920 bricked after reset, a 920 or WP8 problem?

Hoku001

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Add me to the list of users who have a bricked 920 after doing a factory reset (spinning gears). I've read and reviewed most of the threads here about using the different key combinations, removing the sim, letting the battery drain, even went into the local Microsoft store, etc... Didn't go so far as to root the phone as elaborated in the sticky thread on the subject - that's just too much for me. Instead I now have AT&T is sending me another phone under warranty.

Does anyone have any idea if this is a problem mostly with the 920? Obviously, it's worked for some 920 owners, but not others...but I'm looking for trends. I've owned an original Samsung Focus and a Lumia 900 (WP7), and have reset both numerous times. I'm wondering if this mostly a 920 issue. My son has a 520, and I'm afraid of bricking his phone if I had to do a reset. Haven't heard of too many 1020s being bricked, but then again the phone is still really new on the market. And for me, at some point my 920 will be out of warranty, at which point resetting the phone will be akin to throwing it out of a moving car.
 

Jazmac

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Nokia doesn't seem to have the best quality or sufficient quality control when it comes to its hardware. Quite often the device has to be returned after things like hard reset. The price for NEW tech I suppose.
 

Hoku001

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Nokia doesn't seem to have the best quality or sufficient quality control when it comes to its hardware. Quite often the device has to be returned after things like hard reset. The price for NEW tech I suppose.

Still waiting on my "new" 920 from AT&T. I'll probably set it up and immediately try a full factory reset before I fully move back into my phone to see if it will work, or brick again. If it works now, then I can hope that it may reset in the future when I really need it. Still, who know what GDR2, or GDR3 might do to it.
 

RickFelt

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I'm having the same issue. I did a hard reset and the gears are churning for hours. Please, any thoughts would be much appreciated
 

Hoku001

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i had same issue today
used lock + volume down together when gears were showing up all was normal in 5min

Glad to hear you were able to get yours going without a hitch. I wish I could have said the same. Wondering, @Jignesh & @RickFelt, are you guys also both using a 920? @RickFelt, were you able to get yours going again?

Still waiting on my replacement from At&T. It sucks without a phone going on 4 days now!!!! Thinking about picking up a 520 for a spare just in case my main phone dies again.
 

pankaj981

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Yes there are quite a people complaining about the gears issue. You could flash your phone as a last resort if it doesn't work.
 

Hoku001

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I'm happy to report that I got my "new" 920 today. I restored it and was back up in good order...then before I did anything else, I performed a full factory reset and it worked! I saw the spinning gears for about 5 minutes and then it rebooted again, and I am back in business. So it appears that THIS 920 can be restored without bricking it. I can only hope that the upcoming updates don't turn this into a brick again.

I shouldn't have to have a spare phone, should I?
 

Turtle 1972

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Does anyone know if the Amber update will fix the issue whereby doing a factory reset bricks the phone? I did this last week and had to take my phone to an AT&T Device Service center where they promptly replaced it. "We get 2-3 of these a week" the guy said, adding "I don't know why Nokia doesn't fix this." Maybe the Amber update does?
 

Sean Miller4

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there isnt a problem its just people that dont know how to do a factory reset, sometimes it takes several attempts or leave it sit overnight with gears turning, people shut them off early and brick them themselves.
 

Sean Miller4

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i'm dead serious people shoudlnt be factory resetting just cause they feel like it, if you dont the first thing about what is involved in an OS reset on a phone you shouldnt be doing it, i've never bricked any nokia and i've had well over 20 of them and reset all of them at one point or another, and i hear all this complaining about the 920 i've reset mine several times, one time it took several tries and leaving it run overnight, everybody thinks you should be able to just hit a button and 5 min later have it wiped. And dont act like at&t have any idea what they are doing those guys get paid hardly anythign with no training on factory resets. They are clueless. bring me your phone i'll reset it first try no problems.
 

kbilly70

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i'm dead serious people shoudlnt be factory resetting just cause they feel like it, if you dont the first thing about what is involved in an OS reset on a phone you shouldnt be doing it, i've never bricked any nokia and i've had well over 20 of them and reset all of them at one point or another, and i hear all this complaining about the 920 i've reset mine several times, one time it took several tries and leaving it run overnight, everybody thinks you should be able to just hit a button and 5 min later have it wiped. And dont act like at&t have any idea what they are doing those guys get paid hardly anythign with no training on factory resets. They are clueless. bring me your phone i'll reset it first try no problems.

Glad you've never run into this issue but that's pretty arrogant to state it's user error. What is there to know about a factory reset and why should people not be able to do it every day if they wish to do so? You think that the average user shouldn't reset their device? That's ludicrous.

You shouldn't have to wait 24 hours for the phone to reset. It should only take 5 minutes. You also shouldn't have to try multiple times. There is clearly an issue that has nothing to do with the user.
 

Sean Miller4

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Well obviously your answers to all of that show you know nothing, first of all the issue with the reset is 100% microsoft not nokia, anybody else who said they didnt have problems on previous phone were talking about wp7 not wp8, which btw are 2 different kernels, nokia havent changed anything in their hardware they are one of the best hardware makers in the world and test everything twice as much as the next hardware maker, that being said is there anywherein your manual or anybody from nokia or msft that EVER said that it should take 5 minutes? Thats ridiculous to say. Second it very much depends on what apps you have currently installed on your phone how much data you have and 100 other factors as to how long it would take, it has to make room on your phone to be able to run the complete reset if you have it packed full of gigs and gigs of apps yes it could take all night dont be ridiculous. Third this is OS is really REALLY new so you can not judge it by android or iphone and say it should take this long. AS a matter of fact my wife has ios7 updated on her 4s and her ipad, do you care to take a guess how long it took to install that, a new update like this is exactly the same as doing a factory reset but with newer software it took like 10 hrs to update it. Factory resets are meant as last resorts when your phone stops working, they are not meant to do just because you FEEL your phone is running right when your probably not qualified to even make that assumption. I've been working on electronics for over 20 years, and sorry this had nothing to do with hardware in the slightest its all software and resets will vary from 5 minutes to 24 hrs. If you turn your phone off during the gears because its "taking too long" your the reason it bricked not because the phone is defective. That being even if it did brick you could flash with nokia care suite and that takes like 30 minutes top is so easy a 2 year old could do it. If a phone is able to be flashed with nokia care suite and it works it COMPLETELY rules out nokia hardware as an issue. So stop blaming nokia for software they cant control, i'm sure it will be better on future versions of wp8, but nokia is getting all the blame cause they sell 90% of windows phone you dont hear problems from other poeple cause nobody buys other brands. There is no guide to resetting your phone or any guidelines to how long it takes. So stop acting like if it doesnt take 5 minutes its broke. Not how it works 90% of phones returned are user error.
 

kbilly70

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Gee, where to start.

Well obviously your answers to all of that show you know nothing, first of all the issue with the reset is 100% microsoft not nokia

I never said it was Nokia. I was just stating that is wasn't due to the user. You have proof that it is 100% Microsoft and that it isn't hardware related at all? Please share if you do.

anybody else who said they didnt have problems on previous phone were talking about wp7 not wp8, which btw are 2 different kernels, nokia havent changed anything in their hardware they are one of the best hardware makers in the world and test everything twice as much as the next hardware maker,

Not sure what this has to do with anything.

that being said is there anywherein your manual or anybody from nokia or msft that EVER said that it should take 5 minutes? Thats ridiculous to say. Second it very much depends on what apps you have currently installed on your phone how much data you have and 100 other factors as to how long it would take, it has to make room on your phone to be able to run the complete reset if you have it packed full of gigs and gigs of apps yes it could take all night dont be ridiculous. Third this is OS is really REALLY new so you can not judge it by android or iphone and say it should take this long.

I never said that it stated anything anywhere. I WAS saying that it SHOULD only take 5 minutes. Why is that ridiculous? I have had devices with all 3 OSs and some took longer than others but none ever took 24 hours and to expect the average consumer to accept this is silly. And yes I should compare it Android and iOS as they are basically the standard at this time.

AS a matter of fact my wife has ios7 updated on her 4s and her ipad, do you care to take a guess how long it took to install that, a new update like this is exactly the same as doing a factory reset but with newer software it took like 10 hrs to update it.

You are comparing an update to a factory reset and is not the same.

Factory resets are meant as last resorts when your phone stops working, they are not meant to do just because you FEEL your phone is running right when your probably not qualified to even make that assumption.

To use your argument, where in the manual/instructions does it state that it should only be used as a last resort? Again, a factory reset should be able to be done at any time, multiple times, etc. without fear of bricking. In fact I and my colleagues at work do it all the time testing security protocols on our domain. A person shouldn't have to be "qualified" for something as simple as a factory reset. It seems like you are making it out to be this complicated procedure. If it is only supposed to be done by those "qualified" to reset the phone, why is only a button press away in settings?

I've been working on electronics for over 20 years, and sorry this had nothing to do with hardware in the slightest its all software and resets will vary from 5 minutes to 24 hrs. If you turn your phone off during the gears because its "taking too long" your the reason it bricked not because the phone is defective. That being even if it did brick you could flash with nokia care suite and that takes like 30 minutes top is so easy a 2 year old could do it. If a phone is able to be flashed with nokia care suite and it works it COMPLETELY rules out nokia hardware as an issue.

Thanks for your resume. Not sure how you would expect that this is acceptable behavior for a reset. I suspect most people would not flash the phone to fix. They would return the device. I'm not wholly blaming Nokia, but ruling the hardware out COMPLETELY is laughable. When the 920 first released in the US on AT&T we purchased 2 for our business. As stated above we were testing security protocols. Factory reset both, and both bricked. Later 920s put through the same testing and no brick. I can't say that it was 100% hardware yet you can state it was 100% software. Again, please share where you are getting your info.

So stop blaming nokia for software they cant control, i'm sure it will be better on future versions of wp8, but nokia is getting all the blame cause they sell 90% of windows phone you dont hear problems from other poeple cause nobody buys other brands. There is no guide to resetting your phone or any guidelines to how long it takes. So stop acting like if it doesnt take 5 minutes its broke. Not how it works 90% of phones returned are user error.

Not arguing that many devices are returned for user error. But that's a pretty bold statement to say that these reset issues are user error and then act as if its normal behavior for a factory reset.
 

Sean Miller4

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Not bold at all I know whats involved in a factory reset, and its very normal behavior for this type of device. Like i tell everyone else just wait until its done resetting the phone and rebooting in the middle of a reset is essentially asking to get bricked, it says right on the screen not to unplug or turn phone off yet for some reason after a couple hours everybody turns them off thinking they are helping. Nothing is going to speed up that 15 gigs of data you got on your phone that its trying to remove or move around. Its normal and people coming to fan sites complaining every 920 they get, gets bricked after update or reset is giving nokia a bad name. MSFT's update/reset might be one of the slowest around who knows, but it works, and it varies wildly they never EVER take the a certain amout time and then call it normal, cause they dont know what data you got on your phone. Dont unplug it dont restart it leave it alone. You'll have 100% no bricked phones that way, unless your phone was broke before you started the reset. All resets are software based unless your bricked before you started the reset there is nothing a reset does that cant be reversed, if at&t was smart they would load care suite on their computers and reset you phone on the spot and hand it back to you. But apparently they dont train their people.
 

Hoku001

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I'm not interested in getting into a pissing match with those with superior knowledge, but having been through three 920s in the last 4 weeks, here's what I observed.

My original 920 that I'd owned for the last 8-9 months... I wanted to reset it to get out from the Xbox Music/Zune mess I was having with my borked music collection (that'a whole other story). The advice from the guys at my local Microsoft store - reset your phone so you can start fresh. So I plug in my phone to my PC, move all my photos and videos, and delete any music files on the device. Left all the apps there...the WP8 desktop software indicates I have about 75% of total available space free. My goal was to empty the phone as much as possible. Back in the phone, in the settings menu, I go to backup and make sure my app list, setting and texts are backed up. Then I go down to About and hit reset my phone. As I said, I had done this several times before with my WP7 phones (Focus and Lumia 900), so the process wasn't unfamiliar. Of course, this was the first time I was doing it on WP8. So I hit the spinning gears - I plugged in the phone and went to bed. 5-6 hours later, still spinning gears, and I'm thinking WTF? Before touching it, I head over to Nokia forums - people complaining about spinning gears and bricked 920s. I come over to WPCentral forums, and again, 920s getting bricked after resets. I tried some of the key combination suggestions - no dice as the phone continues to come back to the gears. Called AT&T, the warranty department concurs (we're seeing this a lot with 920s) and agrees to send me a new one.

So I get my next 920. This time I fully restore the phone with my MS account, reloading all my apps, but I don't have any music or pictures. I didn't exactly check it, but I figure I had about the same amount of used/free space as my original 920 - remember, I deleted all my music and photos from my original phone before doing the reset, so I only had apps. I wanted to see if I could reset this 920 before fully "moving back in" so to speak. I hit reset... and in less than 10 minutes, the reset is done. Not 5 to 6 hours, not 24 hours. But shortly after getting this phone, I discovered that something was rattling around inside the phone. So I called AT&T again and requested a replacement.

So, now I have my 3rd 920. Again, I reload all my apps and MS account configurations. Again, the first thing I wanted to test was the reset - so I reset the phone again right away. Like phone #2, this one came back from the reset in about 10 minutes.

Now I'm just a plain old simple user. But I can't imagine what would make phone #1 so different from #2 and #3 - same phone, same apps, same account, same contacts, same emails, etc...what would make #2 and #3 reset in 10 minutes but phone #1 not finish in 6 hours. Call me ignorant, but I just don't get it.

BTW, my #3 lumia 920...I discovered that the camera on this device won't focus. Yes, it won't focus. All pictures are blurry. Call me a simpleton user again, but I figured since I could take clear pictures with 920 #1 and #2, I figured that something's wrong with #3. Again call me a simpleton, but I figured that maybe Nokia has some quality problems with rattling phones, bad camera optics, and faulty hardware that don't come back from factory resets...

So again, AT&T is sending me a new phone. This time they're giving me a 1020. The warranty guy tells me they're not getting ANY warranty returns off the 1020 but lots of issues with the 920. Of course they probably sold a lot more 920s than 1020s, but still, they're replacing a lot of 920s. So maybe, just maybe, Nokia is having some issues with this device.

Again, just the observations from a simple user, not so all knowingly blessed.
 

heather70732

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Same here att is sending me a new phone, but they told me they can't send the 1020 it will be another 920. This is also my third, well actually second due to the spinning gears. One was due to a crack in the screen
 

scooooters

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The "limited" training people at AT and T included a guy who's been working with Nokia since the 90s and and he told me today that the 920 is one of the most returned phones he's ever seen. He said the "spinning gears" reset issue happens far to often and that 99% of the people have no idea on time frames. He's told me to give my spinning gear toy phone 920 another full day to make sure it's fully reset. If the reset takes longer than 48 hours, he's said that it's BOTH A HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE issue. He's also informed me that the 1020 runs on the SAME SOFTWARE and he's gotten exactly ZERO returns since it's launch this summer. It doesn't matter anyway. This toy phone has cost me business and created inconveniences for my clients. The iphone did none of these and I LOATHE the iOS format. But I can't have a phone that won't function
 

Sean Miller4

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Ya theres alot of wrong statements here, first of anybody working with nokia since the 20's wouldnt be working at at&t for $10/hr, Second at&t hasnt ever sold nokia smartphones till recently, yet i was buying nokia smartphones out of europe years before they came here. Third IF a phone and i'm only saying this one more time worked before you did a reset its not hardware any broken hardware woudlve shown itself BEFORE the reset, phones dont magically break from a software reset thats ridiculous. And no the 1020 does not use the same software hahahaha so laughable same OS different versions i have both phones you forget. Also the previous guy saying he had 3 and the first one bricked, there were a couple things that i didnt like about what he said that mightve caused a problem. But in reply to your previous post, let me rephrase this a little, you dont need to be "qualified" to do a reset but yes its meant as a cleaning/last resort doing it every weekend or whatever you guys are doing is ridiculous. That being said that is NOT the problem the problem is you not waiting till its done plain and simple. Not hard to wait all you have to do. And also just because it boots back into gears everytime after you say it was stuck for 5 hrs guess what that isnt a bricked that just means it never finished. Let me explain this, if you turn a phone off during the gears there is a 100% chance its booting back to gears. I mean what do you expect its not finished period once you start the flash process theres no turning back it will not BOOT till its done. Interupt it enough times and yes its possible it will NEVER come out of it until you reflash with nokia software. And for the final point and this is how i know you dont know what your talking about. The way MSFT writes the OS on the NT kernel, its not possible for the software to do PHYSICAL damage to a phone which would be HARDWARE, this mean EVEN iF you have a bricked phone its not ruined and is easily fixable without ever removing cover. So explain to me how you can fix a BRICKED phone with just software yet something must be wrong with hardwdare on the phone even though it works perfect after you reflash. Try using simple logic. That being said i will agree 920 has more hardware issues than other nokias, but pertaining to be being bricked, that version of wp8 has hangups that cause long resets sometimes, its very annoying but easily avoidable. And yes i've had zero problems with my 1020 but they use the same chip and everything it just has more memory, but wp8 amber is on the phone not the previous in fact i've a couple updates so i got the 1020. It does seem to have less trouble in general but this is all MSFT like i said before because nokia added memory and thats it lol the hardware that runs the OS is the same dont kid yourself. I have nokias upon nokias from europe before all this windows stuff started and symbian never EVER had these issues, but i've also worked on MSFT since MS-DOS days and they ALWAYS have weird issues with resets, OS installtions and the likes, i had old windows versions hang for literally 8 hrs trying to install on an computer, this is purely software on the brick issue, other issues rattling that would be a loose battery not major but annoying doesnt affect operation.
 

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