[Q] Does software upgrade revoke sim-unlock? - AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshootin

I have an att sgs4 which is sim-unlocked and rooted on ucuamdl firmware. I want to upgrade to the android version 4.3/ 4.4 will upgrading lock my phone again...?? I dont care about losing root.
And one more question:- iam on mdl firmware rooted sgs4 and some bloatware permanently deleted... when I click on search for update.. it say no update available and iam in india.. so now how to upgrade..?

Once it's unlocked it'll remain unlocked. But rather than take the update why don't you use one of the 4.4.2 custom roms. That way you'll retain the mdl firmware.
Sent from my Nexus 5

Related

[Q] Updating to Kitkat

Hi,
Currently a relative of mine has a S4 unlocked here in Canada, but it is the AT&T Variant (SGH-i337). His phone is rooted, but before I rooted, I tried updating through OTA to Kitkat but the Software Updater tells me there are no available updates. I've also tried connecting it to Kies but it tells me to update via OTA. How can I update his phone to Kitkat? He's currently on Rogers Wireless and is currently using Android 4.3. Also once I update it, is there a way to root it again without tripping knox or voiding the warranty?
Monkeymo13 said:
Hi,
Currently a relative of mine has a S4 unlocked here in Canada, but it is the AT&T Variant (SGH-i337). His phone is rooted, but before I rooted, I tried updating through OTA to Kitkat but the Software Updater tells me there are no available updates. I've also tried connecting it to Kies but it tells me to update via OTA. How can I update his phone to Kitkat? He's currently on Rogers Wireless and is currently using Android 4.3. Also once I update it, is there a way to root it again without tripping knox or voiding the warranty?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Read the return to stock section of All things ATT thread.
There are 2 versions of kitkat. One that ends with NB1 and the other is NC1 (newer).
If you want to get to NC1, you will have to flash NB1 first (or update to NB1) and then update to NC1.
There are 2 firmware versions for NB1 - one is rootable and other is not (but can be updated to NC1 and then rooted).
You would root it using towelroot (just google for this).
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=53715703&postcount=2 -- This post of mine will tell you how to update from MK2 to NB1.

[Q] ATT GS4 4.2.2 to 4.4.2 Kitkat Need Help !

I'm currently running on 4.2.2 Jelly Bean on my ATT Galaxy S4(SGH-i337). I want to upgrade to the latest Kitkat 4.4.2 Stock Update. My ATT S4 is rooted and unlocked to work in India.
Can someone tell me:-
- If I need custom recovery for this ?
-If Yes/ No how do I go about it ?
-Will I lose root & and Carrier unlock after update ?
- Link to the Stock 4.4.2 Kitkat OTA
ashishk2 said:
I'm currently running on 4.2.2 Jelly Bean on my ATT Galaxy S4(SGH-i337). I want to upgrade to the latest Kitkat 4.4.2 Stock Update. My ATT S4 is rooted and unlocked to work in India.
Can someone tell me:-
- If I need custom recovery for this ?
-If Yes/ No how do I go about it ?
-Will I lose root & and Carrier unlock after update ?
- Link to the Stock 4.4.2 Kitkat OTA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you update, depending on which firmware you are on now, you will lose your ability to boot custom roms. If you have the MDL firmware, I suggest keeping it as you can use LOKI to bypass the locked bootloader and boot custom roms and recoveries. Now to answer your questions.
You can use a custom recovery to update to 4.4.2 if a .zip file for the update is available. You can also use ODIN to flash the update. You will lose root unless you use a pre-rooted update file. The stock 4.4.2 update is in the General forums I believe.

Is It possible to upgrade my gs4 safely??

Hello I have a question regarding my GS4.
I have an sgh-i337 on 4.2.2 rooted and unlocked with regionlockaway and was wondering if I could update to 4.4.4 without losing my unlock?
vvondoom said:
Hello I have a question regarding my GS4.
I have an sgh-i337 on 4.2.2 rooted and unlocked with regionlockaway and was wondering if I could update to 4.4.4 without losing my unlock?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm 99% sure that once you are sim unlocked, you are good until you manually lock it again. Upgrading will not relock your device. In the off chance that I'm wrong, then NB1 base CAN be sim unlocked. Which is what you Odin before taking the latest update... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2595457
That said, if your 4.2.2 is base MDL or earlier, by upgrading you will PERMANENTLY lock your bootloader with no work around and be stuck using touchwiz based KitKat ROMs with safestrap recovery. (no lollipop, CM, or GPE)

[Q] 4.4.2 -> 4.4.5 -> Lollipop? (No OTA) [G900A]

Hello,
I just got a Galaxy S5 ATNT (SM-G900A) version with firmware 4.4.2 and build number KOT49H.G900AUCU2AND3
I want to upgrade it to Lollipop, but from what I had seen, I need to upgrade it to 4.4.4 first, How can I achieve that?
I'm not on the ATNT Network(in result, OTA is not working), As i'm living abroad. My phone is factory unlocked.
I had also found an OTA .zip but it's a NG3 one, so I'm not sure if it's compatible with my device.
Thanks guys! (I'm hoping I could do this via the stock recovery way)
*I mean 4.4.4 at the title
I believe theres some ota zips but im not certain theres a way available thats been posted to do this, most of them use odin to get to stock and then using ota to update, or updating to get root, i havent seen one about just manually updating to 5.0, go give the att s5 general section a peek. Otherwise i'd ask the mods to move this over to the att q&a section, im sure one of the devs in the att s5 section would be happy to help.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk
Oh, i was incorrect, yes there is a lollipop OTA dump, check the att s5 general section, should be able to sideload.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk
Hey! Thank you for the reply,
I tried one of the lollipop ota .zips
Named
ATTS5Lollipop.zip
It doesn't install though, when I restart the device it's still on KitKat
Plus the manual ota .zips are for NG3s only,
Are those compatible with my device? (ND3)
NVM,
Downgraded to NCE,
Then upgraded to NG3
Then upgraded to OA1
Then to Lollipop.

Using an S4 as emergency phone, and I need slight guidance for rooting & recovery

Hello
My LG V10 came across the famous bootloop issue, and I shipped it to LG. In the meantime, I am using an old S4 that was saved for emergencies like this one. It is running 4.4.4, I337UCUFNJ4, and I rooted it with Kingoroot.
I understand that it should OTA to 5.1 in pronably a day or 2 if I check for a software update; it sat turned off since 2014, so it did not receive anything.
1. Do I OTA and reroot?
2. Can I manually jump to 5.1?
Ultimately, I would like to install TWRP and the Blissrom or some other ROM, but I don't want to take an OTA that may screw me up for later. I read that there's a loki thing that will prevent future installations of recovery or something like that. I realize that I will be using a short time (2-3 weeks), but I would like to leave it rooted and with a good ROM.
Thank you
The bootloader is locked so that means TWRP cannot be flashed to the phone and the phone will only run custom ROMs based off a stock Samsung ROM.
OTA updates will not work if the phone is rooted.
audit13 said:
The bootloader is locked so that means TWRP cannot be flashed to the phone and the phone will only run custom ROMs based off a stock Samsung ROM.
OTA updates will not work if the phone is rooted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm confused or perhaps you are misinformed. I have seen a lot of ROMs for this device including Blissrom and many others. All od them get flashed through twrp or Safeway or aome name like that.
You mean safestrap?
Maybe you are thinking of the non-AT&T models of the s4 that work with custom ROMs such as Lineage and Validus. Only the AT&T version of the s4 has a locked bootloader, starting with Android 4.3 and up.
There has never been an sgh-i337 s4 with a locked bootloader than can run TWRP. Same goes for the AT&T sm-n900a note 3 with a locked bootloader.
audit13 said:
You mean safestrap?
Maybe you are thinking of the non-AT&T models of the s4 that work with custom ROMs such as Lineage and Validus. Only the AT&T version of the s4 has a locked bootloader, starting with Android 4.3 and up.
There has never been an sgh-i337 s4 with a locked bootloader than can run TWRP. Same goes for the AT&T sm-n900a note 3 with a locked bootloader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But there's a forum dedicated to AT&T development full of roms here on xda.
Yes, there is a full section but you need to look at the ROM requirements. Some of these ROMs were developed before AT&T pushed out an OTA update that locked the bootloader. Other ROMs are made for the non-AT&T s4 such as the sgh-i337m and gt-i9505.
You will not see any ROM that is not based off a stock Samsung ROM that can be installed onto an AT&T s4 that has a locked bootloader. Also, you will not see any version of TWRP/CWM/Philz that can be installed onto an AT&T s4 that has a locked bootloader. Same goes for the AT&T sm-n900a.
I understand your skepticism and appreciate your posts as we are all here to learn from each other.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2785166
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4-att/help/ez-unlock-bricked-phone-galaxy-att-s4-t3703235
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4-att/help/help-installed-chainfire3d-phone-doesnt-t3700830
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4-att/help/samsung-galaxy-s4-sgh-i337-ok2-locked-t3458353
Thanks for the clarification. So how do I know if my bootloader is locked? If I took that ota update that messed things up?
The bootloader becomes locked when the phone is updated to Android 4.3 or newer. I think it needs to be on the MDL bootloader to be unlocked. Anything beginning with an "N" or "O" means that the bootloader is locked.
Thanks audit. And I assume that there's no way to go backwards to a pre-4.3 rom and unlock that bootloader.
So. I'm on 4.44 rooted. Do i remove root and take any ota and reroot? I guess that I'll settle for going as high as possible with the stock rom but rooted with the ability to disable some of the bloatware.
How can I proceed?
In those links that you mentioned, it states that we can flash debloated TouchWiz roms that might be better than stock. Is that right? So can I do that?
You will need to install safestrap to flash a custom ROM. The debloated ROMs must be based off a ROM that is designed for the AT&T s4.
I recommend reading through this thread: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2616221
Audit... I odined back to nb1, rooted, and used flashify to get to rooted stock oc3.
How can I get to ok3? And should I leave ota services frozen so as to not ruin and loose root?
OTA will not work with a rooted phone.
Maybe this will help: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=56453108&postcount=2
I don't have an sgh-i337 so I can't tell you how to get back to a completely stock ROM to get OTA updates. I have the sgh-i337m which is the Canadian version of the s4 without a locked bootloader.
I wrote a guide and FAQ revolving around the MDL bootloader here (if anyone cares to read it):
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4-att/general/how-to-one-guide-to-mdl-bootloader-t3584122

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