Samsung Kies: Totally lame?

[hellosailor]

I downloaded it tonight, then it wanted to update itself, so I did that and know I've got the latest release.

But it doesn't show my Captivate as being connected in the upper right corner of the Kies screen. And when I tried to use Kies to read/sync my music library...FUBAR! I've got a directory off the root of the PC's hard drive, and then each album stored as one subdirectory of wav files under that. Instead of seeing a couple of hundred albums...Kies says there are four albums and one of them has a couple of thousand songs in it. (NOT.)

And Windows Music Player doesn't see the phone as something to sync to, even though Windows Explorer says it is there, and I can drag over a file, but then, have no idea how to get the music player on the phone to see it and play it--except back over the bluetooth link to the PC.

I think I have to apologize to my Treo for calling it obsolete...things were never so hard on the Treo. What am I doing wrong? Or do I really have to buy software from the market to do something so simple??

Does music have to be in a special folder, special file heirarchy, for the Captivate to be able to see and play it with the default player?

 

[bobaka]

The best thing about Kies is deleting it

just go into AppBrain or Market and search on "music sync" and you'll find a bunch of FREE apps that will do what you want

 

[hellosailor]

Thanks, Bobaka.

Even though I found (!) & dl'd the manual from Samsung (AT&T doesn't include it) I feel like someone threw me a toy from Area51 and said "We found this in the wreckage, we've got no docs, do you think you can fly it? Without blowing up the planet?"

 

[retnuh]

After taking the update, I had to update Kies. At first it would not connect to the phone. Then it updated the new drivers from the phone and connected. The only way I can see to tether the phone without rooting is through Kies. I don't know if AT&T can see that I am tethered when going through Kies.

 

[hellosailor]

So, the tethering works? Unlike most of the rest?<G>

 

[TheBronze]

I found the best approach to music is to just connect via USB in normal mass storage mode, go through the silly mount steps, and then decide where you want your music to live on the phones storage or your SD card. Grab the folders of the music you want and stuff it in your location. The player will become aware of the music when it does a media scan when you disconnect. Done.

Edit: Oh, and Kies is totally lame.

 

[bobaka]

for Rred and others who haven't done this yet...

menu settings USB select Mass Storage
after you connect to the pc
open the notifications screen and select Mount

then it will appear as a removable drive in windows explorer
and you can copy paste etc

 

[retnuh]

bobaka. What I was referring to was tethering the Captivate to use as a modem for your laptop/desktop. This can be done through Kies; however, I don't know if AT&T can detect that you are tethering and charge you for it.

 

[anneoneamouse]

My observations with KIES.

VERY IMPORTANT:
You cannot use it with any other launcher than TouchWhiz

(If you're using Launcher Pro, use Settings > Applications > Manage Applications > Clear Defaults {allows you to select the launcher when you hit the home key})

Install KIES, update it, then use it to update its own drivers (KIES menu top left, select driver recovery).

Before you plug the usb cable in, you need to select "KIES" under Settings > Applications > USB Settings.

[I didn't have any luck using the "select on connect" usb setting option].

Then plug the cable in.

Hope this helps,

AoN\

 

[Raven71]

Kies like Roxio causes my computer to screw up. I get not responding with the browser on my computer. Also the programs don't open sometimes. If Im lucky my computer will not take 10 minutes to boot.
When I delete Kies just like when I had Roxio everything is back to normal. So I keep away from both programs. I tried to use Roxio with the BB. Then I tried Kies with the Captivate. Both programs suck.