# [GUIDE] Newbie's Step-by-Step: From Stock USCC Mesmerize -> Custom Rom/Kernel



## bdemartino

*THIS GUIDE IS SPECIFICALLY FOR THE MESMERIZE*

*Steps To Customize Your Mesmerize (For upgrading from any version to FROYO 2.2 EC10) *

*1.) Upgrade from any setup to 2.2 EC10 (Official Froyo) -* If you have not already done so, you will need to upgrade your phone to EC10 2.2. If you have already, skip to the next step. (You can check this in "settings->about phone" under "firmware version" (should be 2.2.1 if you've already done this) NOTE: There is a custom rom listed in this post, I will detail that down below.

*NOTE: The roms for this version come pre-rooted, so no need to root. However, if you have issues with superuser permissions (or are staying stock with root), you can use the SuperOneClick Root tool located here*

*If in the previous step you installed the leak that had the CWM upgrade pre-loaded or you have already manually updated CWM, skip step 2.*- You know you have the updated recovery if when you boot to recovery it takes you to the red recovery with voodoo, backup and other options.

*2.) Upgrade CWM manually (if needed)* downloading this., (this next step by step will upgrade your recovery so that you are able to flash custom rom's/theme's/kernels.)

1.Shut phone off, pull battery out and leave it out.
2.Run odin (assuming you have it installed)
3.Load the cwm_froyo.tar file into the PDA spot
4.Plug usb into computer, then into your phone.
5.Hold the volume down key until phone goes into download mode, there will be a yellow android picture.
6.In odin, one of your com: spots should light up yellow - this means your phone is seen by odin (if not you may need drivers)
7.If above step is true, press start and odin will flash the recovery file to your phone. If all goes well the yellow box will turn green and your phone will power off.
8.Put battery in and boot into stock recovery by three finger method, this will be a blue recovery.
9.Run update zip, this will take you to red voodoo recovery where you can flash files.

*3.)Upgrade Kernel* With EC10 brought a new turn of events which thanks to jt has allowed fasicnate users to develop kernels which are compatible on the entire line of this model, so be sure to read phidelt's post on kernel's located here and choose one that is compatible with your rom. AOSP and MIUI require a different kernel, so keep this in mind as if you're restoring you may need to flash the appropriate kernel as the restore does not do this for you.

*4.) Flash a custom ROM* Choose from one of the Custom Rom's that we have out right now;


* EC10 Pick and Pack DOWNLOAD HERE -*- This is our stock deodexed rom with bloatware moved to a seperate .zip containing flashable packages with those removed apps. - < created by: phidelt82 >

*EC10 Custom RomDOWNLOAD HERE * - This is a custom rom built by phidelt82 which incorporates some aspects of AOSP into the EC10 rom - launcher and calendar are to name a few.

*AOSP -DOWNLOAD HERE* - This is a custom ROM/Kernel built with the android open source project code (by lmartin), one of the most "vanilla" rom's meaning no manufacturer's additions such as touchwiz. It's very lean and runs well, but is in BETA stage so beware it may not be for your daily use. *NOTE: If you use this rom/kernel and are wanting to return to EC10 you will need to reflash the appropriate kernel for the ROM you are restoring to (for example touchwiz)*

*MIUI -DOWNLOAD HERE* - This is a custom ROM running on the AOSP kernel, you can learn more about it in the thread linked here.*NOTE: If you use this rom/kernel and are wanting to return to EC10 you will need to reflash the appropriate kernel for the ROM you are restoring to (for example touchwiz)*

*HEINZ 57 EC10 (PNP/ED01/EC10 based rom) -DOWNLOAD HERE* - This is a custom ROM that runs with the touchwiz kernel. Thanks to Sbrissen, it has a lot of extra settings in the TM parts settings menu, allowing you even more customizing. Learn more about it in the linked thread.


*5.)Flash a custom THEME* Pick one that's compatible with the ROM you are running, from this list.

*HELP MY PHONE IS SCREWED (GO TO STOCK 2.2)!!!*: If you weren't attentive and made a mistake or haphazardly missed a step and now you're stuck at a boot screen or one of many other failure points, stop what you're doing. Take a deep breath, wu-sa, grus-fraba, whatever you need to do to calm yourself and simply go to this thread and get your phone back to stock. You may not need to go all the way stock, but it seems to be the easiest, and requires the least amount of help from the developers (who have better things to do than answer questions of careless/unlucky people!!







- no offense intended) This is also how you would handle getting your phone back to stock before trying to turn it in for repair.*NOTE: Being as going to stock means it's expecting your phone to be formatted to RFS instead of EXT4 (lagfix enabled) you should disable lagfix before doing so or you will have errors and md5 mismatches which will disallow you from flashing from recovery. If for some reason you can't access recovery you will just have to disable lagfix manually which is detailed in this thread here.*

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*THIS IS THE OLD GUIDE FOR CUSTOMIZING 2.1*

When I began this process, I had zero experience flashing any sort of software to any sort of devices, and a very minor understanding of "rooting". After much research and crawling I was able to work my way through these steps with little headache, and learned a lot along the way.

Keep in mind there are many variations to each step, this is what worked for me the easiest as a newb.

*And last but not least. There is always the disclaimer that attempting any of this can and will make your phone dysfunctional and or possibly bricked beyond repair (but most likely just dysfunctional which is a pain in the arse to deal with) if you do not follow steps completely (and of a trustworthy source such as xda - ehm and in the appropriate forum







).*

So make sure you're in a comfortable environment (not a good idea to be trying to accomplish this while slamming beers at the bar), take your time, read each step that these people have taken the time to carefully write up (then follow it), and you'll be just fine. Be patient as things don't always move fast and you never want to freak out as you may screw things up bad, when it's actually just taking longer than you would expect. Always give it at least 5 minutes before you determine it's looping or crashing or whatevering, there is alot going on behind the scenes, trust me!

*Steps To Customize Your Stock Mesmerize (For eclair 2.1)*

*1) Root your phone.* - Basically all this means is gaining the ability to give programs/apps and yourself SuperUser access (equivalent of being admin in windows) and also the ability to flash roms via recovery, detailed below.

The easiest way to root is through the z4root.apk. (an application that will run right on your phone)
Download Here 

After download, put z4root.apk on your SD card root directory
Then make sure in Settings->Applications that the "Unknown sources" box is checked.
If you don't have a file manager, download a free one from the market, using the file manager navigate to the z4root.apk and select to install it. _* Note: If you need help at this step, no offense I would suggest getting someone with more experience to help you continue on. I'm serious here







*_
Reboot your phone
After it boots, open the z4root app and press root. At this point it is going to hang, give it 2 minutes and pull the battery. Count to 10, put it back in and turn it on. - *This is normal, trust me








.*
After your phone boots open z4root again and click root, this time it will run no problems and phone will reboot.

*NOTE***IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS WITH z4root: "give Super One Click a try. It's a package you have to download to your computer, but you get to see more of what's actually going on so you know where it's at in the process. I have only used up to version 1.5.5, and I know that version is very capable for the Mesmerize on 2.1. It is located here."-This Information provided by phidelt82**

Once you are rooted (you will see the superuser icon in your apps, it will show apps you've given that permission to... eventually) you will need to make sure you have a file manager that can request root permissions (read/write) before you will be able to complete the next step. Search the market for "root file manager" and pick one to download and install.

Also at this step I would download and install RomManager and TerminalEmulator as you will need these later.

*2) Install RomManager and the ClockworkMod Recovery.* These will basically just give you the ability to boot into recovery where you can more easily flash kernel's/rom's and anything else you wish to push to your phone. (Recovery is basically a bios like interface - but it's different than the stock version)

I was able to install the Clockwork Mod Recovery very easily just by simply using the root file manager app I had downloaded, along with following with the instructions.

(In your file manager, MAKE SURE YOU ARE Read/Write not Read/Only, for RootExplorer there is a toggle at the top, other ones you may have to enable this through settings, others may just be R/W by default, you will just have to determine this or google the app)

Download the two zip files located in the first post here
Place both files on your SD card root if you were using a computer to download them or you could always download them through your phone's browser
Using the root file explorer app, move the Redbend_ua file from the SD card to /system/xbin/
Long press on the Redbend_ua file and click permissions, there should be one check missing, check that so that all are marked. Save and exit.
Now open TerminalEmulator (Come with me if you want to live







)
*NOTE:*The spaces below are actual spaces and in bml8 there is a lowercase "L" not a "1" there is also a space after cd, after redbend_ua, after restore, and after recovery.bin 
TYPE THIS ALL EXACTLY AS SHOWN BETWEEN THE QUOTES

at the command line ($) type "su" (then hit enter)
Type "cd /system/xbin" (then hit enter, which changes directory)
Type "redbend_ua restore /sdcard/recovery.bin /dev/block/bml8" (then hit enter, It will now scroll a bunch of text and reboot.)
After phone boots, open RomManager
Click on Flash ClockworkMod Recovery
Select the Samsung Fascinate *your phone will still be the mesmerize. By now - you better damn well trust me







, this is just what works with our model*

At this point you're all stock and ready for new kernel/rom. (but now you are able to do so very easily)

*3) KERNEL: Install Voodoo lagfix kernel and new 5.0 sound*
If you want speed and good battery life (and high standard marks) +unlocking the headphone amp and eq controls (it makes even the samsung headset sound killer) go here and follow those steps for using your now functional recovery mode to flash the new Voodoo 5.0 kernel.

You could always install the old Voodoo kernel located here, if for some reason you do not want to take advantage of the new, sound improved one.

*Note:* Just an FYI, after installing custom kernel's you will always have an issue on start up of seeing a flashing black box in the middle of the samsung logo. This can be corrected by installing a custom boot screen (only requires root access) and you can find out how here.

*Note:* There are a few ways of getting into this recovery mode, the best way if all else fails is to hold phone from the back with left hand (thumb on volume button, in the middle holding both down and pointer on power button) hold these down until the mesmerize logo pops up then slide your thumb down a bit to volume down only (if you slip don't worry it might blink but it'll still go to recovery) Sometimes this is easier with the back case off. However the best way, is to download and use the QuickBoot app, it allows boot to recovery/reboot/poweroff options from the app.

*4) Custom ROM : Download and install the ROM of your choice.*
Just pick one from this list Here-They are all there along with other very useful links, read through the first post of each before you decide, some are plug and play some take a few steps first. These are currently only 2.1 eclair builds however right now they have an (somewhat unstable) 2.2 froyo rom/kernel that being worked on but is not quite yet ready for day to day use (some features are not working quite yet). But be patient because these guys will have something long before Samsung let's us have theirs, but who cares - "ours" will be so much better









*HELP MY PHONE IS SCREWED!!! (GO TO STOCK 2.1)*: If you weren't attentive and made a mistake or haphazardly missed a step and now you're stuck at a boot screen or one of many other failure points, stop what you're doing. Take a deep breath, wu-sa, grus-fraba, whatever you need to do to calm yourself and simply go to this thread and get your phone back to stock. You may not need to go all the way stock, but it seems to be the easiest, and requires the least amount of help from the developers (who have better things to do than answer questions of careless/unlucky people!!







- no offense intended) This is also how you would handle getting your phone back to stock before trying to turn it in for repair.



*MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF Credit go to all of the OP's and many others (some included in my sig), these people are awesome, show them some love! Without them we would be stuck in stock US cell/Samsung HELL!*


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## bdemartino

Here's some newb guide love for the rootzwiki!


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## phidelt82

Glad to see you in the rootz!


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## immobileman

Thank you all for all your hard work. And to Cythrawl for helping me understand.


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## t1n0m3n

6.In odin, one of your com: spots should light up yellow - this means your phone is seen by odin (if not you may need drivers)

Drivers, USB drivers, etc... And these would be located... Where exactly? I have searched both this site and XDA for the USB drivers for a couple of hours using every search term I can think of, and I can't seem to find these elusive files. I am trying to help a friend root his phone and this is the first time I have tried to root the mesmerize specifically.

Can we at least link to the drivers or link to some instructions here? Thanks.


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## foxfire450

t1n0m3n said:


> Drivers, USB drivers, etc... And these would be located... Where exactly? I have searched both this site and XDA for the USB drivers for a couple of hours using every search term I can think of, and I can't seem to find these elusive files. I am trying to help a friend root his phone and this is the first time I have tried to root the mesmerize specifically.
> 
> Can we at least link to the drivers or link to some instructions here? Thanks.


They would be on Samsung's site in the download section for the Mesmerize.
You can also use the USB drivers that are in the Android-SDK.


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## t1n0m3n

thanks foxfire450. We have used the drivers from the website, and it doesn't seem to work properly in all modes (specifically download mode). I was expecting a zip file somewhere easy to get at, like all of the other galaxy s phones, but I guess we can install the SDK to get at the proper files too.

Normally, I wouldn't really have bothered to ask, but this *is* a newb guide, and I think that at least an explanation on how or where to get the drivers would be appropriate in the OP. (Instead of just saying "get them" with no explanation how.)


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