Handsets

Samsung Epic 4G Froyo Update Put on Hold

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Most of you called it: the Epic 4G update for the Samsung Epic 4g would come out and it would get pulled in a matter of days. Things were all set to be wrapped up tomorrow and all would have had Froyo and all would have been happy. The phone gods weren’t having that, though: Sprint’s stopped pushing the EB13 upgrade for the Samsung Epic 4G, and the OTW process has also been unpublished from Samsung’s website.

Sprint cites issues with the SD card when trying to access multimedia and some users lacking data connectivity as reasons why they had to pull it. They say a hard reset has been proven to help fix the issues for some folks, but they are working on a fix anyway. Sprint did not mention when the upgrade would be available for distribution again. [Thanks, Tim!, Sprint]

Quentyn Kennemer
The "Google Phone" sounded too awesome to pass up, so I bought a G1. The rest is history. And yes, I know my name isn't Wilson.

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63 Comments

  1. Samsung is a disaster with Android updates, not surprising in the least.

  2. Somehow I get the feeling the same thing will happen with AT&T. I’m starting to wonder why the US Samsung phones are having so many issues with Froyo. Mainly with mounting the SD Card on a computer (GPS as well though). Is it the file system? Is there something actually physically wrong with the phones? I just don’t see why all these hardware issues should be happening. And the first person to respond “because of bloatware” will get slapped. I’m talking hardware issues, not integrating other crap.

  3. Do you have a source for this?

  4. Its a shame that these last few Galaxy S phones are pretty much the only really good phones still running 2.1 With exception tooooo the Defy?

  5. Sucks that Samsung can’t get the update process right for the U.S.. I still love my Vibrant though, Samsung offers the best hardware, and I provide the best software. ;)

  6. Too late. Got it already. I had problems wit the data issue. But restarted my phone and had no problems

  7. What more needs to be said

  8. i manually flashed midnight rom and its working great.

  9. I have a problem with the new update. I had an error code that read E:signature verification installation aborted. I’ve been on the phone with both sprint and samsung for the last 2 days. I finally talk to someone that knew what they were doing. They told me there was a bug in the phone,that I need to go to a sprint store and that they will fix the problem.Now its too late for me to get the update.

  10. Josh: I’ve never heard anyone claim that Samsung has the best hardware. There’s a first time for everything, I guess.

  11. Arrggggg! Somewhat happy i didnt get my buggy update, but still, cmon. I love my phone regaurdless. But this whole thing has been frustrating. Is like telling a child that we’re on the way toy shopping and show up to the doctor for shots.

  12. Wonderful updated mine last night using the .zip file and i get stuck with this horrible bug ugh this news would’ve been useful last night !

  13. Richard, Where u at on this one? Sprint is forever releasing updates and then pulling them. This is something that I cannot ever recall Verizon doing. I knew there was at least a million and one reasons Verizon is better. I guess they had the one minor problem with dl09 update to the fascinate, but we all know that is samsungs fault as this is too. The galaxy s is easily the biggest disappointment in the history of android. Trust me, I have the huge displeasure of owning one!

  14. As I said before HTC is the best manufacturer and the Htc Evo 4g is sprints FLAGSHIP DEVICE… This would never happen to the Evo.. Nothing more needs to be said

  15. Samsung does have some pretty good hardware. The keyboard is really good, and the screen is spectacular.

  16. They should just give us gingerbread then. By the time froyo is ready for the epic, ice cream will be coming out

  17. To have waited so long only to not receive it and hear that there are so many people that DID get it are having issues is very disappointing. I wonder how long it will take to get the gingerbread update when it finally comes out, since we’re months behind some devices already with going to 2.2?

  18. @ksizzle9…. Sorry about your problem with this update… You know the funny part… I was really feeling the Samsung galaxy S2 and lately have been thinking about possibly switching to tmobile just to position myself for the galaxy S2 or there UPCOMING htc pyramid only if no htc evo 2 4g didn’t exist. But now with this update issue with samsung all of us as customers have to be careful of this situation. I don’t blame sprint cause they are working off of what was being sent to them. Least they were smart enough to stop the update process from bricking more devices. Sprint does there best to take care of there customers. New evo or not I will be staying with sprint

  19. I got the OTA update on Wednesday morning and haven’t had any issues with it. Performance seems to be generally better and it’s nice to have Flash, albeit a little choppy on video.

  20. The delays were a joke, but straight incompetance to push an update that Sprint has been “a month away from releasing” since the phone came to market last year is just pitiful. This is enough to make me stomach the cacellation fee so I can get away from Sprint.

  21. And i’ll be with t mobile and the galaxy s 2 bitches lmao!! I NEVER waited on a update from a carrier. So me and my vibrant will always be up to date at all times. But I do feel for the one’s that don’t like rooting their phones. Well not really

  22. Fucking ridiculous how much money these companies take from us, how much is it to ask for some god damn reliability.

  23. To add insult to injury: “AT&T has officially announced that the Samsung Captivate will be receiving the Android 2.2 Froyo update starting tomorrow”

  24. switching to htc and verizon.first sprint pulled my ability to upgrade yearly then samsung creates buggy updates

  25. The Evo’s 2.2 updates bricked more then a few phones when it was released so even htc doesn’t always get things right.Samsung and Sprint have been working on this OTA since Nov and they still screwed it up.The captivate is getting its second try at the 2.2 OTA i hope it goes better for them this time around.

  26. I think there’s some incorrect information here, as if 12:00PM today, both the MAC and Windows versions are still up on the Samsung website.
    http://www.samsung.com/us/support/downloads/SPH-D700ZKASPR

  27. I received my update for the epic4G 2 days ago. I love it. Phone is working great and no issues. Sd card mounfing with no problems. My wife’s phone unfortunately did.not get the update before it was pulled.

  28. Thank god people backed up the installer to third party sites. I do wish you all luck.

  29. I was out of the country til one hour ago. Checked here, and on a whim, manually had phone check for update. It is downloading now?!? (1:30 PM EST )

  30. I have W7 64bit. I downloaded the 91MB Mac zip. I pulled my SD card from phone put in the notebook (running W7 64bit). Transfered to the root directory of the SD.

    With my phone off I put the SD back in the phone. I pressed the volume down button and camera shoot same time (held down) then hit the “on” button and released all 3. Turned on with several options. 2nd down Update from zip, volume button to select the Home to enter.

    Updated fine. N issues.

    I did use a different SD card than my phones. All I lost was my gmail password when I put phones SD back in after update. I don’t see why you can’t use your phones SD and don’t think you would lose data? I bet at the Sprint store they use this method for update not any other.

    Good luck.

  31. What a joke. This is supposed to be one of Sprint’s top-of-the-line phones?

  32. Samsung is proving to be a disaster with Windows Phone updates as well.

    What the hell is wrong with this company? I mean if their phones can’t even handle basic WP7 updates then there is no hope for their Android phones.

  33. Goodbye Sprint..!! Done with this crap…going with HTC Thunderbolt and Verizon. For the reception and coverage most of all…

  34. My problem on my phone has chuck norris in my notification all the damn time!

  35. Keep in mind folks, as said before, this isn’t Sprint, it’s Samsung’s update. My Epic works fine without the update, but as everyone else was, I was hoping for the update. Still debating on whether I want to download from the Samsung site or wait until they get this update right….

  36. I love my epic. But this waiting is really making me think I should stay away from samsung and sprint in the future. But who know what will be available when I am ready to replace this phone.

  37. Samsung sucks. I got the Froyo update, and it crashed my phone. Then had to wipe the phone, and it works now. Still, I can see why they recalled it. Never will buy a Samsung product again.

  38. The full Windows update on the Samsung website worked fine for me. (~200 MB). Go to the following link and select the Windows download dated Feb. 21. You will need to sync your device with google first so you don’t lose your calendar/contact/etc. info.

    http://www.samsung.com/us/support/downloads/SPH-D700ZKASPR

  39. Richard, again, the EVO IS NOT SPRINT OR HTC’s flagship phone. It is a smaller dinc. Exact same everything. Sonibdpnt want to hear that. It is painfully obvious what kind of phone you own to everyone who has ever read your comments. Now to subject, it is very sad that samsung can’t get this right, makes u wonder what the real deal is.

  40. Obviously there are incompetent people somewhere in the chain/. How can they have been testing this for so long and have this kind of screw up?

    I haven’t seen anyone mention that you cannot seem to SAVE a new EVENT to the local phone calendar. That is a problem I am seeing.(not using the cloud calendar).

    I see problems with the Android soft-keyboard too… the way predictive text works blows.

  41. Update: It took 2 1/2 hours for the update to download. about 10 minutes for the update to install. (Backed up everything I could find that needed it while downloading.) Update appears flawless! E-mail through touchdown is working, Tethering through easy-tether is working. and most of all VOICE DIAL through BLUE TOOTH is working, finally! This is the main feature I was waiting for, though some of the look and feel differences all seem a plus too.

  42. I got the update from the samsung site Tuesday I haven’t had any problems that have been stated.

  43. Told you guys how to do! To say it took 2+ hours is your issue little bitches.

    Yea Samsung and Sprint suck!

    Do you guys even read other posts? Or just fucking ramble?

  44. I just got back from the sprint store. Tech told me that the new update should be up in about a week with the fixes to the glitches. That I should not update the phone manually there are glitches in there too.

  45. I am still on Eclair 2.1 (DI18) with the Epic 4g and have been having 3G connectivity issues for several days this week so not sure “data connectivity” issues are being caused only by the 2.2 update could that the network was over-saturated with pushing out the OTA perhaps.

    Even with 4-5 bars of signal was getting terrible upload/download speeds and often would just go to zero bars then back up but overall connections have been spotty for several days now.

    And Detroit area still does not have 4G which was promised by end of 2010 the local Sprint stores are saying its due to land domain issues with putting up new towers. Whatever.

  46. @ksizzle9… Asleep at the switch as usual…. Check sprints site Mr. The htc evo 4g is sprints FLAGSHIP DEVICE but I don’t blame you for having hate… Samsung is a DUD… Mr. Peter Chou gladly introduced the evo at sprints press event in 2010 and at ctia in 2011. Trust me the Evo 4g is loved by htc and will return in 2011 as the evo2.. If you really want a multitude device true to form you better get on line for the evo2 june 2011… wake up my man…

  47. I have discovered over the past few days that my issues have been SHOCKINGLY with the Samsung’s own stock software: the TouchWiz Launcher…and the stock Internet Browser. In my previous posts, which I have included below, the glitchiness and hesitance with web pages was completely eliminated when I used the DolphinHD browser. There was none of the pixelation and checkering patterns when I used the pinch-zoom feature on web pages—whereas the stock browser continues to give me problems.

    In addition, I downloaded LauncherPro off the marketplace to see if somehow would work better than TouchWiz in dealing with screen taking so long to adjust to landscape mode and vice-versa when I use the slide-out keyboard. Miraculously, LauncherPro gave me none of the issues that TouchWiz did. In fact, the screen orientation re-adjusted instantaneously….just like it did when I was using Eclair.

    In sum, two of the biggest issues with the Froyo update exist with the Samsung component software itself. Hopefully, someone from Samsung will read this.

    Ok, I have been using the phone with the new Froyo update now since yesterday and still don’t get what all the fuss is about. For months and months, people have been complaining about the whereabouts of this update, but I really don’t see that it does anything substantially better or different for the phone than Eclair.
    Here are the only noticeable changes:
(1) The lock-screen seems somewhat more responsive when one immediately tries to access their phone, but that is no biggie.
    (2) The phone itself, however, seems more glitchy and hesitates when I switch between my home screen and other screens. In addition, the browser application seems strangely more responsive when using the zoom feature yet very sensitive and glitchy at the same time as it is constantly readjusting during the pinch-zoom, multi-touch feature.
    (3) The SMS/test messaging dialogue boxes is no longer the simple white-on-black background with subtle alterations of grey and black backgrounds from before. Instead, there are these awful Iphone-esque text bubbles that are alternately yellow and blue. To make matters worse, the text/font itself is actually much smaller than before as is the text itself that one inputs into the “compose” field or even the “search” fields of the browser itself.
    (4) The stock browser, as mentioned above, is hesitant and glitchy. Further, I keep receiving a message that I cannot open a new windows because too many windows are open. As a result, I have been defaulting to the Dolphin browser, which does allow for one to have multiple tabs.
    (5) The GPS seems to be working well once a signal is found, but it did seem to take an inordinate amount of time to actually find a signal while attempting to use Google Navigation.
    (6) The camera still takes great pictures, but there is a noticeably longer pause from the moment the picture is taken until the moment it appears on one’s screen to review it. With Eclair, the whole process was much faster. In addition, there is a GPS signal icon that blinks while attempting to take a picture. While I find the idea of geo-tagging to be a cool concept, I can’t seem to find any way to disable that feature.
    (7) The few pluses I feel compelled to mention out of fairness is the improved YouTube functionality and the ability to now use Skype(with some limitations). The YouTube application allows one to see numerous videos now without the limitations or disabled videos that were common under the older incarnation with Eclair. Skype now allows one to actually access it to chat with simple messaging or to contact one via voice when using wi-fi only. Sadly, there is no video-calling option.

    I have had yet more issues within the past 24 hours of installing the new Froyo update on my Samsung Epic. As mentioned above in my enumerated post, the phone seemed more glitchy and hesitant than before under Eclair.
    (1) Yesterday, around 7pm, my phone got stuck, where the only icon in the dock was the “applications” icon. There were no “phone, contacts, or messaging” icons at all in my dock. The only thing I could do was toggle back and forth between the “home/applications” icon. After having determined that there is no way with Touch Wiz to actually add back the icons to the dock and not understanding how or why they were now missing from my dock, I decided to do a factory reset on the phone. The factory reset brought the phone back to the basic Froyo 2.2(Eclair has apparently been wiped clean after having done the previous Update.zip install). I then proceeded to add back all my applications, which I had backed up to my SD card. Fortunately, all 4 dock icons have returned upon reset.
    (2) Despite the dock now being made whole again, the phone remains glitchy. A noticeable and frustrating glitch occurs when I use the slide-out keyboard. With Eclair, the phone automatically switched to landscape mode to accommodate the slide-out keyboard. It was flawless and effortless without any hesitation with Eclair.
    NOW, however, the phone pauses(10-15 seconds) and the circular “loading” symbol appears on the screen, taking a while to slowly re-populate the screen with widgets/ icons while making the switch to landscape mode and vice versa. And, yes, I did toggle the “auto-rotate screen” option under settings to see if that somehow had any effect on it. Unfortunately, neither option helped.
    Has anyone else noticed any of these issues with their phone since the update?
If Eclair is still available on the Samsung site, I may download it and revert back to it. I can’t really see that Froyo has made any huge difference in my phone. The only thing it has done is allow me to access the Skype application directly, but I was already able to do that indirectly already with the IMO Messenger Android application.
    Can someone please explain what the great improvements are to this phone under Froyo, considering the number of people asking to have Froyo on their phone? Surely it isn’t just an example of having the NEXT and LATEST THING, The latest incarnation of software isn’t always a step-up. Windows Vista is surely a recent example of the falsity of such a notion.
    Isn’t it possible that poorly-conceived/programmed UPDATE with Froyo may very well make the Samsung Epic worse than it was before? In my humble opinion, this update has done just that.

  48. It’s 8pm pst and the update is still on Samsung’s site. It may be true that Sprint canceled the OTA, but the update would have been pulled from Samsung by now if this update was faulty.

  49. I got the update Tuesday morning and I have not had any serious issues. I have noticed it takes my home screen a few tics to pop up when hitting home button from inside an app, but its managable. The one thing I hate is that the auto correct when you type sucks tiny johnson nutz now. Its horrible.

  50. I went with Epic over Evo because of the slide-out keyboard and the higher quality display. Turned out Swype is so good I almost NEVER use the slide-out. The display is fantastic but I always wondered why Epic and Evo — two seemingly comparable phones — came along about the same time yet Sprint advertised the hell out of Evo for months and months with only a couple weeks of commercials and no “flagship” status for Epic. I’m starting to think I should’ve trusted Sprint’s insider knowledge over my hair-splitting desires. (Didn’t get the update; don’t care enough to root ; I’ve paid and continue to pay Sprint many $$$ to take care of these things ….. They have failed.)

  51. The sd card and data connectivity issues sound like the minor problems I had with my LG Optimus S (which shipped with froyo) before their recent update.

  52. I updated on 02-22 at Samsung web site. At first, my Epic was very jerky and slow. Now that a couple days have passed with 3 or 4 battery changes (I run two batteries) phone is fantastic! It is smoother and faster than before! Yes! Gallery and camera work great. The new music player with obvious sound enhancements and extra large album art plays my 1000+ song library flawlessly. I am happy.

  53. I got my update :) i wouldnt lose sleep over it guys its not all that advance task killer is horrible i could make a video of good and bad

  54. You guys are over reacting over this update. I live in Ga n already got my update(i went to setting, n Update Android). From my point of view, most people having issues with the update are people who rooted their phones or refuse to restore back to factory Setting in fear of loosing saved data. Guys if u want a working update, OTA or not, try restoring your phone before and after updating n let me know if the issues still persist, then I’ll believe it. It’s Day 3 with Froyo n m loving it so are 4 others…. I get the fact that lots of changes where made, likes SMS(same as iphone), Call logs(combines with SMS), n all other things. These r not strong enough reasons for me to say Froyo on Epic sucks. I gotta tell ya, Gun Bros on Froyo is Very Niiice!(no lag whatsoever). Did i mention that the battery life on this bad boy is insane. Ive gone 1day+ with no charge, turn on 4g without worries… i even stopped using work/car chargers. I’m not tryna brag but if u get Froyo to work on your device, you’ll be impressed with what epic is capable of(That’s me! i tend to hate less)

  55. Got mine and my phone is better than new. :D Thinking about rooting once some more roms hit. Ghea!

  56. didn’t work here either. Failed “apply patch check”. Status 7 – error in update.zip….not sure what to do next! Big waste of time going through the root and then backup for this result :( anybody can help me on?

  57. If your icons are deleted from the dock, you can restore them. In froyo, you can change the icons in the dock to whichever you like. Go into the applications, click your menu button, choose edit. From there, you can drag and drop icons into the dock.

  58. So I manually upadted my epic to froyo and Im having no problems at all so for :) I just hope it stays that way.

  59. I updated mine the day it was out. Only thing different was I had to enter my info for gmail. Minor glitches with gps were fixed after rebooting. Installed flash update… worked great. Had to re-root phone and free wifi tethering again. Unlocked skype… excellent. Nothing to complain about here except :);):)…Thx!!!

  60. HELLO EVERYONE I AM EXPERIENCING THE SAME ISSUES AS MATTMJ. FREAKIN THING IS RIDICULOUS PLUS ITS THE 4TH EXCHANGE I’VE HAD ON THIS PHONE. TOO RICULOUS I MIGHT CONSIDER SWITCHING TO TMOBILE WTF MY PHONE JUST HAD 1 ICON ON THE DOCK AND I HAD TO RESET AND IT JUST MADE IT WORST.

  61. Downloaded and saved the update file. Works fine so far. Would never again buy a Samsung phone. The HTC is the way to go. My son has one and it works great all of the time and came with Froyo last year. No update to wait for. Joe

  62. I had a capitivate thru at&t and went thru 3 until I gave up and left because they had nothing comparable. I got the evo, which was a great phone, I wouldn’t call it sprints flagship at all. It was buggy as shit, cant be rooted easily, and always freezes and shuts off. Not to mention the lack of text messages that I should have gotten but didn’t. So I went and swapped for an epic after hearing of the 2.2 update. I was honestly sick of waiting for 2.3 for evo and missed my galaxy s. 2.1 or 2.2, who cares… the epic is exactly that! The keyboard sux tho. The only thing I miss is flash, that’s it. I’m sorry but the epic is a much better phone regardless of the reviews evo has produced.

  63. Sprint is falling way behind the other carriers, I will be switching to verizon when the new Iphone comes out. I’ve been with sprint for 13 years and I think I’ve had enough so dissapointed with the whole epic froyo 2.2 update. Not to mention the reception sucks unless your in the city, even then it may suck. Thought this epic was going to be a iphone threat ,yea right,boy was I fooled, sometimes I want to throw my phone against the wall.

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