[Samsung Galaxy R i9103] CallMeVentus:
Hello everyone!

I'm here to make a guide for people who are new to their Galaxy R, and also the Android world :D

Our phone has the following specifications:

- 1Ghz Dual-core ARM Cortex A9 processor (ARMv7)

-

NVIDIA Tegra 2

AP20H chipset (Delivers one of the best graphical performances)

- 1GB of RAM (even though Samsung only gives it 724MB of it for real practical use)

- 8GB of internal memory storage (2GB ROM + 2GB for applications + 4GB user available) thanks m.kochan10 !

- SDcard support up to 32GB SDHC

- 5MP Camera with 1.3MP front-facing Camera (we have a chance for face unlock :D) therefore it supports video calling :D

- SD-LCD (:() capacitive touchscreen, 16,000,000 colours

- Runs on Gingerbread (2.3.3)

- Supports Quad-band GSM (GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900) and Quad-band HSPA (HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100) with HSDPA+ (21Mbps) and HSUPA (5.76Mbps)

- Weighs 135g (LIGHT!)

- Has a

scratch-resistant glass with multitouch

:D

- TouchWiz UI v4.0 :O

- Has official ICS support :D

Taken from http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_i9103_galaxy_r-3967.php :p

Q&A coming soon from cooleagle :)

Basic noobie questions:

Q1: What is Android? I heard that my phone has this as said by the guy who sold me this phone......

A1: Hello new user, Android is an Operating System (a.k.a OS) for

phones

, like how Windows is for computers. It is meant to be simple, efficient and customisable. :)

More can be seen here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)

Q2: What is root? What does it do?

A2: Rooting is the process of attaining superuser (su) access to your phone. It is similiar to the jailbreaking process on Apple phones :)

Q3: What are the different Android versions available for our phone?

A3: Currently only 2.3.3 to 2.3.6. Don't worry, Cyanogenmod 7 will have 2.3.7 :D

Q4: I've heard all this commotion about "stock" firmwares. What are they?

A4: Okay, stock firmwares are update files from Samsung which are available for download. This stock firmware may also stand for factory firmware (if you didn't update) :D

Q5: What's build.prop? What are some of the build.prop tweaks and meanings?

A5: Build.prop is a file that defines the build properties of the build and phone. It is a necessary part of the phone and if it's missing, the phone may not be able to boot.

Here are some build.prop tweaks:

pm.sleep_mode=(0 or 1)

Enables the phone's sleep mode.

0 to disable, 1 to enable.

ro.ril.disable.power.collapse=(0 or 1)

Disables the network power collapse, allowing the phone to sleep better.

0 to disable, 1 to enable tweak.

dalvik.vm.heapsize=(amount in mb, e.g 48m)

Defines the Dalvik Virtual Machine Heapsize for games to run better.

ro.sf.lcd_density=(0-999, Galaxy R default is 240)

Defines the LCD density (in dpi) for your device. It's recommended not to change your density for Samsung phones as they will cause problems with your phone's Dialer service.

wifi.suppliant_scan_interval=(time in seconds, e.g. 60)

Defines the time taken to scan for new WiFi networks if no open networks are found. Setting the option higher may save more battery as it scans lesser.

persist.sys.camera-mute=(0 or 1)

Turns off the camera shutter sound (Be careful with this, it may be illegal in yoir region!)

You can also try this suggestion by pudup:

0 to turn sounds, 1 to turn off sounds.

video.accelerate.hw=(0 or 1)

Enables hardware decoding of videos. Only for video formats natively supported by phone.

0 to disable, 1 to enable.

ro.ril.hsxpa=(0, 1, 2 or 3, default is 1)

Determines the speed of your HSUPA.

0 = HSUPA disabled (very slow upload)

1 = Stock HSUPA enabled and capped (slow upload)

2 = HSUPA enabled but capped (good upload)

3 = HSUPA enabled and uncapped (best upload)

Q6: Does this phone support overclocking? I feel that I'm not getting the most out of this phone :/

A6: Yes this phone does support overclocking. The kernel by ardatdat should be in the Development section. It even supports undervolting to save battery!

Q7: Why is there a yellow triangle below "Samsung Galaxy R GT-i9103" on boot?

A7: That's because you probably flashed a non-stock kernel through Odin3. Try reflashing a stock ROM and use CWM to flash the phone next time.....

cooleagle and I will add more info to come :D

Guides:

Guide 1: How to make use of ADB (Android Debug Bridge) for debugging and testing

By now, you all should've known that

Android makes mistakes

. Actually, not just Android. EVERYONE makes mistakes. Well, for this case it's

something going wrong with a game, or just something wrong with a ROM

.

The developers @ Google were smart enough to make this logging binary called

logcat

and it logs

everything

going on inside Android, from bootup, to dexopt, basic processes and even to shutting down!

There are 2 ways of accessing Android's logcat:

WAY #1: Using Terminal Emulator

Requirements:

A working phone that boots

Rooted with Superuser

Advantages:

It allows debugging without a computer, unlike the 2nd way.

Terminal Emulator is

easily downloadable from Google Play

: https://play.google.com/store/apps/...251bGwsMSwyLDEsImphY2twYWwuYW5kcm9pZHRlcm0iXQ..

Disadvantages:

It's

harder to debug using the phone, especially if it is stuck at the bootanimation or splash screen

.

Root is needed otherwise you will get

logcat: permission denied

in the terminal

Steps:

Download Terminal Emulator from Google Play or the link above

Once you've entered it, type in

su

using the virtual keyboard

Allow it in the Superuser prompt

Then go ahead and type

logcat

, you will see a bunch of crazy things.

If you want to save a log, do:

logcat > /mnt/sdcard/logcat.txt

WAY #2: Using Windows/Ubuntu for logcat using the Android SDK (Software Development Kit)

Requirements:

A computer running Windows/Linux or other distros

The

Android SDK must be installed

: http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html

Android USB cable (for connecting the phone to the computer)

An Internet connection

Advantages:

Allows debugging using the computer for more accurate findings

Allows logging much better than the method in Terminal Emulator

Ubuntu allows live copy/paste in its Terminal so there is no need to save a log.txt file

Disadvantages:

It uses the Internet to download the required packages

You need a USB cable to connect the phone

If the USB cable/port is malfunctioning logcat will not work

This is more complex than the phone method as it requires you to set a path in Windows's environment and in Ubuntu's .bashrc if you want to be able to use it in the Terminal/Command Prompt at any time.

Steps for Windows:

Launch the Android SDK Manager in

32-bit Windows:
C:\Program Files\Android\android-sdk\SDK Manager.exe
64-bit Windows:
C:\Program Files(x86\Android\android-sdk\SDK Manager.exe

Wait for it to finishing loading all the repositories

Install the Android SDK platform-tools and let it finish its install

You have now installed the Android SDK's Platform Tools, which is in

C:\Program Files\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools

and it contains the Android Debug Bridge (adb.exe), which fits this description:

To test whether adb will work, run Command Prompt and go to the folder described above , respective for 32 and 64-bit.

Run:

adb logcat

and if it works, the same crazy code will be there :)

TO BE CONTINUED