Straight Talk SGS2- SGH-S959G

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Brytnee

Member
Oct 20, 2013
17
0
Ok that's awesome. That's our ticket in. Now, to be clear, you flashed a cwm kernel and now your phone won't boot up but you can still boot into recovery and flash files from there? Is that correct?

Yes that's correct. It said it was a cwm kernel, but I don't have cwm it's still stock recovery (3e). Yes I can get into stock recovery but if I try to boot into android it shows the boot animation and freezes.
 

razen_kain

Senior Member
Jan 28, 2013
2,563
2,484
Carthage
Yes that's correct. It said it was a cwm kernel, but I don't have cwm it's still stock recovery (3e). Yes I can get into stock recovery but if I try to boot into android it shows the boot animation and freezes.

Yeah. Most likely that kernel is not compatible with the stock gingerbread 2.3.6. That's why you're not getting past the boot screen.
So are you Ok upgrading to 4.1.2 (jellybean) or are you wanting to stay on gingerbread?
 

Brytnee

Member
Oct 20, 2013
17
0
Yeah. Most likely that kernel is not compatible with the stock gingerbread 2.3.6. That's why you're not getting past the boot screen.
So are you Ok upgrading to 4.1.2 (jellybean) or are you wanting to stay on gingerbread?

Well yes I'm wanting to upgrade to jellybean. That's one of the reasons I was trying to flash cwm on my phone was to put something better than the gb crap on it.
 

razen_kain

Senior Member
Jan 28, 2013
2,563
2,484
Carthage
Well yes I'm wanting to upgrade to jellybean. That's one of the reasons I was trying to flash cwm on my phone was to put something better than the gb crap on it.

Cool. I think we can get you going no problem. The reason your recovery didn't change is because on our sgh-s959g the recovery is on a sperate partition from the kernel. That's why you are soft bricked instead of hard bricked right now. The kernel flashed to the kernel partition while the recovery remained unchanged.

Standby and let me figure out exactly which files you need to grab then you can put them on your s3 ex sd then you can put it in your s2 and flash the files from it.
 

Brytnee

Member
Oct 20, 2013
17
0
Cool. I think we can get you going no problem. The reason your recovery didn't change is because on our sgh-s959g the recovery is on a sperate partition from the kernel. That's why you are soft bricked instead of hard bricked right now. The kernel flashed to the kernel partition while the recovery remained unchanged.

Standby and let me figure out exactly which files you need to grab then you can put them on your s3 ex sd then you can put it in your s2 and flash the files from it.

Sweet!!! Thank you.
 

razen_kain

Senior Member
Jan 28, 2013
2,563
2,484
Carthage

OK, sorry it took so long... put everything on your external sd so you can stick it in your s2

1) go to the op of this thread and download PhilZ cwm its under "best way to root/flash a custom rom". This will give you the correct recovery for the kernel that you're going to be using.

2) go here and download mr-cook's COOKED rom. Its samsung based rom with aroma installer. very nice. very stable. plenty of help in that thread if you need it. I've been using it for quite a while now. It's my daily driver.

Once youve got your s2 in recovery and your sd card mounted, flash the PhilZ cwm zip file and then reboot recovery, not the phone itself. There may be an option in the recovery menu to reboot recovery, im not familiar with it, but if not just do it manually. Your recovery should look totally different now. you should have a purple and b lack eye shaped ying-yang in the background. Go ahead and select, "wipe cache", "advanced>wipe dalvik", "wipe data/factory reset"

Now choose install from sd card, and select COOKED 2.2. When the aroma installer starts just follow the install instructions. when you get to the install options be sure to select install base, wipe data, install kernel, install modem. Im pretty the rest is just customization. All that can be changed later through the aroma installer.

Now this is important, once the installer has finished it will ask if you want to reboot the phone or exit back to recovery. Select exit back to recovery. Once there go to advanced>reboot recovery. Once the recovery has restarted select kernel specific options>reset exTweaks profiles.

Reboot. :fingers-crossed:
 

Brytnee

Member
Oct 20, 2013
17
0
OK, sorry it took so long... put everything on your external sd so you can stick it in your s2

1) go to the op of this thread and download PhilZ cwm its under "best way to root/flash a custom rom". This will give you the correct recovery for the kernel that you're going to be using.

2) go here and download mr-cook's COOKED rom. Its samsung based rom with aroma installer. very nice. very stable. plenty of help in that thread if you need it. I've been using it for quite a while now. It's my daily driver.

Once youve got your s2 in recovery and your sd card mounted, flash the PhilZ cwm zip file and then reboot recovery, not the phone itself. There may be an option in the recovery menu to reboot recovery, im not familiar with it, but if not just do it manually. Your recovery should look totally different now. you should have a purple and b lack eye shaped ying-yang in the background. Go ahead and select, "wipe cache", "advanced>wipe dalvik", "wipe data/factory reset"

Now choose install from sd card, and select COOKED 2.2. When the aroma installer starts just follow the install instructions. when you get to the install options be sure to select install base, wipe data, install kernel, install modem. Im pretty the rest is just customization. All that can be changed later through the aroma installer.

Now this is important, once the installer has finished it will ask if you want to reboot the phone or exit back to recovery. Select exit back to recovery. Once there go to advanced>reboot recovery. Once the recovery has restarted select kernel specific options>reset exTweaks profiles.

Reboot. :fingers-crossed:

I tried and the cwm won't pass signature verification.
 

woodsninja

Senior Member
Jul 13, 2013
166
51
Adrian
I've already used the regular cwm from the op page. I also have no access to a PC. I think I would like to try Mr cooks ROM.
My question is can philZ cwm be flashed in thru the current cwm?

Sent from my SGH-I777 using Tapatalk 2
 

woodsninja

Senior Member
Jul 13, 2013
166
51
Adrian
My last android was an LG so I'm having issues finding the files I'm looking for. Can some one please tell me where the boot audio file is located? I really would like some thing that goes with the CM boot animation. As to the animation on my LG I used Boot Animation Changer from the play store but it doesn't seem to work on this device. Can some one please point me in the right direction to find a boot animation changer that works for this device?

Sent from my SGH-I777 using Tapatalk
 

razen_kain

Senior Member
Jan 28, 2013
2,563
2,484
Carthage
Thanks again razen. PhilZ cwm flashed in with no problems.

Sent from my SGH-I777 using Tapatalk

You're most welcome.





My last android was an LG so I'm having issues finding the files I'm looking for. Can some one please tell me where the boot audio file is located? I really would like some thing that goes with the CM boot animation. As to the animation on my LG I used Boot Animation Changer from the play store but it doesn't seem to work on this device. Can some one please point me in the right direction to find a boot animation changer that works for this device?

Sent from my SGH-I777 using Tapatalk

I've never seen or heard of such a thing. I'm sure there is a way though because i have been on roms with boot sounds.
 

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  • 85
    I NOR ANYONE ELSE BUT YOURSELF IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, LOSS, OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT MAY RESULTS FROM FOLLOWING THE INSTRUCTIONS, OR USING ANYTHING FOUND ON THIS PAGE ----USE AT YOUR OWN RISK----


    CONSIDER THIS THE ONLY VALID POST IN THIS THREAD- EVERYTHING AFTER THIS POST COULD BE INCORRECT
    ALL DANGEROUS LINKS HAVE BEEN REMOVED. IF I MISSED ANYTHING, AND A LINK TAKES YOU TO DEV-HOST- PLEASE CLOSE THE PAGE IMMEDIATELY, NONE OF THE LINK ON THAT SITE ARE SAFE!!!! If you're looking for one of the missing files try asking in the thread someone may still have them.
    If your using the information on this page please remember to HIT THE THANKS BUTTON.

    THIS IS ONLY FOR THE STRAIGHT TALK S2 MODEL# SGH-S959G...... NOT COMPATIBLE WITH ANY OTHER PHONE.

    THE BEST WAY TO ROOT / OR FLASH A CUSTOM ROM -
    Install RECOVERY using ODIN, make a BACKUP, then flash the ROOT ZIP in RECOVERY.
    - TWRP 2.7.1.0 Odin-
    - Make a backup with TWRP before going any further. Boot into recovery, select backup/ restore, backup.
    - Root Zip- flash zip through CWM thanks to cynnar-
    Mirror-
    -You will need to install busybox from the market if staying on stock+ root.
    - PhilZ CWM v6.0.2.7 If you will be using a Siyah based kernel ( AJK Kernel ), or would like the extra options in CWM flash this- View attachment 1703135

    If you prefer CWM flashable zips can be found further down, and throughout the thread (search).


    - ROMs
    - I777 Main Thread- http://xdaforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1301 (Android Development, and Ported Development to find ROMs)
    - OR flash CyanogenMod 10.1 from link below (this is flashed in CWM) From CyanogenMod 10.1 all i777 custom ROMs are compatible.
    - CyanogenMod, and most all custom ROMs are already rooted when you flash them, no need to root first.
    - You may need to change your APN for data to work with some custom ROMs. Stock APN is at the bottom of this post. Usually you can just edit the included APN from att.mvno to wap.tracfone , and save it, then select it. If data still doesn't work delete all other APNs besides the one you're using.


    - ODIN INSTRUCTIONS -
    - Samsung drivers must be installed on your computer- Samsung Drivers- http://www.samsung.com/us/support/owners/product/SGH-S959ZKATFN
    - Download Odin 1.85- View attachment Odin3-v1.85.7z and unzip.
    - Enable USB Debugging in Settings menu of phone.
    - Put your phone in Download Mode - -Power off, Hold volume down button, Plug in USB connected to computer, Hit volume up when prompted.
    - Open Odin folder, Click Odin3 v1.85.exe, With your phone connected the box under ID:COM should be yellow (if it's not you missed a step earlier), Click PDA, Select the file you downloaded earlier, DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING ELSE- MAKE SURE AUTO REBOOT AND F. RESET TIME ARE THE ----ONLY----- THINGS CHECKED----- AND RE-PARTITION AND FLASH LOCK ARE ----NOT---- CHECKED....., Press Start (It will take a few minutes to load everything do not touch your computer or the phone during any of this, after the phone re-boots it may take a few minutes to load back up leave it alone until it has fully started up and at the home screen). You should get a green PASS message in the top box.


    - CWM ZIP FLASHING -
    - Save Zip file to be flashed to the Root (not in a folder) of your External SD card
    - BOOT INTO RECOVERY- Phone off
    - Hold volume up, volume down and power button. (You can release just the power button at the samsung screen but dont have to).
    - Select -install zip from sdcard, -choose zip from sdcard, -select the zip file you put there earlier, -it will ask you to confirm, select -yes -install
    - If you are installing a custom ROM Do this FIRST before installing Zip, -wipe data/factory reset, wipe cache partition, select -advanced, -wipe dalvik cache


    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    FACTORY FIRMWARE (IN CASE OF SOFT-BRICK)
    Before returning to Stock remember to format your preload partition. This can be achevied with my ROM wipe script found here- http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=38199542

    ---CREDIT--- eclipsedarkmoon
    This will only work with Heimdall-
    - Download Heimdall 1.3.1-
    Heimdall Suite 1.3.1 Windows https://github.com/downloads/Benjamin-Dobell/Heimdall/heimdall-suite-1.3.1-win32.zip
    Heimdall Suite 1.3.1 OS X 10.4+ https://github.com/downloads/Benjamin-Dobell/Heimdall/heimdall-suite-1.3.1-mac.dmg

    - Download Factory Firmware -

    - Mirror-

    - Open Heimdall, click Drivers, zadig.exe
    - Put phone in Download Mode--Power off, Hold volume down button, Plug in USB connected to computer, Hit volume up when prompted
    - zadig.exe menu, List all devices, Choose Samsung USB composite device (or similar) from list, Press Install Drivers (if you receive a message about being unable to verify the publisher of the driver click "Install this driver software anyway". Your computer may also need to restart for this).
    - Now open heimdall-frontend.exe, on the Load Package (main page) select Browse from Heimdall firmware package, Select the Factory Firmware you downloaded earlier (it will take a minute while Heimdall extracts it), Once extracted press Load / Customise in the bottom right corner (this takes you to the Flash page),--- Select FACTORYFS in the box on the right labeled Partitions(Files), DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING ELSE- MAKE SURE REPARTITION AND NO REBOOT ARE---- NOT----- CHECKED.... Press Start in the bottom right corner. (It will take a few minutes to load everything do not touch your computer or the phone during any of this, after the phone re-boots it may take a few minutes to load back up leave it alone until it has fully started up and at the home screen).
    - Hopefully it has been brought back from the Dead.

    - Odin flashable Factory Firmware -thanks to root4rd3d-
    Uncompressed version-
    - Put your phone in Download Mode --Power off, Hold volume down button, Plug in USB connected to computer, Hit volume up when prompted
    - Open Odin folder, Click Odin3 v1.85.exe, With your phone connected the box under ID:COM should be yellow (if it's not you missed a step earlier), Click PDA, Select the file you downloaded earlier, DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING ELSE- MAKE SURE AUTO REBOOT AND F. RESET TIME ARE THE ----ONLY----- THINGS CHECKED----- AND RE-PARTITION AND FLASH LOCK ARE ----NOT---- CHECKED....., Press Start (It will take a few minutes to load everything do not touch your computer or the phone during any of this, after the phone re-boots it may take a few minutes to load back up leave it alone until it has fully started up and at the home screen). You should get a green PASS message in the top box.

    - STOCK ROM CWM FLASH -thanks to mr-cook
    (this is will not change your recovery or modem)
    - Download-
    - Place on the root of your Ext.SD
    - Boot into CWM recovery (if you can't do this start at the top of the page!)
    - Factory reset * Wipe cache * Wipe dalvik cache
    - Install zip from sdcard, choose zip from sdcard, select zip you downloaded earlier, confirm install
    - Reboot
    - STOCK MODEM- View attachment S959GUDLG1_modem.zip
    - STOCK 3e RECOVERY Not sure why you would want it, but just in case- removed (YOU MUST FLASH THIS LAST TO RETURN TO STOCK)-


    - IF YOU GET BOOT-LOOP- Boot into recovery
    - Phone off
    - Hold volume up, volume down and power button. (You can release just the power button at the samsung screen but dont have to).
    - Factory reset, wipe cache
    - Reboot

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    ROOT ZIP-
    Flash through CWM thanks to cynnar- View attachment SGH-S959G_Root.zip

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    SGH-S959G - CyanogenMod

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    MODEMS
    (Install with CWM)
    -I777UCMD8- This is the Newest Available

    - Stock- S959GUDLG1 thanks to mr-cook- View attachment S959GUDLG1_modem.zip

    - I777UCLL6- ATT UCLL6 thanks to mr-cook- View attachment I777UCLL6_modem.zip

    - I777UCLK3- ATT UCLK3 thanks to mr-cook- View attachment I777UCLK3_modem.zip

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    REMOVING THE YELLOW TRIANGLE

    GINGERBREAD ONLY! (Root Required)
    - Extract the stock zImage from the factory firmware at the top of this page (I used 7zip, and needed to extract it twice to get it apart).
    - Put the stock zImage on the root (not in a folder) of your internal SD card. You can do this through the usb, adb push (adb push- Copy and paste the zImage into your folder with adb, connect your phone with usb, then command- adb push zImage /sdcard/zImage), whatever method you like.
    - Now using adb shell, or terminal emulator found in the market (if you don't' have adb ask GOOGLE) issue the command (capitilazation and spacing matter):

    $ adb shell
    $ su
    # dd if=/sdcard/zImage of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p5

    This must be done as #, if you have a $ enter command: su
    You must already be rooted for this to work. To switch to a different kernel afterwards you can use the same method, or CWM without getting the yellow triangle again or increasing the flash counter. As long as you flash internally, if you use Odin or Heimdall to flash anything thats not stock it will come back.


    REMOVING YELLOW TRIANGLE ICS AND ABOVE!
    -If running ICS or above you can use triangle away found here- http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=22462960

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    CWM
    Flash these from CWM

    CWM RECOVERY v6.0.2.7 (ODIN flash) Thanks to r00t4rd3d-

    - PhilZ CWM v6.0.2.7 built by AJ Newkirk- (Thanks to mr-cook)- View attachment 1703135 (This is compatible with AJ Newkirks Siyah kernel and jeboo's new features in SHOstock3)
    - Phil's CWM v6.0.2.7 built by AJ Newkirk- (Thanks to mr-cook)-this one gets rid of the blue progress bar on the s2 boot screen, that's the only difference.

    - CWM v6.0.2.7- (Thanks to mr-cook)- View attachment 1703137

    -6.0.4.4 Odin-

    - CWM v6.0.4.4- (Thanks to mr-cook)- View attachment 2387202

    -6.0.4.5 Odin-

    -6.0.4.5 zip-


    -AJK CWM Odin-


    -TWRP 2.7.0.0 recovery "thanks to razen kain" (flash from recovery)-
    Let me know if this link gets killed and I'll add it to Dev host.

    Flashing other versions of CWM with adb (Root Required)
    - Extract the zImage (boot.img) from the ROM of your choice (I use 7zip to extract it).
    - Put the zImage (boot.img) on the root (not in a folder) of your internal SD card. You can do this through the usb, adb push (adb push- Copy and paste the zImage into your folder with adb, connect your phone with usb, then command- adb push zImage /sdcard/zImage), whatever method you like.
    - Now using adb shell (if you don't' have adb ask GOOGLE) issue the command (capitilazation and spacing matter):


    $ adb shell
    $ su
    # dd if=/sdcard/zImage of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p6

    or if it's a boot.img

    # dd if=/sdcard/boot.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p6



    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    ADB (android debug bridge)

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    STOCK APN
    APN
    Name- Straight Talk
    APN- wap.tracfone
    Proxy- Not set
    Port- Not set
    User name- Not set
    Password- Not set
    Server- Not set
    MMSC- http://mmsc.cingular.com/
    MMS proxy- mms2.tracfone.com
    MMS port- 80
    MCC- 310
    MNC- 410
    Authentication type- Not set
    APN type- default,supl,mms


    BYOP sim card APN
    APN
    Name- Straight Talk
    APN- att.mvno
    Proxy- Not set
    Port- Not set
    User name- Not set
    Password- Not set
    Server- Not set
    MMSC- http://mmsc.cingular.com/
    MMS proxy- mms2.tracfone.com
    MMS port- 80
    MCC- 310
    MNC- 410
    Authentication type- Not set
    APN type- default,supl,mms

    New APN
    Name: Straight Talk
    Apn: tfdata
    MMSC: http://mms-tf.net
    Mms proxy : mms3.tracfone.com
    MMS PORT: 80
    MCC:310
    MNC:410
    APN TYPE: default,supl,mms



    SIM unlock threads
    - http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=10456038

    - http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=30541172

    If you don't have service after unlocking and switching SIM cards you need to flash an at&t modem like I777UCLL6 found above. Apparently the modem used by Straight Talk only works with their service.


    Being THROTTLED? read this-
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    - I777 Main Thread-

    - Samsung Drivers-


    - BOOT INTO RECOVERY-
    Phone off- Hold volume up, volume down and power button until you reach Recovery menu.


    - DOWNLOAD MODE-
    Power off, Hold volume down button, Plug in USB connected to computer, Hit volume up when prompted


    - CWM ZIP FLASHING -
    - Save Zip file to be flashed to the Root (not in a folder) of your External SD card
    - BOOT INTO RECOVERY- Phone off
    - Hold volume up, volume down and power button. (You can release just the power button at the samsung screen but dont have to).
    - Select -install zip from sdcard, -choose zip from sdcard, -select the zip file you put there earlier, -it will ask you to confirm, select -yes -install
    - If you are installing a custom ROM Do this FIRST before installing Zip, -wipe data/factory reset, wipe cache partition, select -advanced, -wipe dalvik cache


    -Link to my CWM flashable Wipe Scripts-


    More to come.......

    THANKS
    None of this would be possible without
    - Entropy512
    - eclipsedarkmoon
    - r00t4rd3d
    - RenderBroken
    - and everyone else that has posted here, tested, questioned, etc...
    13
    Off-Topic:

    I just wanted to take a minute to congratulate mr-cook on becoming an XDA Recognized Contributor! :good: :good:

    This guy gives so much to the SII community and it is great to see him be recognized for his efforts.

    Congrats!

    /Off-Topic
    9
    The op needs to be updated with this'd information...

    The latest cwm is only for kitkat ROMs, that's cm 11+. Of you want to go with jelly bean ROMs like the one you're trying to use, you need to use cwm 6.0.2.7 it's older but JB won't flash on the newer ones. There are a few different versions but any will work as long add it's philZ, AJK, or 6.0.2.7

    Since you already have cwm installed you can just DL the zips and flash them in recovery then reboot "recovery" and it will be complete. No need for Odin now. Try that and get back to us

    I think I'm just going to replace CWM with the new TWRP in the op. It seems to be easy more compatible. Plus I like it better.

    EDIT: Done. Op updated to install TWRP with Odin to be more compatible.

    Sent from my SGH-S959G
    9
    since this post is in AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II SGH-I777 section...i thought it might be compatible. i even saw a lot of ROM posts where they says its compatible with i777 and sgh s959g....so i was in doubt and had to ask.....glad to know its not compatible...thx....







    I thought it was...a lot of the ROMs I search are based on the i777 builds just have to make sure you have the correct radio installed.....I've rooted mine and used several different ROMs just based off of this thread. Searching the thread with the search tool will yield massive results. See post#5 from the OP that's a fairly good clue.

    Ok ok ok wait... Let's clear up some confusion. The one and only difference between the 959g and the i777 is that the 959g has its recovery on a separate partition by itself, whereas the i777 has kernel and recovery on the same partition. The 959g can use any ROM or kernel built for the i777 no problem. But if you want a different recovery on 959g you must use one of the zips from the op or Odin. If you had an i777 and you flash a new kernel it will also install a new recovery as it will be packaged in the zip. If you flash the same kernel on the 959g, your kernel will change but recovery remains untouched since it is on a different partition. That is the one and only difference between the two. Happy flashing :thumbup::D