Develop Bugs

[Q] question about unlocking/flashing

I have looked on the forums but i haven't found a clear answer to this. If someone wants to give me a link to whatever post explains it, please do, since i'm sure i'm asking something that's already been answered somewhere.
I used the unrevoked method to root the phone:
http://unrevoked.com/recovery/
Do i need to do something beyond that in order to load on a custom rom?
I used the clockworkmod to make a backup of the phone. If i load up a custom rom and decide i don't like it, will the clockworkmod remain on the phone or will the custom rom possibly replace it? If so, how do i restore the backup?
And lastly - how do i actually go about installing another rom? I wanted to try the Fresh rom. I looked at the thread on here for it but i didn't see any directions as to how to go about actually installing it.

Anyone? I'm sure this has been answered before - if someone can just give me the link to the thread i'll go read it. I just haven't had any luck finding the answer on my own.

once you have done unrevoked you should be good to flash roms youc an verify this by looking in the bootloader to see if it shows S off at the top.
To flash a rom first download what ever rom you want and place it on your sd card. boot to recovery and wipe dalvik, data and cache. then select install zip from sd. navigate to the rom and select it and you should flash the new rom. go back and select reboot phone. it will boot up and will take longer then it normally does while it does its magic and you should then boot to the new rom.
Clockwork will not be changed by the rom so no worries there and you can easily restore it by going to the same option you did to make the back up you should see restore. select the back upa nd poof your on your way.

Thanks a lot for the info omega. It does indeed show S-OFF at the top of the boot loader screen.
So just to be clear:
i go into the boot menu, go into recovery, select
wipe data/factory reset
wipe cache partition
advanced - wipe dalvik
and then do install zip from sdcard (after i've uploaded the rom zip file)
oh and one last question - if i want to restore it to what i have now, do i just use clockwork to restore the backup i made? or do i have to flash the original rom on there first?
Thanks again for the info

I use rom manager on market, no issues other than the fresh rom link gives an error, its updated often for other roms
sent from my 18 wheeler driving down the highway with XDA app

NewZJ said:
I use rom manager on market, no issues other than the fresh rom link gives an error, its updated often for other roms
sent from my 18 wheeler driving down the highway with XDA app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i saw a few people mention that but i also saw a few people mention having problems with it, so i thought it best/safer if i did it myself. Or at least i should know how to do it myself in case using something like rom manager doesn't work.

for the manual way you are spot on with the instructions, to restore you won't need to wipe, just nandroid> restore
sent from my 18 wheeler driving down the highway with XDA app

ok cool, thanks for the help

Root guide and rom manager?

Is there a basic guide for rooting the epic?
I've rooted my droid a while ago, and loved the rom manager...
is there rom manager support?

Yea there is man. Go to the development thread and one of the stickies is for the wiki development page. That will have the basics and link you to the needed pages with directions. The rom manager we use on epic is clockwork recovery rom manager. Its simple to use and easy to install. Read up though first.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

Just look at my post. Works perfect
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

If you go to the general forum, which is where you posted this, and click on:
Samsung Epic 4G Wiki - CLICK HERE AND USE THIS BEFORE POSTING
Its in there.

problem backing up my current ROM
everytime I use ROM Manager to backup my current ROM it goes to Recovery and then when I reboot the phone nothing shows up my Manage and Restore backups in ROM Manager.
Any thoughts?
Bj

Use backup and restore within cwm, not rom manager.

But you should be able to do this from ROM manager, right?

and what is cwm, i'm new at all this

Rom manager sucks for the epic. You need to use a custom kernel to use rom manager. It won't flash cwm for you on stock kernel.

Bj do you have cwm installed? Clockwork mod is a custom recovery mod. You use to NAND backup, flash, partition, clear battery stats and mire. You can only install it from a pc.

Maybe I'm slow
Maybe I'm slow here.... walk me through this.
I rooted my phone.
I have ROM Manager, which does include cwm. I purchased the paid app for ROM manager, but nothing seems to work, when i try to back up my phone boots to recovery and nothing is saved. when I search for new roms none show up.
I'm using a mac at home, but i rooted my phone on my work pc.
Please help me be able to install custom roms (froyo). please define terms and provide links if possible.
Bj

You rooted your phone good but rom manager will not flash clockwork for you. It says it dies but it won't. The only way to get cwm is to run the one click root plus clockwork. If yo turn your phone off and hold power, camera, and volume down what does the text look like. If you see blue writing and like 4 options that is the stock recovery. If it's green with a good bit of options that is what you want for flashing roms. But the new version of cwm3 is out and that is orange writing. For flashing all you do is put the rom on the root of the sd card, boot into cwm, wipe cache, data, and dalvik three times each. Then go to install zip from sd card, choose zip, and scroll till you find the rom on the sd card and hit the camera button to flash it.

the_bj said:
Maybe I'm slow here.... walk me through this.
I rooted my phone.
I have ROM Manager, which does include cwm. I purchased the paid app for ROM manager, but nothing seems to work, when i try to back up my phone boots to recovery and nothing is saved. when I search for new roms none show up.
I'm using a mac at home, but i rooted my phone on my work pc.
Please help me be able to install custom roms (froyo). please define terms and provide links if possible.
Bj
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
musclehead84 said:
You rooted your phone good but rom manager will not flash clockwork for you. It says it dies but it won't. The only way to get cwm is to run the one click root plus clockwork. If yo turn your phone off and hold power, camera, and volume down what does the text look like. If you see blue writing and like 4 options that is the stock recovery. If it's green with a good bit of options that is what you want for flashing roms. But the new version of cwm3 is out and that is orange writing. For flashing all you do is put the rom on the root of the sd card, boot into cwm, wipe cache, data, and dalvik three times each. Then go to install zip from sd card, choose zip, and scroll till you find the rom on the sd card and hit the camera button to flash it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Basically, do what he said. But, to run most of the Froyo ROMS, you need a DK-28 modem. Now, I'm not the one to provide the information to what that is, but all I know if that you need it.
Directions taken from BThomas22x (the maker of VIPEROM which is what I use):
As for use of Odin, It's actually a lot easier than it seems. I'll give you a quick runthrough.
1. Download and extract Odin, as well as the Modem and PIT files. (You DO NOT flash the ROM through Odin, The ROM is flashed through Clockwork.)
2. Open Odin. At this point, you have to put your phone in download mode. To do so, simply hold the number 1 on the keyboard, and the power button at the same time. Once in download mode, plug the USB cable into the phone. Only plug the phone in AFTER Odin is up and running or Odin won't pick up the phone.
3. Navigate to where you downloaded the modem and pit files and place the PIT file where it says "PIT" and the modem.bin file where it says "phone".
4. On the left side there is an options box. Make sure that "reboot" is the ONLY thing that's checked.
5. Now you're ready to flash the new modem. (Remember, the modem does NOT need to be downloaded, it's just a bonus feature) Hit start and allow it to run through it's process. When finished, the block above the port that your USB is showing will turn either green or red for pass or fail. At this point I haven't heard of anyone failing.
When Odin is done doing it's thing, it will automatically reboot the phone for you. Then you're setup with the new modem!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Head over to http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=864445 if you need more help/the download links don't work.
Now, that's the DK-28 modem. YOU NOW MUST USE ROMS WITH THE DK-28 MODEM! I'm pretty sure most of the 2.2 (Froyo) ROMs use DK-28, but someone might want to double check me. It's good to learn how to use Odin anyway since it's your way out if you brick your phone.
I think I was going to include something else, but I'm too tired to remember... lol. Just send me a PM if you need any more help and I'll get back to you later tomorrow or just keep posting here.

Odin gave me a pass.
Now where do I go to get my ROM, can I still use ROM manager or should I go another route?
THanks!

the_bj said:
Odin gave me a pass.
Now where do I go to get my ROM, can I still use ROM manager or should I go another route?
THanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And also what is the best way to back up my current ROM now?

Forget ROM manager.
Get your roms from the dev forum.
Put them on your sdcard where you can find them.
Flash them with clockwork.
The best way to back up your current rom is to select "backup" from within clockworkmod. It will not, however, backup your kernel. The easiest way to restore a backup is to reflash the original rom, then advanced restore->restore data in cwm.
The only way to get cwm is to run the one click root plus clockwork.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That isn't the only way, but it is definitely the easiest if you aren't comfortable fiddling around with a command line on your phone.

DiGi760 said:
Forget ROM manager.
Get your roms from the dev forum.
Put them on your sdcard where you can find them.
Flash them with clockwork.
The best way to back up your current rom is to select "backup" from within clockworkmod. It will not, however, backup your kernel. The easiest way to restore a backup is to reflash the original rom, then advanced restore->restore data in cwm.
That isn't the only way, but it is definitely the easiest if you aren't comfortable fiddling around with a command line on your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If i've already rooted can I still use one click root plus CWM and do you have a link for where I can get it?

Yes the one click will still work. It will check if you have root and skip the exploit when it isn't needed. It will then proceed to install busybox, the reidirector, and clockworkmod.
You can find the one-click version 2.5.5 in the dev forum. It is one of the stickies at the top of that forum.

DiGi760 said:
Forget ROM manager.
The best way to back up your current rom is to select "backup" from within clockworkmod. It will not, however, backup your kernel. The easiest way to restore a backup is to reflash the original rom, then advanced restore->restore data in cwm.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow. So this is why my data restores never work...? lol I always get f/cs after I restore something. Thanks for this!

[Q] Installing a rom

Ok, completely new with this. I did a basic root, got superuser cwm and busybox from my understanding. I used Samsung Galaxy Toolkit v7.0.0
I would like to install the MoAR onto my phone. But I'm not 100% sure how to do so. I have Odin v3.4, I was going to do it as a PDA file. But I don't see anything that says it's a .tar file.
If someone could point me in the right direction, or a video would be great.

jrodcamaro said:
Ok, completely new with this. I did a basic root, got superuser cwm and busybox from my understanding. I used Samsung Galaxy Toolkit v7.0.0
I would like to install the MoAR onto my phone. But I'm not 100% sure how to do so. I have Odin v3.4, I was going to do it as a PDA file. But I don't see anything that says it's a .tar file.
If someone could point me in the right direction, or a video would be great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm going to assume you're able to boot into a custom recovery (CWM). I persoanlly use TWRP, but either will work well for this. If you can't go through the root process again, based on qbking77's thread. Check out the videos and learn how to use Odin to gain root and a custom recovery. (always good to take a refresher course).
Here are directions on how to flash a Rom below. The instructions will be for TWRP, but CWM has similar options/settings
Make sure the zip of the Rom you downloaded is on your externalSD Card or the root directory of your internal memory.
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 a certainty that at least 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, as you never know exactly what might be left over from your old Rom (especially when going from 4.1.X to 4.2.X or vice-versa).
Also while in the Wipe menu, wipe Cache and Dalvik Cache (can't hurt).
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.
MOAR rom already installed. If, in the future, you flash an AOSP Rom, 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 (such as the MOAR Rom) 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!

I could tell you but from what you're asking, honestly I think it's better not to and to force you to read a lot more. I am pretty new to this stuff too, joined this site in like march but I did about 3 weeks worth of reading before I rooted and flashed my first ROM. I'm not trying to be mean here but the question you're asking will be the least of your worries once you read a little more. I recommend you read this Q&A thread, it's also at the top of the Q&A forum.
Edit: It seems good guy topherk here gave you the info, I stand by what I said though, from a fellow newbie to another

jrodcamaro said:
Ok, completely new with this. I did a basic root, got superuser cwm and busybox from my understanding. I used Samsung Galaxy Toolkit v7.0.0
I would like to install the MoAR onto my phone. But I'm not 100% sure how to do so. I have Odin v3.4, I was going to do it as a PDA file. But I don't see anything that says it's a .tar file.
If someone could point me in the right direction, or a video would be great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Download the rom on your pc and transfer it to your sd card or internal sd card on your phone. Don't put the rom zip file in any folders as it's easier to find, commonly referred to as the root of your sd card. Power off your phone if your still on stock, after it shuts down hold the volume up button+the home button and then hold power button, this will take you to your custom recovery. First thing to do once in your recovery is make backup of your current rom, make sure you have at least 3GB free space on either your sd or internal sd, some backups can be even bigger, if you don't have space it should tell you. After your backup is done, wipe cache, dalvik cache, factory reset and then flash your rom, after it's done and you see it was successful, fix permissions and reboot...you should be good to go at that point. If all is running well you can boot back into cwm, select restore and only restore /data, to get all your apps and their data back, fix permissions again and reboot. You can use titanium backup or my backup root /pro to restore apps and data but personally I don't prefer those methods. If you have any issues, restore your backup and try again.
I see I was slow again as topherk said everything and then some lol...still posting this just in case it helps at all.
Edit; just to throw it out there I'll tell you how I do things, once your more experienced this could make flashing roms, kernels, tweaks ect, easier. I always make a backup first before I switch roms. Then I simply wipe cache, dalvik cache, flash new rom and fix permissions....reboot and enjoy, this is known as a dirty flash, some roms don't dirty flash well, some work great.
Also I always 100% of the time download roms, kernels ect straight from my phone, never had a bad download that I'm aware of, I don't check md5 sums, I just verify the size of the dl matches what I dl'd. My dl's go to my download folder on my ext sd card so when I go into recovery, I know to look in my download folder on the ext sd card.
Other things to note about dirty flashing if you choose to do it, figure out your rom issues quietly and it can't hurt to try dirty flashing if you always remember rule#1.....make a backup first. If you get stuck in a boot loop, just pull the battery, put it back in and 3 button boot to recovery and restore your backup.

Yeah, the main reason I prefer a clean flash is that when people dirty flash, any and all problems will not be supported by the developer. And since the person is asking how to flash a Rom, I doubt that they'd know what to do with a FC. I'd prefer if they would do a clean flash until they get used to it. I do all my app backups in Titanium Backup, and even then I have to be careful not to restore something that might mess up the new Rom.
Anyways, I really liked your advice with the backups: if you're ever stuck in a bootloop, you can just restore your backup. I recently tried out a new Rom that I wasn't too fond of, and in a few minutes was back to my LiquidSmooth. No sweat.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app

Cyanogenmod 10.1.2 but setup stopped...

Ok I've been reading and reading these threads and have found a lot of great info. Right now my phone is useless so I guess I'm asking for a little more specific info for my current situtation. I used mskip's toolkit to root my phone then followed wwjoshdew's video on how to use goomanager to flash CyanogenMod 10.1.2. Everything seemed to be going fine when I got the spinning blue circle screen then came the "Unfortunately, setup wizard has stopped" and "Unfortunately, the process com.google.process.gapps has stopped". Over and over and over. I can get to download mode and recovery mode but not sure what my next coarse of action should be. This is on an AT&T galaxy s3 originally running 4.1.1. Thanks in advance to any and all help....

I wouldn't use goo manager to flash anything!! U should have flashed straight from recovery, be it cwm or twrp. Did u perform a nandroid backup before u flashed cyan? If so, I would wipe, factory data reset, and install your backup.

Have you tried reflashing Google Apps?
Reboot to recovery, clear cache/dalvik, reflash GApps, clear cache/dalvik again to be sure all is tidy.
Also be sure you have the correct version of GApps; that has messed me up at least once.
Other than that you can always retry the whole process i.e. CM and Apps

Thanks for the replies. I'll try and figure that stuff out. Only reason I've gotten this far was because I was following the toolkit prompts and did the steps in the video as he did them. This is the first time I've tried anything except updating to JB so...

Well, I can't say I've made any progress. I googled correct gapps for cm 10.1.2 and downloaded it but it's like a big collection of stuff that odin won't put in the PDA file spot. I'm not even sure if its the right one. I'm so lost right now. I see all these cwm and twrp recovery files in the toolkit files but not sure if they would help me or not. I know this is fixable since I can still get into recovery and download mode. At this point I would even just go back to stock at least that way I could get rooted again through the toolkit. I'm guess I'm such a noob that I need step by step. I feel like my right arm is missing not having a phone...

Ok I have 2 different versions of gapps that claim to be the right one. I would love to try flashing them to try them out but odin doesn't see them. What am I doing wrong?

Which recovery do u have installed on your phone?

For one dont use odin to flash any custom roms, first download the latest cyanogen mod and gapps, if you need the latest gapps you can get them here. Next you are going to want to boot to recovery and do a factory reset/full wipe then wipe cache/dalvik cache, next go to the top and select load zip from sd card, install cyanogen mod and gapps and reboot the phone.

Ok something different happened this time when I went into recovery. TWRP v2.3.3.1 showed up. I wiped the cache/Dalvik and did the factory reset from there. I have cm-10.1.2-d2att and gapps-jb-20130301-signed ready to copy somewhere. I opened the internal card and saw 8 or so icons that said local disk. so I created a new folder and put the cm and gapps files in there. Does that sound right?

Well that seems to have worked. Rebooted and went through all the google stuff. I'll test everything and see how it works

Glad u got it working!! I usually download Roms straight from my phone, over WiFi of course, and place on the root of the SD card, not in a folder, and flash from there...

One of my first ROM flashes, could you please double check?

Wow, what a ride I had with this phone.
Starting with the fact that the model of the phone was SGH-I747 with AT&T branding I then tried to flash a custom ROM for this model, of course everything went bad, we'll not everything, but I couldn't make any calls, see IMEI nubmer and so on.
Thanks to a very helping member of SGH-I747 board, audit13, I found out that my phone is in fact T-Mobile's SHG-T999. I was lucky enough and was able to restore stock ROM of this model.
Now everything works, but since I'm located in Europe I would like to flash stock ROM without all the T-Mobile useless (since I don't have this carrier in my country) apps.
I found this ROM, which seems to be the one best used to get as close to stock android as possible - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2501303
And I just wanted to make sure that I don't miss anything important.
Phone Data
Model: SGH-T999
Bootloader version: T999UVUENC2
Android Version: 4.3
I've rooted the phone using this guide - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1771687 and using March 2014 - 4.3 JellyBean.
Could someone please explain difference between -StockMOD Custom ROM- and -StockMOD ROM-? I understand that -StockMOD ROM- is completely based on Stock ROM, little to no changes. But how little are these changes, will I have all the T-Mobile apps?
Steps I'm planning to make
1. Backing up efs folder by copying it with Root Browser to SD card and then on my PC.
2. Installing Clockwork MOD and Flashing ClockworkMod Recovery option
3. Creating backup of current ROM with ClockworkMod
4. Downloading StockMOD Custom ROM 4.3 RLS2.1.zip from the thread mentioned above (I'm a bit worried that file name in the thread is different - StockMOD Custom ROM T999 4.3 RLS2.1.zip)
5. Unfortunately I don't see link to T999UVUEMJC modem anywhere.
6. Copying of ROM file and Modem file to SD card (Is it ok if my SD card is only 2GB? ROM is a bit over 1GB).
7. Rebooting into recovery from ClockworkMod
8. Selecting Wipe data/factory reset
9. Selecting Wipe Cache partition
10. Going to advanced and selecting Wipe davlink cache
11. Selecting Mounts and Storage and format /system
12. Installing modem zip (If I can find it)
13. Installing StockMOD Custom ROM 4.3 RLS2.1.zip (is it ok to have spaces in file name?)
14. Praying to God everythings works

You could follow this thread to backup your efs folder: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1804117
I suggest flashing CWM directly from Odin in download mode. I would not install it using an App from the play store. This is just my personal preference.
All of the other steps look fine.

viltnieks said:
....Now everything works, but since I'm located in Europe I would like to flash stock ROM without all the T-Mobile useless (since I don't have this carrier in my country) apps.
I found this ROM, which seems to be the one best used to get as close to stock android as possible - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2501303
....
Could someone please explain difference between -StockMOD Custom ROM- and -StockMOD ROM-? I understand that -StockMOD ROM- is completely based on Stock ROM, little to no changes. But how little are these changes, will I have all the T-Mobile apps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
StockMOD Custom has much (if not all) of the carrier branding removed. It has added some customization tweaks to the ROM; mainly XPosed App and Wanam XPosed Module. It also has a few other custom apps and features from newer Galaxy devices replacing the stock apps. It is themed to look like a Galaxy S5 instead of an S3.
The StockMOD ROM has very little removed; KNOX, Syscope, CarrierIQ, and maybe something else. Other than that it will look almost identical to what you now have, including all of the T-Mobile stuff. This one would match the filename in the thread title. It was created first and the StockMOD Custom was added to the thread afterwards, is my guess.
Steps I'm planning to make
1. Backing up efs folder by copying it with Root Browser to SD card and then on my PC.
2. Installing Clockwork MOD and Flashing ClockworkMod Recovery option
3. Creating backup of current ROM with ClockworkMod
4. Downloading StockMOD Custom ROM 4.3 RLS2.1.zip from the thread mentioned above (I'm a bit worried that file name in the thread is different - StockMOD Custom ROM T999 4.3 RLS2.1.zip)
5. Unfortunately I don't see link to T999UVUEMJC modem anywhere.
6. Copying of ROM file and Modem file to SD card (Is it ok if my SD card is only 2GB? ROM is a bit over 1GB).
7. Rebooting into recovery from ClockworkMod
8. Selecting Wipe data/factory reset
9. Selecting Wipe Cache partition
10. Going to advanced and selecting Wipe davlink cache
11. Selecting Mounts and Storage and format /system
12. Installing modem zip (If I can find it)
13. Installing StockMOD Custom ROM 4.3 RLS2.1.zip (is it ok to have spaces in file name?)
14. Praying to God everythings works
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would also suggest this post for backing up imei and other nvdata. Specifically the reboot nvbackup instructions.
Since you are on NC2 bootloader and modem(baseband) do not mess with changing your modem to MJC (step 12). You can confirm that it will work on NC2 in the second line of the changelog of StockMOD Custom thread (post #2)
Another thing: I see StockMOD Custom has an Aroma Installer. I have not used a ROM with this option. Aroma Installer will give you choices during the ROM installation, I can only guess what they are without installing the ROM. The choices probably entail choosing between the stock apps and the later Galaxy device apps; Note 3, S4, and S5.

Thank you, I'm feeling a lot more confident now.
I will definitely check those links on backing up efs folders/IMEI.

viltnieks said:
Thank you, I'm feeling a lot more confident now.
I will definitely check those links on backing up efs folders/IMEI.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're most welcome. I personally have used several of these methods, redundancy causes no harm.

dawgdoc said:
You're most welcome. I personally have used several of these methods, redundancy causes no harm.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had hoped that everything would go smoothly from this point, it is nothing serious, but I have encountered a small problem.
I followed instruction in the link you provided Part B, point 4, I booted into recovery mode in order to install Synergy Backup. Installation starts, then I get this:
Preparing device...
Setting up 7z
Backing up EFS if unlocked
***Not unclocked Skipping Backup***
Install from sdcard complete.
What is really strange is that after going back and selecting reboot system I get this option in CWM:
Root access possibly lost. Fix?
-No
-Yes - Fix Root (/system/xbin/su)
I verified with titanium backup and root checker that I have root access.

viltnieks said:
I had hoped that everything would go smoothly from this point, it is nothing serious, but I have encountered a small problem.
I followed instruction in the link you provided Part B, point 4, I booted into recovery mode in order to install Synergy Backup. Installation starts, then I get this:
Preparing device...
Setting up 7z
Backing up EFS if unlocked
***Not unclocked Skipping Backup***
Install from sdcard complete.
What is really strange is that after going back and selecting reboot system I get this option in CWM:
Root access possibly lost. Fix?
-No
-Yes - Fix Root (/system/xbin/su)
I verified with titanium backup and root checker that I have root access.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good news is that it caused no harm.
Confusing news is that that message was not caused by Part B, Point 4. I have seen that message before on my SGS3 but not my Captivate. On the SGS3 my custom recovery is TWRP not CWM. Also, I only did Part A, Point 2 on both devices. (The Captivate does have CWM as its recovery.) Fact is I have seen the message more than once, most of the time I selected the option to Fix. On the last time I selected No. I retained root on all occasions. I have seen others report seeing that message and I think it was from some action other than nvbackup. All this leaves me with no idea why it is happening.

dawgdoc said:
Good news is that it caused no harm.
Confusing news is that that message was not caused by Part B, Point 4. I have seen that message before on my SGS3 but not my Captivate. On the SGS3 my custom recovery is TWRP not CWM. Also, I only did Part A, Point 2 on both devices. (The Captivate does have CWM as its recovery.) Fact is I have seen the message more than once, most of the time I selected the option to Fix. On the last time I selected No. I retained root on all occasions. I have seen others report seeing that message and I think it was from some action other than nvbackup. All this leaves me with no idea why it is happening.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Coould it be related to the fact that I have data_1, data_2, data_3 folder in my root?
Also when I enter /storage/ I have a lot of folders like:
emulate
extSdCard
sdcard0
UsbDruveA
UsbDruveB
UsbDruveC
UsbDruveD
UsbDruveE
UsbDruveF

I guess this just isn't my lucky week.
I followed the steps mentioned above and install was successful, but I get no OS installed error.
Glad I made those backups...
EDIT:
For some reason the problem was with first file I downloaded in #2nd post StockMOD ROM named StockMOD Custom ROM T999 4.3 RLS2.1.zip
I then downloaded file from #3rd post StockMOD ROM named StockMOD ROM T999 4.3 v4.zip and was able to finish installation successfully. But as you said there is almost no change over the ROM I had before.

viltnieks said:
I guess this just isn't my lucky week.
I followed the steps mentioned above and install was successful, but I get no OS installed error.
Glad I made those backups...
EDIT:
For some reason the problem was with first file I downloaded in #2nd post StockMOD ROM named StockMOD Custom ROM T999 4.3 RLS2.1.zip
I then downloaded file from #3rd post StockMOD ROM named StockMOD ROM T999 4.3 v4.zip and was able to finish installation successfully. But as you said there is almost no change over the ROM I had before.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's possible you had a bad download of the StockMOD Custom ROM. Did you verify the checksum after the download, assuming one was provided in post #2 or the download site? You could always download it again, without verifying, and see if it works correctly the second time.
I just checked my file system and /storage has all of the folders you named with an additional folder, /container. All of the /UsbDrive folders and /container are empty folders on my device. I do not have any idea where they came from.

dawgdoc said:
It's possible you had a bad download of the StockMOD Custom ROM. Did you verify the checksum after the download, assuming one was provided in post #2 or the download site? You could always download it again, without verifying, and see if it works correctly the second time.
I just checked my file system and /storage has all of the folders you named with an additional folder, /container. All of the /UsbDrive folders and /container are empty folders on my device. I do not have any idea where they came from.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As it turns out I needed to install StockMOD ROM T999 4.3 v4.zip which is the custom ROM and then update it with StockMOD Custom ROM T999 4.3 RLS2.1.zip
At least that's what I did, now everything works.
Thank you very much for sticking with me during this
There is one last thing that bothers me, during these last few days, I have installed, uninstalled apps, flashed roms, created backups, etc. There probably is a lot of "junk" on the phone at the moment. Is there a way to erase everything and just flash that custom ROM? Like when you reinstall Windows, you format disk and just install a fresh version of windows.

viltnieks said:
As it turns out I needed to install StockMOD ROM T999 4.3 v4.zip which is the custom ROM and then update it with StockMOD Custom ROM T999 4.3 RLS2.1.zip
At least that's what I did, now everything works.
Thank you very much for sticking with me during this
There is one last thing that bothers me, during these last few days, I have installed, uninstalled apps, flashed roms, created backups, etc. There probably is a lot of "junk" on the phone at the moment. Is there a way to erase everything and just flash that custom ROM? Like when you reinstall Windows, you format disk and just install a fresh version of windows.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad to hear you have been able to get the ROM you want loaded.
The way to clear out all of the detritus would be accomplished while in your custom recovery. In addition to wiping /cache and /dalvik-cache you would also format /data and /system before flashing the ROM. Before doing that, make sure you save anything you wish to reuse to your computer, or at least to an external micro SDcard. Stuff to be saved off the internal SDcard would include your backups, rom zips, and any app apks you may have a hard time finding again; not just music and pictures.

dawgdoc said:
Glad to hear you have been able to get the ROM you want loaded.
The way to clear out all of the detritus would be accomplished while in your custom recovery. In addition to wiping /cache and /dalvik-cache you would also format /data and /system before flashing the ROM. Before doing that, make sure you save anything you wish to reuse to your computer, or at least to an external micro SDcard. Stuff to be saved off the internal SDcard would include your backups, rom zips, and any app apks you may have a hard time finding again; not just music and pictures.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much!