Android Market not downloading - how to fix it

Posted on 12 Nov 2010 at 11:00

 

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Although Android's a brilliant operating system with a growing number of apps available for it, the Market can be a bit flaky at times, completely refusing to download applications. The errors are numerous, including a 'Download Unsuccessful' message, downloads pausing, downloads refusing to start and even authentication errors.

Getting it running again can prove to be a real headache where nothing seems to work. Here's our guide to all of the problems we've found and how to fix it. We'll start with the easy fixes and slowly work up to the more difficult ones. Due to the variances in Android versions and manufacturer customisations, the steps we've given may differ slightly on your phone.

1. Switch network connection

For reasons unknown the Market will often fail because it doesn't like the network connection you're using. This can be because Google Talk isn't signed in (see step 2) or because there's some other, again, unknown problem.

We've suffered most of our problems when connected over a Wi-Fi network, so try disabling wireless and connecting using 3G. If that's not an option, try disconnecting and reconnecting the wireless, then attempt your download again.

Sometimes it's the wireless network you're on that causes the most problems. For example, if you're on a corporate network it may be firewalled to prevent the downloads working or letting Google Talk work.

2. Sign into Google Talk

For some reason known only to Google, the Market sometimes requires you to be signed into Google Talk for authentication, although not with every phone.

It's worth trying to sign in, so select Talk from the main application menu. It should immediately open and display a list of your friends, showing your status as 'Available'. If you're online, try signing out (Menu, plus Sign Out), then restart the application.

If you're not signed in or can't resign in and you just see a 'Signing in' screen, you've got a problem, which could be preventing downloads. Try following Step 1, changing network, to get yourself signed in; most of the time, getting Google Talk to sign in will get the Market working. You can also read Step 4 for information on clearing app data. However, if you're in the UK, check Step 3 first.

Once you're signed in, if you don't want your friends to see you, you can tap your username and set your Status to Invisible. For the best compatibility hit the Menu button, select Settings and put a tick in the Automatically sign in box.

3. You're in the UK and have switched your @Googlemail email to an @Gmail address

In the UK Google originally had to give users @Googlemail email addresses due to a legal dispute. When this was resolved in early 2010, UK users had the option to change their email address from an @Googlemail address to an @Gmail address, which stopped Talk from working and thus the Market.

One option to fix this is to switch your Gmail account back to an @Googlemail account, but it's a workaround rather than a fix. However, clearing your Gmail data and starting again fixes this, as Androinica discovered.

4. Unmount the SD card

Goodness what exactly the SD card has to do with the market, but it can stop downloads: for some bizarre reason one card was preventing our Nexus One from downloading from the market.

Our fix is to go to the Market and select an app for download. While the download is waiting to start, click Home, press the Menu button and select Settings. Select SD card & phone storage, then select Unmount SD Card, wait for it to complete, then select Mount SD card. In our case, our download would either complete or at least get part way through.

Try your phone without an SD card at all (power it down and remove the card). If that doesn't work, see if you can borrow another card from a friend and try again. In our case, a new MicroSD card in our Google Nexus One, solved the problem completely.

5. Clear application data

Sometimes following all of the steps above may technically fix the initial cause of the problem, but you need to wipe some application data to start afresh. To do this go to the Settings, Applications menu and click All applications.

To clear data of an application (we'll list the ones you're interested in next), select it and click Force stop (not strictly necessary, but worth doing) and click Clear data. Follow this procedure for Download Manager, Market and Market Updater. For Market, you may also want to click Uninstall Updates, if the option is available. You may also want to try this on Talk, too.

For the Samsung Galaxy S, there's also the Checkin Service to clear - you can find full instructions on how to do this on the HoneyTechBlog.

6. Reset the phone

Sometimes there's nothing else to do but wipe your phone back to factory settings. Select Privacy from the Settings menu and click Factory data reset. Your phone will reset back to default settings; however, we've found that it doesn't always wipe everything, so you may need to follow all of the steps above again to get it working.

Author: David Ludlow