Database Develop

[Q] Questions from someone on the verge of Flashing (Cognition 3.02)

Hey all,
So I'm am effing fed UP with Samsung. My Captivate is a hardware powerhouse, and with the stock Eclair firmware and all their bloatware, it's laggy, bogged down, and just not the device I wish it was. And with the talks that the Galaxy S phones are virtually unbrickable, I have decided to seriously consider ROOTing my phone and flashing the Cognition 3.02 ROM. I have watched a lot of videos, done my research, but I still have a few lingering questions for those of you out there who have recently flashed this ROM, preferably for those of you that this is the first or near-first ROM you've flashed. I know how the process works, but some specifics are bugging me and holding me back.
Ok, so I've listed some of my major questions below. Feel free to answer some or all of them if you've got the time, or DM me if that's easier. lf I think of any other Qs I have I'll post them in subsequent replies.
1. First and foremost, what process did you use to root and flash cognition on your Captivate? I've been looking at the MobileTechVideos three part tutorial on youtube which most people seem to recommend. Is this what you used? Was it as easy as simply following the instructions word-for-word? Did you run into any problems along the way?
2. I know to use Titanium Backup to backup my apps and stuff, but I've read a lot of places that I should only use it to restore those apps, and not to backup and restore user data like settings and contacts. How did you do it? My major concerns are about my contacts/phone book, which I have synced to my google account, but I also have syncs to my facebook and twitter accounts, and my phonebook is nicely linked and everything across all three. I'm afraid to forfeit this organization, so I just want to know that I'll be able to get everything back the way it was without too much trouble. I know you can export your contacts to your SD cards, and I could presumably import them from their after flashing, but I just want to be clear on how that all works.
3. Do you use your phone as a digital music player? I do, and I use iSyncr to sync it to my iTunes. If you do as well, did flashing screw any of this up? Playlists, etc? Will I need to re-sync or will it all be there once the phone scans my external SD (which wont be wiped since I'll remove it beforehand)?
4. In your first few days of use, what are the biggest improvements you see in the Cognition ROM as far as daily use is concerned over the stock firmware? Any problems you've come across? What's the selling points here, in layman's terms.
5. Do you have any regrets about flashing?
Thanks guys, and any other advice you think would be helpful that wouldn't come under any of the questions would also be GREATLY appreciated.

4. No problems for me. Phone is smoother and faster now.
5. Not at all.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

1. manually rooting is overrated. most, if not all, custom roms automatically root your phone for you, so there really is no need for you to do it yourself. except the first time: root your phone using the one click since it's simple, grab rom manager from the market and use it to download an update.zip containing clockworkmod recovery for the captivate and leave that update.zip on your phone and never change it or delete it. it makes flashing new roms so much easier and there is really no need to ever remove or change it. boot into recovery, reinstall packages twice, install zip from sd card, and pick your rom. also, you will never need to use rom manager again unless you lose that update.zip.
2. I use titanium backup in batch mode (hit the menu softkey and hit batch). click backup all user apps and system data, but uncheck everything that is in red text, therefore backing up only things in green text (useful system settings, contacts, calendar, messages, etc) and white text (user installed apps). then run batch operation. install new rom, use batch to restore all missing apps and system data. to re-backup newer settings, app data, or updated apps, use backup all new apps and newer versions, and then either redo old backups or forced redo of all backups.
3. yes, but I just copy and paste my music files over instead of syncing them. also your internal sd is never wiped unless you use master clear on odin, which I have never done, nor do i ever wish to, because in my opinion there is no reason to. therefore both your playlists and your music would not be wiped whether you put them on the internal or external sd. (unless of course, you decide to use master clear)
4 & 5. I agree with faroid.

Be sure you have the correct odin set up and recognizing your phone on your pc. Eventually you will need to use it for one reason or another. The most common is the odin3 one click jf6 but some newer builds cannot be flashed to firmware older than jh2.

1. To root i use one click root/ unroot vary simple plug in and press root then install clockwork recovery from the market its free with clockwork recovery you can flash your cognition
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

4. The best thing is froyo 2.2 then lagfixes and overclocking
5.no regrets, expect when i bricked my phone but the jig method fixed that
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

yokozuna82 said:
4. The best thing is froyo 2.2 then lagfixes and overclocking
5.no regrets, expect when i bricked my phone but the jig method fixed that
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you use the full MobileTechVideos method when your phone got bricked? Or did you flash without reflashing to stock and wiping everything?

newter55 said:
Be sure you have the correct odin set up and recognizing your phone on your pc. Eventually you will need to use it for one reason or another. The most common is the odin3 one click jf6 but some newer builds cannot be flashed to firmware older than jh2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So how do I know which one I should use? Is it based on the ROM I flash, or my hardware (Captivate)?

Which odin stock firmware is based on the build (four digit number under battery such as 1006) and what version your phone came with when new, such as jf6 or jh7.

newter55 said:
Which odin stock firmware is based on the build (four digit number under battery such as 1006) and what version your phone came with when new, such as jf6 or jh7.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you by chance know which one I'd need off hand? I'm at work and don't feel like pulling my phone apart, but I can tell you that I bought my Captivate the day it came out, so presumably it came with the oldest firmware the Captivate ever came packaged with.

1. No need to root. That's an extra step you don't need. My method, get the update.zip for clockwork mod, just search the Dev section, no need to even install Rom Manager or anything. Take that update.zip and put it on the root of your internal SDcard (just the normal phone storage, not an external SD. Then using adb or button method reboot into recovery, choose reinstall packages. The phone reboots into stock recovery. Choose reinstall packages again and this time you get Clockwork. Wipe data, install zip from SD, choose zip file, pick Cog, install and done.
2. I use titanium for user apps only, ie, things I got from market. All my contacts are synced with google, so once I add my google info under accounts they are back. Sorry, i don't mess with facebook or twitter so i can't answer that. As far as settings, you just have to manually do that, ie, ringtones, wireless networks, etc.
3. Yes I do. And I also use iSyncr. No problems whatsoever. As long as you don't do a MasterClear. That option under Odin will wipe your internal SDcard also. The Wipe Data under Clockwork recovery just wipes out installed apps and settings but leaves your internal SD intact.
4. Honestly, it's just a much better experience overall. The phone is faster, smoother, and more responsive. Plus DG has taken the liberty of removing all the ATT crap and un-needed apps.
5. Not one.
My only advice would be to "be prepared". My sure you have button recovery available ahead of time. Check your Rev version of phone, ie, the date under the battery. It seems newer Revs require a different version of stock Odin One-click. Some people have had issues running the original One-click. If you have any doubts about your phones ability to go to download mode, in case you need to go back to stock, spend the $1 on building a USB Jig.
You will find that flashing is easy. Recovering from unexpected errors can be easy if you are prepared.

bobbylx said:
1. No need to root. That's an extra step you don't need. My method, get the update.zip for clockwork mod, just search the Dev section, no need to even install Rom Manager or anything. Take that update.zip and put it on the root of your internal SDcard (just the normal phone storage, not an external SD. Then using adb or button method reboot into recovery, choose reinstall packages. The phone reboots into stock recovery. Choose reinstall packages again and this time you get Clockwork. Wipe data, install zip from SD, choose zip file, pick Cog, install and done.
2. I use titanium for user apps only, ie, things I got from market. All my contacts are synced with google, so once I add my google info under accounts they are back. Sorry, i don't mess with facebook or twitter so i can't answer that. As far as settings, you just have to manually do that, ie, ringtones, wireless networks, etc.
3. Yes I do. And I also use iSyncr. No problems whatsoever. As long as you don't do a MasterClear. That option under Odin will wipe your internal SDcard also. The Wipe Data under Clockwork recovery just wipes out installed apps and settings but leaves your internal SD intact.
4. Honestly, it's just a much better experience overall. The phone is faster, smoother, and more responsive. Plus DG has taken the liberty of removing all the ATT crap and un-needed apps.
5. Not one.
My only advice would be to "be prepared". My sure you have button recovery available ahead of time. Check your Rev version of phone, ie, the date under the battery. It seems newer Revs require a different version of stock Odin One-click. Some people have had issues running the original One-click. If you have any doubts about your phones ability to go to download mode, in case you need to go back to stock, spend the $1 on building a USB Jig.
You will find that flashing is easy. Recovering from unexpected errors can be easy if you are prepared.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So do I not need to be rooted to use Ti-BU? I thought I saw that under the product description in the marketplace.
Also, under #1, when you say "Wipe Data" you are referring to an option in the Clockwork Recovery menu, not an Odin MasterClear, right? Will this wipe my internal SD?

If you got the phone on release you likely have a 1006 build with working 3 button recovery and can safely use the odin3 one click jf6.
Sent from my Liquid Metal using XDA App

TiBu needs root. I rooted using one click, then backed up user apps and data (used built in contact export to save contacts and smsbackup for texts).
Then I just ran the update.zip for CWR and flashed Cog - was my first flash too and pretty painless. TiBu returns your apps as if you never changed them.
Make sure you can access recovery and dl mode though.

GerStud101 said:
So do I not need to be rooted to use Ti-BU? I thought I saw that under the product description in the marketplace.
Also, under #1, when you say "Wipe Data" you are referring to an option in the Clockwork Recovery menu, not an Odin MasterClear, right? Will this wipe my internal SD?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, forgot you would want to backup before installing a new ROM. Yes, to use Tibu on your current ROM you will need root.
As for wipe data, yes it's a clockwork option. Like I said in #3 wipe data just removes user installed apps, and changes all settings to stock, but all data on your internal store will stay there, pics, music, etc.
Master Clear is the Odin option, which I never use by the way, that will completely delete everything on your internal SD, bye bye music, pics, etc.

This is all EXTREMELY helpful by the way.
Quick question about USB Jigs--is it easy to build one myself or should I splurge on the ~$15 one MobileTechVideos sells? There's seems pretty fancy, and I can't afford to be phoneless as I putz around trying to jimmy myself a jig.

I can't speak from experience but there's a thread here in QA that makes it seem easy. Just get 3 x 100kohm resistors, wire them in series, twist it to look like a horseshoe, there you go. If you have a radioshack or other electronics store near you it's worth a shot. Like I said, I think all 3 resistors cost may $1 total. You can also test it on your phone to make sure. Touch the jig to the 2 leads, if it goes into download mode instantly you did it right. Pull battery and reboot and all is well.
Edit. Jig link,
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=889128

bobbylx said:
I can't speak from experience but there's a thread here in QA that makes it seem easy. Just get 3 x 100kohm resistors, wire them in series, twist it to look like a horseshoe, there you go. If you have a radioshack or other electronics store near you it's worth a shot. Like I said, I think all 3 resistors cost may $1 total. You can also test it on your phone to make sure. Touch the jig to the 2 leads, if it goes into download mode instantly you did it right. Pull battery and reboot and all is well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I saw that thread, I'll have to try my hand at it before I do this process. Better safe than sorry. Thanks.
Ok, so, the plan = build working jig and DL proper Odin just in case, one-click root, Ti-BU, move clockwork update.zip and cognition zips to my root folder, reboot in recovery, reinstall packages/flash clockwork, then wipe and flash cognition. This sound correct?

That sounds about right. Really the only thing different i do is on the root of my storage I create folders for ROMs. So I have a Cog folder with the rom in it. Once you have Clockwork installed and you are choosing to flash, it will let you navigate to different folders. That's just my preference because I don't like to have too many individual files on my SD. Minor thing, just thought I would mention it.

bobbylx said:
That sounds about right. Really the only thing different i do is on the root of my storage I create folders for ROMs. So I have a Cog folder with the rom in it. Once you have Clockwork installed and you are choosing to flash, it will let you navigate to different folders. That's just my preference because I don't like to have too many individual files on my SD. Minor thing, just thought I would mention it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha, appreciate the advice; I like a little organization in my life as well.
Sounds like you've flashed a few different ROMs. Have you ever bricked your phone to the point where you needed a jig? Or has it always been smooth sailing?
I guess I'm just trying to figure out why one person's phone would brick and anothers wouldnt. It kind of makes me assume that if you brick your phone, you've done something wrong, and if you just do the process right, everything should go smoothly. But maybe that's naive of me.

Absolute best/easiest way to completely back up EVERYTHING stock, then dual boot?

To begin, I have a basic knowledge of Android and how it works. I've rooted, bricked, and unbricked my fair share of Android phones, but the NC is a bit of a different animal to me... Phones are pretty consistent in their methods, the NC kind of caught me off guard.
I've perused quite a bit of threads in both the general and dev forums, and found multiple ways of doing multiple things which got a bit confusing, compounded by the fact that Froyo and Eclair methods vary quite a bit on some subjects.
I have a 1.2.0 "blue dot" NC. Things I know to be true:
Have to use latest CWM SD and replace the boot and ramdisk in order to root with manualnooter.
Have to use the correct 2/4/8GB image for my MicroSD (although the size-agnostic SD image threw me for a bit of a loop, but I'll stick with what I know works).
Here are my goals:
I want a complete backup of stock nook in case I have to start over for some reason. Boot, system, ROM, permissions, everything. What is the easiest and/or most complete way of doing so?
I'd like to dual boot stock and CM7 nightlies off of eMMC and use SD strictly for storage (and use a separate SD for recovery). If that's not possible, I'd like CM7 to be on eMMC and stock to be on SD.
If you've got the time and want to write me up a handheld walkthrough, that would be nice, but I don't expect or really need that. All I'm looking for is links to threads that will give me the information I need to figure out for myself what the best way of doing this is. There are a lot of threads for older versions of things, and some of the discrepancies between here and Nookdevs have confused me at times.
Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

There is a thread HERE , less than 5 posts under this one that explains exactly what you want done.

RussianMenace said:
There is a thread HERE , less than 5 posts under this one that explains exactly what you want done.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I saw that thread and deduced that it was probably the best one. My only question left is, how do I make a complete 100 percent backup of stock in case I bugger something up and need to start over?

stankcheeze said:
I saw that thread and deduced that it was probably the best one. My only question left is, how do I make a complete 100 percent backup of stock in case I bugger something up and need to start over?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After you flash clockwork recovery, you can use it to make a nandroid (1:1) backup of your stock setup.

To get a backup: boot into CWM (whether from an sdcard or from emmc) and make a backup - just make sure you have a big enough card.
Then start flashing the zips!

That was my #1 question, I suppose. Nandroid works the same on NC as it does all other devices? I had just read conflicting reports about people fooling with the /system and /data and having trouble restoring from there even after the 8-boot "trick".

Yup, it does. I have needed to flash to stock and to make a bootable nook sd card.

Thanks for all the help, guys! Time to dig into this thing!

can someone explain safestrap?

im not that new to flashing and things but coming from a samsung phone im not really sure what safestrap does.
I know that i can get into CMW with it, and thats what i use to flash/make backups and things...
Is that basically all its used for? I also notice i can turn safe mod on/off and really dont know what that is...

Ok, so the Droid 3 is a bit different than most other phones. It has what is called a preinstall environment, which allows for a second system to be run, kind of like dual booting a computer. However, the standard recovery or CWM doesn't allow user access to this second system. Someone figured out a way to make a bootloader, which is very similar to CWM, but that can access the second system. What it does is it allows you to install another ROM in the second system, while leaving your primary system relatively unchanged. This is nice for people who like testing new ROMs and don't want to worry so much about losing their original data through a myriad of backups and restores. It does allow for additional backups, however that is mostly a precautionary method. If you intend to install any ROMs on your D3, it is highly recommended that you use safestrap as opposed to CWM, as it is a lot safer (hence the name safestrap).
Someone may be able to give you a better explanation and you can read more about it on Hashcode's blog at http://blog.hash-of-codes.com/

Hi linuxgator,
Hey very nice explanation of Safestrap.
Thank you,
R

[Q] What are the underlying principles of Flashing and Rooting

Hi,
I'm new to Android since I first bought my GT-N7000 on eBay back in February. I waited until the official ICS upgrade (through Kies) to even start considering rooting my device and flashing Kernels. I haven't dared custom ROMs yet because I feel I don't have the necessary knowledge to proceed with confidence.
What I read in threads are a collection of particular cases with answers that are equally case specific, without ever referring to the underlying principles that govern the said operations. Worse, most members "think" that their process does this and that. In short, I'm left with an empirical approach to these crucial and potentially device crippling operations. I can't and won't take those kind of risks with my precious device until I can understand what would and wouldn't screw up/brick my device (what I'm really doing, not what I think is going on).
Everyone should be in a position to assess their machine's various parts and current state accurately and to know the basic dangers/pitfalls in order to elaborate any kind of OS and Hardware config alteration process.
By underlying principles, here's what I mean:
- what is a bootloader, how can it be determined, does it have any incidence on the Kernel and ROM being loaded on top, can it be changed, how?
- what is my modem and radio build, how can I determine, can it be changed, does a ROM or Kernel flash change that?
- What does LPY, LPT, ... refer to, and do they have any incidence on the flashing process?
- what exactly is the Dalvik cache, what does wiping it actually mean (and what about the hard brick bug), and what is Odexing?
- What should I use to flash, what are the differences/risks (Odin Pc, mobile Odin, CMW all versions), all considering my device's current state (bootloader, modem & radio, Kernel, rom, partial/full root)?
- What is a partial root, how can I determine, and what will happen if I flash Kernel or Rom in such a state?
- What will a factory reset actually do (restore phone as when I bought it with Gingerbread, or to the point after the Kies upgrade with ICS)?
Thanks and Cheers,
------------------------------------ Organized answers below --------------------
First of all, before you start anything, you need to understand that the XDA is not for the random general consumer. Instead, it is intended for people with genuine interest in the technological devices they own, and who strive to fiddle or hack their way into a working knowledge and skill-set for it. The URL says "xda-developers", so read this article from a retired moderator, and move on with your journey:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=2031989&postcount=45
1. ROM, internal SD and partitions
[ ref: http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/product/flash-emmc/overview ]
[ ref:http://www.cpkb.org/wiki/Samsung_GT-N7000_GT-N7000L_Galaxy_Note_service_manual ]
[ ref:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_memory ]
[ ref:http://www.cpkb.org/wiki/Samsung_PIT ]
The ROM is the dead space, the hard drive of your phone (nothing executes in the ROM, it's just a data repository). In the GT-N7000, that hard drive is called the eMMC chip. This chip uses NAND flash for storage, which is a particular type of solid state memory (Nandroid backup wrings a bell?). Together, the components of this chip form what is called the ROM (read-only, non-volatile). It contains all the instructions and code necessary for your device to bring itself to life by reading the said instructions and loading the said code into RAM for execution.
Since these instructions and this code are responsible for various parts of the power on cycle and system functions, it makes it easier to manage if they sit on distinct parts of the hard drive. Think about this: how could you change the kernel if the data sat on the same physical ground as the recovery console data? ... Hence the partitions.
There is also the concept of internal sd (or /sdcard when you look at the mounted filesystem through a file explorer). This is a reserved space on the eMMC chip itself, a mount point for the system to access (look at the service manuals, you'll notice there is only one internal flash memory chip). That's why when you use a utility app to look at the size declared for that space, you notice that it isn't the full 16GB or 32GB, but a fraction of that. There are other pieces of data written to your eMMC chip that take up space as well (like the bootloader, the recovery, the OS or the kernel).
Hint:
You probably cannot and should not attempt to repartition your eMMC chip from the device itself (that would mean that the partitioning process would have to be executed from RAM, since ROM would be unworkable during the operation). You'll want to do that from a desktop or other flashing apparatus, and you'll need to know exactly what you're about to do.
Clarification (disambiguation):
ROM --> the read-only memory, the type of memory, the memory chip itself
ROM --> a collection of data that developers have concocted and that is written to the read-only memory, populating the various eMMC chip partitions. This data is what makes up the software stack on your device (quite probably recovery, kernel, OS and root for custom ROMs).
2.BOOTLOADER
[ ref: http://www.androidenea.com/2009/06/android-boot-process-from-power-on.html ]
[ ref:http://www.extremetech.com/computin...tloader-and-why-does-verizon-want-them-locked ]
The bootloader is the first gasp of air your phone takes when powered on (there are other steps prior, but intricately tied to the hardware and outside our scope). It is a program, separate from the kernel and from Android OS, that is responsible for setting up initial memories and RAM and finding+loading the kernel, or loading the recovery console. Think of it as GRUB on a desktop, or that thing in Windows that prompts you to boot in safe mode after a crash. As such, it can be conceived as the entry point to the loading of the software stack, and ultimately, the user space from which you, the user, and your apps operate from.
Since the bootloader is a software specific to the device itself, and that it is in charge of validating the prerequisites for loading the kernel into RAM, it has specific functions that scan the ROM partitions for validity. It also has provisions to refuse moving on to further steps if it thinks something is not kosher. This is where the notion of "locked" bootloader comes in. In order to load customized code in the software stack, the bootloader must allow the operation to take place, it must be programmed in that manner.
Some manufacturers program their bootloaders to load only stock firmware and halt if anything custom is written to the ROM. Furthermore, they may even encrypt this piece of software so that developers can never alter it: no root ever, no custom kernel, no modem flashing, no custom Roms, no custom recovery, no joy!
Luckily for us, Samsung is quite dev-friendly and ships the GT-N7000 with an unencrypted bootloader (cheers to them). Beware though, because carriers and manufacturers aren't the same people. Your carrier may one day decide that it wants the bootloader encrypted on all of its new devices, I can't foresee the future. Don't confuse unlocked and unencrypted: an unencrypted bootloader doesn't mean that it's unlocked, just that it can easily be unlocked.
[ need to confirm implications of locked bootloader, find a way to confirm state and list a few ways to unlock ]
Hint:
[not sure: Make sure your phone is unlocked before attempting any flashing]. Also make sure that the piece of data you are loading is correct for your device. Writing foreign data to your eMMC chip (ROM chip) could throw the bootloader into panic.
Notice:
There should be very few reasons for you to flash the bootloader (it would really be one of your last resorts). That would mean that something utterly wrong happened to your device. In any case, you truly want to flash the Samsung official bootloader, using the official Samsung flashing tool (Odin).
3.KERNEL
[ ref:http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=ROM-VS-Kernel#The_kernel ]
[ ref:http://www.vikitech.com/8239/beginners-guide-android-kernels ]
[ ref:http://www.linfo.org/kernel_space.html ]
Once all the preliminaries are set, the bootloader loads the kernel into ram and hands control over to it. It will be the captain from now on. So far, we have (almost) no way to access the hardware. That's the responsibility of the data that sits on the SYSTEM partition of the eMMC chip, the one that's just been loaded into RAM for execution.
As it loads, the kernel sets up all things concrete like interrupt controllers, schedulers, cpu frequency, memory management, safeties... everything so the hardware is functional and ready to use. As such, the kernel is now the gateway to the hardware layer: if you want something to blink or beep on your machine, you'll have to ask it to manage your request.
Now that the kernel is done with rigging up all the organs and limbs of the robot, it looks to initiate actions, or processes. It launches the init process, the first of all processes, and the parent of all processes (all future processes will be generated by this very process, system services and apps alike). The init process looks for its instructions (setting of environment, mounting of filesystem, setting of system permissions, etc.) in a file named "init.rc". Just as in Linux, when you launch a shell, the shell looks for its associated .rc file. You may want to read through the "init.rc", just for kicks. It's very informative as to what goes on during the power-on process after the kernel is ready to operate. From then on, the init process looks to start to Dalvik virtual machine by launching Zygote.
Note:
It is important to know that the hardware functions present in the recovery console are provided by the kernel. That's why it can be problematic to perform these operations from a "buggy" kernel. More on that in the Recovery section.
4.ZYGOTE AND DALVIK (and caching+Odexing) cached .dex and .odex rely on the kernel so swapping kernels without wiping dalvik cache can cause problems
- APP AND USERSPACE DATA: apps are system users, the user interacts with the system through apps. Internal SD and backing up/restoring/wiping.
5.RECOVERY
[ ref:http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1667886 ]
[ ref:http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=26285877&postcount=12 ]
akin to flashing tool (short description of software type and confer to next section for functional details)
- kernel does the eMMC format. Possible to fry some blocks of the memory chip with software itself (the cap erase flag seems to circumvent that unfortunate frying). Since kernel formats (wipes and resets) are done from recovery.
6.FLASHING TOOLS
- Identify your device (in the stock state) before you do any flashing
- always be able to go back to the state you were in before a flashing operation (be prepared with the proper data at hand, images to flash and/or self-made backups)
7.CUSTOM ROMS
- what is it?
- talk about LPY (Touchwiz), AOSP, AOKP ... how they could be compared to Gnome, KDE, or other OS GUI.
- talk about the potential for roms to modify various parts of the system (like the kernel or the structuring of the filesystem, or even the radio, who knows) = ask the right questions to the developers instead of crying to them after you've bricked.

Man..you just need to do a lot of reading and be selective in what you read based on what you want to achieve, whether you have the sufficient knowledge and the tool to achieve it..
Next, gain confidence in what you're about to do..read feedback, success stories and setbacks by others.. If the risk is relatively high, be prepared to roll back..
Finally, you've got to try it out yourself.. You know faith without works is dead..

I've done my fair share of reading, and I still do. Also, I'm not an agnostic when it comes to computers (I'm a developer myself, web/server/network/Flash and Flex, so I'm aware of a few things). I have given faith a go, but you read where I'm at presently (totally unsure and unwilling to do anything).
There's nothing worse than a false sense of security or assurance, you'll hit a wall anyhow (reality doesn't care my friend!). I don't mind handling a stickie and doing all the grunt work. What I'm looking for is to confirm certain basic pieces of knowledge without crapping out my machine (it's expensive, I can't afford a new one every other week), and to share that with other GT-N7000 owners, so we can go about trying stuff for ourselves without a false sense of "that's not a wall, it's mirage, don't worry".
Trying stuff is the basis of discovery, true. But when you try stuff and you can't even confirm what you're actually trying, you won't be able to learn, let alone deduce any kind of principle from it...
This being said, would I be allowed to start collecting these basic pieces of information, to organize them in a coherent manner and to post them somewhere in the GT-N7000 forum?

Oh, Oh, Oh, ah, ... you said "rollback". How? I've read that applying backups in certain states could actually screw things up, like a partial root for instance. Rollback procedure should be defined, and I'm willing to define it for the rest of us.

Very Good set of questions hopefully somebody answers them.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda app-developers app

Stock Recovery v/s Custom Recovery
I was keen on asking about the difference between Stock Recovery and Custom Recovery, for which I thought of creating a new thread until I came across your topic, Monkey_banana.
Thank you for initiating a relevant thread.
Personally, I have not rooted my Galaxy Note yet. I am unsure about many issues and thus I am taking my time, reading and posting queries (naive and stupid many a times) with the motive of acquiring a strong base of knowledge which I can put into practice and achieve confidence.
Can the Galaxy Note be rooted without a custom recovery or is it advisable to have a custom recovery installed on the device?
I sincerely apologise if you feel I have hijacked your thread.

Hey YLNdroid,
No hijacking felt! I started this thread because I needed to positively confirm basic concepts. The consolidated summary idea is a little ambitious, I admit, but if at least it gets a discussion going (about concepts, not about specifics of every device, kernel and ROM), then all the better.
From what I've read, recovery sits on a bootable partition ( androidcentral.com/what-recovery-android-z/ ):
- Stock recovery allows you to wipe/reset and to flash stock ROM. Very limited, and probably not to be used if you intend to or have previously flashed anything remotely custom (like rooted kernels or Ketan's busybox installer).
- Custom recovery is tweaked and enhanced version (like CWM) that allows backups and recovery, custum wiping, custom ROM flashing and so on. They are probably also different in the way that changes are applied in order to satisfy the hacking requirements of various custom pieces of data.
This is the best of my knowledge, can anyone confirm?

Monkey_banana said:
[*]- what is a bootloader, how can it be determined, does it have any incidence on the Kernel and ROM being loaded on top, can it be changed, how?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
boot loader is the first piece of code that runs after power on and loads the kernel. flashing kernel or custom ROM does not effect boot loader on note. check the following link for booting process
http://www.androidenea.com/2009/06/android-boot-process-from-power-on.html
Monkey_banana said:
[*]- what is my modem and radio build, how can I determine, can it be changed, does a ROM or Kernel flash change that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
go to settings->about phone-> Radio version. This will be your modem build. Modem is mainly responsible for making calls and data connections. Modem is usually independent of rom or android version you are using. unless you are experiencing poor signal it is not much you get by changing a modem. Some roms include a modem some don't. check out modems thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1645202
Monkey_banana said:
[*]- What does LPY, LPT, ... refer to, and do they have any incidence on the flashing process?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They refer to different releases of ics from samsung. any operation involving format operation with these build might result in bricking of you note. check this emmc bug thread for more info http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1644364
Monkey_banana said:
[*]- what exactly is the Dalvik cache, what does wiping it actually mean (and what about the hard brick bug), and what is Odexing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dalvik cache is a cache folder for dalvik VM running on android. Odex is how things come stock. It takes up less room but making modifications or taking apks from other roms is hard.
Deodex basically takes the odex file and stuffs it into the apk as a classes.dex. First boot it dissembles the file into /dalvik-cache (i believe). Now there is basically 2 copies of the odex, one in the apk one in cache. This makes it "portable". This allows modders to work on the apks & easily change stuff. If you want themes or stuff like lockscreen fixes you MUST use Deodex.
got it from http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=710648
Monkey_banana said:
[*]- What should I use to flash, what are the differences/risks (Odin Pc, mobile Odin, CMW all versions), all considering my device's current state (bootloader, modem & radio, Kernel, rom, partial/full root)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
first do check if there is any damage to your sdcard since you are an effected kernel. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1709054
For you case i suggest you to flash GB ROM from this thread [LINK]http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1424997[LINK] and then root it and then flash abyss kernel 4.2 from mobile odin or pc odin. If you flash with mobile odin it won't cause flash counter to increase but pc odin increase the flash counter resulting in a yellow triangle.
once abysskernel 4.2 is flashed go to recovery mode (volumeup + home+powerbutton). from there you can wipe dalvik cache+ wipe cache + wipe data. once that is done you can flash any custom rom you like. go for roms with cm9 kernel as it is safe from emmc bug. i am stunner and it great.
wipe operations usually format the corresponding partitions.
Monkey_banana said:
[*]- What is a partial root, how can I determine, and what will happen if I flash Kernel or Rom in such a state?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try to paste some test file in to /system partition and delete it. if you have a proper root that you should be able to successfully complete those operations.
Monkey_banana said:
[*]- What will a factory reset actually do (restore phone as when I bought it with Gingerbread, or to the point after the Kies upgrade with ICS)?
it is similar to wipe i guess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

kopitalk said:
Man..you just need to do a lot of reading (...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see this regularly but I've never seen any "real" documentation yet.
I've only seen some flashing docs from well intentioned people for whom English was a third language and who assumed every acronym was well known to their readers and which is written in a toned down l33t style (although with lots of colours). This doesn't really help.
All I've found from Google was dev documentation which didn't really address this specific topic. (since I have an itch to scratch in that area I'm slowly making my way through it, maybe I just didn't find the right bit yet)
I know that writing documentation is complex and yields many traps. I have written enough in my time (and was one of the few to actually enjoy it). However as an old time Unix user, I'm still trying to figure out Android and still haven't found anything that was worth the read. All I found were recipes that were really hard to understand.
Now I know that good documentation takes ages to write, so I'm certainly not downplaying what we have. At least we have it. But it *is* terrible.

Hey srik02003,
Thank you very much for the ton of info. Particularly the link about the bootloader... Precious information very well explained.
I'm reading everything and will later update the original post to organize what we've got so far.
Again, thank you!

Monkey_banana said:
Hey srik02003,
Thank you very much for the ton of info. Particularly the link about the bootloader... Precious information very well explained.
I'm reading everything and will later update the original post to organize what we've got so far.
Again, thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wish you luck, seeing lots of threads with repetitive questions and problems, it seems a very good idea, especially to help absolute beginners

i am glad it helped you...if you could summarize, it will sure help a lot of android beginners
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda app-developers app

Summarizing and sorting at the moment. I'm going through everything in an organized fashion and modifying the original post as I go along.
Do check the original post from time to time and feel free to make comments, refute, or provide more information.

Monkey_banana said:
Summarizing and sorting at the moment. I'm going through everything in an organized fashion and modifying the original post as I go along.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only one thing you need to know (don't worry about bootloaders etc.) And this is coming from a guy who recently superbricked his phone. (more about that in a minute). Anyway, here it is.....
ONLY FLASH FROM or do WIPES/FORMATS/FACTORY RESETS ON a kernel that has eMMC_CAP_ERASE DISABLED!
There's the whole superbrick scenario summarized in a nutshell. If CAP_ERASE is disabled, you wont brick your phone.
So which kernels am I talking about? - the following:-
SAFE!
Stock or CF-Root GB
Abyssnote 1.4.2
DAFUQ
SpeedMod
Franco
Th*r
PC or Mobile Odin
UNSAFE!
Stock or CF-Root ICS
CWM ICS
Any custom kernel where it has not been verified that CAP_ERASE is disabled.
Why? - Crap firmware. The GT N7000 doesn't like to have its eMMC chip formatted (even if only a partition). It damages it and eventually turns it into a superbrick! This happens during flashing new ROMs, doing factory resets, formatting partitions and wiping data. HOWEVER! If MMC_CAP_ERASE is disabled in the kernel, then the format instruction reverts to a simple, (and harmless) delete (like on a PC) and no damage occurs:good:
How did I brick my phone? Easy, wiped on an unsafe kernel after having a few beers and not DOUBLE CHECKING which kernel I was on before I did so:crying: (New MoBo being replaced under warranty as we speak)
Hope this helps.
BTW. I have rooted, flashed, un-roooted, reflashed, re-rooted wiped, formatted etc. for about 6 weeks until I had a brain-fade and did it on the wrong kernel.
"If you drink and wipe, your a bloody idiot!"

shoey63 said:
Only one thing you need to know (don't worry about bootloaders etc.) And this is coming from a guy who recently superbricked his phone. (more about that in a minute). Anyway, here it is.....
ONLY FLASH FROM or do WIPES/FORMATS/FACTORY RESETS ON a kernel that has eMMC_CAP_ERASE DISABLED!
[...]
"If you drink and wipe, your a bloody idiot!"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Firstly, thanks for participating in the discussion!
Secondly, although I understand your "forget about it, only consider the eMMC brick bug" recommendation, it presupposes some form of knowledge to forget about (which not every user has). You are able to formulate that your phone needs wiping because you figure that some operation, let's say a custom ROM flash, was not clean, or that it created some conflict between the various parts of your system. Right?
Lastly, a newbi or noob is not that far off from a baby in Android terms. I don't know if you've ever watched a baby, but they seem pretty drunk to me, wouldn't you agree?
All that being said, even seasoned developers/modders end up in dark places from time to time. The difference with noobs is that they have a pretty clear idea where that dark place is, how they got there, and how to get back into the light. Your recommendation is excellent at that point ("don't wipe unless you're sure your kernel is safe, or you'll go from a dark place straight to hell"), but not sufficient to fully grasp what is going on and to formulate a correct way out.
That's why I will pursue this basic knowledge round-up I have started. Again, thanks for the knowledge, I definately will integrate to the original post.
Cheers.

Before considering flashing any custom rom, rooting is required. Where can you learn how to root your phone? Well there is a thread here at xda, or there are other sites such as rootgalaxynote.com which explain how to root or unroot your phone. And the ideea of flashing custom roms and rooting and whatever is that each and everyone of us is required to do some research. It took me 2 days of researching and reading before i rooted and overclocked my note and another week before i flashed a custom rom. Bottom line, everyone who wants to flash anything: do some research and read the instructions provided by the devs. I never ever had a single problem because i read, read and read again the instructions.

LaCroyx said:
Before considering flashing any custom rom, rooting is required.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Indeed, that's very well put: "can't root, can't mod". [ not sure: It is an actual test for the unlocked bootloader prerequisite ]. I'll integrate that! (That's what we need, verifiable knowledge).
LaCroyx said:
[...] And the idea of flashing custom roms and rooting and whatever is that each and everyone of us is required to do some research. It took me 2 days of researching and reading before i rooted and overclocked my note and another week before i flashed a custom rom. Bottom line, everyone who wants to flash anything: do some research and read the instructions provided by the devs. I never ever had a single problem because i read, read and read again the instructions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Although I strongly agree with the responsibility to read and inform oneself, there tends to be a crucial lack of referenced/verifiable information in the various posts across the forum. This leads to false knowledge and ultimately, a flurry of nonsensical questions that bog down threads and frustrate developers and readers alike.
Reading sets of instructions is cool and all, but it doesn't prevent you from formulating a question like "I've rooted my bootloader and wiped my phone. Can I Flash your kernel safely now?". That person read a series of recipes and applied them one after the other without a logical understanding (no better than a robot).

Monkey_banana said:
Firstly, thanks for participating in the discussion!
Secondly, although I understand your "forget about it, only consider the eMMC brick bug" recommendation, it presupposes some form of knowledge to forget about (which not every user has). You are able to formulate that your phone needs wiping because you figure that some operation, let's say a custom ROM flash, was not clean, or that it created some conflict between the various parts of your system. Right?
Lastly, a newbi or noob is not that far off from a baby in Android terms. I don't know if you've ever watched a baby, but they seem pretty drunk to me, wouldn't you agree?
All that being said, even seasoned developers/modders end up in dark places from time to time. The difference with noobs is that they have a pretty clear idea where that dark place is, how they got there, and how to get back into the light. Your recommendation is excellent at that point ("don't wipe unless you're sure your kernel is safe, or you'll go from a dark place straight to hell"), but not sufficient to fully grasp what is going on and to formulate a correct way out.
That's why I will pursue this basic knowledge round-up I have started. Again, thanks for the knowledge, I definately will integrate to the original post.
Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah you're quite right, I'm not a developers arsehole. But I do know what will brick a phone. (first hand experience!) Sorry if I appeared arrogant before, but I'm still mad about Samsung selling brickable SGN's. Just hoping that if a noob like me runs into this thread he will be pay a bit more attention to his kernel before he does anything drastic - flashing wise.
And yes there are plenty more questions to be answered, Like - Why are virgin stock ICS builds seemingly immune from eMMC bug (Or are they)? Samsung reckons they cant replicate the problem!! (WTF!)
And another one - Does rooting and/or CWM increase the likelihood of bricking? (On ICS) and if so, why?
BTW Latest CWM9 builds are safe (as long as you dont flash from a dodgy kernel)

Monkey_banana said:
Although I strongly agree with the responsibility to read and inform oneself, there tends to be a crucial lack of referenced/verifiable information in the various posts across the forum. This leads to false knowledge and ultimately, a flurry of nonsensical questions that bog down threads and frustrate developers and readers alike.
Reading sets of instructions is cool and all, but it doesn't prevent you from formulating a question like "I've rooted my bootloader and wiped my phone. Can I Flash your kernel safely now?". That person read a series of recipes and applied them one after the other without a logical understanding (no better than a robot).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to say you are perfectly right. I've seen a lot of stupid questions. In your spirit of helping out i will search for a very well formulated post about acronims and abreviations used in the android world. I think it's the first thing anyone should learn.

shoey63 said:
But I do know what will brick a phone. (first hand experience!) Sorry if I appeared arrogant before, but I'm still mad about Samsung selling brickable SGN's.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We shouldn't have to learn that way because it makes people mad and arrogant. We're a community, so we must be able to learn from one another and spread some joy... Emotions aside, we do have to thank Samsung for allowing us to customize/tamper with our phones in the first place. Opening their source means that we'll be testing scenarios they never thought of. Let's play nice and give them a break.
shoey63 said:
And yes there are plenty more questions to be answered, Like - Why are virgin stock ICS builds seemingly immune from eMMC bug (Or are they)? Samsung reckons they cant replicate the problem!! (WTF!)
And another one - Does rooting and/or CWM increase the likelihood of bricking? (On ICS) and if so, why?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All part of the same concept: using stock/manufacturer-prescribed-and-tested methods of flashing vs. using custom flashing methods.
As far as Samsung not acknowledging the eMMC wipe brick bug, read this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1698977
If you go the manufacturer's way, you're pretty much guaranteed that they ate their own dog food. If you decide to flash custom data, then you make yourself responsible for eating your on dog food, make sure you're recipe is kosher!
CWM is a custom recovery console, so yes, you're increasing your chances of bricking your device. Rooting is also a custom piece of data written to your device, so you've increased your risk (especially if you're using custom recovery).
I reckon that wiping data on the eMMC from stock recovery and custom recovery with a faulty eMMC chip can trigger the disastrous brick (the formatting process hangs, and lord knows what partition got affected).
I don't know if that stands with Samsung Odin (aka PC Odin) as it is probably not using the kernel to do the wipe (you can also repartition from there, so maybe the routines handle faulty chips better).

[Q] Rooting The Bionic, ROMs and other questions.

I have had my Bionic for a while now and have been thinking about rooting it. I finally got the ICS update but have been using GO Launcher too much to even notice it. Anyway, like I said, I want to root my phone. I am current on all updates. For some reason it's running at a tenth of it's memory tho not much is running that I can see. This leads me to believe there's things running in the background that I can not see. I am reluctant to get rid of all my apps, but I also don't want anything that's eating all my resources either. I kinda want to start new but kinda don't. I guess I just don't like letting go of anything.
I know this is selfish of me, but I am hoping that this thread will stay clean of others chiming in asking about their issues. I just don't want the thread to lose focus since this is about what I hope to get from my phone.
Ok, so here are my questions or favors to ask:
Since my phone is fully updated, do I need to do some other updated steps for rooting my phone or is rooting always the same no matter the build or version?
When I go to root my phone, I back up everything first and then I get it back, right?
I read somewhere that it's possible to brick the phone. What precautions should I take to avoid that?
Can I get all the benefits of a rooted phone without a ROM?
Are ROMs really that awesome that I should get one, or three?
I am interested in a ROM after some posts and pages I read. I was attracted to CM at first but so is everyone else probably at first. Does CM even work on the Bionic? And if it does, does everything work like the camera and Bluetooth?
As I said earlier, I use GO Launcher. One of the things I really like about it is the folders I can make in the App Drawer. Now CM is based off of ADW Launcher, but no options to make folders in the app drawer? Is it possible in any way if I choose CM as my main ROM?
Is CM overrated? Liberty and Eclipse look nice too. I also read a little, very little, about AOKP. Any suggestions? I want to get rid of a lot of extra processes and bloatware but I don't want to lose some of the apps pre-installed like Google Maps and Navigation, etc. Unless there are other, much better replacements that anyone knows of.
I know most of this is personal preference but I am hoping to find a comprehensive way at figuring out what's best for me.
I had more questions but I will wait and ask more as the thread continues.
Oh, I don't really need answers in step by step unless I ask. A simple link would suffice unless it's not covered anywhere.
Thanks for reading this, I hope I am not frustrating anyone as I am sure similar posts have been made.

You're basically asking to have this entire forum summarized into one post...
Spend some time reading, then ask smaller, more concise questions.
Not trying to sound like a ****, but i could spend an hour answering all of that. Half of those questions could be answered with some reading of the ROM specific threads.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

Ok, I know that SOME of the questions are answered somewhere else. The thing is that after I read one thread only to find it unsolved, I read others that are are 50 pages long going nowhere as well. I haven't seen anything about my phone being fully updated and I am not going any further until I know for sure from someone like a DEV that I can.
Some of these questions are yes/no questions, which wouldn't take long at all to answer, maybe even less time it takes to write a complaint about my post. I certainly don't expect one person to write for an hour on every topic I asked about. I thought it would be a collective effort.
I guess I will take this slowly.
Since my Droid Bionic is updated to the current versions, do I need to do this differently than others have used in the past to root this phone?
Where is the best method to do this?
Before I start, I have to backup everything, right? If so, what's the best way to go about backing up everything?
I read somewhere that there are 3 things you should do to make sure you avoid bricking. I have since lost it. Does anybody know a surefire way to do this.
Please be gentle.

CycoPuppet said:
Ok, I know that SOME of the questions are answered somewhere else. The thing is that after I read one thread only to find it unsolved, I read others that are are 50 pages long going nowhere as well. I haven't seen anything about my phone being fully updated and I am not going any further until I know for sure from someone like a DEV that I can.
Some of these questions are yes/no questions, which wouldn't take long at all to answer, maybe even less time it takes to write a complaint about my post. I certainly don't expect one person to write for an hour on every topic I asked about. I thought it would be a collective effort.
I guess I will take this slowly.
Since my Droid Bionic is updated to the current versions, do I need to do this differently than others have used in the past to root this phone?
Where is the best method to do this?
Before I start, I have to backup everything, right? If so, what's the best way to go about backing up everything?
I read somewhere that there are 3 things you should do to make sure you avoid bricking. I have since lost it. Does anybody know a surefire way to do this.
Please be gentle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1st question . No, your phone is not special since it is updated what worked for others will work for you.
2nd follow this link and the instructions to the letter http://www.droidrzr.com/index.php/topic/4026-samurihls-house-of-bionic/
3rd . Since you are stock. I would suggest using Verizon's back up services. TiBu requires root. IMHO I wouldn't bother because Google automatically backs up contacts and most roms require you to do a full data wipe.
There is no magic formula to keep from bricking your phone. Just follow directions and if you can't tolerate the risk don't do it.
From my EVOLVED bionic

Obsidian_soul said:
1st question . No, your phone is not special since it is updated what worked for others will work for you.
2nd follow this link and the instructions to the letter Can not post links
3rd . Since you are stock. I would suggest using Verizon's back up services. TiBu requires root. IMHO I wouldn't bother because Google automatically backs up contacts and most roms require you to do a full data wipe.
There is no magic formula to keep from bricking your phone. Just follow directions and if you can't tolerate the risk don't do it.
From my EVOLVED bionic
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That link no longer works
Also I found an article named "Learn How-To Root, Custom Recovery, Backup, And De-Bloat Your DROID BIONIC" while searching around for ROM ideas and such. Anyway, after reading this, it almost seems as if I don't need to do factory reset. Is this ok?

CycoPuppet said:
That link no longer works
Also I found an article named "Learn How-To Root, Custom Recovery, Backup, And De-Bloat Your DROID BIONIC" while searching around for ROM ideas and such. Anyway, after reading this, it almost seems as if I don't need to do factory reset. Is this ok?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just last week I started with a stock ICS Bionic and followed this guide to root: http://droidbionicroot.com/droid-bionic-root/how-to-root-ics-on-droid-bionic-and-motorola-android/
That went very well. I wanted to try out JB 4.2.2, so I installed SafeStrap and an official CM 10.1 nightly. The net result was that I had a very unstable phone until I did a factory reset . As of this writing, however, it's behaving extremely well. YMMV.

Ratamacue said:
Just last week I started with a stock ICS Bionic and followed this guide to root: Can not post links
That went very well. I wanted to try out JB 4.2.2, so I installed SafeStrap and an official CM 10.1 nightly. The net result was that I had a very unstable phone until I did a factory reset . As of this writing, however, it's behaving extremely well. YMMV.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, so you flashed the ROM, didn't work so well, then you did a factory reset. Doesn't a factory reset wipe the phone? If that's the case, doesn't it wipe out the ROM?
Oh one more thing. Following this link, does this wipe the data from my phone? Anything I should back up before doing this? Should I do any updates before flashing CM 10?

CycoPuppet said:
Ok, so you flashed the ROM, didn't work so well, then you did a factory reset. Doesn't a factory reset wipe the phone? If that's the case, doesn't it wipe out the ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, a factory data reset doesn't wipe the ROM, but it does require running the initial setup (as if you were setting up a brand new phone).
CycoPuppet said:
...one more thing. Following this link, does this wipe the data from my phone? Anything I should back up before doing this? Should I do any updates before flashing CM 10?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You definitely want to back up everything you're not willing to lose. I ran a backup the very first thing after installing SafeStrap, and it was a good thing because with all my messing around I managed to bork my stock ROM to the point that it wouldn't boot. Fortunately, all I had to do was restore it from a backup.
My phone on CM 10.1 had enough issues with freezing and crashing that I decided this morning to try a different ROM. So far, I've had really good results with Icarus HD (a custom ICS ROM). I really don't know if my experience with CM 10.1 was typical.

OK, so I want to root. Now does rooting wipe any data? Regarding Safestrap, I install that first before rooting?

Rooting doesn't wipe any data. Root first, then install SafeStrap.

Okay, I will be rooting and installing safestrap when I get home for work today. I will still have more questions I am sure. I do have a few before I actually start rooting or right after.
I know safestrap makes a backup/recovory, but is it full recovery only or can I recover portions, like say my Dolphin browser with the settings and bookmarks?
I read that when making a backup of stock ROM, use sdcard, I'm sure that means external but when flashing a ROM, will that wipe data from the external card?
When setting up slots for multi booting ROMs, gernally how much storage do they need?
If I have two different ROMs, does it act like user accounts in Windows, would I have to download the same app on each ROM or do both ROMs have access?
Can one ROM have stuff I don't want the other ROM to have visible?

CycoPuppet said:
I know safestrap makes a backup/recovory, but is it full recovery only or can I recover portions, like say my Dolphin browser with the settings and bookmarks?
I read that when making a backup of stock ROM, use sdcard, I'm sure that means external but when flashing a ROM, will that wipe data from the external card?
When setting up slots for multi booting ROMs, gernally how much storage do they need?
If I have two different ROMs, does it act like user accounts in Windows, would I have to download the same app on each ROM or do both ROMs have access?
Can one ROM have stuff I don't want the other ROM to have visible?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. SafeStrap is full recovery only. Use Titanium Backup for backing up apps and data.
2. Flashing a ROM won't do anything to your external SD card.
3. When you set up ROM slots, you'll be asked how much room you'd like to allocate for data. The choices are 1, 2, or 3 GB. I started off allocating 3 GB to the stock ROM slot and was never able to load more than 3 separate ROMs before I ran out of room. I'd start with just using 1 GB for data.
4. Each ROM is an island. You have to download the apps separately (unless when you go through the initial setup you tell the system to restore apps and settings from the Google servers.)

Cool. I rooted and got safestrap but it's version 3.05 and not 3.11. Some ROM I was interested in said must have 3.11, which I am assuming that's the newest one so far. I did watch a tutorial about getting the current version, so no question there.
So the ROMs are separate islands and during flashing they can be in slots allocated up to 3GB. Does that mean that's the only amount of storage I can have when running that ROM? Say I like taking lots of photos and didn't save them to my external card, could I essentially run out of space or is the storage allocation just for the ROM itself and any updates it may have?
Sorry about these series of questions, just want to make sure I am doing it correctly in case I might make a mistake for future's sake.

The storage allocation is for the ROM, apps, and data that haven't been assigned to the external SD card. You can definitely run out of space if you load several ROMs and don't save any of your data to the external SD card.
Also, keep in mind that when VZW sends the OTA update to 4.1 next week, the only way to keep root is to root in ICS and use Voodoo OTA Rootkeeper to protect root before you take the OTA. If you flash the system image, you will lose root, and there is no known working root exploit for the Bionic JB release.

Lost Root
Hey, I used Voodoo before flashing the 4.1 update, but forgot to update the binary beforehand, and therefore lost root. Anyone have any luck yet with an exploit for the OTA?
And there's no working FXZ before this now, correct? This software is now the earliest version I can FXZ to?

auglove3rd said:
Hey, I used Voodoo before flashing the 4.1 update, but forgot to update the binary beforehand, and therefore lost root. Anyone have any luck yet with an exploit for the OTA?
And there's no working FXZ before this now, correct? This software is now the earliest version I can FXZ to?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not root exploit yet for bionic JB. And if you try to FXZ back to an earlier version, you will brick your phone.

OK, so I rooted, got safestrap tho still not updated to 3.11, got TBU (free), got Voodoo. I had to race the clock today cuz it was updating android, or at least downloading the update. The root process I used gave me SuperSU and didn't tell me the version for the SU binaries. I searched around and all I could find was info on SuperUser in regards to backing up root. I uninstalled SuperSU, kinda. I just told it to use a different SU cuz when I used SuperUser and updated the binaries, SuperSU wanted to update them, then I opened SuperUser and the binaries reverted back. I was worried so I just told SuperSU to use a different SU. Was that ok? I didn't update to JB yet. Has there been luck with the Bionic using voodoo and keeping root after the JB update?

All this back and forth means I'm making a full image backup, then trying various ROMs. I've tried CM10.1, too many issues (no car dock, trouble installing lots of apps, no speakerphone). Next is... Whizzed Bean?
EDIT: Seems Speakerphone issue was fixed in the 0420 nightly. Will have to try it again.
AND I copied all the backups to my PC, so I can restore them at will (provided the phone still boots, that is... )
If I can't find a JB ROM I like I guess I can do HouseofBionic reflash (which did NOT cause me to lose data, as I upgraded to ICS that way) then allow the JB OTA to go through.
*sigh*... So much bull**** in these updates.

Hope someone sees my question above. I still haven't updated to JB yet. Once I do I will be flashing ROMs. I am interested in CM, Liquid Smooth, Icarus Hd and Wizzed Bean or Synergy (executioner ) Both WB and Synergy look indentical. What is the differences.

CycoPuppet said:
Hope someone sees my question above. I still haven't updated to JB yet. Once I do I will be flashing ROMs. I am interested in CM, Liquid Smooth, Icarus Hd and Wizzed Bean or Synergy (executioner ) Both WB and Synergy look indentical. What is the differences.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WB is a fork of CNA (codename Android) 4.1 JB (which is itself based on AOSP)
while Synergy is a fork of the standard Moto ICS (.246).
Yes, they look identical because they both used the Samsung UI elements.