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Greetings, my company is about to adopt a new mobile device policy which says in part that unrooted or jailbroken devices may not connect to the company servers.
Assuming that I won't risk my job openly or secretly defying the policy ....... and further assuming that my annual review would be in jeopardy without round-the-clock access to email ....... what are my options?
Unroot the phone. Thats the only option I see if you don't want trouble.
I wish we had dual boot functionality like some other phones out there.
Does this mean using the OEM OS? Are there any custom ROMs which are not rooted?
LOL sorry to sound so newb, but everything I've ever done with Android has been via a rooted custom ROM. I'm totally ignorant of the stock experience.
If it's their phone, you should unroot. If it's your phone, tell them you don't have a smart phone. or you can get a burner phone just to use for work. Since it's for work, it's worth asking for a phone service allowance.
I currently use my phone for work without compensation and it really bothers me. Minutes don't mean as much anymore but data will add up.
Nuenjin said:
If it's their phone, you should unroot. If it's your phone, tell them you don't have a smart phone. or you can get a burner phone just to use for work. Since it's for work, it's worth asking for a phone service allowance.
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Click to collapse
Thanks man!
It's my phone.
We're a small company and my (limited) knowledge of Android devices is well known.
We're compensated well for the company use of our phones. I've thought about adding a 2nd line to my account, with a very basic smartphone, or perhaps a 3g tablet.
I carried multiple devices back in the nineties (pager, two phones) and I don't want to end up back there if it can be avoided.
Does unrooted=stock? ....or are there options?
Hah! The project was moved to another VP, and this guy says rooting won't be a problem. Not the best choice from an information security point of view, but a real boon to me.
Unfortunately device encryption is still mandated, leaving me to work out the best way to back up my phone. I have an impression that encryption and nandroid backups don't play together. T/F?
Any AT&T SM-T217A users here successfully obtain root via Srsroot on their tabs? They dropped a tweet a month ago that it was supported @ 4.4.2, but it's not sticking for me..
geokhentix said:
Any AT&T SM-T217A users here successfully obtain root via Srsroot on their tabs? They dropped a tweet a month ago that it was supported @ 4.4.2, but it's not sticking for me..
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Click to collapse
Nope. I tried that one out as soon as it posted. Here is the thread discussing http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-tab-3/help/root-sma-4-4-2-t2902677
bigdawg6183 said:
Nope. I tried that one out as soon as it posted. Here is the thread discussing http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-tab-3/help/root-sma-4-4-2-t2902677
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Click to collapse
These T217As I bought are turning out to be the worst experience I have ever had with a decent device. The specs and the battery life are great, but AT&T (or samsung?) has lost their mind. Out of my two tabs (both set up identical) Only one was ever eligible for the 4.4.2 upgrade. The second says no upgrade when I check for one.
The one I did upgrade was so bad on 4.4.2 that I ended up trying to flash back to 4.2.2 before I realized I couldn't and bricked the tab.
2 months later, still no upgrade available for my second tab (probably a good thing except I wanted to try an app that says it can catch the firmware update to use on my bricked tab). Still no 4.4.2 firmware to be found on the internet to download for this device.
The worst part is it doesn't even seem to be available from kies. Kies 3 doesn't even recognize it as a 4.4.2 device anymore after the attempted downgrade and the other kies versions only offer 4.2.2 which the device won't let me flash.
rmntruexjr said:
These T217As I bought are turning out to be the worst experience I have ever had with a decent device. The specs and the battery life are great, but AT&T (or samsung?) has lost their mind. Out of my two tabs (both set up identical) Only one was ever eligible for the 4.4.2 upgrade. The second says no upgrade when I check for one.
The one I did upgrade was so bad on 4.4.2 that I ended up trying to flash back to 4.2.2 before I realized I couldn't and bricked the tab.
2 months later, still no upgrade available for my second tab (probably a good thing except I wanted to try an app that says it can catch the firmware update to use on my bricked tab). Still no 4.4.2 firmware to be found on the internet to download for this device.
The worst part is it doesn't even seem to be available from kies. Kies 3 doesn't even recognize it as a 4.4.2 device anymore after the attempted downgrade and the other kies versions only offer 4.2.2 which the device won't let me flash.
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Click to collapse
I totally agree rmn, the experience with this tablet has been sub par. I know when I first heard about the update being released I was checking around online to see if I could find a dl for it, none existed. I did finally go through the process of updating OTA after having to remove root from my 4.2 firmware. Since the update my tablet appears to operate the same except for the lag has returned. I believe that is because I now no longer have my tweaks setup on the device since I have no root. My real peeve with AT&T with this tab is the locked bootloader, come on man, I want to load up different roms and get rid of all this bloatware. We cant even get root access with this new 4.4!
Could I get a screenshot of your about screen on the tab that is not updating?
bigdawg6183 said:
I totally agree rmn, the experience with this tablet has been sub par. I know when I first heard about the update being released I was checking around online to see if I could find a dl for it, none existed. I did finally go through the process of updating OTA after having to remove root from my 4.2 firmware. Since the update my tablet appears to operate the same except for the lag has returned. I believe that is because I now no longer have my tweaks setup on the device since I have no root. My real peeve with AT&T with this tab is the locked bootloader, come on man, I want to load up different roms and get rid of all this bloatware. We cant even get root access with this new 4.4!
Could I get a screenshot of your about screen on the tab that is not updating?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it's in warranty, take it to the AT&T store. Tell them you did OTA and it 'got all screwy'. don't use terms like "bricked". Feign ignorance on all the workings of rooting and roms and stuff. Don't even use the term "Rom", use "operating system". Assuming you have the same boot error message I did, something to the effect of "there was a problem updating", apparently it's common enough that they'll get you to Samsung. Samsung will email you a shipping label, and in about a week to a week in a half, I had mine back functional again. Granted they put it on 4.4.2, which is a bummer, but at least it works. No questions asked. they didn't ask me about rooting or anything, I just told them I did the update, rebooted, it rebooted once, and then I had to reboot again and it had the error. First I took it so Samsung rep at best buy, he couldn't do anything, then I took it to the AT&T store. AT&T doesn't deal with tablet warranties, so that's why they put me on the phone with Samsung. On amazon, they have refurbished t217a's for $144.00, and on the description it says they're on 4.1.2 (rootable, and upgradable to 4.2.2 w/odin, which is also rootable. 4.2.2 firmware was a gigantic pain in the ass to get a hold of, but it's out there. I know it's not the answer you want, but hope it helps at least return the tablet into working state. I don't think we'll ever see a root for t217a on 4.4.2, nor any way to downgrade back to 4.2.2. Just not enough interest from the guys with the time and know-how. It was Samsung's bottom-end tablet, and the Tab S is just better for almost everyone. I use the Tab3 7.0 for work mainly because of it's size. I'm a pilot and I strap the tablet to my leg for approach plates and maps and stuff, and the size of the 7.0 is just right. The 8.0 and 8.3(?) is just a bit to big for that purpose. Anyway, I just hope (but not holding my breath) that Samsung + AT&T well at the very LEAST update the thing to lollipop so we can at least get full external SD card function again, because aviation maps and references and the sort take up a LOT of memory after a while..
DSTG said:
If it's in warranty, take it to the AT&T store. Tell them you did OTA and it 'got all screwy'. don't use terms like "bricked". Feign ignorance on all the workings of rooting and roms and stuff. Don't even use the term "Rom", use "operating system". Assuming you have the same boot error message I did, something to the effect of "there was a problem updating", apparently it's common enough that they'll get you to Samsung. Samsung will email you a shipping label, and in about a week to a week in a half, I had mine back functional again. Granted they put it on 4.4.2, which is a bummer, but at least it works. No questions asked. they didn't ask me about rooting or anything, I just told them I did the update, rebooted, it rebooted once, and then I had to reboot again and it had the error. First I took it so Samsung rep at best buy, he couldn't do anything, then I took it to the AT&T store. AT&T doesn't deal with tablet warranties, so that's why they put me on the phone with Samsung. On amazon, they have refurbished t217a's for $144.00, and on the description it says they're on 4.1.2 (rootable, and upgradable to 4.2.2 w/odin, which is also rootable. 4.2.2 firmware was a gigantic pain in the ass to get a hold of, but it's out there. I know it's not the answer you want, but hope it helps at least return the tablet into working state. I don't think we'll ever see a root for t217a on 4.4.2, nor any way to downgrade back to 4.2.2. Just not enough interest from the guys with the time and know-how. It was Samsung's bottom-end tablet, and the Tab S is just better for almost everyone. I use the Tab3 7.0 for work mainly because of it's size. I'm a pilot and I strap the tablet to my leg for approach plates and maps and stuff, and the size of the 7.0 is just right. The 8.0 and 8.3(?) is just a bit to big for that purpose. Anyway, I just hope (but not holding my breath) that Samsung + AT&T well at the very LEAST update the thing to lollipop so we can at least get full external SD card function again, because aviation maps and references and the sort take up a LOT of memory after a while..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
bigdawg6183 said:
I totally agree rmn, the experience with this tablet has been sub par. I know when I first heard about the update being released I was checking around online to see if I could find a dl for it, none existed. I did finally go through the process of updating OTA after having to remove root from my 4.2 firmware. Since the update my tablet appears to operate the same except for the lag has returned. I believe that is because I now no longer have my tweaks setup on the device since I have no root. My real peeve with AT&T with this tab is the locked bootloader, come on man, I want to load up different roms and get rid of all this bloatware. We cant even get root access with this new 4.4!
Could I get a screenshot of your about screen on the tab that is not updating?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just now saw your post. When I get back home I'll take a screenshot. It's set up identical to the one I upgraded and bricked. Rooted with kingo, installed the tweaks for this tab from development (KoolKit) and using a few xposed modules to change some notification/statusbar icons..Not much else you can do to these things, and if I had to guess, the only difference between the two would maybe be different versions of the KoolKit tweaks.
---------- Post added at 01:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:08 PM ----------
DSTG said:
If it's in warranty, take it to the AT&T store. Tell them you did OTA and it 'got all screwy'. don't use terms like "bricked". Feign ignorance on all the workings of rooting and roms and stuff. Don't even use the term "Rom", use "operating system". Assuming you have the same boot error message I did, something to the effect of "there was a problem updating", apparently it's common enough that they'll get you to Samsung. Samsung will email you a shipping label, and in about a week to a week in a half, I had mine back functional again. Granted they put it on 4.4.2, which is a bummer, but at least it works. No questions asked. they didn't ask me about rooting or anything, I just told them I did the update, rebooted, it rebooted once, and then I had to reboot again and it had the error. First I took it so Samsung rep at best buy, he couldn't do anything, then I took it to the AT&T store. AT&T doesn't deal with tablet warranties, so that's why they put me on the phone with Samsung. On amazon, they have refurbished t217a's for $144.00, and on the description it says they're on 4.1.2 (rootable, and upgradable to 4.2.2 w/odin, which is also rootable. 4.2.2 firmware was a gigantic pain in the ass to get a hold of, but it's out there. I know it's not the answer you want, but hope it helps at least return the tablet into working state. I don't think we'll ever see a root for t217a on 4.4.2, nor any way to downgrade back to 4.2.2. Just not enough interest from the guys with the time and know-how. It was Samsung's bottom-end tablet, and the Tab S is just better for almost everyone. I use the Tab3 7.0 for work mainly because of it's size. I'm a pilot and I strap the tablet to my leg for approach plates and maps and stuff, and the size of the 7.0 is just right. The 8.0 and 8.3(?) is just a bit to big for that purpose. Anyway, I just hope (but not holding my breath) that Samsung + AT&T well at the very LEAST update the thing to lollipop so we can at least get full external SD card function again, because aviation maps and references and the sort take up a LOT of memory after a while..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wish it was that easy, but I ditched AT&T years ago and went to straight talk. These tabs I purchased second hand.
rmntruexjr said:
I just now saw your post. When I get back home I'll take a screenshot. It's set up identical to the one I upgraded and bricked. Rooted with kingo, installed the tweaks for this tab from development (KoolKit) and using a few xposed modules to change some notification/statusbar icons..Not much else you can do to these things, and if I had to guess, the only difference between the two would maybe be different versions of the KoolKit tweaks.
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Click to collapse
No worries mate. Hmmm, if it was root that was stopping the update from showing it should have been the case on both tabs. Plus, mine was originally rooted when I searched for the update and it found it fine. You do definitely have to remove root to successfully update to 4.4, which totally blows, but with the SD card changes that came out in 4.4 I had to do it.
I have some thumb rule, never update to the newest firmware, and reed the comments. Also at home I have a router, that the manufacture update the firmware from time to time, but I used to run one firmware before the last one. It just an example, but since all the Lollipop, people complain, so why bother? Can't you wait for a while, till Google resolve all the issues? Do you consider Kitkat was perfect then? Or does Lollipop runs perfect on Nexus 6 & 9? I'm starting to think, it intentionally, like iOS 7 on iCrap 4, on iOS 6 it was fine, just think of it, maybe Google do it intentionally, to make us buy a new device? Or they just do a bad optimization job for older devices, and put all effort toward new devices? Any thoughts? I know we all nexus user, are a free beta testers, but if running latest firmware, means it brick out devices, it's hard to thrust Google like that, so I think it's better to stay on Kitkat till better times.
Sent from my hammerhead using Tapatalk
The people who's tablets work fine (the vast majority I'd guess) don't complain. You only here from the people who have problems.
I've been on lollipop since the preview and it's been great. I'll be flashing 5.1.1 the second it's out. Kitkat is dead to me, and very ugly looking back. It certainly was not perfect.
If my device gets the brick people are talking about it would suck but I really, really doubt it has anything to do with the firmware. Some hardware failure most likely. No reason to stay on an old release.
5.0.2 was horrible. While I disregard majority of users complaining of battery life, some of them weren't spewing nonsense.
5.1 is an improvement. I'm one of the guys who do not post every complaint or dissatisfaction I encounter with the Nexus 7. I know what the problem is, I know where to ask for help to pinpoint the cause, now it's my turn to make a decision, stay on Lollipop? or revert to KitKat? Or remove the cause, in other words the app itself.
Back to the OP, there is no risk updating to 5.x. Your device won't magically break. If you like to play it safe, maybe it's better for you to wait for user feedback and ignore the OTA.
OTA you say...
All I hear ate 2 things "Memory leak" & "Bad battery life", be it Nexus 4, 5 or 7, all after the "Lollipop", ...mostly the "Memory leak thing, that told to be solved after each update
Is it safer to flash from ADB? or the "dead" devices dyed in both ways? be it ADB on clean device, after reset, or just OTA? I personally, never thrust OTA updates, I wish there was an easy way, to make a full backup, like a "Norton Ghost" for PC's, I know it can be done with ADB, the question is, if there's any difference, between flashing "with wipe" or without? or maybe the "dead" devices was : 1. rooted, 2. bootloader unlocked, 3. encrypted, or something else? I mean, Google do test all new FW on real devices? don't they?
I wouldn't take an ota myself. Not because of "the brick," I think thats a hardware problem, I feel it's a cleaner update with fastboot and if something fails I'll know what.
And you can (and should) make full nandroid backups in a custom recovery (cwm, twrp etc.).
But to the poster aboves comment it just goes to show you people are having different experiences. 5.0.2 was fantastic for me, great battery life, best it's ever been actually (still as good on 5.1 ~8 hours screen time over two days.)
The memory leak was/is a problem. Oh no I had to reboot once a week. Huge headache. On 5.1 I'm at 270 hours uptime and system ram's at 479. It is creeping up slooowly but better than 5.0.2
I guess it depends what you do with the tablet and especially what apps you have installed. I use my **** pretty heavily though so I don't know why I'v had no problems.
donisan969 said:
OTA you say...
All I hear ate 2 things "Memory leak" & "Bad battery life", be it Nexus 4, 5 or 7, all after the "Lollipop", ...mostly the "Memory leak thing, that told to be solved after each update
Is it safer to flash from ADB? or the "dead" devices dyed in both ways? be it ADB on clean device, after reset, or just OTA? I personally, never thrust OTA updates, I wish there was an easy way, to make a full backup, like a "Norton Ghost" for PC's, I know it can be done with ADB, the question is, if there's any difference, between flashing "with wipe" or without? or maybe the "dead" devices was : 1. rooted, 2. bootloader unlocked, 3. encrypted, or something else? I mean, Google do test all new FW on real devices? don't they?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hard bricks have been reported from both OTA and ADB updates, but very seldom from users of custom ROMs... Most likely cause is eMMC failure due to faulty hardware, though the issue is present on nexus 4 and 5 as well... Possibly faulty bootloader software too.
^Bootloader faults could be possible.. that has pretty low level access. I don't know low enough to corrupt the chip. I don't know. Asus/google probably does but guaranteed you'll never hear a word from them.
I hope it's not something like the infamous s2 brickbug. Then you're just playing russian roulette. Maybe entropy can help lol.
What emmc chips are the 4 and 5 using? I'll have to look.
I'm not sure this is true but if you use Greenify I think the memory is kept in check better, although it requires root. I still see the occasional launcher redraw but not nearly as bad as it was in 5.0. I was on 5.0.2 for several weeks and wouldn't have updated if I hadn't read about the hardware failures.
Well if you don't update your tab, than you don't need a Nexus, buy some cheap chinese tabs for 70-100$, almost all of them are on kitkat, most of them vanila android, no updates, and they all work fine.
This is Nexus.It's a developers tab, for testig, trying, people who like the freshest system on their device, who like clean android....if something's not working, there's always an image of the old system or a bunch of ROMs to test and use...
I know, I myself for now test windows 10 on work PC, and a server 10 preview, but computers and tablets are different things, because you not have that much control for both. All I say, is, that I see same threads for any nexus device, I had a Galaxy nexus before, so I know. About s2, there was a rumor about some other Samsung devices back than.
Sent from my iPhone 4 using Tapatalk
donisan969 said:
I know, I myself for now test windows 10 on work PC, and a server 10 preview, but computers and tablets are different things, because you not have that much control for both. All I say, is, that I see same threads for any nexus device, I had a Galaxy nexus before, so I know. About s2, there was a rumor about some other Samsung devices back than.
Sent from my iPhone 4 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
Device OEM is irrelevant in that regard, the quality of internal components is really the crux of understanding hardware failure IMO. of the major android OEMs, all of them have in the past put forth devices that were predisposed to early hardware failure, mostly due to choices of components used during the manufacturing process. Hardware revisions on individual devices of the same model is also a valid form of comparison.
This is a very common scenario: Manufacturer creates a tablet, releases it in the market, but then shies away from providing support or even fixing any issues by providing an OTA update.
I'm suffering from one such issue (the last lollipop OTA upgrade in my Asus Fonepad ME175CG broke after which tablet drains the entire battery in just a couple of hours). Its not just me, but everyone who have bought this tablet and made the OTA upgrade is suffering from the same fate. The most troublesome aspect of this is that the OEM stopped giving new updates just after this last buggy OTA update.
Of course, like most of you people, I may have to forget about it and keep saying, "OEMs can do whatever they want", but that isn't going to stop me from trying. Call me a socialist or SJW, but the least I want to do is make sure that the OEMs think twice before giving out a half-baked OTA update that breaks an existing working device. And I believe that it can happen if enough people will sign this petition:
https://www.change.org/p/asustek-pl...ium=email&utm_campaign=share_email_responsive
Hi All,
Been a while on here - please be gentle!
I have spent the last 6 hours looking into updating my firmware from Android 10!
I have done this on previous phones, but my current phone is proving a little more difficult. For the life of me, I cannot find the correct ROM to flash. Whenever I come to something I think I have found I seem to have another issue.
I've tried using various tools (Bitfrost) but got errors.
I'm in the UK, and as far as I can tell, my phone is “XAA”, “USA unbranded (default)”. I'm not bothered about changing the region code (unless it can be done easily).
Details::
SW ver.: SAOMC_SM-N975U_OYN_XAA_PP_0001
XAA/XAA/ATT
I would really appreciate some help from you guys who are way more informed and cleverer than me!
Thanks guys and gals!
Simon
EDIT: I have found a bit more informstion - I think I would be ok using SM-N975U1 - is this correct?
That's the umlocked Snapdragon variant...
I have two N10+'s; N975U/Pie, N975U1/Android 10. I would stay on Android 10 unless you want cpu cycle sucking scoped storage in all its glory.
Personally I prefer Pie to 10, better functionality and usability. With 11 you lose even more and 12 is fubar... in my opinion.
The best way to trash a stock N10+ is to mess with its firmware.
Rule #1 if a OS is fulfilling its mission, let it be!
Upgrades/updates can and do break things.
blackhawk said:
That's the umlocked Snapdragon variant...
I have two N10+'s; N975U/Pie, N975U1/Android 10. I would stay on Android 10 unless you want cpu cycle sucking scoped storage in all its glory.
Personally I prefer Pie to 10, better functionality and usability. With 11 you lose even more and 12 is fubar... in my opinion.
The best way to trash a stock N10+ is to mess with its firmware.
Rule #1 if a OS is fulfilling its mission, let it be!
Upgrades/updates can and do break things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that info ... I actually have no beef with A10 other than one issue which I thought maybe a firmware issue.
My NFC works (I can transfer files between phones) however, I cannot use Google Pay, or Samsung Pay. I have read somewhere that this was a firmware issue, hence my desire to update.
I have tried literally everything to get it working (cleared cache, re-booted). NFC Tools confirms it works, but it just does nothing at the checkout.
If I can fix this issue, I'll be happier!
Ratzz2 said:
Thanks for that info ... I actually have no beef with A10 other than one issue which I thought maybe a firmware issue.
My NFC works (I can transfer files between phones) however, I cannot use Google Pay, or Samsung Pay. I have read somewhere that this was a firmware issue, hence my desire to update.
I have tried literally everything to get it working (cleared cache, re-booted). NFC Tools confirms it works, but it just does nothing at the checkout.
If I can fix this issue, I'll be happier!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're welcome. It may be doing that because big sister Google thinks you need to upgrade to be secure. May have to do with the region you're using it in. I don't know. I never use those features and don't want them on the phone. Don't want anything to back door in using that route.
Depends how hell bent you are on having those features. You could easily lose more than you gain by upgrading, worse it may not resolve the issue. The N10+ is a valuable and reliable work horse that will run for years... just as it is. If it's running well otherwise I would try to find the root cause of this issue or simply use other workarounds rather than the shotgun approach.
Yeah, I was wondering about being in the UK with a phone registered in the US. But NFC doesn't read my credit card either. Would have thought that would be an option.
I'm not necessarily a huge NFC user, but the other day I forgot my wallet at the petrol station after filling my car. If I'd have had my NFC working, I'd have been able to fire it up and avoid the embarrassment!
Anyway, thanks for your help!
Be glad you have the Snapdragon variant. They are very reliable and run well stock when optimized. If you do upgrade to 11 a rollback to 10 isn't possible if you upgrade the boot loader.
There's always at least a small risk when flashing firmware which can trash the device. The only time I would flash a N10+ is if the rom was corrupted which barring a hardware failure is a very rare SUE, single upset event.
I never tried mine to see if Pay works nor have I ever set a screen lock. The fingerprint scanner could be dead for all I know.
The flip side to that is never being locked out* of my own device, no data lose, and double tap on/off. The device is glued to me as physical security is the only real security. I realize this may seem extreme to some, but it works well in the real world.
*a SEU or partial hardware can lock you out of your device. Had no lock been set, no lockout would have occurred. Got locked out of a PC bios like that. The password -was- correct
That caused a mountain of trouble...
Thank you my friend. Wise words indeed and duly noted...