[Q] S4 Flashing/Rooting Questions - Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Apologies for the noob question but I just can't seem to find the answers.
Firstly, I am completely new to this and the magnitude of tutorials and threads all over is just confusing to me. What I want to know is I know rooting/flashing voids the warranty but what happens if say I need to send it back in for repair? How can I wipe every trace off and flash back to a stock ROM? I'm use to jailbreaking on iPhones and a simple restore obviously worked fine but this is obviously different.
Secondly, I read about the flash counter. Is there a way to reset this, un-root and completely stock the phone?
Thirdly, what about official leaked roms? AKA the official 4.4.2 from Samsung. Would this trigger the flash counter etc?
Thanks.

Its the knox warranty void counter you need to worry about.You need to read various topics about bootloaders/knox/triangle away, and kitkat problems.Dont do anything until you spend a week reading....lol
And you can thank me later.

Everything is undo-able except for the KNOX flag. It usually tripped by the installation of custom recovery.
cheers ~

Ah ok thanks for the information guys. I'll have a proper read up first.
I thought that you could revert the Knox flag via triangle away or is that not possible?

It is not possible. Triangle away resets the flash counter
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda app-developers app

capzulu said:
It is not possible. Triangle away resets the flash counter
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah sorry for my misinterpretation as I thought the Knox counter WAS the flash counter. Is there ever going to be a way to revert it?

Theres a $3k+ bounty waiting for the person that does....

theunderling said:
Theres a $3k+ bounty waiting for the person that does....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hopefully someone will do it then. I'm tempted to flash and go to the GPE ROM but I think I'll wait till my Warranty runs out.

Related

Could someone please clarify a rooting/firmware rollback question

Have updated my stock I9505 to JDQ39/MH8 and was wandering if I were to root and install something like CM10 or GE 4.3 rom, I will be unable to rollback to stock TW 4.2.2?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
Of course mister you can. Why not?
But keep in mind that you can rollback only on MH8 stock firmware and not on previous cause new bootloader.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 4
That's great. Thanks. Just wanted to make sure I could go back to stock touchwiz should any of the rooms not be for me.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
your warranty will be void
and for now you cant roll back to warranty, knox warranty void counter will show 1 and there is no way to reset it so far
This has become a bit of a pain hasn't it. Think I may sit this out untill a workaround is sorted.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 2
Apparently the new counter can't be reset, so once you do something to change the system (root etc) your warranty will be voided. For ever.
bungadudu said:
Apparently the new counter can't be reset, so once you do something to change the system (root etc) your warranty will be voided. For ever.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I`am sure Chainfire will find a way eventualy :fingers-crossed:
gee2012 said:
I`am sure Chainfire will find a way eventualy :fingers-crossed:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you can downgrade to old me 1 etc now - reset counter and up to MI1 (latest - sept 12 ) build
Kriomag said:
and for now you cant roll back to warranty, knox warranty void counter will show 1 and there is no way to reset it so far
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How can I check Knox counter?
[[]]
If you've updated to the new firmwares, just boot into download mode. You'll see it there.
Thing is, Chainfire said that it is based on an e-fuse, so it can't be reseted.

Question about knox/OTA

Hello,
Is it possible to flash a stock firmware with Odin (with stock kernel, unrooted) if the knox flag is 0x1 and still receive OTA-updates? Or is it the knox flag that determines if the phone should receive OTA-updates? The question is because if I want to sell the phone in the future the buyer might want stock with OTA-updates...
ozzalbatrozz said:
Hello,
Is it possible to flash a stock firmware with Odin (with stock kernel, unrooted) if the knox flag is 0x1 and still receive OTA-updates? Or is it the knox flag that determines if the phone should receive OTA-updates? The question is because if I want to sell the phone in the future the buyer might want stock with OTA-updates...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes in short you can
For clearification and my own understanding: if the Knox flag is tripped you can still flash and use stock firmware (with the side effect that it disables Knox functionality and removes Samsung warranty coverage) but it can still receive pushed ota updates and those updates will work properly (assuming with the exception of Knox functionality). Is this the entirety of the effects of tripping the Knox efuse?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda app-developers app
cpgeek said:
For clearification and my own understanding: if the Knox flag is tripped you can still flash and use stock firmware (with the side effect that it disables Knox functionality and removes Samsung warranty coverage) but it can still receive pushed ota updates and those updates will work properly (assuming with the exception of Knox functionality). Is this the entirety of the effects of tripping the Knox efuse?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes just voids Samsung warranty thats about it:silly:
jaythenut said:
yes just voids Samsung warranty thats about it:silly:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then may I ask why everyone is making a huge deal about it? Most (all?) manufactures state that you void your warranty when you flash non stock firmware. I'd bet if I submitted my original galaxy note to Samsung for warranty repair that they'd see the bootloader flag set as custom rom and not touch it... So what is it really that you lose by blowing Knox that you didn't lose when you flash custom firmware on any other device that is making people super angry?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda app-developers app
cpgeek said:
Then may I ask why everyone is making a huge deal about it? Most (all?) manufactures state that you void your warranty when you flash non stock firmware. I'd bet if I submitted my original galaxy note to Samsung for warranty repair that they'd see the bootloader flag set as custom rom and not touch it... So what is it really that you lose by blowing Knox that you didn't lose when you flash custom firmware on any other device that is making people super angry?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The argument is, We own the device therefore swapping out software shouldn't affect any hardware issues. Samsung don't have the best quality control and things are faulty sometimes.. why should you be penalized if your volume button breaks or screen breaks due to fault, and they won't fix it because you rooted to add a nice clean theme to your device?
Then there is the underlying security issue surrounding KNOX.. is it a spy tool? is it not? who knows?
- Best answer I could give you there lol -
Hi guys,
first of all im sorry about my english... It's not very well :angel:
You say that its possible to do OTA-Updates although the KNOX flag is 0x1... But a few days ago i had a message like "This device is not original/Is touched - no updates available"...
Was it a temporary problem or what is it?
Greetings
shinchillahh said:
Hi guys,
first of all im sorry about my english... It's not very well :angel:
You say that its possible to do OTA-Updates although the KNOX flag is 0x1... But a few days ago i had a message like "This device is not original/Is touched - no updates available"...
Was it a temporary problem or what is it?
Greetings
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it means your system partition has been modified.
did you root the phone?
vndnguyen said:
it means your system partition has been modified.
did you root the phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aaaah okay, yes i did a root! SO when i flash a STOCK ROM without a root it should be fine? And when Android 4.4 is released i am just able to update it OTA???
shinchillahh said:
Aaaah okay, yes i did a root! SO when i flash a STOCK ROM without a root it should be fine? And when Android 4.4 is released i am just able to update it OTA???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you can anyway update OTA while keeping root.
Read this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2519103
Thank u sooo much!

[Q] CWM recovery removal with out tripping Knox Counter??

I recently purchased a SM-N900W8. Love this device, just retired my S2 which i messed around with for a few years and never had issues...
I neglected to do research on XDA (Big mistake) before rooting it and had no idea about the repercussions of this KNOX issue.
I used this method to root it (http://galaxynote3root.com/galaxy-note-3-root/how-to-root-galaxy-note-3/)
I successfully installed CWM recovery and SuperSu and the phone is rooted. I had no intentions of installing Custom Roms just yet just wanted to be able to use some of my favorite apps that require rooting. The phones Current Binary and Phone status have both been tagged custom but my KNOX Warranty Void is still tagged at 0X0. Needless to say maybe I got lucky?
I was hoping to Revert to Stock and Unroot so I could follow this method instead (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2498850)
Is there anyways to Accomplish this without tripping the KNOX counter? I've been scouring the forums for several hours trying to find a concrete answer but cannot.
I have downloaded my stock firmware (http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/3/?download=26653)
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I have included a screenshot of my device info. I apologize in advance if this issue has already been addressed.
Thanks,
-Rob
For device info and Knox warranty status, you can use my app Phone INFO ★Samsung★ to get more detailed info.
Download link in my signature.
Why did you even install CWM if you didn't need it ?
Why do you want to remove it ? Don't fix it if it ain't broken. De la vega will trip Knox in 4.4, so leave it as it is.
Sent from my N9005
Dejan Sathanas said:
Why did you even install CWM if you didn't need it ?
Why do you want to remove it ? Don't fix it if it ain't broken. De la vega will trip Knox in 4.4, so leave it as it is.
Sent from my N9005
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will do. Was just worried about official updates and warranty if phone still says custom but knox is not tripped. But bell outsources another company for repairs and doesn't send back to Samsung directly so I probably don't need to worry to much..
I used CWM because I've used it for a couple years with my S2 and enjoyed the features so when I saw cwm was avaliable for note 3 I jumped on it.
But there is no way to revert to stock without tripping count?
Thanks.
SSJ3Rob said:
Will do. Was just worried about official updates and warranty if phone still says custom but knox is not tripped. But bell outsources another company for repairs and doesn't send back to Samsung directly so I probably don't need to worry to much..
I used CWM because I've used it for a couple years with my S2 and enjoyed the features so when I saw cwm was avaliable for note 3 I jumped on it.
But there is no way to revert to stock without tripping count?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flashing stock using odin should rever everything back to stock and possibly not trip knox counte, I am saying possibly cuz nobody has tried to flash stock recovery and try to keep knox cool as custom recoveries have tripped everyone's knox AFAIK. But your phone FW or maybe something else might make your device an exception.
Sent From My SM-N9005 To All You Wonder Nobodies!!
Khizar said:
Flashing stock using odin should rever everything back to stock and possibly not trip knox counte, I am saying possibly cuz nobody has tried to flash stock recovery and try to keep knox cool as custom recoveries have tripped everyone's knox AFAIK. But your phone FW or maybe something else might make your device an exception.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will leave as is for now until more info on the subject surfaces. As much as I want to try to flash back to stock recovery and test your theory I will hold out and not mess around with CWM or mess with apps requiring root to much incase it decides to trip the counter.
Thanks.

[Q] Binary Counter

Hello guys, i have recently bought a Samsung Galaxy S4 I9500. I switched from ios to android and i am loving it so far. I have a couple of questions: I want to root my device. Does this affect the binary counter? Also if i have a problem with my device and i have warranty, will i be able to format my device (un-root)? Also will this affect binary counter? I don't want to loose my 2 years warranty. Thanks!
PS: While i was on IOS i received a lot of support on reddit but when i asked for android stuff, i never got any response. Is this the right forum for a beginner like me?
Arjoni said:
Hello guys, i have recently bought a Samsung Galaxy S4 I9500. I switched from ios to android and i am loving it so far. I have a couple of questions: I want to root my device. Does this affect the binary counter? Also if i have a problem with my device and i have warranty, will i be able to format my device (un-root)? Also will this affect binary counter? I don't want to loose my 2 years warranty. Thanks!
PS: While i was on IOS i received a lot of support on reddit but when i asked for android stuff, i never got any response. Is this the right forum for a beginner like me?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1)Yes rooting will affect your binary counter.
2) Yes you can unroot your device to gain back warranty.
BUT the binary counter is HIDDEN!
So you can just reset the STATUS(which is official for stock n custom for unofficial)
There is an app called Triangle away which resets this counter but it only available for i9505 n not for i9500.
you have one more problem that is Knox In some service centers do not pay attention to it, but in others lose two year warranty on the phone
AIkizov said:
you have one more problem that is Knox In some service centers do not pay attention to it, but in others lose two year warranty on the phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes absolutely a problem. I forgot to mention it. If any unofficial stuff is flashed then this knox pox is triggered.
Mandark52 said:
1)Yes rooting will affect your binary counter.
2) Yes you can unroot your device to gain back warranty.
BUT the binary counter is HIDDEN!
So you can just reset the STATUS(which is official for stock n custom for unofficial)
There is an app called Triangle away which resets this counter but it only available for i9505 n not for i9500.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AIkizov said:
you have one more problem that is Knox In some service centers do not pay attention to it, but in others lose two year warranty on the phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So does this mean i shouldn't root? I don't want to loose my warranty...
Arjoni said:
So does this mean i shouldn't root? I don't want to loose my warranty...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where do you live? In the UK, for example, (and I believe the EU as a whole) then it doesn't matter if you trip Knox.
Arjoni said:
So does this mean i shouldn't root? I don't want to loose my warranty...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First have a look on the stickies of Knox discussion. You wont get official software updates if you trip knox(as recovery is custom aftr rooting) n there are knox friendly rooting methods. But I dont really care about knox and after rooting it is upto you that you aint flashing anything wrong or not following the instructions. All the best.
Arjoni said:
So does this mean i shouldn't root? I don't want to loose my warranty...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I personally am currently with stock firmware
Twice my phone was in service for Knox experiments that I did
Had twice to change the motherboard, but it was replaced under warranty because I have a version that my phone and just motherboard died and there is nothing to see in the Samsung service centre
Knox is a major obstacle
The choice is yours
andyjg247 said:
Where do you live? In the UK, for example, (and I believe the EU as a whole) then it doesn't matter if you trip Knox.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mandark52 said:
First have a look on the stickies of Knox discussion. You wont get official software updates if you trip knox(as recovery is custom aftr rooting) n there are knox friendly rooting methods. But I dont really care about knox and after rooting it is upto you that you aint flashing anything wrong or not following the instructions. All the best.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AIkizov said:
I personally am currently with stock firmware
Twice my phone was in service for Knox experiments that I did
Had twice to change the motherboard, but it was replaced under warranty because I have a version that my phone and just motherboard died and there is nothing to see in the Samsung service centre
Knox is a major obstacle
The choice is yours
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i want to make it clear that i don't intend to flash a custom ROM. I just want to root my stock firmware (4.4.2) and then to unroot (format with the stock ROM). Will this flag Knox and the counter? will that avoid my warranty? sorry for all of these questions but i just moved on android. thank you
Arjoni said:
i want to make it clear that i don't intend to flash a custom ROM. I just want to root my stock firmware (4.4.2) and then to unroot (format with the stock ROM). Will this flag Knox and the counter? will that avoid my warranty? sorry for all of these questions but i just moved on android. thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
your warranty will void
AIkizov said:
your warranty will void
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so samsung doesn't allow you to format your device? well i think i am going back to ios... -_-
Arjoni said:
so samsung doesn't allow you to format your device? well i think i am going back to ios... -_-
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
have the ability to format, but the stock rom allows do not have permission to freely manipulate software - Void your warranty
Arjoni said:
i want to make it clear that i don't intend to flash a custom ROM. I just want to root my stock firmware (4.4.2) and then to unroot (format with the stock ROM). Will this flag Knox and the counter? will that avoid my warranty? sorry for all of these questions but i just moved on android. thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I said previously that you should know what are you flashing and what will happen after it. If you flash anything by not following the correct procedure then you ll pay for it. I rooted my s4 3 months ago and immediately took a backup of my OS through a custom recovery. This backup helps me if something gets wrong. And I really dont care about about Knox because what you lose is only OTA updates and nothing else. So after rooting even you can backup your OS n stay on stock as long you want. Choice is yours. All the best.
Mandark52 said:
As I said previously that you should know what are you flashing and what will happen after it. If you flash anything by not following the correct procedure then you ll pay for it. I rooted my s4 3 months ago and immediately took a backup of my OS through a custom recovery. This backup helps me if something gets wrong. And I really dont care about about Knox because what you lose is only OTA updates and nothing else. So after rooting even you can backup your OS n stay on stock as long you want. Choice is yours. All the best.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Triggered Knox not prevent for receive OTA updates
AIkizov said:
Triggered Knox not prevent for receive OTA updates
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As stock recovery of the phone changes there will be no OTA updates for that device it ll say THE DEVICE SETTINGS HAS BEEN CHANGED or something similar to it. And stock recovery is replaced by philz touch or cwm while rooting. And side by side this knox pox is also triggered.
Mandark52 said:
As stock recovery of the phone changes there will be no OTA updates for that device it ll say THE DEVICE SETTINGS HAS BEEN CHANGED or something similar to it. And stock recovery is replaced by philz touch or cwm while rooting. And side by side this knox pox is also triggered.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
now just talking about root that does not alter Recoverу
Arjoni said:
i want to make it clear that i don't intend to flash a custom ROM. I just want to root my stock firmware (4.4.2) and then to unroot (format with the stock ROM). Will this flag Knox and the counter? will that avoid my warranty? sorry for all of these questions but i just moved on android. thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your warranty will be void depends strongly on in which country you live. There is no yes or no answer.
Flash anything but an official Samsung package through Odin and it will trigger the Knox flag and change the device status to Custom. OTA updates will stop.
Re flashing an official Samsung package afterwards will change the device back to Official and OTA updates will resume. But the Knox flag will still show as triggered. Theres no way to reset it.
Sent from my SM-T310

[Q] So I just bought my S4..

Hi everyone. I just bought my SGS4 today (i9505) and I want to know how to proceed before messing around. I searched a lot on the forums and on the internet but I can't figure out what to do.
I'm currently on 4.2.2 and I'd like to flash a custom rom without voiding the knox counter. How should I do?
Thanks in advance
kGospel said:
Hi everyone. I just bought my SGS4 today (i9505) and I want to know how to proceed before messing around. I searched a lot on the forums and on the internet but I can't figure out what to do.
I'm currently on 4.2.2 and I'd like to flash a custom rom without voiding the knox counter. How should I do?
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here you go
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4/general/guide-how-to-install-custom-roms-t2852310
Sent from my Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk
DarkerTimes said:
Here you go
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4/general/guide-how-to-install-custom-roms-t2852310
Sent from my Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok so.. Before rooting with Towelroot, should I upgrade to the latest available firmware? Also, once I want to go back to stock, how should I do?
kGospel said:
Ok so.. Before rooting with Towelroot, should I upgrade to the latest available firmware? Also, once I want to go back to stock, how should I do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sry I've read you are on Version 4.4.2. My mistake.
So you currently run Android 4.2.2. Do you have the Knox bootloader already? It is inverted to all firmware builds MGG or higher.
When you don't have the Knox bootloader you can flash everything you want to and you are still able to reset the counter with triangle away.
When you are on the new Knox bootloader i would recommend you to upgrade to the latest Android version and then use the link I posted.
Sent from my Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk
My build version ends with UDMGG so I believe I have knox. Before updating.. is it possible to revert to stock (for warranty pourposes) with the method you linked me?
kGospel said:
My build version ends with UDMGG so I believe I have knox. Before updating.. is it possible to revert to stock (for warranty pourposes) with the method you linked me?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can mess around by safely using custom roms without tripping knox to.
The i9505 supports that too.
Sent from my Ozcan GT-i9500 using XDA mobile app
DeepankarS said:
You can mess around by safely using custom roms without tripping knox to.
The i9505 supports that too.
Sent from my Ozcan GT-i9500 using XDA mobile
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What would I have to do in order to revert to stock? That's my question. Sorry if it wasn't clear before.
kGospel said:
What would I have to do in order to revert to stock? That's my question. Sorry if it wasn't clear before.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just flash stock rom via and youre done.
But remember once knox is tripped (0x1) you cannot make it okay.
That is why I said you can safely "mess around" with your i9505 by flashing custom roms without tripping knox.
Sent from my Ozcan GT-i9500 using XDA mobile app
DeepankarS said:
Just flash stock rom via and youre done.
But remember once knox is tripped (0x1) you cannot make it okay.
That is why I said you can safely "mess around" with your i9505 by flashing custom roms without tripping knox.
Sent from my Ozcan GT-i9500 using XDA mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you sir.. Just to clarify: I could use the same method to flash the stock image? If this is correct, could you provide a link to these stock images?
Sorry for being such hesitant, but I don't want to screw up with my warranty. At least, not yet.
kGospel said:
Thank you sir.. Just to clarify: I could use the same method to flash the stock image? If this is correct, could you provide a link to these stock images?
Sorry for being such hesitant, but I don't want to screw up with my warranty. At least, not yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock Image as in?
Do you mean stock firmwares?
www.sammobile.com/firmwares
If you want to try custom roms without tripping knox..
Try this
Sent from my Ozcan GT-i9500 using XDA mobile app

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