Hi all, I have a Mate 10 Pro coming to replace my Galaxy Note 3.
It sounds like I might be able to get the Pro working the way I want it to without root, which would be fine I guess. On the other hand I really prefer to be able to do whatever I want with my stuff. Before I wipe out my warranty by unlocking the bootloader, I will use the phone for a while and watch out for any issues that would mean I needed the warranty.
Any suggestions on faults that are known to be relatively common with this device? I have been reading around and the only thing that really stands out so far is a bluetooth audio bug, which sounds like a software issue anyway (not very acceptable either by the sound of it.)
Related
I hate to ask this but after returning my HTC One X back and while waiting for a refund which I don't even know if I'll ever get, I better ask this question before doing the same mistake again. Well, I returned my HOX because GPS was unusable. Not just on my phone, basically HOX doesn't really have GPS. It only has it as a decorative feature but there is no way you can use it for navigation. Such issue definitely can't be fixed with a software fix so I decided to return it and see forward to SG SIII.
What I wanted to ask is, are there any serious hardware issues with SIII as well that should stop me from buying it? I don't mean issues like instability (or network errors) with S-Voice and similar things that could be solved in the near future with software updates. I mean real hardware issues like the one I described above that make you believe they won't ever be fixed because it's impossible.
Now I come from HTC only background so I may miss some things from Samsung. I therefore need to ask the following simple questions as well:
- Does Samsung offer a sync software similar to HTC Sync? (That will allow you to sync with Outlook)
- Is the SGSIII fully rootable (with S-OFF bootloader)
- 2-way call recording works (is there a kernel hack or does it work/not by default)?
- Anyone used iGo navigation with success?
Those are my requirements so if it fulfills them and there are no issues, that's enough for me to buy this phone.
Thanks :laugh:
Just like to join in as I am wondering the same things, for the same reasons. Except I'd say GPs absolutely does work in the One X, so I suspect you had the antenna disconnection problem. Mine was in for repair 4 times for this (WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS) and on the 5th incident I asked for a refund. HTC have actually said this is a known problem they can now fix.
Otherwise, just like to watch this thread while I also wait for a refund..
All the problems I've noticed are all software related and heard no real complaints about hardware except for some occasional whining about design and the back cover being a bit fragile, and the GPS is by far the best I've ever used for lock speed and indoor/blocked reception.
So far I've had 0 hardware issues. You seem like GPS functioning well is what you are wondering as well? I have the Navigon app and have used it with data turned off and GPS+data and both work great I was a bit worried coming from the S2 as I found it's GPS to be spotty at best.
andreasy said:
What I wanted to ask is, are there any serious hardware issues with SIII as well that should stop me from buying it?
None posted .
Now I come from HTC only background so I may miss some things from Samsung. I therefore need to ask the following simple questions as well:
- Does Samsung offer a sync software similar to HTC Sync? (That will allow you to sync with Outlook)
KIES but not 100% sure on Outlook
- Is the SGSIII fully rootable (with S-OFF bootloader)
Fully rootable but not with HTC tools .
-
- Anyone used iGo navigation with success?
Igo post in Themes but problems might be IGO needing to update .
jje
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
iGO works just perfect for me.
Hi
I returned 4 HOX'S for various problems, so I got the galaxy s3, had it for 4 weeks and had no issues, fantastic phone, I use endomondo all the time again no issues with GPS. In the last 8 months I've had 9 different phones to try and find the right one and this is a keeper.
Hope it helps....
I recently "defected" from HTC to this, my first Samsung.
I would like to address the question about Sync'ing with Outlook.
The wretched application provided by HTC for this purpose always annoyed me. It had the nasty habit of modifying contact details and appointments in Outlook even though I had carefully set it not to touch them.
The equivalent program for Samsung (KIES) is not perfect, but it Sync'ed my Outlook contacts perfectly with no undesirable side-effects.
I'm really glad I switched to the GS3.
For such a leading-edge product that has not been released very long, there are surprisingly few bugs. GPS is the best I've ever seen (and I've seen a few!)
Guys, I REALLY need some help here and I'm desperate. I'll give you some background info here. About 3 months ago I bought a used Transformer Prime, at the time I bought it I didn't realize it had CM9 on it, I didn't check out the tablet out enough. Now I'm not into rooting or flashing ROM's AT ALL...I couldn't care less about this stuff, just give me a product that works in stock form and I'll be happy. Now here's the problem, the speaker sounds like complete ass. I don't know if it's a hardware issue or if it's just an issue with CM9. Has anyone experienced an issue like that with flashing a ROM? I gave the tablet to a friend because "he knows everything" and jerked me around for 3 months with it, didn't even touch it so I'm on my own. I just don't want to go through the hassle of replacing a speaker that might now be damaged when it's a software problem.
I guess I need to know if it's possible that it's a software issue. The speaker volume is extremely low and very muddled. I have a feeling it's the speaker but I don't know. I don't know about enough of this stuff and no one wants to touch a tablet, for some reason if it was a phone the shops around here would be happy to help.
I might just sell this thing and take a huge loss and never cheap out on buying a used product.
Thanks guys.
Hello there.
I'm having problems with my Android device and I'm very frustrated with it so far...
My device is a Motorola Moto G. I've updated it to the latest Android version available (4.4.2), however, I'm experiencing some serious problems; the most important atm is the alarm.
I am using the volume button to snooze the alarm, because imho it's more convenient. However, yesterday the volume button just didn't work for some reason. I had to unlock the screen for it to work, then it started working again with the screen locked. Today the same thing happened, I had to unlock the screen to snooze the alarm using the volume button, then I could snooze it again without unlocking, however, it just 'stopped' by itself, I don't know if the volume button somehow turned the alarm off. I didn't even touch the screen, so it's a bug or something. I've always been using a cell/smartphone to wake up and never had any problem.
Also, this device freezes a lot and I've never experienced that before in any cell/smartphone. It also seems the device must be turned on for the alarm to work; it's not that important for me, but still a 'downgrade' from my previous device. Another thing that really annoys me is that you can't even change the volume without playing the sounds... if you want to set a very loud volume in the middle of the night there's no way other than waking everybody up. Additionally, I would like to be able to somehow record a call, but none of the apps works with this device.
I don't think the alarm problem is a hardware fail or defective device, it seems to me the software is somehow bugged. There's no Cyanogenmod for this device yet (mine is dual chip) and even if it were available, It seems some apps doesn't work with it (like Sygic).
I don't know how I should proceed and I apologize in advance if my question is too 'basic' for a developers forum, but I didn't want to post on the other popular 'user' forums because I've seem many threads where the moderators were just talking nonsense proving that they don't even know how to turn on an Android device, including the extreme case of a newbie asking about some permissions who was somewhat 'burned at the stake' by the moderators and veteran members while he was right all the time, so if the moderators and veterans don't have a clue on what's an Android device I'm surely not reliant to post there. On the other hand all the (/most) posts here on XDA Devs always get correct and helpful replies.
I don't know if I should try downgrading the OS to 4.3 or if there's something else I could try. I don't know if it's possible that the latest update was somehow 'badly flashed'. It doesn't seem very likely to me.
Any help is appreciated.
Thank you in advance.
B_Szabo said:
Hello there.
I'm having problems with my Android device and I'm very frustrated with it so far...
My device is a Motorola Moto G. I've updated it to the latest Android version available (4.4.2), however, I'm experiencing some serious problems; the most important atm is the alarm.
Another thing that really annoys me is that you can't even change the volume without playing the sounds... if you want to set a very loud volume in the middle of the night there's no way other than waking everybody up. Additionally, I would like to be able to somehow record a call, but none of the apps works with this device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try downgrading to 4.3 ,apparently the 4.4 update has many issues.
for changing the volume download a proper sound management app.
abhi101 said:
try downgrading to 4.3 ,apparently the 4.4 update has many issues.
for changing the volume download a proper sound management app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your reply,
However, after Googling and contacting motorola, it seems there's no way of downgrading (without rooting the device) .
The alarm problem is getting worse, today for some reason when the alarm was ringing, instead of the alarm screen, the default lock screen appeared, the volume buttons didn't work also, so there was no way to snooze the alarm, I had to turn it off in the configs and get out the bed like 1 hour earlier than usual.
Isn't it possible that the problem is some kind of flashing fail when I've updated the OS? I highly doubt everyone is having this problem... Isn't there a way of reinstalling the OS?
Also, the hardware isn't very good. It seems of good quality in appearance but after only a couple of months the battery isn't lasting as it used to. motorola support is simply horrendous in my country, there's no support at all. I don't even know why there's a warranty if in practice that means absolutely nothing.
I'm thinking about buying an alarm clock, preferably a german-made one that I can trust... It's outrageous though. I never thought I would need an alarm clock again.
Worst purchase ever. I'm thinking about getting back my cheapo Samsung Galaxy Pocket Plus that I gave away. It wasn't as comfortable as this motorola but it surely did work and the apps were much better, I thought they were all standard Android apps but it ended up they are from Samsung, in 99% of the cases you can long hold the stuff to pop a menu of actions, for example, hold a contact for a menu on editing/deleting/etc. hold a number on a message for a menu on adding-contact/adding-number-to-contact/etc. It was very intuitive and straightforward. The apps in this motorola are exactly the opposite, holding the finger on stuff never do anything and most times not even tapping stuff does anything. It's a pain to use its cumbersome and confusing interface. Only for adding a simple contact I take more than 10 times the time I've used to take to add a contact on my cheapo Samsung phone.
I thought the phone would be good specially in terms of software because motorola is "a Google company" but I was completely wrong. It seems Google is going to sell motorola, perhaps not even they were believing the products were good after all. In any case, I'm never buying motorola again.
Also, there are lots of topics on the poor quality/limitations of stock Android apps and the unanimous solution is to install better apps from Google Play, in the end it's quite a mess because most/some stock apps can't be disabled and their services will continue to run, along with some others from 3rd party that should in fact substitute them. If the stock apps are so poor, there should be a way to completely disable them all imho, or even better, perhaps they could just ship high-quality opensource apps instead of the terrible stock ones.
So far I'm very frustrated. If I could get my money back I would surely get a Blackberry or Samsung device. I don't really care about games and it seems that's what made android so popular, the cornucopia of awful (seriously, 99% of the games on Google Play are of extremely bad quality) games full of sneaky ads and that needs every permission possible to run. That permission thing is another one that doesn't really works. It should work but most apps ask for a lot of permissions that doesn't make any sense and the users don't seem to care much.
Sorry for the rant, thanks for your help.
Hello there.
I'm just posting here to let you know that I've unlocked the bootloader, downgraded to 4.3 and now the thing works perfectly. Plus I've discovered the battery problem AND a poor signal AND cal recording not working were because of the faulty update also! I must inform also that it seems the problem only occurs in dual chip versions and I've already downgraded the system for a friend of mine who was having the same problems, so, if you have the dual chip version, please don't upgrade it to kitkat! You'll get a nonworking OS and will be forced to ditch your warranty to use your phone in a sane way again. It seems the support for the dual chip version was dropped already because the single chip one (which was usable after the update) have received other updates after 4.4 to fix minor bugs, but the dual chip which is totally broken and unusable didn't receive any.
Having to circumvent the normal conditions and lose your warranty to have an usable device proves that motorola (and google by consequence) have the responsibility of a kid.
The downgrade didn't fix the problem with browsing files from the computer though, for that specific problem I'm going to open another thread as it seems android related.
In general the Android community is not very good, it's full of what I suppose are kids, wanting to help but only disrupting any chance to solve the issue. The IRC channel is specially unhelpful. Unless your question is "where do I plug the other end of the cable" or "how do I turn on my device" chances are you won't get any actual help and by the answers you can see the people there don't have a clue on anything. Probably it's full of <10yo kids. At least in mental terms . The XDA however, seems to be an exception, actually standing out from the lots of unhelpful forums and chats out there. In this topic I didn't receive many replies, but it's better this than receiving a lot of moronic replies like I would have received in IRC or other forums.
Thank you.
Hi,
Sony Xperia z2 D6503.
Bootloader: Unlocked.
Root: NOT rooted.
The device has a microphone issue. When talking on headset (not speaker) the other side hardly hears a word / does not hear at all. When phone is supported by the shoulder, the other side says the voice is "broken" (if he manages to hear).
This issue was for quite some time, only now the phone came to me. It is a phone who the owner purchased as a "Grade A used phone". The phone has no warranty.
The past few month, the phone had 23.1.A.0.726 (UK version).
Yestorday:
I've flashed via "emma tool" 23.1.A.1.28 - Microphone issue is still there.
I've flashed via "FlashTool" 23.4.A.1.264 (UK version) - Microphone issue is still there.
[Yes, Iv'e tried the "Noice Cancelling Suppression" option]
I am not sure how to root the phone because bootlader is unlocked. There is no data on the phone, so I don't care for any data loss.
I still hope there will be a way to solve the issue via software like suggested in this thread or here.
Or, a different solution, to flash eXistenZ ROM, mentioned here.
The day-today user os the phone is a ~24 old female. She is a simple user. Calls, tests, plays a few games, IM etc. Nothing special. She loves the battery life and the camera of the device. I believe that she does not really care if the Android version is 4.2 / 4.4 / 5.0.x / 5.1 / 6.x. As long as the device will work properly, she'll be grateful.
I am open to any idea, hopefully, will not need to by a replacement part (I will disassemble the phone myself, but, need to make sure what part I should purchase).
I am aware I am quite a newbie in the Android world. I have flashed many ROOMs on different devices. Used several times flashtool / adb commands (via a PC). But, I have a lot to learn and know I'll have a learning curve with the Xperia Z2.
I would love any input and guidance on how to root the phone. I don't care to downgrade to any version if it is necessary. The eXistenZ ROM is 4.4.x KitKat based on Stock 4.4.4 23.0.1.A.0.167.
How does one downgrade from 5.1 to 4.4? Should I flash the stock *.ftf 4.4 via FlashTool?
Hope the post is clear. Sorry for my English....
Thanks!
Have you tried setting microphone gain to high? Otherwise it's a hardware issue, or your microphone is blocked with dirt...
Sent from my D6503 using XDA-Developers mobile app
Tnx for your reply.
Where do I change the microphone gain? Tried googling it, but, no success.
The past few hours, I finally managed to flash eXistenZ ROM (after soft bricking the phone and other fun stuff).
The phone is rooted now (with eXistenZ ROM).
The past few days I googled and googled. Read a lot, but... still stuck :/
The mic issue seems to be a little bit better, but, far from ideal.
I have no idea what are the optimized settings with this ROM.
If any member has this ROM due to the mic issue, I would love some advice.
Feeling like I'm grasping at straws.
~~~~~
As for hardware issue -
1. My understanding is that the mic is located on the bottom-base of the phone (not under the screen).
2. What do you mean by dirt? should I disassemble the phone and clean it out? (I don't care to open it myself. I have a history of replacing phone parts. I'm not a professional, but, find my way... [a few iPhones, Nexus 5, a few Samsung devices and more).
3. If I'll need to replace the microphone, I'll purchase the part from AliExpress (I don't live in Europe or North America). I am not sure if this part or maybe this.
False alarm... My bad, I thought you didn't try the noise suppression trick.
RuffBuster said:
Have you tried setting microphone gain to high?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where do I find this setting?
(Did you see my previews post on this thread?)
Thanks!
Settings >> sound & notification >> accessorie settings >> mic sensitivity
Ive got a Mate 20 Pro and im looking for a great audio mod for it.
I don't want to root the device ( if Root ever becomes available ) as I do my business banking on the device, however I am looking for a good audio app that will improve the stock sound from the device. Ideally I want something that will cover all bases eg over bluetooth for when I am in the van and for headphones.
Thank you in advance.
None really, asside from your standard mroe or less useless EQ apps, thats the issue.
Also viper doesnt seem to be very active anymore, so theres little to no hope htey bring out a noroot version ever.
in theory that should be possible on android 9 and the new audio framework, then again might not be with every manufacturer as those things are still in their hands...
as for the "danger" of root. there is none.
look, as long you only use root apps that you can trust (or willing to) youre as save as without root.
so for example you isntall viper and magisk and nothing else, nothing else will happen.
if any app attemp to get root access it has togo trough magisk
as for your banking there are usually other attack vectors on that than a root app, so root or no root, depending if you have those bases covered
youre either safe or not no matter what
however if youre on galaxy s8 well, there is still that knox issue that would be a counter argument for rooting.
no samsung pay, no more knox ever
Thank you @bofh999, The Barclays app wont let me use it if I have root. I had the issue on my P9 lite. I havent seen a root for the Mate 20 Pro yet so its kind of academic at the moment. What is the S8 Knox issue you mentioned?
it should work with magisk hide.
magisk does a very very good job on hiding
so maybe you wanna test that on your old phone
but i know your feeling, im stuck on my note3
i was ready to buy the note 7 but couldnt get my hands on.
then samsung pay became relevant and i cant decide to buy a phone without viper or willing to kill knox and half the samsungs apps for it.
then why buy a samsung in the first place. also updating and otas break and it becomes an always tinkering thingy.
then again ciper is one of my most important apps, i really need it to compensate on my headphones, and i really need the volume boost