I've tried going through the topics, but none seem to explain it into depth.
I have no idea what MF3 means, and whether it even applies to my phone, which is the i337m (Canadian).
Can someone explain where to get the latest version of Odin and how to use it? I've downloaded the correct 4.3 firmware off the SamMobile site and want to flash it back onto my S4, what should I do?
Also, can I use Odin to flash ROMs and kernels?
Thanks.
Anonymoose2 said:
I've tried going through the topics, but none seem to explain it into depth.
I have no idea what MF3 means, and whether it even applies to my phone, which is the i337m (Canadian).
Can someone explain where to get the latest version of Odin and how to use it? I've downloaded the correct 4.3 firmware off the SamMobile site and want to flash it back onto my S4, what should I do?
Also, can I use Odin to flash ROMs and kernels?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't flash roms and kernel with odin. You need a custom recovery for that. You don't have to worry about mf3 on the i337m. Here is a guide for Odin. It's not for the i337 so don't use any files in it other than odin. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=26056924
If you have no idea how to use ODIN, or what MF3 means, or what being on a Canadian phone means, you definitely do not need to be doing anything to your phone. The best way for you to get educated about everything is to read the "pinned' threads in the General and Q & A sections. They contain information you need to know about your phone and what it is you might want to do wit it. In case you get all upset about having to read (If it upsets you), it is the XDA rules and they exist to help you from bricking your phone. Good luck.
scott14719 said:
If you have no idea how to use ODIN, or what MF3 means, or what being on a Canadian phone means, you definitely do not need to be doing anything to your phone. The best way for you to get educated about everything is to read the "pinned' threads in the General and Q & A sections. They contain information you need to know about your phone and what it is you might want to do wit it. In case you get all upset about having to read (If it upsets you), it is the XDA rules and they exist to help you from bricking your phone. Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Too late now....I have Gummy 1.1 installed on my S4.
Related
I was looking to update my firmware to the mdl, I would like to add the 4 way mod and kill app, but i was not able to find any addons for the mdb firmware. I was looking for a flashable mdl zip that i can do to my phone without having to do odin or thru kies. I am rooted-auto loki cwm recovery, and have the apps and files froze for auto update.
Is there a flashable mdl zip or do i have to odin to mdl using adams walk thru. I have looked thru all of the general section - questions and answer threads- dev threads and could not find anything about a flashable mdl zip. Am I missing something or do i have odin to the mdl firmware and start from scratch with setting up my phone again. I am only asking cause i dont want to get forced to take the mf3 update and lose root and recovery.
Please dont bash this question with usless post like do a search or not another mdb-mdl thread. I am not a noob, and i did search. I have rooted, recovery, flashed phones before. coming from the galaxy s2 skyrocket with Mohans latest rom cymbaline embryo 7.0. Thanks again in advance.
galaxyuser88 said:
I was looking to update my firmware to the mdl, I would like to add the 4 way mod and kill app, but i was not able to find any addons for the mdb firmware. I was looking for a flashable mdl zip that i can do to my phone without having to do odin or thru kies. I am rooted-auto loki cwm recovery, and have the apps and files froze for auto update.
Is there a flashable mdl zip or do i have to odin to mdl using adams walk thru. I have looked thru all of the general section - questions and answer threads- dev threads and could not find anything about a flashable mdl zip. Am I missing something or do i have odin to the mdl firmware and start from scratch with setting up my phone again. I am only asking cause i dont want to get forced to take the mf3 update and lose root and recovery.
Please dont bash this question with usless post like do a search or not another mdb-mdl thread. I am not a noob, and i did search. I have rooted, recovery, flashed phones before. coming from the galaxy s2 skyrocket with Mohans latest rom cymbaline embryo 7.0. Thanks again in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No bash from me, good post...I have it attached to my OP in my thread here, at the bottom. You are talking about the modem it looks like, right?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2295557
good luck.
You can try this...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2348859
...but you will need to set things up again. It's the entire firmware, pre-rooted, and you can see in the OP what all it has. It's about as close to AMDL as you can get without ODIN or Kies. It's flashable, so you will keep your custom recovery. So it might or might not be what you are looking for. Good luck.
TheAxman said:
No bash from me, good post...I have it attached to my OP in my thread here, at the bottom. You are talking about the modem it looks like, right?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2295557
good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, but iam looking for the complete firmware to go from AMDB to AMDL, I want to load a de-odexed AMDL so that i can flash the 4 way mod W/ Kill app, but I have to be on AMDL for that add on to work.
scott14719 said:
You can try this...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2348859
...but you will need to set things up again. It's the entire firmware, pre-rooted, and you can see in the OP what all it has. It's about as close to AMDL as you can get without ODIN or Kies. It's flashable, so you will keep your custom recovery. So it might or might not be what you are looking for. Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this, But didnt I read somewhere that i have be on the stock untouched from the att AMDL in order to flash anything rooted or modified/custom AMDL.. but this one of the romz i want to try.
Scott quick question for you about your clean rom 1.1 , does this have the 4 way mod and kill apps inculded in this rom?
Hey guys, I'm planning on flashing a new ROM in the next few days, and I just wanted to make sure I get all of my ducks in a row and don't get my hardware stuck in a bad state. I'm a moderately experienced S3 ROM flasher, but I'm no expert by any means. Anyways, part of this will be me rambling, and part of it will be me asking questions. I hope to get some answers from the awesome XDA community, as well as perhaps help anyone else who comes along and might have the same questions as I.
Anyways, here's what I'm on right now:
AT&T Galaxy S 4 (SAMSUNG-SGH-I337)
Stock Firmware Build: JDQ39.I337UCUAMDL
Baseband: I337UCUAMDL
Rooted
TWRP 2.6.0.0
I am looking to flash the following
MDOB (Modified AT&T build, UCUAMF3)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2280556
or
Goldeneye (Modified International build, XXUBMGA)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2313469
From what I have read, there aren't many differences between the two other than preference.
From what I have read, the MDOB ROM is not a full MF3 update, it only contains the firmware build, it does not contain the baseband update. (May need confirm/deny here) Flashing MDOB will leave me on the AMDL baseband, which means I will not benefit from the new LTE modem updates.
I have seen people flashing the MF3 baseband manually, and have reported that it works just fine.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2324667
Kernel support seems to be a case-by-case basis right now, I'll be sticking to the stock Loki'd for now (which is included).
Conclusion / TL : DR
Here are all of the questions that I have, and hopefully someone can help me out with this.
1) MDOB or Goldeneye? (The only possible benefit I could think of is that I might be able to redeem the Dropbox offer on the international version... maybe)
2) If I flash MDOB or Goldeneye, will I lose my ability to root my device with motochopper?
3) If I flash the MF3 baseband, will I lose my ability to root my device with motochopper?
4) If I flash any of the above, do I lose any access priveleges on my phone?
5) If I flash any of the above, do I lose my ability to roll back to previous versions?
6) Since MDOB lacks the MF3 baseband, does it lack anything else I need to flash separately?
7) Is the MF3 baseband compatible with Goldeneye?
ChrisG683 said:
Conclusion / TL : DR
Here are all of the questions that I have, and hopefully someone can help me out with this.
1) MDOB or Goldeneye? (The only possible benefit I could think of is that I might be able to redeem the Dropbox offer on the international version... maybe)
2) If I flash MDOB or Goldeneye, will I lose my ability to root my device with motochopper?
3) If I flash the MF3 baseband, will I lose my ability to root my device with motochopper?
4) If I flash any of the above, do I lose any access priveleges on my phone?
5) If I flash any of the above, do I lose my ability to roll back to previous versions?
6) Since MDOB lacks the MF3 baseband, does it lack anything else I need to flash separately?
7) Is the MF3 baseband compatible with Goldeneye?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Try both of them and see which one you like more (if you're trying to do the dropbox promotion, flash a t-mobile rom....Wicked rom then flash TouchWizz kernel that is for ATT)
2. You won't lose root
3. As long as you flash only the MF3 modem, you won't lose root
4. No
5. No....make a nandroid just in case
6. No
7. Yes
Sent from my SGH-I337 using xda premium
doktor buknasty said:
1. Try both of them and see which one you like more (if you're trying to do the dropbox promotion, flash a t-mobile rom....Wicked rom then flash TouchWizz kernel that is for ATT)
2. You won't lose root
3. As long as you flash only the MF3 modem, you won't lose root
4. No
5. No....make a nandroid just in case
6. No
7. Yes
Sent from my SGH-I337 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the speedy reply doktor buknasty!
I guess my follow up question is, what is the part of the stock AT&T MF3 update that causes our phones to become locked down? Is it the aboot thing? I want to make sure I don't flash the wrong thing.
ChrisG683 said:
Thanks for the speedy reply doktor buknasty!
I guess my follow up question is, what is the part of the stock AT&T MF3 update that causes our phones to become locked down? Is it the aboot thing? I want to make sure I don't flash the wrong thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tbh....I'm not quite sure (someone with knowledge about this please chime in), but if you want your phone rooted...DO NOT take the OTA update.
Sent from my SGH-I337 using xda premium
You can run any MF3 that has been included into a cooked rom, just not the OTA update. So flash away, I flashed Goldeneye lastnight, no issues what so ever.
Stay away from OTA and odin tar MF3, some say it works, but I stay away from those, again, if you see a MF3 cooked rom, you are safe.
Thank you.
I second the motion on flashing either MDOB/GOLDENEYE. I use the MDOB MF3 with the MF3 modem flashed over and have zero issues.no probs with root as well
I have owned samsung phones since the original s1 and it's always been easy to flash a stock rom using odin.whenever I had a problem with my current rom or soft bricked I just downloaded the tar odin file flashed pda in odin and went back to 100% stock. But I cannot for the love of God seem to find this easy on at&t s4. A buddy gave me his s4 to update it to latest 4.3 but cannot find any odin tars for any of the 4.3 updates..and when I find it why is it split up by recovery/bootloader etc? So my question is how do i go from 4.2.2 to 4.3 using odin, because he cannot do it via kies or ota
euklid said:
I have owned samsung phones since the original s1 and it's always been easy to flash a stock rom using odin.whenever I had a problem with my current rom or soft bricked I just downloaded the tar odin file flashed pda in odin and went back to 100% stock. But I cannot for the love of God seem to find this easy on at&t s4. A buddy gave me his s4 to update it to latest 4.3 but cannot find any odin tars for any of the 4.3 updates..and when I find it why is it split up by recovery/bootloader etc? So my question is how do i go from 4.2.2 to 4.3 using odin, because he cannot do it via kies or ota
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no 4.3. First off, if he's on MDL then you should root and get recovery and use the StockUp ROM, because that way he'll get 4.3 MK2 but also be able to change ROMs to something like Cyanogemnod. If he already has MF3 then there's a nice clear thread with "UPDATE.ZIP" in the title you can find in the general section with all the information you should need.
DeadlySin9 said:
There is no 4.3. First off, if he's on MDL then you should root and get recovery and use the StockUp ROM, because that way he'll get 4.3 MK2 but also be able to change ROMs to something like Cyanogemnod. If he already has MF3 then there's a nice clear thread with "UPDATE.ZIP" in the title you can find in the general section with all the information you should need.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what do you mean there's no 4.3, you mean an odin image of 4.3?? thats what I meant why is it that on my t-mobile s4 they have the complete image of the stock rom, is it because att version has a locked bootloader?? I never had to mess with update.zip files ever on a samsung phone, excuse my ignorance.
euklid said:
what do you mean there's no 4.3, you mean an odin image of 4.3?? thats what I meant why is it that on my t-mobile s4 they have the complete image of the stock rom, is it because att version has a locked bootloader?? I never had to mess with update.zip files ever on a samsung phone, excuse my ignorance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He told you where to look.
scott14719 said:
He told you where to look.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know where to look now thanks, my originally question is why we even have to bother with update.zip instead of just flashing 1 odin file that has complete stock rom like in all other samsung phones.
euklid said:
I know where to look now thanks, my originally question is why we even have to bother with update.zip instead of just flashing 1 odin file that has complete stock rom like in all other samsung phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Locked bootloader. There is tons of informative threads about it in the general, q&a, development, original development. and developer's only sub-forums.
euklid said:
what do you mean there's no 4.3, you mean an odin image of 4.3?? thats what I meant why is it that on my t-mobile s4 they have the complete image of the stock rom, is it because att version has a locked bootloader?? I never had to mess with update.zip files ever on a samsung phone, excuse my ignorance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, i meant no ODIN image. There's a locked bootloader and they're trying so hard to keep us from modifying it they make it so you can only get repairs through the Samsung centers and such where they check if you tried to mod it and are supposed to not do anything to help you if you did. As scott said, you can find plenty more information around and probably better explanations than my theories.
I think the last full stock rom was I337UCUAMDL or just MDL. Since then though, each update has been just merely that, an update or patch. So there isnt a full rom of 4.3 MK2. Your best bet, which i just did yesterday, is to use Ted77USA's thread on the bricked MK2, third post in his thread. Follow this link. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2573080&nocache=1 Again pay attention to it all. Worked out very well for me and my issue. Sure it should be as easy for you.
Hi all! I'll start by saying this, I'm not a COMPLETE noob here. I have had a fair share of experience with rooting and flashing roms; However when i got my new S4 i stepped up in the world of android and am sorta lost now lol. Currently I'm stock MF3 with AT&T, and in a bit I will flash the MK2 update.zip and root then. Well, my understanding of SafeStrap is that it uses the phones memory to make virtual slots for roms, therefor (correct me if I'm wrong) the current system doesn't get wiped. Now I have searched, searched, searched, read, read, AND read, multiple threads trying to find my answers and I've just ended up with confusuion. If my understanding off SS is correct I want a rom that is Stock 4.4.2, Fast, battery enhancing, and most importantly Stable. I saw on in Particular that stood out to me and that was Vision-X but the post to me confused me whether i could use it on the NB1 build. Another question I have: Is NC1 worth it? I've seen that I could do a work around to keep root from NB1 and go to NC1, And Finally my last question (thus far): Can I flash themes i whip up myself with Universal online Theme Kitchen? Is that compatible? I hope that the XDA community can help me once again with my questions and guide me onto the right track. Thanks in advance XDA!!!
DroidWizzy said:
Hi all! I'll start by saying this, I'm not a COMPLETE noob here. I have had a fair share of experience with rooting and flashing roms; However when i got my new S4 i stepped up in the world of android and am sorta lost now lol. Currently I'm stock MF3 with AT&T, and in a bit I will flash the MK2 update.zip and root then. Well, my understanding of SafeStrap is that it uses the phones memory to make virtual slots for roms, therefor (correct me if I'm wrong) the current system doesn't get wiped. Now I have searched, searched, searched, read, read, AND read, multiple threads trying to find my answers and I've just ended up with confusuion. If my understanding off SS is correct I want a rom that is Stock 4.4.2, Fast, battery enhancing, and most importantly Stable. I saw on in Particular that stood out to me and that was Vision-X but the post to me confused me whether i could use it on the NB1 build. Another question I have: Is NC1 worth it? I've seen that I could do a work around to keep root from NB1 and go to NC1, And Finally my last question (thus far): Can I flash themes i whip up myself with Universal online Theme Kitchen? Is that compatible? I hope that the XDA community can help me once again with my questions and guide me onto the right track. Thanks in advance XDA!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't have to upgrade past MK2, and it doesn't matter if you're just going to put a custom ROM on. I believe the ROM you mentioned is compatible, but you could always check the All Things MK2 & NB1 thread. With safestrap on MK2 you'll be able to run both 4.3 and 4.4.2 ROMs by using Om ODIN to switch kernels. As for themes, Safestrap allows all normally flashable zips, so it's a matter of whether the kitchen is compatible.
Thanks for the reply! Currently im Stock NB1 and rooted. I'm going to flash Skyfall.Ill see what happens.
Edit: Flashed Skyfall but for some reason after reboot i get stuck on the Samsung splash screen. I followed the installation guide, am i missing something?
Since i didn't update my bootoader when using the keep root method to NB1 i used Odin to get back to stock MK2. Which SS version should i use to try and flash skyfall?
Just got my I337, using with simple mobile. Managed to sim unlock via this method, and was feeling pretty good. I think I had (have?) MK2. So using the stock ROM, it kept on asking to autoupdate. Didn't know if that would screw anything up, so attempted to install a kitkat venom ROM. I now can't get out of safestrap recovery. I'm not sure if the issue was trying to install a kitkat ROM, or if I mistakenly put it in the primary ROM slot. Anyway, I'm on a linux box without any immediate access to windows, so it looks like ODIN is out of the question. Been scouring the forums, but I have a few questions:
1. What are the limitations of the locked bootloader? Not really sure what I'm sidestepping by using a custom recovery. I had read that it limited me to TW ROMS (which is fine by me actually), but I see AOSP and other ROMs posted...
2. What exactly is meant by MK2, NC1, MF3, etc? I understand that they are progressions of SOMETHING, but not sure what--guessing it's the whole AT&T update, including ROM, modem, kernel? And I can't seem to find what exactly the progression is...
3. Is there a ROM that I should try to flash to get me back up and running before I start trying to screw with something else? Like I said, I have access to safestrap 2.71, adb, and an SD card, so I feel like this shouldn't be TOO hard to fix
nola mike said:
Just got my I337, using with simple mobile. Managed to sim unlock via this method, and was feeling pretty good. I think I had (have?) MK2. So using the stock ROM, it kept on asking to autoupdate. Didn't know if that would screw anything up, so attempted to install a kitkat venom ROM. I now can't get out of safestrap recovery. I'm not sure if the issue was trying to install a kitkat ROM, or if I mistakenly put it in the primary ROM slot. Anyway, I'm on a linux box without any immediate access to windows, so it looks like ODIN is out of the question. Been scouring the forums, but I have a few questions:
1. What are the limitations of the locked bootloader? Not really sure what I'm sidestepping by using a custom recovery. I had read that it limited me to TW ROMS (which is fine by me actually), but I see AOSP and other ROMs posted...
2. What exactly is meant by MK2, NC1, MF3, etc? I understand that they are progressions of SOMETHING, but not sure what--guessing it's the whole AT&T update, including ROM, modem, kernel? And I can't seem to find what exactly the progression is...
3. Is there a ROM that I should try to flash to get me back up and running before I start trying to screw with something else? Like I said, I have access to safestrap 2.71, adb, and an SD card, so I feel like this shouldn't be TOO hard to fix
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, fixed my problem, though still don't have all the answers to my questions. I couldn't find a way to unbork without odin. Luckily my mom was in town visiting, and had a windows box that I used--I think I would have been hosed otherwise. Anyway, managed to revert to MK2 stock, and then upgrade to Goldeneye kit kat ROM via this method (my baseband is now listed as xxxxxxMLD).
I guess that MLD/NC1/NB1/MK2 are just ROM/radio firmware versions (kernel too, or is that completely unchangeable)? Still don't know the exact order of release, and if anyone could enlighten me a bit as to my other questions, I'd appreciate it...
I'll probably hold off on trying to change anything else until I have reliable access to windoze, unless someone can give me the steps using linux/adb.
nola mike said:
Well, fixed my problem, though still don't have all the answers to my questions. I couldn't find a way to unbork without odin. Luckily my mom was in town visiting, and had a windows box that I used--I think I would have been hosed otherwise. Anyway, managed to revert to MK2 stock, and then upgrade to Goldeneye kit kat ROM via this method (my baseband is now listed as xxxxxxMLD).
I guess that MLD/NC1/NB1/MK2 are just ROM/radio firmware versions (kernel too, or is that completely unchangeable)? Still don't know the exact order of release, and if anyone could enlighten me a bit as to my other questions, I'd appreciate it...
I'll probably hold off on trying to change anything else until I have reliable access to windoze, unless someone can give me the steps using linux/adb.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The order of firmware versions with Android version - MDB(4.2.x) -> MDL(4.2.x) - > MK2(4.3)->MLD(4.4 leak)->NB1(4.4.x)->NC1(4.4.x)
The bootloader for SGH-I337 was always locked.
1. This means that the stock kernel and recovery cannot be replaced.
2, The bootloader cannot be downgraded.
But, there was a bug in the first 2 releases, that loki exploited and provided a workaround for #1.
When flashing a firmware that contains the bootloader (aboot.mbn), it does a version check. The version check is through a fuse count maintained in the bootloader. MLD and MK2 although are different Android versions, have the same bootloader version. That means you can flash one over the other (go back and forth). The same with NB1 and NC1. But, once you update to NB1, you cannot go back to MK2.
Since the kernel cannot be replaced, all the ROMs we flash have to be compatible with the kernel that we have on the phone. Hence the mention of TW only ROMS. We cannot flash CM/AOSP/AOKP/GPE (most) ROMS. The AOSP ROMS you are seeing are themed TW roms only.
jmjoyas said:
The order of firmware versions with Android version - MDB(4.2.x) -> MDL(4.2.x) - > MK2(4.3)->MLD(4.4 leak)->NB1(4.4.x)->NC1(4.4.x)
The bootloader for SGH-I337 was always locked.
1. This means that the stock kernel and recovery cannot be replaced.
2, The bootloader cannot be downgraded.
But, there was a bug in the first 2 releases, that loki exploited and provided a workaround for #1.
When flashing a firmware that contains the bootloader (aboot.mbn), it does a version check. The version check is through a fuse count maintained in the bootloader. MLD and MK2 although are different Android versions, have the same bootloader version. That means you can flash one over the other (go back and forth). The same with NB1 and NC1. But, once you update to NB1, you cannot go back to MK2.
Since the kernel cannot be replaced, all the ROMs we flash have to be compatible with the kernel that we have on the phone. Hence the mention of TW only ROMS. We cannot flash CM/AOSP/AOKP/GPE (most) ROMS. The AOSP ROMS you are seeing are themed TW roms only.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that, very enlightening.
nola mike said:
Thanks for that, very enlightening.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just as an update, seems there's a workaround for Odin called heimdall, which is cross platform. . Haven't tried it, but looks like it should work.