David Trebacz Blog

I decided to upgrade my XT912 to Kit Kat. My earlier rooting and upgrade to CM10.2 provided a much better experience on the aging hardware ( http://blog.trebacz.com/2014/05/eliminate-lockups-and-freezes-Motorola-XT912.html ). This was my first time upgrading major versions of Cyanaogenmod (10.2 to 11) on my phone, so I was prepared for some unplanned issues. The upgrade went flawlessly and I lost noting in the process. The procedure I followed was: 1. Download current cyanogenmod snapshot from here: http://download.cyanogenmod.org/?device=spyder&type=snapshot 2. Download Gapps for CM11 http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Google_Apps I used the upgrade steps from Jack Stromberg's post here: http://jackstromberg.com/2013/12/tutorial-rooting-and-installing-cyanogenmod-11-android-4-4-kitkat-w-google-apps-on-the-droid-razr-maxx/ I found I needed to modify the steps slightly for doing and upgrade from 10.2 using safestrap. It was all in the instructions, but you do have to r...

My Motorola XT912 after Cyanogen 10.2 Upgrade I loved my Motorola Droid Razr Maxx XT912. I bought it almost two years ago. The phone featured good performance, ability to use as a internet hotspot, and was part of my unlimited wireless plan with Verizon. I really wanted to keep those features, but performance and reliability started to suffer. Performance Was Horrible After a few recent updates in the fall the phone started to become unreliable and would freeze up when doing the most mundane tasks. It would sometimes take my favorite navigation app Waze (http://blog.trebacz.com/2012/08/android-apps-for-your-road-trip.html) 15 minutes to acquire a GPS lock. Foursquare checkins would also take 5 minutes.The battery would drain in a couple hours when traveling -or just out of the blue on some days at work. I tried rooting the phone. Eliminating Verizon bloat apps that I really didn't use and shutting off some location services. All of this would work for a week, but come ba...

I've been a big fan of Android's app's for many years. Lots of great free applications out there that help you do whatever - better. Couple that app environment with a smartphone, car mount, data plan, and you can have an amazing array of information to make you car trip more fun and less stressful. Here's my setup for family road trips: My Road Trip Hardware: I currently own an Motorola Droid Razr Maxx ( http://www.motorola.com/us/consumers/DROID-MAXX/better-battery/96406,en_US,pd.html ) and use their windshield mount ( http://www.motorola.com/us/consumers/Vehicle-Navigation-Dock-for-DROID-RAZR-MAXX/100141,en_US,pd.html ) with one slight modification. The current windshield mount stalk is a bit too short, so I use the old stalk from my original Droid ( http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-89396N-Window-Mount-Droid/dp/B002WC7RKU ). The extended length makes it possible to use the camera and easily keep the suction cup mount out of the pictures. The new Droid Maxx has fa...

So I got an email from Verizon thanking me for upgrading to Android 2.1 ( Verizon email link ). It mentioned all the great features that I should be enjoying (and have been been patiently looking forward to). Last time I tried a manual update install and probably got my self into trouble. The problem is I didn't actually accept the over the air update and 2.1 wasn't running on my droid. I went to Home> Settings> About Phone (still on 2.0.1)> System Update (presented with a Android Update 2.1 screen) press the download button. Nothing downloads and I'm presented with the same screen again and again and again. Searching the internet presented me with some unplug my battery options tried it -no joy. Decided to let the droid sit overnight. Hopefully it would fell better in the morning.-no joy. Next posts that I saw ( http://supportforums.motorola.com/thread/26494 ) started talking about doing a hard reset, pull the battery while hopping on one foot, etc. I we...

At least I'm not alone in the fact that my Motorola Droid keeps loosing my Microsoft Exchange email account periodically. I have personally lost the exchange account 4 times (and the other IMAP accounts under the email application). Putting in the credentials again "fixes it". The frequency has gone up since the upgrade to Android 2.0.1. During the entire time the gmail mail accounts are fine. Here are a few of the posts that I'm tracking relating to the issue. No official word from Google, Motorola, or Verizon on the problem -or a pending fix. Reports on Google's Android forum: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=4866 http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=4980 Reports on Verizon's droid forum: http://forums.verizon.com/t5/Android-Devices/Email-accounts-being-deleted-from-Droid/td-p/117067;jsessionid=32c7704020432f772a7cfec1677f7fd52 Reports on Motorola's message forum: http://supportforums.motorola.com/message/89501 I...

Decided today was the day to set up USB tethering on my Motorla Droid running Android 2.0. I'm getting ready for a business trip and I'm always amazed at the places that you can't get a wireless connection. USB tethering allows me to always have a fallback cellular connection (usually 3G on Verizon's network) for those type of emergencies. I love the products produced by June Fabrics. I used their product to intermittently tether my Windows Treo 700W -and it got me out of some odd jams. Essentially it was it's like using your cell phone as a 3G modem (without having to carry separate devices).  June Fabrics couldn't make the process any simplier: Download the install application from  http://www.junefabrics.com/android/ Begin installing the application -the installer walks you through all the steps nicely. I did need to enable a setting to allow the application to be automatically pushed form the Windo...

Overall I'm pretty happy with the Motorola Droid hardware. It powerful, well built device. The only rip would be that the slide out physical keyboard takes some getting used to. I never had any issues hitting the keys on my Treo 700 W, but often times I find myself having to hit the "DEL" key on the droid. I'm very satisfied with the Android 2.0 operating system. In general it works well and seems pretty mature. Many of the default applications that came with the phone are well designed and work well. The navigation in Android 2.0 is really well done. 3rd party applications I really like: Amazon (scan it and buy it from Amazon) Astro (file manager for basic copying and moving files around on your device) Barcode Scanner (scan pc screens for apps to download) KeypassDroid (Password manager application for Android, Windows, and Linux -great!) Locale (automatically change GPS, WIFI, Bluetooth settings based on where your at to conserve battery) PhotoBurst (Nic...

I finally found a phone that would modernize my mobile communication platform. Things I like: Beautiful large screen -Pictures look great on it Internal GPS to take advantage of location aware applications WIFI capabilities - Quick surfing on my home WI-FI and hotspots Quick and responsive device, but pretty similar to my Treo 700WX Lots of apps and easy to install -I can't seem to find any missing apps Android App Market is easy to navigate Open operating system -should be able to find something for whatever I need and don't have to wait Runs on the Verizon network - good reliable and fast network Things that annoy me: 3rd party app needed for: Automatic file synchronization Outlook/exchange task support Outlook/exchange meeting requests Battery life was pretty poor on the first day - (Motorola *228 option 2 technical support was GREAT) Lot's of apps, but someone needs to sort through them - many seem to have stability issues Car charger -from Amazon ...