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
Related
Is there a current ICS leak that has cwm built into it after loading it now?
I am currently running Calkulins.E4GT.ROM.v2.8.1 with Rogue recovery...
Is there an ics i can flash using that recovery, and once done still have recovery?
Is that what this Rogue *Stock FB17* v1.2.1 (CWM Zip) is, from http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1390393 here?
I dont ever want to touch Odin again, i seem to have problems with that.
I also want to be able to flash back to a stock backup if i need, so i dont want to lose my recovery ability.
Scribes said:
Is there a current ICS leak that has cwm built into it after loading it now?
I am currently running Calkulins.E4GT.ROM.v2.8.1 with Rogue recovery...
Is there an ics i can flash using that recovery, and once done still have recovery?
Is that what this Rogue *Stock FB17* v1.2.1 (CWM Zip) is, from http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1390393 here?
I dont ever want to touch Odin again, i seem to have problems with that.
I also want to be able to flash back to a stock backup if i need, so i dont want to lose my recovery ability.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Technically, not really.
The official way to do it is flash calks fb17, boot up, and then odin rogues fb17 kernel/recovery.
HOWEVER.... Once booted into calks fb17 you can download rom manager,
Flash recovery from there selecting sgs2 as the phone and NOT e4gt
Boot into recovery from rom manager
Flash Rogue's fb17 kernel/recovery
Worked well for me.
ics
There have been many many bricks when trying to flash from ics back to gb .. The data partition on several phones has been fried leading to unrecoverable brick .... so far most going back to gb from ics have been using odin to be safe .... dont touch the cwm touch recovery with ics .... it leads to bricks .... The safest so far has been odin a gb rom then odin cwm recovery and then run your nandroid from there ..Be safe
I am running the ICS FB17 pre-rooted leak and flashed the zip with rouge, it had the stock ics recovery so i went back to this page (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1342728) and downloaded the latest auto root and ran option D and the option A to flash the rouge for the FB15 modem.
Scribes said:
Is there a current ICS leak that has cwm built into it after loading it now?
I am currently running Calkulins.E4GT.ROM.v2.8.1 with Rogue recovery...
Is there an ics i can flash using that recovery, and once done still have recovery?
Is that what this Rogue *Stock FB17* v1.2.1 (CWM Zip) is, from http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1390393 here?
I dont ever want to touch Odin again, i seem to have problems with that.
I also want to be able to flash back to a stock backup if i need, so i dont want to lose my recovery ability.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are concerned about having to "touch" Odin again, then you shouldn't be flashing any of this stuff for now..
ICS/CWM
did just as RigorousNinja went back to GB 4.0 by PhathomHacker no problemshttp://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1342728
The oneclick installer will put cwm on any ics build I have seen so far. I just used it on FB21 Rooted in fact. Just run letter D then CWS-15;Rogue
http://uperoo.com/index.php?r=dl&a=1293311
Sorry to whoever for reposting but I have no idea where I got it from now..
Thanks to Steady Hawkin for FB17+CWM-Rogue(repack)
It is available in the Auto Root sticky in Development or in my signature.
The latest one includes FB17+CWM-Rogue as well.
Epix4G said:
There have been many many bricks when trying to flash from ics back to gb .. The data partition on several phones has been fried leading to unrecoverable brick .... so far most going back to gb from ics have been using odin to be safe .... dont touch the cwm touch recovery with ics .... it leads to bricks .... The safest so far has been odin a gb rom then odin cwm recovery and then run your nandroid from there ..Be safe
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you elaborate why it is bad to flash back to GB through CWM? I've done it twice already due to overheating in ICS and haven't had any issues. I just want to know if damaging my phone by doing that :/
SuperSwagSauce said:
Can you elaborate why it is bad to flash back to GB through CWM? I've done it twice already due to overheating in ICS and haven't had any issues. I just want to know if damaging my phone by doing that :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It isn't bad to flash back to GB through CWM per se.
It is bad to fake flash CWM Touch onto an ICS linux 3.0 kernel and do a restore or wipe. The combination of CWM Touch and the ICS linux 3.0 kernel has caused many people to hose their /data partition in such a way that even repartition using ODIN doesn't allow /data to be written to anymore.
sfhub said:
It isn't bad to flash back to GB through CWM per se.
It is bad to fake flash CWM Touch onto an ICS linux 3.0 kernel and do a restore or wipe. The combination of CWM Touch and the ICS linux 3.0 kernel has caused many people to hose their /data partition in such a way that even repartition using ODIN doesn't allow /data to be written to anymore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahh so it's a CWM Touch issue you say? That's a relief
SuperSwagSauce said:
Ahh so it's a CWM Touch issue you say? That's a relief
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the one people happen to have had bad experiences with, but the general issue is "fake/temporary" flashes which end up pairing recoveries with kernels they may not have been intended to work with or may not have been tested with, then trying to operations on your phone which may overwrite sections that are hard to recover from.
CWM Touch if integrated (ie repacked with) and tested with a kernel it appears to work ok.
Honestly, just take the time to get to know Odin... its really safe and useful when you invest the time (which is very little). and this is coming from a 'noobs' perspective. As for CWM i have used it as well (not touch) and been okay, but like everyone else has warned... be careful.
sfhub said:
That's the one people happen to have had bad experiences with, but the general issue is "fake/temporary" flashes which end up pairing recoveries with kernels they may not have been intended to work with or may not have been tested with, then trying to operations on your phone which may overwrite sections that are hard to recover from.
CWM Touch if integrated (ie repacked with) and tested with a kernel it appears to work ok.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gotcha, so my steady hawkin FB17 kernel/recovery should be good.
I know this an older leak but I was reading the how not to brick you e4gt and some of the devs were complaining that noobs were ONLY reporting that they bricked their phones and are begging for help after they rushed into flashing their phone(s). I thought I should mention how I did it and if it was easy/hard, brick/no brick. I was running Calkulin E4GT 3.0 gingerbread when I started and I downloaded Sfhub's one-click FD19 and since I already had kies with the drivers installed I went ahead and wiped everything by hand in CWM: cache, dalvik, data, and then format the system, data, and something else that I cant remember right now.
I opened the one-click and put my phone into download mode by holding volume down(-) and the power button until the phone entered the Odin screen and then connected the micro usb and listened for the ding that shows my phone is recognized by the computer. When the cable is connected the one click FD19 shows a yellow box that says COMX, where the letter x represents a number changes phone to phone, and then i pressed the start button and waited for it to say PASS in green and then for it to reboot and shazam Im using my first ICS leak ever.
Ive been to afraid to try it until today, been practicing my programming and got me all jittery, and Im glad i did do it because this FD19 leak is MUCH faster and snappier then ANY GB rom ive ever used, which is all of them, so to any noobies like me out there reading this check out Sfhub's one-click leaks because they are very well put together IMHO..
THANKS SFHUB!
..and to any moderator/devs out there thinking that Im doing something pointless remember that noobs find it hard to understand pros so from a noob they might find it easier to avoid bricking the first time they want to try an ICS leak.
Sorry if I annoyed anyone with this thread I dont mean to take up bits and bytes of virtual space!
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
SFHUB does an awesome job putting the tars together and he tests all his own stuff. As much as i like using CWM with no proper ICS repack SFHUB's ODIN One Click's all the way.
But as far as ODIN and ODIN One Click's go themselves thats all Samsung. About the only thing to worry there is a power failure or pulled USB cord. You already know sfhub tested the tar packed in so thats pretty reassuring.
You also do not need to do ANYTHING for a full oneclick (and if your going to wipe theres no point in using the No Data) Literally just download mode. Cache partitions, etc everything are being overwritten. Calk's format all and the normal procedures only matter with CWM packages. Full tars through ODIN wipe everything. Nothing wrong with being cautious just letting you know that on that its a bit pointless.
Thanks I really appreciate the mature and helpful response, dont get much of that on here, ill remember that part about the redundancy.
Just wondering also since youre already here; When I flash a ROM like mijjahs, if i spelled that right, which I have to do manually. Do I need to take any other special precautions other then whats in "how not to brick you e4gt"?
I dont like paperweights anymore. lol
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Just follow whatever they are telling you in there.
Either go back to Gingerbread (EL29 one click?) and flash a CWM kernel or just flash the EL26 CWM kernel. Calk's Format All and then flash the rom. If your changing modems don't forget to flash it before you reboot.
I personally use EL29 rogue but its been a recommendation to use the EL26 CWM kernel which was the last pure CWM kernel we have. Like you I always do the whole cache and dalvik wipe which normally gets done by a rom its a little excessive nothing wrong with that. But always use the Format All between roms.
If you flash just the EL26 CWM kernel remember your phone will not be able to boot because your still on ICS. But you can go into recovery and flash from there. You can see this thread as well but just follow the guide - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1616073
RainMotorsports said:
Just follow whatever they are telling you in there.
Either go back to Gingerbread (EL29 one click?) and flash a CWM kernel or just flash the EL26 CWM kernel. Calk's Format All and then flash the rom. If your changing modems don't forget to flash it before you reboot.
I personally use EL29 rogue but its been a recommendation to use the EL26 CWM kernel which was the last pure CWM kernel we have. Like you I always do the whole cache and dalvik wipe which normally gets done by a rom its a little excessive nothing wrong with that. But always use the Format All between roms.
If you flash just the EL26 CWM kernel remember your phone will not be able to boot because your still on ICS. But you can go into recovery and flash from there. You can see this thread as well but just follow the guide - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1616073
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Couldn't have said it any clearer myself; Thanks a ton for answering so quickly I've been thinking about trying these but like I said I've been to afraid!
Nabbu said:
Couldn't have said it any clearer myself; Thanks a ton for answering so quickly I've been thinking about trying these but like I said I've been to afraid!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly as long as you follow the instructions of the OP you will have no issues at all. The people with issues after all the instructions and the what to do and what not to do instructions came out are those that tried to skip a step.
Basically as long as you do all your flashing goodness from an GB kernel/CWM all should be fine... Also make sure you have that TEP for the other moments in life. In case you jump for joy after flashing your favorite ICS rom and drop your phone.....
Good luck and happy flashing
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
i just upgraded to ff18///
i then upgraded to cwm
i then upgraded to calkulins 4gt 2 fe22
i also just upgraded the modem for fe22 it said this was the newest
quest is i assume the calkulins rom is called fe22
i assume i look for only that stuff fe22
how do i know when to upgrade the rom ///kernals //modem
do i only look for calkulins 4gt 2 fe22
http://www.buildarom.com/E4GT/Modems/E4GT_Modem_FE22.zip ////is that stuff right to use
by the way u guys are great and thank u
is it better to stick with the calkukins stuff because i heard its safe and good
The latest modem is FF18, use whatever works best for you. Anything in that thread is outdated and Calkulin moved onto a different phone.
Know that the FE22 repacked recovery is unsafe to factory reset on in fact staying out of the recovery on it entirely is a good idea. I know there were some earlier than FF18 repacks that were made generally safe but the only kernel source we have had is FF18 and the only completely safe kernels will be based on that source.
RainMotorsports said:
The latest modem is FF18, use whatever works best for you. Anything in that thread is outdated and Calkulin moved onto a different phone.
Know that the FE22 repacked recovery is unsafe to factory reset on in fact staying out of the recovery on it entirely is a good idea. I know there were some earlier than FF18 repacks that were made generally safe but the only kernel source we have had is FF18 and the only completely safe kernels will be based on that source.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks didint know that //// this stuff is so confusing lol so how do i go back to ff18
can i use this to go back to ff18 for cwm e4gtauto-lite-sfxhanks
how do i go backk please also i was told that the agat cwm was safe
In case your not entirely familiar. Our phones eMMC has a bug in its firmware that is triggered by the Android 4.0 Kernel during certain erase operations. Factory reset is a surefire way to permenantly brick the phone. FF18 was supposed to have been made safe by Samsung but from what we can tell on the surface it is not.
AGAT and others by now as well as whoever is doing the TWRP recovery kernels have made kernels with recoveries that are safe to wipe and factory reset as well as generally safe flashing roms. Look for ones built from FF18 source which will have been made safe inside and out. AOSP roms like CM9 and AOKP have safe recoveries and a source built kernel is in testing for as well.
Just be careful with factory resetting, formatting, flashing roms on stock recovery or anything prior to FF18 that is not marked as being safe to do whatever.
You should be able to use sfhub's auto root to install Agat's FF18 on Calkulin's rom, you could technically stay there but thats a pretty old custom rom at this point. There are others out there I have not kept up. Agat has one there are some more popular ones these days like Blu Kuban and stuff I havent kept up to be honest.
larrynypd said:
thanks didint know that //// this stuff is so confusing lol so how do i go back to ff18
can i use this to go back to ff18 for cwm e4gtauto-lite-sfxhanks
how do i go backk please also i was told that the agat cwm was safe
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just flash agats last kernel....its built from source and is safe to flash things from. Also an unsafe recovery just means don't wipe data in it....you can still flash a modem or app.zip in it.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=35
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app
RainMotorsports said:
In case your not entirely familiar. Our phones eMMC has a bug in its firmware that is triggered by the Android 4.0 Kernel during certain erase operations. Factory reset is a surefire way to permenantly brick the phone. FF18 was supposed to have been made safe by Samsung but from what we can tell on the surface it is not.
AGAT and others by now as well as whoever is doing the TWRP recovery kernels have made kernels with recoveries that are safe to wipe and factory reset as well as generally safe flashing roms. Look for ones built from FF18 source which will have been made safe inside and out. AOSP roms like CM9 and AOKP have safe recoveries and a source built kernel is in testing for as well.
Just be careful with factory resetting, formatting, flashing roms on stock recovery or anything prior to FF18 that is not marked as being safe to do whatever.
You should be able to use sfhub's auto root to install Agat's FF18 on Calkulin's rom, you could technically stay there but thats a pretty old custom rom at this point. There are others out there I have not kept up. Agat has one there are some more popular ones these days like Blu Kuban and stuff I havent kept up to be honest.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
do u reccommend not to root then
this is what i used to get for cwm can i use it to go back to ff18 e4gtauto-lite-sfx
or what about this This One-Click ODIN contains the STOCK FF18 Modem/Kernel/ROM for the E4GT
larrynypd said:
do u reccommend not to root then
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Root is irrelevant. If your worried about the bug root has nothing to do with it. The Galaxy Note which has the bug was given ICS over the air and had a rash of bricks from people on stock unrooted firmware just doing simple factory resets. We also have the bug and while reports internally say they put in a work around, its not showing in the source we have.
You are in fact safer being with us, is that not sad? Our developers have worked around the problem from every known point of cause. From where you are at install AGATs FF18 using the auto root. You can flash a different rom if you wish after that.
RainMotorsports said:
Root is irrelevant. If your worried about the bug root has nothing to do with it. The Galaxy Note which has the bug was given ICS over the air and had a rash of bricks from people on stock unrooted firmware just doing simple factory resets. We also have the bug and while reports internally say they put in a work around, its not showing in the source we have.
You are in fact safer being with us, is that not sad? Our developers have worked around the problem from every known point of cause. From where you are at install AGATs FF18 using the auto root. You can flash a different rom if you wish after that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks do you know off hand how to deroot ff18 if i have to can i just reput stock ff18 rom back on phone would that deroot it or mess it up
also who and what do i use to update //upgrade the rom/kernals /modems on here do i look for anything that said for ff18 and i would be ok thansk larry
Well new company gave me 20% Sprint discount and have become sick of my Tmobiles poor coverage. However I fear wimax might be sucky too here in Seattle. Anyway, long time member here and have been involved in the HTC Sensation and One forums. Both with very very stable roms and kernals.
I was excited to pick up a couple Sprint Galaxy epics and the guy at Sprint had his all rooted and claimed it was smoking fast.
However I came to this forum and see all kinds of complaints of loss of stability just from simple Root of the Epic? Also have not read any stable ICS roms and I have read all of the threads. Plus read this phone is very easy to brick under clockwork. With sensation we use Aroma and it rocks!
So before I move on, I am not looking to break rules on asking ROM questions. I simply would like some input on what ICS rom is stable and supported still as I see many devs have moved on the the sg3 here.
What kernal and radio or what you call modem is stable and how do you find what is for your phone match?
Lastly, what is safest way to ROOT and flash ROMS for this phone?
I did read the stickies but am still confused.
I may be just happy at first to simply ROOT and install the fix for Hot Spot Wi fi and go from there.
Thanks so much.
Not even sure if phones will arrive with stock ICS tomorrow or GB...
Ice
The SAFEST way to flash stock ROMs in case of emergency is using Odin.I've found both stock ROMs (GB & ICS) very stable, however I reboot my phone everyother day (windows habit).
This thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1525495 was my starting point.
rovar said:
The SAFEST way to flash stock ROMs in case of emergency is using Odin.I've found both stock ROMs (GB & ICS) very stable, however I reboot my phone everyother day (windows habit).
This thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1525495 was my starting point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First off thank you for your reply. Interesting, I have read ODIn maybe responsible for bricking many of these phones is that incorrect? Lots of what I found seeing the people are very unstable with the custom roms so far for ICS for this phone of course stock ICS will be here soon.is there the ability to just root the phone and leave the stock ics ROM and just run the sprint hot spot mod.
Sent from my Sensation 4G using xda premium
iceshark said:
First off thank you for your reply. Interesting, I have read ODIn maybe responsible for bricking many of these phones is that incorrect? Lots of what I found seeing the people are very unstable with the custom roms so far for ICS for this phone of course stock ICS will be here soon.is there the ability to just root the phone and leave the stock ics ROM and just run the sprint hot spot mod.
Sent from my Sensation 4G using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Odin never causes any bricks as long as the process is not interrupted. Most of the instability is caused by user error. From my experience, all fresh (by fresh I mean wipe data/cache and format system) custom ROM installs have been rock solid stable. Also, most network issues are fixed by updating profile/prl. Official ICS is already out, it is build FF18. Stock ICS will not normally have the hotspot mod. You will have to use a hack to install it yourself. If you want a stock ICS experience, use this odin package (reset user data) to odin your phone to pre-rooted FF18:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1721229
And here is your hotspot hack:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1760712
Nonetheless, I see no reason why you wouldn't just save yourself the time and flash a custom ICS ROM.
Imho, there isn't any ics custom rom as of yet that is 100% stable, glitch-free, and reliable. I would wait it out until more polished versions come out. If there is a pretty good one to try, i'd say the blu kuban.
revamper said:
Odin never causes any bricks as long as the process is not interrupted. Most of the instability is caused by user error. From my experience, all fresh (by fresh I mean wipe data/cache and format system) custom ROM installs have been rock solid stable. Also, most network issues are fixed by updating profile/prl. Official ICS is already out, it is build FF18. Stock ICS will not normally have the hotspot mod. You will have to use a hack to install it yourself. If you want a stock ICS experience, use this odin package (reset user data) to odin your phone to pre-rooted FF18:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1721229
And here is your hotspot hack:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1760712
Nonetheless, I see no reason why you wouldn't just save yourself the time and flash a custom ICS ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I think we are on the same page with this!
So I just loaded the FF18 Full Restore and Samsung drivers as indicated in this thread,
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1670110
I also tested after unzipping to a folder and the ODEN program comes up waiting for me to hook up phone I dont have yet till tomorrow.
I also watched this video and it seems very easy to do if this is correct process,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IL21F8Gfbs
Still some clarifying questions,
1. If my new phone comes with ICS already pushed to it. Do I simply still install FF18 to get root for the ICS rom?
2. If phone does not come with ICS will this install ICS and Root?
3. Do I need to use this or Caulkins to wipe data first before I do this process on phone out of the box new?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1670110
Also I am little nervous reading this post from SFHUB<, Is he saying not to do the above process thru the built in Odin recovery in the phone if it comes with stock ICS in it? What does this mean???
The Epic 4g Touch has a bug in it's emmc controller that can cause the /data partition to become inaccessible/unrecoverable sometimes thanks to the wipe process when flashing from ICS recoveries... DO NOT FLASH FROM ICS RECOVERIES!!!!
7/11/12 edit: In the FF18 source Garwynn has confirmed the presence of the offending code that triggers the emmc bug (http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...1&postcount=32) meaning that it will eventually be safe to flash from ICS as long as the offending code is removed by the dev of the kernel/rom...
- Please see this (http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1525495) thread by xST4T1K which details how NOT to brick your device... It is slightly out of date but still very relevant... if you want a more technical understanding of what this emmc bug is and why this is happening you can see Sfhub's thread in general related to it (http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1644364 ). The OP contains all of the information that our users have been able to figure out about this bug... Be sure to thank these people, as their hard work has made it exponentially safer for all of us to flash ICS roms on our phones...
-Every ICS rom will have a flashing guide in it's dev thread, its HIGHLY suggested you read and reread the guide for the rom you want to flash and follow it EXACTLY, taking the extra time upfront to fully understand what you're about to do will save you alot of trouble going forward.
-Put simply though you will always want to ODIN or Mobile ODIN (mobile Odin is an app made by the dev chainfire, available in the play store, that allows you to preform Odin flashes from your phone without using a PC) the el26 Gingerbread kernel/recovery and flash any ICS roms from that. NEVER FLASH FROM AN ICS RECOVERY, THAT IS HOW BRICKS ARE MADE!!!! Also do NOT use Rom Manager or Touch recovery!!!!
- Currently there are some ICS recoveries that are thought to be safe to flash from thanks to the work done on the emmc bug. If one of these is included in your rom it will be noted by the dev in the rom thread, however the safest way is still just to Odin back to el26 in order to avoid any chance of bricking!
Next, once I do this FF!8 and have root and ICS. If I want to dabble in custom roms. I am guessing they are installed by CWM from file downloaded to root of SD card like normal. I do not find CWM touch for this phone anywhere. I am sure I am missing it. It seems from reading the exploit in ICS kernal is causing the bricks. So I am guessing to use SF hubs or Claukins data wipe before loading custom roms. Are we beating to the same drum here?
Will correct radio or modem be installed automtic with FF18 or custom roms? I see many threads just on modems.
Thanks and thanks for the hot spot mod.
optimummind said:
Imho, there isn't any ics custom rom as of yet that is 100% stable, glitch-free, and reliable. I would wait it out until more polished versions come out. If there is a pretty good one to try, i'd say the blu kuban.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats what it seems from hours reading each ROM thread. Reminds me of the Sensation when GB and or ICS first leaked. Will most likely just root stock and go from there.
CWM is in the kernel. Current kernels such as chris41g's or AGAT's kernels have patched up recoveries that avoid the emmc bug, so they are completely safe. You should use calkulins format all before flashing a rom in CWM.
For odin, it wouldn't hurt to odin sfhubs wipe data/cache, but it's not necessary. As long as you use the reset user data odin package for FF18, it will take you to stock rooted FF18. Regardless of what rom your phone comes with, run that odin package. You don't need to worry about the modem either because it will install the latest one. Be sure to update your profile/prl in settings>about>system updates after.
If you want to try a custom rom, use odin to flash a kernel with cwm (agat's or chris41g's). Once you have a recovery, flash calkulins format all, and then the ROM of your choice. Modems are not installed through CWM rom zips. You'll have to flash a modem zip in recovery or odin a modem tar.
revamper said:
CWM is in the kernel. Current kernels such as chris41g's or AGAT's kernels have patched up recoveries that avoid the emmc bug, so they are completely safe. You should use calkulins format all before flashing a rom in CWM.
For odin, it wouldn't hurt to odin sfhubs wipe data/cache, but it's not necessary. As long as you use the reset user data odin package for FF18, it will take you to stock rooted FF18. Regardless of what rom your phone comes with, run that odin package. You don't need to worry about the modem either because it will install the latest one. Be sure to update your profile/prl in settings>about>system updates after.
If you want to try a custom rom, use odin to flash a kernel with cwm (agat's or chris41g's). Once you have a recovery, flash calkulins format all, and then the ROM of your choice. Modems are not installed through CWM rom zips. You'll have to flash a modem zip in recovery or odin a modem tar.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was studying Sfhugs FF18 thread and it says I can do the one click root and then install option D and that puts in the FF18, with agats CWM. So is this more simple then flashing FF18 and then doing a flash for either chris or agat kernal with cwm?
Should I use Calkulins format before flashing FF18 from stock?
So when you guys flash new custom roms you have to flash current modem each time? or only if you want to have a more current one? Coming from HTC you only have to flash radio when its required to match a new base leaked. So little confused there too.
Thanks your help has been great!
iceshark said:
I was studying Sfhugs FF18 thread and it says I can do the one click root and then install option D and that puts in the FF18, with agats CWM. So is this more simple then flashing FF18 and then doing a flash for either chris or agat kernal with cwm?
Should I use Calkulins format before flashing FF18 from stock?
So when you guys flash new custom roms you have to flash current modem each time? or only if you want to have a more current one? Coming from HTC you only have to flash radio when its required to match a new base leaked. So little confused there too.
Thanks your help has been great!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know I personally use Mijjahz's "GOODNESS" ROM and it runs smooth. Many mods and add ons with more added daily. I flashed agat's 2.2 kernel because I don't like the 2.3 that version 16.6.1 comes with.
I also flashed FF18 over my EL26 modem. Modems don't change between flashing I believe. Those you update yourself. A lot of folks stay on EL29 or find something that works perfectly in their area.
Sent from Konnor the E4GT.
optimummind said:
Imho, there isn't any ics custom rom as of yet that is 100% stable, glitch-free, and reliable. I would wait it out until more polished versions come out. If there is a pretty good one to try, i'd say the blu kuban.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not sure what you expect from a mobile os but I couldn't disagree more.... my experance on mijjahs goodness has been better and more stable than stock in every way, hell even cm9 and aokp are extremely reliable as well if you can live without dialer codes and prl/profile updates.... no software is ever going to be 100%.... I say flash away, you won't be dissapointed
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app
cp320703 said:
not sure what you expect from a mobile os but I couldn't disagree more.... my experance on mijjahs goodness has been better and more stable than stock in every way, hell even cm9 and aokp are extremely reliable as well if you can live without dialer codes and prl/profile updates.... no software is ever going to be 100%.... I say flash away, you won't be dissapointed
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
QFT.
ICS ROMs are very stable at this point.
iceshark said:
Thanks, I think we are on the same page with this!
So I just loaded the FF18 Full Restore and Samsung drivers as indicated in this thread,
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1670110
I also tested after unzipping to a folder and the ODEN program comes up waiting for me to hook up phone I dont have yet till tomorrow.
I also watched this video and it seems very easy to do if this is correct process,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IL21F8Gfbs
Still some clarifying questions,
1. If my new phone comes with ICS already pushed to it. Do I simply still install FF18 to get root for the ICS rom?
2. If phone does not come with ICS will this install ICS and Root?
3. Do I need to use this or Caulkins to wipe data first before I do this process on phone out of the box new?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1670110
Also I am little nervous reading this post from SFHUB<, Is he saying not to do the above process thru the built in Odin recovery in the phone if it comes with stock ICS in it? What does this mean???
The Epic 4g Touch has a bug in it's emmc controller that can cause the /data partition to become inaccessible/unrecoverable sometimes thanks to the wipe process when flashing from ICS recoveries... DO NOT FLASH FROM ICS RECOVERIES!!!!
7/11/12 edit: In the FF18 source Garwynn has confirmed the presence of the offending code that triggers the emmc bug (http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...1&postcount=32) meaning that it will eventually be safe to flash from ICS as long as the offending code is removed by the dev of the kernel/rom...
- Please see this (http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1525495) thread by xST4T1K which details how NOT to brick your device... It is slightly out of date but still very relevant... if you want a more technical understanding of what this emmc bug is and why this is happening you can see Sfhub's thread in general related to it (http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1644364 ). The OP contains all of the information that our users have been able to figure out about this bug... Be sure to thank these people, as their hard work has made it exponentially safer for all of us to flash ICS roms on our phones...
-Every ICS rom will have a flashing guide in it's dev thread, its HIGHLY suggested you read and reread the guide for the rom you want to flash and follow it EXACTLY, taking the extra time upfront to fully understand what you're about to do will save you alot of trouble going forward.
-Put simply though you will always want to ODIN or Mobile ODIN (mobile Odin is an app made by the dev chainfire, available in the play store, that allows you to preform Odin flashes from your phone without using a PC) the el26 Gingerbread kernel/recovery and flash any ICS roms from that. NEVER FLASH FROM AN ICS RECOVERY, THAT IS HOW BRICKS ARE MADE!!!! Also do NOT use Rom Manager or Touch recovery!!!!
- Currently there are some ICS recoveries that are thought to be safe to flash from thanks to the work done on the emmc bug. If one of these is included in your rom it will be noted by the dev in the rom thread, however the safest way is still just to Odin back to el26 in order to avoid any chance of bricking!
Next, once I do this FF!8 and have root and ICS. If I want to dabble in custom roms. I am guessing they are installed by CWM from file downloaded to root of SD card like normal. I do not find CWM touch for this phone anywhere. I am sure I am missing it. It seems from reading the exploit in ICS kernal is causing the bricks. So I am guessing to use SF hubs or Claukins data wipe before loading custom roms. Are we beating to the same drum here?
Will correct radio or modem be installed automtic with FF18 or custom roms? I see many threads just on modems.
Thanks and thanks for the hot spot mod.
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you're quoting some of my new user guide here, and i haven't updated it since the OTA came out so it somewhat overstates the danger of bricking (not a bad thing really, made you read, didn't it!?) which was much easir to do before we got kernel source, since then agat63 and chris41g have been killin it in kernel development since they got ICS source... their ICS kernels are safe to flash from and can be found in the dev section, if you're on the stock FF18 rooted with stock kernel i would personally ODIN (mobile or desktop) back to EL26, and from there flash whatever custom ICS rom you like, as far as I'm aware all of the roms come with a safe kernel these days but do be sure to double check and flash one if it does not... at that point going forward should you wish to flash something else you can just do it via cwm as per usual without having to odin back to gingerbread....do note however that you can't use touchwiz kernels with AOSP roms, there asr safe AOSP kernels as well however...
edit: oops, just noticed revamper addressed most of this on the last page, to answer another one of your questions though you can try as many modems as you like and decide which one works best for you, its varies phone to phone and area to area... the modem is not at all required to match the build number of the rom, (example: may people still use the el29 modem with ICS) you can use ANY modem with ANY rom
Ive flashed this phone hundreds of times. Put your rom and any other zips you have on external card. Then to do a full clean wipe go to privacy. then factory data reset then check usb storage. You can skip this step, but this is how to get it factory fresh. Download the el26 cwm kenal. Its posted everywhere. Next open Odin go to pda and select EL26 cwm kernal. Uncheck auto reboot. Have battery cover off! Flash kernal pop battery out when it starts to boot. or says pass. then use the vol up and power combo hold them down until boot screen pops up then let off. Next flash calkulins wipe all or wipe no data. . Never brick never fail. Then flash your rom and tweaks and be happy. Ive done this driving down the road its that easy. Laptop sitting in passenger seat with odin up lol. Plus i drive a 5sp full size truck. Flashing is easy. Follow directions. There is nothing wrong with this phone just read directions if your a noob. I,ll be making multi scenario flashing youtube movies soon. Like mobile tech videos does.
Flashing is easy. Follow directions. There is nothing wrong with this phone just read directions if your a noob.
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That's all there is to say.