Updating a Rooted t-Mobile Samsung Vibrant to Froyo 2.2 with Mini Kies

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Image via CrunchBase

If you just came here to see what would happen. If you’d brick your Samsung Android or it would turn it into a bomb, no problems here.

But you do lose root even though the superuser apk is still there.

Solution: root again and reboot.

I also updated my wife’s non-rooted phone. It went fine too. My biggest bitch was that it wiped my home screen settings and put all the default crap back. But hey, spring cleaning in winter.

You can download the Android 2.2 Update for t-Mobile’s Samsung Vibrant here. It will update your Samsung S to Android Firmware Froyo 2.2. It is a windows install file.

The instructions are pretty complete at that link. Here is a cut-down version:

  • Download Mini-Kies
  • Install it and reboot – this takes a while
  • Let it update
  • Make sure your phone’s usb settings are set to mini-kies. You may have to plug and and unplug the phone from your PC if mini-kies doesn’t recognize your phone right away
  • Mini-Kies will download the update – This takes a while
  • Mini-Kies will push the update to your phone – This takes a while
  • Your Phone will reboot and install the update – This takes a while
  • Your Phone will reboot again

And from what I can tell, my phone uses less memory now. There is almost 30 megs more free after killing running apps than before the update.

The Google apps have updated features. I can see my tags now when I use Gmail. The Google search widget allows you to set custom searches (files in apps, the app marketplace, etc). I used to use an app for this functionality. I guess that is one way to build a better mousetrap. Assimilate popular apps.

The icons in settings are color and it helps.

There is now wifi and usb tethering built-in. Yet another popular app category. You also get wifi calling which still uses your t-mobile minutes but allows you to make calls over your wifi connection instead of your cell connection.

But yes, I like the new speed and less memory usage and rooting with Super One Click worked again.

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Taking Screencasts of Your Android with Droid Explorer

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I wrote the post on rooting my droid because I wanted the ability to take screencasts. I was going to use the Android Screencast App but I also dowloaded Droid Explorer and played around with it and noticed this:

Taking a Screencast with Droid Explorer

Android Screencast App Location

It turns out the same screencast app is built into Droid Explorer and I ran into the same issue. Java would not let me run the screencast app because it failed to valid the certificate:

Java Failed to Valid Cerficate

So I finally figured out how to get past this and although the search took a long time, the process itself was rather easy. First open Windows Control Panel and find the Java Control Panel:

Java Control Panel Location

Click on the Java icon to open the Java Control Panel. Once that is open, go to the “Advanced” Tab. Open “Security->General” in the tree view there and check the “Allow user to grant permissions from an untrusted authority” box. Some may say this weakens security but you will have to authorize it each new “untrusted” authority before you can run their software. Java still pops up a warning box and stops. Only now you have the option to skip past it.

Java Allow Content From Untrusted Authority

And then I went back to Droid Explorer and ran the Android Screencast App again and I was surprised to find it worked. So surprised in fact that the first screencast below is not much of anything except me browsing through my apps. But look for more posts on using Droid Explorer and screencasts on using apps.

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Rooting A Samsung Vibrant with Super One Click

Posted by & filed under Android Development.

Up to this point, I knew what rooting was but never really had to deal with it on a phone. I run servers. Then I got this Vibrant, wanted to start a blog about it and Android and found out I needed to root my phone in order to run the Android Screenshot App. Well I succeeded in rooting the phone, I have yet to get the screencast app to work because of the following issue, which I will track down and quash:

Android Screencast Failed To Validate Certificate

And when I do, yay, another post. Stupid security certificates.

But on with the show. First, it turns out you need a USB driver for your Samsung S. So you go to the official Android Application Developers page and follow the instructions. And if your experience went like mine and if you have a Samsung Vibrant, I’m sure it did, Windows spent a while checking for the driver in the folder that Google tells you to check and then comes back with a big fat zero. The reason why. The driver is not there. I tracked the Samsung USB Driver I needed at the XDA Developers Forum. Yes, it works.

So I proceeded to root my Android, the video is shown below. It actually ran about 5 minutes longer while I waited for that SuperUser.apk install to give me the OK. Then I got impatient and rebooted the phone. As soon as the phone turned off, Super One Click gave me the successful superuser installation pop up and asked me if I wanted to test. So I waited for the phone to reboot and then clicked “Yes” and got the popup pictured here on my Android.

So I jumped through a bunch of hoops just to use screen capture software on my Android that still doesn’t work. And that’s about how it goes.

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Getting Started With App Inventor

Posted by & filed under Android Development.

That’s the email I got today. I signed up for the Android Application Inventor a few days after I got my phone and that was a couple of weeks ago. Today I got the email with the same title as the post. I didn’t really expect it, but I guess it is like a first come first serve waiting list. The rest of the email reads like so:

App Inventor for Android allows people with minimal programming experience to create simple, personal apps for Android devices. It has a number of features which ease app development. App Inventor is best suited for people who are eager to learn the basics of programming and are interested in making basic apps for their personal use.
Remember the Beta Tag:
App Inventor is currently available as an invitation-based beta product. We are limiting access in order to ensure that our systems can handle the load. As a beta product App Inventor still has rough edges and missing features. In some cases the rough edges include un-pleasantries such as: installing Windows device drivers, installing Java on your computer, and fiddling with settings on your phone. We are working hard to smooth out the rough edges and we appreciate your use of App Inventor while we are in this beta state. It may sound a bit cliche but it really is true, your use of App Inventor today will help us make it better for the future! Now on to the good stuff.
Getting Started with App Inventor:

Complete these 3 steps to start using App Inventor:
  1. Set up your phone and computer.
  2. Connect your phone to your computer.
  3. Complete the basic tutorials.
Take your App Inventor knowledge to the next level by:
Happy Inventing!
Google’s App Inventor Team
So I hope to play around there a bit write a few posts and maybe post a few screencasts on using App Inventor. The “are interested in making basic apps for their personal use” part confuses me. Does that mean I can’t give away or sell any apps I create?
I checked out the App Inventor User FAQ and it turns out the only way Application Inventor Apps can be shared is with other developers in the program. Although it says “Download Source”  in AppInventor, only other developers using the Inventor can use the source. So no inclusion in the Android Market yet or even downloads from a site. Application Inventor does not generate Java Source.
So it may be later, rather than sooner that I start using Google’s Tool. For now, I am really looking at Abobe Air for Android which is still in beta. Mainly I am working on a Flash project currently and am getting to know actionscript. Another option is Titanium Appcelerator. We shall see.
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