Database Users

[Solved] PIN screen lock disappeared after changing CSC

Hello all
First of all thanks for all the excellent work.
I posted this in another thread which I probably shouldn't have done in the first place, I did find a solution to my problem and I thought I would share it here.
I went (the Odin way) from laggy 2.2.1 to battery hungry 2.3.3 then to 2.3.6 which works very well.
I then installed the CWM root + recovery kernel by Chainfire.
However I then realised my phone was in KOR CSC.
After resetting it to XEU (using the USSD code method) the PIN lock screen disappeared completely and even if I set a new code the phone would never ask for it! The same applied to Password Lock.
(Pattern Lock worked but somehow it feels unsafer to me (even if I know that by deleting password.key anyone can gain access anyway).
I tried restoring from a previous Clockworkmod backup which had been made whilst PIN lock screen was functional, but it didn't work.
I then tried wiping the phone (except for internal SD) using CWM Recovery and then restoring from the CWM backup. It didn't work either - PIN lock screen was still not working.
Problem seemed to lie in the fact that I installed CWM (together with rooted kernel) *before* changing CSC from KOR to XEU.
When the stock recovery tried to wipe the phone, it failed.
I think that's what messed up the phone when it comes to the PIN lock screen.
So making sure that I had already a copy of the /efs folder safely stored in the internal SD and somewhere else, I overwrote /efs with the backup copy I had, and the phone went back to KOR CSC... plus a fully functional PIN lock screen!
Unsure as to how to proceed, but feeling safe now I had (more or less) safely tinkered around with /efs, I finally decided to delete the /efs folder and then change CSC.
The phone rebooted into stock recovery, tried to wipe memory and it failed, then rebooted, and voila, a new /efs folder had been created, albeit with a "generic" (and probably unusable) IMEI! Everything was working though, including the cellular data connection (I didn't check whether it was able to transfer any data but the icon and light up arrows did show up). And PIN lock screen was functional too.
I then replaced /efs with my backup copy (with ES File Explorer, rooted) and rebooted the phone.
My beloved phone then went back to my good old IMEI, kept the new CSC (CPW in this case, which is UK as well so it suits me) and PIN lock screen functionality!
So 'next time' I would follow the procedure below:
1. Flash 2.3.6 ROM
2. Change KOR CSC to XEU (or CPW for Carphone Warehouse) using USSD code command
3. Phone will restart and should wipe memory fully with its stock recovery.
4. Only then flash Chainfire kernel ROM which roots 2.3.6 and installs CWM Recovery.
I hope I haven't made any big mistakes along the way and that this humble contribution can help someone, other people's contributions have helped me a lot.
Cheers

[Q] [HELP] Wifi dont turn on, can't call after debrand

Hi, i have problem after debranding my galaxy.
Wifi is not turning on, and i can't call, when i try, there is a black screen.
I have branded PL in "Plus", and i tried with xeo roms from april (I9505XXUAMDE) and may (I9505XXUAME2) and modems for them.
When i tried first time to change rom, i had error in odin (can't write or something like that). So i rooted my device using cf-auto-root, changed csc from btu to xeo, then I9505_OFFICIAL_STATUS_MOD, wipe and triangle away, then rom.
How i can fix that?

pierzu said:
Hi, i have problem after debranding my galaxy.
Wifi is not turning on, and i can't call, when i try, there is a black screen.
I have branded PL in "Plus", and i tried with xeo roms from april (I9505XXUAMDE) and may (I9505XXUAME2) and modems for them.
When i tried first time to change rom, i had error in odin (can't write or something like that). So i rooted my device using cf-auto-root, changed csc from btu to xeo, then I9505_OFFICIAL_STATUS_MOD, wipe and triangle away, then rom.
How i can fix that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I be you - i try to go to Advanced phills touch recovery menu, format there everything (system, data, partitions EVERYTHING) except sd card. Then i would like to try to flash Android OS (4.3) with repartition (pit file if I remember it correctly). After that, the good idea is install root, than phills touch again (I don't remember, but something overrides another one and recovery menu dissapears or...whatever, need to try) and test again if you have this issue.
Giving this information you gave, it's even for SUPER DUPER PRO EXTRA HIGH-RANKING with IQ over 9000 developer is actually impossible. Anyway, I'e just told you the best way how to fix it.

I found somewhere similar problem, and i tried to install 4.3 rom, and everything works fine

Is it possible to install a different regions firmware to my S4?

Hey guys quick question before I download and attempt it, I have an Australian i9506 (Cat 4 LTE) but we don't have an official 5.0.1 firmware yet.
Can I just download the Nordic version from http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/database/GT-I9506/ and install it, or would it brick my phone/radios not work?
Thanks

juzza87 said:
Hey guys quick question before I download and attempt it, I have an Australian i9506 (Cat 4 LTE) but we don't have an official 5.0.1 firmware yet.
Can I just download the Nordic version from http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/database/GT-I9506/ and install it, or would it brick my phone/radios not work?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi mate,
Yes you can !! it will not brick it , you may have (or not) problems with the modem as maybe is not the best for your region but you can always flash another...
should not be a problem
BACKUP first , nandroid and your EFS Folder, just in case there is a problem

Just to add to the previous suggestion, use Wanam's EFS Backup Tool rather than Samsung Tool, as it not only backs up the EFS partition but the hidden partitions where the IMEI and the modem are stored.

Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
Just to add to the previous suggestion, use Wanam's EFS Backup Tool rather than Samsung Tool, as it not only backs up the EFS partition but the hidden partitions where the IMEI and the modem are stored.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 mate!!

It also depends if your phone is carrier locked.

Thanks for the advice guys I'm giving it a try now, will edit as I go. My phone is not carrier locked (Voda AU don't lock them fortunately but they provide the codes on their website for free to unlock anyway).
So I downloaded Odin3 3.09 and the firmware I9506XXUDOA6_I9506NEEDOA6_NEE (this is the link from sammobile).
I'm following the instructions I found on another site but it's basically put the phone into download mode (home, power and volume down), agree to enter download mode, in Odin for AP select the .tar.md5, make sure Auto Reboot and F. Time Reset are ticked but not Re-Partition or anything else and start.
EDIT 1: The phone rebooted into recovery and updated something, now the phone is booting with a new boot animation. (for those referring to this I was on the latest AU Voda FW, then updated to CM12 5.0.2).
EDIT 2: After the usual nerve-wracking amount of time of first boot the boot logo finally went away and the usual "optimizing apps" message has come up and it's started (235 apps whoa the bloat). Waiting for that but at least it's working to a point where I can recover it. I just realised it's 6:10AM now and I FORGOT TO MAKE A BACK UP. I hope this works but worse case scenario there's a 4.4.2 Vodafone firmware I could flash and try my luck with if this doesn't work out.
EDIT 3: I'm not sure if it's part of the setup process but the word "UP" then a short progress bar appeared on the screen, now I've got only a black screen with a status bar (4G icon is there but no clock). I have rebooted from the power menu, let's see what's going on here.
EDIT 4: Cache wipe from stock recovery didn't work, trying factory reset from stock recovery. I note that the first time I set up the phone it was plugged into the computer with ODIN still running, I don't think it could have interfered but I unplugged the phone this time just in case.
EDIT 5: I'm not sure if it was ODIN or needing to do a factory reset but it's working now, I'm running through the set up. WiFi is working 100%.
Final EDIT: Everything is working 100%, tested the camera, proximity sensor, screen rotation, voice calls, mobile data, wifi and it's all 100%.

juzza87 said:
Thanks for the advice guys I'm giving it a try now, will edit as I go. My phone is not carrier locked (Voda AU don't lock them fortunately but they provide the codes on their website for free to unlock anyway).
So I downloaded Odin3 3.09 and the firmware I9506XXUDOA6_I9506NEEDOA6_NEE (this is the link from sammobile).
I'm following the instructions I found on another site but it's basically put the phone into download mode (home, power and volume down), agree to enter download mode, in Odin for AP select the .tar.md5, make sure Auto Reboot and F. Time Reset are ticked but not Re-Partition or anything else and start.
EDIT 1: The phone rebooted into recovery and updated something, now the phone is booting with a new boot animation. (for those referring to this I was on the latest AU Voda FW, then updated to CM12 5.0.2).
EDIT 2: After the usual nerve-wracking amount of time of first boot the boot logo finally went away and the usual "optimizing apps" message has come up and it's started (235 apps whoa the bloat). Waiting for that but at least it's working to a point where I can recover it. I just realised it's 6:10AM now and I FORGOT TO MAKE A BACK UP. I hope this works but worse case scenario there's a 4.4.2 Vodafone firmware I could flash and try my luck with if this doesn't work out.
EDIT 3: I'm not sure if it's part of the setup process but the word "UP" then a short progress bar appeared on the screen, now I've got only a black screen with a status bar (4G icon is there but no clock). I have rebooted from the power menu, let's see what's going on here.
EDIT 4: Cache wipe from stock recovery didn't work, trying factory reset from stock recovery. I note that the first time I set up the phone it was plugged into the computer with ODIN still running, I don't think it could have interfered but I unplugged the phone this time just in case.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi mate
How is it going?
If trouble , do a factory reset and flash it again....

Thanks mate that did the trick!

juzza87 said:
Thanks mate that did the trick!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
glad to hear it mate, you did it!!
Thanks for let in us know.

For any other Aussies out there trying this I'm on day two and everything is working perfectly, getting root is super easy too, just use Odin to flash a custom recovery (Solk's CWM from May 2014 works great), boot into the recovery and install UPDATE-SuperSU-v2.45.zip, exit and when it asks if you want to repair root say yes. Reboot, go to the play store, update to the latest SuperSU and all is well.

[Q] flashing Stock UK BTU though on boot polish language shown

Ages ago because i was impatientto update my phone so i flashed the Polish Stock using Odin, since then i have used Odin to flash the UK Stock, though when i wipe and reset the phone it still initially comes up with the polish language, (not a massive issue i know but i want to get UK OTA if it ever comes) also if i go to sell the phone at the end of this year when the Note5 is out im sure the new owner would want to turn it on and see english.
Ive tried
Clearing the EFS cache and resetting the phone from recovery before and after flashing BTU
I made sure reactivation lock was off as I wondered if that would cause an issue though that hasn't helped. does anyone have any other ideas?
Im un-routed as i sometimes use my phone to test out corporate BYOD so cant root of flash a custom rom.
thanks all for any help.

ooMoo said:
Ages ago because i was impatientto update my phone so i flashed the Polish Stock using Odin, since then i have used Odin to flash the UK Stock, though when i wipe and reset the phone it still initially comes up with the polish language, (not a massive issue i know but i want to get UK OTA if it ever comes) also if i go to sell the phone at the end of this year when the Note5 is out im sure the new owner would want to turn it on and see english.
Ive tried
Clearing the EFS cache and resetting the phone from recovery before and after flashing BTU
I made sure reactivation lock was off as I wondered if that would cause an issue though that hasn't helped. does anyone have any other ideas?
Im un-routed as i sometimes use my phone to test out corporate BYOD so cant root of flash a custom rom.
thanks all for any help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Download Phone INFO Samsung from Play and check the CSC.
But it might be you are rebooting into DL mode instead of shutting down the phone then starting it in DL mode. I usually remove the battery for a bit and hold the power button for a few secs to make sure the mainboard is completely discharged. Odin (& other methods) all have problems changing BL and Modem if you just do a reboot into DL.
You might want to take a look at Multiboot and Recovery for the possibility of having the ROM you want, rooted etc. AND still have a stock ROM you can choose to boot into for work purposes.

[Q]SOLVED Noob GT-I9505 WIFI dead after upgrd 4.4.2 searched and tried all solutions

First of all please forgive me for opening yet another S4 wifi problem after kitkat upgrade, but I have tried everything I could possibly find here, on youtube and other forums. The only thing left to try is flash the modem but I'd rather ask before I brick my phone
I'm not quite sure if this is the same issue every single time or if in my case it is due to my ignorance and errors. I was an iphone/unlock/jailbreak user until last year so please bear with me. Android is new and fun (but scary) territory to me.
Situation, what I did and possible mistakes on my side:
-I'm in Spain but I bought my factory unlocked phone on amazon and it was for the Polish market (GT-I9505 Black, 16 Gb)
-My device was rooted don't even remember how I did it last year so no useful info on that side a part of using odin for windows.
- Until yesterday I was on jellybean, not quite sure if 4.2.2 or 4.3
- Yesterday I upgraded to 4.4.2 via mobile odin and yes I checked the boxes about clearing/deleting cache or whatever it's called.
- Used a stock firmware downloaded from other site (that one starting with "S" and with a great amount of firmwares for samsung devices of several countries)
- I chose a firmware randomly (maybe this was my mistake) because I hade read that the firmware was not that important and people where usimg leaked german firmwares on on phones from elsewhere. But I did choose one that matched the country of my phone (XEO/XX Poland)
- Everything is working fine but without wifi I'm buying new Mb bundles almost every 2 hours and I'll be broke very soon
If you guys think the solution is flashing the modem which file should I use? I see lots of them with different models/codes and I'm completely lost and have read a lot about messing with bootloaders/modems etc bricking devices so I'm freaking scared and ask for your charitative help!
All the info I could gather about my device right now (now I know I should have gathered this info also before attempting to upgrade but it's too late now!
SAMSUNG GALAXY S4 GT-I9505 Black Edition
Manufacturing date: 2013-12-23
BASEBAND Version: I9505XXUEMK8
BOOTLOADER Version:I9505XXUEMK8
PDA Version: I9505XXUGNG8
CSC Version: I9505YXZGNH2
Kernel: 3.4.0-2309103
KOT49H-I9505UGNG8
Android 4.4.2
Product code: GT2I9505ZKAXEO
Original CSC: XEO
Firmsware's CSC: XEO
Active CSC code: XEO
CSC Country: Poland
Any help would be greatly appreciated, I feel so dumb and frustrated right now that any joke or insult would be accepted with humbleness lol

Forgot to add I used the *#0011# command and went to wifi menu. Tried the ping test and it states: passed
status: DISCONNECTED
SSID: Unknown SSID
( In case this info is of any use )

voxel.xyz said:
Forgot to add I used the *#0011# command and went to wifi menu. Tried the ping test and it states: passed
status: DISCONNECTED
SSID: Unknown SSID
( In case this info is of any use )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Relax it has solution . The problem becomes coz the baseband and the bootloader are olds (android 4.3).
SAMSUNG GALAXY S4 GT-I9505 Black Edition
BASEBAND Version: I9505XXUEMK8
BOOTLOADER Version:I9505XXUEMK8
PDA Version: I9505XXUGNG8
CSC Version: I9505YXZGNH2
* Quick solution for recover WIFI:
1. Reflash the STOCK I9505XXUGNG8 (XEO) firmware via ODIN.
2. Let the process finish and reboot normally.
3. Dial *#1234# and have to appear this:
AP: I9505XXUGNG8
CP: I9505XXUGNG8
CSC: I9505YXZGNH2
4. Reflash again if not. Good luck

Thank you so much for your helpful reply Joku1981 !!!!! You made my day!!!
Can I do that with Mobile Odin??? My PC broke (Graphics card burnt) and until a couple of months won't be able to buy a new one.
To make sure I understand you: You mean Flash again the same firmware I used to upgrade to 4.4.2 in the first place?
I used this Firmware: I9505XXUGNG8_I9505YXZGNH2_XEO
should I try Flashing that same Stock Firmware again? and if does not work keep reflashing until the baseband and the bootloader get updated?
Why did they not update ? is this common or an error on my side???
I hope it can be done with mobile Odin since I can keep my root status, If I have to do it in Desktop Odin do I have to Re-Root after flashing???
Thank you so much for you kind help!!!!!!
Joku1981 said:
Relax it has solution . The problem becomes coz the baseband and the bootloader are olds (android 4.3).
SAMSUNG GALAXY S4 GT-I9505 Black Edition
BASEBAND Version: I9505XXUEMK8
BOOTLOADER Version:I9505XXUEMK8
PDA Version: I9505XXUGNG8
CSC Version: I9505YXZGNH2
* Quick solution for recover WIFI:
1. Reflash the STOCK I9505XXUGNG8 (XEO) firmware via ODIN.
2. Let the process finish and reboot normally.
3. Dial *#1234# and have to appear this:
AP: I9505XXUGNG8
CP: I9505XXUGNG8
CSC: I9505YXZGNH2
4. Reflash again if not. Good luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

SOLVED!!!!!
After nobody answered if I could use again "mobile Odin" to flash once more and try to fix my wifi not working I opened mobile odin and it gave me a warning about my version and having a wrong bootloader as a possibility of soft bricking my phone so I decided to stay away of mobile Odin this time.
I used desktop Odin (at work since my pc broke) and exactly the same firmware file downloaded from sammobile (but re-downloaded it just in case) and had to flash twice, the first time it went through the whole process ok right until the end where it showed the FAIL message.
I didn't know if I should turn off the phone stuck in download mode and with the process bar at 100 % or retry flashing without turning it off. So I decided not to turn it off (afraid it would get soft bricked or something). I closed mobile Odin but left phone On with download mode screen active and opened mobile Odin again got the "added"message and the blue color showing it was properly connected to the phone and started flashing process again....
I started getting red error messages saying the progress bar display was wrong (and it wasn't updating/kept stuck in the previous 100%) but after it finished it was flashed and everything was ok. WIFI WORKED!!!!!!
Now the weird part.....in case this happens /helps someone else:
- My phone DID NOT get wiped. My launcher and my apps stayed intact (I thought flashing even the same firmware always wiped data, I'm I wrong???)
- All my root apps (root explorer, titanium backup, so on and so forth) where there and working fine. One root checker stated I was rooted and another one stated I wasn't but even my launcher (nova) was working just as if I never flashed the phone.
- Since I was unsure of my "root" state and I did not have "supersu" app in my apps drawer I tried installing it via playstore but It always gave an error message (the application could not be installed in the default location)
- I rooted again just in case and the root process finished without errors but still I had no "supersu" app and one root checker said I was rooted and the other I wasn't. Tried installing "supersu" from the playstore but same error and could not get installed.
- I searched here and in other forums for similar problems/solutions but nothing worked until I tried several things that fixed the problem. Not really sure which fixed it so I will write them down in the order I did them:
1. Opened folder mount which I already had installed and it gave me an error and asked me to try the fix which I did.
2. Opened linked2sd which I already had installed also previous to the firmware flash. It gave me an error and asked me which was the partition to use (as when I first installed it) in my case it was ext4. And it seemed to start working as it normally does. No further error when reopening it.
3. Rebooted the phone and tried entering recovery mode to wipe cache etc but It never entered recovery mode. I get the message about going into recovery mode (top left corner small red letters) But right after that it reboots and I get the samsung logo and my home screen.
4. Tried reinstalling supersu again and no success. (By the way before I did all this steps I tried rooting again but got to the same point. No supersu on my apps drawer)
5. Downloaded BusyBox install (opened it but did not use it in any way, maybe something in the installation fixed my problem)
6. Opened mobile Odin just for curiosity sake and it opened fine and asked for downloading of the extra stuff as when I installed it the first time. After that I closed it
7. Rebooted normally (no recovery mode since I'm stuck without it)
8. Tried installing "supersu" and NOW it worked!!!
9. Checked in both root checker apps and both confirm I'm rooted and supersu started asking for granting permissions to apps again as it normally does!
10. Everytime I attempted flash, root, and even after some reboots I took the battery off (since I read in several threads it helped/was mandatory)
Conclusion now my WIFI problem is fixed, my root problem (that appeared doing the reflash for fixing my wifi problem) is also fixed. The only thing I could not fix is not being able to get into recovery mode.
Does anyone know a solution for recovering the ability to get into recovery mode????
Thanks to Joku for lighting me into re flashing once and again until my wifi was fixed!