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Hi all, i apologize in advance if this is the wrong place to post, but it seems where all the experts spend a lot of their time.
i followed all the instructions for the 3 button recovery fix via odin3, and the phone seemed to restart just fine. unfortunately no matter how many times i tried, the phone would not go into recovery.
moreover, it seems i've lost a lot of my apps (including the market app) and the phone is unable to be detected through usb in kies. well actually, it does detect, but it's saying there is no memory card or memory at all detected. i was trying to manually install the market app but that's where it stopped.
the phone does make calls and such, but that's pretty much it. can anybody help me out? thanks in advance.
robinkimfoo said:
Hi all, i apologize in advance if this is the wrong place to post, but it seems where all the experts spend a lot of their time.
i followed all the instructions for the 3 button recovery fix via odin3, and the phone seemed to restart just fine. unfortunately no matter how many times i tried, the phone would not go into recovery.
moreover, it seems i've lost a lot of my apps (including the market app) and the phone is unable to be detected through usb in kies. well actually, it does detect, but it's saying there is no memory card or memory at all detected. i was trying to manually install the market app but that's where it stopped.
the phone does make calls and such, but that's pretty much it. can anybody help me out? thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How about any useful info? We can't just guess which phone you installed it on, which firmware, with what, how and what.
oh yes i'm sorry i should've thought of that.
it is currently on the 2.2 froyo
model no. SHW-M110S
Kernel version 2.6.32.9
build number froyo.sk22
sorry i'm a bit of a noob to droids, is there any other relevant info i can supply?
robinkimfoo said:
oh yes i'm sorry i should've thought of that.
it is currently on the 2.2 froyo
model no. SHW-M110S
Kernel version 2.6.32.9
build number froyo.sk22
sorry i'm a bit of a noob to droids, is there any other relevant info i can supply?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If im not mistaken SHW-M110S is korean version. If yes - you need different kernel, and the fix you probably used was to flash JMsomething firmware that fixes 3buttons. And it includes kernel-stuff that doesnt work with this model.
Flash back to stock and install fix that only fixes bootloader (there are 2 fixes on forum). Not sure if it will work as you have different model (they all are for i9000something)
Hello everyone! My names Danny, sorry I'm extremely frustrated at the moment and apologize for not introducing myself properly in what ever you call your newcomer section here, but I'm ripping my hair out at the moment.
So last night for the 4th time I tried to root my Galaxy S4, again unsuccessfully. While I admit I am no programmer, computer whiz, or rocket scientist, I have previously rooted my old S3 and my girlfriend's Moto Photon successfully in the past, on the 1st try (although they were pretty simple 1 click roots no more difficult than the one I used here, or so I thought.) Now last night I tried to use the CF-Autoroot again for the 3rd time, which i figured after the first 2 attempts was doomed to failure also. This may be due to the fact that I updated it, but I don't know. I'm hoping someone here can point me in the direction of a root that will work with my phone, show me where I may have went wrong in the install,or give some instruction on how to delete the update so I can use the CF-Autoroot. As long as my phone will still function as normal, I could care less which option is used, however I do not have any programming experience whatsoever, so a simpler root would be excellent. I'll give you all the info I can below.
Software version: L720VPUAMF9
Hardware version: L720.08
Model #: SPH-L720
Android version: 4.2.2
Baseband version: L720PUAMF9
Kernal version: 3.4.0-953334
[email protected] # 1
Tue Jun 25 09:36:29 KST 2013
Build #: JDQ39.L720VPUAMF9
SE Linux Status: Permissive
Secure boot status: Type: Samsung
Device Status: Custom (No Triangle Away quite yet, as I'm not sure if it is yet supported on the S4, or if I even need it since I plan on keeping the phone)
Root was done on HP Windows 7 laptop 64-bit, with the phone in camera mode prior to turning off and going into download mode.
I followed the instructions on honai-android.blogspot(dotcom) using CF-Autoroot and Odin V3.07 to the T, except I have yet to get the drivers to install correctly (or so it tells me, everything works fine,) and in Step 4 it says the box should turn yellow and a port number displays, but in my case did not. It did display the "Added" message in the little box like it should have, but it did go through the whole process and I got a PASS notification as it says I should have. I have no idea why it won't work, other than maybe the drivers are screwing me. Ran Root Checker and it tells me "Please wait for Root Check to complete. System appears to be running very slow," and Titanium Backup won't work either. Root checker stayed like this all night last night while I slept.
Also I would appreciate some help reverting it back from the root I apparently didn't install, although I know some of it went through, or Root Checker would just say I didn't have superuser access.
I'm hoping one of you guys here might be able to help me out with this problem, and I greatly appreciate any help I can get. If anymore information is needed, just ask. Much thanks in advance.
You said you used Odin in camera mode? Did you mean download mode? I didn't have to install any drivers to get Odin to work. If you didn't get a yellow box with a com number in it the Odin didn't write anything to your phone. If you look here in the dev section there is a thread titled cf auto root. Download the zip file there and follow those directions and give it another try.
SGS4 Sent
ifly4vamerica said:
You said you used Odin in camera mode? Did you mean download mode? I didn't have to install any drivers to get Odin to work. If you didn't get a yellow box with a com number in it the Odin didn't write anything to your phone. If you look here in the dev section there is a thread titled cf auto root. Download the zip file there and follow those directions and give it another try.
SGS4 Sent
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No my S4 was in camera mode. There are 2 options when I plug my phone in via USB to the PC, either camera mode or media device mode, PTP and MTP respectively. This is how it was set up before I turned the phone off to go into download mode, didn't think it made a difference, but I wanted to give as much info as possible. The phone went through all the downloading stuff on-screen with the red pirate android guy and everything while Odin was downloading to the phone, and Odin also said Added in the message box so I figure Odin recognized the device was present. I'll check out that thread though, thank you:good: I'll be back here if it doesn't rectify the situation.
I see my first problem, stupid tutorial I used the first time said to put Odin in Repartition and F-Reboot. QBKing says only Autoreboot. Man I hate crappily done tutorials.
Just also noticed he mentions the yellow box and com/port number are vital to the success of the root, something I overlooked all 3 times I tried it.
Stuck at the stupid com box again, now it wont change at all and i'm not getting the added message either....
Downloaded the drivers for the phone he gave also and still nothing....tried 3 different USB cables like he suggested too and still stuck.
Think I might need to unroot or delete the other crap I installed before? I'm out of ideas.
pumpdatbass420 said:
Stuck at the stupid com box again, now it wont change at all and i'm not getting the added message either....
Downloaded the drivers for the phone he gave also and still nothing....tried 3 different USB cables like he suggested too and still stuck.
Think I might need to unroot or delete the other crap I installed before? I'm out of ideas.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok try this from the beginning
1. reset phone factory reset via recovery ( hold power up - home - and power button ) simultaneously and once you see blue recovery text top left corner let all the buttons go. select factory reset and proceed with reboot.
2. press ##3424# and select pda and make sure you have MTP-ADB selected
3. try rooting your phone via ODIN
PS: if it does not work change step 2 under PDA setting to DM-MODEM-ADB then root and once rooted change it back to step MTP-ADB
let us know if this works for you
saj070 said:
ok try this from the beginning
1. reset phone factory reset via recovery ( hold power up - home - and power button ) simultaneously and once you see blue recovery text top left corner let all the buttons go. select factory reset and proceed with reboot.
2. press ##3424# and select pda and make sure you have MTP-ADB selected
3. try rooting your phone via ODIN
PS: if it does not work change step 2 under PDA setting to DM-MODEM-ADB then root and once rooted change it back to step MTP-ADB
let us know if this works for you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Step 2...am I doing this on the phone or in Odin? MTP-ADB as well?
pumpdatbass420 said:
Step 2...am I doing this on the phone or in Odin? MTP-ADB as well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
step 2 is open dialer on the phone - how else you going to press ##3424#
i thought that was a given sorry
It's cool, I ask just in case. While I do consider myself a bright individual, I do not know very much about newer cell phones or android (this is only my 2nd smart phone, before the Photon I had been using my Blackjack without net. That phone lasted forever!) And before the Photon had never modded any cell phone in any way save an extended battery.
pumpdatbass420 said:
It's cool, I ask just in case. While I do consider myself a bright individual, I do not know very much about newer cell phones or android (this is only my 2nd smart phone, before the Photon I had been using my Blackjack without net. That phone lasted forever!) And before the Photon had never modded any cell phone in any way save an extended battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no problem better be safe than sorry ')
let us know how it went.
It's aliiiiiiive
Ok so oddly enough, after I performed steps 1 & 2, when I rebooted my phone I notice SuperSU was in my apps list. So for $#*^$ and giggles I downloaded Root checker to test it out and sure enough it says device is rooted. Go figure.
Thanks so much for your help guys, my girlfriend was starting to worry about me out here smashing keys and grunting like an animal trying to get this to work. :highfive:
pumpdatbass420 said:
Hello everyone! My names Danny, sorry I'm extremely frustrated at the moment and apologize for not introducing myself properly in what ever you call your newcomer section here, but I'm ripping my hair out at the moment.
So last night for the 4th time I tried to root my Galaxy S4, again unsuccessfully. While I admit I am no programmer, computer whiz, or rocket scientist, I have previously rooted my old S3 and my girlfriend's Moto Photon successfully in the past, on the 1st try (although they were pretty simple 1 click roots no more difficult than the one I used here, or so I thought.) Now last night I tried to use the CF-Autoroot again for the 3rd time, which i figured after the first 2 attempts was doomed to failure also. This may be due to the fact that I updated it, but I don't know. I'm hoping someone here can point me in the direction of a root that will work with my phone, show me where I may have went wrong in the install,or give some instruction on how to delete the update so I can use the CF-Autoroot. As long as my phone will still function as normal, I could care less which option is used, however I do not have any programming experience whatsoever, so a simpler root would be excellent. I'll give you all the info I can below.
Software version: L720VPUAMF9
Hardware version: L720.08
Model #: SPH-L720
Android version: 4.2.2
Baseband version: L720PUAMF9
Kernal version: 3.4.0-953334
[email protected] # 1
Tue Jun 25 09:36:29 KST 2013
Build #: JDQ39.L720VPUAMF9
SE Linux Status: Permissive
Secure boot status: Type: Samsung
Device Status: Custom (No Triangle Away quite yet, as I'm not sure if it is yet supported on the S4, or if I even need it since I plan on keeping the phone)
Root was done on HP Windows 7 laptop 64-bit, with the phone in camera mode prior to turning off and going into download mode.
I followed the instructions on honai-android.blogspot(dotcom) using CF-Autoroot and Odin V3.07 to the T, except I have yet to get the drivers to install correctly (or so it tells me, everything works fine,) and in Step 4 it says the box should turn yellow and a port number displays, but in my case did not. It did display the "Added" message in the little box like it should have, but it did go through the whole process and I got a PASS notification as it says I should have. I have no idea why it won't work, other than maybe the drivers are screwing me. Ran Root Checker and it tells me "Please wait for Root Check to complete. System appears to be running very slow," and Titanium Backup won't work either. Root checker stayed like this all night last night while I slept.
Also I would appreciate some help reverting it back from the root I apparently didn't install, although I know some of it went through, or Root Checker would just say I didn't have superuser access.
I'm hoping one of you guys here might be able to help me out with this problem, and I greatly appreciate any help I can get. If anymore information is needed, just ask. Much thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try doomlord easy root
Thanks for the tip but I already got it rooted. Just took a few more steps than I thought due to some overlooked details with the initial install.
New problem!
Trying to get QBKings Native Hotspot mod to work and it wont let me transfer services.odex to the system folder but services.jar is transferring fine? Any ideas? I'm baffled here yet again. Tried 3 different root browsers but JUST services.odex wont transfer!!!!!
Sorry for joining late, but how are you transferring the file? ADB, SD?
This is my first post on here, but I've used these forums before to root my S3 and at one time my current S4. My problem is with MF3... I used
this post [http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2387577] to root my phone once, but since I couldn't install TWRP or CWM, I thought I could downgrade the software version with Odin. Well, I was wrong, and I unrooted my phone in the process... Upon trying the same technique I mentioned earlier, it now says "permission denied" upon entering the first prompt <<cd /mnt/extSdCard>>
AND, I can't use Odin to factory reset. Using posts such as this [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZTTTk7vbVM] doesn't seem to work either. When putting my phone into download mode, I pull up Odin, and select the file in the link (the software file .tar I think), it says it fails shortly after starting.
Really, I need help with two things:
1. Obtaining root access
2. Resetting phone to factory settings
I might not have to do a factory reset, but I've noticed my wifi will NOT enable since I unrooted and this is a big concern for me. I know that all my troubles are because the bootloader is locked (and I'm messing with stuff I don't fully understand...), which is why I'd like help obtaining root again in the final hope that Safestrap [http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2448925] is the answer I'm looking for so I can use my favorite ROM, LiquidSmooth!
PLEASE help me any way you can! I've tried to provide as much information as I can think of, but I'm new to this stuff, so bear with me. I have no real experience in rooting and whatnot, but so far, I've followed directions by users of this forum, so I have faith that there's a solution to this mayhem. Thanks for any help you can provide! =)
Your first mistake was not reading about what you can and can not do while on mf3. Your second was trying to put a recovery on. And your third was trying to use Odin to down grade your firmware.
I'm surprised your not having issues booting. The only way right now to get your phone back to normal is to see if best buy will flash the mf3 firmware for you
Edit, read this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=45359306
jd1639 said:
Your first mistake was not reading about what you can and can not do while on mf3. Your second was trying to put a recovery on. And your third was trying to use Odin to down grade your firmware.
I'm surprised your not having issues booting. The only way right now to get your phone back to normal is to see if best buy will flash the mf3 firmware for you
Edit, read this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=45359306
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess you're trying to be helpful, but your condescending tone isn't helping. I READ everything, I just don't UNDERSTAND everything... The second paragraph actually provided some help, so thanks for that. I was just hoping for something I could do myself to re obtain root so that I can try the Safestrap method I provided in my original post. I will post a reply to the root method post and see if anyone can help me there, since that's my main issue is not being able to get root access back. I don't have any problems booting though, only when I boot into recovery mode do I get a loop in which I just have to get to the Samsung warning screen and select "cancel (reboot phone)". Thanks for reading this and providing some direction.
jeremythetree said:
I guess you're trying to be helpful, but your condescending tone isn't helping. I READ everything, I just don't UNDERSTAND everything... The second paragraph actually provided some help, so thanks for that. I was just hoping for something I could do myself to re obtain root so that I can try the Safestrap method I provided in my original post. I will post a reply to the root method post and see if anyone can help me there, since that's my main issue is not being able to get root access back. I don't have any problems booting though, only when I boot into recovery mode do I get a loop in which I just have to get to the Samsung warning screen and select "cancel (reboot phone)". Thanks for reading this and providing some direction.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, your main issue is that you don't understand what you are reading and you shouldn't be doing anything to your phone until you do. Dozens of people just like you pass through this forum everyday with similar issues because they didn't read or take the time to understand what it was that they did read. Someone takes the time to tell them to read and learn and they don't listen or think they don't have to. Then, they screw their phones up and come back here crying for help. So it's not a condescending tone, it's people getting tired of the same crap. You admitted that you didn't understand everything you read so why would you do anything to your phone before you do understand it? Can you not see the problem?
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.
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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.
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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?
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Remove the .md5 extension at the end and try again.
KennyG123 said:
Remove the .md5 extension at the end and try again.
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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....
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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.
Ok guys, here's the deal. i bought a secondhand s4 which was advertised as a google edition. it has a couple of annoying issues, first i noticed it switching itself off and on. the worst problem with it is that when my battery goes reeeally dead it just bootloops when i have recharged. the only way i can get it back on is to start it in recovery mode (which is clockworkmod v6.0.4.4) then do a factory wipe. so yeah thats a major pain. the s4 itself is a red model and behind the battery it says its a gt-19505, however in the settings on the phone it says its a gt-19505g.
my goal is to install an official firmware if possible that i may be able to update easily, the worry that i have is that i dont know if it would then accept my network as although it appears to run google edition custom firmware it may not once i install something official on it. this may be a nooby statement i know but a noob i am lol.
if its at all possible could i keep the cwm recovery?
and if its any help when i load the other boot loader thingy (with the green android on it) in the top left it says gt-19505, im just sayin cus im sure its vital which ever this phone actually is.
here are as many details as i can give but please ask if im missing anything
ANDROID VERSION 4.4.2
KERNEL VERSION 3.4.0-faux123-KK44-GE-Custom
[email protected]omain #20
Sun Dec 1 02:30:28 CST 2013
BASEBAND VERSION 19505XXUFNA1
BUILD NUMBER KOT49H.S001.131204
also upon booting in the top left it says "kernel is not seandroid enforcing
set warranty bit:kernel"
THANKS FOR YOUR TIME And please tell me where to start as i tried updating it via kies to fix it but it just wont connect, i assume due to custom firmware.
The Google Play Edition S4 devices didn't come in any color but white. Therefore, this is an I9505 with a custom ROM on it. The download mode screen reading GT-I9505 confirmed it.
Since this is an I9505 and not an I9505G, the main question is whether this device will work with your SIM card. For that, simply insert your SIM card and boot the device. If you get signal, you're good. Otherwise you'll have to unlock the device, either by purchasing an unlock code from one of the sites that sells them, or by trying the unlock methods available on the forums.
This will also help answer the question of which stock ROM you can install on the device. If the S4 doesn't prompt you to unlock the device, then you can install one of the unbranded S4 ROMs available on sammobile.com. After that, you can put the recovery of your choice on the S4, though I recommend TWRP over the other options.
Thanks for your help. I'm a little confused though, at the moment with this custom google edition ROM it does take my sim, in fact I bet it takes any sim, I heard that was a feature of google play devices. What I meant was after I install the stock ROM will it then not take my sim. So if it has already been unlocked How would I know which ROM to install? As I now know its not a google edition, is it possible to install an official google edition ROM? Do i use this download mode, Odin, or cwm to install a firmware. I'm just not sure what my starting point is. I don't wanna follow someone's guide yet to installing something just in case I'm jumping the gun and need to uninstall this custom ROM somehow.
Sorry for asking questions that I'm sure seem dumb I'm really just trying to learn at the moment I'm green as they come with android. BTW thanks for your suggestions so far, you def seem like you know what you're talking about, cheers
Google Play devices are carrier unlocked, but this is not a Google Play Edition S4. Therefore the device was carrier unlocked at some point in its past. The unknown here is how the original owner unlocked the device. If he or she used the unlocking methods found on XDA there is a chance the lock will be lost when installing a stock ROM.
If the S4 is unlocked, you aren't restricted to a particular region and can install any I9505 ROM using Odin, though I recommend the carrier unbranded ROMs. You cannot install a stock Google Play Edition ROM on the device as the model number of a GPE device is not the same as the device you have. However, you're already rooted and have a custom recovery installed. In I9505 Development here on XDA there is a Google Play Edition ROM that can be installed on your device. Download it to your S4, wipe everything in recovery, then flash the ROM's flashable zip in recovery. I've used said ROM and it works quite well.
OK I have found the 5.0.1 ge ROM , but in there it says I must use latest recovery or whatever plus it recommended one different to mine, is it safe to install using my version of cwm or do I need to learn how to change it??
Deleted by user
TWRP is recommended as there are people who are still maintaining it, unlike Clockworkmod and Philz. While you probably can get the ROM installed using the version of Clockworkmod you have, learning how to change recoveries is useful.
OK thank you for all your help my friend, I will now find out how to do this, I'm sure there is a section on this somewhere, BTW I think you are right about my device being rooted, but I wanted to check and I followed a guide and used super su but apparently its not rooted so I guess something must've gone wrong. Bit scary if I try to change my recovery or my firmware and this causes a brick hmmmmm
It's virtually impossible to brick the S4, especially as the recovery is flashed through Odin.
Phew that's a relief. Thanks man.... Well I'm gonna just risk using cwm for now as I'm new to this........ Thanks a whole lot for your time I really mean that.
KlLLFRENZY said:
Phew that's a relief. Thanks man.... Well I'm gonna just risk using cwm for now as I'm new to this........ Thanks a whole lot for your time I really mean that.
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Use TWRP. CMW is outdated.
Lennyz1988 said:
Use TWRP. CMW is outdated.
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I want to, I really do but I'm struggling here. Before I wrote that last comment I tried to find a guide on this forum for swapping to twrp, but couldn't and didn't wanna bug this guy as he had helped enough. Anyway I went to the place he told me and have hit another wall anyway because I don't know how to use the firmware the relevant kernel or the git. My life is so busy and I'm getting about an hour on this subject a day and its gonna take forever lol
If you can help me on my way even a little its much appreciated, I would like to use twrp and the 5.0.1 ge plus the right kernel of course
KlLLFRENZY said:
I want to, I really do but I'm struggling here. Before I wrote that last comment I tried to find a guide on this forum for swapping to twrp, but couldn't and didn't wanna bug this guy as he had helped enough. Anyway I went to the place he told me and have hit another wall anyway because I don't know how to use the firmware the relevant kernel or the git. My life is so busy and I'm getting about an hour on this subject a day and its gonna take forever lol
If you can help me on my way even a little its much appreciated, I would like to use twrp and the 5.0.1 ge plus the right kernel of course
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https://twrp.me/devices/samsunggalaxys4internationalqualcomm.html
Follow the Odin guide. It's excactly the same when you flashed CWM.
@Lennyz1988: The S4 was bought secondhand and already had CWM on it from the original owner.
@killfrenzy: Follow the guide Lenny mentioned, but don't worry about the second paragraph. Our device isn't one of those that restores the original recovery on boot.
ok will do, i just tried the app install method but as i suspected, it said root is required for this app and promptly exited so i shall do the odin method, i heard that some people remove root or it could be that it was done wrong. also after reading a few posts here and there i found out that someone had similar issues with their phone random re-booting and they had custom ge with the wrong kernel so it seems once im done my issues should be history if i learn how to install fw + kernel, after this twrp thing i will be one step closer for sure. i also know ppl slate lollipop but once im all done with this im sure i will have picked up enough terminology to install cfw's to my hearts content. hooray for forums and people like you, sounds like im kissin ass but its just gratitude
so using the twrp install guide i gotta install using the odin method i have now got 3.07 odin but this is the next step.........
Odin Install Method (No Root Required):
You will need to download and install Odin on your PC. Once you have Odin installed, download the proper .tar file for your device from the download link above. Power off your device. Turn on your device using the proper key combo to get into download mode and attach the device to your computer via a USB cable. Use the PDA tab or button to browse to and select the tar file that you downloaded and flash the device.
lololol nothins ever simple i see the list of tar files in the link above but no mention at all as to which is the proper .tar for my device, i guess they assume the guide is for people who have done it before. more research tomorrow maybe i gotta be up early ugh
Lennyz1988 said:
https://twrp.me/devices/samsunggalaxys4internationalqualcomm.html
Follow the Odin guide. It's excactly the same when you flashed CWM.
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Think you misunderstood, I have flashed nothing yet I got it like this. I'm completely green
Don't suppose anybody knows which is the tar file for my device?? S4gt-19505
OK now I get it, the list of tars in that section are all the same just newer builds of the same version. Seems obvious if you have done this before, but I wasn't to know that and cannot assume things. I'm also gonna guess and say Lenny thinks my s4 needs this particular version for an international, am I right?? Anyway it would've made a lot of sense but how does he know. I have no idea what this phone was I have never owned it new.
Different devices have different codes. For example, jfltexx is the I9505. A T-Mobile S4 would be jfltetmo, and so on.The link Lenny provided is for the I9505. Download the 2.8.6.0 version as its the latest.
As to how you were supposed to know, having never owned one, you weren't. There are tutorials in the General forum though that can help.