[Q] Samsung S2 Variants.... what one? - Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi,
I'm going to be buying a Samsung S2 for a family member as a backup phone but want to put CynanogenMod on it and change the pit size... but the variants of S2 are confusing, the family member currently has a Samsung S2 9100G and has http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s2/development-derivatives/rom-cyanogenmod-12-t2955551 installed.
I have the option of buying a cheap working phone from someone I know but it is an 9100 model, one of their original batch, is this compatible with the ROM and pit files from above?
Or should I pass on buying it and instead get an 9100G? What other ones are ok and obviously work in the UK?

Hyflex said:
Hi,
I'm going to be buying a Samsung S2 for a family member as a backup phone but want to put CynanogenMod on it and change the pit size... but the variants of S2 are confusing, the family member currently has a Samsung S2 9100G and has http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s2/development-derivatives/rom-cyanogenmod-12-t2955551 installed.
I have the option of buying a cheap working phone from someone I know but it is an 9100 model, one of their original batch, is this compatible with the ROM and pit files from above?
Or should I pass on buying it and instead get an 9100G? What other ones are ok and obviously work in the UK?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would go with the international version(i9100). It is more common, and there is more development for it. The "G" version has a different chipset, which makes it incompatible with roms from the i9100. From what I've heard the TI chip isn't as good overall as the exynos chip in performance either, although the numbers are the same(1.2ghz)

noppy22 said:
I would go with the international version(i9100). It is more common, and there is more development for it. The "G" version has a different chipset, which makes it incompatible with roms from the i9100. From what I've heard the TI chip isn't as good overall as the exynos chip in performance either, although the numbers are the same(1.2ghz)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply, it's more common really? Three other family members have had S2's and they were all i9100G.
I noticed you said:
international version (i9100)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which is going against what I read kind off... According to wikipedia:
Galaxy S II - Model GT-I9100G
The Samsung Galaxy S II GT-I9100G was released in late 2011, and is usually sold instead of the original GT-I9100 in certain markets (mostly Asia and some parts of Europe). An overview of the Samsung Galaxy S II GT-I9100G can be seen on Samsung's official website.[61] It features a Texas Instruments OMAP4430 SoC instead of the Exynos 4210 in the GT-I9100. It is visually identical to the GT-I9100, as well as having the same 1.2 GHz processor speed and dual-core ARM Cortex A9 processor technology. However, the SoC is of a different design and the Mali-400 GPU has been replaced by a PowerVR SGX 540 GPU. This difference in the SoC makes this variant incompatible with custom ROMs intended for the I9100, but it has been steadily gaining its own aftermarket support (such as from CyanogenMod[62]) due to the relative ease of development and the openness of the TI OMAP platform..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Hyflex said:
Thanks for your reply, it's more common really? Three other family members have had S2's and they were all i9100G.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
More common worldwide, meaning it has more developers and variety of roms etc. Perhaps where you are the "G" is more common as it was only introduced into a limited market.
The difference in hardware is negligable though, I only meant to say they are incompatible between them. The TI is indeed open source, so if you want to develop your own rom/kernels and create your own device tree/kernel tree etc. it would be much easier from a purely aosp base.
I guess at the end of the day, if you just want to install a rom, then forget it, either one will do. And the fact you have the files already for the "G" it might be easier to get another. If you plan to update the rom in the future or try a few different ones to see which one you prefer, I would recommend the i9100

noppy22 said:
More common worldwide, meaning it has more developers and variety of roms etc. Perhaps where you are the "G" is more common as it was only introduced into a limited market.
The difference in hardware is negligable though, I only meant to say they are incompatible between them. The TI is indeed open source, so if you want to develop your own rom/kernels and create your own device tree/kernel tree etc. it would be much easier from a purely aosp base.
I guess at the end of the day, if you just want to install a rom, then forget it, either one will do. And the fact you have the files already for the "G" it might be easier to get another. If you plan to update the rom in the future or try a few different ones to see which one you prefer, I would recommend the i9100
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm rather confused now... I installed: http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s2/development-derivatives/rom-cyanogenmod-12-t2955551 onto 2x i9100G phones and it works perfectly... but yet it isn't a G version of the ROM when I should have installed http://forum.xda-developers.com/gal...-2-unofficial-cyanogenmod-12-1s-os12-t3103494
How are they even working?!

Hyflex said:
I'm rather confused now... I installed: http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s2/development-derivatives/rom-cyanogenmod-12-t2955551 onto 2x i9100G phones and it works perfectly... but yet it isn't a G version of the ROM when I should have installed http://forum.xda-developers.com/gal...-2-unofficial-cyanogenmod-12-1s-os12-t3103494
How are they even working?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have no idea!! I don't have a i9100g, but everthing I've read indicates it is not possible. Can you take a couple of screenshots in "About phone" in settings with rom build and device variant? The only thing I can think of is if they used the same chipset as i9100 for some of the i9100g's at some point?? I don't know

noppy22 said:
I have no idea!! I don't have a i9100g, but everthing I've read indicates it is not possible. Can you take a couple of screenshots in "About phone" in settings with rom build and device variant? The only thing I can think of is if they used the same chipset as i9100 for some of the i9100g's at some point?? I don't know
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I checked one and it was the i9100, I swear the other is an i9100G though, if it isn't then I'm seeing things and got incredibly lucky flashing that ROM lol, silly me.

Related

[Q] difference between SII 9100 and SII 9100G

HI
i;m will to by SII galaxy , but i found 2 models in the market 9100 and 9100G , i found only the difference in the chipset and the GUP only , i need to know which one in better and the newest one ? and i read that you are not allowed to install custom rom on 9100G is that right ? and please if there are any other difference between these 2 models tell me ..
Definitely get an I9100.
Has a better processor, capable of faster data speeds if your network supports them due to the better processor. Lots more options on here/elsewhere so far as custom roms/kernels are concerned.
Do a Google search for the exact differences/specs.
You can install custom roms on I9100G, there just doesn't seem to be a lot of them around. That's certainly the case on here, put it that way.
i found a comparison here between the 2 models , like i said in my previous post all the difference i found in 3G speed, chipset and GPU , nothing else... so do you think regarding the previous differences the 9100 is better? by the way is 9100 is newest than 9100G ?
For me, the I9100 is better because there's far more custom roms & kernels for it on here (about a 20:1 ratio). Technically speaking by way of an "inferior" processor, the I9100G wouldn't even be on my radar. We have networks in Australia capable of much faster than 7.2mpbs.
If something is superior processor/GPU-wise, newest has nothing to do with it
sshehab said:
i found a comparison here between the 2 models , like i said in my previous post all the difference i found in 3G speed, chipset and GPU , nothing else... so do you think regarding the previous differences the 9100 is better? by the way is 9100 is newest than 9100G ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MistahBungle said:
For me, the I9100 is better because there's far more custom roms & kernels for it on here (about a 20:1 ratio). Technically speaking by way of an "inferior" processor, the I9100G wouldn't even be on my radar. We have networks in Australia capable of much faster than 7.2mpbs.
If something is superior processor/GPU-wise, newest has nothing to do with it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as i understood from your reply that 9100 is better from custom ROM and kernels perspective but 9100G is better from specification perspective.. Right ?
No. Wrong.
I9100/T has a better processor/GPU and a billion times more custom/rom kernel options.
sshehab said:
As far as i understood from your reply that 9100 is better from custom ROM and kernels perspective but 9100G is better from specification perspective.. Right ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MistahBungle said:
No. Wrong.
I9100/T has a better processor/GPU and a billion times more custom/rom kernel options.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
when i was googling i found this nice comparison
That's a good article so far as the specs go, there's a bit of opinion in there tho (the mention of the heat issue with the SGS2, never had these problems running stock & have rarely encountered them running custom roms/kernels).
At the end of the day if having choices so far as different custom roms/kernels are important to you, then you'd probably get a I9100/T. If not, you'd get any other I9100 you like.
With the SGS3 due later this year, the lack of custom firmware available for the I9100G is very unlikely to change, as well as most of the developers living in countries where the I9100/T is the most commonly/readily available device and those devices having seemingly larger userbases (at least on here anyways).
It's entirely up to you.
G = very very BIG no 99% of users regret buying the G model .
But your choice .
jje
here is also another useful comparison see the last paragraph "Which phone to buy?"
OK. So you should have enough info to make an informed choice then.
after a lot of searching and according to my requirements i think 9100 will be suitable for my needs.. Thanks guys for your help..
Definitely the GT-I9100 !!
If you are interested in modding, playing and getting support for ANY phone, NEVER EVER go with models that have been branched-off from initial model. They just cause trouble regarding updating, developer support, and OEM support. They're a cheap sales trick, used by companies (Samsung) who are more interested in selling NEW phones without any long term commitment to support like Apple's 3+ years.
Just look at what happened to the I9000! It is still my opinion the best phone ever created by Samsung, but they already stopped supporting it long time ago, including by Google Android ICS, even though there is no apparent reason for not having that support...
E:V:A said:
Just look at what happened to the I9000! It is still my opinion the best phone ever created by Samsung, but they already stopped supporting it long time ago, including by Google Android ICS, even though there is no apparent reason for not having that support...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's not entirely true. Yeah the S1 may not be getting ICS, but support has not stopped.
On the S1 forum the latest firmware is a leaked JVU 2.3.6, same version as the latest S2 firmware. It also has plenty of new changes, including the Note lockscreen & faceunlock
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1431596
Sent from my GT-I9100T
hi,
so after reading about the differences between the two models i feel kinda screwed. after my i9100 got wet i got some cash from the insurance company and went to buy a replacement.
good thing i'm a newb and didn't think about the possibility of a cheap rip-off version of my phone existing. so i just got a new "sgs2". well great. aside from more than lacking custom dev support it's also supposed to be slower and weaker in regards of game performance.
do you guys think, this will improve or should i throw my phone into the sh*tter and try to get another replacement? if they even had any non-g models. i feel cheated! thinking that for only 50€ more i could have gotten a nexus at the same store.
/edit: i do not acutally plan to heavily mod my phone. just use bacis (root) apps and all that. no custom rom or anything. i only fear that updating to non-official android os versions in the future (like when the sgs2 is outdated in ~2 years) might prove difficult. if i can't get ics on this phone i'm going to murder everyone at that store.
My first SGS2 was i9100 but it crashed and seller gave me my money back. So I ordered the same phone from another seller and he sent me i9100G but on his site was clearly said he is selling i9100 with MALI400 GPU.
So I sent it back again and I am waiting for answer from seller now.
Here is my comparison i9100G to i9100 version:
- i9100G was slower in rendering web sites in Chrome and opera
- same battery time
- G was slower in apps
- I had problems with many apps on the G version, they were crashing all the time: opera, email, games...
I didn't like the i9100G at all, it was slower, less powerful phone with crashing apps for the same price.

[Q] 2GB Variants and Rom Compatibility

So Samsung Canada has officially announced that all the Canadian versions are going to be just like the Japanese one with the Snapdragon CPU for LTE support and 2GBs of ram, at a glance it appears that everything else under the hood should be the same more or less (obviously dont know for sure but just guessing) so What Im wondering is will the firmwares be the same for these 2GB varients or will there be enough differences that the modding and development area of the S III will differ to the point that anything made for the GT-I9300 wont work on these models?
Naturally the assumed answer would be no, such as the custom SGS2's that have 4 touch buttons and no home key compared to the international model, however all S III's appear to all be the same layout of 2 touch 1 home and same phone design ect, just different CPU and amount of ram inside the phone.
+1 for this question, this will make if I buy or not the phone
The amount of memory is the least of your concerns.
The device is using a completely different chipset, it uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4, so no, firmware/roms made for the GT-i9300 will not work on the version you're getting, not even the HSPA+ one.
But i'm sure there will still be a lot of support for doing custom roms on your versions as well
This has always been the case... anything for the "I " will have to be ported to work on north American variants... there will be different modems/kernels ...international will get updates first and certain things will be pulled to build roms for us.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA
Both of them are based on different soc. international version is using the exynos chipset
and the lte version is using the qualcom chipset. so the roms would be totally different
What I think he's asking is whether or not the Canadian and Japanese (for example) versions will be firmware-compatible, as they both will get the alternate SoC and memory, not the international version...
It's a question without an answer. All we can do is guess, and not educated ones. We'll have to wait and see.
Chainfire said:
What I think he's asking is whether or not the Canadian and Japanese (for example) versions will be firmware-compatible, as they both will get the alternate SoC and memory, not the international version...
It's a question without an answer. All we can do is guess, and not educated ones. We'll have to wait and see.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually its both, I guess I should of worded this better with more details lol.
But my main thoughts were dev work on the international GT-I9300 and mods/addons etc working on the LTE 2GB varient (since at a glance it looks like they are the same phones but with different CPU/Ram), also as well Japanese/Canada/USA versions working together since it looks like all 3 countrys are getting the same model phones with the same hardware (different model numbers though because of branding purposes but same hardware inside the phone).
Im not looking for custom roms though my main thoughts are small addons that you generally see in the themes and apps section and the huge following that you see with the S II and constant checking and usage with new firmwares for the shake of improving everyones device, and most important of all CF-Root for the device. My concern is that most of the dev's will be putting the work and effort into the international model and not the other ones so I will be SOL unless I get the international model (which is why the question in the first place), but heres the other thing that bothers me with that...
It feels like its not worth the upgrade (hardware wise), everything is the same except 200MHz faster CPU with a couple extra cores that most apps probably wont take advantage of for some time to come, and a 720p HD screen which is nice but not really necessary. The S III feels more like a software upgrade rather then a hardware one (amazing software and improvements Samsung has done for the device over the S II for sure), but to me it feels like its not worth it unless your getting all the hardware improved upon aswell, like were just re-buying our S II's because its "shinier" with new and improved software lol.
Doesn't anyone else feel that the S III should of been not only a CPU upgrade but double the ram, improved MP's on the front and back camera's etc etc?
So with all that in mind atleast for me it feels like if im to get the upgrade it should actually be a nice upgrade (hardware wise) you know what I mean?
Well, our opinions appear to differ a lot on the subject, but I have no interest on elaborating on them yet again.
However, for rooting, for the SGS3 something like CF-Root is not needed due to the separate kernel and recovery partitions. You flash a modified recovery (once) then root through that.
Future firmwares can then be flashed with Mobile ODIN (which can root during flash), or (again) through the recovery, if you didn't overwrite it.
Chainfire said:
Well, our opinions appear to differ a lot on the subject, but I have no interest on elaborating on them yet again.
However, for rooting, for the SGS3 something like CF-Root is not needed due to the separate kernel and recovery partitions. You flash a modified recovery (once) then root through that.
Future firmwares can then be flashed with Mobile ODIN (which can root during flash), or (again) through the recovery, if you didn't overwrite it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah yes i see, i thought he meant compared to the International GT-I9300 model
Sorry to the OP, i haven't a clue about that.
FISKER_Q said:
Ah yes i see, i thought he meant compared to the International GT-I9300 model
Sorry to the OP, i haven't a clue about that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No I ment both. Compared to the international model and as well between the same alternate ones that are the same.
Pretty much don't want to get the 2GB ram model if most of the development is only for the international model, however getting the normal one over my S II feels like I'm practically getting a small upgrade if the ram isn't getting doubled among other things.
Sent from my GT-I9100M using XDA

Different SGS3's and why?

I've noticed talk of different SGS3's in certain countries, sorry if this sounds a bit of a stupid question but I'm confused.
What are the differences between these devices, and why are there differences? Why not just ship the exact same handset worldwide?
Thanks
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using XDA Premium
Except for north America they are just different firmware. Hardware is the same.
The reason is different languages, modems and in some cases locked to a certain carrier or with carrier branded firmware.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
The reason I'm confused is because I've noticed some people saying they bricked their phone because they accidentally followed the root instructions for the international version (something like that anyway).
Also I'm sure I read somewhere that the international SGS3 has a different (better?) processor. Is this true?
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using XDA Premium
The International version Uses - Quad Core &1GB RAM
The American version Uses - Dual Core & 2GB RAM - Due to LTE being a battery hog - LTE is super fast internet
The Korean Version Uses - Quad Core & 2GB RAM - Don't know why they got that maybe because its Samsung's home town - Brown Nose
Anyway there all the same on the outside. That's all i can tell you but I'm sure somebody else will fill you in
My name is Optimus Prime and I send this message..
Hardware is different - as already stated - so drivers from the international I9300 won't work on those and hence "brick" it.
Firmware / ROM / OS / whateveryoucallit differs a lot on those models too, down to the partition layout. It's a nightmare what Sammy did there this time.
HellcatDroid said:
Hardware is different - as already stated - so drivers from the international I9300 won't work on those and hence "brick" it.
Firmware / ROM / OS / whateveryoucallit differs a lot on those models too, down to the partition layout. It's a nightmare what Sammy did there this time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, no hope for anything resembling, hellraised rom or at least framework for these, right?
Sent from my SGH-I747M
NA SGS3's use the qcom S4 over the exynos quad, thus roms and kernels will not work across them, and flashing an international rom on a NA phone will brick it.
There is no foreseeable way to simply and easily port roms across (aka nothing as easy as hellraising).

Having an Unlocked Bootloader

so whats the point in having an unlcocked bootloader if you cant even do anything to it..
i have the tmobile version of the galaxy s3 which only has 2 roms available
we cant flash any international roms onto the phone.
when i had the htc sensation i unlocked the bootloader and got s-off
and was flashing international stuff/roms
why cant we do that with the galaxy s3???
i know ill probably get lots of hate on this
or this has already been posted,sorry if
it has..
The international version has different hardware. It has the Exynos processor and Mali GPU. The US versions have the Snapdragon SoC. This requires different code optimization and different communication interfaces for each hardware component. There are actually a lot of little differences in the hardware, most because of the Exynos vs. Snapdragon CPUs and the way it interfaces with the hardware.
For example, both versions have the same LEDs and everything, but the Light Flow dev(s?) had a problem getting the US S3 to work even though the international one worked. In fact, I'm not sure if Light Flow is fixed yet for the US S3. And that's just one of the minor differences. More important components could cause huge problems.
I'm willing to bet that the Sensation had all the same hardware, international or not, but the radios were a little different. If that were the case with the S3, then yeah, we could use international ROMs. Different processors (and most likely, different motherboards, too) make a huge difference.
There are more roms than that. Flash cyanogen 9, 10, aokp, or redrum or team sonic's to name a few
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
At this point, you can't even flash Roms across different US carriers much less the international version. Which really is an almost completely different phone.
________________
Just Flash It !!!
The phone was released THIS MONTH.
Go develop something

i9100g vs i9100 roms

Hi i'm new to this device, sorry if this has been asked before.
I noticed for CM10.1, the i9100G variant has RC4 for it, compared with only nightlies for the i9100.
Does this mean there's better dev support for the i9100G model? But the i9100G sub-forum seems smaller?
I want to buy the one that had better dev support & custom roms run better on, so please advise, thanks.
jeff243 said:
Hi i'm new to this device, sorry if this has been asked before.
I noticed for CM10.1, the i9100G variant has RC4 for it, compared with only nightlies for the i9100.
Does this mean there's better dev support for the i9100G model? But the i9100G sub-forum seems smaller?
I want to buy the one that had better dev support & custom roms run better on, so please advise, thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
9100G has a TI-OMAP chipset and all sources are out.The 9100 has Exynos and not all the sources are out.But overall the 9100 has slightly better specs.Well, for custom roms as CM the G version is better.
It's not the support that's missing but the sources.But it's also true that the last nightlies for 9100 are absolutely stable.There are just few games that are not working well.
Edvin73 said:
9100G has a TI-OMAP chipset and all sources are out.The 9100 has Exynos and not all the sources are out.But overall the 9100 has slightly better specs.Well, for custom roms as CM the G version is better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So the custom roms for the G are more stable? Does camera well work on both versions?
The I9100 (still) has much more dev support than the I9100G and always has. This talk about sources has nothing to do with anything.
Having said that, given the phone was released two years ago, I wouldn't be buying one now. I'd be buying an S3 (which also has a lot of development) or even an S4.
jeff243 said:
So the custom roms for the G are more stable? Does camera well work on both versions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The camera is working well on both.But you just cannot tell, that custom roms on G are more stable.Custom roms are not just a phone thing but also developer's and 9100 has much more dev support.I gave you an answer based on your question about CM. I have a 9100 version and I wouldn't change it for a G.Few non working games on CM and CM based roms are just not enough for me.The Mali GPU is much better for me as the Power on G.And imho the G version was made by Samsung just to reduce the production costs.
---------- Post added at 08:52 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:41 AM ----------
MistahBungle said:
The I9100 (still) has much more dev support than the I9100G and always has. This talk about sources has nothing to do with anything.
Having said that, given the phone was released two years ago, I wouldn't be buying one now. I'd be buying an S3 (which also has a lot of development) or even an S4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sources has nothing to do with anything? Tell it then to "codeworkx".
Codeworkx has a bee in his arse over Samsung not releasing sources & enjoys the attention he gets when he regularly cracks the ****s over same. Every other dev sucks it up & produces the best rom/kernel/whatever they possibly can in spite of same.
The I9100 is the 'superior' device in every possible way (hardware, sheer variety/volume of both past & present development). If you're going to buy a two year old phone, you don't buy the I9100G unless it's either given to you for free or it's a helluva lot cheaper than the I9100 (And I mean a lot cheaper; even then I wouldn't).
I'm waiting for the nexus 5, but want something a little faster in the meantime...
Just got offered a GS2 i9100 variant for $150 (USD) great condition, should i accept it, then sell it when the N5 comes out? I wouldn't make too much of a loss i think, the value might be down $50 at most after 6mths?
Oh and gaming isn't important to me....

Categories

Resources