Updating The Rogers Samsung Galaxy S (Captivate) To Android 2.2 (Froyo)

 Android
Oct 282010
 

I got the newly released Rogers Samsung Captivate, which is quite the upgrade from my rapidly aging iPhone 3G. My first impressions after just over 24 hours with the phone are good. However, the fact that it came running Android 2.1 (Eclair) rather than the newer 2.2 (Froyo) release bothered me. Though if you check the phone’s status, it says it’s running 2.1-update1, and it appears to include some of the features from 2.2. No Matter, what fun is a gadget you don’t risk turning into a brick within the first day of owning?

Here are the steps I took to reflash the device with a leaked version of the 2.2 ROM from AT&T, then root the device and remove all the AT&T bloatware and generally end up with a decent setup. As is typical of these sorts of posts it must be said that these steps worked for me, have not been tested on any other devices than my own, and may turn your phone into a brick, a nuclear killing machine, or less likely, a rabbit.

Step 1. Reflashing the device to the leaked AT&T 2.2 ROM.

You’re going to need the requisite drivers. I use Windows 7 64bit, and these worked for me, but your mileage may vary. You can find the Captivate drivers here. The USB drivers come in 32bit and 64bit flavours. I found I needed both the Captivate and USB drivers. Next, follow these instructions:

  1. Download the Android 2.2 Froyo update from designgears (the exe Odin flasher)
  2. Make sure your Captivate’s USB cable is plugged into the computer but not the phone.
  3. Open the .exe file on your Windows PC
  4. Put your phone into download mode by turning it off, holding down the volume keys and plugging the phone into your computer with the MicroUSB cord
  5. The .exe from designgears should now recognize your phone.
  6. Click “Start” to begin!
  7. Once it’s done, let it reboot itself up!

You should now be running Android 2.2! The above info was found on talkandroid here and androidforums here.

Step 2. Get Your Phone Working Properly With Rogers.

The phone will come back up with voice services working, but no MMS or data. In order to make data and MMS work, you need to set the Access Point Name (APN) settings in the phone’s config. APN Settings can be found under Settings > Wireless > Mobile Networks >Access Points. Set the following:

  • Name: Rogers
  • APN: rogers-core-appl1.apn
  • MMSC:http ://mms.gprs.rogers.com
  • MMS Proxy: 10.128.1.69
  • MMS Port: 80
  • MCC: 302
  • MNC: 720
  • Everything else blank

You should now have a working data connection! The above info was found on the XDA Developer forums here and the GeoSpatial blog here.

Step 3. Root Your Galaxy

Time to take full control of your device.  The app to accomplish this is hosted on the XDA Developers forums. Specifically, the thread about the app is here, and the actual download link is here. You’ll probably need to register on the forums to get access to the file. The details are contained in the thread, but really it’s just a matter of plugging in your phone, opening the application, and selecting ‘Root’. I remember when hacking a device required keyboard input at the very least…

Step 4. Remove That AT&T Bloatware

I gotta say, I don’t usually have many kind words to say about Rogers. But at least the firmware they ship with is reasonably clean of bloat. I think my stock firmware came with five non-vanilla Android apps, including the Samsung app, and the Rogers ‘My Account’ app which is actually reasonably useful. The AT&T ROM ships with probably a dozen bloatware apps, plus an annoying splash screen. Here’s how you clean that bloat off your phone:

I found I needed to select the ‘problems’ option in Titanium Backup and let it install it’s own copy of busybox!

  1. Open up Android Market and search/download “Titanium Backup” (the free version is fine)
  2. Make sure your phone is not “Mounted” with USB
  3. Press the Backup/Restore button
  4. Click on each app and press un-install if you’d like to get rid of it. Do not delete apps off of this list, unless you know it is safe! This deletes these potentially forever… so be sure about things!
    Delete-able:

    • AT&T Navigator
    • AT&T Radio
    • AT&T Maps
    • AT&T Music
    • AT&T Mobile Hotspots
    • Mobile Banking
    • Mobile Video
    • Where
    • YPmobile
    • AT&T FamilyMap
    • Mini Diary
    • MobiTV
    • Write and Go
    • Instant Messenger
    • Where

Reboot your phone and that should be the end of any AT&T related bloatware, aside from the splash screen at bootup. The above info was cleaned from briefmobile here.

That should be it for now. If you figure out how to remove the splash screen from the phone, please let me know in the comments. Also, some of the above instructions were cribbed liberally from the linked sites. This was done entirely to make life easier for anyone trying to get a relatively unmolested version of 2.2 running on their Samsung Captivate from Rogers. I’m very thankful to everyone who wrote the linked posts and articles. I’ve only had an Android device for just over 24 hours now; without them sharing their knowledge I wouldn’t have gotten this far.

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