Samsung Galaxy Express I8730 Q&A

[jjchico]

i8730 - Spain - Orange tests

Hi!

This post was intended to the [DEV] thread but it seems I do not have enough priviledges yet

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2285898

This are the results of my tests:

EDIT: solved the issues in the first version of the post. See after "EDIT" in the post.

The phone
========

Spanish Orange carrier-locked terminal

GT-I8730
Android: 4.1.2
Base band: I8730XWAMF2
Kernel: 3.4.0-1217024 [email protected] #1 SMP PREEMPT Sat Jun 8 00:50:43 KST 2013
Compilation: JZ054K.I8730XWAMF1

Root
====

Motochopper did not work for me. Framaroot did the job with the Gandalf method. I had to do it twice. I you installed SuperUser by trying motochopper I recommend removing it since Framaroot includes its own superuser (SuperSu). The first post should be updated with frmaroot success cases.

CWM
====

I tried to install the porte CWM in the [DEV] thread with heimdall (I do not have Windows so Odin is not an easy option to me):

# heimdall flash --recovery recovery.img --no-reboot

...
Uploading RECOVERY
93%
ERROR: Failed to confirm end of file transfer sequence!
ERROR: RECOVERY upload failed!
...

After that I have lost the original recovery. Entering recovery just says:

RECOVERY BOOTING ....

I can boot Android though.

#### EDIT: This is a bug with heimdall 1.4.0rc1 in Ubuntu 13.04. Installed heimdall 1.4.0 from [1] and this time worked fine. Only in this version "recovery" should be capitalized:

# heimdall flash --RECOVERY recovery.img --no-reboot

[1] https://bitbucket.org/benjamin_dobell/heimdall/downloads

I noticed that the CWM recovery image in pont #1 in the [DEV] thread is different to the first reported functional image in post #201 in the same thread. I tried both of the them with the same result.

#### EDIT: currently successfully flashed CWM from the #201 post. I guess CWM from post #1 would also be OK.

Also tried direct partition flashing with dd as in http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=42854338&postcount=9

adb shell
su
dd if=recovery.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p18

This gives me the initial CWM recovery menu, but any option I select just takes me to the initial menu. CWM says: "Warning: No file_context" that I do not know what means.

#### EDIT: Stupid me! I used on/off button to select but in this version of CWM it goes up in the menu hierarchy, so I always got to the initial menu (on/off is the selection key in my old SGS i9000 CWM). I discoverd that the home button is selection so I have been able to make a full nandroid backup. It meas that the "dd" method did probably work right.

I may try with Odin when I have an option.

#### EDIT: No more Odin. Go Linux/heimdall I have also successfully flashed the original recovery linked in the [DEV] thread.

As soon as I have CWM working and I can backup/restore I will help with ROM testing.

#### EDIT: ready to test

Thanks all the devs for their incredible work.

 

[Garmus]

Thanks all the devs for their incredible work.

Greate job mate! Hope to made the same soon for my i8730

 

[Fajreas]

#### EDIT: ready to test

Thanks all the devs for their incredible work.

So are you saying that CWM works on this phone?

 

[jjchico]

So are you saying that CWM works on this phone?

Sure. See the link at the begining of my post.

Enviado desde mi GT-I8730 usando Tapatalk

 

[Fajreas]

Sure. See the link at the begining of my post.

Nice! will try to do it today :good:

oh and how do you install/flash this? hahahah lol.. alright i suck :laugh:

 

[Kloner]

i8730 ntfs help

Hi guys,

to keep long story short i will write the issue in points. thanks for your help ,patience, reading the issue and helping out in advance.

Back ground.

1. I have rooted i8730.
2. 32 gb sd card with two partitions one of 1 gb ext4 for links2sd and 2nd partition previously was of exfat.
3. i somehow manage to swap my memory card using Root External 2 Internal SD.
4. after couple of days it became read only however external sdcard which actually was internal after swapping was working fine.
5. I have busy box installed i have somehow managed to obtain init.d support also.

Now

1. I again formated the sd card but this time both partition ext4 one set as primary and active and 2nd only primary for links2sd.
2. after reading and searching could not find a workable solution firstly to mount ext4 and secondly to swap.
3. currently i reformated with ntfs in order for it to work in my windows also.

request

1. I am a noob, newbie and fresh, infact i8730 is my first android device and very new to linux.
2. So please guide me to very step by step guide or guide me to a ready made APK(s) to firstly automount my ntfs and secondly swapping it with my internal memory

finally sorry in advance for all the donts i mentioned or did here , if any.

Noob friendly guide/help will be very much appreciated.

Regards

 

[tanrsquare]

Hi,is there any way to unroot this pphone after i root it? just wanted to make sure that I can get back to stock (& unrooted) if I ever regret rooting
thanks

Oh not really... But yes, u can uninstall or remove the 'Superuser' or 'SuperSU' app by some means like using 'Root Explorer' to del the App file in 'System/Apps' folder or use any App Manager tweaks like 'Link2SD' to uninstall it. Do take note tht upon removing the essential App for Rooting will not remove all root items n revert the system back to the state during unroot... There are still some system changes n root files in the sys tht cannot remove or undo. Upon doing so, root access will be denied as there will be an error as 'Superuser' App is no longer available. For Samsung users, the system states will change to 'Custom'. No way to revert it unless flash a new ROM using Odin or CWM. For Odin, the flash count will increase eventually upon flashing new ROM. This mau affect warranty. So ya... just take note.



Sent from Samsung Galaxy Express via XDA-Developers app

 

[aureljared]

Oh not really... But yes, u can uninstall or remove the 'Superuser' or 'SuperSU' app by some means like using 'Root Explorer' to del the App file in 'System/Apps' folder or use any App Manager tweaks like 'Link2SD' to uninstall it. Do take note tht upon removing the essential App for Rooting will not remove all root items n revert the system back to the state during unroot... There are still some system changes n root files in the sys tht cannot remove or undo. Upon doing so, root access will be denied as there will be an error as 'Superuser' App is no longer available. For Samsung users, the system states will change to 'Custom'. No way to revert it unless flash a new ROM using Odin or CWM. For Odin, the flash count will increase eventually upon flashing new ROM. This mau affect warranty. So ya... just take note.
Sent from Samsung Galaxy Express via XDA-Developers app

Removing Superuser will not suffice. You must do an unroot either from Framaroot or SuperSU. Because if you only remove the app, the binaries are still there in /system/xbin and SysScope will notice the difference (perhaps by a SHA1 or MD5 hash).
But yes, you can also do a full stock reflash with Odin. Just remember to do at least three data wipes from recovery to be safe.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

---------- Post added at 08:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:36 PM ----------

Hi guys,

to keep long story short i will write the issue in points. thanks for your help ,patience, reading the issue and helping out in advance.

Back ground.

1. I have rooted i8730.
2. 32 gb sd card with two partitions one of 1 gb ext4 for links2sd and 2nd partition previously was of exfat.
3. i somehow manage to swap my memory card using Root External 2 Internal SD.
4. after couple of days it became read only however external sdcard which actually was internal after swapping was working fine.
5. I have busy box installed i have somehow managed to obtain init.d support also.

Now

1. I again formated the sd card but this time both partition ext4 one set as primary and active and 2nd only primary for links2sd.
2. after reading and searching could not find a workable solution firstly to mount ext4 and secondly to swap.
3. currently i reformated with ntfs in order for it to work in my windows also.

request

1. I am a noob, newbie and fresh, infact i8730 is my first android device and very new to linux.
2. So please guide me to very step by step guide or guide me to a ready made APK(s) to firstly automount my ntfs and secondly swapping it with my internal memory

finally sorry in advance for all the donts i mentioned or did here , if any.

Noob friendly guide/help will be very much appreciated.

Regards

Why would you need link2sd? That's meant for devices with small storagespace.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

---------- Post added at 08:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:37 PM ----------

Nice! will try to do it today :good:

oh and how do you install/flash this? hahahah lol.. alright i suck :laugh:

If you use Linux, you can follow his post. Or if you use Windows, download Odin 3.07 and Samsung USB Drivers then Install. Use Odin ti flash. Hundreds of guides out there, I think


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Kloner]

i8730 ntfs help

I need links2sd to link my installs to sdcard , but my question is regarding auto mounting ntfs partition of my sdcard and swapping it with internal sdcard storage.

Removing Superuser will not suffice. You must do an unroot either from Framaroot or SuperSU. Because if you only remove the app, the binaries are still there in /system/xbin and SysScope will notice the difference (perhaps by a SHA1 or MD5 hash).
But yes, you can also do a full stock reflash with Odin. Just remember to do at least three data wipes from recovery to be safe.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

---------- Post added at 08:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:36 PM ----------



Why would you need link2sd? That's meant for devices with small storagespace.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

---------- Post added at 08:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:37 PM ----------



If you use Linux, you can follow his post. Or if you use Windows, download Odin 3.07 and Samsung USB Drivers then Install. Use Odin ti flash. Hundreds of guides out there, I think


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jjchico]

Nice! will try to do it today :good:

oh and how do you install/flash this? hahahah lol.. alright i suck :laugh:

Follow my post above if you use Linux or use Odin in Windows. See thread [1]. If you have no previous experience using heimdall/Odin you may wait until mature custom ROM support for this device is developed and someone writes detailed install instructions.

You are close to get a RTFM answer, so be carefull

[1] http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2285898

---------- Post added at 12:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:09 AM ----------

Tried a couple of backup and restores using CWM put together by @aureljared. The have worked fine so CWM seem very solid.

Thanks again.

 

[aureljared]

I need links2sd to link my installs to sdcard , but my question is regarding auto mounting ntfs partition of my sdcard and swapping it with internal sdcard storage.

Oh, yes, now I see. As to auto-mounting an external partition, I am not sure if that is possible in Android. And as for swapping storage, that is not generally safe since a lot of apps rely on internal storage, but if you really want to do it, there are a lot of guides on editing the vold.fstab.

I don't know if that is any help to you.

 

[KINGbabasula]

Oh, yes, now I see. As to auto-mounting an external partition, I am not sure if that is possible in Android. And as for swapping storage, that is not generally safe since a lot of apps rely on internal storage, but if you really want to do it, there are a lot of guides on editing the vold.fstab.

I don't know if that is any help to you.

Yes auto mounting the partition can be done on ramdisk and swap can be set in kernel. Maybe if i get time i'll make a custom kernel

Inviato dal mio GT-I9070 con Tapatalk

 

[Fajreas]

it looks like i have a battery problem on my phone... heres why:

Whenever i charge my phone i always charge until it says 100%... but when i charge with AC adapter, it charges to 100% but in half an hour of the phone not plugged in with the charger, it goes down to 95% or sometimes 93%. When i charge with my computer, it stays 100% for around 3 hours then it goes down to 99%.. Does anyone have this problem??

One more thing, one time i had around 73% and i played a game for a bit. i checked the charge level and it was around 67%... but then i just restarted my phone (dont know why haha) and it incresed its charge to 82% funnily enough.. is my battery a problem?

 

[jjchico]

Indicated battery charge is a reference more than an accurate value since the actual battery charge handling is a complex task in modern phones. You can Google about that. So I am not surprised by your numbers.

Enviado desde mi GT-I9000 usando Tapatalk

 

[Kloner]

Oh, yes, now I see. As to auto-mounting an external partition, I am not sure if that is possible in Android. And as for swapping storage, that is not generally safe since a lot of apps rely on internal storage, but if you really want to do it, there are a lot of guides on editing the vold.fstab.

I don't know if that is any help to you.

It measn currently i will not be able to use ntfs partition on i8730 ? . i needed becasue of the same old reason 4gb limit. my internal memory out of the box showed 4.5gb memory.

---------- Post added at 07:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:23 PM ----------

it looks like i have a battery problem on my phone... heres why:

Whenever i charge my phone i always charge until it says 100%... but when i charge with AC adapter, it charges to 100% but in half an hour of the phone not plugged in with the charger, it goes down to 95% or sometimes 93%. When i charge with my computer, it stays 100% for around 3 hours then it goes down to 99%.. Does anyone have this problem??

One more thing, one time i had around 73% and i played a game for a bit. i checked the charge level and it was around 67%... but then i just restarted my phone (dont know why haha) and it incresed its charge to 82% funnily enough.. is my battery a problem?

Just yesterday or day before it happened to my phone also. Dont know exactly the %s but after rebooting % remaining showed an increase. Not an issue i think so.

 

[Fajreas]

how far are we into the development of our first CM custom ROM? I really can't wait for this to be on our phones and i know alot of other people are also waiting too! in advance, good luck and big thanks to all the people contributing to the CM and i hope all goes well :good:

 

[aureljared]

how far are we into the development of our first CM custom ROM? I really can't wait for this to be on our phones and i know alot of other people are also waiting too! in advance, good luck and big thanks to all the people contributing to the CM and i hope all goes well :good:

Right now we are waiting for a working boot.img and then CM will hopefully run on our device

forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2285898


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Fajreas]

Right now we are waiting for a working boot.img and then CM will hopefully run on our device

How long will that take?

 

[Fajreas]

is it better to make a backup through an app, computer or through recovery?

 

[jjchico]

is it better to make a backup through an app, computer or through recovery?

If you want a full backup recovery is my first choose. Fast, save, robust ...
Since I am testing our i8730 I have restored from recovery more than 10 times without problems.

Enviado desde mi GT-I9000 usando Tapatalk