Unless you've been living under a rock for a few weeks, you probably know that the international Galaxy S is in the process of getting Gingerbread, and that there are a few ROMS popping up based on this new build. You also might know that this involves flashing new bootloaders, and that this can possibly brick your phone. While the devs and other members of the community have made information available on this, it's scattered throughout numerous ROM and kernel threads in no organized manner, and there's a good chance you won't find this until after it's too late. Here's a breakdown of what's going on, the risks involved, and if it's really for you.
[INFO]Bootloaders
Inside some ROM .tar files, there are two bootloader files: the boot.bin and the sbl.bin (some only include the sbl.bin, which makes things more complicated). These are the primary and secondary bootloaders, respectively. The primary bootloader is what turns the phone on, while the secondary loads the linux kernel boots it into the correct mode. If either of these are corrupted, you have a bricked phone, as in unrecoverable.
Why do I need to replace them?
Apparently there are changes in Samsung's Gingerbread that require a new bootloader. Flashing without them leaves you without recovery, and a glitchy ROM.
How do they fail?
Odin is not perfect. Just like any other computer program, it can crash. Unfortunately, there are other factors that can have the same effect, such as a power outage to the computer, battery dying on a laptop, USB coming unplugged, or just a failed flash.
Yes, the chances of any of these happening are slim, not to mention the bootloader files are very small and flash in a few seconds. But if any of these happen to occur during those few seconds, you're stuck with a nice shiny paperweight, and no jig will save you.[/INFO]
Scared? Maybe you shouldn't be. The chances of this happening is about 1%, as long as you do everything right.
The main thing you need to do is READ THE DIRECTIONS. Then read them again. Ask for clarification if you need to, even if you get screamed at for not understanding the OP. This is not something you should guess at; if you don't understand, just don't do it.
[WARN]The big issue is when you need to flash back to stock. As far as I know, Odin one-click is the only way to get back to stock, because it flashes both the boot.bin and the sbl.bin. DO NOT USE 3-BUTTON FIX. It only flashes a sbl.bin, and mixing an i9000 boot.bin with an i897 sbl.bin leaves you with an unbootable phone.
[NOTE]Before any one says "why is one-click safe when it flashes bootloaders?", it's because one-click flashes Cappy bootloaders, is a reliable program, and reduces the possibility of user error or a corrupted download. I have yet to find someone who has hard bricked with one-click, while I've seen several (smart) people brick with these).[/NOTE]
[/WARN]
Okay, I'm done scaring you. Personally, I'm not going to bother with flashing these bootloaders. I've been burned trying to flash i9000 bootloaders before, and I don't plan on repeating that. When the Cappy 2.3 update comes (yes, I'm sure it's going to come), I'll install those, and not have worry about it anymore. Until then, CM7 is enough for me.
Maybe I'm overblowing this, but it's all stuff you need to know. If you have any comments, questions, or just feel like telling me to shove it, go ahead.
[INFO]Bootloaders
Inside some ROM .tar files, there are two bootloader files: the boot.bin and the sbl.bin (some only include the sbl.bin, which makes things more complicated). These are the primary and secondary bootloaders, respectively. The primary bootloader is what turns the phone on, while the secondary loads the linux kernel boots it into the correct mode. If either of these are corrupted, you have a bricked phone, as in unrecoverable.
Why do I need to replace them?
Apparently there are changes in Samsung's Gingerbread that require a new bootloader. Flashing without them leaves you without recovery, and a glitchy ROM.
How do they fail?
Odin is not perfect. Just like any other computer program, it can crash. Unfortunately, there are other factors that can have the same effect, such as a power outage to the computer, battery dying on a laptop, USB coming unplugged, or just a failed flash.
Yes, the chances of any of these happening are slim, not to mention the bootloader files are very small and flash in a few seconds. But if any of these happen to occur during those few seconds, you're stuck with a nice shiny paperweight, and no jig will save you.[/INFO]
Scared? Maybe you shouldn't be. The chances of this happening is about 1%, as long as you do everything right.
The main thing you need to do is READ THE DIRECTIONS. Then read them again. Ask for clarification if you need to, even if you get screamed at for not understanding the OP. This is not something you should guess at; if you don't understand, just don't do it.
[WARN]The big issue is when you need to flash back to stock. As far as I know, Odin one-click is the only way to get back to stock, because it flashes both the boot.bin and the sbl.bin. DO NOT USE 3-BUTTON FIX. It only flashes a sbl.bin, and mixing an i9000 boot.bin with an i897 sbl.bin leaves you with an unbootable phone.
[NOTE]Before any one says "why is one-click safe when it flashes bootloaders?", it's because one-click flashes Cappy bootloaders, is a reliable program, and reduces the possibility of user error or a corrupted download. I have yet to find someone who has hard bricked with one-click, while I've seen several (smart) people brick with these).[/NOTE]
[/WARN]
Okay, I'm done scaring you. Personally, I'm not going to bother with flashing these bootloaders. I've been burned trying to flash i9000 bootloaders before, and I don't plan on repeating that. When the Cappy 2.3 update comes (yes, I'm sure it's going to come), I'll install those, and not have worry about it anymore. Until then, CM7 is enough for me.
Maybe I'm overblowing this, but it's all stuff you need to know. If you have any comments, questions, or just feel like telling me to shove it, go ahead.
. I just see all the time where people call the SGS the "unbrickable" phone, when it is no safer then any other phone, and Samsung's implementation makes major changes like this a requirement for modding. People need to know what they're getting in to.
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