Database Develop

newb graduation questions

Hi
Ive been trolling around for a while.
So far ive
-unlocked the bootloader, flashed the boot with epe54b himem from modaco
-put the file in place that enabled the color trackball notifications from chainsdd, which while there is no config and it simply enables the apps to be able to flash different colors is actually kind of nice
- tried to install the wifi tether from the code.google.com page but apparently the kernal i have doesnt work with the wifi drivers the android-wifi-tether app needs and the himem superboot that i flashed cause my wifi doesnt start when i use that. so i just went with barnacle app to use as wifi tether which works without having to modify the kernal and wifi driver.
i still have the stock recovery and stock rom, and sort of like it that way. dont want to start messing with roms untill i am confident i can easily restore all of the phone and game settings i have(the girlfriend was sort of sad when i told her i lost the progress she had made in abduction world attack, not to mention i forgot to unlink my warcraft authenticator before the initial wipe after the bootloader unlock...dreading calling blizzard and getting that sorted out)
couple of questions i have -
what does the userdata store specifically? does it store all of the shortcuts and widgets i have on the home screens? the google voice and phone settings and system settings?
i looked around a bit and still cant find a definitive answer to this, if i put nandroid or amon_ra recovery in as the recovery, then flash it back to the stock recovery from the modaco site, will i be able to get ota updates.
if i back up my system, userdata, and cache then start messing with roms and wiping everything on the phone, will i be able to restore the system, userdata and cache and be ready to go in the all of 3 or so minutes it takes to flash them.
The only reason im so concerned with being able to go back to what i had is i rely on the phone a bit for work and after hours calls and things of that nature and need to be able to be ready to go if need be. after unlocking the bootloader and that initial wipe the part that took the longest was getting the shortcuts and widgets, email and contact icons on my home screens back to where i wanted them and dont want to have to do that again.
basically i want to flash roms, and shop around for a good rom that i like while still being able to flash back to what i currently have set up, home screen shortcuts, k9email, phone and all.

Anyone have any input?

Just get Titanium backup for your apps, and also flash a recovery that lets you do Nandroid backups. Really, if you are unlocked, there is absolutely no downside to using Amon's recovery image, and having backups is excellent piece of mind.

I tried editing my post, and it erased what I wrote.
OK, again:
1. Nandroid backups save everything, including all of your user data, EXCEPT what is saved to the SD card by certain apps. All of that can of course just be copied off.
2. Why would you want OTA updates? All the OTA process does is download the update.zip file into /cache, and then launch recovery to install it from there. This means that, once the file is available, someone will post the update.zip minutes later and you can flash all you like.
3. Nandroid gives you a complete system backup, including user data and configuration. Titanium backup will add in being able to restore configured apps onto a different ROM (for example). Use both, be safe, wear protection.

ok, sounds like nandroid gives me what im looking for then
perhaps i'll try and imaging and restoring it to see how it goes when im sure work will not bother
and i'd like ota updates since im lazy lol

[Q] Please Verify Knowledge of Rooting - lots of questions

I’ve just updated from MoDaCo’s 1.5 ROM to the CM6 2.2 ROM and since it’s been so long (over a year) since I’ve rooted my phone and dived into all the information involved in doing so. Back then it wasn’t as easy as it is now with some of these rooting methods. In fact I remember it being a real mess ha. (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=583291)
So basically, I’ve managed to do quite a lot of things and I want to help a friend out but I want to make sure all my info is right.
ALL of this is basically on giant question. I just word it as if I know what I’m talking about. But please help me correct everything that is wrong (and I know there is a lot), help answer some of my questions, and even let me know where I’m right. I didn’t type everything up as questions so that it reads easier. If I need to repeat some sections to get clarification I can.
Customizing you Phone
The first step is to gain root access via installing (flashing) a recovery program (image).
This program (image) is only accessible via boot (boot into recovery). It allows you to make a back-up of the phone in its entirety, restore said back-ups, allow PC access connectivity (via USB), flash programs/files (“installing” in a sense), partition an SD card, perform various wipes, and some miscellaneous things.
Ok – I’ll pause here to get some info. Wipe Data/Factory Reset; this means erasing everything off the phone and it resets the current ROM back to its native state. Wipe Dalvik-cache… I’m not sure what this does exactly but I assume it has something to do with the programs installed or the SD card. Furthur, why would I want to ‘wipe battery stats’ or ‘rotate settings’ ? And wipe SD:ext partition has to do with Apps to SD?
Also, when you do these wipes and flashes and re-do your phone from scratch, the only thing that is never touched is the recovery image. It’s fair to say, when you flash the recovery image during your rooting, it’s the only set in stone thing on your phone… that is until you re-root your phone or flash an alternate recovery.
Apps2sd – When I first rooted my phone and installed MoDaCo’s ROM, I ventured into the land of Apps2sd. This too was a PAINFUL process partitioning my SD card and learning all about the ext2/3/4 and I’ve already forgotten everything. After going through all that to clear up what little space I had on my Hero, I then read all kinds of people saying Apps2SD is bad cuz it’s slow and blah blah. So I took it off. Now it seems that Google has made an Apps2sd native? I just need updated on the whole Apps2sd thing both in general and for the Hero.
Ok – Back. Some of the things you can flash are custom ROMs (a ROM is the Operating System essentially), data that tells the computer to work differently such as custom kernels (what makes the phone work, basically communication between hardware and software), new radios (what retrieves and uses signals), and battery stuff (what would it be called? “Battery kernel info”? haha). You can even flash programs right to the phone (apk files).
The biggest reason to root your phone, is to install a custom ROM. Custom roms typically cut out a lot of bloat that the stock OS would have such as un-removable programs (Sprint NFL and NASCAR… Thanks but no thanks Sprint) and OS things. Many developers have even tweaked ROMs to optimize performance and battery life. Why would the stock ROM not do this? And why would it seem the dev’s (developers) making custom ROMs are better than the devs at Google/Sprint/Samsung/etc.? Certain applications also require rooted phones (or just simple ‘root’) due to their extended abilities or required securities (such as WaveSecure?).
Reminder – everything is a question even tho some things have ‘?’ and some don’t. I know that I do not know what I’m talking about. I just want to confirm what I do know, and learn where I’m wrong!
Now some straight up questions:
When you get a custom recovery, ROM, and kernel on your phone… you’ve just about altered all major parts of your phone (software speaking of course)?
When you want to put on a custom ROM, you first wipe everything then flash the ROM. Then you may flash additional items such as gapps (google applications pack), custom Kernals, etc. When you want to change roms, do you have to undo everything and start from scratch and put new gapps back on, a new kernel, etc? What about just updating a ROM? What if you have a ROM you like, but just want to un-install(un-flash) gapps – possible?
[*]So example, If I needed something I forgot on an old setup – like a text message or file from EasyNote, I would have to nandroid backup, wipe everything, flash old ROM and additional files, restore OLD nandroid, grab the files, wipe everything, flash back newer ROM and additional files, restore new nandroid that was just created to be back where I started? (I actually have to do this too haha – want to make sure that’s right.) Basically I’m making sure I’m right about nandroid. It back’s-up all data and setting type files for current ROM?​
What would happen if I tried to restore a nandroid back-up created during another ROM?
MoDaCo’s old custom ROM had WaveSecure installed with it so that it could not be removed. Is it possible to still do this with other ROMs?
Why do some people talk so negatively about gapps? Is there something wrong with them?
Back when I first tried learning all this a year ago, the Hero’s messaging app was known to be a real battery-eater and never slept so it was recommended to switch to a 3rd party and disable the stock app’s notifications. What’s the development on that?
I still have a whole paper full of other questions, but I think this is already getting loooong… so I’ll leave it here for now. The point of all this is to yes, educate myself so that I may help others…. But I plan on writing up a real all-inclusive guide to android and rooting and the like. I’ve searched a lot and learned a lot, but nowhere (including the wiki) did I find a nice, chronological guide of information. Hopefully I can fill that niche once I know exactly what I’m talking about, and even then I’ll need some peeps to clean my stuff up a bit. I also happen to be a filmmaker so I’d like to make a good video on this as well. It won’t be one of those videos where you can barley understand the person talking, shot in the basement with all the lights off, camera held in hand and shot with web-cam, etc. (Note: Just today I saw the XDA-TV post… sorry I missed it) D:
LAST NOTE:
Ok I promise I’m almost done. I just wanted to say that if anyone would not mind talking on the phone… I would love to just blow through this stuff a lot faster and be able to have a convo with some 1 on 1 feedback allowing me to get lots of questions answered. Even just 10 minutes would help me out tons! So if anyone who is a genious on this stuff (like devs… ) and wouldn’t mind chatting for a few – please PM me. I can do Skype as well.

I hope someone will take the time to answer you, it will help me too LOL. Last thing I rooted was the G1 years ago, & just yesterday rooted the Hero (& flashed CM6 today) I got off of Craigslist. Seems like some phones have better wikis than others.
I haven't been in the rooting/flashing game for a while since I've owned tons of different devices before & after the G1. Since then the only flashing I did was flashing Android onto a WM device LOL. Never bothered flashing the Vibrant, Epic, or Evo (sold, sold, & sold.)
Anyway, yeah, I hope someone answers! You have my support!

Root and recovery are two totally separate things - you can root your phone and not flash a recovery, it's totally up to you. Root gives you access to things on your phone, that you would otherwise not have - like flashing recovery, ROM(s), apps that need root access, etc. Goto the wiki there's a link which gives a high level idea of what root gives you.
Recovery - gives you features such as Nand backup/restore, wipe cache, dalvik-cache, flash stuff (ROMs, kernels, etc.,)
Apps2SD - allows you to install apps to the SD card. If you are using android 2.2 or above, this feature is available natively, so you don't need something line apps2sd
Now, answers to your "Straight up questions..."
1. Yes, once you root, flash recovery, flash ROM... you have altered your phone from a software stand point. You can return it to "out-of-the-box" state by running any official RUU provided by HTC/Sprint (for HTC Sprint Hero)
2. This varies from ROM to ROM, you should read the specific instructions provided by the ROM builder. About removing gapps, it is pretty easy to remove any apps once you have root access - read up the wiki or search for removing apps
3. Depends on what you want to get back - for all your daily needs, there are backup applications that can help you backup stuff from the phone, which you can then restore, once you have the app running and backup available
4. If you restore a nand backup, it will put your phone to a stage when you had created the backup
5. You will have to read up about MoDaCo ROM, that is a ROM specific thing
6. There's nothing wrong about the gapps - not sure what you are referring to
7. There are multiple messaging apps - handcent, chomp, google voice, etc. It all depends on your personal preferences
I would honestly recommend you to search on the forums and also visit the wiki. There's a whole lot of information about everything here. Also, Hero being a bit old phone, more often than not, the problem you might be facing... might have been already answered. Yes, it is time consuming, but will surely help you. The more you read, the comfortable you will feel.
Hope this helps. Let me know if I can help you further. Again, I started the same way as you, rooted the phone, flashed CM6, played around, something went horribly wrong, then had to RUU, root, flash... everything. But, that taught me a lot.
Enjoy!

So basically, I’ve managed to do quite a lot of things and I want to help a friend out but I want to make sure all my info is right.
Customizing you Phone
The first step is to gain root access via installing (flashing) a recovery program (image).
This program (image) is only accessible via boot (boot into recovery). It allows you to make a back-up of the phone in its entirety, restore said back-ups, allow PC access connectivity (via USB), flash programs/files (“installing” in a sense), partition an SD card, perform various wipes, and some miscellaneous things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure which phone you are working with, but I'm pretty sure, as a general
rule, you need root before you can flash the recovery image. Could be mistaken
on that, but that's how it was for my hero. Once you have the recovery image
flashed, you are correct, you can make and restore backups, you can access
the phone's internal storage and SD card, push/install apps, remove apps, etc.
Ok – I’ll pause here to get some info. Wipe Data/Factory Reset; this means erasing everything off the phone and it resets the current ROM back to its native state. Wipe Dalvik-cache… I’m not sure what this does exactly but I assume it has something to do with the programs installed or the SD card. Furthur, why would I want to ‘wipe battery stats’ or ‘rotate settings’ ? And wipe SD:ext partition has to do with Apps to SD?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wipe/Factory Reset basically formats the various partitions in the phone's
internal memory, if you do a wipe and reboot your phone, you'll boot loop, as
the phone no longer has an operating system. To restore back to original,
you would need to use an official RUU as andythegreenguy stated. You can
get the official rom upgrades (RUU's) from your carrier's website.
I'm still learning a lot of this myself, but the Dalvik-Cache is basically the OS's
cache, which has files randomly dumped into it and removed from it. Wiping
the Dalvik-Cache is beneficial (and sometimes required) when making
modifications to your rom. It can help improve your performance under some
circumstances, but will make your phone boot slower while the cache is being
recreated. SD:EXT only applies if you have partitioned your SD, for example,
to be used with Apps2SD. If you have no EXT partition, you can't format it.
If you are using Apps2SD, and have partitioned your SD card, this will erase
the EXT partition.
As a general rule that I follow, whenever I am making major changes, and
especially when I am flashing between different roms, I wipe everything, and
repartition/format my SD card. This helps me to know that any problems I run
into are not caused by something from a previous rom that didn't get erased.
I've never messed with wiping rotate, but wiping battery stats can be useful.
Lithium batteries have a little controller board that basically stores the battery
state. Sometimes this can get messed up, and a perfectly healthy battery will
think it's out of power a lot faster than it should. Resetting the battery info
can sometimes fix this issue. A recommendation I saw was to run your battery
down, reset the battery state, let the phone die, then do a full charge/discharge
cycle. Never had to do this, myself..
Also, when you do these wipes and flashes and re-do your phone from scratch, the only thing that is never touched is the recovery image. It’s fair to say, when you flash the recovery image during your rooting, it’s the only set in stone thing on your phone… that is until you re-root your phone or flash an alternate recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorta.. hboot and the radio are both beyond the recovery, and messing with
either of those without knowing what you are doing can cause your phone to
become a brick. Any recovery you flash should remain in place unless you use a
RUU, flash a different recovery, flash a rom that includes a different recovery,
(haven't run across that except for the RUU's), or mess with the MTD partitions.
Apps2sd – When I first rooted my phone and installed MoDaCo’s ROM, I ventured into the land of Apps2sd. This too was a PAINFUL process partitioning my SD card and learning all about the ext2/3/4 and I’ve already forgotten everything. After going through all that to clear up what little space I had on my Hero, I then read all kinds of people saying Apps2SD is bad cuz it’s slow and blah blah. So I took it off. Now it seems that Google has made an Apps2sd native? I just need updated on the whole Apps2sd thing both in general and for the Hero.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apps2SD is fine, any speed issues would primaryly be loading delays on slower
SD cards. Apps2SD also requires your SD card to be properly partitioned. The
Apps2SD that is in Android 2.2 is a little different, in that from my nderstanding,
it uses the Fat32 partition on the SD card, and thus does not require you to
partition your SD card. It is also to my knowledge only available on roms based
on Android 2.2.
A lot of custom roms have some form of Apps2SD now, but they require you to partition the SD card, and, as far as "speed" issues, I have ran my apps from
a class 2 card just fine, but moving the Dalvik-Cache to the SD card will cause
lag if you have a slow card. Class 4 or higher is recommended for moving your
cache.
Ok – Back. Some of the things you can flash are custom ROMs (a ROM is the Operating System essentially), data that tells the computer to work differently such as custom kernels (what makes the phone work, basically communication between hardware and software), new radios (what retrieves and uses signals), and battery stuff (what would it be called? “Battery kernel info”? haha). You can even flash programs right to the phone (apk files).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct, you can flash ROMS, Kernels, Radios, apps (if packaged properly),
apk files that aren't packaged in an update.zip will either have to be pushed
via ADB, or can be installed from your SD card with a file manager.
The biggest reason to root your phone, is to install a custom ROM. Custom roms typically cut out a lot of bloat that the stock OS would have such as un-removable programs (Sprint NFL and NASCAR… Thanks but no thanks Sprint) and OS things. Many developers have even tweaked ROMs to optimize performance and battery life. Why would the stock ROM not do this? And why would it seem the dev’s (developers) making custom ROMs are better than the devs at Google/Sprint/Samsung/etc.? Certain applications also require rooted phones (or just simple ‘root’) due to their extended abilities or required securities (such as WaveSecure?).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as the biggest reason to root your phone, I would have to say that the
answer to that would vary from person to person. Most users root to install
custom roms, but rooting gives you full control of the operating system. Since
android is Linux, having root access on your phone will allow you to change the
things that you otherwise could not. Utilities like Titanium backup can be used
to back up and restore your apps and data, performance benefits are always
a huge consideration. Companies like HTC and Sprint don't take performance
concerns into consideration because they are providing a product that is in their
opinion disposable, and "generic enough" for most users. Asking why they don't
fix the performance issues is like asking why every car on the road can't run 160
miles per hour while getting 40 miles per gallon. Some people don't care to have
the fastest, most efficient phone, and some people can't stand having sluggish
and unresponsive phones.
Now some straight up questions:
When you get a custom recovery, ROM, and kernel on your phone… you’ve just about altered all major parts of your phone (software speaking of course)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With a recovery, rom, and kernel, you've flashed all of the major software components
that you will be concerned about. Performance gains are all found in the ROM
and Kernel, and so most people have no need to go further than that. Basically,
think of the Kernel as the brain, and the ROM as the rest of the operating system
The recovery is important, but is transparent to the function of the phone once
everything is up and running.
[*]When you want to put on a custom ROM, you first wipe everything then flash the ROM. Then you may flash additional items such as gapps (google applications pack), custom Kernals, etc. When you want to change roms, do you have to undo everything and start from scratch and put new gapps back on, a new kernel, etc? What about just updating a ROM? What if you have a ROM you like, but just want to un-install(un-flash) gapps – possible?
[*]So example, If I needed something I forgot on an old setup – like a text message or file from EasyNote, I would have to nandroid backup, wipe everything, flash old ROM and additional files, restore OLD nandroid, grab the files, wipe everything, flash back newer ROM and additional files, restore new nandroid that was just created to be back where I started? (I actually have to do this too haha – want to make sure that’s right.) Basically I’m making sure I’m right about nandroid. It back’s-up all data and setting type files for current ROM?​[*]What would happen if I tried to restore a nandroid back-up created during another ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll try to answer these in one shot. It's recommended that you always wipe
everything before installing a custom rom, except if the rom you are installing
is *SPECIFICALLY* an update for the rom you are running, and the dev states
that a wipe is not necessary. Generally, you want to make a nandroid backup,
wipe, install the rom, make sure everything is fine, nandroid, install the kernel,
check things over, rinse and repeat.
In my case, I generally return to configs that I've already tested, so I skip some
steps, but the order is ROM, Kernel, then the other parts.
If you forgot a text message from another rom, as long as you have the nandroid
you should be OK. You can boot into recovery, make a nandroid backup of your
current configuration, then wipe everything, restore the nandroid from the
old configuration, retrieve your message or data, Then you can reboot, wipe,
and restore the nandroid from the new configuration. Keeping multiple nandroids
can be userful if you are using an AOSP rom as your daily rom, since on the
Hero, to my knowledge, you can only update your PRL under a Sense based rom.
A lot of users will restore the sense backup to update their PRL, then restore the
AOSP rom.
[*]MoDaCo’s old custom ROM had WaveSecure installed with it so that it could not be removed. Is it possible to still do this with other ROMs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never used WaveSecure, but as a general rule, if you can download the APK, you
should be able to install it on any rom.
[*]Why do some people talk so negatively about gapps? Is there something wrong with them?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some people like fat chicks, and some people don't. The argument about
gapps is akin to asking what's better, PC or Mac, Linux or Windows, sports cars
or station wagons. It's all personal preference. What's right for you might not
be right for your best friend.
[*]Back when I first tried learning all this a year ago, the Hero’s messaging app was known to be a real battery-eater and never slept so it was recommended to switch to a 3rd party and disable the stock app’s notifications. What’s the development on that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The messaging app had a bug that would lock the dialer and prevent the phone
from sleeping. This bug was supposedly fixed in the 2.1 update, but 2.1 also
introduced a whole plethora of other bugs. Some people still prefer third party
messenging apps, but I use the stock app with no issues. on a good day I can
get 27 hours on a charge, but I do a lot and so most days I get 12 hours or so.
Hope this has helped.
LAST NOTE:
Ok I promise I’m almost done. I just wanted to say that if anyone would not mind talking on the phone… I would love to just blow through this stuff a lot faster and be able to have a convo with some 1 on 1 feedback allowing me to get lots of questions answered. Even just 10 minutes would help me out tons! So if anyone who is a genious on this stuff (like devs… ) and wouldn’t mind chatting for a few – please PM me. I can do Skype as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This may sound strange from a guy with a cellphone, but I actually hate talking
on the phone. Feel free to send me a PM now and then with questions. If I know the answer, I'll help out.
I'm not as knowledgeable as any of the devs, I'm still learning all of this myself. My answers might not be
'correct', but they work for me. most things related to android have no 'correct' or 'definitive' answer, but
that's the beauty of a platform that can be customized to taste. We can all make recommendations, and
can even tell you our reasoning or logic behind them, but we can all also learn a few things.

andythegreenguy said:
Root and recovery are two totally separate things - you can root your phone and not flash a recovery, it's totally up to you. Root gives you access to things on your phone, that you would otherwise not have - like flashing recovery, ROM(s), apps that need root access, etc. Goto the wiki there's a link which gives a high level idea of what root gives you.
Recovery - gives you features such as Nand backup/restore, wipe cache, dalvik-cache, flash stuff (ROMs, kernels, etc.,)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah! So the recovery is a nice, built-into-phone way of flashing, whiping, etc; otherwise you would need to use the command prompt. (Correct?)
andythegreenguy said:
Apps2SD - allows you to install apps to the SD card. If you are using android 2.2 or above, this feature is available natively, so you don't need something line apps2sd
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Excellent. But does running apps from the SD card cause the apps to run slower or open slower? Should I keep primary apps or most commonly used apps on the phone or it doesn't matter?
andythegreenguy said:
If you restore a nand backup, it will put your phone to a stage when you had created the backup
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So the Nand-Backup saves ALL information including flashed ROMs, Kernels, BatteryTweak, etc? What about information on the SD card especially not that apps can be moved there)?
andythegreenguy said:
There are multiple messaging apps - handcent, chomp, google voice, etc. It all depends on your personal preferences
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand this, but I just wanted to know If it's a mistake to be using the stock texting app - if the messaging app in CM6 is even the stock one. I have tried Chomp and Handcent and I actually love handcent, but it's just WAY to slow.
I have searched the forums and wiki quite a lot, thats how I got this far. I try to search for some as many things as I can, but it's just hard to get some real clarity on some things and especially the broad things. That's why I plan on taking the results of this thread and making a nice 'general' guide and possibly a video.
Thanks a lot andythegreenguy. Appriciate the help a lot
To moxlon69:
moxlon69 said:
you need root before you can flash the recovery image
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you are right. I was a bit mixed up on that (even though I've done it twice! haha)
moxlon69 said:
Wipe/Factory Reset...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lot of good clarification there. Very good, thanks!
moxlon69 said:
Sorta.. hboot and the radio are both beyond the recovery...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah. What is hboot? Had some trouble finding general info on it. What is there to know about the radio? I haven't done it nor think i need to, but isn't changing the radio just the same as flashing something? (http://geekfor.me/faq/flash-radio/)
moxlon69 said:
Apps2SD is fine, any speed issues would primaryly be loading delays on slower SD cards. Apps2SD also requires your SD card to be properly partitioned. The Apps2SD that is in Android 2.2 is a little different, in that from my understanding, it uses the Fat32 partition on the SD card, and thus does not require you to partition your SD card. It is also to my knowledge only available on roms based on Android 2.2.
A lot of custom roms have some form of Apps2SD now, but they require you to partition the SD card, and, as far as "speed" issues, I have ran my apps from a class 2 card just fine, but moving the Dalvik-Cache to the SD card will cause lag if you have a slow card. Class 4 or higher is recommended for moving your cache.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So if I have a 2.2 ROM... would I need to make a partition? I never read anything about needing it in CM6 threads. What was all the jazz about making different ext-s? Like 2, 3, or 4? I guess it's not relevant any more.
How do you move the Dalvik-Cache to SD?
Quick note:
AOSP and PRL are not on the wiki - not that many people don't know what they are... but why not?
Q: Why do some people talk so negatively about gapps?
A:Some people like fat chicks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well said haha. The whole analogy was good.
Thanks a million moxlon69 - That helps out more than you can imagine. I'm going to begin working on a write up of all this, but I do still have lots of questions. I'll probably continue posting in this thread for a while to keep it simple... unless I have an embarrassingly stupid question I can't find an answer for then I'll PM ya!
Thanks again moxlon69 and andythegreenguy.
Edit: This thread is going to become the tl;dr thread! haha

One more try.
I know it's a lot of reading, but any help you guys can offer is much appreciated and will be returned in the form of a video. You could then just send all the newbies to the video and hopefully many of their questions will be answered.
I just don't want to make the video without being precisely accurate. I have more questions, but I should probably wait for the current queue of my questions to go down.
Thanks again for the help thus far!

[SOLVED] Help to choose rooting method and backup method

Got my phone (AT&T Captivate, firmware 2.1-update1 version JH7, kernel 2.6.29, build eclair.UCJH7) on december 28 from a AT&T store (it even came with a pic taken december 20 ) and I've already been able to boot into download mode (power off, hold volume keys then plug usb) and into that menu used to install packages (power off, hold volume keys then power on). Guess my hardware and firmware are ok, so I may be able to recover my phone by myself in case things go south.
I've been doing my homework lately (been reading stickys, tutorials and faqs for 10 days) but I'm still confused about some procedures. I'm not going to list everything I've read here, but I would like someone to correct me if I've learnt wrong. I don't really need the easiest methods, I want to understand the options available and to choose the best ones (aka the hardest path).
First of all, it seems I need to root my phone in order to be able to create backups, carrier-unlock it and flash custom roms. But it doesn't make much sense to me, since rooting it seem to be enough to prevent it from receiving FOTA updates - and I want to make the most comprehensive backup possible, in such a way I could restore my phone to 'factory condition' if needed.
Second, I realize there are many ways, programs and guides to root the phone - the most famous ones, One-Click root/unroot and z4root, seem to be listed in the wiki (http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=Samsung_Galaxy_S/SGH-I897), but there is also CLShortFuse's One-Click Root and Allow Non-Market Apps, which sounds interesting but I don't know if it is undo-able. So there are different ways to root the phone, but there is little to none information on what's the difference between these methods, which is 'better' and what difference does it make if I root it permanently or by some reversible method. Does it affect performance? How each of them work? I have no clue.
The mess gets even greater when it comes to creating backups. People mention different programs to make these backups (clockwork recovery, titanium backup) but I don't understand if they back up different parts of the phone. Some even seem to change the bootloader of the phone - shouldn't it be backed up prior to any modification? Do I flash these backups using Odin? Which programs should I use to have a full backup? Is there anything left I should back up manually?
I'll quit talking for now because I've already written a lot and I still have many questions; if I write all of them at once, no one will ever have the patience to read them.

Erk, a long post deserves a long answer
So first off, il tell you about recovering your phone. Since you just got it, you can go back to the store and play dumb to get a new one in case anything goes wrong. You can also use the 3 button combos to get into download mode and use odins back to stock to get back to your original 2.1 eclair firmware . To do that you would need to get into download mode. Now there are a couple ways to do this, and i can only explain two since ive actually used two. (Well 3 actually, but il get to the third after these 2)
The first method is using the 3 button combo which you should already know. The second method is using adb commands such as (adb shell, adb reboot download, adb reboot recovery, adb devices). The third way is building a jig. Thats basically connecting 301k 1/4 watt worth of resistors together and placing them on pin 4 and 5 on your micro usb slot. You can read more about that on the tutorial on how to build a jig for your phone.
To restore to your factory setting, odin's one click back to stock thing should do the job. It simple installs the stock 2.1 eclair all over again (without the root).
To root your phone, any method from the wiki should work. None of them are really "better" :S, they all do the same job and give you super user permissions. None of them root your permanently since you can always go back to stock using Odin's... It does not really affect performance, not to any extent i have noticed :S, and unfortunately, i dont really know how it works.
As for creating backups, Titanium Backup is the best solution. Whether you have the few extra bucks to spend for the premium one or simply want to use the free one, its one of the best tools out there. I personally use it and its one of the best. It backs up all the data (except for my text messages). It creates a folder on your internal memory which you can just copy to your desktop. When the time comes that you need to restore your backup, just copy the folder back into your internal memory, load up titanium backup. Restore it and voila .
I think ive answered everything, if ive missed anything, let me know
Edit : Forgot to mention this . If your truly interested in customization. Custom roms are the best there is a howto in the themes and apps section on how to install it. It comes pre-rooted (if that is the word to use :S) and theyre much better than the stock firmware. Im currently using serendipity v3.0 (flashed it yesterday)

supaphreek, guess I'll have to thank you twice: once for reading my enormous post, and again for you supacompleteanswer.
I'm being paranoid with recovery because I actually bought the phone in the US then came back to my country (Brazil), so I'm a few thousand miles away from the simple lets-return-this-thing solution.
From everything I've read, I believe the most instructive were the wiki at http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=Samsung_Galaxy_S/SGH-I897 , the FAQ at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=858765 , the PDF guide from user nbs11 at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=761819 and the wiki at http://www.capfaq.com/w/FAQ. These contain most of the info a newbie user would ever need and I'd definitely recommend them to any newbie user who happen to be reading this. And for everyone afraid of bricking, it's a tremendous relief to know pretty much any mess you do can be reverted using download mode and Odin, so the first thing to test is if you can get into download mode using one of the ways described by our buddy supaphreek.
On the rooting matter, I found no discussion at all about which is better, so they should be pretty similar (though I have no idea which is the oldest version, I'd assume the recent ones might be a little improved). There is some discussion on what's the better lagfix and many of the cooked ROMs already come with some lagfix installed, but this is another story...
Once I get my phone rooted, it seems to be trivial to carrier-unlock it. There's even an app on android market for this, so I won't even need sideloading. Since all this procedure does is just give me a number, there's hardly any difference among all the unlocking procedures out there.
For the backup, I'll still do it using both titanium and clockwork, as suggested by nbs11 on the pdf I've linked on this post. Better safe than sorry, right?
And yes, I'm truly interested in customization and I'll go deep down that path, I'm just packing up my head with some knowledge to avoid being desperate if things eventually go fubar.
As a last question, is there somewhere I can get 1-click Odin with my exact firmware version? (2.1-update1, I897UCJH7, Kernel 2.6.29 [email protected] #2, build eclair.ucjh7) And how important is it to get the exact same firmware?
As I've done my research, I found 1-click odin with JF6 here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=731989
I've also found the 'standalone' I897UCJH7 on this topic (where this guy even flashed succesfully his phone using old JH2 firmware without problems, so finding the exact firmware version might not be the greatest issue): http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=10056254&postcount=36 but this process is a bit more complicated and uses regular Odin and clockwork recovery. Nonetheless, from what I've understood, I can still use any old version of odin to flash JF6 then use my own clockwork backup, right?

Hmm, unfortunately, im not sure if there is a specific Odin for that firmware :S. However what you can do is use one that reverts you to any stock version, and then flash the version you want through clockwork mod

I'll do that. Thanks again!

Also if you one click to stock, you can OTA update to the most recent firnware. I suggest titanium premium if you are going to flash a lot of custom roms, it is a lot faster to restore and also syncs with dropbox
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

Be careful trying to flash with odin. Some newer builds get instabrick flashing back to jf6 and must go with jh2 or newer.
So, you may want to invest a few bucks in a jig setup before blindly using odin.

Thanks for the tip, sixstringsg.
Newter55, as my phone is brand new I believe I may have one of these insta-brickable devices. If I happen to try flashing it with a recent rom, does it get recoverably bricked (fixed by flashing an older rom), or I'm left with a $500 paperweight?

You just need to use the correct firmware version of odin if you manage to get in trouble. Many people flash rom over rom, including myself, but it is highly likely that at some point you will need odin if you are flashing roms so it is best to ensure that you have that set up first. Look for the odin thread by c3popl (sp?) in development forum and you should find what you need. Read through that and look for others with your base firmware. Or look through q&a at the "help I bricked" threads . On my phone and posting links is a pita or I would make it easy for you.

If your phone came with JH7, follow this guide:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=10056254&postcount=36
If you use one of the Odin one-clicks and brick your phone, you'll need a USB jig to recover.

You guys are awesome. Thank you newter55 and GGXtreme for this info! I hope I'll never need it, but I'll buy a cable and make a jig.
The news: I've rooted my phone using One Click Root / Unroot by TGA_Gunnman (for the record: it worked with my JH7 Captivate bought in 28 dec). Once I booted windows, installed dotnet framework 4 and the samsung drivers (easy too, but a pita), rooting was easy and failproof. However, someone using linux might find it easier to just download 1-click root, find the root.zip file in there, rename it as update.zip, put the zip in the internal sdcard, boot the phone holding the volume buttons and then 'install packages'. This way there will be no need to fight Wine nor install anything nor look for a windows computer with admin privileges.
Also unlocked my phone using SGS Unlock Tool, available in the Android Market. The unrooted option won't work, but once rooted it worked like a champ. Next step: I'll do the backups, and then... start messing up my new toy!

[Q] galaxy i9000 looping at bootup.. not getting past the glowing S

I have recently flashed the JVS firmware from samsung firmware, and then followed that up with this CF-Root-XX_OXA_JVS-v4.1-CWM3RFS, flashing via the PDA section in ODIN. My phone has been working perfectly for a few days, no problems at all, until right now when I've gone to restart the phone.. I was having troubles with the market, and I turned my phone off mid-download of an app.. I'm pretty sure it was mid-download and not mid-installation of it..
However, when I turn my phone back on, it'll show the Galaxy S I9000 screen, then go to the next screen with the glowing S, however after that, it just gives a quick, short vibration, and seems to turn off, then do it all over again..
What does this mean? Is there a way I can get out of it without re-flashing the entire firmware? I am still able to get into download mode, but I don't want to lose messages that I have saved on my phone..
Any help is greatly appreciated..
Denno

Ok, so I let the phone go for a while (around 10 minutes), of the screens cycling through as mentioned above, but now it seems to have actually found a way into the phone, and has now loaded up properly.. However, I'm still interested in what the problem could be on the phone??

are u using new market app?
its happened to me once and i reflashed whole firmware starting from 2.1 to 2.3.5 lol just to avoid sh*t like that

When I had 2.2 on there, I had the new market app, however after flashing 2.3.5, it had the old market, so I was downloading apps from the old market at the time..
What do you mean you re-flashed whole firmware from 2.1?

Anyone else have any ideas?

Try to wipe factory reset and wipe cache or try to flash rom again
Wysłano z GT-I9000 z użyciem Tapatalk

Could be a corruption in the bootloader, if it happens again i would reflash. Otherwise just leave it i guess, maybe it was a one off

It happens pretty much all the time now.. I have reflashed the firmware a couple of times.. And it still seems to happen. What would wiping the cache remove? Will I lose any settings or anything that I have on the phone? I have been restoring backups made using titanium, however just apps and data, not system settings..
If it's the bootloader, is there any way of fixing that?
Thanks

Ah that could be the problem. Sometimes when you restore backup they can conflict and thus cause issues like this...
Try only return the data, that works for me. Get app list from the market and after a backup move to external sd. Format internal sd card. Then do an Odin flash with repartition checked. This is designed to get you back to factory state, so you will loose everything. Make sure your backups are not on your internal sd when you format. Also before you flash i think its a good idea to put a copy of your nandroid backup into the internal sd. Or just use a nandroid backup from when you phone was working fine.
Deleting cache does not delete your settings usually, however when deleting dalvick cache it can take up to 30 mins (max i think) to start you phone, but usually its 5/10 mins.
Yes bootloader can be fixed just find a flashable bootloader with a rom or the directions given. Use search for this

Ok thanks for the tips Talon.. Firstly, this nandroid backup that I keep hearing about.. What exactly is that? Is that the backup that I do through Clockwork Mod Recovery? I'm also unsure how to return just the data to apps? I had a look at Titanium Backup, and the only data recovery option is for system data.. Everything else I think I can handle..
Thanks

Yes nandroid backup is the backup through CWM. You should always do one BEFORE you flash anything on your phone. And keep them in a safe place and leave one in your internal sd card.
You should use titanium backup to backup up a single app at a time, not batch. This way you'll have more files and can choose which apps you want to return, and if you only want to return the data. (I have always done it this way, so i dont know if you can pick the apps you want to return if you do backup via batch.). Use the other app i suggested to keep the market links, so you download the app from market first then you install the data once its there.
I suggest you don't return any apps at first see how it goes, then add either a couple or one at a time, again only the app data. (Once you backuo the app individually, flash then, TB, backup/restore press on the app, restore, then pick data only...) If you go from froyo to GB i think you cant do it)

Thank you very much for your reply Talon. I am currently on JVS, and plan to re-flash this exact same firmware, which is the stock firmware, nothing custom..
As for what you've written, it's going to take me a few reads before I can get my head around it, but I just wanted to say thankyou for a quick and detailed reply. I think I might just bite the bullet and figure out which apps I actually use, and just work with them for now..
I'll post back soon hopefully with results.

After getting very frustrated with the phone, I've finally re-flashed back to a seemingly stock situation. Phone is running great, and all problems seem to be gone. Slowly re-downloading apps from the market as I feel that I need them, so I hopefully won't get any interference from the old backups I had..
One more question, how do you make your backups? If you say you don't use the batch mode in Titanium? I can't see any other way that's as easy..
Thanks for your help Talon.

As i said before, backup/restore click on the app you want to back up, and click backup. When you want to restore it, back to the menu, click on the app, click restore, then pick data only longer but safer
Change the location of TB to your exsd if you haven't already, then go to setting find, and it will make it default location

Ahk.. Sounds very time consuming.. lol..
Phone is running like a champ now . Thanks

[Q] Rebuilding my replacement Captivate

I just replaced my Captivate with a refurb from AT&T. FWIW... the guys at the warranty replacement center were very nice and knowledgeable. I have everything backed up with TiBu, moved my pictures off and all that.
My old phone had existz KB1 kernal and of course voodoo file system. Should I put this phone in the same state before I copy pictures back and restore apps? I'm wondering because voodoo as I understand it converts the file system from RFS to whatever voodoo is. That would mean my backups have been converted too.
Also, exixtz kernal is KB1 and this phone came as KB2. Any problem reapplying that kernal which I was very happy with?
I did all this stuff so long ago I've forgotten all the little stuff!

No, shouldn't be a problem. The only difference in KB1AND KB2 is the kernel and modem. But, you have to root first. Here is what I'd do.
Root
Odin flash a kernel with CWM(I used a speedmod kernel)
Flash the kernel of choice from recovery
Restore your backup.
Converting to ext4is up to you. Your back up is not dependent on using rfs or ext4.

Thank you sir! Where in north GA? cold today isn't it.

Dalton area. And yes it is.

Bad start... it won't root
I've Super one click in the past but no go now... just waits for device
helps to put it in debugging mode

dumb question... I've never restored a tibu back up... I have the backup on my pc... where do I put it. Also tibu is complaining that I won't be able to restore due to "allow third party app" not being checked in applications but there is no where to check that?

Need Superoneclick to enable non market/3Rd party apps.
Put the folder labeled Titanium Backup on your internal SDcard. Open TiBu, menu/batch/restore missing apps.

I'm mostly posting these things now in case someone else is in the same boat I am and has to go through this.
Superoneclick worked. I was a little surprised I needed it as my old phone had this enabled from ATT.
Restored most everything although TiBu died 4 times. The only thing that did not restore right was Beautiful Widgets. Fought that. Still not completely right as I can't find the same widget I had for style... FWIW.. I had 93 apps... took over an hour. I now understand the paid version if I was a heavy ROM flasher.
I enabled 3e recovery with no sig required via Truesselo's method. It worked great.
Bluetooth re-paired without requiring a password... I thought that was odd.
Had to re-enter my wireless password. Expected that.
Still evaluating whether or not to reapply Plumb Bob's GPS fix.
Still haven't updated the kernal. A reply above recommended SpeedMod but that looks like an i9000 kernal.
All in all dinked around about 4 hours with it... much of it trying to remember what the heck to do and how to do it.

CWR won't work now... What to do
I've rooted and restored. Along the way I also ran Truesello's (sp?) 3e signature fix as I had done that before with no problems.
Today I was going to flash something and it booted into recovery 3e but it os blue, I thought it was orange before.
I selected reinstall packages and I get this error
E: Can't open /mnt/internal_sd/update.zip Installation aborted.
I'm just trying to get to where I can select the zip file I want to use. I know I've done it the past.
help please.

Did you name it"update" or "update.zip". The phone will actually add the.zip part for you. Try renaming it just update.

mrhaley30705 said:
Did you name it"update" or "update.zip". The phone will actually add the.zip part for you. Try renaming it just update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your replay... I was thinking I hope mrhaley replies... he seems to know his stuff! I have plumbbob's fix on the phone and was going to flash that. it is named PlumbBob-1.0-CWM-USA.zip. It is not giving me the secondary menus to get there. I don't have an update.zip on the phone. I seem to recall it was for rooting.
Like I said, the only other thing I've done is to run the fix to allow non-signed files.
When I flashed the fix and the kernal last time I was able to navigate and select them.

The old update.zip was to install cwm. On 2e recovery it worked like a charm. 3e was not the same story. You really need cwm if you are going to flash stuff. Custom kernels haves it baked in. I don't have a copy handy, or I would upload it for you. You might try using ROM manager just to install cwm.
or rename everything you flash to update, which can cause problems if you forget to change the name back to what it really is. But, you can't have more than1 thing named update on your internal sd at a time.

mrhaley30705 said:
The old update.zip was to install cwm. On 2e recovery it worked like a charm. 3e was not the same story. You really need cwm if you are going to flash stuff. Custom kernels haves it baked in. I don't have a copy handy, or I would upload it for you. You might try using ROM manager just to install cwm.
or rename everything you flash to update, which can cause problems if you forget to change the name back to what it really is. But, you can't have more than1 thing named update on your internal sd at a time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well whaddya know... I have a folder on my pc in my Android folder called CW and in it is an update.zip file and directions. Bread crumbs... gotta love'm.
Took your advice and installed it through ROM manager. Aaaand we have PlumbBob... 7/7 and 16 ft accuracy.
Still wondering about flashing the KB1 kernal over KB2 though... the phone is sluggish. I probably will in a bit though.