Sony KDL-43W756C reboot and/or Android crashing

[spizzz]

Hello all,

I have the above TV which was bought in late 2015 (outside warranty atm) and hearing about all the issues I decided to turn off the auto-updates as my TV was relatively stable as it was. So I stayed in Lollipop and didn't do any upgrades after Feb 2016. 

Last week the TV started to behave weird with several apps crashing out of nowhere. These issues were solved after rebooting from the remote. However today, as I started the Youtube app, i got several apps crashing and although Youtube continued functioning, nothing else seemed to work. So I rebooted from the plug and here I am right now:

1. TV starts with the SONY logo

2. Then shows the flying circles of Lollipop

3. Then shows the 'Android is starting...' box and 'Optimising app X of 206'

4. Once it finishes the above, it shows briefly 'Starting apps' and then it instantly displays shows boxes with multiple crashes including: 'irbservice has stopped', 'Leanback has stopped', ' blah.blahblah.gapps has stopped' and 1-2 more that appear almost too fast for me to see.

Sometimes it doesn't even get to step 3, it reboots after 2 and goes back to 1.

I have tried:

- Disconnecting all devices and cables.

- Entirely unplugging the TV from the plug and waiting for 10 minutes.

- Turning off my WiFi router and internet.

- A combination of the above.

I tried looking for other solutions in the community but I can't seem to find anything else.

I really hoped that I could keep it functioning relatively OK without the updates, but I was wrong...

Is there any hope or should I throw it out of the window?

Many many thanks in advance for any help or advice.

[Anonymous]

Hello @spizzz

Sony would like to investigate your problem with your TV unexpectedly rebooting.  Are you able to provide more information (see below for questions).

In regards to all the error messages that you have been getting about XX service has stopped - is this still happening?

Thank you

--- --- --- --- ---

Unexpected_Reboot :

(Questions)

Q1 – What is your TV Model Number?

Q2 – Since when did you experience the random reboot issue?

• Since TV Purchase?
• Since Software update? (Please state exact software/firmware version)
• Not Sure?

Q3 – How often does the random reboot issue occur (i.e. once a day, twice a day, once a week etc.?)

Q4 – Are you able to consistently reproduce this issue?

• No, the problem is totally random
• Yes – Please describe the step-by-step procedure

Q5 – How does your TV receive its broadcast signal?

• Digital TV by terrestrial antenna
• Digital TV by satellite dish (state satellite system)
• Digital TV by cable (state cable provider name)
• Analog TV
• Other (please describe)

Q6 – Is a CAM card necessary to reproduce the reboot problem?

Q7 – What other devices are connected to the TV?

Q8 – Does disabling Interactive Applications help avoid the reboot problem? (Instructions: HERE)

Q9 – Does turning OFF “Update Guide in Standby” help avoid the reboot problem? 

(HOME > Settings > Channel setup > Digital Setup > Guide set-up > Update Guide in standby > OFF)

Q10 – Any other additional information to add?

[spizzz]

Hi @Anonymous many thanks for your reply! I have added my answers below. 

The issue remains and I have not been able to start my TV since the issue started last week. As soon as I plug it in, it stays in this infinite loop mode until I unplug it.

Any assistance would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

---

@Quinnicus wrote:

Hello @spizzz

Sony would like to investigate your problem with your TV unexpectedly rebooting.  Are you able to provide more information (see below for questions).

In regards to all the error messages that you have been getting about XX service has stopped - is this still happening?

Thank you

--- --- --- --- ---

Unexpected_Reboot :

(Questions)

Q1 – What is your TV Model Number?

KDL-43W756C, purchased November 2015.

Q2 – Since when did you experience the random reboot issue?

• Since TV Purchase?
• Since Software update? (Please state exact software/firmware version)
• Not Sure?

The rebooting issue started only last week. I was using the YouTube app when several dialog boxes appeared on the screen prompting that 'X service has stopped'. I clicked OK on each of them (had no other option) and returned to Home where I noticed that a lot of the apps where no longer working. I tried the TV function from the remote and it was unavailable, I tried rebooting using the remote but it didn't work, so I unplugged it to force reboot. Then the reboot issue started and it still remains.

The firmware version was PKG3.533.0108EUA and I had not done any software updates OTA or via USB and auto-updates were OFF, because the TV was relatively stable and I decided to hold off on any updates, after reading about several potential issues in this forum.

Q3 – How often does the random reboot issue occur (i.e. once a day, twice a day, once a week etc.?)

I have not been able to start the TV properly since this happened.

Q4 – Are you able to consistently reproduce this issue?

• No, the problem is totally random
• Yes – Please describe the step-by-step procedure

1. I plug in the power cable to the wall plug.

2. The TV turns on, the SONY logo appears briefly and the white light turns on.

3. The Android dots appear which are moving around for a few seconds until the 'Android' logo is formed on the screen.

4. The dialog box appears reading 'Andoid is starting... Optimizing app X of 206' (sometimes the number of apps is different, e.g. 'Optimizing app X of 45' or 'Optimizing app X of 147', but in most cases it's 206).

5. Once it reaches 'Optimizing app 206 of 206', the message becomes 'Android is starting' for 1-2 seconds and then the TV reboots. In the earlier reboots, it showed messages prompting that 'X service has stopped' but this stopped after a few reboots.

The above loop continues until I unplud the TV from the wall plug. Sometimes it just stays stuck between steps 2 and 3 (never reaches the Android logo point, but just reboots over and over).

Q5 – How does your TV receive its broadcast signal?

• Digital TV by terrestrial antenna
• Digital TV by satellite dish (state satellite system)
• Digital TV by cable (state cable provider name)
• Analog TV
• Other (please describe)

Digital TV by terrestrial antenna.

Q6 – Is a CAM card necessary to reproduce the reboot problem?

No. 

Q7 – What other devices are connected to the TV?

There was just a PS4 via HDMI, which I disconnected later to see if issue would be solved (no change).

Q8 – Does disabling Interactive Applications help avoid the reboot problem? (Instructions: HERE)

I do not thing that my TV has this feature but I have no access to the Settings at all, as my TV cannot start.

Q9 – Does turning OFF “Update Guide in Standby” help avoid the reboot problem? 

(HOME > Settings > Channel setup > Digital Setup > Guide set-up > Update Guide in standby > OFF)

I have no access to the Settings at all, as my TV cannot start.

Q10 – Any other additional information to add?

I have contacted a few repair centres. SONY authorized repair's center requires £90 pounds just to pick-up the TV to investigate. Another diagnosed the problem to be a faulty mainboard suggesting that the part needs to be replaced (cost is around £150). I am undecided on whether this is worth trying at all due to all the other potential issues I could face in the future, also taking into account that I am outside the warranty period. Some further support from SONY would be much appreciated.

---

[Anonymous]

Hi @spizzz

I think the first step is to get your TV working again. 

As your TV doesnt seem to startup at all, can you try a 'Forced Factory reset' :

https://us.en.kb.sony.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/75705/

This has been known to work.  Fingers crossed.

Cheers

[spizzz]

---

@Quinnicus wrote:

Hi @spizzz

I think the first step is to get your TV working again. 

As your TV doesnt seem to startup at all, can you try a 'Forced Factory reset' :

https://us.en.kb.sony.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/75705/

This has been known to work.  Fingers crossed.

Cheers

---

Hi @Anonymous and many thanks for your reply. Unfortunately, as this was the advice of the SONY Customer Support over the phone, I have tried the forced factory reset, by pressing down the 'Volume -' and the 'Power' and plugging in the power cord, several times without success. 

Could it be that it doesn't work because:

• A forced factory reset can only be done if the TV has been upgraded to the Android 6 OS.

..and I believe that my TV is still in Android 5?

Do you think there are any other solutions?

[Anonymous]

Hi @spizzz

Yes, the forced factory reset will only work with Android 6 (Marshmallow).  If you are on Android 6 (Marshmallow), the startup screen would look like:

If you are on Android 5.1 (Lollipop), the screen will look like this (Coloured balls):

If you are indeed on Android 5.1 (Lollipop), then the only real fix is a mainboard replacement im afraid.  I believe this was suggested already?

[spizzz]

---

@Quinnicus wrote:

Hi @spizzz

Yes, the forced factory reset will only work with Android 6 (Marshmallow).  If you are on Android 6 (Marshmallow), the startup screen would look like:

If you are on Android 5.1 (Lollipop), the screen will look like this (Coloured balls):

If you are indeed on Android 5.1 (Lollipop), then the only real fix is a mainboard replacement im afraid.  I believe this was suggested already?

---

Yeah, I am on Lollipop 5.1 then. The mainboard replacement was suggested by an independent TV repair guy when I described the issue over the phone. The authorized repair centre could not diagnose over the phone and they want me to send the TV to them. Anyway, thanks for the help, will think about it.

[Jecht_Sin]

@spizzz Nah. If it was the mainboard it wouldn't boot at all. The one you're getting is a typical soft bootloop. Something is messed badly in the data. I mean, Android does work, otherwise you would never get the message "Optimising app X of 206". That's when Android compiles the apks (apps) into dalvik caches.

Unless.. now that I think about it, the other option is that the internal memory is faulty. That means that Android does optimise (compile) the apks, but the resulting dalvik caches don't get stored in memory. Which could be your case if you. get that "Optimising app X of 206" at each reboot. In that case yes, you must bring the TV to service.

Otherwise, unless there is a way to force a factory reset in Lollipop (and why there shouln't be??), you may try to download the Android 6.0.1 update for your tv, unzip it and put the resulting package into the root directory of an USB pendrive (without the folder, to be clear). Then plug the USB pendrive into the TV, unplug the TV (just to be certain) plug it again and hope (pray) that Android 6.0.1 gets installed. If it does, that may fix the bootloop already. If it installs but it still bootloops at this point you would have the ability to reset it to factory settings.

If it doesn't get installed maybe try to change USB ports few times. It may not always work at the first try. If it still doesn't get upgraded bring it to service.

[spizzz]

Hi @Jecht_Sin thanks a lot for the insight. That's what I thought too, it is hard to believe that this is a hardware issue and seems more like Android files being corrupt or missing. On the other hand, the memory issue could be a good explanation too.

As @Anonymous mentioned above, SONY has not officially published a method to Force Factory Reset TVs on Android 5.1 and they just ask users to contact Support. I agree that it is strange. 

Last, I did try to force an update with the method you described via USB but it didn't work, it just continued loading Android and bootlooping...

Anyhow, I got some good news, Sony has responded to my complaints and agreed to schedule a visit by a repairman to have a look. I will post with any further updates ASAP.

[RobPC82]

---

@spizzzwrote:

Hi @Jecht_Sin thanks a lot for the insight. That's what I thought too, it is hard to believe that this is a hardware issue and seems more like Android files being corrupt or missing. On the other hand, the memory issue could be a good explanation too.

As @Anonymous mentioned above, SONY has not officially published a method to Force Factory Reset TVs on Android 5.1 and they just ask users to contact Support. I agree that it is strange. 

Last, I did try to force an update with the method you described via USB but it didn't work, it just continued loading Android and bootlooping...

Anyhow, I got some good news, Sony has responded to my complaints and agreed to schedule a visit by a repairman to have a look. I will post with any further updates ASAP.

---

Hi Spizzz,

do you mind to explain how finally got your tv repaired?

i have getting a similar issue with 50w800c, with the only different that my TV does not restart by itself. i get the screen showing "optimising app xxxx of xxxx" and never starts the android system but not restart by itself. it get frezzed and i have to unplug the tv and plug again but finally i get the same screen showing "optimising app xxxx of xxxx" (i have  go out to work and 8 h later is in the same screen).

I have tried all i found in different forums. Unplugg all devices, turn off the router, etc.c.
i have tried to force factory restet (power + down volume) but not works (i did not update from Android 5.1.1 to newest versions)
I tryed to update with Android inserting USB flash drive but not works..

Any information would be appreciated!

Thanks in advance and sorry for my english..