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[REF][GUIDE] The Noob Helper - basic info about your sgs3 and flashing

Basic concepts, how-to'sThis thread is a work in progress. If you would like to contribute information or have ideas for what should be added please PM me.
Disclaimer "just because i am trying to be helpful does not make me responsible for anything that you do to your phone. playing with any of this stuff could destroy your phone"
I am not a dev, but I have been flashing on Samsung phones since the international S2 came out. I also spend a ton of time reading the forums and researching what I don't know. I would like to give back to the community in some way and I hope that this post can help the noobs not brick their devices, as well as keep them from being overly annoying to the members and developers here by posting in the wrong places and asking dumb questions.
Some basic rules if you are a noob and don't want to turn your phone into a brick.
1. be patient. don't be the first or even the tenth person to flash anything. wait until you see others using whatever Rom or kernel with success.
2. If you have any doubts about what you are doing, read more. don't flash.
3. make sure you are in the forum for your device, not some similar or related device.
Some basic rules for these forums
1. If you have a question, the first thing to do is look it up yourself. that means searching the forums first, then searching Google.
2. If after searching you can't find an answer, then post in the q&a forum
3. don't report bugs unless you are using an intact version of whatever Rom, if you have changed kernels, installed a ton of apps etc it probably isn't a bug, it's a bad combo or its you.
4. don't report bugs unless you are 150% sure that no one has reported it yet.
5. if you report a bug, make sure you can duplicate it first, then get a logcat of the problem so you can help (see below for logcat info)
Why flash?
by flashing your device you can make your phone act differently, look different, and enable new or disabled options. you could ,for example:
enable native tethering
enable call recording
change the look of your phone
add custom toggle buttons
overclock or undervolt
increase battery life
etc..
Kernel vs Rom vs Recovery vs Modem
Kernel is the layer between the phone hardware and the rom. it controls things like Wi-Fi power, touch sensitivity, possible range of screen brightness, phone logging, and processor max and min speed. kernel must be designed not only for your device but also for the type of rom you are using (Sammy rom or Aosp) some kernels support all roms, others are specific.
Rom is the operating system of your phone. there are three main categories of roms.
roms that are based off of the Samsung stock rom (Sammy rom)
roms that are based off of Android open source project aka AOSP (AOSP, AOKP)
roms based off of the miui project (these used to be a branch of AOSP but recently they have also used Sammy base for miui)
recovery is a partition that you can access at boot by holding down a combination of keys. (volume up and home button in the case of our sgs3) every phone has recovery stock but it doesn't do much. you can replace stock with clockwork mod recovery which is extremely useful for flashing all kinds of things and making backups before you do. There are other alternative recoveries besides clockwork but that seems to be the most common. TWRP is also gaining popularity these days, especially on the sgs3. You can easily switch between recoveries and or upgrade your current recovery. All that needs to happen is for a new image to be flashed onto the recovery partition. See the rooting guide for more info on how to flash a custom recovery.
modem is a file that controls the cell radio of the phone. helps determine what frequencies to use and settings for a particular network. It is important when flashing a radio that you flash a radio that is for the AT&T sgs3 as flashing the radio from another carrier has been known to cause problems with the IMEI
Methods for flashing files - Odin vs mobile Odin vs. clockworkmod(cwm) vs adb
Odin is the internal Samsung tool for flashing. I believe it only exists on Windows platform. This tool is mostly used to initially flash an insecure kernel or rooted kernel, OR to return to completely stock rom. This tool can effect your flash counter (see below). Files for flashing in odin generally should end in .tar or .tar.md5 although sometimes they come zipped and the tar is inside the zip. Read more about Odin before using it as it can easily break your phone. !!!as a general rule make sure you never check the "partition" checkbox EVER!!!
Mobile Odin is a phone based version of Odin made by the very talented developer Chainfire. It can be installed on a rooted phone and used to flash the same .tar based files as the desktop version. Mobile odin has a few advantages. 1 you can use it from your phone. 2 it does NOT effect the flash counter on your phone, 3 it can auto root a stock rom (nice if you want to try out a brand new update that has not been rooted yet)
clockworkmod(cwm) is recovery based tool that can make backups of your entire phone, flash new roms, kernels etc.., and do many other useful tasks. Once you have this on your phone my guess is that most of your flashing will be done through this tool. The files for flashing through clockworkmod are .zip files. Clockworkmod will NOT effect your flash counter.
ADB is the android develpment bridge. It allows for command line interface with your phone through it's debugging options. ADB can do most anything as I understand it. In my several years of flashing I have only had to use it once, and i could have waited for someone to come up with another solution. In general as a noob i recommend you stay away from ADB.
open source vs Samsung based roms vs miui
Open Source Roms such as AOSP/AOKP are built using Google's open source android code as a base. The developers then add functionality specific to the device. The advantages of these builds are that they often have tons of options built in to the rom that change the behavior and look of the phone. They usually allow you to change the toggles in your notification pull down, change the battery display, make all kinds of adjustments to sounds, vibration etc... Some people also prefer the "vanilla" android look and feel. These roms often provide "bleeding edge" concepts, design, and modifications. The Disadvantages of these roms is that some of the hardware coding is done closed source by the phone manufacturers, which means that things like bluetooth, camera, video recording, and MHL video out often don't work or take much longer to get working by the developers. Basically anything that relies on the Samsung framework will not work in an open source build. This means Svoice, Snote, and the Samsung camera app will not work.
Samsung based roms are taken from the Samsung original phone software and modified by the developer. Usually, these roms are modified in order to be faster and to make changes to some of the features. Expect to see changes to the stock rom like: debloated (ATT and samsung software removed), de-odexed (explained later), enable tethering, unlimited sms recipients, added notification toggles, etc. Most of these changes are made to: make the phone faster, improve battery life, make the phone easier to theme. The advantage of these roms is that they still use the Samsung framework so all the proprietary stuff like camera, bluetooth, MHL still work, the disadvantage is that they will never be as customisable as open source roms.
MIUI is a rom that focuses on theming. Official MIUI (Chinese) gets updated weekly on Friday and then there are lots of miui developers who adapt it to other languanges and make some tweaks to it. MIUI can be built from AOSP source or Samsung source and depending will have different features. The first MIUI rom for our phone just appeared in these forums and it is based off of AOSP. MIUI has a unique look and is also highly customizable through theming. There are tons of themes available for download through the rom itself and you can mix and match any part of any theme you want. This includes icons, lockscreen style, etc.. Some people criticize while others praise MIUI for being very "iphone like". This is because the icons look more iphone like and there is no app drawer in the MIUI launcher. However, you can still use any launcher you like within MIUI.
odexed vs de-odexed
odexed is how the phone comes stock from Samsung. Odexed means that system files and apps are split into two pieces and kept in different places on the phone. This is done to speed things up a bit. However, it makes it harder to theme the phone because the apps are split up. Most custom roms choose to de-odex (basically regroup the files back into one) so that custom themers can make themes more easily for the phone.
download mode and recovery mode how to access
(Copied from mskip and his toolkit thread here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1746665)
How to get into Download Mode (For Odin)
1. Unplug the USB cable.
2. Shut down the phone.
3. Hold down the 'HOME' + 'VOLUME DOWN' buttons and press the 'POWER' button for about 2 seconds until a WARNING! Screen appears. Press the 'VOLUME UP' button to enter Download Mode.
How to get into Recovery Mode
1. Unplug the USB cable.
2. Shut down the phone.
3. Hold down the 'HOME' + 'VOLUME UP' buttons and press the 'POWER' button for about 5 seconds to enter Recovery Mode.
STEP BY STEP how to flash your phone for the first time
A. get root
first off, you need to gain access to the root of your phone. there are several ways to do this (thanks to all the talented devs).
I recommend using mrRobinson's method as it will not trip the flash counter on your phone.
1. you will need to have odin from here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1722686 remember to hit the thanks button, download and install odin.​
2. Kies (on Windows, not on your phone), Samsung's sync program, can interfere with Odin. Either make sure Kies is closed and close it out of background processes using the task manager in windows...or better yet, uninstall it completely.​3. make sure you have the proper samsung drivers installed. you can get the USB drivers directly from Samsung here: http://www.samsung.com/us/support/owners/product/SGH-I747MBBATT​
4. you need to download the right image from mrRobinson's thread. to find out which one hit the menu key from your home screen, select system settings, select about phone at the bottom, and look for the build. it should be either UCALEM or UCALG1. Once you know, go to mrRobinson's thread here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1739426 download the matching image, and dont forget to thank him.​
STEPS 5-7 COPIED FROM mrRobinson's THREAD
5. Extract the .tar file from the .7z file you just downloaded from the thread in step 4​6. Put your phone into download mode (see how above)​
7. Start Odin, connect your phone to your PC, you should see the box under ID:COM change color to show your device is connected. click on PDA and select the .tar file you just extracted. Hit the start button and wait for the file to flash to your phone. When done your phone will reboot automatically. One word of warning about Odin: DO NOT TOUCH THE CHECKBOXES!!! WHATEVER YOU DO>>DONT TOUCH THE RE-PARTITION CHECKBOX!!!!​B. installing clockworkmod
the next step is to get a working clockworkmod recovery on your phone instead of the default recovery. Again, there are many ways to do this and there are several different versions of CWM recovery available. I recommend using the one from Rom Manager as it seems to be compatible with most roms. Note that currently most versions of CWM can only see your internal SD card and not your external if you have one.
1. Go to the Google play store and download Rom Manager (https://play.google.com/store/apps/...anager&feature=nav_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDNd)​2. Open Rom Manager app, flash clockworkmod recovery (first option), choose the appropriate phone..in this case galaxy s3 att, grant it superuser privileges, it should say install successful. ​NOTE: some users have reported not seeing the S3 ATT in the list of devices in Rom Manager...this is a bug and hopefully will be fixed. It may be that you need the purchased version instead of the free version for it to work? Not sure why this is but if it gives you trouble there are other ways to flash a recovery image. The next easiest way once rooted is to use the tool in this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1746665 from there you can flash both cwm or twrp whichever you prefer. Alternatively you could also use goo manager to flash TWRP link to goo here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.s0up.goomanager&hl=en
C. Test out your new recovery and make a backup of your phone
1. turn your phone off, then turn it back on while holding the Volume UP and home key. (more detailed instructions above) You should see Clockworkmod Recovery at the top.​2. Use your volume keys to navigate to the backup option and select backup, then wait for it to complete. You now have a backup of your phone you can restore to at any time.​
D. downloading and flashing a new rom
now its time to decide what rom to flash. when choosing a rom read the first post of the thread (the OP) carefully and take time to read through most if not all of the thread. At the very least go read the last 10 pages of the thread so you are familiar with any current issues people may be having. Once you have picked a rom:
1. Download the rom you want to try​2. Make sure that the rom ends up on your internal SD card and that you know where it is​3. Get into CWM recovery​4. As a general rule it's a good idea to wipe data/ factory reset from CWM recovery (this will wipe all your data on the phone except any photos/videos you may have taken)​5. It is also good practice to wipe cache from CWM recovery​6. Lastly, from the advanced menu in CWM choose to wipe Dalvik cache​7. now go back out to the main recovery screen and choose "install .zip from SD Card" option and navigate to your rom, select it and confirm​note that a new rom may take longer to boot the first time.
Flashing "dirty" vs flashing "clean"
Clean
Doing a clean install of a rom means erasing or formatting all the data from the previous rom before you flash the new one. This is the prefered way to flash a rom to ensure that it will run smoothly. It is necessary if you are switching from one rom type to another (CM to Samsung base). In order to do a clean flash you need to boot into recovery and select the following options: wipe user data (this wipes all apps and personal data, but not your photos/videos), wipe cache, advanced>wipe dalvik cache, storage/mounts>format system. This will ensure that no trace of the former rom is left on the phone. Beware that at this point your phone will not boot until you install a new rom. I suggest using titanium backup to backup apps and smsbackup+ for texts to make getting your new rom configured easy.
Dirty
Doing a dirty install means just flashing a new rom right over the top of the old one without wiping any data. The advantage to this is that you don't lose any apps or account info. The disadvantage is that you open up the possibility for problems. Generally you only want to flash this way if you are upgrading a rom (CM10 nightly to the next nightly, or from one samsung based rom to another). If you decide to flash over the top and have any issues, you should not report bugs, but try flashing clean first.
backing up IMEI
There have been some issues with people losing their imei number when flashing roms. *It appears to be limited to the old imei software version 2 but the evidence is not yet conclusive. *If you lose your imei, you will not be able to connect properly to the data network. *Luckily some devs have figured out how to re-inject an imei number into our phone and get it working again. *It is certainly a good idea to back up your imei info before flashing just to be on the safe side. *There seems to be two main threads dealing with backing up and restoring your imei. *you can check them out here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1801997
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1804117
huge thanks go out to these devs for figuring this out!! as always make sure you thank them.
I have yet to try either of these methods out myself so if one seems much easier or clearer please let me know.
tethering (for stock Samsung based rom)
you can use a mod to enable wifi tethering from your phone to up to ten other devices and share your data connection. If you are running a custom rom you probably already have this enabled and don't need it. It is already included in any AOSP roms also.
Make sure that you use the version of the mod that is for your software version number (UCLEM or UCLG1 see beginning of rooting guide to figure out which one you are on).
The original mod for UCLEM is here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1732262
The mod for UCLG1 is here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1768826
The Flash Counter
The flash counter is an internal counter that ticks every time you install a non-samsung firmware through Odin. This allows Samsung or AT&T to see if the phone has been flashed with custom roms. custom recoveries such as Clockworkmod and TWRP as well as the mobile version of Odin DO NOT change the counter. Only flashing non-Samsung files through the desktop version of Odin does. You can see your flash counter when you enter download mode on your phone. Luckily, Chainfire has developed an app that allows this counter to be reset, so there is really little concern anymore about having the counter trip. If you do need to send your phone in for repairs, you will want to reset the counter and then flash an unmodified stock rom through odin to get your phone back to factory state.
Link to Chainfire's app through this post here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1800878
Logcat
Logcat is a way to access the android system log for everything that is going on behind the scenes. This tool is used to help developers pinpoint problems in a rom. If you want to actually be helpful to a dev when reporting a bug, you should really learn to use this tool. I am no expert on logcat but you can find some good information in this post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1726238
APN settings
This is the apn that comes on stock at&t phone. It allows you to connect to LTE as well as hspa+
Name: ATT PTA
APN: pta
MMSC: http://mmsc.mobile.att.net
MMS Proxy: proxy.mobile.att.net
MMS port: 80
MCC: 310
MNC: 410
Auth: none
APN type: default,mms,supl,hipri
NOTES BELOW ARE COMING SECTIONS. Feel free to pm me questions you would like to see answered or suggestions for other info:
theming
unlocking sim
returning to stock
What info is stored in each area: system, data, cache etc...

Looks good.
Stuck
FNM

I now know more about Android OS! Thanks for the info.

Good thread! In your step by step guide I suggest you add installing adb and adb basics. IMO, this is essential for anyone flashing, has bailed me out of trouble on more than one occasion.
Sent from my SGH-I747M using XDA Premium HD app

MORE ! MORE ! Very nice work thanks, this is shedding some lights on the terms we see floating around

excellent information, much appreciated, so what is de-odexed and odexed? thanks again!!

I got my s3 when it first shipped, and soft bricked it a month later. Even if you do everything right, it can still mess up. So waiting for a USB jig to come in the mail since my homebrew jig didnt work or I hard bricked my phone... Be warned...

Very helpful thread, thanks a lot!

Thanks for this guide!! Very helpful. Coming from a very different phone, everything about the S3 is foreign to me! Could you maybe talk about backing up nv stuff and imei?? I know there's another thread that explains it, but, this being the noob helper, I think it'd be good for anyone new to this phone.

Thanks
Thank you for making this! I'm sure this will help a lot of people out. I've flashed quite a few times and having a guide like this is definitely helpful.

I sure hope I had this guide when I flashed for the first time a few days ago, but at the time you only had part 1 done and the guide had not been completed yet. Glad to see it finished and it'll definitely help out others.

mods
Thanks for all the invaluable info on flashing ROMs. I've been a BB user for years so Android is still new to me. I'm looking into rooting and trying out some custom roms, but I had a question. When it comes to Mods can you just add those individually?
I want to use Team Sonic's FreeGS3 Rom mainly due to it's Sony Bravia engine Mod and the Awesome Beats Mod (or at least when they get it working on apps other than Google Music). However, they don't have a fully supported Rom for AT&T just yet.
Trying to have the best of both worlds....I may just need to try out something else and wait for the full ATT version.

This is a great thread you've created OP. However, I'm a tad confused. You mention in the guide that Kies interferes with Odin and you say to close and close it out of the backround, but you also mention "better yet, uninstall it completely." One of the reasons I'm rooting my new phone is to be able to delete this bloatware. Are you implying this is possible without first rooting the phone?
Thanks a lot in advance, this is very helpful.

jroyjohnson said:
Thanks for all the invaluable info on flashing ROMs. I've been a BB user for years so Android is still new to me. I'm looking into rooting and trying out some custom roms, but I had a question. When it comes to Mods can you just add those individually?
I want to use Team Sonic's FreeGS3 Rom mainly due to it's Sony Bravia engine Mod and the Awesome Beats Mod (or at least when they get it working on apps other than Google Music). However, they don't have a fully supported Rom for AT&T just yet.
Trying to have the best of both worlds....I may just need to try out something else and wait for the full ATT version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would wait to flash any ROM that isn't specifically for your device. However you may be able to flash the mods you want like the bravia mod on top of an att ROM. You need to find the original post for the mods you want, and do some research to see what they require and if anyone has used them successfully. Be extra careful of mods written for the international version of the phone.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

omi__ said:
This is a great thread you've created OP. However, I'm a tad confused. You mention in the guide that Kies interferes with Odin and you say to close and close it out of the backround, but you also mention "better yet, uninstall it completely." One of the reasons I'm rooting my new phone is to be able to delete this bloatware. Are you implying this is possible without first rooting the phone?
Thanks a lot in advance, this is very helpful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can see why you are confused. I am referring to kies on your windows PC. (If you installed it at some point) Not the version that runs on the phone.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

OP, are you sure you can install CWM through ROM Manager after rooting? I remember trying to do this on my SGS2 last year and my phone soft bricked. Tried it twice, and still soft bricked.
Why not just use Robinson's method?

ComradeNF said:
OP, are you sure you can install CWM through ROM Manager after rooting? I remember trying to do this on my SGS2 last year and my phone soft bricked. Tried it twice, and still soft bricked.
Why not just use Robinson's method?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tested it out myself and it works fine. I figured this was the easiest way to get it done and not have to get adb up and running. Also, the official cwm is supported by all the new roms like cm10 and some other recoveries have had issues flashing those roms.

Thanks for putting this together! Very Helpful!

One question, you say flash CWM , first in list choose Galaxy S3 ATT, when i open Rom Manager and choose Flash i don't have the S3 for a choice ?I have Galaxy Note, Skyrocket and T-Mobile Galaxy S2, no S3....

Cholerabob said:
One question, you say flash CWM , first in list choose Galaxy S3 ATT, when i open Rom Manager and choose Flash i don't have the S3 for a choice ?I have Galaxy Note, Skyrocket and T-Mobile Galaxy S2, no S3....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try scrolling down the list
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

[Q] Confused and terrified!!!!

hello.. i just flashed the pacman rom for my desire hd.. PACman-v19.3-BLINDNDUMB..
i go to about phone and there i see that Memory is only 594mb.. what does this mean.. the original ram is 768mb.. why has it reduced??
please help!!!!
nor do i have the paranoid settings option in my settings menu.. its getting really weired..

your phone never got to use all 700 whatever. With every phone, due to hardware/phone restrictions you'll never get all of it. E.G. the Note 2, packing 2 whopping gigabytes of ram only gets to use around 1.7 of that. HTC Is a little worse off, its DNA gets only 1.5 usable of the 2 gigabytes.
If you go back to stock, and install a separate task manager you'll see that you probably only get 610-620 (I think htc just shows how much is free, not how much is system accessible). 610-620 because it varies ROM by ROM, however the difference is very minimal, and it shouldn't make a difference. If you're really worried about speed, try out the Supercharger script (google for it). It might look a little intimidating, but youtube will help, the script itself asks you everything in a logical manner, and more importantly, you probably won't be able to screw up- the script just changes values around, at worst you just won't notice a terrible amount of improvements.
I forget where paranoid settings are located, but it's probably there.
Finally, RELAX. If worst comes to worst, and you really screw up, you can just flash the original rom .zip on top, without having to wipe anything (if it gets even worse, you'll just have to backup your apps, wipe everything, and then restore them). Flashing ROMs are extremely safe, so long as you do everything right. Seeing that you successfully a ROM, and you were able to notice how much free ram you had, I would say you're better off than a lot of people.
But just in case, giving a full break down of what you did will allow us to know if you did indeed mess up somewhere along the way.

xxkid123 said:
your phone never got to use all 700 whatever. With every phone, due to hardware/phone restrictions you'll never get all of it. E.G. the Note 2, packing 2 whopping gigabytes of ram only gets to use around 1.7 of that. HTC Is a little worse off, its DNA gets only 1.5 usable of the 2 gigabytes.
If you go back to stock, and install a separate task manager you'll see that you probably only get 610-620 (I think htc just shows how much is free, not how much is system accessible). 610-620 because it varies ROM by ROM, however the difference is very minimal, and it shouldn't make a difference. If you're really worried about speed, try out the Supercharger script (google for it). It might look a little intimidating, but youtube will help, the script itself asks you everything in a logical manner, and more importantly, you probably won't be able to screw up- the script just changes values around, at worst you just won't notice a terrible amount of improvements.
I forget where paranoid settings are located, but it's probably there.
Finally, RELAX. If worst comes to worst, and you really screw up, you can just flash the original rom .zip on top, without having to wipe anything (if it gets even worse, you'll just have to backup your apps, wipe everything, and then restore them). Flashing ROMs are extremely safe, so long as you do everything right. Seeing that you successfully a ROM, and you were able to notice how much free ram you had, I would say you're better off than a lot of people.
But just in case, giving a full break down of what you did will allow us to know if you did indeed mess up somewhere along the way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
okay these are the steps i did to flash the rom..
1) boot the phone in recovery mode..
2) 4ext recovery.. so i do a 'wipe data+dalvik'
3)then i do a 'format all partitions(except sd card)..
4) then install zip from sd card..
these are the steps i followed..
i also do not have the gapps in the rom.. in the thread they said it was already there.. how to i change the screen turn off animation.. this rom is totally different from whats in the thread..

rajivkarai said:
okay these are the steps i did to flash the rom..
1) boot the phone in recovery mode..
2) 4ext recovery.. so i do a 'wipe data+dalvik'
3)then i do a 'format all partitions(except sd card)..
4) then install zip from sd card..
these are the steps i followed..
i also do not have the gapps in the rom.. in the thread they said it was already there.. how to i change the screen turn off animation.. this rom is totally different from whats in the thread..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to flash Gapps, it doesn't mention that it's included in the thread
http://goo.im/gapps/gapps-jb-20121011-signed.zip
Flash it normally, no need to wipe (although wiping cache+dalvik) should help.
for paranoid settings, check this post http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=32720700&postcount=4
Your flashing process was correct, so I don't think anything was wrong there.

[DISCUSSION] Tinkering with CM13 i9100 on Epic 4g Touch

Don't even try this LOL!
I was browsing around my storage closet and i saw my d710 sitting in the original device box, it has been so long since I touched this device and I thought I'd tinker with it knowing it's broken anyways ( cracked screen, touches are still usable, 3.5mm HJ busted ). I stumble upon lanchons thread with isolated recoveries and using twrp 3.0.2.0-1 with his patch and I thought to myself, huh, what if ( Derp moment ) I use CM13 on this....
So I fully wiped the device. installed isorec cm 11, flashed 2.8.4.0 i9100 + Patch, rebooted, flashed i9100 3.0.2.0-1.img + Patch, rebooted, re-wiped the device, transfered cm13 over via usb mass, and installed it.
I removed the asserts from the zip and I couldn't care less if it had bricked or not and what do ya know, Its optimizing apps after a 10 minute sit away from the device.
I just started tinkering now so there's a lot I haven't played with, all I know is the camera works, and WiFi is broken, back button works and the search button = menu, lmfao. If any of the developers wants someone who tested and booted it up, well here it is.
NOTE: I tweaked the build.prop on certain aspects of device model and ID, to SPH-D710 instead of GT-i9100 just in case it needed to be d710 to boot up, which I highly doubt i didn't need to change.
if you guys want me to tinker more just ask :3

How does this not have any replies? We might finally find a way to bring Marshmallow to the D710 after all!

I can confirm that this method works. I installed Slim6 and sure enough it booted, however it looked like it had the same issues as CM13 as stated in the op. I'll attach some pictures of the about phone screen. I guess the GT-I9100 and the SPH-D710 are similar enough that marshmallow roms will boot although with deal-breaking issues(wifi, nav buttons.)

Probably needs a custom kernel that'll fix the wifi issues, i think you can always fix the capacitive buttons with a tweak to the /system/usr/keylayout files. Besides that, it is really laggy and unstable for me, all i can do is sit at the home screen, and when I start doing something it over heats ( my battery is old, might be the issue ) and hard reboots the device.

Other than that you need to add qemu.hw.mainkeys=0 to enable native on-screen nav buttons

Can't install gapps, not even pico, insufficient device storage. :/ but why bother when wifi doesnt even work lol
Edit: I hope Dastin or anyone can see this post and start cooking up some MM Goodies, or even do ports and build some custom kernels

i also did this with cm12.1 a few months ago and experienced the following problems:
USB doesn't work on the i1900 ROMs or recoveries
likewise with SdCard
rebooted often (wasn't overheating)
no WiFi, but Bluetooth worked
buttons wonky (don't remember exacts)
With how the recovery works I bricked it. I tried installing the cm13 kernel with the twrp that doesn't work with it and bricked it. I have been unable to Odin anything working because my battery died, and I am unable to charge it.
EDIT: got it to charge using a different phone and a small battery modification. testing the d710 cm12.1 beta

I might do this with mine, but the battery is practically dead and i sometimes get random resets (even when in recovery).
Would be nice to bring some life back into an older phone.

Lagging poor performance.

Having major problems with my Note 4. It is often really sluggish. Has horrible lag. Sometimes it just randomly resets. And, when it resets, sometimes it goes straight to download mode and says could not do normal boot at the top. For example, right now it has been on the Samsung galaxy note 4 boot screen for a few minutes. I had to pull the battery for it to boot. Sometimes, when I press and hold the power button, it doesn't respond.
I have tried a number of fixes.
-Factory reset.
-Full wipe
-Format data, then full wipe
-Odin back to stock firmware (KK, LP and MM)
-Restore backup from TWRP
I searched and saw another thread with similar symptoms, but it was pretty old with only one response. I am really at a loss as to what to do. I can only assume it is hardware related. I haven't really dropped it. No water damage. Always in a case.
Any help would be appreciated

I had the exact same issues you are describing. It ended up being the only reason i upgraded to note 7. Now of course note 7 is being recalled & i wish i could go back to a fully functional note 4.
Hope somebody has a solution for this!

The OP describes a bad flash or OTA update, corrupt partition or failing eMMC. I'd advise replacing battery as a first step of troubleshooting. Make sure it's charged fully at least once and have 75% or more capacity before starting.
I've never had to do anything risky with "PIT with repartition" or "nand erase all" but there are other advanced forums for that but I don't venture into recommending risky measures I haven't performed with experienced guidance. You could find these by googling or visiting Sammobile specific forums- I don't think it's acceptable to post external links.
But before I considered risking those methods there's some steps I'd eliminate first (warning: they may seem redundant but if having issues, I'd be thorough even if it appears redundant):
1. Backup and boot system, enable developer mode and enable USB debugging.
2. Disable reactivation lock in Settings/Security.
3. Open SuperSU app and fully un-root.
4. Wipe everything but extSdCard, factory reset and format data and power down and pull battery. Get serial number from underneath battery for Smart Switch.
5. Install Smart Switch on PC.
6. IMO, you should Odin stock tar before using Smart Switch if previously rooted.
7. Use Smart Switch to either install latest update or emergency restore phone. I didn't know Smart Switch worked in Note 4 so refer to Sammobile.
8. Once done, Check stock for stability for days before opting to do anything unless you've duplicated same results. If you have a true hardware issue, it may be evident while trying these steps.
9. Determine if you need to do anything further. I can't help with the riskier stuff; I've been fortunate enough not to experience anything warranting a risky procedure.
Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk

i am now having this same issue on my note 4. i have gone through all of the steps outlined in this thread. The only thing i haven't tried yet is a full repartition. Any thoughts? OP have you had any success?
Thanks,
JD

I succeeded in a full brick lol. That's about it. Wont even charge/power on.

last night i re-odined with a pit file. I had selected re-partition, nand erase and hone EFS clear. I did get a successful odin and the phone had to reactivate with sprint. IN the end i still have the very laggy performance, phone sometimes not responding and spontaneous reboots.
All of this started in an instant. Everything was running fine on a TW rom that i had been running for about a week. I went to use the camera, the app froze and the speaker made a slight static kind of sound and then all of this started. No matter what kind of rom i put on here they now all act the same. very strange.
JD

JudasD said:
last night i re-odined with a pit file. I had selected re-partition, nand erase and hone EFS clear. I did get a successful odin and the phone had to reactivate with sprint. IN the end i still have the very laggy performance, phone sometimes not responding and spontaneous reboots.
All of this started in an instant. Everything was running fine on a TW rom that i had been running for about a week. I went to use the camera, the app froze and the speaker made a slight static kind of sound and then all of this started. No matter what kind of rom i put on here they now all act the same. very strange.
JD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doesn't sound like you're having all the issues posted by the OP if stock was fine for a week and you can Odin successfully and have no issue until installing a custom ROM.
You replaced your battery and stopped using older ones? That camera issue was either a bad battery or incompatible camera in a custom ROM, IMO.
The stock ROM that worked fine for a week and the custom ROM that spontaneously reboots, which were they? Most likely, you're limited to what mods you can apply. In that condition, were you using stock or custom kernel? Kernel tweaker or none? Am I wrong to conclude your issue is the custom ROM and possibly custom setups?
Could you describe the random reboots? I've personally experienced a scenario where a ROM may run fine until user factory resets and ItsOn tries to install its bootstrapper but cannot with custom kernel or missing resources. It's persistent though, got a prompt to reboot with no issue or reason given when all seems well except the prompt to reboot that may actually become unexpected reboot if notification it's disabled and ignored. Some have found its best to factory reset and wipe internal memory when this happens and then install custom ROM cleanly. @freeza even added a line in script to delete /carrier/ItsOn folder and contents when that was identified as the issue when not wiping internal memory when completing ItsOn bootstrapper prior to installing custom ROM. I believe that works in that scenario but it highlights a need for user to follow OP install to prevent that in ROMs that omit that line in scripts. This could be a disconnect where phone isn't tested but deemed compatible with Sprint and data patch.
But kernel tweaks can cause issues with random reboots. The kernel I use works well with interactive governor but the rest are not as stable or fluid. I can under volt but only 25 or 30 mV and I limit over clocking to 2 steps above stock, no further (goal is stability without hurting battery with reasonable gains). You should consider that each processor has already been profiled to run within a specific volt to frequency table based on its ability so there's little room to limit with no adverse effects. Major steps can have adverse effects. Over clocking should also be given the same respect. We're already maximizing performance near threshold of stability. Think small steps, rather than large. Using the developer recommended kernel tweaking app is paramount for success as well.
Swapping kernels repeatedly may also leave your phone in an incompatible state so that even restoring boot.img partition to stock isn't helping. The reason is the modules the kernel uses. Developers will modify the contents of /system/lib/modules. Hopefully that's done in a compatible way but each custom flash over pre-existing custom setup may not be ideal but works best flashed over stock modules. If developer has done thorough testing, maybe the adverse effects have minimized but you can see where not having the phone for testing may impact users. Restoring boot.img only leaves the modules in unintended modification, especially for stock boot.img
Just a few examples of why a custom ROM may not be as compatible as stock for some users or carrier subscribers. You should mention the ones not being so compatible when comparing to stock as well as knowing that custom kernel tweaks and applications may not work as well on all ROMs.
There is a possibility you've chosen an incompatible ROM; ported ROMs may be nearly fully functional but have issues like you described. There's many workarounds posted in this forum that admittedly aren't fully functional; much effort has been shared by a few that have given much effort to find most compatible ROM but I think we'll get more stable support out of the box for Sprint version on Sprint from @tx_dbs_tx soon enough if your phone holds up- the OP describes an all too common failure with eMMC failure on Note 4. Sprint compatibility is tougher due its network and porting ROMs is tedious and may not work fully on phones not on hand for test.
Sent from my SM-N930P using Tapatalk

samep said:
Doesn't sound like you're having all the issues posted by the OP if stock was fine for a week and you can Odin successfully and have no issue until installing a custom ROM.
You replaced your battery and stopped using older ones? That camera issue was either a bad battery or incompatible camera in a custom ROM, IMO.
The stock ROM that worked fine for a week and the custom ROM that spontaneously reboots, which were they? Most likely, you're limited to what mods you can apply. In that condition, were you using stock or custom kernel? Kernel tweaker or none? Am I wrong to conclude your issue is the custom ROM and possibly custom setups?
Could you describe the random reboots? I've personally experienced a scenario where a ROM may run fine until user factory resets and ItsOn tries to install its bootstrapper but cannot with custom kernel or missing resources. It's persistent though, got a prompt to reboot with no issue or reason given when all seems well except the prompt to reboot that may actually become unexpected reboot if notification it's disabled and ignored. Some have found its best to factory reset and wipe internal memory when this happens and then install custom ROM cleanly. @freeza even added a line in script to delete /carrier/ItsOn folder and contents when that was identified as the issue when not wiping internal memory when completing ItsOn bootstrapper prior to installing custom ROM. I believe that works in that scenario but it highlights a need for user to follow OP install to prevent that in ROMs that omit that line in scripts. This could be a disconnect where phone isn't tested but deemed compatible with Sprint and data patch.
But kernel tweaks can cause issues with random reboots. The kernel I use works well with interactive governor but the rest are not as stable or fluid. I can under volt but only 25 or 30 mV and I limit over clocking to 2 steps above stock, no further (goal is stability without hurting battery with reasonable gains). You should consider that each processor has already been profiled to run within a specific volt to frequency table based on its ability so there's little room to limit with no adverse effects. Major steps can have adverse effects. Over clocking should also be given the same respect. We're already maximizing performance near threshold of stability. Think small steps, rather than large. Using the developer recommended kernel tweaking app is paramount for success as well.
Swapping kernels repeatedly may also leave your phone in an incompatible state so that even restoring boot.img partition to stock isn't helping. The reason is the modules the kernel uses. Developers will modify the contents of /system/lib/modules. Hopefully that's done in a compatible way but each custom flash over pre-existing custom setup may not be ideal but works best flashed over stock modules. If developer has done thorough testing, maybe the adverse effects have minimized but you can see where not having the phone for testing may impact users. Restoring boot.img only leaves the modules in unintended modification, especially for stock boot.img
Just a few examples of why a custom ROM may not be as compatible as stock for some users or carrier subscribers. You should mention the ones not being so compatible when comparing to stock as well as knowing that custom kernel tweaks and applications may not work as well on all ROMs.
There is a possibility you've chosen an incompatible ROM; ported ROMs may be nearly fully functional but have issues like you described. There's many workarounds posted in this forum that admittedly aren't fully functional; much effort has been shared by a few that have given much effort to find most compatible ROM but I think we'll get more stable support out of the box for Sprint version on Sprint from @tx_dbs_tx soon enough if your phone holds up- the OP describes an all too common failure with eMMC failure on Note 4. Sprint compatibility is tougher due its network and porting ROMs is tedious and may not work fully on phones not on hand for test.
Sent from my SM-N930P using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I apologize i was not 100% clear in my previous post. I was running a custom rom when the camera issue happened. Since then any rom i install is very laggy and has spontaneous reboots. This includes stock odin roms with no mods at all. I have also tried multiple batteries.
JD

JudasD said:
I apologize i was not 100% clear in my previous post. I was running a custom rom when the camera issue happened. Since then any rom i install is very laggy and has spontaneous reboots. This includes stock odin roms with no mods at all. I have also tried multiple batteries.
JD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, my mistake too. Maybe you said that before and I didn't follow the flow of your comments.
You did the nand erase all but do you typically wipe internal memory and factory reset prior to flashing ROM or stock tar? I also prefer to power down and pull battery before going to download mode and flashing stock tar.
If you've done everything and get random reboots on stock or failed to normal boot or eMMC failure, that may be your eMMC failing or other internal failure. I would expect it only gets worse over time- time to repair our replace. I just did my local research with uBreakItIfixIt and the guy says I'd have to bring in my own part but labor is only $10 plus tax to replace main motherboard. Part lists on web for $80 or more. Amazon has a listing for it too.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01M..._SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=Motherboard+N910P
Sub $100 repair estimate isn't so unreasonable compared to increasing cost of upgrading to locked phone with no root possibilities. But HTC is an option if their offering is appealing. I'm thinking maybe 2017 HTC has an appealing upgrade that I may find worthy for the money. Sure wish an OEM would duplicate the Note 4 on a refresh with updated internal components.
If my phone were to break today, I'd give that a go. I trust business names like Amazon and uBreakItIfixIt. Ubreakitifixit usually has parts on hand for simple or common repairs like screens, internal batteries and USB ports. That outfit just did an economical repair in an iPhone 6 for my wife. Replaced screen and battery for just over $160.
Sent from my SM-N930P using Tapatalk

Fairphone 3 full mod

Hi Guys...
I'd love to go a step further and to be honest I am hitting some major boundaries:
- TWRP is not constantly installable
I tried several ways to make TWRP (or any other custom recovery) the default recovery. But every flash destroys the TWRP from within and resets to fairphones own recovery. I don't know where it's coming from, it just gets loaded after the reboot.
- Magisk does not load any compatible modules
I tried to install any module, but even if something is loaded, after restart all is gone or the default recovery is loaded to delete /data
- Substratum can't load any customization
I tried to install Substratum wich just went fine. But thereafter Substratum exactly did nothing except crashing sometimes. I cannot load any fancy IconSet, Lockscreen Clock or System font, Substratum tells me it applied the settings '...successfully with some errors' but nothing changes.
So far I tried LineAge, ioDé, /e/, Pixel Experience and Fairphones own custom android (rooted and debloated). I made a midframe of brushed aluminum and a bumpercase with integrated 18W Qi-Pads and I am a big fan of customizations, so maybe anyone can help pointing my nose into the right direction...
PS.: I'd love to try a ROM with fully integrated Microsoft Office/Launcher/OneDrive but without Google... Does anyone know such a thing?

MrTangoWhisky said:
I made a midframe of brushed aluminum and a bumpercase with integrated 18W Qi-Pads
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice! Have some pictures?
Just got me an FP3 myself and am collecting data about possible OSes to use. Was quite dissappointed to realize, XDA doesn't have a dedicated thread for FP3...
PS: So far battery life seems okay but I wonder if it was feasible to have more battery by customized bigger backplate (like those from zerolemon).