yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Galaxy S III General] cowppl:
Hey guys. Any advice on what the best GPS app is for Southern Africa. In Zambia and Google Navigation is not enabled here so I am looking for a alternative incase I go in the bush or decide to drive down to SA through Zimbabwe or Botswana. Offline GPS is a must since data here plain sucks and is expensive and if I am driving out of the city I can forget about using Google maps coz signal is just that bad.

Tom Tom just announced GPS for android but the GS3 is not compatible yet and I want something tried and tested. I am more than willing to pay if it gives me piece of mind.
[Galaxy S III General] kofiaa:
Try sygic, I'm in Ghana and I know they have maps available for us here.
[Galaxy S III General] vaughanmcshane:
Not sure at all but once you get to SA then my experience shows that Google works pretty well. I know Garmin is sold for a premium and should work pretty well on the GS3
[Galaxy S III General] cowppl:
Sygic looks good. It uses TomTom maps so I wonder if there is a big difference between it and the new TomTom app. Might wait a while to see comparisons before I buy

Garmin has an app? Can't find out in the market. could you elaborate more plz
[Galaxy S III General] twarwizard:
Just some feedback/update on my updating situation:

I ended up flashing and reflashing the ROM over and over, hoping that 3G would work. Even tried different modems. Went back to stock ICS and still had no success. Ended up flashing Wanamlite and still had the problem, but it turned out that my suspicions that the problem did not lie with the phone was right. Vodacom network was having issues and all works right again now.

I would definitely recommend updating to Jellybean, I haven't had any issues thus far.
[Galaxy S III General] vaughanmcshane:
Sorry for the weak advice. I was actually thinking of my BlackBerry days and assumed (eish) that they would have one for Android. Lesson learnt. Sorry mate.

:(
[Galaxy S III General] art_arev:
Hey man ..Muli shani??? Buino???

You are from Zambia but leaving in US? I was in Lusaka the past 10 years. Now I am back in Harare....

You are talking about offline gps....How those it work??/I mean the offline part..
[Galaxy S III General] cowppl:
lol no problem. I think I will bite the bullet and get Sygic. who knows when TomTom will make the app official for the S3, and it would suck if they came out with a hd version later on after I paid for the sd one already

---------- Post added at 01:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:29 PM ----------

Buino.

I am in Zambia right now.....Lusaka. I used to be in the US. I really need to change that on my profile.

Offline GPS has the maps and everything stored on your phone. It gives you voice directions and everything. You don't need internet at all plus Google Navigation does not work in Zambia and I am guessing it's the same for Zim. Offline GPS works just like those standalone GPS like Garmin.

planning on driving down to SA passing through Zim so it would really be useful.
[Galaxy S III General] R0g@t:
Vodacom 4.0.4 Update to XXBLFB

Just got a notification from Kies to update to XXBLFB (Vodacom)....which was released on 28/06...and, I am guessing, because of Vodacom we only received the update now...3.5 months after it was released.

The cynic in me is expecting JB in South Africa in 2013. I hope not! Holding thumbs. Maybe Africa generic (XFA) will update sooner.
[Galaxy S III General] henckert.willy:
Good to see that there is an African thread for Galaxy S3. I am on stock 404 an on MTC Namibia
[Galaxy S III General] vaughanmcshane:
I was very stoked with my unbranded XFA from fnb. Don't be afraid to root and flash. I am a total noob and honestly it is easy and relatively painless. Just follow instructions to the tee.
[Galaxy S III General] steve505:
Hi I want to get Jelly Bean on my S3. Did this root your device? Did you have to do a full wipe?
[Galaxy S III General] kofiaa:
it doesn't root your device, you don't have to do a full wipe, just use Odin.

Read up on the Rom sticky
[Galaxy S III General] steve505:
Thank you so much... Sorry I know that I should search but there is a million posts to go through. Can I use the stock modem in South Africa? I am on MTN.
[Galaxy S III General] kofiaa:
Really don't know, but i think it should work. I'm in Ghana with a UK Vodafone s3 on a Airtel and I haven't changed the modem. If it doesn't work you can flash a new one.
[Galaxy S III General] steve505:
Thank you so much. How is the battery life for you? I have been running stock 4.0.4 and I am very happy. I am just tired of the choppy performance.
[Galaxy S III General] kofiaa:
I'm not on jb yet, I'm waiting for the official English roll out. I haven't heard anything positive or negative about the battery life though.
[Galaxy S III General] steve505:
Thanks again for the advice!
[Galaxy S III General] twarwizard:
You could download the places you are going to visit on google maps then you can use it offline. GPS should probably also work if you downloaded the offline map. I don't think navigation works without signal though, but at least you can figure out where you are and where to go by yourself.
[Galaxy S III General] twarwizard:
I am on JB in South Africa on Vodacom and stock modem worked fine for me. Also, no battery life problems for me. Wouldn't really say its better, but its not worse at least.
[Galaxy S III General] cowppl:
Navigation has not been enabled at all for Zambia so signal or not it's not going to work. the downloading of offline maps and using it that way is a bit tedious to use while driving and if I stray the course I am screwed. I wanted full navigational functionally
[Galaxy S III General] kofiaa:
Navigation for any country

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=27175897
[Galaxy S III General] art_arev:
Howzit?

Check the tread kofia showed.....There is a link for the latest google maps 6.12 with world navigation activated. Just tried it out navigation is activated and works for Zimbabwe....I am sure will work in Zambia as well....
[Galaxy S III General] cowppl:
Thanks. Had Brute Maps on my SGS1 but that was discontinued. Never knew there was an updated one on xda. Big lifesaver

Yup, just installed it and it works like a charm so far. Hopefully no bugs
[Galaxy S III General] nadimsoze:
So what's the consensus on Fast Dormancy on Vodacom?

EDIT: Vodacom does not support Fast dormancy. http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=31715981

I know how to test it, I just don't have great 3g coverage, so I can't at the moment. If people are willing to test it (you need root and fast dormancy toggle, and usual disclaimer), this is how. Maybe we can get a clear picture of fast dormancy on Voda (or MTN, 8ta, Cell C, etc.).

The short way (I don't know if this will work). Someone with stock vodacom rooted, can check if fast dormancy is enabled by installing the app below. Anyone?

The long way, according to XDA vids.

1. Install fast dormancy toggle.

2. Disable fast dormancy, reboot.

3. Dial *#0011# for ServiceMode and look at the RRC states. Make sure you're in area with stable 3G coverage (3G, H, H+) otherwise you won't see RRC states, just the GSM band.

3. Switch to your web browser and load google.com. This will force H+

4. Switch back to the ServiceMode. Record RRC states and the timing between switching. Maybe do step 3/4 a few times to get a good picture. It should be something like DCH --> FACH --> PCH.

5. Toggle fast dormancy on. Reboot.

6. Perform steps 3 and 4 again.

7. If any of the states or timings have changed noticeably then the network has fast dormancy

A 3rd option is to ask Vodacom. This is probably the longest route.

Using BetterBatteryStats I can see that fast dormancy (secril_fd-interface) is responsible for a significant amount of drain. This makes me think that either Voda doesn't have fast dormancy or has a shoddy implementation.

EDIT: Vodacom does not support Fast dormancy. http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=31715981
[Galaxy S III General] Anarchy05:
Hi guys. Im new to the forum.

Just flashed JB Poland.I think my charge jack is giving problems.

But my main isue is.my app market isnt working.it hangs on downloading.

What can I do to fix this?

Also. I am from SA and on MTN.had this isue with my s2 aswell which never got solved
[Galaxy S III General] kofiaa:
application manager » Google play store » clear data + cache. Then restart.

Edit: same thing happened to me. The Samsung charger and Samsung usb cable combination didn't work. Use the Samsung charger with another usb cable or vice versa.
[Galaxy S III General] Anarchy05:
Still doing the same. It clears the cache automatically when I clear data though.

Just found another bug...

When choosing Power off. It just restarts. Is this a commen JB bug?
[Galaxy S III General] vaughanmcshane:
Man - I thought i was going nuts but you are right the Samsung equipment hasnt been been functioning 100% Such a relief to find this bit of advice and of all places in our Awesome African Thread. Big up bud. :good:
[Galaxy S III General] kofiaa:
Edit: flash your jb rom again, if it's not working then you may have to do a data wipe.

I'm yet to use jb, I haven't seen anything great about it. I'm waiting for it to roll out worldwide, by then Samsung would have ironed out all the bugs.
[Galaxy S III General] vaughanmcshane:
Did you do a full wipe?

Cant understand all your bugs since i flashed exact same firmware to my device and encountered none of the above. :confused:
[Galaxy S III General] Anarchy05:
I did do a factory data wipe,but not for the cache.

Going to flash again quick.

Thanks

Edit

Just did a factory wipe and cache partition wipe. The flashed the rom again.still having all the same issues. Restarting when powering off and appworld not downloading.

Do you think its the rom?

Not able to post pics yet.

AP:i9300Xxdlib

CP:i9300Xxdlib

CSC:i9300Oxfdli1
[Galaxy S III General] twarwizard:
I don't have that bug, works perfectly for me.
[Galaxy S III General] kofiaa:
How exactly do you power off?

Flash another Google play with cwm
[Galaxy S III General] bigkay:
Wow... Finally an African thread in xda.. Hi guys am Kingsley living in South Africa recently upgraded from s2 to s3.. Was a flasherholic on my s2 changing roms and kernels if not daily... But since on s3 I have decided to stay with official roms...
[Galaxy S III General] Anarchy05:
I press the power button until the option comes up for power off,flight mode,etc.the I select power off. It shuts down.and then about a second or two and it starts up again.

Sorry if I sound dumb.but how do I flash another play store with cwm?lol.

Never flashed an app that way.

Obviously I root to get cwm.amd then?
[Galaxy S III General] kofiaa:
EDIT: use the link in the post below
[Galaxy S III General] bigkay:
Try this inverted play store app u never go back to official play store and it's battery friendly and regularly updated by the kind developer ... Although it's a zip.. If u have cwm app in ur phone u can install it through it...

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=32767992
[Galaxy S III General] Anarchy05:
Siyah coming!

Not having any luck with the new play store. Havent tried the inverted one yet as I decided to push siyah kernal.

But will only later do it as it seems my mtp protocal is malfunctioning.

Thanks for the help guys.

Tell me,with siyah kernal I will readily have root access right?

Anything I need to know beforehand?

This will probably fix a few issues as I have if my logic is correct?
[Galaxy S III General] steve505:
I have been using the JB Poland for a week now and there are a few bugs.

Pros:

1. When its running smooth, it is fast!

2. Google Now (even with a funny saffa accent) its amazing. Siri's se gat

3. Notification upgrade is nice.

Cons:

1. Sometimes a bit stuttery. Contacts and Dialer.

2. Battery life isnt as good as stock ICS

3. There are a few irritating crashes and FC's.

4. JB seems to be a RAM hog.

But none of this stuff is bad enough for me to go back to ICS.
[Galaxy S III General] cowppl:
Hi. I had this same problem but with stock when I just got my phone. Bought the phone, tested it in the shop with 3g and everything worked fine. I came home and when I tried to download an app on WiFi, it just stayed on downloading but did not even move one percent. It did this for every app. It would work with 3g though. My sgs1 worked fine so it was not the WiFi.

I cleared cache and everything but nothing would work. After 3 days of pulling my hair out I was about to factory reset. Just tried one more time and it worked.

I guess it's something I will never figure out. At least it works now. Only problem I have now is every now and then my phone disconnects from the network and says emergency calls only. Really irritating but not worth flashing yet

So all I can say is give it a few days and hopefully it will work. If you can't wait the flash again
[Galaxy S III General] Anarchy05:
So I wiped the data and cache,and flashed the rom again,followed by siyah's kernel.

To no avail... I am still suffering same isues. The only improvement is it seems my usb connection seems more stable.

I also installed the inverted app market which does the same as the original and hangs on downloads.

Its starting to look like a bad phone. As I had suspected earlier because I had atleast one random crash a day on ICS,being either whatsapp,settings,or browser or whatever app I have been using at the moment it crashed.

So ja... I am clueless from here onwards as to what to do
[Galaxy S III General] kofiaa:
Are u downloading through wifi or 3g? Take it to your service center and let them check it out if it still persists.
[Galaxy S III General] Anarchy05:
Currently through edge and 3g.will pnly be trying wifi the weekend hopefully.hit the cap again!crap.

Thanks for the trouble

Any suggestions for an alternative app market? Im going to install fireplace now but see its only for root requiring apps.would like something thats almost like play market with alot of apps and variety
[Galaxy S III General] kofiaa:
Amazon market, go to Amazon.com for the apk

---------- Post added at 08:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:54 PM ----------

http://www.amazon.com/mobile-apps/b/ref=topnav_storetab_mas?ie=UTF8&node=2350149011
[Galaxy S III General] art_arev:
Download your JB from another source and try it. Get official stock JB. Do a factory reset/wipe....dalvik cache....then flash. This time download odin flashable rom and flash with ODIN. I have encountered your problem with a number of custom roms..... A proper clean flashing of stock rom sorts it out.

Good luck.

---------- Post added at 01:54 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:45 AM ----------

Hi my friend. You are seriously missing out by waiting for a ''worldwide'' roll out. The polish JB is perfect and is the start of official worlwide roll out... and there is no comparison with ICS. Once you have tried JB you will never go back to ICS. About bugs.... I have flashed and flashed and reflashed.....Never had any.....Do a clean flash and you will be 100% happy with JB.
[Galaxy S III General] nadimsoze:
There aren't any issues with the jb roms. If you do have problems it's probably flash related. Titanium backup, factory data reset, clear cache, dalvik, (format system).

Battery issues on jb are mostly related to Google now since it constantly access maps. So don't opt in.

Sent from my GT-I9300
[Galaxy S III General] kofiaa:
Well I'm really tempted to check out jb now. I'll download the rom this weekend and see how it goes.
[Galaxy S III General] KickassDealer:
Hi to all

Hi everybody also new here from Cape Town South Africa. Just a request, could sombody that has sucesfully rooted their S3 for Vodacom post the links for correct files to use to root. Not sure what file( tar.md5) to use to gain root access.

Thanks
[Galaxy S III General] bigkay:
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1695238 from my HTC Flyer P510e using Tapatalk 2

You get everything u need here @kickassdealer
[Galaxy S III General] kofiaa:
For since yesterday I lost my ability to use gsm only to browse. I have to stick to wcdma to browse, but no one else is experiencing this problem. I'm on Airtel, anyone experienced this problem before?

EDIT: Working again.
[Galaxy S III General] KickassDealer:
Thanks allot will check it out.
[Galaxy S III General] vaughanmcshane:
Check out chain fires root. 100% safe
[Galaxy S III General] Password1234:
Been following this website and forums for months now, didn't know this thread existed! :)

I'm from Cape Town, South Africa. Got my S3 from Vodacon and had it only a week or two before flashing a custom ROM. Tried a few, but the one that was always the best for me was (and still is) the CheckROM V5. It really is a masterpiece!

I've also been waiting for a proper JB release, but tired of waiting now. Thinking of going the AOSP/AOKP/CM10 route.

Will update with my experiences!
[Galaxy S III General] Cryptte:
Hi everyone, this is pretty cool. Glad to see we have an African thread. Was a huge custom freak on my S2 (rooted almost immediately after I bought it) but I've been pretty slow to jump onto the band wagon since I got the S3. The long wait for an official jb for this region might just give me the push I'm looking for.

Must confess that I haven't been really active in forums but that's about to change. Will probably try out jb soon and custom a little later after that. Looking forward to breaking the S3's limits with y'all. I'm Nigerian.
[Galaxy S III General] kofiaa:
Crypette

After you do root, remember to back up your efs folder.
[Galaxy S III General] Cryptte:
Sure thing Kofiaa
[Galaxy S III General] bigkay:
hi guys are custom roms really worth it....I mean they are modified stock roms without bloated apps which one can remove or De activate in stock roms.... One can even change the kernels if u want to in stock roms....
[Galaxy S III General] sanjaybenjamin:
Hello there, i am from Tanzania, here omega jb v29 perfectly working
[Galaxy S III General] Cryptte:
Bigkay, I think you just answered your own question. If you're stIll unsure, I'd suggest you go look at what some of the more popular Roms can do (and can't).

The android platform allows us to do alot of neat stuff but the beauty of custom fIrmware is that developers allow us to tinker even further with our devices. Find out the pros and cons and decide for yourself.
[Galaxy S III General] bigkay:
I don't understand how I answered my question... I only defined and explain custom roms ...yes android platforms give us the abilities to customize.. I guess that s why we love it even more than IOS.. my question remains downloading custom roms is it really worth it...I ask this becus most roms developers keep come out with roms on weekly base without giving u the time to enjoy them forgetting the fact that you pay a lot for megabytes to download them...and it becomes a paradox the more recent the version the custom roms the more bugs it contains ....with kernels its even worse they keep updating it even after achieving perfection and end up with half baked software.... So while go through this when you can modified the stock to suite ur needs
[Galaxy S III General] Password1234:
So far flashed Cyanofox AOSP and Omega AOKP, amazing ROMS. Battery not excellent, but the performance is great :good:
[Galaxy S III General] art_arev:
Hi BigKay...How you doing??

What are you looking for in a Rom? If you answer to that then you will know is it worth it or not....Custom Roms are NEVER as stable and as bug free as stock.....but you get a few extra gadgets/toggles/etc here and there. So if you want stability and guarantees go for stock.

I prefer deodexed stock...Exactly the same stock Rom but deodexed, which allows me easily to customise the rom if needed.....But if you want your phone to do the dishes and your laundry too go for a custom rom...but you never know.....no guarantees.......

Choose wisely my friend......

BTW my brother lives in East London..Ive been there....Nice town:good:
[Galaxy S III General] bigkay:
Thanks @ art_arev

Guys I need a link to get csc file for Africa.. AFR.. or XFA. XFV.. Am tired of waiting for Samsung to update Africa region to jelly bean
[Galaxy S III General] art_arev:
there is no JB CSC for Africa at the moment.....I am not sure the ICS CSC will work with JB...but if you want to try

http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=26530885&postcount=10 the Algerian CSC has almost all african CSC's including South African
[Galaxy S III General] Password1234:
Just flash the unbranded UK official JB ROM bud
[Galaxy S III General] POLO_i780:
Got my vodacom 32gb Marble White S3 yesterday, and loving it. Got an 87mb update, and so far so good :) battery life seems great.
[Galaxy S III General] Password1234:
Try a custom ROM buddy, battery life will be even better :)
[Galaxy S III General] Abzolute:
Hi All, cool to see that there is an African thread for the Galaxy S3! Though I've been in and out of these XDA forums for a looong time, I've not been active and have only recently actually flashed a new ROM to my Galaxy Tab 10.1 within the past couple of months (from stock 3.2 to stock Italian 4.0.4) and my Galaxy S3 within the past couple of weeks (from stock 4.0.4 to Omega ROM, now running v30, and this having moved from v28 to v29 to v30 within the space of a week. Still holding out to see about if v31 is worth moving to 2 days later...).

All has gone well so far with no real issues, full NANDROID backups if needed (preferring TWRP recovery for actual backup format, and CWM recovery for installation of ROMs and mods), app/data backups using Titanium Backup, haven't experienced major battery issues so haven't analysed BetterBatteryStats data too extensively yet, and all the while a fair amount of automation using Tasker for my daily usage.

What I'm hoping someone can give me some insight into though is related to the modems included in the custom ROMs, and their reception (specifically on the South African Vodacom network if possible). I know that each Omega ROM version generally has a different modem from a different country specific stock ROM. What I'm not sure about is to what extent these different modems work well / not so well on different networks in different countries. I recently had the error "Not registered on the network" when trying to make a call (and trying to call my phone went straight to voicemail). I checked that it was not an IMEI related issue, and when I switched Network Mode from Auto to GSM Only and to WCDMA Only, I was able to make/receive calls again (and now back on Auto all is working again too).

I've only recently picked up this intermittent issue, but can't be 100% sure it has only started after flashing custom ROMs. So I don't know if it's related to the modem in the ROM and its compatibility with my local cell service provider, or if the local SP has just been having network issues (which is also apparently rather likely, from personal and close friends/family experience and wider general feedback I've come across). I'd appreciate if somebody else who has experienced similar can shed some light on this?
[Galaxy S III General] art_arev:
Yes,yes and yes. Just in case go to more settings/mobile networks/Acces point names and write down your APN address. After that flash and enjoy. If your service provider doesnt automaticaly send configuration settings(APN) then manualy insert the address you have writen down.

Cheers

---------- Post added at 11:46 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:36 AM ----------

Find out the baseband of your custom rom...That is your modem/radio. Then you can compare it with the South African official firmware modem ia sammobile.

Different modems will work in different countries. You might not get 100% "workability"...but you will get 95%. Now and then increase and decrease of the signal....Small small issues which can be neglected. So dont worry if your modem isnt South African, you phone will still function ok.