Has this phone gone to crap?

[Bmwillz]

On stock froyo and it seems this phone has gotten so much worst. Minus the android system this phone is so buggy.

Wifi connect issues
Home screen blanks after exiting apps sometimes
inconsistent 4g signal strength even when standing in one location
Force close apps including internet
etc etc......

Anyone use a non samsung phone like evo 4g having significant issues.

 

[eze036]

yea my evo takes forever to connect and i lose it alot when im in the same location..after 2.2 on the epic it been having so many issues..nothing new because all of samsung upgrades mess up the phone

 

[kevincwelch]

I don't consider this to be a statement to agitate anyone, but have you considered rooting your phone or installing a custom ROM like SyndicateROM or ACE? Both offer brisk performance with good battery life and very few bugs. I have been running SFR and ACE for a while without any major problems -- at its very worst, with the bugs, it is still WAY better than stock Froyo.

On stock froyo and it seems this phone has gotten so much worst. Minus the android system this phone is so buggy.

Wifi connect issues
Home screen blanks after exiting apps sometimes
inconsistent 4g signal strength even when standing in one location
Force close apps including internet
etc etc......

Anyone use a non samsung phone like evo 4g having significant issues.

 

[ShaLea]

I don't consider this to be a statement to agitate anyone, but have you considered rooting your phone or installing a custom ROM like SyndicateROM or ACE? Both offer brisk performance with good battery life and very few bugs. I have been running SFR and ACE for a while without any major problems -- at its very worst, with the bugs, it is still WAY better than stock Froyo.

+1 on rooting & trying a custom ROM. I'm on Bonsai & it runs great. I have also tried ACE which runs great. jmo

 

[Bmwillz]

Never rooted my phone. I also use a mac. I've seen videos to root the phone using just the phone alone. I'm just not too confident messing with it. I'm pretty sure its easy once I learn how but that first step is always the hardest

 

[NIUHuskie]

Never rooted my phone. I also use a mac. I've seen videos to root the phone using just the phone alone. I'm just not too confident messing with it. I'm pretty sure its easy once I learn how but that first step is always the hardest

Bmwillz, I'm with you. It appears to be pretty easy to root the phone, but I can't get myself to do it because I just don't want to break it.

To go back to your original post though, yes, I agree that the Epic has become terribly buggy since getting Froyo. I've had more force closed programs the last few weeks than I did in the first 6 months. Even the "phone" force closed itself, causing it to go into an endless loop of my ringtone. I had to pull the battery just to get it to stop. My wife also has the Epic and has tons of problems as well. We're both very annoyed at the text messaging function. Sometimes they just never send, or we don't receive them until long after they've been sent. She's ready to quit Sprint and go back to T-Mo.

 

[kevincwelch]

Never rooted my phone. I also use a mac. I've seen videos to root the phone using just the phone alone. I'm just not too confident messing with it. I'm pretty sure its easy once I learn how but that first step is always the hardest

Hmm. You could always get a PC .

The first step is obviously building up the confidence to begin the process. It took me a few weeks of researching before I decided to do this given that I use my phone frequently for work applications, and I finally made the jump over a 4 day weekend.

Once you install everything on your SD card, you can make backups and restore pretty quickly. I go back and forth from SRF to ACE for no good reason other than to "be different."

But, honestly, with any of the ROMs out there for the Epic, you'll get better performance compared to anything stock. I've also tried a number of different kernels and have settled on Genocide. I think it works the best for my phone. Others have different needs.

I usually keep SetCPU on 1000/100 on demand and get at least 24 hours of light use (reading push email, texts, a couple of phone calls), 14 hours of moderate use (frequent email, text, browsing, 15 minutes here and there of gaming), and 6 or so with heavy use (my daughter playing games).

 

[Andrew Ruffolo]

Hmm. You could always get a PC .

The first step is obviously building up the confidence to begin the process. It took me a few weeks of researching before I decided to do this given that I use my phone frequently for work applications, and I finally made the jump over a 4 day weekend.

Once you install everything on your SD card, you can make backups and restore pretty quickly. I go back and forth from SRF to ACE for no good reason other than to "be different."

But, honestly, with any of the ROMs out there for the Epic, you'll get better performance compared to anything stock. I've also tried a number of different kernels and have settled on Genocide. I think it works the best for my phone. Others have different needs.

I usually keep SetCPU on 1000/100 on demand and get at least 24 hours of light use (reading push email, texts, a couple of phone calls), 14 hours of moderate use (frequent email, text, browsing, 15 minutes here and there of gaming), and 6 or so with heavy use (my daughter playing games).

You can use the one-click on any platform.

 

[tnuts]

On stock froyo and it seems this phone has gotten so much worst. Minus the android system this phone is so buggy.

Wifi connect issues
Home screen blanks after exiting apps sometimes
inconsistent 4g signal strength even when standing in one location
Force close apps including internet
etc etc......

Anyone use a non samsung phone like evo 4g having significant issues.

yea, bottom line you're looking at rooting or waiting for gingerbread. i've heard a lot of complaining about froyo in these forums that sound exactly like what you're talking about. the good news is gingerbread is coming out for the epic, and it sounds like it's coming soon (there is already a leaked version if you want to try it out). however, don't rule out rooting your phone, i am SO much happier with the device after rooting it (ACE ROM 2.0). i know it's a little scary, but it's almost impossible to ruin your phone. you can always flash it back to stock if you want to, and these forums have very detailed, step-by-step instructions as well as great troubleshooting tips if you run into problems. but if you really just don't feel comfortable doing it, don't do it. it's your phone. good luck!

 

[Bmwillz]

Ok. If I can get directions to back up my phone to restore it to its current status I'll try rooting. I currently have two epics. One I just received from sprint after complaining about software issues with out froyo and my current phone. All I need is the assurance and know how to return my phone to its current status should anything happen. Also because I have to return it back to sprint.

 

[Bmwillz]

Bmwillz, I'm with you. It appears to be pretty easy to root the phone, but I can't get myself to do it because I just don't want to break it.

To go back to your original post though, yes, I agree that the Epic has become terribly buggy since getting Froyo. I've had more force closed programs the last few weeks than I did in the first 6 months. Even the "phone" force closed itself, causing it to go into an endless loop of my ringtone. I had to pull the battery just to get it to stop. My wife also has the Epic and has tons of problems as well. We're both very annoyed at the text messaging function. Sometimes they just never send, or we don't receive them until long after they've been sent. She's ready to quit Sprint and go back to T-Mo.

If I successfully root my phone I'll let you know how it went and give you personal step by step instructions. When I read some of these instructions after five minutes I'm ready to call it quits lol

 

[tnuts]

Ok. If I can get directions to back up my phone to restore it to its current status I'll try rooting. I currently have two epics. One I just received from sprint after complaining about software issues with out froyo and my current phone. All I need is the assurance and know how to return my phone to its current status should anything happen. Also because I have to return it back to sprint.

like i said it's almost impossible to COMPLETELY brick your phone. as long as you back it up you can always just flash back to stock, and worse case you can use odin to do a factory reset. if you go to the "rooting, roms, and hacks" section there is a ton of information, including links to ROMs how to videos, ect. and everyone is more than happy to help if you have questions.

 

[TexasEpic4G]

like i said it's almost impossible to COMPLETELY brick your phone. as long as you back it up you can always just flash back to stock, and worse case you can use odin to do a factory reset. if you go to the "rooting, roms, and hacks" section there is a ton of information, including links to ROMs how to videos, ect. and everyone is more than happy to help if you have questions.

Yep = totally agree with what everyone here is saying. I've only had my Epic for going on 2 months and was a little worried about "rooting & ROMing" , but I did alot of reading , learned thru some errors , and ALWAYS got great support and help from the kind folks in here ( especially Paul627g / Ragnarokx / qbking77 ( who has some excellent and easy to follow "how-to" videos ) and several others ) ... I would really recommend giving it a spin and see how you like things

 

[Andrew Ruffolo]

I'd like to extend my help if you would like it. I used to log into peoples computers through logmein and root their Hero's for them. It was pretty painless and took max an hour if the ROMs weren't downloaded. I can do the same now... but I'm working night shift through Wednesday morning. I'm available anytime after that if you don't mind the wait. Just PM me and I will give you my cell phone number/email where you can get a hold of me. I've rooted/recovered my epic so many times now, I'm surprised it still works (hehe, just kidding).

 

[coolqf]

download a backup app and backup your stuff and do a hard reset. My. Phone is extremely stable and I've had it since aug. 31st. Rooting... it's a catch 22. the roms are great, but most have journaling off, which means if you ever pull the battery out or let the phone die... you're in trouble. You can turn journalling on, but it's another layer of work... so, hard reset the bugger after doing a backup.

 

[jrz5024]

download a backup app and backup your stuff and do a hard reset. My. Phone is extremely stable and I've had it since aug. 31st. Rooting... it's a catch 22. the roms are great, but most have journaling off, which means if you ever pull the battery out or let the phone die... you're in trouble. You can turn journalling on, but it's another layer of work... so, hard reset the bugger after doing a backup.

Rooting is not a catch-22... that's not what a catch-22 is.

Personally, I ran SRF no journaling for months with zero problems whatsoever. Many people had different experiences, but I was just careful not to reset my phone improperly. However, if you are concerned about data corruption, most roms (SRF included) offer a journaling-on option that takes no more work to install than the journaling-off option. And journaling can be enabled anytime on a no-journaling rom by simply making and restoring a nandroid backup.

 

[Paul627g]

Not to be forgotten now there is a simple flashable zip in CWM that can enable/disable journaling. Link is available in the Rooting/ROMS/Hacking section.

 

[Stearmandriver]

Hey there,

Just wanted to echo that this rooting/custom ROM stuff is really worth a try. I've only had the phone for a couple weeks, but I did some reading and was able to use the one-click root method, and then flash the SyndicateROM Frozen 1.1.0. After running it for a couple days, I did some reading about journaling and installed the "journaling on" patch in CWM. Might be a hair slower now but I'll take stability any day.

Link to a MOST excellent video that runs you through the root and install:
YouTube - How to Root Samsung Epic and flash SyndicateFrozenRom 1.1.0

Because the thing is, this is SOOOO much faster than the phone came out of the box. And, battery life is greatly improved. I plan on running this till they get the kinks worked out of Gingerbread lol...

This really seems like a great helpful community. Very supportive of tinkerers ;-)

Joe