Database Users

Bell desire Z 2.3

Bell has starting pushing 2.3 to the desire z now, this is great news for us canadians. I just got the update its downloading right now.

It would be great if someone would post this in the development forum. I am really interested in getting my hands on the radio.

Just downloaded and installed. Honestly, I don't notice a huge difference (although I've only had my Desire Z for about two weeks). It seems a lot of the surface (UI) features of Gingerbread are something we already had with Sense (text selection, etc).
Here's a list of 2.3's features
I was sad to see that we don't get the awesome 2.3 CRT effect. Has anyone noticed any real upgrades since updating?

if any of you who updated still have the firmware package in the Download folder of your SD Card, I'd love to get my hands on it. I only seem to be able to pull the 1.84 firmware on my phone. I'd like to try my hand at making a Bell specific rom for our phones.
If you could upload it somewhere like megaupload and post a link, that would be pretty swank.

i dont feel the need to get it. i already have a gingerbread based rom so no need phone quality is also very good so no need to change radios too

carrier updates suck, period. my brother got the 2.3.3 update for his DHD (2.2 previously) on the Telus network, nothing's changed except for some UI differences and no CRT animation >.>..
my DZ on the other hand, has the new 2.3.5 with MIUI and it rocks his DHD into the ground =D
my point? carrier updates really shouldn't matter if you're on a site like XDA since devs beat carriers all the time.

David Dee said:
It would be great if someone would post this in the development forum. I am really interested in getting my hands on the radio.
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Click to collapse
Noticed that it has a new radio
12.57.60.25U_26.10.04.12M
http://mobilesyrup.com/2011/08/05/bell-htc-desire-z-upgrade-to-os-2-3-3-now-available/#comment_pager

Given that I don't have enough faith in my tech savvy level, I'm somewhat reluctant to root and flash it (at least not while the phone is still under warranty). I'm a lot happier with my phone now that it has GB on it, especially since the OTA update back in March absolutely killed the performance. With the new upgrade, performance is noticibly improved, with faster bootup times, app access and response, and better battery life (so far).
Mind you, the March OTA update REALLY killed the performance, so this might just be relatively speaking, but still.

I grabbed a copy of the OTA zip off of my SD before installing. PM me if you want it and I'll send it through.

I'm using my Unlocked Bell Desire Z on Fido network and I'm not getting the update. In fact, I didn't get the March update either, but that was a good thing...
Please post the zip file! Thanks!

I haven't received mine yet. I'm trying to find out why but no success.
My GF is using the DZ unlocked on telus and she received it.
boringegg - Did you root or flash your phone?

just got it!
update seems okay, for stock, but i'm wondering about the integrated VOIP / SIP "internet calling" (wi-fi only)
i tried with a couple of my accounts and it times out before the call goes though. anybody have success with this? not sure what i'm doing wrong since i can at least make calls with csipsimple nimbuzz linphone nettalk, but would be nice to use the build in service.

Best software combination for the xperia arc on rogers

ive got a rogers xperia arc, and its on stock software. its kinda slow and has crappy battery life but i cant put cyanogen on it. what is the best software i can put, i know how to use flashtool

I too have the rogers arc.... all the newer firmware U.S Generic i've put on it has been giving me lots of problems with signal.... 60% of the time my phone is looking for signal according to 'Battery use'

would the world generic be better then?

I use UK generic, have been for the past 2 months without any problems

Ditto with Pngface. Remove some of SE's crapware and it's smooth as silk.
-Sent from my Xperia Arc (LT15a)

I installed the latest World generic last night on my rogers branded phone (simlocked, locked bootloader bought from rogers). I was rooted on the latest Rogers before that, had all the bloatware frozen via Titanium, and it was still slow as hell (~1250 max quadrant score if that means anything). After installing the world generic, rooting (via flashtool+) restoring all my backed up apps and data, freezing the bloatware as I did in the other rom, I'm finding it much, much faster (quadrant score maxed at 1691). And my battery (so far) is worlds better than before.
I have data reception issues in my area and am constantly opening tickets with Rogers, but today it worked quite well. I got 1.5mpbs down when i usually can't get more than 0.1 (barely usable). Perhaps they did something, or perhaps something is working better on this rom. I'll never know about that part for sure, but performance overall is so far better. If that changes, I'll send an update.
Cheers.

Use Global Generic .42 + ADW Launcher
Like you, I am on Rogers, and like you, suffered from the slowness, despite liking the hardware.
Finally, I found a software combination that works quite well and the phone is very snappy, and never lags anymore.
First, you need to upgrade your firmware to 4.0.2.A.0.42 Global Generic version. This will unbrand your phone, and therefore you will not have any of Rogers' junk apps. I detailed this in a post here goo.gl / ET9ah. Short version is use Flashtool. Don't be intimidated that the phone will now be an LT15i instead of LT15a. Makes no difference whatsoever.
Second, ditch TimeScape and all the crap it uses, and use ADW Launcher from the market. TimeScape has hooks everywhere, for example, when you open Contacts, it wants to go to the network and fetch the latest Facebook status, ...etc. for the users. This is slow. Better go back to the normal way Android does things. I wrote about this here goo.gl / rbrOo
After I have done the above two things, the phone is really fast.
You may want to try the second option first, and see if things are better before deciding to upgrade the firmware.

I'd done all that stuff on the Rogers ROM (removed timescape, facebook integration, other bloatware, etc.) and it was still unreasonably slow given the respectable hardware for some reason and this new generic was enough to make me switch. I'm glad I did! Rogers is also very slow at releasing updates regardless of the phone/model which doesn't help, but that itself could be its own forum ...
kbahey said:
Like you, I am on Rogers, and like you, suffered from the slowness, despite liking the hardware.
Finally, I found a software combination that works quite well and the phone is very snappy, and never lags anymore.
First, you need to upgrade your firmware to 4.0.2.A.0.42 Global Generic version. This will unbrand your phone, and therefore you will not have any of Rogers' junk apps. I detailed this in a post here goo.gl / ET9ah. Short version is use Flashtool. Don't be intimidated that the phone will now be an LT15i instead of LT15a. Makes no difference whatsoever.
Second, ditch TimeScape and all the crap it uses, and use ADW Launcher from the market. TimeScape has hooks everywhere, for example, when you open Contacts, it wants to go to the network and fetch the latest Facebook status, ...etc. for the users. This is slow. Better go back to the normal way Android does things. I wrote about this here goo.gl / rbrOo
After I have done the above two things, the phone is really fast.
You may want to try the second option first, and see if things are better before deciding to upgrade the firmware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

does anyone have a link
does anyone have a link to the global generic firmware? i used the lt15a USA generic and games still crash quite a bit

Its in the development forum. Here is the link: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1330314
I used the flash tool 0.4.2 link there and used it to flash and then root (from within flash tool).
Cheers.
Markolic said:
does anyone have a link to the global generic firmware? i used the lt15a USA generic and games still crash quite a bit
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I've got a Rogers Arc unlocked on AT&T.
I'm running Docomo 4.0.1.C.1.9 and it runs flawlessly.
Flashed with Wotan.
Many bloatware apps can be uninstalled.

First steps for new user( need help)

Hello all. I am just wondering what my first steps should be. I am coming from an lg g5 that I hated because it was 100 percent locked down. But before that I had an HTC one m8 so I kind of know what I am doing. I just want to know what my first steps should be. I want root, debloat, and nougat if possible.
Thanks

You're in for an unpleasant surprise.
A.) Root sucks on this phone, it causes slowdown and tons of issues due to the root method using a shotty and early engineering kernel.
B.) No Nougat unless you wanna run the beta. Which can't be rooted at all. (An official beta from Samsung that has a few issues and was canceled after only the second build due to Verizons stubborness.)
C.) For everything else you asked for LOOK ON THE FORUMS. There are literally guides on this forum for a reason if you kind of knew what you were doing that would be step #1.
BTW I only typed A and B because I wanted to be the bearer of bad news. Yes, I'm evil like that.

FoxyDrew said:
You're in for an unpleasant surprise.
A.) Root sucks on this phone, it causes slowdown and tons of issues due to the root method using a shotty and early engineering kernel.
B.) No Nougat unless you wanna run the beta. Which can't be rooted at all. (An official beta from Samsung that has a few issues and was canceled after only the second build due to Verizons stubborness.)
C.) For everything else you asked for LOOK ON THE FORUMS. There are literally guides on this forum for a reason if you kind of knew what you were doing that would be step #1.
BTW I only typed A and B because I wanted to be the bearer of bad news. Yes, I'm evil like that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
is it worth it running the beta?

Ryan829 said:
is it worth it running the beta?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some people claimed it had better battery life and performance, I personally saw neither. And I also had issues with certain apps I use, including glitching and slowdown. However a good amount of people really like the beta (more than the number of people who reported issues like me), so I would tell you to try it out.
I personally use the G935U firmware on my phone. It is basically the same the ROM that is preinstalled on the unlocked version of the phone, meaning it has absolutely no bloatware, it runs smoother, has better battery life, and is slightly different in some ways because Verizon modifies our phones so much from what comes on the unlocked variant.(confirmed by everyone). And of course since it is the official firmware from the unlocked version it can be installed without rooting.
Again this is from my personal experience, so I am probably being pretty biased. This is just what I've had most luck with, I encourage you to try whatever you want on your phone and stick with what works best.
Additional guides you might want.
Link to the Beta Firmware and instructions on how to install it.
Link to how to install the U firmware on your phone.
Link to the latest U firmware. (The firmware in the above thread is old, the guide is still the same with the new firmware.)

Advice on firmware

This is a tough call but all things considered, I should really flash back to complete stock. It's definitely the 1st time I've gone without root.
I need a reliable phone right now. There's some great people trying to make the most out of this with the Eng kernel, but ultimately I running into problems (sometimes it'll run great for over a week but then the issues become apparent. )
That said, I'm told Ufirmware has a problem with getting Doze to work properly. The result is poor battery life.
So my question is what would be the best fw to use?
My model is SM-G935U
CARRIER: AT&T in the USA
***first samsung phone for me and the most confusing part is all the different variants. Should I download xxa?

If you want the best experience on the network, I'd suggest SM-G935A. Sure, it has the carrier bloat, but I don't have an issue disabling the ones I don't use.
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

1) The U firmware does not have a doze problem. It gets far better battery life than the A version.
2) This device does not work well with root. You *can* root, but most people seem to go back to stock at some point due to all the glitches and patches required.
3) The U firmware will work just fine on AT&T, but you will lose carrier specific features. Specifically, WiFi calling, VoLTE, etc. (You can get most of the others back by installing APKs)
4) The A firmware obviously will work fine on AT&T, but AT&T really gimped the bajeezus out of the S7 Edge Nougat ROM. I was getting unacceptable lag on bone stock A firmware.
5) You *can* disable packages on either using various Knox-based tools, but in some cases this can actually make things worse depending on how the package is used.
You just need to decide which is more important. Fast and battery efficient, but "bare bones"; or full featured, but a hot, laggy mess?

I was rooted using the samsung u firmware on the att model. I lost my phone a week ago and the insurance sent me a brand new one thankfully. I really didn't have any complaints when I was using the rooted s7 edge. But when I got this new one full att stock. It is quite clear to me now it is night and day difference. The rooted version right now is ok and usable but i will not be rooting my new s7 edge. This phone just flies with stock compared to eng root which just putts along.

jshamlet said:
1) The U firmware does not have a doze problem. It gets far better battery life than the A version.
2) This device does not work well with root. You *can* root, but most people seem to go back to stock at some point due to all the glitches and patches required.
3) The U firmware will work just fine on AT&T, but you will lose carrier specific features. Specifically, WiFi calling, VoLTE, etc. (You can get most of the others back by installing APKs)
4) The A firmware obviously will work fine on AT&T, but AT&T really gimped the bajeezus out of the S7 Edge Nougat ROM. I was getting unacceptable lag on bone stock A firmware.
5) You *can* disable packages on either using various Knox-based tools, but in some cases this can actually make things worse depending on how the package is used.
You just need to decide which is more important. Fast and battery efficient, but "bare bones"; or full featured, but a hot, laggy mess?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info!
Wish I'd waited just a bit longer. I wound up flashing xaa. Performance wise, it's good. Battery is also fine but I think right now WiFi Calling would be very useful. A family member just moved to an Island and the cell service is fair if it even works.
That's disappointing about 935A fw. Is it really laggy?
Also after flashing I couldnt write to my external sdcard. The system could but I lost those permissions and after much trial &error, I had to factory reset. Still not entirely sure why but it's been awhile since my phones had an sd slot. Think I recall removing it every time I flashed a new rom or even an update. Is that what you do?
Edit-it just occurred to me I downloaded the fw for my model G935U so I believe I am using the U firmware. I don't remember what xxa means. I think it applies to the region?

(D6616) 4 years since release. And still no custom ROMS. How come, Chief Willoughby?

I have a T-Mobile US branded Z3. It's still great in 2018. I've had to wipe it occasionally but as far as I can tell the hardware still beats most modern phones after nearly four years, especially in terms of camera and battery life. I actually like the the T-Mobile branded stuff on here, especially reliable visual voicemail and the ability to easily make calls and get/receive texts over wifi. Sony's customer services is abysmal, but that's okay for someone who likes to tinker on their own anyway.
My only issue with it is that the latest official ROM has some bugs that never got ironed out (GPS issues being the main one). Also, while Lollipop is fine, I'd like to be able to try out a newer version of Android, and I feel like the phone could handle it.
We seem to have figured out a way to get root and recovery without unlocking the bootloader (EDIT: If you're looking for how to do this, the latest version of NUT's XZDualRecovery seems to work great). I feel like the phone is still good, so I'd expect people to still be curious and working on this. Bonus points if we could package up the Tmobile apps for visual voicemail and wifi calling/texting and install them on top of the rom, too.
If nobody is still working on this actively, would it make sense to start a bounty?