[Q] How do I maximise my phones potential as a complete newb? - Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I just got a new I9000 Running 2.2 from Vodaphone in Australia.
Getting very bored of it in stock form and want an increase its speed/features as much as I can. Unfortunately I know absolutely nothing about anything custom. This is my first smart phone.
The amount of custom stuff released for this phone is mind numbing, and I know there is a lot of potential there to be unlocked.
So my question is in mid 2011, near the end of the phones prime life, what is the generally accepted best thing you can do with this phone? I'm sure after all this time many things have become redundant and been replaced by better things?
In a nutshell I want to get my phone to the highest speed and feature rich state I can. Speed is definitely the highest priority followed by features and ease of use.
This includes any kind of modding including overclocking.
What I know about this phone is from when it was released there used to be lagfix, voodoofix etc to change the file system and speed up the phone. But have those things been replace by custom roms now etc?
I can follow instructions easily, but as long as they encompass everything from Stock form to completion.
For example I really don't like guides or instructions that as a first step they say something like
"Before you do this made you have rooted your phone, go into flash recovery mode use the Jhp.ascii and use odin to enter download mode. male sure you have the dbdata.rfs, boot.bin in the directory before proceeding"
I want instructions that tell you how to root the phone properly, how/what flash recovery to use, how do I use get Odin etc what all these files are what they do how to get them etc.
Bassicaly talking someone who has never flown before into landing a plane.
I think for many of the people who write instructions things they see as completely obvious basic and what they consider common knowledge are completely unknown to new people. I find 97% of the instructions for any modding mention things where prior knowledge is assumed.
Lastly even if you know how to follow instructions, the amount of stuff available for this phones means I wouldn't know where to start. So I need to know what are the most favoured mods to do, in as complete packages as possible.For example I would rather flash with one mega rom that comes with everything than install every little tweak manually

Hi go checkout romkitchen.org
Also live support in irc, check my sig.
See you there ;-)

Thanks. I'll definitely be checking that chanel out if I can't manage here, but it will have to be sometime next week for irc.
At the moment Im busy doing things around the house and I may need to go in out at any time so I was hoping for a forum post so I can read it and check up on it when I can.
But like I said when I get a few hours of no interuptions I may sit down to do all the mods live
So is darkys rom any good?
From what I can tell its
Root phone.
Install Darkys ROM.
Done.
I just need to get someone to tell me if my phone is fully compatible, and how to back up my vodaphone stock firmware if its not available on the internet already.
Phone info.
Baseband version
I9000HVJP3
KERNEL VERSION
2.6.32.9
[email protected] #6
BUILD NUMBER
FROYO.HVJP4

My personal experience is that whenever you're using a custom rom, you're using a lot more potential of your phone, than by using a Stock-Rom, updated by Kies.
The Guides all seem a bit hardcore when you start first, but it really is worth it. I recommend you start with the EZbase Guide which offers a step by step guide with screenshots (which I was really happy for, having no clue where to start), located here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=991792
After reading AND understanding this guide, you are good to go to start flashing, BUT every flash has a potential risk of bricking your phone, making it a pretty expensive paperweight. If you come to bootloops or a lot of force closes on start: Don't be worried, you can fix this (or at least i could after running into them). The first time I flashed was due to lots of force closes after updating with Kies, which was my start for using custom roms.
The choice of custom rom is pretty much your own. There are several roms I liked and there is one, I pretty much stick with: Insanity (currently using 8.5, which has some battery drain issues for me, after loading the battery or putting the phone to flight mode ... I'm gonna report that to nitr8, once I got 10 Posts ).
However, you got to (or rather better) find your own favorite.

When I got the phone I was told it was locked.
Will this interfere with any modding?
I was told I can call vodaphone and they will unlock it for me, but it seems there is also a hack way to unlock it.
. Unlocking your phone.
--Why, when, where: If you bought your phone with a contract, chances are that it might be locked in that specific network. If you want to also use other SIM cards in it, that are from another provider, you will have to unlock the phone (!! WARNING !! in most cases this will lead to a void warranty, please consult your contract).
--Prerequisites: Root privileges, adb.
8.1. Get the /efs/nv_data.bin file from your device to your computer. You can do this either with adb or by copying the file to your SD card with "Root Explorer" and then copying it over to your machine from the SD (Be sure to keep a backup of this file and the /efs/.nv_data.bin.md5 file.)
8.2. Open up the file in a hex editor, go to the address 0x181468, where you will see something like this:
FF 01 00 00 00 00 46 46 46...
We are interested in that first '01', that means the phone is locked. Just change it to '00' and save the file. Copy it back to your SD card and then with "Root Explorer" back to it's original location (or 'push' it directly with adb). Then remove the .nv_data.bin.md5 file and restart the device (Again, be sure to make copies of these files before modifying or deleting them!). After this, you should be able to insert any SIM card into your device and it should work without the need for any further hacks.

miui for beauty and speed
welcome to the galaxy of galaxy S ROMs..
you have made a very wise decision to buy galaxy S.... even though a year old it blows every single core phone out of the water..
now back to your question:
1. ROM :
if you are looking for speed and beauty then you don't have any other place to go than MIUI..
other custom ROMs are good but they are just some cosmetic change of galaxy ROM. .but MIUI is totally different.. (awesome would be understatement)
Trust me I have battery problem in MIUI but still I can't go back to samsung ROM>
that is how good the ROM is... others are getting good battery life out of the latest MIUI ROM... with the latest kernel you can overclock your phone upto 1.5 ghz...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=992251
head over to this link and read carefully and decide whether you want to flash this ROM or not..
there are other good gingerbread ROMs as well though I have not tried most of them..
2. VOODOO sound!!!!!
this is the biggest thing that has happened to galaxy S... google it once and you will know its awesomeness.. It's basically well tuned sound driver made by supercurio... most of the people after using voodoo sound have considered galaxy S to be the most awesome sounding music player (not just phone) ever..
better than iphone and other DAP..
(most of the custom ROMs comes with kernel supporting VOODOO sound... you just need to download voodoo app from the market)
I think those are the two awesome things you can do with your galaxy S...
there are other things too that you can learn if you follow xda..
happy XDAing

steps for installing MIUI ROM
to make things short,, just follow these 8 steps.. that's it
0: Be sure that you're based on a Froyo FW! CRUCIAL.
1: Load these files:
a) galaxy-efsbackup.zip / Mirror
b) cm7-galaxys-initial-kernel.tar / Mirror
c) MIUI MCGv1 / Mirror
d) speedmod-kernel-k13c-500hz.tar / Mirror
(thanks to creative59 for mirrors!)
2: Copy all files except:
speedmod-kernel-k13c-500hz.tar & cm7-galaxys-initial-kernel.tar
3: Flash speedmod-kernel-k13c-500hz.tar via Odin, wait for reboot and after that shutdown
4: Start via 3-button-combo in recovery mode and install galaxys-efsbackup.zip
5: Pull out battery and in again, start via 3-button-combo via download mode and flash cm7-galaxys-initial-kernel.tar via Odin BUT DON'T check repartition and auto reboot
6: Pull out the USB cable and start (in download mode) with 3-button-combo in recovery mode (waiting until samsung logo appears)
7: Choose "mounts & storage" and format system, data, cache
8: Flash MIUI MCGv1.

First and foremost check if bootloader locked...then check the recovery / download modes work and then proceed...
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA Premium App

Thanks for your post ujjwal321. For a first attempt, I am very happy with what you suggested. I think there is enough there for me to try it on my own and MIUI seems good.
A few things I'd like to point out though. The ONLY reason I actually decided I have enough information from your post to mod is because of the youtube video that goes through the install process. There is absolutely no way would ever know what to do without the video, and most roms do not come with it.
I am very unhappy at the level of ease and lack of instructions in the written instructions of roms...
For example If I did not watch the video, I would never know to put the phone in "USB Debug" mode.
Why are things like this not listed in step by step instructions?
Secondly, even the things that are listed like
": Load these files:
a) galaxy-efsbackup.zip / Mirror
b) cm7-galaxys-initial-kernel.tar / Mirror
c) MIUI MCGv3 / Mirror
d) speedmod-kernel-k13c-500hz.tar / Mirror"
are baffling.
To someone doing this for the first time the word "load" is as meaningless as kaka
Load to what!?
"Copy all files except:
speedmod-kernel-k13c-500hz.tar & cm7-galaxys-initial-kernel.tar
3: Flash speedmod-kernel-k13c-500hz.tar via Odin, wait for reboot and after that shutdown"
Copy to what? Flash to what, how? what is flash?
Luckily by looking at the video, I know exactly what to do. However its all because of monkey see monkey do, there is no level of good communication through a good set of instructions or guide, and thus there incomplete understanding on my end.
IMPORTANT
Before doing any of these things, does my phone need to be rooted? Currently it is locked and completely stock. Or Can I just follow the youtube video instructions from the get go? I also just read "When upgrading to 1.5.20 you need to wipe data, datadata, cache and system!". What? All I know is how to go to settings>SD card and storage and format the SD card, as well as Privacy>reset settings>Factory settings, Is this enough?
I ask because form what I have seen so far nothing is clear cut and your meant to already know 99 facts for every 1 mentioned.
Lastly, before I do any flashing, I really NEED to know either how to back up my current firmware, or if it is available online. It is Aussie vodaphone 2.2
What do I do in case I need to claim warranty? I need to put the stock one back on. I have 2 years of warranty after all, If I don't back it up I loose all that.
So, can anyone shed some light on this?
P.S blackheart, I can enter the download mode and the recovery mode by doing the 3 button combo, it goes into the respective screens and i can scroll up down using the volume button. I have not done anything more than that, I hope that means its not locked.

Hey!
About the loading of files. It just means u copy them to your phone.
There are 2 ways of flashing. With odin/heimdall, and through the phones recovery. To flash in the recovery the files need to be located in the phones memory.
Before flashing without having any clue i suggest reading a lot of faqs etc.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

I realky recomend ezbase as your start point. Idiot proof instructions, it worked for me so they must be!
Sent from gt i9000 insanity 8.5/fugumod

Get CM7 and you'll never look back

splendidtry said:
I just got a new I9000 Running 2.2 from Vodaphone in Australia.
Getting very bored of it in stock form and want an increase its speed/features as much as I can. Unfortunately I know absolutely nothing about anything custom. This is my first smart phone.
The amount of custom stuff released for this phone is mind numbing, and I know there is a lot of potential there to be unlocked.
So my question is in mid 2011, near the end of the phones prime life, what is the generally accepted best thing you can do with this phone? I'm sure after all this time many things have become redundant and been replaced by better things?
In a nutshell I want to get my phone to the highest speed and feature rich state I can. Speed is definitely the highest priority followed by features and ease of use.
This includes any kind of modding including overclocking.
What I know about this phone is from when it was released there used to be lagfix, voodoofix etc to change the file system and speed up the phone. But have those things been replace by custom roms now etc?
I can follow instructions easily, but as long as they encompass everything from Stock form to completion.
For example I really don't like guides or instructions that as a first step they say something like
"Before you do this made you have rooted your phone, go into flash recovery mode use the Jhp.ascii and use odin to enter download mode. male sure you have the dbdata.rfs, boot.bin in the directory before proceeding"
I want instructions that tell you how to root the phone properly, how/what flash recovery to use, how do I use get Odin etc what all these files are what they do how to get them etc.
Bassicaly talking someone who has never flown before into landing a plane.
I think for many of the people who write instructions things they see as completely obvious basic and what they consider common knowledge are completely unknown to new people. I find 97% of the instructions for any modding mention things where prior knowledge is assumed.
Lastly even if you know how to follow instructions, the amount of stuff available for this phones means I wouldn't know where to start. So I need to know what are the most favoured mods to do, in as complete packages as possible.For example I would rather flash with one mega rom that comes with everything than install every little tweak manually
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here are some instructions I gave to someone in a similar situations. Install videos are available on my site sgsromreviews.weebly.com. Hope you find this useful
1. Download Odin 1.3, Tweaky ROM, CF Root Kernal and JVH firmware 2. Use Odin to flash JVH.(you need to get the phone in to download mode using the vol down key + home key + power at the same time. (If this does not work I WOULD STOP NOW AND LOOK AT HACKING YOUR PHONE TO ENABLE THIS FUNCTION) 3. In select the JVH .tar file in the PDA section. DO NOT TICK RE-PARTITION and then click start 4. The initial boot will take longer than usual so be patient, if your phone begins to vibrate constantly and for no reason then take the battery out and enter download mode again for re-flashing (if this happens feel free to email me again for further advice) 5. Once you are running JVH copy Tweaky ROM over to your INTERNAL SD card 6. Enter the back in to download mode 7. Use Odin to flash the CF Root Kernal, select the .tar file in the PDA section again and again DO NOT TICK RE-PARTITION 8. Once this has booted turn the phone off and enter clockwork recovery using the vol up key + home key + power at the same time until the white Galaxy S I-9000 writing comes on the screen then let go 9. Navigate clockwork recovery using the vol keys and the power key to select. Go down to install .zip from SD card, then choose .zip from SD card and choose to install Tweaky 10. Use clockwork to wipe data then wipe dalvik cache (found in advanced section) 11. Reboot phone and enjoy Tweaky
I have provided the download links for you, if you need more help feel free to ask.
Thanks Chris
Odin 1.3 http://www.multiupload.com/4JLU4QHUV7 Tweaky http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php? t=1059561 CF Root http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php? t=788108 JVH http://www.samfirmware.com/ (free account needed to download)
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA Premium App

Im a relatively new flasher as well, so I know exactly what you're going through just now!
That said, I've done about 15 flashes now so I feel I have a good grasp of what's required. I would also like to suggest MIUI. I have tried a few of the roms out there, but MIUI simply takes my breath away it's that good.
To give you an idea of how good it is, I've flashed it onto 4 other peoples phones because they were blown away by it!
If you need any help with what to do, PM me. I'll put together a package of everything that you need and I'll happily sit and explain each and every step to you personally if need be (if you are a gamer and use Ventrillo I'll verbally speak you through the process as well).
As for returning to stock, you can restore your phone back to it's original state by downloading stock firmware and isntalling that on your phone. It's very simple. EXBase is probably the most straightforward one there is that I have come across.

alright installed MIUI.
Looks like it will take a while to get used to compared to the stock rom. I dont know if its any better yet. Just different. I am not seeing any more features, actually kind of less, but I am sure I am missing a lot.
It is faster though.
Anyway, how do I overclock now? There seems to be no options for that.
I also dont like how its all symbols and no writing.
Al in all seems like a decent stable rom.

I'm planning on updating my ROM soon and was wondering if there was anything special I need to do to my phone prior to flashing the new ROM?
I'm currently on JPP with the hardcore speedmod i1r2, so pretty old compared to what's out there now. I flashed the hardcore kernel previously via Odin.
If I follow the instructions on [email protected] http://insanity.rollus.net/EZbase/EZbase-2.00.pdf but replace the insanity ROM with any other ROM (e.g. JUWE ROM), will it work ok?
Thanks

MIUI is awesome i can second that !!
since i switched to MIUI on RC3 months ago, i havent looked back.
MIUI is packed full of features and gets updates weekly / sometimes daily lol
just get familiar with it and you will discover its true beauty

azzledazzle said:
MIUI is awesome i can second that !!
since i switched to MIUI on RC3 months ago, i havent looked back.
MIUI is packed full of features and gets updates weekly / sometimes daily lol
just get familiar with it and you will discover its true beauty
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
(Be aware I don't know much about MIUI or smart phone software in general.
and I just installed it about an hour ago)
What features is is packed full of? I want to know so I can try it out/make use of it.
The only new thing I see extra is that maxthon internet browser.
Everything else I notice that is different, its funnily enough things missing compared to stock.
For example where are is the ability to add all the shortcuts/apps etc on the main screen by just holding the screen down? A lot similar features like this seem either not there or or at least harder to find/make use of comapred to stock.
Some things are just definitely taking a step back, for example adding a Doom 1 style grey border on the camera.
And my fav live wallpaper, Aurora, doesn't work on MIUI. It just crashes and I have to force close?
Also TV out doesn't work, and choppy movie playback?
And my 3d performance seems to have gone down about 15% from stock Stock, frames hit about 570, MIUI, about 470.
I'll be using it for longer but I gotta figure out what all the hype is about.

I think a stock rom + speedmod and lagfix is the most easy and the fist step to any new user of SGS?
as its really simple to apply

yihinlau said:
I think a stock rom + speedmod and lagfix is the most easy and the fist step to any new user of SGS?
as its really simple to apply
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So by flashing to MIUI from complete stock phone, did I achieve all of this plus more? OR did I miss something? E.g do I have lagfix as well? Or do I need to install this on top of MIUI?
I followed the install instructions step by step. 3.11 MIUI.
It seems like my Benchmark scores aren't flying like I expected them to, and the phone still lags/jerks on animations doesn't respond etc...
My Quadrant standard score went from 1000 on the stock phone to 1700 when I flashed to MIUI.
I also decided to install setcpu and overlocked to 1.2 ghz then 1.4 on both the on demand and performance setting
And still my score only goes up to about 1900 quadrant standard score on 1.4ghz :S
I find it strange that people are getting much higher much more easily.
For example how did this phone get 2500 just on 1.2ghz? Is it MIUI that sucks?
http://www.intomobile.com/2010/08/1...ck-hits-1-2ghz-delivers-off-chart-benchmarks/
I feel like I would have to go to 2.5Ghz to get that score.
Not to mention 3100? Wow?
http://www.addictivetips.com/mobile/overclock-samsung-galaxy-s-to-1-6-ghz-blows-off-competition/
What am I doing wrong here? What are they using?
like I said I also noticed 3d perf went down from stock 2.2
On the stock 2.2 the total frames was higher. For example in the test with the corridor and cube, my frames would reach about 570 at the end of the test on 2.2 stock ROM.
On MIUI ROM it only reaches about 476.

Related

Froyo Anyone? Get a little 2.2 Goodness... Added notes reguarding Brick explorations.

If you've flashed anything other than a direct from the factory flash, and are not yet aware of the dangers that may be faced when flashing to the eventual release of CYAN, then please read the next posting.....
Be aware, this is "Technically" a I9000 firmware. But with a few changes and a dash of Guru and, BAM, we got 2.2 on our Vibrants. A direct flash of the current I9000 Froyo blend won't work, so don't try it. But this will. Its running smooth and clean so far, with the only issues being a reversed volume key, and a I9000 boot screen. But there's no boot sounds or Tmobile flash for that mater.
Update: Currently no data. But should be an easy fix. Fixed
Flash at your own risk, yada yada.....
Flashing is identical to my other posting. So a copy and a paste I shall go....
Using Oden, you'll first need to put your device into Download Mode. From a device still on Vibrant firmware, you'll need to hold down the "volume down" button while booting. If you've been playing with I9000 firmware's like I was, your volume has been reversed and the reverse applies to you, "up volume". If you still can't enter download mode, you may want to try holding down the volume key + the power button. Plugging in your USB cable may also aid your efforts to enter download mode.
Once in download mode, use the attached files below to flash your device. I'll give you a quick run through of Odin, but for detailed information I'd suggest this YouTube video. Keep in mind that in this video the poster is actually flashing an I9000. But the process is similar in all respects with the only difference being the key combination used to enter Download Mode.
A system wipe beforehand is recommended. If your having Market issues after flashing, this is more than likely the culprit.
1. Open Oden.
2. Extract the .pit file, click the PIT button in Oden and load the file.
3. Extract the three .tar files from the firmware file, load each into the three fields directly beneath PIT. These being PDA, PHONE, and CSC.
4. Under Options, be sure the following three boxes are checked. Re-Partition, Auto Reboot, and F. Reset Time.
5. Put your device in download mode and plug it in. Pay attention to the "COM" number that's detected in Oden. Your going to want to work on "COM7". If your receiving messages that the driver failed to install, or couldn't be found, extract the attached drivers file and direct windows to search for the driver there. I've seen better results using this manual approach, versus the installer.
6. Now press start, sit back, and be patient. In my case, the install only took around a minute.
After installation has finished your sent to recovery, just hit the power button, which should be on reboot, and your done.
FYI; I stopped and rebooted my phone at every sequence during this flash process, and I never bricked. Not necessarily intentionally, but I am very rough on my toys. Even after freezing or stalling partway through cache setup, factoryfs, you name it, no paper weight. This phone is stout!
Please keep me apprised of your results.
Required Tools:
Odin3 v1.00...
depositfiles
Hotfile Mirror
Pit file, as mentioned in other threads, the 512 seems to work best...
Pit file
Hotfile Mirror
I located the following files on Softpedia. I'd recommend manually installing your drivers. My results using the installer weren't great...
Windows x64 Drivers on Softpedia
Windows x86 Drivers on Softpedia
Firmware:
Model number: GT-I9000 (We'll fix this)
Firmware version: 2.2
Baseband version: T959UVJE8 Updated to T959UVJFD
Kernel version: 2.6.32.9
Build number: GT-I9000-eng 2.2 MASTER 332 test-keys.332
Froyo By MS_Guru:
I'm glad I didn't release this, but I will keep it maintained in the event that its needed for brick explorations. Any Devs interested in any part of it, lemme know.
Reserved...
Firstly I'm glad someones finished this, its the end of the month, and the time when my business shifts into high gear. Which is why I've been MIA the past few days. But I have made a few observations which seem worthy of mention.
Firstly, to those of us who have been flashing I9000 builds, it is in fact true. Flashing directly to the coming release of Cyans Froyo with anything but a Factory T959 boot, will more than likely brick your phone. But now that we know this, something can be done about it. As it turns out, people like myself, who started flashing alien firmware right off the bat, were actually giving our devices what could be thought of as flu shots. So much so, that when I eventually went and flashed I9000 Froyo directly, my device had enough of an immunity to weather the storm and eventually thrive. Which I think is pretty interesting.
So if your in this boat, don't worry your not screwed, you should just be a little cautious until a clean fix is found. Don't take this to the bank, but through my own I9000 Froyo build, and spending time playing with the brick, I've made a few discoveries.
1. If you've flashed anything that's reversed your volume keys at any point, you have the brick potential.
2. You can have flashed a few different firmwares and still walk away clean. If you remember exactly what you've flashed, go back and look for a file named "boot.bin". Its almost always in the PDA section of the flash. So just open the "PDA.tar" file with "Winrar". In all seriousness folks, don't take this to the bank until more people can verify this. If the firmwares you flashed didn't contain this file, you may actually be clean.
One thing I did see a good deal of, am but with what little time I've had the past few days, this file was more often than not in the PDA when someone bricked. I thought about after recalling the following....
User fykick mentioned...
I can confirm that jm1 and jm2 also brick phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A review of those Firmwares does in fact reveal a boot.bin file. This should also be verified by someone else. But I believe this to be either a core part of, or the actual Recovery and Downloader in the raw, and the cause of most headaches. Another sign of trouble would be red lettering in the upper left corner of your Downloader page?
So to summarize, flashing other Firmwares, and never having inverted your volume keys. As well as the lack of the "boot.bin" file in those same Firmwares, and the lack of red lettering on the downloader page, MAY in fact mean you've caused no harm and can flash the pending Cyan. But wait til others have chimed in, these are only my observations at the moment.
So there's still more to come from all this, both from myself, and other devs. But just so you know it wasn't a total wash. I've been keeping track of apps as I went though all these firmwares, and let me say, I'm gonna be able to contribute some first class apps to our impending firmwares.
Notable apps...
1. Very clean Samsung factory direct WPA/WPA2 tether, and we're talking easy enough for a retarded monkey to use. No clue if we'll see it directly in our providers flash, as most American providers are against tethering.
2. Video codecs that integrated into the existing video player, but only seem to be included in European Firmwares. Found that one out accidentally when a few music videos got included in a transfer. The same files wouldn't play on a stock Vibrant.
3. More than one lockscreen, all super clean, and some with amazing media, and notification integrations.
And many more...
That's it for now. Look for more to come though.
it's been strongly advised by the programmers working on CM6 to not flash to 2.2
7/28 9:25AM
Scepterr:
"Vibrant and Captivate users do not flash the i9000 JP1 & JP2 Froyo release it does not work correctly and you can not revert back." I would suggest to stay away from all that is I9000 for now.
Wesgarner has started work on the Galaxy S and it is going "fine".
designerfx said:
it's been strongly advised by the programmers working on CM6 to not flash to 2.2
7/28 9:25AM
Scepterr:
"Vibrant and Captivate users do not flash the i9000 JP1 & JP2 Froyo release it does not work correctly and you can not revert back." I would suggest to stay away from all that is I9000 for now.
Wesgarner has started work on the Galaxy S and it is going "fine".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can co-sign this. You WILL brick your phone. I will wait.....
Talk about giving someone just enough rope to hang themselves. . .
I want to try this out so badly, but I can't risk screwing up my Vibrant. I'm a huge follower of CyanogenMod, so I'll wait.
Makes me laugh...
I think they just wanted to be first... Almost there guys. It really is running nicely. And honestly, there's no hope in hell of brickin this phone, I've been trying. Shes a stout little B..
MS_Guru said:
I think they just wanted to be first... Almost there guys. It really is running nicely. And honestly, there's no hope in hell of brickin this phone, I've been trying. Shes a stout little B..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I doubt they were going for first. CM is more about being the best than being the first.
MS_Guru said:
I think they just wanted to be first... Almost there guys. It really is running nicely. And honestly, there's no hope in hell of brickin this phone, I've been trying. Shes a stout little B..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool. If you can get data working, I'll give it a go when I get home so I can run Odin. No winders with me right now.
Oh, and verify that we can revert to a prior backup.
No...its true. These methods will brick your phone. I thought it was just something i was doing wrong but after going back from xjm1 and 2 i have bricked two phones....so im gonna delete my post as this is now a somewhat verified fact for me.
I warned you guys last night to not flash this. Wait for the real thing. Not like our phones are not already amazing.
Well I'm not sure what to tell ya, but I'm bookin right along here. And when I say I've tried to brick, I'm not joking. When I first got this thing I tried shoehorning every ROM, Flash, Recovery, I could get my hands on to this phone.
Can someone do me a favor, go into clockworkmod and give me a breakdown of the keys and there associated numbers? I've got clockworkmod on already, but without a home key you get stuck in recovery. A quickie remap, and I'll be done.
IE.. Volume up is 164, I think? Volume down, Power, and each touch key. Theress a key feature in there, but don't wanna flash back just for that.
s15274n said:
I warned you guys last night to not flash this. Wait for the real thing. Not like our phones are not already amazing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I flashed mine before this firmware. But it was an overseas firmware and when i tried to revert back my phone went totally dead.
i'm pretty sure with this you would have to go back to a stock kernel and then do a nandroid to stock 2.1 you made w/ nandroid...i could be wrong tho..but i don't wanna mess with my kernel unless i have to so i'm going to wait till this is an rom version of the .zip flavor and it's ported for the vibrant. or just wait for CM6, but the only thing i'm worried w/ cm6 about is, are we going to lose allshare/tv out/ 5.1 headphone simulatioin / the music player / dialer / phonebook / things i actually like from the samsung rom... but yeah i will flash this puppy once ported.
MS_Guru said:
Well I'm not sure what to tell ya, but I'm bookin right along here. And when I say I've tried to brick, I'm not joking. When I first got this thing I tried shoehorning every ROM, Flash, Recovery, I could get my hands on to this phone.
Can someone do me a favor, go into clockworkmod and give me a breakdown of the keys and there associated numbers? I've got clockworkmod on already, but without a home key you get stuck in recovery. A quickie remap, and I'll be done.
IE.. Volume up is 164, I think? Volume down, Power, and each touch key. Theress a key feature in there, but don't wanna flash back just for that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Vol Up - 42
Vol Down - 58
Power - 26
Menu - 158
Home - 139
Search - 107
Back - 28
Well it is pretty well done, just need the key numbers. Hint hint... Go to recovery and click the option for key... something or other. Its really really easy.
Thank you ttabbal ...
sounds like MS_guru is more then the average user.
Good luck in your modding. Hope to hear more great news soon!
@ MS_Guru,
Hope you get it all figured out
Man...I'll pass I did the other "stock" "pre release firmware" and I damned the moment I did it. I'm back to stock with 3g and camera working thanks to scepterr but still with euro baseband. No thanks!
Well If it is just a fluke, Time will tell. As more people are willing to flash a foreign rom for Froyo than just a faster kernel. So we will see if its just an unlucky few who have bricked their phones or when all the people who flashed to this revert back and brick their phones. I know for a fact I have bricked 2 phones, reverting back to US firmware from any firmware after JG5...IE: jm1 and jm2. The first brick I assumed was a fluke...but then when the second one from the same method...I stopped testing my luck. I know before when using JG5 and before, I was having success, but something in JM1 and after are causing bricks. There is no guarantee that this bug is not present in the XP1 and XP2, but after two bricks, Ima hold off til CM6.
pychobj2001 said:
but the only thing i'm worried w/ cm6 about is, are we going to lose allshare/tv out/ 5.1 headphone simulatioin / the music player / dialer / phonebook / things i actually like from the samsung rom... but yeah i will flash this puppy once ported.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hear ya. There is plenty I don't like on the phone, but there are some things I would like to keep.

[SOLVED] Help to choose rooting method and backup method

Got my phone (AT&T Captivate, firmware 2.1-update1 version JH7, kernel 2.6.29, build eclair.UCJH7) on december 28 from a AT&T store (it even came with a pic taken december 20 ) and I've already been able to boot into download mode (power off, hold volume keys then plug usb) and into that menu used to install packages (power off, hold volume keys then power on). Guess my hardware and firmware are ok, so I may be able to recover my phone by myself in case things go south.
I've been doing my homework lately (been reading stickys, tutorials and faqs for 10 days) but I'm still confused about some procedures. I'm not going to list everything I've read here, but I would like someone to correct me if I've learnt wrong. I don't really need the easiest methods, I want to understand the options available and to choose the best ones (aka the hardest path).
First of all, it seems I need to root my phone in order to be able to create backups, carrier-unlock it and flash custom roms. But it doesn't make much sense to me, since rooting it seem to be enough to prevent it from receiving FOTA updates - and I want to make the most comprehensive backup possible, in such a way I could restore my phone to 'factory condition' if needed.
Second, I realize there are many ways, programs and guides to root the phone - the most famous ones, One-Click root/unroot and z4root, seem to be listed in the wiki (http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=Samsung_Galaxy_S/SGH-I897), but there is also CLShortFuse's One-Click Root and Allow Non-Market Apps, which sounds interesting but I don't know if it is undo-able. So there are different ways to root the phone, but there is little to none information on what's the difference between these methods, which is 'better' and what difference does it make if I root it permanently or by some reversible method. Does it affect performance? How each of them work? I have no clue.
The mess gets even greater when it comes to creating backups. People mention different programs to make these backups (clockwork recovery, titanium backup) but I don't understand if they back up different parts of the phone. Some even seem to change the bootloader of the phone - shouldn't it be backed up prior to any modification? Do I flash these backups using Odin? Which programs should I use to have a full backup? Is there anything left I should back up manually?
I'll quit talking for now because I've already written a lot and I still have many questions; if I write all of them at once, no one will ever have the patience to read them.
Erk, a long post deserves a long answer
So first off, il tell you about recovering your phone. Since you just got it, you can go back to the store and play dumb to get a new one in case anything goes wrong. You can also use the 3 button combos to get into download mode and use odins back to stock to get back to your original 2.1 eclair firmware . To do that you would need to get into download mode. Now there are a couple ways to do this, and i can only explain two since ive actually used two. (Well 3 actually, but il get to the third after these 2)
The first method is using the 3 button combo which you should already know. The second method is using adb commands such as (adb shell, adb reboot download, adb reboot recovery, adb devices). The third way is building a jig. Thats basically connecting 301k 1/4 watt worth of resistors together and placing them on pin 4 and 5 on your micro usb slot. You can read more about that on the tutorial on how to build a jig for your phone.
To restore to your factory setting, odin's one click back to stock thing should do the job. It simple installs the stock 2.1 eclair all over again (without the root).
To root your phone, any method from the wiki should work. None of them are really "better" :S, they all do the same job and give you super user permissions. None of them root your permanently since you can always go back to stock using Odin's... It does not really affect performance, not to any extent i have noticed :S, and unfortunately, i dont really know how it works.
As for creating backups, Titanium Backup is the best solution. Whether you have the few extra bucks to spend for the premium one or simply want to use the free one, its one of the best tools out there. I personally use it and its one of the best. It backs up all the data (except for my text messages). It creates a folder on your internal memory which you can just copy to your desktop. When the time comes that you need to restore your backup, just copy the folder back into your internal memory, load up titanium backup. Restore it and voila .
I think ive answered everything, if ive missed anything, let me know
Edit : Forgot to mention this . If your truly interested in customization. Custom roms are the best there is a howto in the themes and apps section on how to install it. It comes pre-rooted (if that is the word to use :S) and theyre much better than the stock firmware. Im currently using serendipity v3.0 (flashed it yesterday)
supaphreek, guess I'll have to thank you twice: once for reading my enormous post, and again for you supacompleteanswer.
I'm being paranoid with recovery because I actually bought the phone in the US then came back to my country (Brazil), so I'm a few thousand miles away from the simple lets-return-this-thing solution.
From everything I've read, I believe the most instructive were the wiki at http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=Samsung_Galaxy_S/SGH-I897 , the FAQ at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=858765 , the PDF guide from user nbs11 at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=761819 and the wiki at http://www.capfaq.com/w/FAQ. These contain most of the info a newbie user would ever need and I'd definitely recommend them to any newbie user who happen to be reading this. And for everyone afraid of bricking, it's a tremendous relief to know pretty much any mess you do can be reverted using download mode and Odin, so the first thing to test is if you can get into download mode using one of the ways described by our buddy supaphreek.
On the rooting matter, I found no discussion at all about which is better, so they should be pretty similar (though I have no idea which is the oldest version, I'd assume the recent ones might be a little improved). There is some discussion on what's the better lagfix and many of the cooked ROMs already come with some lagfix installed, but this is another story...
Once I get my phone rooted, it seems to be trivial to carrier-unlock it. There's even an app on android market for this, so I won't even need sideloading. Since all this procedure does is just give me a number, there's hardly any difference among all the unlocking procedures out there.
For the backup, I'll still do it using both titanium and clockwork, as suggested by nbs11 on the pdf I've linked on this post. Better safe than sorry, right?
And yes, I'm truly interested in customization and I'll go deep down that path, I'm just packing up my head with some knowledge to avoid being desperate if things eventually go fubar.
As a last question, is there somewhere I can get 1-click Odin with my exact firmware version? (2.1-update1, I897UCJH7, Kernel 2.6.29 [email protected] #2, build eclair.ucjh7) And how important is it to get the exact same firmware?
As I've done my research, I found 1-click odin with JF6 here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=731989
I've also found the 'standalone' I897UCJH7 on this topic (where this guy even flashed succesfully his phone using old JH2 firmware without problems, so finding the exact firmware version might not be the greatest issue): http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=10056254&postcount=36 but this process is a bit more complicated and uses regular Odin and clockwork recovery. Nonetheless, from what I've understood, I can still use any old version of odin to flash JF6 then use my own clockwork backup, right?
Hmm, unfortunately, im not sure if there is a specific Odin for that firmware :S. However what you can do is use one that reverts you to any stock version, and then flash the version you want through clockwork mod
I'll do that. Thanks again!
Also if you one click to stock, you can OTA update to the most recent firnware. I suggest titanium premium if you are going to flash a lot of custom roms, it is a lot faster to restore and also syncs with dropbox
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Be careful trying to flash with odin. Some newer builds get instabrick flashing back to jf6 and must go with jh2 or newer.
So, you may want to invest a few bucks in a jig setup before blindly using odin.
Thanks for the tip, sixstringsg.
Newter55, as my phone is brand new I believe I may have one of these insta-brickable devices. If I happen to try flashing it with a recent rom, does it get recoverably bricked (fixed by flashing an older rom), or I'm left with a $500 paperweight?
You just need to use the correct firmware version of odin if you manage to get in trouble. Many people flash rom over rom, including myself, but it is highly likely that at some point you will need odin if you are flashing roms so it is best to ensure that you have that set up first. Look for the odin thread by c3popl (sp?) in development forum and you should find what you need. Read through that and look for others with your base firmware. Or look through q&a at the "help I bricked" threads . On my phone and posting links is a pita or I would make it easy for you.
If your phone came with JH7, follow this guide:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=10056254&postcount=36
If you use one of the Odin one-clicks and brick your phone, you'll need a USB jig to recover.
You guys are awesome. Thank you newter55 and GGXtreme for this info! I hope I'll never need it, but I'll buy a cable and make a jig.
The news: I've rooted my phone using One Click Root / Unroot by TGA_Gunnman (for the record: it worked with my JH7 Captivate bought in 28 dec). Once I booted windows, installed dotnet framework 4 and the samsung drivers (easy too, but a pita), rooting was easy and failproof. However, someone using linux might find it easier to just download 1-click root, find the root.zip file in there, rename it as update.zip, put the zip in the internal sdcard, boot the phone holding the volume buttons and then 'install packages'. This way there will be no need to fight Wine nor install anything nor look for a windows computer with admin privileges.
Also unlocked my phone using SGS Unlock Tool, available in the Android Market. The unrooted option won't work, but once rooted it worked like a champ. Next step: I'll do the backups, and then... start messing up my new toy!

[Q] MIUI for the galaxy beam!! ^^

Hello, people of xdadevelopers! I'm new here and keen to learn up on custom Android roms. Sorry if i sound really noob or am doing things wrong in this forum, but... everybody has their own starting phases right?? ^^ Please guide me where I'm going wrong...
Anyway, I'm from Singapore and i own a SAMSUNG GALAXY BEAM GT-I8520 (rare and unheard of phone released only in Singapore x.x). I won't elaborate much, but basically I'm kind of still a student (therefore no money to buy other phones) and my mobile plan is left with about 11 months to go before i can renew my plan and select another phone for a cheaper price... I don't really like my phone because the moment Samsung released it, they decided to stop updates because there is not enough users of this phone so I'm stuck with 2.1 eclair. It also has a slow 500/700mhz processor and lags like he**. By the way, it was released around July 2010 at the same time with the Galaxy S, and they have really similar specs, that's why i posted in this area of the forums.
So, i was thinking of switching over to the MIUI rom which i desperately want... and i decided to follow the Galaxy S I9000 (because they are sister phones!) tutorials to flash over to MIUI in hope it would revitalise my phone, stop the laggyness and crashes, give it a new look, allow me to use features that i miss out in froyo or gingerbread!!
I can understand most terms and softwares about flashing... been researching for a few days... and i found this guide
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1101601
which tells me to replace my bootloader with a gingerbread bootloader through ezodin, then boot into recovery mode which is the custom cwm recovery, and from there straight up install my rom that was placed in the sd card, and walla i get my MIUI. I assume that the bootloader will give me CWM recovery because the guide doesnt tell me to get it through rom manager. I currently have the base google stock recovery, so question <1> do i have to install cwm recovery through rom manager first or will the gb bootloader give it to me once flashed? and question <2> i've tried to install it through rom manager but it didnt work the first try (i chose my phone model as the S) and even erased all my apps and data :S Is there a way to go around installing clorkworkmod? I understand my phone isn't EXACTLY Galaxy S, but they're similar...
Also, another problem i face is that i DON'T have the 3 button shortcut to recovery mode or download mode. I'm following this tutorial to try repair it, since I've heard a batch of Samsung galaxy s have flawed recover and download modes that can't be accessed by the 3 buttons. since the two phones were released around the same time, it could be that the galaxy beam was affected also. Everything is fine going through this tutorial (even getting to download mode trough ADB is fine), problem is i get stuck every single time in ODIN at SetupConnection. Question <3> any freaking idea how to solve this? I've gone through google and searched through this forum... Now i don't know what to do and don't dare try anything else or other flashing unless i fix this 3 button shortcut because i know i can only access recovery or download through ADB REBOOT RECOVERY / DOWNLOAD and the phone has to be plugged in, turned on, booted into android, and in usb debug mode. the ADB command won't work if the phone is off and i'm worried the GB bootloader will stop eclair from loading.
This leads to the question <4> if i decide not to follow this repairing tutorial and just flash the gingerbread bootloader up front, will it give me the 3 button shortcut boot? because if i am not able to load the eclair rom with gingerbread bootloader, and have no 3 button shortcut, i will not be able to boot into recovery to install rom and wipe data and cache etc. Also, if i flash the gingerbread bootloader, can i still load into my stock eclair rom? If i can load into the stock eclair rom, then i don't need the 3 button shortcut, i can go straight to doing usb debug and the ADB command again after flashing bootloader and rebooting to go straight into recovery and installing MIUI.
Question <5> What about gingerbread bootloaders that can backtrack and load froyo roms and eclair roms? Do these exist? Where to download? If so, i can load into my eclair rom and use ADB for recovery mode, eliminating the step: repairing the 3 buttons.
Question <6> Also, i noticed the guide didn't speak anything about kernels etc. From what I understand about kernels, it is the architecture or system between the hardware and the software. People can tweak kernels (leading to custom kernels) for different and maybe even better sound and video etc right? But the guide doesn't say anything about installing a custom kernel, so am i supposed to keep my current Zues kernel from Samsung, or is a custom kernel recommended by MIUI ALREADY provided in the zip folder i downloaded from here? (the I9000 one) When i flash this zip through CWM recovery, is the kernel changed together? Does this apply for the bootloader also? Is the bootloader supplied in the zip and flashed together at the same time? if everything, (rom kernel bootloader) is flashed together at the same time then i can eliminate many steps and just work on installing CWM recovery through rom manager. then use adb to boot into recovery and flash that one simple MIUI zip. no need for 3 button boot...
Question <7> Is there another way to get MIUI to install on my device without so much hassle? haha..
Thanks for the trouble, I know it's a lot of questions... Please answer whatever you can
umm, almost a 100 views... but no replies? :'(
I'd never heard of it until this post, I looked at some specs and they're quite significantly different to the SGS's ones, smaller screen and completely different processor(which is most important(TI OMAP 3440 720MHz in the Beam and Hummingbird S5PC110 in the SGS)). It's a completely different phone, don't even try to install MIUI for the I9000 on it unless you don't mind your phone being in a bricked state. I may not be right but it's my strong opinion. Here is the Xda wiki for it: http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=Samsung_Beam Which shows how to root and then OC it which may increase performance. And if you like the Miui look there is a look a like launcher floating round if you search. Good luck
true, they aren't exactly the same. the processor is definitely different, but i think MIUI was made for performance, which fits well with this lousy processor haha. screen shouldn't be a problem, most softwares fit to screens automatically. I've already Rooted and OC'ed it but its still slow.
Is there any way to flash everything at once, e.g. kernel rom everything flash together at the same time using ODIN, then maybe i will reboot and see if the MIUI works... The problematic part is the 3 buttons download mode. I'm willing to flash everything at once then see if i'm lucky and MIUI will work for me. I'm not willing to flash just kernel or etc, then can't get in to download mode already because phone cant be booted, thus cannot install ROM...
Does anybody know exactly what when flashed into the phone gives me the 3 button recovery and download...?
I also realised something in the wiki link u gave me...
Power+Menu+Volume Down -> Soft Reset
Power+menu+Volume Up -> Ready for Flash Screen
Could this be my recovery and download...? I'll try later.
I'll try and give you an example, the Galaxy SL or the I9003 came out the start of this year as a replacement for the original with the only difference being the chipset and display type. Quite a few people have got this phone and have being trying to get Miui to work on it hasn't happened. The I9000 kernel for Miui is made for the I9000, it only works with the Hummingbird chipset, end of story. I'm not stopping you from trying but expect the most likely consequence to be the phone dead, not running Miui.
Wow, if the I9003 which was even closer (spec-wise) to the I9000 can't flash I9000 MIUI, then my I8520 won't make it... :'( I understand what you mean, any kernel made for I9000 phones, even custom user-made ones, only work with specific hardware, like that chipset, unless that kernel some how is clever enough to work with my hardware, or probably just lucky enough to be compatible with my chipset.
I didn't know the software had to confirm so tightly to the hardware... I'd always thought software would automatically work with basic hardware, albeit there would be some issues and glitches, but at least it would still work. I thought maybe it would be possible to keep my Zues kernel, and just flash the rom, and let the rom use my kernel.. It wouldn't be very optimised because they weren't made for each other, but at least with a few bugs, still usable... But now I know my Zues kernel works with my hardware but probably wont work with I900 MIUI unless it was coded for my phone... Though, if my phone does have the same chipset and gpu, maybe it will work?
Seems like I'll have to continue to use this lousy unsupported phone :S
Thanks for your help

How can a Captivate phone SGH-i897 show different model in specs screen?

I'm hoping someone here can help in explaining this because this is something I've NEVER seen or heard of before and in theory, shouldnt be possible but i'm seeing it with my own eyes!
I'm (about to) purchase a slightly used Samsung Galaxy S CAPTIVATE model (SGH-i897) at least that is what the "boot up screen" shows.. I KNOW this is the Captivate.. i've seen the physical differences between it and the Vibrant.. they are basically the same phones hardware wise but do have a different physical appearance on the outside.. the Vibrant's model is GT-i9000..
now when I go to the "About screen"...the model shows the GT-i9000! How is this possible? I'm baffled because I know that i'm actually looking at a CAPTIVATE and the boot up screen shows the correct model number..but the android os (which shows the gingerbread 2.3.5 model in the about screen) is showing the model number as the VIBRANT.. gt-i9000, on the same phone!
I want this phone and was about to buy it but i'm thinking this could seriously cause problems when i go to root and mod it as the conflicting model numbers could create problems with the proper files and processes i'll need to follow when doing the root/mods...
Has anyone heard of this or can explain this because I am STUMPED!
THanks
ok, it appears like a custom Kernel was used cause this conflict. Make sense?
I looked at the About screen again and the KERNEL VERSION looks like something that is NOT the stock kernel. It states:
2.6.35.7-I9000XXJVT-CL617736
[email protected] #DarkCore_4.1_JVT_C
this has to be a custom Kernel right?
This phone must have been rooted and mod'd at some point (the seller didn't know and thought his cousin only unlocked the phone).
I assume a custom kernel that likely is typically for the Vibrant GT-i9000 was flahed with or without a custom rom to this phone and that is why there is the conflicting model numbers... this make sense?
Normally that wouldn't be good idea to use another kernel or rom for a slightly different model of phone but i guess it worked..
I would now like to confirm that this is the case and if so, that it is obviously ok..cuz the phone is working fine.
Should I now wipe the phone back to stock rom/kernel? Can I? if I want to do more mod'ing on the phone anyways.. different kernels and likely update os to ICS 4.0
Thanks for any help on this and hopefully this all makes sense now and explains what i'm seeing
Many of the custom builds for the Captivate are based on I-9000 framework. DarkCore is one of the custom kernels. This phone has been flashed. If you prefer a stock Captivate firmware, there are ODIN One-Click programs in the Development section that will put you back to an "Out-of-the-Box" state. Then do some reading if you plan on shopping around for different roms, as there are several different sets of bootloaders among them and a bootloader mishap is a surefire way to brick this phone.
Happy Flashing and good luck! Welcome to the Captivate!
The vibrant model number is T-959 or some ****..I9000 is the international galaxy s. The original.
It is really easy to switch what is displayed in about phone...it's all in the builds.prop located in /system
You can open that up with a plain text editor and change any instance of Gt-I9000 to sgh-I897 and Viola...
But as mentioned above, flashing to stock with Odin/heimdall will get you back to stock.
Btw what does "build number" say in about phone? Cause that is the name of the ROM that was flashed to it.
Build number says: Mosaic 8
So that is the custom rom that was flashed to the phone I take it?
Ultimately I dont want to go back to the stock rom/kernel but want to definitely flash to OTHER custom roms/kernels. With that being said will I have to go back to stock on either rom or kernel FIRST before doing another change?
I'd like a kernel that will allow me to play with some overclocking and the rom(s) can be one of many.. preferrably I want to put ICS 4.0 on this
Can anyone give me the links to the best info/tutorials to flash the kernel/rom's to do so on this phone?
As said, the actual phone is an unlocked and rooted AT&T Samsung Galaxy S Captivate SGH-i897 but has been already flashed with custom rom kernel as follows:
Model Number
GT-i9000
Firmware Version
2.3.5
Baseband Version
I9000UGJK4
Kernel Version
2.6.35.7-I9000XXJVT-CL617736
[email protected] #DarkCore_4.1_JVT_C
Build Number
Mosaic 8
Thanks
M8 is a great custom rom. You shouldn't need to flash to stock before flashing a new rom. Just follow the steps in the first post of each rom you want to flash. A good ROM to try next would be Mosaic 9
yeah...i hear great things about mosaic!
Thanks..i figured it was a good rom..i play around with it for a while.. it also came with the custom kernel from DarkCore..
I'm fairly new mod'ing rooted phones and all that so I'm curious if I can install a different custom kernel on this Mosaic 8 Rom and if so, what's best way? I want to use one of the many on this site that allow for oc'ing...is it ok to replace the Darkcore Kernel that came with this rom to any other or not?
THanks
hey buddy, i happen to be the lead developer for mosaic.
you are more than welcome to change the kernel, the best way to do that would be in cwm recovery...which can be accessed by holding down on the power button and choosing recovery. or by powering off and holding vol up and power til you see the first splash (that should actually say I9000) then let go that will boot into recovery.
if you see an at&t screen at all the its vol up AND down AND power.
as said above i have updated mosaic, and the latest version includes a kernel that is overclockable already, this one to be exact the .tars in post 1 are for use with odin. post 2 are zips to be flashed in recovery. ater the kernel is flashed it will install an app called semaphore, in there are a bunch of options including oc up to 1300Mhz
that being said...FIRST I would play around with it some more and get used to it WHILE DOING SOME RESEARCH AND READING...i mean you just got the phone...get to know it take her out on the town before you get her all nekkid and vulnerable
THANK YOU SO MUCH for this reply! I was just trying to get into recovery mode and I noticed this phone was allowing me.. this is due to the rom/kernel on it..but you're post with the info WORKED! I was about to start doing a bunch of stuff to try and fix.. THANKS
This whole double splash screen is very new to me with it showing the phone as TWO different models..
I see you have the new Mosaic 9 out..and that's the one you're takling about i take it? and it comes with another new custom kernel that will allow for oc'ing too? sounds good..and 1300 is more then enought.. I'm happy with 1.2 if I can.. dont need to get crazy and try for 1.6 like some..
Just follow the steps on the main page for that rom and all should be good? What will be the easiest way for me to flash to your new rom/kernel? Can I do it from a rom manager or use sd card or internal mem? Any help on this is greatly appreciated! Thanks again for posting a response to my concerns!
btw can i just update this Mosaic 8 rom to that new custom kernel you're talking about or do i have to update to the new Mosaic 9 rom first?
You can flash that on 8.
Don't ever use ROM manager, it doesn't work right on the galaxy line.
And whenever sdcard is mentioned, that is the internal sd, cwm does not flash from an external sdcard.
To flash mosaic 9 over 8 just put ROM on sdcard, boot into recovery, wipe data/factory reset, then go to install zip from sdcard, choose zip, and find the ROM you just downloaded.
Flash the kernel the same way, just don't do the wipe first.
The ROM flash will wipe all your apps, the kernel will not, use titanium backup to backup your apps, then restore them after the flash. Again only needed if you're flashing the ROM and you can flash the kernel on the ROM you have now,
but a backup is a good idea before any flash if something were to go arwy.
As for the 2 boot screens (and the different button combos for recovery, btw download mode is vol down and power), is because the phone has I9000 bootloaders, which is the first splash you see, the second splash is the kernel, both darkcore and semaphore use the same splash the one that says sgh-I897. some kernels use a custom image there instead.
But again, i urge you STRONGLY, PLEASE read, and understand completely what it is that you want to do, and more importantly how to fix a situation that doesn't go as planned, BEFORE you start flashing stuff. Please.
Thanks again bud this is all so helpful. I already downloaded your mosaic 9 zip. Quick question..do i have to format my sd card a certain way first for the update to work? on past.flashes on different phone certain.partioning had to be done on the sd card in order for the update to work.successfully.
Thanks n looking forward to this mosaic 9.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Nope, you're good. Anything that was needed, which was flashing gingerbread bootloaders, has already been done by the previous owner.
Thanks again bud. That last question was pointless cuz i read back again and u mentioned that the sd card stated is always internal and not external..so obviously i wouldnt need to format n partition etc. Thats a bit newer for me well on this new phone anyways. Used to using ext card in past.
As of now ive only updated the kernel to the new one and not the whole new rom...yet. Will play around with it for a bit. The oc was very easy and working just fine.
Btw any plans to do this mosaic rom on ICS 4.0 at all? Or maybe there is one u could recommend? i really want to check it out as so many are "raving" about the new ics os and that it the best by far, etc. Whats your take?
One other question about the flashing from the internal sd now, hope this aint silly but if the zip rom file is saved to the internal mem and im doing the usual data wipe/factory reset wont everything get cleared.including the rom file itself and then not find it when i go to do the update?
and again thanks for all the info, still a bit of noob when it comes to the phones side of things but fyi im definitely a techie when it comes to the pc hardware, software and networking side. Take care
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Data wipe/factory reset only wipes the /data partition. Leaving all others including /sdcard intact.
Data factory reset clears (/data, /dbdata or /datadata depends on the ROM you are on, /cache, and /mnt/sd_card/android.secure
Definitely gonna wait a while before flashing any ICS4 roms as still too early and lots of bugs to workout. Im hoping u guys eventually come out with an ics rom cuz this mosaic 8 n 9 are damn good and high quality and read a lot of good things too.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
So the bootloaders, when are they input or changed? Is it a seperate update or do they typically come with a rom or kernel? So the ones i have now with the dual splash screens (gt-i9000 then sgh-i897), will i keep those if i wipe and flash a different rom or will a new set of different bootloaders come with most other custom roms? I still dont fully understand that yet and would prefer to mess with them as little as possible cuz i know how important they are and thats an easy way to mess up a phone.
Another quick question i have is about the Captivate phone itself...i know all the specific hardware specs and its states it has 512 ram outside of the 16gb storage/2gb internal rom but why can i only find spec screens that show my phone having 323mb of ram and of that most of it is used up all the time even after a fresh wipe and flash of the mosaic 8 rom ane nothing new installed? Does this have something to do with the rom itself or am i missing something? a little puzzled by this. Part reason i upgraded to this phone was to get better hardware and have more memory cuz i like to eventually install a ton of apps but im thinking i could quickly run into issues with the numbers im seeing. Any thoughts on this? Thanks
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Bootloaders ate only flashed with a pc flashing program such as Odin or heimdall.
The second image may change, that within the kernel itself, the first image will not.
As far as storage space goes, you have 16gb on the entire phone. 2gb of that is for user apps. About a Gb for the system, and about 13Gb on the sdcard.
you do have 512mb of ram, but some of that is always used by the system leaving the user with 323. And THAT being mostly used up is just they way Android handles memory. It keeps recently opened applications loaded in memory so that if you wanna access it again it will open much faster than having to reload it. It will also kill off apps as the memory load grows. Put simply: free ram is wasted ram.

[Q] Stacking ROMs & Creating Back ups (Note Received)

Good day all.
Before I ask my questions I would like to say that In the few days I have been here I have been working on Understanding the Technical terms and Jargon this site uses ever so much, I have learned.
While the wiki (and these posts here) has helped a bit...I still find myself feeling a bit nauseous from what I have been currently been unable to understand so you might have to stand me being a noob for just a little bit longer I'm afraid.
Anywho...on to the questions...
I am aware the ROMs must match a given make and model of a phone to work and custom kernels must be matched to specific ROMs, but alot of these ROMs have really awesome features & improvements. Better Sound, DSP-equalizer, More efficient battery use, more function UIs, more control on security, SONY based Engines, CRT-Off Animations, ...why can't they all just work together?!?! So now I have to ask the crazy...
Is it possible to stack the features of different ROMs?
What is it I need to be looking for compatibility wise between all these ROMs/Themes/Apps/Kernels to make sure that I don't Clay or Brick the Note by combining the wrong codes?
I'm trying to figure out what I can do to mix and match intelligently to get the most out of a rooted note (as is... I suppose... all of you here).
On that...uh...note, I have seen a lot of talk about Titanium-backup App, Clockworkmod Recovery App & Nandroids.
Why do I need to use these to back up?
Why can't I just go into the phone & copy and paste all the files on a folder in the computer? Is it because Android is Linux based? Do not all the files show?
Should I have all these Backup Apps to back up every part of the Note or is just one enough?
Oh and one more thing... I Received my note today & a lot faster than I expected. So...
What would you recommend to be the smartest thing to do first after root?
Decisions Decisions.
Thank You
The most basic differentiating factor is to see if the ROMs are TouchWiz based or AOSP/CM/AOKP based, those are the main 2 categories that every ROM here falls under
Features from one category *mostly* can not be ported to other category if they are not present there. For example, S-Memo are exclusive to TouchWiz ROMs just like Tablet mode is exclusive to AOSP/CM/AOKP ROMs, but there might some rare exceptions
IMHO Titanium Backup is useful only if you have games data, normal apps I prefer to set them up manually to have the cleanest setup possible. Nandroids, OTOH, are essential, they are your safety net if anything goes wrong.
You can't back up an OS just by copying the files over cause you don't have access to the kernel and lower system files, that's where nandroids help
Hope this helps
matius44 said:
The most basic differentiating factor is to see if the ROMs are TouchWiz based or AOSP/CM/AOKP based, those are the main 2 categories that every ROM here falls under
Features from one category *mostly* can not be ported to other category if they are not present there. For example, S-Memo are exclusive to TouchWiz ROMs just like Tablet mode is exclusive to AOSP/CM/AOKP ROMs, but there might some rare exceptions
IMHO Titanium Backup is useful only if you have games data, normal apps I prefer to set them up manually to have the cleanest setup possible. Nandroids, OTOH, are essential, they are your safety net if anything goes wrong.
You can't back up an OS just by copying the files over cause you don't have access to the kernel and lower system files, that's where nandroids help
Hope this helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh! Right... I'm not just backing up apps... I'm backing Up the OS. Duh. Ok.
I was thinking about it the wrong way.
I know what a TouchWiz ROM is, and its good to know that Tablet mode is exclusive to AOSP/CM/AOKP ROMs, I didn't know that either. As I mentioned in my post... I'm still working on the Jargon here. What does "AOSP/CM/AOKP" Mean? Can I switch around features if I kept in those respective types of ROMs?
CrazyOGuy said:
Oh! Right... I'm not just backing up apps... I'm backing Up the OS. Duh. Ok.
I was thinking about it the wrong way.
I know what a TouchWiz ROM is, and its good to know that Tablet mode is exclusive to AOSP/CM/AOKP ROMs, I didn't know that either. As I mentioned in my post... I'm still working on the Jargon here. What does "AOSP/CM/AOKP" Mean? Can I switch around features if I kept in those respective types of ROMs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AOSP is "Android Open Source Project". That is just one kind of custom ROM. Also, several ROMs on here are built on "AOSP", meaning they use AOSP as a base and add "features" to it.
CM is "CyanogenMod". They are a very popular team that builds custom ROMs for different phones out there. Same thing applies, people will builld custom ROMs based on CM9 (which is Ice Cream Sandwich based) and add their own "features" to it. CM7 is Gingerbread based and not on the Note.
Also, read about the bricking situations, just to wrap your head around it and stay safe. Basically, just know right now that the only "safe" kernel is the CM9 kernel built by xplodwild OR the DAFUQ kernel built by Entropy.
The ICS sources have come out so we should see more kernels come out as the devs get their hands dirty.
I use Titantium Backup, personally, to back up my individual apps and such when I switch ROMs. Now, of course, if you restore apps, you might run into problems and you might need to wipe data again and start over and not restore apps. But, I RARELY have problems.
I hope all these details help!
CrazyOGuy said:
Oh! Right... I'm not just backing up apps... I'm backing Up the OS. Duh. Ok.
I was thinking about it the wrong way.
I know what a TouchWiz ROM is, and its good to know that Tablet mode is exclusive to AOSP/CM/AOKP ROMs, I didn't know that either. As I mentioned in my post... I'm still working on the Jargon here. What does "AOSP/CM/AOKP" Mean? Can I switch around features if I kept in those respective types of ROMs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AOSP = Android Open Source Project = Google's pure android
CM = CyanogenMod
AOKP = Android Open Kang Project
Features theoretically can be ported between these, but it requires hackery skills since mostly it's framework dependant
For example, AOKP is famous with its ROM Control option in Settings menu, this is not present in AOSP at all and some of it is present in CM9. If you have good knowledge in code you can port, not very easy task
CrazyOGuy said:
What would you recommend to be the smartest thing to do first after root?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are things that need to be done before the root. You need some basic tools to get into the business of flashing stuff.
1. PC Odin - that's a software for flashing firmware from your Windows. You can get it here. Top left hand corner of the first post.
2. Windows drivers - they are needed so your PC can recognize the phone once connect the two. Get it from the same URL, same place.
3. Mobile Odin Pro - basically does the same functions as PC Odin, but from your Note, not from the PC. Get the Lite version
if the Playstore doesn't let you buy the Pro one.
4. Titanium Backup - this is optional. I use it all the time with no trouble, but some prefer to re-install their apps manually after they switch to another Rom. Titanium allows you to backup all your apps and their data, and does a quick batch restore when you need it.
Now about the rooting matter.
I would recommend the following method:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=25285584&postcount=3
I think it is by far the easiest and quickest one.
After you are successfully rooted, come back here, report, and we'll take it from there, OK?
We won't be going anywhere.
P.S. If you get into bootloop after the PC Odin has finished the flash, don't panic, but read this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=26460335&postcount=4
chasmodo said:
There are things that need to be done before the root. You need some basic tools to get into the business of flashing stuff.
1. PC Odin - that's a software for flashing firmware from your Windows. You can get it here. Top left hand corner of the first post.
2. Windows drivers - they are needed so your PC can recognize the phone once connect the two. Get it from the same URL, same place.
3. Mobile Odin Pro - basically does the same functions as PC Odin, but from your Note, not from the PC. Get the Lite version
if the Playstore doesn't let you buy the Pro one.
4. Titanium Backup - this is optional. I use it all the time with no trouble, but some prefer to re-install their apps manually after they switch to another Rom. Titanium allows you to backup all your apps and their data, and does a quick batch restore when you need it.
Now about the rooting matter.
I would recommend the following method:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=25285584&postcount=3
I think it is by far the easiest and quickest one.
After you are successfully rooted, come back here, report, and we'll take it from there, OK?
We won't be going anywhere.
P.S. If you get into bootloop after the PC Odin has finished the flash, don't panic, but read this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=26460335&postcount=4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did all that Pre-Root stuff two days ago. ☜(゚ヮ゚☜) YEAAAA!
As for how the root went...so far so good. As such I've just been upgraded from noob to kiddie hacker. Yay me...I guess.
I also did go for Titanium-backup App & Clockwork mod Recovery App (Free). Could not find Nandroid.
I am currently on 2.3.6 GB.
With that said. Now comes the fun part(...right?)
If you have done just what cursed4eva did in his video, you are rooted, but still haven't got a proper CLockWorkMod Recovery for further flashing.
If that is the case, you need to go to Chainfire's kernel thread and download the matching CF-Root kernel. For instance, download CF-Root-SGN_XX_OXA_LC1-v5.3-CWM5.zip if you have flashed N7000XXLC1_N7000OXALC1 Open Europe.
You need to extract the kernel zip to get the tar file inside. Put that tar file on your SD card, start Mobile Odin, tap on 'kernel' option, navigate to the kernel tar and flash. The phone will reboot, MO will flash the kernel, and you'll have the fully functional CWMR you need for doing nandroid backups/restores and flashing custom Roms.
Sorry for the Delay. Micro-SD Card took longer to receive than expected.
I have gone in and put that matching LA# .tar file on Moble ODIN. At the risk of asking a question whose only answer can be "DUH!"...
To flash the Kernel (or any of the respective things Mobile ODIN can do) do I press "Flash Firmware"?
My Concern of Bricking > Risk of asking Stupid Obvious Question
Edit: Every single place I searched presses said button...so I guess that's a yes. >_<
Edit 2: Success!
So how are the names given? Is all I need to look for is just match random bits of the titles code to see if the two are compatible?
And with this done...I can now start with some of the fun stuff... right?

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