[Q] Question Regarding TWRP - Sprint Samsung Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshoot

Hello everyone! Long time reader of these forums and first time posting. Let me begin by expressing my gratitude for all the hard work you guys put into helping the rest of us with our phones.
I am hoping to get some clarification on what to do before I sell my phone. I have a Sprint GS4 unlocked and running Blu Kuban/TWRP. Due to the excessive amount of travel for work, I am making the switch to AT&T and have a buyer for my phone. This buyer, however, is requesting that I keep the phone unlocked and rooted. I made a NAND backup prior to installing the rom.
What are the appropriate steps I should take to ensure my data is completely wiped and that the phone remains rooted and unlocked? I have read up on it somewhat (and think I know what to do) , but I would rather fall on the side of caution and get personal direction. I am trying to avoid having to unlock and re-flash the phone again.
Any feedback is greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

I would wipe data, factory reset and wipe cache and dalvik just because I am that paranoid and for peace of mind, and then odin the stock rooted .tar but only if on mf9, I don't think you can do this with mja thoug.

Related

[HOW TO] Steps to Take to Prepare a Rooted Phone for Warranty Exchange

I recently had to give up my rooted preordered Incredible for a refurb due to heat issues and reboot (loop) issues. For those looking for a guide as to what to do if you have to return your phone to Verizon and want to unroot. I welcome any comments to update/add to this information:
1) Make a NANDROID Backup if you want to simply port it over to your new phone
2) Mount your phone as DISK DRIVE
3) Walk the directories and delete any cached thumbnails of web sites you have visited
4) Copy any pictures you want to keep which were saved on the phone
5) Reboot into ClockWork recovery
6) Wipe the Dalvik Cache
7) Wipe the Data/Factory Reset
8) Go back
9) Wipe Data (main menu)
10) Power Down your phone
11) Remove your SD Card
12) Download one of the RUU's which are hosted around the web:
http://www.shipped-roms.com/shipped/Incredible/
13) Turn on your phone and plug it in to your USB
14) Run the RUU and let it do it's thing. When its done, so are you
15) If you have a screen protector, remember to remove it.
Any additions are welcome!
Yes it will revert everything back to normal, that's called an RUU btw
Cool
Anyone know if this also removes the more hidden data, such as the cached images of the web sites you have visited? In other words, if I run the RUU, is the phone ready to just be handed over?
if i root and uninstall some apps, will this restore my phone to stock and allow me to get all future HTC updates?
jdmba said:
Anyone know if this also removes the more hidden data, such as the cached images of the web sites you have visited? In other words, if I run the RUU, is the phone ready to just be handed over?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think so, but it's easy enough to do a wipe and then apply the RUU (and hey, for the hell of it, you could wipe again).
Steps?
[deleted ... first post updated]
I'm pretty sure the RUU will completely wipe your phone. However, you can take giantcrazy's advice and wipe before running the RUU.
One more try
[deleted ... first post updated]
Ok, here is what you want to do.
there would be two things you need to un do before sending them back this phone.
make sure it says S-ON.
and then make sure you have stock recovery.
If you have these two things, your gold bod.
Probably to noob to know any better
After going through a lot of threads this one seems appropriate. I am looking for how to go back to stock DI. After Unrevoked3, ota leak and unofficial froyo leak, my DI wont connect to VZW anymore, all out going calls are busy. Talked to my VZW guys, they are cool with me, tried to help nothin'. Today tried Unrevoked forever and official froyo leak, still no VZW connection. I looked into this a lot before I tried these mods I don't know what went wrong, I would not have been able to do this with out such easy tools as are provided today. "I NEED HELP" to get back to stock, "PLEASE". I have looked into SDK and Adb, as I have been lead to believe there is no way to return to 2.1 and the right radio without these tools. At this moment I have not been able to find clear enough explanations on how to use these tools, this is where I maybe over my head. I assume my radio is fried, I don't care if no "S on", I just need those obvious things; version, kernel, baseband, to be stock. Any help will be appreciated, big thanks for any suggestions
A Lex and Er said:
After going through a lot of threads this one seems appropriate. I am looking for how to go back to stock DI. After Unrevoked3, ota leak and unofficial froyo leak, my DI wont connect to VZW anymore, all out going calls are busy. Talked to my VZW guys, they are cool with me, tried to help nothin'. Today tried Unrevoked forever and official froyo leak, still no VZW connection. I looked into this a lot before I tried these mods I don't know what went wrong, I would not have been able to do this with out such easy tools as are provided today. "I NEED HELP" to get back to stock, "PLEASE". I have looked into SDK and Adb, as I have been lead to believe there is no way to return to 2.1 and the right radio without these tools. At this moment I have not been able to find clear enough explanations on how to use these tools, this is where I maybe over my head. I assume my radio is fried, I don't care if no "S on", I just need those obvious things; version, kernel, baseband, to be stock. Any help will be appreciated, thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, there is so much here I will do my best.
number one, having s-on is just as important as having a radio thats either 2.15x or 1.x, now that the OTA 2.2 update is sending out, you can send the phone back with 2.2 and 2.15x radio.
what you need to make sure of, is two things, you have s-on,
and you have stock recovery.
ACD168 said:
Ok, there is so much here I will do my best.
number one, having s-on is just as important as having a radio thats either 2.15x or 1.x, now that the OTA 2.2 update is sending out, you can send the phone back with 2.2 and 2.15x radio.
what you need to make sure of, is two things, you have s-on,
and you have stock recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, and really they wont know if the ota was pushed to me? I found the S on tool, I didn't know there was one, I had only read on about S off. I don't know how to find/replace stock recovery, I will start searching though. Much appreciation, my better half is not as thrilled about my learning experience as I am.
I already rooted and unrooted once, will I get stock recovery back after unrooting?
A Lex and Er said:
Thank you, and really they wont know if the ota was pushed to me? I found the S on tool, I didn't know there was one, I had only read on about S off. I don't know how to find/replace stock recovery, I will start searching though. Much appreciation, my better half is as thrilled about my learning experience as I am.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your welcome, I'm happy to see you are learning so quickly. S-on is very helpful for those warranty returns of the phone.
Verizon has no idea whether or not you got the ota, or better yet what version you have or if you are rooted, ect.
If you tell me what your hboot it, radio, software version, s-on or s-off, if rooted or not, and if you have the stock recovery or clockwork and I will try and guide you to where you want to be..
if you need help getting to the stock recovery this must mean you are rooted, and this can be achieved by downgrading the phone by un-rooting, I'd suggest running s-off while you are rooted, then
androidforums.com/incredible-all-things-root/99828-video-howto-unroot-incredible-downgrading.html
sorry can't post links yet,
to help you un-root and get that stock recovery back.
A Lex and Er said:
I already rooted and unrooted once, will I get stock recovery back after unrooting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To find out real fast if you have the stock recovery or clockwork-mod recovery, boot into HBOOT, (power off phone, hold vol down and power til screen turns on) and then vol down to select recovery and push the power button I think to select and then if you get a red triangle that means stock recovery.
Also need to return phone
I just got off with Asurion and they are over nighting a replacement. I had rooted my phone, installed some root only apps like wireless tethering and set cpu, removed some bloat like CityID and Tweet/Peep, and changed the boot animation. No custom ROM or radio update.
Then I wanted to get the OTA update so I applied s-off and flashed back to stock recovery.
So what do I need to do to return this phone. I know I will need to apply s-on. Then should I flash a stock 2.1 or just revert the changes I made to boot animation, restore the bloatware, and remove the root apps? Do I need to remove any other files that go with being root?
Thanks.........MM
ACD168 said:
Your welcome, I'm happy to see you are learning so quickly. S-on is very helpful for those warranty returns of the phone.
Verizon has no idea whether or not you got the ota, or better yet what version you have or if you are rooted, ect.
If you tell me what your hboot it, radio, software version, s-on or s-off, if rooted or not, and if you have the stock recovery or clockwork and I will try and guide you to where you want to be..
if you need help getting to the stock recovery this must mean you are rooted, and this can be achieved by downgrading the phone by un-rooting, I'd suggest running s-off while you are rooted, then
androidforums.com/incredible-all-things-root/99828-video-howto-unroot-incredible-downgrading.html
sorry can't post links yet,
to help you un-root and get that stock recovery back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello,
I wanted to thank you again for the help this last weekend. I apologize for not returning for more of the help you offered me. My wife only has every other weekend off and we have an 18mo. old son, both of whom deserved my time more than my DI. I love my DI but it wasn't giving me much love.
Although VZW isn't always the nicest to my pocket book, I have never been taken care of as well by any other provider(s) employees, thank you. As I mentioned in my first post, my VZW guys are cool with me. Yesterday I went into the store and the manager offered to help me. He managed to reconnect my DI to the network but no 3g's. He believes my problem is just a coincidence because he had another customer with a similar problem over the weekend, with no mod's. Still I need to exchange my DI, it doesn't look like 3g's is going to turn on.
My real issue is still getting custom recovery off and stock recovery back on, then unrooting will be a breeze. The videos you lead me to are one of the sources I have been working with, however to reverse the leaked ota, Downgrade leaked ota video, requires SDK and adb knowledge, this is where I am noob. At this time my VZW manager who is in school for programing is attempting to help me (he has a over clocked Palm Pre Plus, 1Ghz), this is very cool of him, well beyond what is expected. (I am in no way encouraging anyone to rely on their VZW employees for this kind of help, this is a unique situation, I have been building a relationship with my VZW guys for two years+, not all VZW employees have a clue about mod's, and mod's technically void the warranty) I am hoping to learn enough about these tools, SDK and adb, to help myself before the next time, and I will hopefully be gaining some of this knowledge from my friends at my VZW store soon. I will also be looking forward to the help I receive from fine people such as yourself and people in this community in future endeavors.
I will stop basically hijacking this thread now
Thanks to all of the people who support these community's, with out whom many of us would never get our foot in the door. Much appreciation to ACD168 for being there to help me.
Take the time and learn to do it right the first time.
A Lex and Er said:
Hello,
I wanted to thank you again for the help this last weekend. I apologize for not returning for more of the help you offered me. My wife only has every other weekend off and we have an 18mo. old son, both of whom deserved my time more than my DI. I love my DI but it wasn't giving me much love.
Although VZW isn't always the nicest to my pocket book, I have never been taken care of as well by any other provider(s) employees, thank you. As I mentioned in my first post, my VZW guys are cool with me. Yesterday I went into the store and the manager offered to help me. He managed to reconnect my DI to the network but no 3g's. He believes my problem is just a coincidence because he had another customer with a similar problem over the weekend, with no mod's. Still I need to exchange my DI, it doesn't look like 3g's is going to turn on.
My real issue is still getting custom recovery off and stock recovery back on, then unrooting will be a breeze. The videos you lead me to are one of the sources I have been working with, however to reverse the leaked ota, Downgrade leaked ota video, requires SDK and adb knowledge, this is where I am noob. At this time my VZW manager who is in school for programing is attempting to help me (he has a over clocked Palm Pre Plus, 1Ghz), this is very cool of him, well beyond what is expected. (I am in no way encouraging anyone to rely on their VZW employees for this kind of help, this is a unique situation, I have been building a relationship with my VZW guys for two years+, not all VZW employees have a clue about mod's, and mod's technically void the warranty) I am hoping to learn enough about these tools, SDK and adb, to help myself before the next time, and I will hopefully be gaining some of this knowledge from my friends at my VZW store soon. I will also be looking forward to the help I receive from fine people such as yourself and people in this community in future endeavors.
I will stop basically hijacking this thread now
Thanks to all of the people who support these community's, with out whom many of us would never get our foot in the door. Much appreciation to ACD168 for being there to help me.
Take the time and learn to do it right the first time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First off, you are very welcome my friend, anything I can do to help do hesitate to ask!, and your not hijacking any thread brother, that's what these threads are for!!!
Thats real cool of the VZW employees!!
adb and sdk isnt that difficult I can help you!!
Read my post about warranty exchange.
I know alot of people are "better safe than sorry" mentality. but I have returned 2 phones that were fully rooted, updated, s-off running custom roms and I had no issues. in fact ive never had an issue using warranty exchange. ive exchanged phones that I broke (like broke.. with pieces coming off). I just call and tell the operator lady my phone doesnt work, i dont know why.. it was just working earlier and now it wont turn on.. they send me a new phone and I send back the broken one and everyone is happy.
They only confirm that the numbers on the phone match your account. Not the reasons you are sending it Back. the warhouse guy that opens your box isnt the same guy you talked to, nor do they have information about your phone call to the tech. They simply open the box, scan the numbers and move on.
dont stress to much about it
Great info here
Thanks to every one of you on this thread. I am finally breaking free from WinMo and getting Dinc after a lot of research. I like Verizon but hate the bloatware they pack onto Androids and all the other phones, so I will be fiddleing with ROMs. If I screw up I am looking here first to see how to get it back to stock so I can get my new one with the insurance coverage.
Everytime I get to serouosly looking around these forums I learn great new stuff. I will donate to the XDA someday soon!
Okay. so im a noob. Just need to ask. What do you guys mean by stock recovery? I just rooted my phone but need to unroot to send it in for work at Verizon. Could you help me out?

[Q] Let's Get It on!

Hi!
This is my first post and I apologize if it would be a bit long but I wanted to be honest and express what I wanted to say.
First of all, I just want to say.. You guys are great!
I have been browsing your forums years ago while I was still using my HTC Desire HD. I wanted to join then I was afraid to brick my phone and didn’t have the liberty of time to research and study how. I just observed as you guys enjoy modding your phones. But this time, I really wanted to start modding and participate in this community that is why I registered. I just bought my new phone and after two weeks of research and contemplating, I decided to get the Nexus 4. With this, I know this is a very good phone to start my modding ventures..
One thing that’s really hard to do is keeping up with all the information that you guys have already discussed or contributed. Honestly, its so hard to back-read pages and pages of different topics or even the same topics! I consider myself a noob coz’ I do not have yet any experience in rooting. I did some modding way back before when I had my MotoRazr flip phone and did some crazy modding to it, but now android is a new world to me in terms of modding.
XDA is such a large forum already and sometimes you’ll really get dizzy back-reading similar topics, trying to find the right guide for me. Im more of interested to know how things work and not just use toolkits. This way I would not just benefit but rather be educated as well.
I really wanted to start modding and in the future, also be able to contribute to this very great community. I am not a guy who has knowledge in scripts and programming but I am an easy learner and have common sense as well. But I’m not that kind of guy who can easily spend to buy a new phone. I really worked hard to be able to buy my new Nexus 4. Since I am just a newbie it is very likely I might make mistakes. I hope you could help me and guide me as I learn from our forum and from you guys. I do not want to end up bricking my phone.
Thank you for all those who would acknowledge my message and help. To all you guys, great job!
I myself coming from Desire HD..I still remember how painful its rooting process was.Nexus 4 isn't like that..From Unlocking to Flashing a Custom Rom..Whole Process is easy to understand & less chance of getting into trouble..
For learning..you can have a look at this thread..
[Guide] Ultimate Nexus 4 Root Guide
I myself coming from Desire HD..I still remember how painful its rooting process was.Nexus 4 isn't like that..From Unlocking to Flashing a Custom Rom..Whole Process is easy to understand & less chance of getting into trouble..
For learning..you can have a look at this thread..
[Guide] Ultimate Nexus 4 Root Guide
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the reply!
I read here in xda that you just need to turn your bootloader off so that anytime you want to root it or do some mods, you do not have to make factory reset and lose all your data. So I was thinking should I just turn it off first while I am still trying to learn more about rooting, Roms, flashing, etc. before actually doing it? That way I do not have to erase my data during factory reset if I decide to root a little more later in time where I have already made several settings and setups, contacts and messages. Is this right?
But if I were to turn my loader off then eventually I have to do a factory reset. Since this is my first time to mod, root, flash or use custom roms, so I think the first I should learn before anything else is about backup so I could still put it back to original stock in case I needed to. Could you guys guide me how to make a backup or a full backup from stock and unrooted phone? I also read that there are custom recovery/backup. Could I do this or my phone should be rooted first before I could do this which means I would need to factory reset first to turn my loader off and eventually erase my data even before I could make a backup. Are there apps I could use and what particular files should be backed up? Some things I am concerned of losing is the words I have added in the dictionary coz I have to do it all over again. For apps, sms and contacts should I just use apps available at the Play store to back it up or is there a better way to actually backup everything including settings? Pls guide me how should I do this.
vinz_bangiz said:
thanks for the reply!
I read here in xda that you just need to turn your bootloader off so that anytime you want to root it or do some mods, you do not have to make factory reset and lose all your data. So I was thinking should I just turn it off first while I am still trying to learn more about rooting, Roms, flashing, etc. before actually doing it? That way I do not have to erase my data during factory reset if I decide to root a little more later in time where I have already made several settings and setups, contacts and messages. Is this right?
But if I were to turn my loader off then eventually I have to do a factory reset. Since this is my first time to mod, root, flash or use custom roms, so I think the first I should learn before anything else is about backup so I could still put it back to original stock in case I needed to. Could you guys guide me how to make a backup or a full backup from stock and unrooted phone? I also read that there are custom recovery/backup. Could I do this or my phone should be rooted first before I could do this which means I would need to factory reset first to turn my loader off and eventually erase my data even before I could make a backup. Are there apps I could use and what particular files should be backed up? Some things I am concerned of losing is the words I have added in the dictionary coz I have to do it all over again. For apps, sms and contacts should I just use apps available at the Play store to back it up or is there a better way to actually backup everything including settings? Pls guide me how should I do this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First setup adb http://www.redmondpie.com/how-to-set-up-android-adb-and-fastboot-on-windows-tutorial/, and stay away from Toolkits
Flash a custom recovery like CWM or TWRP in fastboot for backing up and restoring the whole rom (system and user apps, so the whole configuration).
Install Titanium Backup or Helium to backup and restore users apps and data.
vinz_bangiz said:
thanks for the reply!
I read here in xda that you just need to turn your bootloader off so that anytime you want to root it or do some mods, you do not have to make factory reset and lose all your data. So I was thinking should I just turn it off first while I am still trying to learn more about rooting, Roms, flashing, etc. before actually doing it? That way I do not have to erase my data during factory reset if I decide to root a little more later in time where I have already made several settings and setups, contacts and messages. Is this right?
But if I were to turn my loader off then eventually I have to do a factory reset. Since this is my first time to mod, root, flash or use custom roms, so I think the first I should learn before anything else is about backup so I could still put it back to original stock in case I needed to. Could you guys guide me how to make a backup or a full backup from stock and unrooted phone? I also read that there are custom recovery/backup. Could I do this or my phone should be rooted first before I could do this which means I would need to factory reset first to turn my loader off and eventually erase my data even before I could make a backup. Are there apps I could use and what particular files should be backed up? Some things I am concerned of losing is the words I have added in the dictionary coz I have to do it all over again. For apps, sms and contacts should I just use apps available at the Play store to back it up or is there a better way to actually backup everything including settings? Pls guide me how should I do this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Backup all of your data before unlocking the bootloader..It'll wipe everything
gee2012 said:
First setup adb http://www.redmondpie.com/how-to-set-up-android-adb-and-fastboot-on-windows-tutorial/, and stay away from Toolkits
Flash a custom recovery like CWM or TWRP in fastboot for backing up and restoring the whole rom (system and user apps, so the whole configuration).
Install Titanium Backup or Helium to backup and restore users apps and data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the advice! already flashed twrp because I would use PA later on and many said its better to use this recovery. I actually encountered some problems on Bootloop which is my first real challenge in the world of modding. But i managed to solved it with help form xda members as well.
Tonight I will be proceeding with flashing customs rom (PA). im just reading some more threads to learn more and be prepared to solve problems in case something goes wrong.

[Q] Wiping With TWRP Help!

Hello everyone! Long time reader of these forums and first time posting. Let me begin by expressing my gratitude for all the hard work you guys put into helping the rest of us with our phones.
I am hoping to get some clarification on what to do before I sell my phone. I have a Sprint GS4 unlocked and running Blu Kuban/TWRP. Due to the excessive amount of travel for work, I am making the switch to AT&T and have a buyer for my phone. This buyer, however, is requesting that I keep the phone unlocked and rooted. I made a NAND backup prior to installing the rom.
What are the appropriate steps I should take to ensure my data is completely wiped and that the phone remains rooted and unlocked? I have read up on it somewhat (and think I know what to do) , but I would rather fall on the side of caution and get personal direction. I am trying to avoid having to root and unlock the phone again.
Any feedback is greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
unc2k3 said:
Hello everyone! Long time reader of these forums and first time posting. Let me begin by expressing my gratitude for all the hard work you guys put into helping the rest of us with our phones.
I am hoping to get some clarification on what to do before I sell my phone. I have a Sprint GS4 unlocked and running Blu Kuban/TWRP. Due to the excessive amount of travel for work, I am making the switch to AT&T and have a buyer for my phone. This buyer, however, is requesting that I keep the phone unlocked and rooted. I made a NAND backup prior to installing the rom.
What are the appropriate steps I should take to ensure my data is completely wiped and that the phone remains rooted and unlocked? I have read up on it somewhat (and think I know what to do) , but I would rather fall on the side of caution and get personal direction. I am trying to avoid having to root and unlock the phone again.
Any feedback is greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure you have everything backed up, then go into wipe, and do a factory reset, PLUS do a data wipe. That will kill all the pics and music, etc.
ciphercode said:
Make sure you have everything backed up, then go into wipe, and do a factory reset, PLUS do a data wipe. That will kill all the pics and music, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would do this twice then reboot it

[Q] clarification on multiple topics for a beginner.

Hey guys. I want to start off by saying that I've researched answers to my following questions but the answers have raised more questions.
I will first explain my current setup and the process in which I took to get here.
When I first got my phone it was mj7
From fully stock (no root) I installed the OTA mje update.
I then rooted using Kongo
Installed SS
Installed the JellyBeans rom
Now wwhee I need clarification. ..
If I'm upgrading a new version in the future of this same rom it states to do a factory reset. To me this means use ss and perform a wipe on the rom slot the current rom is installed on. Is this correct? I ask because I've seen posts saying you should reroot before doing so. This leads me to my next question....
If I'm going to unroot and put back to stock as if I was going to do a warranty swap can I use the kingo unroot option and be all set? I've read that this works perfectly fine but then I see others saying you should flash the tar file. And that brings me to my last question. ..
If needing to fflash the tar file should I flash the current mj version my phone is on (I believe this is called the kernel version? ) or whatever is the latest one released ?
I totally understand these are basic questions that I should already know and have been talked about a million times but for a beginner like me and the HUGE amount of info out there I feel I'm getting some contradicting information. Please forgive my lack of knowledge, I'm just now stepping into this world. Thank you in advance... any and all input would be hugely appreciated.
JiMiHenDriX420 said:
If I'm upgrading a new version in the future of this same rom it states to do a factory reset. To me this means use ss and perform a wipe on the rom slot the current rom is installed on. Is this correct? I ask because I've seen posts saying you should reroot before doing so. This leads me to my next question....
If I'm going to unroot and put back to stock as if I was going to do a warranty swap can I use the kingo unroot option and be all set? I've read that this works perfectly fine but then I see others saying you should flash the tar file. And that brings me to my last question. ..
If needing to fflash the tar file should I flash the current mj version my phone is on (I believe this is called the kernel version? ) or whatever is the latest one released ?
I totally understand these are basic questions that I should already know and have been talked about a million times but for a beginner like me and the HUGE amount of info out there I feel I'm getting some contradicting information. Please forgive my lack of knowledge, I'm just now stepping into this world. Thank you in advance... any and all input would be hugely appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One you have updated to MJE and achieved root and installed SS, you're good, until the next OTA rolls out from verizon. Currently I have my stock slot with root and nothing else. My first custom Rom slot has Beans' Rom on it. when people say to do a factory reset, they are talking about a factory reset on the specific rom slot you wish you flash. When you wipe a Rom slot, only that slot is affected, nothing else. So the phone will not lose root, or MJE, or SS.
So, in your case, back up your apps with TB or whatever you use, save your media on your MicroSD if you have one, and wipe the slot that youre going to flash. Dont wipe the stock slot, unless that's the one youre re-flashing. after you wipe, flash the new Beans 5, then either have google sync up your apps, or install titanium backup and go restore everything. Personally i had problems doing a full batch restore, so I only restored a few things, (i left out a bunch of system app data restores such as settings and dictionaries), but that should do the trick.

Please help me understand - No boot loop, but can't factory reset. Software not autho

Hello,
I am not a phone expert by any means. I am probably in the 'knows just enough to be dangerous category,' but I am quite willing to learn. Here is my situation as I understand it. Please advise whether my premise is flawed.
Phone: rooted Verizon Note 3 KitKat NC4 off contract / pre-paid , no warranty
Ultimate Goal: to wipe my phone and have a clean slate. Bonus if I could be able to backup images of my phone for the future. Heheeeee.
Sitrep: phone is in need of a wipe/do-over to resolve some minor annoyances, but factory reset doesn't work. It says "System software not authorized by Verizon detected...please shove it," or something. That is curious, because, since I am trying to get rid of allllllllll the software, it should just let me do it if it doesn't like some of the software. I probably don't understand this fully. (Or else they just want me to go to Verizon so they can sell me a new/worse/more despotic phone.)
I only get that message if i try to reset it, not every time i turn it on, so it doesnt bother me, but i do want to reset it, because it is full of cobwebs and battery issues. From reading this forum, I think the reason it won't reset is that about a year ago, I installed clockwork and did *something* to the recovery, but it freaked out, because my boot loader wasn't (and still isn't) unlocked, so I uninstalled clockwork. I don't remember why I installed it. It was too long ago. I think i thought i could back up my rom or something. Anyway, it has worked fine ever since, I just can't wipe it and it tells me about unauthorized software. I found instructions on here about 'flashing back to stock kitkat with Odin,' which I gather will fix my recovery, and as long as I don't do that clockwork recovery thing again, I can reset it whenever I want to, on KitKat. (I am not interested in "upgrading.") I was all set to do that, when, last night, to my joy, I saw the Verizon note 3 boot loader unlock has arrived. That (I think) means that I can (eventually) unlock the boot loader and go back to jelly bean. Yay! Or cyanogen!! Yayay!
Question: shall I first reflash KitKat in Odin, so that the recovery is operational, THEN unlock it? Or can I unlock it first, even if the recovery is messed up, skip fixing KitKat, and go back to jelly bean (or maybe cyanogen)? I am afraid that there is a right order and a wrong order, and I'm sure to pick the wrong one.
Maybe these 2 things have nothing to do with each other. I have no idea. I just feel like I might be at a crossroad.
Thank you very much for helping a lady in somewhat unfamiliar territory.
Auralay
Auralay said:
Hello,
I am not a phone expert by any means. I am probably in the 'knows just enough to be dangerous category,' but I am quite willing to learn. Here is my situation as I understand it. Please advise whether my premise is flawed.
Phone: rooted Verizon Note 3 KitKat NC4 off contract / pre-paid , no warranty
Ultimate Goal: to wipe my phone and have a clean slate. Bonus if I could be able to backup images of my phone for the future. Heheeeee.
Sitrep: phone is in need of a wipe/do-over to resolve some minor annoyances, but factory reset doesn't work. It says "System software not authorized by Verizon detected...please shove it," or something. That is curious, because, since I am trying to get rid of allllllllll the software, it should just let me do it if it doesn't like some of the software. I probably don't understand this fully. (Or else they just want me to go to Verizon so they can sell me a new/worse/more despotic phone.)
I only get that message if i try to reset it, not every time i turn it on, so it doesnt bother me, but i do want to reset it, because it is full of cobwebs and battery issues. From reading this forum, I think the reason it won't reset is that about a year ago, I installed clockwork and did *something* to the recovery, but it freaked out, because my boot loader wasn't (and still isn't) unlocked, so I uninstalled clockwork. I don't remember why I installed it. It was too long ago. I think i thought i could back up my rom or something. Anyway, it has worked fine ever since, I just can't wipe it and it tells me about unauthorized software. I found instructions on here about 'flashing back to stock kitkat with Odin,' which I gather will fix my recovery, and as long as I don't do that clockwork recovery thing again, I can reset it whenever I want to, on KitKat. (I am not interested in "upgrading.") I was all set to do that, when, last night, to my joy, I saw the Verizon note 3 boot loader unlock has arrived. That (I think) means that I can (eventually) unlock the boot loader and go back to jelly bean. Yay! Or cyanogen!! Yayay!
Question: shall I first reflash KitKat in Odin, so that the recovery is operational, THEN unlock it? Or can I unlock it first, even if the recovery is messed up, skip fixing KitKat, and go back to jelly bean (or maybe cyanogen)? I am afraid that there is a right order and a wrong order, and I'm sure to pick the wrong one.
Maybe these 2 things have nothing to do with each other. I have no idea. I just feel like I might be at a crossroad.
Thank you very much for helping a lady in somewhat unfamiliar territory.
Auralay
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is because you are rooted... A factory reset just wipes user data and applications... It does not totally reload Android.
You can reflash the phone via Odin and a firmware download of the proper version (or higher) for the Verizon Note 3. Firmware is available on www.sammobile.com you have to be a member in order to download but membership is free.
If you want to stick with KitKat... You can unlock the bootloader now and then can load either CWM or TWRP and from them can flash any ROM available here.
Even unlocked i don't think you can move back to Jelly bean
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
donc113 said:
It is because you are rooted... A factory reset just wipes user data and applications... It does not totally reload Android.
You can reflash the phone via Odin and a firmware download of the proper version (or higher) for the Verizon Note 3. Firmware is available on ] you have to be a member in order to download but membership is free.
If you want to stick with KitKat... You can unlock the bootloader now and then can load either CWM or TWRP and from them can flash any ROM available here.
Even unlocked i don't think you can move back to Jelly bean
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much for taking the time to consider my question. As sad as I am to think about not ever going back to Jelly Bean, which I assume is a tyrannical Verizon/Samsung thing, I am very glad for your input. I could have sworn I have reset this phone since rooting it, but I could just as easily be mistaken. I think I will do Odin first, and see everything is A-OK before leaping out into the unknown of unlocking. Hopefully after I do Odin, I can do resets the old easy way, but it's ok if i can't. Anyway, thanks a bunch for helping me get smarter every day. <3
Auralay
Auralay
Have you already flashed with Odin?
Hold your horses if not, I have an idea which is worth trying.
(It involves unlocking and reinstalling stock without losing root in the process.)

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