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[Q] How to downgrade From ICS to Gingerbread?

I have a Nexus s with 4.0.3 flashed via bootloader.How can i downgrade to 2.3.x without root,cwm or debug(cause it isn't working) ?
i've tried several methods but none of them worked(Odin,Heimdall)
They all requires me to enter download mode with debug enabled.My debug mode is enabled but as far as i read on xda,the degub is not working in this version of ICS.
my question is : how can i downgrade to ANY firmware from this ICS version
P.S. Entering recovery mode is not an option...the phone simpli enters in a recovery/download mode - loop and keeps restarting.
Please respond fast.10x

The way I did it was to download Clockwork Mod app and scroll down to where it says stock... then 2.3.3. Once u flash that you'll lose root and an update to 2.3.x will be prompted to ya. If it doesn't then Google (Download) 2.3.4(x) and manually update. What model do u have btw?
- Google

You need to root is the basic moral here. Nothing else is really worth the effort of getting it done.

Hi
If the procedure for the nexus is the same as it is for the S2.
It should be straight forward.
Download your ROM, if its Orange you want here is a good link, I used it myself today:
http://androidromupdate.com/2012/02...-i9100p-firmware-updates-list-and-stock-roms/
The ROM I used was the NON WIPE type - I9100BVKJ4_I9100ORAKJ4_ORA
I include a picture of what I did.
I was initially on a custom ICS 4.0.3 XXLPH and have gone back to Orange stock rom.
Load the integrated Rom just into the PDA window - connect your phone in download mode and start, and that should be it!
Don't check re-partition or anything else.
Keep trying it will work.
I also had an initial prob whereby I installed the wrong kernel and the phone screen was messed up and seemed to be bricked and to get it back I loaded odin up.
Put phone in download mode.
Checked re-partition - unchecked 'auto reboot and f.reset'
Used a PIT (partition file)
Used a kernel file suitable for the S2 in the PDA window and pressed 'start'
This seems to have repartitioned and wiped the mistake and unbricked the phone.
This loaded and the phone booted - no messed screen.
Then I continued to accomplish the ROM switch over.

tsam19 said:
Hi
If the procedure for the nexus is the same as it is for the S2.
It should be straight forward.
Download your ROM, if its Orange you want here is a good link, I used it myself today:
http://androidromupdate.com/2012/02...-i9100p-firmware-updates-list-and-stock-roms/
The ROM I used was the NON WIPE type - I9100BVKJ4_I9100ORAKJ4_ORA
I include a picture of what I did.
I was initially on a custom ICS 4.0.3 XXLPH and have gone back to Orange stock rom.
Load the integrated Rom just into the PDA window - connect your phone in download mode and start, and that should be it!
Don't check re-partition or anything else.
Keep trying it will work.
I also had an initial prob whereby I installed the wrong kernel and the phone screen was messed up and seemed to be bricked and to get it back I loaded odin up.
Put phone in download mode.
Checked re-partition - unchecked 'auto reboot and f.reset'
Used a PIT (partition file)
Used a kernel file suitable for the S2 in the PDA window and pressed 'start'
This seems to have repartitioned and wiped the mistake and unbricked the phone.
This loaded and the phone booted - no messed screen.
Then I continued to accomplish the ROM switch over.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't do this. The method for the Nexus S is definitely NOT the same as the SGS2, or even the SGS. Although it may be possible to use Odin or Heimdall, it is not recommended. We already have enough freedom to do as we please.

I thought all android / samsung phones would follow the same procedure for flashing new roms or unbricking via Odin?
Kies is useless for updating as we all know.
So what other methods beside Odin or Heimdall can be used on the samsung nexus?
Cheers for clarifying though, I was only tying to be helpful

galaxy 2 ics to gingerbread
dear all
i am much upset that i upgrade my galaxy s2 to ics 4.0.3 , it is much laggy i want to downgrade it to gb 2.3.5 or 2.3.6 , can anybody help me to do this , with the all the steps and downloading links of the exact files , i tried alot many times and when it is done on odin with pass message , cell restarts and with error screen .
thanks in anitcipitation
Regards
Shoaib Hassan

i've just downgraded to 2.3.2 i used the rom wiper from bm and then simply flashed the oxygen rom over it

the only way and easily is odin.just go to downloading.make sure to download the correct modem ,baseband and needed files by cheking your nexus s version.ex.i9020t,i9023 .there are not the same version,and will use different modem,baseband ...

I also want to downgrade from ics to gingerbread too, by pure luck i managed to upgrade to ics (i'm completely new to this) but having had this on my phone for awhile, I want to return to gingerbread...
I'm currently grabbing kernel_I9100xwkj3 (couldnt find xwkj1 anywhere)
and
gt-i9100_o2i_i9100xwkj1_i9100o2ik11_i9100xxk14
to use with odin?
question is... is this all i need and is there anything i need to be aware of?

You need to make use of fastboot and flash the stock GB rom from factory images provided by google, then you can flash cwm and then flash any rom you want
it is because cwm can flash roms with android version up but not down means that you can flash 4.1 if u have 4.0.4 but if you are on 4.0.4 then you cannot flash 2.3.x
Hope it helps

[Q] i9000 will not root, only stock firmware boots

Hi there. I have read quite a few tutorials on rooting my phone. I did have it rooted at one point using odin and a package for cwm. It worked great. I wanted to try out one of the 4.* ICS roms, that worked fine.. sorted that out no problem but there was no gps so I wanted to go back to my rooted 2.3.6.
Went to put it back to standard with stock firmware, that also worked fine. The problem I have now is when I attempt to root using the same files, same settings and same utilities as before, It boots up to the samsung galaxy logo, then reboots and shows the logo again and again in an infinite loop.
I have cleared the user data and cache, and the root appears to work as the recovery program installs correctly, but it will not boot the OS.
When i flashed to stock I used odin.. the 512 pit file, the stock pda, phone and csc files. and that works perfectly but not when I root it!
Any ideas??
****UPDATE
I flashed with stock 2.3.5 firmware so that I could use samsung kies to flash my phone back to 2.3.6 so that it was 100% stock and kies now says that my device does not support firmware upgrades!!!

Seems as nobody can be arsed to answer my question I have researched and answered it myself...
If anybody has the same problem of Kies saying "Your device does not support firmware upgrades" all you have to do is go into the "About phone" section of the settings.. find the baseband version of your phone.. Mine was I9000XXJVT... find the lowest version of android on samfirmwares.com , mine was 2.3.4, install it..
then kies recognizes your phone again and will upgrade it to the latest version..
Oh by the way THANKS FOR YOUR HELP lol
This particular phone for record purposes upgraded to:
PDA:JW4 / PHONE:JW4 / CSC:JW5 (CPW) which im guessing is carphone warehouse..
I tried the samfirmware.com version of the latest CPW firmware they have and kies still said it would not update the firmware
and before all you geeks get on your high horse and say why didnt u do this and why didnt you do that..
I couldn't root my firmware after installing the CPW firmware as mentioned above from samfirmwares.com.. i was in an infinite reboot loop. I could load standard firmware from samfirmwares.com and it would boot fine, but I couldn't root it from that.
My aim was to get it back to standard and go from there.
One question.. pretty obvious really... I have searched high and low and still am yet unable to find a sofrware for BACKING UP my original firmware... this would be a pretty sensible idea??? yes???

[Q] Would Samsung fix my bricked phone?

I bricked my unlocked Captivate (bought on Amazon for $240 - I was avoiding a data plan) trying to get Ice Cream Sandwich on it. The phone was rooted.
Initially, the phone was only loading a Samsung splash screen when I tried to get it into normal mode. However, recovery mode was working; it would boot into Clockworkmod. Which is a bad thing considering they would easily tell I had messed with it!
So, I loaded the phone into Download mode and tried to flash the stock ROM using Odin. Odin said "failed" and now my phone was completely soft bricked, and the infamous "[phone]-----/!\-----[computer]" screen was showing up. Download mode worked though. I tried to flash all types of stock and custom ROMs to no avail. Now, recovery and normal modes don't work while Download mode does.
So, I called Samsung and told them it wasn't working; they told me it was still under warranty and I could send it in for repairs.
My question would be: will Samsung repair my phone, or will they find out I messed with it and refuse to do so? Also, if they find out, how much will I have to pay them to fix it?
Getting a new phone is out of the question... I might just buy

If there is an odin flash counter on download mode, they will figure it out if you have messed with it. If there's not, make a good story. Was it on 2.3.6 already when you bought it?

If you can get into download your not bricked. The screen you see is kernel panic. You will have to flash a proper kernel to get it to boot back up.
Sent for a corner cell in Arkham

Yeah, you can still fix it. No need it to bring to samsung

Has anyone sent a bricked phone in to Samsung before?
I tried flashing stock Captivate Gingerbread kernels to no avail. I googled and googled, and I tried everything I found. Including Odin and heimdall.
It was running Gingerbread 2.3.5 when I updated it myself to Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.3. It was running beautifully. Then I tried to recover my backed-up data, which worked, but then I tried to reboot the phone and it wouldn't boot.
And no, I don't remember seeing any "flash counter." Would they still be able to tell?
Has anyone sent a bricked phone in to Samsung before? If so, what were the results?
Also, how much do you think Samsung would charge me to fix it if they found out and voided the warranty? Hopefully less than $50? And they would charge me for shipping too, right?

random_person1308 said:
I tried flashing stock Captivate Gingerbread kernels to no avail. I googled and googled, and I tried everything I found. Including Odin and heimdall.
It was running Gingerbread 2.3.5 when I updated it myself to Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.3. It was running beautifully. Then I tried to recover my backed-up data, which worked, but then I tried to reboot the phone and it wouldn't boot.
And no, I don't remember seeing any "flash counter." Would they still be able to tell?
Has anyone sent a bricked phone in to Samsung before? If so, what were the results?
Also, how much do you think Samsung would charge me to fix it if they found out and voided the warranty? Hopefully less than $50? And they would charge me for shipping too, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You recovered your apps thru TB? If yes, Didn't you read that you're not supposed to restore apps from titanium from GB to ICS? Might cause problem like this. No flash counter, they're not gonna notice this. Have you tried flashing again stock GB rom?(not just a kernel but a rom) And when you flashed that GB kernel, was that after you flash an ICS rom? Remember, when you're on ICS, you must use ICS kernel and not GB kernel. If it didnt work Just make a good story! Tell them you updated it through kies and updating was interrupted. Im pretty sure 2.3.6 is out on captivate. If they tell you its your fault for updating it, ask them why did they put update on kies when you can't even use it. Plus, they didn't warn you not to update it.

cessprin00 said:
You recovered your apps thru TB? If yes, Didn't you read that you're not supposed to restore apps from titanium from GB to ICS? Might cause problem like this. No flash counter, they're not gonna notice this. Have you tried flashing again stock GB rom?(not just a kernel but a rom) And when you flashed that GB kernel, was that after you flash an ICS rom? Remember, when you're on ICS, you must use ICS kernel and not GB kernel. If it didnt work Just make a good story! Tell them you updated it through kies and updating was interrupted. Im pretty sure 2.3.6 is out on captivate. If they tell you its your fault for updating it, ask them why did they put update on kies when you can't even use it. Plus, they didn't warn you not to update it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I used Clockworkmod to recover data. It worked, and then I hit "reboot system now," and the phone wouldn't boot.
I already shipped the phone off, but thanks for the help, I really appreciate it! If Samsung doesn't fix it I know what to do now!

Ok, so I've been doing some research over the past few weeks and I figured out what I did wrong. I inadvertently tried doing a Nandroid restore (i.e. - restoring the whole system) instead of just apps. And I didn't wipe data first. That's why it was failing to boot. Why I couldn't flash the stock kernel from Odin; I have no idea.
As for the phone; Samsung fixed it free of charge (all they had to do was a reset...) and sent it back to me.
After getting it back, I rooted and installed Clockworkmod recovery using Corn kernel version 7.05. Geeve420 has an excellent guide over on androidforums.com. Then I flashed Cyanogenmod9 RC2, then Slim ICS version 4.2. It's running smoothly, though in 24 hours I have had 1 freeze (I did a battery pull and restarted) and a few force closes.
I also installed that Google Now app (the thread on XDA is called "The Google Now for ICS Project"). In other words, I went from being a complete n00b to getting JellyBean software on my phone! All I did was follow the directions, step-by-step, and it worked.
Thanks to all who helped!

random_person1308 said:
Ok, so I've been doing some research over the past few weeks and I figured out what I did wrong. I inadvertently tried doing a Nandroid restore (i.e. - restoring the whole system) instead of just apps. And I didn't wipe data first. That's why it was failing to boot. Why I couldn't flash the stock kernel from Odin; I have no idea.
As for the phone; Samsung fixed it free of charge (all they had to do was a reset...) and sent it back to me.
After getting it back, I rooted and installed Clockworkmod recovery using Corn kernel version 7.05. Geeve420 has an excellent guide over on androidforums.com. Then I flashed Cyanogenmod9 RC2, then Slim ICS version 4.2. It's running smoothly, though in 24 hours I have had 1 freeze (I did a battery pull and restarted) and a few force closes.
I also installed that Google Now app (the thread on XDA is called "The Google Now for ICS Project"). In other words, I went from being a complete n00b to getting JellyBean software on my phone! All I did was follow the directions, step-by-step, and it worked.
Thanks to all who helped!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good for you then Try not to mess with it again. Haha. Do a lot of reading if you're a little hesistant. Plus, asking before doing so is not problem. We have a lot of helpful xda members here to guide you. Goodluck!

Big problem with Galaxy S SCL i9003. Phone won't exit from Recovery with ROOT. HELP!!

Hi, I have a big problem with my Galaxy S SCL i9003.
From last week everything was working good, but something happened.
The camera stop working. Hours and hours searching and I find the solution but I need root.
Ok, I make root and surprise, the phone doesn't want to exit from CWM Recovery.
I tried installing ROMs, and the f*cking recovery won't let me do it. I tried with a ROM from a Spanish forum, it was installed all correctly and then another time, the damned recovery.
I tried to install a lot of ROMs, a lot of things from XDA-Developers, now even won't let me to install any ROM.
I do with Odin several times reflashing with original FW and it works by the way... But I need to be root to make my camera work, because I need to replace some system files :crying: :crying: :crying:
Please, what can I do ?!? If I root with Odin everytime my phone won't exit from recovery and the damn recovery even let me install a rom, so I need another time to flash to original FW and well... I can use the phone but I can't use the camera :crying: :crying:
¿What can I do? I tried with 3 different recoveries, all of them are quite old (the newest is from 2012) and I want to know if exists an newer version for my phone. I need to root it, but if I try everytime with Odin and do all good, everytime my phone bricks in Recovery. Whatever I do it's the same... it doesn't exit from recovery mode until I flash to stock FW.
Big thanks in advice. :good:

If you flash stock rom and the camera still dont work i think is hardware problem related. Fresh installation of Stock rom should fix All software related problems.

acuicultor said:
If you flash stock rom and the camera still dont work i think is hardware problem related. Fresh installation of Stock rom should fix All software related problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi friend thx for the reply, the thing is that im on stock rom and all goes good, but the problem is I want to root it to solve the camera problem.
I searched on the web and several i9003 and i9001 have this issue when they're updating or when they've been updated... I can solve it changing some files on system but I can't have root access :crying:

I think your problem is related to recovery.
You can flash Bam Kernel via Odin. I'm
using it. Download the latest fix version and
flash it in pda. It has CWM & it will root the
device.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1355675

[Q] I can't load CWM on my SGS 4G (T-Mobile)

Hello all,
Okay, I admit that I am gonna get a lot of "use the search tool first" replies, but please hear me out. I have done my fair share of searching. Its not that I haven't found anything, its just the things I found are useless for this SGS 4G. I really wanted to install Cyanogen Mo on the SGS (its not actually mine, a friend asked me to do it since he saw my old SGS GT-I9000 running CM).
I am gonna try and give a detailed report . The phone was originally from T-Mobile and now unlocked permanently. Its running firmware version 2.3.3 that I installed just recently. I found out that I can't install CWM on the stock kernel or bootloader or whatever and I needed a new of the thing. So I went on searching and searching....found a handful of help but none work. Every method breaks at some point and I go to the "firmware update failed" thing on the phone, which I then install 2.3.3 again using ODIN and try another method. I have tried a lot of things. Hemidall, ODIN, SuperOneClick, and a lot of gibbrish-sounding methods. None work. I am now running 2.3.3. Here are some infos:
ABOUT PHONE:
Model Number: SGH-T959V
Firmware Version: 2.3.3
Baseband Version: T959VUVKF1
Kernel Version: 2.6.35.7-T959VUVKF1-CL270364
Build Number: GINGERBREAD.VUVKF1
The files I used to flash to 2.3.3 using ODIN v1.85:
PIT: Hawk_Sidekick_VibrantPlus_831.pit
PDA: CODE_T959VUVKF1_CL270364_REV00_user_low_noship.tar.md5
PHONE: T959VUVKF1-Phone-CL1020302.tar.md5
CSC: SGH-T959V-CSC-TMB-VIBRANTP.tar.md5
I hope the above infos are enough. So, can anyone help me and point me to the right direction on how to install CWM and then install CM10 or 9 on my friends SGS 4G?
Thanks,
Tamrat

Hmmm, an interesting set of binaries, ones that don't ring a bell with me. I'm used to seeing T959VUVKJ6.
Where did you find those? Half curiosity, half trying to understand the problem, half since much of the "old" images for the phones got lost when Multiupload and what have you were shut down.
For the SGS4G, the kernel, root file system, and recovery file system are all in "boot.img" -- flash one, you flash them all. They can be flashed through Odin (assuming you really like Windows), heimdall (multi-platform), through recovery, or from a root command line (for the adventurous only).
I would say the most robust way to get where you need to be would be to use Lumin's guide to make sure you've got a viable Gingerbread set-up going, then flash something reliable to get you to MTD, like TeamAcid's CM9.
From there, you should know that some of the KK ROMs use slightly different MTD partitioning and aren't a "just flash this ROM and keep your data" kind of thing.

jeffsf said:
Hmmm, an interesting set of binaries, ones that don't ring a bell with me. I'm used to seeing T959VUVKJ6.
Where did you find those? Half curiosity, half trying to understand the problem, half since much of the "old" images for the phones got lost when Multiupload and what have you were shut down.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A long day Googling... and then a site turned up. One thing I forgot to mention was, before I installed this firmware, I had to use the "remove battery->plug usb->press the button combos->insert the battery" to enter download mode, but now I juts have to press vol down and power button.
Thanks for the reply,

Failure again
UPDATE:::
I tried to update to 2.3.6 as the guide suggests and I also wanted a clean stock OS in case the old one was not. But once again updating to 2.3.6 has been a pain. Kies Mini recognizes the phone but it doesn't recognize the firmware running on the phone. And also, firmware update is impossible since the button is greyed out.
I googled again and found the official 2.3.6 firmware for the phone (file name: T959VUVKJ6-REV00-home-low-CL694130.tar.md5) and tried flashing it using ODIN; absolutely no luck. It fails at the stage which says Slb.bin. Restarting the phone after that gives a "firmware upgrade failure" display. Only way to wake up the phone is to flash the previous OS back.
I am really confused here.
*********************EDIT***************
Some how, after like 10 retires and fiddling with ODIN, it finally flashed 2.3.6 to the SGS 4G. Still, fingers crossed.
*********************EDIT 2***************
Finally, its all working fine now. Thank you @jeffsf, thank you very much.

F*****************K
forgot an important step and now my IEMI number is gone........
do i throw the phone now, or is there any other way???

Don't throw your phone away! How do you know that you have "no IMEI" on your phone? We'll go from there.

Hopefully, you've backed up your data before starting to play around with ROMS. If so just load your backed up efs folder onto your storage & use Root Explorer to drop it over your existing one , it will overwrite your imei file & you will be good as new.
========================================================================================
I'm also in need of help, I have been running SlimSaber since last weekend, was wanting to try out Beanstalk. First full wipe, install & reboot wipe again, reinstall etc as per Dao's OP, but after the first install, it won't boot past the kernel splash. Tried again with same result. Decided to click it back to stock & start over, using Gremlin Remover (odin). Then saw that others were having similar issue so I tried to load in build from April1st.
But now it only boots back into recovery, won't boot to the OS ( everything indicated install was complete & no errors.)
1 clicked back again & just tried to put SlimSaber back on again, but have the same problem, will only boot into recovery.
I had to first load CM9 to get CWM 6.xx so I could install kk using TWRP
What am I not doing correctly? Thanks for any suggestions.

Flash kernel
Reboot recovery
Wipe all partitions
(Reboot recovery for good measure and wipe again if paranoid)
Install
Boot
If that doesn't do it, it is likely ROM or hardware.
---
Posted from whatever phone booted today

Since this is running GB VUVKG4, could you recommend a kernel that would work & get me to TWRP (or CWM 5.xx+)?

Either the Team Acid CM9 or Hefe Kernel should work.
---
Posted from whatever phone booted today