A Few Questions about ICS Roms... - Samsung Epic 4G Touch

Hello everyone,
I want to update my phone to an ICS rom, but I am a little confused about the terminology and all the options available. I have a few questions:
1. What is the direction that the development is taking in terms of ICS roms? I mean, I am not really sure what "FC07" means and why it would be better than a different combination of letters and numbers.
In layman's terms, when will we see an ICS rom that could be considered "final" or free of bugs and on par with what Galaxy Nexus users have?
With that said, what is the best ICS rom today?
2. I want to customize my phone for faster internet speeds. I was considering switching to Verizon simply for faster network speeds, but the hassle might not be worth it. What tips do you have to help me achieve faster speeds and more reliable coverage on this phone?
Are there specific modems you would recommend for faster internet speeds?
What about custom PRLs? I was told that you can use a custom PRL to force Verizon 3g speeds on your phone, at risk of your contract being terminated.
Is it true that if I did use a Verizon custom PRL I would achieve speeds identical to if I had a Galaxy Nexus on Verizon?
Anyway, what combination of modem/custom PRL would you suggest to achieve the best coverage and fastest speeds on the E4GT?
3. I have heard a lot about changing the resolution of the Epic 4g Touch to simulate a 720p display, making the icons smaller. Would you recommend I do this? Does this work with the ICS roms?
4. A while back there were tweaks to improve the quality of the camera, especially for recording movies. I remember a hack for the international Galaxy S2 that did this. I think there was one for the E4GT as well.
Could you refer me to any camera tweaks to increase bitrate and so forth?
5. And finally, which kernel and overclocking apps should I use?
Thanks for taking my questions.

ICS ROMs
Having followed the ICS ROM discussion non-stop I hope I can answer the questions on that part. I'll leave the other questions up to smarter (and more experienced) people than me!
CW (common wisdom) suggests ROM IDs are:
F - Seems to indicate year - in particular, 2012.
May also indicate ICS as seems first introduced around same time.
C - Seems to indicate build month. (A-Jan, B-Feb, etc.)
07 - Seems to indicate build day. (3/7/2012)
FC07 is reported by many to be quite stable but I haven't heard anyone sign off an ICS build to be a daily use ROM. Calkulin's ROMs seem to be quite popular as well - he just released a new FC14 build.
There's reviews for most recent builds on YouTube if you want to get an idea of what is changed. Might help you before you decide whether to jump on ICS now or wait.
As for when one will go OTA - again, CW suggests at least 10 days after a build is approved by Sprint. (Found it in another thread, just don't remember which one.)
If you're thinking about going to ICS, please keep an eye on the thread linked below and follow the instructions when flashing ROMs. There are a lot of bricks going on - reading this may save your phone (and you some $$$)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1525495
Hope this helps!

To answer your question #1....Any of the leaked roms ie: FC07, FC14, are very stable and ready for everyday use for most. Also any of the Roms based off of those rooms like calks, Mijjz, and others. However, the best ICS from out there right now is aokp. Its almost stable with just a few minor bugs. It gives you a TON OF OPTIONS! Do be careful, lots of bricks happening!
Regarding question #2, in ,y experience, hacked Verizon prls sort of iffy. I've tried 11115 with roam control and half of the time it won't connect to 3g and when it does the speeds are mediocre.
Hope this helps! Oh also when going back to gingerbread from ics, USE ODIN TO FLASH AN EL29 TAR! Or else YOU WILL BRICK!!!!!!!

Hey guys. Thanks for all the info.
I just came from a G2x, and this process is way different.
I used Odin to root stock EL29, and then installed Rogue with the one-click. Right?
Now can I flash an EL29 ROM through Rogue? Can I also flash a different modem through Rogue, (i.e. FC07) and a "matching" ROM? And if I follow correctly, after that, if I want to change it, I have to Odin back to EL29 first?
Just trying to catch on to the different terminology.
[signature]
[signature]

Beekersguy said:
Hey guys. Thanks for all the info.
I just came from a G2x, and this process is way different.
I used Odin to root stock EL29, and then installed Rogue with the one-click. Right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good so far.
Beekersguy said:
Now can I flash an EL29 ROM through Rogue? Can I also flash a different modem through Rogue, (i.e. FC07) and a "matching" ROM? And if I follow correctly, after that, if I want to change it, I have to Odin back to EL29 first?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Think you have a good handle on it. General rule of thumb is:
GB Kernel - CWM/CWMT/ODIN OK
ICS Kernel - Only use ODIN. CWM/CWMT will likely brick at wipe operation.
You might want to read over this thread if you haven't already:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1525495
Good luck!

So, if I understand correctly, I can flash different EL versions through Rogue recovery, but if I want to jump on ICS, I need to use Odin.
[signature]

Actually:
From EL you can flash anything - ODIN/CWM
From ICS/CM9 you need to flash using ODIN - even if it's just to get back to EL and then flash again using CWM.
Hope this clears it up.

garwynn said:
Actually:
From EL you can flash anything - ODIN/CWM
From ICS/CM9 you need to flash using ODIN - even if it's just to get back to EL and then flash again using CWM.
Hope this clears it up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude, thank you sooo much.
I just got this phone yesterday, and I've read a TON of stuff in this forum, and I just wanted to verify that I was generally on-track with flashing methodology.
I think I'll try a few EL29 ROMs for now.

Related

Utterly Confused on how to Get EC05

Ok All I am getting really confused.
I want to update to the latest froyo and keep my root.
I would also like the latest radio, this all seems pretty damn easy however I read all these different ways but only if you have this version rom or radio, etc.
Do I need to use Odin to flash one of the many files I have found.
Do I use clockwork?
What about the radio, I have an old DK17 one.
This is my setup now:
Unlocked Epic
Froyo 2.2.1 - Epic Experience
radio - DK17
Hardware revision is 5
At this point I am willing to donate to get an answer,
Thx,
Force
Best bet is to post in the general section or Q&A next time, posting in development is a nono and will really only serve to get you flamed.
All custom ROMs available right now are based on EC05 so just flash one of them.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
I am having a hard time finding a good custom rom that is based on this. I have a new custom rom loaded now and its not.
Also this still leaves the radio and how to update it.
Sorry about posting here, I didn't think this was a general topic as it deals with flashing & roms. But move it if necessary
Thx,
Force
forcelite said:
I am having a hard time finding a good custom rom that is based on this. I have a new custom rom loaded now and its not.
Also this still leaves the radio and how to update it.
Thx,
Force
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Syndicate ROM Frozen by ACS is always a good decision. As for the modem update, it is either included in the ROM or you can find a flashable zip for it. I'm on the phone so I can't grab
a link for you, but I know it's around.
EDIT: found it, flash this with Odin and it will update your modem only.
http://k0nane.info/rom/acs-ec05-modem.tar
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Moved to Q&A
Hmmm...today i recieved EC05 on EB13 it came thru while I was on 4G.

[Q] quick question to cover myself regarding modems

Happily running Venum's ICS the only issue is 3G has been slacking. As I spend my lunch reading, learning, found a sweet theme (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1528063) I wanted to try and noticed there only for 2 modems (it seems). Looking at my baseband I show;
S: D710.10 S.FD19
Now I know the modem version can affect 3g, etc. so for me to both maybe enhance my data as well as get a cool theme, I 'should' be able to pop over to this main modem thread (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1352310), I would assume take the 29 as that is what the theme calls for, I think I can just flash via recovery since there is a "EL29 Modem ZIP:", then just install the theme.
So is the above correct, and I assume I can confirm the new modem by looking in that baseband section right, or am I just way off the mark?
Tnx
xlancealotx said:
Happily running Venum's ICS the only issue is 3G has been slacking. As I spend my lunch reading, learning, found a sweet theme (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1528063) I wanted to try and noticed there only for 2 modems (it seems). Looking at my baseband I show;
S: D710.10 S.FD19
Now I know the modem version can affect 3g, etc. so for me to both maybe enhance my data as well as get a cool theme, I 'should' be able to pop over to this main modem thread (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1352310), I would assume take the 29 as that is what the theme calls for, I think I can just flash via recovery since there is a "EL29 Modem ZIP:", then just install the theme.
So is the above correct, and I assume I can confirm the new modem by looking in that baseband section right, or am I just way off the mark?
Tnx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're running Venum's ICS then you don't want to install the theme since it is designed for GB. You can switch your modem whenever you want, flashing it doesn't affect the ROM or kernel.
See, read and ask before something stupid I jumped to conclusions looking at all the ICS this and ICS that!
I will in fact up the modem to see if I can get better service!
Tnx again
Ya that theme was to make Gingerbread look like ICS. Try some of the newer modems at the bottom of the list. Which one is best is different for everyone(varies by location and whatnot). Make sure to update profile and prl after you install a new modem.

[Q] ROM & Basebrand Compliancy

Hello everyone, new registeree here but I've been lurking for longer than I can remember. Very excellent community here and I'd like to make up for all the thank yous I haven't been able to say to you all from just lurking around for guides and fixes for a lot of my problems. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.
I "spider webbed" the screen on my T-Mobile Galaxy S3 SGH T999 that had a baseband version T999UVDLJA. I never had any issues with the phone and loved it to death until the screen broke. I paid the dedictable and had the insurance company send me a replacement immediately. My new S3 came in and I was so excited up until ALL of my calls were dropping. I didn't notice any kind of pattern to the dropped calls, but considering the circumstances I immediately thought hardware issue with the "new" phone they sent me. This "new" device now has a baseband version of T999UVDLJC. So I called T-Mobile and spoke with a tech rep, then transferred to a level 2 tech and pinpointed the issue. The towers in my area are having problems communicating with the UVDLJC but there are no reported incidents with the UVDLJA having communication issues(which explains why I never had this problem with my previous device.)
I did get to briefly experience the new Cyanogen nightly builds before this issue was discovered and fell in love with it. However, until I can get this phone flashed back to the UVDLJA build I will continue to have this drop call issue. Will I have compatibility issues reverting back to the old UVDLJA build and then flashing the Cyanogen nightlly? Is it even possible? If so, can anyone link me to the correct, up-to-date resources to use to get this done?
You can go to Doc Holiday's modem thread stickied in the Dev section and download the LJA modem and flash it. You don't need to flash a ROM to have a different modem. Doc has a map on page 2 of that thread that shows people's entries of their location and modem. I personally use LI7, which was pulled from a leaked JB ROM from a few months ago. That is a far cry from the current LJC that is the latest but it works the best for me.
Moral of the stroy is that you can flash modems all day long and not have to flash ROMs too. That is as long as you have a custom recovery of course.
Woody said:
You can go to Doc Holiday's modem thread stickied in the Dev section and download the LJA modem and flash it. You don't need to flash a ROM to have a different modem. Doc has a map on page 2 of that thread that shows people's entries of their location and modem. I personally use LI7, which was pulled from a leaked JB ROM from a few months ago. That is a far cry from the current LJC that is the latest but it works the best for me.
Moral of the stroy is that you can flash modems all day long and not have to flash ROMs too. That is as long as you have a custom recovery of course.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am using ClockWork as my recovery. So I'm understanding that the LJA is called the modem, and it will not change when I flash a ROM(such as Cyanogen.) That's great news!
I've determined with T-Mobile that the modem is the issue so at least for now I can use Doc's LJA modem combined with Cyanogen and continue business as usual at least until T-Mobile gets their slow butts out here to fix the communication with the LJC and the towers.
Yes that is correct. The modem stays preserved when you flash a ROM as it is on an entirely different partition. Only time it would change is when you use a full Odin package. This means you can flash Wicked or CM10.1 or PACman or RootBox and your baseband will be left untouched.
Btw, for your first post, I give you a golf clap. Well informed and detailed enough for me to diagnose and answer. Granted you could have searched and found you answer but compared to some of the BS questions we get around here, you are leaps and bounds beyond those. Keep it up and if you've lurked as much as you say, please make sure to help out someone else in their time of need.
Good luck and happy flashing.
Exceptional, this is exactly what I needed to hear after a rough day of overdramatizing with T-Mobile about cancelling my service.
Thank you so much, and I do plan to post regularly and learn as much as I can. I will contribute to the best of my abilities.

[Q] Another 'help a friend' thread

Hello all, I hope I won't get too much flak for creating this thread but I'm hoping to save some time and effort if some of you are willing to help me out here.
My buddy had asked me recently if I could help him use his phone as a hotspot when he goes on vacation, and I suggested that he install a custom rom to get that function since for some reason a Sprint rep told him he couldn't do it (not sure on the whole story with that...).
Anyway, I'm not really a newbie on rooting/flashing as I have an older Galaxy S1 device that I constantly work on, but on the other hand that's about the only device I have experience with.
My questions are:
1) Is rooting/installing a custom rom the best way for him to use his phone as a hotspot? It seems to be built into every rom that I've had on my device.
2) What are the most popular (and stable) roms available for this device? I'm asking because I won't see him enough to flash updates and he's not really the type to do that.
3) Are there any serious risks to rooting/flashing this device? I'm spoiled with my older Galaxy S1 phone that has no problem going from rom to rom like it was it's job. He'll probably be upgrading soon, but I still don't want to break it.
Thanks for any input. Oh and I don't know if this matters, but I'm almost positive he's on stock ICS right now.
1. The hotspot app won't work on stock because he needs the plan with sprint to use it. There are 3rd party apps out there that can use your phone as a hotspot. Most roms have the wifi hotspot check disabled so you can use the app the rom came with. Be warned if sprint catches you tethering too much data they could cut you off.
2. Maybe look into the blu kuban rom. It's very stable, awesome battery life, and looks awesome. It also has a built in updater in case there is an update.
3. If you read the instructions you should be fine. There's really no downside besides the emmc brick bug which can render your phone useless but most (if not all) kernels have this patched. Also remember that this phone has the recovery image packed with the kernel.
Hope this helps.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app
If you install stock/rooted gb27 jb you can use the EmperorX 4g hot spot mod.
Look up Emperor X in apps and themes, its not too complex to get working.
****** Edit ******
Use this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=38199950
It works very well.
Pp.:beer::thumbup:
Sent from a bean shooting Epic Touch ......in your eye ....phone.
The blu kuban rom looks good, but I didn't see any JB roms that looked all that great (feel free to correct me) and I see that Cyanogenmod doesn't officially support this device for some reason. Are there any mostly stable 4.1 or 4.2 roms that you would recommend or is ICS the way to go?
edit: I wasn't looking in the 'original development' forum and just noticed there's a lot of good 4.2 roms that I'm used to like slim, AOKP, etc, now my question is if I wanted to flash a new rom is it the same as I do on my phone- wipe data/cache/davlik then flash rom/gapps and reboot? Is it that simple on this phone too?
Crawshayi said:
The blu kuban rom looks good, but I didn't see any JB roms that looked all that great (feel free to correct me) and I see that Cyanogenmod doesn't officially support this device for some reason. Are there any mostly stable 4.1 or 4.2 roms that you would recommend or is ICS the way to go?
edit: I wasn't looking in the 'original development' forum and just noticed there's a lot of good 4.2 roms that I'm used to like slim, AOKP, etc, now my question is if I wanted to flash a new rom is it the same as I do on my phone- wipe data/cache/davlik then flash rom/gapps and reboot? Is it that simple on this phone too?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have CWM 5 (gb or cm9) or CWM 6 (AOSP-based jellybean) you can just flash rom and gapps in recovery
If you do not have CWM 5 or 6 (anything touchwiz ICS+), you should use Mobile Odin or (less conveniently) PC Odin to flash the EL26+cwm kernel, then boot to recovery by holding vol+ and power. You can flash anything in EL26 recovery without incident

Kernels and WiFi

Why do some kernels kill WiFi when flashed. Or is it just a mobile Odin thing
I have also tried to replace the kernel and rezip same issue
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
Kernels control the hardware functionality. They specify higher-level functions so that the software (Android OS) can properly interact with the hardware. The kernel is what contains the drivers and such that you need for your different radios to work (mobile network [LTE or 3G] and wifi), as well as things like power management and proper boot/shutdown sequences. If its not implemented in the kernel, theres no way any programs can access the higher level functions to get the wifi going, or to get 4G going.
This is also why it's difficult for some devices to get working 4G on android versions past what is officially supported because the 4G drivers have to be written from scratch into the kernel, and they change from version to version. Now its not impossible, but very difficult
Hope that answers your question :thumbup:
CNexus said:
This is also why it's difficult for some devices to get working 4G on android versions past what is officially supported because the 4G drivers have to be written from scratch into the kernel, and they change from version to version. Now its not impossible, but very difficult
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Knowing this, does that mean TW kernels are better for writing things like 4G? I don't know how to explain my question, I guess I'm asking if TW kernels are more 'compatible' since they're just stock modifications.
OK the reason I'm asking is because of my port of pure aosp the stock CM kernel will not do WiFi but any other kernel will Lean BMS KT
Why work with one ROM but not another.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
sevenpioverthree said:
Knowing this, does that mean TW kernels are better for writing things like 4G? I don't know how to explain my question, I guess I'm asking if TW kernels are more 'compatible' since they're just stock modifications.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, what I mean is that once its officially released (for this phone it would be Touchwiz), then that can be incorporated into aosp kernels made for that official version for a specific phone. Both (theoretically) run it just as well, theres no compatibility issues in favor or either. But of course, since TW kernels have been engineered for this phone while AOSP has not, AOSP kernels would require a little more hacking to get it to work, hence possibly degrading the quality of 4G or other radios
bthorne79 said:
OK the reason I'm asking is because of my port of pure aosp the stock CM kernel will not do WiFi but any other kernel will Lean BMS KT
Why work with one ROM but not another.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My guess would be that the paths for different things arent what its expecting, you would have to split the boot.img and diff the files to find out for sure though
Nice, thanks CNexus, you da man
Wifi broken
So, on a Sprint Galaxy S3, after rooting first with the unified toolkit and finding that my wifi no longer works, I went back to the stock version and found I still had no wifi. Figuring that it's better to be rooted so I can tweak things, I rerooted using QBKing's method (much easier, by the way). Wifi is still broken. Is there not a fix for this yet?
I've got:
Model#
SPH-L710
Android Version:
4.1.1
Baseband Version:
L710VPBLJ7
Kernel version:
3.0.31-CL616748
[email protected] #1
SMP PREEMPT Sat Dec 1 23:25:55 KST 2012
Build#:
JRO03L.L710VPBLJ7
Hardware Version:
L710.14
Because I'm a quiet one, I'm not allowed to comment in the forum that originally started this and I don't have 10 posts yet. So, here I am - sort of on topic and sort of off topic. But the bottom line is, I need to fix wifi since I'm *always* in roaming and connect to the world through my wifi.
So.
Ideas?? Please.
Thanks!
~Jayme
jaymethunt said:
So.
Ideas?? Please.
Thanks!
~Jayme
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you rooted, did you install a custom recovery (CWM or TWRP)? Turn off your phone and boot into recovery and see if it's either of those.
You're currently on an out-of-date system. I don't think that's why you don't have Wifi, but I thik it'd be best if you try the latest and greatest.
If you do have a custom recovery, you can flash the stock rooted rom by Freeza. If you don't have a custom recovery, you'd have to re-root and make sure to follow the instructions (including pulling the battery).
If you need help with how to flash a Rom in a custom Recovery, I wrote this up for a thread earlier.
Hope you get your wifi working.
I guess I'm not sure how to answer your questions. I do have ClockWorkMod (that is what CWM means, right?) on right now, yes.
That page you recommended is over-the-top. There's so many choices, I don't know which one to make! I think I want Odex, just because I'm not a developer at this stage. Because I'm starting out with CWM, do I want this one or that one?
MD5: A89894F653099D158C8C459F2B7F656E
MD5: 5C24F1174C40E9B878C7D9BEA75DBFAF
Or am I just completely off target?
Thanks for replying and I hope my wifi gets fixed, too.
jaymethunt said:
I guess I'm not sure how to answer your questions. I do have ClockWorkMod (that is what CWM means, right?) on right now, yes.
That page you recommended is over-the-top. There's so many choices, I don't know which one to make! I think I want Odex, just because I'm not a developer at this stage. Because I'm starting out with CWM, do I want this one or that one?
MD5: A89894F653099D158C8C459F2B7F656E
MD5: 5C24F1174C40E9B878C7D9BEA75DBFAF
Or am I just completely off target?
Thanks for replying and I hope my wifi gets fixed, too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, CWM is ClockWorkMod.
I'd recommend DeOdex Rom, because if it doesn't work, you can still flash mods onto it that might help you out (without reflashing a whole new Rom). If you install the Odex version, you wouldn't be able to flash most mods out there.
I haven't messed around with the "Leaked" build, so I'd personally recommend the latest official, which is the MB1. The link you should be looking for is:
DeOdex:
Sprint Touchwiz Jelly Bean 4.1.2 L710VPBMB1 | Mirror | Mirror 2 (Not yet active)
MD5: 37E1CCCB3A30959C64DF238D0BD2B23C
If you download this file and install it per my previous instructions (that I linked to, make sure to do a Nandroid Backup and to wipe the /system in CWM), Wi-Fi should be working. If it doesn't I might have another thing I'd want you to try, but I'm fairly certain this will do the trick.
THAT worked beautifully. I guess I just needed jellybean. lol. So, I'm rooted, on the latest and greatest, AND I have Wifi! Yae!
Thanks so much for your help!
~Jayme

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