Lumia 521 and 8.1...very buggy. TWO major issues, one minor. Please help.

[jz1276]

So I installed 8.1 Preview for Developers a few months ago and have had issues ever since. I should first point out that since then the phone has updated automatically a couple of times... to 8.1 Preview for Developers! I dont understand why it would update two or three times to 8.1 preview for developers if it was already installed. Anyway, I am constantly losing service. The 4G icon disappears and I cannot receive, send texts or even make or receive calls. The only fix is shutting off Wi-Fi .
Now my second issue is not being able to power the phone off unless taking the battery out. Holding down the middle button and 'sliding down to power off' does nothing but reboot the phone. This did work properly before updating to 8.1.
My third issue, while not a major one, is definitely an annoyance which I'm sure has been discussed. There is absolutely NO WAY to update the music libaray. I'm always updating the tags to my music and copying it over to the SD card on my phone but the phone never updates these files. I have tried connecting the phone to my PC and showing the hidden files on the phone, going into the music folder and deleting the artists/album files but they are protected and as far as I know there is no way to delete them.
I just deleted the Preview for Developers app and the OS is showing Windows Phone 8.1 Update now instead of the Preview for Developers version. I'm also about to do a hard reset (if I can figure out how to save my contacts first) to see if anything improves. I did enjoy using this phone at first & would really like to get it working properly and keep using it instead of switching to an Android or something so any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[brusbrother]

If you really want to go back to 8.0 then you can use the Nokia Software Recovery Tool. Instructions and links are here
You can backup your settings if you have OneDrive but I haven't found a way to backup Contacts so you'll have to copy them down and reenter them manually.
The process takes about 90 minutes so be patient and DO NOT INTERRUPT THE PROCESS.
Make sure the batteryn is fully charged before you start.
I just did this last night for my daughter's DP 8.1 Lumia 521 that had some issues and wanted to eliminate 8.1 as possible cause.
Good luck.

 

[brusbrother]

Are you by any chance trying to power down the unit with the charging cable hooked up? I had what I thought was your "problem" until someone else here pointed this out to me. Disconnected power/charging cable and I was able to power down completely without it automatically restarting.

 

[jz1276]

No, cable is disconnected. Just did a hard reset and now it powers off properly. Does anyone else have the same problem I have where there is no service when wifi is turned on?

 

[Qiyamata]

Running 8.1 black update 1 now for some time with zero problems.

 

[jz1276]

I've come across others complaining they have no service while Wi-Fi is turned on with no solution with a quick Google search. I also did a quick search on these forums and didnt find much. I'm connected with MetroPCS. Does no one else have this issue? Right after I turn WiFi on, the 4G icon disappears and I cannot make or receive calls or texts until it is turned off.

 

[Qiyamata]

jz when I turn on my wifi my 4g icon disappears too but I can still make and receive calls and text, I'm on MetroPCS also.

 

[jz1276]

Well, yeah, that's how it's supposed to work but like I said when my WiFi is turned on no calls/texts.

 

[Ryzzlle]

I'm also thinking about going back to WP8, but then I realized I can't add apps to the SD card, and if you can, fill me in
Anyways, 8.1 is ridiculously buggy for me, the buttons don't even work sometimes, pressing and holding back especially, since it just registers a tap then doesn't open the tabs and stuff. Plus, the resuming app thing, good lord does that bother me all the time, even when I go back to start screen I have to sit through a "resuming..."
Then again, it IS a preview, so expecting it to be perfect is a stretch.

 

[JamesPTao]

Do a soft reset first (hold down power button and down volume button for about 15 seconds and it will reset). If that doesn't work then try a hard reset. I would try both of these as for many users it fixes any bugs. As for Xbox music updating I found a trick that works for me. Create a playlist with songs from the SD card on it. If Xbox music sees the playlist then olay it on shuffle and skip through several songs and it should trigger Xbox music to search for new music. If Xbox music doesn't see the playlist then use an app such as musictastic (its one of the only ones I've found that always sees the playlist and new music) olay the playlist from that app and then whole its still playing go into Xbox music and the Xbox music app will show ut playing and skip through a couple songs and it should update. This fixed the issue for me. Hope it helps.

 

[JamesPTao]

Also if you're using windows 7 on your laptop then use windows media player, not the file search to pit music on your phone. It recognizes wp's and works better then simply drag and dropping music.

 

[Ryzzlle]

Even using WMP, the music tends to well...mess up. I noticed if just uses whatever the name of the actual file is, which I have yet to test if it changes if I change the mp3 name. Either way, half my songs are either *song name*.mp3 or *band*&QUOT*song name*&QUOT. I remember I think you could change it in WP8 using the MPAtool, but it doesn't work for 8.1 so...shucks. I actually want to try Zune with it to see if it works better.

 

[jz1276]

I've found a fix (sort of) to get cellular service with WiFi turned on. I had BOTH WiFi calling and WiFi turned on. If I shut off just WiFi calling, I get service.

 

[jz1276]

Do a soft reset first (hold down power button and down volume button for about 15 seconds and it will reset). If that doesn't work then try a hard reset. I would try both of these as for many users it fixes any bugs. As for Xbox music updating I found a trick that works for me. Create a playlist with songs from the SD card on it. If Xbox music sees the playlist then olay it on shuffle and skip through several songs and it should trigger Xbox music to search for new music. If Xbox music doesn't see the playlist then use an app such as musictastic (its one of the only ones I've found that always sees the playlist and new music) olay the playlist from that app and then whole its still playing go into Xbox music and the Xbox music app will show ut playing and skip through a couple songs and it should update. This fixed the issue for me. Hope it helps.

Thanks, but I did a hard reset and started from scratch with my music library so now everything is back to the way it should be.
I also found a fix (kind of) to get cellular service with WiFi turned on. It wasnt WiFi that was turning off the cell service, it was WiFi calling. I **** off WiFi calling ad now get cell service while WiFi is on.

 

[JamesPTao]

Good. Hopefully you don't have any other issues. Once you get cyan (unless you already did) I would use the dp app. My updates have worked flawlessly. I do recommend not downloading the live lock screen app, its very buggy and causes several issues.

 

[Varun Bhargav]

If you really want to go back to 8.0 then you can use the Nokia Software Recovery Tool. Instructions and links are here
You can backup your settings if you have OneDrive but I haven't found a way to backup Contacts so you'll have to copy them down and reenter them manually.
The process takes about 90 minutes so be patient and DO NOT INTERRUPT THE PROCESS.
Make sure the batteryn is fully charged before you start.
I just did this last night for my daughter's DP 8.1 Lumia 521 that had some issues and wanted to eliminate 8.1 as possible cause.
Good luck.

 

[jz1276]

Is Cyan the latest? I have Black and I thought that was the latest. Actually, I thought 8.1 was the latest whats the difference between the Windows version and Nokia versions?

 

[JamesPTao]

Is Cyan the latest? I have Black and I thought that was the latest. Actually, I thought 8.1 was the latest whats the difference between the Windows version and Nokia versions?

8.1 is the newest os (operating system) for windows phone. Cyan os the newest firmware (think drivers) for WP. Cyan was associated with Nokia because drivers are specific to the hardware.

 

[jz1276]

8.1 is the newest os (operating system) for windows phone. Cyan os the newest firmware (think drivers) for WP. Cyan was associated with Nokia because drivers are specific to the hardware.

OK gotcha. Well, like I said I still have Black. I'm connected through MetroPCS I guess they didnt roll out the firmware yet? Is there a way to force the update?

 

[JamesPTao]

OK gotcha. Well, like I said I still have Black. I'm connected through MetroPCS I guess they didnt roll out the firmware yet? Is there a way to force the update?

Ms through dev preview program is vegining to roll out cyan through the app. It is gradual but another avenue to get it.