Format after ADB errors and bloatware buildup? - Samsung Galaxy S9 Questions & Answers

Hey I'll try to keep this short but that never works for me these days so look for the TLDR tags below for the main point paragraph:
Got an 960W right before the S10 launched and I had done no reseearch before hand so I thought root would be easy I had an S4 for ages until it got stolen and then a Moto G lte which I loved when rooted but the screen stays all black pixles with backlight now and a lot kft he screen is broken off plus getting old the original damage I had a stroke and broke it during the fall that caused it so I used a loaner iPhone 5 till I bought the S9.
I Googled and read root guides and went awesome and bought it not knowing that root is harder these days on most devices and I picked the worst model to even try or wait for I guess. Back then m brain wasn't able to research and think things through much better than today just read a few reviews and put my cash down.
So lately it's been running like crap draining the battery very fast and such especially after pie was released. I had looked into removing bloatware and stock crap from the start once I learned it can't be rooted but the stuff never caused an issue or bugged me other than when bixby assistant seems to come up for no reason.
That is until recently: I've noticed terrible battery life particularly with Bluetooth and adaptive brightness on and when I started looking into it a lot of the Samsung apps and packages I never use are what's hogging a big chunk of availavle battery and CPU time.
So I finally figured out how to run ADB over WiFi and disable packages but of course I learned how to uninstall too. Disabled everything with one of the "here's all tbe stock apps you can disable" articles and I even deleted a couple that seemed weird like samsung.bixby.dummy and such but once I did that it ran amazing... however
The however ended though quickly; since I realized factory stuff I do use like Samsung health and cloud didn't wanna work. So next I tried to just reinstall Samsung cloud via an apk downloaded and that didn't really work so I just wrote a little bat file to enable everything disabled via adb bridge and stuff is hunky dory the couple packages I did totally use uninstall command on havnt caused any issues they just throw a Java error when trying to enable them via adb since they are uninstalled. Things are good other than my gripes and accumulated crap as well as tbe first issue that things just arnt snappy anymore+battery drain.
Even reenabled it's running nice and slick again but I do wanna clean stuff up I have 1150 apps with the stock factory and carrier junk so I figure it's time for a clean up.
I figure though maybe it's time to do a factory reset and install the LS5 or 6 build whatever we are on now on American and Canadian devices and go fresh then see what its like until I have time to swap with someone local for a brighter more open device.
I did read about how just a few weeks ago someone wrote up and was on Android news sites about TWRP working on the snap s9 for doing some basic things just the bootloader is still locked of course so I figure I might as well do a backup with everything reenabled via Samsung cloud, Google drive backup, and backup everything I can get read access to vis USB with all the dev options enabled.
Then I can do a full wipe and format/factory reset and from there I can disable any bloatware and Samsung stuff that I don't need. From there if everything seems fine then restore all my misc data and reinstall the other non daily used apps I want and hope Google saves all their data. The phone should be just like the good ol days when you had to do. A. Factory reset instead of upgrade when a good rom update came out and it ran great at first till you loaded it up with crap.
//TLDR
So would this be my best bet, backup via Samsung Cloud, Google, GCloud Backup and a full drive over USB and probably ADB backup save too followed by a wipe format and then install the latest update from Android 8 or whatever I end up with after factory reset. Restore/reinstall apps I actually use or need and their data where possible and then disable any stock stuff I don't use or need make sure everything is fine for a week and then run the adb uninstall command.
Oooor is there something I haven't been able to think of or find with my brain issues that would make it much easier to disable or delete stuff slowly package by package as well as just clearing the OS up? I remember week 1 I was like damn modern phone's are amazing... Going from a Moto surnia to the sltev930 or whatever the s9 code is made me say wow modern handheld devices are amazing but it's lost its magic since learning I can't root,of course, and the limitations associated with that even with Nova launcher prime and shortcutter;even with a ton of stock packages disabled or uninstalled I'm sure.
I just miss being able to do what I want and maybe it's just me or my screen protector but the screen on this thing is weak: I can't read it outside during the daytime wheresas the old worn out iPhone 5 with years and years on it is very easy to see anywhere even with sunglasses and even with jailbreak removed and the beta 11.4.1 on it not 12 yet that little apple loaner can hold it's own.
//End TLDR
//Bonus points: trying to use app2sd most apps won't move and even manually it goes to 90 percent or so and hangs for ages then finally quits and still says internal storage.
Is this a known Samsung issue or is it a problem with fat32 formatting or is my cheap 250gb SD card probably only a 32gb and rewriting over itself after a point?
Not only can I not put many apps and their data onto the SD card but it's become corrupted two or three times now this year and I have to backup everything on my PC and then format on Android and start again.
I dont know how much all data and general files and pictures on the microSD card ive lost now and ice stopped trying for anything with any importance. I haven't done a ton of research but dont know if there's a way to do a specific type of formatting to make it more compatible or some system flag thing I'm missing or maybe just because it's a cheap micSD card... I paid less for it at 250gb than I did for 32gb m.2 SSD for my 3d printer.
//End bonus round back to you Trebek.
I'm thinking about doing research properly and selling or trading the S9 for one of the new cheap Google phones or another Moto or whatever else I find that has good specs and display etc just like the S9 was to me at first. Im not sure what the resale value on a perfect S9 snap is but I'm sure I can get something with a nice bright readable display decent battery and some of the trimmings like inductions charging as well as able to root and install lineage or whatever once I do the research.
I post mostly because I just wanna get some more use out of this thing until I get the time to trade this with someone local or same carrier and research what might match how I was running with the Moto surnia from 2016 till 2018 only with modern hardware.
I realize I don't need all tbe extra crap features of a top end phone these days now that I'm getting back to my MS Surface for general things and realizing that there's a lot I simply can't do on a locked up divice no matter the specs.
Opinions on the wipe-update-uninstallUnneededFactoryPckes vs just removing all unused apps and call it a day till I can find something to barter for a decide more my style now that I know more would be great, as would opinions on devices that might be s good idea to search for locally to trade for. It is on my list of things to research and do over the fall season.
So yeah, thoughts/comments/rants?
I know there's a bit of info on this stuff around just hard for me to do full reseearch these days not tk mention keep up with everything I mean it took me what over a year now just to finally figure out how to use adb to disable and remove factory stuff as well as if people have opinions on devices to research that are like say the s9 modern with the Moto surnia openness I'm all ears.
I'll leave it there for now needed to get this down here or Reddit and back in the S4 and Surnia days XDA never let me down.
Thanks.

Just found a coupe things out like uninstalled apps will reinstall and evabke when you update.
|Ven with everything disabled over time reenabled it's running great again must have been getting rid of their cache and whatever plus I guess j got rid of the fake sd card finally confirmed it with that German mSD tool.
I think finding a model to trade for is best I don't need hardware this high end and j mean that new budget Indian Samsung model is basically as good or better for a fourth the price MSRP.
Gotta put some more research in but definitely dissapoijted the way Android and g{gke have gone since my Moto surnia days.

Related

[Q] Jumping From the Fruit but need help/advice - please

Hi guys, I'm an utter Android Noob (I've watched noob video - yes I'm a noob). After finally getting fed up with waiting for the Big Fruit to release a significant upgrade to the iPhone for 3+ years (still got a 3GS as my primary phone on a great contract - unlimited everything for next to nothing) and not seeing even the 5 as a big enough step forward (and ios6 a step back) I'm jumping ship. I nearly did last year for the Note I but the II has finally convinced me - its better and, just as important, cheaper!
At 40 my eyes are a bit tired for teeny tiny screens and my ipad2 is too heavy to carry around all day (and has no digital pen!) but will not be replaced anytime soon due to my heavy investment in ios apps. So the GNII seems the perfect "all day" device for me - that decision is made - PROBABLY. (I have no doubt the GNII is the best there is for me, but the answers to the following questions MAY mean its not ideal for me right now)
I have searched around a lot over the past month or so (here and elsewhere) but I either can't find, or don't understand, the answer to, probably, a simple question:
From what I understand, the internal storage on the GNII in the UK seems unlikely to exceed 16GB on contract in the UK anytime soon (might go to 32GB but 64 seems far, far away) and the SD card is awesome - I will get a 64GB card immediately. So I'll have approx a tasty 80GB of storage overall (yes I know a bit is lost to file structure etc but near enough) BUT - I'm a App addict (part of the reason I've been tied to apple for so long) and from what I understand the actual Apps on the GNII are installed on the internal (16GB) storage - I'd fill this in a few days I'm sure (my 64GB iPad is full - 32GB Music - rest is apps - most used regularly)
QUESTION: WITHOUT ROOTING (this scares me at the moment - never even jail broke iPhone) how easy is it to get your apps to install onto the SD? - I understand for some other phones (SGIII) there are apps/hacks which allow this but, due to the file structure of the GNII, some/all don't work (I may be wrong - please don't lynch me - noob!)
If its not possible without serious OS trickery my purchase will have to wait until I can get my hands on at least a 32GB one, preferably 64GB, but if its easy (and safe) ill be getting the 16Gb one ASAP - as I'm sure it will be significantly cheaper than the others.
One day I'll root - I tend to keep my phones for 2-4 years and like to fiddle (part of the reason dated ios bores me), but ATM I just want it to work (and update)
Oh that reminds me - I read somewhere that IF apps are mounted on the SD then google play doesn't recognise them for auto updates - is this true? - read so much, don't know which to believe!
Just so you can gauge your responses - I am not computer illiterate (father is a professional programmer - a little rubbed off), I prefer to tinker with Linux rather than windows but windows is on main PC, and I used to be very competent at hacking around the old widows mobile OS (utter junk system but easy to modify) - I am, however, utterly Android illiterate - AT THE MOMENT!
Thanks for you time - Ben
Noone is gonna read so much. Ask one by one is a better option...
Sent from my GT-N7100
Sorry for the long post but I want an answer to these specific questions:
Do the apps install only on the internal storage as stock?
If they do, can you EASILY install them on the external storage instead?
How?
Will they work ok?
And... Can this EASILY be done Without Rooting?
EmergencyMedic said:
Sorry for the long post but I want an answer to these specific questions:
Do the apps install only on the internal storage as stock?
If they do, can you EASILY install them on the external storage instead?
How?
Will they work ok?
And... Can this EASILY be done Without Rooting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do the apps install only on the internal storage as stock? YES
If they do, can you EASILY install them on the external storage instead? It seems that External Storage is merged in Internal Storage So It will not be possible yet on Stock Roms. Maybe As soon as new development comes out we will c much more. Most of the Developers waiting for Samsung to release Source Code...
How? ^^^
Will they work ok?Previously on my Note 1 it works OK So I hope it will work on Note 2 also....
And... Can this EASILY be done Without Rooting? I don't think so..Root is Required.
And Rooting is very easy. Or if you are afraid of doing rooting just flash a rooted JB rom using PCOdin or MobileOdin and you are good to go.
EmergencyMedic said:
Sorry for the long post but I want an answer to these specific questions:
Do the apps install only on the internal storage as stock?
If they do, can you EASILY install them on the external storage instead?
How?
Will they work ok?
And... Can this EASILY be done Without Rooting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android does a a great job in managing apps, so if you think u will outrun the space, I dis agree, as bigger apps get installed on external storage, (external SD) to save the space, and Without rooting there is option if you go to setting> application> move to SD, so You can install as many apps as you like.... >>>>> My advice come to the brighter side!! U will NOT regret!!
Thanks guys for your quick responses - but (forgive me if I'm being thick) they both seem to be saying opposite things to each other, one seems to be saying stock won't currently install apps on external SD without re-flashing or rooting, and the other saying, effectively, that they are installed on external SD kinda automatically, or can be moved with stock software. Obviously the latter, at the moment, would be preferential for me.
I AM definitely coming to android mainly because android has finally proved to be a stable (took me a little while to believe this thanks to brainwashing) and more advanced OS and it will be a GNII because ever since using iOS I've missed a stylus and big screen.......it's just WHEN, as when I come I will be staying and I need to be as sure as I can that my hardware suits MY needs - even if I have to wait (as I said in long 1st post - I've stayed with 3GS because I felt apple did not provide a significant hardware boost - I can wait a little longer lol)
Sorry for the persistence but I just need a uniformed, definite, answer
Thanks again for the prompt replies - Ben
dryspuri said:
Android does a a great job in managing apps, so if you think u will outrun the space, I dis agree, as bigger apps get installed on external storage, (external SD) to save the space, and Without rooting there is option if you go to setting> application> move to SD, so You can install as many apps as you like.... >>>>> My advice come to the brighter side!! U will NOT regret!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, but this is just wrong!
Firstly, unlike the Note 1, where the internal storage was split to give separate partions for apps and 'external' data, in the Note 2 you have a single unified partition for both.
This means that the Note 2 doesn't have the "Move to SD" option, because all this did on the Note 1 was move the app from the app partition to the internal sdcard, and this isn't helpful on the Note 2 since it would essentially just be moving the app around within the same partition.
Neither the Note 1, not the Note 2 supports apps directly on the actual external SD card, though there are several ways and means to get around this if your device is rooted.
Regards,
Dave
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2
Thank you Dave - that was the general impression I was getting from the (lengthy) research I have been doing and, to me, is important - most of my storage (on ios) is the physical app programs, not the save file data from them and I'm sure this will be the same on android (for me). Does seem a bit daft that this is the case (16GB really isn't much these days) but there must be a reason (slower access probably).
The main reason I don't want to root at the moment is that I need to get used to android (so that I know when I've broken it and, actually, if I'm happy with it - stock) and I don't want to invalidate my warranty. I know rooting is the way to go eventually - just not yet.
Guess I'll wait for bigger internal storage (rumoured to be 15th oct in UK) and keep an eye on the Play store to see if an app comes out to enable external SD app installation - when either occurs I'm coming to android ;0)
Thanks again
EmergencyMedic said:
The main reason I don't want to root at the moment is that I need to get used to android (so that I know when I've broken it and, actually, if I'm happy with it - stock) and I don't want to invalidate my warranty. I know rooting is the way to go eventually - just not yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Keep in mind that rooting is not necessarily a process that easily "breaks" your device. Once a stable method of root is developed, it's not long before a quick one-click program is developed that does the work for you!
I'm not sure how iPhone jailbreaking works, but it sounds more intensive than just gaining root on an Android device. (Flashing ROMs/basebands on the other hand, is intensive work that can easily render your phone useless if done wrong. )
Thanks, yep iPhone jaibreaking is an utter nightmare (that's why I never did it) and messes up your syncing with iTunes - and that IS one of the main reasons for coming to android - I am aware that rooting is an easy process - it doesn't actually scare me that much BUT if it voids the warranty I might be a bit hesitant - I will do it Eventually but would rather not HAVE to do it just to make full use of the storage - I'd also like to keep over the air updates, for example, especially with the rapid progression of Android OS over the past few years.
It's killing me because for the first time in may years I'm actually excited about a new phone and a new (to me) OS - T-Mobile here is already listing the LTE for sale - that excites me too lol. BUT, as I keep my phones until another is leaps and bounds better, I'd rather wait a short while and get the most useful I can afford - a 16GB with full access to storage on the SD would be that phone but if its going to be some time before that is possible I might as well wait and get the bigger one (in 2 years when the contracts up apps will be even bigger and my music library will be pushing 50+ GB) I believe buying out of contracts early is a waste of money and I can't afford a sim free phone (read my wife won't let me spend £500+ on a phone).
One thing is for sure - I won't be getting another iPhone anytime soon

Should I update?

Should I update from where im at? I haven't updated my phone since I took it out of the box. All I did was root to install wanam expose, xposed installer and region lock away. What do you guys recommend? What's the easier way to update without installing a custom recovery.
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Free mobile app
Yes and use my guide here... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=54787998
soulja4187 said:
Should I update from where im at? I haven't updated my phone since I took it out of the box. All I did was root to install wanam expose, xposed installer and region lock away. What do you guys recommend? What's the easier way to update without installing a custom recovery.
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No i wouldnt stay on jellybean too many problems with kitkat.
The only "problem" i can come up right away is apps using extSDcard issue... which is already solved if root. What other problems are there?
effortless said:
Yes and use my guide here... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=54787998
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks i updated to NF9 using your method, i then rerooted my phone. Lot faster than before. Thank you very much
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Free mobile app
Sure there are other problems, in my case I can't get the battery usage under control. I'm rooted and freeze whole bunch of stuff, more so than under Jelly Bean and it's still not what it used to be. I even did full factory reset, which is a huge pain all by itself (car BT pairing took 3 days alone, it wouldn't auto connect, lost few games progress despite restoring from backup, needed to restore AC3 again etc.) and still battery usage is much higher now than before. I really see no improvement whatsoever, oh wait I see that new volte message sometimes popping up, big deal, I can make phone calls just the same as before . Did I mention I lost region unlock? Not sure about SIM lock, I know it got unlocked with region, but now, after update probably locked again. To be fair Effortless method worked great, but for me it was all downhill afterwords and I'm not sure I would upgrade knowing what I know now. Maybe my experience is isolated and due to something particular I did or not do, but the old saying "don't fix it if it ain't broken" rings in my ear over and over again.
pete4k said:
Sure there are other problems, in my case I can't get the battery usage under control. I'm rooted and freeze whole bunch of stuff, more so than under Jelly Bean and it's still not what it used to be. I even did full factory reset, which is a huge pain all by itself (car BT pairing took 3 days alone, it wouldn't auto connect, lost few games progress despite restoring from backup, needed to restore AC3 again etc.) and still battery usage is much higher now than before. I really see no improvement whatsoever, oh wait I see that new volte message sometimes popping up, big deal, I can make phone calls just the same as before . Did I mention I lost region unlock? Not sure about SIM lock, I know it got unlocked with region, but now, after update probably locked again. To be fair Effortless method worked great, but for me it was all downhill afterwords and I'm not sure I would upgrade knowing what I know now. Maybe my experience is isolated and due to something particular I did or not do, but the old saying "don't fix it if it ain't broken" rings in my ear over and over again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your having issues you might want to try reflash. I didn't loose any apps or games, my car bt connected the same, remember that now your phone uses volte which could be a cause for more battery drain so why don't you try turn it off after reflashing. My only complaint is that while your on a voltle call you can conference as many calls you want but don't have the option to drop a specific line so only option is to end all call. I just went to volte settings and changed it to do not use volte and now i got back my conference call button back when on multiple calls.
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Free mobile app
soulja4187 said:
If your having issues you might want to try reflash. I didn't loose any apps or games, my car bt connected the same, remember that now your phone uses volte which could be a cause for more battery drain so why don't you try turn it off after reflashing. My only complaint is that while your on a voltle call you can conference as many calls you want but don't have the option to drop a specific line so only option is to end all call. I just went to volte settings and changed it to do not use volte and now i got back my conference call button back when on multiple calls.
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for ideas, but It's not volte, when home i"m always on wifi and for example just last night lost 20% charge overnight, wakelock shows nothing, the only time I had anything like that on JB was when I switched off wifi power save in secret menu long time ago when troubleshooting wifi calling. BT first wouldn't connect at all, then connected, but wouldn't reconnect again next day, finally on third day it held. I think I read somebody was claiming SD card fix breaks BT, or something like that, but now finally seems to be working. I'll probably freeze/disable everything at some point and then start enabling few apps at the time, to see when it starts blowing battery again, but this will take forever.. Update itself went fine, I even verified firmware's checksums, like first time ever and I have no reboots, no crashes, no freezing. Actually let me check that stupid wifi save mode, maybe it turned itself off.
pete4k said:
Sure there are other problems, in my case I can't get the battery usage under control. I'm rooted and freeze whole bunch of stuff, more so than under Jelly Bean and it's still not what it used to be. I even did full factory reset, which is a huge pain all by itself (car BT pairing took 3 days alone, it wouldn't auto connect, lost few games progress despite restoring from backup, needed to restore AC3 again etc.) and still battery usage is much higher now than before. I really see no improvement whatsoever, oh wait I see that new volte message sometimes popping up, big deal, I can make phone calls just the same as before . Did I mention I lost region unlock? Not sure about SIM lock, I know it got unlocked with region, but now, after update probably locked again. To be fair Effortless method worked great, but for me it was all downhill afterwords and I'm not sure I would upgrade knowing what I know now. Maybe my experience is isolated and due to something particular I did or not do, but the old saying "don't fix it if it ain't broken" rings in my ear over and over again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok first of all the reason why I'm responding is purely to try and help, and I know some people can be sensitive to criticism so I just wanted to clarify that my intentions are not to flame you. With that being said I know that I don't "know" so I'm only basing this from your post, but you seem to be extremely negative about the entire process in general. I also understand that it may be overwhelming for people who aren't technically "in to" rooting or even customizing their phones, which is why I often consider rooting to be a double edged sword for a lot of people.
This is why basically imo it's a complete waste for someone to "pay" someone else to root or customize their phone for them (I'm definitely not implying that's what you did or anything just to clarify), because it's not in the least bit a one time thing where once it's done it'll just be smooth sailing from there on out. It takes a huge amount of upkeep and dedication to get and enjoy the most out of what rooting and customizing has to offer, and for some people the trade off just isn't worth the overall amount of work which involved with it. It always just depends on the person, how they use and how much they use their phones, the amount of work they are willing to put into it, and what exactly they expect to get out of it, to determine if it's even worth the process to begin with.
As far as what you were talking about with wiping the phone, having to set everything up again, and losing some of your game data, it kinda sounds like that was along the lines of a traumatic experience for you especially when compared to others who might actually go through that same process 10 or more times a day and really enjoy it.
Also as far as your battery life goes there's so many different variables that can determine whether you'll have killer battery life or struggle to make it through the day kinda battery life, but the beauty of root and the ability to customize is that you never have to just settle for one or the other. One thing I'd strongly suggest is to look into different Kernels depending on which rom you're on, because it's amazing how much difference the right kernel for your device alone can make with battery. Every single device is different in it's own tolerances and even if you pull 2 of the same phones that are back to back off of the assembly line, one might work better with a specific kernel/rom combination than another, one could have better stock battery life than the other, and so on. So I always try to take others experiences with certain Kernels or Roms kind of lightly, because that doesn't necessarily mean I'm going to have the same results with my specific device.
Another to keep in mind is that whenever you flash a new rom, kernel, or even flash a new ota, it'll always take at least 3 or 4 days before the kernel will fully settle in and start to show the "true" battery life and performance that you can expect. So if you flash a new rom or kernel and then decide after just one day that the battery life sucks or that the performance isn't what you were expecting and then flash something else, you literally have no idea how that rom or kernel would've truly performed because it didn't even have enough time to settle in. For example I flashed a kernel one time and for the first 3 days the battery life was 10 times worse than what I was getting, and then half way through the 3rd day I started to notice it getting better and better until it wound up literally being the best battery life I had ever had at that point. So if I would've said screw it and automatically decided it was going to be terrible based on what it did at first, I would've screwed myself out of the best battery life I'd ever had up until then. It just takes a lot of patients and I'm not saying this is what you did at all, but I think a lot of people simply don't wait long enough to actually see the "true results" before deciding something is good or bad.
Anyway I waited awhile before doing the update as well because my phone was running almost exactly how I liked it, and when I finally did do the update I wasn't getting the same results at first which can always be discouraging. I'm glad now that I did do the update though because it took some tinkering with but now it's running even better than it was before. Good luck with your phone though and I guess my point is that you don't have to settle for anything if you don't want to, that's the beauty of being able to do all of this on the first place!
Sent from a modified ColecoVision
Thanks for the advice, but to clarify things: there are many posts on this forums and T-mobile forum complaining about poor battery life after updating to KK, so I'm not alone. It's been close to 2 months since I updated and I still can't get my phone to run as efficiently as it was, so I'm frustrated since nothing shows up in wakelock or any other program I tried. One time I can loose 20% overnight, other time 2%, never had anything like that before. I have no idea what are you talking about people paying for rooting their phone, so I just leave it at that. I have few games that have many levels, where you can't go to next level before finishing the lower one, I backed up all programs and data with Titanium and some games didn't restore properly, even with multiple tries leaving me at level one, no big deal since I'm not hardcore gamer, but things like that do happen. As far as updates in general go, I had a lot of bad experiences, once I even lost my desktop computer after updating manufacturer released faulty BIOS and had to buy video card to fix it, even recent Apple's ios 8.01 update was faulty and they had to release update to update, next day, so things not always go as planned. I do not see any visible benefits in KK, all I see is broken SD card access, gone per apps permission settings, patched up root exploit (thank you towelroot for new one, which is already patched in the latest release BTW) and in my case poor battery life, so I'm not impressed and not quiet sure it was worth for me to update. I felt OP should have been warned, that there are some people having some issues after the update. Maybe because I like my Note3 a lot and want it to be perfect, this battery issue annoys me more than it should, but it seems the harder I try, the worst it gets.

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

Able to switch cloud support to our own storage cloud when Nextbit's disappears?

This phone is on sale today for $120 at Amazon. At that price and the specs it seems like a really great deal until I find out the cloud support will only be around for 6 months or so. If it had microSD it would still be a no-brainer but I'm concerned what will happen when they stop supporting the phone. Will we be able to use the cloud backup function if we use our own storage such as Google Drive, OneDrive, etc.? If this is not currently a possibility is it something that is even feasible in a custom ROM?
I don't need a ton of storage for anything but apps. I'm not a big gamer, I just have many apps that I use rarely but when I do need them, it would be very inconvenient to reinstall and sign in and change settings, etc. One of the most annoying things about Android is even the apps that are movable still remain partially on my internal storage. I also have a Huawei Watch and the apps for those alone that must remain on the phone memory hog a ton. I'm currently using an Honor 5x with only 16gb onboard so this phone would still be an upgrade for that... I just wish they could have splurged on an SDcard slot and it would be on the way to my house already. I know, I know, everyone wants their crap in a "cloud" now. I actually prefer local storage, I hate to be reliant on a data connection or someone else's servers but I still like the idea of this phone. Too bad not enough other people did to keep it from flopping. I feel really bad for the Kickstarter backers that paid $300-400.
Alternatively, does anyone know of any Android apps or custom ROMs even that perform a similar function where I can backup and restore apps from either a server, or even better my own SD card, without losing settings? I know there are a lot of apps that do this with the apks, but I want one that functions more like this phone does it. I don't care if I have to do it manually instead of it being automated in the background, as long as they are restored with settings intact. It seems like something that could be done but I have zero experience in Android Development. I'm guessing they locked out the ability to do this somehow or it would be done already. I'm not a huge fan of Android but even less of iOS or anything Apple which leaves little other choices these days. For the record, I still think old school Windows Mobile was the best phone OS ever until they bastardized it into Windows Phone.
AlternaGirl said:
This phone is on sale today for $120 at Amazon. At that price and the specs it seems like a really great deal until I find out the cloud support will only be around for 6 months or so. If it had microSD it would still be a no-brainer but I'm concerned what will happen when they stop supporting the phone. Will we be able to use the cloud backup function if we use our own storage such as Google Drive, OneDrive, etc.? If this is not currently a possibility is it something that is even feasible in a custom ROM?
I don't need a ton of storage for anything but apps. I'm not a big gamer, I just have many apps that I use rarely but when I do need them, it would be very inconvenient to reinstall and sign in and change settings, etc. One of the most annoying things about Android is even the apps that are movable still remain partially on my internal storage. I also have a Huawei Watch and the apps for those alone that must remain on the phone memory hog a ton. I'm currently using an Honor 5x with only 16gb onboard so this phone would still be an upgrade for that... I just wish they could have splurged on an SDcard slot and it would be on the way to my house already. I know, I know, everyone wants their crap in a "cloud" now. I actually prefer local storage, I hate to be reliant on a data connection or someone else's servers but I still like the idea of this phone. Too bad not enough other people did to keep it from flopping. I feel really bad for the Kickstarter backers that paid $300-400.
Alternatively, does anyone know of any Android apps or custom ROMs even that perform a similar function where I can backup and restore apps from either a server, or even better my own SD card, without losing settings? I know there are a lot of apps that do this with the apks, but I want one that functions more like this phone does it. I don't care if I have to do it manually instead of it being automated in the background, as long as they are restored with settings intact. It seems like something that could be done but I have zero experience in Android Development. I'm guessing they locked out the ability to do this somehow or it would be done already. I'm not a huge fan of Android but even less of iOS or anything Apple which leaves little other choices these days. For the record, I still think old school Windows Mobile was the best phone OS ever until they bastardized it into Windows Phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're willing to root the phone, there are some options for using an app like Titanium Backup to save and restore your app data in conjunction with a separate cloud service like Google Drive or Dropbox for storing your backups. Titanium Backup even has some options for integrating your cloud service of choice and uploading automatically, but again this does require rooting.
Also, keep in mind that hardware limitations of the Robin prevent it from using USB host or USB On-The-Go adapters, which is one of the first things people wonder about when there's no SD card
However, it's still a good phone for such a low price.
It was actually $118 plus I get 5% back with the Amazon card so I bought one each in Mint and Midnight. Whichever one I don't keep, I'll give to my Mom. She's on a crap Windows Phone that is starting to have hardware issues. I think it will be perfect for her, if not way more than she needs. I have 30 days to decide since Amazon is great with returns. I shop with them so much I could probably buy a new phone and return it every month but I wouldn't do that. I did the slow shipping so hopefully Prime Day will come before my 30 days are up in case there's a better deal. I got my Honor 5x for $120 last Prime Day and I think I could probably sell it used a year later for $100 after keeping it in perfect condition. I do worry about the Robin holding any value but I never actually end up selling my old phones anyway, I have quite the historical collection. The lack of warranty concerns me but I think if I have any real issues I can get my money back from Amazon since I spend most of my money there. I think they sold a lot of Robins with that deal, most of the cases sold out by the end of the day. It's still only $130 so they must have quite a large supply of them. I'd be curious to know how many phones were manufactured and how many have sold but I doubt they make that public information.
Anyway thanks for all the info. I'll be back next week when I get it to get all the rooting info. I have to roll back my Huawei watch too, it didn't look like a quick process so I've been avoiding it but I hate 2.0... so I'll just have to devote one night to nerding out on XDA. It's been awhile.
Damn it, ****, f*ck donkey punch.. I refused REFUSED to buy a phone without an SD card, but just bought the robin on sale because I figured I could just use the cloud and keep my backup images on my USB otg drive. It didn't even occur to me that it doesn't support otg.. Wtf. I haven't even opened the box yet..
No wonder this phone flopped. No SD card, so no apps to SD, or an option to switch between cloud and SD card backup. Crappy battery. No host mode.. And for (what was) $400? Damn it maaan! I've never done any development on a phone without a card. Do you just push and pull your backups between a pc? What if you, ugh, nvm.. I'm about to find out I guess..
I'm gonna be PISSED if I see one of the phones I was gonna buy but didn't because I saw this with decent specs for $118
cjpicci said:
If you're willing to root the phone, there are some options for using an app like Titanium Backup to save and restore your app data in conjunction with a separate cloud service like Google Drive or Dropbox for storing your backups. Titanium Backup even has some options for integrating your cloud service of choice and uploading automatically, but again this does require rooting.
Also, keep in mind that hardware limitations of the Robin prevent it from using USB host or USB On-The-Go adapters, which is one of the first things people wonder about when there's no SD card
However, it's still a good phone for such a low price.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
soulife said:
Damn it, ****, f*ck donkey punch.. I refused REFUSED to buy a phone without an SD card, but just bought the robin on sale because I figured I could just use the cloud and keep my backup images on my USB otg drive. It didn't even occur to me that it doesn't support otg.. Wtf. I haven't even opened the box yet..
No wonder this phone flopped. No SD card, so no apps to SD, or an option to switch between cloud and SD card backup. Crappy battery. No host mode.. And for (what was) $400? Damn it maaan! I've never done any development on a phone without a card. Do you just push and pull your backups between a pc? What if you, ugh, nvm.. I'm about to find out I guess..
I'm gonna be PISSED if I see one of the phones I was gonna buy but didn't because I saw this with decent specs for $118
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use the twrp adb backup function now. It works really well.

New life for a Tab3 (SM-T820)

I got this tablet exactly 3 years ago, and at the time it was the fastest tablet around. Today it is slow as molasses. It's not that I have a lot of apps installed, in fact I mostly just use it to watch (Vanced) Youtube and some IPTV.
Is there any chance of getting life back into it? It's running Android version 9, which is the latest they support for this device. I don't really care about newer versions, I don't find a lot of exciting new stuff is coming to Android anymore, but sometimes it feels like they purposely make the tablet slower, perhaps to encourage the purchase of the latest model, when it really shouldn't be necessary.
(Actually it also have some really idiotic "features" like although it has a fingerprint reader it keeps insisting I have to enter my pin to login "for my safety". My safety my butt, I only use it in my house and in any case don't have anything secret on it. It just annoys the hell out of me when a piece of hardware tell me how to use it.)
So is there a solution to make it fast again? What? Reset it back to an earlier stock version, or install another rom? It has pen support, but it's not something I use a lot so while a nice-to-have it's not a need-to-have.

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