Hi, I'm new to flashing ROM's and wanted to give this a try, but I had a few questions (I searched and read the wiki, but I didn't see these specific questions):
I have the Samsung Galaxy S2 Skyrocket on ATT. I'm rooted on Stock GB 2.3.6
1. I wanted to try flashing this ROM([ROM][CyanogenMod 9 (unofficial)][TeamChopsticks][Alpha 1 - 4/26]), Can I come from gingerbread if I follow the instructions in post 1? Or do I need to have an ICS leak installed first?
2. I assume I can revert back to my rooted-stock ROM by using CWM with my current restore point?
3. If I restore the backup from step-2, does it restore the original radio (the UCLA3 radio)? Or am I stuck with the new one? Any disadvantes to just leaving the new one installed?
4. When flashing the new radio, is it just like flashing a ROM in CWM?
5. How would I get all my apps back on the custom ROM? (I know the contacts are linked to the google cloud) I have titanium backup pro installed now, but I read something about not restoring the apps across different ROMs?
6. If I decide to go back to my stock ROM after looking at a few custom ROMs, would I be able to get the ATT OTA updates? (I know I'd need to un-root and un-freeze all the bloatware, but I assume installing the custom ROM's would trigger the flash counter?)
7. I keep hearing about the "yellow triangle" when the flash counter is triggered. Does it only happen at boot and go away after that? Or is it always there?
Thanks in advance!
skyrockets said:
Hi, I'm new to flashing ROM's and wanted to give this a try, but I had a few questions (I searched and read the wiki, but I didn't see these specific questions):
I have the Samsung Galaxy S2 Skyrocket on ATT. I'm rooted on Stock GB 2.3.6
1. I wanted to try flashing this ROM([ROM][CyanogenMod 9 (unofficial)][TeamChopsticks][Alpha 1 - 4/26]), Can I come from gingerbread if I follow the instructions in post 1? Or do I need to have an ICS leak installed first?
2. I assume I can revert back to my rooted-stock ROM by using CWM with my current restore point?
3. If I restore the backup from step-2, does it restore the original radio (the UCLA3 radio)? Or am I stuck with the new one? Any disadvantes to just leaving the new one installed?
4. When flashing the new radio, is it just like flashing a ROM in CWM?
5. How would I get all my apps back on the custom ROM? (I know the contacts are linked to the google cloud) I have titanium backup pro installed now, but I read something about not restoring the apps across different ROMs?
6. If I decide to go back to my stock ROM after looking at a few custom ROMs, would I be able to get the ATT OTA updates? (I know I'd need to un-root and un-freeze all the bloatware, but I assume installing the custom ROM's would trigger the flash counter?)
7. I keep hearing about the "yellow triangle" when the flash counter is triggered. Does it only happen at boot and go away after that? Or is it always there?
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) if you're a newb I wouldn't recommend flashing alpha versions of anything
2)You can revert back
3)No, flash a ginger radio before restoring
4)Yes, wipe cache/dalvik cache
5)You can restore apps accross the same OS, but I never do
6)Yes, if you're on official software. It wont trigger unless you flash with odin or sometimes a custom kernel like cm will trigger it. No big deal, we have a counter reset.
7)only at boot, we have counter reset, so no worries
Wow, that was a quick reply! Thanks.
Sorry if I'm dense, I just wanted to clarify two things before proceeding.
Re 1: I also saw another ROM I wanted to try, I guess I'll do that one ([ROM]SKY ICS--- 4.2D-9). Thanks for the heads up.
Re 3: From your response, am I correct to understand I can't use an ICS radio with GB? (it just wont work? or there's no advantage to keeping it?)
Re 5: Same OS meaning inside GB based ROMs or ICS based ROMs? If I go from stock GB to custom ICS, I need to re-download each app individually?
skyrockets said:
Wow, that was a quick reply! Thanks.
Sorry if I'm dense, I just wanted to clarify two things before proceeding.
Re 1: I also saw another ROM I wanted to try, I guess I'll do that one ([ROM]SKY ICS--- 4.2D-9). Thanks for the heads up.
Re 3: From your response, am I correct to understand I can't use an ICS radio with GB? (it just wont work? or there's no advantage to keeping it?)
Re 5: Same OS meaning inside GB based ROMs or ICS based ROMs? If I go from stock GB to custom ICS, I need to re-download each app individually?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) very good choice, I run it and it is outstanding.
3)they will have a RIL mismatch. You can use them by deleting the system folder out of it, but I would just use the la3 radio and flash that before the rom. After a full wipe, of course.
5)Right, it ensures everything will be clean and run right.
Related
Hi,
I had a few questions about kernels...hope someone can help me in answering these...
I am thinking of trying out the Netarchy kernel on my Nexus S, but i was just wondering is there anywhere I can download the stock kernel (so that if anything does go wrong i dont have to do a full nandroid restore?)
Also, when installing a new kernel does that wipe data (of course I will make a backup etc before installing it, but should all my settings and apps etc remain intact normally?)
what impact does an OTA update have if i am running a non stock kernel? so say i am using Netarchy's kernel, and google releases a new OTA update...will i still be able to install the update? If i do, will it revert to stock kernel?
Thanks in advance,
brownmonkey said:
Hi,
I had a few questions about kernels...hope someone can help me in answering these...
I am thinking of trying out the Netarchy kernel on my Nexus S, but i was just wondering is there anywhere I can download the stock kernel (so that if anything does go wrong i dont have to do a full nandroid restore?)
Also, when installing a new kernel does that wipe data (of course I will make a backup etc before installing it, but should all my settings and apps etc remain intact normally?)
what impact does an OTA update have if i am running a non stock kernel? so say i am using Netarchy's kernel, and google releases a new OTA update...will i still be able to install the update? If i do, will it revert to stock kernel?
Thanks in advance,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not aware of anywhere that the stock kernel is available for download so doing a NANDroid backup is really your best option. If you have anything that deviates from stock (kernel, rom, theme, even just deleted stock apps) it will prevent you from being able to successfully update from an OTA.
You can find a lot of information about all the available kernels here just scroll down to the third post and you'll find the info.
Finally, just as a note of personal opinion, getting OTA updates is a little overrated. If you run a custom ROM, the OTAs will be included in those ROMs eventually so you won't have to worry about restoring a stock ROM just to get the updates.
kenvan19 said:
I'm not aware of anywhere that the stock kernel is available for download so doing a NANDroid backup is really your best option. If you have anything that deviates from stock (kernel, rom, theme, even just deleted stock apps) it will prevent you from being able to successfully update from an OTA.
You can find a lot of information about all the available kernels here just scroll down to the third post and you'll find the info.
Finally, just as a note of personal opinion, getting OTA updates is a little overrated. If you run a custom ROM, the OTAs will be included in those ROMs eventually so you won't have to worry about restoring a stock ROM just to get the updates.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the quick answer. I had read that post before (it was actually how i came to discover kernels ). The reason why I was asking about the OTA is because I actually use the stock ROM but was just thinking about trying out the Netarchy kernel just to see what its all about. Hence if there is an OTA update, and i am running a different kernel to the stock, is the only way for me to incorporate the update by flashing the new stock rom and then reinstall the netarchy kernel?
Also, if i install it, do you know if it wipes data/apps?
Thanks
brownmonkey said:
Thanks for the quick answer. I had read that post before (it was actually how i came to discover kernels ). The reason why I was asking about the OTA is because I actually use the stock ROM but was just thinking about trying out the Netarchy kernel just to see what its all about. Hence if there is an OTA update, and i am running a different kernel to the stock, is the only way for me to incorporate the update by flashing the new stock rom and then reinstall the netarchy kernel?
Also, if i install it, do you know if it wipes data/apps?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I apologize as I forgot to mention that part of your question, I'm sick with the flu and a little out of it on some cold medications lol. You only lose data and apps when flashing if you wipe the /data partition in mounts and storage and this is not required nor is it recommended when flashing a kernel. Sorry for answering out of order, but I thought I should clear that up first. As to the other question, you have it correct; you would need to flash the new update ROM and then flashing a new kernel.
I should also note that whenever you install a new ROM, you will need to reflash a custom kernel. This is because the vast majority of ROMs released include a kernel and when you flash them it will overwrite whatever kernel you currently have.
Finally, if you have any other questions you can always feel free to post them on that thread. I'm the one who wrote it and I check it often to try and answer questions as best and as quickly as I can. Happy flashing!
Are you using a custom ROM? Flashing CM7 has the stock kernel. There are probably other ones out there that includes stock kernel with them such as OTA.
Thanks to everyone on this board - last night I rooted my device, unlocked the bootloader, installed CWM, backed up my stock ROM, and installed CleanROM 3 Lite (which is excellent btw!). My first time doing this, so it was very helpful having all the FAQs and instructions.
On to my question: now that I am running a custom ROM, what happens if there is a newer ROM released? Do I simply re-flash that specific ROM, the same way I installed CleanROM 3 Lite?
If so, it sounds like I lose all my apps/settings... is there some way to keep that across ROMs?
Thanks!
neocryte said:
Thanks to everyone on this board - last night I rooted my device, unlocked the bootloader, installed CWM, backed up my stock ROM, and installed CleanROM 3 Lite (which is excellent btw!). My first time doing this, so it was very helpful having all the FAQs and instructions.
On to my question: now that I am running a custom ROM, what happens if there is a newer ROM released? Do I simply re-flash that specific ROM, the same way I installed CleanROM 3 Lite?
If so, it sounds like I lose all my apps/settings... is there some way to keep that across ROMs?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes. And unless the developer says not to, you can USUALLY skip wiping /data when upgrading to the newer version of that developer's ROM.
As for keeping apps, get Titanium Backup. worth paying for.
If you are going to upgrade to the next cleanrom release, you should be fine...just flash the next release and your apps and info should be fine.
Should you choose to switch to another rom, it is typically recommended that you wipe the phone first, in which case you will lose your apps and info, so make sure everything is backed up.
The problem with keeping apps and settings across different roms is that there can be "compatibility" problems.
That makes a lot of sense, thank you guys. I thought that flashing a ROM automatically wiped everything - but I realize now that's not the case.
I will check out Titanium Backup as well.
neocryte said:
That makes a lot of sense, thank you guys. I thought that flashing a ROM automatically wiped everything - but I realize now that's not the case.
I will check out Titanium Backup as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, sometimes it does. Recently some Devs are adding Aroma Installer to their ROMS. It only works on touch recoveries (I believe). I am using TWRP and it works great. It backs up your info, lets you choose different options you want for your rom (modifications, different choice of apps, look and feel, sense or senseless, etc), flashes the rom, then restores your info automatically.
It has been FOREVER since I have messed with my G2x. But lately it has been super laggy, the keyboard never picks up what key I pressed properly, and the accelerometer is a MESS.
Im currently on March 2011 baseband, Android Version 2.3.7, and a very, very old nightly.
Im looking to update to the newest baseband as I hear it is a huge improvement, and also try out an ICS rom. I have been browsing and reading up, but am so rusty on reverting and flashing.
Would the proper, easy way to do this be as follows:? This is what I've gathered from reading, just don't want to brick my phone for a stupid reason.
1)Flash a stock ROM - Full Factory Wipe
2)Update baseband with LG Update Tool
3)Root Phone again
4)Flash Custom ROM?
Also, can you revert to stock ROM without an external SD card? I was reading a few topics stating you can't. I also have a backup of the original stock ROM(or at least I think) from a very, very long time ago. Can I just restore that?
I apologize in advance for all the questions, just trying to refresh my memory on this entire process.
from what ive seen, after getting cwm on your phone via nv flash you install one of the ics roms then before rebooting the phone you have to install a fix via cwm that owain has on one of rom pages (domination i think) then you are good to go. and yes, you have to use an external sd card for all of this.
After updating baseband you will lose root as well as CWM. You need to put it back on before you can flash a custom rom on it.
cricketAC said:
After updating baseband you will lose root as well as CWM. You need to put it back on before you can flash a custom rom on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahh thank you! And I can not run the tool from a custom rom, correct? I have to flash back to stock, and then the updater will update baseband as well as unroot everything.
I also dont have an external SD card, so I guess I will be buying one to flash back to stock
Hello,
I have a general noob question on the custom [ROM] threads.
Do custom ROM's posted go though an alpha, beta, official release stages? I see some [ROM] threads marked with an alpha or beta... while some others are not.
thanks!
U r right, alpha means something major is broken, beta its the "refinig" stage, and final its the complete rom
sent from the gray stuff inside my skull
demonoid phenomenom said:
U r right, alpha means something major is broken, beta its the "refinig" stage, and final its the complete rom
sent from the gray stuff inside my skull
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is this process that is true for all ROMs that are posted? I see a few ROMs that don't say alpha or beta. Does it mean they are release grade?
gcretro said:
Is this process that is true for all ROMs that are posted? I see a few ROMs that don't say alpha or beta. Does it mean they are release grade?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no such thing as release grade. Everything should be considered at least developmental in some form or fashion.
The terms of alpha and beta do not mean what most people think they do in here.
Even the ones marked alpha and beta can still be daily drivers, just take a look at the first post of each ROM you are thinking about and see if the bugs will "bug" you like for instance any of the CM based ROMs here have issues with camera and video and few other small bugs.
Any ROM based off of "stock" will have less/no bugs and therefore not marked as beta or alpha, since they are not compiled.
It all depends on your personal needs as to what you are comfortable with and if you can deal with certain things not working right out of the box, or that you might have to make a work around for.
I call mine "alpha" or "beta" depending on bugs and/or how much more work I expect to put into it... and my mood at the time
Jim explained it well... it's all subjective to the dev and the end-user..
Best to just make a good backup, know how to restore it, and slap a new ROM on your phone to try it out for yourself.
That being said, be on the lookout for a gamma version of Numa ... (j/k - it's been a long time since I was back on ICS)
Sent from my paranoid phone's mind
alteredlikeness said:
I call mine "alpha" or "beta" depending on bugs and/or how much more work I expect to put into it... and my mood at the time
Jim explained it well... it's all subjective to the dev and the end-user..
Best to just make a good backup, know how to restore it, and slap a new ROM on your phone to try it out for yourself.
That being said, be on the lookout for a gamma version of Numa ... (j/k - it's been a long time since I was back on ICS)
Sent from my paranoid phone's mind
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks.
Regarding making a good back up, Should I just follow the CWM thread? I found this link in the newbie thread. However, there was little explanation on it's use.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=19355021&postcount=1
- Does using the CWM recovery to create a back up have any per-requisites? Can I use it on my stock AT&T Atrix2 that is still on GB?
- If I understand correct, this is used to dump an entire image of the phone (firmware, OS, apps, files etc...) to an SD card? And one can later restore back from.
- I am planing flashing the NUMA Rom. If I take a back up using CWM, I assume I can restore everything to they way it was (i.e. back to GB) without risks?
thanks
gcretro said:
Thanks.
Regarding making a good back up, Should I just follow the CWM thread? I found this link in the newbie thread. However, there was little explanation on it's use.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=19355021&postcount=1
- Does using the CWM recovery to create a back up have any per-requisites? Can I use it on my stock AT&T Atrix2 that is still on GB?
- If I understand correct, this is used to dump an entire image of the phone (firmware, OS, apps, files etc...) to an SD card? And one can later restore back from.
- I am planing flashing the NUMA Rom. If I take a back up using CWM, I assume I can restore everything to they way it was (i.e. back to GB) without risks?
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First, you need to get ICS on your phone if you want to flash Numa. You must be on 4.0.4 firmware to flash any of the ICS and/or JB based ROMs. The choice is yours on how to get there... please search thoroughly, as it has been covered an insane amount of times.
But, to try and answer your questions:
-Yes, the pre-requisites are that you need to be rooted, and have a custom recovery installed on your phone.. and an sdcard. You can do it on your rooted GB phone, but you cannot restore a GB backup while you are on ICS (for the only way to have the option to return to GB from ICS, you need to look here and here - but some will say there's no reason to go back to GB.. maybe nostalgia )
-A backup will backup your current system, data, and sometimes cache - and it will usually make a new folder, named by date, with a few .tar files inside of a "clockworkmod" folder on your sdcard. And yes, those are what you restore (when restoring, you choose the backup by date/folder name).
-No, you can not restore a GB backup from Numa (see above comments.. again) - also see here for a note on compatibly between different custom recovery options (might be easiest/safest to use BMM, I think you can flash all ROMs with that now..)
So if I understand all that correctly, here is my summary of steps to install Numa. Appreciate if you can correct my steps in-line if I am wrong. [Current state of my phone: Atrix2 on stock GB (AT&T). Only thing I have done is uninstalled/removed unwanted apps.]
Steps:
1. First get on ICS leak-1 following Jim thread. [OR OTA to the official/final ICS. But if I do this, I lose the option to return to GB? or will I loose that ability regardless since Numa itself is based on final ICS OTA?]
2. Install CWM A2 bootstrap recover from here.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=19355021&postcount=1
(No point taking a backup now I suppose since going back to GB isn't an option after Numa.)
3. Then follow the install instructions under the Numa Rom thread.
4. Once I have Numa up & running, I suppose I am limited to putting only those ICS/JB based roms that don't require me to be on leak-1?
On a side note, I hate how they have removed the "contacts" tab, "Only show contacts with phone number" option etc... from the Dialer app in ICS and replaced it with the People thingy . I like GB dialer. Also, In ICS they seem to have removed the data saver option that was available in GB.
Thx
gcretro said:
So if I understand all that correctly, here is my summary of steps to install Numa. Appreciate if you can correct my steps in-line if I am wrong. [Current state of my phone: Atrix2 on stock GB (AT&T). Only thing I have done is uninstalled/removed unwanted apps.]
Steps:
1. First get on ICS leak-1 following Jim thread. [OR OTA to the official/final ICS. But if I do this, I lose the option to return to GB? or will I loose that ability regardless since Numa itself is based on final ICS OTA?]
If you uninstalled any stock apps, the installation of the update will probably fail, and you will either need to fix your system by replacing everything (very carefully).. or just FXZ back to stock GB<--post is a bit out-dated. [Yes, if you ota to final ICS, you can not return to GB ever. It doesn't matter what the ROM you flash is based on, they basically only change your /system partition (and data) - the problem is the new bootloader in final ICS.
Make a full backup of your stock ICS if you want to go back to it (see below - probably best to use BMM to backup)
2. Install CWM A2 bootstrap recover from here.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=19355021&postcount=1
(No point taking a backup now I suppose since going back to GB isn't an option after Numa.)
You could use that, or BootMenu Manager (I heard that it works to flash roms now - it used to not - and I personally have not tested it recently.. so, not sure - and we also have Safestrap, but not sure of the status on that - still a wip, I think). Either way, you will loose it once you flash Numa... you will need to reinstall it to flash a different rom or make a backup (I recommend using BMM to make a backup since it's compatible with the CM10-based recovery, and since it is easy to uninstall)
3. Then follow the install instructions under the Numa Rom thread.
Yup.. maybe a bit outdated also, but wipe data/factory reset, dalvik-cache maybe, then install zip..
4. Once I have Numa up & running, I suppose I am limited to putting only those ICS/JB based roms that don't require me to be on leak-1?
You can put any ICS/JB rom available for our phone, if you wish - or restore the backup you made of stock ICS before installing Numa
On a side note, I hate how they have removed the "contacts" tab, "Only show contacts with phone number" option etc... from the Dialer app in ICS and replaced it with the People thingy . I like GB dialer. Also, In ICS they seem to have removed the data saver option that was available in GB.
There are other ways to get from dialer to contacts in ICS (underneath the favorites tab, scroll down.. or is that only jb?)
Thx
No prob. Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See in-line..
What is the process for restoring the stock ROM? I did a backup of my ROM using CWM before installing Cyanogen. Everything is running fine (with Cyanogen), but now that I've seen how easy it is to install custom ROMs, now I want to bounce around and compare different things. To restore my stock ROM, is it literally just a simple case of doing a wipe/factory-reset, using CWM to restore, and then rebooting? That's it?
Or is there more to it?
Hawkser said:
What is the process for restoring the stock ROM? I did a backup of my ROM using CWM before installing Cyanogen. Everything is running fine (with Cyanogen), but now that I've seen how easy it is to install custom ROMs, now I want to bounce around and compare different things. To restore my stock ROM, is it literally just a simple case of doing a wipe/factory-reset, using CWM to restore, and then rebooting? That's it?
Or is there more to it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That will restore the stock rom.
But NOT recovery and other extra partitions e.g. radio
The official way to set your phone back to full stock is to run a RUU (Rom Update Utility)
Ah. Ok. Thanks. I'm not familiar with running the RUU process. I'll search the threads and read up on it. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.
Hawkser said:
Ah. Ok. Thanks. I'm not familiar with running the RUU process. I'll search the threads and read up on it. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
RUUs for the most models can be found HERE
The RUUs are self-explanatory
The RUU must match your "MID" (model ID) + "CID" (carrier ID)
If your phone is "S-ON" you can only use RUUs that are the same date or newer than the firmware actually installed on your phone.
If your phone is "S-OFF" you can flash any RUU / RADIO / HBOOT version you like as long its compatible with your device
+ if you phone is "S-OFF" you can change the phone's CID. E.g. for flashing a unbranded firmware on a phone that was sold as a carrier branded device
Before I run a RUU and go back to stock... it occured to me that when I put CM 10.2 on this phone, all I did was unlock the phone, install CWM, and then install the -ville zip file for CM10. That's it. Are there other steps that I should have taken? Should I have flashed the radio? I'm on T-Mobile, and I didn't install (or even see) a T-Mobile-specific version of CM10 to install on the HTC One S. The whole issue that I'm having is that I can't seem to maintain a steady data connection. My connection keeps changing modes, and disconnecting me every time it does. I'd hate to give up CM10, if it is just a simple case of needing to flash the radio or something. Or do I need to change/update the APN for T-Mobile?
TIA
Hawkser said:
Before I run a RUU and go back to stock... it occured to me that when I put CM 10.2 on this phone, all I did was unlock the phone, install CWM, and then install the -ville zip file for CM10. That's it. Are there other steps that I should have taken? Should I have flashed the radio? I'm on T-Mobile, and I didn't install (or even see) a T-Mobile-specific version of CM10 to install on the HTC One S. The whole issue that I'm having is that I can't seem to maintain a steady data connection. My connection keeps changing modes, and disconnecting me every time it does. I'd hate to give up CM10, if it is just a simple case of needing to flash the radio or something. Or do I need to change/update the APN for T-Mobile?
TIA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flashing another radio version may help or may not help. I'm not on T-Mobile, so I have no experience which radio offers the best reception. Have you tried another rom yet to check if you get a more constant data connection?