[SC-02C] Japan NTT DoCoMo Galaxy S II Users

[nakagusukumike]

i pulled the MobileTV_JPN.apk file but am unable to get it to install on another ROM.

I think the TV should be working fine on custom rom as long as we flash the NTT kernel and baseband back. Only problem will be getting this damn application to install.

For those who want to try, the application is here:

http://blacklinux.com/pages/public/computers/android/SC02C/

 

[evildave_666]

I was looking at the structure of a full samsung rom image. This is what it contains:

boot.bin
Sbl.bin
param.lfs
factoryfs.img
zImage
hidden.img
cache.img
modem.bin

With regard to factoryfs, rfs is a red herring - its an old samsung-specific filesystem type for the S1 that's not used on the shipping roms for the S2. S2 images are ext4 AFAIK based on looking at the .rc files on github.

cache.img in a full rom image just contains what's necessary to reinitialize things. Our "full-rom" odin image should probably contain such a cache.img.

Sbl.bin can probably be a rip from 0p2. In theory odin should always flash the "inactive" SBL (one that's not being used presently) so you can recover with a usb jig if the SBL is faulty.

I want to look at the source for heimdall to see if I can find any reference to where boot.bin goes and what hidden actually is.


Regarding the TV app, have you tried remounting /system rw and adb pushing it there, then rebooting?

 

[nakagusukumike]

i just remounted the fs then copied the files. Also tried "installing" from a copy of the APK in the sdcard, but no dice.

mount -o remount rw /system
chmod 644 /system/app/MobileTV_JPN.apk

file is ownership/groups/permissions look the same as all other APKs in the directory.

Time for bed. Happy about the ODIN kernel/modem though, makes flashing ROMs WAY easier!

 

[nakagusukumike]

another oddity I have found is that in ROMs that have the CRT screen off animation, it still works when using the SC02C kernel. I always heard that the CRT off animation was something that was in the kernel (and didn't seem to be present in the docomo kernel), or at least that's what everyone over in the vibrant section thinks about their i9000's on 2.3. Maybe it's different on this device?

Currently running Cognition ROM, docomo kernel and baseband and my CRT screen off animation is working (as well as gtalk video)

 

[cphil19]

Hi guys,

I don't mean to throw the thread off the root topic, but I was wondering if I could ask you fellas how you feel about the phone overall.

I picked up the phone a few days ago and gotta say.....I'm pretty disappointed. Not to sound like an Apple fanboy, but coming from the 3GS, I wasn't as "wowed" as I thought I'd be.

First off, I'm having crazy signal issues. Everytime the signal drops and comes back, data hangs and I need to reset the phone. Also the battery dies crazy fast, and the GPS only works about 60% of the time.

But the thing that probably bothers me the most is....believe it or not....the screen. While the screen ITSELF is nice (watch HD movies is great), the overall reoslution leaves a LOT to be desired. Browsing the internet, text looks VERY pixelated/choppy and images are simply not sharp/vivid and pretty washed out. As I said, I'm pretty sure this is due to low resolution.....so is there a way, through root or otherwise, that resolution can be increased which would make everything sharper? I feel like everything I look at is an 8-bit bitmap picture

What do you guys think overall? Phone's a keeper? Or will it be out of use by the end of the year?

 

[R3wt3d]

signal sux

u're right, I've been using iPhone4 on DoCoMo for a while and now switched to SC02C, but the signal just sux in general. Wi-Fi aswell.

Try to change the font to iPhone one.

 

[cphil19]

u're right, I've been using iPhone4 on DoCoMo for a while and now switched to SC02C, but the signal just sux in general. Wi-Fi aswell.

Try to change the font to iPhone one.

How do you like the phone itself though?

 

[R3wt3d]

not bad

How do you like the phone itself though?

well this device is the latest hardware with dual-core, so I like it for now.
iPhone4 was getting old.
It's a little bit big for my hand and I need to use both my hands to
scroll lol. I'm hitting somewhere with my hand on the screen it seems...

 

[cphil19]

well this device is the latest hardware with dual-core, so I like it for now.
iPhone4 was getting old.
It's a little bit big for my hand and I need to use both my hands to
scroll lol. I'm hitting somewhere with my hand on the screen it seems...

The specs are nice and all, but the screen doesn't bother you going from the iPhone 4 to this? I mean, the iPhone 4's screen is so sharp and clear, while the Galaxy is, while bright, is pretty pixelated and not even remotely as sharp as the iPhone.

 

[dejanet]

i pulled the MobileTV_JPN.apk file but am unable to get it to install on another ROM.

I think the TV should be working fine on custom rom as long as we flash the NTT kernel and baseband back. Only problem will be getting this damn application to install.

For those who want to try, the application is here:

http://blacklinux.com/pages/public/computers/android/SC02C/

There are probably some Lib's from the Docomo rom that we're missing to make the TV app work.

Sent from my L-06C using XDA Premium App

 

[nakagusukumike]

Here in Okinawa I do not have ANY signal issues with the phone. It's 100% rock solid, battery life is awesome (on Cognition ROM with SetCPU clocking down to 200Mhz when not in use). As far as the "resolution", I set my DPI to 184 in build.prop and it's MUCH better.

 

[evildave_666]

I think most of us came from 3.5" screen phones of some type or another (A lot of ex-iphone users, I personally came from the Galaxy Ace, which has the exact same dimensions as the 3G/3GS within 1mm each axis.) so getting used to the size is an issue for most people.

My worst problem is accidental presses on the lower-left part of the main screen when trying to thumb the menu button.

Given a couple more weeks using it I don't think it'll be so much of an issue, but I'm still using the Ace with my Philippines roaming SIM in it for catching SMS (and using smsdroid/websms/fishtext over wifi for sending at only EUR0.015/0.02 per international text) so I'm switching back/forth between the two screen sizes during the day.

No problems with signal. Vastly better than the Softbank signal I used to get, and the GPS signal is quite a bit stronger in a side-by-side comparison with the Ace using the 'GPS Test' app from market.

 

[nakagusukumike]

There are probably some Lib's from the Docomo rom that we're missing to make the TV app work.

Sent from my L-06C using XDA Premium App

I'm going to abandon trying to resolve any library/signature issues with getting the TV application to run. It hit me today that the investment is not worth the reward. It would be nice to have "everything" working that came in the docomo stock ROM, on a custom ROM, but in reality, the TV on this phone blows (when watching the same channel on the phone and also in 1080i on my TV with a good OTA terrestrial digital tuner) and I'll never watch it even if it was working. I'm guessing not many people will really miss it either.

My advice, just dive in and start trying different ROMs out now that it's easy to get the kernel and baseband back, and forget the phone even has a TV tuner.

..... what I would like to work on is getting an FM radio application with the japan FM spectrum to work

 

[Lakitu]

Sorry to hear that some of you aren't having such a great experience with this phone. Didn't you guys know the resolution before you got it? It's often seen as the "weak point" of these SAMOLED family screens. I definitely noticed that the screen isn't as sharp as the qHD on my wife's phone, but I think it's still a great screen. 8bit? Really?

I have noticed that after using the TV, the screen goes a little "funny". It's hard to explain but it looks like everything is out of whack and a little fuzzy. It's annoying but I can live with it.

I've had no signal issues as you've described and haven't had much time with it to pass judgement on battery life.

I'm totally wowed by how fast the phone is, and how solid it feels considering the "cheap plastic" jibes people often level at the Galaxy S versus HTC or Apple phones.

 

[cphil19]

Sorry to hear that some of you aren't having such a great experience with this phone. Didn't you guys know the resolution before you got it? It's often seen as the "weak point" of these SAMOLED family screens. I definitely noticed that the screen isn't as sharp as the qHD on my wife's phone, but I think it's still a great screen. 8bit? Really?

I have noticed that after using the TV, the screen goes a little "funny". It's hard to explain but it looks like everything is out of whack and a little fuzzy. It's annoying but I can live with it.

I've had no signal issues as you've described and haven't had much time with it to pass judgement on battery life.

I'm totally wowed by how fast the phone is, and how solid it feels considering the "cheap plastic"
jibes people often level at the Galaxy S versus HTC or Apple
phones.

Finally! Someone else who's noticed the "after-tv" affect. Yea, the only way to fix it from what I've seen is to go into "camera" then exit, and the resolution goes back to normal.

Btw, I live in Urawa myself, neighbor.

 

[ManInCamo]

I don't believe the widely published SIM unlock methods in the development forum work for the DoCoMo version, is anyone aware of a method to SIM unlock this device? I'd like to be able to pick up a AT&T prepaid SIM when traveling in the US and use my phone.

 

[nakagusukumike]

I don't believe the widely published SIM unlock methods in the development forum work for the DoCoMo version, is anyone aware of a method to SIM unlock this device? I'd like to be able to pick up a AT&T prepaid SIM when traveling in the US and use my phone.

please bump this if you find anything:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1143434

 

[evildave_666]

They do not, a new hashing method (involving SHA256 instead of SHA1) is supposedly being used.

Docomo will unlock an SC-02C for 3000 yen and change though, and reportedly from people who have had it done it has no effect on your support on an ongoing basis contrary to the initial information.

 

[keiko8]

Does anyone know where i can get the docomo Factory Tar file where kernal, baseband and everything is in default settings which is ready to be flashed with Odin? I screwed up my phone really bad lol flashed the wrong stuff and now my phone wont go in recovery mode. I can Only use download mode

 

[evildave_666]

No one has yet found an official firmware tarball. At one point it was physically present on the KIES server but permission not allowed to download but its totally gone now.

The way to go as close to stock as possible from a hosed handset is flash the factoryfs.img from earlier in this thread (with heimdall), followed with the kernel/baseband combo, then power on and do a factory reset.