[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S II SGH-T989] RealPariah:
FAQs and Links to Other Useful Informational Threads

[size ="3"] How do I know when it is time to try and recalibrate my battery?

You can tell when if your phone says 0 battery and shuts down yet you can still power it on for any length of time. Basically, the OS uses statistics to judge what the exact battery level is when displaying in status bar as well as when to alert you to low battery. Have you ever gotten low battery warning and then a min later it rebounds and alerts again? I have and that again demonstrates the OS is not always dead on. Also, switching batteries usually aggravated this as well. I have also had users who have used same ROM for long periods of time and it degraded so slowly they hardly noticed then after it is re-calibrated it helps a lot. All that to say there are a few indicators, but using your judgment (*gasp*) if you feel it may be off give this a shot. I do not recommend running it every day or every boot but once every several weeks or roughly 30 charge cycles (whichever comes first (kinda like oil changes in cars use judgment and changing the oil does not mean you gain 100 miles to the gallon poor a million horsepower, you instead website the car (or battery here) is in top shape and runs the best it can.

Everyone keeps asking me to search for my questions/answers before posting but that is a lot of scrolling, how do I save time searching for the information I need?

CTRL+F [Windows or Linux] or Command Key+F [OS X] should allow you to search the webpage currently in view [all text not just what you can see, but all text on page period]

OR using:

" Site:forums.xda-developers.com" (without quotes unless you want the results to include every word just how you typed it search to be in the results shown, also, try different variations of your error or question not just a long written out sentence) at http://www.google.com and this will limit your results to only those pages on xda forums (you could copy/paste URL from inside any sub-forum to further limit searches [i.e. site:http://xdaforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1332 would limit you to the Galaxy S2 T989 DEV forum only for results]

What is with some ROMs asking for me to use CWM Touch [OR NON-Touch]?

I have been using CWM Touch latest for sometime [Current: 5.8.1.3] (being since it first released)

and I have used it to flash EVERYTHING whether it is a Gingerbread or ICS ROM whether the thread said not to or to specifically use Touch doesn't matter.

Also, I can flash anything from either internal or external SD with really no difference [I seem to get an occasional flash error via external SD and have to flash a 2nd time but I use an old SD so prolly more the cells slowly going]

From my own testing it seems to be either user error or bad flash [keep in mind EVEN if you download the file right and it is read right sometimes you can have a bad flash because during the file copy process a random hiccup happened so rarely RARELY I have to re-flash and/or re-download the zip. JUST BE SURE TO DOWNLOAD ALL ZIPs VIA WIFI YOU INTEND TO FLASH as this will have less errors during data transfers as opposed to a cellular data connection like 4G. You could also use an MD5 signature checker [versions for android and desktop pcs are available easily by searching] and if OP posts MD5 signature you can verify your download before you even try to flash which can help. Of course MD5 checks on the phone will most likely take longer than if you use a computer, but if on comp be sure TO COPY ZIP TO SOME KIND OF PHONE STORAGE BEFORE CHECKING MD5 AS THE XFER FROM THE COMPUTER TO THE PHONE COULD CAUSE AN ERROR NOT CAUGHT IF YOU RUN MD5 CHECK BEFORE COPYING ZIP TO THE PHONE. I will be posting a quick how to check MD5 guide hopefully today.

After I Install my New ROM I am getting errors no one else seems to have, WHAT GIVES?!

I keep seeing users say I have FCs all this stuff doesn't work, while in OP it clearly states all the issues they post of are all working. In my experience of helping users in these spots one of the following is normally to blame...

>> Did you Download ROM over WiFi Only? If No, you need to do so it causes less errors in file to download via WiFi and not Cellular Data [2g, 3g, 4g, etc.]

>> Did You Run MD5 Check on ROM ZIP AFTER download? If No, You really should even if using WiFi only you could possibly have a transfer error [rare but happens due to many factors]. I have posted guide below install steps on how to verify MD5 on downloaded files

>> Did you use Kernel Cleanser, Darkside Super Wipe, and Fix Permissions v2 [my flash zip]? If NO, You really need to follow the guide and be sure you fully wipe data [DO NOT WIPE EMMC OR INTERNAL SD PERIOD] FULLY [just hitting format won't do it especially if installing ICS, hopefully will change soon, but until then you need a clean slate to install ANY ICS ROM EVER, YES EVEN UPGRADES].

>> Did you skip restart allow boot THEN Restart in to recovery Clear Dalvick cache and cache run fix perms v2 and restart? IF YES, you should stop now and do that restart recovery clear cache, clear Dalvick cache and run fix perms [built-in fix perms wont work must use flash pack]

>> I FOLLOWED Everything and Still have a problem, What now, genius?

Well, sadly, like everything computer and tech SOMETIMES [albeit rare] if you MD5 checked your download and did EVERYTHING right SOMETIMES there may still have been an error when copying files, setting symlinks, or setting permissions during install that while it didn't cause major problem still caused issues. I have had to flash ICS ROMs twice before to get things to fully take [Seems better now on T-mobile based leak than the Skyrocket based leak [imagine that], but can still happen even if EVERYTHING was done right. Just be sure to follow directions again to make sure you didn't gloss over something small and flash again.

I am getting weird errors out of any GAPPS [GMail, GTalk, Market com.google.gapps, etc] After installing a ROM [Darkside evolution is one I BELIEVE], How do I fix that one?

I found that when I removed apks from /system/app in Darkside 2b1 [tw launcher, snstw (twitter) snsli [LinkedIn], Mini Diary, Mini Notes, the Yahoo Stock watching apps, etc] that I got FCs from Google Talk [even though i never touched it, and com.google.gapps [again removed google quick search box but otherwise should never have had an error]. I tried MANY different fixes over many restarts [clear caches fix perms, put the removed apps back everything].

Then I flashed Newest Gapps from http://goo.im/gapps [I believe it is 2012.04.03 [should be newest for CM9 at top of page and no you dont need separate facelock pack as that is included since 2012.0.23 pack so DONT flash facelock ICS labeled pack I had to re-install a different ROM after I accidentally pulled that one myself.

How do I mount my external_sdcard as /sdcard?

I have found the following guide on how to do just that! Mostly useful only if your micro sd is larger than the 11G internal sd the phone already has. As always, be careful, read entire post before starting, run a full nandroid backup. This is not my work, and ask you to thank the OP if you find this useful.

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1454753

OH NO, I am getting Bad Connection to Battery Error Messgae [and/or] When in charging screen [phone off battery grapic on display] and I see a yellow caution sign with a broken battery [and in some cases a rapid vibrate] IS MY PHONE DEAD?!

I ran across this myself not too long ago... First the Basics of how/why this happens the the rundown of how I fixed it :)

How/Why

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Ok, so you are getting an error message stating bad connection to battery, or your phone is constantly restarting [this is not the only cause] and/or I got a weird yellow caution icon in the charge only screen [the screen seen when phone is off but plugged in to charger] [you may also get a series of quick vibrates as well in charge only screen with this as well].

From my research this seems to be caused by shutdown hangs when phone turns off when OS states 0% battery and goes to auto shutdown [may also happen if like 0 - 1% and you hit shutdown]. When the phone is about dead and goes to shutdown the capacitive lights [that bottom row of menu, home, back, search] stay off. The problem comes in if the ROM you are using hangs during this time. Contrary to popular belief when the OS says 0% and shuts down THIS DOES NOT MEAN THE BATTERY ITSELF IS AT FULLY 0% CHARGE. ANY BATTERY [not taking in to account so new experimental tech that may be out or come along come on lets be reasonable here] CAN NEVER BE TRULY FULLY DRAINED. If this were to occur you would need a special deep trickle charge device to breathe life back in to the battery. So now that's explained...

If shutdown hangs when the battery was already as dead as it can be unless you have that special device if it stays hung then it will very slowly take the battery past this safe point and you run the risk of killing it in such a way you cant revive it with a normal fast charger. Now of course since the phone is in a shutdown state it will hardly use any power at all and this should take hours [if not a couple days; I dunno as I dont want to test this and see how far you can push it] to get to the point of absolutely no return.

So when you go to even plug in to charge Android detects this and assumes the battery is damaged and is truly dead or close to it and warns you.

THE FIX

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So after that happened when I went ot plug it in to charge the next morning [as I forgot to try to do it before bed and that would have shown a hang and I would have reseated battery and it would have been fine] I got to charge only with the yellow caution symbol and it was constantly quick vibrating so I hurried and pulled the battery and tried to put it back and got no boot vibrate and could not get charge only screen so I called Tmo and went through the motions and they agreed it was the battery and since they only replace phones referred me to Samsung

I called Samsung and to get a new battery they have A CRAZY RMA Policy [to force you to buy a battery rather than get a replacement] where you need the ORIGINAL receipt and then to wait for them to ship you a label [not next day; 5 business days], send it to them, wait for testing, and wait for them to send a new one back [again the SLOW way]. Since I dont have my receipt and refused to wait the crazy 4ish weeks it prolly would turn out to be I called them crazy and hung up. What I did was to leave the battery out of my phone for roughly 12 hours - 1 day [trying to just reseat the battery turned out to do no good the phone would not even boot vibrate even after a couple tries] then when I put it back I got it to boot to charge only screen with the warning and no constant vibrate this time]. I then waited a few min to try and ensure the battery got some charge and then pulled it out and reseated it and plugged phone back in [if you leave charger plugged in phone stays kinda on have to unplug charger AND reseat battery then plug it back in EVERY TIME].

THIS TIME I GOT TO CHARGE ONLY WITH NO WARNINGS! I let it sit for 12 hours [ENSURE it is FULLY CHARGED AS BEST YOU CAN] and I was able to boot the phone. For the next several days I would get random restarts and on occasion I would get an error stating Bad connection to battery. When that happened I had to pull battery reseat it and restart the phone [sometimes a few good times in a row stick with it] and over those few days I CAREFULLY monitored the battery to be sure I did full charge cycles [charged it fully in charge only and as soon as it auto shutdown I made sure to get it RIGHT on the charger [and pulled battery and made sure to see charge only screen to ensure another hang up didnt get me].

After those few days, I felt comfortable to CHARGE IT FULLY IN CHARGE ONLY and ran through calibrating the battery. After the calibration I no longer got random restarts or errors saying Bad Connection to Battery and ever since it has been good to go.

I know that was a little long winded but trying to get all the info in there as I AM NOT TESTING THE CONDITIONS THAT BROUGHT THIS ON TO FURTHER REFINE THE STEPS. Unless someone wants to buy me a couple spare batteries to test this and I know I have a good spare to fall back on.

Device: Samsung Tmobile S2 [SGH-T989]

ROM: Paranoid Android 2.52

Tweak Script: Newest Supercharger V6 with modified services.jar+KaK+3G Turbocharger