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The phone is Samsung Galaxy S2 (GT-i9100) with SlimROM installed recently.

I was using Paranoid Android, and today I flashed SlimROM 4.4.4 and a gapps package. The latter one occured to be wrong for this version of Android, so now I don't have any keyboard to use (keyboard won't show, and I constantly get an error message).

So now I want to install another ROM/gapps for my phone, but the Home button is broken.

Therefore:

  • I cannot install Terminal Emulator to use ADB command line for entering Recovery mode upon the next reboot. That's because I cannot even log in to my Google Play account.

  • I cannot use Volume Up/Down + Home + Power combination to access Recovery/Download modes while booting. So this also makes it quite hard to consider using Odin as an option.

I have done a research on keyboard and Home button issues, but it seems that no-one has experienced them both at the same time before. Seriously though, can you suggest something to do with my situation? Thank you, and feel free to ask for any clarifications.

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  • 5
    Do you have adb on your PC? Simply run adb reboot recovery from your PC (remember to enable debugging mode) and your device will reboot into recovery.
    – GiantTree
    Commented Jul 16, 2015 at 17:31
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    If ADB somehow doesn't work, then you may download and install the apk of some app which allows the option to boot into the Recovery. E.g. Rashr allows such option.
    – Firelord ♦
    Commented Jul 16, 2015 at 19:24

5 Answers 5

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The best way to get this done is to use Android Debug Bridge (adb).

Get Android SDK on your PC, plug in your Android Device, and run adb reboot recovery in ADB shell.

That command restarts an Android device in recovery mode.

Here is a lifehacker article that might be useful:

The Most Useful Things You Can Do with ADB and Fastboot on Android

And here is an extract:

adb reboot recovery Function: Reboot your phone into recovery mode.

A lot of functions like flashing ROMs to your phone require you to boot into recovery mode. Normally, this requires you to hold down a particular set of buttons on your phone for a certain length of time, which is obnoxious. This command allows you to boot directly into recovery mode without performing the complex finger dance of your people.

Hope this helps.

PS: this method was already recommended by a user (at the time of posting) named GiantTree as a comment. I am only posting this answer so that others might find this thread appropriate and useful.

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  • Hmm, not fair, GiantTree came up with the idea in the comment. At least a mention should be done if not a Wiki answer. // Oh, I just noticed that OP already posted an answer here with proper credit to GiantTree so I would like to know the reason why you posted this answer. :)
    – Firelord ♦
    Commented Jul 17, 2015 at 18:20
  • @Firelord i didnt like the way the OP answered it. Also the way i would write it is significantly different from what the op has written, so editing his post want a good idea. Hence i posted another answer. But now i have edited it to acnowledge that this was already recommended by GiantTree, and explained why i posted that answer
    – user104843
    Commented Jul 18, 2015 at 5:27
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You can download the app called ROM Manager. It has menu items to go to recovery mode:

ROM Manager
See second menu item (source: Google Play; click to enlarge)

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  • But how since OP doesn't have any keyboard?
    – Firelord ♦
    Commented Jul 17, 2015 at 18:21
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    Google now? Voice recognition might still work. ..
    – user115074
    Commented Jul 17, 2015 at 18:44
  • Down votes for what reason? Op wanted suggestions. That's what everyone has done.
    – user115074
    Commented Jul 18, 2015 at 14:16
  • I upvoted your answer not because I wanted to counter the downvote (which other two answers also have without any reason mentioned, except one answer, very suspicious) but because you answered my query in the comment and I find this answer useful, though haven't tested whether Google now also uses keyboard to write text in the search box.
    – Firelord ♦
    Commented Jul 18, 2015 at 14:20
  • @Nullldata i downvoted it because the op said he cant log into Google play. But now that u say that he can use google now im thinking if retracting it. So if u edit ur answer to mention using google now, i will upvote it.
    – user104843
    Commented Jul 18, 2015 at 15:12
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Another way to boot the device into Recovery mode is to use ADB command line right from your computer. The detailed guide on installation and using is available here.

After checking that your device is recognised by the PC, run adb reboot recovery command.

Thanks @GiantTree for the answer!

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Another way. It's been awhile since I used SlimKat but I think it was in Settings > Security and look for advanced reboot. Then when you hold down the power button and tell the phone to reboot, it will give you a few options, one of which is for recovery.

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  • The op said he cant press the power button cuz its broken
    – user104843
    Commented Jul 18, 2015 at 15:14
  • Not what I read... He said the home button doesn't work, so he can't use the vol/home/power combo to get into recovery, since that requires the home button. Assuming I read his post right. =p
    – jer3my
    Commented Jul 21, 2015 at 7:27
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Apart from the answers given here, I'll suggest you to use USB OTG cable and connect a physical USB keyboard to it. Then download Android Tuner from play store and reboot to recovery.

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