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Hi all I've been on this for a while, since the weekend looked at a serious amount of posts and guides on rooting and unrooting but I'm no further forward.
The problem I have is I wanted to upgrade from gingerbread to ics so I could eventually put the latest cyanogen mod on my phone. I rooted the phone no problem there flashed an insecure kernel with odin 1.85 as per the instructions from one of the guides got the CWM and superuser apps then flashed the original back, got rid of the yellow triangle every thing good so far. I did this coz I expected I had to, to put cyanogenmod on my phone.
Samsung kies says there is a update to ICS but every time I try to update it fails. Try using Odin with a stock mod and it fails. I rang Samsung and they say my build number is the up to date version. One of my colleagues has an older sgs2 and he managed to update his no problem with kies. I'm wondering if there is a problem with my phone preventing it from being updated? Also every time a look at a post or a guide it seems like that post is specific to a particular android version and I can't find one that is specific to mine such as carrier Orange, gingerbread2.3.3 as I think it's too old. PDA I9100BVKH2.
Now I'm thinking I might just try unrooting it and take it to orange and get them to update it but uprooting it to stock seems to be a pain, I need to get rid of that doing flash counter.
Do I need to go to orange or is this easy to update and I'm just missing something. Before I get flamed I did search not just here but all over the Internet to find a reason why I couldn't update but didn't get a definitive answer.
Dodgeyhodgeyuk said:
Hi all I've been on this for a while, since the weekend looked at a serious amount of posts and guides on rooting and unrooting but I'm no further forward.
The problem I have is I wanted to upgrade from gingerbread to ics so I could eventually put the latest cyanogen mod on my phone. I rooted the phone no problem there flashed an insecure kernel with odin 1.85 as per the instructions from one of the guides got the CWM and superuser apps then flashed the original back, got rid of the yellow triangle every thing good so far. I did this coz I expected I had to, to put cyanogenmod on my phone.
Samsung kies says there is a update to ICS but every time I try to update it fails. Try using Odin with a stock mod and it fails. I rang Samsung and they say my build number is the up to date version. One of my colleagues has an older sgs2 and he managed to update his no problem with kies. I'm wondering if there is a problem with my phone preventing it from being updated? Also every time a look at a post or a guide it seems like that post is specific to a particular android version and I can't find one that is specific to mine such as carrier Orange, gingerbread2.3.3 as I think it's too old. PDA I9100BVKH2.
Now I'm thinking I might just try unrooting it and take it to orange and get them to update it but uprooting it to stock seems to be a pain, I need to get rid of that doing flash counter.
Do I need to go to orange or is this easy to update and I'm just missing something. Before I get flamed I did search not just here but all over the Internet to find a reason why I couldn't update but didn't get a definitive answer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are two ways to do this:
1. Update the phone to ICS on your own.
- Visit Sammobile
- Download the firmware for your country/carrier
- Extract the zip file.
- Flash the firmware via odin
- Boot to recovery and perform a factory reset.
done.
2. Reset your binary counter and take it to Orange!
- you can use USB jig to reset your counter.
or
- Flash a Samsung based custom rom via CWM recovery,
- Download Triangle away app by Chainfire
- Use Triangle away app, to reset your binary counter
- flash back your Stock ROM (you can also get it from Sammobile if you dont have a copy)
- take your phone to Orange.
done.
cheers
OK thanks for your help. will give it a go.
You dont need kies or orange-this is why your getting confused.You could go to sammobile and get an unbranded ics for your region/model,and to be "safe",go for 4.0.3.
Then you can flash like siyah kernel,make a nand backup,and efs backup then install whatever rom you want.
theunderling said:
You dont need kies or orange-this is why your getting confused.You could go to sammobile and get an unbranded ics for your region/model,and to be "safe",go for 4.0.3.
Then you can flash like siyah kernel,make a nand backup,and efs backup then install whatever rom you want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
would like to try that but now odin failed after i flashed a stock rom and now i'm stuck on the samsung galaxy logo with no recovery mode. I can get into download mode though but thats it.
Odin wont flash anything exept kernels.
Seriously thinking about throwing it in the bin. Now i spend days trying to get the phone usable again. why the hell cant i flash roms WTF!
Thanks for your replies.
There's a wealth of knowledge on this forum but i cant seem to find a solution on here to get my phone back.
Ive got my phone back. used upstairs pc and flashed original insecure kernel and recovery came up. ive now done a factory reset. back to square one but at least phone is back on. guess it was the laptop i was using. What is that all about?
Looking at all the how to's on upgrading to ICS i thought if i stuck to the steps it would just work but it didn't
Thanks for every ones input.
Chris.
Hey all, I'm looking to eventually install CyanogenMod 10.1 on my verizon galaxy S4. However, being a complete novice on this type of thing makes me a bit nervous about bricking my expensive phone.
So, I thought it would be good to try and understand the process of rooting and installing the custom rom. Could you guys help me out? I'll list what I know.
First thing I want to do is backup the Android stock rom that came with the phone. I have read that rooting or installing a custom rom (like CM) will void my warranty, so that's not good. But re-flashing the stock android that came with the phone will remedy this. To do this, I found this guide on using Nandroid. I don't think the CWM way will work for Verizon galaxy S4 (read that somewhere, but correct me if that's wrong).
However, it says that I am required to have a rooted phone first before running Nandroid.
Because Verizon's Galaxy S4 comes with a locked bootloader, and an unrooted phone, I need a way to root my phone. I found this nifty all-in-one tool by bhp090808.
The way that tool works is it exploits something in verizon's pre-release kernel of the S4, so it flashes the phone with the pre-release kernel, gets root privileges, then reflashes the stock kernel. Once this is done, my phone will be rooted and I assume I can use Nandroid to backup the stock android on the phone.
This is where I'm stuck. I have a few questions regarding various parts from here on:
1) Since the phone is rooted and I run Nandroid to back up the stock android rom, wouldn't Nandroid back up the stock android rom with the root access? If I needed to return my phone to Verizon under warranty, re-flashing this stock rom would still void my warranty because it still has root access? Is there a way to completely revert to stock android with verizon's unrooted and locked bootloader status (and whatever else)?
2) Does the all-in-one tool unlock bootloader? I found a tool called loki which will unlock the bootloader so that I can install custom roms like CyanogenMod. I looked in the all-in-one tool's zip folder, and it contains a file called "loki_flash", but I am unsure if this is unlocking the bootloader or not.
3) Can I re-flash a stock android if I brick my phone? What exactly does 'bricking' the phone mean?
goodmedic said:
Hey all, I'm looking to eventually install CyanogenMod 10.1 on my verizon galaxy S4. However, being a complete novice on this type of thing makes me a bit nervous about bricking my expensive phone.
So, I thought it would be good to try and understand the process of rooting and installing the custom rom. Could you guys help me out? I'll list what I know.
First thing I want to do is backup the Android stock rom that came with the phone. I have read that rooting or installing a custom rom (like CM) will void my warranty, so that's not good. But re-flashing the stock android that came with the phone will remedy this. To do this, I found this guide on using Nandroid. I don't think the CWM way will work for Verizon galaxy S4 (read that somewhere, but correct me if that's wrong).
However, it says that I am required to have a rooted phone first before running Nandroid.
Because Verizon's Galaxy S4 comes with a locked bootloader, and an unrooted phone, I need a way to root my phone. I found this nifty all-in-one tool by bhp090808.
The way that tool works is it exploits something in verizon's pre-release kernel of the S4, so it flashes the phone with the pre-release kernel, gets root privileges, then reflashes the stock kernel. Once this is done, my phone will be rooted and I assume I can use Nandroid to backup the stock android on the phone.
This is where I'm stuck. I have a few questions regarding various parts from here on:
1) Since the phone is rooted and I run Nandroid to back up the stock android rom, wouldn't Nandroid back up the stock android rom with the root access? If I needed to return my phone to Verizon under warranty, re-flashing this stock rom would still void my warranty because it still has root access? Is there a way to completely revert to stock android with verizon's unrooted and locked bootloader status (and whatever else)?
2) Does the all-in-one tool unlock bootloader? I found a tool called loki which will unlock the bootloader so that I can install custom roms like CyanogenMod. I looked in the all-in-one tool's zip folder, and it contains a file called "loki_flash", but I am unsure if this is unlocking the bootloader or not.
3) Can I re-flash a stock android if I brick my phone? What exactly does 'bricking' the phone mean?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see its been a few days and no one has replied so I will do my best to share what knowledge I have. I've been heavily flashing custom ROMs on my ASUS tablet now for the better part of a year and just got my Verizon GS4, so I have alot of the same questions as you.
1) I'm going to answer this in two parts.
Nandroid, in my experience, refers to the type of backup, not necessarily the process by which to backup. Most common recoveries, including ClockworkMod and TWRP have a feature to create a 'nandroid backup'. This can take some time and files can be quite large, as they copy pretty much every single file on your device; almost like creating a snapshot of your device in that moment in time.
To answer the later part of this question, (typically speaking) once you unlock a bootloader you cannot re-lock it, but that could be different for phones (my knowledge in phones is limited). And yes, using a nandroid backup will back up your device with root access, but using a tool such as Rom Toolbox, you can easily un-root (the program features a 'permanent unroot option'). For one, I would imagine that flashing the stock kernel would overwrite the root, as like you said earlier in the post the current root exploit works by flashing a pre-release kernel, applying root to the device, then re-flashing the current stock kernel. Another way to lose root is to get an over-the-air (OTA) update. You will see programs like OTA Rootkeeper that work to circumvent this, but in your case that may be a valid way to cover your arse in case you need to return it under VZW warranty (it is for this reason that I always buy Best Buy protection plans, because they could care less about the software state about your device [Disclaimer: I worked for Geek Squad so I have /somewhat/ intimate knowledge in this matter])
2) I just rooted my GS4 a few days ago, and nothing I read indicated that the all-in-one tool would unlock the bootloader. If you read the documentation about Loki, he explains this fact. I just found a good video (although it uses TWRP and GooManager instead of ROMManager and CWM) explaining that there isn't a bootloader "unlock" just yet; rather its a workaround to the bootloader that allows us to get custom ROMs on our devices (video is here)
3) "Bricking" a device means rendering the device useless; it won't operate to any fashion that it is useful to you, so its no better than a brick or a paper weight, etc. I would imagine you can re-flash a stock verizon ROM/kernel to restore any screw-ups, but keep in mind this device was released less than three months ago and any development is relatively new. Yes, we have had other Galaxy S series phones, but the S4 has this whole KNOX nonsense that is specifically designed to prevent the kinds of activities we do here on this forum
I really hope that helps. If I said anything that is incorrect, please please feel free to correct it so that at least we can all learn the proper information.
Thanks,
Opethfan89
goodmedic said:
Hey all, I'm looking to eventually install CyanogenMod 10.1 on my verizon galaxy S4. However, being a complete novice on this type of thing makes me a bit nervous about bricking my expensive phone.
So, I thought it would be good to try and understand the process of rooting and installing the custom rom. Could you guys help me out? I'll list what I know.
First thing I want to do is backup the Android stock rom that came with the phone. I have read that rooting or installing a custom rom (like CM) will void my warranty, so that's not good. But re-flashing the stock android that came with the phone will remedy this. To do this, I found this guide on using Nandroid. I don't think the CWM way will work for Verizon galaxy S4 (read that somewhere, but correct me if that's wrong).
However, it says that I am required to have a rooted phone first before running Nandroid.
Because Verizon's Galaxy S4 comes with a locked bootloader, and an unrooted phone, I need a way to root my phone. I found this nifty all-in-one tool by bhp090808.
The way that tool works is it exploits something in verizon's pre-release kernel of the S4, so it flashes the phone with the pre-release kernel, gets root privileges, then reflashes the stock kernel. Once this is done, my phone will be rooted and I assume I can use Nandroid to backup the stock android on the phone.
This is where I'm stuck. I have a few questions regarding various parts from here on:
1) Since the phone is rooted and I run Nandroid to back up the stock android rom, wouldn't Nandroid back up the stock android rom with the root access? If I needed to return my phone to Verizon under warranty, re-flashing this stock rom would still void my warranty because it still has root access? Is there a way to completely revert to stock android with verizon's unrooted and locked bootloader status (and whatever else)?
2) Does the all-in-one tool unlock bootloader? I found a tool called loki which will unlock the bootloader so that I can install custom roms like CyanogenMod. I looked in the all-in-one tool's zip folder, and it contains a file called "loki_flash", but I am unsure if this is unlocking the bootloader or not.
3) Can I re-flash a stock android if I brick my phone? What exactly does 'bricking' the phone mean?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The S4 link in my signature has a few stock images to pick from. It will restore it to the original stock Verizon software that came with your phone.
DarkMenace said:
The S4 link in my signature has a few stock images to pick from. It will restore it to the original stock Verizon software that came with your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does the 'Ad-Free' APK I see available on that website work better than jRummy's AdBlocker? I installed it and it detects ads (like in ASTRO, Zedge, and a few others) but doesn't block them even though I have all the settings turned ON and have rebooted when requested.
That said, thanks for the link. I've bookmarked it for future reference and its good to know there are backups available in case anything goes bad.
Are you able to elaborate on how these are flashed? Via ODIN, or can you flash it via CWM/TWRP?
Thanks,
Opethfan89
opethfan89 said:
Does the 'Ad-Free' APK I see available on that website work better than jRummy's AdBlocker? I installed it and it detects ads (like in ASTRO, Zedge, and a few others) but doesn't block them even though I have all the settings turned ON and have rebooted when requested.
That said, thanks for the link. I've bookmarked it for future reference and its good to know there are backups available in case anything goes bad.
Are you able to elaborate on how these are flashed? Via ODIN, or can you flash it via CWM/TWRP?
Thanks,
Opethfan89
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not n sure. It's the only one I ever used for banner blocking. You use the files with Odin as well after they are extracted.
Sent from my Rooted Verizon Samsung Galaxy S4 using xda premium
Hello everyone, I have been looking for either a ROM or the stock ME7 OTA upgrade for my s4 I have been searching the past couple days and I haven't pin pointed which one I should attempt to flash to my phone. Just like http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2376140, but I also found another place that claimed to have the stock update but I have no way to be sure it is what it says it is. Also I have rooted my s4 by flashing and downgrading. So I'm wondering on the link I provided would I be able to perform a flash just by using Odin like I had before, or is there something else that needs to be done.
pyrow_14 said:
Hello everyone, I have been looking for either a ROM or the stock ME7 OTA upgrade for my s4 I have been searching the past couple days and I haven't pin pointed which one I should attempt to flash to my phone. Just like http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2376140, but I also found another place that claimed to have the stock update but I have no way to be sure it is what it says it is. Also I have rooted my s4 by flashing and downgrading. So I'm wondering on the link I provided would I be able to perform a flash just by using Odin like I had before, or is there something else that needs to be done.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Darkslide ROM you linked to can be flashed in a custom recovery just like any other custom ROM. If you take the OTA you will no longer be able to flash custom ROMs. Search the forums for more information. The bounty thread in the general section would be a good place to start.
thanks man, i looked where you said to go and couldn't find it, and i got lazy so i said f it i will just install a recovery and try the rom and if all else fails go ahead and just remove everything and install the orginal OTA upgrade and then root it again just to have my multi window manager back. love that app.
i did the rom update and it works very well so far, everything went off without a hitch and everything is updating and all my apps are being reinstalled ...now just the long process of messing with all those darn settings, thanks again man:good:
My device: Vzn Galaxy S4 (ME7 build)
I've rooted the phone, installed things like ROM Manager and Titanium backup, but insofar as I understand things ... its not safe (or recommended at least) to flash a custom ROM until the bootloader is unlocked and I have a custom recovery installed. Further, as I understand things, that isn't possible with ME7.
Anyhow, new to the Android and rooting world, and so I wanted to know if I got things right ... and if not, best process for backing things up, flashing ROMS, and getting back to where I started should I so desire.
Thanks much.
wgpubs said:
My device: Vzn Galaxy S4 (ME7 build)
I've rooted the phone, installed things like ROM Manager and Titanium backup, but insofar as I understand things ... its not safe (or recommended at least) to flash a custom ROM until the bootloader is unlocked and I have a custom recovery installed. Further, as I understand things, that isn't possible with ME7.
Anyhow, new to the Android and rooting world, and so I wanted to know if I got things right ... and if not, best process for backing things up, flashing ROMS, and getting back to where I started should I so desire.
Thanks much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
DO NOT FLASH A ROM ON STOCK RECOVERY!!!
their is a $3,000 bounty for just root + recovery for a good reason.
No you can't flash a custom recovery or roms if your phone installed the ME7 ota update. Titanium backup is your best bet to remove bloat and backup apps/data. if anything goes wrong you can always flash back to stock ME7 via odin.
No way, you are stuck until a patch, or a fix is done for the bootloader.
Only flash if you want to brick your phone and not have it covered by warranty. Once you have the ME7 bootloader, you no longer have the ability to flash roms, recoveries, kernels, etc.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4
Hi,
First of all I'm new here so please don't be too hard on my nooby actions from the past.
I have a rooted Galaxy S3 and 6 months ago I wanted to flash custom roms. I've read a lot about it and thought I couldn't do anything wrong anymore, so I made a nandroid backup (to switch roms when I wanted to).
Now here comes the noob part I didn't read about or I've looked over, my stock rom was android version 4.1.2, and the new rom was 4.2, when I wanted to go back to stock I softbricked my Galaxy s3, it was stuck in a bootloop.
I managed to get into Clockwerk Recovery and fix it, though I don't remember how I did it. I ended up with a factory resetted stock rom, but I was happy everything worked again!
So everything was okay and now that a new update will be available, I wanted to check if the update was available in my country yet, but my phone said that it wouldn't update because my phone is customized, so I checked in download mode and it says flash count 1, custom binary and custom system storage.
Is there a way I can get my updates again without factory resetting my phone again or without flashing the stock rom again?
I would like my phone how it is now with all its data, but just be able to get the official updates.
Oh and I freezed some system apps and bloatware with app quarantine, maybe that's important too.
thanks in advance for the help!
No, you can't get official ota updates unless your phone is unmodified, yours is very much modified.
If you want to go back to full stock, unroot and remove flash count then there are guides in general forum, stickies. You'll lose all your data in the process.
Instead just flash the 4.3 stock rom using odin, you might not even need to factory reset doing this. Follow the guides again, back up your efs first.
Vinceee said:
Hi,
First of all I'm new here so please don't be too hard on my nooby actions from the past.
I have a rooted Galaxy S3 and 6 months ago I wanted to flash custom roms. I've read a lot about it and thought I couldn't do anything wrong anymore, so I made a nandroid backup (to switch roms when I wanted to).
Now here comes the noob part I didn't read about or I've looked over, my stock rom was android version 4.1.2, and the new rom was 4.2, when I wanted to go back to stock I softbricked my Galaxy s3, it was stuck in a bootloop.
I managed to get into Clockwerk Recovery and fix it, though I don't remember how I did it. I ended up with a factory resetted stock rom, but I was happy everything worked again!
So everything was okay and now that a new update will be available, I wanted to check if the update was available in my country yet, but my phone said that it wouldn't update because my phone is customized, so I checked in download mode and it says flash count 1, custom binary and custom system storage.
Is there a way I can get my updates again without factory resetting my phone again or without flashing the stock rom again?
I would like my phone how it is now with all its data, but just be able to get the official updates.
Oh and I freezed some system apps and bloatware with app quarantine, maybe that's important too.
thanks in advance for the help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you must be rooted first and make the flash counter 0. use triangle away for that. would be better to follow some guides available here at xda..
---------- Post added at 08:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:52 PM ----------
boomboomer said:
No, you can't get official ota updates unless your phone is unmodified, yours is very much modified.
If you want to go back to full stock, unroot and remove flash count then there are guides in general forum, stickies. You'll lose all your data in the process.
Instead just flash the 4.3 stock rom using odin, you might not even need to factory reset doing this. Follow the guides again, back up your efs first.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just by flashing 4.3 stock firmware from odin wont work, he will need to factory reset, else he may be stuck in boot loop..
Okay so if I understand correctly: I can't get the official updates directly from samsung, unless I factory reset + flash stock rom again (because now I'm also on stock but download mode says custom) + triangle away + unroot?
Now all I want is the official stock rom 4.3 of the Galaxy S3 + root (doesn't matter if it's done via odin), without losing what I have now.
Is this possible to do in any way?
I would think of
1. making a full nandroid backup
2. titanium backup
3. flash 4.3 rom + root
4. restore via titanium backup
will this work for what I want as a result?
I will read some guides too if I know that this is the way to go, I just want to be sure of everything before I do anything, I don't want to screw things up like last time..
And can I choose what 4.3 I download? (European or even more specific like Belgium in my case?)
Thanks again everyone!
Basics read first.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2344125
Critical you read the first two posts .
JJEgan said:
Basics read first.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2344125
Critical you read the first two posts .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
okay so I've read this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2362743 and there was a lot I already know (I'm not that new to rooting and stuff like that) but I didn't know the radio part yet, this gives me even more questions.
If I flash stock 4.3, will I have to flash a radio of my region too or won't the radio be effected by the rom flash?
I'm just confused now.. can somebody just help me with my questions? I'm not new to the forums I just never made an account, I've read many threads on here, watched videos, ect.
Thanks again
I would also do some reading up on the new 4.3 update whether you would want to upgrade to it or not when you fix the update problem because at the moment there are a few issues with it! All though that will change when bug fixes are released in the future but at the moment it has problems.
If I flash stock 4.3, will I have to flash a radio of my region too or won't the radio be effected by the rom flash?
Depends upon what region modem is in the firmware .
personally i am not updating to 4.3 until we get a better release .
Okay thanks for the advice everyone!
I will wait until a more stable version is released
And when it comes out, will titanium backup fix all my apps and paid apps as if the update was done officially?
What would be the steps I have to do, and please don't say google it or read every thread there is about rooting I came here for your help and clear answers, I need help from people who know more about this stuff because I'm no IT pro