Hi @All,
maybe, there is a Thread bout this HOWTO, but I found nothing to use...
There are now different unofficial Firmwares, I flashed JM6-JMI, I cant remember, which CSC, PDA or PHone is really good, some FW dont have all these three things, so I want to extract this Files to have the ability testing JM6 up to the newest JMI....
My really problem is, how to extract these files and got it accurate!
jammysunny
It seems, there are no person to tell me how.....
This has already been answered.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=879569
This will help. Galaxy S forum also has extra quality knowledge.
(Extract JMA.tar (for example) using 7zip to a directory. Then use MagicISO to open the cache.rfs to find a folder called "Recovery" Inside are two files. One says "command" and one says "sec_csc.zip")
jammysunny said:
Hi @All,
maybe, there is a Thread bout this HOWTO, but I found nothing to use...
There are now different unofficial Firmwares, I flashed JM6-JMI, I cant remember, which CSC, PDA or PHone is really good, some FW dont have all these three things, so I want to extract this Files to have the ability testing JM6 up to the newest JMI....
My really problem is, how to extract these files and got it accurate!
jammysunny
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if i get you right then roto backup is what you need.
Can someone skilled please explain in detail how to create a non-wipe version of a given stock rom?
I know that the data.img has to be removed from the according .tar.md5 file (see picture), in order to do that you have to open the file with a zip program (remove the .md5 or open it with "open with").
The problem is, after removing the data.img the .tar.md5 file want flash proper with odin. I guess this is due to a wrong md5 sum which was not changed during this process, and therefore is no longer valid!
I remember that I read once that you have to use a specific packer for that (winrar for example is not able to do this), but I cant find this source again!
Can someone please illuminate us in regard to that?
Thank you very much in advance!
ps.:
I posted this in development section because I think this is more development related as Q/A! If this violates the forum rules any mod should feel free to move this thread into Q/A...
You don't have to keep the .md5 extension to flash via odin, and thus skip the md5 checksum check.
But I don't know if it will flash properly after you removed the data.img
I have never tried that. Maybe you still have to modify a script or something...
I thought of using Mobile Odin and not selecting the Code.tar.md5 through the open file dialog, but rather selecting every part to flash individually and NOT selecting anything for data.
Too scared to try...
thanks latoc!
can someone with experience confirm that is it enough to remove the data file from the tar, repack it and don't add .md5?
I tried the mobile odin method and it wiped my phone even though nothing was selected in the data part.
There must be a script somewhere that tells the phone to wipe...
I made a backup before so no problem for me
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA App
Use peazip, it can create working tar images that can be flashed. Winrar corrupts tar. Some say 7z also does a good job. I haven't tried it as I was happy with peazip. You can even use gzip. Hope it helps.
You can even extract all the contents, remove add files, then use paezip or gzip to make a tar. Works perfectly. MD5 is not a necessity. If you want, you can create a MD5 hash for the new tar that you have created. Google it. Its easy.
ragin said:
Use peazip, it can create working tar images that can be flashed. Winrar corrupts tar. Some say 7z also does a good job. I haven't tried it as I was happy with peazip. You can even use gzip. Hope it helps.
You can even extract all the contents, remove add files, then use paezip or gzip to make a tar. Works perfectly. MD5 is not a necessity. If you want, you can create a MD5 hash for the new tar that you have created. Google it. Its easy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the answer!
peazip uses 7zip via console, so its the same!
anyway, the tar from peazip wont flash! odin (1.83 and 1.85) stops with an error (could not write) with the boot.bin (from my modified tar), after that the phone wont boot and give the message: firmware update failed, use kies recovery mode blabla
only way to get it back to life without kies is to flash a proper boot.bin (sbl.tar), which is the software boot loader.
did you experience anything like that before?
No one with an idea?
There must be enough people with this knowledge around here...
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium
I didn't try it myself but someone else post this link to this thread in the SGSII forums about what you're asking about, I want to try when I get home and get the latest LA3 firmware but here it is:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1132724
matius44 said:
I didn't try it myself but someone else post this link to this thread in the SGSII forums about what you're asking about, I want to try when I get home and get the latest LA3 firmware but here it is:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1132724
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And this supercomplicated procedure achieves what exactly?
A non-wiping rom update?
I think he just wanted to delete the data image, repack and flash with odin.
Just needed the correct packer. Right?
legion1911 said:
And this supercomplicated procedure achieves what exactly?
A non-wiping rom update?
I think he just wanted to delete the data image, repack and flash with odin.
Just needed the correct packer. Right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
right, it should be enough to delete the data.img!
it looks like the problem is the packer, although i'm in contact with intratech (who is a xda-mod who did this a few times @sgs2 forums, besides he's really great in what he is doing!) and he meant that there could also be a wipe instruction inside the cache.img!
when i know more i will post it here!
TML1504 said:
right, it should be enough to delete the data.img!
it looks like the problem is the packer, although i'm in contact with intratech (who is a xda-mod who did this a few times @sgs2 forums, besides he's really great in what he is doing!) and he meant that there could also be a wipe instruction inside the cache.img!
when i know more i will post it here!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great! Will be waiting for you're simpler procedure as I found that way hard myself!
Sent from my GT-N7000
TML1504 said:
thanks for the answer!
peazip uses 7zip via console, so its the same!
anyway, the tar from peazip wont flash! odin (1.83 and 1.85) stops with an error (could not write) with the boot.bin (from my modified tar), after that the phone wont boot and give the message: firmware update failed, use kies recovery mode blabla
only way to get it back to life without kies is to flash a proper boot.bin (sbl.tar), which is the software boot loader.
did you experience anything like that before?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you can safely remove boot.bin from the tar file. You should verify this before trying.
PS : If the bootloaders havent changed, why do you want to flash them? They are already there.
That packer could be used to easily install anything.
So if you find that packer, please let us know.
ragin said:
I think you can safely remove boot.bin from the tar file. You should verify this before trying.
PS : If the bootloaders havent changed, why do you want to flash them? They are already there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it would be ok to remove the boot.bin as well, but then the flash would fail on the next (first) file odin tries to flash!
in case of not deleting boot.bin, this would be the first and therefore damage the boot partition, a reboot is not possible. that's the reason i hat to reflash sbl.bin!
the reason for this is again the packer, if the .tar would be ok, so would be the flash procedure!
intratech suggests to use linux and the following command to create a odin flashable tar:
Code:
tar -c boot.bin cache.img factoryfs.img hidden.img modem.bin param.lfs Sbl.bin zImage >> [Name of the desired file].tar
i will look far a tar executable for win32 and report!
done!!!
found a working packer: tar for win32
this was a little bit tricky, because the download from http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/gtar.htm did not work, i always get the error message "The procedure entry point libiconv_close could not ..."
searching in google about that i discovered the following:
in the download from sourceforge is an old dll, the "libiconv-2.dll" which causes this error! you have to download a newer version from diffutils 2.8.7-1, which can be found here!
then, simple rename the inside libiconv2.dll to libiconv-2.dll and overwrite the one in the \bin dir from the C:\Program Files\GnuWin32\bin!
then add "C:\Program Files\GnuWin32\bin" to the path variables of your system, then you can use the tar command from the whole shell!
lol, until now this was all to get the tar program running! all people running linux won't need this steps, as tar should be fully functional for them!
then simple extract the rom files with whatever packer you like, you should see a file named "CODE_N7000XXLA3_CL880036_REV02_user_low_ship.tar.md5" or whatever your original rom is. remove the .md5 and extract again, then you should end up with some more files:
boot.bin
cache.img
data.img
factoryfs.img
hidden.img
param.lfs
sbl.bin
zimage
now, tar the files you want to flash into one file with the shell command from intratech, for example:
tar -c boot.bin factoryfs.img hidden.img param.lfs sbl.bin >> filename.tar
you can also add whatever kernel you wish, add a zimage then!
DO NOT ADD CACHE.IMG, AS IT CONTAINS THE WIPE COMMAND!!!
now flash this file (and perhaps the proper modem.tar.md5) with odin as PDA (modem as phone) and you are done!
upgraded with this method from KL7 to LA3 without wipe and without any problems. once you have tar for win32 up and running it's really simple!
big thanks to intratech for aiding me about the cache.img and the tar syntax!!
ps.: i don't care about the yellow triangle nor the flash counter, as it is very easy to reset: use the sbl.bin from the sgs2, flash it, remove battery, use usb-jig, remove battery, flash sbl.bin from note, remove battery, done! no triangle, counter at 0
TML1504 said:
done!!!
found a working packer: tar for win32
this was a little bit tricky, because the download from http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/gtar.htm did not work, i always get the error message "The procedure entry point libiconv_close could not ..."
searching in google about that i discovered the following:
in the download from sourceforge is an old dll, the "libiconv-2.dll" which causes this error! you have to download a newer version from diffutils 2.8.7-1, which can be found here!
then, simple rename the inside libiconv2.dll to libiconv-2.dll and overwrite the one in the \bin dir from the C:\Program Files\GnuWin32\bin!
then add "C:\Program Files\GnuWin32\bin" to the path variables of your system, then you can use the tar command from the whole shell!
lol, until now this was all to get the tar program running! all people running linux won't need this steps, as tar should be fully functional for them!
then simple extract the rom files with whatever packer you like, you should see a file named "CODE_N7000XXLA3_CL880036_REV02_user_low_ship.tar.md5" or whatever your original rom is. remove the .md5 and extract again, then you should end up with some more files:
boot.bin
cache.img
data.img
factoryfs.img
hidden.img
param.lfs
sbl.bin
zimage
now, tar the files you want to flash into one file with the shell command from intratech, for example:
tar -c boot.bin factoryfs.img hidden.img param.lfs sbl.bin >> filename.tar
you can also add whatever kernel you wish, add a zimage then!
DO NOT ADD CACHE.IMG, AS IT CONTAINS THE WIPE COMMAND!!!
now flash this file (and perhaps the proper modem.tar.md5) with odin as PDA (modem as phone) and you are done!
upgraded with this method from KL7 to LA3 without wipe and without any problems. once you have tar for win32 up and running it's really simple!
big thanks to intratech for aiding me about the cache.img and the tar syntax!!
ps.: i don't care about the yellow triangle nor the flash counter, as it is very easy to reset: use the sbl.bin from the sgs2, flash it, remove battery, use usb-jig, remove battery, flash sbl.bin from note, remove battery, done! no triangle, counter at 0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bravo, Wiener, Bravo!
Btw I found another way and just did it.
I used dsixda kitchen to deodex, root, zipalign and make a non-wipe version and it was easy!
Thought I might share it with you guys
Sent from my GT-N7000
thx for the info, but i personally dislike most deodexed roms!
besides it could cause unknown troubles (remember tha smali baksmali issue) it generally runs less smooth! the reason? simply speaking odexed is optimized (the o in odex), deodex trades this optimizations for the advantage of being simpler to skin, modify etc.
this means deodexed may be acceptable for people who want to skin and modify a lot, therefore almost all custom roms are deodexed. it makes it simpler for the cook!
you as an enduser would almost always prefer odexed roms. also lots of quality mods are available for odexed too...
just my opinion, and i used to use custom roms a lot!
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium
Ok I just upgraded from KKA to LA3 without wiping using nothing but the stock files and mobile odin:
Launch mobile odin, and fill each line one by one, selecting the correct firmware file, except data and cache.
Select ever root if you didn't select a rooted kernel, and flash that baby! !!
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA App
Latoc said:
Ok I just upgraded from KKA to LA3 without wiping using nothing but the stock files and mobile odin:
Launch mobile odin, and fill each line one by one, selecting the correct firmware file, except data and cache.
Select ever root if you didn't select a rooted kernel, and flash that baby! !!
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
also thx, for me this didn't work from KL7 to LA1, got bootloops! but generally fine if this was only my fault, and the odin method works fine!
Sorry if this is a re-post, but I'm trying to get this at all angles. This is a T-Mobile S4.
Here's exactly what I've done so far, and I've re-downloaded everything so I have fresh files and filenames/extensions just to clear any mucking up I did:
I downloaded this file from this thread as I understand this is the stock firmware necessary to use here.
I unzipped the file, and used 7-zip to extract the tar.md5 which also extracted a .dll.
The tar.md5 file is named: M919UVUAMDL_M919TMBAMDL_M919UVUAMDL_HOME_.tar.md5
I have installed Heimdall version 1.3.1 as the download site claims that version 1.3.2 broke compatability with many devices.
I downloaded the two .jar files which make up the Heimdall one-click.
If all of this is correct so far, I'm understanding that I need to now feed a tar.gz file to heimdall one-click, however, I don't have any files that end in .gz. Just the tar.md5, which the one-click does not accept.
The button on the one-click literally says, "Select a Heimdall tar.gz for one-click" - So I'm lost there. I've even tried renaming the tar.md5 to tar.gz.
I'm reading that the front-end GUI is what would be used to create a tar.gz, but it seems to require downloading the PIT file from your phone, and this is failing now, possible due to me having installed Kies and now having different kernel extensions that apparently need to be unloaded (no idea how to do that lol).
This is so complicated! Makes me want to go buy a cheap netbook lol
I havent looked at this much further, but I think you ought to try Heimdal 1.4. Please report back, I am a linux user as well.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda app-developers app
Got this working. See
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2317311
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda app-developers app
Pit file for i9505XXUHOJ2
I have a hand-me-down 16gb LTE GT-i9505 from my son in London. (I'm in Australia). After a system crash during an OTA update I was unable to flash with Kies or Odin; tried different computers and OS's so then tried with heimdall using a downloaded pit file (I stupidly didn't save the original pit file beforeflashing) and the stock rom (i9505XXUHOJ2) from Sammobile. I don't know whether the pit file was suitable for my 16gb S4 or not, but heimdall still wouldn't flash the unzipped rom until I created a heimdall package with it. Even then, heimdall reported a failure to flash after successfully flashing eg one partition, so I just kept stopping and reconnecting to heimdall (Linux Mint 64 bit) until all partitions one at a time until all seemed to flash. Very messy process! (On my part not really understanding what I was doing)
Now my phone is crashing and rebooting constantly after working ok for a couple of weeks. This was the same issue that led me to update in the first place. I replaced with new battery. No change. Reinstalled stock again today without error using heimdall,but I'm still getting the random crashes. So I thought trying to reinstall again with a correct pit file this time might help. I'm thinking hardware problems after that as it also crashes in recovery and reboots.
Can someone direct me to a correct pit file ? - I have no idea which ones are compatible with my device and the stock rom I'm trying to get working again. This is my primary phone.
My hardware details are:
Device type: jflte
Name: jfltexx
Qcom/MSM8960 (32BIT)
msm8960/apq8064
GPU adreno 320
Modem: mdm9215m
Hardware revision MP 0.900
Bootloader i9505XXUHOJ2
PDA i9505XXUHOJ2
Baseband: i9505XXUHOJ2
CSC: BTU
Hi,
You could utilize search function around Galaxy S4 forum to get the proper pit for your phone.
Sent from my GT-I9500
krasCGQ said:
Hi,
You could utilize search function around Galaxy S4 forum to get the proper pit for your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have been searching all day through xda and found nothing that seems to help. Googled for days without result either. There are pit files out there. But none seem to match my device/stock rom combination. And I've read (newbie on these matters) that it does matter which pit file is used, and could be the cause of my constant crashing problems if partitioning is not quite right.
If you could narrow my search options I'd be happy to keep searching but not for lack of trying on my part so far.
gc2712 said:
I have been searching all day through xda and found nothing that seems to help. Googled for days without result either. There are pit files out there. But none seem to match my device/stock rom combination.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think there are no specialized type for your phone (unlike my GT-I9500). Any pit files for regular GT-I9505 should be okay.
If you still 100% unsure, download BTU stock firmware via SamFirm with "Nature..." checked. It has pit file bundled with it and has 4 files when extracted (Pit is inside CSC's tar.md5).
Sent from my GT-I9500
krasCGQ said:
I think there are no specialized type for your phone (unlike my GT-I9500). Any pit files for regular GT-I9505 should be okay.
If you still 100% unsure, download BTU stock firmware via SamFirm with "Nature..." checked. It has pit file bundled with it and has 4 files when extracted (Pit is inside CSC's tar.md5).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the follow up. Much appreciated. I hadn't heard of Samfirm before but have downloaded it and will get the stock ROM today using it. I was under the impression that the pit file did matter depending on the capacity of the phone. (16gb,32gb,64gb). Unfortunately, my son can't remember which he purchased - he bought it online unlocked and the original invoice gives no indication, and I'm not sure whether PhoneInfo just looks at partition sizes or whether it actually interrogates the hardware to assess internal flash memory size (It says I have 16Gb).
If the pit file version really doesn't matter then I'll just use the one in the downloaded stock ROM, but I was hoping to verify this first.
Edit: It seems there is no CSC tar.md5 in the extracted download. Only the flashable partitions etc. I have attached an image of 7zip extraction. Any other thoughts/ideas?
google this; all-pit-files-for-samsung-softbrick_28
you´ll see a site with all sam pit files; you could also check for a software named magic pit, here in the forum, it allows you to check and alter the pit files easily.
Ghangrel said:
google this; all-pit-files-for-samsung-softbrick_28
you´ll see a site with all sam pit files; you could also check for a software named magic pit, here in the forum, it allows you to check and alter the pit files easily.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many thanks for the search tip. I'll have a look at magic pit too, but with a little more observant attention I also noticed the CSC*.tar.md5 file and it did indeed contain a single file called JFLTE_EUR_OPEN.pit. So I am beginning to assume there is only one pit file for different i9505 international (and unlocked) variants? I have found several pit files now and had a look at them with pit magic (EMS Professional now) and they all seem the same as the one I installed on my phone and the one I downloaded with SamFirm.
What I would like to be able to calculate is the size of the partitions, but not sure how block size and block number fit together to calculate that number. Any advice?
gc2712 said:
Thanks for the follow up. Much appreciated. I hadn't heard of Samfirm before but have downloaded it and will get the stock ROM today using it. I was under the impression that the pit file did matter depending on the capacity of the phone. (16gb,32gb,64gb). Unfortunately, my son can't remember which he purchased - he bought it online unlocked and the original invoice gives no indication, and I'm not sure whether PhoneInfo just looks at partition sizes or whether it actually interrogates the hardware to assess internal flash memory size (It says I have 16Gb).
If the pit file version really doesn't matter then I'll just use the one in the downloaded stock ROM, but I was hoping to verify this first.
Edit: It seems there is no CSC tar.md5 in the extracted download. Only the flashable partitions etc. I have attached an image of 7zip extraction. Any other thoughts/ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
gc2712 said:
Many thanks for the search tip. I'll have a look at magic pit too, but with a little more observant attention I also noticed the CSC*.tar.md5 file and it did indeed contain a single file called JFLTE_EUR_OPEN.pit. So I am beginning to assume there is only one pit file for different i9505 international (and unlocked) variants? I have found several pit files now and had a look at them with pit magic (EMS Professional now) and they all seem the same as the one I installed on my phone and the one I downloaded with SamFirm.
What I would like to be able to calculate is the size of the partitions, but not sure how block size and block number fit together to calculate that number. Any advice?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that's it. Flash all files (AP, BL, CP, and CSC) on the corresponding section in ODIN. You don't need to provide additional pit because your phone will be partitioned using pit file inside CSC tar.md5 (re-partition should be checked). It'll do the magic.
Sent from my GT-I9500
krasCGQ said:
Yes, that's it. Flash all files (AP, BL, CP, and CSC) on the corresponding section in ODIN. You don't need to provide additional pit because your phone will be partitioned using pit file inside CSC tar.md5 (re-partition should be checked). It'll do the magic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm caught up with things for a few days now, but will give it a go. Many thanks.
gc2712 said:
What I would like to be able to calculate is the size of the partitions, but not sure how block size and block number fit together to calculate that number. Any advice?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you can use the pitmagic to do this, it shows the starting block [block count] and the block size of each partition... one of the pits I´ve got was wrong, I could check it at sva partition table.
about what you want to know, I do believe the userdata is left alone only marking the starting block but the size is just identified by the program and not limited by the pit for start.
I'm still trying to figure out if my phone is 16gb or 32gb storage. If I use phoneinfo-Samsung it reports 16gb. If I input the device imei into imei.info.com I get 32gb listed for my device. All the other info for my s4 on that site is correct. Which source is likely to be correct? I am a little bit suspicious that phoneinfo-samsung might only look at formatted partitions to calculate storage rather than reporting on the hardware flash memory chip. I am wondering whether my constant system crashes may be because of incorrectly formatted partitions. Any advice?
gc2712 said:
I'm still trying to figure out if my phone is 16gb or 32gb storage. If I use phoneinfo-Samsung it reports 16gb. If I input the device imei into imei.info.com I get 32gb listed for my device. All the other info for my s4 on that site is correct. Which source is likely to be correct? I am a little bit suspicious that phoneinfo-samsung might only look at formatted partitions to calculate storage rather than reporting on the hardware flash memory chip. I am wondering whether my constant system crashes may be because of incorrectly formatted partitions. Any advice?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
use twrp recovery to wipe>advanced wipe : then u can check the size of the data / internal storage ; don´t forget to check if it´s checked in mount option
Ghangrel said:
use twrp recovery to wipe>advanced wipe : then u can check the size of the data / internal storage ; don´t forget to check if it´s checked in mount option
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haven't had the courage to install TWRP yet. ?
gc2712 said:
Haven't had the courage to install TWRP yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it´s a simple task. to be sure, extract the recovery file from your stock rom or from sammobile´s, then you can flash it again.