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so i bricked my phone. fortunately though i was able to recover it. the question i have is, there was not a rom for my carrier i.e. cellsouth but there was one for another network(verizon), so i used that. btw my phone is a samsung showcase which is almost identical to the fascinate so i have no problems with it except seeing verizon as the network when i boot up or lock the screen. also when i check to see which carrier i'm on by dialing 611, i get cellsouth. i just dont want to incur any fees i dont know about,so im asking if there are any dangers using a rom from a different network???
No I do not believe that there is between cell south and verizon. I had a hero that ran on a sprint rom then my last phone was a milestone that I was using roms that where for the moto droid from verizon. But can I ask how you bricked your phone and what you did to fix it? I got a galaxy showcase and was trying to install a different kernel to help on the battery life and through odin I messed it up but was able to fix it by install eb11_voodoo.zip and Showcase_eb11_PnP_0.3. Well today I was going down the road and plugged my phone in the car charger and a few minutes later it just rebooted by itself. After that it did not have any service. I went under settings, about phone and it said unknown under several of the options. I took it to cell south after I tried several things and all they did was make it not even boot up. Now if I try to flash a rom from or kernel or anything at all from CWM v3.2.0.0.otb it says, Amen scripting was necessary to remove it when upgrading to the ClockworkMod 3.0 Gingerbread based recovery. Please switch to Edify scripting (updater-script and update-binary) to create working update zip packages. Installation aborted. Can somebody HELP me get back my phone???
to unbrick it
to unbrick samsung showcase.you need samsung drivers, search forums or google ,easy find.
READ COMPLETELY AND DOWNLOAD FILES FIRST BEFORE STARTING.btw follow guide at your own risk. take no responsibility for you bricking your phone.which you already did, i mean for other people lol. it will work if you do it right so dont panic...i think...well, i hope
1) remove battery
2)plug usb cable to computer
3)start odin-
3)connect usb to phone and press volume down same time to activate download mode-that is yellow triangle thing-you should see "added" in odin
4) then make sure repartition auto reboot,reset time are checked-all three
5)then for pit file choose http://www.mediafire.com/?26xbh796jmwvwqb
6)for pda, go to here and download from the link that has "ECLAIR".its suppose to be about 419.5 mb.http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1124391
btw a guy named adrenalyn i believe uploaded these files so thanks to him.
hope this guide helps in you figuring it out.basically summarizing all you need cause i was confused a little bit when i began and realized i messed my phone up.
let me know if this works for yah.half asleep while doing this
I think your actual question was kinda missed here so I will explain it to you. First the rom that you choose to use is not carrier based, but is device based, never flash a rom that is not for your brand and model of phone. The thing that matters for the carrier is the modem, that gives you phone, data, and messaging. The only way your phone will not be on your carriers network is if you go through the involved process of switching it over yourself. Usually if you put the wrong modem on your phone it just won't work, requiring you to find the proper odin program to flash, including repartitioning the phone to get it right again. Hope this answers your questions.
Yea Dale...that answers my question ty
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
Btw if anyone is curious..Samsung fascinate and showcase are both SCH-I500 (model) so I suppose they use the same roms
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
Roms yes, basically, modems NO.
Sent from my EC09 UKB GB Fascinate.
Yea I realized that after flashing fascinate modem to my showcase nd now my internet dont work
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
Hey guys!
Anyone know if there is some roms/kernels for our SGH-T959P yet and if so, where I can find them?! Seems that there is no love for you model
Max
is that the telus fascinate 4g?
Yes it is the telus fascinate 4G from Canada.. You can help me?
Thanks,
Max
Sent from my SGH-T959P using XDA App
I'm on a T959D (Fascinate 3G+), so unfortunately I can't help you. I'd just like to point out that there's no custom rom specific for our device as well (T959D). We instead use i9000 roms. There are some kernels specific for our device, but the i9000-ones work just as well (after a button fix)
I'd suggest trying out an i9000 rom, but since I'm not aware of the existence of stock rom/kernel files for the 4G phone, I'm not sure how safe it is
Yeah.. Im scared to bricked the phone so i will just wait till a rom come out for my specific phone. Thanks for the reply.
Max
Sent from my SGH-T959P using XDA App
Still waiting on a Rom or instructions on how to use another models ROM without bricking for our t959p also. I've had the phone about a month and it was fine at first, but now touchwiz is starting to get a little laggy
msheikh25 said:
Still waiting on a Rom or instructions on how to use another models ROM without bricking for our t959p also. I've had the phone about a month and it was fine at first, but now touchwiz is starting to get a little laggy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
switch to launcher pro (free)
you can change the dock icons to touchwiz ones if you like the color. my only gripe with it is that the dock buttons are tiny compared to touchwiz. but the interface is overall faster and less-choppy than touchwiz 3.0
Japots said:
switch to launcher pro (free)
you can change the dock icons to touchwiz ones if you like the color. my only gripe with it is that the dock buttons are tiny compared to touchwiz. but the interface is overall faster and less-choppy than touchwiz 3.0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! Just tried launcher pro and it seems really good. Previously I had tried ADW launcher but that one was even more choppy than Touchwiz so i reverted back to it. But launcher pro seems like it has all the customizations of ADW and works nice and smoothly.
Unbrick and Flash T-Mobile Galaxy S 4G firmware to T959P with Voodoo
Well, I bricked my T959P on Friday and by this morning I had it converted to a T-Mobile T959V Galaxy S 4G. Everything works too...wifi, GPS. Only real issue is it only gives me 3G in canada .... I am assuming because of a frequency difference or something in the modem firmware.
PM me if someone would like the rar file containing the instructions and all flash files. I am hoping someone posts the stock Telus kernel so I can experiment more with taking the phone back but I could not get root on my Telus Kernel so didn't have a proper backup of all files. Hopefully someone will post them but in the mean time I am enjoying a Telus T959P Fascinate 4G with T-Mobile Rooted firmware on it.
---------- Post added 20th September 2011 at 12:04 AM ---------- Previous post was 19th September 2011 at 11:40 PM ----------
I just did the unlock of the Telus T959P after recovering it from a brick using the nvram backup technique and then copied the backup to my computer. The code is in clear text on the T959P as well I am now at T-Mobile 2.3.4 KH2 with Voodoo and have a fully unlocked Telus T959P. Not a bad end result to some hard days.
vcmerritt said:
Well, I bricked my T959P on Friday and by this morning I had it converted to a T-Mobile T959V Galaxy S 4G. Everything works too...wifi, GPS. Only real issue is it only gives me 3G in canada .... I am assuming because of a frequency difference or something in the modem firmware.
PM me if someone would like the rar file containing the instructions and all flash files. I am hoping someone posts the stock Telus kernel so I can experiment more with taking the phone back but I could not get root on my Telus Kernel so didn't have a proper backup of all files. Hopefully someone will post them but in the mean time I am enjoying a Telus T959P Fascinate 4G with T-Mobile Rooted firmware on it.
---------- Post added 20th September 2011 at 12:04 AM ---------- Previous post was 19th September 2011 at 11:40 PM ----------
I just did the unlock of the Telus T959P after recovering it from a brick using the nvram backup technique and then copied the backup to my computer. The code is in clear text on the T959P as well I am now at T-Mobile 2.3.4 KH2 with Voodoo and have a fully unlocked Telus T959P. Not a bad end result to some hard days.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you are still on Telus in canada but now only getting 3g on it vs 4g like you were before you convereted it to Tmobile? How do you verify that, just by the speeds you are getting or are you not seeing one of the 850 or 1900 bands anymore? I don't think the phone actually shows "4G" in the status bar as far as I know. But I'm actually using the phone on ATT in the US (which uses the same bands as Telus) so maybe thats why I never see "4g". But I've gotten speeds as high as 7mb download which is about as fast as my wife's ATT branded HTC Inspire 4g gets.
Can you post the instructions and files for how you converted here so others can play around with it too? Hopefully this can be a good start to getting roms working on this phone. The Tmobile version is already more widely supported so what you did is a good way to get around it.
Still on Telus network with T959P on T-Mobile Firmware
Yep, still on the telus network. Maybe the Tmobile bin just doesn't show the 4G like the old Telus bin did because I am getting download speeds between 4 and 7Mbs.
In the end it was pretty easy (if I take away two days of seeing the phone go from bricked to partially booting). Here are the steps I followed, and I have repeated these to verify that they work as well. I still haven't found any issues with the phone except that it isn't recognized in Kies with the Tmobile software
Download the following files in the Tmobile section at Samfirmware.com:
T959VUVKH2_TMB.zip
T959VUVFK1.zip
This file can be found elsewhere. I had originally posted links but I am a new user so not allowed.
stock+Voodoo-T959VKH2.tar
Hawk_Sidekick_VibrantPlus_831.pit -- Can be found in the T959VUVFK1.zip file
Once you have downloaded the files above:
1) Extract the files with 7zip.
2) In the extracted files for T959VUVKH2. Find the CODE_T959VUVKF1_CL270364_REV00_user_low_noship.tar.mdf
3) Extract cache.rfs, factoryfs.rfs, modem.bin and zimage to a folder on your computer.
4) Now extract the T959VUVFK1.zip so that you can extract the file called CODE_T959VUVKF1_CL270364_REV00_user_low_noship.tar.md5 All we want out of this tar file is data.rfs which should be placed in the same folder as the files in step 3.
5) Now use Windows Tar to execute the following command line from the command line while you are in the same directory as the files you have extracted in steps 3 and 4 above:
tar -c cache.rfs data.rfs factoryfs.rfs modem.bin zimage > T959P Flash.tar
Flash the new file with ODIN
This should have created a new file called T959P Flash.tar. Simply flash this T959P Flash.tar file in Odin and your Telus phone will boot to TMobile 4G firmware. Make sure you put the T959P Flash.tar file in the PDA box in ODIN to flash it. Also make sure the Hawk_Sidekick_VibrantPlus_831.pit file is in the PIT box and the REPARTITION Checkbox is on.
Rooting your new TMobile firmware on the Telus T959P
Once this is done flash the stock+Voodoo-T959VKH2.tar file which will root, add voodoo and CWM the newly flashed device. Again just put the file in the PDA Box and flash it. FLASH this with NO PIT and REPARTITION NOT SELECTED.
Unlocking the Device
The last step is to use dd to backup the NVData, open it with a hex and use the search technique talked about on the forums to find the unlock code which works perfect as well.
Hopefully this helps someone else. There seem to be a lot of people like me who erronously flashed the regular Telus T959D firmware by accident or the Vibrant software which pretty much kills the T959P and bricks your device. This will get people back to a usable state and GPS, WIFI, 3G/4G and everything else seem to work....except the Kies connection which I sure will get figured out eventually. Maybe just a matter of exporting the device db entries out of a valid system so that kies will see it as a valid phone. Not quite there yet.
One last note. You apparently cannot completely brick the T959P in the sense that even when it is black the EEPROM will still boot to download mode. Just hold Power + the Volume UP Down button for 10 seconds, then let go of the power button and keep holding the volume up/down. If you have odin open you will eventually see it recognize the com port. May take a couple of tries but this made it easier for me to continue to flash it knowing that I could always flash another bin
msheikh25 said:
So you are still on Telus in canada but now only getting 3g on it vs 4g like you were before you convereted it to Tmobile? How do you verify that, just by the speeds you are getting or are you not seeing one of the 850 or 1900 bands anymore? I don't think the phone actually shows "4G" in the status bar as far as I know. But I'm actually using the phone on ATT in the US (which uses the same bands as Telus) so maybe thats why I never see "4g". But I've gotten speeds as high as 7mb download which is about as fast as my wive's ATT branded HTC Inspire 4g gets.
Can you post the instructions and files for how you converted here so others can play around with it too? Hopefully this can be a good start to getting roms working on this phone. The Tmobile version is already more widely supported so what you did is a good way to get around it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uploaded T-Mobile Rom for Telus T959
I have uploaded the files I used to convert my bricked Telus T959P to a Tmobile Galaxy S 4G. Instructions are provided earlier in the thread on how the files that are used were created. This is the rar with the exact end files that are flashed to my Telus phone. Just follow the instructions that came with the rar to upload and root the Tmobile software on your Telus phone.
I am not allowed to post links yet so PM me if anyone wants the mediafire link to the tried and tested Tmobile for Telus T959P files.
vcmerritt said:
Yep, still on the telus network. Maybe the Tmobile bin just doesn't show the 4G like the old Telus bin did because I am getting download speeds between 4 and 7Mbs. ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for posting the instructions! Sent you a PM to get the link to download files...although I'm not sure if I'm going to try this just yet. I want to try to get instructions and files for how to get it back to stock, Telus ROM before I probably do try these out. Do you happen to have those also?
My unlocked T959p on ATT only has network options of GSM or WCDMA (or both). And the icon in the notification area has never said 4g...always on 3g. But I also get speeds which ATT would claim to be 4g (upto 7Mbps). So you are probalby good.
As far as Kies goes, I've never used it but isn't it just used for software upgrades for your phone? And now that you have a different ROM on it, you will probably never need to use it right, just use updates from whoever manages the Voodoo ROM? So should be good there also.
Yeah, I punched my Telus sim that came with the T959P and put it in my Iphone 4. The speeds in the Iphone 4 seem way slower than with the same SIM in the Galaxy S 4 G (T959P) with the TMobile Galaxy S 4G firmware on it. I put it back into the whole I punched it out of and slid it back into the Galaxy S after testing on the Iphone to make sure the tests were done back to back and the Galaxy S 4G is consistently faster with the same SIM and 3G displayed in the menu bar.
I don't have original Telus Bin files so I can't go back and compare the Tmobile firmware speeds with the Telus T959P firmware speeds. Hopefully someone who has a rooted T959P on Stock Telus firmware will post a link to the stock firmware files so I can test this too.
So as a t959p owner who lives in Canada, is this a good idea for me? I guess not if it actually slows the data down... Can someone clarify this, I'm finding the comments a bit confusing here.? (and silly question... Any bt issues?) Interesting to note, I bought a tmobile sim card for my stock (2.3.4) unit while in the US for a couple weeks, and my data speed is about fifteen kbytes/second. Yes you read right. Customer support obviously is useless on that. So while modding it into a TMo sgs4g would quite likely get me back to multi MB/s for the rest of my trip, what would my data speed be when I get back to Alberta and put my Telus Sim back in? Maybe some experimenting would isolate the file that triggers this, and one could swap in the appropriate version when on each network.
And serious thanks for experimenting with this... This may finally get us people who bought T959Ps not realizing what a lonely device it is, back into the main modding scene. Exciting... maybe I'll stop wishing I'd bought an iPhone yet.
Also, I'll mention here again that I have a stock Telus T959P 2.3.3 firmware set that has been used to resurrect a handful of handsets (including mine) if anyone needs it. (pm me.)
Pooched T959P Saved
rryanosman said:
So as a t959p owner who lives in Canada, is this a good idea for me? I guess not if it actually slows the data down... Can someone clarify this, I'm finding the comments a bit confusing here.? (and silly question... Any bt issues?) Interesting to note, I bought a tmobile sim card for my stock (2.3.4) unit while in the US for a couple weeks, and my data speed is about fifteen kbytes/second. Yes you read right. Customer support obviously is useless on that. So while modding it into a TMo sgs4g would quite likely get me back to multi MB/s for the rest of my trip, what would my data speed be when I get back to Alberta and put my Telus Sim back in? Maybe some experimenting would isolate the file that triggers this, and one could swap in the appropriate version when on each network.
And serious thanks for experimenting with this... This may finally get us people who bought T959Ps not realizing what a lonely device it is, back into the main modding scene. Exciting... maybe I'll stop wishing I'd bought an iPhone yet.
Also, I'll mention here again that I have a stock Telus T959P 2.3.3 firmware set that has been used to resurrect a handful of handsets (including mine) if anyone needs it. (pm me.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
READ Thoroughly before you start, pay special attention to the last paragraph!!! I am not responsible if this goes wrong but if you are here, not sure what other options you have.......
This for anyone who has flashed the wrong software on their T959P:
NOTE: You NEED to use the PIT file for each flash.......
NOTE NOTE: NEVER FLASH WITH ANY OF THE THE CHECKBOXES ON, THEY NEED TO BE BLANK READ BELOW THE STEPS!!!!!
1. Get the factory firmware, I have a copy as does rryanosman who sent it to me
2. If you don't have it get ODIN
3. Extract the .rar I recommend 7zip
4. Start Odin, put phone in download mode right after connecting
5. Put factory.tar in PDA slot, Flash the factory tar, wait for Odin to pass, power down phone while still connected
6. Disconnect, take out battery, reset Odin.
7. Back to download mode after plugging in the phone.
8. Put the zimage.tar file in the PDA slot, Flash the zimage.tar file, wait for Odin to pass, power down phone while still connected.
9. Disconnect, take out battery, reset Odin.
10. Back to download mode after plugging in the phone.
11. Put the paramalfs.tar in the PDA slot, Flash the paramalfs.tar file, wait for Odin to pass, power down phone while still connected.
12. Disconnect, take out battery, reset Odin.
13. Back to download mode after plugging in the phone.
14. Put the boot.bin file in the phone slot and flash, wait for Odin to pass, power down phone while still connected.
15. Disconnect, take out battery, reset Odin.
16. Back to download mode after plugging in the phone.
17. Put the sbl.bin file in the phone slot, and flash, wait for Odin to pass, power down phone while still connected.
18. Disconnect, take out battery, reset Odin.
19. Back to download mode after plugging in the phone.
18. Put the modem.bin in the phone slot, and flash, wait for Odin to pass, power down phone while still connected.
19. Disconnect, take out battery.
20. Put battery back in power up phone, you should have a running phone with 2.2.1 foyo
OPTIONAL: Update with Kies to 2.3.4 Gingerbread.
If you do ANY flash with the checkboxes on, especially the repartition, be prepared to break into a cold sweat, your phone will only show a white screen, no download mode, no recovery just WHITE!!!
The good news is if you hold volume up and power, while watching Odin it will still recognize the phone (com will be yellow) the phone will only have the white screen. From here you need to start from step 1 again, make sure you clear the checkboxs!!!! I personally did this 3 times before I brought my phone back to life!!!
Again special thanks to rryanosman without his help I'd have a $500 paperweight.
Link to files:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=78ZUOM2T
Technically if you're unticking repartition you're not even using the .pit file.
The intermediate steps (ie, disconnecting, removing the battery and restarting odin) are a bit unnecessary but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to be extra cautious.
White screen of Death
infinite-alternity said:
Technically if you're unticking repartition you're not even using the .pit file.
The intermediate steps (ie, disconnecting, removing the battery and restarting odin) are a bit unnecessary but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to be extra cautious.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was watching as Odin started processing, it read the pit file each time I flashed a file. I actually tried to flash without disconnecting and nothing happened, Odin reported 0 success/0 failed, that is why I did the intermediate steps (at least in the state my phone was in). Also at the end of the first time I tried, I was flashing the modem.bin and forgot to untick the repartition, which gave me a nice white screen, I had to reboot with volume up and power to get to the download screen (couldn't actually see it because the screen was still white) I only knew I was in download because Odin recognized the phone.
Gage_Hero said:
I was watching as Odin started processing, it read the pit file each time I flashed a file. I actually tried to flash without disconnecting and nothing happened, Odin reported 0 success/0 failed, that is why I did the intermediate steps (at least in the state my phone was in). Also at the end of the first time I tried, I was flashing the modem.bin and forgot to untick the repartition, which gave me a nice white screen, I had to reboot with volume up and power to get to the download screen (couldn't actually see it because the screen was still white) I only knew I was in download because Odin recognized the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It reads the .pit file but it doesn't write it. Since the correct partition table is (presumably) right on your phone already (otherwise it wouldn't boot and you'd have to repartition anyway) it essentially does nothing. I've successfully flashed back to 2.2 Froyo from 2.3.4 Gingerbread without the .pit file.
A little bit more about the .pit file: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=878104
It's generally just a good idea not to use the .pit file unless you've used a custom ROM that has overwritten the phone's original 512 setup. It's harmless if repartition is unchecked, but you don't need the file anyway. Re-partitioning overwrites the bootloaders, so if something goes wrong during one, it will be harder to recover from than your usual soft brick. Also, the .pit file that comes with the phone is likely faulty (a possible problem with using Rotobackup: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=850359 ) which resulted in the white screen when attempting to repartition.
I guess the intermediate steps are of the optional, YMMV variety. It doesn't hurt to try to boot to download mode and flash again without going through the extra steps and then trying them if it doesn't work.
Link to files:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/wduza3o79w3boa6/Galaxy 4G Files.zip[/QUOTE]
hey man i keep getting a crc error
Okay, just to start things off, I have been searching for a solution to my problem for like the last 2 weeks and have not been able to make any progress. Even so, there is a chance I have missed something out there. If I have, I'm sincerely sorry for clogging up xda with another thread. Feel free to flame and or point to a different source.
Now, on the the main deal
I have a totally stock Samsung sgh i727 skyrocket running ics 4.0.4, and am on on a t-mobile mvno called platnumtel. I really don't like having all the residual at&t stuff on my phone, plus I'd like to have more control over my phone and try some custom roms. I have read many different ways to do this, but because I'm on a mac most of them don't apply to me. I've tried easy root from shabby penguin, but when I try to run the script it doesn't work. I later noticed that it doesn't specify what version of android it's for, so I'm assuming it won't work with ics. I also downloaded heimdall (I've tried versions 1.3.1 and 1.3.2) and have screwed around with that, but when I try download the PIT file to my desktop, it gives me an "ERROR claiming interface failed" message. And yes, I do have usb debugging enabled and have placed my device in download mode. I also searched for some way of flashing CWM onto my device, but only found good directions for using odin.
So, basically what I want to do is:
- Safely Root my device (doing everything the right way, nandroid backups, whatever)
- have the ability to try some different roms, once again without screwing anything up.
Sorry if I've left out any details, if you can point them out I'll do my best to add them quickly.
Thank you!!
Hey all!
Wanting to upgrade my firmware from ICS to Jelly Bean (as a definite noob, though having flashed firmwares before) I opened Odin and added what I considered the correct .tar file from Sammobile in the PDA field. In short, it failed and I thought I had a new brick*. Following Phistacio's guide to fixing an unflashable GSII I've now got my phone back (woohoo!!), but am stupid enough to want to give it another go!
My question really, is what could have gone wrong, and more largely, what are the variable errors that us noobs make when trying to flash? I'm using Odin, but it seems using a CWM (is this the correct term?!) might now be the chosen route to flashing?
I'm rooted, on an unlocked GSII, recently moved from O2 to Everything Everywhere (T-Mob), currently using an O2 issued ICS, stock kernel and tried flashing Jelly Bean from Sammobile.
So what's critical here? Is my carrier relevant? Is it not possible to go from some firmwares to others? Do I need a different kernel for some firmwares? Or is my mistake in thinking it's as straight forward as I'd like, when in fact all the above make a critical difference in which firmware I can flash, and therefore I should stop trying??!
Thanks in advance for any light you can shed!
*I think I was softbricked - could enter download mode but not recovery, flashing would hang on either "Nand write start!!" or Sbl.bin or Cache.img.
my two cents
Hi joelinit,
First of all, should congratulate you on taking the first step of flashing the roms..
Second, good you got an issue while flashing. It helps you understand the intricacies better once you try to solve it yourself.
You need not worry about the brick. Try flashing back to stock rom available from sammobile using Odin(3.04). (United Kingdom (O2) 2013 March 4.1.2 PDA-I9100XWLSD CSC-I9100O2ULS7). Yes carrier is important as Modem file differs based on which carrier you use.
This will fix the recovery and will get you on stock JellyBean.
but it seems using a CWM (is this the correct term?!) might now be the chosen route to flashing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CWM is clockworkmod recovery which provides options for flashing custom roms(CM10, SlimRom, NeatRom etc, there are so many).
So what's critical here? Is my carrier relevant? Is it not possible to go from some firmwares to others? Do I need a different kernel for some firmwares? Or is my mistake in thinking it's as straight forward as I'd like, when in fact all the above make a critical difference in which firmware I can flash, and therefore I should stop trying??!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Searching in sammobile for firmwares you will find different firmwares for different carriers. You can flash a UK firmware for some other country, but might have issues with call reception, 3G connectivity, etc. as the modem files are different.
It is possible to go from some firmwares to others.
Stock Roms come with Stock Kernels. When you flash a ROM, kernel will remain the same.
You need to change kernels if your phone is consuming too much battery, crashes etc. This normally happens after flashing custom roms as the kernel is not capable enough to handle the updates in the rom.
Dont stop trying, you will love your phone, once you start flashing the awesome roms,kernels found in xda.
Cheers,
Maddy
Galaxy S2 || CM10.1 nightly 4.2.2 || Dorimanx 9.24
Most of the above is good advice. ....apart from the kernel bit.......
All custom roms and firmwares come with their own optimised kernels. These kernels get flashed during the rom/firmware flash. You can choose to install a custom kernel after you have flashed your chosen rom/fw. Custom kernels offer more control over your OS. All custom kernels offer cwm or twrp (depending on the kernel) and will root an unrooted phone. Most need to be Odin flashed, but some (PhilZ) can be flashed via stock recovery........
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app
Hey guys! Thanks so much for the friendly replies - I thought I might have got abuse as a noob, possibly asking very repetitve questions!!
So then with my recovered GSII, I decided to give it another blast and, inevitably, it's bricked again! Seems to be the same bahaviour - though instead of hanging on either "Nand write start!!" or Sbl.bin or Cache.img., it's failing on them. And this time, I can't seem to fix it,following Phistacio's guide to fixing an unflashable GSII .
I also tried flashing that firmware you suggested (although as I mentioned, I'm now on T-Mobile, not O2? So also tried T-Mobile's Jelly Bean), though with no success.
To clarify, I've installed Kies, then closed down all Kies processes, started Odin and put the .tar file into the PDA field, left Re-Partition unchecked, with both Auto Reboot and F.Reset Time checked, connected my phone and waited for Odin to recognise it, then pressed Start!
Can you suggest anything obvious that I've done wrong or suggest what I should do next? Thanks so much in advance!
4 things to try.....
Use the original usb cable. ..
Try different usb ports on your pc....
Disable any firewalls......
If you are running windows 7, open odin as an administrator. .....
Oh and a fifth suggestion.....
Try different odin versions...
Edit.....Don't ever flash/select pit
And don't select repartition......
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app
These steps are originally posted by MistahBungle. Follow all these steps, he knows what he's talking about.
*Must run Odin as administrator in Windoze.
*Ensure Kies & it's processes aren't running in Windoze task manager. Kill them if they are.
*Try different USB ports; you must be using a 'powered' or mainboard port.
*Try different USB cables (particularly the cable that came with the phone if you're not using it now)
*Try different versions of Odin (search on here/Google)
*Uninstall Kies, reboot, redownload & reinstall it, reboot, try the flash again.
*Turn off antivirus/antispyware/antimalware.
*Check the rom/kernel you download for corruption. Either check the MD5 sum if you have it (use md5summer or similar), if you don't have the md5 sum or can't check it, programs like 7Zip, IZarc, WinRar, etc will allow you to 'test' the rom file you download. If there are any errors/any of the files fail the test, bad download. Try again/try downloading with a different internet connection if it keeps happening.
*Run Windoze Update.
*And if all these steps fail, try a different PC. And if it won't work first go on a 2nd PC, go thru the above steps on that PC. Still doesn't work ? User error (will be almost impossible to say what given we're not there looking over your shoulder, almost always something very obvious being missed) or borked phone - return to service centre or local mobile shop.
I suspect many cases where people (say) they do all the above & still can't get it to work involve problems with the USB ports on the machines they're using. Something along the lines of the port is unable to maintain a constant connection between PC & phone; if that connection drops for even a millisecond (probably not even long enough to be registered as a broken connection by the PC in the normal way), you end up with a constantly failing flash at best and a bad flash which borks your phone at worst.
Obviously the only way I'd be able to test the theory would be to examine/test a bunch of PC's belonging to people who experience this issue, but I've given this issue a lot of thought over the past 18 mths & it's the best explanation I've got for those instances where people are being completely honest about having tried all the steps over & over and on multiple machines (a very very small % of people, most people either simply don't do every step over & over and say they do, or they forget they've forgotten they did A, B & C but not F) & still find they can't flash successfully (and it isn't a case of the phone being borked).
See how you go with that.
Sent from my GT-I9100: Powered by Dorimanx, running RootBox
Thanks so much for all these useful replies - really was expecting to get fobbed off for my noob questions! What a nice community!
I'll try all the above and report back. I have successfully flashed on this computer before and did manage to restore the phone last time, though perhaps the cable is faulty and slightly intermittent? I'm using the USB port that's connected to the mother board too.
Thanks again...
Quite possible. And impossible to diagnose unless you strip the cable (which is pointless given fixing a $10 cable is a waste of time/effort). Go thru the steps Hopper listed (with multiple PC's if necessary) & definitely try a new cable if you need to. Try to get an original Samsung one if you possibly can; for some reason switching to one magically solves this problem for some people when nothing else seems to work.
joelinit said:
perhaps the cable is faulty and slightly intermittent?
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MistahBungle said:
Quite possible. And impossible to diagnose unless you strip the cable (which is pointless given fixing a $10 cable is a waste of time/effort). Go thru the steps Hopper listed (with multiple PC's if necessary) & definitely try a new cable if you need to. Try to get an original Samsung one if you possibly can; for some reason switching to one magically solves this problem for some people when nothing else seems to work.
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Thanks! Yeah the cable will be the first thing I'll try changing. It's odd that the flash seems to fail at the same point each time though, kind of implying that it's not an intermitted cable? Unless this particular cable is falling short at those particular functions or something?
Anyway, thanks again - I'm actually kinda enjoying learning about my phone, even though there's the fear it's now a brick!! Fingers crossed that's not the case though...
Well how about that - change the USB cable, and flashes successfully first time round! What a fool! I did also remove the battery/sim for the night and left the sim out during the flash - wonder if that made any difference too?
Thanks so much for all your friendly and helpful replies - I think I'll be sticking around this forum and searching for some custom ROMs to try out!
Happy Wednesdays all...
joelinit said:
Well how about that - change the USB cable, and flashes successfully first time round! What a fool! I did also remove the battery/sim for the night and left the sim out during the flash - wonder if that made any difference too?
Thanks so much for all your friendly and helpful replies - I think I'll be sticking around this forum and searching for some custom ROMs to try out!
Happy Wednesdays all...
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Good job, glad you got it working keep reading up before you do anything else. The more you read, the better you'll get at all this
Sent from my GT-I9100: Powered by Dorimanx, running RootBox
Hopper8 said:
Good job, glad you got it working keep reading up before you do anything else. The more you read, the better you'll get at all this
Sent from my GT-I9100: Powered by Dorimanx, running RootBox
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Will do! Looking forward to exploring new firmwares so will get as clued up as poss! Have now successfully flashed SentinelROM and loving having a "new" phone! Much more exploring to come.
Thanks v.much to all who've helped me in this thread...
Hi all,
Was on Slim Bean 4.2.2 Build 7, but encountered a boot loop for some reason. So I proceeded to flash the stock roms (4.1.2) as listed. Tried several times flashing different roms on that page (just flashing the PDA file), but to no avail. Odin always says that the flash is successful, but the boot loop still continues. Does anyone have any advice on how to get past this boot loop? Thank you so much!
Short of persevering (I.E try different stock roms - different Android versions, released by different carriers), try Hopper8's 'Odin won't flash' thread. Though it appears your flash has been successful, something is obviously not right (almost impossible to say what that might be given we're not there with you watching over your shoulder). Stuff like trying different cables, different USB ports, uninstalling/reinstalling Kies & even different PC's is worth trying (and other stuff in his thread). Also, try flashing a 3 part stock rom (as per Hopper's thread), this should wipe any 'remnants' which might be causing the issue you're seeing & might work (maybe try this first).
Also, I'm going to ask the obvious - if recovery is working, have you booted into recovery after flashing & done a wipe ? Obviously if you have no recovery you won't be able to do this.
Thanks for the reply. I have tried going into recovery mode, but to no avail.
Would I be able to flash a 3 part rom if I just flashed a stock rom? Just wanted to make sure I don't brick it.
A three part rom is a stock rom, but unlike a one part rom which you flash in the PDA section of Odin, the CSC file will wipe your phone in the process, which is what we want if we're working with the theory you flashing one part stock roms up until now seems to be 'leaving something behind' which might be causing persistent bootloops.
If you're worried about bricking your phone, take it to a service centre & pay to have it fixed (All they'll do is try & flash a stock rom/wipe the phone which you're capable of doing for free yourself). You're looking for a simple fix, there isn't one. If you persevere, you'll fix it eventually. This has been the experience on here over the past 2 yrs or so.
MistahBungle said:
A three part rom is a stock rom, but unlike a one part rom which you flash in the PDA section of Odin, the CSC file will wipe your phone in the process, which is what we want if we're working with the theory you flashing one part stock roms up until now seems to be 'leaving something behind' which might be causing persistent bootloops.
If you're worried about bricking your phone, take it to a service centre & pay to have it fixed (All they'll do is try & flash a stock rom/wipe the phone which you're capable of doing for free yourself). You're looking for a simple fix, there isn't one. If you persevere, you'll fix it eventually. This has been the experience on here over the past 2 yrs or so.
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Thank you MistahBungle! For some reason, a three part rom did the trick. Not sure why though. But I'm so grateful for your help!
There you go. Our theory re: previous flashes leaving something behind must have been right. You're welcome Glad you got it sorted.
darknezx said:
Thank you MistahBungle! For some reason, a three part rom did the trick. Not sure why though.
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Good for you! Please add [SOLVED] to the title of your post then.
"To err is human, to forgive is divine."
Sent from my SGS II