Samsung Android Devices - How They Work - Samsung Epic 4G Touch

OK so I'm new to Samsung Android devices, I'm coming from an EVO 4G and an EVO 3D.
I'm confused on how they work. From what I understand, you can't install a recovery without messing with the kernal. Is that correct?
I mean is the recovery a part of the kernal? Or does the kernal contain the recovery?
And this "download mode counter" thing. I read that a guy made a device to reset it. Why is it there in the first place? Is there any other way to reset it?
Not to mention I'm rooted with stock kernal and no ClockworkMod recovery, and my WiFi is borked, it just says "obtaining IP address". I have no idea why it won't work on the stock kernal.
Sorry if this is a lot of questions at once, I'm just trying to get a grasp on how Samsung android devices work.
Any info to shed some light on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

spencer88 said:
OK so I'm new to Samsung Android devices, I'm coming from an EVO 4G and an EVO 3D.
I'm confused on how they work. From what I understand, you can't install a recovery without messing with the kernal. Is that correct?
I mean is the recovery a part of the kernal? Or does the kernal contain the recovery?
And this "download mode counter" thing. I read that a guy made a device to reset it. Why is it there in the first place? Is there any other way to reset it?
Not to mention I'm rooted with stock kernal and no ClockworkMod recovery, and my WiFi is borked, it just says "obtaining IP address". I have no idea why it won't work on the stock kernal.
Sorry if this is a lot of questions at once, I'm just trying to get a grasp on how Samsung android devices work.
Any info to shed some light on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For some reason Samsung put recovery and the kernel on the same partition. Once you flash a recovery you can flash a kernel through recovery and leave your recovery alone.
Download mode flashes are counted. Make or Buy (as low as $2.99) a "USB jig" to reset the counter. Ignore claims of a "counter reset counter"
My Wifi (and 4G, usually at the same time) would do the same thing after I screwed with enough settings I probably shouldn't be. I just did a nandroid of my setup, did a factory reset, wiped everything, flashed the stock-rooted-odex via odin and nandroid restored back my data partition and everything works. I don't know why, but it does...reliably.

spencer88 said:
OK so I'm new to Samsung Android devices, I'm coming from an EVO 4G and an EVO 3D.
I'm confused on how they work. From what I understand, you can't install a recovery without messing with the kernal. Is that correct?
I mean is the recovery a part of the kernal? Or does the kernal contain the recovery?
And this "download mode counter" thing. I read that a guy made a device to reset it. Why is it there in the first place? Is there any other way to reset it?
Not to mention I'm rooted with stock kernal and no ClockworkMod recovery, and my WiFi is borked, it just says "obtaining IP address". I have no idea why it won't work on the stock kernal.
Sorry if this is a lot of questions at once, I'm just trying to get a grasp on how Samsung android devices work.
Any info to shed some light on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Kernel is contained in the same partition as recovery. So, the kernel must be flashed at the same time.
Download Mode is pretty much a backup for recovery mode. If you completely wipe your phone 100% (include recovery, ROM), you still have a backup option to flash an entire STOCK ROM (or in some cases, custom ROMs) to bring your phone back from the brink of bricked. Most manufacturers, if not all, are using applications or scripts to keep track of rooted devices. Samsung implemented a binary change counter. Anything that's loaded on the phone through download mode will add a number to the counter.
I'm not sure why you're having to trouble with WiFi on stock (my stock experience was great before I rooted). I don't know if it's a modified "stock rom" or if you just rooted it by flashing the stock rooted kernel. We'd need more details on that.

spencer88 said:
OK so I'm new to Samsung Android devices, I'm coming from an EVO 4G and an EVO 3D.
I'm confused on how they work. From what I understand, you can't install a recovery without messing with the kernal. Is that correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes you are correct. Coming from an OG Evo myself
I mean is the recovery a part of the kernal? Or does the kernal contain the recovery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it is
And this "download mode counter" thing. I read that a guy made a device to reset it. Why is it there in the first place? Is there any other way to reset it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont know why its there in the first place but read further in development since there are a few ways to repair that. I read for days before getting the phone and actually rooting to make sure I knew what I was doing. Check here
Not to mention I'm rooted with stock kernal and no ClockworkMod recovery, and my WiFi is borked, it just says "obtaining IP address". I have no idea why it won't work on the stock kernal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What method did you use I used this

Thanks for the replies. I'm starting to get a handle on it.
@playya I didn't use that method. I'll try it and report back.
EDIT: @playya that worked! My wifi now works. The method I used before was I flashed the pulled-stock-kernal in one of these threads. I'll have to find it again.

Here's a question I thought of. I went to download the latest CWM recovery from clockworkmod.com and it's in a zip file. How do I load that onto this phone since there isn't a bootloader that can handle zip files? Or is it not possible without incorporating a kernal with it?

spencer88 said:
Here's a question I thought of. I went to download the latest CWM recovery from clockworkmod.com and it's in a zip file. How do I load that onto this phone since there isn't a bootloader that can handle zip files? Or is it not possible without incorporating a kernal with it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you have to flash a kernel that has cwm already in it, theirs no other way to flash a zip yet

OK here's another question I ran into, which has been somewhat frustrating. I rooted my phone using this method thanks to playya for the link:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1282415
That contains CWM 5.0.2.3
After that I flashed the LosT kernal, which contained CWM 5.0.2.7.
When I flash Starburst ROM (in recovery), it keeps reverting me back to CWM 5.0.2.3. How is this possible? I've never heard of flashing a ROM in recovery and it then changing the recovery!
So the backup I made on 5.0.2.7 will not restore when using 5.0.2.3, I just keep getting a MD5 mismatch error.
Is there any way to stop this from happening?

Related

[Q] tmobile OTA and rooted phone

i have a T989, rooted, Clockwork Mod, and installed some stock Android (sans bloatware) MOD.
i had updates set to automatic and am now being bugged to install the new TMobile update, which doesn't seem to be able to install with Clockwork, and i can't turn off the persistent Update prompts.
i've already bricked one GS2, and obviously fear doing it again. I wouldn't get another chance, i don't think. (i do have insurance on the phone, not sure if it would cover a rooted phone?)
what can someone tell me about the TMobile update and Clockwork, or whatever i need to do, go with the update or stop it somehow...?
thanks for your help.
Ota update requires stock recovery.
Grab one of the updated stock roms and flash via cwm. Then Odin the new baseband.
Sent from my SGH-T989
i think i have one of those stock roms - i chose one that was just 'the same thing but without some of the standard apps'. how can i check to see what rom i have...?
and what do you mean by baseband? the new update? is it already dl'd to my phone? i've searched through the phone's dirs (rooted File Explorere, i guess) and could not find anything...
sorry to be a pain - i can't brick another one, of course... (
is this what you mean by a 'stock updated rom':
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1312736 ?
glennnall said:
sorry to be a pain - i can't brick another one, of course... (
is this what you mean by a 'stock updated rom':
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1312736 ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, look for the KL1 release.
Baseband is your radio btw. Don't worry about the radio for now, just work on getting the rom flash.
Sent from my SGH-T989
ok, found Deodexed_KL1_T989 (T989UVKL1 by Whitehawkx) is that what i'm looking for? -
couple of questions:
he says on the post:
"DONT FLASH - add files to the zip in the app folder, then flash. Or usb connect drag to sd the use some rooted file explorer to place in system/app then reboot."
Flash or don't Flash? I'm transferring the zip to sd now, then i need to move it to system/app...?
once i've 'flashed' what do you mean "Odin the baseband"? i have Odin, used it last time...
thanks
GideonX said:
No, look for the KL1 release.
Baseband is your radio btw. Don't worry about the radio for now, just work on getting the rom flash.
Sent from my SGH-T989
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I flashed the ROM, now i have 2.3.6, and now i'm stuck with 2 OTA notifications, one states postponed, and choosing START for the update does nothing.
help?
I had the base load on mine with a bunch of stuff frozen and Clockwork on it (plus root)
I first unfroze all the stuff I had frozen, then ODIN'd back the stock recovery. Didn't touch anything else, then told the OTA to go ahead.
It updated just fine -- removed root of course. I then ODIN'd back the clockwork recovery and re-installed SU, then re-froze all the boatware.
Done in about 15 minutes -- no muss, no fuss, didn't lose anything.
Genesis3 said:
I had the base load on mine with a bunch of stuff frozen and Clockwork on it (plus root)
I first unfroze all the stuff I had frozen, then ODIN'd back the stock recovery. Didn't touch anything else, then told the OTA to go ahead.
It updated just fine -- removed root of course. I then ODIN'd back the clockwork recovery and re-installed SU, then re-froze all the boatware.
Done in about 15 minutes -- no muss, no fuss, didn't lose anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok, thanks - this is what i didn't understand - i can Odin back to Stock recovery?
for some reason Odin doesn't recognize my phone in download mode, but it does when i'm connected and the phone is on... any reason for this? i don't use odin in any means but download mode, right?
glennnall said:
I flashed the ROM, now i have 2.3.6, and now i'm stuck with 2 OTA notifications, one states postponed, and choosing START for the update does nothing.
help?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can probably clear this up by formatting /system in CWM. Then wiping cache and dalvik. Then flash the FL1 update. Hit advance, fix permissions and then reboot.
GideonX said:
You can probably clear this up by formatting /system in CWM. Then wiping cache and dalvik. Then flash the FL1 update. Hit advance, fix permissions and then reboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
did all this, nothing's changed. i'm unable to get Odin to see my phone in DL mode. when i boot into DL mode, the device manager shows an alert on my phone. in normal, the drivers work fine and Odin sees the phone.
damn.

How safe is clockworkmod recovery

Does clockworkmod overwrite the stock recovery? If it does then to me it is not a safe method to root a phone. If something goes wrong while flashing clockwork you will lose the stock recovery and can never reflash anything else. Is my understanding correct? This is why I am hesitant to root my phone. Please advice.
Thanks.
datzstr8 said:
Does clockworkmod overwrite the stock recovery? If it does then to me it is not a safe method to root a phone. If something goes wrong while flashing clockwork you will lose the stock recovery and can never reflash anything else. Is my understanding correct? This is why I am hesitant to root my phone. Please advice.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its fairly safe. You could always flash the recovery thru odin found here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1332103
Has anyone tried to flash clockwork and failed? What happened afterwards? I assume odin won't work anymore because it requires a recovery partition to work.
I guess what I am still confused about is if clockwork writes over the stock recovery or does it keep the stock recovery in-tacked. I would prefer the later since then you can never break your phone.
With my dilemma would it be best for me to not install clockwork and just use an insecure kernel? Thanks.
It does overwrite the stock recovery i believe. But its very safe to flash. Ive never heard of someone borking a phone installing cwm recovery.
I have literally NEVER had a problem with clockworkmod, it's one of the best pieces of mobile software I've ever used.
kabuk1 said:
I have literally NEVER had a problem with clockworkmod, it's one of the best pieces of mobile software I've ever used.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whole heartedly agree.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
datzstr8 said:
Has anyone tried to flash clockwork and failed? What happened afterwards? I assume odin won't work anymore because it requires a recovery partition to work.
I guess what I am still confused about is if clockwork writes over the stock recovery or does it keep the stock recovery in-tacked. I would prefer the later since then you can never break your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Odin has NOTHING to do with the recovery partition. ODIN only works in download mode on your phone. You can have a blank recovery partition and it'll still work, as well as the rom, and flashing other things too. The recovery partition stock has one function, to do a factory reset incase of problems. (Not to be confused with the one from inside android, that only formats /data. This one replaces the system partition as well.) CWM is very safe, I really wouldn't worry about it. Just follow the instructions carefully and you'll be fine.
Also, once you get cwm installed on there, I'd suggest doing a backup before you make any changes. Always handy to have your stock image at hand, just incase.
And also, even with stock recovery, you can still break your phone. It's not easy to brick a GS2, but it can be done. Just remember, as long as you can get the phone into download mode, it's not bricked. You can always odin back the stock partitions if you run into issues.
I was a little worried about using it with this phone. No problems to report. Just had to make backup in recovery.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
Thanks mstrk242 for the great explanation. I thought the "download" and "recovery" were two states of a single program. It is clear now that they are separate. You just cleared all my worries.
You said "It's not easy to brick a GS2, but it can be done," can you tell me how this can happen? Just curious. Thanks much.
If you're going to be rooting/flashing at all, you'll have to get comfortable with cwm, Odin, and the other tools that are available for the phone.
This is my second Android phone, both have been rooted with custom roms, and at any point I've run into trouble (which is rare) I've found the tools and the help I need on here by searching a little bit. If you're willing to spend the time doing a bit of reading and know your way around a computer a bit, you won't have a problem. Just make sure you're 100% sure whatever you're flashing is for YOUR phone hardware.
It's not nearly as scary as it sounds once you get going on it and there's a lot to benefit from it.
Cheers and good luck.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
datzstr8 said:
Thanks mstrk242 for the great explanation. I thought the "download" and "recovery" were two states of a single program. It is clear now that they are separate. You just cleared all my worries.
You said "It's not easy to brick a GS2, but it can be done," can you tell me how this can happen? Just curious. Thanks much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Easiest way is to flash a rom for the wrong phone and mess up the partition table. (IE flash an international version of the gs2 rom, you'll brick.)
As long as you get cwm installed on there, and flash the correct roms, you should really be ok.
You can go back to the stock recovery easily. You can do it through Odin or flash an unroot rom
Sent from my SGH-T989 with ClockworkMod ★Touch★ Recovery 5.8.1.3

[Q] What Am I Doing Wrong...?

I have unbricked this phone probably 15 times in the past day trying to just install a custom ROM.
I run through the unbricking process, get root, load the stock AT&T ROM, factory reset, and it boots just fine from there. However, after I load Clockwork Mod and try to load any custom ROMs at all, the phone will just bootloop forever. It also appears to remove the Clockwork Mod recovery image as well, since I no longer am able to get back into recovery after the flash of the new ROM.
I've scoured this forum for hours, and I'm at a complete loss. Any ideas?
P.S. I made a backup of my ROM before doing all of this using the latest version of Clockwork Mod, but was unable to restore it. It seems that the 6.x.x.x version of the recovery for this phone is busted in some way, it always reports that it can't access any of the root folders, even though the phone has been rooted. The 5.x.x.x versions don't seem to do this, but I still have issues flashing.
SectorNine50 said:
I have unbricked this phone probably 15 times in the past day trying to just install a custom ROM.
I run through the unbricking process, get root, load the stock AT&T ROM, factory reset, and it boots just fine from there. However, after I load Clockwork Mod and try to load any custom ROMs at all, the phone will just bootloop forever. It also appears to remove the Clockwork Mod recovery image as well, since I no longer am able to get back into recovery after the flash of the new ROM.
I've scoured this forum for hours, and I'm at a complete loss. Any ideas?
P.S. I made a backup of my ROM before doing all of this using the latest version of Clockwork Mod, but was unable to restore it. It seems that the 6.x.x.x version of the recovery for this phone is busted in some way, it always reports that it can't access any of the root folders, even though the phone has been rooted. The 5.x.x.x versions don't seem to do this, but I still have issues flashing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it possible that your hosts file needs modifying when installing the AT&T ROM? If the LG Support tool connects to LG's servers instead of your local http you set up, it will load the official ICS and completely wipe your phone to install that ROM... With my limited amount of knowledge, that's about all I could see if the process removes CWM Recovery.
Also, CWM 6.x is working fine for me, even manually flashed the touch recovery a few minutes ago, backed up my ROM and installed an updated ROM. No problems at all.
SectorNine50 said:
I have unbricked this phone probably 15 times in the past day trying to just install a custom ROM.
I run through the unbricking process, get root, load the stock AT&T ROM, factory reset, and it boots just fine from there. However, after I load Clockwork Mod and try to load any custom ROMs at all, the phone will just bootloop forever. It also appears to remove the Clockwork Mod recovery image as well, since I no longer am able to get back into recovery after the flash of the new ROM.
I've scoured this forum for hours, and I'm at a complete loss. Any ideas?
P.S. I made a backup of my ROM before doing all of this using the latest version of Clockwork Mod, but was unable to restore it. It seems that the 6.x.x.x version of the recovery for this phone is busted in some way, it always reports that it can't access any of the root folders, even though the phone has been rooted. The 5.x.x.x versions don't seem to do this, but I still have issues flashing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know if anyone has tried the unbrick method with the new version of cwm but you might try twrp. When a similar version of cwm was in beta there were all sorts of issues. So maybe they haven't been fixed. Also are you installing cwm from GB? ICS has a locked boot loader so that might also be an issue.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1888910
Now I would start with the unbricking guide for a 16th time but follow the directions to install twrp instead of cwm. You might also find you like it better. Good luck.
Sent from my LG-P930 using xda app-developers app
lordcheeto03 said:
Is it possible that your hosts file needs modifying when installing the AT&T ROM? If the LG Support tool connects to LG's servers instead of your local http you set up, it will load the official ICS and completely wipe your phone to install that ROM... With my limited amount of knowledge, that's about all I could see if the process removes CWM Recovery.
Also, CWM 6.x is working fine for me, even manually flashed the touch recovery a few minutes ago, backed up my ROM and installed an updated ROM. No problems at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't believe that the unbricking process would work if the hosts file was wrong, but I checked it again anyway, and it appears to be correct.
The AT&T ROM gets pushed via the abd shell after the unbrick and rooting process. The root appears to work, as the AT&T ROM that I push works fine, it's just not the ROM I want!
Swetnes said:
I don't know if anyone has tried the unbrick method with the new version of cwm but you might try twrp. When a similar version of cwm was in beta there were all sorts of issues. So maybe they haven't been fixed. Also are you installing cwm from GB? ICS has a locked boot loader so that might also be an issue.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1888910
Now I would start with the unbricking guide for a 16th time but follow the directions to install twrp instead of cwm. You might also find you like it better. Good luck.
Sent from my LG-P930 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After the unbricking process (after I get through all the nonsense on the Korean ROM), the phone is running the GB AT&T ROM, from there I push the CWM recovery.img to the phone using the abd shell. All seems to be working perfectly up until I go to flash the custom ROM! I don't get any errors when I flash the .zip either.
Initially I had installed CWM 6.x.x.x using the ROM Manager application. That's before all this nonsense started, and the phone was on the stock (but rooted) AT&T ICS ROM, so I know that's why I "bricked" my phone the first time.
I'll give TWRP a shot, hopefully that will work.
SectorNine50 said:
I don't believe that the unbricking process would work if the hosts file was wrong, but I checked it again anyway, and it appears to be correct.
The AT&T ROM gets pushed via the abd shell after the unbrick and rooting process. The root appears to work, as the AT&T ROM that I push works fine, it's just not the ROM I want!
After the unbricking process (after I get through all the nonsense on the Korean ROM), the phone is running the GB AT&T ROM, from there I push the CWM recovery.img to the phone using the abd shell. All seems to be working perfectly up until I go to flash the custom ROM! I don't get any errors when I flash the .zip either.
Initially I had installed CWM 6.x.x.x using the ROM Manager application. That's before all this nonsense started, and the phone was on the stock (but rooted) AT&T ICS ROM, so I know that's why I "bricked" my phone the first time.
I'll give TWRP a shot, hopefully that will work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok so we know it's not the boot loader issue of ICS after dozens if not hundreds of successful installs using the unbricking guide the only thing left is the new version of cwm. Hopefully twrp will do the trick for you. Has anyone out there successfully completed the unbricking guide with the new version of cwm?
Sent from my LG-P930 using xda app-developers app
Swetnes said:
Ok so we know it's not the boot loader issue of ICS after dozens if not hundreds of successful installs using the unbricking guide the only thing left is the new version of cwm. Hopefully twrp will do the trick for you. Has anyone out there successfully completed the unbricking guide with the new version of cwm?
Sent from my LG-P930 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't tried the TWRP recovery a shot yet, since I haven't been home, but I figured it was worth pointing out that the CWM 5.x.x.x (can't remember exact version numbers right now) didn't work for me either. Every time I flashed a ROM, I'd end up with a boot loop on first boot, and then when I'd try to go back into recovery, I'd find that it wouldn't go back in there either.
It was basically acting like when I flashed the ROM that it overwrote the recovery partition, except no one else seems to have this same issue. Yet, if I didn't flash a ROM, I was able to go in and out of CWM recovery as often as I wanted.
Bah.
SectorNine50 said:
I haven't tried the TWRP recovery a shot yet, since I haven't been home, but I figured it was worth pointing out that the CWM 5.x.x.x (can't remember exact version numbers right now) didn't work for me either. Every time I flashed a ROM, I'd end up with a boot loop on first boot, and then when I'd try to go back into recovery, I'd find that it wouldn't go back in there either.
It was basically acting like when I flashed the ROM that it overwrote the recovery partition, except no one else seems to have this same issue. Yet, if I didn't flash a ROM, I was able to go in and out of CWM recovery as often as I wanted.
Bah.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you clarify exactly what method you are using to flash the ROM? I just can't imagine a scenario where flashing a ROM would overwrite the recovery. What ROM are you flashing?
Also, please confirm what phone you have.
drumist said:
Can you clarify exactly what method you are using to flash the ROM? I just can't imagine a scenario where flashing a ROM would overwrite the recovery. What ROM are you flashing?
Also, please confirm what phone you have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure, I may be using the wrong term (my first experiences with custom ROMs date back to Windows Mobile, so the terminology probably blends together), but I'm basically loading the .zip from the SD Card in CWM. I've tried both the CM9 P930 ROM and Paranoid Android CM10.
That was my thought too, I didn't think that the custom ROMs even had recovery images in them. I may be wrong in saying that it deletes CWM, but after the wipe and flash I am no longer able to access it.
I have the LG Nitro HD, and from what I can gather, that is the P930, correct? I hope the issue I'm having is as simple as I'm flashing for the wrong phone...
By the way, thank you all for your help and input, I really appreciate it!
SectorNine50 said:
Sure, I may be using the wrong term (my first experiences with custom ROMs date back to Windows Mobile, so the terminology probably blends together), but I'm basically loading the .zip from the SD Card in CWM. I've tried both the CM9 P930 ROM and Paranoid Android CM10.
That was my thought too, I didn't think that the custom ROMs even had recovery images in them. I may be wrong in saying that it deletes CWM, but after the wipe and flash I am no longer able to access it.
I have the LG Nitro HD, and from what I can gather, that is the P930, correct? I hope the issue I'm having is as simple as I'm flashing for the wrong phone...
By the way, thank you all for your help and input, I really appreciate it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are correct, the Nitro is P930. And I'm sure this doesn't need pointing out, but when you download the ROM, make sure it's for P93x and not SU640. Most of the ROMS in the developer section have versions for both models.
Also, when you say you can't access CWM after flashing a ROM, how are you trying to access it? Holding Power+Volume down until the Factory Reset screen pops up? It still shows that screen even with CWM installed, but when you press the power button to perform the factory reset it SHOULD take you into CWM Recovery instead.
SectorNine50 said:
Sure, I may be using the wrong term (my first experiences with custom ROMs date back to Windows Mobile, so the terminology probably blends together), but I'm basically loading the .zip from the SD Card in CWM. I've tried both the CM9 P930 ROM and Paranoid Android CM10.
That was my thought too, I didn't think that the custom ROMs even had recovery images in them. I may be wrong in saying that it deletes CWM, but after the wipe and flash I am no longer able to access it.
I have the LG Nitro HD, and from what I can gather, that is the P930, correct? I hope the issue I'm having is as simple as I'm flashing for the wrong phone...
By the way, thank you all for your help and input, I really appreciate it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To access recovery, turn the device completely off. (If you're in a bootloop, pull battery or hold power button for ~20 seconds until screen stays off.) Then when phone is off, press and hold volume down and power buttons at the same time, not releasing until you see text asking if you want to factory reset. Press power button twice to confirm and you'll get to recovery.
Is this the method you're using to try to get to CWM?
My guess as to why you are getting bootloops is that you aren't wiping data first.
Yup, that's how I'm accessing CWM. After the flash, after I press the power button twice, I get something similar to a boot loop. A recovery boot loop, if you will.
Well, I've tried a couple ways now. I've tried using the "factory reset/wipe user data" menu item in CWM, and I've tried going into each partition and wiping them individually before flashing as well.
Just got home, I'll try flashing using the TWRP and let you guys know.
SectorNine50 said:
Yup, that's how I'm accessing CWM. After the flash, after I press the power button twice, I get something similar to a boot loop. A recovery boot loop, if you will.
Well, I've tried a couple ways now. I've tried using the "factory reset/wipe user data" menu item in CWM, and I've tried going into each partition and wiping them individually before flashing as well.
Just got home, I'll try flashing using the TWRP and let you guys know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good luck. Other possible things to try:
1) Check zip MD5 hash (or just redownload and replace) to make sure it's not corrupted.
2) Reformat entire SD card.
Interesting update:
I decided to give getting back into CWM recovery one more shot before I went through the process of re-unbricking again, and this time it managed to get in (for whatever reason).
So, I did a factory wipe, cleared dalvik cache, flashed the ParanoidAndroid ROM, backed out, did another factory wipe, and tried to reboot into the newly flashed ROM.
No luck. Boot looped, and didn't even get to the ROM animation. Following that, I had trouble getting back into the CWM recovery. Managed to try about 5 times and finally got in, however CWM stated:
Code:
CWM-based Recovery v5.0.2.7
E:Error in /cache/recovery/last_log
(Read-only file system)
So... my phone may have potentially unrooted it's self, somehow... Interestingly, it still shows the file systems as mounted.
So, now I'm doing a full SD card reformat. Figured I'd get that variable out of the way before I go any further.
SectorNine50 said:
Interesting update:
I decided to give getting back into CWM recovery one more shot before I went through the process of re-unbricking again, and this time it managed to get in (for whatever reason).
So, I did a factory wipe, cleared dalvik cache, flashed the ParanoidAndroid ROM, backed out, did another factory wipe, and tried to reboot into the newly flashed ROM.
No luck. Boot looped, and didn't even get to the ROM animation. Following that, I had trouble getting back into the CWM recovery. Managed to try about 5 times and finally got in, however CWM stated:
Code:
CWM-based Recovery v5.0.2.7
E:Error in /cache/recovery/last_log
(Read-only file system)
So... my phone may have potentially unrooted it's self, somehow... Interestingly, it still shows the file systems as mounted.
So, now I'm doing a full SD card reformat. Figured I'd get that variable out of the way before I go any further.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are installing the wrong version of CWM. Never use anything older than 5.8.2.0. This is the one you want: http://download2.clockworkmod.com/recoveries/recovery-clockwork-5.8.2.0-p930.img
Anything older than that is known to not work.
Second thing: You seem to have an incorrect understanding of what "root" means. Having "root" simply means you have administrator access to your current ROM. When you install a new ROM, whether you had root access to your old ROM is meaningless frankly.
drumist said:
You are installing the wrong version of CWM. Never use anything older than 5.8.2.0. This is the one you want: http://download2.clockworkmod.com/recoveries/recovery-clockwork-5.8.2.0-p930.img
Anything older than that is known to not work.
Second thing: You seem to have an incorrect understanding of what "root" means. Having "root" simply means you have administrator access to your current ROM. When you install a new ROM, whether you had root access to your old ROM is meaningless frankly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, thank you! I must've been viewing an old thread. Now that I look at the version number, it appears that's the version I had been hunting for since the newest one didn't work.
Interesting, I most certainly misunderstood, I was under the impression that "rooting" the device was a filesystem level permission change. Good to know!
It seems like we are getting closer to a solution here. Thanks for your patience!
Well, that appears to have been my problem the whole time! That's kind of embarrassing, considering how much time I sunk into this and how simple the solution was!
Anyway, thank you all very much! I assume that TWRP would have also solved my problems as well. It would seem that both the older and newest versions of CWM have some problems (at least for me!).
SectorNine50 said:
Well, that appears to have been my problem the whole time! That's kind of embarrassing, considering how much time I sunk into this and how simple the solution was!
Anyway, thank you all very much! I assume that TWRP would have also solved my problems as well. It would seem that both the older and newest versions of CWM have some problems (at least for me!).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, the new one (6.0.1.5) just came out. I'll have to test it to see if it works for me.
For what it's worth, I haven't had any issues with 6.0.1.5 yet. The touch version is a must, though.
Malnilion said:
For what it's worth, I haven't had any issues with 6.0.1.5 yet. The touch version is a must, though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you had a chance to compare to twrp?
Sent from my LG-P930 using xda app-developers app
Swetnes said:
Have you had a chance to compare to twrp?
Sent from my LG-P930 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really enjoy the integration Rom Manager/CM Updater has with CWM. If twrp is capable of running the install scripts those two use, I might consider trying it out, but I don't really like manually going through the steps to flash a rom every day.

[Q] Need help with Recovery

Hi all,
I need some expert advice to fix my phone
I would like to flash a custom ROM on my N7105T.
For those who don't know, the 'T' means that I bought my phone through my carrier, which is Telstra in Australia. Telstra seem to bring out their own variations of mobiles; when I bought my Galaxy Nexus it had a 'T' at the end of the model number too, and when I rooted and flashed custom ROMs on that I just always kept the radio coz the radio was supposed to be optimised for their network. So other than that I did the same as everyone else
So I was thinking the same with my Note2. I would like to flash a custom N7105 ROM.
What I have done so far is this:
* I was running that APK that roots and patches the exploit, but I have since deactivated that and uninstalled.
* I then followed step 2, in the 2nd post from here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2032849
The procedure completed, but when I try to boot into recovery, I get the usual boot logo for a second but then the screen goes all crazy and then nothing.
I thought the issue could have been the fact that from the thread above the directions say to flash CWM that is for the N7100, so I downloaded Rom Manager and tried it that way. So it flashed CWM again but I have the same issue.
I did a little searching and found people talking about TWRP, so I tried that, but again have the exact same issue.
I have no idea what I have done wrong... I am a little on the noob side, and even though I flashed custom ROMs on my SGN and my Galaxy S2(a very long time ago) I just can't remember what I did in the past, and can't work out what I need to do to fix my problem.
In case it helps, here is some more info on my phone:
* Currently running stock ROM - 4.1.1
* Stock Kernel
* Build # JRO03C.N7105TDVALK4
* Status says it is modified
Please let me know if more info is needed.
thanks
dean
Download and flash this philz recovery with Odin
http://www.mediafire.com/file/usj6wefv6liy4ll/philz_touch_3.99-n7105.tar.md5
if you have bootloop , wipe cache and data from recovery
If nothing work then flash stock ROM for your device.
dr.ketan said:
Download and flash this philz recovery with Odin
http://www.mediafire.com/file/usj6wefv6liy4ll/philz_touch_3.99-n7105.tar.md5
if you have bootloop , wipe cache and data from recovery
If nothing work then flash stock ROM for your device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you Dr! If my memory serves me correct, it was a guide you wrote that I followed to flash a custom ROM on my old GS2! :good:
I am downloading right now... Am I right in assuming that when I follow your guide, I just replace the CWM file with the one I am downloading now?
yeah it is just recovery and nothing else, it won't replace anything other than recovery.
I have read somewhere Cf auto root also should work, you may need to wipe. but anyway you need CWM so i gave you link for CWM recovery.
otherwise re flash CF auto root then wipe cache and data.
dr.ketan said:
yeah it is just recovery and nothing else, it won't replace anything other than recovery.
I have read somewhere Cf auto root also should work, you may need to wipe. but anyway you need CWM so i gave you link for CWM recovery.
otherwise re flash CF auto root then wipe cache and data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
YOU ARE THE MAN!!!!!!!
Thanks so much for your help! I am currently looking at my phone in recovery! Now I gotta find a good custom ROM to try
Another quick question though... The bottom half of the screen lists what looks like two issues; They are to do with failing to mount, and both report the issue to be failing to mount exfat /dev/block/mmcblklpl /external_sd
Would you know if this is going to be a real issue?
I think you can forget the last question about failing to mount.... I remembered that I don't have an external SD card so I think it would be safe to say that that is why it can't mount it!

Samsung GS3 (d2att) not booting but have TWRP Recovery available

Hello all-
I was just recently running CM 10.2 RC1 but had to do an install of the correct gapps as it was randomly rebooting. Well the device now is stuck on the Samsung Galaxy S3 screen with the BLUE cyanogen. I have access to TWRP and am able to reflash the .zip file for CM 10.2 RC1 yet it still won't boot? I did the wipe of dalvik, cache, data and system but still no luck? The device is NOT recognized in Odin. I just want to get the phone up and running again, even if it means root is lost.
Please help!!
DroidJay123 said:
Hello all-
I was just recently running CM 10.2 RC1 but had to do an install of the correct gapps as it was randomly rebooting. Well the device now is stuck on the Samsung Galaxy S3 screen with the BLUE cyanogen. I have access to TWRP and am able to reflash the .zip file for CM 10.2 RC1 yet it still won't boot? I did the wipe of dalvik, cache, data and system but still no luck? The device is NOT recognized in Odin. I just want to get the phone up and running again, even if it means root is lost.
Please help!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have it put into Download Mode before you plug it into the computer for Odin to recognize it? If I had it plugged in before I put mine in download mode Odin would not want to pick it up.'
Mr. Rageface
Mr.Rageface said:
Do you have it put into Download Mode before you plug it into the computer for Odin to recognize it? If I had it plugged in before I put mine in download mode Odin would not want to pick it up.'
Mr. Rageface
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it is recognized once in Download mode...sorry about that. What can I do to get it up and running? I am not new to flashing, etc so it's got me really upset that I cant get it to boot. What could possibly go wrong?
Get a sd card>download a new rom and put the rom in the sd card and flash like a normal ROM
http://fs1.d-h.st/download/00023/E5R/I747UCDLK3_I747ATTDLK3_I747UCDLK3_HOME.tar.md5 You can download that file and put it in the PDA section once you run Odin and run it from there. This will put your phone back to the Stock Rom 4.1.1 and you can restart from there if you want.
Mr. Rageface
xXFl4sh said:
Get a sd card>download a new rom and put the rom in the sd card and flash like a normal ROM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do have an sd card. Phone isn't recognized in Windows so Im not familiar with how I can get the ROM file onto the card from the computer? Can I download the latest AT&T Stock ROM and flash it via Odin?
What your saying is flash a ROM from the external SD card?
DroidJay123 said:
I do have an sd card. Phone isn't recognized in Windows so Im not familiar with how I can get the ROM file onto the card from the computer? Can I download the latest AT&T Stock ROM and flash it via Odin?
What your saying is flash a ROM from the external SD card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, with the file I told you to download you do not need to have a SD card because you can't boot into the rom you have Windows will not recognize the phone like normal to drag and drop to it. So with this file you can save it to your computer, Open Odin, put your phone into Download Mode, plug it into the computer so that Odin detects it. Then Click PDA and browse to the file you downloaded and tell it to use that file and then Run the process and it will install the original rom onto your phone.
Mr. Rageface
Edit: Sorry I did not realize your previous comment was to xXFl4sh.
Mr.Rageface said:
No, with the file I told you to download you do not need to have a SD card because you can't boot into the rom you have Windows will not recognize the phone like normal to drag and drop to it. So with this file you can save it to your computer, Open Odin, put your phone into Download Mode, plug it into the computer so that Odin detects it. Then Click PDA and browse to the file you downloaded and tell it to use that file and then Run the process and it will install the original rom onto your phone.
Mr. Rageface
Edit: Sorry I did not realize your previous comment was to xXFl4sh.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok I did the process with the file you referenced. Everything succeeded in Odin with no errors. It's still stuck on just showing the Samsung Galaxy SIII screen but now without the blue cyanogen? What is wrong with this phone??
DroidJay123 said:
Ok I did the process with the file you referenced. Everything succeeded in Odin with no errors. It's still stuck on just showing the Samsung Galaxy SIII screen but now without the blue cyanogen? What is wrong with this phone??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you get into recovery mode by any chance? If you can do that then it should be possible to do a factory reset from within Recovery Mode and possibly get you past the boot screen. If that doesn't help let me know and I will see what else I can find out for you. Also what all did you have checked and unchecked when you Ran Odin to reinstall the Stock Rom? If you had any of them other than Auto-Reboot on that may also have caused a problem http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1722686 here is a forum that will show you how to use Odin. I apologize for not remembering about telling you what to check and uncheck. But try recovery mode first and do a factory reset and if that does not work, redo the odin install this time only having Auto-Reboot checked.
Mr.Rageface
Mr.Rageface said:
Can you get into recovery mode by any chance? If you can do that then it should be possible to do a factory reset from within Recovery Mode and possibly get you past the boot screen. If that doesn't help let me know and I will see what else I can find out for you. Also what all did you have checked and unchecked when you Ran Odin to reinstall the Stock Rom? If you had any of them other than Auto-Reboot on that may also have caused a problem http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1722686 here is a forum that will show you how to use Odin. I apologize for not remembering about telling you what to check and uncheck. But try recovery mode first and do a factory reset and if that does not work, redo the odin install this time only having Auto-Reboot checked.
Mr.Rageface
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks man! I went back into Recovery and did a factory reset/wipe data and it finally got past that screen. Thanks again for your guidance and help. Any ideas as to what could have possibly caused the issue in the first place? I do want to re-root the device again and I am assuming my best bet is to flash a Stock ROM like you referenced with ROOT injected? What order should I follow, flashing a Stock w/Root injected...and then the Recovery of choice? Or vice-versa? What do you recommend?
Again, your timely responses were greatly appreciated. Was really worried I would have to take it to ATT.
DroidJay123 said:
Thanks man! I went back into Recovery and did a factory reset/wipe data and it finally got past that screen. Thanks again for your guidance and help. Any ideas as to what could have possibly caused the issue in the first place? I do want to re-root the device again and I am assuming my best bet is to flash a Stock ROM like you referenced with ROOT injected? What order should I follow, flashing a Stock w/Root injected...and then the Recovery of choice? Or vice-versa? What do you recommend?
Again, your timely responses were greatly appreciated. Was really worried I would have to take it to ATT.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It could have been several things that could cause the ROM to do that. I recommend that you make sure that your Bootloader is up to date and then go from there. Download the newest CWM, do a backup of your current rom so that you can flash back to it if you phone messes up. Then when you try to install a new ROM make sure you Wipe: Data then Cache, then Dalvik Cache in Advanced then Format /System. Then from there Install the new Rom, then install the correct GApps, then wipe Cache and Dalvik cache then Reboot into System. It takes messing up a few times to get it right but as long as you follow the guides pretty close and keep a good backup that you know works or keep the knowledge of how to Inject the Stock Rom to your phone when it messes up you shouldn't have much to worry about.
Mr. Rageface
Mr.Rageface said:
It could have been several things that could cause the ROM to do that. I recommend that you make sure that your Bootloader is up to date and then go from there. Download the newest CWM, do a backup of your current rom so that you can flash back to it if you phone messes up. Then when you try to install a new ROM make sure you Wipe: Data then Cache, then Dalvik Cache in Advanced then Format /System. Then from there Install the new Rom, then install the correct GApps, then wipe Cache and Dalvik cache then Reboot into System. It takes messing up a few times to get it right but as long as you follow the guides pretty close and keep a good backup that you know works or keep the knowledge of how to Inject the Stock Rom to your phone when it messes up you shouldn't have much to worry about.
Mr. Rageface
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds good. Thanks for the info. Obviously the device is not currently rooted or did the Factory Rom file you gave me have root injected? Do you have a recommended way of achieving Root with the Samsung SG3? Just installing a custom Recovery won't achieve Root, correct?
Thanks!
DroidJay123 said:
Sounds good. Thanks for the info. Obviously the device is not currently rooted or did the Factory Rom file you gave me have root injected? Do you have a recommended way of achieving Root with the Samsung SG3? Just installing a custom Recovery won't achieve Root, correct?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
BTW, how can I confirm I have the most recent bootloader version? It looks like my phone's current baseband version is i747UCDLK3. I did download the boot_CWM_i747UCDMG2.zip file and put it on the internal storage. Do I just want to flash that file to update my bootloader?
Thanks again!
-Jay
Yea that is the newest baseband and yea you just flash it. As far as rooting the phone and everything I recommend this forum. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1725839 It has just about everything you could need to know!
Mr.Rageface
Mr.Rageface said:
Yea that is the newest baseband and yea you just flash it. As far as rooting the phone and everything I recommend this forum. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1725839 It has just about everything you could need to know!
Mr.Rageface
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the information. The phone that has been all screwed up and the reason I posted a thread in the first place is my gf's GS3. I have her's rooted again and running. I am going to update her baseband version and then install a custom ROM so she's up to 4.3.1. As far as mine goes, I have been fine. I myself also still have the outdated bootloader version. Is it ok to just flash that update for the bootloader without it doing anything wrong? I'm asking this since I'm rooted and running a custom ROM with no current problems. In other words, I don't want to end up saying "it wasn't broke, why did I mess with it" ? I did bookmark that thread you referenced in your last message. Damn that thread is LOADED with just about everything one would possibly need to know about Android and making it their own.
So my g/f accepted the OTA update today (not knowing obviously) and she got updated to 4.3 via AT&T, unfortunately!! I attempted to flash the latest Liquid Smooth ROM and I continue to get a FAILED message during installation. It mentions a bunch of bootloader numbers ( I am assuming the only ones this ROM is compatible with?) So is there any way to roll the bootloader back to a compatible one or just go a different route for the custom ROM?
Also, I attempted flashing the file to update my baseband yet when I so into the device, it doesn't show as having the updated version? Is there a different way of doing it or maybe a different file?
I'm not to sure about the troubles that may come about since your gf went with the 4.3 OTA but If I am not mistaken it will need to be downgraded before you try doing anything else to it and if it is not showing that you updated your bootloader on your phone I recommend grabbing the App called Root Checker to double check then look for another file, tho unless it failed it should have updated it or messed up your phone one.

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