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[Q] Help with rooting+installing custom ROMs for Samsung Galaxy 3(i5801) running 2.2?

Okay, now I know that there are other threads about this, but the issue is that none are specific to my problem. Either they are not for my phone, or my version is different or the thread is dead and with no replies. So I created a new thread.
Anyway, I was hoping that I could get a step by step procedure on how to root my phone and install a custom ROM.
The issue is, my KIES doesn't work (so help me with that also please) and moreover, I'm very new to all this so I don't quite get a few things.
Also, please tell me what are the best ROMs out there and if something does go wrong in the process, how do I un-brick my phone?
So I'm looking for active replies / repliers since I know I'll have a bunch of questions during the process.
Last, when I go to "about phone" on my phone it says "firmware version 2.2", but the little that I've looked up, people run 2.2.1. Does this mean my rooting process is different?
Thanks. And in case you want it, my kernel version is 2.6.32.9
Appreciate it.

rooting z4root
custom rom - pick a custom rom and follow instruction in that thread.
Your phone is already updated to 2.2 and that is the reason why kies doesn't show new updates. Our phone has 2.2 and not 2.2.1
If you use roms which doesnt have boot then it will not get hard bricked. soft brick can be fixed by reflashing.
What is the exact issue you are facing while using kies? Try a uninstall and reinstall. That should fix it

K, so I fixed KIES. I just had to update though, I was running on an older version. I didn't think a slightly outdated version would not detect my phone.. anyway never mind that.
So I don't really know what the best custom ROM is out there. could you suggest one? one that is fast (speed is really the priority), and not buggy, supports the apps that the stock ROM should. I'm willing to try three-four, so give me the names of the best ones out there.
Don't I need to root my phone before installing a custom ROM? If so, then I need to learn how to do that..
What do you mean it doesn't have a boot?

Well to figure out best ROm you will have to read up on each ROm. Each of them have separate thread where initial posts describe the properties of ROm. There are ROm comparison threads out there but that is just summary. I cant give you best choices. Everybody has different taste. Start with more popular ones, whose threads have more posts. More post -> more popular.
You can root using z4root.
Custom ROM are pre rooted normally so you need not root your phone before flashing custom rom

Mohit12 said:
K, so I fixed KIES. I just had to update though, I was running on an older version. I didn't think a slightly outdated version would not detect my phone.. anyway never mind that.
So I don't really know what the best custom ROM is out there. could you suggest one? one that is fast (speed is really the priority), and not buggy, supports the apps that the stock ROM should. I'm willing to try three-four, so give me the names of the best ones out there.
Don't I need to root my phone before installing a custom ROM? If so, then I need to learn how to do that..
What do you mean it doesn't have a boot?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if speed is a prime consideration then i would suggest kyrillos rom..... fastest rom i ever used....... very less buggy.......
you can also flash lestatious rom..... it is damn fast and surprisingly stable!.....
and check dharam's rom collection too....... i'm using his ultra clean ultimate rom right now..... and it's good although since you are new i would recommend flashing a different rom from his collection.....
As for rooting.... you don't need to root before flashing a custom rom....
And in case you need any information about any of the features or anything.... just post it here ....... i'lll try to help you in whatever way i can.,.....

Mohit12 said:
Okay, now I know that there are other threads about this, but the issue is that none are specific to my problem. Either they are not for my phone, or my version is different or the thread is dead and with no replies. So I created a new thread.
Anyway, I was hoping that I could get a step by step procedure on how to root my phone and install a custom ROM.
The issue is, my KIES doesn't work (so help me with that also please) and moreover, I'm very new to all this so I don't quite get a few things.
Also, please tell me what are the best ROMs out there and if something does go wrong in the process, how do I un-brick my phone?
So I'm looking for active replies / repliers since I know I'll have a bunch of questions during the process.
Last, when I go to "about phone" on my phone it says "firmware version 2.2", but the little that I've looked up, people run 2.2.1. Does this mean my rooting process is different?
Thanks. And in case you want it, my kernel version is 2.6.32.9
Appreciate it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey i would suggest u to go for Indroid 4.3. I m using this and have seen many users jumping from lestatious and kyrollis to indroid.
As a begginer, u will also get many help in Indroid thread.
Z4root doesnt work in Froyo, if u wanna root, choose superone click.
U dont need kies to work, Use Odin to flash ur fone.
Make sure to learn processes better by reading through forums, if u dont wanna brick ur fone.

Hey!! I would suggest Indroid 4.3 or Kyrillos 5.6. They are fast as hey have lagfix.
And no you don t have to root your phone before installing a custom ROM. But if you want to root, use superoneclick to root.
And as for bricking, you can avoid hard brick by installing a ROM that does not have bootloader. Bootloader is a piece of code that runs before any operating system starts. So you should avoid flashing bootloader.
As for soft bricks, you can just reflash to come out of the soft brick.

okay so i was doing a bit of reading up and i realised the following :
1)First i need to download :
a) Odin (please post version number i have to get for my i5801 (or is it just one thing for all phones?) or a link please.)
b) some backup software. now i downloaded titanium backup, but it won't open because it says my phone is not rooted. so help me go about this.
c) a custom ROM. I think i'll start off with kyrillos rom since i've been told it's the fastest and very less buggy. i'll then move on to Dharam's ROM if i don't like kyrillos rom because Dharam seems to be a very active user, and quite friendly, and i feel he can solve the issues well. after that i'll try Indroid.
d) I also need superone click.
Question : Where do i download these? directly on my phone or on my computer?
2) I can increase my internal storage by partitioning a part of my SD card. Now I have a 4 GB SD card and i barely use it, so i don't mind giving upto 1GB of it. Please suggest the perfect amount. whether 1GB will be too much, or whether 500MB would be too less.
3) some apps do not work with custom ROMs. The app that i really want is 4shared. It's working currently on my phone with the stock ROM, so if someone can check if that will also work on the three ROMs that i mentioned.
4) soft bricking isn't much of an issue, but it's better i avoid it. so can someone give me a rather up-to-date guide (or link) on rooting, because the other ones are REALLY old. at least 4-5 months old and there have been some updates after that.
5) I can also overclock my phone. And from what I read up, SetCPU seems compatible with the above ROMs. And after flashing my phone with a custom ROM, my phone is automatically rooted. Correct me if I am wrong.
6) Flash player isn't available for our processor (V6). Since this is a hardware issue, there's no way i can make it work on some other ROM, can I? Because flash is a rather important software..
So that's it, I guess. Please add anything if i missed out anything.
PS : Does anyone know of any software using which I can download YouTube videos? Because the YouTube app kind of sucks, and buffering takes time since I don't have WiFi.

Wow!! Those are a lot of questions.
1) Link for ODIN.
ODIN>http://goo.gl/nCxCw
OPS FILE>http://goo.gl/ORin0
As for the backup software, Titanium backup is the best out there. As it can backup all the apps and all the settings. Yes you have to be rooted. So root and use.
And for rooting, use this tutorial,
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1011555
Don t worry about the oldness. This works. The link for superoneclicjk is available in that post as well.
Yes. Kyrillos is a good ROM. As it is prelagfixed and offer good internal memory as well after you partition your SD. Sizes, 512 MB ext4 and 128 MB linux swap. Rest of the memory you can use for storage.
As far as overclocking is concerned, in Kyrillos, you again have to flash a new kernel if you want OC.
And for the flash problem, only adobe can solve that problem.

And oh yes, most of the custom roms are prerooted. So after flashin you don t have to root again.

Mohit12 said:
okay so i was doing a bit of reading up and i realised the following :
1)First i need to download :
a) Odin (please post version number i have to get for my i5801 (or is it just one thing for all phones?) or a link please.)
b) some backup software. now i downloaded titanium backup, but it won't open because it says my phone is not rooted. so help me go about this.
c) a custom ROM. I think i'll start off with kyrillos rom since i've been told it's the fastest and very less buggy. i'll then move on to Dharam's ROM if i don't like kyrillos rom because Dharam seems to be a very active user, and quite friendly, and i feel he can solve the issues well. after that i'll try Indroid.
d) I also need superone click.
Question : Where do i download these? directly on my phone or on my computer?
2) I can increase my internal storage by partitioning a part of my SD card. Now I have a 4 GB SD card and i barely use it, so i don't mind giving upto 1GB of it. Please suggest the perfect amount. whether 1GB will be too much, or whether 500MB would be too less.
3) some apps do not work with custom ROMs. The app that i really want is 4shared. It's working currently on my phone with the stock ROM, so if someone can check if that will also work on the three ROMs that i mentioned.
4) soft bricking isn't much of an issue, but it's better i avoid it. so can someone give me a rather up-to-date guide (or link) on rooting, because the other ones are REALLY old. at least 4-5 months old and there have been some updates after that.
5) I can also overclock my phone. And from what I read up, SetCPU seems compatible with the above ROMs. And after flashing my phone with a custom ROM, my phone is automatically rooted. Correct me if I am wrong.
6) Flash player isn't available for our processor (V6). Since this is a hardware issue, there's no way i can make it work on some other ROM, can I? Because flash is a rather important software..
So that's it, I guess. Please add anything if i missed out anything.
PS : Does anyone know of any software using which I can download YouTube videos? Because the YouTube app kind of sucks, and buffering takes time since I don't have WiFi.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The rom is downloaded on your pc and flashed through it using odin.
I don't know any apps that work on stock rom and not on custom rom..... and 4shared works on kyrillos and indroid..... i've used it myself..
Most custom roms are already rooted and setcpu is the best app for setting CPU frequencies.
And as you said flash player isn't compatible with armv6 processors like ours.... so unless adobe makes it compatible no custom rom can do anything.
and for downloading youtube videos i'll suggest an app called you tube downloader or tube-X.......
Hope this helps...

Kernel
I flashed the indroid 4.0 Rom with Odin, and in short I will probably try to flash the indroid 4.3 Rom.
One question however, More and more I read about "kernel"(eg to get the 1% battery thing).
I know the kernel is the core of the operating system, but I don't understand how to use/apply it on my phone. Is the kernel something I have to flash separatly from the Rom, or is it included in the Rom?
If you need to install / flash it seperatly, where can I find the different kernels, and which one is recommended for my phone (Samsung Galaxy 3 Apollo)?
Hope someone can answer!
thnx

funbun77 said:
I flashed the indroid 4.0 Rom with Odin, and in short I will probably try to flash the indroid 4.3 Rom.
One question however, More and more I read about "kernel"(eg to get the 1% battery thing).
I know the kernel is the core of the operating system, but I don't understand how to use/apply it on my phone. Is the kernel something I have to flash separatly from the Rom, or is it included in the Rom?
If you need to install / flash it seperatly, where can I find the different kernels, and which one is recommended for my phone (Samsung Galaxy 3 Apollo)?
Hope someone can answer!
thnx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The kernel is included in the ROM itself. There are different kernels with different functionalities. For eg : - Most of the kernel that come with the ROMS are non-OC. So, if you want to overclock you phone, you have to flash the required kernel after flashing the ROM. The procedure is same using ODIN. Here s the link to the kernels.
http://code.google.com/p/fugumod-i5800/downloads/list

@ dhirend_6d
thnx!

Sorry for replying so late guys. Had a bit of an issue with the internet. Lightening struck somewhere near my house so it was down for a few days.
Anyway, thanks for all your help. I'll try to root+flash my phone day after as I have exams for two more days.
I'll post here if I have any other questions, but thanks a LOT for all your answers and help. But btw, what is the 1% battery mod?

Uh, I was rooting my phone. just one error. Superoneclick gets stuck at "running rageagainstthecage" and accoring to http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1011555 i should set touchwiz as the default launcher. how do i do that?

Mohit12 said:
Uh, I was rooting my phone. just one error. Superoneclick gets stuck at "running rageagainstthecage" and accoring to http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1011555 i should set touchwiz as the default launcher. how do i do that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if u have any other launcher like adw then go to settings > application > Adw launcher (for example) and press clear default.
Then press the home key, It should ask u to set detault launcher. Just click on the checkbox below and select touchwiz launcher.
Tell me if it works or not.

No I do not have any other launcher installed. At least it's not showing up there.. but i did try using the more latest version. 1.9.5. that seemed to work just fine. man, i was so scared before rooting this wondering what if something goes wrong. but that was easy
Titanium backup now and maybe flashing a new rom tomorrow (or in a couple of days, after my exam.) Thanks though! =)

Mohit12 said:
No I do not have any other launcher installed. At least it's not showing up there.. but i did try using the more latest version. 1.9.5. that seemed to work just fine. man, i was so scared before rooting this wondering what if something goes wrong. but that was easy
Titanium backup now and maybe flashing a new rom tomorrow (or in a couple of days, after my exam.) Thanks though! =)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1st step done successfully...congo...welcome to this amazing world.
I would suggest, go for indroid but follow all the steps properly and read the forums for all the problems.

and yeah we also get awesome themes and more memory /system!!
custom roms are faster with better battery backup.
currently on indroid 6!!

bricked my captivate?

i tried doing this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1127249
and i failed, i got the first part down and i saw the red fish which is the devs logo. then the second part with the kernelKF1.tar file i guess i screwed up, because on reboot it would loop, it would go to at&t screen then it would show my screen really screwed up, with a whole bunch of colors and what not like as if it was tripping on acid haha. anyways now when i turn on my phone it shows a logo of a phone, a yellow triangle with an exclamation mark next to a computer. I do not want to lose all my apps and what not, i mean i doooo have 27 hours on my final fantasy 7 lol. so please guys what do i do to bring my phone back to life so i can try to root and flash a ROM correctly this time.

Does it say something about firmware upgrade failure, use recovery mode?

Yep. It's a soft brick so you can recovery it!
First: You must flash AT&T Gingerbread Bootloader from here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1129821. (You must go to download mode by Vol Up + Vol Down + USB Plug or use a jig (google: Jig Captivate)
Then: Flash your kernelKF1.tar again (Download Mode) or Another kernel you like for KF1! (I prefer you flash this kernel: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1127322)
That's all!

-how do i access recovery mode? says nothing about an update failure.
-that's great news! does it matter that i was on 2.1 eclair first? back in the day i rooted my phone on the stock eclair and i beliiiiiieve did a lagfix as well, but no custom ROMS or anything like that.
-I use odin to flash both the bootloader/kernel correct? on odin i just have to wait for it to says "connected" in that little chatbox right? one of the box's all the way to the top isn't supposed to say anything until its passes right?
sorry for all the real dumb and seemingly obvious questions. But i want to make sure i know what i am doing so i can always do it correctly. thanks for all your help and quick replys guys i really appreciate it!

nismoasfuh said:
-how do i access recovery mode? says nothing about an update failure.
-that's great news! does it matter that i was on 2.1 eclair first? back in the day i rooted my phone on the stock eclair and i beliiiiiieve did a lagfix as well, but no custom ROMS or anything like that.
-I use odin to flash both the bootloader/kernel correct? on odin i just have to wait for it to says "connected" in that little chatbox right? one of the box's all the way to the top isn't supposed to say anything until its passes right?
sorry for all the real dumb and seemingly obvious questions. But i want to make sure i know what i am doing so i can always do it correctly. thanks for all your help and quick replys guys i really appreciate it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Use combo keys: Vol Up + Vol Down + Power to access Recovery. If you are on AT&T Gingerbread Bootloader, you are good to go!.
2. You must disable lagfix before flash any rom. You can go stock and reflash it but i think you must get KF1 work to backup your game process!
3. If you flash KF1 with bootloader, you needn't to reflash it again. Just reflash kernel and you are unbrick. (If you are on AT&T Gingerbread Bootloader, on screen PC -- /!\ -- Phone, you can run ODIN and reflash kernel KF1. No need to go to Download Mode to flash kernel. If you can't flash from ODIN (try some time, change USB port, change PC, and reinstall Windows), you must reflash AT&T bootloader.
Good luck!

at&T gingerbread bootloader is a program like odin? or does it literally mean the booting of a gingerbread device? im so confuuuuused.
So i have to flash a stock 2.1 eclair? then do the kf1 file to get to 2.3.3 gb?

nismoasfuh said:
at&T gingerbread bootloader is a program like odin? or does it literally mean the booting of a gingerbread device? im so confuuuuused.
So i have to flash a stock 2.1 eclair? then do the kf1 file to get to 2.3.3 gb?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its questions like these that make people say 'read, read, read, read, then read some more'
the answer is literally everywhere in these forums......

i just made it so much worse, i used the gb bootloaders as well as used that ROM by using the kernel and a previous file in odin. i can still go to download/recovery, and if i just power on the phone it will loop at the at&t screen

when i get to recovery, the vol bottoms dont let me select anything. so my only option is to keep rebooting. i cant apply update from sd; even though im sure its because im doing it wrong!! someone please help i need this phone for the upcoming work week didnt think it would take 4 days to figure out.
Can Someone Please Please tell me step by step what i should do, i understand how to work the programs i just dont know the order in which to do them in. what am i to do? remember i was initially on 2.1 eclair with a voodoo lagfix, yet, i dont know what i am on know, i tried flashing ROMS as well as gb bootloaders.

so your volume buttons are broken?
just boot into download mode, flash back to stock with ODIN or Heimdall, whichever is easier for you to use, then leave your phone the fk alone, because you are compounding the problems by panicking.
its obvious that you havent truly understood what you have been flashing on your phone, and you are about to wind up with a pretty brick that will need to get sent to jtag/unbrickable mod.....
until you understand and comprehend what you are doing, leave it the hell alone, this isnt childs play here

Pirateghost said:
so your volume buttons are broken?
just boot into download mode, flash back to stock with ODIN or Heimdall, whichever is easier for you to use, then leave your phone the fk alone, because you are compounding the problems by panicking.
its obvious that you havent truly understood what you have been flashing on your phone, and you are about to wind up with a pretty brick that will need to get sent to jtag/unbrickable mod.....
until you understand and comprehend what you are doing, leave it the hell alone, this isnt childs play here
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well said..

so have I lost all my apps? even flashing back to stock?.....and no, volume buttons are not broken.

i have the "firmware upgrade fail" and cant get into recovery...

OK! So i finally got the phone up and running late late last night. its on firmware 2.3.3 on build: cognition v2
kernel version: 2.6.35.7-I897UCKF1-CL273832
its definitely GB; thats something obvious. yet, i cant shake the feeling that it still feels slow. i ran quandrant and its a shy 1040. I know, I know, quadrant scores dont mean anything, but still.... i would think it would be in atleast the 1300+ especially with the lagfix from cognition5.

nismoasfuh said:
OK! So i finally got the phone up and running late late last night. its on firmware 2.3.3 on build: cognition v2
kernel version: 2.6.35.7-I897UCKF1-CL273832
its definitely GB; thats something obvious. yet, i cant shake the feeling that it still feels slow. i ran quandrant and its a shy 1040. I know, I know, quadrant scores dont mean anything, but still.... i would think it would be in atleast the 1300+ especially with the lagfix from cognition5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you know quadrants mean nothing then why are you looking to get a higher score?
But in all seriousness, I think were all a little surprised to see that you have a working phone and even more so one with a custom rom. You need to read up on here before you start messing with things again or your going wind up with a brick.
let me quote Mr. Haley here
its obvious that you havent truly understood what you have been flashing on your phone, and you are about to wind up with a pretty brick that will need to get sent to jtag/unbrickable mod.....
until you understand and comprehend what you are doing, leave it the hell alone, this isnt childs play here
well said..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Basically, nobody on here is going to offer you help until you attempt to help yourself. This isnt a support forum. None of it is. We are just kind enough to help you out. But its super annoying to see you put yourself in situations that we warned about then come back on here with OMG I THINK I BRICKED! So spend time reading and please realize we have 0 obligation to help if you brick.

capocaccia said:
If you know quadrants mean nothing then why are you looking to get a higher score?
But in all seriousness, I think were all a little surprised to see that you have a working phone and even more so one with a custom rom. You need to read up on here before you start messing with things again or your going wind up with a brick.
let me quote Mr. Haley here
Basically, nobody on here is going to offer you help until you attempt to help yourself. This isnt a support forum. None of it is. We are just kind enough to help you out. But its super annoying to see you put yourself in situations that we warned about then come back on here with OMG I THINK I BRICKED! So spend time reading and please realize we have 0 obligation to help if you brick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, it was me that said it.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777

And I just agreed with him.

thaaaanks for the life lesson; but I wouldnt be able to sit here and tell you im Running a custom ROM unless i did do my research. The time differences between my posts was me literally finding and reading countless articles. I'm asking questions not figuring out fallacys..

Don't be so defensive, they weren't talking down to you and belittling, just making sure you don't end up in a worse situation. Looking out for your best interest.

I know that....If my posts were that bad at least show me the simple corrections.I know the value of my phone, ill deal with it if it comes to that and even then nothing has happened since. Regardless, I got out of the soft brick and now I'm on DG's 2.3.3.

Have an SGH-T959W on Wind? Don't worry, it is exactly the same as the SGH-T959V!

Hello Canadian users with SGH-T959W!
I spent some time the last few days comparing the kernel source for SGH-T959W and SGH-T959V, and found they are exactly the same (plus a few fixes for us on SGH-T959V from the SGH-T959W source!)!
This is good for you, because we have unofficial cm7, cm9, aokp, et alii... ports for the SGH-T959V.
Maybe a forum admin could update the Samsung Galaxy S 4G forum to also say: SGH-T959V & SGH-T959W
Technically, the only real difference is that the stock roms for the SGH-T959W will have different pre-installed software. The hardware of the SGH-T959W is the same as the SGH-T959V.
Enjoy!
Read this stuff to continue:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=28566711#post28566711

BTW, if anyone has an odin or kies tarball, please PM me!
This way I can verify if the bootloaders are different or not, and if they are different, I can make you guys custom Heimdall OneClick and Odin packages.

bhundven said:
I spent some time the last few days comparing the kernel source for SGH-T959W and SGH-T959V, and found they are exactly the same (plus a few fixes for us on SGH-T959V from the SGH-T959W source!)!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry to bump this thread, but out of curiosity, what were the fixes you were able to implement after seeing the kernel source for the 959W?
If it's something you'd rather not explain and will just be rolling out in future kernels, no big deal; just curious.
Thanks.

fingolfin14 said:
Sorry to bump this thread, but out of curiosity, what were the fixes you were able to implement after seeing the kernel source for the 959W?
If it's something you'd rather not explain and will just be rolling out in future kernels, no big deal; just curious.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The hardware is exactly the same. There is still a problem with the OTA Assert, meaning, how the rom knows if it is able to install on the phone or not during install from cwm. Also how it identifies itself to the play store.
I'm fixing this in the next cm9 unofficial release (coming soon, eta... a few hours, maybe).
The only real difference between SGH-T959V and SGH-T959W is the pre-installed/bundled software on the phone.
Everything else is one-to-one.
I'm still paranoid about bootloaders. So I'm still waiting for someone to post Kies or leaked tar.md5 for the SGH-T959W so that I can diff the bootloaders. If they are different, I will create new Heimdall OneClicks for SGH-T959W so that it is simple for you to go back to stock. See my current Heimdall OneClick thread to get an idea of what I mean.
On the other hand, we have some issues with our SGH-T959V bootloaders, and I have Unbrickable Mod on my phone. So, if the bootloaders are different, I would like to try flashing the SGH-T959W bootloaders to see if they work any better.
Also, there are a few fixes in the SGH-T959W kernel source that I will be incorporating into the current unofficial CM7 and CM9 ports I work on. Not having these fixes shouldn't have any negative impact on SGH-T959W.
I hope this info is informative. If not, ask more!

I have a SGH-T959W which seemed to have a bad flash already (from before.. and I am trying to revive it) on it (seems stuck on the cwm screen, and the system partition doesn't seem to have all the data that it needs to). Is there any way of getting the original ROM for this phone? Even if I install a cm build for the T959V, I don't get errors but its stuck in a cwm loop (keeps coming back to cwm).
When I try any of the one-clicks for the T959V, it succeeds on the kernel upload but always fails on the modem upload.
Where would you look for the Kies tar for this phone? Any possible way of getting the original ROM from a brand new phone? (any instructions for these would be great)
bhundven said:
The hardware is exactly the same. There is still a problem with the OTA Assert, meaning, how the rom knows if it is able to install on the phone or not during install from cwm. Also how it identifies itself to the play store.
I'm fixing this in the next cm9 unofficial release (coming soon, eta... a few hours, maybe).
The only real difference between SGH-T959V and SGH-T959W is the pre-installed/bundled software on the phone.
Everything else is one-to-one.
I'm still paranoid about bootloaders. So I'm still waiting for someone to post Kies or leaked tar.md5 for the SGH-T959W so that I can diff the bootloaders. If they are different, I will create new Heimdall OneClicks for SGH-T959W so that it is simple for you to go back to stock. See my current Heimdall OneClick thread to get an idea of what I mean.
On the other hand, we have some issues with our SGH-T959V bootloaders, and I have Unbrickable Mod on my phone. So, if the bootloaders are different, I would like to try flashing the SGH-T959W bootloaders to see if they work any better.
Also, there are a few fixes in the SGH-T959W kernel source that I will be incorporating into the current unofficial CM7 and CM9 ports I work on. Not having these fixes shouldn't have any negative impact on SGH-T959W.
I hope this info is informative. If not, ask more!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

phaedrus81 said:
I have a SGH-T959W which seemed to have a bad flash already (from before.. and I am trying to revive it) on it (seems stuck on the cwm screen, and the system partition doesn't seem to have all the data that it needs to). Is there any way of getting the original ROM for this phone? Even if I install a cm build for the T959V, I don't get errors but its stuck in a cwm loop (keeps coming back to cwm).
When I try any of the one-clicks for the T959V, it succeeds on the kernel upload but always fails on the modem upload.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is annoying, sorry you are going through this. It sounds like something dorked your param.lfs.
I've had this happen to me, and it always appends 'bootmode=2' to the kernel command line. Only way to fix it is to flash a new param.lfs from the stock image...
phaedrus81 said:
Where would you look for the Kies tar for this phone? Any possible way of getting the original ROM from a brand new phone? (any instructions for these would be great)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
...which brings me to this part. Someone told me that they have this image, but when I asked them to post it somewhere, I got no response.
Bug Wind and Samsung for a kies mini or a stock image that you can flash to the phone. Samsung is probably not going to be as helpful as Wind, so I'd try bugging the crap out of Wind.
Hopefully someone will get me the tar.md5 soon, and we can get you guys a one-click with bootloaders (which includes the param.lfs).
If you feel bold/brave, you can try flashing the bootloaders from my Stock oneclick in my signature.
Since it should be the same hardware it should work the same. Granted after flashing your phone will now be a SGH-T959V and not an SGH-T959W.
I hold no guarantee that it will work, and/or that it won't try to shoot you at your favorite new 3d film. <.< ... >.>

Thanks for the info about what might be causing the cwm loop issue
I think I will the one-click with bootloaders a try (will update this thread with the results). At this point I think I have exhausted all other options to revive the device.
bhundven said:
This is annoying, sorry you are going through this. It sounds like something dorked your param.lfs.
I've had this happen to me, and it always appends 'bootmode=2' to the kernel command line. Only way to fix it is to flash a new param.lfs from the stock image...
...which brings me to this part. Someone told me that they have this image, but when I asked them to post it somewhere, I got no response.
Bug Wind and Samsung for a kies mini or a stock image that you can flash to the phone. Samsung is probably not going to be as helpful as Wind, so I'd try bugging the crap out of Wind.
Hopefully someone will get me the tar.md5 soon, and we can get you guys a one-click with bootloaders (which includes the param.lfs).
If you feel bold/brave, you can try flashing the bootloaders from my Stock oneclick in my signature.
Since it should be the same hardware it should work the same. Granted after flashing your phone will now be a SGH-T959V and not an SGH-T959W.
I hold no guarantee that it will work, and/or that it won't try to shoot you at your favorite new 3d film. <.< ... >.>
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

phaedrus81 said:
Thanks for the info about what might be causing the cwm loop issue
I think I will the one-click with bootloaders a try (will update this thread with the results). At this point I think I have exhausted all other options to revive the device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also, just to make sure you have tried different cables and computers.
Not being able to flash the modem sounds like a cable/computer issue.
If you have that issue while flashing bootloaders, you could hard-brick your phone.
The first time you flash with the oneclick, it will not flash bootloaders. The second time, the option to flash bootloaders opens up, but you still have to enable it.
Don't forget to read all the documentation in my thread before doing anything.
If you have any questions, ask before you do.

The Root Doesn't work. I follow the step and it damaged my phone! T959W
bhundven said:
Hello Canadian users with SGH-T959W!
I spent some time the last few days comparing the kernel source for SGH-T959W and SGH-T959V, and found they are exactly the same (plus a few fixes for us on SGH-T959V from the SGH-T959W source!)!
This is good for you, because we have unofficial cm7, cm9, aokp, et alii... ports for the SGH-T959V.
Maybe a forum admin could update the Samsung Galaxy S 4G forum to also say: SGH-T959V & SGH-T959W
Technically, the only real difference is that the stock roms for the SGH-T959W will have different pre-installed software. The hardware of the SGH-T959W is the same as the SGH-T959V.
Enjoy!
Read this stuff to continue:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=28566711#post28566711
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I try your root process for my T959W now My phone Can't turn on . It turn on and off with the glaxy S 4G logo and T-Mobile . HELP PLS i tried to unroot It does work and It . PLS HELPPPP!!!!!

GMK63 said:
I try your root process for my T959W now My phone Can't turn on . It turn on and off with the glaxy S 4G logo and T-Mobile . HELP PLS i tried to unroot It does work and It . PLS HELPPPP!!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please be more specific as to which 'process' you followed and what you did.
Sorry I've been delayed in responding!
Again, if you can be more specific as to exactly what you did, I will be better prepared to help you.

It does look like it could be a cable/computer issue. I tried different cables and some of them didn't get as far as the modem (failed the kernel upload as well). Haven't got a cable which succeeds in the modem flash yet.
All of the driver stuff on windows makes me nervous though. Is there any way to flash this on linux. Does the one-click package work with fastboot or can fastboot be used to flash the individual pieces?
bhundven said:
Also, just to make sure you have tried different cables and computers.
Not being able to flash the modem sounds like a cable/computer issue.
If you have that issue while flashing bootloaders, you could hard-brick your phone.
The first time you flash with the oneclick, it will not flash bootloaders. The second time, the option to flash bootloaders opens up, but you still have to enable it.
Don't forget to read all the documentation in my thread before doing anything.
If you have any questions, ask before you do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

phaedrus81 said:
It does look like it could be a cable/computer issue. I tried different cables and some of them didn't get as far as the modem (failed the kernel upload as well). Haven't got a cable which succeeds in the modem flash yet.
All of the driver stuff on windows makes me nervous though. Is there any way to flash this on linux. Does the one-click package work with fastboot or can fastboot be used to flash the individual pieces?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
These phones do not have fastboot, but they have download mode.
Yes, you can do this from: Windows, Linux, or Mac OS X
If you still have problems with multiple cables, I highly recommend trying a different computer. I've had this problem myself before. It drove me nuts until I got a friends laptop and everything worked perfectly. My laptop's usb ports had gone bad for some unexplainable reason.
Check out the wiki pages we have written:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/Samsung_Galaxy_S/SGH-T959V

Steps I followed
managed to get my Wind SGH-T959W rooted and up and running with a unofficial CM9 build, but it took a bit of work.
Firstly, I tried just about every one-click solution out there, to no avail. It's possible SOC 1.7 with rattlethecage works, but I didn't have the patience to find out whether I simply had to wait a bit longer.
I followed this guide(whilst clenching every clenchable muscle I could consciously control):
http://www.galaxyforums.net/forum/of...ngerbread.html
The gist is, Odin 1.7, stock+voodoo for T959V, plus some update that I'm not qualified to describe. That should get you rooted and if that's all you're looking for, you'll have to suffer through a little T-Mobile branding on startup.
Once you got it all rooted, you'd think it'd be a good idea to toss sgs-ics on there, right? Well, no. After installing the 4G variant, it promptly set off into a boot loop which I'm again, unqualified to diagnose. The obvious solution was to try another team's version of ICS, which I indeed found here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1730954
Barring some missing features, it sounds like a good alternative to sgs-ics. Though I had to go through one additional step, which I really, honestly assure you I was under-qualified to execute. When I tried to load Team Acid's CM9 r3 it gave me an assert on the updater-script, since the hardware didn't match up. Easy. Unzip the package, open up META-INF/com/google/android/updater-script, remove the first check. You know it's the same hardware, you don't need some stinkin' script to tell you it won't work.
So all said and done, I now have a Wind Mobile SGH-T959W running ICS 4.0.4 courtesy of bhundven, the Odin folks, Team Acid, and likely a slew of other contributors.
Thanks folks, and enjoy!
PS, if you want that tarball bhundven, send me a PM with some brief instructions, and hopefully you can help my fellow Winders.
.......(---------THAT WHAT I FOLLOWED .
But I did the first part and They said i should get the stuff I store on my SD Card to pull out a file (``12) In CWM, use your volume up/down positions to navigate, scroll down to "Install Zip From SDcard". Select with a click of the power button. Navigate to where you put sms-T959V-KJ6-v0.1.1-rc1-unsigned-update.zip (in the root of your SDcard) and select with the power button. Confirm you want to install.
``)
but it doesn't give me the option to go get it on my SDcard and Now my Phone just turns on and off with the samsung galaxy S logo plus T-mobile exclusive logo . The only possitive thing about all the damage is that I can still put my phone on dowload mode and I just think if someone knows how to get my phone back to it state they will need me to put it on download mode. :crying:
:fingers-crossed::fingers-crossed::fingers-crossed::fingers-crossed::fingers-crossed:
Thank you in advance for your Help, for replying and offering to help.:highfive:
I appriciate it. My phone is Mobillicity carrier just like wind .

GMK63 said:
.......(---------THAT WHAT I FOLLOWED .
But I did the first part and They said i should get the stuff I store on my SD Card to pull out a file (``12) In CWM, use your volume up/down positions to navigate, scroll down to "Install Zip From SDcard". Select with a click of the power button. Navigate to where you put sms-T959V-KJ6-v0.1.1-rc1-unsigned-update.zip (in the root of your SDcard) and select with the power button. Confirm you want to install.
``)
but it doesn't give me the option to go get it on my SDcard and Now my Phone just turns on and off with the samsung galaxy S logo plus T-mobile exclusive logo . The only possitive thing about all the damage is that I can still put my phone on dowload mode and I just think if someone knows how to get my phone back to it state they will need me to put it on download mode. :crying:
:fingers-crossed::fingers-crossed::fingers-crossed::fingers-crossed::fingers-crossed:
Thank you in advance for your Help, for replying and offering to help.:highfive:
I appriciate it. My phone is Mobillicity carrier just like wind .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, this is really simple. I've explained it in quite a few threads in the Galaxy S 4G forums in General, Q&A, and the Dev forum. I'm going to explain this, but in a way to be more general. So I'm being verbose in case anyone else with a T959W happens to run across this and has not tried anything yet.
Again, I'm not good with windows at all, and I prefer it that way.
If you're on windows, check out our wiki:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/Samsung_Galaxy_S/SGH-T959V
There is tons of help there for setting up heimdall on windows with all the right drivers and such.
Once you have heimdall setup get AntonX's latest cwm zip for his kernel.
This kernel is a BML kernel, and this guide I am giving you right now will help you get cm9 installed which is an MTD kernel. You can find out more about BML vs. MTD here.
Once you have downloaded AntonX's kernel, extract the zImage from it and open up the terminal/cmd prompt and navigate to the directory you extracted the zImage to.
Put your phone into Download Mode and type the following in the command prompt:
Code:
heimdall flash --kernel zImage
The heimdall program will flash this kernel+initramfs to the kernel partition and reboot the phone. Do not unplug the usb cable until you see the "Galaxy S" screen. When you see that screen, unplug the usb cable and remove the battery from the back.
Assuming you downloaded CM9 and put it on your sdcard already, you can get into recovery by holding the vol+ and vol-, then pressing the power button to turn the phone on. When you see the "Galaxy S" screen, let go of the buttons, and you should be in the recovery now.
This is where things get a little tricky. If you have not tried to do anything to your phone yet. This would be a great time to use the "Backup and Recovery" menu on CWM. Do a full backup.
The "assert 7" error that the previous person got was because the cwm install script (the updater-script) checks the already installed /system/build.prop's data against the "to be installed" build.prop to verify this rom can be installed. If it doesn't exist, then it moves forward.
So the first order of business is to wipe the /system partition. Go to "Mounts and Storage" and format the system partition.
Now go back to the main screen and do "Factory Reset/Wipe Data".
Now go "Install zip from sdcard" -> "choose zip from sdcard" -> and use the volume keys to select the zip file.
After the rom is installed, navigate back to the main screen and "Reboot the system now" if it doesn't reboot by itself.
When the phone reboots, because it is going from BML to MTD, it obviously can't just install the files to what would be an MTD partition if the kernel knows nothing about MTD. So it boots into the newly installed MTD kernel and continues the installation, which in the end will also reboot again.
The first boot is very slow. It is building a cache of all the pre-installed system applications. Let it sit for a while. I know it's tempting to go play with your phone right away, but resist if you can.
The next CM9 release will be on a different kernel, and albeit a much better rom.
I will also be adding OTA Asserts for SGH-T959W so that you will not have to wipe /system before installing the rom, but I do that still just for good measure. But this also means that your phone will work properly with the google play store.
If this still does not work, please let me know what went wrong and I will be happy to assist!
-Bryan

Confused
bhundven said:
Ok, this is really simple. I've explained it in quite a few threads in the Galaxy S 4G forums in General, Q&A, and the Dev forum. I'm going to explain this, but in a way to be more general. So I'm being verbose in case anyone else with a T959W happens to run across this and has not tried anything yet.
Again, I'm not good with windows at all, and I prefer it that way.
If you're on windows, check out our wiki:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/Samsung_Galaxy_S/SGH-T959V
There is tons of help there for setting up heimdall on windows with all the right drivers and such.
Once you have heimdall setup get AntonX's latest cwm zip for his kernel.
This kernel is a BML kernel, and this guide I am giving you right now will help you get cm9 installed which is an MTD kernel. You can find out more about BML vs. MTD here.
Once you have downloaded AntonX's kernel, extract the zImage from it and open up the terminal/cmd prompt and navigate to the directory you extracted the zImage to.
Put your phone into Download Mode and type the following in the command prompt:
Code:
heimdall flash --kernel zImage
The heimdall program will flash this kernel+initramfs to the kernel partition and reboot the phone. Do not unplug the usb cable until you see the "Galaxy S" screen. When you see that screen, unplug the usb cable and remove the battery from the back.
Assuming you downloaded CM9 and put it on your sdcard already, you can get into recovery by holding the vol+ and vol-, then pressing the power button to turn the phone on. When you see the "Galaxy S" screen, let go of the buttons, and you should be in the recovery now.
This is where things get a little tricky. If you have not tried to do anything to your phone yet. This would be a great time to use the "Backup and Recovery" menu on CWM. Do a full backup.
The "assert 7" error that the previous person got was because the cwm install script (the updater-script) checks the already installed /system/build.prop's data against the "to be installed" build.prop to verify this rom can be installed. If it doesn't exist, then it moves forward.
So the first order of business is to wipe the /system partition. Go to "Mounts and Storage" and format the system partition.
Now go back to the main screen and do "Factory Reset/Wipe Data".
Now go "Install zip from sdcard" -> "choose zip from sdcard" -> and use the volume keys to select the zip file.
After the rom is installed, navigate back to the main screen and "Reboot the system now" if it doesn't reboot by itself.
When the phone reboots, because it is going from BML to MTD, it obviously can't just install the files to what would be an MTD partition if the kernel knows nothing about MTD. So it boots into the newly installed MTD kernel and continues the installation, which in the end will also reboot again.
The first boot is very slow. It is building a cache of all the pre-installed system applications. Let it sit for a while. I know it's tempting to go play with your phone right away, but resist if you can.
The next CM9 release will be on a different kernel, and albeit a much better rom.
I will also be adding OTA Asserts for SGH-T959W so that you will not have to wipe /system before installing the rom, but I do that still just for good measure. But this also means that your phone will work properly with the google play store.
If this still does not work, please let me know what went wrong and I will be happy to assist!
-Bryan
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have Window 7 and I went on wiki. I don't know what rom or what I am suppose to download to get heimdall . Plus the steps is not for T959W.

GMK63 said:
I have Window 7 and I went on wiki. I don't know what rom or what I am suppose to download to get heimdall . Plus the steps is not for T959W.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:facepalm:
Then send your phone back to Mobillicity. Tell them that you don't know what a smart phone is and did something stupid to it. Go get yourself a nice clamshell phone.
I gave you explicit instructions that work for SGH-T959V and SGH-T959W. As a matter of fact, these instructions work on any "Galaxy S" phone, but you shouldn't flash just any other phone's rom to any other phone.
It just so happens that the SGH-T959V and SGH-T959W are the same exact hardware, just pre-packaged with different software and sold in different regions.
THEY ARE THE SAME PHONE!

With that, I am done with this thread. It was not meant for support! It was merely an announcement.
If you need any more help, please check out the Galaxy S 4G forums.
You can find plenty of directions that will work on either SGH-T959V or SGH-T959W on the wiki.
If you are looking for general information, look at the General forum.
If you need help or are asking a question, look at the Q&A (Questions and Answers) forum.
If you are looking to provide constructive feedback and/or logs to help development of ROMs and Kernels, check out the Developer forum. (Note, do not ask questions in the developer forum).
Don't forget the XDA Forum Rules

[Q] Rebbots, No Boots, and other power issues

Alright, so I need a little help here deciding what to do next.
My girlfriend has the SGH-T959v with android 2.2.1 on it.
It had been randomly shutting down when the screen turned off. It was much the same as the Samsung Captivate had its issues.
It also wouldn't charge sometimes and would also not turn on unless the battery was removed.
Well, I replaced the battery with an OEM one from a mobile store.
Now there are no more random shutdowns but there's a whole slew of different issues.
If the phone is turned off you have to remove the battery, put it back in, plug it in quickly, and then turn it on.
If the phone charges too long all the signal stops working until a reboot.
The phone always thinks it's charging even when the battery is draining.
It's a pretty irritating problem especially with the reboot issue because if we're out and away from electricity and it gets turned off accidentally then there's nothing we can do till we get back to the charger.
Has anyone had these issues and solved them with a new ROM?
I had the random shutdowns on my Captivate and solved it with CyanogenMod. I'm thinking about flashing but I don't want to wipe it all and then have it not work or brick the thing (it is unlocked on Straight Talk so I also don't want to relock it to T-Mobile)
Some foresight would be appreciated before I move forward with it.
Thanks

Why don't you try a ROM and find out if it does anything? Questions like this are pointless because you can answer them yourself by just trying it.

Yes, flashing a better ROM will help in certain cases

pisherthefisher said:
Why don't you try a ROM and find out if it does anything? Questions like this are pointless because you can answer them yourself by just trying it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually my question was whether or not anyone has had this issue.
I'm trying to see if it's a known firmware problem or a known hardware problem so I don't waste my time.
I don't have all day everyday to backup the phone and flash and test and then reinstall all the apps.
Thanks for the contribution though.
That being said would anyone suggest a TW ROM for this? I don't want to change the functionality because she's used to TouchWiz and not tech savvy

Now I must throw in, you should search around for a TW styled ROM. I don't know if we have one or not, but I can tell you that looking yourself will be a lot quicker then waiting for somebody to feel sorry for you, search for it, and give you a link to it.

Ignore those guys. Dont flash a custom rom YET.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1822626
Read that post follow the directions. I suggest reading the thread it links to while backing up the phone. Then while actually doing the flashing with heimdal follow it.
Now be sure to follow eollies directions of flashing the kernel after the initial boot or wifi will be broken.
This will wipe her phone out and reflash everything plus give you root access to remove bloat and add things like titanium backup.
---------- Post added at 07:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:37 PM ----------
Whoops looks like eollies pulled the file from dropbox.
Just follow the directions in the thread by lumin30 that eollie links too.
I forgot to say why I suggest using a one click. This device sometimes just needs to be reset to factory. And Using a one click will remove all stuff not suppose to be hanging around.

Here's another one that I find much more simple.
Heimdall One Click back to Stock for the T959V

I have the grimlin remover one click on my computer I can upload it later

Cooptx said:
I have the grimlin remover one click on my computer I can upload it later
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have it also, but cant get it to upload for whatever reason. So.....
Here's the link: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1500427 Post #41 has a working DL. get it, unzip, run it. Maybe it helps him.

Use the heimdall one clicks they are 2.3.3 stock touchwiz. Like I said follow lumin30's guide to the letter. He is a recognized contributor for a damn good reason. That guide has also been featured on the portal. I would flash the antonx kernel after for root and then flash bhundvens latest kernel. This will allow just a bit more control and troubleshooting if something happens.

Alright, I was just throwing it out there xD

Really guys? You're not even answering his question and linking him to old guides that are complicated. If someone needs to go to a stock KJ6 rom just link them to lumin's guide!
Anyway, I doubt you will find anyone on these forums who are still running the 2.2.1 stock rom, I personally haven't run it in over 2 years when I first bought my phone.
Samsung has released an official update from Froyo (what her phone is running) to Gingerbread (the last officially released version for this phone).
I recommend you try that, but know that there is a long-sms bug. If you go over 140 characters the message will get cut off and you will get a "message sending failed" notice when you try to send it. You can instead try to use a 3rd party app like handcent or gosms that will split the message for you if it goes beyond 140 characters.
If you would like an easy to follow, reliable guide WITH PICTURES, then go ahead and follow lumins' guide:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=21953878&postcount=2
Just remember that everything on her phone will get wiped, but you can use google to back up contacts. It sounds like it'll be worth it.
Again, lumin's guide will allow you to upgrade her phone to the last official rom Samsung released for our phone.
Good luck!

I wonder if Samsung kies is still upgrading.

[Q] Help I think I bricked my device!!!

I have a samsung galaxy s 4g from t-mobile I was trying to upgrade from ginger bread to ice cream sandwich and now the phone keeps restarting. When it turns on it shows the samsung galaxy s 4g startup then it shows the ice cream sandwich i tried to download and it shows a progress bar when it gets to the very end it restarts and does the same process over and over again. I tried to plug into computer and the computer says my device is not recognized. I need help!! What do I do? If video is needed I will provide one

jeffreylin_ said:
There is no OTA update to ICS for this device. If you messed it up, you should use the one click back to stock, which will revert everything back to the way it was when you first got it.
Sent from my SGH-T959V using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know but I saw a video on youtube about it so i tried it and it just keeps restarting. Would you mind explaining how to do that because it I can't connect my phone to the computer it turns off every 15 secs and I can't go into recovery mode either.

The good news is that it is nearly impossible to "hard brick" an SGS4G. That you are seeing it repeatedly trying to start up tells me that it's more that you just have improper firmware on your device.
Take a look a the heimdall "one-click" collection http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1358498
 @lumin30 has a great walk-through as well -- http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=21953878&postcount=2
The most difficult thing about using them is getting the right drivers installed on your computer for your phone (and ROM).

jeffsf said:
The good news is that it is nearly impossible to "hard brick" an SGS4G. That you are seeing it repeatedly trying to start up tells me that it's more that you just have improper firmware on your device.
Take a look a the heimdall "one-click" collection http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1358498
@lumin30 has a great walk-through as well -- http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=21953878&postcount=2
The most difficult thing about using them is getting the right drivers installed on your computer for your phone (and ROM).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't do this because when i plug my phone in to the computer it says device not recognized and the phone restarts about every 15 seconds. If you need to see a video I can provide one. I need to fix it because i'm stuck with this phone for a few more months.

Google samsung usb download jig. You can buy one or make your own for just a few bucks. There is a thread or two on xda on making one. Couple of threads on how to get into download mode too.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I547 using xda app-developers app

MuShRo0m said:
I can't do this because when i plug my phone in to the computer it says device not recognized and the phone restarts about every 15 seconds. If you need to see a video I can provide one. I need to fix it because i'm stuck with this phone for a few more months.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"Device not recognized" is Windows' polite way of saying that it can't make sense of drivers. I have a few polite things to say about Window's handling of drivers, but let's just say that it is tweaky, at best, and you apparently can only have one set of "similar" drivers installed at a time. You will have to work with the drivers once you get Download Mode under control.
That is is still rebooting seems to suggest that you don't have the power off / hold volup/vol dn / plug in USB sequence quite right.

jeffsf said:
"Device not recognized" is Windows' polite way of saying that it can't make sense of drivers. I have a few polite things to say about Window's handling of drivers, but let's just say that it is tweaky, at best, and you apparently can only have one set of "similar" drivers installed at a time. You will have to work with the drivers once you get Download Mode under control.
That is is still rebooting seems to suggest that you don't have the power off / hold volup/vol dn / plug in USB sequence quite right.
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Thank you I just fixed it. I thought I was screwed thanks so much!! Do you know anything good to put on the device that is for the sgs4g because the last time I put the wrong ones and it ended up how it did. I tried valhalla final do you know any better ones.

I'm glad you got it going again! With luck, you won't have to try that again, but it is a great device to play around with as it is rather hard to get it to "hard brick" to the point where you can't get it into download mode and start again. Just keep lots of backups
There are lots of great ROMs out there for this device, in a few different flavors. You generally need to be careful how you upgrade between the flavors, especially as the big upgrade steps are often taken for granted by current ROMs
Froyo (I'll go out on a limb and say you don't want this)
Gingerbread, BML
Gingerbread, MTD
Ice Cream Sandwich (MTD only, I believe)
JellyBean (MTD only)
BML is the "stock" low-level disk routines used by Samsung ROMs, as well as some custom Gingerbread ROMs. MTD is an open-source alternative to BML that is popular with later Gingerbread ROMs, as well as probably all ICS and JB ROMs. If you are going to use an MTD ROM, you should find a solid MTD Gingerbread ROM to do the switch-over from BML to MTD to make sure it goes smoothly.
I can't really say which is "best" between all the ROMs. There are many good ones out there. A lot of people will have which ROM they use or like in their signature.
With any ROM, read the main thread to see what things might not work for you if you try the ROM.
Some of the general things that are pretty much universal are:
ICS
WiFi Calling doesn't work
Indicated WiFi signal level appears lower
JB
Built-in GPS doesn't work
WiFi Calling doesn't work
Indicated WiFi signal level appears lower

jeffsf said:
I'm glad you got it going again! With luck, you won't have to try that again, but it is a great device to play around with as it is rather hard to get it to "hard brick" to the point where you can't get it into download mode and start again. Just keep lots of backups
There are lots of great ROMs out there for this device, in a few different flavors. You generally need to be careful how you upgrade between the flavors, especially as the big upgrade steps are often taken for granted by current ROMs
Froyo (I'll go out on a limb and say you don't want this)
Gingerbread, BML
Gingerbread, MTD
Ice Cream Sandwich (MTD only, I believe)
JellyBean (MTD only)
BML is the "stock" low-level disk routines used by Samsung ROMs, as well as some custom Gingerbread ROMs. MTD is an open-source alternative to BML that is popular with later Gingerbread ROMs, as well as probably all ICS and JB ROMs. If you are going to use an MTD ROM, you should find a solid MTD Gingerbread ROM to do the switch-over from BML to MTD to make sure it goes smoothly.
I can't really say which is "best" between all the ROMs. There are many good ones out there. A lot of people will have which ROM they use or like in their signature.
With any ROM, read the main thread to see what things might not work for you if you try the ROM.
Some of the general things that are pretty much universal are:
ICS
WiFi Calling doesn't work
Indicated WiFi signal level appears lower
JB
Built-in GPS doesn't work
WiFi Calling doesn't work
Indicated WiFi signal level appears lower
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Click to collapse
Ok thanks for the suggestions but I have been looking at the tutorials on this and it says you need cwm but that isn't supported by this device sgs4g. What do i do? Here is what I am trying to install http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2587589

MuShRo0m said:
...you need cwm but that isn't supported by this device sgs4g.
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Click to collapse
It is true that you can't install Clockwork recovery by itself on the SGS4G. However, the custom kernels have either CWR or TWRP "built in" to them. (On the SGS4G, kernel and recovery bound together and flashed as a single unit.)
Here is what I am trying to install http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2587589
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Click to collapse
Well, that is quite a first ROM to try to flash! Let's see, it says "beta" in the header, it's been out for under 24 hours, people are reporting difficulties flashing it, it has a different partition structure than any other SGS4G ROM, oh, and it's the first KitKat ROM for the phone, so the Android part of the phone is very different and potentially still has major bugs. I think you're in for a world of hurt if you try something that hasn't stabilized to the point that people are generally successful with it, especially if you aren't comfortable with the whole flashing process yet.
I'd suggest one of the well-proven ICS ROMs as a start. The are relatively robust in their ability to install and generally perform very well on the phone. Take a couple weeks with it to know how it performs on the phone for you and then look again at what you might want to try out.
While you can generally upgrade your data from one Android release to the next using a tool like Titanium Backup, going back is dicey, at best. I didn't decide to upgrade my day-today phone from GB to ICS for quite some time after the ROMs were available for just that reason. I'd hate to find out that there was a show-stopper bug and I couldn't go back to GB without losing my data.

jeffsf said:
It is true that you can't install Clockwork recovery by itself on the SGS4G. However, the custom kernels have either CWR or TWRP "built in" to them. (On the SGS4G, kernel and recovery bound together and flashed as a single unit.)
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Click to collapse
I'm a noob when it comes to this stuff I have been looking around and I can't find any custom kernels that have it pre installed could you please help me on this.

jeffsf said:
Well, that is quite a first ROM to try to flash! Let's see, it says "beta" in the header, it's been out for under 24 hours, people are reporting difficulties flashing it, it has a different partition structure than any other SGS4G ROM, oh, and it's the first KitKat ROM for the phone, so the Android part of the phone is very different and potentially still has major bugs. I think you're in for a world of hurt if you try something that hasn't stabilized to the point that people are generally successful with it, especially if you aren't comfortable with the whole flashing process yet.
I'd suggest one of the well-proven ICS ROMs as a start. The are relatively robust in their ability to install and generally perform very well on the phone. Take a couple weeks with it to know how it performs on the phone for you and then look again at what you might want to try out.
While you can generally upgrade your data from one Android release to the next using a tool like Titanium Backup, going back is dicey, at best. I didn't decide to upgrade my day-today phone from GB to ICS for quite some time after the ROMs were available for just that reason. I'd hate to find out that there was a show-stopper bug and I couldn't go back to GB without losing my data.
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Click to collapse
That makes sense I'll wait for slim kat until the bugs have been fixed and until I get the hang of this.SO just to be certain I should start from ics then move up to jelly bean?

It's my personal opinion that the GB and ICS ROMs are the most stable and reliable for "daily driver" phones. Others like the JB experience. KitKat has a lot of potential, but I'd wait a bit until it settles down. The first few releases on any new Android version are generally a bit rough, even when from the best of devs.
The AntonX Basic kernel from the heimdall one-click thread should get you what you need to get started.
I'm a little puzzled though, how you flashed the first ROM if you didn't have CWR or some other recovery already installed. If it was ROM Manager that you used, it definitely would have caused problems (and will if you use it again).

jeffsf said:
It's my personal opinion that the GB and ICS ROMs are the most stable and reliable for "daily driver" phones. Others like the JB experience. KitKat has a lot of potential, but I'd wait a bit until it settles down. The first few releases on any new Android version are generally a bit rough, even when from the best of devs.
The AntonX Basic kernel from the heimdall one-click thread should get you what you need to get started.
I'm a little puzzled though, how you flashed the first ROM if you didn't have CWR or some other recovery already installed. If it was ROM Manager that you used, it definitely would have caused problems (and will if you use it again).
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Click to collapse
Ok I will try this right now see if I can even follow the tutorial and I got valhalla by using sgs kernel flasher which is an app on the marketplace.

jeffsf said:
It's my personal opinion that the GB and ICS ROMs are the most stable and reliable for "daily driver" phones. Others like the JB experience. KitKat has a lot of potential, but I'd wait a bit until it settles down. The first few releases on any new Android version are generally a bit rough, even when from the best of devs.
The AntonX Basic kernel from the heimdall one-click thread should get you what you need to get started.
I'm a little puzzled though, how you flashed the first ROM if you didn't have CWR or some other recovery already installed. If it was ROM Manager that you used, it definitely would have caused problems (and will if you use it again).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok so I decided to go for slimkat 4.4.2 and I actually installed it correctly but I don't have the google play store and all that I tried to install gapps but not sure if I had the right version. When I was flashing them it said installation successful but when the phone rebooted it says the applications stopped working.

MuShRo0m said:
ok so I decided to go for slimkat 4.4.2 and I actually installed it correctly but I don't have the google play store and all that I tried to install gapps but not sure if I had the right version. When I was flashing them it said installation successful but when the phone rebooted it says the applications stopped working.
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Hullo man (or mam) I'm the tooth cavity bringer as u can see (w kitkat or sth like that). For your issue, I think you first should get used to installing custom ROM on this phone first, with Recovery: backup & restore procedure, flashing zip,... and heimdall oneclick procedure as jeffsf has been avised you tho before installing kitkat. And yeah, a user got Playstore work out by heimdall oneclick back to stock, and follow my instruction in the slimkat thread again carefully (super clean install) so you can try if you know what you are doing then.
If you are feeling confused and frustrated w the instruction and bugs that might happen to your phone, you can/should flash sth considered stable first like ICS ROMs (that Jeffsf recommended) w Jeffsf's kernels as they are easier to flash and almost bug-free .
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

daothanhduy1996 said:
Hullo man (or mam) I'm the tooth cavity bringer as u can see (w kitkat or sth like that). For your issue, I think you first should get used to installing custom ROM on this phone first, with Recovery: backup & restore procedure, flashing zip,... and heimdall oneclick procedure as jeffsf has been avised you tho before installing kitkat. And yeah, a user got Playstore work out by heimdall oneclick back to stock, and follow my instruction in the slimkat thread again carefully (super clean install) so you can try if you know what you are doing then.
If you are feeling confused and frustrated w the instruction and bugs that might happen to your phone, you can/should flash sth considered stable first like ICS ROMs (that Jeffsf recommended) w Jeffsf's kernels as they are easier to flash and almost bug-free .
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the suggestions I installed slimkat but I didn't have the play store because I forgot to flash the gapps now I finally got everything working it runs pretty smooth. I wanted to challenge myself so I chose the harder one and I did okay.