Rooting and Custom ROMs for Android

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XrunawayX
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Rooting and Custom ROMs for Android

Post by XrunawayX »

I'm wondering if there are any Android power users here that can help me navigate the waters of rooting and/or installing a custom ROM on my phone? I have an AT&T Samsung Galaxy SIII with 4.1.1.

Lately it's been performing poorly; the GPS works intermittently, meaning Google Nav and MapMyRide don't work, battery life has gone in the tank, and now I'm getting errors while trying to update apps in the Play Store. These issues aside, I'd like to at least root so that I can use my phone as a free mobile wifi hotspot.

I'm kind-of a tech noob, so I'm hesitant to just jump in and do this without understanding what all is involved. I've read some stuff and watched the YouTube videos that make rooting/custom rom installation look easy, but I'm afraid that if I start messing with it I'll end up with an expensive paperweight.

Has anyone rooted or running a custom ROM? Which do you recommend?

Anyway, any input/advice would be appreciated!
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Necromancer
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Re: Rooting and Custom ROMs for Android

Post by Necromancer »

i own Samsung Galaxy S I (i9000)
currently running Slim bean Rom , Android jellybean 4.2.2 with Semaphore Kernel (Samsung dropped support after Gingerbread 2.3.6)

as you can guess i don't know about SIII, but rooting is easy.
I can't guarantee anything (well, technically i can write whatever i want on the internet), but let me tell you that i took out the battery mid - flash, i have flashed un suitable roms (roms of other devices), i have pulled out the cable mid - flash and a lots more, and it always booted to at least download mode so i could re-flash it back into working state.

first of all you need to understand you phone has 3 pieces:
kernel, Rom and Modem (aka radio)
you start by downloading odin, which is the software used to flash root and a kernel that supports Clock Work Mod (CWM) which is used to install Roms from .zip files. you can turn every .zip file into a file flash-able by Odin (and the other way around), but the .zips are more common.

before you start, obtain a copy of your current stock rom, should you ever need to recover your phone.
use odin (not the portable version) to flash stock rom if your phone suddenly dies. as long as your phone powers into download mode, odin can flash it back into a working state.
and as i said, i abused my phone quite a lot and it always booted to download mode.
after you installed a kernel with CWM, you can use the recover mode to also make a nandroid backup before you flash anything. (samsung recovery mode only enables to recover the phone from a specific stock backup, CWM enables you to backup and restore your own system completely).

xda forums is what you look for.
In Android Development look for new Roms/Kernels.
Ask your questions in the Help forum, and don't forget to use the search button (there should be a 'flashing for dummies' sticky somewhere)

having said all that, i heard the development for SII+ aren't as active as the SI because Samsung introduced a lot of stuff in newer patches restricting/breaking original development (thankfully they dropped maintaining the SI before that)

and i doubt a different ROM would help your GPS reception. a different modem might help. or a hardware fix, but i don't know if the S3 requires one (the S1 and S2 do), search the xda forums for your problems. chances are you are not the only one suffering from these symptoms and someone has already dug in and found everything there was to find about the problem and all possible solutions.

here:
[HOWTO] Rooting + Wiping + Flashing : For the ultimate noob.
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expandas
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Re: Rooting and Custom ROMs for Android

Post by expandas »

I'm not familiar with your phone but here are the steps that I had to do to get my phone unlocked, rooted, and running with a custom ROM.

1. Unlock the Bootloader
2. Flash a custom recovery software, e.g., CWM (Clockwork Mod) or TWRP (Team Win Recovery Project).
3. Create a backup of your phone's operating system (commonly referred to as a "nandroid")
4. Root your phone
5. Flash a new ROM (operating system) and kernel if necessary. CM (CyanogenMod) is one of the most popular alternatives out there, but check XDA Developers for more.

If you just want to be able to Wifi tether and don't care about the custom ROM, skip step 5 and instead head into the Google Play Store and download an application called "Wifi Tether for Root Users" or "FoxFi". On my phone I can't seem to get WPA2 encryption working with Wifi Tether for Root Users, but it has a better GUI and no bandwidth limits like FoxFi.
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Necromancer
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Re: Rooting and Custom ROMs for Android

Post by Necromancer »

almost if not all rooted kernels already have CWM in them.
I didn't like CM that much, its just like stock Android, it lacks customization.
SlimBean is also available for S3. its a good AOKP/AOSP combination.

not sure whats all the problems with tethering, with slim i can open a wifi hotspot with my S1 :D
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XrunawayX
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Re: Rooting and Custom ROMs for Android

Post by XrunawayX »

Figured I'd update this thread with a pic of my phone's new role.....

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Just kidding! This past weekend I was able to successfully install clockworkmod recovery, root, and install a custom ROM. I'm currently running Cyanogenmod 10.1.0 RC2 with the latest Android 4.2.2, which is really nice. It's a huge improvement over the stock AT&T release. All of the issues described in my original post are gone, the UI is very clean, and the phone is just much snappier overall. Definitely happy with the results!

After installing everything manually, I found an app called ROM Manager which basically does all the heavy lifting for you. It allows you to install ROMS, updates, add-ons, etc. right from the app. I did have one hiccup where i had to go back and install the Gapps add-on manually (it installed an incompatible version), but otherwise it makes the process very easy.

Anyway, thanks to Necromancer and expandas for providing input on this subject. I read your posts numerous times while working up the courage to go through with this process!
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Necromancer
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Re: Rooting and Custom ROMs for Android

Post by Necromancer »

Glad to hear it all went ok!
Got me with the picture man.
don't do that, i felt bad for bricking your phone for a moment.

one thing i forgot to mention - modems are independent of your ROM or kernel.
so you can flash any modem you like.
check the XDA forums (or local android/S3 forums) and based on user feedback flash the modems that are recommended for your carrier.
some say that the RIL needs to match with the baseband (modem). you can download getRIL from playstore and it will check the modems that compatible to your ROM and let you download them.

with custom roms, theres little "compatibility". from my experience it doesn't matter. I had great connectivity with the same battery drain with matching modems as with not matching ones. i think its because there is little difference between them, and most of them work with the same RIL even when it says they don't match.
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