Database Develop

[HOWTO] Simple root and recovery on a brand new Galaxy S4 on MK2

To start and get it out of the way:
DISCLAIMER: Typical legal stuff. Use this guide at your own risk. Author makes no claim as to guarantee, or warranty any software described in this document. The author cannot be held liable for any damages caused to your device or any other harm as a result of attempting to do anything described in this guide or anything that you choose to do with your device whatsoever. USE THIS GUIDE AT YOUR OWN RISK! MODIFY YOUR DEVICE COMPLETELY AT YOUR OWN RISK!
This is a basic guide for those wanting to root their brand new Galaxy S4 and get it to what I call general working condition. This is specifically written for and tested on the SPRINT Galaxy S4 (sph-L720) preinstalled with and running the MK2 firmware, and the links provided are for the sprint model listed. Although these basic steps may work on other galaxy S4 variants, the software specific for your model of phone will need to be downloaded. The relevant threads do link "main" threads where you can find information and downloads specific to your device model. Again, be careful.
what I call "general" working condition includes:
Root access (using CF-Auto-Root found here)
Advanced recovery (in this case using PhilZ CWM found here)
I know this is all basic stuff, however I have found that the guides so far are either overly complicated or too specific for a certain step. Don't misinterpret this as an attack or insult to the other authors of those guides. They are all very well written and great resources in their own right for their own purposes, and I had referenced many of them myself before taking the steps I chose to take. However I found that many of them are written for older stock ROM versions migrating to MK2 or again very specific for just rooting or just installing CWM. What I was looking for was what to do if you just bought an S4 a week ago preinstalled with the latest MK2 official ROM. I found that the procedure was far simpler than what I was worried about.
First, what you'll need:
samsung usb drivers, I got them directly from samsung's website and you should too. Download here.
When it comes to drivers I am far too paranoid about viruses and such to download them from anybody but the device manufacturer and I highly recommend sticking with official drivers only. Use downloaded drivers from other sources AT YOUR OWN RISK!
Odin (download here)
CF-Auto-Root (found here)
The next ones are optional and are required ONLY if you want a custom recovery installed. Currently I only have instructions for PhilZ CWM however at this point I think TWRP or any other custom recovery should flash just fine assuming they work well for your Galaxy S4.
(optional, required for custom roms, etc)PhilZ CWM found here).
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What I used (for reference): AMD A8 on Windows 8.1. Not sure if OS/System type has anything to do with it, but it is conceivable and is there for reference and possible troubleshooting. For example if this doesn't work as well on windows XP systems, we may want to know that. For now until a reason develops, assume this works well on all MODERN versions of windows (I will laugh if you fail on windows 9x/ME, seriously, laugh hard. Don't try to flash your phone on *old* OS's!)
Before you start, verify your phone is on MK2. I got my phone brand new with it preinstalled but if you got it from the store for example, it could've been sitting on a shelf for the last 3 months and not on MK2 yet. Again I wrote this guide and tested it using a phone with MK2 preinstalled and not having even seen a connection to a PC yet, root, custom flash, or anything outside of normal stock usage. This should theoretically work on a completely stock phone upgraded to MK2 however that's not what I tested with. Results may vary with variables changed. To verify your current build version, from your home screen: menu button > settings > more > about device. Look at both "software version" and "build number". if the last 3 characters in both are "MK2" then you're on the latest and greatest and can proceed. Otherwise do a system update and take your chances once your phone is finished doing its stock update. DO NOT TAKE AN OTA UPDATE IF YOUR PHONE HAS BEEN MODIFIED IN ANY WAY WITH ROOT, CUSTOM ROMS, RECOVERIES, OR ANYTHING FLASHED THAT DIDN'T COME OTA FROM SPRINT!!!!!! You may end up with a very expensive paperweight.
FIRST PART, ROOTING:
Now let's get to business. First thing, make sure you downloaded all the files listed above, including PhilZ CWM if you want a custom recovery. Most people who want root also want a custom recovery, and I like it for the backup capabilities but since it's not *absolutely* necessary I listed it as optional.
1. Install the samsung USB drivers. Your computer needs to know how to talk to your phone before we can do anything. I reccommend the official ones from the samsung site as I am incredibly leery of downloading device drivers from anywhere but the manufacturer for ANY hardware ever. Call me paranoid but that's why I don't end up with viruses and malware on my systems either I'm not saying that all of the non-samsung site downloads are bad, I'm sure others have reuploaded the official drivers to other mirrors but like I said I'm paranoid when it comes to "system modifying" type of files like drivers.
1a. reboot your computer. Yes I shoehorned this step in and didn't want to renumber everything. I didn't reboot because I was lazy but you probably should. Really, don't be lazy like me, even though it worked for me. Ok, be lazy, but at your own risk.
1b. Also, at this point if you're at all familiar with ADB and are so inclined (or paranoid) you may want to consider making a backup of your phone, however to be honest I'm not certain how well this works since ADB doesn't get root access by default. I'm sure there's a guide somewhere if you really want to make a backup of your original phone prior to flashing anything. I should do this step myself but I generally opt to wait until I get a custom recovery installed and make a nandriod backup that way because I'm lazy.
2. take a deep breath, it really isn't that scary. Take it from a guy who's now on his 4th rooted samsung device (T-Mobile Galaxy s4, Sprint Samsung Conquer, Sprint Galaxy S3, and now Sprint Galaxy S4). As long as you follow instructions CAREFULLY you should be just fine.
3. Extract the CF-Auto-Root zip file you downloaded. Again use windows explorer for two reasons: it handles zip files just fine, and it also DOESN'T handle .tar.* files so you don't run the risk of accidental double unzipping. Just copy the .tar.md5 file from the zip and place it somewhere you can find it, like your downloads folder. At this point you may want to consider moving all your downloaded and extracted files to a folder just for Galaxy S4 stuff, but that's a suggestion to help manage things easier.
4. Power off your phone if you haven't already. FULL power off, don't reboot. You may want to drop the battery to be absolutely certain, or wait another 15-20 seconds after you think it's off if you don't feel like it because you have an otterbox or something. Once you're 100% certain your phone is off, boot into download mode. This must be done *somewhat* carefully, read the following procedure completely before attempting. it's not hard but you can get frustrated by accidental aborts if you're unfamiliar with this. To boot into download mode: hold down the volume down button and press power until you feel the phone vibrate and the very second the screen lights up. RELEASE BOTH KEYS. You should see a screen come up with a warning about downloading a custom OS and asking you if you want to continue. Press Volume UP on your phone to continue. (volume down aborts and reboots the phone, now you see how this can be frustrating....). In some cases you may see the samsung logo first, but in my case it goes straight to the download screen. If you have problems going into download mode and see the samsung logo when the screen lights up instead, try holding volume down until you see a "recovery booting" or something similar message in tiny letters in the upper left corner of your screen with the samsung logo, then release volume down. DO NOT CONNECT YOUR PHONE TO YOUR COMPUTER YET!
5. Extract and open ODIN (I used odin V 3.07, it seems to work just fine). This should work fine in typical windows explorer. Just open the zip file, copy the ODIN v3.07 folder (not the exe file in that folder) to a directory of your choice. I just slapped it in my downloads folder with the zip because I'm lazy like that.
6. Now that ODIN is open, connect your phone. If you have already connected your phone prior to this, go back to step two and reread that part about following directions CAREFULLY
Assuming everything is going well, you should see a box that sasys ID:COM something light up like 0:[COM3] Don't be alarmed if it's not exactly the same com port, as long as there is one. The important part is that it has a valid com port, which will only happen if it detects your phone properly.
7. Click PDA and select the CF-Auto-Root...tar.md5 file you extracted. By default "auto reboot" and "F. Reset Time" are selected. Leave them checked. MAKE CERTAIN THAT Re-Partition IS NOT CHECKED!!!!!! Also, make sure everything else is unchecked besides PDA, auto reboot, and F. Reset time. Take a deep breath, then click "Start"
At this point your phone will reboot and do some automated stuff. You will see a big box light up in odin, ending up with "PASS!" if everything flashed well. Keep your phone connected until the phone reboots to your normal start screen. If your device goes as smoothly as mine did, it should flash the file, reboot the phone, do it's auto root process, reboot again, then go to the normal start screen. Essentially you end up with your phone exactly as you had it before, but with root. So root is *mostly* installed but we require one additional step to make sure things work smoothly.
8. open your app drawer, and then open the SuperSU app. It will load then it should inform you that KNOX is detected and ask you if you want to disable KNOX. Select yes. If you select NO and try to use root with KNOX enabled, root may not work well if at all, cause the earth to fall out of orbit, and god to punch your favorite cute furry animal. Also, you can disconnect your phone at this point, and should before continuing on.
Now you should be done. That's it. Really simple, You have root. Go forth and try not to destroy your phone with your newfound power, or read on and get a custom recovery installed and really do some stuff.
SECOND PART, INSTALLING PhilZ CWM RECOVERY:
1. READ ALL DIRECTIONS LISTED BELOW THOROUGHLY FIRST BEFORE ACTUALLY DOING ANYTHING!!! Also, this should only be done AFTER all the above steps are completed. Place phone into download mode as described in step 4 above. Quick reference: hold volume down, then press and hold power until the phone vibrates and screen lights up. Press volume up to continue.
2. Close ODIN from your previous flash if you haven't already. Once it's closed re-open it. This is in here to make sure we have a fresh ODIN window and aren't accidentally flashing root again. Once we have a nice and clean ODIN window, connect your phone. You should see the lovely COM box light up.
3. This process should look familiar to what we just did, since it basically is the same thing. This time click PDA and select the philz_touch...tar.md5 file. Also make sure "Auto Reboot" and "F. Reset time" as well as "PDA" are all checked. PDA should automatically get checked when you click the button and select a file. Make sure nothing else is checked ESPECIALLY MAKE SURE RE-PARTITION IS NOT CHECKED!!!
4. Click start. Again ODIN will send the file, and end up with "PASS!" in the big box above the COM:x box. Once it's done the phone will reboot. The original directions say it should go to recovery but my phone rebooted as normal. Disconnect your phone. To get to recovery at this point you should simply just need to power down the phone completely. Then press and hold Volume up and then press and hold power until you see "recovery booting" in tiny letters in the upper left side of the screen with the samsung logo. MAKE SURE you hold volume up before power as this makes booting into recovery MUCH easier. If you see a custom CWM looking recovery (if you have never seen cwm before, the "philz options" menu option in recovery should be a great clue that the flash was successful). If you see a charging icon come up when powering off your phone, disconnect it from your computer.
So now if everything went as smoothly as it did for me, you should have a rooted galaxy S4 with a custom recovery at the ready to help with installing fancy ROMS, firmwares, modems, mods, etc or simply making really good nandroid backups. I HIGHLY suggest that you boot into recovery and make a nandroid backup of your rom before you play around with it too much, preferably saving your backup to your external SD card. Also be sure to follow any additional instructions for any further customizations.
IMPORTANT NOTES: DO NOT take an OTA update once this is done. From what I have read it *may* brick your phone. Typically in the past on other devices it just fails and reboots but other devices didn't have things like KNOX for example. Just don't risk it. However this shouldn't be an issue as your phone should already have the latest MK2 firmware installed as of the date of this article, at least until the next update comes up. it is highly recommended that you disable the "system update" notification, and there are guides available here on XDA on how to do that. Maybe one day I will find and link them, or someone nice may find and link it for me in the replies ;p This will keep you from "accidentally" trying to install an OTA update and bricking your phone.
Any problems? You probably didn't follow a step properly, but it is possible that I forgot something or left something out. I thought I was pretty thorough however I am human and make mistakes. Just reply here and I will do my best to get back when I can, however I do have a full time job and a personal life so no guarantees on how soon replies will come.
THANKS goes to:
The entire XDA community, for all the help, resources, and everything else over the years despite my less patient moments.
Chainfire for his work on the CF-Auto-Root utility and instructions contained therein, which were included here and expanded upon. Also for his work on SuperSU which not only helps manage root access, but is nice enough to have the ability to disable KNOX automagically for us.
Phil3759 (aka PhilZ) for his work on his modified version of CWM for the galaxy S4 and other devices, and instructions (adapted for flashing the S4 specifically)
Spiricore for his reference material. I didn't use much, if any of it, here however it was very helpful in researching the galaxy S4 and rooting options. It is a great resource for those having issues flashing their phone for one reason or another. Some of the steps I *think* may be superfluous however if you REALLY want to make sure things will work, it should help. It's a nice alternative and can be found here.
daerragh for posting the download and info for ODIN, and possibly writing it unless I am misinformed. Otherwise thanks to the author of ODIN as well.
Unknownforce for more reference material, modem firmwares, kernels, and cool GS4 ROMS. Only researched his material for this article much like spiricores work, but worthy of a thanks nonetheless.
runwithme for more reference used for research in rooting for this article and my phone, and for the stock roms.
Anybody else I may have forgotten, or who have contributed to the works described above or used in this article.

reserved for future use

Another guide on how to root your S4!! Yeah!! And way to complicated again. Let me give you my simple guide and easiest method. This method also doesn't trip the knox warranty counter.
1. Turn on usb debugging on your phone.
2. Install Samsung USB drivers. If not already installed.
3. Connect your phone to your Windows PC. (No need to enter download mode, just connect as an MTP device.)
4. Run Safe Root .bat file found here & attached below(unzip the bat file from the zip file): http://www.droidviews.com/root-verizon-galaxy-s4-sch-i545-on-android-4-3-vruemk2/
(This file works on Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T so don't worry about the Verizon reference)
5. Follow instructions on screen and profit.
If you want a custom recovery installed, WHICH WILL TRIP THE KNOX WARRANTY FLAG, download goo manager from the play store and install TWRP.
Now that was easy!

cruise350 said:
Another guide on how to root your S4!! Yeah!! And way to complicated again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude cut OP some slack, I got my s4 about a month ago and can honestly say that after reading all I can about rooting an out of box s4 with knox/4.3 and mk2, no mod has set a sticky in place to explain a simple way.
All I hear is all the prior MK2 people whining about how we should read.. Guess what, we do, it's not as clear cut as pre-knox, and I can promise you, if you recently came from another phone, you would be in our boat.
Ive read where your safe root gives all your private info to someone other than nsa. Oh, that sounds like something I want to do.. Is it true? No clue, but I'll pass to be safe
All the countless posts, threads would go away if a mod would simply put a sticky near qb77's, that way we wouldn't be posting and whining to drive you all nuts!
By the way, thank you to the OP for taking your time to do this, it's more than most would do
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

ibcenu said:
Dude cut OP some slack, I got my s4 about a month ago and can honestly say that after reading all I can about rooting an out of box s4 with knox/4.3 and mk2, no mod has set a sticky in place to explain a simple way.
All I hear is all the prior MK2 people whining about how we should read.. Guess what, we do, it's not as clear cut as pre-knox, and I can promise you, if you recently came from another phone, you would be in our boat.
Ive read where your safe root gives all your private info to someone other than nsa. Oh, that sounds like something I want to do.. Is it true? No clue, but I'll pass to be safe
All the countless posts, threads would go away if a mod would simply put a sticky near qb77's, that way we wouldn't be posting and whining to drive you all nuts!
By the way, thank you to the OP for taking your time to do this, it's more than most would do
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well now there are 4 threads on the first page of the general section on how to root MK2. Besides the fact that cf autoroot works on all versions of the software and is the reason why the mods haven't stickied another thread since qbkings method is still valid. Safe Root is not the Chinese method and is safe to use. And if this forum didn't need another simple thread that is actually way over complicated. As others have said, a little searching will turn up the answers. I don't mean to rain on anyone's parade but at least when I added my post, I offered a truly simple method to root opposed to the OP.

cruise350 said:
Well now there are 4 threads on the first page of the general section on how to root MK2. Besides the fact that cf autoroot works on all versions of the software
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many people have reported issues with chain fire method on newer preloaded 4.3 phones, so how can you say it works on all..
Others have reported safe root, not safe
It's just way to many threads, to many people reporting different issues with (after mk2) newer phones, to say that what's on the 1st page works for everyone
So my 02 cents worth, a sticky of after mk2 newer phones root method would be very helpful.... Ask anyone who has a newer preloaded phone
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

Saferoot and Kingo app are very easy to root. You literally click one button.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

Safe root is easy, but can I flash a recovery simply by installing goo manager and flashing from inside the app? I've been flashing and rooting since the g1, and honestly this mk2 update is difficult to figure out. There are a lot of mixed answers out there. So I appreciate this post very much. Thank you sir.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

Installing recovery will trip Knox.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

princebabyeater said:
Safe root is easy, but can I flash a recovery simply by installing goo manager and flashing from inside the app? I've been flashing and rooting since the g1, and honestly this mk2 update is difficult to figure out. There are a lot of mixed answers out there. So I appreciate this post very much. Thank you sir.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If this is correct, can I just do this to flash custom rom without having root first? Not really worried about knox, as surely there will be a fix..eventually?

slothicka said:
If this is correct, can I just do this to flash custom rom without having root first? Not really worried about knox, as surely there will be a fix..eventually?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Goo manager requires root.
Sent from my icrap 2 using Tapatalk HD

slothicka said:
If this is correct, can I just do this to flash custom rom without having root first? Not really worried about knox, as surely there will be a fix..eventually?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, a custom recovery is still required to flash a different rom. In order to first flash a custom recovery, root is required.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

Need Stock Firmware G900AUCU2AND3!!!

I need the Stock Firmware version G900AUCU2AND3 So that I can flash back to stock. In the thread return to stock it has the previous version G900AUCU1ANCE. I get a error when trying to odin back (SW REV CHECK FAIL : [about]Fused 2 > Binary 1). So I am not sure how its done but need someone who has it do a dump or how ever its done to get it in a way that it can be flashed either by odin or in recovery... Any help will be appreciated... Thanks

i will need this too, i have my phone on at&t next and after a year i can trade it in, but if its custom os and stuff i cant return it, so i will need this too if i want to return to stock so i can upgrade to a new phone next year.

Bump: This is needed very badly. As I imagine many people had to take that bloat ware update. If anyone that has this firm ware has a problem and needs to restore back to stock. They won't be able to use the one that's listed in on this forum as its the older one, and now that there is Root. Its very likely this will happen daily that people will need it. I don't know exactly what soft bricked my phone so it can happen to anyone. My phone was fine until a reboot. Please, please, please. I'm begging everyone that has it. I asked Samsung and they wouldn't help. Next maybe going to AT&T store and having warranty claim done. I don't really want to find the out come of that.

I need this very badly as well. I rooted my phone and then tried to alter my screen density via an app I found on Google Play. It requested root, I granted the permission and then when the phone rebooted it hung on "Samsung Galaxy S5" splash screen and will no go any further. ODIN will not allow me to flash G900AUCU1ANCE firmware since I did the OTA update. If anyone could post up their G900AUCU2AND3, I would appreciate it very much.

kwikrat said:
I need this very badly as well. I rooted my phone and then tried to alter my screen density via an app I found on Google Play. It requested root, I granted the permission and then when the phone rebooted it hung on "Samsung Galaxy S5" splash screen and will no go any further. ODIN will not allow me to flash G900AUCU1ANCE firmware since I did the OTA update. If anyone could post up their G900AUCU2AND3, I would appreciate it very much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I estimate we will get @ least One to two of these per-day until we get the files. Since we now have Root. It may take a bit as At&t version don't seem to have much for devs. Or ones that care to really help.(I'll probably get reamed for this. Sorry for you that help and for your time) I contacted At&t they told me they could not help but I could send my phone in for warranty exchange. Its that or go to BestBuy and they can flash it back. I don't have a Bestbuy Nearby.

Guys, check that post. Shortydoggg found a temporary fix for any soft bricks. It's for extreme cases. My phone is fine (apart from some deleted stock apps) so I'll hold off until i get some more info but if you cant boot at all, his method should come in handy.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2785185&goto=newpost

+1 :highfive:

NotDavid said:
Guys, check that post. Shortydoggg found a temporary fix for any soft bricks. It's for extreme cases. My phone is fine (apart from some deleted stock apps) so I'll hold off until i get some more info but if you cant boot at all, his method should come in handy.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2785185&goto=newpost
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. The above link solved my problem. I am back up and running! At first data wasn't working other than wi-fi but I merely had to re-enter my APN that I got from here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2746380 :good:

can you update to G900AUCU2AND3 after flashing this?

dave1977nj said:
can you update to G900AUCU2AND3 after flashing this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
YUP, I did the AT&T update check and got it immediately afterwards. I instead of flashing every one separately and rebooting loaded the three files so minus the Bl file. I did not have the problems of having to reload APN this way.

pcidiot said:
YUP, I did the AT&T update check and got it immediately afterwards. I instead of flashing every one separately and rebooting loaded the three files so minus the Bl file. I did not have the problems of having to reload APN this way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!!! :good:

pcidiot said:
YUP, I did the AT&T update check and got it immediately afterwards. I instead of flashing every one separately and rebooting loaded the three files so minus the Bl file. I did not have the problems of having to reload APN this way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A flash of the CSC file restores the APN after flashing the AP file, or flashing it together with the AP file, but it factory resets the phone. Flashing the AP file only is mostly for those who do not want a factory reset. But, a factory reset along with flashing only the AP file will indeed wipe the APN. I found all of that out through trial and error.

shortydoggg said:
A flash of the CSC file restores the APN after flashing the AP file, or flashing it together with the AP file, but it factory resets the phone. Flashing the AP file only is mostly for those who do not want a factory reset. But, a factory reset along with flashing only the AP file will indeed wipe the APN. I found all of that out through trial and error.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your trials this will be useful to many.

pcidiot said:
Thanks for your trials this will be useful to many.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem.

dave1977nj said:
can you update to G900AUCU2AND3 after flashing this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes do not root first, flash it then wait a few minutes then do a check for updates it will download the crap update with the yp yellow pages app,
then reboot and root
and take it away !!

pcidiot said:
Bump: This is needed very badly. As I imagine many people had to take that bloat ware update. If anyone that has this firm ware has a problem and needs to restore back to stock. They won't be able to use the one that's listed in on this forum as its the older one, and now that there is Root. Its very likely this will happen daily that people will need it. I don't know exactly what soft bricked my phone so it can happen to anyone. My phone was fine until a reboot. Please, please, please. I'm begging everyone that has it. I asked Samsung and they wouldn't help. Next maybe going to AT&T store and having warranty claim done. I don't really want to find the out come of that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same troubles here pcidiot!!!! soft bricked and nothing will load onto the phone. ODIN gives me the same kind of error as listed on the starting thread! I can get to recovery mode and Download (ODIN) mode on the phone but nothing wants to flash. Do we dump? Do we Erase Nand? CONFUSING!!! why is it so easy to bunk up a phone!

Achilles5410 said:
Same troubles here pcidiot!!!! soft bricked and nothing will load onto the phone. ODIN gives me the same kind of error as listed on the starting thread! I can get to recovery mode and Download (ODIN) mode on the phone but nothing wants to flash. Do we dump? Do we Erase Nand? CONFUSING!!! why is it so easy to bunk up a phone!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There should only be two boxes checked in odin thats f. reset time and auto reboot. Also Make sure you only check and load your firmware in the ap slot in odin. Now flash.

Achilles5410 said:
Same troubles here pcidiot!!!! soft bricked and nothing will load onto the phone. ODIN gives me the same kind of error as listed on the starting thread! I can get to recovery mode and Download (ODIN) mode on the phone but nothing wants to flash. Do we dump? Do we Erase Nand? CONFUSING!!! why is it so easy to bunk up a phone!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you following this guide?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=53454972&postcount=1

shortydoggg said:
Are you following this guide?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=53454972&postcount=1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea I did thank you. Did it today and thanked the poster too.

Want to start over! Need help!
So I want to do whats written out in step 4 of shorttydogs thread but I don't want to mess up or brick my phone. My goal is to start over and go back to stock with bloatware and everything that is available on stock if I were to go AT&T and buy it today. Here is a little background on my phone. My phone is rooted and I do have safestrap (and busybox). I backed up everything on my microSD card. I also have the g900AUCU2AND3 firmware on my phone. In addition, I deleted some but not all AT&T bloatware, which I want back. Lastly, for some reason the "add call button" during my calls is missing and was replaced with a "record" button I think this was because of me playing around with xposed. I deleted xposed framework as well as wanam and tried everything to get the "add call button" back but I couldn't. Thus, I just want to go back to stock to fix all these issues. I just have a few questions before I proceed just to make sure I'm not doing anything wrong.
1) If I flash the AP, CP and CSC files will I achieve 100% stock with bloatware?
2) Will this return my "add call button"?
3) Is it as simple as just using odin 3.09 and flashing the AP, CP, and CSC files?
4) I also understand that this will take me back to G900AUCU1ANCE but will I be able to do an OTA do go to G900AUCU2AND3?
5) Is there anything else I need to know to prevent my phone from bricking!
Sorry for the long post but I am fairly new to this stuff and don't want mess anything up!

Android Device Manager Lock

My phone was lost and I administered an android device manager lock I have went in the manager and changed the password several times as well as entered it on my device which as since been recovered by the person who had it in their possession. I do not want to have to master reset I do not have my current information backed up as of date, so I would be losing quite a bit of information. Is there anything I can do I called T-mobile the so called tech said wait 72 hours that sounded like bs that the phone would magically start accepting the passwords entered. The message being given to me by google is that a password lock was already on the phone which is not correct I never had a password lock screen on the phone prior to losing it. I also was not signed into the samsung account portal so can't use their unlock feature is there any software here I can download maybe reflash firmware that won't effect my current data but remove the lock screen? Let me know thanks.

If I can't get the lock off I'm most concerned with getting my pictures off I tried hooking the phone up the my pc but it shows the folder as empty because the phone is locked are there any recovery programs on here or like that can get the DCIM folder off the phone.

Are you rooted?

No I am not. I can root the phone if that will help to either remove the lock or get the pictures or content off but I'll need to be pointed in direction on how to do that haven't done that before in quite a while!

nigafied45 said:
My phone was lost and I administered an android device manager lock I have went in the manager and changed the password several times as well as entered it on my device which as since been recovered by the person who had it in their possession. I do not want to have to master reset I do not have my current information backed up as of date, so I would be losing quite a bit of information. Is there anything I can do I called T-mobile the so called tech said wait 72 hours that sounded like bs that the phone would magically start accepting the passwords entered. The message being given to me by google is that a password lock was already on the phone which is not correct I never had a password lock screen on the phone prior to losing it. I also was not signed into the samsung account portal so can't use their unlock feature is there any software here I can download maybe reflash firmware that won't effect my current data but remove the lock screen? Let me know thanks.
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Visit this link which explains how to root your phone. It's a very easy process and should take only a few minutes.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/not...y-steps-n910t3-dofc-dog1-how-to-root-t3177225

Ok after rooting and I hope those options were already selected, because I literally have no ability to access the phone at all as I said the device is full locked, then which programs will I need to recover the data or has anyone developed an overide to remove the lock? Thanks again sorry this is a wide spread issue for what ever reason the passwords do not seem to register they just say incorrect each time reset.

I also have a T-mobile Note 4 910T phone

Can I only do steps 1-5 if I do not plan on adding a custom rom? and do I need both the kitkat and lolipop files as the kitkat file is not loading from the file server to download

Install TWRP recovery to your phone. Then install a custom Rom, make sure you don't wipe internal card. Once you install and boot up in New Rom, you would be able to connect to your pc and retrieve all your important data and pictures.

Ok after I recover all of that how then would I be able to return to original factory firmware and not custom rom would a factory reset suffice or where is the original firmware located thanks. I'll be following the steps and flashing a rom. Hope it all goes as planned thanks.

You would need to flash back Stock tar file COG2 or DOG1 based on your phone model using ODIN if you want to go back to stock.

Eudeferrer said:
Visit this link which explains how to root your phone. It's a very easy process and should take only a few minutes.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/not...y-steps-n910t3-dofc-dog1-how-to-root-t3177225
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pvsgh said:
Install TWRP recovery to your phone. Then install a custom Rom, make sure you don't wipe internal card. Once you install and boot up in New Rom, you would be able to connect to your pc and retrieve all your important data and pictures.
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pvsgh said:
You would need to flash back Stock tar file COG2 or DOG1 based on your phone model using ODIN if you want to go back to stock.
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Thanks everything is rooted I am on step six with the SD card fix, here's the problem my pc recognizes the phone now and I can view the contents of the internal card, but when I go to cop the sd card fix file to the internal storage of my phone it basically disconnects and won't transfer the file and only shows the external sd card I have in my phone. I'm pretty angry as this is the last step keeping me from flashing to a custom rom and getting my pics and files why is it disconnecting the storage?

I was able to solve that issue by using the move feature on TWRP now which rom should I use and how do I install the rom sorry for the stupid questions just want to get this done flash back to stock and move on from this nightmare.

Unfortunately Now I have a major problem I tried flashing a rom and I don't know what the hell happened, but the phone is now telling me I don't have an operating system and is in a constant reboot also tells me it doesn't appear the phone is rooted even after I went back and rooted the phone again I followed the exacts steps on flashing the rom and now I have no operating system now and still have no access to my pictures I'm beyond frustrated it shouldn't be this difficult.

nigafied45 said:
Unfortunately Now I have a major problem I tried flashing a rom and I don't know what the hell happened, but the phone is now telling me I don't have an operating system and is in a constant reboot also tells me it doesn't appear the phone is rooted even after I went back and rooted the phone again I followed the exacts steps on flashing the rom and now I have no operating system now and still have no access to my pictures I'm beyond frustrated it shouldn't be this difficult.
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Holy **** dude is this widespread ? because I also have been locked out of my device which never had a pin the sametime as you, friday september 18. And my device manager also doesn't work. I have an unrooted Note 4 tmobile with important wedding pictures that I have not yet cloud-backed up yet. So factory data reset is not an option
I also will need to follow in your footsteps in rooting the phone and downloading twrp, but please update me on how your progress is going.
I know how frustrated you feel, this has taken up my entire weekend now, and I see a long frustrating road ahead of me.

nigafied45 said:
Unfortunately Now I have a major problem I tried flashing a rom and I don't know what the hell happened, but the phone is now telling me I don't have an operating system and is in a constant reboot also tells me it doesn't appear the phone is rooted even after I went back and rooted the phone again I followed the exacts steps on flashing the rom and now I have no operating system now and still have no access to my pictures I'm beyond frustrated it shouldn't be this difficult.
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What is your phone model? is it SM-N910T or SM-N910T3? You can see model no under the battery.

Got my photos back, yaaayy
Warning this is only for people with Samsung Galaxy Note 4 SM-N901T TMobile.
This is how I did it.
Step 1. Root your phone using Odin by follwing the below link, use the current kernel and download the Samsung drivers and the cf-root and the twrp and follow the directions but skip the SD card write fix because you won't be able to do it if you are locked out of your phone anyways.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/not...sy-steps-stock-odin-n910tuvu1anih-cf-t2903733
Step 2. Buy a new SD card about $10 at walmart with SD adapter(most SD cards come with one free of charge.)
Step 3. On your PC Download the below file (NOTE: you will be copying this file unto your SD card before inserting it into your locked device.)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3026536&d=1416578598
Step 4. Either borrow a phone that has SD capability or use the adapter and plug it into your computer's SD adapter slot.Then copy and paste the file you downloaded onto the SD card.
Step 5. Turn your phone off and insert the SD card into the locked phone.
Step 6. Boot into twrp recovery. Go to install and then find the externalSD storage.
Step 7. Find the file you downloaded unto the SD card, click it then swipe flash.
Step 8. Reboot your phone and you should be able to log into it without a pin.

Refresh your memory and maybe at one point you installed any af those programs doing automatic picture backup? I'm using dropbox, outlook and google photos. with unlimited data I can keep 3 copies in the cloud.
Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Free mobile app

I thought I was in the clear but ****!, I only retrieved half of my photos. But now the problem is the pin bypass only byasses the phone lock, but my dumbass put some pictures in something called private mode and unfortunately the bypass did not reset the private mode password. I need to somehow get the photos that are still locked up in the private mode. Anybody have any suggestions?

I was able to get all of my photos using the methods described by PVSGH by rooting and falshing a custom firmware the phone was then able connect to my pc with no issue just make sure you do not wipe the internal memory the phones internal memory goes untouched through the entire process as stated above you will need an sd card, I used an sd card and inside the TWRP recovery program used the advance file moving program to move some of the files needed to root to the internal storage. A lot of circumventing but in the end got the photos, now I just need the original stock firmware if someone can point me in the direction of that so I can flash it back. I have a black T-mobile Samsung Note 4 910T

FRB wont let me boot!

First of all, I *cannot* lose my data. But for obvious privacy and security reasons I *don't* keep Google Sync enabled.
I have a rooted, but stock 5.1.1 T-Mobile Note4. Custom recovery (honestly don't recall if it's TWRP or CWM, I don't use it often). At one point I turned the phone off (actual *off*, not screen lock), but now when I try to turn it on, it refuses to allow it and says "Custom binary blocked by FRP". Same problem when I try to boot into recovery, too. I can only boot into download mode, but attempting to flash the stock 5.1.1 firmware or the stock recovery just simply fails. It just won't allow it.
If I boot into download mode, connect it to my computer via USB, and do "adb devices", no devices show up.
Need help!!!! I need my phone and my data!!!!

jfviwerbnv said:
First of all, I *cannot* lose my data. But for obvious privacy and security reasons I *don't* keep Google Sync enabled.
I have a rooted, but stock 5.1.1 T-Mobile Note4. Custom recovery (honestly don't recall if it's TWRP or CWM, I don't use it often). At one point I turned the phone off (actual *off*, not screen lock), but now when I try to turn it on, it refuses to allow it and says "Custom binary blocked by FRP". Same problem when I try to boot into recovery, too. I can only boot into download mode, but attempting to flash the stock 5.1.1 firmware or the stock recovery just simply fails. It just won't allow it.
If I boot into download mode, connect it to my computer via USB, and do "adb devices", no devices show up.
Need help!!!! I need my phone and my data!!!!
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It's a real pain in the butt.... I just went through this 10 minutes ago. The problem: "Custom binary blocked by FRP" - or, FRP lock.
The answer is: get the phone into download mode and use ODIN to flash the stock DOK2 tar image.
It works. Not elegant, but I don't think there is any way round this. No way to use ADB that I can figure, but ODIN will work.
Once you get back up and running, make sure to go into settings and enable developer options. When you get there, allow USB debugging and click on the "bootloader unlock" option. That will keep FRP from screwing you up again.
If you need a more detailed explanation, let me know- but that's the skeleton of the fix. Once you get running again you can set up the phone the way you want it.
Cheers! (argh)
Steven.RN
Get the Odin file here: https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=24269982087008345 (N910T3UVU1DOK2_N910T3TMB1DOK2_TMB.zip)
Unzip the file and it will end in ....tar.md5 Just knock off the .md5 so that it simply ends up as .... .tar, and use "AP" placeholder in Odin.
PS: way important.... the above TAR is for the N910T3 - if you have the N910T, There's a different ODIN file, easy to find.

steven.rn said:
The answer is: get the phone into download mode and use ODIN to flash the stock DOK2 tar image.
[...]
PS: way important.... the above TAR is for the N910T3 - if you have the N910T, There's a different ODIN file, easy to find.
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That's what I did when I tried to flash the stock rom before, ODIN tried for a few seconds and then bailed out with a failure.
However, I had no idea there was such a thing as a N910T3, or that there were two T-Mobile models of Note4. The rom I tried to flash before was for N910T (the only T-Mobile Note4 I knew existed). Sure enough, I popped out my battery, looked at the specs, and my device is a N910T3. Downloading that rom now. Fingers crossed it will work this time.
That *might* also explain a mystery glitch I had been experiencing, but had resolved to just live with: About 10-20% of the time the device would load an image (in any app, system or third party, from gallery or downloaded by the app..didn't seem to matter), random parts of the image would be corrupted - usually obscured by green lines (note, this is NOT the camera issue other people have experiences, but the results look very similar). One of the first things I did when I got the phone was root it (one of the reasons I went to T-Mobile, b/c Verizon's Note4's apparently can't be rooted). But if the root I installed was for N910T and not my N910T3 then maybe that might explain those glitches...or so I hope.

jfviwerbnv said:
That's what I did when I tried to flash the stock rom before, ODIN tried for a few seconds and then bailed out with a failure.
However, I had no idea there was such a thing as a N910T3, or that there were two T-Mobile models of Note4. The rom I tried to flash before was for N910T (the only T-Mobile Note4 I knew existed). Sure enough, I popped out my battery, looked at the specs, and my device is a N910T3. Downloading that rom now. Fingers crossed it will work this time.
That *might* also explain a mystery glitch I had been experiencing, but had resolved to just live with: About 10-20% of the time the device would load an image (in any app, system or third party, from gallery or downloaded by the app..didn't seem to matter), random parts of the image would be corrupted - usually obscured by green lines (note, this is NOT the camera issue other people have experiences, but the results look very similar). One of the first things I did when I got the phone was root it (one of the reasons I went to T-Mobile, b/c Verizon's Note4's apparently can't be rooted). But if the root I installed was for N910T and not my N910T3 then maybe that might explain those glitches...or so I hope.
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Yup.... make sure you get the right flavor of ROM or stock files. I think some devs might have roms that work with either version. But that's the first thing to check, if it's compatible.
Once I reflashed my wifey's phone, I ODIN'ed in the stock twrp recovery TAR file, then got into the recovery and flashed supersu 2.64 in a zip. Rooted, working fine, done (YaY)
BTW, once you flash SU in recovery, when you go to reboot, TWRP will say "hey, do you wanna root with SU?" DONT DO IT- just let it go to boot up. It will be there.
Let me know how things turn out; I don't think you'll have any surprises. It took me about an hour and a half to make sure I had the right solution fer shurrrre, so I think I saved you some time.
You always this lucky? :highfive:
Cheers,
Steven.RN
PS on an odd note, I dumped all my Verizon phones (5 lines) because I couldn't root my Verizon Note 4. Got rid of the VZW Note 4 for a T-mobile Note 4. Looks like we both went the same way! Verizon lost years and years of my business over this

steven.rn said:
Yup.... make sure you get the right flavor of ROM or stock files.
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Yep, that turned out to be the problem. Device is a N910T3, I had the stock 5.1.1 rom for the N910T, that's why flashing with ODIN was being blocked. Grabbed the stock 5.1.1 rom for the correct variant, N910T3, and ODIN and the phone were both happy. No factory reset or warranty repair necessary!
Thanks soooo much for the tip!
Unfortunately that image-loading glitch is still there even though I haven't re-rooted yet (now that I think about it, it's maybe more like 5%, and some images don't seem to be vulnerable. maybe it's like a weird bad build of libjpeg or something, I dunno) Well, that's a mystery for another time.
BTW, once you flash SU in recovery, when you go to reboot, TWRP will say "hey, do you wanna root with SU?" DONT DO IT- just let it go to boot up. It will be there.
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Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. (Don't remember offhand what exactly I did there before.)
You always this lucky? :highfive:
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Nah, I'm just one stubborn SOB, and once in a while it actually pays off
PS on an odd note, I dumped all my Verizon phones (5 lines) because I couldn't root my Verizon Note 4. Got rid of the VZW Note 4 for a T-mobile Note 4. Looks like we both went the same way! Verizon lost years and years of my business over this
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Yea. There were actually several reasons I jumped Verizon -> T-Mobile, but that was one of them. Little over two years ago when I got an S3, all the lockouts from Samsung/Google/Verizon were so heavy it wound up bricking within the first couple weeks (complications trying to downgrade an OTA update I didn't want - long story). Anyway, trying to get a proper working replacement took them several tries (one replacement was DOA, another wasn't even a Samsung at all, let alone the right model) and just trying to even communicate with them at all was like having a roundtable with a cage of chimps. (just one example, I couldn't convince them there really were different models of any phone, like the S3, between different carriers, dev versions etc. Nevermind that I'm a career programmer, I couldn't possibly know what I'm talking about ) Plus Verizon's so much more expensive, and T-Mobile just strikes me as a vastly more level-headed pro-consumer company overall. And with the new Band 12 (the reason I got Note4 instead of Note3, oddly enough), their network's been every bit as good as Verizon's for me anywhere I've taken it.

Flashing DOK2 firmware via Odin will wipe internal memory.

ShrekOpher said:
Flashing DOK2 firmware via Odin will wipe internal memory.
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Doing that didn't wipe internal memory for me (Odin 3.10.6). It did unroot my phone and I'm sure it probably reset my recovery image back to stock (didn't actually try booting into recovery again yet), but all my data was still 100% intact. And not just the data on the "external" SD but also all user data on the internal storage. (It never wiped user data for me on my old S3 or Nexus S either, but maybe the wiping after flashing is just a newer thing?)
Maybe it only wipes internal memory if you're flashing a different version of android? I was simply flashing 5.1.1 overtop rooted 5.1.1.

Help with recovering from a soft brick? N900A Last running 4.4.2

I can only boot into safe strap. I think I accidentally deleted everything on there. I tried a different ROM, and that didn't boot up.
Not sure all the info anyone would need.
Right now I'm looking at Odin not working. Heimdal I haven't been able to find a download for. The things that a lot of the guides talk about go to 404s since the phone's a couple years old at this point.
My main phone is a OnePlus 2 that I need to send in for a warranty repair, but there's the potential of me being able to flash a new rom on there, that has the updated drivers for the fingerprint sensor (and thus fix the issue and I don't have to go without a phone).
I figured I'd try out the whole process before I accidentally brick my main phone, haha.
I tried doing Kies, too, and it said that my model number isn't right but only after I put in the S/N so I don't know what to make of that.
I've been reading everything I could get my hands on for the past two days and so well I guess I can't figure it out.
Thanks in advance.

update:
Odin worked!
Used Odin v3.09
I'm so stinkin excited now! I still don't know what build I started with but now I've got something I can go with.
The guide I used: droidviews com install-stock-firmware-on-samsung-galaxy-devices-using-odin
It took many many many reboot cycles to get the phone to show up in Odin, and it kept going back to safestrap. Now I have a way back though if I do this again.
I didn't get any responses by the time I solved it (and also went to the storage unit to get my PC to actually do this) but I want to thank you all for having such a good set of resources.
I'll update this with the actual links n stuff after I get 10 posts.
I checked repartition (since it couldn't find /system or /systemorig ) even though the guide says
In the Options section, make sure that only the Auto Reboot and F. Reset Time boxes are checked and everything else are unchecked. (Do not, in any case, check Re-Partition box unless you have a .PIT file to flash, or it will lead to major problems including a corrupt partition table, if you don’t know what you’re doing.)
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