[Motorola Photon 4G] dptg:
Update Failure from 45.2.7 to 45.3.6 SOLVED!!!!

LOTS of people who purchased NEW Photons in the past few weeks have phones that shipped with a faulty image from the factory. These phones shipped with Software Version 45.2.7, but are ABSOLUTELY UNABLE to upgrade to 45.3.6. Anytime you try to update, the installation stops at 30% and quits. The common error message has something to to with the AccountAndSyncSettings.apk file.

I've figured out a FIX to the update failure. It may seem like it's a bit risky, but if you're on the last day of the 14 after initial purchase when you can swap out the phone no questions asked, it's worth a try. Actually, it's pretty simple without a lot of heavy lifing. Keep in mind, the phone this worked on had very few apps installed and was NOT rooted. I work in the IT field, but have NEVER done any modding - and I found it quite easy to do.

Some Background: My phone was purchased NEW direct from Sprint on 10/08/2011. It came with software version 45.2.7. When attempting to upgrade to 45.3.6, I received the now infamous error that has something to do with the AccountAndSyncSettings.apk file. Tried EVERYTHING the first few days with the phone - no upgrade success (about 15 factory resets). Made multiple posts on this board and read all of the responses for days. NO UPDATES from Sprint or Motorola. So, I took the phone back to a Sprint store for a 'no questions asked within 14-days exchange'. Never activated email, didn't even sync my contacts. Just went straight to the update. The new phone was also a 45.2.7 Software Version phone, and as you can probably guess, Update Failed on the 2nd phone as well. Went to THREE Washington, DC area Sprint authorized repair facilities to see if they can 'manually' update the phone, or even re-image the phone. Sprint was USELESS!!! Not only did the 'technicians' (and I use that word VERY loosely) not know anything about our problem, they had NO means to manually apply an update or write a new base SBF (system boot file) to the phones. Finally, after sitting in traffic coming home from work today, I had reached my breaking point.

The Fix: After days of scouring websites and phone calls to Motorola and Sprint (those were nothing more than a waste of cell minutes), I figured maybe I could mess with it myself. I had been hesitant because I was afraid of 'bricking' the Photon and then I'd have nothing more than a $200 paperweight. Then it hit me. What if it was already 'bricked'? Somebody has had to have done it to their Photon already. If they had, they must have looked for a solution. If there was a 'recovery solution' for a bricked Photon, maybe that fix may solve the problems we are all having with our BRAND NEW Photons.

Searching last night, I found a link from a few months ago. As a new member, I'm not allowed to post the link. But if Google these exact words, the VERY FIRST return is a page from the AddictiveTips website.

Came home from work, poured myself a cocktail and I went to work. First I downloaded the SBF. Now this takes the phone back to the version PRIOR to 45.2.7 (sorry, forgot to write that down when taking my notes). When you follow the link to download the SBF, there are a bunch of link options. Some have been taken down, others are still working. The file you want to download is 471MB and has this filename:

1FF-sunfire-user-2.3.4-4.5.1A-1_SUN-154_5-CM-release-keys-signed-Sprint-US

Then I downloaded the RSDLite software and drivers. I used a 32-bit Windows 7 laptop and installation went without a hitch. There are 64-bit drivers, but I'm not sure how they work. I did read where 'some' people had problems with the 64-bit varieties, so that's why I made a point of doing it on a 32-bit PC. From there, the instructions on the above listed link worked PERFECTLY.

There are a few things to keep in mind. BE PATIENT. This does take a while, and there were a few times that I wondered if something went wrong. It may hang at some stages for a few minutes, be patient.

Once I flashed the phone with the SBF and it was done installing and rebooting, (much to my amazement) all of my apps and customizations were in tact. I pulled my SD card to be safe, but I suspect it wouldn't have messed up my SD card. I would pull it prior to flashing just to be safe. If you want to take one extra step just to ensure success, you could do a factory Reset PRIOR to doing the flashing. I didn't have to, but it probably wouldn't hurt.

Literally seconds after it booted into the OS for the first time post SBF flashing, I was alerted to a software update: Update 45.2.7 (6.5MB). Downloaded rather quick and promted me to install now or later. I pressed install and away it went. Once again, be patient. It takes a few minutes. The progress bar moves rather steadily until it reaches 75%. Then it appears to stall/hang there for a few minutes. Then, the install progress bar vanishes and the OS boots up. A few seconds later, I got the message "Software update was successful. Your phone has been upgraded to 45.2.7". I went to SETTINGS, ABOUT PHONE, SYSTEM UPDATES and queried for additional updates. Sure enough, 45.3.6 was available. Forgot to document the file size. Downloaded and clicked INSTALL. Much like the previous update, progress moved steady till about 75%. Then progress bar and Android character vanished and the phone booted into the OS. About a minute later, the words I have been looking for for over a week:

"Software update was successful. Your phone has been upgraded to 45.3.6"

Queried software update again, and it said your phone was UP TO DATE. Yipee!!!!

I was getting NO SOUND. I think it was beause I inserted the SD card while the phone was still powered on. So, I rebooted the phone and EVERYTHING works perfectly.

If you want to wait for Mark (forum manager) to come up with a fix, I understand. In fact, it's probably the right thing to do. But if you're beyond frustrated (like I was) in the lack of information and lack of solutions from Sprint or Motorola; and want to take matters into your own hands; this worked for me.

:)