[Q] need help about firmwares - Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

im new to android, very familer with flashing nokia phones but this seems a whole new ball game..
id like to root my galaxy s2 and also flash a generic firmware removing all the t mobile start screens and crap, maybe i could just do that with root access maybe?
anyway, im completly lost, ive read through loads of posts here, and im lost when XXWXW or what ever is mentioned, and im to download the in secure version.. here is what i got :>
wth?? wont let me post image hosted at imageshack, is just a screenshot of my about page on me phone..
wow, no way to post the image atall
i have to write all the versions and stuff tomrow, im going bed now.. would be easier if allow me to post a simple image lol..
any help on which firmware files i need would be great..
i got the odin flasher, just need to know what firmware i need, or what files i need to root my phone, as i dont see anything that matches to any official generic firmwares on here, neither can i find the insecure file i need..
thanx in advance

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First of all, welcome to android, and like you I came from the world of symbian too. I must say, it can be a bit confusing, all these new terms to get used to but here we go, ill try and clear it up for you with just what applies to the sgs2 for simplicity.
First of all get Odin 1.85, which you said you got anyway.
Now, go to SamFirmware.com, sign up, then navigate to the android firmwares, select the sgs2 from the list, scroll down to XXKH3 (latest and in my opinion the best stock firmware), and download it.
You also need to find an app called superoneclick, I use v1.65, its not the latest, but always works for me, search the forumss or Google it, you should find it easily.
Once all is downloaded and extracted to a folder assumingly on your desktop your ready to go.
First off, switch your phone off and boot it into download mode by holding volume down, home button and power on. You should arrive on a black screen with some writing on and a yellow triangle. Press the up button once, you are now in download.
Connect your phone to PC, and let it install any drivers, I can't reneger at this point if I needed to provide specific drivers as it was a long time ago, but you may need to search for some or look for another "how to" if you have problems.
Start Odin, and without altering any checkboxes, press the PDA button and navigate to your folder where you unzipped/rar'd the firmware and select the one with "code" in the title. Then press phone and select the file with "modem" in the title. Lastly press csc and select one of the two files with "csc " in the title. Make sure you have the correct files and forget about the ones left for now. When sure, press "start".
When complete, your phone will restart and you should have a brand new copy of XXKH3 on your phone, which will now be wiped by the way, so back up and stuff you have first.
Now, you need to find the thread on here that provides "insecure kernels " download and flash any insecure kernel using the method described above except only using the "PDA" button, this step enables you to do the rooting bit next.
Once booted back up again, ensure that "USB debugging" is enabled, and open up and run superoneclick, just press the "root" button and let it do its thing. Reboot back into download mode.
Now, last step is to flash back the stock secure kernel. Start up Odin again, and press "PDA" then select the file with "kernel" in the name from the original download from SamFirmware. Flash it, and once rebooted, you now have stock latest unbranded firmware with root.
If your unclear about anything, ask and ill try and help, please do be careful, as is always the way with these things, you can brick it.

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hi, thanx for reply
good to talk to an ex symbian user, i used to admin symbian freak forum lol, think i still might have the highest post count lol, anyway, symbian is a dead os, but was much simpler to debrand and flash, specially when nokia brought out there online update tool, was just a case of changing product code to debrand,, before that i used jaf, still got my jaf flasher somewhere, and pkey..
anyway, back on topic. im still a little lost.. ive signed up at samfirmware but cant find any XXKH3, is this the one i need :>
samfirmware.com/WEBPROTECT-i9100.htm
is it the .pit file?
"Galaxy S II */*.PIT File:*DOWNLOAD (EXT4)"
probal not lol, cant find XXKH3
thanx for help

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MartY3 said:
hi, thanx for reply
good to talk to an ex symbian user, i used to admin symbian freak forum lol, think i still might have the highest post count lol, anyway, symbian is a dead os, but was much simpler to debrand and flash, specially when nokia brought out there online update tool, was just a case of changing product code to debrand,, before that i used jaf, still got my jaf flasher somewhere, and pkey..
anyway, back on topic. im still a little lost.. ive signed up at samfirmware but cant find any XXKH3, is this the one i need :>
samfirmware.com/WEBPROTECT-i9100.htm
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok well if u sscroll down or press ctrl + f and type xxkh3 it will take u there .. but i am also guna update my firmware for first time and heres the link for firmware in case.
hotfile.co m/dl/127188601/47c712c/I9100XXKH3.rar.html << as i am new member it would let me put link properly

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Yes, that's the one, the file named I9100XXKH3, it'll most likely be zipped or rar'd. When you extract it it will be several tar.md5 files
I used to spend ages on symbian freak, I must say I think android is easier, only pain is you need different binaries for windows for all different oem's that run android to flash. It can get complicated if you flit from one brand to another like I do a lot.
It's a shame symbian didn't keep up, as I liked it, very functional, just cumbersome to use. Although I must say that belle looks nice, although very Android like.

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Just go to this thread for firmwares and guide on how to flash the device: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1075278

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MartY3 said:
hi, thanx for reply
good to talk to an ex symbian user, i used to admin symbian freak forum lol, think i still might have the highest post count lol, anyway, symbian is a dead os, but was much simpler to debrand and flash, specially when nokia brought out there online update tool, was just a case of changing product code to debrand,, before that i used jaf, still got my jaf flasher somewhere, and pkey..
anyway, back on topic. im still a little lost.. ive signed up at samfirmware but cant find any XXKH3, is this the one i need :>
samfirmware.com/WEBPROTECT-i9100.htm
is it the .pit file?
"Galaxy S II */*.PIT File:*DOWNLOAD (EXT4)"
probal not lol, cant find XXKH3
thanx for help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How to flash: Read the instructions that you find on various threads carefully! take your time, don't jump into it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVwiiSStuSQ
In case you mess up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvdC2Exxm0M
This guide here shows how to install clockwork mod on your device:
http://www.inspiredgeek.com/2011/06...cwm-recovery-for-samsung-galaxy-s2-ii-how-to/
And these instructions tell you how to install via Clockworkmod:
BACKUP BACKUP BACKUP!!
Download the rom zip (don’t rename it!)
Put the downloaded zip file on your internal sdcard
Reboot into ClockworkMod Recovery (don’t do this from rom manager, it won’t work)
Select Install zip from sdcard
Select Browse for zip on sdcard
Select the zip file you put on your sdcard above
(Let if flash)
Reboot, Enjoy!

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yea, nokia made mistake with symbian.. it was a great os back in the day when it was open, like 2nd edition symbian where all system files could be accessed, then if i remember correctly the n80 was the first 3rd edition symbian device, which had a whole load of stupid security features stopping us power users / modders having access to system files.. this was the downfall of symbian i belive, but it was hacked eventually, but then the touch screen revoloution came about, and symbian just simply isnt an os that is usable on a touch only input device, like 5800 for example..
the whole theme that originated symbian to how it was, was the fact it could be very easily used in one hand, but touch screens killed that, and they tried to addapt but failed misserably imo.. now i hear nokia are going with windows 7 mobile, i dont know why they dont use android, well i do, cus its based on linux and easiliy hackable and moddable which for some reason nokia hates.. not sure what happened with the meegoo, or meamo os on the n900, i gave up on nokia after the 5800 and n8.. 5800 was a total failure, worst phone ive ever had, the n8 wasnt so bad, but so sluggish annd everything was so long winded, like simple tasks like changing ring tones had to go through 9000 menu pages, but thats symbian for you lol.. the camera on the n8 i still belive the best camera on any phone to date, just a shame the os the phone has..
one final question before i flash.. whats differnce beetween
GT-I9100-CSC-MULTI-OXAKH3.tar.md5
GT-I9100-CSC-HOME-MULTI-OXAKH3.tar.md5
thanx for help guys

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Here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=17034008&postcount=342

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So I need the one that wipes right? Id like a fresh install. completely fresh debranded firmware with nothing else. all my contacts and calendar are most important to me but there all on my Google account.
thanx for help. just need to be tottaly sure before I flash.
Also. I have bricked several Nokia symbian devices in my time. but was able to do a dead flash via usb. or if this failed then I would have to dead flash the device using jaf with fbus cable. now if something did go wrong and brick my s2 is it possible to revive via a usb dead flash as I don't have fbus cable for this device or know if such a thing even exists. I've been out the phone modding game for a long long time due to illness. still in recovery now. just wonder what options I have if something was bad to happen. as we all know flashing any device has some amount of risk.
thanx again guys. much appreciate the prompt replies.
Marty

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One thing to be wary of, that is a certain death situation if you lose it, is to back up your /efs folder. It contains important information such as imei and more. Flashing normally doesn't touch that folder but it has been heard of for it to go corrupt when flashing. It's rare, but can happen. I have flashed mine dozens of times with no ill effects. There are instructions on this forum of how to do it, unfortunately I think you have to be rooted first in order to do it.

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MartY3 said:
So I need the one that wipes right? Id like a fresh install. completely fresh debranded firmware with nothing else. all my contacts and calendar are most important to me but there all on my Google account.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it will be a fresh install.
You can also wipe it manually by booting in recovery mode (vol. up + home + power).

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Cool. so there is a Rom (read only memory) partition that can't be access only via recovery mode? and if something was to go wrong you can always boot into recovery mode and re install the stock factory firmware? if something was to go wrong. am I understanding you correctly? bit like the recovery options from a windows pc for example.
or am I completely off key here lol.
another quick question is about sp lock. I pretty sure my sgs2 is locked to t-mobile and if anything like symbian devices flashing firmware does nothing to the sp lock. is this the same with android devices. or more specifically the sgs2? I remember the Nokia bb5 phones was unlockable for many many years. as Im sure some of you remember the great dejan keljavic found a way to unlock bb5. that was years ago so Im guessing there is most likely even stronger algorithms for sp unlock? But that was Nokia and this is Samsung. so is sp unlock a possibility? not that its super important to me as Im on contract anyway but is nice to know if possible. is pointless Google unlock sgs2 as every website in the world claim they can do it via calculating code from imei lol. which are all scams.
thanx again for helping a droid noob lol. anything anyone need to know about symbian Im happy to help. more so on 2nd. 3rd and 5th edition symbian os. not so much on symbian^3 but still got n8 which runs this os so happy to help if an occasion should arise. which is doughtfull as I think android is the future.
Marty

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You use CWM to create a nandroid backup, then anytime you want to restore your default system, just restore it.
To flash .tar files you use Odin for Windows.

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Actually its very simple, there is an app you can download from the market that will find the code for you, called sgs2 unlock. You do need root first tho.

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hello again, still havent got round to messing around with my phone yet lol.. but im going to do it tomroow, i know some time has passed now, and im currently downloading I9100XWKK5 from samfirmware as its 2.3.6.. making the latest stock unbranded firmware for my device right?
thanx again guys
marty

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can anyone confirm before i flash

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I can tell you that mine is on XXKK5 in the UK, bought from phones4u about a week ago. Never modified in any way.

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Clivectmob said:
I can tell you that mine is on XXKK5 in the UK, bought from phones4u about a week ago. Never modified in any way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
XXKK5 is that not a branded firmware? cant find it on samfirmware at all..
also, could i download a 4.0.3 android version and flash it to my sgs2? I9100XXLP6 for example??

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Nope, generic unlocked.
Edit: Just noticed I was being a complete plum and looking at the baseband version, you are correct, XXKKA. Apologies.