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[Q] Help flashing [ROM]Bonsai4All EXT4/Clockworks 3.0.0.5 support V2.0.1 >02/03/2011

[Q] Help flashing [ROM]Bonsai4All EXT4/Clockworks 3.0.0.5 support V2.0.1 >02/03/2011
Ok guys, im gonna attempt a flash([ROM]Bonsai4All EXT4/Clockworks 3.0.0.5 support V2.0.1 >02/03/2011) today on my friends samsung epic 4g which is fully stock at the moment, i already have read the instructions but i need a little guidance in the right direction. I have flashed clockworkmodrecovery using
http://http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=782300
& http://http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=7933592#post7933592
so now i can boot into clockworkmod recovery, but b4 i flash anything im going to do a backup through the clockworkmod recovery, i read in the Bonsai4All thread that i need to "Odin the dk28 modem first", can someone tell me how i can do that, like give me a link to the required files and how i would go about installing them. Also is there anything else that i am not doing that is required to flash to the Bonsai4All ROM from a stock samsung epic 4g , all feedback is greatly appreciated, thanks in advance guys.

This is the Epic wiki. Scroll down to Odin Stock Flashing and follow those instructions. Under Official Roms (just above Odin Stock Flashing) is the dk28 file. It's titled 'SPH-D700-DK28-8Gb-REL.tar.md5 Stock DK28 (Leaked).' That's what you put in Odin to flash to stock dk28. Scroll down further to Community Roms and you will see the Bonsai4All rom. Once you are on stock dk28, have cwm3 installed, and download the Bonsai rom to the SDcard, you can flash Bonsai through cwm.

running_the_dream said:
This is the Epic wiki. Scroll down to Odin Stock Flashing and follow those instructions. Under Official Roms (just above Odin Stock Flashing) is the dk28 file. It's titled 'SPH-D700-DK28-8Gb-REL.tar.md5 Stock DK28 (Leaked).' That's what you put in Odin to flash to stock dk28. Scroll down further to Community Roms and you will see the Bonsai4All rom. Once you are on stock dk28, have cwm3 installed, and download the Bonsai rom to the SDcard, you can flash Bonsai through cwm.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The wiki says I have to "Select the victory_8G_100528.pit on the right in the pit section" on step number 4, do I have to do that to flash to Bonsai, or do I just do what you told me.
Sent From my
HTC GLACIER USING XDA APP
HTC GLACIER PERMA-ROOTED S-OFF
CM7 NIGHTLIE
OC TO 1.5GHz

kdunn1994 said:
The wiki says I have to "Select the victory_8G_100528.pit on the right in the pit section" on step number 4, do I have to do that to flash to Bonsai, or do I just do what you told me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I flashed to stock dk28 , I used the Victory pit along with the SPH-D700-DK28.tar. So, I would do both.
I have used it without victory BUT I was already on dk28. I had a 2.2 rom and I was flashing back to stock dk28.
So, final answer, for the first time going to dk28, I would use both the pit and tar.
On a side note, make sure only the reset time and auto-reboot check boxed are checked. There shoud be three total check boxes. For the first time, only check those. If you install a rom and want to go back to stock dk28 in the future, then only check auto-reboot.

So basically what you're saying. Is all that I really need to do is substitute the dk28 tar u told me instead of the one used on step 5?
Sent From my
HTC GLACIER USING XDA APP
HTC GLACIER PERMA-ROOTED S-OFF
CM7 NIGHTLIE
OC TO 1.5GHz

kdunn1994 said:
So basically what you're saying. Is all that I really need to do is substitute the dk28 tar u told me instead of the one used on step 5?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You got it.

Nice ill give it a try when I get out of school.
Sent From my
HTC GLACIER USING XDA APP
HTC GLACIER PERMA-ROOTED S-OFF
CM7 NIGHTLIE
OC TO 1.5GHz

ok, one more question before i begin is, do i backup with clockworkmodrecovery before i flash dk28, or if im correct the flash will delete everything including root, and upgrade the phone to 2.2, so the backup would be irrelevant until b4 i flash the bonasi?

kdunn1994 said:
ok, one more question before i begin is, do i backup with clockworkmodrecovery before i flash dk28, or if im correct the flash will delete everything including root, and upgrade the phone to 2.2, so the backup would be irrelevant until b4 i flash the bonasi?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, using flash with ODIN will erase everything including root. So, backup everything before you start. It should backup to your SDcard. When you do the stock flash, root, install cwm3 and flash your 2.2 based rom, you should be able to boot into cwm, go to backup/restore- advanced restore and restore data.
I would install My Backup or something similar before attempting though. Just in case cwm doesn't keep your backup after the flash. It's worked for me in the past. After backup, you can also move the backup file to your computer's hard drive for safekeeping. It's in the root of the sd folder under Clockwork recovery.

thumbs up picking bonsai rom. ive tried midnight, viper, nebula already and none of them even compare to the speeds of bonsai. if your going for speed and no force closes choose bonsai.
to kind of answer your question, always backup, it wont hurt anything.

running_the_dream said:
Yes, using flash with ODIN will erase everything including root. So, backup everything before you start. It should backup to your SDcard. When you do the stock flash, root, install cwm3 and flash your 2.2 based rom, you should be able to boot into cwm, go to backup/restore- advanced restore and restore data.
I would install My Backup or something similar before attempting though. Just in case cwm doesn't keep your backup after the flash. It's worked for me in the past. After backup, you can also move the backup file to your computer's hard drive for safekeeping. It's in the root of the sd folder under Clockwork recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok, thanks, i think i got the steps down, after i have this installed, i root it using(insert link and awesome advice here)?

I'm on my phone now so I can't see the links and so forth. I think the bonsai rom will install root, cwm, convert to ext 4 file system and install bonsai. Double check the rom thread though. If not, theres a one-click root w/ cwm3 in the dev section

running_the_dream said:
I'm on my phone now so I can't see the links and so forth. I think the bonsai rom will install root, cwm, convert to ext 4 file system and install bonsai. Double check the rom thread though. If not, theres a one-click root w/ cwm3 in the dev section
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So everything worked out great, and it was much easier than i thought, all i needed was some guidance in the right direction and you gave me that "running_the_dream" and for that i can not emphasize enough how much Thanks i have for you, i really appreciate the help, thanks for all the support

kdunn1994 said:
So everything worked out great, and it was much easier than i thought, all i needed was some guidance in the right direction and you gave me that "running_the_dream" and for that i can not emphasize enough how much Thanks i have for you, i really appreciate the help, thanks for all the support
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great! Enjoy!

Does the KERNEL decide Recovery?

Coming from the evo I can tell you I had never heard of Odin or anything like that. My question is this : I am rooted on stock now (yes I have superuser, yes I have Cwm recovery.) But I wanna flash another rom. To do that, do I have to use Odin? Or can I just dl the zip file for the Rom, flash it and go on with my life?
Also, when I flash the rom will it change my recovery? Do roms come with their own kernels? And.if they do: do those kernels come with their own recoveries?
Sorry if its wordy but I'm kinda lost Lol
Thanks!
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App

Samsung is not like other platforms where the recovery and android kernels are separate. The same kernel used for Android is used for Recovery. Also when people here refer to kernel/zImage, they actually are referring to the kernel+initramfs (not the core linux kernel only)
The true linux kernel doesn't decide recovery, but since initramfs is packed with the kernel with the whole think being flash together, effectively you get whatever recovery came with the zImage you flash.
You can just flash the ROMs from CWM. No need for ODIN.
Some ROMs include kernels, some don't. If the ROM came with a kernel, you'll get whatever recovery that kernel came with.

sfhub said:
Samsung is not like other platforms where the recovery and android kernels are separate. The same kernel used for Android is used for Recovery. Also when people here refer to kernel/zImage, they actually are referring to the kernel+initramfs (not the core linux kernel only)
The true linux kernel doesn't decide recovery, but since initramfs is packed with the kernel with the whole think being flash together, effectively you get whatever recovery came with the zImage you flash.
You can just flash the ROMs from CWM. No need for ODIN.
Some ROMs include kernels, some don't. If the ROM came with a kernel, you'll get whatever recovery that kernel came with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all, thanks for replying so.quickly. secondly, will my nandroids work? Because if I make a nandroid now, it'll get saved with cwm but what if I flash a new rom? Will I be able to restore this nandroid from that new recovery? If so, will the nandroid restore take me back to the recovery I have now?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App

oddfuturejoey said:
First of all, thanks for replying so.quickly. secondly, will my nandroids work? Because if I make a nandroid now, it'll get saved with cwm but what if I flash a new rom? Will I be able to restore this nandroid from that new recovery? If so, will the nandroid restore take me back to the recovery I have now?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should be able to restore them. The only issue might be some versions of CWM can look for the NANDROID backups on internal and external SD and some only look on external.
All the CWM/kernels in the Auto Root sticky can look for them in the internal and external SD and as long as you have root you can install one of those kernels (EG30+CWM, EG31+CWM and EK02+CWM are included) You can even install from the phone without a PC using terminal after copying the files to sdcard.

[Q] I'm a bit confused.

I'm coming from an EVO 4G to this, it's coming in the mail today. I'm not getting the whole ODIN thing to flash Roms, radios ect... can't you just flash a custom recovery and than flash what ever you want to from your recovery?

Odin is like an RUU but instead of having a separate one for each build, it is one program that allows you to flash many things from ROMs to kernels to modems (radios). Odin is an indispensable tool and will save your ass if you ever have a problem.
That said, yes, we do have custom recoveries like clockworkmod and we can flash various things directly from recovery just like in the EVO days. Just be careful because some things are specifically meant to be flashed with odin and others with recovery, so make sure you're flashing the right thing.

First thing you need to know is that the kernel and recovery are packaged together on this phone unlike on the Evo.
To get a custom recovery you'll need to ODIN a kernel packed with custom recovery. From there most things you will want to flash will have both ODIN and recovery packages available. Also ODIN can often be used unbrick a phone if you have a bad flash.

What is this about bricking???

I have a few questions... I am coming from using a Nexus One and am intimately familiar with flashing Modems/Kernels/ROMs... modifying framework and other APKs for custom features... and all kinds of other fun stuff. I have been running into videos and such that I am sure their procedure works but I don't really trust that all their information is accurate. Seeing as some people putting up how-to info say I need to install 7-zip to run a self-extractable archive... they obviously don't know what they are talking about... no offense meant to them as it is a very good instructional video... I just do not feel comfortable asking them detailed questions.
With the E4GT I keep seeing people saying that you can brick your phone by flashing between GB and ICS ROMs without wiping and such. Now I would like to get a few things strait. On Nexus One the recovery kernel was held in a different partition than the normal OS. Then there was an initial bootloader that would load either the recovery or the normal OS. Now if you were to shoot yourself in the foot and do something you shouldn't with your normal OS you could always boot to recovery and start from your latest nandroid or just flash w/e you felt like. Is this not how the E4GT works? If you flash a kernel (which I would assume would goto your normal OS's boot partition being seperate from the bootloader and recovery) does it actually "brick" your phone? Do ICS ROMs mess with something in the bootloader or recovery that could prevent you from going back to recovery and reflashing whatever you want?

The permenant bricks are happening with the partitions getting screwed. Even ODINing over a stock tar will fail at that point. Normally with any device we would JTAG and write new partitions.
Only 2 things I know are. The partitions between GB and ICS are different. Our phones recovery is packed into the kernel and since we don't have the source for the ICS kernel yet I would expect their to be issues with CWM repacks on our phone with ICS.
Ive been one of the ones with no issues flashing around in ICS. But I would not dare try to flash a GB rom back. SFHUB's One Click ODIN's are a quick way to flash over an EL29 or prior tar but you can do it the old fashioned way as well.

Read here, On how to avoid
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1525495

xST4T1K said:
Read here, On how to avoid
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1525495
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really appreciate your informational thread. The problem is... I went through all this information as well as some other stuff prior to posting this. While the information is nice it is basically "follow these procedures and things should work according to my experience". What I am looking for is detailed information as to what is causing tons or people (relative to what i saw in the N1 community) mentioning these bricking issues. I am trying to gather and consolidate this information as I can not find it readily available.
RainMotorsports said:
The permenant bricks are happening with the partitions getting screwed. Even ODINing over a stock tar will fail at that point. Normally with any device we would JTAG and write new partitions.
Only 2 things I know are. The partitions between GB and ICS are different. Our phones recovery is packed into the kernel and since we don't have the source for the ICS kernel yet I would expect their to be issues with CWM repacks on our phone with ICS.
Ive been one of the ones with no issues flashing around in ICS. But I would not dare try to flash a GB rom back. SFHUB's One Click ODIN's are a quick way to flash over an EL29 or prior tar but you can do it the old fashioned way as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is more along the lines of what I am looking for. So... from what I gather here:
1. As far as it is known... something having to do with partition allocation information is different between GB and ICS ROMs.
2. E4GT version of Android's recovery is not held seperate from the running OS and is dependent on the Initramfs (and contained within) that is used by the actual running OS.
3. In order to flash back to GB you must use SFHUB's One Click ODIN which uses a known procedure that works. (Why does this work where others methods do not? Possibly, when update script runs from package used in recovery [modified ICS recovery] it has to do with partition information the recovery is expecting is different from actual? ICS kernel source so its exact method of actually executing an update script is unknown?)
Please correct post to correct any information you see here which is incorrect or acknowledge what information you believe to be correct.
EDIT: Correction to 3 as I didn't read post properly and also in response to RainMotorsports post. Also, changed SGS2 in 2 to E4GT
EDIT: Changed "kernel" in 2 to "initramfs" Detailed information about all this can be found in Sfhub's detailed explanation post within this thread which you can find here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=24398615&postcount=13

You can go back to gingerbread as many times as you want, just use the one click odin el29 above. That's the safest and simplest way. I've done it countless times.

Goblinlord said:
2. SGS2 version of Android's recovery is not held seperate from the running OS and is dependent on the kernel (and contained within) that is used by the actual running OS.
3. If you flash to ICS do not flash back to GB??? (though this goes against the information contained in xST4T1K's post)
Please correct post to correct any information you see here which is incorrect or acknowledge what information you believe to be correct.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For 3 as said just use the odin one click. Now everyone recommends using EL26 with CWM for some reason but EL29 works. When going backwards always use the version that wipes the data partition - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1433101 will take you to stock rooted EL29 and you can odin over the kernel with cwm or just use sfhubs auto rooter to gain it.
Its recommended to either use ODIN (or an odin one click) to upgrade an ICS leak or to ODIN back to EL26/29 then flash a rom. It has been possible for some of us to do it from ICS but there have been bricks its just a precaution so do it the right way for now. Mobile ODIN also has some issue but I have done 2 tar leaks using it as well.
As for 2 to the best of my knowledge its just the E4GT. The recovery partition on our phone is unused and recovery is packed into the kernel. Very stable on GB, but we don't have the ICS source and the ICS repacks have some issues. To change or gain recovery all you have to do is flash a kernel.

RainMotorsports said:
For 3 as said just use the odin one click. Now everyone recommends using EL26 with CWM for some reason but EL29 works. When going backwards always use the version that wipes the data partition - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1433101 will take you to stock rooted EL29 and you can odin over the kernel with cwm or just use sfhubs auto rooter to gain it.
Its recommended to either use ODIN (or an odin one click) to upgrade an ICS leak or to ODIN back to EL26/29 then flash a rom. It has been possible for some of us to do it from ICS but there have been bricks its just a precaution so do it the right way for now. Mobile ODIN also has some issue but I have done 2 tar leaks using it as well.
As for 2 to the best of my knowledge its just the E4GT. The recovery partition on our phone is unused and recovery is packed into the kernel. Very stable on GB, but we don't have the ICS source and the ICS repacks have some issues. To change or gain recovery all you have to do is flash a kernel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perfect ^^... thanks for the information this is exactly the type of information I was looking for.

OP, check PM.

There was actually some talk from a few that were using JTAGs to unbrick only to find out that the NAND was fried in a way you would only expect to see from something hit by an EM surge. While odd, it's not impossible and we can only speculate at the changes in 3.0.15 ICS kernels from Samsung vs. the GB ones. I'm no electrical expert so I won't speculate on what would cause it.
I know how the Nexus was coming from a G2/Desire Z a lot of things were very similar. This phone is completely different. So far as I can tell the recovery and kernel share the same space. While you could flash 4EXT as your recovery and never change it but constantly change kernels - you must flash the recovery w/ the kernel on this. Probably has something to do with us having ODIN - that might be taking up residence where the recovery or fastboot would normally reside. I could be completely wrong though. As far as the 7zip thing. I don't know what videos you're talking about specifically but I do know a lot of people tell others to install it just because it's one of the most useful things when modding. Whether it be an apk or an entire rom. This is of course when your speaking about Windows. Linux has its own built-in goodies.

KCRic said:
There was actually some talk from a few that were using JTAGs to unbrick only to find out that the NAND was fried in a way you would only expect to see from something hit by an EM surge. While odd, it's not impossible and we can only speculate at the changes in 3.0.15 ICS kernels from Samsung vs. the GB ones. I'm no electrical expert so I won't speculate on what would cause it.
I know how the Nexus was coming from a G2/Desire Z a lot of things were very similar. This phone is completely different. So far as I can tell the recovery and kernel share the same space. While you could flash 4EXT as your recovery and never change it but constantly change kernels - you must flash the recovery w/ the kernel on this. Probably has something to do with us having ODIN - that might be taking up residence where the recovery or fastboot would normally reside. I could be completely wrong though. As far as the 7zip thing. I don't know what videos you're talking about specifically but I do know a lot of people tell others to install it just because it's one of the most useful things when modding. Whether it be an apk or an entire rom. This is of course when your speaking about Windows. Linux has its own built-in goodies.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info KCRic. If you could provide a link for the thread you refer to about the NAND memory being fried it would be great. Also... I completely agree with 7-zip being useful as I have used it now for many many many years... my point was more... the person didn't even know the difference between an self-extracting executable and an archive file.

Please look at the following thread for background on the problem and speculation as to technically why the bricks are happening:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1504808

My theory on to why restoring a gingerbread and is that the fact that on ICS the recovery actually has access/see add'l hidden partitions that the gingerbread recovery does not access or see (example the triangle away tool which needs ics) Most likely when the restore is done the nand gets rewritten to the wrong partitions due to new hidden partitions not accounted for and in a sense overwriting something crucial and ends up in either destroying the partition and bricking the device. I'm no expert on the matter though so take this with a grain of sand.

I am reading from mobile so only skimmed through this. Some questions are probably already answered. Excuse the typos, it is a pain to type long replies on mobile.
The 7zip thing is probably because i package everything as 7zip self-extractors, which on windows means you just double-click on the *-sfx.exe and choose the directory to unpack to. The roms are relatively large so compressing them makes sense and 7zip does a better job compressing and is cross platform. Anyway on platforms other than windows you just treat the -sfx.exe file like a regular 7zip archive and use 7zip or other archive tool to unpack, similar to if zip or rar was used to compress.
Regarding why there are bricks, there are two more prevalent ways of bricking this phone.
1) flashing an intl gs2 factory or leaked rom that includes the intl bootloader. On our phone, the intl bootloader disables the usb port so you can no longer recover using any tool that uses the usb port. If you happen to have custom recovery still on the phone, you can use an update.zip to update your rom, kernel, and modem, but your usb port is still useless.
2) using an ics kernel combined with a custom recovery to wipe, restore, or otherwise do partition operations that affect /data. This is not a deterministic brick in that you can have the same operation work fine many times, but then suddenly have it fail. There were some more deterministic variations of this type of brick involving a temp flashed cwm touch, where wiping/factory reset would very frequently cause the /data brick.
So what is the /data brick? Apparently a change in the ics kernel combined with certain custom recovery operations can cause a hardware failure in the emmc memory for the data partition section. This will cause all future attempts to format, overwrite, restore, the data partition to hang or fail. We know it is a hardware failure because even using jtag to bit blast the proper software fails. Often people don't realize their data partition has bricked right away because they are in the midst of wiping/factory reset or restoring a backup. Then something isn't working right so they go and use odin to get back into a known state, but find odin hangs on the data partition. This may lead them to think odin is not working right or even that odin caused the problem, but in reality, odin is just the messenger that your emmc is screwed. The damage was done earlier. We know that to be the case, because
1) in all instances it was traced back to on operation with an ics kernel and custom recovery
2) this type of brick never existed before the ics kernels (linux 3.0 kernels came out)
3) galaxy note on ics has the same type of emmc brick
4) we know there were changes to the emmc code because different areas of emm are exposed in ics kernels which were not exposed in gb kernels
Your only recourse for this type of brick is to return for replacement, as even jtag fails.
Regarding odin, if you are coming from another platform, it is basically like fastboot in that it is a failsafe type flash using low-level bootloader routines which do not depend on working kernel or rom. Most types of soft brick can be easily addressed by odin. As to why it is safer, it is using low-level bootloader routines so doesn't depend on the ics kernel which we have found to be problematic in certain situations listed above.
Regarding recovery, I also came from a platform where recovery was a separate partition. This made sense to me. Alas, this phone does not use a separate partition for recovery. Instead reckvery is packed into the initramfs of the normal android kernel. if you flash a new kernel, that comes with a new initramfs, and you will get whichever recovery was packed into its initramfs, whether that be stock or custom recovery.
Ironically, there is a separate partition labelled recovery.bin that for some reason is not used. The contents are exactly the same as the kernel, so in the current state it just serves as a backup of the active kernel.
In closing, I would suggest treating this phone as a new platform and don't make assumptions based in past experience. Being android, there are similarities, but there are also important differences/quirks to be aware of which are easily missed if assumptions are made.

RainMotorsports said:
For 3 as said just use the odin one click. Now everyone recommends using EL26 with CWM for some reason but EL29 works. When going backwards always use the version that wipes the data partition - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1433101 will take you to stock rooted EL29 and you can odin over the kernel with cwm or just use sfhubs auto rooter to gain it.
Its recommended to either use ODIN (or an odin one click) to upgrade an ICS leak or to ODIN back to EL26/29 then flash a rom. It has been possible for some of us to do it from ICS but there have been bricks its just a precaution so do it the right way for now. Mobile ODIN also has some issue but I have done 2 tar leaks using it as well.
As for 2 to the best of my knowledge its just the E4GT. The recovery partition on our phone is unused and recovery is packed into the kernel. Very stable on GB, but we don't have the ICS source and the ICS repacks have some issues. To change or gain recovery all you have to do is flash a kernel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Coming from the Evo this is all new to me so I am sorry but I just wanted to double check. Right now I am still on eg30 and rooted. It is ok then to just use the odin one click to flash el26/29? Then I have to also flash cwm again correct? Sorry for the noobish questions, just trying to avoid any problems.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

Natedog1 said:
Coming from the Evo this is all new to me so I am sorry but I just wanted to double check. Right now I am still on eg30 and rooted. It is ok then to just use the odin one click to flash el26/29? Then I have to also flash cwm again correct? Sorry for the noobish questions, just trying to avoid any problems.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow your on EG30 nice lol.
Yes you can one click or regular odin straight to EL29 if you want. There are one clicks for ICS up to FC24 (No FD02 yet) so if your not going to a custom rom just stock rooted you can use those too.
EL26 - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1416477
EL29 - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1433101
FC24 - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1573752
You can go from EG30 to EL29 using the no data ones and not lose anything. Going to ICS or going backwards you should always use the normal ones that erase your data.
You still need custom recovery to flash a rom. You can use sfhubs autorooter on a rooted install to gain it or odin over a kernel.

RainMotorsports said:
Wow your on EG30 nice lol.
Yes you can one click or regular odin straight to EL29 if you want. There are one clicks for ICS up to FC24 (No FD02 yet) so if your not going to a custom rom just stock rooted you can use those too.
EL26 - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1416477
EL29 - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1433101
FC24 - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1573752
You can go from EG30 to EL29 using the no data ones and not lose anything. Going to ICS or going backwards you should always use the normal ones that erase your data.
You still need custom recovery to flash a rom. You can use sfhubs autorooter on a rooted install to gain it or odin over a kernel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I just picked up the phone the other day after my evo crapped out. It is like learning a new language going from the evo to this. Modems, odin, triangles.... Trying read as much as I can before doing much. Thanks for your help. I appreciate it a lot.
I am a little apprehensive about flashing an ics rom after reading about all the issues everyone is having. I do miss the hell out of cm but I think I should hold off on flashing that for now. Is it "safe" to flash fc24 one click even though it is ics?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

Yes if your going to ICS its as safe as it gets. ODIN is samsungs fastboot. The firmwares are stored on tars. SFHUB packages tars in a one click setup for odin so you dont have to deal with odin itself. Writing a full tar with odin write a whole firmware rather than just the rom or just the modem etc like when using recovery.
The other option is to flash an ICS rom through custom recovery preferably EL26 or EL29.
As far as triangles go if you want to know about those. If you flash a custom kernel or anything else not signed by samsung through ODIN it will show a triangle at boot as well as increase the counter shown in the download mode. This is just there to tell the phone company you have been messing with it.
I have never tripped the triangle myself but a USB jig on older bootloaders or the Triangle away app on ICS will take care of it.

Using ODIN to flash the FC24 + rooted is not a bad place to start *in my opinion* to try out ICS on the E4GT. But there are lessons to this too - please make sure you are using a good quality USB cable (such as the Sammy one), don't flash if your system is at risk of shutting down in the middle (such as a laptop with a sketchy battery and no A/C) and by all means, if it looks like it is hanging... give it time before resorting to unplugging the USB cable. The last part is the modem and takes several minutes, no matter how fast your PC is.
No matter what you decide, good luck and don't be afraid to ask any questions. It is far better to err towards caution and ask for advice than go on our own and risk ending up with a paperweight instead of a phone.

Thanks garwynn i was actually just coming back to add that. Yeah I always recommend to people to flash with a laptop if they have it in case of a power outage.

Thanks for the tips and the advice guys. Much appreciated. Right now the ics roms are pretty much all leaks correct?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

[Q] Flashing roms to S3 and recovery Q's. Frustrated.

I'm not new to rooting, ROMS or Kernels but I'm no expert either. I've flashed all sorts of ROMS on my old EVO 4g. This Samsung is a little trickier, though. I've got it rooted. No problems there. I haven't permanently installed CWM recovery though. I've read where you need to rename certain files so the S3 won't re-load the factory recovery and though I've tried, my phone won't let me rename the files. So there is problem one (once these files are renamed, is there a way to go back if you so choose? CWM says it's permanent). That said, I've got ROM manager installed on the phone and can boot into CWM that way. I've pulled a full nandroid backup before I started any of this, so I should be able to go back no problem. But, how in the heck do I flash an AOSP rom? I have no external storage, so I'm trying to use the on board flash. But I can't access that through CWM, so I can't flash it. On top of that the instructions for the Carbon ROM I'm wanting to use say's to select the wipe data/factory reset selection in CWM. When I do that, of course it wipes everything on my internal SD card so there wouldn't be a .zip file to select anyways! This is freakin' frustrating, especially after coming from an older EVO. It was so much easier.
I keep reading about using adb sideload but after all of my reading, there is no (that I can find) repository for the "end all/be all" how-to on flashing the SPH-L710. No one explains it 100% or it's for a Nexus or something. A solid tutorial would be helpful!
So I guess this boils down to:
Can I go back to stock recovery?
How do I flash a ROM using the internal memory?
How do I do this with adb (assuming I have to).
Thanks in advance, guys and gals!'
And yes, I've searched.

Ive heard that there are issues with newer devices and their recoveries. You can read through http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2391616 maybe the solution is in there.

Look for the pre rooted Odin tar - it will give you root and a custom recovery in one step, and is currently one of the easiest root methods available.
As for the file renaming, using the Odin method will bypass any need for it - as long as you make sure "auto reboot" is NOT checked, you can safely disconnect the phone when the Odin flash completes, remove and replace the battery (I might have that detail mixed up from my OG Epic days, but the correct instructions will be found with the Odin file), then boot into custom recovery before anything else, you can flash your custom rom and reboot as normal.
Since you'll be flashing over a mostly factory-fresh stock rom (root is the only change), you shouldn't need to do the factory reset (I think some recoveries for our phone do correctly preserve the internal storage, but I can't remember which ones). And the part of the stock rom that replaces the recovery with stock will only run when the rom (not recovery) boots, so by flashing a custom rom without ever booting the stock one, you bypass that issue completely - that's why you don't want Odin to auto reboot your phone after the flash.
I think I've covered the important parts to get you up and running, but I'll double check your post for any questions that I missed. If you end up with more questions, don't hesitate to ask
Edit: I did miss some things
Can I go back to stock recovery?
- sure, but there is no good reason to unless you're returning to complete stock in order to sell the phone or to have it repaired or replaced... the easiest way for that is to Odin the non-rooted stock tar package
How do I flash a ROM using the internal memory?
- it should work, I did this yesterday using CWM Touch. The possibly confusing part is that the internal memory is considered an sd card, but if you see two options then one will be clearly labeled as external (I say if because I don't know whether any recoveries hide that one when no sd card is actually present).
How do I do this with adb (assuming I have to).
I actually don't know the answer to this one, but if you use the Odin method then it won't be necessary
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app

I think you are over complicating yourself. You should have started by flashing custom recovery with odin and that's it then in custom recovery flash the Teamepic root zip. That's it voila your done. Easiest thing in the world.
You can either download your future rom to internal or external memory and using the custom recovery of choice flash it.
In actuality it's much much simpler than any HTC device.
Here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=34579827
Also all your questions here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=38172219
Remember search is your best friend, Have a great day!

Ed, you always find a way to say it more concisely, and you always have the links that I can't find the time to look for, lol
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app