Database Info

Please help my nexux s

I just unrooted my nexus s (9020t) and returned it to stock. It came up with 2.3.1 originally and wanted to update it back to 2.3.3. I found the update drivers and tried to update it, and came up with the status 7 errors. If found the solutions, and tried to go from 2.3.1 to 2.3.2, than install the radio thing to 2.3.3. Up to 2.3.2, it came up with the same error and tried the last resort of updating it to the full 2.3.3 os.
After the update, the nexus s turns on to the google splash screen and hangs up there. I can still access the recovery by holding the volume up and power. I also tried to do factory reset, and wipe data. Nothing seems to help.
Any help?

I'm no expert by any means but you may have to use odin to get it going again. You will probably need to make a jig or buy one to get into download mode.
I hope this helps you and your able to get up and running again.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App

I'm totally new into the android community and have no idea what Odin or jig is.
Since the fastboot is working, is there something that I'm missing with resetting orders or something else? I found that some one did a wipe dalvik (I think) with factory reset and cache, but I cannot find the dalvik.

donharden2002 said:
I'm no expert by any means but you may have to use odin to get it going again. You will probably need to make a jig or buy one to get into download mode.
I hope this helps you and your able to get up and running again.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You dont need a jig to get into download mode
Aslong as the bootloader is unlocked
Power down phone hold volume up/down then plug in USB from computer ....in download mode
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

im thinking if you could still access the bootloader then you can still flash clockworkmod. when you get that running, flash any rom u want in clockwork including stock 2.3.3. no odin necessary.

As long as you can still use fastboot there's no need to use Odin or JIG to flash the ROM.
I assume that:
you already have clockworkmod recovery installed and it's working properly.
your phone model is I9020T (SAMOLED)
If those are correct, I'd suggest you to download the 2.3.3 OTA package and flash it via clockworkmod (use the menu "Install zip from sdcard")
After flashing you'll have 2.3.3 on GRI40 running. And if you want to continue updating to 2.3.4, there's a thread dedicated to the topic.

PROBLEM SOLVED! Big appreciation to sonnysekhon who helped me over the phone at 11 in the night!
I was guided to just unlock fastboot, load the cwr and go into usb storage, add the cyanogen mod 7 and voila, problem solved. Now my only problem is, I've got 2.3.3 and want to update it to 2.3.4. Is there any easy way to do this?
Again, I want to thank you guys for the help!

SovereigN7 said:
PROBLEM SOLVED! Big appreciation to sonnysekhon who helped me over the phone at 11 in the night!
I was guided to just unlock fastboot, load the cwr and go into usb storage, add the cyanogen mod 7 and voila, problem solved. Now my only problem is, I've got 2.3.3 and want to update it to 2.3.4. Is there any easy way to do this?
Again, I want to thank you guys for the help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you on cm7 or stock?
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App

I'm on cm7. It shows the cyanogen mod splash screen during bootup and has rom manager, file manager preinstalled.
I'm not really savvy when it comes to android mechanics because I just moved from itouch and iphones to androids couple days ago.

First of all. Congratulations on making the best decision! Iphone sucks. Lol.
Anyway, you can't update to 2.3.4 yet since its only available on stock right now. We're gonna have to wait until devs incorporate it into their custom roms. I believe there is a nightly version of cm7 that is already 2.3.4 but its not as stable as the 2.3.3 yet. hope that helps.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App

yea you made the right move switching
Give it time you will get use to messing with Roms ..ect

[Q] Has anyone still not gotten the OTA?

Am I the only one who has still not gotten the OTA? I called a service rep and he said the rollout doesn't end until August 31, so they can't do anything until it officially ends. Has anyone had any luck getting them to push to update out to them?

This is a cluster @?!#. TMobile nor LG has any clue as to what's going on. Before I updated I talked a Rep. They said use LG updater...I believe they pulled the ota due to it bricking devices. Look in the dev section. There is some posts that cover some of this. Imo the only thing good out of the update was the baseband.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App

According to T-Mobile support website the OTA is completed as of August 10 and you have to use the LG updater. I used it with no issues.
https://t-mobile.jive-mobile.com:443/#jive-document?content=/api/core/v1/documents/2362

Thanks. I've been weary of using the lg updater because of all the phone-bricking horror stories, but I guess I'll have to give it a shot.

Thank you Ph. I was fishing for that link to post.
I did the updater on 3 phones no issues. If your rooted you will lose it. Don't remember about cwm. But nvflash will work. Look for xboarders stock total and flash it if you need root. Folow the instructions...any questions please ask.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App

Yea just make sure to follow the instructions on LG's site for updating. Especially make sure you download and install the drivers they have posted. And while the updater is running don't get impatient and unplug anything. Just let it do it's thing until its done.

alias503 said:
Thank you Ph. I was fishing for that link to post.
I did the updater on 3 phones no issues. If your rooted you will lose it. Don't remember about cwm. But nvflash will work. Look for xboarders stock total and flash it if you need root. Folow the instructions...any questions please ask.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea the update overwrites cwm recovery and you lose root. After the update just reflash cwm and then flash your rom of choice.

coocookuhchoo said:
Am I the only one who has still not gotten the OTA? I called a service rep and he said the rollout doesn't end until August 31, so they can't do anything until it officially ends. Has anyone had any luck getting them to push to update out to them?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I talked to a Tmo rep on August 12th, as soon as I found out they ended the roll out. The rep told me to use the LG updater also (which I did without a hitch), but he told me that if I wanted it OTA he would put my IMEI on a list which consisted of phones that will eventually get the roll out. He told me it was up to Google to send them out from here on out and that it could take months for them to send it out. I don't know if he was talking out of his ass, or just pushing me towards the LG updater, I'm just sayin'..

Google has no part in our update process.
Asus Transformer 3.2 pwnd
www.MiiWiiChat.com
www.SnapSiteAdmins.com

I am starting to think that tmo is getting a "short timer" attitude. The hold time is getting longer, reps seem to not really care any more. And all of the post that have filled this forum about call made to customer service. The hole pointing fingers at LG and Google about who is responsible for up dates. I use to love tmo but I really believe it is turnning into at&t.
Any how coocoo how did your update turn out? Any one else have questions?

I also used the LG updater with no problem. Like Ph said, be patient and don't unplug anything until it's done doing its thing.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App

I still havent updated because im very happy with how my froyo rom is set up. I would like the new baseband though. If i use the lg updater and then re-root and restore my rom will the baseband stick? I know that doing a nandroid also backs up the baseband or it did with the G1 atleast. Also is the new baseband worth it?

Joe333x said:
I still havent updated because im very happy with how my froyo rom is set up. I would like the new baseband though. If i use the lg updater and then re-root and restore my rom will the baseband stick? I know that doing a nandroid also backs up the baseband or it did with the G1 atleast. Also is the new baseband worth it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flashing and backing up and restoring roms won't touch your baseband so nothing to worry about there. As for updating and "re-rooting" the update will restore stock recovery so after updating you need to reflash clockworkmod recovery using the nvflash tool. Then you either restore one of your backups or flash a rom, even flash back to froyo. The baseband will stay updated. If you want stock 2.3.3 but rooted then there is a rooted version in the dev section. The stock 2.3.3 update can't be rooted with superoneclick.

Yea man its simple u could do what Ph said, if u like ur froyo rom that much just back it up, then flash stock recovery back on, I didn't unroot the update will overrite that, then update, so like I said make a nandroid, then flash stock recovery with tgagunmans one click flasher (super easy) don't worry about unrooting its how I did it basically u really just need the stock recovery image people weren't doing that and getting bricks, now Ph said he did it without touching recovery but just to be safe flash back to stock, so after that just update then after the update restore ur froyo backup and bamm!!! U will have new baseband and root again just like that whole process takes 15 minutes, the baseband stays on ur phone it cannot be erased nor flashed unless using lg update so once u have it ur golden

sarni84 said:
Yea man its simple u could do what Ph said, if u like ur froyo rom that much just back it up, then flash stock recovery back on, I didn't unroot the update will overrite that, then update, so like I said make a nandroid, then flash stock recovery with tgagunmans one click flasher (super easy) don't worry about unrooting its how I did it basically u really just need the stock recovery image people weren't doing that and getting bricks, now Ph said he did it without touching recovery but just to be safe flash back to stock, so after that just update then after the update restore ur froyo backup and bamm!!! U will have new baseband and root again just like that whole process takes 15 minutes, the baseband stays on ur phone it cannot be erased nor flashed unless using lg update so once u have it ur golden
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dude you are one the most helpful ppl on this forum and i really appreciate it. i hate the phillies but i may make an exception for you. thanks again for that help right there, will be doing this tonight

The ota update being stopped is a lie. My friend bought his 4 days ago from radio shack. It was on 2.2 over night he got the 2.3 ota.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App

Did a factory data reset with cwm then restored stock recovery. Updated with lg updater, flashed cwm recovery restored my nandroid of my froyo rom and booted up. Now i have my same rom with the new baseband. Thanks guys. The last phone i had rooted was a G1 and flashing nandroids could also restore the radio so i figured the same would happen with the G2x.

Wrong Baseband - Try this

For people that flashed the O2X baseband to the G2X and haven't figured out a way to flash the correct baseband yet, I have something for you to try. Mind you, I have not tried this myself and have no idea if it will work. But it is certainly worth a try.
It appears that the LG Update Utility has a recover feature that should bypass all checks and just flash the latest firmware to your device. If this works it will flash GB stock with the correct baseband.
Backup your data first. This method, if it works, will do a complete wipe of everything (not sure about internal user memory but better safe than sorry).
Have your device turned on and running. If Android won't boot then go into software update screen). Plug your USB cable into your computer but don't plug it into the phone yet. Of course, make sure you have all the LG USB driver package installed first.
1. Run the LG Update Utility
(disconnect all usb devices, turn off antivirus and firewall)
2. Under "Customer Support" select "Recovery Phone"
3. Select your model number (i.e., LGP999DW, LP999DWP, etc.)
4. Enter your IMEI number and press check
5. Enter your serial number (don't press check yet)
(IMEI and serial number are found on label under battery or on the box)
6. Press check and the software update flasher will launch. Plug in your phone.
7. The program should then download the firmware and flash it.
8. At any time during the update if you get a connection error don't do the battery pull as instructed. Just unplug the USB cable from your computer, wait for beep, plug cable back into the computer, wait for beep and click "Restart."
Hopefully this will perform a clean install and flash everything including your baseband. Please report back here on success or failure.
Just trying to find a way for people to repair baseband issues. I hope this works for you guys and gals stuck on wrong and corrupted basebands.

I've tried this before and it did not work. Just ended up sending back to LG and got a replacement. Such a headache the unknown baseband was!!!!
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium

Does the baseband even do anything. Both the original and "updated" version both share the same exact version numbers minus a date change.
I'm just curious because I'm still running on the original baseband. I don't think it ever fixed anything.
Also the Drivers and LG Updater here are not working (can't download). Any mirrors?

It fixed GPS and wifi issues. The baseband chip controls both Edge and 3/4G radios, wifi, bluetooth and even GPS reception. There's a lot of stuff packed into the new baseband chips.

Which is the lastest baseband version ?,
Mine is m6600a-scauntz-2.0.9720t 1 jul 15 2011
That's wrong baseband?

sukhochir said:
Which is the lastest baseband version ?,
Mine is m6600a-scauntz-2.0.9720t 1 jul 15 2011
That's wrong baseband?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the newest. The original baseband was dated March something.

d12unk13astard said:
I've tried this before and it did not work. Just ended up sending back to LG and got a replacement. Such a headache the unknown baseband was!!!!
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ditto - I tried that route early on and it failed. Kept on getting "fatal error" notice when it quit.

jboxer said:
It fixed GPS and wifi issues. The baseband chip controls both Edge and 3/4G radios, wifi, bluetooth and even GPS reception. There's a lot of stuff packed into the new baseband chips.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. Didn't know this. I'm still running the march baseband. I think I'll update now after reading this.
player911 said:
Also the Drivers and LG Updater here are not working (can't download). Any mirrors?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same question. Those links don't seem to be working here either.

mirrors:
LG updater tool
G2x Drivers
Good Luck

Something is not right. After doing this step ""4. Enter your IMEI number and press check"" it goes to the first screen below.
I then put in the information and plug in my phone before hitting next which then gets me the second screen.
EDIT: I tried starting the process over with the phone plugged in from Step 1 and it seems to be updating now right after clicking check in step 4. Step 5 seems unnecessary?.... I'll let you know if it updates correctly.

kuhla said:
Something is not right. After doing this step ""4. Enter your IMEI number and press check"" it goes to the first screen below.
I then put in the information and plug in my phone before hitting next which then gets me the second screen.
EDIT: I tried starting the process over with the phone plugged in from Step 1 and it seems to be updating now right after clicking check in step 4. Step 5 seems unnecessary?.... I'll let you know if it updates correctly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok. Update seems to have worked. I have the new baseband: JUL 15 2011 10:00:00
Things I did differently than OP post:
Phone was plugged in and turned on before step 1.
Skipped step 5 and step 6 because as soon as I hit "Check" at the end of step 4 the program closed/minimized and the updater opened automatically and started downloading.
I walked away from my computer and ate dinner, cleaned up, came back maybe an hour later and the phone was already booted up with a fresh copy of ginger and the new baseband so I guess it finished by itself without my input.

Just wondering...
Were you running windows 7 or XP?
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium

d12unk13astard said:
Were you running windows 7 or XP?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Windows 7
10char

kuhla said:
Ok. Update seems to have worked. I have the new baseband: JUL 15 2011 10:00:00
Things I did differently than OP post:
Phone was plugged in and turned on before step 1.
Skipped step 5 and step 6 because as soon as I hit "Check" at the end of step 4 the program closed/minimized and the updater opened automatically and started downloading.
I walked away from my computer and ate dinner, cleaned up, came back maybe an hour later and the phone was already booted up with a fresh copy of ginger and the new baseband so I guess it finished by itself without my input.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My advice above was based on speculation as I stated. I am glad someone got it to work and fixed their phone. Now others know the correct steps to take to possibly revive their baseband.

I've fixed this problem before, made a thread about it.

Mine's being stupid. lmao. I'm JUST NOW upgrading the baseband. Figured why not.... well I had to download a 300mb+ nandroid backup, restore it back to 2.2 so the updater would recognize it... then it went to assume to download another 300mb+ file, now it just sits at 5%... been there a while too.
Absolutely the most horrible updater I've every seen.
I closed everything out and now its telling me my phone is already up to date.... except it only boots to the Software Updater. lmao. So now I'm in CWM Recovery and flashing a Rom to see if anything changed.
Probably screwed up my baseband and/or made no change.... Nope. Just stuck at the S/W Upgrade screen. Awesome LG! My phone works awesome now.
[Update]
****. I'm at a loss. The stupid software keeps telling me that I already have the latest version, but I can't get pas the stupid S/W Upgrade screen. I reflashed Stock Kernel and CWM, and various roms.... it's like in some weird mode. I've pulled the battery and yada yada but no dice. It just likes that screen.
Well that was a fun way to waste a nice little Tuesday afternoon. Any ideas?

player911 said:
Figured why not.... well I had to download a 300mb+ nandroid backup, restore it back to 2.2 so the updater would recognize it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The updater recognized my phone and I was running a 2.3.3 OTA based custom ROM at the time, not stock. I'm not sure if it makes a difference but I just thought I'd mention it.

I talked to Tmobile and LG repair. They said once it gets to that point there is no way out other then sending it in for repair to reflash the whole unit.
I've tried NVFlashing it to both stock and several CWM recoveries but nothing works. Restoring Nandroid backups, flashing roms. I haven't tried flashing a custom kernel but I don't know if that will make any difference.
Now Tmobile is wanting to charge me $20 for replacing it or LG taking 3 weeks for repair.
Pisser is that I got mad at went to retentions, lol, and the guy was like, "Ok I put that request in". Wtf. So now I'm due to cancel my service Oct. 28th
What a crock. All the while she said, "we're the cheapest of all the national carriers for exchanges" but my gf's HTC Aria on AT&T was replaced without any discussion of "warranty exchange fees".
AT&T sucks at my house too. Maybe I'll just upgrade my Verizon business phone and get the Droid Prime or whatever (I hate Verizon though).

player911 said:
I talked to Tmobile and LG repair. They said once it gets to that point there is no way out other then sending it in for repair to reflash the whole unit.
I've tried NVFlashing it to both stock and several CWM recoveries but nothing works. Restoring Nandroid backups, flashing roms. I haven't tried flashing a custom kernel but I don't know if that will make any difference.
Now Tmobile is wanting to charge me $20 for replacing it or LG taking 3 weeks for repair.
Pisser is that I got mad at went to retentions, lol, and the guy was like, "Ok I put that request in". Wtf. So now I'm due to cancel my service Oct. 28th
What a crock. All the while she said, "we're the cheapest of all the national carriers for exchanges" but my gf's HTC Aria on AT&T was replaced without any discussion of "warranty exchange fees".
AT&T sucks at my house too. Maybe I'll just upgrade my Verizon business phone and get the Droid Prime or whatever (I hate Verizon though).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your stuck at the s/w upgrade screen,even after trying to flash a rom or nandroid, check out a thread in development section called nvflash rom for recovery. I myself was stuck on the s/w screen and after following the directions was able to boot back into android.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=17258229
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium

OMG dude if that works I will jump for joy.
[UPDATE]
I LOVE XDA!!!!
Amazing, Truly Amazing

[Q] Gingerbread Root (Was I too eager)

Hello,
When I first purchased the SGS4G a few months ago I was able to follow a nice and user-friendly tutorial on how to root my phone using super-one-click. I wanted to delete all of the nasty bloatware and also unlock my phone. That worked lovely (thanks by the way) and everything was going well....
That is until I got a message from my friend telling me that Samsung has released an offical update (gingerbread) and that it will provide better battery life ect... I eagery followed the official steps and used something called Kies to update my phone!
Everything seemed fine until I noticed some of the bloatware had returned. No problem I thought, I'll use my titanium backup app to re-delete it, no luck... Basically it seems as if my phone has been re-rooted and SuperUser freezes when I try to open it. Have I hurt my phone by upgrading without putting it back to the factory settings? I don't want to flash my phone or anything fancy, I am just wondering if I can root my phone from gingerbread again (if so how) or if I have to live with the bloatware again.
Thanks in advance!

i wouldnt use kies anymore when you have a forum like this.
we have a ton of GB roms here, so you can look into those on your own. i would recommend following FBis251's GB Starter Pack.
to answer your question, to Root GB, just flash Drhonks GB kernels. that will give you root and CWM

Ok wow, that is a bit confusing to me as I am not super educated in the world of Android manipulation. I searched up some info regarding what you told me and it seems flashing will GIVE me gingerbread, but thats what I have already. Also, not sure what kernel or CWM means, sorry!
Thanks for your help though!

Aannon said:
Ok wow, that is a bit confusing to me as I am not super educated in the world of Android manipulation. I searched up some info regarding what you told me and it seems flashing will GIVE me gingerbread, but thats what I have already. Also, not sure what kernel or CWM means, sorry!
Thanks for your help though!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GB doesn't come on this phone, either you you don't have a Sgs4g our you have froyo.
Sent from my SGH-T959V using XDA App

cybok0 said:
GB doesn't come on this phone, either you you don't have a Sgs4g our you have froyo.
Sent from my SGH-T959V using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am confused, but I'm not completely stupid... The whole point of this topic is to figure if it's possible to root a SGS4G with Gingerbread. I know the phone came with froyo, but my provider allowed for an offical update TO Gingerbread so I decided to update.

Aannon said:
I am confused, but I'm not completely stupid... The whole point of this topic is to figure if it's possible to root a SGS4G with Gingerbread. I know the phone came with froyo, but my provider allowed for an offical update TO Gingerbread so I decided to update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There isn't a official release of GB for this phone, you must have a different one.
Sent from my SGH-T959V using XDA App

yea. there is no official gingerbread for this phone yet. what is your model number? (settings -->about phone--> model). also, what is your firmare version and build number? i'll walk you through it

jager555 said:
yea. there is no official gingerbread for this phone yet. what is your model number? (settings -->about phone--> model). also, what is your firmare version and build number? i'll walk you through it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, though the update may not have been official I did it using Kies so I assumed it was, sorry guys. That being said, here's my info:
Model: SGH-T959P
Firm: 2.3.4
Build#: GINGERBREAD.PTLKH2
I don't know if this helps, but the program I used to unlock the first time was called super-one-click (or something similar) and the program installed on my phone is called Superuser. Now it doesn't work the same and other programs say my phone isn't rooted.
Hope this helps, I really appreciate the attention.

The issue that you are having is that you cannot use superoneclick to root GB.
To do this you must flash Dr honks kernel.
Now you are right when you looked it up and it said that you would flash to get GB. You will also flash to get root with GB. It will not replace the whole rom.
In the Dev section there is a post by Drhonk labelled [Kernel][GB][KG4/KG6/KH2/KI1/KI3] Stock Kernel + CWM + Voodoo EXT4 Lagfix.
Grab one of those kernels from his post. Just for ease say you use the new KI3 kernel.
There are 2 options. The Odin version or the CWM version. I really recommend using ODIN. It is easier in my opinion and you should get comfortable with ODIN anyways.
Once flashed you will not have to do anything additional. It will reboot your phone and as soon as its powered up you again will have root access (which will fix your superuser issues you mentioned as well) and give you red CWM.
Are you familiar with using ODIN at all?

no, jiggly, he has the wrong phone.
aannon, this forum is for the T959V, not p. I think you have a fascinate. look up the info on those forums.
never flash a rom from another phone. it will always brick. use odin to restore your phone to T959P stock and go from there.

Thanks for the heads up, I've done some more digging and because my phone is technically called the Fascinate 4G i think it is indeed slightly different. It's a phone from a Canadian provider, Telus and I think it's a bit of a blacksheep. The phone for all intents and purposes is almost identical to your 4G, but it is different enough to require its own software ect... Thanks for the warning! I may have to live with bloatware for now

[Q] Veizon S3 Insurance claim, pre-rooted? OTA Update? Not sure what's been done

Hello all! I need to know what has been done to my insurance replacement phone, and how I can safely update my phone to VRBMV1.
The short version...
I hard bricked my Verizon Galaxy S3 phone by installing a custom ROM wrong, I got an insurance replacement that came pre-rooted, has Clockworkmod already installed and I believe has an unlocked bootloader. Clockworkmod stopped the OTA Update, but I want the update installed. I need to know what to do.
The long, more informative version...
So, I wanted to increase the volume of my Bluetooth headset and after trying different apps and nothing working, I found some modded system files that had a great review that increase all of the phones volumes. The instructions said the phone had to be rooted. Well I rooted the phone and the modded files didn't work. So reading the reviews of the mod, people were saying it worked great with the OMEGA AOPK ROM. So I rooted my Verizon Galaxy S3 i535 phone and installed a the custom rom and hard bricked my phone. I didn't pay enough attention and installed a rom for an i9000 not a i535, at least I think that's what happened... Anyways, I got a new phone through my insurance and the screen wouldn't rotate, so they sent me a 2nd replacement. I got that one in the mail today and it appears to already be rooted, and possibly have an unlocked bootloader, but i'm not sure how to do the VRBMV1 OTA update now.
The first thing the phone did once I activated it was do an OTA update from Verizon, so I let it. Clockworkmod popped up and said it couldn't verify the publisher for the files it was trying to install and asked if I wanted to continue. I clicked NO.
So, since I recently found out what Clockworkmod was and know it's not stock on the S3, I knew someone had done something to the phone. So i'm trying to figure out what exactly has been done, and if it's safe for me to do the OTA update or not.
After searching this forum I found out I can use an app to see if the phone is rooted or not, so I checked it and the app say "root access granted". I also see an app already installed on the phone called SuperSU. So I now know the phone is rooted.
After searching more I found one way to possibly tell if the bootloader is unlocked is to restart the phone, if the Samsung logo goes away within 1 second you probably have an unlocked bootloader. The logo goes away instantly on my phone, so i'm guessing the bootloader is unlocked?
The rest of the phone appears to be the same visually and settings wise as my old S3, so I think it's the stock ROM. "About phone" says Android Version 4.1.2 - Baseband Version i535VRBMB1 - Kernel Version 3.0.13-861013 [email protected] #1 SMP PREEMPT Thu Feb 14 15:16:58 KST 2013 - Build Number JZ054K.I535VRBMB1. Putting the phone Download Mode says everything is "Official", whereas it said "Custom" just before I bricked my old phone.
Sorry this is getting so long. I'll get to the questions now...
From what I've read on the forum, it appears to not be a good idea to do the OTA updates. Without knowing what else has been done to the phone, how can I "safely" get VRBMV1 installed? It appears to fix some problems with battery life and 4G signal, so it would be nice to have.
I for sure don't want to brick another phone as my insurance most likely will not like me anymore. So i'm not sure i'm comfortable trying anymore custom ROMs that already have the update in them. Is there a way to take the phone back to factory with having any of the backups that may or may not have been done before the phone was modded?
Thank you very much!

Odin flash VRBMB1 tar.

SlimSnoopOS said:
Odin flash VRBMB1 tar.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And you will be on the very latest OEM OTA version , no need to worry about updates. QED

SlimSnoopOS said:
Odin flash VRBMB1 tar.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That worked PERFECT! Thank you very much!!!! :good:

You may have gotten one of my 5 returns...
However i am fairly certian I returned them with the stock recovery, and rom unless I missed that step on one or two... I was having screen issues when they sent me refurbs
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium

Colomonster said:
You may have gotten one of my 5 returns...
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well everything seems to work perfectly on it, so thank you for not breaking it! :fingers-crossed: