4G on the Epic won't turn on. Says "Turning on..." and then "Unknown."

[imekul]

When I go to "Wireless & Networks" and check the 4G box, it remains grayed out and says "Turning on..."

After a little bit, it will become un-grayed out, and will say "Unknown" under 4G. If I tap to turn it on again, it just does the same thing -- says "Turning on..." and then goes back to "Unknown."

In the notification area, 4G will be grayed out, but will say "On..." underneath it.

The 4G icon in the notification bar never turns green, and the check mark near 4G in the wireless settings never appears.

I'm thinking there might be something wrong with the hardware, as I believe in the past 4G would turn on and would allow me to scan for networks, regardless of whether or not I was in a 4G coverage area.

I'm not in a 4G area, but I did go to a spot where I believe there is supposed to be 4G coverage. Both times, the behavior was the same.

I have also tried wiping the device, but that didn't do anything.

Can somebody else with an Epic confirm the correct behavior? What happens when you tap to turn 4G on or off? Does it always turn on (showing the check mark and the 4G icon in the notification bar)? Or does it ever behave the way I'm describing?

Thanks!

 

[ragnarokx]

When I turn mine on it either says connected or disconnected depending on if I can get a 4G signal. I've never seen it say unknown.

 

[imekul]

If you turn on 4G, does the "4G" turn green in the notification bar, just like WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS? I'm almost sure it should, but it doesn't for me.

 

[bri637]

ShiftNo, I had the same problem for months, where the 4g button wouldn't stay green and just say Unknown. I too wiped the phone a few times and nothing got it working. Of course at the time, the people at my local Sprint store couldn't figure it out and just kept telling me it was a software issue. I was going to wait until 4g was launched in my area officially before finally trying to get a refurb. However when I installed the leaked version of froyo about a month ago, the 4g started working again, and even after reverting back to 2.1, it's still is working. So the Sprint techs might actually have been right that it is a software problem.

 

[imekul]

Wow, that's really interesting, bri637. It's odd that a wipe wouldn't do it, but loading a new ROM would!

I would imagine Sprint would replace this for me if I wanted, but it would be kind of nice if there was a fix I could apply myself.

 

[DroidXcon]

When I go to "Wireless & Networks" and check the 4G box, it remains grayed out and says "Turning on..."

After a little bit, it will become un-grayed out, and will say "Unknown" under 4G. If I tap to turn it on again, it just does the same thing -- says "Turning on..." and then goes back to "Unknown."

In the notification area, 4G will be grayed out, but will say "On..." underneath it.

The 4G icon in the notification bar never turns green, and the check mark near 4G in the wireless settings never appears.

I'm thinking there might be something wrong with the hardware, as I believe in the past 4G would turn on and would allow me to scan for networks, regardless of whether or not I was in a 4G coverage area.

I'm not in a 4G area, but I did go to a spot where I believe there is supposed to be 4G coverage. Both times, the behavior was the same.

I have also tried wiping the device, but that didn't do anything.

Can somebody else with an Epic confirm the correct behavior? What happens when you tap to turn 4G on or off? Does it always turn on (showing the check mark and the 4G icon in the notification bar)? Or does it ever behave the way I'm describing?

Thanks!

Time to return your phone

4g unknown?

http://forum.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?p=452622#post452622

 

[rando991]

You can search this forum for this topic. It was discussed back in September. Everyone of us that had the problem ended up getting a new phone from Sprint. You shouldn't have to root your phone to have that work and that is not an option for Sprint.

 

[rando991]

ShiftNo, may I ask if you were using Advanced Task Killer before you had the 4G problem?

 

[imekul]

No, I don't believe I was using ATK before I had the problem. I just got the Epic about a week ago, and had tried turning 4G on just a bit after activating the Epic. I don't think ATK was installed or running.

 

[rando991]

If you have ATK, you had to have downloaded it. Sprint recommends that you NOT use ATK on the Epic. I had ATK on our 2 phones when our 4G stopped working (both mine and my wife's phones had previously worked, then one day 2 weeks later we got that same problem). Sprint worked on them for a few hours and cried uncle before giving us each 2 new phones. Later, my wife's replacement would not receive or sent calls, text or data while receiving a roam signal. Again, after much tech support pain, 2 one hour trips to the sprint store, she was given a 2nd replacement. So far, both of these phones have worked fine since.

 

[imekul]

ShiftNo, I had the same problem for months, where the 4g button wouldn't stay green and just say Unknown. I too wiped the phone a few times and nothing got it working. Of course at the time, the people at my local Sprint store couldn't figure it out and just kept telling me it was a software issue. I was going to wait until 4g was launched in my area officially before finally trying to get a refurb. However when I installed the leaked version of froyo about a month ago, the 4g started working again, and even after reverting back to 2.1, it's still is working. So the Sprint techs might actually have been right that it is a software problem.

Do you happen to remember what leaked version of 2.2 you tried? I think I might want to give that a try.

Thanks!

 

[bfguns]

dont waste anymore time. i had the same problem you did. it's a hardware failure and not software. I took my epic to a sprint repair shop, the tech spent a good 60 minutes with it before stating i qualified for a replacement. he ran some diag codes, hooked it up to a pc and ran some hardware tests, and of course, a couple of hard resets. time for a new phone.

-BFG

 

[imekul]

The only downside is I'm facing a $35 repair/replacement fee if I get it worked on. It's kind of hard to swallow.

 

[johnnyappleseed]

Look in my post history, I think I started a thread about it back in Sept or Oct.. Was definitely a hardware failure, only fix was to swap it out with a new phone.

 

[vteclipsegs]

Add TEP (if you don't already have it) and it's a 0 cost replacement. Your phone is less than a year old so you could go through Samsung. This is a hardware issue (or at least mine was) and you're entitled to have it fixed under warranty @ 0 cost to you.

 

[Brianadfl]

Sometimes my 4g doesn't come on. I just update my prl and it fixes it.

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

 

[rando991]

Sometimes my 4g does come on. I just update my prl and it fixes it.

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

You don't have the same problem described here. Everyone else tried everything that could be done, even the Sprint techs and that would not fix our phones.

 

[imekul]

I tried different ROMs, but nothing would fix it.

I ended up swapping the Epic out, and 4G turns on just fine on my new Epic.