sigh Yet again someone has shoehorned Microsoft Windows into a product it is completely unsuitable for. Why does a screen which displays a fairly basic set of information need to be running on an expensive Windows licence? Moreover, why is such a machine connected to the public Internet?

For bonus points, take a look at the program which has automatically loaded. Yup, they're running a program to prevent Windows kicking off its screensaver. Why? Why not just disable the screensaver? Or, even better, run the whole thing from a Raspberry Pi loaded up with Linux?

I've been ranting about this for years.

My good friend Kai Henry runs a company called Webconverger - a simple and free Linux based kiosk display system. Why on earth pay Microsoft over the odds for a buggy, crash prone, Operating System which isn't very good at kiosk displays?

Dave Addey

@daveaddey

The next train to tag value departs from platform tag value. (Also more disk space on drive C plz thx.) pic.x.com/gytrgfdqjm

---

So, I ranted and raved on my blog and in the press. Samsung wouldn't respond to me - either through customer support or through their PR team. Nice way to treat a paying customer, guys!

There is an OTA update for the Galaxy Note II - taking it to 4.1.2. Sadly this isn't yet being pushed out via all UK carriers (including O2, who I work for).

As far as I can tell, the update does fix the bug. I've only been trying it for an hour - but it seems that copying no longer crashes the device.

There are a bunch of other minor changes which you can see in this video.

So, this is the fairly quick and simple way to upgrade your GN2.

Get The Firmware

The site SamFirmware lists just about every available firmware for Samsung devices.

According to them, this is the latest OTA for the GN2.

Caution! you have no way of knowing what that file does. It does not come from an official source. If it makes your phone explode, or fills it with state sponsored malware - that's just too bad.

I mean, would it kill Samsung to list their official firmwares on their site?

Stick the file on your phone

I used my microSD card. The file is over 1GB, so make sure you have plenty of room.

Upgrade

The easiest way to install ROMs on your phone is to use Mobile Odin. It's an Android app which takes care of all the hard work for you. Run it, point it at the update file, and off it goes. Costs less than £4 which is very reasonable.

Choose "Open File" and select the zip.

The app will ask you a few questions and then start the upgrade.

Pace up and down nervously

The whole process takes less than five minutes. But there's always a risk with something like this that it will spontaneously combust.

All being well, the phone will spring back to like with an upgraded OS and a clipboard that doesn't crash the entire phone.

I still don't understand why Samsung insist on treating their customers this way - but at least the issue is now fixed.

Terence Eden is on Mastodon

@edent

Sounds crazy, doesn't it? If you copy and paste text more than 20 times, your phone will restart! Some people have reported more severe crashes than that - but for me it is only (!) a soft restart. This affects the Galaxy Note II, as well as the SIII and Note tablet. Other Samsung products may also be broken in this manner.

This has been reported to Samsung multiple times. Ever since Konrad Krakowiak, a Samsung Developer, acknowledged this bug on October 29th last year, the official message has been the same.

This bug was reported and I think that it will be resolved soon.

Typical Samsung. Sloppy engineering followed by complete indifference towards their customers.

How Does This Bug Occur

As part of Samsung's desire to "improve" Android, they've created a "Clipboard History" function. It's pretty nifty. It shows you the last 20 items you copied - be they text or images. The only downside is that it only works if you're using the default Samsung Keyboard. (For iOS users - keyboards on Android are apps. You can swap them out if you want a better or different keyboard).

If you don't use the Samsung Keyboard, items are still copied onto their clipboard - but you're unable to access them.

Once you have copied around 20 items, the phone throws this error:

java.lang.NullPointerException at android.content.ClipboardManager.setPrimaryClip(ClipboardManager.java:146)

And then restarts. See this video:

Work Around

There is a permanent fix. If you change the permissions on the /data/clipboard folder to read only, this bug cannot occur again. Do note - this will prevent you from copying anything.

A less drastic solution is this:

1. Root your phone.
2. Use a file manager to visit /data/clipboard
3. The folder should have lots of folders in it.
   
4. Select all the folders and delete them.
   
5. Repeat every time you've copied around 15 - 19 items.

It's a manual and cludgy process - but it will stop the reboots.

Screw You Samsung

You'd wonder how many times I'd keep getting burned by Samsung's atrocious attitude to its customers, wouldn't you? After they screwed me over with the original Samsung Galaxy S ("Oh yes, it will get an upgrade. Oh, no it won't; it's impossible. Oh, look, CyanogenMod have made it work.") I should have known better. They then pulled the exact same stunt with the Galaxy S II!

Then I found out that Samsung's engineering team are so poor, they let anyone spy on what your printer does!

I remember almost the very first thing the Note II did when I turned it on was crash!

I love the Note II's screen size - and the fact that it's one of the few Android phones to support BlueTooth AVRCP 1.3. But it's clear that Samsung couldn't give a damn about its customers. Once you've purchased one of their phones they seem to think that if they treat you like shit, you'll happily buy the next model.

You're biased because...

I work for Telefonica - but this blog is personal and does not represent the views of Telefonica, O2, or anyone other than me. O2 sold me the Note II (and sell many other fine phones).

And to stave off the inevitable...

You must be an Apple fanboi

Nope.

You must be a BlackBerry fanboi

Nope.

You must be a Windows 7 fanboi

Nope.

You must be a Sony fanboi

Nope.

You must be a Symbian fanboi

Nope.

You must be a...

Oh give it a rest! I'm an equal opportunity curmudgeon. I like Linux and generally favour Android, but I get pissed off at anyone who produces a shitty product and doesn't stand behind it.

Samsung - either up your game, or get off the pitch.

Rather than getting bogged down in philosophy, I refer to the reason people choose Microsoft Windows to do anything public facing.

Advertisers obviously care enough about their message to craft 30 second videos, they invest millions on infrastructure to support showing them. Then they take a totally unsuitable and unstable method for playing them back - why?

It's a phenomena I repeatedly see. Advertising screens around the world which are really only displaying one message.

They're saying "Windows - The Worst Way To Get Your Message Across".

However, it's not just Windows which has the problem - each of these three photos show a PC which has failed to POST correctly. So they are stuck - forever displaying their inadequacies to thousands of passers-by. (Click to embiggen)

My real rant isn't about Windows - it's about the design and thinking behind such advertising screens. It would appear that each screen is driven by its own PC. What madness! The cost of hardware - let alone software - must be phenomenal.

At the moment, each screen displays exactly the same content as its neighbour. There's no reason why a single computer couldn't be used to drive all the screens.

I say exactly the same - the screens get progressively out of sync as the day goes on. Presumably the separate PCs don't communicate with one and other.

The next thing that bothers me is the use of Windows.

These screens aren't using an embedded version of Windows - they're using XP. Now, XP is a fine OS - but it is bloated in terms of what is needed. All that is needed is a small embedded device which can be loaded with video files and set to play back.

It doesn't need a desktop OS.  It doesn't need anything more complicated than a display, video codecs and an Ethernet port.  This is the sort of thing for which Linux is perfect.

So, why?  Why has this system been allowed to develop?  Every day I see another screen which is broken, out of sync, or crashed.  Why has such a fragile and expensive solution become so prevalent?

The majority of these photos show TFL advertising screens managed by CBS Outdoor.  I really do wonder if they ever wander through the tube and see what a shoddy experience they are delivering.