Database Users

[Q] KIT KAT on contracted Samsung S4 AT&T i337?

I have had my S4 since switching to ATT in late November and have been following the XDA forums very closely since then. It was thanks to the XDA forums that I was able to root my S4.
However, no matter how far, wide, and meticulously I look on the site, there is no mention of the existence of running KIT-KAT on the i337 S4 for AT&T, save for the Google Play Edition and the version with the octacore etc.
I know these forums are strict (and should be) about questions being asked more than once, but I am not asking when KITKAT will be released through AT&T or even Samsung because I honestly don't care. I simply want to get KitKat on my device running with relative stability. I know there are custom roms out there, but most of them were released...a month ago or so? MAYBE I'm missing something, but if anyone here is in similar shoes, I would appreciate it if you'd echo my sentiments/request to find out if it can be done and how.
Anyone who knows how I can learn more about loading ASOP onto my i337 S4, I would greatly appreciate it. If the limitation is a locked boot loader that you CANNOT get around (excluding safestrap), do let me know! I'm sure a lot of people would benefit from the answer to this question.
Otherwise I'm going to go buy the Google Play Edition of one of the Android devices that has an unlocked boot loader.
Cheers,
Justin

justintime001 said:
I have had my S4 since switching to ATT in late November and have been following the XDA forums very closely since then. It was thanks to the XDA forums that I was able to root my S4.
However, no matter how far, wide, and meticulously I look on the site, there is no mention of the existence of running KIT-KAT on the i337 S4 for AT&T, save for the Google Play Edition and the version with the octacore etc.
I know these forums are strict (and should be) about questions being asked more than once, but I am not asking when KITKAT will be released through AT&T or even Samsung because I honestly don't care. I simply want to get KitKat on my device running with relative stability. I know there are custom roms out there, but most of them were released...a month ago or so? MAYBE I'm missing something, but if anyone here is in similar shoes, I would appreciate it if you'd echo my sentiments/request to find out if it can be done and how.
Anyone who knows how I can learn more about loading ASOP onto my i337 S4, I would greatly appreciate it. If the limitation is a locked boot loader that you CANNOT get around (excluding safestrap), do let me know! I'm sure a lot of people would benefit from the answer to this question.
Otherwise I'm going to go buy the Google Play Edition of one of the Android devices that has an unlocked boot loader.
Cheers,
Justin
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Click to collapse
What version are you currently running. Go to about phone and post your baseband version. If the 2nd to last digit is f or higher you can't get kit kat yet. If it is before f then you are free to do whatever you want., If you are rooted you can just download rom manager from the play store and flash a recovery the easy way. Then get cyanogenmod or something for your device.

failedjedi said:
What version are you currently running. Go to about phone and post your baseband version. If the 2nd to last digit is f or higher you can't get kit kat yet. If it is before f then you are free to do whatever you want., If you are rooted you can just download rom manager from the play store and flash a recovery the easy way. Then get cyanogenmod or something for your device.
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Click to collapse
Thank you for your reply!!!
That is most unfortunate, since it is i337UCUEMK2 - even if I did some crazy stuff to go back to MF3, I'd be right at f anyway. ROM Manager and flashing a recovery the easy way seemed simple enough and I was going to do that but it ended up not working, then I tried using Goo Manager and that soft-bricked my phone and I spent hours getting it back to MK2 again. It's back to the way it was, but I still want to update to Kit-Kat.
Btw, could you tell me why it isn't possible because of my baseband? Thanks failedjedi, and anyone else that can offer useful information.
Cheers,
J

justintime001 said:
Thank you for your reply!!!
That is most unfortunate, since it is i337UCUEMK2 - even if I did some crazy stuff to go back to MF3, I'd be right at f anyway. ROM Manager and flashing a recovery the easy way seemed simple enough and I was going to do that but it ended up not working, then I tried using Goo Manager and that soft-bricked my phone and I spent hours getting it back to MK2 again. It's back to the way it was, but I still want to update to Kit-Kat.
Btw, could you tell me why it isn't possible because of my baseband? Thanks failedjedi, and anyone else that can offer useful information.
Cheers,
J
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Click to collapse
With mf3 they locked down the bootloader. So before mf3 you were able to put a custom recovery and custom roms. Since MF3 no one has figured out how to bypass it yet. With mf3 you can use safestrap to sort of get some custom roms, but it still needs to boot the stock kernel as you can't yet use a custom kernel. As a result you are limited to only 4.2.2 Touchwiz based roms working. Now safestrap has a beta for newer versions, not 100% sure what it does and does not support yet as I'm sticking with my mf3 and a 4.2.2 jellybean rom. But the beta is new and probably still buggy.
But basically since you need the stock kernel, you are limited to only the android version your current stock version is.

Yeah as an android developer, I accept that, but am not going to permit it to remain true. This might take awhile...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

If you are a developer there are bounties out for someone to get this working on mf3>
I don't have that issue but good luck if you try--:good:

Thanks! Didn't really know there were bounties for that - worthwhile ones anyway given that im dev apps and messing with AOSP and mainly my att s4 every chance I get.
Actually id be doing it for mk2, and if it becomes apparent that mf3 is easier to do it with ill do with that since I'd just DANGEROUSLY use Odin to go back, root, sideload titpro and block the sht out of the autoupdate. From what ive seen, the intermediary version between mf3 and mk2 might be most likely. This is all conjecture anyway. Sooner or later I will allow people to be free even with contracted or used phones.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Flash ROM & some crazy nintendo graphics

Hi guys, I'm wondering if anyone can shed some light on a few things for me.
I have an ATT SGH i-337 MK2 with SafeStrap 3.71
Today I tried to flash PAC ROM and Dirty Unicorn into ROM Slot-1, and upon reboot when the ROM's logo should appear the whole screen just looked like when a nintendo cartridge isn't working. It was just a few crazy colors with some blocks and lines here and there.
Then I tried AOKP with it's Loki'd Kernel being part of the ROM. The nintendo screen came back again, but then the AOKP logo popped up clear as day for a second. Then went back to the lines and colors.
So could this be a problem with Safestrap compatibility? If so, how can I uninstall it? (I did read the dev's thread, and it just says use .APK and IDK what that means)
Or could it be that I also need to use Loki Doki with the other two? (Didn't see anything about that in PAC or DU threads)
Thanks!

Same issues apon using The Samsung Galaxy S4 for Verizon (jfltevzw) Build MK2 rooted using vRoot (English) and using safestrap. if needed I can upload the safestrap apk or version. If I install any type of AOSP ROM the boot logo is either missng or baby blue with wierd static lines. AOKP is the only AOSP ROM that eventually boots (with static boot logo) but no wireless works, and this is the same wether MK2 and/or MJ7 modules are installed or not. the only rom I can successfuly install and use daily that has no bootloader based issues is Hyperdrive ROM For jfltevzw & jflteatt. Any info would be much apreciated!
Sent from my SCH-I545 using xda app-developers app

^ Interesting. I didn't expect anyone else to have this issue. I never read about it before. I really feel like it has something to do with SafeStrap.

Heath Cliff said:
Hi guys, I'm wondering if anyone can shed some light on a few things for me.
I have an ATT SGH i-337 MK2 with SafeStrap 3.71
Today I tried to flash PAC ROM and Dirty Unicorn into ROM Slot-1, and upon reboot when the ROM's logo should appear the whole screen just looked like when a nintendo cartridge isn't working. It was just a few crazy colors with some blocks and lines here and there.
Then I tried AOKP with it's Loki'd Kernel being part of the ROM. The nintendo screen came back again, but then the AOKP logo popped up clear as day for a second. Then went back to the lines and colors.
So could this be a problem with Safestrap compatibility? If so, how can I uninstall it? (I did read the dev's thread, and it just says use .APK and IDK what that means)
Or could it be that I also need to use Loki Doki with the other two? (Didn't see anything about that in PAC or DU threads)
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you would have read 1st, then you would know that you can NOT flash any non TW rom on MK2. This is stated over & over on XDA. Safestrap is NOT the problem it is a Godsend from Hashcode for us to be able to flash custom roms onto our locked boot loader devices. Please read before flashing, bricking & then bashing the developers. Follow the directions posted on how to restore your phone, or better yet make a trip to Best Buy & they'll do it for you. Good Luck.

REEEEEEAAAAADDDD!!!!
It's been very well documented that AOSP does not work with safestrap. Neither does loki. There currently is no way/fix to flash AOSP.
So
1. No AOSP or GPE
2. No loki
3. No flashing custom kernels
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

John The Rhino said:
If you would have read 1st, then you would know that you can NOT flash any non TW rom on MK2. This is stated over & over on XDA. Safestrap is NOT the problem it is a Godsend from Hashcode for us to be able to flash custom roms onto our locked boot loader devices. Please read before flashing, bricking & then bashing the developers. Follow the directions posted on how to restore your phone, or better yet make a trip to Best Buy & they'll do it for you. Good Luck.
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Click to collapse
I did read first. I've been reading this forum for quite a while actually. But there is so much information it's hard to keep it all straight. This ATT stuff is a lot different then my VZW Razr was. That phone was just flash and forget. There are so many different ROM's for this phone now that are 4.3 or KitKat I guess I just didn't realize that, that Android version came with the ROM and was originally something more mod-able stock.
Any way I wasn't bashing SS or Hashcode. I clearly said "compatibility issue" i.e. some programs just don't play well together hence the existence of compatibility mode, virtual machines, and x86 processors. So maybe you should read before bashing novice community members and making yourself look like a big asshole.
And I don't need best buy to fix anything I have a NANDroid, backup on Kies3, and Google+. Besides, I did all of this flashing I on a separate partition so the stock ROM was never altered. Thanks for absolutely nothing at all.
For anyone else that feels like they can move on with me, I would really like to try to install TWRP in place of SS. I'd appreciate any help with how to go about doing that. TIA

Heath Cliff said:
I did read first. I've been reading this forum for quite a while actually. But there is so much information it's hard to keep it all straight. This ATT stuff is a lot different then my VZW Razr was. That phone was just flash and forget. There are so many different ROM's for this phone now that are 4.3 or KitKat I guess I just didn't realize that, that Android version came with the ROM and was originally something more mod-able stock.
Any way I wasn't bashing SS or Hashcode. I clearly said "compatibility issue" i.e. some programs just don't play well together hence the existence of compatibility mode, virtual machines, and x86 processors. So maybe you should read before bashing novice community members and making yourself look like a big asshole.
And I don't need best buy to fix anything I have a NANDroid, backup on Kies3, and Google+. Besides, I did all of this flashing I on a separate partition so the stock ROM was never altered. Thanks for absolutely nothing at all.
For anyone else that feels like they can move on with me, I would really like to try to install TWRP in place of SS. I'd appreciate any help with how to go about doing that. TIA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well stating Safestrap may have a compatibility issue is offensive to the developer, especially since you did not read the instructions or posts from other members who did as you. If you would follow the directions it's perfect. I have 4 different roms on my phone + stock to choose from! How cool is that? I understand the overwhelming urge to flash a rom, as I too have been flashing on my Skyrocket since the factory warranty expired last year, and flashing roms is a breeze on that device. However, this S4 is more complicated since the introduction of the KNOX & the LOCKED boot loader. These phones are expensive so unless you really want a $700.00 brick, read, read some more, then read it all again. Safestrap uses TWRP to flash the roms, but TWRP alone is not compatible with MK2 nor is CWM. If you want to flash roms on your ATT MK2 S4 Safestrap is the only way to do that at this writing.

John The Rhino said:
Well stating Safestrap may have a compatibility issue is offensive to the developer, especially since you did not read the instructions or posts from other members who did as you. If you would follow the directions it's perfect. I have 4 different roms on my phone + stock to choose from! How cool is that? I understand the overwhelming urge to flash a rom, as I too have been flashing on my Skyrocket since the factory warranty expired last year, and flashing roms is a breeze on that device. However, this S4 is more complicated since the introduction of the KNOX & the LOCKED boot loader. These phones are expensive so unless you really want a $700.00 brick, read, read some more, then read it all again. Safestrap uses TWRP to flash the roms, but TWRP alone is not compatible with MK2 nor is CWM. If you want to flash roms on your ATT MK2 S4 Safestrap is the only way to do that at this writing.
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Click to collapse
Okay, well thank you for that. I just see so many ATT S4's in here with other ROMs and Recoverys I thought I could get something to happen. Anyway, sorry for the poor thread and response. I appreciate the plain blunt fact that SS and the ROMs that work with it are my choices for now. And don't worry about me. The worst that I'd probably get is a soft brick and I've recovered from that before Thanks again

Heath Cliff said:
Okay, well thank you for that. I just see so many ATT S4's in here with other ROMs and Recoverys I thought I could get something to happen. Anyway, sorry for the poor thread and response. I appreciate the plain blunt fact that SS and the ROMs that work with it are my choices for now. And don't worry about me. The worst that I'd probably get is a soft brick and I've recovered from that before Thanks again
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Click to collapse
Hey man I totally understand. It's hard to watch all these other roms pop up for the original S4 & we can't flash them. But we no longer have to suffer with only the stock rom option since Hashcode's brilliant Safestrap was released. Once you get use to it, the ability of being able to multi-boot roms really kind of makes up for the locked boot loader. Soon though, we will have 4.4 Kit Kat & then we can start this process of getting off the stock rom all over again. Right? It could be worse, we could have I-phones. We do have a ever growing number of great custom TW based roms available to us here for our device. So try them, you'll be surprised how much better your phone performs. Glad I made sense & forgive my bluntness that's just how us Rhinos roll.

looking for latest stock update w root-S4 AT&T

first I would like to say please don't flame me if this has been answered elsewhere Lol.I have already tried the search function with no luck.
I have a galaxy s4 AT&T that I just received from warranty and I would like to install the latest update with root capabilities I believe its 4 .3 as I couldn't find anything for 4.4
I'm looking for a package which includes the stock TW 4.3 update w root and cwm.
as I mentioned before I have tried the search function several times as well as looked through the threads in the android development section. If there is a link that you could provide me with i would be immensely grateful.Thanks in advance!

The bootloader is locked. You can't flash a stock package with root. There's also no exploit to flash any recovery. Read the nice clear threads in the general section like the index and root guide for MK2.
Sent from my SGH-I337 running Blackbox 3.0

DeadlySin9 said:
The bootloader is locked. You can't flash a stock package with root. There's also no exploit to flash any recovery. Read the nice clear threads in the general section like the index and root guide for MK2.
Sent from my SGH-I337 running Blackbox 3.0
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Click to collapse
I am aware of the locked bootloader I didnt realize that was the reason i was unable to flash CWM previously only root. Thanks for the info!
so I just powered on the new device and they shipped it with 4.4 damn it lol. Is there a way to downgrade to 4.3 then root? The reason I chose to stick with TouchWiz is because in the past w my S2 when flashing ROMs there was always some glitch or missing features even w the safest CM roms.so hypothetically speaking if I decided to go with a custom ROM so that I may have CWM could you possibly recommend a good one that will not lack any features or capabilities and stable of course. Thanks

alfizzle said:
I am aware of the locked bootloader I didnt realize that was the reason i was unable to flash CWM previously only root. Thanks for the info!
so I just powered on the new device and they shipped it with 4.4 damn it lol. Is there a way to downgrade to 4.3 then root? The reason I chose to stick with TouchWiz is because in the past w my S2 when flashing ROMs there was always some glitch or missing features even w the safest CM roms.so hypothetically speaking if I decided to go with a custom ROM so that I may have CWM could you possibly recommend a good one that will not lack any features or capabilities and stable of course. Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to do a lot of reading. See the general forum and read all you can on nb1 and mk2. There is a work around to get a rooted, touch wiz rom on your device. But you won't get cwm on your device. Look for safestrap too
Sent from my Nexus 5

HOLY S**T!!! you werent joking when you said alot of reading...wow. Finally finished...then wifi/data wasnt working so it took a little extra time and research(8hours total LOL) but i got everything up including safestrap! Thanks for the guidance. very much appreciated!!!!:highfive:

alfizzle said:
HOLY S**T!!! you werent joking when you said alot of reading...wow. Finally finished...then wifi/data wasnt working so it took a little extra time and research(8hours total LOL) but i got everything up including safestrap! Thanks for the guidance. very much appreciated!!!!:highfive:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good job! Now you know how to do it. And, yea, lots of good stuff out there but did take awhile to digest it all.
Sent from my Nexus 5

[Q] Options with my new AT&T i337 and MF3

Long time XDA reader here and I am in a bit of a pickle here and I haven't been able to come across a difinitive answer. I apologize ahead of time if this question was answered elsewhere, but know that I have just become more confused as I continue to dig. I have some very basic experience with Odin, CWM, TWRP, Safestrap, from past modding/ROM loading. Please be gentle.
I've just recently finished my contract with Verizon, where I was running a Galaxy S3. I intended to hop over to Straight Talk but determined my S3 could only receive Edge data. So, off to sell my phone and buy something new. Swappa fulfilled both purposes easily and fast (shameless plug). I purchased an i337 and am running her on Straight Talk. So far, I am loving every second of the service and, most importantly, the phone.
My new i337 came loaded with the stock AT&T loadset, running 4.2.2, and the MF3 build. I immediately made my way to Cyanogenmod's (CM) site to take advantage of the new Installer. Much to my dismay, the i337 isn't compatible with the new installer. So, off to research and find out how to manually install CM. http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Install_CM_for_jflteatt I hit a wall with the Loki installer portion. I've done a lot of digging and find that AT&T has apparently locked us in a cage and has limited our recovery options.
I have successfully rooted and installed safestrap. I have used script manager to disable the updates that attempted to download while on wi-fi. For now, I am holding tight on 4.2.2 and MF3. If I understand correctly, I can only use safestrap and not TWRP or CWM. I have read that I can only run TouchWiz ROMs. I am also understanding that I will have to maintain all of the AT&T bloatware ROM on the stock partition (taking up storage space) and place any new TouchWiz-only ROM on a new partition. I am not dead set on Cyanogenmod, just looking to get away from TouchWiz and not have to partition to take up more storage space. I just want one ROM on my phone.
Can anyone please shed some light on any of the following:
1. Should I stay at MF3 or accept the OTA updates?
2.a. What is my best choice for ever running Cyanogenmod?
2.b. If not Cyanogen, what is the next best non-TouchWiz possibility?
Thanks in advance folks!

I would upgrade to NB1 or NC1. More roms like 4.4's
You won't ever "probably" run CM or aosp roms.
No custom recoveries/kernels, only SafeStrap
There is a GPE rom here that is TW based so you can try it. Not perfect but gets you away from some TW. I forget name. Someone may have link.
If not already done, check out Genenal and Q&A for SafeStrap threads and All things MK2 etc. Also an MF3 upgrade thread. I am on MDL so don't need SafeStrap, hence don't have all the links handy.

First off, questions go in Q&A.
Best option would be to sell your device and get the T-Mobile version (bootloader is unlocked).
If you plan to keep this one, you may want to consider doing a carrier unlock while you still can.
Otherwise this guy ^^^ is correct.
Edit:
Two more things...
1) If you decide to sell this device (sell not return), it is worth more if you carrier unlock.
2) Pretty sure this device is no longer supported by CM (last update was February), so you are not missing anything.

rugmankc said:
I would upgrade to NB1 or NC1. More roms like 4.4's
You won't ever "probably" run CM or aosp roms.
No custom recoveries/kernels, only SafeStrap
There is a GPE rom here that is TW based so you can try it. Not perfect but gets you away from some TW. I forget name. Someone may have link.
If not already done, check out Genenal and Q&A for SafeStrap threads and All things MK2 etc. Also an MF3 upgrade thread. I am on MDL so don't need SafeStrap, hence don't have all the links handy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are still here the GE rom is in General. Give Thanks to the OP jmsq--:good:

rugmankc said:
If you are still here the GE rom is in General. Give Thanks to the OP jmsq--:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I decided to take the plunge and accept my fate with this I337. I followed the great guide at the "[INDEX] All things AT&T MK2, NB1, and NC1 (including ROMs)" thread in the General Forum. I am now on NC1 and enjoying the Hyperdrive ROM. Took a little trial and error to get everything up and running (wi-fi in particular), but I'm happy to have dropped the AT&T baggage.
Thank you for the clear cut truth about my poor decision to trust that an AT&T S4 was going to be smooth sailing. If the great minds ever come up with a way to break the bootloader obstacle, I'll be ready to try something new. For now, I'm satisfied with what I have and I'll be trying out some of the other NC1 ROMS around here. I'll give the GE a go next!
Thanks again for the help!

kingamateur said:
I decided to take the plunge and accept my fate with this I337. I followed the great guide at the "[INDEX] All things AT&T MK2, NB1, and NC1 (including ROMs)" thread in the General Forum. I am now on NC1 and enjoying the Hyperdrive ROM. Took a little trial and error to get everything up and running (wi-fi in particular), but I'm happy to have dropped the AT&T baggage.
Thank you for the clear cut truth about my poor decision to trust that an AT&T S4 was going to be smooth sailing. If the great minds ever come up with a way to break the bootloader obstacle, I'll be ready to try something new. For now, I'm satisfied with what I have and I'll be trying out some of the other NC1 ROMS around here. I'll give the GE a go next!
Thanks again for the help!
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Click to collapse
Fantastic, glad you are up and running. The GE has some "not working" items. But, OP page spells that out. Personal choice, but I like reading last 20 pages of any thread I am going to be using, plus all of OP page.
Good Luck--:good:

Just Getting Started Out!

I have a TMO Galaxy Note 3, Rooted with CF Using TWRP running Version 5.0. Im looking to installing a custom Rom but just kinda overwhelmed with bootloaders on or off ,Kernals and so on. I was just wondering if someone could give me some advice to a Rom that would be a little less complicated until i figure everything else out. Thanks~!

EvilSnipa said:
I have a TMO Galaxy Note 3, Rooted with CF Using TWRP running Version 5.0. Im looking to installing a custom Rom but just kinda overwhelmed with bootloaders on or off ,Kernals and so on. I was just wondering if someone could give me some advice to a Rom that would be a little less complicated until i figure everything else out. Thanks~!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just head over to android development section and download any rom of your choice. You mentioned your phone is 5.0/lollipop so no need to think about bootloader. While kernel is already in the rom so you're good to go. Just follow instructions in the thread to the letters. Read a few pages of the thread so you could get some info on whether you t-mo is supported or not or for any other issues may have related to the rom.
Sent from my SM-G925F

EvilSnipa said:
I have a TMO Galaxy Note 3, Rooted with CF Using TWRP running Version 5.0. Im looking to installing a custom Rom but just kinda overwhelmed with bootloaders on or off ,Kernals and so on. I was just wondering if someone could give me some advice to a Rom that would be a little less complicated until i figure everything else out. Thanks~!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would recommend Darklord Note 5 Rom, there is an update coming in the next day or two and I would download that update. It is fast and has a pretty good battery life for me. Plus it doesn't have all the random mods that other developers put on their roms. So you can just put the mods that you need yourself.
P.S. Make a backup of everything incase you need to revert back for any reason. Also, there is no way as of now to have NFC working on a custom rom for Note 3 TMO/ canada.

for me try arya mod or the darklord n5 rom