Database Users

att s4 mf3 with safestrap/twrp running 4.2.2 but want to use CWM and run 4.4

So i rooted and used safestrap to install my 4.2.2 rom a little while back when that was all that was available. Now i cant find out how people are moving away from this old 4.2.2 junk and moving to 4.3 or 4.4
I know safestrap i have only works with certain TouchWiz roms (found that out when i triend to use CM a while back) and that is a headache only having really the plain google rom available to use.
any help would be appreciated, its been annoying

Read the "pinned" threads in General and Q&A and make sure to read the threads about 4.3 and 4.2 in the same places (General and Q&A sections). The questions you asked have been asked and answered several times already Good luck

Unfortunately on MF3 you only have safestrap and that's it. No CWM recovery exists.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app

Thread cleaned.
Lets keep it civil in here alright?
Thank you.

HiTideBlastoise said:
Unfortunately on MF3 you only have safestrap and that's it. No CWM recovery exists.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app
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THANKS!! wish that other person would of just said that! ive been looking and looking, and there is no possible way to get off MF3? odin and install a flash image from prior to MF3? anything? haha
i tried to install CWM like an idiot cause i couldnt find anything saying NO and it soft bricked my phone, got that all sorted out and now just back to the 4.2.2 google rom
just so plain and basic, its the same I had on my skyrocket for a year.. i bought the skyrocket the day it came out and got the s4 the day it came out too.... wanting 4.4 so bad lol

There is a q-fuse that is raised when updated to mf3 preventing a downgrade to happening.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app

jmanning91 said:
THANKS!! wish that other person would of just said that! ive been looking and looking, and there is no possible way to get off MF3? odin and install a flash image from prior to MF3? anything? haha
i tried to install CWM like an idiot cause i couldnt find anything saying NO and it soft bricked my phone, got that all sorted out and now just back to the 4.2.2 google rom
just so plain and basic, its the same I had on my skyrocket for a year.. i bought the skyrocket the day it came out and got the s4 the day it came out too.... wanting 4.4 so bad lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Read the second post of this sticky thread, it states if you try to install a custom recovery on MF3 you will hose your device.
Lucky we have the MF3 odin files now so we can recover from soft bricks (that post was created before the MF3 files were leaked).
Glad to hear you got it sorted out though.

rayburne said:
Read the second post of this sticky thread, it states if you try to install a custom recovery on MF3 you will hose your device.
Lucky we have the MF3 odin files now so we can recover from soft bricks (that post was created before the MF3 files were leaked).
Glad to hear you got it sorted out though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does this mean we can now load an old version of the firmware from before mf3?

out dated ? Sgh i337 4.2.2 MF3

Hi! well. i've been out of xda for a while, can any one tell me if there are news about custom recoverys for at&t sgh i337? im running 4.2.2 mf3
since i've been out, i'd like to know if there is any custom recovery or 4.3 upgrade +root/safestrap or something.
it feels 4.2.2 is out-dated now.. any help?

GRGC25 said:
Hi! well. i've been out of xda for a while, can any one tell me if there are news about custom recoverys for at&t sgh i337? im running 4.2.2 mf3
since i've been out, i'd like to know if there is any custom recovery or 4.3 upgrade +root/safestrap or something.
it feels 4.2.2 is out-dated now.. any help?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't want to be a jerk....but there are plenty of posts about the updates you're looking for. I understand you probably don't want to actually read through the forums but that's what you should do instead of posting something like this. There's safestrap for MF3/ root, and 4.3 update and 4.3 root. Good luck.

NO NO and NO...Just read through the many threads about the locked bootloader...
About all you can do is root and Freeze the AT&T software update so you don't
end up with the arguably flaky 4.3 for this phone.

Tremulant1 said:
I don't want to be a jerk....but there are plenty of posts about the updates you're looking for. I understand you probably don't want to actually read through the forums but that's what you should do instead of posting something like this. There's safestrap for MF3/ root, and 4.3 update and 4.3 root. Good luck.
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well, i was asking about any news. anyways im gonna search for it. thanks anyways

GRGC25 said:
well, i was asking about any news. anyways im gonna search for it. thanks anyways
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Click to collapse
Safestrap 3.70 is still in its early stages for 4.3 and its a beta.. There are only a handful of ROMs that you can flash. I would say go with darthstalker for the time being if you need a custom ROM. If not just root it and customize it yourself.. Good luck in finding more info. It takes time and days of reading to get all the knowledge you need to know about this device.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium

[email protected] said:
Safestrap 3.70 is still in its early stages for 4.3 and its a beta.. There are only a handful of ROMs that you can flash. I would say go with darthstalker for the time being if you need a custom ROM. If not just root it and customize it yourself.. Good luck in finding more info. It takes time and days of reading to get all the knowledge you need to know about this device.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium
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Click to collapse
yeah, i actually just found an update.zip which contains mk2 4.3 stock rom and a rooting way who seems safe to be used. i heard 4.3 has battery improovements and open gl3.0 for gaming but i heard 4.3 is also buggy, so it all makes me hesitate, i use xposed modules for customize stock. is not my priority to have a custom room 4.3 yet, im really sorry samsung is makeing everything more complicated
do you think i should give a shoot to 4.3 and root it and then wait for a safestrap?

[Q] Issue updating from stock MK2 to NAE. Never rooted. Help appreciated!

Background.....not new to flashing and used to be a flashaholic but I am new to flashing Samsung.I never saw the need to root or rom my S4 because well, it's a good performer for me, unlike my previos HTCs which I flashed to hell and back.
I am on stock MK2....no custom recovery and never rooted. Took the new KitKat NAE update this morning and it failed in recovery and rebooted. Downloaded the NAE.zip from here after that to manually flash in recovery myself. Update failed again but was able to see why this time....failed signature verification... Phone did reboot successfully again and functioning well, but if this isn't fixed I'm gonna be stuck on Jellybean....
I believe a previous update may have been corrupted....may have been from MK2 or even MJA. Since one of those 2 updates "Help" (system app InteractiveTutorial.apk) force closes upon start-up every time and when opened. Even tried a factory reset with same results. I believe this to be the culprit.
My question is where do I go from here to be able to install stock KitKat? Can I reflash a full stock MK2 in Odin to cure the obvious corruption? If so, which version of Odin would you suggest? Any special instruction?
Any help is very much appreciated.

I really need to know if you can flash back to mk2 after taking the 4.4.2 update too because the update didn't flash the new modem on my phone and wifi isn't working so I wanna retry it lol.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Wow. Really? 98 views and not a single reply (I would bet $20 that no less than 20 of you knew the answer to my question).... thanks guys for nothing, Yet another reason I no longer feel the need to mod my phone...XDA used to be a friendly helpful place but now it is just place of the gimme gimme and "tough luck, it's not my problem" crowd.
BTW, after spending about 3 hours trying to navigate XDA's notoriously horrible search feature, I did find my answer. Yes, 3 hours.....
Churchey, I hope you find your answer as well. From what I have read, it works fine for MK2 and MJA but haven't read anything pertaining to going back to MK2 from NAE
Edit: Turns out there are still some helpful friendly people around,

I'm not 100% sure of which file you need to flash, but I'm pretty sure that you're able to flash an Odin file. That would be what I'd try first
Sent from my SGH-L720 using Tapatalk

troyboytn said:
Wow. Really? 98 views and not a single reply (I would bet $20 that no less than 20 of you knew the answer to my question).... thanks guys for nothing, Yet another reason I no longer feel the need to mod my phone...XDA used to be a friendly helpful place but now it is just place of the gimme gimme and "tough luck, it's not my problem" crowd.
BTW, after spending about 3 hours trying to navigate XDA's notoriously horrible search feature, I did find my answer. Yes, 3 hours.....
Churchey, I hope you find your answer as well. From what I have read, it works fine for MK2 and MJA but haven't read anything pertaining to going back to MK2 from NAE
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Views don't mean much. Did you ever think that maybe those 98 viewers of this thread didnt know or have an answer for you. Be patient to receive an answer.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

k2buckley said:
I'm not 100% sure of which file you need to flash, but I'm pretty sure that you're able to flash an Odin file. That would be what I'd try first
Sent from my SGH-L720 using Tapatalk
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Thanks k2, that did work. Flashing MK2 of top of MK2 in odin did clear the issue that was preventing signature verification to install the update to NAE.

troyboytn said:
Thanks k2, that did work. Flashing MK2 of top of MK2 in odin did clear the issue that was preventing signature verification to install the update to NAE.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good deal man. I'm glad you got it up and running properly again
Sent from my SGH-L720 using Tapatalk

troyboytn said:
Thanks k2, that did work. Flashing MK2 of top of MK2 in odin did clear the issue that was preventing signature verification to install the update to NAE.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Link to MK2 you used? Having the same issue

I'll link it to you when I get home from work in a couple of hours if someone hasn't already. Saved the link on my home pc. Should be in the dev section.....title has MK2
in it. Hope that helps.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

This one. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2601443
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

Thanks guys

Is there a saferoot got 4.4.2 yet?

Thanks in advance. I did search
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

cinnamngrl said:
Thanks in advance. I did search
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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Click to collapse
CF-Autoroot and Saferoot both appear to work for those that've used it. BUT CF will trigger knox flag. And saferoot 'may not' depending on how you got your update. But Saferoot 'should' work without knox trigger and if the past is any indication if it doesn't it 'should'n't' harm anything. I would try Saferoot 1st.
Why not try on your system and report back. Seems every device is taking the 4.4.2 update(s) differently.

leaderbuilder said:
CF-Autoroot and Saferoot both appear to work for those that've used it. BUT CF will trigger knox flag. And saferoot 'may not' depending on how you got your update. But Saferoot 'should' work without knox trigger and if the past is any indication if it doesn't it 'should'n't' harm anything. I would try Saferoot 1st.
Why not try on your system and report back. Seems every device is taking the 4.4.2 update(s) differently.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I don't need a different program? well we'll see

cinnamngrl said:
So I don't need a different program? well we'll see
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Safetoot thread had instructions for its use. For cf auto root that thread too had instructions.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Safe root.
cinnamngrl said:
Thanks in advance. I did search
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check out this you tube link for rooting your phone safely.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8DFjI9AEEA

Check out this you tube link for rooting your phone safely.
This is 4.2 .2 and it's not safe root
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

I'm pretty sure saferoot has not been updated to work on the Sprint 4.4.2 Kit Kat update, but I didn't wait and rooted with cf autoroot instead since I tripped knox back on MJA.

cruise350 said:
I'm pretty sure saferoot has not been updated to work on the Sprint 4.4.2 Kit Kat update, but I didn't wait and rooted with cf autoroot instead since I tripped knox back on MJA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how long does it usually take?

I just did it the other night, and it took a few minutes, mostly just waiting for phone to reboot
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

leaderbuilder said:
CF-Autoroot and Saferoot both appear to work for those that've used it. BUT CF will trigger knox flag. And saferoot 'may not' depending on how you got your update. But Saferoot 'should' work without knox trigger and if the past is any indication if it doesn't it 'should'n't' harm anything. I would try Saferoot 1st.
Why not try on your system and report back. Seems every device is taking the 4.4.2 update(s) differently.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you're saying Saferoot may work on NAE? I'm willing to try it but if it doesn't work, I don't want anything getting messed up so I'm asking upfront.
Also, where is this thread regarding saferoot? I've searched through our forum and can't find it.
Sent from my Amazon Kindle Fire HD using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Here you go First find and look at the reported successes section.

DJMaj07 said:
So you're saying Saferoot may work on NAE? I'm willing to try it but if it doesn't work, I don't want anything getting messed up so I'm asking upfront.
Also, where is this thread regarding saferoot? I've searched through our forum and can't find it.
Sent from my Amazon Kindle Fire HD using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also it's known that if Saferoot doesn't work, it will have no I'll effect on your phone, it just won't work. So it's worth a try. Check with K1mu in that thread you were linked to.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

I love how you claim "CF-Autoroot and Saferoot both appear to work for those that've used it" when it's clear from the thread that saferoot won't work on 4.4 due to a patched kernel, and since OP's question was if saferoot was available for 4.4.2, your answer made it seem that it will work. Instead of looking it up and saying no or even just pointing to that thread where the answer could be found, you answered based off of how saferoot works with 4.3 and started talking about Knox. I've seen you around the forums so I know you're alright, so don't take this the wrong way, but that sort of vague and general answer (which isn't applicable for the specific question asked) just leads to confusion and frustration.
I got my hopes up for nothing. Sigh. Guess it's my fault for taking the OTA without thinking about possibly wanting root in the future.

DJMaj07 said:
I love how you claim "CF-Autoroot and Saferoot both appear to work for those that've used it" when it's clear from the thread that saferoot won't work on 4.4 due to a patched kernel, and since OP's question was if saferoot was available for 4.4.2, your answer made it seem that it will work. Instead of looking it up and saying no or even just pointing to that thread where the answer could be found, you answered based off of how saferoot works with 4.3 and started talking about Knox. I've seen you around the forums so I know you're alright, so don't take this the wrong way, but that sort of vague and general answer (which isn't applicable for the specific question asked) just leads to confusion and frustration.
I got my hopes up for nothing. Sigh. Guess it's my fault for taking the OTA without thinking about possibly wanting root in the future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My bad ...
I remember seeing a post or two I THOUGHT that stated Saferoot worked for them on KitKat but perhaps that's just my fault. Didn't mean to steer you the wrong way.
I should have read up more before answering to that. Again my fault and thanks for kicking me in a$$.
Back to your issue of CF not working... I'm sure there is something that can be done to get that going for you.
Aside from reinstalling USB drivers, trying maybe a different USB cable altogether, a different version of Odin, maybe a fresh download of the CF tar file. .. I'm at a loss myself.
I've seen others post about leaving Auto Reboot & F Reset Time unchecked and then manually rebooting when finished that has worked better ( no idea why myself , just throwing a possibility out there )
Also some have also said they did a battery pull , then went into download mode and flashed and that helped.
And ive seen others who swear by using Heimdall instead of Odin simply because they couldn't get things to flash the right way through Odin.
Now if I remember correctly, your Odin says reset and then you reboot just to find it wasn't successful... So I'm not certain any of these tips would be your answer but hey what do you have to lose?
If you've tried all of that then sorry, I just am not sure what else you've tried in the way of troubleshooting that's all.
Just trying to help.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

Mistertac said:
My bad ...
I remember seeing a post or two I THOUGHT that stated Saferoot worked for them on KitKat but perhaps that's just my fault. Didn't mean to steer you the wrong way.
I should have read up more before answering to that. Again my fault and thanks for kicking me in a$$.
Back to your issue of CF not working... I'm sure there is something that can be done to get that going for you.
Aside from reinstalling USB drivers, trying maybe a different USB cable altogether, a different version of Odin, maybe a fresh download of the CF tar file. .. I'm at a loss myself.
I've seen others post about leaving Auto Reboot & F Reset Time unchecked and then manually rebooting when finished that has worked better ( no idea why myself , just throwing a possibility out there )
Also some have also said they did a battery pull , then went into download mode and flashed and that helped.
And ive seen others who swear by using Heimdall instead of Odin simply because they couldn't get things to flash the right way through Odin.
Now if I remember correctly, your Odin says reset and then you reboot just to find it wasn't successful... So I'm not certain any of these tips would be your answer but hey what do you have to lose?
If you've tried all of that then sorry, I just am not sure what else you've tried in the way of troubleshooting that's all.
Just trying to help.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whoa not you man! I was talking about leaderbuilder. You gave me a good answer, to look in the thread. That's where I found the information that unfortunately means bad news for me and others in my situation. I appreciate you helping me out and pointing me in the right direction.
I was specifically looking for saferoot, since I'd rather not trip the Knox warranty flag. I think CF-autoroot has been confirmed to work but since that trips the Knox warranty flag, I was holding off. To be honest, I had given up on root when 4.3 came out and I really wish I had noticed the saferoot option before 4.4.2 came out. Now I kinda want it back haha. I'm just hesitant because of Knox. If I root and get that 0x1 flag, I just don't want anything to stop working, like wifi or whatever (I seem to recall hearing about issues like that when 4.3 and Knox were first introduced).

DJMaj07 said:
Whoa not you man! I was talking about leaderbuilder. You gave me a good answer, to look in the thread. That's where I found the information that unfortunately means bad news for me and others in my situation. I appreciate you helping me out and pointing me in the right direction.
I was specifically looking for saferoot, since I'd rather not trip the Knox warranty flag. I think CF-autoroot has been confirmed to work but since that trips the Knox warranty flag, I was holding off. To be honest, I had given up on root when 4.3 came out and I really wish I had noticed the saferoot option before 4.4.2 came out. Now I kinda want it back haha. I'm just hesitant because of Knox. If I root and get that 0x1 flag, I just don't want anything to stop working, like wifi or whatever (I seem to recall hearing about issues like that when 4.3 and Knox were first introduced).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ohhh alright lol hey no worries either way. Sometimes its tough on here, I read through so many posts and sometimes can confuse things myself.
I just Odin NAE back onto my sprint s4 then used CF and everything worked perfectly. But I understand your hesitation. I DID however lose WiFi when I flashed the MK2 modem to try and save some battery life.
Flashed back the NAE modem and ask was good again so that's my experience.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

Mistertac said:
Ohhh alright lol hey no worries either way. Sometimes its tough on here, I read through so many posts and sometimes can confuse things myself.
I just Odin NAE back onto my sprint s4 then used CF and everything worked perfectly. But I understand your hesitation. I DID however lose WiFi when I flashed the MK2 modem to try and save some battery life.
Flashed back the NAE modem and ask was good again so that's my experience.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
Lol so as long as I don't try to mix and match from past stock ROMs, I should be safe? The only thing that will be affected by rooting is my ability to send the phone into Samsung for warranty repairs? I'm already running NAE so I can just head over to the CF-autoroot thread and get started?

DJMaj07 said:
Lol so as long as I don't try to mix and match from past stock ROMs, I should be safe? The only thing that will be affected by rooting is my ability to send the phone into Samsung for warranty repairs? I'm already running NAE so I can just head over to the CF-autoroot thread and get started?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you're good to go as far as CF Auto Root .
You can't downgrade your build ( NAE down to MK2 )
However I thought you could still go between Basebands ( modems ) without an issue, however I ran into that no WiFi issue. That was easily fixed by flashing the NAE modem back.
I'm waiting for more answers on the downgrading modems deal.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
---------- Post added at 08:12 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:10 AM ----------
As far as your warranty... I've heard most people have not had an issue even with the Knox flag.
I have no experience myself though to weigh in
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

Mistertac said:
Yes you're good to go as far as CF Auto Root .
You can't downgrade your build ( NAE down to MK2 )
However I thought you could still go between Basebands ( modems ) without an issue, however I ran into that no WiFi issue. That was easily fixed by flashing the NAE modem back.
I'm waiting for more answers on the downgrading modems deal.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
---------- Post added at 08:12 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:10 AM ----------
As far as your warranty... I've heard most people have not had an issue even with the Knox flag.
I have no experience myself though to weigh in
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds good to me. Looks like I'm breaking that warranty!
Curious, is battery life affected that much on NAE modem compared to MK2?

DJMaj07 said:
Sounds good to me. Looks like I'm breaking that warranty!
Curious, is battery life affected that much on NAE modem compared to MK2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well unfortunately me and a few others have noticed a considerable amount of battery drain... Im waiting for a more stable stock NAE ROM to flash to see if it helps. I've been debloating it and using Greenify...I think I just have a ways to go that's all. Maybe after removing everything I can it'll be a bit better.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

Phone won't update (rooted)

I have had my S4 since december. I love it. I rooted it to NAE and used enable native hotspot because amazing. This was many many months ago. Now I'm getting Google play services notification that i have a system update downloaded ready to install. I tried installing it, doesn't pass, so I tell it to preserve root status. The notification comes back an day or 2 later and nothing dismisses the notification.
What's the most efficient thing for me to do? On my S2 I would install roms mods and tweaks till It was 'just right', but something was always broken and backdoor fixed and with Knox I decided to stick with simple and non - invasive, mostly for safety but it has left me lazy and ignorant. I'm capable, but warry.
1 what is the update?
2 what are my options (install an update 'this way') or (revert back to stock, install the update, then root again and hotspot) or (disable Google play services?) What else?
Thanks, I can't even find reference to the updates from sprint.

If you can't find anything about the update, you're not looking very hard. There are dozens of threads on this site regarding the NG2 update and all of your questions will be answered within.

frostedunit said:
If you can't find anything about the update, you're not looking very hard. There are dozens of threads on this site regarding the NG2 update and all of your questions will be answered within.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Listen to this guy^^^
Search! And your phone won't install the update because you are rooted. If you don't know how to proceed search some more. This question has been answered.

I flashed from MK2 back to MF9 then updated to NG2 using Samsung Kies.

frostedunit said:
If you can't find anything about the update, you're not looking very hard. There are dozens of threads on this site regarding the NG2 update and all of your questions will be answered within.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure if you meant to be helpful or not, but I didn't know it was called ng2 and that keyword makes all the difference.
Thank you, I am now finding a lot of relevant information. If you don't want to A my Q's then maybe you clicked on the wrong forum.
In case it wasn't clear. Because of knox, I'm no longer doing the kind of tinkering I used to and staying up to date on every update, bug, mod, etc because the danger of bricking is higher and I have less time than I did 2 years ago. I wanted to read every thread about installing NG2 for casuals with rooted phones but not knowing the updates title had my searches full of irrelevant results and I couldn't identify whether any of them were useful. I'm not sorry I bothered and you should not want me to be. I'll find my way now thanks to you and if you never wanted me to, then you're a Q&A troll, and nobody cares about trolls.

tenaciousj said:
I flashed from MK2 back to MF9 then updated to NG2 using Samsung Kies.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I'll look into this, I'm warry of flashing backwards because I have knox but I'm sure I'll probably read its safe and follow this route if there's no easier way to directly apply the update.