Atrix FAQ's: Please Read Before Posting

[Terrigno]

Welcome to the frequently asked questions stick for the Atrix forum. This page will be updated frequently, and suggestions are welcomed. Please PM me if you have a suggestion or would like to add additional content.

Index:
Post #1: Index
Post #2: Atrix Articles, Launch Information, and Documentation
Post #3: Atrix Related FAQ's and Known Issues
Post #4: General Android FAQ's
Post #5: Optimizing your phone’s battery life
Post #6: Task Managers
Post #7: Copying files to/from your computer
Post #8: Performing a Backup

And as always, please use our handy dandy search feature to help find answers to your questions.

 

[Terrigno]

Atrix Articles, Launch Information, and Documentation

Android Central Articles:

1. Hand's on with the Atrix.
2. AT&T Video Walkthrough.
3. AT&T Announces Launch Date.

Launch Information:

1. Motorola ATRIX 4G Specs

• Usage Time/Talk Time: 3G = 9 hrs; GSM = 8.8 hrs
• Standby Time: 3G = 250 hrs; GSM = 264 hrs
• Bands/Modes: WCDMA 850/1900/2100, GSM 850/900/1900/1800, HSPA+
• Weight: 135g
• Dimensions: 63.50 wide x 117.75 long x 10.95 thin
• OS: Android 2.2 - upgrade to 2.3 is planned for later this year
• Processor: 2 processor cores running at 1GHz each
• Battery: 1930.00 mAh
• Connectivity: 3.5mm, micro USB 2.0 HS, Corporate Sync, BOTA, Wi-Fi 2.4GHz & 5GHz 802.11b/g/n Bluetooth2 2.1 EDR
• Display: 4.0” qHD (Quarter High Definition) (960 x 540)
• Messaging/Web/Apps: MMS, SMS, Email (Corporate Sync, Google Mail, POP3/IMAP embedded, Push Email)
• Audio: AAC, AAC+, AAC+ Enhanced, AMR NB, MP3, WMA v10
• Video: HD 1080 p capable
• Capture: 720p MPEG4 and H.264 at 30 fps
• Playback: 1080p MPEG4, H.264, WMV, Xvid at 30 fps (Playback through HDMI is 720p at launch and will be upgraded to 1080p via SW upgrade post-launch)
• Streaming: VGA in MPEG4, H.264, H.263 at 30 fps
• Camera: 5 MP AF, Digital Zoom with LED Flash , 2nd VGA imager for video chat self image capture
• Storage: 16GB on board – supports up to 32GB microSD (Total 48GB)
• Memory: 1GB LP DDR2 RAM
• Form Factor: Touch screen
• Sensors: Accelerometer, Ambient Light, Proximity
• Antenna: Internal

Integrated Software:

• Address Book/Calendar
• MOTOBLUR aggregates Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and Gmail messages and contacts as well as syncs and merges your work contacts, email and calendar.
• Browsers: Android Web Kit with Adobe Flash Player, Mozilla 3.6.13 in Webtop Application (using Laptop dock accessory)
• Location Services: eCompass, aGPS with Google Maps, Google Latitude, Google Maps Street View

2. Cool Interactive Flash Page

Documentation:

User Owner Manuel:

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...X_UG_ATT_68XXXXX468A_final.pdf&token=eUUn66MR

 

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Atrix Related FAQ's and Known Issues

Atrix FAQ's and Known Issues:

FAQ's:

- Is there anyway to get rid of MotoBlur? It makes the widgets and icons look small on the homescreens.

What you see on the homescreens is called a Launcher. Motoblur is the Motarola UI. You can download custom launchers in the Android Market. ADW and Launcher Pro are good launchers. Once installed, they allow you to customize homescreens, widget sizes, icon sizes and more. Besure to download Home Switcher for Froyo from the market to toggle between which Launcher you want to display.

-I know that this phone has a fingerprint reader on it. How do I make that work?

In order to set the Biometric fingerprint reader as your intial way of unlocking the device, follow these steps. Settings>Location And Security>Change Screen Lock>Finger Prints. From this screen, you can register your fingerprint from your left and right hand to unlock the screen.

-Why is the front facing camera not as good compared to the rear camera?

The front facing camera is Video Graphics Array (VGA). The rear camera is 5 MP. The front camera is intended to be used for video calling.

-Why does my screen show an H+ icon? Shouldn't it say 4G?

H+ is the icon for Evolved High-Speed Packet Access, or HSPA+. When combined with backhaul, it gives you 4G speeds.

-I really like the fact that this phone has an LED Notification. Anyway I can change it to different colors for different notifications?

There sure is! Check out Light Flow - LED Control. Its an awesome app with a lot of different applications to set notifications for with different LED colors. Works Sweet on the Atrix! Well worth the price!

-I notice theres a Front Facing Camera. What apps are availible to work?

You can get 3 different applications as of right now. Tango officially supports the Atrix. And you can use it to make calls to iphone users also. Fring now officialy supports the Atrix and you can also make calls to Iphone users as well as up to 4 Video calls at once. And Qik for Atrix is another application that supports the Atrix. But happens to only be availible with Android as of now.


More to come as this phone continues widespread.....


Known/Common Issues:

-Im hardly getting any good life out of this battery. I thought this was supposed to last a while?

A full battery cycle was required when you recieved the Atrix brand new. To do a power cycle, follow these steps:

*Drain your battery until its completely dead.
*Charge your battery to 100% while the phone is turned off (This is really important. I would do this before you go to bed)
*Turn it on and let it roll. Pat yourself on the back. Congrats! You just power cycled your battery! You should expect better life out of the battery now. Keep in mind that a lot of widgets and running applications kill the battery quicker also. But please do a power cycle to get all that juice out of it.

more to follow.....


Available OTA Updates:

Motorola has pushed out an update to 4.1.57. If you have a custom ROM, you did not recieve the update. The update will work if you are rooted or not. But if you have done any custom work like hacking, custom ROMS or anything to the framwork, the update will not work for you. Flash your device back with the original sbf. file. GUIDE: Flashing sbf file Then when your phone is completely stock, go into settings and check for updates. You should then recieve the update. What is fixed with the update:

-Bluetooth Improved multimedia experience with Bluetooth devices as well as the ability to use phone with additional headsets
-Fingerprint reader Improved fingerprint reader performance
-Battery Improved battery performance for longer battery life
-Screen Display will turn off automatically now while charging directly on wall charger
-Phone stability Improved stability resulting in fewer occurrences of touch unresponsiveness and/or programs quitting unexpectedly.
-Car dock Improved performance of car dock and 3.5mm jack

Motorola 4.1.57 update as of 3/29/2011

Motorola 4.1.83 update released as of 5/3/2011. This update will be pushed to all Atrix owners OTA within weeks.

-Data Speed Increased speed at which data can travel on the network. (HSUPA) Uncapped!
Data Connection Improvements to prevent interruptions to data connection. Screen Improvements to prevent screen from freezing.

-Email Improved ability for users to receive email notifications so you know when you have a new message. Also, improvements were made so that you are now able to use the same email login to access both MOTOBLUR™ and YouTube.

-Skype Improvements to call audio function so it is easier for the person you called to hear you. Please note this application is not pre-loaded on the phone, but is available for download from the Android Market.
Wi-Fi Increased functionality by enabling Yahoo Email to be sent over a Wi-Fi connection.

-Display Improved International Roaming Warning Message by simplifying user notification so that it only appears on the screen when you move to a new network.

-Happenings Widget Improved Happenings Widget to ensure that you receive the latest updates across the social networks you are connected to such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter.

-Calling Improvements were made to incoming and outgoing call functionality to ensure a more seamless experience.

Update pushed OTA (Over The Air)

 

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General Android FAQ's

Common Android FAQ's:

1. Getting Started with Android - Tips and Tricks.

2. Exporting/Importing contacts from Blackberry, Windows Mobile, Palm and other devices into Android.

3. Android Central's How-To Articles.

4. Wallpapers, Ringtones, and Themes.

5. AC members favorite apps.

6. Sync with iTunes via WiFi.

7. Other iTunes synching methods.

8. Where to store custom notification sounds & ringtones.

9. Converting movies: DVD Catalyst or Handbrake.

 

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Optimizing your phone?s battery life

Battery life. It?s one of the most discussed topics in the forums. Most members would agree that battery life on today's modern Smartphone's is not stellar. Is it result of defective hardware, the OS, network connectivity, bloatware, or other 3rd party apps? Instinctively (particularly if you?re new to the world of Smartphone?s) the rapid depletion in battery life - even with light to moderate usage - might lead you to believe the your phone has major problems in this area and your phone manufacturer had better do something to fix it.

I?m of the belief that there are always areas of improvements in how each of the above variables affects battery life. For example, there could be future ROM update that enhances OS efficiency, task management, or tweaks to the user interface. But truth be told the real culprit is that battery technology and capacity have not evolved as rapidly as the power and functionality in Smartphone?s.

That aside, in terms of energy usage, cars are very similar to our smartphones. For example, an Audi S4 has a powerful 352HP V8 engine. It?s a fun car to drive, and provides all the features you might be looking for in a car. However, the 352HP engine comes at a price. It sucks gas like nobody?s business), and like the powerful Atrix requires a source of energy to function. The S4?s source of energy is stored in a 14-gallon gas tank. If you push the car to it?s full potential ? it will get approximately 10 miles per gallon. The S4's baby brother is the A4. It has a less powerful 4 cylinder engine, but averages twice the number of miles per gallon with the same size gas tank. Smartphone?s aren?t any different.

That said here are some of the most common items (based on my unscientific tests of various Smartphone?s) that are the highest consumers of battery life. Most are manageable from a user perspective, some are not. I?ve left out the most obvious one of all ? extended voice call activity. Just remember there's a trade off between performance/features and the amount of power you?re willing to devote to each.

- 3G/4G connectivity/activity by streaming audio/video apps, web browsing, instant messaging apps, and apps that poll the network at regular intervals for updates (Facebook, RSS readers, Friendstream, etc).

See those little data arrows at the top of your screen? When they are light grey in color, network utilization is zero. Contrary, when they are solid white, network usage is occurring. If they are constantly white (as they would be when streaming radio for example) battery consumption is at it?s highest.

- Bright backlight settings: Regardless of backlight settings, the screen is still a major power consumer. Having said that, slight changes in backlight settings can make a dramatic difference in battery consumption. I would recommend avoiding the very brightest setting. My preferred setting is to let Android manage screen brightness, while others have manually enforced a constant low to medium brightness level. The latter will have the greatest positive affect on battery life.

- High CPU, backlight, and network usage by graphics intensive and/or poorly written applications: Graphics intensive programs often consume large amounts of CPU power and RAM, which translates into high battery consumption. Combine this with a network intensive streaming media application; the Incredible is sucking the life from the battery at an extremely high rate. Applications that were not designed for the Thunderbolt, or are buggy by nature, might causing the phone's CPU to be working excessively hard. If your phone is warm to the touch and running particularly slow, there?s a chance that a 3rd party app is to blame.

- Bluetooth: Bluetooth sucks down power. I?ve experienced this on every phone I?ve ever used. The Atrix is no exception. Turn it off when not in use.

- GPS: Like Bluetooth, it consume large amounts of energy while updating coordinates and communicating with satellites orbiting the earth. Combined with turn-by-turn directions and an always-on backlight, in order to see the maps guiding your way, you?re pushing battery consumption to the limits. I often read posts from people who are using the Thunderbolt as a full time GPS device in the car. One common complaint from these users is that USB chargers are only maintaining the current battery level ? or worse ? when GPS is in use. Since a phone limits USB host connections to 500mAh of power input, this is a good indicator of how much GPS consumes. In other words, 500mAh of continuous power to the phone is not enough to charge and take advantage of GPS/turn by turn directions at the same time.

- Signal Strength: Whether 3G/4G, or WiFi, week signal strength can affect battery life.

- CPU/Memory: I often read posts from members who have most of the above features disabled. Yet they still report warm to the touch phones and unusually poor battery life (3-4 hours per charge). In my experience, this is usually caused by 3rd party CPU intensive applications. Many people reach for the nearest task manager. Others can?t imagine which application they?ve installed that would cause such an issue. Regardless, if you reach to other forum members for assistance, please provide the following information that varies from the out of box configuration of the phone:

o Task managers in use (I believe these cause more harm than good ? but there?s a totally different sticky devoted to that).
o A list of all 3rd party applications (including battery percentage widgets & instant messaging applications)
o Update frequency settings for each application in settings > accounts & sync.
o Detailed information from settings > about phone > battery use
o GTalk auto sign in settings
o 3G/4G data arrow activity (frequent solid white arrows?)
o Email configuration (update frequency for Exchange, IMAP, Gmail, POP)
o Type of charger being used (OEM vs. 3rd party) & input/output specs.
o Widgets in use.

The best but least practical solution to battery consumption is to disable every single feature possible that this phone has to offer. My recommendation is to find a balance that works best for you and come to the terms that the attributes that make the Atrix one of the best converged devices available requires increased energy & negatively impacts battery life. This amount of energy available in a fully charged OEM battery is 1930mAh. This is not a design flaw. Instead, it?s the reality of battery technology competing against consumers demand for bigger, faster, and more feature rich devices.

 

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Task Managers

Q: What is a task manager?

A: Task managers typically provide details about running programs and services on your Android device. These programs are called "Task Managers" because they also provide the ability to "Kill" and/or "Terminate" processes and services via the click of a button. In theory this sounds like a good idea, as programs running within Android typically do not include an "exit" or "close" feature. For resource management reasons, users typically turn to these applications as a way of controlling these applications manually.

Q: Why should I NOT use a task manager on Android:

A: For various reasons, task managers are known to cause a variety of problems. Critical services, processes, and applications are often unknowingly terminated, causing undesired behavior. The forums are filled with complaints of "program a" or "program b" not working properly, and half the time it's due to a task manager.

Before you post a question regarding a problem you're currently having with an application or other odd software related behavior, please ask yourself "Am I using a 3rd party task manager?" If the answer is yes, please try uninstalling first, and the try to reproduce your problem.

 

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Copying files to/from your computer

1.) Connect the phone to your computer using the supplied USB cable.
2.) When the Connect to PC dialog box appears, tap Disk drive, and then tap Done.
3.) On your computer, the connected phone is recognized as a removable disk.
4.) Navigate to this removable disk and open it.

Then do one of the following:

- Copy the files from the computer to the phone?s storage card?s root folder.
- Copy the files from the phone?s storage card to a folder in your computer or computer desktop.

 

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Performing a Backup

Backup methods

[Complete Guide] How To Fully Back Up And Restore Your Android Phone Using Nandroid Backup

Credit goes to Artem Russakovskii

 

[btgrave]

Here's the Atrix official manual:

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...X_UG_ATT_68XXXXX468A_final.pdf&token=NCTM-e7e

 

[Terrigno]

Thank you. I had that up in Post #2.

 

[mikeymiz83]

I purchased a brand new Motorola Atrix 4g about 7-10 days ago. Now i just recently (today read the post on the initial charge. I charged it with it on instead of off. I was going to wait until i completely drain it before doing this, but to be honest, i'm quite savvy. Just didn't realize this Android was powered by a 1930 mAh battery. More than i'm used to on Verizon who i switched from. (1250-1500 depending on device).

I'm hoping I didn't ruin the battery life in the long run. Hopefully you can answer this question.

 

[Androxoom]

I have a question : if I get the unlocked At & T Atrix, will it work on other GSM networks outside the US? If not, is there a way to make it work with GSM networks other than AT &T just with software manipulation? Thank you guys, I really love this phone but if it doesn't work i'm screwed.