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Root Video: Root Epic Froyo Flash-patch tether-functioning GPS

kraisydave

Well-Known Member
Here is what I did to get Froyo and Root. THANK all the other
people like noonbl at xda for all the work. I just collected it
here to show my process. Hope the video helps a bit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpimnSaVux4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPBDpXFYQYI


KRAISYDAVE

Sprint Samsung Epic 4g Android Eclair to Froyo Root with wireless
tether and GPS phone help howto.

Backup first!

My process is below. Read all the way through and follow at your
own risk. I had to reload many apps manually instead of from
my backups. It was recommended to keep things running smooth.
You will have to sign back in with all your accounts as this
process will be like getting a brand new phone. It took me a
couple of days to read all the posts and gather the needed
information with testing. Once gathered you are looking at only
a few minutes to get all this loaded and running.

Samsung Epic 4g > Rooted Eclair > back to stock >
Flashed to Froyo > one click root > wireless tether added
and fully functioning GPS w/video.

I used a Windows Vista 32 bit.

We will start assuming you have a stock phone.

Follow this process at your own risk. I used many forums
and websites to complete this process. I believe a video
of someone performing the steps can really help. I already
have my phone setup, so you will not see the actual loading,
but I will show each step. Please thank all the devs for their
hard work and the websites for hosting the forums. Many have
items forsale and take donations if you so feel inclinded. Again
this is the process that I took. If I made a mistake please
bare with me and I will try to fix it.

First step is to get your computer to recognize your Epic.
Follow the links below. You will need the Samsung drivers. This
has been a problem for many. Your type of operating system
matters such as windows (32 or 64 bit), mac, and linux. Make
sure your USB is plugged into a port on the motherboard. Not
being in the correct port has caused phones not to be recognized.
Again, this process I am showing was completed in Vista 32 bit.
Your process may differ.
Follow this link for the drivers for windows so that it can
recognize the phone. Ignore the Root link on the first post and
scroll to the drives links. We will get to the Root link later.

One Click Root & Recovery for the Epic 4G! v2.5.5 Now has ClockworkMod Redirector! - xda-developers

Assuming you are running a stock Epic with Eclair (comes from the
store this way) you must go in and turn on a couple of things.
Go under applications and turn on Unknown Sources, then click on
development and turn on USB debugging and Stay awake.
Plug in the phone to the computer via USB in the motherboard.
Open the driver file and click on the application to install.
When it finishes you can go into the phone and in the pull down
menue select USB connected and then mount. This will allow the
computer to see the SD card in the phone as a drive thanks to
drivers you just installed.

Next step is to get the other needed software. You will need to
download a specific version of Odin and Froyo which I will
explain. Follow this link ...

How To: Update Sprint Epic 4G to Android 2.2 - BriefMobile

Scroll down to the second set of instructions labeled Alternate
Instructions: Update Android 2.2 Froyo for Epic 4G. Download the
.tar file (different links have very different speeds). Then
download the Odin file right below it. Lets take a look at Odin
first. It must be this version of Odin as another I downloaded
did not have the needed options. Odin is used to Flash items to
your phone. Back to the .tar. The .tar is simply the Froyo
waiting to be flashed.

Now it is time to get Froyo on your phone. Click on the Odin file
and click on it. Windows should extract and then click on the
application and select run. Now with Odin open you will need to
put your phone in Download Mode. Unplug the phone and turn it off.
With all the lights off on the phone open the keyboard and hold
the "1" key while you hit the power button. A picture will appear
with the word Download on it. At that point plug the phone back
into the computer. Remeber the .tar file? On the Odin program
you must select PDA which is midway down and put the .tar file
in it. The Odin program must see the phone. Is the left box in
Odin showing COM with a number and possible color change? If not
then Odin does not see the phone and you must back up. If yes then
you are almost there. click Start in Odin and watch the magic.
Let the process finish. You now have Froyo on your phone! Go
back into the phone and turn on unknow apps, debugging, and stay
awake just like before. This must be done again!

I ran into an error at this point.
"process com.google.process.gapps"
The error does not change anything. I believe it to be associated
with a app I was using, but I am not sure which one. So I ran
advancedtaskkiller once. I have not had the problem since.
Normally do not use taskkillers according to many experts as
it will cause malfunctions.


The next step will be a root if you want more options like tether.

Follow this link back to where you got the drivers...

One Click Root & Recovery for the Epic 4G! v2.5.5 Now has ClockworkMod Redirector! - xda-developers

Download the first link of

http://firon.net/xda/one.click.root.exploitv2.5.5.zip

It is great as you get other apps like superuser, busybox
and clockworkmod with this. No need to get them from the market.
With the phone plugged in open the zipped folder you just
downloaded. Click on the word run towards the bottom. It should
open the Command window and stated press any key. Press it and
sit back as it loads. Once finished you will have a rooted
phone. This will give you access to files and apps you normally
would not beable to use.

Now it is time to fix a couple of items. Go download Wireless
Tether from the app store. It should be one with a Green signal
icon. Go ahead and run it. Use your other wireless devices to
look for Android Tether. Are they able to pick up the signal?
If not, like mine, we can fix that. Follow this link...

HOWTO: WiFi Tethering - Working! - Android Forums

I did this a little differently. You will need to download the
Google program called Google Goggles, tAttachApkInstaller and the
Dolphin Internet Browser. It is a bar code scanner that can save
you money at the store and load programs onto your phone. Start
the Google Goggles app which loads a camera view. On your
computer follow the above link to ...

wireless_tether_2_0_5-pre8.apk - android-wifi-tether - Wireless Tether for Root Users 2.0.5-pre8 *** EXPERIMENTAL *** - Project Hosting on Google Code

A picture of a barcode is what you need. Hold the phone very
close to the screen and using Goggles take a picture of the
Bar Code. A little bar will pop up on the phone showing the
program. Click on it. The phone will ask what is program you
want to run this with. Select Dolphin Browser which will download
the program. Click on it and you will again be asked what to use.
Open the program with tAttach. After it is done you have tether!
Give it a try...open wireless tether and check with your other
devices for the signal. You now can wirelessly share your 3g
connection with all your devices. I cannot protect you from
extra charges sprint may give you.

I am one of the few lucky ones who has a good working GPS. A
GPS must take between 1 and 15 minutes to get a location for the
first time. Mine did not work until I ran GPS Test and then GPS
Status. Both from the market. After that I had no issues.

Hope this helps. Again give cedit to the devs and websites for
all the help. If I helped you please follow me on twitter
@kraisydave, Youtube @kraisydave, and flickr @kraisydave. I am
just starting up the Youtube thing with plans of more helpful
videos.
 
I updated and rooted my phone last night and was trying to figure out how to wireless tether. Thank you so much for the help.
 
Thought I would update....froyo is running smooth and it appears I have doubled my battery life.

Markstibbyspot,

Thanks for the catch. Honestly I dont remember doing that. I will have to go back im there, give it a try and update the instructions.

Dave
 
I need help with a problem in Froyo GPS.

If I use odin to go to Froyo, I am only acurate to 1400 meters. If I use recovery, I get 90 meters. But the real problem is the route guidance. Either way Maps get to Follow the rout and can't get past Searching for GPS while Sprint Navigation simply never loads the route and takes 10 minutes to attempt to load.

I've tried three different rooting procedures along with odin and recovery to update.

Any suggestions? I like Froyo opposed to Eclair but I frequently use route guidance to find construction sites.
 
I need help with a problem in Froyo GPS.

If I use odin to go to Froyo, I am only acurate to 1400 meters. If I use recovery, I get 90 meters. But the real problem is the route guidance. Either way Maps get to Follow the rout and can't get past Searching for GPS while Sprint Navigation simply never loads the route and takes 10 minutes to attempt to load.

I've tried three different rooting procedures along with odin and recovery to update.

Any suggestions? I like Froyo opposed to Eclair but I frequently use route guidance to find construction sites.
1400 meters it's likely that you're not using satellites to get a fix at all, just wirelesss networks(towers). I'd suggest you might not have a good d/l of froyo to begin with or maybe a bad installation. If I've read all your posts correct, you had a lot of problems getting it to work in the first place. You may have a hardware problem . My Odin installed 2.2 is working perfectly as far as GPS goes, but I didn't have any problems with the installation either once I got over a bad update.zip installation that resulted in a totally non-working GPS by Odin flashing DI18 then ODIN flashing DK28.
Rooting doesn't really have anything to do with the GPS problems folks are having.
 
Stoney62, can you point me to the update.zip you used?
It was the bottom mirror file in the Brief Mobile instructions, but I don't know why you'd want that since it trashed my phone. But if you insist, here it is: http://vps.ian.im/update.zip I don't recommend you use it though. I have a number of posts that lead to the instruction set at XDA I used for my great working DK28 installation I have. Here's one that might be able to get you going in the right direction: http://androidforums.com/epic-4g-su...-help-going-back-di18-eclair.html#post1988488 works for rooted too.
Also, some folks swear you need to do the following before flashing back to stock:
1) Boot into Clockwork and wipe data, cache, and dalvik cache 3 times each. I didn't since flashing using ODIN wipes your entire phone in the first place. But some folks swear by it.
 
It must have had something to do with the pit file I was using with odin. The original DI18 file set I obtained contained s1_odin_20100512.pit and SPH-D700-DI18-8Gb-REL.tar.md5. I found another one today that had victory_8G_100528.pit and SPH-D700-DI18-8Gb-REL.tar.md5. Using this second set of files with odin then victory_8G_100528.pit and sph-d700-dk28-8g-rel.tar.md5 everything is working fine. Sprint and Samsung need to get the Froyo OTA update out already. DK28 is a little bit faster and much more responsive. This is a great phone when properly supported. Thanks for the help!
 
It must have had something to do with the pit file I was using with odin. The original DI18 file set I obtained contained s1_odin_20100512.pit and SPH-D700-DI18-8Gb-REL.tar.md5. I found another one today that had victory_8G_100528.pit and SPH-D700-DI18-8Gb-REL.tar.md5. Using this second set of files with odin then victory_8G_100528.pit and sph-d700-dk28-8g-rel.tar.md5 everything is working fine. Sprint and Samsung need to get the Froyo OTA update out already. DK28 is a little bit faster and much more responsive. This is a great phone when properly supported. Thanks for the help!
You betcha!!! Everything is working fine??? Including the GPS?
 
So I read the whole write-up and followed the directions exactly. Guess what happened?

I now have rooted Froyo with working GPS and Tether. Thanks for taking the time to collect this info and thanks to the developers for all their work.

My one question is this: How do you get to your bookmarks on the internet app?? On the Eclair browser you just had to hit the option soft key and pick bookmarks, now when I hit the option softkey I get new window, windows, brightness settings, forward, and more. It's not even under more.


*edit* NVM, I downloaded Dolphin HD, waaaaaaaay better than any other browser I've used.
 
You betcha!!! Everything is working fine??? Including the GPS?

Almost everything. GPS is working again. Just one little issue, but I already found the answer. I have no UAString option. This can be fixed by using one of two ROMS. I'm going to give it until February and if no OTA then I will be using Nebula. Mobile websites suck. I prefer to browse in Desktop view.
 
So I read the whole write-up and followed the directions exactly. Guess what happened?

I now have rooted Froyo with working GPS and Tether. Thanks for taking the time to collect this info and thanks to the developers for all their work.

My one question is this: How do you get to your bookmarks on the internet app?? On the Eclair browser you just had to hit the option soft key and pick bookmarks, now when I hit the option softkey I get new window, windows, brightness settings, forward, and more. It's not even under more.


*edit* NVM, I downloaded Dolphin HD, waaaaaaaay better than any other browser I've used.
The icon to the right of the address is the bookmark shortcut in the stock browser. It sorta looks like a star.
 
Almost everything. GPS is working again. Just one little issue, but I already found the answer. I have no UAString option. This can be fixed by using one of two ROMS. I'm going to give it until February and if no OTA then I will be using Nebula. Mobile websites suck. I prefer to browse in Desktop view.
I have no idea what a UAString option is. I'd be willing to bet that SDX or XDA devs will have a working Gingerbread hack soon.
 
So after testing out the GPS for the night I have a couple issues, issues not being bad btw. When I was running stock it always said accuracy was either 98 feet or 30 meters depending on the program. Now with Froyo it gives me accuracy to 2 meters when I go outside and 14 inside my house. Seems a lot more accurate. I know this isn't a bug because the location it shows on google maps is my exact actual location. When it says 2 meters, it's spot on to where I'm standing and where I'm facing. Think they updated the coding for Froyo to give more accurate readings?

I read that there's a bug for Eclair with Epic4G for always giving accuracy at 98 feet, but my actual location on the map would be off a little bit, now it's exact.
 
So after testing out the GPS for the night I have a couple issues, issues not being bad btw. When I was running stock it always said accuracy was either 98 feet or 30 meters depending on the program. Now with Froyo it gives me accuracy to 2 meters when I go outside and 14 inside my house. Seems a lot more accurate. I know this isn't a bug because the location it shows on google maps is my exact actual location. When it says 2 meters, it's spot on to where I'm standing and where I'm facing. Think they updated the coding for Froyo to give more accurate readings?

I read that there's a bug for Eclair with Epic4G for always giving accuracy at 98 feet, but my actual location on the map would be off a little bit, now it's exact.
Another benefit all the wusses won't see.:D
 
One issue though. My battery status always says display 99% and 1% cell stand by. I did battery stats wipe and nothing has changed, any suggestions?
 
Well that's the problem, those are the only two things being shown. Never shows browser or wifi or any apps, just display and cell stand by. I use wifi 90% of the time
 
Well that's the problem, those are the only two things being shown. Never shows browser or wifi or any apps, just display and cell stand by. I use wifi 90% of the time
Sorry, I don't have an answer for you, but Browser would be included in Display time.
 
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