Hi all, made an account in anticipation of my night spent mucking around with my new Galaxy S4 i9507. I had been reading about people who have had success and some who have had less success with getting custom ROMs on their devices. None said what methods they used, so I decided to compile together what I did today.
UPDATE 3/6/14
I installed a snapshot of CM 11 (KitKat) onto my device with little issues. I'll update this guide with the links to that firmware, and also update the existing links because of changes CyanogenMod made to how they aggregate their S4 devices now. They are treating them all as derivatives of 'jftle', so basically one firmware fits all devices, including the i9507! (even if not official yet).
Please read the bottom of this post if you wish to install KitKat on your device.
CUSTOM FIRMWARE ON SAMSUNG GALAXY S4 i9507 - Aus/HK
Tonight I have managed to root the device's stock firmware (I have the Australian Optus/Virgin device); install ClockworkMod Recovery on the stock firmware, and then use it to install CyanogenMod 10.2.0 (jfltexx) on the device.
If you're looking to root this device, I found that by treating it essentially as an international i9505 I was able to fulfil all three of the things I mentioned above.
UPDATE: THIS WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY AND RESULT IN 'KNOX WARRANTY VOID 0x1' BEING DISPLAYED WHEN YOU ENTER DOWNLOAD MODE ON THE DEVICE. PLEASE BE SURE YOU ARE OKAY WITH THIS HAPPENING BEFORE TRYING THIS FOR YOURSELF. AS IT STANDS, KNOX CANNOT BE RESET, IT IS AT A HARDWARE LEVEL.
[ROOT i9507]
Using Chainfire's guide to CF-Auto-Root in the Galaxy S 4 i9505 Original Android Development section of this forum; I was able to root my device despite it being an i9507. Being a new user, I wasn't sure exactly what things to test out whether the root worked/was permanent, but I did install AdBlock Plus and it asked me for Superuser privileges, then proceeded to work. I also restarted the device and tested whether the root was still present; it was.
[INSTALL CLOCKWORKMOD]
I decided to install CyanogenMod as I have heard from friends that have it; and read online about it being one of the more stable custom ROMs available. It has been a while since I last owned an Android device! So, continuing with my theme of treating this device as being an international i9505, I obtained CM 10.2.0, a stable release of the jfltexx CM, based on from their website (as of December 2013, this was the most recent). Their custom installer app on Windows did not support my phone, so I had to use their guide for manual installation.
Their guide contained steps to installing ClockworkMod Recovery as well as the ROM installation. Following the guide, I installed it without a hitch. When rebooting the phone from ClockworkMod, it prompted me about the fact that the phone may reflash its own recovery tool, but this did not happen. Once again, a success.
[INSTALL CYANOGENMOD]
The last task was to install CM. This was quite an endeavour as I decided to use someone else's Windows 8 laptop (being the only Windows device I had access to at the time) and I forgot how much of a struggle it can be! Again, I used CM's guide to installing 10.2.0 (which by the way is Android 4.3.1, whereas the stock firmware is bloated and heavy at 4.2.2). This went off without a hitch once I reminded myself how the ADT works. I also did as CM suggested and installed the Google Apps pack alongside the ROM.
So, currently this is where I'm at. The device boots and reboots fine. Some users in certain threads had issues with loading 4.4 (KitKat) ROMs or custom ROMs that they didn't allude to the names of, so I don't know if they were having issues with CM or not. There are other threads, but that was the one that kickstarted my attempts to get this all to work. Their issues with the custom ROMs seemed to be related to the 4.4 ROM not recognising the modem of the i9507; I'm not sure why this is but the i9507 was made specifically for Australian/Hong Kong networks so perhaps 4.4 has not been updated yet or something of the like. Anyway, on 4.3.1, or CM 10.2.0, my SMS, calling, and internet are working fine (it displays Virgin Mobile as my carrier). My 4G reception is somewhat iffy in this town (or in particular my house), and the reception seems to be switching between 3G and H so whether that is indicative of 4G not working, I'm not sure. LTE is definitely checked in the settings, however, and my area does have 4G, but my parents' iPhone 5Ss sometimes do not have 4G in this house either. I'll report back tomorrow after having tested the phone for a day to see if the 4G does activate.
As it stands, however, the phone seems to be functioning well. Oddly the Settings report that the phone is an i9505, I assume that's normal as I'm using a ROM for that particular phone!
[CONCLUSION]
So, I hope that anyone who has been looking for a way to remove the carrier/Samsung bloat from their i9507 device will have a good time using the guides I've used. I followed them to the letter and I had no issues.
DISCLAIMER: I had no troubles, but that's not to say you won't either. Please be careful, as you may potentially risk affecting your phone negatively. I'm simply telling you what I did, not giving you a 100% correct and flawless guide that will work no matter what.
Also if you're looking for a 4.4 ROM then you might be out of luck, least till some dev or coder takes notice of this device's existence and helps out to develop a specific way of rooting this phone/installing custom ROMs for this phone. Overall though, it seems to all work fine so perhaps the 4.3.1 CM isn't such a bad thing.
If you try this and want the original firmware back on your phone, use this link. I believe that OPS is the Australian firmware, the other one is for Hong Kong. So, for the second link, HK is Hong Kong, and the one without is for Aus.
UPDATE 3/6/14
I've successfully managed to install a Nightly build of CM 11, based on KitKat. Read my latest post in this forum for more info. I essentially found that upgrading from within the phone itself caused a number of issues so I did a fresh flash. Please note that such a flash of a new OS wipes all personal data but not things like images, videos, etc. I lost all my contacts, SMS, browsing history, apps etc. But my Gallery, Downloads folder, etc remained intact.
I followed my guide to flashing the phone again, but I used a Nightly build of CM 11, based on KitKat. As I write this, there are actually stable versions of CM that you can use in place of the CM 10.2.0 I used in the above guide. If you follow those steps but use this firmware you'll find no issue. Feel free to use CM's guide, but don't, under any circumstances, forget to flash Google Apps to your phone!!!
If you need a hand or want a question answered, feel free to post here and I'll do my best to help you out. Thanks!
kaiserwatson said:
Hi all, made an account in anticipation of my night spent mucking around with my new Galaxy S4 i9507. I had been reading about people who have had success and some who have had less success with getting custom ROMs on their devices. None said what methods they used, so I decided to compile together what I did today.
Tonight I have managed to root the device's stock firmware (I have the Australian Optus/Virgin device); install ClockworkMod Recovery on the stock firmware, and then use it to install CyanogenMod 10.2.0 (jfltexx) on the device.
If you're looking to root this device, I found that by treating it essentially as an international i9505 I was able to fulfill all three of the things I mentioned above.
[ROOT i9507]
Using Chainfire's guide to CF-Auto-Root in the Galaxy S 4 i9505 Original Android Development section of this forum; I was able to root my device despite it being an i9507. Being a new user, I wasn't sure exactly what things to test out whether the root worked/was permanent, but I did install AdBlock Plus and it asked me for Superuser privileges, then proceeded to work. I also restarted the device and tested whether the root was still present; it was.
[INSTALL CLOCKWORKMOD]
I decided to install CyanogenMod as I have heard from friends that have it; and read online about it being one of the more stable custom ROMs available. It has been a while since I last owned an Android device! So, continuing with my theme of treating this device as being an international i9505, I obtained the latest stable release of the jfltexx CM from their website (it was the most recent stable release at the time, may be out of date by the time you get to doing this yourself). Their custom installer app on Windows did not support my phone, so I had to use their guide for manual installation.
Their guide contained steps to installing ClockworkMod Recovery as well as the ROM installation. Following the guide, I installed it without a hitch. When rebooting the phone from ClockworkMod, it prompted me about the fact that the phone may reflash its own recovery tool, but this did not happen. Once again, a success.
[INSTALL CYANOGENMOD]
The last task was to install CM. This was quite an endeavour as I decided to use someone else's Windows 8 laptop (being the only Windows device I had access to at the time) and I forgot how much of a struggle it can be! Again, I used CM's guide to installing 10.2.0 (which by the way is Android 4.3.1, whereas the stock firmware is bloated and heavy at 4.2.2). This went off without a hitch once I reminded myself how the ADT works. I also did as CM suggested and installed the Google Apps pack alongside the ROM.
So, currently this is where I'm at. The device boots and reboots fine. Some users in certain threads had issues with loading 4.4 (KitKat) ROMs or custom ROMs that they didn't allude to the names of, so I don't know if they were having issues with CM or not. There are other threads, but that was the one that kickstarted my attempts to get this all to work. Their issues with the custom ROMs seemed to be related to the 4.4 ROM not recognising the modem of the i9507; I'm not sure why this is but the i9507 was made specifically for Australian/Hong Kong networks so perhaps 4.4 has not been updated yet or something of the like. Anyway, on 4.3.1, or CM 10.2.0, my SMS, calling, and internet are working fine (it displays Virgin Mobile as my carrier). My 4G reception is somewhat iffy in this town (or in particular my house), and the reception seems to be switching between 3G and H so whether that is indicative of 4G not working, I'm not sure. LTE is definitely checked in the settings, however, and my area does have 4G, but my parents' iPhone 5Ss sometimes do not have 4G in this house either. I'll report back tomorrow after having tested the phone for a day to see if the 4G does activate.
As it stands, however, the phone seems to be functioning well. Oddly the Settings report that the phone is an i9505, I assume that's normal as I'm using a ROM for that particular phone!
[CONCLUSION]
So, I hope that anyone who has been looking for a way to remove the carrier/Samsung bloat from their i9507 device will have a good time using the guides I've used. I followed them to the letter and I had no issues.
DISCLAIMER: I had no troubles, but that's not to say you won't either. Please be careful, as you may potentially risk affecting your phone negatively. I'm simply telling you what I did, not giving you a 100% correct and flawless guide that will work no matter what.
Also if you're looking for a 4.4 ROM then you might be out of luck, least till some dev or coder takes notice of this device's existence and helps out to develop a specific way of rooting this phone/installing custom ROMs for this phone. Overall though, it seems to all work fine so perhaps the 4.3.1 CM isn't such a bad thing.
If you try this and want the original firmware back on your phone, use this link or this one. I believe that OPS is the Australian firmware, the other one is for Hong Kong. So, for the second link, HK is Hong Kong, and the one without is for Aus.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I'll post later tomorrow when I've tested the phone for a day to see if it's still working, and to see if the 4G/LTE does actually work. Fingers crossed nothing goes wrong in the meantime!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had my i-9507 rooted for about a month now with foxhound rom, also on the optus variant.
One thing i've noted is, its next to impossible to update the MODEM for it.
I think because our latest modem for this variant is the one we have stock. And new updates haven't been put in terms of modem specifically for our variant yet.
We should keep this thread stickied for Australian OPTUS GT-i9507 discussion.
OR open up a sub forum for it.
kaiserwatson said:
I'll post later tomorrow when I've tested the phone for a day to see if it's still working, and to see if the 4G/LTE does actually work. Fingers crossed nothing goes wrong in the meantime!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Firstly, thank you for creating this complete description of your experiences with customising the i9507.
Secondly, just wanted confirmation that you do now have the pesky "KNOX WARRANTY VOID: 0x1" displayed when your device is in Download mode, right?
Lastly, any updates, issues? All still working, including 4G/LTE?
Hey sorry its been more than a day, I've been swamped with work, that Christmas time feel.
I do have the Knox 0x1, which I assume means my warranty is void. There's conjecture as to whether that will actually affect warranty for this device in Australia, as I've read up on the Knox system but i think the ACCC would have serious issues with this system actually affecting the warranty. But yes, it would seem my warranty is void, let's hope the phone lasts two years!
I have been able to access 4G, the phone says 4G or LTE, sometimes switching between the two. Again, the reception in the town I'm currently staying in is pisspoor so I can't say for certain whether the antenna/modem is fully functioning to the degree it would be on the stock firmware, but I can definitely access the Optus 4G network.
One issue I did have was that I sent an SMS then immediately turned my screen off, 40 minutes later the message was still 'sending'. I have recreated the same scenario but I haven't been able to get it to happen again, perhaps just a weird tower-side quirk. I know people were having issues with the modem and the phone sleeping but this doesn't seem to be related. Overall I'm really happy with how this has all gone. My battery life has been increased by at least 40% and the phone is so much faster. Very pleased.
kaiserwatson said:
Hey sorry its been more than a day, I've been swamped with work, that Christmas time feel.
I do have the Knox 0x1, which I assume means my warranty is void. There's conjecture as to whether that will actually affect warranty for this device in Australia, as I've read up on the Knox system but i think the ACCC would have serious issues with this system actually affecting the warranty. But yes, it would seem my warranty is void, let's hope the phone lasts two years!
I have been able to access 4G, the phone says 4G or LTE, sometimes switching between the two. Again, the reception in the town I'm currently staying in is pisspoor so I can't say for certain whether the antenna/modem is fully functioning to the degree it would be on the stock firmware, but I can definitely access the Optus 4G network.
One issue I did have was that I sent an SMS then immediately turned my screen off, 40 minutes later the message was still 'sending'. I have recreated the same scenario but I haven't been able to get it to happen again, perhaps just a weird tower-side quirk. I know people were having issues with the modem and the phone sleeping but this doesn't seem to be related. Overall I'm really happy with how this has all gone. My battery life has been increased by at least 40% and the phone is so much faster. Very pleased.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That occurs because the modem signal cuts out after you switch your phone off, or lock it.
This issue can be resolved by updating our modems, but with our current variant we can't update it yet apparently, until the correct new modem for our specific variant has been released.
Hi guys,
I thought I would also post here.
I have the optus 9507 and I tried a couple of different kitkat 4.4 roms. They all worked perfectly except for the fact that they lost data completely as soon as the phone went to sleep. the weird thing is, the phone showed 0 bars but i could take calls just fine, just had data issues.
i tried the slimkat rom and the echoe rom with the same issue
i went back to stock firmware, rooted, ran a debloat script i found on xda, removed a bunch more apps, then unrooted again because i need to run good for enterprise for work.
im getting decent battery life with the debloated stock rom but i would like to move to 4.4 if theres a rom that works. ive been watching the optus and sammobile site hoping there will be a newer modem for the hk version because i think optus will take their time releasing 4.3 for this model.
kaiserwatson said:
Hi all, made an account in anticipation of my night spent mucking around with my new Galaxy S4 i9507. I had been reading about people who have had success and some who have had less success with getting custom ROMs on their devices. None said what methods they used, so I decided to compile together what I did today.
Tonight I have managed to root the device's stock firmware (I have the Australian Optus/Virgin device); install ClockworkMod Recovery on the stock firmware, and then use it to install CyanogenMod 10.2.0 (jfltexx) on the device.
......
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your experience sharing,
I also started with Cyanogen and shared about the same experience.
Just didn't know the Knox thing before I started.. should had read up more before doing it.
So you did the Recovery with Heimdall also? What has made you switch to the customized Rom camp
kaiserwatson said:
Hey sorry its been more than a day, I've been swamped with work, that Christmas time feel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, no worries at all, anyone who works weekends can take all the time they need...
But yes, it would seem my warranty is void, let's hope the phone lasts two years!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, I've done some reading also and you're right, it seems to be all conjecture, I really doubt handset warranty refusal can be based on the KNOX Warranty chip. I think the Samsung Enterprise Security Group VP explains it well here.
Overall I'm really happy with how this has all gone. My battery life has been increased by at least 40% and the phone is so much faster. Very pleased.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great to hear, based on this I can ge ahead and 'burn out' my eFuse, happy in the knowledge that my Knox warranty has gone to a good cause. :fingers-crossed:
---------- Post added at 08:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:40 PM ----------
opelcalibra said:
then unrooted again because i need to run good for enterprise for work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can only assume your "enterprise for work" has nothing to do with KNOX, right? Coz that option would be closed for you now...
CuriosityBrah said:
That occurs because the modem signal cuts out after you switch your phone off, or lock it.
This issue can be resolved by updating our modems, but with our current variant we can't update it yet apparently, until the correct new modem for our specific variant has been released.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That odd message not sending was the only issue I've had with this sort of thing; I can still download things, receive messages and calls just fine while my phone is sleeping, how do you know if the modem signal is cutting off? Perhaps it's just a selective thing, not sure. Don't know how to test if it's happening to me because it doesn't seem to be, lol.
opelcalibra said:
I have the optus 9507 and I tried a couple of different kitkat 4.4 roms. They all worked perfectly except for the fact that they lost data completely as soon as the phone went to sleep. the weird thing is, the phone showed 0 bars but i could take calls just fine, just had data issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey mate if you check the forum that I linked to the Knox issue; someone on there posted a fix for sound/WiFi issues post-Knox voiding, maybe that fix'll work for you. Sorry I can't link you to the exact post but it was about 10-20 pages in.
opelcalibra said:
i went back to stock firmware, rooted, ran a debloat script i found on xda, removed a bunch more apps, then unrooted again because i need to run good for enterprise for work.
im getting decent battery life with the debloated stock rom but i would like to move to 4.4 if theres a rom that works. ive been watching the optus and sammobile site hoping there will be a newer modem for the hk version because i think optus will take their time releasing 4.3 for this model.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I reckon they'll take ages, they have pretty much left everyone who's getting this phone in the next couple of months in the dark because of the (as I can tell) severe lack of devs etc in Aus who have Samsung phones and are willing to hack them to the ****. I wish I could help out somehow, but I don't have the time to learn so I figured I'd help out by putting up my experiences. I'm still learning as I go haha.
As for your KitKat problem, I have read that 4.4 didn't do so well in terms of battery life and bloat, what are your reasons for wanting to go to it? I wanted the most recent build also but I figured that if they're still having issues with it then it was better to go with something I knew would work (ie. 4.3.1).
phileasx said:
Thanks for your experience sharing,
I also started with Cyanogen and shared about the same experience.
Just didn't know the Knox thing before I started.. should had read up more before doing it.
So you did the Recovery with Heimdall also? What has made you switch to the customized Rom camp
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I followed the Windows process on the CM wiki to the letter, so yeah I did the Heimdall also.
Mate legitimately I went from my stock firmware taking up so much space on the hard drive to the real lightweight CM, seeing as I haven't bought a micro SD yet that was a big deal. Also battery life was a major reason for me buying the S4 so to be able to further improve it is just hella.
siganid said:
Hey, no worries at all, anyone who works weekends can take all the time they need...
Yea, I've done some reading also and you're right, it seems to be all conjecture, I really doubt handset warranty refusal can be based on the KNOX Warranty chip. I think the Samsung Enterprise Security Group VP explains it well.Great to hear, based on this I can ge ahead and 'burn out' my eFuse, happy in the knowledge that my Knox warranty has gone to a good cause. :fingers-crossed:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In Australia I think we're pretty good. Funny that Samsung and Optus have given us this nice present and it's only a matter of time before someone cracks it open and remains above the warranty voiding
I have read that Knox may be software-based, which would make sense, and maybe it's a matter of time before someone cracks that too. Hehe.
Go ahead, post here if you have any issues and I'll see if I can help you out. What ROM would you be planning on using? A 4.3.x one?
kaiserwatson said:
I followed the Windows process on the CM wiki to the letter, so yeah I did the Heimdall also.
Mate legitimately I went from my stock firmware taking up so much space on the hard drive to the real lightweight CM, seeing as I haven't bought a micro SD yet that was a big deal. Also battery life was a major reason for me buying the S4 so to be able to further improve it is just hella.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welcome to the rom flashing side
After read up more, I realize Odin is a more popular method for Galaxy S4 flashing,
Besides that, Stock rom battery life should also be all right. Samsung did quite some efforts to make the software user friendly.
Anyway, the Bloatware chunk are really irritating have to say.
because i cant keep still i have flashed my phone again lol.
i flashed the official CM 11 (4.4.2) and gapps for kitkat and all is working awesome so far.
no issues with losing signal when going to sleep. seems very fast. right now im happy with it.
Could someone please find new links for the original software posted in the OP?
Links are dead, would be greatly appreciated! =)
Also, Opelcalibra, you have no issues with network/signal on CM 4.4.2 with the Optus i9507?
I better give it a try then lol
RE: Signal issues
Hi,
I also have the AU i9507 Opus S4, I flashed the Omega based 4.4.2 KitKat (i9505 version) and had wifi problems (Greyed out) I tried various fixes and went back to 4.3 based Omega, this had its problems with cell signal being lost when locking the mobile.
I fixed this by going into settings and experimented with mobile networks i.e. Settings, more networks, mobile networks, network mode and tried all 4x options with (for me at least) the GSM ONLY option selected, great rom and worth losing the 4g which is very patchy in my part of Melbourne.
D
Anyone else had any sort of success rooting this phone without tripping Knox.
Also, is it just me, or does it suck pretty hard that we Aussies get stuck with an inferior version of a phone? (Snapdragon 600 in the I9507 vs the 800 in the other international versions)
Update
Hi
Just wondering if anyone has an update on this? Success or otherwise...
One of the main reasons I'm looking to root is to boost volume levels - I find the volume to be way too low. Does anyone know of a way to do that without rooting? Of course I'd like to remove bloatware but could live with it if volume was fixed.
Thanks in advance.
thestuntman80 said:
Anyone else had any sort of success rooting this phone without tripping Knox.
Also, is it just me, or does it suck pretty hard that we Aussies get stuck with an inferior version of a phone? (Snapdragon 600 in the I9507 vs the 800 in the other international versions)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey bro, no one has cracked without tripping Knox yet because as far as I can tell it's a phone specific fix/hack. So, because our phone is a different and 'rare' model, I doubt that the major heads in the Knox-proofing scene (CF comes to mind) will have the time to make a fix for the knox trip. So for now, either suffer in your jocks (QQ) get a different phone (uh, not likely) or wait for the minute chance that someone actually cares about Aussies )
As for your second point, yeah, it does suck. We get shafted with all sorts of things like prices, release dates, localization...the list goes on. Unfortunately the people who make these ploys know we're desparate and will pay the exorbitant prices anyway :/
jameshef said:
Hi
Just wondering if anyone has an update on this? Success or otherwise...
One of the main reasons I'm looking to root is to boost volume levels - I find the volume to be way too low. Does anyone know of a way to do that without rooting? Of course I'd like to remove bloatware but could live with it if volume was fixed.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey mate, the rooting was probably the easiest part of the whole situation. You can follow my guide in the OP if you're having trouble. Just be aware about the warranty issues etc because your audio issue may be hardware related rather than software? Is the volume issue in the headphones or the speaker? Some apps may not utilise the phones full volume and also be sure to go into the settings of the phone and make sure the volume limiter is turned OFF. This **** me to tears for the longest time but once I figured out what the issue was, all good!
The only thing I'd say is just make sure its not a hardware issue because you don't want to root your phone, find out that it wasn't a software issue, take your phone into Samsung and have them tell you that your warranty is voided because you rooted. Obviously that's a worse case scenario but just be on the safe side.
I hope I helped you guys!
kaiserwatson said:
Hey mate, the rooting was probably the easiest part of the whole situation. You can follow my guide in the OP if you're having trouble. Just be aware about the warranty issues etc because your audio issue may be hardware related rather than software? Is the volume issue in the headphones or the speaker? Some apps may not utilise the phones full volume and also be sure to go into the settings of the phone and make sure the volume limiter is turned OFF. This **** me to tears for the longest time but once I figured out what the issue was, all good!
The only thing I'd say is just make sure its not a hardware issue because you don't want to root your phone, find out that it wasn't a software issue, take your phone into Samsung and have them tell you that your warranty is voided because you rooted. Obviously that's a worse case scenario but just be on the safe side.
I hope I helped you guys!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm fairly certain it's a software issue. I've done a fair bit of reading on it and the low volume is a very common complaint about the S4. My volute limiter is turned off - thanks for that tip though!
I'm going to try to root this weekend. I really hope that it works and I don't have any issues with reception dropping when the phone goes to sleep! Feels risky.
I've changed my firmware from Optus to XSA, but am still on 4.2.2, how do I upgrade now?
Kies says I have the latest release.
has anyone got links to newer modem files for this phone? been given one to update it to 4.4, but i know from experience that doing so without at least a 4.4 GSM modem, it wont behave right.
to the people without working wifi after updating: flash the Ktoonz kernel, he has a fix for that.
Hi All,
I recently updated to the new official 4.3 update from optus in order to update my baseband etc.
Then i immediately updated to the i9505 Goldeneye 4.4.2 rom. Ran a ebloat script to get rid of alot of the extras and its running very nicely.
Since updating the modem I get 4g at home which i never did before.
optus rom here
http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/3/?download=27109
flashed via odin (will lose root and custom recovery). re-root and install recovery after flashing this room.
goldeneye rom here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2313469
obviously this will flag knox, mine was flagged long ao
Ok, so my girlfriend currently has a G2.. She got it about a month or so ago, I know her version was 4.2.2. So I looked into rooting and saw that it was possible. I'm coming from a Gnex, so root and rom is important to me. Anyway.. Now I hear that the new AT&T G2's are shipping with 4.4.2? And loki is not working currently with that so there is no way to downgrade and root? Is that the correct understanding? Also, are they shipping with 4.4.2 or is it still just an OTA update they do while in store at AT&T buying one? Because my buddy works at AT&T and if it is just the OTA, I will just have him leave it at 4.2.2 for me and root and rom it from there, since that seems much easier.
Also I saw something about a 838 firmware that currently doesn't support root?
Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks, Chris.
If it comes with 4.4 you can go back to 4.2 through download mode using this, http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2663369 . Then root and install recovery. Check out http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2520419 for some videos on that. Then you can flash a modified stock 4.4 that keeps the 4.2 bootloader and root/recovery intact here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2672931. Or flash any of the many 4.2 4.4 custom roms available. There are other ways to go about this but it works for me. Just takes quite a while to download the files the first time to do it! :laugh: Also, if you decide to do this and go with the stock 4.4 firmware AT&T has a small patch they're pushing now that you'll want to block. You can just freeze the software update using TiBu.
I have been liking my G2 but I would (and will soon) jump to another phone, like the M8 or N6, the dev support is decent but there are some far outstanding issues with this phone and kitkat, seems like something always not working right i.e. hotspot, auto-rotate, volume, process com,gapps errors, etc,
Not necessarily
ossito2012 said:
I have been liking my G2 but I would (and will soon) jump to another phone, like the M8 or N6, the dev support is decent but there are some far outstanding issues with this phone and kitkat, seems like something always not working right i.e. hotspot, auto-rotate, volume, process com,gapps errors, etc,
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Click to collapse
I got my LG G2 a week ago and I'll tell you I didn't have any problems with it, however I did downgrade and put an older version of CM 10 for the D80010d on my phone, not knowing that you can upgrade while maintaining the bootloader, as described above. I did notice that my gps didn't work after that, my tethering didn't work and while using wifi hotspot I was unable to load google or facebook, meaning I can't access my e-mail from my computer. I get SSL error's on https:// sites and sometimes I can proceed anyway, while other times I can't load it at all. however these sites load fine on my phone.
Stable
My LG G2 is completely stable on latest stock ROM and CM nightly. Honestly, I haven't run into any trouble.
Remember, when you are flashing - try clearing cache.
J0hnC0nn3r said:
I got my LG G2 a week ago and I'll tell you I didn't have any problems with it, however I did downgrade and put an older version of CM 10 for the D80010d on my phone, not knowing that you can upgrade while maintaining the bootloader, as described above. I did notice that my gps didn't work after that, my tethering didn't work and while using wifi hotspot I was unable to load google or facebook, meaning I can't access my e-mail from my computer. I get SSL error's on https:// sites and sometimes I can proceed anyway, while other times I can't load it at all. however these sites load fine on my phone.
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Click to collapse
ainstushar said:
My LG G2 is completely stable on latest stock ROM and CM nightly. Honestly, I haven't run into any trouble.
Remember, when you are flashing - try clearing cache.
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Click to collapse
I agree with you guys for most part phone is 95% good, don't really think it is devs fault but LG is making this phone a pain in the ass to play with, I would think with Samsung allowing the Htc One and G2 to sneak in beat their S4, LG would seize the moment to open up the phone to be truly customized. Looking at HTC One M8 forums it seems HTC is not putting up stupid barriers to rooting and stuff. Imagine a HTC Nexus 6
Anyone know how to convert a verizon m8 to a htc dev edition ?
I hate verizon and their software, and it would be nice to not be running verizon software and convert to the dev edition and get updates and not have to wait for verizon to drag their feet like they always do.
I know I could go with a gpe rom but I have had bad luck with them, and its a lot easier to customize a sense rom and I do like sense 6, and I do believe the htc dev m8's run sense roms.
Anyone ?
Roefastford said:
Anyone know if you can convert a verizon m8 to a htc dev edition ?
I hate verizon and their software, and it would be nice to not be running verizon software and convert to the dev edition and get updates and not have to wait for verizon to drag their feet like they always do.
I know I could go with a gpe rom but I have had bad luck with them, and its a lot easier to customize a sense rom and I do like sense 6, and I do believe the htc dev m8's run sense roms.
Anyone ?
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Click to collapse
Is your service through Verizon? Then no. You'll always have to "wait" on Verizon for the latest firmware, etc. You could always switch carriers and "wait" on them too. The grass is always greener on the other side. Verizon had the fastest m7 updates and had one slow m8 update. Even with the M7 people *****ed about how slow Verizon was (despite getting the major updates out before any other carrier). If you can't wait for updates, get the new Moto X.
brholt6 said:
Is your service through Verizon? Then no. You'll always have to "wait" on Verizon for the latest firmware, etc. You could always switch carriers and "wait" on them too. The grass is always greener on the other side. Verizon had the fastest m7 updates and had one slow m8 update. Even with the M7 people *****ed about how slow Verizon was (despite getting the major updates out before any other carrier). If you can't wait for updates, get the new Moto X.
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Click to collapse
I know it can be done there were posts about it before on xda because the process they talked about using a back up from an actual dev edition m8 to do it.
Just because my phone operates on verizon does not mean that it has to run on verizon software, just as you can purchase a dev edition or gpe edition m8 and use it on verizon without verizon software and firmware.
Right now I can run a gpe google play edition rom and get rid of the verizon software and even be able to get rid of the verizon firmware.
Just like you can get a google nexus and run it on verizon service and totally without verizon software and verizon firmware, so yes the verizon m8 can be converted to a dev edition its just a matter of figuring out the process of doing it.
So for the record your wrong...
I made a mistake in listing this I meant to say does anyone know how to convert a verizon m8 to a htc dev edition, as we all know it can be done its just about figuring out how to do it.
The phones are the same physically its all in the programming, so it can be done, my question is does anyone know how to acomplish this ????
Roefastford said:
I made a mistake in listing this I meant to say does anyone know how to convert a verizon m8 to a htc dev edition, as we all know it can be done its just about figuring out how to do it.
The phones are the same physically its all in the programming, so it can be done, my question is does anyone know how to acomplish this ????
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Click to collapse
well... it if were so simple it would be done, wouldn't it? Maybe not?
We must not have anyone on Verizon who wants this enough to put the time in to get it done.
If it has been done on other M8's then yes it can most likely be done on the Verizon variant.
to accomplish it?
reverse engineer the GSM M8 conversion.
talk to someone who converted a GSM M8 to Dev Edition, maybe they will tell you all that is required and you can start working on trying to do it, maybe they won't - who knows til ya try?
but basically you see how they did it on GSM, and "port" it to the Verizon variant using our files.
The main thing (I think anyway, maybe it doesn't even matter lol) - just giving my 2 cents - it has to do with hboot, much to the liking how edits are made by hex to the hboot.img to remove the red text, it would possibly have to be edited to be allowed to be flashed on our Variant.
I really don't know though, and I am not sure you will get many answers in this specific area, simply because it's Verizon, and the only people going to find it are the ones wanting it also on Verizon.
So, I would possibly post in the thread of a conversion thread and see what they say, or PM the OP of that thread and see what he says.
I don't think this spot will get much more than speculation such as this post right here, because if I knew how to do it, I would do it for you.
andybones said:
well... it if were so simple it would be done, wouldn't it? Maybe not?
We must not have anyone on Verizon who wants this enough to put the time in to get it done.
If it has been done on other M8's then yes it can most likely be done on the Verizon variant.
to accomplish it?
reverse engineer the GSM M8 conversion.
talk to someone who converted a GSM M8 to Dev Edition, maybe they will tell you all that is required and you can start working on trying to do it, maybe they won't - who knows til ya try?
but basically you see how they did it on GSM, and "port" it to the Verizon variant using our files.
The main thing (I think anyway, maybe it doesn't even matter lol) - just giving my 2 cents - it has to do with hboot, much to the liking how edits are made by hex to the hboot.img to remove the red text, it would possibly have to be edited to be allowed to be flashed on our Variant.
I really don't know though, and I am not sure you will get many answers in this specific area, simply because it's Verizon, and the only people going to find it are the ones wanting it also on Verizon.
So, I would possibly post in the thread of a conversion thread and see what they say, or PM the OP of that thread and see what he says.
I don't think this spot will get much more than speculation such as this post right here, because if I knew how to do it, I would do it for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I could have sworn I saw a topic on this in our forum when the phone came out like a couple months in. I just know there is no way I could ever figure it out I just know we have a lot of good devs cruising our forum so I figured maybe none of them ever really thought about it.
I"am just one of those people that has no choice but to use verizon even though I only get 1x data here which its on an Ohio state route highway, and at&t has very very weak signal cant even get any unless I go right out to the highway and then its edge most of the time, and no tmobile coverage for 30 miles.
I"am just trying to figure out a way to at least ditch their ( verizons ) software and firmware at least because theirs quite literally sucks and I cant really afford to go buy a dev edition so this was my only hope. I just hate verizon with a passion but I"am stuck with them.
Roefastford said:
Yeah, I could have sworn I saw a topic on this in our forum when the phone came out like a couple months in. I just know there is no way I could ever figure it out I just know we have a lot of good devs cruising our forum so I figured maybe none of them ever really thought about it.
I"am just one of those people that has no choice but to use verizon even though I only get 1x data here which its on an Ohio state route highway, and at&t has very very weak signal cant even get any unless I go right out to the highway and then its edge most of the time, and no tmobile coverage for 30 miles.
I"am just trying to figure out a way to at least ditch their ( verizons ) software and firmware at least because theirs quite literally sucks and I cant really afford to go buy a dev edition so this was my only hope. I just hate verizon with a passion but I"am stuck with them.
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Click to collapse
have you tried any of the GPE ROMS?
I know it isn't a GPE phone.. but the ROM might help? sorry I am not good with this subject, wish I could be of more help.
andybones said:
have you tried any of the GPE ROMS?
I know it isn't a GPE phone.. but the ROM might help? sorry I am not good with this subject, wish I could be of more help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tried the gpe roms and for some reason I could never get them to work, but I did on my old m7. The main thing for me was I could never figure out how to do all the customizing on gpe roms, like I do with the viperone rom I guess they have me spoiled, like I need to have the back up button to work to kill your current app when you hold it down, then I like to run the at&t signal icons instead of the verizon ones, then I like to remove the battery icon completely and just run the stock sense percentage for the battery.
Then I like the sense camera but I could do without it. And I like having the harman kardon audio. I know most of these features are not easy to set up on a gpe even if you can at all.
I did like how the gpe with my old m7 would run smother and use less of the phones memory just to operate the operating system.
I thought about trying the team nocturnal gpe rom again, but it seems like all the gpe roms have not been updated since early august so its been well over a month since any had updates which that kind of makes me weary to think the support is not there maybe ?
I just know with viperone they normally dont go more than a month at most without updating their rom, but for viperone they base it all on international firmware so I think the rom runs best on gsm versions and that for our verizon m8's I dont think it works as well as I had an at&t m8 and I think the viperone worked much better on it than it does on our verizon m8, but I really dont have a lot of choices of roms that are easy to customize like viperone.
I use to love the elegancia rom for the m8 and wish v6maniac would start it back up but it looks like that is not going to happen since hes on team insert coin which that rom is ok but to me my only choice has been viperone since no elegancia.
Roefastford said:
I have tried the gpe roms and for some reason I could never get them to work, but I did on my old m7. The main thing for me was I could never figure out how to do all the customizing on gpe roms, like I do with the viperone rom I guess they have me spoiled, like I need to have the back up button to work to kill your current app when you hold it down, then I like to run the at&t signal icons instead of the verizon ones, then I like to remove the battery icon completely and just run the stock sense percentage for the battery.
Then I like the sense camera but I could do without it. And I like having the harman kardon audio. I know most of these features are not easy to set up on a gpe even if you can at all.
I did like how the gpe with my old m7 would run smother and use less of the phones memory just to operate the operating system.
I thought about trying the team nocturnal gpe rom again, but it seems like all the gpe roms have not been updated since early august so its been well over a month since any had updates which that kind of makes me weary to think the support is not there maybe ?
I just know with viperone they normally dont go more than a month at most without updating their rom, but for viperone they base it all on international firmware so I think the rom runs best on gsm versions and that for our verizon m8's I dont think it works as well as I had an at&t m8 and I think the viperone worked much better on it than it does on our verizon m8, but I really dont have a lot of choices of roms that are easy to customize like viperone.
I use to love the elegancia rom for the m8 and wish v6maniac would start it back up but it looks like that is not going to happen since hes on team insert coin which that rom is ok but to me my only choice has been viperone since no elegancia.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I highly suggest you give Liquid Smooth AOSP ROM a try with Apex launcher, I NEVER though I'd leave Sense and actually use AOSP ROM for more than an hour, but it's been my DD for months.
AOSP has everything, you can edit all the soft key buttons to whatever you want, it's not as many Tweaks as Venom, but no offense to them, they have a bit too many I get kind of lost..
can you do me a favor, and tell me the last four number of your baseband?
go into settings > about phone - should be in there..
do you know if you flashed the Android 4.4.3 firmware??
If not then this is a big issue and most likely why your having GPE ROM issues, also Team Venoms ROM will run muuhc better.
if you need help getting the new firmware let me know, (if you don't already have it installed..)
andybones said:
I highly suggest you give Liquid Smooth AOSP ROM a try with Apex launcher, I NEVER though I'd leave Sense and actually use AOSP ROM for more than an hour, but it's been my DD for months.
AOSP has everything, you can edit all the soft key buttons to whatever you want, it's not as many Tweaks as Venom, but no offense to them, they have a bit too many I get kind of lost..
can you do me a favor, and tell me the last four number of your baseband?
go into settings > about phone - should be in there..
do you know if you flashed the Android 4.4.3 firmware??
If not then this is a big issue and most likely why your having GPE ROM issues, also Team Venoms ROM will run muuhc better.
if you need help getting the new firmware let me know, (if you don't already have it installed..)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I"am on 0702 baseband, and I restored a stock backup and stock recovery and I took the ota for 4.4.3 the week it came out.
When I tried a couple gpe roms it was a while before the verizon firmware update came out but others were using them on the same verizon firmware, and the team nocturnal gpe is made for a verizon m8, its not like some of the other roms where they were made for international or gsm and then just modified to work on verizon m8.
I think roms that are made for your exact version of m8 work better than roms made for a different version then are adapted to work on the verizon m8 also.
Any news on this? I´ve been trying almost everything around to convert to WWE/Dev, no joy at all.
Would it work for me since I'm using a Verizon m8 on cricket which is gsm?
HumanXv2 said:
Would it work for me since I'm using a Verizon m8 on cricket which is gsm?
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Click to collapse
I doubt it matters who your on, its all about the conversion process working which no one has ever posted they converted the verizon m8 to a dev edition.
Only the gsm version have been able to be converted to a dev.
Believe me I tried and tried and tried and its posted all over where no one could figure it out.
The verizon m8 is a world phone meaning both cdma and gsm so in theory it should be possible but the cdma side may well be what keeps the conversion from working.
I do not think you will find much support on this going forward since the m9 is out now and most likely any conversion efforts would be put towards the new model m9 instead of last years m8.
Now if someone cracks this for the verizon m9 then it may be used towards the m8 also but the focus would mostly be on the new model m9 you would think instead of last years m8.
M9guy said:
I doubt it matters who your on, its all about the conversion process working which no one has ever posted they converted the verizon m8 to a dev edition.
Only the gsm version have been able to be converted to a dev.
Believe me I tried and tried and tried and its posted all over where no one could figure it out.
The verizon m8 is a world phone meaning both cdma and gsm so in theory it should be possible but the cdma side may well be what keeps the conversion from working.
I do not think you will find much support on this going forward since the m9 is out now and most likely any conversion efforts would be put towards the new model m9 instead of last years m8.
Now if someone cracks this for the verizon m9 then it may be used towards the m8 also but the focus would mostly be on the new model m9 you would think instead of last years m8.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I second this. Tried everything around and still no joy.
rickylambert said:
I second this. Tried everything around and still no joy.
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Click to collapse
I feel your pain brother as I tried to do this on my verizon m8 I spent a couple week trying and finally gave up as their was really not enough dev interest on doing this and I couldnt do it myself as I fully admit I"am not the guy to do it.
If someone gets her done on the m9 I"am sure the m8 would get it also, until then I guess we verizon users are another red headed step child right in front of the sprint guys lol. At least until they eventually weed out cdma which might take years to do but I believe that is their goal by maybe 2020 lol same for ditching 1x and 3g to convert that spectrum to LTE.
I"am just going but what I have read so please dont anyone ask me for documentation on this lol.