[Samsung Galaxy S (4G Model)] wthynes:
I have a rather confusing problem that requires knowledgeable folks.I will lay out the entire situation to the best of my ability. Please, read through to the end. A few things that should be clarified: I am a 48 year old adult who is fairly skilled with tech. Linux, however is a bit of a weak point. I am pretty intelligent, methodical, and thorough. I researched my phone project well, and was operating from clear instructions. I met several problems along the way, and spent about 30 hours reading, researching, and attempting things before i exhausted my resources and posted here. I point these things out from the start because I abhor taking the time to write a detailed post requesting information, only to get one line answers telling me to "look it up." That being said, here is the situation.

Equipment

T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S (SGH-T959V)

Stock USB data transfer cable

Desktop computer running Windows 8.1 64 bit

Software Used/Available

Android SDK

Odin 3 v1.85

Heimdall v1.4rc1 win32

Heimdall v1.4rc2 win32

Semaphore 2.7.4

CyanogenMod 10.1.3 galaxysmtd

CyanogenMod 10.2.0 galaxysmtd

Procedure

I began by following the procedure detailed on the CynaogenMod site (wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Install_CM_for_galaxysmtd) It instructed me to download Semaphore's ClockworkRecovery Mod and Heimdall, boot into download mode, and flash the kernel, which I did, though it was not trouble free. Heimdall had trouble sending the data, but after fiddling a bit with drivers and cables, it completed.

Continuing on their instructions, I downloaded CyanogenMod 10.2.0 and placed it on the root of the sdcard using adb (adb push cm-10.2.0-galaxysmtd.zip /sdcard/) I then booted to recovery mode and performed the following actions in this order:

Select and execute the option to wipe data/factory reset.

Select install zip from sdcard.

Select choose zip from sdcard.

Select the CyanogenMod file you placed on the sdcard.

Optional: Install any additional packages you wish using the same method.

Once the installation finished, returned back to the main menu, and selected the reboot system now option.

At this point, the device should have booted into CyanogenMod.

Instead, It started to load cyanogen, but stalled at "Waiting for /sdcard to mount", counted down from 20 to 0, and then rebooted, ad infinitum.

Current Status

Now, it boots into CWM-based Recovery v6.0.4.5, and the following printout under the command list:

E: failed to find "cache" partition to mount at "/cache"

E: failed to find "cache" partition to mount at "/cache"

E: Can't mount /cache/recovery/command

E: failed to find "cache" partition to mount at "/cache"

E: Can't mount /cache/recovery/log

E: Can't open /cache/recovery/log

E: failed to find "cache" partition to mount at "/cache"

E: Can't mount /cache/recovery/last_log

E: Can't open /cache/recovery/last_log

E: failed to find "cache" partition to mount at "/cache"

E: failed to find "cache" partition to mount at "/cache"

Error mounting /cache!

I can't boot into download mode. I cannot mount /cache, /datadata, /system, or /data. I cannot format them, either. I have tried a few times from badly worded instruction posts to push the file again and install from zip, but heimdall fails saying "Is a directory." I dont understand sideloading sufficiently to use it, but I suspect it wouldn't help until i can resolve the mounting issue.

Things I Have Tried, and why they didn't work

In googling "cant mount /sdcard" issues, I have seen many posts suggesting to "Use Odin and revert to stock." Currently, when my phone is plugged into USB, my computer recognizes only two disk drives, both classed as "Linux File - CD Gadget USB Device" Odin doesn't see it at all, and I suspect that it is because it isn't in download mode, and the compter doesnt see it as a phone. If there is a way around this, i would be grateful to hear it.

I have also seen a few posts suggesting to "reflash cwm_mod." I assume this is suggesting that by reverting to just a clean system and CWM, I could try to install the mod, or a stock rom, again. I do not know how this is possible when I cant mount /sdcard. It seems that this single issue is the crux of the matter.

Request For Help

I am totally stumped. I am willing to work with anyone who can either walk me through some steps or point me to a well written resource. I have looked up many guides, but frankly, a lot of them are so poorly written as to be nearly incomprehensible. All siggestions are humbly accepted, and greatly appreciated. I will be home all day, and in front of the computer waiting.

Thank you for reading.