[Q] How to replace Chinese firmware with European one - Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I have bought a SGS2 in China. It comes with Chinese firmware (has English language though) but mostly with Chinese software and without Android Market. So it does not sync with Google, searches go through Baidu, I can't find and install most apps so it's essentially not very fun to use.
I have been trying to exchange the Chinese firmware for European firmware using ODIN.
Sadly, this seems not to work: the flashing always fails, leaving my phone bricked until I reflash the Chinese firmware (which works fine). This Chinese firmware has a different format, i.e. there are no CSC, MODEM and CODE tarballs. Instead there is one single tarbar containing the following files
boot.bin
cache.img
factoryfs.img
hidden.img
modem.bin
param.lfs
Sbl.bin
zImage
I would be terribly grateful if someone could help me make my 500 euro phone useful, or at least I would like someone to tell me why this firmware cannot simply be installed on this phone.

ownhere --yeah the guy making googlemap mods -- is now making sgs2 rom based on china sgs2 rom
Go get it here

Thanks, but will this enable the Android market? It doesn't say so in the Chinese translated through Google Translate.. :/

umm.. i thought u can read chi ..
It will enable market for sure. Here's 2 captured pics of that rom
It's in Chinese but u may still recognize the market icon @ second line together with some other GG stuffs.
said Non-officially , china version i9100 has some easy-to-brick problem rooting and flashing eu/hk rom, so maybe u should try this ownhere rom.

Thanks! This sounds really promising! Does it support English language still? I'll try as soon as possible!

yeah every android handset supports english locale I guess.
like ur china version does.

Thanks again. By the way, why is it that Chinese I9100 models have this problem? Is it a different filesystem? How have they managed to block EU firmware from a phone whose hardware ought to be identical?
Does it have anything to do with the processor not being a Tegra2?

Oh delicious man! It works! So far at least, I've been able to add a Google account and download apps from the Android market. I'm the happiest person on the planet. 100% fact*
*probably

no idea.
It's a "It's said".
lol

Cool. I've been playing with it for a bit and am quite happy with it.
Some problems still remain, though.
1 The Reader's Hub and Social Hub are gone, not that I care that much
2 The MediaHub still only offers Chinese services, might want YouTube there
3 I don't find a phone software update button in the settings menu anymore (do I manually have to check for updates to this mod? Probably)
4 Adding a Credit Card to Google Market makes it become unresponsive (before I even am allowed to enter a card number). Might work better back in Europe.
5 I am now using a custom rom. I feel more comfortable with stock roms. I don't want to sound ungrateful but would love to know why I cannot simply flash European stock roms and how I could circumvent the barrier.
But a big thanks so far, it actually makes my phone usable and the GPS fix is fast as **** now!

Same as you all : look for a google open rom to flash on chinese I9100
Dear gluppfisk, You are a happy one with this cooked rom, accepted on chinese I9100, but including sone open application (google, market, ...).
But the link in the thread for this rom is now dead.
Is there someobe to reawke such a link ?

sspslv said:
dear gluppfisk, you are a happy one with this cooked rom, accepted on chinese i9100, but including sone open application (google, market, ...).
But the link in the thread for this rom is now dead.
Is there someobe to reawke such a link ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1111111 please
and a little words about how u did it, google translator makes me crazy

screem_3 said:
+1111111 please
and a little words about how u did it, google translator makes me crazy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, it's a little hard to understand via google translate... I clicked on the link for http://u.115.com/file/dn6hgajt... and then had to ask a friend in China to translate. Those are in the attached jpg's, below.

bluppfisk said:
This Chinese firmware has a different format, i.e. there are no CSC, MODEM and CODE tarballs. Instead there is one single tarbar containing the following files
boot.bin
cache.img
factoryfs.img
hidden.img
modem.bin
param.lfs
Sbl.bin
zImage
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All official stock rom has only 1 tar file, containing the same files as above.

bluppfisk said:
Cool. I've been playing with it for a bit and am quite happy with it.
Some problems still remain, though.
1 The Reader's Hub and Social Hub are gone, not that I care that much
2 The MediaHub still only offers Chinese services, might want YouTube there
3 I don't find a phone software update button in the settings menu anymore (do I manually have to check for updates to this mod? Probably)
4 Adding a Credit Card to Google Market makes it become unresponsive (before I even am allowed to enter a card number). Might work better back in Europe.
5 I am now using a custom rom. I feel more comfortable with stock roms. I don't want to sound ungrateful but would love to know why I cannot simply flash European stock roms and how I could circumvent the barrier.
But a big thanks so far, it actually makes my phone usable and the GPS fix is fast as **** now!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am in the same boat as you! Well, actually my brother is, he got a chinese SII from a friend, and I bought myself a european SII a few days ago, he definitly would like to have a regular EU SII
So +1 for you, looking for the same things

Hello there,
I have the same problem as OP, and i'd also like to know a way to flash this chinese SGSII with an european rom/custom rom (such as superfast litening rom).
Thanks !

mr_pause said:
Hello there,
I have the same problem as OP, and i'd also like to know a way to flash this chinese SGSII with an european rom/custom rom (such as superfast litening rom).
Thanks !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
M.Pause...
I have the same issue. Bought in China, tried to load non-china ROM and soft-bricked my phone. After much research, it seems that the Chinese have locked out a good deal of the functionality from their version of the SGS2 and blocked the ability to download a non-chinese ROM to the phone. I keep hoping someone will figure out a way around this--like to repartition the phone and add a different boot loader... or something like that.
In the meantime, your best bet is to go to onwhere's website: http://bbs.gfan.com/maintain.html?20110906. This person apparently doesn't like that the chinese have them locked out of google marketplace. They have a hacked ROM that you can load into the phone and get most of your needed functionality. It's not great, but it's better than nothing. FYI, onwhere is chinese and so it the page. You'll need to go through google translate or the like. I also have some screen shots earlier in this thread that have some of the download links translated. You might want to check them out.
If you manage to figure out a different way around this, would you mind shooting me a message on this forum?
Thanks, G.

gmstrollo said:
M.Pause...
I have the same issue. Bought in China, tried to load non-china ROM and soft-bricked my phone. After much research, it seems that the Chinese have locked out a good deal of the functionality from their version of the SGS2 and blocked the ability to download a non-chinese ROM to the phone. I keep hoping someone will figure out a way around this--like to repartition the phone and add a different boot loader... or something like that.
In the meantime, your best bet is to go to onwhere's website: [strange forum rules]. This person apparently doesn't like that the chinese have them locked out of google marketplace. They have a hacked ROM that you can load into the phone and get most of your needed functionality. It's not great, but it's better than nothing. FYI, onwhere is chinese and so it the page. You'll need to go through google translate or the like. I also have some screen shots earlier in this thread that have some of the download links translated. You might want to check them out.
If you manage to figure out a different way around this, would you mind shooting me a message on this forum?
Thanks, G.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, my phone is already flashed with onwhere's rom.
It's somewhat unstable and doing strange things sometimes, but it works.
If i find something i'll post here.

i got my sgs2 in malaysia it support chinese and english. my rom version is xwkf1 2.3.3(singapore ver) , think of flashing the lastest 2.3.4 which is europe rom . does europe lastest rom support chinese ?

It's still right here.
http://bbs.gfan.com/android-2099143-1-1.html

Related

How to install Market on Chinese Atrix

Hi all, noob here.
Am hoping I am posting in the right section. Apologies if not.
Ok... I am an expat living in Beijing and just bought an Atrix here. Trouble is, Chinese android phones have Android Market removed. I rooted the phone using gingerbreak and have managed to install one or two apk files. However, Android Market won't install. On top of that, many pre-installed apps such as the maps etc are in Chinese and moto navi gives me instructions in Chinese. Even the browsers often redirect to Chinese pages.
So I have two questions:
1) Is it possible to simply get rid of the Chinese OS (ROM? Firmware? Is that right?) and replace it with, say, a US or UK version?
2) If not, how can I get android market working?
Any ideas gratefully received!
Oh and the phone seems to be running android 2.2.2 which I believe is not the version run by non-Chinese Atrixes.
idk about all that but you i think you should def ask the people in your area . because im pretty sure most of us are in the us but maybe try to get a update for your market and just try to get a international rom ?
Thanks. Unfortunately I am also a noob in Chinese too so that's a bit tricky. The international rom thing sounds ideal but I don't know where to get it or how to install it.
evo5dave said:
Thanks. Unfortunately I am also a noob in Chinese too so that's a bit tricky. The international rom thing sounds ideal but I don't know where to get it or how to install it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
read this post here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1154600 maybe that will clear things up .
Thanks very much: that's a really helpful link! So if I install a stock Gingerbread ROM (my phone actually came with 2.2.2) does that ROM include all the preinstalled stuff such as Android Market etc? In other words, would doing so remove all the Chinese stuff from my phone and replace it with the standard stuff from whatever region the ROM is from? If so, that's what I think I need to do.
evo5dave said:
Thanks very much: that's a really helpful link! So if I install a stock Gingerbread ROM (my phone actually came with 2.2.2) does that ROM include all the preinstalled stuff such as Android Market etc? In other words, would doing so remove all the Chinese stuff from my phone and replace it with the standard stuff from whatever region the ROM is from? If so, that's what I think I need to do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any stock ROM will have the Android Market.
And yes it will remove all of your stuff on your phone and replace it with a fresh install of whatever is on that stock ROM...
Sent from my GT-I9000 using xda premium
Awesome. Thanks very much. Will try to get it done this weekend.

Roms , Rooting , CWM , Nandroid , I'm confused!

Hi ,
Please excuse me because I'm n00b at Android hacking and I just need to understand many mysterious things , please help if you can .
My Battery drains despite I bought the phone days ago ! So I decided to install a new ROM and it should solve many problems including the battery one now I have some question :
1. Why installing a new rom must completely WIPE all data/apps/media ! for a phone the GS2 the internal storage is everything , so what to do ! how to backup all apps and their data , camera photos , songs and videos , and why to suffer all that to just install a new rom ??!
2. How to root the phone so I can install a new ROM ? in the CF-Root thread there is no rooted kernel fits my model ( JPKH1 2.3.3 Middle Eastern )
3. Google uses CSC to push updates ( through Samsung ) and uses SIM to determine the Market ( then redirects me to a rubbish Egyptian one which have 10% of the US market apps ) , why is that ? I didn't even get the new market till now.
4. Which ROM to choose ? please don't say "It's up to you " there are tons of them and they look all great, that's another confusing thing .
5. If rooting voids your warranty, and you need to be rooted to use Nandroid to fully backup stock ROM so you can go back to it and use Warrenty ! how come ?
6. Camera is rubbish when talking about Night Recording , even using Full HD recording results a crappy videos , My Ex-iPhone 4 was much better wth only 5MB and 720p only, it has no auto-focus too.
7. Why does google keeps some apps on their market that's labeled "Requires Root" ( MarketEnabler and others )
I hope you 'll help me to understand all this hacking process because I just moved from iPhone
Thanks in Advance
Before posting use search button
1. Use some backup software (I personally use Titanium Backup donate to backup my apps and settings, and MyBackup Pro for sms and call logs)
If you can find a way to install ROMs without wiping ur current stock Rom and data let us know otherwise stop complaining
2. Learn how to use search button
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1246131
3. Stop complaining
4. Read user reviews for each Rom, if you are so lazy go and buy a nokia phone
5. You can restore your Stock Rom anytime you want (Actually READ the link i gave you and thank the OP)
6. You know what go and get you iPhone 4 back and stop complaining, there is plenty of apps in Andoid market but i guess you are so lazy to search even for an app
7. Man Rooting allows to some app to unleash it full potential
I hope it was a helpful reply, and btw i got my SGS II 4 days ago, i had an X10 before, pretty decent device, retired now
So welcome to Android, Apple fanboy
aatkco said:
Hi ,
Please excuse me because I'm n00b at Android hacking and I just need to understand many mysterious things , please help if you can .
Guide
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1125282
My Battery drains despite I bought the phone days ago ! So I decided to install a new ROM and it should solve many problems including the battery one now I have some question :
Completely wrong .
1. Why installing a new rom must completely WIPE all data/apps/media ! for a phone the GS2 the internal storage is everything , so what to do ! how to backup all apps and their data , camera photos , songs and videos , and why to suffer all that to just install a new rom ??!
Dont install the rom its your choice . If you bothered to read up you would have backed up first .
2. How to root the phone so I can install a new ROM ? in the CF-Root thread there is no rooted kernel fits my model ( JPKH1 2.3.3 Middle Eastern )
You do not root to install a new rom .
Root + CWM .
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1103399
Read the section regarding versions in the basic instructions ,
3. Google uses CSC to push updates ( through Samsung )
and uses SIM to determine the Market ( then redirects me to a rubbish Egyptian one which have 10% of the US market apps ) , why is that ? I didn't even get the new market till now.
Thats nonsense .Your update is determined by your product code .
4. Which ROM to choose ? please don't say "It's up to you " there are tons of them and they look all great, that's another confusing thing .
Its up to you but you could read the hundreds of what rom to choose posts ,
5. If rooting voids your warranty, and you need to be rooted to use Nandroid to fully backup stock ROM so you can go back to it and use Warrenty ! how come ?
Rooting voids your warranty as does custom roms Samsung rules .
6. Camera is rubbish when talking about Night Recording , even using Full HD recording results a crappy videos , My Ex-iPhone 4 was much better wth only 5MB and 720p only, it has no auto-focus too.
Complain to Samsung .
7. Why does google keeps some apps on their market that's labeled "Requires Root" ( MarketEnabler and others )
They wont work without root market is not a locked down Apple product free choice rules .
I hope you 'll help me to understand all this hacking process because I just moved from iPhone
GO Back .
jje
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
aatkco said:
Hi ,
Please excuse me because I'm n00b at Android hacking and I just need to understand many mysterious things , please help if you can .
My Battery drains despite I bought the phone days ago ! So I decided to install a new ROM and it should solve many problems including the battery one now I have some question :
1. Why installing a new rom must completely WIPE all data/apps/media ! for a phone the GS2 the internal storage is everything , so what to do ! how to backup all apps and their data , camera photos , songs and videos , and why to suffer all that to just install a new rom ??!
2. How to root the phone so I can install a new ROM ? in the CF-Root thread there is no rooted kernel fits my model ( JPKH1 2.3.3 Middle Eastern )
3. Google uses CSC to push updates ( through Samsung ) and uses SIM to determine the Market ( then redirects me to a rubbish Egyptian one which have 10% of the US market apps ) , why is that ? I didn't even get the new market till now.
4. Which ROM to choose ? please don't say "It's up to you " there are tons of them and they look all great, that's another confusing thing .
5. If rooting voids your warranty, and you need to be rooted to use Nandroid to fully backup stock ROM so you can go back to it and use Warrenty ! how come ?
6. Camera is rubbish when talking about Night Recording , even using Full HD recording results a crappy videos , My Ex-iPhone 4 was much better wth only 5MB and 720p only, it has no auto-focus too.
7. Why does google keeps some apps on their market that's labeled "Requires Root" ( MarketEnabler and others )
I hope you 'll help me to understand all this hacking process because I just moved from iPhone
Thanks in Advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, sounds like to me your not ready to start flashing roms and rooting.
First get used to your new device and read some more on these forums. Then maybe in a couple of months if you still want to flash a custom rom, when your more familiar with android, choose a rom and flash away. If your not happy with the rom you choose you can always flash another.
As for the battery drain problem, maybe you have install an app that is causing the problem? Or maybe you have installed many apps the require a lot of data connections? I'm not sure how long you're battery is lasting and if it is normal but it does depend a lot on how you use your device and how you have it setup to your needs.
Anyway, welcome to android and I hope in time after some basic research you will be happy with your device.
I recommend the OP and any newbie searches and reads the forum extensively, that is what i done when i first joined XDA and flashed my first WINMO ROM when the flash was successful without any hiccups i felt more confident to play around a bit more, it's all about reading up and educating yourself on here and in no time you'll be flying.
Didn't expect to see some AGGRESSIVE replies ! "Stop Complaining" , "lazy .. lazy .. lazy" seriously if you don't want to reply or find this thread stupid enough, just ignore it !!
aatkco said:
Didn't expect to see some AGGRESSIVE replies ! "Stop Complaining" , "lazy .. lazy .. lazy" seriously if you don't want to reply or find this thread stupid enough, just ignore it !!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, that's just the way some android users are. Like Apple fanboys but then for android.
If they found out themselves, they demand it from others as well because they are the only standard according to themselves.
If you mention some feature of an iPhone, they see you as an evil dragon and try to slay you publicly to win some applause from their likeminded buddies, it gives then happy feelings at night.
If you ask a n00b question, you will be fried, because they were never n00bs. Their DNA is written in Java-code. Yours is not and you should be punished for that.
I guess all the flashing morphed their brain into binary thinking as well. You are either a fellow angel in Paradise S2™ or the devil, there is no in between. Just ignore it or flame back if you have no life as well.
To get your answers, wait for a helpful reply, spend a considerable amount of time searching or go the trial-and-error way. Your pick. Good luck.
aatkco said:
Didn't expect to see some AGGRESSIVE replies ! "Stop Complaining" , "lazy .. lazy .. lazy" seriously if you don't want to reply or find this thread stupid enough, just ignore it !!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see it more and more these days. I think it's because there is more kids on these days. Just ignore it.
Hello my friend,
I am new to all of this myself, but I will try and help you out as best I can.
1. I believe that you need to wip and clear everything so that the ROM works well, without any force closes and boot loops. I highly recommend wiping everything before installing a new rom.
I use titanium to backup everything. It works very well.
2. I believe CF-root does have a KH1 kernel. It is the easiest way to root. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS AND FOLLOW EVERYTHING TO THE LETTER.
3. Don’t know. (perhaps its your carrier who is delaying the update???)
4. I am currently using Batista rom, it works very well. I will try MIUI and Cyanogen when they are out of beta. Im sure there are other roms that other prefer but for the moment im sticking with Batista.
5. From what I have understood, even after a NANDROID backup there is some sort of a ROM counter that can tell that you have flashed a different ROM. But I believe that, this can be reset using a JIG (I recommend buying a USB Jig, to me, it’s the easiest way to remove the yellow triangle)
6. I don’t know, I honestly love the cam and the 1080 vid recording.
7. Because google is OPEN? As long as its not a virus or anything I guess you can put up what every you want.
I recommend doing a NANDROID and titanium backup before flashing a new ROM.
Hope all of this helps. If I am not correct, could someone please correct me, I myself am new to android flashing. I had a htc legend before, I tried to root the bloody thing, but I have never succeeded HTC locked it down like hell, it’s for that reason that I own a GS2 and not a sensation (I realize that some people have easily rooted the legend, but I have never managed).
Wow, a lot of rude replies in here. Would have thought the android community would welcome a new member.
I hope you 'll help me to understand all this hacking process because I just moved from iPhone
Thanks in Advance
1- if your a noob (like me ) then don't flash a rom just flash cf-root kernel and get your root privileges without wiping.
2- First. if you had read the CF-Root Thread you would have come across this paragraph and you wouldn't have asked this question:
Chainfire said:
The XX and OXA identifiers are not that important. Usually a "KG1" kernel is a "KG1" kernel, and that is that. Sometimes (pretty rare) it happens there will be multiple different kernels with the same name in different firmwares, that are actually different. If this happens, they are usually only very minor changes and you should expect them to still be fully compatible. I include the "XX" and "OXA" identifiers so the very advanced users can deduce from which full firmware I have taken the kernel file.
Don't worry too much, just find the matching download and use it. What if there is no matching download ? You can ask me to make one, but I can tell you right now, I very very rarely make CF-Root's for kernels on request, unless it is the very latest kernel that has been released by Samsung. In the latter case, be sure to let me know. If there's no match and I'm not making one, try finding the closest match. You should treat "KG1" as a number, but instead of 1-9, we have 1-9, A-Z (where A would be 10, and Z would be 35). "KG2" is really close to "KG1", "KF1" is not close to "KG1" at all. I hope that makes sense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
3- use market enabler. and for the market app go to the android apps forum in xda and look for a thread about android market 3.1.3 download. i am in the same situation here but market enabler while choosing an American network works.
4- STAY ON STOCK. not that many roms are stable which means that you will have to wipe your phone a lot until one day the super ultra stable rom is out. plus if you want extra functionality you can try go launcher ex (the one im using) or any other launcher.
ps: you also get official updates from Samsung if you stay on the stock rom which is a big plus (no wipez).
5- dont worry, here in the arab countries they're not that strict on checking if you had rooted your device before or not. if you need to use your warranty you can just search for the steps to reseting the counter for the number of unsecure kernels that have been flashed.
6-if you like the Iphones camera better. Then get an iphone.... really no advice to give here. sorry..
7- Google (unlike apple) is not anti hacking. its your choice if you want to get root access to your device or not. and they dont encourage you or discourage you from that.
my advice to you is to root your phone (CF-root) and then install anttek app manager or titanium backup (i like the first's gui better) and freeze any app that you dont need.
also you can check out the app "screen filter" which you can use to dim your display so that it doesn't use that much battery.
also after you root use nofrills cpu control or setcpu and set the max cpu clock frequency to 800 and the govenor to conservative. change it back to 1.2 ghz and ondemand when you need to play an hd game or something like that.
ensha2allah tethanna fel jehaz. o etha mesh 3ajbak raj3o bsr3a o estanna al iphone 5. ana al9ara7a ma shayef feeh wala 3eeb wa7ed bas al denya wejhat na6'ar. salam
meranto said:
Well, that's just the way some android users are. Like Apple fanboys but then for android.
If they found out themselves, they demand it from others as well because they are the only standard according to themselves.
If you mention some feature of an iPhone, they see you as an evil dragon and try to slay you publicly to win some applause from their likeminded buddies, it gives then happy feelings at night.
If you ask a n00b question, you will be fried, because they were never n00bs. Their DNA is written in Java-code. Yours is not and you should be punished for that.
I guess all the flashing morphed their brain into binary thinking as well. You are either a fellow angel in Paradise S2™ or the devil, there is no in between. Just ignore it or flame back if you have no life as well.
To get your answers, wait for a helpful reply, spend a considerable amount of time searching or go the trial-and-error way. Your pick. Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sparksltd said:
I see it more and more these days. I think it's because there is more kids on these days. Just ignore it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dayloon said:
Wow, a lot of rude replies in here. Would have thought the android community would welcome a new member.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks all for cute replies you gave me hope.
dork05 said:
Hello my friend,
I am new to all of this myself, but I will try and help you out as best I can.
1. I believe that you need to wip and clear everything so that the ROM works well, without any force closes and boot loops. I highly recommend wiping everything before installing a new rom.
I use titanium to backup everything. It works very well.
2. I believe CF-root does have a KH1 kernel. It is the easiest way to root. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS AND FOLLOW EVERYTHING TO THE LETTER.
3. Don’t know. (perhaps its your carrier who is delaying the update???)
4. I am currently using Batista rom, it works very well. I will try MIUI and Cyanogen when they are out of beta. Im sure there are other roms that other prefer but for the moment im sticking with Batista.
5. From what I have understood, even after a NANDROID backup there is some sort of a ROM counter that can tell that you have flashed a different ROM. But I believe that, this can be reset using a JIG (I recommend buying a USB Jig, to me, it’s the easiest way to remove the yellow triangle)
6. I don’t know, I honestly love the cam and the 1080 vid recording.
7. Because google is OPEN? As long as its not a virus or anything I guess you can put up what every you want.
I recommend doing a NANDROID and titanium backup before flashing a new ROM.
Hope all of this helps. If I am not correct, could someone please correct me, I myself am new to android flashing. I had a htc legend before, I tried to root the bloody thing, but I have never succeeded HTC locked it down like hell, it’s for that reason that I own a GS2 and not a sensation (I realize that some people have easily rooted the legend, but I have never managed).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your helpful reply, I guess I've learned a lot so far.
---------- Post added at 03:28 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:22 AM ----------
maddada said:
I hope you 'll help me to understand all this hacking process because I just moved from iPhone
Thanks in Advance
1- if your a noob (like me ) then don't flash a rom just flash cf-root kernel and get your root privileges without wiping.
2- First. if you had read the CF-Root Thread you would have come across this paragraph and you wouldn't have asked this question:
3- use market enabler. and for the market app go to the android apps forum in xda and look for a thread about android market 3.1.3 download. i am in the same situation here but market enabler while choosing an American network works.
4- STAY ON STOCK. not that many roms are stable which means that you will have to wipe your phone a lot until one day the super ultra stable rom is out. plus if you want extra functionality you can try go launcher ex (the one im using) or any other launcher.
ps: you also get official updates from Samsung if you stay on the stock rom which is a big plus (no wipez).
5- dont worry, here in the arab countries they're not that strict on checking if you had rooted your device before or not. if you need to use your warranty you can just search for the steps to reseting the counter for the number of unsecure kernels that have been flashed.
6-if you like the Iphones camera better. Then get an iphone.... really no advice to give here. sorry..
7- Google (unlike apple) is not anti hacking. its your choice if you want to get root access to your device or not. and they dont encourage you or discourage you from that.
my advice to you is to root your phone (CF-root) and then install anttek app manager or titanium backup (i like the first's gui better) and freeze any app that you dont need.
also you can check out the app "screen filter" which you can use to dim your display so that it doesn't use that much battery.
also after you root use nofrills cpu control or setcpu and set the max cpu clock frequency to 800 and the govenor to conservative. change it back to 1.2 ghz and ondemand when you need to play an hd game or something like that.
ensha2allah tethanna fel jehaz. o etha mesh 3ajbak raj3o bsr3a o estanna al iphone 5. ana al9ara7a ma shayef feeh wala 3eeb wa7ed bas al denya wejhat na6'ar. salam
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Click to collapse
Thanks a lot for your reply, it was really helpful , however the reason I asked about the camera is the 3rd party apps, as example iPhone 4 have an app called Camera+ ( AVailable in the App store ) that take even more better shots than original Camera.app
we gazak allah kher 3ala el rad we isa a3mel root now we el battery bas da3efa gedan ma3aya , msh 3aref yemken 3ashan chinese-made , salam
dayloon said:
Wow, a lot of rude replies in here. Would have thought the android community would welcome a new member.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is XDA Developers, not an Android community.
The title implies you have a grasp of what is Android and I say this in a friendly manner... there are zillions of threads where everything is explained very well, just take the time to read everything. After one week of reading you will have all your answers in hand.

[Q] ICS on a Chinese (PRC) SGS2

I have a Chinese (PRC) version of the Samsung Galaxy S2. This caused a lot of trouble in the beginning because it doesn't come with the Android market or any of the Google services. Also it didn't allow the installation of non-Chinese ROMs. This was remedied by installing ownhere's hacked mod.
Later it was discovered that you could pretty much put any ROM on the PRC version of the SGS2, as long as you kept the original Modem and CSC. So I did and I'm now running Cyanogenmod 7.
However, now that ICS for the Galaxy S2 has been leaked, I would like to start this thread to provide a source of information for fellow owners of China (PRC) phones so they can update to ICS.
I have downloaded the ICS 4.0.3 package from the above link. I tried the following ways to install it:
- Odin 1.85: repartition, modem, csc AND pda -> NAND write fail in the very beginning, soft-bricked phone, revert to ownhere
- Odin 1.85: repartition and pda -> NAND write fail in the very beginning, soft-bricked phone, revert to ownhere
- Odin 1.85: only pda -> NAND write fail etc etc.
- revert to the original stock Chinese firmware, however I have forgotten the name and code of the firmware and the firmware thread on this forum does not list the latest stock (original) China (PRC) version.
- UPDATE: Tried Bezkes ROM, installed the zip via CWM recovery. Seems to work but many apps still crash, like google maps, the camera, some settings. Functionality is really 差不多.
Has anyone been more successful than me?
I tried kp8 on hk sgs2,home button not working,so give up
Using airbus1.1 and disabled media scanner
Very smooth and okey battery life
And I found that official Facebook apps services is always on,so I using "Simple feed" to replace fb
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
I'm really only talking about PRC phones. The Hong Kong ones are the same ones as anywhere else in the world. PRC phones are modified not to accept non-PRC modem binaries...
fisken
Any news for Chinese owners? Perhaps this thread should also be stickied. Last time there seemed to be quite a few owners of Mainland Chinese SGS2's.
I'm using the Chinese S2. I don't know what China's issue is. What's the point of buying an Android phone if there's no Google Apps or Android market?

Getting Confused more and more..Need Help

Hi Guys as my title Says..
i need Help very Badly.
First of all MODS and USERS i'm sorry i didn't knew where to post this thread so if its in in-appropriate section please move it to correct section. THanks
OK my problem is this.
i recently (less than a week ago ) bought a Samsung Galaxy S2 its by Bell Canada and its i9100M. i bought it online since my service provider is Rogers.
i guess this phone is already rooted to unlock it and i can see CWM and SU icon there.
Well i'm a Hardcore Blackberry Fan and have been using Blackberries from last 6 years. I loved the new samsung because of it looks and its screen.
I Had Lot of Problem with it like setting up my yahoo as push email, setting the Ringtone Profile, setting up the Custom Ringtones for Text Messages..
Having wrong time stamps on Recieved TEXT Message.. well i fixed all those by installing apps from market and forwarding my yahoo to my gmail...
i Hated doing all that but infront of the beauty of this phone i had to compromise but today it took 3 hours to find my gps location and day by day im using it i'm hating it .....
SO OK I DID MY RESEARCH AND FOUND OUT ALOT... the more i'm researching the more i'm getting confused...
first of all what is the difference between custom ROM and KERNEL.
i know custom rom could be like operating system but customized by unofficial person.
what the h is KERNEL..
to install rom's or kernel do i really have to root.
To unlock do i have to root or is there a paying method.
also i want to know if i'll go back to stock rom can i still unlock it.and recieve all the updates from samsung or google specially when ICS will be launched.
after unlocking and installing custom root. can i unroot it
and lastly which is best custom kernel and which is the best rom availble.
since been a blackberry user i have very basic needs. i don't play any games or download much apps and if an app is paid..i'll pay for it.. i don't want to jailbreak anything .
all i need is better battery life, gps and network coverage.
Thanks for taking time to read and reply.
Hi there.
I'll try and get through your questions as simply as possible,
Imagine your phone is like a car
A kernel is like the engine of a car - it's the low level machinery that keeps it going.
The Rom is like the body of the car around the engine. Roms can be official (or Stock Roms), or they can be customised by other people.
So, when you install a stock rom - you're installing the kernel, but you're also installing the radio (called a modem or baseband) and the registration (or the CSC which is location specific information) as well as the unique 'body' of the car for that rom - tweaks, default software, etc.
You don't have to have rooted your phone to install a Rom. When you update your phone via Kies, you are, literally, installing an stock rom. You can even install stock roms from elsewhere without rooting your phone. Because stock roms are released in different regions at different times, lots of people update their phones to the latest official roms via this method - no root required.
However, to install a custom, unofficial rom, you will need to root your phone as they will require access to the 'root level directory' of your phone's file system - which is what root really means.
You can find everything you need to know about that, how to root and also lots of stock roms you can install without rooting here:
Some shops will root you phone for you if you want to go down that path and don't want to risk it. But it's easier than you think and the galaxy s2 is very hard to break. There's lots of help available on XDA - just remember to search before you ask so you don't ask a common question the millionth time.
If you have installed a custom rom you can easily re-install a stock rom over it that will still work with Kies and thus be updateable when ICS turns up.
There is no 'best' Rom or kernel. Some Roms go 'as is' and some are customisable to the nth degree if you like fiddling with your phone non-stop. I personally use CheckRom because I like the kitchen app that lets you swap kernels, modems and mods with ease - but check out the Original Android Development threads and see which other roms you like the sound of.
Depending on what you are currently running, a new rom - even a stock one if you're running a very old one - could easily help with battery and range issues. For GPS - try installing FasterFix from the market and see if reassigning your GPS fix to a closer location helps.
Best of luck - it's a great phone once you open up its possibilities
Thanks a lot for the reply
well your reply did help me a lot...
my phone is been already rooted by someone else already from the person i bought it....
as for searching i did a lot.. and its been confusing me more and more ..well thanks for your answer
also as u said S2 is hard to break..i guess u mean is that the JIG thing on EBAY
and as for flashing the stuff i've played with other stuff just not android thing ive replaced the os on BB and jailbreaked iphones and installed macintosh on HP PC and also worked on most of the languages 10 years ago... and i believe nothing is impossible so going to someone else is never an option for me
just want to know as much as stuff i can before going further
well i have few more questions
how can i find which rom or kernel is already installed...
i mean is it possible to tell if its stock or its customized and its customized by which group.
and one last thing.. u know the words u used modem and baseband...
i read about it before...
but my question is ...
IS THE BASEBAND ANYTHING LIKE IPHONE BASEBAND???
u know in iPhones when baseband is updated u r screwed sometimes its hard to jailbreak and definately hard to unlock and reverting changes to baseband....
is it the samething in Galaxy S2 as well...
Thanks a lot for replying...i really appreciate all the time you took to reply.
Thanks once again.
Yeah baseband is the code that handles the phone part of your smartphone. Talking to your wireless provider, 3G, texts all these things are done by baseband.
Flashing a different baseband won't screw your root, and you'd still be rooted. Samsung doesn't make it hard to root as Apple does to jailbreaking. Even if something goes wrong with a new version, you can always revert back to old one using Odin(Samsung ROM flashing tool) and you are good to go.
Thanks a lot... about that quick reply...
i'm gonna collect more information and hopefully i'll be flashing it on weekend...
but how can i find which rom or kernel is already installed...
i mean is it possible to tell if its stock or its customized and its customized by which group
Everything you need to know can be found here. Most of it, anyway.
Backup your device with cwm when rooted ... So you can always restore to previous state. ;-)
Good luck there. But reading is a must.
SGS II - XDA
blackberryfan said:
thanks a lot... About that quick reply...
I'm gonna collect more information and hopefully i'll be flashing it on weekend...
But how can i find which rom or kernel is already installed...
In your dialer type *#1234#
info will apear. Now read chainfire's tutorial how to root your device ....
I mean is it possible to tell if its stock or its customized and its customized by which group
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Setting went wrong when quoting
sgs ii - xda
also you can go settings - about phone - then look at the bottom fields to see kernel, baseband and build. Quote those and we should be able to tell what you have.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

Looking for stock firmware for S3 GT-I9300 from Switzerland

Hi everyone,
as might be guessed by my user name, I am indeed located in Kenya, East Africa. I am new to this forum, and I am even new to phone modification/flashing custom ROMs, in fact, although I am an IT field technician I was old fashioned enough to stick with my nice old Nokia 6303i up to now (yeah, just a simple mobile phone, nothing smart at all)...
Now finally I got an old but nice and still fully working Samsung Galaxy S3 GT-I9300 from a friend. There are lots of problems with software updates though, simply because the Android version is 4.3, which is way out-dated by now...
Here comes my question - I have been trying for hours, days and weeks to find the stock firmware downloads for that, but wherever I try to get it I am being told the files are not available anymore/not to be found. I don't dare trying to flash the firmware to something newer without being sure to be able to go back in case of a mess-up, since I am an absolute noob with that.
Can anybody here provide a reliable and still working download link for old stock firmwares for this phone? Surely there must be some sort of archive that still holds them, only I am apparently too daft to find it.
Please bear with me!
Hoping for someone being able to help me with this,
Best regards from Kenya!
Andy

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