Dodgy phone? New one on a new tarriff?

[Anonymous]

Basically, I got a new contract in October along with a Galaxy S2. However, ever since then I've had trouble with the phone (random crashes to an inressponsive state) and nothing I have tried will fix it. 

In fact, I'm pretty sure some of the stuff I tried will have broken any kind of warranty on the device (unless I roll it all back).

In any case, my question is - if I upgrade my tarriff to a higher one - as I understand is possible midway through a contract - can I still get a new phone? I see you can get an S3 Mini for £26 a month for £20 up front, and I do rather fancy it. Is that possible?

Or should I try to get support for my device somehow? It just seems fundamentally broken.

[Anonymous]

I've been having similar problems with my S2 for a while, thought an update to ICS would fix it (did a full factory reset) but the problems persist. Been waiting for O2 to release Jelly Bean to see if that helps, but sick of waiting and at the end of my tether with the phone!!

Did you ever find a solution? I suspected the FB app to be the main culprit but removing that hasn't helped, so can't help but think it's a hardware problem. Next option is to get O2 to replace it!?

[MI5]

I've posted instructions in this thread on how to get JB on your S2 now.... http://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Android-Devices-Samsung-HTC-Sony/Jelly-Bean-for-Galaxy-S2-Roll-out-star...

[Anonymous]

Cooki3Dude - I ended up downloading an app called 'Wake Lock' and setting it to PARTIAL_WAKE_LOCK mode. No SODs since, but bit of a battery drain (basically the cpu never goes to sleep).

MI5 - do you recommend JB? Reckon it'd help with this specific issue?

[MI5]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

MI5 - do you recommend JB? Reckon it'd help with this specific issue?

---

My S2 only ever suffered the problem once and that was because of an app called "Green Power Defender" which I removed and never had a reoccurance, so I couldn't say if JB will fix it or not, but, if you flash the Supernexus ROM and still get the issue it would point directly at hardware and not software related.

[Anonymous]

Thanks both,

MI5 - I'm guessing that's the standard JB firmware, not the O2 one? Would this invalidate my warranty?

Cookywook - My battery drains too quickly as it is (particularly noticeable when mobile data is turned on, I lose about 1% per minute!) so I think I'll pass on that one.

It amazes me, given all of the great reviews this phone received, just how unreliable it has been. Don't think I'll be sticking with Samsung/Android when I upgrade.

[MI5]

Don't let one bad experiance put you off, my S1, S2 and S3 have been by far the best phones I've ever had. My S2 still excites me now despite been over 2 years old.... Anyway, back to the question... Use Odin to flash the Samsung ROM and your warranty is still intact. If you flash the non Samsung ROM it would invalidate the warranty (in theory), however, you could just flash the official Samsung ROM and the warranty would be back intact again

[Anonymous]

Thanks, but wouldn't I need to stick to official O2 ROMs to avoid invalidating the warranty? Just had a pointless chat with an O2 "Guru" to establish that I need to call the repair team. Happy to give the ROM flash a go if it's likely to help, but having already flashed to ICS without success I'm a little sceptical

Seems like a lot of effort to make a phone work correctly, shouldn't Samsung have done that in the first place?! Are any of your Sammys stock or have you felt the need to flash them all? I love the flexibility of Android, but yet to own one that just works (HTC & Samsung).

[MI5]

I suspect you might have a hardware issue unless it's down to O2 ROM's which I never use anyway. No, you don't need O2 ROMS, any official Samsung ROM will not increase your flash counter (which is what is checked for at warranty returns). Also, if you flash a ROM from recovery the flash counter will not increase either so you are safe to try the Supernexus ROM then switch back to stock Samsung ROM if no good for you.

[Liquid]

Flash counters can be checked and reset if needs must:)

[Anonymous]

I'm pretty sure my issue is a hardware one at the end of the day. Flashed pretty much every ROM I could find, different kernels, everything. Same issue.

At one point Samsung asked me to send it in, but I didn't quite fancy being without a phone for several weeks over Christmas/new year. So I'm stuck with what I've got for now..