Database Users

Error: "nandroid-mobile.sh restore" from console!

Hello everyone,
(Note, I did do a nandroid backup before I did ANYTHING, right after rooting)
I was having some issues with Modaco 1.0 when it was first put out, and like everyone else, got trapped in a reboot loop. Once I saw that the fix was repartitioning to FAT32, I did so, re-flashed the ROM, and I was back in. All was good.
But when 1.1 came out, I really wanted to restore to my backup to start fresh with the new ROM, but it did not work out. When I tried to do so in the recovery console, I got this error - Error: "nandroid-mobile.sh restore" from console! -
What am I supposed to do with that? I went ahead and went through with 1.1, but I am worried I accidentally closed my backdoor at some point. I noticed I lost some things from the basic ROM (such as the default wallpapers, and I had issues with Google Maps), and I am just generally worried something is fishy in there.
Any suggestions?

lorsoblu said:
Hello everyone,
(Note, I did do a nandroid backup before I did ANYTHING, right after rooting)
I was having some issues with Modaco 1.0 when it was first put out, and like everyone else, got trapped in a reboot loop. Once I saw that the fix was repartitioning to FAT32, I did so, re-flashed the ROM, and I was back in. All was good.
But when 1.1 came out, I really wanted to restore to my backup to start fresh with the new ROM, but it did not work out. When I tried to do so in the recovery console, I got this error - Error: "nandroid-mobile.sh restore" from console! -
What am I supposed to do with that? I went ahead and went through with 1.1, but I am worried I accidentally closed my backdoor at some point. I noticed I lost some things from the basic ROM (such as the default wallpapers, and I had issues with Google Maps), and I am just generally worried something is fishy in there.
Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your Nandroid backup was on that SDcard...I don't suppose you saved it before formatting it?

lorsoblu said:
Hello everyone,
(Note, I did do a nandroid backup before I did ANYTHING, right after rooting)
I was having some issues with Modaco 1.0 when it was first put out, and like everyone else, got trapped in a reboot loop. Once I saw that the fix was repartitioning to FAT32, I did so, re-flashed the ROM, and I was back in. All was good.
But when 1.1 came out, I really wanted to restore to my backup to start fresh with the new ROM, but it did not work out. When I tried to do so in the recovery console, I got this error - Error: "nandroid-mobile.sh restore" from console! -
What am I supposed to do with that? I went ahead and went through with 1.1, but I am worried I accidentally closed my backdoor at some point. I noticed I lost some things from the basic ROM (such as the default wallpapers, and I had issues with Google Maps), and I am just generally worried something is fishy in there.
Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nah. The happens sometimes. Could be your nandroid backup got corrupted or you are low on battery power. Two most common causes. I would make sure the nandroid backup is on the sd card. if so, simply try plugging it in to a power supply. Let us know if you get it working.

All right... I did not want to admit it but I believe what you said is probably true, and I either corrupted or simply deleted the nandroid backup during all the flashing and repartitioning. I am not seeing it at all when I mount the SD card. It crossed my mind a little too late that I should have pulled it off the card.
What are my options here? On the one hand, it is working fine for now. I had just got the Hero earlier that day (did an exchange due to dead pixels and network issues), so it was not like I lost anything important. Is there an easy way for me to go all the way back, such as flashing the original ROM to the phone, and essentially starting over, like I just opened the box and turned the phone on? That way I can do it right from the very beginning. I just worry that in all my partitioning things got scrambled, and I am not seeing the repercussions from it yet, other than Google Maps.

ftp://xda:[email protected]_Hero_C_Sprint_1.29.651.1_signed_release.exe
if at first you try and fail.... try try agian

Thanks for the link.
Is there some process to this? I mean, I understand the whole update.zip concept of flashing the ROM, but would I also need to do a complete wipe of the SD card to achieve the fresh start I am looking for? Should I partition it at only FAT32, or go ahead and setup the ext2 partition before flashing the original ROM?

lorsoblu said:
Thanks for the link.
Is there some process to this? I mean, I understand the whole update.zip concept of flashing the ROM, but would I also need to do a complete wipe of the SD card to achieve the fresh start I am looking for? Should I partition it at only FAT32, or go ahead and setup the ext2 partition before flashing the original ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
convert sd card to "SDPART:fat32 only" from custom recovery
et the official RUU wipe your phone
enable USB debugging in settings>applications
reroot your phone using asroot exploit
make any partition changes you want
do a nandroid backup
do a nandroid restore to verify it works
backup on your workstation /sdcard/nandroid
DO NOT TOUCH YOUR SD PARTITION TYPE AT THIS POINT
get to modding in confidence

johnsongrantr said:
convert sd card to "SDPART:fat32 only" from custom recovery
et the official RUU wipe your phone
enable USB debugging in settings>applications
reroot your phone using asroot exploit
make any partition changes you want
do a nandroid backup
do a nandroid restore to verify it works
backup on your workstation /sdcard/nandroid
DO NOT TOUCH YOUR SD PARTITION TYPE AT THIS POINT
get to modding in confidence
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All right, I am having issues already, from the very beginning.
The RUU ROM .exe will not recognize the HTC Hero. It throws an error 170 at the step where it is trying to pull information from the phone. I think this has something to do with ADB, and the fact the computer did not have the SDK on it. (I originally set up the root with my Mac.)
So, where do I go? I have a Boot Camp partition and another computer both running Windows 7, but my attempts to put the SDK on those computers and then have the phone drivers properly recognized failed on both, and the .exe still cannot complete. Is there something I am missing here, or can I somehow do this on the Mac side? I'll take anything!
Edit: Just cause I can see someone asking, yes, I tried to do this on both of my Windows 7 computers, not the Mac. I recognized that the .exe would not run on OSX pretty quickly.

can you put your phone into fastboot (power+vol down) and get to the point where windows basically sees your phone
what you are looking for is when you type adb devices it shows your hero
fastboot might not work because it's a seperate program but try custom recovery main menu.... enable usb.... or something to that extent
I appologize I don't have my main computer in front of me so I can't tell you EXACTLY where to go
once I do, I'll find which one to hit.... it does work though because I had to do the same thing with my godly preaching of backups :blush:
it's one of the recovery areas though i promise
fastboot will see the hero as the same device as adb will in fastboot
adb will see the hero as recovery device in custom recovery
attempt both of these I'm certain one of these work
if absolutely all else fails.... after you "install" sprint ruu search your computer for rom.zip it should be in your START>RUN>%TEMP% in here somewhere
rename rom.zip it to HERCIMG.ZIP and put it at root of your sd card and boot into hboot and it should automatically find it and press action to flash it

I'll give some of that a shot. I can confirm that adb devices was not showing the hero connected cause I tested that, so I have a feeling correcting that is my primary concern. What happened when I connected the Hero the first time was that it applied the drivers, but it could not find the ADB one, even after I added the SDK. So if anyone knows what that means (Windows 7 doesn't really give you an easy way to point and say, "Hey, I know what you are looking for, it's right here!" apparently, at least I haven't found it) it would be appreciated.

lorsoblu said:
I'll give some of that a shot. I can confirm that adb devices was not showing the hero connected cause I tested that, so I have a feeling correcting that is my primary concern. What happened when I connected the Hero the first time was that it applied the drivers, but it could not find the ADB one, even after I added the SDK. So if anyone knows what that means (Windows 7 doesn't really give you an easy way to point and say, "Hey, I know what you are looking for, it's right here!" apparently, at least I haven't found it) it would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
go to htc's website and get htc sync under support>sprint hero it has the drivers built in.... should fix driver issue

johnsongrantr said:
go to htc's website and get htc sync under support>sprint hero it has the drivers built in.... should fix driver issue
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, that did the trick! Currently flashing with the official ROM right now. Thanks for all the help! FINALLY, I will get to do this right!

lorsoblu said:
Hey, that did the trick! Currently flashing with the official ROM right now. Thanks for all the help! FINALLY, I will get to do this right!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
glad to be of assistance

johnsongrantr said:
glad to be of assistance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, I do have one more question.
Following your instructions back on page 1, wouldn't I want to make the nandroid backup BEFORE repartition to fat32+ext2, so I could recover it all the way back to the standard ROM without partition alterations? Or is it necessary for me to repartition before creating a backup?

lorsoblu said:
Actually, I do have one more question.
Following your instructions back on page 1, wouldn't I want to make the nandroid backup BEFORE repartition to fat32+ext2, so I could recover it all the way back to the standard ROM without partition alterations? Or is it necessary for me to repartition before creating a backup?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you'd think so.... but from my own experience if you do a backup on a partititon then convert it... it screws with the backup and you can't recover from it.... just in case... do 2 backups.... store the normal fat32 nandroid backup on your workstation (the entire nanddroid folder) and copy it back to sd after you convert it to fat32+ext2 .... you'll see what I'm talking about....
I don't quite understand why it does that... but for me I was only successful in recovering from a partition that I made a backup to not copied to (if that makes any sence)
also if you don't want to experiement yet... just leave it fat32... you can always change it later after you see it working (sorta confidence builder before tinkering)

lorsoblu said:
Actually, I do have one more question.
Following your instructions back on page 1, wouldn't I want to make the nandroid backup BEFORE repartition to fat32+ext2, so I could recover it all the way back to the standard ROM without partition alterations? Or is it necessary for me to repartition before creating a backup?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Think about it this way, you do a nandroid backup...it places it on the sdcard.
Then you go and change the format of the sd card (potentially blowing away or corrupting any data on it, including the nandroid backup you just made).
Thus why it's better to do it afterwards (besides, nandroid doesn't back up your sd card, just your phone's OS and such)

solved for me
i had that problem its cuz the back up is brocken get anthoer copy of it if u hav 1 then restore it again it worked for me

Telus Hero Nandroid backup

Hey guys, I'd first like to thank everyone posting guides on the forums, has made my job a lot easier. I'm currently in the middle of trying to root my telus hero with the gold card method. I made the gold card, i think anyways, but before i go ahead and run the RUU file to downgrade, I want to make a nandroid backup of my phone. I downloaded the recovery image which is supposed to have nandroid v2.2 in it, but I'm not to sure how exactly to use it... I'm kind of a reallllly big nub.

chaosthebomb said:
Hey guys, I'd first like to thank everyone posting guides on the forums, has made my job a lot easier. I'm currently in the middle of trying to root my telus hero with the gold card method. I made the gold card, i think anyways, but before i go ahead and run the RUU file to downgrade, I want to make a nandroid backup of my phone. I downloaded the recovery image which is supposed to have nandroid v2.2 in it, but I'm not to sure how exactly to use it... I'm kind of a reallllly big nub.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From my understanding, as I saw it, I believe that the RUU's are safe, since they're HTC approved images, just that the gold card allows you to revert to a lower version of an HTC rom. Think of it as the RUU's as an official update, but an older official update, and the gold cards make your phone seen as a phone that can accept any update (new or old). So there will not be any harm when you run an official update like this unless your computer crashes midupdate or you pull the battery..or the cable gets unplugged.
Nandroid backups can be produced using the recovery image (i call it a menu since that's all you really see from it), which is covered later in a tutorial if you're reading one. This recovery image is applied after a downgrade (the downgrade gives you the ability to have root access, which is i believe necessary to get the recovery image installed), and thus be able to make these nandroid backups. The nandroid backups then get saved onto the SD card to which you can transfer to your computer for safe keeping. This ensures you can revert to an official rom with previous settings applied in case of an awry custom rom installation. The nandroid backups can also be used for nonofficial roms that you've deemed stable when you tested them, and this can be done as many times as you want.
I'm not sure if I'm entirely right, but I believe I have the gist of it. If anyone can correct me for any errors or can elaborate more, please feel free to share After all, we're all new at one point, hopefully veterans of this will chime in and allow us all to learn!
Also, welcome to the forums! Glad to have you!!

alright, so if I understand correctly, I first need to root my phone to gain root access to perform these nandroid backups?
I'm using this guide" Get started rooting Telus HERO130! (No need for QMAT!)", I'd post a URL but it seems that since I am a new member I'm not allowed to post URL's. I've gotten up to step 6. When I run that RUU file it says its going to erase everything on the phone, so I decided its probably best if I backed up my phone before I try this in the event that I mess everything up horribly.
Is this possible without having root access to use the recovery image with nandroid on it? or am I just having another noob moment?
thanks for the help!

[HOWTO] Rooting + Wiping + Flashing : For the ultimate noob.

Note from rootsu:
XDA staff have transferred ownership of this thread to me so that I can update the rooting methods. The reason for this is because the rooting method contained within is outdated and since identified as unsafe.
I have PM'd the original OP @Stormlister to update the thread but unfortunately have received no response.
I aim to keep the structure of the thread in tact. I am only here to edit out / replace outdated and unsafe methods contained within this thread. The work below is not my own.
Disclaimer:
This guide is for total noobs (I am one myself). Until the information here can be confirmed by an experienced person please don't bet on the fact that this information is 100% accurate. I studied and put together bits and pieces of information that I found everywhere, tried it and it worked. I will mention the sources. Even though its probably not a good idea for a noob to write any sort of guide, these were taken from working sources, I have tried it myself and all works flawlessly.
About me:
I write open source software and also write documentation.
Why:
I wrote this tutorial as I found the scattered information all over kinda confusing on the subject of flashing, wiping and ROMS.
Who's it for?
You already know what you want to do, but don't know where to start.
THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS.
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Getting Started - Rooting
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Root means you are opening the operating system to allow a user or application full read and write access. This is needed by some special applications to change operating system files. For example the "Adfree" application changes system files to block certain domains which completely stops ads from showing up on your phone. Unlike other systems like in the iOS, all the root applications are available in the Google Play store, I think Google is great for allowing this.
The main thing I root first even though it is not needed to flash a rom is the fact that you ALWAYS need to make a backup, if something goes wrong you have a something to fall back on and the friendly xda community can help us get things running again.
The easiest way I found to quickly and safely root was by using the following software:
ODIN (Desktop software) (Incorrect usage may make your phone unusable.)
Before you start using Odin, make sure all the Kies* services on your desktop is stopped. (On Windows, you can press Ctrl+Alt+Delete, go to task manager, services and stop it from there). Infact you should consider uninstalling Kies altogether as it is really not needed if you are going to root. There are more than enough backup software that does not add the bloatware.
This piece of genius is a tool to flash among other things a new ROM to your phone.
We will be using this piece of software twice, first to root it, and then to flash your S3 with a new ROM.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<rootsu insert>
Recommended methods to "root" depending on your requirements...
1) You want root only. No custom ROMs, kernels etc. Just root, just to use root apps.
CF Auto Root Via Odin
Why? Tried and tested method, simple to use. No need to choose what exploit you want to use as it's tailored for your device.
What does it do? It gives you a stock recovery (so can't flash things) and roots the Android OS
The Steps:
1) Download the Latest Odin
2) Download CF-Auto-Root for your model
3) Follow These steps to root
2) You want to flash custom ROMs / Kernels
If you want root on your existing Android ROM, you can do 1) first. Then flash a recovery of your choice (CWM, Philz, TWRP) via Odin
However, if you immediately plan on flashing a ROM, there's no need to root your existing ROM. Simply skip straight to installing a recovery. Backup then flash what you like.
The Steps:
1) Download the Latest Odin
2) Download recovery of your choice CWM, Philz, TWRP
3) Follow The steps to Flash Philz recovery (But for the recovery of your choice)
These steps can also be followed to update recovery to newer versions
</rootsu insert>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Difficulty: Easy
After you have completed the tutorial your phone should be rooted and ready to go to the next step.
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Backing up
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The next thing we will need to do is backup our current apps, settings and even ROM. Now that the phone is rooted we can install a few applications to help with this process. Lets do this now.
In Google Play Store, search and install:
Titanium Backup (Google Play)
With this tool, you will be able to backup application and settings of your current installation.
To do so;
Open Titanium Backup
At some point it will ask for root access, you will need to allow it root access.
Click on Backup/Restore.
It will show you a list of software.
Click the ok tick top right.
It will now show a list of actions you can take.
You will now [ RUN ] Backup all user apps+ system data.
It will flip to a new screen, click top right ok tick again.
The backup process will take a few minutes.
After the backup completes, we will need to copy it to a safe place, just in case something else goes wrong.
With above explained, there are more optimized Titanium Backup methods, this is a must read:
http://checkrom.com/threads/titanium-backup-explained.433/
You could also backup your whole system from the boot menu of ClockWorkMod / custom recovery - which you will already have if you used the rooting method above. Have a look at this short yet very informative video to do just that:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPvNr7LqP30&feature=related
Difficulty: Easy
Bear in mind that custom recoveries vary, they all work pretty much the same. The backup is referred to as a "nandroid" backup, but in the recovery menus, it may well be referred to as simply "backup and restore".
To boot into whichever custom recovery you have installed, power off the phone. From off, hold Volume Up + Home then press and hold Power until the S3 splash screen shows. Release power. Once in recovery, find the backup and restore menu and take a backup.
There is one more place you need to manually write down some settings, the APN for your data and MMS, this is the only area besides the branding when another countries stock rom might affect you if you chose to use it. So head over to;
Settings->More Settings->Mobile Networks->Access Point Names.
Click on each and write down its settings.
Backing up EFS folder
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The EFS is a filesystem folder which contains important information like for instance your IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number, even though I cant find any evidence that anyone lost their EFS folder yet, I think it is probably important enough to back it up. First open your favorite file browser like ASTRO and click on your internal build in sdcard0 and see if you have a efs_Backup folder. If you have such a folder its is probably backup up inside already. To be honest, I dont know what backed mine up, but it was there, and it will be likely there if you followed the procedures listed in the collection of this tutorial.
However, the folder is only 6mb, if you don't have such a backed up folder, using an application like KTOOL, gives you the ability to backup the whole "/efs" folder to wherever you like. The external SSD and also your PC would be a good idea to back it up to.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Difficulty: Easy
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ROM - Hunting for a new rom
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************************************************************************************************************
My ROM is not YOUR ROM
But I have an S3, wtf is this? Note that when hunting for a ROM that you make sure it is either based on your models ROM or supports your models ROM. The reason this should be noted is because the models are so profoundly different, from Dual Core to Quad Core, from 1GB memory to 2GB memory etc. This means each ROM is optimized of based on a specific model. If you have the GT-I9300, you have the most popular model which has a lot of custom ROMS.
Read more about the differences here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1870827
************************************************************************************************************
This is where I got confused, I did not know if I had to match the code base of my factory stock rom to the rom I wanted. I was afraid that it might flash my modems software making my phone unusable with my service provider. It seems that the rom file is only to flash the actual OS and wont include the modem flash too.
So what ROM to pick, there seems to be very good ROMS out there, but know, the further you go away from the stock rom, the more difficult things become. You might just want to upgrade to the latest Jelly Bean and not worry about an improve stock Samsung rom. Or you might want to take it to a whole new level and perhaps install a pure Android rom (however, I noted a few people having trouble with the pure android rom, you really need to know what you are doing). But as I say, it seems things gets kinda tricky the further you move away from the Stock Rom.
Lets look at a few examples of solid roms:
At this stage we only have one stock rom available in Jelly Bean, this is most probably the safest bet when you only want to upgrade to Jelly Bean (If you do decide to just go with the safest rom, you can just root again after the rom was successfully flashed) [INTERNATIONAL GALAXY S3 ONLY] [DONT USE THIS ROM ON ANYTHING ELSE THAN INTERNATIONAL VERSION (IT WONT WORK)]:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1646610
Now we can start looking at roms based on stock roms that was improved by a linux guru, very good example of such a rom which is very solid is Android Revolution HD, if you have other Samsung devices I would recommend sticking to this one as it comes stock with Allshare Play:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1797334
The most popular OMEGA rom for the S3 international, pure awesomeness:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1663656
Then you get completely customized roms like Cyanogenmod, this is next level roms and should probably only be tried once you are more confident with flashing ( . Y . )
Note that Cyanogenmod is very controversial for the international version of the S3, there are technical issues, and newer stable version is always behind, I would NOT go for Cyanogenmod at the moment..
http://www.cyanogenmod.com/
For a very nice list of roms and some explanations have a look at:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1674286
Now that you have your rom, lets continue.
Difficulty: Easy
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Wiping & Flashing - Cleaner Flashing Method
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[I will try and confirm all my findings below]
When people refer to the term wipe, it is my understanding that it means to delete the old ROM from various locations. This ensures a more clean installation, almost like its better to install Windows afresh instead of an upgrade. However, this is not Windows, its Linux, I am sure the logic behind this is because the way Linux works, it has certain files in certain directories, that if the file is there, the service is loaded automatically. Now if you had to replace a stock rom with something completely different, some of those auto loaded files will be left behind and you will be stuck with loaded services that should not be there. But this is just my experience, I am not sure if this completely accurate.
This is where things might start becoming slightly confusing. Many people seem to argue that when upgrading from a stock version to another stock version that you don't need to wipe, I completely agree with this, as this will almost be the same upgrade process the default upgrade will follow.
However, if you upgrade to a very different ROM, start paying attention, as things might just get slightly more complicated. This I have not tried myself yet, but it seems that for this to work you wont need Odin.
Some people also recommend formatting and not just deleting, I will even advice against this, this is the EXT4 filesystem, not some NTFS filesystem. I cannot see the real benefit of formatting.
At this stage I don't know how to wipe the phone if you are going to use the alternative Odin flashing method explained below, this I have done, tried and tested, working fine:
[Below method I use to flash my own international S3]
This is what you will be doing to install a custom rom while wiping it for a fresh install (make sure you have your titanium backups handy ):
Copy your ROM inside an easy locatable phone folder by browsing to it, from your PC and copying it to your phones folder using your micro USB cable. I strongly recommend using your External SD card as some roms may wipe your internal SD card leaving you without any ROM to update.. that will be very sad. :crying:
Boot into recovery (Vol up + Home + power from off)
You will see a new Unix like screen appear, use volume + and - to navigate up and down, home button is enter, and soft touch back button back is back.
Next we will wipe the phone (if your ROM does not have special instructions on wiping this is a standard method).
Goto Wipe Data/Factory Reset -> Yes
Goto Wipe Cache Partition -> Yes
Goto Advance -> Wipe Dalvik Cache -> Yes
Next Select Install Zip from SD Card (You may also mount External SD card and load ROMS from external SD card (I can recommend this))
It will take a while...
Reboot, and hope to god all is good.
I can confirm above works perfectly, I have flashed HD Revolution ROM successfully using above method.
BUT PLEASE BE WARNED: HD Revolution recommends using Super Wipe, the instructions are unclear, it says you must copy it to the your sd card, if you do this and copy it to your internal sd card all will be wiped including your images, I think you are screwed then. Rather copy them to your EXTERNAL SD card and choose zip from EXTERNAL SD card.
Or you can see a very clear example video of how to wipe data from your phone in preparation of a new rom;
Be aware, this video shows that you should UNLOCK your bootloader, some phones wont boot after this, don't do it except if you know you have to.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJUCOtX1cUk
Difficulty: Medium
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ALTERNATIVE Flashing - With Odin
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If you have not followed the wiping method and you will just be going for the stock updated rom, you should not be needing any wiping, you can just download the stock rom as linked and follow this great guide:
STOCK ROM:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1646610
ODIN GUIDE
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1671969
Difficulty: Medium
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Restoring your data
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After you have are done with a successful flash, we want to recover our apps, but its not just a matter of recovering everything, it will be a mess if you do that.
Many people carry out a backup before installing a custom rom and didnt really understand what kind of backup they should of carried out and have just gone with what they have seen, WRONG!!! when it comes to custom roms there is only one type of backup you can do.
Custom roms have their own system files and dont like other system files being installed over it, you will definitely have rom problems if you carry out this kind of restore from a backup over a custom rom.
When using Titanium Backup its important not to use the settings - backup all system data and backup all user apps + system data, you cant use these with a custom rom, so dont try this kind of backup, this kind of backup is to restore your phone back to its previous state, should something go wrong with the rom installation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Read more detail here:
http://checkrom.com/threads/titanium-backup-explained.433/
Difficulty: Easy
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Getting rid of bloatware
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If you went for a stock based ROM, you might want to get rid of all the SAMSUNG bloatware that sits in memory and really never gets used.
This is mostly all the "S" software like "S Suggest", I believe not a lot of people is going to use this for instance. And one can't simply uninstall it as it is hiden from uninstalling.
There is a very easy way if you are rooted though (another reason to root). Simply install the little greatness called "Nobloat Free" from the Play store.
Now select those bloatware you dont want and simply uninstall. But make sure it might not be useful for yourself. To give you an idea, "AllShare Play" might sound useless, however, if you have a XBMC media pc, by simply enabling "PNP" in the configuration, you can display photos and videos instantly from your G3, does not matter where you are in XBMC.
Difficulty: Very Easy
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Unrooting and getting back your Warranty!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At some stage you might want to sell your phone or it is giving you hardware issues that has nothing to do with software. At this stage you want to reset the phone to it 100% factory state and status. It is completely possible, unfortunately it wont work to just update the rom to the stock factory rom as there are built in counters and status writes who flags the phone as modified. However, by following these tutorials, you can quickly reset your phone.
You will need the factory rom for your country, this can be downloaded here:
http://www.sammobile.com/firmware/
Then watch both of these tutorials and decide which one you feel the most comfortable with:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEI_c1R0_nQ&feature=related
And another approach to regaining your warranty:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEsBwtqY2xE&feature=related
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Oops, if you are stuck on a crossroad and you think you might have bricked (term used to define the fact that you made your phone unusable) your phone, following this tutorial will help you out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypmqJbZqOaU&feature=related
Difficulty: Easy
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks to everyone
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I just want to say thanks to the wonderfully smart people who makes rooting possible. It is amazing how much more fun some people can make the life for other. I truly appreciate every bit of it.
Also special thanks to xdadevelopers who keeps an awesome community together.
Odin Greatness!
CF-Root
SuperSu
CWM
CWMManager
ClockworkMod (WTF, this is omg awesome!)
Titanium Backup
Adfree
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Congrats on your new firmare!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FAQ
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JiiNDER said:
Hey I want to thank you so much for your guide! It actually makes rooting a lot easier. I had one question though, if I root and a new official firmware comes out, can I still update to the latest stock rom with Kies even though I will lose my root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It all depends what ROM you loaded, if its not the default factory ROM or based on it, you will have to follow the instructions of the CUSTOM rom provider on how an upgrade should be achieve. Else simply use the newest default rom and simply re-root, should be a very quick to do. Also, dont use KIES if you have already rooted, rather use ODIN and follow the instructions. NOTE: KIES, if left running will make ODIN behave incorrectly.

just a slight correction/heads up.... if you root with cf root then cwm recovery is installed, hence no need to use Rom manager, it's kinda outdated now imho
---------- Post added at 05:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:49 PM ----------
further to that you may want to provide instructions after the rooting process on how to get into recovery and download mode

slaphead20 said:
just a slight correction/heads up.... if you root with cf root then cwm recovery is installed, hence no need to use Rom manager, it's kinda outdated now imho
---------- Post added at 05:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:49 PM ----------
further to that you may want to provide instructions after the rooting process on how to get into recovery and download mode
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I will note that above.

The stock rom at the bottom goes to the international version rom. I found this thread in the Sprint version so u might want to note that. If someone were to flash that they wouldn't boot up.
Sent from Galaxy SIII

Added many corrections.

musclehead84 said:
The stock rom at the bottom goes to the international version rom. I found this thread in the Sprint version so u might want to note that. If someone were to flash that they wouldn't boot up.
Sent from Galaxy SIII
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you please explain why you think it wont boot, what exactly would be different that wont make it boot. I believe it will?

Great tutorial for the noobs. Would be really useful for them. :thumbup:
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app

Stormlister said:
Could you please explain why you think it wont boot, what exactly would be different that wont make it boot. I believe it will?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Different CPU's, different kernels, different drivers, different partitions, different radios and tech (one being GSM the other being CDMA) and the list goes on...

graffixnyc said:
Different CPU's, different kernels, different drivers, different partitions, different radios and tech (one being GSM the other being CDMA) and the list goes on...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the feedback man... will mark it as International Only.

I had question regarding Odin behaving strangely, make sure KIES is stopped in your services. I have added it in the tutorial.

Stormlister said:
I had question regarding Odin behaving strangely, make sure Kiss is stopped in your services. I have added it in the tutorial.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you mean Kies ? (Samsung) good tut for super noobs btw
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app

i would recommend you to recommend not installing Kies at all, or uninstall it if installed.
any backup that you can do with it, can be done by 3rd party apps. it has a lot of security issues. and worst, its slow as hell.
i think a person that want to root his phone and flash a custom rom, will have no need of it anyway.
Edit: thumbs up for the effort! i could have really used such guide when i just started, instead i learned it the hard way!

OverRipeBananas said:
Do you mean Kies ? (Samsung) good tut for super noobs btw
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, yes Kies, thanks for spotting it

Thanks, I'll try this soon! Glad I found this, voiding warranty still sounds scary. I have other rooted devices and sometimes they can blow me away, so I think I'll go for it anyway.
Cheers.

MrEdgar said:
Thanks, I'll try this soon! Glad I found this, voiding warranty still sounds scary. I have other rooted devices and sometimes they can blow me away, so I think I'll go for it anyway.
Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I personally think it is well worth-it, it is almost as if the phones turns into mini super computer when rooted. It is so much fun to have a ROM installed and setup that you are completely happy with, removing bloatware, no intrusive ads. Just stay away from overclocking, I think that is taking it too far if you are a scary pants like myself.
Also, you know how the retailers are, they almost never deliver on their warranty anyway.

No offence, but given this guide is designed 'for the ultimate noob' AND it has been stickied, there are some glaringly obvious things missing, that should be cover at the beginning of your post/guide before hitting the processes of
In the first post, you do not cover information pertaining to the flash counter and triangle away, and most importantly by far, BACKING UP THE EFS. Also, possible risks from installing potentially malicious apks from 'other sources' to a rooted device.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app

Good job! :good:

bootx1 said:
No offence, but given this guide is designed 'for the ultimate noob' AND it has been stickied, there are some glaringly obvious things missing, that should be cover at the beginning of your post/guide before hitting the processes of
In the first post, you do not cover information pertaining to the flash counter and triangle away, and most importantly by far, BACKING UP THE EFS. Also, possible risks from installing potentially malicious apks from 'other sources' to a rooted device.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
None taken, but in a community it works like this. We build a tutorial together. Instead of taking the time pointing out what you think is missing. Why did you not just write the part so I could add it? This tutorial is based on the international version, I am not sure if the triangle notification does not affect this version but I could not test it as I did not ran into this problem.
Regarding the EFS, I will do some research regarding this and add it to the tutorial.

I have added detail on backing up EFS folder and also triangle away.

CF-Root 6.4 - SuperSU+CWM5.5+CWMManager does not work on stock JellyBean Firmware right?

[WIP/TBD][5.0.1][LRX22C][YT2-830F][SleepyBear 830F: Feedback Needed!]

**NOTICE: Due to unforeseen circumstances - my car's starter died, and I had to return my Yoga 2 for emergency cash - ROM development is on hiatus. Best Buy has put back a brand new Yoga 2 for me when payday comes again, provided I can eek it out.
I thought of a GoFundMe to help pick one up, but I didn't feel comfortable doing this.
Updates will come as available. Again, I am so sorry.
This ROM is for the **LENOVO YOGA TABLET 2-830F ONLY!**. You are responsible for your device and its warranty, health, happiness, sanity, love and abuse. The initial release will come over the next couple of weeks. I wanted to throw up this post to get your feedback and get a few folks to beta test. I have been using it as my daily driver for over a week, and all has been well
Android Lollipop source (provided via Lenovo's Open Source documentation):
http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/products/tablets/yoga-series/yoga-tablet-2-830/downloads/DS102874/
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SleepyBear - A gently modified and streamlined Lollipop ROM for the YT-830F This ROM is based off of Lenovo's stock Lollipop ROM for the YT-830F (.LRX22C.YT2-830F_USR_S100067_1507101258_WW52_ROW)
Introduction
Last year, I spent a lot of time pouring over the Dell Venue 7840, one of the first "mainstream" Intel x86-based Android tablets to hit the market (Intel Z3580 - Mooresfield). There was nothing in the way of custom ROMs available, so I maintained a KitKat 4.4.4 ROM for the handful of XDA folks that were using it. Fast forward - I have been using the Yoga Tab 2-830F for about a month, and its story is quite familiar - Intel Z3745 Baytrail, 64-bit Android, also one of Intel's premier devices pushed to devs for its foray into the Android market.
I have been using Android-based devices since 2010, and it's been nothing but fun - handsets, smartphones, tablets, media centers, USB system-on-a-chip and a couple of those tiny set top boxes that go well with XBMC/Kodi. I can't much deal with vendor UI overlays, bloat and the like. Thanks for the work of so many XDA comrades, I have received so much. In return, I'm trying to give some back.
Features
This ROM is based on Lenovo's stock Lollipop 5.0.1 update for the YT-830F (LRX22C/.YT2-830F_USR_S100067_1507101258_WW52_ROW). The image can be flashed via ClockworkMod using the Tethered CWM method. For now, I would all but recommend that you already have the Lenovo Lollipop OTA already in place and are comfortable. The finer points of that process might be malleable later.
ROM Details:
SleepyBear v1 - TBD December 2015
* Android 5.0.1 (modified Lenovo Lollipop stock ROM)
* ROOTed via SuperSU 2.52
* Xposed Framework v78
* NTFS/CIFS filesystem support
* Debloated (Nova Launcher beta instead of Lenovo's UI. The uptick in responsiveness is almost absurd)
* Deodexed
* Zipaligned
* BusyBox
* Init.d
* SD card write fix
* Stock kernel optimized (Interactive governor, cfq scheduler, 512KB read-ahead - Best balance of multitasking, performance and battery life)
* AdAway
* YouTube AdAway (Xposed module)
* YouTube Background Playback (Xposed module)
* Android Terminal Emulator​
Installation
1. SleepyBear v1 COMING LATER THIS DECEMBER. LINK WILL BE HERE.
2. Copy the folder to the microSD device of your YT-830F - more than likely /clockworkmod/backup
3. Boot the device to ClockworkMod Recovery using the instructions for the Tethered CWM method.
4.

:good:
From my LG-G4, Rooted running Stock 5.1

Nice stuff. I'm on the Yoga 10 inch (1050F) so I can't really test this ROM, but hopefully this is the start of custom ROMs for the Yoga range.

Wohoo :victory:
Thanks for your work! Finally the waiting for a custom rom is over :highfive:
I will definitely test this rom in the next few days, but first of all: Am I blind or where is the link for downloading the files?
And my second question: will it be possible to make a clean install with a flashable zip? Since the bootloader can be unlocked with the method ionioni provides in his thread it should be possible, right?

1subw00fer1 said:
Wohoo :victory:
Thanks for your work! Finally the waiting for a custom rom is over :highfive:
I will definitely test this rom in the next few days, but first of all: Am I blind or where is the link for downloading the files?
And my second question: will it be possible to make a clean install with a flashable zip? Since the bootloader can be unlocked with the method ionioni provides in his thread it should be possible, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@1subw00fer1 - correct, there is not yet a download link. I'd like to get some Yoga Tab 2 8-inch owners (YT-810F only for now) to test this out.
Now that I've gotten some sleep, I'm going to put my device back on KitKat, firmware and all, and flash this ROM to make sure both firmware and OS load correctly. It *should*, given that I am using a full ClockworkMod backup that contains boot, recovery, data and a couple of low-level partitions. If that works, then you could do the clean flash via tethered CWM.
I am also using NAndroid Manager to build a full, flashable ZIP that I'll be testing with tethered CWM. I don't see any impediments to doing this. We shall see.
I'll try this with both locked and unlocked bootloader. Details will be added to the main post.
@workdowg - care to test it on the 1050? - we could tweak the partition layout if need be.
Does that answer your questions?

F1Fanatic27 said:
Nice stuff. I'm on the Yoga 10 inch (1050F) so I can't really test this ROM, but hopefully this is the start of custom ROMs for the Yoga range.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@F1Fanatic27 - do you have unlocked bootloader on your 1050F? Are you you versed on using the Tethered CWM and doing system image backups, etc.? If so, I'd like some folks to try with this model.

1subw00fer1 said:
Wohoo :victory:
Thanks for your work! Finally the waiting for a custom rom is over :highfive:
I will definitely test this rom in the next few days, but first of all: Am I blind or where is the link for downloading the files?
And my second question: will it be possible to make a clean install with a flashable zip? Since the bootloader can be unlocked with the method ionioni provides in his thread it should be possible, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have updated the Installation section with mention of ETA for the first release.

jumpup said:
@F1Fanatic27 - do you have unlocked bootloader on your 1050F? Are you you versed on using the Tethered CWM and doing system image backups, etc.? If so, I'd like some folks to try with this model.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh yes definitely willing to try it out. I reflashed Lollipop a few days ago so my bootloader's not unlocked at the moment, but I know how to do it so I can get it done in a jiffy. As for CWM, I've been using TWRP for a while now, but a few minutes with CWM and I should be re-accustomed.

F1Fanatic27 said:
Oh yes definitely willing to try it out. I reflashed Lollipop a few days ago so my bootloader's not unlocked at the moment, but I know how to do it so I can get it done in a jiffy. As for CWM, I've been using TWRP for a while now, but a few minutes with CWM and I should be re-accustomed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@F1Fanatic27 - EXCELLENT! Here are a couple of preliminary tasks that will verify CWM:
1. Make a full CWM backup of your device.
2. Reboot and make sure your Android instance is still functioning
3. Perform a full restore of the CWM backup from Step 1.
4. Reboot once more, and make sure Android is still good.
Let me know if that's good.

jumpup said:
@F1Fanatic27 - EXCELLENT! Here are a couple of preliminary tasks that will verify CWM:
1. Make a full CWM backup of your device.
2. Reboot and make sure your Android instance is still functioning
3. Perform a full restore of the CWM backup from Step 1.
4. Reboot once more, and make sure Android is still good.
Let me know if that's good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, almost good. The backup was fine, but after the restore the tablet hung on boot and after about 30 seconds loaded recovery instead. :crying:

F1Fanatic27 said:
Well, almost good. The backup was fine, but after the restore the tablet hung on boot and after about 30 seconds loaded recovery instead. :crying:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really? Download and flash the your model's LL OS Loader from the first post.
Damn!
@F1Fanatic27
Was your bootloader locked or unlocked when testing this?

jumpup said:
Really? Download and flash the your model's LL OS Loader from the first post.
Damn!
@F1Fanatic27
Was your bootloader locked or unlocked when testing this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unlocked.

F1Fanatic27 said:
Unlocked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would reflash the OS loader for your device. Let's see if that fixes the issue. If this does not fix it, follow that up by locking your bootloader.
In the interim, download your device's last Lenovo OTA update and the Intel Flash utility

jumpup said:
I would reflash the OS loader for your device. Let's see if that fixes the issue. If this does not fix it, follow that up by locking your bootloader.
In the interim, download your device's last Lenovo OTA update and the Intel Flash utility
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well reflashing the OS loader and locking the bootloader haven't put me back on track. You mentioned the Intel flash tool and the OTA update which I already have. Anyway I can flash the update without losing data? I tried with stock recovery but it basically told me the build number was wrong (i.e. you're supposed to flash from KitKat to Lollipop, not Lollipop to Lollipop!!) and restoring the Kitkat bios hasn't changed the situation.

F1Fanatic27 said:
Well reflashing the OS loader and locking the bootloader haven't put me back on track. You mentioned the Intel flash tool and the OTA update which I already have. Anyway I can flash the update without losing data? I tried with stock recovery but it basically told me the build number was wrong (i.e. you're supposed to flash from KitKat to Lollipop, not Lollipop to Lollipop!!) and restoring the Kitkat bios hasn't changed the situation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mentioned previously that you had been using TWRP. For the sake of redundancy, I'd suggest making a full backup with it as well.
With either CWM/TWRP, try restoring only SYSYEM and DATA partitions. See if that help.
If you end up having to restore stock via Intel Flash utility, you can use an app called Online NAndroid Backup and NAndroid Manager to open up the image and manually choose which apps (and data) you want to restore.
You would restore this data after you reapplied the stock image to your system. The apps require root.
Moving forward, I'd also suggest investing in Titanium Backup. Always do a full backup of user, system apps and data. With that, you'd just root your fresh stock and restore with the TB app. I do that for multilayered protection.
I will post the app links later this morning. Gotta get in to the office right quick
Lastly, with the Intel flash util, have you tried restoring just boot and recovery? A partial restore. Don't forget the 'Sparcing' setting.

Thanks again. I already reflashed KitKat and then updated to Lollipop before I saw your post, but the online Nandroid Manager thing sounds shockingly useful!! I'll see about restoring the apps from the backup.
Meanwhile I should probably start using Titanium Backup with this tablet, somehow never thought of doing so as I am with my LG G4.

F1Fanatic27 said:
Thanks again. I already reflashed KitKat and then updated to Lollipop before I saw your post, but the online Nandroid Manager thing sounds shockingly useful!! I'll see about restoring the apps from the backup.
Meanwhile I should probably start using Titanium Backup with this tablet, somehow never thought of doing so as I am with my LG G4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, you were able to restore your Yoga tablet with the Intel flasher and OWA. Is that correct?
Thanks for boldly going where no Yoga user has gone before.
I am keeping notes on everything and will update you all after I test a few scenarios and options.
For all reading, the following are important prerequisites for a project like this where no custom recovery and the like make the scenario different:
- Titanium Backup: Make a full apps+data backup in Android with this app
- Make a full backup with tethered CWM
-Make another backup with tethered TWRP
I still need direct 830F testers or models close to this.

jumpup said:
So, you were able to restore your Yoga tablet with the Intel flasher and OWA. Is that correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, Intel flasher for Kitkat and then standard OTA update for Lollipop. Can't wait for the ROM!!

F1Fanatic27 said:
Yep, Intel flasher for Kitkat and then standard OTA update for Lollipop. Can't wait for the ROM!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And, to confirm, you were running Lollipop at the beginning of all this, right?
Sent from my SM-N910T3 using Tapatalk

Status Update: I am working with a few of the better deodex/zipalign/etc dev apps to find one that's a good feel for the Yoga. Things like the following:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2360670
Anyone familiar with these tools that prefer any one over the other?

[SUPERGUIDE][P51xxP31xx] Installation Troubleshoot Guide

The SUPER Custom Rom Guide and Troubleshoot​
There came a new version, your droid got old school and there is no support from Samsung cause they have forgotten about you.
Service centers you looked upon, and to mention exorbitant fees plus service tax came along. Thank You ma'am. will see you around.
Your droid is lagging and hanging and Lo, stops working suddenly. Now you just want to try something new, cause you can't sell them or buy new.
You search on google,
find on Youtube,
Read between surveys and blogs,
tried it yourself,
sometimes got lucky sometimes got thorny.
Now you come to the XDA community. there is too much to absorb and you're kind a new, welcome to all of you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dealing with most of the trouble making bugs and useful insight into cornering them like a rat
1. Tab is Stuck on Charging Screen. Tab is not turning On, battery completely depleted/Not charging, Nothing is Working
2. Stuck On Samsung Logo Screen.
3. Stuck in a Boot Loop.
4. Stuck On Firmware Upgrade Encountered an Issue.
5. Bricked.​Explained in Post number 2
Well that would sum up for me and most of the users will agree that these are the cases that really needs attention and no cussing about how your droid lags and hangs, doesn't makes it to the lists So, by the end of this guide, I would hope and expect at least so much from users to at least have a better knowledge and general idea of how things work here. so users don't just go on saying HELP HELP I am a NooB, Please read and understand first, dude. Thank you I will try to make it simple even if you're not so cool.
A few words about me if you're interested
OH!! you clicked!! wow. well what should I say here. ahem, hello gorgeous. I am Sam So, unlikely,
So guys, I wasn't lucky enough to get everything organised at one thread and spend a lot of time finding a perfect place for everything I would want to, so I thought this would be worth a share. It took me almost a month to write this stuff. yeah I was bored to the core, so put in some fun stuff
along with most of my learning experience and knowledge gained here on XDA in this Guide over the span of 3 years, I would just read and experiment it myself, kind of guy, I wouldn't have dared to put up this guide sooner, but now after successfully solving most of the cases even other people hard bricks and trivial issues that I get to see everyday and keeping myself safe from hard bricks with still not knocked out by one. all thanks to this community this is my gift that I would like to give in return, and I am just someone who likes to get to the edge of the world, exactly, on a round globe. Thank You
Android Broken into 5 parts, Worth a Look
Well not exactly broken but explained in 5 parts ( There are more but I choose not to, thank me for that)
1. Boot section(bootloaders/kernel)
This is droid's heart(accept it), responsible for the droid's birth and keeping it alive, sleeping, waking up, slowdown and speedup, overall working of the system, it has impact on every part of the droid. mess up things here, and droid won't start up at all and will stop beating and malfunction. then you will need a pacemaker and CPR(J-TAG) to revive it or it will keep the brain in coma. yes pretty much like our heart.
2. System section
This is a droid's mind, Its the place where all main work and processes are happening, with rooting and flashing you get a licence to open that mind and analyse, read logs, stats. that brain, heart and all your body is producing, you can see it all and make changes in it, put few things from outside. clean it, format it, wipe it, make amend(patches). So, imagine all that happening in your mind and the idea of cleaning your brains for once, wiping the mind, giving new and fresh experiences(newer and updated files) new interface(new UI), affecting the overall performance and changing to a whole new perspective with which you look at things.
So Clear your mind about this and remove your bad experiences and upgrade it with new stable ones. err not the custom beta and alpha ones, cause then you will give your headaches and put them in depression.
3. Data
This place is the memories part, and everything is stored up here. Everything. some would be overtly stored(on sdcard) and some deep inside you(under system/data/data). now overtly ones are not a concern here but deeper ones are hard to forget and lingers in your system, these won't go well if your heart and mind changed or aren't supposed to be the same, or in trouble will they? (i know I am good at explaining this)
4. Cache
Well, this one is the dreams part. damn I am right just admit it now. they come from your memories, keep it or forget about it, that's unto you. sometimes it can interfere with your old memories when you get new ones. so if unknown problem persist, with your heart and mind working nicely please clear your dreams and look into some of the memories. otherwise get the mind checked first.
5. Recovery
This is the soul part, whenever your heart or mind or data or dreams are feeling lost, you connect to it and revive them accordingly, or contact ODIN.
I hope you had some fun in the above part and a very clear and better understanding, So now you know where things are going wrong​
The Beginning
Ensure your Charging Adapter, USB ports and your USB cable, are in good shape and working in accordance, Never depend on USB hubs or any USB port that is a faulty or slow performer, use original cables, or buy new ones, the cable does create problems in some cases. if you're sure that these are fine, then let it in charging for few hours to even a day. depending upon how fast the droid recovers.
So what do you do, when you have to go the custom way or solve your problems?
i. Press Power and Volume Up(right button) or
ii. Press Power and Volume Down(left button) or
iii.Press Power and Hold touch screen combinations.
iv. Press nicely and hold it for good few seconds there, no hurry, really.
v. Long press the power button, release the power button and, when you see a logo appear during boot-up, hold down both the volume up and volume down buttons. Continue holding the two buttons until the droid boots up with a safe mode indicator at the bottom-left corner of its screen.
vi. Plug it in PC with the USB.
vii. Remove the Battery blow air on it and pat a little and put it back inside.
So what happens after doing what I said above?
i. (a). The tab goes into download mode
ii (b). The tab goes into recovery mode
iii(c). the tab switch off/on again.
iv (d). Now the Combinations worked properly, beware cause many a times on droids this could be a seriously tricky part.
v (e). The tab goes into safe mode.
I know you got tired there holding the buttons and No you didn't had to press it so hard
vi (f). Your droid and PC responds and connects.
yeah, I know Nothing much of a Help, but it will make sense when it doesn't
vii(g).
this is an age old trick of which there is no proof of success, but it has been working since ages.
As long as you can enter download mode or recovery or safe mode you can walk the path of going custom and troubleshoot along the way. Piece of cake. Most of the ways including how to root, upgrades, lag free and better performance starts here
[if you're ready to take the plunge, remember there is no backing out.]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Choose your steps wisely here now, if possible just read the main points and see if you have done all those first. that will save your data in some case and in some save you from getting all messed up.
CORA, (CODE OF RECOVERING ANDROID)
For NON-ROOT USERS
Safe mode
Stock recovery
Download Mode
FOR ROOTED USERS
Custom recovery,
Nandroid BACKUP,
Download mode
Safe mode
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WITHOUT MODIFYING SYSTEM FOR HARDCORE STOCK USER
1. SAFE MODE
This mode generally helps when the problem is arising from 3rd party apps and is making your droid reboot again and again, lagging, hanging issues, so whatever is causing problem, if you can reach here, you can uninstall them clear their data and cache, and yes, free up some internal space too and backup your data from settings-backup as well. then factory reset if you want to.
2. STOCK RECOVERY WAY
You have never rooted your droid and you don't want to root and you don't want to move away from stock, well pressing the Power and Volume Down(left button) will take you there.
try to clear cache/data factory reset(will lose you data stored on internal droid) and yes it does solve few of the cases, even if it doesn't look so promising, it has solved, and will solve quiet a few issues. no chance of getting that data stored on internal., phone book, messages, chats.
3. THE DOWNLOAD MODE WAY
Flash a stock firmware Explained in post the download way.​
Code:
Now if you are already Rooted or want to Root to have a better option of saving your data, or reviving your droid
it's like performing a surgery on your body by yourself.
So be careful, you have been warned, Samsung voids the warranty,
and I don't give any Guarantees that these Instructions will work for all.
MODIFYING FOR PEOPLE WHO RISK IT
1. Getting Rooted
2. Custom recovery Way and (post number 4)
3. Download mode Way. (post number 5)
AND FOR THOSE WHO WILL BLAME ME
Seriously?
The most important and most essential part here is GETTING/HAVING a NANDROID BACKUP, the very FIRST THING that you MUST HAVE DID/DONE upon getting ROOTED. Make a Stable Clone guys.
You will need to get rooted and custom recovery to do that, not to forget enabling the USB Debugging Option from Settings->about device-> Build number-> press 7 times->back->developer->Enable USB Debugging and that's the beginning my friend.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Other threads with good post for the tab 2 series about rooting guides, containing firmware links, recoveries, Roms list, kernels, pretty much everything.
All about P51xx
All about P31xx
Latest Roms, Recoveries updated by Android-andi, the best developer around here
other droid users please look it up under your device thread tree, they will surely have a way, tailored and to the point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Getting Rooted is only advised if you're going to stay on stock rom, debloating the system and making changes yourself.
if you're going to install a custom rom, which would be generally rooted, so you can skip to getting a custom recovery first.
CF auto Root are better option for any device to get rooted rather than other options
CFauto-root GT-P3100
CF auto root for GT-P51xx
or you can visit the chainfire homepage for your device which contains the root file for almost every device.
ROOT FROM DEVICE WITHOUT PC
in cases where you can't use ODIN for rooting or you want root your droid and there is still no method explained for Root on XDA then using framaroot, towel root, baidu, kingo or any other app(they can root some sets of droid) is advised, without ODIN or in case you couldn't connect your tab to the PC with the USB, only then these apps are good ways to get root. after that you can use flashify app or other apps for same purpose that has the feature to flash .img files, you can also use Mobile Odin app which can pretty much work when you can't use Odin from Pc.
then you can download a copy of the custom recovery image.(recovery.img) browse in the app and let it do the installation for you. this is useful for droids which doesn't have that much support like we and others have here
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Common Issues faced
If you have read about my explanation of android's partitions in the OP(Original Post above), you would know where exactly to look for the problems. Moving on,
For other Geeks
Please remind me if I missed few things, you see I have put up this Guide mostly of the files I have in my system partition,I might have missed few that were stored in data or cache partition
1. Tab is Stuck on Charging Screen. Tab is not turning On, battery completely depleted/Not charging, Nothing is Working​
Possibilities
* if the tab doesn't feels warm even after charging for a whole day,
F1. Battery dead,
F2. Circuit/Motherboard blown,
F3. Bad Charger/charging point
F4. No electricity
if it's getting warm and still not turning on
F5. Hardware buttons not working
F6. Motherboard needs replacement.
F7. Flashed a bootloader/kernel(along with a Rom/firmware), or something not meant for your device, which is the hard brick in this category please refer to case number 5. (process on post 2)
F8. Some Custom Roms have bugs that won't Charge, stay stuck on the battery icon, unless you remove the plug and turn on. always read before flashing a Rom, if there are no info, better ask the developer before you go flashing or post your Question in related thread where they would get noticed.
2. Stuck On Samsung Logo Screen.​
This could be from various reasons generally not so serious ones mostly recoverable issues of which, some are
Flashed a incompatible Custom Rom zip or any other flashable zip containing files not meant for the exact device.
Flashed a kernel/ bootloader incompatible with the Rom, wrong kernel modules, messed up system lib files, (lucky enough to still not be in hard bricked section.)
Formatted system partition and there is no OS installed. (one of the silliest mistakes I have done)
Some other that I maybe forgetting just like I completely forgot about the above
Possible Solutions
Go to the stock recovery and wipe data/factory reset (this will make your precious data that you stored vanish, except data stored on SDcard) (explained further in post 3)
Get a working stable compatible kernel/Rom or flash stock firmware. (explained in post 2 and 3)
Download from a different source cause chances are the file got corrupted or infected while downloading or transferring. (post 3)
Find the file that is stopping the device from booting up, starting from the kernel, to the system files. duh?
Go to the custom recovery way.
Go to the download way
3. Stuck in a Boot Loop.​
Boot Loops are crazy and they will make you mad, they can hit you anytime for even little of tasks, Root or not root, either you are testing a new app, modifying/copying/editing/deleting/overwriting files in the system or data that don't even look so dangerous, just flashing some mod, GAPPS, or just updates rolled out by devs(nothing against them) this will surely hit you, no matter how focused and diligently you work. boot loops will make you do hula hoops.
Boot Loop is generally solved by
Hello? whatever you did that I mentioned above, just roll it back.
if you can't figure it out, well then
Remember the CORA order Quoted above in the first post? Read on
Safe Mode?
Go to recovery and clear cache then reboot.
Clear data/factory reset from stock recovery(data stored will be lost) (root users can skip this and directly go to 7)
No, Recovery?, You sure pressed the button nicely?
Flash a custom recovery image(recovery.tar) from Odin
Repeat from 1-3
Backup/Restore from Nandroid backup
Don't sit for the next exams without memorizing your lesson.
Cleared cache/dalvik cache?
Flash a Compatible Custom kernel
Find the stock replacement of the file/app you messed up from a firmware or a custom Rom, put it in a flashable zip and flash it (advance users)
Clear/data factory reset either from custom recovery. (*loses data)
Flash the Custom Rom, first dirty flash then clean flash.
Flash a Stock firmware from Odin. (loses data)
4. Stuck On Firmware Upgrade Encountered an Issue.​
Well this problems hits non-root users and root users too? why? because we wanted an update.
it was trying to upgrade and something got in between to make it stop
Battery/Power/Electricity - for non root users, the most common culprit would be the battery, seriously guys, please keep the battery in mind always. it's a very common mistake that cost many of users. For ODIN users, please see you have a uninterrupted supply of power to your device and you are using latest version along with Hi speed USB ports.
kies!!! I hate that thing and majority of others will support me here. I got rid of it the day I installed that thing on my PC.
interruption from the user side while the device was taking an upgrade. removed battery? fell down on the floor? no?
hardware issue, unlikely, rare I would say, in case the device did came out with a weak emmc card.
Bad/wrong firmware downloaded files.
In case you had a custom recovery and its still working, check the custom recovery way
I Know 1st didn't helped you,
Refer to the Download Mode way and get a custom recovery
Don't forget to clear cache, you do know that's where the device keeps the downloaded/image firmware file, and that's where it is installing/extracting from. the dream partition, no wonder you got errors. you got a nightmare now
try the download mode way
probably it's best that you either forget about the mobile, or give it to a service center for a J-TAG and get it repaired.
I knew you would look here, there is indeed a last ray of hope, explained at the last thing to do in download mode way
5. Bricked.​
There are 3 types of Bricks, Soft Hard and The Brick, That's it.
Soft brick
well you are safe and sound, you can even recover from custom recovery mode.
Hard brick
skynet has fallen, just like it infected the droid Arnold Schwarzenegger of the terminator version 3.0, the codes were injected into his heart making the brain dis balance and resulting in partial heart seizure and a coma, but he still had the cache and data part intact along with recovery, so it went there, restored a nandroid backup and went online again. BAM!! so easy. but why? I mean ours droid having reached version 6.0 can't recover from the same way? Where only hope here is a CPR or getting J-TAGGED? not to mention, which should be done by expert surgeons who would charge exorbitant . So, don't waste time with a jig or any other miracle to happen and please don't go on the droid with a shocking therapy. I am more of a practical guy and prefer professionalism.
The Brick
err, that's the solid one, put that on your heart, and forget about this droid and shell out money for a new one. : that's what the company wants to tell you here and that's the reason it doesn't want to put the nandroid on the stock recovery cause they want the blame on you and not them. shhh, keep it hidden, don't say I told you their secret
General Overview of the Next Options we have.
a. The Download Mode Way
Before going this way I would suggest you see the recovery mode way, if it's not working for you, then go ahead here.
You have four things that you can do (other's I never needed to venture upon)
1. Flash a Recovery -
In case you want to change or update a Recovery or fix/access a Recovery again, to root, complete backup from recovery(nandroid), install new custom Rom, install stock Rom, plenty of options here. Probably the safest option here cause you don't lose your data unless you do something wrong here as to format it. whether you root your tablet or not, install a custom Rom or stay on stock, everyone MUST have a custom recovery, I don't understand why Stock recovery can't have this option as well?
2. Flash a stock firmware package -
in case you are on stock recovery never rooted,
can't reach or can't flash anything using custom recovery,
bootloops(applied in all cases), want to revert back to stock factory state. tab system is behaving weirdly, virus and Trojans attacked or you just want to upgrade or change your droid firmware.
Note Using this method, will result in the loss of all your data stored on the device internal card.
3. Flashing a Bootloader
Generally these are included in every stock firmware pack. if you had a ICS(4.0.4) stock Rom, and the device got an Official JB(4.2.2) update. you must update to that firmware first before flashing any later custom Roms[from kk to M(6.0)], the version which never got released officially. flashing this part separately is very risky and done with utmost care, remember it's your droid heart. don't fool around with it.
3. Flash firmware with pit file -
Warning : this is some high level flashing, it will re partition your device along with the stock firmware. in cases where NOTHING ELSE on the whole Internet worked for you, and you have tried almost everything, only then choose this path with clear mind. make mistake in this, and your tab will virtually turn into a paperweight. if you're not sure you could handle it, please send it for the service centers. this is going to flash every part of the droid's body
4. Flash the 4 files with pit
This is the secret way, where miracles can happen even when there was no hope of recovering yourself.
b. The Recovery Mode Way
Stock recovery - Here You can clear cache, there is nothing much happening in clearing cache, just clearing some temporary files and making you feel like you have got some space cleared out. it's just files that you most probably already used.
data/factory reset and reboot. Easy and simple solution . that does solve some of the problems you face without modifying your device much. so those of you who are afraid to flashing things and ending up on some bigger mistake, you can give this a try, but keep in mind, you will lose all your data stored in the device.
there is apply update from recovery, but that seldom has use in an average android user's life nothing much of a recovery.
Go to download mode way of flashing a custom recovery
or
If you have rooted your tab somehow using framaroot, towel root, baidu or any other app, without ODIN in case you can't connect your tab to the PC with the USB, then you can use flashify app or Kernel Adiutor(the latest one) or any other apps that has the feature to flash img from inside the device OS. you can download a copy of the custom recovery image.(recovery.img) browse in the app and let it do the installation for you.
Custom recovery - Here you have many things that you can do depending upon which recovery and which version you choose. CWM is past, philz is ok, TWRP is awesome. most of the options are common in these 3, but some are really better and fast than the previous ones. we will discuss only one, my favorite TWRP(Respect for the legend CWM though), the process is common on all but twrp is more feature rich.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Important files you must have NANDROID BACKUP, STOCK FIRMWARE, PIT FILE, and 4 FILES FIRMWARE PACKAGE, GET them even before you need to search for them
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Setting Up Everything
Before proceeding Always keep device battery fully charged and NEVER go flashing on low battery. Very Risky. Don't forget.
Always check the files that you are going to flash on your device. generally files will have device model mentioned in their filename.
Be Sure that you don't lose electricity or laptop on low battery while working. the device takes time to update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Things you need to Set up a 'Flashing Environment'
No, I am not going to talk about a flashy party setup ​
i. PC running Windows 7 and 8 (with 10 I haven't flashed anything yet, but it works.)
ii. A working data cable(some cables are bad and will not detect your device if you see unknown device better get a new one)
iii. Samsung USB Drivers it's much better than having samsung kies on your pc. I would personally suggest from my experience along with many people who have suffered from samsung kies, it's not worth the hassle. ODIN and KIES don't work alongside, so you will have to close.
iv. ODIN 3.10 (download plus instructions as well I used 1.85, 3.07, 3.09 All worked, and so will 3.10. if not, try different ones from Odin 1-85 to 3.07. these links have more step by step and detailed covering what I have left.
v. 7Zip better download this cause it can unpack most of the files.
Press and hold Power and Volume Up(right) button on your device for few good minutes until you see a download mode screen
Connect your USB cable to PC and press Up to Continue. sometimes there could be problem with the USB ports, you should check in all the ports available. avoid USB hubs or the front panel USB in case of PC, don't let a faulty port ruin this for you.
Problem/Failed with Odin? Refer to this thread Good Points here as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
DOWNLOADING AND READING FILES
Believe it, this a very big problem that people tend to overlook
The file you need will look something like these
"P5100XXDMD1_P5100OJVDME1_P5100XXDLL2_EUR.tar.7z"
where
P5100 - Generally the first 5 letters/numbers means a device model number.
XXDMD1 this is PDA which will be 5 letters(much older devices)-6 letters denoting firmware build version.
OJVDME1 is CSC version these just contains regional wise APN, nothing much.
XXDLL2 is Modem version.
EUR is Country Code.
.7z means you need 7zip to extract this file.
Now see these 2 examples here
"S7562XXALJ4_S7562OXXALJ3_S7562XXLJ3_HUN.tar" and "S7562CZNUAMI2_S7562CCHUAMI2_CHU zip"
Sure it's S7562 device but wait the other one is S7562C !!! totally different device firmware. make mistake here and you are sure going to lose.
I Hope you can make out the difference now for every device now.
Now the real file that you need will always be inside a zip/tar/7z the correct format is "P5100XXDMD1_P5100OJVDME1_P5100XXDLL2.tar.md5 "
Remember to extract it and get the md5 file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
These are the known best sources
Enter and Download device model on sammobile
P5100 sammobile
P5110 sammobile
P5113 sammobile
P3100 sammobile
P3113 sammobile
*Bump Download firmwares available smart-gsm.net
Download firmwares available easy-firmware.com​The Only reason I am putting this here is while I was searching for genuine websites, I had a very hard time finding through sites that looks nothing else than scams and fakes and rarely had files that I needed and password protected. this websites has ads, but looks organized and for tab series, it had at-least all the firmwares downloading.
PHP:
Yes so, it will take time and require a good internet speed, there are other sites, but I don't recommend them unless they are from good source or sometimes the only option. Options are also available from GSMhosting site as well, its another good community but I feel XDA is much better. still if you have no options. you have to get it somehow. just stay away from the survey sites and bogus ones. specially the blogspot ones.

Recovery Mode Way
Recovering from a custom recovery
Important Part​Creating Nandroid Backup - This is the most important thing that you will ever need, and will always regret not having it when you chose this path, should be the first priority.
Getting Inside
Switch off the device
Let it completely shutdown
Hold Power and Volume Down(left button)
This is how it looks saw that backup button? yes that is where you tap first (other recoveries will have different looks, but same "backup" and
This is where you do it . by tapping again or navigating through the volume up and down button in case of older recoveries this would not at all be same, this is the most latest feature rich recovery.
Those Running CWM older builds, won't find the options to select boot, system cache and data and instead there will be just "backup" and backup to external.
CWM by default will Backup boot, system, data, cache partitions. Philz will also do it. But TWRP has better features. although they do the same. You just select system, boot, data and cache. that would be all to recover using nandroid backup.
Now here it depends on what you are trying to do and what would you like to recover from, also depends on what you are comfortable with doing and how much space you can spare. if you have a lot, I would say skip this step and backup all for once.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not Noob Friendly
if you have that same custom Rom zip that you would like to restore the backup of, then there is no need to copy/backup /system partition again, it will save you some space. so you can skip it in that case for TWRP.
if you're only going to modify device kernel - backup boot. or just data if you already have the custom Rom with kernel.
other than that twrp offers what CWM lacked, skip md5 generation during backup well this is a good option and saves some time while backup, on restoring you can also enable or disable it. the purpose of this is simple, md5 is like a security/seal on your backup file, so you don't mess up anything while restoring it on your device. after all you never know when a virus might attack or you might put the wrong files on it. if you are sure about your talents, you can skip it or else it's better to let it generate and verify while restore. CWM has this setup as default.
Now you have one? GREAT! GENIUS!! Now whenever you encounter a problem make sure you can use it like a BOSS.
Restore Nandroid Backup​
Enter recovery mode by Pressing Power and Volume Down(left button),
you reach the main screen,
you see a "restore" option and tap it,
you will see folders name starting with the date you made a nandroid backup,
you recognize which one you want by the date and information listed there, and select it. CWM only offered dates, but twrp even offers more detailed info including OS version and Rom name. one more reason I suggest you to use twrp.
In case you want only data to be restored, then you choose advanced restore and check the data and restore. but before doing this part make sure you are not restoring conflicting data or system or kernel with incompatible versions.
you can't restore a data backup from a Jellybean Rom and put it on a custom Rom based on Lollipop, neither a kernel from Lollipop to jellybean.
Data should only be recovered on the same Rom you took the backup from.
In case the custom Rom developer rolls an update of the same fixing issues,(not some major changes) then you can in some cases think of getting this worked out smoothly. This is called a "dirty flash". which is the reason why sometimes users experience problems running certain Roms, even when they are good and stable Roms. So before complaining to devs make sure you follow the clean install method.
Note: System and data most of the times will cause problems. Kernels are not meant at all to play with. they are the biggest source of bricks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
​
Wiping Part - Steer Clear the problems away
this is where wipe takes place[PIC]
here are the wipes options on a custom recovery
Factory reset - Wipes cache, dalvik, data/ excluding your media part on the internal drive.(your pics, videos are safe)
this will generally clear you problems if they are not some big issues. but you will lose the apps and contacts messages stored.
Advanced wipe - Format system
you can try to do this first if you don't want to lose your data while troubleshooting.
format system if you're facing issues with the files on system partition, but remember to install the same Rom you had earlier. if you had stock, you will need a stock Rom zip not to forget keeping the file ready beforehand on the external SD card.
Beware while navigating in advance wipe menu, never wipe in a hurry, never drink and wipe, never take eyes off here, cause you might end up touching external SD card, USB-OTG, internal storage and lose your precious data
Format data - this wipes the data partition
problems arising from the data partition side could be solved here, but you lose your precious data on the internal and get rid of the bad, virus, trojans, trouble making apps.​
How to perform A CLEAN INSTALL when you are going to update to a new Rom?
Factory Reset and Format System, Format CACHE
or
Format /System, Format /Data, Format /Cache, WIPE Dalvik Cache, Factory Reset.
This will Surely Solve Some Great & Average Problems of Day to Day Flashing.[/B]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What's a Dirty Flash then?
Format System, without Deleting Data partition. before doing this, please do a nandroid backup in case you mess things up. if not, format system again and flash the Rom that was initially running with that data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now Comes the Installing part
Installing Menu​
You download a copy of a custom Rom or stock Rom, after following the developer's thread, reading through it's bugs and reviews. you don't want a unstable or alpha Roms.
There would be installing process explained on that thread follow it and always make sure that inside the zip file it contains a meta-inf and system folder with boot.img) always look inside before going to flash, don't trust me, don't trust anyone. although
if you tried to flash a firmware zip file containing a .img file, without Meta-Inf folder, it won't flash. cause the custom recovery needs instructions from updater-script. Now, I know this was mostly going on like this before, but now with latest custom recoveries, (twrp) you can even flash .img files without needing a zip.
You perform a Clean Install wipe stated in the wipe section above
Reboot to Recovery(Don't select reboot to system, there is no system after clean wipe)
You browse through the files list and external storage,
Find that zip file and
Swipe or press or touch to flash it.
You wait for it to complete the process then
You can wipe/cache/dalvik and reboot or you just reboot. depends on what you choose "clean install" or "dirty install".
You want to report any errors while flashing? you are free to do so on the Rom thread, don't expect me to solve those cases.
If all went well, reboot to system and your tab should be up running again. if not refer to the Download mode Way.

The Download Mode Way
The Download Mode Way
1. FLASH A CUSTOM RECOVERY
Find the recoveries in their respective threads. For P51xx and P31xx Recovery thread others can look in their respective device sections, XDA has development thread of most of the Samsung devices and people do post there.
it should look like this on your address bar
"http forum.xda-developers.com / galaxy-tab-2 / general"
xda website /__ (devicename)/ (sub-forum)
(development) OR (/general) section
You can always google it too.
remember you will need a recovery.md5 that will be inside a zip file extract from it.
Always check whats in the archive then go the recovery mode way, it should be .md5
Sorry I have not put up detailed step by step process here because my guide is covering a lot of things already and this is something each device specific, refer to this For General step by step instructions with pictures, this has very detailed process.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
​
2 FLASH A STOCK FIRMWARE
These package contains files needed to update or revert to the same position where it was shipped to your country along with your android device. you can find all Samsung device firmwares released from all parts of the world, and yes, you can flash firmwares of other country/regions from the sammobile site just stay away from the carrier specific firmwares(unless you are on one) that should be used for the same specific carriers device only they are married to the carrier company and probably won't let you have your own ways with others.
You should also remember not to downgrade a stock firmware once you have upgraded, that will surely create problems​
Run Odin as administrator
Browse PDA/AP and find the firmware .md5 file
This is how you should see on your ODIN screen. always be very very careful to uncheck the Re-partition. it's unchecked by default.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Code:
The yellow column/(Blue for other versions) means
your device is detected by the PC.
If it's not lit, you have messed up USB drivers
still not uninstalled kies Completely or
not connected the device properly.
try changing to different USB Ports.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Press Start
Wait for the process to complete and let the device reboot from download mode
Remove cable when you see PASS written with green above the Yellow/Blue com port.
PHP:
Most Problems are solved here when you see success/PASS.
Except one The emmc bug. Replace the internal emmc, or J-TAG or
mysteriously something else done by professionals.
[*]if it shows failed, see if you can go to recovery mode and clear data, check Mount/Unmount System, data
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if it still says failed, the downloaded file is corrupted, wrong Odin version(try with different Odin versions) you have flashed wrong device files which has messed up the partition table of your device. refer to other ways.
Threads with good post for the tab 2 series these contains firmware links, guides, recoveries, Roms list, kernels pretty much everything.
All about P51xx
All about P31xx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
3. FLASH A BOOTLOADER
First ask yourself why you would want to do this?
Be extra careful with this part, if you have already flashed a updated firmware, you don't need this part.
Those who are using old stock firmware, please flash a stock last updated firmware. you won't need to do this.
Those who did not follow the above two, so it's now unto you, this a risky thing, you have been advised you are going further yourself
Those who are experiencing problems that are not solved even after most of my other instructions here, then it's onto you to decide you want to try this too or not. this could solve problems when device is in serious condition, after all it's the heart partition and remember no downgrades in this once you upgrade. thats it. this could seriously create problems, including bringing back the emmc issue as well.
Refer to this DETAILS AND INSTRUCTIONS to FLASH A BOOTLOADER for SAMSUNG TAB 2 SERIES follow safely by @Joery360 other users please be careful with these files and don't go on flashing others files? okay. Great!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
4. FLASH FIRMWARE WITH PIT FILE
Wait!! You are sure that you want to try this part? this is the point of no return. Whatever happens to your device by following this guide, good or bad, it's your own responsibility. You can't blame me for it. so be sensible, if you're not sure please let this be done by someone who has the experience of dealing with this kind of stuff.
Now pit files are some serious files, they contain information about your device partition and they help flash erase and rewrite files on their correct partition, so better not take a wrong file, sometimes you have the same device but different internal space, so don't end up choosing a pit file for a 8 GB variant on your 16 GB variant of device, in that case your device will end up using 8gb only, or worse if it's other device, it might never boot up again.
Always remember don't flash pit files ever without a firmware file in place.
Download Pit files for Samsung tab 2 p51xx p31xx series
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Run Odin as administrator
Browse PDA and find the firmware .md5 file
Browse Pit and select the pit file (reminder : file confirmed?)
Make Sure Re-partition is checked cause we are using Pit File to re partition again
Never flash a Pit file without a firmware placed in PDA/AP
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Press Start
Wait for the process to complete and let the device reboot from download mode
Remove cable when you see PASS written with green above the Yellow/Blue com port.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if it shows failed while flashing, you did used correct files, right? after this if there is still a download mode running on your device. try the special case files.
this has happened with me on a unknown MTK device, the pit file was slightly different from the original one on device, so it failed, but that was at the start before it could flash. I did somehow managed to flash that different pit file, just lost some disk space. cause I used a lower variant pit but it got the device running up again.
The device takes a long time to boot while it's updating firmware, so you are required to have sufficiently charged battery, Take no chances here.
if even after a successful flash with Odin, you face problems, then that's a emmc bug case. motherboard replacement or emmc replacement, or tab replacement. nothing else.
5. FLASH PIT WITH 4 FILES FIRMWARE
Find the repair firmware files at this Website
it has the 4 files for most of the devices including the Tab 2 series
Instructions for using these 4 files, however please note that the only difference would be the ODIN versions, cause device needs specific ODIN version, some can flash all.
this is the only way, that I have seen working for numerous devices and it is most successful one among all options to recover an almost bricked device, on which you have tried everything.
For other devices
Find them here
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you'll find these buttons on every post.
it's better to notify a user when you're asking that user a question or use @username of the user for mentioning in your post, that will give in a notification for you.

I think there could be more, i know it's already lengthy but who knows?