yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] CALEB3:
My battery drain after the Android Pie update is deffinitely not an app issue - I did a factory reset afterwards, just to be sure. And even without any additional apps battery drains very fast now. I work in the construction business and before this update I had a strong 4G signal in every indoor room and basement. Now I only get a good signal on upper floors or outside. I'd say the signal reception has gone from 100% to about 20% (It mostly shows H+ or E or sometimes 3G icon instead of 4G now. And if I try to connect, the signal often cuts off completely. I have to search for a better reception and hold the phone in a certain angle now every time I need to use the internet or make a call.)

And I think that battery drain is partially caused by the reception problems, because bad reception = battery drain.

No kind of reset won't downgrade the phone's operating system, because system upgrade overwrites the old system and it is completely replaced with the new one. There is nowhere in the memory some kind of a backup of the old OS. Hard reset only cleans the new OS and wipes anything that is installed and configured by the user.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] psycho_the_rapist:
Some official vendor must have a way to unlock the bootloader and install the factory image back to the device
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] CALEB3:
Sure someone has a way to do so, ...but they wont. Believe me, I have asked repeatedly. Everthing gets just one answer - "NO!"

The manufacturer has decided that users are not allowed to do anything that changes the phone's system files.

I'm still waiting for the answer from my last letter to the support, but no high hopes here.

This is absurd, I know - when I buy the phone, it's mine. And mine alone, so I should be able to do whatever the f_ck I want with it.

Some manufacturers allow to root their phones, saying that this would void the warranty, but at least users can have a choice.

However - there is one way to get back the original operating system, but this involves buying a broken CAT S61 and taking out the part (the whole circuit board, or the memory chip) that has the OS installed on, and then physically replace it with the one in your phone. (This particular part must not be broken and must not have the Android Pie installed on). I'm actually thinking of doing this myself, because I want a new shiny undented frame (about 34 $) to my CAT S61 anyway, so by taking the phone apart enables me to do two things at once. Need to find a cheap donor phone before.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] psycho_the_rapist:
I understand. I tried searching for broken S61 on ebay, replacing the motherboard I assume wouldn't be too difficult. I didn't find any broken phones, but I don't think giving half the price of the phone just to downgrade the hard way is justifiable.

Anyway, what I was pissed of the most was allegedly losing the ability of call recording on Android Pie. Debating the legality of this is moot at this point and playing back a few recent calls were quiet. However I reinstalled ACR and lo and behold, all of the calls were recorded.

So it seems that S61 is immune to Android Pie's restrictions on call recording.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] CALEB3:
Did you do a factory reset also ? If not, then there may be some remnants left from the previous operating system that enable some of the previous functions to work. I had some non-Pie functions also working, but not anymore after the factory reset. But the factory reset helped to make system cleaner and slightly improved the battery - not much, but from half a day to almost a full day with one charge. (used to be 4-5 days before this wretched update)
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] psycho_the_rapist:
No reset, just upgrade. I also don't see any battery issues.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] CALEB3:
Battery issues may be caused by the weakened cell reception signal. If you live somewhere with a strong signal, you may not notice this.

It seems to be fine outside or on higher floors, but that's not good enough for me.

I work mostly below ground level (basements etc.) and I noticed these issues right after this wretched update.

I used to have a good reception everywhere before , but now I cannot use my phone normally anymore where I work.

---------- Post added at 07:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:22 PM ----------

I finally got an answer from the CAT support: they did not answer anything about how to downgrade, but they said they are working hard to resolve these issues.

Looks like some kind of a generic answer though, because they also suggested to uninstall apps one-by-one to test if these issues go away.

As I already did a factory reset, wiping everything, but the issues remained, I replied to them that it cannot be an app problem.

Hopefully they release some kind of a fix soon or I am forced to switch over to some rivalling company's phone...
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] blackrob183:
Hmm weird, yea I guess it's not an app issue, maybe the update broke your phone somehow lol. Sorry to laugh but for me I've always had low reception and for me it seems to be based on my phone choices not being directly from ATT, ever since I started using unlocked phones, I'd be happy to see 3G. My CatS61 has never displayed 3G or anything higher, always lower and I've never had battery issues unless it was an app, that was the only reason I said that. After the update I haven't gone below probably 30-40% that I can recall, mine actually seems to last longer if that sounds weird.

Also based off my last post, the air quality issue was not fixed, only on certain notifications it might show up correctly but when the phone is off, it does not, it's confusing lol.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] CALEB3:
I switched my network from 4G to 2G and internet is working now (only very slow) and reception is good.

This is the proof that this Android 9 upgrade broke the 4G.

There are similar cases about CAT S61 Android Pie update reported in GSMArena too: https://www.gsmarena.com/cat_s61-reviews-9076.php
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] blackrob183:
Hmm that's good but how were you able to change from 4G to 2G? It sucks there seem to be a lot of problems, it doesn't seem like they fully worked out this Android 9 update, I hope they put out an update to fix this phone, otherwise it kind of makes this phone not what it's meant to be.

P.S. Does anyone know how to get the SIM 1 slot working by chance? That was another issue I had right when I got this phone, it only sucks because using slot 2 means I cannot use an SD card anyone else have this issue?
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] CALEB3:
To change your network type manually from 4G to 2G:

1. Go to Settings

2. Select Network & internet

3. Select Mobile Network

4. Select Advanced

5. Select Preferred network type

6. Select 2G

____________________

Wha do you mean by "get the SIM 1 slot working" ? It doesn't work at all ?

Using two SIM cards usually means you cannot use an SD card, but with the amount of memory this phone has, do you really need to ?

(Actually there is a possibility to use both SIMs and SD on this phone - you have to cut both - SIM card and SD card thinner to mount them at the same slot. There are many instructions of how to do this. It is the same procedure for many phones with the same problem)
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] k46tank:
I haven't had any battery issues since the update to Pie but I definitely have had reception issues. When the phone was new I had poor reception but one of the updates that CAT pushed out about six or eight months ago fixed it. Now after the Pie upgrade it is as bad if not worse than it was when new before the fix.

If you go to Settings>Network&Internet>Mobile Network>Advanced>Preferred Network Type a window pops-up allowing you to pick 2g.

As far as the SIM slots, both of mine were enabled out of the box. As a matter of fact, I have the second SIM chip glued to the back of a SD card so I can utilize both SIM cards and the SD storage. It isn't hard to do but I did brick one SD card by sanding it down just a little too much so go slow.

I am still looking for a way to root and install a custom recovery to this phone.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] blackrob183:
Yea my SIM slot 1 has never worked, I took it to an ATT store to get the phone setup and it took forever 1 because the guy was so confused by this phone and 2 because SIM 1 wasn't working so it ended up in slot 2. To this day I still haven't filled it up you're right but it still would be nice to be able to use the slot was all. I didn't know it was possible to ghetto rig to fit both lol. I'll have to look into that when/if it comes time to. Also for the SIM issue I've seen other posts about that problem as well so I don't think I'm the only one, I tried once and couldn't get it working either and tried again after this update to see if that fixed the issue and still nothing.

Also my network is set to LTE (recommended) isn't that lower than 2G or 3G?
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] k46tank:
I would definitely contact CAT support about the non-working SIM slot. They will probably replace it under warranty BUT you will have to ship it to them and then wait while they check it out and repair it or send you a replacement. Unfortunately, I don't think they do advance replacements but you can always ask/beg/plead.

I believe LTE and 4g are about the same just different bands/channels and offered by different providers, e.g. Sprint vs Verizon but I could be wrong on that.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] blackrob183:
I see LTE is 4G, I should of just googled it earlier lol, it sounds like its lite like a low quality signal but I guess not, I'll have to look into the support for the SIM slot if I ever get around to doing that.

The outside of the phone right now my letters are falling off on the back of my phone and I glued all but the C and now the C is moving around. The arrow on the bottom folded back somehow recently after being glued which is really annoying. Anyone else have that problem?
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] k46tank:
Yep, my letters started coming off after about three months. I think the glue they used isn't very durable. I gave up trying to keep them attached and finally pulled them off and cleaned off the remaining sticky mess. The case doesn't look quite as good without the chrome letters, but unless someone had really looked at it before they came off I don't think anyone would ever notice they aren't there.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] psycho_the_rapist:
A facebook conversation with Bullitt Group is going as someone would expect:
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Culibepepe:
Hi, still not any progress on rooting this phone? It would be awesome if it could be rooted
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Codeplayer:
Just received OTA for S61 v1.022.01 that is the 2. OTA for Android 9 for me. The first one broke 4G so that my signal is lost very easily. I had also trouble with NFC payments. I am incredibly amazed about the phones capabilities and the lacking of software to support it or policies from the manufacturer to unlock the sensor-overloaded device. It would be benefitial mostly to CAT phones or Bullitgroup to have devs hack the hell out of the device, so that the hardware user experience would improve and take a load off their backs. I spotted that they even have now admitted the poor software update and provide some incredibly stupid solutions:

https://www.catphones.com/en-gb/help-support/s61-support/cat-s61-android-9/

Using 2G and Wifi instead of 4G. Oh come on... Really?

Why not just unlock the bootloader and let devs do their magic. So people will root their warranties off and leave your support team alone?
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] agalakhov:
I was able to enter EDL mode on CAT S61. Unfortunately I do not have any working EDL/mbn bootloader for it. Are there ones for similar devices? On S61, ""Product name" in its bootloader says "QC Reference Phone", EDL says MSM_ID:0x000ac0e1,OEM_ID:0x0000,MODEL_ID:0x0000, so it might be just compatible with SDM630 reference design.

To switch EDL on: turn off the phone, press and hold both volume keys, insert USB cable.

To enter bootloader: turn off the phone, press and hold volume up key, insert USB cable.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Culibepepe:
I really really want to root my s61, specially to be able to record phone calls, block ads and MAC changing to register my TV box in hotel Wi-Fis, I'm up to give it a try even with the risk of making a brick out of it. How could we proceed?
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] agalakhov:
No working solution right now, sorry. I'm investigating two ways:

* Rooting using EDL,

* Rooting from adb shell or something by exploiting kernel vulnerabilities, if any.

No success until now.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Culibepepe:
Anyone think it's possible to root the phone following the same steps as for rooting the s60? Or we will get just a brick? Is "Magisk" an option?

By the way, as I can't create a new thread for it cause I'm a new user, does anyone have the "speaker dry" apk that comes with the s60? With "apk extractor" can be extracted....

How about gcam? Any luck with any version? I've tried a lot of versions and no luck, I also tried with gcamator (from the play store) and couldn't find a matching version even that the phone is eligible for gcam.

Thanks
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] vivekiny2k:
How it this update?

I received an ota notice for the version and do not want to update until I know it is good.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Culibepepe:
That update worked for me, solved the issue with the signal and internet/calls problems
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] vivekiny2k:
Awesome. I am assuming this is Android 9. Any significant difference over Android 8? and does it retain multi user support?

I have LTE_D0202221.0_S61_0.060.01

I had disabled system updates as soon as I received my phone.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Culibepepe:
Android 9 yes. Still multi user. Not like huge relevant differences with 8 for me.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] zjohnz:
Hi. Today my S61 self-bricked. Take it from bag and had seen that.

[IMG="Brick"]https://cloud.lqqk.ru/index.php/s/o358txTQX4pwdWK/preview[/IMG]

What ideas? Who else?
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] nis123:
Thats interesting, 10 Minutes ago my cat S61 rebooted with just the same issue. I was able to boot it again, however i now have a constant display that the app toolbox has crashed.

Forcing the app to close immediately causes the phone to reboot displaying the very same message you have.

To get a backup of your data it looks like you can boot your Phone normal and connect it to a PC and copy everything over. Dont tap on the screen to often, to get rid of the toolbox message. This will reboot the phone afaik...

Hope that somebody will have a fix for this, I dont want to do a factory reset :(

Edit: Where do you live? Currently the update to android 9 is not out in Germany yet, maybe they changed some things along with the Android 9 upgrade (Servers for the toolbox i guess), which causes the old 8.1 to crash. Are you on 9 or on 8.1?
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] nis123:
I just figured out a way to solve this Problem:

1) Enable Dev tools and activate USB Debug

2) Install ADB on your PC

3) execute "adb devices" and allow the connection on your phone

4) execute "adb shell"

5) Deinstall the CAT Store (App toolbox) by running "pm uninstall -k --user 0 se.appland.cat.v2" inside the adb shell

6) Reboot your phone

This has worked for my CAT S61 Build LTE_D021121.0_S61_0.060.01
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] zjohnz:
I'm from Russia. Android 9.

Official support recommended to wipe cache partition.

Thanks to nis123.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] erlingba:
Thanks a lot!

That worked for me. It happened 22. december, and then I did the factory reset becaus i needed the phone for calls, but I lost some data.

It happened two days ago too, so it seems like the App Toolbox hangs once a month.

Here's the answer i got from support:

Thank you for contacting us.

We are investigating why the App Toolbox stops running. This software issue causing the device to enter into a rebooting cycle.

1) Restart the device

2) Once the device reboots, tap and hold the Tool box app icon (widget)

3) Select "App info" option > Storage > Clear data and cache

4) Scroll back and select "Force stop"

5) Finally reboot the device with the power button.

Please try completing these steps as fast as possible, as the device may restart itself during the process. If that happens please start the process over and try again.

In case the above does not help, please let me know and I will arrange a pickup for warranty repair.

Is it possible to set display brightness range via adb shell?

I'm quite sure that the display was able to dim lower on android 8. It is too bright now for using outdoor at night, so it would be great to tweak it a bit.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Culibepepe:
Has anybody get a new OTA?
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] blackrob183:
I had forgotten all about this, I think the first update made a lot of things not work as well, but after a few smaller updates they seem to fix a few minor things. I still get no Weather display on mine and still annoyed but the swiping and what not but anyone still working on a way to root this thing yet?

Anyone have any new issues or resolved issues with the recent updates?

Also I forgot to mention, this morning my bottom clip for the plug fell off. When I went to unplug my phone this morning in the dark when my alarm went off, something felt off about the bottom and then I forgot about it until a few mins ago and it turns out the plastic outer piece fell off of the rubber part. I hope that doesn't affect water proofing, anyone know? Also I am not missing letter C, the rest look like ass all glued on their but I think like the other poster said, I'd probably be better off just taking them off.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Codeplayer:
Yea, I took my letters off a year ago. The main difference in Android 9 is- no call recording. This made me want to go back to 8. I really liked ACR Pro recording capabilities. Other than that I had also one brick-like experience. But I pressed down all buttons and it finally booted to normal after several attempts. But I don't remember on which version that happened. Also my gyro failed, so no auto rotation anymore. No landscape photos either.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Culibepepe:
ACR pro was the best, I miss that feature on my phone. Don't know where to continue to root it. If it would be a single possibility I'd give it a shot
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] CALEB3:
For rotation try Dynamic Rotation (THSoftware)

Latest system updates have cut my battery capacity in half - so I'm not very interested in rooting this phone anymore.

Also it has many dents and scratches on the case and it's morally old.

Does anyone have any kind of information about the next CAT flagship phone with thermal camera ? Usually it takes two years to come out with a new flagship model. I was hoping to see some news from MWC this february, but it was cancelled, so no info. :(
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Culibepepe:
My last phone I had it for 5 years, and this rugged phone I'm sure it can last me more than that, for the use I give I have enough phone for another 3 years or more now. Thermal camera is great, as well for the air quality sensor. Only rooting it is missing for me and it'd last me forever... Definitely not buying a new one till not sure it'll be rootable
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] ahlis_se:
buying one... if rootable

Hi All,

will follow this thread as I´d like to buy one. Like the HW spec but I expect it to not work so root is required. LineAgeOs would be nice but not yet available..
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Culibepepe:
The problem here is that it's not possible to OEM unlock in developer's settings. Maybe with a "qualcomm OEM unlock tool"
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Culibepepe:
Has someone noticed that the proximity/light sensor has stopped working with the last update? When I try to check with third apps it says "sensor not present" on both, proximity and light.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] blackrob183:
Haven't been here in a while again, but I have no issues with the light sensor, other than it being way too bright ALWAYS. That came from the big update a while back though.

Other than that I'm still waiting for the rooting part lol
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Codeplayer:
Seems there will be S62 Pro without camera bump and better thermal cam. No laser though. I am still hoping to revive my old S62 if any rooting method becomes available. TBH If I had known that call recording will be crippled I would have never updated it more than Android 8.

https://www.catphones.com/en-gb/cat...oJkZ8miiUUmA9tqleh65mqtmzVErX7bxyAU6TSSJx8ov4
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] the.real.p3y0t3:
Firehose for Cat s61

I have it if someone with a s61 wants to try it out. What exactly would you do with it? Dump your boot image maybe? Let me know and I'll post it. Makes me wonder if one could patch boot with magisk and reflash the boot image. From what I understand, BL can be unlocked by patching a couple of bytes found in the devinfo image\partition. Hummmmm
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] agalakhov:
If you can gain access to any of flash images, do it. And please explain how you did it. I can unlock the BL once I get an image.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] d1m4808:
Firehose for cat s61

If you have firehose for cat s61, please, post it. I tryed to dump image in EDL 9008 mode using different firehoses for sdm630 and 660, but had errors every try. Let me try it with your firehose, and I'll post image in case of sucsessful dump. Thanks in advance!
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] apetrov1x5:
Are there any news on rooting the Cat S61 - I came late to this party (just started to use it today), like it, however coming from a rooted LG V30 it hurts my eyes to see so much ads in every app.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Culibepepe:
"Blokada" is the answer to that. Has anyone the answer to recording calls?
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] apetrov1x5:
Thank you - is this the name of the user, app or...?
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] apetrov1x5:
Anyone had the issue with TERRIBLE sound via BT headset (both headphones and in the car) - sometimes the other side have to ask me to repeat what I said...coming from LG V30 with aptX HD is BIG downgrade, I know, but not being to understand each other over a phone or Telegram conversation is a bit too much
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Culibepepe:
Blokada is an app to block ads without the need of rooting, you can't find it in the play store, but you can download it from blokada.org
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Codeplayer:
I'll do it. Can you provide one for S62 Pro also? I would rather work on the latest one. This one has still some warranty to burn, but I would like to help with both to kickstart the development and maybe get our own thread once.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] hans henrik:
FWIW i'm not at all impressed by the new S62, the name suggest it's the new top model, but the specs suggest otherwise..

https://www.reddit.com/r/Catphones/comments/k87uoy
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] stephone1:
hey people.

I am also interested in rooting the s61 and then installing a custom rom. how is the progress? and have you seen this guide? is it working?

https://www.getdroidtips.com/aosp-android-10-cat-s61/

love.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Culibepepe:
That guide is bull**** as you cannot set "oem unlock" in this device's debugging menu
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] G5 Plus Mate:
As I am intersted in the phone, does this work?

How TO Root Cat S61 Magisk without TWRP Recovery

If your S61 is rooted using Magisk without TWRP Recovery. You can control a lot of features such as you can remove unwanted software.

www.getdroidpro.com