[Hands0n]

Dell have finally gone public with their intentions for the much-anticipated update of their Streak to Android 2.2 aka Froyo. Basically, the update for SIM-free (factory unlocked) devices started on 15th November. But updates for Carrier-locked Streaks will not occur until December some time.


The Streak Froyo Update will be completed in two phases for existing Streak customers.

Phase 1 : Beginning today, Monday, November 15, 2010, an OTA update will be available to customers who purchased their Streaks as unlocked units. These units will be upgraded first because they do not have to go through the carrier approval process. Unlocked units are generally popular outside the United States and can be identified by the fact they are able to be used with a SIM card from any carrier network. The rollout of the upgrade will be gradual with different regions and versions of Donut and Éclair updated over the weeks following November 15, 2010. When a user’s device is ready for an update, the user will be notified by an update icon in the notification bar after a power up. A user can also manually check for an update by going to Settings – About Device and selecting System Updates. Devices ready for update will then be taken through the update process.

Phase 2: Starting later in December, users on devices locked to a specific carrier (i.e. you can only use your carrier’s SIM in the device) will start seeing updates as we work with our carrier partners for technical approval.



Dell have published a very comprehensive announcement with full details here --> http://en.community.dell.com/dell-blogs/Direct2Dell/b/direct2dell/archive/2010/11/15/android-2-2-froyo-and-the-dell-streak-details-on-how-the-upgrade-will-work.aspx

[Hands0n]

For those that cannot be bothered to wait, and that would include me :D there has been a bit of Tweeting on the subject



@Hands0n I downloaded Froyo lastnight off of Dells site works great http://mobileupdate.dell.com/?version=GAUSB1A111100

At the time of writing this I am about 25% downloaded on the Dell Streak itself. I'll feed back on the success or otherwise later.

Reasons for concern?
1. Yesterday my Dell Streak decided to become completely unstable, crashing and resetting continuously even though I had done nothing with it all week! All that happened is that the battery had completely discharged and I had to charge it up. Following which a life of hell ensued!
2. I am running the Rebel SimCard V2 which may, or may not, be incompatible with the new Froyo. So I may end up with a WiFi-only device until Rebel update the firmware for the official Froyo.

[The Mullet of G]

Good luck with the update, hopefully your Rebel SimCard works ok, but if not I'm sure there will be a solution. :)

On another note its good to see Dell finally pushing updates out, although 2.3 is now appearing so they are still playing catch up.

[Hands0n]

Hmmmm, grrrrrr, bah and humbug! It didn't work - I think that the update was only going to supercede a US (direct from Dell) instance of the Streak. There is probably a way of imposing this .pkg on to the Streak but I really have got the 'ump with it at the moment. So its probably best I leave it be for a while until I feel more predisposed towards the Streak LOL :D

[miffed]

AFAIK the update file in encrypted , and the key to decrypt it is in the Baseband .... Not heard much good about the official Froyo TBH , you'd be beter off with Stephen Hyde's , I think he has made provision for people to keep the Baseband that works with the Rebelsim now ?

[Hands0n]

The official O2 Froyo is now available. I've downloaded it to my Streak but the bloody thing has a fault and keeps going through a re-boot cycle. It won't start up at all. Was doing that before the update. I think its gone and done the usual Dell thing ... poor built quality ... fault develops ... game over! :(

[Hands0n]

Deep Joy - I got my Dell Streak back working!

It was one scary ride. I really, to this day, do not know what went wrong. The thing just would not boot up into any version of any OS and would just reboot continually.

Today I downloaded the official Dell Froyo update from here http://mobileupdate.dell.com/PackageProductionLocations/Streak_319_12792_21.pkg
Copied it on to my SD Card and renamed it to update.pkg
Then I noticed a few odd looking files on the SD card root - one was an autostart.inf (or something like that) which made me highly suspicious. So I copied it off into a folder along with several other files that I did not feel belong in the root of the SD card.
Powered up the Dell Streak while holding down the Up and Down volume buttons to get into the Recovery menu and selected to update from the update.pkg file.
Within a few minutes the handset had updated itself to Froyo and booted into the home screen.
Once while setting it up for WiFi the device rebooted itself unexpectedly. But ever since it has worked okay. I've got it back on the WiFi.

The only remaining problem is that it will not recognise the Three SIM because the Rebel SimCard does not yet support Android 2.2 (Froyo). But the nice chaps at Rebel SimCard say that they are preparing an update which will be available soon.

So thats okay then. I hope :)

[miffed]

What are you running on your Streak these days Hands0n ?

I installed DJ steve's 1.5.3 this morning , (I have pretty much ran every version) and it is absolutely brilliant !
I thought the earlier versions were good , but this is so quick and slick with cool animations etc. ( it is styled around Gingerbread)

It has really made the streak feel like a "new generation" device , rather than one of last years devices

Not sure how you'd stand with the Rebel SIM though , I know DJ Steve does two versions , one for the new baseband , and one for the old one (i.e. Rebel SIM users ) - But if your Rebel SIM is updated to work with the Official Froyo , I am not sure whether the official Froyo Baseband is the same as the DJ Steve new baseband ?

[Hands0n]

Hi Miffed. My Dell Streak is very very unwell indeed. It has developed a fault whereby it will more often go into a boot loop on power up and not start the OS. I've managed to keep it running long enough to upgrade to the official Froyo, but it has got steadily worse to the point where it is currently unusable.

I do think that it may be something to do with the cover switches - but it may just be something much more sinister. These switches seem to have been a big source of trouble. Frankly I can't see the point of such over-engineering. So I am going to take the device apart and see if I can find anything going on in that region. Otherwise it will probably have to be retired as another failed Dell venture (I really must remind myself not to buy Dell stuff - it is generally rubbish quality).

A shame really, because it showed so much promise - and I could use my GiffGaff SIM in it (it worked for just long enough before crashing again!).

[miffed]

I know there was some talk of overheating issues causing the kind of spontaneous shutdowns you speak of, I have not looked deeply into it as Iits not a problem I have had , but IIRC Dell are happily replacing units that suffer - Your Streak cannot physically be more than 7 months old now , so must be covered by manufacturer warranty ?
I realise you bought it from eBay , but I have also read plenty of reports of people that have got replacements from Dell on devices they bought second hand - May be worth a try before you prise the thing open ?

[Hands0n]

Hmm, thats a good idea. I'll check out their helpline and see what they say :-)

Update: I visited the Dell support website and checked the Service Tag on there. The system says that the device was shipped 26/05/2010 and that the warranty is two years, which is nice. I also registered the handset in my name, claiming to have sourced it from CPW. I've sent off an email fault report, so will wait and see what Dell have to say. If that doesn't work then I'll try phoning it through.

Thanks for the tip. I hand't considered doing that :-)

[Hands0n]

Progress update: Gawd what a palava :D

I have to register the handset in my name, so went to Dell's website to do that. They are supposed to respond in 24 hours, so 48 hours later I received an email asking for another piece of information or proof of purchase from the retailer!! Fortunately, they wanted the E-Service tag that is printed on the inside of the battery compartment. That should then get the device registered to me and then I can apply for a Warranty service.

The warranty is 2 years in the UK and so I have about another 16 months of it left. Which is nice :)

Fingers crossed that the next bit goes a bit more smoothly.

NB: Their service and admin are only open Mon-Fri, 9am to 5pm.