I got my GS4 back in the summer and I promptly rooted and I believe I even was able to unlock the bootloader. I then flashed Eclipse S4 TW edition (based on MDK) and its been so rock solid I haven't had a reason to touch is since. I'm been staring at my android 4.2.2 version and have been thinking no reason to upgrade. If it isn't broke don't fix it right? Well I'm starting to feel the flashing itch so I decided to jump back on XDA and see whats out there.
I'm trying to get a grasp on what all has changes since the last time I flashed my phone. It looks like there has been a few new builds to drop since I flashed. I'm confused on the details though. With my current state can I flash anything I want using the custom recovery or are there restrictions that I must follow. I have seen posts about using SafeStrap for flashing. I remember SafeStrap from my Razr days as a solution for phones with locked bootloaders. Does one of the OTA's relock the bootloader and make it impossible to unlock or are the SafeStrap posts for people that got the phones after me which already came with a locked bootloader?
Any reason why not to upgrade to the newest builds? I can't find any details on what is different between the builds but I have to imagine there is some new stuff that I might want to play with.
Lastly, can anyone suggest a good solid ROM to similar to Eclipse TW that is based on a newer build?
I appreciate any help you guys can give me. Being away this long and coming back is slightly overwhelming and who has time to navigate through every page of every thread for the past 6 months or so.
I would suggest to read some of the threads....custom Roms for 4.3 and 4.4 are a bit slow in coming. If you are mdk...no need for safestrap....you can still keep your phone rooted and loki'd..and move to 4.3 base
powered by hashcode safestrap hyperdrive 10.2
trevoryour said:
I got my GS4 back in the summer and I promptly rooted and I believe I even was able to unlock the bootloader. I then flashed Eclipse S4 TW edition (based on MDK) and its been so rock solid I haven't had a reason to touch is since. I'm been staring at my android 4.2.2 version and have been thinking no reason to upgrade. If it isn't broke don't fix it right? Well I'm starting to feel the flashing itch so I decided to jump back on XDA and see whats out there.
I'm trying to get a grasp on what all has changes since the last time I flashed my phone. It looks like there has been a few new builds to drop since I flashed. I'm confused on the details though. With my current state can I flash anything I want using the custom recovery or are there restrictions that I must follow. I have seen posts about using SafeStrap for flashing. I remember SafeStrap from my Razr days as a solution for phones with locked bootloaders. Does one of the OTA's relock the bootloader and make it impossible to unlock or are the SafeStrap posts for people that got the phones after me which already came with a locked bootloader?
Any reason why not to upgrade to the newest builds? I can't find any details on what is different between the builds but I have to imagine there is some new stuff that I might want to play with.
Lastly, can anyone suggest a good solid ROM to similar to Eclipse TW that is based on a newer build?
I appreciate any help you guys can give me. Being away this long and coming back is slightly overwhelming and who has time to navigate through every page of every thread for the past 6 months or so.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, So heres what you missed. After the MDK release they(Verizon/Samsung) patched the loki bootloader hack so thats why anybody whos not on the MDK release has an locked bootloader. That is where safestrap comes in. Safestrap is a custom recovery that was developed by Hascode, in order to provide those with a locked bootloader a way to get in on the rom action, while keeping there stock rom untouched.
Now that said i would advise you to update but not through the stock "Check Update" tab (as that will lock your phones bootloader). Instead you should just flash a rom that is built with the new update as the base (E.X. Hyperdrive 11). This will allow you to get the new update without locking your bootloader.
Now for roms, i believe there is an updated Eclipse TW Rom & Eclipse AOSP ROM on the Dev's site ( dont know the link but will post it once i find it).
Related
Handing my S4 over to my boss who wants stock TW on it. I got the phone day 1 when it was released and put TWRP and have run some form of AOSP since then. What's a good TW ROM that close enough to stock? Also I know there was some stuff that broke rooting methods in the later builds we've gotten (ME7 I think?), will flashing these builds have any effect on my recovery/root?
czonin said:
Handing my S4 over to my boss who wants stock TW on it. I got the phone day 1 when it was released and put TWRP and have run some form of AOSP since then. What's a good TW ROM that close enough to stock? Also I know there was some stuff that broke rooting methods in the later builds we've gotten (ME7 I think?), will flashing these builds have any effect on my recovery/root?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've heard Bonestock or Clean Rom are good TW roms, but as I have ME7 and a locked bootloader (I don't use Safestrap) I can't comment on them. If you flash ANY of the new updates you will lose the ability to unlock the bootloader, and will not be able to flash most roms anymore. If you use ME7, or to a lesser extent MI1, you can use Safestrap to flash roms, but will be severely limited on storage options.
Another thing you could do is flash back to MDK stock (what your phone originally came with), root it, freeze the updater apps, and hand it to him. It'll be bone stock without the risk of auto-updating.
So my girlfriend has wants her S4 rooted. I have the S3 and its quite different as far as rooting goes. I am also on sprint whereas she is on verizon (although thats not such a big deal).
Anyways, what I would like to have clarified for me is this: She is currently unrooted with stock MK2. From what I have read you can only root and install compatible roms with safestrap. The main thing she wants is KitKat and possibly CM. Is there any way for her to get either of these. Also, would it be possible to revert back to stock and flash KitKat with the OTA from verizon when it is released?
Thanks for any help.
BioBot said:
So my girlfriend has wants her S4 rooted. I have the S3 and its quite different as far as rooting goes. I am also on sprint whereas she is on verizon (although thats not such a big deal).
Anyways, what I would like to have clarified for me is this: She is currently unrooted with stock MK2. From what I have read you can only root and install compatible roms with safestrap. The main thing she wants is KitKat and possibly CM. Is there any way for her to get either of these. Also, would it be possible to revert back to stock and flash KitKat with the OTA from verizon when it is released?
Thanks for any help.
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Click to collapse
There's no way for her to get KitKat or CM or anything AOSP. Hopefully the next OTA will have an exploit, but there hasn't been a cracked bootloader since the first version of firmware on the initial releases. Realistically, never going to happen.
Hey guys, I have been out of the custom ROM, kernel, theme, etc routine for quite a while now. I don't plan on getting back into the "crack flashing" habit and I am not even sure I want to get back into custom ROMs...but I thought I would at least stop by here and see if anything "big" or new has happened that would be important to me.
I am thinking about trying Hyperdrive RLS15 as I always ran Hyperdrive ROMs because of the stock feel, but I am not sure. To be honest the stock ROM with ROOT has been just fine.
Now a days I just like a phone that will work forever without any bugs and it seems that the stock ROM does that just fine for me.
I AM ROOTED - MDK base
Anyways, are there any suggestions, stockish ROMS, baseband updates, etc that I should be aware of or try out?
Here is my current phone info:
Android Version: 4.2.2
Baseband: MDK
Build: Stock MDK
Note that I have purposely NEVER updated from MDK so I could use the unlocked bootloader. I have thought about upgrading since I don't do much of the custom ROM stuff anymore, but not sure if it would be worth losing MDK...
Anyone?
I would stay on mdk bootloader I wish mine was unlocked. Stock 4.4.2 is nice I think I seen one for mdk users. Is not a huge upgrade but I do like the white notifications icons and full screen album art on lock screen. I'm like you I just want root for titanium and tether then I freeze the bloat. I'm done with instable galaxy nexus crack flashing consumes your life.
Sent from S4 using Tapatalk
Members are expected to do there own research as there is now more ways to brick a phone with all the security added to them.
ROM suggestions are meaningless as no one has your taste/setup/usage so you should invest the time to read the threads and be sure you know how to install the ROM properly
Hi all,
I've got an S4 on Verizon (SCH-I545) with Jellybean 4.2.2 and VRUAMDK. I see that there are updates to builds such as VRUAME7 and beyond. I'm not too familiar with these and how they effect compatibility and customization. I searched the forums and saw threads which said that the newer builds hinder compatibility, however, they are old threads from a year ago and I can find nothing recent.
Is there any reason for me to accept these updates and will doing so give me any perks? If I did update, will this limit my options in terms of what I can do with rooting, installing recoveries or ROMS?
If there's a post that explains it in more detail I'd want to see too. I couldn't find anything about this
Thanks in advance!
If you plan on trying out any AOSP/CM12 roms then I'd stay on MDK. Once you update all the way to 4.4 you'l no longer be able to use any of these roms and will be limited to roms that are only able to be flashed through SafeStrap.
well
Lockett said:
If you plan on trying out any AOSP/CM12 roms then I'd stay on MDK. Once you update all the way to 4.4 you'l no longer be able to use any of these roms and will be limited to roms that are only able to be flashed through SafeStrap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MDK boot loader with Loki implemented recovery = unlocked boot loader which means you can use just about everything here. Almost every rom has an MDK procedure and will be flashing kernels. . Unlike safestrap
Thanks! I may stay on the MDK build then. It seems like it would only serve to limit my options if I upgrade and give me no tangible benefit.
Thank you!
I ended up with a Verizon S4 through eBay (for a good price at least), and have managed to get on 5.0.1 and root it (via the PC version of Kingroot). Being that it's the OC1 baseband version, my options seem to be quite - no, very limited, when it comes to flashing non-touchwiz based ROMs. Is there any conceivable way I can get a custom recovery on here that will allow me to flash AOSP ROMs? I can wait, it doesn't have to be right now... I just need to know if my particular S4 is permanently crippled in this regard, or if it's just a matter of waiting until someone cracks it. Ideally I'd like to have an unofficial Android M ROM on here when the time comes. What are my options?
Also, I just came from the development sub forum (I can't comment there yet) and saw a new 5.1.1 ROM (Gamer Rom?) that claims to work for the Verizon S4. I'm skeptical that it wouldn't actually brick my device so I wanted to check of anyone else here has found a way to flash it. As far as I know, we can't even flash CWM so I just wanted to double check of I was missing anything obvious. Cheers