Database Users

Some suggestions.

First off...hello! I've come over from the Evo section, got my Epic today, and I think it is VERY promising. That said, I do have a few thoughts, feel free to ignore them if you so choose.
1) Clarification. I can honestly say that everything about rooting/fashing on this phone has been MUCH more muddled. There is a SERIOUS habit of saying "you'll need this" and then, that's just kind of it.
Can we be honest about something here for a second? The search function is ass. It just it. If someone knows what to do and there is a thread about it...just link it.
As an example (an noobnl I am not picking on you, I like what I'm seeing you work on, especially CM6!): http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=779373
"***You must have DI18 update installed***"
Oooook, first off what is the DI18 update? Lets start at the wiki.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=Samsung_Galaxy_S/SPH-D700
"DI18 update for non-stock files/kernels" - What the heck does "non stock files" mean. I mean, I've rooted my phone, so does that make me non stock? Following the link, it doesn't appear to be what I need in order to flash Andromeda (I don't have my phone near me but its DG27 I believe).
So maybe it's: Stock full DI18 ROM without modem.bin
Following the link it flat out says it's for returning the phone to stock, so that isn't it.
So now I am back to wondering how the hell I get the DI18 update on my phone.
Compare this to the Evo forum where finding "Stock update x.x.x.x rooted" is so easy to find it hurts.
Making things worse, search says it's down for 5 minutes, try back in 10 minutes. Been doing that for about 15 minutes now.
Get the point I'm trying to make? If your ROM needs the DI18 update, why is it so hard to find out how to apply a DI18 update with root? Or is the only way to do it to put a stock update on, then one click root the phone again? Which brings me to...
2) 1-click root is anything but. First off it doesn't actually tell you when it's done, it just reboots your phone (with usually at least one error on the command prompt) and exits. I ran it three times before I finally just said "ok...I'm checking for superuser." And again, trying to find out if the phone is NAND unlocked or not is more guesswork. You get to a point where "adb reboot recovery" plops you into samsungs recovery, this is after running a procedure linked two deep from the first article.
On this point I do plan on writing up my own guide but the overall point I'm trying to make here is the single most prominent feeling I've gotten so far is: convoluted and not very clear.
Which, you know, we are all here on our free time so I'm not intending this as an insult to anyones effort, and I sincerely hope nobody takes it that way. Just giving some feedback.
Also, maybe something didn't apply properly but: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=782300
Is it really final if it doesn't even support USB-MS/"adb reboot recovery"?

To get DI18 and Clockwork running without issues, I'd do this:
Odin to stock DI18. To do that, download:
:: Odin
:: the PIT file
:: the DI18 image
Then do this:
1. Open odin
2. Put your phone in download mode (Shut it off, wait for lights to all go out, then hold 1 on the keyboard while powering up)
3. connect phone (you should see odin put a Com4 or something like that in the first box. The actual number is NOT important what is important is something popped up there when you connected your device, meaning ODIN can see it)
4. Select the pit file on the right in the pit section
5. Select the image (.md5 or .tar) in the PDA section
6. check only "reboot" on the left, nothing else
7. Hit start.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then apply Clockwork using the "run-try-last.bat" method.
You'll now have Clockwork, but no root on your ROM. Don't bother with the one click root, just get the kernel of your choice (and ROM, if you desire) and flash it through Clockwork.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=798067
here is a guide to help get you started. no work done by me. enjoy your epic. it is a phone that sucks a whole lot less.

Why don't yu just get the .zip of the uppdate from samsungs website, enter recovery mode, and update .zip from sd. Then do your root, clockwork mod, and flash.(In that order).
Sent from my SPH-D700

Well, therin lies my point, nowhere does it say "just grab the update, one-click it again, bob's your uncle."
And I WAS sorting my way through it, just, kind of giving feedback as I go.
I'm planning on getting up to DI18 and then onto Andromeda today and if all goes well I will try to write a one-stop-shop guide (HEAVILY attributed of course since by and large it's pulling info from you wonderful people) to go from retail to custom ROM in one sitting.

alcaron said:
Well, therin lies my point, nowhere does it say "just grab the update, one-click it again, bob's your uncle."
And I WAS sorting my way through it, just, kind of giving feedback as I go.
I'm planning on getting up to DI18 and then onto Andromeda today and if all goes well I will try to write a one-stop-shop guide (HEAVILY attributed of course since by and large it's pulling info from you wonderful people) to go from retail to custom ROM in one sitting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I for one can't wait to see your guide. I don't even have my epic yet, but I've been trying to dig through the forums and get some idea what's going on. I've been getting a little lost in all the stickies and cross-links as well. Thank you!

whoops....I screwed it up........could you help me?

Well, I purchased my epic 4g on launch day. I have had a blast with it but it did get pretty mundane for me very quickly. This is were I began searching for cool things to do to the phone to fit me and my lifestyle. I rooted it and installed an overclock kernal. Anyway, my problem is i believe that I have "bricked my phone". I was searching for ways to enable wifi tethering. I came across some other kernals, and began the process of returning phone back to factory specs and install the kernal. It seemed to work fine until my phone began to freeze. It would freeze about 1-2 minutes of being turned on. I began to search and came across odin. Well apparantly I do not know how to work odin correctly, because now my phone only shows a cell phone...! (in orange yield sign)...PC. (cellphone ! PC). I would greatly appreciate anybody that is able to get me out of this bind. I do love and cherish my phone, now regretting me messing around with this. thanks

Can you get into download mode? Hold the 1 on the keyboard while powering on. If you can, you should still be able to flash back to a stock rom.

I am able to go into download mode. I am currently downloading the stock rom. how do you flash into clockwork? volume down, camera, and power button equals green text.

Hopefully this is what you need...
If you can get into download mode, you should be able to save your phone.
Just follow the instructions here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=773032
It should fix your phone right up, I used it myself just this morning. I learned the hard way you have to be careful with custom ROMs
Also, why overclock it? It's already 1GHz, the fastest market processor in a phone. IMHO, overclocking a 1GHz is unnecessary and only wears out your hardware faster.

Phone is up and running. Now the problem that I have is that there is a circle with a line through it and i am unable to get online or make any calls.

sounds like you're missing a modem? You'll need to flash one.

Electrofreak said:
sounds like you're missing a modem? You'll need to flash one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you flashed the DI18 tar it includes the modem (god knows I've flashed this more time's I'd like to admit)...
What did you flash in ODIN exactly? Can you tell us step by step what you did?

I'd like to hear the step-by-step too. I followed all the steps to the letter in that thread I linked to, and have had no problems with my phone since.

Clarification...
When you followed the steps in the thread I linked, did you use the stock kernel, or the other one that wipes everything?
After I pseudo-bricked my Epic, only the one that wipes everything worked.

need serious help ASAP! Please!

Tonight I decided to mess with my phone. I flashed eugene's new r13 rom, got it working fantastic. Then. I decided to try a lagfix. I heard of one in the market so i searched and found an "unofficial" app that applied the voodoo lagfix. needless to say it messed up my phone big time. At first, it restarted and some voice said "converting partition........not enough space on partition." So reboot into recovery mode and to my surprise its a diff, voodoo, version of clockwork recovery. I look at the voodoo options, cant find anything. found the area to partition the sd card. I partition 512mb i believe with no sway (i think). phone restarts. freezes on galaxy S screen. try booting into recovery. will not work. tried 10 times. tried to reboot into recovery via adb, phone is recognized and reboots but doesnt get to recovery mode, just galaxy S screen then freezes. I have NO idea what to do! Please help!!! if i left out any info, please ask!!!

first restore back to stock via Odin.
second, root and install roms again.
third, use your newly working device to read the post about non-development stuff going in the Q&A section.

adb reboot download and use odin to flash back to stock (froyo or eclair) there are plenty of threads on how to do this method. Best of luck

Use ODIN to go back to stock. no?
Umm, calm down, i think you will be fine.
Although some people are going to scream at you for putting this in the developers section.
Can you get to download mode? Turn phone off, hold down volume up and volume down at the same time, but don't touch the power button. Then, with your usb cable connected to your computer, plug the usb into your phone, while still holding down the volume buttons.
If you can get to download, then can't you just put your phone back to stock using ODIN?
I'm not an expert, but I'm assuming that should work for you.
edit:
I just uploaded odin, and the tar and pit files you need to get back to stock JFD.
I found all these files in xda originally, but didn't feel like finding each thread individually, so uploaded them on sendspace for you, much faster than searching the forum for each of these.
ODIN latest version:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/o0ivp2
Pit file:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/j9ytb3
JFD tar file:
still uploading...will post soon. ...nevermind upload taking too long, found the download link providing by justanotherdev
http://www.justanotherdev.slackdev.com/T959UVJFD.tar
I'm not an expert, but maybe you should ask everyone else if it is safe to ODIN to stock once you have messed with a lagfix and partitions.
good luck

Sounds like a trip down the "odin" lane to JFD is in order for ya. Go to the vibrant bible sticky, grab odin 1.70 and the JFD stock ".tar" file. Follow the tutorial posted, should get you back up and running.
p.s. wrong section...
EDIT: This should help you out
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=810130

SamsungVibrant said:
Umm, calm down, i think you will be fine.
Although some people are going to scream at you form putting this in the developers section.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct. I'm not going to scream, but it's generally bad for to post "help me help me" threads in the development section. Either post them in the appropriate ROM thread (in your case, the thread for R13) OR in the Q&A section. Otherwise, you'll get posts just like mine that probably wont be as nice.
As for your issue, you have a soft-brick. Download ODIN, download the correct PIT and TAR files, follow the instructions in the ODIN thread to flash to stock and start over. Thats the only way you're going to fix your phone at this point.

im sorry if i placed this thread in the wrong place, im kind of new here. Guys, i really appreciate the help! can someone point in the direction of how to use odin? I have literally no idea what it even looks like or how to install it.

Also check the bible
the Vibrant and gallagherm1993 guys are right, but when you have flashed 2.2 it is safer to use the disable voodoo lag first (may not work cause you are saying it some hack version) but I d go that way first then flash the eugenes froyo that does not brick.... no repartition (do not check that box) reboot back to recovery then flash back to stock when going back to stock, you do check the repartition...from there, you can do anything you want
There is in the 1st page a thread that has a complete zip but not the froyo that does not brick you will need to get that from the bible sticky
good luck

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGMDycXJ2i0

wolf3142 said:
im sorry if i placed this thread in the wrong place, im kind of new here. Guys, i really appreciate the help! can someone point in the direction of how to use odin? I have literally no idea what it even looks like or how to install it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hey wolf...look up a couple posts, i'm putting all the files you need there.

The only way to fix this is to use odin. Are you familiar with odin? You better be! Since you played with VooDoo without really knowing what you got yourself into, you need to do this.
You will lose all of your data!
First ODIN Eugenes froyo that doesnt brick. Search for it here on xda. Get used to using the search feature. Then after that you can odin back to jfd and work from there. If you read enough, there are ways to work through this. Good luck and if you still dont get it, PM me.

what is the point of eugenes froyo that doesn't brick?
jdkackley said:
The only way to fix this is to use odin. Are you familiar with odin? You better be! Since you played with VooDoo without really knowing what you got yourself into, you need to do this.
You will lose all of your data!
First ODIN Eugenes froyo that doesnt brick. Search for it here on xda. Get used to using the search feature. Then after that you can odin back to jfd and work from there. If you read enough, there are ways to work through this. Good luck and if you still dont get it, PM me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why does he need "eugenes froyo that doesn't brick" ???
I was Running Axura 2.0.5, and used ODIN today to go straight to stock JFD.
Then I flashed the leaked JK6 froyo.
what is the point of "eugenes froyo that doesn't brick" ?

if you flash a rom without disabling voodoo, the partition stays as ext4 eugene's froyo that does not brick reformats that partition. JFD doesnt work the same way.

Follow this guide, if it doesnt work look at the other tutorials in the BIBLE section in Development.
Follow exactly no skipping steps.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=799105

byt3b0mb said:
if you flash a rom without disabling voodoo, the partition stays as ext4 eugene's froyo that does not brick reformats that partition. JFD doesnt work the same way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ohhh I get it. So people who f*cked up their partition or messed around with a lagfix, should use eugenes froyo that doesn't brick first. BTW eugene seems to have pulled everything off xda, I can't find that in the search.

Your phone is totally dead... give you $20 for it.

I'm all for lending a helping hand, and it's clear that all the relevant information has already been posted, but it still amazes me how often people will attempt to modify their device without doing their homework first and then freak out when things go awry.
I know I've f-ed up my phones plenty of times either by bad builds or not paying attention to details, but I've never thought the best fix would be to start a new thread on a forum under the assumption that I'm the first to have this problem or to avoid having to search for a resolution.
We all start somewhere and are always learning as we experiment with new tricks, but jeebus cripes people, why would you install something risky without having a backup plan in case something goes wrong?
Ah well, whatever. Sorry for a useless response.

SamsungVibrant said:
Ohhh I get it. So people who f*cked up their partition or messed around with a lagfix, should use eugenes froyo that doesn't brick first. BTW eugene seems to have pulled everything off xda, I can't find that in the search.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you need eugene's stuff go to his forum located here
Froyo that doesn't brick is under vibrant android development.

Thank you!

I want say thanks to all they great people on this forums out who help us in our times of needs.
Here is my story:
In preparation to the upcoming gingerbread update for my i9000m I decided to disable my lagfix and revert back to an RFS filesystem. I had installed a new kernel. I had replaced my stock kernel with a Kernel switcher app because I did not want to use Odin. Having an i9000m that was plagued with a failed motherboard back in December, I did not want to have another brick in my hand.
So Friday night, I went in the recovery boot. Disabled Ext4 in favour of RFS. Rebooted to convert the filesystem. Went I went from RFS to EXT4 the whole thing took approximately 20 minutes. After an hour of converting, it was stuck on one file for about 45 minutes that is when I should I ask instead of act. I pulled the battery and hoped for the best. It restarted. The filesystem seemed to have been converted and it booted into android without an itch. I decided then to revert back to the stock kernel which is when I brick my phone. It did not reboot. After the animation screen it never loaded into Android. After wiping out and trying for format my SD card, I got over my fear of Odin and decided to flash the custom kernel once again, however, instead of flashing it through PDA, I flashed it through CSC. My bad… At this point I was able to see the Galaxy S I9000m screen but never loaded the animation. I thought I was screwed badly. I tried to find over the forum the darn CSC tar file for the KC1 update but couldn’t find it all by it self. After reading a few post I registered myself over at samfirmware, downloaded the whole update, flash it through Odin again because at least I was able to load into download mode. Now, I was able to see the animation screen once more but nothing after that. I loaded into recovery mode; saw the notice that it cannot mount the E:something, which I suspect was there all along. I search over the forum for the solution. Found it, applied the missing file through Odin. Phone booted into android perfectly.
I made every the mistakes that I should not have done, primarily not searching for a solution first before acting. I acted before reading and I screw up my phone and lost all my data because of that. If I had read the error that my phone was giving me and applied the patch, I would still have all of my information and all my apps, but this is the price I accept to pay for my mistakes. I have learned my lesson but also have learned that Odin is very easy to use.
Thanks again to all the people who keep this forum alive with solutions and great apps, ROMs and kernel.

Failed to flash GApps, soft brick, nightmare.. A novel with a solution.

This started as a beg for help thread, but since the GS4 is coming up on 3 generations old, help is quite slow, yet does still exist as of this edit (3-20-15).
None the less, I will try to explain what happened so that people searching for similar problems might find this thread and resolve their issues.
I soft bricked the phone flashing PacMan. ... The instructions CLEARLY stated that you need to flash the rom, then flash GApps. Well, I forgot to Flash Gapps because I was so excited that I had a successful root and new rom to test that I finger ganged the phone.... The phone booted just fine and worked just fine, but I did not have ANY google apps, and went into a panic... LESSON #1 DO NOT PANIC......
What I failed to realize is that Android Lolipop (at least PacMan's version) requires the user to select options in the developer section of the settings menu to enable you to boot into your custom recovery after you have flashed your custom rom.... I DID NOT KNOW THIS and the information was NOT readily available. So what happened was I panicked and tried to flash another recovery which was apparently NOT the correct recovery for my phone.. (the cascade of errors began here). My phone was soft bricked and NOTHING I did would get me out of it.
So, after at least 50 attempts using Odin to try and flash a good recovery, re-root the phone, whatever I could think of, I finally got out of soft brick, and back to a working phone, yet still no google apps, and no recovery (or so I thought).
By this time, I had asked ....no. begged for help on 2 or 3 different threads to no avail when what I thought was a brain storm came to me.... I googled and located the google play store apk, and google play services apk and thought that if I could just get these 2 things installed, I would be able to log onto the google play store and download the apps I need and all would be right with the world....... Yeah.... Remember the cascade of errors thing I mentioned a few lines up ^^^ ?
Once I installed those 2 apk's and rebooted the phone, I was in nag screen hell with no way out, no custom recovery (remember...or so I thought) and no way to access ANYTHING on the phone because literally the second I hit "ok" on the nag screen, it would immediately pop back up...This "nag screen" was the one that pops up and tells you that "google play services has stopped working".. I came inches away from launching the phone against the wall and buying another one... something... anything but a Samsung GS4.
So here we are, 14 hours (of actual face in the phone, Odin, XDA, Google, YouTube) frantically searching for ANY solution.....and NOTHING presented itself, when I decided to take a step back and walk away from it for a couple of hours.......
The next thing I tried was pounding my way through the nag screen... Literally hitting the "ok" toggle to clear the screen, while instantly trying to hit any other button on the screen to get me into the settings menu, because during my little self imposed time out, I had an epiphany.... of sorts..... What really happened is that I remembered seeing a "factory reset" toggle in the settings menus somewhere.....and I was determined to find it........ SO....... 13,386,329 clicks of the "ok" button later, I managed to engage the factory reset switch at the exact right moment, followed by another 4,388 presses of the "ok" button to get to the "confirm" button.......... and like a beacon from heaven...... My phone rebooted, and factory reset, and the #%g^7**&^|@# nag screen was GONE !!!!! Oh my GOD it was GONE !!!!!!! After recovering from my full blown conniption, catching my breath and feeling like a raver must feel after a good night of Molly and glow stick euphoria, I had a working phone again..... almost.
What I did next was go immediately to Odin, re-root the phone, install a DIFFERENT rom, and the latest version of TWRP and like another beacon from the gods I had a wonderfully functional phone with all of the google apps I needed.... and all was good with the world........Pretty much....
I am nearly certain that I cost myself 5 years of healthy living with the stress I imposed upon myself throughout this ordeal ---- The following are lessons learned. Hopefully they save you from madness...
(1) Do NOT use a USB hub to connect your phone to the computer. The phone MUST be connected directly to a USB port on your machine.
(2) Understand the workings of the rom you are going to flash BEFORE you flash it.
(3) DO NOT PANIC
(4) DO NOT randomly install apk's just because you think you are smarter than a 5th grader, and you are so mad your phone doesn't work, you are going to try anything regardless of how retarded it might be.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST and actually probably the MOST IMPORTANT thing to do is locate, download and CONFIRM GOOD a stock firmware for YOUR phone BEFORE YOU ROOT or flash a new rom..... If you get to brick he11 like I did, you will spend more time searching for the tools to get back to zero than you can imagine. You will be revved up, angry with the world, and your google fu will fail you......miserably I might add......
Get all of your ducks in a row BEFORE you root, and before you flash a new rom. That means finding the stock firmware and opening it up in Odin with your phone connected to CONFIRM you have a good firmware to go back to should you fail miserably.... Your very sanity could depend on it...

Team Scream said:
Does anyone have and is willing to share a stock Galaxy S4 rom so I can go back to stock on my phone? I am currently soft bricked and completely dead in the water...
I need to be able to flash the rom using Odin since that is the ONLY way I can communicate with this phone right now....I can flash whatever recovery I want using Odin, but I cannot boot into that recovery once successfully flashed with Odin. It boot loops and goes back to the completely useless PacMan 5.02 rom I flashed previously that repeatedly shows the "google play services has stopped working" screen.... and no number of attempts to clear it by hitting ok will get me to a working desktop
I bricked my phone by flashing PacMan and forgetting to flash GAPPS before rebooting, then trying to install google play services apk and google play store apk manually because I could not get back into recovery for whatever reason....
I have spent the ENTIRE day searching for a stock rom that I can flash with Odin so I can at least get back to zero with this S4 which is actually a brand new phone for me....
PLEASE do not link me to mediafire or rapidgator downloads because I have tried every one of those that google will reveal.. I need one that YOU know is good, and will work. NONE.... NOT ONE of the files I have been able to find online are legitimate .tar files... They ALL unzip with errors and I have tried them on multiple computers.....Multiple download attempts and NOTHING... I have literally been at this for 10 hours now and really need some love.
On a side note, if I can pull the stock rom from my wifes brand new S4 without screwing up her phone, PLEASE tell me how to do that. She literally picked up her brand new replacement S4 today...
Any help is genuinely appreciated... PLEASE.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.rwilco12.com/downloads.php?dir=Files/Devices/Samsung Galaxy S4 (SPH-L720)/Stock ROMs

KennyG123 said:
http://www.rwilco12.com/downloads.php?dir=Files/Devices/Samsung Galaxy S4 (SPH-L720)/Stock ROMs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Man thank you! THANK YOU! I really appreciate it... I woke this morning to find this reply after leaving my computer running all night for another corrupted downloaded image file.... I have my fingers crossed !!! THANK YOU
P.S. how do I know which one of those files I actually need? I have no idea what the difference is in each of those folders.... Forgive me for noob but I really am pretty noob at this.....

I just looked at the link to help you and noticed that Wilco stops at the NAE baseband. A lot of phones are on the NG2 baseband and if you have a 720T, it could be even a different baseband. Go to settings, "About Phone". Look for" "Baseband" and "Model Number". Write that information down. Once you have that, the last three characters are what is in the list in the link KennyG123 sent you. (For example, I have the original S4 so I have a SPH-L720 and my baseband is L720VPUFNG2 (or NG2 for short. Which was not on that list.) If it is not on the list, go to www.sammobile.com and search for your model number (For example, I am on the SPH-L720. If you just bought your phone from Sprint, you probably have the SPH-L720 or SPH-L720T). You can download the tar file from there. It is a little slow but it will get it done for you. The tar file for both phones are here in this forum if you want to search but going to Sammobile would probably be a little easier from the sounds of it.

dyandell said:
I just looked at the link to help you and noticed that Wilco stops at the NAE baseband. <snip>
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey brother, thank you so much for the help and reply. I might have forgot to mention that I cannot get into the phone to read the model # or get any information from it at all. The nag screen telling me that google play services has stopped working is so persistent that I can't do anything with the phone once it boots.
Is there a way to brute force wipe the phone so that the only thing left when that process is done is a custom recovery like TWRP or Philz or anything other than stock?
If so, would you be so kind as to point me in the direction of a tutorial that would help me get through that process.... I am either not using the right search terms or I am just too old to be good at this and should have stayed home when the rooting lessons were being handed out...
Anyway, I genuinely appreciate your help... Thank you so much !!

Ok I was able to pound my way through the nag screen to the settings menu and eventually got to the baseband and model #
baseband: L720TVPUBOA3
model #: SPH-L720
I have tried 3 times to download the only version I can find on the sammobile.com website using the baseband to search and the file fails to download after getting about 2/3 complete.... I have tried it on 2 separate computers from 2 different locations now...... This is horrifying ...... Every single force that can be working against me, is working against me.
Ugh...... If you have a link to a method I can use to force wipe the phone without a stock rom, but with a recovery I can boot into to flash a rom I have on my external SD card, I would love to see it...... im losing my mind here...
<<<<<<<< EDIT>>>>>>>>>
I was also able to pound my way into the settings menu and do a factory reset which removed the google play nag. From there I was able to root around in the developer options folder where I discovered that in order to be able to boot into recovery, you need to select the "boot options" tab and allow the device to boot into recovery....
I know this device is old now and most people have moved on, and I am pleased that there are some people who stick around here to keep this device alive. I only wish that someone would have advised me to check the boot options selection when I indicated I could not boot into recovery... That would have saved me 2 days of manic obsessive he11....... This was complete he11...... But I am on the other side of it now, and have reflashed another rom... I am back among the living.

Team Scream said:
Ok I was able to pound my way through the nag screen to the settings menu and eventually got to the baseband and model #
baseband: L720TVPUBOA3
model #: SPH-L720
I have tried 3 times to download the only version I can find on the sammobile.com website using the baseband to search and the file fails to download after getting about 2/3 complete.... I have tried it on 2 separate computers from 2 different locations now...... This is horrifying ...... Every single force that can be working against me, is working against me.
Ugh...... If you have a link to a method I can use to force wipe the phone without a stock rom, but with a recovery I can boot into to flash a rom I have on my external SD card, I would love to see it...... im losing my mind here...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sprint phones have always been able to downgrade and thinking that has not changed. You should be able to Odin the last one listed on the link I gave you...NAE...then your phone should boot...you can then take the Sprint OTA if you like then root and recovery as normal. Then you can get to the stuff on your SD and flash. The only issues I remember popping up these days is if you mismatch the modem and OS...which wouldn't be the case if you Odin'd NAE.

Team Scream said:
Ok I was able to pound my way through the nag screen to the settings menu and eventually got to the baseband and model #
baseband: L720TVPUBOA3
model #: SPH-L720
I have tried 3 times to download the only version I can find on the sammobile.com website using the baseband to search and the file fails to download after getting about 2/3 complete.... I have tried it on 2 separate computers from 2 different locations now...... This is horrifying ...... Every single force that can be working against me, is working against me.
Ugh...... If you have a link to a method I can use to force wipe the phone without a stock rom, but with a recovery I can boot into to flash a rom I have on my external SD card, I would love to see it...... im losing my mind here...
<<<<<<<< EDIT>>>>>>>>>
I was also able to pound my way into the settings menu and do a factory reset which removed the google play nag. From there I was able to root around in the developer options folder where I discovered that in order to be able to boot into recovery, you need to select the "boot options" tab and allow the device to boot into recovery....
I know this device is old now and most people have moved on, and I am pleased that there are some people who stick around here to keep this device alive. I only wish that someone would have advised me to check the boot options selection when I indicated I could not boot into recovery... That would have saved me 2 days of manic obsessive he11....... This was complete he11...... But I am on the other side of it now, and have reflashed another rom... I am back among the living.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad you got it fixed! I have had my phone for over a year now and never heard of a boot options tab. I guess you learn something new every day.

Also glad you got it fixed. But let's keep this open in case someone else has the same or similar issue.

KennyG123 said:
Sprint phones have always been able to downgrade and thinking that has not changed. You should be able to Odin the last one listed on the link I gave you...NAE...then your phone should boot...you can then take the Sprint OTA if you like then root and recovery as normal. Then you can get to the stuff on your SD and flash. The only issues I remember popping up these days is if you mismatch the modem and OS...which wouldn't be the case if you Odin'd NAE.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well not being able to leave well enough alone, I locked my phone up again.
Because I was able to get out of soft brick without needing a stock firmware, I never bothered downloading NAE from the link you provided.
Turns out after 2 separate downloads (one using Chrome and one using Firefox) I have determined that the md5.tar files on that site http://www.rwilco12.com/downloads.php?dir=Files/Devices/Samsung%20Galaxy%20S4%20%28SPH-L720%29/Stock%20ROMs are worthless.... BOTH downloads failed in Odin before I could even get out of the gate....
They failed the md5 check that Odin performs and would not allow me to continue.... IS there something I am missing?

Team Scream said:
Well not being able to leave well enough alone, I locked my phone up again.
Because I was able to get out of soft brick without needing a stock firmware, I never bothered downloading NAE from the link you provided.
Turns out after 2 separate downloads (one using Chrome and one using Firefox) I have determined that the md5.tar files on that site http://www.rwilco12.com/downloads.php?dir=Files/Devices/Samsung%20Galaxy%20S4%20%28SPH-L720%29/Stock%20ROMs are worthless.... BOTH downloads failed in Odin before I could even get out of the gate....
They failed the md5 check that Odin performs and would not allow me to continue.... IS there something I am missing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Remove the .md5 extension at the end and try again.

KennyG123 said:
Remove the .md5 extension at the end and try again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sweet baby Jeezes please tell me that is not all I had to do.... I spent 4 hours staring at the screen downloading files last night .... I waited 4 hours and finally could not stay awake any more but I finally got the OA3 firmware from SamMobile downloaded successfully. I left the .md5 extension and it is now flashing via Odin as I type this.... I could have saved myself a few more hours of misery if I had known you can remove the .md5 extension..... This learning curve is hard on an old man like me hahaha!
Thanks Kenny
<edit> Ahhhhh.... the sweet smell of success !!! I am now booted back into a stock phone!!!
Man I hope this thread can help save someone else from the anguish I have put myself through with this thing....

Team Scream said:
Sweet baby Jeezes please tell me that is not all I had to do.... I spent 4 hours staring at the screen downloading files last night .... I waited 4 hours and finally could not stay awake any more but I finally got the OA3 firmware from SamMobile downloaded successfully. I left the .md5 extension and it is now flashing via Odin as I type this.... I could have saved myself a few more hours of misery if I had known you can remove the .md5 extension..... This learning curve is hard on an old man like me hahaha!
Thanks Kenny
<edit> Ahhhhh.... the sweet smell of success !!! I am now booted back into a stock phone!!!
Man I hope this thread can help save someone else from the anguish I have put myself through with this thing....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am sure it will! Glad you got it working and glad I helped! Some versions of Odin don't care about the md5 extension and others barf it up. With the way your luck went....well...don't buy a lottery ticket this week...hahaha.