Develop Bugs

[Q] What Is CDC Abstract Control Module?

I am trying to re-root my Epic after flashing to stock so I could take it into Sprint for repair. I plug it into my netbook running Windows 7 64bit and everything seems to install fine except this thing called "CDC Abstract Control Module ACM". It seems to find the drivers fine and even gets to the place where it says "Installing Driver Software", but then it hangs forever. I tried just running the CWM One click root, but it says "Phone not connected".
Anyone know what this CDC is and how to make it install? I have tried a few times doing system restore back to before I installed the Samsung drivers, then started over from scratch. But, nothing seems to work.

The Lepricon said:
I am trying to re-root my Epic after flashing to stock so I could take it into Sprint for repair. I plug it into my netbook running Windows 7 64bit and everything seems to install fine except this thing called "CDC Abstract Control Module ACM". It seems to find the drivers fine and even gets to the place where it says "Installing Driver Software", but then it hangs forever. I tried just running the CWM One click root, but it says "Phone not connected".
Anyone know what this CDC is and how to make it install? I have tried a few times doing system restore back to before I installed the Samsung drivers, then started over from scratch. But, nothing seems to work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For the oneclick root make sure your phone has usb debugging enabled
Sent from my Epic 4G using XDA Premium App

Thank you.
I do have debugging on.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App

mine hung on that too... wish I still had an old copy of the drivers, I swear they changed. Either that, or one other thing is that when I did the same as you about a month ago, I hadnt installed the Android SDK yet... come to think of it, idunno why, I THINK we still need it, but maybe not. Whenever I get issues with drivers installing, I uninstall them, reboot PC, reinstall, reboot PC, plug in epic, let it install drivers till it hangs, then quickly pull out then re-insert the USB in the phone and it sometimes will trip it up and complete the install. Also, now that I think of it, I was having issues installing drivers with the epic running a GB leak, as soon as I Odined to EC05 (using a different PC) they seemed to install fine. Hmmm... just reread your post, coffee THEN post, thats a good tip, anyways, maybe try the different ports on the PC, etc... I think the drivers are the biggest ***** of the whole process... everything else works pretty easily.

Weird I had the same problem I just unplugged my phone restarted my computer and phone and when I plugged it in I had not problems....try restarting both...also what method are u using to root??? And are u on EC05???
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

I have tried the one click cwm 2.5 and the newer cwm 3.**.
Have tried rebooting pc and then it will not even recognize any new hardware but still shows phone not connected.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App

The Lepricon said:
I have tried the one click cwm 2.5 and the newer cwm 3.**.
Have tried rebooting pc and then it will not even recognize any new hardware but still shows phone not connected.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same problem when I installed the drivers. Fortunately, I watched one of qbkings videos (where he talks about replacing the USB cable). I bought a new micro-usb cable and have never had a problem since. So really, the thanks goes to qbking for the great vids.

Just upgraded to Kies 2.1.0...Is Kies terrible for everyone or just me

I tried to use the previous version of kies to upgrade my gs2 but it never worked. Update would be from:
[KF3/phone:ke7/csc:KD1] to [KI4/phone:KI1/csc:kh2]
Which I'm sure is a big step forward as I haven't been able to update forever. I thought that once I updated Kies I'd finally be able to update my phone. Now when I connect my s2 and hit update firmware, as soon as it asks to backup it loses the connection to the s2. I've reinstalled drivers twice to no avail.
Does Kies just blow as a software or am I doing something wrong.

Kies blows big time - utterly useless... useless at upgrading, useless at backing up. According to their twitter @samsungkies - "Seamless experience with Smarter Kies". That's a joke of a statement. Go with Odin my friend, much less aggro and it works all the time.

^ I so much agree to that post.
Kies never worked for me, not even when my SGS II was used with the stock rom that shipped with it. While there was an update out for quite a long time (> 1 month) it still was showing my version as being current.
Odin is so much better or just as simple: flashing from CWM.

husaam said:
Kies blows big time - utterly useless... useless at upgrading, useless at backing up. According to their twitter @samsungkies - "Seamless experience with Smarter Kies". That's a joke of a statement. Go with Odin my friend, much less aggro and it works all the time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I briefly looked at Odin not too long ago, it looked sort of confusing. I'm in another country currently and spend most of my time either (50+ hours a week) working on projects here or exploring the country. As such I don't have much time to learn a new program if it's too confusing. But I'll give it a try and hopefully get to say goodbye to kies forever.
edit: Do I need to root* my s2 to use odin?

aDroidtoRemember said:
I briefly looked at Odin not too long ago, it looked sort of confusing. I'm in another country currently and spend most of my time either (50+ hours a week) working on projects here or exploring the country. As such I don't have much time to learn a new program if it's too confusing. But I'll give it a try and hopefully get to say goodbye to kies forever.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's actually quite simply. Most ROMS come with only one file. That can be flashed via PDA. Do NOT, I repeat, do NOT, I repeat once again, do NOT, and again: do NOT! tick ANY option in ODIN, unless stated specifically in the ROM's instructions and even then tripple check that you're really about to flash a SGS II firmware.
So as long as you get the right firmware, do not tick anything and just flash it via PDA you should be quite safe. There's always a minimal risk, even if you do everything right but it's very very small.

Try This!
RUN Kies onces its loaded connect phone it will say connecting phone within a short period of time and error message will load, click onto the error message a new window will open, now it will have something like 4 stages. 1st stage will say disconnect cable from phone, once you have done this click on next or the follow up stage. Now this will or should Repair drivers, and now install drivers again once this has been done connect phone and phone will now load in Kies.
XP users may have to reboot PC for driver take effect.
Hope this hepls you.
PS:THIS problem only happen to me on live update, download new kies manually install no problems. Win 7 64bit

Looking at Odin for the first time can be a bit confusing. Once you know the score tho its very easy and quick. Flashing intras files for example is a complete doddle as it's 1 tar file
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium

Nyssa1104 said:
RUN Kies onces its loaded connect phone it will say connecting phone within a short period of time and error message will load, click onto the error message a new window will open, now it will have something like 4 stages. 1st stage will say disconnect cable from phone, once you have done this click on next or the follow up stage. Now this will or should Repair drivers, and now install drivers again once this has been done connect phone and phone will now load in Kies.
XP users may have to reboot PC for driver take effect.
Hope this hepls you.
PS:THIS problem only happen to me on live update, download new kies manually install no problems. Win 7 64bit
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've reinstalled the drivers using the connection error troubleshoot, and the phone connects fine to kies. It just loses connection to kies when I try to update the firmware. When I have more time I will most likely just use Odin but I don't want to root my phone in order to do it. Is rooting necessary?

Once you get your head around Odin, its a piece of cake.
Look for Intratech's Official i9100 Firmwares thread in the Original Android Development section, you'll find everything you could possibly need in there (instructions, firmwares etc)

aDroidtoRemember said:
I've reinstalled the drivers using the connection error troubleshoot, and the phone connects fine to kies. It just loses connection to kies when I try to update the firmware. When I have more time I will most likely just use Odin but I don't want to root my phone in order to do it. Is rooting necessary?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK Odin is easy just read the Q&A

link pls...

i just upgraded to 2.1 also and now can't upgrade firmware, just keeps looping in disconnecting and reconnecting never upgrading firmware

Since nobody answered yet... No u don't needa root to get Odin work
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

i have had the same connect - disconnect or backup problems with kies (my version is 2.0.3) and have always blamed it on kies but once i tried to restart the phone, everything worked smoothly and i could do all kinds of operations with it. My phone is rooted and the current fw version is XWKJ1 original.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

mertakb said:
i have had the same connect - disconnect or backup problems with kies (my version is 2.0.3) and have always blamed it on kies but once i tried to restart the phone, everything worked smoothly and i could do all kinds of operations with it. My phone is rooted and the current fw version is XWKJ1 original.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you're are correct for 2.0.3 but the new 2.1 is totally screwed up, crashed my windows even

Gavin.csy said:
i just upgraded to 2.1 also and now can't upgrade firmware, just keeps looping in disconnecting and reconnecting never upgrading firmware
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just read a solution that works for me on the Dutch tweakers.net website:
- In Windows fully uninstall Kies.
- Download the latest Kies version and reinstall.
After that the upgrade worked for me.

janderk said:
Just read a solution that works for me on the Dutch tweakers.net website:
- In Windows fully uninstall Kies.
- Download the latest Kies version and reinstall.
After that the upgrade worked for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
do you have the link for the download, i still find 2.0.3 only, nothing directly 2.1

Windows 7pro (32bit) absolutely none of the problems listed here or on other threads (regardless of stock/custom anything) but.. Odin is easy if you follow instructions and seems much more reliable (see intratechs thread in dev section for instructions)
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium

It finally worked for me, i don't know what happened why it suddenly decided to work/
One difference i noticed is i got a notification 'Samsung Modem succesfully installed' which i did not get for the past 2 hours of restarting,uninstalling ,installing. It just suddenly came when i connected the phone
Kies is really crazy as hell

I think you may just have to turn off your anti-virus/firewall software while you update. It worked for me.

[Q] battery issue-- root fix, but...

Hello Everyone,
new member and first time poster here! What a community!
I've run into some serious battery drainage after installing 4.1.2 on my AT&T Note II; the battery will sometimes drain 15-20% an hour in standby mode, sometimes less but still drastically worse than before the updates when I'd get a solid day and a half. It seems to think that the SD card is constantly ejecting and so it will remount periodically-- this, I'm sure, is the chief issue. After browsing around here and googling for a couple hours last night, I've seen various "fixes" involving my external microSD card, but none of them seem to help.
Anyway, I've been wanting to root and flash a custom ROM for a while now, but have been lazy; alas, I am finally compelled to do it today. This all brings me to my question:
Why won't Win 7 recognize my note II? I know there have been many posts here at XDA regarding the terrible samsung drivers etc., yet everyone seems to be rooting their noteII, sIII etc. just fine! I've installed the correct drivers, rebooted a couple time-- nothing! I'm hoping this issue has been resolved and I'm just overlooking the thread... can anyone provide any insight? Can't wait to root my first phone!
Thanks in advance

20% per hour on standby is a ridiculous amount. .
Did you take an OTA to update the device ??
Either way. ..
That level of drainage needs a fresh start. ..for sure. .
I would consider pushing a rooted stock build via Odin first. ..to confirm your device is okay.
Verify your driver package and download Odin for the test. ..
You need to track the battery drain issue first. ..imho

gregsarg said:
20% per hour on standby is a ridiculous amount. .
Did you take an OTA to update the device ??
Either way. ..
That level of drainage needs a fresh start. ..for sure. .
I would consider pushing a rooted stock build via Odin first. ..to confirm your device is okay.
Verify your driver package and download Odin for the test. ..
You need to track the battery drain issue first. ..imho
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
solid-- that's exactly what I'll do.
Btw, maybe 15-20% is a bit inflated; that is how it feels though, I haven't really kept track or checked. I just noticed a big difference and, one morning after having snoozed my alarm on the phone, unplugging it and gone back to sleep, my fully charged note was at 80% when I opened my eyes, maybe a couple hours later. I do have odin installed but how am I to do any of that if the phone isn't recognizable?
sorry for the silly questions; I'm brand new to odin and all of this mind you-- am i missing something here?

oh, and yes- the update was OTA

With Odin...be sure you have the drivers installed and your phone is in download mode.

wahbob said:
With Odin...be sure you have the drivers installed and your phone is in download mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my phone was definitely in download mode (held vol down, power, and home).
I guess im just not sure how to install drivers with odin. I just downloaded the samsung mobile device usb drivers .exe and ran it... thanks for the reply.

Yes...download mode on the device...
If your PC drivers are set up properly....you wont have any trouble with the device being recognized.
It sounds like the drivers are messed up still....g
Edit :
Pull the drivers from the development section under the "everything" thread...and not from the general internet or kies..
and if you have kies installed....dump it....g

gregsarg said:
Yes...download mode on the device...
If your PC drivers are set up properly....you wont have any trouble with the device being recognized.
It sounds like the drivers are messed up still....g
Edit :
Pull the drivers from the development section under the "everything" thread...and not from the general internet or kies..
and if you have kies installed....dump it....g
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
went to the development board and found this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1987541 which just links to samsung's official site from which i downloaded my presumably faulty drivers.

hexagondun said:
went to the development board and found this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1987541 which just links to samsung's official site from which i downloaded my presumably faulty drivers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you running an anti-virus program on your PC ?? I assume yes, and depending on the maker of the AV package, the program may interfere with the drivers being installed properly.
AV programs often bind critical steps in the function of drivers and views them as unsafe...
Try disabling the AV program while downloading and installing the Drivers from samsung.....g

gregsarg said:
Are you running an anti-virus program on your PC ?? I assume yes, and depending on the maker of the AV package, the program may interfere with the drivers being installed properly.
AV programs often bind critical steps in the function of drivers and views them as unsafe...
Try disabling the AV program while downloading and installing the Drivers from samsung.....g
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well, rather than disabling, I completely uninstalled my antivirus software, then uninstalled the drivers, rebooted, reinstalled the drivers, rebooted again, and still the pc wont recognize the phone. tried it on my father's windows machine with the same results. I have never had such a hard time with drivers in my entire life. What a frustrating process!
any other suggestions?

Odublica singularly
Try a different cable.
hexagondun said:
well, rather than disabling, I completely uninstalled my antivirus software, then uninstalled the drivers, rebooted, reinstalled the drivers, rebooted again, and still the pc wont recognize the phone. tried it on my father's windows machine with the same results. I have never had such a hard time with drivers in my entire life. What a frustrating process!
any other suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

SXBB said:
Try a different cable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed......
The OEM cable is preferred....g

SXBB said:
Try a different cable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
And also what he said^^^^^^
I'll add this, if still not working then try another usb port or another computer...
It may help!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

[Q] Rooting Help? USB Not Working In Download Mode

I have a Sprint Samsun Galaxy Note 4, in the USA. I'm trying to root my device - I've read online tutorials, watched videos, and it doesn't seem to be working. Here's what happens:
1. Downloaded CF Auto Root for my device, unzipped it.
2. Set up ODIN.
3. Set phone to download mode, plugged in to PC.
4. Did not see the blue light, figured I didn't have the right drivers.
5. Turned phone back on, and noticed that ODIN light now works (as do file transfers), but downloaded new drivers anyway.
6. Uninstalled old drivers, rebooted.
7. Installed new drivers, rebooted.
8. Placed phone in download mode again, same issue.
Any ideas?

Did you wait a couple of minutes between steps 3 and 4 before giving up. I just re-did this last night; I didn't time it but my PC must have taken a minute to show COM to be ready to start Odin on the stock tar.
I was also having USB driver issues and reinstalled. My PC has been having USB issues in general with Windows 8.1 updates; had to uninstall and reinstall the same PC generic USB driver. Circa 2009 era PC needs an overhaul or replacement.
BTW, if you're using an older CF Auto root, CF went back to Odin 3.07 and updated to superSU v2.45

I did, because I was unsure what was going on. This is only the second time I've rooted a phone, so I was unsure what would happen if I pulled the battery. I think I waited about 20 minutes while looking online to figure out what was going on.
I'm not sure what you mean by an older version. I downloaded the version for my phone from chainfire.eu

http://redirect.disqus.com/url?url=...&thread=3459253652&zone=thread&area=discovery
http://redirect.disqus.com/url?url=...&thread=3443914612&zone=thread&area=discovery
Some questions I should have asked earlier: USB debugging enabled? Using USB 2.0? Tried different USB cables?

Yes, device debugging is enabled. First thing I did on my phone after activation =)
I'm not sure how to tell if I'm using USB 2.0 or 3.0.
I did try a different cable. I don't think the cable would be the issue since it works when the phone is on normally, though?
I'm going to follow the troubleshooting guide in the links you posted, see if that helps =)

Yes, device debugging is enabled. First thing I did on my phone after activation =)
I'm not sure how to tell if I'm using USB 2.0 or 3.0.
I did try a different cable. I don't think the cable would be the issue since it works when the phone is on normally, though?
I'm going to follow the troubleshooting guide in the links you posted, see if that helps =)
PS. Did you use Kingo to root your note 4? I might give it a try.

No, I just posted links for the thoroughness of checks. I used CF Auto root. Good luck.

Did not work either. It DOES say I'm connected, went through the reboot, but then just starts over again. /sigh

I'm thinking the MTP might be the issue, but I don't seem to have a MSD option on my note 4?

Any more ideas?

What Windows version are using? If it's 8.1, has it been updated? There was a USB 2.0 update that fixed some devices reporting as compatible greater than 2.0 but not handled correctly by Windows 8.1 but was OK with Windows 8.0 and below. Windows 8.1 got an update July, 2014, that should have fixed that but not all were fixed; there's a link for reporting exceptions with a log but I'm not sure that applies to you.
Have you tried using the USB port on test of PC case?
Maybe being more specific about your PC and what you've tried would help.
From there, if anyone else has some suggestions, please advise.

faile486 said:
I have a Sprint Samsun Galaxy Note 4, in the USA. I'm trying to root my device - I've read online tutorials, watched videos, and it doesn't seem to be working. Here's what happens:
1. Downloaded CF Auto Root for my device, unzipped it.
2. Set up ODIN.
3. Set phone to download mode, plugged in to PC.
4. Did not see the blue light, figured I didn't have the right drivers.
5. Turned phone back on, and noticed that ODIN light now works (as do file transfers), but downloaded new drivers anyway.
6. Uninstalled old drivers, rebooted.
7. Installed new drivers, rebooted.
8. Placed phone in download mode again, same issue.
Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Press volume up to confirm download mode?

rawintellect said:
Press volume up to confirm download mode?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that has to be done to get to download mode? I'm at the screen where it says 'Downloading...Do not turn of the target!!'

faile486 said:
Did not work either. It DOES say I'm connected, went through the reboot, but then just starts over again. /sigh
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sorry but I don't recall seeing this reply because I don't understand it now. I may have overlooked it?
Are you saying the phone appears to download but boot loops? You should see success and 0 failures prior to auto boot. Is that the CF Auto root flash in Odin or another Odin flash like recovery or stock tar? If that's happening, did you try to pull battery and delete cache and dalvik cache in recovery? Is the phone semi bricked or just not rooted? Can you Odin the recovery tar for TWRP recovery? If so, you could just flash the superSU zip file in TWRP.
http://download.chainfire.eu/supersu
Another suggestion, if you're getting anywhere with Odin, you should close and reopen Odin if doing multiple flashes. Close after each flash; i.e., power down, flash stock tar, close Odin, open Odin, flash CF Auto root, close Odin, flash recovery (download mode steps omitted since you know that already).
Again, someone might could help with detailed setup details and steps taken. Sorry if I'm not following well; I'd like to help, if possible.

samep said:
What Windows version are using? If it's 8.1, has it been updated? There was a USB 2.0 update that fixed some devices reporting as compatible greater than 2.0 but not handled correctly by Windows 8.1 but was OK with Windows 8.0 and below. Windows 8.1 got an update July, 2014, that should have fixed that but not all were fixed; there's a link for reporting exceptions with a log but I'm not sure that applies to you.
Have you tried using the USB port on test of PC case?
Maybe being more specific about your PC and what you've tried would help.
From there, if anyone else has some suggestions, please advise.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using Windows 7. Using another PC is a good idea, I'll try that.

faile486 said:
I'm using Windows 7. Using another PC is a good idea, I'll try that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Didn't realize the auto correct suggested wrong word. I meant rear USB of PC case but trying another PC is also suggested.
Windows 7 means most of my suggestions regarding the drivers may not apply to you. Off topic: upgrading to Windows 8 from Windows Vista had me searching for needed applications and tools omitted from Windows 8. Windows 7 is more developer ready than Windows 8. Simply rooting should be OK with either version as long as drivers and Windows updates are up to date and not broken.
Try those ideas; if still no success, consider the suggestions and questions I gave in the reply earlier today.

samep said:
Didn't realize the auto correct suggested wrong word. I meant rear USB of PC case but trying another PC is also suggested.
Windows 7 means most of my suggestions regarding the drivers may not apply to you. Off topic: upgrading to Windows 8 from Windows Vista had me searching for needed applications and tools omitted from Windows 8. Windows 7 is more developer ready than Windows 8. Simply rooting should be OK with either version as long as drivers and Windows updates are up to date and not broken.
Try those ideas; if still no success, consider the suggestions and questions I gave in the reply earlier today.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know what I did differently on the 18 ****ING TIME but it finally worked! Your thanks meter has been duly increased =)

faile486 said:
I don't know what I did differently on the 18 ****ING TIME but it finally worked! Your thanks meter has been duly increased =)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad to see you among the rooted in Sprint Note 4 XDA. Hopefully your solution can be repeated for future updates. Lollipop well be here some day.

Does Kingo root Trip Knox?
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app

How to restore SM t700 to stock on a Mac or with TWRP

I need to restore my Tab S. I installed Windows on Parallels in order to root it and have been using CM12.
Now no matter what I do Odin fails to see my Tab when in download mode so I can't use it (I've spent all day doing everything forums reccomend - swapping cables, ports, un/installing KIES, blah, blah - 'Windows sees the Tab, but Odin just does not. Heimdall on the Mac just does nothing as it needs a PIT file I don't have and can't find.
Isn't there a way to restore stock firmware with TWRP? Or a rooted near stock ROM that I can unroot?
Any help would be much appreciated.

zemblance said:
I need to restore my Tab S. I installed Windows on Parallels in order to root it and have been using CM12.
Now no matter what I do Odin fails to see my Tab when in download mode so I can't use it (I've spent all day doing everything forums reccomend - swapping cables, ports, un/installing KIES, blah, blah - 'Windows sees the Tab, but Odin just does not. Heimdall on the Mac just does nothing as it needs a PIT file I don't have and can't find.
Isn't there a way to restore stock firmware with TWRP? Or a rooted near stock ROM that I can unroot?
Any help would be much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel your pain, but I think a full windows installation is the only way to get round this. I've tried windows in a Virtualbox and had the same results as you. Googling shows TWRP can restore a backup but I can't see any option to load stock and there's nowhere I can see to download a PIT file
But would this be worth a try? http://www.samsung.com/uk/support/usefulsoftware/KIES/

I take it then you didn't make a full backup in recovery, which is sort of the whole point in flashing it in the first place?
Your issue could be a missing driver.
Reinstall the Samsung driver on the host and make sure it is the guest operating system that is connecting to the usb port not the host.
Also do you know Windows can be installed to a usb drive?
http://lifehacker.com/how-to-run-a-portable-version-of-windows-from-a-usb-dri-1565509124

Mahasamatman said:
I feel your pain, but I think a full windows installation is the only way to get round this. I've tried windows in a Virtualbox and had the same results as you. Googling shows TWRP can restore a backup but I can't see any option to load stock and there's nowhere I can see to download a PIT file
But would this be worth a try? http://www.samsung.com/uk/support/usefulsoftware/KIES/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup I think you're right, installing Boot Camp for the 1st time. One upside is that when I've finished with Windows I'm gonna put on Ubuntu (for the first time in 10 years!), getting bored of OS X and use hardly any of the Apple apps on it anyway...
Tried KIES for Mac but it doesn't seem to recognise custom ROM'd Tabs. Cheers.

ashyx said:
I take it then you didn't make a full backup in recovery, which is sort of the whole point in flashing it in the first place?
Your issue could be a missing driver.
Reinstall the Samsung driver on the host and make sure it is the guest operating system that is connecting to the usb port not the host.
Also do you know Windows can be installed to a usb drive?
http://lifehacker.com/how-to-run-a-portable-version-of-windows-from-a-usb-dri-1565509124
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually buddy methinks you're onto something. Just downloaded Samsung PC Studio and that installed a 'gadget serial' driver that ODIN seems to recognise! :laugh:

Success!
OK - posting this in case another 'me' is searching for the same. Both commenters were helpful. Thanks.
It was a weird trial and error of installing both KIES and Samsung PC studio, that installed all the necessary drivers, the restore took minutes using Odin 3.09. I also had to try a few different USB cables as it seemed choosy, so Parallels can work though it all seems a bit pot lucky!
I now have a 'fresh' install of KK. Not sure if it will show up as a Knox tripper.

The Samsung usb drivers can be downloaded here: http://www.mediafire.com/download/a4hd8y0c1iakysk/Samsung-Usb-Driver-v1.5.49.0.exe