Database Users

Rooting my phone - Every step of the way.

I bought my Samsung Nexus S from a Koodo booth here in Canada two days ago and have been enjoying it quite a lot since. I've also been reading up on the wealth of information pertaining to rooting it and trying to sort out so many different factors. I notice I'll have to use the search feature to find one little triviality that comes along and the fix it.
Then I decided to just make my own thread where I'll post every step of the ways I find and how I figure out how to solve my issues involved with rooting my phone.
To start, I found out you can create a backup with NANdroid.
I couldn't find any information on where to download this elusive "NANdroid" and then heard from This thread that all I have to do is
kenvan19 said:
Now lets get started. First, how does one install mods on Android? Lets do a NANDroid backup to begin:
1) Turn your phone off.
2) While holding the Volume Up button press the power button until the screen turns on and you will see a black screen with an Android on it and a lot of numbers and words that will mean nothing to you. This is called the Bootloader. In both the bootloader and the recovery mod you will use the volume buttons to navigate between options and the power button to select one.
3) Navigate down to Recovery option and select it.
4) Navigate down to backup and restore
5) Navigate down to backup and select it and let it run.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This didn't seem to be the case when I followed these steps; coming first to the predicted screen,
(containing this information)
Code:
FASTBOOT MODE
HW VERSION - REV 16
BOOTLOADER VERSION - I9020XXKA3
BASEBAND VERSION - I9020UCKB2
CARRIER INFO - ATT (but im with Koodo?)
SERIAL NUMBER - Lots of digits.
LOCK STATE - LOCKED
Also giving me the option to select between
Reboot Bootloader
Reboot
Recovery
Power Off
When going into recovery mode I'm greeted with an animation of a box with an arrow coming out of it. This turns into a triangle with a exclamation in the middle of it.
From here I press power and volume up to come to a menu that is supposed to have a NANdroid option I've been told.
Instead; I get the options:
Reboot system now
Apply update from /sdcard
wipe data/factory reset
wipe cache partition
At this point I'm currently stumped, though I'll continue searching as I'd rather not be stuck without a backup before starting the rooting process.
UPDATE: Even though I'm weary of proceeding without backing up, I'm sure I'll be able to restore my phone back to factory somehow.
I spent the night downloading and installing the Android SDK, then started configuring my device for use on windows 7.
Currently I'm in the bootloader interface after installing my phone's device drivers while being in fastboot mode.
The drivers take a couple of minutes, but they install successfully!
On I go, I'll just point DOS to the directory I want it to. Now I'll run the program through dos. What's this?! AND ERROR!?
Psht, I WOULD be missing the "AdbWinApi.dll" Not a hard thing to fix. I'll just google for the file!
Oh! I don't even have to download the file, the directory has just changed!
That was an easy problem to solve with many solutions provided!
Time to try again!
Sweet, it works. WHOA! TEXT ON MY ANDROID WHAT ARE YOU DOING!
And I select Yes to come to a nice screen that says my phone is now unlocked!
Now I need to download an image file? Okay. I can do this.
Okay, flash recovery the flashboot. Looks like the image has updated since the thread's instructions. Hopefully it's still compatible.
Now I just need to root. Just need to install a nice zip file.
AAAND, I can't seem to push it onto my phone for some reason. Time to search.
Oh, I can just copy and paste this file by enabling USB storage and dragging it over.
I'll just follow the rest of the steps, to no errors! Whoo! I'm free to install any ROM I want!

You'll need a custom recovery for nandroid, but first you will need to root. There's guides in the nexus s general section on doing that.
I kind of like this post.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App

apreichner said:
You'll need a custom recovery for nandroid, but first you will need to root. There's guides in the nexus s general section on doing that.
I kind of like this post.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just read through Kursk's guide for rooting the i9020a and i9023 and noticed I have no ability to backup my android in the case something goes wrong.
Am I missing something, or do I have to root before having the privilege of backing up my phone's current ROM.
edit: Got sidetracked by a thread in the Chef's forum and learned that Java is the language for App development for Androids. Been reading about the Android OS and how it works for the past couple of hours. Brains bursting. xd

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=895545
^ Has pretty much all you need to know for installing a custom recovery and rooting your phone.
It's only once you've installed ClockWorkRecovery Mod that you'll be able to easily make backups.

Asus Transformer EPIC NOOB GUIDE.

In the process of updating information for ICS update and custom ROMs, please hold tight!
A lot of folks have been coming in with newly purchased TF101's lately, which is AWESOME, it means the community will go on longer than the expected life of the device probably, since the TF201 and TF700 have come out and are seeking to replace our beloved TF, this is good news that people still buy the OG Transformer.
That said, there have been the same problems posted by new users, over and over, and sure there are guides for just about everything. But why not one on..just...EVERYTHING?
Here we go, troubleshoot problems and learn your device, the noob way! The EPIC TF101 THREAD BEGINS!
All the typical disclaimers apply, if you mess your stuff up, it is your fault not mine. I did not discover any of these methods, develop any of these tools, or do anything else but compile it all in one epic post. This should be everything you need to know as a noob, I do not take credit for anything, except for making it all easily accessible to those who are unwilling/unable to spend the hours searching that I did. In other words, I did a lot of work for you, but others had done the work for me first. Full credit to them.
What is ROOTING? And why do it?
So you bought a new TF, and you want to root it? Or you want to know what rooting is, for that matter? Rooting is a method of obtaining what is called 'Root Access' to your device, giving you control of it. The 'Root' is the parent directory of your device's internal memory, where the system files are stored. Generally this is kept from your access, you will need to get your device 'rooted' in order to change the system. Once rooted, you will have an app installed called 'Superuser' which will selectively grant applications permission to alter or access your root directory. This method differs on every device, but don't worry- we have a very easy device to root.
VERY IMPORTANT! Do NOT use any of the tools here WHILE YOUR DOCK IS PLUGGED IN!! All these are for use with the TF101 unit BY ITSELF! Please don't brick your device or mess something up by trying it with the dock plugged in!
There have traditionally been several ways to accomplish this for our device, as new applications and tools are developed to make it easier it has gotten to be a very simple process. Which method you use will depend on what SBK version (Secure Boot Key) Transformer you have, and also that model's firmware version. Your firmware version can be located by going to Settings>About Tablet. Current version is 8.6.5.21 (TF101) or 8.6.6.23 (TF101G). When either firmware version (also referred to as the 'stock ROM' sometimes) can be used, it will be listed similar to '8.6.x.19', where x can be 5 or 6 for TF101 or TF101G, respectively.
KNOW YOUR SBK VERSION
As a TF owner looking to mod your device, you need to know that there are multiple SBK versions, primarily SBK1 and SBK2. There may possibly be other versions to come even. All you need to know is, that as of right now, SBK1 is the only model that can utilize a tool called NVFlash to UNBRICK your device if you mess it up too badly, and it is difficult to tell which SBK version you have. In order to find out, there are a few tools out there- one of them is for mac only, called SBKDetect found here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1232612
Another is primarily for Linux, but saavy Windows users can always boot from a Linux live CD on their machines to use it, called SBKDetect v2, here;
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1290503
The other way, if you are like me, and don't have Linux-abilities at the time of this writing (I'm working on that), you can always just GO FOR IT and try to flash a modded ROM via NVFlash. If you are SBK1 it will succeed. If not, it will fail. No harm done. Of course that means skipping ahead of a lot of learning first, so it is not advised IMO. It also means that if you DO have an SBK1 tablet, you just wiped all your data. It is not absolutely necessary to determine which SBK you have in order to root and mod your device.
A hit-or-miss way of detecting your SBK version is by looking at your device's serial number, located on the bottom of the device on a sticker. It will take the form of:
B70KAS638075
The ONLY digits you need to know are the FIRST THREE. Older models are SBK1. Manufacturing started at Bxx, and has gone to Cxx this year. All Cxx serial numbers will be SBK2. In fact it was in the middle of the B70 manufacturing that they changed the SBK version, so if you are B60, B50, B40 etc..you are sure to be SBK1. If you are B80, B90, C10, etc, you are sure to be SBK2. B70 owners, it's a coin toss. You must use one of the other methods to determine it.
The only thing that differs between SBK1 tablets and SBK2 tablets is the use of NVFlash. SBK2 cannot use NVFlash, so if you end up botching both your recovery and your ROM, and cannot boot into either, then you are SCREWED, so I would suggest reading everything before attempting to mod your device if you are an SBK2 owner.
NVFlash and APX mode
This was an early method used to root and flash recovery/roms, and is still a very useful application to have saved on a disk somewhere in the event that you own an SBK1, as it renders your tablet practically unbrickable. It can be found here;
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1123429
To use it you must enter APX mode on your TF101. This is tricky and confuses many users. The procedure is;
1. Press and hold volume UP and POWER buttons at the same time (it doesn't matter if the TF101 is on or off, if it is on, simply wait until it shuts off before proceding).
2. HOLD these buttons for approximately SIX SECONDS.
3. Plug TF101 into PC and listen for it to chime that it has detected it, it should load drivers and device will be listed in Right Cick>Computer/Properties/Device Manager/USB Universal Serial Bus Controller (or similar) as NVIDIA, not as ASUS.
4. If it does not, power on the TF and try again until it does.
NOTE: This is the only way to know if it is in APX mode as the screen remains powered off completely.
Once in APX mode now you can use NVFlash tool, place the system, boot, and recovery .img files into the root of the folder you extract NVFlash into and execute the download.bat file. If at any point the flash fails, this likely means you are SBK2.
ADB Mode
This stands for Android Debugging Bridge. This is not to be confused with APX mode, which is a separate thing entirely. To learn more about your device's ADB mode, see this excellent thread here;
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1071584
Another quick guide for ADB can be found here:
http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-hacks/6865-how-use-adb-all-commands-options.html
(sorry for the off-site link, trying to keep it as xda pure as possible!)
Razorclaw Root Tool
Razorclaw is by far my favorite method of rooting for the TF, it can be found here;
http://androidroot.mobi/2011/11/14/introducing-razorclaw-v1/
It does not matter what SBK version you have to use Razorclaw, that is why I prefer this method of rooting.. HOWEVER, it does require you to be using an older firmware version though. If you are on version 8.6.x.21 or above, you cannot use razorclaw. It works best on firmware 8.6.x.19. You simply install the app and follow the instructions (Root me nao!). It is a one click, native rooting tool.
If you are not on this firmware version and razorclaw will not work, there are options. You can either roll back your firmware version, the method is located here;
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1417006
If you are unsuccessful or want to try another way, you can use Nachoroot or ViperMOD.
Nachoroot Root Tool
This is one of the newer root tools, it is for all firmwares and all SBK versions, and can be found here;
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1427838
Nachoroot uses the ADB (Android Debugging Bridge) via a command prompt or terminal, all necessary drivers must be installed.
I cannot personally get this method to work because my PC will not install the drivers properly, and since I don't need the tool any longer, I must admit I've never used it, thus my bias towards Razorclaw. So, if you are having similar driver issues, rolling back firmware and using RC might be quicker and more painless.
ViperMOD Root Tool
ViperMOD is another method, similar to and related to Nachoroot, in that it uses the PC to root your TF101 and will need the appropriate drivers installed. The main difference being that this method will install Superuser as well. The other major difference is that while Nachoroot is done with a command dialogue, ViperMOD is done with a much simpler command interface (choose a number from a list of options rather than typing out commands). Interestingly enough, both of these methods work on both the TF101 and the TF201, and both methods appeared about the same time (posted on January 4th 2012). ViperMOD and Nachoroot represent the most recent methods for gaining root on the TF101. ViperMOD is unique that it has a feature to unroot your device as well, though you will need to have the stock ROM and recovery files available to completely return to stock. Find out more about ViperMOD here;
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1427125
I also cannot attest to the use of ViperMOD personally, I have used other methods, but many users have reported it quite simple to root with.
A quick breakdown;
Razorclaw, Nachoroot and ViperMOD will ONLY ROOT your device. No data will be wiped and you will have to install recovery later. In the case of Nachoroot, you will have to download superuser from the market, Razorclaw and ViperMOD installs it for you.
NVFlash WILL WIPE EVERYTHING! So understand that it will rewrite your TF101 internal memory competely and install a rooted ROM (or whatever you tell it to) on your device, as well as a boot and recovery image.
REGARDLESS OF THE ROOTING METHOD YOU CHOOSE, PLEASE READ THAT METHOD'S INSTRUCTIONS VERY CAREFULLY!!!
[Q]How do I know if I am rooted?
[A] Simply check within your app drawer for the superuser application (or download it from the market if using Nachoroot), to verify it works, download titanium backup and begin a batch backup and see if it asks permission, and if the batch completes. If you are not rooted, either try your first method again or try an alternate method.
Tip: Immediately after rooting you should back up your system with Titanium Backup, skip ahead to that section to learn how before moving on.
Recovery Mode
The stock recovery mode on the TF101 shows one of two screens; a green android in the middle of the screen with gears turning inside it, or the same android with a yellow triangle with an (!) inside it instead. The gears obviously mean it is working (flashing firmware), the (!) means something has gone wrong (no file found, flash failed). To enter recovery mode, you need to press and HOLD Volume DOWN and POWER when the device is powered OFF. As soon as the screen comes on, RELEASE THE POWER BUT HOLD THE VOLUME STILL. You will see white letters appear in the upper left corner of the screen, it is now okay to release the Volume DOWN button and quickly (within 5 seconds) press the Volume UP button to enter recovery mode. There are also applications, such as Reboot to Recovery, available on the market, that will allow you to reboot your device with one click into recovery mode without having to toggle your power/volume buttons.
About Stock Recovery Mode
The stock recovery mode is absolutely required to install official Asus OTA (Over The Air) updates. Unless your device is unrooted with a stock recovery mode, you will not be able to install any OTA updates, this includes ICS!! It can also be used to install (or RE-install if it were) your STOCK ROM (only official, digitally signed files will be accepted by the stock recovery to flash over the firmware, no modded roms will work). The method for doing this is outlined in the link for rolling back your firmware version above but I will summarize;
Recovery mode searches your external SD card ROOT DIRECTORY(and the internal memory's cache directory, but this is not useful for any practical reason for you) for these Asus files. The files must be named either;
EP101_SDUPDATE.zip
or
XX_user-epad-Z.Z.Z.ZZ.zip (X = firmware region stamp, WW, US, DE, etc, and Z - firmware version, 8.6.5.19, 8.6.6.21 etc)
I personally find the second configuration to work best. If stock recovery finds a file named appropriately and signed with the proper digital signature it will install it, and you will see gears turning. Otherwise; (!). Remember, it has to be on the SD card in the ROOT, not in a folder or it won't find it.
CWM Recovery Mode
ClockWorkMod Recovery mode replaces your stock android recovery mode, and gives you control of;
Flashing (installing) ROMs, recovery, themes and app packs, patches, kernels and more
Wiping cache, dalvik cache, system, data, etc
Backup and Restore features
Advanced features you probably won't need like fixing permissions and mounting partitions etc.
The important thing to know is if you want to be able to change ROMs right from your device, you need this. In order to install it on the TF, you can use an app called RecoveryInstaller, located here;
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1346180
It is a one-click app just like Razorclaw, download and a single click will install CWM for you, though it may be an older version it will work fine to install the most recent version, directly from CWM once you enter it the first time. You will need to give it superuser permission as well. The newest CWM for the TF101 is called ROGUE XM and it is available here;
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1446019
Simply place the newest version on your SD card where you can find it, and use the 'install from SD card' option to navigate to the new version file and select it, which will flash the recovery..then you will need to reboot.
CWM Recovery can also be installed when flashing your device from NVFlash, and the NVFlash versions of ROMs almost always contain the most recent versions of the CWM recovery as well, thus making an NVFlash a one-step procedure (flashes both ROM and recovery at same time). The risk of the one-step procedure is if you are using corrupted images or something unexpected occurs you may end up BOTCHING both recovery and ROM at the same time..of course- if you are SBK1 anyways, just reflash it with a different ROM and it will be fixed.
Once you have installed the latest CWM recovery now you will want to start flashing ROMs and Kernels. I will not be posting links to the custom ROMs and Kernels because there are too many of them, that will be your homework.
Custom ROMs
We are blessed to have some great devs working on our humble TF101. That said, the procedure to flash a ROM through CWM is simple;
1: Download desired ROM and place into your external SD card somewhere you will be able to find it, it doesn't matter.
2: Boot into recovery and go to Backup and Restore and make a backup file. This is commonly referred to as a 'Nandroid' backup, and will backup everything from your ROM to your Kernel to user files.
3: Once backed up, proceed to factory reset and wipe cache partition and dalvik cache, located in the 'advanced' menu.
4: Install from SD card, navigate to your directory and find your ROM (ONLY FLASH THINGS THAT ARE MADE SPECIFICALLY FOR THE TF101! Be sure it is compatible with your device!) and select it, scroll to yes...read and follow instructions. Tapdance and sing ABC's while making some breakfast- and you are done!
5: Reboot device
Please be sure to flash only files that are meant to be flashed via CWM, as some ROMs will also have an NVFlash version, which will not work in CWM.
The Stock ROM currently provided with the TF101 is Android 3.2.1, which is called Honeycomb (HC) which is exclusively for tablets, we are all awaiting the release of Android 4.0 commonly known as Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) which will merge the operating systems used on phones and tablets. Asus has said it will be out soon, so don't ask when it is coming! To learn more about the different Android versions, read this;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_version_history
I would suggest also to anyone wanting to modify their Android device to understand the history of Android itself and what it is, here;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)
Kernels
The kernel is the underbelly, the brain of the ROM. The kernel is what tells the hardware what to do when you interact with the software of the ROM. Most ROMs, I dare say almost every ROM unless specifically noted, does NOT come with it's own kernel but uses the kernel you have installed now on the device, unless it is a stock ROM, in which case most of them DO have kernels included. You want to be sure if what you are flashing has a kernel included or not, and you can always go back to another kernel version if you like, but understand that the OS will behave differently with different kernels. For example, if you wish to enable certain functions at the kernel-level, like overclocking, voodoo sound, etc, then you have to flash a customized kernel.
If you flash a custom kernel, then report your bugs to the developer of the kernel, not the ROM, as most bugs are produced by the kernel.
The procedure to flash a kernel is the same as with flashing a ROM, though you need not factory restore your device before installing, although every developer will agree that it is probably best to have what is called a 'clean install', where you would factory reset the device, flash your ROM, and flash your Kernel, and then restore your apps and information. How do you do that you say?
Titanium Backup
Titanium Backup is an app that is pretty self explainitory- it backs up all system files, data (this includes contacts, settings, call logs, etc) user apps, basically saves your state ON TOP of your ROM, where as the CWM Backup (commonly called a 'Nandroid') is the FULL ROM, Titanium Backup will only restore your settings and apps ON TOP of the ROM once installed. Therefore, you can backup all apps, safely factory reset. Install a clean ROM and Kernel together and then restore your data on top of them. This keeps your user files from either being accidentally overwritten or otherwise interfering with the installation of the ROM/Kernel whatever else you wish to flash.
IF YOU SKIPPED AHEAD READ THIS
Titanium Backup can be found on the market for free, if you like it, buy the paid version.
To backup and restore, simply press the settings softkey and choose 'batch' and select the appropriate action with caution. Press the 'RUN' button for the action of your choice and you will be prompted with a checklist of apps and data to run the batch on. Select which files you want or select all if it is your first time using the app and confirm the action. You will need to give Titanium Backup Superuser permission and make sure you have 'Unknown Sources' checked as well as 'Debugging Mode' checked in your settings/applications menu.
Ok, now go back to 'Recovery Mode' section and keep reading..
Also understand that if you are moving from a version that you have backed up in which apps will not be useable in the version you are moving to, the will not work either. For example, if you flash an ICS ROM and then save the ICS-only apps with titanium backup, and then try to move back to honeycomb or gingerbread (if you have a phone like I do) these apps will likely not install or if they do will FC (force close) constantly. Similar things can happen with user data, call logs from one dailer might not be compatible with an older version etc, so expect there to be instances where you have to selectively install apps one at a time to see if it causes bugs, testing the device for buggs, and uninstalling the app/data before proceding with your restore if it does.
Return to Stock
EDIT: While the below represents a review of how we used to unroot, I have now learned that merely flashing the stock ROM provided by Asus on their website will flash the recovery as well, and that there is a minor difference between the recovery img that came on the device stock versus the recovery img that comes loaded in the Asus firmware packages. If nothing else, the graphics are different, but I suspect that there could be other changes as well. To best unroot the device, simply watch and follow the video in the link.
Outdated info;
So, you played around, and you decided it was time to go back stock for that update, or maybe you just liked it better, or you wanted to give it to your grandma but knew Revolver was above her head- whatever the reason, you want to start fresh. The procedure requires you to get the Stock recovery image and a stock ROM. Luckily the stock ROMs are available on Asus' website, the recovery image isn't as easy to find, it is located here;
http://theunlockr.com/2011/11/28/how-to-unroot-and-remove-cwm-recovery-on-asus-transformer/
(Note: The recovery file is not region-specific, therefore it does not matter what version TF101 you have, it is one of the few 'universal' files for this device.
CAUTION: Unrooting with this procedure will only rewrite your system files on the system partition, if you have files located in your root directory that are user-created files that are not part of the system, these files will remain after unrooting, though you will not be able to view them as they are in the root directory, if you root the device again they will be visible. If selling your device or returning for an exchange and you are unrooting it, make sure to manually delete any files/folders that you created in your root directory and do a factory restore with CWM before flashing over your recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Procedure:
Click HERE to watch my UNROOTING How-to video.
There should also be a distinction made here between unrooting and breaking root access, while breaking root access will prevent you from having root access to your device, it does not return your device to stock. For example, deleting your superuser application and su binary files can 'break your root' as it is referred to. Yet, in order to effectively unroot your device, you should return the device to it's 100% stock configuration. If you are giving the tab to your grandma or little sister, breaking root is probably enough. If you want to return the device or sell it on XDA, you should probably return to stock completely.
Now that you have read all of this (hopefully) here is the shortcut you wished you had;
My HOW TO ROOT video (Part one)

So, now you are a BUTTFLIPPIN' PRO, you can root, you can flash recovery mode, ROMs, even Kernels, and you can flash stock files from your SD card so you can unroot and return to stock if you want. What if something goes wrong? What if you want to expand your knowledge?
Well this is what we all fear, this section will attempt to address possible outcomes of bad flashes, corrupt ROM images, bad recovery images, etc. as well as help you diagnose your problem and determine whether you need an RMA or to ask for help in the forum.
[Q] My screen won't come on! Help!
[A] In order to determine what the problem is, first try to power on normally, if that does not work try to power on with the USB device plugged into a PC, if you hear it connect you unfortuntely likely have a screen malfunction. If not, try to enter APX mode and listen for notification of connecting to your PC, if still no notification, try charging your tablet overnight and see if it is over-discharged, mine did this once and scared the CRAP out of me, I thought it was bricked, after 10 minutes of fooing with it a battery warning finally popped onto the screen for 1 second before shutting off again. Repeat the previous steps after 24 hours of charging (if TF does not power on on its' own). If none of these solutions work, try powering on and listening for the camera to 'click', if you do not hear this, then it is very likely you have a brick or malfunctioning device.
[Q] My dock drains very fast..why?
[A] This is a problem with old firmware and certain docks. The docks themselves were manufactured with hardware that prevents the updated firmware from being installed in the dock itself, which results in being unable to change the battery consumption configuration. The dock was originally designed to keep the TF awake so that a quick key press would wake it easily, but this resulted in battery drain, when Asus updated the firmware they realized some docks simply needed to be RMA'd. To test yours;
1. Make sure you are updated to the latest firmware for the dock (in Settings?About Tablet), latest firmware is EP101-0213.
2. In Settings>Screen make sure "MobileDock Battery saving mode" is checked.
3. Press the power button on the TF101 to turn the screen off, then press a key on the keyboard (not the mouse buttons).
If any key wakes the TF, then you have the defective dock and must be RMA'd. However if it does not wake, and you still have severe drain, try to resolve it by shutting off background services and checking to see if drain is bad without the dock as well. If it is still draining, as mine has done previously, contact Asus for an RMA.
[Q] My dock is making a strange squealing sound??
[A] Yes, I received one that did this myself, and returned it to the store I purchased it. As far as I could tell it only presented an annoyance, but others reported the issue and suspected that it might have been connected with some people's battery drain issue, so I returned mine as you probably should as well.
[Q] My screen has light bleeding around the edges..is this common?
[A] Unfortunately, yes, light bleed on these devices is far too common. You can try to return the device and get a better one, depending on the severity of the light bleed, and unfortunately it seems every device has it's quirks, you may end up with one that doesn't have much light bleed but has another problem..
[Q] My case creaks, is this normal?
[A] Yes, unfortunately, the plastic backplate has notches that are supposed to affix into the bezel, and sometimes these come loose. However, some people have reported being able to 'snap' it into place again within the bezel, others had to remove the bezel and backplate partially to resolve the issue- others just ignore it as it is only cosmetic.
[Q] My Transformer won't charge! Help!
[A] There could be a few reasons for this experience- the connector is a proprietary connector, and the wires inside can be easily tangled and snapped according to user experience- to verify that the cable works try plugging the device while powered on into the PC and listen for audio confirmation. If your cable is working, but the tablet doesn't seem to charge, you can try to plug in the dock to see if the led on it lights up (unfortunately the TF unit has no charging indicator except for when powered on). The charging adapter itself sometimes has connection problems inside it, and some users have reported success in simply enclosing the charger in a ziplock bag and placing it in the freezer for several hours. I don't know why this works for some, but it does. If it doesn't for you, however, you may need to order a new power adapter from Asus, or you can make your own here;
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1087321
[Q] My TF keeps booting and booting but never loads into my ROM..
[A] This is called a 'bootloop', and depending on how far it loads can tell you the severity of the boot loop. First thing to do, is to attempt to boot into recovery. Unless you have an SBK1 tab, this is going to be the only way you will be able to stop this. If not, you have a soft-brick. Eee Pad logo loads and reboots after this, then you have a problem with the ROM itself not wanting to boot (corrupt image, files missing, etc), and usually reflashing your previous ROM without wiping will cure the issue. Sometimes the issue is within the ROM, settings that lock up your device while initializing. If it makes it to the boot animation and reloads, there is a possibility that it is a setting within a kernel if you have a custom kernel installed, try another one, if you aren't running a custom kernel it could be user settings and a factory restore may resolve the issue, and if that fails try another ROM. If the TF will not go into recovery mode and reboots within 5-10 seconds from powering on, you might have a major problem with your system in which case only NVFlash is likely to help.
[Q] I keep getting FC's and bugs..(OR) Do I need to wipe to install...?
[A] Making sure you wipe the correct partitions before you flash new software is vital to making sure it functions properly. This is your necessary wiping procedure, although always best to have a clean install as previously stated;
Nature of the flash| Wipe cache? Wipe Dalvik? Factory Reset?
Clean ROM Flash = YES YES YES
Kernel Flash = YES YES NO
App Pack Flash = YES YES NO
Theme Flash = YES NO NO
ROM Re-flash = NO NO NO
Recovery Flash = NO NO NO
Nandroid Restore = NO NO NO
(Will work on getting this more graphlike after dinner )
Of course always better safe than sorry, and unless you are trying to preserve user apps and data while flashing a kernel or theme then it is always best to reinstall everything after a clean wipe to avoid orphan files and other messy possible errors.
[Q] I can't get into recovery! Help!
[A] The only time you really need to start worrying about not being able to get into recovery is if your ROM also will not load, and vice versa. Since you can simply use the RecoveryInstaller app to fix your broken recovery, similarly if your TF will boot into recovery mode but NOT into the ROM you simply flash (or re-flash) your previous ROM to restore your OS. For this reason, when wishing to update BOTH ROM and recovery, DO NOT FLASH BOTH AT ONCE WITHOUT CONFIRMING THE FIRST FLASH WORKED!
My general rule is to flash my recovery mode first, and then flash my ROM, this is true whether going forward in versions or rolling back to older versions. This way, as soon as you are done flashing and restart (simply holding Volume DOWN as it reboots on its own is enough to initiate recovery mode, be sure to then press Volume UP), you will know if your flash was a success and can rest easy as you flash your ROM, if done the other way around you have to boot into your OS to confirm the flash worked and then reboot back into recovery. If your recovery flash fails, simply allow the OS to load, load recovery installer again and try again.
In the case in which your ROM or recovery will not load, again, your only hope is that you are an SBK1 device and can restore your device via NVFlash.
[Q] Help! My buttons (volume, power) don't work!
[A] Unfortunately this has been discussed quite a bit, sometimes it is related to poor manufacturing, or user damage, or even a poor RMA service. In this case you have only two options- you can try to RMA it, or you can try to tear down the TF101 yourself to try and repair it. It isn't advisable if you can get it repaired under warranty, but if not, you can find discussion with photos of a teardown of the unit here;
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1109928
[Q] How do I edit the files in my root directory?
[A] The File Explorer app provided by Asus by design will not allow you to access the root directory, you must use an app, like Root Explorer. In order to change or delete files directly from this app, you will need to make sure the root is mounted as R/W (readable/writeable) as opposed to R/O (Read Only), there will be an option to 'mount R/W' if it is mounted currently as R/O, and vice versa.
[Q] How do I remove Asus' Pre-Installed apps (Bloatware)?
[A]While you can simply delete the app file with your Root Explorer, this may not delete all user data. You could download a tool called Root Uninstaller from the Android Market, or you can use the functions in Titanium Backup to run batch uninstalls, or just 'deselect all' and delete one at a time.
[Q] How do I get back my Asus or Google apps after flashing a modded ROM?
[A]GApps and Asus apps generally are not included with many custom ROMs for copyright reasons, but GApps can be found here;
http://goo-inside.me/gapps/
Asus apps can be found in Gnufabios' package 'Asus Removed Apps' that can be acquired through his Revolver Parts package if you are running that ROM, or can be downloaded here if not;
http://www.gnufabio.com/revolver/dls/
Or you can always make a Titanum Backup of your valued system apps before you flash your ROM. You can then do what I do, find the Titanium Backup folder on your internal and rename it 'TitaniumBackupStockApps' and move it to your SD card, then backup your user apps, rename THAT folder 'TitaniumBackupUserApps' (you may even want to date it or name which ROM it came from, this is your choice), and remove that from your internal memory. You could then do the same with user data, if you decide to do that separately. To flash them back, simply replace the folder and rename it to the 'TitaniumBackup' as it was originally, or, if the folder already exists you can simply copy over the contents, run the batch, then delete the contents and copy the user data contents over as well. This is a great way to keep your apps and data organized and backed up safely. You should make sure this stays up to date and delete old backups after 2 to 3 iterations.
[Q] Can I run Linux?
[A] Yes, look here;
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1364095
[Q] How do I install themes?
[A] Depending on the ROM and Launcher you are using, some of the theming options can be built in and accessed in settings menus inside the Android UI (User Interface). However, there are other themes that change files within your root directories and these files will generally need to be installed either via CWM or via ADB. The themes' developer should have clear instructions on installing it.

One more reserved.. This one is for my thank-yous and anything else I miss guys
Roach2010, mike1986, gnufabio, xboxfanj, blades, Clemsyn, baseballfaz, danzano, paulburton, kaijura, daoist, supercurio, MrNago, jcarrz1, rayman84, lilstevie, rburrow, solarnz, fonix232, daxtsu, dipje, frankc123, Sharpe351, chatch15117 ,K900 ,earthbound, AproSamurai, TOO MANY TO REMEMBER YOU ALL!!
You guys are why I am able to do what I do now..

Mods: Stickie this!!!!

This is great! Have my tf a month and had to search all over to root/rom/etc.wish I'd had this info
Great help for us tf noobs.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using xda premium

Thanks for taking the time to write this up!
Absolute champ!

nice one..thanks mate

Get work this is a must have guide
Sent from my EVO Titan 3D

Fantastic! Having current info all in one place is rare, especially on "older" devices.
Edit: Maybe add a section or note about ViperMOD

Nice job Luna.
+1 on the vipermod. That is what I used and it was extremy simple.

ViperMOD..the one thing I have no experience in on this device it seems; I did a crash course, seems it was actually based right off of Nachoroot, just a cleaned up command prompt interface, and interestingly works on TF101 and TF201. Perhaps that is why I never used it- the post is located in the Prime forum section
Added to OP, guys help me check for accuracy, and correct me if I get anything confused.
Next have some few things to polish up in my thank-yous and try not to leave anyone slighted. Also, thinking of a few more common problems to add to post two. Anything not addressed here just comment or PM me about it I will amend these posts.
THANKS!

Hi Luna
I tried to follow the Return to Stock instructions you listed but there seems to be some problems.
I know these problems are not your fault but maybe you know of another alternative which is as easy to follow as well?
I need a WW Version of the packed stock Rom but neither US nor WW are available due to the mediafire problem.
And the recovery is called 8239USrecovery so I assume I can't use it with my WW version?
Return to Stock
So, you played around, and you decided it was time to go back stock for that update, or maybe you just liked it better, or you wanted to give it to your grandma but knew Revolver was above her head- whatever the reason, you want to start fresh. The procedure requires you to get the Stock recovery image and a stock ROM. Luckily the stock ROMs are available on Asus' website, the recovery image isn't as easy to find, it i located here;
http://theunlockr.com/2011/11/28/how...s-transformer/
Place both files on your SD, but make sure the ROM file is in root (they can both be in the root it doesn't matter) and then use CWM to flash the recovery image, then WIPE EVERYTHING before rebooting into recovery mode again to confirm you have stock recovery in place, and allow it to flash stock ROM. Double check that you are unrooted by downloading superuser and installing it and seeing if it allows you root access (it should not).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

luna_c666 said:
About Stock Recovery Mode
The stock recovery mode is absolutely required to install official Asus OTA (Over The Air) updates. It can also be used to install (or RE-install if it were) your STOCK ROM (only official, digitally signed files will be accepted by the stock recovery to flash over the firmware, no modded roms will work). The method for doing this is outlined in the link for rolling back your firmware version above but I will summarize;
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So theoretically this stock recovery mode will allow us to recover to a stock Asus signed ROM in case the main ROM get damaged? for example if rooting goes wrong or any other reason?
I have an SBK2 TF101, and I don't want to install CWM for the moment but want to have root, and don't want to brick my pad.

Outstanding post. Thanks a lot...
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

Malandro2011 said:
Hi Luna
I tried to follow the Return to Stock instructions you listed but there seems to be some problems.
I know these problems are not your fault but maybe you know of another alternative which is as easy to follow as well?
I need a WW Version of the packed stock Rom but neither US nor WW are available due to the mediafire problem.
And the recovery is called 8239USrecovery so I assume I can't use it with my WW version?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The recovery mode can be used regardless of region or firmware version, and if you are unable to locate the firmware files due to mediafire and megaupload etc. being down, simply retrieve them from Asus' website here;
http://www.asus.com/Eee/Eee_Pad/Eee_Pad_Transformer_TF101/#download
I'll update the OP to make this more clear

mcbyte_it said:
So theoretically this stock recovery mode will allow us to recover to a stock Asus signed ROM in case the main ROM get damaged? for example if rooting goes wrong or any other reason?
I have an SBK2 TF101, and I don't want to install CWM for the moment but want to have root, and don't want to brick my pad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, if you retain your stock recovery mode then it will be able to flash your firmware in the event that your ROM gets messed up for whatever reason, so long as you use the Stock signed copies of your firmware from Asus (i.e. the official files), recovery mode as stated will only flash official Asus files, they are digitally signed by Asus and without the signature recovery mode will fail.
And to put you at ease, the likelihood of anything going wrong while rooting is much smaller than flashing custom ROMs or recovery mode. Rooting is fairly fail-safe if you follow directions well.

luna_c666 said:
Yes, if you retain your stock recovery mode then it will be able to flash your firmware in the event that your ROM gets messed up for whatever reason, so long as you use the Stock signed copies of your firmware from Asus (i.e. the official files), recovery mode as stated will only flash official Asus files, they are digitally signed by Asus and without the signature recovery mode will fail.
And to put you at ease, the likelihood of anything going wrong while rooting is much smaller than flashing custom ROMs or recovery mode. Rooting is fairly fail-safe if you follow directions well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am asking because, as mentioned earlier, I only need to root for now without going the whole mod thing, because at the moment I am still not convinced that an android tablet suits me, so in case I still don't like it I want to be able to restore the stock ROM without going more into modding CWM and risking a brick.
So, in the case I root then later decide that I want to unroot, it is enough to put the signed stock Asus firmware on the SD card and boot into recovery mode, and it will be unrooted? why is it then that most unrooting guides does this with a special repacked zip file? why not just stock asus zip?

sticky!

mcbyte_it said:
I am asking because, as mentioned earlier, I only need to root for now without going the whole mod thing, because at the moment I am still not convinced that an android tablet suits me, so in case I still don't like it I want to be able to restore the stock ROM without going more into modding CWM and risking a brick.
So, in the case I root then later decide that I want to unroot, it is enough to put the signed stock Asus firmware on the SD card and boot into recovery mode, and it will be unrooted? why is it then that most unrooting guides does this with a special repacked zip file? why not just stock asus zip?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First, you should know that if you do not install CWM and flash a custom ROM, you will never actually know what you can do with an android tablet
But to answer about why others use special zips, unrooting with the Asus file actually does not delete anything on your system partition, it will simply rewrite all the system files, if there are other files that are unrelated to the rooting process leftover in your system partition those files will remain after unrooting. That is what the unroot zip files do usually, is they delete everything and reformat the system partition before installing (instead of just overwrite installing) to avoid leaving orphan files. But these orphan files usually do not impact your system (the entire system has been rewritten anyway) and for sake of argument your TF is unrooted, as you no longer have root access. To avoid leaving anything in your system after unrooting you should factory restore and delete all user apps/data with something like titanium backup before installing the stock firmware over your old rooted ROM. I will think of how to add this to the OP to make it more clear.
Basically though, if you unroot you will want to manually remove any files that are in your system partition (root directory) that were not there when you first rooted your TF or flashing the stock ROM will simply leave those and overwrite the other folders/files.

Just to throw something in here about that. Vipermod does have an unroot setting in it's commands.
Or using terminal emulator or adb
su
rm -r /system/app/Superuser.apk
rm -r /system/xbin/busybox
rm -r /system/bin/su
reboot

[GUIDE] How to install Oxygen OS

ive been seeing enough and more posts asking about flashing OxygenOS. I'll try and explain in simple terms. read carefully and only then try it.
I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY IF YOU SPOIL YOUR DEVICES. YOU ARE DOING THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK!
if you have a custom recovery skip to step 7
1. Your devices needs a custom recovery. to install one you need to be rooted. to root u need an unlocked bootloader. OnePlus claims that you wont loose warranty on rooting and unlocking so your safe there unless u do something wrong. so be cautious.
2.for unlocking rooting and flashing i recommend using Bacon Root Toolkit. even though i know to do it the Oldschool way. this is much more simple and u really cant go wrong with the toolkit its NoobFriendly. download the toolkit from the following link and install it along with the drivers. http://www.wugfresh.com/brt/
3. once installed choose the version of CM you are running. the toolkit will automatically download all required files. once in u will have to set up the drivers. the instructions for that are well explained in the toolkit please follow it there.
4. after the drivers are set up first u need to unlock. REMEMBER UNLOCKING WILL CLEAR ALL DATA!. so backup all required data.for the internal SD card u can connect the phone to the computer as an MTP device and copydata, for the apps you can backup using Helium and copy the helium folder to the computer. please do not post comments telling that you lost all data there is NO WAY to recover that data once you unlock.
5.press UNLOCK in the toolkit, it will guide you through the process. after unlock when you switch on the phone itll be as good as new you will have to go through the procedure of logging into google etc. once done head over to settings enable developer options and tick ADB. DONT FORGET TO DO THIS
6. Now you need to root your device. by default the toolkit uses SUPERSU to root and TWRP as custom recovery its perfectly fine unless you intend on changing it later on stick to these two. remember to tick CUSTOM RECOVERY under the root option. press root and follow the steps. it pretty much does everything u jut have to keep confirming.
7. Hoping that right now your rooted and have a custom recovery, if not please go through the previous steps.
now we need to download the oxygenOS head over to the forum and download or use this link https://oneplus.net/oxygenos, once downloaded check the size it should be 705MB incase its not the download again may be the download got corrupted.
8. IMPORTANT STEP FOR NEWBIES
once u download u have ONE .zip file named "oxygenos_1.0.0.zip" extract that file and u will get a folder named "oxygenos_1.0.0" leave it there DONT EXTRACT ANY FURTHER!. the folder will contain two files "oxygen_1.0.0_flashable.zip" "oxygen_1.0.0_flashable.md5" leave them as they are. preferably copy this folder containing the two files to the root of the phone. in simple terms put it in your phone memory without putting it into any other folder.
9. Now you have your files ready you need to head over to the recovery. two ways of doing it. you can go to settings developer options and tick advance reboot. now when u press reboot u get an option to reboot recovery and bootloader. choose recovery.
another way of getting to recovery is shut down the phone hold the buttons POWER+VOLUME DOWN once the phone comes on leave the power button and hold VOLUME DOWN till the recovery shows up.
10. Once your in TWRP u have an option to backup your rom. You could do this as a precaution if anything goes wrong u can restore from this backup file. fro backing up press backup and choose the partitions you want to backup and swipe to backup. the backup should be around 2-3gb i think. once backed up copy the file from the TWRP folder on your phone to the computer.
11. since you are changing the ROM completely you need to factory reset once before flashing. in TWRP press WIPE and swipe to factory reset. and go back to home dont reboot device.
12. FLASHING THE ROM: in TWRP press install in the list find the folder oxygenos_1.0.0. in that folder click on the file "oxygen_1.0.0_flashable.zip" and then swipe to flash. the flashing can take a while dont do anything while its in progress.
13.once flashed reboot system. the first reboot will take time let it happen do not get worried and try restarting just let it take its time it has to set up everything for u.
14. Now you should be having OXYGEN OS... use it appreciate it rather than criticizing it. incase u feel like customizing it try out XPOSED. though it is still in testing for L it shouldnt be too buggy. gravityBox is compatible with lollipop.
15. incase you feel like going back to CM.. head over to the toolkit connect the phone (remember to enable ADB) doesnt matter which build u set. press FLASH STOCK+UNROOT choose the CM build you want and let it do its work. follow the instructions.
some may point out that the toolkit has an option to flash the rom as well. yes it does but i wont dive into that now. this method is simple enough. but if u know how to do it that way u sure can
PS: KEEP YOU BATTERY FULLY CHARGED WHILE DOING ALL THIS. INCASE THE PHONE DIES WHILE FLASHING ITLL BE BRICKED.
please correct me if i went wrong anywhere.
hope this helps.

shoaib30 said:
ive been seeing enough and more .....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is absolutely no need for this thread - it's all been covered before. Flashing OOS is no different to any other custom ROM.
You text/formatting is abysmal. You recommend using the toolkit, WTF? This device is the easiest ever created for unlocking/rooting and using a toolkit is a BAD idea as if it goes wrong you will end up confused and not knowing what to do next. Anyone who can't unlock / root / flash TWRP on this device should not be attempting to install a custom ROM anyway.
What you have posted is actually more confusing for a 'noobie' than what is already out there, I'd suggest this thread should probably be deleted and people with questions can simply search and find the useful instructions which already exist.

SimonTS said:
There is absolutely no need for this thread - it's all been covered before. Flashing OOS is no different to any other custom ROM.
You text/formatting is abysmal. You recommend using the toolkit, WTF? This device is the easiest ever created for unlocking/rooting and using a toolkit is a BAD idea as if it goes wrong you will end up confused and not knowing what to do next. Anyone who can't unlock / root / flash TWRP on this device should not be attempting to install a custom ROM anyway.
What you have posted is actually more confusing for a 'noobie' than what is already out there, I'd suggest this thread should probably be deleted and people with questions can simply search and find the useful instructions which already exist.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im sorry ill take it off. i had ppl asking me in person so i thought i can explain here and send the link to them. my bad

Please don't create duplicate threads. There are already threads open that cover this topic.
Thread closed.

[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
​
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

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?

{OUTDATED}[Guide][Stock ROM] The original non-Prime conversion thread

Update March 8 2017: As you can probably tell, this is very old. I have not worked on the device in several months and I have no idea if these methods are still safe. Please proceed with caution. I will be using one of these on a daily basis in the near future, so I probably will get back into development, and hope to release new content for the phone to help out the community. Please accept this as an official warning that the following is probably out of date and that you should be very careful should you decide to try it. The original post in it's entirety is spoilered below. You have been warned.
Update: A new update was released for the Prime model, V6.6, which replaces the preloader and completely breaks SPFT. If you unlocked your bootloader (so you can use fastboot) in any capacity before taking that update, there may be hope for you yet, but as of right now V6.6 is unsupported. Update: If you used this method to safely* take* the V6.6* update*, this will still work.
Update: I just checked the stats, and this has been downloaded more than 3 thousand times. I never thought my humble little conversion guide would help out so many people. I have also added a new mirror at [REDACTED], so anyone in North America who was having trouble with the Europe mirror, give that one a shot. It should be faster! I have updated all links in the guide to use the new North America mirror, and added a separate Europe mirror link after each link.
Hello! This is a tutorial for converting the Amazon Prime Edition BLU R1 HD to the OEM BLU version. This will overwrite the relevant partitions on your Amazon version of the device with the non-Amazon version. The physical model number on your device will still be a tell (obviously), but besides that, there will be no way to tell your device apart from the regular model! You can also use this method to convert non-Prime to Prime version, and undo OTAs or system modifications. This will restore a 100% out of the box image from either edition on your device.
This will work if you have software version...
V12
V6.1
V6.4
V6.5
SAFE V6.6 FROM THIS THREAD
This will NOT work on software version...
V6.6
The V6.6 update brought a new preloader that breaks our ability to use SPFT. I am currently working on ways to reverse the damage, but as of right now, there is no way to convert (or downgrade) from software V6.6
You can use this on any 16/2 R1 HD with supported software version to...
Convert to the non-Prime OEM version
Convert to the Prime version
Remove ads (via conversion to non-Prime version)
Unroot
Downgrade to V6.1
Downgrade to V12
Undo system alterations/tampers
Restore the system image to the way it was when you first opened the box
Unbrick a device (if bricked because of bad system/recovery/boot image)
There are a handful of reports about this working flawlessly on the 8/1 model as well. I have not personally tested this, so there is still some risk factor.
This only overwrites the system, recovery, and boot partitions. Any other partitions that have been altered will not be restored. In most cases, other partitions should not have been altered, so this is not a concern. I have a full system backup of all partitions, but there is currently evidence to suggest that it is not safe to flash all of the partitions, so I will not release that backup until more is known.
You *should* be able to safely pull this off without wiping your data. This does not require your phone to be rooted or have any other modifications. You can pull it straight out of the box and do this process! If your phone is rooted, you'll lose it. This will make your phone EXACTLY like the non-Prime version comes out of the box! You can also convert a non-Prime device (or a converted Prime device back) to a Prime device using the same method, but I'm not exactly sure why you would want to. I did this all on Linux, but the Windows should work fine too as long as you have drivers dealt with. If you don't have drivers dealt with, I'm not your guy. I'll just tell you to use a better operating system. You'll also need an archive program that can deal with tar.gz files, because that's how my computer zipped them.
And the standard disclaimer: If this bricks your phone or makes it become sentient and plot with other sentient phones to murder your entire family, it's not my fault. That's all on you, buddy.
Ok, without further ado, on to the tutorial!
First, you need these things. Some of the files are quire large, so it might take a while to download:
You'll need the latest version of Smart Phone Flash Tools, or SPFT for short. You can download that from this site, or from [REDACTED]. Please use the latest version for your OS.
You'll need to download the system image. If you're converting to the non-Prime version, [REDACTED]. If you're converting to the Prime version, [REDACTED]
You need the scatter file. This will tell SPFT where the partitions are. This is the same for both variants, so just download [REDACTED]
Once you have those things, you can start actually flashing your phone:
Power your phone completely OFF! This will not work if your phone is powered on. SPFT writes directly to the phone's memory, bypassing all security measures the phone has, so it requires the phone to be completely OFF to get safe and exclusive access to the memory. DO NOT PLUG IN YOUR PHONE YET!
Extract SPFT into a folder on your computer. If you can't figure out how to do that, please stop tinkering with your phone. It's only a matter of time until you break something.
Extract the system image into the same folder you put SPFT in. The three files (boot.img, recovery.img, system.img) should be in the same folder as all the other SPFT files, including the binaries.
Run SPFT. On Windows, simply double clicking the SPFT executable should do the trick. On Linux, you must run the flash_tool.sh script as root. Open a terminal emulator, cd to the SPFT folder, and run `sudo ./flash_tool.sh`. If you recieve an error about permissions, run `chmod +x flash_tool.sh` and try the first command again.
Go to the Download tab in SPFT and click the Scatter-loading button on the far right side. DO NOT click the Download Agent button. When the file picker dialog pops up, find and open the r1hd-spft-scatter.txt file you downloaded earlier.
You should see a list of partitions. Only three of them (boot, recovery, system) should be checked, and the location should point to the files you extracted from the tar.gz file earlier. If this is not the case, double-click the location block of the boot, recovery, and system partitions, and select the boot.img, recovery.img, and system.img files from your filesystem respectively. After selecting the files, the boxes should check themselves.
From the dropdown in the upper left of the partition list, make sure Download Only is selected. Any other option could damage your device.
Click the Download button in the upper left.
While your phone is OFF, plug it into your computer with a data safe USB cable. The cable that came in the box from the factory is ideal, but any good quality cable will work just fine.
SPFT should start overwriting your phone. If you receive an error from SPFT, unplug your phone, close SPFT, and repeat steps 4 through 9. The whole process takes about 10 minutes, after which you should see a window with a large green checkmark. Once you see that window, you can safely unplug your phone and start it up. You're all done!
And as a bonus, I've also included a guide for unlocking the bootloader, getting custom recovery, and rooting the device after you've done this in post #2. That makes this your one stop shop for getting a brand new Prime phone out of the box!!
HUGE THANKS TO @mrmazak FOR THEORIZING THIS METHOD AND GETTING ME THE NON-PRIME SYSTEM IMAGE TO USE!
As always, if you have any questions, just ask in a thread reply or send me a private message on XDA. And by the way, hit the Thanks button in the lower right corner of the post if my guide helps you. It motivates me to keep this up to date and write more helpful guides. If you feel like giving me even more motivation and help fund future development, [REDACTED].

{OUTDATED}[GUIDE][OEM][Stock] Bootloader Unlock, TWRP, and root!
Update March 8 2017: As you can probably tell, this is very old. I have not worked on the device in several months and I have no idea if these methods are still safe. Please proceed with caution. I will be using one of these on a daily basis in the near future, so I probably will get back into development, and hope to release new content for the phone to help out the community. Please accept this as an official warning that the following is probably out of date and that you should be very careful should you decide to try it. The original post in it's entirety is spoilered below. You have been warned.
Ok, now you've converted your brand new Prime phone to the non-Prime version. How do you unlock this sucker? The conversion process actually unlocks the standard unlock method from the factory, so it's VERY simple! No hoops to jump through or anything. You'll need adb and fastboot. You can get those as part of the official Android developer kit, your distro's repos (on Linux) or Homebrew (on Mac). Of course, this guide works for the normal non-converted non-Prime version as well. This WILL wipe your phone, so make sure you back up any important data before doing this.
This guide is for the OEM (non-Prime) version. If you have the Prime version, convert it to OEM using the guide above BEFORE doing this guide.
The standard disclaimer from above still applies.
This guide is broken up into two parts. Unlocking the bootloader, and rooting the phone. If you are preparing to install Magisk, do the bootloader unlock, skip the rooting part and move on to the Magisk guide. You do not need the files above if you are only unlocking the bootloader. If your bootloader is already unlocked, skip the bootloader unlocking part and skip to rooting the phone. If you are preparing to install Magisk and your bootloader is already unlocked, you shouldn't be here. Also please note that the bootloader can sometimes re-lock itself after completing a conversion/restore from the guide above, especially to/from the Prime version, so if you're not sure, play it safe and re-unlock your bootloader.
Part 1 - Unlocking the bootloader:
Boot up your phone. If you haven't already gone through the initial setup process, go through it. The bootloader unlock process will wipe your phone, so skip as many questions as possible so you don't waste your time.
Open the Settings app, go to About device, fine the Build number (it's toward the bottom), and tap on it 8-10 times (until it says you are now a developer. If it says there's no need and you're already a developer, you can skip to the next step)
Go back to the main Settings menu. You should see a new option where About device used to be, Developer options! Click on it.
Toward the top of the long list of developer options, there is an option called "OEM unlocking". If it's switched off, switch it on. If it's switched on, switch it off and back on again. You may get a warning saying that device protection features won't work. Click Enable and proceed. You may also be prompted to enter your password/PIN/pattern lock if you have one.
Scroll down a little bit to reveal USB debugging. Switch it on if it's not already.
Connect your phone to your computer using a data safe cable. Do not disconnect it until the very end.
On your computer, open a terminal emulator (or Command Prompt with ADB access) and run `adb reboot bootloader`. If you get a message complaining about keys or authorization, check your phone. There should be a window asking for permission for your computer to access the device. Allow it and run the command again.
Your phone will reboot into fastboot mode.
On your computer, run `fastboot oem unlock`. On the phone you will get a warning message talking about the implications of unlocking the bootloader. Press Volume Up to accept them. If everything goes smoothly, your bootloader should now be unlocked. You're not ready to flash quite yet! Flashing at this stage WILL brick your phone, so it's important that you continue following the guide carefully.
On your computer, run `fastboot reboot`. Your phone should reboot anywhere from 3 to 5 times. If it reboots more than that, your phone is bricked and you need to start again by following the guide above again.
Once Android starts up again, you should see the setup wizard. Your bootloader is now unlocked!
Part 2 - rooting the phone:
BEFORE YOU PROCEED: If you want your phone to be encrypted AND rooted, it's important that you unlock the bootloader using the steps above first, then use the encryption APK to encrypt your phone BEFORE installing TWRP and rooting your device. This device is an exception to the general rule of flashing TWRP first and then rooting afterwards. Repeat, if you want your phone encrypted and rooted, unlock the bootloader FIRST, then encrypt SECOND, then flash TWRP THIRD, and root your phone LAST.
This is the guide for rooting the actual phone. You must unlock the bootloader using the steps above before doing this part.
First, you'll need these things on your computer.
The TWRP image for the R1 HD. You can download [REDACTED]).
A copy of the latest SuperSU zip from Chainfire. You can get it from the official forum post, or Chainfire's website.
Linux Users: On Linux, you must add `sudo` to the beginning of all fastboot commands, because most Linux distributions will not give you enough access to the hardware without being root.
And finally, the guide:
Hold Volume Up and Power until the phone turns on with the boot menu. Once the boot menu appears, use the volume keys to scroll to [Fastboot Mode] and press the power button to select it. It's the middle option.
On your computer, cd to the folder where you downloaded twrp-3.0.2-1-r1hd-lopestom.img and do `fastboot flash recovery twrp-3.0.2-1-r1hd-lopestom.img`.
On your computer, do `fastboot boot twrp-3.0.2-1-r1hd-lopestom.img`.
Once TWRP boots up, dismiss the prompt about mounting the system, go to Reboot, then choose Recovery. Your device will reboot back into TWRP. I know this step seems odd, but just trust me.
Make a backup if you want. It's not a bad idea, but seeing how you just unlocked your bootloader so your data is gone and we have the images in case you somehow brick the system, I doubt you actually need it.
In TWRP, go to Advanced, then ADB Sideload. Slide the confirmation slider all the way to the right to confirm.
On your computer, cd to the folder where you downloaded SuperSU and run `adb sideload [SuperSU-zip-name.zip]`, replacing the last argument with the name of the SuperSU zip you downloaded, of course. If your computer says "waiting for device" for a long time, cancel with Ctrl+C, run `adb kill-server`, then run the first command again but with `sudo` in front this time.
Reboot the phone. If everything worked correctly, you should now have a rooted phone with SuperSU, bootloader unlocked, and custom recovery! Yay for cheap phones!
As always, if you have any questions, just ask in a thread reply or send me a private message on XDA. And by the way, hit the Thanks button in the lower right corner of the post if my guide helps you. It motivates me to keep this up to date and write more helpful guides. If you feel like giving me even more motivation and help fund future development, [REDACTED].

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Can you verify the image you uploaded for the non-Prime version? I'm getting unexpected EOF errors when extracting in Windows using 7Zip and TarTool, and I'm also getting an "operation not permitted" error when extracting using the built in Archive Utility in OS X.

abs0lute said:
Can you verify the image you uploaded for the non-Prime version? I'm getting unexpected EOF errors when extracting in Windows using 7Zip and TarTool, and I'm also getting an "operation not permitted" error when extracting using the built in Archive Utility in OS X.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, that's because the image isn't fully uploaded. My internet is very slow, so it's taking a while to upload. Sorry about that. I was hoping it would be finished by the time I finished writing this, but alas, nope. I will have all files uploaded by tomorrow, along with .md5 files so you can verify the checksums, so come back then. Again, sorry. I guess I should have posted this _after_ I got those uploaded. Oh! And I have North America mirrors coming within the next couple months. It seems a little oxy-moronic to host files for a US only device on an EU server, but unfortunately, servers in the US are significantly more expensive.

ColtonDRG said:
Yeah, that's because the image isn't fully uploaded. My internet is very slow, so it's taking a while to upload. Sorry about that. I was hoping it would be finished by the time I finished writing this, but alas, nope. I will have all files uploaded by tomorrow, along with .md5 files so you can verify the checksums, so come back then. Again, sorry. I guess I should have posted this _after_ I got those uploaded. Oh! And I have North America mirrors coming within the next couple months. It seems a little oxy-moronic to host files for a US only device on an EU server, but unfortunately, servers in the US are significantly more expensive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem - thanks for your work on this!

abs0lute said:
No problem - thanks for your work on this!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just finished uploading the non-Prime version. I will start the other upload before sleeping and update the post removing the warning when I awaken, assuming everything has gone well. You're free to attempt a non-Prime conversion now. Just don't do it the other way around yet.
Sent from my LG G4 using XDA Labs

Can't wait to give this a shot. Well, at least after someone else reports success first...

followed post 1 convert to non prime steps on windows, did not do the bootloader unlock steps.
phone booted up ok, followed by android is upgrading x of 37.
phone working and no ad's on lock screen
the amazon apps are still there but appear to be disabled, causing errors at first boot.
disabled or uninstall the apps. - used cleanmaster
everything seems ok now

Hello, I have now finished uploading the files, so you can now safely flash away! Enjoy! @abs0lute

bupkis said:
Can't wait to give this a shot. Well, at least after someone else reports success first...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I report success. Of course I did everything in the guide here before posting it. I'm not irresponsible. It's completely safe. I just finished uploading the files, so please go ahead and give it a shot.

ColtonDRG said:
I report success. Of course I did everything in the guide here before posting it. I'm not irresponsible. It's completely safe. I just finished uploading the files, so please go ahead and give it a shot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok, away we go! :laugh:
When I try to download the scatter file it just opens the file in a new browser window.
>nevermind, figured it out...success!
...on to bootloader unlock, TWRP, root...

bupkis said:
...
When I try to download the scatter file it just opens the file in a new browser window.
...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, that's a problem with my server configuration. I'll fix it later. For now, you can save the file by opening it in a browser window and pressing Ctrl+S

I have completed the process successfully-TWRP, root, no ads but do still have all the Amazon apps so something is screwy but not the end of the world.

bupkis said:
I have completed the process successfully-TWRP, root, no ads but do still have all the Amazon apps so something is screwy but not the end of the world.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, it's not screwy. The non-Amazon version does include a lot of the Amazon apps. You can uninstall some of them the normal way (they're pre-installed user apps), and others you can either disable or uninstall using your favourite system app remover.

Anyone else missing Encrypt section in Settings > Security after converting to non-prime?

When I try to load the scatter, SPFT says "Error: Initializing scatter file failed. Please check the name of scatter file which you load is legal." I downloaded it from both the primary link and your mirror, same error. Any ideas? Thanks.
EDIT: Looks like I downloaded the oldest version, not the newest version of SPFT. Whoops! I'll leave my mistake on here to help others who may assume the first link is the right one.

notfix said:
Anyone else missing Encrypt section in Settings > Security after converting to non-prime?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is missing. How peculiar. I will attempt to implement a workaround in a little bit. Sorry about that.
Update: The Encryption activity exists on the phone, we just can't get to it from the settings menu. You can launch it by manually launching com.android.settings.Settings$CryptKeeperSettingsActivity using your preferred method for launching arbitrary activities. I will release an app that will launch this activity for you ASAP!