Calling all 770 users...
 

Those of you who still haven't "up"graded to the N800, does anyone know of a way of getting Nokia to fix this damned WSOD problem? My situation is worse, I guess, than most people's here because the Nokia dealers in my country are idiots and refuse to even look at the 770. So if I need a repair I have to FedEx it to the UK, which costs a lot of my (precious little--I'm a poor student!) money. Oh, and I can't just send it to them. No, I have to send it to a friend, who then has to phone them and arrange a pick-up date. (Which date is always "in two or three business days" and hasn't arrived yet.)
What the hell will I do if (when?) I get another WSOD, when (if?) I get my 770 back from repair? I find the 770 the best thing since sliced bread and cannot part from it if it is working fine, so selling it and using the cash to buy some well-deserved headache pills is not an option.

Finally, I'll get to the point. Is there any way on Earth that we can get Nokia to acknowledge that this situation is absurd? Having buggy software is one thing (Windows anyone?), but having defective hardware that has to be shipped to be repaired is very much another thing. Dishing out one or two shoddy repairs (i.e., just changing the LCD screen but keeping the source of the problem in the tablet) may be acceptable here in the South of Europe. However, this is being done on a global scale and to many, many people--at least, that's the impression I get from reading some posts here. Isn't this kind of treatment illegal in some way? Should we not be entitled to a better service?
For those of you who have never experienced a WSOD, I am honestly happy for you. However, this is a real problem and it can happen to anyone I guess. Well, it happened to many of us, that's for sure. Some of those people moved on to the N800, but without the USB host facilities, I can't say I'm all too attracted to that device.
I'm sure that there is SOMETHING we can do.

In summation, I love the 770. Heck, I love the way Nokia tried to develop a device with this philosophy. Never mind the N800 and the no-OS007-on-770 crap. I'm sure a better browser will surface. I'm sure a better email client has already surfaced.
I would just like to see Nokia accepting their responsibilities on this issue (the USB to power connector crack is another such issue, but much less problematic IMO). Hearing a "peep" from Nokia, something along the lines of "We acknowledge the presence of this fault and are committed to repairing defective units permanently.", if said honestly, will do wonders for their PR amongst the affected users, and anyone who reads their posts.

Thanks for your time,
André

Re: Calling all 770 users...
 

Can you give me some steps to replicate the WSOD on my 770?

Re: Calling all 770 users...
 

Hi,
I totally agree to you. I had nightmares trying to get Nokia to repair this without giving out more money out of my pocket (shipping to the country where the device is in warranty).

Unfortunately, Nokia's support is totally unhelpful. If you take a look at http://discussions.europe.nokia.com/discussions/ you'll see lots of unhappy people. The problem is that Nokia feels it's ok to treat a minority of customers this way, and I can't prove them wrong.

Thoughtfix, this problem only affects a small percentage of 770's, it's possible that the defect doesn't occur in your device. It happens at boot time, so if you boot and turn off and boot again a lot of times it may happen. However it's commonly admitted that if your device didn't WSOD in the first 10 boots or so, it's probably safe. For (some) details, you can check https://maemo.org/maemowiki/HowDoiBecomeRoot.

Re: Calling all 770 users...
 

My WSOD occurred when I was using flasher on Ubuntu in vmWare to enable USB host mode. At some point flasher crashed, I got a blue screen of death on Windows and a WSOD on the 770. "Lol."
Wel, I might just be one of the unlucky ones I guess. But I hate to think that when I get it back and flash it again I might get the same problem.

(edit) I have download DamnSmallLinux LiveCD and will be using that to run flasher once the unit comes back. Wish me luck :)

I hope texrat or someone "inside" can comment on my above post... it seems to me that the N800 was just a way to make money out of the (one or two) incurable hardware defects in the 770, instead of just replacing them. (/edit)

BTW thoughtfix: I had spoken to you on MSN Messenger once, cause I couldn't get the USB host mode to work by using the "echo host > ..." method. After you left for CES I found out that I still had to flash the device, which is when the fault occurred. Might I add that I rebooted _many_ times without any problem before this event.

Re: Calling all 770 users...
 

I'm pretty limited on what I can say on this matter, sorry. Nondisclosure is part of it, but the other is that I have not seen this defect manifest.

Support is going to get stickier when the Alliance facility closes, too. In fact its closure announcement last year has contributed significantly to service problems, on 770 and other products. So it really isn't that service personnel intend to "sweep the 770 under the rug" with the advent of the N800-- they're in a crappy situation, trust me. That's about all I'm able to say on a very painful subject. :(

Re: Calling all 770 users...
 

Please excuse my ignorance, but what/where is the Alliance Facility?

André

Re: Calling all 770 users...
 

FWIW, I just called one of the UK Nokia numbers (or rather, I was redirected there after calling 0845 358 6000) and they confirmed that, while they couldn't guarantee anything aside from the standard warranty dished out after repairs, they would replace the unit after three consecutive failures.

Re: Calling all 770 users...
 

if you really really want to brick your device with a wsod, then try booting it 15 times in 10 minutes. I suggest attaching it a linux box, and attempt to reflash it, while forgetting the flag that actaully does the flashing -F

However you will have one dead toy.

Re: Calling all 770 users...
 

Fort Worth, TX. Closing in April.

Re: Calling all 770 users...
 

Ah... ok. Sounds kinda bad since most Americans who have experienced problems said they had to ship it to Fort Worth...

Re: Calling all 770 users...
 

Starting to come together now, isn't it? ;)

Re: Calling all 770 users...
 

Well it's both positive and negative. Positive because, well a replaced unit would be good after having so many faults. Negative because... $150 (US) to ship it three times to the UK (never mind shipping it BACK!) is almost the price you'd pick up a new 770 for. Pity.