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How to Unlock (and Root) the Bell Galaxy S2. Step by Step Guide

Hey Blue, when you got a minute can you help me with this ... I just tried another rom but didn't quite like it (was too complicated and not refined..) however when I went back to the simple and clean rom and restored my backup from Titanium... for some reason the buttons on the main menu (Except for home/app) have been removed... weird.

any idea on how to fix ?

ps: I've wiped everything like you suggested for when installing a new rom.

let me know. thanks !
 
Weird. Ok let's try this first:

Go to settings >applications>manage apps

Then select the all tab. Find tw launcher. Force close. Clear cache and data.

Does that fix it?
 
I just wanted to say thanks for your awesome guide!!!

I have a quick question though... so I have rooted and sim-unlocked my phone and everything is cool. I wanted to know which firmware do you recommend for the S2? I am currently using the one from your guide

"CF-Root-SGS2_JP_XSG_KG2-v4.1-CWM4.zip"

Over the long run I want to install "ICS4.0" as soon as it comes out. So is this firmware my best option for ICS or is there another one?

Thanks for your great help...
 
Doesn't really matter. I wouldn't stay on kg2. The newer firmwares are much better. Just be sure if that you do decide to upgrade to a newer firmware with Odin you will need to root with the matching cf root kernel.

So if you went to kk2 you would need cf-root-kk2 kernel.
 
Blue1k said:
Doesn't really matter. I wouldn't stay on kg2. The newer firmwares are much better. Just be sure if that you do decide to upgrade to a newer firmware with Odin you will need to root with the matching cf root kernel.

So if you went to kk2 you would need cf-root-kk2 kernel.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the input, I updated it this morning, and no more bell apps!!!
And everything else is still intact. I didnt even have to unlock the sim.

The phone is much faster and the modem speeds are much better.

so in the future, am I looking for a new firmware which has ics 4.0 or a new rom which I would flash with cwm?

Thanks
 
Hi Blue1K, thanks for your guide. I just rooted my phone using your guide an everything is working well. I have a few questions hoping you can help me out:

1. I used the firmware in your guide. You mentioned that you don't recommend KG2, what do you recommend and where do I get it?

2. What is a good ROM for Bell GS2?

3. Now that the phone is rooted, can I move most of the apps to the internal SD? I used "App 2 SD" before but most of the apps don't work even though it says they can be moved.

Any help would be much appreciated.
 
Good day,

I used your guide to root my phone and it worked great, then I got myself in a little bit of trouble. lol I tried to flash a custom rom a friend of mine was using on his S2 and now my phone wont start up. I was wondering how I can flash the stock KG2 rom?
 
JSR84 said:
Good day,

I used your guide to root my phone and it worked great, then I got myself in a little bit of trouble. lol I tried to flash a custom rom a friend of mine was using on his S2 and now my phone wont start up. I was wondering how I can flash the stock KG2 rom?
Click to expand...


Well I just discovered recovery mode and wouldn't you know it, there was my backup! Problem solved! the one thing I've noticed is that my display seams to have developed a strange side effect. for some reason after i rooted it the contrast has gone way out of wack. Has anyone noticed this?
 
Hmm. Perhaps the color effect was changed.

In settings>display>screen mode should be on standard
 
lazyme said:
Hi Blue1K, thanks for your guide. I just rooted my phone using your guide an everything is working well. I have a few questions hoping you can help me out:

1. I used the firmware in your guide. You mentioned that you don't recommend KG2, what do you recommend and where do I get it?

2. What is a good ROM for Bell GS2?

3. Now that the phone is rooted, can I move most of the apps to the internal SD? I used "App 2 SD" before but most of the apps don't work even though it says they can be moved.

Any help would be much appreciated.
Click to expand...

I would like answers to 1 & 2 above as well. I have only tried Cyanogen 7.1 so far and have had nothing but problems with it.

And thanks for your guide on page 1, it worked great!
 
lazyme said:
Hi Blue1K, thanks for your guide. I just rooted my phone using your guide an everything is working well. I have a few questions hoping you can help me out:

1. I used the firmware in your guide. You mentioned that you don't recommend KG2, what do you recommend and where do I get it?

2. What is a good ROM for Bell GS2?

3. Now that the phone is rooted, can I move most of the apps to the internal SD? I used "App 2 SD" before but most of the apps don't work even though it says they can be moved.

Any help would be much appreciated.
Click to expand...

1. I would recommend a newer firmware/rom. Intratech has a nice one with newer KK5 firmware with the KI3 modem (has better battery life than the KI4 modem)

You can get it here: XDA S2 Firmwares (scroll down to XWKK5 and dl the package not the kernel)

You are downloading a stock rom and will need to flash with odin using the guide.

Then you will need to root with the MATCHING cf kernel again using odin and the guide. Since the above is a KK5 rom the matching kernel would be this: KK5-CF-root

2. Rom and firmware are essentially the same thing. Newer roms will have the newer firmwares from samsung. You will need to install a more current rom to update the firmware. There are many newer 3rd party rooted roms on XDA that you can check out. I haven't had the i9100 for a while now (have the Telus one) so I am not up to date on the current best 3rd party roms for the i9100.

Third party roms mainly do not use odin to install. Instead they use recovery menu to flash a rom. I added a guide to the original post about this.

3. I wouldn't bother with apps to sd. The newer android phones don't have the same app system space limitations that the older android devices had.
 
Blue1k said:
Hmm. Perhaps the color effect was changed.

In settings>display>screen mode should be on standard
Click to expand...

Yeah, one of the first things I checked, it was set to standard. I cant find any settings it changed. How would I go about reversing the root?
 
JSR84 said:
Yeah, one of the first things I checked, it was set to standard. I cant find any settings it changed. How would I go about reversing the root?
Click to expand...

Root won't change the screen display. Something else has happened.
What rom did you flash that caused the problems. My guess, is that is what has caused this issue.

Here is what I would do:

1. Boot into recovery.
2. Select FACTORY WIPE/RESET. Yes it will delete a few things
3. WIPE CACHE
4. On the main menu, go to ADVANCED and WIPE DALVIK Cache
4. On the main menu go to backup menu, and restore again.
5. Now go to ADVANCED. Fix permissions. It may take a minute

Reboot. I bet it fixes the problem if the backup you made was from a regular rom. I hope :)

If you want to flash back to stock you can by flashing the stock kg2 firmware listed on the original post
 
Blue1k said:
Root won't change the screen display. Something else has happened.
What rom did you flash that caused the problems. My guess, is that is what has caused this issue.

Here is what I would do:

1. Boot into recovery.
2. Select FACTORY WIPE/RESET. Yes it will delete a few things
3. WIPE CACHE
4. On the main menu, go to ADVANCED and WIPE DALVIK Cache
4. On the main menu go to backup menu, and restore again.
5. Now go to ADVANCED. Fix permissions. It may take a minute

Reboot. I bet it fixes the problem if the backup you made was from a regular rom. I hope :)

If you want to flash back to stock you can by flashing the stock kg2 firmware listed on the original post
Click to expand...

I did a backup after I rooted it. I didn't know about recovery. I guess I'll have to flash the stock rom and start from scratch, not big deal.

Cont...

So I flashed the stock rom and it didn't get rid of the root?
 
JSR84 said:
I did a backup after I rooted it. I didn't know about recovery. I guess I'll have to flash the stock rom and start from scratch, not big deal.

Cont...

So I flashed the stock rom and it didn't get rid of the root?
Click to expand...

No no. Don't do that. As long as the backup is not from the rom you flashed you are fine. :)

You can't do a nandroid backup on stock only with root.

Try what I suggested first. You could also just do a factory wipe along with cache and dalvik wipe as well in recovery without restoring again. Then choose fix permissions and reboot.
 
Blue1k said:
1. I would recommend a newer firmware/rom. Intratech has a nice one with newer KK5 firmware with the KI3 modem (has better battery life than the KI4 modem)

You can get it here: XDA S2 Firmwares (scroll down to XWKK5 and dl the package not the kernel)

You are downloading a stock rom and will need to flash with odin using the guide.

Then you will need to root with the MATCHING cf kernel again using odin and the guide. Since the above is a KK5 rom the matching kernel would be this: KK5-CF-root

2. Rom and firmware are essentially the same thing. Newer roms will have the newer firmwares from samsung. You will need to install a more current rom to update the firmware. There are many newer 3rd party rooted roms on XDA that you can check out. I haven't had the i9100 for a while now (have the Telus one) so I am not up to date on the current best 3rd party roms for the i9100.

Third party roms mainly do not use odin to install. Instead they use recovery menu to flash a rom. I added a guide to the original post about this.

3. I wouldn't bother with apps to sd. The newer android phones don't have the same app system space limitations that the older android devices had.
Click to expand...

Blue, thanks for your help. I will try to install that firmware you recommend.

You don't think we need to move the apps to internal SD? I am running out of space as most of the apps are installed in the phones internal memory of 1.5GB rather than the mostly unused 11GB. Do you know any apps that safely manage where the apps are installed for rooted phones?
 
lazyme said:
Blue, thanks for your help. I will try to install that firmware you recommend.

You don't think we need to move the apps to internal SD? I am running out of space as most of the apps are installed in the phones internal memory of 1.5GB rather than the mostly unused 11GB. Do you know any apps that safely manage where the apps are installed for rooted phones?
Click to expand...

No don't bother. Any larger apps that have data folders (like games) are already configured to store that data on the SD card. I have 1.97GB showing for system. There is no way you could fill 2GB with android apps (unless you have like 200 apps and then I stand corrected lol). Large apps are like maybe 15MB. Most are only a few MB. The data (and game data) which is large is not stored in system. Nav apps like Sygic store the maps on the SD while the app is in system
 
Blue1k said:
No no. Don't do that. As long as the backup is not from the rom you flashed you are fine. :)

You can't do a nandroid backup on stock only with root.

Try what I suggested first. You could also just do a factory wipe along with cache and dalvik wipe as well in recovery without restoring again. Then choose fix permissions and reboot.
Click to expand...

I tried both things you suggested and the contrast is still messed up. Right now I really just want my phone back to the way it was. The screen looks awful.
 
JSR84 said:
I tried both things you suggested and the contrast is still messed up. Right now I really just want my phone back to the way it was. The screen looks awful.
Click to expand...

That sucks. Never seen this before. Just out of curiosity which rom did you flash that created these issues?
 
Blue1k said:
That sucks. Never seen this before. Just out of curiosity which rom did you flash that created these issues?
Click to expand...

The issue occurred right after I rooted it using your procedure on page 1 it was till on the stock rom. I thought I was just crazy, When my wife got home I compared it to her phone and it was definitely not right. I'm guessing if I can revert to an unrooted Kernel it will go back to normal.
 
I found what the issue is. When you rooted were you on KG2 firmware? If there is a mismatch between the kernel and the rom some users have experienced screen issues. Ya flash back the stock rom in odin. Weird... :(

If that doesn't fix it then feel free to PM me. I'll help you get this fixed. It shouldn't happen.
 
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