Database Users

[Q] Help! I keep digging myself further into a hole

I have a Samsung Galaxy S4, the Sprint version. I wasn't able to send or receive picture messages and I thought it might have something to do with my APN being wrong (I bought the phone on eBay and had it flashed to nTelos, my provider) but I wasn't able to edit the APN and nTelos was, as usual, no help. So I figured I'd just root it and be able to edit it then!
It was at that moment I stuck my shovel into the soft dirt and started digging.
Essentially, I believe my phone is without an OS at this point. I have tried using ODIN to put a recovery on there so I can at least do something, but now even ODIN is freezing up when I try and flash the Clockwork recovery. I am stuck on the Samsung S4 logo screen and while I can enter download mode I don't think I can enter recovery mode - at least, it hasn't been working tonight. I don't remember everything I've done to my poor phone, but it has to be hurting after the beating I've put it through. I originally tried to root it though I don't think I was successful because the Root Checker said I wasn't, though I'm not sure what I was doing wrong then. Things went downhill from there.
I've read through thread after thread hoping for something that would work, but I've given up trying to use other people's problems to solve my own. This is me saying "Uncle". I require assistance. Let me know what you need from me to provide me with the help I need.
Also - I have ADB on my computer and I think I have a basic understanding of how to use it, but since I can't enter recovery mode I can't do anything other than pat myself on the back for figuring it out. I think my first problem at this point is ODIN. I uninstalled KIES so that's not interfering (and don't even get me started on KIES - I installed KIES and it told me to install KIES3 which told me my device wasn't supported... which is crap because it's running Android 4.3 - or was before I got to it).
Thanks,

If you're sure the phone was on 4.3, then your options are limited thanks to Knox. You can only restore a 4.3 (MJA) based ROM to the phone via Odin, whether it is stock or custom. Easiest giveaway is if you see a line for "Knox" on the Download Mode screen.
At this point you should look in the ROM directory here for a full ROM (xxxxx.tar.md5), either MF9 (4.2.2) if it doesn't have Knox or MJA (4.3) if it does. If you cannot use Odin to put a full ROM on there, then you will need some more serious help.

Odin the stock 4.3 MJA OEM. Will return your phone to a stock unrooted state.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2522810

[Help] OMG! Did i Brick my new note 3!? :(

Hey guys. Ive had a note 3 before in the past and have used the Root DelaVega to root successfully. This was early in the year. I sold my old note 3 for an HTC One. Well today i traded my HTC One back for a note 3 as i missed the Note 3. As soon as i came home i attempted to use the Root DelaVega method to foot (just like i did before) and immediately it failed.
I have been stuck on a screen saying "firmware update encountered an issue - select recovery in Kies" so i tried Kies 3.2 however it says my device is not compatible. Come to find out after doing research (talking to the original owner i traded my HTC One for) the Note 3 i have is on the latest version of KitKat 4.4.2 that is not compatible with the Root DelaVega method or any root method - so i screwed that up. I can successfully boot in and out of download mode. Ive tried to flash N900XXUDNA6 4.4.2 in Odin several times, it begins then fails almost immediately and the bar on the phone itself (in download mode) begins then freezes shortly after beginning. Ive also tried to flash N900XXUDNC1 JellyBean thru odin and get the same results - almost immediately fail and the blue status bar on the phone freezes when it barley begins. What else can i do??? am i totally screwed? Ive been researching and trying to fix this for 6 straight hours now! My gf is about to kill me for being online so long Is there anything i can do at this point? Am i stuck.

Do you know what Region the phone was originally? I had a similar issue and I had to get the Hong Kong (in my case) version of a stock ROM and flash that to get things working again. Not all partitions are the same - you might need a PIT file to match your original region and then flash the ROM.
What info do you get in DL mode?

Journyman16 said:
Do you know what Region the phone was originally? I had a similar issue and I had to get the Hong Kong (in my case) version of a stock ROM and flash that to get things working again. Not all partitions are the same - you might need a PIT file to match your original region and then flash the ROM.
What info do you get in DL mode?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes the phone is for AT&T so it's US. When I go into DL mode Knox counter is still 0x0. Is there a certain firmware I need then to match with the AT&T model? Or a pit?

jthornton71707 said:
Yes the phone is for AT&T so it's US. When I go into DL mode Knox counter is still 0x0. Is there a certain firmware I need then to match with the AT&T model? Or a pit?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go to Sammobile and see if you can find the version you had, sounds like an older JB if kingo app didn't trip Knox. Reflash that using ODIN.
I don't know if there was a problem with American bootloader, see if there's an AT&T Note 3 forum. Might find answers there...

jthornton71707 said:
Hey guys. Ive had a note 3 before in the past and have used the Root DelaVega to root successfully. This was early in the year. I sold my old note 3 for an HTC One. Well today i traded my HTC One back for a note 3 as i missed the Note 3. As soon as i came home i attempted to use the Root DelaVega method to foot (just like i did before) and immediately it failed.
I have been stuck on a screen saying "firmware update encountered an issue - select recovery in Kies" so i tried Kies 3.2 however it says my device is not compatible. Come to find out after doing research (talking to the original owner i traded my HTC One for) the Note 3 i have is on the latest version of KitKat 4.4.2 that is not compatible with the Root DelaVega method or any root method - so i screwed that up. I can successfully boot in and out of download mode. Ive tried to flash N900XXUDNA6 4.4.2 in Odin several times, it begins then fails almost immediately and the bar on the phone itself (in download mode) begins then freezes shortly after beginning. Ive also tried to flash N900XXUDNC1 JellyBean thru odin and get the same results - almost immediately fail and the blue status bar on the phone freezes when it barley begins. What else can i do??? am i totally screwed? Ive been researching and trying to fix this for 6 straight hours now! My gf is about to kill me for being online so long Is there anything i can do at this point? Am i stuck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi mate,
if you are stuck, maybe you can try this.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=2701062
it's a way to unbrick your software.
and if the older owner of your N3 said it's on the latest firmware of kitkat.
maybe your problem is the firmware in the sammobile were before the firmware you have install on your device via OTA update.
Yours firmware came throw out via OTA update and with some reason you can't see any latest firmware USA N900A in sammobile.
try the method in the link and reply if you have been successful.
cumps

Ik Knox is 0×0,then u can try samsung service centre ?
Sent from my SM-N900 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

[Q] Quick Question If Someone Has a Moment, Please

I just swapped from my Amaze 4g, to a used Note 3, and I'm a little lost as far as where I should start.
It says that it's on 4.4.2, and that I cannot update due to a modified system.
Basically, I would like to get updated to 5.1.1 (or as close as is official for the Note 3), and root it.
I'm afraid I'm not familiar with Samsung devices, and because I purchased this from ebay, I don't know how to tell the exact state that the former user put it in (I expected they would return it to stock prior to selling).
It's currently a T-Mobile branded, SM-N900T, on 4.4.2, build is KOT49H, security software MDF v1.0 release 2. Kernel is 3.4.0-660648.
It is supposedly unlocked for carriers, though I have not attempted a SIM card use yet, until I can tell that what I have is a valid device and the IMEI is checked out.
Any thoughts on how to validate the IMEI, and sort out how to get my new phone up to date would be appreciated. As I stated, I expected the vendor would have returned it to stock, but that is clearly not the case, so I don't want to accidentally boot loop it by doing something I shouldn't. I have not owned a Samsung before, so I want to be careful on how it differs from my Nexus 7, Amaze 4g, and Droid X, as they're all obviously very different in the OS area.
Thank you for the help1

Download tbe stock 4.4.2 rom and use odin to install. Then you will get the OTA updates.
Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

There is no stock 5.1.1 for note 3, only cm12.1/ aosp. Latest is 5.0 and you can use odin to flash. Maybe it's rooted that's why you can't update.

bladebarrier said:
I just swapped from my Amaze 4g, to a used Note 3, and I'm a little lost as far as where I should start.
It says that it's on 4.4.2, and that I cannot update due to a modified system.
Basically, I would like to get updated to 5.1.1 (or as close as is official for the Note 3), and root it.
...
Thank you for the help1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some apps to install from Play Store...
Phone INFO Samsung - this will tell you all about your phone and the firmware etc.
Root Checker Basic - tells you if you are rooted or not.
SuperSU - this is so valuable you should buy the Pro licence. Chainfire does some great work for our phones.
TWRP - I have the zip version on my extSDCard and an Odin version on PC in case I have to rebuild from a Stock firmware. CWN works OK but most ROM builds seem to be for TWRP I think and a backup from one will not work on the other.
I don't know your previous phone so you probably need Odin v3.09 - this sits on PC and lets you flash firmware to the phone. (connected by USB)
For which you need Samsung USB drivers so the PC will recognise the phone. Install on PC before connecting phone.
Then do some browsing and find the processes to root your phone and install the ROM you want. If you just want Stock and access to all your phone, you can root it after flashing the original v5.0 download (from Sammobile or similar site - note on Sammobile you need a free account to DL) and then install Custom recovery (if wanted - it WILL trip the Knox flag but that may not matter given it's 2nd hand and might already be tripped anyway)
Read, make SURE you understand what is being said BEFORE you do anything - ask if you don't.
Good luck...

N9005 Lollipop brick
Hi All, just need a huge help here, a friend of mine has been using a N9005 which was auto restarting, she went online and downloaded this firmware...N900AUCUEOC1_N900AATTEOC1_N900AUCUEOC1_HOME.tar.md5....2.5GB in size...and flashed it, but the phone is stuck in boot loop even after recovery wiping data and cache, the phone can boot into download mode but re flashing the firmware always fails.....is there a solution for this.....please help

Thank you all for the info, especially the detailed info from Journyman16. I checked, and it is flagged as custom, which is fine, so I'm going to go ahead and try to return to mostly stock, update it, and root it.

Ok, everything went well. I had to do two attempts at rooting, but I think it's just one of those things where sometimes it doesn't restart into the process every time.
All seems good. I'm on 5.0, rooted, busyboxed, and smooth sailing.
Thank you all, again, for the tips. The Note 3 is running very well. Thank you to all of the devs that have made this process so refined. I've donated to you before, and did so again today. It's outstanding to have such well versed coders, on XDA, helping out the community.

mjmbirige said:
Hi All, just need a huge help here, a friend of mine has been using a N9005 which was auto restarting, she went online and downloaded this firmware...N900AUCUEOC1_N900AATTEOC1_N900AUCUEOC1_HOME.tar.md5....2.5GB in size...and flashed it, but the phone is stuck in boot loop even after recovery wiping data and cache, the phone can boot into download mode but re flashing the firmware always fails.....is there a solution for this.....please help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have never learned not to ask in others posts? What does your problem has to do with this topic at all?
When you need help. Just click on Q&A then Create a new thread. How hard is it?

Tracfone SM-S902L: Bad ROM flashes, need to recover stock ROM

Hello all,
I recently discovered that my S5 was only running KitKat despite Marshmallow having been released for it. I checked for OTA updates and it found nothing, so I decided to flash a custom 6.0 ROM onto it (and for some reason I ended up deciding not to make a backup of the phone beforehand, the ultimate mistake).
The problem became that it didn't recognize Tracfone for my service provider and wouldn't connect to the mobile network. I then downgraded it to a 5.0 ROM, and it no longer even recognized the SIM card, saying there was none.
So I tried to flash the original stock ROM a few times, but every time either got errors from ODIN, the phone itself, or the TWRP bootloader.
Long story short, I seem to have screwed up multiple times trying to install a ROM to get around KitKat and now my phone appears to be softbricked. I can get into the TWRP menu and the "download" mode, but when trying to start the phone, it sits on the "Samsung Galaxy S5" screen with the "Set Warrenty Bit : kernel" text at the top left.
I'm just wondering if there's a way to fix it at this point, or if I've completely trashed the phone.
If anybody has suggestions or experience with this, all help is welcome!
Thanks!

MevNav said:
Hello all,
I recently discovered that my S5 was only running KitKat despite Marshmallow having been released for it. I checked for OTA updates and it found nothing, so I decided to flash a custom 6.0 ROM onto it (and for some reason I ended up deciding not to make a backup of the phone beforehand, the ultimate mistake).
The problem became that it didn't recognize Tracfone for my service provider and wouldn't connect to the mobile network. I then downgraded it to a 5.0 ROM, and it no longer even recognized the SIM card, saying there was none.
So I tried to flash the original stock ROM a few times, but every time either got errors from ODIN, the phone itself, or the TWRP bootloader.
Long story short, I seem to have screwed up multiple times trying to install a ROM to get around KitKat and now my phone appears to be softbricked. I can get into the TWRP menu and the "download" mode, but when trying to start the phone, it sits on the "Samsung Galaxy S5" screen with the "Set Warrenty Bit : kernel" text at the top left.
I'm just wondering if there's a way to fix it at this point, or if I've completely trashed the phone.
If anybody has suggestions or experience with this, all help is welcome!
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure you have the stock firmware for the 902l and not the 903vl? The reason you didn't get the update for 6.0 is you have the 902l model. If you had the 903vl model you'd have 6.0. Straight talk never released it for the 902l model. No idea why being both models are very similar. Im not sure but if you make it back to stock on kitkat. I think you can use safestrap from the Verizon s5 to use some custom roms that run kitkat. If your bootloader is in fact unlocked and you can install a custom recovery other then safestrap. I believe you can install pretty much anything but I'm pretty sure straight talk ships the phones with the Toshiba chip so the bootloader isn't unlockable

Help need please

Hi.. I have recently rooted my Samsung galaxy note 4 SM-N910F and I am wanting to downgrade from marshmallow 6.0.1 to Lollipop 5.1.1. I really need a dummy guide as I don't know how to do it and help will bbe appreciated

Hey there. Downgrading to an older version of Android means you'll have to factory wipe, but other than that it's pretty straightforward. Seeing as you have already rooted your phone, I assume you know how to use Odin, but here's all the steps anyway:
1. Download Odin
2. Find a Lollipop firmware for your device from SamMobile
3. Back up important data, and factory reset. You can do this in settings or in recovery.
4. Turn off your device, then hold power + vol down + home to put it in download mode
5. Open Odin, and put the firmware file you downloaded in the AP slot
6. Plug your phone in. If it isn't recognized, you probably don't have all the drivers installed - the easiest way to get those is to install Kies or SmartSwitch from Samsung.
7. Click Flash, and wait until it's done. Do not unplug the cable under any circumstance!
You're done!
EDIT: Oh, and by the way: Welcome to the forums! Remember to title your threads according to their content. Generic titles such as "help please" don't really invite people to click on them.

Can i downgrade my note 4 n910g from 6.o.1 to 5.1.1 im now on dr.ketans m12 rom
But now my mobile is stuck on download mode
Plz guide me thanks

bathijavinod said:
Can i downgrade my note 4 n910g from 6.o.1 to 5.1.1 im now on dr.ketans m12 rom
But now my mobile is stuck on download mode
Plz guide me thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
describe here everything you did until now, step by step

First i wiped all data then i installes latest TWRP after that i installed dr.ketans rom M12 then again i wiped all data and rebooted the mobile its works for 3days perfectly
But now automatically shutdowns or restarting
And one time suddenly stuck on download mode
I removed battery and installed after few minutes
And it works fine
Rebooting issue is still there
I notice that somthing written on upper left side of corner kernels in yellow words
Should i have to change my kernel?
Right now my kernel is Hvitamin .
Plz suggest me what to do?
Thanks for reply

bathijavinod said:
First i wiped all data then i installes latest TWRP after that i installed dr.ketans rom M12 then again i wiped all data and rebooted the mobile its works for 3days perfectly
But now automatically shutdowns or restarting
And one time suddenly stuck on download mode
I removed battery and installed after few minutes
And it works fine
Rebooting issue is still there
I notice that somthing written on upper left side of corner kernels in yellow words
Should i have to change my kernel?
Right now my kernel is Hvitamin .
Plz suggest me what to do?
Thanks for reply
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you ask/search in the rom thread?
Maybe someone else had the same problem.
It could be a kernel issue, try other kernel.
I don't use a G but a C version, so I can't test to see.
Also consider the eMMC issue of the 910 SnapDragon, search about this.

Thanks for reply dear
Can i update or change kernel ?right now im on H-vitamin any other kernel can you suggest me is better then H-vitamin?thank for your support