yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Epic 4G General] cocochannel:
I come from Windows Mobile. I got all of them on SPrint and was flashing my phones on a weekly basis. It was pretty easy and simple.

Here I got the Epic on day one and have waited until the unofficial DK28 was released. That was an easy flash.

However when I look at the ROMS available (Viper, etc...) I see that it is way too complicated to flash. A hundreds of steps and stuff to get into. EXT4 looked like a hassle to install. Odin sounds like something crazy annoying.

When I see that whole list of stuff to go thru I just get lazy. Is it that complicated or I should give it a try? Is it worth it.

My battery is HORRIBLE with DK28. I get like 3 hours of battery. While with DI18 I hat like 20 hours. But I have put all my app to sd card so im basically stuck with froyo even if i wanted to go back....
[Epic 4G General] popper668:
don't be scared! we are right here if you need help>>>
[Epic 4G General] gTen:
Its not that its harder then winmo..its just there is more room for customization..the EXT 4 hack for example you would never be able to do on a winmo device..its an added bonus to optimize the device and make it better.

The use of Odin is mostly used for when you brick your phone, or to update to Froyo..

Otherwise most things are done via Clockwork..

I suggest to start simple, root, load a custom rom and etc..once you get used to that and feel like your ready for the next step do that..no reason to tackle everything at once..
[Epic 4G General] diego1985:
Bro dont worry i new to this as well, coming from the windows mobile also. We also got youtube vids to help us out, it makes it that much easier.
[Epic 4G General] muyoso:
Its you. Odin is simple as hell. EXT4 is unnecessary. Complaining about how hard it is to flash a beta build of froyo with a new filesystem ported less than a week ago is ridiculous. Of course that will be difficult. Wait for official froyo to drop sometime in the next couple of years, and then everything will get easier. Windows mobile was no treat. Activesync was a disaster and you couldn't flash anything without it.
[Epic 4G General] mikel719:
Just ask for help, we got your back! Join the dark side. Hahahahahahahah
[Epic 4G General] fastmikey1969:
I used to have an HTC Touch Pro 2 and flashed my phones all the time.

Flashing on Android is *way* easier! including the Epic.

You don't need a PC

Your apps/data are preserved when you flash
[Epic 4G General] sauron0101:
It's not really as intimidating as it looks. I was pretty nervous too when I first flashed. With time, I realized that it is actually faster than installing Linux or another operating system onto my PC.

If you don't like a ROM or if there's a ROM that's giving you issues, just try another ROM. Try many and see which one is your favourite. The chances of your bricking your phone are pretty slim. Just remember to read instructions and comments carefully.

You can do it!
[Epic 4G General] chnzshyguy:
Everything except the EXT4 stuff is easy. EXT4 stuff isn't for the feint of heart, but if you're comfortable with shell commands, there's nothing to it!
[Epic 4G General] sauron0101:
Not anymore - Daemon has a newer ext4 way of flashing. The only drawback is that it replaces the current CWM with CWM 3 which only supports Edify.
[Epic 4G General] iil:
I was in the same boat at first coming from WinMo but Android is even simpler once you know what you are doing.

My recommendation is to first Flash a rom other than viper.

Once you are rooted, you can boot into clockwork recovery and flash a new rom directly from a zip file on your sd card. You can flash multiple roms without even having to be near a computer.

Some other popular forums have some stickies that provide dead simple walk-thrus too.
[Epic 4G General] konaman:
I'm on the viper ext4 and its simple to flash. All you do is flash 4 files in order and there you go your on ext4 and great rom. I've tried every rom on here and imho the most stable ones are epic experience and viper. But I've been running viper for a week or so and love it. Especially ext4, my phone is so much more snappier now.
[Epic 4G General] ecooce:
If you think those are the most stable you havnt tried mine,Frankenstein FROYO.
[Epic 4G General] LordLugard:
Dude it's easy. If you're already on DK28 then half the job is done. Just root with with any of the oneclick, install cwm and that's it. Trust me, flashing with Android is easier than Win Mo (download a zip file and flash it..easy) . I can't count how many times I had problems with hard spl on Win Mo.

Don't let all that Odin/PDA/Pit/modem stuff intimidate you.
[Epic 4G General] boominz28:
dude why is it you find that you have to insult everytime you post?
[Epic 4G General] themirthfulswami:
I'm kinda in the same boat as the OP. I want to run a custom ROM on my Epic, but every time I get to the point where I decide to go for it I look at the laundry list of steps and the horror story posts from people who screwed them up and I chicken out LOL
[Epic 4G General] LordLugard:
What laundry list of steps?? Simple steps, root>clockwork>find rom of choice>d'load rom>boot into clockwork>flash zip file.

Definitely easier than doing laundry for me. (I never know when to use/pour fabric softner thingy).
[Epic 4G General] themirthfulswami:
Well from what I see the current install instructions for Viper list 15 steps and that assumes you already have root access and clockwork/rom manager going. I'm very comfortable building/tweaking Windows boxes because I know what to do if I screw up and can fix it pretty quickly.. this ROM flashing stuff for someone who's been using Android for a couple months seems intimidating mostly because I'm not familiar with the tools or how to recover easily in a panic situation.
[Epic 4G General] musclehead84:
You can do it bro. I didn't even know what rooting was two months ago. Lol. Now after reading and trial and error and all the help from people on here I flashed every rom on 2.1 and almost all on 2.2. I have the new cwm3, a theme and the black market. Like they have been saying just start slow. Root first. Thank you to all who have helped me.
[Epic 4G General] JOLTnPEST:
I came from WM too. Android seems very intimidating but it really isn't.

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=770388

follow those steps to root and get Clockwork mod. which is just downloading samsung drivers, Putting your phone into debugging mode, and downloading and opening the bat file.

once you do that your rooted and you can flash some 2.1 roms. Once you feel comfortable with that you can use odin to flash your modem to froyo.
[Epic 4G General] nerdtaco:
You can do it man! This is my first Android phone as well and it is definitely different. The learning curve was pretty steep at first, but after a few flashes and a successful odin flash, it gets better. You don't have any SPL issues or crazy steps to hack your phone anymore. Odin is not very difficult, it's like the old Custom RUU/activesync from winmo, only it won't permabrick your phone if it goofs up. As long as you can get into recovery (CWM or stock) or download mode, then you can fix it! I have faith in you. If you can Hard SPL and flash a WM rom then Android will be a cakewalk.

Chin up!
[Epic 4G General] themirthfulswami:
Thanks for the votes of confidence, guys :) I might give it a shor this coming weekend when I have some free time. Getting really tired of waiting for Samsung to release froyo LOL
[Epic 4G General] kenvan19:
If you need help, I would be more than happy to provide basic assistance. =)
[Epic 4G General] ghostrid3r:
take smaller bites, chew more, and patients... helps digest the info. you're ingesting.
[Epic 4G General] abmcbride85:
Its really simple to get everything going. I came over to android in november and before that I had a crackberry. I wated 2 weeks or so before trying anything but the tools to do everything are here on xda and there are a lot of peopl out there who will help you if anything goes wrong. I would recomend you start by rooting your phone that is the easyist thing you can do. Just start by reading and reading and when you think you are comfortable take it step by step. After you learn one process you will find that other things such as flashing roms that seem difficult at first contain steps you have already learned. Good luck.

Sent from my SPH-D700
[Epic 4G General] diego1985:
He haven't ran into the right guy in these forums. I'm just the man that looks for anyone who insults me when i ask a question. I been hurting ppls feelings for years who think they can insult someone without consequences.
[Epic 4G General] dr_gibberish:
I think the forums make it look more intimidating than it is. 99% of people who say they "bricked' their phones have not really bricked them (Odin will bring them back), and of course people with problems generally post more than those for whom everything went smoothly.

By the way, I am not sure what the deal is with the three hours of battery life. While it is not incredible, I generally get a solid days use out of my phone (around 14-16 hours) on DK28. Also, someone please correct me if I am wrong, but to really have DK28 don't you HAVE to use Odin? (To get the modem?). This may have changed since the leak first came out, but at that time I think you had to use Odin to fully move to Froyo. Could this be part of his problem with battery life?
[Epic 4G General] nubsors:
I installed Nebula 1.0.6 and it had instructions that allowed me to install EXT4 quite easily. At no point did I feel overwhelmed with steps. It was all using clockwork and zip files. Easy peasy.
[Epic 4G General] cocochannel:
thanks everyone i guess i will give it a try today!
[Epic 4G General] nerdtaco:
Please do and keep us posted!
[Epic 4G General] Daddy43205:
im in the same boat im looking at viper cause its seems the best then i see like 10 paragraphs of what you have to do to get it smh i mean updating to froyo all you had to do was put it on the sd hold a couple buttons and your done the viper team should really dumb it down for newbs cause that shyt looks like to much for starters
[Epic 4G General] nerdtaco:
ViperROM is not for starters. It does require a lot of work, but damn is it stable. After a few days of reading and a few flashes it should be easy. As previously stated, Android is much easier then WM ever was. So easy in fact that the term 'brick' has lost most of it's meaning.
[Epic 4G General] cocochannel:
I gave up LOL.

Is anyone in NYC so I can come to you and you can do it for me?
[Epic 4G General] snowmanwithahat:
So I haven't tried WinMo... but flashing on Android really isn't that hard or complicated at all if you sit down and take some time to understand what's going on and specifically why you need to do the things that the instructions are telling you to do.
[Epic 4G General] Electrofreak:
Flashed to a new ROM in the bathroom at work the other day. Lemme see you do that with WinMo!

True story. See my signature. :D

EDIT - Signature also includes recommended order to do this hygienically! >_<
[Epic 4G General] MorphineX:
don't worry about killing your phone

I just upgraded to viperrom and it's not as hard as people say it is. I had clockworkmod 2 with bonsai and dk28 before, and all I did to switch to ext4 and viperroom was..

1) d/l cwm3, and newest viperrom (only 1 file)

2) put the new viperrom zip into the sdcard root

3) hit cwm3 setup after putting phone on debug and pluggin in ... it whirled about and said, "EXT4 not detected, installing EXT4" and in about 5 min of automatic processing, I've an EXT4 phone. not really sure what it means, maybe it's faster?

4) pushed up and down on my new Cwm3 running EXT4 and selected the new viperroom. note that I did not do all that wiping of sdcard, nor wiping of the cache... I just didn't really worry about it and installed viperrom. about 10 min of automatic processing later, I'm booting into a brand new phone!

It's great, thanks devs!
[Epic 4G General] running_the_dream:
I agree the Viper instructions aren't exactly...clear. But they are straight forward enough for me. Anyway, this guy, Randy Shear is the man. He posts vids on Youtube showcasing roms from the devs and he also has plenty of how-to vids. This might help you with converting your file system from rfs to ext4 (I think most of the devs are using that format now because it's faster than rfs) and flashing to one of the ext4 based roms.

It looks like the new Viper Frozen rom is still compatible with rfs so you don't even need to go through the steps of converting to ext4 if you don't want to. Odin is extremely easy to use. Check it out Odin Flashing. If you go the rfs route, just follow these steps (I copy/pasted from the Viperrom thread):

edit- I should point out that the Odin link shows you how to flash to stock di18. Just use the files for dk28 instead of di18. The process is still the same.

:INSTRUCTIONS::..

1. Make a Nandroid backup of your phone via clockworkmod before you proceed any further! You can do this by booting into recovery via Volume Down, Camera, and Power being held simultaniously.

2. Apply the Modem and PIT via Odin.

3. Download the ROM of your preference.

4. Wipe the phone via clockworkmod 3x, wipe the cache at least once, and wipe the dalvik cache at least once as well.

5. Choose 'Install zip from sdcard' then 'Choose zip from sdcard.' Navigate to where you saved the file, and select it to download.

To make the Nandoid backup in step 1, you will need to root your phone. one-click root from Noobnl will root the phone and give you clockwork mod 2
[Epic 4G General] Jayavarman:
Is there a video for everything?
[Epic 4G General] TheDub:
As countless others have mentioned...

Development has recently switched paths from CWM 2.x to 3.0 and a most devs have jumped ship from RFS to EXT4. Both of those conversions are fairly "big" upgrades.

However. Once on CWM3 and EXT4 (the "hard" part you only have to do once) you just pick / download the zip, reboot into recovery, install.. can't get much easier then that. :)
[Epic 4G General] nmoreman:
I would like to make a helpful suggestion to those guys stuck above.

And don't flame me - go read Android Central Epic forums, they have Root/Rom at the top of the list. I was in same boat as you guys, took baby steps to DK 28, learned Odin and built confidence. Decided to try the roms, then went to the newest.

Go read TrulyEpicRebirth - the moderators are great, they answer "silly" questions, in English, patiently, without insults. Even to those who should've read through.

The instructions are simple and easy. My hardest part was getting the Samsung drivers (use 32 bit even on 64 machine). They show you what the screens should look like.

My upgrade went flawlessly, when I have questions, I read first, then ask. Answers within half a day on technical problems. I flashed another rom, went back to this, have started adding themes and built confidence while having fun.

I like this rom, the help you get, and see why you didn't flash before - I read both forums, many of these are written above my non-computer head. I have hacked Palms, WinMo, Hero, and now this. I loved the Epic stock, I love my phone more now. So go over there and see if it makes more sense.

Let me know how it goes, and don't forget to thank those who help you here and there. Use both forums to increase your technical expertise. Everyone starts at the bottom on learning this, that's why I'm sticking with that rom, their help, and their upcoming changes and continued help - so I don't brick my phone!!!;)
[Epic 4G General] Jayavarman:
And once you figure it out, write a guide for non-computer heads like you used to be.
[Epic 4G General] nmoreman:
http://forum.androidcentral.com/epi...-fix-rfs-ext4-now-w-clockwork-v3-0-0-5-a.html

Go to this link, read thoroughly, it will detail the terminology, help you understand what you are doing, and how to get there.

If you decided to take these steps, this moderator answers your questions, provides links, and helps. That is why I installed his rom, Truly Epic Rebirth.

I was confused with how techies can drop terms, how tos and short cuts. I did not understand, had tried, had bad results, and went back to stock. But I was

determined to learn. So I think the important part of this is understanding what

you are doing and how to change it, go back, add parts, etc. It is easy to let

someone else do the work, but if you have problems, knowing how to revert or

fix them.

I also like this rom - there are so many to chose from, and that is from people experimenting. This one is very similar to stock, all the junk out, great battery, quick, and stable, Then in the stickies in Android Central's Epic forum, there are

additional easy to find and read questions, changes. But this is why I use this one,

they help you get comfortable and make things work correctly.

So, I take no credit, nor do I want to re-write excellent instructions (with picturers) on how to do this, I might mess you up, but go to these and see if

it helps.
[Epic 4G General] Leviuqse:
lol...go check the archos gen8 dev forum, currently we only have one ROM..is a NIGHTMARE to flash it..

anyways..since the vibrant got their update..i think we should be closer to an update too..i have horrible battery in dk28 too..I'm planning to go back to stock..
[Epic 4G General] nmoreman:
Are you guys toggling airplane mode and Force Stopping the DRM Service in Running Programs? Wifi set to sleep Never?

I did this, do not have programs set to automatically update, pull my email, and I had 40% left a night with normal use

Read and search for some battery ideas.

Also, the roms run about the same as stock or better before needing charged, a plus
[Epic 4G General] Top Nurse:
Ext4 is simple to do. Just flash using the cwm3 root method. It will reboot and convert your phone to ext4. Just make sure you have a compatible rom sitting on your sd card before you do this. I always do a nandroid backup before makinf any changes. I also copy the contents of my sd to my desktop just to be on the safe side.

Peeps who don't do backups are silly...
[Epic 4G General] jbthom4:
flashing is easy...after root ..power down, three finger death grip, go to backup, back it up, clear cache, reset to factory, select flash zip from sd, select a rom u have dowdloaded...let clockwork do its thing...reboot ... Bam ...enjoy
[Epic 4G General] cocochannel:
HEEELPPP I THINK I MESSED UP!

- so i successfully installed that one click root clockmod 3.

- then i put the bonzai zip in sd card

- booted phone in clockmodrecovery and it started to do backups by itself

- then i selected the bonsai zip to install. everything went thru

- then phone booted and hangs at samsung screen then it keep restarting over and over and hangs at the samsung screen still.

what did i do wrong??

and what do i do now???!!
[Epic 4G General] running_the_dream:
Sounds about right. Bonsai is a lil different than the other ext4 roms because it installs converts to ext4 during the rom flash process. I would try to wipe data, cache, and dalvik, then re-flash Bonsai. I hope you backed up before you installed cwm3 and bonsai. Just so that you didn't lose your info.
[Epic 4G General] cocochannel:
THANKS but what is "dalvik"?
[Epic 4G General] running_the_dream:
I think it's your boot cache. So if you wipe dalvik, your phone has to boot everything from scratch making it take longer to boot.

edit- Just for the hell of it, I just installed Bonsai v2.0 to my sdcard, booted to cwm3 (also, I already have the no journal mod setup on my current rom), wiped data 2x, cache 1x, dalvik cache 1x, flashed bonsai and it came right up. I said that to say, it may work for you.
[Epic 4G General] cocochannel:
NEMAMIND GUYS!!! I put the nebula zip instead and it installed fine. HALLELU FINALLY!
[Epic 4G General] running_the_dream:
i nema mind helping!
[Epic 4G General] dohturdima:
Another Android n00b here. I flashed a bunch of hybrid soft on my previous phone (a Blackberry) so am a bit wary of breaking stock since my BB flashing experience was very mixed. I am still running everything stock :o, but am considering flashing to DK28, Ext4 and a (preferably stable) custom ROM.

However,

1) Will I lose a) WiMax (need it for tethering) b) GPS (need that too) c. other functions and/or d) get much worse battery life or stand to lose by flashing to DK28/Ext4/custom rom? I already installed a few apps from Market which caused force closes so am a bit timid re. breaking stock.

2) If I do the above and Sammy finally coughs up the official Froyo, will it require flashing back to stock and how difficult would that be?

3) Can someone explain the advantanges of CM (CyanogenMod) vs other custom roms, and whether it is or is not ready for the prime time?
[Epic 4G General] cocochannel:
1) no u wont lose it

2) probably but its not hard

3) i dunno

just do it its easy actually
[Epic 4G General] watermoore:
Here is some input

Answers

1. No you will not lose wimax from flashing a custom rom. The rom selection for the epic isnt really that different from stock. They usually are just tweaked stock builds, themed, stripped of samsungs nonsense, and optimized for performance/ battery life. They are great, dont get me wrong. If you are coming from an HTC device expect a lot less choice and a bit of a learning curve.

2. Samsung uses ODIN to flash back to stock. Think of the HTC process but instead of running an installer exe that does everything for you, you put your phone in download mode (keyboard key "1" & the power button). Plug your device into your PC, dont use the stock cable. ODIN will show its connected, then you can load whatever stock build you want onto your phone. ODIN is also used to install modems if you want to run the leaked DK28 builds. Dont use this as a guide there are plenty already on the forum (trust me) do a little reading

ODIN pretty much makes your phone brick proof.

3. Cyanogen is based on AOSP. Android Open Source Project. Its the closest thing to a pure Google experience you are going to get. On our EPICs its not what most would consider "stable" for daily use. Last time I check Wimax is broken. You can see what broken or not in the Cyanogen forum.

I am not a genius with hacking but I think part of the reason we have a limited ROM selection is related to the fact that we dont have the source code for the official Froyo 2.2 build Hence there is a very limited kernel selection. If I am way off base someone please chime in.

Hope I helped you decide whether this is something you want to endeavor on. IF so hit the thanks button.

Disregard all the HTC talk I am sick and therefore retarded. I am not sure how this process is similar to a BB so best of luck and just read up.

<---- THANKS WHORE yeah thats right I said it I am a thanks whore ;-)
[Epic 4G General] Jayavarman:
A "thanks whore". Very arousing.
[Epic 4G General] samuraiinblack:
nvm. deleted for latency
[Epic 4G General] dohturdima:
Thank you much for your detailed response. Epic is my 1st Android device and even stock it leaves my previous phone (BB Tour) in the dust. But now I feel much more confident about modding :) No "thanks" option on Tapatalk.
[Android Apps and Games] Raccroc:
As a long time Blackberry user, one of the features I miss most is the ability to capitalize a letter simply by pressing the key and briefly holding it down.

Under Android, holding down a key pops up Shift Character, which I all but never use.

Anyone know of a replacement keyboard or mod which will cap on a keypress hold?
[Wildfire General] gsmkhmer:
hi team i want to change my HTC Wildfire from Korea language to English.

i've try to find here but not see, please help me.

Thanks in advance.

:)
[Wildfire General] brilldoctor:
Settings - locale.and text - Language
[HD2 Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting and Genera] dustin1939:
Im in the process of loading the steps for the NAND Android ROM and right after i loaded the MAGLDR 1.11 my active synce stopped working. Now i can't load NAND Android ROM cause my computer wont recognize my phone by activesync.

All my phone says whenever i turn it on is:

Android Flasher Mode

Wait USB...USB

Does anyone have any idea what i can do to fix it. forgive me im a newb.
[HD2 Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting and Genera] hatomee91:
+1

i have the same problem here!!

Guys pls help