My Story: Aftermath Post JI5 Update

[XXSuntoucherxX]

[Update] Turns out another issue I have encountered is the the fact that certain apps that I had before this rogue update, I no longer have. Fandango, New York Times and a couple of others. Anyone else have this issue? I'm chalking this up the the "known issues" things.


First off thank you to SamsungVibrant for pointing me in the right direction after I took the update to the GPS fix last night.

If anyone had seen my issue, you know that the update didn't quite work out the way it was supposed to for me.

Here's the story now. While I have a working idea how the ODIN process works, I tried it to recover my phone from it's blank screen state after the update and it the ODIN process never initiated. While it connected to the phone, it never began to download and sync.
Instead of going nuts trying to reflash the phone or something, I ended up booting into recovery mode and doing the following: (Note: at this point I removed my SIM and SD cards)
1- Delete cache data
2- Delete all user data (Redundant, yes, methodical, certainly)
3- Reboot

This did 2 things, first it restored the phone to a working state. I knew I did something right off the bat because there was now sound during the boot process whereas there was none before. Second, It erased almost every app I had. I say almost because a certain amount of them still existed and I'm not sure why. The most bizare one to still exist was the Superuser Permissions branch app from the RyanZA fix. Yet the RZA lag fix was gone.
Obviously root is now gone, and I will not re-root till I get most of my apps back that disappeared.
Now, here's the rub... Apparently the update took, it replaced the kernel of the phone, as that is now the firmware that resides on the phone after the reset:
Firmware version: 2.1update1
Baseband version: T959UVJI5
kernel version: 2.6.29
Build number: ECLAIR.UVJI5
Also, after screwing around trying to see what else has changed with my phone, I noticed that there are all kinds of files (programs) added, most notably Flash Player. Now, how would that have gotten there? There also seems to be something called Days, Ocean Waves, Pineone Flashlite Plugin, Y! Finance Clock, Bluetooth print sharing, and Buddies Now. I'm guessing that either this is a definite sign of Froyo and possibly even Gingerbread coming, or Samsung is screwing with people. I'm also guessing that this is part of the reason the T-mobile forced them to pull the update.

Known issues:
-Kies = FAIL
-The update definitely will screw up your phone if you don't know what you're doing. (I'm thinking if I had either un-rooted, and/or disabled RZA's lag fix, I wouldn't have had these issues.)
-Installs "future apps"
-Screen unlock is a bit more difficult to swipe off

Pro's:
-GPS, while never truly broken on my phone, does work better and faster.
-Battery charging notification went from bad, to slightly less annoying.
-Stitcher Radio added, although I have no idea why.
-HD Camcorder!? Oh, right, put lipstick on a pig, got it.
-Task Manager added (Useful if we can control CPU processes now?)

Overall, I'll be spending the better part of the afternoon recovering my phone. It seems like this was a worth while update. I remain curious as to what T-mobile is planning now that a bunch of people took the "illegal" update. Perhaps this will light a fire under someones ass to start pushing out promised updates sooner than later.

 

[Zylograth]

Wow what a mess, I think I had the lag fix undone when I updated through Kies so I had no problems. Although trying to apply the one click lag fix with the newer firmware results in the loss of vibrate, so for the time being, I am waiting for RyanZA to release an update that fixes it. On the upsode I am not having any lag without the lagfix.

 

[w_bovine]

Wow what a mess, I think I had the lag fix undone when I updated through Kies so I had no problems. Although trying to apply the one click lag fix with the newer firmware results in the loss of vibrate, so for the time being, I am waiting for RyanZA to release an update that fixes it. On the upsode I am not having any lag without the lagfix.

I've read that v1 of OCLF will work without taking out the haptic feedback. May wanna give it a try.

 

[robo21]

I've read that v1 of OCLF will work without taking out the haptic feedback. May wanna give it a try.

Cool! OCLF = Ottawa Community Loan Fund?

 

[XXSuntoucherxX]

Wow what a mess, I think I had the lag fix undone when I updated through Kies so I had no problems. Although trying to apply the one click lag fix with the newer firmware results in the loss of vibrate, so for the time being, I am waiting for RyanZA to release an update that fixes it. On the upsode I am not having any lag without the lagfix.

Other lessons learned, before taking an update always back EVERYTHING up, including working states. Remove the SD card as more of a precaution than anything else. I removed the SIM card because I wanted to be "off the grid" so to speak, but I doubt this is necessary when updating in the future. The lag fix thing, while definitely useful, I'm also going to sit back till someone figures out how to fix this phone. I'm sure once I get all of my apps back, and start with my data heavy usage again, I'll notice the phone lagging more and more. Granted, perhaps this psudo-OTA fix may have helped that, but I'll believe it when I see it for a week or so in action. And yes, this was a tremendous mess. It began back around 5:00pm yesterday when I took the update and here we are almost 24 hours later and my phone is just now at about 80%. Lesson learned.

 

[SteveSlimer]

Also, after screwing around trying to see what else has changed with my phone, I noticed that there are all kinds of files (programs) added, most notably Flash Player. Now, how would that have gotten there? There also seems to be something called Days, Ocean Waves, Pineone Flashlite Plugin, Y! Finance Clock, Bluetooth print sharing, and Buddies Now. I'm guessing that either this is a definite sign of Froyo and possibly even Gingerbread coming, or Samsung is screwing with people. I'm also guessing that this is part of the reason the T-mobile forced them to pull the update.

I noticed yesterday (when I first rooted it, no updates of any roms/mods) when I was trying to back up everything with Titanium Backup, there were several programs that were system programs that looked disabled.

They include
Flash Player
Media Hub
Pineone Flashlite Plugin
Shutdown App
Y! Finance Clock
Buddies Now

This is on my stock build that I got 6 weeks ago.

 

[XXSuntoucherxX]

I noticed yesterday (when I first rooted it, no updates of any roms/mods) when I was trying to back up everything with Titanium Backup, there were several programs that were system programs that looked disabled.

They include
Flash Player
Media Hub
Pineone Flashlite Plugin
Shutdown App
Y! Finance Clock
Buddies Now

This is on my stock build that I got 6 weeks ago.

6 weeks ago? Hmmmm. Well that kind of confirms that newer phones were released "fixed". I should have noted that when I found them, they were in fact, disabled. This also points to some level of fragmentation among Vibrants released between day one and, well, now. I can see why T-mobile would be having problems issuing an OTA to cover SGS-V's.

 

[Zylograth]

I've read that v1 of OCLF will work without taking out the haptic feedback. May wanna give it a try.

I will try that now, thanks!

 

[w_bovine]

Cool! OCLF = Ottawa Community Loan Fund?

Ottawa?! You're...you're not one of them, are you?

 

[w_bovine]

Other lessons learned, before taking an update always back EVERYTHING up, including working states. Remove the SD card as more of a precaution than anything else. I removed the SIM card because I wanted to be "off the grid" so to speak, but I doubt this is necessary when updating in the future. The lag fix thing, while definitely useful, I'm also going to sit back till someone figures out how to fix this phone. I'm sure once I get all of my apps back, and start with my data heavy usage again, I'll notice the phone lagging more and more. Granted, perhaps this psudo-OTA fix may have helped that, but I'll believe it when I see it for a week or so in action. And yes, this was a tremendous mess. It began back around 5:00pm yesterday when I took the update and here we are almost 24 hours later and my phone is just now at about 80%. Lesson learned.

I'm genuinely not trying to be a smarta**, but having gone through as much as you have, you've learned a lot and will be better equipped in the future and competent for helping others as well.

You might even start looking at custom ROM's now! Heard about Bionix yet?

 

[XXSuntoucherxX]

I'm genuinely not trying to be a smarta**, but having gone through as much as you have, you've learned a lot and will be better equipped in the future and competent for helping others as well.

You might even start looking at custom ROM's now! Heard about Bionix yet?

The thing that gets me about custom ROM's is similarly what happened here. It looks like it's a small pain whenever someone decided to update the phone. Historicly I only tinker with my devices when they're no longer supported by the company. First phone I ever flashed was a Motorola V300 a good year after it came out. My iPod touch 1st gen, I finally jailbroke about 8 months ago. My Behold 2, soon after I bought it. (That wasn't entirely a joke, from day 1 it looked like a lost cause) The SGS-V, may have some life left in it, and rather than to custom it now only to undo it in a few weeks isn't a process I'm prepared to go through, again, immediately. This process has taught me a lot, and I will definitely be tweaking out this phone a lot more going forward. Also, near as I can tell the only way to do custom ROMS is through ODIN, which I haven't figured out yet.

 

[robo21]

Ottawa?! You're...you're not one of them, are you?

God no! eh! But I googled OCLF and that was the first result... You and your acronyms - alphabet soup.

 

[w_bovine]

The thing that gets me about custom ROM's is similarly what happened here. It looks like it's a small pain whenever someone decided to update the phone. Historicly I only tinker with my devices when they're no longer supported by the company. First phone I ever flashed was a Motorola V300 a good year after it came out. My iPod touch 1st gen, I finally jailbroke about 8 months ago. My Behold 2, soon after I bought it. (That wasn't entirely a joke, from day 1 it looked like a lost cause) The SGS-V, may have some life left in it, and rather than to custom it now only to undo it in a few weeks isn't a process I'm prepared to go through, again, immediately. This process has taught me a lot, and I will definitely be tweaking out this phone a lot more going forward. Also, near as I can tell the only way to do custom ROMS is through ODIN, which I haven't figured out yet.

Ah...you ought to check out ROM Manager. Many custom ROM's now use it for flashing. Dead simple, AND...you can make complete system-state backups of your phone. With this and Titanium Backup, you can go far.


Custom ROM's...not too hard really, especially with ROM Manager. And restoring with Titanium...not so bad once you figure out how to do it right (just restore apps and not system settings after you've flash a ROM).

Kinda like when I had my BlackBerry's...the first few times were a pain, but after not too long I could switch an OS and restore my apps with ease and confidence.

But take your time. The ROM's will be there when you're ready.

ROM Manager - Android app on AppBrain

 

[w_bovine]

God no! eh! But I googled OCLF and that was the first result... You and your acronyms - alphabet soup.

Whew! That's a relief. I was afraid I'd have to disavow any knowledge of your existence!

 

[XXSuntoucherxX]

Ah...you ought to check out ROM Manager. Many custom ROM's now use it for flashing. Dead simple, AND...you can make complete system-state backups of your phone. With this and Titanium Backup, you can go far.


Custom ROM's...not too hard really, especially with ROM Manager. And restoring with Titanium...not so bad once you figure out how to do it right (just restore apps and not system settings after you've flash a ROM).

Kinda like when I had my BlackBerry's...the first few times were a pain, but after not too long I could switch an OS and restore my apps with ease and confidence.

But take your time. The ROM's will be there when you're ready.

ROM Manager - Android app on AppBrain

Will it allow for an unroot and flash back to stock if Samsung/T-mobile makes good on future OTA's?

 

[w_bovine]

Will it allow for an unroot and flash back to stock if Samsung/T-mobile makes good on future OTA's?

Yep...won't interfere with any of that. You can use ODIN to flash back to stock, and I seem to remember seeing a file for flashing back to stock via Clockwork Recovery as well.

 

[bootsie]

Yep...won't interfere with any of that. You can use ODIN to flash back to stock, and I seem to remember seeing a file for flashing back to stock via Clockwork Recovery as well.

I love the rooting and modding of this phone. I am a big fan of custom roms, I have 3 on my ROM manager including Bionix and the overclocking is incredible and being able to use SETCPU to slow the phone down to 400 while the screen is off, has made my battery last an insane amount of time.

However

I got the bright idea yesterday to return the phone to stock ( because I am a moron and cant leave shit alone I guess ) but what I thought was a quick deal turned into a 4 hour journey through ODIN. Had to use ODIN to load a couple diffrent versions to get my phone back working. But now I can probably go back to stock rather quickly. Being a male, I didnt read alot of instructions and just jumped in LOL, this handset reminds me of the Iphone, very hard to Brick!!