Develop Bugs

Some n00b Questions about Galaxy Nexus / Google Devices

So Hi,
I finally got sick of my Galaxy S II, will sell it on ebay, and I ordered a Nexus some Minutes ago.
Well, I have a few questions about the Galaxy Nexus...
1. It's a Google device, so can I just download the pure AOSP, compile it, put it on the Galaxy Nexus and everything will run without hacking around?
2. Do I lose warranty of doing point 1? Since it's a google maintained device...
3. It sounds strange, but can I also compile gingerbread or froyo? WOULD it be possible, or would it be a hard task?
4. Is a Nexus device a good device for starting developement of Kernels / Roms? I son't have experience with that, but I wanted to begin. I made some funny tries on my Huawei U8160, but it can do ... ehm ... nothing interesting...
5. What else should I know, when I own a Nexus device?
Thanks for answering my questions

t0desicy said:
So Hi,
I finally got sick of my Galaxy S II, will sell it on ebay, and I ordered a Nexus some Minutes ago.
Well, I have a few questions about the Galaxy Nexus...
1. It's a Google device, so can I just download the pure AOSP, compile it, put it on the Galaxy Nexus and everything will run without hacking around?
2. Do I lose warranty of doing point 1? Since it's a google maintained device...
3. It sounds strange, but can I also compile gingerbread or froyo? WOULD it be possible, or would it be a hard task?
4. Is a Nexus device a good device for starting developement of Kernels / Roms? I son't have experience with that, but I wanted to begin. I made some funny tries on my Huawei U8160, but it can do ... ehm ... nothing interesting...
5. What else should I know, when I own a Nexus device?
Thanks for answering my questions
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Yes. Stock runs pretty well so that is always an option. You might need to hack it to a "yakju" build to receive updates from Google. You can find more about this in other threads.
2. You'll lose warranty, but it doesn't matter. If you need to send it back for warranty purposes, just relock the bootloader and get rid of any evidence that you were rooted. Stock Google Images are present to get you back to stock.
3. I don't see a reason why you would want to compile Gingerbread or Froyo for it. It's a step backwards especially when Ice Cream Sandwich is amazing. You can try but complications will arise getting all the features to work, but again.. I see no purpose in this because Gingerbread / Froyo isn't optimized for dual-cores.
4. Yes its a developer phone for a reason.
5. Enjoy the Nexus experience, the way Android should be without all these manufacturers putting ugly/laggy skins on top of Android.

Hi,
tanks for the fast answer.
3. I don't see a reason why you would want to compile Gingerbread or Froyo for it. It's a step backwards especially when Ice Cream Sandwich is amazing. You can try but complications will arise getting all the features to work, but again.. I see no purpose in this because Gingerbread / Froyo isn't optimized for dual-cores.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also don't see any reason... but who cares, I just wanted to know if it's possible to do this - maybe just to set myself something like a destiny, something like "I want to learn that much that I can do BLABLABLA"
But yes, I bought the Nexus just because of Icecreamsandwich, I think the hardware of the galaxy s ii is better, so it feels a bit like a downgrade.

t0desicy said:
Hi,
tanks for the fast answer.
I also don't see any reason... but who cares, I just wanted to know if it's possible to do this - maybe just to set myself something like a destiny, something like "I want to learn that much that I can do BLABLABLA"
But yes, I bought the Nexus just because of Icecreamsandwich, I think the hardware of the galaxy s ii is better, so it feels a bit like a downgrade.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol, I guess it could be a project for you. There are other alternatives like webOS (which is now open sourced).... OR when Honeycomb gets open-sourced (if it ever does) you can port that lolol.
I don't think Galaxy S2 hardware is better, if only thing I'd say the processor possibly. But the screen size and 720p display just leads the road and makes Galaxy Nexus go way further than GS2 imo.

Well, two things that the Galaxy Nexus doesn't have (and oh how badly I wish they did) is the camera and the microSD slot. Other than that, the Galaxy Nexus seem to be on the up and up.
I, too, would like to know how to make Gingerbread and Froyo work on the Galaxy Nexus. It's not a practical thing, but just a "hey, if it's suppose to be a development platform, why can't we?"
Perhaps it's the binary drivers. But mostly I think it's because of the lack of physical buttons.
This makes me wonder if I should get a Nexus S to learn on so I can work with many different versions of Android to my heart's content, as well as extend my learned knowledge to other retail-based phones (HTC, Samsung, LG, etc) since they will also have physical (well, touch sensitive anyways) buttons.
I'm no programmer. I just want to learn how to compile from source, and also to find out how to make the source code work with different devices. Kind of like installing Windows on different PCs (downloading drivers, etc).

[Q] Why A Nexus? Advantages of an OPEN DEVICE??

Hi guys, I have been on this forums for quite a while even though I don't own a Nexus myself. I have been browsing through the development section every day and looking at all the ROMs etc..
I know that everything is open on the Nexus, all the sources, drivers, etc. I know that the advantages of having a Nexus is stock experience, with faster updates directly from Google. But what is the advantage of having an open phone as a user? I don't find much difference between the ROMs for Galaxy S II and the ROMs for the Galaxy Nexus. In fact the Siyah kernel, i think, has many many more features than the most popular kernel on this forums, the Franco kernel.
I am not trying to spark up anything over here. I just want to know what is the benefit of having such an open phone?

Difference between being in a wheelchair in a jail cell, even a jail cell with a window and open field sunny day with your legs running however fast you can. Its like that.
let it be.

@rbiter said:
Difference between being in a wheelchair in a jail cell, even a jail cell with a window and open field sunny day with your legs running however fast you can. Its like that.
let it be.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would think that, but I can't see that translating to development. I mean, I must be blind to not be able to see the differences, but I really can't. I don't see any major improvements in the ROMs on the Galaxy Nexus

darkgoon3r96 said:
I know that the advantages of having a Nexus is stock experience, with faster updates directly from Google.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You answered your own question.

I already had 2 not Nexus Samsung phones and I will never make this mistake again. The lack of updates, the crappy skin that tries to look as the iPhone, etc.
In my experience, the builds from Google are much more stable, fast and reliable. And nothing in TouchWiz add anything that matters to me. To me Android is Nexus, I dont think I will build anything that is not Nexus again (but I really hope that HTC build the next one, I love the build quality of their phones).

martonikaj said:
You answered your own question.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha, that wasn't my question. I am not asking why the Nexus is a better device. I am asking how does opening up the sources and drivers improve on the development...

darkgoon3r96 said:
I would think that, but I can't see that translating to development. I mean, I must be blind to not be able to see the differences, but I really can't. I don't see any major improvements in the ROMs on the Galaxy Nexus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry man, but in my opinion the stock ICS on the GNexus is miles ahead of any build from the SII.

martonikaj said:
You answered your own question.
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Click to collapse
The difference is some stuff on aosp
Roms still don't work on galaxy s2 but everything works on aosp roms on nexus because it's open and drivers and everything is available...
bottom line aokp cm9 etc will give u a better user experience on nexus fewer bugs
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

darkgoon3r96 said:
Haha, that wasn't my question. I am not asking why the Nexus is a better device. I am asking how does opening up the sources and drivers improve on the development...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because your Galaxy Nexus comes with stock ICS out of the box. Sorry, but a custom ROM will never be as smooth and nice as the native out of the box OS.

juliano_q said:
Sorry man, but in my opinion the stock ICS on the GNexus is miles ahead of any build from the SII.
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I still don't get why you guys think the Stock is so much better than AOKP? I mean, isn't that very similar to stock?

OK, let me see if I can answer it. I'm not a developer, so take it with a grain of salt.
The phone I had before this was the Samsung Captivate. I bought it August 2010. At the time, it was one of the more advanced phones on the market. However, within about an hour of using it, I realized that the AT&T bloatware was a problem. Though the device had a lot of memory available, the app drawer was harder to navigate because of 15 different AT&T apps on the phone, most of which charged a monthly fee to do what Google's equivalent apps did for free. So, I had to root it.
Things were fine for a couple weeks, but then I noticed that there were several apps that I couldn't download because everyone was on Froyo and I was stuck on Eclair. There was no word when either samsung or AT&T was going to provide me with an update, so I had to take matters into my own hands and get a ROM from someone else. I'm not saying the devs didn't do a good job, but they were hamstrung by both AT&T and Sammy who were not giving them the tools they needed to do the job right the first time.
I should also point out that a lot of these problems were caused by AT&T's insistence that they have their own version of the Galaxy S that was different from everyone else's. Thankfully, all the carriers learned from that mistake.
Over the course of a year and 8 months, I tried at least a dozen different ROMs on my phone to either try to keep up with the changes in the market, or just to keep it from freezing. Even stock Gingerbread had problems, likely because it was rushed out. I finally found a stable build in a ROM that used ICS (ironically, ported from the GNex). So that meant, if not for the great work of Team ICSSGS, my Captivate would NEVER have been a stable phone. All those commercials about being a smartphone beta tester seemed to be designed with the Captivate in mind.
The point of all this: When it came time for me to get a new phone, I was considering waiting for the GSIII, but then Google offered the GNex off contract for $400, a not unreasonable price for the hardware at all, but what I was really paying for was getting off the treadmill. Now granted, at this point I've only had the phone for about a week, but it performs every function I need it to, and AT&T has no say in it. Samsung only had a say in the hardware. And that's how it should be, and honestly why I think Apple had such a marketing edge for such a long time. Apple told AT&T exactly where they can shove their customizations, and now we have Google doing the same, but not publicizing it enough.
TL;DR: Google experience and faster updates. But those are more valuable than you think.

darkgoon3r96 said:
I still don't get why you guys think the Stock is so much better than AOKP? I mean, isn't that very similar to stock?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You just answered yourself... great roms/builds like aokp would not be possible without the Android Open Source Project. Even after saying that the quality on aosp devices running aokp like the gnex and ns are miles ahead of say the sensation or something along those lines due to the very face the the nexus phones have open source readily available.
Sent from my Maguro Yakju

The open let's you literally change ans re-code any part of the device you want. A touch wiz phone cannot do this cause the code is closed.
Custom roms on other devices are not the same though you may think they are. Most of the time something doesn't work cause it relies on a closed touch wiz framework function that has to be reverse engineered or hacked, or usually never works at all..
You need the kernel source code to really make any legit custom rom, and often have to wait months foe it to be released.
With an open device, you literally can implement anything your imagination can cone up with. No bugs or work a rounds.

In my opinion, there are two major differences:
1. On a Nexus device, you are guaranteed a large developer community. The SGSII may have a large developer community, but that's because it's pretty much of the most popular phones. If you buy something like the Samsung Galaxy Infuse (which several of my friends have) then you won't have nearly as big a developer community as the one for the Galaxy Nexus.
2. It's much much easier to root/customize/flash a Nexus device than any other device. All you need is "fastboot oem unlock" and the phone opens up for you. No need for bootloader downgrading/rooting exploits/HTCDev/manufacturer restrictions. This phone is designed to be a developer device. Also, when you screw up a Nexus, it is much easier to solve problems. Phone not booting? Use CWM. Recovery borked? Fastboot. Fastboot not working? ODIN flash. Lots of fail-safes.

Thanks a lot guys for taking the time just to help me out

I got my gnex last wednesday. No regrets at all, it's an amazing phone. My next phone will definitely be another nexus.

Advantage of having a Nexus?
It is like Burger King, you can have it your own way.

Thinking of Switching from the GNex to the Note 2 with a Few Q's

Thinking of switching. I have the GNex and N7 but would love to converge those 2 into 1 device. I have a few questions...
1) Is it really too large to hold to your ear as a normal phone? I'd try this myself but figured I'd ask since the closest store is pretty far.
2) How hard is it to root and flash roms using a Mac? I'm not too technologically smart but managed to root both my current devices (which I assume are the easiest devices to do so as they're pure google).
3) This is a stupid question, but would I be better off waiting ~4 months for the S4

JJ2525 said:
Thinking of switching. I have the GNex and N7 but would love to converge those 2 into 1 device. I have a few questions...
1) Is it really too large to hold to your ear as a normal phone? I'd try this myself but figured I'd ask since the closest store is pretty far.
2) How hard is it to root and flash roms using a Mac? I'm not too technologically smart but managed to root both my current devices (which I assume are the easiest devices to do so as they're pure google).
3) This is a stupid question, but would I be better off waiting ~4 months for the S4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Nope. It is just nice ^_^
2. I don't have mac, so I skip this one.
3. U can wait. But samsung cycle is always 1 year. S3 come out 1st quarter of 2012. So then S4 will be around 1st quarter of 2013. But then... are u willing to wait another few minths for note 3? Seeing the cycle, it shld come out few minths after S4. Like this, u don't need to change phone. Just wait Nd see. Hehehe... peace... technology won't stop, especially samsung with its fast cycle.
Sent from my GT-N7105, at the corner of this rounded earth.

10.1 (2014) and Smartphone Pairing

I'm looking at a new smartphone in addition to picking the this tablet. Does anyone know if there is an advantage to having a Samsung phone or would any cross compatibly be the same regardless of manufacturer? This would be my first smartphone and tablet purchases so I hope I'm not asking a dumb question...

Toolshed11 said:
I'm looking at a new smartphone in addition to picking the this tablet. Does anyone know if there is an advantage to having a Samsung phone or would any cross compatibly be the same regardless of manufacturer? This would be my first smartphone and tablet purchases so I hope I'm not asking a dumb question...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some of the apps used on the Note 10.1 are proprietary to Samsung so you would need a Note 1,2,3 to use them on a phone. I run a custom ROM and have none of those apps on my N1 so I can't really say what the advantage would be to being able to use them on both devices other than familiarity.

LuckyStrike88 said:
Some of the apps used on the Note 10.1 are proprietary to Samsung so you would need a Note 1,2,3 to use them on a phone. I run a custom ROM and have none of those apps on my N1 so I can't really say what the advantage would be to being able to use them on both devices other than familiarity.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the advice. :good:

Toolshed11 said:
Thanks for the advice. :good:
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Click to collapse
NP, I've never owned a tablet so I can't speak for that but I bought the Galaxy Note 1 on the day it was released and have been very satisfied.
If you end up going with these 2 I would think you will be as well. Also note that if you end up rooting the Note 3 you can use it as a wifi hotspot for your tablet so if you're looking to save some money you can just get the wifi version and not the LTE or 3g version.

Toolshed11 said:
I'm looking at a new smartphone in addition to picking the this tablet. Does anyone know if there is an advantage to having a Samsung phone or would any cross compatibly be the same regardless of manufacturer? This would be my first smartphone and tablet purchases so I hope I'm not asking a dumb question...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well if you get Samsung Galaxy phone you get function like S-beam which uses NFC to initiate connection then transfers files via WiFi direct much faster then doing Dropbox upload then download.
Also with Galaxy phone's you get S-Memo which sync's with all the Galaxy devices same like Evernote but with Note devices you get to draw or hand write memo.

SousukeUK said:
Well if you get Samsung Galaxy phone you get function like S-beam which uses NFC to initiate connection then transfers files via WiFi direct much faster then doing Dropbox upload then download.
Also with Galaxy phone's you get S-Memo which sync's with all the Galaxy devices same like Evernote but with Note devices you get to draw or hand write memo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
checked a lot of sites and i believe that the note 10.1 2014 wont have nfc. at least not the wifi version

wingswrath said:
checked a lot of sites and i believe that the note 10.1 2014 wont have nfc. at least not the wifi version
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Click to collapse
Hmmm..... weird!
NFC is such common thing that I never actively looked for it in the articles, I thought it was given as how every Samsung high end devices from S3 forward got it.
Not having it on tablet would turn one of the best function of touchWiz the S-Beam totally redundant!
Some sites are saying yes and some saying no. Maybe the final product will have it?
The tablet is not out yet for reviews, so we shall see how it pans out.
I'm still on the fence between Sony Xperia Z tablet or Note 10.1, as I'm still waiting for the price of 4G model.

[Q] No custom ROMs for this device?

Hey Peeps,
I have been an Android user since Nexus One itself but never stumbled upon a phone without any ROMs except this one. Am I missing out something? Why aren't they in development?
Please do let me know if they exist cause I was thinking about taking the initiative of making one.

There are no roms under development I think so..... So u should go for it ??
Sent from my SM-N750 using Tapatalk

go for it mate.ull be the first one

go for it. You have our support.

Zubair1024 said:
Hey Peeps,
I have been an Android user since Nexus One itself but never stumbled upon a phone without any ROMs except this one. Am I missing out something? Why aren't they in development?
Please do let me know if they exist cause I was thinking about taking the initiative of making one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What the good news this morning... go for it dude! we'll support you... and don't forget for LTE model also... :laugh:

I think so. No AOSP Rom for Note 3 Neo up to now although its was issued 4 months ago :laugh:. I like the design, S-Pen, battery life, price and its performance but I have never seen any hi-end deviced before with no both custom ROM and recovery like it (N750 - hl3gxx).
I think we have to wait or study to build myself . I have just bought a second-hand Nexus 5 to feel 4.4.3 Rom beside N750. :laugh::laugh:

Hi look here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2828261