Safe Firmware Updates - General Questions and Answers

Am I correct in assuming that with TWRP installed and a full backup, that flashing a bad/imcompatable rom is no big deal. (Just restore from backup or flash another rom)?
I played with custom ROMs several years ago on a Samsung Galaxy S2, and it seemed like it was fairly hard to brick a phone as long as you used a bit of common sense. I had at least 1 ROM that went into a boot loop, so I just loaded another ROM till I found one that worked.
Is there anything that I am missing?

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[Q] Note 10.1 4G N8020 messed up

Hi all. Tried my first root + custom rom installation and i messed up the device..
i had the newest KIES firmware update (phone XXBMA5) and (XXBMA6) and i rooted the device with odin (3.07). That went OK.
Then i installed the CWM recovery with odin and that was OK too.
Then i downloaded the latest Omega Rom (i missread that it supports N8020) and followed the installation instructions to the point where it started installing Omega V2.0 from SDCARD and then it asked me to select device from a list that included only (N8000,N8010,N8013)..
So the situation now is that i have working odin, working CWM and backup of the EFS (img+tar) but no working recovery. i live in Finland and the device is Sonera locked i think, so the stock roms (international) do not work i guess.
KIES has a backup of my Note but i can't even get to a point where KIES discovers the device.
So basically i think i need a working ROM for my model (Note 10.1 4G N8020), or can i recover the original samsung software somehow ?
Any advices ?
Removed
Just a thought, but can't you reflash CWM or the stock recovery?
If you didn't install the rom why do you need to re-install anything. Just powering down and powering up should have left you as was....
Alajarvi84 said:
working CWM .......... but no working recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe i'm missing something but isn't CWM your custom recovery?
It doesn't sound like you've actually installed any rom yet.The Omega installer doesn't actually install anything until a few steps after the one you mentioned about the model type.
I'm with ultramag69 on this one. You should still be on a stock rom unless you already wiped your original rom.
Hi again. Problem solved, just had to do emergency thing from KIES. Like i said this was the first time trying root + custom ro install and to be honest it went to ****. Somehow i managed to delete the stock firmware so that is why the recovery gave me (no files). I did make some backup but when tried to restore it said MD5 mismatch or something. At first the KIES emergency recovery could not find the device, but after i switched from CWMcto stock recovery it worked.
So what did i learn from all this ? Nothing, because i am getting too old (tired+lazy ) to do proper investigation. So one could say my strategy is to bang my head to the wall as long as it takes to go trough. Even if i could just go around it
So basically i am now at the point where i started, with stock 4.1.2 rooted. Used the triangle away to wipe the (6) custom installs or something away, but it still says custom in the settings> information. Does this mean that OTA won't work ? Any way around it ? Because i would like to check now and then that is my version of android the newest one..
Could someone recommend a custom ROM for my Note 10.1 4G (LTE) N8020 4.1.2 because the only one i was able to find was the CyanogenMod (or something) and it basically makes the S-Pen (almost) useless. What i would like is the Omega ROM, but like stated before the installation only supported N8000, N8010 & N8013...
Added screenshot from info.
Thanks anyway
What is truly amazing is that i did not brick the device tough..
switch from cwm to stock
Alajarvi84 said:
Hi again. Problem solved, just had to do emergency thing from KIES. Like i said this was the first time trying root + custom ro install and to be honest it went to ****. Somehow i managed to delete the stock firmware so that is why the recovery gave me (no files). I did make some backup but when tried to restore it said MD5 mismatch or something. At first the KIES emergency recovery could not find the device, but after i switched from CWMcto stock recovery it worked.
So what did i learn from all this ? Nothing, because i am getting too old (tired+lazy ) to do proper investigation. So one could say my strategy is to bang my head to the wall as long as it takes to go trough. Even if i could just go around it
So basically i am now at the point where i started, with stock 4.1.2 rooted. Used the triangle away to wipe the (6) custom installs or something away, but it still says custom in the settings> information. Does this mean that OTA won't work ? Any way around it ? Because i would like to check now and then that is my version of android the newest one..
Could someone recommend a custom ROM for my Note 10.1 4G (LTE) N8020 4.1.2 because the only one i was able to find was the CyanogenMod (or something) and it basically makes the S-Pen (almost) useless. What i would like is the Omega ROM, but like stated before the installation only supported N8000, N8010 & N8013...
Added screenshot from info.
Thanks anyway
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you switch from CWM to stock? I have having a problem syncing with kies also using omega rom on n8013.
jjndimp said:
How did you switch from CWM to stock? I have having a problem syncing with kies also using omega rom on n8013.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was not easy, i just tried the download mode over and over again with KIES open in windows and somehow it finally did find my device and offered a emergency restore. That is it, and the device was restored to default "original state".
OMG.... one would think after nearly having bricked your device you would either A) stop messing around with it or, B) read and learn more about what you're wanting to achieve and THEN maybe trying something with the ABSOLUTE certainty that a backup to restore is available to you in case of any mishap!
Moral of story :
Don't do anything until you are absolutely sure you have read EVERYTHING about what you are going to do.
For others wanting to mess with their devices, take heed! You may not be as lucky as OP (or troller) whichever is applicable.
There comes a certain point, that when crossed one does not care what happens to the device at hand. After fighting with my n8020 for several days in a row i couldn't care less, and like said before i dont have the level of enhusiasm like i had when i was younger. Of course i know now what went wrong.. But seriously, these are just overpriced toys, so it's not a matter of life and death.
Sent from my GT-N8020 using XDA Premium HD app

[Q] Rooted Verizon Galaxy S4 Problem

Hi.
I made an account just to post this because I honestly don't know where else to go. I'm new at rooting so please explain everything in simple terms.
I rooted my Verizon Galaxy S4 a few days ago and everything was great. I did a few soft mods with Xposed and Wanam and everything was still great. I thought I would wait until the weekend to do some custom ROM flashing and whatnot since I knew it was a time consuming process.... MAN was it a time consuming process. Mainly because I messed up my whole phone.
I installed Safestrap v3.71 (CWM Recovery wasn't compatible with my phone or something...?) and flashed Hyperdrive RLS13 to my MK2 build Verizon Galaxy S4 on ROM Slot 1. It worked great but I saw that all my free space in my internal memory was taken up because of my Stock ROM being too large. So I proceed to wipe data from the Stock ROM slot after backing it up and putting the backup on my computer. I factory reset the Stock ROM and hit reboot. I think the error occurred because I forgot to reselect the ROM Slot 1. Or maybe factory resetting like that isn't supposed to happen... I don't know.
But now my phone won't boot up all the way. It's stuck on the Samsung Galaxy S4 screen. I tried booting into recovery but it just takes me to the stock recovery. Apparently Safestrap is unable to be booted into directly or something... so i tried to factory reset from there and it did.
Now my phone won't even go into recovery mode. If I try it will say "Recovery Booting" but the screen will go black and reboot again and get stuck on the Samsung Galaxy S4 screen.
I HAVE LOOKED EVERYWHERE ON THE INTERNET and nothing directly applies to me or is simple enough for me to understand... I am currently downloading the NO-WIPE method stock ROM or something for what I think applies to me from http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2578209 so I can put that into Odin which I downloaded (but don't really know how to use) and it says it will take 3 hours to download. GREAT. More waiting. I would like something quicker if possible.
SO MY QUESTION IS:
WHAT THE HELL DO I DO???
Specs of my phone again:
Verizon Galaxy S4 SCH-1545
Android 4.3
Build MK2
Kernel Mk2
(I'm not even sure what all that means but there it is)
ALL HELP WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED BECAUSE I DON"T KNOW WHAT TO DO!
Thank you. So. Very. Much.
Ditto
the immunity said:
Hi.
I made an account just to post this because I honestly don't know where else to go. I'm new at rooting so please explain everything in simple terms.
I rooted my Verizon Galaxy S4 a few days ago and everything was great. I did a few soft mods with Xposed and Wanam and everything was still great. I thought I would wait until the weekend to do some custom ROM flashing and whatnot since I knew it was a time consuming process.... MAN was it a time consuming process. Mainly because I messed up my whole phone.
I installed Safestrap v3.71 (CWM Recovery wasn't compatible with my phone or something...?) and flashed Hyperdrive RLS13 to my MK2 build Verizon Galaxy S4 on ROM Slot 1. It worked great but I saw that all my free space in my internal memory was taken up because of my Stock ROM being too large. So I proceed to wipe data from the Stock ROM slot after backing it up and putting the backup on my computer. I factory reset the Stock ROM and hit reboot. I think the error occurred because I forgot to reselect the ROM Slot 1. Or maybe factory resetting like that isn't supposed to happen... I don't know.
But now my phone won't boot up all the way. It's stuck on the Samsung Galaxy S4 screen. I tried booting into recovery but it just takes me to the stock recovery. Apparently Safestrap is unable to be booted into directly or something... so i tried to factory reset from there and it did.
Now my phone won't even go into recovery mode. If I try it will say "Recovery Booting" but the screen will go black and reboot again and get stuck on the Samsung Galaxy S4 screen.
I HAVE LOOKED EVERYWHERE ON THE INTERNET and nothing directly applies to me or is simple enough for me to understand... I am currently downloading the NO-WIPE method stock ROM or something for what I think applies to me from http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2578209 so I can put that into Odin which I downloaded (but don't really know how to use) and it says it will take 3 hours to download. GREAT. More waiting. I would like something quicker if possible.
SO MY QUESTION IS:
WHAT THE HELL DO I DO???
Specs of my phone again:
Verizon Galaxy S4 SCH-1545
Android 4.3
Build MK2
Kernel Mk2
(I'm not even sure what all that means but there it is)
ALL HELP WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED BECAUSE I DON"T KNOW WHAT TO DO!
Thank you. So. Very. Much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
REPLY:brother I do feel ya..I have S4 SCH-1545...Was messing around with root..Didn't know I had it 100% cause of the whole kingo super user app...Any who I ended up soft brick in in Bootloop mode..Red Verizon Screen wouldn't get past it..So I found similar firmware NO Thanks to SamMobile..Verizon 5.0 lolipop..1545pp...Not sure what the pp after 1545 stood for either...so I lemme explain how I got in to Bootloop mode..I downloaded kingroot and it literally broke my fone..Maybe it was to much to handle...kingroot and kingroot plus superuser app..and twrp as well...So I flashed some firmware I found online with Odin and it worked...Took a good couple if minutes but it worked..

[Q] Anyone else have trouble restoring from Nandroids?

Using TWRP 2.7.0.1 (.1.0?) I made a Nandroid of my stock, rooted setup before trying GPE. I also made a Nandroid using that "Online Nandroid Backup" app (free version Nandroids to SD; pro Nandroids to Dropbox/maybe Google Drive) but it took 45 minutes (!!!) so I did TWRP's as well.
Had some problems with the GPE ROM, so I decided to go back. Both failed to restore. Left me with what I call soft brick (no OS, no backups). Not sure if that jives with y'all's description, but that's what I call it. So I downloaded and flashed CleanROM via USB OTG and it's been sweet ever since... but I'm kinda afraid to try different ROMs since Nandroid seems to not be an option.
Did a metric frak ton of Nandroid on my last two phones (Motorola Photon 4G and Samsung Galaxy S3), both with CWM/PhilZ and TWRP, so I am no stranger to the method or its terminology; however, this is my first HTC phone and I'm finding small differences. Like I never had to touch ADB to root the S3, but I did for the Photon (Torpedo method if anyone wants a trip down memory lane). And both devices were unlocked; I had to unlock (S-Off) the HTC (firewater method). So I know I have a lot to learn as is the case with any new device, but I've been around the block a few times with Motorola and Samsung. Between the two of them, I've had a Nandroid restore fail once and I never found out why. I'm guessing bad backup, but when I do a backup, is there a way to verify that the backup on SD matches what is currently in EMMC, so the backup will be flawless?
Anyway, been wanting to ask this for weeks now, but I'm so happy with CleanROM. I know the GPE and AOSP ROMs are buggy now, but I see the developers here making advancements all the time. The phone's new, I figure you can't expect the non-stock firmware to be bug-free just yet. So I'm not blaming anybody, just enjoying what works for me.
Dark Reality said:
Using TWRP 2.7.0.1 (.1.0?) I made a Nandroid of my stock, rooted setup before trying GPE. I also made a Nandroid using that "Online Nandroid Backup" app (free version Nandroids to SD; pro Nandroids to Dropbox/maybe Google Drive) but it took 45 minutes (!!!) so I did TWRP's as well.
Had some problems with the GPE ROM, so I decided to go back. Both failed to restore. Left me with what I call soft brick (no OS, no backups). Not sure if that jives with y'all's description, but that's what I call it. So I downloaded and flashed CleanROM via USB OTG and it's been sweet ever since... but I'm kinda afraid to try different ROMs since Nandroid seems to not be an option.
Did a metric frak ton of Nandroid on my last two phones (Motorola Photon 4G and Samsung Galaxy S3), both with CWM/PhilZ and TWRP, so I am no stranger to the method or its terminology; however, this is my first HTC phone and I'm finding small differences. Like I never had to touch ADB to root the S3, but I did for the Photon (Torpedo method if anyone wants a trip down memory lane). And both devices were unlocked; I had to unlock (S-Off) the HTC (firewater method). So I know I have a lot to learn as is the case with any new device, but I've been around the block a few times with Motorola and Samsung. Between the two of them, I've had a Nandroid restore fail once and I never found out why. I'm guessing bad backup, but when I do a backup, is there a way to verify that the backup on SD matches what is currently in EMMC, so the backup will be flawless?
Anyway, been wanting to ask this for weeks now, but I'm so happy with CleanROM. I know the GPE and AOSP ROMs are buggy now, but I see the developers here making advancements all the time. The phone's new, I figure you can't expect the non-stock firmware to be bug-free just yet. So I'm not blaming anybody, just enjoying what works for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try an fastboot twrp 2.7.0.2 that one works good maybe it will restore your backup an it should work fine as I seen you got a ROM on there As I had the same issue. An say something happens in twrp you can just get to booloader an simply run the RUU
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Tigerstown said:
Try an fastboot twrp 2.7.0.2 that one works good maybe it will restore your backup an it should work fine as I seen you got a ROM on there As I had the same issue. An say something happens in twrp you can just get to booloader an simply run the RUU
Yep had to do this when I tried a CM Rom with the whole encryption issue good times. ?
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Click to collapse

Galaxy S6 (SM-G920W8, BELL) has bricked and I need help.

Ok, I've been here on XDA for almost a year and until now I haven't had a problem I couldn't handle.
My Galaxy S6 (5.0.2) has been rooted since October 2015, it was May when I decided to Unroot and restore as a normal phone (I use Snapchat quite often and can't be used on a rooted phone). So July 9th, I decided that it was time for me to Root my phone again, and I did. I booted into TWRP and I'm sure everyone knows how long it takes to boot it into Recovery and back into normal mode, so I went deeper and tried switching where the USB is routed (or whatever). I switched it from (Guessing the name) NXT24 to USB-OTG (Which I've used to copy files to and from my laptop to the TWRP Boot which were mainly backups and ZIP Files.
Anyway, I've tried flashing 5.0.2, 5.1.1, and 6.0.2. I've pretty much exhausted all possible fixes and I need help. I've switched to the Moto G4 and Motorola is just... not good.. anyway, I would really appreciate any and all help you provide, thank you!
SiPhone1997 said:
Ok, I've been here on XDA for almost a year and until now I haven't had a problem I couldn't handle.
My Galaxy S6 (5.0.2) has been rooted since October 2015, it was May when I decided to Unroot and restore as a normal phone (I use Snapchat quite often and can't be used on a rooted phone). So July 9th, I decided that it was time for me to Root my phone again, and I did. I booted into TWRP and I'm sure everyone knows how long it takes to boot it into Recovery and back into normal mode, so I went deeper and tried switching where the USB is routed (or whatever). I switched it from (Guessing the name) NXT24 to USB-OTG (Which I've used to copy files to and from my laptop to the TWRP Boot which were mainly backups and ZIP Files.
Anyway, I've tried flashing 5.0.2, 5.1.1, and 6.0.2. I've pretty much exhausted all possible fixes and I need help. I've switched to the Moto G4 and Motorola is just... not good.. anyway, I would really appreciate any and all help you provide, thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stumbled upon this searching another thingy. How are You flashing the ROMs? Used Odin in fastboot with Stock ROM to start over?

GT-I9100 Nand r/w corruption suspected

Hello people of XDA!
I know that this thread may be repetitive, but I unfortunately didn't find any help in all threads regarding GSII's NAND r/w problem.
So in short, I will explain what happened to this device
I bought this GSII brand new as my 1st flagship device, and I am kind of sentimentally connected to it, if not I would've thrown it in trash a long time ago.
So here is the thing
I had stock firmware on this device (4.1.2 JB) , and after some time decided to flash CM 11 on it when it came out, and had it on my phone for 4-5 weeks but I instantly noticed that my device was overheating with that ROM so I decided to get back on stock firmware, unfortunately thing is that i flashed android 4.0.3 ICS (Movistar Mexico) then my device got bricked (I had a really bad knowledge back then about roms and things that I SHOULD and SHOULDN'Tdo), anyway I tried fixing the mess I made by flashing my original android 4.1.2 JB rom (Telenor Serbia) hoping that will solve my bricked device, but unsuccessfully. Then I tried flashing again standardly for maybe 4-5 times with no success and decided to explore more functions that odin provides, so I checked NAND erase all last time I flashed and I guess made a huge mistake, but still I couldn't boot my device, I tried hard resetting it (I lost my power button while replacing the screen of my phone, so I couldn't boot into recovery to check if device is soft bricked or really hard bricked, but download mode works just fine). Still I tried, I flashed custom kernels hoping they would fix this brick but nothing happened, I would really like to get this thing working again, I had no success at finding a good mainboard to replace the old one, and doing it in official repair shops and non-official ones costs more than the phone itself. Sorry for asking the same old question I guess but I would be really thankful if I could get this working again!

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