Remove AT&T from the Samsung Captivate

Note: Most of this content was taken from the article found at BriefMobile: http://briefmobile.com/how-to-remove-att-from-captivate

Root the Samsung Captivate

The easiest method I have found to root my Cappy is the SuperOneClick Root package. This is ran from you Windows or Mac PC. It can be found on the good ol’ XDA dev site (registration may be required, but you will most likely be here again and again). SuperOneClick v1.8beta

Enable App Sideloading

AT&T has some weird reservations against app sideloading. That means, AT&T Android users can not use any apps not downloaded on the Android Market. Have no fear! You can remove this restriction easily. Check below for the basic instructions, or click to go to our “Enable Captivate App Sideloading” guide.
• BusyBox Installed
• Samsung Captivate with root
• SQL Database Manager
o We suggest trying the SQLite plugin for Firefox, you can find it here.
1. Turn on USB debugging: Settings >> Applications >> Development
2. Plug in your Samsung Captivateyo
3. Open up Command Prompt on your computer (Windows: start, search, type “cmd”, right click cmd, Run as Administrator)
4. Type in: cd _____PATH TO ANDROID SDK FOLDER______\tools
Example: cd C:\Users\USERNAME\Desktop\android-sdk-windows\tools
5. Type in: adb shell (Note: on a Mac, you have to enter ".\adb shell")
6. Type in: su
7. Type in: cp /dbdata/databases/com.android.providers.settings/settings.db /sdcard/settings.db
8. Type in: cp /dbdata/databases/com.android.providers.settings/settings.db /sdcard/settings.db.backup
9. Type in: exit
10. Type in: exit
11. Type in: adb pull /sdcard/settings.db %userprofile%\desktop
Leave Command Prompt open
12. Open SQLite Manager in Firefox by pressing Tools >> SQLite Manager
13. Click “Database”
14. Then click “Connect Database”
15. Navigate to “settings.db” on your Desktop
16. Expand the tables
17. Click “Secure” on the panel
18. Scroll down to ID 6, “install_non_market_apps”
19. Double click it and change “value” from 0 to 1.
20. Close SQLite Manager
21. Go back to the command prompt window, type in: adb push %userprofile%\desktop\settings.db /sdcard
22. Type in: adb shell
23. Type in: su
24. Type in: cp /sdcard/settings.db /dbdata/databases/com.android.providers.settings
25. Type in: chmod 777 /dbdata/databases/com.android.providers.settings/settings.db
26. Type in: reboot
27. Disconnect your Captivate from your computer while your phone reboots.

Remove AT&T Bloatware Apps

Must have root and BusyBox installed before performing this process!
1. Open up Android Market and search/download “Titanium Backup”
2. Make sure your phone is not “Mounted” with USB
3. Press the Backup/Restore button
4. Click on each app and press un-install if you’d like to get rid of it. Do not delete apps off of this list, unless you know it is safe! This deletes these potentially forever… so be sure about things!
Delete-able:
o AT&T Navigator
o AT&T Radio
o AT&T Maps
o AT&T Music
o AT&T Mobile Hotspots
o Mobile Banking
o Mobile Video
o Where
o YPmobile
o AT&T FamilyMap
o Mini Diary
o MobiTV
o Write and Go

Remove AT&T Market Restrictions


Market restrictions? What? You mean AT&T really censors what apps I can and cannot see on my Samsung Captivate? Yes they do. But, no problem. Android developer Andrea Baccega has developed an app called "Market Enabler" to remove the censorship by emulating the T-Mobile market on the Samsung Captivate as well as other devices. Instructions below if you've already got root access:
1. Download “Market Access” and install the latest version of the APK file on your Captivate.
o Don't know how to install .apk files? Copy the file to your phone and then install "Apps Installer" or "Astro File Manager" from the market. It's easy! Just double click the .apk when you find it!
2. Close the Market down fully. If you were running the Market previously, reset the phone so it is not a running task. Or use a task killer and end the Market app.
3. Open up the Market Access application and go to "Backup value" in case you need to get back to the AT&T market
4. Then click "Providers" and find: "T-Mobile [US]"
5. Click and hold that option until it says "Emulate "T-Mobile" SIM?" -- click "Yes" there
1. You may have to Allow Market Access in Superuser Permissions
6. Click back to "Settings" click the checkbox next to "Emulate on boot"
7. All done. Now your Market is uncensored.

iOS 4.3.1 untethered Jailbreak (finally)

Thanks to the guys at OSXDaily.com, here are some instructions on how to Jailbreak your iPhone or other iDevice that you made the boneheaded move to update it to 4.3.1!

How to Jailbreak iOS 4.3.1 using Redsn0w 0.9.6rc9

1. Download iOS 4.3.1 IPSW and install it on your iOS device if you haven’t done so already


2. Download Redsn0w 0.9.6rc9 (Windows & Mac OS X versions available)


3. Launch Redsn0w and click on “Browse”


4. Locate the iOS 4.3.1 IPSW file you downloaded in the first step and click “Open”


5. Select “Next”


6. Select the checkbox next to “Install Cydia” and click “Next”


7. Make sure your iOS device is turned off and plugged into your computer and then click on “Next”


8. Follow the on screen instructions to put your iOS device into DFU Mode: Hold down the Power button for 1 second, then continue to hold power while holding the Home button for 10 seconds, then release the power button but continue to hold the Home button for another 15 seconds.


9. Once you are successfully in DFU mode, redsn0w will perform the jailbreak for you so let it do the work. Your iOS device will then restart automatically and you will be jailbroken

[Review] Serviio Media Server - DLNA

I am absolutely hooked! I have tried many different media server solutions for quite some time now and I believe I have finally found what I have been looking for.

First off some background.  I have been searching for the best solution to get my video library from my PC to my TV.  Since I already had a Playstation 3, that would be how I got video to my TV.  When I started this search, I had an older 50 inch projection TV with no DVI or HDMI inputs.  So PC to TV wasn't really a good option.  That is mostly because I did not have a computer powerful enough to devout to Boxee (or other alternative).  The PS3 can stream video from any DLNA complaint server, so that was what I began with.  Onward..

Previously I have been using Java PS3 Media Server and over all was quite happy with it. I had a few problems with it crashing on me when trying to view some movie files and it would crash on those specific files every time, regardless of the format, while it would play others in the same format with no problems, so I always assumed it was just a "bad encode" of those files. I have a pretty puny computer being used as my media server with only 512MB of RAM (its Rambus memory and its too expensive to add or replace) and PS3 Media Server used most of the resources while it was being used, especially while transcoding. Enough on that.

I installed Serviio, which was a pretty standard and simple process. I then pointed the "share" to my external 1 TB, NTFS formatted; drive that is my video collection. Next, I fired up the PS3 and it picked up the server by the time the PS3 booted up. I did have to wait quite some time for all my media to show up. The reason it took so long was Serviio (optionally) extracts the metadata for each file and goes to the Net to find information used to sort the media. It find directors, actors, and other useful info so that you can simply select "Angelina Jolie" and watch all the movies you have with her beautiful presence or hunt for all the bad@$% movies directed by Michael Bay. It also gets the cover art, so that you scroll through images rather than simply text. Having the DVD/Blu-ray covers is a must for me. It makes it look like your media collection is on your TV naturally rather than some kind of cheap hack, which really impresses my less techy friends. PS3 Media Server would display previously downloaded covers, but who has time to search for all of those things.

Serviio is DLNA compliant which basically the same thing as uPNP. I'm not sure what else is required to go from the standard uPNP to DLNA cert, but the PS3's requirements of DLNA are satisfied.

So far it has played every format I have tried without hesitation and I didn't have to do anything other than select it on screen through the PS3, unlike PS3 Media Server where you would sometimes have to select "Transcode". So far I have run .MP4/M4V, .AVI (xvid), and a couple of .MKV's all, which played flawlessly.

Now for the bad... which isn't much. It would be nice to have a little more options in the control console, although I can't really think off the top of my head what I would want, however there is very little tuning that can be done to the server, at least not through the console.

I have tried Nero Media Home, in which I quit using pretty quickly, in what I can only recall must have been a lack of format support (probably .mkv). Windows Media Player 11 worked great after I added the K-Lite codec pack, however I got tired of disabling sharing every time I wanted to rename, move, edit, or delete a file because Windows gives you the "file is in use" error. I did update to the PS3 Media Server for Windows v1.20.412 BETA at the same time I was installing Serviio and that seemed to fix the "Corrupt Data" problem I had gotten previously with some of my files.

I am very pleased at this piece of software and it has taken its place as my "main" media server. I intended to maintain both Nullriver's MediaLink and PS3 Media Server on my MacBook Pro for the ease of use while traveling, since I don't always have time to let it compile a media listing.

I almost didn't give this software a "10" because of lack of options, however after thinking about it, I don't feel I am missing anything as of yet. It works, it works great, and it is so easy my wife and son can use it! Wahoo, finally!

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Developers website: http://www.serviio.org/

For more information on anything related to Video files, then the folks over at VideoHelp.com should have the info you should need. If you can't find what you are looking for there, then it is a great place to begin you search for knowledge!

[Review] My first Time Machine experience

Today is the first time that i have ever had to use Apple's Time Machine software. A computer was brought into work to have the files from the client's old Mac to be transferred onto the new one. I opened the external hard drive where the backup files were and did a quick look over. I noticed user directories and applications along with misc documents. At first thought is that i hope there is a "backup" type file that will know where all these files go so that the applications will work once they are moved over.

Then it occurs to me, hey this is a Mac, and Apple really knows how to make an experience a good one.  I opened the Migration Assistant from the Utilities folder on the new Mac and one of the options was from "Time Machine".

It immediately recognized that this hard drive was loaded up by "Time Machine", from another version of OS X i might add, and gave me options to move the "User" and the files to their correct locations.

Within 10 minutes i had the whole process complete without any problems and the client now has 20+ gigs of applications and documents restored to the same folders as he had originally.

Just Magic, Apple.

[Opinion] Apple Mac's vs Windows-based PC's

Surely I'm not the only one who has noticed, but it seems that some people think the Mac vs PC war is still on. Really the war should have been put to rest the second Apple began using Intel processors to power it's machines. At that point Mac's used the same architecture as PC's and therefore making the software compatibility issue explode into possibilities.

All of a sudden Mac's could run Windows, right out of the box no less. Now you can easily swap to either operating system of your choice Mac OS or Windows to do it all! Some might think its because Windows is a better OS because it will support all the different hardware in a PC as Mac OS will not. However designing an OS to run on certified, good to go hardware doesn't make Apple foolish, it just means they are concerned with quality and not satisfied with their OS crashing due to driver incompatibilities.

Software was the real reason that divided the industry. It goes back to the same issue with VHS and BetaMAX. VHS was cheaper, and like it PCs sold more units. Since more people had them, more people programmed on and for them. Games and office applications thrived on the cheaper machines.

Apple products, being expensive, yet stable often ran critical systems or creative software. In the past, if you wanted to record music or video editing, the defacto software was found on the Mac's.

Anyway enough of the explanation. Apple Mac computers now run Intel chips and software that was written for Windows is now being ported over for Mac OS X. Apple conceded to their use of the IBM processor, to the more common Intel chip.

Apple products still to this day retain the quality if not improve to it with their market share. The Mac's can run Windows and it's software. And if that wasn't enough, companies like Valve Corporation have just recently ported their Steam product and more and more games that are featured on it over to the make every day.

The Apple Tax! That is all you are paying the extra money for, right? Just to fill Steve's pockets? Absolutely not! If you have ever had a problem and had to call a PC manufacturer and jump through through the hoops and wait and wait on hold to talk to someone that you can barely understand only to maybe fix the issue without their go-to-answer of "reload the computer back with the factory cd", losing all your pictures, documents and stolen music (gasp!), know exactly what i'm talking about. You will be hard pressed to find people that have dealt with Apple customer support and not so shocked that they were treated with respect, but that Apple did everything in their power to actually fix the issue. I have 3 stories of my personal experiences. One of my coworkers was having an issue with his MacBook (Pro). He called Apple and explained the problem and while over hearing him talk, he was quite happy with whatever they had been telling him before a solution was come to. This was around 10 am, and by the next afternoon, a box was sitting in our office. The contents was another box with Apple's logo on it and was form fitted to fit his MacBook. The postage was paid both ways and he sent it down to the mail room. Two days later, the MacBook was returned, working and clean! Yes, Apple had cleaned the machine or so it appeared. The smudges from his kids hands were missing from the screen. The gunk that builds on a keyboard was removed. Yes, you pay for quality parts. Yes, you pay for quality service. Yes, you get what you pay for!

All that to say is, that I don't really care which computer you think is so great. Apple makes a quality product in it's OS and hardware they place in their Mac's so how bout the "PC Fan-boys" respect that and quit trying to trash talk the Mac's. Most of the PC's on the market contain nothing but inferior hardware and even worse software. If you prefer your Dell over a Mac; great, fine, good for you. Then it is your preference and not because it's so much better, because a statement like that is ignorant and foolish. The only people that are cheering for your are the people that are ignorant to the facts also.

I have spent over 10 years working on PCs (loaded with Windows 95-Seven) and 2 years working with my Intel-based MacBook Pro. Given the choice, i would never use a PC by another vendor again, unless i needed a cheap box to use a maybe a media server for my home. My computer doesn't crash. It doesn't get viruses or spyware. It just works.

Of course i am open to hear arguments on anything i have said and will be glad to concede my points if proven wrong. Good luck with that.

{Review] Goodreader for iOS

One of the best investments I have made app-wise that I have made for my iPad & iPhone is Goodreader. It is a file viewer for both platforms. But it is so much more! I use it to view or download for offline viewing my Google Docs, Webdav (my website files) & Dropbox storage space. This is great for getting files onto my iPad, and since we can't use the storage space the only way to do this practically. I often uses this at work when I don't want to tote my laptop to a meeting but still need documents to be accessible.

I look forward to be able to use the storage space on my idevices one day, but until then, this is the best solution I have found and in case I didn't mention it before, it was only $.99! Great buy!

[Hack] Quick and Easy Jailbreaking - iPhone, iPod, and iPad

Well i just tried the Spirit jailbreak method on my iPhone 2g that i just updated to 3.1.3 firmware on. All i can say is WOW, 1 click and 5 seconds later, my iphone was rebooting and it was all done! I have yet to try this on my wifi iPad becaue i really don't have a need, but i may do this. *Warning* This is kind of beta for iPad, many of the apps downloaded are designed to work on the iPhone/iPad and may crash your iPad forcing you to restore it. To get the Spirit Jailbreak follow my link below. And pay the man, he just made this whole process, stupid-easy.

http://spiritjb.com/