Windows 10 Preview for Samsung ATIV S

[Gwalk4r]

When and how do i install Windows 10 Preview on the Samsung ATIV S. Help appreciated. Thanks guys

 

[Luis_Oliveira]

I don't recommend installing the W10TP on Ativ S since there are reports of bricked phones on the forum (including mine).
While there isn't a official toll for recovering, stay away from the previews.

 

[Gwalk4r]

Thanks for the reply, The phone i have is a spare ATIV S not my current phone so wanted to install WP 10 Preview if it bricked it or not it wont matter. Just wanted to find out how i can do it. Do you know how i can go about doing it?

 

[corey_blackstock]

W10 mobile is currently for Lumia devices only. But you can download the Windows Insider app for future builds.

 

[Dusan Randj]

You CAN download it on Ativ S. Go in the topic "Latest Ativ S firmware updates" and in last few pages there is guide to edit registry and pretend it is Lumia and download.
I've done that sucessfully and don't recommend it, had multiple problems, black display, freezing,etc.in just a two hours of use. Not worth the hassle for now.

 

[Exotic Hadron]

AVOID. I'm serious.

This is why.

I've installed 10.0.12534.52 just yesterday. It was the first time Windows managed to install Windows 10 build over my Windows 8.1 GDR 3 DP (Developer Preview). All previous updates were failing to install (I believe due to insufficiently large EFI partition which is by default 100 Mbytes on Samsung ATIV S instead of required minimum of 128 Mbytes).

Everything (except for 80% of apps) worked fine and I could call on somebody and receive calls up until I decided to change my region, an operation that requires a restart. Since then the phone lost my SIM card and I can't get it to rescan the module to detect the SIM.

/* Rumors say, if your SIM is enabled with PIN, you could cancel entering PIN and change it in Settings|Phone, but my SIM doesn't have a PIN set on it and I don't have the factory default PIN/PUK with me. */

In one day the phone filled my ?SD card with unknown stuff so that there was no space left on it to the end of the day. Out of 3 Gbytes of free space I've had when I installed the build.

Hoping for better yet, I installed the 10.0.12534.59 today and... the first issue I encountered was the cyclic restart of the phone appeared when updated completed to install. Solution for me was to pull out ?SD card.

Summary:

1. You cannot make calls: the phone does not see the SIM after you restart OS. That's a burden.
2. None of navigation apps work except for Yandex.
3. None of the dictionary apps work. Totally borked. They keep shown in the task view but when the focus is returned to the app, Windows hides the app and shows the Start screen.

You'd better off installing Windows 10 on ATIV S for now. Possibly some of the issues are due to obsolete firmware that I have on my ATIV S, but I didn't manage to obtain the official update from Samsung that was issued in October 2014. Yes, I have ATO (Austria) region set in my registry, yet that didn't help.

What firmware do you have, BTW?

 

[Dusan Randj]

It could be cause of firmware. I've had v15 FW and none of that issues.
But still, strongly recommended to NOT install.

 

[Gwalk4r]

Ok Guys thanks for the comments.The phone is spare doing nothing thought i would have a blast at win 10. Think i will just leave it after all.

 

[Matthew Becker1]

Since this is a technical preview, and not a developer preview (which is a fully functional version of the OS), it does not surprise me that Windows 10 doesn't work on the ATIV S. Not recommended.

You CAN download it on Ativ S. Go in the topic "Latest Ativ S firmware updates" and in last few pages there is guide to edit registry and pretend it is Lumia and download.
I've done that sucessfully and don't recommend it, had multiple problems, black display, freezing,etc.in just a two hours of use. Not worth the hassle for now.

This specifically worries me. If you're tricking the software to think that it's working on Nokia hardware, problems should definitely be expected.

 

[Exotic Hadron]

This specifically worries me. If you're tricking the software to think that it's working on Nokia hardware, problems should definitely be expected.

The new builds are supposed to be targeted at all h/w platforms, including Samsung. Not only at Microsoft hardware.

BTW, the only issues that you might expect from using builds for Microsoft hardware are the issues with camera drivers because Camera app uses API that is only available in Microsoft firmware.

I wouldn't say using non-Microsoft hardware imposes problems with common Windows API.

Aside from that, there *are* hardware issues too:

• 
  Camera app does NOT work, the app just closes immediately after being launched.
  
  In the previous 52nd version, the Camera app worked, but with a lot of quirks: it could do shots, but you wouldn't be able to view the camera display as it was multiplied several times like if you were using a camera monitor dashboard.

 

[Luis_Oliveira]

For me, the main problem is whether you will be able to going back to WP 8.1 or not. With the first build, I managed to sucessfully flash to WP 8, but in the latest, my Ativ S bricked (and couldn't be repaired). So, I strongly do not recommend installing the Preview until Microsoft or Samsung provide a tool for Recovery, just like the Windows Phone Recovery Tool.
Besides that, there are rumors that the Lumias 520 suffered from the same brick incident, but at least they can try using the official tool.

 

[stipetic]

Did you manage to unbrick your phone?

 

[Luis_Oliveira]

I sent it to the Samsung repair today, but don't know if is gonna get repaired and how much it will cost... :straight:

 

[xandros9]

I sent it to the Samsung repair today, but don't know if is gonna get repaired and how much it will cost... :straight:

Shouldn't they tell you those things before you ship?

 

[Luis_Oliveira]

I don't think so. I don't know if they will only restore the software or will change some hardware piece. Besides that, I sent it by mail, so, they'll tell me the price later.

 

[Matthew Becker1]

Because of your particular situation, they may not know themselves how much it will cost until they start digging. If it's a simple fix, it shouldn't be too much (hopefully).

 

[Luis_Oliveira]

I hope so. But it was a aging device, I was intending to buy a new one.