Galaxy S faults/fixes

[Guest mwright]

I currently have a Galaxy S on an update from Orange with still a few days left that I can return it. I have a few issues with it that, if I read the forums correctly, seem to be fixed with later versions of the firmware than I have (2.1update1). It seems impossible to get an official upgrade from Samsung because the handset is branded to Orange and, I asume, they forbid direct upgrades.

So I would be very grateful if there is someone out there with a few minutes to check the details below and tell me if these are fixed in any newer version of firmware that I can flash to the phone after I have completed the upgrade process.

1) The GPS seems to "go missing" sometimes, requiring a power-cycle to fix it.

2) There is a noticeable delay sometimes from pressing a "key" and getting a response. This can sometimes be several seconds.

3) I cannot get the device to connect to any of my PCs properly in "mass storage" mode. All I get is a couple of empty drives on the pc with no data in them.

4) The internet seems very slo sometimes - taking much onger than my TOuch HD to load the same page.

5) Is there a 2.2 Android version available?

6) How much of a problem is mounting it in a car with the charge point on the top?

Any help much appreciated

Mike

PS see also this blog entry.

Edited October 10, 2010 by mwright

[Guest frauhottelmann]

You should probably head over to xda-developers (the i9000 dev forum) and flash the JM9 firmware, which seems to have the best GPS performance. There is a sticky there which explains how to flash. There are some beta Froyo builds floating around, but I would not recommend using them since they're by far not bug free.

After you flashed go to the market and get the OCLF 2 (http://www.appbrain.com/app/ryanzas-oclf-2-0/com.rc.QuickFixLagFix) and root your device and then apply the lag fix, this gets rid of button lags and slow internet performance etc.!

I have a cheap generic car mount and it works fine with the cable on top...

Oh and about mass storage: once it's connected, drag down the notification bar and click on the mass storage notification, which then mounts your storage on your pc and you can access it from there.

Edited October 10, 2010 by frauhottelmann

[Guest mwright]

You should probably head over to xda-developers (the i9000 dev forum) and flash the JM9 firmware, which seems to have the best GPS performance. There is a sticky there which explains how to flash. There are some beta Froyo builds floating around, but I would not recommend using them since they're by far not bug free.

Thanks for the info. I took a look and part of the instructions read:

Open dialer and type: *2767*4387264636#

The second line will read: PCode:GT-I9000HK?xxx.

Well the "xxx" part on mine is "ORA" which I guess means Orange and is NOT listed against any of the ROM images!

Does that mean I cannot go down that route for an update?

Is my only recourse to "root" the device and install something else?

Regards

Mike

[Guest frauhottelmann]

That's the carrier customization, that's why yo won't find it on xda :)

JM8 appears to be the most stable right now (I personally wait and see how JM9 is, since a couple of people report problems): http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=780867

You of course void you warranty by flashing (I guess you know that). You can always connect the Galaxy to your PC with Kies and let it update to the newest firmware (if there is a newer one) and just use OCLF like I said before. The lagfix already does wonders to the phone.

If you choose to flash you'd have to choose the OXA csc, it stores carrier specific information (for network access and stuff like that).

It's best to read a good deal on xda before you actually try something.

[Guest AndyCr15]

I've just put JJ1 on mine and it seems REAL quick and smooth even before any lagfix's. I would suggest flashing a ROM as your solution, but with the lagfix I cant praise the Voodoo fix highly enough. Honestly I don't know why anyone would use a different lagfix.

For me, OCLF really slows down either 1) as you install more apps 2) after a couple of days

Voodoo, I had 116 apps and it ran smooth as a baby's bum for a week. Use the OCLF app to adjust memory settings to aggressive maybe.

[Guest DistortedLoop]

I've just put JJ1 on mine and it seems REAL quick and smooth even before any lagfix's. I would suggest flashing a ROM as your solution, but with the lagfix I cant praise the Voodoo fix highly enough. Honestly I don't know why anyone would use a different lagfix.

For me, OCLF really slows down either 1) as you install more apps 2) after a couple of days

Voodoo, I had 116 apps and it ran smooth as a baby's bum for a week. Use the OCLF app to adjust memory settings to aggressive maybe.

I concur that voodoo is the best lag-fix available right now. You will love your phone after installing it.

For memory settings, don't bother with OCLF, you can get AutoKiller or FreeMem that do nothing else but adjust those settings.

Voodoo beta 5 should have curio's (the dev who created voodoo) settings for memory management pre-built in. He tweeted what he thinks works best yesterday. They were surprisingly lower than the aggressive, but he also tweaks the first three settings, not just the last three. I'm currently running his suggested values via AutoKiller and the phone seems fine.

[Guest mwright]

I concur that voodoo is the best lag-fix available right now. You will love your phone after installing it.

Thanks for the input - I have already tried Voodoo and it does seem to make a huge difference.

Now - is Voodoo reversible like OCLF is? There are rumours of an update for Orange branded Galaxy's shortly and I guess I would need to remove Voodoo before applying that?

Regards

Mike

[Guest AndyCr15]

To undo it, simply find the Voodoo folder on your internal SD and put a file in it called 'disable lagfix' and reboot. It undoes the fix. If you want to put it back, don't forget to remove this file!