Database Users

So lost after trying others advice

Let me preface this by saying I have searched here and other websites and have tried the methods I have found and cannot get the issue fixed. ANY help is greatly appreciated.
I have a sprint s4 l720. I rooted it and installed a custom rom and twrp a few months ago. I recently saw that 4.4 came out and wanted to try a new rom. I first booted into recovery and tried to restore my system back to the original stock rom that I had backed up when I first installed the new one. I was able to restart it and it loaded fine but if I pull the battery or do a restart it gets stuck at the samsung splash screen. I have tried advanced wipe, format data, wipe dalvik and cache and even installing other roms and it still gives me the same behavior. I have tried other methods to re-install the stock rom and I keep encountering issues. I downloaded the most recent ODIN and the samsung USB drivers and "jflterspr16gb.pit" and sprints .tar.md5 file. It loads into odin fine and shows the added on the dialogue box and I load the respective files into odin and it keeps failing. I am at a lost.
All I want is to be able to add either the stock rom or preferably the custom 4.4 rom and work as it used to. Restart when needed and not get stuck at the boot screen. ANY help is much appreciated. any ideas on what I am doing wrong? Thanks guys!

Anything 4.4 at this point is custom. Just boot into recovery, wipe and flash the 4.4 ROM.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

if your at ota MJA then trying to odin md5 will not work. Did you take the MJA update?

frostedunit said:
Anything 4.4 at this point is custom. Just boot into recovery, wipe and flash the 4.4 ROM.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tried that. I boot into twrp and have tried formatting all data and just wipe data and then I restart and load gummy 4.4 and the gapps for it and then wipe the dalvik and cache. It will boot into the gummy rom fine and give me no issues, but it is if I try to restart it or power it down and power it back on is where it gets stuck at the samsung splash screen.
rheller219 said:
if your at ota MJA then trying to odin md5 will not work. Did you take the MJA update?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not for sure what the MJA is. Could you pleaes elaborate to me? Thanks.

pgrim85 said:
I have tried that. I boot into twrp and have tried formatting all data and just wipe data and then I restart and load gummy 4.4 and the gapps for it and then wipe the dalvik and cache. It will boot into the gummy rom fine and give me no issues, but it is if I try to restart it or power it down and power it back on is where it gets stuck at the samsung splash screen.
I am not for sure what the MJA is. Could you pleaes elaborate to me? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where does it stop on the odin error? And dont use the pit file. Try again without the pit file.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app

You should always be on a stock ROM of the latest version prior to flashing an unofficial, newer Android ROM.
For example:
If you're trying to flash 4.4, you should be on stock 4.3 such as this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2505025
MJA is the latest official 4.3 build for the Sprint S4.
If you're on 4.2, you should update to 4.3 stock, then flash 4.4. This generally prevents any unexpected results.
Furthermore, always ensure you are flashing from a trusted recovery such as TWRP and CWM.
Occasionally, one recovery will not run the install script properly.
If you are certain you are doing the install right, you can try from another recovery.
Additionally: If you are having trouble with Odin on Windows 8, ensure your computer does not report a driver malfunction when you plug your device in after entering download mode.
This can possibly be fixed by running Odin as administrator. Or, you can attempt to manually install the USB drivers by downloading them, disconnecting from the Internet, uninstalling previous drivers, then manually installing the USB package you downloaded.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app

R0CKSTAR3N3RGY said:
You should always be on a stock ROM of the latest version prior to flashing an unofficial, newer Android ROM.
For example:
If you're trying to flash 4.4, you should be on stock 4.3 such as this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2505025
MJA is the latest official 4.3 build for the Sprint S4.
If you're on 4.2, you should update to 4.3 stock, then flash 4.4. This generally prevents any unexpected results.
Furthermore, always ensure you are flashing from a trusted recovery such as TWRP and CWM.
Occasionally, one recovery will not run the install script properly.
If you are certain you are doing the install right, you can try from another recovery.
Additionally: If you are having trouble with Odin on Windows 8, ensure your computer does not report a driver malfunction when you plug your device in after entering download mode.
This can possibly be fixed by running Odin as administrator. Or, you can attempt to manually install the USB drivers by downloading them, disconnecting from the Internet, uninstalling previous drivers, then manually installing the USB package you downloaded.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there a way I can fresh restart my phone? I do not have any recovery files since I wiped my phone in its entirety and I had no backed it up on the SD card, rookie mistake, I know. I don't necessarily need 4.4, but what I do need is my phone to boot up properly whenever I choose and not have to boot into recovery, wipe the phone and then when I turn it on have to go through the setup process.
ROMANTiC KiD said:
Where does it stop on the odin error? And dont use the pit file. Try again without the pit file.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will have to look where it stops again tonight. but it does connect by showing the "pass" on the odin box on the left. could it be that I have the wrong odin? I noticed the top of odin it shows epic 4g when I have a galaxy s4, is this ok or is there a way I can change that? I dl the odin from a forum that was specifically a tutorial on how to flash the galaxy s4, sprint specifically, so I figured it would be the correct one. Also, I did try again without the pit file and it still failed.
Thanks for the help so far guys

Some of the Odin packages have multiple versions thrown together. Make sure to use the highest version number (3.07?) And that you are putting the .tar in the PDA slot. If all else fails, try deleting the .md5 off the end of the file before you load it in Odin. Used to work on OG Epic sometimes.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

[Solved] Phone Borked: no system on MK2

Was testing kn0x0ut on our device when I ended up flashing an empty system image. I was on MK2 and attempted to use the MJ6-MJ9 method of flashing just enough files to pass the OTA checks. They didn't flash, and now it says my PIT is broken. I have recovery, and the data partition is in place as on a normal boot it loads to black screen with a blue LED. I can use adb, but there is no root so I can't restore my system. Any suggestions? I'm busy today so I won't be able to reply much, but I can gladly give more information.
EDIT: The system apparently isn't empty. The partition got flashed at some point and appears to have MF3 files.
However, there is still no root and it boots up to nothing but a black screen with blue LED still. I can't get the small update from cache that the MJ6-MJ9 thread mentions. Also, attempting a recovery boot results in the Secure Fail: Kernel screen. Recovery is fixed with the MJ6 recovery file.
FIXED: I was able to get it working following the instructions again. Not sure what the exact issue was with the first time i tried, but flashing the MJ6 recovery makes recovery boot again. I had to flash the two emergency tars, flash the recovery tar again, and then boot into recovery. It then applied the update from cache and on next reboot i went back in and used the sideload.

Have you tried ADB sideloading the update through the recovery?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Supreme Dynamite said:
Have you tried ADB sideloading the update through the recovery?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesn't go through since it fails the file check.

Possible help
Hey there, I Gorked my i337 at&t version on Thanksgiving day! I was able to go to this thread and just used Odin to flash the two .tar files and then was able to sideload the mk2 update. Boom phone was back to 4.3
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2526964&page=19

joshzdad2013 said:
Hey there, I Gorked my i337 at&t version on Thanksgiving day! I was able to go to this thread and just used Odin to flash the two .tar files and then was able to sideload the mk2 update. Boom phone was back to 4.3
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2526964&page=19
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what i've been trying to no avail. The first small update from cache never happened and now it's broken even more.
EDIT: Recovery is booting after flashing the MJ6 recovery, surprisingly. Will attempt instructions one more time and report back.

I beleive i just said screw it since I knew I was boned! I then just flashed recovery-mj6.tar.md5 not even sure if it worked. Then flashed the mf3-emergency-part-1.tar.md5 then the mf3-emergency-part-2.tar.md5 and finally I beleive I tried the side load of my mk2 full update file and it worked.

joshzdad2013 said:
I beleive i just said screw it since I knew I was boned! I then just flashed recovery-mj6.tar.md5 not even sure if it worked. Then flashed the mf3-emergency-part-1.tar.md5 then the mf3-emergency-part-2.tar.md5 and finally I beleive I tried the side load of my mk2 full update file and it worked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good job man you had me on the seat of my pants reading this.
ROOTED ATT MK2 using Tapatalk

[Q] I think I Bricked my Samsung Galaxy Note 3

My phone will boot to safestrap but I have no options for loading. Everything seems to be wiped except the directories. I have tried most of the ODIN files to load the system back but to no avail. This was an NC4 that had been rooted using towel root. I mistakenly tried installing a ROM in the Stock ROM Slot. Any help would be appreciated.

Just run the NC4 tar in Odin and you should be good !!
Sent from my HTC6600LVW using Tapatalk
Edit: if you can boot to safestrap restore your backup if you made one of the original stock Rom !! Are able to at least do that ?

greg2601 said:
My phone will boot to safestrap but I have no options for loading. Everything seems to be wiped except the directories. I have tried most of the ODIN files to load the system back but to no avail. This was an NC4 that had been rooted using towel root. I mistakenly tried installing a ROM in the Stock ROM Slot. Any help would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a similar issue a while back. I couldn't get anything to work until I used the pit file to re-partition it in ODIN. After I did that and re-loaded a tar of one of the stock ROMs I was fine. I am on a Dev unit though.

Install Recovery and CM on Locked I9500

Hi All,
I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this as I'm relatively new to posting on XDA. My girlfriend has a Galaxy S4 (I337) that I quickly and easily installed Cyanogenmod on. It's awesome and significantly better than TouchWiz. So, I bought an S4 off Ebay assuming it would be similar enough. It turns out this new S4 is an I9500 and before shipping it was updated to 4.3, which appears to lock the bootloader and prevent downgrading. I've tried Odin, Heimdall, ADB, Philz, Chainfire, Cofface, stock ROMs, etc with no luck. Today I did manage to root the phone and confirm root with TowelRoot. I'm wondering/hoping someone might have some resources to get CM on this thing. While I'd prefer not to brick it I am willing to take risks as I have a Razr (soft-bricked and unbricked) running CM and am relatively comfortable with computers/Linux.
I've been Googling and trying things for a month now and can't even find that much information on the locked bootloader. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.
--
SL

The I9500 doesn't have a locked bootloader. You just can't downgrade from 4.3 to 4.2.2 with official roms. Same applies when you are running 4.4, then you also can't downgrade officially.
Just flash a custom recovery true Odin and flash away.
Why would you even want to downgrade? Are you sure you are picking the right files? You cant flash the files for the I337 on the I9500. So just go to the section for the I9500 roms and flash away.

Hi Lennyz1988,
Thanks for the quick reply. I don't specifically want to downgrade but that's the last option I've tried. Ultimately the goal is to put Cyanogenmod on the phone. When I attempt to upload any file via Odin I get "secure magiccode check fail : boot" (or fail : recovery) depending on what I'm flashing. All the reading I've done says that when these phones are updated to 4.3 a fix has been applied that stops Odin from working. Thus, I my last resort is/was to try and downgrade. As I said, I've been Googling for the last month and while few people have posted about this I have not found any solutions.
Hoping someone might have a solution or anything new to try that I haven't tried already, thanks again,
--
SL

Download the latest TWRP recovery:
http://techerrata.com/browse/twrp2/i9500
Fire it up in Odin under PDA. You need the .tar (DON'T EXTRACT IT).
If it fails:
- Different usb port
- Different cable
- Different pc
- Reinstall drivers
- Make sure Kies is not running the background.
Or you can use heimdall to flash it. Use the command line though:
heimdall flash --recovery nameoftherecovery.img (you need the .img instead of the .tar)

No luck there, Odin still fails with the same message. I have tried Heimdall on 2 different computers (4 different usb cables) and always get the libusb 12 error.
Since I have root access I figured I might be able to wipe the recovery partition from a terminal emulator. I copied recovery.img from the I9500 CWM to the internal sd card. I then went to /dev/block/msm_sdcc.1/by-name to figure out what partition is recovery, turns out its 21. I then did “dd if=/sdcard/recovery.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p21”. I then booted into recovery and it just hung up. I had previously found a stock recovery partition so I flashed that via Odin (the only file I have found that works flashing via Odin). I could then boot back into the normal recovery. I then tried flashing both recovery and cache with the CF Auto files (cache is partition 18). Same result, it just hangs when trying to boot into recovery. At one point I did manage to flash a recovery that then came up with a warning about “software installed that is not supported by AT&T” and I couldn’t get past that so had to flash the stock recovery again.
On a side note, I accidentally wiped the EFS partition in this process (if found a tutorial that shows the S3 had recovery in partition 10, which is EFS on the S4). As a result 1.) the menu didn’t pop up when I hit the power button and 2.) wifi didn’t work. So, I made an .img of the EFS partition on my GT-I337 and moved it to the I9500 and that worked restoring both. In case anyone makes the same mistake.
I have now also used CWM ROM Manager and GooManger and tried installing recovery that way with no luck.

Just check if the internal memory partitioning is correct ( number, size and format) (use fdisk or parsed).
ODIN will install according to the PIT file and if drivers and cables are OK it is no other explanation than that.
PS: do not trust heimdall data because it just read the PIT file and do not give the true info from the memory part.!

Uhm on the TWRP website they say that the I9500 has it on partition 10.....
This would be the proper partition based on their website:
mmcblk0p10
Are you absolutely sure you have an i9500? Because my guess is that you don't.....
Boot into download mode. What does it say your model is?
Because on the AT&T it's partition 21.... So my guess is that you are messing up....

Thanks everyone for the input/feedback,
Something I think I had forgotten to mention previously, when the initial root/recovery attempts didn't work I downloaded an app to verify it is a genuine Samsung as I have heard of very good knock-offs. It is genuine according to the app.
Good point/catch regarding the location of the recovery partition. Under About Phone it shows as an I9500 and always has. When in download mode it currently shows as I337 but I wasn't sure if that was simply a result of all my attempts so I figured best to go with the one I am certain has been the same since I bought the phone. I had been hesitant to try wiping the recovery with for the I337 as that is how I soft-bricked my RazrHD (ultimately un-bricked it).
Tonight I will try the I337 files and see if Odin is successful. Thanks again.

Damn! Turns out my phone is an I337. The hardward (under the battery) says I9500 and when I plug it into a computer it shows up as I9500. On the weekend I thought I read that there is now the ability to flash recovery and install CyanogenMod on I337 if its updated to 4.4.2. So, I donwloaded the firmware and flashed with Odin. It flashed successfully but now I realize I am mistaken and 1.) cannot flash recovery, and 2.) cannot downgrade. For the time being I have installed Nova Launcher and removed as much of TouchWiz as possible. It's not perfect but at least usable. I'd like to start researching what it would take to flash recovery on this phone but I suspect I'm too busy at this moment.
Thanks everyone for the help,

Bootloop on hyperdrive rom, please help

I need help. lol. my Samsung note 3 is stuck in bootloop. I posted this in the thread for the hyperdrive rom because its what I was trying to flash.
i wiped and flashed in the stock slot. and now im stuck in the bootloop problem. it says recovery booting in the upper left of the screen and just keeps rebooting. I tried going in to odin and reloading the "n900v kk firmware" and nothing. anyone know a fix for this. is there something I can download to flash to fix this. I know I will have to use odin, just not sure what.

donelam304 said:
I need help. lol. my Samsung note 3 is stuck in bootloop. I posted this in the thread for the hyperdrive rom because its what I was trying to flash.
i wiped and flashed in the stock slot. and now im stuck in the bootloop problem. it says recovery booting in the upper left of the screen and just keeps rebooting. I tried going in to odin and reloading the "n900v kk firmware" and nothing. anyone know a fix for this. is there something I can download to flash to fix this. I know I will have to use odin, just not sure what.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi I'm kinda new to the community and Android, but I'll try to help. I've been having issues trying to use safestrap to install my custom roms. I know that 3.72 had issues with the extra slots. That was supposed to be fixed in 3.75. In short I haven't reached a loop but have had to flash to stock several times with Odin. I had to remove my battery to get the phone in "power off" mode. From there, I booted to download for odin (assuming you can get it to boot to download-volume down/home/power buttons to get there).
Once I got there, I just made sure I had the firmware version I wanted to go back to, plugged it into odin and bam! Back to stock to start over.

Bryotch said:
Hi I'm kinda new to the community and Android, but I'll try to help. I've been having issues trying to use safestrap to install my custom roms. I know that 3.72 had issues with the extra slots. That was supposed to be fixed in 3.75. In short I haven't reached a loop but have had to flash to stock several times with Odin. I had to remove my battery to get the phone in "power off" mode. From there, I booted to download for odin (assuming you can get it to boot to download-volume down/home/power buttons to get there).
Once I got there, I just made sure I had the firmware version I wanted to go back to, plugged it into odin and bam! Back to stock to start over.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can boot in to the download mode. has no problem. even tried flashing the n900v_kk_firmware.tar.md5 tar,
ALL_N900VVRUBMJE_N900VVZWMJE_2106277_REV03_user_low_ship_MULTI_CERT.tar.md5
and even tried the N900VVRUCNC4_N900VVZWCNC4_N900VVRUCNC4_HOME.tar.md5
and when I do the MJE one it says invalid. am I flashing the wrong file is there something else I should be using. when I get in to manual mode after it boots in to manual recovery mode it says im on NC4. it says in the upper left corner the following:
Android stem recovery <3e>
KOT49H.N900VVRUCNC
volume up/down to move highlight;
power button to select.
reboot system now
apply update from ADB
apply update from external storage
wipe data/factory reset
wipe cache partition
apply update from cache
is there a way to flash safestrap or CWM in odin.

donelam304 said:
I can boot in to the download mode. has no problem. even tried flashing the n900v_kk_firmware.tar.md5 tar,
ALL_N900VVRUBMJE_N900VVZWMJE_2106277_REV03_user_low_ship_MULTI_CERT.tar.md5
and even tried the N900VVRUCNC4_N900VVZWCNC4_N900VVRUCNC4_HOME.tar.md5
and when I do the MJE one it says invalid. am I flashing the wrong file is there something else I should be using. when I get in to manual mode after it boots in to manual recovery mode it says im on NC4. it says in the upper left corner the following:
Android stem recovery <3e>
KOT49H.N900VVRUCNC
volume up/down to move highlight;
power button to select.
reboot system now
apply update from ADB
apply update from external storage
wipe data/factory reset
wipe cache partition
apply update from cache
is there a way to flash safestrap or CWM in odin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're running the same build I have, been having similar issues. I used Odin no completely repartition and wipe the phone. I used N900VVRUCNC4_N900VVZWCNC4_N900VVRUCNC4_HOME.tar.md5 and the HLTE.pit file (for this build). In Odin You put the pit and md5 files in (.pit file in the PIT slot and md5 in the AP slot on Odin 3.09) This took me back to the KK NC4 build, granted, I lost alot of data but I didn't use a Nandroid backup either. This got me back to a functional device but i'm still having issues getting ANY custom roms to work. I did flash to NC2 kernel since then and still no luck. Let me know if that helps. I can get the files I used if you can't find them, but most everything came from xda.
PS. you can find some firmwares with recovery and other things added. I avoided these just to make sure I could get back to stock. I use Towelroot, BusyBox, SuperSU, and Safestrap 3.75 b04

Bryotch said:
You're running the same build I have, been having similar issues. I used Odin no completely repartition and wipe the phone. I used N900VVRUCNC4_N900VVZWCNC4_N900VVRUCNC4_HOME.tar.md5 and the HLTE.pit file (for this build). In Odin You put the pit and md5 files in (.pit file in the PIT slot and md5 in the AP slot on Odin 3.09) This took me back to the KK NC4 build, granted, I lost alot of data but I didn't use a Nandroid backup either. This got me back to a functional device but i'm still having issues getting ANY custom roms to work. I did flash to NC2 kernel since then and still no luck. Let me know if that helps. I can get the files I used if you can't find them, but most everything came from xda.
PS. you can find some firmwares with recovery and other things added. I avoided these just to make sure I could get back to stock. I use Towelroot, BusyBox, SuperSU, and Safestrap 3.75 b04
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i done a search on the stock firmware you mentioned and after about 2 dozen websites and and trying about 15 flashes I finally got it to work. this has been one heck of a day. I finally got it to work. I am in the process of trying to get safestrap and stuff on it now. I already used towelroot to rot it. what version of safestrap do you recommend. I was told 3.72 was for KK. and 3.75 was for the Samsung galaxy S5.

donelam304 said:
i done a search on the stock firmware you mentioned and after about 2 dozen websites and and trying about 15 flashes I finally got it to work. this has been one heck of a day. I finally got it to work. I am in the process of trying to get safestrap and stuff on it now. I already used towelroot to rot it. what version of safestrap do you recommend. I was told 3.72 was for KK. and 3.75 was for the Samsung galaxy S5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
here is the link I found with all the carriers for the note 3
http://galaxynote3root.com/galaxy-note-3-repair/how-to-unroot-galaxy-note-3/

donelam304 said:
here is the link I found with all the carriers for the note 3
http://galaxynote3root.com/galaxy-note-3-repair/how-to-unroot-galaxy-note-3/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks so much by the way. I greatly appreciate the assistance.