Installing LagFix

[deanhatescoffee]

I have a Captivate that I rooted with Unleash the Beast. I was just reading some recent forum posts and heard about LagFix. It sounds like a winner, but I have a couple of questions.

1) Do I need to flash back to the stock ROM before installing LagFix? I know there's a SuperRooter package that roots and installs LagFix, which I would use if I wasn't already rooted but since I'm already rooted, I'd rather just install LagFix on my phone now. As long as that's not going to screw anything up, of course.

2) Does LagFix impact battery performance?

3) What exactly does LagFix fix?

4) If I can install LagFix with my current Unleash the Beast root, which version of LagFix would I need to use - update_v2.2.2_I897UCJH2_with_root.zip or update_v2.2.2_I897UCJH2_without_root.zip? I'm not sure if with_root means it's for those who've already rooted, or those who have yet to root and need to.

Edit: I'm looking at the LagFix installation packages found at the bottom of this post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=7632258&postcount=208

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[nyeark]

If I understand everything I read about the lagfixes correctly, what they do is make a partition on the internal SD card to improve performance by apps that read/write from the sd card.

The only ones that seem to work with the stock JF6 firmware use the ext2 filesystem, which is vulnerable to data corruption; the users of it recommend frequent backups.

The one you linked offers ext4 which doesn't have this problem but requires flashing your phone to the JH2 or JH3 firmwares, which are development firmwares the XDA crowd has been working with - they're not production so they have some issues/bugs even while fixing others.

 

[deanhatescoffee]

Bah. Sounds like it's more trouble than it's worth. Thanks for the reply anyway, nyeark.

Come on, Samsung, release the 2.2 update already! Give me some JIT compiler goodness so I can stop trying to hack my phone to make it run a little smoother!

 

[nyeark]

Guide: Installing SuperRooterExtreme for noobs (incs ext4 lagfix, root, overclock)

EDIT: I've updated this slightly since SuperRooter now has a new kernel as well for those looking to overclock.

I've got a better reply for you now, a step-by-step (nearly) :x

I too thought it sounded like too much trouble, but it nagged at me that I'd have to live through slow apps until Froyo, so I dove back in and read more, and finally decided to pull the trigger. Since I had a hell of a time figuring it all out I jotted some notes down, and then refined them once I had everything sorted.

STANDARD DISCLAIMER

I'm not responsible for anything you do if you try this, I'm just trying to simplify this a bit for fellow noobs. I do recommend doing at least a bit of research on your own so you have an idea of what to expect, the original XDA superroot thread below is a good start.

LINKS

Original XDA thread by designgears
SuperRooter | (CM5 xBin + Root + SideLoading + Unrestricted + SU 2.3.3 + LagFix) - xda-developers
Go here for details, but basically this is root, the lagfix, and loads of other stuff you'll like rolled into one. I'm just translating all that into 'noob' here, all credit is to designgears and the XDA doods.

Reflashing to Stock
[STOCK ROM] Odin3 One-Click Downloader and Drivers - xda-developers
This is where you go if your phone bricks or you want to go back to stock.

FILES

SuperRoot
Multiupload.com - upload your files to multiple file hosting sites!

Firmwares
JF6 (stock)
Multiupload.com - upload your files to multiple file hosting sites!

JH2
Multiupload.com - upload your files to multiple file hosting sites!

JH3
Multiupload.com - upload your files to multiple file hosting sites!

ODIN3
Multiupload.com - upload your files to multiple file hosting sites!

PIT file
Multiupload.com - upload your files to multiple file hosting sites!

WHAT YOU NEED
root on your phone now
external SD card to backup to
android SDK (for adb)

NOTES
As the original XDA thread says DO NOT USE ROM MANAGER to install the SuperRoot package. We're only using it here to install the clockworkmod recovery program so as to backup your existing ROM in case things go bad. By using this and Titanium Backup you should be able to restore your phone to exactly as it was, preserving your apps and data even while applying SuperRoot (you can also use it to go back to stock with your apps and data). You may need to reboot the phone a few times after this whole process though, for awhile after flashing and applying the fix I thought I'd lost my text messages and contacts, but they came back after a few reboots.

BACKING UP

Install titanium backup and ROM manager from market
Open ROM manager, install clockworkmod recovery
Once done, tap 'backup rom now' in ROM manager
Phone will reboot to recovery mode, select reinstall packages
Phone will install clockworkmod and reboot to new recovery screen
Go to nandroid and then select make backup, reboot when done
If you haven't already, make a full backup via titanium backup (batch, backup all data/apps - you can deselect bloatware or anything you don't want that's listed, of course)
I also backed up my launcherpro settings just in case, but i think TI has that covered too

FLASHING FIRMWARE

Now it's time to flash to the firmware of your choice, jh2 or jh3. Feel free to read about them yourself on the XDA forums, I'm just describing how to do this.

Unextract the firmware, odin3 and the .pit file all to the same folder (doesn't matter where, just so they're all together)
Unplug phone from USB, remove SD & simcard, enable USB debugging (settings->applications->development)
Replug USB, go to Start->Run on your PC and type cmd, then hit enter to start cmd prompt
Nav to wherever you have adb (from android SDK), then type:
adb shell

You should get a $: prompt, then type:
su

Tap 'allow root access' on phone, wait till you get the #: in your command line, then type:
reboot download

The phone will reboot to a yellow droid with a shovel, this is Download Mode
Open Odin3, check the PIT and PDA boxes, then click the PIT and PDA buttons and select the .pit file and firmware .tar
You should see Odin3 connected on some com port, and 'added' in the lower left message box
If so then click start, it'll do the rest
Do nothing until you see 'completed' in the lower left box of odin, at that point you can close Odin3

Let the phone boot, then go to Settings->About phone, then check the 'Baseband Version', it should match the firmware you installed. If it says JF6 then the phone wasn't flashed.

INSTALLING OVERCLOCKING KERNEL
I just stole this from the original thread; it's very similar to flashing the firmware but much quicker since it's just one thing being updated.

1. Open up Odin3_v1.0.exe
2. Click PIT, choose PIT.pit
3. Click PDA, choose the PDA.tar

^^ These are not the ones from the firmware .rar!! They are in the SuperRooter .rar

4. Power off your phone
5. Disconnect the USB cable
6. Hold both volume buttons
7. Connect the USB cable
8. Keep holding the volume buttons until you enter download mode
9. Click Start on Odin
(you can also use adb while the phone is on "adb reboot download", make sure the USB cable is plugged in and Odin is open) <-- this requires root access, which you likely won't have; the vol buttons method works though.

INSTALLING SUPERROOTER

If the flash (and kernel update, if you did that) went through okay, then reinsert sim and SD cards, mount SD on your PC (dont forget to disable USB debugging)
copy the update.zip file from the SuperRooter .rar to internal (not external) SD card

Turn off phone, hold power and both vol keys until you get to recovery screen
Select reinstall packages, phone will autoreboot
Go to apps, then open SL4A
Select ext4lagfix, phone will chillax for awhile, then autoreboot

Sideloading is now enabled by default, so just run the lagfix script

RESTORING APPS/DATA

Done with the hard stuff! Time to restore your apps and data.
Unplug USB, enable USB debugging
Install TI backup from market and run it, hit menu->Batch then Restore All backups
Unfortunately you have to confirm the installation of each app if you have the free version of TI backup this will take awhile if you have a lot of apps :/ If you buy TI backup it'll do it all on its own, I hear (i only have free version).

Once it's done though, reboot a few times and you're done

 

[deanhatescoffee]

Nice how-to guide! Did it really make much of a difference for you?

 

[nyeark]

It's night and day, seriously. Anyone who doesn't mind hacking their phone a bit should try it; and designgears just put out a new version (can be found via the original thread post above) that includes 1.2ghz OC, USB tethering, mobile AP and GPS tweaks. I'm running TI backup even now in preparation for it.

 

[Sabatour]

So does this blast out all the samsung/at&t stuff like the default contacts and email client and put on the stock droid versions? Not really enjoying the "enhanced" contacts/email client that someone put on the cap.

 

[nyeark]

Yes, SuperRooter removes just about all traces of ATT on the phone (even the boot video, yay!). The original thread lists all of the changes involved if you're curious.

 

[matboud]

I updated my OS to JH2, did the lag fix along with the set cpu. Night and Day difference. Absolutely amazing. Quadrant score of 1790 where as stock was 857. That is almost double! Those developers are incredible! All I can say is donate if possible.