Excuse the long thread title lol..
I've been gently lowering myself into all this tampering with my phone as I've always been a bit of a tinkerer with everything i've ever owned.
So back in march my phone, an unbranded handset on o2 uk was on 2.2.1. My first foray into modifying my handset was to flash the jvk gb firmware. I then rooted it using cf root. All very simple. I then flashed it using cwm with Simply honey 3.2 and then the latest 3.5. No issue.
So this afternoon, I flashed it with the "unspoken ones" kernel just cos I could lol. Something didnt seem right though. There was a bit of lag and I got one or two forced closures so I decided to restore one of the cwm backups I had. Thing is, it hung upon reboot at the i9000 screen, for about 10 minutes so I pulled the battery. Now I couldnt get it restarted. Panic set in. This was my first proper issue and I just wished I was back in march on 2.2.1 again.
As said, couldnt get it started so went hunting some advice. Install a base stock rom with 3 files and a 512 pit. I struggled. Could I find 3 files ? Nope. Not on samfirmware. Every file I downloaded was one file. JP1 JPU JPY. All 1 file. So. As JPY was the firmware I was on originally, I chose the 1 file version, put the phone in download mode and flashed it via odin. It worked !!! And then I plugged it into kies and up popped the box, I have an firmware update ! JPO GB! So i installed that. I'm quite surprised that I got the update because you always see lots of threads regarding people being unable to update by kies once they have modified their phones. Why did mine work? Because the handset in unbranded perhaps ?
Anyway, I wanted to get back to the Simply Honey rom because it ran really well and the battery life is fantastic but Simone hasnt done a version based on JVO yet as far as I could tell so I thought, I know, I'll root with cf root, again and try that backup again using cwm. And it worked, and here I am back where I was earlier today ! Ace ! lol
Sorry about the essay but I'm sure that there are some questions in there worth answering.. ?...and also to serve as a bit of help to those that find themselves in a dodgy situation. Just calm down, search for the advice, it is out there and do as it says and everything will be cool
Posted from my restored and working handset...
the files you download from samfirmware are rar files (have a .rar extention). This means you need to decompress them into a folder and the "three files" will be in there. You need a rar extractor app. You can use 7-zip which is free.
You need odin (or ezodin or heimdal) to flash the stock rom but I am sure you know that already. There are a few guides around for all tools.
There is a lot of information here, especially in the "sticky" posts. If you feel like learning what you are doing rather than copy instructions (as I think you do), it may be a good idea to go through them.
Anyway you got your phone working in the end so that's good!
simple solution when an install hangs is only to reflash the kernel in odin: that restarts the phone.
cwm is not invincible and the restored rom is there but the phone hangs on the boot because of the kernel hiccup. Reflashing the kernel to the one you now want will allow the phone to boot and access the rom that matches -- you do have to ensure the recovery version rom and the kernel you are flashing are in sync.
Persist. You only really panic the first time this happens -- after that you know it is a possibility and how to fix it.
Worst case scenario: pull the battery, reinsert, go to download mode and reflash the kernel and base rom of your choice. At least now you have a clean phone!
Two things are important to remember: (1) always do a backup before installing a new rom or kernel and (2) use titanium backup for all applications -- easy to restore everything.
Also I find it easier to use google calender and my internet email as bases for dates, appointments and contacts -- that way if I loose everything on the phone I can quickly reload my data by sync with online accounts once I have the phone "rebuilt".
Dear Forum,
Today I did the firmware update from 2.3.3 to 2.3.4. When that succeeded I decided it was time to install a custom ROM; CM7.
The rooting part actually succeeded. When I tried to install the ROM, I am guessing something failed.
Now the boot screen is stuck and it will only hang at the screen which has the yellow triangle and the text "Samsung Galaxy SII"
I tried going into CWM and restore my back up but it states that no files have been found. Does anyone know how I can sorta restore my phone? Which will make me get past the boot screen. I dont even want my old files and such, just want me phone working again
Kind Regards,
Me
1. This is a question, should be in Q&A
2. There's million on topics with the exact same thing, search a little before posting!
3. Flash CM7 again.. If that doesn't work, you can flash a new ROM with Odin..
I've grown tired of CLM chrashing all the time, and I want to go back to the latest possible european firmware. This, however, proved to be quite the challenge. This is our story so far:
1. Our hero starts up Odin and (appearently does not) revert his SGS to it's orignal state. Instead, he gets BSOD, but manages to boot the phone into download mode because he's a hacker.
2. Our hero randomly finds Darkys mod. He installs the mod, and everything actually works. Except that Darkys is way worse, and our hero longs for the days of speedmod kernel stock firmware.
3. Our hero reads somewhere that it's a good idea to factory reset his SGS, so now he cant boot into anything but boot into download and recovery. The phone is, however, very not bricked anymore.
4. This is were the hero asks the league of justica (or XDA) for help. He wants the following:
A link to the latest firmware for european Samsung Galaxy S, i9000, and some sort of guide to which files to use where in Odin (or heimdall). The problem is, all the guides I've tried so far linked to firmware that was inconsistent with what ODIN requested (it had no .pit file etc).
Can anyone of you champions of justice and peace help me with this?
Hey man.
Why haven't you looked a bit in the development section? There are plenty of stock firmwares over there
Here's the link with everything you need: click.
I suggest you flash JVT, it's the best stock ROM, as far as I know.
I hope I was able to help you. Bye
well im totallly new to this , so i will be as fast as possible with description of problem. i used odin 3.07 and another file not sure where i put it a md5 i thought anyway. i went thru process and it said PASS. was having boot loop i gather and i unplugged it. it didn't work for a while then it all of a sudden came back on. it says that my phone is now custom and cant update. other programs tell me no superuser or phone is un rooted.what step did i miss should i have wiped kalvik or im kinda lost now and there's not a lot of help on my specific phone. i want to get the 4.3 update but not sure how. i want to root i guess but so much info out there. i was told to flash with stock or root with this or that. any help would be great.the phone works great still. i also d/l a program root browser and through searching found out it says thatmy CSC version is I257MOYAAMK5. Doesnt sound right.in my (about device in settings it say I257MVLUAMK5. CONFUSSING
thanks steve
There's no 4.3 OTA update for S4 Mini that I'm aware of...
I also had trouble rooting the first time. Thing you have to be sure is you're following each and every step to the t. Now that you've "unsuccessfully" rooted, I'd suggest flashing the stock rom again and then try again following the root instructions like I said.
Ok guys, here's the deal. i bought a secondhand s4 which was advertised as a google edition. it has a couple of annoying issues, first i noticed it switching itself off and on. the worst problem with it is that when my battery goes reeeally dead it just bootloops when i have recharged. the only way i can get it back on is to start it in recovery mode (which is clockworkmod v6.0.4.4) then do a factory wipe. so yeah thats a major pain. the s4 itself is a red model and behind the battery it says its a gt-19505, however in the settings on the phone it says its a gt-19505g.
my goal is to install an official firmware if possible that i may be able to update easily, the worry that i have is that i dont know if it would then accept my network as although it appears to run google edition custom firmware it may not once i install something official on it. this may be a nooby statement i know but a noob i am lol.
if its at all possible could i keep the cwm recovery?
and if its any help when i load the other boot loader thingy (with the green android on it) in the top left it says gt-19505, im just sayin cus im sure its vital which ever this phone actually is.
here are as many details as i can give but please ask if im missing anything
ANDROID VERSION 4.4.2
KERNEL VERSION 3.4.0-faux123-KK44-GE-Custom
[email protected]omain #20
Sun Dec 1 02:30:28 CST 2013
BASEBAND VERSION 19505XXUFNA1
BUILD NUMBER KOT49H.S001.131204
also upon booting in the top left it says "kernel is not seandroid enforcing
set warranty bit:kernel"
THANKS FOR YOUR TIME And please tell me where to start as i tried updating it via kies to fix it but it just wont connect, i assume due to custom firmware.
The Google Play Edition S4 devices didn't come in any color but white. Therefore, this is an I9505 with a custom ROM on it. The download mode screen reading GT-I9505 confirmed it.
Since this is an I9505 and not an I9505G, the main question is whether this device will work with your SIM card. For that, simply insert your SIM card and boot the device. If you get signal, you're good. Otherwise you'll have to unlock the device, either by purchasing an unlock code from one of the sites that sells them, or by trying the unlock methods available on the forums.
This will also help answer the question of which stock ROM you can install on the device. If the S4 doesn't prompt you to unlock the device, then you can install one of the unbranded S4 ROMs available on sammobile.com. After that, you can put the recovery of your choice on the S4, though I recommend TWRP over the other options.
Thanks for your help. I'm a little confused though, at the moment with this custom google edition ROM it does take my sim, in fact I bet it takes any sim, I heard that was a feature of google play devices. What I meant was after I install the stock ROM will it then not take my sim. So if it has already been unlocked How would I know which ROM to install? As I now know its not a google edition, is it possible to install an official google edition ROM? Do i use this download mode, Odin, or cwm to install a firmware. I'm just not sure what my starting point is. I don't wanna follow someone's guide yet to installing something just in case I'm jumping the gun and need to uninstall this custom ROM somehow.
Sorry for asking questions that I'm sure seem dumb I'm really just trying to learn at the moment I'm green as they come with android. BTW thanks for your suggestions so far, you def seem like you know what you're talking about, cheers
Google Play devices are carrier unlocked, but this is not a Google Play Edition S4. Therefore the device was carrier unlocked at some point in its past. The unknown here is how the original owner unlocked the device. If he or she used the unlocking methods found on XDA there is a chance the lock will be lost when installing a stock ROM.
If the S4 is unlocked, you aren't restricted to a particular region and can install any I9505 ROM using Odin, though I recommend the carrier unbranded ROMs. You cannot install a stock Google Play Edition ROM on the device as the model number of a GPE device is not the same as the device you have. However, you're already rooted and have a custom recovery installed. In I9505 Development here on XDA there is a Google Play Edition ROM that can be installed on your device. Download it to your S4, wipe everything in recovery, then flash the ROM's flashable zip in recovery. I've used said ROM and it works quite well.
OK I have found the 5.0.1 ge ROM , but in there it says I must use latest recovery or whatever plus it recommended one different to mine, is it safe to install using my version of cwm or do I need to learn how to change it??
Deleted by user
TWRP is recommended as there are people who are still maintaining it, unlike Clockworkmod and Philz. While you probably can get the ROM installed using the version of Clockworkmod you have, learning how to change recoveries is useful.
OK thank you for all your help my friend, I will now find out how to do this, I'm sure there is a section on this somewhere, BTW I think you are right about my device being rooted, but I wanted to check and I followed a guide and used super su but apparently its not rooted so I guess something must've gone wrong. Bit scary if I try to change my recovery or my firmware and this causes a brick hmmmmm
It's virtually impossible to brick the S4, especially as the recovery is flashed through Odin.
Phew that's a relief. Thanks man.... Well I'm gonna just risk using cwm for now as I'm new to this........ Thanks a whole lot for your time I really mean that.
KlLLFRENZY said:
Phew that's a relief. Thanks man.... Well I'm gonna just risk using cwm for now as I'm new to this........ Thanks a whole lot for your time I really mean that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use TWRP. CMW is outdated.
Lennyz1988 said:
Use TWRP. CMW is outdated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I want to, I really do but I'm struggling here. Before I wrote that last comment I tried to find a guide on this forum for swapping to twrp, but couldn't and didn't wanna bug this guy as he had helped enough. Anyway I went to the place he told me and have hit another wall anyway because I don't know how to use the firmware the relevant kernel or the git. My life is so busy and I'm getting about an hour on this subject a day and its gonna take forever lol
If you can help me on my way even a little its much appreciated, I would like to use twrp and the 5.0.1 ge plus the right kernel of course
KlLLFRENZY said:
I want to, I really do but I'm struggling here. Before I wrote that last comment I tried to find a guide on this forum for swapping to twrp, but couldn't and didn't wanna bug this guy as he had helped enough. Anyway I went to the place he told me and have hit another wall anyway because I don't know how to use the firmware the relevant kernel or the git. My life is so busy and I'm getting about an hour on this subject a day and its gonna take forever lol
If you can help me on my way even a little its much appreciated, I would like to use twrp and the 5.0.1 ge plus the right kernel of course
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://twrp.me/devices/samsunggalaxys4internationalqualcomm.html
Follow the Odin guide. It's excactly the same when you flashed CWM.
@Lennyz1988: The S4 was bought secondhand and already had CWM on it from the original owner.
@killfrenzy: Follow the guide Lenny mentioned, but don't worry about the second paragraph. Our device isn't one of those that restores the original recovery on boot.
ok will do, i just tried the app install method but as i suspected, it said root is required for this app and promptly exited so i shall do the odin method, i heard that some people remove root or it could be that it was done wrong. also after reading a few posts here and there i found out that someone had similar issues with their phone random re-booting and they had custom ge with the wrong kernel so it seems once im done my issues should be history if i learn how to install fw + kernel, after this twrp thing i will be one step closer for sure. i also know ppl slate lollipop but once im all done with this im sure i will have picked up enough terminology to install cfw's to my hearts content. hooray for forums and people like you, sounds like im kissin ass but its just gratitude
so using the twrp install guide i gotta install using the odin method i have now got 3.07 odin but this is the next step.........
Odin Install Method (No Root Required):
You will need to download and install Odin on your PC. Once you have Odin installed, download the proper .tar file for your device from the download link above. Power off your device. Turn on your device using the proper key combo to get into download mode and attach the device to your computer via a USB cable. Use the PDA tab or button to browse to and select the tar file that you downloaded and flash the device.
lololol nothins ever simple i see the list of tar files in the link above but no mention at all as to which is the proper .tar for my device, i guess they assume the guide is for people who have done it before. more research tomorrow maybe i gotta be up early ugh
Lennyz1988 said:
https://twrp.me/devices/samsunggalaxys4internationalqualcomm.html
Follow the Odin guide. It's excactly the same when you flashed CWM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Think you misunderstood, I have flashed nothing yet I got it like this. I'm completely green
Don't suppose anybody knows which is the tar file for my device?? S4gt-19505
OK now I get it, the list of tars in that section are all the same just newer builds of the same version. Seems obvious if you have done this before, but I wasn't to know that and cannot assume things. I'm also gonna guess and say Lenny thinks my s4 needs this particular version for an international, am I right?? Anyway it would've made a lot of sense but how does he know. I have no idea what this phone was I have never owned it new.
Different devices have different codes. For example, jfltexx is the I9505. A T-Mobile S4 would be jfltetmo, and so on.The link Lenny provided is for the I9505. Download the 2.8.6.0 version as its the latest.
As to how you were supposed to know, having never owned one, you weren't. There are tutorials in the General forum though that can help.