I have spent the evening searching the forums for clues on several issues with the AT&T android Captivate phone. This is after a five-hour session with AT&T and then Samsung, where a friend ran interference so I would not get too frustrated to deal.
I have learned that what I thought I knew my phone can do, and how it can work, are mostly wrong. For example, at one point, as instructed, I/we hooked up the phone to my pc, in order to back up files and install Froyo -- yes, I can sort of keep the upgrades in order {Froyo is android 2.2}.
<<but I have no idea how to back up APPs>>
I had connected the Captivate to the pc before, to transfer some files, and did get some help with that specific issue. This time, though, the troubleshooter on the phone seemed to expect me/us to *see* something on my computer, that would pop up immediately. When it didn't she started to get that tone of "what idiot am I talking to, that can't see something right in front of her face!?" Well, we got past that, when my friend pulled down the windowshade /pulled out the drawer [one does that by grabbing something at the top of the screen, where all the icons are, that are too small to see clearly, and pulling gently downward] There was a USB message about mounting the SD card, -- which was already mounted -- so we did that.
After that, we still didn't get the kind of message my friend or the AT&T rep expected. The troubleshooter asked if we had another computer. We did but it wasn't hooked up. We hooked up the (newer) netbook (XP, though), and it at least saw the the phone, and I could copy files from phone to the pc, in preparation for a backup.
All that time, and I still did not learn how to back up apps -- because the phone is demonically possessed and is ringing without an incoming call -- frequently at random times, but also when there's been a reset (by opening the phone, pulling out the battery for 10 seconds, putting it all back together again). Then it starts ringing and won't stop -- until I grant permissions only for Silent Mode, in Sound and Display / Settings.
So -- ATT sat on the FROYO update for aeons, and two weeks after releasing it, is telling me that the reasons for any phone problems are that I haven't updated. As if the problems jump into phones running 2.1 as soon as 2.2/Froyo is available to replace 2.1/Eclair. That happened several times during the hours we were in contact with AT&T helpers.
Two points: I still don't know what I am supposed to see when I connect the phone to my pc or netbook. My friend showed me that on her 'intelligent' as opposed to 'smart' phone, she got a message on her phone giving three options -- one of them being copy (or backup) files.
The initial problem was the phone going completely off the network (when I was relying on it for a ride home). Got home, got friend's phone, my phone, and two computers -- laptop and netbook -- and started the troubleshooting process partly described above.
Of use to forum readers like me, an old hand at forums and their etiquette, would be material that breaks down the newness and differentness of the *phone*, more than the behavior expected of "noobs."
Admittedly, I jumped from a Windows Mobile 5.0 pda with a 4.3 " screen to an android phone with a 4.0" screen, when my Nokia dumb phone committed suicide by H2) (;-), with a Nokia dumb cell phone for the most recent five years. On the other hand, I have dealt with mainframe, mini, and home computers for a long time, and recognize that there is usually a rational plan behind electronics. It may not be immediately apparent, but it's there.
Lots of late night ruminations and storytelling, yes, as a way of saying this:
There needs to be a "relative newcomers" subforum, for people who are lost with mentions of Odin and rooting and other esoterica. Or even ordinary app questions like using the GPS capabilities -- unless it's brand new and the reason for getting the phone.
One of the needs in this forum would be definitions as stickies, so one could skip all those ?? topic lines on Rooting, knowing that in a long day, there isn't time to challenge oneself with reading those posts, as important as the discussions are. Maybe later, after mastering the Captivate as issued (or updated).
Someone who is coming to the Android from the iPhone can probably move on very fast from such a forum, while those who were dropped from Sprint because they called tech support too often, about their merely "intelligent" phones would need to hang around for longer.
Good posts, in addition to terms and definitions, might be rundowns of the functions on various screens, and repetition of "menu" plus an alternative cue term, for that almost invisible and unexpected addition to almost anything on the phone, that doesn't actually tell you in plain language what it will do for you -- so why go back to it, or remember its name?
Another type of post might be "what is supposed to happen when I . . . ?" andswers or questions.
There's always press an entry, and see what happens. Which is a good idea for ending this very long post.
Oh, yes, and how do I back up my *apps*?
Thanks in advance,
SPerson
I have learned that what I thought I knew my phone can do, and how it can work, are mostly wrong. For example, at one point, as instructed, I/we hooked up the phone to my pc, in order to back up files and install Froyo -- yes, I can sort of keep the upgrades in order {Froyo is android 2.2}.
<<but I have no idea how to back up APPs>>
I had connected the Captivate to the pc before, to transfer some files, and did get some help with that specific issue. This time, though, the troubleshooter on the phone seemed to expect me/us to *see* something on my computer, that would pop up immediately. When it didn't she started to get that tone of "what idiot am I talking to, that can't see something right in front of her face!?" Well, we got past that, when my friend pulled down the windowshade /pulled out the drawer [one does that by grabbing something at the top of the screen, where all the icons are, that are too small to see clearly, and pulling gently downward] There was a USB message about mounting the SD card, -- which was already mounted -- so we did that.
After that, we still didn't get the kind of message my friend or the AT&T rep expected. The troubleshooter asked if we had another computer. We did but it wasn't hooked up. We hooked up the (newer) netbook (XP, though), and it at least saw the the phone, and I could copy files from phone to the pc, in preparation for a backup.
All that time, and I still did not learn how to back up apps -- because the phone is demonically possessed and is ringing without an incoming call -- frequently at random times, but also when there's been a reset (by opening the phone, pulling out the battery for 10 seconds, putting it all back together again). Then it starts ringing and won't stop -- until I grant permissions only for Silent Mode, in Sound and Display / Settings.
So -- ATT sat on the FROYO update for aeons, and two weeks after releasing it, is telling me that the reasons for any phone problems are that I haven't updated. As if the problems jump into phones running 2.1 as soon as 2.2/Froyo is available to replace 2.1/Eclair. That happened several times during the hours we were in contact with AT&T helpers.
Two points: I still don't know what I am supposed to see when I connect the phone to my pc or netbook. My friend showed me that on her 'intelligent' as opposed to 'smart' phone, she got a message on her phone giving three options -- one of them being copy (or backup) files.
The initial problem was the phone going completely off the network (when I was relying on it for a ride home). Got home, got friend's phone, my phone, and two computers -- laptop and netbook -- and started the troubleshooting process partly described above.
Of use to forum readers like me, an old hand at forums and their etiquette, would be material that breaks down the newness and differentness of the *phone*, more than the behavior expected of "noobs."
Admittedly, I jumped from a Windows Mobile 5.0 pda with a 4.3 " screen to an android phone with a 4.0" screen, when my Nokia dumb phone committed suicide by H2) (;-), with a Nokia dumb cell phone for the most recent five years. On the other hand, I have dealt with mainframe, mini, and home computers for a long time, and recognize that there is usually a rational plan behind electronics. It may not be immediately apparent, but it's there.
Lots of late night ruminations and storytelling, yes, as a way of saying this:
There needs to be a "relative newcomers" subforum, for people who are lost with mentions of Odin and rooting and other esoterica. Or even ordinary app questions like using the GPS capabilities -- unless it's brand new and the reason for getting the phone.
One of the needs in this forum would be definitions as stickies, so one could skip all those ?? topic lines on Rooting, knowing that in a long day, there isn't time to challenge oneself with reading those posts, as important as the discussions are. Maybe later, after mastering the Captivate as issued (or updated).
Someone who is coming to the Android from the iPhone can probably move on very fast from such a forum, while those who were dropped from Sprint because they called tech support too often, about their merely "intelligent" phones would need to hang around for longer.
Good posts, in addition to terms and definitions, might be rundowns of the functions on various screens, and repetition of "menu" plus an alternative cue term, for that almost invisible and unexpected addition to almost anything on the phone, that doesn't actually tell you in plain language what it will do for you -- so why go back to it, or remember its name?
Another type of post might be "what is supposed to happen when I . . . ?" andswers or questions.
There's always press an entry, and see what happens. Which is a good idea for ending this very long post.
Oh, yes, and how do I back up my *apps*?
Thanks in advance,
SPerson
). I hope this helps!
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