Most problematic phone I've owned!

[sidesix]

I'm really disappointed with my Z1 Compact. I'm a loyal Sony fan, I had the original X1, two X10's and the S before this... All of which I found to be really reliable. I'm not completely a wizzard with technology, but I'd like to think I'm pretty compotent at resolving issues myself. I've already tried resetting the phone, removing apps and complete factory restores to no avail...

The issues I'm having with the Z1 Compact are:

1. Freezing & Restarting: The phone will freeze and restart randomly. This has got considerably worse over time. I may not even be running any more than one app, consistently checking and closing apps running in the background makes no difference.

2. Camera: The Camera freezes, or you take a photo and the picture doesn't save. Which is really upsetting when you've missed that moment.

3. Album: The album constantly crashes. It shows no photos, or is blank, you can't share pictures on WhatsApp or other apps like Instagram, it will crash the phone as well. Even trying another gallery app, or a file explorer to open or share a photo makes no difference.

4. Hot & Battery Drain: The phone gets hot. I have the screen on it's lowest brightness, I have it in stamina mode, I have made sure apps aren't running, I make sure things like NFC and Bluetooth and Mobile Data are off... yet the phone gets boiling. It feels like it's constantly working overtime, and then it goes into "1. Freezing and Restarting"

5. Wi-Fi Connection Issues: I find that on some Wi-Fi connections the phone cuts in and out CONSTANTLY, no matter how much you clear the cache, or make sure the phone is not using Bluetooth, ensuring the phone isn't trying to connect to another network etc... It makes no difference. My Z Tablet using the same Wi-Fi connection will work perfectly, as will my partners HTC One and iPad Air 2. So it's clearly a Z1C issue.

6. Sound Notifications: this is a brand new one! It's been about 3 days since I did a factory reset. Day one, the phone worked great, Day 2, already the above issues were back - and now it's developed a new problem. No sound when you get an email, call or WhatsApp etc. Yes, my volume is turned to max, and when I try to get into the Notifications area on the phone, it won't open up the ability to switch to a new sound or check what the current sound is. Rebooting and so forth makes no difference.

I've had it - I'm going to be calling my network provider today to see about getting a new phone! Just really annoyed that it's not been a great experience

[Thommo]

Try performing a system repair using PC Companion as this will often fix issues - This will factory reset your phone

Switch off your phone and unplug from Pc (Hold volume up and power for around 10 seconds)
Start PC Companion and select Support zone then Update my phone/tablet then in Blue Repair my phone/tablet and follow the on screen instructions - When prompted connect your phone still switched off holding volume down or back button - This should start the repair or reformat process

If you are using Windows 8/8.1 or a 64bit operating system then adjust the settings for PC Companion and run in compatibility mode and chose Windows 7 or XP

[Uliwooly]

Don't forget to backup

Alternatives on How to backup Xperias

http://talk.sonymobile.com/thread/36355

[CraigNaz]

I have exactly the same problem that you are having, however the problem only happens when I take the phone out of my home conutry (Hong Kong).  In Hong Kong it works perfectly.  However when I take it to another country, all the same stuff starts happening like you said.  After about 4 days the phone cures itself and then starts operating normally (while I am overseas even before I return to Hong Kong).  However the next time I leave Hong Kong, the same stuff starts happening again for about 4 days.  It even happens when I am on the plane in airplane mode before I have arrived in other country.

Also, whenever all these problems start happening, the Upgrade Center says it needs to update the Album app and the Walkman app.  However if I try to update them it just downloads infinitely .... never completes.

I have tried restarting the phone in safe mode, same problem.  I have tried disabling autosynch, network searching, and removed a bunch of apps.  Same problem.

Did the factory reset solve your problem?  Is there anything I can do other than a factory reset? A factory reset is really painful because I have corporate email installed with corporate security and then I need to set up everything again.

[SergioPL1]

What versions of internal firmware are you using? Maybe they are not updated for some reason or just have faulty part of flash memory?

My wife's Z1C had some problems with pictures or freezing albums but they were polished with newet versions of firmware. She also skipped buggy initial kitkat version so her phone generally works fine in country and abroad.

[CraigNaz]

I checked the device info and here's what it said:

Model D5503

Androi 4.4.4

baseband version 8974-AAAAANAZQ-10270054-61

Kernel version

3.4.0-perf-gaee6e5a

BuildUser@BuildHost#1

Thu Oct 9 09 09:14:33 2014

Build number 14.4.A.0.157

software ID D5503 R7C

Interestingly, it also said

application no responding:

android.process.media

there was an entry every 3-5 minutes for the last 3 days 

I looked in the list of all processes running to kill it but I could not find it in the list.

[SergioPL1]

---

@CraigNaz wrote:

Build number 14.4.A.0.157

[..]

Interestingly, it also said

application no responding:

android.process.media

there was an entry every 3-5 minutes for the last 3 days 

I looked in the list of all processes running to kill it but I could not find it in the list.

---

Firmware seems to be up to date. It haven't caused trouble to me on two devices. 

But you said android.process.media. It may be related to SD card (do you have one? Try without).

If not try Settings / Apps / All apps. Then look for Media Store or something like that. Force close, clear cache / clear data, reboot phone.

I found it on Android Central and users are saying it helped on Samsung devices.

[CraigNaz]

Hmm, I did a force stop for all applications that seemed to be related to media, removed the SD card, rebooted, and that didn't seem to help.

[SergioPL1]

Have you performed factory reset? Try it without restoring backup. If it fails after that I think that visiting service would be necessary.

[CraigNaz]

Ugh, I need to find a better solution than factory reset.  Then I have to set up everything again, which is a major hassle.  I have corporate email and other things ...