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Bionic reboots every 4-5 minutes following ICS update.

I picked up a Bionic which was working perfectly up until recently when I decided to go ahead and let it install the ICS update. That was a HUGE mistake which I was holding off on because of other horror stories I've heard regarding other people upgrading. Because of this, the phone is completely unusable now.

The phone boots up like normal and everything seems alright. But it doesn't seem like it ever connects to the cell network. I can connect to wifi, though. But it doesn't matter because within about 4-5 minutes after powering up, the device reboots completely. No warning, no errors, just a reboot. It does this every single time and there is no way around it that I can find.

Here's what's been tried so far:

Remove/Reinsert SIM

Tried different SIM

Boot without SIM then reboot with SIM

*SIM card does not appear to be the problem, as the SIM card works perfectly in 3 other devices

Remove/Reinsert SD card

Boot without SD card

Boot with different battery from newer bionic

Boot with battery at 100%

Boot with charger plugged/unplugged

*One other thing it also does now, is following a shut down/power off, if I have the charger plugged in, the phone will power back on completely. It never did this before.

Booting in safe mode

Cache wipe

FDR

Screaming at the phone

Prayer

Voodoo

It should be worth noting that I don't appear to be the only one who has had this problem following the update, and the main reason why I hesitated until recently was because of the posts on various forms about people having different issues following an ICS update. I was hoping to hold out until the JB update, but we probably won't see that for quite a while, and I need a working phone.

Compared to other people who have had problems following the ICS update, I'm having a much more difficult time getting help because I didn't buy the phone from Verizon, the place I bought it from went out of business, and the factory warranty has expired from Motorola. But again, we are talking about a phone that was working perfectly with no problems at all until it was updated. No modification was done to the device, it wasn't hacked, modified in any way other than a few play store apps being installed, never dropped in water, never cracked, taken apart, had anything replaced on it.

I have already brought it into the store to explore my options, and the only option I have is to upgrade my device, which I don't want to do because I am grandfathered in to a couple of features that I will lose if I upgrade. Other than that, I was basically told "Sorry, kid. You're on your own, but call Motorola for help".

Motorola simply told me that while there does appear to be a problem, the phone is out of warranty and I'll have to pay an unknown amount to get it fixed. They wouldn't know until they had a chance to take a look at the phone. They suggested I ask Verizon for help...

Part of this is venting, expressing my frustration at my own stupidity for doing something that I thought was a bad idea in the first place that caused this mess, but also frustration at the lack of options because this was an approved update from Verizon and Motorola. Otherwise it wouldn't have been rolled out, right?

I realize my options are limited, but maybe someone else here has some ideas or some suggestion on what to do next. Hopefully, it's something other than "go buy a new phone". Because this phone, when it was working, served my needs just fine.

Thank you.

<Minor editing done to comply with the .>

Message was edited by: Verizon Moderator

Comments

tikibar1

What a bummer. I would suggest a system cache clear and if that didn't help, a factory reset, but it appears you've already tried both. :smileysad:

Meerkatderp

Yeah. Those are among the first things I tried and I was really hopeful that it would work, but it did not. :smileysad: Thanks for the reply though. :smileyhappy:

rcschnoor

When you perform a factory reset, make sure you do not have your app/phone settings backed up. If there is a conflict in one of these and you perform the factory reset yet reload the same conflicted settings, you will most likely have the same problems after the factory reset.

Better to always start from scratch after the factory reset. This will not affect your contacts on Google. They will still be there as they are NOT an app or phone setting. Also, you may not want to install ALL of your apps immediately after the reset. Just your most needed initially and then a few more each day. This has worked for me in the past when I had an app conflict.

Good luck.

gormetko

Unfortunately you have limited options. I too am the unfortunate owner of a Droid Bionic. The phone was a dream on gingerbread....a piece of garbage on ICS. Verizon and Motorola are both aware of it but will deny it and offer you no help. The ONLY thing I can find to potentially "fix" the problem is to eliminate apps.

After performing multiple factory data resets and clearing the cache multiple times with no success, I began removing apps. The Biggest problems were the crap-ware put on by Verizon themselves. What you can then do is reintroduce one app at a time each day and see how the phone is performing. After eliminating many of these apps(including some I liked and used), the phone has become tolerable.

Also beware of any app updates. I had three that showed up on my phone today and the verizon backup media app has caused my phone to become a complete pain since. It has been restarting itself all morning repeatedly then giving a message about that app not responding even though it's not actually in use.

Of note, ALL of these appsI've eliminated are either factory installed or downloaded from google play. No third-party apps, etc. So as a result, using the phone this way severely limits what it does and practically eliminates it as a "smartphone" but does allow it to text and talk without constant battery loss (though the battery is questionable now since ICS) and constant reboots (up to 10 or 12 a day now down to 0-3 a day).

The only other thing I can suggest is contact google directly. They now own Motorola so perhaps they will be interested in retaining an android user rather than annoying one and convincing them to switch to iPhone.

As I said this isn't a great "fix" but you'll find Verizon is a **** company uninterested in helping despite the fact they know they inflicted a lemon upon it's customers. As long as they get their monthly payment they couldn't care less.

Good luck

Message was edited by: Verizon Moderator to comply with ToS.

Meerkatderp

I made sure to start completely fresh. At this point I just wanted to get the phone working again but even a completely fresh wipe didn't help. Nothing backed up, nothing set to restore, just a clean factory reset as if I just took the phone out of the box for the first time again. Still getting those reboots. Thank you for the reply, though. :smileyhappy:

Meerkatderp

Thank you for the reply. I went ahead and tried removing apps from a fresh reset, but that didn't seem to help either. I just can't understand what could have happened during the update to cause these problems. I was at full 100% battery, I was plugged into the original charger with the original cable, I shut off all non-essential services (facebook, twitter, syncing, etc) and I just let the phone perform it's update without disturbing it. I received no errors, and the phone reboot itself and installed the update like it normally does. When it came back up, everything seemed fine until after a few minutes when it started boot looping. I didn't get a chance to re-enable sync or anything else before it started giving me problems.

Does anyone at Verizon have any kind of idea what could be going on?

Verizon_Support

Hi Meerkatderp!

Right off the bat, I'm terribly sorry to learn of the devices issues you've been experiencing with your Bionic since downloading ICS. Ice Cream Sandwich should be a treat, not a disaster. So, I appreciate you bringing this to our attention.

Let me also start by saying kudos for everything you've done. From safe mode to a master reset and on through prayer, you've played troubleshooting flawlessly. With that said, I do have to be honest in stating that we would want to look into a replacement option at this point (based on your post I'm not here to pressure you to following this course though). Upon review of any known issues after the ICS update, I was unable to locate any of these symptoms. Finally, I know you're frustrated with a lack of options but may I ask how many GB's you average monthly? Most folks stay under 2 GB yet I still know how important retaining the unlimited feature is to you. I would love to help customize an option to get you back in the cellular game given that this is very important to us. Please share and thank you for your time.

EvanO_VZW

VZW Support

Follow Us On Twitter @VZWSupport

gormetko

Wow at least Verizon made an effort with you. I've been dealing with this brick of a phone since November now. The complete lack of assistance I've received from Verizon has made up my mind for me. As soon as I decide between the Samsung Galaxy III and the Samsung Galaxy Note II, I'm off to Sprint. Yep...will even terminate my contract early. Better than paying $88/month for Verizon to renege on their end of the "contract." And to think, all it would have taken was for a SINGLE VERIZON rep to say "hey if you extend your contract for two more years we'll let you upgrade your phone at less than full price."

ifly85

This is exactly what I am going through as well. I have also done all of these steps just like Meerkatderp. However, mine is stuck rebooting after a factory reset. After I choose the language and hit continue it tries for a bit and then reboots. I also noticed that the first boot up screen with the Motorola logo does not say dual core any more. Maybe that changed with the ICS update.

I don't get how an update from Verizon and Motorola can kill your phone and it is your problem. That seems unethical to me. I can't afford to buy a new phone before my renewal date, due to the vendor breaking my phone.

I haven't talked to Verizon about this yet, but the victims of this issue in every forum say the same thing.

Maybe I will get lucky.

Luckybob

I am one of the masses that is still dealing with the phone as well. Fast battery death, random rebooting(up to 10 times a day), freezing and super slow. I have contacted Verizon and they said contact Motorola. Motorola advised it was a google/verizon update. I paid good money for a paperweight. This was an awesome phone on Gingerbread. Would ust be happy to get that back.

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