I will be getting a Galaxy Note next week and as I have never owned a Samsung device before nor an Android phone (I do own a tablet but it is a WIFI-only one) I would like to pose a few questions:
* Is the bootloader locked on Samsung devices?
* Is it safe to install all OTA updates? Like e.g. on my Acer tablet the newest OTA update disables root access and locks the bootloader, too, the previous updates didn't do this and thus it definitely isn't safe to blindly accept OTA updates. If it isn't safe to install OTA updates which version(s) should I avoid? (I am located in Finland, northern Europe, if that bears any significance)
* What is the best PC-to-Phone and Tablet-to-Phone tethering solution? Googling around and Android Market suggests PdaNet for this, but it is not free and while it isn't exactly expensive I wish to know if there are other alternatives.
* Can Galaxy Note play high-profile H.264 1080p with H/W acceleration, or can it only do baseline-profile H.264 1080p with H/W? My Acer tablet does not do H/W high-profile so it kind of sucks for consuming random video content on the Internet.
Otherwise I have scoured the forums somewhat now and it seems Mobile Odin -- whatever that is -- is the preferred way of installing custom ROMs. I don't know yet how to root the phone, but I suppose it'll be easy to find out. Also I know ICS is promised for Galaxy Note but that Samsung hasn't seemingly given any timeframe for that, and the CyanogenMod ICS ROM is missing too many things for it to be suitable for my uses. As such I don't really have any other questions at the moment, but I would be grateful if someone offered some useful advice that I should know.
OT: I got to play with a display-model at a local phone shop and geesh damn the screen is big for a phone! I'm quite excited, can hardly stay put waiting for the end of next wekk
No one knows an answer to any of these things? What interests me the most is the [email protected] high-profile vs. baseline-profile question.
* Is the bootloader locked on Samsung devices?
- Nope.
* Is it safe to install all OTA updates?
- If you're not rooted, yes. If you're rooted it does occur that it will remove root access, but it you flash a custom ROM you won't get OTA updates. That's no problem since you can easily flash the update manually within minutes. So don't worry about OTA updates.
What is the best PC-to-Phone and Tablet-to-Phone tethering solution?
- I have no idea since i'm not using it, but PDAnet is the most popular (i think)
Can Galaxy Note play high-profile H.264 1080p with H/W acceleration, or can it only do baseline-profile H.264 1080p with H/W?
- Not 100% sure, but i think you have to put it in a mp4 container for it to work.
About rooting, it's very easy and you can follow these steps. When you've done that you'll have CWM which can flash ROM's and make full backups of your ROM's in case you want to restore or something goes wrong.
There are a couple of things (like the video playback and tethering) i'm not sure of, so some other people will have to step in and possible correct me
Related
I should state right away that I do not see my Galaxy S as a toy that I can constantly play with, tweek, flash, and so on... that holds no interest for me whatsoever. Full disclosure time, I work in IT.
Nor am I interested in upgrading anything from version 1.01 to 1.03 just because 1.03 is newer and therefore MUST be better.
I did upgrade from the stock 2.2 to 2.2.1 for three main reasons.
1/ it removed the "3" branding from the boot cycle.
2/ it now gives me OTA update facility
3/ 2.2 was a bit laggy now and again
I did of course root it the instant I got it, my hardware, my root, but it doesn't go much beyond that, certainly not to the point where I think I know better than samsung.
What makes the Galaxy S (I hesitate to call it a phone) useful to me is the various apk's I have installed, no games, all work / productivity related, I am walking around with a pocket sized network connected mini computer that makes the Star Trek tricorder look like a joke.
It's the installed apk's that make this device a killer.
(in the sense that what's the difference between a win2k box and a win7 box? none, until you start loading application software)
So, all that said, what are the REAL differences between 2.2.1 and 2.3, I don't mean the differences touted on websites, I mean the actual real world differences that users, hopefully users similar to me, have noticed?
Is 2.3 going to allow coders to write more flexible and powerful apk's?
Or is 2.3 going to be what I would assume based upon 30 years experience in the IT industry, eg a point release, that is more fine tuning and tweaking and polishing under the hood, where 99% of users can't see it?
TIA
I'm currently in search of a ROM with most of functionality Sony claimed to be. So far i've discovered, that Wireless Mirroring works well on CM-based ROM (ParanoidAndroid, for sure) and do not work on stock-based. But i'm happy to be wrong. So, here's my question: does work Wireless Mirroring in this ROM and AR-Effects by Sony ?
Blue2s said:
I'm currently in search of a ROM with most of functionality Sony claimed to be. So far i've discovered, that Wireless Mirroring works well on CM-based ROM (ParanoidAndroid, for sure) and do not work on stock-based. But i'm happy to be wrong. So, here's my question: does work Wireless Mirroring in this ROM and AR-Effects by Sony ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can confirm once you're rooted wireless mirroring doesn't work on stock roms (I can't talk about ore rooting, since I never got to try before I rooted) I'm not entirely sure if it's fully functional on AOSP ROMs, but give it a try, no harm in trying
AnrgKrshn said:
I can confirm once you're rooted wireless mirroring doesn't work on stock roms (I can't talk about ore rooting, since I never got to try before I rooted) I'm not entirely sure if it's fully functional on AOSP ROMs, but give it a try, no harm in trying
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Click to collapse
If it was so simple... WifiMirroring stops working after one of OTA official updates.After that, app demands some sort of HDCP, which most of TV's do not provide, without option to turn HDCP off. "Most of TV's" - because on one os Samsung's TVs i've got mirroring running, and that was on rooted official ROM. On AOSP ROM this function surely runs well on ParanoidAndroid CM11, but i presume success is in fact, that AOSP ROMs use self-made Wireless Mirroring. And in the same time function don't work on modified KK rom with HDCP=OFF setting. That's unAlgebraic, if you ask me.
Blue2s said:
If it was so simple... WifiMirroring stops working after one of OTA official updates.After that, app demands some sort of HDCP, which most of TV's do not provide, without option to turn HDCP off. "Most of TV's" - because on one os Samsung's TVs i've got mirroring running, and that was on rooted official ROM. On AOSP ROM this function surely runs well on ParanoidAndroid CM11, but i presume success is in fact, that AOSP ROMs use self-made Wireless Mirroring. And in the same time function don't work on modified KK rom with HDCP=OFF setting. That's unAlgebraic, if you ask me.
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Click to collapse
I've tried multiple times on smart TVs with a rooted ROM and have ALWAYS got a HDCP error. Samsung and Sony TVs. However, the store representative used his Note 3 to mirror and it worked instantly. Till date, I haven't been able to get screen mirroring to work on my phone. Haven't tried AOSP though.
I also haven't found a way to bypass HDCP (turn it off) Maybe it works on AOSP because they don't use HDCP as you said, or we have broken HDCP certificates on modified stock ROMs, I'm not entirely sure which.
Many people across many devices have had issues with HDCP on rooted devices. There was a a workaround, but it involves manual modification of files, and I'm not really one to try mass code changing. A quick Google shows many people reporting loss of mirroring with the same error, on rooted devices.
The explanation as to why it's happening, could be any of the things above. I think the workaround is disabling the HDCP check. So that may be the fix.
AnrgKrshn said:
I've tried multiple times on smart TVs with a rooted ROM and have ALWAYS got a HDCP error. Samsung and Sony TVs. However, the store representative used his Note 3 to mirror and it worked instantly. Till date, I haven't been able to get screen mirroring to work on my phone. Haven't tried AOSP though.
I also haven't found a way to bypass HDCP (turn it off) Maybe it works on AOSP because they don't use HDCP as you said, or we have broken HDCP certificates on modified stock ROMs, I'm not entirely sure which.
Many people across many devices have had issues with HDCP on rooted devices. There was a a workaround, but it involves manual modification of files, and I'm not really one to try mass code changing. A quick Google shows many people reporting loss of mirroring with the same error, on rooted devices.
The explanation as to why it's happening, could be any of the things above. I think the workaround is disabling the HDCP check. So that may be the fix.
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Click to collapse
As i wrote before, i've got Mirroring running on official rooted ROM with Samsung TV, so far only one model, but still- it shows that root is not an issue. But support of many TV's void after OTA update for sure.
Blue2s said:
As i wrote before, i've got Mirroring running on official rooted ROM with Samsung TV, so far only one model, but still- it shows that root is not an issue. But support of many TV's void after OTA update for sure.
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Click to collapse
Which ota are you talking about?
OTA- OverTheAir - is update system, which updates firmware and even kernel in some cases, via WiFi or mobile internet, without use of PC. In my case, i'm talking about official ota update, after which WifiMirroring stops working.
Blue2s said:
OTA- OverTheAir - is update system, which updates firmware and even kernel in some cases, via WiFi or mobile internet, without use of PC. In my case, i'm talking about official ota update, after which WifiMirroring stops working.
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Click to collapse
I know what OTA is, mate, I meant, the update to which firmware version?
I don't know. All that I remember, it's that I was on 4.3, and that bug is applied on multiple devices, not only for Z1
I've got a Tmobile Note 4 running Lollipop (updated OTA yesterday). I use a Samsung Wireless Dongle and Screen Mirroring to watch some shows. I noticed yesterday that video playback has become extremely choppy since the Lollipop update. Anyone else experiencing this issue? I double checked my network settings and everything is working smoothly. Video playback on the Note 4 itself is just fine. Just choppy on my TV screen when Screen Mirroring through the Wireless Dongle. Any ideas about how to address this would be much appreciated. I am rooted, running stock TouchWiz Lollipop ROM, if that matters.
Try without the dongle? It does work wireless if you have a smart tv
I have the dongle because I don't have a Wi-Fi Direct/Screen Mirroring capable television. I did dig around in Application Manager and found Wi-Fi Direct Share, and I've cleared the cache and data for it. I'll try it out this evening to see if that will get it working smoothly again.
Should note that on KitKat, the Dongle worked just fine. It is a Samsung brand wireless dongle.
There is no data nor cache to clear on Screen Mirroring app itself nor on the Wi-Fi Direct app. So crossing my fingers this Wi-Fi Direct Share has something to do with it.
I have the same samsung wireless dongle but since I updated to 5.0 i havent had the chance to stream, ill give input in a few when i get home. Also i had a lot of freezing while watching movies on 4.4 not sure if you ever experienced that, it was very annoying. Also I'm stock.
Still not resolved
Wireless dongle playback is still choppy as described in OP. Interested to here from others. A better description might by jerky... Audio is just fine. Might dig around in the build.prop file later. Otherwise, any feedback from others experiencing this issue or others who might have an idea for troubleshooting would be greatly appreciated.
Try booting up in recovery and wiping cashe partition that seems to fix a lot of strange problems for me.
No such luck, mate. Thanks for the suggestion, though. It's bareable as is right now, but it does bug the **** out of me. Haha. I'm just wondering if anyone else out there is experiencing this. I'm thinking of borrowing a Chromecast off someone to see if it has the same issue. I mean, the video in every app is smooth as butter on my phone screen, but the TV is jerky ever so slightly via the Samsung Dongle. I know it's not just me because my wife who typically cares less about tech noticed it.
Leave it to good ol Sammy. Sort of like that BS way they built screen mirroring to break on rooted devices using third party (read:non Samsung dongle) back on the Note 3. Anyone have an idea of something I could try to edit in the build.prop file? Any other ideas? I found an app on the Play Store that's meant to fix Screen Mirroring issues after an update, but when loaded it doesn't give me the option to run it, apparently it thinks I am already patched. Oh. And Samsung was the manufacturer of that app, go figure. So apparently this has happened in in the past?
If all else fails, I may just try a fresh install. I'm trying to wait for the latest version of TWRP because I heard some folks have had no luck flashing ROMs through TWRP after upgrading to Lollipop OTA and then rooting (which is what I did; I never rooted on KitKat because I wanted to keep my 1 yr Sammy Warranty intact, just in case). I know tripping Knox apparently doesn't affect the Tmobile insurance, but I've read varying stories on whether it affects your Sammy factory warranty.
Well. I'm off off to play some AC Unity on the PS4. I'll check back later. Happy trails
I am experiencing the same issue ever since I updated to lollipop. Video mirroring to my Samsung smart TV very choppy.
Nobody has any possible solutions for this? Please give it a shot if you have any ideas whatsoever. Now we have two confirmed reports.
Quick update. Hard reset and even unroooting the device didn't resolve the issue. Definitely something baked into to the latest TMO stock ROM
I've even had the screen freeze on the chromecast when mirroring but audio still plays
@knarfies I used to get a similar issue with Netflix but Lollipop resolved it. So can you connect with Chrome cast, but it freezes occasionally? How often is it happening? The Samsung Dongle works without freezing audio or video but is jerky enough for me and the wife to notice. Wasn't like that on KitKat.
I'm running stock and im using the samsung dongle and the video actually plays smoother on 5.0, when I was on 4.4 it use to freeze all the time I'm not sure why is not playing gird for you guys, plus whatever I was on 4.4 the video playback in general would freez during playback even when I was not screen mirring.
I am currently rooted with a custom kernel and stock ROM, but even before the mods, it was no longer working correctly. Samsung has an app on the Play Store to patch problems with Screen Mirroring after a software upgrade, but when I downloaded it, it said I was already patched. Even after a hard reset and completely non rooted stock everything it hasn't worked perfectly like it did on KitKat since Lollipop.
MarkBell said:
I am currently rooted with a custom kernel and stock ROM, but even before the mods, it was no longer working correctly. Samsung has an app on the Play Store to patch problems with Screen Mirroring after a software upgrade, but when I downloaded it, it said I was already patched. Even after a hard reset and completely non rooted stock everything it hasn't worked perfectly like it did on KitKat since Lollipop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats strange because its the complete opposite for me.
I have bought the second hand device over e-bay and from the beginning I have some problems with it.
Unfortunately I didn't tested it much when I received it because it was still on 5.0.1 stock and rooted. My wish was to have a stock device so it could receive OTA updates as lately I don't have a time to play with the phone.
I have read the beginners guide and followed the guide to return it to stock. I have flashbooted stock recovery, latest Lolipop radio, kernel, system and locked the bootloader. After booting into OS the device has informed that there is a system update. I downloaded it OTA and it installed without a problem. Now the trouble begun when I tried to use the phone. I noticed that youtube won't play any file, Kodi also. Sometimes it even rebooted the phone, but I noticed that when hardware acceleration in Kodi is turned off it plays OK. I thought that maybe video drivers are not OK and tried to check how video benchmark works. Basemark X on medium quality went OK so I thought that I did something wrong in a process of returning the device into stock and tried with a custom ROM.
The decision was to install xTraSmooth . As I didn't had a time to read everything afterwards I found that it is Android M preview and that I should update bootloader and radio as well. But Youtube started to work, Kodi also. Than I noticed that wifi signal is dropping so I decided not to update bootloader but to return to Lolipop and I installed Chroma ROM. After it flashed youtube and Kodi problem started again. I flashed elementalx kernel and Youtube worked but when I turned on hardware acceleration in Kodi it wasn't working.
Than I returned again to xTraSmooth but updated the radio, Youtube and Kodi were working fine, at least I thought. Yesterday I discovered that on some youtube 1080p videos video just freezes the picture after maybe a minute and sound continues to work. When I lower the quality bellow hd it is OK. Strange is that some 1080p youtube videos work without a problem.
Also I bought a slimport adapter and it doesn't work (I have only tested it with xTraSmooth M preview 2). I thought that an adapter is not good but tried it with my cousin Nexus 5 and it is OK.
Don't have a Chromecast and I tried a Miracast with a build.prop hack but the picture is terrible (xTraSmooth M preview 1).
I'm starting to think that my device is defective. Could you please help? Sorry for a quite long explanation.
Please edit this into paragraphs and I'll read it, but I'm not going to read it as it is. Nothing personal, but it's difficult to read block text.
danarama said:
Please edit this into paragraphs and I'll read it, but I'm not going to read it as it is. Nothing personal, but it's difficult to read block text.
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Sorry for writing the post as one block, I have split it into paragraphs now. Hope that it would be easier to read it although it is very long. I tried to explain my problem as better as I could with less words possible.
frankofr said:
Sorry for writing the post as one block, I have split it into paragraphs now. Hope that it would be easier to read it although it is very long. I tried to explain my problem as better as I could with less words possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for doing that.
Youtube should work fine. I would stick to Lollipop 5.1.1 builds. It doesn't have to be stock. The preview is just a preview so some things may not work.
I cannot comment on XtraSmooth as I haven't used it.
I do have Kodi, so if there is anything you want me to test on the rom I use, please let me know.
Nexus 6 doesn't support Slimport or MHL. I've used EZCast and that seems to work fine, picture resolution wise - though performance is poor, so no good for games or video.
I dont think your device is faulty. I would recommend trying some of the latest stock roms or AOSP roms after a full factory reset and trying again with youtube. What carrier are you on / country are you in?
danarama said:
Thanks for doing that.
Youtube should work fine. I would stick to Lollipop 5.1.1 builds. It doesn't have to be stock. The preview is just a preview so some things may not work.
I cannot comment on XtraSmooth as I haven't used it.
I do have Kodi, so if there is anything you want me to test on the rom I use, please let me know.
Nexus 6 doesn't support Slimport or MHL. I've used EZCast and that seems to work fine, picture resolution wise - though performance is poor, so no good for games or video.
I dont think your device is faulty. I would recommend trying some of the latest stock roms or AOSP roms after a full factory reset and trying again with youtube. What carrier are you on / country are you in?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your reply.
I tried Chroma ROM which is ASOP 5.1.1. and Youtube / Kodi didn't worked.
Kodi had a general problem, I was watching a stream of Sons of Anarchy with Genesis plugin but I believe that the same thing will be with any other video. Maybe if it was a video stored on internal memory it would be OK. I'll test this
Sorry to hear that Nexus 6 doesn't support Slimport, I read that it does on GSM arena, NDTV gadgets so I didn't check any further. Does anybody tried Chromcast? I bought this phone mostly to connect it with TV to watch videos and I would appreciate a lot if somebody has a working solution.
OK I will try again to wipe the whole phone and reset it from the beginning.
I'm from Croatia and carrier is Tomato but I connect the phone on internet for any serious transmission over my home wifi.
frankofr said:
. . . I have flashbooted stock recovery, latest Lolipop radio, kernel, system and locked the bootloader. .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a thread (by pokedroid) about issues after relocking the bootloader.
NLBeev said:
There is a thread (by pokedroid) about issues after relocking the bootloader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was trying to find pokedroid thread but I didn't find anything I could use. All I found out of his threads about relocking was the questions from 2 guys who were asking about messing with their company phone. Could you please lnk the tread you are referring to. Thanks.
Anyway I had some time to play with the phone. I installed stock 5.1.1 and relock the bootloader again, I tried Benzo-Rom and XtraSmooth (both 5.1.1) I tried stock M preview and they all had a problem with a video hardware acceleration. VLC even popped out the message that there was a problem with a hardware acceleration and proposed to turn it off.
I tried internet streams, streams over my LAN, playing video from internal memory. Every time the same problem.
I tried to downclock GPU in Benzo-ROM to 400 MHz and that repaired a problem but just in some cases.
After everything I installed again XtraSmooth M preview and almost all videos were playable. I checked GPU clock in CPU-z because I thought that it may be downclocked but it was 600 MHz (max). Well I won't complain for extra power but it is very strange that hardware acceleration works stable on overclocked GPU on preview OS and it doesn't work on stock clock on stable OS release.
Finally after being couple days on XtraSmooth M preview I tried to watch some video from facebook app but it rebooted my phone. I was going through developers options in setting menu and turned on "Disable HW overlays" and after this every video is playing ok.
Can anybody help me with this problem.
After a lot of trying I finally decided to ask Motorola for a help but unfortunately when entering IMEI number it was rejected. Now I am worried that the phone might be stolen and changed IMEI number. Maybe during that change something has gone wrong and that is why the phone is not working as it should be. Is there any way to check this without going to Motorola service because I live too far. The guy that has sold the phone isn't registered at ebay any more, which I discovered just today.
frankofr said:
After a lot of trying I finally decided to ask Motorola for a help but unfortunately when entering IMEI number it was rejected. Now I am worried that the phone might be stolen and changed IMEI number. Maybe during that change something has gone wrong and that is why the phone is not working as it should be. Is there any way to check this without going to Motorola service because I live too far. The guy that has sold the phone isn't registered at ebay any more, which I discovered just today.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try the Swappa IMEI checker > https://swappa.com/esn
cam30era said:
Try the Swappa IMEI checker > https://swappa.com/esn
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Click to collapse
Many thanks, it showed that it is not blacklisted so I tryed again at Motorola pages and now it was OK, maybe it was some problem on the page because I tried about 5 - 6 times writing it all over again.
I have continued trying to repair the phone but unfortunately I have broken it more.
My WiFi connectin was breaking very often, signal was week, I found how to repair and rebuild persist folder and after the process sensors are not working. I have applied the following:
I have rebooted in TWRP and enered the following commands:
Code:
adb shell
e2fsck -y /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/persist
make_ext4fs /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/persist
Persist exist but in TWRP I can see it only as a file not as folder.
After I have tried to fastboot everything from the scratch (bootloader, radio, system, userdata . . . ) several times. I have wiped everything from TWRP. I have tried to return to stock 5.0.0. over nexus root kit, than update it to 5.1.1. but still sensors do not work. Is there any method to return this?
Just to update with the situation: I have installed CM 12.1 hoping that it will repair the issue somehow. Unfortunately it didn't.
Then I went through the root folder and folder /persist exist and it has sens.req file On the other hand it seems that my wifi and data reception are working much better. Is it possible to copy /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/persist file from some other phone into mine to repair the problem?
I have been reading more and maybe found out what has happened. I think that I have messed EFS but I am not sure as I didn't do a backup. Can somebody please answer is my conclusion true and could it be that the phone will be repaired with just a software correction? If yes is there any mothod to repair ESN other than sending it to service because I would have to send it out of my country (nexus is not selling here and none of the services I contacted will take it for repair).
Hello,
I'm very new to android roms
Well, I did a little bit of that back in pre-2010 times and some times with my samsung galaxy nexus, but I assume things have changed a lot since then.
I have many XT1929-17 Z3 non-play and a couple Z4 XT1380 and a few Z2F
I want to try many things,
Download all firmware from each phone, and upload firmware to a phone (I guess that's the flash device and radio firmware , not sure)
Make setup a phone to my taste, make a backup so I can continue messing around without having to go through the entire setup process again !
Next, I have the crappy verizon firmware, I would like the stock android or Z3 motorola stock firmware instead of the verizon one ! WIth all the non-erasable bloat- and spy-ware
Next, I am stuck on Android 9 forever, I would like to try android 10/11/12 especially if the moto mods and gestures are still working. Really, just android 10 would be great, the only thing I really want is darkmode notifications and settings !
After that, if there are roms for those, I would like to try lineageos, grapheneos, pixel experience and the other popular firmwares that are made for many phones.
I would like the fastboot and adb windows 10 offline drivers to remote control all aspects of the phone. (I will be using many of those phones as wifi cameras and I'm trying to reliably stop and start recording 240fps video with wifi remote control)
Oh, and I would like to try just plain linux on those phones, if that's even possible. Even if that's just cpu/ram/wifi. I'd like to use one of them as a mini server
I think that's pretty much all I want to try with these phones, do you have advice on how to do this on Moto Z3 non-play ?
Thanks !
you cannot run linux on android smartphone, except you're talking about "linux" on top of "android kernel" which still provides full hardware HAL access. the overhead is nearly the same as running android, so no point in this. but here you go.
https://docs.ubports.com/en/latest/porting/introduction