Question [SOLVED] Stuck in "I will be using this device" screen after factory reset

[mickael28]

Hi, I had an Android 5 device and I was factoring resetting it because it was quite slow.

After that, I'm having the problem that it doesn't allow me to add a Gmail account anymore. When entering user/password it goes to the screen:

"Who will be using this device?

* I will be using this device
* My child will be using this device

Next"

When clicking Next after selecting any of those options, nothing happens. It just clicks the button but the page doesn't change.

I've tried factory reset it again and with different accounts but still same problem.

Any idea what the issue is now and how to pass this screen?

 

[B. Diddy]

Considering how old that device is, and how old the Android version is, it could be due to a few different things. First, Lollipop is very outdated, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's starting to lose compatibility with lots of major apps and services (including Googles own). Second, a device on Lollipop will most likely be about 10 years old, which is ancient in terms of tech, so hardware could be failing and/or the firmware could be corrupt.

How crucial is it for you to use this device? No matter what you do, it will still be slow and sluggish -- that's just the nature of really outdated hardware trying to run today's software. If I were you, I'd just recycle it (or save it as an historical artifact) and upgrade to a much more current device.

 

[mickael28]

Considering how old that device is, and how old the Android version is, it could be due to a few different things. First, Lollipop is very outdated, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's starting to lose compatibility with lots of major apps and services (including Googles own). Second, a device on Lollipop will most likely be about 10 years old, which is ancient in terms of tech, so hardware could be failing and/or the firmware could be corrupt.

How crucial is it for you to use this device? No matter what you do, it will still be slow and sluggish -- that's just the nature of really outdated hardware trying to run today's software. If I were you, I'd just recycle it (or save it as an historical artifact) and upgrade to a much more current device.

Thanks, it was an Nvidia Shield Portable, mainly used for Retro games and some streaming, so it was pretty usable until a few months ago. What you said, it seems some kind of compatibility issue, I managed to sort it out after many hours messing around. I'll put what I did in another answer in case it helps anyone in the future, quite messy!

Thanks

 

[mickael28]

[SOLVED]

Managed to sort it out... but took pretty much a whole day messing around. At high level, these were the steps:

Install Android 5 compatible versions of the following:

• Google Play Store
• Google Play Services
• Chrome

At some point the Sign In screen changed to a screen with three dots on the top right where I could click 'update' apps (without having to sign in)

Did this for all available apps, restarted and eventually it allowed me to Sign In without displaying that page of 'who will be using this device?' anymore.

Easier said than done though, 'cos for installing the apps I had to create a WebDAV server to put the APKs, had to use 'adb' commands to install them etc, but got there in the end!

Pretty sure this will break again on future Factory Reset of old devices, so putting the info in a few places I was asking in case it helps other people later on.

Cheers

 

[B. Diddy]

Wow, thanks for those steps! Hope it keeps working for a while longer.