Database Info

Locked out by Verizon after cm10 flash

thanky you to anyone ahead of time for reading this post. I really could use some help.
I have a Verizon galaxy s3 which I rooted 3 weeks ago when i got it. I know it was rooted as i had super user permissions, and deleted many bloatware apps. I waited until cm10 came out to flash a new rom and after doing so last night my phone now boots up with this message "System software not authorized by verizon wireless has been found on your phone. Please turn off your phone and go to the nearest Verizon Wireless store for help."
So I tried to boot it in to recovery mode but when I did, the same message came up, only this time it said "recovery booting" in small blue writing in the top left corner.
I followed the directions to a T from a page entitled "Jelly Bean for Verizon Galaxy S3: Unofficial CyanogenMod 10 (CM10) Nightlies Available for Flashing!
From what I understand, the bootloader was somehow never unlocked by kexec. because I cant get in to recovery mode, I was wondering if there was a way to disable the bootlock by installing kexec via odin.
Also, whether it was a good idea or not, I re flashed the stock rom via oden last, which was successful but, nothing has changed still the same response all boot ups. Download boot obviously works though as I have been able to mess with it in odin.
any insight on this would be graciously appreciated.

Lembro said:
thanky you to anyone ahead of time for reading this post. I really could use some help.
I have a Verizon galaxy s3 which I rooted 3 weeks ago when i got it. I know it was rooted as i had super user permissions, and deleted many bloatware apps. I waited until cm10 came out to flash a new rom and after doing so last night my phone now boots up with this message "System software not authorized by verizon wireless has been found on your phone. Please turn off your phone and go to the nearest Verizon Wireless store for help."
So I tried to boot it in to recovery mode but when I did, the same message came up, only this time it said "recovery booting" in small blue writing in the top left corner.
I followed the directions to a T from a page entitled "Jelly Bean for Verizon Galaxy S3: Unofficial CyanogenMod 10 (CM10) Nightlies Available for Flashing!
From what I understand, the bootloader was somehow never unlocked by kexec. because I cant get in to recovery mode, I was wondering if there was a way to disable the bootlock by installing kexec via odin.
Also, whether it was a good idea or not, I re flashed the stock rom via oden last, which was successful but, nothing has changed still the same response all boot ups. Download boot obviously works though as I have been able to mess with it in odin.
any insight on this would be graciously appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, first, If you did follow the directions for that thread, i'm sure it would of worked, I'm pretty sure you are missing something here and i'm pretty sure from reading your post that I think you didn't unlock your bootloader. kexec was a workaround for the locked bootloader, it doesn't unlock it. I would follow droidstyle's guide to unlocking the bootloader, http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=28530409&postcount=2 after you unlocked it, i'm pretty sure you forgot that step. But the issue when flashing back to stock via odin and still showing up its a custom rom, I don't know why that would happen but I suggest reading section 2 of droidstyle's guide on flashing back to stock. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=28530394&postcount=1
So first, I suggest to return to stock, then root, then unlock bootloader, and then install the rom of your choice, preferably without kexec, if you don't want the triple reboot.

RyanW114 said:
Okay, first, If you did follow the directions for that thread, i'm sure it would of worked, I'm pretty sure you are missing something here and i'm pretty sure from reading your post that I think you didn't unlock your bootloader. kexec was a workaround for the locked bootloader, it doesn't unlock it. I would follow droidstyle's guide to unlocking the bootloader, http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=28530409&postcount=2 after you unlocked it, i'm pretty sure you forgot that step. But the issue when flashing back to stock via odin and still showing up its a custom rom, I don't know why that would happen but I suggest reading section 2 of droidstyle's guide on flashing back to stock. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=28530394&postcount=1
So first, I suggest to return to stock, then root, then unlock bootloader, and then install the rom of your choice, preferably without kexec, if you don't want the triple reboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed! Op, do more reading and less flashing before you end up with a 600.00 paperweight!

Like he says above you have not unlocked your bootloader . Restore nandroid or recover to stock. Then unlock your bootloader and try again
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium

Get rid of the Verizon screen of death
I got the same error msg after flashing a nightly of d2hacker's unofficial cm10, after I had flashed a few nightly's before of the same ROM w/ no problems. I had to
1. Flash a stock bloated unrooted ROM via odin (lemme know if you need a link to one)
2.boot into droid recovery and do a factory reset, and wipe the cache partition also.
If you don't do step 2 you end up w/ a permanent verizon 4G LTE rainbow boot screen :silly:
I haven't re-rooted yet but I'll be trying the official cm10 now that it's up.

MDMoore313 said:
I got the same error msg after flashing a nightly of d2hacker's unofficial cm10, after I had flashed a few nightly's before of the same ROM w/ no problems. I had to
1. Flash a stock bloated unrooted ROM via odin (lemme know if you need a link to one)
2.boot into droid recovery and do a factory reset, and wipe the cache partition also.
If you don't do step 2 you end up w/ a permanent verizon 4G LTE rainbow boot screen :silly:
I haven't re-rooted yet but I'll be trying the official cm10 now that it's up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Refer to my last post

droidstyle said:
Refer to my last post
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Note that even when I flashed back to stock, my initial boot screen still had the unlocked lock, w/ "Custom" under it, suggesting my bootloader is unlocked

MDMoore313 said:
Note that even when I flashed back to stock, my initial boot screen still had the unlocked lock, w/ "Custom" under it, suggesting my bootloader is unlocked
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Incorrect. It actually means the opposite. The only way to tell if your bootloader is unlocked is to flash a custom rom/kernel and boot up. Please people, do some reading before you turn your phone into a paperweight. That unlocked lock/custom means you're running or were running custom software and it's been detected as such. One possible culprit is your "custom" recovery. If your bootloader is unlocked, you will not have that problem.

MDMoore313 said:
Note that even when I flashed back to stock, my initial boot screen still had the unlocked lock, w/ "Custom" under it, suggesting my bootloader is unlocked
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
refer to post #3 and read this link
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=30479625&postcount=13

Zalithian said:
Incorrect. It actually means the opposite. The only way to tell if your bootloader is unlocked is to flash a custom rom/kernel and boot up. Please people, do some reading before you turn your phone into a paperweight. That unlocked lock/custom means you're running or were running custom software and it's been detected as such. One possible culprit is your "custom" recovery. If your bootloader is unlocked, you will not have that problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for clearing that up, Where did you find this info? I'm coming from a Droid incredible, so I never had to worry about such things....
EDIT: I just saw Droidstyle's post @ http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=30479625&postcount=13, makes a little sense, but why all of a sudden Verizon's screen of death is odd, if it was already detecting custom s/w to begin with. I used kexec also as a workaround, but this was back when there was no way to unlock the gs3 bootloader.
Yeah absolutely I follow the steps here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=28530394&postcount=1

MDMoore313 said:
Thanks for clearing that up, Where did you find this info? I'm coming from a Droid incredible, so I never had to worry about such things....
EDIT: I just saw Droidstyle's post @ http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=30479625&postcount=13, makes a little sense, but why all of a sudden Verizon's screen of death is odd, if it was already detecting custom s/w to begin with. I used kexec also as a workaround, but this was back when there was no way to unlock the gs3 bootloader.
Yeah absolutely I follow the steps here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=28530394&postcount=1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it has to do with the "degree" of customization. IE a custom ROM or Kernel will get you the verizon screen of death for sure if you're not unlocked. The custom/unlock icon seems more for minor things like a custom recovery, possibly different firmware or tweaking specific settings.

Zalithian said:
I think it has to do with the "degree" of customization. IE a custom ROM or Kernel will get you the verizon screen of death for sure if you're not unlocked. The custom/unlock icon seems more for minor things like a custom recovery, possibly different firmware or tweaking specific settings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That makes more sense, as the nightlys progress and more modifications are being made, overnight the "switch is flipped" so to speak, and if you're not running a custom rom,

MDMoore313 said:
If you don't do step 2 you end up w/ a permanent verizon 4G LTE rainbow boot screen :silly:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could he Odin back to stock through download mode though? Or will the locked bootloader block download mode and recovery mode too when it detects tampering?

MDMoore313 said:
Thanks for clearing that up, Where did you find this info? I'm coming from a Droid incredible, so I never had to worry about such things....
EDIT: I just saw Droidstyle's post @ http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=30479625&postcount=13, makes a little sense, but why all of a sudden Verizon's screen of death is odd, if it was already detecting custom s/w to begin with. I used kexec also as a workaround, but this was back when there was no way to unlock the gs3 bootloader.
Yeah absolutely I follow the steps here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=28530394&postcount=1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The secure aboot.img only checks 3 of the 5 system images on boot. Since we can flash a custom recovery to the recovery partition, the secure aboot img lets it ride, but knows it there....hence why you see the custom lock screen, but device still boots. Kexec allowed the bootloader aka secure aboot.img to see the stock kernel(boot.img) and pass signature checks, then side loads the custom kernel. Thats why there was 3 reboots...now that the bootloader is unlocked, we ditch kexec because unsecure aboot is unlocked and not checking signatures.
However, if you flash a kernel thats non kexec and the bootloader is locked, you will get the verizon screen of death since the secure aboot.img is checking signatures. So never lock the bootloader unless your on stock rom/kernel or using kexec.

Deleted

Jesus. All of these people who don't read up on things before they flash something astounds me.

Lol, the exact same thing happen to me as Op, I was unlock (ezrecovery app) and rooted(casual-revision131) but when I flash unofficial CM10 KANG I was lock out by Verizon message.Thanks to DroidStyle awesome GUIDE i just Odin back to stock along with kernel.Thank you to all the cool people here at xda who help and evolve Android:thumbup:
Ezrecovery app must not have work properly even tho it said unlock, so I use Adam casual R131 flash Unsecure Aboot too.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium

EvoSideHustlAZ said:
Lol, the exact same thing happen to me as Op, I was unlock (ezrecovery app) and rooted(casual-revision131) but when I flash unofficial CM10 KANG I was lock out by Verizon message.Thanks to DroidStyle awesome GUIDE i just Odin back to stock along with kernel.Thank you to all the cool people here at xda who help and evolve Android:thumbup:
Ezrecovery app must not have work properly even tho it said unlock, so I use Adam casual R131 flash Unsecure Aboot too.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ezrecovery to unlock? What?

MDMoore313 said:
Note that even when I flashed back to stock, my initial boot screen still had the unlocked lock, w/ "Custom" under it, suggesting my bootloader is unlocked
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, that just means that it normally has detected some changed files. If you WERE unlocked you would never see that icon.
TAPPED in on my (now unlocked bootloader) Verizon S3

strung said:
Could he Odin back to stock through download mode though? Or will the locked bootloader block download mode and recovery mode too when it detects tampering?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, step 1 is going Odin back to stock, but if a cache wipe and factory reset aren't done (like in Droidstyle's guide), then it will never completely boot, at least that's what I experienced after my phone sat at that screen for 10+ minutes. It doesn't run the user setup again.

Screen shows "Custom" on startup

My Galaxy S3 shows "Custom" on startup with an unlock icon even though I flashed the stock ROM provided here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1984436
Triangle Away says that my current status is:
Counter: 0
Binary: Official
Device: SCH-i535
What's the deal? I was under the impression that if the counter showed 0 then as far as the phone is concerned everything is stock.
I'd like to make this go away if possible so that I don't get crap from Verizon.

suprdave2 said:
My Galaxy S3 shows "Custom" on startup with an unlock icon even though I flashed the stock ROM provided here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1984436
Triangle Away says that my current status is:
Counter: 0
Binary: Official
Device: SCH-i535
What's the deal? I was under the impression that if the counter showed 0 then as far as the phone is concerned everything is stock.
I'd like to make this go away if possible so that I don't get crap from Verizon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine says the same thing. Curious as to what it means too.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

Triangle away wont fix this, I think that if you flash back to complete stock it may go away. Unlocking the bootloader WILL get rid of it.
Basically, I don't remember which file, but it throws a code saying that you have rooted and gives that custom logo. Shouldn't have any effect on anything.
Edit:
It usually occurs when you make some sort of change after rooting, flashing a modem, changing a file, freezing something, or sometimes just restarting. It has even been reported on brand new phones out of the box. I did read somewhere where someone had some luck clearing all cache, and than doing a factory reset. IMO, just unlock the bootloader. Phone even boots faster

It's because your Rooted. Unlocking your bootloader will get rid of it.

Eh, that requires dealing with flashing custom recovery, and I haven't been successful following the guide with how to get it to do that with Odin - The phone rejects it with that secure boot crap.
Guess I'll just deal with the unlock icon

Will the ezrecovery/ezunlock apps still work for the new ota? Search the forums there is a thread about it.

suprdave2 said:
Eh, that requires dealing with flashing custom recovery, and I haven't been successful following the guide with how to get it to do that with Odin - The phone rejects it with that secure boot crap.
Guess I'll just deal with the unlock icon
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't need to Odin to flash a custom recovery or to unlock your bootloader. To unlock your bootloader, download and install this:
http://rootzwiki.com/topic/32456-app-920-ez-unlock-14-easiest-way-to-unlock-your-bootloader/
Use version 1.2 as the latest version has issues.
TWRP recovery can be flashed through the GooManager app, CWM recovery can be flashed through ROM Manager (both downloadable on the market).

I just did a battery pull while in download mode and it fixed it, i was starting to get annoyed with it lol. Hope this helps you

Kies just saved my phone

Here's the story:
I got excited about the bootloader vulnerability (Loki) being released, and I saw that a few devs had updated their ROMs to work with Loki so I decided to give it a shot.
The easiest, fail-free way of installing a recovery was to install TWRP through goomanager. I had only ever used CWM, but I figured it couldn't be that difficult to learn/use. And it wasn't, I'm just dumb. I went to wipe my S4 and I misunderstood what I was supposed to do and ended up formatting the phone instead. On CWM, this is normal and basically just means factory restore, but on TWRP this wipes everything, including the OS. This might not have been as big of a problem if that wipe hadn't just erased the ROM I was intending to install.
Long story short, with no OS on the phone, I was stuck on the Samsung boot screen and I could not even get into recovery. I tried ODIN restoring the stock firmware twice, but despite the fact that ODIN said "SUCCESS", my phone was in the same state. After panicking for a couple of hours :crying: and trying different things (including just leaving the phone alone for a while in hopes that I would come back and it would be magically fixed) I downloaded Kies. I figured, Kies comes directly from Samsung. If there's a way to fix my phone, this has to be it.
I did the emergency firmware recovery, and it took forever and when it was done it looked like I was going to end up right where I started, when after about a minute of the Samsung boot screen, I saw the heavenly blue-purple swish of the boot animation. :victory:
tl;dr: I thought I bricked my phone. I brought it back to life with Kies.
That's my story. Hopefully it'll help someone who is panicking that they just borked their new phone and helps them restore it.

I'm sad to say that I also wiped a phone with TWRP. It wasn't an S4 and I didn't need Kies.
I had no idea that it would delete the OS - I don't think there was even a warning.

What ROM were you going to use that supported Loki?? I can't seem to find one anywhere...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

drucquerkellan said:
What ROM were you going to use that supported Loki?? I can't seem to find one anywhere...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, I hope it goes without saying that what you do with this is your responsibility. That being said, I was going to try:
[ROM][BETA][4.2.2][May 23] Slim Bean jflteatt [build 5.6] - LOKI patched
and here are a few more:
[ROM] Task650 AOKP(Jellybean 4.2.2)(5.23.2013)(LOKI-d) (AT&T)
[KERNEL][ATT][AOSP/TW][5/23/2013] KT-SGS4 - MDL - LOKI'd - KTweaker
CyanogenMod 10.1 Loki'd for the Galaxy S4 ATT

okzygen said:
Okay, I hope it goes without saying that what you do with this is your responsibility. That being said, I was going to try:
[ROM][BETA][4.2.2][May 23] Slim Bean jflteatt [build 5.6] - LOKI patched
and here are a few more:
[ROM] Task650 AOKP(Jellybean 4.2.2)(5.23.2013)(LOKI-d) (AT&T)
[KERNEL][ATT][AOSP/TW][5/23/2013] KT-SGS4 - MDL - LOKI'd - KTweaker
CyanogenMod 10.1 Loki'd for the Galaxy S4 ATT
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK thanks I'll try them in a little bit and report back here how it goes!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

You can still mount to USB through recovery and transfer a ROM zip over and then flash it.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

okzygen said:
Here's the story:
I got excited about the bootloader vulnerability (Loki) being released, and I saw that a few devs had updated their ROMs to work with Loki so I decided to give it a shot.
The easiest, fail-free way of installing a recovery was to install TWRP through goomanager. I had only ever used CWM, but I figured it couldn't be that difficult to learn/use. And it wasn't, I'm just dumb. I went to wipe my S4 and I misunderstood what I was supposed to do and ended up formatting the phone instead. On CWM, this is normal and basically just means factory restore, but on TWRP this wipes everything, including the OS. This might not have been as big of a problem if that wipe hadn't just erased the ROM I was intending to install.
Long story short, with no OS on the phone, I was stuck on the Samsung boot screen and I could not even get into recovery. I tried ODIN restoring the stock firmware twice, but despite the fact that ODIN said "SUCCESS", my phone was in the same state. After panicking for a couple of hours :crying: and trying different things (including just leaving the phone alone for a while in hopes that I would come back and it would be magically fixed) I downloaded Kies. I figured, Kies comes directly from Samsung. If there's a way to fix my phone, this has to be it.
I did the emergency firmware recovery, and it took forever and when it was done it looked like I was going to end up right where I started, when after about a minute of the Samsung boot screen, I saw the heavenly blue-purple swish of the boot animation. :victory:
tl;dr: I thought I bricked my phone. I brought it back to life with Kies.
That's my story. Hopefully it'll help someone who is panicking that they just borked their new phone and helps them restore it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
all you have to do is boot to recovery, and push a rom through adb to your phone. I've done this dozens of times accidentally and the easiest way to avoid it is to keep a backup rom on your sd at all times

mcmb03 said:
all you have to do is boot to recovery, and push a rom through adb to your phone. I've done this dozens of times accidentally and the easiest way to avoid it is to keep a backup rom on your sd at all times
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
or....takeout the sdcard...put the rom on it and flash....
Sent from my SGH-I337M using xda premium

niceppl said:
or....takeout the sdcard...put the rom on it and flash....
Sent from my SGH-I337M using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah, either way kies was probably at the bottom of the list for solutions since you were trying to put a different rom on your phone anyways

niceppl said:
or....takeout the sdcard...put the rom on it and flash....
Sent from my SGH-I337M using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or the easiest of the options that I already mentioned 4 posts up... Don't even need to bother with adb or taking off your back cover. Plug in, mount, click-and-drag file transfer, unmount, flash, done.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

I'm just glad you got it taken care of OP. Hopefully this thread will help others who may have a mishap while flashing ROMs.

To all of those talking about recovery... maybe I wasn't clear. It's not that I couldn't get into TWRP. I couldn't get into recovery mode at all. I could get into download mode, which is why I went the ODIN route. Whenever I would try to boot into recovery, it would show the little blue text on the top right of the screen, and the proceed to throw me right back to the booth screen.

This is incredible. Incredible how badly you almost screwed yourself over with, and incredible that Kies was actually helpful.
I installed Kies to backup contacts, once. After that? Thing crashes on updates, takes 30 minutes to load, hated any music I threw at it, didnt like my wireless transfer setting....
idk I had a pretty bad experience with Kies, i'm glad to hear that program isnt all useless.

okzygen said:
To all of those talking about recovery... maybe I wasn't clear. It's not that I couldn't get into TWRP. I couldn't get into recovery mode at all. I could get into download mode, which is why I went the ODIN route. Whenever I would try to boot into recovery, it would show the little blue text on the top right of the screen, and the proceed to throw me right back to the booth screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea that part doesn't make sense though. Many times I've seen people try to boot out of recovery with no system and always be able to get right back into recovery. Not that I don't believe you, just saying it's weird. Which leads me to the guy above... he didn't really screw himself that bad, no danger of bricking at all, just needed a reflash.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

Just FYI on Kies
Am not sure on windows pc, but on my imac adb does not work with Kies. Had to use the Kies uninstaller to get if off imac then use adb. Maybe this isn't an issue on all phones?
Just got s4, and coming from HTC One S. So, if this is old news, sorry--

okzygen said:
To all of those talking about recovery... maybe I wasn't clear. It's not that I couldn't get into TWRP. I couldn't get into recovery mode at all. I could get into download mode, which is why I went the ODIN route. Whenever I would try to boot into recovery, it would show the little blue text on the top right of the screen, and the proceed to throw me right back to the booth screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty sure you have to wipe cache once you do odin in order to boot back in OS or else you'll just get stuck at logo

polish_pat said:
I'm pretty sure you have to wipe cache once you do odin in order to boot back in OS or else you'll just get stuck at logo
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm curious, is there a way to do this in download mode (via Odin or otherwise)? As far as I know, I can only do that through recovery. Do I have to adb and wipe /cache?
Sent from my SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app

okzygen said:
I'm curious, is there a way to do this in download mode (via Odin or otherwise)? As far as I know, I can only do that through recovery. Do I have to adb and wipe /cache?
Sent from my SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i do it thru recovery, thats always how it worked for me. You cant do it thru adb since you need root to do that and odin wipes root

okzygen said:
Okay, I hope it goes without saying that what you do with this is your responsibility. That being said, I was going to try:
[ROM][BETA][4.2.2][May 23] Slim Bean jflteatt [build 5.6] - LOKI patched
and here are a few more:
[ROM] Task650 AOKP(Jellybean 4.2.2)(5.23.2013)(LOKI-d) (AT&T)
[KERNEL][ATT][AOSP/TW][5/23/2013] KT-SGS4 - MDL - LOKI'd - KTweaker
CyanogenMod 10.1 Loki'd for the Galaxy S4 ATT
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK I installed the AOKP one and it works like a charm. Only thing is NFC doesn't work so once that works it will be pretty Much perfect
Sent from my SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

jasbur17 said:
I'm sad to say that I also wiped a phone with TWRP. It wasn't an S4 and I didn't need Kies.
I had no idea that it would delete the OS - I don't think there was even a warning.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah me too, was and still am not happy about it. Should gave stuck to CWM. TWRP is a cool recovery, as long as you realize what you hit.
Glad Kies worked! Now that I have an Att phone I can utilize it again. Wouldn't recognize my International SGS3, so Kies was useless.
Sent from GT-I9505 transformed SGH-I337

[Q] HELP ME!! I f$*ked my phone up royally!

Okay, kind of a noob. I have the Samsung Galaxy S3 Verizon. I was on 4.1.2 rooted using Beanstown 106 method, and was running axis rom. It was ok but 4.3 came out & I wanted to try it, since the rom had excellent performance, but a lot of little bugs that were bothering me. I shut the root off in the SU accepted the 4.3 ota update and everything was fine except for when the phone would boot up it showed the samsung logo with an unlock padlock and said custom.. Not a big deal but I liked the 4.3 so wanted to take away the boot unlock icon (just in case for warranty purposes). It was my understanding if I would ODIN back to stock it would go away. Long story short in between trying to odin to stock, Kies back to stock and every other method I can find, my phone is stuck in ODIN/download mode and won't do anything else. I've searched everywhere and cannot figure it out. In odin mode the phone says something like Software upgrade error, use software repair assistant or something like that. Don't know what to try or do, and stuck using a razr until I get my GS3 back. Please help!!!

Didn't accept the OTA, but from what others have posted, it sounds like the correct way to do it is to revert to stock, unroot, relock bootloader and use triangle away to reset counter, then accept the OTA. If you dont use triangle away prior to accepting OTA, you get the unlock icon + custom. Once you accept the OTA, trying to revert to anything else or flashing a custom recovery will result in a hard brick.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

Shibby87 said:
Didn't accept the OTA, but from what others have posted, it sounds like the correct way to do it is to revert to stock, unroot, relock bootloader and use triangle away to reset counter, then accept the OTA. If you dont use triangle away prior to accepting OTA, you get the unlock icon + custom. Once you accept the OTA, trying to revert to anything else or flashing a custom recovery will result in a hard brick.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well then I'm hard bricked, because I tried to ODIN back to stock as well as KIES and they both just say fail..

I just fixed my phone with verizon software utility. My guide should be up with the utility sometime tonight. If you can get into bootloader it will flash SCH-I535_I535VRUCML1 I tried to get the files it downloaded but there not odin files or zips.

Hopefully this helps http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2586319

ThePagel said:
Hopefully this helps http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2586319
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Holy **** I can't wait to get home and try this! Hopefully it works, thank you!

[Q] Will Odin to 4.3 lock the bootloader?

When Odin back to stock will it lock the bootloader? Specifically from a unlocked firmware and then Odin to 4.3 image.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium

jl2222 said:
When Odin back to stock will it lock the bootloader? Specifically from a unlocked firmware and then Odin to 4.3 image.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
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I should imagine that if you Odin using an OTA or stock tar from your provider then yes, you will lock your bootloader. AFAIK (which, mind you could be in error) the bootloader in the 4.3 OTA locks and deploys KNOX.
To save root I would ODIN stock root ROM or the like from XDA. Better yet install a custom recovery and then install rooted stock.
HTH

skeeterpro said:
I should imagine that if you Odin using an OTA or stock tar from your provider then yes, you will lock your bootloader. AFAIK (which, mind you could be in error) the bootloader in the 4.3 OTA locks and deploys KNOX.
To save root I would ODIN stock root ROM or the like from XDA. Better yet install a custom recovery and then install rooted stock.
HTH
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Ok thanks. Yeah it may sound weird but my goal is to get one of my phones completely back to stock. Stock recovery, Knox, Bootloader locked etc. I believe I have achieved my overall goal but cannot tell if I have a lock or unlocked bootloader still. When I first started my phone after Odin it showed a splash screen that said custom with an unlock symbol which threw me off. After booting the phone the custom lock splash screen during boot up went away. Kinda weird.

jl2222 said:
Ok thanks. Yeah it may sound weird but my goal is to get one of my phones completely back to stock. Stock recovery, Knox, Bootloader locked etc. I believe I have achieved my overall goal but cannot tell if I have a lock or unlocked bootloader still. When I first started my phone after Odin it showed a splash screen that said custom with an unlock symbol which threw me off. After booting the phone the custom lock splash screen during boot up went away. Kinda weird.
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Yeah. That is odd. Which is why we all take chances of borking our devices when we flash. Crazy stuff can happen. The Custom reference and unlock to me implies you still have a custom recovery and unlocked BL. Either way with the KNOX trip your phone is out of warranty. But then perhaps the person at VZW won't check.
Something I've started to do (suggestion from prdog1) is when I flash I wipe System along with Dalvik and Data. Clears out any "leftovers" from previous flashes it seems.
Just a thought.

skeeterpro said:
Yeah. That is odd. Which is why we all take chances of borking our devices when we flash. Crazy stuff can happen. The Custom reference and unlock to me implies you still have a custom recovery and unlocked BL. Either way with the KNOX trip your phone is out of warranty. But then perhaps the person at VZW won't check.
Something I've started to do (suggestion from prdog1) is when I flash I wipe System along with Dalvik and Data. Clears out any "leftovers" from previous flashes it seems.
Just a thought.
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Yea I was unaware of KNOX until after I Odin to 4.3. So a little worried I tripped it in the process. Also I never Triangled Away before either. Im wondering if I should saferoot her then use triangle away and then Odin one more time.
Yea I also like to wipe system sometimes too. I've noticed most every Rom will wipe system during installation anyways tho.

jl2222 said:
Yea I was unaware of KNOX until after I Odin to 4.3. So a little worried I tripped it in the process. Also I never Triangled Away before either. Im wondering if I should saferoot her then use triangle away and then Odin one more time.
Yea I also like to wipe system sometimes too. I've noticed most every Rom will wipe system during installation anyways tho.
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Well, IMHO it's immaterial resetting with Triangle Away. Since KNOX is tripped and cannot be reversed any VZW employee who happens to looks and discovers the KNOX trip can reject the phone (AFAIK).

skeeterpro said:
Well, IMHO it's immaterial resetting with Triangle Away. Since KNOX is tripped and cannot be reversed any VZW employee who happens to looks and discovers the KNOX trip can reject the phone (AFAIK).
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Well cross my fingers it passes and they don't check it. Thank for the help.

jl2222 said:
Well cross my fingers it passes and they don't check it. Thank for the help.
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You're welcome. Good luck