Stock S4 receiving "Unauthorized System Software" notice - Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4

Hi all,
A friend of mine has a bone stock S4 that he purchased a couple of months ago, and when he looked at his phone yesterday it had a message about "Unauthorized System Software" found on the device, and it has basically bricked the device. He's tried doing a factory reset on the device to no avail. He is not a techie at all, and has not attempted to root or ROM the device (he didn't even know what the terms meant when I asked if he had attempted to do anything). When he contacted Verizon they basically told him, "Sucks to be you, and oh, btw, your warranty is now void."
Needless to say this is ridiculous, so I was curious if anybody else had run into something similar or had any other ideas on how to try and get his phone back up and running without Verizon's BS.
Thanks!

manthas said:
Hi all,
A friend of mine has a bone stock S4 that he purchased a couple of months ago, and when he looked at his phone yesterday it had a message about "Unauthorized System Software" found on the device, and it has basically bricked the device. He's tried doing a factory reset on the device to no avail. He is not a techie at all, and has not attempted to root or ROM the device (he didn't even know what the terms meant when I asked if he had attempted to do anything). When he contacted Verizon they basically told him, "Sucks to be you, and oh, btw, your warranty is now void."
Needless to say this is ridiculous, so I was curious if anybody else had run into something similar or had any other ideas on how to try and get his phone back up and running without Verizon's BS.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well if you still have the phone, try odin it to me7. maybe itll fix it
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2357235

manthas said:
Hi all,
A friend of mine has a bone stock S4 that he purchased a couple of months ago, and when he looked at his phone yesterday it had a message about "Unauthorized System Software" found on the device, and it has basically bricked the device. He's tried doing a factory reset on the device to no avail. He is not a techie at all, and has not attempted to root or ROM the device (he didn't even know what the terms meant when I asked if he had attempted to do anything). When he contacted Verizon they basically told him, "Sucks to be you, and oh, btw, your warranty is now void."
Needless to say this is ridiculous, so I was curious if anybody else had run into something similar or had any other ideas on how to try and get his phone back up and running without Verizon's BS.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could try kies or use the software update utility/repair utility that comes on the phone. Plug the phone into a computer and install the vzw utility. When it comes up select repair utility. It will put into download mode and flash the latest firmware. Used it several times it works great.

Yoshi and Eris,
Thank you both; I will pass these suggestions along! I appreciate the suggestions.

An interesting addition to this story, it appears the S4 in question has its bootloader unlocked. On the phone's bootup screen, it shows the familiar unlocked padlock icon, and a message that says "Custom". It almost sounds to me like a botched system update somehow got pushed to his device, but we're still in the dark about what caused it. He apparently did another factory reset and he's able to use the phone without the unauthorized system software message, but the whole situation is extremely bizarre.

Related

Recovery mode asks for my pin, then just keeps rebooting

I'm trying to go back to stock after an AT&T OTA update bricked my wifes phone.
It just boots over and over over again. I followed the instructions to get into recovery mode, which it then asks for a password, I figured it was the pin code to get into the device. Problem is, after I enter the pin, it just starts doing its boot loop thing, over and over.
I can get the phone into download mode, and looking at ODIN, it appears it will take roms, but it will go back to the boot loop, and again recovery mode will ask for a password, which when giving the password it goes to boot loop mode again.
If I give it the wrong password it too many times it tells me its going to wipe the data.
I have been searching the forums all last night and part of the day at work today and I can't seem to find anyone who has had the same problem as me... either that, I'm having trouble articulating the correct syntax in the search menu to locate the problem.
I probably should have just took it into AT&T the next morning, but since they were closed I couldn't resist fiddling with it....
any ideas?
There was one other person who had that problem. I think his final solution was to go through the wrong password until the phone wiped and then he could use it. Found the thread for you here.
There might be another solution if that doesn't work.
creepyncrawly said:
There was one other person who had that problem. I think his final solution was to go through the wrong password until the phone wiped and then he could use it. Found the thread for you here.
There might be another solution if that doesn't work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the gentlemen in the thread you posted had a device that was at least booting.
My device cannot even get that far.... I tried putting the incorrect code in to the recovery password field and it just goes back to reboot loop.
Thank you for the reply though.
I hope AT&T will take it back.
They probably will.
You might be able to completely reset the phone using the stock firmware package from sammobile.com (not the one available in our forums). It flashes everything, so the phone will be just like from the factory. See this post if you want to try it.
But that is somewhat risky, though should work. I have not tested the flash, of course. If it was my phone, I would probably try to exchange it under warranty.
being the daredevil I am, I went to that site and downloaded it and fired up odin... it comes back with an error on line 1874 such and such., then gives a fail flag.
I don't think they will let me return it. Because I think I already flashed a non-standard rom last night just trouble shooting this problem.
But thanks for the replies, maybe someone else will see this thread and have an idea.
I have seen many posts reporting returning a phone that was not stock, or still had the counter incremented, or one that would not boot. These users have stated that the person accepting the return did not even check the phone.
Of course, this is only anecdotal evidence, but it would be worth your time to try, especially if it is a store.
creepyncrawly said:
I have seen many posts reporting returning a phone that was not stock, or still had the counter incremented, or one that would not boot. These users have stated that the person accepting the return did not even check the phone.
Of course, this is only anecdotal evidence, but it would be worth your time to try, especially if it is a store.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1, in my many exchanges and returns, not once has an employee powered the device on.
I'm kind of surprised stock recovery doesn't have a way to do a full wipe without a password...
Simba501 said:
+1, in my many exchanges and returns, not once has an employee powered the device on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm going to try tonight after work.
yesterday I went to the local AT&T store and they claimed they couldn't help me because they don't handle warranty's and gave me directions to a store 20 miles away.
I don't know if he was just being a typical jerk or what, but I'll guess I'll find out tonight.
Well I do have one idea - it's possible in theory (but I've never successfully done it) to wipe /data in Odin/Heimdall.
(Last time I tried it, it bombed and I had to reformat - but that might get you out of this mess to have corrupted /data that requires a reformat.)
More later.

[Q] Odin 3 rooting querie,

Firstly, I apologiise if my question has already been covered in another thread, but I didn't find it.
A few months ago, an OTA Samsung update to my English I9300 screwed up and after trying to reboot, it seemed my phone was bricked and wouldn't get past the Samsung logo on startup. I didn't realise at the time that my original USB cable was broken (or I may have been able to fix my S3 with Odin)....so, unhappily, knowing I'd lose all my installed data and apps, I had it repaired under warranty by Samsung, I'd already rooted my S3 long before that, but it still came back from the service centre as good as new, working, albeit missing all my valuable data
Ok, to cut to the chase, last night, about 5 months after having my phone repaired, I took that leap again of rooting it with Odin 3. Now, this is where I'm puzzled.....after starting Odin, and flashing it with "CF-Root-SGS3-v6.4.tar" in PDA mode, the box said 'RESET', not 'PASSED', as one would expect.Is there a reason for this? I have since installed a few system root apps such as Titanium Backup, BusyBox, etc and run Triangle Away successfully....all reporting that my S3 is once again rooted; but, what I still can't understand is Odin reporting the flash as 'Reset' instead of 'Passed'. Can one or more of you folk please try to shed some light on this for me.....Thanks in advance
Al.Gray said:
Firstly, I apologiise if my question has already been covered in another thread, but I didn't find it.
A few months ago, an OTA Samsung update to my English I9300 screwed up and after trying to reboot, it seemed my phone was bricked and wouldn't get past the Samsung logo on startup. I didn't realise at the time that my original USB cable was broken (or I may have been able to fix my S3 with Odin)....so, unhappily, knowing I'd lose all my installed data and apps, I had it repaired under warranty by Samsung, I'd already rooted my S3 long before that, but it still came back from the service centre as good as new, working, albeit missing all my valuable data.
Ok, to cut to the chase, last night, about 5 months after having my phone repaired, I took that leap again of rooting it with Odin 3. Now, this is where I'm puzzled.....after starting Odin, and flashing it with "CF-Root-SGS3-v6.4.tar" in PDA mode, the box said 'RESET', not 'PASSED', as one would expect.Is there a reason for this. I have since installed a few system root apps such as Titanium Backup, BusyBox, etc and run Triangle Away successfully....all reporting that my S3 is once again rooted; but,m what I still can't understand is Odin reporting the flash as 'Reset' instead of 'Passed'. Can one or more of you folk please try to shed some light on this for me.....Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That just means he finished operation cleaned cache and its rebboting
Dont worry
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
Cheers for that, it's quite a relief it wasn't an error.....just a result I hadn't encountered previous.

[Q] Help rooted for wrong ota

Hi all,
Im new to the forum and did some searching but cant find the info i need. I tried rooting my verizon note 2 to casuals one click and didnt realize i had updated to android 4.3 prior. So it tried to root 4.1.2. Now my phone has the yellow triangle and says "Firmware upgrade encountered an issue. Please select recovery mode in Kies & try again." I tried kies and kies 3 and neither one recognizes my phone.The only way to shut the phone off is to pull the battery.When i reinstall the battery i have a brief window to volume down+home+power and it takes me to odin. I saw this problem in the forums for roms but couldnt find anything on rooting.Please tell me i can fix this and go back to stock, and i didnt lock my phone up for good.I know im an idiot and i didnt back up anything. Ive learned my lesson and will do more research before attempting this again.I also realized there is no root for 4.3 yet. My phone was stock before i tried all this. Its the verizon sch-1605.Any help is much appreciated. Thank you!
gilitin99 said:
Hi all,
Im new to the forum and did some searching but cant find the info i need. I tried rooting my verizon note 2 to casuals one click and didnt realize i had updated to android 4.3 prior. So it tried to root 4.1.2. Now my phone has the yellow triangle and says "Firmware upgrade encountered an issue. Please select recovery mode in Kies & try again." I tried kies and kies 3 and neither one recognizes my phone.The only way to shut the phone off is to pull the battery.When i reinstall the battery i have a brief window to volume down+home+power and it takes me to odin. I saw this problem in the forums for roms but couldnt find anything on rooting.Please tell me i can fix this and go back to stock, and i didnt lock my phone up for good.I know im an idiot and i didnt back up anything. Ive learned my lesson and will do more research before attempting this again.I also realized there is no root for 4.3 yet. My phone was stock before i tried all this. Its the verizon sch-1605.Any help is much appreciated. Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Couple of things:
- if you've received the 4.3 update, your bootloader is locked and (currently) un-touchable. Don't try to flash, well, anything.
- if you've received the 4.3 update, you've also received Samsung's odius KNOX technology. If you do try to flash anything most things (especially recoveries), you'll trip the KNOX counter and invalidate your warranty (I believe it also means you can't use your phone in enterprise setups that use KNOX)
The good news is that you can restore your phone to working order! You'll need to install the Verizon Software Upgrade Assistant. XDA member scoobysnack posted a link to download the software, though you can also get it from any functioning Verizon Samsung smartphone that's plugged into a computer.
After you've installed the software, turn your phone on and plug it into the computer. Run the software and select the tab on the left column titled 'Repair'. Click on the repair button near the right side and sit back & wait. The software will download the 4.3 OTA and install it. Like ODIN, it is imperative that you not unplug your phone during this process.
If you have trouble getting the software to recognize your phone, it may help to put it into download mode. I had to go through this myself (I foolishly forgot about the bootloader issue and tried to flash a recovery. Sigh).
You can achieve root for 4.3, but there are some serious concerns about Kingo, the software the provides root. XDA doesn't allow links to them due to unanswered questions about privacy concerns due to unusual traffic capture going between the software and (apparently) servers in China
thanks so much. ill try it in the morning when i get off work.
Also when i was in odin and plugged my phone in, the software on the pc didnt recognize my phone either. Is that something i should worry about. I guess the box was supposed to turn green but never did.Many thanks
ok so i got home today and tried downloading verizon software update from the link you gave and it wont open the program. Ive tried on 2 different computers. so i called verizon tech to see if they have it cause i can only find it on the website described eariler, and they said they dont have it. Its only in your phone. Well i cant access my phone to get it and im stumped. They said to go into a verizon store and they should be able to fix it. What are my options? I dont have any data on the phone i need to save so can i just go back to a previous version or wipe it out? Or do i have to do a custom rom? Thanks in advance.
gilitin99 said:
ok so i got home today and tried downloading verizon software update from the link you gave and it wont open the program. Ive tried on 2 different computers. so i called verizon tech to see if they have it cause i can only find it on the website described eariler, and they said they dont have it. Its only in your phone. Well i cant access my phone to get it and im stumped. They said to go into a verizon store and they should be able to fix it. What are my options? I dont have any data on the phone i need to save so can i just go back to a previous version or wipe it out? Or do i have to do a custom rom? Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you go into ODIN mode (turn off your phone, power on using POWER+HOME+VOL-DOWN), do you a line that reads 'KNOX WARRANTY VOID'? It would be in the upper left corner under 'SYSTEM STATUS'.
I ask because if you don't have that line, you didn't upgrade to 4.3 and your bootloader is NOT locked. You should be able to flash to 4.1.2 from ODIN and go from there (CASUAL to unlock & root, et cetera).
If you do have that line, then your only option is the VZW Software assistant. I'm uploading it now and I'll send you a link via PM. Please keep in mind that if you use the VZW Software assistant, whether your bootloader is currently locked or not, it most definitely will be locked after using it. If you're already locked, no harm done, but I'd make sure first.

[ATT] Galaxy Mega Updating Issue?

Here I have a customers Galaxy Mega from AT&T, She claims she isn't rooting or installing any types of custom recovery on her phone, we replaced the board on the phone once, and she came back a day later with the same issue. The phone bootloops, but when I try to get into recovery it says "Unauthorized Software has been detected take it to the nearest AT&T store for help" She says the phone was updating, and it does this. This has happened twice now, and I've tried Odin back to stock, and Kies, but at no avail. What is the possibilities, or how can I fix this? Thanks.
I am not an AT&T Representative btw, but her Knox void counter says 0x1 (Which I guess means its tripped)
Usually we only deal with hardware repairs such as cracked screens or components, but we don't want to be left with a dead board.
Thanks for all the help in advance. How can I get this phone to at least just come back on?
I believe she got the kk official update and this has happened to many users i read and this is an official update which is pretty poor of samsung to do this..and if it was updated to the NE7 rom i believe for the AT&T phone then at this time there is no fix as far as i know..this has even happened on the i527m (canadian version) as after the update a bootloop or touchscreen not working and no wifi..so she is telling the truth i believe..and samsung should address this problem as it is their update causing these problems.
On some phones it seems to update alright but the majority of them it is not working out well at all, so i do not think it is a board problem it is the bootloader that could be causing all this grief and many a few other files in the update.
Now i am not sure on the boards you are replacing as they would be good..but as soon as the update comes in again...it could be making the phone act the same way as the last time it updated.

Hacking into a locked-out Boost Mobile "Coolpad"

Information available:
Boost site: https://www.boostmobile.com/phones/coolpad-legacy.html
Manufacturer details: https://coolpad.us/legacy-boost/
Youtube video I made: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wylMivqymUM
This phone was purchased from Walmart and obviously they are no help. Went to a Boost Mobile and a Verizon store and neither one could do anything either (BTW huge props to Verizon on their customer service). I need to know how to clear this phone of all prior information (which is seems that a factory reset from within the OS does not do) and also how to get into the bootloader. Normal physical button methods like power+volume down or up or all 3 just make it say "official" on the screen and then it boots anyway. How do I hack this thing? I've gotten into literally hundreds of Android phones that were bricked and this is the first time I have had this new problem and I don't know where the blame lies. Even if there is a halfway legit custom ROM I could put on the thing, I don't know, I've tried everything I can think of. Can anyone help?
Thank you in advance!
adrenatek said:
Information available:
Boost site: https://www.boostmobile.com/phones/coolpad-legacy.html
Manufacturer details: https://coolpad.us/legacy-boost/
Youtube video I made: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wylMivqymUM
This phone was purchased from Walmart and obviously they are no help. Went to a Boost Mobile and a Verizon store and neither one could do anything either (BTW huge props to Verizon on their customer service). I need to know how to clear this phone of all prior information (which is seems that a factory reset from within the OS does not do) and also how to get into the bootloader. Normal physical button methods like power+volume down or up or all 3 just make it say "official" on the screen and then it boots anyway. How do I hack this thing? I've gotten into literally hundreds of Android phones that were bricked and this is the first time I have had this new problem and I don't know where the blame lies. Even if there is a halfway legit custom ROM I could put on the thing, I don't know, I've tried everything I can think of. Can anyone help?
Thank you in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can get to fastboot via adb. I can't get the bootloader to unlock tho.
@adrenatek, I know this is a belated reply, but I just got one of these devices myself and wanted to chime in. Let me see if I understand correctly: are you stating that, after performing a factory data reset, your userdata remains intact on your device? Or, did you get it figured out by now? Also, as to fastboot mode, adb reboot bootloader will get you there, but this device is not supported for OEM unlocking.
can anyone tell me if i can unlock the BL of C3505L..

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