Caryllb

I have the Galaxy Exhibit ii 4G. Prior to the most recent OTA update it was able to charge both third party as well as Samsung OEM batteries. After the update it no longer charges the 2 third party batteries I own but still is OK with the original Samsung battery. With the 3rd party batteries it gets a disconnect message regardless of whether the phone is turned on or off and regardless of what charger I use. When this happens it will no longer charge these batteries in the phone. These 3rd party batteries charge just fine outside the phone.

From all my tests is seems the charger is fine and the batteries are fine. So I believe there is an incompatibility issue between this latest update and certain 3rd party batteries. There is likely something in the updated battery charger program that is very, very finicky.

The kernel version I now have installed is: 2.6.35.7-perf-T679UVLG3-CL1165714

Samsung's response is simply that they don't support nonSamsung products; i.e. third party batteries. So far no one has given me a reply in the Tmobile forums. So I am still looking for a solution.

Has anyone else found this same problem? Is there a fix for this available? If not, what is the easiest way I can get back to my original build preferably without having to reinstall everything again? Is there a way to just simply uninstall that last update? Also, does resetting a phone back to Factory state relock the phone?

Thanks

aap

If you have applied an unlock code, factory reset should not undo that. But I don't think it will help with your ROM / battery issue either. Factory reset will only wipe your data partition, not your system partition.

What version were you using when it worked? Was it the original 2.3.5 or the intermediate update 2.3.6 labelled UVLE1?

With some digging it should be possible to find "flash2stock" files for the original Android 2.3.5 firmware, but I for one found that firmware to crash a lot more than the newer ones. UVLE1 is not too bad but I don't recall whether the battery issue first showed up there or only in UVLG3.

If you are willing to void your warranty by installing custom firmwares, most of the choices floating around now on XDA probably include jocala's fix for the third-party battery problem. I personally am enjoying the unofficial CM10 port, which brings a slick JellyBean to our humble phones. The main reason I finally jumped is that UVLE1 broke the connection to my Bluetooth keyboard, and the workaround I found eventually stopped working with UVLG3.

Caryllb

Thanks AAP. You're the first person in all the places I've posted that has come back with some answers. I was beginning to think I'd have to go buy some new OEM batteries.

I'm not worried to much about the warranty. I think just unlocking the phone probably already voided it. How well is Jelly Bean running on these phones? They're not the most powerful to begin with. Also how does Jelly Bean work with already installed apps, such as the paid version of Documents to Go? Does the firmware install without getting rid of all the apps I've already installed or do I have to start over once the new OS is put on?

I haven't rooted this phone and have never tried to replace the firmware myself. Is there a good place for instructions? Plus where do I find these firmware OS replacements?

I know it's lots of questions but I'm still fairly new to the Android world.

Caryllb

Oh and one more thing. The upgrade to ULVG3 was the first upgrade I put on. I purchased the phone last spring, loaded a few apps, and headed to Europe with it. So I had no access to KEIS until returning from Europe in October. So whatever was on the phone originally was what I upgraded from. So the battery problem must be a ULVG3 issue.

aap

I don't think entering an unlock code should void the warranty.

Although there are some occasional hiccups, for the most part it feels like a whole new phone.

That is a bit tricky. You start by making a full backup. Then you wipe the system partition and the data partition. Then, you can reinstall each app, either from Google Play or from the backup. Any app that you paid for should still be available to install from Google Play after you upgrade the ROM, but the data which lives in the internal memory won't be restored that way. However, if you start with a nandroid backup, and pay for the Titanium Backup app, you can restore individual apps from the backup after the upgrade is complete.

The preceeding paragraph is not meant to be complete instructions... just an overview to give you an idea of what you're up against.

Truth be told, the battery issue is a kernel issue. You could solve it with your data partition intact if you just install a new kernel. It still requires rooting your device and voiding the warranty.


Everything you need to know is in the XDA Developers forums for our phone. You'll want to start with a decent sized microSD card installed with plenty of free space for the backup.

Each of the two approaches under consideration -- upgrading just the ROM, or upgrading the kernel-- starts with replacing the recovery partition with ClockworkMod as described here.

Next step in either case is a full backup. Boot into ClockworkMod following the instructions in the post I mentioned above. Find the option to toggle the backup type to "tar", then choose "backup to external sdcard" and wait for the backup to complete.

Then, if you just want to try the rooted kernel, look here. Scroll down to "custom rooted kernel" and grab the download, then scroll down to "Rooted kernel installation" and more or less follow the directions.

The CM10 installation is more complicated, but if you'd like to try JellyBean, it's a great ride. Grab the download from this thread, the ROM itself from the link labelled "CM10 Build Date 11/26" and the Google apps from the link below it labelled "JBgapps 10/11/2012". Then follow the instructions here, steps 4 through 13 (assuming you already made a backup as above.) Then you can install Titanium Backup and the Titanium Backup PRO Key from Google Play, and then ask it to restore apps from your earlier nandroid backup.

Whichever option you choose, good luck!

Caryllb

Thanks again aap for all the help. I've been studying XDA developers and am starting to come up with a set of step-by-step instructions. They do have a lot of resources but it takes a lot of hunting to put everything into a single sequence of steps. I have more questions, however.

It seems that my very first step is to root the phone since I can't even do a Titanium backup before doing that. Am I reading this correctly?

I also seem to be finding that there are multiple ways to root. Do you have a link to the easiest and most sure method? The first page I found on XDA blew me away as it looked like I would have a steep learning curve to feel comfortable enough to proceed. Perhaps you have a method that's easy, straight forward, and guaranteed not to screw up the phone. If you have a link to those instructions I would really appreciate it.

One set of instructions referred to an &amp key. What is that? As you can tell I'm pretty much starting at ground zero for doing this.

I'm thinking I'll jump to Jelly Bean. The new features sound fun and it since it'll fix my battery problem, might as well.

You mentioned there are a few glitches, however. Are there any that are particularly onerous that I may want to know about in advance? (That's so I don't wind up cursing myself thinking I totally messed up the phone)

Is CM10 the entire Jelly Bean ROM including the new camera and gallery, keyboard, Google Now, etc. or are some of the standard JB features just found on JBGapps?

And what would you say are your most and least favorite features in JB?

Thanks a bunch for your time.

aap

Looks like you are going forward cautiously with both eyes wide open. That approach should serve you well.

You don't have to root first. As I mentioned above, CWM can make a full nandroid backup for you even if the stock ROM has not been rooted, and then Titanium Backup can restore apps from the backup, at least if it was in tar format.

Some of the stuff is indeed in JBGapps -- mainly stuff like GMail, Google Now, and the Play Store.

In general I just find CM10 smoother than the stock ROM. It's also nice to be use most of the latest of what Google has to offer-- some of the latest GMail features, for example, are only available on phones running ICS or newer. The list of running apps, and the ability to close them all with one button, is kind of nice.

Mostly when I said glitches I meant that sometimes there is still some lag when many apps are running. The one thing that might be called a bug is the fact that the Gallery app seems to fill its thumbnail database and fill the SD card. I worked around it with "swap sd", which lets you pretend the external card is the internal card. Now I have something like 20GB free. That in itself is a great feature of this ROM, although you can also install it separately for the stock ROM if you are rooted.

aap

Oh, one more thing I should mention: some third-party apps that use the camera don't work well with this ROM. Barcode scanner apps seem OK but mobile check deposit doesn't usually work for me.

Some people have issues with GPS or Wifi, but for me they seem OK.

Caryllb

Ok I'm getting almost ready to give this a start. First I'd like to flash CWM. However when I look at the instructions here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=26860509&postcount=4
they refer to an &amp button. I can't figure out where that is and I haven't been able to find a clue about it online either. Some folks say they've got it on their keyboard but I don't see it. Where is it?

Let me get this absolutely right, Titanium Backup can restore apps from a backup created by CWM, correct? If that's so that's really nice.

Is Swapsd on Google Play Store? I wouldn't mind using that.

I'd be disappointed with the camera not working. I like to use the check deposit from the Charles Schwab company regularly. Have you found a better camera app that does work with CM10?

How much RAM do you find you're usually using with CM10? I find I'm constantly trying to clean out the RAM to keep things running.

Still nervous, but gaining more confidence each day. I might try installing the fixed custom kernal first. See how that functions and see if it fixes my battery issue. Then back that up so I have that configuration saved and then try CM10. Step into the full ROM upgrade gradually so I always can get back to where I started.

Caryllb

AAP,

I got the custom kernel installed and that fixed the battery charge problem. YEAH! So far so good. Now I'm working on backing up everything, in several places, before I try the new ROM.

Thanks again.