Database Develop

Do I have to flash back to stock?

Hi,
I am currently on the Darky v7.0 and I wanted to flash to 7.0.2
Do I just copy the rom in the sd folder and flash using rom manager just as i did before?
or do i have to switch back to stock 2.1 (rogers) and then flash 7.0.2?
This will be my second time flashing.
Please advice.
Thanks

Just install it over 7.0 if you got the non wipe version.

peachpuff said:
Just install it over 7.0 if you got the non wipe version.
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This is the thread and the link to it. it does say "No wipe".
[ROM] Official Darky Port v7.0.2 No Wipe]
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=880859&page=53
so does it mean its ok to install over 7.0?
does no wipe mean i dont have to wipe/remove the rom before flashing a new one?
Thanks

I too am curious why we are told to revert back to 100% stock before every time we change a rom. Why can't we just use Clockwork Recovery to wipe data/factory reset just like we do with every other Android phone?

Phateless said:
I too am curious why we are told to revert back to 100% stock before every time we change a rom. Why can't we just use Clockwork Recovery to wipe data/factory reset just like we do with every other Android phone?
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samsung, in their infinite wisdom, decided rfs was the best filestructure to use for this phone. some roms change that to ext4 with voodoo, some roms rely on ULF to convert to ext4 and some dont convert anything.
ODIN is the user-friendly way to wipe everything back to stock...completely. if you remember to revert any lagfix (voodoo, ULF) then load your rom, it will work fine.
HOWEVER, there are so many people that dont remember to do that, its easier to flash back to stock rather than troubleshoot what could have possibly happened during their flash
personally, i have found that it takes just as long to revert the lagfix as it does to use ODIN....so rather than hoping that my new flash isnt corrupted in some way by my old flash, i flash back to stock. takes me 5 minutes total. as long as you keep a copy of the CWM update.zip on your sdcard, there is not even a reason to boot back into stock and root/setup/install rom manager, etc.

Pirateghost said:
samsung, in their infinite wisdom, decided rfs was the best filestructure to use for this phone. some roms change that to ext4 with voodoo, some roms rely on ULF to convert to ext4 and some dont convert anything.
ODIN is the user-friendly way to wipe everything back to stock...completely. if you remember to revert any lagfix (voodoo, ULF) then load your rom, it will work fine.
HOWEVER, there are so many people that dont remember to do that, its easier to flash back to stock rather than troubleshoot what could have possibly happened during their flash
personally, i have found that it takes just as long to revert the lagfix as it does to use ODIN....so rather than hoping that my new flash isnt corrupted in some way by my old flash, i flash back to stock. takes me 5 minutes total. as long as you keep a copy of the CWM update.zip on your sdcard, there is not even a reason to boot back into stock and root/setup/install rom manager, etc.
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Thank you, that's the answer I was looking for. I already noticed that CWM can be flashed through an update.zip, so if I'm currently running the stock rom I don't have to ODIN and wipe data, do I? I can just flash CWM, nandroid, then go ahead and flash whatever I want?
Then NEXT TIME I flash something else I'll have to ODIN first.
Or does the user data already present in the stock rom make enough of a difference that I should ODIN anyway?
Phone is my gf's so I would really like to have a nandroid of her setup exactly as it is now so we can go back if she doesn't like Cognition, or whatever rom we decide to flash.

Phateless said:
Thank you, that's the answer I was looking for. I already noticed that CWM can be flashed through an update.zip, so if I'm currently running the stock rom I don't have to ODIN and wipe data, do I? I can just flash CWM, nandroid, then go ahead and flash whatever I want?
Then NEXT TIME I flash something else I'll have to ODIN first.
Or does the user data already present in the stock rom make enough of a difference that I should ODIN anyway?
Phone is my gf's so I would really like to have a nandroid of her setup exactly as it is now so we can go back if she doesn't like Cognition, or whatever rom we decide to flash.
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you are correct in assuming that if you are running stock currently, you do not have to odin first
if you remember to revert any lagfix that may have been applied (depends on rom) you wont have to ODIN
make a nandroid of her current setup.
now this is where it gets tricky. i just played around with doing this last night actually:
if you go from 2.1 to 2.2 or higher, you cannot just flash back to 2.1 nandroid restore. the nandroid doesnt backup or restore your modem and kernel
going backwards to 2.1, you will want to flash a 2.1 kernel, and modem prior to restoring your nandroid backup and vice versa if you make a nandroid of 2.2 and want to go back to it from 2.1
if you keep clockwork flashable versions of such needed kernels and modems as well as a nandroid of the original setup and the cwm update.zip file on your sdcard, you will never need odin...unless there is a major malfunction. this can all be done in CWM, but as i said, the noob-friendly, and surefire way to get a fresh install is ODIN. i dont think any other company has something like this available to flash back to stock, so the methods used on the roms in the galaxy s phones are slightly different than the roms for htc or motorola devices. to me, i think this is a major win for us, in that most things are easily recoverable using a windows tool

Pirateghost said:
you are correct in assuming that if you are running stock currently, you do not have to odin first
if you remember to revert any lagfix that may have been applied (depends on rom) you wont have to ODIN
make a nandroid of her current setup.
now this is where it gets tricky. i just played around with doing this last night actually:
if you go from 2.1 to 2.2 or higher, you cannot just flash back to 2.1 nandroid restore. the nandroid doesnt backup or restore your modem and kernel
going backwards to 2.1, you will want to flash a 2.1 kernel, and modem prior to restoring your nandroid backup and vice versa if you make a nandroid of 2.2 and want to go back to it from 2.1
if you keep clockwork flashable versions of such needed kernels and modems as well as a nandroid of the original setup and the cwm update.zip file on your sdcard, you will never need odin...unless there is a major malfunction. this can all be done in CWM, but as i said, the noob-friendly, and surefire way to get a fresh install is ODIN. i dont think any other company has something like this available to flash back to stock, so the methods used on the roms in the galaxy s phones are slightly different than the roms for htc or motorola devices. to me, i think this is a major win for us, in that most things are easily recoverable using a windows tool
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That makes sense, thanks! Over in HTC-land we call them radios instead of modems, and kernel/spl/radio all have to be compatible. Most are compatible with each other so there is seldom a need to flash around.
So what I gather from your post is that if she starts on stock 2.1 and I flash cwm, then flash Cognition (2.2 rom) I will most likely need to update the modem to match? Or is that only the case with stock roms?

Phateless said:
That makes sense, thanks! Over in HTC-land we call them radios instead of modems, and kernel/spl/radio all have to be compatible. Most are compatible with each other so there is seldom a need to flash around.
So what I gather from your post is that if she starts on stock 2.1 and I flash cwm, then flash Cognition (2.2 rom) I will most likely need to update the modem to match? Or is that only the case with stock roms?
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most all the custom roms you will find will flash a kernel and modem that match and work properly with that rom
it really only applies to nandroid backups going from 2.1 to 2.2 and vice versa

Pirateghost said:
most all the custom roms you will find will flash a kernel and modem that match and work properly with that rom
it really only applies to nandroid backups going from 2.1 to 2.2 and vice versa
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So you're saying when you flash the rom it will flash the correct kernel and modem as part of update/install script?
So basically I just need to install CWM, flash the rom, and not worry about the rest?

Phateless said:
So you're saying when you flash the rom it will flash the correct kernel and modem as part of update/install script?
So basically I just need to install CWM, flash the rom, and not worry about the rest?
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yep
you dont need to worry about the rest until it comes time to flash to something else
there are a few options when that time comes:
use ODIN to restore to stock, then flash the next rom of your choosing
revert lagfix (if applied from the current rom you are running), then flash next rom of your choosing
if going back to a 2.1 NANDROID, not custom rom, then you will either need to odin, then flash.
or
flash 2.1 compatible kernel+modem and then restore your nandroid

Pirateghost said:
yep
you dont need to worry about the rest until it comes time to flash to something else
there are a few options when that time comes:
use ODIN to restore to stock, then flash the next rom of your choosing
revert lagfix (if applied from the current rom you are running), then flash next rom of your choosing
if going back to a 2.1 NANDROID, not custom rom, then you will either need to odin, then flash.
or
flash 2.1 compatible kernel+modem and then restore your nandroid
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Got it. That all makes sense except for the kernel. Shouldn't that be included in the nandroid? I know the modem probably resides on a separate partition...

Phateless said:
Got it. That all makes sense except for the kernel. Shouldn't that be included in the nandroid? I know the modem probably resides on a separate partition...
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the nandroid doesnt backup the kernel OR the modem as far as i know. either that or it doesnt flash them on the restore...

Pirateghost said:
the nandroid doesnt backup the kernel OR the modem as far as i know. either that or it doesnt flash them on the restore...
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At least with HTC the kernel is part of the Rom and IS included in nandroids.

What are the issues doing this

With all of the really good roms now a days...that is..
1) Rooting...doing a back up of the stock rom..and then using that backup to return to stock without having to flash through Odin?
I'm guessing here...but..wouldn't you have to have disable any lag fix..going back to rfs..disable any voodoo..changing any oc/uc settings to stock..prior to doing this ?
2) Pulling a copy of the entire EFS folder from stock to your PC before doing any flashing new roms and then prior to un-rooting dropping it back in with root explorer...Won't this do the same thing without having to use a terminal or hex editor to have the original imei # and product code #? If #1 is a complete copy..would #2 be even needed ?
Just looking for a easy way to do this on a brand new phone
Thanks
Mac

Mac11700 said:
With all of the really good roms now a days...that is..
1) Rooting...doing a back up of the stock rom..and then using that backup to return to stock without having to flash through Odin?
I'm guessing here...but..wouldn't you have to have disable any lag fix..going back to rfs..disable any voodoo..changing any oc/uc settings to stock..prior to doing this ?
2) Pulling a copy of the entire EFS folder from stock to your PC before doing any flashing new roms and then prior to un-rooting dropping it back in with root explorer...Won't this do the same thing without having to use a terminal or hex editor to have the original imei # and product code #? If #1 is a complete copy..would #2 be even needed ?
Just looking for a easy way to do this on a brand new phone
Thanks
Mac
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1) You should basically be doing this everytime you flash a new rom. I've flashed my cappy probly 50 times and everytime except once I went back to stock first. 0 issues -- the 1 time I didn't have a pc at hand and had to disable the lagfix then flash rom. But. going back to stock with Odin3 1 click is easy as long as you can get into download mode. Make sure you can get into dload mode before even attempting to flash a rom.
You only have to disable lagfix if you are not going back to stock prior to flashing a new rom (don't ever flash a rom over another rom without first disabling the lagfix or going back to stock).
2) I never backup my sdcard when flashing rom or master clear (I'm lazy I guess and don't want to wait for the files to transfer). I also keep update.zip as the clockwork recovery update.zip file. So after going back to stock, all I have to do is go into stock recovery and reinstall packages to install clockwork recovery, then I can flash the new rom and any add ons.

mod777 said:
1) You should basically be doing this everytime you flash a new rom. I've flashed my cappy probly 50 times and everytime except once I went back to stock first. 0 issues -- the 1 time I didn't have a pc at hand and had to disable the lagfix then flash rom. But. going back to stock with Odin3 1 click is easy as long as you can get into download mode. Make sure you can get into dload mode before even attempting to flash a rom.
You only have to disable lagfix if you are not going back to stock prior to flashing a new rom (don't ever flash a rom over another rom without first disabling the lagfix or going back to stock).
2) I never backup my sdcard when flashing rom or master clear (I'm lazy I guess and don't want to wait for the files to transfer). I also keep update.zip as the clockwork recovery update.zip file. So after going back to stock, all I have to do is go into stock recovery and reinstall packages to install clockwork recovery, then I can flash the new rom and any add ons.
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I guess I am wording this wrong...I know how to flash..and I know how to odin back...but I was curious if I could eliminate doing some of that by just using the back up of the stock rom that is rooted..I don't think that can be done with out flashing stock via Odin first (because of the kernels if not using a Captivate kernel )...but if you are using one... I haven't read anything about...cause I really don't know..
I am trying to see if all the EFS files are replaced with the correct #s without having to do and terminal work or use a hex editor..once the back up from Rom manager is put back on and used..Just trying to make a real easy check list about it..
Mac

mod777 said:
(don't ever flash a rom over another rom without first disabling the lagfix or going back to stock).
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I guess I got lucky cuz one day I was too lazy and away from the PC, but I have a couple of ROMs on my SD so I just flashed Assonance on top of Perception and worked fine.. that is the only time I did that, I always go back to stock with one click ODIN before flashing a new rom

dq13 said:
I guess I got lucky cuz one day I was too lazy and away from the PC, but I have a couple of ROMs on my SD so I just flashed Assonance on top of Perception and worked fine.. that is the only time I did that, I always go back to stock with one click ODIN before flashing a new rom
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the lagfixes may not have been installed...i think you have to manually install them with the roms you mentioned

Flashing. Do I have to go back to stock?

Everytime I flash I go back to stock unless its a same rom.
Ex. I was on darky 7.2 I just downloaded the rom on my phone via dolphin. Just used rom manager to get 8.0.
But can I do this for all roms? I'm kinda confused cause some say you can and some say you can't..
Sent from my phone

You do not have to. You should disable lag fix, clear cache and davlik cache, prior. Flashing back to stock is cleaner, especially if you are going from a rom with one base to one with another. You can always try without going to stock and flash stock if something goes wrong.

I never do. I just boot to recovery and flash. If I'm using a different kernel I'll reboot to recovery then check my lagfix options and then reboot.

No need to flash back to stock. If the ROM is a 'no-wipe ROM', install like you normally would through CWM/Recovery. If you have problems, or if the ROM is a 'wipe' ROM, clear cache and data in CWM and install. If you still have problems and nothing else seems to be helping, try reverting to stock and starting fresh.
Reverting to stock between ROM's is an unnecessary extra step that generally adds the risk of Odin failure/incompatibility (which can result in a soft-bricked or hard-bricked phone).

Is it necessary ODIN when going between ROM's instead of JH7_OTA ROM??

Scenario:
- I'm running Phoenix 4 ROM
- I want to try another ROM
- I have a copy of the JH7_OTA-1.zip
Can I just use ClockworkMod Recovery to flash the JH7_OTA ROM, then do a master clear from the phone and then apply any ROM I want?
Would that not accomplish the same thing as putting the phone in download mode and doing a stock restore via ODIN, followed by a Master Clear, and then flashing any ROM?
Can someone clear this up for me because it seems that both methods accomplish the same thing. They restore your phone to factory stock ROM as it's suggested by majority of the ROM before applying them.
Thanks

You can go from one rom to another without flashing stock.
I just went from doc jpy base to andromeda armani base. All I did was disable lag fix and kernel tweaks then flashed
I did so knowing I had odin just in case

What mcord11758 said except you don't actually need to disable anything. Just flash.

So that's the confusing part because:
Cognition ROM used to saynow there is just a DL link)
"flash back to I897UCJF6 (Recommended)"
and
How to flash PHOENIX Roms:
"1. BACK UP!!!
2. Use Odin One click to Flash Stock
2a. Wait for it to reboot and then re-enable debugging, hook phone back up to pc and Master Clear"
I got the concept that if running any lagfix it's best to disable it when updating the same ROM to a newer version but when doing a factory ROM it wipes out the ROM contents including the file-system format be it EXT4/EXT3 back to the Samsung RFS.
I would love to hear from one of the developers but I couldn't ask this question in the Dev Forum due too my n00b posting status.
Thanks for anyone who takes the time to provide some insight.

Phoenix and cognition both use ext 4 filing and the clockwork recovery built in understand it.
You have no less risk flashing jh7. in essence you are doing the same thing
flashing stock was more necessary when recovery could not understand ext 4. Today you can change to three different kernels in one day without ever disabling a lagfix

Vezee said:
I got the concept that if running any lagfix it's best to disable it when updating the same ROM to a newer version but when doing a factory ROM it wipes out the ROM contents including the file-system format be it EXT4/EXT3 back to the Samsung RFS.
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The partitions get formatted either way (unless it's now wipe, in which case I guess data and datadb don't). If are running ext4 and your new kernel supports ext4 then why disable it?

mcord11758 said:
Phoenix and cognition both use ext 4 filing and the clockwork recovery built in understand it.
You have no less risk flashing jh7. in essence you are doing the same thing
flashing stock was more necessary when recovery could not understand ext 4. Today you can change to three different kernels in one day without ever disabling a lagfix
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Click to collapse
Thanks, that was the answer I was looking form I didn't exactly understand that the restriction was the recovery rom. It makes sense.

[Q] Installing Custom ROMS, why stock?

Simple question. If answered in another thread, please give me a pointer. I searched, but couldnt find an answer. Here is the question.
Why do we have to revert to Stock 2.1 before flashing a custom ROM? Why can't we flash a 2.2 custom ROM over another 2.2 Custom ROM? And finally, is there a CWM flashable version of stock 2.1 with root and cwm pre-installed?
Thanks.

before a lagfix was adopted as "standard" by the dev community this was necessary to reset the phone file system to n unmodified state. Now that all the devs are using the same type of awesome lagfix, reflashing to stock isn't really necessary anymore, IMHO. I never do it anymore. I just do a wipe user data from my recovery menu and everything seems to work fine.

The answer is not simple.
You do not have to flash stock. It used to be more needed. Devs still say so, but I believe that is largely to problem shoot issues from the get go. Threads are cluttered with comments like omg my phone is possessed. Well what were you running prior, and what was your setup? If stock well we know what was what. If ulk kernel with ext 2 loop, then yes there could be issues
Flashing stock at this point is just as risky, if not more risky then flashing directly over. If something feels wrong and you can't fix it, flash stock\master clear start over

So in essence, we can flash fine over an existing ROM and if there are issues, better go to stock and flash from there. Am I right? Can you list the steps you take to flash a new ROM without going to stock? Will there be issues if lets say I flash a 2.2 ROM over a 2.2.1 ROM?

I.do this but it may be redundant
Backup apps
Dl rom
Boot recovery
delete cache
delete davlik cache
Flash rom
delete davlik cache
Boot

I never did flash back to stock. I failed. Odin would not connect.
But for you guys out there - there is a way to bring recovery menu, that's what saved me.
Remove SIM and SD card.
Power+VolumeUp = reboot from any locked state
Power+VolumeDown=reboot into recovery
Power+both Volumes=download mode, never worked for connecting Odin, I could go there from Recovery
So my sequence:
remove old backups
create new backups
download ROM
boot into recovery
flash rom
clear cache partition and dalvik cache (probably the same)
run fix permissions
reboot

I think for most new ROMs that take advantage of the updated 2.2.1 filesystems you don't need voodoo or any lagfix. Can't even remember the last time I used ext4 when using speedmod kernel and JS3/JS5 Rom. Makes it easier to flash new roms when you don't have to worry about corruption.
But flash back to stock clears out any unnecessary gunk that could cause 90% of Force Closes and random vibrates on boot

I always thought of it as installing a new operating system or a different version of. It. Cming from the same roots of the ROM or OS, you can just install a different, major update over it (Different ROM) and be on your way.
However if sonething is built differently from the start (Windows and OSX), you cant just install right over the other because there are problems.
I always start back at the beginning because it onky takes a few minutes extra and it makes the phone a whole lot faster; you clean out alk the gunk and unused folders and whatnot.

you definitely want to do a master clear if you do not start from stock, since there are some caches on your sdcard may ruin your new system.

mengbo said:
you definitely want to do a master clear if you do not start from stock, since there are some caches on your sdcard may ruin your new system.
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Does anyone know how to do a Master Clear with Odin3? Or is there some other way we can do it without Odin3?
Thanks.

Enhanced said:
Does anyone know how to do a Master Clear with Odin3? Or is there some other way we can do it without Odin3?
Thanks.
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I use the oneclick odin to do master clear. The master clear works on i896 too.