Database Users

[Q] Is rooting needed prior to downgrade stock firmware to previous version (stock)?

Hello,
I have tried to downgarde S4 i337m Bell Canada from 4.3 to 4.2.2. Sam Mobile version - and the flash crashes at 2% (fails) using ODIN. Using Odin I can flash back to 4.3 and it works.
Is this an issue with the firmware file itself, or do I need to root and prep the phone in any other way?
I think the file is the cause, I don't see how the Phone's 4.3 would 'block' the flash.
Thanks,

mfreeman3769 said:
Hello,
I have tried to downgarde S4 i337m Bell Canada from 4.3 to 4.2.2. Sam Mobile version - and the flash crashes at 2% (fails) using ODIN. Using Odin I can flash back to 4.3 and it works.
Is this an issue with the firmware file itself, or do I need to root and prep the phone in any other way?
I think the file is the cause, I don't see how the Phone's 4.3 would 'block' the flash.
Thanks,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe it is ALL S4's that took the updates to 4.3 and IF you try flashing back from 4.3 to 4.2.2 you can brick your phone. Check out the international S4 forums and see these results. The bootloaders do NOT ALLOW going backwards any longer. The same thing is happening on the S3's that updated to 4.3 as well. At least with the S3's they can still get a custom recovery and flash any Roms, including 4.2.2 based Roms that do not flash bootloaders.
Sent From My Spiderman,Ironman,Red,Dark Blue,Green, GreyedOut BadAss Themed I337

I thought you could on the 1337m.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app

Use mobile odin and flash the old firmware. MobileOdin does not flash bootloaders. Also I have seen 4.3 bootloader mixed with 4.2.2 firmware disables wifi for some reason.
Let us know how it goes.

Mobile Odin not working in 4.3 ....
SaHiLzZ said:
Use mobile odin and flash the old firmware. MobileOdin does not flash bootloaders. Also I have seen 4.3 bootloader mixed with 4.2.2 firmware disables wifi for some reason.
Let us know how it goes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Can NE3 be flashed over NF4?

I flashed the stock UK NF4 rom and then tried flashing the Australian NE3 rom over it but it won't go past the Samsung logo after flashing it.

Nope
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

My understanding was that you could flash and kk over each other but not downgrade to jellybean.

uf21 said:
My understanding was that you could flash and kk over each other but not downgrade to jellybean.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NF can't be downgraded to NE. AFAIK.
Once the letter upgraded u can't gi back to previous letter series. It will be considered downgraded.
The bootloader is different, and it is the ome which lock the downgrading process.

antique_sonic said:
NF can't be downgraded to NE. AFAIK.
Once the letter upgraded u can't gi back to previous letter series. It will be considered downgraded.
The bootloader is different, and it is the ome which lock the downgrading process.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When did Samsung start doing this? When I had my s3 I was able to downgrade to any version but now I can't even downgrade at all. This is really frustrating. Now I'm stuck on a firmware that cripples my GPS.

uf21 said:
When did Samsung start doing this? When I had my s3 I was able to downgrade to any version but now I can't even downgrade at all. This is really frustrating. Now I'm stuck on a firmware that cripples my GPS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With the introduction of JB.
You shouls really research these things beforehand. Mainly because it's mentioned i n pretty much every flash thread.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk 2

uf21 said:
When did Samsung start doing this? When I had my s3 I was able to downgrade to any version but now I can't even downgrade at all. This is really frustrating. Now I'm stuck on a firmware that cripples my GPS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
samsung started this stuff when they started to use KNOX.
They agressively update the bootloader for any patches useful to protect their system evironment. Therefore, in KK, AFAIK, any changes of the firmware letter, means new bootloader.
what most of users do normally (if they have a rooted device), is just flash a newer custom ROM, and stay with their old bootloader (KK). By doing this way, you still can jump any older custom ROM base without any problem.
But once you flash a new original firmware, it will flash the new bootloader as well. And it is non-downgradable.
cheers.

[Q] Upgrade SGH I337 to Andriod kitkat

Hello,
I have samsung SGH I337 phone and its not rooted. I bought this phone in Sep 13 and unlocked with some code. Currently its stuck at 4.2.2. and I want to upgrade the phone to latest 4.4.* . As I unlocked the phone, this stopped getting update from ATT and dont show any available updates.
Can someone share the process to upgrade to latest kitkat ?

First, if you're on mdb or mdl firmware you might want to reconsider upgrading. If you are you have the ability to use twrp or cwm custom recoveries and easily flash roms
But if you still want to go ahead and update then flash the nb1 tar file in Odin http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=50912149
This will wipe your device so backup anything on your internal sdcard. You will not lose the sim unlock.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app

My S4 build number is JDQ39.I337UCUAMDL.
Forgive my ignorance but can you tell me what is the significance of mdb or mdl firmware. Also does upgrading the Android would create any issues on my phone.
Need one more information on Kitkat version i.e. which kitkat version is stable and has no issues.

sanstorm1979 said:
My S4 build number is JDQ39.I337UCUAMDL.
Forgive my ignorance but can you tell me what is the significance of mdb or mdl firmware. Also does upgrading the Android would create any issues on my phone.
Need one more information on Kitkat version i.e. which kitkat version is stable and has no issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're on mdl firmware. There are users here who would love to be on that firmware version. Being on mdl allows you to run custom recoveries. With newer firmware you can only use safestrap as a custom recovery which limits what you can flash.
Edit, once you go to nb1 firmware you will not be able to go back to mdl.
But you said you're not rooted and have not run custom recoveries. So if that is not important to you then flashing the nb1 firmware will up grade you to 4.4.2 kk.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app

sanstorm1979 said:
My S4 build number is JDQ39.I337UCUAMDL.
Forgive my ignorance but can you tell me what is the significance of mdb or mdl firmware. Also does upgrading the Android would create any issues on my phone.
Need one more information on Kitkat version i.e. which kitkat version is stable and has no issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you upgrade to 4.4.4, and want to flash custom roms you'll have to use safe strap. If you keep 4.2.2 you can flash 4.4 roms also. I wouldn't recommend updating, but it's your choice.
Sent from my SGH-I337 using XDA Free mobile app

jd1639 said:
You're on mdl firmware. There are users here who would love to be on that firmware version. Being on mdl allows you to run custom recoveries. With newer firmware you can only use safestrap as a custom recovery which limits what you can flash.
Edit, once you go to nb1 firmware you will not be able to go back to mdl.
But you said you're not rooted and have not run custom recoveries. So if that is not important to you then flashing the nb1 firmware will up grade you to 4.4.2 kk.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i am on the mf3 firmware.i want to upgrade to 4.4.2 whats the best way.have been reading on this for 2 weeks it just keeps getting confusing.

[REQUEST]I9505 4.2.2 custom rom bootloader modified for downgrade from 4.4.2

Hii all, i have a I9505 where i must go back from 4.4.2 to 4.2.2. I know this is no simple cause bootloader is locked but i listen someone have modified the stock rom for fix the bootloader problem. Someone have this rom allredy cooked? I hope you can solve this

I would need this hack too. There is a mayor sound problem with bluetototh on 4.3 and 4.4.2.
On 4.2.2 there was no problem, so will be very good to possible downgrade
Sent from my GT-I9505G using XDA Free mobile app

maybe if we are more people asking the same thing someone will care us

This will never happen. No developer is interested in downgrading their firmware to 4.2.2.
What you could try is to find an old custom 4.2.2. rom and flash that on your phone. Maybe it works and maybe it doesn't.

I found old 4.2.2 but the wifi isnt working. I am noob in modem versions
Sent from my GT-I9505G using XDA Free mobile app

46rossi46 said:
I found old 4.2.2 but the wifi isnt working. I am noob in modem versions
Sent from my GT-I9505G using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try flashing the KT-SGS4 kernel kernel and let me know if that fixes the WiFi.

Thanks for reply. Will test tomorrow and let you know the info.
Sent from my GT-I9505G using XDA Free mobile app

46rossi46 said:
I found old 4.2.2 but the wifi isnt working. I am noob in modem versions
Sent from my GT-I9505G using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you downgraded to stock 4.2.2? Cause i get the bootloader error in odin everytime, i can only downgrade via the Aroma revolution HD custom rom by phyl recovery but when i check the firmware version it show me again the 4.4.2 version.

oh'neill said:
you downgraded to stock 4.2.2? Cause i get the bootloader error in odin everytime, i can only downgrade via the Aroma revolution HD custom rom by phyl recovery but when i check the firmware version it show me again the 4.4.2 version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't downgrade stock 4.2.2. You can only try to downgrade with a custom rom.

Lennyz1988 said:
You can't downgrade stock 4.2.2. You can only try to downgrade with a custom rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
right but modem-firmware version will remain that of 4.4 the same when downgrade to 4.2

Hi.
Finally managed to test. I installed prerooted stock 4.2.2 via custom recovery. Then installed mobile odin and via this installed official stock 4.2.2. After that installed kernel link from upper posts and wifi (and everything else) works perfect. The only thing i need to do is reset counter with triangle away. It does not restart counter. It goes ok with reboot and confirm resetting, but when i check the counter still persist custom binary. If anyone can suggest me what to it would be perfect.
Later tonight i will post links which firmwares i installed.

Galaxy S4 [i337m] ROM update help

Hi guys!
My dad has been using the above mentioned device for the past 5.5 years. The device is running a stock rooted 4.2.2 MDJ build. His bank is about to stop the support for the 4.2.2 version so we need to update the OS. The minimum required OS is now KitKat but I would like a more moderate ROM. Is it possible to have for e.g. an Oreo based ROM without Knox? In other words, do some ROMs include a Knox bootloader (to enable them to run)?
Thanks for the help!

Only Samsung ROMs would contain Knox.
The apps should be fine with a stock 5.01 ROM if you want to stick with stock.
If you want to run a custom Oreo ROM, I suggest flashing the latest bootloader and modem before installing Oreo.
The sgh-i337m forum is here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4-att

audit13 said:
Only Samsung ROMs would contain Knox.
The apps should be fine with a stock 5.01 ROM if you want to stick with stock.
If you want to run a custom Oreo ROM, I suggest flashing the latest bootloader and modem before installing Oreo.
The sgh-i337m forum is here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4-att
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply!
As I said I would like to evade to flash the Knox bootloader. I know Samsung made it impossible to use their OS without Knox so I'm guessing my only option is to use custom ROMs. Are there any ROMs that still utilise the old bootloader?

You can't flash any bootloader other than stock.
Knox will not interfere with flashing custom ROMs.
Some banking apps will not work with a rooted ROM so you may have to use another app to hide root.

audit13 said:
You can't flash any bootloader other than stock.
Knox will not interfere with flashing custom ROMs.
Some banking apps will not work with a rooted ROM so you may have to use another app to hide root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Root is in place just to disable OTA and by the looks of it the banking app doesn't care.
Regarding Knox, I actually think of it as a security downgrade because the NSA played a part in its development and they are known to spy on people. I feel safer when it's not installed LMAO

Is the phone an sgh-i337m or sgh-i337?
The sgh-i337 was made for at&t.

audit13 said:
Is the phone an sgh-i337m or sgh-i337?
The sgh-i337 was made for at&t.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's the SGH-I337M. Canadian model. CSC is TLS (Telus)

Okay, just wanted to make sure it wasn't the att model because the 4.3 or newer bootloader is locked on the non-m version.

Anybody have any suggestions for a ROM? It doesn't necessarily need to be the latest version of Android. It just needs to be compatible with the old bootloader

If you're still on MDJ stay on MDJ, don't update your bootloader, only the modem. 4.3 don't have KNOX, just don't update from OTA.

AoEKiller said:
If you're still on MDJ stay on MDJ, don't update your bootloader, only the modem. 4.3 don't have KNOX, just don't update from OTA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't worry. I won't I am just looking for an at least 4.4 ROM without Knox
AFAIK Knox is on the 4.3 build

Here are a few pics if some of you still don't believe me

Anyone?
Heard also Chrome is losing support for Android 4.2.2