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Why Does My Samsung Galaxy Nexus with Jelly Bean Randomly Reboot?

I bought a Samsung Galaxy Nexus when they first came out last December. I loved my phone and I had very few problems with it. It was very dependable. Then Jelly Bean came along. Now my phone randomly reboots 1 - 4 times per day. I could live with it at first when it only happened while I was emailing or surfing the internet but now it is rebooting in the middle of phone calls. What is the problem and how can I fix it? I have not in any way modified my phone and everything is stock with all updates being Verizon OTA.

My Android version is 4.1.1. My build number is JRO03O. My Kernel version is 3.0.31-g396c4df android-build@vpbs1) #1 SMP PREEMPT Mon Jul 16 18:08:06 PDT 2012. My Baseband version is I515.09 V.FF02 / I515.FG02.

Comments

nlayla

Me too. I've had the same issue after Jelly bean update. I think it has made the device defective. Fortunately, it is still under warranty. I am going to ask Verizon about replacing my phone because it is getting irritating. I'd have my a video open and then it reboots. Or, it just reboots even when not in use and it is inconvenient because I was about to make a call. It hasn't rebooted on me while I'm on the phone yet! But I want to prevent that from happening, so I will ask Verizon how they will remedy this. We spend so much money on this phone alone and in addition to our monthly plan, they better find a solution for us.

mrstms

I am having the same issues. I have tried talking w/ Samsung and they route me back to VZW. Ready to cancel contract early. This is insane for a phone that is less than one year old.

brglassman

Does anybody know whether the phone software creates or maintains some sort of log file that will tell you what was going on when the phone crashed? If there is, how do we find the file or files?

Maybe if VZW, Samsung and Google are going to ignore us we can diagnose the problem ourselves.

On the other hand, I love my phone but maybe my daughter is right and I should get an iPhone on another carrier. She never has a problem and she has gone through several iOS updates.

Ann154

I have the Galaxy Nexus with Jelly Bean OS and it has never rebooted on its own. I do know what that looks like since I also had the Thunderbolt with a similar situation last year before an update fixed it.

Have you tried factory resetting the phone and not letting the phone reinstall all your previously installed applications? Not all applications are optimized for JB and one of them might be causing the reboots.

UpsetVerizonCustomer

Same here, I hope Android 4.2 should get approved quicker

CGWaters

I'm experiencing the same problem. Reboots are occurring daily -- sometimes multiple times per day.

Has anyone spoken with VZW tech support about this?

nlayla

i've spoken to a vw rep and he told me to do a factory setting but i've already done that numerous times. i truly think it is the jelly bean update that is causing these reboots. i've never had this problem before the jellybean update and i haven't installed any new apps after the jelly bean update. hopefully the newer update which is 4.2.2 will fix this bug, if not, i need to speak with vw again and/or samsung because of now this phone feels like a piece of crap. it reboots all the time. even when i'm about to pick up the phone and text someone, i'm in reboot mode. how irritating is that?! and it doesn't reboot quickly either, it lags and stalls before the screen fully appears. ugh!

mrstms

Verizon finally replaced my phone yesterday. It's been less than 24 hours, but thus far there have been no reboots.

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Message was edited by: Verizon Moderator

mrstms

It is useless to contact Samsung cause they are going to refer you back to VW. I tried calling them several times.

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Message was edited by: Verizon Moderator

Ann154

Please don't post your personal information from the email signature on this public forum!

RH21984

Sounds like you got a corrupt OTA download, specifically an issue with the kernel loading correctly. What is happening is basically this: The software that controls and governs your processor is gunked up with bad code because it didn't write correctly on the initial install, so it will run inconsistently and can't always manage the workload that it is receiving. When that happens, it basically overloads the processor and causes certain fail-safes built into Android to kick in and tell the phone to reboot before it damages itself. It also affects memory management, and is probably causing other issues that may not be obvious to you as the user. Other signs are extremely poor battery life, force-closing on apps, and random reception issues/degrades.

Go to the store, have them back up your data, and fully wipe/reinstall the OTA image (they have the software tools and the training to do so - or *should*, at least). Should fix the issue.

Downloading files OTA is always a risk...those 1's and 0's can get mixed up once in a while. A factory reset wouldn't work because you don't overwrite your kernel or the ROM that was installed, you just wipe user data. If user data being cleared didn't reset the issue, it's not an app - it's the operating system or a component thereof.

EDIT: I saw that this was resolved, but I'm leaving this post here for people who may experience similar issues in the future. You won't need to replace your phone 99.9% of the time - and it's not a good idea since most of them these days are refurbs anyways.

nlayla

Thank You so much for this information. I went to the Verizon store today and the lady told me I could do a factory reset at home. I explained to her this message and she said "yea, you can just do it at home but back up your data on your computer because it's just a factory reset."

That said, I am confused between your message "A factory reset wouldn't work because you don't overwrite your kernel or the ROM that was installed, you just wipe user data" and the message from the Verizon representative suggesting that I "do the factory reset at home".

I asked the Verizon rep if she could do a "fully wipe/reinstall of the OTA image", she said it was just a factory reset which is just a button away on my phone. Help, I really want to love my phone again, before the whole Jelly Bean update, it was working great. She also asked the store manager who was there as well, and he said the same thing.

RH21984

The simplest way to describe a Factory Reset using the options in settings is this:

Your data is wiped (your apps, your contacts, your files, your pictures, your music, etc.), but the actual operating system (Jelly Bean) remains exactly the same as the day you first downloaded the update package. What they are telling you to do will not fix your problem if you have already tried a factory reset that didn't work.

Think of it this way: If your Windows install becomes completely unusable or performs poorly no matter what you try, you have to reformat your hard drive, install an entirely new copy of Windows, and then replace all of your missing data and applications to fix it. That is a full wipe and re-install. A Factory Reset using Android Settings options would be the equivalent of leaving your Windows install untouched, but deleting all of your personal files and hoping that fixed the problem - it accomplishes nothing if the problem didn't start with a specific app or a change in settings to begin with. VZW has technicians in stores where repairs are performed that *should* have training and software capable of performing this task, it is NOT something a customer with little technical knowledge can do from home without research and the proper tools.

That said - you can find step by step instructions on how to flash a factory ROM with ODIN online. But it is not something I would really tell a customer they should do since there's always the possibility of 'soft bricking' your device in the process.

I would first try to talk to an actual repair tech at the store, rather than a sales associate or customer service rep. They may be able to better understand what it is you're asking for. If that doesn't get you anywhere, you're always welcome to join any of the various development communities and learn how to hot rod your phone.

laniel

I have had the same issue as mentioned in this thread--my Galaxy Nexus will reboot on its own with alarming frequency.

I've done some research into the matter, and as best as I could tell, this issue is caused by apps that are not fully compatible with Jelly Bean. For example, the app Volume+ (which I had) did not work with JB and in fact would cause the phone to reboot.

Note that this may not be the only cause for the phone rebooting.

If anyone knows of any other apps that cause their phone with JB to reboot, please share.

MillsyJoeYoung

I have a stock Galaxy Nexus running 4.1.1 and the reboots are getting to be unbearable. They almost always happen when I need to use my phone the most. I'm a die hard Android enthusiast, but this is getting out of hand. I hope Verizon or Google acknowledges this soon and come out with a patch.

zombielove69

Just an FYI about JellyBean Bugs. I've read in a few blogs and Android forums, a lot of bugs people are having may not be from the software but the apps we have in our phones. While the Play Store is still updating apps for ICS there are a lot of apps not updated for JellyBean os yet. Running one or two or more of these apps on your phone at the sametime or individually could cause the os to act buggy. What I have done is gone through my apps, quite a chore, and read the apps discription to see if it has been updated for JellyBean. I have found that tune-in radio is an app that'll act weird with the os causing random reboots. I know I have 2-10 more apps on my device, still figuring which one cause it's a chore, that will cause reboots and os staggering. One is a camera app I have, one of the 6 camera apps I have.

If you have the time I suggest going through all your downloaded app descriptions and reading them to see if they are updated to work with JellyBean. If they aren't or you don't think so, email the devs of the apps. Most Devs will email you back. The play store has wonderful Devs who really care and are usually quick to reply with in 1-48 hours. For example, I emailed a game dev of Siege Hero about the JB update and in less than a week he updated the game to work with JB.

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