OK so here is the story and I was debating if this is the right place to post but I do feel it is more on the developing side. I originally rooted and unlocked my bootloader following Casuals method and everything was just fine. I had an option to sell the phone in preparation for buying the GS4 so I used the return to stock method posted in the forums to return my device completely to stock. After doing so everything was also fine. I received an update to LL4 and that went OK straight from Verizon but last night when the VRAMC3 update was pushed to my phone it soft bricked it. It ultimately was stock on the splash screen stating Samsung Note 2. After trying to ODIN back to stock with multiple FAILS I was able to get it back to the Root66 MR Robinson by using the pit file but every time I try to update and or root/unlock bootloader it soft bricks again. I am assuming that the update that was pushed updated my bootloader and as of now I am stuck till there is a new bootloader Jailbreak. If not I would love some instruction on how to get my phone rooted with an unlocked bootloader or a flashable ODIN file that will at least get me to the latest VRAMC3 fully stock ROM. Thank you for the HELP.
want relocked BL running newest stock via odin flash without tripping flash counter
Edit; I never did manage to relock the bootloader. However, Verizon still accepted the device since it appeared close enough to stock. I used the alternative restore and triangle away to bring it 95 percent to stock. So I can safely say from my experience that if this is your problem you will probably be fine. It's been a few months and still no new charges on my bill for out of warranty device but YMMV
Shawnkanan said:
OK so here is the story and I was debating if this is the right place to post but I do feel it is more on the developing side. I originally rooted and unlocked my bootloader following Casuals method and everything was just fine. I had an option to sell the phone in preparation for buying the GS4 so I used the return to stock method posted in the forums to return my device completely to stock. After doing so everything was also fine. I received an update to LL4 and that went OK straight from Verizon but last night when the VRAMC3 update was pushed to my phone it soft bricked it. It ultimately was stock on the splash screen stating Samsung Note 2. After trying to ODIN back to stock with multiple FAILS I was able to get it back to the Root66 MR Robinson by using the pit file but every time I try to update and or root/unlock bootloader it soft bricks again. I am assuming that the update that was pushed updated my bootloader and as of now I am stuck till there is a new bootloader Jailbreak. If not I would love some instruction on how to get my phone rooted with an unlocked bootloader or a flashable ODIN file that will at least get me to the latest VRAMC3 fully stock ROM. Thank you for the HELP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am in a similar situation. I am sending the device back for warranty service since the screen must have burnt out or something. The digitizer catches a touch but there is no light emanating from the screen and since the device was purchased March 28th it is completely under warranty. As it is obvious the root modifications did not cause the screen issue, I do not wish to get a new device via insurance claim and so I am getting another sent.
but my issue is after managing to run triangle away via screencast/adb, how the hell does one relock the device if it's been upgraded to vramc3? from what I have searched, and trust me I have been searching the past two days, which led me here and a few other threads btw, it appears that once the device is on vramc3 it cannot odin back to anything else or it will fail on sboot.bin. And I am not finding any stock odin packages for vramc3, so how the hell does a person take this bad boy back to stock and relock the bootloader for sending to vzw for service? not only that but I can no longer activate recovery since I wouldnt have access to screencast and there is absolutely no way I am sending this device back with even the most minute amount of data in tact so it can be sold to the highest bidder or handed over via an illegal court order for mass search and seizure. anybody have experience with this? i am at the point where i think the only thing I can do is flash the alternate restore for vral but wouldnt that trip my flash counter, and then when they check the device it would probably OTA and softbrick, which I do not want them to have to deal with.
Hey all, I'm looking to eventually install CyanogenMod 10.1 on my verizon galaxy S4. However, being a complete novice on this type of thing makes me a bit nervous about bricking my expensive phone.
So, I thought it would be good to try and understand the process of rooting and installing the custom rom. Could you guys help me out? I'll list what I know.
First thing I want to do is backup the Android stock rom that came with the phone. I have read that rooting or installing a custom rom (like CM) will void my warranty, so that's not good. But re-flashing the stock android that came with the phone will remedy this. To do this, I found this guide on using Nandroid. I don't think the CWM way will work for Verizon galaxy S4 (read that somewhere, but correct me if that's wrong).
However, it says that I am required to have a rooted phone first before running Nandroid.
Because Verizon's Galaxy S4 comes with a locked bootloader, and an unrooted phone, I need a way to root my phone. I found this nifty all-in-one tool by bhp090808.
The way that tool works is it exploits something in verizon's pre-release kernel of the S4, so it flashes the phone with the pre-release kernel, gets root privileges, then reflashes the stock kernel. Once this is done, my phone will be rooted and I assume I can use Nandroid to backup the stock android on the phone.
This is where I'm stuck. I have a few questions regarding various parts from here on:
1) Since the phone is rooted and I run Nandroid to back up the stock android rom, wouldn't Nandroid back up the stock android rom with the root access? If I needed to return my phone to Verizon under warranty, re-flashing this stock rom would still void my warranty because it still has root access? Is there a way to completely revert to stock android with verizon's unrooted and locked bootloader status (and whatever else)?
2) Does the all-in-one tool unlock bootloader? I found a tool called loki which will unlock the bootloader so that I can install custom roms like CyanogenMod. I looked in the all-in-one tool's zip folder, and it contains a file called "loki_flash", but I am unsure if this is unlocking the bootloader or not.
3) Can I re-flash a stock android if I brick my phone? What exactly does 'bricking' the phone mean?
goodmedic said:
Hey all, I'm looking to eventually install CyanogenMod 10.1 on my verizon galaxy S4. However, being a complete novice on this type of thing makes me a bit nervous about bricking my expensive phone.
So, I thought it would be good to try and understand the process of rooting and installing the custom rom. Could you guys help me out? I'll list what I know.
First thing I want to do is backup the Android stock rom that came with the phone. I have read that rooting or installing a custom rom (like CM) will void my warranty, so that's not good. But re-flashing the stock android that came with the phone will remedy this. To do this, I found this guide on using Nandroid. I don't think the CWM way will work for Verizon galaxy S4 (read that somewhere, but correct me if that's wrong).
However, it says that I am required to have a rooted phone first before running Nandroid.
Because Verizon's Galaxy S4 comes with a locked bootloader, and an unrooted phone, I need a way to root my phone. I found this nifty all-in-one tool by bhp090808.
The way that tool works is it exploits something in verizon's pre-release kernel of the S4, so it flashes the phone with the pre-release kernel, gets root privileges, then reflashes the stock kernel. Once this is done, my phone will be rooted and I assume I can use Nandroid to backup the stock android on the phone.
This is where I'm stuck. I have a few questions regarding various parts from here on:
1) Since the phone is rooted and I run Nandroid to back up the stock android rom, wouldn't Nandroid back up the stock android rom with the root access? If I needed to return my phone to Verizon under warranty, re-flashing this stock rom would still void my warranty because it still has root access? Is there a way to completely revert to stock android with verizon's unrooted and locked bootloader status (and whatever else)?
2) Does the all-in-one tool unlock bootloader? I found a tool called loki which will unlock the bootloader so that I can install custom roms like CyanogenMod. I looked in the all-in-one tool's zip folder, and it contains a file called "loki_flash", but I am unsure if this is unlocking the bootloader or not.
3) Can I re-flash a stock android if I brick my phone? What exactly does 'bricking' the phone mean?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see its been a few days and no one has replied so I will do my best to share what knowledge I have. I've been heavily flashing custom ROMs on my ASUS tablet now for the better part of a year and just got my Verizon GS4, so I have alot of the same questions as you.
1) I'm going to answer this in two parts.
Nandroid, in my experience, refers to the type of backup, not necessarily the process by which to backup. Most common recoveries, including ClockworkMod and TWRP have a feature to create a 'nandroid backup'. This can take some time and files can be quite large, as they copy pretty much every single file on your device; almost like creating a snapshot of your device in that moment in time.
To answer the later part of this question, (typically speaking) once you unlock a bootloader you cannot re-lock it, but that could be different for phones (my knowledge in phones is limited). And yes, using a nandroid backup will back up your device with root access, but using a tool such as Rom Toolbox, you can easily un-root (the program features a 'permanent unroot option'). For one, I would imagine that flashing the stock kernel would overwrite the root, as like you said earlier in the post the current root exploit works by flashing a pre-release kernel, applying root to the device, then re-flashing the current stock kernel. Another way to lose root is to get an over-the-air (OTA) update. You will see programs like OTA Rootkeeper that work to circumvent this, but in your case that may be a valid way to cover your arse in case you need to return it under VZW warranty (it is for this reason that I always buy Best Buy protection plans, because they could care less about the software state about your device [Disclaimer: I worked for Geek Squad so I have /somewhat/ intimate knowledge in this matter])
2) I just rooted my GS4 a few days ago, and nothing I read indicated that the all-in-one tool would unlock the bootloader. If you read the documentation about Loki, he explains this fact. I just found a good video (although it uses TWRP and GooManager instead of ROMManager and CWM) explaining that there isn't a bootloader "unlock" just yet; rather its a workaround to the bootloader that allows us to get custom ROMs on our devices (video is here)
3) "Bricking" a device means rendering the device useless; it won't operate to any fashion that it is useful to you, so its no better than a brick or a paper weight, etc. I would imagine you can re-flash a stock verizon ROM/kernel to restore any screw-ups, but keep in mind this device was released less than three months ago and any development is relatively new. Yes, we have had other Galaxy S series phones, but the S4 has this whole KNOX nonsense that is specifically designed to prevent the kinds of activities we do here on this forum
I really hope that helps. If I said anything that is incorrect, please please feel free to correct it so that at least we can all learn the proper information.
Thanks,
Opethfan89
goodmedic said:
Hey all, I'm looking to eventually install CyanogenMod 10.1 on my verizon galaxy S4. However, being a complete novice on this type of thing makes me a bit nervous about bricking my expensive phone.
So, I thought it would be good to try and understand the process of rooting and installing the custom rom. Could you guys help me out? I'll list what I know.
First thing I want to do is backup the Android stock rom that came with the phone. I have read that rooting or installing a custom rom (like CM) will void my warranty, so that's not good. But re-flashing the stock android that came with the phone will remedy this. To do this, I found this guide on using Nandroid. I don't think the CWM way will work for Verizon galaxy S4 (read that somewhere, but correct me if that's wrong).
However, it says that I am required to have a rooted phone first before running Nandroid.
Because Verizon's Galaxy S4 comes with a locked bootloader, and an unrooted phone, I need a way to root my phone. I found this nifty all-in-one tool by bhp090808.
The way that tool works is it exploits something in verizon's pre-release kernel of the S4, so it flashes the phone with the pre-release kernel, gets root privileges, then reflashes the stock kernel. Once this is done, my phone will be rooted and I assume I can use Nandroid to backup the stock android on the phone.
This is where I'm stuck. I have a few questions regarding various parts from here on:
1) Since the phone is rooted and I run Nandroid to back up the stock android rom, wouldn't Nandroid back up the stock android rom with the root access? If I needed to return my phone to Verizon under warranty, re-flashing this stock rom would still void my warranty because it still has root access? Is there a way to completely revert to stock android with verizon's unrooted and locked bootloader status (and whatever else)?
2) Does the all-in-one tool unlock bootloader? I found a tool called loki which will unlock the bootloader so that I can install custom roms like CyanogenMod. I looked in the all-in-one tool's zip folder, and it contains a file called "loki_flash", but I am unsure if this is unlocking the bootloader or not.
3) Can I re-flash a stock android if I brick my phone? What exactly does 'bricking' the phone mean?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The S4 link in my signature has a few stock images to pick from. It will restore it to the original stock Verizon software that came with your phone.
DarkMenace said:
The S4 link in my signature has a few stock images to pick from. It will restore it to the original stock Verizon software that came with your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does the 'Ad-Free' APK I see available on that website work better than jRummy's AdBlocker? I installed it and it detects ads (like in ASTRO, Zedge, and a few others) but doesn't block them even though I have all the settings turned ON and have rebooted when requested.
That said, thanks for the link. I've bookmarked it for future reference and its good to know there are backups available in case anything goes bad.
Are you able to elaborate on how these are flashed? Via ODIN, or can you flash it via CWM/TWRP?
Thanks,
Opethfan89
opethfan89 said:
Does the 'Ad-Free' APK I see available on that website work better than jRummy's AdBlocker? I installed it and it detects ads (like in ASTRO, Zedge, and a few others) but doesn't block them even though I have all the settings turned ON and have rebooted when requested.
That said, thanks for the link. I've bookmarked it for future reference and its good to know there are backups available in case anything goes bad.
Are you able to elaborate on how these are flashed? Via ODIN, or can you flash it via CWM/TWRP?
Thanks,
Opethfan89
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not n sure. It's the only one I ever used for banner blocking. You use the files with Odin as well after they are extracted.
Sent from my Rooted Verizon Samsung Galaxy S4 using xda premium
Hello I am on the new official ME7 update and it is ROOTED only. I am getting a replacement and I need to unroot this.
I found this stock image http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=43420116 and wondering if this will unroot my device so I can get a replacement and warranty back.?
Also I read about the Flash counter and I am confused by this and have not seen anything to help.
Will only ROOTING trip off my flash counter? I have multiple things but different things and I have no clue. When I go into download mode everything says Official and stuff. Also I heard if I flash the stock image using odin to unroot it will trip off my flash counter, will it? If it does is there a way to reset the flash counter on ME7 since the bootloader is locked :/
Thanks!!!
Blue said:
Hello I am on the new official ME7 update and it is ROOTED only. I am getting a replacement and I need to unroot this.
I found this stock image http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=43420116 and wondering if this will unroot my device so I can get a replacement and warranty back.?
Also I read about the Flash counter and I am confused by this and have not seen anything to help.
Will only ROOTING trip off my flash counter? I have multiple things but different things and I have no clue. When I go into download mode everything says Official and stuff. Also I heard if I flash the stock image using odin to unroot it will trip off my flash counter, will it? If it does is there a way to reset the flash counter on ME7 since the bootloader is locked :/
Thanks!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would post your request here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2313529 and DarkMenace will get you the info you need via PM. Pretty simple process and involves the factory image.
I am not a developer and I don't know how this happened. From what I hear this is impossible. I now have the odin I am used to with the binary counter that can be reset. It still says warranty bit: 1 in a spot but knox is not mentioned anywhere in my software. I first updated my t999l to 4.3 officially when I got it before hearing about knox. I then used odin to revert back to stock but rooted software and installed cwm. Since then I have tried out cyanogen and ended up sticking to Liquidsmooth rom. I am just pretty confused because I managed to revert back off knox bootloader to the original. I also have installed 4.3 after reverting back to 4.2 and from what I hear this should hard brick my device. Any ideas on how this happened would be nice because it sounds like the dream of a lot of people to figure out how to do this.
Ok, to start off I'm going to let you know that I don't know everything about this topic, I know enough to get my self in major trouble but still. With that in mind I start from the beginning, I got my note 3 then decided to root it with like one click root or something, looking back probably should have followed the video and done it right. After I would try to install a rom using safe strap rom slot 1 so I wouldn't lose my stock rom. Dumb me I tried loading cm11 and that's when I think I tripped Knox because after rebooting a custom logo was in the bootloader, I didn't think anything of it at the time. Now we skip ahead a few months to were I went camping with my family and my father's friends who's really good at this stuff had the jasmine rom on his note 3, my reaction was like I want that gimme. So the truth comes out here when he looked at my phone the Knox counter was 0x1 and he said something about a eFuse, after trial and error when I got home I forced the kk firmware through Odin and then flashed jasmine rom on the phone and it worked . So the question is, is my phone a special case or is that supposed to happen, I figured if Knox was tripped you could install any roms. What do you guys think?
Tripping Knox just breaks your warranty. So that's actually bad. It doesn't unlock the bootloader which is what allows any rom to be installed or more specifically any kernel. If you attempt to install cm11 again it still won't work, however if you try to return the phone they will see that Knox has been triggered (meaning you messed with stuff you weren't 'supposed' to) and will say NAH. Doesn't really matter though in my opinion as it is hard to brick this phone and need a replacement anyway.