Thought I'd ask while I continue reading and searching for the answer myself.
Just got an old S4 from a buddy that he messed up. It's rooted and running 4.2.2 ME7. Apparently he tried to flash TWRP via Goo Manager with the bootloader locked and it erased his recovery. Now i think I remember reading about this happening to a few other guy on here a while back but i can't remember how they fixed it (i'm looking for that forum but if someone has a link that'd be great) anyway here's my question. Is there any value in keeping it at the ME7 build? I've been away from the S4's for awhile so i'm not sure what's all new.
Thanks
edit; just realized i put this in Gen instead if Q&A, if a mod could move it for me that'd be great.
if you wanna run 4.2.2 keep it on me7 (i personally have a weird nostalgia for 4.2.2 but that's just me)
otherwise, just upgrade to kitkat using one of the methods, kitkat is really easy to root plus you have a sizable selection of ROMs
I did this when I first got my S4, which was running MI1. Just Odin with the stock ME7 image or just the recovery from the ME7 image if you don't want to wipe everything out.
I would keep it on 4.2.2. You can run the 4.2.2 GPE rom with the stock Touchwiz kernel. I wish I wouldn't have updated to KitKat, even though you can run 4.4.4 GPE as well (not doable on 4.3 as far as I'm aware). I was able to get up to 4 days with light usage on a single charge, with the average being around 2 days with normal usage. I'm lucky if I get 2 days now with light usage and the average is around 1 day with normal usage. I don't notice any real benefit to having KitKat now other than maybe more tweaks being supported, but I'm using pretty much the same stuff that I was before.
Related
Handing my S4 over to my boss who wants stock TW on it. I got the phone day 1 when it was released and put TWRP and have run some form of AOSP since then. What's a good TW ROM that close enough to stock? Also I know there was some stuff that broke rooting methods in the later builds we've gotten (ME7 I think?), will flashing these builds have any effect on my recovery/root?
czonin said:
Handing my S4 over to my boss who wants stock TW on it. I got the phone day 1 when it was released and put TWRP and have run some form of AOSP since then. What's a good TW ROM that close enough to stock? Also I know there was some stuff that broke rooting methods in the later builds we've gotten (ME7 I think?), will flashing these builds have any effect on my recovery/root?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've heard Bonestock or Clean Rom are good TW roms, but as I have ME7 and a locked bootloader (I don't use Safestrap) I can't comment on them. If you flash ANY of the new updates you will lose the ability to unlock the bootloader, and will not be able to flash most roms anymore. If you use ME7, or to a lesser extent MI1, you can use Safestrap to flash roms, but will be severely limited on storage options.
Another thing you could do is flash back to MDK stock (what your phone originally came with), root it, freeze the updater apps, and hand it to him. It'll be bone stock without the risk of auto-updating.
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).
Hey guys, I have been out of the custom ROM, kernel, theme, etc routine for quite a while now. I don't plan on getting back into the "crack flashing" habit and I am not even sure I want to get back into custom ROMs...but I thought I would at least stop by here and see if anything "big" or new has happened that would be important to me.
I am thinking about trying Hyperdrive RLS15 as I always ran Hyperdrive ROMs because of the stock feel, but I am not sure. To be honest the stock ROM with ROOT has been just fine.
Now a days I just like a phone that will work forever without any bugs and it seems that the stock ROM does that just fine for me.
I AM ROOTED - MDK base
Anyways, are there any suggestions, stockish ROMS, baseband updates, etc that I should be aware of or try out?
Here is my current phone info:
Android Version: 4.2.2
Baseband: MDK
Build: Stock MDK
Note that I have purposely NEVER updated from MDK so I could use the unlocked bootloader. I have thought about upgrading since I don't do much of the custom ROM stuff anymore, but not sure if it would be worth losing MDK...
Anyone?
I would stay on mdk bootloader I wish mine was unlocked. Stock 4.4.2 is nice I think I seen one for mdk users. Is not a huge upgrade but I do like the white notifications icons and full screen album art on lock screen. I'm like you I just want root for titanium and tether then I freeze the bloat. I'm done with instable galaxy nexus crack flashing consumes your life.
Sent from S4 using Tapatalk
Members are expected to do there own research as there is now more ways to brick a phone with all the security added to them.
ROM suggestions are meaningless as no one has your taste/setup/usage so you should invest the time to read the threads and be sure you know how to install the ROM properly
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.
I have a VZW Note 3 that I haven't touched for years. My wife is wanting to use it for Pokemon Go but it won't run it since it is on Android 4.3. The phone is rooted, has Safestrap 3.70 on it, and the main Rom it boots to is Jelly 'Beans' - Build 6 [01/01/14] AOSP/KitKat Themed. Where do I need to begin with getting something else on it that will be Android 4.4 or higher? Do I just need to drop another Rom on it and set that as the boot Rom or are there a bunch of other things I need to do as well? Only asking because my time to dig into these things are limited these days and I just don't want to brick the phone.
Edit: I think the phone is on build MJE.
Any and all help/advice is greatly appreciated.
I'm in similar boat, though moving to 0B6 or 0F1 and gonna unlock BL.
Did you ever find helpful info?