[Samsung Epic 4G Touch] cp320703:
****Seems like we're getting alot of new users thanks to the price cut on our phones, and while we have an amazing amount of information available it seems that it's overwhelming for new users and they end up posting questions that are answered already in stickies, etc, just because they don't know where to start, hopefully this guide will cut down on that.... please feel free to suggest things that should be added or any changes I should make to make this better and more complete, or if you think this is redundant and a waste of time feel free to flame me, you won't hurt my feelings, just trying to give back to the community, make things easier for new users, and cut down on "how do i..." posts that have been answered elsewhere...thanks!****

Welcome To the Epic 4g Touch

As a new user its probably overwhelming trying to figure out where to start since this is a relativity mature device, most of the existing users are well versed in the more basic tasks, and we have SO MUCH info all over the boards here, this guide should help you get started....

1. The 1st thing you'll probably want to do is root. If you're coming from an HTC device or are new to android you're probably not familiar with Odin. Odin is Samsung's in house recovery tool that leaked a few years ago. It lets you flash rom's via usb connected to a PC. Odin is PC only, if you use linux or mac the easiest way to get root would be to use a PC, however there is a cross platform tool, Heimdall, that allows you to flash on OSX/Linux... Going forward in this guide though I will only be referring to using 1-click Odin's on PC's as i feel this is what the vast majority of people will be using...

- You'll want to first go to Sfhub's stickied thread in the dev section, Sfhub has been kind enough to make rooted 1 click Odin images for us, so especially if you're coming from a HTC device you'll be amazed how easy these phones are to root...(found here http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1342728)

- As of today (07/09/12) if you buy an E4GT it'll come with the EL29 gingerbread system, this ( http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1433101 ) is the appropriate Odin 1 Click for you to get root, again, thanks Sfhub

7/12/12 edit: Sprint is pushing the OTA to ICS as of today. It is build FF18, the rooted odin one click can be found in yet another thread by Sfhub here ( http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1721229)... as the emmc bug seems not to have been addressed in the kernel I will leave the rest of the post unaltered for now until most roms have been updated to a kernel built from source with the code that triggers the bug removed. Until then, as stated later, some ICS recoveries are considered safe (Agats), but it never hurts to take a few extra minuets when flashing to totally avoid the risk of bricking

7/26/12 EDIT:

ICS flashing is now safe AS LONG AS YOU ARE ON ONE OF AGAT63 OR chris41g's SAFE KERNELS, these are built from source and have the offending mmc_cap_erase code removed/disabled. The kernel repo is found here (http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1662295) you can mobileODIN the tar's or flash the zip's via cwm

- You can refer to Garwynn's Official ICS OTA update thread for more information on the update (http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1765953)

-After running the 1 Click Odin for your device you'll want to go back to the main thread ( http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1342728 ) and download the auto root tool and choose option C to install Clockworkmod recovery- a custom recovery that will allow you to flash roms and make nandroid backups- on your phone. Dev VeNuM has posted a very detailed guide explaining what clockworkmod is and how to use it, which is stickied and can be found here ( http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1587607 )

- I'm not providing detailed instructions as those are included in the linked to threads... should you find the directions difficult to follow user qbking77 has made really great informative videos, linked to in the directions, detailing the aforementioned processes that should help clarify things further for you.

2. You now have a rooted gingerbread system with custom recovery. You can safely flash any Gingerbread roms from recovery, following the directions posted with the rom of your choice. If you want to flash ICS roms however, you have some more reading to do, as this phone can be bricked if you do not follow directions....

- The Epic 4g Touch has a bug in it's emmc controller that can cause the /data partition to become inaccessible/unrecoverable sometimes thanks to the wipe process when flashing from ICS recoveries... DO NOT FLASH FROM ICS RECOVERIES!!!! (7/26/12 edit: OLD, you can now flash from ICS as long as you are on a safe kernel, safe kernels can be found in the repo linked to earlier this post)

7/11/12 edit: In the FF18 source Garwynn has confirmed the presence of the offending code that triggers the emmc bug (http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=28609341&postcount=32) meaning that it will eventually be safe to flash from ICS as long as the offending code is removed by the dev of the kernel/rom...

- Please see this (http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1525495) thread by xST4T1K which details how NOT to brick your device... It is slightly out of date but still very relevant... if you want a more technical understanding of what this emmc bug is and why this is happening you can see Sfhub's thread in general related to it (http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1644364 ). The OP contains all of the information that our users have been able to figure out about this bug... Be sure to thank these people, as their hard work has made it exponentially safer for all of us to flash ICS roms on our phones...

-Every ICS rom will have a flashing guide in it's dev thread, its HIGHLY suggested you read and reread the guide for the rom you want to flash and follow it EXACTLY, taking the extra time upfront to fully understand what you're about to do will save you alot of trouble going forward.

-Put simply though you will always want to ODIN or Mobile ODIN (mobile Odin is an app made by the dev chainfire, available in the play store, that allows you to preform Odin flashes from your phone without using a PC) the el26 Gingerbread kernel/recovery and flash any ICS roms from that. NEVER FLASH FROM AN ICS RECOVERY, THAT IS HOW BRICKS ARE MADE!!!! Also do NOT use Rom Manager or Touch recovery!!!! (7/26/12 edit: also now outdated, as long as you are on a safe kernel you can just flash via cwm in ICS, no need to ODIN back to EL26)

3. Additional Information...

-modems, there are a variety of modems available for the E4GT, and all can be found in the modem repo ( http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1764210 ). Every phone responds differently to different modems and you may want to try some new ones if you are dissatisfied with the current one you have.

- Jelly Bean... Please do not post asking "Is Jelly Bean available for this phone!1!!!!!" / "when i get jellybean!!!1!!11!!"... we have some awesome dev's for this and there are quite a few working on it currently. It is currently booting with some issues, but should be ready to use as a daily in the coming weeks. DO NOT post asking where to find current builds, dev's will post in the development section once they feel its ready for release, same goes for CM10

- qbking77 has posted videos of reviews and install guides for most of the roms around here. If you find the install directions confusing watch the appropriate video and see if that helps you at all, he does a very good job of walking you through it... Also his reviews are quite helpful as well if you're not sure if you want to flash or not... Please consult these as opposed to starting a thread asking "should i flash XXXX?? is it good?" these things are a matter of personal preference... Also pretty much everything around here these days is good enough to use as a daily driver, all roms will have a working/not working section... refer to that, if everything you use is marked as working and the rom is not labeled "alpha build HIGHLY unstable, etc..." chances are it'll work for you well day to day and does not warrant starting a thread asking if its good enough to use as a daily driver...

- Stock roms/stock leaks are labeled as EL29, FF18, etc... all this represents is the date Samsung compiled the rom... the 1st letter represents the year (E=2011 F=2012) and the second represents the month (January=A all the way through December=L) and the number is the date. Modems follow the same naming scheme. The modems available are not limited to the "matching" rom in any way, ANY modem can be used with ANY rom (thanks to kingdazy for clarification on how the Samsung naming scheme works!)

7/26/12 EDIT:

It's been brought to my attention that we have a lot of people posting asking how to return to stock GB for whatever reason... all that you need to do is ODIN EL29, sfhub's one-click can be found here, its all you need ( http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1433101 )

Also if you took the OTA and want root you can just ODIN the FF18 rooted one-click, found here ( http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1721229 )

IF you need to get rid of the yellow triangle on the bootscreen in order to return your phone to sprint/it annoys you or whatever you need to download chainfire's app "triangle away" from the play store, its requires ICS and its like $1.99, buy it even if you don't need it, dude deserves the money for his awesome work on android devices... If you're still on GB you'll need a usb jig

~I will be adding more info to this over the next few days, but I figured this was enough to get started on, again any suggestions or additions are welcome and encouraged! the easier we make it for new users to get started the fewer times we'll all have to answer the same questions over and over again... If i referred to your work without crediting it I assure you it was accidental and if you notify me of my mistake I will make sure to edit the post accordingly to credit you, again thanks for any input!~