[Q] Q for Devs: Wiping 3x, flashing, and Odin - Epic 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Can any of the devs give a technical explanation on why this is necessary?
I am coming from the Sprint Hero phone and it seems like that phone went through a similar phase early on.
Originally, wiping and flashing a ROM seemed to be somewhat hit or miss and sometimes wiping mulitiple times and then flashing twice before starting the ROM the first time seemed to get it through a rough spot.
Now with the Epic, when switching one ROM family to another, the devs are typically saying that an ODIN is needed to get on that ROM family, then normal wiping and flashing from CWM works as expected as long as you stay within that ROM family.
SOOOO.. my question is... Why is that? Is CWM still too green on this phone to properly clear everything that is needed? Does a flash not write to every memory address that is needed?
No griping on my part, just honest curiosity both for why it happens, what if anything is being done, and how it is even diagnosed.

<Bump> Please? I'm not asking to be smart. I'm asking to get smart. Educate me and hopefully others on the issues you are encountering. It would be interesting to hear.

Odin is only necessary to flash Modems when switching roms with different android versions (EC05 for Froyo, EF02 for Gingerbread etc.).
The reason for this is differences in how Samsung handles their Modem files vs other devices.

Wiping cache and dalvik is important because, when flashing a rom over another rom that's installed. The data from the previous installation tends to linger, which could cause some major issues. May even brick your device. Think of it as a bad kidney transplant. Incompatibility could brick your life. You figga dill me?
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App

And the reason for the 3X wipe was because the ported Clockwork Mod was not perfect and did not clean everything the first time. I believe that has been fixed in the newer version so that once is sufficient.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

Related

Rom Flashing Question

does it matter if i flash my phones rom deleting the old one..
basicly...
If i change the rom 1x - 10,000x will the phone still run the same or does it eat up memory and force phone to lag
razr315 said:
I'm not sure exactly what you mean, but I will attempt to answer what I understood.
I would recommend a nandroid backup before flashing anything over the current rom. Especially stock.
I would also do a full wipe before flashing another rom.
Does this answer your question at all?
Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I asked..
Does it matter how many times you flash your phone if you wipe does it leave residual memory to eat up and lag your phone or does it not affect it at all
razr315 said:
Oh yeah, that's a good question. Id like to know that myself seeing as how I flash mine about 20 times a day...lol
Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe it does when I went into recovery I clean not only the factory wipe but also the cache wipe but i'd be curious to know more
i have not ever noticed any issues with flashing multiple ROMs, as long as you are wiping then you should be fine and no residual issues will be found, if you choose not to wipe you will likely end up in a boot loop, or a "brick" as some call it, but those are fixable with a wipe and reflash. if someone wants to correct me then great something new i learned, but i flashed almost every ROM for the G1 and never had any issues so long as i wiped the phone
tubaking182 said:
i have not ever noticed any issues with flashing multiple ROMs, as long as you are wiping then you should be fine and no residual issues will be found, if you choose not to wipe you will likely end up in a boot loop, or a "brick" as some call it, but those are fixable with a wipe and reflash. if someone wants to correct me then great something new i learned, but i flashed almost every ROM for the G1 and never had any issues so long as i wiped the phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the G1 might be a bit different then the Slide hence the question
but thankyou for your input
Probobly just cache I wipe everything just in case
Sent From My R..r..r..rooted MyTouchy Sliderz

[Q] Updating from v1.1 to 1.3[ERA]{UpDated 9/2} EH17 Hurricane ROM 1.3

I installed Hurricane v1.1 yesterday and now v1.3 is out...do I have to wipe my DATA 3x just to install the upgrade or can I just wipe cache/Dalvik 3x?
I'm not trying to be a d!ck about it, I just want to make sure I don't do any unnecessary wiping in the upgrade process.
Thanks in advance!
If the creator didn't specify then I would post on his thread
I wouldn't update if I had no problems
First back up then install without wiping
If you have problems wipe the reflash
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium
I'd *love* to post on his thread, but I haven't posted enough yet and the forum knows that.
Since I previously owned a Moment and then (for a hot minute) a Transform before my Epic, I was much more active over on SDX. For whatever reason, though, they don't seem to be as actively developing for the Epic over there.
Well, piffle!
Went ahead and tried to update to v1.3 without wiping my data and discovered that the ROM wipes the data for me anyway (!).
I'm sure it was done to prevent problems, I just wish there was a way to update the ROM without wiping the data.
After all that, if Sprint releases something as final that's later than EH17 (i.e., EI04 or something), I'll be EXTRA-bitter.

[please sticky] Gonna flash an ICS build? Check here before you brick yourself!

Due to an error in the kernels we've been flashing to our devices, a lot of users have been experiencing a FULL BRICK. Full brick meaning you may as well play golf with your phone, it's dead.
I've been told there is a fix, BUT YOU MUST NOT FLASH ANYTHING FROM CWM. The bug is originating from flashing a corrupt kernel from CWM or mobile ODIN.
Here's a cut from the article:
Thanks to XDA Elite Recognized Developer Entropy512, we have learned that most devices that are receiving leaks are at a very high risk of never waking up after a flash. It turns out that there is a major bug in the leaked ICS kernel that affects the /data partition in the eMMC chip, which apparently gets corrupted during certain operations such as wiping and flashing. This was originally believed to be affecting only operations performed in custom recoveries such as CWM. However, there have been reports of hard bricks being produced from the flashing from stock recoveries as well. The affected devices are:
All Epic 4G Touch (SPH-D710) ICS leaks
All Galaxy Note (GT-N7000) ICS leaks
The AT&T Galaxy S II (SGH-I777) UCLD3 leak – and probably all others
Korean SHW-M250S/K/L official releases and any kernel built from their source
Entropy and other devs have posted several warnings scattered throughout the site, in which they explain in detail what is happening. Our suggestion is that users should stay away from flashing ICS from leaks until the bug in the kernel has been completely fixed—unless of course, you are looking to hard brick your device. Remember, this is not something that can be resurrected via Unbrickable Mod or even via JTAG, as this is a firmware error in the eMMC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just like you, I don't wish to brick my E4GT. xST4T1K has posted a comprehensive guide to find your options on removing the affected ICS kernels from your device, and hopefully resulting in you not bricking the crap out of your phone. Go check this page: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1525495
I DO NOT take credit for finding this bug, credit goes to Entropy512 and XDA TV's EGZTHUNDER1 for alerting me of this bug. I have safely removed the affected ICS kernel from my phone and custom builds, now it's your turn.
The only reason I'm requesting a sticky in the wrong forum (Yes, I know I posted in the development branch) is because most users won't know about these affected kernels before trying their newly rooted E4GT into some ICS bling.. Next thing you know, you've got a two day old brick with a shiny screen.
Please, once again, GO TO THIS PAGE and explore the options of returning your phone back to dry land.
As a reminder, DO NOT FLASH ANYTHING FROM CWM OR MOBILE ODIN.
While I have heard that flashing a non-ICS kernel from ODIN has fixed these issues, we're looking more into that now.. I have alerted xST4T1K of this, and we'll get back to you with confirmed results.
Safe flashing, XDA members.
Maybe this sticky from the general forum should just be moved over to here.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=23149990
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2
Weve kinda known this for a while now since the February leaks... js. Still, safe flashing everyone lol.
first off, many have been warned by all the devs, myself and other users since these unlocked recoveries came out and then the repacked recoveries started up again...
USE CALKULIN'S FORMAT ALL OR CALKULINS MODIFIED FORMAT ALL, to do any wiping...
DO NOT WIPE FROM STOCK OR CWM RECOVERIES...
If you do what is said above, you won't brick your device.
Why do you wipe from the stock when all you have to do is flash 1 file to do it all for you?
NOW again....
USE CALKULIN'S FORMAT ALL OR CALKULINS MODIFIED FORMAT ALL, to do any wiping...
DO NOT WIPE FROM STOCK OR CWM RECOVERIES...
Quite Easy.
In the end, it's called following directions.
Edit: just to clarify... Wiping cache/dalvik cache from stock or cwm repacked recoveries is safe.
The issue is Wiping Data (Don't use the option)
bigpeng said:
first off, many have been warned by all the devs, myself and other users since these unlocked recoveries came out and then the repacked recoveries started up again...
USE CALKULIN'S FORMAT ALL OR CALKULINS MODIFIED FORMAT ALL, to do any wiping...
DO NOT WIPE FROM STOCK OR CWM RECOVERIES...
If you do what is said above, you won't brick your device.
Why do you wipe from the stock when all you have to do is flash 1 file to do it all for you?
NOW again....
USE CALKULIN'S FORMAT ALL OR CALKULINS MODIFIED FORMAT ALL, to do any wiping...
DO NOT WIPE FROM STOCK OR CWM RECOVERIES...
Quite Easy.
In the end, it's called following directions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So my question is... What about flashing mod's that require only wiping cache and dalvik??? I guess I've been lucky with wiping cache and dalvik from cwm recoveries but does this mean no more mod's until source is released???
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2
bigpeng said:
first off, many have been warned by all the devs, myself and other users since these unlocked recoveries came out and then the repacked recoveries started up again...
USE CALKULIN'S FORMAT ALL OR CALKULINS MODIFIED FORMAT ALL, to do any wiping...
DO NOT WIPE FROM STOCK OR CWM RECOVERIES...
If you do what is said above, you won't brick your device.
Why do you wipe from the stock when all you have to do is flash 1 file to do it all for you?
NOW again....
USE CALKULIN'S FORMAT ALL OR CALKULINS MODIFIED FORMAT ALL, to do any wiping...
DO NOT WIPE FROM STOCK OR CWM RECOVERIES...
Quite Easy.
In the end, it's called following directions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In a world where users flash before they research, common sense doesn't have a stronghold.
DjKurt said:
So my question is... What about flashing mod's that require only wiping cache and dalvik??? I guess I've been lucky with wiping cache and dalvik from cwm recoveries but does this mean no more mod's until source is released???
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The issue is from Wiping Data from stock and cwm recoveries, you can wipe cache and dalvik with no worries. Those don't mess with partitions.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
You may be able to flash wipe mods and such but imsince I bricked mine doing just that. I will not flash anything in an ics recovery. I will Odin modems and will flash roms and kernels in one session and that is always coming from stock GB. Take for what its worth. Not saying the above mentioned ways aren't worth noting. But flashing the format script in blue cwm while on ICS is what bricked me.
scarmon25 said:
You may be able to flash wipe mods and such but imsince I bricked mine doing just that. I will not flash anything in an ics recovery. I will Odin modems and will flash roms and kernels in one session and that is always coming from stock GB. Take for what its worth. Not saying the above mentioned ways aren't worth noting. But flashing the format script in blue cwm while on ICS is what bricked me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That sucks, sorry to hear that...
I was one of the first to test cwm repacked recoveries for agat63 since FE10 and have flashed 37 times to and from different roms and done backups and restores countless times and I've been fine.
I haven't been fearful of any bricks since I tested these repacked kernels.
Hope it does get figured out once source hits though.
Edit: btw what kernel (with or without cwm repack?) did you brick in?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
It was back when CM9 first was released. I was using the el26 cwm kernel to flash. I was on one of the ice builds I can't remember. I odined the kernel cwm combo el26 and then ran a format all and flashed cm9 and ggot the blue light special haha
Its all good though. I have read alot of info in this including the one mentioned. One thing that was mentioned in one of them is that the bug had been triggered be deleteing a large file off the internal memory. That worried me. So I've been weary of ICS builds since. The fact that the issue seems to be that info getting wrote to a certain block of the emmc has me worried that it could be triggered by more then wiping of flashing. I have ran agats ROMs and I have to say he seems to be doing something right. Whether it is because he is staying TouchWiz or what for some reason his users seem tto not have many issues. But just keep in mind that it may not just be kernel/recovery related.
Safe flashing is key and I never want to see someone brick. Just be careful in whatever you do.
Sorry, I haven't had much of a chance to update my thread lately but I will soon. With all the leaks that were consistently being released, it wasn't feasible to update it every other day. The thread already has everything you need to know about bricking so I figured if you couldn't figure out how to prevent a brick with the information given, then you should probably buy an IPhone and never attempt flashing in the first place.
xST4T1K said:
Sorry, I haven't had much of a chance to update my thread lately but I will soon. With all the leaks that were consistently being released, it wasn't feasible to update it every other day. The thread already has everything you need to know about bricking so I figured if you couldn't figure out how to prevent a brick with the information given, then you should probably buy an IPhone and never attempt flashing in the first place.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I couldn't have said it any better, my friend!
As far as those who've bricked their phones, it is truly unfortunate.. Google themselves has been brought into light on this situation, and are working to correct this issue in the kernels that they've been adding in with their firmware.
As far as your useless phones go.. Try filing for an insurance claim, I guess! NOT my professionally recommended advice.. But IF someone were to have stolen that useless phone of yours and you were to never see it again.. Well, who am I to say that's not a reason to get a replacement from asurion! Lol!
By the way, xST4T1K.. Bumped you thanks count up a little more.
Thank goodness I ran into these threads before I decided to flash anything else.. Been running a solid ICS rom for a few weeks, now. But I'd rather get back to safe land on GingerBread Island and use Apex Launcher. Wouldn't care for the huge difference in the settings menu. Would miss the lockscreen, though.. Not aiming my finger at an unlock tab has gotten habitual!
crazy.. not sure i agree with this thread.. its scaring people away from trying awesome roms.. if you search in any ics rom or aosp ics rom you hear little about people bricking there phones.. there are clear instructions to install and if you dont know what your doing and cant follow instructions dont do it or you will have a brick. ive been on ics since the first leak and have had to odin many times after a "soft brick" from me not following instructions but its simple.. dont format data on any ics kernel/cwm and you'll be fine..
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA
elliwigy said:
crazy.. not sure i agree with this thread.. its scaring people away from trying awesome roms.. if you search in any ics rom or aosp ics rom you hear little about people bricking there phones.. there are clear instructions to install and if you dont know what your doing and cant follow instructions dont do it or you will have a brick. ive been on ics since the first leak and have had to odin many times after a "soft brick" from me not following instructions but its simple.. dont format data on any ics kernel/cwm and you'll be fine..
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would never want to scare anyone away from trying these great builds on XDA. What I do want though is to make people aware that no matter how many tines you flash something. Always treat the flash your about to do as if it was your first. Sometimes we get to comfortable in what we're doing. We have to remember that this is a pretty expensive device and if something happens you may be buying a new one outright. Not everyone has insurance or can throw out that kind of cash. Do safe flashing practices and make sure you read the OP. When flashing leaked software make sure to flash from stock or the most current OEM released build such as EL29 in this case. Verify the right files are in the right slots of Odin. Make sure you're flashing files in the right sequence when in a custom recovery. Thing like that. I believe in the openness of android and never want to see anyone say they aren't going to flash something because they are scared. With the right ammount of reading and precautions. There is no reason to be scared.
Just for example. And this is not an exaggeration. Between this phone,my wife's phone, my last phone, my wife's last phone, and numerous friends phones. I have well over 200+ flashes. I have only had one actual brick. And that brick was because I got too comfortable in what I was doing. So, odds are if you take tthe time to do it right. You will succeed. Also.
i cant figure out why this is not locked yet....
i agree scarmon.. you said it better than i could.. if i wasnt tech savvy and i read the op i would have been scared away.. it says in all caps not to flash in cwm and says many have experienced bricks.. it can be worded differently but its freedom of speech.. when the initial leak came out and we had rogue ics kernels and the LOSt kernel we werent sure why people were having bricks until we figured out what was causing it.. we've known this for a while and since then hard bricks have dropped drastically.. and every single developer insisted not flashing from ics kernels and every rom has a disclaimer in the op for this reason.. only bricks ive read have been user error for a while ie. unplugging device during odin flash or battery dieing during mobile odin flash etc.. plus this is in the dev thread.. right now most people come here for ics roms since thats what devs are working on.. and many have gone safely back to gingerbread many times.. the ics roms have hundreds of thousands if not millions of hits and how many posts about hard bricks?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA
I've been flashing ICS roms since FB17 and haven't had any bricks. I've been making sure to only flash things from EL26 and it's been smooth sailing.
Now I'm running the most recent AOKP and it's running very well.
Your credit is pretty thin too. Entropy is a big name in this issue but him and some random dude that apparently notified you very very late about this issue doesn't even cover half of it.
The front page news on the issue was pretty late as well. Just lets the general population know about it.
ijoshv2 said:
While I have heard that flashing a non-ICS kernel from ODIN has fixed these issues, we're looking more into that now.. I have alerted xST4T1K of this, and we'll get back to you with confirmed results.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its things like this "While I have heard" that is the problem with your post. That and begging for a sticky, talk to a moderator if you feel its important.
Flashing a non-ics kernel through ODIN does not fix any issue. Flashing from a safe Kernel avoids the issue, If your on ICS flashing the GB Kernel from ODIN would be the safe method. Gingerbread as far as we have known and hundreds of flashes per person per hundreds of phones later. No one has been known to trigger the eMMC firmware bug though gingerbread. So yes flashing from a Gingerbread kernel as we have since the phone came out is the safest known way. You don't need anyone to tell you that.
You come in and say "Do not flash anything from CWM". This is inaccurate it suggests one can not flash from EG30+ CWM which has never been a known danger. Obviously EK02 would be more popular due to supporting full modems rather than patch. EL26 was the last to have true CWM which is why EL29 Rogue is less often suggested.
ijoshv2 said:
The only reason I'm requesting a sticky in the wrong forum (Yes, I know I posted in the development branch) is because most users won't know about these affected kernels before trying their newly rooted E4GT into some ICS bling.. Next thing you know, you've got a two day old brick with a shiny screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The danger is not in flashing ICS. The unknowing user is going to be flashing ICS from EL29 which is safe. The danger is after they are there, and they try a factory reset, or install a CWM or Unlocked Recovery Kernel and flash something, or flash an update.zip through stock recovery. Yes they need to know, the information should be accurate however.
If anyone wants details of this emmc firmware bug, there's some really knowledgeable people in this thread.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1644364
The info is very detailed, but these are the individuals to watch. OP if your serious about helping our community with this emmc bug, I hope you join in that conversation instead of asking to sticky this thread.
Sent from my SPH-D710

[GUIDE] Flashing ROMs correctly, every time

***original post copied verbatim******************************************************************
So I was rummaging around the dev section, QA, so forth. And I have seen numerous threads, questions, posts, where people have had issues with ROMs or just general left field issues that were resolved by going back to square 1 doing a fresh clean install of "rom.zip..
My goal with this thread is to contribute some insight and experience with customizing android devices in the way we all do... at square one, clicking the download button.... we also do not have a thread dedicated to this one subject alone, so here it is. I feel stickying this thread would be extremely useful, as so many people could see it right from the get-go and get valuable information from it. Also, I would recommend this be posted in the dev section as this is where people go to install ROMs, not the QA section. People go to QA after they have an issue. This is meant to be preventative, not a fix for an already broken device.
Just getting right into it, I will say this, I have flashed (I'm sure) damn near 1,000 ROMs to various devices. Mine. Friends. Etc. And never once have I installed a corrupt zip file to these devices. This should never happen, and among other important details to any installation of a ROM, this one is the most important...
VERIFY THAT YOUR DOWNLOADS ARE GOOD!
How do you do this??? Well I will show you... it is with this handy little app called md5 checker from the play store. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE OF US.... should have this app, guys (and gals, because I know you are out there it is a free app. No excuses
What is an MD5 checksum? Trusty link to get the gist of it.. http://www.fastsum.com/support/md5-checksum-utility-faq/md5-checksum.php
Making this simple - I will break this down into steps. Follow this meticulously and 99.9% of the time you will not have an issue or be one of the random bugs popping up when everyone else seems fine.
1. Download md5 checker.
2. Download all zip files needed for your ROM. (whether you do this from your mobile device or a desktop/laptop it doesn't matter, because you WILL verify the file AFTER you have transferred it to where it needs to be allocated - your device). Basically, download it, transfer it.
3. Open md5 checker, the app is pretty easy to use. Much like a file explorer in its layout with the obvious differences.
4. Retrieve md5 for your zip files.
5. Verify them with ROM developer, or others using that particular ROM. Any discrepancies - back to step 2.
6. All is well? Boot to recovery.
7. Wipe data 3 times (you don't need to wipe dalvik cache, that directory is found in the data partition - wiping data = wiping dalvik cache)
8. Wipe cache 3 times (this sometimes does not need to be done either depending on whether or not your recovery wipes cache with data.. most recoveries will spit out some text during the wiping phase letting you know the details of the process and you'll see see something like this when wiping data)..
"Wiping /data...
"Wiping /cache
If you see cache being wiped, you are good. No need to manually wipe cache.
9. Format your system partition through recovery 3 times
10. Install your ROM. Reboot. Let it sit for a minute or two, reboot it again. If you are not installing a custom kernel, stop here. You are done, and winning.
11. Reboot to recovery, wipe cache partition 3 times AND dalvik cache. They are both there as options, for this reason - the goodies we install after a full ROM install.
12. Flash kernel zip. Reboot. Let it sit for a minute or two, reboot it again. You are done, and winning.
Interesting fact about all the ROMs I have installed over the years, NOT ONCE, have I ever installed something corrupted, and every issue/bug I have ever had with a ROM was a known issue. This also doesn't mean your particular device is always going to be able to run for weeks on end without needing a quick reboot. Sometimes its good to do the dishes, I get that. But my disclaimer here is for all to note, if you follow these steps meticulously, you will ALWAYS be able to say to yourself with confidence "nope, did it right, there is something else going on here." And thus you will be a greater problem solver and contributor to the community as a whole every single time you pose a thought or question regarding any problems you are having.
"Do it right once, instead of doin it wrong twice before doing it right."
We are nothing useful without useful information. Useful information = posting in a thread in this tone...
"Hey, installed ROM correctly/thoroughly, verified downloads, XXX is buggy blah blah etc etc... can somebody else here verify if they are or aren't having this issue? Thanks!"
Based on people's response you'll know if it is just you or a legitimate issue, in which case, you brought it to the attention of us all, and the dev(s), and you have now been very useful.
What you don't want to do is this....
"My phone keeps rebooting!!! Haaaalp"
The reason why you shouldn't post like that is because you will ALWAYS get a sour response or people will just ignore you. Or, they will reply with questions you should have already asked yourself... "did you verify your downloads were good??? Did you do a clean and thorough install???"
Long post, but I hope somebody will find it useful and utilize it. It will increase your experience with your android device in a positive way, as it has for me. Cheers
posting a link to youtube would be an awesome way to show us noobs how to Exactly go about it also..when i had my captivate i flashed a rom called cognition,super easy following the guy on the video
What about other ROM's?
Can you show us how to flash ROM's from another carrier such as AT&T? There are a couple of ROM's I am really interested in trying out but have no luck doing so because of me not knowing what the heck I'm doing or how to do it. If you could post instructions that would be really nice.
Since I'm already rooted I can't make a video on how to root but ill make a how to flash a rom once you're rooted for the note 2 if you guys are interested
Interesting!
Next time I flash a ROM, I will wipe thrice, as you say.
But do you know why it is important to wipe thrice? Does the extra two times really do something additional to scrub the disc?
I am truly interested, and I would like more insight on *why*
Also, the dev for the Jedi ROM suggests fixing permissions after the first boot.
In my experience, this has led to better performance on other devices in addition to the GNII - perhaps that is also worth mentioning.
techn0crat said:
Interesting!
Next time I flash a ROM, I will wipe thrice, as you say.
But do you know why it is important to wipe thrice? Does the extra two times really do something additional to scrub the disc?
I am truly interested, and I would like more insight on *why*
Also, the dev for the Jedi ROM suggests fixing permissions after the first boot.
In my experience, this has led to better performance on other devices in addition to the GNII - perhaps that is also worth mentioning.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There has been debates forever about the wiping more than once theory. I have always done this out of habit. You could compare it rinsing a dish in the sink that has some food on it... you wash it once really quick... you see nothing on the dish... you throw it in the cabinet. Later you see some small smudging on it and end up cleaning it again. Same idea. Just being thorough. As I said in the OP I have always done it this way simply to be thorough. And I have never once been the rogue user with an isolated issue.
To answer your q about permissions, if the ROM dev suggests that for his ROM, do it. It is not always required. But if instructed to do so, it should be done.
Is there a reason why it suggests to wipe three times?
I think it may go back to floppy disk days, or hard disks possibly leaving "footprints" on it, old images or data but im not sure. Just a theory.
G●Note~2 {Jedi X5}
Yes please add a section to the OP about flashing roms from other carriers. The steps are identical, except you flash a modem. We onky have the one availabke now so its very easy. Keep in mind n7100 roms will not work, and n7105 roms need minor porting. But you can take any rom from the us variants and flash it. Reboot, let it sit a bit, etc, flash modem. Its very easy and the att forum seems to be getting more love anyway
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2
I don't promote people flashing ROMs that are not built for that specific device so I will not do it. Sorry.
krayzielilsmoki said:
Since I'm already rooted I can't make a video on how to root but ill make a how to flash a rom once you're rooted for the note 2 if you guys are interested
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you could unroot and then do a step by step vid. this guy is so good at explaining it,for example,,http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsafJ-9uRqk yeah i know its for the captivate,but i didnt know anything at all about rooting and flashing . i just followed him and iwas a happy man after being stuck on eclair cause at$t was so slow to update,,,any how just an idea,seems like alot of work but i think it would kill off many questions,i know i ask enough now as it is..lol
cobraboy85 said:
I don't promote people flashing ROMs that are not built for that specific device so I will not do it. Sorry.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to agree with this. If you need flashing instructions, flashing ROMs meant for other devices is probably not the best idea at this point.
G●Note~2 {Jedi X5}
This is great advice about the MD5 verification. Everyone should check before flashing, it will ensure you have a good download with 100% confidence. If the MD5 doesn't match, don't flash it! And if a developer doesn't provide an MD5 with each download, ask them to.
However, wiping three times (or any other number of times except one) is nonsense. Would you format a USB thumb drive 3 times? An external hard drive? Android partitions are no different.
If it makes you feel better to wipe multiple times, go ahead, it won't hurt anything. You're just wasting time.
^kind of agree with you there. I would ask anybody here why they wipe dalvik cache when flashing a kernel then, considering the /data/dalvik-cache/ partition is nothing more than dex opted files of all your apks. I will also say that recently I have gotten in the habit of never wiping dalvik when flashing a kernel and it has not made a single difference in stability.
... point I am trying to make is what you said here, if it makes you feel better, do it lol. Doesn't hurt anything.
Indeed, cache wipes are seldom needed too. In fact, a lot of flashable .zip files have scripts which wipe the appropriate partitions automatically anyway when you install them. I guess old habits die hard...
I would also add that after flashing a ROM and you reboot that ROM, for use, you should wait at least 10 minutes before doing ANYTHING with your phone. That will allow the phone to fully and properly build cache and dalvik cache.. after a flash I let my phone just sit for 20min. Doing this has saved me from lags and bugs.
First I just wanted to say great job to the OP on creating this thread. I also strongly believe that this type of post really should be in the Development section, and you definitely nailed the reasoning for it. I've always considered writing up a thread like this myself, but I never got around to it unfortunately (<--Procrastinator ). There's just a few thing's I'd like to chime in with because I really believe they can help people who are new to the world of rooting. First and foremost (imo) I strongly believe that insecurity plays a huge role in determining whether or not you'll be successful with rooting and Android in general. I completely understand that statement can be applied to almost anything in life, but there's a very good reason why it's especially true when it comes to rooting. It simply boils down to people not wanting to feel (or look) stupid, and it seriously impacts the way a person handles different situations. My advice is to be comfortable with saying "I don't know what I'm doing" and "It's most likely not working correctly because I missed something or I didn't follow the directions exactly". I am not saying that to be ignorant or joking whatsoever, because if you have little to no experience when it comes to this stuff, it's nothing more than the hard truth. It doesn't make you stupid if you don't know how to fly a jumbo jet if you've never done it before, so why would it make you stupid for not knowing how to root a phone if you've never done it before? It doesn't and that's the entire point. If you try flashing a rom and it doesn't boot up or something isn't working correctly, 99.999998 percent of the time it's because you messed something up along the way. Especially when you see tons of posts in the thread like "awesome rom" or "it works great", because it's WAY more likely that you messed something up, versus you happening to have the one messed up phone out of thousands that are working perfectly. That's not saying you're stupid or incapable of doing it, again it's nothing more than the hard truth. It's also not impossible for that to happen either because it has, but it's few and far in between whereas making mistakes or forgetting something is a frequent occurrence for all of us. I can't tell you how many times I've seen people complaining about how something didn't work right, when the vast majority aren't having those issues (or just the known issues). Those types of posts are another example of what you should never do, because in reality you're blaming everybody else since you're apparently incapable of making mistakes. You'll be surprised how many times a problem you're having will turn out to be from forgetting something, even though you were absolutely positive you've done everything correctly. Anyway I really think that accepting the fact that you don't know what you're doing (yet), can make it WAY easier to learn in the long run. One last thing that I'd recommend especially if you're new to this whole rooting world, is to get in the habit of making nand backups (especially before you flash anything) because the 5 minutes it takes to do one can save you hours of frustration. Hope this helps somebody anyway
Paragraphs man. They make reading easier by separating thoughts.
I'm sure what you have to say is insightful but a megablock of text is tough to get through.
Don't sell yourself short by making your posts impossible to ponder.
Hastily spouted for your befuddlement
True in most cases but in our case every lte note two in the world regardless of carrier is identical. the only differences are minor software ones.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2
I also think wiping three times is a waste of time. These devices are digital not analog (the plate analogy is much more fitting in the analog world). A wipe is a wipe, doing it more than once seems like voodoo to me .

Strange GS2 Flashing Issues

I want to start out saying that I am not a newbie at rooting and flashing roms. I have probably done it over 100 times.
I am having a particularly annoying problem getting my new Galaxy SII(Walmart prepaid one) from T-Mobile flashing properly. I have no issues rooting or installing recovery. I have actually tried TWRP and CWM. When I flash a rom, it either hangs at the boot screen or it will get to the setup menu and hang for about 5 minutes on each screen. I have tried superwipe and everything else I can think of to get it to work. I have done this with just about every rom I could get ahold of and have the same issue. I rooted my friends s2 a couple months ago and had no issues at all.
Please help and thanks in advance.
jasonmatty1 said:
I want to start out saying that I am not a newbie at rooting and flashing roms. I have probably done it over 100 times.
I am having a particularly annoying problem getting my new Galaxy SII(Walmart prepaid one) from T-Mobile flashing properly. I have no issues rooting or installing recovery. I have actually tried TWRP and CWM. When I flash a rom, it either hangs at the boot screen or it will get to the setup menu and hang for about 5 minutes on each screen. I have tried superwipe and everything else I can think of to get it to work. I have done this with just about every rom I could get ahold of and have the same issue. I rooted my friends s2 a couple months ago and had no issues at all.
Please help and thanks in advance.
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Click to collapse
One make sure internet is on so google can communicate with servers. Might be the hang issue. Two try wiping dalvik and partition after flashing new rom before you boot for the first time. Don't know if it'll help but just a thought.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk
I always wipe davik and cache partition. To me it seems like an issue that may be related to the inability to write to the system during boot.
I had a couple issues with boot hangs when I did my first custom ROM install and had the same issues doing the same with a friend's SII. I had to use the Darkside wipes at the time, but from what I've seen on the boards, they're not necessary with newer versions (>6) of CWM. It's been a while, but if I recall correctly, the key for me was first doing a full update with Kies (yea, I know, I know, PITA software, but it did help). Then pushing CWM with Odin, going through both Darkside wipes, and then finally applying the custom ROM (it was CM9 at the time).
If you can push newer versions of CWM, I guess the Darkside wipes aren't necessary anymore, as the CWM wipes work just fine.
Edit: I also ran a permission fix after applying the ROM but before trying the first boot. Shouldn't have made a difference, but I was going with the "nuke from orbit" approach to install.
GaidinBDJ said:
I had a couple issues with boot hangs when I did my first custom ROM install and had the same issues doing the same with a friend's SII. I had to use the Darkside wipes at the time, but from what I've seen on the boards, they're not necessary with newer versions (>6) of CWM. It's been a while, but if I recall correctly, the key for me was first doing a full update with Kies (yea, I know, I know, PITA software, but it did help). Then pushing CWM with Odin, going through both Darkside wipes, and then finally applying the custom ROM (it was CM9 at the time).
If you can push newer versions of CWM, I guess the Darkside wipes aren't necessary anymore, as the CWM wipes work just fine.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for everyone that helped. I put the rom on a sd card instead of the internal storage and it worked flawless.
Would anyone care to comment as to the best rom for the s2? I put Jedi Mind Trick on it.
jasonmatty1 said:
Would anyone care to comment as to the best rom for the s2? I put Jedi Mind Trick on it.
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Click to collapse
I've always been partial to Cyangenmod. If you're into tinkering, it's nice because it's got one of the larger user bases so when you mess something up, it's pretty easy to Google for fixes.
Jedi Jelly 4 or all star Rom v7.
~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~
Phone: Samsung Galaxy s2 T989 Hercules
Rom: Jedi Jelly 4
Kernel: Insecure Kernel
Radio: LB7 Blaze
~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~
I am going to try and make an app, if anyone wants help this beautiful talented celebrity in making it just message me!

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