KitKat 4.4.2 Running Great on the Epic 4G Touch --- Yes, it's true!

[drk65]

Re: Kit-Kat 4.4.2 Running Great on the Epic 4G Touch --- Yes, it's true!

To recap the last steps listed from the other thread:

When I was unable to flash CM11 before, the snag seemed to be the fact that I had a CWM v5 recovery on my device, but from the process of flashing CM10.1 I now have CWM 6.0.3.5 . Does this mean that I can now do just the bolded steps to move up to CM11?

Yes... I believe that's correct (it's been a while now). I believe the entire purpose for flashing 10.2 is to get the updated/appropriate CWM Recovery loaded. Two things I did differently from there (which I did mention in earlier posts) were that I chose to flash the CM11 4.4.2 version from January 12th. I DO NOT recommend the March 3rd update release, as many are reporting loss of 3G data. I'm still very pleased with the stability and performance of the 4.4.2 January 12th release. Secondly, in the last step where you load the GAPPS, I did not install the stock package (actually I couldn't, due to limited memory of the device). I opted for the "Micro Modular" GAPPS file, which includes all the Google essentials, but leaves out stuff like "Hangouts", "Movies", etc. which I have no use for. Of course, you can install any of those apps independently from the Play Store later, if you so desire.

That's it. Let me know how things go.

 

[Dark Penguin]

Thanks for the tip about avoiding the later release for now.

Is the purpose of the JB format zip just to do all the wipes?

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

 

[Dark Penguin]

From CM10.1 and CWM v6, running steps 7 - 11 does work to upgrade from CM10.1 to CM11.0

Is the purpose of the JB format zip just to do all the wipes?

To answer my own question, that seems to be the case, judging from the screen messages that appeared while I ran it.

Otherwise, everything did work as I expected. By running the last five steps I was able to upgrade to CM11, and so far everything seems to be working well so far, although I am still in the process of restoring all of my frequently used apps.

 

[Dark Penguin]

Grave audio playback defect in KitKat and/or CyanogenMod 11. Or is it the kernel (FL24)?

Audio unusable (well maybe).

nm - see new thread

 

[drk65]

Re: Grave audio playback defect in KitKat and/or CyanogenMod 11. Or is it the kernel (FL24)?

Audio unusable (well maybe).

nm - see new thread

I addressed this in your other thread.

 

[WilliamAG]

Re: Grave audio playback defect in KitKat and/or CyanogenMod 11. Or is it the kernel (FL24)?

So... any Virgin Mobile US users had any luck with getting MMS to work with this ROM? I'm running it now(January 12th release) and mostly everything works great. I've been scouring various forums and I've tried half a dozen various "fixes" with no luck. This is my first custom ROM and this forum made flashing pretty easy. Thanks.

 

[riggerman]

Re: Grave audio playback defect in KitKat and/or CyanogenMod 11. Or is it the kernel (FL24)?

I had to install Textra sms from the play store. Then go into it's settings and manually configure the MMS settings.

mmsc: http://mmsc.vmobl.com:8088/mms?
mms proxy: 205.239.333.136
mms port: 81

Make sure you set Textra as your default messaging app. That should solve your problems.

 

[WilliamAG]

Re: Grave audio playback defect in KitKat and/or CyanogenMod 11. Or is it the kernel (FL24)?

That did the trick. Funny, because I didn't even have to modify the settings. This is after stock Messager and then 8SMS with and without custom MMS settings. Next chance I'll have to reflash clean and try again. Just to make sure that it wasn't something that else that fixed it. Getting phantom notifications once and a while though. Not a deal breaker. Thanks.

 

[shawnmos]

Re: Kit-Kat 4.4.2 Running Great on the Epic 4G Touch --- Yes, it's true!

In case my browser is paging the forum display differently--and I know this can happen with vBulletin, at least, can you tell me the approximate post count where I should start looking for the steps?

ETA: Are you referring to these instructions, in post #770 by capota in the XDA thread?

ETA: Added the hyperlinks from the XDA-Developers forum thread; not all that easy since I'm not yet permitted to post in dev threads there, meaning I can't just hit "quote" and get all the hyperlinks at a single click automatically. No express or implied warranty is given, including but not limited to subsequent changes or corrections in the other forum.

I did these steps and got things working on my wife's S2 Epic 4g touch. However, when I did step 3 it now thinks it's a I9100 at bootup and displays a yellow exclamation point. It still boots though and cyanogenmod 11 seems to work great. I used the latest (march 25th i think) image and no issue with data and MMS seems to work. I am on Boost BTW.. CM11 is much faster than the boost jelly bean firmware. Just wondering if being incorrectly identified as a I9100 will be an issue?

BTW, my wife seems to miss some of the samsung tweaks. One of which is the notification of new messages on both the lock screen and overlaying the message icon. Is there anyway to get these on CM11?

 

[drk65]

Re: Kit-Kat 4.4.2 Running Great on the Epic 4G Touch --- Yes, it's true!

I did these steps and got things working on my wife's S2 Epic 4g touch. However, when I did step 3 it now thinks it's a I9100 at bootup and displays a yellow exclamation point. It still boots though and cyanogenmod 11 seems to work great. I used the latest (march 25th i think) image and no issue with data and MMS seems to work. I am on Boost BTW.. CM11 is much faster than the boost jelly bean firmware. Just wondering if being incorrectly identified as a I9100 will be an issue?

BTW, my wife seems to miss some of the samsung tweaks. One of which is the notification of new messages on both the lock screen and overlaying the message icon. Is there anyway to get these on CM11?

Good to hear you got everything working well. I also have the "Exclamation Point Triangle" on my Sprint E4GT... No Worries there... all works normal.

Since this ROM is based on Stock Android Kit-Kat, you no longer have Samsung's TouchWiz Launcher and GUI (which is a plus in my book, as I feel TouchWiz lacks a lot). My best recommendation is to try out some of the other custom launchers available. I've been extremely pleased with the capabilities and stability of Nova Launcher Prime, using it for 2+ years. If you want to stick to the stock Launcher, you will find some settings and tweaks for the Lock Screen, LED's, etc. under "Personalization" in the Setting Menu. There are a lot of customization options throughout that menu area, many more than we ever had on any of the Samsung TouchWiz ROMs for this device. --- Good Luck!

 

[Dark Penguin]

Re: Kit-Kat 4.4.2 Running Great on the Epic 4G Touch --- Yes, it's true!

I did these steps and got things working on my wife's S2 Epic 4g touch. However, when I did step 3 it now thinks it's a I9100 at bootup and displays a yellow exclamation point. It still boots though and cyanogenmod 11 seems to work great. I used the latest (march 25th i think) image and no issue with data and MMS seems to work. I am on Boost BTW.. CM11 is much faster than the boost jelly bean firmware. Just wondering if being incorrectly identified as a I9100 will be an issue?

BTW, my wife seems to miss some of the samsung tweaks. One of which is the notification of new messages on both the lock screen and overlaying the message icon. Is there anyway to get these on CM11?

If your wife has problems with the audio cutting out at low volume settings, you'll want to check out this other thread where this issue is almost entirely resolved.

drk65's helpful responses in the other thread once again demonstrate his value to this community.

 

[Dark Penguin]

Re: Kit-Kat 4.4.2 Running Great on the Epic 4G Touch --- Yes, it's true!

Good to hear you got everything working well. I also have the "Exclamation Point Triangle" on my Sprint E4GT... No Worries there... all works normal.

Since this ROM is based on Stock Android Kit-Kat, you no longer have Samsung's TouchWiz Launcher and GUI (which is a plus in my book, as I feel TouchWiz lacks a lot). My best recommendation is to try out some of the other custom launchers available. I've been extremely pleased with the capabilities and stability of Nova Launcher Prime, using it for 2+ years. If you want to stick to the stock Launcher, you will find some settings and tweaks for the Lock Screen, LED's, etc. under "Personalization" in the Setting Menu. There are a lot of customization options throughout that menu area, many more than we ever had on any of the Samsung TouchWiz ROMs for this device. --- Good Luck!

Since you've brought up the subject of launchers, I've never understood exactly what a launcher is and what it's supposed to do. How does one change from one launcher to another? Since launchers aren't ordinary apps, I'm puzzled.

 

[drk65]

Re: Kit-Kat 4.4.2 Running Great on the Epic 4G Touch --- Yes, it's true!

Since you've brought up the subject of launchers, I've never understood exactly what a launcher is and what it's supposed to do. How does one change from one launcher to another? Since launchers aren't ordinary apps, I'm puzzled.

Since they say "a picture's worth a thousand words"... A good demo video must be worth at least 10,000 words... So, here you go...

http://youtu.be/5RgMeewutkU

BTW... The "Gestures" capability is my favorite feature... especially the ability to swipe down anywhere on my Home screen to bring down the Notifications, rather than having to always stretch my thumb to the top of the display. Might sound trivial... but once you have it, you won't understand how you lived without it!

 

[Dark Penguin]

Re: Kit-Kat 4.4.2 Running Great on the Epic 4G Touch --- Yes, it's true!

Thanks drk65 I will definitely be checking this out when I have time, probably later today.

BTW, is it the launcher that determines whether or how the app drawer can be sorted? Being able to sort it by frequency of use would almost completely solve the issue of disappearing home screen icons that many users have reported (I think that's a general KitKat issue).

 

[drk65]

Re: Kit-Kat 4.4.2 Running Great on the Epic 4G Touch --- Yes, it's true!

Thanks drk65 BTW, is it the launcher that determines whether or how the app drawer can be sorted? Being able to sort it by frequency of use would almost completely solve the issue of disappearing home screen icons that many users have reported (I think that's a general KitKat issue).

Since I prefer my App Drawer to presented alphabetically, I'm not sure if Nova will offer to sort by "Most Recent". I do know you have the ability to "Hide" any app in the App Drawer, as well as determining if you want the grid to scroll vertically or horizontally (plus you can dictate grid width, length, and infinite scroll, or even present in a list).

I suggest you download the Free version and Explore. What you will not have in that version is the gestures (which for me are key). With Prime version, it is so flexible that I rarely ever go into the App Drawer anymore anyway, since I have all my primary apps available only a gesture away or in the scroll-able dock at the bottom of the screen w/folders... Awesome!

 

[Kamakzie]

Re: Kit-Kat 4.4.2 Running Great on the Epic 4G Touch --- Yes, it's true!

I cannot seem to get step 10. Flashed CyanogenMod 11 - AndroidCyanogenM 4.4.1, download craps right at 60megs.

 

[drk65]

Re: Kit-Kat 4.4.2 Running Great on the Epic 4G Touch --- Yes, it's true!

Kamakzie... It appears you may be trying to apply the December release version (4.4.1). In my description here, I highly recommended going with the January 12th build (4.4.2) which you can still find linked on the opening page of the XDA forum thread. There have been several releases after January 12th, but I still find that build to be most stable, continuing to run it as my daily driver today.

 

[Kamakzie]

Re: Kit-Kat 4.4.2 Running Great on the Epic 4G Touch --- Yes, it's true!

Kamakzie... It appears you may be trying to apply the December release version (4.4.1). In my description here, I highly recommended going with the January 12th build (4.4.2) which you can still find linked on the opening page of the XDA forum thread. There have been several releases after January 12th, but I still find that build to be most stable, continuing to run it as my daily driver today.

Yup found it thanks

 

[Dark Penguin]

Re: Kit-Kat 4.4.2 Running Great on the Epic 4G Touch --- Yes, it's true!

Be careful when upgrading to KitKat; it may bork your ability to write to your external SD card, if you have one.

I only found out over the past few days, when trying to clear another issue I was having on the device. In the course of that, I deleted most of my music files since it seemed to be a mediaserver issue, and I could always copy everything back from my PC when I was done troubleshooting.

Right?

Wrong. Apparently KitKat significantly cripples your ability to write to your SD card by any application other than those installed by Google, your carrier, or the OEM. There are workarounds as of yet, but the restriction is part of a greater strategy to improve the security of the OS, who can say how long they'll work?

The first hint that something was wrong appeared when I was trying to copy some files back from my PC to the external SD card. Repeatedly I would get an error message saying that in attempting to copy a file to the card, it couldn't be found in the source folder despite the fact that it was there. At that point the process would stall.

A popular one seems to be SDFix, so I'll give it a shot.

 

[Dark Penguin]

Re: Kit-Kat 4.4.2 Running Great on the Epic 4G Touch --- Yes, it's true!

FTR I've tried out SDFix, which you can find in the Play Store, and it seems to be working now.