Crashes, radio won't turn on

[f9dc]

Hi all,

I tried a search but to no avail.

My 800w freezes up and requires a soft reset about 1x - 2x daily. This almost never happens when I'm doing something, only when the phone is sitting by itself for an extended period.

Whenever I do a soft reset, the unit starts up with the phone radio off. Most of the time it turns on, but once in a while I have to do a second reset to start it up. Today, after one such reset, I simply can not get the radio to turn on. I have been trying for hours. It's got about 54% on the battery. I've tried leaving the battery out for 10 minutes, multiple soft resets, even a hard reset, all to no avail.

Any suggestions? I'd like to exhaust all alternatives before going through the nightmare that is Sprint's warranty service. I'm in a Shentel / Sprint Affiliate area, so none of the local corporate stores will handle repairs or warranty. My closest "real" Sprint store is a solid hour away.

Thanks!

[comiken205]

f9dc First off welcome to Treonauts!

Now, lets run a diagnostic (LOL) What kind of programs do you have on your Treo 800w? What was the last 3rd party application you added before this problem started?

If you have any 3rd party applications you may need to delete some. I have an 800w and don't have any issues with resets.

Do you know how to complete a hard reset? Do you perform backups of your device daily/weekly?

[eclair]

f9dc, a warm welcome to Treonauts. comiken has asked some excellent questions. Additionally, when we get too many apps running, it is (for me) often either a media or browser app that breaks the camel's back (or treo in this case) From time to time we should clear the browser cache, and/or shut down most of the running apps by going to settings>system>memory>running programs.
As comiken mentioned, the 3rd party software can cause some problems. It helps to know what you are using.
Please post back, and let us know. Good luck, and welcome again.

[jfa02]

Indeed welcome to treonauts f9dc. Sage advice from two of the sprint gurus with wm devices. You can take it to the bank!

[f9dc]

Originally Posted by comiken205

What kind of programs do you have on your Treo 800w? What was the last 3rd party application you added before this problem started? If you have any 3rd party applications you may need to delete some. I have an 800w and don't have any issues with resets. Do you know how to complete a hard reset? Do you perform backups of your device daily/weekly?

Thanks for the advice! I just did a hard reset, so I currently have no third-party programs installed. I don't even have the Sprint Picture Message app installed. Previously, I had installed Google Maps, Opera Mobile 9.7 beta, SPB Mobile Shell 3.0, WunderRadio, and Skyfire (another web browser). Thinking the problem may have been with one of the apps, I began uninstalling them in order from newest to oldest. Unfortunately, I desperately needed my phone at work the other day, and was forced to try a hard reset. Hence, I currently have the phone in a freshly-reset state. I haven't even copied my phonebook back over yet.

I don't perform backups. Lesson learned.

For the hard reset, I removed the battery for about a minute, then re-inserted it while holding down the end button. After booting, it asked if I wanted to erase all data, then walked me through the screen alignment procedure. If there's an alternate procedure, I'm all too happy to try it!

eclair, thanks also. I'll take a look at the task manager next time I see it fall off the network. And I'll clear my IE cache right now.

Also, a point of clarification: Sometimes it will disappear off the network and show an exclamation mark or "X" next to the antenna, despite my being in a good coverage area. Other times it will show good signal, but I will not be able to use the network; no calls, no data, no SMS, nothing. In either case, incoming calls go to voicemail after 4 rings, outgoing calls (even to customer service) simply get silence, incoming messages don't come through, and outgoing messages get a "failed" message.

[jfa02]

Sounds like you are in a funky service area.

[comiken205]

I can say that by having Opera 9.7b, Skyfire, you are eating up a lot of space and Ram.

About the service. If it doesn't work after the hard reset, take it in to the Sprint Service Center. You may have a bad device.

[eclair]

f9dc, sorry to hear you’re having such traumatic times. I am stumped by the problem but here are a few thoughts, just in case:
Could there be something horribly wrong with the radio itself? It does not sound like a signal or app/conflict problem. I would call Sprint’s Technicians, not the service reps, and ask them if they can see anything going on from their end. I think there are a few tricks they can do, perhaps they can help steer you in the right direction. If they can’t, they WILL help expedite a solution. The technicians are very helpful, at least in my experience.
Is this a new phone? Are you carrying it without a case, and in your pocket? Could something be hitting the red button, and turning off the phone radio? I ask this because in the first post you said that the phone requires a reset after a period of inactivity. If you are carrying it in a case, is the case itself turning off the phone? Believe it or not, this has happened to people.
OR:
Could the settings in the connection manager be messed up? When you go to connection by tapping on the antenna icon at the top, then tap on Wireless manager>menu>phone settings>security, are the auto lock settings set to: 1) never, 2) when phone turned off, or, 3) immediately? Make sure it is set to “never”.
Locking prevents ALL outgoing calls except 911.

Please let us know what happens.