Database Users

Process to Flash MDL via Odin [Help]

I'm still deciding whether or not I should flash back to MDL and OTA the 4.3 update when it comes out. What is the exact process in flashing via Odin?
I already know this far;
Download Odin and MDL .tar
Go through the process and let it flash
Wait for the green
Flashed - Boot like normal
OTA to 4.3
I have been hearing about something called Triangle Away. What am I supposed to do exactly with it? What I know so far is, if you want to send your device in for repair or warranty, you should do Triangle Away?
Thanks!

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2314494
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2261573

The first link is somewhat useless for what I'm asking. Unless I'm completely oblivious of something.
I already checked Adam's thread, but what is the whole thing about Triangle Away and the flash counter?
Exactly how am I supposed to use it?
Do I flash to MDL, root and then use Triangle Away and then flash via Odin back to MDL or what?
EDIT:
I just installed Triangle Away and my Flash Counter is at 0. So nevermind, I guess I don't have to do anything. Except the weird thing is, I have flashed custom ROM's at least over a couple dozen times and custom recovery twice.

What firmware are you on? I'm sorry if you are on MF3 you cannot downgrade. If you are on MF3, you can root and use safestrap to flash tw roms. Your options are either to stay on MF3 and root it or upgrade.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app

HiTideBlastoise said:
What firmware are you on? I'm sorry if you are on MF3 you cannot downgrade. If you are on MF3, you can root and use safestrap to flash tw roms. Your options are either to stay on MF3 and root it or upgrade.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MDL

Here...
http://www.androidrootz.com/2013/06...alaxy-s4-gt-i505-m919-i337-international.html
There is ALWAYS risk. If you try it, you take responsibility for the risk!
I suggest you use the XDA search function or Google if you have any more concers because the answer has generally already been posted to most questions...you just have to search for them and read / learn about them.
Good luck.
**EDIT**
Why not just wait until one of the Devs releases the ODIN TAR for 4.3? It should be available soon after the OTA.
Better yet, just flash a 4.3 ROM to your phone. That way, you can still have the option of Rooting or using a custom recovery on your phone. If you take the 4.3 OTA or ODIN 4.3 to your phone, you will not be able to ROOT or use a custom recovery, at least not yet.

Mf3 4.3 upgrade options

I'm running mf3 unfortunately and am looking to upgrade to 4.3 w/o using safestrap.
I'm rooted and am hoping to retain that feature.
I was wondering if I could upgrade to the latest mk2 att ROM then reroot or if the Knox would prevent me from doing so (or if this would just void my warranty).

samw52000 said:
I'm running mf3 unfortunately and am looking to upgrade to 4.3 w/o using safestrap.
I'm rooted and am hoping to retain that feature.
I was wondering if I could upgrade to the latest mk2 att ROM then reroot or if the Knox would prevent me from doing so (or if this would just void my warranty).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Questions go in Q&A, not the dev section.
There are multiple discussion threads in the general section and Q&A.

Moved to Q&A. Please post questions here from now on.
Thank you.

samw52000 said:
I'm running mf3 unfortunately and am looking to upgrade to 4.3 w/o using safestrap.
I'm rooted and am hoping to retain that feature.
I was wondering if I could upgrade to the latest mk2 att ROM then reroot or if the Knox would prevent me from doing so (or if this would just void my warranty).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Enable supersu survival mode when you update
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app

Will this trigger the Knox in mk2? Should I rather stick with mf3 for the time being with maybe more chances to have an unlocked boot loader and get the ability to load custom Roms?
I know my options are pretty limited since being on mf3... Just trying not to screw myself over even further.

samw52000 said:
Will this trigger the Knox in mk2? Should I rather stick with mf3 for the time being with maybe more chances to have an unlocked boot loader and get the ability to load custom Roms?
I know my options are pretty limited since being on mf3... Just trying not to screw myself over even further.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well everyone is going to want to be able to have the boot loader locked on 4.3 on mf3 you got safestrap already so correct me if I'm wrong but some people are past trying to get the mf3 unlocked and are working on the 4.3 now.
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[email protected] said:
Well everyone is going to want to be able to have the boot loader locked on 4.3 on mf3 you got safestrap already so correct me if I'm wrong but some people are past trying to get the mf3 unlocked and are working on the 4.3 now.
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Click to collapse
Hmm that's interesting. I figured that unlocking the bootloader would be easier with an older version and that people that already started it on 4.3 would continue trying rather than starting back from scratch with a new bootloader.
Is there a new threat for the unlock status on mk2?

Follow this thread right here there's people just throwing out ideas to get the boot loader unlocked and people that are willing to try the ways to.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2500826
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unstable GS4 with any rom

I have tried several ROM - Sacs, TriForceROM, and then I even flashed the NAE modem and tried Negalite. All of them are unstable on my phone. Things lag really bad just switching from page to page. WiFi is unstable, going fast one second then slowing down to a crawl.
I am currently downloading UnknownForce's stock rooted NAE to try it out. I also haen't tried a different WiFi network, only the one at my house - my wife hasn't reported it acting weird for her iphone though, nor have I on my computer - I'm going to try my S4 on wifi when I get to work to see if it's the same on that network.
Basically my S4 has been unusable to me. I've been using my Moto X instead... any suggestions?
I can't help but thing I messed up somewhere like with the firmware or something. I've been thinking about taking into the store and flashing it back to complete stock and starting over.
Thanks

And yes. I did wipe everything including system before flashing the different ROMs

Update: I flashed unknownforces stock rooted and now it won't boot. I flashed it again for good measure and dissable the recovery flash and it's still not booting.

Try odin back to stock depending what firmware you are on.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

ROMANTiC KiD said:
Try odin back to stock depending what firmware you are on.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm on NAE. If I do that it will add Knox correct? Would Knox show immediately that it's been custom flashed or only after the next custom flash?

ItsTommyGun said:
I'm on NAE. If I do that it will add Knox correct? Would Knox show immediately that it's been custom flashed or only after the next custom flash?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why the hell do you care if it adds knox? If your phone is unusable and you want to fix it then a clean flash is the way to go. Download the full tar file for NAE from Random45's thread in the development section and flash it in Odin. Problem solved, your phone will work great. Reroot with CF autoroot if you want. Yes, the Knox warranty flag will be tripped but that means nothing. You've already voided your warranty as soon as you installed a custom rom on it, you just won't be able to hide it from Samsung now. Knox does nothing to your phone to prevent you from using it or customizing it. All the posts about knox preventing me from doing this or blocking that are from users that don't know what they are talking about. Just fix your phone already.

cruise350 said:
You've already voided your warranty as soon as you installed a custom rom on it, you just won't be able to hide it from Samsung now./QUOTE]
The reason I was asking that was because if it still goes crazy then it would be something hardware related. At that point I would be going through Samsung for warranty coverage.
I will flash it back to stock. seems like my best option at this point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

[Q] OTA 4.4 back to 4.3

Can someone help me take my S4 back to 4.3? I got the OTA update for 4.4 yesterday morning and have had nothing but problems. Terrible battery life (40% down in 3 hours with little to no use) WiFi wont turn on thanks to this piece of junk Knox software. So before I dump Samsung completely for a Moto X or Nexus, can someone help me downgrade from 4.4 back to 4.3 where I had no problems?

Were you totally stock before the OTA? If you still have warranty left, I would bring it in to a Sprint store and *****.
If not, you can try one of 2 things. 1) flash the NAE tar file using odin to see if that fixes your issues or 2) flash the MK2 tar file to bring you back to 4.3

aypanthony said:
Were you totally stock before the OTA? If you still have warranty left, I would bring it in to a Sprint store and *****.
If not, you can try one of 2 things. 1) flash the NAE tar file using odin to see if that fixes your issues or 2) flash the MK2 tar file to bring you back to 4.3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I went Cyanogen at one point, didn't like it, and flashed back to stock. When the OTA hit I was rooted but had made no changes from stock, not even an uninstall of a Samsung app. I am backing things up now to flash the NAE again, but I want a version without this Knox garbage in it. Is there such thing?
I read that you can't flash back with Odin from 4.4 to 4.3 so I don't know how to do option 2 at this point.

sponge14 said:
I went Cyanogen at one point, didn't like it, and flashed back to stock. When the OTA hit I was rooted but had made no changes from stock, not even an uninstall of a Samsung app. I am backing things up now to flash the NAE again, but I want a version without this Knox garbage in it. Is there such thing?
I read that you can't flash back with Odin from 4.4 to 4.3 so I don't know how to do option 2 at this point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're correct with not being able to go back to mk2 4.3 via Odin.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

sponge14 said:
I went Cyanogen at one point, didn't like it, and flashed back to stock. When the OTA hit I was rooted but had made no changes from stock, not even an uninstall of a Samsung app. I am backing things up now to flash the NAE again, but I want a version without this Knox garbage in it. Is there such thing?
I read that you can't flash back with Odin from 4.4 to 4.3 so I don't know how to do option 2 at this point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I think you are right. Can't go back to 4.3 once you have the 4.4 bootloader, my bad. I wonder if you should do a factory reset to see if that clears up your issues.

daniel4653 said:
You're correct with not being able to go back to mk2 4.3 via Odin.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk
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Is there some other way of downgrading? What about going back to Cyanogen's full release?

Well that sucks that you can't go back to 4.3

I had the same issues when I updated and was kinda pissed at it to but a factory reset and it been running way better ever since and I'm rooted with xposed installed and no complaints
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app

sponge14 said:
I went Cyanogen at one point, didn't like it, and flashed back to stock. When the OTA hit I was rooted but had made no changes from stock, not even an uninstall of a Samsung app. I am backing things up now to flash the NAE again, but I want a version without this Knox garbage in it. Is there such thing?
I read that you can't flash back with Odin from 4.4 to 4.3 so I don't know how to do option 2 at this point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe once KNOX Bootloader has been installed, your stuck with it. No going back.
But honestly, if you root 4.4, your gonna void KNOX.

lawmangrant said:
I believe once KNOX Bootloader has been installed, your stuck with it. No going back.
But honestly, if you root 4.4, your gonna void KNOX.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't want Knox on my phone at all, it's garbage for me. Are you saying I can't even go Cyanogen at this point?

sponge14 said:
I don't want Knox on my phone at all, it's garbage for me. Are you saying I can't even go Cyanogen at this point?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can still have all that. KNOX is just the warrantly flag I have KNOX on mine, but I still have rooted and flashed other roms.

lawmangrant said:
You can still have all that. KNOX is just the warrantly flag I have KNOX on mine, but I still have rooted and flashed other roms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah OK, I don't care about the warranty, it's out in April anyways... Looks like I need to try Cyanogen again, hopefully it's better this time.

i have gone back to 4.3 with odin.....use odin 1.85.....*First flash the mk2 modem or it will fail**.....why? i dont know...
so here is what i do....1) Odin first the mk2 modem...2) Odin stock Mk2 rom...3) Odin philz latest recovery...4) boot into recovery..goto philz settings and tap " re-root....5) reboot and enjoy.....
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app

chris-allen said:
i have gone back to 4.3 with odin.....use odin 1.85.....*First flash the mk2 modem or it will fail**.....why? i dont know...
so here is what i do....1) Odin first the mk2 modem...2) Odin stock Mk2 rom...3) Odin philz latest recovery...4) boot into recovery..goto philz settings and tap " re-root....5) reboot and enjoy.....
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app
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Click to collapse
You're saying your bootloader went back to MK2 after this? Didn't think that was possible. I've had nothing but stupid little issues myself after using Odin to flash the phone to NAE. I've done factory resets... Completely wiped the phone in Philz. Tried KToonsez kernel as well and stock NAE just sux! I'll probably just flash Liquid Smooth back on it, was only trying to stick with stock NAE for stability and camera , that phone is my girls and she doesn't have the patience for all the bugs that come with custom Roms lol
Anyways just want to confirm that with you. Thanks
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

chris-allen said:
i have gone back to 4.3 with odin.....use odin 1.85.....*First flash the mk2 modem or it will fail**.....why? i dont know...
so here is what i do....1) Odin first the mk2 modem...2) Odin stock Mk2 rom...3) Odin philz latest recovery...4) boot into recovery..goto philz settings and tap " re-root....5) reboot and enjoy.....
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know if that is possible for those of us rocking triband. Obviously we cannot use the Mk2 modem or rom. In any event, I upgraded to 4.4.2 on my new L720T and regretted it, but now I'v" managed to install twrp and rooted it and the rom settled down after a few days. At first, horrible battery use but now its amazing. My battery reads 75 percent after 14 hours and that's quite good enough. The only issue I still face is the SD card thing, but that only seems to apply third party software as I can move files directly from internal to external memory using the stock files app that comes with android.

i dont know about triband. i dont have one and im not going to pretend im a smart dev because thats also not true.. i HAVE ODIN 4.4.2 THEN turned around and ODIN 4.3 due to something i didnt like...im not sure if it changes the bootloader or not, i dont even check. i have only tried this with mk2 to nae.. when i purchesed my device it came with mk2 so i have never tinkerd with the other bootloaders. if you have something other then mk2 id ask a dev befor doing anything. like i said it works for me as long as i flash the modem FIRST that corrisponds to the build. ( mk2 or nae )...and in some cases if the wifi is borked on nae, iv had to flash the modem again after instalation of the rom.. i cant explain why any of this happens....
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app

chris-allen said:
i dont know about triband. i dont have one and im not going to pretend im a smart dev because thats also not true.. i HAVE ODIN 4.4.2 THEN turned around and ODIN 4.3 due to something i didnt like...im not sure if it changes the bootloader or not, i dont even check. i have only tried this with mk2 to nae.. when i purchesed my device it came with mk2 so i have never tinkerd with the other bootloaders. if you have something other then mk2 id ask a dev befor doing anything. like i said it works for me as long as i flash the modem FIRST that corrisponds to the build. ( mk2 or nae )...and in some cases if the wifi is borked on nae, iv had to flash the modem again after instalation of the rom.. i cant explain why any of this happens....
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app
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Lol I know what you mean... Sometimes things just seem to work or they don't.
But that's interesting you can go back to mk2 after being on nae. I figured that was not possible. But if you didn't get any fails in Odin while downgrading that's great. Maybe I'll get ballsy and try this later.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

Is there a stock 4.4 Rom out there I can try, preferably one without Knox? Sprint has recommended that I unroot, that they have a tech bulletin where rooted phones have wifi, and other issues.

sponge14 said:
Is there a stock 4.4 Rom out there I can try, preferably one without Knox? Sprint has recommended that I unroot, that they have a tech bulletin where rooted phones have wifi, and other issues.
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Click to collapse
You have a link to that bulletin??
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Mistertac said:
You have a link to that bulletin??
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No that's just what the escalated Tech Support person from Oklahoma City told me.
I also just wiped the cache and did a factory reset and still have the same wifi problem...

[Q] Upgrade rooted 4.2.2 ?

I am still on 4.2.2, stock rooted. I don't believe I have a custom bootloader. I have the nag message to upgrade to OTA 4.3.
What are my options at this point?
I'd like to keep root or reroot, if possible. I'd also like to make sure I can recover all my app settings easily.
Thanks!
Eph

If you want NAE 4.4.2 stock unrooted then you can just grab NAE tar and Odin it. If you don't care about Knox then you can root it and restore apps with data from titanium backup.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

daniel4653 said:
If you want NAE 4.4.2 stock unrooted then you can just grab NAE tar and Odin it. If you don't care about Knox then you can root it and restore apps with data from titanium backup.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
Thanks.
What if I *do* care about Knox?
Are there any options?
Ideally, I'd like to be rooted on the latest release without the Knox problem.

If you do care about tripping Knox for warranty reasons. Then there is no way to root Knox without tripping it on 4.4.2. Although you could keep your MF9 BOOTLOADER and flash the stock rooted NAE ROM by unknown force. Plus Odin NAE modem.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

My warranty is with Square Trade. So, I guess the Knox issue would only come up if I have a software issue that requires me taking it to Sprint, right?
Can you elaborate on "Although you could keep your MF9 BOOTLOADER and flash the stock rooted NAE ROM by unknown force. Plus Odin NAE modem. ", please?
Thanks again.

Knox from what I know would only come up if you needed to ship your phone to Samsung for warranty reasons during the first year of purchase.
Use this method and you won't have Knox bootlaoder at all but will be on the latest KitKat update.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2277480
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

daniel4653 said:
Knox from what I know would only come up if you needed to ship your phone to Samsung for warranty reasons during the first year of purchase.
Use this method and you won't have Knox bootlaoder at all but will be on the latest KitKat update.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2277480
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I'll head over there.