yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Jstrick5:
That makes complete sense. Asus would rather release a statement saying their design is at fault rather than put the blame on the chip manufacturer and their "shoddy driver". Clearly Asus is lying and the aluminum back isn't to blame. Asus would much rather tarnish their image then God forbid get "twitter bombed" lol.

I can picture the CEO screaming "Oh $hit! We're getting twitter bombed! Do something. Anything to stop this! Give them a bull$hit lie of a reason just so they stop!" at his desk while he's reviewing the official statement they released.

It's funny that other aluminum case tablet manufacturers (Apple) take steps to provide a plastic window or a speaker grill to specifically give the GPS/wifi antenna a direct view through the aluminum case but in the TFP's case this approach is not taken and it's a driver issue lol. Again, because broadcom doesn't have top end software engineers working for them and writing drivers for 100's of chips on a regular basis. They must have gotten the one intern to write this driver and no one reviewed it before release.

Oh, I failed to mention the iphone 3G antenna-gate issue where if you held the phone in a certain way it blocked all reception. Held it. What do you think would happen if you had wrapped the section you held to kill reception in aluminum instead of a hand? That was probably a driver issue too.

But you're right, clearly it's a driver issue. Probably a driver issue with the wifi and Bluetooth as well. Can't wait till the driver is updated and or ICS comes out solves all of the TP's problems and Asus releases another statement saying "Oh guess we were wrong!" and then adds "GPS" back to the device specs lol.

Good luck with that.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] robomo:
If you hold the thing at a 45 degree angle in open sky, it blocks the lower part of the horizon behind the backplate - so it *could* block satellites. Nit pick I know, but hey it's still there! :p

You're right though, and the Anandtech teardowns + review point to a raised noise floor. The GPS is sitting in a giant echo chamber...
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] JoeyLe:
Only point still is why.. I mean those engineers must be smart guys, why would they place the GPS there. At least one of those guys should say "hey, that isn't gonna work..". Kinda disappointing, could be very easy solved (perhaps to could have placed it next to the speaker or something?)
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] robomo:
Why? They F'd up. Who knows exactly what internal politics led to the result - but we've got the result anyways. I doubt they'll redesign the Prime without GPS - might as well just leave it as a hidden feature.

Same reason car manufacturers F up on car designs and spend billions of dollars on monstrous, nation-wide recalls of millions of cars. They F up - so do computer manufacturers sometimes.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Jstrick5:
They probably identified the problem during early stages but decided that GPS wasn't a primary function that they wanted to design around. Like their official message states "this product is not a professional GPS device"

So rather than change the design and affect the look and feel of the device they were comfortable with the "basic" gps capabilities.

Keep in mind, they were also trying to get this device out for the holiday buying season. They may not have had the time to redesign and again, were ok with basic rather than high end gps performance as they pegged it as a secondary or even third tier function of the device.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] madpoet:
I'd be in as well if this actually fixes the issue. I guess until someone tries we aren't going to know! Clear would be kinda cool... but I wouldn't mind carbon fiber either.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] robomo:
carbon fiber is not a great backing for this unfortunately. Carbon is actually a good electrical conductor, so a carbon-fiber back would be almost as bad as the aluminum plate.

Plastic is about the only real way to go for either a window or a full back replacement.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] ToneyEricsson:
Hey thanks for that - a portable wifi router might actually be better than USB Ethernet.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] j3n3alon:
I'm in if that's a definite fix for the issues at hand. Clear or some other muted color would be my preference.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] theoilman:
I'm no engineer, but there could be several do-it-yourself options.

first, obviously as the OP said, is to replace the backplate. second, I suppose it wouldn't be too hard to take of the aluminum backplate, cut out the area where the wifi and GPS antenna are, and glue on plastic to replace it. third, is there any kind of substance that could be painted onto the inside of the backplate to reduce the noise hitting the antenna?
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] theandies:
Considering my Pharos BT-GPS receiver can lock on to 12 signals at a time, in my house, and works just fine with my Prime count me out. I needed to find a use for it since I don't use my PDA anymore and that is what I bought it for.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] ToneyEricsson:
Yeah I think a BT or USB GPS receiver is the easy solution here for anyone wanting more 'professional' GPS.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Sokonomi:
I wonder exactly how well (and quick) this whole "mockup location" deal works on offline navigators.

Hopefully the delay isnt too bad, then Id have no issue just using my BT GPS mouse.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] kaijura:
At least he didn't come out and say people were holding their tablets incorrectly. :p
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] TalynOne:
Works pretty well, the free one I linked to works with pretty much everything but Sygic. If you're willing to pay a few bucks you can use this one which works with everything, including Sygic:

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.Argotronic2
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] bestco:
Asus takes notes! I want a plastic back cover but I rather have Asus do it for me. I dont' mind sending it back to Asus and pay $20-$40 if they can replace the metal casing with a plastic cover. The question is, I don't think Asus will ever do that.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] BarryH_GEG:
So I got the pricing. Bad news. In order to keep the price in the $50 range I'd have to commit to 2K plastic backs. I was prepared to go as high as 500. The cost of creating the mold was really high based on the thiness and tolerances that would have to be achieved and that cost has to be spread out over the number produced. And keep in mind, even at 500, I'd be obligated for the full amount if people bought just 100. I'd take the flyer at 500 but 2K's more risk than I'm willing to take on. Especially if Asus comes up with their own solution in a month or two if they start losing sales to other Teg3 tablets.

So sorry guys, love ya, but not that much. ;)
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Lock-N-Load:
No, I would not pay for this service. The money would just be better spent on a stand alone BT GPS and move on.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] TalynOne:
Haven't tested these but..:

If you have an Android phone you can expose the GPS off it as a Bluetooth GPS Source with this app:

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.jillybunch.shareGPS

Then tether with it on your tablet using the previously linked GPS tether applications.

Or share the Android phone GPS via WiFi:

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.comptonsoft.tgps_lite

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.comptonsoft.tgps
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] HuskerWebhead:
No worries. Thanks for at least checking into it!
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] redlin'r:
Does anyone else sense a new Facebook war to get Asus to create a plastic back?!? I saw lets try the power of the web as it worked on the bootloader!
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Blairware:
There's another major problem with this concept.

I admit I only read the first 3 pages and last page of posts, so forgive me if this was covered at some point. While replacing the back cover entirely, vs. adding plastic window ports would no doubt resolve most or all of the signal degradation issues, it would never work. The primary strength of the unit COMES from the aluminum casing, with a bit of additional strength coming from the hardened glass front. A windowed design with plastic sections for the antennas would work, if well designed and tested for torsional rigidity. The current casing, if anything like the iPad 1 & 2 (that Asus was obviously using as a target to beat) would have interior ribbing, adding further to it's strength and resistance to twisting. I believe it must, though I have yet to see a picture of the inside of the rear cover.

Anything made of plastic, or reinforced plastic or even plastic reinforced... with aluminum (for weight saving, and irony) would need to be hugely thick to come anywhere close to the strength of the current case, and package as a whole.

Face it, the first executives, perhaps even Jonney Shih (Chairman) or

Jerry Shen (CEO) who saw and felt a mock up with that casing felt the "oooh" factor and that was that. (Someone should have attached Asus famous poorly grounded power supply, then they REALLY would have "felt" the power of this design, LOL)
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Lao Mayer:
The FAcebook war against Asus for creating and installing a different back cover might work you know.

Has anyone thought that the chinese ebayers might come up with a plastic cover in the next few months, if Asus doesn't do it first?

Later Edit: Looking closer to the Anandtech teardown of the TF, is it just me or somebody else noticed this: the antennas for GPS and WiFi are not screwed in/located on the aluminum back cover, but on the display part. Now, I might not have all the info, but is that side aluminum also?! I'm 99.9999% percent sure it's plastic (see second photo in Anandtech link). Then, what's obstructing the signals?!
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] bso44:
I wouldn't want a full plastic back. A big part of the appeal of the Prime over the TF101 is the build quality and feel of the tablet. It would be great if the existing aluminum back could be a fabricated with a plastic window to optimize the GPS. And it would be awesome if a big publicity push would force a recall for Asus to do this themselves.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] primelover:
a cheap alternative

has anyone considered simply drilling some holes or slits in the back cover over the antennas?

they are located on the top on either side of the front camera. both wifi and GPS antennas are there. right and left sides both measure about 70mm wide and about 10-15mm in height. for stability issues, based on the pics that are available, the aluminum already seam to have ridges but cutting a series of diagonal or vertical slits would maintain sufficient integrity. The issue of whether having an opening will improve gps and wifi is not yet confirmed. anyone willing to remove the back cover and or attempt a cut-out and check function? cutting or drilling with a dremel should be fairly easy. If it works, a pop-in plastic window or glue-in could be pretty sleek. a shame such a promising product has been hobbled by a physical design flaw.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] e.mote:
>Jerry Shen (CEO) who saw and felt a mock up with that casing felt the "oooh" factor and that was that.

Asus, along with other PC vendors, is fabbing up for the all-metal design of ultrabooks (the Zenbook). Using the same process makes sense for tablets in two ways: having iPad's all-metal rich look--important for retail sales--and saving money with a standardized fab process.

The all-metal shell still costs more money than your plain vanilla plastic back. Hence I expect this metal cover to stay on Asus' high-end line only.

Note that the TF700 (w/ RF window fix) was ready by CES. This means that the RF issue was already known and resolved before the TF201 went on sale in late Dec, and that going ahead with the original design for the TF201 was a conscious decision.

From the company's view, it's probably a good choice, given the time-to-market benefits. Only Asus has a next-gen Android tablet on the market for now, and like the Xoom last year, it'll keep this exclusive status for probably 3 months--a whole quarter. That's a HUGE marketing advantage. Asus scored a coup.

Asus may have underestimated the backlash to the RF issue a bit, although probably not by much. The GPS issue isn't a big deal for the vast majority, since wifi geolocation is an able substitute for most static uses. The weak wifi affects many metal-clad designs before now, and isn't a "defect" per se in the public consciousness.

To Asus' credit, I've seen some PR damage mitigation attempts. Gary Key (Asus Technical Marketing Mgr) defused a couple of situations here. The early release of ICS is another. Despite the seeming uproar, I'd have to agree with the likely Asus assessment that this won't materially hurt Prime sales. XDA isn't representative of the buying populace.

[I also noted that the TF700 has a anodized satin finish. This also fixes the issue of the TF201 being scratch prone, at the cost of losing the glossy shine finish. Hopefully, Asus can improve the dull finish with more lustre.]
[HTC Flyer, EVO View 4G] J03Y4G:
Just a Q can I add these rules to the host file and expect Dolphin Browser to follow them or at least Adfree?

This list is from FanBoy's List that's used in FireFox I think it's the best list around but I would like to intagrate it with the android better.

I was going to add it to the host file found in System>etc>host

I'm currently at work atm I will upload the file when I get home but here is a small part.
[HTC Inspire 4G] MikeIsCore:
So my wife is out of town and i just got a frantic call from her on her moms phone telling me that her Inspire is constantly been shutting down.

We live in Texas and she's visiting family in Ft. Lauderdale since before Christmas. She's said since she's been there that the phone has been acting wonky, but starting today the phone will not stay powered on when not on the charger.

When it's on the charger she says she has 80% battery life, but when she unplugs it and tries to do something with it the phone powers down.

She's done the battery pulls, she's cleared the cache and removed unnecessary apps. I'm really not sure what to tell her other than go to AT&T and get a different battery, and fi that does't work - plug it into your laptop, copy all of your pictures and necessary data then do a factory reset.

Any other advice from more experienced members?
[HTC Inspire 4G] Gizmoe:
Sounds like your on the right track. You could try downloading the ruu from HTC as well and do a clean install. If all else fails just do a warranty.
[HTC Inspire 4G] toxicpaulution:
I had the same problem. It was the battery, bought a new stock HTC battery and it works perfectly :) don't try a reset or any of that. You will lose you're stuff, tell her to just charge it until she can get it replaced I kept mine on charger for 4 days until I bought it and got it in the mail. Phone works perfectly now :)
[HTC Inspire 4G] MikeIsCore:
We had to get the screen replaced so AT&T wouldn't help her because hey could tell it's been opened :(

It was opened about 4 months ago, and has been working fine until she went to Florida. She has had battery issues though since she go the device back in February.

She said the AT&T person tried to do a factory reset and that "it wouldnt take" which i found was odd. More than likely the AT&T person was doing it while the phone was on, rather than doing the volume down + power button to load into recovery and do it that way.

Anyone know why a factory reset wouldn't go through?
[HTC Inspire 4G] Gizmoe:
Selecting it through the phone just boots into hboot to finish the process, but if the phone is freezing and powering down it would probably keep it from completing. Try it through hboot. Did the att guy at least test a different battery in the device? Some of those att employees really shouldn't be helping people troubleshoot. Too bad they aren't all as educated as zel.
[HTC Inspire 4G] MikeIsCore:
They didnt even entertain the idea of a different battery. They took the battery door off and could tell that it had been opened. Right then and there they basically sent we can't help you because it's out of warranty and HTC will charge you full price for a new phone, but then whispered to her that she could go to a local shop.

Needless to say i was a little pissed that they wouldn't even let her try a different battery.
[HTC Inspire 4G] zelendel:
That is one of the risks of Modding your phone or someone else's. All support now relies on the phones owner.

As for the rep. He couldn't do anything without possibly losing his/her job. I used to work for them so I really can't blame the employee.

Now for her prob the only thing I would suggest is that she get another battery which may or may not be the issue.

Why was it opened? If you don't mind me asking?
[HTC Inspire 4G] Tx Redneck:
The screen was replaced.
[HTC Inspire 4G] MikeIsCore:
Tx Redneck is correct. As I stated the screen had to be replaced.

I understand about the rep not being able to do anything because of potential job loss, but does that mean they can't even let her borrow a battery to test it?
[HTC Inspire 4G] zelendel:
By the rules as much as I hate to say it. Yes. If they see that the phone was modded they cant even allow the use of another battery for testing. I normally kept a few extra personal batteries to help people out but had to do it off the clock. ATT is very strict about it.

I was written up once when I was helping someone with an issue and my boss looked over my shoulder and noticed the sticker was missing. HE asked me if I noticed and I said yes i did but it had nothing to do with what I was helping with. He took the phone, handed it back to the owner, said sorry there is nothing we can do for you. Then sent me home and when I came back in I was written up with a final warning.
[HTC Inspire 4G] MikeIsCore:
Well that sucks. Appreciate the information though. Thanks Zelendel.
[HTC Inspire 4G] zelendel:
Yeah it does. No prob.
[HTC Inspire 4G] MikeIsCore:
Once she's returned from her trip i'll come back and post whether or not i was able to fix the issue or if we need to procure a new phone.
[Samsung Galaxy Mini] arison1988:
Hi,

Well i downloaded a custom theme but i dont like the icons so i want to ask if anyone got the stock theme to flash it. Or is it possible to make a rollback without losing my stuff like apps etc.

Thanks for your responds!

Cheers

P.S: I got the emNon Rom V3
[Samsung Galaxy Mini] gboydroid:
before applying a theme please do a nandriod back up 1st so that when ever you didnt like the theme you flash you can restore the previous theme.
[Samsung Galaxy Mini] mitrjoshi:
stock theme

install stock rom
[Kindle Fire General] Matt V:
I am wondering if it is possible to get a standard Android settings menu on the stock rom rooted. Anyone know if it is possible? I tried installing "settings.apk" from CM7 and it wouldn't install over the factory app.
[Kindle Fire General] MMDominator88:
Set as R/W and changed permissions B4 installing

Are you using root explorer and mounted the system as r/w, copy n pasted it into /system/app, changed permissions to match the ones inside /system/app _before_ installing it? Then you reboot the system. That work?
[TouchPad Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] iamsamsamiam:
I've tested this with a3.5, Xron and Miui and they all get this problem. Maybe installing certain apps trigger this to happen but wifi will eventually slow down when trying to connect to a signal and will be essentially non functional since the OS will basically freeze and then tell you to force close wifi and it requires a wipe and fresh install to fix.

Has anyone else run into this problem?
[TouchPad Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] StEVO_M:
Check this and see if it helps you.

http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=20863566&postcount=14
[TouchPad Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] iamsamsamiam:
I don't think its the same issue. In those instances you can still try to change which wifi signal you want to connect to, I think it just loops from connecting and it would disconnect. I think this issue is common and dropped connections occur as well.

But I'm talking about a situation where if you even try to enter the wifi options it will force close.
[TouchPad Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] StEVO_M:
Before I changed it, it would take forever to get it to release the connection. I just kept hitting "Wait" rather than "Force close" it would take several minutes but would eventually come up and allow me to Forget the network.

It sure sounds like the same, not saying it is, but very similar.
[TouchPad Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] lifeisfun:
I experienced this problem for the first time yesterday in area where was about 20 WIFI networks. Never ever it happened in my house on A2. A3 A3.5 or XRON2.8

http://rootzwiki.com/topic/13779-now-i-believe-that-there-is-wifi-problem/
[TouchPad Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] usnyty:
I have the same issue today, Wifi setting is forced to close, and cannot connect to any Wifi signals. I think it's a bug and it related to the time or date. Because I didn't do anything and it just happened.

No new apps install, no setting changed, and the device was keep on, so it just happens.

Hope someone can find out where the problem is...so sad this happen on New Year's eve....
[TouchPad Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] lovenokia:
i have this problem also, the solution i found was letting the touchpad go dead and than begin to connect wifi again.
[TouchPad Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] speakxj7:
Similar wifi comments here: rebooting [or maybe toggling/other disconnect] with wifi on/remembered would get it into a state where it was scanning and connecting over and over without really ever working. this was only happening once it was 'remembered'. Going through the wifi settings to forget in this state involved hitting 'wait' a few times and then i'd reboot and readd. 1st wifi connect is always solid for me.

I've found: market.android.com/details?id=com.brilliapps.wifiandmorefixer

Does the same thing except it is one click. I rebooted after the first go, but now no longer. i run this and then readd wifi - all set.
[Galaxy Tab 10.1 Themes and Apps] jman391:
Anyone know if it can be ported to CM9 Kang? I have tried several times to install the apk manually and even the flashable zip available on Task's page, but everytime I try to open it, it says "unfortunately, eBook has stopped." I also installed the same apk on my Galaxy Nexus with Stock ICS and it worked fine, except for when I tried to import books it gave me the same message and quit. I hope somebody can help me out with this, its the best ebook app I've ever used, and no other reader is satisfactory. Lol. I've included the ebook.zip below in case someone can tweak it and help me out. It's the flashable zip, the apk can be found by unzipping the file. Let me know if anybody has any ideas. Thanks guys
[Galaxy Tab 10.1 Themes and Apps] lakigucci:
Use Aldiko bookreader instead. Its the same app, just some lil differences. Works exactly the same aswell.
[Galaxy Tab 10.1 Themes and Apps] jman391:
I've tried Aldiko. I dont like it. I need a reader with the smooth page turn animations that this app has. Do you know of any like that?
[Galaxy Tab 10.1 Themes and Apps] joedoe:
Try the Cool Reader instead
[Galaxy Tab 10.1 Themes and Apps] jman391:
I'll try it. Thanks for the input sir. Hope it's as good.
[Galaxy Tab 10.1 Themes and Apps] lakigucci:
Try this one: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1385351
[Galaxy Tab 10.1 Themes and Apps] jman391:
I tried that one too and got the same result: 'unfortunately, Ebooks has stopped' when I try to import. I think the Import books option needs to be edited to work for ICS.
[Galaxy Tab 10.1 Themes and Apps] lakigucci:
Alot of apps dont work yet on ics. This is probb one of them.
[Galaxy Tab 10.1 Themes and Apps] jman391:
Indeed. i guess I'll just have to wait until Samsung releases touchwiz for ICS and get it then. Thanks for everyone's feedback. I'll just stick with 3.2 HC until official CM9 is released.