I5700 Galaxy Spica/lite officially gets Android 2.1

[kingdave]

I have to agree with got-petrol, I was in a T-Mobile shop and was asking about the 2.1 update for my i5700, then manager talked to their technical support dept and was told there are no plans to update the i5700 at the moment.

I kicked off big style in the store and said I was mis-sold the phone as the only reason I had got the i5700 on T-Mobile was that I was promised the 2.1 update "by the end of april". To cut a long story short, after being told there was nothing they could do, the manager put me through to an american woman. I explained the situation and that I would take legal action due to the phone not being fit for purpose and that it was mis-sold, I received a new shiny HTC Desire in the post the next day at no cost. I am just glad I printed off the conversation with the t-mobile rep online before I bought the i5700.

So you can update to 2.1 with t-mobile.....just get em to send you a Desire!

Brilliant result! I only wish I'd had a similar conversation with T-Mobile when I swapped my crappy SE C905 for a Portal. Samsung didn't announce the update until a week or two after I got my Portal.

At least the contract is up in November so I can get something else with more reliable support from the manufacturer.

 

[bburn]

It really does make you wonder if T-Mobile UK really are going to update the Portal to 2.1 , what with no one in their shops or Tech support seeming to know anything about it.

For anyone in the UK who has flashed their phone with the Odin method , how stable has your phone been since, Crashes , Freezes , Problems making calls ,be honest , any issues ?

 

[kingdave]

It really does make you wonder if T-Mobile UK really are going to update the Portal to 2.1 , what with no one in their shops or Tech support seeming to know anything about it.

For anyone in the UK who has flashed their phone with the Odin method , how stable has your phone been since, Crashes , Freezes , Problems making calls ,be honest , any issues ?

I've had no problems at all since flashing. Yes, you get the odd force close, but I believe that is more likely a problem with the app than the OS.

 

[rusky]

I've had no problems at all since flashing. Yes, you get the odd force close, but I believe that is more likely a problem with the app than the OS.

Agreed with regards to the apps.

Mine has a serious bug where the phone goes into airplane mode/looses connection to the network & won't connect unless I reboot.

It shows no network on the lock scren & looks like it's in airplane mode but when I try & turn off airplane mode, it turns off again.

At a guess, this happens about every 10 days.

 

[Portal23]

I just uninstalled Kies & found my install CD which has PC Studio 1.3.0.IJ1. Am I missing something here??

No, New Pc Studio which comes with the phone is the latest version of pc studio 7, so that is the right software

 

[InBliss]

checked with Samsung support in India, they will update the Spica/Lite to 2.1 if one takes to the Samsung authorized servicing centers. Called up Servicing center and they have confirmed me that they have received 2.1 and will be able to update from next week onwards.

 

[jerrysimon]

I got two of these phones from T-Mobile one for my wife and I about four weeks ago. So far we love the phones. These our first new phones in over 3 years and I never realised that smart phones could do so much!

Anyway I was hoping that I could update it to Android 2.1 with in the approved/supported way from PC studio, but I am beginning to think that this will never happen and that I should have ago myself using Odin. I have PMed Beerkan for instructions as he seems like a helpful chap

I quite like the active desktop. I am curious, after I update the firmware and then root the phone do I need to install anything else for active desktops apart from the active destops themselfs ?

Regards

Jerry

 

[jerrysimon]

Having trawled through all the pages of this post I think I now understand how to do this myself.

Regards

Jerry

 

[bburn]

Hi

I finally gave up waiting for T Mobile UK to send the firmware update and thought I'd follow the video that was posted on how to flash the I5700 yourself. I set everything up as shown on the video , but for some reason it doesn't seem to work properly as the operation just hangs after about 4 secs with the message "<1> set up connection..." in Odin's message box. If I pull the battery out the phone reboot to 1.5 fine. Anyone had the same problem.

(God how I hate T-Mobile and Samsung now)

 

[devast]

Hi

I finally gave up waiting for T Mobile UK to send the firmware update and thought I'd follow the video that was posted on how to flash the I5700 yourself. I set everything up as shown on the video , but for some reason it doesn't seem to work properly as the operation just hangs after about 4 secs with the message "<1> set up connection..." in Odin's message box. If I pull the battery out the phone reboot to 1.5 fine. Anyone had the same problem.

(God how I hate T-Mobile and Samsung now)

No problem, that happens sometimes. When you hang there, disconnect the phone, remove the battery, and restart the whole process. It will work.
edit: but when flashing is in progress (ie: not stopped at set up connection phase) NEVER disconnect the phone!

 

[bburn]

Thank you for your help, I've got it to update to 2.1 now and it's great .
I still hate T-Mobile and Samsung for not supporting the phone better but at least I got there in the end. Thanks also to Beekan for the video and links

 

[Beerkan]

Thanks also to Beekan for the video and links

Only here to help.. Hopefully.

 

[bburn]

I've just one question since updating to 2.1 though. Why doesn't google navigation work , I mean it finds me on the map and plots out a route , it just doesn't speak any directions and doesn't give directions symbols, it's just stuck with "searching for GPS" on the bottom of the screen.

Is it the version of 2.1 I put on my phone or have I just been unlucky.

Cheers

 

[rusky]

You're no the only one, there's lots of people with this problem.

Here http://androidforums.com/samsung-galaxy-lite/68097-google-navigation-stuck-searching-gps.html

And here Google Navigation stuck at Searching for GPS... Samsung GT i5700 - Google Mobile Help

 

[andy-roid]

i no now it doesnt matter to most of us but i samsung have reply to my post on the samsung forum that i put on a few months back before i had 2.1 that the uk update to 2.1 will be released in the next 2-3 weeks

 

[nx1977]

Cool. The Mrs will be happy!

 

[karnka]

T-Mobile just told me the other day that they had checked with Samsung, they had no idea when the update would be available and that as far as they were aware Samsung hadn't released an upgrade for the Portal anywhere, only new handsets had the 2.1 firmware.

Nice to know they're both on the same page....

 

[bburn]

Hi, nice to hear T-Mobile UK are on the ball for their loyal customers as ever . Anyway been running android 2.1 via Odin for the last two weeks now and it's excellent and most of all it's stable. Google have also fixed the problem with Google Navigation ,so it wasn't the firmware after all

Thanks again for all your help with the update

 

[lost eden]

I've been patiently waiting for T-Mobile/Samsung to get their act together & officially release the 2.1 update in the UK but my patience has just about run out so I am beginning to research into flashing my handset myself. I've got a few questions that I hope some of you in this thread can help answer?

1.) I've noticed people talking about Network Lock, Network Subset Lock, SP Lock & CP Lock. How do I check the status of these locks on my phone/SIM & what values must they be at to enable flashing? If they're wrong, how do I go about changing/unlocking them?

2.) Is there a definitive & up-to-date guide about the proper flashing procedure? I've come across loads of guides online, but most not updated since earlier this year.

3.) What's the story with pre-rooted/optimized firmwares such as those I see over at samdroid.net (but can't really garner much about as I don't read Russian...). If I'm going to go ahead & void my warranty by performing the update myself, I'll want to root it as well, as preserving the warranty was the only reason I had for not rooting the thing!

EDIT: just noticed there is an English subforum on samdroid.net, will give that some reading!

Thanks in advance for any help

 

[swythan]

i no now it doesnt matter to most of us but i samsung have reply to my post on the samsung forum that i put on a few months back before i had 2.1 that the uk update to 2.1 will be released in the next 2-3 weeks

For those who want to see this for themselves (I did!):
http://forumuk.samsungmobile.com/PostsList.aspx?ForumPostID=200707#200707

And also:
http://forumuk.samsungmobile.com/PostsList.aspx?ThreadID=195909

Of course, that's from Samsung, not T-Mobile. We'll see whether it really turns up or not...

P.S. In the meantime, does anyone know where I could get hold of the original T-Mobile 1.5 firmware? I'd like to upgrade to 2.1 but my phone is playing up enough that I'm thinking I might need to send it back at some point. Didn't get any replies to a similar request at http://www.samsungfirmwareworld.com/

 

[lost eden]

I've been patiently waiting ...

Well I got too impatient & went ahead & did it last night/this morning. Thought I should leave some tips from the frustrations I came across!

1.) DO NOT try to do the update using a virtual machine. I tried using several different vm's of XP Pro in VirtualBox & you simply cannot get the drivers to work, not by installing them separately, via NPS or Kies. You can get the USB Composite Device to show up & work, but not the modem (you need both for Odin to work).

2.) Connect the phone *before* opening Odin, otherwise it will likely hang on the "setup connection" step.

3.) Don't forget to put your APN settings back in! I ended up panicing that I had lost all data access but then realised there were no APN settings >.<

So, I installed JCF, then LeShak's LK2.02 kernel, then Samdroid v1.0.3. Just restoring all my apps & settings now

 

[karnka]

This morning T-Mobile complaints have told me that they will not be getting the 2.1 upgrade at all. This is apparently after confirming with Samsung.

I'm very much in the camp of not believing it will ever happen.

 

[andy-roid]

i said them on twitter where full of it... all i no is what samsung put on my post on there forum

 

[redpyramid]

On Monday of this week in Ireland (June 21st), Samsung/O2 officially released 2.1 via NPS - the official appears to be JD2

Samsung i5700 getting Android 2.0

 

[andrewduerden]

For those of you that have (by whatever method) upgraded to 2.1, could you tell me what you can now do that you couldn't do before? I mostly use mine (running 1.5) to phone, text, email and browse the web. I'm not aware of anything other than being able to have more home screens that would benefit me.

Thanks