why is everyone accepting factory reset as a solution?

[SFObrien]

As a solution for what?  How about including what problem you are having?

[jjbpj]

We'll see if I can post here and actually have text now that I have switched browsers.

I am asking why people are accepting factory reset as an acceptable solution to any of the problems caused by the 2.2 OS upgrade to the fascinate.

My camera isn't working.

Others have had GPS issues, issues with caching in google calendar, etc.

Many people are accepting "do a factory reset" as the solution.

I am not going to do a factory reset to get my camera working.  I have never done anything to my phone that would void my warranty.  If verizon took this long to approve an upgrade and so many people are having issues, them shame on them.  Why would we need to un-do months of customization in order to get our STOCK camera working on APPROVED software?

I don't buy this factory reset.  Verizon, find a way to get our phones working the way they should with the software you gave us, without making us trash our phones to do so.

[Ann154]

A factory reset cleans up any leftover code from the previous OS or installed applications.

I have done at least three factory resets on my Droid Eris. The first one was after the update from 1.5 to 2.1. Best thing ever! Later factory resets were by my choice.

I have read this community forum for sometime and with every OS updates to the android phones a factory reset cleared up most bugs users experience after OS update.

If you plan accordingly, a factory reset is not a big hassle or takes long to complete.

Save contacts to Google or your sd card or Backup Assistant (if it works).
Backup the text messages.
Write down your downloaded applications installed on phone or backup them up to sd card.
Note where your app shortcut are on the homescreens.
You can also use my backup pro (paid app) to do all of that. I chose free options.

After the factory reset, reinstall the Apps from the market. The backup on the sd card is used only for list for you to reference.

For example, a good explanation of why to do a factory reset after an update from the Droid X, but applies to all android phones.
http://community.vzw.com/t5/DROID-X-by-Motorola/Minimize-Droid-X-Issues-After-Froyo-Update/m-p/29658...

[SFObrien]

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jjbpj wrote:

My camera isn't working.

Let me see if I can help with this issue, exactly what problem are you having and are you getting any kind of message when trying to use it?

[TBhouston]

Software has problems. You have thousands of apps, over time things can get corrupt.

Hardrest fixes about 95% of the problems people have with droids (hint: apps)

Sorry you had to re do your angry birds levels

[nickjr]

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jjbpj wrote:

We'll see if I can post here and actually have text now that I have switched browsers.

I am asking why people are accepting factory reset as an acceptable solution to any of the problems caused by the 2.2 OS upgrade to the fascinate.

My camera isn't working.

Others have had GPS issues, issues with caching in google calendar, etc.

Many people are accepting "do a factory reset" as the solution.

I am not going to do a factory reset to get my camera working.  I have never done anything to my phone that would void my warranty.  If verizon took this long to approve an upgrade and so many people are having issues, them shame on them.  Why would we need to un-do months of customization in order to get our STOCK camera working on APPROVED software?

I don't buy this factory reset.  Verizon, find a way to get our phones working the way they should with the software you gave us, without making us trash our phones to do so.

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Wishful thinking, with all the complaining about getting the upgrade, do you really think Verizon is going to accomodate each one individuall, I think not.. But you are right in what you stated though.

[jjbpj]

TBhouston: Software does indeed have problems, and those problems should not effect the operating system, nor other pieces of software, even if they use the same hardware.  I used to code for an OS, and if an application allowed something that *I* wrote to take down a part of the OS or another APP, I'd be spending 20 hour days working on it until it was fixed - not out of altruism.

The reactionson this and other forums make me think that people don't remember that Android is a Linux variant; it's supposed to be extremely stable, and this hack job, no matter how delayed, is not acceptable!  The last time I did a re-format of my Linux machine was back when Debian Lenny came out, about 3 years ago - and that was a re-format from the Windows Vista that came pre-installed on the laptop.  I have added and removed multiple apps and allowed multiple kernel upgrades over the past three years, and none of them have ever caused hardware to stop working or screwed up applications.

SFFOBrien: The actual problem that I am experiencing is the "Please wait..." hang on my camera - once again, stock software that directly deals with the stock hardware.  I never went to Froyo "illicitly" and I never  rooted.  You don't get more simple than that.

Ann154: it's great that you have a checklist to follow and are willing to do a factory reset.  I am not.  I'm going to be a bug in customer service's ear until this is resolved with an actual fix, not a "Let's pretend this is Windows and nuke the whole darn thing" cave-in.  I hope more customers do the same.  (I notice that link is from September that you gave - you'd think that in the nearly 7 months of time between the Droid X upgrade and this release they'd have figured out how to make the upgrade complete or how to release post-upgrade fixes.)

[Ann154]

I would bet that customer service is going to recommend you do a factory reset.

Do you think that FroYo update was tested on multiple user configured devices? I don't. They will test the new version on factory clean phones. They can't account for every possible configuration of installed applications, alternate launchers, mail settings, etc. Based on the reading I have done here and other android websites factory reseting the phone before applying the update or immediately after reduces or eliminates most bugs user's experience after an update. For example, other recent OS updates to other phones. The HTC Aria got its FroYo update last month. It was a manual update where you had to install it while connected to a computer. As part of the update, it forced a factory reset to finish the process. Since I currently have a HTC Aria, I experienced this update first hand. The Motorola Bravo had its update pushed OTA. It didn't have a full factory reset as part of the update. Several users have been reported similar bugs that the Fascinate and other phones in the past have seen after an update. Those users who go the extra step and complete a full factory reset also reported that their bugs are gone. The Samsung Captivate ( the Fascinate's sister phone) had a manual update for the FroYo OS system. I am not sure if that update included a factory reset. However those users are also reporting force closes that is until they complete a factory reset and start fresh.

If you can live with the bugs, go ahead and not complete a factory reset. I still think that you and all users having issues after the update should do a factory reset as part of the update process.

[Smokie11]

In regards to the merits pro and con of a Factory Data Reset, while it's true that it has been mentioned a lot, I don't question that it has helped some people, but it is a POOR solution and I believe it has helped for the wrong reason. With an open source OS and 3rd party apps. you are always subject to problems and glitches that affect how the offending app. interacts with OS.

The camera is a piece of hardware that is controlled directly by the OS, even if you have downloaded an app. that offers more choices to what you can do with a picture your camera took and you experience a problem, you should be able to remove the offending app. and restore your camera to original specs, without a Factory Reset.

I do not write code and I do not consider myself anything close to an expert in this area but I have what you may call 20 years life experience working in the field of how software and hardware are integrated to achieve desired results. I can tell you from experience that Samsung does not have a good record in this area, they are far better at creating excellent hardware than they are in creating the software that controls it.

My phone was already replaced AFTER a factory reset did nothing to help me install Froyo, my wife's phone also will not accept Froyo install and I am sure it will need replacement. One other area we have not discussed yet is that the Android OS is starting to come under attack from hackers and viruses. There already exists a list of known apps. with malicious code and viruses that supposedly Google has removed from the market, however there is no way today to 100% protect your phone, just like there is no way to 100% protect your computer.