upgrade to 2.3.4 and keep touchwiz?

footprint · Sep 15, 2011

Hi all;

Really new to androids, so my apologies in advance. Essentially, I just want my phone to be just as it is now (yes, I actually like the stock UI)

but upgrade it to 2.3.4, primarily due to poor battery life. Is this possible? The more I'm reading, the more confused I seem to be. Also, should I/do I need to upgrade from the UGKG2?

Thanks in advance!

Hawker · Sep 15, 2011

KG5 is the latest 100% official release on android 2.3.4
There is a later "unofficial" official release (known as Frankenstein firmware) KH3. (PDA: XXKH3| Modem/phone: XXKH3| CSC: OXAKH3)

KH4 is even more recent, but its not KH4 throughout (PDA: XWKH4| Modem/phone: XXKH3| CSC: XEUKD1)

footprint · Sep 15, 2011

hawker said:
KG5 is the latest 100% official release on android 2.3.4
There is a later "unofficial" official release (known as Frankenstein firmware) KH3. (PDA: XXKH3| Modem/phone: XXKH3| CSC: OXAKH3)

KH4 is even more recent, but its not KH4 throughout (PDA: XWKH4| Modem/phone: XXKH3| CSC: XEUKD1)

Thanks Hawker. So, if I get the KG5 update, my phone will essentially be the same, just updated to 2.3.4?

Hawker · Sep 15, 2011

This depends on how much carrier-specific things you have on your phone. If you want it to be exactly the same, then you would need to upgrade with a carrier-specific version of the firmware.

This aside, all the official firmwares you download via Odin from XDA will give you a standard (or stock) look and feel as far as Samsung and Android is concerned. I have KH3, and as far as the user interface is concerned its identical to the 2 previous versions I had. There are differences of course, such as you may notice a few extra options in some of the apps etc. but it will still "seem" like the same version. You may find battery life improves (as this is always the biggest gripe, so much effort is probably put into this for every release)

I would expect an official release of new firmware will only be noticeable when Ice Cream Sandwich start rolling out, rumoured to be in November.

Its only when you go down the path of 3rd party ROMS (Eg. Lite'ning) that you will start to SEE any differences (Eg. custom start-up screens, battery level indicators, perhaps a few different icons etc)

footprint · Sep 15, 2011

Thanks again, I really appreciate it. A friend of mine told me that if I upgrade to 2.3.4, I have to go to "vanilla" android; thus my hesitation. I don't mind getting rid of any of the carrier bloat (Virgin Canada in this case) so I think I may just proceed. Thanks again for responding so thoroughly and quickly.

Hawker · Sep 15, 2011

Your only concern should be your warranty.
If you have to send your phone back for any reason then you void the warranty if it is not on a version of the firmware that is officially recognized by your carrier.

However, as long as your phone is not actually bricked and you have a copy of the last (or at least one) official carrier-specific version of the firmware, you can download this back on, but you will need to get a USB jig off ebay to put the firmware update counter back to zero.

By the way. Download Go Launcher. Its MUCH MUCH better than the stock TouchWiz.

Sydney99 · Sep 16, 2011

footprint said:
Hi all;

Really new to androids, so my apologies in advance. Essentially, I just want my phone to be just as it is now (yes, I actually like the stock UI) but upgrade it to 2.3.4, primarily due to poor battery life. Is this possible? The more I'm reading, the more confused I seem to be. Also, should I/do I need to upgrade from the UGKG2?

Thanks in advance!

if you upgrade to 2.3.4, it will still have touchwiz

footprint · Sep 16, 2011

Thanks to you both. So I'm assuming I should expect the loss of all data, and appropriately back things up? Is Nandroid the app of choice for that? (and if so, can I use it unrooted?) Sorry for the rudimentary questions, I tried to read up in advance but I was getting into a "more you know the less you know" conundrum!!

Sydney99 · Sep 16, 2011

you shoulde NOT loose data simply by updating your firmware, nor if you go down the rooting route.

a "nandorid" back-up is done through CWM, you get access to this after rooting - it's not an app in it's own right, just a type of back-up. this creates a full back up of your whole system/rom/data/apps etc etc

the other common back-up is through titanium, but again you need to be routed

if you're synced with a google account, this should back up all your contacts/paid-for apps etc in-case of the unlikely loss of data.

footprint · Sep 16, 2011

Sydney99 said:
you shoulde NOT loose data simply by updating your firmware, nor if you go down the rooting route.

a "nandorid" back-up is done through CWM, you get access to this after rooting - it's not an app in it's own right, just a type of back-up. this creates a full back up of your whole system/rom/data/apps etc etc

the other common back-up is through titanium, but again you need to be routed

if you're synced with a google account, this should back up all your contacts/paid-for apps etc in-case of the unlikely loss of data.

Excellent, thanks for adding this info Sydney, this is precisely the stuff I was wondering about! I'm glad I didn't talk myself out of asking a "dumb question"

Sydney99 · Sep 16, 2011

no such thing as a dumb question. we're all learning all the time

footprint · Sep 19, 2011

Perfect, done tonight in just a few minutes. Thanks SO much for all of your help!

royal23 · Sep 22, 2011

hi there, hoping to get some help here as well

essentially i'm after the exact same thing as the opening posting.

got t-mobile UK, android 2.3.3. and want 2.3.4.

only got the phone this week on Monday.
did the latest samsung firmware update using KIES on my computer.

now i'm trying to *understand* what rooting is about. i get the idea, but not fully grasp what i should download!
this thread here is supposed to be for beginners, but i don't get it...
[20.09.2011][CF-Root v4.1] KE2/7/8,KF1/2/3/4,KG1/2/3/5/6/7,KH1/3/4,KI4 - su+bb+CWM4 - xda-developers

so i've got odin. and then it tells me to download something that's closet to what i have now. well, i have 2.6.35.7-I9100BOKG2-CL255512
so apparently KG2 is my number that i now have to look for and use?

how can i tell if any of the downloaads in that thread over there at xda have 2.3.3. or 2.3.4.?? it doesn't say any of that, and that's so confusing.

plus, another issue is that i can't seem to get odin to work with my phone.
i alreayd went to "USB Debugging" to get the download mode activated?
but odin doesn't seem to put it on my phone

Sydney99 · Sep 23, 2011

If you wanted to root from where you are now, you'd need to find the chainfire KG2 kernel on the page you've just posted. this would leave you with a rooted KG2 2.3.3 phone.

if you want to update to 2.3.4, you should update your firmware first. you do not need to root your phone to do this, although you can go onto root if you wish to.

to update to 2.3.4, go here [ROM+Guide]Official i9100 Firmwares KG1/2/3/5/6/7, KH1/2/3/4, KI1/2/4 Download - xda-developers. The latest is KI4.

to get odin to recognise your phone, switch it off, press vol down + home + power to go into download mode, then connect the USB - should be ready to go

upgrade to 2.3.4 and keep touchwiz?

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