Samsung Galaxy S2 - Guide to Rooting your phone (Always evolving and ever changing!)

kennyboy

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Just got a new S2 on Sat. Should I root so soon? I just wanna get rid of bloat/crapware. OP is scary with "Once you root, your warranty is VOID. There are ways to go back to stock, but there's always a chance Samsung can detect that you rooted. Don't expect warranty once you've rooted."

I switched from a LG Optimus 2x rooted. Used superone. Don't remember exact details but it was pretty simple, almost like jb ios. Also froze bloatware then. S2 rooting methods seem to be more chim.
You need to try HTC bootloader unlock/s-off/root to know what is called "chim". :D

Be thankful...Samsung is already super easy liao.
 

vivalarave

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Sensation rom + speed mod was alright but leomar's new revolution hd rom is almost the same.

now i'm on dark knight + revolution HD
checkrom kitchen pro app is damn useful..

So far so good the rom alright and pretty good so far..

Well test the modem that is cooked with it KI6 or something.. now busy redoing my settings again as i ****ed up my previous installed which was there for the past 3-4 months already..
But I think speed mod's battery life was one of the best there is.
 
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user14

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Scratch what I said about WanamLite. I tried to "fix" the freezing and did a full wipe and reflash but the problem got worse. I'm back to stock LP6 for now.
 

henryscy

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guys, check with you. If I have rooted my s2, then i want to install the speedmod kernel, how to do that? I can just use odin to flash as normal?

If I backup my apps and restore to the new speedmod kernel, everything should be restore right?
 

happily1986

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guys, check with you. If I have rooted my s2, then i want to install the speedmod kernel, how to do that? I can just use odin to flash as normal?

If I backup my apps and restore to the new speedmod kernel, everything should be restore right?

does flashing of that kernel require wiping? i assume you are using TBP to backup.
 

o.0boiboi0.o

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I jus bought my S2 last week and since then, I was with my S2 24/7!

The first ting I did was straight rooting my phone and did intensive research. Read up tons of articles and even reflash my ROM twice. No pain no gain i guess =D

Seriously, for beginners, you have to do real hard work and read up articles and understand all the 'chim' terminologies. Agreed with bros here, rooting is never 'chim'. whats 'chim' (to me) is after rooting! (what to do, how to install custom rom, which kernel, which modem etc). even all these after doing some reading up you will be able to better understand Android this creature! (or green robot ^^)
 

henryscy

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does flashing of that kernel require wiping? i assume you are using TBP to backup.

Im not too sure whether speedmod will wipeoff my stuff. Yup you are right, I use TBP to backup my apps.

I want to flash to CheckRom RevoHD plus speedmod... How should I go about it? I just flashed to CF-KL1...
 

ri1030

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Im not too sure whether speedmod will wipeoff my stuff. Yup you are right, I use TBP to backup my apps.

I want to flash to CheckRom RevoHD plus speedmod... How should I go about it? I just flashed to CF-KL1...

Kernel doesn't wipe the phone, Kernel is like engine in the car.

flashing ROM will wipe the phone (some doesnt but most of ROM will wipe and if wipe will be system drive only) internal and external SD card wont be formated.
 

LegendZenify

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Im not too sure whether speedmod will wipeoff my stuff. Yup you are right, I use TBP to backup my apps.

I want to flash to CheckRom RevoHD plus speedmod... How should I go about it? I just flashed to CF-KL1...

Flashing of a kernel usually will not require wipe, but it is recommended to do a wipe when flashing a new Rom.
Unless you are coming from a previous version of Checkrom, (in which case it would not be necessary, but still recommended to do so).

Since you are rooted, you should have CWM recovery.
Download and put the .zip (not .tar) versions of the files needed in the internal memory.
Then follow the steps below.

Get into the CWM recovery
Wipe Data/factory reset
Wipe Cache
Wipe Dalvik-Cache
Wipe Battery Stats
Wipe Data/factory reset
Wipe Cache
Wipe Dalvik-Cache
Wipe Battery Stats
Install Checkrom ROM

Flash kernel cleaning script (optional, to remove old kernel settings, etc.)
OR Wipe cache AND Dalvik Cache
Flash Speedmod kernel.

Afterwards, you can flash the modem of your preference (optional)

Reboot phone, and wait.

Pretty easy, just follow the sequence of steps stated.
 

abramovich

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u mention flashing of modem as optional... may i know i'm on M1 which modem do i flash? cos i noticed my signal range is quite erratic n data speed is quite slow at times... also any firmware to flash to increase strength of wifi?

thanks
 

rewired

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Scratch what I said about WanamLite. I tried to "fix" the freezing and did a full wipe and reflash but the problem got worse. I'm back to stock LP6 for now.

I am using Wanam LP6. I encountered what you did. However whenever I encountered freezing, I reflashed the ROM. Happened quite a while. Now its stable. :)

By the way, how is the stock ROM?
 

LegendZenify

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henryscy

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Kernel doesn't wipe the phone, Kernel is like engine in the car.

flashing ROM will wipe the phone (some doesnt but most of ROM will wipe and if wipe will be system drive only) internal and external SD card wont be formated.

Flashing of a kernel usually will not require wipe, but it is recommended to do a wipe when flashing a new Rom.
Unless you are coming from a previous version of Checkrom, (in which case it would not be necessary, but still recommended to do so).

Since you are rooted, you should have CWM recovery.
Download and put the .zip (not .tar) versions of the files needed in the internal memory.
Then follow the steps below.

Get into the CWM recovery
Wipe Data/factory reset
Wipe Cache
Wipe Dalvik-Cache
Wipe Battery Stats
Wipe Data/factory reset
Wipe Cache
Wipe Dalvik-Cache
Wipe Battery Stats
Install Checkrom ROM

Flash kernel cleaning script (optional, to remove old kernel settings, etc.)
OR Wipe cache AND Dalvik Cache
Flash Speedmod kernel.

Afterwards, you can flash the modem of your preference (optional)

Reboot phone, and wait.

Pretty easy, just follow the sequence of steps stated.

Thanks for the input guys... I already done with the TBP backup, once i flash to the new rom, im able to restore back my apps? Am I right?
 
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wylin.d

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Hi All, I just got a new Galaxy S2 with android 2.3.6 and have been reading up on rooting and custom roms. I would like to install Cyanogen Mod 7.1 on my Galaxy S2 and based on what I understand, the steps should be as below:

1) Gain root access following the rooting guide posted here with CF-Root 5.2 kernel

From here, I am having some doubts about installation of Cyanogen Mod. Should be it a) Step 2 then Step 3 or
b) skip Step 2 and go to Step 3?

2) With root access, follow Cyanogen Mod installation instructions and install codeworkx's kernel with the Heimdall Suite. (*Note: based on Cyanogen Mod instructions, this step just installs ClockworkMod Recovery 4.0.1.4. This is in response with the CWM Recovery with CF-Root being incompatible with ROM Manager. Or is ROM Manager unnecessary altogether?)

3) Backup the current Android 2.3.6 with CWM Recovery (in case anything goes wrong in order to recover the ROM)

4) Install Cyanogen Mod and Google apps with CWM Recovery

5) Enjoy S2 with Cyanogen Mod


A few questions to ask:
1) Does the Cyanogen Mod come with its own kernel? In other words, regardless of what rooted kernel was used earlier, flashing with Cyanogen replaces them with its own kernel?

2) In order to return to Stock setup, restoring the backed up ROM (Android 2.3.6) via CWM Recovery and flashing it with stock firmware and kernel should do the trick?

3) Is anyone using the Cyanogen Mod currently? Can anyone provide some feedback on its stability, features and battery life? Does using it cause some apps from the android market to be incompatible?

Thanks alot in advance!
 
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