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[Q] [Urgent] May have softbricked my phone, need help

Ok so I'm very new to the whole root business, and I only rooted my phone so I could use my ps3 controller via bluetooth which would then allow me to charge my phone at the same time. Got all that working and I was pretty much done with anything root related. That was two days ago. About an hour ago I decided, hey, why not see what I can do with my phone now that it's rooted. So I download the ROM manager and titanium backup. I found a ROM that I think I've heard people talk about before called Cyanogen Mod and I download the stable version of that and I went into ROM manager and I installed it there, it went through the reboot into recovery and everything. At least I thought it worked. It rebooted and I really didn't see anything different. So I manually went into recovery mode and installed Cyanogen from my sd card and rebooted my phone. However, it didn't reboot. It took me to a screen with a yellow triangle that says Verizon found software it doesn't authorize and I should take my phone to the nearest verizon store. It displays this everytime I try to boot my phone. All I can do is boot into ODIN mode. Please someone help, I'm at a loss as to what I should do.

All I can tell you is that you did not unlock your bootloader. You can fix this, but you're going to
have to do the work. Read about Odin.

Well, I read around and It told me to flash the Jellybean 4.1.2 thing to re-root my device and unlock the bootloader in the process. The heading was, If I rooted my device and forgot to unlock and now am getting a yellow triangle, so that seemed like what I needed. I flashed with odin, it said it passed and it auto rebooted my phone, but it still came up with the triangle.

I never said anything about flashing files with Odin.
I just said to read about it.
That's all I'm going to say...read.

"it" told me not "you" told me. All you said to do was read, so I did. I found something that seemed to be similiar to my problem, so I tried it out. It didn't work, so I put it here for more information, just in case someone has an idea on what might be wrong.

Brontis said:
"it" told me not "you" told me. All you said to do was read, so I did. I found something that seemed to be similiar to my problem, so I tried it out. It didn't work, so I put it here for more information, just in case someone has an idea on what might be wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unlock your bootloader! Same thing happened to me.

Try this threadhttp://http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2199042&highlight=system+software&page=2

kmsck5 said:
Unlock your bootloader! Same thing happened to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AS RipRip said...read. Do your homework no matter how long it takes to gain knowledge. I took a month to learn what to do with everything. I'm still learning. If you feel uncomfortable with anything don't mess with your phone.

My intention is to offer hints without just handing the solution to you
I'm not sure if the link I posted is working. If it is you should find help there.
If its not working just google your situation, ie. " system software not authorized..."

RipRip said:
My intention is to offer hints without just handing the solution to you
I'm not sure if the link I posted is working. If it is you should find help there.
If its not working just google your situation, ie. " system software not authorized..."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ditto same here!

Brontis said:
Well, I read around and It told me to flash the Jellybean 4.1.2 thing to re-root my device and unlock the bootloader in the process. The heading was, If I rooted my device and forgot to unlock and now am getting a yellow triangle, so that seemed like what I needed. I flashed with odin, it said it passed and it auto rebooted my phone, but it still came up with the triangle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can tell you are new as you rooted your phone twice and STILL didn't unlock the bootloader. It makes sense to ask us how to unlock the bootloader since that is the problem in the first place. Also it is a stupid idea to take a rooted phone to Verizon as you just voided your warranty by rooting your device which is why you read before altering the software of an expensive device.

jmxc23 said:
I can tell you are new as you rooted your phone twice and STILL didn't unlock the bootloader. It makes sense to ask us how to unlock the bootloader since that is the problem in the first place. Also it is a stupid idea to take a rooted phone to Verizon as you just voided your warranty by rooting your device which is why you read before altering the software of an expensive device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it is pretty obvious that I am new. If all I have to do is unlock my bootloader, then is there somewhere you can point me so I can work on that? I'm just having some trouble figuring out how to unlock it with only being able to boot into ODIN mode.

Brontis said:
Yes, it is pretty obvious that I am new. If all I have to do is unlock my bootloader, then is there somewhere you can point me so I can work on that? I'm just having some trouble figuring out how to unlock it with only being able to boot into ODIN mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
which root method did you use? As all pretty much give you instructions to unlocking the bootloader. If you use the Odin method then you didn't follow the method to the T as you are SUPPOSE flash a file provided that unlocks the bootloader. In one of your posts you said the following "Well, I read around and It told me to flash the Jellybean 4.1.2 thing to re-root my device and unlock the bootloader in the process" That is basically one of the root methods so no I won't point you the right direction as you already found it. Oh and please follow directions carefully.

Look I can tell you are pretty frustrated. So i am going to be a little bit nicer than the guys above. First make sure your phone is fully charged. This is very important. The first link is Odin. load that on your computer. Make due you have Samsung drivers. The 2nd link is to unlock your bootloader. It gets flashed via odin. Make sure you load the file via the PDA button in Odin. After the flash your phone will reboot automatically. This should get u up and running. If it doesn't you will need to follow the instructions for the last 2 links I posted below. This last 2 links flashes stock and shows you how to root and unlock your bootloader. I know the guys above want to u to learn how to do this stuff on your own but many people seem to forget that some people that come in here are not as tech saavy as they are. But be warned. You MUST read ALL instructions to the letter BEFORE starting the process. This is to educate yourself. Remember u need Odin and the Samsung USB drivers installed
Odin: http://goo.gl/ASdXg
Unlock Bootloader: http://open1your1eyes0.cnlson.com/VRALEC.bootchain.tar.md5
Stock 4.1.2: http://hotfile.com/dl/233201455/b70504c/VZW-I535VRBMF1-20130627174111.zip.html
Root + Unlock: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2046439
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 4

Well I finally managed to fix it. It was after I read the post above, but it works now. I want to thank everyone who posted in here offering advice.
It may not have been the most sophisticated way to do it, but I basically flashed a stock image of jelly bean 4.1.2 onto my phone, and then factory reset it. It's fine by me that I lost my data, (the only annoying thing is all the game saves) and I'm just glad I'm not going to have to go through the awkward process of explaining how I voided my warranty to my parentals.
Again, thank you all.

What is the best current way to root & unlock VZW S3?

Guys, I have spent hours rooting and unlocking my S3. Reason it has taken so long is either I don't know what I'm doing or there are so many ways to do it, some may be outdated or something. I'll side with the first reason. But, I do have experience in rooting...kept my OG Droid rooted/overclocked/customized. Did the same with my Thunderbolt. Also rooted my S3 a few months ago after the VZW update that crapped out the radio. When they released the fix, I removed root and installed it. Got the urge for some new stuff and here I am...
Here is what I'm doing:
- Using CausalR795b. Seems quick and easy. Definitely provides root, but I'm not sure about unlocking the bootloader. What is the insecure aboot? Says it's ready to install it, but I can't find out what this is?
- Trying to install TWRP recovery. What is the easiest way to do this? The last time I did it with Goomanager, I got the Verizon Unauthorized Software message at boot.
- Trying to install the latest Hyperdrive ROM. Got it installed once and on reboot, got the VZW Unauthorized message again,
- Using ODIN 3.07 to flash a stock ROM after getting the error message.
Can anyone tell me a link with good directions, start to finish? Or, give me some advice? To me, at least, seems like VZW has made customizing the S3 unnecessarily complicated,
Thanks in advance.

Insecure aboot is the unlocked bootloader. Once you install that you will no longer get the VZW Unauthorized message.

First welcome to the community.
second, this is the wrong section.
third, you have to use D2VZW-CASUAL-R634b release to fully unlock bootloader

omair2005 said:
First welcome to the community.
second, this is the wrong section.
third, you have to use D2VZW-CASUAL-R634b release to fully unlock bootloader
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My bad...I did post in the wrong place. Wasn't even thinking about it. Had just spent so long in this subforum trying to find answers, must have lost my bearing.
I really appreciate your help! The older Causal did everything in one try with no hiccups whatsoever. Why isn't anything posted about this noted in the newer Causal thread? It might be in there somewhere and if I would have seen it, hours would have been saved.
Now rocking the newest Hyperdrive and probably going to try a few more ROM's. Thanks again!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Verizon Galaxy S3 4.4.2 Rooted Custom Recovery Question

Looked through google, looked through threads, can find nothing whatsoever to help.
Have Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III Unlocked running Straight Talk VIA sim card. Everything works.. as a regular old phone with root. (rooted with Kingoroot - basically I googled "root galaxy s3" and followed those steps.. that much works fine, though it is not to be confused with the chinese king root. I tried the trick of swapping out king root for SU and, well.. yeah didnt work.)
Problem is I'm running 4.4.2 (the dreaded locked bootloader) and everything I try when it comes to installing custom recovery either doesn't work, bootloops the phone, or hard bricks it. v_v
so as someone who backs up their backups, (thank you OCD fairy), running around with a phone I can't backup puts me on edge, to say the least.
tried safestrap (says not secured. still says not secured after install. does nothing.)
tried various CWM and TWRP via apk installs (whatever that app is you install then tell it to install cwm) ..wouldn't install
Odin, depending on which version I install (e\ not which version of odin, which version of custom recovery), either gives me errors or hardbricks my device.
SO.. I'm looking for someone who has a Verizon Galaxy S III and who has a custom recovery on it to tell me how the devil they managed that one.
Cheers all!!

Drach0n said:
Looked through google, looked through threads, can find nothing whatsoever to help.
Have Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III Unlocked running Straight Talk VIA sim card. Everything works.. as a regular old phone with root. (rooted with Kingoroot - basically I googled "root galaxy s3" and followed those steps.. that much works fine, though it is not to be confused with the chinese king root. I tried the trick of swapping out king root for SU and, well.. yeah didnt work.)
Problem is I'm running 4.4.2 (the dreaded locked bootloader) and everything I try when it comes to installing custom recovery either doesn't work, bootloops the phone, or hard bricks it. v_v
so as someone who backs up their backups, (thank you OCD fairy), running around with a phone I can't backup puts me on edge, to say the least.
tried safestrap (says not secured. still says not secured after install. does nothing.)
tried various CWM and TWRP via apk installs (whatever that app is you install then tell it to install cwm) ..wouldn't install
Odin, depending on which version I install (e\ not which version of odin, which version of custom recovery), either gives me errors or hardbricks my device.
SO.. I'm looking for someone who has a Verizon Galaxy S III and who has a custom recovery on it to tell me how the devil they managed that one.
Cheers all!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A custom recovery can only be flashed on an unlocked bootloader. Trying to flash a custom recovery on a locked bootloader will result in a brick. The only available recovery on it is safestrap
Sent from my Nexus 5

ShapesBlue said:
A custom recovery can only be flashed on an unlocked bootloader. Trying to flash a custom recovery on a locked bootloader will result in a brick. The only available recovery on it is safestrap
Sent from my Nexus 5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
..I gathered that. I was basing my attempts off the threads I found where the OP "forgot" to mention which android OS he was using on his (or her) galaxy s3 and then omigawd installed custom recovery on it. Where nobody has yet been able to unlock the 4.3 and 4.4.2 bootloader for the galaxy s3 as yet (to my knowledge; if I'm wrong please correct me) this leaves me with safestrap, the custom recovery that doesn't touch the bootloader during install. I know this as well. Perhaps I should have clarified this, but I thought it was obvious to the folks at xda. *shrugs*
And the part where I said safestrap isn't working for one reason or another is where I was hoping to attract someone who knew how to help instead of someone who only knows how to make generic statements (+1) [e\ ftr, attempting to flash non-safestrap recoveries resulted in an error 4 times out of 5, not a brick.]
that said, I will ask again, if someone has 4.4.2 on their s3 as well as custom recovery, please come post here.
sadly, inb4 more +1ers

When you ask a question that's been asked and answered dozens of times before, you're going to get the same "generic statement" in response, because it's the right answer to your question. Your bootloader can't be unlocked, and therefore you can't install a custom recovery on your phone.

Jacquestrapp said:
When you ask a question that's been asked and answered dozens of times before, you're going to get the same "generic statement" in response, because it's the right answer to your question. Your bootloader can't be unlocked, and therefore you can't install a custom recovery on your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*sigh* another illiterate. Try reading before posting yeah? I *know* my bootloader cant be unlocked, and I know that a custom recovery /can/ be installed, or are you saying safestrap doesn't exist? look I'm asking for help here not drivel.
..rerolling..

Q: What did you have for breakfast today?
A1: last week, I had breakfast in Deleware!
A2: Last night's dinner was good!
...
xda: the community where post count means more than relevant answers.
*sigh*
looks like I'm going to have to figure out safestrap on my own. whether there is another method for installation besides via apk, why it failed to install, whether safestrap is the only custom recovery that works by not touching the bootloader, why it hardbricked my phone.. etc
guess I'll post the answers somewhere intelligent like Android Authority.
have fun with your +1s
now go die in a fire. cheers

Drach0n said:
Q: What did you have for breakfast today?
A1: last week, I had breakfast in Deleware!
A2: Last night's dinner was good!
...
xda: the community where post count means more than relevant answers.
*sigh*
looks like I'm going to have to figure out safestrap on my own. whether there is another method for installation besides via apk, why it failed to install, whether safestrap is the only custom recovery that works by not touching the bootloader, why it hardbricked my phone.. etc
guess I'll post the answers somewhere intelligent like Android Authority.
have fun with your +1s
now go die in a fire. cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly I answered your question. It's hard to talk about safestrap other than what I've learned about it. The other member was right, it gets tiring answering the same questions all the time and once in awhile people don't appreciate the answers they are given.
There are threads for safestrap as well as most of the options here on xda. And feel free to go to another forum, your posting questions in a dying forum for the VZW S3. There's not many people who are really that interested in the locked down version anymore. It's very sporadic as far as people and questions go. But to be rude about it just isn't needed.
It's not about post count at xda it's about helping the community. I've been around here long enough to know this. And if you feel someone isn't helpful there's something called a PM instead of calling them out here on the forums. I grow tired of people not being appreciative of anything when someone takes the time to do there best to explain something to someone else
Sent from my Nexus 5

running 4.4.2
PM sent. I might be able to help with that.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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