
EMMC Hacking, or: how oranav fixed long-dead Galaxy S3 phones (2017) - jaxb
https://media.ccc.de/v/34c3-8784-emmc_hacking_or_how_i_fixed_long-dead_galaxy_s3_phones
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AdmiralAsshat
Interesting to see how long the S3 has endured as a development device.

I had an S2 back in the day, which was similarly easy to root and flash custom
roms onto, but the GPS was notoriously unreliable on any custom ROM. The
standard advice at the time, if you were having a trouble getting a GPS lock,
was literally to flash the stock ROM back onto the phone, get a lock, and then
flash your custom ROM.

I got to the point where I was doing it several times a week, and then said
screw it, I don't have time for this.

I wonder if that problem was ever resolved in later phones.

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saagarjha
It's not the S3, but it might answer your question: we still have a Galaxy S2
Skyrocket that sees frequent use in our household. It's running an unofficial
build of LineageOS 14.1 (Android 7.1), and has a new battery, but otherwise it
works very well.

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atopuzov
Interesting talk. Too bad I don't have my old S3 lying around somewhere.
Friend lost some bitcoins on his old S3 which died in this way.

Having one of those S3 phones turned me away from Samsung phones for good.

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paulie_a
Unrelated, but Samsung seems to make great hardware, then fill it to the brim
with their shitty custom software. Brixby for instance

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dmix
I've had about 10 different Android phones and the only one that still runs
without problem is my Galaxy S3 from 4-5 years ago. It's a shame more phones
were built to last...

