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
So my phone is now prompting me to update (and I can't even tell it to got to hell like I could on my S4 Mini ) but I refuse to do so until I know I can keep my root intact (or until Kingroot becomes capable of rooting that version).
Is there ANY way of keeping my root intact? Maybe by using the PC companion to update (this used to work before ICS didn't it?)? Or doing something to the phone (besides flashing firmware) to preserve the root ahead of the update?
I don't want to be installing a custom rom (and yes, I still count generic stock as a custom rom because it would get onto my phone just like any other custom rom) just to update and I absolutely need root for Link2SD so if I can't keep root in some way and Kingroot doesn't catch up then I'm going to stay on my current version forever, security be damned.
SCHUMI_4EVER said:
So my phone is now prompting me to update (and I can't even tell it to got to hell like I could on my S4 Mini ) but I refuse to do so until I know I can keep my root intact (or until Kingroot becomes capable of rooting that version).
Is there ANY way of keeping my root intact? Maybe by using the PC companion to update (this used to work before ICS didn't it?)? Or doing something to the phone (besides flashing firmware) to preserve the root ahead of the update?
I don't want to be installing a custom rom (and yes, I still count generic stock as a custom rom because it would get onto my phone just like any other custom rom) just to update and I absolutely need root for Link2SD so if I can't keep root in some way and Kingroot doesn't catch up then I'm going to stay on my current version forever, security be damned.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. You can make prerooted 546 and flash it in recovery and it's only way how to retain root. As soon as you update using OTA you will loose root as system will be overwritten.
Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk
Thanks, guess I'm waiting then.
Any way to temporarily disable the update message/get it out of my notification bar?
SCHUMI_4EVER said:
Thanks, guess I'm waiting then.
Any way to temporarily disable the update message/get it out of my notification bar?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe you can disable the Software Update app in settings...
By the way, however it`s your decision, I don`t understand reasons behind why not flashing latest software with Flashtool. There are sometimes nasty issues with upgrades, like people loosing LTE with OTA upgrades to 5.1.1 and so on. I would just backup everything and flash latest .570/.580 firmware (yes, even .546 is now getting outdated as upgrade to .580 becomes available to address MMS based vulnerabilities). Flashing software in flashmode is the same like flashing it through PC Companion and provides for clean way how to do system updates. You can even download version intended directly for your market/provider instead of generic one.
Flash the pre-rooted .546 zip. It has been posted weeks ago.
ondrejvaroscak said:
Maybe you can disable the Software Update app in settings...
By the way, however it`s your decision, I don`t understand reasons behind why not flashing latest software with Flashtool. There are sometimes nasty issues with upgrades, like people loosing LTE with OTA upgrades to 5.1.1 and so on. I would just backup everything and flash latest .570/.580 firmware (yes, even .546 is now getting outdated as upgrade to .580 becomes available to address MMS based vulnerabilities). Flashing software in flashmode is the same like flashing it through PC Companion and provides for clean way how to do system updates. You can even download version intended directly for your market/provider instead of generic one.
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Click to collapse
Because the phone isn't even two weeks old. Nowhere near time yet to risk bricking it doing non-standard things, I've already tested my luck enough by rooting it. And my region doesn't have 580 yet anyways. The inability to remove the battery makes me even more nervous about this sort of stuff, and yes I know there is a simulated battery pull, but that's still software and software gets fudged up which is the whole reason to actually physically remove the battery from your phone.
Not gonna happen thank you very much. Besides I'm never in a hurry with updating Android, it's always 2 steps forward one step back, never an all-round improvement. Some monkey of a programmer inevitably always rips out some base function every device should have, just look at ICS and the mess it's caused by choosing to ignore SD cards. Even Lollipop lacks things prior Android versions had for utterly no reason. Stagefright can kiss my you know what. Not gonna update till I can root with the click of a button avoiding almost all risk (in my mind anyways).
SCHUMI_4EVER said:
Because the phone isn't even two weeks old. Nowhere near time yet to risk bricking it doing non-standard things, I've already tested my luck enough by rooting it. And my region doesn't have 580 yet anyways. The inability to remove the battery makes me even more nervous about this sort of stuff, and yes I know there is a simulated battery pull, but that's still software and software gets fudged up which is the whole reason to actually physically remove the battery from your phone.
Not gonna happen thank you very much. Besides I'm never in a hurry with updating Android, it's always 2 steps forward one step back, never an all-round improvement. Some monkey of a programmer inevitably always rips out some base function every device should have, just look at ICS and the mess it's caused by choosing to ignore SD cards. Even Lollipop lacks things prior Android versions had for utterly no reason. Stagefright can kiss my you know what. Not gonna update till I can root with the click of a button avoiding almost all risk (in my mind anyways).
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Click to collapse
Well, seems you are new to XPERIA`s because there is hardly any way you can brick it. Battery pull is not a problem, because in addition to Power+VolUp reste, there is a push button hidden on the side of SIM card that triggers hard reset and switches the phone off.
But I aknowledge that you have your rights for your fears. However I wonder that with all your fears you would allow to install and run undocumented chinese app, that although roots your phone, may do other things and you will never know. Everyone is responsible for his own luck.
ondrejvaroscak said:
Well, seems you are new to XPERIA`s because there is hardly any way you can brick it. Battery pull is not a problem, because in addition to Power+VolUp reste, there is a push button hidden on the side of SIM card that triggers hard reset and switches the phone off.
But I aknowledge that you have your rights for your fears. However I wonder that with all your fears you would allow to install and run undocumented chinese app, that although roots your phone, may do other things and you will never know. Everyone is responsible for his own luck.
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Click to collapse
Yes and no. I had a neo but that was a very different device and I never felt the need to do anything custom to it (although I did check XDA for it) so it remains stock even today. Then I went to Samsung cuz everything Sony sucked at the time, at least in my price range. And now I'm back with Sony cuz there's something wrong with Samsung, dunno what, but I just don't like them so unless they're far ahead on paper I won't touch them again. (unless Sony tanks).
I didn't know about that button but I'd still rather not.
And I don't have anything sensitive on my phone so Kingroot can spy all it wants to. Of course I'd prefer it didn't, but if they absolutely have to then they're welcome to any and all info. Simply running an APK on my phone (that thousands have run before me) just seemed like the least brickable way of getting root (since I didn't have to do anything special like stuff up in the recovery or mess up an ADB command or anything like that). When I'd read about there being no root methods for 5.1.1 yet I erroneously took that to be all of Lollipop so I thought my phone was unrootable anyways when I turned it on and found it had lollipop (it was sealed so I thought it would still be on KitKat and easily rootable) so Kingroot was basically just a hail mary at the time. And since it worked so well I see no reason to ever do anything else.
I am debating now if I shouldkeep the root or move to mmarshmallow. How smooth is marshmallow? Battery life? Does Hotspot still work?
I'd keep root.
My usb port started acting really wonky and after attempting everything I could think of, I decided to try the verizon repair assistant hoping that the 1% chance it would be a software issue. Unrooted, ran the repair assistant and next thing I know, my phone is on marshmallow, the software doesn't repair sh*t, just wipes everything, installs latest rom and then puts files back. Does not return your app data.
Anyway, long story short, my battery seems to drain quicker now, I can't deal with all the ads and I lost years of app data. Stick with root, nothing special with marshmallow.
brdsng said:
I'd keep root.
My usb port started acting really wonky and after attempting everything I could think of, I decided to try the verizon repair assistant hoping that the 1% chance it would be a software issue. Unrooted, ran the repair assistant and next thing I know, my phone is on marshmallow, the software doesn't repair sh*t, just wipes everything, installs latest rom and then puts files back. Does not return your app data.
Anyway, long story short, my battery seems to drain quicker now, I can't deal with all the ads and I lost years of app data. Stick with root, nothing special with marshmallow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Shoot, wish that would have been a software issue for you. Still tempted to see how marshmallow runs. My phone seems to be running slow.
I've had root on my phone's since the original Motorola droid days. Now that we haven't been able to unlock bootloader root is almost pointless that we can't install custom kernels, or true Roms. I've had more options being on marshmallow than 0C3 or 0E2. I don't use hotspot so I'm not sure if it still works but I was reading that people have been able to get it going without root. Android and Samsung pay works now that I'm not rooted. Samsung's themes work very well and canake the whole touch whiz experience bearable. All the addware that comes along with not being rooted is easily hidden. People complain about that it's still installed and using space on our phones but for me I haven't noticed them.
titos1997 said:
I've had root on my phone's since the original Motorola droid days. Now that we haven't been able to unlock bootloader root is almost pointless that we can't install custom kernels, or true Roms. I've had more options being on marshmallow than 0C3 or 0E2. I don't use hotspot so I'm not sure if it still works but I was reading that people have been able to get it going without root. Android and Samsung pay works now that I'm not rooted. Samsung's themes work very well and canake the whole touch whiz experience bearable. All the addware that comes along with not being rooted is easily hidden. People complain about that it's still installed and using space on our phones but for me I haven't noticed them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you know the best way to go back to stock? I've been on 5.0.2 OE2 rooted since the beginning but I'm wanting to move over to Marshmallow stock and get some of those apps back that don't support rooted phones.
So my big question is foxfi working on marshmallow foe the unlimited plan?
So my big question is foxfi working on marshmallow foe the unlimited plan?
serotoninzero said:
Do you know the best way to go back to stock? I've been on 5.0.2 OE2 rooted since the beginning but I'm wanting to move over to Marshmallow stock and get some of those apps back that don't support rooted phones.
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Click to collapse
All I did was uninstall the apps which required root, then I unrooted through SU and then connected to the verizon upgrade assistant. You can also use the Samsung smart switch. Before I connected to the upgrade assistant and smart switch, but after I unrooted through SU, I rebooted my phone a few times and the custom unlock boot screen also changed to normal.
---------- Post added at 11:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:57 AM ----------
titos1997 said:
I've had root on my phone's since the original Motorola droid days. Now that we haven't been able to unlock bootloader root is almost pointless that we can't install custom kernels, or true Roms. I've had more options being on marshmallow than 0C3 or 0E2. I don't use hotspot so I'm not sure if it still works but I was reading that people have been able to get it going without root. Android and Samsung pay works now that I'm not rooted. Samsung's themes work very well and canake the whole touch whiz experience bearable. All the addware that comes along with not being rooted is easily hidden. People complain about that it's still installed and using space on our phones but for me I haven't noticed them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been rooting since the HTC Hero days and I disagree. Although we have lost a lot with the locked bootloader, it's not pointless, root still lets you keep all of your old app data with titanium backup which I personally had stored for years. It's also great for blocking ads, being on day 4 of no root, all these ads are really annoying.
I'd love to be back on OE2!
Matlab$Brah said:
So my big question is foxfi working on marshmallow foe the unlimited plan?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Works perfectly. I switched from OE2 to MM with no regrets. Get package disabler pro and get rid of all the bloat and it's super smooth with great battery life. The only thing I miss about not having root is I can't use better battery stats anymore. The locked bootloader and complete lack of updated ROMs was a much bigger deal to me.
serotoninzero said:
Do you know the best way to go back to stock? I've been on 5.0.2 OE2 rooted since the beginning but I'm wanting to move over to Marshmallow stock and get some of those apps back that don't support rooted phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Download stock firmware from Sammobile and flash with Odin.
Sent from my SM-T800 using XDA-Developers mobile app
serotoninzero said:
Do you know the best way to go back to stock? I've been on 5.0.2 OE2 rooted since the beginning but I'm wanting to move over to Marshmallow stock and get some of those apps back that don't support rooted phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Marshmallow Odin Tar was linked in another thread. You should be able to just flash this and factory reset through the stock recovery and be set. I haven't done this but that's the route I'll be taking when I do decide to upgrade
Matlab$Brah said:
Shoot, wish that would have been a software issue for you. Still tempted to see how marshmallow runs. My phone seems to be running slow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So did you ever make the move?
Yes, best decision I have made marshmallow is faster and smoother, foxfi works, and you can you samsung pay.
marshmallow good, lock screen bad
Yea, marshmallow works very good on the S6.. smooth, good battery life, looks good...but that freaking swipe screen! Having to swipe the screen just to get to your lock screen is useless and irritating and people have been asking Google to change it since lollipop. I was hoping marshmallow would be different but no
Looks like no ability to root now either
I made the jump. Best decision ever. Very polished and no more force close like 5.0.2. Can still tether with foxfi which is what I pretty much only used root for.
How is the latest update? I'm still rooted and thinking about going back to stock.
I originally used the Dirty Santa routine on my Verizon VS995, so it remained on VS99513A for a couple of years. Had all manner of issues over time - apps "failing to respond", YouTube not displaying video but rather black screens, green-screen crashes, etc. Finally had enough and used the LGUP process to return to stock and unroot, of course. I probably (assuming, anyway) could have gone right to the latest Oreo firmware with LGUP, but decided to go to the stock version of VS99513A and then just do the many system updates to get current.
It's now happily sitting on Oreo, and knock on wood it's like having a new phone! It's so much smoother, YouTube is working, lol, battery life is an order of magnitude better and it's working like a phone should work. No one knows the future, of course, but today, I'm happy.
Just passing this along, but I've gone from being ready to trash this thing to being able to enjoy it again without worrying about having to dump some $$$ into something else.
I had originally rooted to get around the Verizon mobile-hotspot check, but I have an unlimited plan that includes it anyway, now, so that's no longer an issue.
Possible placebo effect...
A clean stock unrooted firmware may run smoother than a few custom roms, but not smoother than a rooted version of the exact same rom.
I wouldn't give up on root, even if the best ever unrootable phone was given to me for free (Ad-blocking being the primary reason)
Prowler_gr said:
Possible placebo effect...
A clean stock unrooted firmware may run smoother than a few custom roms, but not smoother than a rooted version of the exact same rom.
I wouldn't give up on root, even if the best ever unrootable phone was given to me for free (Ad-blocking being the primary reason)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Blokada DNS changer. Also working without root. All problems gone. :good: for me the main reason for root is to prevent screen retention. The sucked soooo hart. If there would be an option without root I would also go with an unrooted stock fw.
Prowler_gr said:
Possible placebo effect...
A clean stock unrooted firmware may run smoother than a few custom roms, but not smoother than a rooted version of the exact same rom.
I wouldn't give up on root, even if the best ever unrootable phone was given to me for free (Ad-blocking being the primary reason)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not even a close comparison in my case. Admittedly I'm on Oreo now and not the original Nougat the phone came with (and was rooted with), but it's literally a night and day difference. It wasn't just performance - it was extreme instability, apps that wouldn't work or would constantly go into "not responding" mode, green screens, battery life that was awful to the point where it nearly always needed to be connected to a charger, etc. I'd tap on an app or a function in an app before, and I'd literally have to wait and wait for something to happen at times.
Now? Lightning fast and smooth operation, stability where there was none before, etc. And, as stated, for what I really needed root before (bypassing vendor check for mobile hotspot), it's no longer an issue due to the phone plan I'm on.
I'm not knocking rooting, so don't misunderstand. But for my experience with this phone, going back to stock where I could actually update the version of the OS, as well, has made all the difference in the world for my user experience. YMMV.
Interesting... I haven't tried stock Oreo yet but in every time I flash a new stock rom the phone runs great for 6 months then starts lagging.
oooh meee TOOO! me! meeeee!
Heyitsrick said:
I originally used the Dirty Santa routine on my Verizon VS995, so it remained on VS99513A for a couple of years. Had all manner of issues over time - apps "failing to respond", YouTube not displaying video but rather black screens, green-screen crashes, etc. Finally had enough and used the LGUP process to return to stock and unroot, of course. I probably (assuming, anyway) could have gone right to the latest Oreo firmware with LGUP, but decided to go to the stock version of VS99513A and then just do the many system updates to get current.
It's now happily sitting on Oreo, and knock on wood it's like having a new phone! It's so much smoother, YouTube is working, lol, battery life is an order of magnitude better and it's working like a phone should work. No one knows the future, of course, but today, I'm happy.
Just passing this along, but I've gone from being ready to trash this thing to being able to enjoy it again without worrying about having to dump some $$$ into something else.
I had originally rooted to get around the Verizon mobile-hotspot check, but I have an unlimited plan that includes it anyway, now, so that's no longer an issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Between the GIGANTIC pain in the ass that it was to root this phone (I have a VS995 rooted and on 13a ever since) and all the problems that rooting has caused I'd be ready to undo it all anyway. But due to some problem with internal storage* that started a couple weeks ago, I was fed-up and factory reset the phone. When it boots normally, a check in "about" shows the software status as "modified" but root checker says its not rooted, superSU can't find root (I installed it from play store).. Tried to update via the "system updates" in settings (could not get it to show developer options either).
* The storage issue: I have 50 gigs internal (or something similar) and I get a message that the storage is full and some apps may not work. Not possible, but I humored it and uninstalled everything, cleared cache, downloads cleared, etc ... still showing +/-1 gb free space avail. Factory reset, appears stock, but free space STILL less than 1 GB.
Regretted rooting this phone almost immediately since I still couldn't get rid of certain apps, I had to deal with the camera issues, etc... The only thing positive about it was that my work was unable to install their MDM crap (Mobile Iron shielding Gsuite etc). But anyway, it doesn't look like I'll be able to update the system - I tried it and now it boots to twrp, or boots regularly and then loops around to twrp again. I'm looking for the easiest way to get the phone working (with the persistent problem of internalstorage being full for no reason fixed) and at least reasonably updated. Don't care if it's rooted or not really.
Do you or does anyone have a link to a "play by play" for whatever might work? Its been too long since I rooted it for me to remember the nuances of the procedure so its safe to say that I don't really understand how Android works all that well, so instructions like, "flash xxx 3.2 then flash back to 2 then fastboot and load yer ROM but don't forget the dalvik blah blah" won't work... I'm looking for the idiot's version with hand-holding and everything.
Interesting analysis................ I mainly rooted my older phones due to the need for the mobile hotspot without paying VZ extra charges. However, now that I have the VS995, I was able to download and use the Foxfi app (I paid for the Pro upgrade license) so this left me thinking, do I really need to root my V20 at all? In the past, you couldn't run apps that ran many WIFI tools and other tech'y things, but it seems much of that has changed. I don't run custom ROMs so maybe I don't need to root. Would be glad to hear rebuttals on the subject
I received a new VS995 last week and I flash h910 to get FM radio. I could not be happier as I'm on OREO and the device is working perfectly without any issue whatsoever and with latest mk2000 kernel (2.2 beta) general interface performance is working very well - as it should. Hotspot needed a little workaround bit it wasn't too difficult. I wouldn't dream of going back to stock!
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=79939652&postcount=269
I know it's not straight to bootloader unlock and root this phone but it's worth the trouble. I hope my new fone will last and last untill manufactures change mind about removable batter and horrible new aspect ratio! No thanks V30 !
You're right.
There's no good reason to root the v20. Even rooted you can't do things that other phones can do, like enabling monitor mode on the Wi-Fi. Nor have I been able to get an external Wi-Fi adapter to work on it.
0per said:
There's no good reason to root the v20. Even rooted you can't do things that other phones can do, like enabling monitor mode on the Wi-Fi. Nor have I been able to get an external Wi-Fi adapter to work on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
YOU ARE WRONG.
AD BLOCK Yeah they have rootless ad block but they work like ****
screen burn fixes. hows the ghosting?
titanium backup still best option for absolutely all apps getting backed up.
Sorry i have run root too long i cant live without it anymore.
is this happening to just verizon version of LG V20? anyone?
is this happening to just verizon version of LG V20? anyone?