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fitbit ionic died during firmware installation

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‎09-17-2019 09:44

‎09-17-2019 09:44

Help my ionic died while doing the firmware update this morning. The update downloaded (took approx. 1 hr) then started installing. Then it died. 

 

 

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15 REPLIES 15

‎09-17-2019 09:50 - edited ‎09-17-2019 10:03

‎09-17-2019 09:50 - edited ‎09-17-2019 10:03

This happened to me too!  Very frustrating...

I had the Ionic plugged in to the charger, sitting right next to my phone.  Update looked like it was working fine.  I saw it download, and then it began to install.  So I figured it was safe for me to leave it unsupervised while I took a shower.  When I came back, the Ionic was completely unresponsive.  Tried holding down buttons in all different combinations.  Everything was working fine up until this incident.

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‎09-17-2019 11:29

‎09-17-2019 11:29

Tried online chat, then phone support, then supervisor phone support.  All three gave the same offer because my device was out of warranty.  40% off a Versa Lite or 25% off any other model.  I found this to be unacceptable since they are the ones who broke my watch!

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‎09-17-2019 12:11

In response to matt.burke

‎09-17-2019 12:11

Welcome to the club, they have proven time and time again that they have your money so you don't matter to them. Really our only solution is to speak with our wallets and buy another brand. Fitbit is very aware that they have a issue on their hands but they chose to ignore or silence us instead.

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‎09-17-2019 12:18 - edited ‎09-17-2019 12:19

In response to zerodameaon

‎09-17-2019 12:18 - edited ‎09-17-2019 12:19

Yeah no kidding...  What do you recommend as a replacement?  Ideally I'd want the Charge 3...

 

When I was speaking with the supervisor they told me that according to their logs my watch never even downloaded the firmware update, and therefore they can't confirm that the update is the cause of the failure.  It's like they're calling me a liar.  I saw it FINISH the download and begin the installation.

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‎09-17-2019 13:34

In response to matt.burke

‎09-17-2019 13:34

Worked perfectly this morning and thought i'd update it. Now got the flashing blue logo screen and nothing else works. 

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0 Votes

‎09-17-2019 13:43

In response to JInkster

‎09-17-2019 13:43

Ot will take an hour or longer to update. If you have the logo on the screen you are ok. Let it go.

Get Outlook for Android
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0 Votes

‎09-17-2019 13:45

In response to budgie788

‎09-17-2019 13:45

Its flashing blue diamond.

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0 Votes

‎09-17-2019 14:12

In response to JInkster

‎09-17-2019 14:12

Let it go. It is downloading
It should tell you when it is done. Like I said it will take and
Hour or more to complete


Get Outlook for Android
Best Answer

‎09-17-2019 14:14

In response to budgie788

‎09-17-2019 14:14

Was told by chat the download was interrupted. Luckily still under warranty so they are sending a new one to me.

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‎09-17-2019 14:18

In response to JInkster

‎09-17-2019 14:18

That's great, but why would an interrupted download result in a bricked device?  I could understand if it was interrupted during installation, but not during download...

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‎09-18-2019 02:24

‎09-18-2019 02:24

My Fitbit ionic also died while installing the update. It downloaded and started installing, which was taking over an hour at least. It’s dead and nothing I have tried has worked like putting it on a charger all day and holding in the buttons.

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‎09-18-2019 02:34

In response to Trinavan

‎09-18-2019 02:34

It took almost an hour to update, but it was successful. But when I started to explore new features my Ionic also died and I can't do nothing about it now... Have to call the support as well I guess. 

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‎09-19-2019 05:20

In response to Alexx_mipt

‎09-19-2019 05:20

Same deal here - Ionic bricked during firmware install.  Chatted with customer support, they had me try a couple things (is it charged, are the charging contacts clean, is the green light on, hold down left and lower right buttons). It is 5 months old.  They authorized a replacement.  Today I picked it up and it actually started - so I charged it, which took 3 times the usual amount of time, and tried the firmware again - and it bricked yet again.  I tried the update with the watch on the charger, and the app said “the device was busy - try again later”.  I think what is happening is the update won’t install if it is on charger, but it also sucks the battery dry, causing it to hang.  Maybe.... bad design for sure.

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0 Votes

‎09-19-2019 09:52

In response to budgie788

‎09-19-2019 09:52

Mine takes a couple hours ... IF I'm lucky.  When I'm not lucky, it takes several hours to two full days to finish restarting.  😕

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0 Votes

‎08-08-2020 04:46

In response to Trinavan

‎08-08-2020 04:46

My ionic worked great until it died during the update. Battery can charge. Screen will not turn on. The communication I have had with Fitbit Support borders on incoherent and I am not referring to their obvious inability to use spellcheck. To avoid embarrassing them, I would gladly copy their “support” emails to Fitbit Admin. privately. They repeatedly refer me to the warranty although they know my Fitbit is close to 2 years old. They are unable or unwilling to offer any troubleshooting advice. I am grateful to the people in the Fitbit community who readily offer troubleshooting suggestions and by the way, the Fitbit community members are actually the Fitbit Support Team. I am very disappointed and surprised with the lack of customer service from Fitbit as the products are expensive and should operate longer than one year. At least make a little effort to try to fix a problem.

Best Answer