[Q] How To Install Custom Software On VZW GS4 - Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4

I've had my brand new SCH-I545 since thanks giving now. I've been trying to root and get a custom ROM on the phone ever since then and have gotten closer and closer but haven't been able to quite get everything to co-operate.
I may catch scorn for posting such a generic question on a flagship phone but I've been up all night for 2 weeks now trying to get this to work following numerous tutorials but with android everything seems to get outdated when there are so many software variables at hand that are constantly changing like firmwares and build numbers. I've included all the info since it all seems to be vital and have tried to seperate tasks by paragraph so you can skip over what you feel may be arbritrary. So if I could get an up to date breakdown on how I could succeed in my endevour I'd appreciate it greatly.
Out the box I have a 4.4.2 and NK1 build number. I was finally able to get root access through towel root after flashing back to NC5. However even after flashing NC5 through odin, about phone still says my baseband and build number end I545VRUFNK1 but towelroot no longer gives me the "phone not supported" message and I'm able to succesfully atain root access, confirmed by root checker. Is that normal?
So I have root now but want a custom ROM. VZW locks the bootloaders on new phones so I believe that means I can't use a custom recovery like CWM. I've tried and tried but it doesn't work, neither does the CWM Rom manager app. I've managed to get a custom recovery through installing BusyBox and Safestrap. (I had to go through several apk's to get Safestrap to work. Usually I would be able to enter TWRP recovery through it but the recovery won't respond to any of my touches. The power button still works to turn the screen on and off so it is not frozen but it won't respond when I swipe to unlock it. Even now that I have it working, if the screen locks I'm unable to unlock it even if TWRP is performing a task in the backround and clearly not frozen.
One time I was able to more or less successfully flash LiquidSmooth (LS-KK-v3.2-2014-10-04-jflte.zip). This was the closest I ever got to my goal as the ROM succesfully booted up and I was able to browse the home screen and change all the settings and it was a moment of joy until I went to settings and switched wifi on it just wouldn't. It either just wouldn't switch or would switch right back and grey itself out I don't remember exactly. My phone had no service either for calls, text or 4G. So everything worked internally it just couldnt comunicate with any signals coming from outside the phone. Why would this be? If I manage to boot LiquidSmooth again is there something I could download to make the wifi/service work? (I could download through USB or Odin.)
After this I tried to flash CM but the phone wouldnt even start after installation and would just bootloop so I had to flash back to stock to make it work again. Then I tried LiquidSmooth several more times but now I get stuck at the bootscreen for LiquidSmooth where it has the logo and the backround flashing. I've let the animation loop for several minutes multiple times before doing a battery pull.
Basically for 2 weeks I've been flashing NC5->rooting->flashing NK1 back->installing safestrap->installing a rom->soft bricking->flashing back to stock ROM and starting again
Is it possible if I keep doing this proccess that it will just work one time? It may sound silly but I kind of believe just because I've had varrying degrees of success following the exact same procedure.
And when I install a ROM in TWRP I go Wipe->(swipe factory reset)->Install->(select LS.zip and wait for it to say its succesfully installed)->Swipe one more time to wipe cache->Reboot after this the phone either fails to start up or loops the LiquidSmooth animation. As I said, one time it started succesfully.
Let me know what any of this information leads you to believe and if you may have a sollution in mind. Huge thanks to anyone that read this and will try to help me. I've had this phone 2 weeks now and would like to start actually using it.

unorthodocks said:
I've had my brand new SCH-I545 since thanks giving now. I've been trying to root and get a custom ROM on the phone ever since then and have gotten closer and closer but haven't been able to quite get everything to co-operate.
I may catch scorn for posting such a generic question on a flagship phone but I've been up all night for 2 weeks now trying to get this to work following numerous tutorials but with android everything seems to get outdated when there are so many software variables at hand that are constantly changing like firmwares and build numbers. I've included all the info since it all seems to be vital and have tried to seperate tasks by paragraph so you can skip over what you feel may be arbritrary. So if I could get an up to date breakdown on how I could succeed in my endevour I'd appreciate it greatly.
Out the box I have a 4.4.2 and NK1 build number. I was finally able to get root access through towel root after flashing back to NC5. However even after flashing NC5 through odin, about phone still says my baseband and build number end I545VRUFNK1 but towelroot no longer gives me the "phone not supported" message and I'm able to succesfully atain root access, confirmed by root checker. Is that normal?
So I have root now but want a custom ROM. VZW locks the bootloaders on new phones so I believe that means I can't use a custom recovery like CWM. I've tried and tried but it doesn't work, neither does the CWM Rom manager app. I've managed to get a custom recovery through installing BusyBox and Safestrap. (I had to go through several apk's to get Safestrap to work. Usually I would be able to enter TWRP recovery through it but the recovery won't respond to any of my touches. The power button still works to turn the screen on and off so it is not frozen but it won't respond when I swipe to unlock it. Even now that I have it working, if the screen locks I'm unable to unlock it even if TWRP is performing a task in the backround and clearly not frozen.
One time I was able to more or less successfully flash LiquidSmooth (LS-KK-v3.2-2014-10-04-jflte.zip). This was the closest I ever got to my goal as the ROM succesfully booted up and I was able to browse the home screen and change all the settings and it was a moment of joy until I went to settings and switched wifi on it just wouldn't. It either just wouldn't switch or would switch right back and grey itself out I don't remember exactly. My phone had no service either for calls, text or 4G. So everything worked internally it just couldnt comunicate with any signals coming from outside the phone. Why would this be? If I manage to boot LiquidSmooth again is there something I could download to make the wifi/service work? (I could download through USB or Odin.)
After this I tried to flash CM but the phone wouldnt even start after installation and would just bootloop so I had to flash back to stock to make it work again. Then I tried LiquidSmooth several more times but now I get stuck at the bootscreen for LiquidSmooth where it has the logo and the backround flashing. I've let the animation loop for several minutes multiple times before doing a battery pull.
Basically for 2 weeks I've been flashing NC5->rooting->flashing NK1 back->installing safestrap->installing a rom->soft bricking->flashing back to stock ROM and starting again
Is it possible if I keep doing this proccess that it will just work one time? It may sound silly but I kind of believe just because I've had varrying degrees of success following the exact same procedure.
And when I install a ROM in TWRP I go Wipe->(swipe factory reset)->Install->(select LS.zip and wait for it to say its succesfully installed)->Swipe one more time to wipe cache->Reboot after this the phone either fails to start up or loops the LiquidSmooth animation. As I said, one time it started succesfully.
Let me know what any of this information leads you to believe and if you may have a sollution in mind. Huge thanks to anyone that read this and will try to help me. I've had this phone 2 weeks now and would like to start actually using it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The issue is that safestrap is incompatible with the roms you are trying to use. It can be only used with Touchwiz based roms(i.e. using the stock kernel). Try flashing hyperdrive rom. Also, Im not familiar if NK1 can use towelroot and safestrap well. My recommendation would be to
1. clean wipe to nc5
2. towel root
3. install safestrap
4. flash ONLY roms that say they were safestrap compatible.
5. Flash any patches, modems, etc.

Weeks? How about spending a few hours reading up on what you can and can't do with your phone.

Raymondlikesroot said:
The issue is that safestrap is incompatible with the roms you are trying to use. It can be only used with Touchwiz based roms(i.e. using the stock kernel). Try flashing hyperdrive rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, thanks, I was going to try to flash hyperdrive but the ROM I found was 1.2GB and I didn't have that much space on my SD. I'll borrow an empty one and try it again. Is it not odd that LS did a full boot if it's not compatible with safestrap? And are there any other Touchwiz roms? I don't like Touchwiz and am trying to get as far from it as I can but if I could just delete the bloatware (which I can still only disable after towel root), get SD access and get rid of the battery restrictions.

unorthodocks said:
Ok, thanks, I was going to try to flash hyperdrive but the ROM I found was 1.2GB and I didn't have that much space on my SD. I'll borrow an empty one and try it again. Is it not odd that LS did a full boot if it's not compatible with safestrap? And are there any other Touchwiz roms? I don't like Touchwiz and am trying to get as far from it as I can but if I could just delete the bloatware (which I can still only disable after towel root), get SD access and get rid of the battery restrictions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The reason that LS did a full boot is because certain aosp roms can function with a touchwiz kernel. However, the result is always buggy. There is s4 verizon general thread talking about this.
There are many other tw roms. Just go to andriod devlopment! On the top of my head, I can think of eclipse, hyperdrive, echoe, and empty galaxy.

Related

You are suppose to root before installing custom roms correct?

I had the stock rom installed but I had recovery on it and I decided to just load the new rom on it and I didn't realize I was suppose to root the phone before flashing. So basically everything was a little weird. When it started and was at the unlock screen it said sim card is locked and I don't have a sim card. Then later when looking at the sd card it was saying -- for the available space and space used. I tried to format it and it said please wait while calculating and was showing some odd algebra equation. Then it just did a soft reset and basically showed the IHO boot screen then the loading screen. No LG icon thus being a soft reset. But that is all it would do. And upon trying to shut it off it was showing no option to shut off just a bunch of odd icons and one saying airplane mode or something with a power icon next to it. So I chose it and it was saying something like reset and it had menu for a title. So I chose it and it shut off. So I was just wanting to make sure that if I rooted it before re installing the IHO that this would clear up those issues.
You need a custom recovery to install custom ROMs. Here is a tutorial how to flash one without rooting.
You need custom recovery to install custom roms and to flash custom recovery without rooting Follow http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1318750
you just need to format your system with any method
and then flash new one
that's what recovery do
may be sometime adb also help
I have this installed on my phone: Xionia_CWMA_12518.6_VM_Recovery-signed and I use it to get the phone formated with a new rom. I know that I can get a custom rom on the phone perfectly fine when it is rooted. I guess since I did it without it being rooted it somehow made things look corrupt after installing the rom without the phone being rooted. I hope that it will work properly when I get the phone re rooted and install the latest version of the rom I use: BACKside-IHO-VM670-11022011 this is the first rom I ever used to get on my phone so I was thinking of sticking with it unless there is a more stable one that performs better and can run most anything thrown at it. As I have run into a few issues with this rom. I can end up having things run off the sd card and they end up crashing the phone and doing a hard reset as well as games or apps not wanting to work at all and give a force close error. I am really wanting to play annoying orange kitchen carnage I have even tried a stock rom at 2.2.1 and it still didn't work. Is there a specific kernel I should be installing or something?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1197991
This should answer all your questions.
Ok thanks. Just wanted to know as I know how to root and get a rom installed on the phone. So thanks for the help.

Can't flash custom rom (MDK)

Hi All - Long time listener, first time caller.
I have a Verizon S4 and have been running stock root for a while now. I'm looking to install Carbon ROM. For some reason, when I try to flash it, I get the "Unauthorized Software" message that pops up after it completes and reboots. My only option is to boot back into TWRP and restore from backup. Everything that I've read says that it's because my bootloader isn't unlocked, but I can't figure out how to do it.
Is there something else I need to do? I'm on Ubuntu, so I can't really run the Windows things (unless Odin, for example, works through VIrtualbox? I haven't tried because there are general virtual USB issues that have soft bricked other devices I've had.)
I'm definitely on MDK (I froze the Samsung updater) and my initial effort to root was done on a friend's computer with Odin using these instructions: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2290798.
Running through the forum, I've tried:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2606501 (Followed the MDK links which go to below)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2578569 (it just talks about rooting which I already have)
I'm sure there's a step somewhere that I've missed, but I can't see the forest through the trees. Anything obvious that I didn't do?
The only other things I can think of that could get me there:
1. Update to the latest firmware and then just give in and use safestrap (not ideal)
2. Could I re-flash to the pre-release kernel and then go directly to CarbonROM? Will I need to reflash to the release-version of MDK after?
Open to suggestions.
FranklinPIerce said:
Hi All - Long time listener, first time caller.
I have a Verizon S4 and have been running stock root for a while now. I'm looking to install Carbon ROM. For some reason, when I try to flash it, I get the "Unauthorized Software" message that pops up after it completes and reboots. My only option is to boot back into TWRP and restore from backup. Everything that I've read says that it's because my bootloader isn't unlocked, but I can't figure out how to do it.
Is there something else I need to do? I'm on Ubuntu, so I can't really run the Windows things (unless Odin, for example, works through VIrtualbox? I haven't tried because there are general virtual USB issues that have soft bricked other devices I've had.)
I'm definitely on MDK (I froze the Samsung updater) and my initial effort to root was done on a friend's computer with Odin using these instructions: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2290798.
Running through the forum, I've tried:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2606501 (Followed the MDK links which go to below)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2578569 (it just talks about rooting which I already have)
I'm sure there's a step somewhere that I've missed, but I can't see the forest through the trees. Anything obvious that I didn't do?
The only other things I can think of that could get me there:
1. Update to the latest firmware and then just give in and use safestrap (not ideal)
2. Could I re-flash to the pre-release kernel and then go directly to CarbonROM? Will I need to reflash to the release-version of MDK after?
Open to suggestions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The ROM may not have Loki support...if you are using the older twrp version it may not auto lokify the ROM...try updating your recovery and give it another go
FranklinPIerce said:
Hi All - Long time listener, first time caller.
I have a Verizon S4 and have been running stock root for a while now. I'm looking to install Carbon ROM. For some reason, when I try to flash it, I get the "Unauthorized Software" message that pops up after it completes and reboots. My only option is to boot back into TWRP and restore from backup. Everything that I've read says that it's because my bootloader isn't unlocked, but I can't figure out how to do it.
Is there something else I need to do? I'm on Ubuntu, so I can't really run the Windows things (unless Odin, for example, works through VIrtualbox? I haven't tried because there are general virtual USB issues that have soft bricked other devices I've had.)
I'm definitely on MDK (I froze the Samsung updater) and my initial effort to root was done on a friend's computer with Odin using these instructions: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2290798.
Running through the forum, I've tried:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2606501 (Followed the MDK links which go to below)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2578569 (it just talks about rooting which I already have)
I'm sure there's a step somewhere that I've missed, but I can't see the forest through the trees. Anything obvious that I didn't do?
The only other things I can think of that could get me there:
1. Update to the latest firmware and then just give in and use safestrap (not ideal)
2. Could I re-flash to the pre-release kernel and then go directly to CarbonROM? Will I need to reflash to the release-version of MDK after?
Open to suggestions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would recommend trying out Philz ( cwm ) recovery possibly. There have been random issues like yours reported and usually updating the recovery or just trying a different ROM all together gets better results.
You shouldn't need to go back to stock mdk for anything since you're already rooted and have a custom recovery.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
Thanks for the suggestions. I did update my recovery, but now that I think of it, I may not have tried to re-flash since upgrading. My preference is to not use CWM, but I will if I have to, I guess.
In either case, I'll try this all out when I get home from work and post back. Thanks for the suggestions.
FranklinPIerce said:
Thanks for the suggestions. I did update my recovery, but now that I think of it, I may not have tried to re-flash since upgrading. My preference is to not use CWM, but I will if I have to, I guess.
In either case, I'll try this all out when I get home from work and post back. Thanks for the suggestions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let me suggest trying liquid smooth 4.4
Awesome ROM to try.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
FranklinPIerce said:
Hi All - Long time listener, first time caller.
I have a Verizon S4 and have been running stock root for a while now. I'm looking to install Carbon ROM. For some reason, when I try to flash it, I get the "Unauthorized Software" message that pops up after it completes and reboots. My only option is to boot back into TWRP and restore from backup. Everything that I've read says that it's because my bootloader isn't unlocked, but I can't figure out how to do it.
Is there something else I need to do? I'm on Ubuntu, so I can't really run the Windows things (unless Odin, for example, works through VIrtualbox? I haven't tried because there are general virtual USB issues that have soft bricked other devices I've had.)
I'm definitely on MDK (I froze the Samsung updater) and my initial effort to root was done on a friend's computer with Odin using these instructions: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2290798.
Running through the forum, I've tried:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2606501 (Followed the MDK links which go to below)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2578569 (it just talks about rooting which I already have)
I'm sure there's a step somewhere that I've missed, but I can't see the forest through the trees. Anything obvious that I didn't do?
The only other things I can think of that could get me there:
1. Update to the latest firmware and then just give in and use safestrap (not ideal)
2. Could I re-flash to the pre-release kernel and then go directly to CarbonROM? Will I need to reflash to the release-version of MDK after?
Open to suggestions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would try their suggestions. For future reference though, you can use heimdall instead of Odin on Linux. I love it I think its better than odin
Sent from my unknown using Tapatalk
Ok, so I updated TWRP to the latest and tried again. Got the same message as before about unauthorized software and in the upper left, it said something about "Fail: Kernal"
From there, I had a hard time getting back into recovery. It would either say it was booting into recovery and then shut off or it would freeze. I eventually got back in and am restoring now.
Thanks for the information on Heimdall - I wasn't aware of it. The reason I wanted to go with Carbon is that it has a built-in application to control/override application permissions. Does something like that exist for LiquidRom? Or is it compatible with PDroid or something similar? (I didn't see a mention of it in their features, but might have missed it)
One more thought: I am using the Carbon nightlies for KK. Maybe there's a problem with the source file (I've redownloaded 4 times)? Or maybe I'm just destined to be on stock forever. :crying:
Edit: I just tried putting Philz recovery on and now I can't get into recovery as that's now giving the same unauthorized software message.
Edit2: I was able to get TWRP on eventually by going into Odin mode and hitting "Cancel." Each normal reboot would then give the same unauthorized message, so I just went back to TWRP and it's booting normally again. Ah, yay to Verizon and their locked phones.
Ok, I've tried a few more times tonight with no luck, so I'll give it a break for now and look into it more tomorrow or over the weekend.
FranklinPIerce said:
Ok, so I updated TWRP to the latest and tried again. Got the same message as before about unauthorized software and in the upper left, it said something about "Fail: Kernal"
From there, I had a hard time getting back into recovery. It would either say it was booting into recovery and then shut off or it would freeze. I eventually got back in and am restoring now.
Thanks for the information on Heimdall - I wasn't aware of it. The reason I wanted to go with Carbon is that it has a built-in application to control/override application permissions. Does something like that exist for LiquidRom? Or is it compatible with PDroid or something similar? (I didn't see a mention of it in their features, but might have missed it)
One more thought: I am using the Carbon nightlies for KK. Maybe there's a problem with the source file (I've redownloaded 4 times)? Or maybe I'm just destined to be on stock forever. :crying:
Edit: I just tried putting Philz recovery on and now I can't get into recovery as that's now giving the same unauthorized software message.
Edit2: I was able to get TWRP on eventually by going into Odin mode and hitting "Cancel." Each normal reboot would then give the same unauthorized message, so I just went back to TWRP and it's booting normally again. Ah, yay to Verizon and their locked phones.
Ok, I've tried a few more times tonight with no luck, so I'll give it a break for now and look into it more tomorrow or over the weekend.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's odd that flashing Philz didn't work for you. Its a pain I know but probably if you had wiped the phone with stock mdk then tried again it woukd have worked I bet. I had to do that with this phone when i got it. It came with twrp, but was acting real funny not always getting into recovery or just hanging up on reboot. But you have a working twrp so that's good too.
I don't believe liquid has the built in app permissions you're talking about but maybe I missed it. I don't really mess with permissions. Liquid has everything else though and then some!
I know some Roms were having problems with unified builds. I know liquid does not at this point. Maybe it'd be worth trying just so you're not on stock lol you may want to look into the Loki doki zip that you flash after flashing the ROM. I've seen some people on here using that when they were getting the same error you were. Just an idea.
Good luck man!
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[Q] Rooted, but can't install custom recovery...

Ok, so I've rooted and put custom roms on numerous phones. I've been trying to put a custom recovery, twrp or cwm, whatever, on my wife's phone, but have got a wall. I know for sure, 100% that I am rooted. I tired to install twrp and cwm via their respective apps, ends up in either bootloop trying to boot into recovery (and FYI, the screen shows that a custom recovery is installed, just doesn't load into recovery and restarts). And tried both via Odin, but got the same result. Have never ran into this problem before with any of my phone's, all of the galaxy's and Galaxy Note's since the S2. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks homies!
Just to add, yes I made sure double checked, triple checked that I was installing the correct recovery for the phone model. Also, she has done all the ota updates that sprint has pushed as of last week (2/9/15).
Psychotic-Cerebellum said:
Ok, so I've rooted and put custom roms on numerous phones. I've been trying to put a custom recovery, twrp or cwm, whatever, on my wife's phone, but have got a wall. I know for sure, 100% that I am rooted. I tired to install twrp and cwm via their respective apps, ends up in either bootloop trying to boot into recovery (and FYI, the screen shows that a custom recovery is installed, just doesn't load into recovery and restarts). And tried both via Odin, but got the same result. Have never ran into this problem before with any of my phone's, all of the galaxy's and Galaxy Note's since the S2. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks homies!
Just to add, yes I made sure double checked, triple checked that I was installing the correct recovery for the phone model. Also, she has done all the ota updates that sprint has pushed as of last week (2/9/15).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, from your post it looks like you have done this before. To be sure lets go through the motions one more time.
Your device is updated to 4.4.4 NK4 the latest KitKat version. It's rooted you have supersu icon and run a root checker. First download again ( in case you got a bad download ) a copy of Philz CWM version 6.48.4 here is the link https://goo.im/devs/philz_touch/CWM_Advanced_Edition/hlte/ use "phil'z_touch_6.48.6-hlte.tar.md5" . I like to use odin version v1.85 it's little older but very stable, here is a link https://mega.co.nz/#!oA5xzTAL!LXoVWB...ZlOMSWdRGVX6Uo now flash the .tar file with odin. Make sure you let device boot up on it's own back to the OS, do not pull the cable and boot the device yourself. Then try and boot into recovery.
If it bootloops again, I would backup all your data to the PC desktop, and then do a factory reset get back to bone stock ( that means when your in download mode it says Samsung Official status not custom ) so many times I have seen folks with an unrooted device where the bootloader still says custom and you end up with a dirty flash or worse. It may take a couple factory resets to get back to stock, it doesn't always take the first time. When I flash a custom rom and then decide to go back to stock, I flash the rom two or three times to make sure I'm bone stock.
If the factory reset doesn't work you may have to flash a new stock NK4 OS. Then root again and install the recovery. Here is my thread with all the info you need http://forum.xda-developers.com/note-3-sprint/general/samsung-note-3-rom-flashin-basics-t2896440 , Enjoy !!!
Thanks for taking the time to give me a detailed response. Sounds like I'm gonna have to wait till Wednesday or Thursday when im off work and have some time to do this, but yeah, I was thinking maybe just a factory reset, but I'll use your links and try it one more time first. I'll let ya know. Thanks again
Do you have another link to the older Odin (1.85).the link says the file isn't there... Thanks again
Never got to test it out, but she didn't really want a custom rom anyway, just the WiFi hotspot, and I finally found a method that works, big shout out to idone for his awesome app. If anyone else is looking for WiFi hotspot without root that sees this, check out his tread in the apps and themes, for this phone. Worked like a charm. Thanks again jimzweb1. Much appreciate the reply!
Psychotic-Cerebellum said:
Never got to test it out, but she didn't really want a custom rom anyway, just the WiFi hotspot, and I finally found a method that works, big shout out to idone for his awesome app. If anyone else is looking for WiFi hotspot without root that sees this, check out his tread in the apps and themes, for this phone. Worked like a charm. Thanks again jimzweb1. Much appreciate the reply!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome, Ya idone is the man when it comes to enabling the mobile hotspot be careful what you click with app. I will correct that link. Thanks
Psychotic-Cerebellum said:
Ok, so I've rooted and put custom roms on numerous phones. I've been trying to put a custom recovery, twrp or cwm, whatever, on my wife's phone, but have got a wall. I know for sure, 100% that I am rooted. I tired to install twrp and cwm via their respective apps, ends up in either bootloop trying to boot into recovery (and FYI, the screen shows that a custom recovery is installed, just doesn't load into recovery and restarts). And tried both via Odin, but got the same result. Have never ran into this problem before with any of my phone's, all of the galaxy's and Galaxy Note's since the S2. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks homies!
Just to add, yes I made sure double checked, triple checked that I was installing the correct recovery for the phone model. Also, she has done all the ota updates that sprint has pushed as of last week (2/9/15).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the problem Knox security is getting harder flash engineering boot loader again then try rashr in app store to flash philz

Installed bootloader without rooting, now phone won't boot, can get into recovery

Here's what I did with a new T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S5:
- Started phone in download mode (started it with Volume Down, Home, and Power buttons) and connected it to computer.
- Started Odin3v185, saw yellow COM box.
- Clicked PDA button and selected philz_touch_6.26.2-klte.tar.md5 file.
- Clicked Start button, flashing went fine, phone reset and everything was cool, still with stock ROM. I was able to boot into Philz recovery to verify that flashing worked.
- As part of my goal of installing XtreStoLite ROM 2.2 (Lollipop), the following steps were to install the modem and bootloader for that ROM.
- Started phone in download mode and connected it to computer.
- Started Odin3.09, saw blue COM box.
- Clicked BL button, and selected G900T-LP-UVU1DOB1-BOOTLOADER.tar.md5.
- Clicked CP button, and selected G900T-LP-UVU1DOB1-MODEM.tar.md5.
- Clicked Start to flash. Phone reset, but it froze at the Samsung logo.
I gave it about a half hour just to make sure it wasn't just taking it's time with this first boot after the update, but it stayed at the Samsung logo. Only way to turn it off was to remove the battery. I'm still able to boot into Philz, so I figured a way to fix it might be to just go ahead and install the ROM. So I selected the "install from zip" option and installed XtreStoLite_ROM_v2.2_LP_XXU1BOD3.zip. Now the startup logo is a bit different, but it still stays frozen at the logo. I know from previous times installing this ROM that it does usually take awhile (maybe 5 minutes) on the first boot after installing, but I let it sit again for about 30 minutes with no luck.
The only thing I can see that I did differently this time, which I know realize was dumb, was skipping the step after flashing Philz where I boot into it and install UPDATE-SuperSU-v2.37.zip to root the device. I thought that I'd be able to install the bootloader, modem, and ROM and end up with a rooted OS, but I'm guessing that rooting is separate from those things, and they can't succeed until the phone has been rooted.
So... what can I do now? I'm trying to install the stock ROM (G900T_TMB_G900TUVU1CNK2_G900TTMB1CNK2_original.zip), but Philz gives me a "installation aborted" error before it even starts, with no other error messages. I also suspect I should install the original kitkat bootloader+modem, but I'm not sure where to find those (searching yields a lot of different results).
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
The bootloop must be related to the bootloader/modem you've flashed. SU will allow root access once booted, but it won't prevent the system from booting if you skip it. Are you simply trying to root? FWIW, I'd recommend skipping Lollipop altogether, Marshmallow is night and day better than Lollipop. Flash the complete factory image of one of the Marshmallow releases, then flash your recovery and install SU. There are a couple of good, debloated Marshmallow roms available.
I was able to get out of the situation by flashing a stock ROM from here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/tmo.../compilation-s5-g900t-stock-firmware-t3042400
I first flashed the stock modem and bootloader, though I'm not sure that was required because I think they're included in the ROM itself.
Used the latest 4.4.2 ROM and NK2 bootloader+modem, just because I'm pretty sure it was 4.4.2 that was on the phone when I got it.
Retried my procedure, this time rooting + disabling KNOX before flashing the Lollipop bootloader+modem from the ROM's install instructions, but I still ran into the same "freeze at boot" problem. I don't know what could be the issue, as I've done this exact procedure with two previous S5s. Not really looking to check out Marshmallow ROMs, just because I'm short on time these days, and after trying out a handful over the years, the XtreStoLite is by far the best for me.... really the perfect combo of stock Android with some of the improvements offered by TouchWiz, with all the tweaks to fix annoying "features" that I want fixed (for example, the removal of that damn "are you sure you want to increase the volume? It could damage your hearing" warning when you connect headphones and try to turn up the volume). Also, just stable and fast, compared to most/all the others I've tried.
Sounds to me as if you need stock Marshmallow with a custom recovery and Exposed. Mine is fast as hell, extremely frugal on battery, and Exposed has got rid of all the annoying TW "features", like the volume warning you mention (also, expanded notifications on lockscreen, battery full notification gone, circle battery, etc, etc). There are also alternatives to stock that are good, I tried one a couple of weeks ago that I think I'm probably going to go back to. Lollipop is horrible after using KitKat, Marshmallow brings back the KitKat experience but with dramatically improved battery life. You'll also get some Stagefright improvements.
Sorry for the delayed response, been too busy to deal with this for a couple weeks. How exactly do I get a stock Marshmallow with custom recovery and Exposed? Don't I already have the custom recovery covered with Philz? What Marshmallow ROM would you recommend? Thanks for the feedback!
Just download & Odin the latest complete image, GPI1, then Odin recovery (since Philz doesn't work, try TWRP, it works for me), then flash SU & Exposed. Takes about 15 minutes, although the download may take longer. Not sure if anyone has posted the link, but you can get it from sammobile, albeit slowly.
invisiblewave said:
Just download & Odin the latest complete image, GPI1, then Odin recovery (since Philz doesn't work, try TWRP, it works for me), then flash SU & Exposed. Takes about 15 minutes, although the download may take longer. Not sure if anyone has posted the link, but you can get it from sammobile, albeit slowly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you deodex GPI1 before exposed?
invisiblewave said:
Just download & Odin the latest complete image, GPI1, then Odin recovery (since Philz doesn't work, try TWRP, it works for me), then flash SU & Exposed. Takes about 15 minutes, although the download may take longer. Not sure if anyone has posted the link, but you can get it from sammobile, albeit slowly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does this thread have the info I need for installing Xposed (I'm assuming "Exposed" and "Xposed" are the same thing)?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3034811
Just install a .zip from TWRP, then install the .apk to manage installed modules?
I have "UPDATE-SuperSU-v2.37.zip". Is that sufficient for SU?
Well dammit, I've now spent multiple hours I didn't have trying to get *ANY* ROM other than the stock KitKat one to work. Was just about to give up after trying one last time with XtreStoLite, this time using KToonsez kernel instead of stock. Restarted and it was taking forever to boot, so I assumed it was frozen and was about to pull the battery and call it a night, when it actually made it into the OS! So perhaps there's something going on with the phone that won't let it boot with any stock kernel, other than 4.4.2. Bummer, because I was starting to get excited about trying Marshmallow.
It's because you have KitKat firmware. You just need to flash the entire MM package first.
What is the MM package, if it's not
G900T-(GPI1)-Bootloader.tar
G900T-(GPI1)-Modem-NonHLOS.tar
G900TUVS1GPI1_G900TTMB1GPI1_G900TUVS1GPI1_HOME.tar.md5
?
You don't need to flash the bootloader & modem separately. If you download the complete firmware, that's all you need to flash, it has all the necessary partitions in it. Just flash that, see if it works, then flash the recovery, etc.
I already tried G900TUVS1GPI1_G900TTMB1GPI1_G900TUVS1GPI1_HOME.tar.md5, both with and without the bootloader+modem packages.
I didn't see any mention of you having tried it in your earlier post. You should be able to flash just that package under AP (All Partitions, I assume), and it should install all the partitions it finds inside the tar. My guess is that Odin isn't completing correctly. What does it say in the log on the left? I had to use Odin 9, 10 wouldn't work on my setup for some reason, nor could I get it to work on XP, only on Windoze 8.

My story of almost bricked into rooted, unlocked bootloader, and custom rom

I thought you guys might find this amusing, and hopefully it will help some people that get into a similar situation as myself. First, a little background - I rooted and installed Alliance Rom years ago back before the bootloader was unlocked. This worked amazing for me for a long time but I've recently had some weird issues with my phone so I decided to do a factory reset.
I went into settings, clicked factory reset, and then my phone got into a boot loop on recovery. I remember from before I had to do a regular boot then click recovery at the prompt instead of doing the factory recovery so I did that.
Instead of doing a normal wipe, I wanted to wipe everything on my phone and start from scratch so I did the full wipe (in what I think was TWRP or safestrap or whatever). When I went to reboot my phone it had a message like "are you sure? there's no OS installed" and I clicked ok. Well now I couldn't get the phone to boot into anything except download mode so at least I can use Odin.
I'm frantically searching google to try and find ways to install some sort of recovery so I could load AllianceRom again since I still had the zip file for it. Eureka, I found TWRP for my phone! I tried to flash TWRP through Odin but that doesn't work because my bootloader wasn't unlocked.... I remember this from last time ... all of the places I found online to install any sort of recovery required the phone to be booted into android.
So I'm clicking around and someone has a recovery randomly posted in a thread so I install it thinking, what the hell, what's the worst that could go wrong. So I install it through Odin and boot into normal recovery and I get this message saying my phone has been tampered with and to go to a verizon store immediately! Oops... upon further investigation (looking at the download screen), I tripped the knox flag... oh well, it's not like my phone is in warranty anymore (I got it on release day).
I search around looking for what I should do next and I found a thread that talked about being on complete stock, rooting, then unlocking the bootloader. I download all the files I need (newest firmware here - https://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/galaxy-note3/SM-N900V/ and thread here - https://forum.xda-developers.com/ve...guide-ob6-of1-root-bootloader-unlock-t3439010) to go back to stock and flash in Odin. Actually I didn't download from sammobile.com because it was downloading too slow so I just googled the file name and found it somewhere else faster, go figure.
Everything seems to be going ok then all of a sudden FAIL in Odin... Ahhh what the heck do I do now? Try again obviously! Second try works woo hoo! Phone start booting up, things are looking good!!! hooray!! But wait... it's taking forever to start and it's stuck on the Verizon logo... uh oh... taking way too long to boot up so I pull the battery and try again. Boots right in saying that android is upgrading so I think I'm finally in the home stretch here.
I try to run the ArabicToolApp for Root but I installed the latest firmware which isn't supported DAMN IT! Downloaded the correct firmware (OB6!), flashed in Odin, same problem before where it was stuck on the red verizon screen, pulled battery, rebooted, finally time to get root!
Phone finally boots into OS and I get a popup "unfortunatley com.google.process.gapps has stopped" great... and it keeps coming up over and over again after I hit ok... just my luck! Reboot again to see if that fixes the issue. Seems weird that I didn't have to go through all the initial setup stuff I did on the other version I installed... hmm... or maybe it was because I pulled the battery on the red verizon screen? Whatever. I somehow manage to get to options to do a factory reset and I let the verizon screen stay on a while this time. I'll go take my contacts out and give my wife some love while I wait
Come back and the phone is at the setup wizard, this is good news. Enabled USB debugging, installed root, done! Thank god!
Next I want to unlock the bootloader. I follow the steps here which aren't very clear (I'm guessing on purpose for novice computer users) - https://forum.xda-developers.com/ve...l/official-note-3-verizon-bootloader-t3359370
1. I installed eMMC from the play store to make sure my CID started with a 15, it does so I know I'm good to use the hack.
2. I installed both files in the unlock kit (adb and driver setup)
3. Fired up adb, navigated to where I had unlock_n3, and ran through the first part of the code once, reboot my phone, checked that the CID was the developer CID, and then ran the second part of the code three times before it worked
I verified the bootloader was installed correctly by trying to install TWRP through Odin, which worked!
I'm going to try out Jasmine Rom since it's a popular one that is on 5.0. My SD card only showed 30 megs free or something like that, so I formatted it from within android and copied the zip file over and installed the Rom through TWRP. Rom installed just fine, so I did one last factory reset which worked great and I think I'm finally good to go!
If you have any questions or run into any issues feel free to reply here and I'll try to help as much as I can.
Glad it worked out for you in the end.
From making a few mistakes I know that sinking feeling "oh no, what have I done?"
FWIW, the bootloader unlock method (in principle) works from nearly ANY ROM which is rooted - so, you would have saved yourself a bunch of time if you had started with that before you wiped the Alliance ROM. So long as you have root and a CID value that starts with 0x15, you just need root privileges - no need to return to stock and re-root.
(The "in principle" part is that there were several bugs in the "safety checks" portion of the unlocker binary that were sensitive to the OS revision, so you might have to search through the unlock thread to find a version of the unlock binary that is compatible with whatever rooted ROM is on the phone when the unlocking is attempted.)
good luck
PS The AryaMod ROM (w/ phantomOne kernel) is pretty solid - Marshmallow w/ S-Pen apps, too! As with any other dev ROM, there are a few sharp edges, but mostly everything works (except NFC).
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