Don't encrypt phone - Samsung Epic 4G Touch

Well not on a non-stock kernel or ROM anyway.
But if you do and your phone will not boot fire up odin and install acs-eg30-stock-kernel-pulled.tar to your phone.
Once I put the stock kernel back on it booted up to a fresh phone and started the encryption process. When the encryption process has completed I'll see if I can restore with cwm to the state I was before I decided to encrypt.

I don't know if I am having your issue. I installed StarBurst ROM and tried to install my work email which required encryption of some information. When i tried to reboot, my phone never turned back on. Now I see the start up screen and then it stays off. Do you think the problem is related to yours? How did you go about fixing it?

eagercrow said:
Well not on a non-stock kernel or ROM anyway.
But if you do and your phone will not boot fire up odin and install acs-eg30-stock-kernel-pulled.tar to your phone.
Once I put the stock kernel back on it booted up to a fresh phone and started the encryption process. When the encryption process has completed I'll see if I can restore with cwm to the state I was before I decided to encrypt.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you can get into Odin download or CWM recovery you haven't bricked the phone.
If you cannot, you are screwed.

You are having the same exact issue I was. Use odin and flash that stock kernel. Reboot I.to recovery and factory reset. Your phone should now boot and start the encrytpion process. You can't have a modded kernel or cwm on an encrypted device. If you backedup in cwm and want to restore wait for the encrytpion to finish then decrypt, flash new kernel with cwm and restore. If work email is important to u then leave it encrypted and set your phone up from scratch again.
Hope this helps
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App

nabbed said:
If you can get into Odin download or CWM recovery you haven't bricked the phone.
If you cannot, you are screwed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I knew it wasn't bricked. This was more of a warning to others. I backup my **** so I wasn't worried.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App

Related

[Q]After ODIN, Phone wont boot, Please help!!

so i decided the odin, to get back to stock so i can flash MIUI, coming from Frosty Jb, and Ktoonzer kernal. i used boot-insecure-tmo-t999uvalem-cwm to on ODIN, the phone rebooted, and then a blue LED started Flashing. it vibrated and kept rebooting. i took out battery, and goutt into Cwm, then wanted to flash MIUI, but it failed because of Build.prop, so i went back into download and flashed boot-insecure-tmo-t999uvalem-cwm again. now it wont boot, and let me get into Download mode or Cwm
Edit: im can get back into and CWM now, but not Download mode. it needed to run though one cycle of bootlooping before it let me in. So now im back on the Frosty jb, And i feel like my phone wont let me Flash anything else.
What happens when you try to go into download mode from Frostys reboot menu?
Maybe flash the UVALH2 deodexed stock rom and try odin again.
But use either the regular fw from sammobile or root66 from MrRobinson.
Where did you get the fw you've been trying to flash?
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
---------- Post added at 01:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:07 PM ----------
boot-insecure-tmo-t999uvalem-cwm
Is this just a kernel? You had said you were trying to odin back to stock, but this looks to be a cwm flashable file which I doubt is gonna work in odin.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
A similar thing happened toe when I tried going to stock from JB. Try ODIN back to stock using mrRobinsons file. Then boot into the recovery and do a factory reset. Note that this will probably wipe your internal storage
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
nicky9door said:
A similar thing happened toe when I tried going to stock from JB. Try ODIN back to stock using mrRobinsons file. Then boot into the recovery and do a factory reset. Note that this will probably wipe your internal storage
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've never seen Odin wipe internal or external SD cards. As far as I know, it doesn't even have this capability, which is a good thing.
So i got back into Stock. i Rerooted and everything, i downloading Goomanager and the CodenameAndroid ROM From there. i installed the twcr recovery from goomanager. Then i flashed the CodenameAndroid. it has a boot animation but not booting, i cant get into Cwm or Download mode. it goes into Download mode for 2 seconds virbates and roots. Any Idea??
Aerowinder said:
I've never seen Odin wipe internal or external SD cards. As far as I know, it doesn't even have this capability, which is a good thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It wasnt ODIN that wiped my storage. It was running the factory reset from the Samsung 3e Recovery (which I got after I used ODIN to go back to stock)
ishred11 said:
So i got back into Stock. i Rerooted and everything, i downloading Goomanager and the CodenameAndroid ROM From there. i installed the twcr recovery from goomanager. Then i flashed the CodenameAndroid. it has a boot animation but not booting, i cant get into Cwm or Download mode. it goes into Download mode for 2 seconds virbates and roots. Any Idea??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Getting into recovery can be tricky as there's a short window where you have to release the buttons. The most successful way for me is, with the phone off, hold home+power+vol up. When you see the Samsung logo, look at the top of the screen for a line of blue text. If you see this line, immiediately let go of all buttons.
Another option (might be a longshot) would be to try using ADB during the CodenameAndroid (CNA) boot animation. Search for ADB standalone to get the files you need. While your phone is on the CNA bootscreen, plug it intop your computer and try running "adb devices" from the command line (you'll need to be in the same folder as the ADB executable). If you see a serial number, then try running "adb reboot recovery" which should get you into recovery mode
ishred11 said:
So i got back into Stock. i Rerooted and everything, i downloading Goomanager and the CodenameAndroid ROM From there. i installed the twcr recovery from goomanager. Then i flashed the CodenameAndroid. it has a boot animation but not booting, i cant get into Cwm or Download mode. it goes into Download mode for 2 seconds virbates and roots. Any Idea??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you remember to wipe everything including factory reset in recovery?
If you're already rooted just press reboot recovery in goo manager. Otherwise try what the above post says.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
ishred11 said:
so i decided the odin, to get back to stock so i can flash MIUI, coming from Frosty Jb, and Ktoonzer kernal. i used boot-insecure-tmo-t999uvalem-cwm to on ODIN, the phone rebooted, and then a blue LED started Flashing. it vibrated and kept rebooting. i took out battery, and goutt into Cwm, then wanted to flash MIUI, but it failed because of Build.prop, so i went back into download and flashed boot-insecure-tmo-t999uvalem-cwm again. now it wont boot, and let me get into Download mode or Cwm
Edit: im can get back into and CWM now, but not Download mode. it needed to run though one cycle of bootlooping before it let me in. So now im back on the Frosty jb, And i feel like my phone wont let me Flash anything else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you make a Nandroid (Backup) of your ROMS? Always make a Backup before flashing anything on your phone. If the solutions the users have posted doesn't work, then USB JIG can be used as a last resort. I would also like to let you know some kernels corresponds to some ROMS. For an example, Frosty is based on TW (Touch Wiz) and can only be flashed with kernels that supports Touch Wiz. Flashing Ktoonzer kernel with, for an example, CM10 would only result in the phone not being able to boot due to CM10 ROM not supporting Touch Wiz. Make sure you flash a kernel that supports the ROM and before any flashing, make a backup via recovery.

[Q] Phone bricked, no ODIN access! E: Unable to mount '/data'

Hello all,
Quick background - my wife's T-Mobile S4 went kaput on our honeymoon last night, but I was at least able to save some of her data. The problem now goes to installing a new ROM on her device.
I have wiped EVERYTHING and formatted the data, but when I install ANY ROM (I've tried multiple), I always get the E: Unable to mount '/data" error. Normally, I would just ODIN the stock tar, then install a custom recovery again and then the ROM, but I only have my work computer for the rest of my honeymoon and I don't have administrative access to run ODIN (you might not think it requires it, but if you're only a standard user then you cannot bypass UAC to run it).
Does anyone have any ideas on how to get this to mount? The phone will not boot past the "Samsung Galaxy S4" screen. I've tried going into TWRP and mounting Data but it will not work.
Any help is greatly appreciated! Please keep in mind that I don't have access to ODIN!
- Taxmaster
Taxmaster said:
Hello all,
Quick background - my wife's T-Mobile S4 went kaput on our honeymoon last night, but I was at least able to save some of her data. The problem now goes to installing a new ROM on her device.
I have wiped EVERYTHING and formatted the data, but when I install ANY ROM (I've tried multiple), I always get the E: Unable to mount '/data" error. Normally, I would just ODIN the stock tar, then install a custom recovery again and then the ROM, but I only have my work computer for the rest of my honeymoon and I don't have administrative access to run ODIN (you might not think it requires it, but if you're only a standard user then you cannot bypass UAC to run it).
Does anyone have any ideas on how to get this to mount? The phone will not boot past the "Samsung Galaxy S4" screen. I've tried going into TWRP and mounting Data but it will not work.
Any help is greatly appreciated! Please keep in mind that I don't have access to ODIN!
- Taxmaster
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like a twrp issue. Try grabbing the cwm flash able zip and adb push to the sd card and then use twrp to install it. I've read so many issues about twrp. I recommend staying away from it. Philz touch recovery is really awesome too.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk 2
elesbb said:
Sounds like a twrp issue. Try grabbing the cwm flash able zip and adb push to the sd card and then use twrp to install it. I've read so many issues about twrp. I recommend staying away from it. Philz touch recovery is really awesome too.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello! I actually downloaded Philz touch recovery in both .zip and in .md5, so that is what I intend to go with. The issue is how I push it using adb, as I believe I need to install something in order to do so, but I don't have any administrative privileges! This is what's preventing me from running ODIN in the first place!
Can you confirm that I can push using adb without installing anything?
Thank you! - Taxmaster
I had this issue. Odin flashing and then booting into "STOCK RECOVERY" after flashing and then a factory reset in the stock recovery followed by a fresh re-flash from Odin worked to get my phone back up and running again.
I don't know how you are going to be able to fix it by just flashing a recovery. I tried for hours and could not get it to boot from just recovery alone.
Monkz said:
I had this issue. Odin flashing and then booting into "STOCK RECOVERY" after flashing and then a factory reset in the stock recovery followed by a fresh re-flash from Odin worked to get my phone back up and running again.
I don't know how you are going to be able to fix it by just flashing a recovery. I tried for hours and could not get it to boot from just recovery alone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What you noted would be my plan if I had admin rights to my computer, but since I cannot get ODIN, I'm screwed at the moment. I'm hoping someone can assist with the "adb" proposal, however I'm not sure one can download/run adb without installation or prompt from UAC
Taxmaster said:
What you noted would be my plan if I had admin rights to my computer, but since I cannot get ODIN, I'm screwed at the moment. I'm hoping someone can assist with the "adb" proposal, however I'm not sure one can download/run adb without installation or prompt from UAC
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't believe admin is required for adb... You could always try it... worst thing that could happen would be nothing.
lordcheeto03 said:
I don't believe admin is required for adb... You could always try it... worst thing that could happen would be nothing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using ADB does not require admin privelages, however, if your computer does not have the necessary drivers to detect the device in recovery, then you will have to install the drivers, which then yes UAC is required. HOWEVER, if you have another phone or device that supports MicroSD cards, you can just pop in the MicroSD into a working device and transfer the zip that way, then transfer back the sd card and flash
elesbb said:
Using ADB does not require admin privelages, however, if your computer does not have the necessary drivers to detect the device in recovery, then you will have to install the drivers, which then yes UAC is required. HOWEVER, if you have another phone or device that supports MicroSD cards, you can just pop in the MicroSD into a working device and transfer the zip that way, then transfer back the sd card and flash
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did exactly what's noted above --> took out the SDcard, put it in another phone, transferred over the .zip, put it back in her phone, went to TWRP, wiped everything on the device, installed the .zip, and rebooted into recovery from TWRP, and then the new recovery booted! I did another wipe/factory reset and then installed a ROM, but when I hit reboot, it didn't reboot past the Samsung Galaxy S4 splash screen , and to make matters worse, when I go to enter recovery pressing home+up+power, it says "Recovery Booting ...." in the top left corner but it won't boot into recovery!!!
Thoughts?
If someone could strip administrative privileges off of a version of ODIN v3 for me, that would be great! I don't see how else to get around this now!
-Taxmaster
Taxmaster said:
I did exactly what's noted above --> took out the SDcard, put it in another phone, transferred over the .zip, put it back in her phone, went to TWRP, wiped everything on the device, installed the .zip, and rebooted into recovery from TWRP, and then the new recovery booted! I did another wipe/factory reset and then installed a ROM, but when I hit reboot, it didn't reboot past the Samsung Galaxy S4 splash screen , and to make matters worse, when I go to enter recovery pressing home+up+power, it says "Recovery Booting ...." in the top left corner but it won't boot into recovery!!!
Thoughts?
If someone could strip administrative privileges off of a version of ODIN v3 for me, that would be great! I don't see how else to get around this now!
-Taxmaster
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Out of curiosity, are you flashing a ROM for the T-Mobile S4? If no, are you using a T-Mobile kernel? I only ask because a kernel for a different device will normally cause you to not be able to pass the initial Galaxy S4 screen... Also, as far as TWRP goes, sometimes it doesn't go right into recovery. If it fails to enter recovery after a reasonable amount of time, just hold power to turn it off and try again. I've had to do it 2-3 times at least just to successfully enter TWRP.
lordcheeto03 said:
Out of curiosity, are you flashing a ROM for the T-Mobile S4? If no, are you using a T-Mobile kernel? I only ask because a kernel for a different device will normally cause you to not be able to pass the initial Galaxy S4 screen... Also, as far as TWRP goes, sometimes it doesn't go right into recovery. If it fails to enter recovery after a reasonable amount of time, just hold power to turn it off and try again. I've had to do it 2-3 times at least just to successfully enter TWRP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am installing a T-Mobile S4 ROM that uses a custom kernel. The ROM before was the same ROM just a lower revision, same kernel.
With respect to TWRP, I thought it was all gone now that I installed the CWM touch version. I've tried doing it a million times and cannot get back into either TWRP or CWM. At this point, the only thing I can do is turn on the device to see the "Samsung Galaxy S4" screen, attempt booting into recovery but never make it past the screen saying "Recovery Booting", or enter Download Mode but I cannot use it since I can't run ODIN on my work laptop .... stupid admin privileges!
Taxmaster said:
I am installing a T-Mobile S4 ROM that uses a custom kernel. The ROM before was the same ROM just a lower revision, same kernel.
With respect to TWRP, I thought it was all gone now that I installed the CWM touch version. I've tried doing it a million times and cannot get back into either TWRP or CWM. At this point, the only thing I can do is turn on the device to see the "Samsung Galaxy S4" screen, attempt booting into recovery but never make it past the screen saying "Recovery Booting", or enter Download Mode but I cannot use it since I can't run ODIN on my work laptop .... stupid admin privileges!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure what happened there.. very strange. But seems as if you have no recovery xD lol Maybe heimdall will work. Never used it not sure if it needs UAC to work. But dont use TWRP anymore
As far as your situation goes, maybe if you have the time and fast enough internet, see if you can download a linux distro (i recommend fedora as it is small and light) then make a bootable USB from that distro (if you have a flash drive) then use Heimdall in linux to flash the tar image.
Or just wait to get home. not sure how long your honeymoon is xD
elesbb said:
Not sure what happened there.. very strange. But seems as if you have no recovery xD lol Maybe heimdall will work. Never used it not sure if it needs UAC to work. But dont use TWRP anymore
As far as your situation goes, maybe if you have the time and fast enough internet, see if you can download a linux distro (i recommend fedora as it is small and light) then make a bootable USB from that distro (if you have a flash drive) then use Heimdall in linux to flash the tar image.
Or just wait to get home. not sure how long your honeymoon is xD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think I just need to accept that fact that I have been had and that the only thing I can do is wait until I'm home to use ODIN. Absolutely asinine in my opinion, however it seems the only logical conclusion at this point.
If anyone else cares to chime in with suggestions, please let me know!
-Taxmaster
I have had the same problem several times. The only way I have been able to boot up is to completely format data and either restore from backup or reflash a new ROM. If I wipe the dalvik cache after doing so however, it will not boot (hangs at the galaxy s4 screen like you said) and I will have to reflash or restore a 2nd time. (I'm using twrp too, but will switch to cwm if this happens again)
I m curious. Have you run into this problem again? Seems like every time my phone shuts off and tries to boot I have to restore from a backup that is days or weeks old. Super annoying. The first time this happened I restored to stock from Odin and did not use any backups in the hope that it would solve my problem and prevent it from happening again. No such luck.
coolastar said:
I have had the same problem several times. The only way I have been able to boot up is to completely format data and either restore from backup or reflash a new ROM. If I wipe the dalvik cache after doing so however, it will not boot (hangs at the galaxy s4 screen like you said) and I will have to reflash or restore a 2nd time. (I'm using twrp too, but will switch to cwm if this happens again)
I m curious. Have you run into this problem again? Seems like every time my phone shuts off and tries to boot I have to restore from a backup that is days or weeks old. Super annoying. The first time this happened I restored to stock from Odin and did not use any backups in the hope that it would solve my problem and prevent it from happening again. No such luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I ended up having to wait until I got home to use ODIN. I ODIN'd up the stock .tar and then installed Philz touch recovery (CWM-based), then I did a full wipe of everything and installed a ROM. Problem solved.
With that noted, I abandoned TWRP and am now only using CWM on my wife's phone.
Taxmaster said:
I ended up having to wait until I got home to use ODIN. I ODIN'd up the stock .tar and then installed Philz touch recovery (CWM-based), then I did a full wipe of everything and installed a ROM. Problem solved.
With that noted, I abandoned TWRP and am now only using CWM on my wife's phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same, TWRP just has too many problems.
CWM is much more reliable.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda premium
Taxmaster said:
I ended up having to wait until I got home to use ODIN. I ODIN'd up the stock .tar and then installed Philz touch recovery (CWM-based), then I did a full wipe of everything and installed a ROM. Problem solved.
With that noted, I abandoned TWRP and am now only using CWM on my wife's phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you were using TWRP 2.6.0, that could have been the problem. I reverted back to 2.5.0.2 and like many others, have had no issues. If you had a TWRP backup, that might have fixed it early on.

[Q] TWRP 2.6.3.1 Asks for password

I woke up this morning to my phone perpetually rebooting.
I was running a nightly of CM 11.
Now when I try to go into Recovery I get a screen that asks for a password. I have no idea what that password is as I did not set one. I tried wiping data to no avail. I tried flashing a new recovery via Odin this did not work (Odin said successful but the screen on the phone never showed the transfer of the file). No matter what wipe method I use in recovery it just says fail, doesn't work at all and hangs or will say it can't mount. I have searched and searched and tried and tried and I'm stuck. I even tried ADB that didn't work either. Please help!
Try flashing Philz Touch (based on CWM) over TWRP via Odin. I have always had good luck with CWM and Philz.
Download the tar version: http://goo.im/devs/philz_touch/CWM_Advanced_Edition/d2att
audit13 said:
Try flashing Philz Touch (based on CWM) over TWRP via Odin. I have always had good luck with CWM and Philz.
Download the tar version: http://goo.im/devs/philz_touch/CWM_Advanced_Edition/d2att
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried this already. I cannot flash ANYTHING via ODIN. Odin states that the process completed but the bar on the phone on the download screen never shows up to show that it has accepted a file.
therecker said:
I tried this already. I cannot flash ANYTHING via ODIN. Odin states that the process completed but the bar on the phone on the download screen never shows up to show that it has accepted a file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you unchecked F . reset and unchecked auto reboot when you flashed recovery in Odin? After you flash the file you have to pull the battery then replace it and boot to recovery do not allow the phone to boot to OS or you have to flash again as your recovery will only stick if you pull the battery and boot to recovery after flashing it. After you get into it the first time all will be well with the world again you can flash your heart out.
I had twrp ask me for a password once I hit the back arrow key and told it to mount my external SD card then flashed my rom, bootloader, kernel and modem then rebooted no problem.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
theramsey3 said:
Did you unchecked F . reset and unchecked auto reboot when you flashed recovery in Odin? After you flash the file you have to pull the battery then replace it and boot to recovery do not allow the phone to boot to OS or you have to flash again as your recovery will only stick if you pull the battery and boot to recovery after flashing it. After you get into it the first time all will be well with the world again you can flash your heart out.
I had twrp ask me for a password once I hit the back arrow key and told it to mount my external SD card then flashed my rom, bootloader, kernel and modem then rebooted no problem.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This did not work. When I use ODIN all that is happening is that ODIN says it has succeeded but the little progress bar that usually shows up on the phone when you are in download mode never comes up. I did try this method though and it didn't work.
I restarted the phone in ODIN mode then opened ODIN then connected the USB cable then unchecked the two boxes you mentioned then flashed a new non TWRP recovery then waited for ODIN to say successful then the phone never showed the progress bar so I waited 2 mins until I pulled the battery then I restarted phone directly to recovery and still have the password prompt. Even after hitting cancel I cannot interact with recovery because every option I choose just says fail. I cannot even mount external sd card.
What phone do you have? What was the most recent stock ROM on your phone? Maybe you can flash a stock ROM.
There is a copy of the stock Samsung 3e recovery (which we can't use to flash zips with) I'm curious if maybe it can overwrite what you have going on? On the password screen I wasn't hitting cancel I was simply hitting the back arrow key. I will see if I have a copy of the stock recovery, just maybe you can flash it then flash another recovery after that so you can fix your phone.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
I have Samsung Galaxy S 3 At&T (d2att) SGH-I747 whichever one of those you want. The most recent stock rom on the phone was when I bought it brand new a few months after it came out. I tried installing a stock rom. I tried this using ODIN and it failed. The issue here is that TWRP somehow encrypted the entire file system so NOTHING at all in recovery works. When I use ODIN mode it never shows on my phone that it is accepting a transfer from the computer. When I tried the stock rom via ODIN method it actually failed in ODIN instead of telling me it succeeded and then just not work. It failed at the point when it says Firmware Update Start...aboot.mbn...NAND Write Start!...Complete(Write) operation failed. I am up for any suggestions but I need them to be detailed instructions because I have tried so many things I need to know what exact steps to follow.
I believe the aboot file is a bootloader. Did you ever have a stock 4.3 ROM on the phone? If you did, it probably has the stock 4.3 AT&T bootloader which cannot be downgraded without bricking the phone which means you cannot flash a ROM with an older bootloader via Odin.
audit13 said:
I believe the aboot file is a bootloader. Did you ever have a stock 4.3 ROM on the phone? If you did, it probably has the stock 4.3 AT&T bootloader which cannot be downgraded without bricking the phone which means you cannot flash a ROM with an older bootloader via Odin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To my knowledge I never had a stock 4.3 ROM on the phone. The only stock ROM to touch this phone was the one that came on it. So be specific what are you actually suggesting in this post that I do?
therecker said:
To my knowledge I never had a stock 4.3 ROM on the phone. The only stock ROM to touch this phone was the one that came on it. So be specific what are you actually suggesting in this post that I do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am surprised that the aboot file was giving you a problem because the bootloader can be downgraded as long as it is not a 4.3 bootloader.
Do you recall exactly which ROM was on the phone when you got it? Where did you get the stock ROM?
audit13 said:
I am surprised that the aboot file was giving you a problem because the bootloader can be downgraded as long as it is not a 4.3 bootloader.
Do you recall exactly which ROM was on the phone when you got it? Where did you get the stock ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It was a CM11 Nightly ROM from the very beginning of February. And before that it was a CM10.2 Stable ROM.
Which stock ROM was on your phone before you loaded a custom ROM?
audit13 said:
Which stock ROM was on your phone before you loaded a custom ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have no idea. It was when I first got the phone in November of 2012.
Sounds like your phone may be running a 4.3 bootloader which means your bootloader is locked and cannot be downgraded. This may explain why you are getting errors when trying to flash Odin. There is no stock AT&T 4.3 ROM that can be flashed via Odin.

[Q] Boot Looping SPH-L900 Trying to downgrade from 4.3 to custom rom or remove KNOX

Early this morning I decided to try to get root and flash a custom rom, either CyanogenMod or Omni. I was able to flash touch recovery and wiped system files and cache. All custom firmwares failed to load. Now when the phone boots up, it goes into OTA activation, activates, does a PRL update, and reboots. Touch recovery repeats the system restore, unattended, and the loop repeats infinitely.
I am looking for a process that will help me cure the reboot loop to let me return to using the stock 4.3, but because of some bugginess I was experiencing, I would prefer a method that rids the knox bootloader and other protections so that I can gain root access and load custom firmwares.
I found a similar thread for a different model number, but I'm sure I'll need specific instructions for this model. Any help is greatly appreciated, as I'd rather not have to figure out a way to destroy the phone to get an insurance replacement. I'm also 23 days away from my upgrade date.
I am offering a $50 bounty for now, and when I upgrade, if possible to retain my phone while getting the upgrade price, you can have the note 2 that you helped fix.
cjkline83 said:
Early this morning I decided to try to get root and flash a custom rom, either CyanogenMod or Omni. I was able to flash touch recovery and wiped system files and cache. All custom firmwares failed to load. Now when the phone boots up, it goes into OTA activation, activates, does a PRL update, and reboots. Touch recovery repeats the system restore, unattended, and the loop repeats infinitely.
I am looking for a process that will help me cure the reboot loop to let me return to using the stock 4.3, but because of some bugginess I was experiencing, I would prefer a method that rids the knox bootloader and other protections so that I can gain root access and load custom firmwares.
I found a similar thread for a different model number, but I'm sure I'll need specific instructions for this model. Any help is greatly appreciated, as I'd rather not have to figure out a way to destroy the phone to get an insurance replacement. I'm also 23 days away from my upgrade date.
I am offering a $50 bounty for now, and when I upgrade, if possible to retain my phone while getting the upgrade price, you can have the note 2 that you helped fix.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try this
Flash twrp recovery zip
Custom wipe system, data, cache
Install this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=36388145
Install the root zip located in that op
Do not wipe anything else
Reboot it should act weird then reboot
After about 5-10 mins it will finish booting
Now flash philz 6.07.9 recovery via odin
Then boot into recovery factory reset/clean for new rom
Under mounts format data/media (internal sd)
Reboot into recovery
Flash your 4.4 rom
Sent from my SPH-L900 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Pending Testing
jlmancuso said:
Try this
Flash twrp recovery zip
Custom wipe system, data, cache
Install this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=36388145
Install the root zip located in that op
Do not wipe anything else
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I wiped everything when I got home from work (don't know what I was thinking, really). TWRP even warned me no OS was installed, and I was like "so?". Anyway, as soon as it got stuck on the Samsung Galaxy Note II screen, I started the download of that rom you linked to. Still has 10 minutes left (big file is big). I'll come back with an update once I complete these first set of steps.
[Pending:]
Reboot it should act weird then reboot
After about 5-10 mins it will finish booting
Now flash philz 6.07.9 recovery via odin
Then boot into recovery factory reset/clean for new rom
Under mounts format data/media (internal sd)
Reboot into recovery
Flash your 4.4 rom
====================================
ADB Sideload
Since the device is not bootable, and I don't have an adapter to copy to my SD card via a usb reader, I struggled, but got the ADB Sideload function of the Android Development Toolkit to work once I upgrade to Team Win Recovery 2.7.0.0 via ODIN.
sideload log is as follows:
Code:
Updating partition details...
Full SELinux support is present.
Starting ADB sideload feature...
Installing '/data/media/0/sideload.zip'...
Checking for MD5 file...
Skipping MD5 check: no MD5 file found.
UnRooted MC2 Stock Restore by blizzard412
Formatting /system and installing..
This will take a while
...Flashing temp special recovery
...Again just in case
Installing Radio...
Flashing firmware...
Flashing garwrnn & -EViL-KoNCEPTz- carrier partition fix...
You will automatically reboot to twrp to finish up...
[COLOR="Red"]E:Unable to mount '/preload'[/COLOR]
Should I be worried about the preload error?
Edit: rebooted but currently in a reboot loop without the startup sound. I'm going to let this go for about 10 minutes before I try to wipe and re-sideload? Before TouchWin rebooted it asked me if I wanted to install SU-SuperUser for root. Should I not install the root at this time?
Edit 2 THANK YOU!
[Pending:]
Reboot it should act weird then reboot
After about 5-10 mins it will finish booting
Now flash philz 6.07.9 recovery via odin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I could not get this to flash via ODIN. The stock recovery kept loading instead
Decided to just try and move down the list.
Then boot into recovery factory reset/clean for new rom
Under mounts format data/media (internal sd)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Phone is now out of reboot loop once I cleared the data and cache. Text messages immediately came in after OTA activation and PRL update. I am now running stock rooted 4.1.2 without KNOX.
Reboot into recovery
Flash your 4.4 rom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Might wait on that for a minute. So thankful to at least have a working device again. Thanks for your help. Would you like the bounty? Please PM me a paypal address or your preferred methods.
The preload error is normal with twrp and is not an issue. Now you have lots going on so let me ask you this. Do you have a custom recovery and/or root as of now?
Sent from my SPH-L900 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Systems nominal
jlmancuso said:
The preload error is normal with twrp and is not an issue. Now you have lots going on so let me ask you this. Do you have a custom recovery and/or root as of now?
Sent from my SPH-L900 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I had a rooted stock rom, replied to my texts from the day, then loaded rom manager, installed clockwork recovery. downloaded omni directly to the phone from their website, rebooted into clockwork, flashed, and things were fine. Booted into rooted kitkat 4.4.2, and now I'm flashin the gapps update to enable google services. network and wifi working fine under omni.
Can't thank you enough for helping me out of that hole from earlier.
In case you dont know omni rom does not come rooted.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
jlmancuso said:
In case you dont know omni rom does not come rooted.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, I flashed SuperSU in CWM and fixed that. Things are running great. Just need to see what the battery life is like now on a new rom.

Help...semibrick or not?

Hi,
All was good in the SM-T705 world rocking 5.0.2 Rooted Stock.
But one day, decided to take the plonge and update to the 5.1.1 Unnoficial CM12.1 to try things out.
Well, all was good, but kinda lost the 4G connectivity (even after flashing the radio file provided on the thread)
So i decided to try again something, and start from Stock again.
Got myself the latest 5.0.2 image from kies and "odin it away".
Everything ok with the flash, but the device remains on the boot screen ....meaning bootloop.
Never seen a bootloop on a stock flash.
When bootlooping, i can only access download mode/recovery. Nothing else works.
Any hints?
Thanks guys.
Bootloader maybe?
rookie12 said:
Bootloader maybe?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any hint how to fix this?
Idk ask a prof
Maybe flash the whole frimware via odin again
I advice you to download a stock firmware (or at least a TW based one) from here in the forum, instead of Kies.
You can try also first with a manual EXT4 reformat of System, Data and Cache though Recovery. Do NOT touch other partitions.
Then reinstall with Odin, NO tick on repartition.
It must work
Thank you guys for all your replies.
Thing is, i cant seem to be able to flash twrp. I do it through Odin and goea fine, but when it reboots it is overriding to the stock recovery again (since it can't complete the stock flash boot process)
That would be the desired scenario, since I even have a twrp backup that I'm wishing to restore.
Any other ideas?
You need to boot to twrp immediately after flashing or recovery will be overwritten with stock.
Second, once in recovery wipe data and you should be good to go.
ashyx said:
You need to boot to twrp immediately after flashing or recovery will be overwritten with stock.
Second, once in recovery wipe data and you should be good to go.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got my tab back.
Thank you very much for all your help...that's why xda works most of the time.
Sent from my SM-T705 using XDA Free mobile app

Categories

Resources