Database Users

Issue Rooting Phone - Region based issue perhaps?

Hi All,
I have read all the relevant threads in this forum regarding this, and I can't find an answer so here goes:
I got a brand new Galaxy S4 i9000 gifted to me.
This was from China I believe (the phone was bought in singapore but it has Baidu Input on it so I assume it was sourced in China - i may be wrong)
I can not for the life of me get Odin to recognize my phone;
I have tried everything recommended; (including installing drivers, USB debugging etc. yes I have also tried opening Odin first vice-versa)
Additionally, I can not get the phone into recovery mode (no combination of buttons seems to work - tried everything).
I came to the conclusion that this must be a region thing?
Anyone have any ideas about how I can:
1) get odin to recognize my phone
2) proceed to root (i suspect solving no. 1 will give this solution).
Many thanks.

kingsurf said:
Hi All,
I have read all the relevant threads in this forum regarding this, and I can't find an answer so here goes:
I got a brand new Galaxy S4 i9000 gifted to me.
This was from China I believe (the phone was bought in singapore but it has Baidu Input on it so I assume it was sourced in China - i may be wrong)
I can not for the life of me get Odin to recognize my phone;
I have tried everything recommended; (including installing drivers, USB debugging etc. yes I have also tried opening Odin first vice-versa)
Additionally, I can not get the phone into recovery mode (no combination of buttons seems to work - tried everything).
I came to the conclusion that this must be a region thing?
Anyone have any ideas about how I can:
1) get odin to recognize my phone
2) proceed to root (i suspect solving no. 1 will give this solution).
Many thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You probably have a Chinese fake Galaxy S4, clone based on the S4. What cpu do you have installed and what is the software buildnumber.
BTW I9000 was the modelnumber of the first Galaxy S launched. You cannot root or flash stock or custom roms designed for the S4 as you will most likely brick the phone.

gee2012 said:
You probably have a Chinese fake Galaxy S4, clone based on the S4. What cpu do you have installed and what is the software buildnumber.
BTW I9000 was the modelnumber of the first Galaxy S launched. You cannot root or flash stock or custom roms designed for the S4 as you will most likely brick the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry its a GT-i9500
Build no:
JDQ39.I9500XXUAMDL

I actually am able to access the
"Android system recover <3e>" screen by pressing Volume UP, Home button and Power.
Is there a way to root the phone this way?

kingsurf said:
Hi All,
I have read all the relevant threads in this forum regarding this, and I can't find an answer so here goes:
I got a brand new Galaxy S4 i9000 gifted to me.
This was from China I believe (the phone was bought in singapore but it has Baidu Input on it so I assume it was sourced in China - i may be wrong)
I can not for the life of me get Odin to recognize my phone;
I have tried everything recommended; (including installing drivers, USB debugging etc. yes I have also tried opening Odin first vice-versa)
Additionally, I can not get the phone into recovery mode (no combination of buttons seems to work - tried everything).
I came to the conclusion that this must be a region thing?
Anyone have any ideas about how I can:
1) get odin to recognize my phone
2) proceed to root (i suspect solving no. 1 will give this solution).
Many thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Upload a mobile pictures
Does air view , smart scroll etc wrkng ?
.

Was it recovery or download mode that showed a clone?
If it is a real S4 then you are probably having trouble flashing the modem. That was where it kept screwing up on the S3... Unfortunately the answer for that was to flash using Mobile ODIN but that doesn't support the S4 I9500 as of yet....

kingsurf said:
Hi All,
I have read all the relevant threads in this forum regarding this, and I can't find an answer so here goes:
I got a brand new Galaxy S4 i9000 gifted to me.
This was from China I believe (the phone was bought in singapore but it has Baidu Input on it so I assume it was sourced in China - i may be wrong)
I can not for the life of me get Odin to recognize my phone;
I have tried everything recommended; (including installing drivers, USB debugging etc. yes I have also tried opening Odin first vice-versa)
Additionally, I can not get the phone into recovery mode (no combination of buttons seems to work - tried everything).
I came to the conclusion that this must be a region thing?
Anyone have any ideas about how I can:
1) get odin to recognize my phone
2) proceed to root (i suspect solving no. 1 will give this solution).
Many thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you can't get it to go to Download/Odin Mode then it is a clone
can you check if it has the LCD TEST by typing *#0*# on the Phone Dialer, if you also don't have this then it is a clone
lastly download CPU-Z from the PlayStore and check if the processor is Snapdragon 600

Problems after doing unlocksim. Urgent help please.

Hi all, I apologize for my low level of English. I want to tell that to write this report use the google translator.
I also thank in advance the help that you can give me.
Acontinuacion expose my problem:
I followed the steps in a tutorial, to release my samsung i9505 galaxy s4, exposed one of the most important forums, Htcmania.com my country, Spain.
By exposing my problem in the same forum that supra and receiving no response clarification about my problem, I turn to the more important to try to find a solution forum. I go to XDA-Developers.
I do a copy and paste of the report I wrote on the forum that I quoted earlier as I explained my problem well:
My s4 with Android 4.4.2 was completely "virgin" had installed the rom Stock samsung, was not released, was "Yoigo" any advanced recovery had not installed, and had no permits super user "root".
I wanted to release it (Unlocksim) seeking information HTCMania, and I found the following topic "Free S4 I9505 (Unlocksim) in 4.4.2" I followed all the steps in the tutorial. One of the "requirements" was to be root to do a backup of the EFS before touching anything, and to use the application "Region lock away"
So no, I did root, flashing by odin CF-Auto-Root 4.4.2 package.
Being root installed the advanced recovery "CWM" philz touch. And I found myself at this point I made a backup of the EFS system being completely "virgin" that is, with stock rom samsung and android 4.4.2. I followed the steps in the tutorial that I have made previously to unlocksim. One of the requirements to release the phone was change the modem to modem I9505_DXUAME2_MODEM, so I changed the phone modem and followed the guidelines set by the tutorial,
Region to use the application could lock away briefly display an error is possibly to blame for me as I'm seeing. This error could display for two seconds, but from that moment everything seemed to work well, the phone was released. So I changed the modem again for mine.
At this point I decided to choose to install a cooked rom based on stock, namely Omega rom v38.1 for s4 I9505.
And at this point is when my headaches begin to appear. I have experienced problems with the release ... see, the issue is that when the network coverage data is in H + the phone works perfectly, but only if H is not able to load websites etc. This has led me to the edge as I can not be aware every moment of the type of data coverage.
My questions are:
1. Is there a way to stop the phone as he was before unlocksim, ie leave it as it was originally being from Yoigo? (Remember to keep a copy of SAI realized when the system was completely untouched.)
2. How I can solve this problem with the network coverage data?
3. What do you advise me to do?
Please help. Greetings.

you might want to try searching sammobile to see there is a ROM you can download and flash that's for your country and ideally for your phone provider as well. I've run into issues like this on a couple of occasions. One was indeed that the country's ROM I flashed uses differant frequencies and I had the same mobile data connectivity issues you're talking about. This is rare for the international Samsung phones but it does happen. The other scenario I ran into was after flashing a port of the Google Play Edition onto tit, which gave it extended network options, and everything worked quite well but when I restored to stock from a backup on my sdcard I had connectivity issues, once again just like you're describing. In this scenario flashing a fresh stock ROM entirely solved the problem.
Note that in the second scenario I didn't redo the data partition. Presumably flashing the system fixed it or reflashing the firmware partition reinitialized things the way they are meant to work for me.
search for I9505 (or whatever the model of your phone is) where it says search for your device http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/
Google around the codes if the results aren't revailing enough for what's stock for you and try reflashing in odin. If it persists then backup your apps, wipe the data partition, possibly backup your internal storage as well if you have a stock recover, and try again. Beyond that I haven't had to deal with further problems than that yet but I saw that no one else had responded...

[Q] Quick Question If Someone Has a Moment, Please

I just swapped from my Amaze 4g, to a used Note 3, and I'm a little lost as far as where I should start.
It says that it's on 4.4.2, and that I cannot update due to a modified system.
Basically, I would like to get updated to 5.1.1 (or as close as is official for the Note 3), and root it.
I'm afraid I'm not familiar with Samsung devices, and because I purchased this from ebay, I don't know how to tell the exact state that the former user put it in (I expected they would return it to stock prior to selling).
It's currently a T-Mobile branded, SM-N900T, on 4.4.2, build is KOT49H, security software MDF v1.0 release 2. Kernel is 3.4.0-660648.
It is supposedly unlocked for carriers, though I have not attempted a SIM card use yet, until I can tell that what I have is a valid device and the IMEI is checked out.
Any thoughts on how to validate the IMEI, and sort out how to get my new phone up to date would be appreciated. As I stated, I expected the vendor would have returned it to stock, but that is clearly not the case, so I don't want to accidentally boot loop it by doing something I shouldn't. I have not owned a Samsung before, so I want to be careful on how it differs from my Nexus 7, Amaze 4g, and Droid X, as they're all obviously very different in the OS area.
Thank you for the help1

Download tbe stock 4.4.2 rom and use odin to install. Then you will get the OTA updates.
Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

There is no stock 5.1.1 for note 3, only cm12.1/ aosp. Latest is 5.0 and you can use odin to flash. Maybe it's rooted that's why you can't update.

bladebarrier said:
I just swapped from my Amaze 4g, to a used Note 3, and I'm a little lost as far as where I should start.
It says that it's on 4.4.2, and that I cannot update due to a modified system.
Basically, I would like to get updated to 5.1.1 (or as close as is official for the Note 3), and root it.
...
Thank you for the help1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some apps to install from Play Store...
Phone INFO Samsung - this will tell you all about your phone and the firmware etc.
Root Checker Basic - tells you if you are rooted or not.
SuperSU - this is so valuable you should buy the Pro licence. Chainfire does some great work for our phones.
TWRP - I have the zip version on my extSDCard and an Odin version on PC in case I have to rebuild from a Stock firmware. CWN works OK but most ROM builds seem to be for TWRP I think and a backup from one will not work on the other.
I don't know your previous phone so you probably need Odin v3.09 - this sits on PC and lets you flash firmware to the phone. (connected by USB)
For which you need Samsung USB drivers so the PC will recognise the phone. Install on PC before connecting phone.
Then do some browsing and find the processes to root your phone and install the ROM you want. If you just want Stock and access to all your phone, you can root it after flashing the original v5.0 download (from Sammobile or similar site - note on Sammobile you need a free account to DL) and then install Custom recovery (if wanted - it WILL trip the Knox flag but that may not matter given it's 2nd hand and might already be tripped anyway)
Read, make SURE you understand what is being said BEFORE you do anything - ask if you don't.
Good luck...

N9005 Lollipop brick
Hi All, just need a huge help here, a friend of mine has been using a N9005 which was auto restarting, she went online and downloaded this firmware...N900AUCUEOC1_N900AATTEOC1_N900AUCUEOC1_HOME.tar.md5....2.5GB in size...and flashed it, but the phone is stuck in boot loop even after recovery wiping data and cache, the phone can boot into download mode but re flashing the firmware always fails.....is there a solution for this.....please help

Thank you all for the info, especially the detailed info from Journyman16. I checked, and it is flagged as custom, which is fine, so I'm going to go ahead and try to return to mostly stock, update it, and root it.

Ok, everything went well. I had to do two attempts at rooting, but I think it's just one of those things where sometimes it doesn't restart into the process every time.
All seems good. I'm on 5.0, rooted, busyboxed, and smooth sailing.
Thank you all, again, for the tips. The Note 3 is running very well. Thank you to all of the devs that have made this process so refined. I've donated to you before, and did so again today. It's outstanding to have such well versed coders, on XDA, helping out the community.

mjmbirige said:
Hi All, just need a huge help here, a friend of mine has been using a N9005 which was auto restarting, she went online and downloaded this firmware...N900AUCUEOC1_N900AATTEOC1_N900AUCUEOC1_HOME.tar.md5....2.5GB in size...and flashed it, but the phone is stuck in boot loop even after recovery wiping data and cache, the phone can boot into download mode but re flashing the firmware always fails.....is there a solution for this.....please help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have never learned not to ask in others posts? What does your problem has to do with this topic at all?
When you need help. Just click on Q&A then Create a new thread. How hard is it?

Samsung Galaxy Sky J3 SM-S320VL TracFone not flashing....

Here is the issue. A friend of mine had gone a bought a Galaxy Sky SM-S320VL from TracPhone. And had been using the phone without any problems until a couple of weeks ago. Then he decided to do a Factory Reset. Instead of doing the software reset, from with in Settings, he went and did a HARD Reset without unlocking the google account. And guess what, he can't remember the account information for that phone. And came to me to reset the phone. (As I had to deal with this problem in the past with other people and their phones.)
I have downloaded the only stock rom I can find for this phone and flashed it with Odin3. But for some reason the flashing of the rom is never done. By this I mean, the phone downloads the rom as Odin sends it. Odin reports a Success with the flashing. But, when the phone reboots. The system has not been reset and FRP is still active.
I have flashed only the AP, and the phone reboots directly into setup and shows a message about an unauthorized Factory Reset.
I have flash all 4 files in the ROM set (BL, AP, CP, and CSC). and Odin states the flash was a success. The phone reboots, goes to recovery and states Starting System Update. Goes so far into the update, then stops and shows Erasing. After a short time of showing Erasing it reboots to setup. Where again the phone shows the message about authorized Factory Reset.
I have used Odin3 v3.9.0, v3.11.1, v3.11.2, v3.12.5. And I have updated to the latest USB drivers from Samsung.
So my question is this. Has anyone had come across this behavior before? And how can I get past this?
The phones particulars:
Name: Samsung Galaxy Sky
Model #: SM-S320VL(GP)
OS v: 6.0.1
Firmware #: S320VLUDU2APJ3
Model #, as reported by Downloader: SM-S320VL
Note: As a strange side effect of when I flash all 4 rom files. For some reason once the phone has failed the system update, erased and has reboot. I have complete access to the phones User data area from within my computer. But, I am unable to access the phone with adb.

Hey folks,
I'm having the exact same issue as the OP. Odin does a successful install on the phone but I get the unauthorized reset message and then Wifi does not work when prompted on the next screen.
Is there a tracfone version of the rom or a fix that anyone here knows of? Thanks!

@drasnah
I have yet to get any kind of reply from anyone on this. Either now one knows, and is not stating so, or doesn't care.

I have seen the wi- fi fix in another thread.
Modify /system/build.prop:
ro.securestorage.support=true to false
Hope that helps!

20eyes said:
I have seen the wi- fi fix in another thread.
Modify /system/build.prop:
ro.securestorage.support=true to false
Hope that helps!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First this is not a wi-fi problem it is a re-flashing of the rom problem.
Second, I do not have access, root or otherwise, to any of the system files on the phone.
Third, with the first two in mind this possible solution is of no help.
Fourth, Re-read my original post. I have given complete detailed information as to what I have access to and what I have done.

Can someone send me a download think for this phone i downloaded one but it won't flash it keeps failing

This device has been locked down by Tradphone and Samsung. It gives errors flashing even the correct stock firmware. It's a piece of garbage. NEVER buy anything from Tracphone. Garbage company. You'll never fix this issue. Only pushed updates will flash via software from sammy and tracphone that is built into the rom..

Curtis1973 said:
This device has been locked down by Tradphone and Samsung. It gives errors flashing even the correct stock firmware. It's a piece of garbage. NEVER buy anything from Tracphone. Garbage company. You'll never fix this issue. Only pushed updates will flash via software from sammy and tracphone that is built into the rom..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure if that's correct? It depends on the firmware and odin version being used.
---------- Post added at 10:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:58 PM ----------
Nate1k904 said:
Can someone send me a download think for this phone i downloaded one but it won't flash it keeps failing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Post more details on the error, screenshots, firmware and odin version used.

Need to know if works. Or if needing to settle for a different route.
The_WABBIT said:
Here is the issue. A friend of mine had gone a bought a Galaxy Sky SM-S320VL from TracPhone. And had been using the phone without any problems until a couple of weeks ago. Then he decided to do a Factory Reset. Instead of doing the software reset, from with in Settings, he went and did a HARD Reset without unlocking the google account. And guess what, he can't remember the account information for that phone. And came to me to reset the phone. (As I had to deal with this problem in the past with other people and their phones.)
I have downloaded the only stock rom I can find for this phone and flashed it with Odin3. But for some reason the flashing of the rom is never done. By this I mean, the phone downloads the rom as Odin sends it. Odin reports a Success with the flashing. But, when the phone reboots. The system has not been reset and FRP is still active.
I have flashed only the AP, and the phone reboots directly into setup and shows a message about an unauthorized Factory Reset.
I have flash all 4 files in the ROM set (BL, AP, CP, and CSC). and Odin states the flash was a success. The phone reboots, goes to recovery and states Starting System Update. Goes so far into the update, then stops and shows Erasing. After a short time of showing Erasing it reboots to setup. Where again the phone shows the message about authorized Factory Reset.
I have used Odin3 v3.9.0, v3.11.1, v3.11.2, v3.12.5. And I have updated to the latest USB drivers from Samsung.
So my question is this. Has anyone had come across this behavior before? And how can I get past this?
The phones particulars:
Name: Samsung Galaxy Sky
Model #: SM-S320VL(GP)
OS v: 6.0.1
Firmware #: S320VLUDU2APJ3
Model #, as reported by Downloader: SM-S320VL
Note: As a strange side effect of when I flash all 4 rom files. For some reason once the phone has failed the system update, erased and has reboot. I have complete access to the phones User data area from within my computer. But, I am unable to access the phone with adb.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
J3 sm s320vl... tracfone root availability? Just bought phone hopefully got a good one to root? Or maybe someone knows who maybe be able to... please help

No updates? Interested, I have the same phone.

There is no solution for this phone. It will forever be a Trac-phone.
Yes, it nice to imagine what could had been. If there was a fix for the locked bootloader. Its encrypted, and is highly unlikely to be broken by anyone.
Do not flash the boot.image that some people have suggested
Although that method works on some devices such as the AT&T Samsung Galaxy S5. In this case flashing the boot.image from an unlocked device does nothing but places the phone into an even more precarious situation, that makes it unusable even as a Trac phone.
While its true that this very low budget phone could had been decent with a custom Rom ,
You will not be able to get it working.
I have one that belonged to my daughter a couple of years ago and I managed to get it boot into the system again.
Its only function is as a calculator, or preschool game, the cellular reception and Wifi connections are highly unstable and will not stay connected.
Now it serves as my nieces play toy. I would donate to some poor person at the Salvation Army it if it was useable.
By the way, for anyone reading this.
If you have an old phone that is useable. You could dramatically help a Homeless people, by gifting them with a phone especially, if it has some minutes on it.
This gift will help them schedule job interviews, doctors appointments , etc and you will feel good knowing that you helped someone in need.
I have done this before, and will be dropping off a Blu phone, and Kindle Tablet this week.

tsongming said:
There is no solution for this phone. It will forever be a Trac-phone..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is possible to gain root on this device.

ashyx said:
It is possible to gain root on this device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have permissible SE Status but can not achieve root on this device. Also, I have not found that anyone has had success rooting this exact model.
To be clear my device is the 2016 TracFone Samsung Galaxy J3 Sky model : SM-S320VL
Build S320VUDU1APG2
Hardware Version S320 VL04
I have found reports of people with S320VLUDU2API3 stating that the were able to achieve root and then assumed that it must also be possible with S320VUDU1APG2.
I am usually the guy that can figure these things out, very often before others. But I have had no success gaining root on this device using published methods. Also, I have not seen one example of someone with this identical device who gained root.
You are apparently the Wizard of these Samsung phones, so if you know of a definite way to root it, please point me towards the solution. I would really appreciate it.
I would love to root this phone, get it working again, and gift it to lady who was beaten by her husband and she is now living in a homeless shelter with her two children. She could use a phone to help with her job search. She would appreciate it.
At the moment this phone can will not keep a signal and I can't attempt the build prop solution without root.
Thank you.

tsongming said:
I have permissible SE Status but can not achieve root on this device. Also, I have not found that anyone has had success rooting this exact model.
To be clear my device is the 2016 TracFone Samsung Galaxy J3 Sky model : SM-S320VL
Build S320VUDU1APG2
Hardware Version S320 VL04
I have found reports of people with S320VLUDU2API3 stating that the were able to achieve root and then assumed that it must also be possible with S320VUDU1APG2.
I am usually the guy that can figure these things out, very often before others. But I have had no success gaining root on this device using published methods. Also, I have not seen one example of someone with this identical device who gained root.
You are apparently the Wizard of these Samsung phones, so if you know of a definite way to root it, please point me towards the solution. I would really appreciate it.
I would love to root this phone, get it working again, and gift it to lady who was beaten by her husband and she is now living in a homeless shelter with her two children. She could use a phone to help with her job search. She would appreciate it.
At the moment this phone can will not keep a signal and I can't attempt the build prop solution without root.
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See the thread below. Root was gained, albeit temporary. However I believe this is due to kernel panics which may be solved by a few build.prop edits. We had to do the same on the J327T1.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-j3-2016/help/samsung-galaxy-j3-sm-s320vl-rooted-t3561762
Also if you firmware S320VUDU1APG2 then why not just update it to the firmware that has been reported to work?

I have found one these phones left on a table of a food truck area, screen was cracked - the device was only getting the android guy with triangle on it, I done some research and found the stock rom and flashed it with odin; as some have mentioned in comments above I also experienced wifi issue, so I thought I had installed incorrect rom - downloaded a different one this was a combination file that was the factory repair rom used for testing the device, but wifi worked - it wasn't a fully working telephone it didnt have the app store, well it really didnt have any apps, but I found I could copy over apk files from my PC to the device and then install them, so the phones not completely useless or junk --- it could be used for something. I myself am using that device as a security camera using IP CAM app works great. I was actually using this device for quiet some time as my roku tv remote, because my actual roku remote grown legs and walked off... i havent tried this, but I am sure you could install a launcher apk such as "apex launcher"
well i wasted enough of your time today...

replacement hardware question

I had a S4 (sgh-i337) for the last 3 years and just replaced it with Oneplus 5T recently.
I wanted to re-purpose the S4 as a mobile DLNA server for my car, but ran into a problem when I was upgrading to the latest AOSP rom.
I had the power button replaced last year and the new one is starting to fail as well. My thought was rather than trying to replace the power button again and then figure-out why ODIN restore isn't working (I have a MDL bootloader, it boots back to MDL rom, but hangs on the at&t boot screen - my thought is that I may need a sim card to complete the boot and this is the first time that I have tried to factory reset/Odin without a sim card)... my thought was for the low-low price for $25, I could get a i9505 motherboard from aliexpress and not have to deal with the pseudo-locked bootloader anymore.
the question - can I install the motherboard of a i9505 into the sgh-i337. I know fundamentally, the hardware is the same across the "snapdragon 600 based S4's line, but just wanted to make sure before I spent money that my thought was correct or if there are any other software issues that I might have.
I am not concerned about GSM connectivity, as I am only planning on using it to host videos for tethered wifi access in the car to other android tablets.
thanks for the input and advice.

When buying a 9505 motherboard, make sure you don't get a mobo that is made for the Chinese market.

audit13 said:
When buying a 9505 motherboard, make sure you don't get a mobo that is made for the Chinese market.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
whats wrong with the ones or the chinese market?
I see that most of they say from China, but are labeled 9505_J (if the pictures are to be believed)
item 1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_Galaxy_S4#Model_variants
it looks like the chinese ones are 9508, 9502, 959

If it's made for the China, they don't have Google apps like chrome and the play store.
I recall seeing posts where people had difficulty installing the missing apps.
The aliexpress board looks fine.

if its a 9505, my plan is to root it and install cm14.1; so as long as it truely is a 9505 and there isnt a concern that it is really a 9508, 9502, 959 that hasn't been relabeled.
thanks for your help

Good luck with your project.
If you want to use the phone as a phone, you could also look for an sgh-i337m which is the same as the AT&T s4 except there is no locked bootloader

update, I received the board, installed it and booted it up. it was a clean install, knox tripped (0x1), recent baseband and bootloader. after realizing the capacitive menu and back button weren't working, I after trying to root without tripping the knox bit, via an xda tutorial to install a older kernel prior to rooting; After that caused it to not boot, i was able to replace the kernel via odin.
I tried putting my i337 board back in to see if i would get a successful odin flash and boot and see if the capacitive menu and back button will work. cant get the i337 to perform the initial boot (stuck on the att boot screen) i put the 9505 board back in and after doing some research found that it isnt even seeing the buttons
via the *#2663# screen and check to make sure it says 0x1c on 'Part's Touch key FW version', as it doesnt show the Part's Touch key as existing / attached.
so i said whatever, installed twrp, wiped, installed cm (lineage) 17.1. I was unable to find the option to show software keys, so i added a software keys app from the playstore
so, all and all, it was a successful endeavor and well worth the $30 purchase. If i had not had the problem with the Part's Touch key / capacities buttons, i wish i would have done this years ago when i started rooting my phone to avoid the frustration with the locked bootloader (even if i had a hacked mdl bootloader)
now, just to find a dlna server app, so i can have the phone be a wifi ssd for movies in the car (for the kids in the back on road trips, not for the driver)
thanks for your input