I will save you the details of what I was thinking and why. But I rooted through Kingo and using nobloat I uninstalled a handful of apps, mainly what I saw listed as safe to remove. Then I had to do a factory reset on my phone and I did it without thinking and now everything I blocked is gone.
When it first came back up I had no touchwiz or Samsung keyboard. I had to plug in an external keyboard and install Nova Launcher before I could even use my home screen.
So I'm back up on a non-rooted phone (removed Kingo root) with my knox not tripped. However it fails to install updates. I have no warranty left on this device.
Is there any way to get ota updates to work again or did I need it up to badly? I have also lost kies so I think that eliminates all other ways to update the phone. I have android 4.3
Should I just leave well enough alone? Is there as way to get this phone back to pristine? Should I even be concerned with future updates? Do I just figure out how to properly root this device and install a 4.4.2 rom?
Thoughts and suggestions? Thanks in advance!
Related
Hey guys. I hate making my first post a really noobie question but here it goes.
I just updated my rooted Xperia Play to 2.3.3 and it erased and/or re-wrote all of my system apps. I stupidly converted some of my downloaded apps into system apps using Titanium (because system apps turn red on the list. It helped me quickly figure out what was external and what was internal. Stupid, yes, and more trouble then it was actually worth.) so those apps were lost. Didn't matter, I had backups but I lost my root so I couldn't access them.
Forgetting what I used to root my phone originally I decided to use z4root after reading about it somewhere. The site I got it from is usually trust worthy but when I downloaded the file my OfficeScan (its a school bought computer) warned me of a potential virus threat. I wrote it off as just the pop-up ad and un-zipped and transferred the file to my phone. I still am not sure if it was a virus or not... Running z4root it got up to "acquiring shell root..." or something like that before kicking me back to the home screen with no change. I, again, stupidly, re-ran it several times without rebooting between each attempt. Giving up I then realized to reboot. Strangely rebooting was A LOT faster then it was usually is and I don't know if that was z4 or 2.3.3.
Anyway I remembered that I used Gingerbreak last time and re-installed that. I made several attempts with that with no change either. Too many to count, but at least more than 8. Several attempts I got a call or a text and, checking them, ended the process. 2 attempts I left running for about half an hour (I know that the instructions say it will never take more then 10 minutes) and some I ended with a battery pull after more then 10mins(as per instruction).
So I guess I have several questions:
1. How bad did I f* up, If I did so?
2. Any suggestions on how to re-root/fix it?
3. Will switching to an empty SD card, successfully rooting it, and switching back to the full card still keep the root?
4. Does an in phone factory reset work the same as flashing the same rom or will I need to actually flash that new rom?
5. If I do need to flash, where can I find a regular Play rom? Or do you have suggestions about a better rom?
6. Is the fast reboot the work of the half done, possibly a virus, z4root process or just the 2.3.3 update?
7.Lastly Was this tl and you ;dr?
Normally, I wouldn't care if there was no fix; My phone boots much faster, I didn't lose all my apps and only some apps launch a little slower then before. But I made tons of progress on Zenonia 2 and I want my back ups for that... lol.
Any help appreciated. Also thanks for putting up with a noob that's writing way to formally
1. Messing with the system apps, and not backing them up probably caused you to not have an OTA update. I'm guessing you flashed it? Not restoring anything and not doing an OTA was mistake number one. Trying to use z4root was mistake number 2.
2. Get the generic UK firmware from here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1097591
-Flash that with Bin4ry and Androxhyde's flashtool
-Put in your carrier's APN settings, configure your google account, wifi etc. etc.
-Get Gingerbreak 1.2, run it(I used Astro to open the apk, and you need uunknown sources enabled).
Gingerbreak only worked for me when I formatted an SD card right before running it. I used a spare that was lying around, not the usual one with all my data, and I suggest you do the same if you kept your titanium backups. Hopefully you'll get rooted after about 3-5 minutes. Do not mess with any apps/bloatware after you have the root.
-After you have root, go into the settings menu and start an OTA update.
You should now have 2.3.3 WITH root.
-Once the phone is updated, install Titanium Backup and start backing up your old apps from before you messed up the phone and lost root.
-At this point feel free to remove the bloatware, but make sure you back it up in titanium for later.
3. Switching SD cards won't affect root at all.
4. A factory reset will reset whatever ROM was installed last. In other words, you can't revert back to 2.3.2 with a reset, it'll just reset 2.3.3 - It's really just for wiping data and settings.
5.The regular play ROM is the UK generic I posted above. The only "better" roms are customs that you need an unlocked bootloader to install. Currently they're still buggy and in development and not worth getting unless you like incomplete ROMs with bugs, and wanna lose the ability to update normally. Both OTA updates and the Sony Ericsson Update Service will brick your phone once the bootloader's unlocked.
6. My phone was booting a bit faster after updating to 2.3.3, and became even faster after removing some bloatware.
-Root doesn't speed up the boot process.
-I highly doubt an Android phone would have a virus that makes it boot faster, it's probably just from the update.
7. No, it wasn't. No, I didn't.
Thanks for the (semi-)quick response. Been browsing around the web with this tab open, constantly refreshing like a creep. I'll try your advice soon but its like 3am, just wanted to say thanks and love your Stocking pic.
Btw is there a difference between A US, UK or CAN rom or do those even exist?
The only real differences are carrier specific apps, and some versions have different games installed.
Sent from my R800
Seems like I was to late to flash and the link to the rom you gave me may have been updated to 2.3.3 as well. I was looking for a Canada/Rodgers rom anyway but the forum search isn't turning up anything and google seems to hate me...
Help anyone?
The link was for 2.3.2 in the generic.
The only rogers rom available is for 2.3.3 so you won't be getting root without an unlocked bootloader with that one.
Just follow the directions and it should be fine.
The rogers apps are available in the android market separately.
Sent from my R800
So I got mom and myself a Fire for Christmas, and I'm debating the effort involved with supporting Google Currents and Gmail on them both. Mainly what I'm worried about is how much maintenance I may have to do afterwards if I root, install the Google apps then unroot
I'm not a newb, but might be a novice still, I did root and re-rom my Galaxy Tab but that was nearly a year ago now, since then I haven't done anything other than use it and I'm hoping for a similar ability to just USE the Fire rather than tinker with it.
From others reporting, it sounds like there might be issues with updates from Amazon causing problems with software installed this way? Has anyone gone through an update cycle with this setup and had any problems getting back into Currents or Gmail?
We have seen that the OTA update does remove root. It is easy to reroot using SuperOneClick and takes less than 15 seconds since you already had it configured on your PC when you initially rooted.
Other than Market, No other apps were affected and I also still had the changes to build.prop. Apps that were manually installed into System/App may need to be reinstalled (like Market). You may want to install OTA RootKeeper apk in order to easily unroot to use Amazon VOD and reapply root when you need it. Using Titanium Backup, you can backup all your apps and restore in the event there is an OTA update which affects the Market. I used Titanium Backup to restore Market. Another handy apk is AppSaver.
I would root it, install what you want, then use otarootkeeper, which is in the Google market, and do a temporary unrest. That way she can not mess anything up. If you need to make changes that require root, it is as simple as clicking restore root in rootkeeper, and your back in business.
Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk
I rooted my phone using towel root, everything seemed fine until it started randomly crashing. Now the crashing happens like this, the screen will freeze (with like weird tearing) then either restart or stay frozen. The only root app I use is wifi tether router. I did notice supersu will fail to update the binaries. Not sure if that could be a cause.
My question is how do I unroot it. So I can at least attempt any kind of fix. I'm still under warranty.
Can anyone help me at all? Please
waterbottels said:
I rooted my phone using towel root, everything seemed fine until it started randomly crashing. Now the crashing happens like this, the screen will freeze (with like weird tearing) then either restart or stay frozen. The only root app I use is wifi tether router. I did notice supersu will fail to update the binaries. Not sure if that could be a cause.
My question is how do I unroot it. So I can at least attempt any kind of fix. I'm still under warranty.
Can anyone help me at all? Please
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A thorough way to unroot and reset everything is to Odin back to stock and then do a factory reset. The stock tar can be found here.
kinstre11 said:
A thorough way to unroot and reset everything is to Odin back to stock and then do a factory reset. The stock tar can be found here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was able to get supersu to work again, could I do an unroot through that even if I used towelroot?
waterbottels said:
I was able to get supersu to work again, could I do an unroot through that even if I used towelroot?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is an unroot option in SuperSU (although I've never done it so I don't know if it actually unroots or just cleans up things to allow a clean unroot. The other thing I'm not sure it does is restore Knox which is something that will be checked for by the manufacturer). If you're taking your phone back or sending it in under warranty you probably should make sure you uninstall anything you need root for prior to unrooting, but if you're on a custom rom or want to make sure everything is back to factory (including Knox) I would recommend doing what I suggested in my last post.
Same Problem
Same problem as OP. I had a Note 3 originally that I took the update to 4.4.2 and used Towelroot and everything was fine. I recently broke the bejesus out of my Note 3 and got a replacement under the warranty. I used Towelroot on the new Note 3 and I am getting random freezing and a weird line that appears across the screen once it freezes. Sometimes it will reboot others I need to pull the battery.
What is happening? I am now back to stock and want to root again. Anyone have a solution to this?
Hi all
I've upgraded from S4 to s5 today
Bought a refurbished s5 unlocked from eBay (reputable seller)
Rather stupidly I didn't restore factory settings as I assumed seller would (they sell multiple phones so I'm assuming they know what they are doing!!)
Downloaded and updated all my apps and data already.
Then I've gone into settings and notice it says status is "custom". So I get message about custom software and updates won't work etc
I'm not quite sure why this would be the case?
I'm assuming they dont need to root to unlock the phone if it wasn't unlocked already?
Even if they had to root why would they install a custom rom? ?
2 questions:
1) I'm assuming I just need to download stock from sammobile and install using odin????
2) is there anything to worry about/check after buying a refurbished s5? Fingerprint works etc so I'm confident it's a real Samsung phone!
Just a couple of weird things like there is an app in the application manager called Baby crying monitor but there is no app anywhere I can find????!!!!
Any help appreciated.
Make sure cache is not set to "Art". This will cause same issue.
DeanonZL said:
Make sure cache is not set to "Art". This will cause same issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, not sure what you mean by that? How do I check cashe isn't set to art?
2 other bits got me wondering..
There is knox mentioned in the application manager but there is no app for it (like this crying baby app thing)
also when I try to uninstall apps or try to stop "restarting" apps in "clean master" it says something about needing access and shows a screen shot of SU. Basically telling me I need root access with SU to able to perform those tasks.
Before I rooted my S4 I'm sure I didn't need root to uninstall programs through clean master? ??
I might be wrong but it maybe that a previous owner has rooted the phone and the root has been removed but a full reset not been done?
I dunno. It just feels a bit weird.!!!
As I am "Far from a Jedi", you could try using "phone info samsung". It is on the google play store. Will give you info about your phone to check.
Failing that, I would suggest a factory reset to return to a known starting point.
I know it will involve setting up your phone again, at least you will know for certain.
Hope this helps...
rootromnoob said:
Sorry, not sure what you mean by that? How do I check cashe isn't set to art?
2 other bits got me wondering..
There is knox mentioned in the application manager but there is no app for it (like this crying baby app thing)
also when I try to uninstall apps or try to stop "restarting" apps in "clean master" it says something about needing access and shows a screen shot of SU. Basically telling me I need root access with SU to able to perform those tasks.
Before I rooted my S4 I'm sure I didn't need root to uninstall programs through clean master? ??
I might be wrong but it maybe that a previous owner has rooted the phone and the root has been removed but a full reset not been done?
I dunno. It just feels a bit weird.!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you thought about contacting the seller and saying I want a different phone or money off as this shows custom, has Knox flag been tripped in the download menu? From power off hold vol down + power + home.
Thanks to all replies!
So a factory reset has got it cleaned up.
I've used the app mentioned in previous post and everything is legit.
Knox is at 0.0
It still says Custom though but considering everything is legit I'm not too fussed
Would like to know why it says custom though!!???
Unrelated question (didn't want to hog posts by creating a new one....)
I've been using clean master on my s4 and I was using between 35-50% of ram.
On my s5 I'm running consistantly at a lot higher ram I'm having to boost frequently during the day
Is it because the s5 just uses more ram or is it related to the fact I was rooted on the s4 and debloated a tonne of c**p? ????
(The ram is well over 1gb most of the time. Even when I boost it only goes to about 50%)
I don't get lag or slowness but as a bit OCD I want lower!!!)
Any ideas why it's so high?
Its normal, IDK why. I'm running AICP and even I've never seen my ram usage dip below 1.2GB, it was 1.4GB on the Sammy rom.
Annoyingly I've now reinstalled all apps and folder etc (after factory reset)to find out that certain apps won't work because it says my phone is rooted.
Is my only option now to try reinstall software through kies ??
rootromnoob said:
Annoyingly I've now reinstalled all apps and folder etc (after factory reset)to find out that certain apps won't work because it says my phone is rooted.
Is my only option now to try reinstall software through kies ??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if your knox is 0x0 your varanty is fine. well u can use xblast xposed tools to change the custom to official. after this u can receive updates on your phone. if u don't want to keep your phone rooted after update phone is going to be unrooted if u want to keep it buy su pro and tick on survival mode.
Hi guys,
I have always been contempt with my factory Note 3 image, but there were always a few things that I didn't like, like a bunch of bloatware apps that I could not uninstall. I have simply disabled them. I tried one of these uninstall apps and it said I need root access to remove some apps, would root access actually allow me to remove these apps?
If I root the device and get rid of these apps, and then remove the root, would they re-appear after a lollipop update if it ever comes?
I am planning on using Towelroot to do the rooting on the phone as I believe my software version is old enough.
eblend said:
Hi guys,
I have always been contempt with my factory Note 3 image, but there were always a few things that I didn't like, like a bunch of bloatware apps that I could not uninstall. I have simply disabled them. I tried one of these uninstall apps and it said I need root access to remove some apps, would root access actually allow me to remove these apps?
If I root the device and get rid of these apps, and then remove the root, would they re-appear after a lollipop update if it ever comes?
I am planning on using Towelroot to do the rooting on the phone as I believe my software version is old enough.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Yes, root access give you perms to delete the bloatware that bother you. (Ex: HERE).
2. The bloatware will re-appear when you flash a new firmware ofc.
3. Towelroot works perfectly for what you need :highfive:.