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I purchased my S4 shortly after its release...around the beginning of the summer.
I immediately rooted it and, at the advice of these forums, froze with Titanium Backup the service that calls for OS updates (so I wouldnt loose the ability to roor, custom backup and ROM). I am running stock ROM on a rooted phone and for now dont intend to put anything custom on.
I know since then there have been a number of updates, none of which I have received as I have frozen my update service.
Im totally unaware of what improvements, if any, these updates may have brought and am wondering whether I should allow AT&T to update my phone (and get whatever benefits come from 4.3, etc.) or whether I should stick to my 4.2.2 which (I think) is the MF3 that people recommended Id want to preserve.
Advice?
Thanks.
lirong said:
I purchased my S4 shortly after its release...around the beginning of the summer.
I immediately rooted it and, at the advice of these forums, froze with Titanium Backup the service that calls for OS updates (so I wouldnt loose the ability to roor, custom backup and ROM). I am running stock ROM on a rooted phone and for now dont intend to put anything custom on.
I know since then there have been a number of updates, none of which I have received as I have frozen my update service.
Im totally unaware of what improvements, if any, these updates may have brought and am wondering whether I should allow AT&T to update my phone (and get whatever benefits come from 4.3, etc.) or whether I should stick to my 4.2.2 which (I think) is the MF3 that people recommended Id want to preserve.
Advice?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you really have no interest in roms then you can go ahead and update. I'm on mf3 on a rom, so am not 100% sure on root, but it looks like some people have been able to upgrade and keep root, you might want to look more into that. But if you have no interest in roms and you can update and still root then I would say go for it.
However, if you are pre mf3 that's when it becomes tricky. If you are pre mf3 and update you lose a lot of freedom with ROMs. So if you have interest in other roms and are currently pre mf3, I would stick with pre mf3 and not update.
lirong said:
I purchased my S4 shortly after its release...around the beginning of the summer.
I immediately rooted it and, at the advice of these forums, froze with Titanium Backup the service that calls for OS updates (so I wouldnt loose the ability to roor, custom backup and ROM). I am running stock ROM on a rooted phone and for now dont intend to put anything custom on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm kind of in the same position, and I've been wondering the same thing.
I got my S 4 in May 2013. It came with 4.2.2 on MDL. I immediately rooted and froze the update service. I installed a custom recovery with the intention of exploring newer roms at some point, but I'm not sure what I'm missing by staying on 4.2.2 vs. 4.3. So much of the activity now surrounds the capabilities of 4.3, that I am feeling a bit left out!
mikew99 said:
I'm kind of in the same position, and I've been wondering the same thing.
I got my S 4 in May 2013. It came with 4.2.2 on MDL. I immediately rooted and froze the update service. I installed a custom recovery with the intention of exploring newer roms at some point, but I'm not sure what I'm missing by staying on 4.2.2 vs. 4.3. So much of the activity now surrounds the capabilities of 4.3, that I am feeling a bit left out!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Youre one of the few that actually still have a custom recovery! Use it to your advantage to flash a MK9 rom, as I think thats the latest software version from samsung
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 2
bennyboy78 said:
Youre one of the few that actually still have a custom recovery! Use it to your advantage to flash a MK9 rom, as I think thats the latest software version from samsung
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All Canadian variants can run custom recovery. No locked bootloaders in canada. However doing so, does trip knox. If you don't care about knox, and have an sgh-i337m then custom recovery away. This includes latest mk6 jb4.3
Sent from my SGH-I337M
Here's my $.02
If you STILL have MDB or MDL bootloaders that CAME on your phone keep the same bootloaders and DO NOT UPDATE with the OTA's.
You can find Roms JUST LIKE YOUR ON that are PURE STOCK 4.2.2 MF3 or PURE STOCK 4.3 MK2 without losing any of the functionality of those on the 4.3 or 4.2.2 stock firmwares.
OR you can use some STOCK BASED Roms Like ShoStock-MF3 that has some added benefits WITHOUT sacrificing anything. Or try even NEWER 4.3 Roms Like ShoStock-i 4.3 MK8 with all the added benefits of stock firmwares with some slight added benefits as well. Basically if you keep your original bootloaders you CAN DO anything you WANT without sacrificing what those users lost by upgrading or buying with MF3 or newer already installed.
Sent From My Spiderman,Ironman,Red,Dark Blue,Green, GreyedOut BadAss Themed I337
And like "RockRatt" +$.02
I know for myself I haven't been on MDL for a long time so until this nut gets cracked I'm up to date .those that are pre MF3 should hold on to what you have. cause like I tell most normal people that don't mess with there phones like we at XDA do that have a problem with there stock phone.Samsung devs do the same thing as XDA devs do minus the mad improvements/mods , so expect bugs of any sort from either. What I'm getting at is pre MF3 you have the option to find perfection using "Loki".
I will add that the newest update (MK2) runs pretty good
ROOTED ATT MK2 using Tapatalk
OK this section says noob questions welcome, so I'm hoping I can get some advice. I actually did pretty well on the OG evo but when I came to the S4 I rooted, flashed frees rom, and didn't look back. Well as much of a tribute that it is to the rom, I really fell behind. I'm on 4.2.2 MDL and I've missed several updates. Now there's MJA, MK2 and maybe one in-between I missed. So my question is how do I upgrade ? Can I simply upgrade to a custom rom? I think I read that I need to upgrade my recovery. Can I just download that recovery and flash it like a custom rom? Do I even want to go to MJA or MK2 because everyone complains about Knox. I read you can upgrade but keep your boot loader...the problem is that I feel like my phone is way far behind. Any suggestions? As far as from preferences I'm happy with touchwiz and it looking fairly stock so long as I have hotspots mod the rom will work for me. Hopefully I can get some advice from anyone. If you read this I appreciate your time and consideration. Thanks.
Sent from my A500 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
My opinion is I haven't taken it and won't just for the fact I Dont like the idea of Sammy locking me down!! Lol and that I Dont care for tw but reality is almost all the custom tw ROMs are 4.3 now so you'll still have plenty to choose from if you make the leap! But IMHO 4.4 kit kat is where its at!
Sent from my SCH-R970 using Tapatalk
Download the MK2 firmware and the latest Philz touch recovery from the dev section. This will allow you to flash 4.3 ROMs and get you up to date.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2277480
This is another option working for me. You would have to flash mf9 firmware 1st.
First off thank you for the link to those instructions they were very easy to follow. Everything is updated to 4.3 and I'm on MJA baseband. I did mess up and forgot to flash the MF9 firmware first so when I booted up I had a system update notification. I simply held it down, went to app info and unchecked notifications. I'm assuming nothing should effect me since all my other stuff is correct. Thanks again for the assistance in this thread. Awesome getting the answers and guidance necessary.
On my Sprint Galaxy S4 (SPH-L720). I want to upgrade to the newest OTA, keep root, get rid of KNOX, and unlock it for domestic use. I also want a really safe backup option that assures me an easy recovery in case of softbrick (flashed enough to know, expect it).
I read around, but it seems a little bit more complicated than the other devices I've had. Just want to make sure I do it in the right order, so I won't mess anything up and get stuck.
Tapatalkin' from my SGS4
DizturbedOne said:
On my Sprint Galaxy S4 (SPH-L720). I want to upgrade to the newest OTA, keep root, get rid of KNOX, and unlock it for domestic use. I also want a really safe backup option that assures me an easy recovery in case of softbrick (flashed enough to know, expect it).
I read around, but it seems a little bit more complicated than the other devices I've had. Just want to make sure I do it in the right order, so I won't mess anything up and get stuck.
Tapatalkin' from my SGS4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Start with this guide that Mudavo wrote... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2277480 it tells you how to keep the MF9 bootloader. All the Knox headache comes with upgrading the bootloader. After that read around theres plenty of opinions on backups.
DizturbedOne said:
On my Sprint Galaxy S4 (SPH-L720). I want to upgrade to the newest OTA, keep root, get rid of KNOX, and unlock it for domestic use. I also want a really safe backup option that assures me an easy recovery in case of softbrick (flashed enough to know, expect it).
I read around, but it seems a little bit more complicated than the other devices I've had. Just want to make sure I do it in the right order, so I won't mess anything up and get stuck.
Tapatalkin' from my SGS4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been using Philz touch recovery, very easy to use nice interface. Just my opinion.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
I think I just did exactly what you want to do. I was on rooted, stock, MF9, and went to rooted stock MK2 using the info in this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2586586
It's just 2 steps...flash the ROM and flash the MK2 modem (instructions provided in the thread). The ROM is already rooted.
Definitely make a nandroid of your current setup at minimum before moving on. Because this method avoids the MK2 (or MJA) bootloader, you can go back to MF9 if you don't like the results, by flashing your nandroid and the MF9 modem.
I have a Rogers Note 3, N900W8.
Right now it's running 4.3 MJ4, rooted and knox at 0x0.
I'd like to know what the best process is to upgrade to KitKat, and be able to root keeping knox intact. I want to stick with the Touchwiz rom for now, as I do use my S-Pen quite frequently.
I've been looking around the forums for quite some time to try and figure this out on my own, but it's like information overload and I find threads tend to get derailed and then you end up reading page after page of stuff that doesn't apply. If someone would be kind enough to point me in the right direction, and I'm successful I'll update this first post with the procedure so hopefully the next guy doesn't have to make this thread LOL
Thanks
**UPDATE**
as promised, i'd update with the method I used here. followed this thread, except for the installing the custom recovery, kernel, and wifi/nfc fix (do I need the wifi/nfc fix if I'm not bothering with a custom kernel?).
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2614772
You have two approaches.
1) Unroot. Flash up to the Mexican "leak" NA2 version of Kitkat. Root/Recovery. Flash custom TW roms to get up to the latest builds.
2) Unroot. Update to the latest NB7 firmware via standard means and then root.
Either way, you'll keep Knox 0x0. If you're interested, I'll link you to the many threads with procedures available.
Edit: Option 1 lets you downgrade to 4.3, but option 2 doesn't.
Lemme see what I can find on those topics. At least with a starting point I have something to look for. I'd think that the 2nd approach seems simpler so that's prob what I'll go for. Less steps ftw.
Really appreciate you pointing me in the right direction
kamikaze2112 said:
Lemme see what I can find on those topics. At least with a starting point I have something to look for. I'd think that the 2nd approach seems simpler so that's prob what I'll go for. Less steps ftw.
Really appreciate you pointing me in the right direction
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's like.. two threads in this section, and one in the T-Mobile general section about doing this stuff.
I'd go with the Mexican (Telcel) NA2. This leaves you with way more options. If you decide your not happy with NA2 you can go back to MJ4, the latest stock from rogers does not have this option. I used MJ4 for half a year and then finally took the plunge to NA2. Battery life is way better, delay is gone when waking phone, call reception improved, internet stability increased, I'm rooted, and have CWM recovery installed and Knox is 0x0.
Sent from my SM-N900W8 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
JohnnyRebel said:
I'd go with the Mexican (Telcel) NA2. This leaves you with way more options. If you decide your not happy with NA2 you can go back to MJ4, the latest stock from rogers does not have this option. I used MJ4 for half a year and then finally took the plunge to NA2. Battery life is way better, delay is gone when waking phone, call reception improved, internet stability increased, I'm rooted, and have CWM recovery installed and Knox is 0x0.
Sent from my SM-N900W8 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you feel that way from updating to NA2, flash an ND5-based rom. Everything is even more snappy than the first round of Kitkat roms.
ok, Mexican rom it is then.
Going to be doing this tonight, so hopefully i don't bugger it up
Got it done. going to play with it like this for a couple days before i go any further.
What's the advantage to installing a custom recovery? would it allow me to install something like CM11 without tripping knox? That's about the only rom i've had any interest in trying, aside from the stock touchwiz stuff.
So far so good, getting everything reinstalled is a pain, but whatev. Using the GPE launcher and some modules for xposed to tweak it to my liking. My only gripe, and it seems like there's no way to get rid of it, is the full screen album art lock screen thing when playing music. That's a massive annoyance, one that I'm hoping someone will come up with a solution for.
kamikaze2112 said:
Got it done. going to play with it like this for a couple days before i go any further.
What's the advantage to installing a custom recovery? would it allow me to install something like CM11 without tripping knox? That's about the only rom i've had any interest in trying, aside from the stock touchwiz stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're on NA2 bootloader, whatever you do on the device you can't trip KNOX.
You can backup your EFS and make nandroid backups in case you mess up your phone.
Yes you can flash CM11 without tripping KNOX.
---------- Post added at 06:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:29 PM ----------
kamikaze2112 said:
So far so good, getting everything reinstalled is a pain, but whatev. Using the GPE launcher and some modules for xposed to tweak it to my liking. My only gripe, and it seems like there's no way to get rid of it, is the full screen album art lock screen thing when playing music. That's a massive annoyance, one that I'm hoping someone will come up with a solution for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a 4.4 specific feature by Google. If TouchWiz detects your music player to be using Google Music Player as a base engine, it will use full screen music player as your lockscreen.
Wow thanks for the info. I'll keep playing with it like this for now but keep that in mind.
Sent from my SM-N900W8 using Tapatalk
Hey guys,
I ran a search but I don't understand half the things people are writing. I would greatly appreciate it if someone could please explain to me my options. In layman's terms, as I do not understand half the abbreviations and jargons here.
I rooted my phone over a year ago and really don't remember much about the process. I can't download important apps from Google Play anymore as they require newer versions than 4.2.2... So I'm stuck on this old version and need to update ASAP.
I have ONLY rooted the phone. I haven't done any mods or installed any ROMS. It's on stock AT&T Rom. (sometimes I wonder why I even bothered in the first place).
Can someone please point me in the right direction, I want a regular STOCK AT&T newest version, whether it stays rooted or not that's fine, but a newer version, KitKat preferably. What are my options? The simplest method would help me the most.
Things I really need backed up: My Text Messages, Voicemail, Call Logs, Whatsapp Messages etc. What is the best way to back that up? If I use Titanium Backup, and I don't have root after I update, Titanium Backup would be obsolete. So what would my other option?
Please help.
Much appreciated,
Are you sure you want to update from 4.2.2. You probably have the option to flash custom roms on your phone. There are many custom roms that that'll put 4.4.4 on your phone. Since you're rooted get terminal emulator from the play store. In it type
getprop ro.bootloader
If the last three characters are mdb or mdl you have a lot of options. I can help walk you through on how to get a custom rom on your phone.
You can update your firmware and bootloader to 4.4.4 too but you'll lose the option to flash most custom roms.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
jd1639 said:
Are you sure you want to update from 4.2.2. You probably have the option to flash custom roms on your phone. There are many custom roms that that'll put 4.4.4 on your phone. Since you're rooted get terminal emulator from the play store. In it type
getprop ro.bootloader
If the last three characters are mdb or mdl you have a lot of options. I can help walk you through on how to get a custom rom on your phone.
You can update your firmware and bootloader to 4.4.4 too but you'll lose the option to flash most custom roms.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks bud,
I got I337UCUAMF3
I'll be honest, I haven't really messed with any custom ROMS before. I just use the stock AT&T one. But I would like to upgrade to KitKat so my phone is faster and can download / upgrade the latest Apps. Lollipop isn't out for the AT&T Samsung S4 right?
Kepela523 said:
Thanks bud,
I got I337UCUAMF3
I'll be honest, I haven't really messed with any custom ROMS before. I just use the stock AT&T one. But I would like to upgrade to KitKat so my phone is faster and can download / upgrade the latest Apps. Lollipop isn't out for the AT&T Samsung S4 right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will the phone Not download the latest 4.4.4 from the phone settings?? Settings/More/About Device/Software Update. It must be connected to WiFi to download!!! Or you can get the AT&T S4 i337 to Stock 4.4.4 NJ4 Kit Kat Scroll down this page, easy to do. http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4-att/general/guide-odin-to-stock-updating-rooting-t2926642
tailgunner9 said:
Will the phone Not download the latest 4.4.4 from the phone settings?? Settings/More/About Device/Software Update. It must be connected to WiFi to download!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. My phone is rooted... Is it supposed to download to 4.4? And also couldn't there be issues with that?
I found this post. So I know this is ONE option: But I'll lose my Root. Which is fine if that's my only option.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2728462
As the OP says, I will lose ROOT. So my question would be, If I back up using Titanium Backup, how can I restore my backup if Titanium Backup works only on ROOT? This is very important.
@ jd1639 - He had mentioned there were several other options, so I will wait to hear them, and I can make a decision from there. Otherwise, I may have to fork out another $150 - $200 Bucks on a Samsung Galaxy S5 or S6. depending which suits my needs.
Many thanks for the replies!
Kepela523 said:
I found this post. So I know this is ONE option: But I'll lose my Root. Which is fine if that's my only option.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2728462
As the OP says, I will lose ROOT. So my question would be, If I back up using Titanium Backup, how can I restore my backup if Titanium Backup works only on ROOT? This is very important.
@ jd1639 - He had mentioned there were several other options, so I will wait to hear them, and I can make a decision from there. Otherwise, I may have to fork out another $150 - $200 Bucks on a Samsung Galaxy S5 or S6. depending which suits my needs.
Many thanks for the replies!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're on mf3 bootloader which doesn't really allow you to flash any roms anyway. You'd have to use safestrap.
What I'd do is flash the nb1 tar file in Odin. That'll update you to 4.4 and the device should then ota update itself from there. You will lose root, you can root it again if you want. See this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=50912149
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
jd1639 said:
You're on mf3 bootloader which doesn't really allow you to flash any roms anyway. You'd have to use safestrap.
What I'd do is flash the nb1 tar file in Odin. That'll update you to 4.4 and the device should then ota update itself from there. You will lose root, you can root it again if you want. See this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=50912149
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks JD, do you know if this wipes my phone? In other words, does it factory reset my phone?
Yes Flash the NB1 Stock file as he said. But you are going to loose Root and any pictures etc. stored on phone memory, so copy them to your PC or SD card. I always like to take SD card out just in case when I flash just in case it may erase it. But after you flash NB1 Stock or the Stock Root it is like a phone and have to set it up. Then it should Update to 4.4.4 itself from the settings/ Software update. Good luck. Any problem let us now.
Ah cheers,
Last question: Do you recommend the First or second option?
I337UCUFNB1_4.4_Stock_Odin_tar
I337UCUFNB1_4.4_Rootable_Stock_Odin_tar
Just a bit confusing as why he would post two separate links? I'm interpreting the first cannot be rooted ever.
Thanks again to the both of you for helping with this.
Kepela523 said:
Ah cheers,
Last question: Do you recommend the First or second option?
I337UCUFNB1_4.4_Stock_Odin_tar
I337UCUFNB1_4.4_Rootable_Stock_Odin_tar
Just a bit confusing as why he would post two separate links? I'm interpreting the first cannot be rooted ever.
Thanks again to the both of you for helping with this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's possible to root even the 4.4.4. It just gets a little trickier to do it and you have to flash modules in Odin. In the general forum see "all things at&t....." by guut13
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
Kepela523 said:
Ah cheers,
Last question: Do you recommend the First or second option?
I337UCUFNB1_4.4_Stock_Odin_tar
I337UCUFNB1_4.4_Rootable_Stock_Odin_tar
Just a bit confusing as why he would post two separate links? I'm interpreting the first cannot be rooted ever.
Thanks again to the both of you for helping with this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep I think you are correct. So if you want to root again use the Rootable to flash in Odin. Once you go from Jelly Bean to Kit Kat bootloaders are Locked for some .tar Same for Lollipop, they have not been able to root and unlock bootloader as yet. Just follow the steps and take your time and all will be good. Have done it several times on mine with Odin.
Hey guys, I just wanted to take the time and thank you both for the help. I finally updated today. After backing up all my data and making sure everything was safe to go. Bam! I did exactly as you suggested and had zero issues... I am now on 4.4.2
There were a couple hiccups along the way, but I figured them out without too much of a hassle.
Cheers again and best of luck to the both of you!