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[Q] HTC Evo Shift - Software Upgrade

Hi all,
I'm going to be getting an HTC Evo Shift from someone, which I think has Android 2.2 Froyo on it.
The phone was reported lost and a replacement obtained, then after getting the replacement the old phone was found.... but Sprint said they had written it off, and didn't want the old one back. The ESN remains blocked on Sprint because of this, but they won't unblock it and just said they didn't want it.
Soooo, I'm going to use it as a WiFi only device... but I'd really like to get Gingerbread 2.3 onto it somehow... which I'm assuming can't be done OTA if the ESN is blocked on the Sprint network?
Also, I'm in Canada so once I get it, I won't have access to the Sprint network at all.... and I don't know if the update can be downloaded and installed manually through the computer or what. Anyone know?
I heard the Evo Shift can be rooted as well, but that sounds very complicated to me... so I'm still figuring out what my options are with regards to getting the software as updated as possible.
Any advice would be appreciated

id personally recommend reading up on how to root your fone..
and once you get that going...
you can just install a diff rom that has 2.3 on it..
=D

hey
I did a bit of reading on rooting bit it seems like its different for all devices and some are "one click" solutions while others are multi-step instructions full of unfamilliar terms and procedures which could ruin the phone. lol
I did read some instructions that pertained to the Evo Shift, but there was much involved that my brain shut off after reading the first few steps.
I was really hoping for something simple. but that might be a pipe dream, eh?

http://forum.xda-developers.com/archive/index.php/t-976605.html
Looks like the simplest root method for the shift. I haven't tried it, but since it is on xda good chance it is well supported.
Sent from my PG06100 using XDA App

Thanks for the link.
Still sounds scary... but I'll finish reading the rest of the discussion later and see what others ultimately had to say about it.
Still open to comments from others too if anyone has any.
I dont have the phone yet, I'm just getting prepared so I can get to work updating it as soon as it arrives.

Easy and fast root method
Sent from my PG06100 using XDA App

The link that was posted would be the easiest for someone but the perm root instructions that are stickied in the development section is what I have used many times on my shift and my girls shift when I root, you can do it either from the pc or from terminal on your phone just have to make sure the commands are exact so I would say just use the pc and copy from the root instructions and paste in command prompt. There are a few gingerbread ROMS to choose from 2 are stock, one is newkidds the other is X99s ROM, then there is MikShiFted-G which is a very optimized and snappy GB, and last there is Elite v1.2 over on themikmik which is based off MikShifted-G but has carousel Rosie and 3D widgets, whatever you do don't try the ota if it goes through you will be stuck with a OS that hasn't been rooted yet
Sent from my PG06100 using Tapatalk

Thanks for the replies guys.
I might give it a shot when it arrives.
There is a lot more I need to look into first.
I've seen lots of people say that if a CDMA phone has a carrier blocked ESN, that you can flash another carriers ROM onto it and activate it with them. I think Cricket Wireless or Boost Mobile was mentioned, but I can't remember.
Here in Canada, Bell still runs CDMA but they will NOT allow a non-Bell CDMA phone to be connected to their network, under any circumstances. HSPA/GSM they will though.
It I could flash the ROM to a carrier other than Sprint, that might be a good idea. That way the thing can potentially have some value as a phone too, and maybe serve me as a roaming device when I travel to the US. Or, would just installing one of the third party ROM's allow it to be activated on another carrier?
I'm really not familliar with the way the US carriers operate.

[Q] SGS4G t959W

I am in a bit of a delimma, while i was updating via kies my computer shut down and now my phone is not starting to the os. I can no longer connect to kies while in download mode or any mode. I cannot find stock rom for my sgs4g sgh-t959w. My questions is does anyone know much about this model of phone and if I would be able to flash a stock or custom rom that is on this fourm?

If you were updating through Kies and this happened take it back to where you bought it or call Samsung. I don't think it would be a good idea flashing anything on this forum.

i was gonna say the same. if i'm correct, the sgh-t959w is the windows version of our device.
sent from within pure untamed darkness

what???????
I THOUGH THIS PHONE IS SGH-T959"V"

Airfluip would you read. You just told a guy from Poland to take his phone to a T-Mobile store. Now you are confused about the model number this guy has?
He is aware of the model number of our phone. That is why he is asking.

thanks everyone for quick replies. I will call samsung tomorrow about my issue and see what they can do. I have noticed that my model of phone cannot be found on the samsung website. I cannot find much information about it at all on google or any forum. Now i am curious, is there even any custom roms for this model?. Maybe someone on this forum knows more about it. Would love to heat back on what you guys think.
Thanks in advance

I've never even heard of it either, let alone is Google helping. All I'm finding are batteries.
Is it a WindowsPhone device? Where can I learn more about it? I'm kind of interested in one if it exists.

It's the Wind SGS4G.
that's about all I know. I don't think its windows tho..
Sent from my SGH-T959V

I know it is wind mobility sgs4g and it is android based. That all i know though. I am hoping samsung will have the firmware so i can just flash it via odin instead, or hopefully they can figure out why it is not connecting to kies. I will keep everyone updated.

What was the original boot screen like? ? Kinda weird they'd release a phone under same name as ours a year later and it would be much different.
Sent from my SGH-T959V using xda premium

It also has more internal memory, 16 vs 2.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

Please use the Q&A Forum for questions &
Read the Forum Rules Ref Posting
Moving to Q&A

Just purchased today from Mobilicity (Canada)
Greetings from Toronto,
I am finding the same dead end routes with this phone....which pisses me off because I did my due diligence and still end up with something I am unhappy with. I snickered today when I asked the sales associate about ICS, and he said, you'll have to wait for Samsung. I guess my arrogance was unneeded cause now it seems I am stuck. Another poster above mentioned why such a difference for the same phone from T-Mobile ....(My last phones, the Motorola cliq xt, and the LG Optimus 2 LG P999 were a breeze to root....both from T-Mobile) so Why such problems now.....
I'd love to hear of any success stories....please.....

Sadly you probably are stuck. This version of the Galaxy S 4G is very new. And since its specifically for Mobilcity I doubt our roms would work. There are just enough differences I wouldnt want to chance it.
I would go back and tell the rep you just dont like the phone and would like to trade it for a different one.

A couple of questions relating to 2.3.6

Hi all, not sure if this the completely right section but,
Back story: I had a HTC Legend and after an unfortunate weekend, the screen was shattered and thus I had no phone. I scoured ebay and found a no name android (as I wanted dual sim for ease of use) running 2.3.6. Now I had issues rooting my Legend, and so I wasn't keen on it with this phone, but I couldn't resist myself and I tried again with almost next to zero information about my phone.
All I can tell you basically is that it's running 2.3.6, a model number e1101_v73_jbl1ctp_a515 (although scouring of google provided me with chinese websites, and as such I assume that what it's running is similar to that of the Motorola XT91x series? If that helps). I've tried super one click (it hangs at step 7) and I've also tried '2.3.6 root'.
I'm not quite sure what I can do now, any further ideas or help would be appreciated!

[Q] Root for ZTE Valet (Z655c) from Straight Talk?

I am looking for some help getting root access on the ZTE Valet from Straight Talk.
Android Version: 4.1.1
Kernel Version: 3.4.0-perf [email protected]
Please let me know if you need more info, or if there is a root method already confirmed working for this device.
Thanks!

I am still looking
I am still looking for a root solution for this phone. I have tried several solutions (made for other devices) that I found searching the forums and google, but nont have worked.
If anyone knows of one, please PM me.

I really don't think this phone can be rooted because of the "proprietary" nature of Tracfone's service. Although the phone is ZTE by manufacture and Tracfone is tied in with Straight Talk as well, the way Tracfone service is metered probably means if you rooted it it may not work through them anymore.. but that's just my supposition. Having said that.. I bought one today myself. Although I've rooted all the Android devices I have.. I don't intend to even try with this one.

I know it's a little late to be chiming in on this, but I thought you'd appreciate an answer.
The ZTE tracfone/straightalk devices cannot be rooted. period. The reason behind this is that the airtime tank info (minutes, service date, etc) is actually stored on the phone itself instead of the network. They had to develop an un-rootable phone so that people couldn't go in and edit their own airtime tanks. It's not an issue on normal tracfones, but android wasn't secure enough on it's own. Perma-locked bootloader, locked kernel.
The only way to root your device is to get a new device. It sucks, but it's the sacrifice of being on a prepaid plan with this company.
Source: My own Tracfone ZTE Valet and a boatload of research and experimentation.
Good luck.

iamthedonut said:
I know it's a little late to be chiming in on this, but I thought you'd appreciate an answer.
The ZTE tracfone/straightalk devices cannot be rooted. period. The reason behind this is that the airtime tank info (minutes, service date, etc) is actually stored on the phone itself instead of the network. They had to develop an un-rootable phone so that people couldn't go in and edit their own airtime tanks. It's not an issue on normal tracfones, but android wasn't secure enough on it's own. Perma-locked bootloader, locked kernel.
The only way to root your device is to get a new device. It sucks, but it's the sacrifice of being on a prepaid plan with this company.
Source: My own Tracfone ZTE Valet and a boatload of research and experimentation.
Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While I don't have the phone, my understanding is you can check the tracfone website for how many minutes/data you have left and not just the app on the phone. If true then the minute tank is not just on the phone but "in the cloud" which to be honest makes perfect sense. Andriod is hard to 100% lock down, sooner or later a hack will happen. It is just the nature of the OS. One reason it is open source, but then again iOS is not and people found ways to jail break/root that. So I am not going to say it is "impossible", and I really think the minutes/data information is stored on tracfone's servers not on the phone. It would cost them too much if they got hacked and were able to add minutes for free.
Now if I am wrong, ok but I doubt I am based on my experience with computers and I don't think Tracfone would take the risk. Also I have found instructions on rooting some Android tracfones by Samsung. So again I think it is possible, just no one has figured out how with this one (yet).
Update: I recently watched a review of this phone on youtube and the person was demonstrating how to see the minutes you have left and mentioned that often it is not instant when you add time/data. And even after using minutes you need to click the refesh to see the latest information regarding your minutes/data. If it was on the phone itself, no update would be needed. It would just be "there". So it is server based, not on the phone itself.

g955fxxu1aqj5 flash

Hello XDA,
So, this is my first question ever, even tho I have followed XDA for about 10 years now... I used to flash phones back when xperia x10 was a big thing, however I have not done it in a while, now I'm looking to upgrade my phone S8+ to android 8, as I got it from my carrier here (Kolbi) however I'm possitive there will never be an update from them as is a local-only carrier, and no-one here cares about this so I really don't think it will ever happen. (anytime soon that is)
Anyway, I have g955fxxu1aqj5 and I was wondering if installing another firmarware for say just G955F, would work? (I dont need to have carrier specific firmware) I just care about the phone working fine, camera, conectivity, hardware basically, so my questions is if I can try installing other firmware like this for example:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s8+/how-to/guide-flash-oreo-g955fxxu1crb7-using-t3755789
Thanks in advance.