HTC Incredible reboot fix that works and does NOT require hard reset

[synergy]

Like many of you unfortunate souls out there I have had my HTC Incredible go into a rebooting loop over the last month or so. The following recounts some observations and and a solution which appears to work.

First off, my son and I both have the same phone and software versions and apps. He does NOT get email on his phone because he does not want to. I do. His phone has NEVER rebooted. Mine has done so numerous times. My business partner also has the identical phone and software version, lives within 200 yards of me,  and uses the email and has had numerous reboots and has gotten them even sooner than I saw them at first. My partner and I have set up email attachments and downloads to go to the SD card. So much for background info. Here is what I did to fix the problem followed by some other observations:

1. Open up the case of the phone and remove the battery
2. Remove the SD card from the phone.
3. Put it into an adapter that allows you to access files directly on your computer. In my case this was a Windows PC running Windows 7.
4. Mount the SD card in your computer and open up the browser to see the files on the SD card.
5. Look for a folder called ".Mail"
6. If your phone is like mine you will see hundreds of files, some of zero length. This was even though I had deleted most of the emails I received on my phone.
7. Proceed to directly delete any of the zero length files. For that matter, you may have other files like jpg's laying around of uncertain origin. I got rid of these and other strange files that seemed attached to no documents at all.
8. Remove the SD card and reinsert into your phone. Put the battery back in and the cover on then restart the phone. Your phone should run properly and you should not see any negative consequences from the files you deleted previously.

Some other observations relevant to this solution that bolsters my theory that this problem has something to do with the email application and also a problem with file system corruption on the SD card as a consequence of it.

1. I had previously seen the email application put some mail from a different account I was using into my main account. The files could not be deleted and even trying to do so would cause the mail app to force close.
2. My son has never seen the problem despite being in the same environment with the same phone and software. Relevant difference to me was that he was NOT using email and I was.
3. The email app clearly has bugs if it is leaving behind hundreds of files even if you delete the emails. Why? As a software engineer my first instinct would be to look to see if the file system locks were properly synchronized when the email app is writing to the flash file system. I am not conversant in Android OS programming nor the app code itself so this is speculative on my part. I would also look for a timeout on reboots if file system enumerations take too long. Lots of files on a system might trigger a premature timeout and reboot. Once again, this is speculative on my part but I sure wish I had the code to debug this myself.
4. These issues seem to coincide with a rapid rise in network traffic most likely because of the iPad 2/iPhone support by Verizon. I wonder if this additional traffic load on the network is opening up timing holes in the software because of backoff and retry intervals for certain apps. Once again I suspect the email app especially because it is vulnerable to network traffic issues as it tries to get email account updates.

I could be wrong about my theory as to why the problem is happening. My solution seems to work. As far as pulling the battery and putting it near your AC in the car, that did NOT work for me at all. Leaving the phone out of its protective case also had no effect. Only screwing with the files on the SD card mattered.

I hope this helps. 

[keyser]

There was nothing in my .mail folder, still rebooting like crazy.  Bummer....

[synergy]

I have also seen instances where there were no email messages and rebooting but found that just by eliminating a file the phone would come back. The problem seems to be a corruption of the SD card. The phone has actually said that it was mounting my SD card read only because of a problem. The whole thing is a mess. Had the phone reboot 4 times today. Travelled to NYC with my PC solely so I had some way to put my SD card in a device that could modify it. Don't expect ANY help from Verizon, HTC, or Google in this lifetime apparently.

[TBhouston]

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synergy wrote:

Had the phone reboot 4 times today. Travelled to NYC with my PC solely so I had some way to put my SD card in a device that could modify it. Don't expect ANY help from Verizon, HTC, or Google in this lifetime apparently.

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There is no fix right now. none. There has to be software etc updated.. Not everyone is having the problem so finding the root cause may take more than the 2 weeks it has been.. I wouldn't be so quick to give up hope

[synergy]

This problem has been seen for MONTHS now by people besides myself. My business partner is about to put a bullet in his phone because this has been happening for far longer than mine. I have little confidence in a fix anytime soon because this problem has been persistent for some time and there is a lot of denial in the field by Verizon. Verizon has to depend on HTC and Google besides themselves for fixes. How much would you like to wager on how this business relationship is working out? The first step in any solution is for a company to take some responsibility for it and so far no company has.

[TBhouston]

"MONTHS"

okey...

[TBhouston]

The device has barely been out for "months" and has only been having these reboot issues for a few weeks...

[synergy]

Yes this post was clearly about the Incredible 1 not the newest generation so I am sorry if there was some confusion about this. I thought most people understood this especially given the level of complaining and lack of concrete solutions about the rebooting problem. 

[AyaniB_VZW]

Hi synergy,

I apologize for the delayed reply and understand your concern about the device reboot. After researching the Droid Incredible, at this time HTC has not communicated a software update to resolve the reboot issue.  As a workaround I would suggest performing a hard reset:

1. Power your Incredible off
2. While the phone is off simultaneously hold the volume down button and power button 

Please advise if you still require additional assistance after the hard reset.

Thank you for your patience,

[synergy]

My whole point was to NOT have to do a hard reset!!!! Check out the title of the post. Wow. I appreciate your trying to help but a hard reset wipes absolutely everything off the phone. I have a more elegant solution rather than that. It is now called "Buy an iPhone and smash my Incredible with a hammer." I realize this reply is not all that useful but it is in response to a useless response.

On a separate note, I have found putting my phone in a baggie and putting it on ice actually does cause the reboot loop to stop but then the phone storage is mounted read only which has issues of its own. I did it just to get the phone working in a moment of desperation while away on a trip this past weekend.

[epitch]

synergy,

I have had my Incredible for over a year about three months ago we were using it with the gps and it rebooted but was very hot on the back. I let it cool for awhile and everything was good for around a month. I don't use it much as far as the internet, mail or facebook applications go but my wife and daughter do and that is when it crashed and reboots sometimes it will start right back up and as long as we are not using it all is well other times it may continually loop until I pull the battery and restart then it is fine as long as we don't do anything with it.

I have been reading several post and blogs about this issue and there unfortunately there is no resolve at least not one I have seen. I did see there was a lot in NC area and they were blaming the signal. Not sure if that has anything to do with mine or not I will keep an eye on it.

It would be nice for HTC or VZW to come up with a solution but there solution right now is you are out of warranty but if you want to up grade to anothere phone, I don't think that will happen right now. I do love the phone and apps, that I now do not have on there because I reset everything, thinking this might solve the issue but NO that did not help.

I guess we just sit and wait or change phones.

It would be nice for VZW and HTC to pay attention to this and many other post and fix it, but now they have newer and better phones so why bother.

Best of Luck

Erik

[Tristan]

I'm in NC and have trouble with mine rebooting all the time. Verizon certainly has not been much help. Their solution is for me to buy a new phone and sign a new 2 year contract. I told them I already bought a phone and signed a contract. I want the thing to work. I'm on my second one now and it's out of warranty. The reboot thing has gotten progressively worse. Thankfully it is very rare that it happens actually during phone calls, but that has happened twice now.

At one point they told me I had to contact HTC. Then HTC told me I had to contact Verizon. What a load of ballony. HTC has a repair service, but you have to pay for it. I didn't get into whether this issue was something they could repair it.

There are so many people that have had this problem, it's rediculous. I think the phone needs to be recalled, and the only way to get them to do that is probably a class action lawsuit.

If anyone is interested in a class action lawsuit because of these reboot issues, with the Droid Incredible, PM me.

[Ann154]

@TBhouston
I think the thread is about the Droid Incredible 1 and not the Droid Incredible 2 or the Thunderbolt.

[AZSALUKI]

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Ann154 wrote:
@TBhouston
I think the thread is about the Droid Incredible 1 and not the Droid Incredible 2 or the Thunderbolt.

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yeah....some of the inc's have had a reboot problem since last year. i had one for a year with no problems, but i've seen posts on reboot issues as far back as 2010.