Root Newbs guide to Flashing a ROM

[sugarspunz]

first off want to thank reinbeau for pointing me in the right direction and linking me to some awesome tutorial videos.

i have had my cappy for about 9 months now and have not been 100% satisfied. i thought my prayers where answered when ATT came out with Froyo but for whatever reason i could not load it which lead me to research how to flash a custom rom. i have tinkered with it a bit but never understood the written direction to flashing a rom. seriously WTF is an odin, kernel, clockerwork modm recovery mode, etc... it was/is every overwhelming to a novice.

so... today i flashed Serendipity 6.4 Download - Serendipity

and REDROM theme Theme - Serendipity

i know this video is for a different rom but i followed these directions to a "T" and it worked perfectly.
YouTube - Samsung Captivate (How-To Install Cognition ROM) Part 1
YouTube - Samsung Captivate (How-To Install Cognition ROM) Part 2
YouTube - Samsung Captivate (How-To Install Cognition ROM) Part 3

downloaded Odin3 Downloader from here
[STOCK ROM] Odin3 One-Click Downloader and Drivers CAPTIVATE ONLY - xda-developers

i read a lot of threads on here where people are wanting to tinker with their phones but just dont know how. this forum is awesome and there is a ton of great information however there is a whole new language that needs to be learned with our phones. i hope this thread helps.

 

[kn29]

Sorry, i'm abit new to this flashing scene as well but i have a general idea of what flashing roms involves but i'm unsure how to flash the redrom theme (is it the same method as flashing the normal serendipity rom?), can you please explain how you've done it?

 

[4N6science]

first off want to thank reinbeau for pointing me in the right direction and linking me to some awesome tutorial videos.

i have had my cappy for about 9 months now and have not been 100% satisfied. i thought my prayers where answered when ATT came out with Froyo but for whatever reason i could not load it which lead me to research how to flash a custom rom. i have tinkered with it a bit but never understood the written direction to flashing a rom. seriously WTF is an odin, kernel, clockerwork modm recovery mode, etc... it was/is every overwhelming to a novice.

so... today i flashed Serendipity 6.4 Download - Serendipity

and REDROM theme Theme - Serendipity

i know this video is for a different rom but i followed these directions to a "T" and it worked perfectly.
YouTube - Samsung Captivate (How-To Install Cognition ROM) Part 1
YouTube - Samsung Captivate (How-To Install Cognition ROM) Part 2
YouTube - Samsung Captivate (How-To Install Cognition ROM) Part 3

downloaded Odin3 Downloader from here
[STOCK ROM] Odin3 One-Click Downloader and Drivers CAPTIVATE ONLY - xda-developers

i read a lot of threads on here where people are wanting to tinker with their phones but just dont know how. this forum is awesome and there is a ton of great information however there is a whole new language that needs to be learned with our phones. i hope this thread helps.

When you flashed the serendipity rom, did you use the update.zip from their website or the update.zip from the video tutorial?

 

[sugarspunz]

Sorry, i'm abit new to this flashing scene as well but i have a general idea of what flashing roms involves but i'm unsure how to flash the redrom theme (is it the same method as flashing the normal serendipity rom?), can you please explain how you've done it?

Once serendipity was flashed in placed the redrom.zip onto my sd card then went into recovery mode and installed it the same way serendipity was installed.

 

[sugarspunz]

When you flashed the serendipity rom, did you use the update.zip from their website or the update.zip from the video tutorial?

I downloaded everything from the links I provided. If I remember correctly I believe it called serendipity6.4.zip when you download it from the serendipity website. or somethning like that. There was nothing called update.zip

I only used the videos for instruction.

 

[therapist]

Downloaded odin and opened it, then pluged in phone. Odin didn't recognize my phone.

 

[xThaNaturalx]

Downloaded odin and opened it, then pluged in phone. Odin didn't recognize my phone.

Is your phone in download mode? It doesn't sound like it is. To put it into download, pull out the battery, SIM, and SD card. Then put the battery back in and while the phone's still off, hold both the volume up and down buttons and then put the USB cable in. Should boot it into download. If this still doesn't help, you probably don't have the correct drivers on your computer.