Android So I have this old phone......

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The Great Kaitu

The Great Kaitu

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So, I have got a smartphone dating back 5 years when I first purchased it in 2012.It still works well, although I think the battery needs replacing[understandable]. So, I have decided to experiment on it and do other stuff as rooting it,putting a linux OS on it,etc. But, I have never done it and I have no idea where to start. Please do not recommend me those one-touch root programs that you find on google playstore. I do not want these 'rogue' softwares to monitor me and stuff. I want someone to basically give me a step-by-step guide on how to completely format[I mean not the factory data reset,some info is always left out] my smartphone, at least somewhat. Then , help me choose a rooting program and a linux or any other free source os which won't track me and shit . I do want a OS which will be easy on the RAM ,so keep that in mind ;)

This is my smartphone - http://tech.firstpost.com/product/mobile-phones/galaxy-fame-gt-s6812-specification-320112.html
 
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When you just say 'smartphone' and not what model ..... ;)

1) Read a brief about Android architecture.

2) Then understand following terms
  • Bootloader(locked/unlocked)
  • Recovery
  • EFS (V. Imp)
  • Bricking a device (V. Imp)

3) To begin -> The first thing you need to know is .. your phone model.
4) Then head over to XDA and find matching section. Look into guides subsection and find steps to start.

Very important
  • Read Read and Read before you start to avoid bricking or erasing your EFS partition
  • Take full Nandroid backup with explicit EFS partition back and keep it offline and handy.
 
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mk76 said:
When you just say 'smartphone' and not what model ..... ;)

1) Read a brief about Android architecture.

2) Then understand following terms
  • Bootloader(locked/unlocked)
  • Recovery
  • EFS (V. Imp)
  • Bricking a device (V. Imp)

3) To begin -> The first thing you need to know is .. your phone model.
4) Then head over to XDA and find matching section. Look into guides subsection and find steps to start.

Very important
  • Read Read and Read before you start to avoid bricking or erasing your EFS partition
  • Take full Nandroid backup with explicit EFS partition back and keep it offline and handy.
Click to expand...


I did not understand like 90% of what what you said[but I will read,read :)]. Here is my smartphone :-http://tech.firstpost.com/product/mobile-phones/galaxy-fame-gt-s6812-specification-320112.html
 
I am also a n00b in these stuffs. I have Samsung Galaxy S3, on which I have played a li'l.
XDA and youtube helped a lot - for everything.

What I did :
First, rooted my phone - step by step (+video) can be found googling. Different phone have different rooting procedure, I am not sure.
Installed custom recovery - TWRP (again steps can be found)
(above steps are one time only)

Took full nand backup.

Took Apps + Data backup using Titanium backup. (Used some other app to take backup of call logs, sms etc)
Find some custom ROM having very less open issues in XDA. I had mostly used CyanogenMod ports.
Downloaded the packages - ROM, Gapps (Google apps - playstore, google app etc - the ROM doesn't contain any such google specific apps)

Booted into TWRP - from there it's easy. One click 'wipe' - I am not sure what I wiped, just went with the recommended and followed by package install. Simple steps. (Videos are available in youtube.)

Luckily I never ran into boot loop or bricking the device.
 
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mathrisk said:
I am also a n00b in these stuffs. I have Samsung Galaxy S3, on which I have played a li'l.
XDA and youtube helped a lot - for everything.

What I did :
First, rooted my phone - step by step (+video) can be found googling. Different phone have different rooting procedure, I am not sure.
Installed custom recovery - TWRP (again steps can be found)
(above steps are one time only)

Took full nand backup.

Took Apps + Data backup using Titanium backup. (Used some other app to take backup of call logs, sms etc)
Find some custom ROM having very less open issues in XDA. I had mostly used CyanogenMod ports.
Downloaded the packages - ROM, Gapps (Google apps - playstore, google app etc - the ROM doesn't contain any such google specific apps)

Booted into TWRP - from there it's easy. One click 'wipe' - I am not sure what I wiped, just went with the recommended and followed by package install. Simple steps. (Videos are available in youtube.)

Luckily I never ran into boot loop or bricking the device.
Click to expand...


yeah, I am looking into some tutorial vids on how to do this stuff properly. But, the XDA website is more than enough I think, if you have the patience to read and understand everything. If I run into any trouble ,I will give you guys some trouble too :p
 
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