Technical issues since installing GDR2

[Matthew Becker1]

Hi everyone. I'm curious if anybody else is having the same bizarre problems with their phone since installing GDR2. When booting the phone, I generally see the Windows Phone screen, then a Samsung Mobile screen, and finally the logo Samsung flashes across the screen before I get my lock screen. However, lately, the phone loads the first two screens, crashes, then starts all over again. It usually goes through this process at least three times before the phone finally boots properly.

I've tried a battery pull out of desperation, but that didn't seem to do any good. Has anybody else had this issue?

Here is some information I pulled from my "about" menu:

Model: SAMSUNG SGH-T899M
Carrier: Bell Mobility Inc

OS version: 8.0.10327.77
Firmware revision number: 2212.13.6.1
Hardware revision number: 15.3.1.0
Radio software version: 2212.13.6.1
Radio hardware version: 0.0.0.0
Bootloader version: 13.04.19.21
Chip SOC version: 1.5.32

EDIT: It looks as though there is a workaround for this type of problem. While trying to access the data from the Micro SD card, or SIM, the phone crashes during boot, and tries again. I'll post which steps appeared to have worked for me and others.

1. If you have a Micro SD card, remove it, then power your phone on and see if it continues to crash during boot, or;
2. If crashing continues, or if you don't have a Micro SD card, remove SIM, then power phone on.
3. If the phone successfully boots without crashing, try it once more before putting the SIM and/or Micro SD back in.
4. Power on device with SIM and Micro SD, if you have one. Device should once again boot normally.

Please note that this is just a workaround. I was fine for about a week until the crashes started again, so I'm currently using my phone without a Micro SD card. If you are still having problems, contact Samsung Support to raise awareness of this issue. If you need to do a reset to factory default settings, here are the steps I received from Samsung Support:

1. Turn the phone off.
2. Power-on the device, and then …
3. Press the Volume-Down key just after powering it on, then you’ll see the “!” exclamation on the screen. (This might need to be retried very often as the sequence is at times difficult to get correctly.)
4. Press the Volume up > Volume down > Power > Volume down key sequentially (one at a time.) This should be done within 30 seconds.
5. The device will then show the two gear wheels in the center screen confirming the reset is in process.

 

[VegaNovus]

Not had this issue myself.

Maybe you can get a video of this?

Curious to see it.

 

[Matthew Becker1]

Heh, if I feel inclined, I may try to take a video. The phone eventually gets over it, but it's still baffling how it could crash multiple times just while booting. I sent an e-mail to Samsung support and I'll be interested in seeing what their response is.

 

[anon(5914335)]

Have you reset the phone to see if it solves the issue?

 

[Matthew Becker1]

I had done a reset to enable Data Sense, so I don't know if another reset will fix the problem, unless there was a way to rollback the OS version.

I may be on to something, though it could just be circumstantial. I had removed my Micro SD card then tried to boot. Did it twice successfully without any crashing. Then I re-inserted the card, and it seemed to be fine. Perhaps in the future, I will remove any memory cards before resetting the phone.

 

[BaritoneGuy]

I have the same phone on Bell as well. I rebooted today to try and install the Bing apps from the SD card and it reset like you describe but only once.

Can you confirm data sense after the factory reset?

 

[neo158]

I have the same phone on Bell as well. I rebooted today to try and install the Bing apps from the SD card and it reset like you describe but only once.

Can you confirm data sense after the factory reset?

Go to your apps list and you should see Data Sense listed.

 

[Matthew Becker1]

I have the same phone on Bell as well. I rebooted today to try and install the Bing apps from the SD card and it reset like you describe but only once.

Can you confirm data sense after the factory reset?

I can confirm it, yes.

 

[travisel]

I'm on TELUS Mobility updated to GDR2 for Samsung ATIV S....didn't see Data Sense App! So I did a Hard Reset!! And I have to say 100% went perfectly! WP8 Backs everything up perfect with no loss! Very happy to see the real GDR2 update with Data Sense working!

 

[travisel]

The hole hard rest GDR2 update + all my data reinstalled took 90mins!

 

[RJ Priest]

I have rebooted my phone once since GDR2, there were no problems. I do not use an SD card.

I will probably reset my phone on Friday. I'm hesitant to do the reset (hate to lose some app data), but I really want datasense. I think that it's worth the reset.

 

[Matthew Becker1]

If you back up your apps and settings, the reset process is less tedious. Keep in mind that it uses data to retrieve your settings, but you can intervene and switch it off and enable Wi-Fi as your apps are reinstalling.

 

[RJ Priest]

If you back up your apps and settings, the reset process is less tedious. Keep in mind that it uses data to retrieve your settings, but you can intervene and switch it off and enable Wi-Fi as your apps are reinstalling.

Thanks. I was wondering about that - if I'd get the chance to connect wifi before the phone restores all of the backup data. Good to know.

 

[Madders76]

Hi,
I updated my phone a couple of days ago (unlocked on GiffGaff in the UK.) Didn't do a factory reset and this morning the wifi/3G weren't working (even though it was showing signal for both). So I did a factory reset (my phone was last backed up on Tuesday) which seems to have cured the issue.

However, can someone tell me how I select a backup to download/restore if I can't sign into my account before connecting to my wifi? It doesn't give me a prompt to download a backup when I skip the initial sign in screen, set up the wifi, then go to accounts to sign in with my microsoft account?

When I attempt to sign in at the initial welcome screen, it doesn't detect a signal so can't sign in.

Any help would be appreciated as I'm getting pretty hacked off with it!

Thanks

 

[neo158]

Hi,
I updated my phone a couple of days ago (unlocked on GiffGaff in the UK.) Didn't do a factory reset and this morning the wifi/3G weren't working (even though it was showing signal for both). So I did a factory reset (my phone was last backed up on Tuesday) which seems to have cured the issue.

However, can someone tell me how I select a backup to download/restore if I can't sign into my account before connecting to my wifi? It doesn't give me a prompt to download a backup when I skip the initial sign in screen, set up the wifi, then go to accounts to sign in with my microsoft account?

When I attempt to sign in at the initial welcome screen, it doesn't detect a signal so can't sign in.

Any help would be appreciated as I'm getting pretty hacked off with it!

Thanks

Same here on O2 Pay & Go, it always selects the wrong APN and I can't sign into my Wireless network which makes the backups worthless as I have to restore all my apps by hand each time :/

 

[Matthew Becker1]

Same here on O2 Pay & Go, it always selects the wrong APN and I can't sign into my Wireless network which makes the backups worthless as I have to restore all my apps by hand each time :/

In "Purchase History," you should be able to push any apps you've previously installed directly to your phone. Still a bit of work, but it's easier than going into each app individually and re-installing them.

EDIT: I should have mentioned: to do this, you'll have to navigate to the Windows Phone website and log in.

 

[BaritoneGuy]

If you back up your apps and settings, the reset process is less tedious. Keep in mind that it uses data to retrieve your settings, but you can intervene and switch it off and enable Wi-Fi as your apps are reinstalling.

Is there any way to see how current the cloud backup is? I have all the settings turned on but I am unsure how to check the status.

Thanks

 

[neo158]

In "Purchase History," you should be able to push any apps you've previously installed directly to your phone. Still a bit of work, but it's easier than going into each app individually and re-installing them.

EDIT: I should have mentioned: to do this, you'll have to log on to the Windows Phone website and log in.

That's what I did, but for over 130 apps it gets really tedious!!!

 

[RJ Priest]

DATASENSE!!!!!! WHOOOOOOO!!!

Just reset my phone. DataSense is now present. Previous apps are currently downloading and restoring. :smile:

I choose the "reset your phone" option under "Settings→About". Surprisingly, it only took approximately 5 minutes until the set up screen arrived. I thought that I'd be watching the spinning gears for quite a while.

There is no difference between resetting this way, or by holding down the physical keys on the phone, correct?

 

[RJ Priest]

I've encountered one technical issue. Since the reset, there are 8 unidentified downloads listed in the store with the "attention required" label. I cannot successfully retry or close them. It has persisted even after a reboot. I checked my purchase history on windowsphone.com, all of my apps are accounted for and back on my phone, so I don't know what these 8 failed downloads are.

Edit: Problem solved, pressed and held on the downloads screen and chose "cancel download".