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[Q] Broken USB port, return to stock

My wife's Samsung Exhibit II 4G has a broken USB port so I am getting a warranty replacement from T-mobile.
I rooted her phone, installed CWM Recovery and a custom ROM.
Few questions:
1. Does T-mobile check for root or custom installs?
1a. If so, is there anyway to return the phone to stock without access to ODIN?
I have done a factory reset and wiped /system from within CWM Recovery
2. What else can I do?

Do you have backup of stock OS?If you do then try restoring to it.

creeve4 said:
My wife's Samsung Exhibit II 4G has a broken USB port so I am getting a warranty replacement from T-mobile.
I rooted her phone, installed CWM Recovery and a custom ROM.
Few questions:
1. Does T-mobile check for root or custom installs?
1a. If so, is there anyway to return the phone to stock without access to ODIN?
I have done a factory reset and wiped /system from within CWM Recovery
2. What else can I do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mobile Odin Pro could flash the stock firmware for you. After that you'll probably need to get a jig to clear your counter on your phone. All carriers check to see if you phone is rooted before servicing.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium

Waddle said:
Mobile Odin Pro could flash the stock firmware for you. After that you'll probably need to get a jig to clear your counter on your phone. All carriers check to see if you phone is rooted before servicing.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do they check for exactly? How would they if a phone is rooted?

creeve4 said:
What do they check for exactly? How would they if a phone is rooted?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Assuming your wife's phone is remotely similar to mine, in download mode on the top left corner there are some stats on whether you have flashed a custom kernel or anything. You need a jig to clear those stats. Also using the jig will remove the yellow triangle upon boot on rooted phones, I'm not sure how your phone works though but they are pretty similar.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium

Waddle said:
Assuming your wife's phone is remotely similar to mine, in download mode on the top left corner there are some stats on whether you have flashed a custom kernel or anything. You need a jig to clear those stats. Also using the jig will remove the yellow triangle upon boot on rooted phones, I'm not sure how your phone works though but they are pretty similar.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Isn't that only for some Samsung devices? Do all Samsung phones have that counter?

I need help asap

So im in a huge dilemma right now. My phone cant even connect to ANY computer with a USB regardless of what cord I use. Each computer says "USB Device is not Recognized" i've done multiple wipes and reflashes and it didnt help. So then I installed mobile odin and flashed a completely stock TW image through the app (since I cant acces ODIN on PC) and that didnt help either. So now that i've done that, I cant even root, unlock, or do anything with the device because the USB connection with the computer WILL NOT WORK. I called vzw tech support and they had no idea to fix it so they are sending me a replacement right now. Little did I know that my flash counter is at #2 and i cant even reset because I cant root my device anymore. Does anyone have any idea what I could possibly do at this point? Should i send in this phone and hope vzw doesnt look at the flash counter and refuse to let me keep replacement?

Could you Odin flash a rooted stock image from mrRobinson's thread in the dev section? Then run Triangle Away to reset your flash counter.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 4

Have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling the drivers on your computer, also, have you tried a different cord?

Well with mobile odin I don't think your computer will ever recognize the device that must first be completely removed. Them make sure the device is selected as MTP
Sent from the future via Tapatalk 4

SlimSnoopOS said:
Could you Odin flash a rooted stock image from mrRobinson's thread in the dev section? Then run Triangle Away to reset your flash counter.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So since I am not able to access odin through my computer because my S3's charge port is malfunctioned, I had to use Mobile Odin and I downloaded the no wipe factory image but I forget to have "EverRoot" checked to keep root. So now I dont have root, and I cant access odin to reroot my phone therefore its basically a brick.
FlashHappy78 said:
Have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling the drivers on your computer, also, have you tried a different cord?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I have tried multiple cords and uninstalling the drivers and reinstalling them. My computer just doesnt recognize the device at all. I used my other family member's S3 and works just fine. So you know its a hardware problem.
edfunkycold said:
Well with mobile odin I don't think your computer will ever recognize the device that must first be completely removed. Them make sure the device is selected as MTP
Sent from the future via Tapatalk 4
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Click to collapse
When I plug in the device to the computer it gives no option in the pulldown for mtp or ptp.

try a usbjig
you can reset the counter with a usbjig maybe that's causeing the problem i think yoru only able to flash the phone so many tims without resetting that counter

Hi, try this
/efs/FactoryApp/batt_cable_count
Open by text editor reset to 1 , don't reset to zero
reboot
Sent from my GT-I9505 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

zaus1978 said:
you can reset the counter with a usbjig maybe that's causeing the problem i think yoru only able to flash the phone so many tims without resetting that counter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is a usbjig?
smep said:
Hi, try this
/efs/FactoryApp/batt_cable_count
Open by text editor reset to 1 , don't reset to zero
reboot
Sent from my GT-I9505 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is nothing in the efs folder?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 4

assuming you have already tried everything pc-side, including all usb ports, i'd start to think the usb port on your phone is likely to be broken, did you notice any damage to the pins?

SuicideFlasher said:
assuming you have already tried everything pc-side, including all usb ports, i'd start to think the usb port on your phone is likely to be broken
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes that is the case. Which is why I am getting a replacement device which is on its way. But what Im trying to figure out is how I can reset my flash counter without root since I can root my device without a working USB plug to my pc
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 4

i'm afraid there's no way to root a device other than odin or a superboot, and both require a pc
i guess you didn't have a custom recovery any longer after reverting to stock, did you?

SuicideFlasher said:
i'm afraid there's no way to root a device other than odin or a superboot, and both require a pc
i guess you didn't have a custom recovery any longer after reverting to stock, did you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you mean by that? I had twrp before I flashed the no wipe stock image through mobile Odin. then I did a factory reset. One other thing it does a show an unlocked symbol on the Samsung boot logo. How do I get rid of that
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 4

i have no idea what the unlocked symbol means as my first and only android phone is an acer
what i meant is that flashing stock ROMs usually ends up with the custom recovery being overwritten with the stock one upon booting the ROM
if you still had twrp installed after flashing, you could have used that to root by installing an update zip with su binary and superuser app inside
EDIT: i made one when i lost root by setting wrong permissions to the su binary, i can tune it to work with a sgs3 and attach it here, just in case it comes out useful

SuicideFlasher said:
i have no idea what the unlocked symbol means as my first and only android phone is an acer
what i meant is that flashing stock ROMs usually ends up with the custom recovery being overwritten with the stock one upon booting the ROM
if you still had twrp installed after flashing, you could have used that to root by installing an update zip with su binary and superuser app inside
EDIT: i made one when i lost root by setting wrong permissions to the su binary, i can tune it to work with a sgs3 and attach it here, just in case it comes out useful
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I was thinking about doing that but the recovery was overwritten with a stock one...So i guess all my options are out. I wish framaroot worked with my S3.

[Q] Questions after 4.3 update

I recently updated to 4.3 and when i turn on or reboot my device the first screen says Samsung and has an open lock at the bottom with "custom" under it. Anyone know what this means? Also going in to my files it says "emulated", is that normal? i cant recall before the update. Thanks for any help

XXDroidZillaXX said:
I recently updated to 4.3 and when i turn on or reboot my device the first screen says Samsung and has an open lock at the bottom with "custom" under it. Anyone know what this means? Also going in to my files it says "emulated", is that normal? i cant recall before the update. Thanks for any help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty sure the "emulated" thing is a new feature introduced in 4.2 which has to do with multi-user support.
The custom is probably from your flash counter being tripped. Triangle away from the play store would fix that.

BattsNotIncld said:
I'm pretty sure the "emulated" thing is a new feature introduced in 4.2 which has to do with multi-user support.
The custom is probably from your flash counter being tripped. Triangle away from the play store would fix that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just updated a couple days ago, I haven't flashed anything. I cant, root is gone and bootloader is locked.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

XXDroidZillaXX said:
I just updated a couple days ago, I haven't flashed anything. I cant, root is gone and bootloader is locked.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The flash counter persists through flashes/ota's, so if you ever flashed a custom ROM/recovery, it was tripped. You need to reset it manually. Boot into download mode (hold volume down, home and power at the same time) and see what it says for your device stats.

It showed "bootlaoder ap swerv 1” that what you're talking about?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

I tried to update from a rooted stock room. The upgrade downloads then reboots then suddenly goes into recovery and asks if I want to flash the unrecognized file. It will fail if you at yes and then gives you this. Any idea what to do?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

XXDroidZillaXX said:
It showed "bootlaoder ap swerv 1” that what you're talking about?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure if there's a different download mode screen in 4.3, but it it's the same there should be a big android symbol in the middle with "Downloading... Do not turn off target!!" underneath and a little menu in the top left that has all your device info. The flash counter is "custom binary download." Also if you made any changes to /system (i.e. rooting), it would say "custom" next to "system status"
greatdaneduke said:
I tried to update from a rooted stock room. The upgrade downloads then reboots then suddenly goes into recovery and asks if I want to flash the unrecognized file. It will fail if you at yes and then gives you this. Any idea what to do?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to be at 100% stock MF1 to update, so you'd have to ODIN to a a stock MF1 unrooted or a previous stock/un-rooted ROM and take all the OTAs.

BattsNotIncld said:
I'm not sure if there's a different download mode screen in 4.3, but it it's the same there should be a big android symbol in the middle with "Downloading... Do not turn off target!!" underneath and a little menu in the top left that has all your device info. The flash counter is "custom binary download." Also if you made any changes to /system (i.e. rooting), it would say "custom" next to "system status"
You need to be at 100% stock MF1 to update, so you'd have to ODIN to a a stock MF1 unrooted or a previous stock/un-rooted ROM and take all the OTAs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK. Custom binary download is a 0. System does say custom, i kept superuser after update but it can't download binary or whatever and root checker says I'm not rooted. Superuser is also not uninstallable.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Sounds like we might be better off and wait. Is it true that an efuse will be implemented not allowing any future rooting or flashing?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

OTA after Root

I was wondering if anyone found a way to take ota after rooting. I have always had rooted devices and always ended up on custom roms. For now I would like to stay on the official rom and debloat a bit. Any ideas?

Pretty sure you can just flash back to stock and take ota, then re root. You normally need stock recovery to take ota, and be unrooted
Sent from my XT1056 using xda app-developers app

I can't believe i didnt think of that after I did the same thing with the S4. Thx for shining some light into my clouded mind lol

Root
I rooted yesterday night. Will I be able to odin back to official and receive OTA updates?

roadrunnrr said:
I rooted yesterday night. Will I be able to odin back to official and receive OTA updates?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried this and update still wouldn't let me download the OTA.

Unless someone comes out with a way to revert the knox flag (which is said to be a perm flag) it won't ever be possible to be true factory again as all OTA's will now check for the tamper.
I think someone mentioned though you can manually install it, just the downloader/OTA wouldn't work.
If manually still wasn't possible I'm sure someone could remove the check from the update and you still get it that way but officially through Samsung you currently are probably stuck.
Ideally someone finds a way to reset the so called, perma flag.
If not the alternative might be finding a way to root the phone without flagging it, but in those cases it won't help those already flagged.
I know on HTC they had a similar type of flag, though didn't use it to check for update status. They flagged as Tampered or Re-locked for example.
However after some time we found how to reset those in some magical hidden area to blind write too (not talking about those that cheated to hide it via bootloader image edits)
At this point it's a wait and see game...
I hope someone finds fast though, I am stock and really want to get this bloat off my phone lol

I tried it myself now... Rooted and i couldnt even check for updates. Unrooted but device status was still custom. I had to go into the stock recovery and wipe everything and then Odin stock firmware to be able to check for updates
Sent from my SM-G900P using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

roadrunnrr said:
I tried it myself now... Rooted and i couldnt even check for updates. Unrooted but device status was still custom. I had to go into the stock recovery and wipe everything and then Odin stock firmware to be able to check for updates
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I tried this the update check still failed stating that I had a custom ROM.

Just checked for updates and it went through
Sent from my SM-G900P using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

roadrunnrr said:
Just checked for updates and it went through
Sent from my SM-G900P using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Were you rooted then un-rooted?? Can you post the OTA file from your cache??

Yeah... Rooted then grabbed the whole factory md5 and restored that did it. Let me know where I can find the OTA and I'll post it. But I'm unrooted now so I don't know if it will work
Sent from my SM-G900P using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

roadrunnrr said:
Yeah... Rooted then grabbed the whole factory md5 and restored that did it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice, Otherwise seems like a bad strategy on Samsung's part if they don't allow people who unroot and odin back to stock to take OTA's.. Why would a manufacture not want to offer a path back to stock for security updates and the chance to get a user back on a bloated rom full of there paid ad apps. Each time users do this there is a small percentage that won't either be able to re-root due to updates stopping the root method or just out of hassle. I understand the warranty flag but not why you wouldn't offer a path back to stock unless they are just being short sighted in an attempt to penalize people who root which won't have much effect..

I'd post the OTA like I said but I'm unrooted now.
Sent from my SM-G900P using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

roadrunnrr said:
I'd post the OTA like I said but I'm unrooted now.
Sent from my SM-G900P using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So root!!

Still waiting to find out if I'll be able to get back to official and then check for updates after this update and root
Sent from my SM-G900P using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

roadrunnrr said:
Still waiting to find out if I'll be able to get back to official and then check for updates after this update and root
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't seem to do it. Once I rooted and tripped the Knox flag bit the Update check won't let me download. But the error message says that I can still download and install updates using Kies.
I just fixed it. The problem is not the Knox flag but rather the fact that Custom was showing in Download mode instead of Official. I had to flash twice without my SDcard inserted to get to Official. Once I got to Official the update started to download.

rooted?
roadrunnrr said:
Still waiting to find out if I'll be able to get back to official and then check for updates after this update and root
Sent from my SM-G900P using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so what does it matter if a phone is rooted or not in terms of an OTA update from a phone that has already received it?....wouldn't you just upload it and apply it? shouldn't matter at all whether phone is rooted or not when you're updating the file received from an already received OTA phone update. It's just the acquisition of the update that's blocked, not the install. At least until the 5SS you could always just grab a copy of the OTA update and install.

dk2463 said:
so what does it matter if a phone is rooted or not in terms of an OTA update from a phone that has already received it?....wouldn't you just upload it and apply it? shouldn't matter at all whether phone is rooted or not when you're updating the file received from an already received OTA phone update. It's just the acquisition of the update that's blocked, not the install. At least until the 5SS you could always just grab a copy of the OTA update and install.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No if you were completely stock and just root ...with stock recovery and no missing system files it could be done. ...it now has to say official for the ota to finish ....no other way
Sent from my SM-G900P using Xparent BlueTapatalk 2

share the love
but again, once a non-rooted phone receives the OTA update, you just pull the update from the phone and share it and even rooted phones can update...that's my point...am shocked no one is sharing their "received" OTA update
Epix4G said:
No if you were completely stock and just root ...with stock recovery and no missing system files it could be done. ...it now has to say official for the ota to finish ....no other way
Sent from my SM-G900P using Xparent BlueTapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Patience.. I guess..
dk2463 said:
but again, once a non-rooted phone receives the OTA update, you just pull the update from the phone and share it and even rooted phones can update...that's my point...am shocked no one is sharing their "received" OTA update
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I gotta agree.. Most of my previous device OTA's were always dumped within hours of release really surprised this hasn't been yet. This is my first Samsung phone and I have liked the device but kinda disappointed in the XDA turnout so far. I am always appreciative of those who are here but I just thought with how popular the Galaxy line was there would be more dev support from day 1 but there hasn't been much so far. I know it's early and being CDMA/Sprint really limits us but seems like all my previous HTC devices on Sprint and the current M8 are getting way more action.. Oh well, but sure makes a jump to T-Mobile for the new Oneplus One Cyanogen phone sound tempting haha..
And thanks again to all those who are here and contributing!!!

SM-900V Hardbrick? Softbrick?

I have been looking for something similar to what is going on with my phone and I found nothing. I have been rooted for awhile (so I could use all my apps with MW) but decided to flash CM 11 and get all the bloatware off. I followed a youtube tutorial to flash a custom recovery but I seem to have been unsuccessful in unlocking my bootloader first and so I get the following error.
System software not authorized by Verizon Wireless has been found on your phone. Please turn your phone off and go to the nearest Verizon Wireless store for help.
Yeah, that's not gonna happen. Any help would be appreciated.

Can you get to download mode? If so you can try to re flash stock ROM.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Free mobile app

DeuXGod said:
Can you get to download mode? If so you can try to re flash stock ROM.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's exactly what I had to do, problem I had though was Odin would fail as soon as I clicked start. Then for no damn reason my (still without a successful Odin run) my phone boots up like nothing was wrong. But I shot myself in the foot cause towelroot isn't working. Boooo....at least I have a working phone. Thanks for responding.