I've just rooted my phone. Now what?

[Lamp]

Whats this Cyanogenmod everyone's going on about?
And is it easy to get ICS flashed now?

 

[MYstIC G]

Cyanogenmod is basically the community sexed up version of Android. I have it installed on my HP Touchpad tablet. I think it's awesome but that's up to you to decide.

 

[MYstIC G]

http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/wiki/Samsung_Galaxy_S_II:_FAQ

 

[Lamp]

Hmm...installed CWM recovery, trying to flash CM7, but keep getting "failed to verify whole file signature error"

hmm...

 

[Lamp]

Anyone installed CM7 on the S2? What are the differences compared to stock? What did you lose?

 

[Poag]

CM7 is built from the AOSP (Android Open Source Project) It is the basis every (why do they do this) company uses to make there own UI, and slow your phone down.

What you gain is a faster OS with no pre installed bloat. No Vendor only apps. Generally you also get much better battery life as a result.

If this is your first Custom ROM then i'd suggest going to the CM9 nightlies rather than CM7. This'll give you ICS which is significantly better than gingerbread performance and feature wise.

You can get the nightlies and the change log here
http://cm-nightlies.appspot.com/?device=galaxys2

As for your error message, generally means a corrupt download. Verify the md5 against the website you got it from to confirm your download.

 

[MYstIC G]

Hmm...installed CWM recovery, trying to flash CM7, but keep getting "failed to verify whole file signature error"

hmm...

Corrupt download mate.

 

[PLightstar]

Best thing I ever did to my Desire was to root it. Settled on a rom called Gingervillian, but am looking at a ICS rom that works well, but needs a bit of work called Mildwild.

 

[Lamp]

Bored with the stock dialer & call answer/reject screen. Be nice to get a ROM with one thats better looking

Some apps on the market have compatability issues with ICS. Not sure I want to flash ICS and find out half the apps I use regularly are now broken. Be nice to be able to check all my apps before flashing ICS.

Anyone know a link for the most stable recent ICS odin zip file for SGS2 GT-i1900?

 

[Poag]

ICS by who?

Samsung? Custom? Cyanogenmod?

Most apps work with ICS, but they will have a menu bar at the bottom if they haven't been updated yet.

This thread contains an archive of Samsung baseband/modems/OS for installation through ODIN.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1075278

you'll want post number 4 i think.

I personally dont use ODIN to flash ROMs, so I can't provide any support beyond this.
But i think you want XXLPJ or XXLP3.

 

[Lamp]

One question: after I flash ICS to my phone, I'll need to re-root it again. If I've read XDA forum correctly, it says you can use any old kernal...but won't this "overwrite" the ICS .tar file?

 

[Poag]

If you install an unmodified Samsung rom then yes you will need to reroot everytime you flash a new rom. If you install anything custom you won't. They are prerooted.

The tar file is irrelevant after you flash it. Everything is copied to the system partition.
Installing a new kernel will flash it over your new roms kernel. I however highly advise you don't flash an old kernel. As things may stop working if the version differs to much.

 

[Lamp]

How do I know which firmware to flash?

XXKH1....XXKG5....??? etc

 

[Lamp]

Hmm...official SIM-free ICS ROM not released yet

(found an interesting article where a chap recommends using Mobile Odin to flash: http://alexmcconnell.co.uk/2012/03/15/ics-guide-sgs2/)

 

[dysfunction]

How do I know which firmware to flash?

XXKH1....XXKG5....??? etc

Ideally one that matches what's on your phone already!
You can find that info by looking in settings - about phone.

If you can't find one that matches your numbers then just ask on the XDA website. They will help you!

 

[Lamp]

cool...thx

I've just made a NANDROID backup in Clockwork Recovery, copied the /eft file from the root directory, and backed up using 4 back-up apps....so I should be covered....maybe I should wait for the cold light of day before using some dodgy ICS ROM on the XDA site...

 

[dysfunction]

Yes that is a good idea! In the mean time you could get an answer on which Kernal you need and get all the downloads ready for the big day tomorrow!

 

[Lamp]

Err...re choosing the correct firmware to flash, what do I go on?

PDA / Build = XWKH1
Phone / Baseband = XXKG5
CSC = XEUKH1
Kernal Version = XXXKH1

Its the Kernal, yes?

 

[dysfunction]

Yes its the kernal! So the XXXKH1
Mine is the XWKJ1 as ive not updated my firmware for a while.

Kies tells me there is an upgrade but i'll do it tomorrow!

 

[Lamp]

Apparently KH1 is a "Frankenstein firmware"

These packages below are not official firmware packages, they are Frankenstein package created due to demand for Firmware with different CSC and modems and also leaked firmware packages. KIES will not recognise the firmware so you won't be able to update to new firmware using KIES unless you flash back to a firmware meant for your device first. Otherwise there will always be Odin to use for updates

Would you risk flashing a frankenstein rom?

 

[dysfunction]

That would depend on who has made the rom. If it's a well known developer and it's fairly stable then yes but otherwise no!

Ultimately I want stability before loads of extra functions!

 

[Lamp]

Comparison of Gingerbread & ICS

http://dash.coolsmartphone.com/wp-c...100-Ice-Cream-Sandwich-Guide-Ver-2.0.pptx.pdf

 

[caLLous]

Just rooted my GS2 and put CyanogenMod on, pretty bloody good so far tbh. Taking a while to find my way around, I did a Titanium Backup before I updated the OS but I don't want to just restore everything (seeing as I didn't use half the apps I had installed anyway), so I'll have to go through the list and batch restore the ones I want...

I was about to install the 20120414 nightly when I accidentally reloaded the downloads page and saw that update-cm-9-20120419-NIGHTLY-galaxys2-signed.zip had been released.

 

[Lamp]

Just rooted my GS2 and put CyanogenMod on, pretty bloody good so far tbh. Taking a while to find my way around, I did a Titanium Backup before I updated the OS but I don't want to just restore everything (seeing as I didn't use half the apps I had installed anyway), so I'll have to go through the list and batch restore the ones I want...

I was about to install the 20120414 nightly when I accidentally reloaded the downloads page and saw that update-cm-9-20120419-NIGHTLY-galaxys2-signed.zip had been released.

We're talking CM9 here?

How does it compare to stock? Does everything work? (radio, TV out, GPS, Task Manager - CM7 had issues with these apparently. I would miss my stock Task Manager if I lost it). Have you tried a Quadrand benchmark? Faster than stock?

 

[caLLous]

Yes, CM9 (the nightly from today). It's mega-cool. Radio - don't know, TV out - don't know, GPS - don't know, Task Manager - it's there, and I've killed tasks with it. Benchmark - not tried yet. Don't know, didn't benchmark the stock.

 

[Lamp]

I think I'll try stock ICS tonight

http://devsrom4android.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/uk-samsung-galaxy-s2-generic-official.html

 

[Lamp]

Hmm...was just about to, then read a raft of articles about 4.0.3 draining the battery on the S2 a lot more than Gingerbread. Anyone found this to be true?

 

[caLLous]

Seems fine for me so far, not done anything intensive yet... I'm on 4.0.4 though through CyanogenMod.

 

[Bigmac]

Lamp its untrue, I was on 2.3.5 Gingerbread and updated to 4.0.3 Vodafone ICS. Battery life is exactly the same for me.

 

[Poag]

Some of the 4.0.3 Samsung inhouse beta leaks were terrible at sleeping the phone and thus nom'd battery life, this was however quite some time ago.