[SUPERGUIDE][P51xxP31xx] Installation Troubleshoot Guide

[billysam]

The SUPER Custom Rom Guide and Troubleshoot​

There came a new version, your droid got old school and there is no support from Samsung cause they have forgotten about you.
Service centers you looked upon, and to mention exorbitant fees plus service tax came along. Thank You ma'am. will see you around.
Your droid is lagging and hanging and Lo, stops working suddenly. Now you just want to try something new, cause you can't sell them or buy new.
You search on google,
find on Youtube,
Read between surveys and blogs,
tried it yourself,
sometimes got lucky sometimes got thorny.
Now you come to the XDA community. there is too much to absorb and you're kind a new, welcome to all of you.

Dealing with most of the trouble making bugs and useful insight into cornering them like a rat
1. Tab is Stuck on Charging Screen. Tab is not turning On, battery completely depleted/Not charging, Nothing is Working
2. Stuck On Samsung Logo Screen.
3. Stuck in a Boot Loop.
4. Stuck On Firmware Upgrade Encountered an Issue.
5. Bricked.​

Explained in Post number 2
Well that would sum up for me and most of the users will agree that these are the cases that really needs attention and no cussing about how your droid lags and hangs, doesn't makes it to the lists So, by the end of this guide, I would hope and expect at least so much from users to at least have a better knowledge and general idea of how things work here. so users don't just go on saying HELP HELP I am a NooB, Please read and understand first, dude. Thank you I will try to make it simple even if you're not so cool.

A few words about me if you're interested

OH!! you clicked!! wow. well what should I say here. ahem, hello gorgeous. I am Sam So, unlikely,
So guys, I wasn't lucky enough to get everything organised at one thread and spend a lot of time finding a perfect place for everything I would want to, so I thought this would be worth a share. It took me almost a month to write this stuff. yeah I was bored to the core, so put in some fun stuff
along with most of my learning experience and knowledge gained here on XDA in this Guide over the span of 3 years, I would just read and experiment it myself, kind of guy, I wouldn't have dared to put up this guide sooner, but now after successfully solving most of the cases even other people hard bricks and trivial issues that I get to see everyday and keeping myself safe from hard bricks with still not knocked out by one. all thanks to this community this is my gift that I would like to give in return, and I am just someone who likes to get to the edge of the world, exactly, on a round globe. Thank You

Android Broken into 5 parts, Worth a Look

Well not exactly broken but explained in 5 parts ( There are more but I choose not to, thank me for that)

1. Boot section(bootloaders/kernel)
This is droid's heart(accept it), responsible for the droid's birth and keeping it alive, sleeping, waking up, slowdown and speedup, overall working of the system, it has impact on every part of the droid. mess up things here, and droid won't start up at all and will stop beating and malfunction. then you will need a pacemaker and CPR(J-TAG) to revive it or it will keep the brain in coma. yes pretty much like our heart.


2. System section
This is a droid's mind, Its the place where all main work and processes are happening, with rooting and flashing you get a licence to open that mind and analyse, read logs, stats. that brain, heart and all your body is producing, you can see it all and make changes in it, put few things from outside. clean it, format it, wipe it, make amend(patches). So, imagine all that happening in your mind and the idea of cleaning your brains for once, wiping the mind, giving new and fresh experiences(newer and updated files) new interface(new UI), affecting the overall performance and changing to a whole new perspective with which you look at things.
So Clear your mind about this and remove your bad experiences and upgrade it with new stable ones. err not the custom beta and alpha ones, cause then you will give your headaches and put them in depression.


3. Data
This place is the memories part, and everything is stored up here. Everything. some would be overtly stored(on sdcard) and some deep inside you(under system/data/data). now overtly ones are not a concern here but deeper ones are hard to forget and lingers in your system, these won't go well if your heart and mind changed or aren't supposed to be the same, or in trouble will they? (i know I am good at explaining this)

4. Cache
Well, this one is the dreams part. damn I am right just admit it now. they come from your memories, keep it or forget about it, that's unto you. sometimes it can interfere with your old memories when you get new ones. so if unknown problem persist, with your heart and mind working nicely please clear your dreams and look into some of the memories. otherwise get the mind checked first.

5. Recovery
This is the soul part, whenever your heart or mind or data or dreams are feeling lost, you connect to it and revive them accordingly, or contact ODIN.

I hope you had some fun in the above part and a very clear and better understanding, So now you know where things are going wrong​

The Beginning

Ensure your Charging Adapter, USB ports and your USB cable, are in good shape and working in accordance, Never depend on USB hubs or any USB port that is a faulty or slow performer, use original cables, or buy new ones, the cable does create problems in some cases. if you're sure that these are fine, then let it in charging for few hours to even a day. depending upon how fast the droid recovers.

So what do you do, when you have to go the custom way or solve your problems?

• i. Press Power and Volume Up(right button) or
• ii. Press Power and Volume Down(left button) or
• iii.Press Power and Hold touch screen combinations.
• iv. Press nicely and hold it for good few seconds there, no hurry, really.
• v. Long press the power button, release the power button and, when you see a logo appear during boot-up, hold down both the volume up and volume down buttons. Continue holding the two buttons until the droid boots up with a safe mode indicator at the bottom-left corner of its screen.
• vi. Plug it in PC with the USB.
• vii. Remove the Battery blow air on it and pat a little and put it back inside.

So what happens after doing what I said above?

• i. (a). The tab goes into download mode
• ii (b). The tab goes into recovery mode
• iii(c). the tab switch off/on again.
• iv (d). Now the Combinations worked properly, beware cause many a times on droids this could be a seriously tricky part.
• v (e). The tab goes into safe mode.
  I know you got tired there holding the buttons and No you didn't had to press it so hard
• vi (f). Your droid and PC responds and connects.
  yeah, I know Nothing much of a Help, but it will make sense when it doesn't
• vii(g).
  this is an age old trick of which there is no proof of success, but it has been working since ages.

As long as you can enter download mode or recovery or safe mode you can walk the path of going custom and troubleshoot along the way. Piece of cake. Most of the ways including how to root, upgrades, lag free and better performance starts here

[if you're ready to take the plunge, remember there is no backing out.]

Choose your steps wisely here now, if possible just read the main points and see if you have done all those first. that will save your data in some case and in some save you from getting all messed up.

CORA, (CODE OF RECOVERING ANDROID)

For NON-ROOT USERS
Safe mode
Stock recovery
Download Mode

FOR ROOTED USERS
Custom recovery,
Nandroid BACKUP,
Download mode
Safe mode

WITHOUT MODIFYING SYSTEM FOR HARDCORE STOCK USER

1. SAFE MODE
This mode generally helps when the problem is arising from 3rd party apps and is making your droid reboot again and again, lagging, hanging issues, so whatever is causing problem, if you can reach here, you can uninstall them clear their data and cache, and yes, free up some internal space too and backup your data from settings-backup as well. then factory reset if you want to.

2. STOCK RECOVERY WAY
You have never rooted your droid and you don't want to root and you don't want to move away from stock, well pressing the Power and Volume Down(left button) will take you there.
try to clear cache/data factory reset(will lose you data stored on internal droid) and yes it does solve few of the cases, even if it doesn't look so promising, it has solved, and will solve quiet a few issues. no chance of getting that data stored on internal., phone book, messages, chats.

3. THE DOWNLOAD MODE WAY
Flash a stock firmware Explained in post the download way.​

Now if you are already Rooted or want to Root to have a better option of saving your data, or reviving your droid
it's like performing a surgery on your body by yourself.
So be careful, you have been warned, Samsung voids the warranty, 
and I don't give any Guarantees that these Instructions will work for all.

MODIFYING FOR PEOPLE WHO RISK IT
1. Getting Rooted
2. Custom recovery Way and (post number 4)
3. Download mode Way. (post number 5)

AND FOR THOSE WHO WILL BLAME ME

Seriously?

The most important and most essential part here is GETTING/HAVING a NANDROID BACKUP, the very FIRST THING that you MUST HAVE DID/DONE upon getting ROOTED. Make a Stable Clone guys.
You will need to get rooted and custom recovery to do that, not to forget enabling the USB Debugging Option from Settings->about device-> Build number-> press 7 times->back->developer->Enable USB Debugging and that's the beginning my friend.

Other threads with good post for the tab 2 series about rooting guides, containing firmware links, recoveries, Roms list, kernels, pretty much everything.
All about P51xx
All about P31xx
Latest Roms, Recoveries updated by Android-andi, the best developer around here
other droid users please look it up under your device thread tree, they will surely have a way, tailored and to the point.

Getting Rooted is only advised if you're going to stay on stock rom, debloating the system and making changes yourself.
if you're going to install a custom rom, which would be generally rooted, so you can skip to getting a custom recovery first.

CF auto Root are better option for any device to get rooted rather than other options
CFauto-root GT-P3100
CF auto root for GT-P51xx
or you can visit the chainfire homepage for your device which contains the root file for almost every device.


ROOT FROM DEVICE WITHOUT PC

in cases where you can't use ODIN for rooting or you want root your droid and there is still no method explained for Root on XDA then using framaroot, towel root, baidu, kingo or any other app(they can root some sets of droid) is advised, without ODIN or in case you couldn't connect your tab to the PC with the USB, only then these apps are good ways to get root. after that you can use flashify app or other apps for same purpose that has the feature to flash .img files, you can also use Mobile Odin app which can pretty much work when you can't use Odin from Pc.
then you can download a copy of the custom recovery image.(recovery.img) browse in the app and let it do the installation for you. this is useful for droids which doesn't have that much support like we and others have here

 

[billysam]

Common Issues faced

If you have read about my explanation of android's partitions in the OP(Original Post above), you would know where exactly to look for the problems. Moving on,

For other Geeks

Please remind me if I missed few things, you see I have put up this Guide mostly of the files I have in my system partition,I might have missed few that were stored in data or cache partition

1. Tab is Stuck on Charging Screen. Tab is not turning On, battery completely depleted/Not charging, Nothing is Working​

Possibilities
* if the tab doesn't feels warm even after charging for a whole day,

• F1. Battery dead,
• F2. Circuit/Motherboard blown,
• F3. Bad Charger/charging point
• F4. No electricity

if it's getting warm and still not turning on

• F5. Hardware buttons not working
• F6. Motherboard needs replacement.
• F7. Flashed a bootloader/kernel(along with a Rom/firmware), or something not meant for your device, which is the hard brick in this category please refer to case number 5. (process on post 2)
• F8. Some Custom Roms have bugs that won't Charge, stay stuck on the battery icon, unless you remove the plug and turn on. always read before flashing a Rom, if there are no info, better ask the developer before you go flashing or post your Question in related thread where they would get noticed.

2. Stuck On Samsung Logo Screen.​

This could be from various reasons generally not so serious ones mostly recoverable issues of which, some are

• Flashed a incompatible Custom Rom zip or any other flashable zip containing files not meant for the exact device.
• Flashed a kernel/ bootloader incompatible with the Rom, wrong kernel modules, messed up system lib files, (lucky enough to still not be in hard bricked section.)
• Formatted system partition and there is no OS installed. (one of the silliest mistakes I have done)
• Some other that I maybe forgetting just like I completely forgot about the above

Possible Solutions

• Go to the stock recovery and wipe data/factory reset (this will make your precious data that you stored vanish, except data stored on SDcard) (explained further in post 3)
• Get a working stable compatible kernel/Rom or flash stock firmware. (explained in post 2 and 3)
• Download from a different source cause chances are the file got corrupted or infected while downloading or transferring. (post 3)
• Find the file that is stopping the device from booting up, starting from the kernel, to the system files. duh?
• Go to the custom recovery way.
• Go to the download way

3. Stuck in a Boot Loop.​

Boot Loops are crazy and they will make you mad, they can hit you anytime for even little of tasks, Root or not root, either you are testing a new app, modifying/copying/editing/deleting/overwriting files in the system or data that don't even look so dangerous, just flashing some mod, GAPPS, or just updates rolled out by devs(nothing against them) this will surely hit you, no matter how focused and diligently you work. boot loops will make you do hula hoops.

Boot Loop is generally solved by
Hello? whatever you did that I mentioned above, just roll it back.

if you can't figure it out, well then

1. 
   Remember the CORA order Quoted above in the first post? Read on
2. Safe Mode?
3. Go to recovery and clear cache then reboot.
4. Clear data/factory reset from stock recovery(data stored will be lost) (root users can skip this and directly go to 7)
5. No, Recovery?, You sure pressed the button nicely?
6. Flash a custom recovery image(recovery.tar) from Odin
7. Repeat from 1-3
8. Backup/Restore from Nandroid backup
9. Don't sit for the next exams without memorizing your lesson.
10. Cleared cache/dalvik cache?
11. Flash a Compatible Custom kernel
12. Find the stock replacement of the file/app you messed up from a firmware or a custom Rom, put it in a flashable zip and flash it (advance users)
13. Clear/data factory reset either from custom recovery. (*loses data)
14. Flash the Custom Rom, first dirty flash then clean flash.
15. Flash a Stock firmware from Odin. (loses data)

4. Stuck On Firmware Upgrade Encountered an Issue.​

Well this problems hits non-root users and root users too? why? because we wanted an update.
it was trying to upgrade and something got in between to make it stop
Battery/Power/Electricity - for non root users, the most common culprit would be the battery, seriously guys, please keep the battery in mind always. it's a very common mistake that cost many of users. For ODIN users, please see you have a uninterrupted supply of power to your device and you are using latest version along with Hi speed USB ports.
kies!!! I hate that thing and majority of others will support me here. I got rid of it the day I installed that thing on my PC.
interruption from the user side while the device was taking an upgrade. removed battery? fell down on the floor? no?
hardware issue, unlikely, rare I would say, in case the device did came out with a weak emmc card.
Bad/wrong firmware downloaded files.

1. In case you had a custom recovery and its still working, check the custom recovery way
2. I Know 1st didn't helped you,
3. Refer to the Download Mode way and get a custom recovery
4. Don't forget to clear cache, you do know that's where the device keeps the downloaded/image firmware file, and that's where it is installing/extracting from. the dream partition, no wonder you got errors. you got a nightmare now
5. try the download mode way
6. probably it's best that you either forget about the mobile, or give it to a service center for a J-TAG and get it repaired.

I knew you would look here, there is indeed a last ray of hope, explained at the last thing to do in download mode way

5. Bricked.​

There are 3 types of Bricks, Soft Hard and The Brick, That's it.

Soft brick
well you are safe and sound, you can even recover from custom recovery mode.

Hard brick
skynet has fallen, just like it infected the droid Arnold Schwarzenegger of the terminator version 3.0, the codes were injected into his heart making the brain dis balance and resulting in partial heart seizure and a coma, but he still had the cache and data part intact along with recovery, so it went there, restored a nandroid backup and went online again. BAM!! so easy. but why? I mean ours droid having reached version 6.0 can't recover from the same way? Where only hope here is a CPR or getting J-TAGGED? not to mention, which should be done by expert surgeons who would charge exorbitant . So, don't waste time with a jig or any other miracle to happen and please don't go on the droid with a shocking therapy. I am more of a practical guy and prefer professionalism.


The Brick
err, that's the solid one, put that on your heart, and forget about this droid and shell out money for a new one. : that's what the company wants to tell you here and that's the reason it doesn't want to put the nandroid on the stock recovery cause they want the blame on you and not them. shhh, keep it hidden, don't say I told you their secret

General Overview of the Next Options we have.

a. The Download Mode Way

Before going this way I would suggest you see the recovery mode way, if it's not working for you, then go ahead here.
You have four things that you can do (other's I never needed to venture upon)

1. Flash a Recovery -
In case you want to change or update a Recovery or fix/access a Recovery again, to root, complete backup from recovery(nandroid), install new custom Rom, install stock Rom, plenty of options here. Probably the safest option here cause you don't lose your data unless you do something wrong here as to format it. whether you root your tablet or not, install a custom Rom or stay on stock, everyone MUST have a custom recovery, I don't understand why Stock recovery can't have this option as well?

2. Flash a stock firmware package -
in case you are on stock recovery never rooted,
can't reach or can't flash anything using custom recovery,
bootloops(applied in all cases), want to revert back to stock factory state. tab system is behaving weirdly, virus and Trojans attacked or you just want to upgrade or change your droid firmware.
Note Using this method, will result in the loss of all your data stored on the device internal card.

3. Flashing a Bootloader
Generally these are included in every stock firmware pack. if you had a ICS(4.0.4) stock Rom, and the device got an Official JB(4.2.2) update. you must update to that firmware first before flashing any later custom Roms[from kk to M(6.0)], the version which never got released officially. flashing this part separately is very risky and done with utmost care, remember it's your droid heart. don't fool around with it.


3. Flash firmware with pit file -
Warning : this is some high level flashing, it will re partition your device along with the stock firmware. in cases where NOTHING ELSE on the whole Internet worked for you, and you have tried almost everything, only then choose this path with clear mind. make mistake in this, and your tab will virtually turn into a paperweight. if you're not sure you could handle it, please send it for the service centers. this is going to flash every part of the droid's body


4. Flash the 4 files with pit
This is the secret way, where miracles can happen even when there was no hope of recovering yourself.



b. The Recovery Mode Way


Stock recovery - Here You can clear cache, there is nothing much happening in clearing cache, just clearing some temporary files and making you feel like you have got some space cleared out. it's just files that you most probably already used.

data/factory reset and reboot. Easy and simple solution . that does solve some of the problems you face without modifying your device much. so those of you who are afraid to flashing things and ending up on some bigger mistake, you can give this a try, but keep in mind, you will lose all your data stored in the device.

there is apply update from recovery, but that seldom has use in an average android user's life nothing much of a recovery.

Go to download mode way of flashing a custom recovery
or
If you have rooted your tab somehow using framaroot, towel root, baidu or any other app, without ODIN in case you can't connect your tab to the PC with the USB, then you can use flashify app or Kernel Adiutor(the latest one) or any other apps that has the feature to flash img from inside the device OS. you can download a copy of the custom recovery image.(recovery.img) browse in the app and let it do the installation for you.

Custom recovery - Here you have many things that you can do depending upon which recovery and which version you choose. CWM is past, philz is ok, TWRP is awesome. most of the options are common in these 3, but some are really better and fast than the previous ones. we will discuss only one, my favorite TWRP(Respect for the legend CWM though), the process is common on all but twrp is more feature rich.

Important files you must have NANDROID BACKUP, STOCK FIRMWARE, PIT FILE, and 4 FILES FIRMWARE PACKAGE, GET them even before you need to search for them

 

[billysam]

Setting Up Everything

Before proceeding Always keep device battery fully charged and NEVER go flashing on low battery. Very Risky. Don't forget.
Always check the files that you are going to flash on your device. generally files will have device model mentioned in their filename.
Be Sure that you don't lose electricity or laptop on low battery while working. the device takes time to update.

Things you need to Set up a 'Flashing Environment'
No, I am not going to talk about a flashy party setup ​

• i. PC running Windows 7 and 8 (with 10 I haven't flashed anything yet, but it works.)
• ii. A working data cable(some cables are bad and will not detect your device if you see unknown device better get a new one)
• iii. Samsung USB Drivers it's much better than having samsung kies on your pc. I would personally suggest from my experience along with many people who have suffered from samsung kies, it's not worth the hassle. ODIN and KIES don't work alongside, so you will have to close.
• iv. ODIN 3.10 (download plus instructions as well I used 1.85, 3.07, 3.09 All worked, and so will 3.10. if not, try different ones from Odin 1-85 to 3.07. these links have more step by step and detailed covering what I have left.
• v. 7Zip better download this cause it can unpack most of the files.
• Press and hold Power and Volume Up(right) button on your device for few good minutes until you see a download mode screen
• Connect your USB cable to PC and press Up to Continue. sometimes there could be problem with the USB ports, you should check in all the ports available. avoid USB hubs or the front panel USB in case of PC, don't let a faulty port ruin this for you.

Problem/Failed with Odin? Refer to this thread Good Points here as well.

DOWNLOADING AND READING FILES
Believe it, this a very big problem that people tend to overlook
The file you need will look something like these

"P5100XXDMD1_P5100OJVDME1_P5100XXDLL2_EUR.tar.7z"
where
P5100 - Generally the first 5 letters/numbers means a device model number.
XXDMD1 this is PDA which will be 5 letters(much older devices)-6 letters denoting firmware build version.
OJVDME1 is CSC version these just contains regional wise APN, nothing much.
XXDLL2 is Modem version.
EUR is Country Code.
.7z means you need 7zip to extract this file.

Now see these 2 examples here
"S7562XXALJ4_S7562OXXALJ3_S7562XXLJ3_HUN.tar" and "S7562CZNUAMI2_S7562CCHUAMI2_CHU zip"

Sure it's S7562 device but wait the other one is S7562C !!! totally different device firmware. make mistake here and you are sure going to lose.
I Hope you can make out the difference now for every device now.

Now the real file that you need will always be inside a zip/tar/7z the correct format is "P5100XXDMD1_P5100OJVDME1_P5100XXDLL2.tar.md5 "
Remember to extract it and get the md5 file.

These are the known best sources
Enter and Download device model on sammobile
P5100 sammobile
P5110 sammobile
P5113 sammobile
P3100 sammobile
P3113 sammobile

*Bump Download firmwares available smart-gsm.net
Download firmwares available easy-firmware.com​

The Only reason I am putting this here is while I was searching for genuine websites, I had a very hard time finding through sites that looks nothing else than scams and fakes and rarely had files that I needed and password protected. this websites has ads, but looks organized and for tab series, it had at-least all the firmwares downloading.

Yes so, it will take time and require a good internet speed, there are other sites, but I don't recommend them unless they are from good source or sometimes the only option. Options are also available from GSMhosting site as well, its another good community but I feel XDA is much better. still if you have no options. you have to get it somehow. just stay away from the survey sites and bogus ones. specially the blogspot ones.

 

[billysam]

Recovery Mode Way

Recovering from a custom recovery
Important Part​

Creating Nandroid Backup - This is the most important thing that you will ever need, and will always regret not having it when you chose this path, should be the first priority.

Getting Inside

• Switch off the device
• Let it completely shutdown
• Hold Power and Volume Down(left button)
• This is how it looks saw that backup button? yes that is where you tap first (other recoveries will have different looks, but same "backup" and
• This is where you do it . by tapping again or navigating through the volume up and down button in case of older recoveries this would not at all be same, this is the most latest feature rich recovery.

• Those Running CWM older builds, won't find the options to select boot, system cache and data and instead there will be just "backup" and backup to external.
• CWM by default will Backup boot, system, data, cache partitions. Philz will also do it. But TWRP has better features. although they do the same. You just select system, boot, data and cache. that would be all to recover using nandroid backup.

Now here it depends on what you are trying to do and what would you like to recover from, also depends on what you are comfortable with doing and how much space you can spare. if you have a lot, I would say skip this step and backup all for once.

Not Noob Friendly

• if you have that same custom Rom zip that you would like to restore the backup of, then there is no need to copy/backup /system partition again, it will save you some space. so you can skip it in that case for TWRP.
• if you're only going to modify device kernel - backup boot. or just data if you already have the custom Rom with kernel.

other than that twrp offers what CWM lacked, skip md5 generation during backup well this is a good option and saves some time while backup, on restoring you can also enable or disable it. the purpose of this is simple, md5 is like a security/seal on your backup file, so you don't mess up anything while restoring it on your device. after all you never know when a virus might attack or you might put the wrong files on it. if you are sure about your talents, you can skip it or else it's better to let it generate and verify while restore. CWM has this setup as default.

Now you have one? GREAT! GENIUS!! Now whenever you encounter a problem make sure you can use it like a BOSS.

Restore Nandroid Backup​

• Enter recovery mode by Pressing Power and Volume Down(left button),
• you reach the main screen,
• you see a "restore" option and tap it,
• you will see folders name starting with the date you made a nandroid backup,
• you recognize which one you want by the date and information listed there, and select it. CWM only offered dates, but twrp even offers more detailed info including OS version and Rom name. one more reason I suggest you to use twrp.
• In case you want only data to be restored, then you choose advanced restore and check the data and restore. but before doing this part make sure you are not restoring conflicting data or system or kernel with incompatible versions.
• you can't restore a data backup from a Jellybean Rom and put it on a custom Rom based on Lollipop, neither a kernel from Lollipop to jellybean.
• Data should only be recovered on the same Rom you took the backup from.
• In case the custom Rom developer rolls an update of the same fixing issues,(not some major changes) then you can in some cases think of getting this worked out smoothly. This is called a "dirty flash". which is the reason why sometimes users experience problems running certain Roms, even when they are good and stable Roms. So before complaining to devs make sure you follow the clean install method.
• Note: System and data most of the times will cause problems. Kernels are not meant at all to play with. they are the biggest source of bricks.

• 
  
  
  
  
  ​

Wiping Part - Steer Clear the problems away
this is where wipe takes place[PIC]
here are the wipes options on a custom recovery


Factory reset - Wipes cache, dalvik, data/ excluding your media part on the internal drive.(your pics, videos are safe)
this will generally clear you problems if they are not some big issues. but you will lose the apps and contacts messages stored.

Advanced wipe - Format system
you can try to do this first if you don't want to lose your data while troubleshooting.
format system if you're facing issues with the files on system partition, but remember to install the same Rom you had earlier. if you had stock, you will need a stock Rom zip not to forget keeping the file ready beforehand on the external SD card.
Beware while navigating in advance wipe menu, never wipe in a hurry, never drink and wipe, never take eyes off here, cause you might end up touching external SD card, USB-OTG, internal storage and lose your precious data


Format data - this wipes the data partition
problems arising from the data partition side could be solved here, but you lose your precious data on the internal and get rid of the bad, virus, trojans, trouble making apps.​

How to perform A CLEAN INSTALL when you are going to update to a new Rom?
Factory Reset and Format System, Format CACHE
or
Format /System, Format /Data, Format /Cache, WIPE Dalvik Cache, Factory Reset.
This will Surely Solve Some Great & Average Problems of Day to Day Flashing.[/B]

What's a Dirty Flash then?
Format System, without Deleting Data partition. before doing this, please do a nandroid backup in case you mess things up. if not, format system again and flash the Rom that was initially running with that data.

Now Comes the Installing part
Installing Menu​

1. You download a copy of a custom Rom or stock Rom, after following the developer's thread, reading through it's bugs and reviews. you don't want a unstable or alpha Roms.
2. There would be installing process explained on that thread follow it and always make sure that inside the zip file it contains a meta-inf and system folder with boot.img) always look inside before going to flash, don't trust me, don't trust anyone. although
3. if you tried to flash a firmware zip file containing a .img file, without Meta-Inf folder, it won't flash. cause the custom recovery needs instructions from updater-script. Now, I know this was mostly going on like this before, but now with latest custom recoveries, (twrp) you can even flash .img files without needing a zip.
4. You perform a Clean Install wipe stated in the wipe section above
5. Reboot to Recovery(Don't select reboot to system, there is no system after clean wipe)
6. You browse through the files list and external storage,
7. Find that zip file and
8. Swipe or press or touch to flash it.
9. You wait for it to complete the process then
10. You can wipe/cache/dalvik and reboot or you just reboot. depends on what you choose "clean install" or "dirty install".

You want to report any errors while flashing? you are free to do so on the Rom thread, don't expect me to solve those cases.

If all went well, reboot to system and your tab should be up running again. if not refer to the Download mode Way.

 

[billysam]

The Download Mode Way

The Download Mode Way

1. FLASH A CUSTOM RECOVERY

Find the recoveries in their respective threads. For P51xx and P31xx Recovery thread others can look in their respective device sections, XDA has development thread of most of the Samsung devices and people do post there.

it should look like this on your address bar
"http forum.xda-developers.com / galaxy-tab-2 / general"
xda website /__ (devicename)/ (sub-forum)
(development) OR (/general) section
You can always google it too.
remember you will need a recovery.md5 that will be inside a zip file extract from it.
Always check whats in the archive then go the recovery mode way, it should be .md5

Sorry I have not put up detailed step by step process here because my guide is covering a lot of things already and this is something each device specific, refer to this For General step by step instructions with pictures, this has very detailed process.

​

2 FLASH A STOCK FIRMWARE

These package contains files needed to update or revert to the same position where it was shipped to your country along with your android device. you can find all Samsung device firmwares released from all parts of the world, and yes, you can flash firmwares of other country/regions from the sammobile site just stay away from the carrier specific firmwares(unless you are on one) that should be used for the same specific carriers device only they are married to the carrier company and probably won't let you have your own ways with others.
You should also remember not to downgrade a stock firmware once you have upgraded, that will surely create problems​

• Run Odin as administrator
• Browse PDA/AP and find the firmware .md5 file

This is how you should see on your ODIN screen. always be very very careful to uncheck the Re-partition. it's unchecked by default.

The yellow column/(Blue for other versions) means 
your device is detected by the PC. 
If it's not lit, you have messed up USB drivers 
still not uninstalled kies Completely or
not connected the device properly. 
try changing to different USB Ports.

• Press Start
• Wait for the process to complete and let the device reboot from download mode
• Remove cable when you see PASS written with green above the Yellow/Blue com port.

Most Problems are solved here when you see success/PASS. 
Except one The emmc bug. Replace the internal emmc, or J-TAG or 
mysteriously something else done by professionals.

[*]if it shows failed, see if you can go to recovery mode and clear data, check Mount/Unmount System, data

• if it still says failed, the downloaded file is corrupted, wrong Odin version(try with different Odin versions) you have flashed wrong device files which has messed up the partition table of your device. refer to other ways.

Threads with good post for the tab 2 series these contains firmware links, guides, recoveries, Roms list, kernels pretty much everything.
All about P51xx
All about P31xx

3. FLASH A BOOTLOADER
First ask yourself why you would want to do this?
Be extra careful with this part, if you have already flashed a updated firmware, you don't need this part.
Those who are using old stock firmware, please flash a stock last updated firmware. you won't need to do this.
Those who did not follow the above two, so it's now unto you, this a risky thing, you have been advised you are going further yourself
Those who are experiencing problems that are not solved even after most of my other instructions here, then it's onto you to decide you want to try this too or not. this could solve problems when device is in serious condition, after all it's the heart partition and remember no downgrades in this once you upgrade. thats it. this could seriously create problems, including bringing back the emmc issue as well.

Refer to this DETAILS AND INSTRUCTIONS to FLASH A BOOTLOADER for SAMSUNG TAB 2 SERIES follow safely by @Joery360 other users please be careful with these files and don't go on flashing others files? okay. Great!

4. FLASH FIRMWARE WITH PIT FILE

Wait!! You are sure that you want to try this part? this is the point of no return. Whatever happens to your device by following this guide, good or bad, it's your own responsibility. You can't blame me for it. so be sensible, if you're not sure please let this be done by someone who has the experience of dealing with this kind of stuff.

Now pit files are some serious files, they contain information about your device partition and they help flash erase and rewrite files on their correct partition, so better not take a wrong file, sometimes you have the same device but different internal space, so don't end up choosing a pit file for a 8 GB variant on your 16 GB variant of device, in that case your device will end up using 8gb only, or worse if it's other device, it might never boot up again.
Always remember don't flash pit files ever without a firmware file in place.

Download Pit files for Samsung tab 2 p51xx p31xx series

• Run Odin as administrator
• Browse PDA and find the firmware .md5 file
• Browse Pit and select the pit file (reminder : file confirmed?)
  
  

  Make Sure Re-partition is checked cause we are using Pit File to re partition again
  Never flash a Pit file without a firmware placed in PDA/AP

• Press Start
• Wait for the process to complete and let the device reboot from download mode
• Remove cable when you see PASS written with green above the Yellow/Blue com port.

if it shows failed while flashing, you did used correct files, right? after this if there is still a download mode running on your device. try the special case files.
this has happened with me on a unknown MTK device, the pit file was slightly different from the original one on device, so it failed, but that was at the start before it could flash. I did somehow managed to flash that different pit file, just lost some disk space. cause I used a lower variant pit but it got the device running up again.

The device takes a long time to boot while it's updating firmware, so you are required to have sufficiently charged battery, Take no chances here.

if even after a successful flash with Odin, you face problems, then that's a emmc bug case. motherboard replacement or emmc replacement, or tab replacement. nothing else.

5. FLASH PIT WITH 4 FILES FIRMWARE

Find the repair firmware files at this Website
it has the 4 files for most of the devices including the Tab 2 series
Instructions for using these 4 files, however please note that the only difference would be the ODIN versions, cause device needs specific ODIN version, some can flash all.
this is the only way, that I have seen working for numerous devices and it is most successful one among all options to recover an almost bricked device, on which you have tried everything.
For other devices
Find them here
​

 

[billysam]

you'll find these buttons on every post.

it's better to notify a user when you're asking that user a question or use @username of the user for mentioning in your post, that will give in a notification for you.

 

[billysam]

I think there could be more, i know it's already lengthy but who knows?