I'm 99% convinced I need to screw with my SGS2 once more. Have been toying with the idea of the stock 4.1.2 leak. I'm not exactly a newbie, and I know of the horror stories associated with re-flashing a PIT file and repartitioning.
However, I've toyed around with maybe 20 different roms - stock leaks, custom roms, wipe roms, no-wipe roms, etc etc so I'm reasonably confident of not making a brick.
Since I'm migrating to an S3 I'm getting my hands on, I was going to give the S2 to the wife after I had a play with jb - so I'd like the cleanest possible install. Even 'wipe' roms I've used in the past, seem to leave a lot of fluff behind (e.g. long forgotten directories and files from the phone's 2 year history) - even after a so-called 'factory reset'
Seems to me, flashing 4.1.2 WITH the PIT file and repartition checked should give me a completely wiped, clean phone (like it just came off the factory floor with the leaked/test firmware in it).
The one thing I'm confused about is should I use Odin to flash the PIT (with repartition checked) first, reboot, THEN flash the pda, csc & modem - or should I just flash everything in one go (pit, pda, csc, modem with repartition checked).
Is my assumption that this will definitely give me a super-clean phone correct?
Eyeball97 said:
I'm 99% convinced I need to screw with my SGS2 once more. Have been toying with the idea of the stock 4.1.2 leak. I'm not exactly a newbie, and I know of the horror stories associated with re-flashing a PIT file and repartitioning.
However, I've toyed around with maybe 20 different roms - stock leaks, custom roms, wipe roms, no-wipe roms, etc etc so I'm reasonably confident of not making a brick.
Since I'm migrating to an S3 I'm getting my hands on, I was going to give the S2 to the wife after I had a play with jb - so I'd like the cleanest possible install. Even 'wipe' roms I've used in the past, seem to leave a lot of fluff behind (e.g. long forgotten directories and files from the phone's 2 year history) - even after a so-called 'factory reset'
Seems to me, flashing 4.1.2 WITH the PIT file and repartition checked should give me a completely wiped, clean phone (like it just came off the factory floor with the leaked/test firmware in it).
The one thing I'm confused about is should I use Odin to flash the PIT (with repartition checked) first, reboot, THEN flash the pda, csc & modem - or should I just flash everything in one go (pit, pda, csc, modem with repartition checked).
Is my assumption that this will definitely give me a super-clean phone correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AFAIK the 'PIT' file flashing is for devices which have some Mem Issue (like the System Partition being messed up) ma8
Hence not recomended on a normal wrk'ng Phone like urs ma8
if at all u need a clean install then all u can do is 'make a Backup' of all ur important data(both on Internal and External Sdcard) on ur Computer 'Specially the "EFS" one.
Then Format them (both internal and external sdcard), and restore all the BKps from ur PC accordingly and then go far a fresh install of any rom of ur choice
I strongly against repartition our S2 or any phone for that matter. If your objective is to remove everything clean before passing your phone to someone, I suggest your use one of those military grade erase application to wipe your flash storage devices.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
As you've already been advised, don't (there are far safer ways to achieve what you've posted about). Only flash a PIT if/when you have specific reason for doing it (wiping a phone isn't one of those reasons).
Flashing a PIT purely to scratch a 'tinkering itch' isn't particularly wise unless your aim is to break the phone.
MistahBungle said:
As you've already been advised, don't (there are far safer ways to achieve what you've posted about). Only flash a PIT if/when you have specific reason for doing it (wiping a phone isn't one of those reasons).
Flashing a PIT purely to scratch a 'tinkering itch' isn't particularly wise unless your aim is to break the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually it's not just a 'tinkering itch', it's more professional curiosity. I've been in the ICT business for almost 35 years so I'm quite familiar with experimenting with stuff.
Granted, it would be unwise to deliberately break the thing but the aim would be quite the opposite - to separate the facts from the fud and prove it doesn't break the thing. The vast majority of the "PIT/Repartition" disaster stories we read are from people who flashed the wrong PIT - with (imho) very predictable results.
I'll add, that I'm almost sure I actually did flash once with a PIT and repartition - iirc it was the very first time I flashed the phone. Got fed up waiting for a KIES update and nabbed ICS off (I think) Sam Firmware. Anyway it was a "3 files" version and the first time I'd ever seen Odin, so naturally I was curious about the 'missing' files (PIT & Bootloader) for which there were options in Odin. I figured I didn't need either (especially the bootloader) but a little digging around found the right PIT file so I flashed that as well. Nothing untoward happened and in the subsequent months I played with many different ROMS (although never bothered with PIT again).
So, that's the part I don't remember - whether I flashed the PIT first with repatition checked, or whether I flashed all 4 files at once with repartition checked.
I figure that if I flash just the PIT first, all that's going to happen is an unuseable 'soft brick' (on account of, no OS) but that I would be able to boot into download and flash the remaining 3 files. OR, that I flash all 4 files at the same time, eliminating the reboot inbetween. Pretty much six of one, half dozen of the other it would seem.
With thanks and all due respect to the replies so far, nobody's yet answered the question of whether I'm right in saying the above is what's supposed to happen - whether or not it does happen in reality, is a subject for another discussion (and/or a humble acknowledgement that it went fubar).
Ahhhh...Ok. I hear you re: 'professional curiosity'
You're absolutely right re: bozos doing stupid stuff (like flashing the wrong PIT, pulling the cable because they're impatient, etc) causing 99% of the borked phones that happen when a PIT flash goes wrong.
And you're also right about if you 'do your homework' (have a good handle on the process), it should go smoothly.
I guess if you're going to flash something anyway (a clean install of stock), then if you know what you're doing, flashing a PIT with everything else carries the same risk as flashing a rom/whatever (a very small risk with any given flash of the phone ending up borked).
Having said that, given I can do a couple of formats without the risk of flashing anything (particularly if the phone is already stock) at all, that's what I'd be doing (and despite the fact I've done dozens & dozens of flashes & only had one go wrong immediately after I got my phone initially through carelessness). I'm curious by nature, but not that curious
I doubt you're going to get an answer around whether flashing a PIT & nothing else simply leaves you with a phone that's able to be booted into download mode which is able to have a rom flashed/etc because I've never seen anyone on here who's tried same simply for the sake of it. I'd say you're going to be one of the few if you do try it However, this thread tends to suggest (my assumption) that recovery/download modes are 'contained' in that hidden partition. The question then becomes, if you flash a PIT without flashing a rom (OS) & then 'boot' the phone, are you able to boot into download/recovery mode because the PIT doesn't overwrite the partition they're housed in (assuming they are indeed housed in said partition).
Eyeball97 said:
Actually it's not just a 'tinkering itch', it's more professional curiosity. I've been in the ICT business for almost 35 years so I'm quite familiar with experimenting with stuff.
Granted, it would be unwise to deliberately break the thing but the aim would be quite the opposite - to separate the facts from the fud and prove it doesn't break the thing. The vast majority of the "PIT/Repartition" disaster stories we read are from people who flashed the wrong PIT - with (imho) very predictable results.
I'll add, that I'm almost sure I actually did flash once with a PIT and repartition - iirc it was the very first time I flashed the phone. Got fed up waiting for a KIES update and nabbed ICS off (I think) Sam Firmware. Anyway it was a "3 files" version and the first time I'd ever seen Odin, so naturally I was curious about the 'missing' files (PIT & Bootloader) for which there were options in Odin. I figured I didn't need either (especially the bootloader) but a little digging around found the right PIT file so I flashed that as well. Nothing untoward happened and in the subsequent months I played with many different ROMS (although never bothered with PIT again).
So, that's the part I don't remember - whether I flashed the PIT first with repatition checked, or whether I flashed all 4 files at once with repartition checked.
I figure that if I flash just the PIT first, all that's going to happen is an unuseable 'soft brick' (on account of, no OS) but that I would be able to boot into download and flash the remaining 3 files. OR, that I flash all 4 files at the same time, eliminating the reboot inbetween. Pretty much six of one, half dozen of the other it would seem.
With thanks and all due respect to the replies so far, nobody's yet answered the question of whether I'm right in saying the above is what's supposed to happen - whether or not it does happen in reality, is a subject for another discussion (and/or a humble acknowledgement that it went fubar).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hmmmmm.....try beloved basic flash, your wife won't know the difference.
If something is off while she's using it....just use your expertise and thell her that "samsung sometimes releases android's updates overlooking hardware performance on their devices, therefore great user communities apply feedback so they can patch it in furure update, but you can also patch it right away because you are a member of an awesome community that cares for these kind of devices and it's users".
that's what we all do when we kinda mess with another person's phone
Just a quick follow-up (no, I haven't messed with the phone yet)
What started this thread was my curiosity which was sparked when I found there was a PIT file in the leaked "official" 4.1.2. Yesterday I saw Samsung Korea have now officially released 4.1.2 (in Korea only, so far, for the S250 or whatever they call the i9100 there) and that they've swiped 1GB from the system partition (was 12GB, now 11GB) - so it looks like finding out about repartitioning and flashing new PIT info is going to be useful sooner rather than later...
monsters never scared me, pit files do.
from sii xda-ded
Related
Hey guys need some help. I've gone through as much of the forums as possible and still trying to resolve this without having to send it away.
My brother's SGS II has the following symptoms:
-turns on and stays at the SGS II GT-i9100 screen (will not change)
-phone can enter download and recovery modes
-when phone is plugged in to charge the battery symbol will not show that it's charging then continue to the SGS II GT-i9100 screen...then back to the battery icon (and loop)
-attempts to reflash anything will either be successful or fail in ODIN but still results in the 1st issue above.
What should I try next?
Hi,
your searching skills are enormous
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1108499
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1457458
..
wow they are sticked
*edit*
fullwipe - flash via CWM Recovery, thats what i would try
greetz
Are you using pit file when you flash with odin ? could be partition problem so using pit would fix that
Please don't tell people to flash pit files unless you know for absolute certain their problem (which at this stage is vague/undiagnosed; I.E we don't know what the problem is exactly) will be fixed by flashing a pit.
(You should know) flashing a pit can permanently bork a phone if that isn't what's wrong with the phone :-|
Thanks for the sarcasm my friend but when I say i've gone through most of the forum as possible I meant I've tried both those fixes to no avail...thanks anyway though :good:
leechseed said:
Hi,
your searching skills are enormous
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1108499
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1457458
..
wow they are sticked
*edit*
fullwipe - flash via CWM Recovery, thats what i would try
greetz
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah right now I haven't gone any pit routes yet. I've gone through both boot/bricked guides and right now it's a wash...hell i'm getting a loop between the battery screen and GT-i9100 screen now.
MistahBungle said:
Please don't tell people to flash pit files unless you know for absolute certain their problem (which at this stage is vague/undiagnosed; I.E we don't know what the problem is exactly) will be fixed by flashing a pit.
(You should know) flashing a pit can permanently bork a phone if that isn't what's wrong with the phone :-|
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK. What we really need to know is exactly what's been done to the phone. Every little detail (important). From before it started acting up till now. Time to interrogate your brother & find out exactly what he's been doing with/to the phone.
The more info we get the better the chance you don't have to blindly flash that recovery package in the 2nd thread Leechseed linked to with the pit file & hope it works without knowing exactly what/why is wrong with the phone.
He was doing an upgrade to the Omega rom I believe (sorry I'm a galaxy 1 guy so I'm not familiar with the s2 roms). It was flashed succesfully but once it rebooted that was all she wrote...phone just sat there at the GT-i9100 screen.
So at this point we've tried the ICS recovery, the ginerbread recovery and the i9100M recovery (that's the version he has). All the 1 file tars will run through successfully but the ones with the multiple files (phone, csc, pda) will hang up in odin on the DATAFS:
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm235/sirknattar/Untitled.jpg
MistahBungle said:
OK. What we really need to know is exactly what's been done to the phone. Every little detail (important). From before it started acting up till now. Time to interrogate your brother & find out exactly what he's been doing with/to the phone.
The more info we get the better the chance you don't have to blindly flash that recovery package in the 2nd thread Leechseed linked to with the pit file & hope it works without knowing exactly what/why is wrong with the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's some details missing somewhere. It just doesn't make sense for a phone to do that upgrading a rom under normal circumstances. So you have two choices essentially given you've already tried the obvious. You could send it in for warranty service, hope they don't care it's been messed with & repair it. Tho there's obviously a better than even chance you will end up paying for it (not unreasonably).
Or I guess you could flash whatever recovery package from that thread with the PIT file & hope that fixes whatever is wrong with it. Obviously if it doesn't that makes it certain you're either sending it to Samsung/an authorised repairer (quite possibly for repair at your expense, unless they don't notice/care), or to a 3rd party repairer (again at your expense; might be cheaper than Samsung if they decide to charge you for the repair).
Given the info you've provided, there's absolutely no clues whatsoever as to what caused it to happen. Unless someone else reads the thread & has other ideas. Might want to hold off on the PIT for a while & see if someone else does have other ideas given that's pretty much a final step.
Doing the .pit and re-partition as we speak and hangs up on the exact spot...DATAFS (data.img). *sigh*
I'm going to try the bootloader option next. I know my bro says he's done it already but I want to be sure. Thanks for your help man.
MistahBungle said:
There's some details missing somewhere. It just doesn't make sense for a phone to do that upgrading a rom under normal circumstances. So you have two choices essentially given you've already tried the obvious. You could send it in for warranty service, hope they don't care it's been messed with & repair it. Tho there's obviously a better than even chance you will end up paying for it (not unreasonably).
Or I guess you could flash whatever recovery package from that thread with the PIT file & hope that fixes whatever is wrong with it. Obviously if it doesn't that makes it certain you're either sending it to Samsung/an authorised repairer (quite possibly for repair at your expense, unless they don't notice/care), or to a 3rd party repairer (again at your expense; might be cheaper than Samsung if they decide to charge you for the repair).
Given the info you've provided, there's absolutely no clues whatsoever as to what caused it to happen. Unless someone else reads the thread & has other ideas. Might want to hold off on the PIT for a while & see if someone else does have other ideas given that's pretty much a final step.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
here's another note...when flashing bootloader it comes up into the recovery screen and says "E: failed to mount /data (unknown error: 0)
trying a format data/system
MistahBungle said:
There's some details missing somewhere. It just doesn't make sense for a phone to do that upgrading a rom under normal circumstances. So you have two choices essentially given you've already tried the obvious. You could send it in for warranty service, hope they don't care it's been messed with & repair it. Tho there's obviously a better than even chance you will end up paying for it (not unreasonably).
Or I guess you could flash whatever recovery package from that thread with the PIT file & hope that fixes whatever is wrong with it. Obviously if it doesn't that makes it certain you're either sending it to Samsung/an authorised repairer (quite possibly for repair at your expense, unless they don't notice/care), or to a 3rd party repairer (again at your expense; might be cheaper than Samsung if they decide to charge you for the repair).
Given the info you've provided, there's absolutely no clues whatsoever as to what caused it to happen. Unless someone else reads the thread & has other ideas. Might want to hold off on the PIT for a while & see if someone else does have other ideas given that's pretty much a final step.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MistahBungle said:
Please don't tell people to flash pit files unless you know for absolute certain their problem (which at this stage is vague/undiagnosed; I.E we don't know what the problem is exactly) will be fixed by flashing a pit.
(You should know) flashing a pit can permanently bork a phone if that isn't what's wrong with the phone :-|
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems I must have been lucky over the last 24 months having flashed 100's of times with Odin and pit file on SGS 1, 2 and 3 and not bricked 1 yet in fact I've never known anyone brick an SGS flashing a rom with pit other phones maybe but not SGS's
yeah i'm comfortable with flashing pit files due to my weekly rom addiciton from my SGS/cappy hahaha
Anyway I may be experiencing that corrupt SD card issue i've been reading about...not sure.
sminky01 said:
Seems I must have been lucky over the last 24 months having flashed 100's of times with Odin and pit file on SGS 1, 2 and 3 and not bricked 1 yet in fact I've never known anyone brick an SGS flashing a rom with pit other phones maybe but not SGS's
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why dont you just try to flash a Stock Rom??
I would try that first - wipe - flash Stock (via CWM)
I always used the ONE file package of Roms and never had any probs..
Why on earth are you re partitioning with Odin? You know Odin isn't build for the S II, and the re-partitioning it does is for the Nexus or something. IE using Odin to re partition an S II royally ****s it. Flashing a PIT might work but why don't you just start at a logical place, before going out and doing a full manual JTAG on your phone with a pair of pliers, some masking tape and a bunsen burner, why don't you do the obvious. Which is update your Odin, uninstall Kies and reinstall it for the Samsung drivers, check the USB etc. something is clearly going wrong during the flash process despite it being "successful". Failing that, take it back to the shop, if your phone isn't a £500 paper weight by the time you read this, just apply for a new one. Make sure you erase any evidence of you messing around with it and return it.
sirknattar said:
He was doing an upgrade to the Omega rom I believe (sorry I'm a galaxy 1 guy so I'm not familiar with the s2 roms). It was flashed succesfully but once it rebooted that was all she wrote...phone just sat there at the GT-i9100 screen.
So at this point we've tried the ICS recovery, the ginerbread recovery and the i9100M recovery (that's the version he has). All the 1 file tars will run through successfully but the ones with the multiple files (phone, csc, pda) will hang up in odin on the DATAFS:
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm235/sirknattar/Untitled.jpg
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem might be the Omega rom ??? is it compatible with I9100M series or just the I9100 the M could be the clue to the flash failing same as when Samsung released the I9100G and people who flashed that got screwed up with the incorrect bootloaders since the hardware is different in the I9100 and I9100G same problem might exist with I9100M
Thanks for everyone's help and suggestions. I've got a vague idea of the problem now and it's being sent back to Samsung for warranty (after I clear it with the JIG).
try to do the following.
1-flash any gingerbread CF kernel via odin
2-boot into recovery mode
3- wipe everything under mounts and storage including system partition
4-reboot into download mode
5-try to flash the CM9 Resurrection Edition
hope this helps mate. mine just emmc bricked on me, with the crappy LQ5 samsung firmware and had to RMA the bastard.
check ur pm mate
Hi am obviously new to these forums but not new to Android/Samsung development so I had custom roms installed on my I777 so I needed to revert back to stock in which I flashed a leak which apparently changed the pit so I was able to download all the stock files for Odin3 for my device in the Download Repository. My question is there any reason why my device just doesn't act as accurately as I though I remembered it being when it was stock. Is there any ultimately right process for flashing because most instructions including my own are all different, some say wipe cache and data first and battery pull then download mode Creepys says its not neccessary until after the flash as does ZedoMax. I've followed all of them and haven't understood why there is no ultimately right process if there is one at all using odin3 and one-click. And if this is the case what could possibly be going on with the force closes and hangups I'm getting? If someone is willing to take the time to help me with all these questions I'd greatly appreciate it.
Dunno if it'll help, but it won't hurt..
Boot into recovery and"fix permissions". *Should* help with the FC's - oh, and delete everything from your memory that you read on galaxys2root (zedomax). Whatever you've read from creepy, COMMIT to memory. The guy is ace!
Clay
Team Pirate
Sent from my PINK SGH-I777
clay101eve said:
Dunno if it'll help, but it won't hurt..
Boot into recovery and"fix permissions". *Should* help with the FC's - oh, and delete everything from your memory that you read on galaxys2root (zedomax). Whatever you've read from creepy, COMMIT to memory. The guy is ace!
Clay
Team Pirate
Sent from my PINK SGH-I777
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't see the option for fix permissions first of all is that a cwm option? Also I know creepy is one of the best but what's wrong with gs2root? And I appreciate the help but which process is the ultimate right way? Do you flash pit,PDA,modem all together or is that incorrect?
GalaxyHackster85 said:
I don't see the option for fix permissions first of all is that a cwm option? Also I know creepy is one of the best but what's wrong with gs2root? And I appreciate the help but which process is the ultimate right way? Do you flash pit,PDA,modem all together or is that incorrect?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't remember for sure, but I don't think fix permissions in available in stock 3e recovery. It should be available in just about any custom recovery.
GalaxyS2Root, and it's owner who goes by the screen name zedomax, is a strictly commercial endeavour, designed to make money but not necessarily designed to help people. I think zedomax is a developer, but I'm not sure how good he is. Many of the offerings on that web site, and presumably on his dozens of other web sites for other phones, cause problems for folks, bricking phones, and other things. Further, he takes the work of developers here and posts their work on his sites without giving any attribution or remuneration. He's spread way too thin keeping up with all his various sites, and/or he just doesn't seem to care if his offerings cause problems. We've had so many people come to this forum with various problems due to GalaxyS2Root that when the name is mentioned, everyone is on it right away.
I would only use the pit to repartition on the I777 when everything else fails. It can be a help, but you should be sure that you are going to have a successful flash before you use it, since it repartitions the memory space of the phone.
Most firmware for the I777 has everything in one .tar file, which you put into the PDA slot. If you are flashing just a param.lfs or just a sbl.bin, then that goes into the PDA slot. You can also flash a modem at the same time as the rest of the firmware, using the Modem slot, but most firmware packages have the modem in them too.
So essentially the oneclicks are absolutely the only thing I need in order to ensure a 100% successful restocking? And if so am I always suppose to factory wipe/cache then battery pull (3e recovery doesn't have a power off option)? The reason why I ask so many questions is A. A lot of peoples data isn't accurate as you've stated and its better for me to have as much data as possible when potentially getting into these things. And B. I've been flashing my S2 like a madman with OCD because as soon as I'd get a force close or any sort of hiccup happened I assumed it was because I flashed it wrong when in fact I was just following some of the directions that I've aqquired from here or GS2Root and so far everything has flashed with the same results but as its been forever since my phone was purchased so I can recall if these are just the normal hiccups that come with the inconsistancy of android. So to me I'm just trying to.make sure that I'm doing things absolutely correct.
There is lots of material here to read. You can learn a lot about your phone by spending some time reading.
creepyncrawly said:
There is lots of material here to read. You can learn a lot about your phone by spending some time reading.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And you are absolutely correct and I have your guide bookmarked but with so many people having different takes on how to return to stock can you point me in a direction that's the completely right way of flashing your pit and attempt software. Or is your guide with one click the most surefire way to do it? Like I said before I'm a bit OCD when it comes to my phone so whenever I get a little hiccup I can't tell if those are just normal for I777 software or is it something I've done wrong which I probably haven't but it still worries me.
If you havn't done something absolutely ignorant, i.e. flash firmware for a different phone, then you should just use my guide with the linked one-click downloader. That package does not contain bootloaders or param.lfs. Those (the bootloaders and param) will always be good, and not needing replaced, if you only flash firmware from these forums and never flash leaked firmware (which usually contains bootloaders.) There should never, ever be a reason to use a pit file. As I said before, the phone has to be pretty seriously screwed before you need to repartition, and then it should be the absolutely last thing you try.
And inform yourself before you do any actual flashing. You should know exactly what you are doing to your phone, and also know what the remedy is before you do it. That way, you can avoid doing something stupid. If you really want to learn about your phone, read at least a little bit from the forums here every day for a few months, get involved in the discussions, and before you know it, you'll be one of the helpers.
Thank you so much for all of your prompt replies, I have been using the data from this site for quite some years now but never ran into any issues which required me to create an account (although I have wanted to), but for s**ts and giggles let me just say that due to the few hiccups I encountered and not knowing what would have caused them I have already flashed the pit and repartitioned as well as flashed the oneclick w/ bootloaders and param. Now asside from the few force closes that I ran into and the one time I bricked it and brought it back to fully functional is there any harm to the flashing of those tools that I've already done so far. Is there any negative side effects of what I've done that I may not be seeing or is it a case of well "there in the repository so theyre safe as long as I've flashed them correctly". And if so are these few force closes just everyday hiccups that every version of Android experiences and that I'm just overthinking it and it's just been a case of my ocd kicking me in the ass?
The danger in using those files is in the flashing. If a flash is inadvertantly interrupted or goes bad, then it can hard brick the phone. Once the flash is complete and successful, then you're fine. There are no side effects.
Force closes, and other anomalies can be caused by conflicting data is the system and data partitions. They can also be the result of bugs in the firmware distribution or in any of the various applications. To eliminate the first cause, following all the best proceedures when flashing such as wiping first, etc eliminates the possibility that the fc's are caused by improper proceedure.
With proper installation proceedure, and with a stable firmware, and with robust applications, you should experience little to no fc's.
creepyncrawly said:
The danger in using those files is in the flashing. If a flash is inadvertantly interrupted or goes bad, then it can hard brick the phone. Once the flash is complete and successful, then you're fine. There are no side effects.
Force closes, and other anomalies can be caused by conflicting data is the system and data partitions. They can also be the result of bugs in the firmware distribution or in any of the various applications. To eliminate the first cause, following all the best proceedures when flashing such as wiping first, etc eliminates the possibility that the fc's are caused by improper proceedure.
With proper installation proceedure, and with a stable firmware, and with robust applications, you should experience little to no fc's.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i did zedo then s2 unlock then aokp then siyah kernal change forgot to do triangle away then tryed a ota update messed up rom cwm messed up then i just did zedo again to get cwm again then i did aokp again then ran triangle away then i return to stock backup after root then odin flash for stock non root then i took stock and did ota update to 2.3.6 i dont think we will ever get 2.3.7 because google wallet is on 2.3.7 and we cant have it correctly .....on reboot it hangs so i did 3e wipe and cache delete reboot all has been good since batt has been outragously long on uckk7 but after ota update it shows as uckk6 i used a non rooted file maybe u used a rooted return to stock file ?anyway file i used was I777UCKH7-CL503881-No-BL as stated just used pda slot .....idk after all the custom roms theres a distinct feeling in knowing your stock again but have the ability to go and do it all over again i honestly just miss the torch feature and the easy brightness slider on the pulldown
im getting h+ but it doesnt seem like true h+ speed and i also lose h+ while holding the phone im waiting for this to change with tmobile and thier 1900mhz i hope it does or ill be looking into whats going on with the modem maybe
colorsharpkid said:
i did zedo then s2 unlock then aokp then siyah kernal change forgot to do triangle away then tryed a ota update messed up rom cwm messed up then i just did zedo again to get cwm again then i did aokp again then ran triangle away then i return to stock backup after root then odin flash for stock non root then i took stock and did ota update to 2.3.6 i dont think we will ever get 2.3.7 because google wallet is on 2.3.7 and we cant have it correctly .....on reboot it hangs so i did 3e wipe and cache delete reboot all has been good since batt has been outragously long on uckk7 but after ota update it shows as uckk6 i used a non rooted file maybe u used a rooted return to stock file ?anyway file i used was I777UCKH7-CL503881-No-BL as stated just used pda slot .....idk after all the custom roms theres a distinct feeling in knowing your stock again but have the ability to go and do it all over again i honestly just miss the torch feature and the easy brightness slider on the pulldown
im getting h+ but it doesnt seem like true h+ speed and i also lose h+ while holding the phone im waiting for this to change with tmobile and thier 1900mhz i hope it does or ill be looking into whats going on with the modem maybe
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly, I have no idea what you just said, or what you're asking.
qwertyaas said:
Honestly, I have no idea what you just said, or what you're asking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Me either, sometimes punctuation goes a long way
Sent from team Pirate! Using Tapatalk 2
colorsharpkid said:
i flashed zedo then used s2 unlock. then i flashed aokp and siyah kernel. I forgot to do triangle away (because I used zedo) and then tried an ota update. This messed up my rom because I couldn't access cwm. then i flashed zedo again to get cwm back. After that i flashed aokp again and ran triangle away.
I then did a return to stock backup after root and an odin flash for stock non root. While on stock i did an ota update to 2.3.6. (some nonsense about 2.3.7 and Google wallet)
.....on reboot it hangs so i did 3e recovery wipe and wiped cache. Reboot has been good since. My batt has been outragously long on uckk7!! But, after an ota update it shows as uckk6 i used a non rooted file, maybe I should have used a rooted return to stock file?
Anyway, the file i used was I777UCKH7-CL503881-No-BL as stated and i just used pda slot .....idk, after all the custom roms theres a distinct feeling in knowing your stock again but have the ability to go and flash custom ROMs all over again. i honestly just miss the torch feature and the easy brightness slider on the pulldown.
im getting h+ but it doesnt seem like true h+ speed and i also lose h+ while holding the phone. im waiting for this to change with tmobile and thier 1900mhz i hope it does or ill be looking into whats going on with the modem maybe
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fixed... I think. And "zedo" refers to the sh;t zedomax has on gs2root.
Clay
Team Pirate
Sent from my Buttery Pink SGH-i777
Ok thats where I'm a bit concerned because I ran into an issue before where I was going to do a flash and it choked up on me (mind you it was a pit and tar flash repartition) and it bricked on me but I was able to reflash the same process again once the pc was ok again. I also had on flash that was the 2.3.5 leak but flashed over that and it was fine. Now with that said the phone flashed well, and now it runs generally like it should have in the first place. But my question is did that fluke flash do anything negative to the device behind the scenes that will never be ok again?
creepyncrawly said:
The danger in using those files is in the flashing. If a flash is inadvertantly interrupted or goes bad, then it can hard brick the phone. Once the flash is complete and successful, then you're fine. There are no side effects.
Force closes, and other anomalies can be caused by conflicting data is the system and data partitions. They can also be the result of bugs in the firmware distribution or in any of the various applications. To eliminate the first cause, following all the best proceedures when flashing such as wiping first, etc eliminates the possibility that the fc's are caused by improper proceedure.
With proper installation proceedure, and with a stable firmware, and with robust applications, you should experience little to no fc's.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok thats where I'm a bit concerned because I ran into an issue before where I was going to do a flash and it choked up on me (mind you it was a pit and tar flash repartition) and it bricked on me but I was able to reflash the same process again once the pc was ok again. I also had on flash that was the 2.3.5 leak but flashed over that and it was fine. Now with that said the phone flashed well, and now it runs generally like it should have in the first place. But my question is did that fluke flash do anything negative to the device behind the scenes that will never be ok again?
Sorry for double post but I wanted to make sure my questions are targeting creepy seeing as this thread is getting a bit off topic.
GalaxyHackster85 said:
Ok thats where I'm a bit concerned because I ran into an issue before where I was going to do a flash and it choked up on me (mind you it was a pit and tar flash repartition) and it bricked on me but I was able to reflash the same process again once the pc was ok again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I know, that would be fine. Someone with dev experience could look into partition sizes on the phone, and see what actually happened. As long as the firmware is functioning correctly, then I would assume the partition sizes are correct.
I also had on flash that was the 2.3.5 leak but flashed over that and it was fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess you didn't get a crippled bootloader. That was the main problem with some of the leaks.
Now with that said the phone flashed well, and now it runs generally like it should have in the first place. But my question is did that fluke flash do anything negative to the device behind the scenes that will never be ok again?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know how to look behind the scenes... but I would think your phone is fine.
creepyncrawly said:
As far as I know, that would be fine. Someone with dev experience could look into partition sizes on the phone, and see what actually happened. As long as the firmware is functioning correctly, then I would assume the partition sizes are correct.
I guess you didn't get a crippled bootloader. That was the main problem with some of the leaks.
I don't know how to look behind the scenes... but I would think your phone is fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK great info and definitely a relief but just out.of curiousity what are the repercussions of a bad bootloader flash or an improper pit flash? And how would we know that whatever pit or bootloaders flashed weren't for our phone or are corrupted data?
creepyncrawly said:
As far as I know, that would be fine. Someone with dev experience could look into partition sizes on the phone, and see what actually happened. As long as the firmware is functioning correctly, then I would assume the partition sizes are correct.
I guess you didn't get a crippled bootloader. That was the main problem with some of the leaks.
I don't know how to look behind the scenes... but I would think your phone is fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And trust me I absolutely appreciate all the responses the answer to my last question is all I needed to know to truly understand how the i777 works and functions and I commend you for that. I felt that trying to find all these answers would have been trying to find a needle in a haystack.
Also regarding the repartioning I just wanted to make sure that everything is correct in terms of space. My device is showing only 1.89gb of "Device Memory" at the bout of the "Storage" screen is this normal I though it was higher before but I cant quite remember.
So here's the story. This morning I started out with a working 32GB GT-i9300 running a rooted variant of Samsung's android 4.2.2., and thought I'd have a go at overclocking it following this thread here. Look away now if you can't bear to read of the destruction of technology by ignorance and impatience.
The first road block I hit was needing siyah kernel if I wanted to try overclocking the graphics chip as well. Why not? I tried flashing Siyah via clockwork recovery and ended up with a status 7 error which I looked up to mean my OS was incompatible. (In hindsight I probably had the wrong file...) So I did a bit more research and found that Cyanogenmod 10.1 is also supported by Siyah. I've always thought it would be fun to try Cyanogen, so I grabbed the latest nightly and tried flashing it with mobile Odin. Mobile Odin started flashing then froze after something like 'clearing data'. I think I must have been using the wrong file here too... Anyway, I reset my phone, and it wouldn't boot, except into recovery or download mode. So in another flurry of impatient research I found a bunch of different sources that seemed to suggest re-partitioning with a .pit file was a sure fire fix. A link was provided, with no mention that pit files are specific for certain sizes. Next thing I know, I've re partitioned with a 64GB file on my 32GB phone, and recovery mode is no longer an option. I can still use download mode but Odin freezes typically on 'NAND Write Start!!'
Panic mode, activate.
Things I have tried so far to no avail:
Re-partitioning with a pit file for 32GB galaxy S3s - It finishes in Odin successfully, but no result.
Attempting to flash any ROM, specifically the original one, and the one I had before the screw up - 'NAND Write Start' freeze
Attempting to flash any kernel, specifically Siyah, Perseus and the stock kernel. - Same as above
Using multiple usb cables (4) - No result
Trying different USB ports, and different computers - Ditto
Different versions of Odin (1.3, 1.85 and 3.07) - Unsucessful
Throwing a tantrum - exhausting, but otherwise un-noteworthy
Things i haven't tried:
Jtag. - I don't know terribly much about this apart from what I found in a PDF. Would this be likely to work? Are there any trustworthy people that do this? Should I try it myself?
Returning to Samsung under hardware warranty - I don't think this would work, my flash counter is 2 - custom. Unless it's possible to triangle away in this state.
Giving up - I doubt this would help, but somehow it's looking more and more enticing... ;_;
So after wasting nearly a whole day trying to rescue it, and failing miserably. (Digging my own grave) I decided to post my specific case. As while I have found many descriptions of similar woes, nothing has worked.
Can you help? Please?
Its a damaged Nand from what you posted .
jje
If that's the case, is there anything I can do at all? Is it worth trying to Jtag it?
Hey all!
Wanting to upgrade my firmware from ICS to Jelly Bean (as a definite noob, though having flashed firmwares before) I opened Odin and added what I considered the correct .tar file from Sammobile in the PDA field. In short, it failed and I thought I had a new brick*. Following Phistacio's guide to fixing an unflashable GSII I've now got my phone back (woohoo!!), but am stupid enough to want to give it another go!
My question really, is what could have gone wrong, and more largely, what are the variable errors that us noobs make when trying to flash? I'm using Odin, but it seems using a CWM (is this the correct term?!) might now be the chosen route to flashing?
I'm rooted, on an unlocked GSII, recently moved from O2 to Everything Everywhere (T-Mob), currently using an O2 issued ICS, stock kernel and tried flashing Jelly Bean from Sammobile.
So what's critical here? Is my carrier relevant? Is it not possible to go from some firmwares to others? Do I need a different kernel for some firmwares? Or is my mistake in thinking it's as straight forward as I'd like, when in fact all the above make a critical difference in which firmware I can flash, and therefore I should stop trying??!
Thanks in advance for any light you can shed!
*I think I was softbricked - could enter download mode but not recovery, flashing would hang on either "Nand write start!!" or Sbl.bin or Cache.img.
my two cents
Hi joelinit,
First of all, should congratulate you on taking the first step of flashing the roms..
Second, good you got an issue while flashing. It helps you understand the intricacies better once you try to solve it yourself.
You need not worry about the brick. Try flashing back to stock rom available from sammobile using Odin(3.04). (United Kingdom (O2) 2013 March 4.1.2 PDA-I9100XWLSD CSC-I9100O2ULS7). Yes carrier is important as Modem file differs based on which carrier you use.
This will fix the recovery and will get you on stock JellyBean.
but it seems using a CWM (is this the correct term?!) might now be the chosen route to flashing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CWM is clockworkmod recovery which provides options for flashing custom roms(CM10, SlimRom, NeatRom etc, there are so many).
So what's critical here? Is my carrier relevant? Is it not possible to go from some firmwares to others? Do I need a different kernel for some firmwares? Or is my mistake in thinking it's as straight forward as I'd like, when in fact all the above make a critical difference in which firmware I can flash, and therefore I should stop trying??!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Searching in sammobile for firmwares you will find different firmwares for different carriers. You can flash a UK firmware for some other country, but might have issues with call reception, 3G connectivity, etc. as the modem files are different.
It is possible to go from some firmwares to others.
Stock Roms come with Stock Kernels. When you flash a ROM, kernel will remain the same.
You need to change kernels if your phone is consuming too much battery, crashes etc. This normally happens after flashing custom roms as the kernel is not capable enough to handle the updates in the rom.
Dont stop trying, you will love your phone, once you start flashing the awesome roms,kernels found in xda.
Cheers,
Maddy
Galaxy S2 || CM10.1 nightly 4.2.2 || Dorimanx 9.24
Most of the above is good advice. ....apart from the kernel bit.......
All custom roms and firmwares come with their own optimised kernels. These kernels get flashed during the rom/firmware flash. You can choose to install a custom kernel after you have flashed your chosen rom/fw. Custom kernels offer more control over your OS. All custom kernels offer cwm or twrp (depending on the kernel) and will root an unrooted phone. Most need to be Odin flashed, but some (PhilZ) can be flashed via stock recovery........
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app
Hey guys! Thanks so much for the friendly replies - I thought I might have got abuse as a noob, possibly asking very repetitve questions!!
So then with my recovered GSII, I decided to give it another blast and, inevitably, it's bricked again! Seems to be the same bahaviour - though instead of hanging on either "Nand write start!!" or Sbl.bin or Cache.img., it's failing on them. And this time, I can't seem to fix it,following Phistacio's guide to fixing an unflashable GSII .
I also tried flashing that firmware you suggested (although as I mentioned, I'm now on T-Mobile, not O2? So also tried T-Mobile's Jelly Bean), though with no success.
To clarify, I've installed Kies, then closed down all Kies processes, started Odin and put the .tar file into the PDA field, left Re-Partition unchecked, with both Auto Reboot and F.Reset Time checked, connected my phone and waited for Odin to recognise it, then pressed Start!
Can you suggest anything obvious that I've done wrong or suggest what I should do next? Thanks so much in advance!
4 things to try.....
Use the original usb cable. ..
Try different usb ports on your pc....
Disable any firewalls......
If you are running windows 7, open odin as an administrator. .....
Oh and a fifth suggestion.....
Try different odin versions...
Edit.....Don't ever flash/select pit
And don't select repartition......
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app
These steps are originally posted by MistahBungle. Follow all these steps, he knows what he's talking about.
*Must run Odin as administrator in Windoze.
*Ensure Kies & it's processes aren't running in Windoze task manager. Kill them if they are.
*Try different USB ports; you must be using a 'powered' or mainboard port.
*Try different USB cables (particularly the cable that came with the phone if you're not using it now)
*Try different versions of Odin (search on here/Google)
*Uninstall Kies, reboot, redownload & reinstall it, reboot, try the flash again.
*Turn off antivirus/antispyware/antimalware.
*Check the rom/kernel you download for corruption. Either check the MD5 sum if you have it (use md5summer or similar), if you don't have the md5 sum or can't check it, programs like 7Zip, IZarc, WinRar, etc will allow you to 'test' the rom file you download. If there are any errors/any of the files fail the test, bad download. Try again/try downloading with a different internet connection if it keeps happening.
*Run Windoze Update.
*And if all these steps fail, try a different PC. And if it won't work first go on a 2nd PC, go thru the above steps on that PC. Still doesn't work ? User error (will be almost impossible to say what given we're not there looking over your shoulder, almost always something very obvious being missed) or borked phone - return to service centre or local mobile shop.
I suspect many cases where people (say) they do all the above & still can't get it to work involve problems with the USB ports on the machines they're using. Something along the lines of the port is unable to maintain a constant connection between PC & phone; if that connection drops for even a millisecond (probably not even long enough to be registered as a broken connection by the PC in the normal way), you end up with a constantly failing flash at best and a bad flash which borks your phone at worst.
Obviously the only way I'd be able to test the theory would be to examine/test a bunch of PC's belonging to people who experience this issue, but I've given this issue a lot of thought over the past 18 mths & it's the best explanation I've got for those instances where people are being completely honest about having tried all the steps over & over and on multiple machines (a very very small % of people, most people either simply don't do every step over & over and say they do, or they forget they've forgotten they did A, B & C but not F) & still find they can't flash successfully (and it isn't a case of the phone being borked).
See how you go with that.
Sent from my GT-I9100: Powered by Dorimanx, running RootBox
Thanks so much for all these useful replies - really was expecting to get fobbed off for my noob questions! What a nice community!
I'll try all the above and report back. I have successfully flashed on this computer before and did manage to restore the phone last time, though perhaps the cable is faulty and slightly intermittent? I'm using the USB port that's connected to the mother board too.
Thanks again...
Quite possible. And impossible to diagnose unless you strip the cable (which is pointless given fixing a $10 cable is a waste of time/effort). Go thru the steps Hopper listed (with multiple PC's if necessary) & definitely try a new cable if you need to. Try to get an original Samsung one if you possibly can; for some reason switching to one magically solves this problem for some people when nothing else seems to work.
joelinit said:
perhaps the cable is faulty and slightly intermittent?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MistahBungle said:
Quite possible. And impossible to diagnose unless you strip the cable (which is pointless given fixing a $10 cable is a waste of time/effort). Go thru the steps Hopper listed (with multiple PC's if necessary) & definitely try a new cable if you need to. Try to get an original Samsung one if you possibly can; for some reason switching to one magically solves this problem for some people when nothing else seems to work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! Yeah the cable will be the first thing I'll try changing. It's odd that the flash seems to fail at the same point each time though, kind of implying that it's not an intermitted cable? Unless this particular cable is falling short at those particular functions or something?
Anyway, thanks again - I'm actually kinda enjoying learning about my phone, even though there's the fear it's now a brick!! Fingers crossed that's not the case though...
Well how about that - change the USB cable, and flashes successfully first time round! What a fool! I did also remove the battery/sim for the night and left the sim out during the flash - wonder if that made any difference too?
Thanks so much for all your friendly and helpful replies - I think I'll be sticking around this forum and searching for some custom ROMs to try out!
Happy Wednesdays all...
joelinit said:
Well how about that - change the USB cable, and flashes successfully first time round! What a fool! I did also remove the battery/sim for the night and left the sim out during the flash - wonder if that made any difference too?
Thanks so much for all your friendly and helpful replies - I think I'll be sticking around this forum and searching for some custom ROMs to try out!
Happy Wednesdays all...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good job, glad you got it working keep reading up before you do anything else. The more you read, the better you'll get at all this
Sent from my GT-I9100: Powered by Dorimanx, running RootBox
Hopper8 said:
Good job, glad you got it working keep reading up before you do anything else. The more you read, the better you'll get at all this
Sent from my GT-I9100: Powered by Dorimanx, running RootBox
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will do! Looking forward to exploring new firmwares so will get as clued up as poss! Have now successfully flashed SentinelROM and loving having a "new" phone! Much more exploring to come.
Thanks v.much to all who've helped me in this thread...
Hey guys,
First off, although I hope that it turns out to be very easy to fix and that I've been an ass for being unable to find it myself, I've been trying to figure this out for several hours and I can really use your advice.
The S2 is upgraded to the latest version (I think, it's been several months since last update) of ICS, via KIES. Never did any modding on it.
Problem: (Not sure if this is really the cause of the problem, but) I have never been able to check the way my internal and external RAM and SD-card has been filled up, by which I mean the standard overview in the S2's settings. The information would not simply not load. A few days ago though, I had a lot of time on my hands, so I just kept it running on that screen for a very long time. When I came to check again: it was stuck in the bootscreen ('flashing Samsung logo').
It is still stuck at this screen, despite removing battery several times and removing SD-card. I am able to get into System recovery as well as Download mode. I have wiped the cache partition via System recovery. Also I have tried to reset it via KIES, but despite the computer's System messages saying that it is recognized, it does not get past the connection screen in KIES ("machine not responding''). So there's seems to be nothing I can do via KIES.
My true question: Is my only option left to 'wipe data/factory reset' in the phone's Recovery system, or am I missing another solution?
I hope that you can help me out with this.
Thanks!
You can try flashing a stock rom with Odin, that may fix it without a factory reset. Get one for your country/carrier from Samfirmware (not 4.0.4) & flash it following the instructions in thread stickied near top of Q&A titled 'Flash stock firmware'. If you have problems with the flash, find Hopper8's 'Odin troubleshooting' thread stickied in the General section & go through the troubleshooting steps in a methodical manner until you get a successful flash.
It's 50/50 whether this will fix it on its own, you may end up having to do a factory reset after the flash anyway, so try it & see.
I presume we're talking about an I9100 ? (S2 is a generic term, there's a number of variants).
Thanks for your swift reply!
Yes it's the GT-I9100. For which there actually seems to be no firmware for, for Holland/Netherlands on Sammobile.com. Any advice where I could then get it?
Plenty of firmwares available for the Netherlands on Samfirmware (yes I just checked), use a different browser and/or turn off any script blockers/similar - their site is heavily script dependent & won't work properly if you're blocking them.
And any firmware will do really, I just assume many people in this situation will stay on stock firmware, so you may as well stick with your country/carrier as this rom will have a modem bundled that will work well with your carrier, if you start flashing stock roms for other countries/carriers, that might not be the case.
It took me a while to figure it all out, but I eventually managed to do it! But something went wrong after flashing, I think.
These were ODIN's last messages:
<ID:0/003> Remain Port .... 0
<OSM> All threads completed. (succeed 1 / failed 0)
Then my phone restarted. After having been stuck at the Samsung logo for a few minutes, it changed! It started upgrading the Android-system by 'Optimising applications' and then by 'Opening applications'. But.. It's now stuck at opening the applications.
Is it possible that this is due to me having removed the SD-card at start? I do have most of my apps on the SD-card.
Thanks so far! I have appreciated it very much
So far no succes I'm afraid.
As I told in the post above, after the first flash my mobile got to the 'Opening applications' screen during rebooting. Because it got stuck there, I thought it might have to do with my external sd-card (which holds most of my apps) not being in the phone during flash. So I flashed it again, this time with the sd-card inside the phone.
Still no luck! Once again stuck the Samsung logo.
Any idea what else I could try?
SOLVED
Hey guys, just to give an update! It finally worked!
After flashing a few times, I performed a wipe data/factory reset after all. After having done so (and giving it another 10 minutes) it worked!
I have lost all my contacts and my stories in my Notes, but I guess that couldn't be avoided. No chance of getting (especially) the Notes back I presume?
Either way, thanks for kicking me in the right direction MistahBungle! Not sure if it'll actually give you any rewards, but I referred you on Sammobile
Good man. Glad you fixed it (sorry I wasn't around to see your other posts yesterday). Yep, I did say there was a chance you'd need to do a factory reset after flash, and half of these we see are fixed by just flashing & the other half need a reset.
If you're staying on stock, make sure you backup your stuff with Kies or Google, and most apps have the ability to create backups which you should keep copies of on your external sd card if you have one, and on your PC.
You're welcome (thanks for the referral on Samfirmware)