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[Q] How to get to stock rooted 4.3 TW?

Hello there.
I am running a stock, rooted, most recent TW 4.1.2. I had TWRP recovery and from what I remember, unlocked the bootloader.
After trying difference ROMS both TW and AOSP based, I decided that I would stick with the stock ROM, but rooted to add functionality, especially WIFI tethering.
I would like to get to Stock Rooted 4.3 TW so that I can (hopefully) use tethering. I attempted to take the OTA after flashing a stock recovery image, but the install failed.
I have several questions I hope the members here can assist me with:
1. Do you have to lock the bootloader prior to taking the OTA? I do realize that there is no way to unlock the bootloader on 4.3 as of the moment.
2. Is there a consensus that it is possible to root after taking the OTA via Safe Strap? I have been doing some reading on the forums, and some members indicate that it has worked for them.
3. Has anybody been able to get tethering to work after taking the OTA and rooting?
Thanks in advance! Happy holidays...

banditsw said:
Hello there.
I am running a stock, rooted, most recent TW 4.1.2. I had TWRP recovery and from what I remember, unlocked the bootloader.
After trying difference ROMS both TW and AOSP based, I decided that I would stick with the stock ROM, but rooted to add functionality, especially WIFI tethering.
I would like to get to Stock Rooted 4.3 TW so that I can (hopefully) use tethering. I attempted to take the OTA after flashing a stock recovery image, but the install failed.
I have several questions I hope the members here can assist me with:
1. Do you have to lock the bootloader prior to taking the OTA? I do realize that there is no way to unlock the bootloader on 4.3 as of the moment.
2. Is there a consensus that it is possible to root after taking the OTA via Safe Strap? I have been doing some reading on the forums, and some members indicate that it has worked for them.
3. Has anybody been able to get tethering to work after taking the OTA and rooting?
Thanks in advance! Happy holidays...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lock the bootloader using ez lock 1.2
Best bet is a clean Odin flash and use this NO WIPE file MB1 image #1 http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1974114 then do system update to MF1 and then again for 4.3
Saferoot works (I'm currently using it without any issues) http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2565758
I'm on share everything plan so tethering is included
But just remember, if you do OTA the 4.3 your phone will be locked down with NO chance of ever installing a custom recovery or unlocking the bootloader and no more custom ROMs
Hope this helps

yepyep14u2know said:
Lock the bootloader using ez lock 1.2
Best bet is a clean Odin flash and use this NO WIPE file MB1 image #1 http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1974114 then do system update to MF1 and then again for 4.3
Saferoot works (I'm currently using it without any issues) http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2565758
I'm on share everything plan so tethering is included
But just remember, if you do OTA the 4.3 your phone will be locked down with NO chance of ever installing a custom recovery or unlocking the bootloader and no more custom ROMs
Hope this helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply. I tried to take the OTA update after flashing the stock recovery via EZ-Recovery app, and locking the bootloader via EZ-lock 1.2 per your advice, but the install failed. Did you ODIN back to stock?
I guess I will ODIN flash the image you reference, and do the OTA update that way. I used to flash all sorts of ROMS, but at this point, I just want a fully functioning rom. The developers do amazing work, that being said.
Thanks again.

banditsw said:
Thanks for the reply. I tried to take the OTA update after flashing the stock recovery via EZ-Recovery app, and locking the bootloader via EZ-lock 1.2 per your advice, but the install failed. Did you ODIN back to stock?
I guess I will ODIN flash the image you reference, and do the OTA update that way. I used to flash all sorts of ROMS, but at this point, I just want a fully functioning rom. The developers do amazing work, that being said.
Thanks again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I had the same problems you're encountering. Those are the steps I took, so just follow those steps and ODIN MB1 no wipe, then system update to MF1 and then system update again to ML1, and you'll keep all your settings, contacts, apps, etc.

banditsw said:
Thanks for the reply. I tried to take the OTA update after flashing the stock recovery via EZ-Recovery app, and locking the bootloader via EZ-lock 1.2 per your advice, but the install failed. Did you ODIN back to stock?
I guess I will ODIN flash the image you reference, and do the OTA update that way. I used to flash all sorts of ROMS, but at this point, I just want a fully functioning rom. The developers do amazing work, that being said.
Thanks again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just be warned, that once you take the 4.3 OTA, you cannot ever, never go back or flash custom ROMs. you are stuck there.

DigitalMD said:
Just be warned, that once you take the 4.3 OTA, you cannot ever, never go back or flash custom ROMs. you are stuck there.
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Click to collapse
You can't say that for sure. All you can say that there is a 99.999999999% chance that you will never be able to unlock your bootloader again.
Running a custom ROM/recovery would be attainable with a locked bootloader with something like safestrap.

DigitalMD said:
Just be warned, that once you take the 4.3 OTA, you cannot ever, never go back or flash custom ROMs. you are stuck there.
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Click to collapse
I appreciate that fact. Maybe it will be a good thing, because I was a flashaholic. Maybe it will force me to do other things other than flash ROMS LOL.

banditsw said:
I appreciate that fact. Maybe it will be a good thing, because I was a flashaholic. Maybe it will force me to do other things other than flash ROMS LOL.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well don't even try after the update or else you will be like me with a hopefully temporary bricked phone.

yepyep14u2know said:
Lock the bootloader using ez lock 1.2
Best bet is a clean Odin flash and use this NO WIPE file MB1 image #1 http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1974114 then do system update to MF1 and then again for 4.3
Saferoot works (I'm currently using it without any issues) http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2565758
I'm on share everything plan so tethering is included
But just remember, if you do OTA the 4.3 your phone will be locked down with NO chance of ever installing a custom recovery or unlocking the bootloader and no more custom ROMs
Hope this helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tried downloading the MB1 image since this morning....having problems with downloading it...anyone have the file to download? Thanks.
EDIT: I guess the server had issues yesterday. Was able to download last night.

[Q] Trouble installing CWM after OTA 4.3 Update

Hi guys,
Looking for some advice.
I previously had my phone rooted on 4.2 and everything was working great. For some reason I decided to install the OTA 4.3 update before reading here what it did. Before that though, I did a full backup through CWM.
Anyway, I'm now having trouble re-installing CWM to get back into recovery mode and go back to my backup.
When I try flashing it through Odin, it says Failed, and it seems like the phone blocked it because it is a recovery system.
Currently, when I boot up, I get the Custom logo, and when I try to go into recovery mode, it gets blocked and says it's unauthorized software, so I don't think I really installed the update right.
So, is there anyway to get CWM back on the phone to revert to my backup, or is there a way to flash the whole backup from a PC? The file is still intact on my SD card.
Thanks!

phlass said:
Hi guys,
Looking for some advice.
I previously had my phone rooted on 4.2 and everything was working great. For some reason I decided to install the OTA 4.3 update before reading here what it did. Before that though, I did a full backup through CWM.
Anyway, I'm now having trouble re-installing CWM to get back into recovery mode and go back to my backup.
When I try flashing it through Odin, it says Failed, and it seems like the phone blocked it because it is a recovery system.
Currently, when I boot up, I get the Custom logo, and when I try to go into recovery mode, it gets blocked and says it's unauthorized software, so I don't think I really installed the update right.
So, is there anyway to get CWM back on the phone to revert to my backup, or is there a way to flash the whole backup from a PC? The file is still intact on my SD card.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is currently no way for you to flash CWM onto your S3 now that you have TW 4.3 VRUMCL1 update. If you want root, you will need to use Saferoot. If you wish to flash custom roms, you are currently only able to flash custom TW 4.3 roms via the use of SafeStrap. With Safestrap installed, you will be using a customized version of TWRP. Any and all of your CWM backups are incompatible and wasting storage space. Links to everything I just mentioned are contained in our TW 4.3 discussion thread.
Note that when you use Saferoot to gain root access, the tool is in the S4 section however it states that there is nothing in the tool itself that is S4 specific and that it should work on other 4.3 devices. It does work. Search in the discussion thread or in Saferoot thread to see confirmation.
Edit: to work around the Yellow triangle issue, you'll want to use ThePagel's soft brick thread.
Edit #2: Also, being that you are on TW 4.3 update, you absolutely can not downgrade your firmware using pre-existing Odin stock images. You can only use the official, VRUCML1 tar that is about 1 GB.

SlimSnoopOS said:
There is currently no way for you to flash CWM onto your S3 now that you have TW 4.3 VRUMCL1 update. If you want root, you will need to use Saferoot. If you wish to flash custom roms, you are currently only able to flash custom TW 4.3 roms via the use of SafeStrap. With Safestrap installed, you will be using a customized version of TWRP. Any and all of your CWM backups are incompatible and wasting storage space. Links to everything I just mentioned are contained in our TW 4.3 discussion thread.
Note that when you use Saferoot to gain root access, the tool is in the S4 section however it states that there is nothing in the tool itself that is S4 specific and that it should work on other 4.3 devices. It does work. Search in the discussion thread or in Saferoot thread to see confirmation.
Edit: to work around the Yellow triangle issue, you'll want to use ThePagel's soft brick thread.
Edit #2: Also, being that you are on TW 4.3 update, you absolutely can not downgrade your firmware using pre-existing Odin stock images. You can only use the official, VRUCML1 tar that is about 1 GB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok great. Thanks for the help.

phlass said:
Ok great. Thanks for the help.
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Click to collapse
Don't hesitate to post back if you're stuck or need a little more clarification

i have a question for you smart devs

okay sooooo.....my big bro age 21 got the Verizon S3 which came with 4.4.2. He got the Verizon one, cause he said "I'm gonna be smarter then you and get the best coverage with 4GLTE".....so long story short he wants me to root it and to give him Philz recovery cause that's what im using on my Boost S3. He also wants me to make him a custom splash screen; so basically i got him root with TowelRoot and "disabled" Knox with SuperSU. Now I tried to flash the D2LTE Philz through Odin and it failed, so i did some research and apparently the bootloader is locked.....so i saw there was EZ-unlock but it would Hard Brick if you use it on 4.3 or 4.4.2. Some people on the Verizon S3 Forum Have said to use SafeStrap on the locked bootloader, but idk since he wants all of his memory and stuff and SafeStrap creates partitions and doesn't really let you install over the stock rom slot. I have no idea if it will flash the custom splash screen i made for his Verizon S3. So my question I guess is will SafeStrap work for the custom things he wants me to do to it???

6th_Hokage said:
okay sooooo.....my big bro age 21 got the Verizon S3 which came with 4.4.2. He got the Verizon one, cause he said "I'm gonna be smarter then you and get the best coverage with 4GLTE".....so long story short he wants me to root it and to give him Philz recovery cause that's what im using on my Boost S3. He also wants me to make him a custom splash screen; so basically i got him root with TowelRoot and "disabled" Knox with SuperSU. Now I tried to flash the D2LTE Philz through Odin and it failed, so i did some research and apparently the bootloader is locked.....so i saw there was EZ-unlock but it would Hard Brick if you use it on 4.3 or 4.4.2. Some people on the Verizon S3 Forum Have said to use SafeStrap on the locked bootloader, but idk since he wants all of his memory and stuff and SafeStrap creates partitions and doesn't really let you install over the stock rom slot. I have no idea if it will flash the custom splash screen i made for his Verizon S3. So my question I guess is will SafeStrap work for the custom things he wants me to do to it???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It won't work the same way, all your information is absolutely correct though. Good thing you read everything before you started flashing things.
You only have access to 2 locked bootloader roms. You can flash them right over your stock rom in Safestrap. Safestrap won't partition your SD card unless you tell it to so just don't create a rom slot. You can't run any other rom on the phone. Unfortunately, you definitely can't flash philz recovery because it requires an unlocked bootloader.
I'd say just root, install xposed, and see what you can do to debloat and customize the stock rom. That's all you can really do at this point.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

BadUsername said:
It won't work the same way, all your information is absolutely correct though. Good thing you read everything before you started flashing things.
You only have access to 2 locked bootloader roms. You can flash them right over your stock rom in Safestrap. Safestrap won't partition your SD card unless you tell it to so just don't create a rom slot. You can't run any other rom on the phone. Unfortunately, you definitely can't flash philz recovery because it requires an unlocked bootloader.
I'd say just root, install xposed, and see what you can do to debloat and customize the stock rom. That's all you can really do at this point.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
thank you good sir/madam but will i be able to flash the Custom Splash screen with SafeStrap??

6th_Hokage said:
thank you good sir/madam but will i be able to flash the Custom Splash screen with SafeStrap??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, make a nandroid first. It won't do anything worse than soft brick if it doesn't work.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

@BadUsername thanks again i will try this soon and report back so i can make a splash screen thread here for Verizon S3 your welcome to check out my Boost S3 Splash screen thread to see how the ones i make look link in my signature

safestrap & TWRP... at same time?

ok. is it even possible to have two recoveries running at once? On normal boot-up, I get the safestrap screen asking to continue or enter recovery. I have flashed TWRP and I can get to TWRP by fastbooting and entering recovery that way. I feel i have set myself up to brick in the hard sense. I just unlocked w/ sunshine and am trying to make a backup before i really start screwing stuff up.

If you're unlocked with TWRP then safestrap is redundant since you can't utilize the extra ROM slots.
Sent from my XT1080

that was kind of my thoughts too. I did remove safestrap manually. Im still tying to update with the latest OTA, but with no luck. thanks.

teerout said:
that was kind of my thoughts too. I did remove safestrap manually. Im still tying to update with the latest OTA, but with no luck. thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The update isn't going through because you have TWRP installed. Flash to stock recovery and try again.

Sorry I left that out, I have removed TWRP. I have returned to as stock as I can. Flashed back to factory. Still no success on OTA update. Im hunting for the files now and i will hopefully flash it myself.

Moto Droid Maxx firmware found here->https://motorola-global-portal.cust..._detail/a_id/95417/p/30,6720,8882/reg/1192476 - you have to sign in...

What is the most stable rom?

This is going on my Mom's phone. It currently has 4.1 stock with root. Looking to upgrade the ROM to something newer that won't require any support from me. I believe the boot loader is unlocked.

Anyone? I am not sure which firmware version I can upgrade to, without it updating the boot loader and locking it again.

Jedis said:
Anyone? I am not sure which firmware version I can upgrade to, without it updating the boot loader and locking it again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure your bootloader is unlocked? Just rooting the phone doesn't unlock the bootloader. I wrote the short guide below before I realized your bootloader may not be unlocked, so if it isn't, do that first. It's been quite a while since I unlocked mine so I'm not sure what the latest tools are to do that. The text below assumes your bootloader is unlocked.
The first thing you'll need to do is install the newest TWRP recovery to your phone. The easiest way to do that is with TWRP Manager on the Play store. Then you'll need to update your phone's firmware to version VRBMF1, you can download that ZIP file here: http://www.invisiblek.org/firmware/d2/. Save that ZIP file to your phone's SD card. You'll also need to save the ZIP file for your new ROM to the SD card, if you want something that will run trouble-free, I've been using CleanROM 8.2 for nearly a year now and it's been stable. It's basically the stock Verizon firmware for Android 4.3 with all the Verizon bloatware stripped out. You can grab that here. Copy the ZIP to your SD card.
Before you update, it would probably be a good idea to make a Nandroid backup, you can do that in TWRP as well. To access recovery mode if you're running stock 4.1, the easiest way is manually: turn the phone off, then start it up by holding down the Home and Volume Up keys, then holding the Power key. It should boot into TWRP. Make your backup first, then install the new firmware: tap "Install" and then navigate to the VRBMF1 ZIP file. Then do the same with the CleanROM ZIP.

Thanks for the instructions. I greatly appreciate it!
Yes, I remember unlocking the boot loader. Was it Samsung that used to do it several years ago? I distinctly remember getting an unlock file and flashing that.
I will try Clean ROM! I don't remember the ROM the phone is running now, but I believe it is just a Samsung stock ROM that came pre-rooted.
Thanks again!

Jedis said:
Thanks for the instructions. I greatly appreciate it!
Yes, I remember unlocking the boot loader. Was it Samsung that used to do it several years ago? I distinctly remember getting an unlock file and flashing that.
I will try Clean ROM! I don't remember the ROM the phone is running now, but I believe it is just a Samsung stock ROM that came pre-rooted.
Thanks again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm nearly sure Samsung never provided unlock codes. It was Samsungs mistake that Odin got leaked and we are able to unlock the bootloaders and flash custom recoveries and roms. I know HTC does it but I'm nearly sure Samsung doesn't and didn't
Sent from my N5

It must have been Odin then that I used. I am probably remembering my HTC Evo 4G...

Jedis said:
This is going on my Mom's phone. It currently has 4.1 stock with root. Looking to upgrade the ROM to something newer that won't require any support from me. I believe the boot loader is unlocked.
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Click to collapse
I highly recommend liquidsmooth android 5.1.1 lollipop build or cm 11