Root [GUIDE][CTmod] Rooting the Prevail [SPH-M820] for Dummies (written by a dummy)

[Caeadas]

Goodness, I take a day off for a job interview (which i got) and you blow up mah thread....

OK Maybe im a bigger dummy then most b/c im stuck!! in Installing a Rom and/or kernel with Clockworkmod im stuck on step 1!! Where do I download CTmod, and Koumakernel and how do i get it on my sdCard? I thought i had already done this in the previous chapters but when going to the next step, it tells me no such file or directory.

Download CTmod from the thread listed at the top of the chapter. Koumakernel is included with it. Put them on your SD card via usb storage mode, either through the normal phone interface (plug in usb cable, select "usb connected" notification, click button) or through CWM (mounts and storage, mount usb storage). An autorun box will usually pop up on your computer, just select view files and folders. Or just open it in my computer. If you put the files on your SD card BEFORE you did the partitioning, they got erased.

Need some help here i get everything done correctly in your thread up until the part right after i flash the rom onto the phone, it just constantly re boots into clockwork, it loads up the kernal then does a reboot shows the samsung logo, then goes into clockwork, thats as far as i can make it and i have re flashed the stock, then rooted, then done it again still not working

I replied to your PM, but for the sake of those that follow, i'll repeat. CWM likes to reboot into CWM again after you flash something, just do another reboot without doing anything. If it still reboots into CWM, try powering off the phone and starting it up fresh.

Great write up and Great job to everyone else involved with this...I was wondering...In the beginning of Chapter Two, you say that we could stop here and with Superuser delete bloatware..how do we do that if we want to keep Prevail like stock but remove stuff that's unwanted?

While I've not tinkered with it in quite some time, i'm pretty sure you can use titanium backup (or maybe even the stock apps interface) to uninstall them. Just be careful not to uninstall anything important, there should be a link in the all-things-root thread that tells whats safe to remove.

The easier way is to install HalfAssRom, its a stock rom with all the bloat removed, and is compatible with koumakernel so you still get the automatic apps to SD support. Make sure to grab the koumamod.apk listed in the koumakernel thread to switch modes easily1

 

[GenFantastic]

i followed your instructions to the letter, and didnt even get to step two. the odin program ran its course successfully, it installed the 'rooted' 2.3.6, only it wasnt rooted. i used every file you said to, so i dont know what went wrong. help plz!!

 

[T83POSphone]

Goodness, I take a day off for a job interview (which i got) and you blow up mah thread....



Download CTmod from the thread listed at the top of the chapter. Koumakernel is included with it. Put them on your SD card via usb storage mode, either through the normal phone interface (plug in usb cable, select "usb connected" notification, click button) or through CWM (mounts and storage, mount usb storage). An autorun box will usually pop up on your computer, just select view files and folders. Or just open it in my computer. If you put the files on your SD card BEFORE you did the partitioning, they got erased.


OK I DLed RemovedApps-prevail.zip and am currently at choose zip from sdcard. my choices: -Android/ -DCIM/ -LOST.DIR/ & -:clockworkmod
CTmod zip is NOT an option!
I SWEAR im not a blond! But i am REALLY feeling like one!!!!
:dontknow:

 

[wetbiker7]

Goodness, I take a day off for a job interview (which i got) and you blow up mah thread....



Download CTmod from the thread listed at the top of the chapter. Koumakernel is included with it. Put them on your SD card via usb storage mode, either through the normal phone interface (plug in usb cable, select "usb connected" notification, click button) or through CWM (mounts and storage, mount usb storage). An autorun box will usually pop up on your computer, just select view files and folders. Or just open it in my computer. If you put the files on your SD card BEFORE you did the partitioning, they got erased.


OK I DLed RemovedApps-prevail.zip and am currently at choose zip from sdcard. my choices: -Android/ -DCIM/ -LOST.DIR/ & -:clockworkmod
CTmod zip is NOT an option!
I SWEAR im not a blond! But i am REALLY feeling like one!!!!
:dontknow:

If you used your phone to download it then you will need to pull it out of the download folder on your sd card so that it stands alone. Zips that are in folders cannot be read when in CWM and need to be removed.

 

[ravious]

I seem to be having issues getting the samsung drivers to install.

I have downloaded the 64bit installer, installed the drivers, yet the device is always not recognized.

Try to manually set the driver, and none of them seem to work.. they all say error device fail to start.

Anyone know what the actual driver is that the prevail uses in that list of drivers included in the pack for samsung?

>.<

 

[wetbiker7]

I seem to be having issues getting the samsung drivers to install.

I have downloaded the 64bit installer, installed the drivers, yet the device is always not recognized.

Try to manually set the driver, and none of them seem to work.. they all say error device fail to start.

Anyone know what the actual driver is that the prevail uses in that list of drivers included in the pack for samsung?

>.<

Here are the drivers that I use on both of my 64 bit systems.

SAMSUNG_USB_Driver_for_Mobile_Phones_x86.rar

 

[T83POSphone]

If you used your phone to download it then you will need to pull it out of the download folder on your sd card so that it stands alone. Zips that are in folders cannot be read when in CWM and need to be removed.

...ITS NOT ON MY SD CARD! I wrote what my options are on the sd card.

 

[Lordvincent 90]

...ITS NOT ON MY SD CARD! I wrote what my options are on the sd card.

ALL CAPS GIVE THE APPEARANCE OF YELLING. ALMOST NOBODY HELPS PEOPLE WHO YELL.

But, if you partitioned the card AFTER the download. IT GOT DELETED. Part of the partitioning process is to FORMAT the card. Otherwise, YOU DIDN'T DOWNLOAD IT, OR YOU DIDN'T PUT IT ON YOUR CARD, OR YOU DELETED IT

A far as the drivers go, those are the ones. Reinstall the drivers, reboot pc, reboot phone, use different cable, use different port, use different computer

 

[strabo231]

Hey guys. I am gonna root a phone for a friend of mine, I'm not too familiar with the prevail. I have rooted and flashed and modified other oms etc on other phones so that's not the issue. I've been reading through the forum, and think it looks like I should go with Odin, then CWM 5? Also would like a suggestion for a pretty stable rom. Doesn't have to be anything super tweaked. I would say with the condition the ICS roms are in that I probably should stay away from that as this isn't somebody that knows there way around a phone very well. Something close to a full function GB rom was what I was thinking. Don't mean to clutter your thread. Like I said have read through the majority of it, and wanted to get a second opinion if I could. Thanks a lot

 

[Lordvincent 90]

Sounds like you need ctmod or halfass ROM.
Halfass is stock that has been modified to run kouma's BA kennels.
And ctmod is simple, and clean, and fast. Completely debloated, and tweaked for performance and when paired with koumakernel is even faster and has the koumamod[sup]

 

[strabo231]

Sounds like you need ctmod or halfass ROM.
Halfass is stock that has been modified to run kouma's BA kennels.
And ctmod is simple, and clean, and fast. Completely debloated, and tweaked for performance and when paired with koumakernel is even faster and has the koumamod[sup]

 

[Lordvincent 90]

You are on the right path.
Odin for root & cwm.
Cwm for ROM and kernel.
ROM and kernel for super awesome phone.

Also watch the vid in the Odin thread.

 

[strabo231]

Understood. Thanks for the help for the help. Really appreciate it

 

[crosschet]

Ok guys I've bricked my prevail too .. im the idiot who disconnected phone during odin install adb isnt working it won't boot past stock recovery and when i try download mode i get a white box instead of yellow letters. HELP PLEASE SINGLE FATHER HERE can't buy another 1

 

[Lordvincent 90]

Ok guys I've bricked my prevail too .. im the idiot who disconnected phone during odin install adb isnt working it won't boot past stock recovery and when i try download mode i get a white box instead of yellow letters. HELP PLEASE SINGLE FATHER HERE can't buy another 1

Best bet is to call Samsung, see if you can get it replaced under warranty, there is no way you can fix this one yourself (to my knowledge) Odin is very powerful, but even it has its limitations. sry

 

[wetbiker7]

Ok guys I've bricked my prevail too .. im the idiot who disconnected phone during odin install adb isnt working it won't boot past stock recovery and when i try download mode i get a white box instead of yellow letters. HELP PLEASE SINGLE FATHER HERE can't buy another 1

Best bet is to call Samsung, see if you can get it replaced under warranty, there is no way you can fix this one yourself (to my knowledge) Odin is very powerful, but even it has its limitations. sry

Yep, I agree. I'm pretty sure your phone is a done deal. I sure hope that it's still under warranty. If so, Samsung should either fix it or send you a new 1.

 

[Caeadas]

Sorry I've been missing the past week, I started this new job, and haven't had much free time

OK I DLed RemovedApps-prevail.zip and am currently at choose zip from sdcard. my choices: -Android/ -DCIM/ -LOST.DIR/ & -:clockworkmod
CTmod zip is NOT an option!
I SWEAR im not a blond! But i am REALLY feeling like one!!!!
:dontknow:

Removedapps.zip is NOT what you need to download, you need to go to the CTmod thread and scroll down to the bottom of the OP and get CTmod.zip. Removedapps.zip is only a collection of stuff bloodawn removed from the stock rom.

Ok guys I've bricked my prevail too .. im the idiot who disconnected phone during odin install adb isnt working it won't boot past stock recovery and when i try download mode i get a white box instead of yellow letters. HELP PLEASE SINGLE FATHER HERE can't buy another 1

Yeah, I agree that you are boned. Thats why I clearly put in the instructions "Now leave it alone. It will take a couple minutes, you will become concerned and want to mess with it. Resist the urge."

i followed your instructions to the letter, and didnt even get to step two. the odin program ran its course successfully, it installed the 'rooted' 2.3.6, only it wasnt rooted. i used every file you said to, so i dont know what went wrong. help plz!!

I don't know either. First thing, check to see if superuser is installed on your phone. If you have superuser, you should have root. If you don't have SU, then you may have flashed stock, redownload everything fresh and try again. If you still aren't getting anywhere, go post on the odin thread, they will be better help than me.

 

[wetbiker7]

Sorry I've been missing the past week, I started this new job, and haven't had much free time

Don't I know the feeling. :ridinghorse:

 

[smokeringhalo]

Hey guys, newbie here.
Thanks for the excellent write up, I got tired of running out of memory every other day & finally decided to root, which was easy as pie thanks to this thread.
The only issues I'm having is with the ROMs & Kernals. CtMod simply gave me force close error pop-ups every 5 secs or so and it ran slooow....so i decided to try Halfass Rom (on both FA19 & EJ06.) ..which worked but made everything super sluggish....up to 20 sec delays on just about everything. Not sure if it's my (8GB) card or what as i've tried different partition sizes from small to large.
As it stands now, I'm rooted but dropped the Rom & Kernel until i can better understand why i'm getting such horrible performance from using them. Perhaps the SD card that came with the prevail would be better? I'd greatly appreciate any thoughts on this as i'd really like to have part of my card used as internal memory. Thanks.

 

[cwhatever]

Hey guys, newbie here.
Thanks for the excellent write up, I got tired of running out of memory every other day & finally decided to root, which was easy as pie thanks to this thread.
The only issues I'm having is with the ROMs & Kernals. CtMod simply gave me force close error pop-ups every 5 secs or so and it ran slooow....so i decided to try Halfass Rom (on both FA19 & EJ06.) ..which worked but made everything super sluggish....up to 20 sec delays on just about everything. Not sure if it's my (8GB) card or what as i've tried different partition sizes from small to large.
As it stands now, I'm rooted but dropped the Rom & Kernel until i can better understand why i'm getting such horrible performance from using them. Perhaps the SD card that came with the prevail would be better? I'd greatly appreciate any thoughts on this as i'd really like to have part of my card used as internal memory. Thanks.

if you were to just flash ctmod 3.6 and partition sd in cwm and then run it shouldn't run slow?????? and the card will be ok anyway or anyone. a class 10 is faster but anyone will work. try reflashing rom which has kernal in it and try again.

 

[smokeringhalo]

I gave up on CTMod because of the errors every 5 secs. Halfass Rom works but is slow. I can't tell you how many times i've started flashing from scratch, i lost count. I'm probably not setting KoumaMod correctly or something because it all runs fast until i actually install it and reboot.

 

[cwhatever]

I gave up on CTMod because of the errors every 5 secs. Halfass Rom works but is slow. I can't tell you how many times i've started flashing from scratch, i lost count. I'm probably not setting KoumaMod correctly or something because it all runs fast until i actually install it and reboot.

what are you running ssm or data??? this is how to partition for ssm.
Put your phone in CWM mode , plug it in to computer .

You are gonna need to have Kouma's Odin Packer .
Unzip it and place in a folder on your desktop . It contains a GingerBread folder inside it .

You will then need to open the Gingerbread folder from the folder you just unzipped .

Do not click on anything in the folder
Just move your mouse pointer to an open area in the Gingerbread folder window .

Hold the down the SHIFT key on your keyboard and RIGHT CLICK YOUR MOUSE .
A menu will appear , select OPEN COMMAND WINDOW HERE . A command widow will appear , type adb shell and hit ENTER

a # sign will appear Type sdparted -i then hit ENTER

You should now be in the phone ,ready to wipe and partition your card .

You will then go through the motions of wiping your sd card . Just follow the prompts and wipe the card .

You will then be asked to choose a size for your new partitions . Enter mb's when asked for sizes 2 gigs =2048mb 1 gig = 1024mb
( if you have a large card , choose 2048 for the first two partition sizes that it will ask for )
( if you have a smaller card , use a lesser size . 1024 or 512 ).

When it is done performing the actions, copy and paste the commands below to the ADB window and hit ENTER .

MAKE SURE TO LET THE ACTIONS COMPLETE BEFORE ENTERING A NEW COMMAND . YOU WILL SEE THE #
SIGN WHEN IT COMPLETES EACH COMMAND .



After reboot , go back in to CWM , go in to ADVANCED and CLEAR THE DALVIK CACHE .

You're DONE !!! You should now be able to go in to the menu/settings/Storage .... Under available space, you should have over 150mb free.


Here are Kouma's directions . NOTE ! Do not select anything for EXT PARTITION TYPE or FAT PARTITION SIZE . Just hit ENTER .
ONLY PARTITION SWAP AND EXT .

1) Boot into Recovery
2) ADB shell into the phone
3) Run "sdparted -i"
4) Pick a size for a swap partition (CWM doesn't let you make them big)
5) Pick a size for your EXT partition. Let the fat partiton have the rest.
6) When sdparted completes flash this.View attachment SSM_Wipe_Dalvik.zip

 

[Lordvincent 90]

I gave up on CTMod because of the errors every 5 secs. Halfass Rom works but is slow. I can't tell you how many times i've started flashing from scratch, i lost count. I'm probably not setting KoumaMod correctly or something because it all runs fast until i actually install it and reboot.

Try cm7?

 

[cwhatever]

what are you running ssm or data??? this is how to partition for ssm.
Put your phone in CWM mode , plug it in to computer .

You are gonna need to have Kouma's Odin Packer .
Unzip it and place in a folder on your desktop . It contains a GingerBread folder inside it .

You will then need to open the Gingerbread folder from the folder you just unzipped .

Do not click on anything in the folder
Just move your mouse pointer to an open area in the Gingerbread folder window .

Hold the down the SHIFT key on your keyboard and RIGHT CLICK YOUR MOUSE .
A menu will appear , select OPEN COMMAND WINDOW HERE . A command widow will appear , type adb shell and hit ENTER

a # sign will appear Type sdparted -i then hit ENTER

You should now be in the phone ,ready to wipe and partition your card .

You will then go through the motions of wiping your sd card . Just follow the prompts and wipe the card .

You will then be asked to choose a size for your new partitions . Enter mb's when asked for sizes 2 gigs =2048mb 1 gig = 1024mb
( if you have a large card , choose 2048 for the first two partition sizes that it will ask for )
( if you have a smaller card , use a lesser size . 1024 or 512 ).

When it is done performing the actions, copy and paste the commands below to the ADB window and hit ENTER .

MAKE SURE TO LET THE ACTIONS COMPLETE BEFORE ENTERING A NEW COMMAND . YOU WILL SEE THE #
SIGN WHEN IT COMPLETES EACH COMMAND .



After reboot , go back in to CWM , go in to ADVANCED and CLEAR THE DALVIK CACHE .

You're DONE !!! You should now be able to go in to the menu/settings/Storage .... Under available space, you should have over 150mb free.


Here are Kouma's directions . NOTE ! Do not select anything for EXT PARTITION TYPE or FAT PARTITION SIZE . Just hit ENTER .
ONLY PARTITION SWAP AND EXT .

1) Boot into Recovery
2) ADB shell into the phone
3) Run "sdparted -i"
4) Pick a size for a swap partition (CWM doesn't let you make them big)
5) Pick a size for your EXT partition. Let the fat partiton have the rest.
6) When sdparted completes flash this.View attachment 32408

this is the odin packerView attachment kouma packer.zip

 

[Caeadas]

Hey guys, newbie here.
Thanks for the excellent write up, I got tired of running out of memory every other day & finally decided to root, which was easy as pie thanks to this thread.
The only issues I'm having is with the ROMs & Kernals. CtMod simply gave me force close error pop-ups every 5 secs or so and it ran slooow....so i decided to try Halfass Rom (on both FA19 & EJ06.) ..which worked but made everything super sluggish....up to 20 sec delays on just about everything. Not sure if it's my (8GB) card or what as i've tried different partition sizes from small to large.
As it stands now, I'm rooted but dropped the Rom & Kernel until i can better understand why i'm getting such horrible performance from using them. Perhaps the SD card that came with the prevail would be better? I'd greatly appreciate any thoughts on this as i'd really like to have part of my card used as internal memory. Thanks.

In my experience, multiple force closes is a sign of apps being put where they don't belong. Its always best when changing roms to do a full wipe and reinstall everything fresh, so the rom/kernel can place apps in their correct folders. Make sure you switch the koumamod to data BEFORE you install any apps, it will screw stuff up as well. If the problem persists on a completely fresh install, post in the CTmod thread, they're may be something different going on.

Also, SD card size isn't quite as important as the SD cards speed class. Mines a class 10, really fast. A class 2 is going to be pretty pokey in comparison.


In other news, I <3 my new job. Good pay, everyone's friendly, and its near everything.....except my house. One hour drive each way. Hence why I'm not on all the time like before. If you have issues, please check the threads related to the guide. I'm not going to be here to help in ten minutes like before. I will still try to check in on the weekends, and i will update the guide as necessary.