[Galaxy Ace S5830 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] CallMeVentus:
Here's a little Q&A:

Q-1: What is the Samsung Galaxy Ace? Is it edible? :confused::confused:

A-1: Hello dear newbie , the Samsung Galaxy Ace is a mid-range phone that was released by Samsung in February 2011 .

Specifications:

-Supports Quad band GSM (850/900/1800/1900)

-Supports Duo band HSDPA (900/2100)

-Size is

112.4 x 59.9 x 11.5 mm

-Weighs 113g (light :p)

-Has a TrueFont Type capacitive touchscreen with 16,000,000 colours

-Screen resolution of 320x480 and a

3.5" display (160 dpi LCD density)

-Gorilla Glass display

-Multi-touch support

-

Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotation

-Touch-sensitive Menu button and Back button (with physical Home button)

-TouchWiz v3.0 UI (Homescreen)

-Has a

loudspeaker

and has a

3.5mm audio jack

with DNSe Sound Enhancement

-Has vibration(duh) ; supports MP3 and WAV ringtones .

-Has pratically unlimited entries for contacts and call records

-158MB internal storage with support for SDcard up to 32GB (2GB included)

-Supports

GPRS , EDGE and HSDPA (7.2Mbps)

-

WiFi 802.11b/g/n , Portable hotspot and DLNA certified

-Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP (for bluetooth stereo headphones)

-No infrared port :p

-5MP Camera with

autofocus , LED flash , geo-tagging , face and smile detection

-Records video at 15fps@QVGA (OMG :p) with NO SECONDARY CAMERA

-Runs Android (Froyo , but upgradeable to Gingerbread)

-

800Mhz Qualcomm MSM7227 ARM11 processor with an Adreno 200 GPU

-

SMS (threaded view) and Email support

-Comes with a stock HTML Browser

-Supports Stereo FM Radio with RDS

-Supports

Games (a.k.a APK files)

-Comes in

Black and White (as in the selection of battery covers :p)

-A-GPS support with the normal GPS

-Supports Java with the MIDP emulator

- MP4/H.264/H.263 player

- MP3/WAV/eAAC+ player

- Organizer

- Document editor

- Image editor

- Google Search , Maps , Gmail , YouTube , Calendar , Google Talk , Picasa integration

- Voice memo/dial

-

Predictive text input (Swype) (Other keyboards available on Market)

-

1350mAh Lithium-Ion Standard Battery

-2G standby up to 640hours and 3G standby up to 420hours

-2G talktime up to 11hours and 3G talktime up to 6hours 30minutes

-Costs about 260 Euros

Thanks to http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_ace_s5830-3724.php :D

*Pants* :p:p

Q0: What is root? What advantages can it do to my phone?

A0: "Rooting" your phone is the process of allowing Superuser access to your phone (a.k.a su or sudo access) , thus opening up system files to the user .

This is usually needed/done by custom ROMs .

More info can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooting_(Android_OS)

"Rooting is a process that allows users of mobile phones and other devices running the Android operating system to attain privileged control (known as "root access") within Android's Linux subsystem with the goal of overcoming limitations that carriers and manufacturers put on some devices. It is analogous to jailbreaking on devices running the Apple iOS operating system."

Q1: What is a custom ROM? What to can it do to my phone?

A1: A custom ROM can be either:

- Modifications to the official company ROMs (a.k.a Stock ROMs) , which increases its speed and stability compared to original Stock ROMs .

These ROMs include:

-Blackhawk (by ketut.kumajaya)

-Fla.sh (by fla.sh) (No Support Available anymore , therefore no link)

-Sangingerace and Persian Gulf (by sasanekabaran)

-The BehradGH ROM series (by BehradGH):

-BehradGH ROM Series KPB

-BehradGH ROM Series KPN/KPH

-BehradGH ROM Series KP9

-NoName (by an0nym0us_)

-My-UI (by jusada)

-GingerReal (by redmaner and MuayThaiFighter08 (I think , sorry if I got it wrong !) )

-FirstUA (by Grif_07)

-Glsmt (by sametpoyraz)

-TheMyth (by devilsking) (Thread Closed)

-Blockbuster ROM Goes Ace

-Mush69ROM (Thread Closed)

-TurboBlue (by tazlooney89)

There are other ROMs that do not use Stock ROMs and are built from scratch by these AWESOME people:

-AOSP 2.3.7 (A work-in-progress by me , fla.sh , Jekle_Ace and consegregate)

-Grif_07's CM7.1 BETA-Kang 2.3.5

-BehradGH CyanoAce CM7.1 RC1 2.3.5

-Infinity ROM (Based on CM7.2 by nims11)

-Infinity ROM (Based on CM7.1 by nims11)

-Gingercruzt (Based on CM7.2 by nims11)

-Touchwiz4 Style CM7.2 ROM (by slaid480)

-HaniMod*LiteStar (By sasanekabaran)

-Icecream Sunday & Speed Blur (by jusada)

-Cre.ActiveX (CM7.1 by saigetshu)

That is all you actually need to know ;)

Q2: What's Recovery Mode? What is Download Mode? What are the different "Modes" that my phone can go into?

A2: Recovery Mode is a place where you go to if your phone is ever "stuck" or in a "bootloop" if you installed a ROM wrongly .

The stock recovery mode can't do much and therefore if you want better advantages such as:

-Backing up your current ROM and data

-Fixing Force Close Permissions

-Wiping your Dalvik-Cache

-Wiping Battery Stats (if your battery meter is jumpy , like all custom Stock ROMs)

-Install unsigned .zip files

-Formatting various parts of your internal memory (/system , /data etc)

-Mount USB Storage in Recovery Mode

The only thing you can do is use CLOCKWORKMOD RECOVERY :D

For Download Mode , it is a Samsung-exclusive feature that allows you to "Download" custom stock ROM files into your phone .

It works like a normal install in ClockWorkMod Recovery (a.k.a CWM) , except that it automates everything (wiping data , wiping system stuff)

These are possible modes which you can use to enter different places (for advanced people only):

Home + Power = Recovery Mode (whether stock or CWM)

Home + Volume Down + Power = Download Mode (normal)

Home + Volume Up + Power = ARMv9 Dump Mode

Home + Volume Down + Volume Up + Power = Download Mode (EMERGENCY)

Q2.5: What is ClockworkMod Recovery? How do I use it?

A2.5: ClockworkMod Recovery is one of the best custom recoveries out there and was made by the AWESOME koush

Here's how you use it by devilcode:

It certainly helped my friend :)

Q3: Help me, my phone is in a bootloop and won't go into the Launcher! :(

A3: Firstly , define your bootloop:

If you are stuck at the "Galaxy Ace" logo , that means you did not make a factory reset and cache wipe from Recovery Mode . Do that , then reflash and try again .

If it still does not work , your kernel might have a problem because you did not install your kernel properly .

For that I recommend CF-ROOT for Gingerbread and Froyo

However , if your phone is stuck at the bootanimation:

Stuck for more than 10mins and is repeating the animation: You did not flash your ROM properly . Refer to above .

Stuck for less than 10mins and is NOT repeating: I suggest you have some patience ;)

Q4: AHHHHHHHH! I flashed a theme but now my phone is going into force closes and bootloops!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :(

A4: You probably flashed a theme that was meant for another firmware version (E.g. flashing a KPH theme into KPO) .

In that case , all you have to do is flash another theme which is for that particular firmware and you're saved ;)

Everytime I flash a theme I will make a backup prior to installing . This ensures that I can restore back if I did something wrong ;)

Q5: Is there any overclock for the Galaxy Ace?

A5: With CF-ROOT 3.7 b83 I can achieve 100% stability with 902Mhz but 10% decrease in battery life :/

Q6: What about Adobe Flash support?

A6: It is only PARTIALLY supported on CyanogenMod 7 , but may work on stock Samsung ROMs if on Cf-root .

It works on the stock browser and Dolphin Browser HD , but does not work on Opera .

Q7: What is Cyanogenmod? Why do so much people love it?

A7: Cyanogenmod is a ROM built from a modified generic AOSP build , which offers faster speed , better stability and even eliminates some problems induced by stock ROMs (i.e. In our case , the Sleep of Death a.k.a SoD) .

This ROM was made by none other than the legendary Cyanogen . :p

This makes the phone fast , stable and yet problem-free .

however , CM7 for the Ace is currently

unofficial

and in

early release candidate and beta versions and is NOT recommended for newbies

as they might encounter into problems they might not know how to solve .

Also ,

the things that were added by Samsung WILL NOT APPEAR in Cyamogenmod 7

.

If you rely on Samsung's additions too much , I suggest that you revert back to stock :)

Q8: Oh no! My phone is bricked! I accidentally flashed the wrong device in ROM Manager! :(

A8: Oh no . You might wanna try either:

Method 1:

-Remove the

SIM card , SD card

and

battery

from the phone

-Hold Volume Down + Home + Power

-(Optional) Bring it near a heat source .

-While

still holding those buttons

, place the battery into the phone

-It should go into Download Mode .

-Try to flash a

full package file

via ODIN and your phone should come back to life .

If that doesn't work , try Method 2:

-Bring the phone to a nearby service center for repair .

Q9: Hello, what's the difference between a

full package ROM

and a

one package ROM?

A9: When you download a ROM from SamMobile , they have all the files in a .rar , the contents of the .rar determine its Package:

A Full Package ROM has quite a few files when the .rar is opened , one of them being a .tar.md5 if I remember correctly .

A One Package ROM only has one .tar file when the .rar archive is opened .

Q10 by scoffyburito:

A10: Taken from http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=714114

Q11 by psychoo118:

A11: Just flash back to DXKC1 (Froyo 2.2.1) or the Gingerbread version for your region , you're bound to fool Samsung :p

Q12: I have been hearing everyone talk about this file named build.prop. What is that?

A12: Okay, build.prop is the build properties of your current ROM.

I will give more explanation of the different entries as time goes on (LOL).

ro.ril.disable.power.collapse - (0/1) Variable Values.

0: Allows the network power collapse, thus wasting battery

1: Disables the network power collapse, thus saving battery.

ro.ril.hsxpa - (0/1/2/3)Variable values.

0: Disables HSUPA completely.

1: Disables stock HSUPA speeds (speeds capped)

2: Enables stock HSUPA speeds (speeds capped)

3: Enables uncapped HSUPA speeds

Q13: What is CF-ROOT? Is it edible?

A13: LOL no it isn't! CF-ROOT is short for Chainfire-Root (a.k.a Rooting + some tweaks). It has root and installs 3 apps: CWM Manager, Superuser and Tweaks.

CWM Manager is a

substitute

for ROM Manager and allows:

- Rebooting to recovery

- Backing up using app

- Restore using app

- Deleting backups

- Flashing .zip files

- Flashing zImage kernels (a.k.a CF-ROOT fixes)

The current version is b84, which is only for XWKT5/7 firmwares.

You can use b83, which is the universal CF-ROOT.

Q14: I keep running out of internal memory. Why does this happen? How do I solve it then?

A14: It is because the Galaxy Ace's internal memory is only less than 200MB, therefore too many apps will cause the phone to run out of memory. There are 3 known solutions to that:

1: DarkTremor's Apps2SD (DTA2SD)

- Most commonly used way of moving apps to internal memory

- Has an app for it at the Android Market (A2SDGUI)

- Uses a flashable zip (find it in XDA)

- Easiest to use among the 3

2: link2SD

- Makes use of symbolic links to move apps to the SD-ext partition

- I don't know much about this one

3: S2E (simple2ext)

- An app that's available in the Android Market

- Only for CM7 ROMs and the only one working for Ice Cream Sandwich (by maclaw)

- Hardest to use among the 3

That is all.

Q?: This thread seems inactive! When will you update it?

A?: I will update my thread whenever I want to , once I find new information .

Thank you for reading this thread so that one less Galaxy Ace gets bricked :D