Droid 2 Global - Replacement Phone #4 is on its way....

[SheldonD]

I don't understand what is going on, but it seems that I have had the worse run of luck with D2G lately.

First D2G was bought new back in Mar this year.  It worked great until about 5 weeks ago, when the audio began to "flutter" on my end, sort of like talking through a fan.  Caller on the other end didn't hear this, they just reported as muffled or "distant".  The phone would also reboot seemingly at random, usually not when in a call, but it did reboot during a call couple of times.  Got to the point it was doing it more and more often.  Friday a week ago, tech support was contacted, uninstalled the task manager, but no avail.  All apps removed and same issue with Audio, though I don't think it was rebooting as much.  Another phone was sent out - new firmware update that addresses the issue would be loaded on it.

Replacement #1, also a D2G. 

Phone took longer than usual to turn on, but when trying to activate, the display would go blank (time out?), but it wouldn't come back.  Just a backlit blank screen - don't remember if the icons on the bottom lit up or not, I think they may have.  When try to turn off with the power button, the menu would popup, chose shut off, and the phone would just sit there trying to turn off.  It would beep and vibrate, but would't power down.  Contacted Tech Support.  Original phone still being used during this time, with original problem.

Replacement #2, also a D2G.

Received it, and tried to activate it.  Turns out that my SD cards (Sandisk 16G, Toshiba 8G) were not recognized in the device.  I wasn't able to mount / dismount the card (grayed out) now was I able to format.  2 different capacities, 2 different manufacturers, same problem.  Tech Support guy was going to call Motorola and get their advice / suggestions as we were both baffled.  The card worked fine on the computer.  While waiting for a call back, I plugged the card into another (older) HTC phone, and that phone reported a partition error.  Went back to the computer, ran a drive utility, and the FAT table was too short (?!?!?) on both cards..  Killed the partition on both cards, and tried them in the 2nd Replacement.  After being able to format the cards, it is apparently working.  On a whim, put the 8G Toshiba card into the 1st Replacement, turned on, and had same screen issues.  Took the same card, put it into 2nd Replacement, and was able to reproduce the problem.  So, 1st Replacement  also has an error (Software or Hardware is unknown) on the SD Interface.  Killed the partition on the computer, put back into the phone, and phone was able to recognize the card.  Switched out the 8GB, put the 16GB back in, and turned the phone back on.  Bypassed the activation routine (instructed via tech support) by pressing each corner on the screen clockwise beginning with Top Right Corner.  Wifi was connected, all the apps went in, phone seemed to be working.  So, I went through activation.  That was about a day and a half ago.

This afternoon, the audio on the earpiece quit working.  Yes, the volume was turned up to max.  I don't use/have a BT headset.  Pressing the softkey for speakerphone worked.  But, tried to turn off speaker phone, and no audio from ear piece.  Wiped the phone (reset to factory), and when the activation started its call, there was still no audio from ear piece, but there was from speakerphone.  Called Tech Support again.  Was offered a different phone (Droid X), but it didn't have a keyboard.  Droid (Original) was available, but I refuse to go backwards.  That was about it as far as slide out keyboards went.  Fine, then send another Droid 2 Global, and hopefully I will have better results with the 3rd Replacement (on its way, ordered this evening, likely delivered on Tues.).

Other model phones were offered, but other than the Droid2Global and Droid Original, they wouldn't work.  I also have an extra battery, stand alone charger, 4 desktop cradles /chargers, and 3 car cradles / chargers.  I really don't want to switch from the D2G as I have a lot invested in accessories already, but come on!  This is ridiculous. 

Perhaps it is time to goto another carrier where different hardware is available.  Waiting on 3rd Replacement to arrive, will see what happens from there.  If it doesn't work, hello AT&T.