Database Users

[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?

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 SM-N9109W (China) Bootloop - No Access to Recovery

Hello everyone, I'd like to start off by saying I am a complete newcomer to all this so please explain literally all of the terminology/jargon you intend to use and correct me when I use it wrong.
I have a Chinese version of the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 SM-N9109W and up until yesterday it was running out of the box on android 4.4.4. I care not for any of the data on the phone nor the warranty as there was none to begin with when it was gifted to me.
I attempted to "root" it as I didn't want any of the Chinese apps/restrictions on it but have failed miserably and now my phone is stuck in a bootloop.
I was following this guide if it helps: http://forum.xda-developers.com/note-4/general/root-note-4-sm-n910c-t2977948 and downloaded the appropriate Snapdragon version (SM-N9109W).
I cannot enter recovery mode by holding down *power+vol up+home* as it just keeps on rebooting. I can, however, get into the downloader by holding down *power+vol down+home*.
I have tried for the entirety of today to find a specific guide for the Chinese note 4 on xda, youtube and google but to no avail - nothing that I can find is identical to my situation and I am hesitant to do anything further to it by following a similar guide in case I make it worse.
I have repeatedly seen suggestions to "flash" stock rom and as I can get into the downloader I believe this would be a great starting point, but once again I am afraid to do anything without a specific guide for the N9109W.
A few people have referred to SamMobile to download stock rom, but a search for SM-N9109W lists 8 files for 4.4.4 and I believe I have no way of working out my PDA or CSC, yet again I don't know what these even are and they might not be relevant?
Any assistance in getting my phone's software back to "out of the box" conditions would be GREATLY appreciated.
Thank you for your time and patience,
Ryan

If you can enter Download mode then you can flash that firmware you found matching your device's exact model no. via Odin. Just put the ROM in AP/PDA tab (PDA for older Odin versions, AP for new) and hit start.

ithehappy said:
If you can enter Download mode then you can flash that firmware you found matching your device's exact model no. via Odin. Just put the ROM in AP/PDA tab (PDA for older Odin versions, AP for new) and hit start.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you ithehappy for the reply,
When I search for the stock firmware on SamMobile, I type in my exact model number (SM-N9109W). This search returns with a list of multiple different versions for my phone, of which 8 are 4.4.4 (my initial version).
Does it matter which version I download and install?
To my knowledge, I have no way of finding my CSC or PDA unless you know of a database I can use to search the information that is physically on my phone? Once again, does it matter that I know what these are or can I simply download, for example, version 5.1.1 and flash that on instead of my original 4.4.4? Or, will this just cause further possibly unfixable problems?
Thank you for your help

Anyone?

No, you can download any one you want.

Thank you for the help, ithehappy. I now have a working phone!
For future readers, I downloaded the latest version of 4.4.4 that SamMobile had (2015-03-27) for my model (SM-N9109W):
PDA: N9109WKEU1ANL3
CSC: N9109WCTC1ANL3
It failed the first time I tried flashing with Odin 3.10.7, but whilst I was hastily taking screenshots of my problem to post here I accidentally started the transfer again and it successfully installed that time.
I followed the instructions on SamMobile for the installation.
This version of the firmware I installed does not have any google services (thank China for that), so keep that in mind.
Thank you

Samsung Galaxy SM-G928X stuck on startup screen!

I have been trawling the internet for literally hours.
This is my final hope before I get really desperate with this device.
I bought a Samsung Galaxy Edge+ online as a demo unit so I could use it as a glorified tablet,
since it was a demo unit it had demo software which I tried to remove using the 5444 password
trick on the retail software to no avail. So I decided to root the phone using Odin and the
SM-G928 F/I/C/K/S software as i couldn't find the particular software for this phone anywhere.
This worked but every time I booted the phone it would give me the 'KERNEL IS NOT SEANDROID ENFORCING'
on the top left of the device which I promptly ignored and continued to use the device, I downloaded
root check which said my device was rooted and then I downloaded system app uninstaller to try remove all the trial
software, which unfortunately didn't work. I then attempted a hard reset, which also didn't work and just
rebooted the device, finally i decided to download Flashify and TWRP recovery to try and delete the trial software
from there. At this point I was just messing around with the phone when I noticed a thread that said i needed
titanium backup to fully delete the software, so i rebooted the phone and it has been stuck on the bootup screen
ever since, I have tried several methods to get it to work including re-flashing the software onto it,
(the SM-G928F one I mean) but i simply cannot find the correct one for my device.
Any help would be greatly appreciated :good::good::good::good:
The device is running 5.1.1
I am not sure of the kernel or anything like that as I am quite noobish.

re: phone issues
MeMyPhoneAndI said:
I have been trawling the internet for literally hours.
This is my final hope before I get really desperate with this device.
I bought a Samsung Galaxy Edge+ online as a demo unit so I could use it as a glorified tablet,
since it was a demo unit it had demo software which I tried to remove using the 5444 password
trick on the retail software to no avail. So I decided to root the phone using Odin and the
SM-G928 F/I/C/K/S software as i couldn't find the particular software for this phone anywhere.
This worked but every time I booted the phone it would give me the 'KERNEL IS NOT SEANDROID ENFORCING'
on the top left of the device which I promptly ignored and continued to use the device, I downloaded
root check which said my device was rooted and then I downloaded system app uninstaller to try remove all the trial
software, which unfortunately didn't work. I then attempted a hard reset, which also didn't work and just
rebooted the device, finally i decided to download Flashify and TWRP recovery to try and delete the trial software
from there. At this point I was just messing around with the phone when I noticed a thread that said i needed
titanium backup to fully delete the software, so i rebooted the phone and it has been stuck on the bootup screen
ever since, I have tried several methods to get it to work including re-flashing the software onto it,
(the SM-G928F one I mean) but i simply cannot find the correct one for my device.
Any help would be greatly appreciated :good::good::good::good:
The device is running 5.1.1
I am not sure of the kernel or anything like that as I am quite noobish.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First thing to do is to get into STOCK recovery and do a "Factory Data Reset"
or you can boot the phone up and go into "Settings>Backup and Reset" and
select "Factory data reset".
After doing that odin flash the proper S6 Edge+ Lollipop 5.1.1 or the new Marshmallow 6.0 firmware.
You can see the exact model of your G928 phone by going into settings and scroll down to "about"
there you will find the specific model of your phone.
Be sure to ONLY odin flash the correct firmware for your phone's model.
Once you do all the above you will no longer see:
'KERNEL IS NOT SEANDROID ENFORCING'
The only reason you see that is because the phone is rooted.
After odin flashing the proper firmware your phone will no longer be rooted
unless you root the phone again.
Good luck,
Have a great day!

Misterjunky said:
First thing to do is to get into STOCK recovery and do a "Factory Data Reset"
or you can boot the phone up and go into "Settings>Backup and Reset" and
select "Factory data reset".
After doing that odin flash the proper S6 Edge+ Lollipop 5.1.1 or the new Marshmallow 6.0 firmware.
You can see the exact model of your G928 phone by going into settings and scroll down to "about"
there you will find the specific model of your phone.
Be sure to ONLY odin flash the correct firmware for your phone's model.
Once you do all the above you will no longer see:
'KERNEL IS NOT SEANDROID ENFORCING'
The only reason you see that is because the phone is rooted.
After odin flashing the proper firmware your phone will no longer be rooted
unless you root the phone again.
Good luck,
Have a great day!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't boot the phone up, if I could I would, I can't find the software for this particular model, which is aforementioned SM-G928X,
If you could help me with that, I would appreciate it. The phone is stuck on the Saumsung boot up, it doesn't actually boot up into
the lock screen so I can't do anything with it, if you could help me with link to the SM-G928X firmware that I could use in ODIN
that would be greatly appreciated cause the phone is a paper weight at this point.
I had a moment of madness and decided to do what you said anyway, and I can't factory reset the phone from the recovery menu as it says
its due to security policies or something of that nature, which again I mentioned in the initial thread.
Also to clarify, I can't flash my own firmware because I can't find the firmware anywhere on the internet.

re: firmwares
MeMyPhoneAndI said:
I can't boot the phone up, if I could I would, I can't find the software for this particular model, which is aforementioned SM-G928X,
If you could help me with that, I would appreciate it. The phone is stuck on the Saumsung boot up, it doesn't actually boot up into
the lock screen so I can't do anything with it, if you could help me with link to the SM-G928X firmware that I could use in ODIN
that would be greatly appreciated cause the phone is a paper weight at this point.
I had a moment of madness and decided to do what you said anyway, and I can't factory reset the phone from the recovery menu as it says
its due to security policies or something of that nature, which again I mentioned in the initial thread.
Also to clarify, I can't flash my own firmware because I can't find the firmware anywhere on the internet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have done a bit of research on your G928X device and I think you are in luck.
Check out this link carefully http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=specs&id=8759&c=samsung_sm-g928x_galaxy_s6_edgeplus_lte-a_samsung_zen
and you will see that the firmware in your phone is identical to many other G928 firmwares as you will see in that link.
Odin flashing any of the ZEN firmwares in that link cannot brick your phone, the worse thing that can happen is that it will not
work. (just like it's not working for you right now).
I would go a head and odin flash the S6 Edge+ G928T firmware which is also the ZEN baseband firmware, there are many S6 Edge+ phones
using the exact same firmware. All Samsung S6 Edge+ firmwares contain the modem but not all of them will be compatible with your
carrier but at least you will be able to boot your phone normally without getting stuck on boot screen or bootlooping to start with.
You can get the G928T firmware from http://sammobile.com OR
https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=24499762636004597 (fast download)
Good luck,
Have a great day!

Recovering from FRP Lock, did I brick my phone?

Hi all,
New user here, not much experience rooting or messing with firmware for phones. I was following the guide on how to flash the SM-935U firmware to the verizon model of the Galaxy S7 Edge, and may have bricked my phone. Here's what I did.
Followed the guide to the letter.
Powered off phone, booted to Download mode
Fired up Odin, selected the SM-935U firmware files, and clicked start.
It gave me an Auth error, which research revealed means that I forgot to turn off Reactivation Lock. I figured, "Fine, I'll just disable it. However, I can't get the phone to boot again. Every time I leave download mode, it boots into Android Recovery, where, no matter what I do, it just reboots into Android Recovery. I can't Wipe anything because it can't mount /system - probably due to Reactivation Lock?
I've been research and researching ways around this, and everything I find just points back to flashing it with the stock firmware. But then I read that you can't even do that if Reactivation lock is on, because Odin will still fail with the Auth error. So, I can only get it to boot to recovery mode, and I can't flash it with anything?
I did read somewhere that if I choose to wipe the phone's EFS with Odin that it should override activation lock, but then it clears the phones IMEI, which is an even bigger mess, isn't it?
I feel like I have to be missing something... since it never did the wipe, why is it that I can't get past the recovery mode. Shouldn't I still be able to get into the system somehow?
Does Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions for me? I'd really like to not be stuck with a permanently bricked S7 edge if at all possible....

Solved
Just wanted to post this to help anyone else who might have this issue. Turns out that you can flash the stock firmware, as long as you're flashing at least the same version or newer of the stock firmware as what the phone was running prior to getting stuck in recovery mode. It shows you what version it was running in the recovery mode at the top.
So for me, I googled the exact firmware version that recovery mode said the phone was running, downloaded it, flashed it with ODIN, and it worked just fine. Had to choose to wipe with the recovery mode after I flashed it, but then it booted like normal. - Then I enabled OEM unlocking under the developer menu, and tried flashing the U firmware again with ODIN, and it still failed with the auth error. Huh.
Turns out (maybe I wasn't doing it right or something) that you can't flash older versions of the firmware to the phone. But, as long as OEM unlocking is enabled, you can flash the U (unlocked) version of the current firmware to the phone and it will take just fine. Hint: I was able to determine the "version" number by looking at the last 4-5 characters of the build number... the verizon version I was running for my SM-935V was: VZW-G935VVRU4API3 - So I googled the API3 firmware and found the U (unlocked) version for my carrier (I happen to be using T-Mobile) on this site: https://samsung-firmware.org/model/SM-G935U/ and found the zip file name which was TMB-G935UUEU4API3-20161011161050.zip, googled that, got the rapidgator link, downloaded it, and that flashed just fine to the phone, and now my T-Mobile SIM works perfectly in what was previously the SM-935V, which now identifies as an SM-935U in settings. It's beautiful.
Also, you need the PIT file, but I was able to use the PIT file for the phone model number (again, found at the top of the android recovery menu), which for my phone was: HERO2QLTE_USA_VZW.pit (googled that and got it off androidfilehost) - I was able to use that PIT file for the T-Mobile U version of the firmware and it worked just fine.
Hope this helps someone.

Galaxy Tab A SM-T350 in boot loop

Hi folks,
Relatively new to this whole flashing business, so please bear with me. I've got a SM-T350 that had 7.1.1 installed on it, and I wanted to revert to 6.0.1 (any Marshmallow really). I downloaded and flashed using Odin and this firmware (sammobile.com/firmwares/galaxy-tab-a/SM-T350/XAC/download/T350XXU1BPK1/111485/), and I'm now in a boot loop - essentially, the tablet boots, a bunch of processes stop/fail, and then it reboots.
So, I'd love some help getting going again. I'd prefer to get going with Marshmallow, but if I have to run Nougat, that's better than my current situation.
Thanks so much!

turbodb said:
Hi folks,
Relatively new to this whole flashing business, so please bear with me. I've got a SM-T350 that had 7.1.1 installed on it, and I wanted to revert to 6.0.1 (any Marshmallow really). I downloaded and flashed using Odin and this firmware (sammobile.com/firmwares/galaxy-tab-a/SM-T350/XAC/download/T350XXU1BPK1/111485/), and I'm now in a boot loop - essentially, the tablet boots, a bunch of processes stop/fail, and then it reboots.
So, I'd love some help getting going again. I'd prefer to get going with Marshmallow, but if I have to run Nougat, that's better than my current situation.
Thanks so much!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Factory reset.

turbodb said:
Hi folks,
..."essentially, the tablet boots, a bunch of processes stop/fail, and then it reboots."
Thanks so much!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
download Samsung Kies 2 on a PC and go through the process of doing 'Emergency Firmware Recovery' I think it's called. Kies will ask for you model number, and then the serial number and should allow you to factory reset it to the original firmware. Be Careful what ROM's you use to flash, which specific version of Odin you use, also what options you select in odin.
That's your best bet right now. even if you want to root again you have to flash to stock firmware using Kies on a PC (way easier if it allows you), or you have to use Samsung SmartSwitch which will not restore/upgrade a rooted devices, in my experience. I've had to use both before for my Tab A (SM-T550). Hope this helps.