Develop Bugs

Menu key menu pops up during low signal

I have an extremely annoying issue. I've seen some posts reporting this on various boards, but it seems most people throw a default answer out there that it's a hardware issue. I'll explain why I don't think that's the case.
The menu that comes up with you press the "menu" capacitive key has been popping up and down rapidly and repeatedly when I'm in a low signal area. This didn't start happening until after Samsung/Sprint fixed the LOS issue. I'm thinking it has something to do with the way they fixed it, which I don't have any technical or general knowledge of. Most of the time, the screen and keys will not be responsive unless I hit the power key to turn the screen off and turn it back on. It's even more annoying since it vibrates everytime the key is "pressed". I don't think this is simply a hardware issue as the only time this presents itself is the same times the LOS issue used to. I'm sure it's tied to that fix somehow.
Is anybody else having this issue? This may be a long shot, but I installed the LOS Checker zip, (I forgot which dev created it), and never uninstalled it, but I've upgraded many roms since then and don't think it would still be installed.
If any of you do have this issue, did you ever install that LOS Checker zip?
Rom= Blazer Rom EL29 v3.8
Kernel = rogue 1.4.1

Started happening to me recently as well. Im running Calks still on GB with ICS theme. I haven't paid attention to my signal when it happens but you are right, turning off the screen does stop it momentarily. I agree this may not be a hardware issue as well. I've just been bearing it because I plan on changing phones soon anyway.
Edit: It just started happening after this post. Signal was at 1 bar...
Epic-ly tapped from my Galaxy S II

Zoidpilot said:
Started happening to me recently as well. Im running Calks still on GB with ICS theme. I haven't paid attention to my signal when it happens but you are right, turning off the screen does stop it momentarily. I agree this may not be a hardware issue as well. I've just been bearing it because I plan on changing phones soon anyway.
Edit: It just started happening after this post. Signal was at 1 bar...
Epic-ly tapped from my Galaxy S II
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you happen to install this? http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1326569

Happens to me too. Menu button hitting itself at random times.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

I have this same issue. I never realized it correlated with low signal. The issue cropped up 3 times today and each occurrence was with low signal. Good eye sir.
Do any of you undervolt or use a kernel that runs less than standard voltages?
My device is undervolted quite a bit and was wondering if it may be part of issue as i don't remember having this problem prior to that.
I am removing my undervolts and will report back if i still have this issue.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

I'm on stock rooted. Always happens on different occasions. I just turn the screen on and off and usually it'll fix the problem
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I was gonna post the same thing I just realized this morning that it always coincides with low signal
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I think its a hardware issue. Im running the same setup on my replacement phone and haven't had the issue since.

I experienced this ever since I got the phone back in september but I didn't wise up until the 14 day period ended. there are two threads in the Q&A section concerning this, one that i started and another that i contributed to.
I would be trying to text and the menu button would pop up and i would accidently hit something on the menu that came up bc the button spazzes out randomly and consecutively and sometimes for a solid 5 seconds, but like the rest of you im sure, it wasnt confined to any single app so it was impossible to find one thing to blame. it would have to be something system-related or hardware-related (btw i did flash the LOS checker some time ago)
I believed the low signal theory for a while, as well as having a corrupted flash. but I experienced the spasms with full bars of service AND after a complete Odin restore to stock everything without restoring any of my past data whatsoever. thus I deferred to the "default" that it is hardware-related.
that was months ago.
I got so fed up with it, i decided to do anything to make it stop. So, I recently opened up my device and took everything apart and found that the water indicator just above the capacitive buttons had been activated. keep in mind I DID NOT EVER have any encounter with water. in fact, the other water indicators were perfectly undisturbed. this pissed me off because that means there might have been an accident or something while they were being manufactured that would have damaged the button - idk just another theory.
This is my main piece of evidence supporting my claim that it is hardware-related:
I ended up breaking the screen trying to separate the glass from the digitizer (stupid, I know bc theyre fused together) so I ended up buying a new screen/digitizer. put it in myself. i haven't had it since. I'm running the EXACT same set up as before I replaced my screen and its been about a week and no instances. I would be experiencing the sporadic menu button randomly, several times a day but it has completely disappeared.
i suggest to you all: bring it in to Sprint if you bought it from them or invest in a new screen off ebay if you bought it from a 3rd party seller (Amazon, wirefly, letstalk), i got my new screen for $65 shipped and it was in pristine condition. now im living a happily-ever-after ending
i'll keep a close eye on this thread to help you all with your endeavors/theories though
if any of you plan on opening up ur device, i suggest you do some homework so as not to destory your phone - its still an amazing device. or you can just ask in this thread and i can give tips to everyone
good luck!!

Thanks for all the updates.. I've noticed I'll sometimes get this error, but my phone will be showing full bars where I KNOW I have a poor signal.. for instance, my elevator at work..
Is there any sort of logging app I could run and go into an area I know this will happen to find out what's going on?

IsThisOneTaken said:
Thanks for all the updates.. I've noticed I'll sometimes get this error, but my phone will be showing full bars where I KNOW I have a poor signal.. for instance, my elevator at work..
Is there any sort of logging app I could run and go into an area I know this will happen to find out what's going on?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sometimes the signal bars are inaccurate (like you described). your true signal is found in settings>about phone>status>signal strength. 0-1 bars is really about -90 to -100 dBm
devs use logcats to analyze issues with the internals
http://forum.samdroid.net/f38/tutorial-how-get-logcat-example-check-battery-drain-2543/

I just checked a few other boards and it seems a number of people have confirmed it correlates wih low signal. There are a few people that keep popping up on multiple threads stating it's a hardware issue, only because a new screen fixed it. I would be fine with that logic if there weren't so many people stating it correlates with low signal. Also, it seems most people haven't really experienced this issue until after the LOS fix. Now, at the same times I used to have LOS issues, I now have this. I'm guessing it has something to do with internals and whatever they did to update it may be separate from modems or roms, since people have gone back to stock and still experienced this issue.
I haven't done a search, but is there an information source that states exactly what Samsung did to address the LOS issue?

I'm going to ODIN back to the original shipped EG30 package and test it out.. I never did OTA updates.. always through ODIN, etc. I'm going to see if I update through OTAs if anything is different. I'll report back.

I had experienced it since around the 1st week of october. i didnt have los fixed until i flashed chris41g's experimental kernels, not sure when all that was though. i was convinced it was related to signal too, but i would still happen on the highway/in public with 3 bars of 4g and ~50-60 dBm
would be interesting if you figure it out though

Yea I ODIN'd back to EG30 and now OTA'd to EL29.. no issues yet but we'll see tomorrow when I'm in elevators. After doing all this, I realized I probably need to do a full EEPROM reset and then go through this... don't really feel like doing that tonight though.

Im pretty sure this is in fact a samsung phone issue in general. I came over to sprint and the e4gt from verizon and the fascinate. I loved that phone, but it had this exact same issue. I have not in fact had it happen to me so far with the e4gt yet. I have a sneaking suspiscion that this issue goes hand in hand with undervolting, but thats just my own personaly theory.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

Happens to me on the rare occasion as well. Might be an issue with the phone?

I called this one during the LOS era. It definitely occurs in low signal areas. I could never get LOS so I went into known dead spots and sure enough those random pop ups happened
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using xda premium

*Luke* said:
Im pretty sure this is in fact a samsung phone issue in general. I came over to sprint and the e4gt from verizon and the fascinate. I loved that phone, but it had this exact same issue. I have not in fact had it happen to me so far with the e4gt yet. I have a sneaking suspiscion that this issue goes hand in hand with undervolting, but thats just my own personaly theory.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I noticed there were a few other threads on Samsung devices with issues.... hmmm. Did you ever try limiting your underclocking to a higher clock speed? This may be a noob question but for the EG4T, is anything less than 800mhz considered underclocking?

JohnCorleone said:
I called this one during the LOS era. It definitely occurs in low signal areas. I could never get LOS so I went into known dead spots and sure enough those random pop ups happened
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe I remember seeing your post haha... I'll see what I can do if I mess around with clock speed.

My phone is messed up

About 6 times a day, the capacitive button on my phone will randomly get pressed by the phone. I'll be holding the phone, and the phone will go crazy. There is no rhyme or reason why it occurs; it just happens. other times, it will just vibrate, and menu items will open and close. I can also feel all the haptic feedback when this is happening.
Sometimes it ends calls, sometimes pushes the menu button like crazy, and eventually locks the phone up for 5 seconds. I can remedy the situation by turning off the screen.
I took the phone in, but was unable to replicate the issue for the rep to see. He tried for 10 minutes and gave up. I wanted to let him know I wasn't just making up stuff, so I tried in store for 75 minutes. (Just so you know, its not related to too many running apps. I have already tested this) He then told me on my way out to brick my phone so sprint would be forced to repair it, which I do not want to have to do.
So I called up tech support. and whats typical of Sprint is to find everything else to assign to blame so they can just call it a day and not have to do anything. The newest blame is being put on the Network Vision upgrade since I live in Chicago. I have 6 lines on my family plan, and none of the other 5 phones are having any issues. Now tech support is telling me to go back to the store. The phone is driving me crazy now. I've reset and reflashed the phone to stock EL29 numerous times and the issue wont go away. I've also deleted everything on the internal SD card. I've reset via ##786# too. The phone is just plain screwed up.
I have TEP. What should I do at this point? Is anyone here a tech?
Thanks.

I'm not a tech and not trying to be smart, but have you tried flashing non-stock EL29 based roms, like Calkulin's or Blazer's? I would try other roms Gingerbread or ICS, just to rule out any software issues.

yes. i used to be on Calkulin's when this started happening (about a month ago), so i went back to stock, and the problem persisted.

So you're saying this didn't happen before flashing Calkulin's rom? I would keep trying other non stock roms (even ICS roms) to make sure. To install ICS roms, you need to flash EL26 CWM5 kernel (Gingerbread), then the rom. Also flash Calkulin's format all.zip (you may have already done this), because it wipes data, cache, as well as system partition. Factory data reset does not wipe system partition, I believe (I might be wrong)

Happened to my old E4GT. Menu button kept pressing itself but then it got bricked and replaced ;p
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

make sure your screen is clean.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

Had something similar happen with my first Pre years ago. I'd get woke up in the middle of the night by my phone performing weird activities and then awoke one morning to find it stuck in airplane mode and unwilling to be coaxed out of it.
Took it to the local store (was a corporate store at the time) guy was super nice and swapped it out without any hassle. Man do I miss that store. :-(

I have the same issue with my phone. I thought at first it was some sort of corruption on my blazer Rom, so I flashed multiple other roms with the same outcome. I haven't tried taking it to a store yet, but if this problem gets any worse, I might just have to use my tep for once.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

This was happening like crazy when I was on the latest Calkulin ROM. I switched to CM9 and it was still happening. Menu kept popping up, phone would randomly reboot and sometimes the screen would just go black without shutting the phone off and I could not wake it up without a manual reboot.
Today I used sfhubs One-Click for stick FD19 and haven't had any issues at all. So far my phones been rock solid for at least 12 hours, whereas before I would have seen these issues pop up several times within that time frame.
lets just hope it stays that way

I've heard this was happening in low signal areas. What was the signal like when it started?

Yup mine is doing this too. I bought this phone used on craigslist about two months ago and it started acting up about a week ago
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

Messed up
I am a lead tech at a corporate store fairly close to you (a few hours). If I find no evidence of corrosion or other liquid damage, I would be happy to order a replacement for you. Your disadvantage would be time to get here, and since seed stock is incredibly rare for this device, the trip would likely have to be made twice. PM me for further details.

This happens to me too on blazer 4.0 and blazer 4.1.... ITS very annoying
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

Just got mine replaced and the brand new one is doing it stock. Usually when the battery gets below 30%.
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stargaterules said:
I've heard this was happening in low signal areas. What was the signal like when it started?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You beat me to the post. It still happens on ICS in low signal areas..on 3g and 4g. It must be a flaw. I have tried it in known dead spots on about every ROM since launch. As soon as you get on the edge of a dead or very low signal spot, a random vibration then menu Popup or recent tasks on ICS.. its frustrating
Sent from either ET4G or NS4G using Xparent Tapatalk 2

i am not in a low signal area at all, and I have tested this theory

My phone did this once a few weeks ago. It was only the menu button and I was on the main home screen so it kept popping up the menu options. Shut it down and restarted and it hasn't happened since.

I have the EXACT same problem! I have concluded that it only happens in low signal areas, and it only affects some phones. Its EXTREMELY ANNOYING! I mite get mine replaced, being that my sprint store is very reasonable. What I do is put the phone in airplane mode when I'm on wifi and use Google voice for texting. This fixes the problem immidiately but only works until you turn off airplane mode. Let me know if that works.

I'm pretty sure this is a Samsung phone issue in general. It happens in low signal areas. My E4GT does it occasionally, and my fascinate used to do it as well.
Though, I will say the e4gt is not nearly as bad as the fascinate was. If you were in a low signal area with that phone, it was literally unusable because it would back out of everything you tried to do, or the settings menu would keep popping up and closing.
I've had the menu button pop up on the e4gt and a few phantom key presses in low signal areas, but nothing near what I experienced on the fascinate.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

Sleep of Death?

I flashed a rom 2 days ago. Ever since then, if my phone sleeps for a while in my pocket, it will not wake. I have to hold power to reboot. Anyone heard of this? Know a fix?
Not on cm9 or 10. TW based from here.Thought I had heard of this before.
Thanks in advance for any and all help!
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

jwalk74 said:
I flashed a rom 2 days ago. Ever since then, if my phone sleeps for a while in my pocket, it will not wake. I have to hold power to reboot. Anyone heard of this? Know a fix?
Not on cm9 or 10. TW based from here.Thought I had heard of this before.
Thanks in advance for any and all help!
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am having a similar issue. After flashing to Phantom Blazer ICS ROM, I inadvertently ran ROM Manager and tried to flash CWM 5.0.2.7 that way. Since then I've wiped numerous times and flashed several other ROMs, even performing a nandroid restore to GB Blazer ROM, but to no avail. The phone screen and buttons still flash a bit as a precursor to my phone shutting down, and upon reboot my battery drains down to 2% and goes to shut off again. This happens repeatedly unless I leave my phone on a charger. This has lead me to believe that it may be a battery problem, but I cannot confirm until I receive my new battery in a few days. Hope someone can shed some light on this.

Anything odd with the wi-fi?
Those that seem to be having these issues seem to also have wi-fi issues.
For example, my phone freezes at work due to the wi-fi config. If I drop it, no problems whatsoever.

I just get the cheap ones off eBay you get a lot for a couple dollars.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA

mrrogers12 said:
I just get the cheap ones off eBay you get a lot for a couple dollars.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which is awesome if you like having extremely shoddily made potential bombs/incendiary devices in a $500 phone in your pocket close to your gentelmans area... me? I pay the ~$20 for an OEM battery... lasts longer than those things too
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

Sleep of Death or Hardware?
I too am having this problem. Long story short a few days ago I flashed CM10 Alpha4 and noticed out of no where my phone would just turn off. No boot off ani, nothing. It drains my battery to 1%. I did several wipes, formatting, clearing, stock GB, many different ICS roms with TONS of different kernels (i thought it was kernel related). Nothing helps. My phone does this while charging too. It also does it when the screen is on and I can predict when it's going to shut off because the backlight starts pulsing, then BAM RIGHT IN KISSER! It. Sucks.
Currently on FH13 Wicked Sensations with Kuban kernel .0.5, I guess it's betetr. But, idk.
I hope there's a fix, but I'm thinking it's a hardware dealy.

I guess..least with the cheap ones you mess them up putting them on you just wasted that money lol..
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA

mrrogers12 said:
I guess..least with the cheap ones you mess them up putting them on you just wasted that money lol..
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for off topic tread jacking, but how???????!? Do you manage to ruin a battery by putting it"on"
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i have updated the stock tar of fh13 and i have so much bad battery life ever and also a sleep issue i put it to standyby and it wont power on so i want to go back all the way to stock el29 so i can receive stock ota update if any after can you advice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just updated my father's phone with EH13 stock rooted due to battery life issues. His phone is suffering from the same "sleep of death" issue, but I have no idea why.

WisdomWolf said:
I just updated my father's phone with EH13 stock rooted due to battery life issues. His phone is suffering from the same "sleep of death" issue, but I have no idea why.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had SOD for 3 days and just before my screen started fading in and out, I locked my phone. When I unlocked it, it saw that Maps.Process.Whatever stopped responding. I thought that was weird bc I haven't opened Google Maps yet with this new ROM flash. So, I went into Settings > Location Services > and UNCHECKED location and google search. Since then, no SOD. I have no idea if this works for everyone. Maybe you can try that...idk

TheDudeAbides said:
I had SOD for 3 days and just before my screen started fading in and out, I locked my phone. When I unlocked it, it saw that Maps.Process.Whatever stopped responding. I thought that was weird bc I haven't opened Google Maps yet with this new ROM flash. So, I went into Settings > Location Services > and UNCHECKED location and google search. Since then, no SOD. I have no idea if this works for everyone. Maybe you can try that...idk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will give this a try this tonight and run it through tomorrow, see if it helps with my issue (which sounds a whole lot like your issue). Will report back tomorrow night, thanks for the tip!

i was so fed up i use the el29 stock tar file went back to it and now i received a official 4.04 update imma afraid to update lol...battery suck..now batter life on this el29 in fine for now..

Tried turning off all location, but SoD still happening very erratically. Still have light pulsing and loss of signal right before shut down. Perhaps it is hardware, but could it really be the battery? Will find out soon when battery arrives in a day or two.

"Ghost Touch" Issues

Idk if some of you have heard about the "ghost touch" thing where sometimes when you turn on the screen it'd be like someone was pushing on some of your capacitive buttons and you wouldn't be able to touch or do anything on the screen. Turning off the screen for a couple seconds and turning it on again helps alleviate the problem for me.
How common of a problem is this? It seems that this never used to happen until ICS came around. Is it due to software or hardware like a bad digitizer? Is this something that I should be worried about hardware wise because I'm planning on hanging onto this phone for at least another 6 months and warranty's going to be up soon in a week or two. I'm using The Goodness ROM and agat's kernel if that matters at all. Any input is appreciated. Thanks.

Rf interference with the touchscreen controller in low signal areas.
It happens on some other Samsung phones as well.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app

Thank you times. I have been wondering what that was.
sent from my BAD A$$ Epic touch

It used to happen to me all the time, but it hasn't happened in a few months.

It happened a lot on my first etch, but hasn't happened once on my replacement.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

Hello. Thank you for all the replies. So overall, is this something that I should be worried about concerning the longevity of my phone? It happens quite often now like maybe 5 times a day when it used to be only once in a long while.

Yup times is right. This happened a lot to me when ICS leaks first came out way back in Feb ?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

Happened to me alot but been much better since using cm10 mabe once ever 3 days instead of 25 times a day
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1551580
After trying to figure out what nearby was causing the RF intererence so I could eliminate it, I found this thread which explains that the interference originates in the phones 3G radio, not the environment. I just recently started having this problem, and from reading that thread, I think I didn't notice it before only because I was using a kernel with a fix integrated. So if you are having this problem and don't want to do surgery on your phone, maybe try to find a kernel with the software patch.

SupraLance said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1551580
After trying to figure out what nearby was causing the RF intererence so I could eliminate it, I found this thread which explains that the interference originates in the phones 3G radio, not the environment. I just recently started having this problem, and from reading that thread, I think I didn't notice it before only because I was using a kernel with a fix integrated. So if you are having this problem and don't want to do surgery on your phone, maybe try to find a kernel with the software patch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kernels fixed this? Waaah? Where have I been?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

This has been happening like crazy lately, ever since Hurricane Sandy and also since running the FK09 JB leak. The Sprint signal in my area went from bad to garbage since the hurricane, not sure if the JB leak is also adding to it or not.
It is so annoying I am tempted to actually buy a different phone even though I love the E4GT.

Raistlin1 said:
This has been happening like crazy lately, ever since Hurricane Sandy and also since running the FK09 JB leak. The Sprint signal in my area went from bad to garbage since the hurricane, not sure if the JB leak is also adding to it or not.
It is so annoying I am tempted to actually buy a different phone even though I love the E4GT.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed Sprint screwed NJ hard as AT&T and Verizon restored services within a week...
On a side note, AT&T's LTE was up and running within 48 hours...Dunno about Verizon cause most of my friends have iPhone's with them. But I was roaming on Verizon full bars the whole time. But guess what happened when I tried to make a call? "Welcome to Verizon, please have a phone card or credit card at handy to make a call". I have roaming under my plan and I would like to use it...especially not crapping out in emergencies.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

Defective Radio?

I have been having a lot of problems with my new honey, namely in the signal department! I went through a whole thing with it right after activation...it worked, then didn't, then did...etc. A chat session, phone call, & 2 trip to the actual store (all in 1 day!) resulted in them doing a factory reset and sending me on my looney way. It seemed to have helped, for about a day and a half. Now it is dropping signal again! It seems to do so, sometimes, when I have the wifi on. But then sometimes not (I'm not sure if wifi is culprit or coincidence.)
The ATT store employees said I may have changed a setting (I'm sure I didn't as I don't know of any setting that would even cause that!) and also "explained" my signal will naturally fluctuate...(They think I am an idiot, obviously and of course the phone was working fine when I was there...duh!) They also gave me a new sim card.
I *really* want to love this phone! But I'm finding it frustratingly undependable. Texts won't send when I need them to. I'm not getting them either, always. Voice is hit or miss when it drops (sometimes it works, sometimes not.) I have ALSO noticed the signal is not as strong as my old beloved Cappy. That thing was a horse (and I'm thinking of going back to it if this new one doesn't wise up!) Seriously, $300 bucks for a brand new phone & it can't keep a proper signal?
Is it the radio? Is it the software (still 100% stock, unrooted)? Should I make them give me a new one? What if it doesn't work, either? Flashing it to fix the issue is fine for me, but I've been holding out for multi-view before I get flash-crazy. lol Not to mention I may have to return it so better to not mess with it [yet]. I'm very frustrated & tired of getting looked upon like I'm the typical woman idiot who is not as smart as her new smartphone!!! I am NOT imagining it!!!

k.babymamma said:
I have been having a lot of problems with my new honey, namely in the signal department! I went through a whole thing with it right after activation...it worked, then didn't, then did...etc. A chat session, phone call, & 2 trip to the actual store (all in 1 day!) resulted in them doing a factory reset and sending me on my looney way. It seemed to have helped, for about a day and a half. Now it is dropping signal again! It seems to do so, sometimes, when I have the wifi on. But then sometimes not (I'm not sure if wifi is culprit or coincidence.)
The ATT store employees said I may have changed a setting (I'm sure I didn't as I don't know of any setting that would even cause that!) and also "explained" my signal will naturally fluctuate...(They think I am an idiot, obviously and of course the phone was working fine when I was there...duh!) They also gave me a new sim card.
I *really* want to love this phone! But I'm finding it frustratingly undependable. Texts won't send when I need them to. I'm not getting them either, always. Voice is hit or miss when it drops (sometimes it works, sometimes not.) I have ALSO noticed the signal is not as strong as my old beloved Cappy. That thing was a horse (and I'm thinking of going back to it if this new one doesn't wise up!) Seriously, $300 bucks for a brand new phone & it can't keep a proper signal?
Is it the radio? Is it the software (still 100% stock, unrooted)? Should I make them give me a new one? What if it doesn't work, either? Flashing it to fix the issue is fine for me, but I've been holding out for multi-view before I get flash-crazy. lol Not to mention I may have to return it so better to not mess with it [yet]. I'm very frustrated & tired of getting looked upon like I'm the typical woman idiot who is not as smart as her new smartphone!!! I am NOT imagining it!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would definitely take it back and make them give you a new one.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2

Sounds like your antennae is shorting out or something like it wasn't soldered properly or the cable isn't secure. Would explain why WiFi affects it. I'd go there and demand a replacement and if they don't wanna budge your within 30 day no questions return. Then go to a diff store and get a new one. I really don't see it being a software issue.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda premium

cjsspape said:
Sounds like your antennae is shorting out or something like it wasn't soldered properly or the cable isn't secure. Would explain why WiFi affects it. I'd go there and demand a replacement and if they don't wanna budge your within 30 day no questions return. Then go to a diff store and get a new one. I really don't see it being a software issue.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it possible that whatever the problem was, it miraculously resolved itself? I had it drop signal two more times since this post, then nothing since. It's been working perfectly. I hate to keep it if it might arise again but I hate to return it if it was some weird fluke thing.
This may or may not be related to the above problem: has anyone noticed their reception is not as good as on a previous device? I had a Cappy and it always got great signal. I noticed this one is not as strong in the same places I previously visited with my old phone. Although admittedly, it seems to be improving. Does that even make sense or is even possible? Just like me, my phone has to be the goofball of the bunch!

k.babymamma said:
Is it possible that whatever the problem was, it miraculously resolved itself? I had it drop signal two more times since this post, then nothing since. It's been working perfectly. I hate to keep it if it might arise again but I hate to return it if it was some weird fluke thing.
This may or may not be related to the above problem: has anyone noticed their reception is not as good as on a previous device? I had a Cappy and it always got great signal. I noticed this one is not as strong in the same places I previously visited with my old phone. Although admittedly, it seems to be improving. Does that even make sense or is even possible? Just like me, my phone has to be the goofball of the bunch!
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Haha I'm glad its working better but I still think it may be hardware related. I get better signal now with this device then my sIII or my note before it. Have ya done anything to your phone at all? Root mod etc?
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cjsspape said:
Haha I'm glad its working better but I still think it may be hardware related. I get better signal now with this device then my sIII or my note before it. Have ya done anything to your phone at all? Root mod etc?
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Nope. I've done nothing because I'm having this returning debate. lol I'm itching to though!
This is classic "my car doesn't work so take it to the garage then it works fine and they will make fun of you" If I do return it what do I say? It is documented about my "troubles" as per the ATT phone rep. Though if I can't reproduce the problem they're just going to send me on my way, I'm afraid.

k.babymamma said:
Nope. I've done nothing because I'm having this returning debate. lol I'm itching to though!
This is classic "my car doesn't work so take it to the garage then it works fine and they will make fun of you" If I do return it what do I say? It is documented about my "troubles" as per the ATT phone rep. Though if I can't reproduce the problem they're just going to send me on my way, I'm afraid.
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With enough "negotiating" they'll take it back haha. Plus are you still within your no ask return window? Just explain how its sporatic but annoying to the point its not functional for reliable use and they should do something within their power to help ya out
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k.babymamma said:
Nope. I've done nothing because I'm having this returning debate. lol I'm itching to though!
This is classic "my car doesn't work so take it to the garage then it works fine and they will make fun of you" If I do return it what do I say? It is documented about my "troubles" as per the ATT phone rep. Though if I can't reproduce the problem they're just going to send me on my way, I'm afraid.
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You spent enough money on the device, you should be absolutely happy with it, not apprehensive. If you wait past the return date, it's going to sit in the pit of your stomach for 20 months and ruin your enjoyment of it until you can upgrade again. Not worth it. Smile your brightest smile, walk into the store, very nicely tell them that you've had multiple issues and the AT&T phone reps said to go in and ask for an exchange. That's it. They're going to count on you being intimidated and going away. Smile, be nice, and don't be intimidated.
If they say you have to reproduce the problem, invite them to spend the day with you. The Note 2 is amazing and you shouldn't settle if you believe your hardware is having problems.

UserNamer said:
You spent enough money on the device, you should be absolutely happy with it, not apprehensive. If you wait past the return date, it's going to sit in the pit of your stomach for 20 months and ruin your enjoyment of it until you can upgrade again. Not worth it. Smile your brightest smile, walk into the store, very nicely tell them that you've had multiple issues and the AT&T phone reps said to go in and ask for an exchange. That's it. They're going to count on you being intimidated and going away. Smile, be nice, and don't be intimidated.
If they say you have to reproduce the problem, invite them to spend the day with you. The Note 2 is amazing and you shouldn't settle if you believe your hardware is having problems.
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Yes. I have decided to take it in later today, as my 14 days is up on Friday. I hope they have stock of them. Anyhow...I have another question. If a phone is sitting still with no movement (and the weather is good, lol) will there be variations in signal strength? I get 3 bars with 4G showing, then it drops to one tiny bar. Sometimes the 4G disappears then reappears. The it will go back up to 4 bars. All in the course 5 minutes! I do realize signal will vary with movement but will it if your phone is just sitting there?
I am trying to experiment a little. I just realized/remembered that I had (uneventfully) dropped my phone (not hard, in-case) about the same time as my dropped signal problem pretty much resolved itself. So then I was like, hmm, maybe there IS something loose inside. I've tried gently shaking/jarring it here on my desk, coincidentally with the bars dropping back to just 1 as a result. But then again it may be coincidental as they are seeming to waiver A LOT. I just wondered if it is normal.
I never really stared at my old phone (Galaxy1) here at my desk but I'm almost positive it always had more than 1 bar at this same location and I never noticed it waiver like this one. But like I said I never had to make myself stare at it to check, either! lol Just wondering if someone knows a little more about cellphone signal 101 than me.

I have the issue of no 4G HSPA+ but I can get a strong LTE signal when in an LTE reception area. I'm wondering if you are in an LTE area and can get LTE? Where are you located?
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I have noticed problems with my GN2 as well. Mine shows I have signal but my data stalls or doesn't seem to work as it should. I'm in an area where there shouldn't be any problems. Only seems to happen in non LTE areas. Whenever I have LTE signal this thing is blazing fast.
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Update: Took the phone in. Basically, they had never heard of the issue with this phone. But...I walked away with a replacement. So far so good though I've had it only a few hours. The girl was very nice & explained even though I was borderline limit she would take care of me. I told her I received it Fri the 9th but she said they were basing the 14 days on the 7th! I said I didn't physically have it till the 9th! Jeeze. Moot point since she was going to take care of it anyhow but it just concerned me how (corporate) att could chop 2 days of my in-store return time!
So no, I'm not in LTE land, unfortunately. 3g H+ & E only though I can't complain about the coverage or speed. Good enough for me 4 sure.
The signal bars waivered quite a bit even while in the store. They said while some fluctuation is normal it shouldn't be as much as it was doing especially with the close proximity of the tower & good weather and especially while just sitting on the counter.
I downloaded the free app "No Signal Alert" from the Play Store. In just a few hours it recorded lost signal 4 times! (In a very good coverage area) [my first phone b4 the exchange] Consider using it if you want to see if you are losing signal like I was. Handy app!
Hopefully this is a good one. I know it sounds goofy but this phone seems to even move faster than the other. Weird. It will be interesting to hear if anyone else is having this problem. Maybe there was a bad batch of them or something? Like the Nexus I read about & their signal problems.
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Haha im glad that they helped ya! No its not goofy or silly to think that one phones faster then another because no two phones are alike. The silicone chips are very different and performance can very greatly. I had an s3 that wouldnt take custom kernels to save its life but I got it replaced after a two year old and a toilet incident haha and that one took even the most abusive settings in stride!
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I have a similar situation with mine. LTE will be working fine but then I notice that once I connect to my home wifi and then either leave my wifi range or turn off wifi the LTE icon will show in the status bar and it will show that it's sending and receiving data but Web pages will stall and never load, Play Store will timeout, and SpeedTest.net will start up but the needle will freeze about 1/8 of the way up indefinitely. I've toggled data at this point but it never fixes it, I have to restart the phone at which point LTE works perfectly but once I get back on my wifi the cycle will repeat, this has happened reliably for about the past week.
Do you all think I have a defective radio or am I missing something? I'm still within my return Window and will probably swap it Friday.
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williamsjscott said:
I have a similar situation with mine. LTE will be working fine but then I notice that once I connect to my home wifi and then either leave my wifi range or turn off wifi the LTE icon will show in the status bar and it will show that it's sending and receiving data but Web pages will stall and never load, Play Store will timeout, and SpeedTest.net will start up but the needle will freeze about 1/8 of the way up indefinitely. I've toggled data at this point but it never fixes it, I have to restart the phone at which point LTE works perfectly but once I get back on my wifi the cycle will repeat, this has happened reliably for about the past week.
Do you all think I have a defective radio or am I missing something? I'm still within my return Window and will probably swap it Friday.
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Yea my wifi lte transfer is always spot on so something may be wrong
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williamsjscott said:
I have a similar situation with mine. LTE will be working fine but then I notice that once I connect to my home wifi and then either leave my wifi range or turn off wifi the LTE icon will show in the status bar and it will show that it's sending and receiving data but Web pages will stall and never load, Play Store will timeout, and SpeedTest.net will start up but the needle will freeze about 1/8 of the way up indefinitely. I've toggled data at this point but it never fixes it, I have to restart the phone at which point LTE works perfectly but once I get back on my wifi the cycle will repeat, this has happened reliably for about the past week.
Do you all think I have a defective radio or am I missing something? I'm still within my return Window and will probably swap it Friday.
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Sounds very similar to how mine is acting. I'm wondering if it is the ATT smart WiFi app causing the problem. Shows data incoming and outgoing but stalls.
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kkl0wn said:
Sounds very similar to how mine is acting. I'm wondering if it is the ATT smart WiFi app causing the problem. Shows data incoming and outgoing but stalls.
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That's exactly how it's acting for me. I just now disabled the AT&T Smart WiFi app and after a quick restart and toggle test there was no problems, but I'm not sure if the problem will only pop up after I've been on wifi for a while. I'm going to see if it keeps doing it tomorrow.
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Disabling Smart WiFi appeared to fix the problem.
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What I noticed today is that when this same issue happens, with 4G icon and wifi icon both active, it occurs after I manually check for a firmware update within the system settings. The 4G icon doesn't go away until I reset the phone.
Also I manually deleted the all the AT&T boat ware apps before this was happening so the smart wifi app is not causing this for me.
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Weird, if you get the issue and don't have the Smart WiFi app then it must be something else and it was coincidence that it worked normal for me today. I've only checked for firmware once (when I first got my phone) so it must be something else causing it. I'm hoping the multi view firmware will also have a fix for it.
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