This is a guide on how to use CWM (ClockworkMod Recovery) with your Galaxy Tab Plus tablet. Put the installation zip file on your tablet’s external SD card. If you don’t have an external SD card, you won’t be able to install this. MicroSD cards are cheap. If you have a tablet that costs 399 USD, you can afford to spend a few extra dollars on a microSD card. Just get one. Not only is it required for installing this from the factory recovery, but it makes a great place to back things up to. A nice 16GB card is suggested. 32GB is better. You’ll need AT LEAST 1GB for this recovery. If you have a previous version of CWM already in-place, you won’t need the storage card.
You can download the .zip file directly to your tablet and then possibly use the built in “My files” applet to move it to extStorages/SdCard, or you could download it to your computer and use “adb” to push the file to /mnt/sdcard/extStorages/SdCard, or you should be able to get it there with “Kies.” If you have the proper adapter, you could also attach the microSD card directly to your computer and just copy it there. It doesn’t matter HOW you get it on the card, as long as it’s on the card.
After the zip file is on your microSD card, and the microSD card is inside (and recognized by) your tablet, then you need to…
Boot into recovery mode
If the recovery version banner is “CWM-based Recovery v5.x.x.x”, then you already have a version of CWM installed and should skip ahead to the proper section. If the banner is “Android system recovery (3e)”, then you have the factory recovery and should continue with…
Installing from factory (3e) recovery:
Use the volume up/down buttons to move the highlight up and down, and the power button to select the highlighted option.
1. Select “apply update from external storage”
2. Select the file you placed on your storage card (starts with “p6210_CWMR”.)
3. Sit back and watch it run. Read the information that is being sent to the screen. If there’s an error, it’ll display some message. If it works, it’ll display a message starting with the word “Done!”
4. Select “reboot system now.”
You now have a CWM-based recovery installed, and your tablet is rooted.
Please skip ahead to “Finishing SuperUser installation”
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Installing from CWM-based Recovery
Use the volume up/down buttons to move the highlight up and down, and the power button to select the highlighted option.
1. Select “Install zip from sdcard”
2. Select “choose zip from internal sdcard” (which will actually point to the external card.) (If you are upgrading and chose not to put the .zip on the external microSD card, you might need to select “choose zip from sdcard” instead.)
3. Select the file you placed on your storage card (starts with “p6210_CWMR”.)
4. Select “Yes – Install (whatever filename you selected)”
5. Sit back and watch it run. Read the information that is being sent to the screen. If there’s an error, it’ll display some message. If it works, it’ll display a message starting with the word “Done!”
6. Select “+++++ Go Back +++++”
7. Select “reboot system now.”
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Finishing SuperUser installation
Install the SuperUser application directly from the android market – https://market.android.com/details?id=com.noshufou.android.su
Post-installation Notes and Issues
It’s a known issue with the version of CWM used in this recovery that the “internal sdcard” actually references the built in storage on the tablet. So, if you want to back up to your microSD card, choose “backup to internal sdcard”. I’m retaining this issue to stay “compatible” with other CWM recoveries of the same version number. (won’t fix)
The .zip package displays an incorrect version identifier/date when version 20111209 is being installed. (It’s shows a banner with the date of 06-Dec) (cosmetic)
This recovery is NOT compatible with firmware updates via Kies (and perhaps not via other samsung official methods.) In order to perform a firmware update, I suggest the following procedure: First, perform a CWM Recovery backup, then use the ODIN package found elsewhere to restore this tablet to a factory state. Let Kies upgrade the tablet to whatever version it wants (give it a few tries in case multiple upgrades are needed.) Then re-install this recovery, and perform an “advanced restore” (or “advanced restore from internal sdcard if you made the backup using the similar option.) From there, restore “data.” That will leave the entire firmware update in place. (boot is the normal boot kernel; system is what people like to call a ROM here, but is the samsung pre-installed apps; and data contains the applications you install and all your data.) Then “go back”, wipe the cache partition, advanced, and wipe the dalvik partition. HOWEVER, please note that I have no way to know if any given samsung firmware update is “compatible” with this restore unless I’ve tried it myself. It’s compatible with everything released up to the date of this note (10-Dec-2011), but I can’t predict the future.