Hi all,
I'll start by apologising if this should be posted in Q&A, but my question relates to recommended practice when flashing ROMs, and I think the people with the necessary knowledge are mostly in here. But please do move this topic to Q&A if that's where it needs to be.
Also, I want to stress that I'm not trying to start any flaming, and I don't even expect to end up with a single "right answer".
My own experience...
I'm pretty new to this - maybe 5 flashes so far. I read everything I could before my first flash (you guys have been a huge help and I salute the community here). It seemed nearly everyone was recommending flashing back to stock first (and Master Clear). The reason seemed to be that it gives you (more or less) a clean slate, and therefore the best chance of a trouble-free flash.
I have no development background, so I thought "Well, that sounds sensible. That's what I'll do." Four flashes with no problems.
In the last few days over in the Phoenix thread, there's been some discussion about the wisdom of flashing to stock before flashing a new ROM. (In summary, every flash is risky, so why do flash to stock when it's not needed? It's another opportunity for the fickle hand of fate to brick your phone. sbl.bin has been identified as a particular risk)
So this morning I decided to try the other approach. I flashed Phoenix 2 over 1.5 and everything is working fine.
So I've had 5 successful flashes.
The first 4 I started by flashing to stock.
The last one I flashed straight over the previous ROM (same kernel, same lagfix etc).
Both approaches have worked for me, so I still have a genuinely open mind on this.
So let me try to phrase this right...
1. What are the risks involved in flashing back to stock, and how easy is it to recover if something goes wrong?
2. What are the risks of not flashing back to stock first, and how easy is it to recover if something goes wrong?
3. Are there any rules that can help us decide whether the risk of first flashing to stock is greater than the risk of flashing straight from Cool ROM A to Cool ROM B?
4. Are there any good dev practices that could reduce the risks either way?
Like I said, I'm not looking to start a war.
It's just that I haven't really seen much said at this level of detail (especially question 3), and my brain likes to understand stuff.
Personally, I just do a factory reset in CWM recovery before I flash anything new. I only flash back to stock when I want to get rid of voodoo and use something thats not compatible. I know you can disable voodoo but that takes forever compared to odin. I'm not that experienced but I've flashed over 100 times and the only thing that has ever broken my phone was the over the air update from att. I will never do one of those again. I agree with the consensus that flashing back to stock is unnecessary. Oh, and get ready for the this is in the wrong thread replies ;-).
Edit: I also use regular Odin and not the one click. I don't know why everyone uses it when there are so many complaints about it. Regular Odin is maybe 3 clicks.
{
"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"
}
Mikey you should make that your new wall paper
Sent from my liberated Captivate via XDA App.
Original, and totally agree.
majinzen said:
Oh, and get ready for the this is in the wrong thread replies ;-).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uh oh. Thanks for the warning
I wonder if I can get it moved before I'm the one that gets all the flames.
Mods - please can someone move this for me before I get wedgied?
Yeah totally kinda here with ya. It would be "preferable" to be able to flash on the go. Just looking at the Vibrant Thread most ROM's are just flashed through CWM, no ODIN, no Master Clear. I know every device is different, but if it is indeed unnecessary that would be great. As well as it would be very nice to know if you can upgrade a particular ROM without a computer. Nero and Axura VE can... Well the Dev's do great and I more importantly think it is for the protection of our device and not having to deal with people complain about "how to fix it..." and "whats wrong..."
I had the same questions myself even read some of the same sort of posts recently in the perception thread. Its been about six months since this phone has been out and maybe it's time to reevaluate what should be common practice. What was true in the beginning might not be true now.
Sent via Santa Clause thru the gingerbread cookies
Looks like I didn't need to worry about a flame war. We've got a group hug going on.
I'm still hoping for some more information though, especially question 3.
When is it ok to flash straight from A to B, and what risks are we accepting when we do that?
Likewise, when is it better to go from A to Stock to B, and what are the extra risks? If flashing to stock is necessary, is 1-click more risky than n-click?
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App
So can I flash perception...then a couple days later disable voodoo lagfix go into clockworkmod and clear data and factory reset. Then flash to another rom like pheonix...I know that's how I would flash on hatch aria...but I want to check and see if that's possible on the captivate
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App
When will you people stop disabling the lag fix...
Sent from my Captivate.
I had problems flashing to a new ROM without disabling the lagfix, so I always disable.
I never do a master clear, or Odin back to stock. I just CWM to the new ROM, but have always had horrible battery.
It will be awesome if we can install roms without losing all of our apps, settings, contacts, email, ect.. I just hate reinstalling all of my apps and reconfiguring all of my email accounts.
wpb2 said:
I had problems flashing to a new ROM without disabling the lagfix, so I always disable.
I never do a master clear, or Odin back to stock. I just CWM to the new ROM, but have always had horrible battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you CWM to new ROM, do you lose all of your data, settings, apps ect...?
Ok, so here's a good example of where we might get a better understanding of one part of the flashing process...
MikeyMike01 said:
When will you people stop disabling the lag fix...
Sent from my Captivate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So this sounds like disabling the lagfix is unnecessary. But on the other hand...
wpb2 said:
I had problems flashing to a new ROM without disabling the lagfix, so I always disable.
I never do a master clear, or Odin back to stock. I just CWM to the new ROM, but have always had horrible battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wpb2, can you remember which old & new ROM(s) you were flashing when you got the problems? Maybe there are features of those ROMs that (in hindsight) we can understand why the flash didn't play nice without a lagfix.
Maybe it tells us "when flashing between ROMs that differ in feature X, we should always disable lagfix".
Or maybe it identities something that the flash scripts could do, to take the guesswork out of it.
Or mybe time has moved on, and the same problems wouldn't happen today - maybe the "disable lagfix" days are behind us, but we're continuing to do it when we don't need to?
I don't have OCD or anything. It just seems like each procedure (disable lagfix / flash to stock / other procedure) carries a risk. So if we can figure out when the procedures are necessary / redundant, it will help us reduce the risk of trying to flash a cool new ROM and ending up with an expensive brick?
BTW, I appreciate the replies so far, and I apologise for my delayed reply - I'm in New Zealand (and also I've gone for a few days mountain biking but left my charger cable at home, so I'm nursing my battery a little).
The only time i disable lagfix before I flash a new rom is if, say i have all partitions formatted as JFS and the rom im flashing is using a kernel I want and it only supports ext4, for example voodoo, then I disable it, cause the new kernel wont support my old file system and that leads to something bad...but say I have Hardcores kernel already flashed, and all my partitions are ext4 and the rom im going to uses the same kernel or something similar (say Glitterballs, or Setirons kernel (something else that supports ext4) then there shouldnt be any reason to disable it.. Ive flashed probley, atleast 15-20 times from voodoo to either Setirons kernel or Hardcores kernel WITHOUT disabling voodoo for the simple fact of having /system ext4 instead of RFS...and ive never had a problem..thats just personal preference though, I just prefer my /system partition ext4
No offense to anybody at all but this thread is like a "should I format my hard drive before reinstalling Windows" thread. Sure it may work if you don't but why risk it? Especially if you're installing a ROM for testing purposes. Why not start clean and eliminate any bad/old files that could eventually cause problems? Just my $0.02.
I personally always Odin to stock, master clear and flash new ROM. Never an issue.
Escape311 said:
No offense to anybody at all but this thread is like a "should I format my hard drive before reinstalling Windows" thread. Sure it may work if you don't but why risk it? Especially if you're installing a ROM for testing purposes. Why not start clean and eliminate any bad/old files that could eventually cause problems?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No offence taken at all. Thanks for replying.
You're kind of right about the "should I format my hard hard drive" thing, and I wouldn't want to waste anyone's time just asking that kind of question. I'm actually asking for information that will help me know which approach to take, in which circumstances.
existz's post was exactly the kind of education I'm looking for...
existz said:
The only time i disable lagfix before I flash a new rom is if, say i have all partitions formatted as JFS and the rom im flashing is using a kernel I want and it only supports ext4, for example voodoo, then I disable it, cause the new kernel wont support my old file system and that leads to something bad...but say I have Hardcores kernel already flashed, and all my partitions are ext4 and the rom im going to uses the same kernel or something similar (say Glitterballs, or Setirons kernel (something else that supports ext4) then there shouldnt be any reason to disable it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So now I know how to decide whether to disable lagfix...
Do the old ROM & new ROM (kernels?) support the same file system?
If YES: I don't need to disable lagfix.
If NO: I do need to disable lagfix
This is probably obvious to you guys (thanks for not flaming me & my noob questions that might be in the wrong forum). But it's good education for folks like me. Now that I've learned that flashing to stock / disabling lagfix carry their own risks, so I don't want to do them if I don't have to.
Not much education so far about the risks of flashing to stock, but I should probably just let this thread die. It's a shame though. There are plenty of opinions for & against flashing to stock, and there seem to be smart & respected people on both sides. I just can't find any information.
Thanks everyone for your replies, and particularly to existz. I'm just a little bit smarter now than I was when I posted the topic.
As for flashing to stock - given that it carries the risk of serious brickery (and the risks of not flashing to stock seem minor by comparison), I reckon I'll be following the flowchart on page 1 from now on.
Unless someone posts some more education to explain why that's a dumb ass move.
The response is going to vary based on both people's experience and their phones. I never flash to stock before installing a new ROM, I simply wipe data and cache using CWM before installing, then restore my apps and contacts with Titanium Backup. I've never had a problem with this method.
But here is where things get a bit complicated. Why don't I flash back to stock? It's not because I'm lazy or because I like taking risks. It's because (in my case, as well as with many others) my Captivate can't be flashed to stock JF6. The closest I can get is JH7, which requires flashing to JH2 first, a much riskier and less simple process.
For me (and supposedly others), attempting to 'one-click' my phone (or use another version of Odin, including the 3-button fix version) is a 'success' message in Odin, followed by a bricked phone, no ADB connection and no button combos. Time to break out the jig again...
I can't agree that it's generally less risky to flash back to stock first, as you still use a non-official method of writing to your phone's ROM, which is just an additional chance for a full-brick (corrupted sbl.bin means you need RIFF JTAG to fix). For custom ROM's that don't include this file (and no-wipe ROM's), there is a significantly reduced chance of really messing things up. At worst, you might not get past the boot screen, or you might get some FC's, and then you can either wipe and try again, or move onto flashing stock if nothing else works.
I spent a lot of time reading threads again today serendipity and phoenix and noticed at least once someone had issues understanding how clockwork actually works. They didn't understand that the update zip that rom manager puts on the root of the sd card is what loads clockwork, and that reapplying the update zip loads it compared to applying a zip from sd_card is a different operation all together.they can be used the same, but they are missing the small diffences of the operation. Something that more experienced users are missing is just how much clockwork has changed in six months. Now it's in the kernal and has many more features. The problem is the stock answer for fixing problems flash to stock instead of learn to use clockwork better. As of yet I haven't seen any good guides for clockwork, and all the lag options, at least not the pages and pages of how to flash stock which really could use a good rehashing.
Sent via Santa Clause thru the gingerbread cookies
Related
Hi All,
As the title reads... I am looking for an experienced XDA'er here in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada to help me out. Allow me to explain...
I purchased my Galaxy S (I9000M) at the end of August 2010 coming from a Samsung Omnia i910 WM6.1. I wanted to move to Android due to its vast opensource abilities and so I could learn to mod, flash, etc and really enjoy what a "smartphone" has to offer but since getting the phone, all I have read is how terrible it is, how it breaks, bad gps, faulty internal sd card, etc, etc, etc and so most of my reading here on XDA since getting my SGS has been about this type of thing and not about the GOOD stuff.
Now with this being said, I have been one of the lucky ones so it seems. My GPS is not the greatest but it is not bad for what I ever need it for. I have never had my sd card fail ("KNOCK ON WOOD") and at the same time, I have never flashed anything through Odin, CWM etc. I have only ever flashed through Kies and I am now on the newest FroYo for Bell Mobility which is JL2.
Seeing as how I seem to have been lucky with my phone, I have started reading more on how to flash kernels, custom ROMs, etc and I am now more interested than ever especially since Samsung has supposedly said that this JL2 firmware has fixed the bugs that were killing i9000M's by the boat load but... I am scared to get past the reading and just take the damn plunge so...
I am looking for an experienced XDA'er here in Edmonton who may be able to offer me the assistance of "showing me" exactly how and what needs to be done to "properly" flash a custom kernel, ROM, theme(s), etc and perhaps even give me a lesson or two in the Android system itself as I really do like this type of thing. I am not dumb or anything but coming from a WM phone and being someone who has grown up only on Windows there are definitely things that I dont get about Linux and Android and some of the terminology is quite confusing.
I would be willing to "donate" for the help and/or lesson(s) and I really hope there is someone out here that would be willing the help me out.
Please PM me or even post a reply here if you are interested in being of assistance and I ask everyone else to please be kind with your replies as I am looking to learn here and do not wish to be discouraged by rude comments.
Thank You in advane...
yiannisthegreek
Anyone in the Edmonton area?
It'd probably be easier to get someone to help you online, or simply to teach yourself. It really isn't too difficult to follow a guide in order to flash a kernel, ROM, etc.
Also, people aren't going to respond instantly, so you should probably wait longer than an hour and a half before bumping this topic.
seeARMS said:
It'd probably be easier to get someone to help you online, or simply to teach yourself. It really isn't too difficult to follow a guide in order to flash a kernel, ROM, etc.
Also, people aren't going to respond instantly, so you should probably wait longer than an hour and a half before bumping this topic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply seeARMS. Ya I know... Im a bit impatient which I guess is another one of my issues with flashing. Like I said... I have read a bunch and for example, today I was going to try flashing Hardcores K12j kernel and I downloaded it and I downloaded Odin and I got confused at the instructions as follows...
"Download Odin from from here. Extract the Odin.exe file into a temporary folder, for example C:\Temp\Odin\." (I extracted it to my Downloads folder)
Download the SpeedMod kernel.
If you are using the Galaxy S, download the kernel from here.
If you are using the AT&T Captivate, download the kernel from here.
Make sure to download the Odin flashable version (not the -CWM version).
Extract the speedmod-kernel-x-y.tar file from the zip file into the same directory as Odin. (Again... I extracted it to my Downloads folder. I dont think I understand what it means by saying te "extract it to the same directory")
Now here is where I get stuck and give up. I know its silly but I was hoping that someone could physically show me how to do this, get it done and from there I could learn from that person so I could then do it on my own.
Ya... I know it sounds stupid. Perhaps you could explain the Odin thing for me above where I am getting stuck? That would be a great help to start...
yiannisthegreek said:
Thanks for the reply seeARMS. Ya I know... Im a bit impatient which I guess is another one of my issues with flashing. Like I said... I have read a bunch and for example, today I was going to try flashing Hardcores K12j kernel and I downloaded it and I downloaded Odin and I got confused at the instructions as follows...
"Download Odin from from here. Extract the Odin.exe file into a temporary folder, for example C:\Temp\Odin\." (I extracted it to my Downloads folder)
Download the SpeedMod kernel.
If you are using the Galaxy S, download the kernel from here.
If you are using the AT&T Captivate, download the kernel from here.
Make sure to download the Odin flashable version (not the -CWM version).
Extract the speedmod-kernel-x-y.tar file from the zip file into the same directory as Odin. (Again... I extracted it to my Downloads folder. I dont think I understand what it means by saying te "extract it to the same directory")
Now here is where I get stuck and give up. I know its silly but I was hoping that someone could physically show me how to do this, get it done and from there I could learn from that person so I could then do it on my own.
Ya... I know it sounds stupid. Perhaps you could explain the Odin thing for me above where I am getting stuck? That would be a great help to start...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure. So, you have your Downloads folder, with the Odin.exe file in it. Open it up. Now, open up the Speedmod ZIP file you downloaded. (Should be called something like: "speedmod-kernel-k12k-500hz.zip") Inside this file, you should find a similarly named .TAR file. This is the file we're going to be flashing.
Extract this .TAR file anywhere (for simplicity, just extract it into the Downloads folder where your odin.exe file is). With Odin open, click the "PDA" button on the right side, and navigate to where the .TAR file is. Select the TAR file.
Make sure Odin looks exactly like this:
{
"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"
}
(MAKE SURE NOTHING ELSE IS CHECKED)
After doing this, put your phone into Download mode up holding the volume down + home button + power button until you see the "SAMSUNG" text. You should now see the following on your screen:
After you see this, connect your phone to your computer, and click "Start". You're done!
To verify it flashed correctly, after your phone boots, go to Settings -> About, and make sure Kernel said "Speedmod".
If you need any more help, just ask.
@seeARMS,
When I try to "open" or extract anything from the .zip file all I see inside it is something called "zimage". I use winrar to unzip files.
When I double click the kernal file and winrar opens, it says that the .zip IS the .tar so what do I do? Do I extract the zimage file and drop that into odin or do I just drop the .zip file in?
Please explain... and THANKS for your help...
EDIT: Can you tell me what kernel you are using and why?
yiannisthegreek said:
@seeARMS,
When I try to "open" or extract anything from the .zip file all I see inside it is something called "zimage". I use winrar to unzip files.
When I double click the kernal file and winrar opens, it says that the .zip IS the .tar so what do I do? Do I extract the zimage file and drop that into odin or do I just drop the .zip file in?
Please explain... and THANKS for your help...
EDIT: Can you tell me what kernel you are using and why?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You want to import the .TAR file into Odin, not the zImage file.
If you're interested in flashing my custom ROM visit this thread and read the second post (installation instructions).
P.S. That ROM uses the latest SpeedMod kernel, K12K. There are basically two kernels I'd choose from: this, and the Voodoo kernel (or the variation of the voodoo kernel, the Advanced Voodoo kernel). I've tried both, and although they're similar, I prefer the SpeedMod kernel. Personally I believe it's generally faster, but a ton of ROM devs have different opinions.
If you need any extra help, feel free to ask.
seeARMS said:
You want to import the .TAR file into Odin, not the zImage file.
If you're interested in flashing my custom ROM visit this thread and read the second post (installation instructions).
P.S. That ROM uses the latest SpeedMod kernel, K12K. There are basically two kernels I'd choose from: this, and the Voodoo kernel (or the variation of the voodoo kernel, the Advanced Voodoo kernel). I've tried both, and although they're similar, I prefer the SpeedMod kernel. Personally I believe it's generally faster, but a ton of ROM devs have different opinions.
If you need any extra help, feel free to ask.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So then the.zip IS the .tar? And if I want to flasy your rom then I need this kernal first for 2e recovery correct?
I've only had my Galaxy i9000 for about a month, but I can tell you not to worry about all the negatives you've been hearing. There are many, many positives that really go "untold" in comparison to people complaining
Trust me, you'll enjoy the phone
Kops said:
I've only had my Galaxy i9000 for about a month, but I can tell you not to worry about all the negatives you've been hearing. There are many, many positives that really go "untold" in comparison to people complaining
Trust me, you'll enjoy the phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I REALLY hope so. Im gunna try my very first kernel flash here right away thanks to seeARMS help and then Im gunna try out his new JL2 ROM as a Thank You for my very first custom ROM!!! Wish me luck...
Much THANKS to seeARMS!!!
Thanks so much seeARMS for taking the time and effort to help guide me into my FIRST kernel flash which will lead me to flashing your new JL2 ROM as a true show of my appreciation!!!
I dont have a PayPal acct (yet) but Im going to get one and I will be sending you a donation for your help and support!!!
Thanks again and also, thanks for creating for our Canadian SGS i9000M's!!!
Yes and if you really do get stuck I do live in edmonton, alberta. I've gone through my fair share of ups and downs with this phone and have a working knowledge, and now on my way learning on creating custom themes. There are a few tricks for the most part your learn as you go, but mostly when you start tweaking and adding in lagfix's. But from my experience try to flash custom kernel. I recommend Hardcore's speedmod also. He is constantly tweaking and always updating. Which is a curse in one hand and a blessing in another. After flashing his kernel all you have to do is download custom firmwares to the internal sd card and update through ROM Manager / Recovery Mode. Be aware that BELL I9000M are a very finicky phone when it comes to the SDcard failing. You won't be warned most of the time of failures until apps just start force closing on you after a flash to days later. It a chance you take and sometimes feels like its the direct cause of a flash, but its not. I believe the equipment is faulty to begin with. Stressing of the SD card whether flashing or recording video's or other heavy operation will have the same effect on the internal SD card in terms of it failing.
Woolios said:
Yes and if you really do get stuck I do live in edmonton, alberta. I've gone through my fair share of ups and downs with this phone and have a working knowledge, and now on my way learning on creating custom themes. There are a few tricks for the most part your learn as you go, but mostly when you start tweaking and adding in lagfix's. But from my experience try to flash custom kernel. I recommend Hardcore's speedmod also. He is constantly tweaking and always updating. Which is a curse in one hand and a blessing in another. After flashing his kernel all you have to do is download custom firmwares to the internal sd card and update through ROM Manager / Recovery Mode. Be aware that BELL I9000M are a very finicky phone when it comes to the SDcard failing. You won't be warned most of the time of failures until apps just start force closing on you after a flash to days later. It a chance you take and sometimes feels like its the direct cause of a flash, but its not. I believe the equipment is faulty to begin with. Stressing of the SD card whether flashing or recording video's or other heavy operation will have the same effect on the internal SD card in terms of it failing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Woolis,
Thanks for the info and the reply. I will definitely keep you in mind should I have a need to have a "pro" look at my phone if it is messed up some how and the fact that you are here in Edmonton is a REAL blessing!!!
Hey all. Just joined the forums a few minutes ago and I have a burning question on why it is necessary to flash back to stock with odin before you try different roms. Why can you not just boot into clockwork, factory wipe, wipe cache, wipe d cache and then simply load the new rom from sd? The reason I ask is because I have been bouncing between cognition and paragon for about 2 weeks now NOT using the method of flashing back to stock 2.1 without a single problem. I'm sure there is a good reason flashing back to 2.1 before trying new roms, I would just like to know why. I was able to preform a stock wipe using odin3 one time last week (just did it to make sure the phone would do it) it just seems like a really long process, but I'll start doing it that way to avoid a brick.
Thanks
to be safe, and some roms mod files that others dont, some roms depend on apps and files in the stock rom that might be different or not there at all in other roms.
long process? extra 5 minutes when you get used to it. if you are ATT use ODIN ONE CLICK to restore stock 2.1 (hint: it takes one click)
For the most part, you don't really need to flash back to stock. It used to be a bigger deal to flash back to stock because some of the Roms would intervene with each other and mess things up. It is still recommened for a clean flash, but I rarely do it and my flashes work great.
EDIT: @Trusselo: damn it! Second time someone beat me to the answer tonight!
HAHA
and forget ODIN ONE CLICK !!
i keep forgetting about this
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=944418
ALL IN ONE CAPTIVATE TOOLBOX
I have been trying roms weekly since November and have only needed to flash to stock twice, after failed flashes caused by my lack of patience. YMMV of course
jayjr1105 said:
Hey all. Just joined the forums a few minutes ago and I have a burning question on why it is necessary to flash back to stock with odin before you try different roms. Why can you not just boot into clockwork, factory wipe, wipe cache, wipe d cache and then simply load the new rom from sd?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not necessary and not even a good idea. Also, why wipe cache and d-cache when the install script does that?
Trusselo said:
to be safe, and some roms mod files that others dont, some roms depend on apps and files in the stock rom that might be different or not there at all in other roms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ROMs don't mod or use any files which are on the phone prior to installing them. All the files on your phone after the install were in the CWM flashable zip file. Any ROM cook would be stupid to do otherwise. The exception would be no-wipe ROMs, but you would never flash to stock before using one of those.
Ive also wondered this as well and talking to guys like opcow, and a couple other Devs such as MikeyMike and a lot of guys at the Andromeda IRC they all agree that you should be perfectly fine now as long as you wipe everything before you flash.
I may try with Andromeda when I get home because I have my PC and Jig there just in case but still may try now. But also tlaking to a lot of users that they dont even do it anymore now because of the install scripts and as Opcow said if you think logically its technically safer.
Trusselo said:
long process? extra 5 minutes when you get used to it. if you are ATT use ODIN ONE CLICK to restore stock 2.1 (hint: it takes one click)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually thats not true at all.
If your a build 1009 and under you can use the one click. Although the build 1008 sometimes have problems.
But for the Build 1010's and up (like me) you have to use Odin3 and take a good 30-40 minutes just to get to JH7 because half of the time I lose my 3 buttons then have to push the 3 button fix over via ADB. I have gotten use it and its a pain in the ass.
And the time I listened to someone that says ALL ATT people can use the one click it completely ****ed my phone and if I didnt have a jig my phone would have been completely screwed up.
Im not trying to be rude im just saying I saw a post very similar to that a couple weeks ago and it came very close to completely bricking my phone and reading posts here now saying they have the same problem and if they dont have a jig they just got a 200 dollar paper weight.
Sorry for getting off topic back to topic today Im going to flash Andromeda over Darkyy 9.3 and wipe data cache and d cache in CWM and see how it goes although everyone and even the devs and a lot of users now a days say it should work perfectly.
Dlev7 said:
Actually thats not true at all.
If your a build 1009 and under you can use the one click. Although the build 1008 sometimes have problems.
But for the Build 1010's and up (like me) you have to use Odin3 and take a good 30-40 minutes just to get to JH7 because half of the time I lose my 3 buttons then have to push the 3 button fix over via ADB. I have gotten use it and its a pain in the ass.
And the time I listened to someone that says ALL ATT people can use the one click it completely ****ed my phone and if I didnt have a jig my phone would have been completely screwed up.
Im not trying to be rude im just saying I saw a post very similar to that a couple weeks ago and it came very close to completely bricking my phone and reading posts here now saying they have the same problem and if they dont have a jig they just got a 200 dollar paper weight.
Sorry for getting off topic back to topic today Im going to flash Andromeda over Darkyy 9.3 and wipe data cache and d cache in CWM and see how it goes although everyone and even the devs and a lot of users now a days say it should work perfectly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 Guys if you don't know exactly what to do/suggest please don't say it. I'm not trying to start a war, but a wrong suggestion can easily soft or hard brick someones phone. This is a forum, so no one can stop you from saying things, but think about if it happened to you? You would be pissed!
Anyways back on topic, what model phone do you have, because having a 1009 model phone makes flashing and going back to stock (usually) so much easier. But then again, I rarely use odin because all the roms are compatible for the most part.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App
I've never used ODIN because I haven't wanted to try to run it from GNU/Linux in a virtual box.
I just wipe and flash from clockwork like the op. Been flashing roms for a couple months now, never had a single problem. (except when I noobed it up by trying to flash back to a nandroid backup via Rom Manager. Even then, didn't need Odin to sort it out).
If I ever run into a problem, then I'll try Odin, but I'm waiting to cross that bridge till I come to it.
To prevent exceptions or troubles from the version you already have... so everybody comes from the same rom, understand?
I flash to jf6 because that's what I have been conditioned to do for a while. However, the few times I was impatient and didn't....no problems either.
From all the reading I've done here, the only reason to do it is for the placebo effect.
There was once a time when all the new roms were built on the unofficial froyo and it only had 3e recovery. The quickest way to get around that was to flash stock. Also the lag fixes were tricky and easily fixed by flashing stock. Now recovery is in the kernel. As long as you insure the kernal lag fix in rom A understands the kernal lag fix in rom B flash away. Nandroid backups are kind of useless they don't backup the kernal or the modem. Save odin for when things go really wrong(;~ )
Sent from my i897 using XDA App
I have done it both ways, and there its no difference going back to stock and or flashing over other roms. I flash often, have not got stick in boot loop in months
I like to go back to stock since I KNOW that everything has been defaulted back to normal. Just a security blanket step for me.
I flashed andromeda over darkyy 9.3 just wiping data cache and d cache. Nothing wrong. Everything worked perfect so I got to believe that if you just wipe everything it should work perfectly.
Just for safety I got a jig and odin but for now I'm saving a good 45 minutes to not flash back to stock
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App
I have been trying to find answers for a week now and have found a lot of info. The problem is most of the info is contradictory and I'm not really sure which is good and which is not. I currently have an AT&T Samsung Captivate, firmware ver 2.2, kernel ver. 2.6.32.9 build# FROYO.UCKB1. I believe that is the stock At&t froyo build. It is rooted, I do have SGS tools (which I don't really understand what all it can do for me) and Titanium backup (which I've not tried to use yet for fear of breaking my phone). I run 91PandaHome and a bunch of apps I like.
My problem is that the phone sometimes is just really sluggish, certain programs really kill it. For example, I have PlantVsZombies which mostly runs ok, but sometimes slows down and worse 3 out of 5 times I play will not close. I have to power/volume up reboot to get out of the game. Other programs occasionally do this to me, but not as often.
I've been reading up and see that there are lagfixes, and understand that samsung apparently chose a ****ty file system, but I don't understand android well enough to know what's safe. What I want to know is what is as of today the safest, easiest way to fix the lag. I think I am going to be told something that changes the file system to ext4 is what I want, but I really don't understand what will be safe to use for that. I thought I wanted OneClickLagFix, then I found that maybe Voodoo was what I wanted, and now it seems that neither is currently being developed. Reliability, ease of transition and ease of putting it back to stock are important factors for me.
Suggestions, links and general help will be greatly appreciated.
Try going to a custom rom where all of that is done for you. Since you are new to this, I suggest you go look up the rom Serendipity 6.4, it's very easy to install and has it's own thread in the development section.
fianor said:
I have been trying to find answers for a week now and have found a lot of info. The problem is most of the info is contradictory and I'm not really sure which is good and which is not. I currently have an AT&T Samsung Captivate, firmware ver 2.2, kernel ver. 2.6.32.9 build# FROYO.UCKB1. I believe that is the stock At&t froyo build. It is rooted, I do have SGS tools (which I don't really understand what all it can do for me) and Titanium backup (which I've not tried to use yet for fear of breaking my phone). I run 91PandaHome and a bunch of apps I like.
My problem is that the phone sometimes is just really sluggish, certain programs really kill it. For example, I have PlantVsZombies which mostly runs ok, but sometimes slows down and worse 3 out of 5 times I play will not close. I have to power/volume up reboot to get out of the game. Other programs occasionally do this to me, but not as often.
I've been reading up and see that there are lagfixes, and understand that samsung apparently chose a ****ty file system, but I don't understand android well enough to know what's safe. What I want to know is what is as of today the safest, easiest way to fix the lag. I think I am going to be told something that changes the file system to ext4 is what I want, but I really don't understand what will be safe to use for that. I thought I wanted OneClickLagFix, then I found that maybe Voodoo was what I wanted, and now it seems that neither is currently being developed. Reliability, ease of transition and ease of putting it back to stock are important factors for me.
Suggestions, links and general help will be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just a few quick things:
Titanium backup is a good friend to have on your phone. It won't break it - it will just take snapshots (for lack of a better phrase) of your apps so that you can restore them later if you need to.
Most lagfixes are cooked into kernels, so using lagfix will most likely go hand-in-hand with flashing to a custom rom. Not that you can't lagfix stock, but statistically speaking, lagfix will be done with a new kernel via the Clockworkmod Recovery Menu.
As for general fixing of lagginess... (READ UP FIRST) Flash a custom Rom (READ MORE). Most of the problems you're experiencing (ARE YOU READING UP ON FLASHING?) should be fixed by flashing (DO MORE READING) a custom rom. Do some research on roms and pick one that you think you'll like. (Note - don't post questions asking which one to do, it tends to be a bit of a touchy subject on the forum.) If you're wanting to be cautious, it would be safer to stay with a Froyo-based rom, as they're more tested and there's less danger involved (specifically, you don't have to flash bootloaders, which is the area where you can get a real brick).
Oh, and (shameless self plug) if you need to know what different terminology and items on the forum mean, just click the link in my signature.
jmtheiss said:
Just a few quick things:
Titanium backup is a good friend to have on your phone. It won't break it -
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, it CAN break your phone if you don't know how to use it. Backing up is safe, but never, ever restore system data with TiBu when changing ROMs and only restore app data you know is safe.
I would recommend staying away from any Gingerbread-based ROMs until you have a better understanding of the phone and the process. Andromeda 3 is a good choice for a Froyo-based ROM and is very easy to flash, but do your research on the process before you attempt it. Almost any custom ROM will have a lagfix in the kernel and performance will be noticeably better than stock. You will likely have to redo your root after installing a new ROM, so read up on that process, too.
jmtheiss said:
As for general fixing of lagginess... (READ UP FIRST) Flash a custom Rom (READ MORE). Most of the problems you're experiencing (ARE YOU READING UP ON FLASHING?) should be fixed by flashing (DO MORE READING) a custom rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I lol'd at the "()" parts
To build on jmtheiss post. For "reliability" look for a KB1 based ROM as this is what your phone is currently running, and is the newest version of firmware written specifically for the AT&T captivate. You won't come across any major issues that make the phone unusable, nor any "annoying" bugs. Then if your feeling more adventurous, and have gotten a solid understanding of the process of flashing ROMs, look to I9000 based 2.2.x ROMs, and lastly 2.3.x based ROMs.
For "ease of transition" start by getting the SGS Kernel Flasher or Heimdall to change the kernel. From there you can get past 3e recovery and you'll be free to make other changes.
For "ease of putting it back to stock" first find out what is your stock. Since this phone technically has 3 different "stock" firmwares. Then get a copy of that firmware (and steps on how to flash it) and keep it on your computer, in a location you'll be able to find easily in case of problems. Depending on how far "to the dark side" you go, will effect just how much of the "stock" files you'll need to keep as backups.
Personally I'd suggest this ROM as it's whats currently on my phone. Many have started off with Cognition and it's still a crowd fav. Both are KB1 based ROMs
Hi everyone,
I have a Galaxy S that is rooted, but runs on stock Froyo.
In the last couple of weeks/months it has been slugging to a slow halt though... when I start it up, it can take tens of minutes to be ready to use. And when I use it, it sometimes shows black screens for minutes at a time.
Using this 'high-end' phone has become a very, very painful process for me.
So I started looking for answers. And I found them. A LOT of them.
So much, I am not sure where to start.
The last few days I have been casually reading and taking in data from this forum, but I have yet failed to form me a proper view of what to do... Kernels, ROMs, speed fixes, modems... help?
I am sorry if I am breaking any rules; I did search, and I did read. However, no thread I found has a proper and up-to-date guide regarding the best way to get my phone to be a powerhouse, not a snail.
(Could I keep my current apps installed?)
I would very much appreciate anyone who is willing to donate some time to get me going. I know some programming and am the families 'go-to-guy' when it comes to computers, so I should be ok once I get some pointers on what to look for.
Thank you for reading (and responding?),
MM
I dunno if this will help you anyway i'll post it http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=939752
I did read that; thanks for the suggestion though.
It doesn't really go into kernels/roms/modems etc. which my main confusion is about.
I just downloaded darky's ROM... Reading their site, but I am afraid of losing my apps, not going to 2.3, having it interfere with my lagfix etc. =/
If you are afraid of loosing apps you can use titanium backup. You can download it from the market. I can't tell you anymore because that thread explains very well what you have to do. But i can say that after some time it will be very easy and you will not be afraid to flash a kernel or a rom. I post this too but i think you have read this too http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=723596
I did read that... I missed the 2.2 / 2.3 part however.
I planned on using Darky's ROM but that link says its a Froyo ROM.
Which one is better, currently; Cyanogen (Gingerbread) or Darky's (Froyo)?
Edit: also, while that post lists a lot of options, it in no way goes into which is the best option for which people...
Increasing the confusion a little bit more, so to speak.
Try cyanogenmod and darkyy rom and decide which is the best. I can't recommend anything you have to decide. But i suggest to upgrade to gingerbread. Your phone will get smoother. (darky's 10.2 is based on jvq a 2.3.4 gingerbread firmware). Link: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1061946 http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=814091. Remember: with cyanogenmod you have to use different kernels
Mad Maniak said:
The last few days I have been casually reading and taking in data from this forum, but I have yet failed to form me a proper view of what to do... Kernels, ROMs, speed fixes, modems... help?
MM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm a noob but I'll try to clear out few things for you.
From what I understand ROMs are like operating systems you use on PC.you currently have a froyo ROM running and flashing a gingerbread ROM will be like going from windows XP to windows 7.
when you download a ROM and unrar it you'll see 3 files.
PDA is the main one. PDA is Android and the apps that come with it. MODEM is the firmware of the wireless chipset of the device, it controls WiFi, Bluetooth and 3G/2G/GSM connections. The CSC holds connection data for the broadband networks as well as apps that are only available in certain languages/intended for a specific area or operator.
A kernel is like the heart of the operating system.It manages the system resources and acts as bridge between the software and hardware.
Now there are stock kernels and custom kernels. when you flash(install) a stock ROM all the necessary things are installed along with the stock kernel.
But if you wish you can flash custom kernels over stock kernels.
The speed/lag fix things you have read are basically conversion of file systems to enhance the I/O performance of your phone. You should know of the NTFS,FAT32 file systems in windows, similarly you android phone can have RFS,EXT4 file system. when you flash a stock rom RFS is default file system that gets installed.Many say that this RFS is to blame for the lag,slowness in our phone so what we do? we convert to EXT4. but to convert to EXT4 you need to be running a custom kernel.
So let me tell you this go on and flash a stock gingerbread rom, Im using the latest stock 2.3.4 XXJVR and you should try it. then you flash the voodoo kernel for XXJVR. it'll root your phone,convert the file system to EXT4.
reply if you have confusions.
cheers
Now you are on froyo. If you want to upgrade to gingerbread you should loose your application. Because if you backup your application using titanium backup or any other software from froyo. Its not advisable to restore in gingerbread. It will give always problem. So better way is download Drakys v10.2RE and do a fresh install.
http://samsung-sgs.blogspot.com/2011/08/how-to-flash-darkys-rom-v102-re.html
This happened to me once, when I was already on Froyo, lagfix activated, etc.
Took forever to boot, and was slow as hell.
Reason: faulty microsd card. The phone kept trying to read from it, and was unable to. I tried taking out the card and... voilá!
You could be still on Éclair and no lag fix activated, the phone would never behave like that. Try taking out the microsd card.
(Couldn't even read the card in the computer, so you see).
Hi guys, a small update:
I got Darky's 10.2, which is VERY smooth.
I reformatted my external microSD and put my stuff (music) back on it. Clean install on the internal SD.
It is a very enjoyable device once again. Two issues:
-It sometimes hangs on a black screen which I can't get out of with the home button. It seems only a battery in-and-out fixes this. (This issue worries me; is the internal SD corrupted?)
-The external microSD sometimes needs to be ejected and re-inserted to work.
Any solutions regarding that? Should I get a new microSD, or even contact Samsung to ask for a new phone (especially the first issue worries me... a lot).
Again, thanks a lot for the very extensive answers.
Especially marib; your post was very informative, and I'll be keeping a bookmark of it for future reference... thanks!
I think you could search for this issues in the darky's thread and if not found post the issue there to get a promt solution.
forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=814091
Yeah, figured as much.
Will be tackeling these issues in the weekend.
Just thought of posting them in this here thread too. Might have gotten lucky, and the thread was here anywho.
Again, thanks.
The title pretty much says it all. I've been reading for days and my eyes are burning yet I still haven't found anything exactly like what I'm asking...and I don't want to keep asking stupid questions in the dev section.....
I was on a custom Froyo ROM for a long time and finally got around to trying out SlimICS 4.2 a couple of weeks ago. The instructions called for a CM9 flash first, then SlimICS. It all worked perfectly and I love the ROM.
I've never tried GB and am still on Froyo bootloaders. I would like to switch to GB bootloaders, maybe for no good reason at all. I figure in the long run it will be a good idea. (different rom, kernel, JB, whatever)
I was told that trying to use Odin to simply flash GB bootloaders over an ICS rom and kernel might be a bad idea. I'm hoping someone has successfully done this but most of my reading has got me feeling a bit cautious about bootloaders...
I'm looking for a simple, logical sequence to get me back exactly where I am (ICS) but with GB bootloaders. Perhaps back to a custom Froyo rom/kernel then flash GB bootloaders then back to ICS? I'm guessing that cwm will be able to restore the state of my current rom after all that. I'm so sick of setting up everything from scratch and Titanium can only do so much....
Thanks
Here ya go...
U cannot flash the GB Bootloaders while you are running a Rom that has the mtd/yaffs or yaffs2 partition, that is, a CM, MIUI, ICS, JellyBean and such like. U will need to be on a bml/rfs partition, that is, a Stock Rom or at least a Dev Rom based from a stock firmware.
Do an Nandroid Backup on what you are running currently.
Backup everything you do want to save...apps, contacts, messages, emails, pics, efs folder, etc.
Then you will need to flash back to Stock GB Firmware with Bootloaders included. The i897ucKK4 is the latest official. Here is Stock I897UCKK4 Android 2.3.5 One Clicks. Use the Odin or Heimdall version that includes the GB Bootloaders. If you have a newer Captivate that does not like using the One Clicks, then see this thread for the .tar package of the i897ucKK4... [ROM] I897UCKK4 [17.11.2011][Android 2.3.5]. With this you will probably have to wipedata/factory reset first. Then use regular Odinv3 1.83 or similar to flash it. **Note: Flashing Bootloaders is risky. So be sure you have a trust worthy micro usb/usb cable, constant power source, etc. You don't want to loose power or connection during the few seconds that the bootloaders are being flashed. Bad bootloader flash = hard brick.
Once you are successfully back on Stock KK4, then go to this thread... [KERNEL][KK4][1/28/11] Corn Kernel and use the regular Odin to flash the .tar 7.0A version of this kernel. This will give you the CWM Recovery that you need.
Then reboot into CWM and reinstall the ICS Rom you were on before per that Rom's install instructions.
Once you are booted up on that ICS Rom, reboot into the Recovery of that Rom and then you can Restore your backup that you did at the beginning of this process.
You should be good now.
For issues along the way with connections to the pc, download mode, etc. please see this thread... Captivate Connection Issues and Download Mode Help
The most direct route would be to flash a Gingerbread-based Stock rom with bootloaders from your current setup. This will put you back at stock (including your partitioning), so you'll have to flash as if you're going to CM-based roms for the first time when you go back to ICS/JB.
Obviously, there's all the normal cautions of backing up, bootloader dangers, etc.
@ jmtheiss... I Ninja'd ya by a few minutes. Lol
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They both said it better than I could have but what it comes down to is there is no "simple" way to go about what you are wanting to do...
Sent from my SGH-I897 using xda app-developers app
I don't think a lousy "thanks" even begins to cover it. I really appreciate when someone puts that much effort into helping somebody out. Cheers!
And that definitely qualifies as "simple" enough...better than something requiring rooting again and getting a functional recovery, etc. A couple of Odin sessions and a couple of cwm flashes are fine.
Thanks again guys.
bcflyfisher said:
I was told that trying to use Odin to simply flash GB bootloaders over an ICS rom and kernel might be a bad idea. I'm hoping someone has successfully done this but most of my reading has got me feeling a bit cautious about bootloaders...
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have done it successfully a couple of times without any issues. I have only done it when absolutely necessary since they do say there's some risk there.
What I don't understand is how you *could* run ICS without GB bootloaders? I didn't think that was possible.
I'm living proof. I was hesitant but their instructions said if coming from Froyo flash CM9 first then SlimICS. I flipped a coin and it worked fine. The developer of Slim (krarvind) knows I'm on Froyo bootloaders and didn't seem too phased by it. Whether or not I'd be able to jump to JB with whatever kernel is unknown so I'm going to backtrack a little and do what I probably should have in the first place.
Here's an update of what I did just in case it's helpful to someone else down the road.......
I did my best to follow the suggestions given by 4-2ndtwin in the 2nd post. I generally have pretty good backups of everything done but I did new ones just for kicks. Nandroid, Titanium Backup, efs, SMS, call log, APN, and a few other things. I downloaded all the necessary files, and laid them all out sequentially on my screen so I wouldn't get distracted and screw up. In the end I'm pretty much exactly where I wanted to be but of course there were a few unexpected issues.
- The Heimdall One-Click of stock GB with bootloaders was very easy. I had Samsung drivers on the computer already but Heimdall insisted on installing new ones. After that it did its thing and I was on official KK4 with GB bootloaders.
- Next up was regular Odin flash of the Corn Kernel. When I connected the phone in download mode Odin didn't give me a yellow light. If I connected the phone while it was NOT in download mode Odin recognized it. I wasted at least an hour to discover that it was just a driver issue. The drivers that Heimdall wanted weren't "good enough" for Odin. Interestingly, neither was the original package I had on the computer. The one that worked was called "Samsung_USB_Driver_for_Mobile_Phones.zip" from the Samsung website. After installing that Odin saw my phone in download mode and I was able to install the Corn Kernel. Rebooting into recovery gave an option to root the phone.
- At this point everyone in the world decided they needed something from me so between work and phone calls/texts I ended up using the phone on GB for a while.
- My boot screens had been a total mess since my first custom rom so I decided to do the boot screen fix next - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1065743 - TRusselo added a bunch of good info to the thread and there's a good post on page 10 from irishvandal that explains the whole sequence of boot screens and what you can and cannot change.
- So the next step should have been to flash CM9 on my way back to SlimICS just like I did a month ago. I figured since I had been using the phone for a couple of hours I should wipe everything ... so I did the cache, data, format system, dalvik cache, and then I went to flash CM9 and noticed that for some reason I didn't have the zip file on the phone any more. I must have deleted it myself because nothing else spontaneously disappeared. When I rebooted normally to plug the phone in and transfer files I discovered that in wiping/formatting I messed something up and I kept getting stuck on the Corn Kernel boot screen. I could get into recovery or download mode just fine, just no normal boot. I was able to mount storage in recovery but when I tried to copy over the CM9 zip it kept hanging. After numerous attempts I decided to just go right back to the beginning.....
- Heimdall once again wanted its own drivers. No problem, I did that, then uninstalled them and reinstalled the drivers Odin likes, then got Corn again, did the boot screen fix again just to try a different image, then downloaded a new CM9 Nightly and copied it to the SD, flashed it with no issues, then flashed SlimICS (which actually has 2 zips plus addon packages) and I was back to ICS with GB bootloaders. It's amazing how fast things can be done when there are no more surprises!
- When the phone was rebooting into Slim ICS I got a message I don't remember seeing before - "Android is upgrading" or something similar. Weird. The next time I booted to recovery to try to restore the nandroid backup I ended up in CWMR Touch v5.5.0.4, which is weird looking and makes me feel strange. When I tried to do a full restore it encountered a few issues such as not being able to restore data normally. I don't recall the details but when I reinstalled Titanium Backup it would just FC so I couldn't restore any of my other apps. The "solution" was to reflash the Slim zips and do a restore of the system only. This set up all the tedious stuff for me. I got TiBu again and restored apps+data and that worked. Chose my launcher and it was back almost the way I wanted it. Interestingly, I had to replace the widgets but the shortcuts were all there in the right places.
- Voice search force closed. Slim doesn't include it in the base rom but it's available as an add-on and I had the zip on the sd from last time but flashing it didn't fix the problem (it had worked the first time I installed Slim). Some random sequence of freezing the Voice Search app, wiping its data, reflashing the Voice zip, unfreezing the app and it worked. In the process I noticed that in TiBu it was originally listed as Voice Search 2.x.x but then it was suddenly 3.x.x with a different icon. Then an hour later after all kinds of restoring (SMS, call log, etc) voice was force closing again. It was also listed as 2.x.x. This time it took me twice as long to randomly do things until it started working again (and at the same time it turned back into 3.x.x. It's been fine since...
So again a huge thanks for the advice! I got to spend the better part of a day fighting my way through minor issues but I learned a lot about my phone and got over my aversion to Odin for the last time. Hopefully someone else can benefit from something I've gone through. If nothing else, I feel a renewed sense of accomplishment.
^
If all ur ics and jb roms have run well...then i see no need to flash the bootloaders.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using xda premium