[Galaxy S III General] Journyman16:
I'm new to this root/flash etc and it has been fairly difficult getting my head around what it all means. Guides such as Intratech's http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1671969 are extremely helpful and much appreciated but still aren't really for noob's like me who don';t know all the acronyms or processes. (and where is the THANKS button - I see the thanks scores in the side bar but be buggered if I can find the way to thank someone)

As an example of what I mean, a guide such as siberian tiger's http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1674286 clearly contains valuable info but I have no idea which ROM to choose or why there are so many different ones.

Also, where do you download them from?

I got often sidetracked while trying to find out things, and nowhere did I find a set-out process that didn't require considerable research to work out what was being said. But I eventually got to where, when my new SGS3 arrived, I was ready to try stuff on it.

First I rooted it. There was confusion here because it wasn't clear that CF Root was a part of a larger process that included CWM, but I found it in Chainfire's http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1695238

Then my phone found an update - it's German market from Kogan so I went from i9300XXLEF to i9300XXLG8. I started in on removing the German stuff not vaild here but then realised I would be better doing what I originally wanted which was installing a stock Aussie ROM. First I tried out TriangleAway (with trepidation considering the rather dire warnings about bricks :D) and it worked just fine, resetting my counter.

I then used CWM to run a backup of the system to my external SD.

So, using Odin I VERY carefully followed the process in Chainfire's guide.

All went well for a while...

Then the phone booted up and I got a message about Contacts not starting and then android.process.acore 'stopping'.

The heart missed a beat. I clicked OK, thinking (rather desperately :)) 'it's OK, probably just a part of the set up process.'

Many clicks later, with the new system appearing in brief flashes in between 'acore' messages the gaps between heart beats became extremely long.

I forced it down (holding power for 10 secs) and started it again. 'It's better! It's going past the start up! it's...' BUGGER! there it is again!!!'

Searching frantically I found Faryaab's http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1646610 thread with a lovely Youtube clip by TotallyDubbedHD (found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8Tga_yKywc&feature=player_embedded

In it he mentions wiping the data, cache and dalvik cache. So I followed the clip and wiped them all, then ran the Odin process again.

Same result. Looking for paddles for heart-starting machine at this point.

AND I couldn't seem to boot into download mode any more. AND the Recovery mode was different now, with far fewer options. I tried using Recovery to Restore my backup - it found it, started to run it, then failed.

I'm not sure what the issue was with the Download option for start up, maybe in my distraught state I wasn't holding the buttons down properly or something, but after using the truncated version of recovery to wipe data and cache again, I finally got back into the Download... I went back to Odin and ran the latest German ROM - my reasoning was (not good at this point :D) that maybe the phone needed the German stuff, even though I'd seen nothing about such problems in my 4 days of research on XDA. I also wondered if the Aussie ROM was corrupted...

The German one installed and started, but after about 1 minute I got the 'acore' msg again. Wondering how I was going to tell the missus I had broken my phone after less than 12 hours, and getting increasingly concerned about the lateness of the hour (as a PC support person I learned early never to do anything major after 10PM :lol:) I used the now restored Recovery mode to wipe data, wipe cache, wipe dalvik, then, with a prayer to the gods I don't believe in, I ran the Aussie ROM onto it again.

10 minutes later it started, sweet and fast, no errors, and no German-only icons.

I have a brand new, Aussie phone! I did some downloading of Apps to get it al back how I had it and went to bed.

I can't seem to do Thanks in threads (or even post in some of them yet) but I wish to thank wholeheartedly all those who spend so much time trying to document all the confusing issues involved for those of us learning a new language. It's been a bit of a slog but I'm getting there...

(I got to bed and told the wife, rather proudly, 'I broke my phone, AND I fixed it...' :D