[WTA] Samsung Vibrant for Asia use - Vibrant Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

i just got hold of a samsung vibrant in malaysia where i live.
i've been following xda alot but not in this section. i'm more windows mobile.
there's an extreme amount of reading to do so allow me to just ask a few questions. i'm still quite new to this android thing so allow me to apologise in advance first.
This is what's written on the about phone page on my vibrant.
2.1 update 1
T959uvjfd
kernel 2.6.29
eclair
Q1 - How outdated am i on firmware and i dunno what else there is ?
Q2 - Kies is a nightmare to use and it says there are no updates available. True ?
Q3 - Can i use a i9000 galaxy s rom ?
Q4 - Is there a rom or an application that asian countries need to use ?
Q5 - how do i tell if its hardwarelocked or not ? What is hardwarelocked anyway ? what is simlock and how do i tell if the vibrant i have is locked to anything ?
Q6 - Is it possible to use stock rom when i'm in malaysia and not the USA ? Will there be any difficulties ?
Q7 - i need to be able to see chinese characters so is there an app or some tweak that i would need to do ?
As starters i think i'd like to familiarise myself with a stock rom so that i can get used to it and proceed from there.
Based on this thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=857974
i'd like to use the rom but what is clockwork ?
thank you for your patience

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sharkteef said:
i just got hold of a samsung vibrant in malaysia where i live.
i've been following xda alot but not in this section. i'm more windows mobile.
there's an extreme amount of reading to do so allow me to just ask a few questions. i'm still quite new to this android thing so allow me to apologise in advance first.
This is what's written on the about phone page on my vibrant.
2.1 update 1
T959uvjfd
kernel 2.6.29
eclair
Q1 - How outdated am i on firmware and i dunno what else there is ?
Q2 - Kies is a nightmare to use and it says there are no updates available. True ?
Q3 - Can i use a i9000 galaxy s rom ?
Q4 - Is there a rom or an application that asian countries need to use ?
Q5 - how do i tell if its hardwarelocked or not ? What is hardwarelocked anyway ? what is simlock and how do i tell if the vibrant i have is locked to anything ?
Q6 - Is it possible to use stock rom when i'm in malaysia and not the USA ? Will there be any difficulties ?
Q7 - i need to be able to see chinese characters so is there an app or some tweak that i would need to do ?
As starters i think i'd like to familiarise myself with a stock rom so that i can get used to it and proceed from there.
Based on this thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=857974
i'd like to use the rom but what is clockwork ?
thank you for your patience
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the best place to start is here
thats a great guide written by s15274n.
but I'll try to answer some of your questions..
Q1 - there are 2 official firmwares out at this moment JFD (which you have) and JI6
Both of these are android 2.1 firmwares.
Some people see better gps lock times with JI6.
Most people also say it drains the battery faster
There are some extra apps on JI6 but nothing too spectacularly different.
There are a few unnoficial firmwares available such as JK2 and JK6 which are froyo 2.2 firmwares (the one you said you would like to download is a leaked version of an upcoming official firmware JK6)
So you are one update behind in official firmware or a few behind in unnofficial firmwares.
Thats not really a bad thing though, it just depends on your preference.
Q2 - you probably should not update via kies, but JI6 should be available through Kies mini if you must do it that way.
Q3 - you can use an i9000 rom though this is not recomended.
Especialy if your just starting.
If you use an i9000 ROM, you would need to use a vibrant kernel.
Otherwise the volume buttons will be reversed. (among other bugs).
Eugenes "Macnut" series of roms are based on i9000 source, and work wonderfully as they are.
If you must have an i9000 rom, at least these ROMs are ported specifically to the vibrant.
Q4 - Malaysia uses the 1800 and 900 bands, and the vibrant right out of the box supports 850, 900, 1800, and 1900
So as far as it working on your network, I think you'll be fine as long as your vibrant is sim unlocked.
Q5 - hardware locked is where you cannot get to recovery without using ADB (Android Debug Bridge)
You can check to see if you are hardware locked by trying to reboot into recovery.
To do this, turn the phone off and boot up while holding both volume up and volume down and the power button.
you can let go of the power button when you see the vibrant logo.
This should bring you to a recovery menu, although for some people, holding all of the buttons is pretty hard so dont get frustrated if it doesent work the first couple of times.
Sim Lock is where your phone is locked to a specific carrier (for the vibrant this is usualy t-mobile)
If you need to use the phone on a network besides t-mobile you will need to unlock it (if it is not unlocked already)
You can check the unlock status by opening the dialer and entering this number: *#7465256#
If entered correctly you will not have to hit dial, it will automaticaly bring up a menu when you enter the last # sign.
if everything in the list that pops up says "OFF" then your phone is unlocked, otherwise you are probably locked to t-mobile, and will need to unlock the phone to use it on another carrier.
Q6 - I dont think there would be any difficulties using whichever rom you like, although everything will obviously be in english.
Some apps do have language packs and such, so I'm not completly sure how difficult it will be as far as language barriers, but the phone will likely work fine (although there are some phone companies who's sim cards just dont work in the vibrant... mostly pay as you go ones)
Q7 - I'm not sure about languages, I've never used anything but english...
Q8 - Clockworkmod is a replacement recovery.
If you are rooted, all you need to do is get a hold of the rom manager app and hit the first option (flash clockworkmod recovery) then hit reboot into recovery (the second choice) and lastly hit reinstall packages while in the stock recovery menu.
You can probably find rom manager on this forum, if not I can find it for you if you need it.
Hopefully that helps a bit...
If not just keep asking and I will answer as best as I can, also read that guide at the top of my post, its a really good place to start.

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i've read through your answers to my queries and am extremely satisfied with them. i've even understood more and more after beginning to experiment on rooting and flashing the rom using the rom manager. its easier than using odin.
the languages question i'll try to find out more by googling a little later on.
you have been a great help to me. i would not know where to start as the device is already in my hands and with an immense amount of reading to do, i just needed to shave some time off to read the more important stuff first. anxiety to begin using my device that is.
there is an option underlying somewhere that says USB debugging mode. what is that for ? i switched it off when i connected the vibrant to my winxp pc to enable me to copy some apk files over into the internal memory. do i need to re-tick it again ? where can i find that function ?
also i heard alot of talks about adb and launcherpro. i have no idea what those are.
are they like spb mobile shells for winmo devices ? or manila for windows mobile ?
there's still alot of exploration for me and i'm thankful for helpful people like you in the community.

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I too am in the same boat except i'm based in the Philippines. I can get a hold of a T-Mobile Vibrant cheaply but am unsure if it will work here out of the box and where to start to make sure i make the most out of it if it is compatible with the local networks.
Q1: We use 900/1800 GSM and 2100 3G here. I'm sure voice will work but will i get 3G?
Q2: Is there a stock unbranded ROM i can immediately use? I want to avoid playing with custom ROMs while i'm still figuring out what's best for me.