Apologies ahead of time for the wall of text...
I got my wife the Prime for Christmas. It took her a couple of days to finally open it, as I gave her the choice of going with it or the iPad2. After a couple of days, she seems to like it and is slowly getting the hang of the OS.
I've played with it some. For the most part, it seems smooth. I've managed to make it glitch (lag) a time or two by going in and out of apps and even had the launcher itself FC on me forcing me to reboot.
That was while checking out Alice in Wonderland in MyBooks, which by the way, is not exactly usable. The page animations worked at first, then stopped, then the pages stopped turning altogether and the app FC'd. Not that I care or am surprised. I'm used to included software being half-baked.
Browser experience has been fine using stock and Opera. Dolphin doesn't seem to work as well on the TF201 as it does on my Atrix. Perfect experience? No. I have a $4,500 i7 2920-XM workstation with an SSD and 16gigs of RAM at work and even with it, the browsing experience (or OS experience in general) can lag/glitch from time to time. Nature of the beast.
I can't really comment on battery life. She took it off the charger Monday night at 100%. It hasn't been used steadily for more than 1-2 hours at a time. It's down to about 15% this morning. I can't really say how many hours of use she's gotten out of it but it doesn't seem to drain much overnight, even with Facebook, email and other notifactions. It felt like it was draining pretty quick when in use but I'll have to pay closer attention.
There's minor light bleed around the edges but I had to turn the lights off during boot up to notice. I haven't attempted to watch an entire movie in the dark with it to tell if it's something that will be bothersome. I'll tell you, I went through THREE Sony XBR2 LCDs a few years ago. They suffered from horrible "clouding" (blotchy white areas all over the panel) and light bleed in the corners. That was noticeable under normal use and since I primarily watched movies in pure darkness, it was bothersome. I don't think it's going to be an issue w/ the TF201 unless I'm being nitpicky.
WiFi seems OK. I have yet to compare it to the laptop, but compared to my Atrix (CM7) it's getting the same signal. It fluctuates some, even staying in the same spot, but it's never caused a problem.
I haven't tested GPS. Something tells me it's not going to operate properly though It's low on my list of concerns and I'll use it as an excuse to return the thing to Gamestop in the next 15 days (for exchange only, which is irksome), but otherwise, I'm not too concerned. If it turns out to be hardware, I imagine an RMA will correct it. It would be cool to use the thing for GPS but I own an actual GPS and rarely use it. I would still prefer the device have its features work, of course.
Aside from the launcher FC and subsequent reboot and the occasional glitchiness/lag using the stock launcher and jumping through apps, the only other issue I've noticed happened this AM. I woke up to the room filled with light. The TF201 was on. I didn't wait long to see if it would go back to sleep so maybe it would have. However, when I got up to see what it was doing, I noticed it had rebooted. Hopefully that doesn't happen often and hopefully not while in use!
I'm confident that a lot of these issues can be fixed with firmware updates and hopefully those are pretty quick to release. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the device. Hopefully ICS will only make the experience better. And hopefully it will come soon so all of the speculation, etc can end! I know my Atrix went from all right to pretty frickin' awesome when I put CM7 on it.
for a while now i've been torn between nexus s and atrix.
i think that in this moment i am much closer to atrix; however, i've seen quite a few complaints on the internet where people get Sleep of Death, and maybe even more people with "Ghost Finger"/jerky screen/unresponsive screen problem (some relate this to custom roms, others relate it to moisture or dust).
how often those problems really are?
I've had exactly two "sleeps of death" and no ghost touch problems. The only other glitch I've observed was one night, the touch input on my screen was being flipped left-to-right. i.e. swiping right became swiping left. I believe my CPU had gotten pretty warm at that point (above 60C); it's a possible source for my problem.
So my n = 3 observable glitches have occurred in the past two months -- pretty rare, considering how often I use the phone. I got into custom roms around christmastime.
For a bit of comparison, my husband's Atrix is still stock and he had a glitch for a couple of weeks where the battery thought it was being charged at random intervals. He'd have the phone on & in use, and the battery icon would be flashing its "charging" symbol. The usage graph would even show a steady incline during those times, as if we'd plugged it in. Weird, right?
long story short, my experience is these glitches are rare and not bothersome.
thanks for your reply.
looking at other forums, i got the impression that these problems are much more common.
So I've had this update for almost more or less than 2 months now, and the speed has improved just a little bit. As we all know, typical samsung software, has some glitches and stutter and all that still occurs, for some reason that I and every users don't know why this still exist. Sometimes I'm watching on Youtube, and the damn video just freezes but you can still hear the audio. But I thought maybe it's just the app so i reset the app by force stopping and clearing the data but the thing still occurs. Camera overtime, has slowed down. I don't know why but this specially occurs on lowlight situations that whenever but not always, i launched my camera, it just lags and stops and gos and it's so annoyingly slow. But most of the time, it is snappy. On the other good side of this story, i like the minimalistic Camera app. It's really just their software. Overall it is indeed snappy, but the consistency is their problem. My storage isn't even full yet, for all we know storages slow down as you're taking it all up. I've scheduled automatic restarts, i think it helped. The fingerprint, ugh i don't even wanna talk about it. I don't know how a oneplus 3 has better fingerprint than samsung's flagship. I mean it's just unreliable, i don't know maybe it's just mine??? I literally had 3 fingers assigned on my one and only right thumb just so that the phone won't have excuses lol. But no, im disappointed. It always has to be two damn tries, thats the least. Bluelight filter is now baked in, which is a very nice feature, atleast for me. Battery, i personally didn't notice any change, but thumbs up to that cos im more than satisfied with it. And as we all know, snapchat camera still sucks not only on this phone but with every android phone. The modes, man are they helpful for those times we really need to save battery. You can customize the resolution of you're desire., well not really but three choices is a lot. 720p,1080p,1440p. Now on the update, I don''t know if you noticed, my resolution is set to 1080p because the mode that is chosen after the update will automatically choose the "optimized" mode which adjusts the resolution and cpu speeds and all that according to the activity you're currenty doing. Which is another good thing. Also, google assistant arrived as well, which great! Interface has some major color and look and design changes. The status bar along with the pull down menu in my opinion has become cleaner and better looking than the previous version. The settings has been better, way way better organized than before. Samsung Pay hasn't yet to come in Canada for some goddamn reason (i know it's not suppose to be here but maybe just maybe someone from samsung reads this ****). I'll leave it here, overall, again, it's faster and snappier, app switches are better almost perfect. But you know, stutters and lags will be there. This is my review for the nougat update on my Sprint Samsung Galaxy S7. Thanks for reading!
I purchased a refurbished Nexus 9 a year and a half ago. I've used ROMs to get it to 7.x and get all the regular updates OTA, currently on the May 5th security update. I've been playing CSR Racing 2 on it for about 9 months. The game has many known issues on Android of all versions and all devices, including crashing to "desktop". This problem is more unique. At almost any given moment in-game I can get a whited out or nearly opaque white, blocky screen overlaying the game image. At the same time, usually, an ear-piercing squeal kicks off. I have the volume at zero at all times, btw.
I've done everything except wipe the thing and re-install. Interestingly, I've had the problem outside the game once, although I can't recall what I was doing at the time. I'm inclined to believe it's the hardware. I actually ordered a Shield, and should be receiving it tomorrow, believing that it's the hardware. Once that is received and the game is up and running - unless I have the same problem on the Shield (meaning the problem's in the game or my profile itself) - I will be wiping the Nexus 9 and finding out once and for all if the thing's toast. In that vein, I have two questions.
One, is there some type of diagnostic I could run to check the limits of this tablet? CSR2 is very taxing on hardware, especially Android, and pushes it very hard. I'm wondering if there's a diagnostic that is a stress tester of sorts that I could use to see if there is any specific problem with the hardware.
Secondly, is there a ROM folks think may have better hardware interfacing for the memory, CPU/GPU, than stock Android? Obviously, I'd like the diagnostic to test the hardware while the new tablet will test whether it's the game/profile. What I won't have tested is the Android OS itself. Any recommendations?
Thanks for your time and any help that you may be able to offer!
Kazz5 said:
I purchased a refurbished Nexus 9 a year and a half ago. I've used ROMs to get it to 7.x and get all the regular updates OTA, currently on the May 5th security update. I've been playing CSR Racing 2 on it for about 9 months. The game has many known issues on Android of all versions and all devices, including crashing to "desktop". This problem is more unique. At almost any given moment in-game I can get a whited out or nearly opaque white, blocky screen overlaying the game image. At the same time, usually, an ear-piercing squeal kicks off. I have the volume at zero at all times, btw.
I've done everything except wipe the thing and re-install. Interestingly, I've had the problem outside the game once, although I can't recall what I was doing at the time. I'm inclined to believe it's the hardware. I actually ordered a Shield, and should be receiving it tomorrow, believing that it's the hardware. Once that is received and the game is up and running - unless I have the same problem on the Shield (meaning the problem's in the game or my profile itself) - I will be wiping the Nexus 9 and finding out once and for all if the thing's toast. In that vein, I have two questions.
One, is there some type of diagnostic I could run to check the limits of this tablet? CSR2 is very taxing on hardware, especially Android, and pushes it very hard. I'm wondering if there's a diagnostic that is a stress tester of sorts that I could use to see if there is any specific problem with the hardware.
Secondly, is there a ROM folks think may have better hardware interfacing for the memory, CPU/GPU, than stock Android? Obviously, I'd like the diagnostic to test the hardware while the new tablet will test whether it's the game/profile. What I won't have tested is the Android OS itself. Any recommendations?
Thanks for your time and any help that you may be able to offer!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, Kazz5...
I can't comment on CSR Racing 2, having never played it myself, however the crash symptoms you describe - a largely white, blocky, garbled pixelated screen accompanied with a loud, high pitched banshee like squealing or shrieking noise (it scared the crap out of me the first time it happened ) is certainly something I've experienced myself several times on my Nexus 9.
I've had this spectacular and very noisy crash happen whilst playing Minecraft and whilst playing old (1990s) pinball games via video game emulator apps. But it's also happened when doing something no more taxing on the hardware than checking my emails with Inbox or browsing the web using Chrome.
There doesn't seem to be any logically consistent reason why it happens or under what circumstances are required in order for it to happen. It just happens, suddenly and unexpectedly, and then I find myself hurriedly scrambling around for the power button and long pressing it in order to make the ear piercing howl go away!
I've noticed when it happens my battery is on the low side, usually less than 25%, although I'm uncertain whether this is the actual cause.
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A Possible Solution...
Recently I flashed the Fire-Ice kernel , primarily for the purpose of improving the thin, weedy audio that Andoid Nougat 7.1.1 suffers from on the Nexus 9. (See my post here.)
Now it could just be a complete coincidence or maybe the unique circumstances required to trigger this crash haven't yet arisen on my Nexus 9 since I flashed it - in other words, perhaps I haven't been running it long enough yet, but since flashing Fire-Ice eight days ago, I've had no recurrence of this hard and spectacular crash as you and I have described.
Flashing this kernal though, will cause complications (but not insurmountable ones) when the June OTA security patch is due from Google in around three weeks or so.
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Sorry I couldn't provide a more definitive solution to this problem... or suggest any diagnostics of the type you allude to or suggest solutions regarding CSR Racing 2. If this game is as cutting edge as you suggest, it may be asking more than the now two and half year old Nexus 9 can deliver.
Minecraft, old pinball games and Solitaire card games are about as high octane as it gets for me these days .
Good luck with your Shield and I hope you have a better experience playing CSR Racing 2 on it than on the Nexus 9, and which I suspect you probably will. The Nexus 9 has been riven with a variety of problems ever since it was released back in November 2014, and this seemingly random, complete crashing of the device is unfortunately one of 'em .
Rgrds,
Ged.
I read this reply via email before taking the time to come here and I just want to say thanks for such a thorough sharing of your experience and perspective! You made it clear to me that ordering a Shield was the right thing to do in my case. Interestingly, my Nexus 9 did the squeal/crash in another app soon after I posted this.
My Shield came in, upgraded painlessly, OTA, to 7.0.0 and seems to run much smoother than the Nexus 9 in every way. Yes, the screen is a bit smaller. But, frankly, I'm seeing less pixelation - I have to assume - due to the smaller screen size. The Shield runs cooler (I used to blow on the hot end of the Nexus 9 when holding it in my hands, in it's case, for longer periods of time) and the battery definitely lasts longer.
I will finish moving everything over to the Shield in the coming few days and make up my mind what I want to do with the Nexus 9. With it's large size and 4:3 aspect ratio, I may relegate it to electronic magazine reading - of which I have a few. I saw a reference to running some flavor of *nix on it. That could be interesting. A touch panel for security cameras is a thought, if do-able, as well. I'm sure more thoughts will come up, including getting a more stable Android installed on it.
Please keep me/us posted on your experiences with the Fire-Ice kernel! And thank you again!
GedBlake said:
Hi, Kazz5...
I can't comment on CSR Racing 2, having never played it myself, however the crash symptoms you describe - a largely white, blocky, garbled pixelated screen accompanied with a loud, high pitched banshee like squealing or shrieking noise (it scared the crap out of me the first time it happened ) is certainly something I've experienced myself several times on my Nexus 9.
I've had this spectacular and very noisy crash happen whilst playing Minecraft and whilst playing old (1990s) pinball games via video game emulator apps. But it's also happened when doing something no more taxing on the hardware than checking my emails with Inbox or browsing the web using Chrome.
There doesn't seem to be any logically consistent reason why it happens or under what circumstances are required in order for it to happen. It just happens, suddenly and unexpectedly, and then I find myself hurriedly scrambling around for the power button and long pressing it in order to make the ear piercing howl go away!
I've noticed when it happens my battery is on the low side, usually less than 25%, although I'm uncertain whether this is the actual cause.
----------------------------------
A Possible Solution...
Recently I flashed the Fire-Ice kernel , primarily for the purpose of improving the thin, weedy audio that Andoid Nougat 7.1.1 suffers from on the Nexus 9. (See my post here.)
Now it could just be a complete coincidence or maybe the unique circumstances required to trigger this crash haven't yet arisen on my Nexus 9 since I flashed it - in other words, perhaps I haven't been running it long enough yet, but since flashing Fire-Ice eight days ago, I've had no recurrence of this hard and spectacular crash as you and I have described.
Flashing this kernal though, will cause complications (but not insurmountable ones) when the June OTA security patch is due from Google in around three weeks or so.
----------------------------------
Sorry I couldn't provide a more definitive solution to this problem... or suggest any diagnostics of the type you allude to or suggest solutions regarding CSR Racing 2. If this game is as cutting edge as you suggest, it may be asking more than the now two and half year old Nexus 9 can deliver.
Minecraft, old pinball games and Solitaire card games are about as high octane as it gets for me these days .
Good luck with your Shield and I hope you have a better experience playing CSR Racing 2 on it than on the Nexus 9, and which I suspect you probably will. The Nexus 9 has been riven with a variety of problems ever since it was released back in November 2014, and this seemingly random, complete crashing of the device is unfortunately one of 'em .
Rgrds,
Ged.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wanted to follow-up with you on an experience. I moved to the Shield K1 and have been using it since May. Something's happened with it's charging (I suspect the mini-USB port's connection as it seems to be a weak spot for many). In a pinch, to keep playing my game of choice, I picked up my Nexus 9 and gave it a full charge. I was thrilled since it was working so well. But once it hit 58% charge the weird screen and shrill shrieking returned. Now cornered, I did my best google-fu and uncovered a couple of threads that claimed I could fix my Nexus 9!
It seems many people were having success with removing the back panel (easy), gently prying a small, metal cover off of the battery's connection at the circuit board, unplugging the cable, cleaning connections with isopropyl alcohol, and re-assembling. I found a Youtube link (ifixit, I think?) there that showed how to disassemble the Nexus 9 and I was off! It seems some folks have had this clear up the problem for months and some have had it recur, fixing it again with the same procedure.
I've been using it for days in all states of charge with no return of the problem so far. It's given me plenty of time to get my warranty-replacement Shield enroute. The Shield is still much quicker. But I'm thrilled that there's not some odd gremlin with the Nexus 9. I knew I needed to track this post and your reply down in order to let you know. I hope it helps you and/or someone else!
And thanks again!
Just wanted to bump this thread as I am having the same problem with my N9 and it is steadily getting worse. When this problem first started, it would happen once every 2-3 weeks, usually when I was in Instagram. Now it is happening daily, or multiple times in a day, and sometimes it occurs right after reboot.
I have gotten frustrated enough that I am going to do a clean (reflash) of Pure Nexus, ElemX, etc and see if that has any effect.
Did you read my reply? Cleaning the connector to the battery has fixed my issues - which were constant - for weeks now!
I just got one of these Nexus 9 32GB giving to me by a family member as they upgraded to something else due to the issues with the Nexus 9 . It had the whole deal going on with the white pixelated screen freezing followed by a loud ear busting screeching noise at roughly 50% and 20% battery. I factory reset the tablet and cleaned the cache in recovery then popped back off the tablet and disconnected battery for a min or two, hooked it back up and it runs like butter so far for the last week through the whole cycle of the battery without freezing or screeching. Strange indeed but that fix works for whatever reason.
Hello,
as the tablet doesn't get any security updates from Sony anymore, I decided to try to build my own AOSP ROM (7.1.1 with October 17 patch-level).
The build was surprisingly easy and after a couple of hours of (mainly) waiting, I had a clean AOSP build, I also included the G-Apps.
The tablet runs very smooth with the known limitations (camera quality, volume setting) but has one big issue which is processor utilization.
When the screen is on, the tablet gets insanely hot (at the back, where the NFC logo is) and drains the battery very quickly. Even without doing anything.
When the screen is off, everything is fine. The tablet stays cool and the device goes into sleep/deep sleep.
Did anybody encounter the same problem?
When the screen is on, the processor is always 50-70% utilized. A look at TOP over adb shell tells me, that the service task consumes all the power. But as there are actually a lot of different services running under that task, I have no clue where to start to resolve or identify the problem.
Does anyone know, how to fix the issue or how to debug further?
Thanks a lot!
Marcus
(I wanted to post the question in the developer section, but I am not allowed due to credits)