[Q] Calibration fixes for S-Pen on 4.4.2 KitKat? - Galaxy Note 8.0 (Tablet) Q&A, Help & Troubleshooti

Hi all,
Since my Note 8 has been upgraded to 4.4.2, I've noticed the S-Pen's accuracy is now off by a few millimeters. This makes taking neat notes very difficult, and note-taking is my primary purpose for this tablet.
Does anyone know of a way to adjust the calibration of the S-Pen? My tablet is rooted so I can try any number of solutions.
Thanks.

shardsx said:
Hi all,
Since my Note 8 has been upgraded to 4.4.2, I've noticed the S-Pen's accuracy is now off by a few millimeters. This makes taking neat notes very difficult, and note-taking is my primary purpose for this tablet.
Does anyone know of a way to adjust the calibration of the S-Pen? My tablet is rooted so I can try any number of solutions.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just search... I have posted one too many times on calibrating, so finding it should be easy.

shardsx said:
Hi all,
Since my Note 8 has been upgraded to 4.4.2, I've noticed the S-Pen's accuracy is now off by a few millimeters. This makes taking neat notes very difficult, and note-taking is my primary purpose for this tablet.
Does anyone know of a way to adjust the calibration of the S-Pen? My tablet is rooted so I can try any number of solutions.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A few things you can try.
It'll sound silly, but hit the tip of the pen with some force against a hard surface; desk, table, etc. For some reason, that can realign the tip back into place (or out of place, so play with it a little bit).
Another thing is to run the S Pen over each edge multiple times to auto-calibrate it. This resets the boundaries of the screen and can help out a little bit.
One thing I haven't tried that I read about is actually adjusting the sensitivity of the S Pen. Underneath the click button there should be a small adjustment knob that you can play with. Use a thin razor to get underneath the button and pop it off, just being careful not to break it. If I were you I'd look up a little more about this trick.
I had success with the first two methods, so I never tried taking the button off.
Good luck.

When I updated I was tempted to pop the button and adjust but I've found after using my tablet for a few hours it went away on it's own. I'm now 2 to 3 days after updating and my S-Pen is back to normal; it was a good nib's worth off to the right when I first updated.
Note well that I use my S-Pen enough that battery powered styli would often need their batteries rotated daily; some folk barely use their S-Pens. Not having to change batteries (rather than charge my tablet) is one of the reasons I love the S-Pen .

Spidey01 said:
When I updated I was tempted to pop the button and adjust but I've found after using my tablet for a few hours it went away on it's own. I'm now 2 to 3 days after updating and my S-Pen is back to normal; it was a good nib's worth off to the right when I first updated.
Note well that I use my S-Pen enough that battery powered styli would often need their batteries rotated daily; some folk barely use their S-Pens. Not having to change batteries (rather than charge my tablet) is one of the reasons I love the S-Pen .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So far...
I've found an old post from Gooberdude that suggests drawing in the corners and on the borders. I've spent an hour this morning drawing in the corners and borders, but it doesn't seem to help (unless I'm doing it wrong, or maybe not enough strokes?)
I've found references to an S-Pen app that no longer works on the Note 8 since 4.2.2 because Samsung removed some files for swapping between left and right hand in the OS. That's a no go right there.
I've got mstrswrd06's suggestion to bang the S-Pen against something hard. I've also got a brand new Note Pro 12.2, and the S-Pen from both the Note 8 and the Note 12.2 is accurate on that device's screen. When I bring both the S-Pens over to the Note 8, both are inaccurate about the same amount. Not likely that my Note 8 pen is the culprit.
Spidey, since you got the detection of your S-Pen to somehow become accurate, maybe you can elaborate some more on what you have done?
Any help is appreciated. I use this device to write notes during meetings, and with the small screen, precision is a must because I have to write very small.

shardsx said:
Spidey, since you got the detection of your S-Pen to somehow become accurate, maybe you can elaborate some more on what you have done?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using it normally. Which for me is inputing text via Google Keyboard's "Flow" (swype) input method with the S-Pen and cursive handwriting in MyStylus Beta (or printing where necessary). Using the S-Pen for most interactions with the device (buttons, app UI, selecting text and moving the cursor, etc), and inserting/removing the pen between needs. Watching videos and using the S-Pen to preview / sync. Surfing the web, G+, etc, etc. After about two hours of life it seemed OK, I think text input helped a fair bit. By a day or two after, perfectly normal here.
That's a large part of why I went with this device rather than a Nexus 7 2013 or G Pad GPE. I find the pen desirable for things like the vertical '...' dot menus, handwriting recognition, and doodling.

Spidey01 said:
Using it normally. Which for me is inputing text via Google Keyboard's "Flow" (swype) input method with the S-Pen and cursive handwriting in MyStylus Beta (or printing where necessary). Using the S-Pen for most interactions with the device (buttons, app UI, selecting text and moving the cursor, etc), and inserting/removing the pen between needs. Watching videos and using the S-Pen to preview / sync. Surfing the web, G+, etc, etc. After about two hours of life it seemed OK, I think text input helped a fair bit. By a day or two after, perfectly normal here.
That's a large part of why I went with this device rather than a Nexus 7 2013 or G Pad GPE. I find the pen desirable for things like the vertical '...' dot menus, handwriting recognition, and doodling.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Spidey. I'm going to spend the weekend just scribbling with the tablet. It's been brutal. I even tried a security wipe from the tablet, which didn't help, and also a forced update/initialization through Kies, which also didn't help.
Hopefully whatever triggered the fix for you will work for me.
Thanks again!

Good luck shardsx, hope it sorts out. I was afraid when mine suddenly had the offset after updating...thankful it went away.

Assuming you are rooted? If so, try flashing civato's new kernel. It has integrated fix for S-Pen alignment.

CCallahan said:
Assuming you are rooted? If so, try flashing civato's new kernel. It has integrated fix for S-Pen alignment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can confirm that the kernel just released by Civ fixes the inaccuracies in the S-pen. I am running it and am having no issues now. There was an issue of not being able to sync my Google account and could not get on the play store but after a data factor wipe it is all good now. This may have been none related to the kernel, but I figured that I would at least mention it.
Sent from my GT-N5110 using XDA Premium HD app

Mine is off too
Same problem here ... since the upgrade the stylus is off by a few millimeters ... drawing in corners didn't solve the problem ...

shardsx said:
So far...
I've found an old post from Gooberdude that suggests drawing in the corners and on the borders. I've spent an hour this morning drawing in the corners and borders, but it doesn't seem to help (unless I'm doing it wrong, or maybe not enough strokes?)
I've found references to an S-Pen app that no longer works on the Note 8 since 4.2.2 because Samsung removed some files for swapping between left and right hand in the OS. That's a no go right there.
I've got mstrswrd06's suggestion to bang the S-Pen against something hard. I've also got a brand new Note Pro 12.2, and the S-Pen from both the Note 8 and the Note 12.2 is accurate on that device's screen. When I bring both the S-Pens over to the Note 8, both are inaccurate about the same amount. Not likely that my Note 8 pen is the culprit.
Spidey, since you got the detection of your S-Pen to somehow become accurate, maybe you can elaborate some more on what you have done?
Any help is appreciated. I use this device to write notes during meetings, and with the small screen, precision is a must because I have to write very small.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'd say just upgrade to civato's custom rom and spherekat kernel - 100 percent accurate for me. my pen isnt broken or anything but it was waaayyy off using stock, or even civato's flexnote without spherekat (most of the offset is because of code in the kernel, apparently).
take the plunge - you're already rooted, it's time to get on the rom train. (CHOO CHOO)

tooandrew said:
i'd say just upgrade to civato's custom rom and spherekat kernel - 100 percent accurate for me. my pen isnt broken or anything but it was waaayyy off using stock, or even civato's flexnote without spherekat (most of the offset is because of code in the kernel, apparently).
take the plunge - you're already rooted, it's time to get on the rom train. (CHOO CHOO)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. The only known fix for 4.4.2 s-pen at the moment is to use Civ's latest rom and kernel. You actually need both installed to have 100% accurate s-pen, since some of the fixes are in the kernel and the other fixes are in the rom framework.

I actually managed to get my S-Pen recalibrated. I opened up S-Note and scribbled all around the edges until there was a solid 0.5 cm border. But the trick is that I did it all in a single stroke (or in other words, I never lifted the pen until I had filled in all the edges, which took a long while). After that, the dot now appears right under the pen. And it stays across applications. It worked for me; maybe it'll work for you.
Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk

rtiangha said:
I actually managed to get my S-Pen recalibrated. I opened up S-Note and scribbled all around the edges until there was a solid 0.5 cm border. But the trick is that I did it all in a single stroke (or in other words, I never lifted the pen until I had filled in all the edges, which took a long while). After that, the dot now appears right under the pen. And it stays across applications. It worked for me; maybe it'll work for you.
Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ive not heard of such a thing before, but i'm glad you managed to fix it. there are still reasons to upgrade to civato's rom and kernel despite this, but if you're happy with your user experience, that's all that matters.

I've considered going down the path of custom ROM. I'm definitely not opposed to this approach since I've got an old Asus Transformer tablet that's using CM10.2 (waiting for 11 stable).
What I did to resolve my inaccurate S-Pen issues was to Odin flash 4.1.2 back on. Now, I've read that I might be prevented from flashing back to 4.4.2 Kit Kat, but I don't know why that would be the case since the bootloader is still 4.4.2 after the downgrade. I've also read that people can't charge the tablet after a downgrade while it's off? I haven't actually turned off my tablet to charge, but I guess that would be a scary scenario if I ever ran completely out of power and can't charge the device.
I'll do more digging around over the next few days. The power-off charge issue is the biggest concern, so I'll drain my battery down to 50%, turn it off, and let it charge overnight to see what happens. Worst case scenario is I'll Odin back to 4.4.2 and custom ROM.

tooandrew said:
ive not heard of such a thing before, but i'm glad you managed to fix it. there are still reasons to upgrade to civato's rom and kernel despite this, but if you're happy with your user experience, that's all that matters.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It was a variant of this method:
http://richardjang.typepad.com/techstuffs/2012/03/how-to-calibrate-the-galaxy-note-s-pen.html
I had to go with Method 1 because I've got the wifi model and so don't have access to a dialer.

shardsx said:
I've considered going down the path of custom ROM. I'm definitely not opposed to this approach since I've got an old Asus Transformer tablet that's using CM10.2 (waiting for 11 stable).
What I did to resolve my inaccurate S-Pen issues was to Odin flash 4.1.2 back on. Now, I've read that I might be prevented from flashing back to 4.4.2 Kit Kat, but I don't know why that would be the case since the bootloader is still 4.4.2 after the downgrade. I've also read that people can't charge the tablet after a downgrade while it's off? I haven't actually turned off my tablet to charge, but I guess that would be a scary scenario if I ever ran completely out of power and can't charge the device.
I'll do more digging around over the next few days. The power-off charge issue is the biggest concern, so I'll drain my battery down to 50%, turn it off, and let it charge overnight to see what happens. Worst case scenario is I'll Odin back to 4.4.2 and custom ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i was under the impression that once a knox bootloader was installed, trying to downgrade to a touchwiz-based rom of an earlier version would brick it. you just odin'd the original 4.1.2?

tooandrew said:
i was under the impression that once a knox bootloader was installed, trying to downgrade to a touchwiz-based rom of an earlier version would brick it. you just odin'd the original 4.1.2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also read that in the "about KNOX" thread, but I've also read other people have flashed back to 4.1.2 (and experienced the power-off charging problem that I talked about above).
I took the plunge and yeah, just Odin'd the original 4.1.2 back on. I used the Canadian 4.1.2 wifi image from Sammobile.com. The bootloader stays at 4.4.2 (so I have the KNOX Warranty flag tripped), but everything seems to be working well. I turned off the tablet last night and let it charge to test the claims that there were issues, and there was no problems doing that.
So far, I haven't noticed anything game breaking about going back to 4.1.2. I think maybe I experienced a sleep of death? However, that's hardly unusual.

I had the same offset issues, so I went zero to sixty from no rooting experience at all to flashing Civato's latest Rom. I use the S pen extensively for handwriting recognition and sketching so a slight offset made the tablet practically unusable. Offset issue is perfectly fixed now.
It took a bit of research to learn how to root and flash but very worth it.

Related

[Q] Nexus 7 owners...... problems, fixed or not?

Guys, I was all set to get a new 32gb Nexus 7....the reviews are great, and then I start reading about the issues.
After a bit more reading, I'm left wondering if its such a good idea? I read that Google released an update, then I also read that it didn't always fix things for people?
So the questions I guess are, Do you own one? Have you had a problem? Is it now fixed by the update? Maybe you've never had any problems?
Would you recommend getting one? I don't wanna spend out on something that I'll regret.
Thanks guys.
I've had mine since the first weekend of availability and it's lived up to all my expectations and then some, you're just buying the usual support vocal minority, sume have legit issue, noisy are just being nitpicky
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4
Thanks, this is what I'm trying to determine...if its just a few people shouting loud, or a big issue affecting a lot.
Thanks for your reply.
Mine worked 100% out of the box, no light bleed, no multi-touch issues, no GPS issues. Updates have installed perfectly. I am running stock deodexed + root + TWRP + Elemental X 1.1 Kernel. Couldn't be happier with my purchase. :good:
I know a lot of people have reported the GPS issues and the touch issues, but I've never experienced them myself. I bought mine the day it was released, 32gb model.
madpete said:
Thanks, this is what I'm trying to determine...if its just a few people shouting loud, or a big issue affecting a lot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My suggestion is you buy from a place with a reasonable return policy.
We have no idea whether this is a 1%, 5%, 10% or more problem. Even if it were a 20% problem you would still have a huge number of people without issues, but from a product standpoint it would be very bad.
In my personal experience GPS is completely fixed on multiple units with the JSS15Q firmware.
Multi-touch is hit or miss, many units either got multi-touch fixed or saw no improvement. Some saw things get worse. You can see from the changelog history of the touchscreen firmware that they have been making various changes to address the issues, so the issues are real and acknowledged in some part.
Changelog for touchscreen firmware is available here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=44954563#post44954563
As to the random reboots, IMO there are 2 issues, one is a hardware issue and the other is one or more software issues. The hardware issue is more rare, but if you have it, it will be difficult to avoid the reboots, unless Google/Asus can find a software workaround for the problem.
With respect to the software reboot issues, you can usually avoid them by avoiding a "trigger" app. Some folks usage just never triggers the problem. Some people trigger it when using chrome. For others it is some other app. Usually when you stop using the trigger app the software reboots go away.
You need to make the decision for yourself. There will be lots of people saying no problem and lots of people saying they got multiple units all with issues.
I bought the 32gb. Works flawlessly, I got it a week and half ago.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
GET ONE
I would say go for it, you are always going to have issues with most anything. Just buy from a retailer with a good return policy, I own the nexus 7 2012 and the nexus 7 2013 , no issues here, awesome devices.
Thanks guys. Sfhub, you make some good points....think I will buy from a large high street store, rather than online.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
sfhub said:
My suggestion is you buy from a place with a reasonable return policy.
We have no idea whether this is a 1%, 5%, 10% or more problem. Even if it were a 20% problem you would still have a huge number of people without issues, but from a product standpoint it would be very bad.
In my personal experience GPS is completely fixed on multiple units with the JSS15Q firmware.
Multi-touch is hit or miss, many units either got multi-touch fixed or saw no improvement. Some saw things get worse. You can see from the changelog history of the touchscreen firmware that they have been making various changes to address the issues, so the issues are real and acknowledged in some part.
Changelog for touchscreen firmware is available here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=44954563#post44954563
As to the random reboots, IMO there are 2 issues, one is a hardware issue and the other is one or more software issues. The hardware issue is more rare, but if you have it, it will be difficult to avoid the reboots, unless Google/Asus can find a software workaround for the problem.
With respect to the software reboot issues, you can usually avoid them by avoiding a "trigger" app. Some folks usage just never triggers the problem. Some people trigger it when using chrome. For others it is some other app. Usually when you stop using the trigger app the software reboots go away.
You need to make the decision for yourself. There will be lots of people saying no problem and lots of people saying they got multiple units all with issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i think mine is definitely, hardware, maybe , cuz of user error, ie, bad dirty flashing of zips, i dont' want to start all over fresh again, too many apps/settings to revert back (yes call me lazy sob)
most of the reboots happen when im clicking on an app with wifi on , but one of my last reboots, it just just rebooted out of the blue, i didn't even touch the tablet, but i seen it reboot!
Not sure, really, whether I have/had problems or not. Got mine over the weekend. During my initial playing, I did not notice any touch issues. The GPS would lock, but I didn't have time to take it anywhere for long enough to be sure if it would stay locked for a long period of time. Almost immediately (1 day) I got the JSS15Q OTA update. The GPS DOES seem to lock a bit faster, and I seem to be seeing more satellites than before -- it could be my imagination, though. Still no touch issues that I can see.
New Nexus 7 (then) past issues, (now), Cool TAB!
phab3k said:
I know a lot of people have reported the GPS issues and the touch issues, but I've never experienced them myself. I bought mine the day it was released, 32gb model.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I HAD issues out of the box. Waited for the first update from Google, rebooted once after. Took forever to get the screen to respond to any kind of tap. Rebooted a couple of times and was able to get somewhat R E A S O N A B L E response out of the screen. GPS would work for all of 2 minutes and then shut down. No problems with Wi-Fi.
That was then, along came update: JSS15Q! All is happy in Nexus land. GPS is strong and works flawlessly even in the darkest center of my house! Screen is responsive my fingers are happy.
APPS? That is another matter, remember, even with a stock Nexus 7 fhd you are on the bleeding edge meaning that many apps found on Google Play may fail. Live with it until either the app is updated, ***** at the (no don't *****, contact the developer and kindly tell him/her your problem; or find another app that works for now.
Games? Heh, that is a real crapshoot. If it won't function, move on.
This is one hell of a tablet with excellent video, good sound, fast processing. Short of it not being the size of my 60" monitor (TV) I can read everything with these 78 year old eyes!
[email protected]@dog!
Google Nexus 7FHD
Kindle Fire Rooted Android 4.3
Kindle Fire HD 8.9 Rooted 2nd boot loader Android 4.2.2
Droid Bionic stock Android 4.1.2
Guys, just wanted to say thanks for all the posts. You help me make up my mind, and gave some sound advice.
I've took the plunge and brought the 32gb model (from a big high street retailer), and I have to say....what a cracking little tablet this thing is, I am really impressed with it. I have not had any issues with it, so I seem to be one of the lucky ones....either that or they have fixed the issues by the time we got them in the UK.
I do feel for all the people who had problems though, its a nightmare when these thing happen. Theres no doubt there has been or are some issues out there, one thing with a Nexus device I guess is it is patched fast if its sw...obviously hw is a different issue.
Looking forward to enjoying this device now, if I can get on it....have to wrestle it off the wife and kids first!
......thanks again guys.
Pete.
Just got my 32gb Nexus today in the UK. Only thing I have noticed is that tap and hold on screen is slow to react. Can take a couple of trys before it works. Sometimes taping an app is slow to open. Running stock and latest update. Only change made is to use Nova as the launcher.
Sent from my HTC One S using Tapatalk 4
To Wugfresh Re: Toolkit
This is a followup to my 2 confusing Twitter's I made it worse by referencing Nexus 4 and 7 so I will stick to 7 (mostly). I now realize that lurking has its penalties since I need 9 posts after this before I can post this in the relevant thread (with a nostalgic tear for the days we welcomed all comers and left our doors unlocked).
I bought an N7 FHD (2nd gen) and rooted it after the 4.3 auto update soft bricked (right term of art?) it. I used the other toolkit to restore it to JDQ39 factory unrooted. Then it installed JSS15J. Today it tried to do an update and (presumably) it failed because of rooting. That build is no longer on the developer's website and has been replaced by JSS15Q. I would never presume to call myself a developer but my first modem was a 300 baud acoustic coupler and I have a 5 1/2" floppy disks older then most of you and it's actually floppy. ROFL.
Back to reality, on the Nexus 4, I could not discern how to upgrade to the latest Y build but I did manage to restore it to factory settings and Google handled the rest, You were kind enough to add JSS15J to your toolkit for the Nexus 4 but it is not available (in your drop-down) for the Nexus 7. I figured that if you made JSS15J available for the N7 I could restore the N7 to a factory fresh un-rooted one and Google could update it to JSS15Q. In the alternative you might guide me to how I could go from JSS15J to JSS15Q. I am certainly not in your league but this is not my first rodeo and I cannot tell you how grateful I am for your efforts. Your toolkit saved my Nexus 4 from the 2 week wait during which Google might have told me rooting voids the warranty or just have left me phone-less till they returned it.
Again thank you especially, and to all the others here who light candles in the darkness for each other and the rest of us pilgrims. A tip of my fedora to ya. Never forget one definition of a pioneer is someone with an arrow in their back.
Much of the time I am as confused as a baby in a topless bar who said, "What do you mean this is not a lunchroom, what else could it be?"
My suggestion is to keep root, grab the latest carbon ROM, the elemental 1.1 kernel and you should be all set. They already have the updates From G in them and they work superb.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4
Do you own one?
Yes, from day one.
Have you had a problem?
Yes, GPS and the touchscreen grounding issue.
Is it now fixed by the update?
Yes, GPS seems fixed.
No, grounding issue may be worse. Works fins as long as I'm holding it. Placing it causes touches to become sporadic.
Maybe you've never had any problems?
I wish...
Would you recommend getting one?
Yes, it still a FANTASTIC device and many have no issues. If you do return it right away until you get one without issues.
I spoke too soon....at first I thought everything was ok....then I began to notice when I was typing that sometimes it would come out as gibberish. I thought nothing of it as we all make typos now and then, then I noticed that press and hold didn't always register (sometimes takes a few goes). I downloaded the multi-touch test from play and to my horror it's all over the place (compared it against my note 2), this is with the latest update. After reading around a bit more, I'm beginning to think these touch screen issues are hardware....and that it's more widespread than people think. Will be exchanging it for another one, hopefully fair better second time.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
madpete said:
Will be exchanging it for another one, hopefully fair better second time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Before you return, perhaps you could try this thread:
Take that multi-touch! Fix and lock in what works for YOU regardless of updates
sfhub said:
Before you return, perhaps you could try this thread:
Take that multi-touch! Fix and lock in what works for YOU regardless of updates
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey man, thanks for the reply.
I opted for the swap out because I don't want to loose the warranty, which I believe you would if you unlocked it?
I bought from PC World / Currys so the swap was no hassle.
Using the new one now, its testing better and typing and "hold and drag" is working much better (although hold and drag still isn't 100%, it's now acceptable to me).
I tested before and after the update, the observation I made is that the update seems to dull down the touch screen a little. It became slightly less responsive after the update than before, but hasn't really affected the usability on this one....although I think I prefered it pre update.

Phantom menu pressing observations and fix

I have been searching forums the past few weeks or so for a fix or a workaround for this. One workaround exists but it does so by disabling the suspect menu button. There's lots of evidence that this is a hardware issue, but there are lingering variables that remain unanswered, the main one being why some phones develop this problem after a period of time (say a year or so) of good behavior. Some people have taken the phone apart and cleaned it and it went away, some suggested the wi-fi (really?). Try those things first if you'd like, but they didn't work for me. This is the result of my experimenting and some observations i made. Because of the relative ease of getting a used E4GT on ebay/craigslist (I scored one in very nice condition from ebay for 50) some people don't really have the option of walking into a store and getting their phones swapped and like me probably were getting annoyed at getting the menu popping up in low signal areas and don't want to resort to workarounds.
If your phone is within warranty, don't bother trying these suggestions. Easiest to get it swapped out. (unless you have already done that multiple times) :laugh:
OPTION 1:
Here is a hack that sounds like a solid fix, it makes a lot of sense though, you are essentially using a small magnet strip as a crude RF shield on the flex connector which inhibits RF interference apparently - ingenious if you ask me!!.
Since the fix I offered is firmware based (meaning it still may not work, although I haven't had mines fail yet. YMMV, these phones have their own personalities ) it sounds logical that this one will address the bigger problem, which as jdsingle76 mentioned, is the hardware, so if you're feeling brave I'd do this fix.
This fix requires you take apart your phone
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=44639715&postcount=8
(This is for informational purposes, as the first fix pretty much negated this one - although it worked for me, it requires having to go back to a modem that could possibly have worse performance than your current one...)
OPTION 2:
If you want to stay with the stock TW 4.1.2 ROM, this won't help you.
Do this at your own risk! This fix assumes you know how to flash firmware to the phone!
1. Grab the stock ICS rom http://www.rwilco12.com/downloads.php?dir=Files/Devices/ here (the Boost/Sprint/Virgin ones)
2. Flash it to your phone using ODIN (This will erase everything, so back up your data!)
3. Now that you are back to ICS, what we are going to do now is flash different modem firmware. On rwilco's website, go to your respective carrier (come to think of it since it's the same hardware they're all the same?) and in the GB subfolder download the One Click EL26 firmware. Reason is that one user reported that the phantom menu problem incidents started after the EL29 firmware had been rolled out. I do agree that updates to firmware is supposed to 'enhance' the performance of hardware, but for my purposes I'd take stability over a menu button gone crazy :good:. So yes, this might hurt your phones performance a lot or a little...In case you are wondering why a GB modem for an ICS build? Thankfully, GB and ICS modems are interchangeable but not JB (you won't have data at all).
http://www.rwilco12.com/downloads.p...sung Galaxy S2 (Sprint) (SPH-D710)
/Modems/GB
4. Flash that modem. Reboot and check data still works. Update Proflie / PRL (don't really need to do this if there is data, but just to cover your bases) Done.
For a week now I have been running this, driving to fringe coverage areas and even the server room surrounded by walls and walls at work to get it to go mad. Hasn't..... yet. (observations still in progress - I'll try and run a network signal info app and document it)
UPDATE: Yesterday before my commute home I decided to give the EL29 modem a shot, so I flashed it and off I went. Driving through the fringe areas, what do you know - the pesky menu button problem that I had not missed came back! Reflashed EL26 and all was good again..
The cool thing is, you're not stuck with ICS going this route. You can further this and root the phone and go beyond 4.1.2 and install 4.2.2. But that is where it ends - 4.3 has no support for WiMax. XDA has some great 4.2.2 roms - I am running SlimBean, but Dirty Unicorns and Carbon are good IMHO. Keep in mind that data speeds won't be anywhere near TW speeds if you choose not to stay with the stock TW ICS rom. Additionally, make a nandroid backup of your system before installing a new ROM, if you need to go back for some reason.
I ran some tests on the ICS build / EL26 modem combination and quite honestly the performance was decent (If I have time to flash back to it I'll post some numbers)
I hope this helps some of you to not throw your phone across the room. Also spread the word as it seems like people search the forums but they never seem to find the fix because of varying key words they search on (I found the magnet hack just the other day).
Credit to michaelalanharlow & jc.m for their observations
This sounds interesting, but everything I've read, and having personally sent my phone back to Sammy twice gives all indications that this is a hardware issue and not a software issue. It has something to do with a faulty heat shield that causes some type of heat exchange. The reason you may not be having issues at the moment is that the older, less robust GB build doesn't put as much strain on the phone, thus not heating it up as much? Just a thought, but great observations nonetheless.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda premium
jdsingle76 said:
This sounds interesting, but everything I've read, and having personally sent my phone back to Sammy twice gives all indications that this is a hardware issue and not a software issue. It has something to do with a faulty heat shield that causes some type of heat exchange. The reason you may not be having issues at the moment is that the older, less robust GB build doesn't put as much strain on the phone, thus not heating it up as much? Just a thought, but great observations nonetheless.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That sounds right to me. From what I have read online the 3g chip in low signal areas strain to contact the towers and in its high powered frenzy it triggers the neighboring chip on the board that controls the softkeys, making it think that the menu button was pressed and hence the menu button craziness. I'm thinking the older firmware didn't ramp up the modem activity as much in low coverage areas, so it never reaches that threshold. This would suggest that the phone's range takes a hit, as the chip doesn't get too aggressive seeking out a signal; however, where I live my range didn't seem to change. I may even try going beyond the EL26 firmware to see where exactly is the threshold for my phone is in this area, as the one downside I noticed is my 4g speeds are not that great (but better than 3g that's for sure :laugh
I am curious as to why you made a thread on this when there is multiple threads on this topic. One of which I created that does not require half the steps you have nor does it require downgrading or sacrificing data performance... My point is, this thread is more or less, unnecessary.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
graydiggy said:
I am curious as to why you made a thread on this when there is multiple threads on this topic. One of which I created that does not require half the steps you have nor does it require downgrading or sacrificing data performance... My point is, this thread is more or less, unnecessary.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just my observations. I used the search function on several words to find a way to retain the use of the capacitive buttons as the threads that I read presented workarounds and there was individuals that didn't want to give up the button functionality (something about having a button there and knowing it doesn't do anything kind of makes some people crazy). I didn't find any reference to the magnet hack until yesterday when I typed in 'ghost menu' instead of 'phantom presses' or 'random presses'.
Also didn't want to necro post /hijack existing threads. Sorry if I offended you :good:
Thanks for the thread. My ebay phone w/sero hack was deferentially not up for warranty service. I had never seen the fridge magnet mod before. I just spent 5 min installing it myself, and I will see if it resolves the issue. :good: So far so good. I will report back if it fails for me.
BTW for anyone trying that hack. The first time the phone is opened it is a royal pain, almost feeling like impossible. A tip is to get the side started, then to to the bottom/usb area. The headphone jack extends just a little further into the case making it a bit longer and better for the last part to take off because of that. After the first time taking the phone apart is much less painful.
Oh and really tighten those screws down super tight. The screws not making the case super tight will cause the contact antenna points to make poor connection leading to signal and gps loss.
wizardknight said:
Thanks for the thread. My ebay phone w/sero hack was deferentially not up for warranty service. I had never seen the fridge magnet mod before. I just spent 5 min installing it myself, and I will see if it resolves the issue. :good: So far so good. I will report back if it fails for me.
BTW for anyone trying that hack. The first time the phone is opened it is a royal pain, almost feeling like impossible. A tip is to get the side started, then to to the bottom/usb area. The headphone jack extends just a little further into the case making it a bit longer and better for the last part to take off because of that. After the first time taking the phone apart is much less painful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Keep me posted! I wish i found that post sooner, searching on this topic is lots of reading (and mostly 'return to Sprint' or 'remap keys')... if it goes well I'll do it to my phone as well (heck, I might as well anyways, that hack pretty much negated my month's worth of research! LOL)
a loyal SERO holdout! that's pretty awesome - I dumped my SERO a year ago. No 4g in your area?
woodz93 said:
Keep me posted! I wish i found that post sooner, searching on this topic is lots of reading (and mostly 'return to Sprint' or 'remap keys')... if it goes well I'll do it to my phone as well (heck, I might as well anyways, that hack pretty much negated my month's worth of research! LOL)
a loyal SERO holdout! that's pretty awesome - I dumped my SERO a year ago. No 4g in your area?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well at ~$28/m including tax (still have employer discounts on top of the $30/mo rate) w/unlimited 3g data I can't find a better deal than my old sero plan. I did get a letter from sprint last month when I downloaded 60GB of data over that. oooppps.
Well it has been more than 24 hours, and I have not seen a single ghost touch since installing the magnet. :good:
Hopefully it is fixed for good.
wizardknight said:
Well it has been more than 24 hours, and I have not seen a single ghost touch since installing the magnet. :good:
Hopefully it is fixed for good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How's data speeds? I stuck one in mines yesterday as well. It was bulging a lil, however, and I also noticed my data speeds wasn't that great. took out the magnet, took out the cushioning in that square region, and trimmed the magnet a lil more so it was thinner and voila'! I even went back to stock 4.1.2 ROM to 'increase' the chances of it flipping out. So far so good..:good:.
woodz93 said:
How's data speeds? I stuck one in mines yesterday as well. It was bulging a lil, however, and I also noticed my data speeds wasn't that great. took out the magnet, took out the cushioning in that square region, and trimmed the magnet a lil more so it was thinner and voila'! I even went back to stock 4.1.2 ROM to 'increase' the chances of it flipping out. So far so good..:good:.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well if your case was bulging then there is a good chance that one of the antenna contacts was not making good contact. That could kill your speed. I would say that you used way to thick of a magnet. I used a piece that was probably as thick as a piece of poster board. It fit inside of the little square of plastic on the case cover next to the screw hole quite nicely.
Still no ghost touches to date.
wizardknight said:
Well if your case was bulging then there is a good chance that one of the antenna contacts was not making good contact. That could kill your speed. I would say that you used way to thick of a magnet. I used a piece that was probably as thick as a piece of poster board. It fit inside of the little square of plastic on the case cover next to the screw hole quite nicely.
Still no ghost touches to date.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, the piece of magnet i stuck in there was a tad too big
Well, I guess this means this fix works! It's working for mines as well, even on the stock ROM. I drove through the fringe areas and no symptoms yet.
I think I may have cut the magnet a little too small (slightly smaller in size than the OE peace it is covering) as the instances are greatly reduced, but still happened twice. Looks like I need to go back to the bench and put in a bigger piece. I never use those buttons though, so I wouldn't mind removing them via the software mod posts, but I'm lazy and find it a lot easier to open the phone and put this 'shielding' in vs. trying to figure out software mods.
BlackSportD said:
I think I may have cut the magnet a little too small (slightly smaller in size than the OE peace it is covering) as the instances are greatly reduced, but still happened twice. Looks like I need to go back to the bench and put in a bigger piece. I never use those buttons though, so I wouldn't mind removing them via the software mod posts, but I'm lazy and find it a lot easier to open the phone and put this 'shielding' in vs. trying to figure out software mods.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have have experienced phantom touches on my phone if the gold contacts on the motherboard and on the back of the phone are dirty; as well as loose connectors on the motherboard. I would suggest cleaning the contacts and re-attaching and cleaning the motherboard connectors, try those methods before trying the software hacks, and you may not even need the magnet either.
Good Luck!

Any way To upgrade when auto-rooted?

Earlier this month I found out that Sumsung started releasing 4.4.2 as an upgrade for almost all the Galaxy Devices. My phone (an S4) upgraded perfectly. But when I tried to upgrade my Note, it said it had been Modified. I have a GT-N5110 and used Auto-root to root. No custom recovery, boot, or rom. Is there any way I can update to Android Kitkat (4.4.2) without unrooting?
varxtis said:
Earlier this month I found out that Sumsung started releasing 4.4.2 as an upgrade for almost all the Galaxy Devices. My phone (an S4) upgraded perfectly. But when I tried to upgrade my Note, it said it had been Modified. I have a GT-N5110 and used Auto-root to root. No custom recovery, boot, or rom. Is there any way I can update to Android Kitkat (4.4.2) without unrooting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Get a custom ROM.
The system simply does not allow updates on Rooted devices.
varxtis said:
Earlier this month I found out that Sumsung started releasing 4.4.2 as an upgrade for almost all the Galaxy Devices. My phone (an S4) upgraded perfectly. But when I tried to upgrade my Note, it said it had been Modified. I have a GT-N5110 and used Auto-root to root. No custom recovery, boot, or rom. Is there any way I can update to Android Kitkat (4.4.2) without unrooting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mobile Odin Pro.
xclub_101 said:
Mobile Odin Pro.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How exactly does Mobile Odin Pro work? I have it downloaded from the Play Store, can you just place a firmware file on it and flash?
You would need to use PC Odin to update bootloader to KK, else Wifi will not work. Check Civato's KK Rom thread to see how you can upgrade your bootloader and install custom KK ROM.
Sent from my SGH-I317 using Tapatalk
I appreciate everyones feedback. If you guys are even remotely familiar with my numerous posts throughout the forum you'll probably notice that I have no place in the rooting world lol. Auto-root is as "root" as I should go. I don't know why I can't seem to get the most basic and easiest of features or processes, but when it comes to bootloaders and custom roms Im all thumbs. It'll be much less frustrating for everyone if I stay as far away from that stuff as possible from now on. Thank you again anyway. I will just keep my ears out for any auto-root options.
varxtis said:
I appreciate everyones feedback. If you guys are even remotely familiar with my numerous posts throughout the forum you'll probably notice that I have no place in the rooting world lol. Auto-root is as "root" as I should go. I don't know why I can't seem to get the most basic and easiest of features or processes, but when it comes to bootloaders and custom roms Im all thumbs. It'll be much less frustrating for everyone if I stay as far away from that stuff as possible from now on. Thank you again anyway. I will just keep my ears out for any auto-root options.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Varxtis,
I was in your position as well, with a rooted tablet on 4.1.2 and wanting to update to 4.4.2. What I did was download Kies 2 from Samsung, and performed the upgrade through Kies. I didn't have to un-root manually. Kies performed the upgrade for me, but I lost root. What I did at that point was simply re-root with Auto-Root. I didn't have to do a wipe or anything. All my data was still intact, as was all the configuration of my rooted apps (except for AdAway which modified the hosts file on the system).
As an aside, after I upgraded to 4.4.2, I encountered poor accuracy with the S-Pen. The point registered by the screen is a few millimeters off from where the pen actually touches the screen.
Good luck!
shardsx said:
Hi Varxtis,
I was in your position as well, with a rooted tablet on 4.1.2 and wanting to update to 4.4.2. What I did was download Kies 2 from Samsung, and performed the upgrade through Kies. I didn't have to un-root manually. Kies performed the upgrade for me, but I lost root. What I did at that point was simply re-root with Auto-Root. I didn't have to do a wipe or anything. All my data was still intact, as was all the configuration of my rooted apps (except for AdAway which modified the hosts file on the system).
As an aside, after I upgraded to 4.4.2, I encountered poor accuracy with the S-Pen. The point registered by the screen is a few millimeters off from where the pen actually touches the screen.
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh wow, awesome. Thank you. I'll definitely consider trying that out, but the S-pen part is a bit disconcerting. I do a lot of drawing and games. Is the S-Pen being off caused by the auto-root presence, or because of KitKat. If it were a Note 8.0 completely stock, would the S-Pen still be off because of KitKat.
varxtis said:
Oh wow, awesome. Thank you. I'll definitely consider trying that out, but the S-pen part is a bit disconcerting. I do a lot of drawing and games. Is the S-Pen being off caused by the auto-root presence, or because of KitKat. If it were a Note 8.0 completely stock, would the S-Pen still be off because of KitKat.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, that's definitely KitKat. My friend also has a Note 8, completely stock and never rooted, and on KitKat the S-Pen is also off. If the pen accuracy is important to you, I would definitely seek more specific scenarios where you might want to upgrade, rather than just do it on a whim. The pen is super important to the purpose why I have the Note in the first place, and 4.1.2 was great for me. I am severely regretting my decision to take the update to KitKat.
shardsx said:
No, that's definitely KitKat. My friend also has a Note 8, completely stock and never rooted, and on KitKat the S-Pen is also off. If the pen accuracy is important to you, I would definitely seek more specific scenarios where you might want to upgrade, rather than just do it on a whim. The pen is super important to the purpose why I have the Note in the first place, and 4.1.2 was great for me. I am severely regretting my decision to take the update to KitKat.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wonder why I am the only one that can calibrate my S-pen... It should work on 4.4.2 just as well as on 4.1.2.
shardsx said:
No, that's definitely KitKat. My friend also has a Note 8, completely stock and never rooted, and on KitKat the S-Pen is also off. If the pen accuracy is important to you, I would definitely seek more specific scenarios where you might want to upgrade, rather than just do it on a whim. The pen is super important to the purpose why I have the Note in the first place, and 4.1.2 was great for me. I am severely regretting my decision to take the update to KitKat.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems like those regretting far outweigh those happy with the update. The write restriction to 3rd pary apps was just completely ridiculous and out of line. "Sure, you can be in our app play store... but just know as of KitKat half of the features of your app won't work. Oh... your app is a PDF study app like EZPDF Reader? Well in that case 80% or your app won't work!" At least make it an "option" with the update that thoroughly explains the negative aspects of write restrictions. And then the S - Pen issue... Bug fixes my butt. I guess I'll just still with jellybean. Hope they don't force it like an xbox360/One or ps3/4 update.
Thank you again for the help.

Scored Note 3 on garage sale for $50 what to do next ?

Phone was sold as is, it turned on but the battery was drained completely and died soon after reaching home screen. I took a plunge since price was $50 tempting Washingtons :laugh: I was 100% sure something is wrong with this device but **** it i did it. Bought a charger and USB cable on the way home and so far it's charging just fine.
Phone is mostly erased at least manually I think, because somebody left his google account as I can see email in the plays store menu and some apps, or maybe this is all the carrier pre-installed junk I'm looking at ? LOL
I don't have much experience with Samsung devices but it's a SM-N900T model with N900TUVUCNB4 4.4.2. from February 2014 according to this site http://www.galaxynote3update.com/galaxy-note-3-odin-factory-stock-firmware-usa-canada/
My question is do I stay on this Android or do I jump to Lolipop ? Wasn't there some memory issues with 5.0 ? Or maybe Custom builds ?
Your first move is to sell it to me for $5
If I was OP, I would fully charge the phone, do full factory reset and run it few days as is to test if everything works,. Once you start updating, especially custom ROM, things can break and you'll never know if it's software or hardware. If everything works fine, then you could decide for yourself what to do next. My biggest worry would be the phone is blacklisted, since Note 3 in good shape sells for $200-$300.
OK
Phone charged fully I booted it up and after short amount of time it would freeze constantly when bringing up the keyboard (Samsung or google), can't recall which one was first now because I was changing them in settings and nothing helped. Either way it was freezing after typing couple of letters or appear then crash/disappear. All this combined with some crashes from app called Lookout. Google told me to do Volume UP+HOME+POWER and do a factory reset, after that everything works fine now. Changed my sim card and I can place calls with no issues also data works fine but damn there is tons of f***ing poopy preloaded apps in here from Samsung and other garbagio . I think whoever was using this device had no idea what to do with those errors and just stopped using it somewhere around Feb. 2014 because since then basically nothing was updated on it. I'm gonna let it sit for couple of days then probably will upgrade to 5.0 via KIES and maybe replace the battery either way with OEM or maybe something like this ? http://www.amazon.com/Anker-T-Mobile-Compatibility-18-Month-Warranty/dp/B00FF54C8Q/
4xxxxL said:
OK
Phone charged fully I booted it up and after short amount of time it would freeze constantly when bringing up the keyboard (Samsung or google), can't recall which one was first now because I was changing them in settings and nothing helped. Either way it was freezing after typing couple of letters or appear then crash/disappear. All this combined with some crashes from app called Lookout. Google told me to do Volume UP+HOME+POWER and do a factory reset, after that everything works fine now. Changed my sim card and I can place calls with no issues also data works fine but damn there is tons of f***ing poopy preloaded apps in here from Samsung and other garbagio . I think whoever was using this device had no idea what to do with those errors and just stopped using it somewhere around Feb. 2014 because since then basically nothing was updated on it. I'm gonna let it sit for couple of days then probably will upgrade to 5.0 via KIES and maybe replace the battery either way with OEM or maybe something like this ? http://www.amazon.com/Anker-T-Mobile-Compatibility-18-Month-Warranty/dp/B00FF54C8Q/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're planning on keeping it, you'd be better spending the extra $ on one of these mate: http://www.amazon.com/Zerolemon-Zer...d=1453047493&sr=1-1&keywords=ZeroLemon+Note+3
I'm getting 6 days on a full charge outta mine, compared to 1 day with stock battery (course I'm running a custom rom, but when I was back on stock with my ZeroLemon, I was getting 3 days outta it)
4xxxxL said:
OK
Phone charged fully I booted it up and after short amount of time it would freeze constantly when bringing up the keyboard (Samsung or google), can't recall which one was first now because I was changing them in settings and nothing helped. Either way it was freezing after typing couple of letters or appear then crash/disappear. All this combined with some crashes from app called Lookout. Google told me to do Volume UP+HOME+POWER and do a factory reset, after that everything works fine now. Changed my sim card and I can place calls with no issues also data works fine but damn there is tons of f***ing poopy preloaded apps in here from Samsung and other garbagio . I think whoever was using this device had no idea what to do with those errors and just stopped using it somewhere around Feb. 2014 because since then basically nothing was updated on it. I'm gonna let it sit for couple of days then probably will upgrade to 5.0 via KIES and maybe replace the battery either way with OEM or maybe something like this ? http://www.amazon.com/Anker-T-Mobile-Compatibility-18-Month-Warranty/dp/B00FF54C8Q/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually you can root the phone easily, even without tripping knox on kitkat, once rooted you could freeze or kill on start up most apps that bother you, that's what I do and problem solved, phone runs like a dream.
pete4k said:
If I was OP, I would fully charge the phone, do full factory reset and run it few days as is to test if everything works,. Once you start updating, especially custom ROM, things can break and you'll never know if it's software or hardware. If everything works fine, then you could decide for yourself what to do next. My biggest worry would be the phone is blacklisted, since Note 3 in good shape sells for $200-$300.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is actually an easy way to not worry about the blacklisted issue before you ever buy a phone from someone. You can go to www.swappa.com/esn and check the status of the phone by entering it's IMEI. We buy and resell phones a lot and this is how we check them. You can check up to 10 phones free every 24 hours on the site.
4xxxxL said:
OK
Phone charged fully I booted it up and after short amount of time it would freeze constantly when bringing up the keyboard (Samsung or google), can't recall which one was first now because I was changing them in settings and nothing helped. Either way it was freezing after typing couple of letters or appear then crash/disappear. All this combined with some crashes from app called Lookout. Google told me to do Volume UP+HOME+POWER and do a factory reset, after that everything works fine now. Changed my sim card and I can place calls with no issues also data works fine but damn there is tons of f***ing poopy preloaded apps in here from Samsung and other garbagio . I think whoever was using this device had no idea what to do with those errors and just stopped using it somewhere around Feb. 2014 because since then basically nothing was updated on it. I'm gonna let it sit for couple of days then probably will upgrade to 5.0 via KIES and maybe replace the battery either way with OEM or maybe something like this ? http://www.amazon.com/Anker-T-Mobile-Compatibility-18-Month-Warranty/dp/B00FF54C8Q/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like you did get lucky and come across someone who wasn't tech savvy at all, and had no idea how simple it was to fix. But hey... that's their lose and your gain.
If you do decide to root it at some point and want to run a custom ROM, click on the top banner in my signature and check it out. I think you might just like it.
kevp75 said:
If you're planning on keeping it, you'd be better spending the extra $ on one of these mate: http://www.amazon.com/Zerolemon-Zer...d=1453047493&sr=1-1&keywords=ZeroLemon+Note+3
I'm getting 6 days on a full charge outta mine, compared to 1 day with stock battery (course I'm running a custom rom, but when I was back on stock with my ZeroLemon, I was getting 3 days outta it)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah man, there is an awesome custom ROM out for this phone. I can't remember the name right off hand, but I'm sure you've heard of it. Haha
pete4k said:
Actually you can root the phone easily, even without tripping knox on kitkat, once rooted you could freeze or kill on start up most apps that bother you, that's what I do and problem solved, phone runs like a dream.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can freeze them, but in my opinion if you've gone to the trouble of rooting it, you might as well completely remove the bloatware. If all you do is freeze the apps, they are still there needlessly taking up the internal storage. There are a few lists on here that tells what is safe to remove without fear of messing the phone up.
problem with deleting "bloatware" is two fold: some programs are interdependent and deleting one you don't want may break another you need. Also, I don't know about others, but I changed my mind in the past and reactivated some applications I never thought I'll be using before.
As far as space goes, the whole system uses 4 GB maybe, so you could save 1 GB, if you're aggressive deleting files, probably couple min of 4k video worth. I got 128 GB sd card, problem solved. Maybe different story with Note 5, but that's one of main reasons I never upgraded.
Either way I strongly suggest at least freezing apps and testing before deleting it.
TimboMachimbo said:
Your first move is to sell it to me for $5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lmao
Still been using the device to watch stuff on wifi @ home and **** Can't use it as my daily driver it's just to big :0 anyway the other hidden issue that I found out about it is that the charging port is kinda beaten up especially on the left side. Sometimes you can plug the cable in and it won't charge until you apply little pressure on the connectors left side it's time to do this http://www.amazon.com/Charging-Ribbon-Connector-Samsung-T-Mobile/dp/B00H3DZRXC/
Alliance Rom
4xxxxL said:
Phone was sold as is, it turned on but the battery was drained completely and died soon after reaching home screen. I took a plunge since price was $50 tempting Washingtons :laugh: I was 100% sure something is wrong with this device but **** it i did it. Bought a charger and USB cable on the way home and so far it's charging just fine.
Phone is mostly erased at least manually I think, because somebody left his google account as I can see email in the plays store menu and some apps, or maybe this is all the carrier pre-installed junk I'm looking at ? LOL
I don't have much experience with Samsung devices but it's a SM-N900T model with N900TUVUCNB4 4.4.2. from February 2014 according to this site http://www.galaxynote3update.com/galaxy-note-3-odin-factory-stock-firmware-usa-canada/
My question is do I stay on this Android or do I jump to Lolipop ? Wasn't there some memory issues with 5.0 ? Or maybe Custom builds ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flash Alliance 5.0 Lollipop ...best rom for note 3
http://forum.xda-developers.com/not...-alliancerom-n900t-uvufob6-v1-online-t3055309
Replaced the charging port with the $5 one I bought via Amazon... charging worked great but the voice recording and mic in general sounded garbled had to put the broken one back lol :S

downgrading to kitkat

hi guys. I wanted to downgrade back to kitkat because of the constant rebooting problem and I stumbled upon this warning message. is this true? please peruse the attachment.
You can downgrade back. Ive done it before. But why downgrade when MM is coming? Have you tried disconnecting and reconnecting battery? Or even resoldiering it?
Downgrading to KitKat works just fine. I've done it many times. I wouldn't worry too much about MM coming out soon. I mean, we've only had ONE article saying it's coming soon, but it still technically isn't an official source. A reliable one, but not official. KitKat is easier to deal with than Lollipop though in regards to Xposed and viper4android. The UI looks, and IS, better for the OLED display.
thank you friends. what was the deal with that screenshot of that warning anyway? is it outdated info?
NightShadow02 said:
thank you friends. what was the deal with that screenshot of that warning anyway? is it outdated info?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it's more of a warning that something could go wrong if you don't know what you're doing. That's the first I've seen any kind of message like that though.
Sent from my SM-T700 using Tapatalk
noxarcana said:
I think it's more of a warning that something could go wrong if you don't know what you're doing. That's the first I've seen any kind of message like that though.
Sent from my SM-T700 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cool cool. got my tab s back to stock kit kat. oh so stable. what ROM are you currently running on your device noxarcana?
NightShadow02 said:
cool cool. got my tab s back to stock kit kat. oh so stable. what ROM are you currently running on your device noxarcana?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm on Lollipop right now waiting for Marshmallow. If MM isn't released by the end of August, I'll be going back to KitKat. KitKat is very stable in all ways! For me, viper4android works without issue, Xposed doesn't require you to be deodexed, and it just looks better.
Sent from my SM-T700 using Tapatalk
noxarcana said:
I'm on Lollipop right now waiting for Marshmallow. If MM isn't released by the end of August, I'll be going back to KitKat. KitKat is very stable in all ways! For me, viper4android works without issue, Xposed doesn't require you to be deodexed, and it just looks better.
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is lollipop giving you the random flickering screen then reboot problem? because i'm a sufferer of said problem ever since I updated.
NightShadow02 said:
is lollipop giving you the random flickering screen then reboot problem? because i'm a sufferer of said problem ever since I updated.
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Only when my battery drops below 50% and it becomes more and more frequent the lower it gets. It becomes unbearable around 30%. Flickers with a green light, random reboots, and false power offs. The false power offs are when the screen goes black but the device is still on and reacts to volume buttons and home button. Pushing the power button would seem to do nothing but it's actually locking the device but you wouldn't know that because the device seems to be off. Pushing the power button again unlocks the device and the screen comes back on but will turn off again randomly within a few minutes.
I'm on my second Tab S right now. The display on my first got a hairline fracture in the digitizer so the screen had this temporary, at first, green/yellow tint which could be temporarily "fixed" by holding the corners and bending inward. Not the best fix as you can imagine. Everything else on it worked just fine but it was going to cost the same price as a new one just to fix the screen so I gave it to a friend and bought myself a new one. I had for just over a year.
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noxarcana said:
Only when my battery drops below 50% and it becomes more and more frequent the lower it gets. It becomes unbearable around 30%. Flickers with a green light, random reboots, and false power offs. The false power offs are when the screen goes black but the device is still on and reacts to volume buttons and home button. Pushing the power button would seem to do nothing but it's actually locking the device but you wouldn't know that because the device seems to be off. Pushing the power button again unlocks the device and the screen comes back on but will turn off again randomly within a few minutes.
I'm on my second Tab S right now. The display on my first got a hairline fracture in the digitizer so the screen had this temporary, at first, green/yellow tint which could be temporarily "fixed" by holding the corners and bending inward. Not the best fix as you can imagine. Everything else on it worked just fine but it was going to cost the same price as a new one just to fix the screen so I gave it to a friend and bought myself a new one. I had for just over a year.
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yes same symptoms! i can't use a tablet which goes crazy when below 50%. I tried an AOSP rom once which limited the CPU to about 400mhz and the flickering and shutdowns are minimized. but. what can you do with such a slowpokey device these days haha. when I was still on stock lollipop, enabling power saving mode helped a bit as well.
people keep saying it is a battery connector issue or something but I've replaced the battery and it still does the same thing. doesn't seem to happen on kitkat so far. so I hope the rumored marshmallow update will get that issue fixed. and I'm surprised samsung didn't develop a patch for this widely reported shutting down issue.
does your second tab S work like a charm on lollipop though? perhaps it's a different batch with a different motherboard or something.
I never believed it to be the battery connector. I'll admit I'm not electrical engineer or anything like that, but I've been playing around with devices since I was 5 by taking them apart and a battery connector just doesn't make sense to me. I think it's a OS and device (a certain batch or something) issue. None of these issues were on KitKat. My first Tab S had NONE of these issues whatsoever! Only this current Tab has shown these issues. It "works like a charm"....as long as I stay above 50%.
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noxarcana said:
Downgrading to KitKat works just fine. I've done it many times. I wouldn't worry too much about MM coming out soon. I mean, we've only had ONE article saying it's coming soon, but it still technically isn't an official source. A reliable one, but not official. KitKat is easier to deal with than Lollipop though in regards to Xposed and viper4android. The UI looks, and IS, better for the OLED display.
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Do you have to unlock the bootloader to install any custom/stock room?
i'm kinda new with this
IsaacXDA said:
Do you have to unlock the bootloader to install any custom/stock room?
i'm kinda new with this
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I know nothing of bootloaders. I have a WiFi only device and don't have to deal with a bootloader.

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