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[Q] Why Root?

I rooted mine and my wife's Captivate and the only advantage I saw was getting rid of ATT programs. I was going to send my phone back (becasue I could not OTA update) But since used Kies to do so. My wifes remains rooted . I am back to stock JH7.
I read you can tell the phone where to install programs when rooted but I did not find a way to do that. What are the other advantages of rooting the phone.
We have one Captivate rooted and the other stock.
Came over from unbranded n97 running Symbian. This is all new to me and I hated the 2 weeks with an iPhone. So far I like this Andriod OS but I have a lot to learn. I have read it is virtually impossible to brick this phone with the propoer tools and knowledge that is readily available........true?

Apparently it is not as unbrickable as people think. Some people were seeing stock phones bricking by trying to update the recent OTA. I myself was rooted and had no troubles.
Rooting allows you to play God on your phone. But be careful and backup everything if you do decide to. Best advice, as I was new to Android as well, is to read as much as you can before trying anything.
Most people here are good about answering questions, if you post in the right forum.
Good luck and welcome!

I guess it really depends on what you want to do with your phone. The only reason I rooted was to remove bloatware. Thats pretty much where the benefit ends unless you are interested in loading different ROMs and kernels.
Also, a word of caution: Be careful what apps you load on a rooted device. Root access gives you, and applications read/write/execute access to everything on your phone.

I also have a question on this topic. Since the original poster said, he can't do OTA updates after rooting is this correct?
Can you root the phone, take the bloatware off, then unroot the phone? Will the OTA now update?
Or do you have to update the original stock rom with OTA, then root the phone?
Can you root the phone, remove bloatware, then unroot the phone?
Thanks

Ihad no problem updating with my rooted phone. All I've done is root and lagfix.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

dynastyice said:
I also have a question on this topic. Since the original poster said, he can't do OTA updates after rooting is this correct?
Can you root the phone, take the bloatware off, then unroot the phone? Will the OTA now update?
Or do you have to update the original stock rom with OTA, then root the phone?
Can you root the phone, remove bloatware, then unroot the phone?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I rooted my phone......removed all bloat tirf to do the update and failed...Odin back to stock.....failed even after speaking with Samsung and ATT. Of course Samsung said it was not a hardware issue (as if that is all they should be concerned with.)
the Odin process could only be doe ONE way for me and I cut and pasted the method that worked and keep it and a lot of other tips in a Samsung folder on my Notebook. Seems everything but rooting was a hassle until you get GOOD information. That is the hardest think to glean. One has to read ENTIRE threads before they find the solution and not go jumping into the experiments....LOL
A few OPs do update their initial posts with the correct "process revisions"
I likely will root after the maybe someday Froyo 2.2 update. I want to get my wife's phone stock again..........
I finally after ATT decided to replace the phone......download Kies and installed the update that was and all went well. Kies is hit and miss with this phone though, Sometimes it sees it, others it does not.
Funny thing now on my USB selections it doesn't say "Samsung Kies" It says "Samsung Kies (firmware update)" Strange.
Anyway I am a complete noob but I like to learn about the OS as I did Symbian and mess with things now and then. I Am not the type that worries about scratches though. My phones look like war toys. But I usually don't resell them after a a couple generations. I give the previous phones away and keep the current phones as back up for the NEXT phones. The N95s will be given away if we keep these past Oct 20 drop day....

The biggest advantage you gain after rooting your phone is being able to use Titanium to back up all your apps, and Clockwork ROM manager to do an entire backup your phone.
These are nice tools to have, but both require rooting and super user privileges.

if you ask that question, then you probably shouldn't. rooting is for those who constantly not satisfied with status quo of their phones, for those who like different looks and improve on system and have no patience for OTA.
Example:
I bought MyTouch 3G as 1.5 Cupcake.
Upgraded to CM 1.6
Changed back and forth between Sense 1.5 and Donut 1.6.
Upgraded to CM 1.6 with bits of 2.0
Upgraded to CM 2.0
Upgraded to CM 2.1
Upgraded to CM 2.2
My Captivate will eventually get CM 6.0 I hope soon. Who knows, perhaps Sense 2.X will be ported too.
Oh, and lag-fix, overclocking and future color fix are other pluses.

Yeah you,re right. I switched both caps back to stock. I may want something more after Iget to know Android more and find areal need rather than.
do something just because it can be done
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk

Making sure I understand all this rooting stuff

Hi, I am waiting for my HTC Sensation to arrive from eBay. New to android and have been reading about rooting. Just want to make sure I am getting this clear:
So, to root, I'll need to to the S-off thing with revolution, then clockwork recovery, then SU to actually root it right?
I am not sure whether I need to root it, but I am interested in unlocking it for SIM and I read there's a way to do it if the phone is rooted. Also, I probably don't need some of the T-mobile apps and want to delete it. However, do I have necessarily have to flash a custom ROM after I rooted it? Can I just use what came with the HTC?
However, if I do this, I guess I can't update through HTC/T-mobile anymore right? So I'll have to flash some ROM, but does it have some modify ROM, or can I use the ROM that's official from HTC?
Can someone please correct me if I misunderstood the process? And also, can I reverse all this if I decide I just want to use it the way it was shipped except simunlocked, and be able to update newer version of the OS from HTC.
Thanks

Sensation rooting
I was just like you about a month and half ago. im new to android aslo but i'll help you. first- your right about using the revolutionary method and installing clockwork and super user. as for unlocking it for a SIM you might need super cid check this out http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1192300
to remove some tmobile apps use titanium backup (it's in the market)
As for roms im using stock but it's rooted. but before you root please update to 2.3.4 because it really improve your phone but yes you would have to flash update roms after you root. but you can find the official one's here if you look for them as soon as they come out.

pretty much yes to your questions...even if you root you can stay with your stock rom and just use titanium backup to delete all the junk u dont want. Also, even if you cant get updates officially, devs here are nice enuf to post the newest stock roms for you to flash so dont worry. so i suggest you read these three threads to start off and have fun (just read directions very carefully)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1192300
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1137311
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1232107
edit: ah, i guess someone else was replying too

darryll4sh0 said:
I was just like you about a month and half ago. im new to android aslo but i'll help you. first- your right about using the revolutionary method and installing clockwork and super user. as for unlocking it for a SIM you might need super cid check this out http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1192300
to remove some tmobile apps use titanium backup (it's in the market)
As for roms im using stock but it's rooted. but before you root please update to 2.3.4 because it really improve your phone but yes you would have to flash update roms after you root. but you can find the official one's here if you look for them as soon as they come out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the quick reply. So I can only remove some t-mobile apps if it's rooted right? I was thinking of updating to the newest version before considering rooting. I think I will be kinda in the same situation as you....so when you say stock rooted rom...it's basically the same ROM as what t-mobile has with SENSE etc...but can be apply to a rooted phone without losing root right?
Finally, since you're not using any custom ROM and stuff... do u find it worthwhile rooting? what other advantage have you notice if you're using the stock ROM?
Thanks again!

rooting sensation
My rom is the same one that comes when you first get the phone. the only expectation is that it's updated to 2.3.4 instead of 2.3.3 and that it's rooted. When you root imagine like it's a window's pc and instead of using the guest account where stuff is limited, your now able to use the administrator account which lets you do anything.
As for advantages, i wanted to improve it's speed and battery life. the update helps but you'll find out that tmobile has alot of apps running in the background which slows it down and uses more battery and they also included useless app or two of the same kind of app. Right now im looking at other roms because im kinda tired of sense but i wish i could keep it's widgets.

darryll4sh0 said:
My rom is the same one that comes when you first get the phone. the only expectation is that it's updated to 2.3.4 instead of 2.3.3 and that it's rooted. When you root imagine like it's a window's pc and instead of using the guest account where stuff is limited, your now able to use the administrator account which lets you do anything.
As for advantages, i wanted to improve it's speed and battery life. the update helps but you'll find out that tmobile has alot of apps running in the background which slows it down and uses more battery and they also included useless app or two of the same kind of app. Right now im looking at other roms because im kinda tired of sense but i wish i could keep it's widgets.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great. I think I'll just stick with the 2.3.4 firmware for now before considering flashing any custom ROMs etc.
So just so I am clear, I should update the unrooted phone to 2.3.4 when I get it. then I can perform the S-off, clockwork, superuser to get it rooted and just leave it as it is and use the existing ROM as it came with the phone. Until I need to update to a higher version, I will then flash a rooted version of whatever t-mobile came out with from here. Is that the deal?
Finally, what's superCID? Do I need that?
Thanks again.. you guys been a great help! I can't wait to play around with this when I get the phone this weekend

Rooting
Yep your correct....
As for super CID is something like a carrier unlock. This has something to do with updates i think. but by adding this you can flash any carrier's rom onto your phone. for example vodafone and orange are both 2 different europe phone companies and they both include different apps on their roms just like tmobile give there special apps. With super-CID you can put anyone of those carries rom on you phone regardless if it's a europe, usa, or asia sensation. but you don't need- i haven't put it on either.

[Q] New owner. Typical Questions

I just want to ask some questions, seems like some of these threads are out of date.
My phone came out of box JB, so I need to restore down to ICS to root, then use a program called VooDoo to protect said root and update back to JB?
Unless my Bootloader is unlocked, What are the pro/cons of that, I heard you dont get OTA updates, but I could live without those, we can just download them ourselves right?

SirRudolph said:
I just want to ask some questions, seems like some of these threads are out of date.
My phone came out of box JB, so I need to restore down to ICS to root, then use a program called VooDoo to protect said root and update back to JB?
Unless my Bootloader is unlocked, What are the pro/cons of that, I heard you dont get OTA updates, but I could live without those, we can just download them ourselves right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There have been a lot of misconceptions about unlocked bootloaders in this forum. Unlocking your bootloader doesn't necessarily mean the phone will not be eligible for updates, rather the updates will not install on a modified system. What is your real reason for root? Most people are always looking for the latest update, but mess up some files on their phone and don't have backup, in which case the update will fail.
With the Rogers/fido fiasco, we had people go back to the wrong Rogers version of software, since it was not posted properly on the Motorola firmware download website.
Another con is that your warranty would be totally void. Personally I haven't find the need yet to root this device and have had it for almost 4 months now!
Sent from my XT925 using Tapatalk 2

I wont agree for some people the modifications other people do seem trivial.
I've already rooted though, turns out I did have to do what I said above, now running 4.1.1 with Root
I root because a few applications I use, for instance SetCPU allows me to underclock the processors in my phone while the screen is locked, that saves a bit of battery life. I wish Motorola allowed a smart action trigger for when the phone screen was off though, this would help it even more so to save battery.
I use another app to change the lockscreen sounds, which requires root as well.
I havent looked at possible ROM's on this phone yet, as far as I know developers arent quite getting into this phone as deep as they usually do? Thusly I dont think i'll need to use a custom ROM. Just my own optimizations.

question about unlocking bootloader on d2vzw sch-i535

Hello XDA Developers,
Okay so here is my unusual situation...
I have two phones. I have one Verizon (d2vzw) SGS3 that I run CM 11 on with CWM Touch installed on that phone. On my second phone which is also a Verizon (d2vzw) SGS3 i was running stock 4.1.2 ROM which was rooted with CWM recovery manager. The stock SGS3 was the baseband version that supported multi windows.
Okay so today i decided to go ahead and check for an OTA update on my stock (rooted) SGS3. I knew there had been an update available for some time but I never decided to update my phone because i figured with it being rooted and with CWM recovery manager installed there was no way that the OTA update would work...
So like an idiot i went ahead and tried the update. I figured what is the worst that could happen? I figured that at the worst it was just going to tell me that the update failed and i would just be stuck with Android 4.1.2 which isn't the end of the world. I really like the multi windows setup. Moving on...i downloaded the update and I hit the install update button. My phone booted into recovery manager and it installed the update. When the phone rebooted I saw the message "Android is upgrading" and i thought whoa! no way!. After android finished upgrading which i believe was the dalvik rebuilding I saw a message in notifications saying "upgrade installation failed", however when i went into settings it now told me that i was running Android 4.3. So to me it looked like the upgrade took but I think the problem was that when it asked me to flash the stock recovery there was an option in CWM to say no and i choose that to keep CWM recovery manager instead of the stock recovery manager. Maybe i should have let the update install the stock recovery manager...
Now i knew ahead of time that if this update worked I was going to loose root but again I didn't think it was that big of a deal since I could just re-root my phone and I would be on a newer Android version. I looked around for the best rooting option and I wanted to use Chainfire's CF-AutoRoot exploit but I know that if you do not have the bootloader unlocked that there is a chance of bricking your phone. So after some research (which i should have done before i updated my phone!) i saw that there was an exploit out called "saferoot.zip" and that you could root your phone running a windows.bat file or a shell script if you are in Linux. Even though the program is for SGS4 many users on XDA with SGS3 phones reported success with "saferoot". So i tried saferoot 2 times with no luck. Finally on the third attempt (3rd times a charm!) i was able to root my phone and SuperSU was able to "disable KNOX".
So i now had my Verizon SGS3 updated from Android 4.1.2 to Android 4.3 and I had successfully re-rooted my phone. I was feeling good...
Until I wanted to make sure that CWM Recovery Manager was still on my phone. I opened up the app "quickboot" and choose to boot into Recovery Manager this is where the trouble began...
When my phone booted into recovery mode i saw a big Yellow Triangle. Under this very scary yellow triangle it said that "Verizon has detected unauthorized software on this phone. Please turn off the phone and take it into your nearest verizon store". Other something along those lines...
I thought I was in big trouble...
I could not get the phone out of recovery mode. I tried pulling the battery but every time my phone rebooted it just kept going back into recovery mode. The trick to get out recovery mode was to hold down Volume Down + Home for a few seconds then press the power button. This brought me to a new menu and i was able to hit "cancel" on installing a new OS and it rebooted my phone back to its normal state.
So finally here is my questions...
Question 1: I know i need to unlock my bootloader again. After you apply an OTA update it re-locks your bootloader right? Does anyone know of a method of unlocking the bootloader with the Verizon (d2vzw) SGS3 baseband version I535VRUCML1 running on Android 4.3?
Before when my phone was running 4.1.2 I unlocked the bootloader with Odin and the app EZ-UNLOCK but i don't think EZ-UNLOCK is going to work with Android 4.3
Question 2: Is there a way to get rid of that message about Verizon has detected unauthorized software on this phone? Now I know that ChainFire has a Yellow Triangle Away app on the Google Play store and I will happily buy it but I know that in order for it to work you first must have your bootloader unlocked right? If i try to use that app with my bootloader in a locked state i could brick my phone permanently right?
Is there possibly any file or exploit i can flash with either Odin or the app "Flashify" so that I can unlock my bootloader. Has anyone here tried unlocking their bootloader on their SGS3 running 4.3 with the app "EZ-UNLOCK" ?
I am very concerned about damaging my phone which is a company work phone so if i mess it up i will be in deep trouble...
Oh, one last question...
Question 3: Since i got that yellow triangle message about unauthorized software when i tried to boot into recovery mode could it have possible been because CWM recovery was somehow deleted with the OTA update? After i was able to get out of recovery mode I used the app "ROM Manager" to install CWM Recovery Again hoping that I might have a recovery manager... Now ROM Manager says that CWM Touch was installed successfully but I am not sure since I am kind of scared to boot into recovery mode again until I unlock this bootloader.
If my recovery manager is being blocked until I get my bootloader unlocked could i use the app "flashify" if i need to flash any files?
I know my situation might be a bit unusual but I am really going to need some help on this and someones expertise advice.
I hope to hear from someone soon...
XDA Members, have a great New Years and make 2014 count!
I thank you all for your time and assistance.
-droidshadow

After accepting the 4.3 OTA, your bootloader is locked and there is no way to unlock it. My suggestion to you would be to grab the 4.3 ODIN file, reflash to 100% stock, root using saferoot, debloat as wanted, and hope for the best.
Probably not what you wanted to hear, but there is no way to unlock the bootloader once taking the 4.3 OTA. Attempting to do so will brick the phone.

well that stinks...
podspi said:
After accepting the 4.3 OTA, your bootloader is locked and there is no way to unlock it. My suggestion to you would be to grab the 4.3 ODIN file, reflash to 100% stock, root using saferoot, unbloat as wanted, and hope for the best.
Probably not what you wanted to hear, but there is no way to unlock the bootloader once taking the 4.3 OTA. Attempting to do so will brick the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only reason that I even attempted the upgrade is because next week I am going to purchasing the smart watch from the Samsung Galaxy Gear. For that watch (you can make calls from the watch) you need the upgrade to pair my SGS3 with my smartwatch when I get it next week.
Now this OTA update is quite new so that means that there still might be a chance to unlock the bootloader eventually when someone works it out right?
Big question:
Is it still possible to have CWM or TWRP with this 4.3 OTA update?
Thanks for the reply.
-droidshadow

droidshadow said:
The only reason that I even attempted the upgrade is because next week I am going to purchasing the smart watch from the Samsung Galaxy Gear. For that watch (you can make calls from the watch) you need the upgrade to pair my SGS3 with my smartwatch when I get it next week.
Now this OTA update is quite new so that means that there still might be a chance to unlock the bootloader eventually when someone works it out right?
Big question:
Is it still possible to have CWM or TWRP with this 4.3 OTA update?
Thanks for the reply.
-droidshadow
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To bad you took the ota. There is a twrp flashable rom for stock 4.3. And no you can not have custom recovery.

droidshadow said:
Okay so today i decided to go ahead and check for an OTA update on my stock (rooted) SGS3...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's no need to read any further than that.... Sorry to be another bearer of bad news, but if a phone is rooted and you want it to stay that way, "OTA" should be a term that you never, ever, ever even think about !

The S4 boot loader has been locked down with Knox longer than the S3 has, and no one has cracked it yet. I'd say the chances of this boot loader being cracked wide open are slim to none. If unlocking this boot loader were as simple as using EZ unlock 1.2, it would have been written about all over these and all forums.
Sent from the Shark Tank using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

so what entails for the future of samsung phones?
landshark68 said:
The S4 boot loader has been locked down with Knox longer than the S3 has, and no one has cracked it yet. I'd say the chances of this boot loader being cracked wide open are slim to none. If unlocking this boot loader were as simple as using EZ unlock 1.2, it would have been written about all over these and all forums.
Sent from the Shark Tank using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So what is the going to happen to the future of Samsung Phones? Are we no longer going to be able to put custom ROM's and custom Recovery Managers on Samsung Phones?
Will KitKat + SELinux + Knox no longer allow us to enjoy the true beauty of Android? I think that is major BS.
So what are our options now? Are we going to simply have to choose different phones like future Google Nexus phones? I love Samsung phones and I love having the options of flashing custom roms or reverting back to stock and I really really love CWM recovery or TWRP recovery.
These phones are our property...
I understand that the software and the code is Samsung's or Verizon's yet we should be able to do what we want to our property. Could you imagine if Toyota or Chevy said that after you purchased one of their cars you could never paint it a different color or add custom rims + wheels! That would be ridiculous... It is the same concept here really.
It is really sad that Samsung and Mobile carriers such as Verizon have resorted to this...
-droidshadow

droidshadow said:
So what is the going to happen to the future of Samsung Phones? Are we no longer going to be able to put custom ROM's and custom Recovery Managers on Samsung Phones?
Will KitKat + SELinux + Knox no longer allow us to enjoy the true beauty of Android? I think that is major BS.
So what are our options now? Are we going to simply have to choose different phones like future Google Nexus phones? I love Samsung phones and I love having the options of flashing custom roms or reverting back to stock and I really really love CWM recovery or TWRP recovery.
These phones are our property...
I understand that the software and the code is Samsung's or Verizon's yet we should be able to do what we want to our property. Could you imagine if Toyota or Chevy said that after you purchased one of their cars you could never paint it a different color or add custom rims + wheels! That would be ridiculous... It is the same concept here really.
It is really sad that Samsung and Mobile carriers such as Verizon have resorted to this...
-droidshadow
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Difference is though, if you were to somehow screw up your car by customizing it you wouldn't try to take it back to the dealership and get a new car under a warranty claim. I would have to think at least part of the reason phone manufacturers and mobile carriers are locking down phones is all the "warranty" claims people are submitting after screwing up while rooting and flashing their phones. Warranty claims are for inherent manufacturer defects, not a hard brick from flashing the wrong software. If more people took responsibility for their mistakes and bought a new phone instead of making the carriers or manufacturers pay for their mistakes, perhaps this wouldn't be happening. I'm not saying absolutely, just perhaps. OK, I'll get off my soapbox now. Happy New Year everyone.

Different animal. You own the hardware, but the providers have the right to control the firmware since it can change how the phone interacts with the network.
Just like the firmware in your cars computer. The manufacturer and the federal government have control over what went in. Modifying it can be done, but it is a violation of EPA emission laws.
Modifying the paint, tires, rims etc is like putting a different case, bling etc on your phone
Your phone needs to have the 4.3 odin tar installed to clean the recovery.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

droidshadow said:
So what is the going to happen to the future of Samsung Phones? Are we no longer going to be able to put custom ROM's and custom Recovery Managers on Samsung Phones?
These phones are our property...
It is really sad that Samsung and Mobile carriers such as Verizon have resorted to this...
-droidshadow
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its really Verizon, They have had many Moto and HTC phones with locked bootloaders , unless Verizon unlocks it, it won't be cracked.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2586319
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

DigitalMD said:
Its really Verizon, They have had many Moto and HTC phones with locked bootloaders , unless Verizon unlocks it, it won't be cracked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know but still i think it should be our choice! While there are millions of us out there that love to customize the software on our phone's by adding new recovery managers or custom rom's we are a small population to the rest of the stock phone using world...
Insurance companies make big bucks by all the people who never file a claim...but i won't get into that.
Many of you have made excellent points and i respect that. I especially liked the comparison of car rims to phone cases i thought that was great!
Hopefully someone will work it out soon or some how an unlocked bootloader will get leaked.
Come one Verizon developers! Leak it! We wont tell!
I was planning on getting the NOTE 3 but i doubt that phone comes with an unlocked bootloader so this d2vzw (sgs3) will most likely be my last samsung phone that I ever buy. I guess i will have to stick with the Nexus phones... I am going to miss micro sdcards!
-droidshadow

droidshadow said:
I know but still i think it should be our choice! While there are millions of us out there that love to customize the software on our phone's by adding new recovery managers or custom rom's we are a small population to the rest of the stock phone using world...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Having that debate at this site is kinda silly.... Fact is, "we" will lose the fight against the carriers and/or manufacturers as it stands. The only way to really impact them is to STOP giving them our money, but you know what ? The number of people who "hack" their phones is a tiny percentage in the grand scheme. We'd probably get a "good riddance" response from them anyway.

droidshadow said:
So what is the going to happen to the future of Samsung Phones? Are we no longer going to be able to put custom ROM's and custom Recovery Managers on Samsung Phones?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's correct and.... read on.
So what are our options now? Are we going to simply have to choose different phones like future Google Nexus phones?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That could be the only solution. I believe the success that Samsung/Verizon have had with locking down their phones will soon result in ALL phones on ALL carriers being locked down with little or no possibility of rooting or flashing.
I suspect we've seen the end of modifying any phone on any network. I sure hope I'm wrong....

It would be a shame....
xs11e said:
I suspect we've seen the end of modifying any phone on any network. I sure hope I'm wrong....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just rooted and got into CM in the last month. Got rid of all the bloat and installed some neat little apps. And now, just when I get hooked, it's possible that my drug of choice may be going away.

hey there guys, i know this post is a little old, but i just wanted to share my story real quickly with you and to reiterate that messing with the boot loader on an sch-i535 running 4.3 is a HORRIBLE idea.
this is the first phone i have ever tried to root. i successfully rooted the phone, immediately i tried to run cwm recovery. HARDBRICK. i was so proud for all of five minutes that i rooted a phone on my first try. The phone would not power on in ANY mode. i could only get a red light to come on by plugging my phone into my computer with the battery out of the phone. after three days and alot of reading and some help from xda i managed to (amazingly) debrick my phone. I am now very VERY cautious of what i do with my rooted sch-i535 with its HORRIBLE 4.3 crap.
If you are truly hardbricked, im told that jigs (despite what is all over the internet) will not work. (maybe they do but a shop in texas told me a hardbrick will not revive by jig).
JTAG is the most dependable repair.
I revived my phone via debrick image on an sd card.
Bottom line, do everything you can to avoid the situation in the first place.

Never take updates. I unlocked boot loader on 4.3 with ez-unlock app booted into recovery and hard bricked my phone... The fun is over after 4.3...Had to send it to Tampa fl. To get JTAG and it worked.

droidshadow said:
So what is the going to happen to the future of Samsung Phones? Are we no longer going to be able to put custom ROM's and custom Recovery Managers on Samsung Phones?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's correct, given the amount of time the Devs have had to find a way to unlock the bootloader on the S3 and S4 w/o success, I believe it's hopeless.
Worse, I believe Samsung will share their technology and ALL cell phones will eventually have locked boot loaders and be un-rootable, un-flashable and, to me, at least, un-desirable!
I sincerely hope I'm wrong but I believe in a year or two any cellphone will be locked down to whatever software is installed at time of purchase.

xs11e said:
That's correct, given the amount of time the Devs have had to find a way to unlock the bootloader on the S3 and S4 w/o success, I believe it's hopeless.
Worse, I believe Samsung will share their technology and ALL cell phones will eventually have locked boot loaders and be un-rootable, un-flashable and, to me, at least, un-desirable!
I sincerely hope I'm wrong but I believe in a year or two any cellphone will be locked down to whatever software is installed at time of purchase.
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How's the fun over??? Haha I've seen this same junk many times... I'm running 4.3 rooted. Safestrapped (cwmis garbage) alliance 23 build ROM CSC & build prop tweaks on sch-i535v on straightalk att side. Knox removed manually by me. All bands open except domestic 3g. (Working on it now).
So the funs over? I'm confused.. And how is that? Lol take your time. Research. Learn. Adapt. Achieve. If it can be locked. It can be unlocked. I've yet to run across a phone that I couldn't bring back from the supposed "hard brick" but I did find one I COULDNT brick on purpose. And I threw everything at it. Huwaei m8665 I think it was. I tried for two days to brick that little piece of junk, and not even wrong roots etc could. Lol

An0nYm0u5.bat said:
How's the fun over??? Haha I've seen this same junk many times... I'm running 4.3 rooted. Safestrapped (cwmis garbage) alliance 23 build ROM CSC & build prop tweaks on sch-i535v on straightalk att side. Knox removed manually by me. All bands open except domestic 3g. (Working on it now).
So the funs over? I'm confused.. And how is that? Lol take your time. Research. Learn. Adapt. Achieve. If it can be locked. It can be unlocked. I've yet to run across a phone that I couldn't bring back from the supposed "hard brick" but I did find one I COULDNT brick on purpose. And I threw everything at it. Huwaei m8665 I think it was. I tried for two days to brick that little piece of junk, and not even wrong roots etc could. Lol
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I agree with you if there is a way to lock it there is a way to unlock it.
is just a matter of time some smart brain will figure it out how to and share LOL

Should I root and unlock

I just got this phone and debating if I should root and unlock this phone. I'm a big fan of CM. I traded a friend for this phone. I used to have a gs5 and touchwiz was driving me crazy and that it could not be unlocked. This phone is way better. I have been rooting and unlocking since the days of the htc eris. I'll never buy another Samsung phone again. Sorry for the dumb post.

So do you have a question? Or what's the point behind the post

Yes, you should root and unlock. I have flashed more than a few roms on this pbone, but I have been on stock rooted for a couple months now. Mostly because it has the least amount of issues and most consistent performance. I got it all tweaked up though. IMO HTC did a great job on the stock ROM but to each there own.
And another big plus is that you can easily unroot and relock your phone back to 100% stock state (thankfully we have all the most recent stock ROM ruu's). So really as long as you know what your doing which it sounds like you do, you can only gain by rooting/s-off

No, wait a few weeks first so you know the phone works. You don't want to be those guys that spam issues in rom threads only to find out it's your phone and not the rom.
A rule of thumb I always follow is make sure it runs properly before you start modding. (Cars, phones, computers, etc.)

the real question is why wouldn't you unlock an S-OFF - full control over YOUR device for only $25 AND you can always go back to S-ON. :good:

I tried to unlock the boot loader through HTC Dev with no luck. My boot loader says ***software status*** Modified
***Locked**
He was running the phone on T-Mobile. I was wondering if he had it flashed to T-Mobile to work. Any Ideas!!

Never mind I just used sunshine apk and worked. Thank god

Bootloader still says modified. Only getting temp root, but s off

Droid0351 said:
Bootloader still says modified. Only getting temp root, but s off
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To get permanent root you will need to install a custom recovery and flash the supersu.zip and that will get you full root. You can then get rid of the temp root by uninstalling the apk

I figured it out. Its been awhile since I rooted and s-off. I already fixed the bootloader saying modified. Had to connect it to htcsync and do a repair. Thanks guys. I'm enjoying cm again.