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Flashing, firmware, baseband, help?

Trooper said:
You can also download something like Android System Info or Watchdog to see if an app is dragging you down.

My battery life is definitely better today with the newer firmware, even though Im on the crappy ATT network here in the USA. Time will tell if I kepe this phone. Not that the phone stinks (it does not its awesome) but I am not getting as strong of a signal as I expected. May have to stick with VZW after all. Le sigh.

Not sure if its worth flashing an older firmware. Firmware gets updated for a reason you know? But yeah I would think that if you do flash an older firmware it would overwrite whatever you flashed prior. At least that's how its worked for me on my past phones.
Click to expand...

True true.. but my problem is the crappy coverage i suddenly get on the phone signal, i'm pretty sure it wasn't constant grey before (though it looks brown'ish to me) so my question is if i can update/downgrade the baseband (or any other individual parts of the trio 'csc/baseband/firmware') individually, mix and match as i please, or do i have to go through some special steps in order to achieve that?
Here's hoping that it's as easy done, as written :P
 
wellarmed said:
Trooper, did you root and then flash or just flash?

So here is my info:

PDA: XWKF3
Phone: XXKE7
CSC: XXKF1

I want to upgrade to the latest firmware and 2.3.4, and I live in the U.S. (AT&T).

Will the firmware Trooper used work on my phone?
Multiupload.com - upload your files to multiple file hosting sites!
Click to expand...

Answering on Troopers behalf here, if my memory serves me correctly... he's on Verizon Wireless, but unless your phone is branded, in all likelyhood it will work on yours, i flashed the exact same package last night, and i'm in scandinavia (unbranded)

You don't need to root to flash those official firmwares.
 
just to comment again on the improved battery life. 8am-midnight with fairly heavy use (gaming, texting, a few short calls, music) and i had over 20% at midnight, thats after around 16+ hours. best ive ever had! i think if i idled it over night, it wouldve lasted til 8am before it died out. very happy with KG5 in this sense.. if they'd only add google talk video now :D
 
heshanj said:
just to comment again on the improved battery life. 8am-midnight with fairly heavy use (gaming, texting, a few short calls, music) and i had over 20% at midnight, thats after around 16+ hours. best ive ever had! i think if i idled it over night, it wouldve lasted til 8am before it died out. very happy with KG5 in this sense.. if they'd only add google talk video now :D
Click to expand...

Strange.. didn't update it until recently when my dad got the exact same phone, noticed his had newer firmware, baseband and kernel, so went home, put it through kies, and since then i had shitty batterylife

After flashing to KG5 it's not been much better :/ so this is why i'm thinking of trying out a new baseband (modem?) to flash, to see if it makes any improvements.. but i'm unsure if i can just mix and match the 3 parts at my leisure, or if that's a big fat NO.

Lucky you btw... bastard :P
 
lol. thanks :D u can mix and match, it shouldnt be a problem.. but mine shows KG5 on everything.. including the kernel (not sure how though, coz i flashed CF root kernel which is KG6) after the #*1234# on ur dads phone, wat is his phone running?

EDIT: CF root KG5 kernel is out now also. just flashed.
 
heshanj said:
lol. thanks :D u can mix and match, it shouldnt be a problem.. but mine shows KG5 on everything.. including the kernel (not sure how though, coz i flashed CF root kernel which is KG6) after the #*1234# on ur dads phone, wat is his phone running?
Click to expand...

It's running what i posted up in a previous post in this thread, mine shows KG5 across the board too, but i have a 'brown' phone signal constantly in the battery usage statistics, optimally it should be green.. right ?

I don't think the Android OS bug is spiking as high as it did before (didn't at all before i updated through Kies) so i'm kinda taking shots at what it could be, i really doubt it's the 2.3.4, so if it's not the modem(phone) it's gotta be the kernel?
 
well if u flashed the OXA XXKG5, u should be having KG5 modem and kernel. and u can now root with a CF root KG5 kernel too
 
heshanj said:
well if u flashed the OXA XXKG5, u should be having KG5 modem and kernel. and u can now root with a CF root KG5 kernel too
Click to expand...

Yeah i do have all that, but what i'm trying to figure out if it's possible and safe to just flash the phone(modem) on it's own, without touching either kernel or firmware :)
 
Hi guys, very helpful thread. just a noob question,
I'm from Canada and I ordered my S2 from Newegg.ca, so my phone came factory unlocked and right now I'm running it on the Telus Network.
My phone is running on the UK firmware but I would like to use a North American firmware.
My questions is that would I be able to run any firmware from any region I want without damaging my phone?
And witch firmware will I be able use?
and I have a bunch of useless apps like BBC Iplayer that when I tried to open it, I get an error saying that it will only work in the UK.
Will updating my firmware to a different region get rid of those apps?

Here's the details for my SCS2:

PDA: I9100XWKF3
Phone: I9100XXKE7
CSC: I9100XEUKD1

Thanks alot!
 
id_mew said:
Hi guys, very helpful thread. just a noob question,
I'm from Canada and I ordered my S2 from Newegg.ca, so my phone came factory unlocked and right now I'm running it on the Telus Network.
My phone is running on the UK firmware but I would like to use a North American firmware.
My questions is that would I be able to run any firmware from any region I want without damaging my phone?
And witch firmware will I be able use?
and I have a bunch of useless apps like BBC Iplayer that when I tried to open it, I get an error saying that it will only work in the UK.
Will updating my firmware to a different region get rid of those apps?

Here's the details for my SCS2:

PDA: I9100XWKF3
Phone: I9100XXKE7
CSC: I9100XEUKD1

Thanks alot!
Click to expand...

By now i can 99% confidently say: Yes it will! the one me, Trooper, and Hesh have flashed, have none of those.. i DO believe they're included in the CSC (Carrier-Specific Customizations)

If it's a phone straight from the factory, it really DOES seem like it's worldwide, no difference in the hardware, plus i read somewhere else on the xda forum on an earlier info-sucking-quest that Samsung phones seem to be basically unbrickable unless you really do wanna break it on purpose :P i.e, flashing a custom rom designed for the GS1, or for a different phone.
 
yup, u can definitely update and change CSC.. like sid has said, flash a newer official firmware like KG5, the newest one.. its the best ive used.. the current one is with OXA (polish) CSC, and that includes no bloatware.. i havent seen north american firmware yet, guess thats coz its just being released in the US only now? this OXA firmware should be fine, its wat im using..

sid378 said:
Yeah i do have all that, but what i'm trying to figure out if it's possible and safe to just flash the phone(modem) on it's own, without touching either kernel or firmware :)
Click to expand...

yes im pretty sure it is. i remember using KG2 with a KG3 modem coz they said it was better.. which modem do u wanna flash?
 
heshanj said:
yes im pretty sure it is. i remember using KG2 with a KG3 modem coz they said it was better.. which modem do u wanna flash?
Click to expand...

Not quite sure.. first stop would be going back to what modem i had before i even flashed via kies... which i can't remember exactly what was :S i think kd1?

if that doesn't give me better phone signal (green) then i suppose try whatever else until i hit something that works better :P
 
hmm the first firmware that mine came with was KE1. however, i get a completely green bar for the phone signal, on KG5 modem. i dont think its a problem with that, but yeah u might as well try. i remember KF2 was a really good firmware, maybe u could try that
 
heshanj said:
hmm the first firmware that mine came with was KE1. however, i get a completely green bar for the phone signal, on KG5 modem. i dont think its a problem with that, but yeah u might as well try. i remember KF2 was a really good firmware, maybe u could try that
Click to expand...

Good tips, thanks! but where i live probably factors in to it too.. i actually only recently started to decipher the battery usage graph :P the phone signal i never figured out of until yesterday, i was around in the downtown area and had green signal at some point, but i don't exactly live out in the middle of nowhere, so i _should_ have good connection.. especially 'coz i know there's a mobile mast/tower right across the street from me :P
 
lol. yeah, that must be annoying.im surprised my phone signal on the graph is almost completely green. coz i live in an apartment on the 31st floor and the signal quality is crap, at least i assume its crap coz calls always drop (on all mobile phones in my house) and getting a good signal seems really hard :D i dont get it either
 
heshanj said:
lol. yeah, that must be annoying.im surprised my phone signal on the graph is almost completely green. coz i live in an apartment on the 31st floor and the signal quality is crap, at least i assume its crap coz calls always drop (on all mobile phones in my house) and getting a good signal seems really hard :D i dont get it either
Click to expand...

I just have to go around flashing various modems until i find one that works then... i read somewhere else that bad signal causes the phone to spend more power, actively searching for a better signal, so in order to use less power, obviously.. is in my case a better modem :P i'm really starting to think that's the cause of my high battery drain..
 
yeah, i definitely think that could be a cause.. do u see any moments while using ur phone with low signal or no signal at all?
 
heshanj said:
yeah, i definitely think that could be a cause.. do u see any moments while using ur phone with low signal or no signal at all?
Click to expand...

No.. it's pretty steady on that brown colour all the time, with the exception of being in town the other day, but now i'm going out, so we'll see what it shows when i get back, if the battery drain is alot less in the areas with green signal then it's almost obvious what the problem is ;)
 
heshanj said:
i meant do u see the signal bars on ur notification bar often at one bar etc? and good luck today :D
Click to expand...

Oh it's usually 2-4, 3-4 i see, almost never full strength, but i'm pretty sure i've had it.. i probably did before i updated through kies, but i can't remember what baseband i had then!

Thanks ;)
 
Thank you Sid and Heshan, you guys were very helpful,
I'm gonna go ahead and flash to the Poland one XXKG5.
Take care:)
 
wellarmed said:
Trooper, did you root and then flash or just flash?

So here is my info:

PDA: XWKF3
Phone: XXKE7
CSC: XXKF1

I want to upgrade to the latest firmware and 2.3.4, and I live in the U.S. (AT&T).

Will the firmware Trooper used work on my phone?
Multiupload.com - upload your files to multiple file hosting sites!
Click to expand...

Yes this firmware will work. I live in the US and am on ATT with this phone. However due to reception problems, going to try T-Mobile. If its not better, I will likely have to return or sell my SGSII and wait to see what VZW bring.

sid378 said:
Answering on Troopers behalf here, if my memory serves me correctly... he's on Verizon Wireless, but unless your phone is branded, in all likelyhood it will work on yours, i flashed the exact same package last night, and i'm in scandinavia (unbranded)

You don't need to root to flash those official firmwares.
Click to expand...

Im on ATT with the SGSII but on VZW with my Droid X.

heshanj said:
yup, u can definitely update and change CSC.. like sid has said, flash a newer official firmware like KG5, the newest one.. its the best ive used.. the current one is with OXA (polish) CSC, and that includes no bloatware.. i havent seen north american firmware yet, guess thats coz its just being released in the US only now? this OXA firmware should be fine, its wat im using..



yes im pretty sure it is. i remember using KG2 with a KG3 modem coz they said it was better.. which modem do u wanna flash?
Click to expand...

Yeah this is my take on it as well. Im new with this phone but not new to flashing and Android.

heshanj said:
hmm the first firmware that mine came with was KE1. however, i get a completely green bar for the phone signal, on KG5 modem. i dont think its a problem with that, but yeah u might as well try. i remember KF2 was a really good firmware, maybe u could try that
Click to expand...

I have all gray bars for a signal. Not sure if that is due to crappy ATT coverage or me using a European made phone on a US network. I plan on trying T-Mobile. If that too is bad, will sadly have to give up my new phone and wait it out.

id_mew said:
Thank you Sid and Heshan, you guys were very helpful,
I'm gonna go ahead and flash to the Poland one XXKG5.
Take care:)
Click to expand...

Yes go ahead and flash it, you will be fine if you follow the instructions on XDA. Let us know how you go! ;)
 
Trooper said:
I have all gray bars for a signal. Not sure if that is due to crappy ATT coverage or me using a European made phone on a US network. I plan on trying T-Mobile. If that too is bad, will sadly have to give up my new phone and wait it out.
Click to expand...

What we're tlaking about is under the battery usage statistics, the signal bars are grey no matter what (with the exception of themed roms)

Atleast i'm pretty sure you're talking about the bars you see in the notification area?

If your solution to the problem is the same as mine, it's easier to flash a different modem than returning this glorious piece of hardware ;)
 
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