ICS upgrade now available for GS2 LTE on Rogers

**Steve Punter** · 06-21-2012, 01:53 PM

Thanks for the link on rooting. Now I'm just going to wait a few days to see if any GOTCHAS surface. While many people flash new versions just for the fun of seeing what they can do with them, I'm a bit more conservative and must first be assured that the new version isn't going to BREAK something I already rely upon.

I've seen a few uncorroborated remarks concerning poor WiFi performance and sluggishness. These may turn out to be bad installs, but I'm not about to find out the hard way. Yes, I could just flash back to Gingerbread, but I don't want the hassle of setting everything up exactly that way I had it.

**Zman2k2** · 06-21-2012, 03:37 PM

If it's any help, my wi-fi seems to have improved somewhat. I'm also getting slightly better battery performance, and my LTE signal indicator shows better reception. That could just be some creative choices on Rogers part, to make me feel that my signal's better.

Sent from my SGH-I727R

**Steve Punter** · 06-21-2012, 03:43 PM

The LTE "bars" on many first-generation LTE phones (the S2 LTE included) were incorrectly calibrated. The phone would show 1 bar for virtually all signal conditions unless you were very close to the site. I recently observed that the S III fixes this, and so it's good to hear they've fixed it in ICS for the S II LTE as well.

Aside from the problems you've mentioned, how have you found ICS. Are there any things that don't work as they used to?

**Zman2k2** · 06-21-2012, 04:11 PM

Funny. I just did a couple app updates, connected with wi-fi, and the downloads hung. Just stopped working. Switched to LTE, and it went smoothly. So maybe the wi-fi isn't improved. I'll try a couple more times before pronouncing judgement.

I'm not the heaviest user of my phone, but for the most part, the update has been pretty painless. The SMS, data and voice all work well, and the few apps I do have run smoothly, except for my sports app TSN. It's hung on me twice since updating. But a force close with task manager, and a restart gets it going again. That's all I've seen so far.

Sent from my SGH-I727R

**Bluesnow** · 06-21-2012, 08:40 PM

I noticed the font is a little strange looking, especially in txts, the font in Facebok looks a little different too.
Not a fan of the black email tho, should be able to change the colour back to white if you don't like it...
I do like how you can swipe the notifications if you see one that's not important and you don't want to clear them all. Also double tapping a word and then being able to drag it is kinda cool too. Still a little glitchy tho if your writing a long email, the cursor not being in the spot you put it and then it dwellers the wrong word. Other then that I guess all in all it seems to run fine

**hopetindall** · 06-23-2012, 07:45 PM

Icon counts/notification no longer work on go launcher/launcher pro/apex after upgrade. Is this normal?

**tekg** · 06-24-2012, 12:41 PM

anyone have the link for instructions to do this? kies isn't automatically asking me to upgrade despite my settings being set to that and kies being fully up to date...

**cellphonejunky** · 06-24-2012, 01:05 PM

Originally Posted by howard

Just noticed on Facebook that the Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade for the Galaxy S II LTE is now available.

WHen oh when will we see ICS love for the galaxy note!?

**Zman2k2** · 06-24-2012, 01:05 PM

Is Kies seeing your phone? It was automatic with me. I connected my phone, and it popped up saying there was a new firmware, and asked if I wanted to download. Maybe a reboot of your phone will clear the memory, and have it lock on.

**hopetindall** · 06-24-2012, 01:45 PM

Originally Posted by hopetindall

Icon counts/notification no longer work on go launcher/launcher pro/apex after upgrade. Is this normal?

Looks like unread counts don't work for me in ICS with GO Launcher or Launcher Pro.

Apex (Pro = paid version) works for unread counts on Gmail/SMS/Missed phone calls.

**D Mac** · 06-24-2012, 01:45 PM

I gave up on Kies. Completely useless piece of software.

I did the upgrade via ODIN instead.

No issues at all, quite happy with it.

**Steve Punter** · 06-24-2012, 10:14 PM

Okay, here's my experience with installing ICS on my S2 LTE. Before I started however, I installed Clockwork Recovery and made a NANDROID BACKUP of my GB installation so that restoring the phone was a piece of cake.

The installation went without a hitch and ICS ran fine right out of the box. At first everything looked good, but over time a number rather annoying problems surfaced (some of which have been mentioned in this thread already).

1) Text input is sluggish, especially using Swype (which is my preferred keyboard, though the issue is still a little bit noticeable on the Samsung native keyboard as well). It wasn't as bad as others have painted it here, but it was nonetheless annoying.

2) Scrolling (at low speeds) is buttery smooth, but when you scroll faster the motion gets more jerky and it often much worse than it was on GB. This is a 6-of-one-half-dozen-of-the-other sort of deal. You loose one thing to gain another.

3) The screen is noticeably less touch-sensitive. It works fine, but it feels a little like it's halfway between the S II LTE with GB and the Galaxy S Captivate. Also annoying, but you can learn to live with it.

4) I had quite a few force closes, which behaved like I remember them on Eclair back when I first bought my old Captivate. Instead of the force close popping up right away, the phone FREEZES for about 15 to 20 seconds and THEN the error message appears and the phone goes back to normal. I also had numerous solid lock-ups that required me to pull the battery, but I could never get them to happen in the same way twice in a row.

5) Although I couldn't put a finger on it, the phone just felt more sluggish overall.

The more I used it, the more disappointed I became. I finally had enough and I restored my phone to the way it had been before using the NANDROID BACKUP I'd made. I can't stress how important it is that you do this before you take the plunge.

**D Mac** · 06-24-2012, 10:54 PM

Originally Posted by Steve Punter

Okay, here's my experience with installing ICS on my S2 LTE. Before I started however, I installed Clockwork Recovery and made a NANDROID BACKUP of my GB installation so that restoring the phone was a piece of cake.

The installation went without a hitch and ICS ran fine right out of the box. At first everything looked good, but over time a number rather annoying problems surfaced (some of which have been mentioned in this thread already).

1) Text input is sluggish, especially using Swype (which is my preferred keyboard, though the issue is still a little bit noticeable on the Samsung native keyboard as well). It wasn't as bad as others have painted it here, but it was nonetheless annoying.

2) Scrolling (at low speeds) is buttery smooth, but when you scroll faster the motion gets more jerky and it often much worse than it was on GB. This is a 6-of-one-half-dozen-of-the-other sort of deal. You loose one thing to gain another.

3) The screen is noticeably less touch-sensitive. It works fine, but it feels a little like it's halfway between the S II LTE with GB and the Galaxy S Captivate. Also annoying, but you can learn to live with it.

4) I had quite a few force closes, which behaved like I remember them on Eclair back when I first bought my old Captivate. Instead of the force close popping up right away, the phone FREEZES for about 15 to 20 seconds and THEN the error message appears and the phone goes back to normal. I also had numerous solid lock-ups that required me to pull the battery, but I could never get them to happen in the same way twice in a row.

5) Although I couldn't put a finger on it, the phone just felt more sluggish overall.

The more I used it, the more disappointed I became. I finally had enough and I restored my phone to the way it had been before using the NANDROID BACKUP I'd made. I can't stress how important it is that you do this before you take the plunge.

Did you root? I ask because I havent had any of those issues at all. I dont use swype so I cant comment on that but everything else is completely opposite of you. In every way everything is better faster and more responsive.

Maybe it is because i did a full wipe before and after the upgrade? (and did not resore any backups)

**Steve Punter** · 06-24-2012, 11:01 PM

Yes I did root.

Sent from my SGH-I727R using Tapatalk

**D Mac** · 06-24-2012, 11:59 PM

Originally Posted by Steve Punter

Yes I did root.

Sent from my SGH-I727R using Tapatalk

Well since my experience is so radically different from yours if you want to use ICS I would suggest Wiping and manually reinstalling everything and/or re-installing and not rooting (Yes I realize you mentioned you have root apps that you rely on, so this might not be an option).