[Galaxy Tab 3 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BoatUser:
IDIOT GUIDE (I am the idiot)

This guide is aimed at the Samsung Tab 3 7.0 (SMT210/SMT210R)

I am I suppose still a newbie to the android world and a starter with rooting etc (but I do have a linux background) All the terms that appear technical are explained below.(see below)

The aim was to root (see below), my Samsung SMT210 (Ie TAB 3 7.0) and install a new Kernel (see below) and a new ROM (see below). Why you may ask, The standard SMT210 is slow, it has many programs that I don't want (Bloatware) and it runs down the battery so fast.

The first consideration when making any changes to phones or tablets is your BACKUP. There are loads of backup apps available for android, however if your device is not rooted you can only backup your data, contacts etc. The main system is not backed up. So the first priority is a too make a backup of everything, this will involve flashing (see below) your device.

I must add that I rooted my tablet before I did backups, since I had made no changes to the tablet before I rooted it, Ie it was out of the box. I rooted my phone by flashing a prerooted firmware from (Jaimison904) http://d-h.st/leL]prerooted.tar.md5 the instructions for flashing are the same as the flashing procedure for the recovery app.

Before doing anything make sure the tablet has at least 80% battery capacity left, if not charge it.

Additionally stop your display turning off, I normally set the display to a 30 min wait point.

Backing up / creating a recovery

This can be done in 1 of 2 ways with a computer, 1. using Odin (See below) for windows, 2. using Heimdall (see below) for Linux. I will concentrate on Odin as with Linux I feel that it's a bit complicated for newbies (or geriatrics like myself).

A useful tip before you start is to install Kies (see below) and make sure you get your computer to connect to your tablet (when this works the USB drivers will already be installed on your computer)

Another tip which might help is that you should create a directory for all your android & system files on you computer.

First you will need to download a copy of Odin (I have used 3.07) unzip it to your special directory.

Install Samsung USB drivers (see above)

Download a recovery app (see below) I used Philz_touch, download the xxxxxxxxxx.tar.md5 file put it in the directory you created. http://goo.im/devs/philz_touch/CWM_Advanced_Edition/lt02wifi

Download the new RocketTab 3.1 (developed by Tempdroid) http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2507772 Read the first section of the thread and the see the various options etc.

Download Blackhawk kernel

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2439564&highlight=root

Having downloaded all the above files please check the MD5 sums (this a file check that makes sure the files are not corrupted during the download process, it should be done for all downloaded files whatever they are)

We are now ready to start:

Please watch this video and thanks to Rootjunky.com http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XolmtyvS3Yk

1.Power off your tablet

2.Close all programs on your PC

3.Start Odin 3.07 by clicking on the .exe file in the directory you setup (it appears after you unzipped)

4.Start your tablet in download mode (Hold Home, volume down and power, release with warning, then vol up)

5.Connect you tablet to the PC via the usb cable

6.Wait until Odin says device connected

7.Click on the PDA button and browse your computer until you find the Phil_touchxxxxxxxxxx.tar.md5 file and click on it.

8.Make sure that the only box that is ticked in Odin is F. Reset Time DOUBLE CHECK......

Then click start.

9.Wait until you see the green/blue PASS / RECOVERY box. The recover software will have been loaded.

10.Do not shutdown yet, remove the usb cable

11.Boot into Recovery mode, by holding home button, volume up, and power button, until the Samsung Galaxy tab3 logo appears and release the power button while still holding the home and volume up buttons until you see the software load.

At this point it is a good idea to create a backup either on the internal memory(called an sd card) or the external sd card (2 sd cards Confusing or what)

Just follow the instructions on the screen, be patient these things take time sometimes a few minutes.

Now I recommend that you reboot your device just select the menu option on the first screen and allow the device to restart, you shouldn't notice any difference from before you started.

Go to google play and download and install SUSuper user. (it won't work at the moment)

You are now ready to start rooting your device, there are a number of ways of doing this but I recommend that you flash prerooted.tar.md5 with Odin. The reason for this is that it allows you to explore your device and learn where files are stored and use apps with root access, freeze stock applications and generally test how things work without having changed the orginal system significantly.

So start the device in download mode and flash prerooted.tar.md5 with Odin in just the same way as you flashed Philz_touchxxx.tar.md5.

MAKE A BACKUP to recover from if something goes wrong.

When you are ready to change to RocketTab 3.1 and or the Blackhawk kernel follow the following:

Transfer the 2 zip files you downloaded (RocketTab3.1.zip and blackhawk-kernel-2.1-t210.zip) to the internal sd card, it is much safer than trying to load from the external card.

Restart your tablet in recovery mode (Home, Volume up and power buttons)

Choose full wipe (formatting system, data, cache and etc) which removes old system files and other things to allow a clean base on which to install your new files.

choose install from zip.

Scroll down and there is "don't allow old update-binary", it is checked by default and you just uncheck it. You will get an error if this is not done (Many thanks Ripshock)

Install zip from sdcard Rockettab3.1.

I then do another backup / recovery

Then Install zip from sdcard Blackhawk

Wait until done then reboot and start adjusting your settings as normal and enjoy the speed and reduced use of the battery.

I hope this proves useful to somebody, any comments would be appreciated and will include what updates are reasonable. I might add that I am not liable in any way shape or form for any damage that you may do, the above worked on a number of devices without problems.

Enjoy a new faster android device.

TERMS

Bloatware

Most of the rubbish that your provider preloaded on your tablet, eg games, Themes, help center etc

Download mode

Download mode, is the mode with which you can flash you system with Odin, Heimdall etc. To enter this mode hold the home button down and press the volume down and the power buttons together until you get the warning message, then release all buttons and press the up volume button. You will then see a screen saying Downloading with the green Android figure.

Flashing

Flashing is the method of uploading system software to your phone or tablet.

Heimdall

A phone or tablet flashing software that works on multiple pc platforms, ie Linux, windows and Mac

Keis

The Samsung connection software for windows. (only works on windows as Samsung doesn't support Linux)

Kernel

The kernel is the effectivly a translating module which converts instructions from the software to instructions that the hardware understands. So it controls the way that the hardware functions with the software that is installed.

Odin

Odin is a flashing software that was developed by Samsung which has been leaked to the internet. I used version 3.07. When you download this zip file you will need to unzip it to a convenient directory. Odin works with xxx.tar.md5 files NOT .zip files or .img files

Recovery app

There are two main recovery apps available CWM (Clockwordmod) and TWRP, I used a variation of CWM called Philz_Touch (Credit to Phil3759) which is an extremely good recovery system, easy to use and very powerful, but the basic CWM and TWRP versions can be used as well.

The Philz_touch download link for the SMT210 is http://goo.im/devs/philz_touch/CWM_Advanced_Edition/lt02wifi

Recovery mode

The mode accessed by holding Home, Volume up and power button, which enables you to create recovery files and to flash your device using .zip files etc with CWM or similar without a PC.

Root / Rooting

Term to enable access to the system files on your phone or tablet. Read further on the Internet. Basically it allows you to at one extreme to totally destroy your device or at the other extreme to totally customize and speed up your device to make the whole experience much better.

So rooting allows access to the system files which control the device at a level which allows customization. Root is the term used to describe the user who has access to the system files.