[BIG FAQ] Nexus S General [Start Here before Clicking New Thread!] ** OUTDATED **
- Thread starter unremarked
- Start date
I am currently on 2.3. And I was thinking of updating to 2.3.1 but can someone please explain is it safe and stable??? And pls someone explain what are the actual updates in 2.3.1 over the 2.3.0. I have heard that there is improvement in browser (like less lag in scrolling etc.) Is it as smooth as iphone? Can someone confirm it? And should i go for the update?
Hi!
I just subscribed to the forum to report the exact same issue.
As I'm a brand new android owner (and besides, a foreigner) I didn't know how/where to report bugs. I hope I came to the right place?
Hi!
I just subscribed to the forum to report the exact same issue.
As I'm a brand new android owner (and besides, a foreigner) I didn't know how/where to report bugs. I hope I came to the right place?
This is a good a place as any.
If you want to file official bug reports with Google, though, you should go here: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/listTested and confirmed the issue with Skymaps and the accelerometer. Killing the task has no effect and only a reboot will release the accelerometer. Added to known issues, thanks guys!
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I just cant download, I think its more a wifi problem. The status bars are green but it says there is a network problem and I can't download from the marketplace.
It did work for a bit yesterday but today it stopped working again
got another one but unsure as if it's been there in previous versions either:
voice recognition (not voice search) doesn't work in French. It only recognizes voice input in English even though the welcome text prompts me to try some sentences in French:
Or maybe I need to setup an additional voice recognition engine?
Voice search works perfectly though...
voice recognition (not voice search) doesn't work in French. It only recognizes voice input in English even though the welcome text prompts me to try some sentences in French:
Or maybe I need to setup an additional voice recognition engine?
Voice search works perfectly though...
Two recurring issues for me (and it seems others) are that the ringtones change themselves (especially after rebooting or plugging USB); and pictures in Gallery can sometimes disappear.
I've noticed the former myself yesterday, but not the Gallery stuff. Do you mean custom ringtones or even the pre-installed ones?
Custom - as in, MP3s I've put onto the USB storage. I'm not sure if it's true with the pre-installed ones. Do you experience it with the pre-install ones? Luckily it's easy to recreate, so I'll test it now. I can recreate the issue by plugging/unplugging the USB storage, or rebooting the phone - after both these actions, the phone always changes the assigned ringtones.
By the way, this issue was reported to Google here: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=13413. Anyone who is experiencing random ringtone changes, please visit the link and star it so more attention is brought to Google; hopefully which will get fixed in a future update.
Will report back in a second regarding the pre-installed ones.
Yep, same thing here with the custom mp3 ringtones. But only when the USB is plugged in. Just tested, mine stays on reboot with no USB plugged in, but of course loses it whenever the USB is plugged in.
My thinking is that Android is "prepping" the SD partition, in a sense, for mounting so it's de-linking(for lack of a better term) itself from things on the partition. The same thing happens on a phone with a real SD card if you were to actually mount it, though typically the link(again, lack of a better term) is restored on unmount.
The Nexus S seems to have a premature eja--errr "mounting" issue.
EDIT: Does not seem to happen with the pre-installed ringtones, so perhaps a workaround would be to push custom tones to the system partition.
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Both the Nexus S and the Galaxy S have 512MB of RAM. Most of that is used by system processes, however, and what's left is available to the user.
Typically on a fresh reboot, I see my ram at around ~230-240mb and it will drop down from there as unkillable(in the sense that they will immediately relaunch upon kill e.g. NFC service, GB keyboard, etc.) apps start to run before finally settling around 180-200mb. I've had my RAM get as low as 50mb before and didn't notice a slow down at all. Gingerbread is much better at memory management than previous editions, imo.
@Unremarked, I experience the same with the ringtone changes. Hope you'll star the report in the link I provided.
Here's another one for the FAQ: Since starting to use noLED, anyone else noticing they're having trouble moving icons on their home screens? Have noLED on and long press an icon on your home screen and try to move it somewhere else. After letting go, it either reverts back to where it was, or it disappears! Even without being anywhere near the trash can.
I'm going to uninstall noLED and see if I can recreate this problem. If so, then it's not even noLED-related. However, I only experienced this after installing/using noLED. Anyone else?
The issues/glitch list in the FAQ should be significantly longer. Gingerbread is chalk full of them it seems. People should continue making reports to Google, as well.
Here's another one for the FAQ: Since starting to use noLED, anyone else noticing they're having trouble moving icons on their home screens? Have noLED on and long press an icon on your home screen and try to move it somewhere else. After letting go, it either reverts back to where it was, or it disappears! Even without being anywhere near the trash can.
I'm going to uninstall noLED and see if I can recreate this problem. If so, then it's not even noLED-related. However, I only experienced this after installing/using noLED. Anyone else?
The issues/glitch list in the FAQ should be significantly longer. Gingerbread is chalk full of them it seems. People should continue making reports to Google, as well.
That's a negative on the icon issue with noLED. However, it could be a non-issue for me because I use LauncherPro Plus instead of the stock launcher.
As for the issue/glitch list, yeah, I agree. I'm just grabbing things that seem to be a common topic of threads created in this forum or pointed out in this thread. I think I'd go nuts if I was to try and document every bug haha! I'm going to add a link to the official Google support site so folks know where to go to report these to the folks that can fix them.
Back to the topic of the ringtones, I'm testing now if we can push them to the system partition and if it'll keep it from changing. EDIT: Answer is yes. Pushing the .mp3 to the system/media/ringtones folder will keep the phone from changing ringtones on reboot, USB plug in, or USB mounted. So a workaround for now, though inconvenient for some.
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@Unremarked...
When I dock my USB Storage, I open the Media folder, but only see Audio (and then inside Audio, I see a Notification folder). I don't see any "Ringtone" folder. Can I just create one in Media folder?
Unless I'm misunderstanding your directions entirely?
When I dock my USB Storage, I open the Media folder, but only see Audio (and then inside Audio, I see a Notification folder). I don't see any "Ringtone" folder. Can I just create one in Media folder?
Unless I'm misunderstanding your directions entirely?
Ah yeah, my apologies, I should have been more specific. I used Root Explorer to move my ringtone .mp3 from its location on the SD card to the system/media/audio/ringtones on the system partition.
You could also adb push it there as well if you're more familiar with doing things that way. Should be something like:
adb push Name.mp3 /system/media/audio/ringtones
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Unfortunately the problem persists even after setting up the folder. My ringtones have changed again, including my alarm tones.
nxt
Senior Member
There's some good information here you can steal from:
http://ars.samsung.com/customer/usa...ID=2&PROD_SUB_ID=557&PROD_ID=752&AT_ID=350021
http://ars.samsung.com/customer/usa...ID=2&PROD_SUB_ID=557&PROD_ID=752&AT_ID=350021
?
There shouldn't be a folder to set up. You're placing your ringtones where the pre-installed ones are on the system partition, not on the SD card.
Sweet find!
I'm sorry, this is a bit new to me. Does Root Explorer require rooting your phone? I thought it meant just connecting the USB Storage to my computer, then creating a "ringtone" folder in /media/audio. I see I'm mistaken.
Edit: Thought Astro could do the same, but discovered it doesn't allow me to Move nor Copy the mp3 into that folder. I assume this requires rooting?
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26EDIT: EXTREMELY OUTDATED. I have not had this device for some time and will not be updating this post.
Please report all bugs encounter or search for and star the ones mentioned on these forums here: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/list ; This is the official bug report forum of Google and the best way to let them know of the problems you are having. Don't post "Me too"s on known issues, simply star and cross your fingers!
Because people seem to be incapable of using the wonderful "Search" function built into these forums, I'm putting together a list of questions that keep popping up in new threads every other day.
Q: How's the Battery Life?
Officially, the Nexus S is rated for 6hrs of talk time and 427 of standby time. How much battery life you get will entirely depend on what you use the device for and how much. On my first real non-vacation day, my Nexus S lasted a little over 16hrs on one charge through what I would consider heavy usage (flashing roms/backups, emails, texting, web browsing, long phone calls, etc). Your mileage may vary. Fellow poster @Luxferro managed to get 2days, 14hrs, and 13minutes out of his phone on a single battery charge. Discussed here: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=875809
Q: Does your GPS work?
Most people have reported their GPS to be functioning just fine, though there have been quite a bit of variation on lock times.
Q: Will this work on AT&T?
Yes, but you will not get 3G service. This is due to the different frequencies that T-Mobile and AT&T's 3G runs on.
Q: But it says it supports GSM band 850mhz!
GSM is 2G. UMTS is 3G.
Q: But Joe Bob/Dude down the street/My cousin's brother's nephew's wife said...
Stop it. It is likely that Google will release a version of the Nexus S with support for AT&T's 3G some months down the road, just like they did with the Nexus One but for right now, if you want 3G service, T-Mobile is the only way to go.
Q: Is tethering free?
So after having the phone for a bit of time now and tethering unimpended, I'm going to have to agree with @nxt that T-Mobile is not charging for or redirecting for tethering on this device. At least, for now. However, like in the original version of this answer, T-Mobile did announce that they were going to be charging for tethering but I've tethered every day for various amounts of time (including torrenting nearly a gig to my netbook) without so much as a hiccup. Source: http://bit.ly/d1NS9o
Q: Will TZones/Web2go/grandfathered web program work on this phone?
No, or at least, it doesn't appear to anymore due to T-Mobile locking down the IMEIs. When the phone was first released, people were reporting that it worked fine, then after a few days it became sporadic, before finally not functioning at all. See the discussion here for more information: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=864843
Q: I unplugged my phone, and my battery dropped from 100% to 95% immediately, or it won't/takes along time to charge past 99%, what gives?
This is by design. Your phone will slow down and eventually stop pulling charge at or slightly greater than ~95% regardless of what your battery indicator says. This is to extend the overall life of the battery, as constant 100% to 0% charge/discharge cycles will cause it to fail prematurely. If you're interested in really pushing it to 100%, you can use a technique that is called "bump charging" and is better detailed here: http://bit.ly/f6xiZ0
Q: When I reboot my phone while it's charging, the battery jumps from X% to Y%, what gives?
I'm honestly not sure what causes this, but sometimes Android/Gingerbread gets confused on how much exact charge is in your battery if you reboot it while it's charging. However, from personal observation, it's just a display issue. Android/GB will eventually start showing the correct percentages once the battery has "caught up" with what it thinks it is at. Also wiping the battery stats(root only) seems to help alleviate this issue. Either way, it's not a large concern.
Q: Can we port SenseUI/Galaxy S apps to the Nexus S?
Most likely, no. Those apps typically require the Rosie/Touchwiz framework in order to function. You can have those apps when and if a developer decides to port those ROMs in their entirety.
Q: How do I root/unroot the Nexus S?
Check the development section links below for more detail, but you gain root on the Nexus S by booting the phone into fastboot mode and typing "fastboot oem unlock." This will wipe your phone and it's SD card partition. To unroot it, again boot into fastboot mode and type "fastboot oem lock."
Follow the root guide stickied at the top of this forum: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=895545
In the event you want to return to stock, simply flash the NAND backup found here: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=884093 . This will restore everything, including the stock recovery image. Then as mentioned above go into the bootloader/fastboot mode and enter "fastboot oem lock" in ADB.
(All credit goes to the original author(s) of the linked thread!)
Q: Linpack/Quadrant Scores?
Linpack doesn't play very nicely with the Galaxy S lineup generating very low numbers in comparison to HTC devices. This is because the processors that are powering these devices operate in different ways. Does this mean the Nexus S processors are slower? Not really, just different. As for Quadrant, it doesn't currently work very well with Gingerbread and needs to be updated. The scores folks have been seeing though put it in the 1600 range without a modified kernel.
Q: There's no LED Indicator? What are those two circles next to the speaker?
Correct, like all Samsung devices(minus the Epic 4G on Sprint) thus far, there is no LED indicator light. There are apps, such as NoLED, on the marketplace which work great on the Nexus S and provide more or less the same functionality. There's another app called BLN which will blink the capacitive touch keys to let you know you have a notification, but it requires a custom kernel to support it. Those two circles are the Proximity Sensor and Ambient Light sensor.
Q: I can't zoom in and out on the camera app!
Correct, the digital zoom feature seems to be missing.
Q: Can the Nexus S do 720p?
No, at least, not right now and not on the stock ROM. It is possible that eventually our wonderful developer community will come up with a software hack for custom ROMs to allow 720p video recording, but at a reduced framerate than if it had a true 720p chip similiar to what they did with the Nexus One. Until then, the answer is no.
Q: But that one guy in Italy says the Italian version can do 720p recording!
No, he says that it can do 720x480 which isn't the same thing. The 720p "name" comes from the last numbers in the resolution, so in this case, it would be 1280x720(which the other Galaxy S phones are rated to shoot at).
Q: How do I video chat?
Google, unfortunately, did not develop a native app to support video chat and so we must rely on some from the marketplace. Right now, as far as I'm aware, Tango is the only one that has been updated to support video chatting on the Nexus S.
Q: My toys are better than your toys! Hahahaha!
Stop it and grow up. Different strokes for different folks. People spend their money on what they want to spend it on regardless of your agreement on their choice. Not to mention that this kind of behavior goes against the spirit of this community.
Q: I'm rooted with Clockwork and can't install the OTA! I updated to 2.3.1 and lost root! What gives?
most of the time, official OTAs will not install through custom recoveries because of their tendency to break root or restore things like the stock recovery. Also if you've made any modifications to the system files such as replacing the default Mms.apk(messaging) with the custom Black Mms.apk found in the Themes & Apps section, or deleted any .odex files from the system partition, it will not install. The easiest way to update to 2.3.1 is to flash a custom rom such as one of the custom ROMs or use the 2.3.1 Stock NANDROID backup found in the development section. And yes, 2.3.1 "broke root." To regain it, simply follow the steps in this thread: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=884499 (All credit goes to the original author(s) of the linked thread!). The aforementioned procedure is only needed on the Stock Nandroid Backup, not any of the custom ROMs.
Q: Clockworkmod says I'm not set up for OTAs! What gives?
That's not for official OTA updates from Google. Some custom ROM developers set up their roms to receive custom OTA updates or at least notifications of said update specifically for that ROM.
Q: Why have my Wifi/3G/Signal bars switched from green to white?
A green set of bars typically means that you are connected to and syncing with the Google Account servers. White means that this is not happening for whatever reason, usually something like a bad signal or low coverage area. Also the WiFi connection is set by default to turn itself off(aka sleep mode) when the screen is off, this can be adjusted under Settings > Wireless & Networks > Wi-Fi Settings > Menu Key > Advanced > Wi-Fi Sleep Policy. Don't panic, though, it's nothing too major.
(Suggested by mmas0n, thanks!)
Q: How do I restore the stock recovery?
Right now, it is NOT possible to flash the stock recovery over Clockwork Recovery at all. The only way to restore it is by NAND restoring the Stock 2.3.1 backup in the development section.
Q: Does the Nexus S have Gorilla Glass?
No, it does not. Take care of your device.
Q: The Nexus S only gets 3G? Omg, I only see a 3G icon!
The Nexus S gets UMTS and HSDPA, which are both technically 3G. Your phone idles on UMTS 3G, and when it starts downloading/uploading, it'll flip to HSDPA after a few moments. You can see this by typing *#*#4636#*#* into your Dialer, going to Phone Info, and looking at Network Type while downloading something. The ability to switch the icons on the notification bar is something that was added in custom ROMS, and is not supported by the stock ROM. Furthermore, the icon is not always an indicator of what kind of data connection you have. If I were so inclined(and I'm not) and/or had the technical skills(which I don't) to modify the framework, I could make it say OVER9000g when connected to anything. Rest assured, if you are on a network that uses the 3G bands the Nexus S supports, then you are recieving HSDPA regardless of what icon you see.
As suggested by Gogol(thanks!), now adding a...
Possible Known Issues(Reported by some users but not all):
Lag in the Web Browser
Back button is not responsive or doesn't light up
Pink / white / yellow tint on the screen
Weak WiFi signal
Weak cell signal (not necessarily specific to the Nexus S; T-Mobile's frequencies typically have bad building penetration)
Some apps running wild consuming battery
Missing apps in market (until Google updates to recognize 2.3.1 buildprint)
Accelerometer becomes "locked" after using Google Sky Maps requiring a reboot to free
Ringtones changing on their own following reboot/USB plugin (Push the .mp3 to /system/media/audio/ringtones to stop this *requires rooting*)
Stock launcher has home screen/scrolling lag issues (not present on market launchers like ADW/LauncherPro)
Home screen icons on stock launcher randomly disappear, disappear after move, or show up in folders they weren't moved to. (not present on market launchers like ADW/LauncherPro)
Please report all bugs encounter or search for and star the ones mentioned on these forums here: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/list ; This is the official bug report forum of Google and the best way to let them know of the problems you are having. Don't post "Me too"s on known issues, simply star and cross your fingers!
EDIT: EXTREMELY OUTDATED. I have not had this device for some time and will not be updating this post.1Understand that the development section for more detail on rooting / unrooting, but would greatly appreciate if you could post specific links in your FAQ to threads that you would use to root / unroot.
Am a newbie and since I see more than a couple of threads on the subject in the development section, I would greatly appreciate it if you can give links here based on your order of preference (after all its your thread) if there are more than one ways.
Point is a link in the FAQs would give more greater confidence
Updated to include links to two threads in the development section which should get you on your way.
The first one will help you setup ADB and the relevant drivers needed to input commands to the phone from your PC. The second is the actual rooting method and custom recovery installation.11
Ah yeah, my apologies, I should have been more specific. I used Root Explorer to move my ringtone .mp3 from its location on the SD card to the system/media/audio/ringtones on the system partition.
You could also adb push it there as well if you're more familiar with doing things that way. Should be something like:
adb push Name.mp3 /system/media/audio/ringtones
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
