Heimdall (c) 2010-2011 Benjamin Dobell, Glass Echidna
http://www.glassechidna.com.au/products/heimdall/
DISCLAIMER:
This software attempts to flash your Galaxy S device. The very nature of
flashing is dangerous. As with all flashing software, Heimdall has the
potential to damage (brick) your device if not used carefully. If you're
concerned, don't use this software. Flashing ROMs onto your phone may also
void your warranty. Benjamin Dobell and Glass Echidna are not responsible
for the result of your actions.
These instructions are for Linux operating systems.
Flashing Heimdall Firmware Package with Heimdall Frontend:
As of Heimdall Frontend 1.3 there are now two main ways to flash a ROM from
Heimdall Frontend. The simpler and preferred option is to download a
Heimdall Firmware Package and follow the following steps.
1. Fully charge your device (use the wall charger as it's faster).
2. Open the Heimdall Frontend (heimdall-frontend) application.
3. From the "Load Package" tab, under the "Heimdall Firmware Package"
section click the "Browse" button.
4. Use the dialogue that appears to navigate to, and select, the Heimdall
firmware package that you wish to flash.
5. You will see progress bars appear as the package is decompressed and
extracted.
When the package has finished being decompressed you should see
information about the particular firmware package that has been
selected.
6. Verify that your device is listed under "Supported Devices". If it's not
then STOP immediately! DO NOT flash this firmware to your device!
Instead search for an appropriate firmware package for your device.
If you believe there is a mistake and your device is actually
supported please get in contact with the firmware developer (not Glass
Echidna!) and ask them to rectify the issue. If the developer provided
a URL you may be able to contact them by pressing the "Homepage" button.
7. If you've verified your device is supported you may continue to press
the "Load / Customise" button.
8. You should now be looking at the "Flash" tab. If not verify that you did
in fact push the "Load / Customise" button.
Generally, you won't NEED or WANT to customise a firmware package! In
which case you can safely move on to step 9.
Nonetheless, the "Flash" tab provides you with a means to customise the
firmware package before flashing it to your device. See "Performing a
Custom Flash with Heimdall Frontend" for more details.
9. Put your Galaxy S device into download mode and plug it in to your PC.
Download mode can be accessed several different ways depending on your
particular device model. If you're unsure how to do this please search
online for the appropriate method.
10. Press the "Start" button.
11. Heimdall Frontend will display the progress and inform you when the
flash is complete.
If something went wrong i.e. your device wasn't detected because it
wasn't in download mode, then the status section will let you know the
cause of the problem.
Performing a Custom Flash with Heimdall Frontend:
This is the advanced means of flashing firmware to your device.
If you're not an advanced user or a developer, in the event that a Heimdall
Firmware Package doesn't exist for the particular firmware (or files) that
you wish to flash, then I strongly recommend you get in touch with developer
of the firmware (or files) and politely ask them to create a Heimdall
Firmware Package for you. In doing so then you don't have to worry about
making mistakes due to inexperience.
If you're looking to customise an existing Heimdall Firmware Package then
follow steps 1-8 of "Flashing Heimdall Firmware Package with Heimdall
Frontend" then start from below with step 5.
1. Fully charge your device (use the wall charger as it's faster).
2. Download a decrypted Samsung Galaxy S ROM or a Heimdall Firmware Package
and extract everything to the one directory.
3. If the ROM is not a Heimdall Firmware Package it may instead be provided
as multiple archives (nested or otherwise), extract them all to the same
location.
NOTE: If you want to use the CSC then extract it last.
3. Open the Heimdall Frontend (heimdall-frontend) application.
4. Select the "Flash" tab. From the "Flash" tab you're able to completely
customise a flash.
5. Before you can chose which partitions you want to flash with particular
files you MUST first select a PIT file. To do this click the "Browse"
button in the "PIT" section. This will open a dialogue allowing you to
navigate to and select a valid PIT (.pit) file.
If you do not already have a valid PIT file stored on your computer you
can download your device's PIT file from the "Utilities" tab.
6. If a valid PIT file has been selected then "Add" button below the
"Partitions (Files)" list-box will become enabled. Press this button to
add a partition to your flash.
7. When you first add a partition you will see the "Partition Name" and
"Partition ID" be populated with information. Use the "Partition Name"
drop down to select which partition you wish to flash. "Partition ID"
will automatically update and is never directly editable.
8. You must then select a file to flash to the partition that you just
specified using the "Browse" button under the "File / Partition". You
will not be able to flash, create a firmware package or add another
partition until you have selected a file. However, you're still able to
press the "Remove" button if you've decided not to flash the partition
you've just specified.
9. When you've specified a file name then you'll be able to see the updated
information in the partition list to the right. You can select any
partition from this list and customise it as you see fit.
You can also remove a partition from the list by selecting it and
clicking the "Remove" button. Removing a partition from the list doesn't
remove it from your device, it simply means it will not be flashed.
10. Repeat steps 7-9 as often as needed to specify all the partions/files
that you wish to flash.
11. Now you can chose whether you would like to repartition your device as
well as whether you would like to prevent the device rebooting once a
flash has been completed. These options can be enabled or disabled by
toggling the "Repartition" and "No Reboot" check-boxes.
In the general case you will only need to enable repartition if you wish
to change the PIT file on your device. Keep in mind that repartitioning
will wipe your device!
The "No Reboot" option is rarely required. It's mostly in place so you
can manually boot straight into recovery mode after a flash (rather than
booting up normally).
12. If you've added at least one partition to your flash (and selected a
file for that partition) then the "Start" button will be enabled. Press
the "Start" button to begin the flashing process.
You may notice that the "Create Package" tab becomes available at the
whenever the "Start" button becomes available. From this tab you're able
to create a reusable, redistributable Heimdall Firmware Package with the
files and partitions you just selected. See "How to Create a Heimdall
Firmware Package" for details.
13. Heimdall Frontend will display the progress and inform you when the
flash is complete.
If something went wrong i.e. your device wasn't detected because it
wasn't in download mode, then the status section will let you know the
cause of the problem.
Flashing Firmware from Command Line:
1. Fully charge your phone (use the wall charger as it's faster).
2. Download a decrypted Samsung Galaxy S ROM or a Heimdall Firmware Package
and extract everything to the one directory.
3. If the ROM is not a Heimdall Firmware Package it may instead be provided
as multiple archives (nested or otherwise), extract them all to the same
location.
NOTE: If you want to use the CSC then extract it last.
4. Put your Galaxy S device into download mode and plug it in..
5. Open a terminal and navigate to the directory where you extracted
the ROM/firmware files.
6. Type the following to list all the functionality Heimdall supports:
heimdall help
7. Use the instructions to manually enter a command with all the files you
want to flash.
Here is an example that does a full flash and repartition on a GT-I9000:
heimdall flash --repartition --pit s1_odin_20100512.pit --factoryfs factoryfs.rfs --cache cache.rfs --dbdata dbdata.rfs --primary-boot boot.bin --secondary-boot Sbl.bin --param param.lfs --kernel zImage --modem modem.bin
8. Heimdall will display the progress as it flashes so that you know things
are working as they should.
How to Create a Heimdall Firmware Package:
Firstly, Heimdall's firmware package format is just a regular TAR archive
compressed with gzip. The only two real requirements are that a valid
firmware.xml must be included (refer to Appendix A) and you can only
include files (no directories, links etc.) As such if you'd like there is
nothing preventing you from creating Heimdall packages manually. Of course
Heimdall Frontend provides a simple user interface that takes care of all
the hard work for you.
There are two ways in which you can create a firmware package. You can
create a package from scratch, or you can load an existing package, apply
modifications and then save the package. Creating a package from scratch
is the preferred approach, by taking this approach you're far less likely
to run into file name length limitations. These are not Heimdall's own
limitation but rather a limitation of the TAR archive format.
Before you can access Heimdall Frontend's firmware creation functionality
(available from the "Create Package" tab) you must first specify which
files will be included in your package, as well as a few flashing options
i.e. Whether or not users should repartition when flashing. This
information must be filled out from the "Flash" tab in exactly the same
fashion you would provide information to flash your device (see "Performing
a Custom Flash with Heimdall Frontend"). As mentioned above, it's not the
preferred means, but you're able to load an existing package as a starting
point for this information.
Once you've specified the files/partitions you wish to include in your
firmware package the "Create Package" tab will become available. Clicking
this tab will display additional information that you can include in your
package. In order to continue you must fill out all sections except for the
URLs section, which is optional. The following is a break-down of what all
these options mean.
- General Firmware Information: -
Firmware Name - This is the name of your particular firmware. An
example would be "Cyanogenmod".
Firmware Version - This is the version identifier for your package. Any
valid string will be accepted although a the inclusion of decimal
point version number is preferred i.e. "7.1". If it makes sense
then feel free to append a text string like "RC1" or "Beta 1" to
the decimal point version.
Platform Name - This is the name of the platform (or operating system)
that your firmware is based on. In most cases this will simply be
"Android".
Platform Version - This is the operating system version that your
firmware is based on. Again decimal point version numbers are
preferred over text, i.e. "2.3.4" is preferred over "Gingerbread".
- Developers -
URLs (Optional):
Homepage - Here you can enter your personal URL or a URL particularly
pertaining to the firmware being packaged. The URL must be well
formed for it to work. An example of a well formed URL is
"http://www.glassechidna.com.au/products/heimdall/". It is
important to include "http://" in order to specify the protocol as
other protocols such as "ftp://" are equally valid although
unlikely to be used.
Donate - Here you can enter a URL that will link users to a page to
make donations for the effort you've put into developing your
firmware. Once again the URL must be well formed but there is no
requirement on how your donation page should work. For instance
both "http://www.glassechidna.com.au/donate/" and
"http://forum.xda-developers.com/donatetome.php?u=2710388" are
equally valid.
Developer Info:
Name - Here you can enter in the name of individual team members or a
team name. Click "Add" and the developer will be added to the list
on the right. If you make a mistake you can select a developer from
the list and click "Remove". You can list as many developers as you
like however visual constraints of the "Load Package" tab means
only a few names will be visible. Where possible you may want to
opt for team names over listing individual team members.
- Supported Devices -
This section allows you to create a list of devices that are supported by
your particular firmware. Although Heimdall isn't capable of enforcing this
we strongly recommend you take this section seriously. If filled out
correctly you could help save a number of accidental bricks!
Device Info:
Manufacturer - This is where you can enter the name of the manufacturer
for a particular device. For now this will most likely be
"Samsung".
Name - This is the human readable name for a particular device.
"Galaxy S", "Galaxy S II", "Droid Charge", "Vibrant" and
"Galaxy S (Telstra)" are all valid names. There are a lot of
possible variations here so be as specific as you think is
necessary.
Product Code - This is by far the most important bit of device
information. Device names tend to be region specific and further
subject to the whims of telecommunication companies and resellers.
Product Codes (or product IDs) are designated by manufacturers and
are generally the definitive means of referring to a particular
device. Examples are "GT-I9000", "GT-I9100" and "SCH-I897". If
you're unsure of a particular product code then both Google and
GSMArena are your friends!
After filling out all the necessary information the "Build" button will be
enabled. If it's still disabled then you know you're missing some required
information. In particular you must specify at least one developer and at
least one supported device. Pressing the "Build" button will bring up a
save dialogue where you must chose a file name for your particular package.
Don't worry about specifying the ".tar.gz" extension Heimdall Frontend will
take care of this automatically.
Once you've chosen a file name Heimdall Frontend will begin the process of
building the firmware package. In doing so a valid firmware.xml file will
be generated from the information entered. All files will be archived in a
single TAR file then the TAR archive will be compressed via gzip
compression. Compression will take a little while but you will see progress
bars so you know the application hasn't hung. When the progress bars
disappear you're finished making your package.
Congratulations! You're now ready to redistribute your firmware package
online or by any means you see fit.
Appendix A - firmware.xml
The following details a part of the Heimdall Firmware Package format. This
is only relevant to developers or advanced users who wish to create Heimdall
Firmware Packages outside of Heimdall Frontend or in some way integrate support
for the format in their own software.
All Heimdall Firmware Packages must contain a file called firmware.xml. This
file stores flash information and meta-data for the package as well as
information about other files contained within the package.
The format is fairly straight-forward so it won't be explained in great detail.
Nonetheless the following is an example of a valid firmware.xml file.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<firmware version="1">
<name>Test Firmware</name>
<version>1.1</version>
<platform>
<name>Android</name>
<version>2.3.4</version>
</platform>
<developers>
<name>Benjamin Dobell</name>
<name>Hedonism Bot</name>
</developers>
<url>http://www.glassechidna.com.au/</url>
<donateurl>http://www.glassechidna.com.au/donate/</donateurl>
<devices>
<device>
<manufacturer>Samsung</manufacturer>
<product>GT-I9000</product>
<name>Galaxy S</name>
</device>
<device>
<manufacturer>Samsung</manufacturer>
<product>GT-I9000T</product>
<name>Galaxy S (Telstra)</name>
</device>
<device>
<manufacturer>Samsung</manufacturer>
<product>GT-I9000M</product>
<name>Vibrant</name>
</device>
</devices>
<pit>Nl3276-I9000 s1_odin_20100512.pit</pit>
<repartition>0</repartition>
<noreboot>0</noreboot>
<files>
<file>
<id>0</id>
<filename>gq3276-boot.bin</filename>
</file>
<file>
<id>24</id>
<filename>Uh3276-cache.rfs</filename>
</file>
<file>
<id>22</id>
<filename>em3276-factoryfs.rfs</filename>
</file>
<file>
<id>11</id>
<filename>fl3276-modem.bin</filename>
</file>
<file>
<id>21</id>
<filename>Xd3276-param.lfs</filename>
</file>
<file>
<id>3</id>
<filename>if3276-Sbl.bin</filename>
</file>
<file>
<id>6</id>
<filename>cr3276-zImage</filename>
</file>
</files>
</firmware>
New lines need not be included and the order in which elements are specified
does not need to match that of the above example.
One and only one <firmware> element must be included. The <firmware> element
must also have a version attribute specified. The version must be parsable as
an integer and indicates what version of the Heimdall Firmware Package
specification the package adheres to.
All data is stored as strings, however a <file>'s <id> element must be parsable
as an integer. The <id> value represents the partition ID (according to the
specified PIT file) that the file should be flashed to.
A <firmware>'s <repartition> and <noreboot> elements must also be parsable as
an integer. However, as they represent boolean values, a value of zero ("0")
means false (or disabled) where as a non-zero value (typically "1") means true
(or enabled).
File names are specified relative to the TAR archive in which firmware.xml and
all other files are to be stored. Heimdall Firmware Packages do not support
directories or links, as such file names should only be a name and not a path.
<url> and <donateurl> are the only optional elements, all other elements must
be included.
Appendix B - Installing Heimdall from Source:
1. First make sure you have installed build-tools, pkgconfig, zlib-dev and
libusb-1.0-dev (v1.0.8 or newer).
NOTE: Package names may not be absolutely identical to those above.
2. Open a terminal and navigate to the directory you downloaded,
or extracted, Heimdall to.
3. Enter the following commands to compile libpit.
cd libpit
./configure
make
cd ..
NOTE: There is no need to run "sudo make install".
4. Enter the following commands to compile and install Heimdall:
cd heimdall
./configure
make
sudo make install
cd ..
NOTE: As an alternative to "sudo make install" you may chose to generate
a package by typing the following:
sudo checkinstall --pkgversion <version>
Where <version> is the current Heimdall release e.g. 1.3.0
5. Done
Appendix C - Installing Heimdall Frontend from Source:
1. Compile and install Heimdall, see Appendix B.
2. First make sure you have installed Qt 4.7 or later, available from:
http://qt.nokia.com/downloads/
3. Open a terminal and navigate to the directory you extracted Heimdall to.
4. Enter the following commands to compile and install Heimdall Frontend:
cd heimdall-frontend
qmake heimdall-frontend.pro
make
sudo make install
NOTE: As an alternative to "sudo make install" you may chose to generate
a package by typing the following:
sudo checkinstall --pkgversion <version>
Where <version> is the current Heimdall release e.g. 1.3.0
5. Done
