Does the latest Lollipop update for the LG G3, VS98524B, require a hard reset?

As we have all learned by now, just blithely accepting an update can be hazardous to your health. A hard reset before major updates can make things go a lot smoother, but I do not want to do that if it isn't necessary? Besides, from what I can determine in this official release, VS98524B is a minor update, not a major one:

https://www.verizonwireless.com/dam/support/pdf/system_update/benefits-lg-g3-7-9-15.pdf?null

1. Some Bluetooth features have been added to the call screen,

2. The Interruptions menu now appears under the Quick Settings menu, and

3. HD voice and video have been added under the Advanced Call setting, if you have set this up.

None of that is being sold as a "fix" to anything. A few forum participants (specifically those with Comcast routers), however, have been singing the praises of this latest update's ability to fix various bugs related to Wi-Fi, notifications, battery drain, etc., but there is no mention of any of that in this official Verizon document. And that would be a curious omission since returning functionality to people's phones is kinda major by most people's estimations. So this leaves me scratching my head about what this update is really supposed to be doing.

VS98524B is knocking at the proverbial door, requesting entry onto my phone, so unless someone tells me emphatically to do a hard reset, I'm going to let it in without taking that extra precaution.

Accepted answers

krusej23

I didn't do a hard reset and mine works fine. It's not always needed but it usually is helpful.

All comments

krusej23

I didn't do a hard reset and mine works fine. It's not always needed but it usually is helpful.

techvet1

As a sysadmin and one who does tech support daily (outside the telecom industry), the buginess of the 5.0 upgrade for the LG G3 is mind-blowing, especially with this update coming from two companies, one company with a market cap of $191B and the other with a cap of $463B (and yes, I have a daughter who works for Google, but nothing to do with Android). I don't blame the tech support staff who try to answer the questions here - they are only doing their best. However, I will swing my focus towards the development/QA teams: did you really test this out? Really? I mean, really? What kind of rush job was this? Did management overrule the QA team? Who was in a massive hurry to get Lollipop pushed out when 5.0.x was CLEARLY not ready for prime-time? Here are just a few issues that I am seeing that I have not seen mentioned here:

1. The wireless status icon at the top just disappears without warning and without notification. It just winks out and Mr. 4G starts carrying the load, thus pushing my phone ever closer to going over the data limit, thus filling VZW's coffers ever more - no wonder VZW shows little concern to fix the problem. If you look at the phone, Wi-Fi *is* enabled, but the status icon at the top disappears. The fastest way to resolve this issue is to turn Airplane Mode Off, then On again (thanks to someone in the forums who gave that tip to fix a different problem). This NEVER happened with 4.4 and I never had this issue with my Droid RAZR M. My ASUS home router is on the latest firmware and no other device in the house has this issue (Nexus 7, Samsung S4, iPod, etc.).

2. Google Play Services hangs up ALL the time. With 4.4, I could do an Update All and know that that whether it was 4 updates or 14 updates, everything would be with no problems. With this upgrade, I am having to try clear cache and data all the time because Google Play Services just hangs with a white screen. Right now, one Google+ update is taking two (2) hours to download. I cannot tell you how many times I have rebooted this phone - it is unbelievable.

I know some have recommended doing a hard reset for every little update. That should not be necessary at all. The notification and battery problems have been well-documented here and are still in existence. There are other problems not listed here. Never

Android 4.4 was golden on this handset. It worked flawless and seamlessly. 5.0.x is buggy as all get-out. My wife has a Samsung S4 running 4.4 and *darn the bad luck*, she doesn't have enough room on her phone for the 5.0 and it's going to stay that way because I won't let her move to 5.0 - only 5.1 and only after checking the forums. . If you wander over to the S4 forum, you will see the same wailing and gnashing of teeth regarding the Lollipop upgrade as you see here. I would have stayed with 4.4 because I had seen all the horror stories but VZW forced this upgrade down my throat (I can't tell you how many times and ways I tried to postpone/cancel the update.

VZW, you have some good people on the phones (one just helped me with billing last night) but this upgrade was abysmal. It would be great to see VZW officially and publicly acknowledge the problems or provide a release date for 5.1.1 but I have seen nothing from them. Does anyone from VZW other than the support techs visit these forums?

mrmeach

Thanks for taking the time to construct a well-articulated vent. I too would hate to be Verizon tech support. 5.0.x has revealed some serious flaws in quality control. Even if most of the blame can be laid at the feet of the Android development team (and I'm not saying that it can be), how did it get past both LG and Verizon before eventually being presented to us via the software update tool as VS98523B or over the air as VS98523C?

I knew something was not right when Lollipop got rolled out to the G2 handsets first. There was a lot of complaining by G3 owners who thought the then-current flagship should have been first in line to receive the OS. But I made note of all the G2 complaints and decided right then and there, I would be refusing this update until I was confident it could be downloaded without issue. So I waited until Snn5 published his 10-step update process in both the G2 and G3 forums. Were you able to avail yourself of that? It involved sandwiching the installation of the new OS between two hard resets. Altogether it took me about 6 hours, which is way too long for either a major or minor update.

Also, did you do this current 24B update with or without a hard reset? Just curious

Snn5

I think the reason the update hit the G2 first was because it was being developed for the G2 first, since the G2 was made before the G3. First in, First out. But, there's folks fussing about the G2 possibly getting 5.1.1 even though the G3 is almost guaranteed.

techvet1

I will do whatever Verizon Wireless officially asks me to do. They just did the upgrade and "walked away".

If they feel a hard reset is required and is necessary after each and every update, then they should force a hard reset after every update after informing all users ahead of time that this is happening (of course, that would open up another hornet's nest). Is there some place where Verizon Wireless has *officially* required this as part of their updates? I received no information from them about this practice as part of this upgrade which they were so eager to get installed on my phone. Tested procedures should be coming from them. The customer base shouldn't have to bridge the gap.

Snn5

Yet, without a gap, this forum is useless ehh?

mrmeach

The correct answer to my initial query appears to be this:

Generally speaking, a hard reset is NOT necessary for this update.

Snn5

I may be confused as to the method you used to find success. You say you had issues, and FDR'd several times. Now, everything works. Your answer was that an FDR was not needed. What ended up being the solution if an FDR was not needed?

mrmeach

You are right. My own actions would suggest an FDR is needed since that's what I did, but the reason I concluded otherwise takes the whole discussion into consideration. After posing the question "Is a hard reset necessary if you have a working install of Lollipop?," Krusej23 posted the first reply saying he/she did NOT do it and so far didn't have any problems. That answer was less than definitive, so I waited for something more authoritative from yourself or Verizon Customer Support for about a week. I got tired of waiting an then went ahead and did the FDR before the installation of 24B, mainly because I wanted the practice of recovering from an FDR, not because I thought it necessary.

Two weeks and about 350 views later, no one insisted on the necessity of an FDR, which is a pain in the arse, even if you can do it efficiently. So I decided to finish this discussion off by recounting what I myself did and then formally concluding as Krusej23 initially remarked: an FDR is helpful but not necessary, generally speaking.

And I say "generally speaking" with respect to those who have working Lollipop installs. Those with non-working Lollipop implementations, however, most likely do need to do an FDR before installing 24B on top of it.

Snn5

I still see no definitive answer, but that's how it works with software. Some do, some don't have to make changes or FDR. The main reason people had issues with LP vs KK, was that the runtime changed. This means KK apps had to optimize to the new runtime ART from Dalvik. A lot of the time, they didn't convert successfully, so that's why folks had crashes and short battery time. To each his own, but I think this thread got a bit too analytical and has too many variables. In those cases, FDRs without restoration are a best practice. Good luck.

Snn5

Not always needed, but helpful to do so.