Root I must be new here

[Crazyjay]

Hey guys!

Jay here, so I have been lurking the forum the past couple days (got my captivate like a month ago) and I have been EXTREMELY impressed with the knowledge and help that you guys have put forth. But my Captivate has been laggy as hell lately So I come to you today with a simple question. I just today rooted my Samsung Captivate with the 2.2 froyo and as i type this I am Titanium backing everything because I want to apply a ROM. My question is, what do i do? I want to get the best ROM for myself and i pretty much have no clue what they are/do but I hear that they increase your speed and give you some cool customization features. What ROM should I get, how do i apply it to my phone and pretty much could you give me an introduction to ROMs. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much!

 

[sethjamto]

It all depends. There are EXCELLENT Froyo ROMs out there that are bug free and smooth as butter, fast, and customized. There are also several Gingerbread ROMs that are getting better and better. Each Cappy is different - meaning what works great on mine may not be the best on yours. I recommend going with a reliable Froyo (2.2 or 2.2.1) ROM first before you dive into the 2.3.3 world of GB. That will get your feet wet on the process and you'll feel more comfortable when the time comes that you want Gingerbread.

I have used Cognition and Serendipity and like them both. I ended up staying on Serendipity for a long time because it was SWEET! I highly recommend you give that one a try!

As for flashing instructions.....there are several videos and tutorials out there. Most are flashed basically the same way, but most Dev's have their own instructions for their ROMs.

This is what I did....I used this XDA tutorial ([GUIDE] How to Install a custom ROM - xda-developers, and then flashed the Serendipity ROM when I got to steps 3 and 5. You can also check out Serendipity's website here: Serendipity - Home. On the "Download" link on that site, it will give you specific instructions for installing that differ from the other link I just gave you. Either way works.

Bottom line is do NOT skip steps. Read them thoroughly BEFORE starting, and reference each step BEFORE doing it to make sure you are doing it properly.

Lastly, know that you are voiding your warranty, and risk bricking your phone - but odds are you will be perfectly fine if you can follow directions.

Good luck, and be careful! Flashing ROMs is VERY ADDICTING!!! ;-)

 

[Crazyjay]

It all depends. There are EXCELLENT Froyo ROMs out there that are bug free and smooth as butter, fast, and customized. There are also several Gingerbread ROMs that are getting better and better. Each Cappy is different - meaning what works great on mine may not be the best on yours. I recommend going with a reliable Froyo (2.2 or 2.2.1) ROM first before you dive into the 2.3.3 world of GB. That will get your feet wet on the process and you'll feel more comfortable when the time comes that you want Gingerbread.

I have used Cognition and Serendipity and like them both. I ended up staying on Serendipity for a long time because it was SWEET! I highly recommend you give that one a try!

As for flashing instructions.....there are several videos and tutorials out there. Most are flashed basically the same way, but most Dev's have their own instructions for their ROMs.

This is what I did....I used this XDA tutorial ([GUIDE] How to Install a custom ROM - xda-developers, and then flashed the Serendipity ROM when I got to steps 3 and 5. You can also check out Serendipity's website here: Serendipity - Home. On the "Download" link on that site, it will give you specific instructions for installing that differ from the other link I just gave you. Either way works.

Bottom line is do NOT skip steps. Read them thoroughly BEFORE starting, and reference each step BEFORE doing it to make sure you are doing it properly.

Lastly, know that you are voiding your warranty, and risk bricking your phone - but odds are you will be perfectly fine if you can follow directions.

Good luck, and be careful! Flashing ROMs is VERY ADDICTING!!! ;-)

Thanks so much man I'm hittin up the Serendipity homepage right now. Wish me luck! lol

 

[Crazyjay]

OK so ive downloaded odin3v1.o and it recognizes my device. i backed up all my stuff and transferred all the files off the phone. now the instructions say to press the up and down volume buttons followed by the power button. when this happens i get a bunch of blue and yellow text on my screen with a little android guy in the background and a caution sign above him. ive pressed start on odin and it just says "file analysis..." what does i does.............

 

[CrimsonPride]

OK so ive downloaded odin3v1.o and it recognizes my device. i backed up all my stuff and transferred all the files off the phone. now the instructions say to press the up and down volume buttons followed by the power button. when this happens i get a bunch of blue and yellow text on my screen with a little android guy in the background and a caution sign above him. ive pressed start on odin and it just says "file analysis..." what does i does.............

did you have odin open before you went into download mode? and download mode is the one with the caution sign and android guy

you may have one of the phones that doesnt work well with odin, i dont remember which batch number they were or id be more specific

 

[Crazyjay]

did you have odin open before you went into download mode? and download mode is the one with the caution sign and android guy

you may have one of the phones that doesnt work well with odin, i dont remember which batch number they were or id be more specific

ok NOW i have that android guy shoveling and it says downloading but oden is not recognizing my phone gosh darn it! should i start over? is that even possible? what do i do

Ok so i restarted my phone lol im going to try again will post update

 

[CrimsonPride]

ok NOW i have that android guy shoveling and it says downloading but oden is not recognizing my phone gosh darn it! should i start over? is that even possible? what do i do

i would try a battery pull and close everything and try it again. restart your phone once before trying it to make sure everything is still working

 

[Crazyjay]

OK so turns out I f'd my phone. I am a rogers customer, being canadian. and all the software and drivers and roms and all that stuff even odin3 is only for att. so now my rogers froyo 2.2 captivate thinks its att eclair. i even have all the att bloatware im almost in tears. i have no clue what to do.

 

[chicknlil]

There are Rogers versions of Odin on XDA - poke around and you'll find them. Still, I wouldn't worry about having the AT&T stuff on there if you plan to ROM, as the ROMs typically remove all the bloatware anyways. If your concern is APNs - you can get also find that info on XDA (or perhaps a helpful Rogers person can post it in this thread).

Personally, I use ADB to send my phone into recovery or download mode. That's pretty much as simple as typing either "adb reboot recovery" or "adb reboot download" from a command line, while in the ADB folder on your computer.

Also - you MUST have Odin open before you plug your phone into your computer - if not, Odin won't recognize your phone, which sounds like you may have had an issue with.

It sounds like you have it to "stock" right now, which means it should be all ready for you to put your new ROM on. Just take your time, READ the directions, and you should be fine.

 

[Crazyjay]

There are Rogers versions of Odin on XDA - poke around and you'll find them. Still, I wouldn't worry about having the AT&T stuff on there if you plan to ROM, as the ROMs typically remove all the bloatware anyways. If your concern is APNs - you can get also find that info on XDA (or perhaps a helpful Rogers person can post it in this thread).

Personally, I use ADB to send my phone into recovery or download mode. That's pretty much as simple as typing either "adb reboot recovery" or "adb reboot download" from a command line, while in the ADB folder on your computer.

Also - you MUST have Odin open before you plug your phone into your computer - if not, Odin won't recognize your phone, which sounds like you may have had an issue with.

It sounds like you have it to "stock" right now, which means it should be all ready for you to put your new ROM on. Just take your time, READ the directions, and you should be fine.

I didnt understand half the stuff you just said. It is on stock but it wont recognize it when i plug it into my computer. when i try to install the new drivers it just says i have to delete old drivers first. im so confused. is their any step by step you could give me or link me too? i was in heaven 6 hours ago and now i want to die.

 

[Crazyjay]

I didnt understand half the stuff you just said. It is on stock but it wont recognize it when i plug it into my computer. when i try to install the new drivers it just says i have to delete old drivers first. im so confused. is their any step by step you could give me or link me too? i was in heaven 6 hours ago and now i want to die.

and is my rogers plan even still valid with all this at&t shit on here? it thinks its a freaking at&t phone. with 2.1. its unbearable

 

[CrimsonPride]

and is my rogers plan even still valid with all this at&t shit on here? it thinks its a freaking at&t phone. with 2.1. its unbearable

Samsung Galaxy S/SGH-I896 - XDA-Developers

 

[RonH54]

Go watch these Videos before you do anything.


MobileTechVideos Captivate Tech Videos

 

[sethjamto]

Now that you are back to stock, you need to enable USB Debugging next to get it to recognize on the computer. Go to Menu > Settings > Applications > Development and check USB debugging. Try connecting again after this. After this you should be able to pick back up at step 4 on the Serendipity website. When it tells you to flash it twice in step 4, that means to install that .zip twice. For some reason the first time won't go through and it will bring you right back to the same screen. Just select it again and you will be good to go. That zip roots your phone and installs Clockwork Management (CWM). After that - proceed to the installation instructions and you will be good to go!

Enjoy! Serendipity 6.4 is FAST, SMOOTH, and SWEET!

 

[chicknlil]

Your phone is still a "Rogers" phone. It still (should) work on the Rogers network even though you have AT&T bloatware on there.

Not to knock you, sir ... but if you don't understand what I said, then you probably shouldn't have tried to ROM your phone, at least not yet.

You REALLY REALLY REALLY need to read up on this stuff before you continue, or you're heading towards ending up with a hard bricked phone.

 

[Crazyjay]

Now that you are back to stock, you need to enable USB Debugging next to get it to recognize on the computer. Go to Menu > Settings > Applications > Development and check USB debugging. Try connecting again after this. After this you should be able to pick back up at step 4 on the Serendipity website. When it tells you to flash it twice in step 4, that means to install that .zip twice. For some reason the first time won't go through and it will bring you right back to the same screen. Just select it again and you will be good to go. That zip roots your phone and installs Clockwork Management (CWM). After that - proceed to the installation instructions and you will be good to go!

Enjoy! Serendipity 6.4 is FAST, SMOOTH, and SWEET!

Okay so i master cleared my phone and i downloaded the update.zip now when i open up my phone through my computer it never shows any folder labeled sd card. It doesnt show any folders labeled sd card. so i drag and dropped the update.zip into some blank space (not into a folder) and now when i put my phone into recovery mode it only shows four options. Reboot system now, Reinstall Packages, Delete all user data and Delete cache data. what do? I know im a big noob but this is complicated as hell! Thanks for everyones help!

 

[Crazyjay]

Okay so i master cleared my phone and i downloaded the update.zip now when i open up my phone through my computer it never shows any folder labeled sd card. It only shows folders labeled album thumbs, android, and DCIS. so i drag and dropped the update.zip into some blank space (not into a folder) and now when i put my phone into recovery mode it only shows four options. Reboot system now, Reinstall Packages, Delete all user data and Delete cache data. what do? I know im a big noob but this is complicated as hell! Thanks for everyones help!

Just figured out im supposed to press reinstall packages. When i do so it gives me some error message in red txt saying it cant find my sd card. wtf