CyanogenMod 10.2 nightlies problem solving…

CyanogenMod (CM) team released a brand new major release, version 10.2 based on Android 4.3. But it didn’t go without problems, especially for all those who were using CM 10.1 and updated to CM 10.2 directly through the updater. I’ll try to list few major and most common problems and how to solve them. I’m using Samsung Galaxy S2, but I’ve seen the same problems across different devices using CM 10.2 nightlies…

I flashed CM 10.1 on top of CM 10.2 and now my phone gets stuck on rotating CM logo…

If you tried to go back to CM 10.1 because things were too broken in CM 10.2, that unfortunately isn’t possible without using the full backup/restore option. But doing so made your phone stuck on rotating “stargate” CM logo. To solve that, boot your phone using “Volume Up + Physical button (middle) + POWER”, hold that for phone to boot into ClockWorkMod (CWM). Then flash the latest CM 10.2 again (don’t worry, it’s not really broken).

Apps say i don’t have root access!?

Go to System Settings, scroll down and open #Superuser menu, use Menu button and tap Settings. Select Superuser Access and select “Apps and ADB”. Changes in Android 4.3 now require both options to be selected. And you also have to make sure you’re running cm-10.2-20130815 or later, because cm-10.2-20130814 doesn’t ask user for permissions when needed.

Google Apps don’t work…

Existing Google apps are not compatible with Android 4.3 anymore, so you have to download latest Gapps from: http://goo.im/gapps . Boot into CWM and flash the Gapps ZIP through there. This should get all the Google stuff working again.

Can’t download or update any apps…

If you always get “Error downloading X” when you try to download or update any app through GooglePlay, you have to remove Google account from the phone and re-add it. This will do the magic and you will be able to update existing apps and also download new ones again.

Phone icon not working in the dock…

If you want to open Phone app (to make calls or see keypad) and it complains over “App not installed”, it’s not actually broken or not installed. It’s just the shortcut that is wonky. Remove it from dock and drag it there again from the apps drawer. That should make it working again. I didn’t see this problem at first because I’m using exDialer…

Banner ads causing black screen workaround

I found out a tiny trick to get around black screen issues in apps where ads appear and make the whole screen go black. It’s not an ideal solution, but it does work. When you open up an app, ad banner is displayed and screen goes black, just drag down the notification panel and close it again. This will force the screen to redraw and you should see the app normally again.

The other trick which doesn’t work for internet aware apps is to use avast! Mobile Security app and use the firewall to block connection for offline only apps. Since they will be forced offline, they won’t display any ads and they also won’t get this black screen problem. However, respect the makers of the apps and don’t block the ads in free versions unless you are getting this black screen issue. This obviously doesn’t work for apps that need internet connection to operate, because avast! can either fully block the connection or fully allow it. There is no middle way…

No 3G or H+ connectivity

It might happen for you, like it did for me. I lost 3G/H+ connectivity with very latest CM10.2 ROM’s. I had to update my Baseband from i9100BULS1 to i9100XXLS8 and now 3G is working again. You can get latest SGS2 Baseband firmware here: http://veyka.co.uk/sgs2/radios/

Be aware that flashing wrong Baseband can make your phone unusable since it won’t be able to get any signal. Be very careful, especially if you are not using SGS2 Int phone (which i have). But if your calls and connectivity work fine, then don’t update the Baseband. It’s a safe rule, if it ain’t broken, you haven’t fiddled enough with it. 😉 So, if it works fine for you, just leave it at that.

I hope these quick tips will help you get the latest CyanogenMod 10.2 nightlies fully working. There are a lot of trouble getting it to work, but once you do the above steps, you see it’s not really that bad if you know what to do. I will add more quick tips here if i find and solve them so others won’t be as frustrated as I was at first 🙂