hecantbreathe
Member
Original link is here [FIX][4-1-11]Latest ClockworkMod and SuperClean ROM's - Erasing the CWM Confusion - xda-developers
Credit goes to GizmoDroid @ xda
Because of the confusion over the different versions of ClockworkMod Recovery, I will try to address the major questions in this thread.
This all started out when some people started asking questions about why themed nandroid backups always had problems when they were restored (veryinformative thread detailing the process ). After figuring out that something was broken in CWM, I decided to try to find it. Thankfully, it was an easy fix that me and jt discovered whilst chatting in the IRC. While I was poking around, I fixed a few other small problems too.
Issues fixed
CWM did not have root shell access because of a typo in the old initramfs, so this caused lots of issues when ROMs and themes did not set the correct permissions in their scripts. This is where most of the Forced Close problems and boot loops came from when flashing roms without wiping data first, and also when restoring Nandroids backups
This also caused the "Voodoo lagfix is actually: disabled" even when it was enabled bug to be fixed
"Fix Permissions" script updated to a new version, and then modified to auto-mount the correct partitions and use correct file
Mounting menu typo fixed from "umount /dbdata" to "unmount /dbdata"
Added a Battery Stats wiping confirmation
A couple of things about ClockworkMod Recovery that a lot of people don't know (and may help erase the confusion for some)
When you flash a CWM Recovery, you are writing an entire kernel into the recovery partition of your phone (bml8). This does not affect your current kernel because it is stored on your kernel partition (bml7).
When you download a ROM, it is up to the ROM author to decide if they want to include a kernel and/or the CWM. For example, SuperClean bundles the ROM/Kernel/CWM all into one flash file. When you flash SuperClean, it will overwrite your kernel partition (bml7), your recovery partition (bml8), and your system partition (stl9).
Q: After I enter CWM, it says I am at version 2.5.1.x. Does that mean I'm on the correct version?
A: Unfortunately, the last several updates have been minor bugfixes, and the version number has stayed at 2.5.1.x. Hopefully this will be remedied soon.
Q: Does battery stats wipe work yet?
A: It was working on the on the old CWM, it just didn't give you a confirmation after wiping. If for some reason it wasn't working on the old CWM recovery (because of the ro.secure bug that was fixed), then I can definitely confirm that it is working now.
In the newest fix, I added a notification telling the user that the battery stats had been wiped before returning to the menu.
Q: Does Fix Permissions work yet?
A: If you select "Fix Permissions" you should see it doing a lot of work. If it returns to the menu immediately, it means one of two things:
You just wiped all the data, in which case, there is nothing to fix permissions for (completely normal)
Your /data or /dbdata partition is unable to mount, which means you may have had a bad voodoo conversion, or something that will probably require Odining back to stock to repair (not normal)
Q: I have the new CWM and the feature you said was fixed doesn't work!
A: Maybe, but I'm guessing you either grabbed one of the messed up versions that was posted on 3/29, or you have flashed a file that has overwritten your CWM partition. That's why I have included the SuperClean ROM's with the updated CWM, because most people don't know about this. If you prefer to not re-download the whole SuperClean file, you can take the zImage2 file from the CWM ZIP file and drag and drop it into the /kernel_update/ directory in your current SuperClean file.
ClockworkMod Recovery (3/30/11 Bugfix)
Odin Package
cwm-recovery-ALL-3-30-FIX.tar
Zip Package
cwm-recovery-ALL-3-30-FIX.zip
SuperClean v2.9.2 with updated CWM (3/30/11 Bugfix)
Voodoo Kernel
super_frankenclean_2_9_2v_CWMFIX.zip
Non-Voodoo Kernel
super_frankenclean_2_9_2nv_CWMFIX.zip
A few other questions that might get asked
Q: What is that MD5 gibberish?
A: MD5 (and other checksums/hashes) can be used to verify the integrity of a downloaded file. Basically, you download the file, and then use a program to calculate the checksum. You then compare the file to the checksum I have posted. If it matches, then you know that your download is not corrupt.
The whole process is much easier/quicker then it sounds, even if you've never done it before. There are many free MD5 calculators (I use HashCheck).
Q: Is this CWM 3? Why isn't my menu orange?
A: While this is the newest fully compatible CWM for the Fascinate, it has NOT had any of the CWM 3.0 code base ported into it. As of CWM 3.0, Koush ripped Amend scripting support for flashing. Most of the rest of the world has already moved to Edify scripts, but in Samsung Fascinate land, we still cling to Amend scripts in a lot of our ROM/patch flash files because of some of the issues that Edify has had with the way Samsung laid out the partitions and devices. This is why we have stuck with CWM 2.5 for so long, because so many ROMs, themes, and patches are still using Amend scripts.
Really though, its time to merge the CWM 3.0 base, port the voodoo options, cut ties with amend, and get the Samsung Fascinate's funky mounting/partitions/layout fully compatible with CWM. Someone just has to do the work, because Koush doesn't seem to be that interested in it any more.
There are a lot of improvements in the back end of CWM 3.0 that make it more reliable. Also, if someone were to be slightly ambitious, there are quite a lot of previously unseen (on the Fascinate) features that could be ported from other people's CWM mods. One easy one would be backup and restore of the kernel, which would allow for a more complete Nandroid. It's actually already half-way implemented in the code, so it wouldn't take much more work to get it done, even on the current version.
Then there is the EFS partition... which is a subject avoided by most people but is an important aspect of the phone that no one currently is backing up. There has been a lot of work done for the other SGS variants, but no one has really spoken up about it in the Fascinate world.
Q: Will overwrite my kernel/overwrite custom kernel files on my system partition/knock up my daughter?
A: The CWM packages have been cleaned up and all of the problems have been removed. SuperClean will behave like normal, which involves flashing your kernel/CWM/system/daughter.
Until Adrynalyne and jt1134 adopt these files (or make their own), then this applies to files that are downloaded from the links provided in THIS THREAD ONLY.
Q: Why did you start a new thread for this?
A: Because in the main threads, I answer the same questions every 20 posts. This is more visible. Hopefully, this information will be merged into Adrynalyne's SuperClean thread and JT1134's CWM thread, at which point I will ask for a mod to close this thread.
Credit goes to GizmoDroid @ xda
Because of the confusion over the different versions of ClockworkMod Recovery, I will try to address the major questions in this thread.
This all started out when some people started asking questions about why themed nandroid backups always had problems when they were restored (veryinformative thread detailing the process ). After figuring out that something was broken in CWM, I decided to try to find it. Thankfully, it was an easy fix that me and jt discovered whilst chatting in the IRC. While I was poking around, I fixed a few other small problems too.
Issues fixed
CWM did not have root shell access because of a typo in the old initramfs, so this caused lots of issues when ROMs and themes did not set the correct permissions in their scripts. This is where most of the Forced Close problems and boot loops came from when flashing roms without wiping data first, and also when restoring Nandroids backups
This also caused the "Voodoo lagfix is actually: disabled" even when it was enabled bug to be fixed
"Fix Permissions" script updated to a new version, and then modified to auto-mount the correct partitions and use correct file
Mounting menu typo fixed from "umount /dbdata" to "unmount /dbdata"
Added a Battery Stats wiping confirmation
A couple of things about ClockworkMod Recovery that a lot of people don't know (and may help erase the confusion for some)
When you flash a CWM Recovery, you are writing an entire kernel into the recovery partition of your phone (bml8). This does not affect your current kernel because it is stored on your kernel partition (bml7).
When you download a ROM, it is up to the ROM author to decide if they want to include a kernel and/or the CWM. For example, SuperClean bundles the ROM/Kernel/CWM all into one flash file. When you flash SuperClean, it will overwrite your kernel partition (bml7), your recovery partition (bml8), and your system partition (stl9).
Q: After I enter CWM, it says I am at version 2.5.1.x. Does that mean I'm on the correct version?
A: Unfortunately, the last several updates have been minor bugfixes, and the version number has stayed at 2.5.1.x. Hopefully this will be remedied soon.
Q: Does battery stats wipe work yet?
A: It was working on the on the old CWM, it just didn't give you a confirmation after wiping. If for some reason it wasn't working on the old CWM recovery (because of the ro.secure bug that was fixed), then I can definitely confirm that it is working now.
In the newest fix, I added a notification telling the user that the battery stats had been wiped before returning to the menu.
Q: Does Fix Permissions work yet?
A: If you select "Fix Permissions" you should see it doing a lot of work. If it returns to the menu immediately, it means one of two things:
You just wiped all the data, in which case, there is nothing to fix permissions for (completely normal)
Your /data or /dbdata partition is unable to mount, which means you may have had a bad voodoo conversion, or something that will probably require Odining back to stock to repair (not normal)
Q: I have the new CWM and the feature you said was fixed doesn't work!
A: Maybe, but I'm guessing you either grabbed one of the messed up versions that was posted on 3/29, or you have flashed a file that has overwritten your CWM partition. That's why I have included the SuperClean ROM's with the updated CWM, because most people don't know about this. If you prefer to not re-download the whole SuperClean file, you can take the zImage2 file from the CWM ZIP file and drag and drop it into the /kernel_update/ directory in your current SuperClean file.
ClockworkMod Recovery (3/30/11 Bugfix)
Odin Package
cwm-recovery-ALL-3-30-FIX.tar
Zip Package
cwm-recovery-ALL-3-30-FIX.zip
SuperClean v2.9.2 with updated CWM (3/30/11 Bugfix)
Voodoo Kernel
super_frankenclean_2_9_2v_CWMFIX.zip
Non-Voodoo Kernel
super_frankenclean_2_9_2nv_CWMFIX.zip
A few other questions that might get asked
Q: What is that MD5 gibberish?
A: MD5 (and other checksums/hashes) can be used to verify the integrity of a downloaded file. Basically, you download the file, and then use a program to calculate the checksum. You then compare the file to the checksum I have posted. If it matches, then you know that your download is not corrupt.
The whole process is much easier/quicker then it sounds, even if you've never done it before. There are many free MD5 calculators (I use HashCheck).
Q: Is this CWM 3? Why isn't my menu orange?
A: While this is the newest fully compatible CWM for the Fascinate, it has NOT had any of the CWM 3.0 code base ported into it. As of CWM 3.0, Koush ripped Amend scripting support for flashing. Most of the rest of the world has already moved to Edify scripts, but in Samsung Fascinate land, we still cling to Amend scripts in a lot of our ROM/patch flash files because of some of the issues that Edify has had with the way Samsung laid out the partitions and devices. This is why we have stuck with CWM 2.5 for so long, because so many ROMs, themes, and patches are still using Amend scripts.
Really though, its time to merge the CWM 3.0 base, port the voodoo options, cut ties with amend, and get the Samsung Fascinate's funky mounting/partitions/layout fully compatible with CWM. Someone just has to do the work, because Koush doesn't seem to be that interested in it any more.
There are a lot of improvements in the back end of CWM 3.0 that make it more reliable. Also, if someone were to be slightly ambitious, there are quite a lot of previously unseen (on the Fascinate) features that could be ported from other people's CWM mods. One easy one would be backup and restore of the kernel, which would allow for a more complete Nandroid. It's actually already half-way implemented in the code, so it wouldn't take much more work to get it done, even on the current version.
Then there is the EFS partition... which is a subject avoided by most people but is an important aspect of the phone that no one currently is backing up. There has been a lot of work done for the other SGS variants, but no one has really spoken up about it in the Fascinate world.
Q: Will overwrite my kernel/overwrite custom kernel files on my system partition/knock up my daughter?
A: The CWM packages have been cleaned up and all of the problems have been removed. SuperClean will behave like normal, which involves flashing your kernel/CWM/system/daughter.
Until Adrynalyne and jt1134 adopt these files (or make their own), then this applies to files that are downloaded from the links provided in THIS THREAD ONLY.
Q: Why did you start a new thread for this?
A: Because in the main threads, I answer the same questions every 20 posts. This is more visible. Hopefully, this information will be merged into Adrynalyne's SuperClean thread and JT1134's CWM thread, at which point I will ask for a mod to close this thread.