Hey yall
Just got my SGS2 International (GT-9100) and my screen protectors should be here in a couple days. I want to root it and put a custom ROM on it the minute I take it out of the box, much like I did with my SGS Captivate. On the Captivate, things were easy: flash to stock, flash cwm recovery via update.zip, flash Cognition (great ROM). So my questions:
1) I see a lot of stuff about different kernels, modems, radios, etc. I understand kernels, but is there any benefit to swapping out modems and radios? I kind of want a ROM like Cognition was for the captivate where everything is packaged as one. Also, what kernels would be considered closest to stock?
2) What's all this about a usb jig?? What are the yellow triangle and the kernel mod count?
I'm in the US but I bought the phone online so I don't know what country its branded for...I don't know if that would effect the firmware on it
If your after more info, please follow this thread exactly to root your phone;
[27.09.2011][CF-Root v4.2] KE2/7/8,KF1/2/3/4,KG1/2/3/5/6/7,KH1/3/4,KI2/3/4-su+bb+CWM4
If your interested;
[ROM][2.3.4][XXKH3] Cognition S2 v1.5.1 | Now Live!
There are plenty of FAQ there as well.
Good stockish themes with customized lockscreen etc;
[Theme/Mod/Apk] XWKI4 - JKay Deluxe v11 - How the SGS2 should be! 11-09-28
USB Jig is a easy way to reset a counter that shows if you'ved flashed a custom ROM and how many times. Good for sending back devices to Samsung for warranty claim, particularly if it's semi-bricked and system cannot be booted.
Best of luck, and make sure you read all you can, icl FAQ, and follow the guides/instructions EXACTLY.
Related
Hey yall
Just got my SGS2 International (GT-9100) and my screen protectors should be here in a couple days. I want to root it and put a custom ROM on it the minute I take it out of the box, much like I did with my SGS Captivate. On the Captivate, things were easy: flash to stock, flash cwm recovery via update.zip, flash Cognition (great ROM). So my questions:
1) I see a lot of stuff about different kernels, modems, radios, etc. I understand kernels, but is there any benefit to swapping out modems and radios? I kind of want a ROM like Cognition was for the captivate where everything is packaged as one. Also, what kernels would be considered closest to stock?
2) What's all this about a usb jig?? What are the yellow triangle and the kernel mod count?
I'm in the US but I bought the phone online so I don't know what country its branded for...I don't know if that would effect the firmware on it
WhatsAHinduToDo said:
Hey yall
Just got my SGS2 International (GT-9100) and my screen protectors should be here in a couple days. I want to root it and put a custom ROM on it the minute I take it out of the box, much like I did with my SGS Captivate. On the Captivate, things were easy: flash to stock, flash cwm recovery via update.zip, flash Cognition (great ROM). So my questions:
1) I see a lot of stuff about different kernels, modems, radios, etc. I understand kernels, but is there any benefit to swapping out modems and radios? I kind of want a ROM like Cognition was for the captivate where everything is packaged as one. Also, what kernels would be considered closest to stock?
Stock kernel closest others are adapted you would have to test each .
Cognition SGS2 is a very good custom rom .
2) What's all this about a usb jig?? What are the yellow triangle and the kernel mod count?
Search will answer that .
You need to start reading the FAQs and Guides first .
FAQ
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1065995
Guide
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1125282
Stock Roms .and csc
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1075278
Root + CWM .
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1103399
Custom Rom Counter .
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1068522
better battery stats .
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1179809
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i bought a samsung galaxy s2 just day before yesterday and i'm already in love! however, i'm having a hard time completely wrapping my head around the way this part of XDA works. i used to have an sl i9003, things were...simpler there. just a few doubts:
i see different custom roms using different stock roms as base (of course), but in the installation guides, none of them instruct you to flash the base rom first. for example, VillainROM 3.0 has KI3 as base, but it doesn't mention in the installation guide that i should have KI3 first (just put the zip in the sd card and flash in CWM). is having KI3 something i should know instinctively or can i just flash these exactly according to the instructions (i have JPKH1, which android 2.3.3, by the way)?
ditto for mods, themes, etc. except there, people often don't even mention what rom they were made for. so does that mean they'll work with any rom?
and finally, i was looking at cyanogenmod yesterday (i'll wait for the next stable release; until then, looking forward to flashing VillainROM) and one really helpful person told me that it would only work with the old bootloader. for my own convenience, how can i see what bootloader a rom has?
don't think of me as a noob, btw. like i said, i used to do all this stuff on the i9003 all the time. it's just that S2 devs seem to operate on a different wavelength
1. Once you are rooted, just go ahead and install the rom through cwm. It will take care of it's own base.
2. Rom's have different base's and some are deodexed and some not, so check before applying themes/tweaks as they will not all work on your chosen rom.
3. I don't think your friend knows a lot about CM. Just flash through cwm and make sure you are using a cm recommended kernel.
thanks! really appreciate it
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
Hello everyone!
Yesterday I got SGS2 as a replacement to my beloved SGS1 which I sold to my friend. I've read some FAQ's but I'm still unsure about some things. Can you please throw some light on my concerns?
1. Installing official firmwares via odin will NOT increase the flash counter, right? I would like to replace my branded Orange with vanilla ROM.
2. My phone has new GB 2.3.6 (branded Orange BVKL1) so I won't be able to reset flash counter with USB JIG after loading rooted kernel. If I decide to stay with GB I have to load old bootloader, right? For ICS I should use Triangle Away?
3. Is there /efs folder and how to back it up? Do I need to?
4. Is it worth upgrading to Samsung ICS or it's still too buggy? I'm used to GB and I can use it few months more. I prefer to have stable ROM with light battery usage rather than latest features that are not polished.
5. Can you recommend me some good GB and ICS kernel? I'm looking for something similar to Semaphore. I don't care about overclockig (phone is super smooth, comparing to SGS) but I would like to have deep idle and Voodoo Color (is it avalilable for SGS2?). Is Hardcore kernel OK? I used it in SGS, but it was very long time ago.
skibbi_pl said:
Hello everyone!
Yesterday I got SGS2 as a replacement to my beloved SGS1 which I sold to my friend. I've read some FAQ's but I'm still unsure about some things. Can you please throw some light on my concerns?
1. Installing official firmwares via odin will NOT increase the flash counter, right? I would like to replace my branded Orange with vanilla ROM.
2. My phone has new GB 2.3.6 (branded Orange BVKL1) so I won't be able to reset flash counter with USB JIG after loading rooted kernel. If I decide to stay with GB I have to load old bootloader, right? For ICS I should use Triangle Away?
3. Is there /efs folder and how to back it up? Do I need to?
4. Is it worth upgrading to Samsung ICS or it's still too buggy? I'm used to GB and I can use it few months more. I prefer to have stable ROM with light battery usage rather than latest features that are not polished.
5. Can you recommend me some good GB and ICS kernel? I'm looking for something similar to Semaphore. I don't care about overclockig (phone is super smooth, comparing to SGS) but I would like to have deep idle and Voodoo Color (is it avalilable for SGS2?). Is Hardcore kernel OK? I used it in SGS, but it was very long time ago.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Installing official firmwares will not increase your flash counter. The thing that increases your flash counter is custom kernels.
2. If you have a USB jig i would flash the old bootloader reset the counter and then flashback to the ICS bootloader if you wish to have it. I did this yesterday and the old bootloader had no problems booting in CM9.
3. I havent backed up my EFS folder but people do suggest that you do. I know there are apps out there to do this but i haven't looked in to it so i cant really comment.
4. I have used the sammy ICS and it is stable. battery however isn't if you stick to the stock kernel. raffaele88 has a very nice and stable sammy based (LP7) Rom in the dev section which i have found to be the best custom ICS sammy based rom atm.
5. For kernels most popular is probably Siyah or N.E.A.K. they have both ISC and GB versions. Hardcores kernel is meant to be good but i have never used it so again i cant comment.
skibbi_pl said:
Hello everyone!
Yesterday I got SGS2 as a replacement to my beloved SGS1 which I sold to my friend. I've read some FAQ's but I'm still unsure about some things. Can you please throw some light on my concerns?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welcome to the sgs2 forums.
There's a Q&A section if you didn't notice...
I recommend you install XWLA4 from this thread using odin. It's the last GB rom for SGS2 and it's blazing fast without any known issues. It will debrand your phone and update to the newest version.
Don't bother with custom kernels for now. You will have great batterylife even with the stock kernel. If you're ready for them, the most popular ones are Siyah, Speedmod and NEAK.
Currently there is no software method to remove the triangle and custom binary counter on GB but on ICS you will manage with Triangle Away, so if you want to root your LA4 you will have to get a jig to reset the binary counter.
For now I don't think there's any reason for you to upgrade to ICS as it is slower overall and drains the battery more.
I have both the sgs1 and 2 and gingerbread is the way to go on both of them for now. Not until there's proper hardware acceleration for the browser at least.
Good Luck and have fun!
Back up EFS with Hellcat's kTool from Google Play (free).
Should you back it up ? Hell yes. Keep a copy of the backup on your external SD card in your phone, and another copy on your PC. You'd be surprised at how many people we get thru here every week with borked EFS/IMEI & no backup.
Thank you for your quick answers! I'll probably stay with GB for now, I just need to make myself a JIG just to have an option of resetting the counter.
Hi there guys I really need educating. I come from a Samsung Galaxy S to a Samsung Galaxy S 3. I know all about firmware flashing, kernels n stuff on the original Sammy G, but haven't a clue on the Samsung Galaxy S 3.
I have managed to root the bad boy (go me!) but am unsure how to carrier unlock and to flash the latest firmware. The Sammy G was carrier unlocked but my Sammy G S3 is locked to Vodafone
Can anyone point me to the files and maybe some guides so that I can procede? Also what is this business about a flash counter? I want to be able to return to original firmware if it all goes belly up! How do I backup my original firmware?
Many Thanks In Advance
Doozy,
P.S.
Who is the best Dev to follow for A) Rom and B) Kernel? I followed CyanogenMod on the Sammy G but the CM9 nightlies fpr the Samsung Galaxy S 3 seem a little immature for me at the moment.
Cheers once again
I think you don't have to backup your original firmware because you can download the stock firmwares again later, but you can do a nandroid backup (i never did this^^)
If something goes wrong, follow this guide: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1671969
About unlocking i don't know, but i think the lock will be gone if you flash any rom (but can't give you warranty, since my phone was unlocked)
You can reset the flash counter, it's called triangle away : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1494114
Im not able to say, whick rom / kernel is best, but why don't you check this thread and try some roms? http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1674286
The first CM9 releases had many bugs, but they seem to be ready for all day use now (but i missed the Sammy Camera App, which is very nice )
Thank You very much for taking the time to respond I will take a look at those links.
Thanks Very Much,
Doozy
Hey everyone,
I am running the stock AT&T ICS rom (wish I never downloaded it after having rooted my phone when it originally had GB 2.3) and went about rooting my phone via odin and downloading the appropriate TWRP files (based off what I read here).
While I can't seem to get it rooted, it seems that I now have a count of 1 for custom binaries...what did I do wrong? Is there a way to turn back that counter?
Anyone want to point me to a link for rooting stock ICS Notes, as most of what is in the forum refers to stock GB phones ?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1740367
Links to rooting, roms, counter reset, hookers, mods, themes, etc
It puts the lotion on its skin!