Database Info

[Q] Stuck in ROM limbo

First time poster: sorry if this is covered someplace, but the forum is quite extensive, and I couldn't find this particular issue anywhere.
I own a Rogers Captivate which I rooted, kept on stock rogers 2.2 firmware, but upgraded the kernel to Onix 2.0.5. I discovered the ROM kitchen today, and thought I'd try 2.3.3 (I got XWJVH v3). I turned off my lagfix, did a factory reset, cleaned my caches and attempted to flash within CWM. I think the flash was only partially successful: I am able to get the phone to boot into android about 40% of the time.
What concerns me is that even though I have installed ROM Manager, and a CWM app came pre-installed with this ROM, I do not appear to have any recovery loader. When I try with quickboot or from my PC the phone just sits at the "I896" splashscreen. It may be worth noting that I attemped this with whatever stock kernel the Kitchen gave me, as well as two versions of Talon. Heimdall has been successful in flashing these alternate kernels for me, Odin doesn't seem to see the phone at all. I have many NANDROID backups, but if I can't get into recovery, I seem to be stuck!
During normal boot (and some unsuccessful recovery attempts) the phone goes into a mode in which the graphics are not displayed properly - I cannot describe this any better than being reminiscent of when an NES catridge was dirty and needed cleaning.
If someone could provide me with some advice, or point me towards a 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 ROM that I can flash on a Canadian GS within Heimdall, I'd appreciate it.
-T.J.

Give Serendipity 7 a try and don't look back.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1107894
http://serendipity7.weebly.com/
Very easy install and a custom kitchen for all your add on needs.

[Q] PLEASE HELP!!! Cannot Boot Nexus S!!

Hi everyone,
I'm sorry I'm quite new to this, and I'm afraid I've gotten myself somewhat stuck with my Nexus S. Yesterday I managed to root it, install superuser, as well as clockwork mod. Today I wanted to try a new rom and after some attempts, it seems I no longer have any working roms on my phone. After much searching with no luck, I turn to you guys for your expertise.
So I am able to see fast boot upon pressing the volume up and power buttons, and am certainly able to choose recovery and get into clockwork mod. Within clockwork mod I can mount USB storage, so I can transfer roms to the internal SD card. I've tried 3 or 4 roms, some say they install correctly, others not, and after trying to boot after any installation I simply get stuck at the google screen with the lock image at the bottom. The only things I have "deleted" is wiped the data and cache. I have no idea, but I think I may have erased the bootloader image or something else that I should not have that is required.
I have a i9020a model (non-4g model I believe), can you pleeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaassee help me!! I just want to get back to gingerbread 2.3.6, and my phone back up and running the way it was. I've become quite nervous after some searching with some saying a resistor mod is needed on the hardware!!

Your okay cause you can get into fastboot and recovery so don't worry. Maybe the rom you downloaded is not for your phone. Did you make a nandroid backup before flashing the rom? If yes then go into backup and restore from clockwork recovery to go back to stock.
Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk

If you can get to recovery, just flash the stock image FOR YOUR PHONE. Then you can go through and reroot..don't worry, you'll get the hang of it.
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk

So my phone is not "bricked" as they say?? I'm not in big trouble?
I did not make a nandroid backup What kind of image am I looking for and how do I install it on the phone? I know my phone is of the variant i9020a, but how am unsure of how much more specific I should be looking for.
Looking at the following post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1063664.
Should I try installing the Android 2.3.6/GRK39F/UCKF1 Radio/KA3 Bootloader option?

Choose the latest 9020a version of the FULL ROM, which is what you have already have eyes on.

I've tried installing the file I mentioned above, but I get a status 7 error when trying to install, and the install is aborted.
Could I get some more assistance please? Can anyone point me to a correct, full rom? Or perhaps I'm installing it incorrectly, could someone be so kind to outline the correct steps to a proper install?
Edit: I think the above mentioned file is for a GSM model, I'm sure I have the CDMA version.
Also, somewhat good news. I managed to install the oxygen rom, but for the 4g version and installed fine with no errors, but I have no service. What does this indicate, as I still want to restore back to a factory version (non-4g) of gingerbread 2.3.6.

What CWM version do you have? Is it 3.0.0.0?
Also, if you have no service, it's likely that you downloaded a ROM with an incorrect radio.
Edit:
If you have CWM 3.0.0.0, make sure to download the latest version, found in this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=988686 (use 5023-cyan.img). You flash this the same way you did CWM previously, though in the terminal make sure you type out the 5023-cyan.img file name.
Next, download the stock ROM from this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1063664. Simply look for your phone version, and you'll find the correct software variant.
Maybe you've fixed your phone already; if not, I hope this helps!
I wish you the best of luck. Oh, and through problems like these, you come to learn a lot more about your phone. That's what I've found, at least.

At the thread you mentioned above there is a version with a different radio, you might want to give that one a try.
You also said that you only wiped data and cache, so maybe you should do a full wipe before. Not doing that can sometimes lead to problems.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

To be brief, the phone is up and running as brand new! Thank you so very much everyone. It seems the error was with CWM, as I was able to install and boot a 4g oxygen rom on my phone, I went into rom manager, and at the bottom of the list was an option to upgrade to 5.x. Installed the CWM update, wiped everything and was able to install the factory rom, no issues, and everything works just as I remember
I have most certainly learned more about my phone, and I am going to look at it as a rather stressful learning experience rather than a mistake on my part.
But a sincere thanks to everyone once again, I posted this at like 4am here and had a response within a few minutes, I was pulling my hair out haha!

Flashing to stock rom will help you out. You can get stock roms from Internet simply by searching in Google...
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

[Q] NexusS (i9020T) hard bricked, at which step did I go wrong?

Hi everyone, I had a problem with my previous nexus s (I have since gotten a working replacement) and I was wondering where exactly I messed up so in the future I can avoid this
Here is what I did on my previous phone:
1. I flashed ics onto my device from the ota update package from androidcentral, it was 4.0.3. (This worked great and I had it on my phone for 2-3 months before I tried the next steps.)
2. I rooted my device successfully using the guide at nexusshacks.
3. I also flashed TWRP recovery (fastboot) and superuser using the above guide/links
4. When I would turn off my phone it would boot to a screen with a red triangle and an opened android bot. So what I would have to do is flash twrp recovery everytime I turned the phone on just to get it to work.
5. What I wanted to do was keep the stock rom but still have twrp recovery without it making me reflash it on every boot. So I clicked install and tried to flash the stock rom (update package from the link in step 1) with twrp recovery. It then turned off my phone and hard bricked it. I couldn't turn it on anymore and a new battery didn't fix it.
I was able to get a replacement now and I was just wondering at which step did I go wrong? I THINK that I should have wiped my cache before I tried to reflash the stock rom but maybe I'm way off base here. This is why I posted a question here so hopefully some of you guys can help.
I did think about posting in another thread, but I didn't wanna threadjack or anything... and his problem also seemed a bit different then mine. Also, sorry about not being able to provide the specific links it won't let me post them until I've posted 8 times.

I don't know for sure but team win recovery has been reported to corrupt the device's efs directory. I've even had problems myself using clockwork recovery. I've moved on to razor recovery and haven't looked back.
This is the most flash-friendly phone I've ever owned, and razor recovery rivals amon ra (which was awesome on my g1 and evo). I really think it may have just been the recovery you were using... Somebody correct me if i'm wrong.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk

I had once corrupted one of the partition. I fixed to by flashing stock recovery and stock rom.
Use adam outler's unbrickable mod tool. It can be found in android development section.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA

Thanks for the replies.
That's interesting about twrp... I didn't know that. Truth be told, the only reason I went for it over other ones like clockwork mod was because the UI looked pretty nice and easy to use. Also the guide I followed at nexusshacks used that, so I wanted to stay consistent with it.
jishnu7, it's a little late for that now however as I actually have already received a working replacement from my carrier, but in the future if something ever does go wrong (hopefully not) I will definitely check that out.
The main thing I'm wondering is if it messed up because I tried to reflash the stock rom essentially over top itself (was hoping that by doing that, it would stop making me reflash twrp on every reboot) or if it was because I didn't wipe the cache before the flash.
Also, what I really wanted to do with my phone was to keep the stock rom but be able to overclock my cpu/gpu. I was hoping I could set different overclocks for different things (I've heard of kernels where you can downclock your phone when the screens off and have it overclocked slightly while you're using it, that would be something I'd like to have). I figured to install those kernels I would have to root my phone, replace stock recovery and install superuser so that's why I tried to do that. Once again, I'm pretty new to all this stuff for my phone.

Sorry to bump this thread again, but I would really like to know how I could avoid what happened to me for the future. I think it's because I flashed the stock 4.0.3 rom over itself (was hoping that by doing that twrp recovery would stay on the phone after reboot).
What I would like to do is install something like CM9 or AOKP and use the Matr1x kernel so I could undervolt or overclock my phone.

I seriously dont get how u hard bricked your phone...
the reason you are thinking is you reflashed stock rom without wiping cache, as per my experiece its not at all the reason
now, whats my experience??
...I have some fault with my nexus device and I'm working on it,,and I did everything I could do...one of the thing out of those things was reflashing stock rom without wiping,and i did it quite a several times...my device never hard bricked,,however it was soft bricked for many times,,and i recovered from it
so reflasing a stock rom over stock rom, over ICS, over some themed custom rom,will not hard brick your device, you must be missing something none of your steps sounds suspecious
P.S:- pulling out battey while flashing something like this sounds suspecious, never tried though

I'm not sure what happened either to be quite honest with you. Since giving it another shot now with my new fresh phone I have had great success!
I did everything I wanted to do all in one go. Rooted it, install CWM touch, install AOKP (went with milestone 4 cuz I heard newest build 29 has some bugs) + gapps and installed matr1x kernel 18.5 bfs.
The only thing I did different from last time was installing CWM touch (instead of twrp) and flashed aokp this time (instead of reflashing 4.0.3 over itself).

I would just avoid step 2 at all cost.
The nexus s hacks dude is a tool.

[Q] How to downgrade From ICS to Gingerbread?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[Q] Would Samsung fix my bricked phone?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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