Rooted, but cant get further, it seems we have reached an impasse. - AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshootin

Hi guys, (sorry for the poor usage and terminology as I'm still getting acquainted with the rooting and custom rom culture)
BACKGROUND; I downgraded to Android 4.4.2 KitKat Baseband NB1, and from there rooted using towel root. This is an AT&T
SGH I337.
As stated above I'm running a rooted at&t s4 and I am trying to flash a custom rom on it. However after reading many tutorials and struggling, I've came to the conclusion that my MDL is preventing this from happening. I cannot seem to flash a rom no matter what application I use (I've tried Flashfire and TWRP with no luck) and on my most recent attempt to flash with TWRP the phone booted back to the same 4.4.2 kitkat interface and when I tried to access bootloader with home+volume up combo, a warning popped up and said secure fail kernel in the top right and in the center of the screen said "System software not authorized by AT&T found on phone." This made me come up with the conclusion that the MDL is preventing me from flashing custom roms. I've looked around and tried to find something to block the MDL, and the most common thing that pops up in the s4 forums is called Loki Doki, but I have yet to find a link that is not dead. So here I am with an s4 running KitKat which really sucks as I'm sure you guys can imagine.
That being stated, I would like some help on this and eventually be able to run a custom ROM. Any help is appreciated, Thanks !

Read the first few posts of this thread https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2616221. It will give you information on what is possible and what isn't.
Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

Related

at&t blocks me from custom recovery

HI Everybody,
Ok so my problem is that I can't access my custom recovery on my s4 SGH-I337.
My s4 is running android 4.2.2. It has root access and the bootloader is unlocked. I installed clockwork mod recovery touch 6.0.4.7 jflteatt using the app Rashr. When I try booting into clockwork I get blocked. It says "system software not authorized by at&t has been found on your phone." And then tells me to turn off my phone and go to the nearest at&t store. Also at the top left corner it has : ( Secure Failed:Kernel ) in red.
Sorry if there's a thread already about this but I couldn't find anything using the search engine. Thanks
There has never been a boot loader unlock for the sgh-i337. There was only a workaround - Loki. That too worked only for the MDB/MDL firmware. If you have MF3 or newer, boot loader is locked. So, no custom recovery and kernel. The only working recovery is safestrap.
Hi jmjoyas,
Thanks for replying! After reading your reply I finally understand what's up with at&t's s4. (I official dislike at&t even though their service is dependable) I was really looking forward towards cyanogenmod :crying:! But I still have some hope that my bootloader is unlock. This get's really complicated but when I first got my s4 it was came pre rooted and I believe it was refurbished in Asia. Weird right, but my phone dealer was chinese so who knows. Anyway so when I had Rashr boot into recovery I came across a loading screen with a samsung in print and under it was the word custom and under that work was a picture of a lock unlock! I believe that lock sign is the bootloader based on my rooting experience on my mom's galaxy nexus. I have a picture of that loading screen, but I can't upload it! Is there another way to show it?
b..c said:
Hi jmjoyas,
Thanks for replying! After reading your reply I finally understand what's up with at&t's s4. (I official dislike at&t even though their service is dependable) I was really looking forward towards cyanogenmod :crying:! But I still have some hope that my bootloader is unlock. This get's really complicated but when I first got my s4 it was came pre rooted and I believe it was refurbished in Asia. Weird right, but my phone dealer was chinese so who knows. Anyway so when I had Rashr boot into recovery I came across a loading screen with a samsung in print and under it was the word custom and under that work was a picture of a lock unlock! I believe that lock sign is the bootloader based on my rooting experience on my mom's galaxy nexus. I have a picture of that loading screen, but I can't upload it! Is there another way to show it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I know bootloader is locked for all AT&T S4 firmwares. So far we have a bootloader exploit call "Loki" only for the MDB/MDL firmware. There is no bootloader exploit for MF3, MK2, NB1, NC1 firmwares out yet.
You would see the "custom" word and unlock lock in every rooted AT&T S4. It has nothing to do with bootloader lock or unlock. If you unrooted (uninstall the superuser) your phone that symbol would go away.
Could you please tell us your phone firmware (baseband, build number, etc.) so that we can help you more.
Study up by reading thru General threads. Several to get you up to speed on upgrading and SafeStrap. There is one GPE rom that will run on your phone. AOSP based. It is General alos. But, read that thread carefully. There are very specific flashing/upgrading instructions and some bugs. I would probably get familiar with TW roms on SafeStrap first--:good:
Hi sway and rugmankc,
Thanks for giving me a better insight on my situation. Sway you're correct. When I boot into recovery after I un installed super su that loading screen was gone. Case solved! And rugmankc I'll look into general alos. Thanks guys for all your help including jmjoyas!:fingers-crossed: Thanks again!
And I forgot to answer your question sway. I have MF3 . Hopefully there's will be a bootloader exploit but until then I'll keep my fingers crossed:fingers-crossed:!
b..c said:
And I forgot to answer your question sway. I have MF3 . Hopefully there's will be a bootloader exploit but until then I'll keep my fingers crossed:fingers-crossed:!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't need SafeStrap, so not up on it. I believe process would be upgrade to NC1, root with Towelroot, and use SafeStrap. But, check all that out before doing. May be steps in between. Make backups before and after as best you can.

Quick help with new S5

Ok, I've been running a Note 2 for a VERY long time since released. ROMing, rooting, etc was super simple and did it often. However, its been a year or more since I've had to do anything. Now with my new phone it seems there are a lot of new hoops to jump through. I already got the AT&T has detected something yada yada you're screwed yada yada and had to flash back stock firmware with Odin.
So I have rooted with towelroot. I've tried installing the TWRP via their app which caused the first soft AT&T brick.
I don't care about warranty, timer fuse, flash ticker etc etc. I bought the S5 new but second hand. I hate asking to be spoon fed how or where to look but I'm at my wits end. Don't even have to say anything just provide some links. I havent been on a stock android in years and this is killing me.
I've read something about needing Loki to bypass bootloader but saw it's for S4 and not sure what to do with it.
I have the US version of the Galaxy S5 running 4.4.2 Model 900A. I see CWM and TWRP links I've found say they can't do to bootloader lock so not sure where to go.
Thanks ahead of time!
Ok, waiting on my SD card to get here in the morning to use safestrap. What actual roms can I use? I see only things using stock kernel but can CM or other non basic stock roms?
Can I flash this? http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s5/unified-development/rom-resurrection-remix-5-3-4-t3033255
I'm on A01 bootloader and have flashfire etc via this thread. Running G900A_OF3_Stock_Rooted_Deodexed_ROM http://forum.xda-developers.com/att...w-to-update-to-g900aof2-5-0-keeproot-t3149146

New to I337 somewhat confused

New to the I337. AT&T with NC1. Android 4.4.2. Stock ROM with the 3.4.0-1125940 kernel. Rooted, SE Linux permissive, Safestrap installed. Compared to other phones I have owned, rooted and installed custom ROMS for this one is way more complex.
Today I tried to Safestrap flash a couple of different ROM's- the Goole Play edition (jflte GPE) and the Lollipop 5.1 ROM 2015061jflte both times using Safestrap. Neither worked. In the case of the Google Play edition, it wanted to install a new kernel as well, I tried with the recommended kernel on the install GUI (wow an install GUI on Android). Both times stuck in a boot loop. I ended up using for the second time, the excellent information here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4-att/general/guide-odin-to-stock-updating-rooting-t2926642
to get back to stock NC1 (thanks again guut13 for the excellent guide and links to resources) and restored via Safestrap the present stock configuration.
My questions are as follows (I am posting this after a LOT of reading here)
1)Can I use LokiDoki ? I understand it resolves problems with the locked boot loader where one can flash pretty much any S4 ROM on the I337.Is this true?
2) I wanted to give the two ROMS I mentioned today a try. Neither worked although I followed the instructions carefully (wipe, install and reboot). I also would like to try the Phoenix ROM. Is it compatible with Safestrap? Are the two I tried today compatible with Safestrap?
3) I am on 4.4.2. I understand that 4.4.4 is out there as well as 5 but when I check either via Kies or OTA I am told this is the latest firmware for my phone. Any way to update this?
As I said earlier this phone is a lot more complex from a modding standpoint than any other I have experience with. I am unclear on which ROM's will work with the NC1. Before I knew about Safestrap and the boot loader problem I tried installing TWERP and ended up having to rebuild things with guut13's excellent thread.
With NC1 am I stuck on the stock ROM ? Can kernels be updated on NC1 using LokiDoki?
Any light or advice to be shed on my confusion wold be very much appreciated.
Expat
Look at this other excellent thread started I by guut13,î answers all.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2616221
Loki doki is not an option for you, and you can only install tw based roms.
Cats_PJ's
Thanks for the link. Have seen this thread. So I am on 4.4.2. So can I flash a 5.x ROM on the phone provided its TW --or does the phone have to be updated via OTH or another method to 5.x first? Or am I stuck on the ROMS specifically available on 4.4.2?
Thanks again very much for your interest and the link. Wish I had shopped more carefully and bought a non AT&T phone, one of the 5xxx models but I couldn't find anything other than the AT&T ones here in Ecuador.
Expat
http://forum.xda-developers.com/gal...-to-update-to-i337oc3-5-0-1-keeproot-t3075814
That will get you to 5.0.1. You can flash the lollipop roms after that.
I wish I had known more before I bought my phone too. Live and learn, I'm about do for an upgrade though. Good luck.
Cats_PJs said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/gal...-to-update-to-i337oc3-5-0-1-keeproot-t3075814
That will get you to 5.0.1. You can flash the lollipop roms after that.
I wish I had known more before I bought my phone too. Live and learn, I'm about do for an upgrade though. Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Again many kind thanks for the help. This is the most complicated chain of BS to go through just to update a ROM thanks to the locked boot loader I have ever seen..... however you and others here deserve a lot of credit for finding workarounds...... the phone has been made needlessly complex with the BL and efforts by Google and AT&T to "protect" their turf and monetise the user. I would upgrade today were I not in Ecuador where everything costs double what it does in the US. The phone thief crop here is thick- this is the fourth phone in 2 years although the Galaxy Grand Prime I bought after the last robbery I still have. Broke the screen on that one and it was repaired improperly, I get a blank white screen on startup so can't get into recovery so its worthless to me for what I want it for..... so I have the S4 AT&T. Ah well.
Many thanks and enough of my *****ing.
Expat

Help! Verizon gs5 lollipop recovery

I just got the Verizon variant of the Galaxy S5 (SM-G900V). I rooted it very easily using odin without tripping knox; that was easy.
I then began looking for ROMs; which for this phone, isn't easy with the locked bootloaders.
I came across a custom ROM, forgot off the top of my head but may go back to retry loading it.
Because these devices have locked bootloaders, any ROM flashed to it will need to have a separate bootloader flashed as well. The aforementioned ROM had one and I understood why, but after I odin flashed the new bootloader, i kept getting a black screen. OK no biggie, factory flash, re-root look for another ROM, except this time, I'm looking for a pre -rooted factory ROM. I came across a lollipop one, 0A8, was hoping for 0G5, but will deal with that later. Of course the ROM had to have, I guess for lack of a better word, a custom bootloader, or index, to tell the phone it's okay to use this software right? So now have lollipop, but have lost TWRP on boot. I'm not sure as to why this has happened, but it's a real pain I want to install and use ROMs on this phone. If I need to downgrade to have TWRP, that's no big deal. So here I am a lollipop stock ROM, rooted wihout TWRP, ugh.
Is there anyone who can help me find a solution to this, it's driving me mad. I just want to have a recovery installed and the klte version won't install. It must be a lollipop thing, but I would love to have cm12.1 when it comes out. And why does this stupid script keep popping up while I'm trying to type this. Just thought I'd share my frustrations or see if there is a way to get TWRP on lollipop?
Thanks in advance.
Hello,
Welcome to XDA.
To better assist you, your thread will be moved to your device Q&A forum linked below.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/verizon-galaxy-s5/help
The experts there may be able to help. Good luck.
U cannot load into twrp or safestrap above the n12 kernal.
If you want to access your recovery, you could try loading the n12 kernal via odin. Then use your recovery. Then reflash the right kernal for your rom via Odin to return to loading status.
That's what I hear is possible- you sound like you can rebuild if u get in trouble.
As for CM - we don't have an unlocked bootloader so that's unfortunately killing it at this time. We are stuck on stock rooted TW roms, or slight variations of TW roms.
Sent from my SM-G900V using XDA Free mobile app

Installing TWRP

So I know this place isn't really active anymore for obvious reasons but I have been trying get this phone to work better.
Android Version: 4.4.2
Carrier: ATT
Baseband: NB1
Locked Bootloader
I used odin to install this package: ALL_ATT_I337UCUFNB1_I337ATTFNB1_505595_REV06_user_low_ship_MULTI_CERT.tar
I rooted with towelroot and have verified the ability to use root applications
My question is whether or not I can install twrp or do i have to use safestrap.
My end goal is to install a custom rom. https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4-att/orig-development/rom-team-octos-oct-n-t3532663
Although at the end of the day I will be more than willing to settle for any stock rom if its easier to attain. i.e. 4.4.2 - 7.1
There are so many threads with differing information, some accounting for "loki" or something. im not really sure what's going on. Another issue is that most of the devs aren't even active on xda anymore. I think the only active one from here is @jd1639 So i'm asking you for help specifically since you don't accept pms. Thank you
Edit: I tried to install twrp with the twrp manager and although it flashed, I get an unauthorized software error from ATT. I will use odin to fix it but I still am asking if there is a solution for the twrp issue.
Man, it's been a long time since I answered any questions on the S4, and I never did own the device. But to my recollection you can not use twrp. You need to use safestrap. I don't know if you found this, https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2926642. I'm also not sure if @guut13 is still active but he was the real expert. @audit13 can also help.
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app
If the phone sgh-i337 is running a stock 4.3 ROM or newer, the bootloader will be locked which means the phone cannot use any custom recovery other than SafeStrap. This also means that the phone cannot run a custom ROM unless the custom ROM is based on a stock s4 ROM.

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