Database Info

How to un-AT&Tify the Samsung Captivate

I hope this how to guide is helpful. Yes it is not all about the AT&T crap, it also removes the horrible touchwiz launcher.
NOTE THERE IS A MUCH MORE DETAILED GUIDE HERE
1. Install a launcher substitute.
Personally, I prefer launcher pro, so that is the one I will be talking about in this step. You can pick this app up for free from the android market.
This launcher completely replaces your home screens and your application drawer with something more stock android like. It has several improvements over the actual stock android launcher also, so I would recommend it for any phone, not just TouchWiz phones.
CAUTION FROM THIS POINT ON YOU THINGS COULD (although unlikely) GO WRONG. PROCEED WITH CAUTION. I AM NOT LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGE CAUSED IN ANY PART OF THIS TUTORIAL.
2. Root your phone
Note that this does void your warrenty and prevent returning of your phone. All that aside it is relatively easy.
2a. Download the following root update at: mediafire.com/download.php?eilzbhfl73rij1v
2b. DO NOT UNZIP THIS FILE. Instead, rename it update.zip
2c. Mount your phones internal storage to you computer. If you are on a mac, that may require enable debugging mode in the application settings menu. If you are on a PC it requires the Samsung Captivate drivers forum.xdadevelopers.com/showthread.php?t=728929
2d. Copy the drivers to your phones internal storage and unmount and unplug your phone.
2e. Turn your phone off.
2f. Turn your phone on by pressing volume up and down while pressing the power button.
2g. Use volume up and down to select reinstall packages and then press the power button. Allow it to update.
2h. Once you reboot, your phone should be rooted.
3. Uninstall the bloatware.
3a.Download Titanium Backup from the Market
3b. Make sure your sd card is mounted to your phone (not your PC)
3c. Once it is installed install the busybox version they prompt you to.
3d. Press the Backup/Restore tab (if not already pressed).
3e. Find any of the following applications that you want to delete. If you don't know what it is, I recommend not deleting it. There are other bloatware apps, but I recommend keeping them.:
At&t Navigator
At&t Radio
At&t Maps
At&t Music
At&t Mobile Hotspots
Mobile Banking
Mobile Video
Where
YPmobile
At&t FamilyMap
Mini Diary
MobiTV
Write and Go
Media Hub
Daily Breifing
3f. Click on the app and press the red un-install button. NOTE UNINSTALL WILL REMAIN THROUGH FACTORY RESET ONLY UNINSTALL IF YOU ARE SURE YOU WANT TO.
4. Sideloading Apps
4a. If you are on a PC download this androidcentral.com/sideload-android-apps-all-you-want-sideload-wonder-machine
4b. If you are on a Mac (me) or Linux download this androidcentral.com/android-central-sideload-wonder-machine-linux-and-mac-talented-forum-member (note the mac and linux link is down atm but it should be back up soon.
4c. if neither of those options suit you and you want a more perminate (note it did not work for me) solution, then try this forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=728121
5. The service
You're screwed. (It works pretty nice where I live, but always manages to be dead when I need it the most.)
6. The Voicemail
While this is not carrier specific (all carrier voice-mails suck) , I thought I would include the fact that you can get visual voicemail from Google via its Google Voice voicemail service using your current number. For more information go to this link google.com/voice
note sorry my links are so weird, I am a new member and they do not let me post links.

If you have anything you would like to add, please add it in a reply

this is great thank you !

Thank you for taking your time I'm pretty sure it'll be really helpful to us users.
WE just need A FREAKEN MOD to sticky this. Well, first we need a mod.
_____
You should adddddd GPS fix.

also i wanted to know once rooted can you go back to factory defaults ? if yes how ? thanks !

accinfo said:
You should adddddd GPS fix.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ill add it as soon as I figure out how to do it myself (sometime tomorrow)

nobi.sheikh said:
also i wanted to know once rooted can you go back to factory defaults ? if yes how ? thanks !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty sure you can unroot, and from there do the factory restore, but any apps you uninstalled will still be gone forever.

nbs11 said:
I'm pretty sure you can unroot, and from there do the factory restore, but any apps you uninstalled will still be gone forever.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I heard (keyword, heard) you couldn't yet, any proof?
I hope this doesn't sound rude.

accinfo said:
I heard (keyword, heard) you couldn't yet, any proof?
I hope this doesn't sound rude.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only sure way I know of to unroot is to flash the original ROM. As samsung does not provide this we need to wait for someone to pull it off the device.

the guide says it is recommended to DELETE or NOT to delete the listed AT&T apps? I'm confused at that part

Another guide: How To: Remove AT&T From Captivate
Includes: root, sideloading, remove market censorship, delete bloatware.
Thanks for this nbs!!

Do you know if the sideloading process listed above works on a mac?

I have I 9000 but same... rooting only puts a version of Su in system/xbin and busybox. It also installs supeuser.apk. any of this can be undone.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

I can't get the market enabler to work. Can't parse file. Any ideas?
#nevermind. Got it from the google code page.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

phlunkie said:
I can't get the market enabler to work. Can't parse file. Any ideas?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I ran into the same problem the first time. The file I downloaded from the Google site was around 40 KB and kept giving me that error message. So I did a Google search and downloaded the file from ithinkdiff.com which was around 80 KB. Also how are you installing the apk?

tcv14 said:
Do you know if the sideloading process listed above works on a mac?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I have a rooted captivate with side loaded apps (Asphalt 5, PDAnet, etc.) that I just threw on my SD and installed that way.
I have only used my mac for my Captivate.

[ROM] (Appalachian_Wireless) AW10 based off the Appalachian Wireless 2.1RUU

This Rom is made for the Appalachian Wireless hero users out there.​This is a complete rebuild of my original rom, it is faster, better optimized and themeable with some new features added.
FIRST OFF THANKS GOES TO..
dsixda
MrDanger
theresthatguy
First boot can be a little slow about 2-3 min while it's rebuilding the cache.
FEATURES
Added Market fix so protected apps will now display in market.
Added Flash 10.1
Moved Maps to /data/app so duplicate versions won't be installed when it gets updated from the market.
Rooted (unsecured boot.img)
Rooted (Superuser.apk + su)
Deodexed /system/framework, /system/app
PNG optimized for speed
Bash shell support
BusyBox installed
Nano text editor installed
Live Wallpapers
ADDED APPLICATIONS
Wireless tethering installed
Estrongs Files Explorer
Terminal
Spare Parts
CarDock
REMOVED APPLICATIONS
amazonmp3
StockWidget
TwitterWidget
Facebook
HtcFacebook
HtcFootprints
HtcFootprintsWidget
HtcTwitter
HTMLViewer
LearnMore
PDFViewer
Quickoffice
Stock
teeter
Removed apps are placed on your sdcard in the AW10/removed directory.
To Reinstall
connect your phone to your computer
choose charge only when prompted on your phone
open a command prompt, cd into the android-sdk/tools directory and run
Code:
adb remount
adb push /sdcard/AW10/removed/nameofapp.apk /system/app
INSTALL:
DOWNLOAD
Alternate DOWNLOAD mirror
place .zip file on sd card
reboot into recovery mode
nandroid backup
wipe
wipe dalvik cache
install AW10.zip file
live wallpapers are optional, to install them flash lwp.zip via recovery separately from the rom.
known issues:
issue: if you flash the lwp.zip and the rom together at the same time, it can cause boot loops.
fix: install the rom let it boot once, reboot then install the lwp.zip.
issue: updating of google maps in market fails
fix: uninstall old version first by going into Settings/Applications/Manage applications uninstall maps then re-download from market.
NOTE: Live wallpapers only work when using an alternate launcher like ADW or Launcher Pro from the market.

got any screenshots?

joeman24 said:
got any screenshots?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I updated some things and added some screen shots.

Wow, and I thought I was the only person with Appalachian Wireless to Root, you know I had a terrible time rooting. Just about every guide I could find was for Sprint only. I wish I had found you about 2 months ago. I had to upgrade to the Stock 2.1, before I was able to root. Did you have as hard of a time getting your Hero rooted as I did on Appalachian Wireless? Just curious.

lordofletterbox said:
Wow, and I thought I was the only person with Appalachian Wireless to Root, you know I had a terrible time rooting. Just about every guide I could find was for Sprint only. I wish I had found you about 2 months ago. I had to upgrade to the Stock 2.1, before I was able to root. Did you have as hard of a time getting your Hero rooted as I did on Appalachian Wireless? Just curious.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no i waited until 2.1 was released and rooted, i didn't want to take the chance of messing up my carrier settings with the sprint RUU, and not being able to restore them, i was tempted though very tempted.

Could you please host this somewhere else??? I cant get it to download from mediafire..

can't download it ,can u give another link ty

baddime said:
can't download it ,can u give another link ty
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
please be patient with me I'm working on this, should be fixed in a little while.

OK because all my files on mediafire got wiped
and i was going to release this newer version in a couple days anyway, i decided to go ahead and post it tonight.
the only thing missing that i wanted to include in this version is some custom mods i made for it.
i decided to just add them to the original post as metamorph addons instead of including them with the rom, that way you can pick and choose which ones you want instead of me I'll try to have them up soon.

Very nice codejunkie. You've got a little more accomplished with this rom than what I got done with it. My rom was pretty much bare stock. Nothing removed. I was able to get it de-odexed, but when I started looking into changing the rosie, that was when things started becoming unstable.

sadalius said:
Very nice codejunkie. You've got a little more accomplished with this rom than what I got done with it. My rom was pretty much bare stock. Nothing removed. I was able to get it de-odexed, but when I started looking into changing the rosie, that was when things started becoming unstable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the kind words, I've been working on theaming a lot Lately and your so right any wrong change to the framework files and things can go crazy fast.
Sent from my HERO200 using XDA App

Awesome man kudos to you...Thank you so much been hitting all the others since someone talked me through a root back in early summer and forgot how nice sense was. How do we add themes for it?

How To: Backup Your Apps, Data & Settings BEFORE You Root/Change ROMs on Your Device!

How To: Backup Your Apps, Data & Settings BEFORE You Root/Change ROMs on Your Device!
I recently rooted my Evo 4G and since I had been using it for a while didn't want to lose all of my settings and data and didn't want to sit for hours installing apps and trying to set them each up the way I had them beforehand. None of the root guides that I've found seem to cover this critical first step before they get into the process of rooting the device. So a lot of people root and flash a new ROM and then realize all of their stuff is gone. So, here's how to back everything up before you root or change ROMs:
1) Locate/Download/Install Z4Root to your device. (It appears as though it was removed from the market due to people using it to get temp root in order to use hot spot tethers. The apk can be found in a thread on this forum here)
2) Install Titanium Backup from the market (I recommend the full version because it makes the restore process a one touch option whereas the free one requires you to click 'Install' and then 'confirm' for each individual app which can be a royal PITA if you have lots of apps)
3) Install 'Root Check' from the market
4) Launch Z4 and use to gain temporary root access of your device. Use Root Check to make sure you indeed do have root access.
5) Launch Titanium Backup and grant superuser permissions where necessary
6) Click the center option at the top of the screen after Titanium checks all possible scenarios. Scroll through the options and find the option (usually has the highest number on the right... or real close to it) that backs up all your apps + system data and settings. Allow it to complete this process which can take a bit.
7) Once this is complete back out of Titanium Backup and reboot your device. This will remove the temporary root access from the device. When the device has settled run Root Check one last time to make sure don't have root access.
8) Proceed with your favorite root/ROM process & enjoy not having to waste hours setting up your phone again the way you had it. When you recover make sure you chose the option to recover all missing apps and all data/settings because if you choose to recover ALL apps you can run into issues with the apps it tries to override.
Now, sometimes there are minor issues from ROM to ROM or device to device when you backup from one platform and then recover on another but for the most part it will save you a LOT of time. You can also try a reboot or two after you recover which can help with some settings that don't show up immediately after a recover. I did this before rooting my Evo 4G and it worked flawlessly.
Thanks and hopefully that helps.

Cool. I never thought about backing up while in temp root. Good find.
^_^_^'s tbolt

EEdaesung said:
Cool. I never thought about backing up while in temp root. Good find.
^_^_^'s tbolt
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure thing, hopefully it saves others some time & effort.

Newer and better explanation!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1152233
Worked the first time!

Does this work with htc inspire 4g the link u provide
and the initial topic on this thread ?

Just to add, Z4Root will work for few device (older models)
Most of newer android version running on Gingerbread, it won't support.

Downloaded and installed z4 but keeps force closing??? please help. running on stock epic 4g touch

Z4Root
z4root doesn't work anymore on android jeally bean 4.2.2 ........ any ideas ??

does update.zip in cwm functions same

restore issues
if i back up using this app in stock firmware after that suppose a did a customrom. will there be any issue if i restored using this app.
jelly bean to kitkat. custom rom cynmod11.

jeswinjames6 said:
if i back up using this app in stock firmware after that suppose a did a customrom. will there be any issue if i restored using this app.
jelly bean to kitkat. custom rom cynmod11.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Should be fine as it's still just app data. I haven't personally tested it to confirm though so proceed at your own risk.

[Q] How can I get rid of the bloatware?

I dont know where to begin or what to do. Do I have to turn s-off? I just want my phone a little more snappy. Also, is it possibld to dual boot sense 3.0 and srock gingerbread?

You can either turn S-off, root your phone and then, with a file explorer like Root explorer or ES file, delete the apps you want to get rid off;
or you can set a temp root (there's plenty of things related to this in Dev section) and with the same way, delete your apps.

There's a much easier method. Still requires S-OFF, but you don't have to do it manually.
WARNING: THIS WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY. PLEASE ONLY PROCEED IF YOU ARE SURE YOU WANT TO DO THIS.
Firstly, get S-OFF with AlphaRevX's Revolutionary tool. Let it flash ClockWorkMod Recovery as well. Then flash this file in recovery to achieve root. Once done, reboot into Android (it's still the stock ROM). You then need to go into the Market and install an app called ROM Manager. Give it Superuser rights (Superuser is the front end for root). Then, right at the top, you have an option: Flash ClockWorkMod Recovery. Choose this option, select your phone model (HTC Sensation, only one in the list). It will now flash a new ClockWorkMod that's generally better than the one you flashed and used before hand.
Next, you need to install a custom ROM. This is still Sense (for now, it won't be at the end of this guide!). The custom ROM is called Android Revolution HD. This ROM is really fast, very optimized, and generally a great ROM. Download it and flash it through ClockWorkMod Recovery (reboot into ClockWorkMod by choosing Reboot into Recovery option in ROM Manager). Remember to do a nandroid backup by using the backup/restore option in ClockWorkMod.
The maker of this ROM also makes a Script called No Sense. Here's the post all about it: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=14191947&postcount=2
Once the ROM has finished flashing, stay in recovery (it is essential you stay in ClockWorkMod Recovery) and flash the No Sense script I mentioned earlier. Once the No Sense script has flashed, you can reboot.
You should now be bloatware free! This is still a Sense ROM, but it removes Sense. Unfortunately, Pure Gingerbread and CyanogenMod aren't available yet, but I should think they will be soon.
Hope this helps! Feel free to ask any questions, it is quite complicated

Much like everyone else here, I've successfully S-OFFed and rooted my Sensation. I am perfectly happy with stock Sense, so the first thing I wanted to do is get rid of crap like TeleNAV, Slacker, and other bloatware that has an annoying habit of running in the background. Using Root Manager, which has worked for me successfully on my previous phones, I uninstalled the apk and, where applicable, the odex files for all the bloat apps that I wanted to remove, cleared the cache, and rebooted the phone. To my surprise, not only did the app icons still appear in the app drawer, but the associated apps still opened and ran!
I am not exactly new to rooting, and have successfully removed bloatware from other phones. I am not really interested in flashing a custom ROM at this point. Short of that, any suggestions?

kgbkny said:
Much like everyone else here, I've successfully S-OFFed and rooted my Sensation. I am perfectly happy with stock Sense, so the first thing I wanted to do is get rid of crap like TeleNAV, Slacker, and other bloatware that has an annoying habit of running in the background. Using Root Manager, which has worked for me successfully on my previous phones, I uninstalled the apk and, where applicable, the odex files for all the bloat apps that I wanted to remove, cleared the cache, and rebooted the phone. To my surprise, not only did the app icons still appear in the app drawer, but the associated apps still opened and ran!
I am not exactly new to rooting, and have successfully removed bloatware from other phones. I am not really interested in flashing a custom ROM at this point. Short of that, any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am in the same boat as you, if the apps are still open and there, whats the point in even rooting? I like Sense 3.0 and I think my phone is fast enough after a fresh reboot, I just want it to be almost as fast by the time my battery dies 20-25hours later and I was hoping deleting or freezing all those background apps I don't use should help with this.

I don't want to dual boot if it's not stock gingerbread or cyanogenmod and I really like sense 3.0 for some reason. All I want do is get rid of all these boat ware and make it as much of such sense that I can, but it looks like you guys are having a lot of trouble

Has anyone been able to successfully remove bloatware after rooting and S-OFFing their Sensations? Any assistance will be appreciated.
***UPDATE: I installed Titanium Backup and used it to remove the bloatware. Worked like a charm!

kgbkny said:
Has anyone been able to successfully remove bloatware after rooting and S-OFFing their Sensations? Any assistance will be appreciated.
***UPDATE: I installed Titanium Backup and used it to remove the bloatware. Worked like a charm!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can anyone confirm this?!

i can confirm this works, have had bloatware of my choice removed for over a week through Ti backup and it works perfectly... never had any problems... I got the tip from reading the suggestions in insertcoin rom's op (thanks baad)... some people have had apps reappearing using root explorer but not with Ti... and you know its working because if you keep track of your memory on there you can watch it increase as you delete the apps..

+1 for using titanium never had a problem

Tried Titanium, did the trick.

Also used Titanium to trash the bloat!

Do we have a list of applications that are SAFE to remove with Titanium backup? I don't want to mess it up. I had to BORROW a computer to even root my phone so can't risk bricking it.

Yes, but you may need to buy the pro key to acces that feature, choose batch then you'll see a list of choices to run
Sent from my HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio Z715e using XDA App

I meant like for my previous phone Xperia there was a list of apps that are safe to remove on wiki page. I didn't find this for Sensation so I wonder if there is a list somewhere else. On xperia I was using Root uninstaller from Market to unistall.

There was a thread a while back that summarized what could be removed:
[GUIDE] Disabling system/bloatware apps using temp root

Thanks! The thread talks about disabling, not removing though. I take it no more harm can be done by removing right?

[Q] Update to v55.13.25 after rooting?!

I ve removed some system apps like twitter n flickr. Can i update my device to the version v55.13.25 from the previous firmware without any issues ???

How did you remove the apps? Its better to freeze them and defrost before an official update. If it were me and I'd removed the apps completely and I liked where my phone was at and I didn't wanna flash the fxz I'd find those apps and re-install them. If you go that route make sure your permissions are correct when you place the apps back into the system folder.
The End.

Okay I've zipped the twitter and Flickr files and uploaded to my drop box if you want them. They're stock odex files. The two files for each app (.apk and. odex) are in folders. So after extracting their folders you can place the files in /system/app folder and change permissions once there. Let me know if you want the links to the downloads.
The End.

I just noticeD you're from India. You might want files from the India ROM yes? Are you on stock odex or a custom ROM?
The End.

KEB64 said:
How did you remove the apps? Its better to freeze them and defrost before an official update. If it were me and I'd removed the apps completely and I liked where my phone was at and I didn't wanna flash the fxz I'd find those apps and re-install them. If you go that route make sure your permissions are correct when you place the apps back into the system folder.
The End.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Removed them through system app remover.Will a hard reset restore those apps?Its an ATT model with their firmware not the Indian one..

Oh I see. I don't know what I was thinking. You can do a factory reset to get those back. You will loose all of your data in the process so backup your data and only format your SD card if you have that all stuff backed up to a PC.
The End.

Wait. What's "system app remover"? Is that an app? I'm confused. I've done so much to this phone with swapping ROMs and moving system files around via Root Browser that I'm not even clear about your issue.
FWIW I've recently come full circle and currently use the stock 2.3.6 odexed ROM. I use Twitter and Flickr too. Sorry. I think I've confused myself here ha-ha. Somebody please address the OP. lol.
The End.

KEB64 said:
Wait. What's "system app remover"? Is that an app? I'm confused. I've done so much to this phone with swapping ROMs and moving system files around via Root Browser that I'm not even clear about your issue.
FWIW I've recently come full circle and currently use the stock 2.3.6 odexed ROM. I use Twitter and Flickr too. Sorry. I think I've confused myself here ha-ha. Somebody please address the OP. lol.
The End.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes! it`s an app...To be clear i uninstalled those apps after rooting my A2 with the "system app remover" . Will the OTA update work even though the
i`ve removed those apps beacause the update might be for those apps as well and will i lose root if updated to the new firmware

NO, do not try the update if you have deleted any system .apk's.
This is probably the easiest way to do it:
1) Install CWM through the bootstrapper if you haven't done so yet.
2) Boot into CWM and make a backup
3) Flash the fxz (scroll down a bit)
4) Once the phone boots up, log in to your google account and do whatever else you need to do. DO NOT uninstall any applications (even if they're uninstallable) and DO NOT root.
5) Go to Settings -> About Phone -> Software update. Make sure you're connected to wifi and install the update!
6) Once your phone has updated, re-root it, install CWM, and restore the backup you made.
Hope this helps, good luck!

Yup. What cogeary said. How embarrassing. Its just been one of those days where I should just keep my mouth shut. Not in a bad way. It IS my birthday, and the moon is closer to the Earth than it will be for a good while. Ha-ha. Seriously, cogeary knows his stuff.
The End.