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.
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?
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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.
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).
I had a bad experience with Verizon's OTA to 4.4.2, and they ultimately replaced my phones - with JB4.3.
So I immediately rooted, and have NOT updated to 4.4.X. I want to make certain there is a decent method to get there.
I just spent a half hour googling around, and I am more confused than when I started.
It looks like there are a blue million custom ROMs based on 4.4.3 or 4.4.4, but I can't really find a definitive answer to which one works without a lot of "may still have bugs" caveats.
I keep coming back to towelroot, but it looks like it supports S4 more by accident than by design. That makes me nervous.
So - and forgive me if I am just too dense to find a clear answer that may already exist - Can I, and more importantly HOW can I, update to 4.4.3 or higher?
Is there something I am missing, or does 4.4.3 not exist yet for my phone?
4.4.3 Touchwiz doesn't exist yet. 4.4.2 (NC5 build for our device) is the latest.
snurfle said:
I had a bad experience with Verizon's OTA to 4.4.2, and they ultimately replaced my phones - with JB4.3.
So I immediately rooted, and have NOT updated to 4.4.X. I want to make certain there is a decent method to get there.
I just spent a half hour googling around, and I am more confused than when I started.
It looks like there are a blue million custom ROMs based on 4.4.3 or 4.4.4, but I can't really find a definitive answer to which one works without a lot of "may still have bugs" caveats.
I keep coming back to towelroot, but it looks like it supports S4 more by accident than by design. That makes me nervous.
So - and forgive me if I am just too dense to find a clear answer that may already exist - Can I, and more importantly HOW can I, update to 4.4.3 or higher?
Is there something I am missing, or does 4.4.3 not exist yet for my phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Verizon has now rolled out Lollipop for the GS4 phones; my wife's installed the other day and seems to be OK so far, other than a few bluetooth hiccups.
I still have 2 rooted GS4 phones, both at JB4.3, MK2.
And I am still confused by all of the posts - there seems to be a method to root (NOT on XDA) but it fails because it seems to be ONLY for and NK4.
So, sorry for the repeat question, but is there a way to get to (rooted) Lollipop on my phones?
Thank you.
snurfle said:
Verizon has now rolled out Lollipop for the GS4 phones; my wife's installed the other day and seems to be OK so far, other than a few bluetooth hiccups.
I still have 2 rooted GS4 phones, both at JB4.3, MK2.
And I am still confused by all of the posts - there seems to be a method to root (NOT on XDA) but it fails because it seems to be ONLY for and NK4.
So, sorry for the repeat question, but is there a way to get to (rooted) Lollipop on my phones?
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for the false alarm, but how did you end up upgrading to Lollipop from MK2? Funny enough, my wife's phone is at MK2 as well, but anytime I try to take the OTA for L, it fails during flash and reboots.
benny_t said:
Sorry for the false alarm, but how did you end up upgrading to Lollipop from MK2? Funny enough, my wife's phone is at MK2 as well, but anytime I try to take the OTA for L, it fails during flash and reboots.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My wife's phone (not rooted, came with KitKat already installed) updated OTA.
When my 2 JellyBean phones updated to KitKat, they had serious connectivity and battery issues; Verizon replaced them with (as luck would have it) a pair of JellyBean phones. I rooted both of them and stopped accepting OTA updates from Verizon and Samsung altogether.
So, I'm still at JellyBean, but would really like to update to Lollipop but retain root.
rpdayton said:
My wife's phone (not rooted, came with KitKat already installed) updated OTA.
When my 2 JellyBean phones updated to KitKat, they had serious connectivity and battery issues; Verizon replaced them with (as luck would have it) a pair of JellyBean phones. I rooted both of them and stopped accepting OTA updates from Verizon and Samsung altogether.
So, I'm still at JellyBean, but would really like to update to Lollipop but retain root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you're not gonna be able to downgrade to jellybean through this method (you can downgrade to NC5 Kitkat, 4.4.2 though), but here's a rooted OC1 lollipop: http://forum.xda-developers.com/gal...-to-update-to-i545oc1-5-0-1-keeproot-t3096558
I'm just your average Android enthusiast, not nearly as talented and skilled as you devs, but I know my way around my phone. I am currently rocking the Galaxy S4 SCH-I545 NC5 (Rooted with Towelroot and Safestrap 3.72 installed). I never thought highly of Samsung's user interface and have wanted to upgrade to CM forever, but as each new update comes I really, really want it, so I carelessly take the OTA. I've done this far too many times so I decided to disable the system update app so I wouldn't be bothered by the new updates that come around.
Anyway, I think it's time to upgrade to Lollipop now that it's available, but I really want to keep root access, and since you guys are the professionals, I want to know the best way to flash the new update instead of take the OTA, which, if I'm not mistaken, will let me keep root and the small possibility that I can get Cyanogen some day. Is it best for me to just go ahead and take the risk-free OTA update, or should I flash? If so, can someone guide me through the process? I'm sorry if this sounds like child's play to you but I don't want to brick my phone in any situation, so it'd be great if someone could help me with this. Thanks in advance!
Screenshots for more information:
http://imgur.com/CIBx5qY,KHATxkV,fKyJcoB#2
Update: I followed a tutorial to update to OC1, but was not successful (Wouldn't boot). I used Odin to reflash the NC5 and now I'm back where I started. Anyone have an idea?
Here's the link to the tutorial:
http://zidroid.com/how-to-update-keep-root-verizon-galaxy-s4-on-lollipop-oc1/#comment-6589
Edit: Tried this twice, both didn't work. I'm considering just taking the OTA and not getting root. What should I do?
Hi,
Just got an i545. It is currently on NK1 with 4.4.2. I understand to root it I can follow this (thread closed so can't post there). My confusion is: once I root, can I install safestrap or TWRP and flash custom roms? I read somewhere else on the forum that NK1 is limited to certain AOSP roms. I really like Carbon but am open to trying others and I don't want to screw things up. Sorry if this is noob-ish but I think I gave myself information over-load trying to find the correct steps.
Also, I will be using this with AT&T so would I want to stick to the unified builds?
Thanks,
SS only, no twrp/cwm.
Only TW roms aside from this aosp:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3019132
I used it before LP, a few bugs but overall ran well
Thanks for the info. If safestrap must be used, would these roms work? From what I gather so far, it's also not possible to downgrade from NK1 to NC5 or other, is it? I don't see the point of flashing another TW rom...but that's just me. I guess I can just root and customize for now, and experiment with TW roms if I get bored.
EDIT - I am wrong, it appears that I can odin back to earlier images (MDK, NC5, etc...) Is this feasible? Would it allow me to root, install custom recovery, and any rom I wish?
That list should be good. You can go back to nc5, can't downgrade past KK.
Also, there are threads on how to upgrade to 5.0.1, however if you take the official ota you'll lose root and can't downgrade back
I appreciate your help. Just to confirm, if I downgrade to NC5, will I be able to use ANY custom recovery and flash ANY rom? Or will I still be limited to safestrap and TW roms?
EDIT - Found my answer here. Anything over MDK can only use safestrap and TW roms. Bummer. No point in down-grading then.
Edit 2 - It seems that if I want to run any kind of rom I do need to down grade to NC5 as most seem to be based on it. I assume I would use the full wipe from this guide.
This S4 is my 7th android and it's, by far, got the most hoops to jump through and/or limitations. All my other phones were easy-peasy! Or is it just because it's Verizon branded? All other phones were T-Mo or ATT.
It's this phone & Verizon, they both suck