Top custom ROMS - Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I got my SG S4 a few months ago and want to move off from the stock software. My phone is already rooted and want to know what the top roms are, or if I should still wait to get one. I have rooted and flashed my kindle fire but still a little shaky on backup and bootloader working. Any feedback is appreciated!
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LVMickey said:
I got my SG S4 a few months ago and want to move off from the stock software. My phone is already rooted and want to know what the top roms are, or if I should still wait to get one. I have rooted and flashed my kindle fire but still a little shaky on backup and bootloader working. Any feedback is appreciated!
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Omega has both Touchwiz version and GE version. I personally choose TW version and it seem that v9 is coming very soon. Mix it with a good kernel and everything is perfect.

Thread closed as its a Best ROM thread.

Related

Can a new S4 from ATT carrier be rooted?

Saw a good deal for a new Galaxy S4 for $79 + $70 trade in on my old HTC One. So only $10 for the New S4: )
But reading around people saying the New S4 firmware has a hard lock on it and not easy to root and only one or two roms working on it?
I was gonna root it and put the Google Play Edition ROM on it but some say that's not possible on new S4 from ATT carriers now?
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You should do some searching but the s4 with mf3 can be rooted. I know they're not going to have the the new 4.3 update on it yet. But I'd say get the s4 and use the kingo root method.
Use this guide for rooting
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2473747
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2428254
Use this guide for your ROMs
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Root doesn't mean unlocked. You can be rooted and still have a locked bootloader.did you read before posting? I'm not trying to come off rude.
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re: AT&T Rooting
Zorachus said:
Saw a good deal for a new Galaxy S4 for $79 + $70 trade in on my old HTC One. So only $10 for the New S4: )
But reading around people saying the New S4 firmware has a hard lock on it and not easy to root and only one or two roms working on it?
I was gonna root it and put the Google Play Edition ROM on it but some say that's not possible on new S4 from ATT carriers now?
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You will be able to root the AT&T Galaxy S4 easily, almost everyone here in this AT&T S4 forum
already has rooted their phones and have flashed custom roms without any issues.
Good luck!
MF3 can be rooted but you can't flash a custom recovery (TWRP, CWM) If you're asking if you can root the device and flash a custom rom, it all depends on your AT&T store. Try and go to your AT&T store and before they unbox the S4 and start activating everything, make sure you tell them you want a phone with the firmware MDL on it. If they don't have any with the firmware MDL, tough luck. If you get an S4 with MF3, you can only root.
Not only root.
Root it and install Safestrap to install most TW based ROMs that run 4.2.2
Most important is to lube your eyes and
READ/SEARCH all info to do with your build or you will be a victim of the I bricked my phone cause I can't read.you can Google anything to do with your phone and ad "xda" to the search and you will find what you are looking for.
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Last two phones I had, the Nexus 4, and Note 2 on ATT, were easy as pie to root and install recovery, and that was it, you were done forever, just flash a ROM + Kernel, reboot and bam you had a fresh new ROM to enjoy, and was so easy and fast to do get it installed, was a no brainer. What happened in the past year with phones being so locked down so hard, where you can't just do that anymore ?
Wish all Android phones were as simple as a Nexus to flash rom's on. But I don't want the Nexus 5 phone with tiny battery, I like bigger batteries or removable, and more storage options, etc...
Yes it can be rooted using the external sd card method. Its actually easy to do.
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aarond1004 said:
Yes it can be rooted using the external sd card method. Its actually easy to do.
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Click to collapse
The is an even easier method called kingo root that was previously stated.
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graydiggy said:
The is an even easier method called kingo root that was previously stated.
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Click to collapse
Thank you. So I can root it no problem, but then it's a matter of very select ROM's available due to my firmware ? And none of them can be 4.3 based ? Which the S4 doesn't even officially have yet, but not even the Google Play Edition ROM that is 4.3 can be installed on this firmware, only the older 4.2.2 version ?
Ok, so I root with using 'Kingo' method
Then install the safestrap .apk, and install that
And then install only a ROM on the provided list, which will all be 4.2.2 based only ? Still rather have any of those, than just stock TW out of the box unrooted
All correct
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Zorachus said:
Thank you. So I can root it no problem, but then it's a matter of very select ROM's available due to my firmware ? And none of them can be 4.3 based ? Which the S4 doesn't even officially have yet, but not even the Google Play Edition ROM that is 4.3 can be installed on this firmware, only the older 4.2.2 version ?
Ok, so I root with using 'Kingo' method
Then install the safestrap .apk, and install that
And then install only a ROM on the provided list, which will all be 4.2.2 based only ? Still rather have any of those, than just stock TW out of the box unrooted
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can put Google play edition ROMs on but not the 4.3 as stated in the guide. The only real problem for me is that it seems to use more battery than tw roms. And you don't have all the features as your tw based ROMs on the gpe ROMs. Some tw ROMs are just as fast if not faster. Fast speeds and great battery life can't go wrong with that.
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You guys recommend a new S4, or the LG G2 ?
Thing is the G2 development is very sparse, and cases and accessories few and little for the G2. And what about resale down the road in a year or 18 months ? Which will fetch better trade in money the S4 or G2 ?
Thanks.
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N7105 4.3 upgrade UK users

Has anyone updated to 4.3 official using any of the roms from sammobile? I see the nordic countries 4.3 is available, I normally use either this, the German or Swedish version, I've even used a Hong Kong one before now lol, but with the recent changes Sammy have made regarding knox and location lock etc, I'm a bit dubious to upgrade.
They normally just work, just checking this is still the case before I end up with an expensive paperweight.
There is a thread somewhere by chainfire with a fix to sammys region lock. The lion rom is pretty much stock with nox removed, you just have to use devil's kernel for wifi
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Cheers mate but need to stay unrooted for the main apps I use.
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I have flashed mine to the nordic contries im in uk and everything works great yes it has knox but I have had no problem rooting or installing custom roms. Im on the new skynote 4.3 note 3 edition and its the best rom I have used so far
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Cheers mate. I flashed it the other day haven't got around to posting an update yet.
Yes it has knox, but I'm not going to be rooting this device because I use it for sky and a few other apps that require unrooted.
Impressions are good so far. Everything is smooth and all my apps are working as they were before, including the sky sports app which got an update recently to work with 4.3.
One thing to note though, if you use allshare cast dongle. It has a problem working with 4.3 devices that have been updated. So if you run into this issue the fix is to do a factory reset.
There is a workaround for rooted devices on here, it's in the S4 section.
A bit of a pain having to reset I know but seems to be the only solution for unrooted devices that run into it.
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Riki1kenobi said:
Cheers mate. I flashed it the other day haven't got around to posting an update yet.
Yes it has knox, but I'm not going to be rooting this device because I use it for sky and a few other apps that require unrooted.
Impressions are good so far. Everything is smooth and all my apps are working as they were before, including the sky sports app which got an update recently to work with 4.3.
One thing to note though, if you use allshare cast dongle. It has a problem working with 4.3 devices that have been updated. So if you run into this issue the fix is to do a factory reset.
There is a workaround for rooted devices on here, it's in the S4 section.
A bit of a pain having to reset I know but seems to be the only solution for unrooted devices that run into it.
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi mate
I'm also using the sky go app, and on stock 4.1 I've just been using ota rootkeeper to toggle root when needed. I really need root for the viper audio mod.
I'm just wondering which 4.3 ROM you've got it to work on? With 4.1.2 it NEEDS to be stock ROM and kernel for sky go to work. If I upgrade I want to get a ROM without knox, but any custom ROM won't work.
Please let me know as right I'm sticking to 4.1.2.
Thanks
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There weren't any custom rom's available for the 7105 that were stock with knox/location lock removed when I last checked (may be different now?). I just used the nordic rom from sammobile.
If there's none available I think you'll need to wait for a dev to rip the rom and remove knox if you don't want it. Unless you have the time and skills to diy I got the skills but not the time, unfortunately
As I said, I'm not bothered about knox at the moment. I was more bothered by location lock, but I've not had any issue so far.
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Lion Rom is stock deknoxed non region locked deodexed. I'm running it now it's goid
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fade2black101 said:
Hi mate
I'm also using the sky go app, and on stock 4.1 I've just been using ota rootkeeper to toggle root when needed. I really need root for the viper audio mod.
I'm just wondering which 4.3 ROM you've got it to work on? With 4.1.2 it NEEDS to be stock ROM and kernel for sky go to work. If I upgrade I want to get a ROM without knox, but any custom ROM won't work.
Please let me know as right I'm sticking to 4.1.2.
Thanks
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Click to collapse
I don't know if this will work on skygo as I don't have sky but its worth a try
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2574647
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sawdoctor said:
I don't know if this will work on skygo as I don't have sky but its worth a try
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2574647
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the tip mate
Will give it a go when I'm back from work and let you know
Why not just flash the bootloader from DN3 it works with all the official roms and is knox free?
(InsertNameHere) said:
Why not just flash the bootloader from DN3 it works with all the official roms and is knox free?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I will probably do that at some point.
I'm assuming I can restore my nandroid backup to 4.1.2 if I'm not happy?
The xposed mod unfortunately didn't work... Thanks anyway
Some apps are funny as to what they decide is a security risk. Sky are so far up Apple's arse they tend to look for anything that's NOT as the manufacturer released as a security issue. It's actually bollocks but try telling them that.
My other Note 2 is rooted and running 4.3 without all the bs. But most of the apps I need simply won't install/run due to idiotic requirements of the app provider. Hence why I have a 2nd note 2 which has been rooted but I had to unroot and reset the flash counter to get these apps to work. Guess Sammy aren't too fussed, they did get 2 sales from me lol
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[Q] my I337 s4 from att is always very hot and battery dies very quick.

So, I am on 4.2.2 MDL Software on my galaxy s4 att
It get really hot even though we are not really using it and when we do use it, it really gets very hot and battery doesn't last the whole day even with very light use.
I have already rooted it but I am wary on what steps to do:
1. Should I update?
2. Should I install Custom ROM? IF yes, Which one?
I want it close to stock as possible because my wife is used to TW and I wouldn't want her to lose all the functions that samsung s4 has to offer.
I have my own s4 on 4.3 jellybean Stock and updated from att as well and I do not encounter anyproblems other than not being able to root it.
Any help is very much appreciated.
kennyx13 said:
So, I am on 4.2.2 MDL Software on my galaxy s4 att
It get really hot even though we are not really using it and when we do use it, it really gets very hot and battery doesn't last the whole day even with very light use.
I have already rooted it but I am wary on what steps to do:
1. Should I update?
2. Should I install Custom ROM? IF yes, Which one?
I want it close to stock as possible because my wife is used to TW and I wouldn't want her to lose all the functions that samsung s4 has to offer.
I have my own s4 on 4.3 jellybean Stock and updated from att as well and I do not encounter anyproblems other than not being able to root it.
Any help is very much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Give her your s4 and you take her s4.
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Install custom rom
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HiTideBlastoise said:
Install custom rom
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which Rom?
Any you like and that can be flashed
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Take one with MDL as it is free to flahs anything. goldeneye or shostock a fairly stock rom's. Don't take the update from AT&T !!!! MDOB is another close to stock ROM and you can keep all the stock stuff if you like or delete it all and read this...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2314494
Check what you have running in the background. That was killing my battery on my last gs3.
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Flash GRAVITON
AT&T Samsung Galaxy SIV
Graviton Rom 1.7
Ktoonsez 01/13/2014 Kernel

Confused on rooting

First off sorry if I have missed something but I have been doing some reading but am slightly confused.
I am looking at a Verizon Note 3 on ebay to keep unlimited data since I just sold my Note 2 which was rooted and running a custom rom which is kinda a must for me. Where I am confused is I see tutorials on how to root the note 3 but I also see a petition to have verizon unlock the bootloader. When I hear locked bootloader I think no rooting and custom roms. So did verizon just recently lock the note 3 down like they did with the note 2 4.3 update? Sorry if this is a stupid question.
Basically I just want to be able to root my Note 3 but am not worried about voiding any warranties with verizon since I'm buying it on ebay or something. Feel free to post links to this answer since I'm not opposed to reading just kinda overwhelmed right now.
Thanks for answering my stupid question and have a great weekend!!!
Read this thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2543386
Everything you need to know
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ContractorDude said:
Read this thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2543386
Everything you need to know
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok so it looks like I should be able to root it no problem. Whats big deal with the locked bootloader then?
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Only TW custom roms, no AOSP or custom kernels
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ContractorDude said:
Only TW custom roms, no AOSP or custom kernels
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahhhh ok thank you for the quick response!!!
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The Custom Roms are awesome though. Still loving this phone
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ContractorDude said:
The Custom Roms are awesome though. Still loving this phone
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh I don't doubt it for a second!! That's why I was confused saw plenty of custom ROMs but didn't really pay attention to tw or not. Not really an issue since I've been having crazy battery draining issues on everything I put 4.4.2 on. Haven't done my research but I'm sure it won't be long till 4.4 tw hits the note 3 anyways.
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Ya, Sprints already getting it.
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What is "locked" on the retail device is the recovery and boot partitions. They are crypto-signed and verified early in the boot sequence. Until the phone is hacked, it means it is impossible to boot a non-Samsung kernel or non-Samsung recovery. Even if you intentionally blow the Warranty flag on the phone, this behavior will not change.
So, while you can root, whatever "ROM" you want to try and use must play nice with a STOCK kernel (& ramdisk). So, no CM for example.
Also - because of "version upgrade locking", if you upgrade a stock kernel (let's say MJ7 -> MJE), you might not be able to use Nandroid restores of previous ROMs you formerly used any longer... depending on how tightly the ROM depends on kernel & ramdisk behaviors.
And one more thing - the Safestrap "psuedo-recovery" actually boots the beginning of a stock ROM (or whatever you have in the "stock slot"). One consequence of this is that you no longer have a separately bootable recovery to fix up mistakes or restore backups from. If you wedge the primary OS somehow, the consequence of that will be a loss of all data on the phone which is not backed up, and a trip to Odin to restore a pure stock firmware ... and starting all over from square 1.
(If you buy a Note 3, you might want to consider a BIG removable SD card - then you will have room for media/backups/etc that is not vulnerable to an Odin flash)
So basically, you have a limited form of rooting available.
More info here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=49758703&postcount=5

First flash in 2 years

Hey guys, I happen to be running an old shostock rom from shortly after I got the phone. I believe I have the mdl bootloader but am only 90% sure.
Since it has been so long and I see so many threads about having to use safestrap I just want to be cautious with my flash.
I would like to try out a newer, but very stable ROM. Which ones are compatible with my device? I assume I still need to flash lokidoki.zip?
I used to love miui on my old inspire/desire hd....is there a good port for the gs4?
Thanks for the help!
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If you go to Settings, "About Phone" and check there or extra information, it should tell you the what the current bootloader is for your device, yes?
Dirty Unicorns is a stable MDL based ROM available in Kit Kat and Lollipop.
If you have an old ROM, I wonder if you may need to update your modem as well.
Whatever do you, don't forget to backup. Good luck.
sent from xda app
Anyone else have anything to add? How stable are the aosp lollipop roms?
I do like touchwiz but I'm looking for a change of pace.
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