[Q] stock unrooted at&t sgh-i777 stuck in boot loop. can I pull contacts, sms, memos

[hsophie]

[Q] stock unrooted at&t sgh-i777 stuck in boot loop. can I pull contacts, sms, memos

Hello folks,

I have a stock, unrooted AT&T SGH-i777 which is stuck in a 'boot loop' - on power on, I see 'Samsung Galaxy SII' blink infinitely.
The good news is that I can go into download mode as well as recovery mode. I can also connect via adb from my win7 machine.

I was able to pull camera files (pics/vids) from /sdcard/DCIM and whatsapp data (/sdcard/WhatsApp/) using adb pull.
I want to backup (or pull) my contact and sms data (it wasn't synced on phone) as well. However I'm not able to. Do I need to root the phone to use adb for this? If so, how do I root the phone?
Alternatively is there is another way to restore the phone to working condition without losing my contacts and sms data?

I tried rooting it using the 'Easy Rooting Toolkit' v2.0 by DooMLoRD modified by Max Lee @ GalaxyS2Root.com but the runme.bat starts adb and then hangs there indefinitely.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you,

Hammad.

 

[cyril279]

...Whether this works on an Unrooted device, I am not sure, but the goal is to install custom firmware onto a stock device without formatting the data partition (where your sms/contacts/other data are kept)...

• Use desktop ODIN to flash a custom kernel/recovery
• perform a nandroid backup (via custom kernel/recovery)**
• install Samsung-based firmware (cooked or shostock) via custom recovery***

**creates a snapshot of the nand memory module, where everything is stored. Once a working setup is established, Titanium backup (among other tools) can extract contacts, wifi settings, sms & mms messages, etc from this nandroid backup even if you have to conduct a factory reset, in the process of restoring the device.

***this "dirty flash" approach which will hopefully allow you to boot into the device, and backup what you need.

This process has been used recently in a similar scenario, and is fully detailed in another thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s2-att/help/phone-wont-boot-to-restore-deleted-file-t2827622

-Cyril

Hello folks,

I have a stock, unrooted AT&T SGH-i777 which is stuck in a 'boot loop' - on power on, I see 'Samsung Galaxy SII' blink infinitely.
The good news is that I can go into download mode as well as recovery mode. I can also connect via adb from my win7 machine.

I was able to pull camera files (pics/vids) from /sdcard/DCIM and whatsapp data (/sdcard/WhatsApp/) using adb pull.
I want to backup (or pull) my contact and sms data (it wasn't synced on phone) as well. However I'm not able to. Do I need to root the phone to use adb for this? If so, how do I root the phone?
Alternatively is there is another way to restore the phone to working condition without losing my contacts and sms data?

I tried rooting it using the 'Easy Rooting Toolkit' v2.0 by DooMLoRD modified by Max Lee @ GalaxyS2Root.com but the runme.bat starts adb and then hangs there indefinitely.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you,

Hammad.

 

[hsophie]

Thank you Cyril279 for your response. I had a few questions/clarifications since I'm a complete newbie when it comes to flashing/ROMs/rooting/android:

My Android version is Gingerbread 2.3.x. I never upgraded it since I bought it in mid Feb 2012.

...Whether this works on an Unrooted device, I am not sure, but the goal is to install custom firmware onto a stock device without formatting the data partition (where your sms/contacts/other data are kept)...

I'm new to this stuff so I want to make sure that I state things correctly. By unrooted, I mean my device has never ever been rooted. It is stock in all ways from AT&T. Does that change anything?

• Use desktop ODIN to flash a custom kernel/recovery
• perform a nandroid backup (via custom kernel/recovery)**
• install Samsung-based firmware (cooked or shostock) via custom recovery***

**creates a snapshot of the nand memory module, where everything is stored. Once a working setup is established, Titanium backup (among other tools) can extract contacts, wifi settings, sms & mms messages, etc from this nandroid backup even if you have to conduct a factory reset, in the process of restoring the device.

***this "dirty flash" approach which will hopefully allow you to boot into the device, and backup what you need.

This process has been used recently in a similar scenario, and is fully detailed in another thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s2-att/help/phone-wont-boot-to-restore-deleted-file-t2827622

-Cyril

I read through the thread that you linked to. I want to make sure I understand what I need to do is in:
A. message #5: get ODIN and siyah kernels.
Questions: The Siyah website says that the kernel is for i9100 on JB. Should I still use that one even though my phone is the SGH-I777 and on Gingerbread? Will this upgrade the kernel to JellyBean?

B. message #7: do steps 1,2,3,6,7; (skip 4,5).
Question: Step 6 states '...rooted android'. My phone is not rooted. Will it get rooted as part of A?

Thank you for your patience with me.

Hammad.

 

[JEZZEJAMEZ]

Hey guys I'm looking for help with the same issue.. If I had twrp or cwm I'd be good but this phone is my daughters and has not been brought over to the dark side..

This is the problem. Yesterday she came to me and her phone was bootlooping the samsung logo. So I've tried to pull the battery, master reset and call att with no luck. :thumbdown:

I'm wondering since I'm in bootloop and no custom recovery can I maybe flash a custom rom or stock rom to this with the same method..

Thanks Any advice is well appreciated...
I need to get this fixed ASAP. My daughter is two young to be home alone with no phone.....
Sent from my SM-G900A using Xparent BlueTapatalk 2

 

[cyril279]

In this case, we are only using the recovery portion of the kernel, so it doesn't matter that it's for an i9100. There are other .tar versions that are designed specifically for the i777, I just didn't search for them.

I haven't tried this procedure on a never-rooted device, but I expect that it works. Perhaps one of our peers will chime in if they know better, otherwise if you're willing to wait a couple days, I will try the complete procedure out on my own i777, starting from gingerbread.

As long as you can get into download mode, and you DO NOT perform a factory reset, then the prognosis for data recovery is good.

In the meantime, in may be helpful to familiarize yourself with the use of desktop odin.

-Cyril

Thank you Cyril279 for your response. I had a few questions/clarifications since I'm a complete newbie when it comes to flashing/ROMs/rooting/android:

My Android version is Gingerbread 2.3.x. I never upgraded it since I bought it in mid Feb 2012.



I'm new to this stuff so I want to make sure that I state things correctly. By unrooted, I mean my device has never ever been rooted. It is stock in all ways from AT&T. Does that change anything?



I read through the thread that you linked to. I want to make sure I understand what I need to do is in:
A. message #5: get ODIN and siyah kernels.
Questions: The Siyah website says that the kernel is for i9100 on JB. Should I still use that one even though my phone is the SGH-I777 and on Gingerbread? Will this upgrade the kernel to JellyBean?

B. message #7: do steps 1,2,3,6,7; (skip 4,5).
Question: Step 6 states '...rooted android'. My phone is not rooted. Will it get rooted as part of A?

Thank you for your patience with me.

Hammad.

---------- Post added at 04:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:47 PM ----------

"master reset"? = factory reset?

If so, then you're not worried about the recovery of any data, and the easiest path is to use desktop Odin to flash the stock i777UCMD8 firmware onto your I777. That firmware can be found here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=20229527&postcount=46

Hey guys I'm looking for help with the same issue.. If I had twrp or cwm I'd be good but this phone is my daughters and has not been brought over to the dark side..

This is the problem. Yesterday she came to me and her phone was bootlooping the samsung logo. So I've tried to pull the battery, master reset and call att with no luck. :thumbdown:

I'm wondering since I'm in bootloop and no custom recovery can I maybe flash a custom rom or stock rom to this with the same method..

Thanks Any advice is well appreciated...
I need to get this fixed ASAP. My daughter is two young to be home alone with no phone.....
Sent from my SM-G900A using Xparent BlueTapatalk 2

 

[hsophie]

In this case, we are only using the recovery portion of the kernel, so it doesn't matter that it's for an i9100. There are other .tar versions that are designed specifically for the i777, I just didn't search for them.

I haven't tried this procedure on a never-rooted device, but I expect that it works. Perhaps one of our peers will chime in if they know better, otherwise if you're willing to wait a couple days, I will try the complete procedure out on my own i777, starting from gingerbread.

As long as you can get into download mode, and you DO NOT perform a factory reset, then the prognosis for data recovery is good.

In the meantime, in may be helpful to familiarize yourself with the use of desktop odin.

-Cyril

Thank you once again Cyril279. I'll familiarize myself with ODIN. I'm not in a hurry since I have a replacement phone. I just want to make sure I can get my data and restore my device. Where can I find kernel for i777?

Hammad.

 

[JEZZEJAMEZ]

Thanks, my wife is all over my azz. School is about to start, with our busy schedules she's(daughter) home alone alot. As many others we don't have a land phone.. ...

Sent from my SM-G900A using Xparent BlueTapatalk 2

 

[creepyncrawly]

Where can I find kernel for i777?

Siyah for 2.3.x. There is a tar version.

 

[cyril279]

Thank you Cyril279 for your response. I had a few questions/clarifications since I'm a complete newbie when it comes to flashing/ROMs/rooting/android:

My Android version is Gingerbread 2.3.x. I never upgraded it since I bought it in mid Feb 2012.

I'm new to this stuff so I want to make sure that I state things correctly. By unrooted, I mean my device has never ever been rooted. It is stock in all ways from AT&T. Does that change anything?

No, that does not change anything for this excersize.

I read through the thread that you linked to. I want to make sure I understand what I need to do is in:
A. message #5: get ODIN and siyah kernels.
Questions: The Siyah website says that the kernel is for i9100 on JB. Should I still use that one even though my phone is the SGH-I777 and on Gingerbread? Will this upgrade the kernel to JellyBean?

The initial kernel flash (step 1) is only for the custom recovery. It will be overwritten by a more appropriate kernel later, when we flash the firmware.

Regarding kernel choice, there are usually two major considerations: what device, and what firmware version is it designed for. An i9100 kernel will boot an i777 into recovery without issue. Since this process won't be using the initial kernel to boot into android, we are not limited to specific versions of i9100 or i777 kernels. We only need to find a .tar version for use with desktop Odin.
--that said--
If you do use an i777 version that is designed for android 2.3.x (thanks @creepyncrawly), then you have the option of booting into Android once the kernel is flashed.

B. message #7: do steps 1,2,3,6,7; (skip 4,5).
Question: Step 6 states '...rooted android'. My phone is not rooted. Will it get rooted as part of A?
[...]

Desktop Odin uses root-level access to install firmware (whether stock or custom), so establishing root-access prior, or as a separate step is not necessary when using this method to install custom firmware.

Our process will be different than that shown in message #7, since we are not trying to manually repair the system. We will be attempting the dirty-flash method which involves the first few steps of message #7, and more from message #11.

Process:
0.5) Save custom Samsung-based firmware (cooked v2.2 or shostock3) onto internal memory or sdcard
1) Use desktop Odin to flash Siyah kernel
^^ Installs a kernel/recovery that will allow you to perform a nandroid backup, and flash firmware.
^^This WILL change the initial boot screen (can be corrected later, but does not affect the function of the firmware), and will notch the flash counter (simply doesn't matter).
2) Boot to recovery
3) Create nandroid backup
^^ If things go sideways, you have a snapshot of where you are. If you have to start from scratch, there are apps that can restore Apps, settings, and more, from a backup.
4) Install custom Samsung-based Firmware
^^ Restores the original file-system, without overwriting the /data partition.
5) Attempt boot into android

-Success?

 

[hsophie]

Thank you for your detailed response Cyril279.

For confirmation, I will:
0. use the shostock3 v2.3a firmware from here. I'm assuming that getting it onto the device will require connecting via adb, use adb shell to mkdir and then push the unzipped contents to a directory such as /sdcard/shostock3v23a/

1a. install Desktop ODIN 1.85 or 3.07.
b. use Odin to flash the Siyah-v2.6.14-att.tar mentioned by creepyncrawly [have to read how to do this]

2. boot to recovery

3. create nandroid backup.
Q: Is there a way to exclude the DCIM folder during backup or delete all my pics from the camera before backup since I already have backed all content from /sdcard/DCIM (camera). It was 5.5gb? I'm also assuming that the backup will be created on the phone itself so it has to have enough space on it to hold the backup.

4. Install shostock3 v2.3a [have to read how to do this]

5. hopefully boot successfully into my phone.

Process:
0.5) Save custom Samsung-based firmware (cooked v2.2 or shostock3) onto internal memory or sdcard
1) Use desktop Odin to flash Siyah kernel
^^ Installs a kernel/recovery that will allow you to perform a nandroid backup, and flash firmware.
^^This WILL change the initial boot screen (can be corrected later, but does not affect the function of the firmware), and will notch the flash counter (simply doesn't matter).
2) Boot to recovery
3) Create nandroid backup
^^ If things go sideways, you have a snapshot of where you are. If you have to start from scratch, there are apps that can restore Apps, settings, and more, from a backup.
4) Install custom Samsung-based Firmware
^^ Restores the original file-system, without overwriting the /data partition.
5) Attempt boot into android

-Success?

 

[cyril279]

Close, you're close.

Regarding getting the firmware onto the device, the easiest method is to save the files on a micro sd card via PC (formatted as fat32), then insert the card into the device. Otherwise yes, adb push will get it there as well.

0 Use the shostock from the first post of that thread (420mb). The "version 2.3a" that you mention is just a kernel.

1a. install Desktop ODIN 1.85 or 3.07
1b Use Odin to flash the siyah.tar mentioned by creepyncrawly.
desktop Odin use: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=53669365&postcount=360

2. boot to recovery

3. create nandroid backup.
Don't worry about DCIM, the nandroid does not backup the internal memory partition (aka internal sd card) where your photos are stored.
A factory reset also does not touch this partition. <-- BUT DO NOT FACTORY RESET
You are correct that the backup is stored on the device, so it IS important that there is enough space for the backup.

4. Install shostock3 v4.0 [have to read how to do this]
^^It's fairly straight forward while in recovery. If not, we're here to help.

5. hopefully boot successfully into my phone.

Thank you for your detailed response Cyril279.

For confirmation, I will:
0. use the shostock3 v2.3a firmware from here. I'm assuming that getting it onto the device will require connecting via adb, use adb shell to mkdir and then push the unzipped contents to a directory such as /sdcard/shostock3v23a/

1a. install Desktop ODIN 1.85 or 3.07.
b. use Odin to flash the Siyah-v2.6.14-att.tar mentioned by creepyncrawly [have to read how to do this]

2. boot to recovery

3. create nandroid backup.
Q: Is there a way to exclude the DCIM folder during backup or delete all my pics from the camera before backup since I already have backed all content from /sdcard/DCIM (camera). It was 5.5gb? I'm also assuming that the backup will be created on the phone itself so it has to have enough space on it to hold the backup.

4. Install shostock3 v2.3a [have to read how to do this]

5. hopefully boot successfully into my phone.

 

[hsophie]

Thank you Cyril279 once again.
I started the process last night... have some more questions. Please see below:

Close, you're close.

Regarding getting the firmware onto the device, the easiest method is to save the files on a micro sd card via PC (formatted as fat32), then insert the card into the device. Otherwise yes, adb push will get it there as well.

0 Use the shostock from the first post of that thread (420mb). The "version 2.3a" that you mention is just a kernel.

For step 0:
I downloaded the full shostock rom as specified. Since I don't have a microSD card available I'm going to copy shostock to the internal sdcard (/sdcard) using adb push.
Do I need to copy the unzipped contents of shostock or just put the single zip file there?

1a. install Desktop ODIN 1.85 or 3.07
1b Use Odin to flash the siyah.tar mentioned by creepyncrawly.
desktop Odin use: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=53669365&postcount=360

2. boot to recovery

3. create nandroid backup.
Don't worry about DCIM, the nandroid does not backup the internal memory partition (aka internal sd card) where your photos are stored.
A factory reset also does not touch this partition. <-- BUT DO NOT FACTORY RESET
You are correct that the backup is stored on the device, so it IS important that there is enough space for the backup.

I wanted to make sure I have enough space for step 3 so I connected via adb and checked disk space using df. I get this:

D:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools>adb shell df
Filesystem             Size   Used   Free   Blksize
/dev                   418M    76K   418M   4096
/tmp                   418M    56K   418M   4096
/system                503M   472M    31M   4096
/mnt/.lfs: Function not implemented
/cache                 246M     4M   241M   4096
/sdcard                 11G     8G     3G   32768

Questions:
1. Which filesystem will get backed up from above using nandroid?
2. Do I have enough space given the information above?
3. I wasn't able to figure out whether you can specify where to save your nandroid backup from my research. Does it allow you specify a backup location? [I would want to put it under the /sdcard partition since its got the most space].

4. Install shostock3 v4.0 [have to read how to do this]
^^It's fairly straight forward while in recovery. If not, we're here to help.

5. hopefully boot successfully into my phone.

Thanks for the encouragement, I'll probably try the process tonight. Will post update once done unless I have other questions.

Hammad.

 

[cyril279]

[...]
For step 0:
I downloaded the full shostock rom as specified. Since I don't have a microSD card available I'm going to copy shostock to the internal sdcard (/sdcard) using adb push.
Do I need to copy the unzipped contents of shostock or just put the single zip file there?

Copy the entire zip file onto the device.

I wanted to make sure I have enough space for step 3 so I connected via adb and checked disk space using df. I get this:

D:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools>adb shell df
Filesystem             Size   Used   Free   Blksize
/dev                   418M    76K   418M   4096
/tmp                   418M    56K   418M   4096
/system                503M   472M    31M   4096
/mnt/.lfs: Function not implemented
/cache                 246M     4M   241M   4096
/sdcard                 11G     8G     3G   32768

Questions:
1. Which filesystem will get backed up from above using nandroid?
2. Do I have enough space given the information above?
3. I wasn't able to figure out whether you can specify where to save your nandroid backup from my research. Does it allow you specify a backup location? [I would want to put it under the /sdcard partition since its got the most space].

1. A nandroid backup will typically backup /system, /data, and /boot(/kernel) partitions (Your partition report is missing a few items). -stock i777 partition table-
2. 3GB is enough for a nandroid
3.Typically, from the first screen of ClockworkMod recovery you would select {backup & restore}, and the submenu will provide options to {backup to internal sdcard} or {backup to external sdcard} (among others)

Thanks for the encouragement, I'll probably try the process tonight. Will post update once done unless I have other questions.

Hammad.

:fingers-crossed:

---------- Post added at 04:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:32 PM ----------



I have never used that shell df command, and I'm not yet sure about all of what it returns, but I certainly got different results when booted into android, than when I was booted into recovery. Were you booted into the stock 3e recovery when you performed the shell df command?

List of devices attached
001952750d598e  recovery


C:\Android\sdk\platform-tools>adb shell df
Filesystem           1K-blocks      Used Available Use% Mounted on
tmpfs                   404636       136    404500   0% /dev
tmpfs                   404636        12    404624   0% /tmp
/dev/block/mmcblk0p7    251968      4276    247692   2% /cache
/dev/block/mmcblk0p11
                      11901568   6185360   5716208  52% /emmc
/dev/block/mmcblk0p11
                      11901568   6185360   5716208  52% /and-sec

List of devices attached
001952750d598e  device


C:\Android\sdk\platform-tools>adb shell df
Filesystem               Size     Used     Free   Blksize
/dev                   395.2M   136.0K   395.0M   4096
/sys/fs/cgroup         395.2M    12.0K   395.1M   4096
/mnt/asec              395.2M     0.0K   395.2M   4096
/mnt/obb               395.2M     0.0K   395.2M   4096
/mnt/fuse              395.2M     0.0K   395.2M   4096
/system                503.9M   320.2M   183.8M   4096
/cache                 246.1M     4.2M   241.9M   4096
/efs                    19.7M     9.2M    10.5M   4096
/data                    2.0G     1.0G   941.5M   4096
/preload               503.9M   293.6M   210.3M   4096
/mnt/media_rw/sdcard0: Permission denied
/mnt/secure/asec: Permission denied
/storage/sdcard0        11.4G     5.9G     5.5G   8192

 

[hsophie]

1. A nandroid backup will typically backup /system, /data, and /boot(/kernel) partitions (Your partition report is missing a few items).

I have never used that shell df command, and I'm not yet sure about all of what it returns, but I certainly got different results when booted into android, than when I was booted into recovery. Were you booted into the stock 3e recovery when you performed the shell df command?

Yes, I was in the stock 3e recovery when I connected via adb and ran the command. Since I'm not root perhaps its not showing me the /data partition. I can cd into /data but ls doesn't show anything.

I'll send you an update tonight. Thanks for all of your help so far! I really appreciate it.

 

[hsophie]

OK, here is what I did:

1. I wasn't able to copy/push shostock to my phone via adb. I kept getting "failed to copy ? to ?: Read-only file system."
I tried remounting, but it also failed, probably because I don't have root access.
So I've deferred this step to later.

2. I ran ODIN 1.85 desktop, put the phone in ODIN mode and flashed the siyah kernel. ODIN ran successfully and my phone rebooted successfully!
The boot screen shows a yellow triangle and I9100 on it though.

At this point I have access to my phone again. I was able to copy whatsapp history using the guide on their website.
I decided that I'll just sync contacts to google, but lo and behold, I just discovered that wifi isn't working. When I turn it on, it turns off after a few seconds. It doesn't bring up any wifi networks on scan.

Is there a way to make the wifi work again?

Thanks

Hammad.

Update:
1. I copied the shostock ROM through USB/windows
2. I created a nandroid backup from CWMR Touch Recovery onto internal sdcard. I got the following messages on backup:

SD Card space free: 8645MB
Backing up boot image...
Backing up system...
Backing up data...
[I]No /sdcard/.android_secure found. Skipping backup of applications on external storage.[/I]
Backing up cache...
[I]No sd-ext found. Skipping backup of sd-ext.[/I]
Generating md5 sum...

Backup complete!

Are the two messages in italics a problem?

 

[hsophie]

Update #2:

I decided to install shostock. Installation went smoothly. My wi-fi issue was also resolved with the upgrade and I have Android 4.1.2 on my phone.

Thank you Cyril279 for all of your help on this. I couldn't have done it without your guidance!

 

[cyril279]

[...]
1. I wasn't able to copy/push shostock to my phone via adb. I kept getting "failed to copy ? to ?: Read-only file system."
I tried remounting, but it also failed, probably because I don't have root access.
So I've deferred this step to later.

When I tried the process, as soon as I rebooted to the siyah kernel, I was able to ADB push to the device, but I don't know what command you issued, or what path you chose.

adb push c:\path\to\file.zip /storage/sdcard0/

adb push c:\path\to\file.zip /sdcard/

Ultimately this didn't matter since you were able to boot into android, and the file could be copied via USB.

2. I ran ODIN 1.85 desktop, put the phone in ODIN mode and flashed the siyah kernel. ODIN ran successfully and my phone rebooted successfully!

Darn right it did!
Thanks again @creepyncrawly, using this specific kernel made this portion of the process possible.

The boot screen shows a yellow triangle and I9100 on it though.

The method of recovery that we used tripped the device's custom-flash monitor (voids service under warranty). It doesn't affect the functionality of the firmware at all, but if you prefer to have the correct initial boot animation, then you'll need to follow an additional procedure.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/gal...to-restore-deleted-file-t2827622/post54521059

At this point I have access to my phone again. I was able to copy whatsapp history using the guide on their website.
I decided that I'll just sync contacts to google, but lo and behold, I just discovered that wifi isn't working. When I turn it on, it turns off after a few seconds. It doesn't bring up any wifi networks on scan.

Is there a way to make the wifi work again?

Thanks

Hammad.

Update:
1. I copied the shostock ROM through USB/windows
2. I created a nandroid backup from CWMR Touch Recovery onto internal sdcard. I got the following messages on backup:

SD Card space free: 8645MB
Backing up boot image...
Backing up system...
Backing up data...
[I]No /sdcard/.android_secure found. Skipping backup of applications on external storage.[/I]
Backing up cache...
[I]No sd-ext found. Skipping backup of sd-ext.[/I]
Generating md5 sum...

Backup complete!

Are the two messages in italics a problem?

No they are not a problem at all. Both of those messages are the result of the fact that you simply didn't have an external sd card installed, so it's informing you that it skipped the backup of the cache files there-on. /boot, /system and /data are what really matter.

Update #2:

I decided to install shostock. Installation went smoothly. My wi-fi issue was also resolved with the upgrade and I have Android 4.1.2 on my phone.

Thank you Cyril279 for all of your help on this. I couldn't have done it without your guidance!

Our pleasure, although the process wasn't quite as expected, I'm certainly glad to hear that it worked out.

As mentioned earlier, if the i9100 bootscreen bothers you, then there's another (easier) adventure with your name all over it!

Happy flashing
-Cyril

 

[hsophie]

When I tried the process, as soon as I rebooted to the siyah kernel, I was able to ADB push to the device, but I don't know what command you issued, or what path you chose.

adb push c:\path\to\file.zip /storage/sdcard0/

adb push c:\path\to\file.zip /sdcard/

Ultimately this didn't matter since you were able to boot into android, and the file could be copied via USB.
-Cyril

Just to clarify, I tried adb pushing it before flashing the siyah kernel. The phone wasn't rooted so thats why it didn't work.

My next challenge is to figure out how to copy my calendar to google calendar and then sync it so that it copies to my replacement phone (HTC One M8). I was using the samsung calendar, without it being linked to my google account.

Whatsapp data transfer was a cinch. Just copy the folder to the same location on new phone and install whatsapp and you're done.

I transferred memos from the S2 to M8 but I think the memo files are samsung proprietary format. I'll need to figure out how to transfer that info.
The other issue would be transferring my sms as well.
Any recommendations on tools for this would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Hammad.

 

[cyril279]

Just to clarify, I tried adb pushing it before flashing the siyah kernel. The phone wasn't rooted so thats why it didn't work.

Got it, makes sense.

My next challenge is to figure out how to copy my calendar to google calendar and then sync it so that it copies to my replacement phone (HTC One M8). I was using the samsung calendar, without it being linked to my google account.

Whatsapp data transfer was a cinch. Just copy the folder to the same location on new phone and install whatsapp and you're done.

I transferred memos from the S2 to M8 but I think the memo files are samsung proprietary format. I'll need to figure out how to transfer that info.
The other issue would be transferring my sms as well.
Any recommendations on tools for this would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Hammad.

I can't recommend titanium backup highly enough for backup and restoration of apps and their data -including contacts, calendar content, wifi connections, sms/mms, etc. It might not be able to get the memo data to a different program, but remember, all of this info is captured in your nandroid backup as well, and titanium backup can extract it directly from the nandroid into the new firmware.

-Cyril

 

[desteele]

I can't recommend titanium backup highly enough for backup and restoration of apps and their data -including contacts, calendar content, wifi connections, sms/mms, etc. It might not be able to get the memo data to a different program, but remember, all of this info is captured in your nandroid backup as well, and titanium backup can extract it directly from the nandroid into the new firmware.

-Cyril

I could have sworn that I've read on here multiple times that restoring data to apps, even with TIB, results in problematic operations. If I jumped ROMs but had backed up my apps and data with TIB, if I restore the data ONLY in the new ROM, that should be no problem?