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[Q] Unroot Verizon Galaxy S3

Hello all,
I recently rooted my Galaxy S3 only to have my Mic fail on me 2 weeks later... Very dissatisfied with my Samsung about that - even though I am loving the phone. Anyways, back to the issue. Verizon has agreed to send me a replacement and I have to send them mine back. The problem is that I know that if I send them a rooted phone they will not honor the warranty, and I am having a very hard time flashing the Verizon Stock rom.
More specifically, and to see if I am doing anything wrong.. I used ODIN to flash a custom rooted rom onto my phone which worked perfectly, and now I am once again trying to use ODIN in order to flash the stock rom which I downloaded from goo.im - the file that I am using is HOME_I535VRALF2_I535VZWALF2_618049_REV09_user_low_ship.tar.md5
Simple steps - reboot into downloading mode -> check auto-reboot and reset time on ODIN and choose the file above under PDA. All works fine, the phone reboots and I get a PASS, and yet my phone is stuck on the Verizon 4G loading intro. I think that's what they call a soft brick.
The first time this happened, I flashed a different rom and the phone loaded properly but it had the open lock symbol under Samsung which I think means that it was unlocked.. Either way, it was not the unrooted and official stock rom which is what I need on my phone in order to keep my warranty. The file that DOES work is COMBINATION_I535VRBLJ1_I535VZWBLJ1_381038_REV09_user_low_ship(NO_WIPE).tar.md5
I have followed the above steps over and over again and I always get the same result - stock doesn't work, the other one does.
Any ideas? What could the issue be?

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1762709
Personally I would try the files found in section 5 of this thread.

According to Droidstyles guide before his recent edits, if it freezes on the boot logo after a successful Odin factory flash then you're supposed to pull the battery, boot into recovery, and do a factory reset. Try that.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

SlimSnoopOS said:
According to Droidstyles guide before his recent edits, if it freezes on the boot logo after a successful Odin factory flash then you're supposed to pull the battery, boot into recovery, and do a factory reset. Try that.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes this works, also had this happen to me, and to boot to recovery just hold home+volume up+power button. It should work.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium

You should probably factory reset after flashing, for you don't want to be running a buggy phone.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

Use a full wipe version and this would not happen...part of the reason why i removed nowipe versions such as f2. But yes as slimsnoop said, data wipe /factory reset will fix that.

So I bought the s3 Verizon it was rooted and switched to cricket pre paid before my friend sold it to me he tried to root back to Verizon but of course he failed, is there anyway to get the phone completelyback to stock even though he switched providers cuz the phone is stuck on the activating part I'm no noobe at rooting just don't know much bout this phone
Sent from my LT28at using xda app-developers app

FhtmChandley85 said:
is there anyway to get the phone completelyback to stock even though he switched providers cuz the phone is stuck on the activating part I'm no noobe at rooting just don't know much bout this phone
Sent from my LT28at using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Follow section 5 of Droidstyle's (the guy above you) guide. Click the link in his signature. I'm not sure about how this handles modified network configuration though, that's not something I remotely know anything about.
I thought there was a way to bypass the activation screen? On older phones, you could tap the four corners of the screen or something like that? Anyone ever heard that before?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

[Q] Can't seem to get the backup working with CWM

Hi, i'm a noob fresh out of youtube and I have successfully rooted my phone and gotten CWM and the Recovery Image flashed but the problem comes into play when I try to make a backup of my stock rom and my phone reboots into the recovery mode and it gives me the options to
1. reboot
2. reinstall
3. delete user data
4. wipe caches
and it says # Manual Mode #
Appling CSC...Installing CSC but it doesn't do anything and i've let it sit there for a minute nothing even pops up. Help please? I'm kinda at a loss here. lol

You don't have a custom recovery, look at one of the many rooting guides here on how to get clockwork recovery
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

demkantor said:
You don't have a custom recovery, look at one of the many rooting guides here on how to get clockwork recovery
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, cool. Thanks, i know for a fact that i'm gonna need someone to hold my hand through this thing -__- but hey it's a learning experience. lol :good:

Jon Dubb said:
Ok, cool. Thanks, i know for a fact that i'm gonna need someone to hold my hand through this thing -__- but hey it's a learning experience. lol :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey so I tried to get the custom recovery...am I supposed to delete the old "recovery" file and place the modded one there or am I just supposed to leave it alone? I have the update.zip file in the root of my sdcard but still I tried to boot it into the cwm recovery mode and still no dice.

Replace it, for some more detail see post 36 in this thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=40198560
Now you shouldn't need to go through the whole process but it may help you understand
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

......so i deleted the recovery file and left the new recovery file and now my phone is soft bricked....*sigh*....help?

Follow the full instruction from the post I linked you, soft bricked this phone more times than I can count, the method I laid out there never failed me with both Linux and windows and takes me under 10 min from start yo finish
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

Ok, nvm looked at another xda thread and actually managed to fix it. thanks!

[Q] Can't access /system from recovery !

Hi guys.
I have some problems with my recovery, here is my story.
I was running last TWRP, and while doing an update of my favorite ROM, the installation was stuck at fomatting system... I tried to reboot several times and nothing to do it couldn't work.
So I installed (in a dirty way) CWM to try it. Formatting seemed to work and it's still working (or at least it's written that the operation is done) BUT when I want to update my ROM and when the script needs at the beginning to format system, it's stuck for several minutes. Sometimes it works only after 3 or 4 times (or maybe it's because I don't wait enough) and so then everything works out but I've got a message like "the error was system", can't remember sorry, if you need what is exactly written I'll tell you.
So why should I do ?
Thanks.
Hope you understood me, my english kinda sucks..

I think your best bet at this point would be flashing the factory images and starting fresh. I don't use twrp myself, but for what I've read here, it's best to let it finish what it's doing and not reboot.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

adrman said:
I think your best bet at this point would be flashing the factory images and starting fresh. I don't use twrp myself, but for what I've read here, it's best to let it finish what it's doing and not reboot.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well when it's endless I can't let him finish I guess...
I don't know why system image would change anything because it has nothing to do with recovery. Maybe you meant stock recovery and then put back CWM ?

Up please I need an answer

Tomatot- said:
Well when it's endless I can't let him finish I guess...
I don't know why system image would change anything because it has nothing to do with recovery. Maybe you meant stock recovery and then put back CWM ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same thing happened to me. In fact posted a similar post earlier. I used the nexus recovery tool once to get back to stock and that worked but erased everything on my phone.
Did it one other time successfully flashed one rom and then some thing happened but this time I had a backup in twrp and was able to restore that.
The only thing now is my battery won't charge past 77%.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

You guys really need to understand what you're doing before flashing. Start with these
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=47025283
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=47096456

jd1639 said:
You guys really need to understand what you're doing before flashing. Start with these
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=47025283
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=47096456
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah that is a great how to but I've already rooted and unlocked phone. I understand how to flash roms, I have at least 10 android devices in my home that I flash roms to.
I know the process, it is the same on most devices. The problem with this one is when you go to flash a new rom it says it can't mount system and gets stuck in endless install.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

nelomen said:
Same thing happened to me. In fact posted a similar post earlier. I used the nexus recovery tool once to get back to stock and that worked but erased everything on my phone.
Did it one other time successfully flashed one rom and then some thing happened but this time I had a backup in twrp and was able to restore that.
The only thing now is my battery won't charge past 77%.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same issue flashing elemental kernel. After the reboot I couldn't access my SD and my baseband weren't recognised. So I reloaded a nandroid backup but the issue was still present. I have never encountered a so strange problem. Resolved reverting to stock and reflashing elementalx.

jd1639 said:
You guys really need to understand what you're doing before flashing. Start with these
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=47025283
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=47096456
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You must be kidding me... Did you even read my post ?

Tomatot- said:
You must be kidding me... Did you even read my post ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Twrp system may not automatically mount. From twrp select mounts and system. Or reboot recovery.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

jwhyte said:
Twrp system may not automatically mount. From twrp select mounts and system. Or reboot recovery.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried that when I shaving that problem but system would not Allow me to mount system. It would let me check off everything but that.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

nelomen said:
I tried that when I shaving that problem but system would not Allow me to mount system. It would let me check off everything but that.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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Click to collapse
You can try flashing twrp with adb again? Not sure why it wont mount system.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

jwhyte said:
Twrp system may not automatically mount. From twrp select mounts and system. Or reboot recovery.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
I'll try that but it's weird because it never happenned to me before and now it's happenning to me every time.

Tomatot- said:
I'll try that but it's weird because it never happenned to me before and now it's happenning to me every time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have already gone back to stock completely and started all over to verify I did everything correct. I got sane results not sure if Tomatot has tried more than once.
Not sure if it makes a difference but my N5 is the t-mobile store version.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Mine is from Google Play. Today I flashed a ROM and before I mounted system. The installation was very long (more than usual i'd say) but it finally worked !

Tomatot- said:
Mine is from Google Play. Today I flashed a ROM and before I mounted system. The installation was very long (more than usual i'd say) but it finally worked !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad to see yours is working. I was able to flash the stock 4.4.1 but it was still feeling a little wonky. Battery got stuck again this time at 35% so I used nexus tool to return to stock completely but still same issue with battery. I think I'm going to lock it and exchange it at the T mobile store.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Here is what's happenning :
"
Formatting /system (takes about 5 minutes)
Extracting /system
Symlinking
Flashing boot.img
Yeah !
Script succeeded : resultat was [/system]
Can it help you guys ?

[SOLVED] Did I brick?

Hey everyone,
So I think I may have done something strange and i'm not sure how to fix it. Long story short, screen cracked, so I bought a new one and I used TWRP to backup my original phone. So now, i'm just trying to unlock and root, you know, the usual. BTW, I tried using ABD/Fastboot, which I never typically do, but I heard it was more efficient and whatnot so I thought I try. I think the unlocking of the bootloader went well. And I even think I flashed recovery properly. But when I tried to access recovery, it prompted me for a password.
I read on the TWRP site I was supposed to let the phone boot as normal before accessing recovery. Oops. So I tried formatting all the data on the phone and no I have no OS or any files to recover from and adb push keeps giving me "Device not found" and now I don't know what to do.
Help?
EDIT: In case anyone has this issue searching threads, I just used Wug Toolkit to flash everything back to stock and then used the same Toolkit to unlock and root. TWRP isn't going to recognize a backup from a different phone. To my understanding, there is a way around that, but I didn't look into it. Oh, and apparently, don't flash the EFS partition lol

New Jer-Z said:
Hey everyone,
So I think I may have done something strange and i'm not sure how to fix it. Long story short, screen cracked, so I bought a new one and I used TWRP to backup my original phone. So now, i'm just trying to unlock and root, you know, the usual. BTW, I tried using ABD/Fastboot, which I never typically do, but I heard it was more efficient and whatnot so I thought I try. I think the unlocking of the bootloader went well. And I even think I flashed recovery properly. But when I tried to access recovery, it prompted me for a password.
I read on the TWRP site I was supposed to let the phone boot as normal before accessing recovery. Oops. So I tried formatting all the data on the phone and no I have no OS or any files to recover from and adb push keeps giving me "Device not found" and now I don't know what to do.
Help?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never heard of this problem before, maybe you can use Odin to flash the recovery again
Sent from my Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk p.s if I helped you peles hit the thanks button

mpalomba3 said:
I never heard of this problem before, maybe you can use Odin to flash the recovery again
Sent from my Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk p.s if I helped you peles hit the thanks button
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, that reminds me, TWRP wasn't able to mount any of the directories, it seems. I think it can, now, but I remember seeing those errors in the log before I wiped everything. Thanks for that suggestion, i'll give it a shot.

No problem, report back if it works
Sent from my Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk p.s if I helped you peles hit the thanks button

I can't seem to find on the internets which odin version is compatible with the Nexus 5. I'm not finding any hits to directly correlate and I don't want to damage further. Which one would you recommend?

Odin is for Samsung devices
sent from my HAMMERHEAD neXus

New Jer-Z said:
I can't seem to find on the internets which odin version is compatible with the Nexus 5. I'm not finding any hits to directly correlate and I don't want to damage further. Which one would you recommend?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Odin is a Samsung thing. Not LG.
What you'll need to do is flash the 4.4.2 factory image. Follow this guide: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2513701

El Daddy said:
Odin is a Samsung thing. Not LG.
What you'll need to do is flash the 4.4.2 factory image. Follow this guide: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2513701
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK!
So, I used the Wug toolkit to basically flash everything to stock, and then root it. I installed TWRP using the app and I tried using the app to restore from my earlier back up. So, it boots into recovery but nothing happened. Looking at the log, it says the TWRP isn't able to locate the files. Trying to just restore from recovery isn't helpful because when I hit "Restore" nothing pops up. As if the SDCard partition isn't being accessed. I can't see any of the files in any directory. Anyone have any ideas?

You need to let the phone boot into android before flashing a custom recovery.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk

El Daddy said:
You need to let the phone boot into android before flashing a custom recovery.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
I realize that now lol. Well, I fixed that, but now have a new issue. Any ideas for me?

Flashing the factory image erases everything. Such as backups stored on your phone.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk

El Daddy said:
Flashing the factory image erases everything. Such as backups stored on your phone.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a copy saved on my desktop, so I transferred it back.

New Jer-Z said:
I can't seem to find on the internets which odin version is compatible with the Nexus 5. I'm not finding any hits to directly correlate and I don't want to damage further. Which one would you recommend?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry about that, I have a gs4 so I thought Odin was for all devices
Sent from my Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk p.s if I helped you peles hit the thanks button

New Jer-Z said:
I had a copy saved on my desktop, so I transferred it back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you put the backup on the root of the sdcard? I think it needs to be in the TWRP folder. You should first make a backup of your current rom even if it's stock rooted.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

housry23 said:
Did you put the backup on the root of the sdcard? I think it needs to be in the TWRP folder. You should first make a backup of your current rom even if it's stock rooted.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
Someone explained to me TWRP won't recognize a backup with a serial number from a different phone. So essentially, I will just have to forego it. I used Wug Toolkit to fix this issue and just flashed everything to stock and had the same toolkit unlock and root. Using ADB was a fail and cost me a whole afternoon lol

[Q] Stuck Booting, should I factory reset?

I'm sorry if this sounds annoyingly silly, but if I do factory reset on my Nexus 5, will that delete all of my pictures, PDF document, videos, music, etc2?
I am aware that the app will be wiped clean like how the phone is first received, but I'm not sure if factory reset will also delete all of my stuffs I mentioned above as well.
The reason is, I tried flashing 4.4.4 to my android from android development page. Initially, I was a bit skeptical when "flash-all.bat" is not working because fastboot says there is no "system.img" in the zip file. So flashed the .img files one by one, and everything looks good.
However, when my phone tried booting up, it got stuck at booting animation for hours. I suspect this is because I have a lot of app in my phone and the fact that I'm going from 5.0 to 4.4.4. So I'm thinking of doing factory reset, but I just wanna make sure if I really need to copy all of my stuff first because doing this takes quite some time as well.

Yes, see your other post on this subject
Sent from my Nexus 9 using XDA Free mobile app

jd1639 said:
Yes, see your other post on this subject
Sent from my Nexus 9 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah thanks for the answer over there.
I'm still curious about flashing 4.4.4 though.
IIRC, last year when I run the "flash-all.bat" script, it seems to work just fine, but now it doesn't. I wonder why?

dvdlesher said:
Yeah thanks for the answer over there.
I'm still curious about flashing 4.4.4 though.
IIRC, last year when I run the "flash-all.bat" script, it seems to work just fine, but now it doesn't. I wonder why?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you get a bootloop after flashing the image boot into recovery and then do a factory reset
Sent from my Nexus 9 using XDA Free mobile app

jd1639 said:
If you get a bootloop after flashing the image boot into recovery and then do a factory reset
Sent from my Nexus 9 using XDA Free mobile app
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Click to collapse
Yeah, that's what I thought too. Hence the reason I'm asking for this factory reset thing. Thanks again and sorry to everyone for making a quite unnecessary thread.