Vodacom Android 4.3 upgrade a bit dodgy

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saixbot

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Hi Everyone

First off if this post is in the wrong location, apologies.

My Galaxy S4 prompted me yesterday to update the installed software (OS) from 4.2 to 4.3 which I diligently did (697MB). Since this update I am unable to add new contacts to my phone, returning the error message "Unfortunately, Contacts has stopped." When clicking on the "+" key to add a new contact the phone at first becomes unresponsive, then blacks out completely with the exception of the menu bar at the top, and returns the error message as stated above.

So clearly this update is broken and needs to be fixed by the powers that be, who no doubt have loads of red tape to clear before a "patch" is released, leaving me da consumer in the proverbial p00. Any thoughts on what to do in a case like this? Do I go into Vodacom and present my case, any work around available, can you roll back? Thanks.

If it has been answered before kindly point me in the right direction, thanks again.
 
I would suggest downloading the latest firmware from samfirmware.com and flashing that. What seems to have happened is that the OTA did not wipe cache and dalvik cache before installing the new software, which is crucial when updating firmware.
 
mercurial said:
I would suggest downloading the latest firmware from samfirmware.com and flashing that. What seems to have happened is that the OTA did not wipe cache and dalvik cache before installing the new software, which is crucial when updating firmware.
Click to expand...

^^This
He can still wipe cache and dalvik cache in recovery to see if the problem is solved
 
thanks for the input guys, all a little to technical for this pc ou topie. How can I go about achieving this:
still wipe cache and dalvik cache in recovery to see if the problem is solved
 
saixbot said:
thanks for the input guys, all a little to technical for this pc ou topie. How can I go about achieving this:
still wipe cache and dalvik cache in recovery to see if the problem is solved
Click to expand...

Power down your phone. When it's off, hold down the Volume Up + Home + Power buttons at the same time until you see the Galaxy S4 logo. The recovery menu will open. Look for the Wipe Cache and Wipe Dalvik Cache options and press the power button to activate it. The power button on the S4 acts like an Enter key on a PC/laptop. Once you have wiped the cache and Dalvik cache, restart your phone. There should be an option in the recovery menu to do this as well. Your phone will boot up. It will say "Android is upgrading". When your phone boots up, everything should work fine.
 
@mercurial, thank you for your suggestion and will attempt it later this evening then let ya'll know.
 
saixbot said:
@mercurial, thank you for your suggestion and will attempt it later this evening then let ya'll know.
Click to expand...

You can actually try it sooner. The device won't wipe if you only delete cache and dalvik cache. The first boot after the wipe just takes a couple of minutes longer than usual because it goes through all your installed apps,
 
When sending an sms, certain contacts dont come up in the search. FLIPPEN annoying!!
 
Is wiping the cache as good as a clean install? My phone hasn't been Re done since I first got it in march. It's been getting slower and chewing battery more and more.
 
saixbot said:
@mercurial, thank you for your suggestion and will attempt it later this evening then let ya'll know.
Click to expand...

Cool. Good luck.

Ryansta said:
Is wiping the cache as good as a clean install? My phone hasn't been Re done since I first got it in march. It's been getting slower and chewing battery more and more.
Click to expand...

Nope, but it's a worthwhile thing to do. Most issues are resolved this way. I would only recommend a full wipe once you have exhausted the wipe cache and dalvik options.
 
Ok chaps here is where I am at, got the phone to boot into "safe mode" and see the following menu options available:
1) reboot system now
2) apply update from ADB
3) apply update from external source
4) wipe data/factory reset
5) wipe cache partition
6) apply update from cache

Is it correct to assume I choose:
5) wipe cache partition

That still leaves the dalek, sorry, dalvik cache laying about somewhere unless selecting option 5 clears both?

Thanks to all who have contributed, and here I thought Android was easy ;)
 
Last edited:
Hmmm, it seems that you will need to load a custom recovery then to get the Wipe Dalvik option.

Before doing the following, make sure that KIES is closed and all KIES related running services/processes are closed. You can do this in task manager and by double checking which services are running on your PC. Do this by going to the run menu and typing services.msc. Look for KIES items and stop them.

Then...

Download Odin and extract it somewhere.
Download GT-I9500-CWM-6.0.4.5.tar.
Open Odin, click on PDA and select the tar file you just downloaded. The left, uppermost most block in Odin will light up as a colour (can't remember the colour) but it will say COM-0 or COM-1 etc... You will also see a added message in the listbox below that.
Then power off your phone.
Go into download mode by holding Volume Down + Home + Power.
The uppermost left block in Odin will light up a certain colour again to indicate it is connected.
Click Start. Odin will do its thing and your device will reboot once it's done. That listbox will say Success and Removed once flashing is successful. This means you now have a custom recovery installed.
Once this is done, power down your phone again and get into custom recovery by holding Volume Up + Home + Power. Note that this combination is different from Download Mode (Volume Down + Home + Power).
You will now enter the custom recovery and it will have plenty of options. Find the Wipe Cache option and press the Power button to activate it. Then find the Wipe Dalvik Cache option. This is found either in the Advanced menu or one of those at the bottom of the main menu. Press the Power button to go into a menu. Once you have wiped both Cache and Dalvik Cache, reboot your phone (there is an option at the top of the recovery menu).

Your issues should be resolved now. Please keep us updated with your progress or if you need any help.
 
Last edited:
Nice one for the reply but seems a lot to digest right now so will give it a bash when time is on my side.
Just to be sure, does the phone need to be "unlocked" [sorry, the correct term eludes me] before attempting any of the above?
 
saixbot said:
Nice one for the reply but seems a lot to digest right now so will give it a bash when time is on my side.
Just to be sure, does the phone need to be "unlocked" [sorry, the correct term eludes me] before attempting any of the above?
Click to expand...

Honestly, it won't take more than a few minutes to do but perhaps the hour is a bit late :)

Nope. The phone won't be rooted and won't need to be. All you're gonna do is install a custom recovery that allows you to clean out a few system folders.
 
So far I have downloaded:
GT-I9500-CWM-6.0.4.5.tar (7.6MB)

but the link to Odin returned an error with Chrome so I did a quick Google and found this, is it the file required?
Odin 3.09
andromint-Odin-v3-09.zip (998Kb)
http://www.andromint.com/download-odin-latest-version/

and to be sure, when you say:
Go into download mode by holding Volume Down + Home + Power
does this imply the phone must be connected to the PC via USB cable first or does it connect to Wifi in download mode? Otherwise how does Odin pick up the phone?

Sorry about all these questions and appreciate your patience :)
 
I just downloaded Odin from the same link and it works. Make sure you have Odin 3.07 and not 3.09.
Yes, it needs to be connected via USB. Sorry, I forgot to mention that.
 
@mercurial - Update: Today I managed to follow the instructions provided but still no success. Let me explain:

The flashing part with Odin went fine although once it was successfully completed the message returned was "Pass" and in the command box on the left, success with everything. Sorry I should have made screen shots.

Then disconnected phone from PC, powered down, rebooted using the combination of Volume Up + Home + Power. The same menu as before appeared although in the center of the screen there was what I can only describe as a small android figure laying on its side with the words Error across it. It may have been there before but I honestly don't remember, the plot thickens.

Apologies for the late reply but this was the first opportunity I got to have another look. Awaiting on your ever helpful feedback, thanks.
 
Okay, but you used Odin 3.07 and the tar file above? I'd suggest trying that process again. When Odin is done, don't do anything. Let the phone restart as per normal, then disconnect your phone from PC. Then power off and reboot into recovery mode with volume up, home and power. See if that works. Let me know.
 
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