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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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.
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?
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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.
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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.
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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
So I've been running stock rooted 4.2 for a ridiculously long time now, I've been putting off updating it, even though it seems like a pretty easy process. Now all the guides are for how to accept OTA from 4.2 to 4.3, or from 4.3 to 4.4. Any one know how to go directly from 4.2 to 4.4, or where to find a factory 4.3 image and flash with root so I can update to 4.4?
I am currently rooted on ME7 running 4.2.2. Is there any advantages/disadvantages to updating to a rooted kitkat? Since the bootloader is locked for both, I realize CM11 is not a possibility right now. But, should I just sit where I am right now or are there major improvements that I am missing out on.
I currently have Hyperdrive installed with NC5. I did it probably over a year ago now and want to see what there is available now. Is it possible to go up to 5.0.1 and an unlocked bootloader yet or am I stuck at 4.4.2 and safestrap?
If not, what ROMs should I look at that I am able to use?
Stang5litre has roms that are compatible with locked bootladers based on loliop. Also work on unlocked bootloaders.