Dell Venue 8 4.4 KitKat glitches

Thanks Stephen - I did that several times with the message hanging up at the "Send" function. I "friended" the guy - didn't help. I think the fault is in my computer and IE11 and the various security programs/settings associated (Java, Flash, etc....). I sent a PM through my tablet and that appeared to work - we'll see. 

I sent an earlier reply to you and was told that it had to be approved by a moderator. So I'm posting this one under Chrome and see if that helps.

Thanks again,   John

After installing 4.4.2 my dell Venue 8 Android has a multitude of problems, from black boxes appearing that cover up web pages, random wi-fi drops, random shutdowns and reboots, and apps crashing. I have done a factory reset and that did not fix anything. 

I didn't experience any of these issues before upgrading to 4.4.2.

I sure hope Dell fixes this update. If not maybe there is a way to go back to the previous version. What a mess - I loved my tablet before this update.

My tablet seems to have stabilized. I live in the US, but I did the update to 4.4.2 in Europe. I stopped using the "Browser" and just used Chrome and I had no or few problems with it. I am now back in US and have used the Browser some and have not had any problems.

I hate posting this because I have not used it as heavily here in the US as I was doing traveling in Europe and Morocco for 8 weeks. Mostly email, internet, GPS navigation, and hotel apps. 8" tablets are perfect for extented do-it-yourself traveling.

I have done the factory reset twice now and mine has not stabilized -- all problems remain. (and none of my problems have anything to do with which browser since I'm not browsing -- nor have I even run the browser at all -- when these problems occur.

• Reboots.
• The SD card that worked just fine under 4.2.2 and 4.3 is usually undetected. The only thing that SOMETIMES works is to boot the tablet without the SD card and then insert it after it's running. This isn't 100% but it's something. During one of these 'sometimes' I used the tablet itself to erase and format the SD card hoping that would help. It didn't.
• Touchscreen becomes non-responsive multiple times each day. -- I'm lucky to get an hour of use out of the tablet before I'm forced to power off by holding the button. And don't blame apps because I'm practically stock save only having installed the available updates for what's pre-installed, clash of clans, and minecraft. That's it... absolutely nothing else is on this thing now and it's still unreliable as all get out.
• I have had to power-button-hold my tablet off  so often now that I think my power button may actually be starting to wear out on one side. The left side of my power button is completely flat with the tablet now, can't be pressed, and has no "spring" left to it, I have to very specifically use the right side of the power button which is still raised and "springy". Honest, at this point I may look to have my tablet replaced under hardware warranty because this power button isn't right -- though that's a separate issue then the update problems obviously.

It's sad this update has gone so poorly. This tablet has gone from being a family favorite to my kids preferring to use a first generation (and cracked) Kindle they dug out of a drawer since at least it's stable. I'm confident Dell will eventually make it right but, man, this update is killing me, and not so softly.

This is an update to my post. I contacted Dell this afternoon. After explaining all the glitches, they ran me through resetting my phone (I've already done this twice but they wanted me to do it again).  As this did not resolve the problems they are sending me a prepaid mailer to send my Venue back to Dell to either be repaired or they will send me another. I don't know if this is the best solution, but maybe I'll get one with a previous version of android (hopefully). I just can't deal with all the black boxes appearing while in Chrome on the internet, random freezes and reboots, and app crashes. Makes the tablet almost unusable. 

Hopefully Dell is working on a solution. If you haven't already, I would suggest calling their tech support line and getting the problems documented so they know they are many of us out there with similar problems after the KitKat 4.4.2 update.

Apologies, I meant 4.4 weirdness.

Thanks for the post Tbear3.

Good to know that Dell is actually willing to take your Venue back and "fix" it,  though I really don't know what kind of "fix" they can do to it......and how is a new one supposed to solve the matter other than it probably not having the 4.4.2 update preinstalled?

If I sound so pessimistic, its because I have found yet another glitch - no attachments load onto my yahoo email accounts. Settings have not been changed.

It'd be real great if Dell even came onto to this forum to acknowledge that there is a problem and they are working on it. It would go a long way to placate the masses instead of leaving us in the dark. 

Yes, I get that too. I did not think I was having problems anymore.

Good catch Jeff, mine looks exactly like that too and even right after yet another factory reset and update of just the included apps.

Hi Ironbilbo,

Thank you for the update, In case you come across any issues or concerns in future regarding the Dell system please let us know about it and we will be glad to assist you.

So what's the latest Senthil? Does Dell yet acknowledge that these problems from the update are real? I sent you my symptoms and system information by private message but have yet to receive a reply or acknowledgment.

Thank you

With regard to the Street View in Google Maps app it is all blocky. But the street view in old Google maps inside browsers is fine as is inside Google earth. 

As I reported, most my problems seem to have gone away. But all I do now is internet, Comcast email, news and weather apps, mapping and some hotel apps. 

Has ANYONE been able to get a reply/solution from DELL re. the KitKat issues (personally, my tablet stopped recognizing ANY sd card after the update)

I called tech support and ran thru the usual process of doing a factory reset. Did not fix anything so they sent me a prepaid mailer to send my Venue back. Don't know what they will do, but hope to get one back with an earlier version of android that worked. Will update when I know more....