Database Users

Odin vs. OTA

It looks like a lot of brickage from the OTA... not sure what the issue is, but I just successfully updated via Odin using rhcp's .tar file. It was pretty painless, even though my phone is hardware locked (adb worked just fine).
I'm wondering if maybe Odin is the way to go? OTA always seems so chancy to me, so many things can go wrong like low battery or interrupted download. Not hearing about too much brickage going that route...

I updated thru odin only issue stop far is I dont have vibration through my phone now

my buddy got the ota this morning and it soft bricked his phone. we just reappied the update through odin and it was fine, no data lost other than the mods he applied. we did mine next and it went perfectly. we reapplied the mods and everything went smoothly. i say nandroid then odin the update.

cchrono said:
I updated thru odin only issue stop far is I dont have vibration through my phone now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OCLF 2.1 makes you lose your vibration.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Has anyone successfully done the OTA with stock + ROM manager + Titanium (or any combination thereof)? So far from cruising the forums seen about 5 people with similar symptoms with these 3 points in common.

d01100100 said:
Has anyone successfully done the OTA with stock + ROM manager + Titanium (or any combination thereof)? So far from cruising the forums seen about 5 people with similar symptoms with these 3 points in common.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many of the OTA bricking comments mention being rooted. Maybe it's being rooted that's the common denominator?

Not for me. I was rooted, although I removed the OCLF lag fix beforehand. I flashed fine. I think it's far more likely to brick if you've flashed ROMs before.
When the Captivate OTA started bricking phones, there wasn't a single person who had played with ROMs and kernels and managed to successfully update. I get this feeling that a lot of people are doing something wrong when flashing back to stock. Either that or there is something about the Vibrant itself that makes flashing back to stock difficult or inconsistent. Regardless, I think I'm going to hold off on flashing anything else until Froyo hits. I do *not* want to have issues then.
/edit btw, I have Titanium too, so that wasn't a barrier to updating for me.

Kubernetes said:
/edit btw, I have Titanium too, so that wasn't a barrier to updating for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let me reiterate. I had no custom roms flashed. Not now, not ever. I had been waiting for the OTA to drop before I started to go crazy. I did have ROM manager installed, and I've got a suspicion that Recovery installation may have prevented a clean OTA install.

Flashed from Bionix-v 1.21 to Trigger 2.1, now my data is stuck in E.

I flashed from TW Bionix-v 1.21 to Trigger 2.1.1 and though the flash went great and the rom seemed to work perfect, my data is all messed up. It seems stuck on E now where before I was always on H. Speedtest has gone from 4000kbps down to 120kbps down. I flashed back to Bionix and even flashed in the KA6 modem that I had the best results with before and the problem still persists. In Boinix it will show the data speed as H, but as soon as I try to access the internet or use Speedtest, it drops to G, then to E. I'm lost as to where to go from here. Any help is greatly appreciated.

What about flashing back to stock using odin then reflashing the rom
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Woah, wait up don't flash back to stock or anything. Follow this thread, it has all the modem software in it. I suggest using Odin...it's real simple, just dl the file extract it and load it into the phone section in odin and hit start....BAM you got a new modem. Do tests with JL5, it's a good modem.

I was thinking of flashing back to stock but I've never done it before. Is there anything I need to do differently because of Voodoo? I may just go the AIO Toolbox method if that's ok.

I won't be doing anything until later tonight. I've flashed a few modems in the modem thread, but none have fixed this problem. I may just flash back to stock (I really don't mind), but I'm just nervous about doing it because of having Voodoo on my phone right now. Can I just flash back to stock using the AIO Tools, or is this ill-advised?

Always best to disable lag fixes, I do it even if I don't have to. If the problem is persisting through different modems I dunno what's up....maybe hardware related? Maybe try one of those cell reception mods. That'd be the absolute last thing I'd do though, try every modem if you can.

I really don't know what happened. It may have even been a bad flash with Trigger, that's when things went bad. Honestly I wish I'd have just stayed put with Bionix. The phone was working perfectly with it. Oh well, I think I'll try flashing back to stock, then going back to Bionix.

Try this:
Settings-->Wireless and Network-->Mobile Networks-->Network Mode
I have mine set to WCDMA only. I only use Auto mode when I travel outside of town. Works great and keeps me out of the edge network.

kbohip said:
I was thinking of flashing back to stock but I've never done it before. Is there anything I need to do differently because of Voodoo? I may just go the AIO Toolbox method if that's ok.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
DUDE, if you haven't ever flashed back to stock, I recommend it now then reflash the new rom. It will totally clean up in ghost data in the phone.
Remember the sequence is Backup everything 1st, then disable the lagfix, Then flash the froyo that does not brick (do not check the repartition box), then flash Stock JFD (this time check the repartition box) Then Root, then, the flash your new rom then Download Rom manager and titanium backup and you are good to go.
BTW, you most likely got a corrupted bit of software in the flash or already it was on the phone but there is no way of knowing, THAT is why you should do this.

kbohip said:
I won't be doing anything until later tonight. I've flashed a few modems in the modem thread, but none have fixed this problem. I may just flash back to stock (I really don't mind), but I'm just nervous about doing it because of having Voodoo on my phone right now. Can I just flash back to stock using the AIO Tools, or is this ill-advised?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry to hear that man. I've had this problem before... looong ago. I had just flashed a new release of a TW ROM and all the sudden my data was stuck on E. I was freaking out just like you haha. I odined to stock and reflashed at least 3 times and the problem persisted.
I just left the phone on overnight and it seemed to work itself out by morning. Maybe it was T-Mobile doing maintenance or maybe the phone was just being retarded...
Either way, I'd suggest flashing back to stock at least once to clear things up. Check back in the AM and see if it's fixed or not

oka1 said:
DUDE, if you haven't ever flashed back to stock, I recommend it now then reflash the new rom. It will totally clean up in ghost data in the phone.
Remember the sequence is Backup everything 1st, then disable the lagfix, Then flash the froyo that does not brick (do not check the repartition box), then flash Stock JFD (this time check the repartition box) Then Root, then, the flash your new rom then Download Rom manager and titanium backup and you are good to go.
BTW, you most likely got a corrupted bit of software in the flash or already it was on the phone but there is no way of knowing, THAT is why you should do this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've never flashed back to stock, and of course all of these excellent custom roms have me flashing like a madman. I think I've flashed at least 5 different roms in the last month at least. I think I understand what you mean by "ghost" data. It's like the old days in Windows 98 where an upgrade install was never as good as a clean install. Flashing back to stock is sort of a clean install for Android I'm guessing?
birgertime said:
Sorry to hear that man. I've had this problem before... looong ago. I had just flashed a new release of a TW ROM and all the sudden my data was stuck on E. I was freaking out just like you haha. I odined to stock and reflashed at least 3 times and the problem persisted.
I just left the phone on overnight and it seemed to work itself out by morning. Maybe it was T-Mobile doing maintenance or maybe the phone was just being retarded...
Either way, I'd suggest flashing back to stock at least once to clear things up. Check back in the AM and see if it's fixed or not
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, this is strange. It looks like this is exactly what's happening. I'm now getting 4000+kbps down again on H. All day though the phone has been bouncing down to E every time I access the internet, go to market, etc. Upload is still quite a bit lower than it used to be though. Still, in the back of my mind though I feel like what oka said above is probably not a bad idea. For peace of mind I'm going to flash back to stock using AIO Vibrant Toolbox, then root, then flash either Bionix or Trigger back on.
Btw, for the short amount of time I had Trigger installed on my phone, I can tell you that it's a VERY nice rom. It looks great and is at least as fast, if not faster than Bionix. Great, great work.

I was having this problem earlier today too on Bionix. I was downloading Quadrant and I was stuck in E for a couple of hours. Must be something wrong with Bionix. Either way it's working now and I hope you solve your problem!

3g
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

kbohip said:
I flashed from TW Bionix-v 1.21 to Trigger 2.1.1 and though the flash went great and the rom seemed to work perfect, my data is all messed up. It seems stuck on E now where before I was always on H. Speedtest has gone from 4000kbps down to 120kbps down. I flashed back to Bionix and even flashed in the KA6 modem that I had the best results with before and the problem still persists. In Boinix it will show the data speed as H, but as soon as I try to access the internet or use Speedtest, it drops to G, then to E. I'm lost as to where to go from here. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe you did something wrong,i also move from Bionix V to Trigger 2.1 and my data is working well,the only thing i notice is that 3g works like edge now,very slow and when on H it fly.

[Q] My s4 reboots as soon as i turn it on;/

Hi!
So I followed Djembeys guide to root my s4 back when ME2/MF2(or smthn in that matter)was the newest firmware avable. But now I wanted to go back to stock and update my phone and as stated in the guide that would be no problem, well OTA didn't work so i did it via Kies. It worked as expected for a while before my phone started freezing and rebooting itself forever, like as soon as i get into the launcher.
Things I've tryed to do:
*Checking in download mode that everything is official, it is, and the phone doesn't seem to reboot while in download mode, should I flash a stock rom, I mean, what if the phone shuts off in the middle of the process?
*Doing a factory data reset via stock recovery, the "android" in recovery falls down and a triangle at his stomach. However the data reset worked, but it didn't solve the problem, still reboots but now when the phone is trying to set itself up.
What can i do guys? You think i can send it back to the store seeing everything is official in download mode?

NidexX said:
Hi!
So I followed Djembeys guide to root my s4 back when ME2/MF2(or smthn in that matter)was the newest firmware avable. But now I wanted to go back to stock and update my phone and as stated in the guide that would be no problem, well OTA didn't work so i did it via Kies. It worked as expected for a while before my phone started freezing and rebooting itself forever, like as soon as i get into the launcher.
Things I've tryed to do:
*Checking in download mode that everything is official, it is, and the phone doesn't seem to reboot while in download mode, should I flash a stock rom, I mean, what if the phone shuts off in the middle of the process?
*Doing a factory data reset via stock recovery, the "android" in recovery falls down and a triangle at his stomach. However the data reset worked, but it didn't solve the problem, still reboots but now when the phone is trying to set itself up.
What can i do guys? You think i can send it back to the store seeing everything is official in download mode?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which s4 is this? This is the sprint variant. Post it in the appropiate s4 of your carrier. You can try to odin back to stock.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app

ROMANTiC KiD said:
Which s4 is this? This is the sprint variant. Post it in the appropiate s4 of your carrier. You can try to odin back to stock.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aww really, i totally missed that this was for sprint:/. I have the NEE version(unbranded GT-I905). Are you sure i can flash stock, what if it would reboot while flashing? It is already stock, just that I have this damn problem with the reboots;(

Mine did some of that kind of thing when I first went to MF9 a few days ago. I think the reason I had the problem was because I did a nandroid recovery using a custom recovery (TWRP). I think (but have no proof) that it overwrote some of the MF9 stuff with MDL stuff. So to fix it, I redid everything and recovered my apps and data through Titanium Backup instead. All good now.
Follow the directions I posted yesterday in the following thread to get to unrooted, stock MF9:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2427006

jejb said:
Mine did some of that kind of thing when I first went to MF9 a few days ago. I think the reason I had the problem was because I did a nandroid recovery using a custom recovery (TWRP). I think (but have no proof) that it overwrote some of the MF9 stuff with MDL stuff. So to fix it, I redid everything and recovered my apps and data through Titanium Backup instead. All good now.
Follow the directions I posted yesterday in the following thread to get to unrooted, stock MF9:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2427006
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It worked fine and your phone didn't reboot in download mode? I've tested to be inside download mode for around 10 min, so i guess it's fine if i flash stock rom.

NidexX said:
It worked fine and your phone didn't reboot in download mode? I've tested to be inside download mode for around 10 min, so i guess it's fine if i flash stock rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not exactly sure what you're asking, but the phone worked fine once I redid it. Before that, it would have random boots, and then multiple boots like a boot loop. But it never did more than 2 boots before actually coming up. But it would reboot after a while. BlueTooth would not turn on, stuff like that. It just was not right. But the redo with the TiBu restore worked great. I'm now very stable on MF9, rooted, stock rom.

jejb said:
I'm not exactly sure what you're asking, but the phone worked fine once I redid it. Before that, it would have random boots, and then multiple boots like a boot loop. But it never did more than 2 boots before actually coming up. But it would reboot after a while. BlueTooth would not turn on, stuff like that. It just was not right. But the redo with the TiBu restore worked great. I'm not very stable on MF9, rooted, stock rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nvm dude, seems like it's hardware failure. I tried flashing it with stock MGA firmware and the problem remains, as well as the screen ****ing up just before it is about to reboot. Well, thanks anyway!

i need pro help. i think i bricked my phone

sph-l720 4.3 rooted by cf auto root
I put system files in the phones framework folder to hack free hotspot. I rebooted and the phone was stuck on the yellow sprint logo. I pulled the battery and used odin to i guess flash mf9, then cf auito root. last time i was stuck on this screen this worked.
But now i'm screwed.
I tried a wipe factory reset and it still didn't help.
I flashed a kernel zip file using odin by accident (KERNEL - SPR _ L720vpuamf9-1372121308)
now it boots and gets stuck at the same screen but the screen is blank. only the blue light lights up.
any clues???
now it says set warranty bit kernel, when it used to say set warranty bit recovery

You cannot go back with Odin to MF9 once you are on MjA.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

.....
EDIT NEVER MIND I didn't see that first part about 4.3!
Hello Sprint I've got a TEP claim for you.
Okay well maybe not totally there yet. There are a couple threads on how to get 4.3 to boot do spend some time searching reading, and then read and look some more. Good place to start would be here

brewmanate said:
sph-l720 4.3 rooted by cf auto root
I put system files in the phones framework folder to hack free hotspot. I rebooted and the phone was stuck on the yellow sprint logo. I pulled the battery and used odin to i guess flash mf9, then cf auito root. last time i was stuck on this screen this worked.
But now i'm screwed.
I tried a wipe factory reset and it still didn't help.
I flashed a kernel zip file using odin by accident (KERNEL - SPR _ L720vpuamf9-1372121308)
now it boots and gets stuck at the same screen but the screen is blank. only the blue light lights up.
any clues???
now it says set warranty bit kernel, when it used to say set warranty bit recovery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flash KT kernel 4.3 if you are on mja, that should fix it, if not, make sure you have a custom recovery(not TWRP) and flash the stock 4.3 rom in the dev section

thank you...
negamann303 said:
Flash KT kernel 4.3 if you are on mja, that should fix it, if not, make sure you have a custom recovery(not TWRP) and flash the stock 4.3 rom in the dev section
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i just have to get it replaced.
I never fully rooted. I had stock recovery and binary ond kernel. I just has su.
I screwed the pooch on this one. Thanks anyway guys. I will get a new one. Or maybe a note 3 in its place. What do you think?

If you can get to download mode it's not bricked
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

Your not bricked
This is exactly the same issue I had. You tried to downgrade after upgrading and flashed some stuff to fix it right? Yeah bad idea. Anyway.
Go to this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2506562
Follow it step by step. It solved my issues.

I already sent it out to be replaced
I have insurance through a 3rd party, so it might be forgiven that I rooted it. If not, and they send it back to me, I will have to rely on all your helpful guidance. I am very grateful. You guys rock.
Just so its as clear as can be, here is a list of my mistakes. LOL
1. I did try to take the OTA update. It didnt take and only messed with storage for some reason. Not broke yet.
2. Flashed back to MF9 with Odin 3 v.1.87. Oops.
3. Flashed MF9 and CF auto root a few times back and forth trying to get it to take.
4. It is a bit hazy here, but I tried to use odin 3.07 to go back to mf9, but it wouldn't work. I instead used odin to root the f#cker and to my amazement it worked. Now I was rooted on 4.3! MJA I got the idea from this thread>>>>>>>>http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2511209
5. Then it was all gravy for a few days minus the annoying security notifications every so often about an app trying to access the system..blah blah blah. I wanted my hotspot hack back (the entire reason for the root) so I placed the altered system files in the framework to allow for hotspot service
and rebooted. Thats when **** got real. it booted up to the full yellow screen that shows the sprint logo. The blue led was strobing slowly and it just stayed that way for a few minutes. I got scared and tried going through steps 1 through 4 again to no avail.
6. Then I really messed up and flashed the MF9 Kernel zip file by mistake or maybe more out of desperation, and all that did was make the screen black after the samsung logo, but the blue led still illuminated.
All well, I already sent it out. I should get a new one soon.
If they dont let me swap it I will upgrade to the note 3.
Any ideas about the note 3 vs the sgs4, except for the obvious size and Ghz difference?

[Q] I need quite a bit of help, as soon as possible.

Sunday, I ignored the one rule for flashers: always make a back up. And now I'm being royally screwed. I had tried to flash the 4/13 nightly of AICP, but it wouldn't go past the boot screen, and I had deleted all the other roms on my sdcard because I was running out of room. So, I tried going back to the previous buid I had, the 4/9, but it never went past the boot screen there either. So I set about trying to put my phone back to stock by flashing the NAE modem, Philz, and Negalite's latest rom, but for whatever reason, it was so buggy and glitchy I couldn't really use it, which I've never had happen with their work. So I downloaded omnirom, which I'm on, and it's working fine, but now I have no sound whatsoever. I also used RomToolbox Pro to flash TWRP. Any suggestions on how to fix this would be greatly appreciated.
Additional Information
I'm on TWRP 2.6.3.1 because 2.7.0.0+ don't work for me
Flashing the Modem was successful, not sure where it all went wrong.
I also followed Mudavo's guide for updating to NAE modem and firmware while keeping the MF9 bootloader. The only thing I didn't do is flash the MK2 rooted stock ROM before updating to the Negalite.
Any expediency in resolving this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Phone calls are a bust, as well. Anything related to sound except haptic feedback either causes DSP Manager to FC, or the process itself FC's. I had noticed that on the Negalite as well, because whenever I hit the volume keys, everything froze, not to mention the fact it didn't register MP3s as MP3s, and also refused to play anything from play music or YouTube.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app

imactuallynot said:
Phone calls are a bust, as well. Anything related to sound except haptic feedback either causes DSP Manager to FC, or the process itself FC's. I had noticed that on the Negalite as well, because whenever I hit the volume keys, everything froze, not to mention the fact it didn't register MP3s as MP3s, and also refused to play anything from play music or YouTube.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're truly on the MF9 bootloader then PC Odin the MF9 full .tar and reset your phone.

imactuallynot said:
Sunday, I ignored the one rule for flashers: always make a back up. And now I'm being royally screwed. I had tried to flash the 4/13 nightly of AICP, but it wouldn't go past the boot screen, and I had deleted all the other roms on my sdcard because I was running out of room. So, I tried going back to the previous buid I had, the 4/9, but it never went past the boot screen there either. So I set about trying to put my phone back to stock by flashing the NAE modem, Philz, and Negalite's latest rom, but for whatever reason, it was so buggy and glitchy I couldn't really use it, which I've never had happen with their work. So I downloaded omnirom, which I'm on, and it's working fine, but now I have no sound whatsoever. I also used RomToolbox Pro to flash TWRP. Any suggestions on how to fix this would be greatly appreciated.
Additional Information
I'm on TWRP 2.6.3.1 because 2.7.0.0+ don't work for me
Flashing the Modem was successful, not sure where it all went wrong.
I also followed Mudavo's guide for updating to NAE modem and firmware while keeping the MF9 bootloader. The only thing I didn't do is flash the MK2 rooted stock ROM before updating to the Negalite.
Any expediency in resolving this matter would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NAE modem with MF9 it's not an option for you at this point. Anyway I don't see the reasons to keep a different boot loader then the rom, maybe someone can explain.
Get the full NAE tar (if you have 720T you need NAF) and flash it. Note; once you are in NAE you cannot downgrade.

I thought that was just for the bootloader, but not the modem? (Unless Samsung's found a way to bake KNOX into the modem now)

leaderbuilder said:
If you're truly on the MF9 bootloader then PC Odin the MF9 full .tar and reset your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the best advice. Always revert back to the same base software as the bootloader. Rooted if you can find it, or unrooted if you just want to get it back to working status and can root it manually later. To emphasize what leaderbuilder said though:
Make sure you know you are on MF9 bootloader before trying to restore it. Otherwise it will fail.