Official ICS 4.0.X Discussion and Links Thread

[quantumrand]

No - I meant the unlocking of the phone - that option is not available for me.

The Face Unlock feature doesn't seem to be included in the official Nexus S ICS ROMs. Only the custom ROMs built from AOSP have that feature. I'm guessing that the Nexus S' front facing camera lacks the quality to use the feature reliably. In the video demos I've seen of Nexus S phones with Face Unlock, it takes several tries before it successfully unlocks the phone.

 

[elemteacher2be]

The Face Unlock feature doesn't seem to be included in the official Nexus S ICS ROMs. Only the custom ROMs built from AOSP have that feature. I'm guessing that the Nexus S' front facing camera lacks the quality to use the feature reliably. In the video demos I've seen of Nexus S phones with Face Unlock, it takes several tries before it successfully unlocks the phone.

Okay - thanks for clarifying.

Another question - I've seen that with ICS you can "share" an address or map with others... I was just trying to do that but can't seem to find that option... any idea?

 

[quantumrand]

Okay - thanks for clarifying.

Another question - I've seen that with ICS you can "share" an address or map with others... I was just trying to do that but can't seem to find that option... any idea?

Maybe you're thinking of Android Beam?

Galaxy Nexus: Android Beam - YouTube

That feature is included on the 4.0.3 update for the Nexus S, but I haven't had the chance to test it out.

 

[elemteacher2be]

Maybe you're thinking of Android Beam?

Galaxy Nexus: Android Beam - YouTube

That feature is included on the 4.0.3 update for the Nexus S, but I haven't had the chance to test it out.

No... it's from a commercial now that I think of it... couldn't find it- the commercial has a woman telling her Android what to do to prepare for the party - and the little Android figure is doing stuff on the phone itself...

And she tells him to make sure everyone has directions this time.

 

[quantumrand]

No... it's from a commercial now that I think of it... couldn't find it- the commercial has a woman telling her Android what to do to prepare for the party - and the little Android figure is doing stuff on the phone itself...

And she tells him to make sure everyone has directions this time.

Here's the commercial: Straight Talk Android Butler - YouTube

It's just a feature in Google Maps. Select a location and scroll down. You'll see the Share Location or Share This Place option. You don't need ICS for this feature either.

 

[elemteacher2be]

Here's the commercial: Straight Talk Android Butler - YouTube

It's just a feature in Google Maps. Select a location and scroll down. You'll see the Share Location or Share This Place option. You don't need ICS for this feature either.

D'oh! I see it. I wasn't looking for it there.... thanks!

 

[D!zzy]

The battery life seems to have taken a nose dive...I am struggling to get even half a day out of it now

 

[DexTyler]

The battery life seems to have taken a nose dive...I am struggling to get even half a day out of it now

Did you do the OTA or a manual update?

By the way, I did the OTA and the battery life has greatly increased. Even with extreme use (and I mean using the FB app, Opera and the camera for hours), the battery lasted 13 hours and still had 43% left. I charged it at that point. An important tip is to always charge the phone up at about the 40% range, it's good for the battery.

 

[D!zzy]

Did you do the OTA or a manual update?

By the way, I did the OTA and the battery life has greatly increased. Even with extreme use (and I mean using the FB app, Opera and the camera for hours), the battery lasted 13 hours and still had 43% left. I charged it at that point. An important tip is to always charge the phone up at about the 40% range, it's good for the battery.

I did a manual update.
With the kind of usage you are talking about I would be lucky to get more than 3 -4 hours from the battery.
I keep charging the phone whenever I can irrespective of the current charge.

 

[bogdan98]

Unfortunately, you'll probably have to do a wipe/factory reset to get the downgrade to work properly, though you can try it without wiping first.

It's very possible that a factory reset might fix the problems you've been having without the need to downgrade. You'll lose your current settings and installed apps (though a lot of those get backed up through Google), but the files on your internal storage (the "SD card") are left alone.

The best way to do the Wipe/Reset is through the recovery console. To access the recovery mode:

1. Turn off your phone.
2. Hold Volume Up while turning on your phone.
3. Use the volume buttons to highlight "Recovery" and select it with the power button.
4. Hold the Power button and press Volume Up.
5. Use the volume buttons to highlight "Data Wipe/Factory Reset" and select it with the power button (I suggest doing the "Wipe cache partition" option too.
6. Select Reboot.


If you want to try manually flashing back to 2.3.6, put that file I linked you a few post back in the phone's internal storage and follow steps 1 through 4 to get into recovery mode. Select "apply update from /sdcard" and find the update file and select it.

If it gives you an error, it means the only way to downgrade is to root your phone first (sorry). If it does install, select reboot and your phone will reboot into 2.3.6.

If you didn't wipe your phone first, there's a chance it'll go into a boot loop (aka get stuck and never get passed the Nexus logo). If that happens, you'll have to pull your battery and go into the recovery mode, do the wipe, and re-install the 2.3.6 ROM I linked above.

Can this procedure be used to downgrade from 4.0.3 to 2.3.6 on i9023?

 

[quantumrand]

Can this procedure be used to downgrade from 4.0.3 to 2.3.6 on i9023?

If that method works for the I9020T, it will work for an I9023 as well. What we don't know is whether or not the stock recovery console will let you install the full 2.3.6 ROM on top of 4.0.3. We're still waiting to hear back from someone who has tried it.

 

[bogdan98]

If that method works for the I9020T, it will work for an I9023 as well. What we don't know is whether or not the stock recovery console will let you install the full 2.3.6 ROM on top of 4.0.3. We're still waiting to hear back from someone who has tried it.

Thanks for answer. I will try and let u know what's going on. Where do i find how to root and what that procedure means?

 

[stat]

I installed ICS then I downloaded an app and it put it on my home screen and in the app section. If I hit my camera button the screen goes black! Camera not working.

 

[stat]

I rebooted and now the camera is working

 

[Deleted User]

I did a manual update.
With the kind of usage you are talking about I would be lucky to get more than 3 -4 hours from the battery.
I keep charging the phone whenever I can irrespective of the current charge.

Try doing a Factory Reset to wipe the phone and do a clean setup again. It means you'll lose your apps and settings, but it will start fresh. There may be something wrong with the update you flashed or something causing it to run the battery down. A reset will start you off fresh with v4.x and you can see if the battery life is better.

 

[quantumrand]

Thanks for answer. I will try and let u know what's going on. Where do i find how to root and what that procedure means?

Rooting is the act of giving you "root permissions" for your device. iPhone users erroneously call it "Jailbreaking" (I say erroneously because iOS and OS X do not use the FreeBSD-based "jail" partitions to which the term refers). Basically, it lets you change system files you wouldn't otherwise have access to, in turn, letting you do things like install unsigned updates and custom ROMs, among other things.

There's a useful guide in the All Things Root section of the Nexus S forum: http://androidforums.com/nexus-s-all-things-root/458635-nexus-s-root-guide.html

If you do decide to root your phone, make sure you understand the process well and that the methods you're using are intended for your model of Nexus S and the version of Android you have installed. Mistakes can permanently brick your phone.

 

[mahanddeem]

any update from somebody who officially upgraded to 4.0.3 and then "officially" downgraded to 2.3.6 ?

 

[PvtJoker]

Hi, I am still withholding from trying the downgrading procedure (as I get impression of very mixed success of that based on the Google Mobile Help forums) and trying to talk to the mobile operator if the problem could be solved "locally" (since it seems to persist only on networks of some mobile operators and not the others - should I switch the operator, hum?)... Anyway, it's the fifth day I am having the problem with network connection...

I feel like GOOGLE should call me and apologize for the inconvenience in person... :-/
(But how would they do that? I do not have network connection for most of the time...)

 

[bogdan98]

Rooting is the act of giving you "root permissions" for your device. iPhone users erroneously call it "Jailbreaking" (I say erroneously because iOS and OS X do not use the FreeBSD-based "jail" partitions to which the term refers). Basically, it lets you change system files you wouldn't otherwise have access to, in turn, letting you do things like install unsigned updates and custom ROMs, among other things.

There's a useful guide in the All Things Root section of the Nexus S forum: http://androidforums.com/nexus-s-all-things-root/458635-nexus-s-root-guide.html

If you do decide to root your phone, make sure you understand the process well and that the methods you're using are intended for your model of Nexus S and the version of Android you have installed. Mistakes can permanently brick your phone.

quantumrand, u really helped me. I will try to undastand android and meanings of different actions like one u described up better and then i'll do the downgrade. Thank u.

 

[vikasjuneja]

If that method works for the I9020T, it will work for an I9023 as well. What we don't know is whether or not the stock recovery console will let you install the full 2.3.6 ROM on top of 4.0.3. We're still waiting to hear back from someone who has tried it.

quantumrand,
I tried it today but it does not work. I followed, point-by-point, the procedure listed by you. I tried with a wiped-out clean phone (i9020), to downgrade from 4.0.3 to zip file listed by you in one of your posts earlier. Validation for this zip file fails. Also, my phone is NOT a rooted one.

The reason for me to downgrade is that I am getting very bad battery after doing "manual" upgrade from 2.3.6 to 4.0.3.

Now, I will try what has been mentioned in another post, i.e. to Re-install 4.0.3 on a clean (wiped-out/factory resetted) phone. I hope this works.

However, I would still be interested in downgrading 4.0.3 back to 2.3.6. Incase, someone figures that out, please share.

Thanks.
Vikas.

 

[OnlySkillz]

Looks like face unlock is a possiblity

Face Unlock For Nexus S Available In New Android 4.0.3 ICS Custom ROM, Here's How You Can Install It Right Now! | Redmond Pie

 

[quantumrand]

quantumrand,
I tried it today but it does not work. I followed, point-by-point, the procedure listed by you. I tried with a wiped-out clean phone (i9020), to downgrade from 4.0.3 to zip file listed by you in one of your posts earlier. Validation for this zip file fails. Also, my phone is NOT a rooted one.

The reason for me to downgrade is that I am getting very bad battery after doing "manual" upgrade from 2.3.6 to 4.0.3.

Now, I will try what has been mentioned in another post, i.e. to Re-install 4.0.3 on a clean (wiped-out/factory resetted) phone. I hope this works.

However, I would still be interested in downgrading 4.0.3 back to 2.3.6. Incase, someone figures that out, please share.

Thanks.
Vikas.

Thanks for giving it a shot Vikas. I figured there was a good chance it would throw up a version incompatibility flag. That's too bad. It is still possible to downgrade, but only by rooting and using a custom recovery image.

Looks like face unlock is a possiblity

Face Unlock For Nexus S Available In New Android 4.0.3 ICS Custom ROM, Here's How You Can Install It Right Now! | Redmond Pie

I think it was Android and Me that posted the original article. They were rather late and a bit misleading about it. Face Unlock has been possible on Custom ROMs pretty much since the ICS SDK was released over a month ago. Most of the AOSP ROMs include Face Unlock. Successfully unlocking your phone with it is fairly hit and miss though. I suspect it has to do with the FFC's image quality, and that that's why Google chose not to include it for the Nexus S update.

 

[PvtJoker]

Anyone any news about the update version of ICS?

Meanwhile I had a lengthy communication with my network operator - the only thing they suggest is to wait for the new version of ICS...

 

[roshan567]

hey guys.. mine is 9020T,..i recently upgraded to the ICS 4.0.3 manually...my phone worked perfectly until few days back....then all of a sudden it stopped my cellular network...hence i cant make calls..send msgs..

pls pls pls help

 

[kwudude]

I keep getting a "Status 7" error upon trying to install any of the OTA zip packages.
This is killing me, I have no idea what's going wrong!

Help anyone?