Database Users

MDL to MF3

From what I have read on the forums MF3 has is suppose to patch loki and prevent custom recoveries from being installed on the phone. I am on MDL with a custom rom flashed on it and running on T-Mobile and was curious about the "benefits" if I were going to upgrade to MF3. The most interesting one to me is better cell signal... Would there be anyway to flash a hacked version of mf3 or some other baseband update? Or are the differences so minute that it doesnt really matter.

jmarsh24 said:
From what I have read on the forums MF3 has is suppose to patch loki and prevent custom recoveries from being installed on the phone. I am on MDL with a custom rom flashed on it and running on T-Mobile and was curious about the "benefits" if I were going to upgrade to MF3. The most interesting one to me is better cell signal... Would there be anyway to flash a hacked version of mf3 or some other baseband update? Or are the differences so minute that it doesnt really matter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The OTA MF3 update includes a locked bootloader. This is what you don't want.
You could either flash an MF3 Rom (this won't include the locked bootloader) or just flash the MF3 modem if you want to see if it gives you a better signal.

Is there a way to do it to maintain the ability to flash asop roms?
rayburne said:
The OTA MF3 update includes a locked bootloader. This is what you don't want.
You could either flash an MF3 Rom (this won't include the locked bootloader) or just flash the MF3 modem if you want to see if it gives you a better signal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

jmarsh24 said:
Is there a way to do it to maintain the ability to flash asop roms?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. As stated abive just flash a mf3 modem. You xan find the modem thread in the dev section. It wont change anything but your baseband so you can keep your aosp rom you have now.
If you do decide to flash a mf3 based rom you can always go back to aosp roms. Nothing will change for you as far as flashing any roms you want to. UNLESS you go back to stock and take the OTA MF3 software update. All the info you need can be found in the dev section for our device
Sent from My Spiderman/IronMan/Dark Blue/Red/Green/GreyedOut BadAss Themed I337

Luckily, if you go back to stock, you will not be able to get the OTA MF3 since you are on T-Mobile's network. Unless, you had the phone or anyone had the phone activated on AT&T's network at any time in the past.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

[Q] odin from MK2 to earlier release which allows flashing AOSP roms?

Let me get this straight:
I have a shiny new, rooted, safestrapped MK2 flavor ATT i377, and am limited, painfully, to TW 4.3 roms.
I see all sorts of firmware for my device, but can't flash it, thanks to my bootloader.
Question:
can't I odin to an earlier firmware, one that allows for the loki crack, and then flash KitKat releases?
I am unclear on the concept of how odin plays into the bootloader equation. I get that I can't flash from my device, but it seems like I should be able to go back in time, find tar files, with bootloaders, and push them to my device. No?
thanks in advance to the community.

Galaxy_Cat said:
Let me get this straight:
I have a shiny new, rooted, safestrapped MK2 flavor ATT i377, and am limited, painfully, to TW 4.3 roms.
I see all sorts of firmware for my device, but can't flash it, thanks to my bootloader.
Question:
can't I odin to an earlier firmware, one that allows for the loki crack, and then flash KitKat releases?
I am unclear on the concept of how odin plays into the bootloader equation. I get that I can't flash from my device, but it seems like I should be able to go back in time, find tar files, with bootloaders, and push them to my device. No?
thanks in advance to the community.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You must have read just a little before asking your question .many have tried what sounds so simple and have the popular paperweight known as a "BRICK".
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/use-odin-android-28504.html

Galaxy_Cat said:
Let me get this straight:
I have a shiny new, rooted, safestrapped MK2 flavor ATT i377, and am limited, painfully, to TW 4.3 roms.
I see all sorts of firmware for my device, but can't flash it, thanks to my bootloader.
Question:
can't I odin to an earlier firmware, one that allows for the loki crack, and then flash KitKat releases?
I am unclear on the concept of how odin plays into the bootloader equation. I get that I can't flash from my device, but it seems like I should be able to go back in time, find tar files, with bootloaders, and push them to my device. No?
thanks in advance to the community.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NO!
Please read the following. nearly everything we know about flashing roms is null & void with our beloved S4. It's a different game now. If you miss how it used to be (how it should be, free open source) buy a Google Edition phone or switch to Sprint. Can't do that? Yeah me either, so here is some really great roms.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2616221

jball said:
You must have read just a little before asking your question .many have tried what sounds so simple and have the popular paperweight known as a "BRICK".
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/use-odin-android-28504.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OMG, we can't use odin! WTF! at least, the att version isn't listed as such... i'm confused, deeper...

Galaxy_Cat said:
OMG, we can't use odin! WTF! at least, the att version isn't listed as such... i'm confused, deeper...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@Galaxy_Cat
Read the MK2 Index link posted earlier by @John The Rhino and since u are on MK2,u CAN"T revert back to previous firmware.U can only odin back to MK2 if u follow my thread | ★ MK2 ★ FULL ODIN TAR FILES ★ MK2 ★ | ★ UNBRICKED ★ Feb.06.2014 ★ | ....goodluck....:good:
Swyped From MK2 DVSS Hybrid Edition

You cannot revert back to older firmware with Odin. In order to revert back, you need an unlocked bootloader, see the problem?

Now remember guys someone may figure out how to unlock your boot loader or some other patch like Loki. It just takes time

Has anything new come around in the last 6+ months?

4.2.2 / MDL here. I'm rooted to freeze the metric ton of bloatware/greenify/xposed. Didn't get into ROMs because I'm afraid of bricking my only phone.
Been sidelined for several months with health issues, wondering if there's been any new stuff down the pipeline or if I should stay at 4.2.2/MDL? TIA.

Sliced bread has come out. Jk, given the time taken for someone to answer you, nothing new has come out that's earth shaking. Other than new firmware. If everything works for you it probably isn't worth upgrading.
You're on mdl which allows you to flash a number of different roms which you aren't taking advantage of. The latest firmware, nc1, is rootable with towel root. You can flash touch wiz based roms but that doesn't seem to be an interest to you So you might consider updating to nc1 if you want the latest firmware. But many people would like to be in your shoes with mdl firmware.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app

If you have root and custom recovery (TWRP or CWM) and want to update to newer firmware I would suggest Sho-Stock-i V7.0 Then you w I uld have the newest firmware without having to use Safestrap and be limited to what you can do with your phone.
I would STAY AWAY from updating to the newest firmware (stock firmware) NC1 as right now you can do ANYTHING you want with your phone. That is why I suggested ShoStock to have the best of both worlds. Personally there is NOT MUCH different between your MDL 4.2.2 firmware and the newest 4.4.2 firmwares. Maybe a little smoother.
Sent From My ATT S3 i747 Dark Blue BadAss Theme

Would reception be better with 4.4.2? We recently took a road trip and on a very long stretch my hubby on 4.4.2 had coverage the whole time while I had 0 service for about 1/2 of the stretch. Other areas he was pulling data fine while my phone showed no service or a G and up and down arrows which was completely new to me. It's bizarre.

RockRatt said:
If you have root and custom recovery (TWRP or CWM) and want to update to newer firmware I would suggest Sho-Stock-i V7.0 Then you w I uld have the newest firmware without having to use Safestrap and be limited to what you can do with your phone.
I would STAY AWAY from updating to the newest firmware (stock firmware) NC1 as right now you can do ANYTHING you want with your phone. That is why I suggested ShoStock to have the best of both worlds. Personally there is NOT MUCH different between your MDL 4.2.2 firmware and the newest 4.4.2 firmwares. Maybe a little smoother.
Sent From My ATT S3 i747 Dark Blue BadAss Theme
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think I have recovery? I only remember rooting, no option for twrp or cwm. Am I hosed now?

Wittyusernametaken said:
I don't think I have recovery? I only remember rooting, no option for twrp or cwm. Am I hosed now?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are still in fact on MDL then you can get TWRP or CWM recovery and flash as I stated above. You can use ShoStock-i once you have a custom recovery. First VERIFY you have MDL bootloaders. Then if you do look into "Motochopper +Loki" which will give you the custom recovery. Then flash to ShoStock-i. Then you can flash any of the modems in my thread to find which works best for your phone in your area. Maybe see which "baseband" (baseband=Modem) your husbands phone has (if it is also a i337 S4).
Sent fron I337 Red BadAss Themed ShoStock 7.0

do you have a link for the Sho-Stock-i V7.0? I can't find it? Also would any version of CyanogenMod work? I can't find one that would work without me upgrading to 4.4 if my google searches are correct. Sorry for the delay in replying... health issues are a PITA.

Wittyusernametaken said:
do you have a link for the Sho-Stock-i V7.0? I can't find it? Also would any version of CyanogenMod work? I can't find one that would work without me upgrading to 4.4 if my google searches are correct. Sorry for the delay in replying... health issues are a PITA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You do NOT need to update to run ShoStock. Just flash his newest in recovery (TWRP/ cwm/etc.) It will give you the newer firmware of 4.4.2 but NOT give you the 4.4.2 bootloader. So you can always flash back to your MDL stock firmware via odin. Like I said, the best of both worlds. Keeping the bypassed bootloader while running newer firmware. Just use ShoStock 8.1 (NOT THE SAFESTRAP VERSION)

Softbrick/other questions

Just got my I337, using with simple mobile. Managed to sim unlock via this method, and was feeling pretty good. I think I had (have?) MK2. So using the stock ROM, it kept on asking to autoupdate. Didn't know if that would screw anything up, so attempted to install a kitkat venom ROM. I now can't get out of safestrap recovery. I'm not sure if the issue was trying to install a kitkat ROM, or if I mistakenly put it in the primary ROM slot. Anyway, I'm on a linux box without any immediate access to windows, so it looks like ODIN is out of the question. Been scouring the forums, but I have a few questions:
1. What are the limitations of the locked bootloader? Not really sure what I'm sidestepping by using a custom recovery. I had read that it limited me to TW ROMS (which is fine by me actually), but I see AOSP and other ROMs posted...
2. What exactly is meant by MK2, NC1, MF3, etc? I understand that they are progressions of SOMETHING, but not sure what--guessing it's the whole AT&T update, including ROM, modem, kernel? And I can't seem to find what exactly the progression is...
3. Is there a ROM that I should try to flash to get me back up and running before I start trying to screw with something else? Like I said, I have access to safestrap 2.71, adb, and an SD card, so I feel like this shouldn't be TOO hard to fix

nola mike said:
Just got my I337, using with simple mobile. Managed to sim unlock via this method, and was feeling pretty good. I think I had (have?) MK2. So using the stock ROM, it kept on asking to autoupdate. Didn't know if that would screw anything up, so attempted to install a kitkat venom ROM. I now can't get out of safestrap recovery. I'm not sure if the issue was trying to install a kitkat ROM, or if I mistakenly put it in the primary ROM slot. Anyway, I'm on a linux box without any immediate access to windows, so it looks like ODIN is out of the question. Been scouring the forums, but I have a few questions:
1. What are the limitations of the locked bootloader? Not really sure what I'm sidestepping by using a custom recovery. I had read that it limited me to TW ROMS (which is fine by me actually), but I see AOSP and other ROMs posted...
2. What exactly is meant by MK2, NC1, MF3, etc? I understand that they are progressions of SOMETHING, but not sure what--guessing it's the whole AT&T update, including ROM, modem, kernel? And I can't seem to find what exactly the progression is...
3. Is there a ROM that I should try to flash to get me back up and running before I start trying to screw with something else? Like I said, I have access to safestrap 2.71, adb, and an SD card, so I feel like this shouldn't be TOO hard to fix
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, fixed my problem, though still don't have all the answers to my questions. I couldn't find a way to unbork without odin. Luckily my mom was in town visiting, and had a windows box that I used--I think I would have been hosed otherwise. Anyway, managed to revert to MK2 stock, and then upgrade to Goldeneye kit kat ROM via this method (my baseband is now listed as xxxxxxMLD).
I guess that MLD/NC1/NB1/MK2 are just ROM/radio firmware versions (kernel too, or is that completely unchangeable)? Still don't know the exact order of release, and if anyone could enlighten me a bit as to my other questions, I'd appreciate it...
I'll probably hold off on trying to change anything else until I have reliable access to windoze, unless someone can give me the steps using linux/adb.

nola mike said:
Well, fixed my problem, though still don't have all the answers to my questions. I couldn't find a way to unbork without odin. Luckily my mom was in town visiting, and had a windows box that I used--I think I would have been hosed otherwise. Anyway, managed to revert to MK2 stock, and then upgrade to Goldeneye kit kat ROM via this method (my baseband is now listed as xxxxxxMLD).
I guess that MLD/NC1/NB1/MK2 are just ROM/radio firmware versions (kernel too, or is that completely unchangeable)? Still don't know the exact order of release, and if anyone could enlighten me a bit as to my other questions, I'd appreciate it...
I'll probably hold off on trying to change anything else until I have reliable access to windoze, unless someone can give me the steps using linux/adb.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The order of firmware versions with Android version - MDB(4.2.x) -> MDL(4.2.x) - > MK2(4.3)->MLD(4.4 leak)->NB1(4.4.x)->NC1(4.4.x)
The bootloader for SGH-I337 was always locked.
1. This means that the stock kernel and recovery cannot be replaced.
2, The bootloader cannot be downgraded.
But, there was a bug in the first 2 releases, that loki exploited and provided a workaround for #1.
When flashing a firmware that contains the bootloader (aboot.mbn), it does a version check. The version check is through a fuse count maintained in the bootloader. MLD and MK2 although are different Android versions, have the same bootloader version. That means you can flash one over the other (go back and forth). The same with NB1 and NC1. But, once you update to NB1, you cannot go back to MK2.
Since the kernel cannot be replaced, all the ROMs we flash have to be compatible with the kernel that we have on the phone. Hence the mention of TW only ROMS. We cannot flash CM/AOSP/AOKP/GPE (most) ROMS. The AOSP ROMS you are seeing are themed TW roms only.

jmjoyas said:
The order of firmware versions with Android version - MDB(4.2.x) -> MDL(4.2.x) - > MK2(4.3)->MLD(4.4 leak)->NB1(4.4.x)->NC1(4.4.x)
The bootloader for SGH-I337 was always locked.
1. This means that the stock kernel and recovery cannot be replaced.
2, The bootloader cannot be downgraded.
But, there was a bug in the first 2 releases, that loki exploited and provided a workaround for #1.
When flashing a firmware that contains the bootloader (aboot.mbn), it does a version check. The version check is through a fuse count maintained in the bootloader. MLD and MK2 although are different Android versions, have the same bootloader version. That means you can flash one over the other (go back and forth). The same with NB1 and NC1. But, once you update to NB1, you cannot go back to MK2.
Since the kernel cannot be replaced, all the ROMs we flash have to be compatible with the kernel that we have on the phone. Hence the mention of TW only ROMS. We cannot flash CM/AOSP/AOKP/GPE (most) ROMS. The AOSP ROMS you are seeing are themed TW roms only.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that, very enlightening.

nola mike said:
Thanks for that, very enlightening.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just as an update, seems there's a workaround for Odin called heimdall, which is cross platform. . Haven't tried it, but looks like it should work.

Flash G900V back to OC4 Stock

I have a rooted Verizon Galaxy S5 G900V on the OC4 MOAR rom. I need to unroot and flash back to stock. I have tried a few but don't want to keep toying around and mess something up. How do I simply (preferably with FlashRoot) unroot and go to stock?

benny_t said:
I have a rooted Verizon Galaxy S5 G900V on the OC4 MOAR rom. I need to unroot and flash back to stock. I have tried a few but don't want to keep toying around and mess something up. How do I simply (preferably with FlashRoot) unroot and go to stock?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought all you had to do was uninstall busybox, supersu, and anything else that installs into system (although installing a stock rom should wipe System, correct me if I'm wrong here), and then flash a stock rom. And noting that bootloaders OE1/OG5 cannot be downgraded, so it's advised you flash an older OD5 stock firmware or below.
This is a guide to go from LP to KK which basically involves just that, flashing. You most likely have to use ODIN for it.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/ver...-to-downgrade-lollipop-5-0-to-kitkat-t3088571

Nvm...
I really wish we could delete our own posts..

Spartan117H3 said:
I thought all you had to do was uninstall busybox, supersu, and anything else that installs into system (although installing a stock rom should wipe System, correct me if I'm wrong here), and then flash a stock rom. And noting that bootloaders OE1/OG5 cannot be downgraded, so it's advised you flash an older OD5 stock firmware or below.
This is a guide to go from LP to KK which basically involves just that, flashing. You most likely have to use ODIN for it.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/ver...-to-downgrade-lollipop-5-0-to-kitkat-t3088571
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hear "rom" in stock rom and wonder if it's legitimately stock at that point. Don't I just need to flash the firmware? Wouldn't I do a parallel move to OC4? Where do I get a legitimate firmware for OC4?
The ultimate problem I'm trying to solve is that I'm rooted and need to send my phone in for an upgrade.

benny_t said:
I hear "rom" in stock rom and wonder if it's legitimately stock at that point. Don't I just need to flash the firmware? Wouldn't I do a parallel move to OC4? Where do I get a legitimate firmware for OC4?
The ultimate problem I'm trying to solve is that I'm rooted and need to send my phone in for an upgrade.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rom is just a reference to the fact that its a firmware. Rom doesn't necessarily have to mean it's custom. Unless I'm misusing the word rom, although people generally don't misunderstand when they're told stock rom. If it's a custom, it would be specified, "rom based on stock (insert version) or usually, based on TouchWiz (insert fw ver).
Anyways here are some of the stock firmwares.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2784880