Child Item

Site Totals

61514 Questions Answered 271 Categories

Why is my Kin onem "updating modem" and what does it mean?

On Feb. 13th my phone started acting up. it said "updating modem" and in the two years that i have had this phone it has not done that. I purchased a new battery and it still does not work. I have not yet taken my phone in. It has been about a month and I cant seem to figure this out. please help

Comments

angrywaterfowl

Hi,

I had this issue too, and neither Verizon nor Sharp, the phone's manufacturer, know much about the problem. I was eventually able to fix this problem by installing a new device driver onto the Kin. If you plug the Kin into your computer (if you have a PC) and go to Devices and Printers (in the Start menu), you will be able to see the icon for the Kin, and it will probably just show a generic hard drive icon since the Kin is partially disabled by the 'updating modem' error.

Click on this icon and have Windows run Troubleshoot; at this point, my computer noted that my Kin's driver was disabled, and asked if I would like it to search for a new driver. After the driver was found and installed, the 'updating modem' screen went away and my phone restarted and went back to normal...for a while. The 'updating modem' problem has returned to my Kin every few weeks, but I have been able to fix it each time by installing a new device driver. It is annoying, but at least there's an inexpensive fix.

Note: You might have to reinstall the driver more than once; Windows sometimes gives me an error message and I have been forced to start the process over, but it has always worked eventually.

Jim31370

My Kin did the same "UPDATING MODEM" thing after charging from the USB port of my PC, but I have charged it that way for over a year now. My PC will not recognize it in the devices and printers. What version of Windows are you running? I have Windows 7 Starter on my laptop and zune but I have an older PC at work with XP and a newer one with 7 Pro but have not tried them yet. Did your PC have ZUNE as well? I probably won't be able to add Zune to my work computers. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I love the Kin and don't want a new phone from their pitifully limited selection not requiring a data plan.

Thanks,

Jim

angrywaterfowl

My PC runs on Windows 7 and also has Zune. When I went to Devices and Printers the Kin appeared as a generic hard drive icon at the bottom of the page; my PC didn't recognize it beyond that, but I was still able to fix it by running Troubleshoot.

Verizon_Support

Hi Jim31370!

This issue is certainly strange! It sounds like a compatibility issue. Did this issue start after installing a Windows update? First I recommend setting your computer back to a restore point (date) when your phone was able to connect and communicate with your computer. If issue stops then it certainly is a compatibility issue. If issue continues even at a restore point (date) when your phone worked well with your computer, I recommend doing a factory reset http://vz.to/GOErHT on your phone to clear any potential operating system file errors and test. keep us posted.

AntonioC_VZWSupport

Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/VZWSupport

Jim31370

My problem is that the phone never actually boots to a point I can access the Hard Reset from the operating system. It has a black screen with zebra stripes stating "updating modem do not remove battery" That stays up for about 15-20 seconds then the phone reboots to the verizon logo then back to the "updating modem" screen, it will stay in this loop until the battery dies or indefinitely if the charger is plugged in.

What I need the the key code to hold on boot up to cancel the "Update Modem" function which will allow the phone to start it's operating system allowing me to not only reset the phone but to set the "Automatic update" function to OFF. then the phone will no longer try to update the modem in the future.

Someone posted an address to a SHARP contract company who claim that they could reset the phone but it would lose all data. This poster never updated to say if they got their phone back, if it worked, and if what the charge was.

The problem I have is that I really like the phone (no data plan required, but has a nice camera and FM tuner, and MP3 player, basically all I want in a mobile device).

I have tried to update the phone from my computer, it sees it as a device but will not allow me to update drivers or do anything with it since it never stays active more than about 25 seconds.

Thank you

807akp

I've had a kin twom for over two years. It just did this updating modem thing for the first time. I connected my phone to my computer. I don't have a Devices and Printers on my start menu, so I used the add hardware function from my control panel. The device driver troubleshooter identified that the zune software on my computer was up to date and couldn't do anything for me. I found on the web that you can reboot a phone by holding the on button and the "r" and "b" at the same time. It will erase everything, so I haven't done that yet. I am still hoping to find a way to get my phone out of updating modem mode short of resetting it.

lissick

I saw that as well. I actually want to hopefully get all of my stuff transferred to a disk or something to have all of my pictures and contacts. We will be trying to get it running again soon. Lets hope this works

zMaestr0

This started happening to my son's Kin One. As there are no other phones like it being offered from Verizon, we have owned it beyond its warranty. I've tried powering up with the R+B option, as well as the C+B option. Both show their respective action symbols across the screen but do nothing else. It continues to try to update the modem then reboots.

I spoke with Sharp's Personal Communications Devices Customer Service Department (800-229-1235) who informed me that "the manufacturer no longer carriers this phone" so there's nothing they could do.

If this is due to an update being pushed to the phone by Verizon that we didn't ask for, then I believe Verizon should provide a fix that works. This would be less of an issue if a similar model was available, but there isn't.

PLEASE HELP!

Child Item