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
I used towelroot to root my Verizon Samsung S4. it took seconds to root which was kind of strange for me as the last time i rooted a phone it was the HTC Thunderbolt. whole different process. So again i rooted the phone with Towelroot but superSU app wasn't installed. I went to the playstore and downloaded the Superuser. At this point i'm unsure how to flash a rom to this phone or how to flash and add anything to it. I know the phone has root because i used a root checker.
where can i find a good list of ROMS and other fun stuff to add to my phone?
I need to get this phone set up and ready to ship to my son tomorrow so if anyone can help me i would greatly appreciate it
Hopefully he's a fan of touchwiz. Do some research on safestrap recovery as this is most likely your only option for flashing roms.
Xposed installer
So I just bought a Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8.0 SM-T350.
I was wondering if someone could point me in the right direction to get it rooted, as well as to back up the stock ROM. I'm pretty new new to android, so I'd like to make sure that I'm able to reverse any software-related damage I might inadvertently do to the tablet, but mostly I'm just looking to root it - and if I can only get it rooted, then I'll just avoid software related fiddling until I find out how to back up the rom. I'm presently running 5.0.2 lollipop.
Thank you for the help!
I too have a 5.0.2 LP and it is easy to root without a PC. Try Googling Kingo Root, v 3.2 is the latest as of now. Back-up first. To point you in the right direction take a look at forums covering T350 root and recovery. Also, Odin and get a laptop.
Glad for you. Me? I apparently killed my older SMT 350 trying to root it. Now I can't get the stock firmware back on, I don't have root, and the tab is pretty much bricked. I can't even turn the thing off! I used Odin (which I've successfully used before several times) but the root gods were not with me. Anyone have any idea how I can unscrew this? I bought it in 2017 or so.
Hi,
I am completely new to custom Android ROMs. I have a Verizon Galaxy S4 with OF1 update. I managed to root my phone using KingRoot, but I'm trying to figure out how to create some kind of backup of my stock ROM. Basically I want to be able to restore my phone back to factory default if I ever run into problems. I read that once I delete something with root, then I cannot get it back again... hence I want the ability to restore my phone to original factory default. I know the GS4 is an old phone now, but I want to squeeze a year of life before I get a new phone (and get some experience with modding Android).
A lot of guides on the internet seem to be suited for older versions of Android on the Galaxy S4, so I didn't find them helpful. Can anyone give me a starting point?
jjhl said:
Hi,
I am completely new to custom Android ROMs. I have a Verizon Galaxy S4 with OF1 update. I managed to root my phone using KingRoot, but I'm trying to figure out how to create some kind of backup of my stock ROM. Basically I want to be able to restore my phone back to factory default if I ever run into problems. I read that once I delete something with root, then I cannot get it back again... hence I want the ability to restore my phone to original factory default. I know the GS4 is an old phone now, but I want to squeeze a year of life before I get a new phone (and get some experience with modding Android).
A lot of guides on the internet seem to be suited for older versions of Android on the Galaxy S4, so I didn't find them helpful. Can anyone give me a starting point?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not by any means promoting my videos but I have a few YouTube videos that walk you through the process to get rid of KingRoot and install SuperSU and Install Flashfire. With Flashfire, you can backup your stock ROM for future use. Here are some video links: https://youtu.be/LAENraWBNVM and https://youtu.be/g31TkZE6Vp0
With Flashfire, I would recommend playing around with a couple custom ROMs out there from @stang5litre
Sent from my Nexus 5X using XDA-Developers mobile app
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4-verizon/general/guide-sch-i545-vrugof1-look-t3395833
Just picked up a Verizon Samsung Galaxy S4 SCH-I545. The Wifi stopped working after a factory reset. Read that the name of a config file may need changed.
Could someone help me with the best instructions for rooting this phone or any other troubleshooting to get the WiFi to work again?
hamiltonfighter said:
Just picked up a Verizon Samsung Galaxy S4 SCH-I545. The Wifi stopped working after a factory reset. Read that the name of a config file may need changed.
Could someone help me with the best instructions for rooting this phone or any other troubleshooting to get the WiFi to work again?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Root with kingroot. Make sure it's kingroot and not kingo root. Kingo root is a mess. You can also root with wonder share so you can use superSU right off the bat instead of kingroot. As for the Wi-Fi , the only thing I can recommend is rooting then installing stang5litre ROM which is touchwiz based due to the locked bootloader. You can use flash fire with any firmware, given it is the right version and I think safe strap recovery with an older firmware.