[Galaxy Tab 2 General] billysam:
The Download Mode Way

The Download Mode Way

1. FLASH A CUSTOM RECOVERY

Find the recoveries in their respective threads. For P51xx and P31xx Recovery thread others can look in their respective device sections, XDA has development thread of most of the Samsung devices and people do post there.

it should look like this on your address bar

"http xdaforums.com / galaxy-tab-2 / general"

xda website /__ (devicename)/ (sub-forum)

(development) OR (/general) section

You can always google it too.

remember you will need a recovery.md5 that will be inside a zip file extract from it.

Always check whats in the archive then go the recovery mode way, it should be .md5

​

2 FLASH A STOCK FIRMWARE

These package contains files needed to update or revert to the same position where it was shipped to your country along with your android device. you can find all Samsung device firmwares released from all parts of the world, and yes, you can flash firmwares of other country/regions from the sammobile site just stay away from the carrier specific firmwares(unless you are on one) that should be used for the same specific carriers device only they are married to the carrier company and probably won't let you have your own ways with others.

You should also remember not to downgrade a stock firmware once you have upgraded, that will surely create problems​

Run Odin as administrator

Browse PDA/AP and find the firmware .md5 file

The yellow column/(Blue for other versions) means
your device is detected by the PC.
If it's not lit, you have messed up USB drivers
still not uninstalled kies Completely or
not connected the device properly.
try changing to different USB Ports.

[IMG="NEVER CLICK RE-PARTITION"]http://xdaforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3671260&stc=1&d=1457198491[/IMG]

Press Start

Wait for the process to complete and let the device reboot from download mode

Remove cable when you see PASS written with green above the Yellow/Blue com port.

Most Problems are solved here when you see success/PASS.
Except one The emmc bug. Replace the internal emmc, or J-TAG or
mysteriously something else done by professionals.

if it still says failed, the downloaded file is corrupted, wrong Odin version(try with different Odin versions) you have flashed wrong device files which has messed up the partition table of your device. refer to other ways.

3. FLASH A BOOTLOADER

First ask yourself why you would want to do this?

Be extra careful with this part, if you have already flashed a updated firmware, you don't need this part.

Those who are using old stock firmware, please flash a stock last updated firmware. you won't need to do this.

Those who did not follow the above two, so it's now unto you, this a risky thing, you have been advised you are going further yourself

Those who are experiencing problems that are not solved even after most of my other instructions here, then it's onto you to decide you want to try this too or not. this could solve problems when device is in serious condition, after all it's the heart partition and remember no downgrades in this once you upgrade. thats it. this could seriously create problems, including bringing back the emmc issue as well.

4. FLASH FIRMWARE WITH PIT FILE

Wait!! You are sure that you want to try this part? this is the point of no return. Whatever happens to your device by following this guide, good or bad, it's your own responsibility. You can't blame me for it. so be sensible, if you're not sure please let this be done by someone who has the experience of dealing with this kind of stuff.

Now pit files are some serious files, they contain information about your device partition and they help flash erase and rewrite files on their correct partition, so better not take a wrong file, sometimes you have the same device but different internal space, so don't end up choosing a pit file for a 8 GB variant on your 16 GB variant of device, in that case your device will end up using 8gb only, or worse if it's other device, it might never boot up again.

Always remember don't flash pit files ever without a firmware file in place.

if it shows failed while flashing, you did used correct files, right? after this if there is still a download mode running on your device. try the special case files.

this has happened with me on a unknown MTK device, the pit file was slightly different from the original one on device, so it failed, but that was at the start before it could flash. I did somehow managed to flash that different pit file, just lost some disk space. cause I used a lower variant pit but it got the device running up again.

The device takes a long time to boot while it's updating firmware, so you are required to have sufficiently charged battery, Take no chances here.

if even after a successful flash with Odin, you face problems, then that's a emmc bug case. motherboard replacement or emmc replacement, or tab replacement. nothing else.