[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 General] bigstarrynight:
Guys who hack for a hobby, or who work on Android development can probably pass on this thread, as they will, or should already know the following.

For everyone else:

Not all Galaxy Note smart-phones are equal. The same applies to every other smartphone, computer, computer chip, computer component, or aeroplane. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kHa3WNerjU This aeroplane was hard-bricked because the programmers didn't understand how we fly aircraft, and the pilot not understanding the programming logic, probably because he was never told. BUT, there might be another reason. Quality control of the computer chip. In the days I'm talking about, every chip was manufactured as a 486 or 386 chip, under-testing, if it failed, it would then be tested as an SX chip (the math co-processor disabled) if it passed the lesser test, it would pass as a SX chip, instead of the premium DX chip. So if anyone bought a computer with a SX chip, they bought a failed chip. Just like the guys who built that aeroplane, it had 6 or 7 SX (failed) chips driving the whole thing. Of course, the chip and plane makers insist there was nothing wrong with the product, it must be the pilots fault. In a way they are correct, the components met specification, but when the pilot pulls up, and commands full power.....and it still hard-bricks itself....hmmm...someones lying.

Quality control over chips is pretty much the same today as it was then. To expect 100% perfect chips to be installed into 100% smartphones would result in most chips winding up in landfill and your phone costing £$kk. So we have to compromise, and find acceptable limits. When your phone was made and software loaded for the first time and tested, it worked, but doesn't mean it will work the next time upgrade software is loaded. That is one reason for hard bricking a phone or aeroplane. So when you flash up the latest software, a warranty would be nice.

The next reasons for hard-bricking your phone is many fold, and many will be familiar with this. I'm now talking about peripheral devices, magnetometers, giros, accelerometers and on... The same still applies to these devices as the chips when it comes to quality control. So that's another point. But are ALL devices in your phone exactly the same, from the same manufacturer, in EVERYONES phone? Personally I doubt it. Buy any make and model of computer you want, and I'll guarantee that I can find differences in components for that brand and model. So what? Well this is what, those different devices may well have differing driver requirements. The same applies to your smart phone.

Case Study:

I speced up my own faster than me PC, had the component list checked by an expert. We all felt happy and I bought it, it was also assembled by experts. It powered up, passed all the tests, memory, bench marking, you name it, we did it. All passed. Happy? NO! In use I got random BSOD. fault traced to an instruction sent from the chip to the mobo which the driver did not recognise. Found offending setting in the BIOS and stopped the instruction being sent. Now have a very stable and fast PC. Both Intel and the mobo makers said their product was perfect. They are correct, but with certain combinations of hardware, this glitch comes up. Guess what, its the same for your smart phone.

There are many reasons why Samsung and all the other makers 'regionalise' the product. Language comes top of the list to most people, but it goes further. Because the components wont all be the same, from the same factory, or the same maker, phones will be made in batches. All the phones with giro 'A' go to the USA, all phones with giro 'B' go to India and so on. Assume Giro 'A' needs a different driver to giro 'B'. When we upgrade to a new android version, the USA will get a different upgrade to India, and one will be released before the other. Translate this to all of the other peripheral devices, and you can then begin to understand why there are so many different ROMs out there, and why Samsung roll out in slow time. They have to make sure, as best they can, that the upgrade has the correct coding for your phone, because your phone is different.

There are some misconceptions about what is an official ROM. To me, an official ROM is one that Samsung selected for me, via KIES. A ROM destined for users in say, Australia, is not an official ROM for me with an EU phone, otherwise, why would Samsung make life hard for themselves by having extra ROM releases? Just pause and think, that's all.

One more point. It would be helpful for those that can, post a hardware list when they spot faults, bugs and hard bricks. No one seems to do that, but on PC forums, that is the norm. Maybe we could get much more accurate with our hack and so on if we could do this. here is what's under my bonnet:

Sensor - Accelerometer: K3DH Acceleration Sensor, Vendor: STMicroelectronics, Version: 1, Power: 0.2, Resolution: 0.0048, Max Range: 19.6.

Sensor - Gyroscope: K3G Gyroscope Sensor, Vendor: STMicroelectronics, Version: 1, Power: 6.1, Resolution: 0.0003, Max Range: 8.7.

Sensor - Pressure: BMP182 Pressure Sensor, Vendor: Bosch, Version: 1, Power: 0.1, Resolution: 0.0100, Max Range: 1100.0.

Sensor - Magnet: AK8975 Magnetic field Sensor, Vendor: Asahi Kasei Microdevices, Version: 1, Power: 6.0, Resolution: 0.0600, Max Range: 2000.0.

Sensor - Orientation: AK8975 Orientation Sensor, Vendor: Asahi Kasei Microdevices, Version: 1, Power: 7.8, Resolution: 0.0156, Max Range: 360.0.

Sensor - Light: GP2A Light Sensor, Vendor: Sharp, Version: 1, Power: 0.8, Resolution: 1.0, Max Range: 3000.0.

Sensor - Proximity: GP2A Proximity Sensor, Vendor: Sharp, Version: 1, Power: 0.8, Resolution: 5.0, Max Range: 5.0.

Sensor - Gravity: Gravity Sensor, Vendor: Google Inc., Version: 1, Power: 0.2, Resolution: 0.0048, Max Range: 19.6.

Sensor - Linear Acceleration: Linear Acceleration Sensor, Vendor: Google Inc., Version: 1, Power: 0.2, Resolution: 0.0048, Max Range: 19.6.

Sensor - Rotation: Rotation Vector Sensor, Vendor: Google Inc., Version: 1, Power: 6.2, Resolution: 0.0000, Max Range: 1.0.