Related
After unlocking my bootloader last night, I installed romracer's recovery and made a full backup to the external SD card. Also made sure that my app+data backups could be successfully recovered, and they are. (And yes, I know not to go restoring system data after flashing a custom ROM.)
So the last step is likely going to be nottach's Darkside prefinal. Before I go flashing this:
- Per the title, do I need to pull my SIM card and/or external SD before wiping, flashing, and re-wiping?
- After some paranoid digging around of threads and seeing wifi issues happening at random, some posters thought a tegrapart-kernel mismatch might be at fault. Mine is mbr:d00:100:800, kpanic:2100:400:800. What I couldn't figure out was which tegrapart was supposed to correspond to a US Atrix and which was international, between d00 and 1100? (i.e. do I have a "standard" US build or did I get sold an international phone?)
- If something goes completely wonky, will restoring my backup through CWM act like a "restore point" with my original stock (OTA) Gingerbread rom?
- Lastly (assuming a successful flash) if I had a need to return to stock, would I be better off flashing the fruitcake or using my CWM restore?
Thanks all.
cowsaregreat said:
After unlocking my bootloader last night, I installed romracer's recovery and made a full backup to the external SD card. Also made sure that my app+data backups could be successfully recovered, and they are. (And yes, I know not to go restoring system data after flashing a custom ROM.)
So the last step is likely going to be nottach's Darkside prefinal. Before I go flashing this:
- Per the title, do I need to pull my SIM card and/or external SD before wiping, flashing, and re-wiping?
- After some paranoid digging around of threads and seeing wifi issues happening at random, some posters thought a tegrapart-kernel mismatch might be at fault. Mine is mbr:d00:100:800, kpanic:2100:400:800. What I couldn't figure out was which tegrapart was supposed to correspond to a US Atrix and which was international, between d00 and 1100? (i.e. do I have a "standard" US build or did I get sold an international phone?)
- If something goes completely wonky, will restoring my backup through CWM act like a "restore point" with my original stock (OTA) Gingerbread rom?
- Lastly (assuming a successful flash) if I had a need to return to stock, would I be better off flashing the fruitcake or using my CWM restore?
Thanks all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't pull anything. I use my external sd to hold all my roms and backups and such. Your cwm backup would be the easiest. Fruitcake if that doesn't work.
Hello, I'm brand new to these forums, but I've been browsing them for the past week, and Im thinking about making the plunge to CM7. I've never done anything like this before, so could you guys answer a few of my questions, and maybe put my fears to rest?
First off, let me say that I read the Moto Atrix noob guide and updated thread.
This is my phone info:
System Version: 4.5.141.MB860.ATT.en.US
Android Version: 2.3.6
I have had this phone for over a year, and everything is completely stock.
Questions:
1. I have seen various threads about the latest firmware from Motorola causing an inability to change the OS. Is this true? And if not, do all the guides I've read regarding flashing, roms, backup, etc. still applicable?
2. I want to run CM7, but is it better to install CM7 directly from their website, or use some of the versions that I have seen members offering here. What are the main differences? What do you recommend?
3. Is CM7 as stable as stock?
4. Is it possible to flash different kernels to see what type of battery life difference they make, and can you do this without changing the OS?
5. I've seen multiple times of the importance of backing everything up. My only concerns are the contacts and sms. My contacts are stored on "Motorola Services." How can I back them up? As for sms, I use an app called SMS backup and restore. It creates an xml file I think, so when I go to restore my sms messages, everything should be as i was before, right? I'm worried about formatting issues here.
I just want to make sure I understand everything so I dont mess anything up. Thanks for your help!
yep. being a virgin and knowing it has to happen gives ya them butterflies in the tummy. Don't worry, you'll be fine, WE were all virgins at one time also. There will be somone here to assist you if you need it.
1.Follow the automatic bootloader thread. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1182871
2. Read a little on the roms you are considering. The ones based on cm7 are basically the same. differences will be in themes, and extra/different features like diff apps and launchers & more or less customization options such as for settings. Have to choose which one appeals to you, and go with it. Beauty of this is if you want to try something else, only takes a matter of minutes and you can change to a differnt cm7 rom. In a lot of instances, once you are on cm7, flashing a different cm7 rom, you don't have to erase or lose your data, just wipe system and caches and load new flavor. Only takes a couple of minutes to flash a new rom, or kernal, or radio, and your data stays intact. Changing to a CM9 or a different base rom is when you will need to wipe the whole phone including data.
3. Yes, cm7 was the last revision when devs were still able to use OEM drivers, so they are stable.
4. Answered in #2
5. I don't recall which apps were good for saving your sms stuff on cm7. Seems like ages ago since I was using that! Might want to consider moving your Motorola based stuff over to Google. Contacts will be availabe there and will load automatically when you initiate your new rom. You don't need to do any formatting, but erasing will wipe areas, and will erase personal data if that option is chosen, so your concern is noted. Pay attention to what you are doing, don't wipe data from CWM when flashing if you intend on keeping your user data. You can wipe system and caches and not lose your data.
Yes back everthing up. Make a copy of your PDS folder and stash it away on your pc (do this before starting flashing), this has your phone id stuffs and a couple other valuables. Don't share that with anyone either. Make a nandroid b/u (an option in your new CWM) as soon as you can after installing CWM. You can reload that if things don't go good, and be back where you started. Install SuperuserSU (not the plain Superuser) from google play.
Just do it, you'll like it! become one of the elite!
If you ask me... You'll need a custom recovery to be able to flash CM7 anyway, so why not use it to make a proper full nandroid backup too?
I mean sure, you can try messing around with specialized apps to save and restore only the parts most critical to you (like contacts and texts), but if for any reason you'll want to completely go back, at least you'll know you can.
ravilov said:
If you ask me... You'll need a custom recovery to be able to flash CM7 anyway, so why not use it to make a proper full nandroid backup too?
I mean sure, you can try messing around with specialized apps to save and restore only the parts most critical to you (like contacts and texts), but if for any reason you'll want to completely go back, at least you'll know you can.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will this full backup allow me to then only restore the data I wanted to keep? Because I know I wouldnt want to restore the whole thing.
wvcaudill2 said:
Will this full backup allow me to then only restore the data I wanted to keep? Because I know I wouldnt want to restore the whole thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CWM will allow you to restore individual partitions. So you can, say, restore just /data and leave others intact. It won't let you restore specific folders in /data though. Basically such a backup is most useful if you need to restore the entire phone to a specific state.
wvcaudill2 said:
Will this full backup allow me to then only restore the data I wanted to keep? Because I know I wouldnt want to restore the whole thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use titanium backup to restore individual apps and their data...
Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2
ravilov said:
CWM will allow you to restore individual partitions. So you can, say, restore just /data and leave others intact. It won't let you restore specific folders in /data though. Basically such a backup is most useful if you need to restore the entire phone to a specific state.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what all is stored in the /data partition?
Also, is there some comparison of roms out there? I've been searching through the forum, and can't seem to find any. I see NottachAtrix4G alot. Is this based off of CM7? Also, does the fingerprint scanner work in cm7?
wvcaudill2 said:
what all is stored in the /data partition?
Also, is there some comparison of roms out there? I've been searching through the forum, and can't seem to find any. I see NottachAtrix4G alot. Is this based off of CM7? Also, does the fingerprint scanner work in cm7?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The data partition is where your contacts, messages, settings and apps that you have installed go to.
I'm sure I saw some threads comparing ROMs, even though I recommend you try all the ROMs and see which one best fits your needs. Back when I had my old Milestone 2, everyone talked about the CM7 ROM, as it was the best to the device, but as soon as I tried the MIUI 2.3.7, never came back to CM7 (at least with M2, used it again with atrix)
Nottachtrix isn't based off CM7, it's a stock gingerbread ROM with modifications.
Yes, the fingerprint scanner works (at least on Neutrino CM7).
MaxK47 said:
The data partition is where your contacts, messages, settings and apps that you have installed go to.
I'm sure I saw some threads comparing ROMs, even though I recommend you try all the ROMs and see which one best fits your needs. Back when I had my old Milestone 2, everyone talked about the CM7 ROM, as it was the best to the device, but as soon as I tried the MIUI 2.3.7, never came back to CM7 (at least with M2, used it again with atrix)
Nottachtrix isn't based off CM7, it's a stock gingerbread ROM with modifications.
Yes, the fingerprint scanner works (at least on Neutrino CM7).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for a good answer. I have yet another question though.
Some of the ROMS I have been looking at advertise that they are packaged with a certain kernel. Do all ROMS contain a kernel, or will I have to flash my own depending on which ROM I choose?
Again, sorry for all the questions, I just want to make sure I dont screw this up!
Every ROM is a complete system, so it must come with a kernel. In most cases after flashing a ROM you're ready to go. You'd only want to flash a different kernel if for some reason you're not happy with the one supplied with the ROM.
I did the ExynosAbuse-v1.40 exploit, install Mobile Odin Lite, SiyahKernel v2.6.14, ClockworkMod Recovery, and install CM 10.1.3.
My first root and rom install and everything works great! Battery life went from one day to three and operating quickly.
Do I keep the files on my sd card or can i delete them?
For future installs and upgrades, is CWM recovery my primary means of install?
Thanks guys for your hard work. I really appreciate all you do and plan on donating to the cause.
Dave
dave042 said:
I did the ExynosAbuse-v1.40 exploit, install Mobile Odin Lite, SiyahKernel v2.6.14, ClockworkMod Recovery, and install CM 10.1.3.
My first root and rom install and everything works great! Battery life went from one day to three and operating quickly.
Do I keep the files on my sd card or can i delete them?
For future installs and upgrades, is CWM recovery my primary means of install?
Thanks guys for your hard work. I really appreciate all you do and plan on donating to the cause.
Dave
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"on my sd card"? You meant external uSD card or internal memory?
Either way, you can delete them if you won't ever need them again.
From this point on, any flashable zip file will be run using CwMR
Welcome @dave042,
-and congrats on a successful first root/ROM experience.
regarding the "files on the sd card", If we're ignoring the expansion slot, then there are files that apps use on the internal SD, so I wouldn't go deleting them at random. I'm sure that a google search will help you with which folders are needed, and which are not.
All future firmware installs should indeed happen from CWM recovery. Once you're rooted and kernel'd, there isn't any need for mobile ODIN. The options offered in CWM recovery are superior.
As you try new things, I do advise that you do some cleanup inbetween ROMS. Dirty flashes often lead to issues that people blame on the rom or kernel. factory resets only catch a portion of the critters. @mrcook has a few rom wipe scripts specifically for the i777 that have helped multiple people (myself included) out of weird phone issues that were the result of old-rom-junk not playing well with new-rom-junk.
Happy flashing
-Cyril
thanks votinh and Cyril for the quick response.
the SD card i was referring to was the external SD. i don't plan on installing too many roms but will make sure to do a complete wipe prior to any install.
was this process of installing ExynosAbuse-v1.40 exploit, install Mobile Odin Lite, SiyahKernel v2.6.14, ClockworkMod Recovery, to get me to root? and once to root, to install a rom?
another question, kernal and rom updates, are they independent of each other? can i update one without the other?
i understand roms are numerous and customized, what about the kernal? does changing the kernal make any significant changes to the operating system?
Gneerally on this device ROMS will come packaged with their own kernel. The kernel will be flashed when the rom is flashed. I do believe however that most install AJK after they flash their roms.
You can delete everything off your sd card. I do keep a known good rom as well as a copy of Siyah 4.3.3 kernel on my card at all times. You never know when something is going to mess with your phone, and you may have to re install a rom in order to make you phone function again. I would hate to be somewhere, my phone start a boot loop, and I am stuck without a phone. The Siyah 4.3.3 kernel comes in handy for me. Some roms will give you an error 7 when flashing. Rather than messing with editing the build prop I just flash Siyah, and try my rom again.
If you go flashing kernels make sure you have the proper kernel for your ROM.
@dave042: "was this process of installing ExynosAbuse-v1.40 exploit, install Mobile Odin Lite, SiyahKernel v2.6.14, ClockworkMod Recovery, to get me to root? and once to root, to install a rom?"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ExynosAbuse-v1.40 exploit <-- tool to establish root-access to the device (framaroot is another useful, easy rooting tool for the i777)
Mobile Odin Lite <-- tool that uses root-access to install...
SiyahKernel vX.X.X <-- a custom kernel (one of many) installed primarily to provide cwm recovery, but are also commonly used to:
-provide additional functionality to the existing ROM
-backup your ROM install
-install a different ROM
-install a different kernel
-flash cleanup scripts
-and many many other things
As Butchr stated, the ROMs are usually packaged with their own kernels, so the kernel used above only remains in place until another ROM is flashed, which will overwrite the existing recovery with one specifically designed for the ROM flashed.
Hi all,
This is the first time I've tried installing a custom ROM on my VZW S4 (i545) (MDK firmware. Yes, I held out on the OTA since May). I've got a few thoughts and a couple of questions I was hoping could be addressed. I consider myself familiar with flashing ROM's and whatnot, so I won't need hand-holding steps in answer to my questions.
Some info:
VZW S4
MDK Firmware
Recovery: OUDhs CWM Touch Req0very v1.0.3.5
I haven't taken any OTA since I got the phone back in May. This leads me to believe (correct me if I'm wrong) that I'm on Android 4.2.2?
Current ROM: AOKP Nightly Build for 10/31/2013 (MR2)
Thoughts: Holy hell, this ROM is BLAZING fast. I am missing a few features, but none I use regularly (I don't use any of the TouchWiz "smart" features. Damn battery hogs). I was able to flash this over and install GAPPS without any problems. Loading time is incredible, and I love how clean the interface is.
Questions:
Can anyone help me figure out why I cannot install CM10.2? Not sure if that's because I downloaded the wrong version or something, but after flashing it, the screen stays stuck at the Galaxy S4 logo and doesn't move. Maybe I didn't wait long enough, but it surely didn't move in any reasonably expected time (AOKP, by comparison, loaded probably <1 minute). Any thoughts on why this might be? I really want to try CM10.2, so perhaps I should try a different build?
Another question/concern: I downloaded a few different ROMs last night -- CM10.2, AOKP and st0ckdr0id. AOKP installed fine, CM10.2 froze up, but when I installed st0ckdr0id (after wiping out, of course), I got what I think is referred to as a kernel panic. The message was similar to "This phone has software installed on it that Verizon Wireless has determined to be unsafe. Please power off the phone and take to the nearest Verizon Wireless store for help". In the top-left corner, it had in bold RED letters "Kernel secure: FAIL" (or similar wording). I fixed this by booting back into recovery, wiping out, and then installing AOKP again. Can anyone help me understand why this happened?
Why is only ~10GB of space still available when I -thought- I wiped out everything?
What I'm really searching for is an AOSP ROM that is very clean and light, but has SOME of the TouchWiz features. Any recommendations?
My phone only shows me as having a 3G connection, where normally I have 4G LTE. Anything I can do to fix this? Is this an issue with the ROM not detecting the right kind of radio? Bug report, perhaps?
I can't mount my external_sd in my CWM anymore. Yes, I used to be able to do it at one point, because I've done an external nandroid backup to it from within CWM in the past (as of October 29th, if the date on the backups is correct). I've read in other Google searches that it has something to do with the formatting of the SD card, but I haven't removed that SD card from my phone in a few months to have adjusted anything to do with formatting. I plugged the memory card into my Linux laptop this morning while diagnosing this and got an error about an unknown exfat partition. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Stupid question: Is there a way to -completely- wipe my internal SD card clean of all my current files? I know when I "wipe" /data I can still see all of my files from the previous installation, and I'm not ballsy enough to wipe /sdcard. I guess the question that then coincides with this is if I were able to completely wipe the phone, I assume that would wipe the recovery as well?
Sorry for some of the novice questions -- I have no problem messing with my old TF300T tablet (because NVFlash will save the day), but this is my only phone, only line of communication and SOLE way for me to answer calls for work (24/7 rotating on-call), so it is VERY important to me to ask questions and not go down for more than 1 hour.
Thanks for all help guys, its much appreciated. I hope to be able to test ROMs regularly and maybe start posting video reviews or something, who knows?
Thanks,
Opethfan89
opethfan89 said:
Hi all,
This is the first time I've tried installing a custom ROM on my VZW S4 (i545) (MDK firmware. Yes, I held out on the OTA since May). I've got a few thoughts and a couple of questions I was hoping could be addressed. I consider myself familiar with flashing ROM's and whatnot, so I won't need hand-holding steps in answer to my questions.
Some info:
VZW S4
MDK Firmware
Recovery: OUDhs CWM Touch Req0very v1.0.3.5
I haven't taken any OTA since I got the phone back in May. This leads me to believe (correct me if I'm wrong) that I'm on Android 4.2.2?
Current ROM: AOKP Nightly Build for 10/31/2013 (MR2)
Thoughts: Holy hell, this ROM is BLAZING fast. I am missing a few features, but none I use regularly (I don't use any of the TouchWiz "smart" features. Damn battery hogs). I was able to flash this over and install GAPPS without any problems. Loading time is incredible, and I love how clean the interface is.
Questions:
Can anyone help me figure out why I cannot install CM10.2? Not sure if that's because I downloaded the wrong version or something, but after flashing it, the screen stays stuck at the Galaxy S4 logo and doesn't move. Maybe I didn't wait long enough, but it surely didn't move in any reasonably expected time (AOKP, by comparison, loaded probably <1 minute). Any thoughts on why this might be? I really want to try CM10.2, so perhaps I should try a different build?
Another question/concern: I downloaded a few different ROMs last night -- CM10.2, AOKP and st0ckdr0id. AOKP installed fine, CM10.2 froze up, but when I installed st0ckdr0id (after wiping out, of course), I got what I think is referred to as a kernel panic. The message was similar to "This phone has software installed on it that Verizon Wireless has determined to be unsafe. Please power off the phone and take to the nearest Verizon Wireless store for help". In the top-left corner, it had in bold RED letters "Kernel secure: FAIL" (or similar wording). I fixed this by booting back into recovery, wiping out, and then installing AOKP again. Can anyone help me understand why this happened?
Why is only ~10GB of space still available when I -thought- I wiped out everything?
What I'm really searching for is an AOSP ROM that is very clean and light, but has SOME of the TouchWiz features. Any recommendations?
My phone only shows me as having a 3G connection, where normally I have 4G LTE. Anything I can do to fix this? Is this an issue with the ROM not detecting the right kind of radio? Bug report, perhaps?
I can't mount my external_sd in my CWM anymore. Yes, I used to be able to do it at one point, because I've done an external nandroid backup to it from within CWM in the past (as of October 29th, if the date on the backups is correct). I've read in other Google searches that it has something to do with the formatting of the SD card, but I haven't removed that SD card from my phone in a few months to have adjusted anything to do with formatting. I plugged the memory card into my Linux laptop this morning while diagnosing this and got an error about an unknown exfat partition. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Stupid question: Is there a way to -completely- wipe my internal SD card clean of all my current files? I know when I "wipe" /data I can still see all of my files from the previous installation, and I'm not ballsy enough to wipe /sdcard. I guess the question that then coincides with this is if I were able to completely wipe the phone, I assume that would wipe the recovery as well?
Sorry for some of the novice questions -- I have no problem messing with my old TF300T tablet (because NVFlash will save the day), but this is my only phone, only line of communication and SOLE way for me to answer calls for work (24/7 rotating on-call), so it is VERY important to me to ask questions and not go down for more than 1 hour.
Thanks for all help guys, its much appreciated. I hope to be able to test ROMs regularly and maybe start posting video reviews or something, who knows?
Thanks,
Opethfan89
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow that's a lot. Let's see if we can get you answers.
1. Switch recoveries to twrp 2.5.0.2. I can't stress the importance of the particular version enough. There are others. This is absolutely the most stable. It's what the devs use. I think then your cm issue will be resolved.
Correct way to wipe with twrp.
1.wipe - >factory reset.
2. Advanced wipe - >check system, data, davlik, cache then wipe.
3. The go back to main screen and install rom.
2. Answered by answer one. Lots of people have lots of opinions about the various recoveries. All I can tell you is this is what all the devs use for their recovery. Can't argue with that.
3. Reserved space. It might say you have 16 gigs but a good size chunk is taking merely by formatting. Then the ROM and programs you have installed of course.
4. Honestly they are all freaking great. The aosp roms. You do the answer to number one and you can find out. DU is my fav @ this moment. Followed by beanstalk.
5. Go to mobile networks make sure your network mode is set to cdma +lte/evdo.
6. Answer 1.
7. You don't really want to wipe the entire internal SD card. Sounds good when you think it might screw you if you did it.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Mightycaptain said:
Wow that's a lot. Let's see if we can get you answers.
1. Switch recoveries to twrp 2.5.0.2. I can't stress the importance of the particular version enough. There are others. This is absolutely the most stable. It's what the devs use. I think then your cm issue will be resolved.
Correct way to wipe with twrp.
1.wipe - >factory reset.
2. Advanced wipe - >check system, data, davlik, cache then wipe.
3. The go back to main screen and install rom.
2. Answered by answer one. Lots of people have lots of opinions about the various recoveries. All I can tell you is this is what all the devs use for their recovery. Can't argue with that.
3. Reserved space. It might say you have 16 gigs but a good size chunk is taking merely by formatting. Then the ROM and programs you have installed of course.
4. Honestly they are all freaking great. The aosp roms. You do the answer to number one and you can find out. DU is my fav @ this moment. Followed by beanstalk.
5. Go to mobile networks make sure your network mode is set to cdma +lte/evdo.
6. Answer 1.
7. You don't really want to wipe the entire internal SD card. Sounds good when you think it might screw you if you did it.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your response Mightycaptain! I used CWM as my first ever recovery and am kinda pressed on it, which is why I use it, but I have no issues going to TWRP if that means fixing my issues. Can you elaborate on how to install TWRP in place of my current CWM? I'll do some Googling in the meantime to try to find the answer myself. (I haven't done any flashing or rooting stuff since I got the phone in May!!)
Thanks for your answer in #5. Fixed the issue I was having.
My reason for wanting to wipe the entire internal SD card is there are still files, folders, logs and backups from when I had my previous ROM. I'm having issues restoring my nandroid backup from the night of the 7th so is it at all possible for me to salvage some of my settings, apps and file backups from those existing files? Once I fix my nandroid, I'm going to keep the nandroid backup in a safe place and I ideally want to have a completely clean phone to start from: That means getting rid of all those old files and other nonsense from before. Is this a possibility?
I'm going to spend my time today trying to extract data from my nandroid backups using ROM Toolbox Pro. If that doesn't work, I have a nandroid backup from the 31st that has 99% of the stuff I need so I'll try to restore that. If THAT doesn't work, then I'm going to cry myself to sleep while trying to remember all of my contacts
Wish me luck, and hopefully I can get some answers to my last few questions!
Thanks,
Opethfan89
opethfan89 said:
Thanks for your response Mightycaptain! I used CWM as my first ever recovery and am kinda pressed on it, which is why I use it, but I have no issues going to TWRP if that means fixing my issues. Can you elaborate on how to install TWRP in place of my current CWM? I'll do some Googling in the meantime to try to find the answer myself. (I haven't done any flashing or rooting stuff since I got the phone in May!!)
Thanks for your answer in #5. Fixed the issue I was having.
My reason for wanting to wipe the entire internal SD card is there are still files, folders, logs and backups from when I had my previous ROM. I'm having issues restoring my nandroid backup from the night of the 7th so is it at all possible for me to salvage some of my settings, apps and file backups from those existing files? Once I fix my nandroid, I'm going to keep the nandroid backup in a safe place and I ideally want to have a completely clean phone to start from: That means getting rid of all those old files and other nonsense from before. Is this a possibility?
I'm going to spend my time today trying to extract data from my nandroid backups using ROM Toolbox Pro. If that doesn't work, I have a nandroid backup from the 31st that has 99% of the stuff I need so I'll try to restore that. If THAT doesn't work, then I'm going to cry myself to sleep while trying to remember all of my contacts
Wish me luck, and hopefully I can get some answers to my last few questions!
Thanks,
Opethfan89
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check my post here for twrp 2.5.0.2.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=47275165
You can flash it in your current recovery. It overwrites CWM. I would make sure you have a flashable for CWM just in case you need to go back for some reason. Also the backups between those 2 recoveries are not compatible. But I would nandroid with CWM before flashing twrp. I would also change were you recovery is pointing to for storage to the external SD if you haven't already. After you have cut your current backup and past it there. You can use rom toolbox pro to back up your contacts and restore it once you flash a new ROM.
Now as good advice going forward I would add your contacts to your Google account. That way when you flash new stuff or drop your phone in the toilet as soon as you add your Google account to the phone all those contacts will automatically download. But it is always a good idea to use tibu or rom toolbox pro to back up all your apps and seeing and use that after flashing roms to restore apps and settings.
But honestly I'd nandroid, move my contacts to Google, make app backups. Flash twrp. Then start flashing roms. You could be doing it in an hour. After you flash twrp make another nandroid so you have a twrp compatible backup. Then in a day or so of you are happy with everything delete the CWM backups for space.
Edit: as to extracting things from your current nandroid. Not sure if that is possible for one thing it is compressed not sure how that would work unless you are doing a full restore.
Also for future reference with TWRP. When restoring nandroid wipe like your flashing a new rom before restoring.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using xda app-developers app
Mightycaptain said:
Check my post here for twrp 2.5.0.2.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=47275165
You can flash it in your current recovery. It overwrites CWM. I would make sure you have a flashable for CWM just in case you need to go back for some reason. Also the backups between those 2 recoveries are not compatible. But I would nandroid with CWM before flashing twrp. I would also change were you recovery is pointing to for storage to the external SD if you haven't already. After you have cut your current backup and past it there. You can use rom toolbox pro to back up your contacts and restore it once you flash a new ROM.
Now as good advice going forward I would add your contacts to your Google account. That way when you flash new stuff or drop your phone in the toilet as soon as you add your Google account to the phone all those contacts will automatically download. But it is always a good idea to use tibu or rom toolbox pro to back up all your apps and seeing and use that after flashing roms to restore apps and settings.
But honestly I'd nandroid, move my contacts to Google, make app backups. Flash twrp. Then start flashing roms. You could be doing it in an hour. After you flash twrp make another nandroid so you have a twrp compatible backup. Then in a day or so of you are happy with everything delete the CWM backups for space.
Edit: as to extracting things from your current nandroid. Not sure if that is possible for one thing it is compressed not sure how that would work unless you are doing a full restore.
Also for future reference with TWRP. When restoring nandroid wipe like your flashing a new rom before restoring.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using xda app-developers app
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Click to collapse
Hey thanks again for your quick response!! I'm glad I checked this first, because I'm in my ROM Toolbox app atm and it has an option to let me install TWRP 2.5.0.2 from within the app itself. Should I do it this way?
I will be adding all contacts to Google from now on. Unfortunately I saved all my stuff to my Verizon backup assistant so I just need one last shot at my phone to save all those contacts (manually, if I must) and be able to enter them onto the new ROM.
By "flash it in your current recovery" I assume you mean download the .zip, place it on my internal /sdcard, and then "flash" it just like I would flash a ROM, right?
I'm sure I have a "flashable" for CWM somewhere but like I said, I haven't done any of this stuff on this phone since I first bought it, and things have changed so much with everyone having OTA's and being locked out that I'm not sure what process is the same or what has changed. I can't afford to lose this phone so I'm hesitant to go balls to the wall to try things.
I will try the things you've listed here. Seems like a nandroid + TiBu + Google Contacts is my best bet to get up and running each time I decide to try a new ROM.
Thanks again!
opethfan89 said:
Hey thanks again for your quick response!! I'm glad I checked this first, because I'm in my ROM Toolbox app atm and it has an option to let me install TWRP 2.5.0.2 from within the app itself. Should I do it this way?
I will be adding all contacts to Google from now on. Unfortunately I saved all my stuff to my Verizon backup assistant so I just need one last shot at my phone to save all those contacts (manually, if I must) and be able to enter them onto the new ROM.
By "flash it in your current recovery" I assume you mean download the .zip, place it on my internal /sdcard, and then "flash" it just like I would flash a ROM, right?
I'm sure I have a "flashable" for CWM somewhere but like I said, I haven't done any of this stuff on this phone since I first bought it, and things have changed so much with everyone having OTA's and being locked out that I'm not sure what process is the same or what has changed. I can't afford to lose this phone so I'm hesitant to go balls to the wall to try things.
I will try the things you've listed here. Seems like a nandroid + TiBu + Google Contacts is my best bet to get up and running each time I decide to try a new ROM.
Thanks again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Understand the hesitancy completely. But with nodding comes risk. It is always about whether you can accept the worst possible outcome.
Rom toolbox pro flashing recovery? I don't know never tried it.
Yes I would download the recovery. Leave it on SD card reboot to recovery and flash like a rom.
Yes nandroid tibu and saving your contacts to Google is the quickest way to get up and running again.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using xda app-developers app
Mightycaptain said:
Understand the hesitancy completely. But with nodding comes risk. It is always about whether you can accept the worst possible outcome.
Rom toolbox pro flashing recovery? I don't know never tried it.
Yes I would download the recovery. Leave it on SD card reboot to recovery and flash like a rom.
Yes nandroid tibu and saving your contacts to Google is the quickest way to get up and running again.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using xda app-developers app
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Click to collapse
Mighty, just wanted to report that flashing TWRP 2.5.0.2 from within ROM Toolbox Pro worked like a charm. I'm on TWRP as we speak.
Thank you so much for your responses. If anyone else has anything to add, or a different response to my questions, please do so! In the meantime, I'm going to try to figure out how to get my nandroid backup working...
Cheers!
*EDIT* Made a backup with TWRP (whose interface is bloody phenomenal, btw), flashed CWM and its working like a charm!! Going to try the st0ckdr0id one as well. Still working on getting that nandroid working so I can recover my stuff and get to customizing!
Hey,
1st post here at xda. I have a s3 running 4.12 , stock rom vodafone in ireland.
I installed CWM and rooted phone. Then done a backup with CWM.
I tried to install R5 stock rom from internal sd card, i selected the zip file and the installation started but had an error
i coulnd;t see.
At this stage i panicked a bit. I tried again but wiped internal sdcard in CWM before i started.
Now the phone wont boot to any OS (since tried to install 2 other custom roms from xda, both times screnn went blank after choosing installation options)
Cant recover backup as its no longer on internal sd card.
I can access CWM. Should I start by installing stock rom from samsung site ?
Am I doing the custom rom installation correct by using CWM to install from zip file in sd card ?
I tried to install roms with odin but its looking for tar file ?
thanks for reading,
Phil
You are heading for a hard brick by not understanding what you are doing.
Go and read all the sticky threads in general forum, then carefully follow the guide on how to return to stock.
Once you have your phone working again then install the latest recovery version (I'd suggest philz), backup your efs, then try again.
Read and understand before you hit go.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk
Flash custom rom with recovery or odin?
boomboomer said:
You are heading for a hard brick by not understanding what you are doing.
Go and read all the sticky threads in general forum, then carefully follow the guide on how to return to stock.
Once you have your phone working again then install the latest recovery version (I'd suggest philz), backup your efs, then try again.
Read and understand before you hit go.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
thanks. Read the general forum, was helpful. Its a great site, but in fairness there is so much information and some of it is conflicting to me, (maby i'm losing it!)
got the phone booting up again so happy days. will take my time and do backup before trying any custom roms.
After spending days reading how to flash custom roms, i'm still not getting how to 'flash custom rom' , as per the instructions i add zip to sd card then use custom recovery to run zip file ? Other places say to use odin, but every custom rom i've downloaded doesn't contain a tar file ?
Just want to improve battery life with a better rom, phone is 2 years old and battery isn;t the best.
thanks
Do your research before attempting things like this. I'm relatively new in flashing, before I began the first time I made sure I followed and understood every steps before proceeding, go check youtube for tutorial videos if you are really not sure, sometimes it pays being paranoid
philophilo said:
thanks. Read the general forum, was helpful. Its a great site, but in fairness there is so much information and some of it is conflicting to me, (maby i'm losing it!)
got the phone booting up again so happy days. will take my time and do backup before trying any custom roms.
After spending days reading how to flash custom roms, i'm still not getting how to 'flash custom rom' , as per the instructions i add zip to sd card then use custom recovery to run zip file ? Other places say to use odin, but every custom rom i've downloaded doesn't contain a tar file ?
Just want to improve battery life with a better rom, phone is 2 years old and battery isn;t the best.
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi there,
you've got to understand that your first post sounded like yo did not do your research at all, which generally tons of people don't do whining about
their bricked devices afterwards in the forums. If you don't understand what you do - don't do it.
Your original mistake was probably not properly wiping and/or formatting certain partitions (e.g. one forgotten wipe of system or data partition often puts your phone into BL, all depending on what version you come from & go to etc.) before flashing the zip from CWM (which is the way you usually flash custom ROMS, you're right).
Every ROM provides installation instructions which are to be follwed exactly. Never use a file not made for your specific device. Don't do anything before you know how to revert in case of disaster. Don't do anything before you got a full Nandroid & EFS backup both transferred to your PC. And again, understand what you do.
Memory loss after installing ROM
Benko111 said:
Hi there,
you've got to understand that your first post sounded like yo did not do your research at all, which generally tons of people don't do whining about
their bricked devices afterwards in the forums. If you don't understand what you do - don't do it.
Your original mistake was probably not properly wiping and/or formatting certain partitions (e.g. one forgotten wipe of system or data partition often puts your phone into BL, all depending on what version you come from & go to etc.) before flashing the zip from CWM (which is the way you usually flash custom ROMS, you're right).
Every ROM provides installation instructions which are to be follwed exactly. Never use a file not made for your specific device. Don't do anything before you know how to revert in case of disaster. Don't do anything before you got a full Nandroid & EFS backup both transferred to your PC. And again, understand what you do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks benko.
Installed philz recovery and done backup to ext sdcard (errored out was <1 G free space on card)
Done backup to internal sdcard - had about 7GB free
Copied recovery folder back to PC.
Installed Revolution ROM and afterwards noticed internal memory only 1GB
Am now copying the blob folder to PC.
Is this the case with all of the recoveries to use so much space doing a backup ?
Where do I read up on the 0 folder here, i've searched but there is so much info its a bit confusing.
0 folder
philophilo said:
thanks benko.
Installed philz recovery and done backup to ext sdcard (errored out was <1 G free space on card)
Done backup to internal sdcard - had about 7GB free
Copied recovery folder back to PC.
Installed Revolution ROM and afterwards noticed internal memory only 1GB
Am now copying the blob folder to PC.
Is this the case with all of the recoveries to use so much space doing a backup ?
Where do I read up on the 0 folder here, i've searched but there is so much info its a bit confusing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know the subject has been covered already, just looking for a thread where i can read in simply form about what to do.
I copied blob file to pc , freed up another 4 gb, OS and backups still taking up 12/16GB of internal storage without any user app or data , just not right.