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Help How to downgrade from Ice Cream sandwich to older version ?

smulemor

Newbie
Mar 19, 2012
14
0
Norway
unfortenately i got the ICS a couple of days ago and this have only gotten me in to trouble. i'm not the most knowledged in android and mobile fixing so i took the phone to differend retailers and supportshops to ask if they could downgrade it for me.... and the answer was no :eek:

so... i've read about people that have done downgrading but how ? my boyfriend is quite capable within the computer world and could help me (or rather... take over the whole project :rolleyes:) but we need a step by step instruction and a hint to where we can download an older androidversion. (or a hint to where i can send the cursed thing to get it fixed)

any kind souls in here that can help before i throw the entire phone in the trash and buy a new one ?
 
well... let's start with the removal of the on/off box for background data, this keeps tapping me of both power and money. my datausage rised from 7-10 MB in a couple of days to over 110MB. i have no idea why this stopped my datausage but it did, i can see that from my phonebill and the extended usage started right after the upgrade.
i've turned off what i can in the "edit programs access to internet" option but i'ts incredible unpractical to turn mobile data on and off every time i need it when i didn't have to do this before.

my battery that used to last over 24 hours with frequent usage are down to around 6 hours, the screen keeps "freezing" (i can swipe my fingers off before it reacts and editing the sensitivity is not helping), games and programs keeps freezing, sms-messages is either lagging or appears as sendt but the reciever never gets it and the list goes on... im seriously not impressed by this upgrade.

the only positive thing i can say is that internetsurfing on 3G is a bit faster but again, this worked fine with the previous version to.

i'm now at the point that it will actuall be cheaper in the long run to buy a new phone without the upgrade but this strikes me as an stupid option if it can be downgraded.
i will not perform the operation my self, my boyfriend works with computers and programming and i have full confidence in him but my curiocity makes me... hm... hang over his shoulder and try to learn (give me a windowscomputer who needs reinstalling and i'm your woman but this android/linuxstuff gives me gray hair :rolleyes:).

i've tried the factory reset but this only removed installed apps and the OS is still loading with the problems above.

so, the conclusion must be... i want to downgrade and i'm willing to take the risk. if it doesn't work out, i'll just have to buy a new phone and take the experience as learning :)
 
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[...]
so, the conclusion must be... i want to downgrade and i'm willing to take the risk.

That's fair enough. I didn't mean to suggest you were wrong, in case it sounded like that. I just didn't want to rush you into something that could be avoided. I can't argue with your rationale. ;)

There's a good and easy-to-understand guide here. The 'Flashing Firmware With Odin' section is what matters. The procedure is very simple and, provided your handset battery is well-charged, very safe.

You should be able to find the most recent firmware release for your handset here.

Hope this helps. Any questions, don't hesitate to ask.
 
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Can I just add one thing, if the work is being carried out on a laptop, it's a good idea to have the battery in, as we all see to often people on here saying their pc powered off during the process and knackered their phone.

you mean the battery in the computer right ? if so, our laptops are mostly degraded to "cabled tabletops" but thank's for the tip :)



and out of curiocity... what are the "XWKF" files listed in this post ? is this a part of the big mysterious linuxuniverse ?
 
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and out of curiocity... what are the "XWKF" files listed in this post ? is this a part of the big mysterious linuxuniverse ?

XW is one of the Samsung codes for generic European firmware for, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Nordic, Spain, United Kingdom. As shown under, "Letter Code", in post #1.

For a full explanation of Samsung's letter codes, see here:-

[REF] Samsung letter codes to check firmware compatibility - xda-developers

Hope this helps. :D
 
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ok, this is not going well... when we get to the point of using "superoneclick" the whole thing freeze and this comes up:

SuperOneClick v1.9.5.0
Checking drivers...

Killing ADB Server...


OK


Starting ADB Server...

* daemon not running. starting it now on port 5037 *
* daemon started successfully *

OK


Waiting for device...


and that's it.... any input ?



i'm not impressed by this guide as it lacks serveral links (go to chainfire and odias thread ?? there are several links in those treads and am i in the right thread ?).
 
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ok, to get the teaspoon at work... we just need to run odin and add the OS we want and press start ?

i keep scrolling the list in the link from xda but i can't understand wich one to download. is this the OS ?
i installed the one i got down but after installed, i cant get it to work. i dial the pin-code, the android icon appears and then the "fun begins... numerous boxes appears with different "google this and that are missing" and i can't get pass this point.

i really wish someone had made a "reinstall for dummies" like "download this - press this" etc.

right now, i'm unsure if i even got the right OS or if i at all downloaded an OS ?

and what is this ?
 
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i can't understand wich one to download. is this the OS ?

It depends on whether the handset was unbranded or used a carrier-specific firmware (e.g. Telenor).

and what is this ?

It's about the only way to find and download the correct firmware for your handset. If you select the "GT-i9100" preset you'll get a list of all firmwares listed by geographical location, and should be able to find the one for your handset. Installing the 'downloader' will let you download it to your PC.
 
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i don't have my phone locked to anyone, i can use any sim-card if that's what you mean ?

i think our problem is finding out what to actually download because we don't understand the codes. will the "check-fus" help us find the right OS ?


i'm starting to understand why professionals wouldn't downgrade the phone for me, this is a lot of complicated work :rolleyes:
 
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Just a thought, is your phone is a gt-I9100 or a gt - I9100 * ? where * is a letter. If it is the latter option then you need to get software for that model and not the gt - I9100. This has been a common mistake that has been made and led to a lot of problems. See the information at the start of this forum if this is the case.
 
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I understand downgrading is complicated, so I tried rooting my S2. I keep original kernel, but now it's rooted. I'm testing apps like "voltage control" and will see if performance is increased. Main issue about ICS is poor responsiveness, I think should be a way to tweak some settings in CPU to speed up my phone.
20 million sold worldwide... If I cannot find a solution, somebody will do !!
Smulemor, after factory reset, with no additional programs installed, do you still have freezing and the other serious problems ??
 
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If your phone was a, "G", variant it would say so in...

Settings > About phone > Model number

nope, no extra letters in the phonename.

Smulemor, after factory reset, with no additional programs installed, do you still have freezing and the other serious problems ??

not the freezing but i still have issues with the battery and backgrounddata tapping me for more money than i like.

i've asked samsung and they only warned me not to downgrade on my own due to warranty etc. no constructive answers there :rolleyes:
 
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i installed the one i got down but after installed, i cant get it to work. i dial the pin-code, the android icon appears and then the "fun begins... numerous boxes appears with different "google this and that are missing" and i can't get pass this point.

The message about various google things being missing probably refers to the gapps.zip I would say. Due to restrictions on distributing proprietary google apps bundled inside ROMs you must d/l the package separately.

See the CyanogenMod wiki, or google "Google Apps .zip 1412418" for the xda thread.
 
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