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Hello. Sorry for the noobie question. I tried to search the forums, and I did find the noob beginner guide, but I still wasn't sure, so I prefer to ask before I screw up my phone lol.
I have the AT&T SG4 SGH-I337 Phone. It was fine before it was upgraded to 4.4.2 (I didn't want to upgrade, but it did it on its own one day). Once it went to 4.4.2, everything is just DOG SLOW. I mean everything. In Car Audio takes forever to connect, phone calls takes like 5 secs to answer, even after I press the answer button. To unlock the phone I have to press the code 2-3 times, as I can see the keys I press is lagging behind.
What I wanted to ask is this: How can I bring this phone back to the previous OS? Or How can I modify this phone to a stock OS, where all this bloatware crap is not installed?
All I care for is my Bluetooth, in car audio and calls and have a phone that's fast enough as it was originally.
can someone point me to the right thread where it gives me step by step instructions? Ive never modified a Samsung Phone before.
I found this thread, but wasn't sure if its the right one for my phone.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2261573
Thank you VERY MUCH. Thanks....
Don't use those links, some are redirecting me to questionable sites. Not sure if it does to you also.
I don't have time atm but someone will get you the correct info. :good:
It may have been a bad download that updated you--
Also, those files are too old for you if you look at thread date--
---------- Post added at 07:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:25 PM ----------
This would be a starting point
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2616221
Assume you are now on NC1
Believe you will need to Odin back to NB1 then update to NC1
If you want to root other steps involved--This thread covers it pretty well
Some one else more familiar can be exact, as I am on old bootloader and no handson exp--
Read the OP on the link very well and generally not a good idea to use links outside xda unless you are 120% sure of what you are doing--good luck--
Cornelp said:
Hello. Sorry for the noobie question. I tried to search the forums, and I did find the noob beginner guide, but I still wasn't sure, so I prefer to ask before I screw up my phone lol.
I have the AT&T SG4 SGH-I337 Phone. It was fine before it was upgraded to 4.4.2 (I didn't want to upgrade, but it did it on its own one day). Once it went to 4.4.2, everything is just DOG SLOW. I mean everything. In Car Audio takes forever to connect, phone calls takes like 5 secs to answer, even after I press the answer button. To unlock the phone I have to press the code 2-3 times, as I can see the keys I press is lagging behind.
What I wanted to ask is this: How can I bring this phone back to the previous OS? Or How can I modify this phone to a stock OS, where all this bloatware crap is not installed?
All I care for is my Bluetooth, in car audio and calls and have a phone that's fast enough as it was originally.
can someone point me to the right thread where it gives me step by step instructions? Ive never modified a Samsung Phone before.
I found this thread, but wasn't sure if its the right one for my phone.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2261573
Thank you VERY MUCH. Thanks....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would suggest getting the Google Play Edition rom as stock android is much better optimized. Tutorials are available on the all things NC1 post. This will require root and installing a custom rom. Your warranty (if still applicable) will be void if you choose to do this. Regardless, the software on the device is not well optimized and the touchwiz UI is unnecessary imo. The GPE rom also does not have the samsung or at&t bloatware.
cxzzcx said:
I would suggest getting the Google Play Edition rom as stock android is much better optimized. Tutorials are available on the all things NC1 post. This will require root and installing a custom rom. Your warranty (if still applicable) will be void if you choose to do this. Regardless, the software on the device is not well optimized and the touchwiz UI is unnecessary imo. The GPE rom also does not have the samsung or at&t bloatware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The google play ROM I would not mind, but I cant seem to find a way to root my SG4 NC1 firmware.
Do you happen to have a link or directions, please?
Thanks...
Cornelp said:
The google play ROM I would not mind, but I cant seem to find a way to root my SG4 NC1 firmware.
Do you happen to have a link or directions, please?
Thanks...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you can root using geohot's towelroot.
Cornelp said:
The google play ROM I would not mind, but I cant seem to find a way to root my SG4 NC1 firmware.
Do you happen to have a link or directions, please?
Thanks...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use the "All things ATT" link rugmankc gave you. In the first posts in that thread you will get links to the root method, safestrap, and a list of compatible ROMs. A few thoughtsL
1. Before making any changes to you phone, charge it to 100 %, unplug the charger, and let it sit idle for some number of hours. Then check to see what services are using most of the power. For a while my own 4.4.2 GS4 was slow, and it turned out to be google play framework services bogging things down, and this showed up as an excessive battery drain during idle. If you phone uses more than say 0.5% battery per hour when completely idle / screen off (but with cell and wifi on), something's up. Fix it and maybe your problems will resolve.
2. Next step: back up any data / photos etc. and do a factory data reset from the settings menu. After it has been reset, perhaps whatever problem is going on will be cleared up.
3. You don't need to root the phone to ODIN a stock firmware (NB1 then flash update to NC1). Links are on the ALL Things ATT thread. This should take it all the way back to proper NC1, bypassing any mess that might have happened if you got a corrupt flash during your OTA update.
If the phone still performs so poorly as you describe after a flash back to stock, there's a problem that's more than the OS/ROM. Sure, the stock build is a bit laggy and bloated, but it's not so bad as what you are seeing.
If you find a restored stock ROM to be better but still laggier than you like, I have had good results with the GoldenEye ROM, flashed according to the instructions in the ATT thread. To flash, you must first root and install safestrap (selinux mode changer set to permissive may be required). You then boot to the safestrap recovery, wipe everything but the SD card, then flash the rom, SuperSU, ATT Module, and ATT BuildProp/APN. That should get you up and running on a new ROM.
I'm a died in the wool geek but I read through this forum and others for two weeks before attempting... but I'm very happy with the phone as it works on GoldenEye. I'm on V36, but V38 is current.
Good luck
Frankenscript said:
Use the "All things ATT" link rugmankc gave you. In the first posts in that thread you will get links to the root method, safestrap, and a list of compatible ROMs. A few thoughtsL
1. Before making any changes to you phone, charge it to 100 %, unplug the charger, and let it sit idle for some number of hours. Then check to see what services are using most of the power. For a while my own 4.4.2 GS4 was slow, and it turned out to be google play framework services bogging things down, and this showed up as an excessive battery drain during idle. If you phone uses more than say 0.5% battery per hour when completely idle / screen off (but with cell and wifi on), something's up. Fix it and maybe your problems will resolve.
2. Next step: back up any data / photos etc. and do a factory data reset from the settings menu. After it has been reset, perhaps whatever problem is going on will be cleared up.
3. You don't need to root the phone to ODIN a stock firmware (NB1 then flash update to NC1). Links are on the ALL Things ATT thread. This should take it all the way back to proper NC1, bypassing any mess that might have happened if you got a corrupt flash during your OTA update.
If the phone still performs so poorly as you describe after a flash back to stock, there's a problem that's more than the OS/ROM. Sure, the stock build is a bit laggy and bloated, but it's not so bad as what you are seeing.
If you find a restored stock ROM to be better but still laggier than you like, I have had good results with the GoldenEye ROM, flashed according to the instructions in the ATT thread. To flash, you must first root and install safestrap (selinux mode changer set to permissive may be required). You then boot to the safestrap recovery, wipe everything but the SD card, then flash the rom, SuperSU, ATT Module, and ATT BuildProp/APN. That should get you up and running on a new ROM.
I'm a died in the wool geek but I read through this forum and others for two weeks before attempting... but I'm very happy with the phone as it works on GoldenEye. I'm on V36, but V38 is current.
Good luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much for your help. Yeah everytime I redo my phone, from scratch, it works OK for about an hour. Then bam, it goes back to being a low pain in the rear. This is ONLY after the phone upgraded to 4.4.2. I didn't choose that upgrade, actually I didn't want to upgrade, but OTA upgrade took over and BAM, I got screwed.
OK I just installed the Safestrap and rooted the phone. Now I gotta figure out the rom part.
Im still going thru that link that rugmankc gave me above. Now im trying to figure out how to change the OS, since I just rooted the phone. I have to do this. Ive gotten really really tired of the phone being so slow, I basically give up on many tasks that I need to do, just cause its too slow.
Ill update once I get it figured out, hopefully I wont brick it, that's the only thing that im afraid of.
Don't remember, did you consider Odin back to stock and start over. If not, whatever was causing the slow downs may still be there. Could have been a bad update.
Read the SafeStrap thread by HashCode carefully. I read the OP 100% and last 30 pages or so of thread and don't even use it. It is complicated to me. IE which slot to flash to stock or rom. I think stock, Flash Modules. Install Selinux and set to permissive. And using correct SafeStrap. Gives me a headache and I am not even needing to use it--
Good Luck--as mentioned just backup whenever you can before moving to next major step. :good::good:
rugmankc said:
Don't remember, did you consider Odin back to stock and start over. If not, whatever was causing the slow downs may still be there. Could have been a bad update.
Read the SafeStrap thread by HashCode carefully. I read the OP 100% and last 30 pages or so of thread and don't even use it. It is complicated to me. IE which slot to flash to stock or rom. I think stock, Flash Modules. Install Selinux and set to permissive. And using correct SafeStrap. Gives me a headache and I am not even needing to use it--
Good Luck--as mentioned just backup whenever you can before moving to next major step. :good::good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. Actually I backed up my phone already, as I reformatted it last night again. I don't know how to Odin back to stock. What is that? Is that a stock Android? Sorry I don't know.
Thanks...
It's in the same All Things ATT, MK2 thread under Returning to Stock Odin. An option if you still have issues. Takes you back to stock NB1, firmware and all. Kinda like your update, but think you may have got a bad update. Other options are to wipe internal in case bad stuff still there. Frankenscript was pretty thorough--:good:
SafeStrap is how you are going to flash a new OS/Rom. You can't flash custom kernels and aosp roms unless TW based like a couple GPE mentioned.
Read/Scan the two mentioned threads, as in OP and first and last couple dozen pages. Probably the last are more important. You will see folks asking the same questions you will eventually ask. I have read thousands of pages over the years and it has kept me out of trouble--most of the time--
rugmankc said:
It's in the same All Things ATT, MK2 thread under Returning to Stock Odin. An option if you still have issues. Takes you back to stock NB1, firmware and all. Kinda like your update, but think you may have got a bad update. Other options are to wipe internal in case bad stuff still there. Frankenscript was pretty thorough--:good:
SafeStrap is how you are going to flash a new OS/Rom. You can't flash custom kernels and aosp roms unless TW based like a couple GPE mentioned.
Read/Scan the two mentioned threads, as in OP and first and last couple dozen pages. Probably the last are more important. You will see folks asking the same questions you will eventually ask. I have read thousands of pages over the years and it has kept me out of trouble--most of the time--
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Man, that link really got me confused as heck lol. Ive been reading that link the entire weekend and still im a bit confused.
I rooted the phone with towelroot. Ive installed SafeStrap, but it worked the first time I ran it. Now if I want to run it again it crashes my phone. Not sure what that is about.
Either way, now my understanding is that I should be able to download a rom for my phone and flash it. From that link that I was given, its very confusing.
Could someone PLEASE PLEASE help me here with this?
My phone is an AT&T US SG4. Here are the details:
SAMSUNG-SGH-I337
Android 4.4.2
BaseBand I337UCUFNC1
Kernel Ver 3.4.0-1125940
Build # KOT49H.I337UCUFNC1
Which ROM can I use for my phone? As long as its stock, I don't care which version, Google Play ROM or CY or Golden, whichever, as long as I get rid of this crappy Samsung and AT&T stuff off my phone.
Could someone please help me out here? I know that link says everything, but jeez, im trying to make sense of it, and so far, I got the phone rooted, but just cant figure out the ROM part.
Thanks...
I can't help with specifics as I don't need SS.
Make sure you have correct SS--3.72, afaik
Flash, I believe, to stock slot not rom slot but confirm that
Install Selinux app from Play and set Permissive--afaik
The above items are things people get into trouble with, so reconfirm them
Just keep reviewing the thread and the SafeStrap thread in Dev section by HashCode. Maybe go back more pages from end of threads as you have time. You can post in All things thread now for help and at 10 posts in Dev section. It will come together in time--:good:
Flash roms only for you build, think there is a list within that thread or another one in General or Q&A.
iB's Goldeneye 38 is good and you can use the Aroma to select SafeStrap and the Slimmed down version.
Read his SS flashing instructions first.
Make sure you use SafeStrap recovery to wipe ALL--System/Data/Caches before flashing--:good:
Cornelp: Having recently been through all this, I wrote up a short summary with some links for another user, and it might help you to look through it. It's an overview written from my end-user perspective, not a replacement for the detailed posts the devs have done.
However, based on your description, I would say the best thing to do is ODIN back to stock because I have a sneaking suspicious you got a bad OTA flash. It happens. Going back to stock will be the best way to eliminate that as a source of problems. Learn how in the All things ATT thread OP.
Best of luck to you!
Marc
Frankenscript said:
Cornelp: Having recently been through all this, I wrote up a short summary with some links for another user, and it might help you to look through it. It's an overview written from my end-user perspective, not a replacement for the detailed posts the devs have done.
However, based on your description, I would say the best thing to do is ODIN back to stock because I have a sneaking suspicious you got a bad OTA flash. It happens. Going back to stock will be the best way to eliminate that as a source of problems. Learn how in the All things ATT thread OP.
Best of luck to you!
Marc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Frankenscript,
Thank you very much, I will read up on that link you gave me. How would I ODIN back to stock? Do you have specific details on that? I did read something about that on the All things ATT, but wasn't clear.
Thanks...
Cornelp said:
Frankenscript,
Thank you very much, I will read up on that link you gave me. How would I ODIN back to stock? Do you have specific details on that? I did read something about that on the All things ATT, but wasn't clear.
Thanks...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Complete instructions here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=51130818&postcount=5
Basically, download ODIN to your PC, run it, get phone into download mode, connect phone to PC via USB, in ODIN select the NB1 file, tell it to start. When done, reboot phone. Then flash the NC1 update from an SD card using stock recovery.
A good pictorial description of how to flash can be found in this S3 thread here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s3/help/guide-odin-flash-guide-t1671969
Though for a different phone (the S3, not our S4), the process is still the same.
Good luck. I'm headed off to a work trip and won't be on the forum much this week!
Frankenscript said:
Complete instructions here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=51130818&postcount=5
Basically, download ODIN to your PC, run it, get phone into download mode, connect phone to PC via USB, in ODIN select the NB1 file, tell it to start. When done, reboot phone. Then flash the NC1 update from an SD card using stock recovery.
A good pictorial description of how to flash can be found in this S3 thread here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s3/help/guide-odin-flash-guide-t1671969
Though for a different phone (the S3, not our S4), the process is still the same.
Good luck. I'm headed off to a work trip and won't be on the forum much this week!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you all. I was able to revert back to the NB1 stock, but it failed the first time. I had to download and install the NB1 Rootable Odin. For some reason, the NB1 Odin didn't work, but the Rootable one worked.
So im glad I was able to go back. Now I just gotta test it and see if it does slow down as it did before. I will post update, in case anyone else has the same problem, maybe this would be a good solution.
Thanks again to all of you guys, really appreciate it. I really hope it worked.
Sorry for asking this question. I am guessing that it has been answered a number of times, but I can't seem to find anything recent or usable.
I have an S4 running 4.4.2
Baseband L720VPUFNG2
Kernel 3.4.0-2162929
Build KOT49H.L720VPUFNG2
I have been attempting to root it, but any of the information I am finding is pre-current updates. Is there a way to root this, or am I too late to the game? I have spent the last 3 days reading up, going to different forums, checking Youtube, etc. but I haven't located anything.
Any advice?
Brian
C.f. auto root. This will trip the Knox flag.
Thanks for the quick reply
I jumped on your advice and ran with it. Ran Root Checker and it looks like I have root access.
Thanks again for the advice.
Custom recovery
As an aside, with the cf auto not coming with a custom recovery, which would be the best to install here? Or should I just leave it stock?
BinstRagu said:
As an aside, with the cf auto not coming with a custom recovery, which would be the best to install here? Or should I just leave it stock?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TWRP or Philz Touch are the ones most liked. But really it's up to you and what you're most comfortable with.
Hey, which one did you use? I went here:
http://autoroot.chainfire.eu/
but didn't find one for KOT49H.L720VPUFNG2
BinstRagu said:
I jumped on your advice and ran with it. Ran Root Checker and it looks like I have root access.
Thanks again for the advice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am pretty sure this is what I used.
I am trying to get you the information, but xda is being annoying as hell. I can't share a link or post an image or do anything to get you the name of it.
Google search this: Root L720VPUFNG2 Android 4.4.2 Stock Firmware On nasirtech
It should be your first return.
Hey, thanks
Actually, I had previously found that source, but the download file seemed tied to build KOT49H.L720VPUFNAE, so I was nervous about applying it. But sounds like it worked for you, so I'll give it a try
BinstRagu said:
I am trying to get you the information, but xda is being annoying as hell. I can't share a link or post an image or do anything to get you the name of it.
Google search this: Root L720VPUFNG2 Android 4.4.2 Stock Firmware On nasirtech
It should be your first return.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
BinstRagu said:
I am trying to get you the information, but xda is being annoying as hell. I can't share a link or post an image or do anything to get you the name of it.
Google search this: Root L720VPUFNG2 Android 4.4.2 Stock Firmware On nasirtech
It should be your first return.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for this! Successfully rooted my S4 on Sprint!
Glad I could help. It feels nice to contribute.
I installed TWRP and ran nandroid to restore my apps and SMS from by backup.
TWRP comes with a nice stock looking wifi hotspot.
I just have to personalize all my settings and I am back on track.
Odin won't work
BinstRagu said:
Sorry for asking this question. I am guessing that it has been answered a number of times, but I can't seem to find anything recent or usable.
I have an S4 running 4.4.2
Baseband L720VPUFNG2
Kernel 3.4.0-2162929
Build KOT49H.L720VPUFNG2
I have been attempting to root it, but any of the information I am finding is pre-current updates. Is there a way to root this, or am I too late to the game? I have spent the last 3 days reading up, going to different forums, checking Youtube, etc. but I haven't located anything.
Any advice?
Brian
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same phone and Odin hangs on "Get PIT for mapping.. ". Can't get past this with any Odin attempt. Small print on phone says "WRITE PROTECTION: Enable"
Any Ideas ?
Actually, one more question: did this rooting method wipe your data? Instructions indicate a lot flashing going on. Thanks!
BinstRagu said:
Glad I could help. It feels nice to contribute.
I installed TWRP and ran nandroid to restore my apps and SMS from by backup.
TWRP comes with a nice stock looking wifi hotspot.
I just have to personalize all my settings and I am back on track.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
kunchers said:
Actually, one more question: did this rooting method wipe your data? Instructions indicate a lot flashing going on. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let me think about what I did here.....
The autoroot itself did not. I installed it and it was all normal. My next steps could be ill advised and all over the place, but what I did was:
Installed JS backup and created a backup to the PC.
I like having that assurance just in case I break anything along the way.
Then I installed the TWRP recovery and let it run through everything. I have always been taught to wipe my dalvik, user, etc. cache when I am installing anything. So I did the wipe. After everything was installed fresh, I went back in and got nandroid backup and restore and was able to pull my JS backup data in, recreating my SMS log, my call log, etc. The only issue that I ran into, which isnt even a big issue, is that it cleared out my apps that I had installed. They mostly all errored out when trying to reinstall them via Nandroid.
I think that I could have probably used Titanium Backup once I got the initial autoroot done. I was just all over the place with it because I was burnt out from searching for answers for the past week or so.
betoweb said:
I have the same phone and Odin hangs on "Get PIT for mapping.. ". Can't get past this with any Odin attempt. Small print on phone says "WRITE PROTECTION: Enable"
Any Ideas ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What version of Odin are you using and did you get the correct root file? I know that each of these sets of instructions runs with different Odins and I found that depending on the installation attempt, it was important to use exactly what the instructions stated. So if someone is posting to use v1.85, that is the one to use. Please remember that I am not at all an expert on this. I just seem to be the first guy who recently got lucky enough to assemble the pieces and successfully push this thing onto a phone. I also had the PIT mapping problem, until I followed the link that posted the other day and followed the instructions exactly. Also, make sure that you are using your real Samsung cable, you are running it directly to your pc, and your usb port is good. Also, make sure that you have your Samsung drivers installed on the pc.
Root File
Where did you find the correct root file ?
I see now that I have KOT49H.L720VPUFNAE not KOT49H.L720VPUFNG2.
I have looked for a week. I have been looking for a week.
betoweb said:
Where did you find the correct root file ?
I see now that I have KOT49H.L720VPUFNAE not KOT49H.L720VPUFNG2.
I have looked for a week. I have been looking for a week.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is all in this thread. I cannot share links, so you will have to do the legwork on that one. If you google search what I entered previously, you should see your version in the list of headers.
This started as a beg for help thread, but since the GS4 is coming up on 3 generations old, help is quite slow, yet does still exist as of this edit (3-20-15).
None the less, I will try to explain what happened so that people searching for similar problems might find this thread and resolve their issues.
I soft bricked the phone flashing PacMan. ... The instructions CLEARLY stated that you need to flash the rom, then flash GApps. Well, I forgot to Flash Gapps because I was so excited that I had a successful root and new rom to test that I finger ganged the phone.... The phone booted just fine and worked just fine, but I did not have ANY google apps, and went into a panic... LESSON #1 DO NOT PANIC......
What I failed to realize is that Android Lolipop (at least PacMan's version) requires the user to select options in the developer section of the settings menu to enable you to boot into your custom recovery after you have flashed your custom rom.... I DID NOT KNOW THIS and the information was NOT readily available. So what happened was I panicked and tried to flash another recovery which was apparently NOT the correct recovery for my phone.. (the cascade of errors began here). My phone was soft bricked and NOTHING I did would get me out of it.
So, after at least 50 attempts using Odin to try and flash a good recovery, re-root the phone, whatever I could think of, I finally got out of soft brick, and back to a working phone, yet still no google apps, and no recovery (or so I thought).
By this time, I had asked ....no. begged for help on 2 or 3 different threads to no avail when what I thought was a brain storm came to me.... I googled and located the google play store apk, and google play services apk and thought that if I could just get these 2 things installed, I would be able to log onto the google play store and download the apps I need and all would be right with the world....... Yeah.... Remember the cascade of errors thing I mentioned a few lines up ^^^ ?
Once I installed those 2 apk's and rebooted the phone, I was in nag screen hell with no way out, no custom recovery (remember...or so I thought) and no way to access ANYTHING on the phone because literally the second I hit "ok" on the nag screen, it would immediately pop back up...This "nag screen" was the one that pops up and tells you that "google play services has stopped working".. I came inches away from launching the phone against the wall and buying another one... something... anything but a Samsung GS4.
So here we are, 14 hours (of actual face in the phone, Odin, XDA, Google, YouTube) frantically searching for ANY solution.....and NOTHING presented itself, when I decided to take a step back and walk away from it for a couple of hours.......
The next thing I tried was pounding my way through the nag screen... Literally hitting the "ok" toggle to clear the screen, while instantly trying to hit any other button on the screen to get me into the settings menu, because during my little self imposed time out, I had an epiphany.... of sorts..... What really happened is that I remembered seeing a "factory reset" toggle in the settings menus somewhere.....and I was determined to find it........ SO....... 13,386,329 clicks of the "ok" button later, I managed to engage the factory reset switch at the exact right moment, followed by another 4,388 presses of the "ok" button to get to the "confirm" button.......... and like a beacon from heaven...... My phone rebooted, and factory reset, and the #%g^7**&^|@# nag screen was GONE !!!!! Oh my GOD it was GONE !!!!!!! After recovering from my full blown conniption, catching my breath and feeling like a raver must feel after a good night of Molly and glow stick euphoria, I had a working phone again..... almost.
What I did next was go immediately to Odin, re-root the phone, install a DIFFERENT rom, and the latest version of TWRP and like another beacon from the gods I had a wonderfully functional phone with all of the google apps I needed.... and all was good with the world........Pretty much....
I am nearly certain that I cost myself 5 years of healthy living with the stress I imposed upon myself throughout this ordeal ---- The following are lessons learned. Hopefully they save you from madness...
(1) Do NOT use a USB hub to connect your phone to the computer. The phone MUST be connected directly to a USB port on your machine.
(2) Understand the workings of the rom you are going to flash BEFORE you flash it.
(3) DO NOT PANIC
(4) DO NOT randomly install apk's just because you think you are smarter than a 5th grader, and you are so mad your phone doesn't work, you are going to try anything regardless of how retarded it might be.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST and actually probably the MOST IMPORTANT thing to do is locate, download and CONFIRM GOOD a stock firmware for YOUR phone BEFORE YOU ROOT or flash a new rom..... If you get to brick he11 like I did, you will spend more time searching for the tools to get back to zero than you can imagine. You will be revved up, angry with the world, and your google fu will fail you......miserably I might add......
Get all of your ducks in a row BEFORE you root, and before you flash a new rom. That means finding the stock firmware and opening it up in Odin with your phone connected to CONFIRM you have a good firmware to go back to should you fail miserably.... Your very sanity could depend on it...
Team Scream said:
Does anyone have and is willing to share a stock Galaxy S4 rom so I can go back to stock on my phone? I am currently soft bricked and completely dead in the water...
I need to be able to flash the rom using Odin since that is the ONLY way I can communicate with this phone right now....I can flash whatever recovery I want using Odin, but I cannot boot into that recovery once successfully flashed with Odin. It boot loops and goes back to the completely useless PacMan 5.02 rom I flashed previously that repeatedly shows the "google play services has stopped working" screen.... and no number of attempts to clear it by hitting ok will get me to a working desktop
I bricked my phone by flashing PacMan and forgetting to flash GAPPS before rebooting, then trying to install google play services apk and google play store apk manually because I could not get back into recovery for whatever reason....
I have spent the ENTIRE day searching for a stock rom that I can flash with Odin so I can at least get back to zero with this S4 which is actually a brand new phone for me....
PLEASE do not link me to mediafire or rapidgator downloads because I have tried every one of those that google will reveal.. I need one that YOU know is good, and will work. NONE.... NOT ONE of the files I have been able to find online are legitimate .tar files... They ALL unzip with errors and I have tried them on multiple computers.....Multiple download attempts and NOTHING... I have literally been at this for 10 hours now and really need some love.
On a side note, if I can pull the stock rom from my wifes brand new S4 without screwing up her phone, PLEASE tell me how to do that. She literally picked up her brand new replacement S4 today...
Any help is genuinely appreciated... PLEASE.
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http://www.rwilco12.com/downloads.php?dir=Files/Devices/Samsung Galaxy S4 (SPH-L720)/Stock ROMs
KennyG123 said:
http://www.rwilco12.com/downloads.php?dir=Files/Devices/Samsung Galaxy S4 (SPH-L720)/Stock ROMs
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Man thank you! THANK YOU! I really appreciate it... I woke this morning to find this reply after leaving my computer running all night for another corrupted downloaded image file.... I have my fingers crossed !!! THANK YOU
P.S. how do I know which one of those files I actually need? I have no idea what the difference is in each of those folders.... Forgive me for noob but I really am pretty noob at this.....
I just looked at the link to help you and noticed that Wilco stops at the NAE baseband. A lot of phones are on the NG2 baseband and if you have a 720T, it could be even a different baseband. Go to settings, "About Phone". Look for" "Baseband" and "Model Number". Write that information down. Once you have that, the last three characters are what is in the list in the link KennyG123 sent you. (For example, I have the original S4 so I have a SPH-L720 and my baseband is L720VPUFNG2 (or NG2 for short. Which was not on that list.) If it is not on the list, go to www.sammobile.com and search for your model number (For example, I am on the SPH-L720. If you just bought your phone from Sprint, you probably have the SPH-L720 or SPH-L720T). You can download the tar file from there. It is a little slow but it will get it done for you. The tar file for both phones are here in this forum if you want to search but going to Sammobile would probably be a little easier from the sounds of it.
dyandell said:
I just looked at the link to help you and noticed that Wilco stops at the NAE baseband. <snip>
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Hey brother, thank you so much for the help and reply. I might have forgot to mention that I cannot get into the phone to read the model # or get any information from it at all. The nag screen telling me that google play services has stopped working is so persistent that I can't do anything with the phone once it boots.
Is there a way to brute force wipe the phone so that the only thing left when that process is done is a custom recovery like TWRP or Philz or anything other than stock?
If so, would you be so kind as to point me in the direction of a tutorial that would help me get through that process.... I am either not using the right search terms or I am just too old to be good at this and should have stayed home when the rooting lessons were being handed out...
Anyway, I genuinely appreciate your help... Thank you so much !!
Ok I was able to pound my way through the nag screen to the settings menu and eventually got to the baseband and model #
baseband: L720TVPUBOA3
model #: SPH-L720
I have tried 3 times to download the only version I can find on the sammobile.com website using the baseband to search and the file fails to download after getting about 2/3 complete.... I have tried it on 2 separate computers from 2 different locations now...... This is horrifying ...... Every single force that can be working against me, is working against me.
Ugh...... If you have a link to a method I can use to force wipe the phone without a stock rom, but with a recovery I can boot into to flash a rom I have on my external SD card, I would love to see it...... im losing my mind here...
<<<<<<<< EDIT>>>>>>>>>
I was also able to pound my way into the settings menu and do a factory reset which removed the google play nag. From there I was able to root around in the developer options folder where I discovered that in order to be able to boot into recovery, you need to select the "boot options" tab and allow the device to boot into recovery....
I know this device is old now and most people have moved on, and I am pleased that there are some people who stick around here to keep this device alive. I only wish that someone would have advised me to check the boot options selection when I indicated I could not boot into recovery... That would have saved me 2 days of manic obsessive he11....... This was complete he11...... But I am on the other side of it now, and have reflashed another rom... I am back among the living.
Team Scream said:
Ok I was able to pound my way through the nag screen to the settings menu and eventually got to the baseband and model #
baseband: L720TVPUBOA3
model #: SPH-L720
I have tried 3 times to download the only version I can find on the sammobile.com website using the baseband to search and the file fails to download after getting about 2/3 complete.... I have tried it on 2 separate computers from 2 different locations now...... This is horrifying ...... Every single force that can be working against me, is working against me.
Ugh...... If you have a link to a method I can use to force wipe the phone without a stock rom, but with a recovery I can boot into to flash a rom I have on my external SD card, I would love to see it...... im losing my mind here...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sprint phones have always been able to downgrade and thinking that has not changed. You should be able to Odin the last one listed on the link I gave you...NAE...then your phone should boot...you can then take the Sprint OTA if you like then root and recovery as normal. Then you can get to the stuff on your SD and flash. The only issues I remember popping up these days is if you mismatch the modem and OS...which wouldn't be the case if you Odin'd NAE.
Team Scream said:
Ok I was able to pound my way through the nag screen to the settings menu and eventually got to the baseband and model #
baseband: L720TVPUBOA3
model #: SPH-L720
I have tried 3 times to download the only version I can find on the sammobile.com website using the baseband to search and the file fails to download after getting about 2/3 complete.... I have tried it on 2 separate computers from 2 different locations now...... This is horrifying ...... Every single force that can be working against me, is working against me.
Ugh...... If you have a link to a method I can use to force wipe the phone without a stock rom, but with a recovery I can boot into to flash a rom I have on my external SD card, I would love to see it...... im losing my mind here...
<<<<<<<< EDIT>>>>>>>>>
I was also able to pound my way into the settings menu and do a factory reset which removed the google play nag. From there I was able to root around in the developer options folder where I discovered that in order to be able to boot into recovery, you need to select the "boot options" tab and allow the device to boot into recovery....
I know this device is old now and most people have moved on, and I am pleased that there are some people who stick around here to keep this device alive. I only wish that someone would have advised me to check the boot options selection when I indicated I could not boot into recovery... That would have saved me 2 days of manic obsessive he11....... This was complete he11...... But I am on the other side of it now, and have reflashed another rom... I am back among the living.
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Glad you got it fixed! I have had my phone for over a year now and never heard of a boot options tab. I guess you learn something new every day.
Also glad you got it fixed. But let's keep this open in case someone else has the same or similar issue.
KennyG123 said:
Sprint phones have always been able to downgrade and thinking that has not changed. You should be able to Odin the last one listed on the link I gave you...NAE...then your phone should boot...you can then take the Sprint OTA if you like then root and recovery as normal. Then you can get to the stuff on your SD and flash. The only issues I remember popping up these days is if you mismatch the modem and OS...which wouldn't be the case if you Odin'd NAE.
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Well not being able to leave well enough alone, I locked my phone up again.
Because I was able to get out of soft brick without needing a stock firmware, I never bothered downloading NAE from the link you provided.
Turns out after 2 separate downloads (one using Chrome and one using Firefox) I have determined that the md5.tar files on that site http://www.rwilco12.com/downloads.php?dir=Files/Devices/Samsung%20Galaxy%20S4%20%28SPH-L720%29/Stock%20ROMs are worthless.... BOTH downloads failed in Odin before I could even get out of the gate....
They failed the md5 check that Odin performs and would not allow me to continue.... IS there something I am missing?
Team Scream said:
Well not being able to leave well enough alone, I locked my phone up again.
Because I was able to get out of soft brick without needing a stock firmware, I never bothered downloading NAE from the link you provided.
Turns out after 2 separate downloads (one using Chrome and one using Firefox) I have determined that the md5.tar files on that site http://www.rwilco12.com/downloads.php?dir=Files/Devices/Samsung%20Galaxy%20S4%20%28SPH-L720%29/Stock%20ROMs are worthless.... BOTH downloads failed in Odin before I could even get out of the gate....
They failed the md5 check that Odin performs and would not allow me to continue.... IS there something I am missing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Remove the .md5 extension at the end and try again.
KennyG123 said:
Remove the .md5 extension at the end and try again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sweet baby Jeezes please tell me that is not all I had to do.... I spent 4 hours staring at the screen downloading files last night .... I waited 4 hours and finally could not stay awake any more but I finally got the OA3 firmware from SamMobile downloaded successfully. I left the .md5 extension and it is now flashing via Odin as I type this.... I could have saved myself a few more hours of misery if I had known you can remove the .md5 extension..... This learning curve is hard on an old man like me hahaha!
Thanks Kenny
<edit> Ahhhhh.... the sweet smell of success !!! I am now booted back into a stock phone!!!
Man I hope this thread can help save someone else from the anguish I have put myself through with this thing....
Team Scream said:
Sweet baby Jeezes please tell me that is not all I had to do.... I spent 4 hours staring at the screen downloading files last night .... I waited 4 hours and finally could not stay awake any more but I finally got the OA3 firmware from SamMobile downloaded successfully. I left the .md5 extension and it is now flashing via Odin as I type this.... I could have saved myself a few more hours of misery if I had known you can remove the .md5 extension..... This learning curve is hard on an old man like me hahaha!
Thanks Kenny
<edit> Ahhhhh.... the sweet smell of success !!! I am now booted back into a stock phone!!!
Man I hope this thread can help save someone else from the anguish I have put myself through with this thing....
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I am sure it will! Glad you got it working and glad I helped! Some versions of Odin don't care about the md5 extension and others barf it up. With the way your luck went....well...don't buy a lottery ticket this week...hahaha.
I have an AT&T S4
Rooted with the method where you install a bat on a physical sd card and run a terminal command... forgot which one that was called
Firmware 4.2.2
Baseband version: l337ucuamf3
(let me know if you need anymore info)
As far as what rom I want, I don't really have a preference, but anything close to stock would be good.
I don't have a 3rd party recovery installed that I know of. I tried to install Clockwork Recovery and it said it did but when I boot into recovery it doesn't identify itself as CWR.
Honestly, if I can get to at least 4.3 and not have root I'd be okay with that. Having root also would be cool but getting to 4.3 is most important. I need to get to 4.3 to use my moto360 if you are curious.
If you send me a link on a guide on how to do this, I would be grateful, but any additional info you can provide as far as why I'm having such a hard time installing a new rom would be helpful too.
grphx said:
If you send me a link on a guide on how to do this, I would be grateful, but any additional info you can provide as far as why I'm having such a hard time installing a new rom would be helpful too.
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This would be where you need to start reading.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2616221
My Prior thread: https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4-att/help/n00b-sgh-i337-running-original-kernel-4-t3850783
I obtained a stock MDL i337 S4 running 4.2.2 and following the instructions in the prior thread I rooted with TowelRoot and updated to Lollipop 5.0.1/ GoldenEye and I've had nothing but problems ever since, so much so that the phone has almost gotten me lost in Oakland and has made me late for work twice!
The phone freezes, sometimes randomly reboots, shuts down applications without reason or warning (LIKE MY ALARM CLOCK!!!), apps can freeze while in use (like Google Maps at a critical time!), it eats power like me at a Chinese buffet and runs hot sometimes, apps are slow to load or won't load (sucks when a call comes in. By the time I am able to answer it, the caller has hung up!), app updates hang, and more. I suspect that part of the issue is that the instructions I got for rooting it and installing a custom ROM were a bit different than those of the GoldenEYe dev (who abandoned his project years ago and no longer answers questions) but I'm not sure.
The first time I did the upgrade, it froze at the Samsung screen for almost 30 min and I had to start over. Then when it was complete the phone was almost unusable. I read that there were issues with SuperSU so I started uninstalling some of the dev apps (I really don't know what the hell I'm doing but was desperate) and when I disabled SuperSU and did clean up to switch to another superuser app" then thought I uninstalled it and all the problems seemed to go away. A few days later while doing something else in the play store, I find that SuperSU is running even though it no longer shows in my apps! So thinking something nefarious was going on, I uninstalled it via the play store and my phone was back to being hosed again. Ok, yes I'm an idiot and deserved that.
I go back to the beginning and started all over AGAIN, reinstall/upgrade but with a different kernel (thinking maybe that?, I tried leaving my apps and settings but that didn't take. Any clue how many times I've now configured my email and office tools? lol) and ended up with what I have now, ie the issues above. I thought about trying to just somehow go back to stock 4.2.2 then just finding the stock ATT Lollipop firmware and saying to hell with root but those instructions are not clear and most post links to the firmware are now dead (I REALLY don't want to brick my phone. I have no money for another and I need my phone for my job). I'd really like to go above Lollipop if at all possible but would be happy just to have GoldenEye work!
Does anyone have any idea what the heck is going on with my phone and how I fix it? This is a serious problem for me.
SGi337
Android 5.0.1
Baseband I337UCUAMDL
Kernel Ver: 3.4.0-S4-AELKerel-v4.3-LP [email protected] #36 Wed Apr 8 19:56:06 EEST 2015
Build number LRX22C.I9505XXUHOD7
Rom Ver: GOLDENEYE 53 XXUHOD7
Dev iB4STid
SuperSU PseudoPro (had Pro, didn't reinstall it the last time) is installed but disabled
ES Task Manager and ES File Manager
Titanium Backup Pro
And so we meet again! Okay so forget golden eye. What you should do is get ODIN for your PC. Then get the MDL firmware and flash it with ODIN by connect your phone to your PC. You might also need Samsung Kies for your PC for this as it has the drivers for your phone.
Once you're back on Android jelly bean, use towel root to root, install Loki, install clockwork mod or TWRP recovery (for TWRP go here https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2262996 and for clockwork mod just use my guide again).
Then flash this:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4-att/development/rom-100-stock-i337oc3-5-0-mdl-t3098197
This will give you the latest stock Rom for your phone. It's from AT&T but has been modified to work with the MDL bootloader so it doesn't patch the Loki exploit.
Also remember that you need superSU installed or else you won't have any root management for your root apps.
Hi! lol
Any idea why this is happening? I'd really like to go to something like Marshmallow or the like but if stock is it, that will have to do.
I tried finding the MDL firmware but so far all the links are old dead ones. Have you seen anything more current?
StoneyJSG said:
And so we meet again! Okay so forget golden eye. What you should do is get ODIN for your PC. Then get the MDL firmware and flash it with ODIN by connect your phone to your PC. You might also need Samsung Kies for your PC for this as it has the drivers for your phone.
Once you're back on Android jelly bean, use towel root to root, install Loki, install clockwork mod or TWRP recovery (for TWRP go here https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2262996 and for clockwork mod just use my guide again).
Then flash this:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4-att/development/rom-100-stock-i337oc3-5-0-mdl-t3098197
This will give you the latest stock Rom for your phone. It's from AT&T but has been modified to work with the MDL bootloader so it doesn't patch the Loki exploit.
Also remember that you need superSU installed or else you won't have any root management for your root apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have no idea why golden eye is giving you issues. It works fine for me and you followed my guide just like I did. Anyway, you can goto marshmallow but it'll be AOSP based rather than touchwiz based so the look and feel will be way different than that of golden eye or any other stock Samsung ROM.
You can also just try going into clockwork mod and do a wipe (I forgot the sequence, it's wipe system, data, cache I THINK but it's in my guide on the order of how to do it) for a clean install of a ROM from there. This will eliminate the need for ODIN. You should however, keep ODIN on standby in case anything goes south you can go back to how the phone was when you first got it. I have the ODIN MDL firmware on a USB drive, let me find it over the weekend and upload it to my Google drive and will link you to it.
SilkRoadDog said:
I tried finding the MDL firmware but so far all the links are old dead ones. Have you seen anything more current?
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Hey dude, here's the link to the MDL firmware for ODIN off my Google drive: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZXv9FAcDbfkbFZzh078SSMZ85jbMVPSx/view?usp=drivesdk
StoneyJSG said:
Hey dude, here's the link to the MDL firmware for ODIN off my Google drive: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZXv9FAcDbfkbFZzh078SSMZ85jbMVPSx/view?usp=drivesdk
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Click to collapse
Well after putting up with the phone issues for 2 months, I reset everything following your instructions to the best of my abilities (except couldn't get towelroot to load so went with another). Let's see how this works! lol
Your instructions say "SuperSU will kill the evil KNOX for you." What is that and how do I do this?
SilkRoadDog said:
Your instructions say "SuperSU will kill the evil KNOX for you." What is that and how do I do this?
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Click to collapse
Once rooted, goto the Google play store and download the SuperSU app, open it and it will ask you some stuff then do the rest. Towel root needs internet access to work. I was starting to have issues with golden eye rom off and on until I flashed the OC3 modem, you may wanna try that after you get back to golden eye.
There's also another ROM on here called i337_OC3_stock_rooted_rom(MDL) , you may want to try it out as it's 100% stock and hasn't been modified like golden eye rom has. I am not sure it works with clock work mod recovery so you might need TWRP recovery for it.