yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Galaxy S II General] godutch:
you can find a guide here: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1068193 I didn't write it, I did read about the problems about what could happen if you screw the /efs directory here: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=12874457
[Galaxy S II General] JJEgan:
How long before the post is ruined by idiots posting help questions in it .

Is their a way to lock it so as not to detract fro0m a very good stickie .

Just look at the FAQ page totally devoid now of being a FAQ .

Backing up EFS see topic Dev in section .

jje
[Galaxy S II General] godutch:
In the desire dev section there is a reference thread, new suggestions are posted and once in a while the thread is cleaned: all the suggestions are added to the OP and then together with useless posts deleted....
[Galaxy S II General] willk22:
Well I guess that is something that mabye a moderator can do? It would be a dillema though because I really would like suggestions from the community on how to improve the guide and add suggestions and amendmants... but you are right!
[Galaxy S II General] willk22:
Thank you, I will add this tommorow!
[Galaxy S II General] drspikes:
I've never seen definite evidence that having root voids warrantee.Looking through all the documents it only says things like if you change the software and this causes the problem they won't fix it. I suspect they would still fix a hardware fault. Samsung have given phones to known hackers. It would seem hard for them to argue that rooting invalidates warrantee when they have encouraged it.
[Galaxy S II General] willk22:
Better safe then sorry!

Plus phones can easily be unrooted.
[Galaxy S II General] godutch:
It's true, I can't find the reference right now but a member called Kalua( he is an official samsung repair center) posted a part of the official service manual which says it voids warranty

http://gathering.tweakers.net/forum/list_category/13

it's very hard to retrieve/find indivual posts though

edit: found it: http://gathering.tweakers.net/forum/view_message/36107694
[Galaxy S II General] crx16:
Could you explain the usb jig please. Isnt the binary clock reset when re rooting? In fact a whole how to re root your gs2 so samsung will never know guide would be great.
[Galaxy S II General] santiago84:
Thanks for this. It's very much appreciated by all noobs to Samsungs. I look forward to future updates
[Galaxy S II General] willk22:
No problem! I will update everything and continue the 'to do' list as soon as i can...
[Galaxy S II General] blue265:
Very good idea and think this will help a lot of people ;) This will definitely be a good link to send those who are new to the device
[Galaxy S II General] JJEgan:
No Rooting letter from Samsung .

http://www.samfirmware.com/apps/blog/show/5267754-newsletter-by-samsung-electronics-
[Galaxy S II General] Hrti:
This looks really nice, and will be a good ref for many. I even found myself asking lots of these questions in many threads because I'm used to the HTC way of rooting.

A nice little section to add would be a "unroot your device" for people with warranty purposes. This is a question that pops up everywhere.

Keep up the good work!
[Galaxy S II General] godutch:
but that doesnt reset the binary download counter, so even if you reflash a stock rom it will still be out of warranty, you need a jig to reset the counter
[Galaxy S II General] Isadora:
Great idea. You might want to add a section that explains the folder architecture and what is stored where. After many years of WinMo, the first time I looked at the folders was a big gniiiiiiiii??? moment :p
[Galaxy S II General] arabbitte:
Me too, X-WM and a little clueless: +1

Nice FAQ btw!
[Galaxy S II General] godutch:
this could be a start but even as a linux user the android file hierarchy can be a little confusing:

http://www.tuxmachines.org/images/linux_file_structure.jpg
[Galaxy S II General] ttl8me:
Wow! What an awesome thread! Coming from a Symbian user, I'm planning to upgrade to sgs2 very soon.. With that in mind, I have been self studying myself in android forums inorder for me to be "technically" ready when I switched to android. And guess what, your thread is my savior coz you kinda compiled everything a newbie needs to know about android... I'm very grateful for people like you who unselfishly share their knowledge so that others can be benefitted.. Keep up the good work! Good karma for you!
[Galaxy S II General] CarpathianUK:
Just wanted to say thanks for the work so far. As geeky as I am there will always be a learning curve when coming to new kit and the SGSII definitely counts as that for me.

No matter how good a lot of the tech help is on XDA there will always be an initial bit of "Dummies Guide...." needed. Things like common acronyms are stupidly useful and your time & effort goes a long way.
[Galaxy S II General] yudi7:
Thanks for that. I'm new to android with SGS2 so this is really helpful. Best of luck with your work. Remember to update it so that people new to SGS2 can easily understand whats going on.
[Galaxy S II General] nookcoloruser:
Thanks for the guide :)
[Galaxy S II General] !2020!:
This is excellent! Thank you! As a new Android user I have been waiting for something like this and truly appreciate it. Every device on XDA should have a post/sticky like this. Would definitely cut down on the redundant questions and hijacked threads.

Thanks Again!
[Galaxy S II General] bassmonkey:
Thanks to op for this.

Sticky please!
[Galaxy S II General] bassmonkey:
Thanks to the op.

Sticky please! :)
[Galaxy S II General] willk22:
Thanks for all the thanks! :)

I'm gonna start on some of the 'to do' list now.
[Galaxy S II General] zkyevolved:
Wow! Thanks a lot! This explained A LOT! I wasn't exactly sure about the terminology of a few things :) 2 thumbs up!
[Galaxy S II General] willk22:
Updated with info about CWM, and a custom ROM list
[Galaxy S II General] willk22:
Updated with explanation of:

- AOSP

- CM

- MIUI

Also added stuff to the glossary and changed some formatting to make everything look nicer...
[Galaxy S II General] godutch:
Please don't forget about the /efs directory, and it is really good quite easily destroyed and gone for good without a backup, permanently bricking the device, the it is also very easy to prevent....
[Galaxy S II General] willk22:
Added explanation of the /efs folder, and (link to) guide to backing it up... Back it up people!
[Galaxy S II General] dealwithit:
sounds hard
[Galaxy S II General] willk22:
What does, /efs?

Or everything?
[Galaxy S II General] bentothemaxx:
Great idea and great thread so far!

Wondering if you could include some info about adding a custom boot animation?
[Galaxy S II General] willk22:
Yer sure, I will stick it on the 'to do' list
[Galaxy S II General] sidepocket:
Very informative post for new converts like me. Subscribed!
[Galaxy S II General] drgigaherz:
Thanks put some things in place for me although flashing for some time now on hd2 :-)
[Galaxy S II General] willk22:
Updated with superuser and busybox, will do some more later today...
[Galaxy S II General] stefanjadex:
Many thanks for your effort, as well as for your guide. This post is extremely useful for beginners and, in my opinion, should be marked as STICKY.

It helped my to clear a lot of questions, as a long time WM user.

It's a lot more light now for all of us :).

One demand: UNROOTING please.

Keep it going!
[Galaxy S II General] willk22:
Your welcome! And I will add it to the to do list, thanks for the suggestion :)
[Galaxy S II General] willk22:
Added 'useful links' section (needs expansion) and added more links to custom rom list. Gonna tackle ADB next!
[Galaxy S II General] qwerty warrior:
thank you for this awesome thread
[Galaxy S II General] amdaley:
Thank you from a complete Android newbie :)
[Galaxy S II General] JJEgan:
LOST.DIR folder on Phone and SD card .

Repository for what is best termed as errors with your SD card etc .

A few files in these folders is ok but a lot of files means errors on the SD card often due to stopping transfer or pulling USB cable to soon .

Get a number of files in either of these folders and its best to run chkdsk on the relevant sd card and let it fix errors > Scandisk from within windows .

jje

Delete if already posted
[Galaxy S II General] willk22:
No problem!

Added ADB section + links for setting it up. I will add some ADB definitions at a later date.

Also apologies for the slow progress!
[Galaxy S II General] gastogg:
THX A LOT!!!, very very usefull
[Galaxy S II General] ZVictor:
Thanks for the useful topic!

Someone should sticky it!
[Galaxy S II General] whycb:
wow... very informative. thank you from a complete Android newbie.
[Galaxy S II General] qwerty warrior:
i amazed that this isnt sticky

u answer the same question noobs question everyday

NOOB :day 1 - how to root ?

ME : use search

noob : thx :confused:

NOOB : day 2 my battery is dying bla bla bla HELP

me : there is 100 threads about this use SEARCH

NOOB; day 3 will a custom ROM fix my battery and make it faster

me : USE THE DAMN SEARCH !

NOOB : my screen its yellow and has spots OMGZ should i return it

me : yes ,exchange it for a new shiny one

Noob: day 5 i want to update my rom how ?

me: use kies air via bluetooth works every time

Noob: day 7 i want to remove the coating on the screen

me : use liter fluid

im becoming a bad person :cool:
[Galaxy S II General] willk22:
Ha! Send 'em here!
[Galaxy S II General] RejjvarN:
Thank you for some awesome reading, made everything alot clearer!
[Galaxy S II General] JJEgan:
Another one to add Google maps offline support just added .

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1156790

jje
[Galaxy S II General] willk22:
Sorry about lack of addition for a while, exams and stuff!

I will continue adding stuff and updating this in about a week (post-exam holiday :) )
[Galaxy S II General] LuffyPSP:
CF-root or SuperOneClick is more efficient and stable? i want to have root, SU, busybox and CWM only.
[Galaxy S II General] MorRoquen:
Thank you! Very useful place to send newbies to.

MODS: Please sticky this thread - right on top :-)
[Galaxy S II General] LouisJB:
Thanks, Another vote to make this thread sticky. Very helpful.
[Galaxy S II General] willk22:
Updated custom ROM list, and added a list of custom kernels...

What to do next!
[Galaxy S II General] Nitrile:
thank you for this thread, it definitely deserves a bump.
[Galaxy S II General] tshoulihane:
This brings me along nicely to Kernels! Kernels are basically a bridge between your apps and your hardware. The kernel is the lowest level of the operating system, and is responsible for managing the flash storage, the processor, scheduling the apps, etc. On the Galaxy S2, a single compressed kernel file (zImage) contains both the main kernel and the recovery kernel (see later). A kernel is included in every ROM, but can frequently be replaced independently of the ROM. Between major Android OS versions, the reference kernel version can change, but it is possible for new kernel features to be added back in to update older kernel versions.
[Galaxy S II General] screamworks:
Due to my OCD nature when it comes to guides and what not, I decided, for my own personal benefit, to put this into a Word document, fix the grammatical issues, format it, hyperlink it, etc. I figured at first it'd seem pretentious to post it up, (no one likes the grammar Nazi), but then I figured it could be of use, so well, attached is the file.

Whether or not you even look at it honestly doesn't bother me, but it's there if anyone does :D

Great guide, by the way.
[Galaxy S II General] JJEgan:
attached is the file.

ocd ???

jje
[Galaxy S II General] screamworks:
Sleep-deprived brain led to typos and not attaching the file. Fixed now :D
[Galaxy S II General] Zionator:
Nice guide but the easyest way to root ur sgs 2 is here :

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1095274
[Galaxy S II General] bracketb4d:
I'm new to Android, this is very useful. I've had huge difficulty trying to learn things from millions of posts in different topics/threads/sub-forums, maybe this guide should go on the XDA Wiki ?

http://xdaforums.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

Galaxy S2 specific things can go in the S2 device section, while general Android info could go into the "Information" super section

At the very least, this post should be stickied. Would save a noob months and avoid many common errors/mistakes.

Thanks !
[Galaxy S II General] cad_2011:
thank you. this is what i needed.

any ideas when the stock ROM links will be available?
[Galaxy S II General] willk22:
All there, its just a link to a thread by intratech, down the bottom of the post!

I've also started trying to clean up some of the horrible formatting...
[Galaxy S II General] cad_2011:
guess Telstra stock ROM is not available yet. can't seem to find the matching PDA/Phone and CSC.
[Galaxy S II General] SGS_elko:
You can backup your /efs folder with Root Explorer. ZIP the whole folder, it will be saved to your SD card. To be on the save side send it via email to you and you will have it on your google mail ;-), or just copy it to the computer. I think it is much easyer as to use ADB.

Regards
[Galaxy S II General] cmpnetman:
Thanks for your efforts to get all info together. It's very useful.
[Galaxy S II General] tfn:
Nice Post!!!!

Just an ADDON for the ODIN PICTURE you could circle PHONE and CSC green as well as some files have all three so you need to put them in the respective section.
[Galaxy S II General] adoool92:
thanks so much for this post i bookedmarked it as a reference hihi..i bought the sgs2 and now i know how to root it n stuff thx!
[Galaxy S II General] zipolly:
Hi sorry if this has been asked already but i have searched for the answer and cant find it , Do you need to have an unlocked phone to root or can i root a locked phone ? Iam currently on orange uk
[Galaxy S II General] bakewelluk:
Shouldn't make any difference, and a good first step is to flash generic firmware anyway as the carrier-specific ones are generally pretty far behind! Check out intratech and chainfire's threads in the dev section for good guides and firmwares.
[Galaxy S II General] raxio:
Very useful

Thanks :)
[Galaxy S II General] new2androids:
Hi, thanks for this guide. I learned a lot from this, however, I still have a question: Will flashing a new firmware change the language options in the SGS2? Mine doesn't have European languages, and I need German and Spanish along with English. I thought I could install a generic UK+Europe firmware (xwkf3), and that may solve my problem. Would it? Also, on the firmware updates/installation guide by intratech, I couldn't access the files through the links. Why? Is there a special app/software I need to get them?

Thank you very much!
[Galaxy S II General] willk22:
Hmm, as far as I know ROM developers control language support for their ROMs, and they will state what languages the ROM supports on their ROM thread. If you flash a 'stock' firmware then they vary in language support, and to be honest I really have no clue which one would be of use to you!

As for you not being able to access the download links, then it may be a problem with multiupload... you should just be sent to a website to download from.

Sorry I can't be more helpful, I've never played around with language support!
[Galaxy S II General] wasiimabbas:
can i anyone explain to me how to debrand the s2 to the genric European firmware.
[Galaxy S II General] wasiimabbas:
thnx man , its great guide helped me alot
[Galaxy S II General] willk22:
No problem!

I have just realised that some of this guide is out of date so I will get to work updating it!
[Galaxy S II General] Marx2:
it's very good guide. I would welcome more info about custom ROMs/kernels: why they are better than stock, which Android version they are based on etc.

Guide miss info specific to S II - I would add link to Anandtech's review

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4686/samsung-galaxy-s-2-international-review-the-best-redefined/18

which is one of the best reviews about his phone.

It would be nice to discuss connectivity options - something about file uploading via BT/WiFi/USB, usefuleness of KIES etc
[Galaxy S II General] Nitrius:
Great guide, keep the good work up! =)
[Galaxy S II General] defender359:
it's very good guide , tnks mate
[Galaxy S II General] willk22:
Updated stuff (slightly)

And thanks for all the thanks!
[Galaxy S II General] wrayrb:
Very good guide. It helps both newbies and those who are experienced in some areas but not others (half-newbies?). Keep going!
[Galaxy S II General] cuteseal:
This is really fantastic - all the information in an easy to read and accessible format. Thanks for taking the time to do so.

I would probably suggest a couple more sections or topics to add:

1. Backups of individual apps (i.e. via Titanium)

- Yes, nandroid backups are mentioned but after flashing a new (wipe) ROM, you want an easy way of getting all your apps and data back

2. Overclocking and undervolting

3. Battery calibration theory and procedure
[Galaxy S II General] santhoshkj:
Good one bro, keep up the good job
[Galaxy S II General] fretjes:
Nice one,

for me as a newby to Android and the Galaxy S2 very helpfull.

gr fred
[Galaxy S II General] z.alimohamed:
Really helpful info here!
[Galaxy S II General] _gege:
nice, clean, usefull
[Galaxy S II General] N78006:
Thank you for this awesome thread

I will read a lot.

I dont want my name on "post #5"
[Galaxy S II General] Jep56:
What an excellent thread. One more reason I just may jump to the SGS 2 this week!
[Galaxy S II General] MrDrumngun:
Do the rooting methods displayed work for the At&t SGSII?
[Galaxy S II General] maddada:
Can you please explain the difference between different CF-Root Kernels ?

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1103399

up until version 4.1 the kernels have the tag SECURE or as cf refers to it in the first post "secure mode", but from ver 4.2 onwards they are tagged INSECURE or "insecure mode".. what does that mean?

and THANK YOU VERY MUCH for this awsome thread, really appreciate your effort :D
[Galaxy S II General] Tr9cko:
Very usefull , thanks!! :D
[Galaxy S II General] willk22:
Ha no you definitely don't!

Added some stuff on the split development forums, and WOO STICKY! :D
[Galaxy S II General] lordsyre27:
nice guide! Thanks!
[Galaxy S II General] rydeordie99:
Really do appreciate this for a new Android user
[Galaxy S II General] willfred2011:
very helpfull guide,

thanks
[Galaxy S II General] jonny68:
Know most of this already but big respect to the OP for this superb post, the best guide yet.
[Galaxy S II General] majinbooo:
very usefull list of info, bookmarked. thx a lot
[Galaxy S II General] EnemyOfGlaDOS:
Great info for a new user! Kudos to you sir :cool:

..oh and, thank you very much!
[Galaxy S II General] whiteline_ni:
Superb guide lad, a lot of time went into that im sure...cheers.
[Galaxy S II General] el_mekawy:
thanks man.that was very helpful
[Galaxy S II General] mime103:
Great work. Very helpful!
[Galaxy S II General] mcshame:
Fantastic! I've had the phone 2 days and have been reading furiously and believe I am ready to root to 1st remove the bloatware from Bell. The ROM step will come later ;)

One thing I am not clear on that I didn't notice in the guide. Installed on the phone is Android 2.3.3. I noticed that 2.3.5 is available. On a computer, I would normally upgrade my OS 1st. I tried with Samsung Kies, but it didn't offer any upgrade. Should I do this after the root and if so, how?
[Galaxy S II General] z.alimohamed:
You don't need to root to update the firmware. Check this thread out. It has all the info you need to update. Make sure you read the first few posts. All you need to know is there.

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1075278
[Galaxy S II General] TecQuality:
just a REQ: can you provide us a repository where we can find all the stock apps? :)
[Galaxy S II General] lancejackson:
Nice guide
[Galaxy S II General] doctorbva:
Willks22 - I'm planning on buying a GS2 (switching from Samsung Captivate), so, I thought of researching before the purchase. Gotta say.... LOVE this ref page. It got bookmarked for future reference. Thanks again.
[Galaxy S II General] benjo2021:
thanks a million times.. awesome!:):)
[Galaxy S II General] xexplorer:
Hello,

I have found a HowTo JIG. You can Download it here in german http //ul.to/af9sypwr

and also in english here http //ul.to/lkkpjq3i

have fun x
[Galaxy S II General] max621:
One of simplest and informative guide i ever come across.....

Really appreciated....
[Galaxy S II General] szomi:
This thread is very useful. Thanks.
[Galaxy S II General] unibombz:
Samsung Galaxy S II HD LTE

Hello, New here and researching some phones. The Samsung Galaxy S II HD LTE, has just launched in .ca on Rogers. I was wondering if this guide for the Samsung Galaxy S II would work with the new phone Samsung Galaxy S II HD LTE.

I did not see the exact specifics for this phone in the device search, but it is the phone I am thinking about getting. Was going to wait for the Nexus but I may not due to no card slot.

Any clear up/response to this question is greatly appreciated. Thank you :)
[Galaxy S II General] Mo.shishani:
Excellent work, very useful

Thank you
[Galaxy S II General] tiricloncito:
thanks

gracias

grazas
[Galaxy S II General] apollero:
If I update to 2.3.7, will I still be able to use Titanium backup to restore all my apps and settings which were installed on a 2.3.3 firmware?
[Galaxy S II General] Fishawy:
Restore your apps only. Restoring settings between different firmwares can seriously screw up your ROM.
[Galaxy S II General] samH4Sung:
neat guide. Def saving this in a pdf. Thank you
[Galaxy S II General] anrichp:
Thanks

Thanks man! great guide
[Galaxy S II General] sjbanner:
Thanks, some very useful stuff that I never knew before.
[Galaxy S II General] darrez:
thanks for this wonderful guide....very useful for newbie like me..

can trash my iphone now:D
[Galaxy S II General] krishca:
Thanks

This post is really good for beginners. Keep up the good work.
[Galaxy S II General] dknotty:
Excellent stuff.
[Galaxy S II General] jackson.james:
Hi, i am using a GT-I9100G

[[Android version 2.3.6

Baseband GDZKJ2

Kernel 2.6.35.7]]

And i found that the usual ways on rooting a S2 won't work my mine as it is the G version .

I need help on rooting my phone with the steps on doing it and the files needed for the job .

Ty
[Galaxy S II General] modmymobile:
Thank you for this great guide. Regarding backing up the EFS folder I found a good app on the android market called kTool from Hellcat. It will back up the file for you and check its integrity. It can also be used to restore the EFS folder if it corrupts.
[Galaxy S II General] jy77:
nice guide for newbie :)

btw the kTool nit too root access in order to back up rite efs rite?
[Galaxy S II General] Omga4000:
Nice job :)

Very detailed!!
[Galaxy S II General] Trakinão:
Thank you! I've learned a lot with it!
[Galaxy S II General] tommyrumbler:
very helpful! thanks
[Galaxy S II General] BigCeyCey:
hanks for the guide
[Galaxy S II General] ToucherCD:
Thank you, its very helpfull :)
[Galaxy S II General] Jancried:
MOD EDIT

Please DO NOT Quote the whole Post Thanks

good stuff i saw the post on chainfire too tht was bad he got all the kernel version

bu i wonder what happen if my kernel version wrote like root@DELL129 #2

i didnt manage to ask him coz i am a new user i wonder if u can tell me what is the difference? please. again good stuff for a noob like me trying to root my phone
[Galaxy S II General] r3dd09:
definitely a good read in preparation of me acquiring one in the next week... hopefully ;)
[Galaxy S II General] xdroid7:
+1 10 char
[Galaxy S II General] Dalfin:
Best move ever! (The acquiring part...) :D
[Galaxy S II General] Okkx:
Thanks for making this :)
[Galaxy S II General] kakaroto2k:
thank you so much for make this thread. Its really useful for newbies like me. Greetings from Panama.
[Galaxy S II General] manishdev:
use doomlords method for rooting the G version

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1321582
[Galaxy S II General] daz606060:
Excellent guide for beginners like me.

Thank you for all your hard work putting this guide together.