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Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 GT-I8160 Guide to Flash Firmware

Smokey Mc Pot said:
@ j800r and anyone else,
Please accept my apologies if any of my comments give you the impression I persuaded you to do anything against your will on your phone.
It is not my intention to do such thing. My only intention is to share experiences, experiments and knowledge but also to learn from every one of you, who are willing to share your knowledge, experiences and experiments as well.

All the feedback you guys share and are willing to share is much appreciated.
And thank you all for the great feedback.

Smokey
Click to expand...

Hi Smokey,

Your procedure has been absolutely helpful, compared to the more larger community on XDA, I found your steps more easy to understand as I am a novice myself.

I actually dont mind rooting my phone and applying a custom ROM, like I have done for my Galaxy S, with Cyanogenmod 10. Unfortunately, there doesnt exist a stable custom ROM for Ace 2. So given that limitation, your steps to convert to the stock Jelly Bean from Samsung, has been really helpful.

Thanks,
Revhappy
 
Has anyone else noticed eventual extreme lag on the BTU MF1 firmware? After more time using it actually feels like it lags even more than MC8. Especially when there are play store updates. When it DOES lag the phone becomes useless for a short while. It's so frustrating. Almost makes me feel like going back to GB again.

I'm so frustrated cause sometimes it runs perfectly smooth yet sometimes it's like a damn paperweight. Any advice is appreciated. I'm already rooted and have Andromizer optimisations in place. Maybe it's SwiftKey? Although I doubt it.
 
Here is a question to ponder on. Is it to do with the touchscreen - i.e. it is something physical (hardware) on certain phones rather that software?? Sometimes the phone just doesn't seem to react - so I try the action again, nothing then try again and still nothing and the other times it responds immediately.
 
Nah mate. Your problem seems completely different. What I'm talking about is software lag. If your touchscreen is playing up you'll need to take it in for repairs.
 
j800r said:
Has anyone else noticed eventual extreme lag on the BTU MF1 firmware? After more time using it actually feels like it lags even more than MC8. Especially when there are play store updates. When it DOES lag the phone becomes useless for a short while. It's so frustrating. Almost makes me feel like going back to GB again.

I'm so frustrated cause sometimes it runs perfectly smooth yet sometimes it's like a damn paperweight. Any advice is appreciated. I'm already rooted and have Andromizer optimisations in place. Maybe it's SwiftKey? Although I doubt it.
Click to expand...

Mf1 same as philippines haha lagy so much cant take it any longer im using mg2 rusian so far n0 probs
 
Ya, I don't remember lag on the MG2 firmware. Of course, I wasn't using it for too long so lag may have appeared. All I know is while BTU MF1 gives more RAM actual performance/stability is worse.

I might just try flashing the Russian MG2 back on here but I can't be certain performance will be much better. However, I know it won't be worse. I'll stick with that till MG2 comes to BTU region.

P.s. Apologies if I'm rambling a little in this post. I'm trying to fix my sleeping pattern and feel like a zombie at the moment, lol.


**update**

Ok, so MG2 still has lag. Not much, but in YouTube particularly the problem is still evident. I'm actually debating downgrading to Gingerbread once again and just staying there as it seems quite evident to me that Jelly Bean just does not and will never work well on this device. I'll only truly be missing out with the Gmail and YouTube apps to my knowledge. Third party apps will all be the same.

Thing is, I want my device to "just work". On gingerbread it was like that, on Jelly Bean it's far more unreliable as sometimes for protracted periods it can be running fine yet out of the blue it can lag or crash. The argument to my desire to stick with Gingerbread is that I'll still be in contract till March 2015 and there's every chance support for Gingerbread may stop before then which would then FORCE me to "upgrade" to Jelly Bean anyway. Of course, by the time that day ever comes there's a slight chance Samsung will FINALLY have got it right and the Ace 2 will be STABLE on Jelly Bean although I doubt it.

Maybe Samsung should have just gave the device an ICS update instead and we may not have seen the same performance issues yet still have benefited from Google's 4.0+ app updates. I am so damn torn right now it's not even funny although every chance is that I WILL downgrade once more and STAY downgraded until support for GB gets dropped to the point that I have no real choice.

*update*

Ok, so back on GB now and I must say it feels like a different phone. Shortfalls are very few and minor while benefits are tenfold. So ridiculously stable by comparison. No need for heavy resource management. It all just works.
 
New firmware available on Sammobile:

Model: GT-I8160
Country: Turkey
Version: Android 4.1.2
Changelist: 1016990
Build date: Sun, 04 Aug 2013 04:51:42 +0000
Product Code: TUR
PDA: I8160XXMH1
CSC: I8160OJVMH1
MODEM: I8160XXMH1


If anyone trying this one ?
;) Share your feedback... Pwease.
 
I'd be tempted to try that out, but i've finally just managed to get the UK MF1 firmware stable(ish). It's nice to know they're still working on it at least.

**update**

Ok, so decided to try out the MH1 firmware so I could give feedback on it. I've only just flashed it today but so far so good and root works fine too. It'll take maybe a week to get a true impression but so far it's running like BTU MF1 with Andromizer tweaks and Nova Launcher, and all I've done is removed bloat.

**update**

Ok, so i know I said I'd give it about a week but after a day or so I've already uncovered performance is pretty much the same as MG2. YouTube still plays with hiccups and I get the feeling the lags will still be the same if I gave it enough chance.

In summary? If you're in Turkey it'll be a decent enough update for you. Anyone else? Don't bother installing it expecting everything to be magically fixed. I'm going back to BTU firmware though so I'm back on my own region.
 
Ok I am bored and decided to visit
http://www.samsung.com/uk/
Just to register my devices and to place some inquiries...

Bellow is the enquiry I made in regards to the ace 2:

◆ Smokey 18/09/2013 03:09:30

Since the update to jelly bean 4.1.2 that this device as become unusable and faulty.
The firmware is not optimized for the device.
There is not enough ram available.
The device freezes, crashes and reboots constantly.
Making it unusable and unreliable for the daily use.
Is there any intention to fix this faulty firmware ?


This is the reply I got:

SAMSUNG Customer Support Centre
◆ Naeve Savage [ 2184001833 ] 20/09/2013 10:19:21

Dear Smokey,
Thank you for contacting Samsung.
I
 
Lmao! What a load of bull.

In other words they think they've got it right and don't recognise a problem.

That's fine, cause on my next upgrade I'm getting an IPhone. If I DO stick with Android it won't be a Samsung.
 
j800r said:
Lmao! What a load of bull.

In other words they think they've got it right and don't recognise a problem.

That's fine, cause on my next upgrade I'm getting an IPhone. If I DO stick with Android it won't be a Samsung.
Click to expand...

No matter how much I'm unimpressed with Samsung.
I would never choose rotten apples and their attempts to create a new ice cream sandwich firmware as a substitute.
And specially I wouldn't boast about it on a Android forum.

Back to serious stuff:

The instructions worked.

◆ Removing the battery from the device for over 40 minutes.
- Drains any floating energy left in the device and kills all the persistent cashed data and processes.

◆ Re inserting the battery and forcing it to discharge and than recharging the device without booting the device.
- That is the process to calibrating the battery.

◆ Factory reset.
- That is the part we all know.

But from what I learned is that the persistent data survives the hot factory reset.
So the removal of the battery for at least 40 minutes is the key to a successful factory reset.

Happy Days!
 
Wow, I'd probably try that if I weren't running CM10 now. Seriously, it runs fantastic. Never had to take any of those steps and I have my device running fast again. The additional features make it worthwhile too (only thing I do miss is the brightness slider in the notification shade but it has a button so all is not lost.)

(as for the iPhone quip I am sick to death of people thinking it has to be one or the other. The dumb competition between platforms is just juvenile. If I didn't love Android I wouldn't be here.)
 
Smokey Mc Pot said:
◆ Re inserting the battery and forcing it to discharge and than recharging the device without booting the device.
- That is the process to calibrating the battery.
Click to expand...


Smokey, how do you force the Li-ion battery to fully discharge please??? Everything I can find on the net suggests completely discharge a Li-ion battery will ruin it???
 
DSSmobile said:
Smokey, how do you force the Li-ion battery to fully discharge please??? Everything I can find on the net suggests completely discharge a Li-ion battery will ruin it???
Click to expand...

Just use the phone until it switches itself off on is own.
First it will switch to energy saving mode by dimming the screen and finally will boot off.
And no it will not destroy the battery for as long you follow the instruction to charge the battery full without booting the phone or interrupting the process.

The instruction is in the post on the link bellow:
http://androidforums.com/showthread.php?p=6151638
 
I would not recommend going to Jelly Beans as it is too slow. If you already have then revert back To Gingerbread!!!
 
navman said:
I would not recommend going to Jelly Beans as it is too slow. If you already have then revert back To Gingerbread!!!
Click to expand...

:sly: Trolling Nonsense!!!

Welcome to Androidforums @navman.
You certainly made a impressive First comment/recommendation on this forum.

Please enlighten us on your experience and expertise on the subject ? ? ?

:D As for your claim... is silly and ridiculous to say the least.
 
Sm0ke thumbs up n0 lags n0 browser crashing frezing etc
And i g0t l0ng batery life also
I use all stock jelybean
Tanks for sharing
I just folow al the instructi0ns:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
 
I can now personally vouch that the method posted here works!

Previously attempted all sorts of workarounds etc.

I followed to the letter the instructions above, abbreviated a little as left the phone without a battery inserted for at least an hour (just to make certain the data was successfully flushed out)

Followed everything else and I am now 3 days later (wanted to make sure under normal usage circumstances) That the phone feels in use like Gingerbread, Albeit a tiny,tiny bit slower in comparison.

I have also regained the ability to record video / take photographs using the stock camera and save to my External 32GB Sd card. This option for some unexplainable reasoning before was omitted from the hot factory reset?!!!

I have used Youtube successfully without major headaches, tested with the pop-out window over the main interface to stress test, no problems so far.

Scrolling through apps on initial load of the interface is sluggish but then it generally smooths out after scrolling all the way through.

I have felt Guilty as hell for a while as both myself and my wife have this phone and obviously my wife was getting pretty pissed off with it after I updated her's first to Jelly bean :o So as now promised to fix her phone,
Ill use this method again and report back here.

Happy day's
 
I never noticed an improvement myself. I'd do the battery pull but it would make no difference. After installing a good few apps and heavy usage it would still get sluggish. That's why I'm sticking with CM10 for the time being as it feels lightning fast by comparison.

Great to hear it's worked for many of you though. :-)
 
j800r said:
I never noticed an improvement myself. I'd do the battery pull but it would make no difference. After installing a good few apps and heavy usage it would still get sluggish. That's why I'm sticking with CM10 for the time being as it feels lightning fast by comparison.

Great to hear it's worked for many of you though. :-)
Click to expand...

Actually followed the instructions to the letter, not just the battery pull but also the full factory reset and wipe. Must admit the camera video recording is a little buggy now. But then again a not very often used feature.
 
Thank you all for the feedback.
I much appreciate it.

I am really happy with the phone performance now.
I like touchwiz and the standard stock jelly Bean 4.1.2.

 
j800r said:
I never noticed an improvement myself. I'd do the battery pull but it would make no difference. After installing a good few apps and heavy usage it would still get sluggish. That's why I'm sticking with CM10 for the time being as it feels lightning fast by comparison.

Great to hear it's worked for many of you though. :-)
Click to expand...

:what: please can you elaborate on your comment ?

It doesn't make any sense.
So far your comment is the only negative feedback I have found and I don't even know if is for real, or just spam ?

But I need to inform you that the instructions are not the local candy shop where you pick and mix.
And to avoid any missunderstanding, I must also remind you that this topic is solely dedicated to the Stock firmware.

On another note, I better let you know that I am a senior member on xda and I am very aware about the bugs in beta CM10 for this device. So please try to refrain to attempting to sell CM10 to me like if was the best thing in this world.
Speed does not mean quality.
 
I didn't think this needed a new thread of its own, but has anyone else noticed that when you hold down the menu button to load Google Search after updating to Jelly Bean it takes a lot longer than it did in Gingerbread? Is there any way of speeding this up?

I tried looking for an old version of the Search apk but (I may be wrong here) it seems it's the same app, it just works differently on GB or JB. I much preferred the GB style which was quicker and loaded search results in my chosen browser, instead of the Search app itself.

The new Search app also seems quite unresponsive - it takes a few clicks of the same link to open it in a browser.

Anyone got any ideas?
 
"Google search" on JB is connected to "Google Now". That little personalized cards take time to load and specially if the network data is slow.
I think that there is a way to disable Google Now and might accelerate the process. But I think you will lose the personalized cards if you do that...
 
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