Reporting Loss of Signal Issue Samsung Epic Touch Rally

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DeeXii

Senior Member
Sep 28, 2010
1,144
1,230
Magic Kingdom, FL
If you are an Epic Touch user that is experiencing the LOS (Loss of Signal) issue please click on the link below and report in that thread with Sprint.

http://community.sprint.com/baw/message/339779

If you do end up posting on the Sprint site please do post in this thread as well...

Also it was just pointed out that there also is a Samsung support Twitter @ www.twitter.com/samsungsupport
(Please also contact there if you experience LOS)

If you would like to follow this up with a call to tech support, it will help. Try and get transferred to advanced tech support.
This needs to happen from as many people experiencing this as possible!

Don't be lazy!

Thx!
 
Last edited:

graffixnyc

Retired Forum Mod / Inactive Recognized Developer
Jan 21, 2011
6,627
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New York City
www.graffixnyc.com
There is another thread 11 down from this one(and multiple other ones further in the forum). The search button works wonders if you use it :-D

Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App
 
Last edited:

kingsway8605

Senior Member
Apr 26, 2010
1,431
493
I have been told by a reliable source that sprint is aware there is an issue and their engineers are working diligently to find a fix.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk
 

Dalmus

Senior Member
Feb 6, 2011
653
94
Milwaukee
I have been told by a reliable source that sprint is aware there is an issue and their engineers are working diligently to find a fix.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

I hope your reliable source wasn't a Sprint CSR. :)

Those of us coming from the Moment were constantly being told that by Sprint regarding the radio lock up issue. They never did fix it. It wasn't until the devs at SDX got 2.2 onto the phone that the issue went away.
 

dtr145r

Senior Member
Nov 11, 2010
1,534
336
Pennsylvania
i just got off the phone with sprint and they told me that samsung pushed an update on friday to fix a delay in receiving text messages which has borked the internal antenna. that would explain why i only started having problems yesterday.... sprint will give you a ticket number and they will fix your phone for free at a store.

call up and get it fixed.
its only going to get worse!
 

clamknuckle

Senior Member
Nov 12, 2007
755
59
i just got off the phone with sprint and they told me that samsung pushed an update on friday to fix a delay in receiving text messages which has borked the internal antenna. that would explain why i only started having problems yesterday.... sprint will give you a ticket number and they will fix your phone for free at a store.

call up and get it fixed.
its only going to get worse!

This is false. The issue has been going long since before Friday.

It will be fixed in the first update though.
 

Droga

Senior Member
Nov 18, 2008
228
18
Isabela
... and here I was thinking about exchanging my 3D for a GS2... it seems the signal problems are widespread to all phones. :/
 

DeeXii

Senior Member
Sep 28, 2010
1,144
1,230
Magic Kingdom, FL
... and here I was thinking about exchanging my 3D for a GS2... it seems the signal problems are widespread to all phones. :/

Its not a showstopper and it doesnt happen on all devices. So if it happens when you get it use your 30 swap to get a new replacement. It hasnt happened on mine at all. Also there is going to be a fix... So, with all of that said I cannot think of a single thing that should cause anyone to decide not to get this and choose another phone. Thx

:)
 
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This is a total show stopper, I have 2 of these and they both do it constantly. I cant even surf for more then 10 minutes without it happening to both units. I cant make calls, I cant receive calls, cant go online, cant use streaming music, cant use navigation. total waste at this point. I love the phone physically and its great when on WiFi but that's only 1/4 of the day. I am not taking a chance of getting stuck with a phone that I cant even make calls on. maybe I will try again once everything gets fixed but for now its not worth the trouble.
 

clamknuckle

Senior Member
Nov 12, 2007
755
59
This is a total show stopper, I have 2 of these and they both do it constantly. I cant even surf for more then 10 minutes without it happening to both units. I cant make calls, I cant receive calls, cant go online, cant use streaming music, cant use navigation. total waste at this point. I love the phone physically and its great when on WiFi but that's only 1/4 of the day. I am not taking a chance of getting stuck with a phone that I cant even make calls on. maybe I will try again once everything gets fixed but for now its not worth the trouble.


You have something seriously wrong with yours then. I've had mine since launch and it's done it twice. You should exchange yours.
 

eman3316@optonline.net

Senior Member
Jun 23, 2007
4,637
1,310
I rooted my phone and got this for the first time the next day. Hasn't happened before that. Didn't even know what you guys were seeing until it happened. I just got a zero with a line across the middle of it in my top bar and my signal bar and data icon were gone.

Is that what people are getting also that have not rooted their phone? When I say not rooted, not the people who rooted then installed the stock kernal back on. People who never rooted in the first place. That is what I would like to know.
 

clamknuckle

Senior Member
Nov 12, 2007
755
59
Mine did it once before rooting, once after.

And yes, it happened just like you described. I thought rooting and flashing Zedo v3 fixed it, but it didn't.
 

clamknuckle

Senior Member
Nov 12, 2007
755
59
I have it on good authority it will be fixed in the first software update from Sprint. No idea when that will be though. It's not a rooting problem.
 

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  • 8
    If you are an Epic Touch user that is experiencing the LOS (Loss of Signal) issue please click on the link below and report in that thread with Sprint.

    http://community.sprint.com/baw/message/339779

    If you do end up posting on the Sprint site please do post in this thread as well...

    Also it was just pointed out that there also is a Samsung support Twitter @ www.twitter.com/samsungsupport
    (Please also contact there if you experience LOS)

    If you would like to follow this up with a call to tech support, it will help. Try and get transferred to advanced tech support.
    This needs to happen from as many people experiencing this as possible!

    Don't be lazy!

    Thx!
    3
    A methodology for the frustrated...

    Well with LoSTKernel, LOS isn't really that much of a concern (at least until we get the official fix from Samsung). Battery life on the phone is more of an issue for me. It's HORRIBLE.

    I have a sense that there are many issues overlapping each other and causing confusion and lack of consistency. For example, like someone above, I had massive battery loss overnight one night. I checked the wakelocks and it seemed that the wi-fi was keeping the phone from entering deep sleep. I turned it off, and voila', my avg drain went from 250ma down to <80ma. Wi-fi then, right? Wrong. I re-connected to wi-fi the next night to confirm, and got low drain. So it was definitely the wi-fi on the first night, but that couldn't be the ONLY contributor.

    When I was getting lots of LOS, battery drain would be high and AOS usage was high - perhaps the phone was trying to find a signal, even though the radio was 'off' and that drained the battery? who knows.

    I've been monitoring the phone closely, (running Starburst 1.95 and LOStKernel 1.0.2.3), and I find NOW, after MANY tweaks, it USUALLY runs 'OK' battery. I define 'OK' as ~15-20 hours with normal use; some folks get 30+, some get 6-10 (horrible, and what I got originally) and making corrections along the way.

    I''ll share my methodology. But because I'm not convinced that any of these 'fixes' address the underlying causes, I can't guarantee you they will work for you, or how long they'll last (I've had to repeat some), but you'll hopefully gain SOME gratification if you can squeeze more life out of your battery. Also, there are more thorough diagnostic methods available than I will present here, you can find them under the 'AOS bug' thread. Also, I will assume that the cause of your battery issues is not otherwise easily identifiable by e.g., going to 'Battery Usage' stats and observing an errant app running.

    First : I would recommend a rooted phone, with the Starburst ROM installed (1.95 just came out, but if you're reading this within a few days of the 2011/10/31, you should probably install 1.9 to avoid some early install bugs). 1.9 also includes the LOSt Kernel. If you don't want to wipe your phone to replace your ROM, at the very least instal Chris41g's LOSt Kernel (I'm using 1.0.2.3 Stable version; avoid the Experimentals for now, because you don't want any uncontrolled variables). LOSt Kernel cuts the LOS's significantly and I am convinced this helps with battery usage (and eliminates another variable). And guys, if this DOES help you with your LOS, please make a donation to Phantom Hacker and Chris41g - these guys are doing Samsung/Sprint's work for them.

    Second: You will need some apps. The pro versions (where applicable) probably add up to less than $20 - so buy them. They are:
    - Battery Monitor Widget Pro (BMWP)
    - Better Battery Stats (BBS)
    - CPU Spy (CPUS)
    - OS Monitor (OSM)
    - System Tuner Pro (STP) (Optional)

    Third: Methodology
    - BMWP- Determine your consumption rate - If you have a Epic 4G Touch, and it has an 1800 maH battery, you theoretically will get 18 hours of usage if the phone drains at an average of 100ma per hour or less. Let's use this as our reference point. Use Battery Monitor Widget Pro. Download some of the free notification packs, specifically the 'maH' ones. Set the 'history update frequency' to 3 or 4 minutes, and the maH update rate to 60 seconds. Activate the the Notification area monitor for maH.

    - Open BBS; create a 'custom reference point'; don't 'back' out of this app, use the Home key.

    - Open CPU spy. Reset the data. close.

    - Make sure your miscellaneous foreground apps are closed, and then turn off the screen and wait 15-20 mins. Leave the phone alone. Go watch the Walking Dead or something, but don't mess w/the phone.

    - After 20 mins, wake your phone up again.

    - Look at the current level widget in the notification area. If everything's ok, it should be reading about 70maH or less. If you've got crappy battery life, there's a good chance it's not. Also, remember, that while you ARE USING your phone, playing games, etc., the usage could run anywhere from 100maH to 400 or even 500. We're testing f4or usage during 'inactive' states, which is where most people's unexpected drain comes from.

    - Assuming your drawing more current than you should be, you now head down the road of diagnostics and deductive reasoning. Because I've found so many different ways the device could go awry, instead of sharing MY findings, I'll simply summarize how each of the other tools I listed might be able to help you with your diagnosis.

    - CPU Spy - Open CPU spy; hit 'Refresh Data'. If you did a 20 minute test, at least 15-17 of those minutes should show the processor in 'Deep Sleep' mode. If you're showing ZERO Deep Sleep, then your onto at least one cause - some app/process/service is preventing your phone from sleeping.

    - Check out the history file in BMWP. Do the ma measurements show a steady decline to double digit #s (<100)? or do they stay high? If they stay high, there's an app/service running that probably shouldn't be.

    - Open BBS; choose 'Since Custom Time' (which was about 20 mins ago), and then check what processes and more importantly, wakelocks were running. High # of wakelocks (sometimes) indicates an issue, especially if those wakelocks add up to a lot of CPU time (also indicated in the stats). Investigate any app that looks suspicious here.

    - If you can't see any obvious app gone awry, go into OS Monitor; select to sort by 'Total Time' and make sure Kernel/OS is selected, so that you can see system processes as well. Look for a process hogging CPU time that has no reason to be. Android OS may be one of them. When it is, I will typically click on 'Android OS' and then at the prompt, click 'Show Logs'. There are tons of entries, but if you filter for 'Errors' you my find some unusual activity coming from one of your processes. FOR EXAMPLE: once I found hundreds of entries related to my media library on my SD card. I re-formatted the card, re-copied the songs onto it, the errors went away, and the AOS process dropped significantly.

    - System Tuner Pro can also be used to monitor errant processes and services, but it also has the advantage of a) being able to record over a period of time, but more importantly b) being able to freeze a process. You don't want to go killing (many will re-start) or deleting, because you don't know where dependencies exist. But 'freezing' is a fairly benign way to see if a process is messing you up.

    These aren't the most comprehensive of instructions, but hopefully give something to do for those of you who are frustrated and feel helpless. I knew none of this before scouring through this website, so if you find an issue or have a question about any of these products or methodologies, you should probably do a little more research on the site (the AOS Issue thread is invaluable).

    Hope this helps.
    2
    Once you root one time technically in the eyes of the carrier your phone warranty was voided. So I'll leave that moral dilemma up to you.
    They may want to think that way or want to have you think that way, but it is actually against the law (Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975).

    They cannot automatically void your warranty for aftermarket modifications. They have to *prove* your aftermarket modfications caused the problem to do that.

    As an example, if you installed a custom ROM, but your USB port is physically loose through no abuse, they have to fix that if it is covered, since clearly your software didn't cause a physical USB port issue.

    If it worked the way suggested, then car companies could void your drivetrain warranty for using aftermarket wiper blades or aftermarket shock absorbers. That is why the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975 makes that distinction that your modification has to be proved to be the cause.
    2
    Just got off the phone with samsung. Apparently they wanted me to send in my phone even though this is such a widespread issue. They said the only way they are going to push out a maintenance update is if lots of people call in about the issue. So if you have the LOS issue please call into samsung and let them know. The number is 1800SAMSUNG. Lets all work together to get this issue resolved.

    Do the engineers at Samsung ever actually use these phones? How can so many phones have problems, but Samsung never encountered them during development?
    2
    LOS

    Hi guys, this is one of my first posts but I've been a long time reader coming from the Evo 4G forums. I'm rooter using Zedomax v3 and experienced multiple LOS as well.

    Last night I tried limiting the clock speed to 1ghz and setting the min at 400mhz. Strangly I now get slightly better reception and never had a LOS yet. Will continue to test out this theory and see if it's clock speed related.

    I came about testing this since I ran mine at 1.6 for a while and not only would I get more LOS occurances, I would also get phone freezes lol. I tether and stream music a lot so wanted to keep it slightly underclocked to keep the temps down. Hope this helps as a temporary band aid for the LOS bug