Database Users

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,

[Q] Killed my Tab 4 (SM-T230NU)

I was looking to factory reset my Tab 4 7.0 to sell, but since I've rooted it and installed TWRP, the process wasn't as simple as I'd have liked. I tried the standard Factory Reset function of TWRP, but it didn't do anything. I tried Wipe Data, still nothing. Then I did an Advanced Wipe and checked off everything, not realizing one of the options was to wipe /system. Now my Tab 4 keeps rebooting to TWRP, and the recovery also states "No OS is installed".
I'm currently downloading the new NH1 firmware from SamMobile and considering flashing it through Odin 3.09. Would this be the most effective method, considering I had no prior backup made to the tablet? Will this likely remove my root access and custom recovery? Is there a chance of tripping something like a Knox counter and bricking my device (happened once when I tried an old method to root my Note 3, Knox blocked part of the flash and left the system halfway between two OS images)

Sounds like you're on the right track with downloading the firmware off of SamMobile. I had a similar issue with my Galaxy Tab 2 and that got my tablet out of its funk.
Sent from my SM-T330NU using Tapatalk

At this point I've tried all the ROMs listed on SamMobile for my tablet and all fail to completely flash. Odin says it was fully successful, but when the tablet tries to boot, I only hear half the boot sound and then the boot animation just sits there saying Samsung with the little blue dots popping out of it, and that's it.
Are there any other types of ROMs I can flash to this system? Does it matter what version of Odin I'm using? (Tried 3.06 and 3.09, both unsuccessful)

chuman72486 said:
At this point I've tried all the ROMs listed on SamMobile for my tablet and all fail to completely flash. Odin says it was fully successful, but when the tablet tries to boot, I only hear half the boot sound and then the boot animation just sits there saying Samsung with the little blue dots popping out of it, and that's it.
Are there any other types of ROMs I can flash to this system? Does it matter what version of Odin I'm using? (Tried 3.06 and 3.09, both unsuccessful)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi i have a tab 3 7.0. why dont you try using odin 3.07 if that fails try emergency firmware recovery in kies. odin flashing of official firmware does not increase binary counter as stated by sammy tech support. but you flashing twrp does increase binary count. hope i helped.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using XDA Free mobile app

chuman72486 said:
At this point I've tried all the ROMs listed on SamMobile for my tablet and all fail to comCellular allsh. Odin says it was fully successful, but when the taalso tries to boot, I only hear half the boot sound and then the boot animation just sits there saying Samsung with the little blue dots popping out of it, and that's it.
Are there any other types of ROMs I can flash to this system? Does it matter what version of Odin I'm using? (Tried 3.06 and 3.09, both unsuccessful)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have successfully flashed ND9 and N2E firmwares with Odin 3.07. The NH1 firmware is corrupt when I download it. These are the Cellular South versions which I assume are the US firmwares. I did also flash the Canada versions and I couldn't tell them apart. Currently on ND9 firmware so I could get it rooted. I only have the WiFi 230NU.

chuman72486 said:
At this point I've tried all the ROMs listed on SamMobile for my tablet and all fail to completely flash. Odin says it was fully successful, but when the tablet tries to boot, I only hear half the boot sound and then the boot animation just sits there saying Samsung with the little blue dots popping out of it, and that's it.
Are there any other types of ROMs I can flash to this system? Does it matter what version of Odin I'm using? (Tried 3.06 and 3.09, both unsuccessful)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this question may sound silly but have you tried to wipe data/cache after full odin firmware install?
I believe i was able to keep all my apps and data after full firmware upgrade using odin, so it isnt doing full wipe after all.
.

I rooted and installed TWRP on this device and decided I wanted to get the SM-T330NU instead. I returned the T230 and the clerk tried to factory reset the device and it booted up into TWRP - the clerk made the comment "What in the world" but did not say anything. I had tried to factory reset it before returning and it would not work either.

rsktkr1 said:
I rooted and installed TWRP on this device and decided I wanted to get the SM-T330NU instead. I returned the T230 and the clerk tried to factory reset the device and it booted up into TWRP - the clerk made the comment "What in the world" but did not say anything. I had tried to factory reset it before returning and it would not work either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you power off the device and then boot up into download mode, connect the usb to your pc and run odin you can flash the factory stock image to the device using odin and that will reset the device to stock. Replacing TWRP with the factory recovery image and everything else. You can download the stock files for the device either by searching these forums or going to sammobile. Try starting with the oldest version available and update from there. I rooted and unrooted the SM-T230NU several times using this method and had no issues. Be patient. Allow the device 5 minutes to boot up after flashing the stock. Make sure the device has 80% charge or better before starting. Leave the device connected to the PC with odin open until you see a message in odin that reads, "passed".

chuman72486 said:
I was looking to factory reset my Tab 4 7.0 to sell, but since I've rooted it and installed TWRP, the process wasn't as simple as I'd have liked. I tried the standard Factory Reset function of TWRP, but it didn't do anything. I tried Wipe Data, still nothing. Then I did an Advanced Wipe and checked off everything, not realizing one of the options was to wipe /system. Now my Tab 4 keeps rebooting to TWRP, and the recovery also states "No OS is installed".
I'm currently downloading the new NH1 firmware from SamMobile and considering flashing it through Odin 3.09. Would this be the most effective method, considering I had no prior backup made to the tablet? Will this likely remove my root access and custom recovery? Is there a chance of tripping something like a Knox counter and bricking my device (happened once when I tried an old method to root my Note 3, Knox blocked part of the flash and left the system halfway between two OS images)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just install deodexed rom from twrp

I don't think sm-t230's have Knox do they? You didn't kill your tablet just flash a stock ROM from sammobile. And you'll be a-OK
Sent from my SM-T230 using XDA Free mobile app

HELP NEEDED Can't update to Lollipop

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.

Galaxy S4 (GT-i9500) Major problem

Hello everyone. I used Albe95 N5+S6 Port rom for my GT-i9500 and it worked flawlessly. I had TWRP recovery. After a lot of using I thought to re-flash the rom and start using it new, so I reinstalled the Rom file on my external SD card and flashed the rom using TWRP recovery and it was a success, but then I noticed I accidentally backed up some things which I didn't wanted to I re-flashed the Rom again, but this time when I (in recovery mode) wiped the data, I chose "Advanced Wipe" or "Advanced Reset" (It was something like that I don't exactly remember. So after that I reflashed the rom and when I had to press "Reboot" a message appeared above saying "Looks like super user is not installed in your phone. Do you wish to install it?" I said Yes and the screen went blank. I tried to reboot but It didn't. I removed the battery and then put it back again and tried to get into recovvery but recovery seemed to be lost and I ended up in Samsung's own factory mode where we have options like reboot, flash using external sd card, flash using adb, enable cp logging and etc. I tried to flash back everything but nothing works. Tried Odin and tried flashing custom firmware but it fails. If I reboot Samsung Galaxy S4 GT-i9500 comes on screen and then it goes blank no boot animation or anything like that. Please help me, Your help will be highly appreciated

I used advanced wipe many times before, I'm pretty sure something else caused your dilema.
And most Odin fail messages are caused by the USB cable, PC USB ports (back ports are recommended) and Windows version.

So what should I do now?

If the problems are caused by the above mentioned, you should obviously try to change things up.

It appears that your phone is in soft-brick.
Also, you lost your TWRP.
Check your bootloader version and install the stock firmware via odin. (If you still fail in odin, As GDreaper pointed out, odin fail could cause by usb cable, port and windows version so you need to keep changing until it works)
Root the phone. Reinstall the TWRP.
Then flash the custom rom again. When you install the custom rom please follow the cooker (custom rom maker) instructions on wiping.

Thanks for your comment. I'm kind of a noob, how do I check bootloader version? and how will I know after checking my bootloader version which stock firmware to install?

Bootloader has nothing to do with it.
If you flash a stock firmware, the Bootloader will also be updated to whatever Bootloader the download firmware has.
The only situation where the Bootloader would matter is if you try to go from lollipop to kitkat, in which case it will fail.

Thank you. My device is back now.

I am glad to hear that your problem is solved.
When I was on kit-kat, I did not check my bootloader version and flash the stock firmware with older version of bootloader which tripped the knox counter on my i 9500. That was why I said to check the bootloader version before installing the stock firmware. You can use app like phone info to see the bootloader info. Then install the firmware with the same or newer bootloader.

I recomend to Update drivers, Windows, Bootloader install Samsung Kies and Install TWRP again, After stock

Might have Bricked S7 Edge SM-935FD. Need Help to recover

Hello guys
My phone is Galaxy S7 Edge Duos- SM935FD. I seem to have bricked the device.
Below are the actions I have performed.
1. Flashed TWRP using ODIN as described on https://www.the***********.com/root-samsung-galaxy-s7-edge/
2. Booted successfully into the OS. Found superuser app installed.
3. When I went to back to Flash ROM i erased multiple things such as internal storage/dalvik/cache/system after which device got stuck in bootloop. Showing NO OS.
4. I tried flasing Custom ROM Zip files through OTG. The process failed showing package corrupt and still stuck in bootloop.
I can enter recovery/download mode however cant seem to get the device booted. How can I get the device to work either Custom or stock ROM.
I will be going through some threads in the meantime, your guidance is very much appreciated.

Flash stock rom with Odin: This shouldnt be posted on Development Forum but rayher questions and Answers.
Find what your Stock Firmware for your phone is using Sammobile and flash stock then re do rooting and TWRP Process

zzThrain is right -- I wouldn't risk flashing custom ROMs at this stage, especially because many contain new bootloaders or other stuff that might make this even worse for you. Just pick up the relevant Samsung stock ROM file (from, for example, SamMobile) and see if it boots normally again. Once it does, re-do the process *after checking all MD5s of the files you used* -- I, too, have had it happen before that a download went corrupted and I flashed it. If all is well, get into Download Mode and let Odin rip.

rixon.d9 said:
Hello guys
My phone is Galaxy S7 Edge Duos- SM935FD. I seem to have bricked the device.
Below are the actions I have performed.
1. Flashed TWRP using ODIN as described on https://www.the***********.com/root-samsung-galaxy-s7-edge/
2. Booted successfully into the OS. Found superuser app installed.
3. When I went to back to Flash ROM i erased multiple things such as internal storage/dalvik/cache/system after which device got stuck in bootloop. Showing NO OS.
4. I tried flasing Custom ROM Zip files through OTG. The process failed showing package corrupt and still stuck in bootloop.
I can enter recovery/download mode however cant seem to get the device booted. How can I get the device to work either Custom or stock ROM.
I will be going through some threads in the meantime, your guidance is very much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go to recovery mode & transfer rom to phone using pc. wipe cache, delvikcache, data only. No need to wipe internal sd. Install rom & reboot.
if you phone goes to recovery or download mode, no need to worry. If it doesn't go to neither recovery nor download mode, them your phone might have probably bricked.

It's my pleasure to help you if you still facing this problem

zzThrain said:
Flash stock rom with Odin: This shouldnt be posted on Development Forum but rayher questions and Answers.
Find what your Stock Firmware for your phone is using Sammobile and flash stock then re do rooting and TWRP Process
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi
I tried flashing stock rom from sammobile. I could find for SM-935FD hence downloaded SM-935F.
It got stuck at 90% showing System in ODIN.
From the ZIP file which is the file that needs to be flashed among below ? I tried AP.
AP_G935FXXU2DRB6_CL12365438_QB16944063_REV00_user_low_ship_meta.tar
BL_G935FXXU2DRB6_CL12365438_QB16944063_REV00_user_low_ship.tar
CP_G935FXXU2DRAG_CL648265_QB8691891_SIGNED.tar
CSC_OJV_G935FOJV2DRAG_CL12785220_QB16560277_REV00_user_low_ship.tar
HOME_CSC_OJV_G935FOJV2DRAG_CL12785220_QB16560277_REV00_user_low_ship.tar
Now when I try again it immediately shows FAIL. Am i Flashing the right stock rom ?

It Worked. Thanks to all who helped.
I wasn't running ODIN as Admin and also was using an slightly older version V3.10.7.