Database Users

Should I even bother trying to upgrade to MF3?

I keep reading about the problems people are having with flashing to MF3 on their rooted S4As but I can't find anything on what you get with MF3. Can someone enlighten me on its new features or post a link that lists what it does?
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sleze said:
I keep reading about the problems people are having with flashing to MF3 on their rooted S4As but I can't find anything on what you get with MF3. Can someone enlighten me on its new features or post a link that lists what it does?
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's worth it
Brings apps to SD
new camera firmware
much needed fluidity and stableness
various bug and fixes
and a few other features like emergency mode and stuff

sleze said:
I keep reading about the problems people are having with flashing to MF3 on their rooted S4As but I can't find anything on what you get with MF3. Can someone enlighten me on its new features or post a link that lists what it does?
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just install one of the stockish MF3 based ROMs or International Update based ROMs from the development section and you will have the best of both worlds. You will get any enhancements from the update (if there really is any) and still be able to keep custom recovery and use other ROMs / themes / etc.
If you update to MF3 (OTA) you will lose the ability for custom recoveries and ROMs.

scott14719 said:
Just install one of the stockish MF3 based ROMs or International Update based ROMs from the development section and you will have the best of both worlds. You will get any enhancements from the update (if there really is any) and still be able to keep custom recovery and use other ROMs / themes / etc.
If you update to MF3 (OTA) you will lose the ability for custom recoveries and ROMs.
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+1

I don't think the active can run a custom recovery or other roms.
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I was able to install it pretty easily by unfreeze some apps. Reinstalled activeroot afterwards and refroze and am good to go.
I still can't tell any difference and am gonna wait before I upgrade my wife's s4.
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Didn't realize this was for the active. Nit sure what mf3 brings for that variant. XDA should seriously create a sub-forum for this variant. It not the same specs, software, the roms are not cross compatible, whats the point?
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polish_pat said:
Didn't realize this was for the active. Nit sure what mf3 brings for that variant. XDA should seriously create a sub-forum for this variant. It not the same specs, software, the roms are not cross compatible, whats the point?
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If I remember right the Active comes with mf3. Didn't have anything before that firmware.

jd1639 said:
If I remember right the Active comes with mf3. Didn't have anything before that firmware.
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so then they didn't have the MDL stutter/lag we had when the S4 first came out

Well, I upgraded something for 18MB via software update. In the active master thread, it is being referred to as mf3.
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polish_pat said:
Didn't realize this was for the active. Nit sure what mf3 brings for that variant. XDA should seriously create a sub-forum for this variant. It not the same specs, software, the roms are not cross compatible, whats the point?
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I agree with that Pat MOD???
It clutters thread, not in a negative way against the Active, just too much to watch for when trying to help people. Active owners want it too--
Not sure why it isn't

Mdl vs. Mf3???

Hey guys i just got my s4 yesterday and am wondering what the difference between the 2 firmwares is. Is one better then the other? My phone downloaded an update last nite but I havent installed it yet. Was going to root this afternoon.
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MF3 locks the boot loader, so if you want to flash ROMS, don't update. It also has some software tweaks and adds Knox and the ability to easily store apps on SD card. There is a root, but not a boot loader unlock, yet.
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Ahh, I do want to flash roms. This update wont install itself will it?
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gho5t82 said:
Ahh, I do want to flash roms. This update wont install itself will it?
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Do yourself a favor and search and read through the first page or so of the general and Q&A sub forums. The information you need is there, especially the "pinned" threads in the general section. Read the "software update" thread and the "new root method for MF3" thread also. Good luck.

Will do scott thanks! Im coming from an iphone and forgot how big the android world is! Had an inspire 4g prior to my 4s
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gho5t82 said:
Ahh, I do want to flash roms. This update wont install itself will it?
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Some say it has auto installed

It will auto install. You should root and put a custom Rom on asap. Check your firmware first though, if it's already installed you can brick your phone trying to root the way you would with mdl. If it's mf3 you've got the update and you'll have to use a different method.
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I had Knox on MDL, not sure what your talking about.
Mf3 locks the boot loader but fixes bugs and make the camera take sharper pictures. Plus better cell signal.
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I got lucky. It tried to auto instal so i yanked the battery and quickly rooted and threw a custom rom on it.
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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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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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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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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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[Q] Custom Rom Help

Hello all, long time lurker here with a couple if questions. Not new to rooting: I've rooted an HTC Inspire, HTC One X, and finally this bad boy. This is definitely a different experience and there seems to be a lot of info that developers assume you know but even after reading everything recommended I still feel very confused. I am on the MDL baseband, rooted and flashed with the 4.3 GPE version which I think was pulled from a nexus variant. Here are my questions:
1) Are there any stock, rooted, Touch Wiz ROMs with the AT and T bloat removed?
2) What does Loki do, and if not explicitly stated that it's used in a ROM, do I install it before flashing the ROM or after?
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There's plenty, and you can flash ROMs from any S4 variant though you might need to flash an at&t kernel. Loki is our method to bypass the locked bootloader, and if you flash a ROM without it then it won't boot.
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Thanks for the reply! I can't seem to find any ROMs in the Android Development forum that are described as such.
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1.) Check out Shostock. It's built from stock source and works very well. It is pretty close to what you are looking for.
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I like iB's GoldenEye rom. Has zip to delete bloat. You can open zip and delete lines you don't want deleted. IE I delete S-Memo from script so it doesn't delete it from rom. Perfect rom for me, good battery life also. Very smooth.

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.
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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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