s4 soft keys dissapear after update

[gordonmck]

After a recent update from Vodafone/Samsung the soft keys for Menu and Back stopped working, the lights dont even come on

i called Vodafone who very quickly put me onto Samsung who took me through the backup and factory reset which did not fix the problem. Samsung then called back and took control of the phone over the internet which ended up them seeing the buttons working on their side but not on the phone at my end. the bottom line was that there was nothing wrong with the hardware and was definetly a software issue but would need to be booked into a software centre to be fixed.

i then recieved a call from Samsung telling me they had recieved a letter from vodafone saying it was a sofware issue and there should be an update to fix the problem soon. So Vodafone say its a Samsung problem and now Samsung say its a Vodafone problem.

My phone itself is out of warranty but the hardware worked perfectly well before the software update, so now both companies blame each other and want to charge me to fix the problem??????

has anybody else managed to fix the problem or get any sense from Vodafone?

[BandOfBrothers]

Seems your stuck between a rock and a hard place !

Im not all that up on Android Software but maybe someone here could advise if it's possible to rollback the current firmware to the previous one. (If that's a viable option and that it does not trip any Warranty issues. )

If not I'd pursue Samsung by visiting one of their Service Centres. 

[hrym]

I haven't seen any other reports of this, which either means it's a one-off or so new as not to have filtered through yet.

Your best option might be to see if there's a Samsung Service Centre near you and ask them to have a look at it.  If it's related to the software installation process, I'd argue for it to be done free, even if the device is out of warranty.

It is possible to roll the firmware back, but it's not something for the faint-hearted and, personally, I'd leave that to the service people, if they offer it.

I'm surprised Vodafone have said this is a known issue because it's so basic it sould surely have shown up in the extensive testing they do before releasing updates.  The S4 is an older device, but not exactly pre-historic!