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I am planning to flash a custom rom on my phone (for the first time).
Model : Xperia SP(C5302)
Build : 12.1.A.1.205 (Stock) running JB 4.3 with LB
I have rooted my phone using the towelroot method and installed supersu. I have also installed custom recovery from here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2649923
I am planning to flash this custom rom http://forum.xda-developers.com/xperia-sp/development/cyanogenmod-11-locked-bootloader-users-t2868398
So I have a few questions that I am not clear about(even after searching the forums). And sorry if they are dumb. I really want to understand as much as possible before flashing roms.:fingers-crossed:
1. After reading the thread of my recovery, from what I understand, the recoveries are installed in /system. But on OP of the custom rom, I am about to install, there is an instruction to format /system before flashing the rom. So my question is if I format the /system partition, won’t my recoveries be removed (by the recoveries itself) before I even flash the rom?
2. Also will the recovery still be available to me if say I enter bootloop for some reason during flashing the rom?(asking for the same reason as above that is wiping my /system should also remove my recoveries)
3. Does CM 11 come with any inbuilt custom recovery? If not can I install the one I am already using (assuming installing a custom rom will remove my installed recoveries)?
4. Say I screw up during the flashing procedure. So if I want to rectify this I should first flash the stock .205 ftf, root, install a recovery again and then restore using the nandroid backup. Am I correct?
5. Is it necessary to wipe cache and dalvik cache before flashing rom? I see this instruction in some roms but not in others. And dalvik should be wiped after flashing rom and gapps, right?
6. Should I install supersu again after I flash the rom. I read in an article that it causes problems with CM. As far as I know CM11 comes pre-installed with superuser. But it also supposedly causes some problems.
7. Is it safe to restore user app+data, messages and contacts backed up using Titanium backup on a newly flashed rom? I have seen conflicted views on this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And that’s it for my questions (for now at least... ).
A Big Thanks in advance for all your helpful answers
Prat92 said:
I am planning to flash a custom rom on my phone (for the first time).
Model : Xperia SP(C5302)
Build : 12.1.A.1.205 (Stock) running JB 4.3 with LB
I have rooted my phone using the towelroot method and installed supersu. I have also installed custom recovery from here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2649923
I am planning to flash this custom rom http://forum.xda-developers.com/xperia-sp/development/cyanogenmod-11-locked-bootloader-users-t2868398
So I have a few questions that I am not clear about(even after searching the forums). And sorry if they are dumb. I really want to understand as much as possible before flashing roms.:fingers-crossed:
And that’s it for my questions (for now at least... ).
A Big Thanks in advance for all your helpful answers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all, I am only explaining the one I know about
1. Well, wiping the system will remove the recovery. That's why you'll have to flash the ROM after wiping the system. Do not ever reboot the phone after wiping the system but haven't yet flashed the ROM zip, else you'll have to do more work to flash the Stock ROM. This is due to the fact your phone does not have an OS to boot into! When flashing the ROM zip, the recovery will be automatically installed.
2. This is based on luck, most of time you'll end up unable to boot into anything. A fix is to flash the Stock ROM again.
3. Every ROM has recovery built with it (unless stated otherwise in the thread)! Upon flashing, it will be automatically installed too.
4. The methods you mentioned is correct. However, only restore the nandroid backup if you want to stay on stock. You could always retry to flash the ROM again. Nandroid backup is an image backup of your android. If you restore your nandroid backup, you'll end up with your previous version of android (like the way before you started flashing the ROM)
5. Wiping /cache and dalvik-cache is a really good practise! It doesn't really matter when you will need to wipe them, but personally I wipe them all before flashing the ROM. Wiping /data and performing a factory reset through recovery is recommended if you're coming from a different ROM. That's why backing up user apps through TiB (Titanium Backup) is recommended for you to easily get your installed apps back. Remember, nandroid backup and apps backup from TiB is different to each other.
6. No, this might cause extreme conflicts. No, I am using SuperUser as long as I have used CM. It never fails to give root permission at all despite the hatred I sense in some apps that overly-recommends SuperSU.
7. Of course it is very safe to restore them backups with TiB. However, based on my experience, messages and contacts were unable to be restored due to the difference in ROM version. I don't know if anyone else faces the same problem as mine. As of this, I really recommend your contacts to be synced with Google.
Heads up!
Based on this post, the dev of the ROM you wanted to flash, MrSteve555, recommends PhilZ when flashing the ROM.
TechnoSparks said:
First of all, I am only explaining the one I know about
1. Well, wiping the system will remove the recovery. That's why you'll have to flash the ROM after wiping the system. Do not ever reboot the phone after wiping the system but haven't yet flashed the ROM zip, else you'll have to do more work to flash the Stock ROM. This is due to the fact your phone does not have an OS to boot into! When flashing the ROM zip, the recovery will be automatically installed.
2. This is based on luck, most of time you'll end up unable to boot into anything. A fix is to flash the Stock ROM again.
3. Every ROM has recovery built with it (unless stated otherwise in the thread)! Upon flashing, it will be automatically installed too.
4. The methods you mentioned is correct. However, only restore the nandroid backup if you want to stay on stock. You could always retry to flash the ROM again. Nandroid backup is an image backup of your android. If you restore your nandroid backup, you'll end up with your previous version of android (like the way before you started flashing the ROM)
5. Wiping /cache and dalvik-cache is a really good practise! It doesn't really matter when you will need to wipe them, but personally I wipe them all before flashing the ROM. Wiping /data and performing a factory reset through recovery is recommended if you're coming from a different ROM. That's why backing up user apps through TiB (Titanium Backup) is recommended for you to easily get your installed apps back. Remember, nandroid backup and apps backup from TiB is different to each other.
6. No, this might cause extreme conflicts. No, I am using SuperUser as long as I have used CM. It never fails to give root permission at all despite the hatred I sense in some apps that overly-recommends SuperSU.
7. Of course it is very safe to restore them backups with TiB. However, based on my experience, messages and contacts were unable to be restored due to the difference in ROM version. I don't know if anyone else faces the same problem as mine. As of this, I really recommend your contacts to be synced with Google.
Heads up!
Based on this post, the dev of the ROM you wanted to flash, MrSteve555, recommends PhilZ when flashing the ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for such detailed answers. That cleared most of my doubts
Just some last few questions(promise!)
1. If wiping /system does remove the recovery before I install the rom, how is it possible to access it even to flash the rom? Shouldn't it like just close right when I wipe /system. Or does it not work like that?
2. Just to be sure the nandroid backup I made on my stock rom won't work if I later try to flash it through recovery while using CM,right?
Prat92 said:
Thanks for such detailed answers. That cleared most of my doubts
Just some last few questions(promise!)
1. If wiping /system does remove the recovery before I install the rom, how is it possible to access it even to flash the rom? Shouldn't it like just close right when I wipe /system. Or does it not work like that?
2. Just to be sure the nandroid backup I made on my stock rom won't work if I later try to flash it through recovery while using CM,right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Wiping system wont close the recovery at all. It still runs and you can still navigate within it. But remember do not reboot unless you've flashed the ROM! The mechanism of how the magic works is yet to be acknowledged. So I can't tell why it doesn't closes upon wipe. My best guess here is that the recovery might be running on a temporary partition perhaps. I hope a developer see this post and explains the magic.
2. Nandroid backup works all the time (if they are no errors when you are creating them). Nandroid backup is simply a backup of your whole device. If you're on CM, restoring nandroid backup will get your phone back to the way when you attempted the nandroid backup (stock ROM, rooted, and triple recoveries installed). Nandroid backup is useful when you're about to try something that may damage your ROM, without doing so much work to restore your device.
Say, you created a nandroid backup in cwm in which Cyanogenmod was installed. And then you flashed something afterwards. If that "something" damages the ROM and gives you bootloop, you can simply flash Stock ROM, root it again, install recoveries again, and restore the nandroid backup. Then, voilà, cyanogenmod is back. This will simplify your work rather than flash CM again, then gapps, then restore your apps and all those other things that will consume so much time
So a new nandroid backup will backup the whole device, in a form of an image.
So I've rooted, unlock bootloader but still encrypted on my nexus 6. So far I went with Franco kernel & ViperAudio that's about it and I'm enjoying it.
I'm wanting to flash a custom ROM very soon and I'm new to this. Ive made backups thru twrp with nandroid already.So please bare with me.
Questions
Do I have to be decrypted before flashing a ROM?
Can I load viperaudo.zip & Franco kernel.zip along with Custom ROM, Gapps & SuperSU at the same time on Twrp?
From videos I've seen people just wipe on twrp and then install the ROM, is this a safe? Or is it better to a full factory wipe.
After flashing a ROM, will my old files still be there like pictures ive taken, stuff that I download & will my old apps be there still.
Thank you in advance.
1. its your choice, to stay encrypted or to decrypt. im still encrypted and running terminus rom
2. yes. but tge rom will always be the first flash, since itll overwrite anything you flash before it.
3. i normally dirty flash, meaning i dint wipe a single thing when flashing. that way i lose nothing. but, i always have a nandroid backup, just in case.
4. first off, your storage never gets touched, unless you wipe it yourself. if you dirty flash, you lose nothing. if you clean flash, you factory reset the phone and need to reinstall your apps, through backup of somekind or manually.
simms22 said:
1. its your choice, to stay encrypted or to decrypt. im still encrypted and running terminus rom
2. yes. but tge rom will always be the first flash, since itll overwrite anything you flash before it.
3. i normally dirty flash, meaning i dint wipe a single thing when flashing. that way i lose nothing. but, i always have a nandroid backup, just in case.
4. first off, your storage never gets touched, unless you wipe it yourself. if you dirty flash, you lose nothing. if you clean flash, you factory reset the phone and need to reinstall your apps, through backup of somekind or manually.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So flash the ROM, gapps and super su as the thread of the ROM says and then use the ROM for a bit and then twrp and flash ViperAudio and kernel...
So if I lose nothing do I need to reinstall the apps...
Thanks for the response
jussaren said:
So flash the ROM, gapps and super su as the thread of the ROM says and then use the ROM for a bit and then twrp and flash ViperAudio and kernel...
So if I lose nothing do I need to reinstall the apps...
Thanks for the response
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
id flash viper and your kernel at the same time, with the rim, gapps, abd supersu. if you dirty flash, you lose nothing. all you do is update what you already have. your apps stay. buts thats only during a "dirty" flash
simms22 said:
id flash viper and your kernel at the same time, with the rim, gapps, abd supersu. if you dirty flash, you lose nothing. all you do is update what you already have. your apps stay. buts thats only during a "dirty" flash
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So for my case, stock and rooted and to install this ROM what are the primarily steps instead of dirty flashing. I wanna do everything from the phone.
Sorry for being a noob. I know if I fuxk up anything I can always revert to my nandroid backup.
1.) I decided to install Franco Kernel to see what positive effects if any it had on Light Flow.
2.) Before hand I did a full Backup in TWRP checked everything Boot, Recovery, System, System Image, Data, and Cache.
3.) I installed Franco Kernel No problem, but didn't see any advantages so I Decided to revert back
4.) I ran a TWRP Restore with all the same Items Checked, it finished and Now I stand on the Google screen with the unlocked bootloader Icon and nothing else happening.
I cant even figure out how to connect it to ADB or Wug's Nexus Root Toolkit since it won't show on USB...How do I reboot into a safe mode, nothing seems to work.
Follow UP...
I managed to boot into TWRP recovery again...and it said no OS installed...So I decided perhaps I had checked too many and just re-ran System Image only. It now boots but I still have Franco Kernel..I don't mind it but would rather go stock.
I thought System Image included the Kernel.. Is there an easy way to go back to the original kernel?
flipper44 said:
I managed to boot into TWRP recovery again...and it said no OS installed...So I decided perhaps I had checked too many and just re-ran System Image only. It now boots but I still have Franco Kernel..I don't mind it but would rather go stock.
I thought System Image included the Kernel.. Is there an easy way to go back to the original kernel?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go back to TWRP Restore and check the box for boot only. If you backed up boot it should flash the stock kernel.
flipper44 said:
I managed to boot into TWRP recovery again...and it said no OS installed...So I decided perhaps I had checked too many and just re-ran System Image only. It now boots but I still have Franco Kernel..I don't mind it but would rather go stock.
I thought System Image included the Kernel.. Is there an easy way to go back to the original kernel?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a thread called:
'How to flash a new boot.img via Fastboot'
But... Franco's kernel is better for your battery.
NLBeev said:
There is a thread called:
'How to flash a new boot.img via Fastboot'
But... Franco's kernel is better for your battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably will Go back to Franco, But since I just got this I should probably monitor what I do and don't like over the weekend before choosing my daily Driver Kernel and Rom. Thanks to you both.
prdog1 said:
Go back to TWRP Restore and check the box for boot only. If you backed up boot it should flash the stock kernel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was Brain Freeze, and minor panic LOL...for some reason I wasn't processing Boot = Kernel..Thanks to both people who answered.
This is a sum up of most resources I found online for Tab S2 9.7 LTE(T815/T815c) for those of you who don't want to find anymore
including ROM, ROOT, RECOVERY, XPOSED FRAMEWORK and KERNEL
ROM:
Original stock ROM, UNROOT and UNMODIFIED.
choose from here and download
Chinese special version ROM(T815c)
Download from Dropbox
Download from BaiduYun (for Chinese users) with password: tdfv
Flash with Odin
Open Odin, click AP and select the file above, then flash.
Also a website for sum up of modified ROMs, here
RECOVERY:
TWRP 3.0.0, download from here, flash with Odin with the same steps above.
ROOT:
Flash CF auto root with custom recoveries(like TWRP above), download from here
XPOSED FRAMEWORK:
Flash from here with custom recoveries, then install Xposed app to control the modules.
KERNEL:
Flash with Odin
PERMISSIVE KERNEL for normal T815 devices, here.
PERMISSIVE KERNEL for Chinese T815c devices, here.
Source, details and further issues, go to: https://forum.xda-developers.com/tab-s2/development/kernels-exynos-regular-permissive-t3523348
Please let me know if you have further problems, or directly go to the source pages for details.
Cheers!
Hi OP!
Thanks for this article, it really is helpful,but I have 2 questions about it:
if I want to use the linked "ROM: Original stock ROM, UNROOT and UNMODIFIED." on my rooted, TWRP recovery 815 device , I will have to unroot my device also have to install stock recovery beforehand, am I right? Because if I try to install it via Odin it will brick my Tab S2.
I am asking it, because it was more than half a year since I updated my Tab S2, because it has stock ROM on it, with TWRP and root and I didn't wanted to deal with everything before update (unroot, stock recovery, ROM install via odin, twrp install again, root again etc.), since there is not stock update that I could istall via TWRP unfortunately.
My other question is what is Chinese special version ROM(T815c)? Why is it special? I am European so I don't speak Chinese either, not to mention my device is the basic 815, not 815c.
Thanks.
NandorHUN Hi OP!
Thanks for this article, it really is helpful,but I have 2 questions about it:
if I want to use the linked "ROM: Original stock ROM, UNROOT and UNMODIFIED." on my rooted, TWRP recovery 815 device , I will have to unroot my device also have to install stock recovery beforehand, am I right? Because if I try to install it via Odin it will brick my Tab S2.
I am asking it, because it was more than half a year since I updated my Tab S2, because it has stock ROM on it, with TWRP and root and I didn't wanted to deal with everything before update (unroot, stock recovery, ROM install via odin, twrp install again, root again etc.), since there is not stock update that I could istall via TWRP unfortunately.
My other question is what is Chinese special version ROM(T815c)? Why is it special? I am European so I don't speak Chinese either, not to mention my device is the basic 815, not 815c.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, if you want to update your system to the latest version, I'm afraid in most of the cases you'll need to unroot at least unless your supersu has a recover OTA option in it, otherwise if you want to flash ROMs that I listed or other ROMs need to be flashed with Odin, you'll need to clear all the data in your device and flash, of course you can directly flash it without any wipe, but possibly something will go wrong. In your case if you only want to upgrade your system, you can find other ROMs here in xda and flash it with recovery, but even if you use recovery, there's no guarantee that nothing will go wrong without wiping anything. My suggestion is to backup your data first, and maybe find a recovery update package and directly flash it with recovery, no need to unroot or wipe other than Cache, but in case anything went wrong, you can use ROMs provided here and flash them with Odin to recovery your device, of course, if something went wrong, you'll have to wipe everything to do that.
About the Chinese version, if you don't use the T815c version, thedn you don't need to care about that, it's for Chinese buyers who bought the Chinese version.
Let me know if you have further questions.
Jackz314 said:
Hi, if you want to update your system to the latest version, I'm afraid in most of the cases you'll need to unroot at least unless your supersu has a recover OTA option in it, otherwise if you want to flash ROMs that I listed or other ROMs need to be flashed with Odin, you'll need to clear all the data in your device and flash, of course you can directly flash it without any wipe, but possibly something will go wrong. In your case if you only want to upgrade your system, you can find other ROMs here in xda and flash it with recovery, but even if you use recovery, there's no guarantee that nothing will go wrong without wiping anything. My suggestion is to backup your data first, and maybe find a recovery update package and directly flash it with recovery, no need to unroot or wipe other than Cache, but in case anything went wrong, you can use ROMs provided here and flash them with Odin to recovery your device, of course, if something went wrong, you'll have to wipe everything to do that.
About the Chinese version, if you don't use the T815c version, thedn you don't need to care about that, it's for Chinese buyers who bought the Chinese version.
Let me know if you have further questions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!
Could you send me a description how to unroot? After that I should flash the stock recovery via Odin and flash the ROM via Odin as well, am I right?
NandorHUN said:
Thanks!
Could you send me a description how to unroot? After that I should flash the stock recovery via Odin and flash the ROM via Odin as well, am I right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually what you should do is to wipe all the data in the phone and then flash the ROM, no need to unroot or flash recovery separately, wipe can do all that for you, of course if you don't want to wipe all the data, you can try and directly flash the ROM(it's risky but sometimes it also works perfectly), then if something went wrong, you can wipe the data and flash again to recover.
Jackz314 said:
Actually what you should do is to wipe all the data in the phone and then flash the ROM, no need to unroot or flash recovery separately, wipe can do all that for you, of course if you don't want to wipe all the data, you can try and directly flash the ROM(it's risky but sometimes it also works perfectly), then if something went wrong, you can wipe the data and flash again to recover.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did not know it should be that simple, I owned a HTC, LG and Huawei phones but in all of them I have to unroot and install the stock recovery.
Oh, ok. I should do a full Wipe with Odin? I know there's an opinion in TWRP too.
So I tried installing Xposed Framework by flashing it's ROM, but after I did it, I rebooted my phone, but every time I do it, it always boots into TWRP recovery. I tried fixing it by looking in the setting and I used a backup I made before doing all this crap and I restored, but my phone still boots only into TWRP recovery mode. I would really appreciate it if anyone could help me. Thanks.
PS. My phone is rooted and it has TWRP
TribalPaint said:
So I tried installing Xposed Framework by flashing it's ROM, but after I did it, I rebooted my phone, but every time I do it, it always boots into TWRP recovery. I tried fixing it by looking in the setting and I used a backup I made before doing all this crap and I restored, but my phone still boots only into TWRP recovery mode. I would really appreciate it if anyone could help me. Thanks.
PS. My phone is rooted and it has TWRP
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it possible that you used the wrong Xposed for your device or SDK version? I can't imagine that restoring a backup didn't fix it. Did you try wiping system in TWRP first?
Things you can try:
- Flash the "Xposed Uninstaller" zip file in TWRP, which should always be on your device when you are flashing new versions of Xposed.
- Reflash TWRP in Odin. This should fix a recovery loop.
- Wipe system, data, dalvik, cache in TWRP, then try restoring your backup.
- As a last resort, you can download the latest stock firmware for your device from the sammobile site, flash it in Odin, let it boot once, reflash TWRP, wipe in TWRP and restore your backup (if you were running a custom rom you liked or something), then flash the correct Xposed for your device & android version.
Hope this helps!
Sent from my SM-N920T using Tapatalk
bogarty said:
Is it possible that you used the wrong Xposed for your device or SDK version? I can't imagine that restoring a backup didn't fix it. Did you try wiping system in TWRP first?
Things you can try:
- Flash the "Xposed Uninstaller" zip file in TWRP, which should always be on your device when you are flashing new versions of Xposed.
- Reflash TWRP in Odin. This should fix a recovery loop.
- Wipe system, data, dalvik, cache in TWRP, then try restoring your backup.
- As a last resort, you can download the latest stock firmware for your device from the sammobile site, flash it in Odin, let it boot once, reflash TWRP, wipe in TWRP and restore your backup (if you were running a custom rom you liked or something), then flash the correct Xposed for your device & android version.
Hope this helps!
Sent from my SM-N920T using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello. I already tried zipping the uninstaller for xposed but it did nothing, I also tried wiping dalvik cache and all, but no luck. I also think that my backups are just not functional. Now I'm left to just reflashing TWRP and if that doesn't work I'll have to flash the original stock firmware for my phone. I have spent already 2 days with constant searching for ways to fix my phone and not being able to do other things because this has been taking up my time and my patience, so I really appreciate every bit of fixing my phone that I get. Since I am new to all this I would be very grateful if you could send me the links to the correct files for my device and also give me a tutorial on what to do. As I appreciate any support, so I'm thankful for you helping me But until then my device is still not able to boot regulary but rather boots to TWRP
TribalPaint said:
Hello. I already tried zipping the uninstaller for xposed but it did nothing, I also tried wiping dalvik cache and all, but no luck. I also think that my backups are just not functional. Now I'm left to just reflashing TWRP and if that doesn't work I'll have to flash the original stock firmware for my phone. I have spent already 2 days with constant searching for ways to fix my phone and not being able to do other things because this has been taking up my time and my patience, so I really appreciate every bit of fixing my phone that I get. Since I am new to all this I would be very grateful if you could send me the links to the correct files for my device and also give me a tutorial on what to do. As I appreciate any support, so I'm thankful for you helping me But until then my device is still not able to boot regulary but rather boots to TWRP
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also, if I try to reflash TWRP, do I have to reflash the original firmware first, or I can just go straight ahead and just reflash TWRP?
TribalPaint said:
Also, if I try to reflash TWRP, do I have to reflash the original firmware first, or I can just go straight ahead and just reflash TWRP?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Update:
I fixed my phone, and here's what I did, so if anyone is new here with the same issue I had, I hope this can help you. So first of all as I said I kept booting to TWRP, later I tried reflashing TWRP, but I remembered that I missed something in ODIN, so I just pulled the cord and my screen after rebooting just said something along the lines of "An unexpected error occurred while updating software, please recover using Samsung Smart Switch." after that, I tried Samsung Smart Switch, but it was no luck for me, so then I used the last resort. I went on sammobile.com, I searched stock firmware for the exact model I had and then I checked the stock firmware that was available. Since I'm from Latvia, I picked the Baltic region, then I downloaded the latest stock firmware. After a long time, I downloaded the file, and I checked the instructions on how to flash it, I flashed the stock firmware, and then my problem was fixed, my phone was working again and now I have Android 7.1.1 as I used to have Android 6.0.1 and I had ZERO file loss However as you flash the stock firmware, TWRP get "flashed" out and same with root if you have it, and in that case if you want TWRP and root again, I highly suggest Meziani's YoutTube channel, because he gives simple and working tutorials on how to do it I'm glad if this helped anyone.