Are GB bootloaders really worth it? - Vibrant Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Just wondering what else they do besides fix rainbow effect.
I've had a bad past with bootloaders... SoftBricked a few times, hard bricked twice.
So what are the benefits?
And if I do flash bootloaders, when I odin to eclair does it auto flash the default bootloaders?

xriderx66 said:
Just wondering what else they do besides fix rainbow effect.
I've had a bad past with bootloaders... SoftBricked a few times, hard bricked twice.
So what are the benefits?
And if I do flash bootloaders, when I odin to eclair does it auto flash the default bootloaders?
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They give a more convenient key mapping to enter the download mode and recovery.other than that no I guess.flashing to eclare does not restore original bootloaders.you have to flash it separately if you want it.but bootloadres are backward compatible.so no need to so.But if you are flashing a CM based rom you need to be on froyo bootloaders even its a GB rom.
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nuwanmw1988 said:
They give a more convenient key mapping to enter the download mode and recovery.other than that no I guess.flashing to eclare does not restore original bootloaders.you have to flash it separately if you want it.but bootloadres are backward compatible.so no need to so.But if you are flashing a CM based rom you need to be on froyo bootloaders even its a GB rom.
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+1 and it provides less conflicts with all the newer software we are now using.
I think some of the other custom bootloaders were snappier but that's the trade off less speed but less conflicts

ok thats all i needed, thanks guys

Some Odin packages do contain bootloaders. I haven't flashed actual jfd in a long time, so I don't remember if it does, I do know the jk2 odin package eugene373 put together does flash bootloaders.
You can view the tar archive with 7zip or wnrar, if it contains the boot.bin and sbl.bin, then it will flash bootloaders along with everything else.
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Related

Downgrade to froyo

Hi, I'm currently on simply honey3.91 gingerbread...I flashed this rom specifically just to be able to use netflix but now it appears that the newest version works on froyo now.. how do I downgrade back to froyo? Froyo had working gps for me which I could never get to work consistently on gb...to have GPS and netflix working on my phone would be great!
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Odin back to eclair, root, install rom manager, format sd-card (remove the external sd-card to avoid loosing important data) and flash froyo.
naars90 said:
Hi, I'm currently on simply honey3.91 gingerbread...I flashed this rom specifically just to be able to use netflix but now it appears that the newest version works on froyo now.. how do I downgrade back to froyo? Froyo had working gps for me which I could never get to work consistently on gb...to have GPS and netflix working on my phone would be great!
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No need to format SD card
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I have gingerbread bootloaders...would that be a problem?
It's not going to be a problem. You may only be annoying by the I1900 when you boot your phone. Regarding formatting your sd-card, to cleanup the left over software components like voodoo folder and data. Re-installing the os on your phone is juts like re-installing os on your pc. Cleanup the left over junk may help saving space and other unforeseen complicated issues.
naars90 said:
I have gingerbread bootloaders...would that be a problem?
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VibrantThemer said:
It's not going to be a problem. You may only be annoying by the I1900 when you boot your phone. Regarding formatting your sd-card, to cleanup the left over software components like voodoo folder and data. Re-installing the os on your phone is juts like re-installing os on your pc. Cleanup the left over junk may help saving space and other unforeseen complicated issues.
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on the flipside if you want to be extra careful just flash froyo bootloaders of course dont be sacred if at reboot you get rainbows thats normal after that reboot phone into download mode then odin back to stock reroot flash clockwork and flash a froyo rom
godsfirsthomie said:
on the flipside if you want to be extra careful just flash froyo bootloaders of course dont be sacred if at reboot you get rainbows thats normal after that reboot phone into download mode then odin back to stock reroot flash clockwork and flash a froyo rom
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Have you tried that? Don't want to take a chance and I hate the rainbow lolz.
Thanks anyway
VibrantThemer said:
Have you tried that? Don't want to take a chance and I hate the rainbow lolz.
Thanks anyway
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the rainbows are there only while your still on simply honey as soon as you odin back to stock they will be gone and you have your normal galaxy s start up logos
VibrantThemer said:
Have you tried that? Don't want to take a chance and I hate the rainbow lolz.
Thanks anyway
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I have flashed bootloaders both ways. Nothing to worry about as long as you follow the steps. Works like a charm.
offdutyninja808 said:
I have flashed bootloaders both ways. Nothing to worry about as long as you follow the steps. Works like a charm.
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I'm thinking of doing this as I cannot seem to get a full workday with relatively light use out of GB right now.
Anyway... where can I find the bootloaders for Froyo and is there a guide to make sure I do this in the right order. I haven't had any issues with all the various flashes and odins that I have done so far, but with CM7 on board I know that it's quite a bit different now.
I tried using the XDA search for bootloaders and basically got this an other similar threads.
I read this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1117990 which looks like I already had stock bootloader, but I wasn't sure if that is correct.
Yeah, that's the right place. Just click on the "Froyo Bootloader Revert to Vibrant" link to download the original bootloaders. It should be a .tar file. Flash through Odin with the same steps, but just use the Froyo BL .tar instead of the GB one and BOOM!
In like tube socks!
Oh yeah... don't forget that the button combo for the GB bootloaders is different. It's just volume up + power.

[Q] From ginger back to Froyo question

So i have tried pretty much all of the GB roms and they are either just not stable enough or they eat through battery like a fat kid on cake.
Is there anything I need to know before going back to Froyo?
Was just planning on ODIN to stock, then flashing a Froyo ROM. But I was unsure if there will be a bootloader issue (or will that be fixed with the ODIN flash)?
thanks
Wondering the same thing
ripsphone said:
So i have tried pretty much all of the GB roms and they are either just not stable enough or they eat through battery like a fat kid on cake.
Is there anything I need to know before going back to Froyo?
Was just planning on ODIN to stock, then flashing a Froyo ROM. But I was unsure if there will be a bootloader issue (or will that be fixed with the ODIN flash)?
thanks
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I'm searching for an answer to the same question. I hooked my friend's Vibrant up to Simply Honey but now i think she would be better off with MIUI. After plowing through thread after thread, you flashing to stock Froyo would not restore your Froyo Bootloader. You have to flash that separately.
You may want to consider giving this a shot though -- a custom gingerbread bootloader that is compatible with Froyo ROMS.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1117990
Otherwise:
1. Flash to JFD ODIN (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=734475)
2. Flash Froyo Bootloaders
3. Root (if necessary)
4. Install Clockwork / Rom Manager (if applicable)
5. Flash ROM of your choice.
You can skip steps 1-4, above. The ginger bootloader is backward compatible. Just did this to my phone and my wife's, Asgard -> zen Droid
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adamcooks said:
You can skip steps 1-4, above. The ginger bootloader is backward compatible. Just did this to my phone and my wife's, Asgard -> zen Droid
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Unless you're going to CM7/MIUI/other AOSP rom, in which case I believe the bootloader will prevent you from getting into your sd card. I'd go in this order:
1.) ODIN Froyo Bootloaders.
2.) ODIN JFD w/ 512 pit and repatition checked.
3.) Root
4.) Install CWM
5.) Go flash happy on AOSP or 2.2 roms.
Just my personal preference. I like the updated bootloader for all my roms. I find it much easier to key press into recovery and download mode. No more three button hope you get the timing correct. Simply either up or down and power, bam your doing what you want.
I think that cm/mini has been updated to work with the gingy loaders (but I am not 100%on that)
As far as going to stock, while I find merit in it, I don't think it's necessary in between all ROM flashing. If you have some issues it can be a needed step.
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Oxirane said:
Unless you're going to CM7/MIUI/other AOSP rom, in which case I believe the bootloader will prevent you from getting into your sd card.
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According to the custom GB BL thread starter, his custom bootloaders are compatible with CM7/MIUI. He says it here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=16691801&postcount=357

Gingerbread Bootloaders

Currently flashing ICS Passion as every version appears. I try to clean out my phone every 2 versions or so by reverting to stock then back to CM7 then back to ICS again
Everytime I go from ICS back to Stock, I first go to ODIN and convert my bootloader back to Froyo. Then only do i install stock.
Is this constant change of bootloaders from GB to Froyo necessary or will it eventually kill my phone if i keep flashing back and forth?
So far my phone is going great...no problems. Question is Just for knowledge.
Definitely put yourself at a greater risk to mess it up! Honestly, I don't think it matters. I've read people using ics just fine on froyo loaders and the GB loaders say they are compatible with froyo roms. So there really is no reason to keep switching back and forth.
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Don't be so sure of that, though.. there's been a few hard bricks going back to stock with Gingerbread bootloaders, it's safest to go the way you're doing it, not sure if it'll 'kill' your phone sooner.
My experience is that I put GB bootloaders on months and months ago and have never gone back to froyo bootloaders. I have odined back to stock jfd many times with GB bootloaders. I have used them for 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 and 4.0 roms.
Also I have put ICS Passion on a few phones now and have never flashed cm7 in the process. I have flashed straight from 2.2 and 2.3.
Odin gb bootloaders if not installed then I factory reset, wipe cache, format system, flash ics, wipe dalvik, fix permisions, boot system. First time it goes into a bootloop due to cwm mismatch, pull batt, boot recovery and repeat the flash process. It boots fine the second time. I've never had issues with fc's, lag, etc.
bobshute said:
My experience is that I put GB bootloaders on months and months ago and have never gone back to froyo bootloaders. I have odined back to stock jfd many times with GB bootloaders. I have used them for 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 and 4.0 roms.
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I agree with that. I flashed GB bootloaders half a year ago and never had any problem.
I'd rather stick to GB bootloaders, and what dpaul007 said, you risk it alot by flashing it often.
Ive been on the GB boot loaders for over 6 months - no issues. Odin'd JFD about 5 times since then...no issues.
Ill prob try Odin to Lidriod next time though.
Jfd is fine. but once i trid to flash stock froyo jfd to kb7(odin) without change the gingerbread bootloader. My phone was hardbricked.exactly i can not say reson was the gn bootloader. Be safe its not good to change bootloader its a great risk. Whenever i want flash an ics Rom first i flash cm then ics. No rainbow issue at all.
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gdtennak said:
Jfd is fine. but once i trid to flash stock froyo jfd to kb7(odin) without change the gingerbread bootloader. My phone was hardbricked.exactly i can not say reson was the gn bootloader. Be safe its not good to change bootloader its a great risk. Whenever i want flash an ics Rom first i flash cm then ics. No rainbow issue at all.
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The only time you will run into issues is if you Odin a rom that only has one of the two bootloaders files in it causing a mismatch. The two files are boot.bin (primary bootloader) and sbl.bin (secondary bootloader). If both of those files are from the same generation (froyo or GB) there is no problem.
The problem you had with ka7 is it only had the sbl.bin file and not the boot.bin file leaving you with a gb boot.bin and a froyo sbl.bin. They should never have put one file in a rom without the other. JFD does not have either bootloader files in it so it's a safe odin with either gb or froyo bootloaders. Btw you would run into the same problem if on froyo bootloaders you odined a gb rom with only a gb sbl.bin and not a gb boot.bin.
I never Odin a rom that has either bootloader files in it. I use 7zip to open the tar to check. If either boot.bin or spl.bin are in it I remove them first or don't odin the tar. Then there is no problem. I do not like flashing roms with bootloaders as I would rather flash the bootloaders myself.
bobshute said:
The only time you will run into issues is if you Odin a rom that only has one of the two bootloaders files in it causing a mismatch. The two files are boot.bin (primary bootloader) and sbl.bin (secondary bootloader). If both of those files are from the same generation (froyo or GB) there is no problem.
The problem you had with ka7 is it only had the sbl.bin file and not the boot.bin file leaving you with a gb boot.bin and a froyo sbl.bin. They should never have put one file in a rom without the other. JFD does not have either bootloader files in it so it's a safe odin with either gb or froyo bootloaders. Btw you would run into the same problem if on froyo bootloaders you odined a gb rom with only a gb sbl.bin and not a gb boot.bin.
I never Odin a rom that has either bootloader files in it. I use 7zip to open the tar to check. If either boot.bin or spl.bin are in it I remove them first or don't odin the tar. Then there is no problem. I do not like flashing roms with bootloaders as I would rather flash the bootloaders myself.
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Thank you so much for you explanation. I never knew what was gone worng. Seems like its risky to flash a rom using odin without cheking both bootloaders.
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So I should stick to gingerbread bootloader now on and make sure that files i flash have both .bin and .sbl to eliminate bootloader mismatch
Thanks for all the responses!
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accura407 said:
So I should stick to gingerbread bootloader now on and make sure that files i flash have both .bin and .sbl to eliminate bootloader mismatch
Thanks for all the responses!
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Yes, but make sure that the tar's you Odin DO NOT have either boot.bin or sbl.bin in them unless you specifically want to change your bootloaders, then they must have both. A flash from CWM will never (can never) have them.
I only use ODIN to flash back to stock JFD
Everything after that, I flash only using CWM. So that means I should be safe then right?
Because as previously said, stock JFD has no .bin or .sbl right?
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accura407 said:
I only use ODIN to flash back to stock JFD
Everything after that, I flash only using CWM. So that means I should be safe then right?
Because as previously said, stock JFD has no .bin or .sbl right?
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right
10char
So now i kept gb bootloader, reverted back to stock JFD....with stock it would do the is9000 then vibrant screen
Once i loaded ICS there is only a galaxy boot, no vibrant boot...my understanding is that all this is normal.
Question is....if i want to revert to stock Jfd again there are no other steps i need to take right? Just the same as usual i hope.
Thanks
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GB bootloader to JFD question..

Do I revert to JFD the same way with GB bootloader as I would with froyo bl ?
Going from 4.0 to 2.1
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From what I understand you can revert back to JFD normally unless the JFD Odin package contains only an Sbl.bin or only boot.bin...
adyscorpius said:
8. Can I ODIN to stock JFD like I always did?
The JFD Odin packages that I have seen don't contain sbl.bin or boot.bin ! Hence, till that's the case, its safe to ODIN to stock. Please check your ODIN tar packages using 7zip or WinRAR or any other Archive utility for absence/presence of the mentioned files. If they do appear, they should be present together. Else, if they don't appear, you are safe to ODIN to stock.
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Pretty sure there are not any ROMs with them in there, so you should be safe.
If you do Odin back to stock, chances are that you'll lose your GB bootloaders as most pit/tar packages will restore you to Froyo bl's.
If you want GB bl's, you'll have to reflash them again. That is ususally what I do.
So Odin to stock JFD then flash gb boot loaders after .
Was wondering cause there was a JFD file specifically for GB BLs which doesn't have a working link
Woodrube said:
Pretty sure there are not any ROMs with them in there, so you should be safe.
If you do Odin back to stock, chances are that you'll lose your GB bootloaders as most pit/tar packages will restore you to Froyo bl's.
If you want GB bl's, you'll have to reflash them again. That is ususally what I do.
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Yep. That'll work just fine.
That JFD was floating around and I might have a copy of it somewhere on my HD, but really if you've flashed bl's before, then you know what's up and don't need that package. It is more for noobs who are scared to flash the bl's by themselves.
Alright thanks bro didn't know what that file was for...
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Beaten drum, but yeah, I used my ODIN files in the noob guide many times to go back to JFD with no issues.

GB Bootloaders without Odin/Heimdall ??

Are there any ways to flash bootloaders without odin/heimdall? Perhaps like update.zip?
I had a bad SBL flash and heimdall will not detect and odin just hangs when attempting to flash any BL solo.
Before you flame or try to be Cpt Obvious I did search the forum but may have missed it...we are human.
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No unfortunately there isn't bc it goes much deeper in the system than an update.zip can reach. Have you tried to Odin to 2.1 and get it to boot? 2.1 has Froyo bl's, so theoretically once you boot up, you should be able to flash a GB bl. Maybe your download got corrupted too.
Woodrube said:
No unfortunately there isn't bc it goes much deeper in the system than an update.zip can reach. Have you tried to Odin to 2.1 and get it to boot? 2.1 has Froyo bl's, so theoretically once you boot up, you should be able to flash a GB bl. Maybe your download got corrupted too.
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I have successfully flashed to JFD with a heimdall one-click. I could even root,use CWM and I have flashed a custom rom. BUT....it still wont detect in heimdall and odin still hangs. Im typing this post from the device using bionix v3 fishman. I wanted to throw ICS on here to check it out. But I know GB BLs are step 1. I have a jig so getting DL mode isnt an issue.
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Bump.... Just looking for a little help.
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