DON'T -> Samsung Galaxy S2 Android 4.0 Update

[dbasnett]

For the five or so months that I have had my phone I have not had a problem.  But I listened to all the buzz about ICS and had to have it.  The upgrade went fine, but since then the phone crashes periodically, or just locks up.  I am NOT a heavy user with a lot of downloaded apps and widgets.  I listen to music and use the phone, and occasionally browse the web.

If anyone knows how I can go back please let me know.  Unless there is something you really need in the latest release I wouldn't do it.

[darkside6]

Couldn't agree more. I really really wish I could go back to Gingerbread.

[smooth4lyfe]

It is certainly possible to downgrade to Gingerbread from ICS, but you have to be a little tech savvy or willing to try

Here is a video explaining how, it says for the international version but it you can try at your own risk

http://youtu.be/3iPoFvRa9BM

[Entropy512]

DO NOT use I9100 downgrade instructions!

I777-specific files are at:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1286432

(I need to reupload the modem packages - but you can use an ICS modem firmware with Gingerbread kernel/system.)

[dbasnett]

---

dbasnett wrote:

For the five or so months that I have had my phone I have not had a problem.  But I listened to all the buzz about ICS and had to have it.  The upgrade went fine, but since then the phone crashes periodically, or just locks up.  I am NOT a heavy user with a lot of downloaded apps and widgets.  I listen to music and use the phone, and occasionally browse the web.

If anyone knows how I can go back please let me know.  Unless there is something you really need in the latest release I wouldn't do it.

---

Today I went to the AT&T store to see if they could help, and what would happen if I downgraded and bricked the phone...  On the way the phone crashed twice.  My setup is:

Phone

Bluetooth->>

Jabba Cruiser II (for hands free voice calls)

Sony  MEX-BT3000P (for music)

The AT&T rep reset the phone to factory defaults and told me to try that.  It took a while but the phone rebooted again.  I haven't noticed it crashing except in the car with the above setup, but I don't use it that much.  Right now I am testing the phone Bluetoothed to a Logitech Home Stereo Adapter to see if it has something to do with that. 

The AT&T rep told me that if I brick the phone trying to downgrade I'll be buying a new one.  This sucks!  I didn't need this release, I was happy with the phone before this.  Next time I will ignore the AT&T message saying upgrade your phone.

I'll be going back to the store in the morning to see if being a customer for 10 years means anything!

[dbasnett]

My phone has a 16GB SD card that is about half full of music. The config I posted before has been the same since I bought the phone about 4 months ago.

[dbasnett]

A lot of people are having a lot of problems.  My test with my Logitech device was going fine until I turned WIFI on.  It didn't reboot, but the music was very choppy.

[smooth4lyfe]

---

dbasnett wrote:

---

dbasnett wrote:

For the five or so months that I have had my phone I have not had a problem.  But I listened to all the buzz about ICS and had to have it.  The upgrade went fine, but since then the phone crashes periodically, or just locks up.  I am NOT a heavy user with a lot of downloaded apps and widgets.  I listen to music and use the phone, and occasionally browse the web.

If anyone knows how I can go back please let me know.  Unless there is something you really need in the latest release I wouldn't do it.

---

Today I went to the AT&T store to see if they could help, and what would happen if I downgraded and bricked the phone...  On the way the phone crashed twice.  My setup is:

Phone

Bluetooth->>

Jabba Cruiser II (for hands free voice calls)

Sony  MEX-BT3000P (for music)

The AT&T rep reset the phone to factory defaults and told me to try that.  It took a while but the phone rebooted again.  I haven't noticed it crashing except in the car with the above setup, but I don't use it that much.  Right now I am testing the phone Bluetoothed to a Logitech Home Stereo Adapter to see if it has something to do with that. 

The AT&T rep told me that if I brick the phone trying to downgrade I'll be buying a new one.  This sucks!  I didn't need this release, I was happy with the phone before this.  Next time I will ignore the AT&T message saying upgrade your phone.

I'll be going back to the store in the morning to see if being a customer for 10 years means anything!

---

You can always restore your phone back to normal state if something does go wrong, but if you follow the directions, it shouldnt be too hard. I rooted my Galaxy S2 in order to do something with it and I was able to do it fine

[Entropy512]

Two rules, if you follow these it is nearly impossible to brick your phone:

1)  DO NOT use a PIT file when flashing.  This will repartition your phone and cause major headaches.

2)  DO NOT flash bootloaders using Odin or Heimdall.  Specifically, any update you see that is an Odin-flashable .tar file - check for boot.bin or Sbl.bin, if you see either of these, REMOVE THEM before flashing.  Also, do not flash any "Odin One-click" EXE packaged files unless you have been explicitly assured by a trusted source that the package does not contain bootloaders.

Even if you make a mistake from the category above, nearly all bricks can be recovered by sending to a JTAG recovery service such as MobileTechVideos.  These guys can resurrect anything but devices which have suffered damage due to a Samsung eMMC defect - right now the only package available now which can possibly trigger this damage is the UCLE5 stock update itself - all custom firmware for the I777 has taken measures to ensure that the trigger conditions for this bug are never met.  There's a good chance that in 2-3 weeeks, even eMMC damage will be repairable.

[hzmt22193]

I did the update last week.  The problem I had was that when a notification (text, facebook, twitter) came in, sometimes the phone alerted with the ringtone and sometimes it came in silent.  Samsung said that they could fix it in 6 business days.  I did a factory reset and ATT sent 5 ota programs to install on the phone.  No luck.  Today the ATT warranty center downgraded to the old operating system (gingerbread?).  So we will see what happens.  I don't think I will try the upgrade again.  I guess the new software will have to come with a new phone.

[dbasnett]

---

hzmt22193 wrote:

I did the update last week.  The problem I had was that when a notification (text, facebook, twitter) came in, sometimes the phone alerted with the ringtone and sometimes it came in silent.  Samsung said that they could fix it in 6 business days.  I did a factory reset and ATT sent 5 ota programs to install on the phone.  No luck.  Today the ATT warranty center downgraded to the old operating system (gingerbread?).  So we will see what happens.  I don't think I will try the upgrade again.  I guess the new software will have to come with a new phone.

---

I talked to the warranty folks and they are sending me a new phone.  Hopefully it has gingerbread.

[dbasnett · Accepted solution]

---

dbasnett wrote:

---

hzmt22193 wrote:

I did the update last week.  The problem I had was that when a notification (text, facebook, twitter) came in, sometimes the phone alerted with the ringtone and sometimes it came in silent.  Samsung said that they could fix it in 6 business days.  I did a factory reset and ATT sent 5 ota programs to install on the phone.  No luck.  Today the ATT warranty center downgraded to the old operating system (gingerbread?).  So we will see what happens.  I don't think I will try the upgrade again.  I guess the new software will have to come with a new phone.

---

I talked to the warranty folks and they are sending me a new phone.  Hopefully it has gingerbread.

---

Replacement phone arrived, with gingerbread installed, and once again all is well with the world.  Thank you AT&T and especially Jeci <CM Edit> at the Jefferson City, MO AT&T store!

[cliffchen]

I had the same issue of random reboot and lock up after the upgrade to ICS. So I went to an AT&T store and they told me to go to a Device Support Center (DSC) and technicians there can help me with it. So I went and the tech offered to reflash my Galaxy S2 for me back to 2.3.6. So FYI, I am sure these DSC are all over major metro areas. You can get it done by AT&T tech so you won't have to worry about doing it yourself and brick the phone. 

[byrona135]

I'm having the same issues as everyone else. After the ICS update my phone has been sluggish, keeps crashing, battery life is crap, and services stop working on the phone. After finding no "safe way" to downgrade, i finally decided to call AT&T to complain. Told them my story and that i was sure that they were receiving plenty of calls about this issue. They then referred me to Samsung. I talked to them and the only solution they had was for me to send my phone in and they would flash the gingerbread firmware and send it back. Only issue with that is that i would be without a phone for however long they take to get it back to me! NOT AN OPTION.

They recommended i call AT&T back again and see if they can push the downgrade out to my device on their end. Unfortunately, they can't do that either. BUT after about 45 min of arguing with the customer service rep "I" came up with the idea that my phone should still be covered under some kind of warranty since this is not my fault and it's a software issue. He went to check and sure enough, i was right. He then connected me to AT&T's warranty support and they processed everything for me. My new phone should be here within 6 business days(2 days if you want it expedited at a $8.50 fee). I just have to send them the one i have and they will warrantee it as long as there is no physical or water damage to the phone.... which I'm pretty sure most of you don't have.

What really made me angry about this situation is that the update shouldn't have been made available if it wasn't ready! PERIOD! And if there was going to be an issue, they should have just kept the update, because we could have all done without it. And if i wouldn't have even brought up the warranty or argued my case then AT&T wouldn't have even done anything about it, and i would have been stuck with a phone that's sluggish and doesn't last for more than a few hours(if that).

I think the software warranty for the device is 1 year. So if you purchased the device within a year i urge you to contact customer support about having a new gingerbread galaxy S2 sent to you. (They also have centers that can replace it for you the same day if you don't want to wait for the phone to be sent to you.... Unfortunately none of the centers were within an hour of me) so i can wait for now.

[mgkaok]

RIGHT ON! I tried ICS update on my i777 and my computer crashed both times (blue screen of death) and I had to take my phone to the ATT device store and have Gingerbread reinstalled. AT THE STORE THEY THEMSELVES told me NOT to upgrade to ICS. Originally ATT told me about the available upgrade via text message. SO WHY DIDN'T THEY TEXT ME TO ADVISE ME TO NOT UPGRADE? Honesty and transparency are the best ways to garner customer loyalty. I feel duped.

[desiguy]

Same boat here upgraded to ICS a month back the system wide font used on the S2 seemed blurred I could never adjust to it. The battery gets too hot! (yes, you can burn your hand).  Also as widely noted the battery life is horriable.  Long story short after eye straining I went back to Gingerbread, and all my issues were sloved.

Stay aways ICS if you own a S2 untill Samsung does some major patching like a proper font, and the battery issue!  (there are probably other things as well).

Just to toss out the famous reply by some who may reply with well I did a reset of the phone after upgrading to ICS and everything works.. (that doesn't work)!

[melindalynn2001]

desiguy....

As with everyone I have the same problems. How did you go back to Gingerbread?

[hzmt22193]

I went to the ATT warranty center and they reflashed the phone back to the previous version.

[mud12man]

Had the problem with Sleep of Death and rebooting after installing ICS.  Removed Easy Battery Saver and Easy Task Killer and used the OS custome power saving options.  Problem solved and battery life is good.

[drrandall1]

Just sold my s2 on eBay with ice cream sandwich. Bought a new one with the old gingerbread. Much better!! Made $25 too.LOL.
I'm done with Samsung. Maybe HTC next time