i9505 back to out-of-the-box condition - Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Bought an unlocked Galaxy S4 from Tesco a couple of days ago and decided I'd try a couple of custom roms out pretty much as soon as I'd got it. I rooted it fine, installed cwm and thought I'd successfully backed up the rom it came with. When I tried to install the most updated stable version of CyanogenMod the phone wouldn't boot up at all. I believe I'd done it properly, as in wiping Dalvik cache and everything before and after installing (not sure if this is correct now), so I was a bit confused. Then I thought the best thing to do would be to restore the original rom but it said it couldn't find any files? In the end I managed to get a nightly version of cyanogen working but I really want the original Samsung version back on so I can properly try out the features. I've tried installing Samsung's official firmware for my device but it won't successfully install (it comes up with install aborted on cwm). Has anyone got any ideas on how I can get it working again? I'm considering taking it back to Tesco to get it replaced but now I have a working and rooted rom installed, it's unlikely that they'll take it.

Eaqq22hjwj .r, kyc C. U
Sent from my SGH-M919 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Just go to sammobile and fill in the boxes and that should show you which one you need.
Its probably xxuemk8 you need, then its "hello knox" ......lol
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda premium

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Request Rom Manager vs Boot Loader Clarification

Not a Dev, but not a Noob, either. Formerly had a SGH-i897 Galaxy S for 3 years and flashed like crazy on it, while transitioning from Eclair to Froyo to Gingerbread to ICS to Jellybean, mostly using the fine offerings from the AOCP Collective folks. While familiar with Odin, CWM was my usual go-to utility.
Upgraded recently to a SGH-i337 Galaxy S4. Must have owned it for two, maybe three hours, before I rooted it with MotoChopper. This allowed me to re-install Titanium Backup. I left it as merely rooted, while I read up on CWM and some new-fangled thing called TWRP, which I wanted to get installed before casting about for a new ROM. (At the time, AOCP did not have an offering here, or it would have been a no-brainer for me.)
One morning, I turned on the phone and noticed it was doing an OTA update. . . . . . . . .
Mildly curious, I logged onto XDA to read what the community thought about the update, only to discover that I had missed all the dire warnings by a day and my (now) version I337UCUAMF3 ROM had it's boot-loaders locked from a blown Q-Fuse, courtesy of Samsung and AT&T.
Took me a week before I found the rooting solution from jortex, but thankfully, I'm now rooted again.
This background now leads to my questions:
I have ROM Manager Premium (from previous purchase) but have not installed it.
I was aware on my previous SGH-i897 that mixing the Gingerbread and Jellybean boot loaders was like, a Bad Thing when flashing ROMs and would promptly brick the phone.
Does CWM require the ability to load from a boot loader?
I know it creates an update.zip file to restore the original ROM, and usually does so by using whatever ROM is installed at the time.
So wouldn't it just create an update based on the I337UCUAMF3 ROM?
Even if I can't flash new ROMs (unless or until somebody comes up with a Q-Fuse Fix) couldn't I at least have all the recovery and .zip flashing of apps and cache clearing menu choices available to me from CWM?
Or would the act of just installing CWM on a I337UCUAMF3 ROM immediately brick my phone?
In Other Words, how close can I dance to the water's edge?
Been to the ROM Manager web site and they claim I can do any thing at any time.
(Easy for them to say: It ain't THEIR phones!)
Been searching these threads and can't come up with anything explicitly stating yea or nay.
So far, I have been happy enough with the TW stock ROM, but I always felt better being able to boot to recovery to fix things, on those few occasions I got just a leeeeeetle too close to the Bleeding Edge!
What is the consensus out there?
Will CWM 6.0.3.6 bork a I337UCUAMF3? Yes or no?
Would appreciate any thoughts that might enlighten me! :fingers-crossed:
It sure could brick the phone, the only thing you can do at the moment is root. I have seen a couple people try running a recovery on it, and it required a jtag service to restore the device.
Be careful.
TheAxman said:
It sure could brick the phone, the only thing you can do at the moment is root. I have seen a couple people try running a recovery on it, and it required a jtag service to restore the device.
Be careful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Appreciate the response!
This phone is far different from the Captivate. There is no flashing anything on MF3. Basically you are waiting for a work around if that is even possible.
Sent from my SGH-I337 using xda premium

[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.

NEED HELP!!

Ive been having some issues with my note 3 sm-n9005. out of no where the phone started spazing out meaning it overheats aps randomly close i cant download any apps from the play store(always getting this error 960 or it says package file invalid) and the phone sometimes restart it self so right now i have no use of the phone. I've tried rooting it and trying some custom roms like cm i tried the bobcat rom but that did working and i used the omega rom all of them did the same thing. I'm not sure if the note has some bad flies that causing it to do what its ding so i would really like it if somebody could have me. I live in the Bahamas so i don't have the luxury of sending the phone back I'm not even sure if the phone can be fix im sure its a software problem i just don't know now how to fix it. and right now i had it on a stock rom and i tried rooting it again and now it would up then restart and then go into recovery mode. i rooted it usinf clockwork mod. SOMEBODY HELP ME PLZ!!:crying:
rashadblack242 said:
Ive been having some issues with my note 3 sm-n9005. out of no where the phone started spazing out meaning it overheats aps randomly close i cant download any apps from the play store(always getting this error 960 or it says package file invalid) and the phone sometimes restart it self so right now i have no use of the phone. I've tried rooting it and trying some custom roms like cm i tried the bobcat rom but that did working and i used the omega rom all of them did the same thing. I'm not sure if the note has some bad flies that causing it to do what its ding so i would really like it if somebody could have me. I live in the Bahamas so i don't have the luxury of sending the phone back I'm not even sure if the phone can be fix im sure its a software problem i just don't know now how to fix it. and right now i had it on a stock rom and i tried rooting it again and now it would up then restart and then go into recovery mode. i rooted it usinf clockwork mod. SOMEBODY HELP ME PLZ!!:crying:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my suggestions?
flash a stock ROM, and do a clean up (factory reset & clear cache) from stock recovery. This is the simple way.
my guess (if I'm wrong, correct me), you come back from CM/AOSP to TW, and it start to be like this.
Well im not sure if I had rooted it properly but I did all that I downloaded the stock hk rom to try see if thag will get it from booting in recover I know thats the easy fix. My big issue are all the other problems I had before I even tried to root the phone
Sent from my GT-I9300 using XDA Free mobile app
rashadblack242 said:
Well im not sure if I had rooted it properly but I did all that I downloaded the stock hk rom to try see if thag will get it from booting in recover I know thats the easy fix. My big issue are all the other problems I had before I even tried to root the phone
Sent from my GT-I9300 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
stock HK firmware ?
Is your device is N9005 HK/Taiwan version ?
if not, you can't just use the HK/Taiwan firmware onto your N9005.
Its the sm-n9005 the international model
Sent from my GT-I9300 using XDA Free mobile app
rashadblack242 said:
Its the sm-n9005 the international model
Sent from my GT-I9300 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if yours is the international model of 32GB N9005, it is strongly suggested not to flash HK/Taiwan firmware.
This 2 firmware is basically only for HK/TW N9005, which is earlier was came in 16GB. Means the partition is different from the 32GB.
after that, they come up with 32GB, but... I might be wrong (correct me if I do), I read somewhere the partitioning also different.
So, Why don't u flash other international firmware ?
Have you tried other than HK/Taiwan firmware ?
I believe so as well. Regardless either 16 or 32gb HK fw doesn't play well with other regions n9005
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
Well what region do you suggest I flash on it?
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I haven't has yet. I downloaded a UK rom thats about it I dont know what else to try
Sent from my GT-I9300 using XDA Free mobile app
UK rom should be fine
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
Ok so do you have any other idea how to fix the other issues I described because flashing a new rom wont slove it.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using XDA Free mobile app
rashadblack242 said:
Ok so do you have any other idea how to fix the other issues I described because flashing a new rom wont slove it.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you haven't flash stock rom then just flash it first to see if the issue persists. Factory reset and wipe cache from stock recovery after done odin flashing.
If issues persist, root you phone again, install custom recovery sych as TWRP, use DrKetan's imei backup tool here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2698639,
make a nandroid backup if your current rom, wipe system/data/cache(don't wipe internal or external storage if you save your nandroid backup and imei backup in any of them else you will lost it. You will never know when they would be handy if you lost your imei in any way). Then flash again stock with odin.
My friend's note3 has terrible lag after upgrade to KitKat. It took a few minutes after reboot just to get unlocked so I helped him to reflash using odin but after 3 different firmwares flashed still not get resolved. I did the same. No more issue after that.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

[Q] Can't get custom rom to load after install, keeps loading stock image

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help. I am new to this custom ROM stuff and am trying my best to follow all the guides, but I have no idea what I'm doing wrong.
I have a Samsung Galaxy S4. Android version 4.4.2 and Build version KOT49H.I337UCUFNC1, so I've been following the NC1 guides. I was able to successfully root using towelroot and verified that it worked using a root checker app. I then installed SafeStrap, backed up my stock image, and put two different custom ROMs on my external microSD card, Graviton (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2372742) and PurifieD (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2454205). After creating another ROM slot, and performing a factory wipe using SafeStrap, I installed Graviton and it went through and told me to reboot. However, when the phone loaded again, it looked just like the stock ROM again. So I wiped everything again and did the same with PurifieD. It gave me all the installation options of what bloatware I wanna get rid of, etc and also seemed to install successfully. But once again, when I rebooted after installation, it looked just like stock again.
Am i doing something wrong? I really want to use these nice looking ROMs!!
And if I can get that to work, it seems like I have no 4G connection, even though WiFi works. I'm assuming http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=50965837 is the guide I will want to be looking at to make it work?
Thanks for the help
I assume they are based on GNG8 AND GNG1 and you are running FNC1.
The rom based on stockrom is important too.
I suppose you downloaded Purified HD's v3.3? Because it is based on FNC1.
Try roms made specifically for your device to avoid problems and bricking. Experimenting without knowledge is also not supported here. Plus people are not responsible here for bricked devices or any weird thing that happens.
Towelroot worked for your phone as it is a universal app, made for S5 by the great @geohot, but works for many devices.
EDIT : Well I totally missed the i337 part. Thank you @Lennyz1988.
Sent from my Ozcan GT-i9500 using XDA mobile app
You need to read more carefully.
You have a I337 model. NOT an I9505 or an I9500. You can't flash other roms to your device. Stick to your model only the AT&T. Try what DeepankarS tells you.From what I remember your stock rom needs to be the same as the rom you are trying to flash.
Thanks for the assistance fellas. And yeah, knowing that I was looking in the wrong threads would have been a better start and I'm lucky I didn't permanently damage my phone. Thanks again for the heads up.
eeric248 said:
Thanks for the assistance fellas. And yeah, knowing that I was looking in the wrong threads would have been a better start and I'm lucky I didn't permanently damage my phone. Thanks again for the heads up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anytime. But you can always port roms to your phone. There are a lot many ways to port a rom for your phone
*A bit of perfect copy paste skills required for that
Sent from my GT-I9500 using XDA Free mobile app

[Q]Want GPE, but can't get custom recovery - Help please! :(

Hey guys... Before I get into this, I would like to say that i'm very new to this whole rooting thing, so please forgive me for my lack of knowledge on various terms and such, and I'm a first time user here at xda.
What's written below might get a little bit complicated so i will try to make it as detailed as possible. Please bare with me here.
So I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 sgh-i337 (AT&T) running on android 4.4.4 (with touchwiz, you guys know the deal). I really wanted stock android lollipop, because I really like the look and feel to it. When I decided to root the phone, I went through many tutorials and I tried many different methods, and none of them worked. The phone still worked fine, but SuperSU was not installed and Root Checker said the phone was not rooted. After scouring the internet, I found one tutorial that had my S4 type and the same version. At that point I realized that my android version was hindering my rooting process. The tutorial used Odin to flash a kernel (NC1), root the phone using towelroot, install SuperSU, (Root Checker too to check if it worked), and then flashing the original kernel again (my original kernel was NJ4). After following this process, my phone was rooted, and everything worked fine.
As I said before, I wanted a GPE ROM, and so I needed a custom recovery. I decided to install CWM, since most GPE ROMs used this specific recovery. Again, I followed many different tutorials, and after each and every one, I would try to go into Recovery mode, and it would just launch the stock recovery. I found another tutorial on another website that involved flashing the recovery from an app in the google play store, so I decided to try it out. I now regret this as it led to more problems. I followed these instructions, and when launching into recovery mode from that point on, I get the yellow triangle with the error message "System software is not authorized by AT&T"
Sure, I could get around it by going into download mode from there, canceling, and it would reboot like normal, and the phone still worked, but I needed to get ride of that error message.
Once again doing my research, I figured out that if I flash a stock firmware specific to my phone, it will reset the phone (the only stock firmware available has android version 4.2.2, which is a really popular version, and is compatible with most custom recoveries and ROMs, so I decided to flash the firmware, as it would also change the version back, right?) When I flashed it using Odin like the directions said, it failed. i then figured out that it failed because my binary counter is not 0. I looked into resetting the binary counter for the AT&T S4, and I found Triangle Away. However, in order to reset your binary counter, you need an unlocked bootloader, and the AT&T S4 (sgh-i337) has a locked bootloader (I don't want to use Triangle Away if it's going to brick my phone, i'd rather unroot and keep touchwiz than brick). In the process of finding this out, I also figured out that the only custom recovery that you could use on a locked bootloader S4 sgh-i337 is SafeStrap. But i heard when using SafeStrap you are limited as far as ROMs go? Would I be able to get a GPE 5.0 Lollipop ROM with SafeStrap? Cause if not I might just unroot using SuperSU and software update my phone (will that fix the error when trying to get to Recovery mode?) Also, if I install Safestrap, will it fix the error message?
Again, sorry for my inexperience in all of this, and thanks for staying with me here. Any help and additional information on what I should do (or any GPE Lollipop ROMs I should use that are compatible with my phone and version and such), as well as any links to tutorials are greatly appreciated (also, keep in mind that all of the vocab I know when rooting is used in this post, I am not aware of most other terms - again, forgive me).
You wrote a lot but I'm not sure what state your device is in right now and what you want to do. But as you've found out, safestrap is the only custom recovery you can use. And touch wiz based roms are the only ones you can use. Afaik there are no 5.0 custom roms you can use at this time.
Sent from my Nexus 9 using XDA Free mobile app
jd1639 said:
You wrote a lot but I'm not sure what state your device is in right now and what you want to do. But as you've found out, safestrap is the only custom recovery you can use. And touch wiz based roms are the only ones you can use. Afaik there are no 5.0 custom roms you can use at this time.
Sent from my Nexus 9 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, thanks for the help! The phone currently works fine, and it is rooted, but when I go into Recovery Mode it gives me the yellow triangle with the error... Will installing SafeStrap fix that? Regardless, thanks for the help, really do appreciate it!
jd1639 said:
You wrote a lot but I'm not sure what state your device is in right now and what you want to do. But as you've found out, safestrap is the only custom recovery you can use. And touch wiz based roms are the only ones you can use. Afaik there are no 5.0 custom roms you can use at this time.
Sent from my Nexus 9 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also, if i were to update the phone to the next version (i heard there is a way to bump the S4 up in android version) would that reset the error in Recovery Mode? And I also heard that with SafeStrap, you are limited to ROMs on the same android version as the one on your phone? I really like 5.0, but if it's not possible to get it as the moment (and I haven't found any 5.0 ROMs for the sgh-i337 yet - you were right) i might just unroot using SuperSU and just update my version, unrooted and all. I'd rather have my phone be nice and clean than to have root on it with a corrupted recovery mode, and not make use of the root at all (I've seen other ROMs and I prefer 5.0). I might just try to make the phone feel as close to stock as possible by using more google apps and such (keyboard, messages, etc.). Regardless, thanks for the help and additional input, really do appreciate it!
EvilLemon said:
Also, if i were to update the phone to the next version (i heard there is a way to bump the S4 up in android version) would that reset the error in Recovery Mode? And I also heard that with SafeStrap, you are limited to ROMs on the same android version as the one on your phone? I really like 5.0, but if it's not possible to get it as the moment (and I haven't found any 5.0 ROMs for the sgh-i337 yet - you were right) i might just unroot using SuperSU and just update my version, unrooted and all. I'd rather have my phone be nice and clean than to have root on it with a corrupted recovery mode, and not make use of the root at all (I've seen other ROMs and I prefer 5.0). I might just try to make the phone feel as close to stock as possible by using more google apps and such (keyboard, messages, etc.). Regardless, thanks for the help and additional input, really do appreciate it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would recommend you flash the nb1 tar file in Odin. That'll bring your device to like new. Then you can let it ota nj4. There are root methods for nc1 and nj4. See this
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=56453100
Sent from my Nexus 9 using XDA Free mobile app
jd1639 said:
I would recommend you flash the nb1 tar file in Odin. That'll bring your device to like new. Then you can let it ota nj4. There are root methods for nc1 and nj4. See this
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=56453100
Sent from my Nexus 9 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks so much! I followed the instructions and now my phone is back to normal, Recovery mode and all! Really do appreciate it, thanks!
EvilLemon said:
Thanks so much! I followed the instructions and now my phone is back to normal, Recovery mode and all! Really do appreciate it, thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem. I'm glad you got it working again
Sent from my Nexus 9 using XDA Free mobile app

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