Database Info

I bricked my phone (a lot of details inside post)

I Have re posted this here because I posted in the incorrect forum the first time.
Hi guys I just bricked my phone. It is the vzw galaxy s 3 and I had it rooted using this method --> www dot youtube dot com/watch?v=TnOthODuAvM&list=UUzoKZegNgnnYJ3ex4uatJCw& index=0&feature=plcp
I was trying to un-root it using this method --> www dot youtube dot com/watch?v=4gViuW3xUts&feature=plcp
but it failed writing and now my phone says firmware upgrade encountered and issue. Please select recovery mode in Kies & try again.
I am trying to be as specific as i can as defined by this video --> www dot youtube dot com/watch?v=_UhIfFo8GFE&feature=plcp
Please help me out asap. The reason I am trying to restore it to stock is because i am going to Verizon tomorrow and i am getting it replaced cause my screen cracked. I really messed up didn't I?
After it said it failed to flash in Odin3 I unplugged the phone and pulled the battery but that made it do what it is i think. anybody who can help me?
also I can get into download mode I think I just re installed the stock.vzw_root66 file that i used to root the phone leading to its overwrite making it fail I am not sure how to fix this please help
I am able to get download mode.
PS: yes i pushed the power button and i have not tryed to do anything with it yet because i am scared to make it worse. and yes it is charged lol
please help me lol

If you can get to download mode you are fine. Try the root66 one again. If it does not work download the stock unrooted vzw ROM from the original development thread titled 'rooting, flashing stock ROMs and more' I believe is the title. He links you to a stock rooted, stock kernel, and stock in rooted ROM and gives you step by step directions. Just follow that and you will be fine.
Good luck!
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

Samsung Galaxy Relay 4G Information Portal

I'm going to start collecting the various little tid-bits of information that we have scattered across the threads here to hopefully compensate without having a dedicated forum. Eventually I'll add some other guides and such from personal experience, if you know of any Relay related threads or other information located on the interwebs, please drop a link here!
Standard Disclaimer: I am not responsible for what you do to your phone. The information contained in this thread is here to help you do [anything] correctly. If you follow the instructions listed there-in you will be fine, and ask questions if you don't understand something. I am not responsible for what you do with and/or to your phone. If you are unsure about a procedure's outcome, do not proceed with the procedure.
(1)
How to Get Into Download Mode:
1. Hold Power, Vol Down, and Home button simultaneously
2. When "Samsung" appears on the screen let go of the power button but keep the other two pressed down
3. Voila!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ROMS:
[CM9][ALPHA]Galaxy S Relay 4G [12/8]
(Use the updated link below instead.) Stock + Odin Flash (+ Rooted System Img File)(Simplified Instructions)
Updated Stock ROM (Has LH1 flash-able via ODIN) Post + tested Tethering Fix(1)
How I reverted my phone to stock + root.
Update from LH1 to LMA2 On Stock ROM w/ preserved root (doesn't remove if you have root, but doesn't give you root) (Untested)
Update from LJ1 to LMA2 on Stock ROM w/ preserved root (doesn't remove if you have root, but doesn't give you root) (Untested)
Root:
[root]\{cm9} samsung galaxy relay 4g (updated 11/19)
General Discussion:
Galaxy S Relay 4G Development Thread
Miscellaneous Information:
Keyboard Customization:
Dillalade's Explanation on How To Set Custom Key Mapping(1)
jarrodlombardo's Key Mapping (Follow Dillalades's guide first)
orange808's Key Mapping
Unsorted, Need to Organize and Determine Relevance (If still applicable or OLD information) or Flesh out supporting information:
nopty's Hiemdal Method (Need to use Heimdal 1.41RC1 or Higher from This Post) (gee ones building heimdal for ubuntu 12.04)
AndriodForums Relay Forum
Sim Unlocking (Need to Verify - Unknown Method) (Sorta Verified)
Nardholio's Links to Create an Odin Flashable Image
NV Dump Backup (Important in case of corrupted IMEI)
Nardholio's Flash Counter Information
gee one dive's into nard's stock rooted img in response to Qualcomm secure boot
nopty's CWM recovery post (10-11-201) Odin Flashable of nopty's CWM Recovery
kornyone's introduction
How to change/remove startup/shutdown sounds
dillalade has issue with 64gb card w/ resolution to issue
fantomex's Andriod WPA2 PSK Authentication issue and resolution
Skinomi Skins for the Relay
gee one fixes his bootloop
gee one's list of bloatware Bloatware gee one was able to remove
Sim Unlocking for those who purchased Retail (no contract)
dillalade's guide to getting Google Now to work on the stock ICS Rom
Nardholio's Untested Tethering Fix
T-mobiles KIES LH1 Update Support Page
gee one investigates the efs partition on the relay Nardholio's response
CWM-Only Flash-able LJ1 Modem
Some changes from stock LH1 to LJ1

Reserved

Reserved 2

Just in Case

how about a link to the original factory rom to restore back to before CM9 ?

Kaczman said:
how about a link to the original factory rom to restore back to before CM9 ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I found one that might work for you, update the OP with the info.
I've got to flash my relay to stock and when I do I'll create a small guide. For now I found an older flash that could be used then KIES could update this ROM to the current LH1 (Need to verify build number).
I need a stock rooted rom, while traveling through the mountains the switching in CM9 isn't working correctly (phone constantly looses service when switching from 4g>3g>Edge frequently).

Here's another sim unlock. I can verify this one as working since I am now using my phone with Solavei. I purchased my phone directly from t-mobile (no contract). I used an AT&T sim to do this method.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=36400199&postcount=783
Sent from my SGH-T699 using Tapatalk

Spoxy said:
Here's another sim unlock. I can verify this one as working since I am now using my phone with Solavei. I purchased my phone directly from t-mobile (no contract). I used an AT&T sim to do this method.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=36400199&postcount=783
Sent from my SGH-T699 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you!
Update OP. It's still in the unorganized section, but it's there!

Thank you, is a very useful guide ! :good:

You should post your first post from this thread in the request thread to show everything going on. Should work better than just posting "Samsung Relay, please"

That's the plan after I get it organized. I'm also going to follow the instructions given by kinfauns.
It's a start.

Never really notice that many steps when you go through it quickly, but this is the process that I used to revert my CM9 + CWM recovery to Stock rom + Stock Recovery. I don't know if it was supposed to happen that way, but it did. After flashing the stock PDA file (via odin) I was able to flash the CWM recovery again while adding root to the stock rom.
All of the items talking about (roms, odin, root, ect) except a program to unzip the files can be found in links in the thread in my signature. For reference, I use 7zip and just rightclick>7zip>extract to folder.
How to go Back to stock w/root from CM9:
Download stock rom (newest is the LJ1 tar.rar).
Download Odin
Unzip LJ1 into it's own folder. Navigate to where you unzipped the file.
Rename unzipped file to remove .md5 so it ends in ".tar" instead of ".tar.md5"
Unzip Odin (into it's own folder, navigate to the folder)
Put phone in download mode (Instructions are quoted in the OP of the thread in my sig)
Start Odin (assuming that you have already plugged the usb cable into your computer)
Connect phone (that's in download mode) to computer via USB cable.
ODIN Will have blue "Added!" box after it's recognized the phone (2nd box from the top left)
In ODIN, click the "PDA" Box and select the .tar for LJ1 (the file you unzipped and renamed)
Uncheck the "auto-restart" radiobox under "Added!". Then Click Start.
Wait for odin to finish. Do not touch your phone or click any buttons in the odin program. After It's done, reboot the phone.
Go into recovery mode on the phone (Vol Up Instead of Vol Down)
Wipe SDCard and cache
Reboot phone. It may take a few minutes to pass the samsung screen. The phone will vibrate briefly as is finishes booting
Sign into the phone (google, facebook, ect...this is probably a skipable step).
Turn off phone. Reboot into download mode (Vol Down)
Download nopty's CWM recovery
Unzip file (into it's own folder, navigate to it), removing the .md5 like the file above
Connect phone to computer, after ODIN recognizes ("Added!") it click the PDA button
Navigate to the unzipped and renamed (".tar") CWM file and select it.
Unceck "Auto-Reboot". Click start
Wait to finish, then power off and reboot phone
After phone has re-booted connect to computer
After connected to computer, transfer SuperSU zip(CWM Flashable) to SD card (You'll need to download this too, can be found in the Updated Stock Roms link)
After that's transferred, reboot phone into recovery mode. (Vol Up)
Use CWM to flash the SuperSU zip
Reboot phone
Congrats, you now have a stock rooted phone!
Just the basic frame for the guide, will update with links and what little troubleshooting I know and add guide to OP after it's finished.

Working with you guys is awesome.
Anyways, you guys know the drill.
New Device Request Forum
I may be naive, but I would like to equivocate a thanks with a "signed" on the post above.
PM'd kinfauns, lets hope that he can help us get to the right people!

thanks
thanks

So, has anyone else gotte the software update notification and felt brave enough to run it? I don't want to have what happened with the G2 with their first update and lose root.
Also, the damn notification icon won't go away despite postponing the update.

zakiancel said:
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
your welcome
mikeybot said:
So, has anyone else gotte the software update notification and felt brave enough to run it? I don't want to have what happened with the G2 with their first update and lose root.
Also, the damn notification icon won't go away despite postponing the update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not yet for me. I'm playing around with a stock rooted (debloated) rom that gee one made right now, I didn't get the OTA update message though. If you do "update" you should still be able to flash CWM and enable root/superuser again. Keep up updated!

Help
I am thinking of buying this phone with such great hardware....but one important question....does this handset have a common 'broken compass' issue?!!!...came across a couple of post with such issues....btw why dont we have a dedicated forum for this famous device?

tany.jags said:
I am thinking of buying this phone with such great hardware....but one important question....does this handset have a common 'broken compass' issue?!!!...came across a couple of post with such issues....btw why dont we have a dedicated forum for this famous device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Broken compass?
I remember seeing a few posts about it too, but I didn't flag them unfortunately. Post the question in the Development thread and we may be able to get you an answer quicker :good:.

tany.jags said:
I am thinking of buying this phone with such great hardware....but one important question....does this handset have a common 'broken compass' issue?!!!...came across a couple of post with such issues....btw why dont we have a dedicated forum for this famous device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Broken? No, but on occasion, it does momentarily glitch up, but once you start moving it clears itself up. Nothing like what would happen with the G2. (I do also have GPS Status installed as well)

I did run the update after taking a look through the zips and deciding to take the plunge and see; and it does reflash the recovery, and while I do have Odin, I have as yet been unable to flash any CWM again. There are no errors, it just doesn't work. I am as yet hopeful though and will report my progress. I didn't see anywhere in the update where it updated the bootloader, so flashing should still work.

[Q] Restoring Rooted Samsung Galaxy S Relay to Stock Firmware (UNROOT)

QUESTION/PROBLEM SOLVED
FOR THOSE WONDERING HOW TO RESTORE SAMSUNG GALAXY S RELAY 4G TO STOCK USING FIRMWARES DOWNLOADED FROM http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/2/ FOLLOW THE STEPS I GUESSED WOULD WORK BECAUSE IT ACTUALLY DOES WORK
From the sammobile link given, find and select SGH-T699 for the Model and select USA (T-Mobile) - TMB for the Product Code then click Check firmware. To the right of your screen, you will see a Download button. Download it and it may take a while because it is the whole stock system image.​-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I rooted my Samsung Galaxy S Relay from T-Mobile(ICS 4.0.4) a few months ago. I enjoyed the root and everything but I've been receiving these OTA updates from T-Mobile and I want to update my phone. But of course, it fails to update because it is rooted. I went to www(dot)sammobile(dot)com/ (This is my first post so I am not able to post links yet, but I hope you know what website I'm talking about as you are all probably experts) and went to the Latest Firmwares tab. I typed in my phone information and saw the latest firmware and downloaded it. It was a 591MB file so it took a while to download. I extracted the .zip file and it was one tar.md5 file. I'm planning on flashing the stock firmware from Sammobile to reset my phone to stock as if I just got it in the mail still inside the box and untouched using Odin 3.07. I've done some research on YouTube on how to do so but the tutorials were for Samsung Galaxy SIII, S2, and Note 2. I was wondering if this would work the same way on my phone as it is part of the Samsung family. I'm guessing my steps in doing so are as follows:
1) Connect Samsung Galaxy S Relay from T-Mobile to computer using the USB cable.
2) Make sure USB debugging is enabled in the phone.
3) Check to see if my device can be recognized by typing "adb devices" from the adb program inside platform-tools folder.
4) Make sure in Odin v3.07 that is says Added! on the bottom left area.
5) Make sure that Auto Reboot and F. Reset Time are marked check. (Check F. Reset only if you'd like to actually reset the phone to its stock image like you just got it out of its box.)
6) Click PDA and find the extract file that ended with tar.md5 for your phone.
7) Click Start.
Before doing anything to my rooted phone, were my steps correct?
Thanks!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chrizuki said:
QUESTION/PROBLEM SOLVED
FOR THOSE WONDERING HOW TO RESTORE SAMSUNG GALAXY S RELAY 4G TO STOCK USING FIRMWARES DOWNLOADED FROM www(.)sammobile(.)com/ FOLLOW THE STEPS I GUESSED WOULD WORK BECAUSE IT ACTUALLY DOES WORK​-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I rooted my Samsung Galaxy S Relay from T-Mobile(ICS 4.0.4) a few months ago. I enjoyed the root and everything but I've been receiving these OTA updates from T-Mobile and I want to update my phone. But of course, it fails to update because it is rooted. I went to www(dot)sammobile(dot)com/ (This is my first post so I am not able to post links yet, but I hope you know what website I'm talking about as you are all probably experts) and went to the Latest Firmwares tab. I typed in my phone information and saw the latest firmware and downloaded it. It was a 591MB file so it took a while to download. I extracted the .zip file and it was one tar.md5 file. I'm planning on flashing the stock firmware from Sammobile to reset my phone to stock as if I just got it in the mail still inside the box and untouched using Odin 3.07. I've done some research on YouTube on how to do so but the tutorials were for Samsung Galaxy SIII, S2, and Note 2. I was wondering if this would work the same way on my phone as it is part of the Samsung family. I'm guessing my steps in doing so are as follows:
1) Connect Samsung Galaxy S Relay from T-Mobile to computer using the USB cable.
2) Make sure USB debugging is enabled in the phone.
3) Check to see if my device can be recognized by typing "adb devices" from the adb program inside platform-tools folder.
4) Make sure in Odin v3.07 that is says Added! on the bottom left area.
5) Make sure that Auto Reboot and F. Reset Time are marked check.
6) Click PDA and find the extract file that ended with tar.md5 for your phone.
7) Click Start.
Before doing anything to my rooted phone, were my steps correct?
Thanks!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes that is correct if you want to go back to stock firmware and unroot. but you know if you flash a ROM you wont get any annoying OTA updates from T-Mobile, only from the dev. if he/she enabled OTA updates

Is it just me or does the site you linked to not work? I'm specifying the T699 as my phone and only the "top 10" list is appearing. All I get is, "Loading. Please wait..." Maybe I'm doing something wrong?

anon_az said:
Is it just me or does the site you linked to not work? I'm specifying the T699 as my phone and only the "top 10" list is appearing. All I get is, "Loading. Please wait..." Maybe I'm doing something wrong?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
get the odin image here: link

Thank you!

Chrizuki said:
QUESTION/PROBLEM SOLVED
FOR THOSE WONDERING HOW TO RESTORE SAMSUNG GALAXY S RELAY 4G TO STOCK USING FIRMWARES DOWNLOADED FROM www(dot)sammobile(dot)com/firmwares/2/ FOLLOW THE STEPS I GUESSED WOULD WORK BECAUSE IT ACTUALLY DOES WORK
From the sammobile link given, find and select SGH-T699 for the Model and select USA (T-Mobile) - TMB for the Product Code then click Check firmware. To the right of your screen, you will see a Download button. Download it and it may take a while because it is the whole stock system image.​-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I rooted my Samsung Galaxy S Relay from T-Mobile(ICS 4.0.4) a few months ago. I enjoyed the root and everything but I've been receiving these OTA updates from T-Mobile and I want to update my phone. But of course, it fails to update because it is rooted. I went to www(dot)sammobile(dot)com/ (This is my first post so I am not able to post links yet, but I hope you know what website I'm talking about as you are all probably experts) and went to the Latest Firmwares tab. I typed in my phone information and saw the latest firmware and downloaded it. It was a 591MB file so it took a while to download. I extracted the .zip file and it was one tar.md5 file. I'm planning on flashing the stock firmware from Sammobile to reset my phone to stock as if I just got it in the mail still inside the box and untouched using Odin 3.07. I've done some research on YouTube on how to do so but the tutorials were for Samsung Galaxy SIII, S2, and Note 2. I was wondering if this would work the same way on my phone as it is part of the Samsung family. I'm guessing my steps in doing so are as follows:
1) Connect Samsung Galaxy S Relay from T-Mobile to computer using the USB cable.
2) Make sure USB debugging is enabled in the phone.
3) Check to see if my device can be recognized by typing "adb devices" from the adb program inside platform-tools folder.
4) Make sure in Odin v3.07 that is says Added! on the bottom left area.
5) Make sure that Auto Reboot and F. Reset Time are marked check. (Check F. Reset only if you'd like to actually reset the phone to its stock image like you just got it out of its box.)
6) Click PDA and find the extract file that ended with tar.md5 for your phone.
7) Click Start.
Before doing anything to my rooted phone, were my steps correct?
Thanks!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SO... hotfiles has been shutdown and sammobile redirects there. Can i find the file anywhere else?

RockinRita said:
SO... hotfiles has been shutdown and sammobile redirects there. Can i find the file anywhere else?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I need to unroot as well. Where can I get the stock rom/recovery?

88fingerslukee said:
I need to unroot as well. Where can I get the stock rom/recovery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I posted it as a question here (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=48398896#post48398896) in hopes that it'll catch more eyes. :-/

How to root your samsung galaxy s3 (easily)

**** UPDATED 7-24-13 *****
Please read the tutorial now as I have added a new section on how to unlock the bootloader for your Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3. If you are not using a verizon SGS3
specifically model SCH-i535 then you do not have to worry about unlocking your bootloader as it comes unlocked by default. If you are using a verizon samsung galaxy s3 model sch-i535 and you do not fully unlock your bootloader you could run into problems when using certain root apps such as "mobile odin pro" or you could run into big problems when trying to flash custom roms such as cyanogenmod roms.
In this update I am adding one final step at the end of the root process to fully unlock the boot loader for the verizon samsung galaxy s3. There will be two ways to unlock the bootloader. One way will be to flash a final bootchain file with Odin, and the other will be to use an app to unlock the bootloader. Depending on what version of android you are using and your phones baseband version you will either need to use odin or you could use the application for any android version such as 4.1.1 or 4.1.2 and you can use the application for any baseband version your phone might be. I will leave the choice up to you, but I will show how to do it both ways.
Samsung users, don't forget if you plan on flashing a custom rom that with Samsung phones you could get the ugly yellow triangle warning. To get rid of this yellow triangle you can either go to google play store and get "yellow triangle away" app or go to this forum on this great xda developers site: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1494114
**NOTE** for those of you who would like to see a video of how to root your phone using these exact steps you can go to here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4b9hcWHrW8&feature=share&list=FL8Y3FM4mtznp0GQbwkkwaSg
A member on this thread gave me that link and it is a video by phone rebel and show you how to root your verizon SGS3 using the same steps i have outlined in this tutorial. Thank you so much for providing that link to my attention, I am sure it will help many users here!
Hello everyone,
Well this is one of my first tutorials for this forum on how to root your Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3.
I just recently got my Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3 and all of the tutorials I found were quite complicated and not very detailed so I thought that
I would write this tutorial and maybe it might help others out there....
Since the Galaxy S4 is getting ready to come out, the price has dropped considerably for the S3 and i believe more and more people will be getting this phone and wanting to root it.
Oh, and if you want an alternative guide you can use this very excellent tutorial from another post on this amazing forum:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2046439
Here is the specs for the phone I am using and the step by step process I used to root it.
Verizon Samsung Galaxy SIII model I535 running Android 4.1.2
Okay step 1 you are going to need some files...
First thing you are going to need is the Samsung Drivers so you can connect your phone to your computer and your computer can recognize it.
All of the files you are going to need I am just going to reference the link from the other tutorial that I posted above, no sense in redoing work
that has already been done especially if it has been done well!
1. You can get the samsung driver files here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2046439
click on the link that says samsung drivers
2. You are going to need Odin you can get it from the same link, click on the Odin Link
3. You are going to need the VRALEC BOOTCHAIN you can get it from the link I posted in step 1 make sure you get this file it is very
important.
Since I am using a Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3 the bootloader comes by default locked so we need this file to unlock the bootloader
so we can root the phone. If we were using any other phone besides Verizon we would not have to worry about this but since I have
Verizon I have to do this. IMPORTANT: if you are not using a VERIZON PHONE DO NOT download this file or use it in the step
process you do not need it.
4. Next you are going to need the exploit so that you can root your phone and you can grab that from a different website, here is the address:
http://autoroot.chainfire.eu/
This is the CF-AUTOROOT file and this is what roots your phone. If you have the same phone as me scroll down to the SCH-I535 link and
download that file.
Okay now that we have all of that downloaded lets get things moving...
First thing we are going to need to do is install the Samsung USB drivers, so do that.
After the drivers are installed plug in your phone and make sure that it connects to your computer correctly, after it connects disconnect
your phone from your computer.
Next thing we are going to need to do is extract the ODIN zip file and install the Odin executable.
Now we need to get to the critical stuff...
Step 1. Make sure that [USB Debugging] is enabled in your phone, if it is not go to Settings -> Developer Options and enable it.
Step 2. Put your phone in DOWNLOAD Mode. You do that by pressing Volume Down + Home + Power button and hold it down till you see
a warning screen. When you see the warning screen hit Volume Up to allow Download mode.
Step 3. Now that your phone is in Download Mode you are going to connect your phone to your computer with ODIN RUNNING if
everything connects correctly you will see ODIN highlight yellow (older versions of ODIN) or highlight blue (newer ODIN versions)
Step 4. Now this is where previous tutorials kind of messed up in my opinion (just my opinion). Now that your phone is in download mode
you need to only have the "auto boot" option selected in ODIN and click on the bootloader button and select the VRALEC file
you downloaded earlier. Every tutorial i read said to use this file with the PDA button/option but you need to use it with the bootloader
button/option in ODIN. Now that you have the VRALEC file selected under bootloader in ODIN select START. This will reboot your
phone and if everything goes correctly your phone's bootloader will be unlocked.
After reboot make sure to disconnect your phone from your computer.
Step 5. After your phone reboots from step 4 turn off your phone and then boot it back into DOWNLOAD mode. Vol Down + Home + Power
Step 6. Now that your phone is in Download Mode again (Reconnect your phone to your computer) and make sure ODIN is still running
Step 7. With your phone connected go to the PDA option/button and when you select it choose the CF-AUTOROOT file you downloaded earlier
Step 8. With your PDA option selected hit start. When this happens your phone will reboot and your will see a CUSTOM lock icon on your
screen don't worry it is okay. Now you will see some new text on your phone and if everything is working you will see things like
"Android is UPDATING"
Your phone is now rooted! but you are not done...
This is where all of the other tutorials I found also fell short...
Your phone is rooted but it will not work correctly without SuperSU
Step 9. Go to the Google Play Store and Download SuperSU. When the download is complete run SuperSU and now your phone is fully
rooted. You can test it by downloading Android Terminal and running the terminal and typing "su" or by downloading a root required
app Titanium Backup.
*****UPDATED STEP*****
IMPORTANT NOTE: i want to point that this step is completely optional. You do not have to unlock your bootloader but i would recommend it. If you just want to use a stock rom and have your phone rooted then you can ignore this last step. But...if you want to flash custom rom's or do any kind of serious customize your phone, then you will need to have your phones bootloader unlocked. Plus with the application I am going to show you further down this tutorial, it is so easy to unlock your bootloader, you might as well go for it.
Step 10. Okay now from the link that I gave you above: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2046439 you are going to need to download another bootchain file to fully unlock your verizon samsung galaxy s3 model sch-i535 phone.Go into your phone and under settings go into "about phone' and look at the section "baseband version". Now depending on what version of android you are using will determine your baseband version. On my Verizon SGS3 running 4.1.2 my baseband version is I535VRBMB1 the important part is -> "VRBMB1" now go to site i provided in this step and download the bootchain for your specific phone.
Since my phones baseband version is "VRBMB1" i will download that bootchain file obviously. VRBMB1 is for android 4.1.2
The other boothchain files are "VRBLK3" for android 4.1.1 and "VRBMD3" for android 4.1.2
Now take that bootchain file that you downloaded and load up Odin again. Connect your phone to your computer (MAKE SURE YOUR PHONE IS IN DOWNLOAD MODE -> VOL DOWN + HOME + POWER) and wait for Odin show a connection. Odin will show a blue light on newer Odin versions and a yellow light on older Odin versions.
When the connection is made hit the "bootloader" button and select the proper bootchain file for your specific phone. Before you hit start make sure that only "Auto Reboot" is selected on the left hand side.
Now go ahead and hit start and if all goes well your phones bootloader should be unlocked. You can tell that your phones bootloader is unlocked two ways.
One, when your phone reboots the Samsung Logo in white bold/block writing will disappear within 1-2 seconds. It will go by very fast.
Two, the custom lock icon that showed up after you ran the CF-AUTOROOT exploit will now disappear, if for any reason if you still see this logo then your phones bootloader is still locked and you can either try to flash the bootchain file again or use the application I am about to tell you about.
For my phone flashing this bootchain file worked fine, but for my brother's phone he has a verizon samsung galaxy s3 model sch-i535 this did not work and I had to use an application to unlock his bootloader.
****UPDATE UNLOCKING THE BOOTLOADER WITH EZ-UNLOCK*****
Okay so my brother who has a verizon samsung galaxy s3 model sch-i535 asked me to root his phone just the other day. I rooted his phone following all the same steps I have written above with no problems. His phone rooted perfectly, however his bootloader would not unlock. I believe that his bootloader would not unlock because he had an updated version. While his android version was the same as mine 4.1.2 he had a different baseband version.
His baseband version was "I535VRBMF1" the important part -> "VRBMF1"
Now i have been told that you can use the bootchain file VRBMB1 to unlock the bootloader for verizon SGS3 running android 4.1.2 baseband version "VRBMF1" but when i tried it, the bootloader staid locked. So i had to use an application to unlock his bootloader.
The application i used was "EZ-Unlock" which you can get here: http://rootzwiki.com/topic/32456-app-920-ez-unlock-14-easiest-way-to-unlock-your-bootloader/
Now this application is SO EASY to use it is amazing. Just download the file, the author recommend version 1.2 as the most stable and that is version i used. To download this file make sure you have the option "Unknown Sources" check in your Settings -> Security menu.
Okay to unlock your bootloader with EZ-Unlock follow these easy steps:
Step 10A. Download EZ-Unlock version 1.2 from the link above.
Step 10B. Install the application and open it.
Step 10C. Once open click on the giant "Unlock" button. If all goes well you will hear "That was easy" from the application.
Once you have hit the unlock button on EZ-Unlock reboot your phone to see if the Samsung in bold/block white letters disappears within 1-2 seconds, and make sure the custom lock icon has disappeared.
Now the application EZ-Unlock is designed specifically for verizon samsung galaxy s3 phones, it does not matter what baseband version you use or android version you use. So this is a very appealing and easy way to unlock your bootloader. If you don't feel like flashing a bootchain file with Odin or if you are not sure what bootchain file you should use then using this application. NOTE: you do need root access to run this application.
And that is it! Your phones bootloader should be unlocked either with Odin or EZ-Unlock the choice is all up to you!
***LAST THOUGHT ON INSTALLING CUSTOM RECOVERY***
This rooting method does not install and kind of custom recovery manager on to your phone. If you want to install a custom recovery manager such as "ClockworkMod Recovery" you can do that very easily once your phone is rooted. Once your phone is rooted go to the google play store and download "Rom Manager". Once Rom Manager is installed open it up and give it root access with SuperSU. Once that is done go into the option to flash a recovery manager and follow the steps and the application Rom Manager will take care of that for you!.
Congrats on rooting your phone! I hope this tutorial has helped you and I want to thank all of the system administrators of this forum and all of
the great guys and gals that contribute to this place. You guys/gals are what makes the open source community great!
I thank you all...
Hope it helped!
-droidshadow

Thanks might have to do this on my wife's phone
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium

kgirlx said:
Thanks might have to do this on my wife's phone
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that the easiest way to root any Samsung Devices - Samsung Toolkit

I'm not having any luck with this. I've followed the instructions step by step and when I flash a custom ROM, I get the dreaded yellow triangle of death apon rebooting. There were some other files mentioned in the links. Do I need to unzip those at some point?

sorry i have been away
Okay i am so sorry for the late response I have been away and very busy. This tutorial is how to root your samsung galaxy s3 (verizon) model sch-i535 because you need to unlock the bootloader for that specific model.
Now you mentioned that when you try to flash a custom rom you get a yellow triangle of death....
Have you unlocked the bootloader?
Is your phone already rooted? Are you trying to flash a custom rom or are you still trying to root your phone?
I hope you have already resolved your issue but if you haven't I would be more than happy to try and help you out.

How is it any easier then the other guides for jelly bean? Here you added the cf-auto root which is one extra step . Also with auto root there is a possibility of bricking the phone since it supports a lot of devices and as you are well aware that a lot of people new to flashing tend to flash the wrong files even if you give them a step by step guide. While this guide is helpful and does work it isn't as idiot proof as the other guide you linked on your post.

This does not work on my phone. When I try this, the phone boots normally. I have tried this several times and I get the same results. I can however hold the vol up button+the home button+the power button and get to stock recovery mode. I had an older S3 that this did work on but not my new one. I have read several threads here for rooting the S3 i535 with Jelly Bean 4.1.2 and this is supposedly the method but it will not work on my phone. What am I doing wrong? What am I missing? Please advise!

benbrown said:
This does not work on my phone. When I try this, the phone boots normally. I have tried this several times and I get the same results. I can however hold the vol up button+the home button+the power button and get to stock recovery mode. I had an older S3 that this did work on but not my new one. I have read several threads here for rooting the S3 i535 with Jelly Bean 4.1.2 and this is supposedly the method but it will not work on my phone. What am I doing wrong? What am I missing? Please advise!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This guide is different in that it uses cf-auto root so I highly doubt you even tried this method.

I finally did get it. All rooted now.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

The easiest way to root is odin'ing Mr. Robinson's root injected tar and the unlock the bootloader. Done
Sent from my MIUI powered S3 thanks to StrumerJohn

maybe i should have been more clear...
faehsemc said:
The easiest way to root is odin'ing Mr. Robinson's root injected tar and the unlock the bootloader. Done
Sent from my MIUI powered S3 thanks to StrumerJohn
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey everyone,
Well i guess everyone has their own favorite way of rooting their phone/device. I did not mean for this small tutorial to be the *absolute easiest* way to root a verizon samsung galaxy s3 model i535 i just thought that I could do people a favor by elaborating a bit more on certain steps to make the rooting process a bit easier.
On certain tutorials i found I didn't seem them clearly state that the VRLAC BOOTCHAIN file needed to go in the boot loader section of ODIN to unlock the phone's bootloader.
On other tutorials that show you how to use CF-AUTOROOT I didn't see any that told you that you needed to install SUPERSU from the google play store manually in order to fully utilize your phones rooted status.
Yes there are other ways too root a SGS3, the Samsung Toolkit is a good option, or using a custom root such as Cyanogenmod is another great option as well...
All of those options you will have to research for yourself and ultimately decide for yourself.
However, if you want to keep your phone's stock ROM and you just want to root your Verizon SGS3 model SCH-I535 then I like using ODIN + CF-AUTOROOT exploit.
All i wanted to do was assist and do my part on this great forum which has helped me so much in the past...
I hope it helped someone...
Thanks for everyone who replied and shared your thoughts on other rooting options.
-DroidShadow

droidshadow said:
Hello everyone,
Well this is one of my first tutorials for this forum on how to root your Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3.
I just recently got my Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3 and all of the tutorials I found were quite complicated and not very detailed so I thought that
I would write this tutorial and maybe it might help others out there....
Since the Galaxy S4 is getting ready to come out, the price has dropped considerably for the S3 and i believe more and more people will be getting this phone and wanting to root it.
Oh, and if you want an alternative guide you can use this very excellent tutorial from another post on this amazing forum:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2046439
Here is the specs for the phone I am using and the step by step process I used to root it.
Verizon Samsung Galaxy SIII model I535 running Android 4.1.2
Okay step 1 you are going to need some files...
First thing you are going to need is the Samsung Drivers so you can connect your phone to your computer and your computer can recognize it.
All of the files you are going to need I am just going to reference the link from the other tutorial that I posted above, no sense in redoing work
that has already been done especially if it has been done well!
1. You can get the samsung driver files here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2046439
click on the link that says samsung drivers
2. You are going to need Odin you can get it from the same link, click on the Odin Link
3. You are going to need the VRALEC BOOTCHAIN you can get it from the link I posted in step 1 make sure you get this file it is very
important.
Since I am using a Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3 the bootloader comes by default locked so we need this file to unlock the bootloader
so we can root the phone. If we were using any other phone besides Verizon we would not have to worry about this but since I have
Verizon I have to do this. IMPORTANT: if you are not using a VERIZON PHONE DO NOT download this file or use it in the step
process you do not need it.
4. Next you are going to need the exploit so that you can root your phone and you can grab that from a different website, here is the address:
http://autoroot.chainfire.eu/
This is the CF-AUTOROOT file and this is what roots your phone. If you have the same phone as me scroll down to the SCH-I535 link and
download that file.
Okay now that we have all of that downloaded lets get things moving...
First thing we are going to need to do is install the Samsung USB drivers, so do that.
After the drivers are installed plug in your phone and make sure that it connects to your computer correctly, after it connects disconnect
your phone from your computer.
Next thing we are going to need to do is extract the ODIN zip file and install the Odin executable.
Now we need to get to the critical stuff...
Step 1. Make sure that [USB Debugging] is enabled in your phone, if it is not go to Settings -> Developer Options and enable it.
Step 2. Put your phone in DOWNLOAD Mode. You do that by pressing Volume Down + Home + Power button and hold it down till you see
a warning screen. When you see the warning screen hit Volume Up to allow Download mode.
Step 3. Now that your phone is in Download Mode you are going to connect your phone to your computer with ODIN RUNNING if
everything connects correctly you will see ODIN highlight yellow (older versions of ODIN) or highlight blue (newer ODIN versions)
Step 4. Now this is where previous tutorials kind of messed up in my opinion (just my opinion). Now that your phone is in download mode
you need to only have the "auto boot" option selected in ODIN and click on the bootloader button and select the VRALEC file
you downloaded earlier. Every tutorial i read said to use this file with the PDA button/option but you need to use it with the bootloader
button/option in ODIN. Now that you have the VRALEC file selected under bootloader in ODIN select START. This will reboot your
phone and if everything goes correctly your phone's bootloader will be unlocked.
After reboot make sure to disconnect your phone from your computer.
Step 5. After your phone reboots from step 4 turn off your phone and then boot it back into DOWNLOAD mode. Vol Down + Home + Power
Step 6. Now that your phone is in Download Mode again (Reconnect your phone to your computer) and make sure ODIN is still running
Step 7. With your phone connected go to the PDA option/button and when you select it choose the CF-AUTOROOT file you downloaded earlier
Step 8. With your PDA option selected hit start. When this happens your phone will reboot and your will see a CUSTOM lock icon on your
screen don't worry it is okay. Now you will see some new text on your phone and if everything is working you will see things like
"Android is UPDATING"
Your phone is now rooted! but you are not done...
This is where all of the other tutorials I found also fell short...
Your phone is rooted but it will not work correctly without SuperSU
Step 9. Go to the Google Play Store and Download SuperSU. When the download is complete run SuperSU and now your phone is fully
rooted. You can test it by downloading Android Terminal and running the terminal and typing "su" or by downloading a root required
app Titanium Backup.
Congrats on rooting your phone! I hope this tutorial has helped you and I want to thank all of the system administrators of this forum and all of
the great guys and gals that contribute to this place. You guys/gals are what makes the open source community great!
I thank you all...
Hope it helped!
-droidshadow
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Followed all instructions, and the phone never rebooted. Not its not turning on. Tried vol up+home+power, vol down+home+power, battery pull, holding down power for 2 minutes. . .
The only thing I can think of is that I possibly unplugged the phone before the reboot after Step 4, just as soon as the phone shut down and before the actual reboot.
Anything you can help me with? I''m going crazy here.
Thanks

Rooting and installation on S3 GTI9300
I rooted my S3 2 days back (i think so), now i want to install a custom rom (mostly xperia Z) and I am new to this world, so can you plz help me??
I followed your instructions there was no such msg as Andriod is Updating, and how should i do install the rom??
I wish to install from this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2174644

droidshadow said:
Hello everyone,
Well this is one of my first tutorials for this forum on how to root your Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3.
I just recently got my Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3 and all of the tutorials I found were quite complicated and not very detailed so I thought that
I would write this tutorial and maybe it might help others out there....
Since the Galaxy S4 is getting ready to come out, the price has dropped considerably for the S3 and i believe more and more people will be getting this phone and wanting to root it.
Oh, and if you want an alternative guide you can use this very excellent tutorial from another post on this amazing forum:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2046439
Here is the specs for the phone I am using and the step by step process I used to root it.
Verizon Samsung Galaxy SIII model I535 running Android 4.1.2
Okay step 1 you are going to need some files...
First thing you are going to need is the Samsung Drivers so you can connect your phone to your computer and your computer can recognize it.
All of the files you are going to need I am just going to reference the link from the other tutorial that I posted above, no sense in redoing work
that has already been done especially if it has been done well!
1. You can get the samsung driver files here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2046439
click on the link that says samsung drivers
2. You are going to need Odin you can get it from the same link, click on the Odin Link
3. You are going to need the VRALEC BOOTCHAIN you can get it from the link I posted in step 1 make sure you get this file it is very
important.
Since I am using a Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3 the bootloader comes by default locked so we need this file to unlock the bootloader
so we can root the phone. If we were using any other phone besides Verizon we would not have to worry about this but since I have
Verizon I have to do this. IMPORTANT: if you are not using a VERIZON PHONE DO NOT download this file or use it in the step
process you do not need it.
4. Next you are going to need the exploit so that you can root your phone and you can grab that from a different website, here is the address:
http://autoroot.chainfire.eu/
This is the CF-AUTOROOT file and this is what roots your phone. If you have the same phone as me scroll down to the SCH-I535 link and
download that file.
Okay now that we have all of that downloaded lets get things moving...
First thing we are going to need to do is install the Samsung USB drivers, so do that.
After the drivers are installed plug in your phone and make sure that it connects to your computer correctly, after it connects disconnect
your phone from your computer.
Next thing we are going to need to do is extract the ODIN zip file and install the Odin executable.
Now we need to get to the critical stuff...
Step 1. Make sure that [USB Debugging] is enabled in your phone, if it is not go to Settings -> Developer Options and enable it.
Step 2. Put your phone in DOWNLOAD Mode. You do that by pressing Volume Down + Home + Power button and hold it down till you see
a warning screen. When you see the warning screen hit Volume Up to allow Download mode.
Step 3. Now that your phone is in Download Mode you are going to connect your phone to your computer with ODIN RUNNING if
everything connects correctly you will see ODIN highlight yellow (older versions of ODIN) or highlight blue (newer ODIN versions)
Step 4. Now this is where previous tutorials kind of messed up in my opinion (just my opinion). Now that your phone is in download mode
you need to only have the "auto boot" option selected in ODIN and click on the bootloader button and select the VRALEC file
you downloaded earlier. Every tutorial i read said to use this file with the PDA button/option but you need to use it with the bootloader
button/option in ODIN. Now that you have the VRALEC file selected under bootloader in ODIN select START. This will reboot your
phone and if everything goes correctly your phone's bootloader will be unlocked.
After reboot make sure to disconnect your phone from your computer.
Step 5. After your phone reboots from step 4 turn off your phone and then boot it back into DOWNLOAD mode. Vol Down + Home + Power
Step 6. Now that your phone is in Download Mode again (Reconnect your phone to your computer) and make sure ODIN is still running
Step 7. With your phone connected go to the PDA option/button and when you select it choose the CF-AUTOROOT file you downloaded earlier
Step 8. With your PDA option selected hit start. When this happens your phone will reboot and your will see a CUSTOM lock icon on your
screen don't worry it is okay. Now you will see some new text on your phone and if everything is working you will see things like
"Android is UPDATING"
Your phone is now rooted! but you are not done...
This is where all of the other tutorials I found also fell short...
Your phone is rooted but it will not work correctly without SuperSU
Step 9. Go to the Google Play Store and Download SuperSU. When the download is complete run SuperSU and now your phone is fully
rooted. You can test it by downloading Android Terminal and running the terminal and typing "su" or by downloading a root required
app Titanium Backup.
Congrats on rooting your phone! I hope this tutorial has helped you and I want to thank all of the system administrators of this forum and all of
the great guys and gals that contribute to this place. You guys/gals are what makes the open source community great!
I thank you all...
Hope it helped!
-droidshadow
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I ran ODIN with the bootchain, and that worked, but when i tried running it with PDA set to CF-autoroot file, I get SECURE CHECK FAIL

hello everyone
bgenchel said:
I ran ODIN with the bootchain, and that worked, but when i tried running it with PDA set to CF-autoroot file, I get SECURE CHECK FAIL
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
bgenchel: what kind of phone do you have? Are you 100% sure that you downloaded the correct CF-autoroot file for your specific phone model?

mlev1987 said:
Followed all instructions, and the phone never rebooted. Not its not turning on. Tried vol up+home+power, vol down+home+power, battery pull, holding down power for 2 minutes. . .
The only thing I can think of is that I possibly unplugged the phone before the reboot after Step 4, just as soon as the phone shut down and before the actual reboot.
Anything you can help me with? I''m going crazy here.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you run the Odin with the VRLAC bootchain file then you unplugged your phone before a full restart could take place? This is a very sensitive issue because that bootchain file unlocks your bootloader on your verizon phone. Your bootloader is everything to your phone. It controls how your phone starts and your phone can not work correctly if your bootloader became compromised in any way. I really hope you figured it out, and if you didn't maybe you could call your insurance company (if you have one) and get a new phone. If you are worried about rooting your phone again you could look on craigslist, there are always people/professionals willing to do it for very reasonable prices $10-$20. Again i really hope you figured this out and if you give me some more details maybe we can figure this out together.

Phone Rebel Method
This is the same method that Phone Rebel has on his YouTube channel for rooting d2vzw. This tutorial is missing one step that Phone Rebel covers, after running CF Auto Root, he flashes the corresponding bootchain file that goes with whatever firmware your phone is running. When I rooted, I was running VRBMB1, so I flashed that boot chain following the other two odin flashes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4b9hcWHrW8&feature=share&list=FL8Y3FM4mtznp0GQbwkkwaSg
What I've learned is that CF Auto Root does not unlock the bootloader and trying to flash a custom ROM with result in the dreaded triangle message every time. I was given this method: http://droidviews.com/2013/root-and...erizon-galaxy-s3-sch-i535-android-4-1-14-1-2/
to try instead. In this method you flash the VRALEC, then CWM recovery, then you can flash SuperSU with an unlocked bootloader via CWM, then flash the final bootchain file depending on the firmware you're running. Method 3 contains the casual root tool, but I've seen mixed reviews for that one.
At the suggestion of someone on the Google+ community for the SGS3, I"m gonna attempt to root VRBMF1 (JB 4.1.2 w/multiwindow) via method 1 and then flash the VRBMB1 bootchain for the previous version and see what happens.

UPDATE
ohemetophobia said:
This is the same method that Phone Rebel has on his YouTube channel for rooting d2vzw. This tutorial is missing one step that Phone Rebel covers, after running CF Auto Root, he flashes the corresponding bootchain file that goes with whatever firmware your phone is running. When I rooted, I was running VRBMB1, so I flashed that boot chain following the other two odin flashes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4b9hcWHrW8&feature=share&list=FL8Y3FM4mtznp0GQbwkkwaSg
What I've learned is that CF Auto Root does not unlock the bootloader and trying to flash a custom ROM with result in the dreaded triangle message every time. I was given this method: http://droidviews.com/2013/root-and...erizon-galaxy-s3-sch-i535-android-4-1-14-1-2/
to try instead. In this method you flash the VRALEC, then CWM recovery, then you can flash SuperSU with an unlocked bootloader via CWM, then flash the final bootchain file depending on the firmware you're running. Method 3 contains the casual root tool, but I've seen mixed reviews for that one.
At the suggestion of someone on the Google+ community for the SGS3, I"m gonna attempt to root VRBMF1 (JB 4.1.2 w/multiwindow) via method 1 and then flash the VRBMB1 bootchain for the previous version and see what happens.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use method 1 outlined in the droidviews link i posted yesterday to root the phone and when you get to the point where you're flashing the second bootchain you can flash VRBMB1 instead of needing VRBMF1 and it will work just fine! I also believe this method will truly unlock the bootloader for flashing custom roms, to avoid the yellow triangle of frustration, but I have no oversight on this as it was not my plan to do so.

VRBMF1??
I must admit that I am new to rooting.
I just bought a new S3 i535 with 4.1.2 and would like to root it. In the link provided there are files to download. One of these files are the bootchain... When I look in my settings, I see VRBMF1 and in the link provided I see.............
For VRBLK3 (Jelly Bean 4.1.1) Link
MD5: E3A1CB07DE214ED8081ED9D42C9BAF4A
For VRBMB1 (Jelly Bean 4.1.2) Link
MD5: 8C3DA18BD5DEF7E38E03DD147A0E10A1
For VRBMD3 (Jelly Bean 4.1.2) Link
MD5: 9CB65EAE8784807349EC3D4FF3A0AAEF
I am confused on what to do. I would imagine that this instructional post was created before I got my phone (07/13/2013) and thus is the reason why it might be missing from the instructions. Please advise me.

BKSinAZ said:
I must admit that I am new to rooting.
I just bought a new S3 i535 with 4.1.2 and would like to root it. In the link provided there are files to download. One of these files are the bootchain... When I look in my settings, I see VRBMF1 and in the link provided I see.............
For VRBLK3 (Jelly Bean 4.1.1) Link
MD5: E3A1CB07DE214ED8081ED9D42C9BAF4A
For VRBMB1 (Jelly Bean 4.1.2) Link
MD5: 8C3DA18BD5DEF7E38E03DD147A0E10A1
For VRBMD3 (Jelly Bean 4.1.2) Link
MD5: 9CB65EAE8784807349EC3D4FF3A0AAEF
I am confused on what to do. I would imagine that this instructional post was created before I got my phone (07/13/2013) and thus is the reason why it might be missing from the instructions. Please advise me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, the instructional post was created prior to you getting an S3. So, if you got into Settings> About Phone and look at your baseband version you'll probably see I535VRBMF1 and you'll probably see it again in another field just below it. This indicates that you're running the VRBMF1 firmware. That is JB 4.1.2 with multi-window. When using the root process in the droidviews article it outlines flashing VRALEC, then CWM touch, then using CWM to flash the supersu file, then flashing either VRBLK3, VRBMB1, or VRBMD3. Since none of those bootchain files match your firmware and there is no VRBMF1 bootchain on the forums, I flashed VRBMB1 since it was the the bootchain from the previous firmware. It worked. I successfully achieved root with no problems. Hope this helps.

[Completed] Problem Flashing OS On Galaxy S4 I9500

Hello, I am new here, so if my post is wrong please forgive me.
Phone: Galaxy S4 GT-I9500\
Current OS: Jelly Bean 4.3
Cell Carrier: PURETALKUSA
Problem: Can't flash a new OS
How it happened: I accidentally deleted a core "system" (Google play store). It messed some things up and I factory reset it. It did not work, nothing changed. So I decided to just flash a new OS. Since I had the International version I could go straight to Lollipop 5.1.
After a couple of days of trying to get it to work, I could not get it. I saw Kitkat 4.4 and thought I would just try that, but still had no luck.
Methods I have tried: All of the ways I have tried to install it have been based on Odin. I have used 3.04, 3.09, 3.10.7 and maybe others.
I have used 2 different computers and multiple files for the OS(Both Lollipop and Kitkat). And even different cables. None work.
How I try and how far I go: After installing Odin and downloading the file. I turn my phone onto download (Hold power, home and volume down....etc). In Odin I get the blue light and hit start after the files are in place.
Then depending on what file I am using is the error I get, Something about PIT error (I think I would need to re-partition it, but not sure how), Or the most common is a "Complete (Write) Operation Fail".
I admit I am tired of trying things, I have no idea how to fix it and I would be so glad if someone could help me understand what to do.
Thanks in advance!
~Boone
Gal 2:20

XDA Visitor said:
Hello, I am new here, so if my post is wrong please forgive me.
Phone: Galaxy S4 GT-I9500\
Current OS: Jelly Bean 4.3
Cell Carrier: PURETALKUSA
Problem: Can't flash a new OS
How it happened: I accidentally deleted a core "system" (Google play store). It messed some things up and I factory reset it. It did not work, nothing changed. So I decided to just flash a new OS. Since I had the International version I could go straight to Lollipop 5.1.
After a couple of days of trying to get it to work, I could not get it. I saw Kitkat 4.4 and thought I would just try that, but still had no luck.
Methods I have tried: All of the ways I have tried to install it have been based on Odin. I have used 3.04, 3.09, 3.10.7 and maybe others.
I have used 2 different computers and multiple files for the OS(Both Lollipop and Kitkat). And even different cables. None work.
How I try and how far I go: After installing Odin and downloading the file. I turn my phone onto download (Hold power, home and volume down....etc). In Odin I get the blue light and hit start after the files are in place.
Then depending on what file I am using is the error I get, Something about PIT error (I think I would need to re-partition it, but not sure how), Or the most common is a "Complete (Write) Operation Fail".
I admit I am tired of trying things, I have no idea how to fix it and I would be so glad if someone could help me understand what to do.
Thanks in advance!
~Boone
Gal 2:20
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Greetings,
Thank you for using XDA Assist. First, take a look at your device's homepage found here:
Samsung Galaxy S 4
Most of the helpful guides and information can be found in the General Forum located there. If you create an XDA account, you can post your questions in the Q&A forum also located there. Good luck and welcome to XDA!