[Q] How do I "master clear"? - Samsung Epic 4G Touch

I'm coming from a Captivate to my ET4G so the majority of the flashing methods and tools are the same. The one option or tool I have yet to find is a Master Clear.
Please note that I am not referring to a factory reset or system format as I have done both and they do not completely restore the OS partitions to stock condition.
This is the tool that was used for the Captivate. Is there is a way to do the same thing in ODIN 1.85?

i believe you're looking for the third sticky in the development forum. flashing that will return you to completely stock. I'd link it, but I'm new here.

Related

Question on newbie with rom update

okay, guys, I have a few question that I am hoping it can be answered before I advernture ito flashing my rom.
First of all, I relaly appreaciate all of the people who work so hard getting the rom updated. You guys rocks.
Now, this is the first time I am going to flash to my tilt 2. As I have read the flashing the GSM phone guide (which I am hoping that's the guide I should be following to flash). I am just a bit confused as to how to do it.
It appears to me that I must flash the SPL unlocker in order to flash to the any rom am I correct? Just curious what exactly does it do? If I flash it, would tehre be any issue if I decided to go back to the original rom. I saw that at HTC's site, they have stock rom for ATT phone (http://www.htc.com/us/support/tilt-2-att/downloads/)so if I want to go back, can I just use that file and flash it back? Or I need to flash to a diff HardSPL? before I can use it?
Also, i am curious as to are there any program that will let me keep all of the settings and stuff up to date. in my past where I have the hp's ipaq. I had a tool where after I flash teh rom or do a hardreset, I can run that tool to revert all of the program and configurations (of course, I had a backup file first).
Let me just double check:
basically
1-hardspl
2-rom
3-all set
again, my phone is ATT tilt 2, I would really appreciate any information.
The SPL is kind of similar to the BIOS in your computer; it performs very low-level functions, and functions as a bootloader, among other things. The SPL is responsible for flashing new ROMs to the device, and the SPL that comes on your device won't let you flash ROMs not signed by HTC. HardSPL is a patched SPL that removes this ROM signature check, allowing any ROM, official or custom, to be flashed. The way HardSPL is designed also makes it more difficult (though not impossible!) to brick your device.
If you ever want to restore your original SPL (for warranty purposes,etc.) there are a few threads which explain how to do this, and the HardSPL thread has all the SPLs available for download. If you flash the package from AT&T, your ROM will be the original ROM, but the SPL will still be HardSPL, which isn't okay if you're returning the device for warranty purposes since they check for that. As I said, there are a few threads which have full tutorials for restoring your AT&T Tilt2 to stock.
For backup, there are tons of solutions out there such as the User Customization types (XDA User Customization and Sashami), as well as the full backup and restore suites (Sprite backup, SPB backup). I've automated everything on my device with XDA User Customization, so I don't know much about the full backup and restore suites, though a backup and restore suite might be more what you're looking for based on your description.
Lastly, you have the order of flashing correct. Optionally, you can flash a radio ROM later on, but if this is your first time flashing, you might want to wait awhile until you're more comfortable with flashing.
OMGHAX 900th post!

[Q] factory reset on stock, unrooted FF18 on e4gt?

First off, I'm sure this has been answered before, but I can't find a place that addresses this specific scenario clearly. I apologize that I cannot spend enough time to wade through every thread.
My wife has the E4gT, got the update to ICS (4.0.4, FF18) about a week ago or so, and the phone has been laggy ever since. She is not now nor has she ever been rooted. It seems that a lot of people suggest a factory reset will likely fix most issues, but there's the specter of the eMMC bug out there. Her phone definitely has the bug.
So, with FF18 from the OTA, no root, will she be at risk of bricking her phone when doing a factory reset?
You're supposed to be OK with the factory reset, but the eMMC bricking code was actually found in the released code by the developers here and had to be removed!
I'd recommed using sfhub's one-click stock rooted (reset data if you want a total clearing) http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1721229 this will give a fully stock phone with the only addition being root (which can be removed via his Autoroot Package too but why?). It will not trigger the 'yellow triangle' or increase you flash count and will safely reset/reformat the entire system.
leaderbuilder said:
You're supposed to be OK with the factory reset, but the eMMC bricking code was actually found in the released code by the developers here and had to be removed!
I'd recommed using sfhub's one-click stock rooted (reset data if you want a total clearing) http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1721229 this will give a fully stock phone with the only addition being root (which can be removed via his Autoroot Package too but why?). It will not trigger the 'yellow triangle' or increase you flash count and will safely reset/reformat the entire system.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Excellent! I will look at this when I get an opportunity
rlh82 said:
Excellent! I will look at this when I get an opportunity
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool. Please post back so we all know how it went.
Whoops. Wrong thread. Sorry. :beer:

[Q] Noob questions on rooting info: New handset from Fido (canada i747M) runing 4.1.1

Ok so here goes a long but detailed read. I am writing this in hopes other fido users searching may find this thread and avoid future questions. Phone came with the TW 4.1.1 from fido and is fully stock.
Brand new S3 Galaxy from Fido (same as rogers) i747M Phone is great but the rooting bug has caught me.
1. I plan to root the device fairly shortly and install a non touchwiz variant. I will be following "High on Android's" Technique. detailed in this youtube video.
Is that method correct for my phone?
or should I be following something different? I just noticed Mr. Robinson posted the Fido TAR with root injected already on it. Does this make any difference? Links to TAR file are here
2. Now assuming I get everything up and running. What is the deal with "Triangleaway" and flash counters? From my understanding, Samsung has a counter installed that ensures they keep an eye on voided warranties due to flashing. Sure thats fine but lets talk about what we can do.
From what I gather, Triangle away will sort me out and get rid of the counters and put them back to zero in case I need to send my phone in for warranty. Is this correct?
Most of the triangle away info I read is for pre 4.1.1 confirmations hence why I ask.
3. Now lets assume I have flashed thephone and I am running CM 10 beautiful. Oh no power button breaks. What will be the required steps to get my phone back to 'stock" to send to Samsung. Will this even be possible to send it in without a worry? I cant seem to find steps online for this.
4. A lot of guides talk about the importance of backing up. Sure sounds great but they dont seem to give detailed instructions. What are the most important things I should backup before, during and after rooting my phone in case I brick it or anything goes wrong? Again any link or detailed explanations would be great.
Sorry for being so exhaustive in my questions. I like to learn it all so I can help other afterwards but also structured the thread so its easy to search for future users.
Happy new year everyone!
sspikey said:
1. I plan to root the device fairly shortly and install a non touchwiz variant. I will be following "High on Android's" Technique. detailed in this youtube video.
Is that method correct for my phone?
or should I be following something different? I just noticed Mr. Robinson posted the Fido TAR with root injected already on it. Does this make any difference? Links to TAR file are here
2. Now assuming I get everything up and running. What is the deal with "Triangleaway" and flash counters? From my understanding, Samsung has a counter installed that ensures they keep an eye on voided warranties due to flashing. Sure thats fine but lets talk about what we can do.
From what I gather, Triangle away will sort me out and get rid of the counters and put them back to zero in case I need to send my phone in for warranty. Is this correct?
Most of the triangle away info I read is for pre 4.1.1 confirmations hence why I ask.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm going to answer these two questions together, because they're interrelated.
There's no one single root method that's more "correct" than any of the others. The key difference between the end result of most of the methods is whether the flash counter has been tripped, which occurs (under circumstances where you're coming from ICS) if you use Odin to flash something other than a stock image (untouched or rooted as in Mr_Robinson's case). You can also trip the flash counter if you have the Jelly Bean boot loader and boot into a non-stock recovery image.
Thus, if you want to avoid tripping the counter for as long as possible, you want to use a method for rooting that doesn't trip the counter, such as the Mr_Robinson method.
If you're going to flash a custom recovery after working from stock JB, you'll probably end up tripping the flash counter the moment you boot into it, in which case (assuming your phone is still rooted) you could use Triangle Away to reset said flash counter.
sspikey said:
3. Now lets assume I have flashed thephone and I am running CM 10 beautiful. Oh no power button breaks. What will be the required steps to get my phone back to 'stock" to send to Samsung. Will this even be possible to send it in without a worry? I cant seem to find steps online for this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd do the following:
Triangle Away, if the flash counter isn't 0;
Boot into download mode;
Flash a normal stock image from here; [*]Boot into stock recovery and wipe data/cache; [*]Boot phone as normal.
sspikey said:
4. A lot of guides talk about the importance of backing up. Sure sounds great but they dont seem to give detailed instructions. What are the most important things I should backup before, during and after rooting my phone in case I brick it or anything goes wrong? Again any link or detailed explanations would be great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are two major approaches you can take here, and using both of them responsibly is probably a good idea.
Titanium Backup, usable if your device is rooted, can back up all of your application data and some system settings; it's great for transferring data between ROMs and/or between devices altogether (I've done both). Most people I know of only use it for the former, as trying to restore system data with TiBu usually causes bizarre and unpredictable effects (with a few exceptions, such as text message data).
With a custom recovery, you can make what's called a "nandroid" backup, which is a complete image of your current ROM and userland data; it's most useful when you want to make a restore point of sorts for if you're, say, flashing experimental ROM images or other things you don't expect to work very well.
Hope this is of help.
smelenchuk said:
I'm going to answer these two questions together, because they're interrelated.
There's no one single root method that's more "correct" than any of the others. The key difference between the end result of most of the methods is whether the flash counter has been tripped, which occurs (under circumstances where you're coming from ICS) if you use Odin to flash something other than a stock image (untouched or rooted as in Mr_Robinson's case). You can also trip the flash counter if you have the Jelly Bean boot loader and boot into a non-stock recovery image.
Thus, if you want to avoid tripping the counter for as long as possible, you want to use a method for rooting that doesn't trip the counter, such as the Mr_Robinson method.
If you're going to flash a custom recovery after working from stock JB, you'll probably end up tripping the flash counter the moment you boot into it, in which case (assuming your phone is still rooted) you could use Triangle Away to reset said flash counter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems the flash counter is a lot less worrysome to me now that you indicated I can always go back to a stock rom and return it for warranty regardless if it has a counter or not. Now I wonder why people even worry about tripping it.
I'd do the following:
Triangle Away, if the flash counter isn't 0;
Boot into download mode;
Flash a normal stock image from here; [*]Boot into stock recovery and wipe data/cache; [*]Boot phone as normal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So Sounds to me like I should not worry about flashing and warranty correct? There will always be a method to go back to my phone in order to deal with warranty if something physical goes wrong? Any guide you could point me towards for this? I found this http://galaxys3root.com/galaxy-s3-unroot/how-to-unroot-canadian-galaxy-s3-sgh-i747m-stock-roms/
but it doesnt mention any fido files (understandable since its new)
There are two major approaches you can take here, and using both of them responsibly is probably a good idea.
Titanium Backup, usable if your device is rooted, can back up all of your application data and some system settings; it's great for transferring data between ROMs and/or between devices altogether (I've done both). Most people I know of only use it for the former, as trying to restore system data with TiBu usually causes bizarre and unpredictable effects (with a few exceptions, such as text message data).
With a custom recovery, you can make what's called a "nandroid" backup, which is a complete image of your current ROM and userland data; it's most useful when you want to make a restore point of sorts for if you're, say, flashing experimental ROM images or other things you don't expect to work very well.
Hope this is of help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
These two forms of backup I am use to and have used extensively on my nexus S. What I am worried about is more deep "system" type backups people do. is there any for this phone I should do through odin or Kies?
Edit: almost forgot to say thank you!
How come the root66_FMC_I747MVLDLK4.7z download link keep saying searching for mirror, please wait? Waited for 1 hr, no links. Refresh, no links.
thats odd I tried it yesterday and it worked
send a PM to the thread starter he will put up a new mirror I guess

Can someone walk me through rooting this with no data loss?

I am running a non-rooted epic 4g touch with ICS running on it. I am hoping to get it rooted and not have any data loss. can someone
help or link me to a step by step guide?
Well we need more info. Plus, you should read the stickies in each section to familiarize yourself with the process.
Info needed: what version are you on? Gingerbread, ICS, or JellyBean?
Are you on Sprint, Boost or VM?
Also, just so you know, rooting in itself will not mess up your data unless you do it wrong and flash the wrong things.
You can take a trip over to youtube and look up qbking77 and watch his root tutorials as well. There are many options for you but you have to take it upon yourself to read and be ready to brick and have an expensive paperweight I'd something goes wrong. It is up to you to do it because no one wants to be responsible if something goes wrong.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
I have sprint running on ICS. I had rooted the original epic (not the touch) a while back. Ran into problems. I'm trying to be more thorough this time around as I heard this is a bit more complicated because this phone is easier to brick?
Figure out what version of ics your running and start researching whats available for you then you can decide what you want.
If you don't want to lose data you will staying with ics.
But like graydiggy recommended look up Qbking77 in you tube, go to his channel, he has over 100 videos on the Epic Touch, he covers almost every possible scenario on this phone, and the links he gives you are mostly xda related. Google will also help.
Pp.
From my Epic Touch full of Xparent Blue Tapatalk 2.
Thanks guys. I will look it up just clarify. If I have anything installed on my phone data etc it will not be lost right? Also im on FL24. The only reason I didn't do this sooner is that I have heard way back when this phone 1st came out it was very easy to brick. Is that true? How hard is the process? The only reason im doing this is to get a bit more out of my Moga controller.
Those issues are cleared up now. The only sure fire way to brick is to flash an international kernel or ROM to the phone. So just stay in here because you are in the right place. Depending on the method used to root, you will not lose data. If you use a rooted restore, make sure it is a nodata restore, that will keep data as is. There are also methods to root without doing a restore. Qbking77 will have everything you need on that through his YouTube channel and there are also tutorials here on the forums.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
simple instructions
The easiest way to find what you're looking for is to search under the proper forum. For you, it would be the 'Android Development' forum.
In there, you'll find the thread corresponding to the list of Stock ROMs. These included rooted ROMs:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1903252
Go to the one you like, I'd recommend the GB27 version here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2191954
that will take you to the site maintained by SexTape:
http://www.sxtpdevelopers.com/showthread.php?t=166
You'll want the and 'rooted' version. Since you already have a Jellybean ROM (official FL24) you can use the 'nodata' version (it preserves your phone's settings) but it's highly recommended to start with a clean slate (the 'restore' version).
All four options are 'one-click' executables. Just get your phone into ODIN mode, install the Samsung USB drivers, start the executable, plug in the USB cable to computer (IN THIS ORDER. DO NOT PLUG IN BEFORE THIS POINT), and click start. easy as 1-2-3-4-5-6-7.
GL.
gobaers said:
The easiest way to find what you're looking for is to search under the proper forum. For you, it would be the 'Android Development' forum.
In there, you'll find the thread corresponding to the list of Stock ROMs. These included rooted ROMs:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1903252
Go to the one you like, I'd recommend the GB27 version here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2191954
that will take you to the site maintained by SexTape:
http://www.sxtpdevelopers.com/showthread.php?t=166
You'll want the and 'rooted' version. Since you already have a Jellybean ROM (official FL24) you can use the 'nodata' version (it preserves your phone's settings) but it's highly recommended to start with a clean slate (the 'restore' version).
All four options are 'one-click' executables. Just get your phone into ODIN mode, install the Samsung USB drivers, start the executable, plug in the USB cable to computer (IN THIS ORDER. DO NOT PLUG IN BEFORE THIS POINT), and click start. easy as 1-2-3-4-5-6-7.
GL.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FL24 is not JellyBean, it is ICS.
He needs to root on ICS first then use Titanium Backup to save all his apps. Do not save system data. Then he can upgrade to the official JB, GB27 and restore all the apps.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

[Q] Going back to stock...specific question

Yes, I read the how to's and FAQ's, but it still isn't clear to me.
I have an ATT S3 with AOKP version jb-mr2 mileston1
android 4.3.1
baseband I747UCUEMJB
I read here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2658486 that I could just run this recovery zip and everything would be good. I don't know this guy from adam. So that bothers me a little (he is highly rated, a contributor, etc...getting roms from strangers is just a paranoid thing with me...no offence.), but I'd be willing to do it if it is the only way.
I was looking for a way to do it via heimdal/odin by flashing the stock rom. This has the same trust issues I guess. I didn't find a definitive how to on this for my particular situation.
Ideally I'd like to go straight to the source and reflash everything. I read in this thread that I shouldn't use Kies on the stock OTA to go back to stock, but that's not what I'm doing. However, I would like to avoid bricking my phone.
Advice...
The thread that you mentioned is pretty clear on the instructions. Heck, I'll even quote them below:
enewman17 said:
This is a last ditch effort for restoring the AT&T I747 to factory stock. This zip will wipe all data, clear the binary flash count, restore the system, flash the latest KNOX firmware and stock recovery. There is absolutely no possible way to clear the warranty bit back to 0x0 IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO REVERT ONCE TRIPED!! Not even Samsung can undo this.! Its the price we pay for rooting our phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then you simply flash that within your recovery and then follow the below instructions within that thread. You should now have a phone that is pretty much factory new. As long as you're on the bootloader, which you stated you were, you'll be fine.
Thisrobot said:
Yes, I read the how to's and FAQ's, but it still isn't clear to me.
I have an ATT S3 with AOKP version jb-mr2 mileston1
android 4.3.1
baseband I747UCUEMJB
I read here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2658486 that I could just run this recovery zip and everything would be good. I don't know this guy from adam. So that bothers me a little (he is highly rated, a contributor, etc...getting roms from strangers is just a paranoid thing with me...no offence.), but I'd be willing to do it if it is the only way.
I was looking for a way to do it via heimdal/odin by flashing the stock rom. This has the same trust issues I guess. I didn't find a definitive how to on this for my particular situation.
Ideally I'd like to go straight to the source and reflash everything. I read in this thread that I shouldn't use Kies on the stock OTA to go back to stock, but that's not what I'm doing. However, I would like to avoid bricking my phone.
Advice...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can understand your concerns. The file is good. However, don't just take mine or anybody's word for it. Do what the instruction says and verify the MD5 before flashing. Verifying the MD5 of an executable file is one sure way of confirming that the file hasn't been tampered with or backdoored in some way. Usually, the original author of the file means well. However, for programs that are out in the public domain, it is easy enough for hackers to introduce some malware into the original program and corrupt it in some way. With an MD5, it is practically impossible for two separately created programs or a program that has been altered in some way from the original to have identical MD5s. Also if you download incorrectly or incompletely, the MD5 lets you know something is wrong.
There are freeware apps on the web that let you verify an MD5 and I would suggest you look for this. If you download the zip, therefore, and verify the MD5 to be the same as the one advised by the OP, then you are good to go.

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