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Update bootloop, factory reset won't fix

B

Barbara Griffith

Newbie
I just bought a used Kyocera hydro icon from Amazon, for use on my boost mobile account because my ZTE max charging port died for the second time.While waiting for a new sim card to activate my device, I decided to set up everything else so I would be all set to go once I activated the device. So I did a factory reset to start with a clean slate. All was fine, I set up Google and checked for updates, there was a firmware update available so I began the download. It took a while because my WiFi kept dropping, but the download finally completed and I clicked to install. The installation began and then I got an error saying the installation could not complete and to contact my service provider. I thought this was pointless since it was purchased from a third party and.not yet active on my account. I shut it down and restarted but it got stuck in boot loop. I have already tried power+Vol down to enter recovery mode and done a factory reset and wiped the cache. Nothing works, I am still stuck in boot loop. Please help. I only bought this phone to keep my service active until I switch providers in the near future, now it seems by the time I figure out the phone problem, I will be ready to switch and been without a working phone on my service for three weeks.
 
i'm sorry you are having this issue. but i would still try to take it in to whatever service provider you intend to add the phone to. if they can't help you then i would get a refund from amazon and get another phone. they are usually pretty good with this kind of stuff.
 
ocnbrze said:
i'm sorry you are having this issue. but i would still try to take it in to whatever service provider you intend to add the phone to. if they can't help you then i would get a refund from amazon and get another phone. they are usually pretty good with this kind of stuff.
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I did contact Boost mobile tonight, and they gave me a number to contact Device Specialist Team to work on the issue. Apparently you can't install firmware updates without a sim card, I was unaware of this. Word to the wise, don't try to download updates to your phone if it does not have a sim card in it.
 
hmmmm.......i've been on sprint since the smartphones were invented.....lol so i never had to deal with sim cards. good to know.

thanx for the update.
 
ocnbrze said:
hmmmm.......i've been on sprint since the smartphones were invented.....lol so i never had to deal with sim cards. good to know.

thanx for the update.
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Your phone doesn't have a SIM card in it? That must mean your phone is using the Sprint CDMA/EVDO network only. Because AFAIK 4G LTE operation does require a carrier SIM card. Unless using an e-SIM.
 
mikedt said:
Your phone doesn't have a SIM card in it? That must mean your phone is using the Sprint CDMA/EVDO network only. Because AFAIK 4G LTE operation does require a carrier SIM card. Unless using an e-SIM.
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ok i'm a little embarrassed here. i do have a sim card for 4g. almost forgot. plus i never really had a reason to remove or replace it.

on my note 8 it is in the same place where my sd card goes into.
 
That sounds weird to me, any smartphone should work with Wi-Fi as primary Internet access, unless your phone's hardware has been modified to use 3g/4g at the first place.
 
Barbara Griffith said:
I did contact Boost mobile tonight, and they gave me a number to contact Device Specialist Team to work on the issue. Apparently you can't install firmware updates without a sim card, I was unaware of this. Word to the wise, don't try to download updates to your phone if it does not have a sim card in it.
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Can anyone confirm this claim with documented evidence?
Offhand it sounds like the customer representative you were talking to was fabricating a story as a dodge. I'd call Boost back and don't even waste time, ask right off to speak with a manager.
As for your boot looping problem, from your initial description there may be a likely chance the download of the updater file is corrupted. In that case you will probably need to delete it so the download has to be done again. Any details as to why the WiFi connection was a problem before? That might need to be accounted for so the same problem doesn't occur again.
 
I've been through so many phones i don't even know how many anymore, and several different carriers.
lvt said:
That sounds weird to me, any smartphone should work with Wi-Fi as primary Internet access, unless your phone's hardware has been modified to use 3g/4g at the first place.
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I don't know, I read somewhere that this particular phone has really bad wifi reception but even with my husbands hotspot 2 feet away, it was dropping every couple of minutes
 
svim said:
Can anyone confirm this claim with documented evidence?
Offhand it sounds like the customer representative you were talking to was fabricating a story as a dodge. I'd call Boost back and don't even waste time, ask right off to speak with a manager.
As for your boot looping problem, from your initial description there may be a likely chance the download of the updater file is corrupted. In that case you will probably need to delete it so the download has to be done again. Any details as to why the WiFi connection was a problem before? That might need to be accounted for so the same problem doesn't occur again.
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this was an assumption I made as far as not being able to update the firmware without the sim card, the rep gave me the device specialist number and advised me after talking to them I should not try to update until I get my sim card. I thought that possibly the outdated firmware was the cause for the Wi-Fi issue, that was what prompted me to try the update in the first place. Boost mobile has poor customer.service overall and that is why I bought a used phone for $40 instead of spending anywhere from $60 to $100 to get a new one, because I plan on switching very soon. I just needed a device to get through the end of the month that is already paid for.
 
Barbara Griffith said:
this was an assumption I made as far as not being able to update the firmware without the sim card, the rep gave me the device specialist number and advised me after talking to them I should not try to update until I get my sim card. I thought that possibly the outdated firmware was the cause for the Wi-Fi issue, that was what prompted me to try the update in the first place. Boost mobile has poor customer.service overall and that is why I bought a used phone for $40 instead of spending anywhere from $60 to $100 to get a new one, because I plan on switching very soon. I just needed a device to get through the end of the month that is already paid for.
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Ahhh, got it. It would be really surprising if they sold you a phone that requires a firmware update first in order for the WiFi to be fully functional. Having the customer do special maintenance tasks in order for their newly purchased phone to work out of the box would be a stretch, even for Boost.

Up until a couple of years ago or so, almost all the phones in the 'budget' category were pretty crappy and while there are a lot of barely functional phone models still being sold, there are a lot of good, reliable phones available these days too that aren't too pricey:
https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-budget-android-phone/
Just be sure to get one that's compatible with your carrier (and/or your future carrier).
 
So, I contacted the "Device Specialist" Boost mobile gave me. They said it was their device specialist team, in reality it was the number for Kyocera Tech Support. Unfortunately, because the phone.was bought from a third party and not under warranty, the only.thing they can do at this point if factory reset and cache wipe haven't worked, is have me.send it in and pay $30 to have it flashed. NOT AN OPTION. By the time I get it back, I'll be switching to Metro by TMobile, and then I'll be out $70 for the phone and repair, plus the 3weeks service I couldn't use, and the phone is locked to Boost so I can't use on T-Mobile. Please, is there any way to fix this? I don't have a PC but can I somehow flash it myself using an Xbox360 instead, it's basically a glorified Microsoft computer right?
 
Barbara Griffith said:
So, I contacted the 'Device Specialist' Boost mobile gave me. They said it was their device specialist team, in reality it was the number for Kyocera Tech Support. Unfortunately, because the phone.was bought from a third party and not under warranty, the only.thing they can do at this point if factory reset and cache wipe haven't worked, is have me.send it in and pay $30 to have it flashed. NOT AN OPTION. By the time I get it back, I'll be switching to Metro by TMobile, and then I'll be out $70 for the phone and repair, plus the 3weeks service I couldn't use, and the phone is locked to Boost so I can't use on T-Mobile. Please, is there any way to fix this? I don't have a PC but can I somehow flash it myself using an Xbox360 instead, it's basically a glorified Microsoft computer right?
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Nope won't work
 
Barbara Griffith said:
...Please, is there any way to fix this? I don't have a PC but can I somehow flash it myself using an Xbox360 instead, it's basically a glorified Microsoft computer right?
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Well a Xbox 360 and a Microsoft PC are both Microsoft products but outside of that the former runs its own unique Xbox 360 operating system (optimized to run specifically on Xbox 360 hardware) and the latter runs on the Windows operating system.
If you don't have access to a computer, your options become a lot more limited. There are possible solutions where you copy a ROM to a microSD card but with the low system resources available on a phone like your Kyocera you're even more limited.
Buying the lowest cost phones saves money up front but in the long term rarely pay off as well.
 
Barbara Griffith said:
I did contact Boost mobile tonight, and they gave me a number to contact Device Specialist Team to work on the issue. Apparently you can't install firmware updates without a sim card, I was unaware of this. Word to the wise, don't try to download updates to your phone if it does not have a sim card in it.
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Cantt install updates without a sim, thats some bull since when does a sim card need a firmware update lol
 
well, I contacted Boost mobile again, this time speaking to tech support. They are telling me, once I receive my sim card the download and installation should be able to complete and this fix the boot loop. I guess we'll see what happens then. Apparently for some reason my phone has to be active for the update to finish installing. Sounds like a crock to me too, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that its correct and.true.
 
lvt said:
Personally I'd like to own a SIM-free phone instead of a SIM-locked phone.
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I can definitely agree with that sentiment, however, I haven't been able to find too many of them and finding.one compatible with my service is even harder. Once I switch, hopefully it will be easier to unlock my phone. Boost has the most unreasonable unlock policy of all the carriers IMO. The device, must be active on your service for 12 full months, and if your phone gets broken and has to be replaced you start all over. So when my zte max charger port broke the first time, that screwed me on unlocking the replacement. This time I decided, I would rather buy a cheap used phone to get me through until I switch carriers.
 
Cyberdev said:
Cantt install updates without a sim, thats some bull since when does a sim card need a firmware update lol
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that's what I was thinking, but boost keeps telling.me that the installation could not complete because it had no sim card. I personally don't think anyone at boost mobile knows what they're talking about. However, the error message did say to contact my service provider, so maybe there is some truth to this. Why would it tell me to contact my service provider unless that had something.to do with the.installation failure. Anyway, I got my sim and they were unable to fix the issue OTA will take the phone to a store as soon as I can to see if they can fix it there. Otherwise I just bought a $40 paperweight because the seller i bought it from on Amazon won't give a refund claiming it was in full working order when he sent it and I damaged it. I told him if a firmware update bricked it, then it was not in full working order when he sent it. Am I wrong?
 
Barbara Griffith said:
that's what I was thinking, but boost keeps telling.me that the installation could not complete because it had no sim card. I personally don't think anyone at boost mobile knows what they're talking about. However, the error message did say to contact my service provider, so maybe there is some truth to this. Why would it tell me to contact my service provider unless that had something.to do with the.installation failure. Anyway, I got my sim and they were unable to fix the issue OTA will take the phone to a store as soon as I can to see if they can fix it there. Otherwise I just bought a $40 paperweight because the seller i bought it from on Amazon won't give a refund claiming it was in full working order when he sent it and I damaged it. I told him if a firmware update bricked it, then it was not in full working order when he sent it. Am I wrong?
Click to expand...
You van contact amazon directly and get it escalated if possible
 
Cyberdev said:
You van contact amazon directly and get it escalated if possible
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I plan on taking the phone to a boost store tomorrow, to see if they can reprogram it in store. If it doesn't work then that is exactly what I'm going to do, and I'm also going to post a review of the seller warning people not to buy from him.
 
Barbara Griffith said:
So, I contacted the "Device Specialist" Boost mobile gave me. They said it was their device specialist team, in reality it was the number for Kyocera Tech Support. Unfortunately, because the phone.was bought from a third party and not under warranty, the only.thing they can do at this point if factory reset and cache wipe haven't worked, is have me.send it in and pay $30 to have it flashed. NOT AN OPTION. By the time I get it back, I'll be switching to Metro by TMobile, and then I'll be out $70 for the phone and repair, plus the 3weeks service I couldn't use, and the phone is locked to Boost so I can't use on T-Mobile. Please, is there any way to fix this? I don't have a PC but can I somehow flash it myself using an Xbox360 instead, it's basically a glorified Microsoft computer right?
Click to expand...

FYI the original first Xbox used PC architecture. But the 360 does not, it's completely different. It has a Power-PC processor and not x86 for a start. There's hacks to run Linux and various homebrew on Xbox360, but that won't help you with this phone

Can't you beg, steal or borrow a PC for a few hours?
 
mikedt said:
FYI the original first Xbox used PC architecture. But the 360 does not, it's completely different. It has a Power-PC processor and not x86 for a start. There's hacks to run Linux and various homebrew on Xbox360, but that won't help you with this phone

Can't you beg, steal or borrow a PC for a few hours?
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unfortunately the only places I can access a PC are my in laws and work. Work is an absolute no no, and my in laws are so paranoid they would not allow me to install any of the necessary programs
 
Barbara Griffith said:
unfortunately the only places I can access a PC are my in laws and work. Work is an absolute no no, and my in laws are so paranoid they would not allow me to install any of the necessary programs
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Wish I could help you more. Myself, I've never had to deal with locked phones and restrictive carrier cartels.
 
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