Rooting and Flashing Roms for Android

  • Thread starter CMvan46
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Well that was one of the scariest nights of my life. I've been doing this for 6 hours now. I was only going to root it tonight...that was way back 6 hours ago. Turns out GT you were right super one click doesn't root my phone but no biggie I found another "safe" method on the XDA forums... Well I basically bricked my phone. I got the "black screen of death" and proceeded to panic and then used a trick somebody had on youtube to get it out.

After that episode I'm left with a phone that will not boot to anything and I couldn't unplug or backup anything (except contacts which already were with google) so I found what was suppose to be a basic stock Bell Galaxy S froyo rom. Wrong again... it had a root in it which was a nice suprise but the downside was that my phone, 3g network, and text messaging all did not work. Wifi did though!

So off to find another "stock rom" I searched through the XDA forums again and found yet another stock rom. I got the black screen of death again however again luckily we got it into download mode again. I reflashed the rom that atleast booted my phone but without the networks. After a ton of looking around I stumbled upon this rom:

http://derek.theblog.ca/galaxys-i9000m-gingerbread-upgrade

It comes with a file conversion (lag fix?) which should greatly improve the speed as well. Looks good so far but I have to play around with it a bunch tomorrow. I have to reinstall all the apps I had now too. I had just over a 100 before I rooted it. Very much regretting this at this point but hopefully it turns out to be worth it. It's already switching from wifi to 3g much better than the stock rom so hopefully that's a good sign.

I'll try and post up some screenshots tomorrow if I get things looking presentable again.
 
CMvan46
Well that was one of the scariest nights of my life. I've been doing this for 6 hours now. I was only going to root it tonight...that was way back 6 hours ago. Turns out GT you were right super one click doesn't root my phone but no biggie I found another "safe" method on the XDA forums... Well I basically bricked my phone. I got the "black screen of death" and proceeded to panic and then used a trick somebody had on youtube to get it out.

After that episode I'm left with a phone that will not boot to anything and I couldn't unplug or backup anything (except contacts which already were with google) so I found what was suppose to be a basic stock Bell Galaxy S froyo rom. Wrong again... it had a root in it which was a nice suprise but the downside was that my phone, 3g network, and text messaging all did not work. Wifi did though!

So off to find another "stock rom" I searched through the XDA forums again and found yet another stock rom. I got the black screen of death again however again luckily we got it into download mode again. I reflashed the rom that atleast booted my phone but without the networks. After a ton of looking around I stumbled upon this rom:

http://derek.theblog.ca/galaxys-i9000m-gingerbread-upgrade

It comes with a file conversion (lag fix?) which should greatly improve the speed as well. Looks good so far but I have to play around with it a bunch tomorrow. I have to reinstall all the apps I had now too. I had just over a 100 before I rooted it. Very much regretting this at this point but hopefully it turns out to be worth it. It's already switching from wifi to 3g much better than the stock rom so hopefully that's a good sign.

I'll try and post up some screenshots tomorrow if I get things looking presentable again.
Click to expand...


I'm 99% sure I knew what was the problem with the first rom, that didn't allow you to connect over 3G.

There are these things called APN's they are like a code that tell the phone how to connect to the network. Sometimes even on the normal rom when you do a reset the phone doesn't pick up the apn settings so you have to enter them manually.

It is very easy to do all you do is go to settings>Networks>apn

I guess it is too late now but I hope it can help someone in the future.


Also you should have used Gingerbreak to root your phone, Its the same concept as SUperoneroot, Just install the app and press root.
 
CMvan46
Well that was one of the scariest nights of my life. I've been doing this for 6 hours now. I was only going to root it tonight...that was way back 6 hours ago. Turns out GT you were right super one click doesn't root my phone but no biggie I found another "safe" method on the XDA forums... Well I basically bricked my phone. I got the "black screen of death" and proceeded to panic and then used a trick somebody had on youtube to get it out.

After that episode I'm left with a phone that will not boot to anything and I couldn't unplug or backup anything (except contacts which already were with google) so I found what was suppose to be a basic stock Bell Galaxy S froyo rom. Wrong again... it had a root in it which was a nice suprise but the downside was that my phone, 3g network, and text messaging all did not work. Wifi did though!

So off to find another "stock rom" I searched through the XDA forums again and found yet another stock rom. I got the black screen of death again however again luckily we got it into download mode again. I reflashed the rom that atleast booted my phone but without the networks. After a ton of looking around I stumbled upon this rom:

http://derek.theblog.ca/galaxys-i9000m-gingerbread-upgrade

It comes with a file conversion (lag fix?) which should greatly improve the speed as well. Looks good so far but I have to play around with it a bunch tomorrow. I have to reinstall all the apps I had now too. I had just over a 100 before I rooted it. Very much regretting this at this point but hopefully it turns out to be worth it. It's already switching from wifi to 3g much better than the stock rom so hopefully that's a good sign.

I'll try and post up some screenshots tomorrow if I get things looking presentable again.
Click to expand...

Oh That was scary indeed.why did all the apps go ,didn't you back up??
 
Hm weird that it seemed to go wrong first time... sounds (most likely) like to have been an incompatible version with what stock ROM you already had on the phone. But it could be numerous things though.

Also if you backed up using Titanium Backup it should be a simple process of restoring most/all your apps again?
 
RacecarBMW
I'm 99% sure I knew what was the problem with the first rom, that didn't allow you to connect over 3G.

There are these things called APN's they are like a code that tell the phone how to connect to the network. Sometimes even on the normal rom when you do a reset the phone doesn't pick up the apn settings so you have to enter them manually.

It is very easy to do all you do is go to settings>Networks>apn

I guess it is too late now but I hope it can help someone in the future.

Also you should have used Gingerbreak to root your phone, Its the same concept as SUperoneroot, Just install the app and press root.
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I tried Gingerbreak first but it didn't root the phone unfortunately. Nothing went wrong after trying that though. I did find out about he APN when I flashed the first stock and I got it barely working for phone calls but 3g and text messages didn't work at all. I googled the Bell apn settings but the still just wouldn't work. I think they were old settings though because I checked them against the settings included in the new rom and they aren't the same.

sems4arsenal
Oh That was scary indeed.why did all the apps go ,didn't you back up??
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I thought you needed root to backup?

All I was trying to do in the beginning was root the phone and then I was going to install clockwork recovery and Titanium. Only problem was I never achieved the root and instead nearly bricked my phone. I then had to flash a new rom which promptly erased everything. When I flashed that new rom I did get the root included with it which was great because then it allowed me to switch to the rom I'm still on which was designed around Canadian networks.

Believe it or not I'm actually getting better reception now and I'm starting to be more pleased I did it. I've had it off the charger for 7 hours now and have been downloading a lot of stuff obviously and I'm still at 82% battery. The phone seems a lot faster now which is likely due to the lag fix included. I no longer have a lot of the little issues that were annoying me before as well. GPS works a thousand times better, before the root when I called people it would call the number I called last instead of the number I dialed which is fixed, and the phone is now switching between 3g and wifi flawlessly. I'm still nowhere near having it setup yet as studying is now taking priority... I will post some screenshots when I get the chance.
 
CMvan46
I tried Gingerbreak first but it didn't root the phone unfortunately. Nothing went wrong after trying that though. I did find out about he APN when I flashed the first stock and I got it barely working for phone calls but 3g and text messages didn't work at all. I googled the Bell apn settings but the still just wouldn't work. I think they were old settings though because I checked them against the settings included in the new rom and they aren't the same.



I thought you needed root to backup?

All I was trying to do in the beginning was root the phone and then I was going to install clockwork recovery and Titanium. Only problem was I never achieved the root and instead nearly bricked my phone. I then had to flash a new rom which promptly erased everything. When I flashed that new rom I did get the root included with it which was great because then it allowed me to switch to the rom I'm still on which was designed around Canadian networks.

Believe it or not I'm actually getting better reception now and I'm starting to be more pleased I did it. I've had it off the charger for 7 hours now and have been downloading a lot of stuff obviously and I'm still at 82% battery. The phone seems a lot faster now which is likely due to the lag fix included. I no longer have a lot of the little issues that were annoying me before as well. GPS works a thousand times better, before the root when I called people it would call the number I called last instead of the number I dialed which is fixed, and the phone is now switching between 3g and wifi flawlessly. I'm still nowhere near having it setup yet as studying is now taking priority... I will post some screenshots when I get the chance.
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Great to hear mate.

I have finished my finals today and am now really thinking about rooting and flashing (Cyanegon mod)my X10 this week end.

Edit:Hell Yeah my phone now Supports Cyanegon Mod 7.1 .I am really excited now but hope I won't mess up the Phone.
 
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sems4arsenal
Great to hear mate.

I have finished my finals today and am now really thinking about rooting and flashing (Cyanegon mod)my X10 this week end.

Edit:Hell Yeah my phone now Supports Cyanegon Mod 7.1 .I am really excited now but hope I won't mess up the Phone.
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My number 1 tip is to find a stock rom for your phone that you can flash back to incase of emergency. I spent about 2 hours finding one after I nearly bricked my phone and without that rom I wouldn't have this phone anymore.

Also if your phone appears bricked at anytime then search ways to get into download mode to flash that stock rom you found. Usually its just the 3 button combo but in my case that didn't work once but 3 other alternatives did.


Here are the screenshots of my rom. It's a basically stock rom just with improvements all around the phone. Visually it's basically just a white and black themed gingerbread.

20111107192955.png

20111107193215.png
 
One more screenshot. This has been my first day with the phone after a battery reconfiguration and this is what I've got.

20111110000418.png


After the reconfiguration I had to drain it to 0 and then fully recharge the battery without interruption afterwards. I used my phone a fair bit today and as the screen shows after 12 hours (with wifi on all day, 3G off and GPS off) I still have half my battery left. I'm pretty happy with it so far. Had to do one full backup yesterday when I tried changing the boot up animation with the "Root Toolbox" app. Thank god for Titanium Backup, I've even got the widget on my homescreen now which automatically backs up all new apps and data.
 
Looking great m8,oh and I just realised I haven't got a back up app is Titanium back up free if not whats the best free one.
 
sems4arsenal
Looking great m8,oh and I just realised I haven't got a back up app is Titanium back up free if not whats the best free one.
Click to expand...

Yep there is a free version of it or a $6 version. Awesome app and I think it's the best.

I only use the free version and after I had to reflash this rom all I did was click the recover all apps and data button and then just click install for each app that I had on my phone when I last backed it up.
 
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sems4arsenal
Apparently rooting is easily done with X10 using super one click .Here we go
Click to expand...

Good luck. Let us know how it goes. You can always verify it rooted by looking for the app "Superuser". I believe if that installed your for sure rooted.
 
CMvan46
Good luck. Let us know how it goes. You can always verify it rooted by looking for the app "Superuser". I believe if that installed your for sure rooted.
Click to expand...

Phew well that was ...... Well easy to be honest I had some network issues but I called the Provider and they fixed it ASAP now I am done with the rooting didn't have any problems thanks to a Noob friendly video.

Not sure what to do now,I'll probably look for the Rom you mentioned in case anything goes wrong .

Oh and idiotic question but before I install a Mod what do I need (aside from xrecovery (what is that also by the way )).

Another question does anyone know if I now turn off USB debugging and Unknown sources?

Edit:embarrassed:k flashing ROMs isn't easy at all there are alot and I mean alot of stuff I don't understand :eek: What is Xrecovery,SDK what is the best Mod how do I install .zip files on my sd card .

My head hurts now (idiotic noob)
 
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God I wish I knew more and I wish I wasn't typing on my phone but here goes.


I have no idea what xrecovery is but the first 2 things I'd do would be:

1) Download Titanium Backup and backup all the apps and their data right now. Free version works great no need for paid unless you think so.

2) Download ROM Manager. When you open Rom Manager you'll see a thing at the top saying either install or flash "clockwork recovery"... You'll need that. After that installs boot the phone into recovery mode and choose the option to make a nandroid backup. I believe you can do the backup with the Rom Manager app as well. This will back up your entire phone and will let you recover the whole thing if something is to go wrong.


Now after that the Rom flashing business is all up to you. I'd even look up a guide on backing up your phone instead of following what I said just incase because I'll feel incredibly guilty if I cause something to go wrong.

As a quick glossary of sorts:

Odin is a way of flashing roms to your phone through your pc (the method I had to use) and it will specifically tell you in the rom thread on the Xda forums to use it.

Download mode is the process of rebooting the phone and pressing home, power, and volume down on most phones.

Recovery mode is rebooting the phone and then pressing home, power, and volume up.

Xda forums=your best friend

Kernals are confusing and I'd highly suggest not flashing individual Kernals unless the rom instructions specifically tell you to.

Bootloaders are what actually boot up and load your phone. Again very dangerous to play with and only do do if your following specific instructions. I learned from experience.

Phone--! ---pc on a black screen is known as the black screen of death. Don't panic though I've seen this 3 times now and there are a ton of methods to get out of that screen.

Lagfix: a way of fixing issues with lag, make sure to read instructions carefully when flashing between roms after enabling a lag fix as you can cause problems here.

Ext4: a different filing system which is suppose to be more efficient than ext2


As for tips from experience:

Make sure your 100% confident before trying anything. Always ask questions first.

Make sure the rom works with your carrier first.

Make sure you backup both the apps and the current rom constantly.

Make sure the rom is specifically suited for your model of phone.

Make sure your using the manufacturer cable that came with your phone if ever flashing a rom through usb.

Make sure you have a good charge on the battery before doing anything.



I probably made it more scary than it is but I made some stupid mistakes. Just read carefully and it should be fine. I only ran into problems when the root didn't work and then it was just a debacle after that. You've got the root done which is awesome and flashing roms is pretty easy. Good luck!
 
Not a problem. You can ask anything you like here about what things mean and stuff because i know that was very confusing for me too. If your wondering about how to do it though xda forums are your best bet as I don't want to brick your phone :P The flashing process is pretty simple though, most big roms give good install guides too.
 
Probably a stupid question but do roms have to be specific to a phone or do some work for more than one?
 
CMvan46
Not a problem. You can ask anything you like here about what things mean and stuff because i know that was very confusing for me too. If your wondering about how to do it though xda forums are your best bet as I don't want to brick your phone :P The flashing process is pretty simple though, most big roms give good install guides too.
Click to expand...
Actually That Part is what confuses me :lol: You have to install something called custom recovery (or something like this)via android sdk so I have been downloading this SDK and all the Jave stuff that you need the dowloading eclipse the I found out I had installed the wrong stuff and I sort of gave up but will resume later (Brian freeze :D)
tuga703
Probably a stupid question but do roms have to be specific to a phone or do some work for more than one?
Click to expand...

From what I understand the major ROMs work for the majority of phones.
Edit:Sorry Guys but I have got to ask here in http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1007244

Step 2 and 3 are really bugging me ,are they really Vital is ROM manager and clockwork recovery and alternative way.?
 
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My Internet connection is absolutely terrible here at work. I'll try and look around tonight for you (about 12 hours from now) and and see if I can help you out a bit. As I understood it Clockwork recovery was the simplest and easiest method for all phone but I could be wrong.

You said you want Cyanogenmod on yours right? And what's the phone exactly?
 
CMvan46
My Internet connection is absolutely terrible here at work. I'll try and look around tonight for you (about 12 hours from now) and and see if I can help you out a bit. As I understood it Clockwork recovery was the simplest and easiest method for all phone but I could be wrong.

You said you want Cyanogenmod on yours right? And what's the phone exactly?
Click to expand...

Yes and my phone is the Xperia X10 .Your clockwork recovery method sounds easy to follow .

Thanks in advance mate ,sorry to bother you at work :D
 
sems4arsenal
Yes and my phone is the Xperia X10 .Your clockwork recovery method sounds easy to follow .

Thanks in advance mate ,sorry to bother you at work :D
Click to expand...

I'm detail cars at a dealership and do lot work. It's raining like there is no tomorrow and cold so my "breaks" to warm up are spent on my phone. Not a problem.
 
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1201116
Cyanogenmod for X10 mini pro


http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1068553
Cyanogenmod for x10 mini


Sorry do you have a mini pro or just mini?



AHHA! Found the complete tutorial to a bunch of stuff for your phone on xda.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1117713&highlight=cwm

That shows you how to get clockwork recovery mod which is great for installing a lot of different roms. That last link should give you everything you need to know.
 
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CMvan46
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1201116
Cyanogenmod for X10 mini pro


http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1068553
Cyanogenmod for x10 mini


Sorry do you have a mini pro or just mini?



AHHA! Found the complete tutorial to a bunch of stuff for your phone on xda.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1117713&highlight=cwm

That shows you how to get clockwork recovery mod which is great for installing a lot of different roms. That last link should give you everything you need to know.
Click to expand...

These links are astonishingly helpful but My phone is not a mini its the Xperia X10 only .but I'll see if there are simillar threads .Thanks m8

Edit:Wow ROM Manager does NOT support my phone :grumpy:
 
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sems4arsenal
These links are astonishingly helpful but My phone is not a mini its the Xperia X10 only .but I'll see if there are simillar threads .Thanks m8

Edit:Wow ROM Manager does NOT support my phone :grumpy:
Click to expand...

Oh no way! And sorry I wasn't familiar with that line of phones. Hmmm more research tonight then.
 
CMvan46
Oh no way! And sorry I wasn't familiar with that line of phones. Hmmm more research tonight then.
Click to expand...

Well mate looks like Xrecovery is the only way to go but I found I can install it easily using the Flashtool .Before I install a custom ROM though how Do I return to the Original SE Rom later ??

Edit:Xrecovery Now successfully Installed ,I can install a specific Cyanegon Mod That I saw in a video but the 7.1 on has a not so easy installwhich requires I have Unlocked bootloader << WHAT :D .

Edit 2:Installing Custom ROM now :nervous:

Edit 3 :I think The Operation was a success .Will report back again.
 
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Okay Goodluck. I saw something about unlocking the bootloader on your phone but ibdidnt have any idea what that was either. Going back to the stock rom later is just flashing it later on in the same way you flashed the custom one.
 
CMvan46
Okay Goodluck. I saw something about unlocking the bootloader on your phone but ibdidnt have any idea what that was either. Going back to the stock rom later is just flashing it later on in the same way you flashed the custom one.
Click to expand...

Thanks m8, I am now typing this using a cyanegon mod ROM. Would like to thank all of you especially you m8 and BMW. Owe you one Guys. Oh and the speed of my phone now :eek:
 
Not a problem glad it all worked out. I've heard that's a fantastic rom and if they get the 911 issue sorted out with my phone I might have to give that a shot.

Cool thing to try is downloading an app called "Quadrant Standard" and see what score your phone gets now compared to what is normal.

Mine gets a 1250 rating now which is up there with phones significantly newer than mine when it was at 800ish before.


For other rooted apps I also suggest Permissions for changing each apps permissions (you can even revoke the right to let an app vibrate your pone a annoying), root explorer (or ROM Toolbox which includes a root explorer along with other tools), and cachemate which deletes a bunch of known caches and speeds up my phone a bit when I do it.


One thing with ROM Toolbox though is I tried a custom loading screen and it caused my phone to not start up so I'd steer clear of that just incase.
 
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Owen.C93
Time to start overclocking now :P
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God no. I won't ever overclock mine, plus SetCPU isn't stable on my phone. There is a reason they clock the phones at the speed they do and I don't want to overclock it and have things running hotter than they need to. Plus my phone already runs at 1 ghz, I don't see how it could be much faster than it is right now.
 

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