Help Not sure why Samsung is so inadequate - what firmware should i choose

[MrWomble]

Well, i have been a GS2 user for about 5 weeks now and loving it - previously with Sony Ericsson

However - having updated to the last official firmware through KIES (yes that was probably a bad thing) the browser is blank screening, ringtones are being forgotten and other wierd stuff

Now, unlike Sony Ericsson, KIES does not offer a repair option and Samsung's solution is to send it to them for a week - not my favoured option for sure...

So my question is - having downloaded ODIN after going through a few threads,

1) which firmware is best to flash?
2) is it as simple as popping into download mode, choosing PDA and flashing (or am i missing something)
3) if anything were to go wrong, how do i get back to stock for warranty

yes i have had a quick scan and read some threads, but most seem to have a lot more knowledge of how samsung phones work, so just after a basic but quick shove in right direction

After all, i did root and flash ROMs to my X10, so can do stuff, just need to know how

Many thanks in advance

 

[NZtechfreak]

The new 2.3.5 firmware is really quite nice, although a mature 2.3.4 custom ROM is very respectable also (I've used Battista the most, but there are several good ones). If you update to 2.3.5 make sure its a version with the old bootloaders, because otherwise it's difficult to remove the yellow triangle alert if you decide to Root it but want the option of returning to stock for warranty purposes. Several options to return to stock, just flash a stock ROM in Odin (obviously you need to know what your current firmware is), or Root the device by flashing CF Root in PDA in Odin and then make a Nandroid backup of your current stock ROM (a good idea anyway).

The Odin process is as simple as you said.

 

[MrWomble]

Great info on 2.3.5

If you update to 2.3.5 make sure its a version with the old bootloaders.

Is this essential if i'm not too bothered about the yellow warning triangle on boot screen??

Root the device by flashing CF Root in PDA in Odin and then make a Nandroid backup of your current stock ROM (a good idea anyway).

Right - that one confused me - i assume CF Root is a file to put on the phone in download mode that roots the phone BEFORE doing a ROM ?? But never heard of NanDroid (does that make me an

 

[NZtechfreak]

CF Root does two things, it Roots the phone, but it also replaces the stock recovery with a custom recovery that will let you backup the entire phone state (nandroid backup), and it will also let you install custom ROMs from recovery.

The triangle has no importance whatsoever except for warranty considerations - if a repair centre sees it they know you've flashed non-stock firmware and your warranty is void. It's harder to get rid of in the 2.3.5 firmware because Samsung changed the bootloaders to make it more difficult to remove, that's why I mentioned making sure you get a 2.3.5 firmware with the bootloaders removed (since you had asked about warranty). All the custom ROMs have removed the new bootloaders, so you'll not have worries with any of them, its only if you wanted to flash the stock one.

 

[MrWomble]

OK, so if i grasped that correctly, if i flash a ROM Samsung does not approve of, it would cause that triangle to be visible for the entire future of the handset

However most custom ROMS installed AFTER the CF Root would not cause this ?

Told you Uber Noob to Samsung