By 
It looks like there is, in fact, a catch to the Samsung Vibrant update to Android 2.2 through T-Mobile. While an update is indeed being made available to users in the form of a build version KA6, word from inside T-Mobile is suggesting that this is an optional update coming via the Samsung Kies software, perhaps merely to quiet detractors and negative press buzz. If T-Mobile’s own statements aren’t enough, a build with the version number KA7 leaking out earlier today also suggests that a future, mandatory update to Froyo will be coming over-the-air at a later date.
This is all speculation for now, as we haven’t heard word from any Vibrant users that they have received an update notification on their handset. We will keep our ears to the ground as the day unfolds and the situation develops.
lol
TMo srikes first…. Other carriers to follow… only time will tell.
Samsung and T-Mobile need to get some PR advice. When my contract is up in May, why should I consider another Samsung? In fact, imo, the whole update thing with Android pales in comparison to Apple. Add in lying and/or obfuscating and it is a pretty dismal picture.
i am currently downloading upgrade from kies mini!!!!!!!!!!!!
Eh, kies have been the normal way to update Galaxy S from all over the world. How is this a “catch”? I know kies sucks but this isn’t news.
I link to the keis site would be nice!
got it in kies mini! downloading now!
Why not just do it OTA? Why the fuck are they going around their asshole to get to their elbow? Something sounds fishy about this. If it was ready for OTA, then why wouldn’t they do it OTA? It sounds like they put some shitty version of 2.2 out there on Kies just to try and save their ass with all the people that are pissed. Little do they know…it’s too late to save their ass! I will never buy another Samsung phone again. There is nothing Samsung or TMO can do to convince me otherwise.
@Steven
http://www.samsung.com/us/support/downloads/SGH-T959ZKDTMB
For some reason the kids program will not recognize my phone. Also says not available for the US
Im with Steve, how about a link!
Just plugged the phone into kies and WHAT DO YOU KNOW. The stupid upgrade button is not click-able meaning its not ready. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON? Come on with it already and enough of the bs (t-mobile, samsung)
http://ars.samsung.com/customer/usa/jsp/faqs/faqs_view_us.jsp?SITE_ID=22&PG_ID=2&PROD_SUB_ID=557&PROD_ID=560&AT_ID=341559
http://ars.samsung.com/customer/usa/jsp/faqs/faqs_view_us.jsp?SITE_ID=22&PG_ID=2&PROD_SUB_ID=557&PROD_ID=560&AT_ID=341559
Use the above link….though it is a old post but the basic steps are the same to install Kies
Now the crying for 2.3 begins! No seriously! 1000 crying comments on articles in the future about 2.3 taking forever!
@ Contraus
The file is too large to send OTA. This is common with major releases.
I was unaware samsung’s galaxy s series updates were offered ota. Last I checked, it was all via KIES. Now if you will excuse me, ill go wait in a corner for the update to my i9000t. Telstra >.<
It seems that the update will work with Kies Mini only, so make sure to download that and it will work.
Did it this morning, update was smooth. WiFi Hotspot and tethering are working fine.
back in November, I sadly shattered my N1 screen in an accident. Insurance have me an “equivalent” model…the Vibrant. Sorry, after being on a Nexus One running Froyo, anyone can tell you a Touchwiz-bloated Vibrant running Eclair was NOT equivalent.
So I bought a Nexus S running Gingerbread and couldn’t be happier…..now if only Boston would enable NFC to pay for subway rides…..
So…Ive had 2.2 for 4 months now. Where is my 2.3? ROR
And users who have a Mac are supposed to….? Just called T-mo and they suggested I ask a friend who has a PC or go to a library and try a computer there. Really?
haha! I am soooo glad I dumped my vibrant on my girl and used her upgrade to get me a MT4G. I knew samsung was full of crap when they messed up my phone with their first update.
Tmobile
….I see what you did there.
Not good. I do not have a Windows computer, nor do I have access to one for the purpose of using Kies. This should definitely be OTA for the thousands who do not use Microsoft.
I am cunning 64bit Windows 7. I have downloaded any drivers that I can find and still not luck with the phone being recognized by my PC. I have downloaded Kies mini but looks like it is only compatible with 32 bit versions. Any suggestions?
Downloaded Kies mini and the upgrade button is grayed out. Weak Sauce!!!! Do you need to register your phone?
ok i plug mine in and access kies but i only get that my device is unregistered any suggestions?
I did not need to register my phone. Make sure you select KIES on your phone when you connect it to USB.
it is recognizing my phone but it won’t let me select the grayed out icon. Is this an update for the US users? Any US users had success with kies mini?
I have Froyo as of a few hours ago via Kies Mini. First it did not work. closed the kies then opened again. It D/L an update and bam everything starts working. Phone is working no problems as of yet.
I am in the same boat. Phone was recognized but upgrade button is grayed out.
This looks like it is a port by Samsung/T-Mobile of the European Galaxy S Froyo build instead of a true Vibrant specific build. After installation, Kies will report your vibrant as being a GT-i9000. This causes certain Android Market apps to not be displayed: Samsung Car Home and Dock Home (which are Vibrant specific) as well as the non-Verizon build of iHeartRadio 2.3.
I successfully have installed the KA6 update using the full version of Kies 1.5.010024_74. I have not tried using Mini Kies.
the unregistered went away but no it says “failed to connect the model information server” any ideas again
fuck them, I use a mac.
downloaded kies mini and followed steps connecting phone to computer but it stays on kies first screen still telling me to connect my phone. what do i do????????
When i open kies it starts to update but gets 56 % and then says disconnected from Internet anyone got any advice?
I would suggest calling T-mo tech support and seeing if anyone can get them to confirm anything, the guy I talked to sounded like he was fumbling over some emails he had got and didn’t have a clue what I was saying.
so filing a lawsuit is what it took for samsux to get on their toes. I see 2.3 update to take as long or even longer that 2.2 . Good luck guys
I just updated to Froyo using kies on my vibrant. Seems to be working well.
anyone else’s vibrant get stuck on the galaxy s boot screen after update? The S just keeps glowing and its been like that for about 10 minutes
Nothing here yet.
And seriously people, don’t ever expect 2.3 on this phone. You’ll need to jailbreak it.
@Oldtaku jailbreak is a term only use for the phone with a closed system. Jailbreak doesn’t apply to Android.
For all the “unregistered device” comments.
The samsung upgrade server is being bombarded and people just keep trying and eventually it works. That was the suggestion I got from the GalaxySsupport on twitter.
You will need to register your device or the updates will not happen…This is just more DUMB %%$##%..If “…You will need to register…” at Samsung site then why not have it as a down loadable file there?
More, “we do not care about customers we only care about what Samsung wants” Sure wish FCC, someone would take them to tasks. If you want to enjoy the fruits of U.S. market and airway then you have to act in an fair and just manner. Yes, Samsung sells phones, however, they are to be used on U.S. bandwidth therefore their business practices fall within FCC oversight.
Swehes seems to be correct. I’ve been trying off and on for about an hour and it’s now finally downloading.
Wade, I feel your pain on the Mac thing. Dusted off an “old” netbook and had to wake up the gerbil and get him back on his wheel to get this thing going. Punk machine decided to go into standby mode as if I wasn’t doing something, but fortunately I was able to re-connect easily and I’m in the middle of the process.
I’ll update…
Just tried again after waiting a few hours, closed kies mini and now I am in the process of downloading the update, US…. and I did not need to register my phone.
oh and I am a mac guy too, i justed booted up bootcamp and started my mac up in windows xp. I also will update.
i updated to froyo through kies, and i am loving it. so far, it seems like they had fixed alot of the issues. the phone is faster, no more lag as of right now, and we now have wifi calling, tethering and so forth. the menus have a slightly different look too. i am happy. i know alot of people will complain about getting. 2.3, however i don’t care about getting that. the phone runs great as it is!
No prudent executive would think of going forward with a deal unless extensive due diligence has been completed in the areas of legal and finance. This needs to be extended to Customer current, previous, and future complaints.
“…’Due diligence’ is a somewhat technical phrase used to describe a range of assignments, legal obligations, reports and investigations which take place in business…”
Suggestion: ALL senior management and Board Members must sign-off that they personally updated each and every previously sold model phone their company makes/sells and also those companies which allowed on their network said devices BEFORE any and all new devices are released. That way, the pain points would be both known and FELT not as a “number’ rather as an experiential fact.
Is it me, or is Samsung Kies REALLY slow? It might just be my computer, but iTunes and even Combat Arms runs great on my computer. But Kies is terrible. Is there an official american version of kies?
I think this is very smart on Samsung’s part. THey could have done it earlier….but I’m happy. They should do this with gingerbread. Give us like a beta version via kies and official version OTA. PROBLEMO SOLVED!!!
bingo!
I want MY GINGERBREAD….LOL! Just kidding!
It’s crazy ’cause I’ve been running Axura 2.2 ROMs w/Voodoo for a while and I have to say the stability of the ROM has been remarkable. I wonder how stable the actual update is,this is one hell of a device once it gets the proper software.
I guess no more BASHING! Samsung for now huh folks? I’m bored now.
Wish I had installed Windows on the Mac, but the Netbook pulled through. Kies was slow, but it worked.
Coming from a Blackberry, I’ll appreciate the wifi calling feature. Only thing I missed about the BB, even though I know it’s not UMA and won’t switch.
Looks like everything is intact, just have to re-arrange my home screens again. Good luck peeps.
Here is a the website of my ROM of choice http://devsforandroid.com/ip.board/. Just in case readers still want to root their devices and install custom ROMs and latest firmware.Only Galaxy S devices as of now.
i got my 2.2 update through kies i had to put my phone on usb debuggin mode for it work on windows 7 64 bit
i just updated mine and it went smoothly.
1. i registered my phone on the samsung website.
2. downloaded kies mini.
3. set my usb settings to ask on connection and reverted to touchwiz.
4. plugged phone and updated. takes a while though. an hour process probably.
5. galaxy s logo takes a while just wait. maybe 5-10 mins.
it’s working well so far. stock android keyboard was gone though. i hate swype and the samsung keyboard is not for me.
Downloaded the update via kies mini. Here are some tips from a non-tech guy.
1. It took several times before the kies program recognized that I plugged in the phone. I shut down the program several times, rebooted once, and so on. It finally worked after I kept the phone plugged into the USB before I even opened the kies program.
2. This install was easy. My phone did lock up and I did have to reboot it more than once. After a few boots, it is running AWESOME.
3. The lag is gone! Finally!
4. Don’t know about the GPS issue yet, haven’t tested it out as I am in a high rise building in chicago (go bears, see you in hell packers).
5. The wifi feature is awesome. Great add on, def not bloatware.
6. This hardware is finally feeling awesome and snappy.
The only complaint I have is that when I ran the quadrant test app I still only hit low 900’s. I definitely thought I would be up there with the best of them. I was not. Also, the media scanner took forever the first time it ran, after that is seems to be faster (thank god).
This is awesome, download kies, quit your bit*hing, and enjoy!
Kies will not recognize my phone nor my wife’s phone. Kies just has the “Please connect your mobile phone” prompt whether it’s plugged in or not. I have already set the USB settings to prompt on connection, and then selected Kies, but it won’t work.
Anyone have any ideas?
*Clarify #2- The phone did not freeze up during download of the firmware. It locked up after everything was installed and I was playing with the phone.
Suck on that you inbred Packer scum!
Make sure you have clicked on the “enable outside apps to be downloaded” to your phone selection in the settings under applications. Follow my other instructions posted above as well.
Figured out my problem. You have to be on Twlauncher. I was using Zeam. I launched using TW and it connected with no problems.
UGH!! everything works fine but now i have to wait for my phone to fully charge in order to update… I CANT WAIT ANY LONGER SAMSUNG!!!! *explodes*
@Rob, mine was doing that… i uninstalled reinstalled then put my phone is usb debugging mode, plugged it in, let it setup, then started kies and waited about 3 minutes and it connected. Hope it helps
To those hoping for OTA, dont hold your breath. Not sure what the vibrant is like but the international galaxy S has NO OTA option.
Your choices are KIES or enjoy 2.1
I had the same problem. Go into Applications. Development. Set USB Debugging to “on” exit by the back button so it saves, hitting the home button doesn’t save it. Then its a go. Enjoy. All in all, not much different. A bit more colorful, I expected the JIT compiler to make it much faster, but not really. Wifi calling added.
Thank you T Mobile. 8Mbps steady!!! download
Linpack average 17.x
Quadrant barely better than the old version (makes me doubt on how good quadrant really is, the diff in the UI is amazing!)
Samsung, nice job. Why can’t you get it right the first time, why the rework. You are not off the hook. If you provide other update and improve your quality, you may have gained back a few brownie points.
The update makes Samsung Galaxy S feel great!, fast, smooth, great graphics, nice touch.
The following is what I have done and is provided AS IS, we don’t assume any responsibility or know if your device may brick or not!.
Its just the steps we took to upgrade. If your device bricks its your choice, I DO NOT recommend you follow my instructions, if you do, you do so at your own risk.:
1. Download Mini Kies,
2. Install Kies as an Admin user
3. Charge up your battery.
4. On your phone, goto.
– Menu
– Settings
– Applications
– USB Settings
– Choose KIES
5. Connect your phone to your computer using the USB Cable
6. Make sure you have a good connection to the Internet from your computer (you will need it!).
7. Fire up Kies as an Admin user.
8. Wait a while until the phone is recognized (if Kies fails to do so, or fails to update, just close it and try again)
9. Press Update when you see the Option (DONT disconnect your phone from now on) this may take up to an hour on slow connections (maybe more). IMPORTANT
– DONT disconnect your phone,
– DONT disconnect the INTERNET from your computer,
– DONT turn off your computer
– DONT let your computer enter sleep mode.
10. When complete let your phone reboot (it will take a while 10 min?)
11. Disconnect the Internet.
Nice upgrade, sorely needed. The GPS didn’t lock fast indoors, but it gave a 5000 ft approximation very fast. It also slowed down the phone considerably, so Samsung still needs to work this out.
“…So purely from a numbers game, why WOULDN’T they treat the whole thing like a big “Screw you”, cause the only ones who will be upset are a tiny fraction of the bulk of their customers, and everyone else they will just convince to go buy the new Vibrant 4g (which is almost the same phone, with an upgraded OS)…”
Except it was in various and many places in the “PRESS” which causes a ‘black-eye’ and more important showing poor ‘face’ which is the only way to get anyplace with Samsung which pulled T-mobile into saving Samsung’s face. As they know a small drop of water turns into a river which then floods which then kills which then and so on….IF all xda/TW/etc folks keep posting issues and get the “PRESS” to pick up the story then and only then will change happen as it did this time. They will wait until FORCED into action as it is in their interest to wait and only after the “PRESS” publish the unrest will they do the ‘fair’ and morally correct actions, sadly…IMHO
If we do not keep the pressure up, many folks can not do the update the way they are forcing it currently (jump thru hoops) when all they have to do is make it a down loadable file off the web.
To all manufacturers customer care reps, press sites like this can and will influence your company’s sales. Take note, WORD OF MOUTH can kill your business.
ok! got it to work and let me just say, wifi calling and tethering FTW!!!!! no we can all start bitching about gingerbread ;D
Hey grumpydalek, how are you getting the tethering. I had my vibrant rooted and was running barancle and now it no longer works. What are you using?
Now I need to start hounding Samsung until I can get a free 55” 3d LED tv. ^_^
@ GrumpyDalek
You waited this long, and now you can’t even wait a few more minutes?
Goodness, I’m starting to sound like my parents.
@GrumpyDalek (again)
Um, why are you complaining? I’m surprised they added tethering!
bubbles where did they add tethering?
@ grumpybut and buttles thanks
You device does not support firmware upgrade. WHAT?
WHEN U START KIES FOR 2.2 UPDATE IT SHOULD DOWNLOAD UPDATE NOT FROYO.JUST FOR KIES ITSELF THEN REBOOT UR COMPUTER THEN CONNECT TO.KIES VIA USB N CLICK KIES ON UR VIBRANT THEN.DOWN.LOAD
Lovely. I’m on Linux. Epic fail.
My suggestion to those that don’t have a Windows box: Take your phone to the local T-Mobile store and make them do it. If they refuse, ask to speak to a manager or ask to call customer support on their phone. Escalate as necessary. Don’t be rude, but be firm.
I’ve just put doing that on my todo list for the next chance I get. Dorks. (Really, if it’s too big for OTA for some reason just make it an install-from-SD update. Those have been possible since the Palm OS 4 era for crap’s sake.)
Whats the big ass hype over an Official Froyo… The Offi. Froyo sucks balls…Word of advice root and install a custom rom you’ll like it more like the new Axura Rom… fast/sleek/ bloat ware free…. Plus once you’re rooted you can overclock your device to 1200-1400 Ghz. Fuck the official Froyo.. it sucks!
Let down and left out ! I also use Linux (Ubuntu). The local TMO store reps seem clueless and unwilling to help. Asked the store manager to do the upgrade for me on their computer….. you guessed….. no way. Only kies and only Windows and only DIY. What a restriction and what a hassle.
BTW- If you installed One Click lag fix, it will hang up at the Galaxy S boot screen. I had to restore to factory by rebooting and holding down the up and down volume buttons to get mine working right. I have 3 of these phones in my immediate proximity. Mine I upgraded myself, my wife got the update from Kies. I can decidedly say that mine runs a lot quicker and more smoothly. However, hers has Tmobile TV… which I do not. Interesting.
Kies is the worst software I’ve ever used. Every time I try updating it stays at the screen “downloading…do not turn off target!!” And then says usb not recognized. I hope the KA7 leak is the OTA version.
I have the same problem! Anybody know how to fix it?
So I just updated to Froyo.
First, I didn’t have any real issues connecting to kies. First, I let my phone “connect,” and then I launched kies. The program recognized my device almost immediately.
Next, after downloading and installing the software, my phone hung on the “S” boot screen for about 5-10 minutes, after which the phone launched into my home screen.
My Vibrant is much faster w/Froyo then it was w/eclair. Programs that used to hang and force close now work like a charm. The device seems to be running as well as my friend’s Evo, of which I wished I had, as it ran more smoothly then my Vibrant.
I’m not a phone tech, but I do read phandroid. I don’t know benchmarks, have never tried rooting, and basically check the forums for updates and rumors about my Vibrant.
I’m very happy with this kies update. Will I buy another Samsung phone? Who knows – I’d probably go HTC next time around. However, my Vibrant is a much better phone now that froyo is installed.
Thanks.
dear Mac users,
whose the smug little hipster now?
“it just works”? really? i can name at least ONE instance where it DOESN’T…….
When i connect my phone it keeps saying miniapplication stopped working. any help??
Hey Guys,
Got mine updated via stupid Kies today. You have to check USB debugging mode otherwise Kies will not recognize the vibrant.
Nevermind, I just had to download Kies Mini (Don’t use the full fledged Kies). It works flawlessly now…..well GPS stick sucks but it’s oh so much faster!
downloaded samsung kies mini, connected micro usb to my t-mobile vibrant..first i made sure my battery was full then clicked update & in less than ten minutes i had froyo. this thing is smooth as fu**!
@Quez, I am guessing your computer is running on a 6-4bit OS, I had the same issue with my comp (Windows 7, 64-bit). I used another computer that was 32-bit and I had absolutely no issue
I am so frustrated. I cannot upgrade to froyo. I’ve tried from 3 different computers, but no success. I have run out of ideas. I’ve uninstalled and re-installed drivers. I’ve uninstalled and reinstalled the kies mini program. Still the kies homepage does not see my phone. My computer sees it, but that program does not. Please help me out. I am beyond frustrated.
My phone once it started rebooting, after the Galaxy S screen, the screen went black and the phone started vibrating. After 15 minutes I took the battery out to restart it, but when it rebooted it did the same thing. Anyone know what to do?
At Juan. You probably have the password or pin number lock on. When it starts up you got to hold the power-button for like 3 seconds and keep playing with it until the screen comes back on. Its weird keep playing with it. Once you get the damn thing to work use the pattern lock or no lock.
@ Juan:
Mine is doing the same. Did you find anything?
@Jon, I put the phone into recovery mode and deleted user data. It worked like a charm after that.
My USB port was bad on my computer and during install the process stopped. Once I figured that out and swithced to a usb card that I had added in the back of the PC (and went through the recovery process) the install went well. I also did my wife’s phone which went much smoother. We both notice an annoying lag in turning the phone on/off and switching between applications. The google contact groups is now working closer to what it should have been originally (as it it didn’t download the contacts within each groups from the PC. Now she has discovered that when sending out group messages that she is limited to only 10 at a time. She has decided to go back to using a third party message app that doesn’t have that limitation and also allows a select all option withing the group when doing messaging. This reminds me of the early days when Microsoft would come out with apps that was “not” full featured like their “fax” so that it would wet your appetite but you always felt compelled to go buy one that had all the features that should have been there originally.
Otherwise we like the other expected/unexpected improvements and would love to continue to have improvements for this phone going forward. I have already told her to not expect it.
@Quez
Yeah mine has the same problem! but my computer doesnt recognize my vibrant and wont install drivers does anyone know where I can download the drivers for my specific phone? I have windows 7 64bit it also comes up with the same problem where if I run the update program and plug in my vibrant and select samsung kies mode it immediatly says miniapplication needs to close or something like that anyone have same problem and know how to fix it?
@niki thanks for that, now I got to find someome on 34 bit
@rap1030 read what niki wrote that should help.. Goodluck
So I started the upgrade process around 4pm yesterday on my work machine (home machine is 64 bit). It took two hours for it to reach 30%, at which point I said screw it, left it connected and went home phoneless. I’ve just remotely logged in to my work PC to check on the progress before leaving for work, and it’s taken 17 freaking hrs to get to 55%.
Anyone have any suggestions, other than “wait”?
OMFG! tried updating my phone via samsung kies mini. it was going all good till right at the end it said failed to update properly. im like wtf. it said to take the battery out and reboot…. so i did. and all i got was a black screen with a computer and a phone icon with a yellow triangle that has an (!) inside! ugh…tried soft reseting hard reseting. everything! nothing is working!!!! i cant live without my phone!!!!!
HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am having the same issue that a lot of ppl on here have had about Kies mini not seeing the phone, I have tried everyone of the steps on here and still nothing, my pc will charge the phone with i connect it but thats its. I uninstalled reinstalled rebooted several times no go.
Another site i was reading said it had to be a samsung approved pc data cable idk about that, but I am using a pc data cable that I bought for my HD video camera. The concern i have the cable is that when i plug my generic car charger in the phone sees it and asks me if i wanna use kies or media player.
So i am at a loss.