[aargee]

Rajeevraj & bhp_maniac - Tks guys; I take that I consulted with the experts here regarding my choice with XPeria U. And yes, I stay more organized & don't like to have a single additional file wasting memory.

Headers & hiren959 - Sorry on Motorola :( However when compared, I found the battery life is good with Motorola compared to XPeria U; good.

[amalji]

Originally Posted by sbkumar

Will doing a factory reset trigger the brick bug? I read documentation on XDA and got the general opinion that if I am on stock ICS already I should be really careful. I checked the risk level using the app on XDA and found that I do have it.

No need to go back to gingerbread before the upgrade.
And no need to do a factory reset before the upgrade.
Just go ahead and upgrade to 4.0.4 using Mobile ODIN - How To Unroot to ICS 4.0.4 on Galaxy Note GT-N7000! | RootGalaxyNote.com

Ensure that your phone is rooted before you proceed. To know, how to root your Galaxy Note, follow the tutorial at How to Root Galaxy Note! [GT-N7000] | RootGalaxyNote.com

[headers]

Go for Samsung guru models..you get them under 2000 bucks..and they are great vfm.

[sbkumar]

Originally Posted by amalji

No need to go back to gingerbread before the upgrade.
And no need to do a factory reset before the upgrade.
Just go ahead and upgrade to 4.0.4 using Mobile ODIN - How To Unroot to ICS 4.0.4 on Galaxy Note GT-N7000! | RootGalaxyNote.com

Ensure that your phone is rooted before you proceed. To know, how to root your Galaxy Note, follow the tutorial at How to Root Galaxy Note! [GT-N7000] | RootGalaxyNote.com

Thanks Amalji ! But the Rooting guide says it's for Gingerbread. Does it also work on ICS?

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by sbkumar

Thanks Amalji ! But the Rooting guide says it's for Gingerbread. Does it also work on ICS?

Use this guide.
I rooted my 4.0.3 Note using this guide
[02Feb12]How to Root/Unroot Samsung Galaxy Note + CWM (simple step at end of post) - xda-developers

Simple, and safe.

[VW2010]

@sbkumar

Do not factory reset at this point. Do the following.

Root the phone
[02Feb12]How to Root/Unroot Samsung Galaxy Note + CWM (simple step at end of post) - xda-developers

Secondly - Find Abyss Note 4.2 Kernel and flash this kernel

Now you are good to wipe/factory reset your device any number of time you want to.

Just check what kernel you are in before you are flashing. If you are in GB kernel or Abyss Note 4.2 Kernel you are good to go

[kaushik_s]

Originally Posted by DCEite

The only issue i have is that Stupid Kies software. It does not update the firmware if you are using a USB dongle to access the internet. Strange.

If you dont mind, would you let me know did you handle your Galaxy S roughly or installed custom ROMs/third party software ?

Strangely Kies is working for me fine nowadays. Whenever I connect the phone to my PC it's able to recognize it, although no more official updates to firmware from Samsung anymore.
Nope, I've not installed any custom ROM or such. These problems are plaguing my phone almost from the day I bought it. I always used to think that problems got resolved once I upgrade the OS but only to see them creeping back after few weeks of usage. Seems like there might be issues with the motherboard or something and so I'm seeing so much of problem. Basically I got a lemon and yes, in my friend circle too others are using the same phone without any problem.
Anyway, I'll probably try to install a custom ROM and see if it helps. If not then I'm gonna get myself a new phone. Although I want to avoid buying a Samsung again but as of now the Galaxy S3 seems to be best choice amongst Androids.
Regards,

[fiorano88]

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

Strangely Kies is working for me fine nowadays. Whenever I connect the phone to my PC it's able to recognize it, although no more official updates to firmware from Samsung anymore.
Nope, I've not installed any custom ROM or such. These problems are plaguing my phone almost from the day I bought it. I always used to think that problems got resolved once I upgrade the OS but only to see them creeping back after few weeks of usage. Seems like there might be issues with the motherboard or something and so I'm seeing so much of problem. Basically I got a lemon and yes, in my friend circle too others are using the same phone without any problem.
Anyway, I'll probably try to install a custom ROM and see if it helps. If not then I'm gonna get myself a new phone. Although I want to avoid buying a Samsung again but as of now the Galaxy S3 seems to be best choice amongst Androids.
Regards,

Of all the custom ROM's for the note ive tried, and ive tried almost all criskelo is the most stable and gives a slight improvement in battery life as well. also stay as far away from King Droid as possible, its frankly rubbish and the phone will reboot at every instance.
root galaxynote has detailed procedures and reviews.

[fiorano88]

Originally Posted by amalji

No need to go back to gingerbread before the upgrade.
And no need to do a factory reset before the upgrade.
Just go ahead and upgrade to 4.0.4 using Mobile ODIN - How To Unroot to ICS 4.0.4 on Galaxy Note GT-N7000! | RootGalaxyNote.com

Ensure that your phone is rooted before you proceed. To know, how to root your Galaxy Note, follow the tutorial at How to Root Galaxy Note! [GT-N7000] | RootGalaxyNote.com

Using ODIN/Heimdall increases the binary counter and hence will void warranty whereas if you use CWM to flash the ROM then the counter doesnt increase and theres no way to find if a custom ROM was ever installed and hence is a better option

XDA has zip files of all stock ROM's as well.

[VW2010]

Using ODIN/Heimdall increases the binary counter and hence will void warranty whereas if you use CWM to flash the ROM then the counter doesnt increase and theres no way to find if a custom ROM was ever installed and hence is a better option

Let me explain what happened to my Note. I have done multiple rounds per day of rom updates. I had yellow triangle and counters saying 4-5. At this point I used to simply load a stock rom package using ODIN and voila everything is back to normal.

The story is that in one such instance i did brick my phone. The famous EMMC brick. The good part is this brick causes problem to update ROM but has no problem to update a kernel. I updated a stock kernel and the counter and stuff were reset.

All this me being carefull and trying to take it to samsung service centre.

At service centre, first the SE tried to upload with latest software(ROM in our world). It failed. He tried few other files. Nothing worked and he said there is a problem with the mother board and it needs to be replaced with New one under warranty.

A week later my phone has new mother board and here i am in CM9 flashing one ROM a day if not two or three.

Just now tried the Liquid black rom and ran yards at lightening speed back to CM9.

Tonight is the night i will taste the JB pre alpha in my Samsung Galaxy S(Not note) when i try to play with that phone.

[woof]

Friends,

Need to gift a android phone to my sister this Rakhi. I have a budget of about 10-12k. Kindly suggest the best phone available within this range. Can extend by couple of grands if required.

Thanks!

[kaushik_s]

Originally Posted by fiorano88

Of all the custom ROM's for the note ive tried, and ive tried almost all criskelo is the most stable and gives a slight improvement in battery life as well. also stay as far away from King Droid as possible, its frankly rubbish and the phone will reboot at every instance.
root galaxynote has detailed procedures and reviews.

Mine is Galaxy S not note. Any pointers on which ROM is best suited for Galaxy S? I just want to try it out as anyway I've made up my mind on a new phone unless this ROM do some wonders and make my phone better.

[VW2010]

Mine is Galaxy S

For Galaxy S there is nothing better than the stable CM7. I am running this and the phone feels twice faster if not thrice.

I am going to try the newly leaked JB tonight and see how it fares.

[amalji]

Originally Posted by fiorano88

Using ODIN/Heimdall increases the binary counter and hence will void warranty whereas if you use CWM to flash the ROM then the counter doesnt increase and theres no way to find if a custom ROM was ever installed and hence is a better option

XDA has zip files of all stock ROM's as well.

On the same URL, they have mentioned how to get over that issue as well.

*If you are unrooting your phone for warranty, you can also download Triangle Away app (also available on Play Store) and run it just before unrooting to reset the binary counter.

[amalji]

Originally Posted by woof

Friends,

Need to gift a android phone to my sister this Rakhi. I have a budget of about 10-12k. Kindly suggest the best phone available within this range. Can extend by couple of grands if required.

Thanks!

Extend that grand by a couple of grands and go for Galaxy Ace plus. Anything below that price and you have a lot of compromises to make for an android phone.

Originally Posted by VW2010

For Galaxy S there is nothing better than the stable CM7. I am running this and the phone feels twice faster if not thrice.

+1 to that. CM7 is the best ROM for galaxy S, and they have listed the phone as a supported phone on their website as well. Go for the stable variant of CM7