Confused with the new update that Sprint is rolling out.

[aquaholik]

What exactly is the new update that Sprint is rolling out for the Epic 4G Touch? A new modem EK02? What about the stock rom itself? Some minor tweak? What if I had no LOS to start with?

I was on stock rom, and then rooted with shfub's method. I then install EG30+CWM so no change in my modem. I then backup and then flashed Calk 2.0 ROM. I did not do the new 2.01a zip which if I understand correctly, upgrades the modem to EK02(edit- the kernel is based on EK02 but flashing this rom does not touch the existing modem/baseband). According to Calkulin, his 2.01a rom includes the following:

Based on rooted 2.3.6 / EK02

ROM includes:
Rogue kernel
Most Samsung apps
EStrongs File Explorer
HTC_IME mod keyboard
ICS keyboard
Wireless Tether
Busybox
and a couple more


Is Rogue kernel just stock kernel with custom recovery?

I flashed Calk 2.0 and this is what I have:

Android 2.3.6
Baseband version: s: D710.10 S.EG30 (so I still have the original stock modem?)
Kernel version: 2.6.35.7-SPH-D710.EK02-CL704398
Build number Calkulin's E4GT ROM v2.0

My questions are:

If I have no issue with LOS, do I need to install Calk 2.01a?
Will my phone automatically update to the new one that Sprint is pushing out?(assuming new modem and new stock rom)

Will I lose root or brick my phone if the phone does that?

Can I just flash an EK02 modem on top of my current Calk 2.0 or wipe everything and install Calk 2.01a if I want to upgrade to EK02 modem? I am not sure I want to do that unless 3G data speed is improve.

I thought I was clear on ROM packaging the kernel and modem together but now I see that you can have one ROM and flash different kernel and modem.

Please correct any of my misunderstanding above. Trying to read 300+ pages of Calk's ROM thread with terminology being used loosely is not helping much with trying to truly understand it.

Thank You.

Edit: So I read the 26 pages Modem thread on XDA. Basic consensus if it ain't broke, don't fix it. The EG31 was not really any better for lots of people. I have my wife's phone running stock and will do a side by side when I update her phone to the official Sprint EK02 release.

 

[JayWill]

What exactly is the new update that Sprint is rolling out for the Epic 4G Touch? A new modem EK02? What about the stock rom itself? Some minor tweak? What if I had no LOS to start with?

I was on stock rom, and then rooted with shfub's method. I then install EG30+CWM so no change in my modem. I then backup and then flashed Calk 2.0 ROM. I did not do the new 2.01a zip which if I understand correctly, upgrades the modem to EK02(edit- the kernel is based on EK02 but flashing this rom does not touch the existing modem/baseband). According to Calkulin, his 2.01a rom includes the following:

Based on rooted 2.3.6 / EK02

ROM includes:
Rogue kernel
Most Samsung apps
EStrongs File Explorer
HTC_IME mod keyboard
ICS keyboard
Wireless Tether
Busybox
and a couple more


Is Rogue kernel just stock kernel with custom recovery?

I flashed Calk 2.0 and this is what I have:

Android 2.3.6
Baseband version: s: D710.10 S.EG30 (so I still have the original stock modem?)
Kernel version: 2.6.35.7-SPH-D710.EK02-CL704398
Build number Calkulin's E4GT ROM v2.0

My questions are:

If I have no issue with LOS, do I need to install Calk 2.01a?
Will my phone automatically update to the new one that Sprint is pushing out?(assuming new modem and new stock rom)

Will I lose root or brick my phone if the phone does that?

Can I just flash an EK02 modem on top of my current Calk 2.0 or wipe everything and install Calk 2.01a if I want to upgrade to EK02 modem? I am not sure I want to do that unless 3G data speed is improve.

I thought I was clear on ROM packaging the kernel and modem together but now I see that you can have one ROM and flash different kernel and modem.

Please correct any of my misunderstanding above. Trying to read 300+ pages of Calk's ROM thread with terminology being used loosely is not helping much with trying to truly understand it.

Thank You.

Edit: So I read the 26 pages Modem thread on XDA. Basic consensus if it ain't broke, don't fix it. The EG31 was not really any better for lots of people. I have my wife's phone running stock and will do a side by side when I update her phone to the official Sprint EK02 release.

Whoa .. lots of thoughts flying around here. Let's see how I can help you straighten it all out.

Okay, you're running Calk's almost latest ROM, which is based off the same EK02 base that Sprint is pushing out today. This is the ROM, not the modem. Flashing 2.0.1a will NOT change your modem. The update was to fix some problems with the Voice Talk/Command apps and Polaris Office.

You're currently on the EG30 baseband, so yes, you still have the stock modem. You will want to flash the EK02 modem ZIP in CWM (available at XDA) if you want to update your modem.

You currently have the stock EK02 kernel, as it was bundled into Calkulin's 2.0 ROM.

SO! You're a modem flash away from having the full update that is pushing out today. Doing this will not change your system at all other than updating the baseband to EK02. To answer your question, no you do not want to take an update if one hits your phone, and no it will not automatically install. The install will very surely fail if you tried it.

There's really no reason for you not to flash the EK02 modem, but you don't have to.

 

[aquaholik]

Thank you Jay. I was confused when I saw the EK02 description in the ROM. I thought the EK02 modem was packaged with the ROM. Now I know it's just the reference to the kernel. I am a lot clearer than when I started 48 hours ago. I am going to wait on updating my modem. I want to update my wife's nonrooted phone with the new software and do a side by side comparison to see if there is much difference between the two baseband.

 

[JayWill]

Thank you Jay. I was confused when I saw the EK02 description in the ROM. I thought the EK02 modem was packaged with the ROM. Now I know it's just the reference to the kernel. I am a lot clearer than when I started 48 hours ago. I am going to wait on updating my modem. I want to update my wife's nonrooted phone with the new software and do a side by side comparison to see if there is much difference between the two baseband.

Just to clarify, the EK02 description for the ROM is not based on the kernel. When a system version is published, it includes ROM, kernel and modem. In case you were curious, the letters and numbers correspond to the version sequence, and day of the month it was compiled. So if the very first build for this phone was compiled on June 12th, it would be something like AB12. I'm betting EK02 was compiled on November 2nd. Anyhoo ...

So each component has a base. An EG30 ROM is different from a EG31 ROM, which is different from a EK02 ROM. Same goes for kernels and modems. Make sense?

Also, tonight, a full EG30 system, including the EG30 modem.bin leaked. So now it is finally possible to get back to complete EG30 stock ROM, kernel and modem that shipped with the phone. So if EG30 was running great, and someone has problems on EK02 for whatever reason, it's possible to "downgrade" now. This is pretty huge, as before tonight, once you changed your modem there was no going back to EG30. Some people got stuck on EG31, and may have been stuck on it for awhile until this leak, as today's EK02 update was simply a delta off the EG30 modem.

Yay for phone nerd stuff! As you can probably tell, I dig this kind of thing. Not enough to develop for Android (I have enough on my hands with my career and family) but enough to get excited about modems and kernels lol.

 

[aquaholik]

Following your logic, wouldn't the first built be AF12 if it was compiled in June 12? If K02 is November 02, A is Jan, and B is Feb, etc.

 

[JayWill]

I don't think the letters follow anything other than a sequential order, but who knows.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

 

[DataHawg]

Jay. I'm rooted with stock ROM and EG30 so I should be able to install the OTA update without a hitch. I know that will break root but I can root again with sfhub's Auto method. If EK02 doesn't work as well as EG30 for me, can I use the just released flashable EG30 zip to go back?

 

[JayWill]

Jay. I'm rooted with stock ROM and EG30 so I should be able to install the OTA update without a hitch. I know that will break root but I can root again with sfhub's Auto method. If EK02 doesn't work as well as EG30 for me, can I use the just released flashable EG30 zip to go back?

Yeah you should be able to install the update just fine. I'm not even sure if you'll lose root, but if you do, yeah you can re-root using sfhub's tool.

Regarding EG30, yeah you can now go back to stock EG30 (including the modem) thanks to the incredible leak last night.

 

[JayWill]

Ahh sfhub posted on the very subject of the version letters and numbers in another thread. He definitely knows more about the deeper levels of things than I do. Here's what he said ...

EG30, EG31, and EK02 are all software versions for your phone.

The 1st letter is the year (E=11, F=12, ...)
The 2nd letter is the month of build (A=Jan, ..., G=Jul, ..., K=Nov, L=Dec)
The last 2 #s are the day of month.

Makes a lot of sense, and looks like you were on the right track with your assumption aquaholik.

 

[aquaholik]

I was just going by what you said about EK02 being November 2nd and "K" being the 11th letters of the alphabet, but then was thrown off when you said AB12 being June 12th. The first letter being the year is a bit confusing. Is the Galaxy series of phone 5 years old already. I thought the first letter might be the first major version of the software like version A, B, C as opposed to the IOS 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, etc.

Had to do some more googling and read about team ROGUE and why it was called ROGUE kernel. The name doesn't sound very "stock" even though it was basically a "modified" stock EK02 kernel with the fats trimmed out and tweaks to make it fast.

3rd day on Calk's ROM and have not seen any FC yet although a reinstall via appextractor did not work with a couple of paid apps and netflix. I figure there might be problem restoring apps and datas from a stock version. Reinstall via market fixed those problems.

So far I really like Calkulin's 2.0 ROM even though KIES AIR crash. I don't use it much so I am not going to bother to upgrade until something substantial comes up. GPS is good, signal is good, 3G/4G data is same since I am still on EG30 baseband.

I think I can go back to my other hobby which is fishing again. I was on IOS the past 4 years and made the switch this September. So far, I like the freedom but can see why people love IOS since it is a lot more integrated(and restricted because of ITUNES) and not fragmented(SIRI as one voice app that does it all versus a dozen or so voice apps for Android that does different things).

 

[JayWill]

Calkulin fixed the Kies Air problem in 2.0.1, which subsequently broke the Voice talk/command apps, which was fixed in 2.0.1a lol. But if you don't want to bother updating the ROM, you can download a Kies Air update from the Android Market that will get it working again.

Yeah that's funny about K = 11. I didn't even make the connection. I have trouble seeing even simple patterns sometimes, yet I can often conquer some of the most complex problems. Weird brain thing I think.

 

[aquaholik]

I read about half of that massive threads. Actually I searched that massive thread to find what I need and remembered that the Voicetalk/command apps was just left out of 2.01 and it was in some folder and all you had to do was extract it and install it(or something like that). I didn't know I can get fix the Kies Air problem by just using the market. Going to try that now.

While that forum has a tons of information, you also have to do a lot of reading. This forum is a lot more friendlier with people like you and shfub that will tirelessly answer the same questions over and over again for us newbies. Where is the thumbs up icon in the Smilies?

Seriously I doubt I will do much tethering or using the free hot spot. The most aggravating thing for me without being rooted was that my home button keeps breaking if I long press it too many time. It breaks the default launcher(i use twlauncher) and I have to select it and make it default and it will stay as default until I long press the home button again(I like to do that to quickly switch app or start task manager). 10-12 hours of googling and found no definitive answer for non rooted phone. Now that I am rooted, fixing that problem was a piece of cake.

This phone is truly amazing. It integrates so well with my Samsung TV not to mention the endless stuff you can do with the phone. It is basically a very powerful tablet that fits in my pocket. While I have HP touchpad and Thinkpad, I rarely boot up the Thinkpad unless I need to edit family video and the HP touchpad running CM7 alpha 3 is basically the toilet pad. My son loves it now that it is basically a giant version of my phone.

I had a friend call me today and said he is so tired of the restriction of Itune and his Ipad 2. Sometimes he just wants to drag and drop a couple of photos for his roadshow and he can't even do that without going thru Itune. I jailbroke my last Iphone and remembered dragging and dropping thru Iphone browser but the data will not show up in the photo browser or on the Ipod music library list. I can't say I missed my old Iphone.

The only thing I missed is DROP7 which I heard is really bad on Android since Zynga took over.

 

[DataHawg]

Yeah you should be able to install the update just fine. I'm not even sure if you'll lose root, but if you do, yeah you can re-root using sfhub's tool.

Regarding EG30, yeah you can now go back to stock EG30 (including the modem) thanks to the incredible leak last night.

Thanks JayWill. Sfhub has confirmed the OTA will break root and his auto method will still work to root again. It's all good news for us today. We got a flashable EG30 leak and Sprint didn't patch the auto root exploit. I plan on installing the OTA and doing a backup so I can flash back to it and unroot with just a few clicks if need be. After that I will probably try a couple new Roms.

 

[tkemack]

Finally, jay, you aren't the most long winded person here!

Sent from my Blazing E4GT

 

[JayWill]

Finally, jay, you aren't the most long winded person here!

Sent from my Blazing E4GT

LOL! Shaddap you! :-D

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

 

[androidpirate]

what i'd like to know from those that got the update is how is it? whats the consensus on whether it fixes the LOS issue and what other changes (besides the UI ones already known) have been made? also, how is the performance of the phone overall after the update?

 

[Weech21]

I can't seem to used the voice command/talk ,hey Aqua you wrote this " the Voicetalk/command apps was just left out of 2.01 and it was in some folder and all you had to do was extract it and install it " Can you tell me what folder it is .

 

[aquaholik]

Are you in 2.01? I think you need to do this:

I had the same problem, but I figured it out.

You need to flash the removed_apps folder zip (all it does is put the voice command apk in your SD card). Then use titanium backup to uninstall the voice command apk you have installed on your phone (i rebooted after that, not sure if i needed to), then ran the apk found in the removed_apps folder, and it worked.


you can find the removed_apps folder zip here:

Calkulin's_v2.0.1a_Removed_Apps.zip

I think you can also unzip it to your computer and then transfer file over to your phone and just install it from there.

I am happy on 2.0 with the Kies Air fix per Jay's advice.

Edit: I just download it and the .apks are in there so I don't see why you can't unzip and transfer it to your phone and install from there using Astro or most file manager.

 

[JayWill]

Edit: I just download it and the .apks are in there so I don't see why you can't unzip and transfer it to your phone and install from there using Astro or most file manager.

This is correct. However, you need to uninstall the existing apps first, then reinstall using the .apks

 

[RRM707]

How can I make my phone stop notifying me of the new update?

(Yes, I know I can just update it, but I'm not doing that right now!) lol