Database Info

[Q] Please Help! Important! Unrooting Question

hey guys,
bought my samsung captivate two days ago and i love it. from reading all the posts about how rooting is awesome i finally took the plunge and rooted my phone with the one click root program. followed the directions to the teeth, everything went fine. even went as far as downloading clockwork and backing up my rom.
few hours later, im totally blown that i rooted my phone. i realized i threw away my warranty.
is there ANY way to unroot the phone and make it totally stock and make it seem like the phone was never altered? i read some answers of "yeah" and some answers of "once your rooted, you can't get back" (i remember reading about an article about how some android phones like the nexus one, once you root theres no going back period). the program i used had a unroot button but im not sure if that would wipe everything away to factory settings and erase all traces of the root.
i know im effing stupid for not thinking it threw. but hey, its good that i came to my senses before i loaded up an os.
to be clear, my phone is just rooted. nothing else. im not running cognitive rom or anything. its running the stock samsung 2.1.
so can anyone PLEASE PLEASE help me solve this problem?
im a total noob when it comes to android.
it took me 20 minutes doing that one click from reading the directions over and over again lol.
i need some step by step directions for stupid people

okay, so i followed the directions to unroot. the programs that were installed when i rooted seemed to have disappear. to be extra sure, i reformatted my sd card and than factory restored the phone (from settings/privacy). quick question though, after i pressed "factory reset" my phone rebooted and than for a quick second i saw the same screen i saw when i rooted (the black screen with the yellow font? looked like a system command prompt i guess). it came on for a sec and than disappeared and it booted regularly. did that happen because i did a factory reset or did that happen because im still rooted?
wtf is wrong with me. i just want my unrooted captivate back (and my warranty lol)

odin to stock with master clear.

There's a thread under android development something with "stock rom" that should restore your phone back to factory.

If you did all of that then you are definitely back to stock now & theres no way of detecting your phone was rooted. You could of gotten away with just using one click to unroot. Thats all I did when I returned mine after a week because my gps never worked at all. I dont think they even did anything to check if it was rooted or anything. Hows your gps on the new one by the way? Mines still bad but at least it sees some satellites now. My old one had a hardware problem where gps wouldn't do anything at all.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

When you use odin to flash back to stock does that restore the AT&T bloatware as well? Or should I use TiB when I first get the phone to get the bloatware back on?
Thanks,
JOe K.

After trying to exchange my phone for another phone (thinking the GPS is a hardware issue) I had rooted and flashed a custom rom. I reverted back using ODIN master clear and ODIN 2.1 rom (Which puts bloatware and everything on it) and there's no way to detect it. The only time it will truly void your warranty (I believe) if you go into the store with a custom rom or if you go into the store with a bricked phone and they figure out you were modifying your phone.

thanks for the answers guys! why is it that you cant "unroot" a nexus one? i heard they'll always be able to tell if your rooted once you do it.

[Q] Reverting Everything to Stock?

XDA,
I successfully rooted my brand new 2.20 AT&T HTC One X, flashed CM10 rom and TWRP 2.2.3 custom recovery. Everything was going great; much love to the community and djrbliss. Here's my issue: Yesterday my phone went flying, hit the ground BLAM! and shattered the screen. I've therefore voided my warranty and it looks like theres no way out of this $600 accident. Panic mode....
But, I have a plan: I have premium accidental damage coverage. But in order for me to be elegible for a complete phone replacement I need to revert to the stock ROM, lock my bootloader, eliminate the custom recovery, and finally reset the flash counter with a USB jig. I need it to appear as though I havent changed a thing. Heres my question for you all: Is it possible to revert my phone completely? If I am successful, will AT&T notice? What steps should I take?
Any tips would be great. I'll keep you all updated on what develops.
-T

if the phone powers on and such you should be able to relock bootloader and run the ruu. thats all you really need to do for insurance claim. you cant remove the relocked bootloader message without s-off, but it shouldn't matter since your claiming physical damage.

Having a custom rom/bootloader shouldn't affect a physical warranty claim, but from the things I hear about AT&T I wouldn't be surprised

area51avenger said:
Having a custom rom/bootloader shouldn't affect a physical warranty claim, but from the things I hear about AT&T I wouldn't be surprised
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looked into it, turns out at&t will charge $200 for a physical damage claim IF they decide its under warranty... Sucks. Looks like ill be buying and replacing the digitizer/lcd myself...

tom0779 said:
XDA,
I successfully rooted my brand new 2.20 AT&T HTC One X, flashed CM10 rom and TWRP 2.2.3 custom recovery. Everything was going great; much love to the community and djrbliss. Here's my issue: Yesterday my phone went flying, hit the ground BLAM! and shattered the screen. I've therefore voided my warranty and it looks like theres no way out of this $600 accident. Panic mode....
But, I have a plan: I have premium accidental damage coverage. But in order for me to be elegible for a complete phone replacement I need to revert to the stock ROM, lock my bootloader, eliminate the custom recovery, and finally reset the flash counter with a USB jig. I need it to appear as though I havent changed a thing. Heres my question for you all: Is it possible to revert my phone completely? If I am successful, will AT&T notice? What steps should I take?
Any tips would be great. I'll keep you all updated on what develops.
-T
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No way to completely take it back to stock. It will always say "RELOCKED". But to get to that point, you need to relock your phone and run the RUU. AT&T shouldn't care or check honestly.

question about unlocking bootloader on d2vzw sch-i535

Hello XDA Developers,
Okay so here is my unusual situation...
I have two phones. I have one Verizon (d2vzw) SGS3 that I run CM 11 on with CWM Touch installed on that phone. On my second phone which is also a Verizon (d2vzw) SGS3 i was running stock 4.1.2 ROM which was rooted with CWM recovery manager. The stock SGS3 was the baseband version that supported multi windows.
Okay so today i decided to go ahead and check for an OTA update on my stock (rooted) SGS3. I knew there had been an update available for some time but I never decided to update my phone because i figured with it being rooted and with CWM recovery manager installed there was no way that the OTA update would work...
So like an idiot i went ahead and tried the update. I figured what is the worst that could happen? I figured that at the worst it was just going to tell me that the update failed and i would just be stuck with Android 4.1.2 which isn't the end of the world. I really like the multi windows setup. Moving on...i downloaded the update and I hit the install update button. My phone booted into recovery manager and it installed the update. When the phone rebooted I saw the message "Android is upgrading" and i thought whoa! no way!. After android finished upgrading which i believe was the dalvik rebuilding I saw a message in notifications saying "upgrade installation failed", however when i went into settings it now told me that i was running Android 4.3. So to me it looked like the upgrade took but I think the problem was that when it asked me to flash the stock recovery there was an option in CWM to say no and i choose that to keep CWM recovery manager instead of the stock recovery manager. Maybe i should have let the update install the stock recovery manager...
Now i knew ahead of time that if this update worked I was going to loose root but again I didn't think it was that big of a deal since I could just re-root my phone and I would be on a newer Android version. I looked around for the best rooting option and I wanted to use Chainfire's CF-AutoRoot exploit but I know that if you do not have the bootloader unlocked that there is a chance of bricking your phone. So after some research (which i should have done before i updated my phone!) i saw that there was an exploit out called "saferoot.zip" and that you could root your phone running a windows.bat file or a shell script if you are in Linux. Even though the program is for SGS4 many users on XDA with SGS3 phones reported success with "saferoot". So i tried saferoot 2 times with no luck. Finally on the third attempt (3rd times a charm!) i was able to root my phone and SuperSU was able to "disable KNOX".
So i now had my Verizon SGS3 updated from Android 4.1.2 to Android 4.3 and I had successfully re-rooted my phone. I was feeling good...
Until I wanted to make sure that CWM Recovery Manager was still on my phone. I opened up the app "quickboot" and choose to boot into Recovery Manager this is where the trouble began...
When my phone booted into recovery mode i saw a big Yellow Triangle. Under this very scary yellow triangle it said that "Verizon has detected unauthorized software on this phone. Please turn off the phone and take it into your nearest verizon store". Other something along those lines...
I thought I was in big trouble...
I could not get the phone out of recovery mode. I tried pulling the battery but every time my phone rebooted it just kept going back into recovery mode. The trick to get out recovery mode was to hold down Volume Down + Home for a few seconds then press the power button. This brought me to a new menu and i was able to hit "cancel" on installing a new OS and it rebooted my phone back to its normal state.
So finally here is my questions...
Question 1: I know i need to unlock my bootloader again. After you apply an OTA update it re-locks your bootloader right? Does anyone know of a method of unlocking the bootloader with the Verizon (d2vzw) SGS3 baseband version I535VRUCML1 running on Android 4.3?
Before when my phone was running 4.1.2 I unlocked the bootloader with Odin and the app EZ-UNLOCK but i don't think EZ-UNLOCK is going to work with Android 4.3
Question 2: Is there a way to get rid of that message about Verizon has detected unauthorized software on this phone? Now I know that ChainFire has a Yellow Triangle Away app on the Google Play store and I will happily buy it but I know that in order for it to work you first must have your bootloader unlocked right? If i try to use that app with my bootloader in a locked state i could brick my phone permanently right?
Is there possibly any file or exploit i can flash with either Odin or the app "Flashify" so that I can unlock my bootloader. Has anyone here tried unlocking their bootloader on their SGS3 running 4.3 with the app "EZ-UNLOCK" ?
I am very concerned about damaging my phone which is a company work phone so if i mess it up i will be in deep trouble...
Oh, one last question...
Question 3: Since i got that yellow triangle message about unauthorized software when i tried to boot into recovery mode could it have possible been because CWM recovery was somehow deleted with the OTA update? After i was able to get out of recovery mode I used the app "ROM Manager" to install CWM Recovery Again hoping that I might have a recovery manager... Now ROM Manager says that CWM Touch was installed successfully but I am not sure since I am kind of scared to boot into recovery mode again until I unlock this bootloader.
If my recovery manager is being blocked until I get my bootloader unlocked could i use the app "flashify" if i need to flash any files?
I know my situation might be a bit unusual but I am really going to need some help on this and someones expertise advice.
I hope to hear from someone soon...
XDA Members, have a great New Years and make 2014 count!
I thank you all for your time and assistance.
-droidshadow

After accepting the 4.3 OTA, your bootloader is locked and there is no way to unlock it. My suggestion to you would be to grab the 4.3 ODIN file, reflash to 100% stock, root using saferoot, debloat as wanted, and hope for the best.
Probably not what you wanted to hear, but there is no way to unlock the bootloader once taking the 4.3 OTA. Attempting to do so will brick the phone.

well that stinks...
podspi said:
After accepting the 4.3 OTA, your bootloader is locked and there is no way to unlock it. My suggestion to you would be to grab the 4.3 ODIN file, reflash to 100% stock, root using saferoot, unbloat as wanted, and hope for the best.
Probably not what you wanted to hear, but there is no way to unlock the bootloader once taking the 4.3 OTA. Attempting to do so will brick the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only reason that I even attempted the upgrade is because next week I am going to purchasing the smart watch from the Samsung Galaxy Gear. For that watch (you can make calls from the watch) you need the upgrade to pair my SGS3 with my smartwatch when I get it next week.
Now this OTA update is quite new so that means that there still might be a chance to unlock the bootloader eventually when someone works it out right?
Big question:
Is it still possible to have CWM or TWRP with this 4.3 OTA update?
Thanks for the reply.
-droidshadow

droidshadow said:
The only reason that I even attempted the upgrade is because next week I am going to purchasing the smart watch from the Samsung Galaxy Gear. For that watch (you can make calls from the watch) you need the upgrade to pair my SGS3 with my smartwatch when I get it next week.
Now this OTA update is quite new so that means that there still might be a chance to unlock the bootloader eventually when someone works it out right?
Big question:
Is it still possible to have CWM or TWRP with this 4.3 OTA update?
Thanks for the reply.
-droidshadow
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To bad you took the ota. There is a twrp flashable rom for stock 4.3. And no you can not have custom recovery.

droidshadow said:
Okay so today i decided to go ahead and check for an OTA update on my stock (rooted) SGS3...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's no need to read any further than that.... Sorry to be another bearer of bad news, but if a phone is rooted and you want it to stay that way, "OTA" should be a term that you never, ever, ever even think about !

The S4 boot loader has been locked down with Knox longer than the S3 has, and no one has cracked it yet. I'd say the chances of this boot loader being cracked wide open are slim to none. If unlocking this boot loader were as simple as using EZ unlock 1.2, it would have been written about all over these and all forums.
Sent from the Shark Tank using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

so what entails for the future of samsung phones?
landshark68 said:
The S4 boot loader has been locked down with Knox longer than the S3 has, and no one has cracked it yet. I'd say the chances of this boot loader being cracked wide open are slim to none. If unlocking this boot loader were as simple as using EZ unlock 1.2, it would have been written about all over these and all forums.
Sent from the Shark Tank using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So what is the going to happen to the future of Samsung Phones? Are we no longer going to be able to put custom ROM's and custom Recovery Managers on Samsung Phones?
Will KitKat + SELinux + Knox no longer allow us to enjoy the true beauty of Android? I think that is major BS.
So what are our options now? Are we going to simply have to choose different phones like future Google Nexus phones? I love Samsung phones and I love having the options of flashing custom roms or reverting back to stock and I really really love CWM recovery or TWRP recovery.
These phones are our property...
I understand that the software and the code is Samsung's or Verizon's yet we should be able to do what we want to our property. Could you imagine if Toyota or Chevy said that after you purchased one of their cars you could never paint it a different color or add custom rims + wheels! That would be ridiculous... It is the same concept here really.
It is really sad that Samsung and Mobile carriers such as Verizon have resorted to this...
-droidshadow

droidshadow said:
So what is the going to happen to the future of Samsung Phones? Are we no longer going to be able to put custom ROM's and custom Recovery Managers on Samsung Phones?
Will KitKat + SELinux + Knox no longer allow us to enjoy the true beauty of Android? I think that is major BS.
So what are our options now? Are we going to simply have to choose different phones like future Google Nexus phones? I love Samsung phones and I love having the options of flashing custom roms or reverting back to stock and I really really love CWM recovery or TWRP recovery.
These phones are our property...
I understand that the software and the code is Samsung's or Verizon's yet we should be able to do what we want to our property. Could you imagine if Toyota or Chevy said that after you purchased one of their cars you could never paint it a different color or add custom rims + wheels! That would be ridiculous... It is the same concept here really.
It is really sad that Samsung and Mobile carriers such as Verizon have resorted to this...
-droidshadow
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Difference is though, if you were to somehow screw up your car by customizing it you wouldn't try to take it back to the dealership and get a new car under a warranty claim. I would have to think at least part of the reason phone manufacturers and mobile carriers are locking down phones is all the "warranty" claims people are submitting after screwing up while rooting and flashing their phones. Warranty claims are for inherent manufacturer defects, not a hard brick from flashing the wrong software. If more people took responsibility for their mistakes and bought a new phone instead of making the carriers or manufacturers pay for their mistakes, perhaps this wouldn't be happening. I'm not saying absolutely, just perhaps. OK, I'll get off my soapbox now. Happy New Year everyone.

Different animal. You own the hardware, but the providers have the right to control the firmware since it can change how the phone interacts with the network.
Just like the firmware in your cars computer. The manufacturer and the federal government have control over what went in. Modifying it can be done, but it is a violation of EPA emission laws.
Modifying the paint, tires, rims etc is like putting a different case, bling etc on your phone
Your phone needs to have the 4.3 odin tar installed to clean the recovery.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

droidshadow said:
So what is the going to happen to the future of Samsung Phones? Are we no longer going to be able to put custom ROM's and custom Recovery Managers on Samsung Phones?
These phones are our property...
It is really sad that Samsung and Mobile carriers such as Verizon have resorted to this...
-droidshadow
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its really Verizon, They have had many Moto and HTC phones with locked bootloaders , unless Verizon unlocks it, it won't be cracked.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2586319
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

DigitalMD said:
Its really Verizon, They have had many Moto and HTC phones with locked bootloaders , unless Verizon unlocks it, it won't be cracked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know but still i think it should be our choice! While there are millions of us out there that love to customize the software on our phone's by adding new recovery managers or custom rom's we are a small population to the rest of the stock phone using world...
Insurance companies make big bucks by all the people who never file a claim...but i won't get into that.
Many of you have made excellent points and i respect that. I especially liked the comparison of car rims to phone cases i thought that was great!
Hopefully someone will work it out soon or some how an unlocked bootloader will get leaked.
Come one Verizon developers! Leak it! We wont tell!
I was planning on getting the NOTE 3 but i doubt that phone comes with an unlocked bootloader so this d2vzw (sgs3) will most likely be my last samsung phone that I ever buy. I guess i will have to stick with the Nexus phones... I am going to miss micro sdcards!
-droidshadow

droidshadow said:
I know but still i think it should be our choice! While there are millions of us out there that love to customize the software on our phone's by adding new recovery managers or custom rom's we are a small population to the rest of the stock phone using world...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Having that debate at this site is kinda silly.... Fact is, "we" will lose the fight against the carriers and/or manufacturers as it stands. The only way to really impact them is to STOP giving them our money, but you know what ? The number of people who "hack" their phones is a tiny percentage in the grand scheme. We'd probably get a "good riddance" response from them anyway.

droidshadow said:
So what is the going to happen to the future of Samsung Phones? Are we no longer going to be able to put custom ROM's and custom Recovery Managers on Samsung Phones?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's correct and.... read on.
So what are our options now? Are we going to simply have to choose different phones like future Google Nexus phones?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That could be the only solution. I believe the success that Samsung/Verizon have had with locking down their phones will soon result in ALL phones on ALL carriers being locked down with little or no possibility of rooting or flashing.
I suspect we've seen the end of modifying any phone on any network. I sure hope I'm wrong....

It would be a shame....
xs11e said:
I suspect we've seen the end of modifying any phone on any network. I sure hope I'm wrong....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just rooted and got into CM in the last month. Got rid of all the bloat and installed some neat little apps. And now, just when I get hooked, it's possible that my drug of choice may be going away.

hey there guys, i know this post is a little old, but i just wanted to share my story real quickly with you and to reiterate that messing with the boot loader on an sch-i535 running 4.3 is a HORRIBLE idea.
this is the first phone i have ever tried to root. i successfully rooted the phone, immediately i tried to run cwm recovery. HARDBRICK. i was so proud for all of five minutes that i rooted a phone on my first try. The phone would not power on in ANY mode. i could only get a red light to come on by plugging my phone into my computer with the battery out of the phone. after three days and alot of reading and some help from xda i managed to (amazingly) debrick my phone. I am now very VERY cautious of what i do with my rooted sch-i535 with its HORRIBLE 4.3 crap.
If you are truly hardbricked, im told that jigs (despite what is all over the internet) will not work. (maybe they do but a shop in texas told me a hardbrick will not revive by jig).
JTAG is the most dependable repair.
I revived my phone via debrick image on an sd card.
Bottom line, do everything you can to avoid the situation in the first place.

Never take updates. I unlocked boot loader on 4.3 with ez-unlock app booted into recovery and hard bricked my phone... The fun is over after 4.3...Had to send it to Tampa fl. To get JTAG and it worked.

droidshadow said:
So what is the going to happen to the future of Samsung Phones? Are we no longer going to be able to put custom ROM's and custom Recovery Managers on Samsung Phones?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's correct, given the amount of time the Devs have had to find a way to unlock the bootloader on the S3 and S4 w/o success, I believe it's hopeless.
Worse, I believe Samsung will share their technology and ALL cell phones will eventually have locked boot loaders and be un-rootable, un-flashable and, to me, at least, un-desirable!
I sincerely hope I'm wrong but I believe in a year or two any cellphone will be locked down to whatever software is installed at time of purchase.

xs11e said:
That's correct, given the amount of time the Devs have had to find a way to unlock the bootloader on the S3 and S4 w/o success, I believe it's hopeless.
Worse, I believe Samsung will share their technology and ALL cell phones will eventually have locked boot loaders and be un-rootable, un-flashable and, to me, at least, un-desirable!
I sincerely hope I'm wrong but I believe in a year or two any cellphone will be locked down to whatever software is installed at time of purchase.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How's the fun over??? Haha I've seen this same junk many times... I'm running 4.3 rooted. Safestrapped (cwmis garbage) alliance 23 build ROM CSC & build prop tweaks on sch-i535v on straightalk att side. Knox removed manually by me. All bands open except domestic 3g. (Working on it now).
So the funs over? I'm confused.. And how is that? Lol take your time. Research. Learn. Adapt. Achieve. If it can be locked. It can be unlocked. I've yet to run across a phone that I couldn't bring back from the supposed "hard brick" but I did find one I COULDNT brick on purpose. And I threw everything at it. Huwaei m8665 I think it was. I tried for two days to brick that little piece of junk, and not even wrong roots etc could. Lol

An0nYm0u5.bat said:
How's the fun over??? Haha I've seen this same junk many times... I'm running 4.3 rooted. Safestrapped (cwmis garbage) alliance 23 build ROM CSC & build prop tweaks on sch-i535v on straightalk att side. Knox removed manually by me. All bands open except domestic 3g. (Working on it now).
So the funs over? I'm confused.. And how is that? Lol take your time. Research. Learn. Adapt. Achieve. If it can be locked. It can be unlocked. I've yet to run across a phone that I couldn't bring back from the supposed "hard brick" but I did find one I COULDNT brick on purpose. And I threw everything at it. Huwaei m8665 I think it was. I tried for two days to brick that little piece of junk, and not even wrong roots etc could. Lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you if there is a way to lock it there is a way to unlock it.
is just a matter of time some smart brain will figure it out how to and share LOL

[Q] Bricked (Not sure if Soft or Hard)?

Hey Guys,
So I'm an idiot. I rooted a tablet 2 years ago and thought that made me the bees knees. Now I can't get past a "system software not authorized by verizon wireless has been found on your phone" screen.
What I did:
-Got Root with TowelRoot
-Downloaded Clockwork Rom Manager
-From that, downloaded CWM recovery for my device (from their app's UI)
It was at this point that I thought things were going to be easy. I'd be able to root and run my own rom without struggling for 3 days like I did with my tablet.
Unfortunately, I think I failed to unlock my bootloader. I can't figure out a way to get passed this screen.
I've downloaded Odin in hopes of being able to fix it , but the phone won't even show up on my PC now.
I started going through this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2581166 thread, but I was curious if I'm even trying to solve the right problem.
Does anyone know if someone has already helped someone through this same issue in a thread? I'm at a loss and wish I hadn't touched anything on my phone.
I would really appreciate any pushes in the right direction. I'm kind of scared. Thanks!

Hmmm, around the 30th time trying to boot it, it gave me an option to cancel and started up the stock OS.
If anyone can point me towards getting around this jail cell, that would be fantastic. I've seen a bit about SafeStrap, but can't find any recent threads on it.

AbortedOne said:
Hmmm, around the 30th time trying to boot it, it gave me an option to cancel and started up the stock OS.
If anyone can point me towards getting around this jail cell, that would be fantastic. I've seen a bit about SafeStrap, but can't find any recent threads on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You soft bricked it. Sadly your on the locked bootloader 4.4.2 NE1 and you can't run a custom recovery like cwm, twrp or so on. Your only option is safestrap. I forget off hand what you have to do. I'll do some quick research
From my CM11 S3

ShapesBlue said:
You soft bricked it. Sadly your on the locked bootloader 4.4.2 NE1 and you can't run a custom recovery like cwm, twrp or so on. Your only option is safestrap. I forget off hand what you have to do. I'll do some quick research
From my CM11 S3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks man! I struggled through most of the night and I think I figured everything out. Installed a slim rom via safestrap. Just moved that to the stock partition/slot because I noticed my battery was dropping like crazy.
Do we know if Verizon will be locking all bootloaders going forward, or if there will be any development towards roms that can work with it?
I wasn't sure how to close this thread either

AbortedOne said:
Thanks man! I struggled through most of the night and I think I figured everything out. Installed a slim rom via safestrap. Just moved that to the stock partition/slot because I noticed my battery was dropping like crazy.
Do we know if Verizon will be locking all bootloaders going forward, or if there will be any development towards roms that can work with it?
I wasn't sure how to close this thread either
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For the most part they will of course try to lock down most phones, the most current phones that have been unlocked are the M8 and the G3 thanks to the development team over on there respected forums. The nexus 6 should also come with an unlocked bootloader but verizon will mess with that one as well somehow
From my CM11 S3

Damn I screwed up. What's needed to fix it?

I noticed after taking one of the lineage updates I lost root. I tried to reroot with odin and managed to pork my phone quite good. It took me until about now to get it rooted, unlocked and finally TWRP loaded. Recovery was fighting me the most. Refused to install in odin. I finally got a working rom on it so it would boot. Used casual to root and unlock but TWRP failed in that as well. I finally tried a TWRP app (not the official one, I couldn't get that to work) and I may have my phone back now. Waiting to see if my backup is going to work. Welp, it didn't like the restore and I got the ! triangle saying go back to verizon.
While I was looking through my drives I noticed I have a ton of files but don't know exactly what they are. I've had this phone since I pre-ordered it so at one time the files were valid. What files exactly do I need to totally unpork a phone? I have odin 3.07, the VRALEC bootchain, the VRALF one but odin says it's invalid, and a file called combination_I535VRALG1_I535VZWALG1_743127_REV09_user_low_ship. Using them I can get my phone back to seemingly stock.
Is there a better way? Or at least a way to totally start from scratch and hopefully get lineage back on? I know not to take any of the OTAs since they will relock the bootloader. I don't like that it seemed that it was going to automatically install the update but I'll just keep the phone off until I can sort it. I also have a bunch of other files across 3 computers so if there is a file that's needed but isn't posted somewhere there is a chance I might have it already.
I've been searching for the past day and I've found tons of info but some things don't work and some only kinda work. Any help would be much appreciated.

More info: I am on 4.04 so the bootloader should not be locked. The phone is beat up and the USB connector is wonky. Only a few cables will work and I have to make sure it doesn't move or it will disconnect. It does mention that the secureboot is enabled in download.
I've had it rooted, running a stockish rom and managed to get TWRP on it but when I went to restore my lineage backup, it all went to hell.

So I'm now having issues with the bootloader. ON the download screen it says custom binary download yes (5 counts), Current binary samsung official, system status official and secureboot enable. Pretty sure that means casual didn't work. I have root but not bootloader. Is there another option than casual? I've seen ez unlock 1.2 mentioned but the links are dead.
Why am I remembering flashing something in stock recovery? It's been a long, long time since I've gone back this far. I feel like I'm close since I saw the unlocked screen last night but restoring screwed that all up.

This doesn't make sense. I installed TWRP but it still says the same as above leading me to think my bootloader is not unlocked. I don't get the unlocked boot screen either.
How can I install TWRP with a locked bootloader?

Well it's obious that I can get root, install TWRP but for some reason casual will not unlock the bootloader. I can't seem to find the old thread nor any files to just unlock the bootloader. I know somehow I did it last night as I saw the unlocked screen it's just damned if I can do it now. It must have been another file I had at home but don't have here on the laptop.
It's damn frustrating since this time yesterday I had a working phone running nougat and my dumb ass broke it.
I know this forum is a bit dead, as expected for a 5 year old phone but hopefully someone will see this and have some sage like advice.

Turns out It takes almost a week and a mixture of 3-4 guides here. Some Odin, some Casual, some TWRP flashing and luck. FInally I'm back to where I was before I hit the wrong button.