Some questions regarding rooting, custom ROMs on the S2 - Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Greetings.
So I've just got my hands on this device. Model number is i9100, android version is 4.1.2 and it's not rooted. I've previously owned Nexus devices which are pretty straightforward regarding using custom ROMs - you would reboot to bootloader and enter "fastboot oem unlock", flash a recovery and start flashing ROMs. As this is a completely new device to me, can you guide me through what exactly do I need to do to flash custom ROMs on this device? I've seen a lot of resources on this matter, can you link me the best guide out there regarding this? Which is the best recovery? Which is the overall best custom ROM in terms of stability, performance and battery life etc.? Also, is there a guide for flashing stock ROMs? Additionally, I've seen some jigusb thing here. Will I need it to for rooting /unlocking bootloader/flashing recoveries and custom ROMs?
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

Fobos531 said:
Greetings.
So I've just got my hands on this device. Model number is i9100, android version is 4.1.2 and it's not rooted. I've previously owned Nexus devices which are pretty straightforward regarding using custom ROMs - you would reboot to bootloader and enter "fastboot oem unlock", flash a recovery and start flashing ROMs. As this is a completely new device to me, can you guide me through what exactly do I need to do to flash custom ROMs on this device? I've seen a lot of resources on this matter, can you link me the best guide out there regarding this? Which is the best recovery? Which is the overall best custom ROM in terms of stability, performance and battery life etc.? Also, is there a guide for flashing stock ROMs? Additionally, I've seen some jigusb thing here. Will I need it to for rooting /unlocking bootloader/flashing recoveries and custom ROMs?
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welcome to the S2 community,
First thing you need to do is get your phone rooted.
This can be done by flashing Philz kernel via ODIN in the link below.:
Philz Kernel
There are instructions on which one to flash.
Once done, I will need to know what android version you are most interested in. If you want pure stability, you can try slimsaber 4.4.4 by fusionjack here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s2/development-derivatives/rom-slimsaber-i9100-t2350201 or if you want android marshmallow, you will need to follow this guide: http://forum.xda-developers.com/gal...es/guide-want-to-update-to-cm13-read-t3313978
If you wanted to flash android lollipop or newer, you need to change your system partition sizes in order to flash Gapps (google apps) where this step was included in my CM13 upgrade guide. This can be done either using my guide: http://forum.xda-developers.com/gal...ivatives/mod-increase-partition-size-t3011162 or lanchon's tool: http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/software-hacking/tool-lanchon-repit-data-sparing-t3358036
Let me know if you need any help,
Saber

Thank you very much. If any additional questions pop up, I'll be sure to contact you via PM.

Related

[Q] Confused new owner of Samsung Galaxy SII

Well,
I have just got my new samsung galaxy S-II white. For a start i know what is rooting and why it should be done to unlock the potential of the phone. Have read quite some threads in various forums over here, just to get more confused .
I am mainly tangled in the variety of ways and numerous methods of doing the same thing, or apparently the same thing with different objective and consequences.
Hence I need help to clear up the confusion with a simplified path to explore the device:
1. ROM, Kernel, Firmware..........are these different names for the same thing, or are they different. If they are different, at which level does rooting work, do I need to update all of them or some or one to get the rooted phone.
2. What are the different versions of ROM , Kernel and Firmware available and which ones are recommended. Is Gingerbread 2.3.4 a ROM or a firmware.
3. I have read a lot about custom cooked ROMs. For a newbie like me is there any recommendation. I am thinking about getting on to Cyanogen Mod, is it a ROM or a kernel or a firmware and is it the best all rounder in battery/performance/features ratio. If not then any other recommendations.
5. Insecure Kernel....?, is it a mandatory requirement for rooting, or rooting can be done without it. How do I find the one which is compatible with my phone version / region.
6. CF-Root, SuperOneClick, ROOT APP ????? which one is the safest with easier possibility of recovery (if anything goes bad) and most recommended.
7. Nandroid, ClockworkMod, Odin ???????????? what are these used for. Is it mandatory to use them before rooting to make phone backup images. Which one is the easiest and safest to use in case of a recovery situation.
8. Can I or do I update the original Samsung OTA firmware updates, once I have rooted the phone or if i have flashed with custom ROM/firmware/kernel like Cyanogen Mod.
Thats it for now. My Phone details are as follows (Settings -> About Phone):
Android Version:
2.3.4
BaseBand Version:
I9100XXKI1
Kernel Version:
2.6.35.7-I9100XWKI4-CL575468 [email protected] 143#2
Build Number:
GINGERBREAD.XWKI4
Would be really thankful if anyone can guide me and lot others like me to a more clear path to making our way through the world of Android and SGS-II.
Best Regards,
Cheers.
Lets see if I can answer all of your questions...
1. ROM is the software of the phone and kernel is the core of that software. As you might think, rooting ocurs in the core, so it affects the kernel.
2. ROMs you have a lot in this forum, as well as different kernels. Recomended are several (CM7, MIUI or Hypedroid for example).
3. CyanogenMod is a ROM, but cooking ROMs is more a term of changing the visual (icons, battery stats, animations, etc) more than building a ROM itself. You can build a ROM from it sources, but it's a totally different thing from cooking a ROM. If you want performance, you should seek a minimal ROM or some ROM that could let you easily add/delete components, to avoid having much load on the ROM and thus improving the phone. Also the kernel works a great deal in battery performance, you can see several discussion threads in the forum about them.
5. I think any rooted kernel is considered an insecure kernel, but I might be wrong on this one...
6. I would say CF-Root, its not complicated to follow and the result is the desired.
7. ClockworkMod is a custom recovery used to backup the phone (nandroid), flash ROMs and many other things. Odin is a PC flashing software used to flash directly to the phone. For a recovery you should use CWM.
8. If you update a stock ROM (or OTA update) into a rooted kernel, the kernel will be overwriten and you will loose root. You can follow the same steps to achieve root from there.
Guide
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1125282
jje

Now that I have Stock JB.....

So far my experience with the recent update has been mediocre, Its been 2 days now for me and i'm ready to re-root my device and start tackling some of the bloatware to help improve performance or maybe installing some custom roms again(No Really this phone had better fluidity when i was running GB)....My questions is: now that i'm running stock 4.1 is the rooting process any different from when I was running stock 4.0.4?
I can't post links but on Galaxy note hacks there is a rooting guide specific to my phone...but not specific to the software version.
Thank You
Alex
SGH-i717 (At&t)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2267199
That link is rather useless without explaining how to get recovery...
Op yes.
rooting jb is the same... use Odin to flash a custom recovery image.
Then use that recovery to flash zips, for root, or a completely different Rom.

[Q] What Custom ROM To Begin With?

First a bit of background: I bought a refurbished Nexus 7 2012 to increase my knowledge of the Android OS. I have unlocked the bootloader, rooted it, and installed SuperSU. I experimented with both the CWM and TWRP custom recoveries. I've settled on the TWRP platform and have installed TWRP Manager.
The next step I want to embark on is flashing custom ROMs. Here I'm in a quandary. There are so many choices and when I try to read up on them I find so many acronyms and argot that I can't sift through the information. So here is my question, what ROM do you recommend for a starting place and why do you think it's a good choice?
Thanks in advance... Rick
rickscott said:
First a bit of background: I bought a refurbished Nexus 7 2012 to increase my knowledge of the Android OS. I have unlocked the bootloader, rooted it, and installed SuperSU. I experimented with both the CWM and TWRP custom recoveries. I've settled on the TWRP platform and have installed TWRP Manager.
The next step I want to embark on is flashing custom ROMs. Here I'm in a quandary. There are so many choices and when I try to read up on them I find so many acronyms and argot that I can't sift through the information. So here is my question, what ROM do you recommend for a starting place and why do you think it's a good choice?
Thanks in advance... Rick
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ultimately I would say that the best ROM is the one your most satisfied with, so try them all and see what you like. Heck if you like a bunch use MultiROM to have several ROM's you can choose between. For actually starting out I would recommend trying a well known ROM such as CM12 or Paranoid Android as these are feature packed yet good for people of all experience levels including a beginner such as yourself. But don't be afraid to experiment with other ROM's for your device and find out what you like. If you go wrong you can always restore your stock ROM backup in TWRP (Do make a stock ROM backup before flashing any ROM's). And if you really go wrong you can always flash a stock Nexus factory image to easily restore your device back to working order. Overall, read about the ROM's, read the flashing instructions, re-read the flashing instructions, and mostly importantly have fun and enjoy the community. Let me know if you have any questions I'll be more then happy to help you out .

How to flash latest CM, phone is on a really old version of wanamlite rom

I've got an old i9100 here with a very old version of wanamlite rom on it. I want to flash the latest CM and firmwares and get rid of all the storage issues that show up when I try to install new apps. Flashing seems to be quite different on this phone than on Nexus devices which I am used to. So some guidance would be really great! I've already read some guides, but I am still confused by how recovery and kernels are unified, as well as I might have to flash pit and ril files.
Lownita said:
I've got an old i9100 here with a very old version of wanamlite rom on it. I want to flash the latest CM and firmwares and get rid of all the storage issues that show up when I try to install new apps. Flashing seems to be quite different on this phone than on Nexus devices which I am used to. So some guidance would be really great! I've already read some guides, but I am still confused by how recovery and kernels are unified, as well as I might have to flash pit and ril files.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not familiar with wanamlite rom, so i don't know what android version it has.
but if this rom is jellybean or kitkat, you're good to go and follow the guide made by saber to increase system partition and flash marshmallow or nogut roms.
if your rom is bellow android 4.1.2, then you have to update to the latest stock rom to update the bootloader.
Here is the guide:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/gal...vatives/mod-increase-partition-size-t3011162/
muhammad mujahid said:
I'm not familiar with wanamlite rom, so i don't know what android version it has.
but if this rom is jellybean or kitkat, you're good to go and follow the guide made by saber to increase system partition and flash marshmallow or nogut roms.
if your rom is bellow android 4.1.2, then you have to update to the latest stock rom to update the bootloader.
Here is the guide:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/gal...vatives/mod-increase-partition-size-t3011162/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you! The Android version of the ROM is 4.1.2, so I guess I should be good.
If you want latest stable ROM, use Optimized CM13.
Follow my tutorial to migrate from old or stock ROM : https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s2/help/guide-tutorial-samsung-galaxy-s2-i9100-t3538601

Couple of questions (Noobie Alert Warning)

Hello, I am super new to xda and to phone rooting. I've recently got a Xiamoni Redmi Note 4 and I really want to root it to unlock the FULL potential of my phone. I'll keep the rest of this thread short by asking:
1. Does MIUI Version matter? I am currently on Global 8.5 l Stable 8.5.4.0 (MCFMIED) Android Version 7.0 NRD90M I am also on a snapdragon
2. Once I unlock my bootloader, is the bootloader unlocked for good?
3. Where can I find a systemless root guide for my phone? (FOR SNAPDRAGON)
4. What are custom roms exactly? What would you suggest?
1) IDK if MIUI version seriously matters but I'd highly recommend to update it to the latest stable.
2) Bootloader is locked for the security of phones, for common users. For further read, see this.
3) Search for "Magisk". You'll VERY easily find the guide and everything you need.
4) Custom ROM is technically an OS. Very usually they're just different flavors of Android. When you flash a custom rom in your phone you're basically changing the phone's OS. You usually get the benefit of getting a smoother, clutter-free phone with a custom rom, well obviously there're risks which you know (or can google).
MayankMathur said:
1) IDK if MIUI version seriously matters but I'd highly recommend to update it to the latest stable.
2) Bootloader is locked for the security of phones, for common users. For further read, see this.
3) Search for "Magisk". You'll VERY easily find the guide and everything you need.
4) Custom ROM is technically an OS. Very usually they're just different flavors of Android. When you flash a custom rom in your phone you're basically changing the phone's OS. You usually get the benefit of getting a smoother, clutter-free phone with a custom rom, well obviously there're risks which you know (or can google).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope. I can't tell anything beside these facts. Nice reply. Only that I'd suggest avoiding miui roms and once rooted, flashing of a pure, aosp based Rom.

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