So, I'm a noob when it comes to flashing custom ROMs. I've had my S4 rooted for a while and have had no issues. Decided recently to try a custom ROM.
I tried installing UltimaROM (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2537495) and everything seemed to work fine during install, but once the final reboot happened I am stuck in a Download Mode loop. Reading more, I am now not so sure this ROM will work on my phone (duh.) I am assuming that I am going to have to use Odin to flash a stock ROM back to my phone.. is this true? And, if so, how can I tell which ROM to install? I looked at the SamMobile site and there are two f/w downloads that appear to apply to my phone, but they are labeled I337UCUAMDL and I337UCUAMDB. Neither one of these seem to match what I was at, so I'm not sure if I should use either.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
P.S. I did use Safestrap/TWRP to take a full backup of my phone before trying to install the ROM. Is there any way to flash just a new recovery and do a restore, instead of flashing a full stock ROM back?
You're right that the rom won't work with safestrap. You'll have to Odin the nb1 tar file. Look in the general forum for it
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
Thanks. I'm trying that now.
Related
Ok so now I have a brand new S4. Came in the mail yesterday. So I rooted it. No problem...... went to add a custom rom. (Sacs custom rom to be exact) reboots ok. Galaxy S4 screen. Then the custom rom screen and it stays there........ phone gets extremely hot. I went into recovery. Wiped data. Wiped cache. Wiped dalvik cache. Nothing. So I says ok, forget it. I'm going to Just take the root off and go back to stock firmware. Odin fails to unroot every time. I get Fail (Auth). I downloaded the right tar files to unroot. I even deleted them and re downloaded them. Same results. I'm going crazy because I just got this phone and I can't use it. Any help on what I'm doing wrong? Mind you I've been rooting for years and I've never had this problem before. Also it's a newer S4 that has the Sprint Spark screen. Anything would help. Thanks
sonny82 said:
Ok so now I have a brand new S4. Came in the mail yesterday. So I rooted it. No problem...... went to add a custom rom. (Sacs custom rom to be exact) reboots ok. Galaxy S4 screen. Then the custom rom screen and it stays there........ phone gets extremely hot. I went into recovery. Wiped data. Wiped cache. Wiped dalvik cache. Nothing. So I says ok, forget it. I'm going to Just take the root off and go back to stock firmware. Odin fails to unroot every time. I get Fail (Auth). I downloaded the right tar files to unroot. I even deleted them and re downloaded them. Same results. I'm going crazy because I just got this phone and I can't use it. Any help on what I'm doing wrong? Mind you I've been rooting for years and I've never had this problem before. Also it's a newer S4 that has the Sprint Spark screen. Anything would help. Thanks
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sph-l720t?? I've heard conflicting reports about compatibility with custom sph-l720 ROMs and spark capable sph-l720t. Best case scenario is you get it to boot, I doubt you will have working Spark functionality, however.
With the galaxy s4 TW custom ROMs you need to reboot recovery after doing your wipes and before flashing your ROM. Also, IIRC, it is best to boot to download mode from fully powered off (maybe even recovery, but I've never needed to do so).
It is also best to be on the newest custom recoveries, like twrp 2.7.0.1 and latest philz (6.25?? not sure on this one)
The steps should look like this.
1 - boot to recovery and do all your wipes.
2 - reboot recovery
3 - flash rom
3.1 wipe dalvik and cache
4 - Boot and let it settle, if you are stuck on the splash screen for longer than 10 minutes chances are it is not going to boot.
Holler back and let us know.
sonny82 said:
Ok so now I have a brand new S4. Came in the mail yesterday. So I rooted it. No problem...... went to add a custom rom. (Sacs custom rom to be exact) reboots ok. Galaxy S4 screen. Then the custom rom screen and it stays there........ phone gets extremely hot. I went into recovery. Wiped data. Wiped cache. Wiped dalvik cache. Nothing. So I says ok, forget it. I'm going to Just take the root off and go back to stock firmware. Odin fails to unroot every time. I get Fail (Auth). I downloaded the right tar files to unroot. I even deleted them and re downloaded them. Same results. I'm going crazy because I just got this phone and I can't use it. Any help on what I'm doing wrong? Mind you I've been rooting for years and I've never had this problem before. Also it's a newer S4 that has the Sprint Spark screen. Anything would help. Thanks
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If Odin fails then you DID download the wrong tar file. Since you said you just got your phone then you need to know what version you have, there are 2: the L720 & the L720T. If your phone was brand new when you bought it than most likely it is the L720T and none of the roms on this site are compatible with your phone. Some of them will work but you will loose features or have to take extra steps to get the rom working. Once you know which phone you have, you will need to download the correct tar file. If you do have the L720 than the only tar file that will get your phone up and working is the full NAE tar. If you have the L720T then you will need the NC6 ful tar. Any older tar files will fail.
wilzard said:
sph-l720t?? I've heard conflicting reports about compatibility with custom sph-l720 ROMs and spark capable sph-l720t. Best case scenario is you get it to boot, I doubt you will have working Spark functionality, however.
With the galaxy s4 TW custom ROMs you need to reboot recovery after doing your wipes and before flashing your ROM. Also, IIRC, it is best to boot to download mode from fully powered off (maybe even recovery, but I've never needed to do so).
It is also best to be on the newest custom recoveries, like twrp 2.7.0.1 and latest philz (6.25?? not sure on this one)
The steps should look like this.
1 - boot to recovery and do all your wipes.
2 - reboot recovery
3 - flash rom
3.1 wipe dalvik and cache
4 - Boot and let it settle, if you are stuck on the splash screen for longer than 10 minutes chances are it is not going to boot.
Holler back and let us know.
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it worked!!!!! you are the man!!!! thanks a lot!!!!!
cruise350 said:
If Odin fails then you DID download the wrong tar file. Since you said you just got your phone then you need to know what version you have, there are 2: the L720 & the L720T. If your phone was brand new when you bought it than most likely it is the L720T and none of the roms on this site are compatible with your phone. Some of them will work but you will loose features or have to take extra steps to get the rom working. Once you know which phone you have, you will need to download the correct tar file. If you do have the L720 than the only tar file that will get your phone up and working is the full NAE tar. If you have the L720T then you will need the NC6 ful tar. Any older tar files will fail.
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cool so where would i find these new tar files?
cruise350 said:
If Odin fails then you DID download the wrong tar file. Since you said you just got your phone then you need to know what version you have, there are 2: the L720 & the L720T. If your phone was brand new when you bought it than most likely it is the L720T and none of the roms on this site are compatible with your phone. Some of them will work but you will loose features or have to take extra steps to get the rom working. Once you know which phone you have, you will need to download the correct tar file. If you do have the L720 than the only tar file that will get your phone up and working is the full NAE tar. If you have the L720T then you will need the NC6 ful tar. Any older tar files will fail.
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im on L720. now this new NAE tar. will it put me back to stock firmware? because thats what i want to do. no rrot on this phone.
sonny82 said:
im on L720. now this new NAE tar. will it put me back to stock firmware? because thats what i want to do. no rrot on this phone.
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You can download the NAE tar file from here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2663619
You should use Odin 3.07 or 3.09 to install. Make sure you run Odin in administrator mode.
sonny82 said:
it worked!!!!! you are the man!!!! thanks a lot!!!!!
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Awesome, dude. Very happy to hear that.
tar files
Where can I get the NC6 tar file. I have the SPH720T , I rooted it fine, then tried to get the native tether to work and now my phone starts up and then gets stuck on the Sprint Sparks screen, I've tried 4 different tar files and all fail. I'm using Odin 3.9
I am currently on the unlocked MDL bootloader, and I am running KANGAKAT 7.0, which is a KitKat 4.4 ROM. My phone is also encrypted, which means that I cannot flash updates due to CWM/TWRP not supporting encryption.
The solution proposed by other users has been to ODIN the stock MK2 recovery onto my phone, use the stock recovery to factory reset my device, then re-flash TWRP and then my new ROM.
However I'm having a problem with these steps. I am able to successfully ODIN the stock MK2 recovery to my device, however whenever I try to boot into recovery, I get the yellow triangle screen stating that I'm running software that is not authorized by AT&T, and stating something to do with my kernel in the top left of the screen.
Is there a step that I am missing? I followed the instructions @ http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1506697
It looks like that file is for the s2 skyrocket, not the s4. You'll probably have to flash the complete mdl firmware in Odin
Edit, if you're still rooted try flashing twrp 2.8.3.0 image file in flashify from the play store. http://techerrata.com/browse/twrp2/jflteatt
Sent from my Nexus 9 using XDA Free mobile app
jd1639 said:
It looks like that file is for the s2 skyrocket, not the s4. You'll probably have to flash the complete mdl firmware in Odin
Edit, if you're still rooted try flashing twrp 2.8.3.0 image file in flashify from the play store. http://techerrata.com/browse/twrp2/jflteatt
Sent from my Nexus 9 using XDA Free mobile app
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Yeah, they're instructions for the S2 Skyrocket, but I just used the general procedure and not the file, I used the stock recovery listed here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=49687791&postcount=3
You make an interesting point though, if I ODIN the entire stock MDL ROM, that could work. I'm just going to write over it with another ROM anyways, so what I restore to shouldn't matter. I know this is probably a dumb question, but flashing the stock MDL ROM isn't going to affect my MDL bootloader is it?
I can get TWRP 2.8.3.0 with or without Flashify, but that app is very convenient, thank you for the tip =)
ChrisG683 said:
Yeah, they're instructions for the S2 Skyrocket, but I just used the general procedure and not the file, I used the stock recovery listed here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=49687791&postcount=3
You make an interesting point though, if I ODIN the entire stock MDL ROM, that could work. I'm just going to write over it with another ROM anyways, so what I restore to shouldn't matter. I know this is probably a dumb question, but flashing the stock MDL ROM isn't going to affect my MDL bootloader is it?
I can get TWRP 2.8.3.0 with or without Flashify, but that app is very convenient, thank you for the tip =)
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Flashing the mdl firmware in Odin will still give you the mdl bootloader. But it'll want to update after you flash so flash another custom rom or freeze the update files before it does so.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
@ChrisG683 Be sure to turn your wi-fi off and remove your SIM card, that way it can't update. You can put any apps you think you might need on an SD card and install them without having to go to the play store. Once you get things frozen or removed then you'll be good to go. :good:
Thanks guys, I'll be sure to keep that in mind once I get things sorted out.
The newest thing I've figured out is that the MDL stock recovery does not give me the "yellow triangle" error, and it presents me with the option to wipe my device. (I grabbed it from here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2429406)
Now I'm just making sure I have a stock MDL ROM ready to ODIN in case I screw up my device =). Hopefully this all works out.
Edit:
Looks like everything went beautifully. The MDL stock recovery wiped my /data partition perfectly, and I was able to reboot into a fresh and clean copy of KANGAKAT 6.0. Then I was able to use a terminal to flash TWRP, did a factory reset, flashed KANGAPOP 1.4, and now you can add me to the list of proud Lollipop users =)
Alright, I have a Virgin Mobile S4. I rooted it a year ago with towelroot and installed clockwork mod on it to install cyanogenmod. I tried it, didn't like it so I restored my backup of the stock rom using CWM.
Fast forward to now. I tried to update my S4 OTA for Lollipop, but it would give me an error. I figured it was because I had changed the recovery software. So I went and downloaded the virgin mobile lollipop stock rom from sammobile. ( I337MVLUGOC4_I337MOYAGOC4_VMC ).
I tried to flash it onto my S4 using Odin 3.09. To no avail, it always failed at the system4.img.ext or something. From there I tried to make it work by using 3.10. Still failed. I googled for a fix or workaround and found something about reinstalling clockwork mod. I also tried reinstalling the PIT file for I337M. It was still not working. So I tried to flash back to my stock backup.
1st time I flashed, I kept having program that didn't want to start errors. I wiped dalvik, I wiped cache, I factory reset. Still bugged. So as a last resort I restored the backup again after having done all this. It worked! But...
Well, I'm at a lost now, I can't update using OTA, I can't update with Odin, I can't update with Kies. Now what? Is there a way to go back to the stock recovery and let the OTA or Kies update go through unhindered?
The proper place to ask this is in the AT&T S4 Forum as there are more people with that device who are able to help you. This is the International S4 forum, and while we can help you in a general sense, there may be something device specific we'll miss.
With that out of the way, with the ROM you downloaded, there would be no OTA updates when you installed it as it is the most current ROM available. Since Odin should have worked but didn't, you likely need to use a different USB port, and make sure you're not using a hub. Changing the port can often fix issues with Odin.
As @Strephon Alkhalikoi says this is not the place for it.
But there is one thing I notice. You are flashing an I337M firmware. Are you sure that's your model and you don't have an I337 (without M.
Hey folks. I'm finding a lot of threads from 2 years ago and unfortunately they aren't much help with my device. I've inherited this phone, and my goal is to upgrade to CM12. Unfortunately I'm dealing with AT&T's locked bootloader and other issues.
I'm currently on Android 4.4.4, Baseband I337UCUFNJ4. I've managed to get root access using the Odin method of flashing NC1 then back to NJ4, root is working., but I've been unable to flash an updated Recovery. I've tried everything except for the Safestrap method, which last I read wouldn't work for installing Cyanogenmod. Using Odin, I've tried to flash CWM Recovery after converting the .img to a .tar.md5 (Odin failed to transfer this), I've tried using ROM Manager to install Recovery (claimed to work, but actually did nothing), then also used Flashify and Rashr to flash, which seemed to get further, but upon reboot the phone gave an error about software not authorized by AT&T.
I've done way too much googling this weekend and trying all sorts of things that haven't worked, from all sorts of threads from 2013 and 2014, does anyone have a reliable method that works if I'm already on 4.4.4, or am I still out of luck with this device? There is no SIM in the phone right now, but I may want to use it as a phone later if I can upgrade to CM12.
You're pretty much stuck. Only ROMs you can flash are AT&T official stock ROMs for the S4, or ROMs that are specifically safestrap-compatible. No other recovery will work, either.
That being said, if you're interested in lollipop, there's a stock, deodexed lollipop ROM for our phone that is safestrap-compatible on here called Goldeneye v53 that I enjoy.
Sent from my SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
I'm in the same situation as you, I ended up using safestrap with Pure Nexus http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4-att/development/rom-google-edition-s4-t2837239
Closest I could get to a desirable phone without original Samsung FW. Good luck
Hmmm. What I'm wondering at this point is how does the bootloader get onto the device originally? Can't a working bootloader from another model S4 be flashed in place of the AT&T one?
I would imagine that there must be some software that can be used to fully wipe the phone, repartition the memory, write a new bootloader, etc. If a phone were hard bricked, it would seem that there would be a way that Samsung or some carrier can use to get the phone working again.
I have been trying to upgrade my 4.4.2 s4 I337 to 6.0 marshmellow and am having many problems. Also I am EXTREMELY new to anything android or flashing or anything like this at all, I learned everything I know just today.
I rooted my phone using the towelroot method because it was the easiest for my phone. I am also using safestrap recovery because I think my phone is bootloader locked? I was having a lot of problems trying to install twrp so I just assumed it was that. I'm using usb debugging and I am using the 6.0 pico gapps.
I have tried multiple roms using safestrap and making sure that the rom is specifically for my phone, at&t and I337 but each time the rom shows it was successful and I reboot it goes to recovery booting and says I don't have an OS and I have to recover back to stock firmware using odin, beccause I did a full wipe before each install of the roms.
If there is any other info I might have missed or have anything to help me I would greatly appreciated it, and again I basically have no idea what I am doing and am just going off of trial and error and googling what every term means. Thank you
Edit: My bootloader is NB1 if that matters also.
Edit: Doing a little more searching is it even possible for me to get 6.0 with my phone?
The bootloader on your phone is locked and cannot run any custom ROMs unless it is a rom that is based on a stock Samsung ROM; therefore, a 6.0 ROM or higher is not possible. Also, Lineage, RR, etc. is not possible.
audit13 said:
The bootloader on your phone is locked and cannot run any custom ROMs unless it is a rom that is based on a stock Samsung ROM; therefore, a 6.0 ROM or higher is not possible. Also, Lineage, RR, etc. is not possible.
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Thank you for the reply! After a lot more researching and doing very stupid stuff (it was all for fun and learning mostly anyway) I did brick my phone saying firmware upgrade encountered an issue I can only get to download mode I tried flashing the original firmware I had using the stock 4.4 nb1 file but that is also now failing in odin, do you have any suggestions that could work?
Edit: I tried flashing to mk2 and thats how it bricked, but shouldn't I be able to go back to my stock firmware even if I bricked my phone like this? Both the towelrootable stock nb1 4.4 and the normal stock nb1 4.4 isnt working when I try to flash them in odin
You should flash the same or newer ROM to the phone. Even though the phone says it encountered an error, you can still flash the phone with Odin with this message in the screen.
Hopefully, this thread will help: https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4-att/general/guide-odin-to-stock-updating-rooting-t2926642
audit13 said:
You should flash the same or newer ROM to the phone. Even though the phone says it encountered an error, you can still flash the phone with Odin with this message in the screen.
Hopefully, this thread will help: https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4-att/general/guide-odin-to-stock-updating-rooting-t2926642
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I'm probably jinxing it by typing while its still working but I switched my usb cable and so far it hasn't failed when before it would fail immediatly, thank you for all the help!
Only the MDL bootloader can run non touchwiz ROMs. All other bootloaders can only run touch wiz based ROMs.