blind" about the data partition? Just an idea. Sounds like quite some work though.

Hello,
i had your exact problem, stuck on Dell logo ..... UK ebay seller and refurbished Dell Streak .... i discovered that my Streak does not had the internal SD cards !!!!! Was removed by someone during the refurbished process !
So i inserted a new 8Gb microSD card in the internal slot and all was OK.
To replace the internal memory you ave 2 options :
A) disassemble the Dell Streak ( you can find some guide in the forums )
B) cut , using a cutter , a small plastic tab inside the battery compartment to gain access to the internal slot ( search Youtube for "Dell Streak Upgrade internal sd card slot to 4GB class 10" )
I followed the option B) and in 5 minutes i had a working Streak !
Ciao.

Hi Miciobigio,
No internal SD Card!? Is it even possible for the Phone to work without the card?
I though the OS resided on this and so it would be impossible to boot?
I have ordered the tools to open the Streak and change the SD Card (I don't want to cut holes in the thing incase the SD Card isn't the problem and it needs to go back (again).
Just out of interest, what was the name of the seller you purchased the Streak off?
Regards

Hello ,
the ebay seller was "electronic_world" from UK.
My Streak arrived with OS 1.6 and booted fine but i could not download anything from the market so i decided to upgrade to 2.2 and the Streak ( after the ugrading process via the SD card not via OTA ) was blocked on the Dell Logo screen , when i discovered that it had no internal memory i was VERY surprised !!
The first Streak they send me do not rechearged the battery.
The second had no camera button ! Just a hole in the chassis.
The third unit had no internal memory !!!!!
I was lucky to fix the third streak they sent me thanks to that youTube video , there is no risk and it will be invisible ; opening the Streak is more risky and is possible to leave marks on the chassis .
Good luck.

Bloody hell!
I bought my first 3 from Electronics World.
The first one worked perfectly well, except it would charge either.
2nd and third had the flashing lights reboot problem
I was always able to download from the market though so maybe the SD Card was present but faulty (I read a few threads from other sources detailing dead internal sd's)
I got tired of Electronic_World sending me faulty Streaks. When I emailed them to tell them about the third faulty Streak they pretty much blamed me for breaking them. They claimed that they got hardly any Streak returns, although your anecdotal evidence and their ebay feedback would suggest otherwise...
Tried Bentham for this Streak. I though "a different seller won't send me another knacked Streak!!". Looks like they did...
I really appreciate your info by the way. One way or another I want to get this bloody slab to work!

bloody hell, i got my dell from the same ebay seller, and it was doing the SAME thing ! !
pissed me off, the communication with them is absolutely awful ! I hate them with all my heart and I wish they run out of bisuness and go bankruptcy!
I hate people doing this! Thats why good sellers are having problems!
anyways, got the 2nd dell, replaced.. this one looks fine |-(
I was close to return it and buy HTC again..

[Q] Dell Venue Pro Stuck at Dell Logo

Well the worst has happened...
I have been running a DVP since March w/o any major hassles. Updated to NoDo fine, updated to Mango Beta (legit) fine, updated to Mango fine...
Then last night I wanted to setup my old phone to tether so I took my SIM out and when I put it back in the DVP it wouldn't boot - it was stuck at the logo screen.
I took the battery out and tried a couple of times but it never got past the Dell logo screen.
So having my restore points backed up from previous upgrades I decided to revert back to my previous restore point. I turned it on holding down the volume/camera button and Zune saw it no problem. I began the restore and it got to 49% then gave me an error saying it could no longer communicate with my device! So I started the process all over again and then it gave me a error stating that there is no restore point available!
Luckily I had a backup of my restore point, so I tried again but now Zune is stuck at 0% trying to restore!
Anyway I contacted Dell last night via their website but haven't heard back yet. The problem is that I purchased the device in the USA but I live in Australia so no local customer support! If I don't hear back from Dell soon does anyone have any direct Dell customer service email addresses I could try?
Thanks!

I have same issue! And I can't solve it anymore...
Have you tried to restore your phone with an oldest version of Zune before the mango update for exemple?

No I haven't... I no longer have the phone in my possession.
I contacted Dell and managed to get them to take a look at it (I'm in Australia so not officially supported under warranty). They think that it may be hardware fault with communication port. Anyway it is going to take a few months before I get a replacement model...

OK!
Can you tell me how you contacted them?
I tried many times but I have some trouble, DVP is not supported in France and the US support told me to call Germany support....

Any updates?
I know this is a really late reply, but I have the same problem with my DVP and even used this thread to "unbrick" it for no fault of mine. Had the problem reoccur 2 days later. Same old, same old, for no reason, out of the blue. Did the same things again to restore and took a backup of the entire phone this time using the "WP7 Easy Backup Tool" after installing all the apps. And last night my DVP died again (again 2 days after the last restore). So I'm doing the restore for the third time now and have no idea what the local (India) Dell Service guys will say about it, coz the phone was bought in the US (but it's been less than 5 months, still under warranty there for such things I guess.
Can you please tell me what happened with your respective countries and if you managed to get your phone replaced at all?
Thanks a million!

alienne said:
I know this is a really late reply, but I have the same problem with my DVP and even used this thread to "unbrick" it for no fault of mine. Had the problem reoccur 2 days later. Same old, same old, for no reason, out of the blue. Did the same things again to restore and took a backup of the entire phone this time using the "WP7 Easy Backup Tool" after installing all the apps. And last night my DVP died again (again 2 days after the last restore). So I'm doing the restore for the third time now and have no idea what the local (India) Dell Service guys will say about it, coz the phone was bought in the US (but it's been less than 5 months, still under warranty there for such things I guess.
Can you please tell me what happened with your respective countries and if you managed to get your phone replaced at all?
Thanks a million!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You know that probably could be the SD card being bad. I have a HTC HD7 that is doing that when it boots up and through some testing on the HD 7 I found out the sd card is bad. Try putting a new sd card and then reflash the unit. Good luck.

It's funny that all other WP7 handsets that I know of have a key combo for hard reset. With the DVP you actually have to replace the card and reflash it. Thank god someone took the time to post the DVP unbricking thread, because otherwise anyone with a dead SD card would be outta luck.
I'm not entirely sure what this guy is experiencing is a dead SD card, though. Every time I've booted a Windows Phone with a SD card not installed or not seeded correctly, it always booted to a "cannot read storage card" screen.

I just experienced that with a hd7. As any storage device ex hard drives, sd cards, ssd ... they all have potential to go bad in many ways. Bad sectors is one or just doesn't physically turn on anymore , which is what you were describing. Hey technosquid thanks again for the dvp rom you helped me in the other thread.

Technosquid said:
It's funny that all other WP7 handsets that I know of have a key combo for hard reset. With the DVP you actually have to replace the card and reflash it. Thank god someone took the time to post the DVP unbricking thread, because otherwise anyone with a dead SD card would be outta luck.
I'm not entirely sure what this guy is experiencing is a dead SD card, though. Every time I've booted a Windows Phone with a SD card not installed or not seeded correctly, it always booted to a "cannot read storage card" screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just don't get how dell could miss that. It's a vital way to "rescue" your phone if you somehow mess it up. Dell should just stick to computer hardware.

Dell Streak is going to the silicon heaven or not?

Hello everybody!
I have a serious problems with my Streak. Few days ago, i installed an update from DSC v1.1 to the DSC v1.7. Two or three days everything was fine but then started a hell.
First problem, which appeared, was that it reboots itself. Anytime, for no reasons. Doesnt matter if I was working on the Streak or device was on the table. Then next day came the second problem, which is much more worse. When I was calling somebody from my Streak, the person on the other end was not able to hear, because everything was "lagy". Phone call was discontinuous.
I tried to reinstall that ROM (DSC v1.7), to perform a factory reset or go back to the previous version of DSC ROM.
Then new problems appeared - nothing is running now on the Streak, and most applications or processes is ended on the startup. And phone calls are still discontinous.
There is only one hope, is it possible to get back all the stuff from factory? I mean completely - ROM, kernel etc.
Thanks for every idea and help.
(I am sorry for my english).

Read this topic, you will know what to do after that.
From HERE:
_2bad4u_ said:
100% the problem comes from internel sd card, i used to have this problems, after testing dif. rom and settings, i got the impresion it was from the internel sd card and change it, and no more reboot problems, it's a good thing because i could sell it, and i sold it last week.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Thanks for helping. This can solve problems with rebooting, but do you thing thats the reason for problems with GSM - Cell phone network?

Try it, and then you tell us if it's that the problem or not. Because i suspect the sd card, but maybe there is a problem with the streak.

is flashing another ROM doesn't solved the problem?
Sent from my Dell Streak using Tapatalk 2

Flashing another ROM doesn't solving this problem on my device. I will try to replace the internal SD card tonight and I will post news about it.

Rebootinf - fixed, phone calls problem not.
Hello everybody.
Yesterday, I tried to change the internal SD card in my Streak to solve problems with booting and with the discontinuous phone calls. And here is the result:
Problem with rebooting was solved, but not with the phone calls. I found only one solution to fix the problem with phone calls. I took screen from this Streak and I put it into another one with broken screen (which I had, because it was cheaper to buy a used Streak than new screen). So I made from two devices, with a different problem, one device which is working fine.
I think that there was some problem with Main Board.