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[Q] gs4 mf3 no bootable rom

i did some stupid stuff with safestrap. i attempted to install a rom over my stock rom. and it said it failed. now its in a bootloop. anyway i could get the original file that came with the mf3 update?

IS33D34DP30PL3 said:
i did some stupid stuff with safestrap. i attempted to install a rom over my stock rom. and it said it failed. now its in a bootloop. anyway i could get the original file that came with the mf3 update?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no original file for mf3. Safestrap is new and I'm curious how you recover from what you did. Hopefully someone else is more helpful but keep us posted on your outcome. It could help someone else.

IS33D34DP30PL3 said:
i did some stupid stuff with safestrap. i attempted to install a rom over my stock rom. and it said it failed. now its in a bootloop. anyway i could get the original file that came with the mf3 update?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The SafeStrap instructions CLEARLY state to not touch the stock ROM. So now, you have to treat it like any other bricked MF3 S4. You can try putting it into download mode and then manually canceling out to see if it will boot, but you probably will need to go to a Best Buy and see if they can re-flash it for you.

Take it to your local Best Buy that has a Samsung Experience kiosk. They can restore it to MF3. Tell them Samsung tech support told you to go there and if they have problems to call tech support.
Sent from my GT-I9505G using Tapatalk 4

thank you all for the help . im going to attempt to reflash the firmware from odin. (i have a warranty and i will get my phone replaced even if it doesnt work. i wanna find out just in case other people make the same mistake)

i attempted this guide:http://www.androidrootz.com/2013/06/how-to-unroot-unbrick-galaxy-s4.html. says "failed" everytime. trying a new .tar file

Samething happend to me and best buy n my area doesn't have samsung expereince so I'm trying thngs out my self if anyone happens to have the mf3 update.zip that would be very helpful
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda app-developers app

Well I'm not an expert here... but if you have MF3 baseband which one from here http://www.androidrootz.com/p/galaxy-s4-stock-firmwares.html are you trying to flash because I can't see the MF3 ... And that could be the reason why it's failing

There is no ODIN/Kies for MF3 unfortunately. This has been discussed for the past weeks since MF3 came out
Your only option now is either take it to a Best Buy Samsung Kiosk and get it flashed to stock MF3 without the need to warranty:
distortion said:
Take it to your local Best Buy that has a Samsung Experience kiosk. They can restore it to MF3. Tell them Samsung tech support told you to go there and if they have problems to call tech support.
Sent from my GT-I9505G using Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

trying purposely flash the wrong firmware and then attempt have kies recognize and update...long shot i know also i downloading the opensource file for mf3 to study see if that could be helpful...im most confident if i can get hold to the udate.zip file for mf3 i could see a lil success..

IS33D34DP30PL3 said:
i did some stupid stuff with safestrap. i attempted to install a rom over my stock rom. and it said it failed. now its in a bootloop. anyway i could get the original file that came with the mf3 update?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this may be a long shot but im thinkg flash mdl and then the mf3 modem

deron37129 said:
this may be a long shot but im thinkg flash mdl and then the mf3 modem
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're on the mf3 firmware you are not going to be able to flash mdl. When the firmware is updated a qfuse is blown on the internal circuitry which will not allow it to down grade the firmware. You're just wasting your time. Take it to best buy.

I just got bk from there they asked no question I told them I messed my phone up tryna update and handed it to the rep already in download screen
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Help!
deron37129 said:
I just got bk from there they asked no question I told them I messed my phone up tryna update and handed it to the rep already in download screen
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm having a similar problem, i went to best buy and told the samsung guy that my phone won't boot after kies tried to update and if he could flash the firmware for me. He put it into download mode and tried something and said it wouldn't go through. Then he tried to do a factory reset through recovery which i told him i have already tried and it didn't work. Then i asked if he could call samsung for assistance, after doing so he put it back into download mode and was asked by samsung to read the information in the top left corner, after he read the part that said custom the guy at samsung said there was nothing that could be done because its rooted... The guy at best buy obviously had no idea what he was doing, should I try a different best buy and ask them specifically to flash the mf3 firmware? (I rooted my s4 and accidentally wiped the stock rom, now it wont boot past the samsung logo with the unlock icon underneath. i'm able to go into odin mode and recovery mode but recovery shows android with red exclamation mark. I tried recovery through kies and that failed also.) If best buy is able to flash the mf3 firmware update would that fix my phone?

deron37129 said:
trying purposely flash the wrong firmware and then attempt have kies recognize and update...long shot i know also i downloading the opensource file for mf3 to study see if that could be helpful...im most confident if i can get hold to the udate.zip file for mf3 i could see a lil success..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how it

I'm not exactly sure, but this sounds similar to the problem I had. You can read my post here to see if this is the same problem. I solved my issue via this post. Downloading the files took a couple tries (the website kept freezing), but flashing them through Odin worked the first time. Turns out AOSP-based mods won't work with SafeStrap, and you shouldn't write over the stock ROM. I made both mistakes. Here is a thread with a list of ROMs working with SafeStrap.

revel_onetime said:
how it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=46888516&postcount=1
Shockndrop got all the MF3 files to flash with Odin from a Best Buy.
Make sure to thank him if you use it. He saved a lot of people by taking the risk getting that.

[Q] [HELP] Ive lost my mind trying to restore my phone

I have a galaxy s4 on sprint (SPH-L720). So about a week ago i reset the cache and data under Google services framework to get the update from Samsung. Well after quickly realizing how much i didnt enjoy 4.3 i wanted 4.2.2 back and began to look into flashing the old firmware back onto my phone. unfortunately i was stuck in the download mode or odin mode for a long time and after following many peoples different instructions on how to do it and not getting the proper results, i became frustrated. eventually in a desperate attempt to have a functional phone i tried rooting it, which got me out of odin mode. However, since i restarted the phone, i cannot turn on the wifi nor is there any sound. these were new problems among the same old problems that i had with 4.3 in the beginning which includes the video playback (which is non-existent). All i want to do is have my phone working like it did when i bought it with the android version of 4.2.2 with all the working features. any ideas?

I was going out of my mind too last night trying to go back to 4.2 but had no WiFi so I got fed up and just did the cyanogenmod installer video that qbking77 posted last week on YouTube which roots and installs cm10.2 all on its own at least it got me a fully functional phone for now until I get back home from work and try restoring again. Just thought I'd share a temp solution
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app

If you accepted the ota too go to 4.3 I believe the issue you are experiencing is due to the Knox bootloader. Unfortunately I do not think there is any way to downgrade with Knox bootloader (for now). I'd try reflashing a fresh 4.3 rom and see if that fixes your issues.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app

Well I manged to restore stock 4.3 without a problem I guess it is that Knox deal
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app

FanOfSkynyrd said:
If you accepted the ota too go to 4.3 I believe the issue you are experiencing is due to the Knox bootloader. Unfortunately I do not think there is any way to downgrade with Knox bootloader (for now). I'd try reflashing a fresh 4.3 rom and see if that fixes your issues.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I reflashed with 4.3 and not only do i have wifi and sound back, but also i finally have video playback. it could be a more updated version of jellybean, either way, you, sir, are my hero. :highfive:

Hey guys you arent alone. There's hundreds of us....lol, try to make the best of it. Sac23 has a great rom. Check it out. There are also some other 4.3 based roms with great dev support available. It should help buy time till the devs can find a work around for the knox bootloader.

[Q] Formatted AT&T GS4 with stock MDL firmware, still shows custom ROM?

So I reverted from CM11 back to the stock AT&T MDL package through Odin on my wifes phone as she was having problems with CM dropping service.
Anyhow, the revert went fine and the phone is back on MDL and works perfectly.
The only thing that is bothering me is that when the phone boots it still shows the "Samsung Custom" screen which is odd to me since I went back to the stock firmware. It's also keeping the phone from updating to the latest official AT&T software.
How can I get this thing ALL the way back to stock?

10 Gauge said:
So I reverted from CM11 back to the stock AT&T MDL package through Odin on my wifes phone as she was having problems with CM dropping service.
Anyhow, the revert went fine and the phone is back on MDL and works perfectly.
The only thing that is bothering me is that when the phone boots it still shows the "Samsung Custom" screen which is odd to me since I went back to the stock firmware. It's also keeping the phone from updating to the latest official AT&T software.
How can I get this thing ALL the way back to stock?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try use kies to restore to bone stock. It should work on MDL firmware : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1984717

10 Gauge said:
So I reverted from CM11 back to the stock AT&T MDL package through Odin on my wifes phone as she was having problems with CM dropping service.
Anyhow, the revert went fine and the phone is back on MDL and works perfectly.
The only thing that is bothering me is that when the phone boots it still shows the "Samsung Custom" screen which is odd to me since I went back to the stock firmware. It's also keeping the phone from updating to the latest official AT&T software.
How can I get this thing ALL the way back to stock?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are several reasons you could be getting "custom". Sometimes, all it takes is a few reboots for it to go away, sometimes it's something on your SD card that triggers it. Try taking out your SD card and rebooting a few times before you try anything else to see if it still shows custom or not.

Don't use kies unless you want the newer bootloader. You could always flash one of the tw based roms and see if that works better for her. I currently use ShoStock and it is very stable.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Red_81 said:
Don't use kies unless you want the newer bootloader. You could always flash one of the tw based roms and see if that works better for her. I currently use ShoStock and it is very stable.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kies don't have any bootloader over MDL on at&t phones. No other firmware then MDL are available on kies for At&t models of Samsung galaxy S4. So you will not update bootloader to newer.

Red_81 said:
Don't use kies unless you want the newer bootloader. You could always flash one of the tw based roms and see if that works better for her. I currently use ShoStock and it is very stable.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So Kies will take care of it then. At this point not too worried about the phone being on the newer locked bootloader. It's almost up for its AT&T Next upgrade anyhow.
Can you suggest a good backup program that will back up literally everything on the phone to include custom ring tones and who they are assigned to in the address book, etc. I hate having to set her phone back up every time I have to wipe it.
Thanks for your input guys.

Good to know about kies. I haven't used it since my S2. I would recommend keeping the older bootloader just for the resell value.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

10 Gauge said:
So Kies will take care of it then. At this point not too worried about the phone being on the newer locked bootloader. It's almost up for its AT&T Next upgrade anyhow.
Can you suggest a good backup program that will back up literally everything on the phone to include custom ring tones and who they are assigned to in the address book, etc. I hate having to set her phone back up every time I have to wipe it.
Thanks for your input guys.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could try MyBackUp Pro,TB, or Koush's back up app--forget name--not sure if they do ringtones though
Only thing I know for sure is a nandroid--
Try a Google some other apps are mentioned--like Back Up My Tones Premium

$1 Best Buy GS5 is rootable with towelroot

Just verified after getting one about 4 hours ago.
The kernel version block is:
3.4.0-1750661
[email protected] #1
Fri May 30 21 23-48 KST 2014
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I saw the date was before June 2014 so I gave towelroot a shot. It worked like a gem. Hands down the best root I have ever had the privilege to use. Big ups to geohot.
I installed superSU from play and verified it worked. It had no issue installing the new binary. When trying to disable knox, the first time it hung. I did a restart, and the next time it attempted it completed in about 5 seconds.
Knox counter wasn't tripped.
I'm waiting until after I go in to the Sprint store to check over my plan before I install a custom recovery.

I can confirm the above! I picked up my S5 from Best Buy mobile last night and had it rooted using towelroot in less than 5 minutes with no problems. The same thing happened to me when I installed SuperSU - the first time it tried disabling KNOX, it hung so I rebooted and it worked perfectly the second time.
I have also installed TWRP using Mobile Odin Pro by following the instructions found in THIS thread, however it DID trip the KNOX counter unfortunately but that's OK... Where I'm from, they only have Sprint affiliates and I have NEVER seen them check for tripped counters. In fact, I would tend to believe that they don't even know how. So I'm not worried about it!
All in all, I was rooted, with my custom recovery in less than 5 minutes and didn't even have to bust out the USB cable to do it. That's exactly why I stick with Sammy's and Sprint!
Now, it's time to get rid of this crappy TouchWiz and get a real ROM put on this baby! I was very happy to see that this device is supported on CarbonROM!

Awesome. I just got home with my $1 S5 & notice the same build/date info. Time to rooty toot toot.

:good: I can confirm that towel root worked on both my $1 S5 from amazon.com. Now question, if I update to the new os (4.4.4) which i've downloaded but not installed, will I still be able to use towelroot?

cheeb said:
:good: I can confirm that towel root worked on both my $1 S5 from amazon.com. Now question, if I update to the new os (4.4.4) which i've downloaded but not installed, will I still be able to use towelroot?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No you will have to root via odin by using CF auto root or odin custom recovery and flashing supersu with will trip knox. Sprint representatives dont care if they even know how to tell so you will be good. I've replaced several devices all tripped (flashaholic ?) without a problem. If you need to bring it in just flash a stock rom with odin and you're golden
Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

banccalif said:
No you will have to root via odin by using CF auto root or odin custom recovery and flashing supersu with will trip knox. Sprint representatives dont care if they even know how to tell so you will be good. I've replaced several devices all tripped (flashaholic ?) without a problem. If you need to bring it in just flash a stock rom with odin and you're golden
Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good looking out! I definitely don't care about "being caught flashing". This is my first samsung phone so I'm trying to figure things out. Thanks for the info! Got any suggestion on a good rom?

cheeb said:
Good looking out! I definitely don't care about "being caught flashing". This is my first samsung phone so I'm trying to figure things out. Thanks for the info! Got any suggestion on a good rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TW I gotta say MOAR ROM, hands down A1, lots of mods, great battery and active dev. If aosp I've only tried unofficial cm12, love the look and feel of the rom but not the battery
Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

banccalif said:
TW I gotta say MOAR ROM, hands down A1, lots of mods, great battery and active dev. If aosp I've only tried unofficial cm12, love the look and feel of the rom but not the battery
Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!

Tipped your KNOX? Rooted? Custom Recovery On? And want Stock 5.0.1?

ITS OKAY!
if you want to try out stock and not wait for a stock rooted, update via KIES software, took 30 mins But im all golden, phone was flashed rooted and everything and KIES Still updated phone!

How would i do it?

Joee21 said:
ITS OKAY!
if you want to try out stock and not wait for a stock rooted, update via KIES software, took 30 mins But im all golden, phone was flashed rooted and everything and KIES Still updated phone!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you still rooted?

I have done this many times in the past when I did not care about waiting for root. For those interested, you will lose root, so you will have to root again following the update. Also, if you don't already, use Kies to back up all your data beforehand just in case, everything should carry over though if you don't wish to back it up.

Here's your answer

Lmax579 said:
How would i do it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You gotta install kies on your computer and connect your phone you should be prompt about an update Soon!

Does a flashable zip exist yet? I've searched to no avail.
Sent from my SM-N910T using xda premium

C-4Nati said:
Does a flashable zip exist yet? I've searched to no avail.
Sent from my SM-N910T using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=60392963&postcount=974

Ok I'll try it

Or simply flash the stock md5 file via odin? Tadaa?

lazer9 said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=60392963&postcount=974
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, but that's just the kernel, not the whole ROM.

Im on CM12.1 will Kies update it it or no? Probably not have to odin back to 4.4 huh?

Zoide_ said:
Thanks, but that's just the kernel, not the whole ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, I must have misread the post.

PhilUSAF21 said:
Im on CM12.1 will Kies update it it or no? Probably not have to odin back to 4.4 huh?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kies will update it. But you will lose root, custom recovery and your ROM. Make a nandroid.
I just made a nandroid while shopping at Wal-Mart. I'm going to apply the stock OS via kies when I get home and check it out. Kind of excited. Kind of worried about tmobile knowing that I tripped Knox.
Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Premium HD app

Temetka said:
Kind of worried about tmobile knowing that I tripped Knox.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think they care. I'm on jump and have turned in like 4+ samsung phones all with tripped knox never once have they looked or said anything. Also never heard of anyone being called out on it with tmo either.

I flashed a random KK NK4 ROM, booted, plugged into kies for the LP COD6 update. Lost root of course. Probably going to use the unrooted stock for a little bit.

jietzer said:
I don't think they care. I'm on jump and have turned in like 4+ samsung phones all with tripped knox never once have they looked or said anything. Also never heard of anyone being called out on it with tmo either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, i've heard other peple's stories on that as well. No issues for them either. So I'm not totally paranoid about it, but still a small concern will be there. To be honest though I plan on paying the phone off and keeping it instead of using Jump. I really like this phone and even if I do upgrade to the Note 5 or whatever, having a backup phone is a great idea.
whitev004 said:
I flashed a random KK NK4 ROM, booted, plugged into kies for the LP COD6 update. Lost root of course. Probably going to use the unrooted stock for a little bit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I ODIN'd back to stock and then ran the OTA (not Kies) to upgrade to 5.0.1. I am very happy with the performance. Actually I am blown away. It's far more responsive than it ever was on FireKat 11 and I didn't think it could get any better than that as it was running great. Color me 3 different shades of surprised and happy. I am going to stay stock w/ no-root for a bit and see what the dev's bring us.