[Q] New Android User Having A Lot Of Problems - Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Well hello first I'm new here I was an iPhone user so I'm having problems with the whole OS that is Android I don't understand anything here, I bought a Galaxy S4 (M919) from T-Mobile cause I wanted to try something different and I tought the Galaxy S4 was the right choice for me, I don't want to regret switching to Android mainly because almost all the apps I used on my iPhone are not on Android I have looked so much for like tweaks or stuff like that that I used to do on my iPhone with cydia but I can't find anything, almost all the themes I find are so ugly well I come here to find help and make understand all the capabilitites of Android.
So I bought my phone from T-Mobile paid full price for it to get it unlocked unfortunately they haven't helped at all with unlocking it, I found a guide here that was dialing a number to go on service mode and change some settings I have tried this method so many times and it hasn't worked I even accidentally deleted the backup on the last step, I'm so lost I would appreciate some help on this matter.
I have been looking for ROMs mainly to help on battery life and movings app to my sd card any recommendations on which ROM should I pick and some guide on how to install it.
Any help intoducing me on the Android OS would be gladly appreciated and thanks for reading this.

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[Q] Intro and a uple ??s

Hi people,
I am a noob as far as Android goes, but I am pretty good at PC stuff. I run a 3D CAD department and I've been the "unofficial" tech guy at every job I've had in the last 10 years.
That being said, I just got the HTC Hero from Sprint last weekend, Android 2.1, update 1. I have always wanted to play with Linux but have never really had the time. So, this is my first encounter with Android or Linux.
So ..... , as much as I'd love to root the phone, I'm afraid to brick it. Is there any way to get rid of all the bloatware without rooting my phone? Also, what are the chances of bricking the phone? I've read a couple "how to root" articles on the net and it doesn't seem like it would be that hard, but I LOVE this phone so far (other than battery life) and I honestly can't afford to go buy a new one at full price if I end up killing my phone.
Another question; I've seen a few people in other posts who have the HTC Hero and say they're running 2.2. How is this done? Is this something else that I would need to root the phone to accomplish?
Also, I just ordered an 8GB microSD card. My laptop has a card slot, so I'm figuring I can put the new card in the slot, connect my phone via USB, and copy everything on the phone to the new 8GB card, then just swapping the cards.
Am I correct thinking this should be as simple as it sounds, or is there more involved?
I appreciate you taking the time to read my post, and I look forward to reading/posting here on a regular basis.
Thanks,
Eric Mortenson
Hey, welcome to XDA!
It is VERY HARD to brick this phone, so don't worry....about the only way we've seen that is by flashing a GSM radio to it, so just don't do that and you'll be fine trying anything else.
There are a couple rooting methods here, and there won't be any problems at all as long as you follow the instructions. It's not as daunting as it may first seem. You do have to root to get rid of bloatware, it can't be done without rooting. I recommend this guide: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=694572 although there are 'one-click' and 'universal' methods out there too.
The ones running Android 2.2 are doing it through a custom ROM called Cyanogenmod. Check out the Development section to find it. It doesn't have the HTC Sense UI though, so it will look and feel different than your stock 2.1. But lots of people here are using it and loving it. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=755795
And yes, you should just be able to swap out the SD cards with no problems.
chromiumleaf
Thanks for the quick and helpful reply. It is greatly appreciated.
I think I am going to try to root my phone. Pre-installed "bloatware" on PCs is one of my biggest pet peeves. So, the biggest reason I have right now for rooting my phone is to get rid of the stuff I don't want/need/use.
I will probably leave the 2.1 on the phone because I love the phone so far and if as you say, it will look and feel different. Maybe I'll keep digging through the site and change my mind later. Thanks for the "heads up".
Please do me one favor, and I hate to sound ignorant (I did say earlier I was new at this), but what does "flashing a GSM radio to it" mean, and is it something I could do my mistake?
Sorry, tried doing a search so I wouldn't have to bother you but I'm just not sure.
Thanks again.
Eric
Eric_1966_FXE said:
...what does "flashing a GSM radio to it" mean, and is it something I could do my mistake?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To "flash" some code means to burn it into your phone's read-only memory. A number of things can be flashed to your phone's memory, including the radio operating code, high-level operating system code, and "kernel" (system "core") code.
What the poster meant by "flashing a GSM radio" is "downloading the code that operates the phone's radio". Our Sprint Hero phones have what is called CDMA radio hardware, while European Hero phones have GSM radio hardware. The two different radios are not compatible with each other's operating code. So if you ever download ("flash") the wrong radio code (GSM code) into your CDMA phone, that will render your radio inoperative, which will effectively brick your phone.
With that in mind, just read carefully any information relating to any system code you're considering flashing to your phone, and make SURE it's for a CDMA phone, and you'll be fine.
I loved sense and was all against even trying an aosp rom( vanilla/ stock android), but once I flashed CM6 and found beautiful widgets and launcher pro plus and dialer one I haven't looked back. The speed of my phone and the overall appearance is far better than Sense UI. Rooting the 2.1 is far easier than it was when I got mine. You had to download and type in a whole bunch of crap, now its as easy as installing an app and running it.
Thanks
Thank you to all three of you for your quick (and more importantly useful) answers.
You guys are awesome.
Go for it
I have 4 Hero's here at my home on a family plan,and mine is the only one running CM6-RC1 and they are all jealous. Every one that has a Hero at work or a different Android running 2.1 that has seen mine including a few Evo users loves the way mine looks and how fast it is. I thought in the beginning I wouldn't want to loose Sense and feared I would brick my phone as well,but these guys here are great and are a very supportive Hero community and walked me through the process. It is a lot easier now with the universal 1 click method than before,so that was what I did. The nice thing is if you do everything correctly,you can revert right back to you stock phone if you ever have to take it in for service.
Taking your time and researching all of this pretty good before deciding what to do is a good thing,but I can honestly say, there is so much more you can do once you unlock your phone than just downloading apps and bloat ware...you can actually make it work and do what you want it to do.
The chiefs here at XDA are working hard to bring us stable working Roms for everyday use,and I tip my hat to all of them and I certainly am loving how my Hero is now compared to what it was when it was stock.The RC-1 build I am running is awesome and (knock wood) haven't crashed 1x with it where I needed to do anything nor have I had any shutdowns or unexpected forced closed programs that were installed correctly.
So I say... Don't be afraid and just go for it.. you can still have it similar to what it is now,or you can see what aosp is all about like many here have and try it.That's the beauty of Rooting...YOU have the choice of what is on your phone..not someone else.
Good Luck
Mac
Thanks Mac
And Thank you to all who responded.
Like I said in my intro, I am a tech geek when it comes to PCs but this is my first venture into this kind of forum.
You have all been extremely helpful and have made me feel welcome.
I only hope that I can return the favor at some point to others on XDA.
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend.
Thanks again,
Eric

Stock / Non Annoying Android?

Hi,
I'm a longtime iOS user that just bought a galaxy s5 to see if it was good for me, I however have been disappointed because of all the annoying software that comes preloaded that slows the phone down, I tried out a nexus 5 and loved it however I had received the international version which wouldn't work with Sprint, so I thought I'd try the S5 and I like it except I wish it was more like the nexus 5(non-laggy, etc...) so now I'm curious...is there anything out there that will turn the sgs5 basically into stock Android like nexus 5? How do I install them? I couldn't find any reliables build on cyanogenmod nor could I figure out how to backup in case I wanted to revert back to standard android that came with it...I don't know if I put enough research into finding what I'm looking for but I googled and read stuff that I didn't quite understand most of the day. Any help would be very appreciated.
Sorry to ask such a dumb question to those who are going to troll.
Search XDA for s5 debloat or similar, it will give you a list of what can be removed, and I think there are some debloat tools as well.
Try this on for size should be right up your alley http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2857451
..

New to the Android World!

Hey everyone, i have been an apple fan for quite some time now (literally my whole life)! All my phones are iPhones, all my products are apple! I have become a complete Apple enthusiast. However, after a simple 20 minutes, playing with samsung galaxy s6 edge+, i completely fell in love with the design and went into sprint to trade my iPhone for an Edge+! I been using the Edge+ for about a month now and i have no regrets to be honest, i simply love it.
Now my curious question which surely has been answered numerous of time, what is the purpose of root on android devices? I understand that for IOS jailbreak offered access to manipulate certain features of the phone that were not intended otherwise. However, android offer customization from the start. So why else would i need to root my android device?
The only reasons i want to get root from the little bit of research ive done is to obtain more languages and remove bloatware. I want to install French and German languages for my phone (I'm studying both languages), as well as remove all the infamous bloatware the Samsung phones have. What rom would i need to be able to do both those things?
Also any other things i should get for my phone when rooting? Any help is appreciated! Help my Android switch journey become a fulfilled dream lol
I rooted my first phone an Samsung Galaxy S2 just because i didn't liked the audio qualtity when using headphones. There are still great apps like "viper4android" for this purpose. Then to remove ads. I still haven't rooted my S6 edge plus and the ads are driving me crazy.
After rooting you can rewrite your whole system with a different Rom & Kernel. It always feels like as if you have a new phone. Rooting is fun if you know what you are doing.
With root you can do a lot of things. Like installs new roms, kernels, audio "hacks"/tweaks and generally tweak almost everything. However you need knowledge for this are it comes with risks. If this phone is your primary phone I will suggest you to not root alter it in any way unless it's something really important. Ofc you can buy another cheaper phone and your secondary experimental phone but this will cost ofc. If you still want to proceed read guides. Read a lot. Read guides here on XDA and everywhere else. Rooting and flashing comes always with various risks.
You can disable bloatware without having root. Take a look: http://forum.xda-developers.com/note5/general/guide-bloating-touchwizzing-note-5-t3184563
That is a great idea, however my main reason for rooting is adding more language features for my phone. I want to be able to convert my phone from french to german to any other language i see fit. I would still need to root the phone unless there is another way for me to do that?
JonathanAV95 said:
That is a great idea, however my main reason for rooting is adding more language features for my phone. I want to be able to convert my phone from french to german to any other language i see fit. I would still need to root the phone unless there is another way for me to do that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For that you dont need rooting. Simply go to settings -> language and input -> at language choose which one you want and the device will simply start using that language.

Reinstall Android on Galaxy Note 4

Hey guys,
first of all I want to mention that I'm new to this forum so forgive me if I do or did anything wrong . Second I want to tell you a few things about me and my device so it's easier for you to provide efficient troubleshoot. I'm using a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 - N910F for since it's release so about close to 3 years now. I'm familiar with simple things like like rooting the smartphone or creating backups and stuff like that, but I'm sure I will be able to perform some harder things too since I'm working in the technical support team of Apple but since there is a huge difference between iOS and Android I would say I'm a noob here .
I already searched for a solution using google and the search function of xda but couldn't find anything so I thought it would be best to create a thread myself.
What I want to do is delete the OS of my smartphone entirely and download the original or maybe a custom OS (I don't mind) and install it on my phone. I want to do this because I think my phone got old and doesnt perform so well anymore in many points, also the battery consumption got higher with time.
Thank you in advance!
Try do a factory reset first. If it doesn't work then, download the latest ROM for your version of Note4. Odin it to your phone.

Beginner needing some guidance in how to confirm editon and also how to flash etc

Hi,
Well, the thread name wasnt what i wanted but hopefully people find it interesting and check anyway
A couple years back when the S3 and S4 were new i used to do this to my phones, emui was what i installed.
Anyway, years have gone by and i remember exactly nothing of how to do it.
I have checked some videos ytube but it doesnt really feel 100% secure going just by a video for a samsung s4 or whatever samsung device they choose to show it with.
Anyway, what i want is to flash(correct term) ressurection rom on my phone.
Can you guys please help and maybe help me along the wathe phone this is about:
Swedish sold Samsung S5
Model number SM-G900F
android version 6.0.1
basebandversion G900FXXS1CQD (I think basebandversion is the correct term in english..=)
Is there anything else you know?
I would be very pleased if someone could warn me for differenet dangers and also other things to think about and also HOW TO do it either by writing it or linking to a place that is 100% verified to work. I DONT want to brick my 1600$reserve phone but i also want it to have a better look and feel more up to date so to speak.
I really admire the things you can do to your phone with resurrection ROM. Talk about what a possibility to make a little bit out of fashion phone up to fasion, MY fasion!
Please do remember i have done this before but that has left my memory totally blank regarding this.
I´m a newb i phone tech talk etc but im not dumb per se, computers and phones arent my thing, engines and building speakers and now im entering into the realm of building a power and pre amplifier so tech savvy i am, at my interests.
Phones, are phones. But i still like to have them work and look alot more better and a adore the ability to customise as much as is possible with ressurection rom.
Feel fre to post suggestions on other ROMs too!! Keep in mind that i do not game AT ALL. I call, sms, surf and such but dont do anything creating super high capacity speed. But i still dont whant a slow phone.
But main thing here is help in making my phone as customizable as possible.
Thanks//Mathias from Sweden

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