i920 Owners Read This.

[Guest Snow02]

Please post your information. I'm not trying to be impatient, but I need the info you guys have to continue the case with Verizon. If you get a chance, please post eveything you have in a neat post. Thank you.

Here's the saved pages.

Samsung_and_Verizon_Spec_Pages.zip

[Guest livebig]

Please post your information. I'm not trying to be impatient, but I need the info you guys have to continue the case with Verizon. If you get a chance, please post eveything you have in a neat post. Thank you.

HTML_Verizon_showing_208MB.zip

HTML_Samsung_showing_104MB.zip

[Guest tedkord]

It's doubtful Verizon is entirely blame free. Carriers do have significant input into the phones they carry. That's why, for years, phones Verizon carried had lower specs than the same model on other carriers. They'd leave off the WIFI, or halve the RAM. This was all at Verizon's behest.

Think about it...Why would Samsung totally retool a phone for one carrier versus another? That's just added cost. It's easier and cheaper to just crank out the same design. So the Sprint HTC Touch Diamond had a 528MHz Qualcom 7501 processor, 256mb of RAM and 4GB of internal storage. The Verizon version had a 400MHz Qualcom 7500, 128mb of RAM and no internal storage (but did add a microsd slot the Sprint left off). The HTC Touch Pro had less RAM on VZW's model than competing phones on Sprint and ATT. Again, Verizon's doing.

The Omnia and Omnia II have only an 8GB flash storage option, while the European counterparts have 8GB or 16GB.

And, don't forget that Verizon is usually LAST to market with any given model of phone - usually by many months. If anything, their phones should have the latest tech.

I can guarantee you that Verizon had significant say in the phone design. Now, they may have requested 256mb or 208mb of useable RAM, and not gotten it. But, then they should have QC'ed the product before selling it.

Edited August 18, 2010 by tedkord

[Guest fire3element]

First off, thank you to all the good people here for your info and time you so graciously committed. I won't let your efforts be in vain.

To tedkord: Yes, I am very much aware of the past doings of Verizon. However, considering that the i8000 has the same issue is more than enough evidence to see that this is Samsung's problem. Exclusive? Maybe, but I think that there are problems with more than just the i920 and i8000. I don't have any other Samsung phones (other than my i910) so I don't follow the issues of the other models. I am pretty sure there are issues with Samsung's other models. If I'm not mistaken, I think I saw a thread on here about the new GalaxyS for T-mobile not having the RAM as advertised. Again, I don't have any other model phones, so I don't follow the news closely.

If you read my first post, you can see that I have had problems with Samsung's service before. To make a loooooooong story short, my TV could not be fixed because Samsung no longer made the Tv. It was a $2500 52in TV that had received stellar reviews. In short, Samsung continued to sell the TV with the same model#, but had inferior parts inside. The screen panel was now being made by a cheap 3rd part chinese company. So after 2 new screen panels and all other parts replaced multiple times, all that was left from the original purchase was the plastic shell. Samsung refused to confirm what my resource had informed me of. Instead they wanted to put another panel in regardless of the fact that it never was the same as the original panel that made a name for the TV.

Yes, Samsung is very underhanded and crooked. It is such a shame cause they usually make some fine quality tech. I loved Samsung at one point, but now I may never by from them again. This is of course dependant upon the outcome of this i920 situation. Should Samsung refuse to take action on the matter, then WATCH OUT! I don't know about a lawsuit as I am firmly against the idea of ill gotten gain, but it might go there. If not a lawsuit, I vow to make a dent in their sales. I will not reveal my plan yet, as it is too early to consider it.

If anyone from Samsung is reading here, I strongly advise some sort of action ASAP. I am beginning to take great dislike to your company, and that "Is NOT good thing". For the sake of your reputation (what's left), make your customer glad they chose your product.

Again, thank you to all the participants. Your efforts are greatly appreciated.

[Guest azza6]

Hope this all works out..

[Guest kahn101]

thanks for bringing this up fire3element. i had gotten over the RAM issue thinking it was just bad samsung software, a phone after all cannot be perfect. i believed the phone did indeed have 256mb of RAM. But now i realise we we were blatantly lied to. i had gained respect for samsung after the i900, starting to lose that respect. does samsung know that this phone is completely unusable straight out of the box?

first they lie about the amount of ram the phone has, then they add glossy software that takes too much ram, they they introduce auto kill, to kill programs when ram is below 30mb. this combination makes this phone unusable. :huh:

then there's the wifi bug where wifi just simply disappears. this happens on average each day.

then why oh why would you put the reset button inside the battery cover, then make it accessible only by using a tooth pick or something similar? you have to open the battery cover to access the reset button, if u don't have a tooth pick near by, you have to remove the battery. its embarrassing.

Thankfully there are fixes for the first two issues, the third u have to live with it. of course these fixes are not from samsung.

doubt i will continue with samsung, that was a breach of trust, the specs on the official page are the specs we buy the phone for. i can no longer be certain that the next samsung phone will have the advertised specs. am following through to windows phone 7 though.

[Guest amdzero]

thanks for bringing this up fire3element. i had gotten over the RAM issue thinking it was just bad samsung software, a phone after all cannot be perfect. i believed the phone did indeed have 256mb of RAM. But now i realise we we were blatantly lied to. i had gained respect for samsung after the i900, starting to lose that respect. does samsung know that this phone is completely unusable straight out of the box?

first they lie about the amount of ram the phone has, then they add glossy software that takes too much ram, they they introduce auto kill, to kill programs when ram is below 30mb. this combination makes this phone unusable. :huh:

then there's the wifi bug where wifi just simply disappears. this happens on average each day.

then why oh why would you put the reset button inside the battery cover, then make it accessible only by using a tooth pick or something similar? you have to open the battery cover to access the reset button, if u don't have a tooth pick near by, you have to remove the battery. its embarrassing.

Thankfully there are fixes for the first two issues, the third u have to live with it. of course these fixes are not from samsung.

doubt i will continue with samsung, that was a breach of trust, the specs on the official page are the specs we buy the phone for. i can no longer be certain that the next samsung phone will have the advertised specs. am following through to windows phone 7 though.

First let me say that I have always liked the "high quality" of Samsung products. From their screens to their appliances to the i910, it has been great.

Then along comes the i920 Omnia 2 through VZW. The phone it self I love, even with the "quirks" and detestable memory management. After using the phone for a month with the stock rom, I came to realize that they put a lot of "thought" into this phone as far as features. I truly believe that if they had opted for either MORE memory or found a better software solution to the LACK of adequate memory they would have the ultimate phone. As it is with touch wiz enabled (btw who thinks touchwiz is a good idea anyway? somebody should fire that person!), the phone lags to a crawl. I honestly don't know how it got past design phase with it turned on.

For i920 users, you can use the stylus to soft reset your phone using the reset button. Since I reset FAR to often, I've filed a small whole about 1/4 of an inch below the okay button on the battery cover. That way I have easy access to it. I've also ripped the usb/charging cover right off the phone as well.

[Guest fire3element]

Yes guys I am in the same boat (if you couldn't tell already). I love the quality that Samsung produces, but nothing and I MEAN NOOOOOTHING excuses flat out lying to the buyer to make a sale. This is not a used car lot. Each specific phone does not have varying features, mileage, or equipment. There is absolutely no grounds for false advertisement of a tech product.

If we let them get away with this nonsense, then not only will Samsung continue but other companies will follow. We must stand for the right to know the product we buy. Just like our government, you let something go un-noticed and they trample you with whatever they wish. Ok I am not going to go there, just wanted to make my point.

Has anyone read about my past experience with Samsung over the 52in TV? SAMSUNG HAS BEEN DOING THIS STUFF FOR A WHILE. DO NOT LET THEM BY WITH IT. We live in America. We do not bow to the the Corporations like APPLE and "go with the flow". Yes I did just smack Steve Jobs cross the face. All these fan boys that defend Apple cause "Jehovah Jobs" says that "all cell phones suffer from signal loss" need to stick that device where it belongs. The trash bin of course.

What I am trying to convey is, we must not let this die. Make this thread huge and inform everyone you know. Let's get some major cell phone news sites involved and poke Samsung in its side. With news like that on the front page, people will think twice before making that 2yr agreement and $200-300 commitment with an untruthful companys product. This is how Capitalism works. Don't tell me it don't work. It is not the government's job to shut down a company. The people take care of it by NOT BUYING FROM SAID COMPANY. Does anyone here remember Dell? Lost most of their business over bad customer service did they not? THAT'S HOW IT WORKS. Make your voice heard. Don't cower in the corner cause someone is playing unfair. Fight back. Even if you don't win, you've just made a scene. Others see it too. It will all work out in the end, one way or another.

And that's my Sunday sermon. Sorry for the rant, but enough is enough. Come on people, stick together. Let's do this.

[Guest Snow02]

Doesn't sound like anything is going to happen at this point? I assume you've gotten no further with verizon support?

[Guest fire3element]

No, Not yet. I will be calling for an update tomorrow.

I have a lot of things that are piling up on my plate at the moment, but I will continue to carry on the case at the moment. If I cannot carry on, I hope someone will pick up where I left off.

At this time,i have absolutely no plans to give up. Just being informative in case of future complications.

I will let you guys know if I get anything tomorrow.

[Guest livebig]

This issue has really been eating at me. Since nobody replied with images of the i920 inside, I decided to take my phone apart and took pictures last week. I was going to post them, but the laser etching was so small half the letters were too difficult to make out. So, I bout a magnifying glass with a light and used that to read the numbers and get even closer pics. I have taken my phone apart 4 times in hopes to get more information.

Those of you that have seen the i8000 dissasembled with photos will notice that the mainboard for the i8000 is very different compared to the i920 (which is why I wanted photos of the i920)

Internal Photos of the i8000

I have had to do a lot of research into this and have learned quite a bit about Samsung's 'semiconductor' industry... but the biggest question still lingers.

I have identified almost every single chip on the mainboard. The ones we need to concentrate on are 3 of the larger ones. Chips that have a ID number starting with 'K' are Samsung IDs. Below is a brief description of the chips relevant:

A] The larger chip with the "ARM6410AH" is a single package chip containing multiple things. It houses the ARM processor, Samsungs OneNAND controller and possibly the graphics processor

B] The large chip next to the processor "Samsung 931" - This is the 8GB NAND Flash chip.

C] The chip close to the edge (and next to the Qualcomm chip) - with "KFM1216028" - This is what Samsung spec sheets call "512M OneNAND Muxed SLC". On Samsungs faq sheet and verizons sale sheet they are referring to this as ROM (which is not correct... it's not read only - its NAND Flash)

D] The chip with the white round sticker. This is the Qualcomm chip made specifically for Verizon for their network... CDMA, 3G, etc.

E] The silver (shielded) chiped with "Samsung SWB-M20" - This is the wifi and bluetooth chip.... which explains the shielding.

F] The three chips connected together in the upper corner next to the processor... those are for the camera.

OK... so I've identified the 8GB NAND Flash and 512MB NAND Muxed memory... but I CANNOT locate the RAM. I have a couple theories. The muxed memory could be split into part storage and part 'RAM'... though NAND is not nearly as fast as mobile DDR memory. The other theory is that the main chip (A) - has the memory (RAM) built in. However, you cannot find a Samsung spec sheet for 'KBZ00900SM'. I found a Samsung brochure for the KBZ00900, but it talks about what Samsung calls "OneNAND", being able to split memory and making access easier. (in a nutshell). I have spent many hours researching this and finding out as much as I can. I don't have time to type it all here. Hopefully this gives others a head-start in helping in efforts in trying to identify how much memory this freakin phone really has.

We need to identify the "KBZ00900SM" - or perhaps find another product with that ID and see what they list their memory specs as.

Here is a Samsung page where they discuss what they call "OneNAND" and you can see how they breakout/share the multiple types of memory in mobile devices. They don't give specific examples, but you can see commonly work with 64MB and 256MB RAM... NOW... remember that Samsung FAQ page that listed 64MB + 64MB. Might be some truth in the FAQ.

I hope this information helps someone.

[Guest vol-fisher]

This is some great info I just found today. I have been going round and round with Verizon about this phone, went as far as a FCC complaint only to have Verizon lie to them saying I have never contacted customer service to have phone troubleshot. I am on my 4th phone, so I think I have talked to them a couple times :huh:

I would encourage all those with problems to file a complaint here http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm

Make sure to check "Deceptive or unlawful advertising or marketing by a communications company (does NOT include Telemarketing)" on the second page after you select wirelss on first. Maybe with a bunch of complaints something will be forced to be done.

[Guest Snow02]

Thanks for the link. Complaint filed.

[Guest fire3element]

Great info livebig. I was very interested in your findings. Unfortunately, I called my contact at Verizon before I read that. If he is following this thread, then I am sure he will see it.

I called him about 12noon today. He said that he hasn't heard back from the higher ups just yet. He did tell me that he forwarded my email to the corporate executives. He says we should hear something back in the next few days. I'll post new info as I get it.

Edited August 23, 2010 by fire3element

[Guest maverick2127]

I want to say thanks to everyone who is pushing this forward. I just filled a complaint with the FCC, thanks Vol-Fisher for the link, and would encourage many more to file also. Don't let this die off like samsung and verizon wants it to.

[Guest Snow02]

Now Verizon has changed their spec page to add "Actual available memory may be less." Link

This is a blatant lie. "May" implies that at least some have this much available memory. An accurate statement would be "Actual available memory IS less." They know this. Unbelievable.

Edited August 24, 2010 by Snow02

[Guest erieboatergal]

Even with the leanest ROM available, running a frontend like Titanium or iPhoneToday, the most RAM I have available is around 70MB after a soft-restart. That will dwindle down to less than half within a normal day of use. CleanRAM set to level 3 will restore some of it, but not all. So, even taking steps that the average Omnia 2 user wouldn't, I have to do a soft-restart at least 2 or 3 times a week. How often does an Android or iPhone user have to jump through these hoops just to keep their device operational? I have to wonder how many people who have no idea how to reset their Omnia 2 (or even have the slightest clue what RAM is) are walking around with a $200 paperweight because of this issue.

I have owned the phone since March, andThis is exactly the way I feel. I have spent a lot of time trying to figure out my phone and how to make it work for me, but unfortunately I still don't understand the intricacies. I am too scared to flash anything or alter the registry, and do not want to end up with a $200 brick. I wish I could take more time than I already have to understand, but I just don't want to. I find the memory issues to be extremely frustrating, and have searched the internet for solutions.

What is CleanRAM? Maybe it will help my memory issues. You are correct, I do not see practically all my friends with iphones and android OS having as much frustration as I do.

[Guest Snow02]

Click the fcc link above and file your grievances there. Hopefully someone will take note.

[Guest livebig]

Click the fcc link above and file your grievances there. Hopefully someone will take note.

The FCC form asks for the "Date of Problem". I'm curious what others put or think we should put there. The date we bought the phone or the date we became aware of being lied to?

[Guest Snow02]

I put the day I filed.

[Guest azza6]

Now Verizon has changed their spec page to add "Actual available memory may be less." Link

This is a blatant lie. "May" implies that at least some have this much available memory. An accurate statement would be "Actual available memory IS less." They know this. Unbelievable.

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :huh: Grr. Nothing else to say. Something HAS to be done SAMSUNG!!

[Guest livebig]

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :huh: Grr. Nothing else to say. Something HAS to be done SAMSUNG!!

I think our best bet is to work with Verizon. Verizon advertised the phone, sold us the phone and locked us into a contract. If there is any dispute as to the hardware specs, I think that fight is between Verizon and Samsung. However, the fact that Verizon updated their page to state that the actual memory may be less.... and compare that to the original advertisement of 208MB<end of line>, shows legitimately that we were not sold what was originally advertised. I think Verizon is aware there is a storm brewing - and their update to their website wasn't an attempt to go against our argument, but to prevent the issue from becoming bigger with future customers.

[Guest azza6]

I think our best bet is to work with Verizon. Verizon advertised the phone, sold us the phone and locked us into a contract. If there is any dispute as to the hardware specs, I think that fight is between Verizon and Samsung. However, the fact that Verizon updated their page to state that the actual memory may be less.... and compare that to the original advertisement of 208MB<end of line>, shows legitimately that we were not sold what was originally advertised. I think Verizon is aware there is a storm brewing - and their update to their website wasn't an attempt to go against our argument, but to prevent the issue from becoming bigger with future customers.

Yeah, this is all well and good for you on Verizon. But doesn't help me with my i8000 Omnia. :huh:

Sorry if that sounds rude but I'm annoyed that Samsung advertised at 256mb RAM when it clearly isn't.

[Guest azza6]

*bump*?

[Guest AdamAsater]

I have an i8000 but i suggest everyone who owns a i920 calls and complains for the same reason. I came from a samsung instinct from Bell and they never released any legit updates, but a community and I decided to write on the forums for bell, fill out complaints, and called continuesly, eventually we got what we wanted.

So my advice is do the same, everyone get together, fill out complaints, call verizon and/or samsung everyday or every other day. Good luck guys hope everything works out :huh: