[Q] What Have I Done...

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In a moment of madness the other day, I ordered one of these devices. I've had some experience of Android on an HTC Wildfire & Archos 101 so thought it would be a relatively safe bet. But oh no.

Can't find a way to access photos on a Windows Media Connect server with the supplied apps & of course, there's no user guide supplied. Look online & the current user guide is for Gingerbread when the device has Froyo. So I thought I'd check & see if Gingerbread has been released in the UK & if that made any difference. Dear old Samsung can't be like other manufacturers & provide a simple "check for software update" in the settings menu, that would be far too simple. No, you need to download & install a Windows program & update via USB. Now while a PITA, would be just about acceptable if Samsung had ever in their history written a decent piece of Windows software - which they haven't. PC Studio & Emodio being two examples of flaky software with pigeon English. So no surprise whatsoever when Kies proves to be yet another piece of ****.

Anyone have any idea why Kies can't establish a USB connection to W7 despite the mass storage device connecting fine? Just sits there trying to connect. No errors, no timeout, just sits there.

When posting here, you really need to post your variant... 4.0 or 5.0?

I'm surprised you're still on Froyo - usually it's United States customers that get screwed on updates but both the 4.0 and 5.0 are on Gingerbread I'm fairly certain.

Apologies, too busy ranting, it's 5.0.

After trying an XP machine with another USB cable I've discovered that the device has to be manually placed into Kies mode under Settings > USB. Again, why can't they just prompt when the USB is connected like other manufacturers?!

Anyway, so now I finally have Kies running & it tells me that despite the current online manual being for Gingerbread, Froyo is the latest available. Think I'll just give up, send it back & write a big note to self never to buy anything from Samsung again.

"Anyone have any idea why Kies can't establish a USB connection to W7 despite the mass storage device connecting fine?"

Yes, because you have to set the USB mode to KIES mode. That is for Gingerbread; I do not know if that is the case for Froyo, or why you have the old system.

I have a 5.0, never used Kies and don't plan to. USB set on "Mass Storage", connects with USB instantly. I'm on W7. Must used USB cable provided (unless you're lucky and found another that works, many don't). Never used Media Connect, can't help you there, I just dragged all my MP3 into the extrernal SD card.

Originally Posted by crocodile

In a moment of madness the other day, I ordered one of these devices. I've had some experience of Android on an HTC Wildfire & Archos 101 so thought it would be a relatively safe bet. But oh no.

Can't find a way to access photos on a Windows Media Connect server with the supplied apps & of course, there's no user guide supplied. Look online & the current user guide is for Gingerbread when the device has Froyo. So I thought I'd check & see if Gingerbread has been released in the UK & if that made any difference. Dear old Samsung can't be like other manufacturers & provide a simple "check for software update" in the settings menu, that would be far too simple. No, you need to download & install a Windows program & update via USB. Now while a PITA, would be just about acceptable if Samsung had ever in their history written a decent piece of Windows software - which they haven't. PC Studio & Emodio being two examples of flaky software with pigeon English. So no surprise whatsoever when Kies proves to be yet another piece of ****.

Anyone have any idea why Kies can't establish a USB connection to W7 despite the mass storage device connecting fine? Just sits there trying to connect. No errors, no timeout, just sits there.

I have a 5.0 from the UK as well and the 2.3.5 Gingerbread ODIN version posted in the Android Dev section (http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1389809) works fine on our devices. It even saves you the hassle of using Kies which is a giant pain.

As for Windows Media Connect, not exactly sure what protocol it uses but you may have some luck with the AllShare app provided by Samsung (unsure if it was included in the Froyo version but it is definitely standard in Gingerbread.) Hope you have some luck as it really is a great device once you get past the initial humps. Let us know how it goes.

Thanks guys.

Originally Posted by markr041

Yes, because you have to set the USB mode to KIES mode. That is for Gingerbread; I do not know if that is the case for Froyo, or why you have the old system.

Worked that out in the end thanks. According to this thread, Gingerbread isn't released in the UK:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1362386

Originally Posted by n64_ali

I have a 5.0 from the UK as well ..

Seen the Odin option but don't really want to start hacking in case it does need to go back. Haven't looked to see if Odin can revert back to Froyo. If it can I may give it a go but hearing reports that Gingerbread knackers the GPS receiver.

AFAIK, Media Connect is just another DLNA. The Gallery app seems to have no option to view anything on the LAN & AllShare seems to be limited to creating AV playlists. It can't view photos & every video file on my server is apparently in an "unsupported format"!

The hardware seems decent enough but I'm not sure I have the will or desire to source replacements for every pre-installed app. My worry going forward is that Samsung pull their usual stunt of "Here's a new model, we don't have to bother with the (6 month) old one now"...

I use File Expert to view/move files/pictures on my home PC, does a wireless connection (as do many explorers). FX File Explorer is also nice (as well as Astro and ES Strong). Most pre-installed apps on any device have much better free counter parts. I don't think I'm use anything that came with the phone (other than system stuff), and I'm not rooted (yet)... but will be so I can get rid of it all for good. Although there's tons of app space, so doesn't bother me much at the moment.

Music Player: Cubed
File Explorer: File Expert
Tasks: Any.do
Calls: GrooveIP
Mail: K9
Photos: Quickpic
Texting: Google Voice
Camera: Camera Zoom
Apps:: Appbrain
Calendar: Yes I am using default calendar! (with Simple Cal Widget)
Kindle Reader

Not much there that came with it!

Originally Posted by tcat007

I have a 5.0, never used Kies and don't plan to. USB set on "Mass Storage", connects with USB instantly. I'm on W7. Must used USB cable provided (unless you're lucky and found another that works, many don't). Never used Media Connect, can't help you there, I just dragged all my MP3 into the extrernal SD card.

All of my USB cables work with the device (from N900, N950, various other phones) so I'm not sure why people have troubles with this. But I may just be lucky.

Re Windows Media Connect server, does the pre-installed app called "AllShare" not work?

Originally Posted by lardman

Re Windows Media Connect server, does the pre-installed app called "AllShare" not work?

Originally Posted by crocodile

AllShare seems to be limited to creating AV playlists. It can't view photos & every video file on my server is apparently in an "unsupported format"!

Can't be sure without any proper documentation but it appears to be limited as above.

I'm really not sure the device offers enough to make the effort of rooting in order to uninstall all the garbage worth while.

I'd like to think that the lack of an official Gingerbread release means Samsung are working on fixing the bugs. But my previous experience of their products makes me think otherwise.