Factory Reset Diary?

[jfslater98]

Like many others I have read about, I had reached my end of patience with my Android phone, this one a Razr Maxx. Locking up, sometimes randomly rebooting, not even answering phone calls properly. Then I missed an important call while it was busy updating the Facebook app or something.

Angry didn't describe it. I wanted to bite it, chew a couple pieces off it, spit them out, stomp on them. Then light the rest of it on fire. Then get a sledgehammer... Oops, TMI? Anyone else ever feel this way?

Lucky for the phone I was in a public place. I managed to calm down, do a bit of research on a factory data reset. And executed it. Didn't take long, and the phone appears to be performing flawlessly.

What I was curious was if anyone recorded their experiences with rebuilding a Android phone after giving it a lobotomy. My Google-fu failed, so wondered if the collective knows of anything like that. I may start one here if folks think it might help. Otherwise, thanks to all who have posted good info on keeping folks from losing their minds over their Razr Maxx's.

 

[Golfdriver97]

Like many others I have read about, I had reached my end of patience with my Android phone, this one a Razr Maxx. Locking up, sometimes randomly rebooting, not even answering phone calls properly. Then I missed an important call while it was busy updating the Facebook app or something.

Angry didn't describe it. I wanted to bite it, chew a couple pieces off it, spit them out, stomp on them. Then light the rest of it on fire. Then get a sledgehammer... Oops, TMI? Anyone else ever feel this way?

Lucky for the phone I was in a public place. I managed to calm down, do a bit of research on a factory data reset. And executed it. Didn't take long, and the phone appears to be performing flawlessly.

What I was curious was if anyone recorded their experiences with rebuilding a Android phone after giving it a lobotomy. My Google-fu failed, so wondered if the collective knows of anything like that. I may start one here if folks think it might help. Otherwise, thanks to all who have posted good info on keeping folks from losing their minds over their Razr Maxx's.

Welcome to the forums.
What you may have been experiencing is this: Sometimes, when cached data builds up, some of it is so old the system no longer needs it. Some of it gets corrupted. The Factory reset cleared out some, if not all of that data. This refreshes the system, and it doesn't have to spend so long processing junk it doesn't have to.

Another way to do the same thing is to reboot into recovery and clear the cache partition. There is a button combination or even series of combinations, but you should have a recovery on your device. Once rebooted there, you can clear it and reboot the system.

Here is some more info: http://forums.androidcentral.com/am...recoveries-versus-stock-there-difference.html

 

[B. Diddy]

Agree with Golfdriver97. The Razr Maxx cache partition wipe procedure is here: https://motorola-global-portal.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/93162/p/30,6720,8417/action/auth

But my experience on my old retired Razr Maxx was that even after a factory reset, it was still pretty pokey. I think it's a combination of factors, but I've suspected (based on nothing at all besides my spidey sense) that it has to do with updates to Google Play Services that just don't play nice with the Razr Maxx's outdated TI OMAP processor (which TI essentially abandoned). When I moved on to my Nexus 5, I did a full factory reset of the Razr Maxx to use it as a wi-fi only device, and only installed a few apps on it (like Timely), and there was still ridiculous lag when doing simple things like opening the App Drawer or updating a system app.

 

[jfslater98]

..I've suspected (based on nothing at all besides my spidey sense) that it has to do with updates to Google Play Services that just don't play nice with the Razr Maxx's outdated TI OMAP processor

Do you think this is the reason why sometimes when I looked at battery usage, Google play services chewed up most of the battery.

Anyway, thanks for the advice and observation. My RAZR Maxx does seem like the zippy little wonder from two years ago. I suppose installing apps one at a time is SOP. One last question, for now: I'd there a standard litmus test for checking performance, something measurable? My test so far has been browsing the web while walking between buildings at work. That forces it to switch networks between Wi-Fi 4g and even 3g. Switching networks guaranteed a hissy fit from either me or the phone.

 

[Golfdriver97]

Do you think this is the reason why sometimes when I looked at battery usage, Google play services chewed up most of the battery.

Anyway, thanks for the advice and observation. My RAZR Maxx does seem like the zippy little wonder from two years ago. I suppose installing apps one at a time is SOP. One last question, for now: I'd there a standard litmus test for checking performance, something measurable? My test so far has been browsing the web while walking between buildings at work. That forces it to switch networks between Wi-Fi 4g and even 3g. Switching networks guaranteed a hissy fit from either me or the phone.

If you mean a network test, look at the Speedtest app on Play, by Ookla.

 

[B. Diddy]

I don't think there's really any standard test for overall performance. Most tests only address one particular aspect of performance. Speedtest, as suggested by Golfdriver97, only measures download speeds. Probably the best way to test overall performance is to install your usual number of apps on the device, and then use a whole bunch of them one after another. See how well the apps switch between one another, and see if performance really starts to lag as RAM is filled.

 

[jfslater98]

Thanks for advice folks. I can already see an improvement in battery. I'm 1 day 14 hours on my last charge and at 60% battery. I was definitely looking for a charger at this point. I've only installed Keep from the Play store at this point. This is a work-provided phone and work notes were in that app. Otherwise I've only using some of the other apps that came with the factory image. Taking your advice, I've started the apps that I use on a regular basis. And I've turned on location services, as I use Google Maps quite a bit. So I've started:

Keep
Email
Browser
Gmail
Phone
People
Text
Camera
Maps
Calendar
Youtube
Files
google search
text messaging

As you observed, I did see some pauses when switching between apps. It seemed like the Browser was reloading the page that was already loaded. However, all still well within a usable range. A coworker noticed how much better the phone was operating during a call.

I've avoided using Facebook, Chrome and Face Unlock until now, as I've read bad things about those apps. We'll see how it goes from here.

 

[B. Diddy]

I agree that Facebook and Chrome probably bog down the Razr Maxx. I disabled Chrome and only used the stock Browser, which was much leaner (and just as fast).

 

[jfslater98]

AT Three Days, 4 Hours And 36 Minutes I Finally Got Warmed That I Was At Ten Percent AndHaveToCharge. Apologies ForThisPost But Am On RAZR And Don'tHave Tapatalk InstalledYet.

 

[jfslater98]

Wow, posting on forums from the Android browser sure looks weird. Definitely missing some apps, but I'm loving the battery life and reliability more at this stage. I've been using the phone very lightly: couple texts, few phone calls, checking emails, poking around in apps. I've not rebooted the phone yet, I know that's sort of standard feature. It bothers me, though, that I have to reboot my phone (linux) more than my windows PCs.

I am noticing some stumbles as it transitions between networks. As I move from Wifi, to 4G/3G and back again, the browser freezes up as I try to type something in google. I'm trying to remember to tap the home button to bring up the home screen. Before the reset the phone would get completely unresponsive, to the point I just started turning off the wifi. I am noticing some hesitation now. Suppose that is to be expected.

 

[icebubba]

B. Diddy, how can I disable Chrome. The app info page won't let me disable. Do I uninstall updates and clear data? Anything else. Chrome is woeful on y Razr Maxx. Thanks in advance.

Dave

 

[B. Diddy]

Go to Settings>Apps>All​, select Chrome. You'll have to Uninstall Updates first. Once that's done, you can Disable it.

 

[icebubba]

Thanks!

 

[jfslater98]

Thanks for that tip, before I zapped my Maxx I didn't see that option either. Got another 3 days out of my last charge, so this is working well. So after this charge is over, I think I will set up Facebook and see what happens. I did reboot my phone during this recharge.
EDIT: Technically 3 days and 4 hours. This time I ran it down to 5%, I had used navigation a bit, also left it on dashboard of car so got hot warning from phone. Just turned it off until it cooled down.

6/10/2014 8:10am - untethered from power supply, set up Facebook and chose the "Don't Sync" option. I have not disabled Chrome yet, but haven't used it either.

Interesting side note: my nexus 7 tablet got the 4.4.3 kit Kat update the other day. Despite a reboot, Google maps drops dead on me pretty regularly. Oh well, one broken device at a time.

 

[jfslater98]

Facebook appears to be quite the battery hog. I'm at about the same point as June 4 post: 1 day 13 hours, 46 min. But I only have 40% charge, not 60%. I'll let it run down again and update this post with this charge's lifecycle. Schedule after that is a bit out of the norm, so may not update for a week or so. Hope no one minds me posting my observations here. More for my peace of mind, but maybe someone else will get some ideas from it. Thanks.

 

[B. Diddy]

What do you have Facebook's refresh frequency set to? Go to its settings menu and change the refresh rate to Manual. That might help reduce battery use, since it won't keep waking the phone up to try to access the web to refresh data.

 

[jfslater98]

What do you have Facebook's refresh frequency set to? Go to its settings menu and change the refresh rate to Manual. That might help reduce battery use, since it won't keep waking the phone up to try to access the web to refresh data.

Didn't even think of looking at that Diddy, good idea! But it will have to wait until my next posting. I only got 2 days and 4 hours out of the last charge, plugged it in with 10% left. I removed my Facebook account, and rebooted and recharged the phone. Just untethered it and started up the following apps:

Keep
Email
Browser
Gmail
Phone
People
Text
Camera
Maps
Calendar
Youtube
Files
google search
text messaging
Kindle (opened one book)

I will not reboot anything and will switch apps from time to time, especially when walking "between networks". Hopefully I can remember to tap the home button if an app starts locking up, to see if the whole phone is wigging out. I want to see if Facebook really stole an entire day of battery from me. Certainly I will investigate sync settings for the next charge. Thanks all!

 

[jfslater98]

Something's definitely gone off the rails. I'm at 10% after 2 days and 7 hours. Before/during this last charge, I removed a couple of apps I had used while I was away (hotels.com... can't remember the others). I left my banking app though, as I do need it. I removed the facebook account I had put back on. Then took an extra step and reset the system cache to make sure no cruft was left from those apps. I believe I had a fairly normal usage over the past two days, but something has robbed my battery of the day. I guess I'll remove the banking app to see if that has any effects, however it doesn't show up now in the list of active apps.

Edit: 6/26 7am - uninstalled banking app, rebooted phone, and finished charging. Started same set of apps as last post, in the hopes of again getting 3 days of charge.

 

[jfslater98]

At three days, 13 hours I'm at 15% charge. Even put the photobucket app on. Hard to believe the banking app chewed up all that battery. I'll confirm in a week or so, after some travel.

 

[this_is_nascar]

I have similar issues with a bogged-down Razr Maxx, running 4.1.2. I've tried the factory reset a couple times, but it always automatically want to download all my apps from Google Play. How do I tell Google Play to not auto-download my installed apps after a factory reset? I want to reset, then install my apps one by one, to monitor how they impact my phone's performance.