Oreo Update Ruined Awesome Phone! (WiFi drops, runs hot, shuts down randomly) Verizon Step Up

[NKT8A]

I have been reading the message boards regarding people's issues.  I'm frankly getting annoyed reading the responses, because they immediately assume the user's WiFi network is the problem, or they blame it on third party apps.  First, Verizon needs to take accountability for the update they pushed out.  Almost everyone has multiple devices, and have been using WiFi for years.  We know the issues are not with our home/work networks, but yet you have us resetting routers and modems, and wondering whether it's the ISP's fault.  The second go-to culprit is third party apps.  This seems like a more reasonable suggestion, but if the problem were third party apps, wouldn't we have seen many of these issues before updates?  As you will see below, I have factory reset my phone, and operated in Safe Mode but the issues still persist.

There is obviously an issue affecting a lot of users since the Oreo update(s). If you don't envision a real solution (like a patch), can you at least let us revert to the operating system of our choosing?  I never had problems with Nougat, and would gladly go back!

This is incredibly frustrating, especially since I am still paying off my Moto Z Force, and I'll probably end up with data overage charges as a result!  For the record, before these recent issues, I loved everything about my phone and its operating system.

I am running Android Version 8.0.0 (Oreo)

My two most recent updates are as follows: March 15, 2018: NCLS26.118-23-13-6-5; June 21, 2018: OCLS27.76-69-4

My security patch level is listed as May 1, 2018

Since the June 21 update, these are the issues I have been experiencing:

1. WiFi Connectivity

When I am on my home network, I can only stay connected for a few minutes at a time.  I lose the signal, even when I am sitting in the same room as the router.  When I try to reconnect, my phone will not be able to find any network (there are multiple within range of my house).  At that point, if I look up my MAC address, it will read: 02.00.00.00.00.00 and my IP address will read: Unavailable.

The only way to remedy this issue is to restart the phone.  At this point, the phone will often freeze on the "Shutting Down" prompt, and I have to do a hard reboot OR the phone has just shut off on its own (see problem #3).  After the phone reboots, I can usually reconnect to WiFi for a few minutes (literally), until this process repeats.

I know this is an issue with the phone because I never had issues before the most recent update, and all other devices in the home continue to connect normally.  I have reset my router and modem, but have had no change.

2. Phone Running Hot

I have not seen major battery drain problems, but I have noticed that the phone runs hot.  It gets noticeably warm after only a few minutes of use.  This never happened before, and it happens even when I have my screen dimmed, very few background functions running, and the high accuracy location setting turned off.

This continues to happen, even after I factory reset my phone, and regardless of whether or not I am in Safe Mode.

3. Phone Shuts Down

This is the biggest concern.  It does not seem to occur when there is no WiFi network to connect to (though I can't be 100% sure if this is actually connected to the WiFi issue, or if it's just a coincidence).  The phone shuts down without any warning, as if I had performed a hard reboot.  This happens when I'm using the phone, and when it's just sitting on the table idle.

It seems to happen more frequently at the end of the day, and when it begins (usually after about 6-7 hours of being on), it increases in frequency.  The last few nights, the phone shut down and restarted 4-5 times.  Like the other problems, this never happened before the update, and it continues to happen after I did a factory reset, and even in Safe Mode.

4. Difficulty Sending/Receiving Text Messages

I am not sure if this was caused by the update, since I had this problem intermittently (but rarely) before the update.  When sending, the everything looks like a successful delivery on my end (including a timestamp), but the recipient will not get it.  When receiving, I am not sure whether the sender thinks they had a successful delivery, but I know I just don't get them.

Things I Have Tried:

-deleted any suspicious apps, on the advice of the representative from Tech Coach (I only had two that popped up as suspicious, according to the Anti Adware app, but one of them was AppFlash, which I couldn't delete because it is a Verizon app! The other was a flashlight app, and there was no suspicion of malware.)

-Tech Coach rep did a battery diagnostic on my phone, and said there was no battery problem

-did a factory reset (full disclosure, I did restore my backup data, but only after I saw that the reset did not fix the problem)

-tried operating in Safe Mode (no effect, and all issues above continued)

-deleted cache partition files (I did this in Recovery Mode, using instructions from the Verizon website, with no effect)

-went to the Verizon store (the rep said he has heard of a lot of people having issues since recent Oreo updates, but couldn't really do much other than check my SIM card)

[vzw_customer_support]

As a consumer myself, I know how important it is to have a good working phone at all times, NKT8A. Updates are meant to enhance and improve your devices performance. We're disappointed this has not been your experience with the latest update. We appreciate all of your feedback and the steps you have taken so far. We'd like to continue looking into this with you. Unfortunately, you would not be able to go back to your previous update. It is important that all apps are up to date and to reset your router as the new update on the phone may require those items to be updated as well to transmit data properly. You mentioned you completed a factory reset on the device. How long did you test out the phone without restoring any content? How was data when you completed the reset? How soon did the phone power off after the reset? Is the phone too hot to hold? 

Danielle_VZW
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If my response answered your question please click the _Correct Answer_ button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

[NKT8A]

Hi Danielle,

I'm not sure exactly how long I waited to restore data.  It was definitely the same night.  But since I keep getting the same shut down and connectivity issues in Safe Mode now, wouldn't that rule out the need to do another factory reset?  I'll do it if you really think that would help, but after one reset and still experiencing the issues in Safe Mode, I'm doubtful it would work.

When I did the reset, all the data was intact, but there were only a handful of downloaded apps for which there were user data files, and I had all of those apps prior to the update.  In the past, I only ever had a couple minor adware issues, all of which had been rectified long before the update when all these problems started.  The lion's share of data I restored were photos I took.

The phone didn't start powering off until after I had restored data after the reset.  But it started back with the WiFi connectivity issues almost immediately, so I figured the reset hadn't produced any positive results.

The phone is not too hot to hold.  I was just making an observation that it's hotter to the touch than it was before these problems arose.

I understand that these are the normal diagnostic processes, but if I experienced none of these problems for a year before the update, wouldn't it stand to reason that the update has caused these problems?  I'm getting the impression there might not be a real fix until the next patch, and it doesn't look like that's even in the works.  Anything you can do to help is much appreciated.

[NKT8A]

This is crazy!  I started my post by expressing disappointment that VZW reps on these boards are blaming users' WiFi networks, and third party apps.  Despite that, I was still pulled into the "user error" storyline by being first asked how long I tested the phone before I restored my data.

I went ahead and reset my phone again because Danielle_VZW 's reply seemed to imply that by restoring data after my last factory reset, I somehow reintroduced these problems.  I'll have to take my own interpretation of her insinuation, since she never followed up with any concrete suggestions. 

So, this is the second time I factory reset in three days.  This time, I factory reset, and did not restore any data (no apps, media, not even my contacts list).  I went through the initial set up, and let my phone sit for 4 1/2 hours (plugged into the charger), just in case there were any updates or background processes it needed time to complete. 

I just unplugged my phone, and in the last 20 minutes I have lost my WiFi connection three times, the phone froze when I tried to do a soft shut down, and my phone has randomly shut down once.  At what point will VZW acknowledge that these issues were not caused by users' routers, poor battery conservation strategies, and third party apps?

As I wrap up this post, I see the distinct blue light in my peripheral vision that tells me the phone has just shut down and is now on the Moto startup animation.  So that makes two random shut downs since I factory reset my phone for the second time in three days.  I have no pictures, contacts, or text message threads, and I hesitate to restore them lest I be blamed for my phone's issues. 

@VZWSupport Please do something to address the issues people have been posting about, because I am not the only one in this boat.  We are paying way too much for a carrier that doesn't stand behind the updates it pushes out.

[vzw_customer_support]

NKT8A,

We would never want you to feel as though we're blaming you for the issues at hand with your phone and its behavior as of late. It's critical that you have a fully functioning phone. We ask these questions because we need to hone in on the root of the issue and not predict or assume there is a certain culprit causing the problem. Keep in mind, Verizon does not produce the updates themselves, as we are not the software developer or manufacturer of the phones.

I use this phone myself and I did notice some hiccups when my phone went through the update, and through some different maintenance of applications I had, and settings that needed adjusting, I was able to get back to my normal routine. I'm confident we'll get to the bottom of this.

To take a look at the overall health of your device, please run a Device Health Check and post the results for us.
http://spr.ly/6582Dql8Q.

After completing, I'd like to get an idea as to how much memory your device is using currently. Following the instructions here: http://spr.ly/6583Dql8v, please let us know how much memory you have used.

We look forward to getting this resolved for you.

Ryan_VZW
Follow us on TWITTER @VZWSupport
If my response answered your question please click the _Correct Answer_ button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

[vzw_customer_support]

We certainly want to make sure that your device is working properly, and that you have all the correct information. As a carrier we do not make updates to the devices OS, the software updates are created by the manufacturer of the device. It seems like the issue may be the device, but I recommend further troubleshooting to determine the root cause.

Alfredo_VZW

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us on TWITTER @VZWSupport
If
my response answered your question please click the _Correct Answer_ button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

[NKT8A]

I'll do that today, and post back.  Thank you for your reply.

[NKT8A]

[NKT8A]

I just posted the results of the scan Ryan_VZW asked me to perform.  The only thing that looks wrong to me is on the last image where it says that WiFi is off.  WiFi was off at the time, but that's only because I couldn't turn it on.  When I tried turning it on the phone just behaved as if I hadn't done anything, or it shut down on me.  Both of those things happened right before I did the scan.

In regard to the second part of your question, I am using 13.43 GB of 32 GB on my hard drive (7.9 GB "System" and 5.2 GB "Other Apps").

[ryanco_vzw]

NKT8A,

Thank you for going through the device health check, I'm confident we'll get to the bottom of this misbehaving Moto Z you've got. I know how essential it is to have your phone operating smoothly. The next steps I would like to take are listed below. Since you have the cache alert in your results, I'd like to start there.

To clear the application's cache, here is a great resource for the steps: https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/knowledge-base-205182/.

I would also ensure that your applications have been successfully updated to avoid erratic behavior as well: https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/knowledge-base-105501/.

Lastly, if you have a memory card in your device, please remove the card using the instructions here: https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/knowledge-base-205251/. Then, test out your device's functionality and get back to us with the results. Be sure your device is powered down before completing this step.

We look forward to hearing back from you on this matter.

Ryan_VZW

Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

If my response answered your question, please click the Correct Answer button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!