[Q] Soft bricked (hopefully) my phone when rooting. Help, please? - Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4

A few months ago, I got a (Verizon) Samsung Galaxy S4 (it was "free" with contract). I successfully rooted it not long after.
Just a couple weeks ago, an update was released through the verizon network, so blindly I decided to use the update, only to find out afterwards that it removed my root. I tried the same method I used before to root it, only to find people saying that the newest OTA (Over The Air) update made rooting impossible.
After a fair amount of searching, I found a method which supposedly would work (http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=2487142). I used the method, however it did not work, and my phone was stuck in download mode.
After previous reading, I learned that the only way to manually exit download mode was to take out the battery. Though the root attempt had failed, it was obvious that something had occurred, so I was hesitant to use the brute force method of exiting download mode. However, without knowing an alternative, I removed the battery.
Now, whenever I try to turn on my phone, I merely get the message "Firmware update has encountered an issue. Please select recovery mode in Kies and try again."
If it helps, the text displayed in the upper corner with this message is:
ODIN MODE
PRODUCT NAME: SCH-I545
CURRENT BINARY: SAMSUNG OFFICIAL
SYSTEM STATUS: CUSTOM
KNOX KERNEL LOCK: 0x0
KNOX WARRANTY VOID: 0x0
CSB-CONFIG-LSB: 0x30
WRITE PROTECTION: Enabled
eMMC BURST MODE enabled
I have tried firmware upgrade and initialization in Kies3, but an error message is shown saying "SCH-I545 does not support initialization", When I tried Kies2, it just told me that the device was not responding.
I am still able to enter download mode.
When I try to flash an os using odin, I get these results:
<ID:0/003> Odin v.3 engine (ID:3)..
<ID:0/003> File analysis..
<ID:0/003> SetupConnection..
<ID:0/003> Initialzation..
<ID:0/003> Set PIT file..
<ID:0/003> DO NOT TURN OFF TARGET!!
<ID:0/003> Get PIT for mapping..
<ID:0/003> Firmware update start..
<ID:0/003> SingleDownload.
<ID:0/003> sbl1.mbn
<ID:0/003> NAND Write Start!!
<ID:0/003> sbl2.mbn
<ID:0/003> sbl3.mbn
<ID:0/003> rpm.mbn
<ID:0/003> aboot.mbn
<ID:0/003> FAIL! (Auth)
<ID:0/003>
<ID:0/003> Complete(Write) operation failed.
<OSM> All threads completed. (succeed 0 / failed 1)
And in the corner of my phone screen, a red message appears which says:
START [224,1440]
SW REV. CHECK FAIL : fused : 6 , Binary : 5
If there is any more information you would need, please let me know.

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Oddity3 said:
A few months ago, I got a (Verizon) Samsung Galaxy S4 (it was "free" with contract). I successfully rooted it not long after.
Just a couple weeks ago, an update was released through the verizon network, so blindly I decided to use the update, only to find out afterwards that it removed my root. I tried the same method I used before to root it, only to find people saying that the newest OTA (Over The Air) update made rooting impossible.
After a fair amount of searching, I found a method which supposedly would work (http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=2487142). I used the method, however it did not work, and my phone was stuck in download mode.
After previous reading, I learned that the only way to manually exit download mode was to take out the battery. Though the root attempt had failed, it was obvious that something had occurred, so I was hesitant to use the brute force method of exiting download mode. However, without knowing an alternative, I removed the battery.
Now, whenever I try to turn on my phone, I merely get the message "Firmware update has encountered an issue. Please select recovery mode in Kies and try again."
If it helps, the text displayed in the upper corner with this message is:
ODIN MODE
PRODUCT NAME: SCH-I545
CURRENT BINARY: SAMSUNG OFFICIAL
SYSTEM STATUS: CUSTOM
KNOX KERNEL LOCK: 0x0
KNOX WARRANTY VOID: 0x0
CSB-CONFIG-LSB: 0x30
WRITE PROTECTION: Enabled
eMMC BURST MODE enabled
I have tried firmware upgrade and initialization in Kies3, but an error message is shown saying "SCH-I545 does not support initialization", When I tried Kies2, it just told me that the device was not responding.
I am still able to enter download mode.
When I try to flash an os using odin, I get these results:
<ID:0/003> Odin v.3 engine (ID:3)..
<ID:0/003> File analysis..
<ID:0/003> SetupConnection..
<ID:0/003> Initialzation..
<ID:0/003> Set PIT file..
<ID:0/003> DO NOT TURN OFF TARGET!!
<ID:0/003> Get PIT for mapping..
<ID:0/003> Firmware update start..
<ID:0/003> SingleDownload.
<ID:0/003> sbl1.mbn
<ID:0/003> NAND Write Start!!
<ID:0/003> sbl2.mbn
<ID:0/003> sbl3.mbn
<ID:0/003> rpm.mbn
<ID:0/003> aboot.mbn
<ID:0/003> FAIL! (Auth)
<ID:0/003>
<ID:0/003> Complete(Write) operation failed.
<OSM> All threads completed. (succeed 0 / failed 1)
And in the corner of my phone screen, a red message appears which says:
START [224,1440]
SW REV. CHECK FAIL : fused : 6 , Binary : 5
If there is any more information you would need, please let me know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try to flash the NC5 odin.

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joshuabg said:
Try to flash the NC5 odin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can enter download mode, but am unable to enter recovery mode. I just gives me the "Firmware upgrade encountered an issue" message again.

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Nevermind

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Oddity3 said:
I can enter download mode, but am unable to enter recovery mode. I just gives me the "Firmware upgrade encountered an issue" message again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some people have reported getting past that screen with volume up/volume down. Worth a try.
Basically, you have NC5 system and NC5 bootloader. You tried to flash a factory stock MK2 from the looks of it and failed. What you need to do is to go to Surge1223's thread with info on flashing back to MK2 here and try to re-flash using his process.