Virtuous ROM: SuperCID and Firmware upgrade NOT needed?

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The thread [GUIDE] A must read for those noobs who want to enjoy ICS states that ALL ICS roms need a firmware upgrade.

However, the installation instructions for the Virtuous ROM doesn't say anything at all about upgrading the firmware: http://www.virtuousrom.com/p/documentation.html

Which one is right?

Also, just to be on the safe side, is SuperCID needed?

The documentation page you linked is installation instructions for all Virtuous ROMs, so it's pretty generic. If you look at the description page for Virtuous Inquisition, which is ICS-based, the page does mention firmware. That ROM is based on the most recent 3.32 firmware, which is probably what you want to use. AFAIK, all ICS ROMs require firmware version of 3.12 or greater.

As for SuperCID, I think there are firmware downloads on the forums now that don't require it but it's also pretty easy to do.

Originally Posted by pyrilium

The documentation page you linked is installation instructions for all Virtuous ROMs

Ahhh. Ok. That was the missing link. Thanks.

I have a rooted S-OFF Sensation 4G with the stock ROM and ClockWork. So all I need to do is:

1. Flash the Firmware that doesn't require SuperCID
2. Nandroid Backup / Wipe
3. And then I can flash Virtuous.

Is that correct?

Also, does flashing Firmware alone cause a wipe?

That is correct, although I would do your nandroid backup before you flash the firmware. I'm not sure that it will wipe the system partitions, but it might.

The only other thing is that it can be a pain to get back into recovery after you flash the firmware if you're not using adb, since whenever you boot into the boot loader it will detect the firmware (PG58IMG.zip) on your SD card and ask if you want to flash it. One solution is to remove PG58IMG.zip from the SD card using an SD reader after you do the firmware update, but if you have adb installed & working you can also simply issue the command "adb reboot recovery" when the phone is off. This won't work when you're in the bootloader, although there's probably an equivalent fastboot command.

Originally Posted by pyrilium

That is correct, although I would do your nandroid backup before you flash the firmware. I'm not sure that it will wipe the system partitions, but it might.

The only other thing is that it can be a pain to get back into recovery after you flash the firmware if you're not using adb, since whenever you boot into the boot loader it will detect the firmware (PG58IMG.zip) on your SD card and ask if you want to flash it. One solution is to remove PG58IMG.zip from the SD card using an SD reader after you do the firmware update, but if you have adb installed & working you can also simply issue the command "adb reboot recovery" when the phone is off. This won't work when you're in the bootloader, although there's probably an equivalent fastboot command.

Wow, this is extremely helpful, thank you. One other thing: does it matter what version of ClockWork I'm using? (I rooted/did S-Off a loooooong time ago.)

Glad I can help!

I don't know whether the version of CWM matters. I doubt it would, other than maybe making a nandroid backup in a format other than current, but it's not that hard to update the recovery either.

I actually started using 4ext recovery recently, and I like it a fair bit better than CWM. It's something like $2.00 on the market, but includes a userspace application that lets you do things like set up a series of recovery operations (i.e. make backup, wipe, flash a set of zips) and then reboot into recovery to run them.

Perfect, thanks. I'll give this a shot.

Every few weeks I look up how to move to ICS but then lose my enthusiasm once I see all the things I'd have to do to switch haha. But today I noticed that Virtuous doesn't need some of those steps

One more question: SuperWIPE is unnecessary for Virtuous Inquisition correct? I see that it is necessary for Android Revolution, but I just wanted to make sure.

I've always seen superwipe recommended as part of the upgrade process from GB to ICS. It might not be required for Virtuous, but I don't see why you'd want to avoid it. The flashing process *will* wipe your phone - you want to use something like Titanium Backup to backup/restore app states if that's a problem - and performing the superwipe takes almost no time.

Woohoo! Successfully upgraded from stock Gingerbread (rooted & S-Off) to Virtuous Inquisition ICS! I wrote down what I did, so if anyone is interested, below is how I did it. It took about 15 minutes in total (not including the backups). Hopefully it helps someone else out there!

1. Titanium Backup all apps
2. Nandroid Backup via ClockWork Recovery (1434 MB)
3. Get CID Version:
   
   1. Download ADB/Fastboot files from attachment from Post #1 of the [Firmware][Mar 12] thread
      
   2. Connect phone to PC -> adb reboot bootloader -> Then in bootloader:
      fastboot getvar cid: T-MOB010
      fastboot getvar mid: PG5810000
      fastboot reboot
      
4. Download the appropriate Firmware from above thread (CTRL+F for T-MOB010/PG5810000) and the Virtuous ROM from Virtous Website
5. Copy both files to sdcard, check md5 on both
6. Flash Firmware:
   
   1. Turn phone off -> Hold Volume-Down + Power to enter bootloader
      
   2. Wait for the firmware package to be found and confirm to update as prompted
      
   3. Once completed successfully and asks you to reboot, pull the battery out. (Gingerbread & firmware are incompatible, causes bootloops)
      
   4. With phone off and plugged into PC, do adb reboot recovery (Thanks pyrilium!)
      
   5. Mount USB storage
      
   6. Use PC to delete firmware file from sdcard
      
7. Wipe all data and cache -> Flash Virtuous -> Reboot

(Note that YES, flashing firmware causes bootloops -- as I found out! So firmware and ROM must both be flashed together.)

And thanks pyrilium for the note about using "adb reboot recovery" while the phone is off! I would have never figured that you could issue adb commands with your phone off. That tip isn't even in any of the guides, so thanks for that! Extremely helpful.

Anyway, hope that helps others out there. And thanks for helping me!