Database Users

[Q] Flashing help

Hi guys, every time I flash my phone it doesnt seem to do anything. It just reboots up with stock rooted stock firmware. I dont know what I am doing wrong. I have used odin, mobile odin, twrp, cwm and still I cant get anything to work. i have tried to flash pacman, google play edition and several others with no affect. i am completely stumped

hester1902 said:
Hi guys, every time I flash my phone it doesnt seem to do anything. It just reboots up with stock rooted stock firmware. I dont know what I am doing wrong. I have used odin, mobile odin, twrp, cwm and still I cant get anything to work. i have tried to flash pacman, google play edition and several others with no affect. i am completely stumped
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try flashing Philz Touch recovery, its the most stable recovery imo. Available for both the I9500 and I9505.Flash the .tar file with Odin in PDA.

I keep getting the message e signature verification failed. i have used auto root. i have enabled usb debugging. i have done everything in the steps of the rooting process and flashing process.

Slight progress
So I downloaded CWM recovery again and toggled off signature verification and I successfully managed to install my ROM. New porblem now, when I reboot the device it goes straight back to recovery mode every single time? Help please?

Hi - so I dont know if you guys think Im being stupid and/or lazy and havent found the right thread or if I am just asking a stupid question. If I am would someone kindly point me in the right direction and forgive my ignorance. If I am not being stupid can someone PLEASE help me with an answer. I have posted on several forums with this question and no one seems prepared to offer a solution. This is by no means a rant at forum members - I just hate being defeated by technology - and I have waited a week now for someone to offer me some much needed guidance.

[Q] Strange Boot Loop Issue (MK2, SS 3.71)

I've generally managed to root and/or customize most of my devices with the help from these forums, but this one has me stumped. I picked up an AT&T Galaxy S4 recently, and unfortunately it was already on a locked bootloader. I was able to root and install Safestrap 3.71 with little trouble. After some tweaking of the stock ROM, I decided to have a go with some custom ones.
Until recently, I'd been able to flash just about any SS-compatible ROM to any slot with little to no issue. Some required flashing of GApps, or Kernels, but aside from a few FC's or signal issues, the actual flashing portions always went smoothly. I ended up flashing DarthStalker vX1 to my stock slot with the MK2 kernels and have had zero issues with the ROM functionality. Being curious about recent developments with other ROM's, I decided to try flashing a few. The problem I'm having is that 90% of the ones I try to flash are going into a boot loop. Even those that worked previously (Hyperdrive, SHOstock) are boot looping.
I have tried deleting and recreating various ROM slots and at one point I managed to get SHOstock (SS) 3.0 to boot, but all of the GApps were crashing to the point where it was unusable, regardless of GApps I flashed over it for testing purposes.
I guess I'm wondering if there may be some sort of issue with having a custom ROM in the stock slot? Perhaps some sort of file or data corruption that is stopping these ROM's from working, even though they all worked previously? It just doesn't seem to be making sense because I don't believe I've changed anything since the last time I was able to flash to any SS slot. I've tried searching, but pretty much all of the boot loop issues I've come across were related to something that I've either already ruled out, or simply didn't apply to my configuration. Any hints or tips would be great. Please let me know if anyone needs more information about the config, or steps I've taken so far. Thanks all!

@remedee
I believe for HyperDrive u also need to install Att compatible pack and u also need flash ATT mk2 kernel modules .... check this thread about MK2 INDEX and ROM LISTS by @guut13 http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2616221 anything u should know about all the compatible roms and instruction. ....u might get better help on that thread since alot of Rom flashaholic there. ...check with @ddubz he is flashaholic Master..... :thumbup::thumbup:.... Goodluck.....
Swyped From MK2 Dark Venom SS Edition

Once you flash a bad ROM on Stock slot and you boot loop, you are cooked. Only way to fix it is to Odin back to stock. Then you can restart the process.
If you flash a bad ROM on a ROM slot, you can just delete the ROM slot, recreate it, and you will be good to go for another try.
That's been my experience, anyways.

ted77usa said:
@remedee
I believe for HyperDrive u also need to install Att compatible pack and u also need flash ATT mk2 kernel modules .... check this thread about MK2 INDEX and ROM LISTS by @guut13 http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2616221 anything u should know about all the compatible roms and instruction. ....u might get better help on that thread since alot of Rom flashaholic there. ...check with @ddubz he is flashaholic Master..... :thumbup::thumbup:.... Goodluck.....
Swyped From MK2 Dark Venom SS Edition
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply. I've read through quite a few of the threads for the individual ROMs, but unfortunately the issue isn't related to any one specific ROM. I do have the compatibility pack and modules for HyperDrive and I was able to successfully get that installed previously. I was using that as an example of a ROM that worked before with this same configuration, which is why it's bugging me. I'll wipe out the existing slot 1 and give it another go, making sure I flash those as well. Unfortunately that doesn't explain why SHOstock (which I tested extensively before), and others go into a boot loop as well.
The only thing I can think of is perhaps I'm not wiping properly. So far, whenever I attempt to install a new ROM, I create a new slot with the default size values, do a factory reset, install ROM and any module/kernel recommended with it, wipe cache, reboot. Not sure what else I could be doing wrong.

guut13 said:
Once you flash a bad ROM on Stock slot and you boot loop, you are cooked. Only way to fix it is to Odin back to stock. Then you can restart the process.
If you flash a bad ROM on a ROM slot, you can just delete the ROM slot, recreate it, and you will be good to go for another try.
That's been my experience, anyways.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thankfully I don't think I've had any truly bad flashes that resulted in a brick, or even a partial brick. My stock slot is running a custom (Darthstalker) ROM that is still fully functional through all of this other testing. I do have backups of my original stock config, as well as a recent backup of the DS ROM in the stock slot, so I'm not sure it's related to a bad ROM in that slot. It's just really strange that ROMs that were working just fine before in any slot are now causing loops. I haven't had to Odin back to stock or anything, but I'm considering doing that just to get back to a clean base. It just seems unnecessary since my stock slot is still 100% functional. No signal drops, all wifi and bluetooth connections work flawlessly, etc.
I'm usually the guy that scours these forums until I find a solution, but this problem is just plain weird. As you can see from my post count, this is the first time I've thrown up my hands and asked for help. I'm not even sure there is anything really broken. It could very easily be something stupid I have or haven't done. It's just frustrating when I flash a ROM that I've verified the MD5 on, and I know for a fact has worked previously. I'll keep plugging away at it and post back if I figure out what's going on. Thanks again!

@remedee If I were u..... Follow my thread to go back to stock MK2 http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2621279 check post #2 for guide on how to. After u got fresh MK2 firmware ..... root it.... install safestrap v3.71 and then create rom slot 1 first to see if the rom stable enough ....If it does then make your rom slot 1 back up .....then wipe your stock slot..... restore your rom slot 1 back up to stock slot or follow @guut13 instruction noted on every compatible rom lists from his thread. ..... Goodluck....:good:
Swyped From MK2 Dark Venom SS Edition

remedee said:
Thankfully I don't think I've had any truly bad flashes that resulted in a brick, or even a partial brick. My stock slot is running a custom (Darthstalker) ROM that is still fully functional through all of this other testing. I do have backups of my original stock config, as well as a recent backup of the DS ROM in the stock slot, so I'm not sure it's related to a bad ROM in that slot. It's just really strange that ROMs that were working just fine before in any slot are now causing loops. I haven't had to Odin back to stock or anything, but I'm considering doing that just to get back to a clean base. It just seems unnecessary since my stock slot is still 100% functional. No signal drops, all wifi and bluetooth connections work flawlessly, etc.
I'm usually the guy that scours these forums until I find a solution, but this problem is just plain weird. As you can see from my post count, this is the first time I've thrown up my hands and asked for help. I'm not even sure there is anything really broken. It could very easily be something stupid I have or haven't done. It's just frustrating when I flash a ROM that I've verified the MD5 on, and I know for a fact has worked previously. I'll keep plugging away at it and post back if I figure out what's going on. Thanks again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to be clear, I didn't necessarily mean bricked when I said cooked, but kind of. I tested a bunch of ROMs for my threads. If i flashed one that didn't work, my phone would usually boot loop...
samsung logo, safestrap menu, black screen, reboot, samsung logo, safestrap menu, black screen, reboot, and so on...
If I stopped the boot loop by going back into safestrap, no matter how many times I wiped or which ever ROM I flashed next (even known working ones), I always went back into a boot loop after rebooting. Only thing that worked was odin back to stock. (Can't remember if I tried restoring, though.)
ROM slot was different. Deleting it and recreating was all it took. That's why I learned my lesson and just test new roms on ROM slot first.

remedee said:
Thanks for the reply. I've read through quite a few of the threads for the individual ROMs, but unfortunately the issue isn't related to any one specific ROM. I do have the compatibility pack and modules for HyperDrive and I was able to successfully get that installed previously. I was using that as an example of a ROM that worked before with this same configuration, which is why it's bugging me. I'll wipe out the existing slot 1 and give it another go, making sure I flash those as well. Unfortunately that doesn't explain why SHOstock (which I tested extensively before), and others go into a boot loop as well.
The only thing I can think of is perhaps I'm not wiping properly. So far, whenever I attempt to install a new ROM, I create a new slot with the default size values, do a factory reset, install ROM and any module/kernel recommended with it, wipe cache, reboot. Not sure what else I could be doing wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
next time you try to flash one and it fails try making the data partition smaller. Had a guy pm me and couldn't get rom to boot and i had him do this and bam it booted right up. Worth a shot. Also i have switched phones i went to the nexus 5 and i am not as fresh with the s4 stuff as i was a few weeks ago. PM if you need any help

I still plan to Odin back to stock but I didn't have time tonight. I did however grab a ROM from the link provided by ted77usa (thanks man, I can't seem to figure out how to mention at the moment). The Wicked v10 ROM installed to a clean Slot 1. I know that DarthStalker installed using Aroma, and Wicked is one of the few that I've tested that also uses Aroma. I don't know if it makes a difference, but this is the first ROM to install without a boot loop since I started having trouble.
I'm also wondering if the fact that this ROM had never been installed before has anything to do with it. I'm going to back it up since it's functional, then wipe and try to reinstall just to see if I get a boot loop. Thanks again to everyone for all of the input.

Sorry for the delay in getting back on this. My toddler finds new and interesting ways of keeping me from my hobbies Just wanted to say thanks to @ted77usa @guut13 and @ddubz. I tried resizing the partition and that didn't seem to help. I ended up starting from scratch and everything seems to be running properly. I've got DarthStalker back in the stock slot, Wicked in slot 1 and Hyperdrive in slot 2. I'm quite certain it's overkill, but just knowing I can switch between them and tinker makes me happy. Thanks again for all the input. XDA is definitely an awesome community.

[Q] G870W Recovery

Hello there!
I've successfully rooted my (Rogers) S5 Active / G870WVLU1ANH3 / kltevlactive using CF Auto Root, blowing my knox and all that, works great.
However, I'm now trying to flash either TWRP or CWM Philz for klte (which may have not been to smart come to think about that, but I recall reading it should work just fine) using Odin, and I can't get into recovery. Whenever I attempt to boot into recovery, I end up with "cannot do normal boot".
I recall reading a SafeStrap for G900 works for the G870, but I can't find the thread again, and don't want to just try and see what happens.
I've also tried flashing a recovery using either TWRP app and RomManager, I have yet to try Rashr, but since all the recoveries I've found are for klte, instead of kltevlactive, I'm slightly worried.
I'm not all that new to rooting, but I'm quite new (and upset ) at the Samsung realm, any chance you guys would know what could get me going with a custom recovery?
I also have a Xposed Framework installed, I read it could cause issues with SafeStrap, but I don't suppose it would affect flashing a rom from Odin/whatever else?
My SELinux on the phone claims to be "Enforcing", if that matters, perhaps.
Thanks!

Im having The same issue please help
Sent from my SM-G870W using XDA Free mobile app

Any luck on this? I've scoured the forums with no luck, although I see people mentioning they have it.

I am experiencing something similar. I have a rooted SM-G870W (Bell). I tried both TWRP and CWM recovery.
Every time I tried to go to recovery mode either via pressing button combo or from adb (adb reboot recovery),
my phone goes into download mode instead, I get "Downloading... Do not turn off target" screen.
Have you also experienced some weirdness with your rooted phone? On mine if I go into boot into recovery
(this is without custom recovery), do nothing but select reboot, I will get "System UI stopped working".
Or "unfortunately mtp application stopped" . I re-flashed the phone with the stock OEM ROM and I don't
get the issues I sated above.
BTW, how did you get xposed framework installed. Mine said "not yet compatible with Android SDK 21 "
Thanks
kachnitel said:
Hello there!
I've successfully rooted my (Rogers) S5 Active / G870WVLU1ANH3 / kltevlactive using CF Auto Root, blowing my knox and all that, works great.
However, I'm now trying to flash either TWRP or CWM Philz for klte (which may have not been to smart come to think about that, but I recall reading it should work just fine) using Odin, and I can't get into recovery. Whenever I attempt to boot into recovery, I end up with "cannot do normal boot".
I recall reading a SafeStrap for G900 works for the G870, but I can't find the thread again, and don't want to just try and see what happens.
I've also tried flashing a recovery using either TWRP app and RomManager, I have yet to try Rashr, but since all the recoveries I've found are for klte, instead of kltevlactive, I'm slightly worried.
I'm not all that new to rooting, but I'm quite new (and upset ) at the Samsung realm, any chance you guys would know what could get me going with a custom recovery?
I also have a Xposed Framework installed, I read it could cause issues with SafeStrap, but I don't suppose it would affect flashing a rom from Odin/whatever else?
My SELinux on the phone claims to be "Enforcing", if that matters, perhaps.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

kachnitel said:
Hello there!
I've successfully rooted my (Rogers) S5 Active / G870WVLU1ANH3 / kltevlactive using CF Auto Root, blowing my knox and all that, works great.
However, I'm now trying to flash either TWRP or CWM Philz for klte (which may have not been to smart come to think about that, but I recall reading it should work just fine) using Odin, and I can't get into recovery. Whenever I attempt to boot into recovery, I end up with "cannot do normal boot".
I recall reading a SafeStrap for G900 works for the G870, but I can't find the thread again, and don't want to just try and see what happens.
I've also tried flashing a recovery using either TWRP app and RomManager, I have yet to try Rashr, but since all the recoveries I've found are for klte, instead of kltevlactive, I'm slightly worried.
I'm not all that new to rooting, but I'm quite new (and upset ) at the Samsung realm, any chance you guys would know what could get me going with a custom recovery?
I also have a Xposed Framework installed, I read it could cause issues with SafeStrap, but I don't suppose it would affect flashing a rom from Odin/whatever else?
My SELinux on the phone claims to be "Enforcing", if that matters, perhaps.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am having the same issue. Any solution?

I had the "cannot do normal boot" issue as well after doing something dumb which stopped me being able to get into recovery. Was about to flash the original firmware but flashed twrp with odin instead after doing some research. Fixed my problem easily, hope this helps.

Same story with mine
Hi There
I'm having the same issue but all they talk about here are 900 and we have G870W
If someone find any information and how to flash the 870 I would be greatfull
to them because all I could find on the internet pertains to the 900 this is infurating
and by the way any of you have that OEM button in developer?
I bet not again all I've been reading on S5 Active also mention about the OEM button
and this is total BS because we don't have a OEM button. If we can find
a site that could help use with our particular phone and not just the 900

Hello, I have successfully unlocked the bootloader and rooted my S5 Active SM-G870W using this guide and carefully following the appropriate links for my device:
https://r2.community.samsung.com/t5...ooting-Your-Phone-and-Flashing-A/td-p/2496038
Now I would like to flash a custom recovery such as TWRP, but cannot find a recommended version for the G870W. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to find one, or know if any of the ones for the 900 would work on the 870? It's a Canadian version of the S5. Thanks for any help anyone is able to provide!

Does anyone know if the instructions for installing Lineage for SM-G870A/F (found here: https://lineageosroms.com/klteactivexx/) would work on my SM-G870W, kltevlactive? How much of a chance would there be it would brick it? Help much appreciated!

[Q] N910F rooting/room issues

Sooo, I'm new to rooting a note 4. I have the the international version, rooting is no issue now... I can do that quite quickly.
My issue is flashing a new from via TWRP. No matter what I do it fails everything, last night I managed to load CM12 but it just stayed in a bootloop for over 30minutes. I just restored it to factory. I thought maybe I'm not destined to have cyanageonmod
Anyways I found another decent room called Beanstalk, it seems like a pretty solid room (thoughts?) but when I go to flash the zip file it just says it can't mouth the file from what ever drive.
What am I doing wrong? I wiping the four things I'm meant to delete before I flash and still nothing
My phone: N910F running on 5.0.1
Baseband:n910fxxuibob4
Ive looked at ever forum possible but can't see what's wrong? I've also tried 3 different versions of Cm12 from different developers that are meant to work...
So again where am I going wrong?
If this is in the wrong place I am sorry! Could I be pointed in the right direction

did you follow instructions for installing and what to do after installing the roms?

xdm9mm said:
did you follow instructions for installing and what to do after installing the roms?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes followed the instructions like I was doing brain surgery! After... With CM12 it booted up and just kept going around in circles or about an hour, I left it because I thought I needed to, I have up an reverted back. With beanstalk I just got a message in TWRP saying failed to mount on e:/ or something like that.

Anyone have a clue what in doing wrong? I'm going crazy not being able to flash anything. Even a stable build of something. I'm 100% sure what I've downloaded is compatible but still nothing. Either bootlooping or having mount issues.
(bumps are probably not allowed but I've been trying this for 3 days and I'm not where)

SG-900V Hard-Bricked...

Hey all, not sure if this is where this thread belongs (new to the forums).
But I flashed a SafeStrap fix since I wouldn't get the splash screen during startup, which got me soft-bricked and left me stuck at the Galaxy S5 screen. I then attempted to stupidly flash a stock rom to the phone when I realized as soon as it started that it wasn't BOK3 but something different, might have been a newer build. I, again stupidly, disconnected my phone, rendering it completely useless.
I've pretty much tried a lot of methods including writing unbrick images from a previous xda forum to the sd card and attempting to boot the phone into download mode that way, but to no avail. The posters guaranteed it worked with the BOK3 build. My build date is somewhere around November and the posts I attempted were in December, January so I can only assume they were running the same builds.
I'm at a loss, I just replaced the LCD on the phone and I would really love to get it working again because until I do I'm stuck with an iPhone 4S... any help would be greatly, greatly appreciated. Thank you guys so much in advance.

pjesus.c said:
Hey all, not sure if this is where this thread belongs (new to the forums).
But I flashed a SafeStrap fix since I wouldn't get the splash screen during startup, which got me soft-bricked and left me stuck at the Galaxy S5 screen. I then attempted to stupidly flash a stock rom to the phone when I realized as soon as it started that it wasn't BOK3 but something different, might have been a newer build. I, again stupidly, disconnected my phone, rendering it completely useless.
I've pretty much tried a lot of methods including writing unbrick images from a previous xda forum to the sd card and attempting to boot the phone into download mode that way, but to no avail. The posters guaranteed it worked with the BOK3 build. My build date is somewhere around November and the posts I attempted were in December, January so I can only assume they were running the same builds.
I'm at a loss, I just replaced the LCD on the phone and I would really love to get it working again because until I do I'm stuck with an iPhone 4S... any help would be greatly, greatly appreciated. Thank you guys so much in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EDIT: I removed the SD card and held the power and volume down buttons for 15 seconds and I'm back at the soft brick. I've got much more to work with now so any suggestions as to get rid of the soft brick would be nice! I'm currently downloading the BOK3 stock rom to flash via Odin but it's going to take 10 hours (no exaggeration).

pjesus.c said:
EDIT: I removed the SD card and held the power and volume down buttons for 15 seconds and I'm back at the soft brick. I've got much more to work with now so any suggestions as to get rid of the soft brick would be nice! I'm currently downloading the BOK3 stock rom to flash via Odin but it's going to take 10 hours (no exaggeration).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not much of any help at the moment as tof my device is still on the OC4 firmware/bootloader but if you go over to this thread it may be of use for you to get your phone back up and running.. Hope you find your answer there....
http://forum.xda-developers.com/verizon-galaxy-s5/general/root-method-og5-ok3-t3290370

al50 said:
I'm not much of any help at the moment as tof my device is still on the OC4 firmware/bootloader but if you go over to this thread it may be of use for you to get your phone back up and running.. Hope you find your answer there....
http://forum.xda-developers.com/verizon-galaxy-s5/general/root-method-og5-ok3-t3290370
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's actually the exact forum that I got the files from. I flashed the fix in Safestrap and my phone soft bricked, then attempted to flash the BPB1 .tar and my phone ended up hard-bricking. I'm just gonna flash the stock BOK3 in Odin and call it a day.
Somewhat related, after rerooting if necessary, I was looking into Cyanogenmod. Which would be better, 11, 12, or 13? I know 12 and 13 are nightlies but they seem to work on other SG-900v devices. Also, is AllianceRom any good?

pjesus.c said:
That's actually the exact forum that I got the files from. I flashed the fix in Safestrap and my phone soft bricked, then attempted to flash the BPB1 .tar and my phone ended up hard-bricking. I'm just gonna flash the stock BOK3 in Odin and call it a day.
Somewhat related, after rerooting if necessary, I was looking into Cyanogenmod. Which would be better, 11, 12, or 13? I know 12 and 13 are nightlies but they seem to work on other SG-900v devices. Also, is AllianceRom any good?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please READ the first section of the OP!!!! Don't take it the wrong way but it's stated clearly in the OP and in the following posts that we're unable to install CM ROM's!!! Only TW ROM's that posted in the Android Development section of this forum. It's best to go back to JrKrsue's Root OE1 and up thread and read up on the issues with installs and do a search of "SafeStrap fix". Also, go to the Android Development section and look in the Lollipop for SafeStrap thread for your issue(s). You should find your answer in both threads.
Question, you were originally on an OE1 or higher bootloader right? If so, have you tried to start from scratch to re-root your device? Because if you can get into download mode you're not 'Bricked'.

al50 said:
Please READ the first section of the OP!!!! Don't take it the wrong way but it's stated clearly in the OP and in the following posts that we're unable to install CM ROM's!!! Only TW ROM's that posted in the Android Development section of this forum. It's best to go back to JrKrsue's Root OE1 and up thread and read up on the issues with installs and do a search of "SafeStrap fix". Also, go to the Android Development section and look in the Lollipop for SafeStrap thread for your issue(s). You should find your answer in both threads.
Question, you were originally on an OE1 or higher bootloader right? If so, have you tried to start from scratch to re-root your device? Because if you can get into download mode you're not 'Bricked'.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Read, punctuation errors kind of threw me off. I'm going to go with the stock debloated rom that jrkruse uploaded. I've tried giving AllianceRom a go but SafeStrap froze. I tried to restore from a backup but it just gave me an error and my phone started from setup, though still rooted. Reinstalled SuperSu and BusyBox. Then attempted to make a backup and flash from FlashFire through the LP Control Panel and got a RunTime exception error.
Is this because I haven't flashed the OK3 stock kernel that he provided in his thread? Apologies if I come off as a bit thick, I'm still trying to learn about the process and still am trying to get the hang of it. Everyone's gotta start somewhere, right?