Help Seems like Kies is indeed terrible

[Limeybstd]

So I backed up my Samsung S4 last week before selling it. Today I received my note 3 and wanted to restore my settings and so forth to it. However upon launching Kies I was prompted that version 2.6 is not compatible with my attached current device. It told me I needed version 3. So I upgraded twice and it keeps coming up with the same error message when attempting to connect my note 3 "This device is not supported by Kies version 2.6 Please open Kies 3 and connect again" ?

 

[SAberDroid]

Hello, I answered this earlier today but here is my post again. I was having the same issue too, and that site it sends you to via Kies only gives u 2.6 so that's why you get that error.

Apparently you need Kies 3 and after doing some googling it's only in beta form but they posted the download link in anKies 3.0 (download link) needed for note 3 - xda-developers .... I just used it and it does everything except Network settings, Accounts, and I forgot the third thing....If you just doing media and texts then your good. I am in the process of downloading my apps Play didn't auto download and setting up other stuff. Kinda sucks Samsung dropped the ball on having Kies fully operational before launch...oh well...

 

[Limeybstd]

Thanks for response. I got Kies 3 working but now it cannot find my backup locations? I see something under my documents/samsung/kies/backup/sghi337 but cannot get the program Kies to use this location. Is there a particular file name I need to point it to?
thanks.

 

[BRAINZ2013]

Thanks

 

[Limeybstd]

Thus far all I could restore was my messages and contacts. I manually had to locate the contact.spb and message.sme file from the backup folder.

The backup folder contains all my data but I cannot get it to see any file extensions that this program needs. Help appreciated.

 

[Scootmien]

To be honest, Kies was shockingly poor when I bought my SGS2, it hadn't got much better when I upgraded to the SGS3 and i'm sad to see that Samsung haven't done anything to make it better with the Note 3.

You're not alone though, the HTC Sync Manager is a woeful piece of software. it seems like all these phone companies just tack on a sorry piece of syncing software completely as an afterthought.

 

[SAberDroid]

Thanks for response. I got Kies 3 working but now it cannot find my backup locations? I see something under my documents/samsung/kies/backup/sghi337 but cannot get the program Kies to use this location. Is there a particular file name I need to point it to?
thanks.

Not that I am aware of, I just pointed it to my old backup folder and it said something like "use folder location" once I was inside that backup device folder.

 

[gil_happy]

I wanted to add a comment and ask a question about Kies and the Note 3. In terms of the download, it looks like you will need to download Kies 3.0 from the Samsung UK web site (not the US site) which is where that link will ultimately take you to.

I backed up my Galaxy S2 using Kies 2.6, and then restored it to my T-Mobile Galaxy Note 3 using Kies 3.0. My question is this - it looks like all of my text messages have transferred to the Note 3 (except for some reason, it did not transfer any of the picture messages - MMS), but none of the names were transferred over. To explain, if I go into my 'Contacts' this is empty, but in 'Messages', I only see are the telephone numbers for each text message instead of the name.

In my S2, it looks like all of my contacts were stored as 'MobileLife Contacts' - I'm guessing this probably has something to do with it.

Thanks in advance!

 

[FlyingPigL]

To be honest, Kies was shockingly poor when I bought my SGS2, it hadn't got much better when I upgraded to the SGS3 and i'm sad to see that Samsung haven't done anything to make it better with the Note 3.

You're not alone though, the HTC Sync Manager is a woeful piece of software. it seems like all these phone companies just tack on a sorry piece of syncing software completely as an afterthought.

I have to say that was one thing that was smooth and easy with the iPhone...

And that included some restoring I had to do - so disappointing that Samsung cannot provide a valid application to do this - or that I have to root the thing in order to get a decent back-up solution. Oh well.

There are worse problems. Like where !#$^%!! is my phone??

 

[jds4000]

Kies is rubbish indeed. Connect your device to your computer and easily transfer files via USB. Simple.

 

[Simon_Gardner]

Kies is rubbish indeed.

It is.

Connect your device to your computer and easily transfer files via USB. Simple.

Or not - as the case may be.

 

[Scootmien]

It is.


Or not - as the case may be.

You can just connect your phone to your computer and use it as a USB mass storage device as long as you have the USB drivers on your computer, which you probably don't as I recall you saying that this was your first smartphone.

Download Samsung USB Drivers for Android

 

[Simon_Gardner]

You can just connect your phone to your computer and use it as a USB mass storage device as long as you have the USB drivers on your computer

Actually, no you can't. Solely

computers since 27 Nov 1987.

, which you probably don't as I recall you saying that this was your first smartphone.

Download Samsung USB Drivers for Android

I think we've established that won't work.

 

[bonerp]

Actually, no you can't. Solely

computers since 27 Nov 1987.



I think we've established that won't work.

mine does!

 

[Scootmien]

double post.

 

[Scootmien]

Actually, no you can't. Solely

computers since 27 Nov 1987.

Ah you're on a Mac, I see.

I think we've established that won't work.

No need to be a cock about it though, we're all trying to help.

 

[Simon_Gardner]

I think someone might explain to @nathanotis why he is wrong here:-
http://androidforums.com/samsung-galaxy-note-3/773556-got-my-note-3-today-2.html#post6175373

He also says

As a Mac and GNex user, I can confirm, no amount of hackery (I went to some lengths about a year ago, but haven't researched since) allows one to directly access the SD from a Mac sans Android File Transfer. AFT is a great little tool, but it is what it is... A file transfer tool, only. I've gotten quite good at doing what needs done on the device via EStrongs File Manager.

I wish very much we were both wrong. I'm not holding out much hope.

 

[Sportster]

Never surprised when Mac conflicts with Samsung/Android or vice versa. Like trying to get two bulls in heat talking nice to each other.....just not gonna happen....

 

[ScandaLeX]

You're much better off with a backup app from the Play store (which can also backup app data) than with Kies (any version). Android File Transfer was another that NEVER worked so many of us switched to AirDroid which is fabulous by the way.

 

[Simon_Gardner]

You're much better off with a backup app from the Play store (which can also backup app data) than with Kies (any version). Android File Transfer was another that NEVER worked so many of us switched to AirDroid which is fabulous by the way.

Android File Transfer is solid. It just doesn't do what I actually want without a lot of tedious copying/deleting files back and forth. But for what it is supposed to do, it works.

I don't blame Samsung or Google for this, I blame Apple. I go back far enough. I remember you couldn't mount DOS disks and nobody had heard of Windows. And then you could.

 

[ScandaLeX]

That's wonderful. You'll find that for many of us, Android File Transfer didn't work for some as it did for others. For me, it wasn't worth the struggle since AirDroid did what I needed it to do without making me want to throw my phone and laptop from a tall building.

 

[nathanotis]

Simon. Invest in Windows and dual boot your Mac. I've been doing it for quite some time. Sometimes, you just need to look through a Window.

 

[Simon_Gardner]

Simon. Invest in Windows and dual boot your Mac.

Now wash your mouth out.

 

[nathanotis]

Now wash your mouth out.

Thanks for my first legitimate internet-LOL for a while!! I know, I know... I love my Mac and use it for 99.8 percent of everything I do... But now and again I find something, like file-management-on-my-phone, that I need it for. The business relationship between Apple and Samsung is a funny, symbiotic one. They purchase items from each other with one arm of their operations and sue the pants off each other with the other. I'm sure, like others have said, that this incompatibility is Apple just being petulant. I only wish someone could find a way around it (aside from the one I outlined above... )