Related
CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE WIKI
I have decided to open a Questions and Answers thread on this section of the forum. This is a good way to keep the number of new threads with questions down to a minimum, which will make new threads essentially for people that are contributing to the Samsung Epic 4G. This includes, but is not limited to, people that are providing the following:
- Roms & Kitchens
- Programs & Apps
- Fixes & Tweaks
- Skins & Themes
- Tips & Tricks
I would like to request the help from other members to keep the thread in order and in check. This will have the added side effect of creating an ever self updating knowledge base that will far extend the content of the Wiki. This will in turn save us from having to answer the same question a billion times...
Please refer to the Wiki first before asking any questions though! It can be located here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=Samsung_Galaxy_S/SPH-D700
CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE WIKI
Any idea when the OTA push for2.2 will start?
jg187211 said:
Any idea when the OTA push for2.2 will start?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, we don't have anyone in the community who has inside access to that information. Some of our members are affiliated with Sprint, and so have slightly more reliable rumors, but even their sources have thus far been wrong if they quoted a specific date...
So I hope you understand that I'm not being a jerk when I say, we won't know until it actually happens (and this will probably always be the case)
That being said, this most recent leak (DK28) seems stable so far IMO, so it could potentially become our official update
ok im a total noob to all this stuff. i followed the guide to update my epic to 2.2. the problem is, that the camera, gallery, and a couple other apps dont work. Can someone help me? Should i go back to 2.1, if so, how do i do that?
EDIT: Angry rant removed, thanks to the mods for a quick response (and to the member who's post was removed: no hard feelings, I hope you understand)
Just remember to read before posting, to make sure your post will be relevant and not redundant
jayzn210 said:
ok im a total noob to all this stuff. i followed the guide to update my epic to 2.2. the problem is, that the camera, gallery, and a couple other apps dont work. Can someone help me? Should i go back to 2.1, if so, how do i do that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whenever flashing a ROM using either recovery, it's always a good idea to wipe the phone (as in factory reset - I'm not referring to wiping the cache or the dalvik cache, although both steps are also usually recommended)
If you used the odin method described in this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=861213
then you might have flashed the wrong tar - DK05 and DK17 both had the camera problem, make sure you have the DK28 file.
If you have the right tar, then you could have an incomplete download... I doubt that though, when that happened to me, my phone wouldn't boot at all. But you might want to redownload the tar just to be sure (double check the filesize after it finishes and before you flash, if it seems too small then it messed up again)
That's the best general advice I can offer, but if you'd like to provide more details about the method you used (especially a link to the guide you used, if it isn't the one I provided), someone here might be able to identify where you're going wrong
i followed the instructions from http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=861213. i didnt use odin, i just used the .zip method. it took me a lot of tries cause i kept getting errors. the second mirror link worked for me, but like i said, my camera, gps, gallery and some other apps dont work.
oh and everytime i try to flash again, i get the error.
It sounds like you're either starting from the wrong rom or not wiping the phone before flashing the zip. All of the zip updates I have seen require you to start from DI18 stock (root an clockwork seem to be okay in my experience, all other mods must be removed) - if you have installed any custom roms, your best bet is to follow the odin method using the stock DI18 tar - so you may as well just skip the zip methodand odin to the stock DK28 tar
And you absolutely must wipe the phone (again, factory reset - I suspect many people are just wiping the cache and/or the dalvik cache).
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Odin flashing
I've got a quick question. I'm looking to move to a build using the DK28 information release and it requires that I update the pit and modem files on my phone using Odin. Do I need to flash a 2.2 rom right away or am I safe to boot into my current rom first?
KaiXXV said:
I've got a quick question. I'm looking to move to a build using the DK28 information release and it requires that I update the pit and modem files on my phone using Odin. Do I need to flash a 2.2 rom right away or am I safe to boot into my current rom first?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you doing the strictly odin method (full froyo in a tar file)? Or an update.zip?
The odin method *should* include the modem and everything (and you use the updated pit in the same process) - you'll have to read the particular thread that you got the download link from, but I haven't noticed any odin tar files that required the modem separately
For the update.zip method, I don't know if it matters whether you flash the modem before or after applying the zip through recovery - I don't think either one overwrites the other, but that's a part of the process I can only guess about. But regardless of when you odin flash the modem, that's when you'll use the new pit file (the same as the odin-only method above).
As far as I know, the primary difference is that the update.zip doesn't inherently overwrite user data (but you'll probably have broken programs that FC all the time, which means a wipe is necessary, making this somewhat null). I prefer the odin method because it is a fresh flash of the entire system (I usually let it repartition as well - no one else has posted about that feature so I have no idea if it's a fluke that it hasn't given me problems)
Hope that helps
which is the best
so i have updated to dk28 froyo 2.2 i like battery life and performance can anyone offer info on which is the best rom for me or just some insight on which rom is the best overall
How do I stop running applications from starting every time I restart my phone?? I have the start up auditor but for some reason everytime I restart my phone the apps I have disabled keep restarting themselves and I have to go into the running programs and disable them manually. WTH?? Doesnt programs constantly running in the background kill the battery life?? How do I disable apps from starting?
youngpro83 said:
How do I stop running applications from starting every time I restart my phone?? I have the start up auditor but for some reason everytime I restart my phone the apps I have disabled keep restarting themselves and I have to go into the running programs and disable them manually. WTH?? Doesnt programs constantly running in the background kill the battery life?? How do I disable apps from starting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How I understand it, especially with Froyo, you shouldn't have to kill programs in the background, if said 'background' process or service is working normal or efficiently. I still kill the DRM process when I reboot my phone, and not sure if it's still causing drain issues.
Also (someone else confirm this), I believe that constantly 'killing' certain background processes actually uses MORE battery, since it has to constantly restart itself. I've had a much more stable device *not* using auto killers, and just sniping one here and there that I know to cause drain.
Some reading material on GC, tho, in regards to memory management
Ignore me!
devo52 said:
so i have updated to dk28 froyo 2.2 i like battery life and performance can anyone offer info on which is the best rom for me or just some insight on which rom is the best overall
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A lot of it is personal preference - this early in the game, the primary differences between the roms are going to be mostly cosmetic. So for now, the best advice I can offer is to try each of them and decide which theme you like. Regardless of how you upgraded, you had to use odin, so you have succeeded at the most difficult step of the process - and odin can bring your phone back to life if something goes wrong, so it's an invaluable skill to have.
In the meantime, keep watching the threads (quietly, unless you have a question that hasn't been asked already - we're working on cleaning up the forum to make it easier for everyone to find answers... but I digress...)
It's too early to be sure of any of the fixes out there - we have at least three separate fixes for the GPS issues; some people find success with one, others with another, and a lucky few don't need the fixes at all... so in summary, we can't say which is better or worse just yet, stay tuned and decide whether you want to experiment on the bleeding edge, or wait for these things to be stable and thoroughly tested.
And if you have any doubts, just stick with the stock DK28 for now
tl;dr, questions in BOLD.
Okay, after spending the entire night scouring the internet/this forum and starting from absolutely zero-knowledge about the Android OS, I managed to update my Epic to 2.2, and root the phone. Now, I'm kinda stuck as far as customization goes. I see all these cool skins and battery life mods and stuff, but they don't exactly offer any steps as to how to install them. Since I don't exactly know what file-types do what, I'm kinda shooting blindly at trying to update/install something "custom" onto the phone. So, my question(s) is/are:
What does the ROM do?
What does the ROOT do?
I know the root basically "unlocks" your phone, but that's all I know. The process of customizing the phone still remains a mystery. (that's the problem with following step-by-step instructions, rather than actually knowing what you're doing.)
I also don't understand the purpose of flashing a phone. Flashing, in my experience is to update something, like say a BIOS. But that sets the system back to square 1 as far as all settings go, in this particular example.
If I flash, with say Odin, after having updated to DK28 and "rooting," won't this make all the "customization" that I've done prior basically 'null' because I've just flashed the phone into a blank-state?
Sorry if these are questions easily answered by searching, but I just spent my entire sleep-cycle trying to find the answers to these questions, and managed to only get so far. I look forward to the answers On another note, I am now EXTREEEEMELY pleased with my phone. Before this evening, I was just the regular, old run-of-the-mill enduser. I liked the cool built-in customizations and all the apps and what not, but never dreamed of being able to customize my phone to THIS EXTENT. So, now it's something I'm very interested in doing..it makes my phone truly mine.
zdavidi said:
What does the ROM do?
What does the ROOT do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you see the link to the Wiki in the original post of this thread? That's where I started when I first got here, it helped me understand the basics.
zdavidi said:
If I flash, with say Odin, after having updated to DK28 and "rooting," won't this make all the "customization" that I've done prior basically 'null' because I've just flashed the phone into a blank-state?.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It depends on what you flashed with Odin. If you only flash a modem file, then your customizations and apps are untouched. If you flash an entire ROM in "tarball" form then not only does it re-write the modem but it also overwrites all user data. Think of the latter as resetting the phone to stock and works even if you cannot boot up.
When can we expect a custom Kernel with netfilters for wifi tethering?
n00b question.
If an SDK version is released (say, like, Gingerbread today), does that mean chefs could take it and cook up a ROM for ANY phone (say, like, the Epic)? Or do they need something else to do that?
Remove Touchwiz Launcher (consequences?)
Hey-- I'm using Quantum 2.0.0 ROM, and I never use the touchwiz launcher. Does anyone know if it's safe to just remove the apk? (TouchWiz30Launcher.apk) or is there other functionality tied to it?
I use LauncherPro, fyi.
Please forgive my ignorance... I've searched the forums, looked at the wiki...
I use titanium backup and am now running the DK27 froyo build by noobnl. My question... How do I restore my e-mail accounts to the phone everytime without having to re-type them in? I've been flashing a rom every other day on average since I got the phone and it's getting REALLY old.
Please be patient with me, I'm new to the entire smartphone era.
I've spent the last week or so scouring these forums deciding what I can and cannot do with my brand new Epic. What I unfortunately was unable to find were directions put into laymans terms as exactly how to properly flash your phone (I am still even unsure as to the correct terminology for many things). When I read the wiki and the forums I'm lost about a paragraph in.
It would be incredibly appreciated if any of you had tips for a new person to these forums and to this lifestyle itself. I'd love to know how to properly modify my phone without breaking it (and not feel like I'm reading a medical dictionary). When/if I do mod my phone, I'd like to know how to go about restoring it should I for whatever reason need to take it in to the extremely... helpful.. Sprint store here in my area. I'm pretty quick to learn and as I said, I'd really love if someone willing to be patient with me would explain to me the ins and outs I would need to know to take advantage of my phones capabilities.
Well most roms now use ext4 filesystem instead of RFS (default) so you have to install Clockwork Mod 3 which will auto convert it
CWM3 directions:
Download Here
On phone go to applications -> development -> usb debugging (turn on)
plug phone into usb port, run the run.bat from the CWM folder (it might say something like restart server and wait for phone to reconnect i generally just close the window and run the run.bat again then it'll mount as r/w and install)
Then after your phone reboots transfer any ec05 ext4 rom to your sdcard, i suggest This one.
After that turn off your phone completely.
Hold volume down, camera button, power. This will boot into clockworkmod.
CWM will backup all data, format, then restore the data... it'll take a few minutes.
Now if you want to start fresh click wipe data / wipe cache and also go to advanced/wipe dalvic cache. If you want to keep all your apps just proceed to the next step
go to Install from sdcard, browse sdcard for the rom.zip, select it, let it do its magic, after its done go back to the main menu, reboot system, and you're done
EDIT: Cwm controls -> volume up/down to naviage, Power = back, Camera = select. I think you can also use the keyboard arrows and stuff but i find it easier using the buttons
I think you should start him with cw2.5 instead of 3.0. 3.0 will brick his phone unless he is ready to flash a rom right alway!!
Those directions are much easier to follow.
What are the negatives to doing this to your phone (besides the ultimate brick)? Would doing this allow me to give my phone the ability to hotspot it?
How would I go about restoring it should I not like Syndicate and wish to return to stock?
OmegaMateria said:
Those directions are much easier to follow.
What are the negatives to doing this to your phone (besides the ultimate brick)? Would doing this allow me to give my phone the ability to hotspot it?
How would I go about restoring it should I not like Syndicate and wish to return to stock?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I was you I wouldn't be in such a rush to flash a rom. Root first and take from there. It took me a whole month to flash a rom before I felt comfortable with the terminology. Catch up on some reading first
hi I also am still new to this even though i flashed my phone at least a 100 times and got my buddys epic rooted i followed this forum http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=798067. they did a great job with links to get cwm2.5 and also the adb files. so when you root your phone the computer will find your phone. One thing that did keep me held up for a while was when you have your phone in debug mode. connect the phone to the usb. but do not press connect on your phone. hope this helps some. I spent about 3 long days reading and gathering everything before trying and like a day and a half trying.
shook187 said:
If I was you I wouldn't be in such a rush to flash a rom. Root first and take from there. It took me a whole month to flash a rom before I felt comfortable with the terminology. Catch up on some reading first
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're probably very right.
What permissions does rooting get me? To root my phone I should use clockwork or something different? If so, you suggested 3.0 and someone else 2.5. Opinions on both for a newbie?
shook187 said:
I think you should start him with cw2.5 instead of 3.0. 3.0 will brick his phone unless he is ready to flash a rom right alway!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No such thing will occur. He might get it into a position of where he can only use odin but certainly not a brick. I have heard of only 1 person bricking their phone in 6 mths and that was a dev cuz he was messing with the bootloader. Jump in at your own pace.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
OmegaMateria said:
You're probably very right.
What permissions does rooting get me? To root my phone I should use clockwork or something different? If so, you suggested 3.0 and someone else 2.5. Opinions on both for a newbie?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never suggested 3.0, I would do 2.5. 3.0 Requires you to flash a rom cause it won't boot without a rom. If you use 3.0 without flushing a rom, you'll get stuck at the samsung screen.
shook187 said:
I never suggested 3.0, I would do 2.5. 3.0 Requires you to flash a rom cause it won't boot without a rom. If you use 3.0 without flushing a rom, you'll get stuck at the samsung screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, my mistake!!
I'll check out 2.5. Anything I should know about rooting in general?
OmegaMateria said:
Sorry, my mistake!!
I'll check out 2.5. Anything I should know about rooting in general?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The main thing which you already mention is the free wireless tether.
CWM 2.5.5 = the RFS root method. You can use it to install EC05 roms that have RFS support
It allows you to run programs with superuser... such as wifi tether, wireless tether, titanium backup, root explorer... thats about it for the basic user
If you want tweaks/fixes what you want is a custom rom... most all will have
Call log fix (remove the sms notifications from in your call log), Kernel fixes/updates/added features, deodexed, zipaligned, custom boot animations, voodoo audio/color, custom touchwiz, etc..
You wont brick your phone regardless, but if you do it exactly as i typed you wont have any problems either . The reason you want to put a rom on your sdcard before you boot into CWM3 is so you can flash a compatible rom that has a ext4 kernel...
EDIT: and regarding the negatives, well you wont brick your phone unless say your battery dies as you flash it... The ext4 non-journaled will actually make your phone last longer over the RFS system. The only thing I can think of is the root method removes the Free HD games and Asphalt 5 Demo which the official OTA updates check for when u get them. Doesn't matter though because you can update your rom through CWM anyways lol.
About positives, atleast for me: Longer battery life, faster phone, less annoying bugs, sexy look, custom boot/shutdown, free wifi tether/wired tether, automatic backups set every night at 5am.
I went straight to cwm 3.0.0.6 as a noob but I must have read 1000 posts in various forums regarding root, the file system(s), custom software/ROMs/kernels. The key is read post after post about where others have had issues until you no longer come accross any new issues. Then you know what you are getting into. Just remeber, glitches can occur and during flashing, there are writes that have no error checking and sometimes require a reflash at best and a system restore at worst. It comes with the territory. It is unlikely you will brick your device as long as you are careful to follow insructions, although the reality is (no matter how many times you hear how safe it is) that there is a very very slight chance that a glitch while using software such as odin could send you back to the Sprint store for a new one. Its exceedingly rare, though.
The small risk was worth getting the phone that I wanted originally - instant responsivness, access to every customization and dev. level control of the hardware (free tethering!) - everything runs better - games,browsers,vids (look better and sound better), music sounds better, etc. Etc. There are some seriously talented devs. here. If you decide to take the plunge, check out k0's ACS Frozen ROM and mysteryEmotionz (sp?) Theme(s). When you go from stock to those, you can't help but wonder WTF sprint and samsung are thinking. Yeah, its that good.
Good luck!
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
blu9987 said:
CWM 2.5.5 = the RFS root method. You can use it to install EC05 roms that have RFS support
It allows you to run programs with superuser... such as wifi tether, wireless tether, titanium backup, root explorer... thats about it for the basic user
If you want tweaks/fixes what you want is a custom rom... most all will have
Call log fix (remove the sms notifications from in your call log), Kernel fixes/updates/added features, deodexed, zipaligned, custom boot animations, voodoo audio/color, custom touchwiz, etc..
You wont brick your phone regardless, but if you do it exactly as i typed you wont have any problems either . The reason you want to put a rom on your sdcard before you boot into CWM3 is so you can flash a compatible rom that has a ext4 kernel...
EDIT: and regarding the negatives, well you wont brick your phone unless say your battery dies as you flash it... The ext4 non-journaled will actually make your phone last longer over the RFS system. The only thing I can think of is the root method removes the Free HD games and Asphalt 5 Demo which the official OTA updates check for when u get them. Doesn't matter though because you can update your rom through CWM anyways lol.
About positives, atleast for me: Longer battery life, faster phone, less annoying bugs, sexy look, custom boot/shutdown, free wifi tether/wired tether, automatic backups set every night at 5am.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I went into the run.bat file in the one click root and removed the 2 lines that give the command to delete the free hd games demo and asphalt 5 demo. Ran the one click root, and I still have those 2 installed on my phone. Beats having to reinstall them again in the future and preventing an update because of the missing apps.
Tirregius said:
I went straight to cwm 3.0.0.6 as a noob but I must have read 1000 posts in various forums regarding root, the file system(s), custom software/ROMs/kernels. The key is read post after post about where others have had issues until you no longer come accross any new issues. Then you know what you are getting into. Just remeber, glitches can occur and during flashing, there are writes that have no error checking and sometimes require a reflash at best and a system restore at worst. It comes with the territory. It is unlikely you will brick your device as long as you are careful to follow insructions, although the reality is (no matter how many times you hear how safe it is) that there is a very very slight chance that a glitch while using software such as odin could send you back to the Sprint store for a new one. Its exceedingly rare, though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I've spent the entire week when not at work reading about it to see if it's worth it. I have a hard time following the directions I find though because they're normally written for experienced folks and not beginners.
Apart from Rooting it (as explained very well earlier) I still have no clue about flashing, how it works, or how to do it. Nor do I want to just fiddle around with it and break it. I can't find a good guide on ODIN or backing up that I can understand comfortably enough to risk flashing my phone so I'm kindof at a loss.
Go on YouTube and search "randyshear". He has step by step videos for pretty much everything. Makes it easy
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App
OmegaMateria said:
Yeah I've spent the entire week when not at work reading about it to see if it's worth it. I have a hard time following the directions I find though because they're normally written for experienced folks and not beginners.
Apart from Rooting it (as explained very well earlier) I still have no clue about flashing, how it works, or how to do it. Nor do I want to just fiddle around with it and break it. I can't find a good guide on ODIN or backing up that I can understand comfortably enough to risk flashing my phone so I'm kindof at a loss.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was the same way and to some degree still am. What I did was read and read. I read the WIKI several times realizing that a lot of it was written for someone more experienced than I. I also read how to restore a bricked device and return to stock a few times. I installed everything to return to stock on my PC so if I had a failure I already had my path back to working stock. I went to CM 2 just to get some experience. Then I went for it to CM 3 and Syndicate 1.0 and have been incredibly happy that I did.
Also know that terms like brick are used a lot but is then followed up with my phone will do this or that. In the definitions a brick is literally as good as a brick for a phone. The term is used way too much incorrectly so don't let that scare you. You will see when reading that there are only a few things to do if there is a problem. Frequently you will read to re download the files or use a different cable or USB port. If you keep reading you will become more comfortable with your ability to find the answers if there is a problem because there are people on here that seem to take great joy in helping people like you and I out and they have the experience and knowledge to help.
Trust me ... keep reading and searching and you will start to put the pieces together. Don't be discouraged. If you are really interested in this stuff, you WILL get there.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Definitely agree with JohnCorleone, Randyshear has a ton of very good youtube vids. Helpful with rooting also with picking a ROM. Just to add my two-cents. The "epic cookbook" http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=967014...Helped me over and over again. alot of info, without alot of scavenging throughout threads. Good luck
There is no need to flash a rom right off the bat. Rooting with one click will give you a good jumping point. I would one click root to cw3 let it convert to ext4 then do a backup. Use titanium backup to remove all the junk bloatware.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
I am new to the root world but am good with things of the sort, just more used to it on a computer as opposed to on a phone. I am new to this site but it's pretty clear that this is the place to go for help. I have followed instructions to a T and the root simply did not work for me. Basically I followed the instructions here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1311194 and superuser just didn't show up in my apps. I read around and saw that if you get an error message at the end (which I did) that the root still worked and superuser should be there but not for me. I'm on build number UVKL1 if that helps. Any advice or help would be appreciated or at least point me in the right direction. Thanks in advance.
try downloading superuser from the market
>>>>
*On ODIN, Select the PDA button and browse to the recovery-cwm-hercules.tar
*Select Start and see the magic do its thing.
*It should flash the file to Recovery and reboot the phone.
*Take the battery out again and now boot into recovery
*Power off phone, unplug USB, Hold Both Vol up + Vol down and Hit power
>>>>
Between those 2 lines, u must have the phone without the back cover so u can pull the battery as soon as the phone restarts and u c the Samsung screen where it says T989, also u must unplug the phone before u put the battery back in.
Btw, u should install Samsung Kies so the pc gets the proper USB drivers, and it may not work at first try, I got my phone bricked the first time, would not go beyond the Samsung screen, it will show a corrupted OS and will ask me to restore using Kies, so I try the steps again and it worked, don't get scared cause it doesn't work, get scared cause it worked!!!
Are you sure you are using the right superuser file? You can't use the one they link in the OP if you are on 2.3.6. If you are on 2.3.5 it should work.
For 2.3.6 you need:
su-3.0.7-efgh-signed.zip
Also if you plan on flashing a ROM right away there's no point in giving the stock rom root, just flash a custom ROM which will come with superuser.
Listen bro once u have recovery installed it is easy listen to the guy a few post up about installing recovery first! Its easy select PDA make sure phone is connected then start. Now for root it is super easy!!!! Download file from computer put it on the root of sdcard. That means no folders. Just click the file and drag it over to ur internal sdcard. I repeat internal........now on ur phone once u disconnect from computer boot into recovery u want to go to install zip then install from internal zip and flash it. Now it might fail the first time DO NOT LEAVE RECOVERY stay in and flash that file til it says complete it might take 3 or 4 times. Now this works for 2.3.5 and 2.3.6 so u good to go bro. Trust me this file works.
jtroye32 said:
Are you sure you are using the right superuser file? You can't use the one they link in the OP if you are on 2.3.6. If you are on 2.3.5 it should work.
For 2.3.6 you need:
su-3.0.7-efgh-signed.zip
Also if you plan on flashing a ROM right away there's no point in giving the stock rom root, just flash a custom ROM which will come with superuser.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Su.3.0.5-efgh-signed.zip will work on 2.3.6 as well...but gives you a failed alert in recovery but upon reboot actually installed. worked for me perfect, it failed, rebooted, there it was first attempt
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA App
Easiest way.flash recovery with Odin.then flash a rooted ROM.done.
From a galaxy better than yours.
Thank you to everybody for responding so quick, hopefully it helps me out. I do have Kies and tried multiple times like one or two of you said. I tried quite a few times and superuser just didn't install. I even went step by step with a video at the same time. As far as flashing custom ROMs goes instead of the stock one, I'm kinda lost. Like I said I'm new to this so I'm not exactly sure what ROMs are best or what they do different than others. I've seen some things around that look interesting but what I got from it was that I need superuser before anything which I'm trying to do but obviously having issues. I'll give it another go and report back, any more information (in beginner language) would be greatly appreciated, I'm sure I'll be able to pick this up pretty quickly with some assistance.
I got it done! Thanks to everyone, I actually got it done using 3.0.5 and worked perfect, no error or anything. I guess the determining factor was loading from the internal sd card instead of the external. Not sure why the video I watched specified internal sd card. O well, now I have Superuser...now what should I do? Lol, some basic tips, tricks, and cool stuff to do would be great. Thanks again.
Make a clockworkmod recovery backup before you do anything else. this way you can start over if you screw something up.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA App
jordanishere said:
Make a clockworkmod recovery backup before you do anything else. this way you can start over if you screw something up.
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Always, on any new phone, rule #1 after u root !!!
Don't forget!!!
In regards to what to do after, take some time, read around so u can get an idea of what ppl has done, what they have screwed and how to avoid it, depending on ur version some apps are locked and if u want to use them u may have to freeze apps instead of removing them, then again u can go and start testing ROMs till u find what u like
Glad we could assist ur in ur quest!
Not too sure what clockworkmod is but I'll check that out because I've seen it quite a few times. Thanks a lot to everybody, this has been a very responsive first thread and I appreciate it. Any recommendations on what mod is most popular/best from experience? I've seen a decent amount of good feedback from Juggernaut and a couple others I kinda forget the names of. I'm thinking of getting an ICS type ROM but I see so many other types of things out there, I'm just looking for some direction/how exactly I go about it. Besides the backup, should I do anything else besides flashing the ROM with Odin? Thanks yet again for any responses that are helpful.
Once you choice a ROM you hook your phone to PC and install it on the root your Sd card (meaning not in any folders) now clockworkmod is what you're going to use to do your back up and flash a ROM. Hold up down volume and power until it vibrates then you can just release the power...what comes up is clockworkmod. Do a backup... Once your finished the back up your ready to flash your ROM..be sure to follow the devs direction on doing a wipe and clearing cache..then go to external storage find the file you installed
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA App
bobby3306 said:
Once you choice a ROM you hook your phone to PC and install it on the root your Sd card (meaning not in any folders) now clockworkmod is what you're going to use to do your back up and flash a ROM. Hold up down volume and power until it vibrates then you can just release the power...what comes up is clockworkmod. Do a backup... Once your finished the back up your ready to flash your ROM..be sure to follow the devs direction on doing a wipe and clearing cache..then go to external storage find the file you installed
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA App
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O ok that makes sense...although when I tried it said "Can't mount /sdcard" ...guessing that's not normal?
Hello, Im new to all of this so please understand. Okay, I have a Sprint GS3, I rooted it using the toolbox thing it worked but I decided that I didnt want the root anymore. I loaded stock software and booted it up normal. The only problem now is my wifi isnt turning on. Ive searched page after page on google, ask and bing. I dont know what to do anymore. Im just about to just say screw it and give up. Any help will be much appreciated.
You Odin'd back to Stock, and now your WiFi is not working correctly ? Are you certain your connecting to your Router ? Did you check the Router to make sure it's working correctly ? Did you try to connect to the Router with another Device ?
If you still have a custom recovery installed, I'd say to just flash another rom. The toolbox kills your WiFi fir sine reason, which can only be fixed by flashing another kernel, and roms have the kernels built in so, you might as well kill two birds with one stone
You could just flash stock rooted though, no need to go full out custom
Wifi not turning on
What I mean is my phone's wifi wont turn on at all. How do I get everything back to normal like before I rooted it?
Brblank44 said:
What I mean is my phone's wifi wont turn on at all. How do I get everything back to normal like before I rooted it?
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Ok, this method should work and do exactly what you wanted, but you'll still have root access.
Below, I have quoted a post I made a while back when trying to help someone out.
Down below I link to Freeza's stock Rom, which is what you want if you want the stock phone with root. The one you want to download is the DeOdex MD4 one:
DeOdex:
Sprint Touchwiz Jelly Bean 4.1.2 L710VPBMD4 | Mirror
MD5: 77262D9D6CF1A6AF30A8981A95A75D57
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In step #4, the wipe system is very important. It's most likely that something in your /system folder is messing up your wifi. Just flashing a new Rom over might not fix it. I'd also wipe /data, 'cause a fresh wipe is much less likely to have issues.
Ok, let's start at the very beginning (it's a very good place to start).
Before we get started, I'm going to make the following assumptions:
You successfully rooted your phone through Odin.
You currently have a custom recovery (either TWRP or CWM).
You have a Rom you'd like to flash on either your internal storage or your SDcard (I'd recommend the SDcard, but that's your prerogative).
If either of the first two is not true, I'd recommend going back to the rooting guide and check out the videos on how to use Odin to gain root and a custom recovery.
If number 3 above is not true, download a ROM (nor someone new to flashing/custom Roms, I'd recommend Freeza's stock rooted Rom, as it's identical to stock TW, but just with Root). Once you download a Rom, check it's md5sum to verify that it's a good download. Copy the file to your SD card and get ready to flash (make sure you have decent battery life left, I try to keep at least 50% or more when flashing Roms, although it shouldn't take too long.
I'll give directions on how to flash a Rom below. The instructions will be for TWRP, but CWM has similar options/settings
Turn your phone completely off (hold down power for 3-5 seconds)
Boot your phone into recovery. Hold Up, Menu, and Power for a few seconds (until SAMSUNG appears on your screen and the phone vibrates)
Make a Nandroid backup. I can't emphasize this enough. In flashing, it's almost a certainty that one time, something will mess up. When that happens, you want to be able to restore a backup. In TWRP, just go into Backup Menu and choose where you want it (internal vs. External storage). It takes my phone a few (5-10) minutes to completely backup my data.
In TWRP, click the wipe button, then system. This will completely wipe the Rom from your phone. Doing this will allow you to get a "clean" install, without any settings or leftover files from your old Rom getting in the way. Instead, you could only wipe data (factory reset), which is good enough for most Roms. I'd still recommend a system wipe, though.
Also while in the Wipe menu, wipe Cache and Dalvik Cache.
Go back to the TWRP main menu.
Click Install, then find your Rom zip file (may have to switch from internal to external storage).
Let TWRP do it's thing.
If you're installing a TW-based Rom, chances are it had gapps already installed. If not, you should now flash the correct gapps package from goo.im. Make sure you're flashing the correct one, as if you don't, your google apps will force close upon use.
Reboot into system and give it time to boot (first boot sometimes takes a couple of minutes).
Set up your phone the way you like.
These should be the directions to follow whenever you flash a new Rom. Some Roms have the Aroma installer, so you'll have more options once you choose to flash the Rom zip, but those are typically easy to follow (and vary from Rom to Rom, so I won't be able to give you a good guide on that).
Hope this helps!
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Brblank44 said:
What I mean is my phone's wifi wont turn on at all. How do I get everything back to normal like before I rooted it?
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Yes. The toolbox kills your WiFi completely and you have to flash another rom to fix it. Flash stock rooted from freezas thread and you should be good to go.
CNexus said:
If you still have a custom recovery installed, I'd say to just flash another rom. The toolbox kills your WiFi fir sine reason, which can only be fixed by flashing another kernel, and roms have the kernels built in so, you might as well kill two birds with one stone
You could just flash stock rooted though, no need to go full out custom
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Why do people use a toolbox on a phone that's so easy to root without it?
flastnoles11 said:
Why do people use a toolbox on a phone that's so easy to root without it?
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When I first rooted my phone (back pre LJ7 days), I used it because I came from the EVO 4G, which was notoriously difficult to root (and which needed a toolkit). So when I came to the GS3, I figured it'd be the same way. Fortunately, the toolkit worked better back then and I didn't have an issue. Now that I've helped others use Odin (and have used it myself a number of times), I don't point to the toolkit anymore.
But my point is, sometimes people assume it's difficult, see a toolkit that is meant to make it easier and decide that's the way to go.
topherk said:
Ok, this method should work and do exactly what you wanted, but you'll still have root access.
Below, I have quoted a post I made a while back when trying to help someone out.
Down below I link to Freeza's stock Rom, which is what you want if you want the stock phone with root. The one you want to download is the DeOdex MD4 one:
In step #4, the wipe system is very important. It's most likely that something in your /system folder is messing up your wifi. Just flashing a new Rom over might not fix it. I'd also wipe /data, 'cause a fresh wipe is much less likely to have issues.
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Thank you very much. I will try this as soon as I can.
topherk said:
When I first rooted my phone (back pre LJ7 days), I used it because I came from the EVO 4G, which was notoriously difficult to root (and which needed a toolkit). So when I came to the GS3, I figured it'd be the same way. Fortunately, the toolkit worked better back then and I didn't have an issue. Now that I've helped others use Odin (and have used it myself a number of times), I don't point to the toolkit anymore.
But my point is, sometimes people assume it's difficult, see a toolkit that is meant to make it easier and decide that's the way to go.
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I get that, but just a tiny bit of reading around well show you the toolkit is actually the harder way to root this phone in my opinion... Just saying
flastnoles11 said:
I get that, but just a tiny bit of reading around well show you the toolkit is actually the harder way to root this phone in my opinion... Just saying
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I totally agree that the toolkit is much more complicated and a bit of a "black box." Hence why I don't recommend it anymore.
But back then, even though I read a whole lot, I decided to go with the toolkit because it felt safer. Heck, I eevn donated so I could get the "pro" features! And for people who aren't that comfortable "hacking" things, it's tempting to use something that'll do the "hard work" for you, even if the normal way of doing it is relatively simple.
That's why I always try to spell things out very clearly for people (I do like numbered lists, don't I?). If someone responds to a thread with "just wipe data and flash a new rom," most "noobs" will hesitate because while they may know those terms, they don't know the procedure and will be afraid of messing it up. With the numbered list of instructions, they typically feel much more comfortable with doing it themselves.
Just my two cents.
Yeah, very true (@topherk). The first time I rooted my firdt phone, I saw all the guides and stuff, but settled on a toolkit sort of program to do it for me...subsequent phones I've always rooted by hand. For me it kinda sucks that there's no way to root the S3 manually (as in like, push this to.the phone, reboot, run this command then flash recovery)
Having come from 2 HTC devices (evo and evo shift), I kinda feel like ODIN is a "cheating" way to root lol. But that's just me.
Whats a md5? It says no md5 file and gives me an error.
Brblank44 said:
Whats a md5? It says no md5 file and gives me an error.
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Thats normal,.the great majority of flashable zips do not include an md5 file.
What that is referring to is a hashing function, called the md5sum, that can be used to verify the integrity of a file. Most devs will provide this (in number format) so that you can check the md5sum of your local copy/download against what they provide. If anything goes wrong in a download or file transfer, the md5sum of your copy will not match the expected value, confirming that it was a bad download or that something went wrong along the way.
For your case, TWRP always checks to see if the flashable zip includes an md5sum check file that it can check your file against as an added precaution that you're not flashing something corrupted.
Brblank44 said:
Whats a md5? It says no md5 file and gives me an error.
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Don't do the md5 verification in the Recovery. That typically fails, even if the md5 is correct.
I typically do it in Windows (I use this program, works great). If it's a really large file or I don't feel confident about the cable I'm using, I'll also check the md5sum in ES Explorer on the phone after I transfer it.
Okay I flashed it and I have the same problem. Wifi not turning on. The detox whatever its called didn't work. So I took it to sprint today after having flashed it and everything and they did a hard reset. I lost everything. Sprint couldn't swap the phone out for a new one. I am thinking about sending it back to samsung. So they can fix it. Any other ideas guys? Also thank you for your understanding and helping me.
Brblank44 said:
Okay I flashed it and I have the same problem. Wifi not turning on. The detox whatever its called didn't work. So I took it to sprint today after having flashed it and everything and they did a hard reset. I lost everything. Sprint couldn't swap the phone out for a new one. I am thinking about sending it back to samsung. So they can fix it. Any other ideas guys? Also thank you for your understanding and helping me.
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Brblank,
Try this easy method to return to stock everything including recovery, flash count reset and device status normal. It worked perfectly for me.
Before flashing wipe Cache and Dalvik and factory reset.Then flash the file. Make sure you choose the correct file (16gb or 32gb version).
Even if it doesn't fix your WiFi issue it will put your phone in the proper state to send to Samsung.
You can place the file on your internal or external card.
Return to Stock Link
With much thanks to billard412
Hope this helps you.
So I've got a SGH-I747M that I rooted and put a ROM on probably more than a year ago now. Been happy with it, but figure I should probably get a new ROM, as I'm still on Jelly Bean and the one I have has always been a bit bloated. So I started brushing up on all this stuff as I forgot how to even install a new ROM, I'm a very casual Android user. Anyway I figure most of it out and decide I want to install this ROM: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2630316
So I download the latest version and go to flash it and get a Status 7 error. From what I could gather this means my recovery needs to be updated, correct? If not I need even more help. But anyway yeah I need to update my CWM. Start looking up how to do that and it says to download ROM Manager, but apparently me device isn't supported with that. Then I see some stuff about flashable recovery files, but the only ones for my phone are even more out of date than the one I have. So what are my options for updating it then? I know you can use Odin for it, but I can't for the life of me find the right file. Then there's the thing with the the Terminal Emulator stuff using the .img file, which might be how I installed it in the first place, but that seems like the easiest way to brick my phone. It'd be great if someone just had a recent flashable version, but if not the file I need for Odin. Or is the Terminal Emulator method not as intimidating as it looks? And if that isn't the reason I was getting the error well then I'm just lost.
Please someone just put an end to my misery and tell me what the hell to do.
Nevermind, I figured it all out. See you in another year when I forget what the hell I'm doing again.