[Q] Should I update from 4.3 JB to 4.4.2 KK ? - Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hello
I recently got my S4 i9505. I'm planning to root it
I have Android version 4.3
I used to flash costum roms on my s2 but I'm not really planning to do much flashing on my S4. not soon anyway
So as I connected the phone to Kies to make sure the drivers were downloaded so I can proceed with rooting
Firmware update popped up
I'm not sure what the best option for me now.
Should I root now and then I'd be able to flash a costume KK rom? and are there any stable ones that are better than the stock?
Can I use kies to update my rooted phone?
Maybe I should stick with JB 4.3? Which one is better 4.3 or 4.4.2?
I remember facing some issues when I update my s2 back. So I searched for the KK Update for the s4 and some people weren't so happy with their KK update
I know that doesn't represent the majority but still it could happen to me
So I confused myself
What is your advice to me?
sorry for the long post
Also I have an extra question What is KNOX? and do I need it?

egy_b0y said:
Hello
I recently got my S4 i9505. I'm planning to root it
I have Android version 4.3
I used to flash costum roms on my s2 but I'm not really planning to do much flashing on my S4. not soon anyway
So as I connected the phone to Kies to make sure the drivers were downloaded so I can proceed with rooting
Firmware update popped up
I'm not sure what the best option for me now.
Should I root now and then I'd be able to flash a costume KK rom? and are there any stable ones that are better than the stock?
Can I use kies to update my rooted phone?
Maybe I should stick with JB 4.3? Which one is better 4.3 or 4.4.2?
I remember facing some issues when I update my s2 back. So I searched for the KK Update for the s4 and some people weren't so happy with their KK update
I know that doesn't represent the majority but still it could happen to me
So I confused myself
What is your advice to me?
sorry for the long post
Also I have an extra question What is KNOX? and do I need it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First, the most problems in 4.4.2 are fixed, so if you flash the officical, latest firmware of your country you shouldn't have any problem.
An important thing: if you flash a custom rom, your warranty will be set 0x1, that means, you lost your garanty if you flash a custom rom, that's the so called KNOX. You can use knox like a second system on your phone, with all secure data in it, you can only access with a passwort and all datas are locked without this passwort.
Root your phone after the software update if you want to root it.

Tkkg1994 said:
First, the most problems in 4.4.2 are fixed, so if you flash the officical, latest firmware of your country you shouldn't have any problem.
An important thing: if you flash a custom rom, your warranty will be set 0x1, that means, you lost your garanty if you flash a custom rom, that's the so called KNOX. You can use knox like a second system on your phone, with all secure data in it, you can only access with a passwort and all datas are locked without this passwort.
Root your phone after the software update if you want to root it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the fact is that 4.4.2 GNG8 international version cannot be rooted....

christty31 said:
the fact is that 4.4.2 GNG8 international version cannot be rooted....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's wrong, just not with towelroot.

thank you for your input

Related

[Q] Updating to Android 4.3 ?

does it worth to update my I9500 to 4.3 (UAE) Version ??
cause i have alot of issues with my 4.2.2 in wifi and lagging ! so if u have 4.3 tell me ur opinion please
iam also planning to install it via odin but i need to be rooted cause off folder mount !
is there is any way to update it without losing the root access and that knox thing
DaRkEMpRoR said:
iam also planning to install it via odin but i need to be rooted cause off folder mount !
is there is any way to update it without losing the root access and that knox thing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can flash Custom roms like Omega v13.1, i get to use 4.3 rooted without KNOX.
Just flash a custom recovery and install from there. Do read instructions carefully when installing.
Guys, unless you want a knox enabled bootloader on your phone. Stay away from the official 4.3 rom. If you have no idea what Knox is, then you should read the thread about it.
You can also install PAC MAN Rom, CM, Paranoid Android etc. Knox Free

I337M Downgrade and Custom ROM Questions

Haven't played with custom rom for awhile as well as rooting/recovery.
Now that Samsung implemented Knox, I'm reading this is changing how to implement roms and upgrading/downgrading stock roms.
I am currently on MDJ from MG1 and did not want to go to 4.3 because of the full blown Knox implementation.
So my questions are:
1. Can I still downgrade from 4.3 to 4.2.2 (MDJ)? I read some in one thread you can but others you can't. Have to make sure which thread I read for I337 vs I337M which seem quite different. Reason is that I can still easily repair/modify stuff on MDJ firmware.
2. I am also considering installing Google Edition 4.4.2 ROM as I believe it does not have Knox. Can I easily revert back to 4.2.2 MDJ from a custom rom?
I've been reading for awhile and I can't seem to figure this out. Must be old age. TIA.
lg777 said:
Haven't played with custom rom for awhile as well as rooting/recovery.
Now that Samsung implemented Knox, I'm reading this is changing how to implement roms and upgrading/downgrading stock roms.
I am currently on MDJ from MG1 and did not want to go to 4.3 because of the full blown Knox implementation.
So my questions are:
1. Can I still downgrade from 4.3 to 4.2.2 (MDJ)? I read some in one thread you can but others you can't. Have to make sure which thread I read for I337 vs I337M which seem quite different. Reason is that I can still easily repair/modify stuff on MDJ firmware.
2. I am also considering installing Google Edition 4.4.2 ROM as I believe it does not have Knox. Can I easily revert back to 4.2.2 MDJ from a custom rom?
I've been reading for awhile and I can't seem to figure this out. Must be old age. TIA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The safest thing to do is stay on a version without the knox bootloader. I know for sure I337 can't downgrade, and i think the bootloader isn't downgradeable but the system is or something for the I337M. I'm not sure, but either way the safest bet is to stay without the 4.3 bootloader. That way you can root and use recovery and flash without worrying about knox and you'll easily be able to revert from any custom ROM back to stock as long as you either keep a nandroid backup or the ODIN files for the firmware.
DeadlySin9 said:
The safest thing to do is stay on a version without the knox bootloader. I know for sure I337 can't downgrade, and i think the bootloader isn't downgradeable but the system is or something for the I337M. I'm not sure, but either way the safest bet is to stay without the 4.3 bootloader. That way you can root and use recovery and flash without worrying about knox and you'll easily be able to revert from any custom ROM back to stock as long as you either keep a nandroid backup or the ODIN files for the firmware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I think I'll do that. I also understand the issue with Knox is tripping the counter voiding the warranty but I don't care about my warranty. Going to try Goldeneye when I get the chance or look at some 4.4 roms.
I don't know why Samsung or any other manufacturer just let corporate users enforce Knox or whatever and let the rest of the users alone.
its completely fine flashing custom roms with the 4.3 bootloader for us canadians. the only downside is, you will trip a knox flash counter, it cannot yet be reset. you only see this flash counter in download mode. AND if you have a non-official kernel, or recovery, you get a little yellow message in upper left corner during the first bootscreen.
BUT. if you do not upgrade to 4.3 modem, you will experience data drops (loss of signal randomly) with any custom 4.3 or 4.4 rom.
so you dont have to upgrade to 4.3 bootloaders, but you will need to get the modem, its around, if you are already on 4.3... just flash the phone as normal, you cant go back, but its not stopping you from going forward.
I have the bell smartphone protection plan, if i break the phone, they replace it, and dont care about custom software or booloader flash counters ect. So i dont care either.
For the modem, find a copy of MK6 modem assuming your in Canada, flash it through odin from your pc. If you get a fail, chances are you have a bad download (happened to me) download from a different source then. Before you flash any rom... root.... install custom recovery.... nand backup your current "stock but rooted rom" If you flash a 4.4 rom (not sure if this applies to 4.3) do a full wipe... System/cache/dalvic.... then factory reset... then flash.... I flashed 4.4 the first 2 times without wiping system and though the phone worked fine, data was inconsistant at times.....
lg777 said:
Yeah, I think I'll do that. I also understand the issue with Knox is tripping the counter voiding the warranty but I don't care about my warranty. Going to try Goldeneye when I get the chance or look at some 4.4 roms.
I don't know why Samsung or any other manufacturer just let corporate users enforce Knox or whatever and let the rest of the users alone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a Bell S4 with Google Play Edition 4.4.2 running perfectly so far. I had an MDJ modem, and tried flashing many custom ROMs on it. All 4.3 ROMs worked fine, and only AOSP 4.4 ROMs also worked fine. The only problem was the GPE 4.4 ROMs that gave me constant signal drops. So I tried to upgrade my modem to MK6 to fix the issue. Even when I upgraded to Samsung's stock 4.3 through Odin, it still didn't upgrade my modem. I had to manually flash the modem in Odin to get it to upgrade successfully. Then I just flashed a GPE ROM and everything went well.

[Q] need help !!!

i new on android ... now i using galaxy note 2 ...
the problem phone is got super user ... what i know is my phone was root ...
can i unroot it ??? because i wanna upgrade it to kitkat if can ...
please someone help me ... new on android ...
which country firmware i need to download ???
will my phone brick if i download wrong firmware ???
If you want to unroot fully download triangle away to reset your counter and run it then uinstall superuser. That's pretty much it if you are on stock with stock recovery. If not you can flash stock through odin and it will be back to factory. There is a stock 4.4 prerooted 4.4.2 available which you could flash without needing to unroot
Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk
Fadil56 said:
i new on android ... now i using galaxy note 2 ...
the problem phone is got super user ... what i know is my phone was root ...
can i unroot it ??? because i wanna upgrade it to kitkat if can ...
please someone help me ... new on android ...
which country firmware i need to download ???
will my phone brick if i download wrong firmware ???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know it might all sound too overwhelming cause that's how i felt when i was in your situation but reading a lot of threads and gaining as much knowledge i somehow understood what i needed to proceed ahead and flash newer custom ROMS,since you are 4.1.2 and rooted in order to upgrade to 4.3 or 4.4.2 custom roms you don't need to unroot or use triangle away,all you need is custom recovery (philz touch 6.26.0 or twrp 2.7.0) ,you need mj5 bootloader(i'll explain about bootloader in detail below ) and last but not the least backup your current 4.1.2 stock rooted ROM as well as EFS partition.You can visit dr ketan's thread on how to back up your efs incase your imei goes corrupted chances are rare but it has happened with people so backing up EFS is must.Now after you have taken care of 4.1.2 ,you can proceed with flashing a custom ROM,since you want to flash 4.4.2 there are several deknoxed,dedoxed and pre rooted ROM's available by developers and they are just like stock samsung ROM.
Now comes the tricky part and it depends on an individual how he goes about bootloader part. Since you are on 4.1.2 stock rooted ROM your bootloader is outdated,there are few 4.3 Jellybean bootloaders but MJ5 bootloader is the BEST cause it's deknoxed ,meaning it won't void your warranty so even if you upgrade to 4.4.2 you can always go back to 4.1.2 stock ROM ,unroot your phone ,reset the flash counter via triangle away and then take it to service center.If you flash MK4/MJ9 bootloaders which is built in if you officially upgrade to 4.3 you'll be KNOX ,so when you root your phone knox will be triggered and warranty will be null,there's NO WAY currently to reset knox once its triggered. There are no benefits of knox but samsung has its own theory of implementing it for security purposes.Also one cannot downgrade back to 4.1.2 if they flash a knox bootloader you'll be stuck on 4.3 or 4.4 roms
So let's say you flash mj5 bootloader ,then flash the kitkat ROM from one of the links available on xda only draw back being on 4.3 jellybean bootloader (whether its mj5/mk4/mj9) you cannot charge your phone when turned off when on samsung touch wiz kitkat ROM.Kitkat bootloader is available but it's KNOXED which as stated earlier knoxed bootloader will void your warranty but you'd be able to charge your phone when turned off.
I know this is a lot of information at once for you to understand but main thing you should worry about is backing up EFS partition and which bootloader you choose, once you take care of those two things, ROM flashing is easy if you follow the correct steps on how to flash it (mainly making sure you clean your internal memory of phone clean).I am on mj5 bootloader and just this morning i flashed 4.4.2 ROM and everything is running smoothly,no fc no bootloop nothing.

[help] flashing stock firmware on sm-n9005

Hey im new to all this note 3 buisuness (just sold my iphone 5s and got myself a nice note 3), so forgive me for my question
I want to flash a new firmware, does the country of the firmware realy matters? because my phone is imported and i have no idea from which country it came.
ps. does flashing a stock firmware will flag the knox?
Thanks
EDIT: flashed a new rom... but failed to flash a firmware
Flashing a stock firmware will not trip knox and use this app from here https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.vndnguyen.phoneinfo to get device information
daniblk said:
Hey im new to all this note 3 buisuness (just sold my iphone 5s and got myself a nice note 3), so forgive me for my question
I want to flash a new firmware, does the country of the firmware realy matters? because my phone is imported and i have no idea from which country it came.
ps. does flashing a stock firmware will flag the knox?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey thanks for your help..
Maybe you have an idea how to check if my n9005 bootloader is locked? I want to root it, but im afraid to brick it.
daniblk said:
Hey thanks for your help..
Maybe you have an idea how to check if my n9005 bootloader is locked? I want to root it, but im afraid to brick it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what's tour android version??? If already with 4.4 no BL problem you can root it directly with cf auto root or else
if not with 4.4 or you stay with 4.3 and root but many custom roms are not allowed to flash (4.4) or you update with odin and root and can install all 4.4 custom roms

Flash Stock ROM [Q/A]

Hey Guys,
today i got a Galaxy s4 black edition and there is a ROM called: Phoenix Rom. So i want to flash back to Stock ROM but im really not sure which one i want to flash on it because i dont want to brick my phone or something. Can i flash this http://www.handy-faq.de/forum/galaxy-s4-i9505xxugng8-kk-4-4-odin-kies-dbt-1t-23-07-2014-t306745/ without any problems?
Phone: GT-I9505
Basisbandversion: I9505XXUGNG8
Buildnumber: KOT49H.I9505XXUGNF1
That ROM will work without a problem. However, that may not have the added wallpapers and sounds the black edition devices have. Is there a reason you're not wanting Android 5.0.1 on your device?
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
That ROM will work without a problem. However, that may not have the added wallpapers and sounds the black edition devices have. Is there a reason you're not wanting Android 5.0.1 on your device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your Answer, i flashed that rom and it works perfectly. There is also an OTA update for Lollipop but im not sure to do that because i heard that lollipop has a lot of bugs like battery draining and so on. Im afraid if i upgrade it to lollipop i cannot downgrade it to KK. But do u think i should update?
I'm inclined to believe Samsung patched the battery drain bug, but you'd have to try it and find out. If you end up not liking it, going back down to the earlier version shouldn't be an issue, especially as you already have a Knox-enabled bootloader on your S4. There are tutorials on the forums here that I believe walk you through the process. Take a look at them before doing the OTA update.
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
I'm inclined to believe Samsung patched the battery drain bug, but you'd have to try it and find out. If you end up not liking it, going back down to the earlier version shouldn't be an issue, especially as you already have a Knox-enabled bootloader on your S4. There are tutorials on the forums here that I believe walk you through the process. Take a look at them before doing the OTA update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it really that my knox bootloader is enabled or not if i do the OTA update? And how can i see that it is enabled or not? Anyway can i root my phone if im on lollipop with CF auto root trough odin ?
You installed Android 4.4.2. 100% positive you have Knox, as all Samsung firmware from 4.3 on has it. Installing the OTA update will restore the Knox apps. Fortunately, CF-AutoRoot still works so you'll have no issues rooting if you install the update.
Ok thank you for your helpful advises, i will flash a kernel on my s4 to stop this overheating issue.

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