So I grabbed an S4 which did not have the Lollipop update right now I am on 4.4.2 NK1.
I've had an S3 for a while and hated that if i wanted to flash AOSP I had to use a ROM slot etc - is that the same for this phone? Can someone please advise what my best option is from here? Should I take the 5.0 update? Since I am on the older version can I root / ROM easier from here?
I've looked through the Q&A and android development. I don't see anything current about the base-band I am on. My phone keeps trying to push this update so I am posting in the main section to try to get comments before it "Auto pushes" and i'm SOL (This is what happened to me on my S3 and then I couldn't use any custom kernels or AOSP ROMS(Unless I used a ROM slot and I always felt this was laggy)
Any opinions are greatly appreciated - or even links that can get me to the right place, I don't mind reading or learning, I just need to know what thread I should go to so I don't waste my time reading threads that do not matter to my situation.
I'm not asking how to ROM/Root please don't get that confused - I know how to follow the below thread. I just want to know more info about my bootloader and steps taken to how I can flash the AOSP Dirty Unicorn ROM and if it can be done w/ a custom kernel or if I have to go through ROM slots / safestrap
http://forum.xda-developers.com/gal...-to-root-i545vrufnk1-4-4-2-12-1-2014-t2959613
Thank you,
Stefan.
You cannot unlock the bootloader, flash Dirty Unicorns, AOSP, Cynanogenmod, etc.
Best you can do is use safestrap and either Kitpop(AOSP UI) Or Eclipse(AOSP UI).
You have to downgrade to nc5, find that in Android Development.
XxD34THxX said:
You cannot unlock the bootloader, flash Dirty Unicorns, AOSP, Cynanogenmod, etc.
Best you can do is use safestrap and either Kitpop(AOSP UI) Or Eclipse(AOSP UI).
You have to downgrade to nc5, find that in Android Development.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I downgrade to nc5 can I then flash dirty unicorns? Or can I not at all? I would have to use safestrap / ROM slot in order to flash that?
So really if the upgrade pushes it makes no difference? (That is if I have root)
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
It makes no difference. Only way to flash dirty unicorns is mdk, and you cannot go back do to a qfuse being blown. Those two ROMs are the only AOSP ish options for you.
Related
I got my GS4 back in the summer and I promptly rooted and I believe I even was able to unlock the bootloader. I then flashed Eclipse S4 TW edition (based on MDK) and its been so rock solid I haven't had a reason to touch is since. I'm been staring at my android 4.2.2 version and have been thinking no reason to upgrade. If it isn't broke don't fix it right? Well I'm starting to feel the flashing itch so I decided to jump back on XDA and see whats out there.
I'm trying to get a grasp on what all has changes since the last time I flashed my phone. It looks like there has been a few new builds to drop since I flashed. I'm confused on the details though. With my current state can I flash anything I want using the custom recovery or are there restrictions that I must follow. I have seen posts about using SafeStrap for flashing. I remember SafeStrap from my Razr days as a solution for phones with locked bootloaders. Does one of the OTA's relock the bootloader and make it impossible to unlock or are the SafeStrap posts for people that got the phones after me which already came with a locked bootloader?
Any reason why not to upgrade to the newest builds? I can't find any details on what is different between the builds but I have to imagine there is some new stuff that I might want to play with.
Lastly, can anyone suggest a good solid ROM to similar to Eclipse TW that is based on a newer build?
I appreciate any help you guys can give me. Being away this long and coming back is slightly overwhelming and who has time to navigate through every page of every thread for the past 6 months or so.
I would suggest to read some of the threads....custom Roms for 4.3 and 4.4 are a bit slow in coming. If you are mdk...no need for safestrap....you can still keep your phone rooted and loki'd..and move to 4.3 base
powered by hashcode safestrap hyperdrive 10.2
trevoryour said:
I got my GS4 back in the summer and I promptly rooted and I believe I even was able to unlock the bootloader. I then flashed Eclipse S4 TW edition (based on MDK) and its been so rock solid I haven't had a reason to touch is since. I'm been staring at my android 4.2.2 version and have been thinking no reason to upgrade. If it isn't broke don't fix it right? Well I'm starting to feel the flashing itch so I decided to jump back on XDA and see whats out there.
I'm trying to get a grasp on what all has changes since the last time I flashed my phone. It looks like there has been a few new builds to drop since I flashed. I'm confused on the details though. With my current state can I flash anything I want using the custom recovery or are there restrictions that I must follow. I have seen posts about using SafeStrap for flashing. I remember SafeStrap from my Razr days as a solution for phones with locked bootloaders. Does one of the OTA's relock the bootloader and make it impossible to unlock or are the SafeStrap posts for people that got the phones after me which already came with a locked bootloader?
Any reason why not to upgrade to the newest builds? I can't find any details on what is different between the builds but I have to imagine there is some new stuff that I might want to play with.
Lastly, can anyone suggest a good solid ROM to similar to Eclipse TW that is based on a newer build?
I appreciate any help you guys can give me. Being away this long and coming back is slightly overwhelming and who has time to navigate through every page of every thread for the past 6 months or so.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, So heres what you missed. After the MDK release they(Verizon/Samsung) patched the loki bootloader hack so thats why anybody whos not on the MDK release has an locked bootloader. That is where safestrap comes in. Safestrap is a custom recovery that was developed by Hascode, in order to provide those with a locked bootloader a way to get in on the rom action, while keeping there stock rom untouched.
Now that said i would advise you to update but not through the stock "Check Update" tab (as that will lock your phones bootloader). Instead you should just flash a rom that is built with the new update as the base (E.X. Hyperdrive 11). This will allow you to get the new update without locking your bootloader.
Now for roms, i believe there is an updated Eclipse TW Rom & Eclipse AOSP ROM on the Dev's site ( dont know the link but will post it once i find it).
My apologies as I have been so out of the loop and am rocking Beans build 22 for what it feels like has been forever and recently have wanted to update to a 4.3 touchwiz or 4.4 aosp rom. I do not know what firmware I should upgrade to because I see the "locked bootloader mj9" scares and what not and am currently on JZO54K.I605VRAMC3. If someone could lead me in the right direction as I pretty much live off of step by step directions and like things straight forward. Thank you so much!
eaglesport said:
My apologies as I have been so out of the loop and am rocking Beans build 22 for what it feels like has been forever and recently have wanted to update to a 4.3 touchwiz or 4.4 aosp rom. I do not know what firmware I should upgrade to because I see the "locked bootloader mj9" scares and what not and am currently on JZO54K.I605VRAMC3. If someone could lead me in the right direction as I pretty much live off of step by step directions and like things straight forward. Thank you so much!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would suggest that you read through the development forum and decide what custom ROM you want to flash. Custom ROM threads usually have instructions on how to flash the ROM that you choose.
As far as upgrading your firmware goes, if you install official stock 4.3 or 4.4.2 firmware, (either through Odin/Kies or by taking OTA's), then you will end up locking the bootloader with no current way for you to unlock it. So that basically means you need to leave your phone at 4.1.2/rooted and with a custom recovery of your choosing.... then flash the new custom ROM in TWRP, CWM, or Philz recovery (based on the particular ROM you are going to flash). The 4.3 and 4.4.2/4.4.4 custom ROM's that you see in development thread are modified to not lock the bootloader.
So I just got handed an S4 from a co-worker, I just spent an hour looking up info on root and stuff to load custom roms (looking mainly for CM11). My main problem seems to be all the shortened terms and everything associated with this phone, root vs unlocked bootloader vs etc, MK2?? NC5??. I can't seem to find any "newb" friendly breakdown of all of this. This isn't my first hacked device by far (I got an old DiNC and a ReZound for my last 2), but definitely the most confusing one. So here's the info I got on my phone: Galaxy S4, Verizon, SCH-I545, Android 4.4.2, VRUFNC5, hardware version: I545.06.
Can anyone point me in the right directions to understand better, and get me to my final destination of Custom rom? Or at least get me to understand this better?
I did search the first 5 pages of every section to see if there was a "newb-friendly" sticky but didn't seem to go anywhere fast, just made me more confused.
tong6998 said:
So I just got handed an S4 from a co-worker, I just spent an hour looking up info on root and stuff to load custom roms (looking mainly for CM11). My main problem seems to be all the shortened terms and everything associated with this phone, root vs unlocked bootloader vs etc, MK2?? NC5??. I can't seem to find any "newb" friendly breakdown of all of this. This isn't my first hacked device by far (I got an old DiNC and a ReZound for my last 2), but definitely the most confusing one. So here's the info I got on my phone: Galaxy S4, Verizon, SCH-I545, Android 4.4.2, VRUFNC5, hardware version: I545.06.
Can anyone point me in the right directions to understand better, and get me to my final destination of Custom rom? Or at least get me to understand this better?
I did search the first 5 pages of every section to see if there was a "newb-friendly" sticky but didn't seem to go anywhere fast, just made me more confused.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem with a simple "newb friendly" page is that every update to the phone changes what you need to do to root and what you can run.
For your NC5 phone, you need to use Towelroot to root it. That gets you root, but you're stuck with the stock bootloader. That means that you can't directly run a custom ROM. You can use Safestrap to allocate space for an alternative ROM, which is almost the same as a fully unlocked phone. The big thing you lose is that you can't run arbitrary ROMs, just what's compatible with the stock kernel. No CM, no AOSP.
So, read up on Towelroot and Safestrap. Once you have those down, you should be n the way.
Yeah, I got towel root already installed, supersu running and added to system and Knox disabled. Where should I be looking at roms that I can run under safestrap? Or should I say which section of the forums? Thank you for your response btw.
tong6998 said:
Yeah, I got towel root already installed, supersu running and added to system and Knox disabled. Where should I be looking at roms that I can run under safestrap? Or should I say which section of the forums? Thank you for your response btw.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Usually, roms that are compatible with safestrap are labeled as such. Since nc5 doesn't allow custom kernels, you will stuck with touchwiz kernels, so usually the roms will look like the stock samsung experience or a themed version. If you want an aosp themed safestrap rom, get eclipse rom. If you want a 99% gpe s4 rom download the gpe edition safestrap rom( it has some bugs though).
Usually roms are located at the "Android development" section of the forum. The gpe rom thread is in the general section.
tong6998 said:
Yeah, I got towel root already installed, supersu running and added to system and Knox disabled. Where should I be looking at roms that I can run under safestrap? Or should I say which section of the forums? Thank you for your response btw.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The thing to keep in mind, is that safestrap loads too late to be able to replace the kernel. This is the limiting factor, your stuck on the stock kernel... Different versions of android and different versions of kernels may have slightly different functions/parameters coded into the kernel, so calling a newer function or calling a function with parameters that no longer match the new style will fail.... so if the rom wasn't directly designed for the stock kernel of the same version your using it likely won't work.
In practice that means you need a rom based on TW, that is the same version (NC5) as you are currently using. Not sure but there are likely a few changes the Rom make needs to add for safe strap compatibility... Basically when you look at the Rom's thread it will list a baseband (NC5) and say its safestrap compatible.
Thanks to all of you, that clears up a lot of confusion I had. Now where do I find out (or how do I decifer) if I'm MJ7/MK2/ME7/MI1? Or am I correct in assuming I'm NOT (all the builds I see for safestrap mention those only no NC5.
Hi,
Just got an i545. It is currently on NK1 with 4.4.2. I understand to root it I can follow this (thread closed so can't post there). My confusion is: once I root, can I install safestrap or TWRP and flash custom roms? I read somewhere else on the forum that NK1 is limited to certain AOSP roms. I really like Carbon but am open to trying others and I don't want to screw things up. Sorry if this is noob-ish but I think I gave myself information over-load trying to find the correct steps.
Also, I will be using this with AT&T so would I want to stick to the unified builds?
Thanks,
SS only, no twrp/cwm.
Only TW roms aside from this aosp:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3019132
I used it before LP, a few bugs but overall ran well
Thanks for the info. If safestrap must be used, would these roms work? From what I gather so far, it's also not possible to downgrade from NK1 to NC5 or other, is it? I don't see the point of flashing another TW rom...but that's just me. I guess I can just root and customize for now, and experiment with TW roms if I get bored.
EDIT - I am wrong, it appears that I can odin back to earlier images (MDK, NC5, etc...) Is this feasible? Would it allow me to root, install custom recovery, and any rom I wish?
That list should be good. You can go back to nc5, can't downgrade past KK.
Also, there are threads on how to upgrade to 5.0.1, however if you take the official ota you'll lose root and can't downgrade back
I appreciate your help. Just to confirm, if I downgrade to NC5, will I be able to use ANY custom recovery and flash ANY rom? Or will I still be limited to safestrap and TW roms?
EDIT - Found my answer here. Anything over MDK can only use safestrap and TW roms. Bummer. No point in down-grading then.
Edit 2 - It seems that if I want to run any kind of rom I do need to down grade to NC5 as most seem to be based on it. I assume I would use the full wipe from this guide.
This S4 is my 7th android and it's, by far, got the most hoops to jump through and/or limitations. All my other phones were easy-peasy! Or is it just because it's Verizon branded? All other phones were T-Mo or ATT.
It's this phone & Verizon, they both suck
I'm sorry if I'm asking questions that have been answered here, but I am new to rooting and am suffering from information overload. I get confused about references to stock Android and whether this means the stock Verizon version or the untouched Android that Nexus devices get.
I'm using this phone through Tracfone and thus do not receive OTA updates. This also makes all of the Verizon bloat all the more useless. I'm not looking for a special ROM, I just want vanilla Android that will receive new updates over wifi.
Is this possible?
Hi. Stock means what LG/Verizon put on our phone. I understand the confusion, though, and I used to be confused about it too. It's best to call "pure" or "purer" Android AOSP, or from what I've read there isn't any true full AOSP that's user compiled any more - they're all more or less based on CyanogenMod, so "AOSP" or "CM", but CM is more realistic. AOSP is what Nexus has, although of course, it can be called stock too since in that case they're one in the same unless you're running a user-compiled AOSP in which case if it were me I would call it something else to distinguish it from the stock AOSP on Nexus.
CyanogenMod-based ROMs will be the closest you'll get. CM13 for Marshmallow. I don't know if CM gets OTAs, I think sometimes in the past they have, at least once a version of CM has gone "final" (not sure if CM13 has gone final). Some ROMs that are based on CM have OTAs too.
I can't speak as to how well these work. I used to use CM-based ROMs more on other phones but for me, stock works so much more reliably/predictably and overall smoother than AOSP/CM. AOSP/CM and International-based stock ROMs always seem to have some unreliableness factor.
If you want a debloated but reliable ROM based on stock (which would receive OTAs if there ever are any more, but it's doubtful there will be), use @xdabbeb 's stock 47A (Marshmallow) firmware along with either my debloat zips or the debloat generator made by another user, which I link to in the third post of the 47A firmware thread in the Development section. The debloat zips/generator are also linked to in my signature below.
Overall, personally, I consider @xdabbeb 's VS985 v2.0 ROM, based on 35B (5.1.1) the best ROM, but I'm currently using the stock 47A firmware with complete debloating and am satisfied with it.
I use Xposed and G3TweaksBox to get some features on stock ROMs that I consider a must.
The easiest way to flash the ROM I mentioned is (if you're not rooted yet), first tell us what version of the stock ROM you're on. If it's anything but 23C or 24B, the absolute easiest way to root and put custom recovery on is by downgrading to 10B using the TOT method and the .DLL that's extracted from the 35B KDZ. Links to the TOT and DLL in @annoyingduck 's stickied return to stock thread in the General section, also the first link in my signature below.
Directions and the links to the program to flash TOTs, you'll have to Google for.
In the future, please ask all questions in the Q&A section. I'll ask a moderator to move this thread. Thanks!
Thanks for the response. I am definitely most interested in reliability. After reading your post, I think I might just stick with the stock Verizon image and wait for the upgrade tool to release Marshmallow.
Nate Wrigley said:
Thanks for the response. I am definitely most interested in reliability. After reading your post, I think I might just stick with the stock Verizon image and wait for the upgrade tool to release Marshmallow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're welcome! Or if I didn't say it before, you can flash the 47A KDZ with LG Flash Tool 2014, preferably with the CSE option which will wipe all data including internal storage, so use the built in LG Backup and also move what you want to keep from your internal storage.