So, I was using odin to flash stock MDK to update to ME7. Odin failed miserably and my phone was stuck in a sort of recovery state, telling me to go into kies and do an emergency recovery. I tried that but to no avail. I tried to flash again via odin but got a FAIL when it got to system.ext... when trying to update or it failed at aboot.whatever.
Needless to say, I walked into a verizon store and carefully worded my explanation as to use the factory warranty and they are sending me a new replacement. This little ordeal has me staying away from root and flashing for a bit. I cant afford to buy a brand new phone right now. :crying:
You had me7 on your phone and you were trying to flash mdk? You can't do that. Do a lot of reading here when you get your phone and you won't have to worry about buying a new one.
jd1639 said:
You had me7 on your phone and you were trying to flash mdk? You can't do that. Do a lot of reading here when you get your phone and you won't have to worry about buying a new one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Jd, you gotta read better. He was on a custom rom on MDK and he wanted to flash back to stock MDK to update to ME7, he wasnt on ME7 before. What wonders happen when you read the fine print!
ppat324wi said:
Jd, you gotta read better. He was on a custom rom on MDK and he wanted to flash back to stock MDK to update to ME7, he wasnt on ME7 before. What wonders happen when you read the fine print!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well that's just plain dumb. If you're on mdk why would you want me7 and give up the ability to flash roms without ss?
jd1639 said:
Well that's just plain dumb. If you're on mdk why would you want me7 and give up the ability to flash roms without ss?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, i dont know. Thats his decision though. So he can do whatever he wants to his phone. i foolishly updated my phone to me7 once i got it and am anxiously waiting for hashcode to release ss for me7.
ppat324wi said:
Well, i dont know. Thats his decision though. So he can do whatever he wants to his phone. i foolishly updated my phone to me7 once i got it and am anxiously waiting for hashcode to release ss for me7.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's live. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=45517751
If I was in your situation, With everybody on here dying for a mdk phone it could be traded phone for phone plus boot probably. Could probably have an s4 for free. Your money and time and all, just hoping nobody will send an mdk phone to the dark side of the force.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using xda app-developers app
Related
If you have a S4 that runs on Update VRUAMDK and is willing to switch for a S4 with ME7 update, please PM me, thedeveloper1
Thanks
thedeveloper1 said:
If you have a S4 that runs on Update VRUAMDK and is willing to switch for a S4 with ME7 update, please PM me, thedeveloper1
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why not just use Odin to get back to stock and then update?
overlord727 said:
Why not just use Odin to get back to stock and then update?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm on stock ME7 right now and I want to switch devices with a person who hasn't updated to the currently unrootable ME7
Once on me7 u cant odin back to mdk.
SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 2
Whoops! I read that backwards and thought you wanted one with the update. Sorry about that!
What the heck is ME7 adn why do people want to avoid it like the plague.? How can I tell if my new S4 has this or not?
I searched ME7 here and all I got is specific posts about the people having the issue, and nothing about what it is.
broderp said:
What the heck is ME7 adn why do people want to avoid it like the plague.? How can I tell if my new S4 has this or not?
I searched ME7 here and all I got is specific posts about the people having the issue, and nothing about what it is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you don't know, you don't need to know
but anyway, ME7 breaks the ability to flash custom ROMs
andybones said:
If you don't know, you don't need to know
but anyway, ME7 breaks the ability to flash custom ROMs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gee thankls! Now I know!
broderp said:
Gee thankls! Now I know!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ME7 is the new bootloader installed on Verizon's update a month or so ago. The previous version was MDK which could be flashed back to the pre-release MD2 for root access. The MDK and MD2 also allowed you to install a custom recovery partition like TWRP or CWM which allowed you to do full nandroid backups and reflash the phone with a new ROM. ME7 is locked and so far you cannot install TWRP or CWM effectively preventing anyone with it from flashing new ROMS. ME7 also cannot be flashed back using ODIN into the MDK or MD2 verisons. So right now, everyone with ME7 (me included) can only gain root access at the most.
Is this downgrading from ME7 to MDK possible? If so please guide me in the right direction.
Its not possible... Once you take the update theres no going back...
Sent from my SCH-I545 using xda premium
So I am new to the s4 and rooting. I really want to install the Hyperdrive ROM. I have been researching and researching what to do and I think i have found my answer for now and im not happy about it.
From what i gathered, since i installed the update and I am now on ME7, there is no root method bc they locked the phone down. Is this correct?
hondabomdc5 said:
So I am new to the s4 and rooting. I really want to install the Hyperdrive ROM. I have been researching and researching what to do and I think i have found my answer for now and im not happy about it.
From what i gathered, since i installed the update and I am now on ME7, there is no root method bc they locked the phone down. Is this correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use the search button...this has been posted about a 1000 times...but yes you can root it but no custom recovery.
hondabomdc5 said:
So I am new to the s4 and rooting. I really want to install the Hyperdrive ROM. I have been researching and researching what to do and I think i have found my answer for now and im not happy about it.
From what i gathered, since i installed the update and I am now on ME7, there is no root method bc they locked the phone down. Is this correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can root, but cant install custom recoveries or roms.
bfmetcalf said:
You can root, but cant install custom recoveries or roms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for being kind and thanks for the info. I did state that I was new and have been looking. I could have started a whole new thread but instead asked the question in here. I do want to install the Hyperdrive rom but since with ME7 you cant install roms...looks like i wont be rooting until somebody gets this figured out. Again, thanks for being cool and answering my question.
y can't we just odin back to mdk?
Stauf99 said:
y can't we just odin back to mdk?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
because of the bootloader will only allow signed packages to be installed on the phone and checks against older firmware and will not allow it. Unless you have the signed key you ain't flashing anything unless we find a workaround.
magneticzero said:
Use the search button...this has been posted about a 1000 times...but yes you can root it but no custom recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So why is there ROMs for the ME7 build if they can't be flashed?
This [email protected] sucks!
So, I'm stuck on ME7 as well (32GB S4, otherwise I'd just go down to the store and swap it, complaining about something -- seems they don't stock them at any local corporate stores).
I'm coming from a Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and we have OMAP-Flash, which is like a low-level PROM flashing tool from the Samsung R&D team, and I could fix even a DEAD, or bricked phone with that. Is there something like that here to get back the original bootloader? I cant believe we're stuck on this crap... How 'bout a 2nd-init like my Droid-x days, or something slick like SafeStrap on the RAZR family?
...Just thinkin' "out loud".
IMGetwired said:
So, I'm stuck on ME7 as well (32GB S4, otherwise I'd just go down to the store and swap it, complaining about something -- seems they don't stock them at any local corporate stores).
I'm coming from a Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and we have OMAP-Flash, which is like a low-level PROM flashing tool from the Samsung R&D team, and I could fix even a DEAD, or bricked phone with that. Is there something like that here to get back the original bootloader? I cant believe we're stuck on this crap... How 'bout a 2nd-init like my Droid-x days, or something slick like SafeStrap on the RAZR family?
...Just thinkin' "out loud".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Short answer is 'no' - you're currently stuck with root as your best option. Hopefully this will change in the not-too-distant future.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using xda app-developers app
Yeah, this does suck.
Seems like we need someone to pick up the Dragonboard 8074 development kit to help us figure this out...even then, I'm sure Samsung has so many mods in there it'd be nuts to reverse engineer... Ugh, I'm so impatient! :silly:
Slimfast35 said:
So why is there ROMs for the ME7 build if they can't be flashed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because there for people that didn't get robbed by Samsung and update through the evil over the air update lol
Slimfast35 said:
So why is there ROMs for the ME7 build if they can't be flashed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're not quite understanding what a rom is and is not. There is no such thing as a rom for ME7. There are roms that use the ME7 base. They are flashable only by those who have the MDK bootloader. When a build number is listed for a rom, it is the build that the rom is based from.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 4
Slimfast35 said:
So why is there ROMs for the ME7 build if they can't be flashed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The ROM's that the devs based on MDK have been updated with the ME7 code just like any good developer does. But the bootloader those users have is still from their MDK (original) install. Once you go ME7 you can never go back, downgrade, crossgrade or get beyond the bootloader, for now anyways. Someone will find a way.
Nm
I'm currently rooted on VRUAMDK with (what I believe to be anyway) the first method from when the phone was released. I didn't have much time to bother with it when ME7 came out so I just froze SDM in TiBu and ignored it until now.
Today I saw the info about the MI1 update and decided to give it a shot updating. I saw that it was already rooted so I figured I'd just go for it and do an OTA after unfreezing SDM. However, when I tried that the install restarted the phone into Team Win Recovery and didn't complete. I assume this was because TWR blocks the install to avoid you losing root or something like that.
What I'm wondering is if there's a way to update to MI1 through TWR or some other alternative to the Verizon OTA so I don't lose root at all? I would like to know if there's a similar method for rooted phones with ME7 (since my girlfriends phone is rooted on that.).
Thanks in advance.
Don't take the OTA. Just get an MI1 stock deodex ROM. For the love of God keep your bootloader intact. The newer ones are not exploitable.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using xda app-developers app
ozzzzysh said:
Don't take the OTA. Just get an MI1 stock deodex ROM. For the love of God keep your bootloader intact. The newer ones are not exploitable.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, I thought that might be the right course of action but wasn't sure that the ROMs were equivalent of an OTA or just a custom rebuild of the old version.
As for my Girlfriend whose phone came with ME7? Should she just take the OTA and then Root again?
The MI1 OTA, from what I've gathered, enables a custom software counter. So unless she's planning on staying fully stock I would avoid the update. MI1 didn't really change enough to justify anyone to update as far as I know.
By custom software counter, I mean that if you were to tinker with your phone too much, it would blow a permanent qfuse that would let Samsung know not to grant your warranty when the time comes.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using xda app-developers app
Reonar_Dauth said:
Okay, I thought that might be the right course of action but wasn't sure that the ROMs were equivalent of an OTA or just a custom rebuild of the old version.
As for my Girlfriend whose phone came with ME7? Should she just take the OTA and then Root again?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Neither update offers anything of real value that the custom rom's aren't bringing to the table. Hell there are flashable radios even. Apps to SD for me7 might be the only useful feature. But there are custom me7 roms. Wait on the devs to update you.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using xda app-developers app
No real value over the MDK release. It just locks things down.
Get one of the ROMs based on MI1.
Move along,,,, Nothing to see....
Bump
If I am still on MDK, can I use any rom (4.3/4.4) or only roms for 4.2.2 MDK?
Things were much simpler on my GNex
PeterifficX said:
Bump
If I am still on MDK, can I use any rom (4.3/4.4) or only roms for 4.2.2 MDK?
Things were much simpler on my GNex
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can flash any rom you want. The only way you'll lock yourself down is if you take an official update.
Verification please
PeterifficX said:
Bump
If I am still on MDK, can I use any rom (4.3/4.4) or only roms for 4.2.2 MDK?
Things were much simpler on my GNex
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Crawshayi said:
You can flash any rom you want. The only way you'll lock yourself down is if you take an official update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey folks...... :highfive: I'm currently working on my Ex Wifes phone SCH-I545. I've not updated or done anything to her phone since I rooted and installed Beanstown. Quite some time ago. Any way, Her Android version is 4.2.2/VRUAMDK. :good: TWRP for recovery, not sure the version. My question is, Can I just flash any of the latest ROMs to her phone? I just want to make sure I don't screw her phone up. @Crawshayi, I see your answer right there. I just want to double check and know that I won't lock her phone down.
I really appreciate you guys. Without you and XDA, I'd be completely lost.
Sincerely
David C
Edit: Thanks guys. Everything worked perfect. My phones are running flawless.
Showing off here. NOTE 2 left side this on my right.
My galaxy s4 was stuck in factory mode and it seemed like there was nothing i could do. I though i had nothing to lose so i decided to update from MDK to ME7 threw odin and it fixed the problem so if your like me and have nothing to lose try updating .
Sorry but that is BAD advice. It's never good to update from MDK to anything else. You should have just Odin back to stock MDK firmware and reroot and flashed recovery. Bad/dumb move imo.
Eric214 said:
Sorry but that is BAD advice. It's never good to update from MDK to anything else. You should have just Odin back to stock MDK firmware and reroot and flashed recovery. Bad/dumb move imo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Updating may soon not be such a big deal...got a group of great devs who may have had a huge breakthrough in the form of kexec kernel modules that may soon allow newer bootloaders to run custom ROMs based on aosp and not be limited to touchwiz...kexec lead to a fully unlocked boot loader on vzw gs3 and could bring this"for the love of god don't update" crap to an end!
Eric214 said:
Sorry but that is BAD advice. It's never good to update from MDK to anything else. You should have just Odin back to stock MDK firmware and reroot and flashed recovery. Bad/dumb move imo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well lets just say i tried that... and i did not work.
Maybe but you're still using safestrap to hijack the boot sequence so your adding a rom on top of your stock rom giving you less room on your s4. I understand safestrap very well as I came from a DROID Bionic using SS then SS with kexec. I would still never give up MDK. If I had to ever replace my s4 with another s4 i'd be thankful for SS emencely but I'd never willingly give up MDK. And that's all I'm saying, I would never recommend giving MDK.
Eric214 said:
Maybe but you're still using safestrap to hijack the boot sequence so your adding a rom on top of your stock rom giving you less room on your s4. I understand safestrap very well as I came from a DROID Bionic using SS then SS with kexec. I would still never give up MDK. If I had to ever replace my s4 with another s4 i'd be thankful for SS emencely but I'd never willingly give up MDK. And that's all I'm saying, I would never recommend giving MDK.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Believe me...I won't be moving from mdk until we have BL unlock...might not happen...but it seems they are closer than ever before
Eric214 said:
Maybe but you're still using safestrap to hijack the boot sequence so your adding a rom on top of your stock rom giving you less room on your s4. I understand safestrap very well as I came from a DROID Bionic using SS then SS with kexec. I would still never give up MDK. If I had to ever replace my s4 with another s4 i'd be thankful for SS emencely but I'd never willingly give up MDK. And that's all I'm saying, I would never recommend giving MDK.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well i looked at it this way i can try to update it or take it to Verizon and hope to get an mdk model witch is probably unlike
clapper66 said:
well i looked at it this way i can try to update it or take it to Verizon and hope to get an mdk model witch is probably unlike
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hold tight...don't take anymore updates unless this new stuff is a bust
jamesd1085 said:
Hold tight...don't take anymore updates unless this new stuff is a bust
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I plan to do
Sent from my SCH-I545 using xda app-developers app
I asked a similar question back in October, but fell out of the loop again and didn't want to necro an old post. I just want to verify that the information I got back then is still relavent.
Is installing custom ROMs still the best way to bring my MDK S4 up to the current version? If so, what should I be looking for in a ROM title to tell me that it's just a stock ROM that gives the same experience as the OTA? Someone mentioned Deodex'd in my last post, but I have no idea what that means or if it's what I should be looking for.
And for an S4 that came stock with ME7? Should my girlfriend (with an ME7 update) just take the newest OTA and root that, or is there a benefit to sticking with ME7 and installing a ROM? If the answer is to go with a ROM then she'll want the stock new OTA experience as well for now, are there any ME7 ROMs available that can do that?
Thanks again guys!
Don't touch your MDK S4. Leave it on MDK with Loki. It's practically an unlocked bootloader with actual TWRP and CWM. You can still install 4.3 TouchWiz stock ROMs on it because you can change the kernel. Plus you can run AOSP ROMs, which is awesome.
Reonar_Dauth said:
I asked a similar question back in October, but fell out of the loop again and didn't want to necro an old post. I just want to verify that the information I got back then is still relavent.
Is installing custom ROMs still the best way to bring my MDK S4 up to the current version? If so, what should I be looking for in a ROM title to tell me that it's just a stock ROM that gives the same experience as the OTA? Someone mentioned Deodex'd in my last post, but I have no idea what that means or if it's what I should be looking for.
And for an S4 that came stock with ME7? Should my girlfriend (with an ME7 update) just take the newest OTA and root that, or is there a benefit to sticking with ME7 and installing a ROM? If the answer is to go with a ROM then she'll want the stock new OTA experience as well for now, are there any ME7 ROMs available that can do that?
Thanks again guys!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're girls me7 s4 might as well update to mj7 or mk2 (4.3) as then she'll still be using Safestrap. Mostly everyone is running Hyperdrive anyways. Great performance and battery life with that. Update it, throw Safestrap 3.71 on there then Hyperdrive 12....pretty much bug free.
As far as you're MDK phone just grab whatever AOSP 4.3 or 4.4 ROM you like. You're lucky to have that phone!!
Sent from my SCH-I545 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
I have ME7 on my phone and decided to update to be compatible with hyperdrive.
I started the installation like 6 hours ago; is it supposed to take this long?
I had it rooted and got rid of all the bloatware from Verizon using titanium. Would that have something to do with it? Otherwise, I don't know what's going on. Thank you, and I apologize if this was addressed in any other thread.
TheDarkAbed said:
I have ME7 on my phone and decided to update to be compatible with hyperdrive.
I started the installation like 6 hours ago; is it supposed to take this long?
I had it rooted and got rid of all the bloatware from Verizon using titanium. Would that have something to do with it? Otherwise, I don't know what's going on. Thank you, and I apologize if this was addressed in any other thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No its not supposed to take that long. So you're trying to take the ota from me7 you're saying right? You may have to Odin if that doesn't work for you. Sometimes unfreezing and removing mods just doesn't do it
Sent from my SCH-I545 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Mistertac said:
No its not supposed to take that long. So you're trying to take the ota from me7 you're saying right? You may have to Odin if that doesn't work for you. Sometimes unfreezing and removing mods just doesn't do it
Sent from my SCH-I545 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry. Can you link me to where I can find how to do that
Thanks again
TheDarkAbed said:
Sorry. Can you link me to where I can find how to do that
Thanks again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Several youtube videos on Odin process
safestrap enabled, Hyperdrive driven
decaturbob said:
Several youtube videos on Odin process
safestrap enabled, Hyperdrive driven
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I went on youtube, but all of them say that they are for I9505. I'm not sure where I'm supposed to look, but my model number says SCH-I545. Does that mean I'm unable to use the process?
Sorry again for asking so many questions.
TheDarkAbed said:
I went on youtube, but all of them say that they are for I9505. I'm not sure where I'm supposed to look, but my model number says SCH-I545. Does that mean I'm unable to use the process?
Sorry again for asking so many questions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Process is similar. ..you just need to have correct image file.
safestrap enabled, Hyperdrive driven
TheDarkAbed said:
I went on youtube, but all of them say that they are for I9505. I'm not sure where I'm supposed to look, but my model number says SCH-I545. Does that mean I'm unable to use the process?
Sorry again for asking so many questions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same process, but get the image for your i545 from the Android Development forum for this phone.
is there any benefit to keeping ME7 or just update to most recent update? thanks for the help.