Samsung Galaxy S II

Marco85

is there anyone on here that has bought the phone and left it as stock having serious battery problems? got the phone 3 weeks ago and its getting worse. am fairly reluctant to root or flash because i havent a clue and im afraid i will brick the phone while doing it?

-Corkie-

Marco85 wrote: »

is there anyone on here that has bought the phone and left it as stock having serious battery problems? got the phone 3 weeks ago and its getting worse. am fairly reluctant to root or flash because i havent a clue and im afraid i will brick the phone while doing it?

Follow the instructions on the XDA forum and you cannot go wrong. I havent a clue either but with a little help from helpful Boardsies I done it no bother...

Marco85

went it to meteor complaining about it and they offered me a replacement when they get them back in stock so ill see what the new one is like. if i do need to root and i make a hash of it is the phone completely banjaxes then or can you get it back to its original state by doing a factory reset?

Nephew

How does the battery on the S2 compare to the original Galaxy S and does it suffer from the same crappy GPS issues that the original had? I suppose what I am really asking is should I upgrade from the Galaxy S to the S2 if all it's going to cost me is extending my contract by 12 months?

Grassey

Marco85 wrote: »

is there anyone on here that has bought the phone and left it as stock having serious battery problems? got the phone 3 weeks ago and its getting worse. am fairly reluctant to root or flash because i havent a clue and im afraid i will brick the phone while doing it?

Hey, you could install os monitor from the market and have it run for a day or so to see what is running in the background the most causing the drain.

I found all the rubbish pre installed on the phone was my problem on stock, kobo, the gaming hub, music hub etc none of which I used!

If you don't want to flash a Rom and just stay on stock you could follow these instructions to just root your phone, its pretty easy as you can see

samsunggalaxys2review.org/root-your-samsung-galaxy-s2-heres-how

then just install bloat freezer or titanium backup to freeze the applications that you don't use, can't uninstall, and can.t otherwise stop from running.

Marco85

Grassey wrote: »

Marco85 wrote: »

is there anyone on here that has bought the phone and left it as stock having serious battery problems? got the phone 3 weeks ago and its getting worse. am fairly reluctant to root or flash because i havent a clue and im afraid i will brick the phone while doing it?

Hey, you could install os monitor from the market and have it run for a day or so to see what is running in the background the most causing the drain.

I found all the rubbish pre installed on the phone was my problem on stock, kobo, the gaming hub, music hub etc none of which I used!

If you don't want to flash a Rom and just stay on stock you could follow these instructions to just root your phone, its pretty easy as you can see

samsunggalaxys2review.org/root-your-samsung-galaxy-s2-heres-how

then just install bloat freezer or titanium backup to freeze the applications that you don't use, can't uninstall, and can.t otherwise stop from running.

Will try that later grassey,thanks for the help!

Zagato

If you're going to be giving the phone back to Meteor within the next week, I wouldn't be inclined to root, unless anyone else has personal experience of them happy to exchange a rooted device

Marco85

Zagato wrote: »

If you're going to be giving the phone back to Meteor within the next week, I wouldn't be inclined to root, unless anyone else has personal experience of them happy to exchange a rooted device

I wont do it so. If i do decide to root or flash if i hav problems with the replacement is there no way of geting it back to stock condition?

Zagato

Marco85 wrote: »

I wont do it so. If i do decide to root or flash if i hav problems with the replacement is there no way of geting it back to stock condition?

There is, but it is slightly more complicated as the phone logs how many custom firmwares you flash, so you have to wipe that, it's just that you mentioned you were a bit worried about the technicalities of rooting flashing earlier.

I think you find if you read any of these threads people talk about being worried about rooting/flashing their phone, and then when they do it, they're surprised how painless it is.
It is pretty difficult to brick your phone, but it is important to read instructions a few times and follow them accurately

Marco85

Zagato wrote: »

Marco85 wrote: »

I wont do it so. If i do decide to root or flash if i hav problems with the replacement is there no way of geting it back to stock condition?

There is, but it is slightly more complicated as the phone logs how many custom firmwares you flash, so you have to wipe that, it's just that you mentioned you were a bit worried about the technicalities of rooting flashing earlier.

I think you find if you read any of these threads people talk about being worried about rooting/flashing their phone, and then when they do it, they're surprised how painless it is.
It is pretty difficult to brick your phone, but it is important to read instructions a few times and follow them accurately

Cheers mate,ill see how i get on with the replacement. Thats if meteor ever get them back in stock.

Marco85

got the replacement this evening and from stock its a diffrent baseband,kernel and build number compared to the one i had. will this help my battery issues?

Zagato

Might do, here's hoping

Marco85

with a bit of luck anyway. is it best to turn the background syncing off and i read somewhere about havin a black wallpaper instead of a bright one to kill the display drain? would this be right?

Zagato

I tend to use a black background, tbh it's rare that I actually notice something that definitely improves my battery, how I use my phone isn't consistent enough, today for example was on calls for >1hr, so that certainly skewed it.

The things that meaningfully effect battery drain (I think) are 2G vs 3G, GPS/bluetooth/wifi being on, and applications autosyncing. If switch over to 2G, switch off auto sync (oh and er turn down screen brightness) battery will last for ages - but then I wouldn't have smartphone

Marco85

Zagato wrote: »

I tend to use a black background, tbh it's rare that I actually notice something that definitely improves my battery, how I use my phone isn't consistent enough, today for example was on calls for >1hr, so that certainly skewed it.

The things that meaningfully effect battery drain (I think) are 2G vs 3G, GPS/bluetooth/wifi being on, and applications autosyncing. If switch over to 2G, switch off auto sync (oh and er turn down screen brightness) battery will last for ages - but then I wouldn't have smartphone

whats the diffrence between 2g and 3g and how do i swap from one to another? in my wallpaper gallery there is only lovely bright shiny ones,where are the dreary dull black ones?

Zagato

Marco85 wrote: »

Zagato wrote: »

I tend to use a black background, tbh it's rare that I actually notice something that definitely improves my battery, how I use my phone isn't consistent enough, today for example was on calls for >1hr, so that certainly skewed it.

The things that meaningfully effect battery drain (I think) are 2G vs 3G, GPS/bluetooth/wifi being on, and applications autosyncing. If switch over to 2G, switch off auto sync (oh and er turn down screen brightness) battery will last for ages - but then I wouldn't have smartphone

whats the diffrence between 2g and 3g and how do i swap from one to another? in my wallpaper gallery there is only lovely bright shiny ones,where are the dreary dull black ones?

Settings » wireless & networks » mobile network and then select instead of wcdma/gsm auto

2G is perfectly adequate for syncing everything, but would be painfully slow for actual browsing/streaming. You can get a shortcut widget.

plenty of wallpaper apps in the market, just check the permissions request (they shouldn't need access to your contacts)
The shall paper I use is a black PNG I got somewhere, here's some links to wallpapers I use

http://db.tt/cMnjjMR
http://db.tt/ECM9fXk
http://db.tt/YtMdzbv
http://db.tt/9qdoj41

Marco85

Zagato wrote: »

Marco85 wrote: »

Zagato wrote: »

I tend to use a black background, tbh it's rare that I actually notice something that definitely improves my battery, how I use my phone isn't consistent enough, today for example was on calls for >1hr, so that certainly skewed it.

The things that meaningfully effect battery drain (I think) are 2G vs 3G, GPS/bluetooth/wifi being on, and applications autosyncing. If switch over to 2G, switch off auto sync (oh and er turn down screen brightness) battery will last for ages - but then I wouldn't have smartphone

whats the diffrence between 2g and 3g and how do i swap from one to another? in my wallpaper gallery there is only lovely bright shiny ones,where are the dreary dull black ones?

Settings » wireless & networks » mobile network and then select instead of wcdma/gsm auto

2G is perfectly adequate for syncing everything, but would be painfully slow for actual browsing/streaming. You can get a shortcut widget.

plenty of wallpaper apps in the market, just check the permissions request (they shouldn't need access to your contacts)
The shall paper I use is a black PNG I got somewhere, here's some links to wallpapers I use

http://db.tt/cMnjjMR
http://db.tt/ECM9fXk
http://db.tt/YtMdzbv
http://db.tt/9qdoj41

Cheers for the help zagato,much appreciated.did u leave a word out above. What do i select instead of wcdma/gsm auto?

Zagato

Marco85 wrote: »

Cheers for the help zagato,much appreciated.did u leave a word out above. What do i select instead of wcdma/gsm auto?

Sorry, posted that from my phone, hence I couldn't put the links in properly.

At that menu under Network Mode select GSM only instead of instead of GSM/WCDMA(Auto mode)

You have to have mobile data (That's the use packet data box above) off while it is switching (which tbh is very annoying and I don't really know why it is the case)

Wetbench4

Zagato wrote: »

Sorry, posted that from my phone, hence I couldn't put the links in properly.

At that menu under Network Mode select GSM only instead of instead of GSM/WCDMA(Auto mode)

You have to have mobile data (That's the use packet data box above) off while it is switching (which tbh is very annoying and I don't really know why it is the case)

I'm with 3 and it has two different 3(3g) options and one 3(2g) option(god thats a mouthful of a sentence). Any idea if there is a difference between the two 3g options???

Zagato

Wetbench4 wrote: »

I'm with 3 and it has two different 3(3g) options and one 3(2g) option(god thats a mouthful of a sentence). Any idea if there is a difference between the two 3g options???

What's does it call the two 3G options -what is different about them?

I'm with vodafone and have a 3G/2G mode, a 3G only, and a 2G only mode.

I thought 3 used the O2 2G network?

Dozen Wicked Words

Zagato wrote: »

I thought 3 used the O2 2G network?

It uses Vodafones 2G network

LEIN

Zagato wrote: »

What's does it call the two 3G options -what is different about them?

I'm with vodafone and have a 3G/2G mode, a 3G only, and a 2G only mode.

I thought 3 used the O2 2G network?

Tesco use the o2 network.

Yip

is there anyone on Vodafone using the stock firmware that came with the phone?could you tell what the latest update is available via Kies?
mine is saying unable to update,rather than i have the lastest.
thanks.

iggy

Can anyone tell me how to get the icon image to be the proper image.
I save the links to homepage but I want the icons to represent the site.

Have a look and u will see what I mean e.g. boards.ie should have the full icon

[IMG][/img]

Zagato

iggy wrote: »

Can anyone tell me how to get the icon image to be the proper image.
I save the links to homepage but I want the icons to represent the site.

Have a look and u will see what I mean e.g. boards.ie should have the full icon

[IMG][/img]

I see you're using launcher pro; I use ADW launcher and when I add the bookmark (by long pressing screen -> shortcut -> bookmark and then pick Boards) it comes up as the boards icon automatically -like in address bar on browser- I have actually changed this to a different icon (as I have a black theme) by long pressing the icon, then click edit and using an icon pack I downloaded from the market, change the icon image; but I don't know how to do this on Launcher Pro -Not very helpful really:(

wotzgoingon

What facial recognition unlock software are people using for this device?? About two weeks ago i tried to download one(forget the name) and it said not supported on this device.

Kenny Logins

wotzgoingon wrote: »

What facial recognition unlock software are people using for this device?? About two weeks ago i tried to download one(forget the name) and it said not supported on this device.

Interesting, never heard of any apps like this before.

Is this what you tried?

https://market.android.com/details?id=visidon.AppLock

wotzgoingon

Kenny Logins wrote: »

Interesting, never heard of any apps like this before.

Is this what you tried?

https://market.android.com/details?id=visidon.AppLock

I think that one is only for locking each app but i want one to work when i wake up the phone rather than putting in a password.

wotzgoingon

I was messing around with my phone and opened an app called Allshare(Must be a default samsung app as i didn't download it) And it recognised my desktop(Must try it on my laptop) and i was able to view all my pics and videos on my desktop. I also opened a movie and played the first 10 mins and it played perfectly no lag what so ever.

It's a very good app. Really impressed by it. I'd say you can get it on other Android phones not just SGSII.

Professey Chin

wotzgoingon wrote: »

I was messing around with my phone and opened an app called Allshare(Must be a default samsung app as i didn't download it) And it recognised my desktop(Must try it on my laptop) and i was able to view all my pics and videos on my desktop. I also opened a movie and played the first 10 mins and it played perfectly no lag what so ever.

It's a very good app. Really impressed by it. I'd say you can get it on other Android phones not just SGSII.

Allshare would be Samsungs own wifi sharing software.
Its actually built into a lot of their new smart tvs

wotzgoingon

Mega Chin wrote: »

Allshare would be Samsungs own wifi sharing software.
Its actually built into a lot of their new smart tvs

Oh right so its a Samsung only software.
I just found another one that does the same thing but you can view more of the phones files. Kies Air.

I have the phone a few weeks and dont know why it took me so long to try out these programs.

Professey Chin

wotzgoingon wrote: »

Oh right so its a Samsung only software.
I just found another one that does the same thing but you can view more of the phones files. Kies Air.

I have the phone a few weeks and dont know why it took me so long to try out these programs.

Kies is also Samsung

Dempsey

Current Firmware: PDA:KE5/PHONE:KE1/CSC:KE2 (VDI)
Latest Firmware: PDA:KG2/PHONE:KG1/CSC:KE2 (VDI)

Is there any major bugs in this firmware upgrade?

sioda

Just got an S2 today and loving it so far but before i throw out all my old phone bits does anyone know if the S2 will charge of a nokia n97mini charger both micro usb??

smcnena

I notice that there is a release of the CyangenMod 7 firmware.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1112916

Has anybody installed this yet?

-Corkie-

sioda wrote: »

Just got an S2 today and loving it so far but before i throw out all my old phone bits does anyone know if the S2 will charge of a nokia n97mini charger both micro usb??

It will surley.. A lot of phones have that same charging port now..:)

Zagato

-Corkie- wrote: »

It will surley.. A lot of phones have that same charging port now..:)

Yes, it's going to be the standard for charging all mobile phones for the next 5-10yrs, in Europe at least, so that they don't have to give you a new charger with every new phone

marathonic

dammit... I'd planned to get the first of whichever of the Sensation and Galaxy SII came into Meteor first and what do they do - get both in stock together.

The Galaxy SII is only a tenner cheaper so cost isn't really an issue

Zagato

marathonic wrote: »

dammit... I'd planned to get the first of whichever of the Sensation and Galaxy SII came into Meteor first and what do they do - get both in stock together.

The Galaxy SII is only a tenner cheaper so cost isn't really an issue

Well for me the main difference is being able to mod the SGS2 more as the Sensation has a locked bootloader which hasn't been properly cracked yet, so no custom ROMs for the Sensation. Samsung have gone the opposite route by giving free phones to the developers over at CyanogenMod to help develop custom ROMs.
If you want to tinker with your phone, you should definitely get the SGS2, if you're not interested, they're both great phones out of the box, and their's little between them

Dr.Winston O'Boogie

One thing I have noticed is the sound when playing music or podcasts is much lower than on other android phones I have had. Anyone else getting this?

Cyrus

any one got the mhl adapter? pity it wasnt bundled

work as described yeah?

sioda

Sorry for noob questions. But is there anyway to stop the damn thing beeping when it is charged ???

Cyrus

sioda wrote: »

Sorry for noob questions. But is there anyway to stop the damn thing beeping when it is charged ???

put it on silent, or flash a custom rom

Zith

wotzgoingon wrote: »

I was messing around with my phone and opened an app called Allshare(Must be a default samsung app as i didn't download it) And it recognised my desktop(Must try it on my laptop) and i was able to view all my pics and videos on my desktop. I also opened a movie and played the first 10 mins and it played perfectly no lag what so ever.

It's a very good app. Really impressed by it. I'd say you can get it on other Android phones not just SGSII.

It's their version of DNLA. If you have other DNLA compliant devices on the same network (for example a media box, network storage device or TV) then they can find each other and share the content. Pretty handy alright!

conor.hogan.2

CM7 is out - wow thats great timing I will root and flash this soon.

Cyrus

conor.hogan.2 wrote: »

CM7 is out - wow thats great timing I will root and flash this soon.

is it an RC? or a nightly

conor.hogan.2

Early nightlies by the look - I will root today or tomorrow so I can unlock my phone and then install cm7 on first RC.

maynooth_rules

Grassey wrote: »

Hey, you could install os monitor from the market and have it run for a day or so to see what is running in the background the most causing the drain.

I found all the rubbish pre installed on the phone was my problem on stock, kobo, the gaming hub, music hub etc none of which I used!

If you don't want to flash a Rom and just stay on stock you could follow these instructions to just root your phone, its pretty easy as you can see

samsunggalaxys2review.org/root-your-samsung-galaxy-s2-heres-how

then just install bloat freezer or titanium backup to freeze the applications that you don't use, can't uninstall, and can.t otherwise stop from running.

Does all the useless bloatware on the phone effect the battery?? Im dying to get rid of these utterly pointless apps but as many others here I am scared o my life to root the phone. I dont know what I am at and am worried I will brick it. Never had a phone this good so dont want to brick it

Zagato

Cyrus wrote: »

any one got the mhl adapter? pity it wasnt bundled

work as described yeah?

A few of the guys here do have it, don't have it myself so can't give personal comment, but at least posters here reported that it worked as on the tin, and has a power adaptor so you can charge the phone at the same time.

I think the posts were in this thread towards the end of June.

I'm pretty sure this is the one they got -but no promises

ct5amr2ig1nfhp

I just noticed that there's a new leaked firmware available, KG3.

Has anyone tried it? Is it any better than KG2?

I have the annoying FC browser/flash bug in KG2 and it would appear it's still there in KG3.