Develop Bugs

[Q] Need help with CWM Recovery and other issues!

Hello All,
I have been working with my friends EPIG 4g phone for a while now. The first thing I did was use "superoneclick 1.7" to root his phone. Then he got interested in trying different roms+kernels, so he came to me for more help. Almost all the custom roms I was researching are EC05 based roms, so I looked further into it. For reasons unknown, he is still on DI18 Eclair (must not have got the OTA). I dug on forums and found the zip file that would allow him to jump from DI18 to EC05 (froyo), but I need a custom recovery to install the zip. No matter what I try, I cannot get the phone to boot into CWM recovery. (Tried both from rom manager, and using camera button+vol. down+power combination) I have tried just about everything that I can think of, to no avail.
I have also tried:
Unroot & Re-root using process found here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=770388
Wiping all data via factory reset (really wish I wouldn't have, waste of a try)
Tried using methods found here:
http://forum.androidcentral.com/epic-4g-rooting-roms-hacks/34603-clockworkmod-recovery-rom-manager-guide.html
When trying to do anything in the stock recovery, I always get the:
e:signature verification failed errors.
Please bombard me with any and all ideas you guys have. I am currently about to try to manually install the CWM recovery by placing the update.zip file on the SD root directory. IF I can get that part done, I'm confident I will be able to get everything going. Another option I have read from other people's threads that I have not yet used is the Odin revert to stock and then flash some special .tar files. I took a look at Odin and don't remember seeing options for "stock" or anything, so if anyone can point me to a good Odin walk-through, that would be awesome.
PS: Ask me if I have failed to clarify on any aspects of the problem. Forgive me for not including more info on the problem, Ive been through like 8 hours of random stuff while trying to fix this, so Ive seen too much to remember everything I've seen.
Thanks in advance!
-Clarity

Too many words
I kinda fell a sleep in the middle so yeah
If you want to return too stock use odin
If you want to go to froyo from eclair use odin
If you want cw use I've of the one click rooters
Going to cw is just pressing every button that is not on the keyboard
(power + volume up + volume down + camera)
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App

Stock recovery will get you nowhere on this phone, and with all you have tried so far, I believe Odin is the best course of action. Here is a link to the Odin package-
http://www.mediafire.com/file/fn9s5cqkkwyu68d/Odin3+v1.61andepic.pit.zip
Unzip it to a folder on your desktop.
The necessary drivers and instructions for using it are here in the wiki
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=Samsung_Galaxy_S/SPH-D700#Odin_Stock_Flashing
Follow the instructions carefully and be sure the drivers are installed before starting. Obviously, wherever it mentions the DI18 tar, you will use the current one in it's place. You can use this one, it's pre-rooted and de-odexed.-
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1021305
That tar file is still RFS file system so you will need to install CWM 3.0.0.6 and boot into it with the 3 finger solute so it can convert the file system to ext4. Package and instructions here-
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=897612
If you made it this far you should be able to install one of the current ROMs you've been shopping for.

Thanks for the responses guys, I will try that out when I get a chance. Might be a while though because I don't see my friend that often.

So I was able to use Odin and successfully flash the EC05 .tar. However, I was unable to flash the Syndicate Frozen ROM that my friend wanted. It seems to fail on the flashing kernel step, some blue text that is large and out of place shows up for a second, and it goes back into the recovery menu. When I try to reboot the phone, it is clear that it did not work (assuming the kernel install is failing). I am going to Re-flash the EC05 for now, but do you guys have any recommendations for ROM+Kernel combinations good for battery/performance? Link me up if you know of any good combo's, but I've researched it a bit myself as well.
Basically, I would like to know what I am doing wrong here. Is the CWM included from that .tar file compatible & ready to flash any custom ROM that I want? Or do I need to use that CWM 3.0.0.6+root that Mattalica suggested? The EC05 was prerooted, so I'm wondering what happens if I use the 3.0.0.6 exploit on top of this root... Let me know guys.

onlyclarity said:
So I was able to use Odin and successfully flash the EC05 .tar. However, I was unable to flash the Syndicate Frozen ROM that my friend wanted. It seems to fail on the flashing kernel step, some blue text that is large and out of place shows up for a second, and it goes back into the recovery menu. When I try to reboot the phone, it is clear that it did not work (assuming the kernel install is failing). I am going to Re-flash the EC05 for now, but do you guys have any recommendations for ROM+Kernel combinations good for battery/performance? Link me up if you know of any good combo's, but I've researched it a bit myself as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What happend when you rebooted that indicated it was not successful? If you had strange vibrations and a bootloop, that is common when trying to flash these new generation ROMs like ACS and Bonsai. A simple reflash usually fixes it.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

The Syndicate one failed as the kernel step was happening, resulting in a complete ROM failure (syndicate frozen tries to install their kernel midway thru the ROM flash). I tried it more than once, with no success. It just kept failing at kernel and only letting me into the CWM recovery (probably had already erased the base ROM?)
I was able to flash Baked Snack 1.6 without trouble and he is going to try that out for now. Interestingly enough, I did try to flash the baked snack "step 2" kernel, which is supposed to be a bit better on the battery life, and guess what happened mid install: the same weird black screen with huge blue text that goes off the screen (I think it says it fails, not sure though).
Here's the kicker on that, the "about phone" section does say that the base-band is something like "baked snack 1.6 step 2", which is odd, but the kernel version section seems to boast the same kernel version number that it had before. This leads me to think that it may have worked, but again, I cannot be 100% sure. If you have any more comments/suggestions, feel free to keep posting. Thanks again for all your help with the Odin TAR stuff, I really didn't feel confident until you confirmed the method.

onlyclarity said:
The Syndicate one failed as the kernel step was happening, resulting in a complete ROM failure (syndicate frozen tries to install their kernel midway thru the ROM flash). I tried it more than once, with no success. It just kept failing at kernel and only letting me into the CWM recovery (probably had already erased the base ROM?)
I was able to flash Baked Snack 1.6 without trouble and he is going to try that out for now. Interestingly enough, I did try to flash the baked snack "step 2" kernel, which is supposed to be a bit better on the battery life, and guess what happened mid install: the same weird black screen with huge blue text that goes off the screen (I think it says it fails, not sure though).
Here's the kicker on that, the "about phone" section does say that the base-band is something like "baked snack 1.6 step 2", which is odd, but the kernel version section seems to boast the same kernel version number that it had before. This leads me to think that it may have worked, but again, I cannot be 100% sure. If you have any more comments/suggestions, feel free to keep posting. Thanks again for all your help with the Odin TAR stuff, I really didn't feel confident until you confirmed the method.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
BakedSnack 1.6 is a RFS ROM and is DI18 based. If you installed CWM 3.0.0.6, it would have converted your filesystem to EXT4. BakedSnack 1.6 does not have kernel support for EXT4. However if you installed an older version of CWM it would explain how ACS failed to install and how BackedSnack 1.6 was able to install and boot.

What is this about bricking???

I have a few questions... I am coming from using a Nexus One and am intimately familiar with flashing Modems/Kernels/ROMs... modifying framework and other APKs for custom features... and all kinds of other fun stuff. I have been running into videos and such that I am sure their procedure works but I don't really trust that all their information is accurate. Seeing as some people putting up how-to info say I need to install 7-zip to run a self-extractable archive... they obviously don't know what they are talking about... no offense meant to them as it is a very good instructional video... I just do not feel comfortable asking them detailed questions.
With the E4GT I keep seeing people saying that you can brick your phone by flashing between GB and ICS ROMs without wiping and such. Now I would like to get a few things strait. On Nexus One the recovery kernel was held in a different partition than the normal OS. Then there was an initial bootloader that would load either the recovery or the normal OS. Now if you were to shoot yourself in the foot and do something you shouldn't with your normal OS you could always boot to recovery and start from your latest nandroid or just flash w/e you felt like. Is this not how the E4GT works? If you flash a kernel (which I would assume would goto your normal OS's boot partition being seperate from the bootloader and recovery) does it actually "brick" your phone? Do ICS ROMs mess with something in the bootloader or recovery that could prevent you from going back to recovery and reflashing whatever you want?

The permenant bricks are happening with the partitions getting screwed. Even ODINing over a stock tar will fail at that point. Normally with any device we would JTAG and write new partitions.
Only 2 things I know are. The partitions between GB and ICS are different. Our phones recovery is packed into the kernel and since we don't have the source for the ICS kernel yet I would expect their to be issues with CWM repacks on our phone with ICS.
Ive been one of the ones with no issues flashing around in ICS. But I would not dare try to flash a GB rom back. SFHUB's One Click ODIN's are a quick way to flash over an EL29 or prior tar but you can do it the old fashioned way as well.

Read here, On how to avoid
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1525495

xST4T1K said:
Read here, On how to avoid
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1525495
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really appreciate your informational thread. The problem is... I went through all this information as well as some other stuff prior to posting this. While the information is nice it is basically "follow these procedures and things should work according to my experience". What I am looking for is detailed information as to what is causing tons or people (relative to what i saw in the N1 community) mentioning these bricking issues. I am trying to gather and consolidate this information as I can not find it readily available.
RainMotorsports said:
The permenant bricks are happening with the partitions getting screwed. Even ODINing over a stock tar will fail at that point. Normally with any device we would JTAG and write new partitions.
Only 2 things I know are. The partitions between GB and ICS are different. Our phones recovery is packed into the kernel and since we don't have the source for the ICS kernel yet I would expect their to be issues with CWM repacks on our phone with ICS.
Ive been one of the ones with no issues flashing around in ICS. But I would not dare try to flash a GB rom back. SFHUB's One Click ODIN's are a quick way to flash over an EL29 or prior tar but you can do it the old fashioned way as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is more along the lines of what I am looking for. So... from what I gather here:
1. As far as it is known... something having to do with partition allocation information is different between GB and ICS ROMs.
2. E4GT version of Android's recovery is not held seperate from the running OS and is dependent on the Initramfs (and contained within) that is used by the actual running OS.
3. In order to flash back to GB you must use SFHUB's One Click ODIN which uses a known procedure that works. (Why does this work where others methods do not? Possibly, when update script runs from package used in recovery [modified ICS recovery] it has to do with partition information the recovery is expecting is different from actual? ICS kernel source so its exact method of actually executing an update script is unknown?)
Please correct post to correct any information you see here which is incorrect or acknowledge what information you believe to be correct.
EDIT: Correction to 3 as I didn't read post properly and also in response to RainMotorsports post. Also, changed SGS2 in 2 to E4GT
EDIT: Changed "kernel" in 2 to "initramfs" Detailed information about all this can be found in Sfhub's detailed explanation post within this thread which you can find here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=24398615&postcount=13

You can go back to gingerbread as many times as you want, just use the one click odin el29 above. That's the safest and simplest way. I've done it countless times.

Goblinlord said:
2. SGS2 version of Android's recovery is not held seperate from the running OS and is dependent on the kernel (and contained within) that is used by the actual running OS.
3. If you flash to ICS do not flash back to GB??? (though this goes against the information contained in xST4T1K's post)
Please correct post to correct any information you see here which is incorrect or acknowledge what information you believe to be correct.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For 3 as said just use the odin one click. Now everyone recommends using EL26 with CWM for some reason but EL29 works. When going backwards always use the version that wipes the data partition - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1433101 will take you to stock rooted EL29 and you can odin over the kernel with cwm or just use sfhubs auto rooter to gain it.
Its recommended to either use ODIN (or an odin one click) to upgrade an ICS leak or to ODIN back to EL26/29 then flash a rom. It has been possible for some of us to do it from ICS but there have been bricks its just a precaution so do it the right way for now. Mobile ODIN also has some issue but I have done 2 tar leaks using it as well.
As for 2 to the best of my knowledge its just the E4GT. The recovery partition on our phone is unused and recovery is packed into the kernel. Very stable on GB, but we don't have the ICS source and the ICS repacks have some issues. To change or gain recovery all you have to do is flash a kernel.

RainMotorsports said:
For 3 as said just use the odin one click. Now everyone recommends using EL26 with CWM for some reason but EL29 works. When going backwards always use the version that wipes the data partition - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1433101 will take you to stock rooted EL29 and you can odin over the kernel with cwm or just use sfhubs auto rooter to gain it.
Its recommended to either use ODIN (or an odin one click) to upgrade an ICS leak or to ODIN back to EL26/29 then flash a rom. It has been possible for some of us to do it from ICS but there have been bricks its just a precaution so do it the right way for now. Mobile ODIN also has some issue but I have done 2 tar leaks using it as well.
As for 2 to the best of my knowledge its just the E4GT. The recovery partition on our phone is unused and recovery is packed into the kernel. Very stable on GB, but we don't have the ICS source and the ICS repacks have some issues. To change or gain recovery all you have to do is flash a kernel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perfect ^^... thanks for the information this is exactly the type of information I was looking for.

OP, check PM.

There was actually some talk from a few that were using JTAGs to unbrick only to find out that the NAND was fried in a way you would only expect to see from something hit by an EM surge. While odd, it's not impossible and we can only speculate at the changes in 3.0.15 ICS kernels from Samsung vs. the GB ones. I'm no electrical expert so I won't speculate on what would cause it.
I know how the Nexus was coming from a G2/Desire Z a lot of things were very similar. This phone is completely different. So far as I can tell the recovery and kernel share the same space. While you could flash 4EXT as your recovery and never change it but constantly change kernels - you must flash the recovery w/ the kernel on this. Probably has something to do with us having ODIN - that might be taking up residence where the recovery or fastboot would normally reside. I could be completely wrong though. As far as the 7zip thing. I don't know what videos you're talking about specifically but I do know a lot of people tell others to install it just because it's one of the most useful things when modding. Whether it be an apk or an entire rom. This is of course when your speaking about Windows. Linux has its own built-in goodies.

KCRic said:
There was actually some talk from a few that were using JTAGs to unbrick only to find out that the NAND was fried in a way you would only expect to see from something hit by an EM surge. While odd, it's not impossible and we can only speculate at the changes in 3.0.15 ICS kernels from Samsung vs. the GB ones. I'm no electrical expert so I won't speculate on what would cause it.
I know how the Nexus was coming from a G2/Desire Z a lot of things were very similar. This phone is completely different. So far as I can tell the recovery and kernel share the same space. While you could flash 4EXT as your recovery and never change it but constantly change kernels - you must flash the recovery w/ the kernel on this. Probably has something to do with us having ODIN - that might be taking up residence where the recovery or fastboot would normally reside. I could be completely wrong though. As far as the 7zip thing. I don't know what videos you're talking about specifically but I do know a lot of people tell others to install it just because it's one of the most useful things when modding. Whether it be an apk or an entire rom. This is of course when your speaking about Windows. Linux has its own built-in goodies.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info KCRic. If you could provide a link for the thread you refer to about the NAND memory being fried it would be great. Also... I completely agree with 7-zip being useful as I have used it now for many many many years... my point was more... the person didn't even know the difference between an self-extracting executable and an archive file.

Please look at the following thread for background on the problem and speculation as to technically why the bricks are happening:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1504808

My theory on to why restoring a gingerbread and is that the fact that on ICS the recovery actually has access/see add'l hidden partitions that the gingerbread recovery does not access or see (example the triangle away tool which needs ics) Most likely when the restore is done the nand gets rewritten to the wrong partitions due to new hidden partitions not accounted for and in a sense overwriting something crucial and ends up in either destroying the partition and bricking the device. I'm no expert on the matter though so take this with a grain of sand.

I am reading from mobile so only skimmed through this. Some questions are probably already answered. Excuse the typos, it is a pain to type long replies on mobile.
The 7zip thing is probably because i package everything as 7zip self-extractors, which on windows means you just double-click on the *-sfx.exe and choose the directory to unpack to. The roms are relatively large so compressing them makes sense and 7zip does a better job compressing and is cross platform. Anyway on platforms other than windows you just treat the -sfx.exe file like a regular 7zip archive and use 7zip or other archive tool to unpack, similar to if zip or rar was used to compress.
Regarding why there are bricks, there are two more prevalent ways of bricking this phone.
1) flashing an intl gs2 factory or leaked rom that includes the intl bootloader. On our phone, the intl bootloader disables the usb port so you can no longer recover using any tool that uses the usb port. If you happen to have custom recovery still on the phone, you can use an update.zip to update your rom, kernel, and modem, but your usb port is still useless.
2) using an ics kernel combined with a custom recovery to wipe, restore, or otherwise do partition operations that affect /data. This is not a deterministic brick in that you can have the same operation work fine many times, but then suddenly have it fail. There were some more deterministic variations of this type of brick involving a temp flashed cwm touch, where wiping/factory reset would very frequently cause the /data brick.
So what is the /data brick? Apparently a change in the ics kernel combined with certain custom recovery operations can cause a hardware failure in the emmc memory for the data partition section. This will cause all future attempts to format, overwrite, restore, the data partition to hang or fail. We know it is a hardware failure because even using jtag to bit blast the proper software fails. Often people don't realize their data partition has bricked right away because they are in the midst of wiping/factory reset or restoring a backup. Then something isn't working right so they go and use odin to get back into a known state, but find odin hangs on the data partition. This may lead them to think odin is not working right or even that odin caused the problem, but in reality, odin is just the messenger that your emmc is screwed. The damage was done earlier. We know that to be the case, because
1) in all instances it was traced back to on operation with an ics kernel and custom recovery
2) this type of brick never existed before the ics kernels (linux 3.0 kernels came out)
3) galaxy note on ics has the same type of emmc brick
4) we know there were changes to the emmc code because different areas of emm are exposed in ics kernels which were not exposed in gb kernels
Your only recourse for this type of brick is to return for replacement, as even jtag fails.
Regarding odin, if you are coming from another platform, it is basically like fastboot in that it is a failsafe type flash using low-level bootloader routines which do not depend on working kernel or rom. Most types of soft brick can be easily addressed by odin. As to why it is safer, it is using low-level bootloader routines so doesn't depend on the ics kernel which we have found to be problematic in certain situations listed above.
Regarding recovery, I also came from a platform where recovery was a separate partition. This made sense to me. Alas, this phone does not use a separate partition for recovery. Instead reckvery is packed into the initramfs of the normal android kernel. if you flash a new kernel, that comes with a new initramfs, and you will get whichever recovery was packed into its initramfs, whether that be stock or custom recovery.
Ironically, there is a separate partition labelled recovery.bin that for some reason is not used. The contents are exactly the same as the kernel, so in the current state it just serves as a backup of the active kernel.
In closing, I would suggest treating this phone as a new platform and don't make assumptions based in past experience. Being android, there are similarities, but there are also important differences/quirks to be aware of which are easily missed if assumptions are made.

RainMotorsports said:
For 3 as said just use the odin one click. Now everyone recommends using EL26 with CWM for some reason but EL29 works. When going backwards always use the version that wipes the data partition - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1433101 will take you to stock rooted EL29 and you can odin over the kernel with cwm or just use sfhubs auto rooter to gain it.
Its recommended to either use ODIN (or an odin one click) to upgrade an ICS leak or to ODIN back to EL26/29 then flash a rom. It has been possible for some of us to do it from ICS but there have been bricks its just a precaution so do it the right way for now. Mobile ODIN also has some issue but I have done 2 tar leaks using it as well.
As for 2 to the best of my knowledge its just the E4GT. The recovery partition on our phone is unused and recovery is packed into the kernel. Very stable on GB, but we don't have the ICS source and the ICS repacks have some issues. To change or gain recovery all you have to do is flash a kernel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Coming from the Evo this is all new to me so I am sorry but I just wanted to double check. Right now I am still on eg30 and rooted. It is ok then to just use the odin one click to flash el26/29? Then I have to also flash cwm again correct? Sorry for the noobish questions, just trying to avoid any problems.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

Natedog1 said:
Coming from the Evo this is all new to me so I am sorry but I just wanted to double check. Right now I am still on eg30 and rooted. It is ok then to just use the odin one click to flash el26/29? Then I have to also flash cwm again correct? Sorry for the noobish questions, just trying to avoid any problems.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow your on EG30 nice lol.
Yes you can one click or regular odin straight to EL29 if you want. There are one clicks for ICS up to FC24 (No FD02 yet) so if your not going to a custom rom just stock rooted you can use those too.
EL26 - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1416477
EL29 - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1433101
FC24 - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1573752
You can go from EG30 to EL29 using the no data ones and not lose anything. Going to ICS or going backwards you should always use the normal ones that erase your data.
You still need custom recovery to flash a rom. You can use sfhubs autorooter on a rooted install to gain it or odin over a kernel.

RainMotorsports said:
Wow your on EG30 nice lol.
Yes you can one click or regular odin straight to EL29 if you want. There are one clicks for ICS up to FC24 (No FD02 yet) so if your not going to a custom rom just stock rooted you can use those too.
EL26 - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1416477
EL29 - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1433101
FC24 - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1573752
You can go from EG30 to EL29 using the no data ones and not lose anything. Going to ICS or going backwards you should always use the normal ones that erase your data.
You still need custom recovery to flash a rom. You can use sfhubs autorooter on a rooted install to gain it or odin over a kernel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I just picked up the phone the other day after my evo crapped out. It is like learning a new language going from the evo to this. Modems, odin, triangles.... Trying read as much as I can before doing much. Thanks for your help. I appreciate it a lot.
I am a little apprehensive about flashing an ics rom after reading about all the issues everyone is having. I do miss the hell out of cm but I think I should hold off on flashing that for now. Is it "safe" to flash fc24 one click even though it is ics?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

Yes if your going to ICS its as safe as it gets. ODIN is samsungs fastboot. The firmwares are stored on tars. SFHUB packages tars in a one click setup for odin so you dont have to deal with odin itself. Writing a full tar with odin write a whole firmware rather than just the rom or just the modem etc like when using recovery.
The other option is to flash an ICS rom through custom recovery preferably EL26 or EL29.
As far as triangles go if you want to know about those. If you flash a custom kernel or anything else not signed by samsung through ODIN it will show a triangle at boot as well as increase the counter shown in the download mode. This is just there to tell the phone company you have been messing with it.
I have never tripped the triangle myself but a USB jig on older bootloaders or the Triangle away app on ICS will take care of it.

Using ODIN to flash the FC24 + rooted is not a bad place to start *in my opinion* to try out ICS on the E4GT. But there are lessons to this too - please make sure you are using a good quality USB cable (such as the Sammy one), don't flash if your system is at risk of shutting down in the middle (such as a laptop with a sketchy battery and no A/C) and by all means, if it looks like it is hanging... give it time before resorting to unplugging the USB cable. The last part is the modem and takes several minutes, no matter how fast your PC is.
No matter what you decide, good luck and don't be afraid to ask any questions. It is far better to err towards caution and ask for advice than go on our own and risk ending up with a paperweight instead of a phone.

Thanks garwynn i was actually just coming back to add that. Yeah I always recommend to people to flash with a laptop if they have it in case of a power outage.

Thanks for the tips and the advice guys. Much appreciated. Right now the ics roms are pretty much all leaks correct?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

how come roms dont like me?

i got a new epic from assurion so it had nothing on it so i odined el30 flashed su odined acclaim and that was it then i put A rom on top of it ( the peoples rom ) and as usual it lags and doesn't open up things for up to a minute . i have always had problems with roms. what can i be doing wrong? are these the correct steps? are they incompatibility issues? or is el30 not stable yet. any help woiuld be appreciated. i really like using your masterpieces but i seem to have issues wit all of them, so clearly its me. thanks

If you don't like aosp but want stock rooted, Odin el30 ( victory pit in pit section, el30 .tar in PDA section, only have auto reboot checked), then OTA to fc09 then Odin cwm 5.x ( pit in pit section, cwm .tar in PDA section, leave everything unchecked), pull battery when Odin finishes, boot cwm, flash su.zip, boot fc09, use es file explorer(free in play store) launch es, navigate to settings> check use root explorer, grant su, check mount /system, delete /system/etc/ recovery-install.sh (or something like that to disable the script from reinstalling the stock recovery.) , Odin cwm again and your good.
Edit: or an easier way would be to Odin cwm once and flash this lol http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=24419155
Sent from my cm_tenderloin using Tapatalk 2 Beta-5

Also download Spare Parts and set Window and Transition Animations to FAST. You would be surprised at the difference that makes. You will lose CRT off but with that speed, who cares...LOL.

ok this was a bit much for me. i dont need stock rom i dont care about anything. i just thought i had to odin to start fresh . all id like is whatever it takes to get peoples rom (for instance) to work on my phone. btw, i can not even get the screen to turn back on now without pulling the battery. i can follow the directions but i was hoping for something alittle more simple. if thats not possible i will try to figure out those directions

Unfortunately Samsung's Gingerbread update killed the one click root option so Odin is needed to at least put on a custom recovery and then install a prerooted ROM.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium

ok i apologize i was half alseep when i read the first reply, so i opted for the second option and odined \cwm-5.0.2.7-epic4g.tar.md5
i also have a cwm 3.1.0.1
should i have used that? i usually do the acclaim in odin but i just odined the cwm but when i went into recovery of course the deoxed fc09 didnt work because it wasnt rooted but the su.zip doesn't show up on my sd card in recovery. it always does when i odin acclaim. what am i doing wrong?

When you odin cwm 5, uncheck reboot. Odin will complete but your phone will still have the triangle showing. Disconnect the cable, pop battery out and in, 3 finger salute into cwm5 and flash The People's Rom. That will put you on MTD. Then if you don't like that you can flash the deodexed FC09 from there.
Sent from my PantechP4100 using xda premium

Listen, I think most of the devs in this community work really hard to put out some great ROMS. The insight they have given me is much appreciated. But now that I've said that, here is my answer to your original question.
I have yet to use a ROM that is as reliable as stock ROMs. If you read the threads about each ROM you will see lots of comments like:
"Wow, this ROM is awesome. It's absolutely perfect.....also, sometimes my speaker doesn't work, and the system panel FCs all the time, but THIS ROM is PERFECT! Thanks".
See my point? People get religiously attached to their favorite ROMs and easily ignore the problems to avoid admitting that they aren't using the hot sh*t.
I've tried lots of ROMs, but I always end up going back to a lightly modified stock ROM because for me reliability is the number one item with me. I have yet to find one dev's ROM that doesn't have a fatal flaw, IMHO.

gorelow said:
ok i apologize i was half alseep when i read the first reply, so i opted for the second option and odined \cwm-5.0.2.7-epic4g.tar.md5
i also have a cwm 3.1.0.1
should i have used that? i usually do the acclaim in odin but i just odined the cwm but when i went into recovery of course the deoxed fc09 didnt work because it wasnt rooted but the su.zip doesn't show up on my sd card in recovery. it always does when i odin acclaim. what am i doing wrong?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this might help some ...look below

[Q] Flash EL26 kernel on top of ICS ROM to flash another ICS ROM?

I know this is a silly question, but Ive Googled and searched here on XDA and no luck.
Every AOSP based ROM says to flash EL26 kernel in order to flash the ROM (CM9, AOKP, CNA). I already have AOKP installed.
Traditionally, I just use Sfhubs EL26 one-click, then I will install CWM via Sfhubs Autoroot, boot into recovery, then I'll flash.
My question is, can I just flash the EL26 kernel (via Odin because I am on ICS ROMs) instead of that whole lengthy process I just described above? In other words, is it safe to have a Gingerbread/EL26 kernel on top of an ICS rom just so I can use CWM to flash another ICS ROM?
I understand my original, longer method is much safer. Just curious.
Also: what is the obsession with the EL26 kernel? It was never even an OTA build, why do all developers check for EL26?
Sorry for the noob questions. Thanks in advance.

rpnunez said:
I know this is a silly question, but Ive Googled and searched here on XDA and no luck.
Every AOSP based ROM says to flash EL26 kernel in order to flash the ROM (CM9, AOKP, CNA). I already have AOKP installed.
Traditionally, I just use Sfhubs EL26 one-click, then I will install CWM via Sfhubs Autoroot, boot into recovery, then I'll flash.
My question is, can I just flash the EL26 kernel (via Odin because I am on ICS ROMs) instead of that whole lengthy process I just described above? In other words, is it safe to have a Gingerbread/EL26 kernel on top of an ICS rom just so I can use CWM to flash another ICS ROM?
I understand my original, longer method is much safer. Just curious.
Also: what is the obsession with the EL26 kernel? It was never even an OTA build, why do all developers check for EL26?
Sorry for the noob questions. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are safe flashing the EL26 CWM kernel through Odin. There's no need to return to an actual GB ROM with every flash. However, I'd suggest investing in Mobile Odin to make the process easier.
The reason everyone insists in EL26 is that it is the original custom recovery for our phones and us also the safest.
Good luck!

Mobile odin is the way to go, it's what I use it won't boot rom just into recovery and wipe and flash away. It's on the market and so is the link to the free one. You also need to install the flash apk if you use the fee one both are here on xda.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA

Please make sure you are using the recommended StockCWM-EL26.TAR file found here:
http://chris41g.devphone.org/index.php?dir=EpicTouch/Stock+Repack/EL26/
This kernel uses the STOCK cwm recovery. There has been a lot of concern about using any of the other repacked recoveries so this one has been deemed safe where ICS is involved.
Like the other user said, using ODIN (mobile or PC based) is far easier than using the one click root (which takes like 20-30 minutes each time).

You guys are all awesome. Really answered all my questions. Thanks to you all. !!!

What if I am on an ICS rom and I want to do a nandroid restore back to a gingerbread rom? Can I just flash the el26 kernal then go and do the restore? Also just to double check i put the kernal in the pda slot of odin correct?

rbtrucking said:
What if I am on an ICS rom and I want to do a nandroid restore back to a gingerbread rom? Can I just flash the el26 kernal then go and do the restore? Also just to double check i put the kernal in the pda slot of odin correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what they say.
But I love my phone too much and I'm kinda paranoid about it so I do it the original way and use Sfhub one-click back to Gingerbread, then I restore the nandroid.
As far as which slot to use, I usually refer to this just to be safe if I can't remember:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1274337
Somewhere on that OP it tells you what the slots are used for too:
•PIT Button: This is for the partition structure when flashing an entire ROM
•BOOTLOADER Button: This is for uploading a new bootloader (we don't have, and have never used this - IGNORE!)
•PDA Button: This is for flashing kernels and ROMs (in .tar format)
•PHONE Button: This is for the phone's RADIO/MODEM ONLY!!!!!!
•CSC Button: Not sure - don't use.

tdunham said:
That's what they say.
But I love my phone too much and I'm kinda paranoid about it so I do it the original way and use Sfhub one-click back to Gingerbread, then I restore the nandroid.
As far as which slot to use, I usually refer to this just to be safe if I can't remember:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1274337
Somewhere on that OP it tells you what the slots are used for too:
•PIT Button: This is for the partition structure when flashing an entire ROM
•BOOTLOADER Button: This is for uploading a new bootloader (we don't have, and have never used this - IGNORE!)
•PDA Button: This is for flashing kernels and ROMs (in .tar format)
•PHONE Button: This is for the phone's RADIO/MODEM ONLY!!!!!!
•CSC Button: Not sure - don't use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you I love ICS but it might be too buggy at the moment. Half the time my capacitive keys dont light up I cant send or receive picture messages and I cant acess my sd card when I connect the phone to the pc

rbtrucking said:
Thank you I love ICS but it might be too buggy at the moment. Half the time my capacitive keys dont light up I cant send or receive picture messages and I cant acess my sd card when I connect the phone to the pc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been hearing more and more about the MMS problem. I don't use it much so everything is working fine for me as far as I can tell. But, it's nice when it ALL works.

rbtrucking said:
Thank you I love ICS but it might be too buggy at the moment. Half the time my capacitive keys dont light up I cant send or receive picture messages and I cant acess my sd card when I connect the phone to the pc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as the mms issue have you tried the fix out there. Also I believe sfhub has a fix for your sdcard showing up when you connect to a pc as part of his 1-click. I am on Codename now and I do not have any of these issues you speak of fortunately. Actually everything I need the rom for works quite well

[Q] Installing ICS CWM

I just upgraded my E4GT Sprint from GB to ICS using the oneclick installer. I am trying to install the CODENAME rom from CWM but havng issues getting CWM installed. I used the the E4GT auto but FE16 isnt listed so i tried FE15 but it wont load into CWM. So i tried this link "http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1390393" and flashed from ODIN and it goes into CWM but before it boots it says my phone is a gt-i9100 and has a ! on the bottom. It appears to boot though so i booted back into CWM and tried to flash the ZIP for CODENAME and the gapps file and it jsut gets stuck at the boot screen with the transformer logo. I cant get into CWM after that point and have to ODIN back to ICS. I am on ICS now and its working fine. Does anyone have any instructions on getting CWM installed and the codename rom from a fresh odin ICS install?

mazdaspeed6 said:
I just upgraded my E4GT Sprint from GB to ICS using the oneclick installer. I am trying to install the CODENAME rom from CWM but havng issues getting CWM installed. I used the the E4GT auto but FE16 isnt listed so i tried FE15 but it wont load into CWM. So i tried this link "http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1390393" and flashed from ODIN and it goes into CWM but before it boots it says my phone is a gt-i9100 and has a ! on the bottom. It appears to boot though so i booted back into CWM and tried to flash the ZIP for CODENAME and the gapps file and it jsut gets stuck at the boot screen with the transformer logo. I cant get into CWM after that point and have to ODIN back to ICS. I am on ICS now and its working fine. Does anyone have any instructions on getting CWM installed and the codename rom from a fresh odin ICS install?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You really should read more before hopping around like that without checking. Real risk for a brick here.
-Flash EL26 stock CWM kernel via the PDA option in ODIN/Mobile ODIN
-When phone begins reboot, Hold Power + Volume up until boots into recovery.
-Wipe data/factory, cache and dalvik cache
-Flash ROM
-Flash Gapps
-Reboot
Those are the instructions right from the developer's thread. This is an AOSP rom and it sounds like you're trying to install TW kernels.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1662295
This is the kernel repository. It links to each kernel where you can read further and find out if they are safe for flashing things.

Seems like you've done a bunch of stuff. But you really should do a whole bunch of reading first or you will brick your phone.
My suggestion would be to use sfhub's one-click http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1705730 to get to a fully stock rooted device. Then use his autoroot package http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1342728 to add CWM (the lates in the package is FF11+CWM Agat I believe) then you can add Agat's latest kernel with CWM http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1721065
But I would be very careful when flashing ANY ROM; use the developers prefered method. Some recommend using EL26 CWM. Some a different recovery or procedure. Be especially careful with CM9 and AOKP builds to follow the directions there.
Good luck

So while i was waiting for a response i just went back to the stock GB using the one click install. I then used the autoroot package to install CWM and then restored my nandroid backup before i made in the very beginning. So my phone is back to a perfect state with GB and CWM installed. Can i just flash the ROM from CWM as is then? For some reason i thought it had to be "converted" to ICS and thats what started this whole mess. Things have changed since my old Evo
I just noticed that im running EL29 not 26...does that matter? When i try to flash that CMW EL26 stock root is when it gave me that gt-i9100 on boot and the ! at the bottom. Using the autoroot and choosing the EL29 Rogue is the only way i got it installed.

mazdaspeed6 said:
So while i was waiting for a response i just went back to the stock GB using the one click install. I then used the autoroot package to install CWM and then restored my nandroid backup before i made in the very beginning. So my phone is back to a perfect state with GB and CWM installed. Can i just flash the ROM from CWM as is then? For some reason i thought it had to be "converted" to ICS and thats what started this whole mess. Things have changed since my old Evo
I just noticed that im running EL29 not 26...does that matter? When i try to flash that CMW EL26 stock root is when it gave me that gt-i9100 on boot and the ! at the bottom. Using the autoroot and choosing the EL29 Rogue is the only way i got it installed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My friend some good suggestions above your post. Give yourself a day or two and do some reading prior to flashing. This way you may not end up at Sprint making up stories about why your phone wont boot up.

Let me just echo what everybody else has said, you're gotta read more. A lot more! If you're one goal is to get CNA in your phone I would recommend reading all of the very first post on that thread. They give step by step instructions.
If you need CWM there are several options to get it on your phone. Both sfhub and I have put together several one-click and automated options to get it on your phone.
One thing that hasn't been suggested yet but I would strongly encourage you to do is to read the "How Not To Brick Your E4GT" thread. It's sticked in the General section.
Good luck!

Two more things.
1) If you're going to ask for help give it a few minutes before trying something new. It takes people a minute to reply. Sometimes waiting that extra minute or two is all you need to be saved from bricking.
2) Don't be afraid to hit your thanks button for everyone who has offered advice already. I got them once for you but it might not hurt to do it again.