Database Users

Debating on rooting my S4

Hi everyone! I just upgraded to the AT&T version of the Samsung Galaxy S4. Before I had the original Galaxy Note. I've rooted and loaded custom ROM's on all my previous Android devices (Captivate, Inspire 4G, Galaxy S II, and Galaxy Note), but I'm debating on rooting this device. It's running great on the stock ROM.
Has anyone else debated this? If so, did you go ahead and root and loaded a ROM then regret it or were you glad you did it?

You can run it absolutely stock and still be rooted. Rooting gives you the advantage of certain apps that require it, as I'm sure you know, such as Titanium Backup, Root explorer and others. Plus ability to get rid of AT&T apps you never do or never will use. fwiw

Root it! You want regret it. The possibilities are endless. And if you do prefer a stock like rom, well believe me there are GREAT custom stock like roms that these great devs have put together that run flawlessly with added benefits. Hope this helps. Happy Rooting
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

even if you plan to keep the stock ROM, its worth it to root so you can uninstall the AT&T bloatware and remove the AT&T splash screen on start-up.

lazard said:
even if you plan to keep the stock ROM, its worth it to root so you can uninstall the AT&T bloatware and remove the AT&T splash screen on start-up.
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I am on stock with root. I rooted it using Adam's casual only to have TiBu work. I froze all ATT bloats and some google and samsung apps. The stock is very fine for me.
Now I am debating to flash Paranoid rom to try their multiwindow and halo features...

Thanks for all the input everyone, I appreciate it. Knowing me I'll end up rooting it and loading a ROM since I can't leave stuff alone. HA!
Does anyone know if there's a ROM out there that someone has gotten Bluetooth Tethering to work? That's one thing I miss from ICS on my Galaxy Note.

Hey gk
In same boat, been flashing roms hundreds of times for over 3 years from early Nexus One days. Most of the reasons were to get newer OS's without waiting. However, one of the reasons I got the S4 was it already has the latest as in 4.2.2.
One thing I have learned as most of us have is there always seems to be something not 100% on each rom for some folks. Goes with the territory as we know. Although, I have been lucky in that area. Maybe due to lots of reading and proper pre-install wipes. Hats off to all the devs though for their long and tiresome hours giving us these great roms.
My concern, since this is early on with the S4 and no unlocked bootloader, are our chances higher to have issues.
My phone with all it's "gimmicks" is running fast and perfect--NO issues. I also would like TiBu and eventually a custom recovery for nandroids even if I don't flash a custom rom. Used both CWM and TWRP in the past. Also, Amon_Ra. All worked great for me.
But, like you and others will probably root and flash a custom recovery anyway.
Damn Samsung for making this so tough of a decision--

I was in same position lol I've been flashing andneven Ade a few Roms but ya know its cool and all but its a hassel sometimes enough for me to be stock! There's no reason IMO to flash anything this phone is packed to the gills with features already and its on a very new os so I feel like I wanna root and flash away but have found no reason to YET key word there and of course its purely my own standpoint
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

Root it! You can get new features before they come to your carrier. ... I debated it and told myself I would stay rooted but run stock rom.... now they figured out ways to bypass the bootloader and flash roms and im back to crack flashing lol. ..

Yup. I thought I wouldn't root this thing. That lasted a week. Then I told myself it's fine the way it is, I don't need to flash a rom. That lasted 3 weeks. I'm not a flashaholic though. I usually pick one and stick with it for a while.
You think it runs fine until you've rommed it and added a kernel. Then you realize you had no idea how fine it could be.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

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I wouldn't ever even own a phone that I couldn't root. It just gives you freedom over your phone. Again you don't NEED to run a custom rom to be rooted, but check out some of the TW custom Tom's that just take the phone to another level but still being stock
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

Custom toms are bad ass lol I had to say it
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

The Mint Jelly Rom battery life is insane ..it's worth rooting for that alone. Definitely root
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app

I'm more than likely going to root and load a ROM soon. I'm between two different ROMs.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2280556
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2305752
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium

I was a flashaholic on the captivate, and S II. I loved trying new ROMs like Miui and AOKP. But, since I got the Note II and now the S 4 I don't have that desire. My only reason for rooting usually was TiBu, and only from flashing so often. Without flashing a new ROM each week I had little need for restoring apps. After three weeks I finally rooted and started trying ROMs on this phone. It was about the same for my Note. I really like TouchWiz, and miss some of those features on AOSP based ROMs. I don't see the performance need for custom ROMs on either of these phones like I did on the older phones. I guess it just came out of boredom, in the end.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337

Well, I finally gave in and rooted--knew I would
Used Adam's Casual--very easy--much more so than my HTC phones
TiBu and Nandriods already in use
Next step roms--

Still haven't rooted yet. I probably will over the weekend. Why can't I leave stuff alone? HA!

[Q] Verizon galaxy note 3 om Toubles!

Hi guys, I have a question regarding some roming stuff with the verizon version of the galaxy note 3. I am not new to roms by any means and I have been searching frantically to find one place with the complete answer im looking for. I made the early mistake of taking the OTA upgrade for KK, therefore I am currently running 4.4.2 with the NC4 build and NC4 baseband. Now while i have easily rooted my phone at this point with the towelroot. I also have had no problem getting the new 3.72 safestrap installed and running on my phone. My question now at this point is trying to figure out my next step with a new ROM I am trying install....I have been looking at all of my info to get the Hyperdrive ROM installed and I cant seem to find all the info I need in one location. Can I or can I not flash a new ROM to the NC4 baseband? I have seen some information where some people say I might be able to flash the NC2 kernal using ODIN and others say just trying to flash any ROM in general creates a black screen in which a battery pull needs to be done...yada yada.....? So in short, am I able to flash a ROM to the note 3 at this point or am I S.O.L?

sickorsane1 said:
Hi guys, I have a question regarding some roming stuff with the verizon version of the galaxy note 3. I am not new to roms by any means and I have been searching frantically to find one place with the complete answer im looking for. I made the early mistake of taking the OTA upgrade for KK, therefore I am currently running 4.4.2 with the NC4 build and NC4 baseband. Now while i have easily rooted my phone at this point with the towelroot. I also have had no problem getting the new 3.72 safestrap installed and running on my phone. My question now at this point is trying to figure out my next step with a new ROM I am trying install....I have been looking at all of my info to get the Hyperdrive ROM installed and I cant seem to find all the info I need in one location. Can I or can I not flash a new ROM to the NC4 baseband? I have seen some information where some people say I might be able to flash the NC2 kernal using ODIN and others say just trying to flash any ROM in general creates a black screen in which a battery pull needs to be done...yada yada.....? So in short, am I able to flash a ROM to the note 3 at this point or am I S.O.L?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you can!! As long as the rom says that they support it you can. It says right here in red on the hyperdrive op-" This Rom is able to be installed on the Verizon Galaxy Note 3 On KitKat Bootloader with KK Safestrap" so make a backup with safestrap and try it out! And since it doesn't say anything about what specific one to use (I see what you are talking about) you won't have any harm with a backup. By the way the reason why a lot of roms were/are based on NC2 was because it was way more leniant than NC4 but now most if not all roms will support it. Just read the op.
Sent from my GalaxyAwesome

K03WL3R said:
Yes you can!! As long as the rom says that they support it you can. It says right here in red on the hyperdrive op-" This Rom is able to be installed on the Verizon Galaxy Note 3 On KitKat Bootloader with KK Safestrap" so make a backup with safestrap and try it out! And since it doesn't say anything about what specific one to use (I see what you are talking about) you won't have any harm with a backup. By the way the reason why a lot of roms were/are based on NC2 was because it was way more leniant than NC4 but now most if not all roms will support it. Just read the op.
Sent from my GalaxyAwesome
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Click to collapse
Hmmm....well I tried to do the jasmine rom and I seem to have had the same problem that quite a few people are having. I put it in slot 1, created the rom slot and such, reboots into the recovery mode on ss just fine but then it goes to a black screen as if it's off. Have to battery pull. Maybe gonna try a different rom and see where I end up.

I'm running JasmineRom on the stock slot, but I also have the NC2 kernel..
Sent from my GalaxyAwesome

K03WL3R said:
I'm running JasmineRom on the stock slot, but I also have the NC2 kernel..
Sent from my GalaxyAwesome
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Click to collapse
Should I try stock slot then? I used slot 1 with 3.75

You could try that (I would), or just flash the Nc2 stuff, then boot up (on stock), boot back to recovery and flash JasmineRom on stock. Those steps are just what I did and it worked for me. I'm really sorry but for the life of me that's the best I can remember about what I did. If none of that works, I'll try to install Jasmine onto a rom slot when I can.
Sent from my GalaxyAwesome

K03WL3R said:
You could try that (I would), or just flash the Nc2 stuff, then boot up (on stock), boot back to recovery and flash JasmineRom on stock. Those steps are just what I did and it worked for me. I'm really sorry but for the life of me that's the best I can remember about what I did. If none of that works, I'll try to install Jasmine onto a rom slot when I can.
Sent from my GalaxyAwesome
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I flashed Nc2 from a post on here and still didn't work....I'm about to give up

Have you tried just making a backup and starting over from fresh stock?
Sent from my GalaxyAwesome
---------- Post added at 11:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:27 PM ----------
Also ask here- http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2780031
Sent from my GalaxyAwesome

You need to flash the rom after you've wiped everything, then reboot to download mode and install the unified firmware via odin. That should work.
Sent from my GalaxyAwesome

K03WL3R said:
You need to flash the rom after you've wiped everything, then reboot to download mode and install the unified firmware via odin. That should work.
Sent from my GalaxyAwesome
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Click to collapse
That did not work as that was the original plan of action. Only to come to a nice black screen

Okay, the dev just posted instructions in his last post on the JasmineRom thread. Check it out, it took me a while for it to work on my phone, it seems like a couple people are like us too.. Just a mix of trial and error
Sent from my GalaxyAwesome
Edit: and sorry I couldn't help so far, I don't really want to go back to stock considering this is my daily and I need a bigger sd card to make a full backup. [emoji53]

K03WL3R said:
Okay, the dev just posted instructions in his last post on the JasmineRom thread. Check it out, it took me a while for it to work on my phone, it seems like a couple people are like us too.. Just a mix of trial and error
Sent from my GalaxyAwesome
Edit: and sorry I couldn't help so far, I don't really want to go back to stock considering this is my daily and I need a bigger sd card to make a full backup. [emoji53]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All good! I finally got it working thanks to you saying the dev mentioned something! Jasmine up and running with no issues!

Jasmine V2
I never sign up for web sites but the Jasmine Rom is just so good I had to say thanks. Also concerning the excess power usage, I noticed that when plugged into AC charger the Android OS goes from 40% down to the 20's. Hope it helps. Again thanks to hsbadr for being a great DEV.
PS: K03WL3R I see you helping on hsbadr's forum, please convey my thanks and suggestion to him, for as I am a new member I can not post on his forum.
Thanks

Sorry it took me so long, there's an open discussion in the general/help section for jasminerom! I'm pretty sure new users can post there?

Just Getting Started Out!

I have a TMO Galaxy Note 3, Rooted with CF Using TWRP running Version 5.0. Im looking to installing a custom Rom but just kinda overwhelmed with bootloaders on or off ,Kernals and so on. I was just wondering if someone could give me some advice to a Rom that would be a little less complicated until i figure everything else out. Thanks~!

EvilSnipa said:
I have a TMO Galaxy Note 3, Rooted with CF Using TWRP running Version 5.0. Im looking to installing a custom Rom but just kinda overwhelmed with bootloaders on or off ,Kernals and so on. I was just wondering if someone could give me some advice to a Rom that would be a little less complicated until i figure everything else out. Thanks~!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just head over to android development section and download any rom of your choice. You mentioned your phone is 5.0/lollipop so no need to think about bootloader. While kernel is already in the rom so you're good to go. Just follow instructions in the thread to the letters. Read a few pages of the thread so you could get some info on whether you t-mo is supported or not or for any other issues may have related to the rom.
Sent from my SM-G925F

EvilSnipa said:
I have a TMO Galaxy Note 3, Rooted with CF Using TWRP running Version 5.0. Im looking to installing a custom Rom but just kinda overwhelmed with bootloaders on or off ,Kernals and so on. I was just wondering if someone could give me some advice to a Rom that would be a little less complicated until i figure everything else out. Thanks~!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would recommend Darklord Note 5 Rom, there is an update coming in the next day or two and I would download that update. It is fast and has a pretty good battery life for me. Plus it doesn't have all the random mods that other developers put on their roms. So you can just put the mods that you need yourself.
P.S. Make a backup of everything incase you need to revert back for any reason. Also, there is no way as of now to have NFC working on a custom rom for Note 3 TMO/ canada.

for me try arya mod or the darklord n5 rom

S4 -SGH-I337 -MK2- on Jelly Bean 4.3 SS Installed, Rooted, What are my options?

Hey guys, 2 years ago I upgrade my Galaxy S Captivate to a Galaxy S4. When I got the S4 I disabled the system update (don't remember how) and I installed SafeStrap, and also Rooted the stock OS. Since then I haven't really done much with my S4.
I didn't do much else with it because at the time the options were few. Boot loader was locked. So now that it's been 2 years, what options do I have?
When I had my captivate, and also used a Droid Razor Maxx, I was running Cyanogenmod. I was also running CM on my Galaxy Tab 2.
Is there a way to get a CM Rom on my Galaxy S4. The boot loader is MK2. And like I said, SafeStrap is installed.
If anyone can point me in the right direction I would greatly appreciate it. I've been doing some reading but get lost fairly quickly since I don't come back here as frequently as I should.
Thank you in advance.
Dan

DR650SE said:
Hey guys, 2 years ago I upgrade my Galaxy S Captivate to a Galaxy S4. When I got the S4 I disabled the system update (don't remember how) and I installed SafeStrap, and also Rooted the stock OS. Since then I haven't really done much with my S4.
I didn't do much else with it because at the time the options were few. Boot loader was locked. So now that it's been 2 years, what options do I have?
When I had my captivate, and also used a Droid Razor Maxx, I was running Cyanogenmod. I was also running CM on my Galaxy Tab 2.
Is there a way to get a CM Rom on my Galaxy S4. The boot loader is MK2. And like I said, SafeStrap is installed.
If anyone can point me in the right direction I would greatly appreciate it. I've been doing some reading but get lost fairly quickly since I don't come back here as frequently as I should.
Thank you in advance.
Dan
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could upgrade to kit-kat and if you want lollipop you could upgrade to lollipop from kit-kat. You can find all the rom and instructions here.
If you want to use CM, you upgrade your phone to kit-kat, install safestrap and install the CM11. The post is here.

And all this is possible with the boot loader locked?
Two years ago I disabled the phones request to upgrade and disabled whatever service is responsible for the upgrade. Now I can remember what I disabled.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

DR650SE said:
And all this is possible with the boot loader locked?
Two years ago I disabled the phones request to upgrade and disabled whatever service is responsible for the upgrade. Now I can remember what I disabled.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bootloader locked means you can not install the custom recovery like CWM, TWRP and you can not install the custom kernel.
If you go through the first link that I mentioned, you would find "Block the AT&T OTA update".

Yea I knew I couldn't do TWRP or CWM and kernel, which is why I have SafeStrap installed.
Thanks man. I'll play with it a bit and do more reading.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

Need help, not a Newb, but feel like one

Hey folks, I've been here (on XDA) a long time and used to be knee deep in understanding rooting and flashing ROMs, but it's literally been 4 years since I've been around, and I need to upgrade my current Note 3 (Verizon) to Android 5 (if Android 5 runs well on it) OR I need to simply root my Note 3 so I can flash a faster moving ROM.
It's been awhile, I looked at the stickies, and while I still understand the "language", I don't get the process.
Can anyone help me out and point me to only the tried and true methods of either upgrading to Android 5 (off Carrier, I have the phone on Cricket now) OR on how to root and flash a new ROM? (and which ROM is simply a good, fast, stable ROM)
Many thanks for any and all help!

Journeyjeans said:
Hey folks, I've been here (on XDA) a long time and used to be knee deep in understanding rooting and flashing ROMs, but it's literally been 4 years since I've been around, and I need to upgrade my current Note 3 (Verizon) to Android 5 (if Android 5 runs well on it) OR I need to simply root my Note 3 so I can flash a faster moving ROM.
It's been awhile, I looked at the stickies, and while I still understand the "language", I don't get the process.
Can anyone help me out and point me to only the tried and true methods of either upgrading to Android 5 (off Carrier, I have the phone on Cricket now) OR on how to root and flash a new ROM? (and which ROM is simply a good, fast, stable ROM)
Many thanks for any and all help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Presuming you are on a pure stock Verion Note 3 (but using a Cricket SIM)... THEN you can go get the last OS/Firmware release for Verizon from sammobile.com (you have to be a member to download.. But membership is free). The release is OF1 and is Lollipop (Android 5.0)
You'll need Odin to Flash it from a PC.
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

You can just do stock firmware update. There is an unlock and root method on here. Root is easy just need a place and a program u get on here there are YouTube videos for unlocking bootloader and also a post here on how to do it on here

Awesome! Do you know if the battery drain issues was ever fixed?
donc113 said:
Presuming you are on a pure stock Verion Note 3 (but using a Cricket SIM)... THEN you can go get the last OS/Firmware release for Verizon from sammobile.com (you have to be a member to download.. But membership is free). The release is OF1 and is Lollipop (Android 5.0)
You'll need Odin to Flash it from a PC.
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Journeyjeans said:
Awesome! Do you know if the battery drain issues was ever fixed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With Stock... Yes, OB6 had issues, OF1 seemed to have fixed them. The firmware on sammobile.com is not an OTA, so you will/should wipe data first, then reload your apps. At the least.. Factory reset before you flash via Odin.
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

Thank you so much!