Help phone dying?

[weamish]

My phone is a little over 2 years old, having multiple issues. MMS works only sporadically, often unable to get signal in areas which used to be no problem, etc. Tried clearing cache and master reset, no change. Do these things tend to die slowly? It still works ok some of the time, but much less reliable than previously. Hate to buy a new phone if I don't have to, but this is getting pretty aggravating.

Thanks for your help!

...Steve

 

[lunatic59]

Usually when they fail they simply stop working. While it's possible that a portion of the antenna is damaged rendering it more likely to lose signal, i'd think that it's more likely something else is going on.

 

[weamish]

While it's possible that a portion of the antenna is damaged rendering it more likely to lose signal, i'd think that it's more likely something else is going on.

Wondered about that, but can't figure out why a master reset wouldn't fix it, if that's the case...

 

[lunatic59]

Does it work any differently plugged in? It might be the battery is not providing enough current ... the right voltage to run the phone, but not enough amps to power it properly. (just guessing there).

A master reset (factory reset) will only clear the user data. It doesn't reinstall the system. If something in the OS has become corrupt, then you'll have to flash a stock image rather than factory reset.

 

[weamish]

Same issues when plugged in. Not sure how to flash a stock image, would need to root it first?

 

[lunatic59]

No root needed, but you will need to find the correct stock image and use Odin.

Check out www.sammobile.com/firmwares to see if you can find the rom that's right for your phone. Just type in your model number. The T-Mobile version of the SGS2 is SGH-T989, but you should confirm that first (on the label under the battery).