Database Users

Downgrading my samsung galaxy s4(I9500) to 4.2.2

Hey guys i have a samsung galaxy s4 on android 4.4.2 kitkat and i am not happy at all with the kitkat update since it has ruined battery life and is causing many other problems like lag and overheating
So i want to downgrade to the stock 4.2.2. I have never rooted my samsung galaxy s4 and i am still unrooted.
I know knox will be set to 0x1 after downgrading but i do not care about it as triangle away supports galaxy s4 now .
So here is what i want to know
If i download the proper 4.2.2 firmware from sammobile according to my country(India) and install it via odin then will the process work? and if it is the right procedure does it require root ?
Is there any chance that my phone can get bricked because of knox ?
and how should i take backup of efs in case of a possible imei error ?

I know how to downgrade i9505 but i9500 Im not sure about it I never tested it out
I think you can downgrade successfully, I have a thread about how to downgrade from 4.4.2 to 4.3 but its for i9505 check my profile threads
You can downgrade successfully if you follow my guide, but you will lose wifi of maybe imei
So you can solve 4.3 wifi problem by downloading 4.3 kernel
You can use the same way to downgrade from 4.3 to 4.2.2
And for how to backup your imei you will need a rooted device !!
There some apps that backsup imei
Just look for your phone model "gt-i9500"
And you can backup you system starting from imei by having custom recovery like CWM and do Nandroid
And Knox will be tripped

Downgrade or Install Custom ROM
tdssmarty16 said:
Hey guys i have a samsung galaxy s4 on android 4.4.2 kitkat and i am not happy at all with the kitkat update since it has ruined battery life and is causing many other problems like lag and overheating
So i want to downgrade to the stock 4.2.2. I have never rooted my samsung galaxy s4 and i am still unrooted.
I know knox will be set to 0x1 after downgrading but i do not care about it as triangle away supports galaxy s4 now .
So here is what i want to know
If i download the proper 4.2.2 firmware from sammobile according to my country(India) and install it via odin then will the process work? and if it is the right procedure does it require root ?
Is there any chance that my phone can get bricked because of knox ?
and how should i take backup of efs in case of a possible imei error ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey dude,
I don't really understand how the s4 lags - did u try resetting the device?
the battery life is fine with the latest update.
Overheating is still there in i9500 & also it cools down rapidly - I guess its a HW design. Hope it wont be fixed.
I was annoyed with the overheating issue & now i am used to it. It heats while using 2G or 3G Internet & playing games.
Using regular apps it doesn't heats up & now i am okay with it.
Regarding the downgrade, frimware from sammobile will work fine. You will have to install via odin.
no your phone wont get bricked cos of knox - I suggest you to follow a video tutorial and do the downgrade.
But I recommend you to try a custom rom such as Omega, Hassan etc
In my experience the these roms are very good on battery and performance. Pls do note these roms (Omega, Hassan) are based on samsung stock rom.
If you still want to downgrade, I would suggest you to take it to the service center guys & they will do it for free.
Hope this helps!! :good:

Yeah it mostly gets heated while playing games and using chrome
Though i can still live with the heat because eventually i will get used to it after some time
But the lag is killing me
My phone shows lags while entering and leaving apps and camera and gallery too and it was not lagging before on 4.2.2
Also i have experienced significant battery drag
While using the internet it falls of by 1 percent every two minutes
Is this kind of battery drop normal ?
I am really missing the old firmware so i think i am gonna go to samsung and get it downgraded from there
Thanx for the sugesstion bro

tdssmarty16 said:
Yeah it mostly gets heated while playing games and using chrome
Though i can still live with the heat because eventually i will get used to it after some time
But the lag is killing me
My phone shows lags while entering and leaving apps and camera and gallery too and it was not lagging before on 4.2.2
Also i have experienced significant battery drag
While using the internet it falls of by 1 percent every two minutes
Is this kind of battery drop normal ?
I am really missing the old firmware so i think i am gonna go to samsung and get it downgraded from there
Thanx for the sugesstion bro
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think will be not easy. You voided ur warranty when u downgraded (KNOX:0x1). No service centers will fix it (in theory) :highfive:

No Performance Lag & Good Battery Life
tdssmarty16 said:
Yeah it mostly gets heated while playing games and using chrome
Though i can still live with the heat because eventually i will get used to it after some time
But the lag is killing me
My phone shows lags while entering and leaving apps and camera and gallery too and it was not lagging before on 4.2.2
Also i have experienced significant battery drag
While using the internet it falls of by 1 percent every two minutes
Is this kind of battery drop normal ?
I am really missing the old firmware so i think i am gonna go to samsung and get it downgraded from there
Thanx for the sugesstion bro
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey bro,
In my experience with the S4 on Stock ROM I never experienced a lag.
Please check on the settings - switch off the gimmicky features such as Air View, Air Gesture, S Beam, Air Gesture, Motion, Palm Motion etc etc.
Settings --> Connections Tab --> NFC, S Beam, Nearby devices, Screen Mirroring
Settings --> My Device -->(scroll down) motions & gestures, smart screen, air view
Turn locations off
Check the battery graph - see which app consumes more
I had this issues when these features were on.
The phone will be always hot, battery was draining like 1 % for 1 to 2 mins.
There is no lag with camera and gallery.
Battery drag is bit similar that I lose 1% for every 3 to 4 mins on 2/3G Internet. But on Wifi battery is solid.
In my opinion battery is very solid in S4.
The latest firmware is very stable. The performance has increased from old firmwares.
If you hv rooted the device, and got custom recovery just try a custom rom.

Okay i think it would be good to try the custom rom
So i am gonna try that and see what happens

Joku1981 said:
I think will be not easy. You voided ur warranty when u downgraded (KNOX:0x1). No service centers will fix it (in theory) :highfive:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bro my warranty is still intact
I did not downgrade it yet because i dont know the correct method to do it

tdssmarty16 said:
Hey guys i have a samsung galaxy s4 on android 4.4.2 kitkat and i am not happy at all with the kitkat update since it has ruined battery life and is causing many other problems like lag and overheating
So i want to downgrade to the stock 4.2.2. I have never rooted my samsung galaxy s4 and i am still unrooted.
I know knox will be set to 0x1 after downgrading but i do not care about it as triangle away supports galaxy s4 now .
So here is what i want to know
If i download the proper 4.2.2 firmware from sammobile according to my country(India) and install it via odin then will the process work? and if it is the right procedure does it require root ?
Is there any chance that my phone can get bricked because of knox ?
and how should i take backup of efs in case of a possible imei error ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have make downgrade to my phone i9500 form 4.4.2 to 4.2.2
with this firmware XFE-I9500XXUBMH1-20130927115211.zip
you can download form here >>> http://d-h.st/4bG
and wifi is ok and device is working so fine
but after i flash it's show the device is custom but i root it before
can u try it if you like
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2755184

Thanx for the information buddy
I will try to flash this firmware with odin

As I know...
tdssmarty16 said:
Hey guys i have a samsung galaxy s4 on android 4.4.2 kitkat and i am not happy at all with the kitkat update since it has ruined battery life and is causing many other problems like lag and overheating
So i want to downgrade to the stock 4.2.2. I have never rooted my samsung galaxy s4 and i am still unrooted.
I know knox will be set to 0x1 after downgrading but i do not care about it as triangle away supports galaxy s4 now .
So here is what i want to know
If i download the proper 4.2.2 firmware from sammobile according to my country(India) and install it via odin then will the process work? and if it is the right procedure does it require root ?
Is there any chance that my phone can get bricked because of knox ?
and how should i take backup of efs in case of a possible imei error ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I know, if you download an official firmware of samsung from sammobile, you can downgrade/upgrade your firmware without rooting, just flash via odin. Maybe you can uninstall KNOX first before downgrading, open KNOX mode and press menu and click uninstall KNOX. I hope this helps. Good Luck

4.4.2 vs. 4.4.4

When I got my phone it was on stock 4.4.4 and after flashing an older build and rooting at this point it is running fine and so I am wondering if there is any good reason to flash to the latest build. I read the safestrap doesn't work as well on 4.4.4. My only issue now is that the battery life of this s4 is not as good as my s3. If 4.4.4 would help my battery life then I would go for it but I have read, I think, that it has only made the battery life worse. that is my first question.
My second one is, now that I am rooted and soon to be on Net10 service, can I assume that I won't be getting OTA updates or that they won't work right if I do? Kies is useless because no matter what build I have installed it says I am up to date and can't initialize anyway. So will I have to just wait for the official Lollipop to be released for the s4 and then flash? thanks

Taking an update ir not is a personal matter. I recommend trying some ROMs. There Re plenty of choices and there will be ones with improved battery life. You can still uze Odin and stock image instead of OTA to get the latest firmware. Usually new stock release cimes with performance and battery improvement and bug fixes.

Upgrading from Custom to Stock

Hello everyone.
I've just installed Sweet ROM V4 MJ7 and I wanna update to Stock 4.4
So its rooted and CWM is installed.
Here's my question...
Should I just put 4.4 stock to Odin and install or should I do sth else?
I know, this question could be so frustrating for someone but it's my first NOTE and i dont wanna mess it.
Also, is it worth to update from 4.3 to 4.4.2 (N9005XXUGNG1)
Im afraid of this knox 2.0
Thanks for help.

Yes..it is the way it should be using odin to install stock firmware. This is gonna be fine bcoz u are going to 4.4.2 unless you are downgrading which is too dangerous.

Just tell me my friend now if it is worth to upgrade to 4.4.2?

For my personal prefence, I like to be up to date all the time. So I would stay with latest update. But some people prefer to stay with 4.3 bcoz of better battery life or other wifi issues. But all bugs have been fixed in these days. So I guess the main reason to stay with 4.3 is just bcoz of battery life. I cant tell exactly how much difference of battery since I just upgraded to 4.4.2 as soon as I got this. So I cant notice 4.3 that much in less than a day. ?? go for it. What is bothering you! You are holding Note 3 and life isnt worth if u don't stay up to date.

Samsung s4 5.0.1 problems

Hi
I have a Samsung S4 I9500 with 4.4.2 official,some days ago I install Android 5.0.1 official, the rom is I9500XXUHOA7 from Russia with Odin 3.09, the installation was normally I use the option AP.
But i have the next problems:
- The screen of the phone too hot on top only with normal use without playing.
- The battery lasts much less.
Is there any way to return 4.4.2 or solve these problems
Thanks

Odin it back to 4.4.2 thats what I had to do wait for 5.1 to see if it fixes up these pesky bugs.

I believed im the only with top screen hot.

dirov said:
Hi
I have a Samsung S4 I9500 with 4.4.2 official,some days ago I install Android 5.0.1 official, the rom is I9500XXUHOA7 from Russia with Odin 3.09, the installation was normally I use the option AP.
But i have the next problems:
- The screen of the phone too hot on top only with normal use without playing.
- The battery lasts much less.
Is there any way to return 4.4.2 or solve these problems
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check it here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2265477

Battery & Gestures
I like the lollipop update except two things battery,something I think Sammy needs to address, second problem is that the Gestures are not fully working i.e scrolling when using stock browser. I've tried both Russian and Indian firmwares both same result. Anyone notice this or anything else?
Oh! dirov if you do downgrade make a backup & bk your imei. Report back how you get on, Good Luck!

Flash Stock ROM [Q/A]

Hey Guys,
today i got a Galaxy s4 black edition and there is a ROM called: Phoenix Rom. So i want to flash back to Stock ROM but im really not sure which one i want to flash on it because i dont want to brick my phone or something. Can i flash this http://www.handy-faq.de/forum/galaxy-s4-i9505xxugng8-kk-4-4-odin-kies-dbt-1t-23-07-2014-t306745/ without any problems?
Phone: GT-I9505
Basisbandversion: I9505XXUGNG8
Buildnumber: KOT49H.I9505XXUGNF1

That ROM will work without a problem. However, that may not have the added wallpapers and sounds the black edition devices have. Is there a reason you're not wanting Android 5.0.1 on your device?

Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
That ROM will work without a problem. However, that may not have the added wallpapers and sounds the black edition devices have. Is there a reason you're not wanting Android 5.0.1 on your device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your Answer, i flashed that rom and it works perfectly. There is also an OTA update for Lollipop but im not sure to do that because i heard that lollipop has a lot of bugs like battery draining and so on. Im afraid if i upgrade it to lollipop i cannot downgrade it to KK. But do u think i should update?

I'm inclined to believe Samsung patched the battery drain bug, but you'd have to try it and find out. If you end up not liking it, going back down to the earlier version shouldn't be an issue, especially as you already have a Knox-enabled bootloader on your S4. There are tutorials on the forums here that I believe walk you through the process. Take a look at them before doing the OTA update.

Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
I'm inclined to believe Samsung patched the battery drain bug, but you'd have to try it and find out. If you end up not liking it, going back down to the earlier version shouldn't be an issue, especially as you already have a Knox-enabled bootloader on your S4. There are tutorials on the forums here that I believe walk you through the process. Take a look at them before doing the OTA update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it really that my knox bootloader is enabled or not if i do the OTA update? And how can i see that it is enabled or not? Anyway can i root my phone if im on lollipop with CF auto root trough odin ?

You installed Android 4.4.2. 100% positive you have Knox, as all Samsung firmware from 4.3 on has it. Installing the OTA update will restore the Knox apps. Fortunately, CF-AutoRoot still works so you'll have no issues rooting if you install the update.

Ok thank you for your helpful advises, i will flash a kernel on my s4 to stop this overheating issue.