[ROOT][CWM][GUIDE][GINGERBREAD] Rooting the Samsung Epic 4g

[Paul627g]

Ive been trying to root my Epic all day. Still on EL30,I cant get Clockwork on because everytime to go to the download mode,my laptop says it fails to install the driver or that the USB devise has malfunctioned. Ive tried all ports,Ive tried 3 different cables. Ive downloaded drivers. Nothing changes.

This has been so much of a pain in the ass. No where near as simple as it was for me on my Pre

Sorry to hear your having difficulties...

Some people have no problems while others have a lot troubles.

I'm going to guess by the amount of troubles your having your running Win 7 or Vista. Windows XP usually is very forgiving and the least amount of trouble. Anyways if you can get to a Windows XP machine it may make life easier, otherwise we can work with what you have.

1. I would first uninstall any and all Samsung drivers from your computer.

2. Reboot your computer afterwards to give it a clean start.

3. Next try plugging in your Epic to your computer and getting it recognized without any drivers installed. You should be able to at least make mass storage/usb storage connection to your device to transfer files with no drivers installed.

4. Once you get that done, now go ahead and install your Samsung drivers.

5. Once you have plugged in your device with USB debugging enable and the device is recognized and any last remaining drivers have installed go ahead and attempt going into Download Mode and connecting via Odin.

Try these steps and see what happens....

I have even heard of people not having any drivers installed at all, making that initial connection in Windows then turning around and booting into Download Mode and Odin recognizing the device. Key point here is getting Odin to recognize to flash the recovery. How you get to that point can vary with the numerous driver recognition problems.

** Don't forget the trouble shoots like removing your battery from your device and connecting via USB cable and then booting into Download Mode.. Sometimes Odin will recognize this way... If so run the process without the battery in your device, when complete pull your cable and pop your battery back in and reboot.

Please report back with your results.

 

[Casketman]

That worked finally. The Samsung interface driver failed tho this time around but the driver I needed to work in download mode did load.

 

[tiredoflove]

Re: Step by Step Instructions

Can I use Amon Ra instead of CWM

 

[Paul627g]

Re: Step by Step Instructions

Can I use Amon Ra instead of CWM

I don't believe Amon Ra is a supported custom recovery for the Samsung Epic 4g.

 

[rando991]

I'm assuming the steps to root EI22/EL30 are exactly the same for rooting FC09? No different files kernel wise? I was thinking about flashing the stock EL30 tar then updating with FC09, after which, root.

 

[Paul627g]

I'm assuming the steps to root EI22/EL30 are exactly the same for rooting FC09? No different files kernel wise? I was thinking about flashing the stock EL30 tar then updating with FC09, after which, root.

Yes I would imagine it's all the same since FC09 was just a bug fix.

 

[kirax2]

Thank you very much for these step by step instructions. I've been working my way through them and I have a question which I have not seen addressed.

Following the link to the Kernel-GB-3 post, I notice that at the bottom of the post there are two links:

kernel-GB-3a-patches.tar - [Click for QR Code] (70.0 KB, 933 views)
kernel-GB-3a.tar - [Click for QR Code] (4.95 MB, 2952 views)

After reading the post, I'm still not clear on whether the patches are incorporated into the kernel-GB-3a.tar file or whether they need to be installed separately. Could you please clarify? Thanks again for your help with this. I really appreciate it!

 

[noside4]

may i ask u guys how can i root my galaxy mini.i search in a lot of site but still i dont have it.

 

[sgingiss]

I tried this step-by-step, and the Odin - kernel-GB-3a.tar.md5 failed

The phone acted funny, and gave a phone-!-computer symbol...since I didn't know what to do, I used Odin - and cwm-5.0.2.7-epic4g.tar.md5. This was successful, but I believe the phone reverted back to Gingerbread.EL30.

The model=SPH-D700
firmware=2.3.6
Kernel 2.6.35.7
hardware=D700.0.5

Any ideas why that failed...when I went to the page to retrieve the kernel-GB-3.tar.md5, it was named: kernel-GB-3a.tar.md5 instead. I figured that was an update -- correct?

Please let me know. Really wanna root, so I can run SD Maid, and a few other things with root access

P.S. I can no longer connect to my computer and file transfer. I think that Samsung did that; not sure whether it was on purpose or not.

 

[dchall8]

Gosh. Been a member for 6 seconds already. Seems like only 3.

I thought I had this all figured out before I started, but now there's a glitch. Today at lunch I flashed CM9. All the stock stuff seems to work; however, now I'm wondering how to restore my Google account, apps, settings, Market history, phone contacts, etc.

I used QBKing77 video to root and flash. Started with Odin, then Clockwork, then CM9, then gapps. After rooting I used Titanium Backup and backed up again in CWM during the flash process. I have Play Store (market) but it does not recognize me. How do I recover/restore selected apps from my backups?

 

[smashclash]

Gosh. Been a member for 6 seconds already. Seems like only 3.

I thought I had this all figured out before I started, but now there's a glitch. Today at lunch I flashed CM9. All the stock stuff seems to work; however, now I'm wondering how to restore my Google account, apps, settings, Market history, phone contacts, etc.

I used QBKing77 video to root and flash. Started with Odin, then Clockwork, then CM9, then gapps. After rooting I used Titanium Backup and backed up again in CWM during the flash process. I have Play Store (market) but it does not recognize me. How do I recover/restore selected apps from my backups?

take this with a grain of salt as I'm certainly not an android expert.

as for your apps. once you login to gmail and the appstore your phone should recognize you. all your settings will need to be manually reset. your apps should not be restored from the backup you made. since you're upgrading to a new version of android all the old app settings are incompatible. you should have used appbak (free in the market) to list all the apps you downloaded and then you redownload them in google playstore.

there was another app you should have run if you wanted to save your SMS. once you login to gmail and google play the cloud should sync your contacts and calendar.

 

[kyleky07]

soooo... now that im rooted i can just download the wifi tethering app for root users from the google play right? the one with the yellow symbol? and not get charged? this is only my third rooted phone and all have been with different manufacturers (LG, HTC, and now Samsung) thanks!

 

[Jamie Starr]

Re: Step by Step Instructions

woot, thanks for this wonderful walkthrough. I'm finally off the stock rom and on to cyanogenmod 10!! thanks a bunch!!

 

[CrimsonXion]

Re: Step by Step Instructions

Hey! I know I am fairly far behind the times, had my epic since it came out and I am just now wanting to root it! Any way, I cannot find the correct .tar file for Odin ANYWHERE!!! It is driving me insane! If some one could help me out that would be amazing. I have the Samsung Epic 4g running FC09. Thanks!

 

[laperecita]

Re: Step by Step Instructions

links are dead also looking for the files anyhelp greatly appreciated

 

[savvy_cowgirl]

Re: Step by Step Instructions

I know this is an older phone now, but I just got one in really nice shape off ebay and I want to root it so I can either A) remove the bloatware it comes with and add different sounds to be chosen for notifications or B) install a custom ROM without maps, facebook, nav, TV etc. I was going to follow the video guide at the start of the thread till I opened ODIN and realized it was a .exe program and I'm running Linux. So I was going to follow this guide http://forums.androidcentral.com/verizon-galaxy-nexus-rooting-roms-hacks/147311-linux-guide-noobs-rooting-unlocking-locking-flashing.html and then realized it's for a Nexus and I do have the Epic 4G from Sprint. So, now I'm not sure what all I need. In the other guide I've gotten through the part on using ADB to see if it will recognize my phone and it does, but it's an Epic so I don't want to put any of those files on. What files do I need to put a nice clean ROM or one that will let me do more? I DID root this phone with FRAMAROOT and according to root checker pro it is rooted, but it still won't let me delete bloatware and I still can't put sounds so they show up where I want. I'm happy enough with Gingerbread.FC09, except I can't make it do what I want.:-\ I've looked at some threads at [ROM][CWM][EL30] Stock+Root+Deodexed - xda-developers, but I don't know what deodexed means, I don't know if it's MTD (and I don't know what that means). I don't want something to update nightly, just nice stable system minus bloatware. I kind of think doing my HTC Evo was a bit easier, I put everything on a SD card and went from there, but that's been a bit ago. So do I need a new ROM? or is it not properly rooted (SU is installed) because I can't delete stuff or add stuff. Where have I gone amuck and what do I need to do and what do I need to do it? Thank you!