Develop Bugs

A new guy's stupid questions:

Please be patient with me, I'm new to the entire smartphone era.
I've spent the last week or so scouring these forums deciding what I can and cannot do with my brand new Epic. What I unfortunately was unable to find were directions put into laymans terms as exactly how to properly flash your phone (I am still even unsure as to the correct terminology for many things). When I read the wiki and the forums I'm lost about a paragraph in.
It would be incredibly appreciated if any of you had tips for a new person to these forums and to this lifestyle itself. I'd love to know how to properly modify my phone without breaking it (and not feel like I'm reading a medical dictionary). When/if I do mod my phone, I'd like to know how to go about restoring it should I for whatever reason need to take it in to the extremely... helpful.. Sprint store here in my area. I'm pretty quick to learn and as I said, I'd really love if someone willing to be patient with me would explain to me the ins and outs I would need to know to take advantage of my phones capabilities.

Well most roms now use ext4 filesystem instead of RFS (default) so you have to install Clockwork Mod 3 which will auto convert it
CWM3 directions:
Download Here
On phone go to applications -> development -> usb debugging (turn on)
plug phone into usb port, run the run.bat from the CWM folder (it might say something like restart server and wait for phone to reconnect i generally just close the window and run the run.bat again then it'll mount as r/w and install)
Then after your phone reboots transfer any ec05 ext4 rom to your sdcard, i suggest This one.
After that turn off your phone completely.
Hold volume down, camera button, power. This will boot into clockworkmod.
CWM will backup all data, format, then restore the data... it'll take a few minutes.
Now if you want to start fresh click wipe data / wipe cache and also go to advanced/wipe dalvic cache. If you want to keep all your apps just proceed to the next step
go to Install from sdcard, browse sdcard for the rom.zip, select it, let it do its magic, after its done go back to the main menu, reboot system, and you're done
EDIT: Cwm controls -> volume up/down to naviage, Power = back, Camera = select. I think you can also use the keyboard arrows and stuff but i find it easier using the buttons

I think you should start him with cw2.5 instead of 3.0. 3.0 will brick his phone unless he is ready to flash a rom right alway!!

Those directions are much easier to follow.
What are the negatives to doing this to your phone (besides the ultimate brick)? Would doing this allow me to give my phone the ability to hotspot it?
How would I go about restoring it should I not like Syndicate and wish to return to stock?

OmegaMateria said:
Those directions are much easier to follow.
What are the negatives to doing this to your phone (besides the ultimate brick)? Would doing this allow me to give my phone the ability to hotspot it?
How would I go about restoring it should I not like Syndicate and wish to return to stock?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I was you I wouldn't be in such a rush to flash a rom. Root first and take from there. It took me a whole month to flash a rom before I felt comfortable with the terminology. Catch up on some reading first

hi I also am still new to this even though i flashed my phone at least a 100 times and got my buddys epic rooted i followed this forum http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=798067. they did a great job with links to get cwm2.5 and also the adb files. so when you root your phone the computer will find your phone. One thing that did keep me held up for a while was when you have your phone in debug mode. connect the phone to the usb. but do not press connect on your phone. hope this helps some. I spent about 3 long days reading and gathering everything before trying and like a day and a half trying.

shook187 said:
If I was you I wouldn't be in such a rush to flash a rom. Root first and take from there. It took me a whole month to flash a rom before I felt comfortable with the terminology. Catch up on some reading first
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're probably very right.
What permissions does rooting get me? To root my phone I should use clockwork or something different? If so, you suggested 3.0 and someone else 2.5. Opinions on both for a newbie?

shook187 said:
I think you should start him with cw2.5 instead of 3.0. 3.0 will brick his phone unless he is ready to flash a rom right alway!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No such thing will occur. He might get it into a position of where he can only use odin but certainly not a brick. I have heard of only 1 person bricking their phone in 6 mths and that was a dev cuz he was messing with the bootloader. Jump in at your own pace.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

OmegaMateria said:
You're probably very right.
What permissions does rooting get me? To root my phone I should use clockwork or something different? If so, you suggested 3.0 and someone else 2.5. Opinions on both for a newbie?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never suggested 3.0, I would do 2.5. 3.0 Requires you to flash a rom cause it won't boot without a rom. If you use 3.0 without flushing a rom, you'll get stuck at the samsung screen.

shook187 said:
I never suggested 3.0, I would do 2.5. 3.0 Requires you to flash a rom cause it won't boot without a rom. If you use 3.0 without flushing a rom, you'll get stuck at the samsung screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, my mistake!!
I'll check out 2.5. Anything I should know about rooting in general?

OmegaMateria said:
Sorry, my mistake!!
I'll check out 2.5. Anything I should know about rooting in general?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The main thing which you already mention is the free wireless tether.

CWM 2.5.5 = the RFS root method. You can use it to install EC05 roms that have RFS support
It allows you to run programs with superuser... such as wifi tether, wireless tether, titanium backup, root explorer... thats about it for the basic user
If you want tweaks/fixes what you want is a custom rom... most all will have
Call log fix (remove the sms notifications from in your call log), Kernel fixes/updates/added features, deodexed, zipaligned, custom boot animations, voodoo audio/color, custom touchwiz, etc..
You wont brick your phone regardless, but if you do it exactly as i typed you wont have any problems either . The reason you want to put a rom on your sdcard before you boot into CWM3 is so you can flash a compatible rom that has a ext4 kernel...
EDIT: and regarding the negatives, well you wont brick your phone unless say your battery dies as you flash it... The ext4 non-journaled will actually make your phone last longer over the RFS system. The only thing I can think of is the root method removes the Free HD games and Asphalt 5 Demo which the official OTA updates check for when u get them. Doesn't matter though because you can update your rom through CWM anyways lol.
About positives, atleast for me: Longer battery life, faster phone, less annoying bugs, sexy look, custom boot/shutdown, free wifi tether/wired tether, automatic backups set every night at 5am.

I went straight to cwm 3.0.0.6 as a noob but I must have read 1000 posts in various forums regarding root, the file system(s), custom software/ROMs/kernels. The key is read post after post about where others have had issues until you no longer come accross any new issues. Then you know what you are getting into. Just remeber, glitches can occur and during flashing, there are writes that have no error checking and sometimes require a reflash at best and a system restore at worst. It comes with the territory. It is unlikely you will brick your device as long as you are careful to follow insructions, although the reality is (no matter how many times you hear how safe it is) that there is a very very slight chance that a glitch while using software such as odin could send you back to the Sprint store for a new one. Its exceedingly rare, though.
The small risk was worth getting the phone that I wanted originally - instant responsivness, access to every customization and dev. level control of the hardware (free tethering!) - everything runs better - games,browsers,vids (look better and sound better), music sounds better, etc. Etc. There are some seriously talented devs. here. If you decide to take the plunge, check out k0's ACS Frozen ROM and mysteryEmotionz (sp?) Theme(s). When you go from stock to those, you can't help but wonder WTF sprint and samsung are thinking. Yeah, its that good.
Good luck!
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

blu9987 said:
CWM 2.5.5 = the RFS root method. You can use it to install EC05 roms that have RFS support
It allows you to run programs with superuser... such as wifi tether, wireless tether, titanium backup, root explorer... thats about it for the basic user
If you want tweaks/fixes what you want is a custom rom... most all will have
Call log fix (remove the sms notifications from in your call log), Kernel fixes/updates/added features, deodexed, zipaligned, custom boot animations, voodoo audio/color, custom touchwiz, etc..
You wont brick your phone regardless, but if you do it exactly as i typed you wont have any problems either . The reason you want to put a rom on your sdcard before you boot into CWM3 is so you can flash a compatible rom that has a ext4 kernel...
EDIT: and regarding the negatives, well you wont brick your phone unless say your battery dies as you flash it... The ext4 non-journaled will actually make your phone last longer over the RFS system. The only thing I can think of is the root method removes the Free HD games and Asphalt 5 Demo which the official OTA updates check for when u get them. Doesn't matter though because you can update your rom through CWM anyways lol.
About positives, atleast for me: Longer battery life, faster phone, less annoying bugs, sexy look, custom boot/shutdown, free wifi tether/wired tether, automatic backups set every night at 5am.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I went into the run.bat file in the one click root and removed the 2 lines that give the command to delete the free hd games demo and asphalt 5 demo. Ran the one click root, and I still have those 2 installed on my phone. Beats having to reinstall them again in the future and preventing an update because of the missing apps.

Tirregius said:
I went straight to cwm 3.0.0.6 as a noob but I must have read 1000 posts in various forums regarding root, the file system(s), custom software/ROMs/kernels. The key is read post after post about where others have had issues until you no longer come accross any new issues. Then you know what you are getting into. Just remeber, glitches can occur and during flashing, there are writes that have no error checking and sometimes require a reflash at best and a system restore at worst. It comes with the territory. It is unlikely you will brick your device as long as you are careful to follow insructions, although the reality is (no matter how many times you hear how safe it is) that there is a very very slight chance that a glitch while using software such as odin could send you back to the Sprint store for a new one. Its exceedingly rare, though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I've spent the entire week when not at work reading about it to see if it's worth it. I have a hard time following the directions I find though because they're normally written for experienced folks and not beginners.
Apart from Rooting it (as explained very well earlier) I still have no clue about flashing, how it works, or how to do it. Nor do I want to just fiddle around with it and break it. I can't find a good guide on ODIN or backing up that I can understand comfortably enough to risk flashing my phone so I'm kindof at a loss.

Go on YouTube and search "randyshear". He has step by step videos for pretty much everything. Makes it easy
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App

OmegaMateria said:
Yeah I've spent the entire week when not at work reading about it to see if it's worth it. I have a hard time following the directions I find though because they're normally written for experienced folks and not beginners.
Apart from Rooting it (as explained very well earlier) I still have no clue about flashing, how it works, or how to do it. Nor do I want to just fiddle around with it and break it. I can't find a good guide on ODIN or backing up that I can understand comfortably enough to risk flashing my phone so I'm kindof at a loss.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was the same way and to some degree still am. What I did was read and read. I read the WIKI several times realizing that a lot of it was written for someone more experienced than I. I also read how to restore a bricked device and return to stock a few times. I installed everything to return to stock on my PC so if I had a failure I already had my path back to working stock. I went to CM 2 just to get some experience. Then I went for it to CM 3 and Syndicate 1.0 and have been incredibly happy that I did.
Also know that terms like brick are used a lot but is then followed up with my phone will do this or that. In the definitions a brick is literally as good as a brick for a phone. The term is used way too much incorrectly so don't let that scare you. You will see when reading that there are only a few things to do if there is a problem. Frequently you will read to re download the files or use a different cable or USB port. If you keep reading you will become more comfortable with your ability to find the answers if there is a problem because there are people on here that seem to take great joy in helping people like you and I out and they have the experience and knowledge to help.

Trust me ... keep reading and searching and you will start to put the pieces together. Don't be discouraged. If you are really interested in this stuff, you WILL get there.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

Definitely agree with JohnCorleone, Randyshear has a ton of very good youtube vids. Helpful with rooting also with picking a ROM. Just to add my two-cents. The "epic cookbook" http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=967014...Helped me over and over again. alot of info, without alot of scavenging throughout threads. Good luck

There is no need to flash a rom right off the bat. Rooting with one click will give you a good jumping point. I would one click root to cw3 let it convert to ext4 then do a backup. Use titanium backup to remove all the junk bloatware.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

[Q] Working with a Used Phone

Hello all,
Introduction:
My name is Dev, and I have purchased a phone from Craigslist about a year ago. I used to use Windows Mobile phones. I had no problems with them. I have used the T-mobile MDA, Wing, and Touch Pro 2. They have been good phones for me, until recently. I have always wanted a faster phone and the Touch Pro 2 seemed to be quick enough for me. Nope. It slowed down just like the others. My brother is younger than me, and he has been attracted to the Android market since the T-mobile G1. I never got an opportunity to enter this operating system market. I am very tech savvy however, and it has merely been a case of me not wanting to "change." However, I am past that and I want to contribute to the Android community. My first Android phone is the T-mobile myTouch 3G Slide. (I like sliding phones in case you haven't noticed. I must have the physical keyboard. I text a lot.) I bought it used from Craigslist, and it seemed to work fine then. The previous owner was nice enough to clear all the data off of it, and give it to me fresh. I have been using it since.
Leading into my problem/question:
Lately, however, it has been slowing down too. I want to reset it to a clean slate. I know how to do it. It is in the menus. However, I do not like how this phone has been modified. Why would you modify a phone? I have never had to do this with my Windows phones. There has never been a need to flash any roms or anything. They had updates which were simple to use. Plug the USB into the computer and follow the simple steps. Make sure it doesn't shut off during flash. Simple. I've done this plenty of times with printers, motherboards, CD-ROMs, and all other flashable devices. I understand how big of a risk this is. If the flash doesn't complete (or is the wrong rom), then the device will not work again. Unless, you J-TAG the device and flash it again correctly. But, that requires a lot of work, and a wiring schematic to figure out where the J-TAG ports are. I have learned this information from back in the day when I used to do dish testing. You would flash roms to satellite TV boxes and experiment with new encryption technologies for satellite TV. That being said, I am terrified of flashing phones, because I would have no idea where to look for J-TAG ports for phones, if I mess something up. So, in conclusion, my experience in flashing has been for testing purposes only.
Problem/Question:
How do I figure out what the status of my phone is? It says Cyanogen Mod on start up. My brother tells me this is a very good rom. Who decided that though? Is it a bad idea to go back to stock T-mobile rom? I've always had this thought nagging me to try it and see why people go through all this headache of S-OFF and rooting phones. However, if I go back to the stock rom, will I be able to gain access to the phone's internal memory again? I don't like the idea of losing the S-OFF and rooting privileges the previous owner worked so hard to do. I would like to flash the latest T-mobile rom to the device, but how do I know if it will mess up everything and clash with some code leftover from the modified rom of Cyanogen Mod? Also, how do I backup all my stuff? I want to keep all my setting for the programs I have downloaded from the Google Market. I want to keep my contacts and notes. I want to keep my text messages and MMS messages. I am one of those idiots who keeps all his text messages and MMS messages archived. I go back through the messages from time to time for retrieval of important information I may have spoken about with someone in the past. I know this is a loaded post. I am sorry. If anyone is willing or able to help me, then please pick any point in this post and we'll go from there. This was just an outline of everything so you guys can help me find a starting point.
What I Know About the Phone:
T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide
Android 2.3.3
Baseband 47.63.35.21U_7.15.35.16
Kernel 2.6.32.17-cyanogenmod-g501281a [email protected] #1
CPU ARMv6-compatible process rev 5 (c6l)
Mod CyanogenMod-7.0.0-Slide
Build GRI40
I believe it is S-OFF and it is rooted. I would like a procedure to verify though. Please.
Memory Card:
Memory card has a lot of folders and stuff on it from which I have no idea. Some of it says nervous stuff like ".android_secure" "clockworkmod" "2111.zip" "signed_Froyo_Slide_Radio.zip" "gapps-gb-20110120-signed.zip" "update.zip" "update-cm-7.0.0-Slide-signed" and "Android" I like it when my memory card is clean with nothing but a few folders like "Pictures" "Videos" "Movies" "Data" "Programs" "Software" "Music" and other general stuff like that. I like this so I can use the memory card elsewhere and know where everything is. Basically, I want to know if I can delete everything without shooting myself in the foot. How do I find out what each .apk is for? Will a stock T-mobile rom come with all the stock backgrounds, contact pictures, and all the other stock goodies? I feel like some of those were on the SD card too.
Things I like:
Speed. I like things to be fast. Utilitarian. I don't want any fancy effects, typically. I like everything simple. For example, my desktops are all using the Classic Windows Theme, and all fade in / fade out have been disabled. I want my phone to be the same way. Nothing I don't need. Minimalistic. I don't like to keep many programs running at once. This was something I liked about the Windows phones. I could click in the upper right hand corner and it would present a list of running programs. I could close specific ones that I did not want to run in the background. Android doesn't seem to have a feature like this, but it does seem like they close if they are not being displayed on the screen.
WIFI
How do I fix the WIFI in this phone? It seems like the radio drivers are wrong are outdated. It keeps dropping the connection immediately after the phone connects to a wireless network. I noticed a thread, but I cannot post to it. I wanted to ask how I would apply this patch to my phone without having a rom or anything. I thought maybe I could boot the phone into the recovery mode, and install the radio drivers maybe? I don't know what I am doing though, and want some guidance.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1177650
And, why does the GPS take so long to get a fix?
Moderators/Thanks
I am very sorry to anyone and everyone whom I may offend in this post. If all my questions are answered somewhere else, please direct me to the correct area. I have been searching and researching for so long and I don't seem to be getting anywhere. I gave up about two months ago, and now I am back again trying to fix this phone. Please do not be mad at me for pestering you guys with annoying questions from new users like me. I know you guys are tired of answering these questions over and over again. Please. Just give me a little guidance. Thank you so much for any and all help. I really truly appreciate this. Android seems to be a very good operating system, and I am looking forward to all your posts.
P.S.
Sorry about the length of this post. It is my first time.

Test
Testing to see if I get notification of replies.

Well, for starters, welcome to the myTouch 3G Slide fora, second, yes, your brother is right, you are running the best ROM available at the moment, but your running an older version of itif you like, i can link you to an updated version of the ROM or i can point you to the "Android Development" section of the forum for the myTouch Slide and you can pick one your self, if you need any help with your device, feel free to PM me or reply to this thread at any time, seeing as how iI am one of the last people who actually still support this device for ROMs, i would reccomend my "TeamFreedom LeWaOS" ROM, but im still working out some kinks in it, for now, i will give you the opportunity to update to the latest version of "CyanogenMOD 7.2":
Download the ROM (has fix for WiFi i believe): http://download.cyanogenmod.com/get/RC/update-cm-7.2.0-RC2-espresso-signed.zip
Download for the latest 2.3.3 GAPPS: http://goo.im/gapps/gapps-gb-20110828-signed.zip
Also, here is how to FLASH these ROMs:
Pre-requsite: PLACE "update-cm-7.2.0-RC2-espresso-signed.zip" and "gapps-gb-20110828-signed.zip" on the root of your sdcard
1: Hold the power button on your phone
2: Tap "Reboot"
3: Tap "Recovery"
4: when in "Recovery" use the Volume +/- keys to move and the trackpad to select "Wipe data/factory reset" then select "yes" if necessary
4a: select "Install zip from sdcard"
5: then select "choose zip from sdcard"
6: select "update-cm-7.2.0-RC2-espresso-signed.zip"
7: When finished select "reboot system now"
8: again, reboot into recovery
9: flash "gapps-gb-20110828-signed.zip"
10: reboot system, and enjoy your updated phone, this process overall is the same for all android phones, and for all ROMs

Thank You
Thanks. I will try the new CyanogenMod rom.

Dealing with the performance of your phone, how many SMS/MMS msgs do you have currently? I noticed you said you dont like deleting them. Thing is, if you have a lot of msgs it can significantly impact your phones performance. Obviously it impacts the messaging app but in my experience it can affect the whole system. This may not be the case on CM ROMS but i have noticed it on stock. (i dont use CM much, prefer Sense).
Also u can try overclocking. I like NoFrills app from market. Its free and allows u to select your i/o scheduler and governor.
For backups, hands down Titanium Backup is the best if u ask me (and many others).
Hope this helps a little.
Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide using XDA App

Update on CM7
Hey, guys.
So, I've updated to CM 7.2.0. Since then, I've been having problems with the touch screen and the phone app. If I use the directional pad, I can highlight the phone app, but when I click on it, it crashes. Also, the touch screen is unresponsive all the time. Sometimes, I will get lucky and when I reboot it, I will get access to the touch screen again. I am wondering if maybe I didn't update the drivers for the touch screen or the phone radio or something. I have a hunch that the phone app is crashing and lagging the whole system, so the touch screen isn't working because of that. When the touch screen does work, the phone app is also working. I am thinking of just flashing the phone with HTC's stock rom and then rooting and s-off it all over again, because I think the previous owner didn't do something right. I want to know if I can just flash the stock rom without any consequences. And, also will I be able to get it rooted and s-offed again? I'm hoping that by flashing the stock rom, I can test my touch screen and phone app with confidence. Maybe the phone app is sending commands for a newer firmware revision, and mine isn't updated to that version yet. Not sure how this works really. Anyways, any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Suggestion. Re-flash the rom, but in recovery go into advanced, wipe dalvik cache. Hit back, now in mounts and storage. Wipe the following, boot, system, hit back wipe/factory reset, wipe cache. Flash rom, then gapps. Reboot. You should be good to go. Hope this helps.
Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide using xda app-developers app
---------- Post added at 05:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:05 PM ----------
Oh and to check for S-off reboot to bootloader when holding power, or while phone is off power on while holding vol down. Should say alfarev s-off or unlocked.
Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide using xda app-developers app

Ran into a wall
Alright, guys.
So, I ran into a wall. It is now completely unresponsive to the touch screen. I had recently flashed it, and I am trying to do what you had suggested, Dvarl. The problem is that I cannot touch the android logo so I can continue onto the Rom Manager where I can flash and reboot into recovery. If I try to go into the recovery by holding the down arrow and power button, then clicking on "Recovery," I get the red triangle logo. It has always been this way. Lastly, my phone is not s-offed. Thanks for helping me out with that. lol Any ideas on how to flash without the Rom Manager recovery flash?
Edit: I think I have found the problem. I think my digitizer is going out. I am going to maybe purchase a new one and see if it fixes the touching problem. I'll keep you guys posted. Thanks for all your help thus far!

Crap, can this be done?

Just got this phone and I love it but the seller on ebay had it rooted and had one of the roms from here on it. They said they would put it all back to stock for me. I like to start with a clean slate if you know what I mean. Well, it is back on gingerbread but root is still there and a whole bunch of other stuff (apps, roms, titanium backup) etc etc in folders on the internal storage. My question is can I safely get this phone back to being stock just like it was from the factory, without the risk of bricking it? I know how to use Odin for the Epic 4G and all. I knew there were some problems with the touch and some phones getting bricked. I have no clue what they may have done to the phone so I am a bit concerned to do anything to it till I hear from someone who has done this (gone completely back to stock) Also, is there a tutorial somewhere?? Thanks guys for your help with this.
Oh here is some more info if it helps looks like I am on Android version 2.3.6, EL29, kernel 2.6.35.7 there is some other info if you need it please let me know I do see a Caulklin's folder in there in the internal storage so most likely they did have that rom on there at one time. There is also a ACS folder in there but when I try to open any of the folders in there I get an error that there is no program that can perform this action. Grrrrrr

Hi.
When messing with Gingerbread, especially stock, bricks are pretty hard to come by nowadays.
Here is what I suggest:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1433101
(from what you said, you probably understand this already)
Just run the EL29 OC. You'll be good to go.
In terms of the internal storage, just delete it all or run a format. You won't get yourself in trouble that way, it's just the internal storage.
If you're concerned about the data wipe brick, that is only on ICS. So since you're on GB, it is not a problem (and totally unrelated to clearing internal storage.)
Post back if you have any questions or anythin'.

If you are on gingerbread then there is no danger of the EEMC superbug(As far as I've heard/read). As for reseting I don't have a link to a tutorial off the top of my head, however the process is pretty simple. Start searching through the development forums for the stock odin files and then flash them. I can try to find you a tutorial/links tonight but I don't really have time right now...besides the search function works the same way for you as it would for me! Feel free to ask if you need anything else!
Hahaha MochaCharok beat me to it!

Thanks guys. The phone at one time was on an ICS rom and yes I can search for it. I just wanted to make sure before I did, that this could be done. So, I will see about finding the tutorial and how to go about getting the phone all back to factory like. I know I am so anal this way, but I really do like to start with a clean slate before I do anything to any phone. thanks again guys I will holler if I run into any problems. LOVE this phone though.
thewadegeek said:
If you are on gingerbread then there is no danger of the EEMC superbug(As far as I've heard/read). As for reseting I don't have a link to a tutorial off the top of my head, however the process is pretty simple. Start searching through the development forums for the stock odin files and then flash them. I can try to find you a tutorial/links tonight but I don't really have time right now...besides the search function works the same way for you as it would for me! Feel free to ask if you need anything else!
Hahaha MochaCharok beat me to it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

When you activated the phone on your account it should've wiped everything they had on the phone prior and reset it to stock. At least that's what happened when I activated a phone I'd bought from an XDA member. So I started with a clean slate automatically.

It didn't for whatever reason. I had to go in and edit the MIN and MDN manually to get it to activate so maybe that is why. That thing was a HUGE pain to do too. It would not take and kept resetting. Had to try it like 5 times.
Esoteric68 said:
When you activated the phone on your account it should've wiped everything they had on the phone prior and reset it to stock. At least that's what happened when I activated a phone I'd bought from an XDA member. So I started with a clean slate automatically.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

If you are stuck with what to do next then take it to a Sprint store and let them wipe it for you.

Good info
As I'm going to try this and hopefully get the missus off her Opt S and onto an E4GT this week this was good timing to cover the process.
Here's what I am planning to do:
1) Flash EL29 + Root
2) Factory Reset from Recovery (which should clear NVRAM if I understand correctly)
3) Call MVNO and have them set up phone
4) Allow hands-free activation to hopefully fill in the blanks
If this works as I hope then I shouldn't have to tinker manually with the NVRAM data.... if not then I have my phone to base most of that off of. And of course it depends if the carrier will let me set the phone up - in the past they haven't been warm to using a different phone unless you purchased it directly from them.
All this just to sit tight until we can get the GS3 probably next year.. yeesh.

[Q] Crashing apps and loss of service?!

Hey guys, long time browser, first time poster, but not a reason for celebration, alas.I come to you guys out of frustration after hours of being unable to solve my issue cruising the interwebs, and the thread title kinda says it all.
To start from the beginning, I recently delved into the rooted world by means of towelroot (kitkat 4.4.2), installed xposed framework, got the modules XBlast and XPrivacy, and you might have guessed, fiddled around with each. Everything was fine and dandy until I was having issues receiving/making calls through an app (LINE, if you know it), and so I attempted to figure out what the issue was, very much assuming XPrivacy to be the culprit. Couldn't get it to work, which is when I decided to restore my backup I made using Clockwork. Should have been nice and smooth sailing, but...
Upon having it "restored" I booted on into it, which is when I got smacked in the face; as soon as I'm booted, most, if not all, my apps are reporting that they have stopped working by a bombardment of error messages in endless succession, making just browsing the home screens almost impossible. Also with this barrage came the lack of cell service, a nice white n' slashed out circle in what should be my bars of signal. I tried again to restore my phone from my backup. Same issue, but I did notice during the recovery it made mention of something like "secure_android" missing? This sent me on my hours of head banging, turning up *possible* resolutions, which didn't work. I've tried flashing the stock bootloader, gapps, and nothing. Now, my data and apps are all still there and I can get into recovery without issue, it's just the pain of not being able to actually using any of it.
I have debugging switched on on my phone, but do not have some sort of adb app installed on it, nor could I access any market place to try. I'm not so sure I would be able to install anything on my phone given my current circumstances, anyway.
Please, if any of you out there have some idea as to what is going on, I'm all eyes (as ears on a forum don't work so well)! If there are any details I may have omitted and so on, just let me know and I'll supply it--
Thank you all so much in advance for any possible steps that may resolve this issue!

Fingerless said:
Hey guys, long time browser, first time poster, but not a reason for celebration, alas.I come to you guys out of frustration after hours of being unable to solve my issue cruising the interwebs, and the thread title kinda says it all.
To start from the beginning, I recently delved into the rooted world by means of towelroot (kitkat 4.4.2), installed xposed framework, got the modules XBlast and XPrivacy, and you might have guessed, fiddled around with each. Everything was fine and dandy until I was having issues receiving/making calls through an app (LINE, if you know it), and so I attempted to figure out what the issue was, very much assuming XPrivacy to be the culprit. Couldn't get it to work, which is when I decided to restore my backup I made using Clockwork. Should have been nice and smooth sailing, but...
Upon having it "restored" I booted on into it, which is when I got smacked in the face; as soon as I'm booted, most, if not all, my apps are reporting that they have stopped working by a bombardment of error messages in endless succession, making just browsing the home screens almost impossible. Also with this barrage came the lack of cell service, a nice white n' slashed out circle in what should be my bars of signal. I tried again to restore my phone from my backup. Same issue, but I did notice during the recovery it made mention of something like "secure_android" missing? This sent me on my hours of head banging, turning up *possible* resolutions, which didn't work. I've tried flashing the stock bootloader, gapps, and nothing. Now, my data and apps are all still there and I can get into recovery without issue, it's just the pain of not being able to actually using any of it.
I have debugging switched on on my phone, but do not have some sort of adb app installed on it, nor could I access any market place to try. I'm not so sure I would be able to install anything on my phone given my current circumstances, anyway.
Please, if any of you out there have some idea as to what is going on, I'm all eyes (as ears on a forum don't work so well)! If there are any details I may have omitted and so on, just let me know and I'll supply it--
Thank you all so much in advance for any possible steps that may resolve this issue!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like your backup was a downgrade (old version).
I would suggest doing a factory reset, test it. If that doesn't do it, use Odin to flash stock firmware (which can be found in the general section stickies).

BWolf56 said:
Sounds like your backup was a downgrade (old version).
I would suggest doing a factory reset, test it. If that doesn't do it, use Odin to flash stock firmware (which can be found in the general section stickies).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for responding! I did try a wipe data/factory reset via CWM, then restored from there. Didn't work. I'm not sure if there is a particular order in how it should be done such as "factory reset, reboot phone into recovery, restore" or if I should be able to get away with "factory reset, restore", the latter being what I did. I also got a hold of a bootloader file and modem base band for build I747UCUFNE4, if those would be useful in any way.
If it's of any help, I somehow got the Unofficial Omni ROM 4.4.4 to work without any issue, but not quite happy enough with the overall interface of it, yet slowly adapting having installed a touchwiz launcher just to hold me over.
I've tried locating the backup CWM created on my phone so that I could store it on my computer and generate another backup as from what I read, the unpaid version only allows you one at a time, but had no luck digging through my directories. I'm currently investigating this online nandroid backup thing to see if there's anything to it.
I've also come across some file labeled "I747UCUFNE4_Stock_Rooted_Deodex" which is a zip, but I'm reading ODIN uses tar as it's compression of choice? Does this mean I should flash this file via recovery, or? Also, the file size is a whopping 920MB or so... that normal? (Edit: this is where I found the file http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2788357 which says to flash in recovery)
Thanks again for your response! I was really thinking my problem would just be glanced over.

Fingerless said:
Thanks for responding! I did try a wipe data/factory reset via CWM, then restored from there. Didn't work. I'm not sure if there is a particular order in how it should be done such as "factory reset, reboot phone into recovery, restore" or if I should be able to get away with "factory reset, restore", the latter being what I did. I also got a hold of a bootloader file and modem base band for build I747UCUFNE4, if those would be useful in any way.
If it's of any help, I somehow got the Unofficial Omni ROM 4.4.4 to work without any issue, but not quite happy enough with the overall interface of it, yet slowly adapting having installed a touchwiz launcher just to hold me over.
I've tried locating the backup CWM created on my phone so that I could store it on my computer and generate another backup as from what I read, the unpaid version only allows you one at a time, but had no luck digging through my directories. I'm currently investigating this online nandroid backup thing to see if there's anything to it.
I've also come across some file labeled "I747UCUFNE4_Stock_Rooted_Deodex" which is a zip, but I'm reading ODIN uses tar as it's compression of choice? Does this mean I should flash this file via recovery, or? Also, the file size is a whopping 920MB or so... that normal? (Edit: this is where I found the file http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2788357 which says to flash in recovery)
Thanks again for your response! I was really thinking my problem would just be glanced over.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I meant factory reset without restoring.
But now that you're back up and running, there's no need for it (unless you flash another ROM). You could flash NE4 if you wanna get back on the official ROM but there are also tw custom ROM which you can look into (you're currently using an aosp one).
As for the 920mb, yeah.. That's Sammy at its best, bloating their ROMs.

BWolf56 said:
I meant factory reset without restoring.
But now that you're back up and running, there's no need for it (unless you flash another ROM). You could flash NE4 if you wanna get back on the official ROM but there are also tw custom ROM which you can look into (you're currently using an aosp one).
As for the 920mb, yeah.. That's Sammy at its best, bloating their ROMs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You think it would be safe to do a factory reset and try to restore just the data from my recovery? Or is it possible that the data is somehow the issue with everything going wonky?
I'm very new to the ROM thing, Omni was easy to get up and running, but actually playing with a ROM was more of a last ditch effort to see if the problem would be resolved that way and give any sort of indication as to what the issue was (still haven't the sllightest). It's currently not rooted (at least according to my root checker) and the towelroot method doesn't seem to work on it. I kinda need to be rooted if I wanted to make a nandroid, I really want to make a back up of what I currently have set in case I screw the pooch trying to get things back to "normal", yet I'm afraid of overwriting my only recovery and losing whatever data is embedded, though I'm not too deeply saddened by the thought of not having chat histories and whatnot, it would just be nice to have. Perhaps you have thoughts, or anyone else out there, on the matter? I know my first step would be to at least root my current ROM, then back up, I found this as a means to root Omni (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2672160), but how do I determine whether I'm using an ARM based or x86 based device?
Good to know the file size for the stock ROM is considered normal. I didn't even consider carrier/Samsung bloat to have such a huge impact.
Thanks, yet again!

Need S4 Rom advice!

Hello! Pretty new in XDA forum and I have a couple of questions and concerns. I was browsing through some threads and I was wondering if I could get some opinion/help from other members.
I have a second phone that I want to mod and I need some help.
Device: Samsung Galaxy S4 (ROOTED)
Model#: SGH-M919
Android Version: 4.4.4
Baseband: M919UVUFNK2
It's an old phone and lately, it's been running really slow and if possible, I'd like to make it run as if it was brand new or at least somewhat close. So the question is, are there any recommended stable roms/mods I could use and if there are/is, will I be able to use it with my rooted phone or do I have to completely factory reset it before I apply the mods/roms?
Thank you!

Hi @Mr.LinK,
Just yesterday I finally got sick of my M919 slow/battery drain/old stuff and decided it was time for a reset. I was running SlimKat from over a year ago and while it was a great ROM, I had accumulated so much crap that it was getting really bogged down. This just happens over time no matter what OS, no fault to Slim. But I was also looking to move to Lollipop. Here's what I did:
1. Backed up using several methodologies (full backup with TWRP just in case, then from Android I backed stuff up with Helium, and used Backup My Mobile for SMS/MMS etc., an EFS backup just in case, etc..)
2. From within Android, did a factory reset. This sent the phone into recovery, and it formatted the data partition.
3. Rebooted to recovery again, and used TWRP to manually format the media section, just in case something was left there. Then wiped everything except the external SD.
4. Used ODIN to flash the OH3 firmware onto my MDL M919, without letting reboot after (unchecked the reboot checkbox). Pulled battery, rebooted back into download mode again, and flashed OH3 a second time... this gets around some instance people have reported about incomplete upgrades of firmware and all sorts of issues... better safe than sorry.
5. Let phone boot into now 100 % stock OH3 Android 4.4.4. YEEEUKKK. Some part of me thought I would just root the thing and get rid of Samsung crapware, but just the sheer annoyance of the T-Mobile boot animation was enough to remind me why I left stock long ago. Anyway, I let it boot, and set it up minimally with just 1 Google account, not restoring from backup. To my surprise it found the ATT network (I'm an ATT user, not T-Mobile... I just prefer T-Mo phones because they have unlocked bootloaders) and APN no problem no effort from me. Usually I have to enter an APN.
6. I tested the phone out to make sure all systems were working. GPS, WIFI, Bluetooth, etc.. To my surprise, first time I ran the camera app, it applied a firmware patch. Sweet. I'm glad I went through this step. Coming from ancient MDL, I figured there might be some kinks like this. I let it sit on stock for a few hours while I did stuff with my kids.
7. Back home, I did a factory reset from within Android. Then I flashed the latest TWRP tar file (2.8.7.0) using ODIN, and in TWRP did a full wipe of everything again.
8. At this point I flashed Danvdh's GPE edition of Lollipop from here.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2539361
Installation went smoothly. It's a very basic set of apps that it comes with (Google play is there, but you have to download email/messaging apps from the store such as Gmail and Messaging, Maps, etc). I like this approach!
I've been gradually setting things back up, and am very happy with things so far. Haven't run into any problems yet. The nice pure GPE android experience is refreshing.

@Frankenscript Thanks for the information. I was reading the linked thread and it looks really good so I'll give it a try

Mr.LinK said:
@Frankenscript Thanks for the information. I was reading the linked thread and it looks really good so I'll give it a try
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Frankenscript said:
Good luck and let us know how it goes!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just completely flashed my phone with the ROM and I'm pretty happy with the outcome. No bloatware feels so nice. I've been tinkering with it for a while now and I haven't encountered any problems so far but I did notice that model number changed to GT-I9505G. I'm assuming that's normal since the rom is based off of another variant which makes sense, correct me if I'm wrong. Will this complicate future updates or other rom installation? If so, are there any ways of reverting back to the original model number?

Mr.LinK said:
I just completely flashed my phone with the ROM and I'm pretty happy with the outcome. No bloatware feels so nice. I've been tinkering with it for a while now and I haven't encountered any problems so far but I did notice that model number changed to GT-I9505G. I'm assuming that's normal since the rom is based off of another variant which makes sense, correct me if I'm wrong. Will this complicate future updates or other rom installation? If so, are there any ways of reverting back to the original model number?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty sure we can change the reported model number by modifying the build.prop file. I just haven't poked around with it yet... I did ask the question in the thread and am waiting for a reply. I haven't had to do this kind of thing for over a year, and I forget the build.prop key that does it. But I had some concern that it might bork something else down the road so I decided to wait a bit. IT's just a cosmetic thing and I'm SOOO enjoying the experience right now.
Two little things I'm still fishing around for answers to:
-In the drop down quick access menu, I wish there was a sound/vibrate/mute toggle. I can make one with PowerToggles but maybe there's a way to adjust what's in the native one.
-Really silly, but the power off button when pressed just seems to ... power off the phone!? No option for restart / recovery. Maybe there's an option to set this somewhere; haven't checked.
Still, these are all minor things to sort out. Really, I think I'm very sold on GPE editions now thanks to Danvdh's work.
Marc

Just an update, my phone just rebooted twice in the last 5 mins or so. Was watching on my netflix and it randomly rebooted. Any idea what's causing it and how to prevent it from happening?

Mr.LinK said:
Just an update, my phone just rebooted twice in the last 5 mins or so. Was watching on my netflix and it randomly rebooted. Any idea what's causing it and how to prevent it from happening?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haven't seen random reboots. I think I got maybe one reboot since installing the ROM. Then again, I haven't put NF on the phone. I do know that Netflix app had some issues on my Shield tablet, and the manufacturer (Nvidia) came out with a patch... maybe it's something general in Lollipop?

Frankenscript said:
Two little things I'm still fishing around for answers to:
-In the drop down quick access menu, I wish there was a sound/vibrate/mute toggle. I can make one with PowerToggles but maybe there's a way to adjust what's in the native one.
-Really silly, but the power off button when pressed just seems to ... power off the phone!? No option for restart / recovery. Maybe there's an option to set this somewhere; haven't checked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Both if those can be fixed with Xposed modules.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using XDA Free mobile app

Will look into doing this in a week or so. Thanks
Sent back in time via Android 9.0 TimeText feature.