[REF] [GUIDE] Welcome to your device, the Galaxy S III

Exel · Sep 22, 2012

Welcome to your device. The Samsung Galaxy S III (T-Mobile, Wind, Mobilicity, Videotron) is a great device! Why don't we learn about it before we go any further?

Other names associated with this device:

SGS3 ✓

Galaxy S3 ✓

T-999 ✓

T-999[v] ✓

This device is NOT a:

GT-I9300 ✗

SGH-I747 ✗

SCH-I535 ✗

Device Specs:

Frequencies / Bands: UMTS 850/1900/1700/2100; GSM 850/900/1800/1900
Display Resolution: 720 x 1280 Super AMOLED
Screen Size: 4.8" 16M Colour
Bluetooth Enabled: Yes
Wi-Fi Enabled: Yes
Internal Memory: 16GB
External Memory: microSD Support up to 64GB
Size / Dimensions: 136.6 mm x 70.6 mm x 8.6 mm
Weight: 133g
Battery Life: 2100mAh
Operating System: Android 4.0
Keyboard: Touch Screen
GPS: Yes
Camera: 8MP

Unique Features:

S Beam

Screen Share

S Voice

Smart Stay

Extended Gesture UX/Motion

Pop-up Play

Burst Photo

Best Photo

Great! What Android versions can be ran on this phone?

Ice Cream Sandwich - 4.0.4 based, there is a couple edited TouchWiz ROMs.

JellyBean - All are experimental but run pretty well, may be glitch at times. CM10, Leaked TouchWiz Versions and now an official one.

Cool, but I'm a noob, what should I start off with?

My suggestion to you is for you to run some ICS TouchWiz ROMs to get you comfortable with the flashing, nandroiding, tweaking processes and then move on to something else. Above all read and search.

Okay, I see.. but I don't quite understand what flashing, nandroiding, tweaking, etc. mean?

* - anything and everything possible. A good example would be "All my friends live at 10* Croxley Street." This is saying that they are all live at 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108 and 109.

Dev - See developer.

Developer - A man or woman who has created (developed) software.

ROM - 1. A modified version of the Android operating system operating system. 2. Read Only Memory, a place where information is stored and can not be destroyed, modified or written to.

AOSP - "Android open source project" a project by Google Inc. to give android to developers and manufactures for free (see open-source)

Open-source - (not to be confussed with free) A peice of software that is free to edit, use, distribute and share with no charge.

CM - See cyanogenmod

Cyanogenmod - A free open-source project based on the AOSP. It is a modded (see modded) version of the Android firmware

Firmware - see ROM (1)

Stock - An unchanged version of something. Example: I just flashed stock sense

OTA - "Over the air" a term used to indicate software that was sent to phones directly through the internet to their phones.

FOTA - "Firmware over the air" this normally refers to ROM's but can refer to radio firmware (see OTA)

Firmware - a piece of software to make hardware function correctly. This can refer to Radio Firmware, but is normally used as another name for ROM (1)

Radio - (not to be confused with Radio Firmware) A piece of hardware that allows communication. There are 3 main radios in your phone. Bluetooth, WiFi and GSM/CDMA.

Radio Firmware - (see firmware) a type of software that allows correct communication with the radio and the operating system. A newer firmware would normally improve battery life and call quality. The radio firmware only applies to the CDMA/GSM radio.

CDMA/GSM - A type of network communication between phones and carriers. GSM phones normally are included with SIM Cards that authorize them onto the network. CDMA have this authorization built in and do not need a sim card.

Kernel - An important part of all operating systems that handles the CPU and other vital components. A modded kernel may be used for overclocking.

Overclock - (not to be confused with underclock) to exced the default maximum CPU speed. This could make a phone more powerful but may cause damage. Although no damaged has been reported so far it could still drain battery life.

Underclock - to change your phones maximum frequency to LOWER than the default to attempt to extend the phones lifespan and battery.

Mod - A modification to a part of the phones software. It is also POSSIBLE to mod the phones hardware but is not recommended.

Modding - To perform a mod

Modded - to have included mods

Modification - see mod

Governor - a system embedded into the kernel to automatically change the current working CPU frequency depending on the workload. It would only go up to what it is overclocked (or underclocked) to, this is called the maximum frequency. It would not drop bellow the (just as eaisly configurable) minimum frequency.

Library's/Libs - a set of instructions for applications to use to function. A functioning camera lib would allow the camera to be used.

WFS - "Wildfire S" an armv6 device made by HTC in 2011.

Logcat - A logging system built into the ADB

ADB - "Android Debug Bridge" a system that can be accessed using a computer where you can manage the device from. You need the Android SDK to use it.

SDK - "Software Development Kit" a set of tools used for software development.

WIP - "Work In Progress"

JDK - "Java Development Kit" an SDK for the java platform. It is needed to run the Android SDK.

JRE - "Java Runtime Environment" a collection of binarys and files to allow java software to execute.

Execute - To "run" or "start" a binary

Binarys - (sometimes called bin's) a group of executable files.

RAM - Could be one of three meanings: 1. Memory for the CPU to process processes. 2. Random Access Memory, a place where information can be used, executed from, modified, or deleted. 3. A type of sheep.

SD - Short term for MicroSD

Marvel - A gsm version of the phone

Marvelc - The cdma version of the phone

Marvelct - A rare Easten CDMA version of the phone.

Marvel* - all versions of the HTC Wildfire S (see *)

GB - Could mean one of two things. 1. Gingerbread or 2. Great Britain

Gingerbread - Android 2.3

Froyo - Android 2.2

Honeycomb - Android 3.x. it was never released or ported to the wildfire s because it was built for tablets.

Ice cream sandwich/ICS - Android 4.0. The latest version of Android.

CM9 - Cyanogenmod 9. A modified version of ICS. (see cm)

RUU - "ROM Update Utility" An automatic installer for Radio Firmware, ROM and HBOOT

HBOOT - The bootloader for all modern HTC Android phones.

Custom recovery - A o version of the stock HTC recovery to install unoffical ROMs.

AFAIK - "As far as I know"

KANG - The process of creating a code based of someone else's code.

Zipalligned - This is something that makes a ROM faster. If you can improve this please contact me!

Deodexed - Where ODEX files are moved into the actual applications

APK - "Android Package" an Android application

This was written by benjamingwynn and brought over to the Vibrant section by Woodrube, so thanks goes out to them!

Okay, I think I'm ready to begin! Where do I start?

You have a few ways to go here..

But before we continue, let me explain something to you. Our phones have this 'flash counter' built in.
There is a way to bypass the counter, and to reset it after you've triggered it, so don't be alarmed.

Flash counter? What's that?

The flash counter is a binary counter built in Samsung phones that is used by Samsung to basically help identify if you have been tampering with your firmware and flashing unofficial software.

Each time you flash unofficial firmware via Odin, your binary flash counter goes up by 1.

Ah, okay.. is there anyway to bypass that?

Yes and no.

How to get root without triggering the counter:

If you want to play it safe and want to stay on Stock, but only want to root.. mrRobinson has injected root to some official Samsung ODIN files.

You can find that thread here: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1771687

This is the SAFEST way to achieve root without tripping the counter.

How to get root easier and faster, triggering the counter:

If you have already flashed your counter or don't care about your counter going up, mskip has developed an amazing application that will install drivers, flash a custom recovery, root your phone, etc.

Visit this thread to download and see the many features it has: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1746682

Big thanks goes out to him for making things so simple!

NOTE: You CAN reset your flash counter to 0 using an application developed by Chainfire called Triangle Away which can be found here: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1494114

What can I do now that I have root?

You can backup your apps using Titanium Backup found in the Google Play store.

Use apps that require root.

Etc.

What can I do now that I have a custom recovery?

Make a NANDROID backup of your current setup and restore that backup!

Flash ROMs, modems, kernels, themes, etc.

Wipe data, clear cache, etc.

Useful links and resources:

[SAMSUNG GALAXY S3 QCOM TOOLKIT V2.3] Drivers Backup Root CWM BusyBox + MORE [TMO]

Useful Downloads:

Odin Program:

ODIN v3.07: Here

Stock File:

STOCK 4.0.4 ODIN FILE: Here

Recoveries (ODIN):

CWM Touch Recovery 5.8.4.7 (ODIN File): Here

CWM Recovery (ODIN File): Here

STOCK Recovery (ODIN File): Here

Credits and Thank you's:
- s15274n for his great guides and borrowed words!
- Woodrube for his great guides and borrowed words!
- Anyone else I may have missed.

Note: I will update this thread daily and keep everything current.
These are my ways of flashing my device and they have worked perfectly, there are other ways as well and they have been posted.
So look around if you find this confusing!

Exel · Sep 22, 2012

How to ODIN back to stock after messing up trying to flash a ROM or rooting.

1. Download this: http://samsung-updates.com/get/2144/Samsung_Firmware_SGH-T999_TMB_T999UVALH2_Android_4_0_4.html

It is the FULL stock firmware. t's roughly 720MB. It will be in a compressed format.

2. Once your download (Stock Firmware) is complete, extract the .tar.md5 file from the first link I gave you. (Use WinRAR or a similar program.)

That is the file you will ODIN to your phone (Add it to the PDA part of ODIN.)

3. Put your phone into download mode. (Confirm that the count is set at 0)

4. Odin like you normally would.

When you initially add it to ODIN, it will look like it gets stuck at <OSM> Please wait..

But it's only because it's a big file, wait it out.

It should finally continue and now it should say:

<OSM> T999UVALH2_T999TMBALH2_T999UVALH2_HOME.tar.md5 is valid.
<OSM> Checking MD5 finished Sucessfully..
<OSM> Leave CS..

And you should be ready to press Start.

5. Now boot into stock recovery, wipe data and cache, reboot!

How to get into recovery:
- Hold down the 'HOME' + 'VOLUME UP' buttons and press the 'POWER' button for about 5 seconds while the phone is off to enter Recovery Mode.

Your phone should now be 100% stock.

Note: My phone isn't connected, but I took screenshots to help you.
You should see the yellow COM light up and whatnot when you have your phone connected.

Exel · Sep 22, 2012

How to ODIN back to stock, reset your flash counter and pretend like you've never flashed a ROM

1. Download this: http://samsung-updates.com/get/2144/Samsung_Firmware_SGH-T999_TMB_T999UVALH2_Android_4_0_4.html

It is the FULL stock firmware. t's roughly 720MB. It will be in a compressed format.

2. While that's downloading, you can Triangle Away your phone. (Note: Do it at your own risk.)

Download Link: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=22463153 (Thanks to Chainfire.)

3. Run Triangle Away on your phone, it'll give you a warning message, and yadayadayada, click Reset Counter.

4. Once your download (Stock Firmware) is complete, extract the .tar.md5 file from the first link I gave you. (Use WinRAR or a similar program.)

That is the file you will ODIN to your phone (Add it to the PDA part of ODIN.)

5. Put your phone into download mode. (Confirm that the count is set at 0)

6. Odin like you normally would.

When you initially add it to ODIN, it will look like it gets stuck at <OSM> Please wait..

But it's only because it's a big file, wait it out.

It should finally continue and now it should say:

<OSM> T999UVALH2_T999TMBALH2_T999UVALH2_HOME.tar.md5 is valid.
<OSM> Checking MD5 finished Sucessfully..
<OSM> Leave CS..

And you should be ready to press Start.

7. Now boot into stock recovery, wipe data and cache, reboot!

How to get into recovery:
- Hold down the 'HOME' + 'VOLUME UP' buttons and press the 'POWER' button for about 5 seconds while the phone is off to enter Recovery Mode.

Your phone should now be 100% stock.

Note: My phone isn't connected, but I took screenshots to help you.
You should see the yellow COM light up and whatnot when you have your phone connected.

Exel · Sep 22, 2012

Frequently Asked Questions (F.A.Qs)

Q: Has Samsung officially released a date for when JellyBean will be released for our device?
A: The answer is no. There hasn't been any official news of when JellyBean will officially hit our devices. Be patient.

Q: My ringtone notification doesn't play completely when someone texts me, why?
A: Not sure why, but a fix for it is to clear your messages.

Q: I flashed back to stock, but my phone hangs at the Samsung logo, what do I do?
A: Don't forget after you ODIN, you have to boot into stock recovery, wipe data and cache, reboot!

Q: How do I get into Recovery Mode?
A:
1. Unplug the USB cable.
2. Shut down the phone.
3. Hold down the 'HOME' + 'VOLUME UP' buttons and press the 'POWER' button for about 5 seconds to enter Recovery Mode.

Q: How do I get into Download Mode?
A:
1. Unplug the USB cable.
2. Shut down the phone.
3. Hold down the 'HOME' + 'VOLUME DOWN' buttons and press the 'POWER' button for about 2 seconds until a WARNING! Screen appears. Press the 'VOLUME UP' button to enter Download Mode.

psykhotic · Sep 22, 2012

It supports a 64gb sd card....

Exel · Sep 22, 2012

psykhotic said:
It supports a 64gb sd card....

Fixed bud, thanks!

psykhotic · Sep 22, 2012

I'll read the rest later but this looks great. I hope it answers some of the dumb questions I see constantly popping up.

chrisram88 · Sep 23, 2012

Looks good.

Sent from my SGH-T999

joshnichols189 · Sep 23, 2012

Thanks man. I'll try and help field questions as well.

Sent from my SGH-T999

jellydroid13 · Sep 23, 2012

Great idea to do a guide like this! Im sure it will help a lot of people and prevent some of those noob bricks.

Exel · Sep 25, 2012

Bumping this up, added more Q & A answers, will be updating it some more today.

ZachLL88 · Sep 26, 2012

Great guide. Flowed very nice! Now just for it to be stickies!

Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium

Exel · Sep 28, 2012

May I request this to be stickied? People keep asking how to ODIN back to stock and what files to use, etc. They're all listed here.

chrisram88 · Sep 29, 2012

Exel, you should add a small section of how to actually flash a rom while in recovery. Give the step and a quick rundown of what it does per step. Just a thought. A lot of new folks ask that a lot.

Sent from my SGH-T999

Exel · Sep 29, 2012

Great idea, will write a guide and post it in a little bit!

Wildchld · Oct 1, 2012

chrisram88 said:
Exel, you should add a small section of how to actually flash a rom while in recovery. Give the step and a quick rundown of what it does per step. Just a thought. A lot of new folks ask that a lot.

Sent from my SGH-T999

theexel said:
Great idea, will write a guide and post it in a little bit!

I agree a more of step by step with a mini explanation and then I think it should be sticky

Basically a complete no brainer guide. great start and will help as too...

:good:

jtl_777 · Oct 14, 2012

psykhotic said:
I'll read the rest later but this looks great. I hope it answers some of the dumb questions I see constantly popping up.

:crying: I was probably one of the ones asking a dumb question you saw.... sorry

---------- Post added at 12:26 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:11 AM ----------

This really is a great guide! Very informative and should def get moved to stickies. Some things you could add to it are things like how to make tar files out of other rom iso files and flash via ODIN and also how to backup and restore system and EFS partitions as well as maybe recovering from a partial brick (idk if you have any experience with usb jigs but a guide like this one would really help!!) Keep up the good work and I look forward to reading your next guide! :cowboy:

dbacchus · Oct 15, 2012

Mods, please add to stickies!

Exel · Oct 15, 2012

Sory haven't had time to update this.
Will do so tonight!

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

Woody · Oct 15, 2012

theexel said:
May I request this to be stickied? People keep asking how to ODIN back to stock and what files to use, etc. They're all listed here.

Wildchld said:
I agree a more of step by step with a mini explanation and then I think it should be sticky

Basically a complete no brainer guide. great start and will help as too...

:good:

dbacchus said:
Mods, please add to stickies!

Done.

There are always going to be redundant questions. Everyone needs to make sure to refer people to this thread and it should evolve quite nicely.

[REF] [GUIDE] Welcome to your device, the Galaxy S III

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Retired Admin - Vacationing in Nanda Parbat

Similar threads

Top Liked Posts