[HOW TO] Full System wipe and restore Samsung Mesmerize

[john_v]

Big thanks to DroidXcon for allowing me to use his write-up...these instructions are his, tweaked by me for use with the Mesmerize.



Post #1 = Index
Post #2 = FAQ & Preperation
Post #3 = How to Backup contacts and apps
Post #4 = Instructions to wipe and restore your phone with Odin
Post #5 = Instructions to wipe and restore your phone with Odin w/visual aids
Post #6 = How to Restore contacts and apps
Post #7 = Trouble Shooting

 

[john_v]

FAQ & Preparation

Apologies for the fact that the downloads for the system files are no longer available, thanks to the FBI taking Megaupload offline. I don't have access to other copies at the moment, but they are available on other websites such as XDA. I will try to get them and reupload, but no guarantees on time frame.

FAQ
Q: Will this wipe my phone of all data?

A: Yes, this will wipe your phone completely and rewrite the partitions to a stock (the way you bought it) condition.

Q: Will this wipe my SD card?

A: NO, this will not wipe any data on your SD card, only system partitions of the phone itself.

Q: Does this void my warranty?

A:No in fact if you had a software change that would have have voided your warranty before this will bring you to a state that they will have never known an alteration was made

Q: I am currently running the latest software update, will this return me to this state?

A: No this will bring you back to eclair 2.1.1 Firmware build ???. BUT you will then be able to do an official over the air update to the latest released build

Q: Will i lose any apps or data during this process?

A: You absolutely will, this is a full wipe of your system. But please refer to Post #2 where we will give you steps to take to back up your apps and data. Post #6 after you are done with the wipe and restore will give you the steps to restore the apps and data.

Q: What is Odin?

A: A Flashing program to download Kernels, firmware to Samsung mobile phones. Also used in recovering failed flashes, bricked phones or doing full system wipes and restores.

Q: Do I need a PC, or can I use a mac?

A: I'm not sure why you'd want to use a Mac (ok ok, just kidding, don't throw anything at me!) But seriously these instructions are only for PC.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Preparations

1. Download and Install Samsung Drivers; these drivers get installed on your computer. If you are not sure if you need 32 or 64 bit, on your computer go to control panel/system and security/system to check if your Windows machine is a 32 bit or 64 bit.

64bit: Drivers HERE
or
32bit: Drivers HERE

2. Go to Settings > Applications > Developement > Enable Debugging, then connect your phone to your PC, allow 2-3 minutes to configure drivers


3.Download Odin Application

4.Download 2.1 stock image

4.5 OR Download Froyo 2.2 Stock Image
------>If you download the 2.2, you will also need to download the pit file HERE

4.5.6. OR Download (EE19)

5.Disable any running antivirus (causes an interupt during process resulting in bad flash)

6.Make sure to plug USB cable in the back of the computer,for most reliable connection
__________________

 

[john_v]

How to back up contacts and apps

Backup Contacts

Backup to Gmail account (Recommended)
Step 1. From the Home screen, touch the menu button
Step 2. Touch settings
Step 3. Touch accounts & sync
Step 4. Touch the Gmail account of your choice under Manage accounts
Step 5. Touch Sync contacts

Export to SD card (Recommended)
Step 1. From the Home screen, touch contacts
Step 2. Touch menu
Step 3. Touch Import/Export
Step 4. Touch Export to SD card
Step 5. Touch ok to confirm export

Send namecard via
Step 1. From the Home screen, touch contacts
Step 2. Touch menu
Step 3. Touch Import/Export
Step 4. Touch send namecard via
Step 5. Touch Select all
Step 6. Touch send
Step 7. Touch destination of your choice

US Cellular My Contacts Backup
Open the app and follow instructions

Apps and Data
There are many apps available on the market. But i will suggest My Backup Pro if you purchase you can use this without root. It can be found in the Android Market
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.rerware.android.MyBackupPro&feature=search_result

 

[john_v]

Instructions to wipe and restore your phone with Odin

1.) If your phone is plugged into your computer, unplug it now.
2.) If your phone is not powered down, power it down now.
3.) Remove battery from phone.
4.) Launch ODIN on PC.
5.) Plug USB cable into phone.
6.) Plug your Mesmerize into the PC via USB cable.
7.) Press and hold the volume-down key until you see a gigantic yellow triangle and your phone will be in download mode.(Please see 2nd picture in post #5)You can now release the volume key. At this point you will see a yellow com port in the upper left hand corner of the Odin applicate. .(Please see 3rd picture in post #5)

8.) Click PIT and select the .pit file from the download
8.5) Click on the PDA button in ODIN

Triple check that you pushed the PDA button. Do NOT click the Phone button prior to continuing to step 13. If you choose Phone, you will have bought your Mesmerize a one-way ticket to purgatory, and there is no getting out.

9.) Choose the SCH-I500_USCC_DI14_REL.tar.md5
file you downloaded in step 2 above & click the Start button.(this should take approx 3 to 6mins)
10.) Phone will power down when finished.
11.) Remove USB cable.
12.) Reinsert battery.
13.) Power phone and wait to boot approx 4mins

Congrats you are wiped clean and restored to Stock.

 

[john_v]

Instructions to wipe and restore your phone with Odin w/visual aids

Once odin is downloaded open it, its an executable file so when you open it you will see the following : (File used in picture is just an example)

Once this is up, do the following
-Remove the battery from your Device
-Plug in the USB cord
-Hold down the Volume Down button until you see a big bright triangle on your screen , underneath it will say Downloading and beneath that it will say Do not turn off target

At this point you will see one of the boxes in the corner turn yellow, letting you know there is a connection, it will look like this

after you are connected you want to hit the PDA button, NEVER PHONE, phone will erase your modem and you will have trouble connecting after that at all.

when you click the PDA button a pop up will appear and you will need to select the file you would like to flash and then click open

now you will see the file appear in the PDA window ,, with connection made and the file in the PDA window, you may now hit Start

Once you hit start this process Should take approx. 5 mins if you are returning to stock . shouldnt take any less time than that and not much more. So dont start freaking out at min 2...(wait till min 7) lol

If you are flashing a Clockworkmod file it should take approx 7seconds.

once it is completed you should see the following window:

Once you have reached this screen it is safe to unplug , put your battery in and boot up..

 

[john_v]

Restoring Contacts and data

Restoring Contacts

Backup to Gmail account (Recommended)

Step 1. From the Home screen, touch the menu button
Step 2. Touch settings
Step 3. Touch accounts & sync
Step 4. Touch the Gmail account of your choice under Manage accounts
Step 5. Touch Sync contacts

Import From SD card (Recommended)
Step 1. From the Home screen, touch contacts
Step 2. Touch menu
Step 3. Touch Import/Export
Step 4. Touch Import From SD card

US Cellular My Contacts Backup
Open the app, follow onscreen instructions

Apps and Data
There are many apps available on the market. But i will suggest My Backup Pro if you purchase you can use this without root. It can be found in the Android Market
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.rerware.android.MyBackupPro&feature=search_result

 

[john_v]

Troubleshooting

Trouble Shooting

Odin application displays one of the following in message box

Resolution
90% of problems associated with Odin are due to communication between phone and computer , it is suggested to go over all the prepartion points in Post#2 of this thread. Other things to try would be.
Change USB ports in the back of the computer

• Make sure you did not forget to remove battery from phone
• make sure Odin is the only application running and antivirus is disabled
• If you are using a laptop make sure its plugged in also find the nearest desktop and try from there

****************************************************************************
After failed flash with odin upon power up the following is depicted on the screen

SOFT BRICK

Resolution
First off DO NOT PANIC. there is a simple solution, just remove the battery , plug the phone into the computer, press and hold volume down and it will enter download mode. Please review all the steps oulined in this thread and try and flash again

 

[halossasin123]

OMG i got this phone for christmas and it was 500 and some $$ i just fixed it thanks to you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thank you sooooo much!!!!!!

 

[john_v]

You're welcome! Glad it helped someone!

 

[dixie_boysles]

Im so glad I done this! the newly released 2.2 needs some fixes first before I go back to it

 

[john_v]

Im so glad I done this! the newly released 2.2 needs some fixes first before I go back to it

Glad it helped you! If you felt comfortable reverting your phone back to 2.1, you may want to try the leaked version of 2.2. I've been running it for several weeks with no issues, and it's a very similar process. Check out THIS THREAD for info.

 

[dixie_boysles]

when I followed your How To on getting my Mesmerize back to 2.1 from 2.2, did it root my phone?

Reason Im asking is because of course you know im running 2.1. Well, almost all screenshot apps, you usually have to be rooted to use. I DL'd ShootMe, and it works.....

Now that doesnt make any sense to me. If im not rooted, why is it working?

 

[john_v]

That is interesting...try downloading a terminal emulator from the market. Open it, and it should show a terminal with a $. Type "su" without the quotes, and if it just goes back to the $, you aren't rooted. If the $ changes to a #, then yes, you are rooted. IF that's the case, please let me know so I can pull that 2.1 rom and replace it.

 

[dixie_boysles]

 

[john_v]

Did you try typing su to see what it does?

 

[john_v]

Ok I just flashed that rom, installed terminal em, and it will not give me superuser access. I am now going to download that screenshot program.

 

[john_v]

Dixie, here's what I did.

Flashed the 2.1 stock image.

Downloaded terminal emulator, which would not give me superuser access (so not rooted)

Downloaded ShootMe, it took screen captures and saved them to the sd card.

Terminal Emulator still will not give superuser access.

So after talking to someone much smarter than I am (DroidXcon) it appears that it's just a thing that doesn't happen to affect the Mez, and that your phone is not rooted.

I really appreciate you posting that, it helps me to troubleshoot and learn more about the innerworking of the device. Thanks!

 

[dixie_boysles]

thanks for your help! and glad i can help you too!

 

[dixie_boysles]

any way i can get that 2.1 stock image back, i need to reflash my fiance's phone back to 2.1. the one you had is working great other than what i told you about which is not a problem.

 

[john_v]

any way i can get that 2.1 stock image back, i need to reflash my fiance's phone back to 2.1. the one you had is working great other than what i told you about which is not a problem.

Ok its back up!