Related
I went from a Motorola Milestone to a Droid 2 Global. And as much as I am enjoying the Fission ROM from Team DeFuse, I am wondering why there seems to be such low interest in the Droid 2 Global compared to the original Droid 2? Can anyone give me some info as to why this is the case? I realize that with the Droid 2 globals additional radios that that transcribes to more work to get those operational in a custom ROM, I just dont understand why this powerful phone is ignored and left to sit on the curb. Thank you to all in advance.
1. The Global is hard to dev for. There aren't many Global devices to go off of, so the radios are hard to get 100% working on custom roms
2. It was launched silently. No one really knows it exists, so it just didn't receive the initial dev bump that phones usually get when they're first released
3. It didn't sell very well. I can't speak for the whole sales numbers, but my friend who works for Verizon Corporate (or something like that) said the numbers weren't fantastic in New York.
4. Three devices is a lot. Any devs willing to work on the Global probably already work on the Droid X and Droid 2. Adding a third device to the list is just too much for people who do this as a hobby.
That's the best explanation I can give... sorry for how negative it was, lol.
To be fair, the D2G is receiving more support this last month or so. Look on droidforums.net, some good work being done on there (3 or 4 roms available).
I will keep an eye out on droidforums. I was also thinking that with the possibility of 2.3 coming out for it most devs dont (myself included) see a point in making a ROM on froyo when 2.3 is around the corner. Thank you for your input. Its much appreciated
Most of the correct answers were already stated...
Just wated to point out that only people who truly needed global support would buy the D2G.
Droid Pro got play merely because it was targeted at the Crackberry crowd conversion which really didn't work.
Those are the only two GLOBAL phone I know of. Doesn't make sense to make many more with the 4G revolution under way.
Business have bought into the form factor but the Devs they all look at the performance specs and the EASE of development regarding the model.
The biggest issue though is the locked bootloader! Since the boot loader is locked you can not run custom Kernels so any development that could be made is limited to the stock kernel.
All of the Motorola development you see regarding phone with lockd bootloaders are really nothing more than a bunch of stock and AOSP apps and system files that change the look and the startup sequence but the base code that runs the phone pretty much stays the same!
I would love to see more people making ROMs for the unit but what I really want to see is the unlocking of that boot loader.
If we managed to do that then none of us would be worrying how many roms were available or which one updates next.
We would probably all be running Cyanogen at this point and merely wait for the next release of stable! And also be looking for the next great Kernel update to make it even better!
Asphyx said:
Most of the correct answers were already stated...
Just wated to point out that only people who truly needed global support would buy the D2G.
Droid Pro got play merely because it was targeted at the Crackberry crowd conversion which really didn't work.
Those are the only two GLOBAL phone I know of. Doesn't make sense to make many more with the 4G revolution under way.
Business have bought into the form factor but the Devs they all look at the performance specs and the EASE of development regarding the model.
The biggest issue though is the locked bootloader! Since the boot loader is locked you can not run custom Kernels so any development that could be made is limited to the stock kernel.
All of the Motorola development you see regarding phone with lockd bootloaders are really nothing more than a bunch of stock and AOSP apps and system files that change the look and the startup sequence but the base code that runs the phone pretty much stays the same!
I would love to see more people making ROMs for the unit but what I really want to see is the unlocking of that boot loader.
If we managed to do that then none of us would be worrying how many roms were available or which one updates next.
We would probably all be running Cyanogen at this point and merely wait for the next release of stable! And also be looking for the next great Kernel update to make it even better!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Won't anyone who wants a keyboard on verizon also get the D2G? I mean it's the only half decent phone with a physical qwerty keyboard on verizon, and the droid 2 itself was phased out months ago, 4 months ago when I got my D2G you couldn't get a new Droid 2 at verizon, though I think Best Buy might have still had them, though they were just clearing out stock.
Also I thought fact that everything has to be signed is the problem with the phone. When you don't know how to sign the kernel and other things the phone has hardware to autobrick which is why no one can get around it. Tons of phones out there have locked bootloaders that are gotten around well before or within a few days of the phone being released. If it was just the locked bootloader then I'd say motorola has found the holy grail of security, because everything else out there has been hacked through.
The problem isn't that the bootloader is signed, its that its encrypted. Newer htc phones have bootloaders that require signed kernels and people have found ways around them already, the encryption prevents us from loading custom software on it.
Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using XDA App
I've been running the same ROM on my phone for the past 4 months which is UNHEARD of for me. I like trying and testing new roms (that actually work) but at this point there just isn't anything new. What happened to all the development?? I used to see a new ROM every week!
This device is a year old now. Development slows near that mark. I imagine more roms when Ics is released.
I dont really see this as a big deal -- so long as anything major gets taken care of...
Liquid gb 3.2 is working great for me, so im happy to stay on this...
Sent from my HTC ThunderBolt
RaFF_MyZZteR said:
I've been running the same ROM on my phone for the past 4 months which is UNHEARD of for me. I like trying and testing new roms (that actually work) but at this point there just isn't anything new. What happened to all the development?? I used to see a new ROM every week!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most of them left because people kept pestering them to slave away all day and night
Only half serious, but yeah there are quite a few people that are always asking like this stuff is easy to do. Phone is a year old and people lose interest in putting out new stuff when there's no updates to work off of from HTC and Verizon. That and there was quite a bit of drama involved with a few ROMs that took some of the motivation out of at least one or so developers from bad attitudes by users.
People theme and develop for a few reasons (typically in this order):
1) They own/use the device
2) They like modding and hacking software for fun
3) They like the community they're modding for
When they no longer do #1 (as many have gone to the Nexus or other devices), if they don't have both #2 and #3 going for them, it gets harder to find the motivation to keep on going.
When a major release comes out again like ICS, there will be more development and then it'll eventually trickle off again. That's the way it works, especially now that there are an abundance of android devices on verizon compared to 2-3 years ago when there was basically a handful.
If you want new all the time, then get a new phone. Most preferably the Nexus as it's going to get updates for at least the next 3 or more years. Otherwise, in a year from now, you'll be asking this same question again with any other device most likely.
Honestly I was never a "crack flasher" and never had the interest in trying most ROMs. I've used CM7 for 80% of the past 12 months and never found interest to try anything else.
yareally said:
Most of them left because people kept pestering them to slave away all day and night
Only half serious, but yeah there are quite a few people that are always asking like this stuff is easy to do. Phone is a year old and people lose interest in putting out new stuff when there's no updates to work off of from HTC and Verizon. That and there was quite a bit of drama involved with a few ROMs that took some of the motivation out of at least one or so developers from bad attitudes by users.
People theme and develop for a few reasons (typically in this order):
1) They own/use the device
2) They like modding and hacking software for fun
3) They like the community they're modding for
When they no longer do #1 (as many have gone to the Nexus or other devices), if they don't have both #2 and #3 going for them, it gets harder to find the motivation to keep on going.
When a major release comes out again like ICS, there will be more development and then it'll eventually trickle off again. That's the way it works, especially now that there are an abundance of android devices on verizon compared to 2-3 years ago when there was basically a handful.
If you want new all the time, then get a new phone. Most preferably the Nexus as it's going to get updates for at least the next 3 or more years. Otherwise, in a year from now, you'll be asking this same question again with any other device most likely.
Honestly I was never a "crack flasher" and never had the interest in trying most ROMs. I've used CM7 for 80% of the past 12 months and never found interest to try anything else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So does this mean its the end of the Thunderbolt. Its kinda a crying shame. We have had this device now for only a little over a year. That seems way to short to just up and move on to a new device. I cant believe I am saying this, but with the Iphone atleast there is a few years between the release of each new device. Sure they are always updating the software, but atleast your on same hardware. With a android base phone you HAVE to keep dumping out tons of money to keep up with the lastest and greatest. It gets expensive. With that said, which has been a big complaint in the community of technology, we keep buying the new products on the day it comes out. Its a wonder how anything goods come out for the new devices. Which in turn makes the Mods/Devs have to work harder to be able to keep up with the fast paced change of the Android world. It sucks how fast something gets thrown to the wayside.....I Love the Thunderbolt and I do not plan on getting a new phone when my contract ends. (I love being contract free) So Thank you Mods/Devs for the Roms that you have put out, and thank you for working so hard so I can enjoy this phones 5 mins of fame.
imagelost said:
So does this mean its the end of the Thunderbolt. Its kinda a crying shame. We have had this device now for only a little over a year. That seems way to short to just up and move on to a new device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The end? I think you tl;dr'ed my post. Development is just in a recession until something worth doing comes out again (ICS). It won't obviously be the same as it was when the device came out, but obviously nothing can ever hit the peak that a new device has in interest no matter what it is.
I also don't see how an iphone will solve your problems. You'll just be mad you can't do anything with your device (which seems to be your problem with Android too, but you won't be able to flash anything on an iphone).
To be completely honest, I sorta had an idea of the answer to my own question before I asked it but thought I'd open it up to other input as well. I am well aware that there hasn't been any new updates or upgrades from HTC or Verizon for our phones so I don't blame the developers for getting bored and moving on. I just wish the development continued as it had started. I had the original Motorola Droid (first generation) and the development on that phone was so strong that I guess I'm just saddened by the lackluster effort for further development.
Either way, big thank you to the developers who have and continue to develop for our phones. Cheers to you guys!
PS. Big, fat donation to whoever develops the first full working ICS ROM for our phones
Nothing but now the world have new phones and the developers work more in the new phones...
Enviado desde mi HTC Thunderbolt usando Tapatalk
yareally said:
The end? I think you tl;dr'ed my post. Development is just in a recession until something worth doing comes out again (ICS). It won't obviously be the same as it was when the device came out, but obviously nothing can ever hit the peak that a new device has in interest no matter what it is.
I also don't see how an iphone will solve your problems. You'll just be mad you can't do anything with your device (which seems to be your problem with Android too, but you won't be able to flash anything on an iphone).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So have they figured out how to fix the data issues with AOSP roms? That seems to be the biggest thing left to do until ICS comes out.
You can always develop your own roms to get your fix. It's what I've been doing. In fact I'm working on my own 3.5 rom atm.
RaFF_MyZZteR said:
I've been running the same ROM on my phone for the past 4 months which is UNHEARD of for me. I like trying and testing new roms (that actually work) but at this point there just isn't anything new. What happened to all the development?? I used to see a new ROM every week!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I took my old Thunderbolt out and flashed it with the ThunderStick Full Blown Sense 3.0 ROM because I was bored and it's pretty cool. I liked it enough to set it up for my wife, who's been using a Dinc with CM7 for a long time. She really likes it and the guys at the Verizon store were perplexed by the fact that it looked like a Rezound (Sense) when installing the SIM.
Hey all,
I am not a modder. I prefer my device to be stock as much as possible - I know, not very XDA-like. I am not averse to doing it if necessary.
TMo gave me the MT4G Slide as a replacement device for the MT4G which was having issues. It seems that neither phones are getting an ICS/JB update (as HTC hasn't mentioned it on their list of phones officially getting the update).
I'm curious as to any hardware constraints that the Doubleshot may have to have lead to this decision. Some folks have mentioned the amt. of storage being the issue, but seeing as how these devices contain a 4GB chip and HTC has been quoted saying that this unusable space is due to GB and Sense, is this reason validated? Would ICS+Sense be that much more huge vs. GB+Sense as to not be able to fit in that ~2.5GB of space?
This has probably been a very badly beaten dead horse, but I did a search and couldn't really find anything referenced here on XDA. I see there's some moment on CM9 for the phone...but ultimately I want to know why HTC can't put ICS/JB on the device. It's an important factor in deciding to either stay loyal to the brand or move on to something different. I realize that it's an OEM (TMo branded phone) and that it may be up to TMobile to get it updated, which I'm assuming they would under their "no phone left behind" promise...maybe I assume incorrectly? TMobile hasn't said a thing on the matter.
I may go ahead and put CM9 on it once it's gone 100% stable.
Thanks.
It's not that they CAN'T upgrade to ICS/JB. They WON'T, for just about any reason you can make up. T-Mobile or HTC have not given any official word as to why not, so it could be due to anything.
Possible reasons include:
-Custom MyTouch skin
-T-Mobile holding the update back
-Our phone is essentially a commercial flop. Probably why they're not supporting it. Consequently, we're not a big enough community to make a difference anyway.
-They simply want you to buy another phone.
There is no physical reason they won't do it. Our phone has nearly the same internals as the Sensation 4G. It's still a high spec phone and can handle anything. Hardware is not the problem here. It's the higher ups.
I would like to add that if you don't want to wait, TBalden's Virtuious Inquisition has always been a rock solid ICS ROM for me. NEVER a hiccup even though there have been a few complain of an issue or two. But it will most likely always be that way with any ROM.....even the official releases.
There are a couple of ICSs by UndeadK9 on Rootz Wiki too that are slick. Then there is MikMiui ICS that is soooo close it's scary! KWIM? You HAVE choices right now.
ICS natively doesn't support Hardware Keyboards. That's why our device is under review by HTC/T-Mobile. HTC is willing to push an update, but T-Mobile has it on hold. So it's T-Mobiles fault, not HTC. How do I know this? Worked places, and have numbers.
Sent from my myTouch_4G_Slide using Tapatalk 2
Wow good topic I was just about to ask this because Ive been thinking about this for days now. Seeing the Galaxy 3 makes me crave that OS its really nice. I cant believe this phone flopped in the market its heaps good I love it, this with the droid look really solid with a slide out qwerty. So iffffff TMobile is holding out on the update is it possible that they will release it? or times gone by no chance of this? Im like the TC, Ive never modded a phone and dont know how to do it, but iffffffff I have to put ICS mod what is the best and closest to the real thing and is solid and does not have many bugs etc.? Like if this was your phone you are selling to the world which mod would you add to it? If TMob dont release one I might try attempting my first mod and if anyone can help me out with helpful links or pics as a walkthrough so I dont brick it much appreciated
As someone who spent a good deal of time with sense 4 I can say the only thing I miss from the mysense is the integrated visual voicemail. The positive changes out weighed the loss of the integrated vvm.
Sent from my HTC_Amaze_4G using xda premium
Archangel, if you do decide you want to root your device this is a fairly new but extremely comprehensive, simple & straightforward guide that will give you every bit of info you need to do that. Should you run into a problem, just come back with some specific questions about that parts you don't understand and "we'll git 'er done".
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1801106
If I were to recommend an ICS ROM for you to cut your teeth on it would be TBalden's Virtuous Inquisition. http://www.virtuousrom.com/p/inquisition.html This one will let you see what you've been missing on your DS. Good Luck and have a BALL! :good:
If you're looking for a pared down, screaming fast & smooth version of your stock ROM.....MikTouch & BulletProof are VERY tough to beat. (both in the developers section) Just remember that any questions not directly related to a ROM function or issue should always go here in General.
What is the difference between the roms? Like compared to the Galaxy 3 does it have the slick icons that slide and glide easy from screen to screen? and I think its called the live wallpaper when you swipe left or right the image hovers? also kinda like that fish wallpaper they have that has the trickle effect is neat, I noticed the apps menus are different to the Mytouch and smoother. I dont know what you mean by fast, do some of the roms make the OS lag and jaggy?
Personally, I think of fast as responsive.....smooth as changing functions & desktops, etc. But to each their own in descriptive terms, I guess. As far as differences go, I'm not familiar with the Galaxy but each ROM really has a personality of it's own except maybe in comparing ports from other devices.
THAT'S why you will probably become like the rest of us......Flashaholics! LOL
Oh Yeah....then you have THEMES! :laugh:
I wrote out a whole post but realized it was mostly rambling so I figured I would condense it, although its still pretty rambling:
It seems like our phone (Maxx HD) just missed the developer bandwagon and that roms aren't really going anywhere and never actually will. Everything seems like a quick port and I have had very little success with most of them. The only stable one I have found has been Nexesque, although its basically stock with a few tweaks and add-ons.
I have been running XenonHD for the past 2ish weeks, 3 maybe with horrible battery life and a heat problem. I was running with all of the regular performance tweeks, a very dark blue (almost black) solid background, low brightness and a black theme so I have no idea what could have caused it. I would run out of full battery by 12 or 1 half of the time with an incredibly hot phone, and the other half of the time I could make it to 6 or 7 but no later. I have reflashed and am almost positive I followed the steps correctly.
I'm not asking what the best rom is, but I'm asking if there is a rom that people are actually happy with out there (preferably 4.2) or if there are any real hopes for a tangible one to come out in the near future. It seems like we're kind of screwed as the user when compared to other phones development, and while I have nothing to offer outside of small donations I would just like to know if my predictions are accurate. Is everybody waiting for something that will never come out?
VCavs said:
I wrote out a whole post but realized it was mostly rambling so I figured I would condense it, although its still pretty rambling:
It seems like our phone (Maxx HD) just missed the developer bandwagon and that roms aren't really going anywhere and never actually will. Everything seems like a quick port and I have had very little success with most of them. The only stable one I have found has been Nexesque, although its basically stock with a few tweaks and add-ons.
I have been running XenonHD for the past 2ish weeks, 3 maybe with horrible battery life and a heat problem. I was running with all of the regular performance tweeks, a very dark blue (almost black) solid background, low brightness and a black theme so I have no idea what could have caused it. I would run out of full battery by 12 or 1 half of the time with an incredibly hot phone, and the other half of the time I could make it to 6 or 7 but no later. I have reflashed and am almost positive I followed the steps correctly.
I'm not asking what the best rom is, but I'm asking if there is a rom that people are actually happy with out there (preferably 4.2) or if there are any real hopes for a tangible one to come out in the near future. It seems like we're kind of screwed as the user when compared to other phones development, and while I have nothing to offer outside of small donations I would just like to know if my predictions are accurate. Is everybody waiting for something that will never come out?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be honest I think you need to step back and put everything in prospective.hash dh etc are working on a from scratch kernel that will fix the nagging problems the 4.2.2 roms have had. This kernel is a work in progress, but I think it will be finished to a point acceptable to most people soonish. That being said, besides the annoying gps flash from stock issue and no camcorder I'm not sure there are any major bugs with the 4.2.2 roms. There have been a lot of ports because there are a lot of good roms out there for other devices that people wanted to bring over. We were "screwed" when we bought the phone as this phone had a locked bootloader(with no apparent unlock) and there were never a ton of devs to begin on moto due to the same bootloader issue. That being said, I think a lot of devs have rallied around the hd since the unlock and things will only get better after hash gets the kernel up to speed. I agree nexesque is awesome (it's what I'm running right now in fact) but there are already a lot of choices on each of the 4 most popular forums.
Tl/dr patience lol
sent from my xt926 RAZR maxx hd
I really like this device atm I am using stock Rogers Fw . I have tried many of the 4.2 I prefer to hang back and let it get better the phone itself is a nice piece
My2c
Sent from my XT925 using xda premium
I imagine that we will probably also get get an android update at some point (though very unclear what and when). Maybe this will renew developer interest in the device?
I the meantime I hope the kernel development will play out well.
Personally, even if I love personalization and community development, I actually think the stock rom (xt925 Vodafone) is quite good. Good battery life and better ui than much of the competition.
Sent from my XT925 using xda app-developers app
Greetings fellow current and former S3 owners.
Get ready, as Oggie said my posts are rather long and rambling. I've got a few questions mainly for opinions and your experiences.
I tried activating my old DX2 on BYOP tracfone because I don't really use a lot of minutes etc and because they rollover for at least 3 months. After investing a lot of time and money, I found out the hard way that the BYOP android tracfones won't roam on non-verizon towers. And as far as I know, neither do net10, regular Andy tracfones you buy from a store or online, or even prepaid verizon phones. This is a load of BS. So there's my background now for the meat and potatoes of this post.
I've since decided to go with selectel since they do roam but only Voice and text, not data, which is fine with me. Another reason I really wanted to use my S3 is the continued development and the development done on it thus far. I couldn't run Kitkat or even ICS on the DX2 without some kind of issues. Although I give the devs credit for trying. That phone just didn't get the love my old DX got and certainly not the love my S3 gets.
Since I'm in a low signal area I've been wondering if I should use a stock based rom to get an extra few DB/m of signal strength. I can't afford a repeater at the moment. I've looked at putting foil behind the battery and on the back of the battery cover on the inside to supposedly prevent the battery from interferring with the signal from the internal antenna. I've looked at holding it differently. I've looked that using a piece of wire or an actual plug to try an external antenna but I've read many posts on many sites including a very detailed one on XDA that says it works but could damage something inside that could disable the internal antenna permanently without taking the phone apart to fix it. I'd like to avoid that too. But many have done it with excellent results.
1. Has anyone used an external antenna or any other tricks to reliably increase signal strength without buying a repeater which again, I can't afford at the moment. If so, what did you do or could you provide a link to the method.
2. I prefer AOSP or CM based rom's 10 to 1 over TW based roms. Don't get me wrong. I like the TW based roms, Alliance, MOAR, Wicked, and Scott's roms are all excellent TW based roms that are very customizable. But they still use a lot of what I would consider un-necessary stuff from verizon. They are customizable to the point that I'm fairly satisfied with that aspect of those roms even without using Xposed to get the additional features I want. and I'd like to avoid Xposed even though I've found that it works really well. I just think the AOSP roms's seem to operate smoother and there are more kitkat's to choose from. I like most of them but I prefer Nameless since it includes all of what I want without a bunch of stuff I don't use like AOKP, Carbon, and others. I do like slim, as it used to be my DD for a long time. I like Beanstalk until it started including a lot of stuff I don't sue. Don't get me wrong I am not trying to start a war of the rom world. I appreciate them all. Without the development of all those roms, we wouldn't have some of the features and have the lovely roms we have today. So, again, I've used and appreciate them all. That's what's so great about Android. You can choose what works for you. So, Please don't think I'm putting those roms down just because I prefer one over another. I'm using Liquid on my DX. Liquid Kitkat at that. and it works great for me.
I guess my question is do you guys think I'd gain enough DB/m to make it worth using a TW based rom? I know the RIL's aren't perfect but they're pretty damn cloase. Again, living in an area with bad signal to begin with every few DB/m helps. So should i use a TW rom for better signal? I've tried measuring the DB/m but I can't honestly tell a huge difference in signal between the TW and AOSP based roms even though the TW roms should get better signal.
Are there any secret settings I can access in a TW or AOSP rom that I could change to get better signal?
My S3 thanks to the work of many dev's is still an awesome device but I don't believe it gets as good a signal as did my DX and the DX2 according to the DB/m measurements. It may just be that they're measured differently in the device. I don't know.
Could someone shed some light on this and or give me some recommendations.
I also don't want to lose the settings for selectel, I've done an NVbackup in the terminal, as well as made a nandroid of my working nameless rom in case something goes arry.
Any advice will be appreciated. I'd like to try out the new Lollipop roms but I think I'll wait until it's more ready with features to use as my DD. mastamoon's may already be there but I haven't tried it yet. I'm sure they'll all get there eventually. At least I hope so.
Thanks in advance for any input on these questions. Sorry for my long rambling post. Anyone who knows me know's I go into way too much detail.
I''m using the latest firmware with the latest NE1 modem. If that helps.
Thanks one more time for taking the time to read this extra extra long post. And thanks again to the remaing dev's and past dev's for making this phone what it is today. I'd love to buy a note two or three but can't afford that now. I'd also like to hae the Razor Maxx since the battery life on those is ridiculus. I don't know if I'll ever buy another samsung just because the signal doesn't seem to be on par with some of the other brands especially Moto. At lesat the old Moto's. i don't know how well they are now that google as acquired the mobile division of moto's phones.
Did I mention I'd especially love to own a Nexus 6, I just don't know if I could use it on a CDMA network and they have the best coverage out here in the boonies where I live.
Thanks again, and have a gerat new year to all XDA members
Figured this one out the hard way. It doesn't really matter at least in my area which modem or rom. The S3 or at least my sch-i535 sucks compared to the dx2 I'm using now. I miss my s3 but Damm the signal is weak. I've heard it's better with the note 2.
Sent from my MB870 using Tapatalk 2
griz.droidx said:
Figured this one out the hard way. It doesn't really matter at least in my area which modem or rom. The S3 or at least my sch-i535 sucks compared to the dx2 I'm using now. I miss my s3 but Damm the signal is weak. I've heard it's better with the note 2.
Sent from my MB870 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know what you tried of course, but FYI the reception on a Touchwiz ROM on the S3 is always going to be better than an AOSP ROM because Samsung never released the RIL for this phone. All AOSP ROMs run a reverse engineered RIL that isn't quite as good as the Samsung one, and you can only get the Samsung one if you are on a Touchwiz ROM. So if you never tested a Touchwiz ROM, you were never seeing the better signal. However, "the S3 signal is weak" is a legitimate complaint about this phone. In my experience, even with a TW ROM its reception is below average compared to other phones of its day.
Jacquestrapp said:
I don't know what you tried of course, but FYI the reception on a Touchwiz ROM on the S3 is always going to be better than an AOSP ROM because Samsung never released the RIL for this phone. All AOSP ROMs run a reverse engineered RIL that isn't quite as good as the Samsung one, and you can only get the Samsung one if you are on a Touchwiz ROM. So if you never tested a Touchwiz ROM, you were never seeing the better signal. However, "the S3 signal is weak" is a legitimate complaint about this phone. In my experience, even with a TW ROM its reception is below average compared to other phones of its day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No matter the rom on my old S3 I never had a signal issue. It didn't matter if it was TouchWiz or not
Sent from my Nexus 6
ShapesBlue said:
No matter the rom on my old S3 I never had a signal issue. It didn't matter if it was TouchWiz or not
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The AOSP RIL was pretty good, some people never noticed the difference but others (like me) did, I guess it depended on the tower coverage or maybe some phones just weren't as good as others. For me, it was mainly an issue inside buildings. In a few stores I frequent, if I was on a TW ROM, I'd get dropped down to 3G or even 1XRTT sometimes, while on AOSP I'd get no signal at all.
I had totally forgot about this post until going through some of the posts I'd made in the list of participated posts.. Thanks for the info, but I am well aware that the RIL was one of those deals where the dev's did the best they could with what they had. In fact, I couldn't really tell much difference if any between the TW based ROMs and the AOSP baased ones. A testament to the quality of dev's we have around here.
I am certainly very grateful for the work they've done for this phone. I was always blaming the signal loss on a lack of towers in my very rural and mountainous home. Not to mention the fact that we'd installed a metal roof on the house, and put up a metal shed to part a couple cars under. I was thinking both of those probably acted kind of like shielding of sorts. Like shielding in an electric guitar (bass in my case), or shielding in different types of wiring. I could be wrong about that but it just seemed like after that my signal went downhill whether on a TW rom or AOSP. And I was on an AOSP rom like SLIMROMS, AOKP, Liquid, Nameless (which became one of my favorites), and later on AICP, another favorite of mine with active development during the time mine was working.
I've read that the note 2's signal was much better than that of the S3. I don't know about any of the newer "S" or "Note" models. I loved my S3, it was put through the wringer. I sometimes cut weeds with it without a case, getting bits of weed and dirt all over it There were a lot of really awesome TW roms out there, but I always used something AOSP based.
Have said all that, it was a good phone for about 3.5 years. And performed very well, probably due to the 2GB of built in ram. I even dropped my phone in the shower once with no case. The back came off the battery came out, and it got wet. It was actually underwater for a few seconds. Not wanting to wait long, I can't remember if I took it apart and blowed it dry with a hair dryer which would have be the smart thing to do, or if I just put the battery back in and after wiping it off rebooted it. Either way, it survived that and lasted another couple years before the digitizer died. A very nice member on here named Master Cylinder sent several PM's with ideas on how to possibly get it going after the digiitizer died. The screen remained flawless, even after I ran out of screen protectors, and as I said I used it while mowing grass, and cutting copious amounts of weeds around the house. It'd get weeds stuck to it, but again, I'd take a damp rag and wipe it off. To this day I can't believe the digitizer failed. considering the phone worked very well up until that happened.
I'd owned a DX as my first android phone, but wanted the s3 because of the following it had. Many members who'd I'd got to know on forums went with the S3 and I followed because I felt as if I knew the dev's and how good they were. When I buy a phone, that's one of the main deciding factors in my purchase; whether or not development is strong for the device.
But once it died and I activated the DX2 that I bought for 20 dollarss mainly to use as a remote for my XBMC/Kodi computer hooked up to my TV, (before the raspberry pi's came along) and for the 16 GB sd card it contained, I decided to use it instead of my DX because of the Tegra dual core, and my love for Nvidia products. I really it could have been developed half as much as what my DX and S3 were but no such luck.
I don't know if the newer motorolas have signal receeption as good as my old DX and DX2 but I just don't like the fact that many new phones can't accept SD cards, and many do not have replaceable batteries.
In a nutshell, And I know I'm way off topic, but for those members who know my they know I'm long winded anyway. I still wish the very best to all who still own their s3, but in my low signal area, it's just a night and day difference between the S3's reception and the moto's I've owned.
I'll close by saying a BIG THANK YOU to all dev's and the commmunity who made the S3 the device I loved. I just wish it had better reception, and I wish I could fix it cheaper than it would cost me to buy one from swappa. The digitizer alone costs as much as a mint/good condition S3 on swappa. But it is old now. If I'd lived in an area with better reception maybe I'd never noticed the difference. But I don't and the difference is rreadily apparent. Shutting up now, I've rambled enough. I'd have no problem buying another samsung if and only if receptoin is at least comparable to the old moto's I own.
Again, Not *****ing, just a surprising observation to me once I started used the DX2. What sucks is this device while CM10 and CM9 are available, many have reported that they are much less reliable and stable as CM7 and Blur based GB roms. Mainly from what I understand due to either Moto's or Nvidia's lack of support which is a friggin shame.
Going back to my tags again, I personally could tell no difference signal wise from between ROMs. I think it's great that development is continuing somewhat on the S3. A testtament to the love of the phone. I miss it all the time. Except when I have to make a call that is. And isn't that why we buy cell phones. Maybe not as much as it once was, My whole reasoning in getting a smart phone in the first place was that I didn't own a MP3 player, A tablet, a Navigaion system, or e-reader.
Good luck guys and sorry I've got so far off topic. Enjoy your phones. Above all have fun. And if possible support the dev's. At least let them know how much they're appreciated. I know I don't have to tell many of you this. But, I for one (being laid off due to the closure of my engineering firrm) can't afford to even buy a beer for someone (or pop/soda). As far as appreciate goes though, I can guarantee the dev's and community won't find someone who appreciated them more. They make our devices the extra awesome that they can be. To use a phrase from one of the Armed Forces of the US, The Dev's and community who support the Dev's and us mortals, They make sure the device can be all they can be.
Cheers everyone and have fun. Can't wait until I can afford a new (probably used) phone. But as i mentioned I've shopped around mainly on swappa, and I don't even know what I'd buy, I'd like another moto unless the reception is better with the "Note" line. Again, I don't own a tablet, so a 5.5 inch to 6 inch phone is what I'll be looking for as long as it supports a SD Card, and has a removable battery. Battery Tech as came a long way, and maybe it's not the big deal it used to be, but I just think it's crazy that you can't add storage and buy a replacement battery for a phone you buy. I like the Nexus 6 and the multiple notes, but again, I don't believe you can replace the battery in the nexus nor is there expansion available in the form of an SD slot for things like Gigabytes worth of music, books, TIBU backups, and entire sets of maps for use offline. If you're readiing this and own an S3 do just like everyone recommends, don't be afraid to experiment with both ROMs and Modems, because as long as you do some reading you can always fix things back. So far I haven't hardbricked anything due to the help and hard work of the Dev's and Community at large who take time out of their life to do write ups / how to's and are usually more than willing to help.
If there's anything I can help anyone with. Just let me know. But keep in mind just like mechanic work, cooking, or computer/networking work. No one knows it all. But with enough opinions you can make educated choices. Reallly, I know some awesome mechanics who can't paint worth a nickel, and body / paint people who can't do much when it comes to hard core mechanic work. I'm in IT / GIS/ Permit Tech by trade, and while I'm pretty good at fixing things, I tell people who seem to think I know it all, that no one knows everything.
As for my recommendations, on JB I liked SLIM, KK I liked Nameless, and for POP/MM AICP. For TW Allicance, MOAR, and Wicked Sensations, not to mention Scotts work and the work of Old N Slow. This small list is not all inclusive. I've tried almost every rom out there for the S3.
I know Too Long will probably never be read.
griz.droidx said:
Greetings fellow current and former S3 owners.
Get ready, as Oggie said my posts are rather long and rambling. I've got a few questions mainly for opinions and your experiences.
I tried activating my old DX2 on BYOP tracfone because I don't really use a lot of minutes etc and because they rollover for at least 3 months. After investing a lot of time and money, I found out the hard way that the BYOP android tracfones won't roam on non-verizon towers. And as far as I know, neither do net10, regular Andy tracfones you buy from a store or online, or even prepaid verizon phones. This is a load of BS. So there's my background now for the meat and potatoes of this post.
I've since decided to go with selectel since they do roam but only Voice and text, not data, which is fine with me. Another reason I really wanted to use my S3 is the continued development and the development done on it thus far. I couldn't run Kitkat or even ICS on the DX2 without some kind of issues. Although I give the devs credit for trying. That phone just didn't get the love my old DX got and certainly not the love my S3 gets.
Since I'm in a low signal area I've been wondering if I should use a stock based rom to get an extra few DB/m of signal strength. I can't afford a repeater at the moment. I've looked at putting foil behind the battery and on the back of the battery cover on the inside to supposedly prevent the battery from interferring with the signal from the internal antenna. I've looked at holding it differently. I've looked that using a piece of wire or an actual plug to try an external antenna but I've read many posts on many sites including a very detailed one on XDA that says it works but could damage something inside that could disable the internal antenna permanently without taking the phone apart to fix it. I'd like to avoid that too. But many have done it with excellent results.
1. Has anyone used an external antenna or any other tricks to reliably increase signal strength without buying a repeater which again, I can't afford at the moment. If so, what did you do or could you provide a link to the method.
2. I prefer AOSP or CM based rom's 10 to 1 over TW based roms. Don't get me wrong. I like the TW based roms, Alliance, MOAR, Wicked, and Scott's roms are all excellent TW based roms that are very customizable. But they still use a lot of what I would consider un-necessary stuff from verizon. They are customizable to the point that I'm fairly satisfied with that aspect of those roms even without using Xposed to get the additional features I want. and I'd like to avoid Xposed even though I've found that it works really well. I just think the AOSP roms's seem to operate smoother and there are more kitkat's to choose from. I like most of them but I prefer Nameless since it includes all of what I want without a bunch of stuff I don't use like AOKP, Carbon, and others. I do like slim, as it used to be my DD for a long time. I like Beanstalk until it started including a lot of stuff I don't sue. Don't get me wrong I am not trying to start a war of the rom world. I appreciate them all. Without the development of all those roms, we wouldn't have some of the features and have the lovely roms we have today. So, again, I've used and appreciate them all. That's what's so great about Android. You can choose what works for you. So, Please don't think I'm putting those roms down just because I prefer one over another. I'm using Liquid on my DX. Liquid Kitkat at that. and it works great for me.
I guess my question is do you guys think I'd gain enough DB/m to make it worth using a TW based rom? I know the RIL's aren't perfect but they're pretty damn cloase. Again, living in an area with bad signal to begin with every few DB/m helps. So should i use a TW rom for better signal? I've tried measuring the DB/m but I can't honestly tell a huge difference in signal between the TW and AOSP based roms even though the TW roms should get better signal.
Are there any secret settings I can access in a TW or AOSP rom that I could change to get better signal?
My S3 thanks to the work of many dev's is still an awesome device but I don't believe it gets as good a signal as did my DX and the DX2 according to the DB/m measurements. It may just be that they're measured differently in the device. I don't know.
Could someone shed some light on this and or give me some recommendations.
I also don't want to lose the settings for selectel, I've done an NVbackup in the terminal, as well as made a nandroid of my working nameless rom in case something goes arry.
Any advice will be appreciated. I'd like to try out the new Lollipop roms but I think I'll wait until it's more ready with features to use as my DD. mastamoon's may already be there but I haven't tried it yet. I'm sure they'll all get there eventually. At least I hope so.
Thanks in advance for any input on these questions. Sorry for my long rambling post. Anyone who knows me know's I go into way too much detail.
I''m using the latest firmware with the latest NE1 modem. If that helps.
Thanks one more time for taking the time to read this extra extra long post. And thanks again to the remaing dev's and past dev's for making this phone what it is today. I'd love to buy a note two or three but can't afford that now. I'd also like to hae the Razor Maxx since the battery life on those is ridiculus. I don't know if I'll ever buy another samsung just because the signal doesn't seem to be on par with some of the other brands especially Moto. At lesat the old Moto's. i don't know how well they are now that google as acquired the mobile division of moto's phones.
Did I mention I'd especially love to own a Nexus 6, I just don't know if I could use it on a CDMA network and they have the best coverage out here in the boonies where I live.
Thanks again, and have a gerat new year to all XDA members
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't think that no one read this in its entirety because I did. I want to say thank you for posting this. I'm glad to see posts like this because too often we post something very short and to the point and it gets kind of mundane after awhile.
I thankfully don't live in a tin can (just being funny) and I'm not rural by any means but I've been in many places where there is no signal or non existent. I've still got my S3 laying around and by far to date it's been my favorite phone to mess around with and change roms, kernels and so forth. While I love my Nexus 5 and 6 I miss the external storage badly.
Thanks again man for just being a member and for your post it is much appreciated