The Android Cell Phone Thread

[herpsky]

Herpsky, any site/guide on how to flash froyo onto my Samsung? I'm fed up with how slow they are and how ridiculously shit the Kies program is...

One of the problems that I found was that the resources (tutorials and etc) are not comprehensive. Also, the terminologies / semantics of android hacking are complicated. For example, the term SDcard seems to refer to both internal and external storage (I guess some phones view internal storage as "external"?)

What I found so far:

1) Using titanium back up

Although the program itself is super simple, there are few not-so-obvious points e.g. you actually need to transfer the back-up folder it creates in your root directory to your PC. Reinstall the program again after reflashing. Restore the back-up folder into your root directory. Run the program again.

2) It's safer to use Odin to restore the phone to its original state and reflash with a brand new rom, rather than overwriting on the existing rom.

3) Realizing that android SDK on a PC is much easier to deal with than on a mac

4) The dual storage issue. It's kinda hard to explain but when you hook up your phone to PC, you only see the non-protected portion i.e. user accessible portion of the file system. If you wanna mod the phone, you somehow need to be able to manipulate the protected portion of the file system. I used ADB (adb push) that came with the android SDK.

Installation of external fonts is a case in point.

I mounted the phone as an external drive and copied fonts to the root directory but there was no way to move them to /system/fonts. I still haven't found a root explorer program that could do this.

I guess some of the things I've said are super obvious to 1337 hax0rz.

[Nicorice]

is there no custom recovery for the galaxy s? that'd make things so much easier.

and you don't need to backup your titanium folder to your pc. the folder is stored on the sd card and shouldn't be affected if you are only flashing a rom.

one more note, maybe it's different on the galaxy s but when you mount your sd to your pc you're not seeing the user accessible portion, you're seeing the sd card; not the internal memory.

herpsky, download the app called root explorer, you'd be able to move fonts to the systems folder, but it is a paid app.

[Nicorice]

or you might be able to use this to access the internal memory: droid explorer

may not work on some devices, i haven't tried it myself.

[herpsky]

or you might be able to use this to access the internal memory: droid explorer

may not work on some devices, i haven't tried it myself.

Droid explorer crashes. I tried it earlier.

Galaxy S is weird.

There seems to be three different file systems

-SDcard (the real deal)

-SDcard (user accessible internal storage recognized as SD)

-Internal memory (file system)

When you mount the second option, you see a folder called SDCARD in the root directory. I'm guessing that folder refers to the actual SDcard. Can't say for sure b/c I don't have an SD card.

i also discovered how to sideload "premium" apps;)

i extracted settings.db and rewrote it with an SQL reader. i then pushed it back into the phone. pretty easy.

[herpsky]

also discovered that carriers can place a filter on the market place i.e. there are certain programs that cannot be downloaded

Angry birds is one example (maybe my phone isn't compatible)

[Nicorice]

there's usually only 2 file system, unless you have the apps2sd.

yaffs for the internal memory

fat for the sd card

ext for apps2sd:ext

not sure where the froyo apps2sd stores its files.

[un-]

I recently upgraded my MyTouch3G to a G2, & I love it.

[herpsky]

Cognition totally fucked up my captivate.

Tried reflashing and bricked the phone.

Used Odin to flash with stock rom.

Note to self: Buy a microSD before I fuck around

[chantheman]

so you got it back working? thats what im afraid of...a $300 paperweight

[NatseOklim]

Finally got Froyo, had a text message from my carrier this morning to say it was available. It took a few tweaks to get it working but I now have everything installed and apparently working fine.

[Nicorice]

Cognition totally fucked up my captivate.

Tried reflashing and bricked the phone.

Used Odin to flash with stock rom.

Note to self: Buy a microSD before I fuck around

always do a nandroid before you flash anything/do anything risky.

[chantheman]

anyone know of any new droids coming out on ATT in the next couple months?

[red]

New Nexus is official.

And they have a bunch of videos of gingerbread here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/googlenexus

Curved screen looks sexy as fuck.

[chantheman]

does look good too bad its for tmobile

[TruMoo]

t-mobile > att

[chantheman]

wouldnt know havent had either service before

[mr.invincible]

when is sprint going to get some damn phones.

i dont give a shit about 4g.

[mike lowrey]

does look good too bad its for tmobile

?

"After December 16, Nexus S will be sold unlocked and carrier-independent initially through Best Buy stores in the U.S. and after December 20 at Carphone Warehouse stores in the UK. "

[Tisswat]

New Nexus is official.

And they have a bunch of videos of gingerbread here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/googlenexus

Curved screen looks sexy as fuck.

Definitely getting this.

Anyone flying from the US to Euroland around Xmas by any chance?

[uL7iMa]

it's ridiculous how different the prices for this phones are between the US and the UK...US$529 vs £549??? wtf...

[NatseOklim]

UK prices are nearly always an exact figure copy of the US price, no matter the exchange rate. Such a rip-off.

[phelen]

Can you import an US Android phone and use it here in the UK?.

[TruMoo]

Not really that much diff spec wise than the galaxy s series but still a great buy

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[NatseOklim]

Google should force every manufacturer to offer a reset option in their phone, that resets it to a "vanilla" install of android, minus all the tweaks and UI changes they all make. That way everyone could get the latest updates in a timely fashion if they wish. I love my Galaxy S but I hated how long it took to get Froyo.

[bryanayrb]

well, upgrading to a galaxy S from my ancient iPhone 3G today

hope i made the right decision

[percy]

am almost the same as you bryan. im in the uk on o2 and currently have a 3gs but fancy an android. was looking at either the galaxy s, the htc desire hd or maybe the nexus s.

anyone got any opinions? do you android users recommend the system?

[TruMoo]

am almost the same as you bryan. im in the uk on o2 and currently have a 3gs but fancy an android. was looking at either the galaxy s, the htc desire hd or maybe the nexus s.

anyone got any opinions? do you android users recommend the system?

You probably should just get the "nexus s" just because it runs stock Android 2.3. Although the HTC desire hd is great as well.

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[Jpo1932]

I agree, go with the Nexus. That way your guaranteed updates by google. I love my Samsung epic, but i've been on fucking 2.1 for a promise for 2.2 for i don't know how long..

[sushijerk]

Srsly. Go with stock android phones if you can. Carriers always promise they will update you to the latest version asap but basically never do shit unless you have a blockbuster phone like Droid or EVO 4g.

My phone is only about 7 months old but that's like 2-3 generations in smartphone time. Plus I'm on ATT so I'm probably stuck on 2.1 for good until my next phone.

Not being able to run the 3d tilt option on the new Google Maps update makes me feel like I failed at life.

[phelen]

The only gripe with the Desire HD and I probably stand corrected but from experience battery life is shockingly bad. I admit when I migrated from iOS to Android I was really disappointed, the wealth of apps and games to the keyboard not to my liking. However, after a month I realised browing is great, installed a custom keyboard and well just changed everything to my taste which is the great thing about Android.

Also what 3D maps are avaliable at the moment?, only found New York that works.