Database Develop

[Q] Question before flashing mods on my Captivate

This may be a noob question but I would like to modify/flash my phone but I have a question before I do. I have done a few searches to find an answer but came up with nothing so far.
I have been browsing the forums for different mods that you can do for the Samsung Captivate. Out of all the mods that I have seen (One Click Lag Fix, Root, Cyanogen, Leaked Froyo Build, GPS settings changes, Removal of AT&T bloatware, unlocking phone for other carriers, side loading enable, and various others), they can ALL be undone using the Odin3 One-Click Stock Rom process correct?
ttp://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=731989
Hoever, each captivate has unique phone identification information such as IMEI, Device ID, Wi-Fi MAC Address, etc? Are there any mods that change the unique information for each specific phone? If so, how does Odin3 One-Click Stock ROM process correct that? When Odin3 reflashes to "Stock" ROM, I just want to know how that works if each phone has specific information.
Thanks in advance!

yes they can be undone with odin one click, however once you stray from stock it is most likeley that you wont be able to update to the official 2.2 from att.
personally im going to wait and update to official 2.2 from att then root and nandroid backup and the fun will begin because I will have a backup of the official update with my unique device id to fall back on. in my opinion this is the safest way to make sure I dont screww myself and not be able to update. once that is done it wont be long untill someone builds a decent rom from scratch plus like I stated before I will have a nandroid backup of the update for my phone if I try something and dont like it.
If you still feel compelled I havent gone to the leaked 2.2 but I did have verry good results with stock 2.1 and voodoo lagfix on anather captivate. the phone was verry fast with verry few side effects well woth it if you really cant wait.. But just remember once you stray from stock I believe the only way you will get to 2.2 will be through these forums.

shadow65781 said:
But just remember once you stray from stock I believe the only way you will get to 2.2 will be through these forums.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
anyway whatever you get from these forums will be much faster and cleaner then stock versions...
anyway i got question about the topic - i had stock 2.1 (JF6), backuped it, tried some cognition 2.2 beta, then flashed with odin to stock and the restored my backuped jf6
did my IMEI, Device ID changed?
(wifi's mac address cannot be changed)
thanks in advance

I am speculating here.
I dont think it can change any hardware I.D info but software I.D is anather story it could possibly cause problems with the O.S interfaceing with other stuff like market.
someone with more knowledge please chime in

Theres a new app in the app store (as of a few days ago) that allows you to change your Android ID#. Called Android ID changer
Unfortunately, it won't figure out what your unique # is. If you install Cognition, you have the same ID# as everyone else.
I'm not sure about Odin - stock. My Odin 2.1 # is different than the Cognition one. Ends in 43b1. I'd be really interested to know if anyone else could check their Odin 2.1 eclair JF6 (all stock, not modified) android ID # and see if it ends the same as mine. If it's different, then that means you can always revert to JF6 to figure out your real #. If it's the same, then I guess that means for the time being your SOL for figuring that out for now.
You can always check it before making modifications....
Shadow; you are probably right, but at the end of the day software is all that matters...

Thanks for the responses. Judging from what I have been reading on the replies so far, nothing can bring me back to my original stock android 2.1 OS with all original software IDs my phone had even if I use the steps outlined in the
[STOCK ROM] Odin3 One-Click Downloader and Drivers CAPTIVATE ONLY
forum post.
How do you find out what your android ID is?

gormander said:
Thanks for the responses. Judging from what I have been reading on the replies so far, nothing can bring me back to my original stock android 2.1 OS with all original software IDs my phone had even if I use the steps outlined in the
[STOCK ROM] Odin3 One-Click Downloader and Drivers CAPTIVATE ONLY
forum post.
How do you find out what your android ID is?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just as long as you are running any of the stock eclair 2.1 without any mods all your unique id's wil display correctly, even if you have flashed to cog 2.2 or leaked 2.2 if and when you flash back to a truly stock eclair 2.1 the id's will return correct.
The android id changer app from the market will display the current android id your phone has when you open the app - it shows the current id just above the entry field where you can change your id. So download the app open it get you id write it down, save it in a safe place, then if you flash any rom the does not populate you unique id correctly you can reinstall the android id changer and enter your correct id manually.

Is [STOCK ROM] Odin3 One-Click Downloader and Drivers CAPTIVATE ONLY method a "truly stock eclair 2.1" as you mentioned in your post Davy? Also, are there any other IDs I should be aware of and take note before I flash/mod anything?
Thanks.

gormander said:
Is [STOCK ROM] Odin3 One-Click Downloader and Drivers CAPTIVATE ONLY method a "truly stock eclair 2.1" as you mentioned in your post Davy? Also, are there any other IDs I should be aware of and take note before I flash/mod anything?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe odin 3 one click in that thread is a straight rom off a phone with samsung jf6 stock install - yes I'm fairly certain it is stock. There is another odin 3 one click for the leaked 2.2 which is obviously not stock.
If you download an app from the market named simply " ID " it still give you four of your phones id numbers for your info.
I'm pretty sure all your phones id numbers are either generated from hardware coded info or your google account - so as long as you gave properly coded software on your phone these wil always populate correct - even if you install something that messes these up of you remove the bad software replace it with good software it should then populate the id numbers correctly again.
Such as the android id in the leaked froyo that isn't being generated but simply being copied to every phone it is installed on - when you replace the froyo leak or any of the roms built off the leak with one of the stock samsung roms your phone will then generate the id correctly again.

No thread jack but i thought id ask in here.
If im rooted and ONLY rooted on 2.1 will that not allow me to update to official froyo?

Nickel Dime Bay said:
No thread jack but i thought id ask in here.
If im rooted and ONLY rooted on 2.1 will that not allow me to update to official froyo?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
maybe, maybe not. Some of the people who were rooted only (no mods) were able to update to the jh7 update. And from what I have heard mini kies has worked to update for everyone that flashed back to stock and tried to update that way - but this is all some what of a guess as we don't know exactly how att and/or samsung will role out froyo for the captivate.

You are all really funny. Your worried about getting an official OTA from AT&T so you won't mod your phones, lol. Your choice I guess but the last AT&T OTA bricked a lot of phones that had not even been rooted. The ROMS that you find on these forums are way better than any of the stock Samsung and AT&T put on them with their bloaty, buggy software. I won't do any OTA updates, I wait until the developers here fix them, remove the crap AT&T put's on them and speed them up. I give you guys credit though, staying stock sucks bad, it freaks me out to see that stock screen everytime I flash back to stock before flashing a new ROM to my phone. I only stayed stock for 2 weeks and never turned back, glad I did it too. I would've bought an I Phone 3g if I wanted to stay stock and not mod a phone. Go look around the forums and read the threads, don't just skim them or you won't learn anything. See what custom ROMS and kernels are cooking and what people are experiencing with them. We had the OTA rooted on here a few hours after the update was rolled out, you won't miss anything by not recieving it officailly from AT&T. Hell we already have some good Froyo ROMS and kernels. Keep waiting if you want but there's plenty of goodies here why wait?

Rhiannon224 said:
You are all really funny. Your worried about getting an official OTA from AT&T so you won't mod your phones, lol. Your choice I guess but the last AT&T OTA bricked a lot of phones that had not even been rooted. The ROMS that you find on these forums are way better than any of the stock Samsung and AT&T put on them with their bloaty, buggy software. I won't do any OTA updates, I wait until the developers here fix them, remove the crap AT&T put's on them and speed them up. I give you guys credit though, staying stock sucks bad, it freaks me out to see that stock screen everytime I flash back to stock before flashing a new ROM to my phone. I only stayed stock for 2 weeks and never turned back, glad I did it too. I would've bought an I Phone 3g if I wanted to stay stock and not mod a phone. Go look around the forums and read the threads, don't just skim them or you won't learn anything. See what custom ROMS and kernels are cooking and what people are experiencing with them. We had the OTA rooted on here a few hours after the update was rolled out, you won't miss anything by not recieving it officailly from AT&T. Hell we already have some good Froyo ROMS and kernels. Keep waiting if you want but there's plenty of goodies here why wait?
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Click to collapse
Different strokes for different folks man, Its not like im using the tw3.0 and the blue bubble background lol ive customized stock 2.1 how i want it to look and its working PERFECT for ME, fast as hell, gps locks on quick etc. Flashing a rom is nice and all but the risk of bricking youre phone is high (theres always odin i know) and if stock is working for people then more power to them.

The way I look at it is, the phone belongs to you, do what you want with it or to it as you please.
but I do agree with one point above, I personally would not trust a samsung/att update to not mess up my phone. But that does not mean it won't work well for you or that you won't be happy with it that way.

gormander said:
However, each captivate has unique phone identification information such as IMEI, Device ID, Wi-Fi MAC Address, etc? Are there any mods that change the unique information for each specific phone? If so, how does Odin3 One-Click Stock ROM process correct that? When Odin3 reflashes to "Stock" ROM, I just want to know how that works if each phone has specific information.
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IMEI can never change. I don't think your device ID can change buy your Android ID can change as you've been told by those before me. If it possible to change your WiFi MAC address, only I'm not sure how to do it. If you can do it in a full version of Linux, I don't see why it's not possible on our phones. Also, before you do any mods, make sure you backup a couple files onto your computer for safe keeping. The ones I'm talking about are in the /efs directory of your phone and relate to unlocking the phone for other networks. The second you go to mod your phone, these files will be erased and replaced with ones that are harder to get your unlock code out of.

Please help with process

Hello can someone clarify my issues. So I have default stock captivate and want to do some stuff. I need to root,enable side-load, unlcok and update to leaked froyo 2.2. What order do I do this in? I'm pretty sure root first, but if i root and enable sideload, will it carry over after I flash 2.2 with odin??? thank you everyone in advance.

I'm a noob too but I was HIGHLY satisfied with OCLF, an app you can get on the market. AT&T will hide it from you though so turn on airplane mode and use wifi and you can find it on the market. That won't unlock or give you Froyo but it'll help with everything else and also make you phone crazy, crazy fast. Go for the donate version - it's good karma if you can spare the guy a few bucks.
Also maybe check out the thread I just wrote, we are in the same boat Froyo-wise.

joeshmoe08 said:
Hello can someone clarify my issues. So I have default stock captivate and want to do some stuff. I need to root,enable side-load, unlcok and update to leaked froyo 2.2. What order do I do this in? I'm pretty sure root first, but if i root and enable sideload, will it carry over after I flash 2.2 with odin??? thank you everyone in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty much anything you flash will overwrite whatever you have done to it anyway.
If you go to leaked froyo it is in Odin One-Click form and can be found in the development threads. You will also have to reenable side-loading, root, etc manually. It's all easy enough. Forum search is your friend!
Cognition, CDE or Deviant can be done using ClockworkMod or Odin. (not so one-click) If using ClockworkMod you'll need root. Odin is a bit more complicated but worth learning and doesn't require you be rooted as it does it's magic with your phone in download mode. These will all be rooted and side-load enable out of the box.
Your SDcard should remain intact if you don't master clear or format your SDcard. Two camps on this, one says YES! then other says "yawn." Your milage may vary.
Unlocking is trickier. Some say it lives through it, some have been "disappointed." (REALLY disappointed.) I'd search diligently if you require it.
I'd caution you to make sure you can do 3 button combos to get into recovery and download before you begin. And find your android_id and write it down. You'll be wanting that down the road.
Good luck!

New to Android and just got a Captivate. Can somebody help me w/ software questions?

I am new to Android and just got a Captivate. I understand its pretty glitchy with the Samsung software and am wondering about a couple of things:
1. I hear a lot about rooting. What does this actually do for me? Is this loading a new Rom? Or are those two seperate things?
2. Which is the best software Rom to load on it with the best performance and least glitches? Is getting stock 2.2 Froyo on it an option or does it have to have the TouchWiz interface?
3. Whats the easiest way to load it?
4. Can I save the stock Samsung ROM in case I need to return and replace my captivate (warranty)?
This will definitely get me started in the right direction. Thank you!

Tenacious--M said:
I am new to Android and just got a Captivate. I understand its pretty glitchy with the Samsung software and am wondering about a couple of things:
1. I hear a lot about rooting. What does this actually do for me? Is this loading a new Rom? Or are those two seperate things?
2. Which is the best software Rom to load on it with the best performance and least glitches? Is getting stock 2.2 Froyo on it an option or does it have to have the TouchWiz interface?
3. Whats the easiest way to load it?
4. Can I save the stock Samsung ROM in case I need to return and replace my captivate (warranty)?
This will definitely get me started in the right direction. Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Rooting gives you superuser permissions. Read about it on this site.
2. Since you obviously didnt read the site I'd suggest loading Cognition. Beyond that I'd suggest any of the roms you can read about on the site.
3. If you go to cognition you can read about how to install with odin from his ponack website. Just click the link to download and Read his site.
4. If you get rooted and install clockworkmod's rom manager from the android marketplace I think you can do a nandroid backup as well as a rom backup. I am sure there is a thread in general about how to do that. Just go read it.

Will the cognition rom root my phone as well or is that a seperate thing I need to do? Should I first Root , do the Titanium Backup and then mess with the rom?
Also, once I have Cognitions rom installed, I wont be able to check for software update on the phone , correct? I will have to download future releases from his site?

Thanks! You are helping a ton. I just want to make sure I go about this right. Maybe I will start with just rooting and not mess with the ROM currently. What is the advantage to a different ROM?
What is the best way to root? Are there different roots or is rooting all the same, just different procedures. I saw this one and it sounded simple: One click Root/Unroot for Captivate
Once rooted and when Samsung releases 2.2 will I be able to download and keep my root or will I have to root again?
Oh, also how do I backup the original rom in case I need to return my captivate?

You can use ODIN one click here on xda to return to stock. First thing you need to do though is search captivate dev section on three button fix. Make sure you are able to get into download mode as this is essential before modding your phone
Swyped.....you may have to interpret

Unrooting my captivate to get AT&T 2.2?

I rooted my phone (I think) using I897UCJF6-final-OCD-REV0.exe (I think). Looking at the phone with SUPER MANAGER the ENABLE ROOT function is NOT checked off. Does that mean my phone is not rooted? Is there another way of telling if my phone is rooted? I read somewhere that you need an unrooted phone in order to get the AT&T froyo 2.2 which hopefully will be released any day now. If I need the phone unrooted to get the update is there an easy way to unroot it that will not wipe out my programs and data?
Thanks for any help.

panflute said:
I rooted my phone (I think) using I897UCJF6-final-OCD-REV0.exe (I think). Looking at the phone with SUPER MANAGER the ENABLE ROOT function is NOT checked off. Does that mean my phone is not rooted? Is there another way of telling if my phone is rooted? I read somewhere that you need an unrooted phone in order to get the AT&T froyo 2.2 which hopefully will be released any day now. If I need the phone unrooted to get the update is there an easy way to unroot it that will not wipe out my programs and data?
Thanks for any help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that exe you are referring to is stock 2.1... there is nothing rooted about it
you are not rooted

Rooted
OK. I probably did not run that program. But how can I tell if a phone is rooted or not? And is it true that your phone has to be unrooted in order to update to 2.2? thanks

panflute said:
OK. I probably did not run that program. But how can I tell if a phone is rooted or not? And is it true that your phone has to be unrooted in order to update to 2.2? thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ummmmm did you or didn't you run that program while in download mode? If you are unsure about that then I suggest you stop trying to mod your phone for a while and do some reading.
As far as being unrooted, no one knows. But I can tell you I plain don't care about an official release from att. I will continue to use roms that are developed by folks around here. they are better than anything that att can put out.
Sent from my GT-I9000

Pirateghost
Pirate, I have been a member here for a long time, & been doing a lot of reading since I got this phone. I have never seen so many people get bricked and that scares me. I tried to root the phone just in order to make backups....I am a backup freek and for good reason. My last phone was the DASH 3G (still have it). I got the HTC Windows phone but only kept it a couple of weeks before realizing how far it has to go. The Captivate is definitely a lot better than anything i have ever had and it does not seem necessary to flash it in order to get all the nice apps running. I will be happy with the AT&T update if it ever appears. I have spent the past few weeks customizing the Captivate and will post my homescreen and a list of apps I am using.

panflute said:
Pirate, I have been a member here for a long time, & been doing a lot of reading since I got this phone. I have never seen so many people get bricked and that scares me. I tried to root the phone just in order to make backups....I am a backup freek and for good reason. My last phone was the DASH 3G (still have it). I got the HTC Windows phone but only kept it a couple of weeks before realizing how far it has to go. The Captivate is definitely a lot better than anything i have ever had and it does not seem necessary to flash it in order to get all the nice apps running. I will be happy with the AT&T update if it ever appears. I have spent the past few weeks customizing the Captivate and will post my homescreen and a list of apps I am using.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have the SuperUser App in your APP drawer? If so you are rooted.

super user
I have SUPERUSER PERMISSIONS.....some of the apps listed inside it are:
titanium backup
rom manager
root explorer
sqlite editor
one click lag fix (I dont think that one worked)
So do I need to UNROOT in order to get the AT&T update to 2.2?

Just odin one click and master clear.. then hook up to kies...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

master clear
Is there a way to unroot that will not erase all of my work?

How did you know its coming any day now.

first of all, 2.2 is not coming soon....
second of all, you ARE rooted
third of all, doesn't matter if you "unroot" (although you dont really seem to be a candidate for rooting anyway)...because once you're rooted or once you change the existing software (which you did with the program you listed in the first post between the "i thinks"), you negate the ability to recieve over-the-air updates from at&t
not that ANY of this matters, because the second those firmwares hit at&t phones it will be here and available to flash
not to mention we already have 2.2 available unrooted (the leaked version (might be different))
if you want me to send you the one-click ODIN file to flash stock 2.2 let me know

So it's a confirmed fact that rooted phones can't get the OTA updates?

nope only that some people have reports that they have not been able to update after they try and use atts update....
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

2.2
whitesox311 said:
first of all, 2.2 is not coming soon....
second of all, you ARE rooted
third of all, doesn't matter if you "unroot" (although you dont really seem to be a candidate for rooting anyway)...because once you're rooted or once you change the existing software (which you did with the program you listed in the first post between the "i thinks"), you negate the ability to recieve over-the-air updates from at&t
not that ANY of this matters, because the second those firmwares hit at&t phones it will be here and available to flash
not to mention we already have 2.2 available unrooted (the leaked version (might be different))
if you want me to send you the one-click ODIN file to flash stock 2.2 let me know
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whitesox
Thanks for your offer! I would love 2.2. Someone on this board said he works for AT&T said the update was coming on the 19th....guess not ))
I need to ask a few questions about applying the update:
1. Does my home screen get reset?
2. Do I have to download all of my apps again?
3. If so, does the phone remember which apps I downloaded from Marketplace?
4. I assume that any backups i did would not apply to the new 2,2
4. Anything i should know as far as what is and is not included in the update?
thanks whitesox....I'll be keeping a eye on this thread.

Sorry Whitesox - I'm REALLY REALLY BORED at work today - hence all the forum spamming today
I need to ask a few questions about applying the update:
1. Does my home screen get reset?
Yes
2. Do I have to download all of my apps again?
Unless you had them backed up somehow (say using Titanium Backup) - then yes.
3. If so, does the phone remember which apps I downloaded from Marketplace?
Possibly - but if your using a Custom ROM? I've found that only those I have purchased show up under the Market and I had to hunt them all down again.
4. I assume that any backups i did would not apply to the new 2,2
Not necessarily true - for Apps/Data you should be fine restoring. But I wouldn't recommend restoring any type of System Data as it would conflict with the update.
5. Anything i should know as far as what is and is not included in the update?
As in? Froyo specs means you will have additional functionality - the biggest one is Flash for websites. That and you will be able to run more applications from the Market vs. your current Eclair 2.1 ROM.

backups
avgjoegeek said:
Sorry Whitesox - I'm REALLY REALLY BORED at work today - hence all the forum spamming today
I need to ask a few questions about applying the update:
1. Does my home screen get reset?
Yes
2. Do I have to download all of my apps again?
Unless you had them backed up somehow (say using Titanium Backup) - then yes.
3. If so, does the phone remember which apps I downloaded from Marketplace?
Possibly - but if your using a Custom ROM? I've found that only those I have purchased show up under the Market and I had to hunt them all down again.
4. I assume that any backups i did would not apply to the new 2,2
Not necessarily true - for Apps/Data you should be fine restoring. But I wouldn't recommend restoring any type of System Data as it would conflict with the update.
5. Anything i should know as far as what is and is not included in the update?
As in? Froyo specs means you will have additional functionality - the biggest one is Flash for websites. That and you will be able to run more applications from the Market vs. your current Eclair 2.1 ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AJG
Thanks for the response. I have titanium backup, as well as SUPER MANAGER which also does backups. Also have ROm MANAGER but I am sure that will not apply....As for my installed apps & widgets I have a list of everything installed. Looking forward to 2.2 and FLASH 10 WHITESOX!

The official Froyo update has been coming "any day now" since September.

Just personal preference to run Titanium Backup - I know it works and I can use the free version to do everything I want or need.
Yea - I had forecasted we would see the Froyo OTA update from ATT with Source before Christmas - It does appear we won't see this update until sometime in 2011 - like um never?
At this point your stuck with either the OTA JH7 Update 2.1 Eclair - or you can get the Leaked Froyo (not recommended stock) or your plethora of Custom ROM's in the Dev forum.
I swear I think the Captivate has more custom roms then a room full of bunnies. I look at the other Galaxy S line and I see a few - but not as many to choose from here. This is the one major plus of owning a Captivate I guess

which one to get?
OK you and whitesox seem to know what you are doing. What is the best & most stable version to get?

Tinyboss said:
The official Froyo update has been coming "any day now" since September.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lolololololol!!! Your right
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

[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!