Samsung Galaxy Gio on Cyanogen Mod 7

So originally I had posted how great it was to get an Android device for next to nothing, which is a great thing. Who can argue at getting "almost" the same Android experience as someone who is technically spending $800 for $80... 10 x times less cost! The only real problems (that I have found so far) are this:

• The screen is small.
• There is no gorilla glass... be prepared for scratches and definitely put on a protective film. I have had to order and replace the digitizer because of an unfortunate key incident. Only upside is that it is now white, not black.
• If you want to use it "like" a regular Android phone, you need to root it. 150MB of memory goes away pretty fast, so you need to use a2SD, s2e (simple2ext) or Link2SD (i recommend this if you are just going to root and that is it). Having an extra partition on your Micro SD card tricks your phone into thinking you have 2 - 4GB of internal memory, so you can load up all the apps you want without having the low internal memory show up.
• No hardware decoding. I thought I was good to go for watching netflix or streaming some stuff over DLNA, but I was wrong. It only does software decoding, and it is pretty slow. It is fine for videos you have on your SD card, but streaming and decoding is definitely a problem... or maybe not if you don't mind the sound being 10 seconds later than the video.
• No auto brightness. You might not think this is much, but it is SUPER annoying. Rather than having your phone adjust to your environment you are stuck trying to manually brighten the screen when you are out in the sun, and dim the screen when you are in a dark room.
• Game compatibility. No jelly defense people, though it is a shame it is not like you couldn't see this one coming with the specs of the phone and the price point.

Aside from the above, I doubt you would really have a different experience than any other Android phone out there, since they all seem to be running Gingerbread. But that is for the stock ROM, it is so very much different when you are running a custom ROM such as Cyanogen Mod 7 (CM7), which is what prompted me to write this post in the first place.

I "used" to be the guy that would hack something right off the bat to try and get the most functionality that I could out of the technology that I buy. Over time though (with the family factor), this has changed and now I am the guy that only hacks if it is needed because I have no time at all to play with it, it just needs to work. So that being said, when I bought the phone, I fully intended to use it "as is" until I ran into the memory issue, which forced me to root the phone. More recently I found that my phone was slowing down and all the pre-loaded carrier garbage was taking up prescious memory that kept cutting off my podcasts to the point where I had to press the play button once every 10 seconds. Enough was enough, so I decided that it was about time that I do something about the problem.

Doing the research

So, from past experience on other devices I wanted to get all the information up front so I don't end up with a phone that won't boot for days since I have done something terribly wrong to the OS, so I sent out on a search on changing out the ROM on the Galaxy Gio 5660M (Bell Canada).

The first thing that I noticed most (as a person just getting into upgrading my ROM for the first time) was that this process seemed a little overwhelming,  while you can appreciate that Android is open and hackable, there is literally too much information to sort through when you first approach this sort of thing and that scared me a little bit, but not enough to stop.

At first it was slow going, as I got sidetracked trying to figure out whether or not I absolutely had to use a proram called "ODIN" or not; lucky for me I didn't and cld go forward from there with the following requirements to get this ROM installed on my phone:

1. You need to be rooted first off.
2. You need to get the clockwork mod (CWM) installed to replace the default recovery. 
3. You need to use CWM to first, re-partition your SD Card (Gio Only, for that 'extra space') and backup your stock ROM (which in this case is CM7) in the event that you want to revert back to the factory OS.
4. You need to download the phiexz version of the Cynogen Mod ROM and place it on the root of your SD card. I downloaded the file update-cm-7.2.0-20120518-Nightly-gio-AROMA.zip, you should be able to find it or a newer nightly build online by searching for the file. Start the upgrade process.

1 - Rooting

Rooting an Android device seems to be the same for the most part from what I have read around the web and consists of downloading some variation of an "Update.zip" file and using that to update the device in the recovery menu.

I won't go into too much detail as they did a great job on this tutorial at Android Authority on how to root the gio. You can find that here along with the files you need: http://www.androidauthority.com/galaxy-gio-s5660-root-68206/

2 - Clockwork Mod (CWM)

This is where I had initially thought things would get tricky as I had tried to do this a while ago via ODIN and failed. I took a stab at this again because as I understand it from everything I have read it is essential to installing custom ROMS.

I had initially found the latest version of CWM and simply downloaded it to my MicroSD card and ran the update. It did install, but there is something in the configuration where I was not able to mount '/cache', '/data' or '/system' which was a problem. Without being able to mount any of those file systems I was not able to do anything basically, let alone try to back up my existing stock ROM.

So when searching for why this was happening I came across an article that told me I needed a special CWM for the Gio called px-cwm-v2.zip. I found it here: http://www.mediafire.com/?p7r2bcn9447bpc8 but I am sure you can find it elsewhere if you search for it.

Once I had this and ran the update again from recovery mode, all was well and I was able to take my backup without issue.

If you are interested in knowing more about CWM, you can find another tutorial here (see... the power of open source and the communities around them? I barely have to write anything!): http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1587607

3 - Repartitioning the SD Card

I am hoping that this little section will save you some time. Up to this point I was using Link2SD on my rooted stock ROM and it was working great. I ended up creating 2 FAT partitions on my MicoSD card using EASUS Partition Manager. But what I did find after loading custom ROMs multiple times is that it is best to leave that work to CWM.

My advice to you would be to do the following:

• Backup all the contents of your MicroSD card elsewhere (because you will lose all your stuff out of the gate if you just partition with CWM).
• Reboot your phone, go into recovery and then go to the advanced tools and select the option for partitioning your card.
• It will ask you what size, I picked 2048, don't think I will have any large apps, but I think you can go up to 4GB in size.
• Once you have finished partitioning, just pop the MicroSD into a card reader and copy all your backup data back.

The reason I am suggesting this up front is that the version of CM7 I used comes with the option of using A2SD or S2E right in the ROM, so you don't have to do anything funky to get it working other than having your MicroSD card partitioned properly.

4 - Downloading and installing CM7

As I mentioned earlier, I had installed various versions of the custom ROMs. I intially started out thinking that I wanted to get the latest and greatest version of Android and went for the Gio build of ICS (cm_gio_galaxyics-10062012.zip). Initially it was a total failure, the install went fine, but when rebooting my phone was stuck either with a blank screen or in a boot loop. So I decided to try the older version of CM, which is how I got to CM7. Oddly enough, after successfully installing CM7 and again trying to install CM9 Beta8 (ICS) it actually worked... but I couldn't live with a camera that wouldn't show me what I am taking a picture of... will wait for that to mature a bit futher.

So back to CM7, all you really need to do as mentioned above many times is to copy the ROM to your MicroSD card and then go into CWM and select an update from the MicroSD card and apply it (just make sure you pick S2E in the setup, leave everything else as default). Simple! Once the install is finished, it will simply reboot right into your new OS, it will just take a little bit longer on the first boot to get into the phone.

Post Upgrade

First of all... I can't sing enough praises to the people that are working on Cyanogen Mod as well as Phiexz and others. If you go through the above process with their version of CM7 there is an amazing install (not sure if it is part of this build alone or for CM7 in general), it's as if you are installing a commercial OS!

The difference between the stock ROM and CM7 is night and day. Here are the benefits I noticed off the top (have been using it only 2 days before this post):

• It is noticably faster.
• You are not forced to use the apps that Samsung defines at the bottom, it includes ADWLauncher and themes you can select during ROM install. I picked the ICS theme.
• My battery lasts a bit longer.
• No more bloatware (no Samsung or Bell apps loading into memory).
• Oh... so much more configurable, I would almost say that there are too many options.
• Build in S2E... provided you have the partitions set up right before the ROM install you can in and configure everything to go to the other partition. And unlike Link2SD, where it links stuff to the MicroSD card after install, S2E just installs it straight to MicroSD.
• WAYYYYYY Better Camera Software. I am not kidding... it is night and day difference and it is much more convenient to use. Tons of new options that are quickly configurable.
• Cool screen shut down (like an old style CRT shutting off with the line down the middle)... not big, but cool.

I was on the fence about doing this earlier, but I am 100% in favour of anyone using the Galaxy Gio to do this and get a much better Android experience out of your phone.

I will post some of the screenshots up when I get a chance to.

Samsung Galaxy Gio - Unlocked on Rogers

If you have read any of my previous posts you have no doubt seen what I have had to go through in order to make my hand-me-down iPhone 3G work in any sort of acceptable way. If I am not mistaken, I have posted 2 or 3 entries here on how to make the phone 'liveable'.

Well, today (actually Feb. 18, 2012) that all comes to an end, I am leaving my iPhone 3G for a Samsung Galaxy Gio. In your head you are probably saying, Galaxy Gio? Why would you choose some low-end hardware and not a Samsung Galaxy S II or something like that?

Well... you have to remember, I get hand-me downs because I am not able to commit to a 3 year contract for one of the nicer, newer models and I also can't fork out $600 - 800 on a cell phone (I am not sure how anyone can because of how fast they become outdated). So let me tell you how/why I bought this phone.

Backstory:


I have had this phone ever since I have upgraded my wife to the iPhone4, just before the iPhone4S and have been on a daily basis living with the fact that I only ever really have about 40MB of usable memory that gets eaten up quite rapidly by just one app.  Over time, when using it, it is not uncommon to wait 2 - 3 minutes for an app to load, have to load the app 2 - 3 times as it would crash shortly after the load screen or just completely lock up the device using up all its available memory. With such a low amount of RAM it then becomes a concious effort to load only a certain amount of apps, or in a particular order, which started to drive me nuts.

I had tolerated this for quite some time, but the final straw came when I was trying to discretely write something nice in an e-mail to my wife for valentines day on my iPhone3G. I had spent a good hour pecking at the small virtual keys to pump this e-mail out only to have the phone freeze just before the completion of the message and the app close automatically due to memory constraints wasting all the effort (mainly typing on that keyboard). I couldn't take it anymore... so I began devising a master plan on how I can fix my particular problem, but on the cheap.

Research:


So being hell bent on replacing the phone, I began searching around for a way to keep my existing SIM and service, but get a new Android or iOS phone.

OK, you caught me... I didn't even look at the iPhone because I loved my tablet and I wanted the same experience on my phone. So given that I want an Android phone, what are my choices here in Ontario, Canada?

• Rogers
• Telus
• Bell
• Koodo
• Virgin Mobile
• Fido
• Wind
• Moblicity
• Public Mobile

And when you really boil it down there are only 6 choices since Fido=Rogers, Virgin Mobile=Bell, Koodo=Telus, so the search was on for a decently priced Android phone from any of these companies or even on-line via eBay or Kijiji.

One thing I noticed rather quick was that it was more or less impossible to get any of the Android phones released in the last year or two because they were all tied to 3yr contract commitments of $50+ or they were  $500 - 700 to buy right out. As I mentioned previously, both of these choices are a problem for me and I had to immediately rule them out. Instead I would have to find a way of getting the phone I want, but in an affordable way.

Then, I remembered an ad for Public Mobile that I had seen them around where they were advertising a $100 android phone, but it was from some obscure Chinese manufacturer. I wasn't really into buying a phone from a manufacturer I hadn't heard of, but it did give me the idea of going to one of the bigger carriers in search of a pay-as-you-go Android phone. My first thought was to go to Virgin Mobile, they always seemed to be so cool and friendly </sarcasm>, so I poked around their website and found some Android phones available priced around $199. 

I had a device in mind and decided first that I would talk to a Virgin representative to find out if they could unlock the phone for me if I bought it right out. Their response was essentially the primary reason that I didn't buy the phone and went looking elsewhere, it went something like this:

• Me: Hi Virgin, just wondering if I spent money with your company and purchase a phone outright, would you be kind enough to provide a network unlock code so I could use it with my existing plan?"
• Virgin: Hey there! We definitely want to help you with unlocking your phone if you purchased it from us.
• Me: OK, so how does this work. If I buy a phone from you, would you essentially hand over the unlock key with the phone so I can use the phone I purchased outright any way that I want?
• Virgin: I am happy to tell you that if you purchase a phone from us, you can definitely have it unlocked. There is just a few things you should know before getting your phone unlocked.
• Me: Alright... what's that?
• Virgin: Well, first... if you buy the phone outright from us, you need to create an account with us for at least 30 days and the phone needs to be active. This will either be a regular plan or a month-to-month, and you may have to pay early cancellation fees if you go on one of the regular plans.
• Virgin: Second, you need to provide us with $75.00 for the phone to be unlocked. Please bear in mind that if you send your phone in for warranty unlocked it will be returned to you locked, you will then have to pay another $75.00 to get the phone unlocked again.
• Me: That's insane. So you are saying for a phone that I paid full price for cannot be unlocked unless I pay you for 30 days of phone service that I don't want just so that I can later pay you and additional $75.00 to unlock the phone (most likely out of my site without providing the code)? You have to be nuts!

I couldn't believe it! Full price for a phone and I am still somehow locked into the vendor? They are milking customers for every last dollar... I did some further reading and found that it was seemingly worse with other providers. So now that I was put off from that Virgin Mobile exchange, I went hunting on-line for pay-as -you-go phones from other carriers. My next stop was Koodo, for the Samsung Galaxy Ace.

The phone looked great and looked like it would do everything that I wanted... I was literally moments away from buying one before deciding that I need a bit more information on how it would work to unlock the phone. Lucky that I did because Koodo doesn't use the same radio frequency as its parent Telus or Rogers and Bell, which is 850Mhz. Koodo uses 900Mhz & 2100Mhz for their 3G signals which would have essentially meant that I would be stuck with a phone that only ever had a 2G (edge) signal. So before you buy that phone MAKE SURE your current providers UTMS/HSDPA+ frequencies match those of the phone you are buying (in my case 850Mhz). 

Now that I am aware of the frequency issues, my choice of cell phones was restricted only to what Telus, Rogers and Bell could offer me (since they all use 850Mhz for 3G). Rogers is pointless, because they clearly do not want you to have a smartphone without a contract as there isn't a single Android pay-as-you-go phone, which leaves only Bell and Telus. Telus had the LG Optimus One and Bell had the Samsung Galaxy Gio. Once you compare the 2 phones, the Samsung Galaxy Gio clearly comes out the better looking and more functional of the 2 Android phones, so I bought that one. The fact that I also got an extra $50 off the $129.99 price didn't hurt my decision making either. 

Unlocking:

I was very excited about the purchase of my new phone and couldn't wait to start using it, but it is definitely not going to be on the Bell network (since they have terrible pricing and also since I already have a plan). Initially, I spent a good day looking all over the internet on how I could unlock the phone for free, but with no luck, it seems as though secret of unlocking cell phones is like the secret behind a magic trick and it is closely guarded and can only be known to magicians.

So rather than go free, I thought instead I will put up some good money to get it done right the first time... which eliminated almost every single site that offered unlocking for less than $20 (they were probably mostly scams anyway). After much research I eventually narrowed my selection down to these companies: 

• www.cellunlocker.net
• www.mobileincanada.com
• www.foneszone.co.uk

In the end I chose www.cellunlocker.net because the website was decent, it had a support forum, a phone number and an order tracking system. I assumed they couldn't possibly rip me off if they invest so much in providing support. So I got PayPal ready to go and gave them $32.99CAD, which is the cost of unlocking a Samsung Galaxy Gio. They said that it would take 1 - 3 hours to provide me with the unlock code via e-mail and after payment I waited patiently for that e-mail that was the key to freedom, not entirely confident that I would ever receive it.

2 hours later, I did. I shut off the phone, put in the non-Bell SIM card and when the phone asked my for the network unlock key, I punched it in and was ready to go on the Rogers network in seconds.

Note: If you reset your phone to factory after unlocking, you have to re-enter the code to unlock it as the restore puts it back into a locked state.

Using the phone:

The difference between the Gio and the iPhone3G was like night and day. Once I got some applications on the phone I was launching the Facebook mobile app and within seconds (not minutes) I was in looking at content. It was the same for all the applications that I had tried as well.... I was sooooo happy.

Happy, that is, until I tried to load all of the programs that I had on my tablet and then quickly discovered that I was out of memory and could not install any more apps. Bummer!

It was only then that I realized that the Samsung Galaxy Gio only had a total of 180MB of internal memory for apps. And despite me telling it to install all the apps to the 16GB micro SD card I had in the phone, the internal memory just kept coming down. So, I went to google in search of a solution.

Initially I found a utility called 'DarkTremor A2SD' which supposedly tricks the phone into thinking that the SD card is actually the internal memory of the phone. But in order to use this, or anything else useful I needed to 'root' the phone in order to get things going.

I searched everywhere for instructions and eventually came across this site. It provides the correct update and instructions on how to root your S5660 (aka Galaxy Gio) phone. The process, to my surprise, took less than 5 minutes and required absolutely no technical knowledge... simply shut off the phone, turn it on again holding the home button and then apply the update to the phone from the SD card (the file has to be in the root).

First problem solved... the next problem was to get DarkTremor to work. I did find something on the marketplace that was a GUI for DarkTremor, but it required scripts and an EXT3 partition on the SD card to work (and possibly updates to the init scripts). Though I did install it and messed around with partitioning  the SD card I could never get things 'Just Right' in order to have DarkTremor GUI to open and let me start tricking my phone. I did contemplate going to SimpliGio or GioPro v1.4, but I didn't have a lot of time to sort through the complexities of flashing my ROM and I really didn't want to risk losing the phone I just purchased... so I opted not to proceed. Instead, I began searching for a replacement program that would do the same thing, but easier and LUCKILY I found the program 'Link2SD' which does the same thing as DarkTremor A2SD, but much, much simpler. So I downloaded it from the market and installed it on my device.

Once installed I thought things would a bit more straight forward, but I still kept getting errors about the 2nd partition despite the fact that I had partitioned the poor card every which way I could think of. It was when I stumbled across this article that things made perfect sense (since Link2SD was always looking for a 2nd partition)... You have to make a FAT partition first, followed by an EXT2 (or probably FAT) partition for the apps. Once I did that, Link2SD worked for a charm and has been saving internal space on my Gio like crazy.

Summary:

This by far was the best deal that a person could get on a brand new Android phone without being tied to a specific carrier and a 3yr contract. The phone is fast, has good programs, takes good pictures, has expandable storage, has a changeable battery and uses a standard MicroUSB cable to charge.

I am loving the phone and do not miss for a second my iPhone3g. If you want a good performing phone for a good price, don't hesitate to do this. I didn't have any problems with www.cellunlocker.net, so I recommend using them to unlock your phone.