Can't Dial By Highlighting in Vision - Sanyo 4900

Rick

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Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

OK, since CS closed as of 11 pm CDT (and maybe I couldn't have got
tech support anyway), I'll pose this question here. (I
know...impatient, impatient, but I'm also curious to see if anyone
else has encountered this problem. I can't dig up anything on the
web.)

I got my hands on a new Sanyo 4900 for my new service with Sprint, and
all seems fine except one weird thing: When I'm in Vision on the
handset at a point where a phone number is highlighted (e.g., in
yellowpages.com),and I hit OK to dial, it briefly says "dialing" and
then almost immediately comes back with the message "Network Busy, Try
Again" + an error sound. Happens every time I've tried. I see no
evidence of actual network problems, since web browsing on the handset
is working fine. (And of course calls dialed by digit entry or by
highlighting one of my phonebook entries are going through OK.)

Has anyone had this problem, and/or have any ideas on how to try
fixing it?
I know this phone doesn't have the very latest firmware (I have
1.056SP instead of 1.0659SP), but if that was the issue I'm sure I
would have seen others reporting the same dialing-from-the-browser
problem in archived posts.

Thanks much in advance if you can help. Some posts I've read say that
SPCS tech support isn't always too adept at solving buggy problems --
although I have no idea whether that's really true.
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

"Rick" <probabilities@email.com> wrote in message
news:6fdfe3c2.0407132249.52a5bbdb@posting.google.com...
> OK, since CS closed as of 11 pm CDT (and maybe I couldn't have got
> tech support anyway), I'll pose this question here. (I
> know...impatient, impatient, but I'm also curious to see if anyone
> else has encountered this problem. I can't dig up anything on the
> web.)
>
> I got my hands on a new Sanyo 4900 for my new service with Sprint, and
> all seems fine except one weird thing:

Did you mean 4920? The 4900 is an older phone model and has been on the
market for almost 2 years.

> When I'm in Vision on the
> handset at a point where a phone number is highlighted (e.g., in
> yellowpages.com),and I hit OK to dial, it briefly says "dialing" and
> then almost immediately comes back with the message "Network Busy, Try
> Again" + an error sound. Happens every time I've tried. I see no
> evidence of actual network problems, since web browsing on the handset
> is working fine. (And of course calls dialed by digit entry or by
> highlighting one of my phonebook entries are going through OK.)
>
> Has anyone had this problem, and/or have any ideas on how to try
> fixing it?

I hadn't tried doing an automatic dial from yellowpages previously. In
saying that, I just did try with my 5300 and the call went through nicely.

> I know this phone doesn't have the very latest firmware (I have
> 1.056SP instead of 1.0659SP), but if that was the issue I'm sure I
> would have seen others reporting the same dialing-from-the-browser
> problem in archived posts.

I haven't seen this situation being reported previously. Now, as to your
firmware upgrade, I'd suggest getting that done post haste. They don't have
new firmware issued for a phone model, unless there were bugs to fix in the
firmware.
>
> Thanks much in advance if you can help. Some posts I've read say that
> SPCS tech support isn't always too adept at solving buggy problems --
> although I have no idea whether that's really true.

Well, with what you described above, you'd want to speak with someone in the
Vision tech dept, not just regular customer service.

Bob
 

Rick

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"Bob Smith" <usirsclt_No_Spam_@earthlink.net> wrote in message news:<hp9Jc.2865$Qu5.1275@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net>...
> "Rick" <probabilities@email.com> wrote in message
> news:6fdfe3c2.0407132249.52a5bbdb@posting.google.com...
> > OK, since CS closed as of 11 pm CDT (and maybe I couldn't have got
> > tech support anyway), I'll pose this question here. (I
> > know...impatient, impatient, but I'm also curious to see if anyone
> > else has encountered this problem. I can't dig up anything on the
> > web.)
> >
> > I got my hands on a new Sanyo 4900 for my new service with Sprint, and
> > all seems fine except one weird thing:
>
> Did you mean 4920? The 4900 is an older phone model and has been on the
> market for almost 2 years.
>
> > When I'm in Vision on the
> > handset at a point where a phone number is highlighted (e.g., in
> > yellowpages.com),and I hit OK to dial, it briefly says "dialing" and
> > then almost immediately comes back with the message "Network Busy, Try
> > Again" + an error sound. Happens every time I've tried. I see no
> > evidence of actual network problems, since web browsing on the handset
> > is working fine. (And of course calls dialed by digit entry or by
> > highlighting one of my phonebook entries are going through OK.)
> >
> > Has anyone had this problem, and/or have any ideas on how to try
> > fixing it?
>
> I hadn't tried doing an automatic dial from yellowpages previously. In
> saying that, I just did try with my 5300 and the call went through nicely.
>
> > I know this phone doesn't have the very latest firmware (I have
> > 1.056SP instead of 1.0659SP), but if that was the issue I'm sure I
> > would have seen others reporting the same dialing-from-the-browser
> > problem in archived posts.
>
> I haven't seen this situation being reported previously. Now, as to your
> firmware upgrade, I'd suggest getting that done post haste. They don't have
> new firmware issued for a phone model, unless there were bugs to fix in the
> firmware.
> >
> > Thanks much in advance if you can help. Some posts I've read say that
> > SPCS tech support isn't always too adept at solving buggy problems --
> > although I have no idea whether that's really true.
>
> Well, with what you described above, you'd want to speak with someone in the
> Vision tech dept, not just regular customer service.
>
> Bob

Thanks, Bob -- some useful info & suggestions there.

I found a 4900 because I wasn't happy with the 4920 for a number of
reasons (although I hated giving up its stellar battery life and
better/fastry browser).

Anyone else have any thoughts on my inability place a call by pressing
a highlighted number on a Vision web page? Again, the eror message
about "Network Busy" seems to be bogus given that internet and
digit-dial/phonebook-dial performance is fine.
 

Rick

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Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

probabilities@email.com (Rick) wrote in message news:<6fdfe3c2.0407132249.52a5bbdb@posting.google.com>...

> I got my hands on a new Sanyo 4900 for my new service with Sprint, and
> all seems fine except one weird thing: When I'm in Vision on the
> handset at a point where a phone number is highlighted (e.g., in
> yellowpages.com),and I hit OK to dial, it briefly says "dialing" and
> then almost immediately comes back with the message "Network Busy, Try
> Again" + an error sound. Happens every time I've tried. I see no
> evidence of actual network problems, since web browsing on the handset
> is working fine. (And of course calls dialed by digit entry or by
> highlighting one of my phonebook entries are going through OK.)
>
I talked to Vision support, and as I expected he told me the problem
was that my 4900's software (1.056SP) is two versions old, and that I
should get it updated at a Sprint store.

I'll have the update done, but I'm a bit skeptical that that's all
that required (unless the process of updating has a "side effect" of
wiping out an error in my handset's current programming). Is it
really true that nobody without the latest 4900 software can dial a
number from a Vision website like Yahoo Yellow Pages by simply
highlighting it and pressing OK? I know I've seen many posts from
people who say they haven't bothered to update their software, yet
I've seen no one cite the same problem I'm having.

Thanks in advance.
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

Rick <probabilities@email.com> wrote:

> I'll have the update done, but I'm a bit skeptical that that's all
> that required (unless the process of updating has a "side effect" of
> wiping out an error in my handset's current programming).

It's a firmware upgrade. It's exactly the same concept as going to
Microsoft's Windows Update site to install patches that fix security holes,
or ordering an upgrade to the latest version of some piece of software
you use often. Bugfixes are one of the two main reasons software upgrades
come out; the other one, of course, being added features. But with phone
firmware, generally the ONLy reason new releases come out is to fix bugs.

> Is it
> really true that nobody without the latest 4900 software can dial a
> number from a Vision website like Yahoo Yellow Pages by simply
> highlighting it and pressing OK? I know I've seen many posts from
> people who say they haven't bothered to update their software, yet
> I've seen no one cite the same problem I'm having.

It's entirely possible. It's also possible that there may be an obscure
bug that only affects some handsets and not others. Software projects tend
to be rather complex beasts, even if they're small.

In any event, the advice to go get your firmware upgraded is good advice.

--
JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services, http://JustThe.net/
Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / 888.480.4NET (4638) / sjsobol@JustThe.net
PGP Key available from your friendly local key server (0xE3AE35ED)
Apple Valley, California Nothing scares me anymore. I have three kids.
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

"Rick" <probabilities@email.com> wrote in message
news:6fdfe3c2.0407141341.cde00f6@posting.google.com...
> probabilities@email.com (Rick) wrote in message
news:<6fdfe3c2.0407132249.52a5bbdb@posting.google.com>...
>
> > I got my hands on a new Sanyo 4900 for my new service with Sprint, and
> > all seems fine except one weird thing: When I'm in Vision on the
> > handset at a point where a phone number is highlighted (e.g., in
> > yellowpages.com),and I hit OK to dial, it briefly says "dialing" and
> > then almost immediately comes back with the message "Network Busy, Try
> > Again" + an error sound. Happens every time I've tried. I see no
> > evidence of actual network problems, since web browsing on the handset
> > is working fine. (And of course calls dialed by digit entry or by
> > highlighting one of my phonebook entries are going through OK.)
> >
> I talked to Vision support, and as I expected he told me the problem
> was that my 4900's software (1.056SP) is two versions old, and that I
> should get it updated at a Sprint store.
>
> I'll have the update done, but I'm a bit skeptical that that's all
> that required (unless the process of updating has a "side effect" of
> wiping out an error in my handset's current programming). Is it
> really true that nobody without the latest 4900 software can dial a
> number from a Vision website like Yahoo Yellow Pages by simply
> highlighting it and pressing OK? I know I've seen many posts from
> people who say they haven't bothered to update their software, yet
> I've seen no one cite the same problem I'm having.
>
> Thanks in advance.

Rick, just go to the store and get the phone updated. If you are two
versions from the most recent Firmware version, it means you've got a buggy
phone.

Bob
 

Rick

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Oct 14, 2003
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Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

Steven J Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote in message news:<Q72dnYOWwIkZNmjdRVn-sQ@lmi.net>...
> Rick <probabilities@email.com> wrote:
>
> > I'll have the update done, but I'm a bit skeptical that that's all
> > that required (unless the process of updating has a "side effect" of
> > wiping out an error in my handset's current programming).
>
> It's a firmware upgrade. It's exactly the same concept as going to
> Microsoft's Windows Update site to install patches that fix security holes,
> or ordering an upgrade to the latest version of some piece of software
> you use often. Bugfixes are one of the two main reasons software upgrades
> come out; the other one, of course, being added features. But with phone
> firmware, generally the ONLy reason new releases come out is to fix bugs.
>
> > Is it
> > really true that nobody without the latest 4900 software can dial a
> > number from a Vision website like Yahoo Yellow Pages by simply
> > highlighting it and pressing OK? I know I've seen many posts from
> > people who say they haven't bothered to update their software, yet
> > I've seen no one cite the same problem I'm having.
>
> It's entirely possible. It's also possible that there may be an obscure
> bug that only affects some handsets and not others. Software projects tend
> to be rather complex beasts, even if they're small.
>
> In any event, the advice to go get your firmware upgraded is good advice.

Probably true, but turns out it didn't help with this apparent bug.

When I pointed out to the Sprint store rep that the problem persisted
after the upgrade, he asked the tech to have the phone re-provisioned,
and the tech replied that the only thing that would work would be to
replace my phone with a "new" one. Although they kept using the word
"new", I realized that this probably really meant "reconditioned",
especially since the 4900 is discontinued. I asked and this was in
fact the case. Since my 4900 was virtually fresh-from-the-box, I
hesitated. The rep said not to worry, that a reconditioned phone goes
through 150 checks (or something like that), so that it could actually
perform better than a new phone. But I've had problems with
reconditioned stuff, so I decided to play around with my unit some
more. If I couldn't get that feature to work, hey, it was something
that I could live without (even though I'd prefer to have it).

Later that day I happened to go by a Sprint store in a mall. I didn't
have the phone with me, but described the basic problem to a rep to
see what response I would get this time. "Oh, you're not supposed to
be able to dial from a Yellow Pages website," he said. That's just a
lookup feature." Hmmm... I just said OK and left.

After playing around with the phone, I noticed that, even though I
would usually get the "Network Busy, Please Retry" error instantly
after clicking on a highlighted Yellow Pages website listing, I *was*
able to get it to work once or twice.

I spent more time than I should have trying to figure out if I could
find a "secret" for getting it to work 100% of the time instead of 10%
of the time.

FINALLY, I hit on the solution, and it's hardly exotic: After the
page with the desired listing comes up, the trick (for my phone
only???) is to wait a good 15 seconds before highlighting and
"clicking" on the number -- even though the page appears fully loaded
after no more than a second or two. This will cause the number to
appear on the screen as if it had been digit-dialed, along with a
message to press Talk or Speaker. But again at this point, to avoid
an instantaneous Network Busy error message it's necessary to wait yet
another 15 seconds or so before proceeding.

I'm betting that this is what anyone with a 4900 would have to do.
I'm also betting that this feature doesn't get much usage.
Regardless, I'm not about to trade a virtually new 4900 that's working
well for a reconditioned one on a *chance* that I could save 30
seconds when attempting to click-to-dial from a Yellow Pages site.