yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[General Questions and Answers] prasadrao88:
Can anyone guide me from scratch? I am a noob!! :(

Hi Guys,

I will be getting Samsung Exhibit II 4g from US in some days (I stay in India)

It will be locked to T Mobile.

Is there anyway I can unlock this to work with other GSM carriers?

I tried to read all the posts here but I couldnt figure out anything

I know I am supposed to root it (I have no idea how to do this.)

Am I supposed to install a custom ROM too?

Please guide me to achieve this..Please give me step wise execution.. i do not want my phone to lie lifeless when I get it...
[General Questions and Answers] s0unds:
Is there any way to unlock this phone if it is locked to T-Mobile? No.
[General Questions and Answers] jose makalolot:
If you dont want to talk to t-mobile, go buy the unlock code off ebay.

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sent from my calculator with android
[General Questions and Answers] stubbakatt:
Awesome news! I'm not a coder or anything, but let me know if you'd like me to test anything. I use OS X primarily but have XP installed in VMware.
[General Questions and Answers] s0unds:
Thanks!

I'll update heimdall for OS X - this could use testing.
[General Questions and Answers] jose makalolot:
I wonder why people are not buying this phone... though camera is not the best, hspa works both t-mobile and at&t when unlocked.

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sent from my calculator with android
[General Questions and Answers] s0unds:
The Samsung Galaxy W has a greatly improved CPU, better cameras, but doesn't cost a lot more.

My guess is the Exhibit II is T-Mobile's (and Bell Canada, etc.) bottom-of-the-barrel phone.
[General Questions and Answers] jose makalolot:
Maybe. But for a prepaid phone that is capable on any gsm hspa, nothing beats that. Maybe it's all about the use.

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sent from my calculator with android
[General Questions and Answers] dswaggz:
Kies air doesnt work on my laptop

sent from my exhibit 2 greatness
[General Questions and Answers] dswaggz:
Also ima try root as well geez i wish we had a dev oh any news on official ics

sent from my exhibit 2 greatness
[General Questions and Answers] youthcom:
I'm gonna return mine. A shame since I generally like it & got a good deal on it at $185 from Amazon. Reason for return is that being T-Mobile branded it does not work with my unlimited internet grandfathered data plan (blocked because of IMEI?). There is the prepaid $30/month plan that would work for me except no data roaming on prepaid plans.

I ask this earlier but want to confirm. Does simply deleting the stuff that gets installed for root unroot it & leave no trace of tampering?

Wouldn't a factory reset or recovery from whatever is built into the phone do the same thing?

Or will I have to go through all the steps in recent posts to get back to factory stock?

I'm replacing this phone with an unlocked HTC Incredible S for about $100 more. The screen has warm color balance & hopefully HTC will replace under warranty. The speaker is poor compared to the Exhibit II. But it does work with my legacy plan, has more memory, & haptic feedback. Would've like to try a Galaxy SII or Nexus but they are too expensive.
[General Questions and Answers] s0unds:
If you delete the files installed for root, yes, there is no trace.

If you want to, you can flash it using odin...but that's not needed.

If you did stuff, you might be better off flashing it just to be sure. Like, if you deleted Carrier IQ or installed Titanium Backup, etc.

Flashing it doesn't get rid of your personal info though.

Thanks, by the way, for mentioning T-Mobile is blocking grandfathered unlimited plans. I didn't know that.
[General Questions and Answers] youthcom:
I just had Titanium Backup Pro installed. Used it to uninstall terminal, then use a file explorer to remove superuser.apk, uninstalled Titanium, & did a factory reset from the settings/privacy menu. Seems stock now. Thanks.
[General Questions and Answers] dswaggz:
Try simple mobile 40$ a month unlimited 3g period an we use t-mobile towers an my phone works great

sent from my exhibit 2 greatness
[General Questions and Answers] s0unds:
I just want to wish everyone on this thread a Merry Christmas!

Here are two Christmas presents for y'all... I know, not new news but still... :)

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/12/att-admits-defeat-on-t-mobile-takeover-will-pay-4-billion-breakup-fee.ars

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/12/victory-boycott-forces-godaddy-to-drop-its-support-for-sopa.ars
[General Questions and Answers] dswaggz:
OK picz but no rom lmao smh

sent from my exhibit 2 greatness
[General Questions and Answers] m4rk-w:
Hi, i have a samsung exhibit II from bell, (galaxy w), i root it without problem, but i tri to unrooth it to get back to stock, i use the studdback method. The probleme is that my phone is SGH-T679M and the .md5 from studdback is for SGH-T679 so when i use his method i soft brick my phone ! so right now nothing work. i look everywhere on internet but i cant find the stock firmware for my samsung. can someone help me to find it or any other firmware that work. the only thing i find is the code source form opensource dot samsung dot com. but i can figure how to convert it ?

I need a .tar.md5 file for SGH-T679M

Thank every one for your help
[General Questions and Answers] mikeetastic:
Im gonna return mine too coz got myself a cheap galaxy S at craigslist..

Will factory reset from settings restores the apps i deleted like 411, t-mobile stuff etc? I already deleted terminal and superuser but almost all bloatwares are gone haha..

Thanks.
[General Questions and Answers] jose makalolot:
Nope. It wont be restored if you deleted the apps.

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sent from my calculator with android
[General Questions and Answers] dswaggz:
Damn it this phone needs a dev so bad bkuz it really has the potential to be ah beast I think

sent from my exhibit 2 greatness
[General Questions and Answers] mikeetastic:
Thanks, any way or maybe a quick tutorial on how can i restore all the apps (T-mobile app, mall, 411 qik etc) just like a bnew phone again? sorry still a noob, just had this phone 2 days ago and my first time using android from iOS..

Salamat kabayan ;)
[General Questions and Answers] jose makalolot:
Kabayan, you need to put the original apks of the apps that you removed.

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sent from my calculator with android
[General Questions and Answers] diskoman21:
I actually have the grandfathered unlimited internet with T-Mobile, and my Exhibit II worked just fine for me right out of the box. Got mine to replace my G2 until my full upgrade is available next year. I would've checked with T-Mobile to find out what the issue was if I were you. After rooting, removing bloatware & adding Droidwall I really like mine. Best deal for the money. I just thought folks should know their experience may not be the same as yours!
[General Questions and Answers] mikeetastic:
Thanks..

i know i can download t-mobile apps like my account, mall, visual voicemail etc on Android Market but how bout the other stuff that i deleted (eg voice recorder, Mini Diary etc) i also deleted the app called talk and i think i need it?

@all

anyone having problems sending SMS? at times i have to send more than 10X for a message to get through?
[General Questions and Answers] youthcom:
That is odd. Everything I've read (T-Mobile forums on howardforums) after my own experience has suggested they they will upsell you to a new data plan for any of their branded Android smartphones. Perhaps your plan is newer or already part a smartphone plan. Mine is several years old that was meant for a laptop datacard. When I put the sim in it did work for a few mins, but then the webpage saying my plan isn't compatible came up soon after. Since the sim works with my old Nokia N900 & now the HTC Incredible S I suspect it is T-Mobile's own IMEI block so we don't get truly unlimited or throttled internet with their smartphones.
[General Questions and Answers] s0unds:
I verified the list of what each one is, here. In other words, same as the Galaxy W. But it's still a good thing to do, since you can mount them later to get at the original files, or maybe (if we get heimdall to work) use them to recover your phone... more on that below.

Do you have a windows box? If so, use these instructions from stubbakatt and you'll be back to a non-rooted factory state. (But your settings will still be there.)

If you don't have windows, then you'll be able to use heimdall once I add support for this phone.

Yeah. Odin is for recovering from a bad kernel or system partition. adb is no use when the phone is in odin mode.

Yup. Odin runs from the boot loader. Using stubbakatt's method, there is no way to mess up the boot loader or odin. Flashing a custom kernel will not really be possible without either messing with the rom stubbakatt posted (not safe), or wait for heimdall support. Here's why: stubbakatt's rom has everything in it, including odin. Heimdall is safer -- it just flashes the kernel+system, and not odin, so I think don't try changes made inside stubbakatt's rom. Ok, the truth is stubbakatt got the image directly from T-Mobile's servers.

Overclocking, for one.

Use the link above, stubbakatt has posted the image.

It's already available, here.

When you say "test odin by overwriting this" I think you're on to something I hadn't thought of. The best/surest way is to add support to heimdall and flash phones using odin. But while that's in progress, you can use adb shell and dd a kernel onto the kernel partition. Use the partition map I linked to and google around for instructions on how to get around permission denied errors. If it doesn't boot, odin can recover it -- but do a recovery with odin first so you're sure you have the right drivers installed on your windows box. Otherwise, you're stuck with a phone that won't boot until we here on the forum can help you get your recovery setup to work...it took me a few days!

The built-in flash is mmcblk0p*. You're seeing your transflash card on mmcblk1p1 and mmcblk1p*.

I would really like to work with you on this. It sounds like you know a lot already. If you're interested, I can tell you what I've reversed already of the odin protocol (for heimdall). Or try to build a kernel and system partition -- but I'm not sure there's an easy way to actually flash it to your phone... At least not with odin mode.
[General Questions and Answers] dswaggz:
Ah progress like the McDonald's commercial I'm lovin it :) ooh maybe some icecream or cm miui would be nice too keep up the good work

sent from my exhibit 2 greatness
[General Questions and Answers] swonsay:
s0unds, I don't really trust that map without any evidence to support it, so please understand me correctly when I say I'm going to take a few whacks at proving it wrong, especially on the important partitions ;)

to get around the 4g limit I made my 8g card ext3 and I use adb with the following command: mount -t ext3 /dev/block/vold/179:33 /mnt/sdcard/external_sd

I just finished dd'ing /dev/block/mmcblk0 (3957325824 bytes transferred in 799.723 secs)

This uses the same points as the OS does naturally in my phone, furthermore: /dev/block/vold/179:28 /mnt/sdcard is the internal 2gb card

Now I understand there can be links and devices can be accessed through a few different ways. I've booted into my Linux (Debian Squeeze) partition and now that I've read up on Heimdall I wholeheartedly accept the invite to get that working ASAP, I don't trust MS OS's when I don't have to.

Partitions confirmed:

mmcblk0p28 & vold/179:28 = internal-SD storage

After looking at the following (easy) mountable files, I don't believe that map is correct, see below:

mmcblk0p6 shows up as an executable!

mmcblk0p8 after extracting ramdisk:

$ ls
ARIESVE.rle fota.rc init.qcom.sh recovery ueventd.goldfish.rc
charging.rle init init.rc res ueventd.rc
data init.goldfish.rc lib sbin
default.prop initlogo.rle lpm.rc sys
dev init.qcom.rc proc system

#mount mmcblk0p12 test/ -o loop
#cd test/
#ls
efs_info.bin	qcom_wlan_nv.bin WCN1314_qcom_wlan_nv.bin
movinand_checksum_done	sd_det.bin
movinand_checksum_pass	usb_sel.bin

mmcblk0p13 after extracting ramdisk:

$ ls
ARIESVE.rle dev initlogo.rle lpm.rc sbin ueventd.goldfish.rc
charging.rle etc init.qcom.sh proc sys ueventd.rc
data fota.rc init.rc recovery system
default.prop init lib res tmp

# mount mmcblk0p15 test/ -o loop
# ls test/
app	cameradata	CSCVersion.txt framework SW_Configuration.xml usr
bin	csc	etc	lib	T9DB	vsc
build.prop CSCFiles.txt fonts	media tts	xbin

# mount mmcblk0p16 test/ -o loop
# ls test/ ; umount test/
lost+found recovery

# mount mmcblk0p17 test/ -o loop
# ls test/ ; umount test/
app	data	log	shared	system
app-private dontpanic lost+found situation.txt	tombstones
backup	fota	misc	soundbooster.txt	wifi
cache	gps	property stream_bluetooth.txt wiper
clipboard gpsone_d	radio	stream_headset.txt wpstiles
dalvik-cache local	secure stream_speaker.txt

# ls test/ ; umount test/
cryptprop_applied_result cryptprop_persist.sys.language dmp
cryptprop_efs	cryptprop_rebootMode	edk_p
cryptprop_essiv	cryptprop_sdcard	lost+found
cryptprop_onetimeboot	cryptprop_securewipedata

# mount mmcblk0p28 test/ -o loop
# ls test/ ; umount test/
Android DCIM	LOST.DIR	system	TitaniumBackup
data	external_sd run	test	usbStorage
[General Questions and Answers] s0unds:
Is there a mount command missing between

mount mmcblk0p17 test

and

mount mmcblk0p28 test

?

Still, that doesn't seem to me to be an indication that the map over at http://rootzwiki.com/topic/7309-rec...-devices/page__st__160__p__235477#entry235477 is wrong. I'm fine if it is wrong, so let's figure it out :)
[General Questions and Answers] AndroidSamurai:
I just dumped a system log and sent it to Chainfire so we can get support for our device using the Mobile ODIN Pro app.

I'm a little rusty with the inner workings of android after being stuck with a WM phone for the past few years, but I am the creator of the original ADB for "Dummies" guide here at XDA and will help where needed.

We can brainstorm more if one of you want to PM me some info on what exactly we need to do or look for.
[General Questions and Answers] AndroidSamurai:
And onto another issue...

How in the hell do we actually get apps moved to the external_sd? I have GTA III and Need for Speed - Hot Pursuit installed and only have 300MB left on the internal sd storage.
[General Questions and Answers] swonsay:
Several commands are missing between those two. ;)

Mostly unmount, and failed mounts

Actually that map seems to be correct, for the important things, or is plasible, given that it is unlikely that the recovery and kernel are swapped around I'm inclined to believe it.

I just recently tried to do an odin flash using hobbled togeather tidbits here and there and it failed:

Download Start...
<0> Create File...
<1> StartThread Detected : 1
<2> StartThread Detected : 0
<3> StartThread Detected : 0
<4> StartThread Detected : 0
<5> StartThread Detected : 0
<6> StartThread Detected : 0
<7> StartThread Detected : 0
<8> StartThread Detected : 0
<1> setup connection...
<1> odin mode.. check plcatform verification.
<1> VerifyPlatform:V0, P0,R0
<1> START!!!
<1> e - unknown file - "factoryfs.rfs"
<1> e - unknown file - "zImage"
<1> e - unknown file - "ANDROID!Ðµ:"
<1> set download environment.
<1> recovery.bin download..
<1> 1/1 Finished.
<1> reset pda..
<0> Started Timer
<1> Close serial port and wait until rebooting.
<1> PASS!!!
<0> Destroy instant..
<0> Killed timer

the other one I tried just seemed to have a problem with factoryrfs, I'm going to try to mimmic the names this time.

---------- Post added at 07:44 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:30 AM ----------

I've just downloaded the stock file from earlier in the thread, I'm going to use those names and try again =)

---------- Post added at 08:28 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:44 AM ----------

So far flashing my stuff back to myself isn't working out too good, I keep getting stuck at the following now:

Download Start...
<0> Create File...
<1> StartThread Detected : 1
<2> StartThread Detected : 0
<3> StartThread Detected : 0
<4> StartThread Detected : 0
<5> StartThread Detected : 0
<6> StartThread Detected : 0
<7> StartThread Detected : 0
<8> StartThread Detected : 0
<1> setup connection...
<1> odin mode.. check plcatform verification.
<1> VerifyPlatform:V0, P0,R0
<1> START!!!
<1> set download environment.
<1> big partition size!!
<1> boot.img download..

And here I sit, for the second time for 10+ minutes. Google told me it shouldn't take more then 5...

---------- Post added at 08:55 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:28 AM ----------

It appears as though I was able to recover my phone, unfortunately I had to do so using the stock ROM. Currently rooting my phone again. I'm going to keep playing with it until I can get it to flash and when I do I'll post a guide.

It looks like nobody was on to offer me any hand holding/reassurances, but I did break and then fix it so I may get more bold as time goes on, who knows ;)
[General Questions and Answers] swonsay:
Ooops...

Well, It was all fine and dandy until I rebooted and got stuck in a boot loop. I've tried re-flashing with the recovery file and it still does the same thing. I made a youtube video, but basically I can get adb shell access, its just like it wont show the actual display screen.

It looks like its rebooting, but I dont think it is.

Hopefully it will let me post this link(nope, guess not; lets try this...):

youtu.be [slash] -Idh5Laj-Og

Any ideas on how to get it back n running, or any way to get a log file of some sort?
[General Questions and Answers] dswaggz:
Damn it so close yet so far

sent from my exhibit 2 greatness
[General Questions and Answers] dswaggz:
Hi y'all arco68 is helping the galaxy w ppl get oxygen 2.3.7 on there phone ain't our phone the same if so I think y'all all should work as a team so we can have a kicc ass phone

sent from my exhibit 2 greatness
[General Questions and Answers] dswaggz:
Kezraplanes said we should combined forums there making some sicc progress

sent from my exhibit 2 greatness
[General Questions and Answers] swonsay:
Well I'd help but I cant do much of anything right now.

I'm still not sure whats wrong with this phone at this point.
[General Questions and Answers] desaleter:
Also waiting for a O.C for this phone and a maybe even a ROM :D
[General Questions and Answers] AndroidSamurai:
I'd research more for a solution, but my Motherboard on my PC is fried and I don't have access to a PC atm.

Still not understanding why Samsung locked down this device so much.
[General Questions and Answers] swonsay:
I found logcat, YAY!

Of the log I find this section most interesting, but I'm still unsure how to fix it as of yet:

E/ActivityThread( 179): Failed to find provider info for settings

I/ApplicationPolicy( 179): registerPackageChangeReceiver() : Done

E/System ( 179): Failure starting core service

E/System ( 179): java.lang.NullPointerException

E/System ( 179):	at android.provider.Settings$NameValueCache.getString(Settings.java:680)

E/System ( 179):	at android.provider.Settings$System.getString(Settings.java:798)

E/System ( 179):	at android.provider.Settings$System.getInt(Settings.java:847)

E/System ( 179):	at com.android.server.BatteryService.<init>(BatteryService.java:204)

E/System ( 179):	at com.android.server.ServerThread.run(SystemServer.java:214)

I/SystemServer( 179): Device Policy

W/System.err( 179): java.lang.NullPointerException

W/System.err( 179):	at android.provider.Settings$NameValueCache.getString(Settings.java:680)

W/System.err( 179):	at android.provider.Settings$Secure.getString(Settings.java:2626)

W/System.err( 179):	at android.provider.Settings$Secure.getInt(Settings.java:2694)

W/System.err( 179):	at com.android.server.enterprise.RoamingPolicy.isRoamingSyncEnabled(RoamingPolicy.java:121)

W/System.err( 179):	at com.android.server.enterprise.RoamingPolicy.<init>(RoamingPolicy.java:32)

W/System.err( 179):	at com.android.server.DevicePolicyManagerService.<init>(DevicePolicyManagerService.java:660)

W/System.err( 179):	at com.android.server.ServerThread.run(SystemServer.java:290)

E/ActivityThread( 179): Failed to find provider info for settings

I/SystemServer( 179): Status Bar
[General Questions and Answers] jgrinst1:
2 ways I guess.

1. Use Android's native apps2sd -> Settings > Applications > Manage applications. Use the Move to SD card when the application allows.

2. Root and install Link2SD. There's a big thread for it here on XDA. You can move whatever app to SD you want and it will work. A marvel if you're short on internal storage ,which I don't think will happen to me with the Exhibit II, but obviously will for some people.
[General Questions and Answers] swonsay:
Can somebody post their logcat file for me, I need to compare it to something.

adb shell logcat > logfile.txt

Give it like a minute tops then hit ctrl+c

Thanks.

---------- Post added at 03:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:16 AM ----------

Let it be known that at 9:36 local time (EST) I pulled a rabbit out of my hat, Now I need to lay a bit low while my BF keeps heckling me, lol.

Not quite sure how/what fixed it though, but if anybody gets stuck heres more or less what I did

Flash odin, rinse repeat (a few hundred times)

try checking files, check error logs, google everything, but realize that the phone is maybe a bit to new, and nobody tells you want it means or any real way to get indepth information.

try resetting the phone

try flashing odin again

reset

odin

flash

adb everything

try to dd everything from old image back to phone, and fail with permissions

give up, go eat dinner

pass out on the way to getting dinner

wake up, get heckled by BF

go back to phone, flash odin, reset, flash, reset, flash (repeat 5 more times for good measure)

and then, give up, goto dinner having skipped 1.5 days worth of meals and when you get home:

Hold vol up + power, boot mode

Press left captive button ONE TIME, the icon will go dim, wait

Now that you have actually made it in this menu, figure it out, reset data and factory reset.

get ready to flash odin by loading odin on the computer

before odin comes up sigh in relief as your phone is asking you to 'touch its android'

=)
[General Questions and Answers] AndroidSamurai:
Glad you are back with us. Thought you had a brick there for a while...
[General Questions and Answers] dswaggz:
Beautiful now the ball shall get rolling oh guys I was over there n the galaxy w forum the have a awesome tool called check fus for checking firmware updates check it out

sent from my exhibit 2 greatness
[General Questions and Answers] wmedrano:
Su Binary update fail after rooting

For those people having issues with su binary updating after rooting.

From stubbakatt on another post. To update su binary, download busybox installer from market, run it and make sure you select /bin and not /xbin for install. Su binary should install fine afterward.
[General Questions and Answers] swonsay:
Good to know, I'll do that view
[General Questions and Answers] swonsay:
I'll start looking into the kernel as time allows.

I've removed a large amount of useless programs, phone has Toms of space and memory now, yay!:-)
[General Questions and Answers] AndroidSamurai:
I have 4 games installed and have 0MB left on mount /sdcard... My /external_sd has 8GB left and it's strange that apps2sd(stock) uses mount point /sdcard instead of /external_sd.

Any ideas on a work around and does our kernel have built-in ext3 support?

*Edit*

Deleted Blood and Glory and have over 300MB free now, but the issue remains.
[General Questions and Answers] jose makalolot:
Also removed a lot of bloatwares on mine.

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sent from my calculator with android
[General Questions and Answers] Jaymer81:
Same problem here, my SD card doesn't even show up in "manage applications" or "memory usage". The "SD card" tabs show a part of the phone's internal storage that's been labeled "USB Storage".

Why did they split our phone's storage into two parts? Is there any way to combine them and have "SD card" actually point to my SD card?