yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] PeterGuru:
Summary ...

You're right. It is/was hard to follow. Here's a summary after 17 tests (backups/restores).

1) If you root using the steps in the following thread (http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1726960), using ODIN to Root, and then flashing CWM_SuperUser_v3.0.7.zip, everything works perfectly.

2) The previous step allows you to backup and restore ONLY from the internal SDCard.

3) If you backup using the method above, and then install CWM-v3, it will still restore the backup successfully.

4) If you backup using CWM-v3, your backup should be successful, but it's a waste of time because the restore will fail during the data restore.

5) From what I understand, CWM-v2 simply does not work well, so I have no comments other than it didn't work well for me at all.

6) I will continue to use CWM from Step 1 above until such time when a new version of CWM is confirmed as working.

I hope this helps.

Also, for those of you who are saying that the v3, or v2, or v1 version is working, I challenge you to do some testing. Do a backup and then restore. If that works, try restoring again, but this time wipe everything first, including a complete factory reset, wipe the partition, and wipe the Dalvik cache. This is all done within recovery. I predict you will have problems unless you are still using the method outlined in Step 1 above.

Peter
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] Jirv311:
Yup, that is the Qualcomm Download Mode. I've seen that a couple times on my HTC. It's frightening. :D
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] teh roxxorz:
I see then, thank you. I'll just stay on V1 then, where backup and restore is working.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] dstruct2k:
Well, Future Shop replaced it, so I guess I shouldn't try that again. lol
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] teh roxxorz:
Nope lol. I got my replacement mailed to my this past tuesday. Though I can't wait til TWRP or *hopefully* someone ports over amon ra.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] JediSooner:
Not sure exactly why, but this morning I downloaded v3 from mirror 2, flashed it, and was able to successfully make a Nandroid to external SD. No /data error this time.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] PeterGuru:
Your Nandroid may be successful, but ...

You may want to try restoring the file you created when you made the Nandroid. I believe it will NOT restore. It will probably hang at the data restore part, and then ultimately give you an error message.

Just a suggestion.

Peter
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] CMTeamEpic:
Team Epic Blog: CWM Recovery for all SGS3 LTE variants

Downloads and instructions for CWM recovery to enable rooting and customization of all SGS3 LTE variants.

**Version 4 released, including the fix to properly exclude the internal sdcard (/data/media) from nandroid backups. You are now able to freely use the internal sdcard space without worrying about excessively large backup files.

Backup and restore confirmed to work on the Sprint SGS3. Requesting confirmation from AT&T and T-Mobile users. It is recommended that you create a new backup to ensure the best restore compatibility.

CyanogenMod's Team Epic specializes in Sprint's flagship Android phones on Sprint.

If you appreciate our work, please consider supporting us with a tiny contribution. Thanks!
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] PeterGuru:
Will try v4 immediately and report back ...

I'll try it immediately and report back.

Peter

---------- Post added at 03:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:48 PM ----------

Results using v4 (TO INTERNAL SDCARD):

Backup SUCCESSFUL!

Backup file size before: 1.91GB

Backup file size after: 1.94GB (bigger!)

Backup time before: 5 minutes 5 seconds

Backup time after: 4 minutes 10 seconds

Backup file name: 1970-01-04.03.42.28 (still an error)

Restore SUCCESSFUL!

Restore time before: 5 minutes

Restore time after: 4 minutes 8 seconds

Wipe Data/Factory Reset: YES

Wipe Cache Partition: YES

Wipe Dalvik Cache: YES

Now, did the restore actually work, in other words, is everything as it was?

YES! (from initial display results, after running a few apps, checking the calendar and contacts)

Internal backup file size detail:

boot.img (10.00MB)

cache.ext4.tar (15.00K)

data.ext4.tar (944.16MB)

nandroid.md5 (237b)

recovery.img (10.00MB)

system.ext4.tar (1021.30MB)

Peter
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] teh roxxorz:
working, backup and restore on sprint with v4, including a clean wipe.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] PeterGuru:
v4 results using External SDCard ...

Results using v4 (TO EXTERNAL SDCARD):

Backup SUCCESSFUL!

Backup file size Internal SDCard: 1.94GB

Backup file size External SDCard: 1.94GB (same)

Backup time Internal: 4 minutes 10 seconds

Backup time External: 6 minutes 25 seconds

Backup file name: 1970-01-04.04.04.24 (wrong)

Restore SUCCESSFUL!

Restore time Internal: 4 minutes 8 seconds

Restore time External: 4 minutes 23 seconds

Wipe Data/Factory Reset: YES

Wipe Cache Partition: YES

Wipe Dalvik Cache: YES

Did the restore actually work? Is everything as it was?

YES! (using same check parameters as in my last post)

External backup file size detail:

boot.img (10.00MB)

cache.ext4.tar (15.00K)

data.ext4.tar (944.61MB)

nandroid.md5 (237b)

recovery.img (10.00MB)

system.ext4.tar (1021.30MB)

Peter
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] dstruct2k:
When you use CWM to repartition the "SD card" for EXT and SWAP usage, does it repartition the internal or external "SD"? I hardbricked one device already trying to get a swap partition working. Although now that I think about it, there's not much point to using swap on a device with 2 GB of RAM...
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] drtvadr:
version 4

used version 4 on my att sgh-i747. worked fine on internal and external sd card. also restored fine (so it appears). Only thing i see still messed up is the date, still says 1970.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] Narcistic:
Does this trip the flash counter?
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] teh roxxorz:
Yes, flashing the recovery in odin will increase the flash counter by 1.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] N1ESE:
Very good to hear V4 is working better for people, perfect timing for my phone arriving on Tuesday.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] Narcistic:
Anyway to reset the counter as of yet?
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] caveman999:
Nope
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] PeterGuru:
Same here ...

Yes, same here. The only thing that still appears to be wrong is the backup date. Although I can easily change the file name, it would be better if the date were correct.

Peter
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] teh roxxorz:
Well the only way I 'know' of is using the team epic unroot. The unroot process of course unroots the phone, flashes stock recovery, and also resets the counter. if you're cautious of how high your counter is, you COULD do that [for now at least]. With current rooting, you can do it literally in under a minute, so not a terrible endeavor to re-root.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] afbengochea:
Anyone try the version 4 on tmobile yet?
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] caveman999:
Are you sure that will actually reset the counter? From what I understand, there is currently no way to reset it.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] teh roxxorz:
Well, its listed that it will; I haven't used it yet, so I can't attest to it personally. Though team epic is respected, and their word is good generally [aside from unforseen bugs, which happens].
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] caveman999:
Can you post the link to where it says that? I checked the unroot post on their website and it says that it will return the phone to an unmodified state, but I don't see the spot where it says that it will reset the flash counter.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] teh roxxorz:
I'm looking, but I don't see it either, and beginning to wonder if the page was modified, because I re-read it six times this afternoon. I will keep looking though.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] cwalker0906:
Yep works fine
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] bbelos:
The post never said it resets the flash counter. I would know because I wrote it. :) Currently we do not have a way to reset it.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] Joe777G:
Report: v4 is good on my AT&T i747. Nandroid backup is a more reasonable size now compared to the v2 backup I did.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] teh roxxorz:
Well that soolves that; guess fatigue playing tricks on me. :p
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] CZ Eddie:
V4 works great for me. It sees external SD.

It also is able to backup to and restore from external w/out any problem. :good:
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] madchild1:
Worked on Telus SGS3 LTE 32GB
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] :
So anyone with t mobile version able to restore a backup with no issue?
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] cwalker0906:
Yes it works fine
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] jroyalty7:
Ok I've rooted numerous phones and flashed cwm on all of them but I've never had to format my sd card to fat 32? Can anyone enlighten me further than the Wikipedia link from the guide. So CWM cannot and will not support exfat so do I need to format internal sd card only? Or also external sd card as well? I know how to format it just wonder why this step is necessary now but not before? Im still waiting on my sgs3 at&t variant but trying to do my research ahead of time! Thanks and thank you team epic!
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] bbelos:
This only applies to external sdcards.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] WMWolverine:
I've read quite a bit of this discussion and haven't read if it 'trips' the counter. My ATT device is rooted but would like to not flash anything that would trigger the counter. Not possible yet?
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] lviv73:
What is this "Tripping sensors" that you speak of?

I just ordered mine and don't want a brick on my first flash,lol.Thanks in advance.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] jroyalty7:
He's talking about the flash counter. With Samsung phones when you flash a Rom, or kernel I believe, it adds to the counter. On my sgs2 I had mine up to probably 40 something lol. It has no affect on bricking your device just shows you've flashed custom roms. Chainfire came up with a count eraser I guess you would call it for sgs2. Only a matter of time before someone comes up with for our sgs3. So flash away!
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] jroyalty7:
Don't worry so much about counter even if you sent it in for service that way I believe they just restore factory Rom which resets the counter. Look in the sgs2 forums to see people's experiences with it. Also I had a jig which when plugged in while in download mode resets the counter. Not sure if it works for sgs3 as I don't have mine yet!
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] papertreeprophet:
There is already a method for getting root and then flashing CWM without tripping the flash counter. Then once that's done, as long as you only flash using CWM then you won't up the counter. As per my understanding the flash counter only trips when using ODIN.

The three with how to root/flash CWM without tripping the counter is stickied in this forum.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] dstruct2k:
There's a few issues with this implementation of CWM:

No ADB. At all.

Repartitioning the "SD card" doesn't ask for internal or external, and I'm scared to try it after bricking my first SGS3 using that "feature".

The included default.prop defines ro.product.device as SPH-L710 which is incorrect.

The last point is a big issue for me, as I am trying to find a way for the AROMA Installer to detect your device model and carrier, which right now will always identify as "Sprint".
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] J-man67:
Nice to see some Atrix Devs in here. Look forward to you possibly doing work on these babies.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] bgweed:
Think we will get CWM Touch soon?
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] jgrimberg1979:
Whats up with the nandroid backup dates. Mine are dated 1970-01-02.04.06.27?? I am pretty sure they didnt have nandroids back in 1970! ;)

Is there any way to fix this?
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] bgweed:
Currently a known issue. NBD
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] sk8trix:
Dude I still got my atrix too I still take it with me places where I can go on wifi and use the lapdock its still cool as hell and a nice phone just a bit dated
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] N1ESE:
Are there any special upgrade methods? I just flashed v5 using Odin on a phone already flashed with v4 but the version number didn't change when I booted into CWM.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] dstruct2k:
Unfortunately they're not changing the version string inside the recovery, so you won't see any differences aside from the things they've fixed.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] greenstrat67:
Samsung-SGH-I747 AT&T update prompt just appeared

I've gotten my phone successfully rooted last night thanks to everyone for their hard work it is working great. Since I am new to this phone and previously had an Atrix all the updates I needed to be concerned about were from Motorola. Can anyone tell me what this update from AT&T - what it does and if it will break anything? The Samsung allows me to postpone for 2 4 6 8 hours so not wanting to do anything until I can find out what this does changed it to 8 for now but was going to just turn it off and put the SIM back in my Atrix. An ATT rep showed me that the micro sim if properly aligned works fine without a sim adapter although I found a company in Austria that sells quality ones that are machined well and don't damage the pins as I've heard some do. If anyone thinks they might need one they sell them in 1 or 5 packs. 1 costs 4.99 Euros the url is http://microsim-shop.com/ - Thank you again everyone for hard work. This was much easier than what it took to keep the Atrix going through all the updates. If anyone knows anything about the ATT update I would greatly appreciate any info. Thanks gs67
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] drothenberger:
The update includes a new kernel, an updated modem, lots of patches to pre-installed applications, a few library patches, and some configuration file changes. It looks like some WiFi changes were included. It also includes a new bootloader. I have installed it myself, but I'm not sure I've noticed any real difference.

Oh, it also removes Universal Search from the Google Search widget, as has been written about in lots of other threads.

If you're interested in installing it, I suggest using the CWM-flashable version I put together and wrote about in this thread. It will preserve your root and your CWM recovery and will not install the "upgrade" to Google Search. It requires that you're on a stock, bloated AT&T ROM, though. The details are in the thread.

Some people have asked for a package that just includes the modem and kernel, but I'm a little scared to do that.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] greenstrat67:
Thank you very much for your response and help on this drothenberger. Since I am completely new to Samsung coming from Atrix-only forums I had no idea where to start looking for anything. The amount of bloatware is pretty staggering. I definitely wanted it rooted as soon as possible.

What I had planned on doing was moving to Ultimatum and then last night I got the update message. There was still one more for the Atrix but it didn't do anything significant so I just froze the updater. In your opinion is this update worthwhile enough that I want to jump through the hoops necessary to do it and preserve root? --- and after seeing where I'm at below is the info I need still in you previous post?

All I have done thus far is just root it and reinstall all the paid apps I had before e.g. ROM Manager, Titanium Backup, QuickBoot - etc- because of having QuickBoot installed when I woke up this morning the 8 hours had gone by. So the update was ready to launch I forget the two choices & I didn't have my glasses on and tapped what I thought would postpone it again but instead rebooted it.

However (my guess) since I have QuickBoot installed it rebooted into recovery. At this point to keep it from updating I chose "backup and restore" and backed it up. Since it was prepared to install the update, my choosing backup changed the arguments and the update failed. It continued making a backup of the way it currently is and when I rebooted it - it remained unchanged with root preserved and no more update messages.

Is Ultimatum a viable choice or what is the most popular ROM for this phone. I really wanted to get Cyanogen on the Atrix but there were only two buggy versions and after trying Darkside and others + launchers I found that I liked the way it was after stripping away or neutralizing what wasn't needed. I was thinking I might end up going that route again. Sorry for the long post. Thank you again for your help -gs67
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] drothenberger:
I can't really say whether the update is worthwhile or not. I haven't noticed anything spectacularly different since I installed it, but you might. It does include a new modem and kernel, so you might want to update even if you're planning to run a custom ROM just to get the updated modem.

Based on what you wrote, it sounds like you have a CWM recovery installed. If that's the case, the OTA will never apply, regardless of what you do. It sounds like you have root already and are still on UCALEM, so you should be able to use my flashable CWM OTA file to upgrade if that's what you decide to do.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] greenstrat67:
Yes you are right. I rooted it right before the update which installed recovery from [CWM-Recovery-LTE-SGS3-v5] - By OTA never applying do you mean that it will always fail like it did this last time? And at this point if I understand correctly I should be able to copy your CWM OTA file to my phone and boot into recovery and flash (that file) from wherever I put it. This in turn will give me the update, change CWM to the one you have included in your OTA file and nothing else will have changed except I will have the modifications made by the update? - Before I do this do I need to wipe the cache partition and dalvik cache? I know I need to go back and reread a lot of stuff but are there a few thing that should be done at regular intervals for routine maintenance that aren't automated via one of the apps? Thanks again -gs67
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] drothenberger:
Yes. I don't think any CWM recovery will automatically install the OTA file the phone automatically downloads, mainly because it doesn't check for it (it lives in /cache/fota and has a .cfg extension). (All I really did was grab that file, modify it a little to remove the Google Search and recovery stuff, change the extension to .zip, and post it.)

Close. The instructions are all in my thread, but you will need to flash the clockworkmod.com CWM recovery first. I suggest v5.8.4.5 since it is the last version that could access the external SD card. My LG1 zip file will not work with the Team Epic recovery (which is the one I think you have) because that recovery reports that the phone is from Sprint and the update script checks this. My LG1 zip file will not change your recovery at all.

I've applied the LG! zip successfully to a fresh flash of the rooted UCALEM without wiping either, so I don't really know if this is needed. But it can't hurt, so might as well.

Not that I know of. I have Titanium Backup setup to do regular backups, but that's it. It's not required, of course, but it makes me feel better and I have a large external SD card. :)
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] greenstrat67:
Thanks again drothenberger if you had a donate button I would've used it a few times. I did lapse about recovery install being separate. I think it was because of a package someone put together for the Atrix that gave you a pristine updated stock phone - but rooted with CWM installed. I think I may have used a different recovery though because the first method I found looked like it had too much that could go wrong (for me) so I continued to search until I found this video / How to Root the Sprint / AT&T / T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S III / http://youtu.be/XoEVDgjTTdg

It was made for a Sprint phone as you can see but worked with the others and was the easiest and safest I'd found but I think I used the recovery from elsewhere because of the Sprint branding. Just to be on the safe side though I think I will go back and follow your thread and get the v5.8.4.5 CWM and flash that before applying your zip. Then to reconfirm, after I do that then finally l should still have root only updated with the new recovery - correct? ---I just checked and my recovery is 5.5.0.4 --- when you say 5.8.4.5 is the last version that could access the SD card - in what way did you mean (for installs?) and why would they not want it to? ----sorry to be such a noob still, thanks for the patience..

I already have Titanium Backup as well. It took awhile to get all my paid apps back as I couldn't get most of them until I had root / some of course none of the carriers want you to have and others... well you already know.. There is a link to a tethering app in that video that looked like it might be worth a look. AT&T I didn't realize had discontinued unlimited data although I was promised my plan wouldn't change I had to do some serious whining to get them to put it back the way it was.

I have a 32GB SD card I think it's a Wintec - which brand do you prefer? and is Class 6 still the most this phone can use?

Thanks once again -gs67
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] greenstrat67:
Which files should I be using?

---------------------------------------------------

I was about to attempt it and wanted to make sure one last time about the exact files recommended that are the most appropriate for where I am trying to land and I thought they would be:

change recovery to

1) recovery-clockwork-5.8.4.5-d2att.zip

and then flash

2) I747UCALG1_OTA.zip
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] drothenberger:
Yup. That should work fine as long as you're only completely stock UCALEM (kernel and all apps). Don't worry if you're not sure; it will give you an assertion failure and safely do nothing if you're not.

If you have any further questions, please post them in the LG1 OTA thread so we can stop hijacking this one. :)

---------- Post added at 11:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:49 PM ----------

Sorry, I should have been more precise. The clockworkmod.com AT&T recovery versions 5.8.4.6 and 5.8.4.7 only give you access to the internal SD card. 5.8.4.5 gives you access to both internal and external SD cards. Any by "access" here I mean both installing zips and making and restoring backups. I don't know why the later versions don't support external SD card. (One note here: external SD cards have to be formatted as FAT32 to be used with CWM.)

I'm using a SanDisk 64GB Mobile Ultra Class 10 UHS-1 I'm not sure what class the SGS3 can support.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] rgoyena:
Is it bad to use 5.5.0.4 cwm for at&t verzion?
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] drothenberger:
It works fine but reports that the phone is from Sprint. This caused a problem with the AT&T OTA Edify script and has also caused some problems with the CM9 nightlies, I think. Both check the phone is AT&T before proceeding.