Database Users

[Q] Rooted Fascinate ended up with incorrect kernel... *sigh*

It's really a shame to start off in a place with a post that has someone mad at themselves for performing a soft brick on their relatively new Verizon Samsung Fascinate. I have to admit I love the phone, but after seeing some videos about DarkyMod I was so impressed I felt compelled to try it.
All I've done, far as I know, is Rooted the phone, but I also used Odin and apparently flashed the incorrect kernel. So what happens now is when I power on my Fascinate, I get a Galaxy S (GT-i9000) screen. At this point, the phone reboots. I know I'm an idiot for having used the wrong Odin kernel, but after attempting to decipher the post in the Darky's installation for "first timers" I apparently choose the incorrect kernel.
At any rate, I suppose I could ask for an experienced modder for the right kernel, the one that would allow me to perform the flash after I had installed the ROM Manager, etc.. But I doubt that would help. What I'm looking for is a file which has been removed from the forums here, and was originally in someone's Dropbox account.
I believe that the file that I'm looking for is the "Stock-i500-VZW-Kernel.tar.md5"... I might be incorrect, as I had mentioned I believed I had successfully "rooted" the phone, but when I used Odin to flash the kernel, I think that's where I went wrong. Can anyone help me find this file? Or should I get the modified kernel, which will allow me to perform the backups and then the flashing to this mod? Thanks ahead of time, I do apologize for the length of the post.
-
T.C.
Samsung Fascinate (Verizon) DL09

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=867648
thats full d101 thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=885262
thats full dj05 thread
both should be able to get you back to stock through odin then you can restart what you did. personally i keep both handy since i already had to use them due to an error that cause the phone to freeze up completely at the samsung logo. hope that helps

Thank you kdaz!
I'll give that download a shot real fast and see what happens. I'm assuming you've modded/rooted your Samsung Fascinate? Which of those Odin kernels did you use to successfully start changing things? I never did get past the "update.zip" part, it always came back with an error.
Thanks for taking the time to write a response, I really feel bad to post and have my first ever be a soft bricked phone, haha!

Quick thank you...
After looking all over the forums here, and elsewhere... I did find what I was looking for, though I didn't manage to restore the kernel and save my settings, I did unbrick the phone by reapplying the DL01 firmware with the Odin software. The forums here were a huge help, and I just wanted to say thanks!

haha glad you got it working. yes i have rooted and modded mine. got it last thursday brand new and was modding it on friday when i got back from vacation. friday night i feared that i had totally bricked it but luckily found both of those files on the forums. i believe i used the dl05 one then imediately updated to the dl09 radio and now running blaze voodoo kernel clocked at 1.2ghz and i honestly forget what rom lol waiting to use aosp

Thank god these phones are so easy to unbrick with Odin. Almost impossible to truly brick, though sometimes you might lose some data here and there or it won't save your data etc. That's why you might need to odin the full stock rom more than once

Thanks for the responses guys, kudos!
I had really hoped to start using Darky's ROM but it turned out that I didn't have the right modem file, or at least, that's what Darky said. At any rate I was kind of curious which custom ROMs you guys are using and why? The names alone should be sufficient, there's so much information here on these forums.
I admit I'm worried to reflash but at the same time, I know how to do it and if something goes wrong I just use Odin and apply DL01, or whatever the original ROM is called. Any thoughts about good and fast custom ROMs on the VZW Fascinate, guys?

Look for the full DL09 Odin, DI01 is really old and DJ05 was killed inside VZ before it was ever released to the general public.
As you have discovered, the Fascinate is its own animal and you cannot flash stuff made for other Galaxy S phones to it unless you feel like breaking your phone on purpose. Most of us are running one derivative or another of DL09 that has been hacked up in various ways to remove the stock bloatware, add root/themes, add new functionality into the kernel, etc. Some of us are using AOSP or CyanogenMod froyo-based roms which (still) have many/most things broken. We are finally about to have official updates to 2.2 and that is the missing piece that was needed to get full custom development working. Big changes will be coming before we know it.

[email protected]
I had just read earlier that there was a Froyo leak, I'll be really curious to see whether or not it speeds things up or not. It sounds like the custom ROMs are here for our VZW Fascinate but what I'm really looking (and waiting for like everyone else) is just Froyo. I'm grateful to everyone here who reached out and helped.
I'm not sure if my rooting days are done, but I got pretty scared when I thought I'd bricked this thing. Can't thank you guys, and the community, enough.

im currently running OTB ul1300 kernel which has the voltage turned down and processor speed of 1.3ghz and im currently running the dl09 supah clean rom. was running kaoscinate yesterday but missed being able to use my camera. the flashablility of this phone is great..i love just switching roms and kernels almost completely at will. cant wait until they get the leaked froyo out to use but im enjoying trying everything else until then.

tclore77 said:
I had just read earlier that there was a Froyo leak, I'll be really curious to see whether or not it speeds things up or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you really want a boost in your phone speed, you should look into getting custom ROMs and kernels, not Froyo. There are a bunch of kernels out there that are overclocked (and even undervolted, to save battery life too) that will significantly improve your performance.
The best thing you can do with your phone is to get yourself a custom ROM - something like Blackhole 3.0 by sonofskywalker or SuperClean 0.4. Those will get rid of the bloatware crap that Verizon puts on your phone, and (more importantly) change the default search from that P.O.S. Bing back to Google.

Consequences to updating to Tmobiles 2.2 froyo official

So I got the Vibrant the other day and for the most part I absolutely love the phone. Feels like I'm holding a light sabre or a magic wand. The thing is just so powerful. I have been reading up as much as possible on how to flash ROMs and root. A month ago I'd never even heard of this stuff and now I feel like I at least have a basic knowledge....just don't have the balls to attempt it yet. I want to make sure I know what I'm doing.
So in the meantime (while I work on growing a pair and actually doing it) I want to update to the Tmob 2.2 froyo official. I have read that if I do this I won't be able to get in download or recovery mode. Is this correct? And if this is correct then does that mean it will be impossible to flash roms after updating?
I just want a little performance boost and have my system a little snappier til I decide if I'm gonna flash some roms or not. Anyone know the answer?
Thanks fellas

If you can muster the balls to get the official 2.2, just flash team whiskey s bionix. Its better, easier, more reliable, better supported, and looks cooler. Don't be scared, follow directions and its easy!! GL!
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

In all seriousness, you're far better off flashing the latest Bionix-v than you are the "official" 2.2. Having done both, you are far more likely to have an issue during the update process using that garbage mini Kies program than you are rooting and flashing. I rooted and flashed 4 different ROMS without issue. Then I used ODIN to go back to stock because I wanted to see the official release.
4 hours later I was able to get my phone back to a usable state. Between driver issues and crappy software (Kies), it just wasn't worth it. And after using my buddies Vibrant that was running the official release, it was way slower and less usable than most of the latest ROMS offered here.
You should root and then flash the latest Whiskey or Axura ROM and be done with it. The devs here have given us a far better experience and options on our phones than Samsung has.

Actually, the official 2.2 tmo update got rid of the hardware lock for me. I couldn't get into recovery or download mode out the box. The previous JI6 update through Kies mini didn't help. Since I am no longer hardware locked, I'll probably flash some roms. I am pretty dissappointed with this official update after that long wait.

I agree with the other comments that just getting one of the better/faster ROMs here is going to be what you want. As for your question about getting the "official" update and then being able to flash, that's what I did so it should work for you with just a little reading.

I disagree...I love team whiskey and all the other custom roms and even used them for a long time. But right now I have been using stock 2.2 ka7 with voodoo kernel and it is really fast and snappy. I like the stock look as well and haven't experienced any bugs or slowdowns since I installed this rom ...my suggestion: if you want stock....then read up a bit and Odin to ka7...mini lies is the worst program invented and it only flashes you to ka6
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Don't download the official! Take your time, read a lot, grow a pair and then execute! You'll be alright. confidence comes from research and doing. Everyone was nervous at one point.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

tmo throws people in jail for flashing custom roms making our phones super amazin and they dont want that so remember to odin back when u bring ur phone for warranty

Yaz75 said:
In all seriousness, you're far better off flashing the latest Bionix-v than you are the "official" 2.2. Having done both, you are far more likely to have an issue during the update process using that garbage mini Kies program than you are rooting and flashing. I rooted and flashed 4 different ROMS without issue. Then I used ODIN to go back to stock because I wanted to see the official release.
4 hours later I was able to get my phone back to a usable state. Between driver issues and crappy software (Kies), it just wasn't worth it. And after using my buddies Vibrant that was running the official release, it was way slower and less usable than most of the latest ROMS offered here.
You should root and then flash the latest Whiskey or Axura ROM and be done with it. The devs here have given us a far better experience and options on our phones than Samsung has.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only time you'll have an issue is if you're too dumb to turn on debug mode. And most of those people who are too dumb to do that were likely too dumb to read the threads where it was repeated ad nauseum to turn debug mode on...
Turn on Debug Mode
Update
Format Internal SD
Factory Reset
Enjoy.

N8ter said:
The only time you'll have an issue is if you're too dumb to turn on debug mode. And most of those people who are too dumb to do that were likely too dumb to read the threads where it was repeated ad nauseum to turn debug mode on...
Turn on Debug Mode
Update
Format Internal SD
Factory Reset
Enjoy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well thank goodness you aren't talking about me because I did have debugging mode turned on! And then mini Kies started to update the firmware, then it decided to crap the bed at about 75% and turned the phone into a confused jumble of uselessness.
But I guess you were there so I'll let you tell everyone how I recovered it.

bartek25 said:
tmo throws people in jail for flashing custom roms making our phones super amazin and they dont want that so remember to odin back when u bring ur phone for warranty
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What the heck are you talking about?!

So thanks to some of the competent answers from guys in here and a leap of faith and trusting my extensive research (I read way too many threads about rooting, flashing, odin, custom roms, etc..), I am now rooted and have backed up my system. To be honest I'm almost just happy with that. While completeing this process I ran into a few questions that I didn't have the answer for mainly revolving around wheter to reboot or reinstall from recovery mode whether it be clockwork or samsung.
I posted a question in the Q and A forum about it (so I apologize for the kinda double post but this is more of a update on my progress) but whats the deal with update.zip file? I don't know when to reinstall it from recovery and when to delete it once the phone has booted. Should I delete it every time I have booted back up or does it even matter?
Thanks guys. I'm the kind of guy that, once I have the knowledge I am just as willing to share. Hopefully a year from now I'll be in your shoes and able to help others.
Next up after the update.zip question is resolved in my mind I plan to flash to bionix v. Official froyo 2.2 be damned lol

You use Clockwork Recovery to backup or flash anything. Sometimes you will get the Samsung recovery and you'll need to select reinstall packages to get to Clockwork. Sometimes you'll even need to reinstall packages twice.
Leave the update.zip on your sd. That's a necessary file for Clockwork.

[Q] After flashing back stock ROM, the phone keeps blinking on the boot screen (HELP)

I am in desperate need of help you guys! I screwed up so hard that I don't even know where to begin...
THE SITUATION:
-Right now when I go to turn on my phone, it will only stay on the current SAMSUNG GALAXY S I9000 screen (the very first screen when booting your phone) and it keeps flashing in and out.
Before trying to use Odin to put back the original Kernal on my phone, it was just stuck as the SAMSUNG GALAXY S I9000 screen, still wouldn't start. <I followed this website step by step>
http://www.samsunggalaxysforum.com/...-to-a-stock-rom-after-installing-darky's-rom/
BEFORE ALL OF THIS EVER HAPPENED:
I finally rooted my phone and manage to download Clockworkmod recovery on my phone and then used it to flash Darky's 10.2 custom ROM. Everything turned out great except at the beginning of the boot, the screen turned all rainbow coloured, completely distorted, and it continued to do that. I then tried to go back to Recovery mode to do the Voodoo lagfix but I couldn't even get into the recovery mode anymore, it either wouldn't let me, or it did but the screen didn't go to it properly (more likely the first one). I read somewhere that if you reflash your phone again, it should make all the tweeks go away. So I tried that from the Darky's tools menu and ever since then, I've been stuck with the Boot Screen this whole time...
I already bricked my phone once, and that was before the Flashing Boot Screen.
I really need help you guys, I would at least like to have my phone back to the original basis, at least! Your help would be greatly appreciated!
THANK YOU
P.S. (i'm not that great at all this phone tweeking, but I've succeeded in doing it up until yesterday)

Weird colors on boot usually are a sign of an incorrect bootloader version. Since you seem to be familiar with darky stuff (ugh) you could try the darky resurrection edition; there should be easy to follow instructions on their site.

tamaleddon said:
Weird colors on boot usually are a sign of an incorrect bootloader version. Since you seem to be familiar with darky stuff (ugh) you could try the darky resurrection edition; there should be easy to follow instructions on their site.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just flashed the RE version and it's making some progress. Definitely no weird colors.
PROBLEM:
-the boot screen is still flashing when trying to boot my phone, only this time it's with the "Darkcore & Darky's ROM" logo on it. The flashing is at a slower pace this time around.
ALSO:
I can get into the stock recovery screen, I hope this can somehow help
what should I doo!!?!

Ok see your here too and more q's for you based on what I see here:
1) What did you start with as a rom before 10.2 (stock GB, Froyo rom or ???)
2) The RE version - was that GB or Froyo?
I am thinking as the other poster alluded to is that maybe you went from a Froyo rom to 10.2 without getting the GB bootloader from a stock rom (odin with bootloader update checked) and now you are still working with the wrong bootloader?
If that sounds like what happened try flashing the RE edition for Froyo (9.3 I think) if you haven't already.
G

gfacer said:
Ok see your here too and more q's for you based on what I see here:
1) What did you start with as a rom before 10.2 (stock GB, Froyo rom or ???)
2) The RE version - was that GB or Froyo?
I am thinking as the other poster alluded to is that maybe you went from a Froyo rom to 10.2 without getting the GB bootloader from a stock rom (odin with bootloader update checked) and now you are still working with the wrong bootloader?
If that sounds like what happened try flashing the RE edition for Froyo (9.3 I think) if you haven't already.
G
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Once I rooted my phone, I automatically went from Stock Froyo to Darky's 10.2 extreme edition. It worked and everything except for that color disfiguration and the clockworkmod recovery not working.
It's weird because after I flashed my first darky's rom, i checked the phone and it said that the firmware version was 2.3.X (I believe X may have been 4). So from what you're saying, I don't exactly think it has anything to do with the fact that I went straight from froyo stock to GB darky ROM.
So are you saying that I should flash darky's 9.3 for Froyo and THEN flash the latest version?

As far as i read on the Darky Site you have to activate Lagfix to install 10.2
Do you?
In other case.
Install Resurrection 9.2 FW:
(sorry. new member no links outside allowed: Go darky forum, stable roms, darky resurrection 9.2)
If that works your bootloader if for Froyo and afterwards you can go on to flash Darkys 10.2 like written in the Darky Forum.
But i would suggest to stay on Darky´s 9.5 with 2.2.1
It is the stable version with no bugs at all. This gingerbread sucks a lot with Akku Drain, Light sensor and other thing. Also no call records.
I will stay on 9.5 so far. Best solution at the moment...
The thing with installing 10.2 you installed without installing 2.3.3 rom before could be, that is maybe possible to install Darkys 10.2 Theme on a 2.2.1?
But no guarantee...

roma17 said:
Once I rooted my phone, I automatically went from Stock Froyo to Darky's 10.2 extreme edition. It worked and everything except for that color disfiguration and the clockworkmod recovery not working.
It's weird because after I flashed my first darky's rom, i checked the phone and it said that the firmware version was 2.3.X (I believe X may have been 4). So from what you're saying, I don't exactly think it has anything to do with the fact that I went straight from froyo stock to GB darky ROM.
So are you saying that I should flash darky's 9.3 for Froyo and THEN flash the latest version?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The colour distortion problem is 100% caused by incorrect bootloaders. Download jvq from samfirmware (or another 3 file gingerbread of you have one already), use the Odin version contained in the download, tick repartition and update bootloader then flash.
Download cf root for jvq and flash that as PDA without repartition. After the phone boots downlaod darkyrom from the market and from it flash darky 10.2.
Personally the kernal that comes with darkys takes too long to load the phone so I use galaxian instead. Phone flies and it's the first custom jvq rom I've used which doesn't reboot itself.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA Premium App

sxi200 said:
The colour distortion problem is 100% caused by incorrect bootloaders. Download jvq from samfirmware (or another 3 file gingerbread of you have one already), use the Odin version contained in the download, tick repartition and update bootloader then flash.
Download cf root for jvq and flash that as PDA without repartition. After the phone boots downlaod darkyrom from the market and from it flash darky 10.2.
Personally the kernal that comes with darkys takes too long to load the phone so I use galaxian instead. Phone flies and it's the first custom jvq rom I've used which doesn't reboot itself.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your response! Greatly appreciated. But at the time, I'm just looking to get my phone to work. It still doesn't work, it's still only stuck flashing the bootscreen, nothing else.
From my other post:
Okay, basically at this point, I just want my phone to work I've tried what you said. I remember that before rooting my phone initially I was running Froyo 2.2.1. So I found the ROM for that ( http://www.samfirmware.com/WEBPROTECT-i9000.htm ) Just like you said. I downloaded from the *Provider Samsung Galaxy S i9000 heading and picked the I9000BOJS5 ## from February 2011 because I think somewhere around there I updated my phone to Froyo. Flashed it, did everything, still no luck.
I've had a recent hunch though. When the bootscreen boots up, it keeps saying i9000 only, when before it used to say i9000M at least for a little bit (yes my phone is i9000m). Is there a stock froyo rom that's specifically designed to go with the i9000m model? Or are they just all the same?
Never give up
-Thank you so much

Yes jl2 or kc1 roms are I9000M specific. But both need dbdata.rfs added to the roms from samfirmware.com if you repartition.
There was a post on the cm7 forums with a complete jl2 rom someone compiled with dbdata.rfs added. Look for that post as it might have some other info too.
The i9000 you see means the kernel is for i9000. But that shouldn't matter.
It's worth a try but I think that a trip to samsung is on your phones future.
Sent from my GT-I9000M using XDA Premium App

Could be that you have a lagfix enabled and the stock ROM can't read the EXT4 file system. If so, try flashing another custom ROM via Odin (e.g. GingerReal), disable the lagfix to go back to RFS, then from there you can go back to the stock ROM.

gfacer said:
Yes jl2 or kc1 roms are I9000M specific. But both need dbdata.rfs added to the roms from samfirmware.com if you repartition.
There was a post on the cm7 forums with a complete jl2 rom someone compiled with dbdata.rfs added. Look for that post as it might have some other info too.
The i9000 you see means the kernel is for i9000. But that shouldn't matter.
It's worth a try but I think that a trip to samsung is on your phones future.
Sent from my GT-I9000M using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well CM7 forum is down but here is the most of the link, you can google this and look at the cached pages. cyanogenmod topic/15707-how-to-restore-to-stock-on-your-gt-i9000m/
You should be able to click to the multi upload link too.
Now - you are aware of course that our i9000m models can suck and die fairly readily, especially when flashing certain roms. Has yours even been returned yet? Mine has and they replaced the motherboard. You may actually have a warrenty job and in any regard they won't likely fight too hard (just flash it to one of the jl2 or kc1 rom first).
If you want to find out for sure. look for the i9000m threads where they install eclair and use the external sd to boot and then look at the memory (internal then shows as external I think - its in the thread). Basically if it shows 0 available you're hooped.

gfacer said:
Yes jl2 or kc1 roms are I9000M specific. But both need dbdata.rfs added to the roms from samfirmware.com if you repartition.
There was a post on the cm7 forums with a complete jl2 rom someone compiled with dbdata.rfs added. Look for that post as it might have some other info too.
The i9000 you see means the kernel is for i9000. But that shouldn't matter.
It's worth a try but I think that a trip to samsung is on your phones future.
Sent from my GT-I9000M using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm downloading the ROM from this link, could you verify it?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=883568

It may not have dbdata.rfs in it which you need if you repartition. I think they leave it out so regular users do not have to reinstall all their Apps.... Just look at what's in the file...
Sent from my GT-I9000M using XDA Premium App

gfacer said:
It may not have dbdata.rfs in it which you need if you repartition. I think they leave it out so regular users do not have to reinstall all their Apps.... Just look at what's in the file...
Sent from my GT-I9000M using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there is a I9000UGJL2_homebinary_add_param.tar
and a SS_DL.dll
so All i would have to do is just put that .tar file in PDA field and get a regular .pit file and check off the re-partitions

gfacer said:
It may not have dbdata.rfs in it which you need if you repartition. I think they leave it out so regular users do not have to reinstall all their Apps.... Just look at what's in the file...
Sent from my GT-I9000M using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, I have great news!!!!!!!!
I flashed that previous stock froyo ROM and finally can use my phone once more!!!
THANK YOU VERY MUCH!! Special thanks goes to gfacer! I could never have done it without you!
needless to say, I still require a custom ROM such as Darky's 10.2 RE on this phone of mine.
As a final request, would you be so kind to list all the things necessary for me to do in order to get all the way to darky's 10.2 with the lagfix and all?
Or if not, at least a thread or website that says exactly how to do it on my phone (i9000m) ?
Thanks ever so much!!!

Great!
My advice would be to pretend it never happened, but read all the instructions for the rom you are interested in and start from scratch.
Generally I would go custom froyo kernel from odin which will root you and give cwm generally, update bootloader to gb via a stock rom or ezbase, then flash 10.2 via cwm.
Darky has excellent guides also look at ezbase thread.
Sent from my GT-I9000M using XDA Premium App

roma17 said:
Okay, I have great news!!!!!!!!
I flashed that previous stock froyo ROM and finally can use my phone once more!!!
THANK YOU VERY MUCH!! Special thanks goes to gfacer! I could never have done it without you!
needless to say, I still require a custom ROM such as Darky's 10.2 RE on this phone of mine.
As a final request, would you be so kind to list all the things necessary for me to do in order to get all the way to darky's 10.2 with the lagfix and all?
Or if not, at least a thread or website that says exactly how to do it on my phone (i9000m) ?
Thanks ever so much!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To load Darky 10.2 successfully on your phone, you have to flash JVP or JVQ bootloader over your phone. The best solution is flash Stock Rom with bootloader over your phone. Then, flash Darky rom over your phone.

How to extract firmware from phone?

Hi guys,
Ok, here is the deal, a few months ago I bought a SGS GT-I9000T and via Kies updated it to Froyo, all was great, then updated to Gingerbread (not rooted or anything fancy), and everything went down the hill from there, force close,,random shutdown, drained battery ,.....
anyway, I replaced the phone and the new I got, was already on froyo, so I kept it like that. The phone has been working great, even the gps works well (was not working on the first on too well). It has been 4 months. The problem is,now I am starting to see apps that require gingerbread so I am tempted to do the update, but only if I can revert if things go south.
And to revert I will need to flash the original firmware. I looked on samfirmware and it is not there, so I was thinking the best way might just be to get it from the phone directly.
So how can I get the firmware directly from my phone so that I can flash the file back to Froyo if I get the same problem with Gingerbread.
Anyway, my Froyo version is :
FROYO.UBJP9
Firmeware 2.2.1
Kernel: 2.6.32.9 [email protected]#1
Any help would be nice.

Yeah IDK why that particular FW isn't on samfirmware either since many keep looking for it.
You could always do a Nandroid Backup. That makes a complete image of your phone that you can go back to.
I don't have a link handy, but there are a bunch of Nandroid tutorials out there to Google...
Sent from my MB860 using xda premium

Thanks a lot. But I am not rooted. I would not mind rooting, but I have the same problem, a lot of the guide that I found ask for specific files for a specific firmware and unfortunately I cannot find mine.
Is there any way to back up without root?

[Q] Rooting a U8800 that's currently on 2.2...

Good evening all,
Basically I'm looking to root my girlfriends fathers U8800, it's currently running android 2.2. He's complained that its got major battery drain so I figure I can find a ROM here that can help that.
I've read there are 3 different types of models for this handset. How do I know which one we've got? If that's relevant?
I've found this thread that seems dead easy to follow, http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1420728 , am I ok to proceed?
When I've rooted it, do I just flash a rom via CWM like I would with my galaxy s? And will I be caught out with bootloader issues or little things like that?
Thanks in advance.

If the device is the U8800 regular model(not pro or plus) you can follow the guides of the link.
And yes, you can flash a rom from cwm recovery.
Only one suggestion. If you flash the latest stock gingerbread rom(I think is the 522), search for a thread called "get your pink screen back" on developing section. The after 518 versions have the bootloader locked, and on the above thread you will find how to flash the unlocked bootloader from 518 stock rom.

Thanks for that, I'll get on it tomorrow with an operational head. I'll do the pre root checks and make sure I have everything I need in place before I get going.

dancer_69 said:
If you flash the latest stock gingerbread rom(I think is the 522)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's 528
dancer_69 said:
The after 518 versions have the bootloader locked, and on the above thread you will find how to flash the unlocked bootloader from 518 stock rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*locked pink screen.
Sent from my GT-P1000 using Tapatalk 2

If the device is not yours I suggest you to do nothing. There's no better Rom, in terms of bug free than the original one.
Custom roms always have this or that and will require attention, which I'm sure your fatherin law can live better without these issues and concerns.
This devices have an high consumption and he has to get used to it.
Now if the device was yours meaning you would be using it daily, than i would advise you to install aurora. I don't like it but have to admit that is very good and stable.
:thumbup:
Sent from Odin's device!

Dave759 said:
He's complained that its got major battery drain so I figure I can find a ROM here that can help that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you look to see what is causing the battery drain? I have a friend with a stock GT540 that had serious battery drain. Turns out it was the GoSMS program. Deleted the app and now his phone lasts 5 days between charges. Switching a rom won't help if the problem is an app.
1) Get cpu spy and see if it is going to deep sleep
2) If not sleeping, turn off running applications one by one and test via cpu spy to find out which one is causing it not to sleep.
3) Either remove the offending app or use Autorun Manager to modify the receivers (if rooted)
You can fix his problem without changing his rom. If he wants root, superoneclick can root 2.2, I just used it the other day. Also make sure he is on the latest 2.2: b138sp04 or b163. I prefer b163, even though it is the China rom, because I like the Huawei launcher better that stock.

A.C.A.B. said:
If the device is not yours I suggest you to do nothing. There's no better Rom, in terms of bug free than the original one.
Custom roms always have this or that and will require attention, which I'm sure your fatherin law can live better without these issues and concerns.
This devices have an high consumption and he has to get used to it.
Now if the device was yours meaning you would be using it daily, than i would advise you to install aurora. I don't like it but have to admit that is very good and stable.
:thumbup:
Sent from Odin's device!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's not true... official 2.2 is the slowest thing in existence. If he just needs stability then Ezets CM7 is the answer. There are no bugs with it (except wifi tethering) and it's much much faster than stock...
Also he can undervoltage it to preserve battery life more than stock ROM.
Sent from my U8800

You want the best 2.2 you try Void Eridanus. Everything works.
Want the speed, OEX rom it's a Ferrari. Everything works less the mms with data off.
You can also keep the stock Rom, root it and just apply a ffranco kernel. This way you gain the speed.
3 good solutions here.
I'm don't revert to stock Rom for 2 reasons, cam quality and battery life, otherwise i would use stock Rom without a shadow of a doubt.
In terms of stability and all working it's stock 2.2 Rom and this is unquestionable!!!
I have been trying ALL roms and ALL respective versions since July 2011 therefore I do speak by personal extended experience
I repeat once again, in the conditions you mention leave the phone as it is. If you want to do something just root it and that's it.

as a matter of facts i had my phone with so many rooms that i can even say how many but if u want stability i recomend oxygen... if u want stability and good looks use miui 32...
last .32 miui that i used was from miui portugal in english and nothing to say about that...
battery for 2 days and all smoth...
but my phone is weird... he can take almost every rom and be usable...

The issue with miui pt versions it's the cam quality that is horrible. It's just this detail that it's not very good. The rest it's perfect.
Sent from Odin's device!

Hey everyone, back for an update and some other steps. basically, he got frustrated with how the battery so he went out today and bought the newer huawei. Reading eveyones comments here i think its due to the ammount of apps and being on froyo hasn't helped any thing, but anyways its now my new toy to play with. So far, followed the link i posted in the first thread, rooted and installed the latest CWM (v5). I'm now a little confused when it comes to the get the pink screen back, should i follow this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1457490 now before flashing a new rom or afterwards?
Again thanks for all the help, I'm almost done bothering you all for now
Edit: Reading on some ROM's and the comments above, i should install B518 stock ROM then flash the bootloader fix from the thread posted above then i can install other ROM's? If so where can i get the stock B518 ROM and how do i know which version I'm using? Sorry and thanks again.

First, which rom you have now?
You can find the version from settings -> about phone.
If you have a newer than 518 version you need to change the bootloader with the one from 518. If you have 518 you don't.
Also check which version of kernel you have(is on about phone also)
If you have a 2.6.32 version(which mean that you have froyo rom), you can flash only roms with this kernel version. If you have a 2.6.35 version, you can flash roms with 2.6.35 kernel or 3.0.8(as aurora ICS).

Basically its a stock froyo rom, im looking to get to gingerbread by the end of tonight but currently im stuck on the huawei splash screen after i did a data reset in CWM. Can still get to CWM though.

What rom you want to flash now?
A custom gingerbread based of froyo's kernel 2.6.32 like CM7.2, oxygen or miui, or the official gingerbread?

Im not particularly bothered, something that won't brick the phone and is stable. I'm more worried as to why it wont boot now after a data reset.. any suggestions for that?

You can use adb and logcat function to see where the problem is. Usually when some errors prevent device to complete the boot proccess, this piece of code loops. You need to have some knowledge of programming though, but maybe is something easy.

and now i have blue screen.. what can i do? or have i bricked it?

Where you have blue screen and what you did?
Usually blue screen instead of recovery mode, means that the recovery.img is deleted from .cust_backup/Image folder

basically, i formatted something, reboot and soon as the huawei logo appear a blue scrren rolls down. when i plug the phone into the pc it detects a folder but its empty, the phone is detected as qualcomm now..

Yes, seems that you formated the partition which has the Image folder with all system images. So, now you need to flash an official rom. You can either flash a froyo or a gingerbread rom. You can avoid this only if you previous had take a backup of this folder. In this case just put all files in (empty now) image folder.