Ionic Stuck in a boot loop

[FlyBoyJIt]

So beware developers. I made a custom clock face app, and make a mistake in the syntax. Did not add (#) to the mask id. Since then my ionic has been in a boot loop. it boots and the fitbit icon shows up, then it loads to the blank clock face (I assume the side loaded clock face) and then reboots.

Any idea how to get out of this ? Did I just totally destroy my watch using a clock face? 

Big deterrent to any developer. A clock face (specially one that uses no additional apis) show not possess the ability to boot loop. 

Previously when the tracker restarted, it would revert to the original clock face, but not this time. Currently watching it restart over and over again waiting for the battery to die basically.

Any ideas on how to hard reset (like the HR maybe) ?

[JonFitbit · Accepted solution]

Unfortunately you'll need to factory reset to recover.

1. Remove the Ionic from your account.
2. Delete the bluetooth pairing.
3. Press and hold all buttons on the device.
4. Wait until the Fitbit logo disappears, then release the bottom right button.
5. Wait until you feel a vibration, then release the other buttons.
6. You will probably see a red X message, just ignore that and setup the device again.

I actually did this myself on Friday, so I feel your pain. I will be raising this issue with the firmware engineers.

[FlyBoyJIt]

WelL I managed to get back into my ionic. Kind of apprehensive about getting into development again, but I might try again. 

With the constant "server connection failed" on the watch ...along with the constant restarts  which lead to the aforementioned error and the lack of a simulator, it is really becoming a pain to develop.

I'm still holding on, hoping for some magic soon.

Thanks for he constant help though Jon

[JonFitbit]

You could always develop as an "app", then switch it to a "clock face" later, when you know it's working!

Hopefully we'll have a longer term solution to this too.

[MicroByte]

Did the same to my Ionic today just trying to add a gradient rectangle.  I could not get the factory reset to work with the button method you describe, but I did get to factory reset by quickly swiping left when the logo disappeared and I could interact with the blank watch.  I was able to get to Settings to get to the factory reset option and did it that way.  It took a few tries, but my iOS gaming swiping skills finally paid off.

Just wanted to pass this on incase there is someone else that could not get the button method to work.

[FlyBoyJIt]

Thats a great idea Jon, thanks! This seems to ensure no boot loop right ?

Doing that right now.

[Anthoang]

I had the exact same problem.  Except I couldn't press all the buttons to factory reboot the ionic.  The ionic was constantly rebooting itself and prevent me to even factory reboot it.   Luckily, there was about a second in between each reboot, I had the opportunity to interact with the watch.   Fortunately, I had the "Settings" app as one of my two quick-links.  By contantly hitting on the lower right button, I was able to enter the "Settings" app and performed the factory reset through the Settings app.   I was pretty close to returning the Ionic watch. 

[agsurf5]

Just happened to me as well, adding the gradient code as of SVG guide.

Maybe check that the code is correct, and does not cause many crashes?

[SUPER8BIT]

I'm also stuck in the same reboot loop after trying to add multiple gradient squares. I can't get into the watch at all, suggestions?

- resolved by factory reset. 

Thanks! 

[JonFitbit]

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@SUPER8BIT wrote:

I'm also stuck in the same reboot loop after trying to add multiple gradient squares. I can't get into the watch at all, suggestions?

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I saw on Discord that you resolved this by doing a factory reset. As I mentioned, you can develop your clock face as an app, to prevent getting caught out like this. At least until we resolve the issue.

[dPunisher]

Just happened to me as well, adding a second gradientRect on the index.gui.

After 4-5 attempts, I was able to apply the factory reset method.

[Lox83BR]

Hi Jon,

I'm not a developer, I have a Ionic, using only for 1 week.

I'm just facing the same boot loop problems after a swimming session.

The steps data looked like very strange and the screen steps counter was frozen, so I've just restarted the device, as another posts mentioned, as the user manual (to restart the tracker itself)

But without any visible reason the device become to restart repeatedly after this first trying to restart.

I did the reset factory as you explained step by step. It worked, the screen come back to the red X message, so I've tried to sync and setup again but the device is shutting down after 10 or 15 seconds.

After that, if I put the charge cable again, it returns to the red X message screen.

So it repeats the behavior, on the middle of the setup procedure, shutting down and return to red x message. I just can't finish the setup!

Do you have any other suggestion?

Do you think It could be a hardware problem?

Please help me!!!!

Thank you very much in advance!

See my contacts below, I appreciate if we can talk directly.

Skype: leo.gox

Email: leonardogox@gmail.com

[FlyBoyJIt]

You may have to do more then 1 consecutive reset before the issue resolves.

[Lox83BR]

You mean consecutive hard resets, right?

i did, but I will continue trying so.

Makes difference to do the hard reset with charger plugged or not?

[WauloK]

I tried Factory Reset a couple of times but always got "Could not erase all settings. Sync and try again".

Could never Sync because the phone cannot see the Ionic any more, but could use Jon's method (I found elsewhere through Googling) and repaired, then waited 30-45 mins to reinstall firmware.

[Lox83BR]

Hi WauloK

My problem is that after the screen message appears, just after more few seconds the device shutdown.

If I press the left button again the device turns on and returns to the same screen.

[JonFitbit]

You will get the red X after a factory reset. Remove the Ionic from your Fitbit account, delete the bluetooth pairing, then start again.

[mlindgren]

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@Lox83BR wrote:

Hi Jon,

I'm not a developer, I have a Ionic, using only for 1 week.

I'm just facing the same boot loop problems after a swimming session.

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This is worrying. It sounds like your device could have water damage. If you can't resolve the issue with a factory reset, you might want to consider returning the device for a replacement.

[Lox83BR]

Hi @FlyBoyJIt

Could you explain it again please?

1 - First , about the hard reset, I need to do it with the charger cable plugged?

2 - When you said "You may have to do more then 1 consecutive reset before the issue resolves" is it by doing the hard reset after and after from the red X message screen?

3 - On your case, when you tried the hard reset consecutive times, it was because the Ionic has continued to restart even after the first hard reset ? Or just because any other reason? How did you identified that the first hard reset did not work?

4 - And If I continue to try consecutive hard resets, what type of behavior or screen I must to see when the hard reset works effectively and the issue resolves?

Thanks

[Lox83BR]

Hi @mlindgren

Yes, I am.

But I'm not sure that it (swimming) was the cause of the problem.

It was just my second swimming session and I don't know if the frozen screen was caused by that or if it was just a coincidence.

Just to avoid any incorrect diagnoses, I've been trying to understand what happened in the others cases and if we are facing the same issue, that could be fixed by some extra procedure that was not tried until now...