Root Samsung Galaxy Spica i5700 With LeshaK’s Kernel

As promised, I am back with a complete, step-by-step guide to rooting Samsung’s Galaxy Spica/Lite/Portal i5700 Android handset, using LeshaK’s Kernel Spica v.LK2.02. Not only is this root easy without any complex commands, but also it brings nicety such as full root, su+Superuser, support for ext2, ext3 and ext4 SD card partitions, recovery mode, etc.

A few things before I begin with the walkthrough. First, the whole credit for this guide, the kernel used and everything else goes to LeshaK, the administrator of Samdroid forum. I have just simplified his guide for average users, since most of the forum is in Russian. Second, this guide assumes that your device is running on firmware 2.1, any version above JC3, and you know how to use Odin. If you want to know how to upgrade your firmware, check out our 2.1 update guide for Spica.

Third, this guide also assumes that your Samsung Android drivers (USB modem and Composite device) are properly installed, and that you have Android Debug Bridge (adb) properly configured. If not, check our the 2.1 update guide for drivers, and tutorial for setting up adb.

Please remember that any modifications to your firmware are potentially dangerous, and while they reward greatly, you must proceed at your own risk. If you don’t know what you are doing, it is advisable to avoid rather than having a bricked device. You have been warned!

This process will not delete any of your files or settings, both in SD card and internal memory.

Without further ado, here’s how to gain root and flash LeshaK’s kernel 2.02.

To begin with, download these two files.

1. LK2-02-1_update.zip
2. i5700_LK2-02_PDA.zip

Also download the Odin Multiloader for Android here if you don’t have it already. You need the spica_jc3.ops file for this guide, which we have bundled with Odin.

Mount your SD card, and place LK2-02-1_update.zip in the root of SD card (it should be inside the root folder of the card, not any subfolder). See the screenshot below.

Unmount the SD card in Windows, turn phone off and remove your SIM card just to be safe. Let the SD card remain inserted, and put the device in Download Mode by pressing and holding Volume Down + Camera + Call End keys. The phone screen should look like this:

Your phone should not be connected with the PC at this time via USB cable. Run Odin as administrator, and load the extracted i5700_LK2-02_PDA.tar file as PDA in Odin. Load spica_jc3.ops as the OPS file. You may need to click Reset Files once before Odin will clear previous settings. Make sure your selections match the screenshot below.

With your device in Download Mode, attach it to the PC via USB cable. The message box will now show the Added and Detected message, as shown above. If all is set and handset has been detected, click the Start button to begin flashing the new kernel to the device.

Wait for the flash to finish until the following screen appears. The device will reboot during this time and enter recovery mode.

To be safe, wait for the process to finish entirely, which shall be indicated by a ‘PASS’ replacing the ‘RESET’ message.

Meanwhile, your phone’s screen will be showing the following image.

Use the D-pad to move up and down between options. Select ‘Apply any zip from SD’ and press OK button. The next screen will show all the zip files present in the root of your SD card. Select the one indicated in the screenshot below, and press OK.

You will be asked for confirmation to install the update. Press the Home button to confirm.

The update will install, delete some files, copy some more, and after about a minute you will see the following screen.

Reboot the device by either clicking OK on Root system now, or press the Home + Back keys together. The device will reboot once more and that’s it: you have successfully rooted your Spica. Go to Settings > About Phone on your device and scroll down to verify the new kernel.

You may also run the adb command to verify su status, indicated by the command prompt showing ‘#’ instead of ‘$’ when you access the shell.

With LeshaK’s Kernel 2.02, you get the following advantages (as mentioned on the Samdroid forum)

1. Fully rebuilds Spica Linux Kernel from Samsung sources, plus:
- full root in adb (you can use cp etc, not only cat)
- root – su+Superuser
- add Netfilter/iptables (Walldroid, Wifi Tether)
- support ext2/ext3/ext4
- cifs (smb – support windows network shares)
- squashfs (for recovery utils)

2. Recovery
- apply update.zip files (android install/update system)
- samdroid backup – create .tar file (system + data), restore via Odin
- wipe (data, cache, dalvik-cache)
- you can repartition your SD card on 2 partitions FAT32 + ext2

3. Apps2sd based on CyanogenMod apps2sd
- move applications from internal memory to SD card with two partitions (FAT32 + ext2/3/4)

Soon I will come up with a guide on configuring and using apps2sd on Spica. Meanwhile, happy rooting and good luck. Please use this process with care, we are not responsible for bricked devices. Feedback, questions and general comments are greatly appreciated.