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Back to Gingerbread?

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x23

Newbie
So here's what's happened. My friend came to visit and was looking at my phone and said it needed a new update but what I have now found out that he has done is change it from gingerbread to jellybean and wipe all my data and then left. So it's tough shit about the data but I really don't like jellybean and find it really hard to use and I want to know if I can get it back to it's original gingerbread OS? I really can't afford a replacement phone if it all goes wrong and I have no idea what i'm doing. I also have no idea what he did apart from it involved a insecure kernel(?).

Model number GT-I9100
Android version 4.2.1
Baseband Version I9100PBVLP7
Slim Version Slim-4.2.1RC.2-OFFICIAL

Also I'm in the UK

Any other info please ask. I would be very greatful with any help or answers you can give me on this as I am completely out of my depth.
 
x23 said:
So here's what's happened. My friend came to visit and was looking at my phone and said it needed a new update but what I have now found out that he has done is change it from gingerbread to jellybean and wipe all my data and then left. So it's tough shit about the data but I really don't like jellybean and find it really hard to use and I want to know if I can get it back to it's original gingerbread OS? I really can't afford a replacement phone if it all goes wrong and I have no idea what i'm doing. I also have no idea what he did apart from it involved a insecure kernel(?).

Model number GT-I9100
Android version 4.2.1
Baseband Version I9100PBVLP7
Slim Version Slim-4.2.1RC.2-OFFICIAL

Also I'm in the UK

Any other info please ask. I would be very greatful with any help or answers you can give me on this as I am completely out of my depth.
Click to expand...

Hello and welcome to Android Forums x23! :)

It would appear that your, "friend", has flashed a custom, AOSP, ROM for Jelly Bean on to your phone, called, Slim Bean 4.2.1. See, here.

This is a very heavily modified, cut down version of the official Jelly Bean release and bears as much resemblance to it as a camel does to a horse.

The obvious question is, "Why don't you just ask your friend to flash it back for you?"

He has, in my opinion, done you at least one favour in that he has rooted your phone for you.

My second question is, "Do you now have an app, in your app drawer, called CWM?"
 
Hi thanks for your response,
he was just staying on his way to the airport and is currently travelling round India so isn't available to sort it out.
No, I don't have CWM.
 
OK... Need to check a few things first. Can you go to Settings > About device > Kernel version and post the details please.

I am trying to see what kind of Recovery you have on your phone as you do not have CWM it would seem.
 
Right... You have 3 choices as far as I can see after reading up on the Slim ROM that your friend has flashed for you...

1. Stay as you are.

2. Using a PC + a USB cable + a PC Suite called Odin, you can flash a stock Gingerbread firmware for, I believe, Orange UK to your phone. This is usually straightforward, however, I notice from the changelog of Slim ROM that downgrading, "Can wipe your SD card". This mean that you will need to back everything up first.

3. In my opinion, the reason that you do not like Jelly Bean is that the version your friend flashed is an AOSP version. In other words, it is sort of, kind of like, the Jelly Bean official version, which I rate highly above Gingerbread. So, my other option is that we flash either the latest unrooted Jelly Bean firmware, using Odin, or we flash a rooted version that you can just download to your phone and flash via Recovery.

As you are a self confessed noob... then the order of ease for you would be... 1, 3, 2.

Have a think about it and feel free to ask questions.

In the meantime I will consult with some of the other, "wise men", on here.
 
Hey, sorry for not getting back to you. Life sort of got in the way over the weekend. Thanks for reading up on this, I really appreciate it.

I don't want my phone to stay as it is. I don't really know what the official jelly bean is like so I don't want to spend time changing to that and then not want it. I was definitely happy with the gingerbread and I knew how to use it so I would like to go back to that. I have a PC and a USB cable and I'm very good at following instructions.

Also after my phone was changed my Keis Air stopped working, do you think changing it back will fix this?
 
x23 said:
I don't want my phone to stay as it is. I don't really know what the official jelly bean is like so I don't want to spend time changing to that and then not want it. I was definitely happy with the gingerbread and I knew how to use it so I would like to go back to that. I have a PC and a USB cable and I'm very good at following instructions.
Click to expand...

Since you have not corrected my assumption from post #7...

ironass said:
I believe, Orange UK to your phone.
Click to expand...


Here is the Orange UK firmware for Gingerbread, Android 2.3.6, that you can download...

Hotfile.com: One click file hosting: I9100BVKL1_I9100ORALB1_ORA.zip

You will need to flash this firmware to your phone, after backing up anything you wish to save, using Odin and the instructions, here.

(*** Ignore the ICS file that they suggest you download and use the official firmware mentioned above. The procedure is the same)

Also after my phone was changed my Keis Air stopped working, do you think changing it back will fix this?
Click to expand...

In theory... yes but I make no guarantees where Kies is concerned.
 
I think you'll like option 3. What Ironass meant IIUC is the Official Samsung JellyBean OS. It has the Samsung TouchWizz interface you're used to but the JellyBean version of OS in the background bringing you improvements.

I think the only reason you don't like JellyBean is because you've encountered it using the AOSP interface.

EDIT: 3hrs late. I was meant to post this at 2pm
 
Ok I've come across my first problem. odin has come up with a big red box saying FAIL! and in the message box it says Can't open the serial (COM) port.
 
ok don't worry about that I think it's because I had kies open at the same time. It's doing something now...
 
yeah I've got that. I got a big green box saying pass! so I'm taking that as a good sign. my phone is just now showing the Galaxy startup screen for ages and then orange and then back to galaxy. is that right?
 
x23 said:
yeah I've got that. I got a big green box saying pass! so I'm taking that as a good sign.
Click to expand...

Sounds good!

my phone is just now showing the Galaxy startup screen for ages and then orange and then back to galaxy. is that right?
Click to expand...

As you are down grading to stock Gingerbread firmware from an AOSP ROM you may need to, "Wipe cache partition", in Recovery mode. To get into Recovery mode, see post #2, here, with instructions and video.

Failing that, you may need to do a, "Factory Reset", in Recovery mode as your AOSP ROM did mention problems in reverting, as mentioned in post #7...

ironass said:
I notice from the changelog of Slim ROM that downgrading, "Can wipe your SD card". This mean that you will need to back everything up first.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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ok i did the wipe cache partition, there wasn't an 'Advanced' option though, my recovery screen didn't look the same as the one in the video, so I couldn't do the wipe dalvik cache.

I can't seem to find your instructions for the factory reset.
 
ok I did the reset and I think it's worked. Everything seems back to normal. I'll just put all my backed up stuff back on there and it should be fine.
 
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