Phone useless; demands KK Update. Razr M wrecked by KK, so freaked over KK on S4!

[AC Question]

I got my brand new Galaxy S4 yesterday as an upgrade on my sister's Family Plan. Was especially impressed by fabulous voice-to-text accuracy and gorgeous screen. Am coming off (or was) an Android Razr M which was wrecked by the KK update I installed w/o researching it. To my horror, I later found it wreaked havoc on lots of people, enraging many--and couldn't be removed. After getting out a whole one call on my new Galaxy S4 phone, I am now in "update or your phone's unusable" hell. After fruitlessly trying to get out of the two endlessly looping update screens, I shut the phone off, removed the S4's battery (ending interference the new phone was causing the old phone) and called Verizon.

The tech support guy was very helpful, but his responses indicated people were having problems with KK and that the installation should never have been forced, that there were other issues and that a fix was in the works. As to installing or not installing KK--which is also permanent when installed on the S4--he said it was my call. Having a) completely disabled the phone and ) been firmly told by him NOT to reassemble it and turn it back on, the plan is now to call tech support on another phone (hard to do given housemates are generally on the go) or send in an E-mail to the tech, with my phone number and the number of the still unobtained borrowed phone. He told me when his schedule was for Friday, August 1st, and gave me his E-mail to send in the info, but with no additional phone, no message could be sent. He's also likely off for the weekend. Regardless, the plan was to back up my contacts to the Cloud, flash the phone and (we hoped) wipe out the confounded phone paralyzing update demand.

Knowing what I now know, from both him and all of you (thanks!), KK for the S4 seems to be another disaster story; I want nothing to do with it, yet presently can't use my phone at all because of the forced update screens. Thank goodness the guy at Best Buy talked me out of recycling my crippled Razr M, else I wouldn't have any phone capability at all! If the tech support flashing doesn't work, then I'll have a useless phone. Am so upset, I'm seriously thinking of returning this phone to Best Buy and getting something else.

Does anyone know how to get rid of the KK update screen so I can use my seemingly great new phone? I'm frustrated beyond words and thoroughly detest the (insert nasty word) who wrote KK for the S4 and the (ditto) who approved it and set it loose upon us! You'd think Verizon would've learned from earlier KK debacles. Gah! These people make rocks look smart. Apologies to rocks! Help!!!

 

[UJ95x]

It's a lot more likely that you won't see any issues with KK than the chances that you would. Tech support and forums like this just seem to make it a lot more common, because well, that's what we're here for. A user not having issues is not going to come here and say that his phone is fine whereas a user who is having issues will try to get them sorted out.
I know 4 people personally with an S4 and 2 with an S3 on KK. No issues for them.
That being said, you can try turning on your phone, holding the notification for the update and seeing if there is a way to dismiss or disable it. If not, you can test out KK. If it has issues, then I'd return it. Not before

 

[B. Diddy]

I agree with UJ95x. If you do decide to accept the update, I would suggest two things:

1. Before you update, unmount the SD card and remove it. Unmount can be found in Settings>Storage. I've seen various posts about SD corruption that seemed to occur around the time of a system update.

2. After you update, boot into Recovery Mode and wipe the cache partition, which "clears the cobwebs" from this temporary system data area: Reset: Samsung Galaxy S 4 | T-Mobile Support

 

[John Kettler]

Thank you for your replies. There ought to be a way to permanently rid myself of those phone blocking forced (what ever happened to free will?) KK acceptance screens. I have zero desire to install KK, do not like the interface at all (bitterly learned lessons on my Razr M), and terrible user experiences, in some cases even worse than KK on the Razr M, have simply reinforced what my gut, mind and research told me. Frankly, I'm appalled that yet again Verizon has foisted another steaming pile upon its hapless customers--us--this time with no say so other than what time the offal will be rammed down our throats! Meanwhile, there are searing comments on Verizon's own site.

The thread is called, aptly enough," Kitkat destroyed my Galaxy S4." I most emphatically do not intend to be writing such things regarding my phone! I would post a link, but whoever designed this site foolishly (am being kind here), in my opinion, decreed that you have to have ten posts before you can link. Therefore, the readers will go have to find it for themselves on the Verizon Wireless Support page.

 

[B. Diddy]

I can understand your concerns, but on the other hand, Google and Android device manufacturers are also trying their best to address the whole fragmentation issue by trying to update devices to the most current OS version as possible. Some manufacturers seem to do it better than others, and from what I can tell on these forums, Samsung tends to have more glitches with updates.

 

[Aquila]

I'd buy a modern device already on KK so the update question is a non issue. S5, HTC One M8, Moto X or LG G3.

Nexus through spacetime. Android Central Moderator.

 

[John Kettler]

Behold! I now know the secret to ending the KK forced install nightmare! After spending a considerable amount of time talking to a Verizon tech support guy with an almost indecipherable Indian accent, over a static-filled connection, he told me that Samsung had informed him (made call while I was in primary call with him) that backing up contacts and such to the Cloud, followed by an on-the-air flash of the phone from Verizon would still not stop the KK screens which block phone usage. Instead, the only way is to take the phone to a store (heaven help the innocent online buyers) with a Samsung kiosk and have the process done there.

This flash will not only remove the KK installation demand screens, restoring phone functionality, but will obliterate any further prompts to install KK. I then contacted Best Buy's Samsung kiosk and spoke to one of the reps. He knew about KK's numerous problems, was not at all happy the software had been released and agreed it was outrageous that KK couldn't be removed once installed. He said, though, this type of OS installation was becoming more and more common among the phone manufacturers. He agreed with my suggestion that the cell phone people at the store needed to notify all Galaxy phone purchasers, especially the earlier models, about the KK situation and that they should have the Samsung kiosk people flash their phones before leaving. He said his team was already trying to intercept Galaxy purchasers before leaving the store, in order to likewise.

Getting this information was not fun or easy, but if it saves even one person from being forced to choose between a useless new Galaxy S4 and a KK damaged one (likely with loss of treasured pics in the process), then it was time well spent.

 

[Rukbat]

There's one other way to avoid an update, and I kept 4.3 on my phone until just recently, when I decided that since both root and Safestrap were available for 4.4.2, I'd update. The way? Disable the Samsung updater. You have to be rooted to do this. Of course if you're rooted, the update will abort anyway, but freezing the updater app stops the annoying notifications.

 

[John Kettler]

Rukbat,

I spent a great deal more time than expected at the Samsung kiosk at Best Buy. The squared away, charming young woman, whose badge proclaimed her an SEC (Samsung Experience Consultant) listened to what I had to say (accompanied by not aimed at her outraged customer feedback to Samsung) and flashed my phone, a protracted process. This didn't entirely solve my problem, but it did allow a period of time in which the forced install nonsense wasn't in my face and I could actually use the phone. The KK stuff is still there, just not as totally confrontational as before. Once it's on screen again, I have to use the back button to make it go away. For a bit.

She did mention rooting, together with a direct statement it would void the warranty, something I'd rather avoid with my brand new phone. She did all she could to sort out my phone, even going so far as to call Samsung tech people who support the SECs, but that was all she could do. Would you believe that I'm now supposed to take the phone to a Samsung repair center?! All this over a brand new phone for which I simply wish to keep the original JB OS and use the phone, unmolested by KK screens, prompts or anything else! Apparently, newer phones ship with KK installed already, but phones like mine, evidently stored away somewhere , simply were produced and shipped well before KK reared its ugly head. I sure hope the Samsung repair center, which has capabilities far beyond the kiosk, can definitively solve my problem and extirpate KK. And would you believe that, once installed, KK can't be removed even by Samsung?!

 

[John Kettler]

Rukbat,

To resume this delightful narrative...

Rather than make arrangements with my roommate to go haring off to the Samsung repair center, I decided it was wise to call and make sure the people at the center could actually do something to help me. Turns out, they couldn't. Even the mighty Samsung repair facility is impotent in the face of KK, being able to not even stop the screens, let alone destroy them and remove all prompts. Also, even the center can't remove KK once installed. Despite being Samsung, neither would the people there root the phone to remove the KK screens. Thus, my choices were stark: either keep JB and endure KK screens every few minutes (back button to buy a few minutes w/o being hassled) or install KK. I decided my sanity was important, so allowed KK. The prescribed time went by, only to reveal to me--the bloody thing hadn't installed. Having had quite enough stress for the day, I gave up and crashed.

(Cut to)

It's morning. Full of (wholly unwarranted) optimism, I set out to make some calls from my Samsung Galaxy S4--of which every last one either dropped or generated the Verizon lady with a tale of woe and Switch Number something or other. Back to Verizon Tech Support on my KK-crippled Razr M, after first trying both shutting down the S4, then restarting and the more extreme way, consisting of shutting off the phone, removing the battery, putting the phone back together, then restarting. No joy. The Verizon guy was great, listened to me describe the issues at length and had me dismantle the phone, pull the SIM card and give him the number on it. For real fun, try this exercise while twitchy! It's a wonder I didn't ruin the SIM card. Happily, I did manage to get it put back in, and the phone together, and it still worked. He then sent me a text by way of a test. The text came to my S4. Good so far. He then called me, and that came to my old phone. Hmm. Further investigation found that, despite what I'd been told, my S4 was not selected. The guy told me this was why the KK update didn't take and why my calls bombed. He then told me that when he switched the activation to the S4, I'd lose the connection with him on the Razr M, but that he would call me back to make sure my new phone was working. Meanwhile, he urged me to try out any other number to test functionality from my end. Did so, and it worked. Got his call with no problems, too. Yay!

KK's installation scared me. The phone got quite hot, but it returned to normal once the download was complete. Phone seems okay, but I can't toggle Locations ON for some reason. Weirdly, the default Home screen doesn't display the temperature and weather, as shown in the Home control panel, but the simplified one does!

In conclusion, short of rooting the phone, the only way to keep JB is to flash the phone at a Samusng kiosk; even then, prepare to be bugged by the KK "Install me!" screens every few minutes. If that's not your idea of fun, install KK and hope it doesn't screw up your phone. It is absolutely essential the S4 be selected at Verizon, preferably before leaving the store. I've informed the Samsung people at Best Buy of everything I learned the hard way, and the word about my discoveries is now being promulgated throughout their SEC network. Protecting the SDC was not relevant in my case, there being no SDC installed in my phone.

Hope this information saves other people a lot of frustration, misery and wasted effort!

 

[Leo G]

Now you should root your phone with towelroot and then install SuperSU. Then you can freeze any further updates.