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Google Handhelds Operating Systems Upgrades Technology

Installing Android 2.2 "Froyo" On the Nexus One 154

Posted by timothy from the just-had-to-be-first-didn't-you dept.
gjt writes "I awoke this morning to see TechCrunch's MG Siegler post what appeared to be the first news of Froyo's availability. I frantically went to my phone's settings and tried to check for an update -oe but no luck. Then I went to xda-developers.com and sure enough there was a very long thread (now over 132 pages) of fellow eager beavers waiting for release (and trying to figure out how to get it). Several hours went by waiting for a semi-technical user to get the update and check the Android logs for the download location. It turns out you can get it straight from Google. With the information scattered around in different places I decided to consolidate the How-To into a single post." Note: According to attached comments, and to the TechCrunch story, it seems this is a staggered rollout, so not every Android owner may be able to try it out yet.
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Installing Android 2.2 "Froyo" On the Nexus One More

Installing Android 2.2 "Froyo" On the Nexus One

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  • If I'm not mistaken, Froyo introduces Flash on Android, so I guess we'll get to see whether the Flash-haters were right about how much Flash on mobile would suck.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by ScislaC ( 827506 )

      I think the better test will really be for when Froyo gets ported to the G1 and seeing how Flash performs then... I don't know that JIT will help much.

      • The JIT compiler shouldn't help at all. Given the performance needs of flash, it's almost certain that Adobe has it running natively. The only way in which the JIT will affect a native application is by clearing up resources being used by other applications.

        • JIT is going to more memory because you'll have both native and vm instructions in memory, whereas before you'd only have interpreted code. It's worth the tradeoff of course and will become more valuable as phone memory grows.

          Dalvik's JIT compilation is going to allow future Android applications to meet and exceed the performance of applications compiled ahead of time ("native" applications). Native is really a bad term because both dynamically JIT'd code and statically compiled code is native. The main dif

          • *going to use, dammit

          • Profiling does that exact same thing and is already in GCC and visual studio. Sure it's not as elegent as java and JIT but it's still there and doesn't hog memory.

            • GCC and Visual Studio are only used at compile time, not when deployed to end users during execution. They are limited in what they can optimize at this point in time.

              Example: Java and other optimizing JITs can devirtualize methods at runtime, effectively removing lots of lookups (possibly expensive branches) thus cache misses and other hazards resulting from heavy OO/polymorphism. GCC and Visual Studio cannot do this because they have no way of knowing what type a call site may be at an arbitrary execution

              • Mostly theoretical optimizations. You'll be hard pressed to find many real world cases where a JIT'd Java app will run faster than a native C/C++ app for a variety of reasons. Conversely, you will not be hard pressed to find C/C++ programs which perform better than a Java JIT'd app.

                Furthermore - if you care about performance (a lot of the time you frankly don't, at the level these optimizations would matter) you can just...not use a lot of virtualized methods and take other precautions to make sure you re

              • GCC and Visual Studio are only used at compile time, not when deployed to end users during execution.

                Not exactly. Profiling [wikipedia.org] which is what I was talking about is when the program is analysed at execution time.

                You compile your code, run it, profile it and then compile again with the profiler optimisations. Sure, it's not as elegant as java JIT done on the user machine however it also doesn't bog down a user's machine doing something the developer should have done on their own machines before release.

                • You clearly don't understand what we're talking about.

                  • Thanks for that. Your remarks/insults have completely convinced me that Java is superior and should be used for everything. Oh wait, no, no you have not.

          • Is there some reason why the system needs to keep the original blocks of vm code in memory once they've been compiled into native code?

            • Re: (Score:1)

              by chromatic ( 9471 )

              If you use a tracing JIT strategy with guards (such that you can specialize a basic block based on the type of specific arguments), you need the option to fall back to the non-JIT version if the guard checks fail.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by mlts ( 1038732 ) *

          JIT compilers do help. A good example of this is .NET, where it uses an intermediary language which is compiled/translated for the CPU it is running on, and the native binaries are cached, and complaints about performance on .NET are fairly few from what I've read.

          Java has had a bad reputation in performance, but in reality, those days are in the past. There are other issues with Java, but those are not performance related unless it deals with direct hardware calls, and one can use native code for that.

      • Re:I guess soon we'll see about Flash (Score:5, Interesting)

        by LauraW ( 662560 ) on Sunday May 23, 2010 @12:57AM (#32311862)

        I think the better test will really be for when Froyo gets ported to the G1 and seeing how Flash performs then

        Have you heard definitively that Froyo will be ported to the G1? I was under the impression that Froyo and even Eclair are too big to fit on the G1. I'd love to be proven wrong -- I have two old G1s sitting in a drawer and would love to put Froyo on them. Froyo arrived on my N1 last night, and I'm very happy with it so far; there are lots of nice incremental improvements. But as far as I know, nobody is working on shrinking Froyo down enough to fit the G1.

        -- Laura

        Disclaimer: I'm an engineer at Google, but I have no inside knowledge of what the Android folks are doing. I didn't even know Froyo had been released until I saw the giant styrofoam frozen yogurt in front of building 44.

        • Eclair works on the G1 with Cyanogen's CM5 ROM, but it's pretty slow unless you have SD swap. Even then, you need a Class 6 SD for it to be effective.

      • Why is running flash on an unsupported device a better test then running it on a system that it's designed for?

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward

      It's pretty good actually - there's a setting which lets you turn off plugins unless you click on them. Which means you don't get flash unless you really want it.

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by jo42 ( 227475 )

      I'm trying Flash on Froyo right now. And its #$%&*!+-=@
      NO CARRIER

    • I just updated the original post [gadgetopolis.com] with instructions to get Flash. Basically, search for "flash 10.1" in the market.

      • Re:It seems you have to install Flash from the Mar (Score:4, Informative)

        by beakerMeep ( 716990 ) on Saturday May 22, 2010 @08:30PM (#32310544)
        You can also just go to Adobe's website and click "get flash" the link will take you to the market to download it.

        One suggestion for those that install it, go into your settings and enable plugins 'on-demand' That way you will only get the Flash you want. It shows a little down arrow in place of the Flash that you click to enable. It's like a built in Flashblock/Adblock extension.

        Also IMO, considering the platform, I think the Flash is working rather well. I quite enjoyed watching some Zero Punctuation videos on Escapist.com already.

        • One suggestion for those that install it, go into your settings and enable plugins 'on-demand' That way you will only get the Flash you want.

          Thank you! (Mod parent up!)

          I installed flash on my N1 and noticed a ton of flash ads, and thought maybe Jobs was right! I normally use an ad blocker when browsing (desktop) and had forgotten how bad it could be. That click to play thing will do the trick until I find a proper ad blocker.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by DrXym ( 126579 )
      Flash Lite 4 is in the HTC Desire already. It works perfectly fine and provides a substantial amount of what the full Flash 10.1 would supply.

      Point being Flash doesn't suck and if it did, it would be beyond the realms of science to think of ways to implement it in a less CPU intensive fashion, e.g. browser doesn't launch flash apps until you click on them, or only launches same domain flash by default.

  • Running it now.. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Mark19960 ( 539856 ) <{moc.gnillibyrtnuocwol} {ta} {kraM}> on Saturday May 22, 2010 @07:00PM (#32309918) Journal

    And posting over my tethered N1 :)
    Flash has to be downloaded from the market.. and I can tell you that it is not as smooth as they make out in the youtube videos of it.
    It does work and it's tolerable, let's put it that way.

    That being said, the whole phone is much faster... I went from stock to Cyanogen and that was a speed boost.
    This however, is a substantial boost.

    I am looking forward to a Cyanogen release based on 2.2 - I think his roms are more polished than stock.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by evanspw ( 872471 )

      Is it getting hotter, do you think? I'm thinking of general browsing as well as flash viewing. And can you turn off flash in the browser? (I could have said, "how are those flash ads working for you?" !)

      • The Flash version on the Marketplace is still in beta and is entirely software-rendered, so expect some skippiness, heat and battery drain. The final release in June/July will do hardware acceleration, and should improve all of those things..

  • I heard over on Android Central that this process will hang on update on a rev 2 gsm Nexus One (for AT&T/Telus) so I guess downloader beware.

    • I've got an AT&T Nexus One (using on GCI's network, however) and it updated to 2.2 just fine this morning.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ADRA ( 37398 )

      I gave it a try and it doesn't break anything, It just doesn't install. There are files missing in the restore that are important. Once it 'fails' you have the option of rebooting, and no harm done. There was a 3rd party one released (linked through engadget) which may work for you if you've rooted your phone previously.

  • I'll wait until Cyanogen adds it into his (Score:5, Interesting)

    by gearloos ( 816828 ) on Saturday May 22, 2010 @07:32PM (#32310152)
    Remember if your rooted and update to this, you'll probably have to re root it and install a new rom all over again to get all your rooted programs working. Unless you know how to use adb and the other utils to picjk apart features very well, You probably should just wait till your prefered flavor rom has the new features integrated. It shouldn't take long.

    • of course, but who has the patience? certainly not me..

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by mlts ( 1038732 ) *

      This is what Titanium Backup is for. Back up your apps (with the Google Market information) to your SD card, optionally back the SD card up somewhere safe, install the new ROM, re-root, and then restore your apps.

      Disclaimer: I'm not related to the guys who made TB, just a happy customer.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by ZosX ( 517789 )

        Wow...TB carries the market information?!?! This was my biggest issue with backing up apps...they all lose the ability to update via market unless you use some third party update program that checks the market versus your installed version numbers. atrackdog is pretty good at this actually.

  • Good Idea (Score:3, Insightful)

    by sonicmerlin ( 1505111 ) on Saturday May 22, 2010 @07:40PM (#32310212)
    Staggered rollout is the best way to avoid massively distributed issues inadvertently cropping up all at once. Smart move I think.

  • What about all of Steve Job's issues with flash ? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by parallel_prankster ( 1455313 ) on Saturday May 22, 2010 @07:47PM (#32310252)
    So I remember Steve jobs rambling about why flash was bad for phones? - bad performance - poor battery life - security ? Anybody notice poor battery performance with flash? Is it easy to kill bad flash apps or does it reboot your device like my laptop ? How good is the touch interface with flash ?

      • Re:some battery life info on here (Score:5, Informative)

        by sessamoid ( 165542 ) on Saturday May 22, 2010 @08:03PM (#32310352)
        For those too lazy to read your link, here is the relevant excerpt:

        As for the battery life, Greer said it's not as horrible as Steve Jobs might have made it out to be in his open letter earlier this month. "It's not too bad," he said. "Android has a little bit of an issue with battery life anyway. I just plug it in to my laptop, so I'm not super sensitive to it. I'd definitely say it depends on the game too."

        So he's saying it's "not too bad", but he keeps his phone plugged into a charger/laptop. Okay.

        • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

          by Darkness404 ( 1287218 )
          I'm not sure about anyone else, but isn't the standard procedure for owning a smartphone to keep a few extra mini/micro USB cables handy and charge it when at work/home and on the computer?

          Or is it just me?

          • Re: (Score:1, Informative)

            by Anonymous Coward

            I think so too. Unless you don't use it as a smartphone, deactivating all the extras it haves, in which case, why did you buy a smartphone in the first place?

          • It is for me, but IIRC iPhones don't have that arrangement...
            Is the iPhone data cable not proprietary and like $40? (LOL iPhoneys)

            I will stick to my $5 micro usb newegg specials :)

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by anethema ( 99553 )
              I'm running a Nexus one right now, but come on. $40 cable?

              There are cheap iphone cables and expensive micro usb cables as well.

              http://www.boxwave.com/products/directsync/directsync-sync-and-charge-cable-apple-iphone_2661.htm and there is probably cheaper out there.

              iPhoneys? Grow up man, it isn't a contest.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by jo_ham ( 604554 )

              Well, it's proprietary on the dock end (although the connector is standard), and an Apple-branded one is $19 for a spare (http://store.apple.com/us/product/MA591G/A?fnode=MTY1NDAzOQ&mco=MTM3NTI1NDE), but you can use third party ones that are available for less.

              It will charge off any USB port (active or dumb, like a power brick), or anything that will supply 5 volts.

              I charge mine in my car off my radio's USB port using a non-apple dock cable. It certainly didn't cost me $40 (or the equivalent price in UK

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by Wovel ( 964431 )

              You can buy new iPhone cable for $2-3 US...

            • The other posters have already slammed you on the price. But I'd add that if you Android users might feel the need for multiple cables for charging, that's a symptom of poor battery life on your chosen platform.

          • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

            by jrumney ( 197329 )
            That and a spare battery or two. For someone foolish enough to design a smartphone without a removable battery, this probably seems like a major issue.
          • Dock at home, dock in the car, dock in the office. And keep an extra charger with you if you travel. These be the burden of having a smartphone with a stock battery. People ought to stop bitching and get used to it (or, carry a cellphone that's just a phone to get weeks of battery life out of them).
    • It's still beta, I'm able to view flash, but it doesn't seem to work quite correctly. Because it's flash I can't use my track ball to select anything in the flash and if I zoom in there's no way of moving around. On top of which I'm having some difficulty selecting small buttons. But you can turn it off and if I understand the dialog make it ask before executing. The web browser on 2.2 is significantly faster than it was under 2.1, to the point where things seem to just pop right up rather than having to wa

    • Why is everybody so up in arms about one guy babbling about something he doesn't like? I mean, so what? Let him babble to his hearts content.

  • that Sprint will block the new HTC Evo 4G's hotspot capability, since they sell their Overdrive 3G/4G mobile hotspot (a separate box) for $99.99? Wouldn't that be dumb of them? The Evo 4G is darn tempting, but I'm waiting to see if they block the hotspot feature. If they do block it, I'll be very glad I waited and will choose another carrier who doesn't.

    • If its anything like Sprints HTC Hero, it will be trivially easy for you to root the phone and restore that functionality. If you can copy paste commands into a command prompt, you can root your phone.

      • Thanks, but I'm not one to reward evil. I have too much contempt for such practices.

        • I can appreciate your sentiment but I feel I have to pick my battles. Sprint has incredible plans and great service everywhere I go, not to mention the Evo 4G is incredible. Why toss all that away when Sprint could really care less?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Karlt1 ( 231423 )

      that Sprint will block the new HTC Evo 4G's hotspot capability, since they sell their Overdrive 3G/4G mobile hotspot (a separate box) for $99.99? Wouldn't that be dumb of them? The Evo 4G is darn tempting, but I'm waiting to see if they block the hotspot feature. If they do block it, I'll be very glad I waited and will choose another carrier who doesn't.

      So which carrier do you think is going to allow free unlimited tethering? Sprint has already announced their pricing for HTC 4G....

      $69.99 -- standard price

      • T-Mobile.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by ZosX ( 517789 )

          Yeah. I pay $95 a month on t-mobile contract with 500 minutes. Not too bad. Basically the android plan is $30 over top of whatever minute plan you choose. I was told there are no caps, but I haven't gotten anywhere near the 10 gigs the cap used to be, so I can't confirm this or not. Rooting my phone opened up wireless tethering and that's kind of awesome. Too bad 3g isn't fast enough for you tube (I get like 700-1000kbits on a good day) but it is certainly fine for some heavy web browsing.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mlts ( 1038732 ) *

      They are advertising the hotspot feature, so unless plans change, I'm pretty certain that it will ship with tethering. I have not heard anything about bandwidth charges or caps, so it might be something worth looking at when it comes out. I do want to see the fine print of the Evo contract though.

    • Re:Anybody wanna bet || I'll take that bet! (Score:4, Informative)

      by Tumbleweed ( 3706 ) on Sunday May 23, 2010 @12:24AM (#32311660)

      that Sprint will block the new HTC Evo 4G's hotspot capability, since they sell their Overdrive 3G/4G mobile hotspot (a separate box) for $99.99?

      Way to keep up on the official announcements. Sprint has already released their pricing for the EVO 4G hotspot - $30/mo; they're not blocking it, they're actively advertising it EVERYWHERE ON THE WEB FOR THE LAST SEVERAL WEEKS. The only unknown about it was the pricing, which they announced on the 12th. Yeesh.

      • The information wasn't online a couple days ago. GMAB. Do you speak to your coworkers that way?

        • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

          by Tumbleweed ( 3706 )

          The information wasn't online a couple days ago. GMAB. Do you speak to your coworkers that way?

          The pricing for the hotspot was released on May 12. Sprint has been advertising that they'd have the hotspot ability with the EVO for _months_. Do you run with an adblocker or something? Sprint's been running the biggest web advertising campaign I've seen in a VERY long time for the EVO 4G.

          Yeah, I do speak to my coworkers that way. Keeps them on their toes. :)

  • Careful if you're rooted (Score:3, Informative)

    by penguinchris ( 1020961 ) <penguinchris@gm a i l.com> on Sunday May 23, 2010 @03:27AM (#32312482) Homepage

    Besides the fact that the link to the file in the summary didn't work, there are other potential problems if you click through to the source (on the forums, not the blog linked here).

    The procedure that's linked to will get you to 2.2, but it won't be rooted even if you were rooted before.

    I just did the classic "spend two hours trying to fix what you screwed up" routine trying to get it rooted again so that I could run the backup created by titanium backup, which requires root.

    For those interested, the steps for a fool-proof upgrade if you're rooted are:

    -Do a full backup using titanium backup first, obviously
    -Install Amon Ra 1.7 custom recovery loader: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=611829 [xda-developers.com]
    -Use it to flash the zip file update-nexusone-FRF50-signed.zip from here: http://android.modaco.com/content/google-nexus-one-nexusone-modaco-com/309286/frf50-froyo-pre-rooted-update-zip/ [modaco.com] - note that this wouldn't flash for me using the stock recovery loader (which requires renaming it to update.zip but it fails saying it's unsigned), hence the custom one above
    -Use it again to flash froyo-rooter-signed.zip from here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=686627 [xda-developers.com]
    -Restore your backup

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mlts ( 1038732 ) *

      Between steps 2 and 3, I'd consider doing a nandroid backup. This way, you can fall back to the older ROM in case it doesn't work as well as one expects.

  • Are we now going to the cell phone world cup with Apple fanbois vs. Google fanbois?
    All this hype and hoopla.
    It's just a phone.
    It doesn't define your lives - or sadly perhaps it does.

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