Develop Bugs

Basic Odin questions

Hi,
I have been rooting for a while with my evo 4g which is basically just recoveries & zip files.
Currently I have updated to Calk's ICS Beta 3 rom with modem FC05. I have read some stuff here & there that talk about having issues going from a ICS rom back to a GB nandroid.
I have installed Kies opened Odin, looked at the Wiki here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1274337
I just dont quite get in terms of flashing zips through odin. I keep reading people say to odin back to stock & then flash from there.
How do I do that? I looked at QB777's video on youtube, but it seems like PIT files arent used much at this point.
Any advice would be great.
Thanks,
Rich

Ok, basically when you Odin back to stock, it involves flashing a .tar ROM from the pda slot in desktop Odin and not zip file like you would in CWM. Once you restore back to stock, you can find a .tar recovery, I personally use rogue which will allow you to have cwm-based recovery for flashing zips. All the links should be in development. Let me know if you still need help
Edit-what Odin does is it allows you to flash Roms, kernels, moderns, etc even if you don't have a custom recovery, provided that they are in the correct format, like .tar extension
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

so when i flash a tar, I go into download mode, open odin, point it to a stock rooted tar file that has CWR & I am back to stock ready to flash to something else?
Can you help me find those files? A stock rooted, CWR should do the trick.

RichTJ99 said:
so when i flash a tar, I go into download mode, open odin, point it to a stock rooted tar file that has CWR & I am back to stock ready to flash to something else?
Can you help me find those files? A stock rooted, CWR should do the trick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, so you go into a download mode on your phone, open Odin, plug in your USB cord, ODIN should recognize your phone provided you installed the right drivers. You're good if you get the yellow box that says 0 com, something something. The only box that should be checked is Auto Reboot in Odin.
The easiest way that I've been going back and forth between GB and ICS is to install the rooted EL29 .tar version here
http://little-melon.com/sfhub/SPH-D710.EL29_CL852097_ROOTED-sfx.exe
You would need to extract the file until you get a folder with tar.md5 name. Example of the file I provided would be SPH-D710.EL29_CL852097_ROOTED_PDA.tar.md5 once you unzip it. This is the file you would put on the PDA slot of your desktop Odin.
Once you do this, Odin will start flashing and be done in like 1-2 minutes and auto reboot. Do not do anything to shut down, unplug, or mess with the device while Odin is flashing or you may end up bricking it. Once your phone reboots you will be rooted and stock based with EL 29 modem and kernel, which is the latest official Sprint OTA. If you want to get a recovery after this,you would need to go back into Odin and flash a kernel that has a recovery baked in. Like I said I use Rogue and the link would be here for Rogue Stock EL29-
http://goo-inside.me/kernels/TeamRo.../rogue_ET-recoveryonly-1.1.4-rc0-odin.tar.md5
Flashing this in Odin you will get CWM-based recovery and can start backing up, flashing different ROMS.
Hope this helps.

This is very helpful. I am stuck at the SGS2 boot screen after flashing MIJJs Goodness 1.8, can't boot in to recovery, only download mode. How do I fix this?

thefoss said:
This is very helpful. I am stuck at the SGS2 boot screen after flashing MIJJs Goodness 1.8, can't boot in to recovery, only download mode. How do I fix this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flash a recovery in download mode that I linked. It's rogue recovery
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

Just to confirm, using the files you had here, I open odin in download mode, choose PDA (check the check box) point it to the tar.md5 file, hit start & wait a few minutes until it auto reboots?
How do I flash the recovery? Is it also the PDA?
I have been flashing modems in CWR, not odin & I just want to make sure that recovery or rom itself, just PDA & nothing else checked (but PDA)?
stargaterules said:
Ok, so you go into a download mode on your phone, open Odin, plug in your USB cord, ODIN should recognize your phone provided you installed the right drivers. You're good if you get the yellow box that says 0 com, something something. The only box that should be checked is Auto Reboot in Odin.
The easiest way that I've been going back and forth between GB and ICS is to install the rooted EL29 .tar version here
http://little-melon.com/sfhub/SPH-D710.EL29_CL852097_ROOTED-sfx.exe
You would need to extract the file until you get a folder with tar.md5 name. Example of the file I provided would be SPH-D710.EL29_CL852097_ROOTED_PDA.tar.md5 once you unzip it. This is the file you would put on the PDA slot of your desktop Odin.
Once you do this, Odin will start flashing and be done in like 1-2 minutes and auto reboot. Do not do anything to shut down, unplug, or mess with the device while Odin is flashing or you may end up bricking it. Once your phone reboots you will be rooted and stock based with EL 29 modem and kernel, which is the latest official Sprint OTA. If you want to get a recovery after this,you would need to go back into Odin and flash a kernel that has a recovery baked in. Like I said I use Rogue and the link would be here for Rogue Stock EL29-
http://goo-inside.me/kernels/TeamRo.../rogue_ET-recoveryonly-1.1.4-rc0-odin.tar.md5
Flashing this in Odin you will get CWM-based recovery and can start backing up, flashing different ROMS.
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Reverting back to GB ROM
I recently switched back from ICS to GB and did not have any problems with the change back. I simply went into my SD card manually took everything off except my chaulkins format all and my wifi tether hack. I then went into recovery mode and did a wipe all. Then went to zip files, ran the format all, then did an install of the new ROM and it works great!

Flashing CM9 to my phone

I'm just making sure I'm doing this right. I have starburst ROM and android 2.3.4 with the EK02 modem.
I'm trying to flash CM9 from this thread. However, it asks to flash to StockCWM EL26. Can anyone give a step by step direction for flashing this through Odin, cuz I'm a pretty big newb. I tried flashing it earlier but then when I checked my phone the version still says 2.3.4 and baseband version is still S710.10 S.EK02 not EL26.
After that are the steps similar for flashing CM9 and gapps?
Thanks for the help!
PS. I'm a huge nub. I don't know anything...

Open ODIN, then load the CWM EL26 tar file under the !!!PDA!!! slot. Set your phone to ODIN download mode by first shutting it off, then holding the volume down button together with the power button. Once in ODIN download mode, connect your phone to the PC, and start the flash process. After the flash gives a green PASS, disconnect the phone. It will probably be off at this point, so hold the volume UP button together with power to boot into ClockworkMod. Follow the menus to install the CM9 zip. Once it installs, wipe cache and reboot. Enjoy CM9.
Be forewarned that this increments your odin count, and will give the yellow triangle on the load-screen. This can be reversed by using Triangle-Away 1.25 (search the forums for the apk). I was just told in another thread I started that you can also try using mobile ODIN to flash the CWM-EL26 tar, which will not cause the above annoyances.
EDIT: So I just used mobile ODIN, and it worked like a charm! Use mobile ODIN instead, to flash EL26-CWM.

Not Bricked yet - Rom Upgrade -Stuck on boot screen

This is the story about what happened to my phone today during the ROM upgrade from FC15 to FC18 and how to get out from Samsung Galaxy S II logo screen (if phone is frozen in there), and finally successfully installed FC18 from previous version. I believe my situation that I've experienced today would be most common situation that many people bricked their phone these days and posted their problems in our Q&A session.
OK. Let get started.
I think I was lucky(?) enough today because I've experienced the same thing that lots of people these days reported the issue happened during flashing their Roms. I gave them lots of advice but couldn't solve the issue directly because there are lots of possibilities. My case would be one of the possibilities but may help lots of people too.
One scenario that your phone could stop during the flashing -> Not consistent flashing.
Sometimes I've used Calk's Rom and some other times I've used one-click odin package to flash the rom, kernel and modem. Most recent my pass was, Calk's FC07 Rooted Stock -> sfhub's one-click Rooted FC15 -> Calk's FC18 Rooted Stock. I think if you are moving between Rogue recovery mode and odin mode, the chances that your phone could be bricked are getting bigger.
Before explaining what I did to successfully install FC15, what I'm writing in here is informational purpose only. If you want to follow the same step, please do it with our own risk.
The steps that I followed:
1. The base Rom was FC15 and it was installed thru one-click odin. I installed this version from Calk's FC07.
2. To install Calk's FC18, I flashed Rogue_ET-Stock-1.1.4 tar file thru mobile odin
3. After the Rogue Kernel installed, during the reboot, I moved to Rogue Recovery by pressing vol up + power
4. From the Rogue recovery, I manually cleaned cache/Dalvik/Battery and ran the Calk's modified format all zip file (I do not want to delete my data and spent lots of time to recover it after the rom installed)
5. Installed Calk's Rooted Stock FC18 Rom - *same recovery session, no error
6. Installed Calk's FC18 modem - *just after rom installed, no error
7. Ran Calk's Bare Rom converter 1.3 - *just after modem installed, no error
8. Reboot
9. Now the phone was stuck at Samsung Galaxy S II first screen forever (feeling like bricked or frozen)
The above steps were the steps showing how my phone was stuck in boot screen.
Now let's move to the next step. The following steps were my trial steps to successfully install FC15 rom.
10. My phone was stuck on boot screen, power button and vol up + power didn't worked. Only showed the battery charging status, not moving to other state.
11. Only the key combination was power + vol down (Download mode) and this means that only odin could work.
12. Plugged usb cable to pc and flashed the previous rom again using one-click odin (FC15-CL256308_ROOTED_NODATA-oc-sfx.exe). Flashing didn't show any error and successfully passed.
13. Phone rebooted (stock recovery) and I was able to see everything again from my phone (apps + data).
14. Flashed Rogue FC07 based recovery at this time using mobile odin (rogue_ET-recovery-1.2.2-FC07-rc0.tar
15. At this time did not stop the phone during the reboot and phone completed rebooting. Updated profile and prl. Rebooted phone and moved to Rogue recovery again (vol up + Power)
16. Clean everything again and ran the Calk's modified format all.
17. Installed FC18 rom only at this time
18. Reboot and phone stopped again at Samsung logo.
Repeating the steps again
19. moved back to the step 10 and proceeded to 11.
20. from step 12, instead of flashing whole build, I only flashed FC07 Kernel only thru the odin v1.8.5 (SPH-D710.FC15_CL256308_KERNEL-sfx.eve)
21. Reboot and system came back!
I think some of you already caught the idea in here.
The following steps are the core steps that I did to get rid of stuck boot screen and successfully flash FC15. Because above steps were trial error, you can just follow the below steps.
Final Steps to successfully flashing FC18 from stuck Boot screen:
The following way is only for the case your phone is stuck during the boot.
1. Install Rogue recovery (current version is now based on FC18). I used Rogue recovery 1.2.2 which is based on FC07 Kernel. Rogue recovery 1.2.2 and 1.2.3 are only for ICS roms, so if your current rom is GB based then you have to use 1.1.4 or 1.1.3.
2. From the recovery, wipe all (if you want to keep previous data, don't wipe the data and that's what I did) or run the Calk's format all or modified format all (same as not deleting data).
3. Install Rom and Modem (your choice which one goes first) without reboot
4. Reboot
5. Again phone is stuck on boot screen
6. go to Download mode by pressing vol down + power key at the same time
7. (requires odin PC version) flash the kernel only. You can use the working previous kernel in here or FC18 kernel if it is available.
For me, while I'm working on this issue, stand alone FC18 kernel was not available. So, I unzipped Calk's zip file, extracted zImage file and used it for odin.
8. Reboot
9. Bingo! No stuck on boot screen. After the reboot, if you used previous kernel, then update the kernel thru mobile odin. Or go back to DL mode and odin the kernel again using most recent one. For me, I usually use the zImage file to update the kernel. Be careful when you use the zImage file because I have some experience that this zImage file size is different when it's extracted from phone and PC. I'm not sure it's caused by corrupted zip file or applications extracting the zip file. The total zip file size was same but extracted zImage file size was different (this also could be a reason why phone is stuck on boot screen) - just my guess.
10. All done! Go to setting and update the profile and prl.
Above is all about my story today. There could be something that I missed or incorrectly described. Please be generous and let me know if you want to fix any information from above.

Few ways to avoid troubles
1. Check downloaded file's MD5 checksum and compare it with op's checksum
2. If possible, copy the file to sdcard using USB mass storage method. This is the fastest and safest way to copy the file to sdcard. Sometimes, copying the file thru wifi could be an issue.
3. Plan your scenario to flash
4. if flashing stopped with error or frozen, don't go further unless you know what to do and visit this forum again to ask
5. Always make nandroid backup and be sure no errors on your backup
6. Don't use old CWM Recovery for ICS Rom
7. Don't use any supporting tool (rom manager, rom toolbox, etc...). Go directly to recovery and flash from there (or backup).
8. if possible, stay on same kind of roms (do not jump between ICS and GB many times, especially do not go backward)
If there's more, I'll keep adding on.

[HELP] Front facing camera stopped working after rooting and flashing custom ROM

My front facing camera is broken. These are the steps leading to it.
1) Stock Tmo phone my wife used for a month. Both cameras worked. We switched phones.
2) I rooted it. While trying to flash CWM, I accidentally chose to fix root before rebooting. I sort of lost root. I flashed SU again and everything was fine.
3) I was running rooted stock and realized my camera app was broken. It wouldn't launch. After clearing cache and data, it worked. I never checked FFC.
4) Flashed VirginROM after doing a factory reset and clearing caches. FFC does not work. I get a Unfortunately, Camera stopped working error if I try to use it. After that even the regular camera wont work until I clear cache and data.
Is there anything I can do to get my FFC working again? I flashed two different versions of the ROM after doing a factory reset and it won't work.

I'd Odin back to stock. And, start over.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

re: camera issues - kernels
ashwinmudigonda said:
My front facing camera is broken. These are the steps leading to it.
1) Stock Tmo phone my wife used for a month. Both cameras worked. We switched phones.
2) I rooted it. While trying to flash CWM, I accidentally chose to fix root before rebooting. I sort of lost root. I flashed SU again and everything was fine.
3) I was running rooted stock and realized my camera app was broken. It wouldn't launch. After clearing cache and data, it worked. I never checked FFC.
4) Flashed VirginROM after doing a factory reset and clearing caches. FFC does not work. I get a Unfortunately, Camera stopped working error if I try to use it. After that even the regular camera wont work until I clear cache and data.
Is there anything I can do to get my FFC working again? I flashed two different versions of the ROM after doing a factory reset and it won't work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Usually camera issues are always related to the kernel so what I would do
is flash a different/newer kernel which will not have any the camera issues.
Here is the direct download link for the stock modified kernel: http://ktoonsez.jonathanjsimon.com/sgs4/TWGE/KT-SGS4-JB4.3-TWGE-TMO-11.14.2013.zip
Flash this using cwm/twrp recovery.
Good luck!

Misterjunky said:
Usually camera issues are always related to the kernel so what I would do
is flash a different/newer kernel which will not have any the camera issues.
Here is the direct download link for the stock modified kernel: http://m3.androidfilehost.com/downl..._Modified_4.3_M919_Kernel.zip&action=download
Flash this using cwm/twrp recovery.
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your reply. I don't want to go back to stock and restart, so this is a better option. I do have a couple of questions:
* Is the kernel independent of the ROM? My current kernel version says
3.4.0-2270815
[email protected] #1
Mon Dec 9 15:47:40 KST 2013
* Do I just download, flash, and reboot in CWM?
Also, clicking the link does nothing. I can't find the zip file to download.
Thanks.

Android_Monsters said:
I'd Odin back to stock. And, start over.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is my last ditch option if all else fails. Thanks.

re: camera issues - kernels
ashwinmudigonda said:
Thank you for your reply. I don't want to go back to stock and restart, so this is a better option. I do have a couple of questions:
* Is the kernel independent of the ROM? My current kernel version says
3.4.0-2270815
[email protected] #1
Mon Dec 9 15:47:40 KST 2013
* Do I just download, flash, and reboot in CWM?
Also, clicking the link does nothing. I can't find the zip file to download.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All you do is download and flash in cwm recovery then reboot in cwm recovery.
And yes, all kernels are independent of the rom, that's
why there are so many different kernels which can be
used on the same or other roms.
Good luck!
---------- Post added at 04:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:57 PM ----------
ashwinmudigonda said:
Thank you for your reply. I don't want to go back to stock and restart, so this is a better option. I do have a couple of questions:
* Is the kernel independent of the ROM? My current kernel version says
3.4.0-2270815
[email protected] #1
Mon Dec 9 15:47:40 KST 2013
* Do I just download, flash, and reboot in CWM?
Also, clicking the link does nothing. I can't find the zip file to download.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry about the link, I just fixed/updated it and it works fine now.
http://ktoonsez.jonathanjsimon.com/sgs4/TWGE/KT-SGS4-JB4.3-TWGE-TMO-11.14.2013.zip
Good luck!

Misterjunky said:
All you do is download and flash in cwm recovery then reboot in cwm recovery.
And yes, all kernels are independent of the rom, that's
why there are so many different kernels which can be
used on the same or other roms.
Good luck!
---------- Post added at 04:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:57 PM ----------
Sorry about the link, I just fixed/updated it and it works fine now.
http://ktoonsez.jonathanjsimon.com/sgs4/TWGE/KT-SGS4-JB4.3-TWGE-TMO-11.14.2013.zip
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I flashed the zip in CWM and the phone is stuck at the splash screen that says Samsung Galaxy S4. It doesn't boot. After a while, the entire screen is corrupted. On the top left, I see
Kernel is not SEAndroid enforcing
Set warranty bit: kernel
Do I just restore my most recent Nandroid?
EDIT: Ok, I am a bit concerned now. I can't enter recovery mode either.

re: restore
ashwinmudigonda said:
I flashed the zip in CWM and the phone is stuck at the splash screen that says Samsung Galaxy S4. It doesn't boot. After a while, the entire screen is corrupted. On the top left, I see
Kernel is not SEAndroid enforcing
Set warranty bit: kernel
Do I just restore my most recent Nandroid?
EDIT: Ok, I am a bit concerned now. I can't enter recovery mode either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes simply do a restore in recovery..........
Glad you had a nandroid backup... many people don't and need to
ODIN flash the stock unrooted rom and start from scratch.
Good luck!

Misterjunky said:
Yes simply do a restore in recovery..........
Glad you had a nandroid backup... many people don't and need to flash the stock unrooted rom.
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am unable to enter recovery.
Pressing and holding down the Power and Volume up button does not take me anywhere.

re: recovery
ashwinmudigonda said:
I am unable to enter recovery.
Pressing and holding down the Power and Volume up button does not take me anywhere.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That means the phone is not completely powered down.
So remove the battery for 10 seconds and replace it then press vol-up and power
and it will go into recovery.
Be sure the usb cable is not connected to the phone and computer until
the phone is in recovery mode.
Good luck!

Misterjunky said:
That means the phone is not completely powered down.
So remove the battery for 10 seconds and replace it then press vol-up and power
and it will go into recovery.
Be sure the usb cable is not connected to the phone and computer until
the phone is in recovery mode.
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No luck. When I do that I see
Set bit warranty: recovery
And it goes blank.
I was able to enter ODIN mode, but I pulled the battery out because I didn't know how to quit it. What is the best way to flash stock ROM with the MK2 bootloader? I really hope I don't brick this phone. Thanks for your patience.

re: recovery - stock roms
ashwinmudigonda said:
No luck. When I do that I see
Set bit warranty: recovery
And it goes blank.
I was able to enter ODIN mode, but I pulled the battery out because I didn't know how to quit it. What is the best way to flash stock ROM with the MK2 bootloader? I really hope I don't brick this phone. Thanks for your patience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As a last resort you will need to ODIN flash the official stock rom.
If you have downloaded the official MK2 stock 4.3 M919 Odin flash rom and flashed it that means
that you cannot go back to 4.2.2 MDL roms so you need to Odin flash the official 4.3 stock firmware.
You can find and download the official 4.3 stock MK2 M919 ODIN flash firmware from http://SamMobile.com.
But if you simply flashed one of the cwm/twrp zip file custom roms here from XDA then you have a choice
to either odin flash the original MDL 4.2.2 M919 stock Jellybean Touchwiz firmware or if you don't care about
KNOX then you can flash the new MK2 Odin flash M919 stock official Jellybean Touchwiz 4.3 firmware.
There is also one other thing you can do, re-flash the cwm recovery using ODIN.
You will need to download the TAR file version of CWM custom recovery which needs to be flashed using ODIN.
Here is the direct download link for the odin flash cwm custom recovery TAR.
https://copy.com/txTLr/Galaxy-S4-tmo-cwr-6.0.3.6.zip?download=1
This will flash the cwm custom recovery to your phone so possibly you can go back into recovery
instead of flashing stock roms. If this does not work you will need to odin the stock rom.
After you odin flash a stock rom you need to root it and then Flash the CWM recovery tar file above
so you can go into cwm recovery.
Once thats done you can restore your nandroid backup.
Good luck!

Misterjunky said:
As a last resort you will need to ODIN flash the official stock rom.
If you have downloaded the official MK2 stock 4.3 M919 Odin flash rom and flashed it that means
that you cannot go back to 4.2.2 MDL roms so you need to Odin flash the official 4.3 stock firmware.
You can find and download the official stock MK2 M919 firmware from http://SamMobile.com.
But if you simply flashed one of the cwm/twrp zip file custom roms here from XDA then you have a choice
to either odin flash the original MDL 4.2.2 M919 stock Jellybean Touchwiz firmware or if you don't care about
KNOX then you can flash the new MK2 Odin flash M919 stock official Jellybean Touchwiz firmware.
There is also one other thing you can do, re-flash the cwm recovery using ODIN.
You will need to download the TAR file version of CWM custom recovery which needs to be flashed using ODIN.
Here is the direct download link for the odin flash cwm custom recovery TAR.
https://copy.com/txTLr/Galaxy-S4-tmo-cwr-6.0.3.6.zip?download=1
This will flash the cwm custom recovery to your phone so possibly you can go back into recovery
instead of flashing stock roms. If this does not work you will need to odin the stock rom.
After you odin flash a stock rom you need to root it and then Flash the CWM recovery tar file above
so you can go into cwm recovery.
Once thats done you can restore your nandroid backup.
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am a bit confused. My phone got the OTA 4.3 MK2 update before I rooted it and flashed CWM+custom ROM.
Flashing the recovery did not work.
I am currently downloading the M919UVUEMK2_M919TMBEMK2_TMB.zip from Sammobile to ODIN flash it. Is that right? Also in my Odin(v3.09) I see BL, AP, CP, CSC options. I assume that the recovery and the ROM tar files should be loaded in the AP section, right?

ashwinmudigonda said:
I am a bit confused. My phone got the OTA 4.3 MK2 update before I rooted it and flashed CWM+custom ROM.
Flashing the recovery did not work.
I am currently downloading the M919UVUEMK2_M919TMBEMK2_TMB.zip from Sammobile to ODIN flash it. Is that right? Also in my Odin(v3.09) I see BL, AP, CP, CSC options. I assume that the recovery and the ROM tar files should be loaded in the AP section, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That even makes it easier.. then simply do this:
Download the official 4.3 stock MK2 M919 ODIN flash firmware from http://SamMobile.com. (or from a faster host link)
Unzip the file and inside you will find a TAR MD5 file and ODIN and ODIN.INI file.
Make an empty folder on your desktop and unzip the contents of the downloaded zip file into the new folder.
Then simply open odin and click the PDA slot, navigate to the TAR MD5 file and select it.
Put the phone into download mode
Connect the usb cable from phone to computer and make sure that the [COM:xx] in Odin lights
up then click the START button in Odin.
Once Odin is done successfully the phone will auto-reboot.
Have a lot of patience because to get the phone to a useable state it may take up to 4-5 minutes.
After its done you need to root the phone with cf-autoroot in Odin's PDA slot.
After it's rooted you need to flash a custom recovery, either TWRP which I would suggest or CWM custom recovery.
Once it's all done you can either start fresh, or simply restore the nandroid backup.
PLEASE NOTE: if your nandroid backup was made from any 4.2.2 stock or custom rom it will error out,
it cannot be done since having the 4.3 MK2 official firmware does not allow downgrading to older versions.
That's one of the drawbacks of the KNOX in the 4.3 firmware.
Good luck!
---------- Post added at 10:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:11 PM ----------
ashwinmudigonda said:
I am a bit confused. My phone got the OTA 4.3 MK2 update before I rooted it and flashed CWM+custom ROM.
Flashing the recovery did not work.
I am currently downloading the M919UVUEMK2_M919TMBEMK2_TMB.zip from Sammobile to ODIN flash it. Is that right? Also in my Odin(v3.09) I see BL, AP, CP, CSC options. I assume that the recovery and the ROM tar files should be loaded in the AP section, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't worry about those "BL, AP, CP, CSC" files, you opened the TAR file which is in the zip file.
Odin will take care of all of that stuff, Odin ONLY wants the TAR MD5 file in the PDA slot.
If you check the properties of the largest file inside the zip file you are downloading you will
see it is a file with a TAR and or MD5 extender. Thats what Odin needs in it's pda slot.
There is NO reason at all to EXTRACT any of the files which are inside the TAR MD5 file.
Think of the TAR MD5 file as if it was one very large image file which is required by Odin.
Hope that explains it.
Good luck!

Misterjunky said:
That even makes it easier.. then simply do this:
Download the official 4.3 stock MK2 M919 ODIN flash firmware from http://SamMobile.com. (or from a faster host link)
Unzip the file and inside you will find a TAR MD5 file and ODIN and ODIN.INI file.
Make an empty folder on your desktop and unzip the contents of the downloaded zip file into the new folder.
Then simply open odin and click the PDA slot, navigate to the TAR MD5 file and select it.
Put the phone into download mode
Connect the usb cable from phone to computer and make sure that the [COM:xx] in Odin lights
up then click the START button in Odin.
Once Odin is done successfully the phone will auto-reboot.
Have a lot of patience because to get the phone to a useable state it may take up to 4-5 minutes.
After its done you need to root the phone with cf-autoroot in Odin's PDA slot.
After it's rooted you need to flash a custom recovery, either TWRP which I would suggest or CWM custom recovery.
Once it's all done you can either start fresh, or simply restore the nandroid backup.
PLEASE NOTE: if your nandroid backup was made from any 4.2.2 stock or custom rom it will error out,
it cannot be done since having the 4.3 MK2 official firmware does not allow downgrading to older versions.
That's one of the drawbacks of the KNOX in the 4.3 firmware.
Good luck!
---------- Post added at 10:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:11 PM ----------
Don't worry about those "BL, AP, CP, CSC" files, you opened the TAR file which is in the zip file.
Odin will take care of all of that stuff, Odin ONLY wants the TAR MD5 file in the PDA slot.
If you check the properties of the largest file inside the zip file you are downloading you will
see it is a file with a TAR and or MD5 extender. Thats what Odin needs in it's pda slot.
There is NO reason at all to EXTRACT any of the files which are inside the TAR MD5 file.
Think of the TAR MD5 file as if it was one very large image file which is required by Odin.
Hope that explains it.
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My doubt was that I don't see a PDA slot in v3.09 (see attached)

ashwinmudigonda said:
My doubt was that I don't see a PDA slot in v3.09 (see attached)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did not know you are using the latest version 3.09 of Odin,
they changed the names... AP = PDA PDA = AP both are the same thing.
So in all the posts I made wherever you see PDA it's AP from now on.......
Good luck!

Misterjunky said:
I did not know you are using the latest version 3.09 of Odin,
they changed the names... AP = PDA PDA = AP both are the same thing.
So in all the posts I made wherever you see PDA it's AP from now on.......
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I downloaded and flashed the MK2 stock firmware. ODIN showed a Pass, I disconnected the cable, and the phone rebooted into the T-mobile 4G LTE with a sound and it's been stuck on this for a while now. It hasn't crossed this screen. I don't know what to do.

Probably need to clear data.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
---------- Post added at 09:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:20 AM ----------
(i.e. boot into recovery and wipe data)
Sent from my SGH-M919 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

re:
ashwinmudigonda said:
I downloaded and flashed the MK2 stock firmware. ODIN showed a Pass, I disconnected the cable, and the phone rebooted into the T-mobile 4G LTE with a sound and it's been stuck on this for a while now. It hasn't crossed this screen. I don't know what to do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First try this, pull the battery out wait 20 seconds replace it and restart the phone
with the power button.
If that don't work then download the odin flash cf-auto-root in odin's AP slot.
Here is the direct download link: http://download.chainfire.eu/328/CF...jfltetmo-jfltetmo-sghm919.zip?retrieve_file=1
Then here is the TWRP odin flash recovery: http://techerrata.com/get/twrp2/jfltetmo/openrecovery-twrp-2.6.3.1-jfltetmo.tar
Be sure to UN-CHECK "Auto-Reboot" in ODIN when flashing these two TAR files.
After the first one is flashed power off the phone and put it back into download mode.
Be sure the auto reboot is not checked then flash the TWRP recovery TAR file in odin's AP slot.
Then power off the phone and pull battery wait 20 seconds and replace battery then restart the
phone and hopefully it will fully restart completely without getting stuck.
If not continue below.
THIS NEXT PART PRESUMES THAT YOUR PHONE HAS STILL NOT FULLY BOOTED.
After you have flashed both cf-autoroot and twrp power down the phone and restart phone into recovery.
In TWRP recovery click the WIPE button and swipe the bottom slider to do a factory reset.
This step wipes any rogue files and apps which the ODIN flash of the firmware did add to the
phone, it also wipes all apps which came from the playstore or other sources (side loading)
Some rogue apps and the data they create can prevent the phone from a normal startup.
Factory reset also wipes all user data like contacts, passwords mms and other user created data
like your email accounts. It does not wipe the actual email messages on your isp's server.
.
It will NOT format the internal or external sdcards so you will not loose stuff like pictures,
videos, music or any personal documents you have created or anything you have backed up
with any apps which you may have gotten from the playstore or other sources.
When the factory reset is done, click the WIPE button again and select "advanced wipe".
Select Dalvik Cache and Cache then swipe the bottom button.
After doing all this click the back button twice to get to the screen where
it says "Reboot" click the reboot button then on the next screen click on
the "system" button then the phone reboots normally I hope!!!
Cross your fingers.
Good luck!

Misterjunky said:
First try this, pull the battery out wait 20 seconds replace it and restart the phone
with the power button.
If that don't work then download the odin flash cf-auto-root in odin's AP slot.
Here is the direct download link: http://download.chainfire.eu/328/CF...jfltetmo-jfltetmo-sghm919.zip?retrieve_file=1
Then here is the TWRP odin flash recovery: http://techerrata.com/get/twrp2/jfltetmo/openrecovery-twrp-2.6.3.1-jfltetmo.tar
Be sure to UN-CHECK "Auto-Reboot" in ODIN when flashing these two TAR files.
After the first one is flashed power off the phone and put it back into download mode.
Be sure the auto reboot is not checked then flash the TWRP recovery TAR file in odin's AP slot.
Then power off the phone and pull battery wait 20 seconds and replace battery then restart the
phone and hopefully it will fully restart completely without getting stuck.
If not continue below.
THIS NEXT PART PRESUMES THAT YOUR PHONE HAS STILL NOT FULLY BOOTED.
After you have flashed both cf-autoroot and twrp power down the phone and restart phone into recovery.
In TWRP recovery click the WIPE button and swipe the bottom slider to do a factory reset.
This step wipes any rogue files and apps which the ODIN flash of the firmware did add to the
phone, it also wipes all apps which came from the playstore or other sources (side loading)
Some rogue apps and the data they create can prevent the phone from a normal startup.
Factory reset also wipes all user data like contacts, passwords mms and other user created data
like your email accounts. It does not wipe the actual email messages on your isp's server.
.
It will NOT format the internal or external sdcards so you will not loose stuff like pictures,
videos, music or any personal documents you have created or anything you have backed up
with any apps which you may have gotten from the playstore or other sources.
When the factory reset is done, click the WIPE button again and select "advanced wipe".
Select Dalvik Cache and Cache then swipe the bottom button.
After doing all this click the back button twice to get to the screen where
it says "Reboot" click the reboot button then on the next screen click on
the "system" button then the phone reboots normally I hope!!!
Cross your fingers.
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No luck.
I rooted and flashed the recovery and followed the first step. It was stuck at the Tmobile screen.
Pressing volume up and power button does not take me into any recovery, just a blank screen. Last night I tried this with CWM and now with TWRP, but it won't enter into recovery.

[Q] Note 2 bricked after 4.4 update, can't get into recovery

After trying to update to kit kat my note 2 will not get past the "note 2" splash screen. What sucks even worse is that I can't get into recovery to install a new rom. I've been searching tons of threads and whatnot across XDA and other websites but nothing has worked.
What I've tried:
-Flashing TWRP, CWM, Philz recoveries. Odin says they succeeded but I still can't get to any of them.
-Flashing srock roms downloaded from multiple sources. When I try this I get an error in odin, usually fails right after sboot.bin
-Using other versions of Odin, different usb's, etc. Same stuff happens no matter what.
-Kies, but it won't connect and says device is unsupported.
-Android toolkit, but i couldn't really do much with it in this state
-I even tried re-partitioning with some t0lte pit file. This really didn't change anything.
-I found an "mk4_recovery.tar" file in a thread on here. That finished and succeeded, but I still can't get anywhere, However I did notice that this changed the "current binary" on my phone from "custom" to "official samsung binary." I'm not sure if that is important or not.
I feel like I am running out of options and my phone is hard-bricked. You guys are my last hope and I'm hoping there's something you guys can help me with!! If you have anything I can try please let me know!!!

SCAND1UM said:
After trying to update to kit kat my note 2 will not get past the "note 2" splash screen. What sucks even worse is that I can't get into recovery to install a new rom. I've been searching tons of threads and whatnot across XDA and other websites but nothing has worked.
What I've tried:
-Flashing TWRP, CWM, Philz recoveries. Odin says they succeeded but I still can't get to any of them.
-Flashing srock roms downloaded from multiple sources. When I try this I get an error in odin, usually fails right after sboot.bin
-Using other versions of Odin, different usb's, etc. Same stuff happens no matter what.
-Kies, but it won't connect and says device is unsupported.
-Android toolkit, but i couldn't really do much with it in this state
-I even tried re-partitioning with some t0lte pit file. This really didn't change anything.
-I found an "mk4_recovery.tar" file in a thread on here. That finished and succeeded, but I still can't get anywhere, However I did notice that this changed the "current binary" on my phone from "custom" to "official samsung binary." I'm not sure if that is important or not.
I feel like I am running out of options and my phone is hard-bricked. You guys are my last hope and I'm hoping there's something you guys can help me with!! If you have anything I can try please let me know!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This happened to me today too. I didn't like the OTA 4.4 so I was trying to get a custom rom again. Thanks to jlmancuso he made the best solution here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=53035491&postcount=287&nocache=1&z=4473536636214703
Simply download the attached file. It is BRICKED heaven! (worked for me.) and have your recovery (twrp, philz, cwm) file. And have Odin.
1) Extract all files fix / recovery (if haven't already) / and odin (again if haven't already)
2) Open Odin in PDA put in the "fix" file. BEFORE continuing, UNCHECK Auto Reboot. (HAS TO BE UNCHECKED)
3) Connect phone to computer
4) Once the file has finished (Odin will say pass) disconnect the phone.
DO NOT TAKE THE BATTERY OUT
5) Put it back in Recovery Mode (home / volume up / power )
Give it a minute and it will load a custom recovery.
If you were stuck at a bootloop you probably don't have a rom on your phone (cleaned and empty).
If so try flashing this in Odin as well (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0CWousOd0ntTHl2RmxPbHJWODQ/edit?usp=sharing}
When the custom recovery loads you can flash what you want.
Odin will not let you downgrade from NE2 to anything below (bootloader). I suggest flash over Philz and flash that way.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2768847
Has a NE2 rooted already. Flash this and save a backup. YOU WILL NEED IT.
Once in the custom recovery that comes up I suggest to flash the M2 Stock with Count Reset. (back to complete stock) then can do what you want from there.
**If the custom recovery does not show up**
Repeat the steps above (Odin / add fix to PDA / Uncheck Auto Reboot / Connect Phone / start flash)
Then again DO NOT PULL BATTERY ... (once it shows pass) disconnect and reboot back in download mode ( home / volume down / power )
Flash over your recovery ... (do not pull battery) and try the Recovery Mode ... my first time I thought it was still stuck in bootloop so give it a second.

michael85tx said:
Once in the custom recovery that comes up I suggest to flash the M2 Stock with Count Reset. (back to complete stock) then can do what you want from there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What a nightmare!
I odined back to stock MK4, did the 4.4.2 OTA last night. Then did the CF Auto Root via odin, installed custom recovery. The phone is currently on pageplus network. I started messing around, did the GSM Mod, then tried the international and domestic sim unlock procedures. The result was not satisfying, so I tried flashing different modems. Eventually CDMA works, but GSM not. So I made a huge mistake by attempting to downgrade from NE2. And of course failed. Now the phone can't register on either CDMA or GSM.
So once I flash M2 Stock with Count Reset, I can play with the 4.4.2 OTA zip again to get a 100% 4.4.2 system?

michael85tx said:
This happened to me today too. I didn't like the OTA 4.4 so I was trying to get a custom rom again. Thanks to jlmancuso he made the best solution here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=53035491&postcount=287&nocache=1&z=4473536636214703
Simply download the attached file. It is BRICKED heaven! (worked for me.) and have your recovery (twrp, philz, cwm) file. And have Odin.
1) Extract all files fix / recovery (if haven't already) / and odin (again if haven't already)
2) Open Odin in PDA put in the "fix" file. BEFORE continuing, UNCHECK Auto Reboot. (HAS TO BE UNCHECKED)
3) Connect phone to computer
4) Once the file has finished (Odin will say pass) disconnect the phone.
DO NOT TAKE THE BATTERY OUT
5) Put it back in Recovery Mode (home / volume up / power )
Give it a minute and it will load a custom recovery.
If you were stuck at a bootloop you probably don't have a rom on your phone (cleaned and empty).
If so try flashing this in Odin as well (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0CWousOd0ntTHl2RmxPbHJWODQ/edit?usp=sharing}
When the custom recovery loads you can flash what you want.
Odin will not let you downgrade from NE2 to anything below (bootloader). I suggest flash over Philz and flash that way.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2768847
Has a NE2 rooted already. Flash this and save a backup. YOU WILL NEED IT.
Once in the custom recovery that comes up I suggest to flash the M2 Stock with Count Reset. (back to complete stock) then can do what you want from there.
**If the custom recovery does not show up**
Repeat the steps above (Odin / add fix to PDA / Uncheck Auto Reboot / Connect Phone / start flash)
Then again DO NOT PULL BATTERY ... (once it shows pass) disconnect and reboot back in download mode ( home / volume down / power )
Flash over your recovery ... (do not pull battery) and try the Recovery Mode ... my first time I thought it was still stuck in bootloop so give it a second.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You, sir, helped the hell out of me! I thought my phone was screwed and I've already tried everything. Thank you soo much!
Just curious, did you ever get kitkat to work? I've tried going to MC2 stock then upgrading a couple more times but it ends up doing the bootloop again every time :/ did you ever get that to update?
I'm so glad to have a working phone now though! Thanks!

SCAND1UM said:
You, sir, helped the hell out of me! I thought my phone was screwed and I've already tried everything. Thank you soo much!
Just curious, did you ever get kitkat to work? I've tried going to MC2 stock then upgrading a couple more times but it ends up doing the bootloop again every time :/ did you ever get that to update?
I'm so glad to have a working phone now though! Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did the procedure everything went well but is there any way to update lastest firmware kitkat as i tried to and keep having to do the same procedure to unbrick it? thanks

brooklynman2020 said:
I did the procedure everything went well but is there any way to update lastest firmware kitkat as i tried to and keep having to do the same procedure to unbrick it? thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The best way to do the upgrade (since you know how to get your phone back if it happens again) is to just simply use Odin now to flash the 4.4.2 tar file thanks to "garwynn" for taking the time in making it.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2780984
since most of my links don't work after I post lol I'm giving the download too. I tried uploading it but the file size is too big to post. So I hope this link works let me know and I'll re-upload it and post another link if the link stops working. 4.4.2 stock rom .tar
---------- Post added at 03:05 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:55 AM ----------
lilila said:
What a nightmare!
I odined back to stock MK4, did the 4.4.2 OTA last night. Then did the CF Auto Root via odin, installed custom recovery. The phone is currently on pageplus network. I started messing around, did the GSM Mod, then tried the international and domestic sim unlock procedures. The result was not satisfying, so I tried flashing different modems. Eventually CDMA works, but GSM not. So I made a huge mistake by attempting to downgrade from NE2. And of course failed. Now the phone can't register on either CDMA or GSM.
So once I flash M2 Stock with Count Reset, I can play with the 4.4.2 OTA zip again to get a 100% 4.4.2 system?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sorry for the late reply but yes you can. I have gone back and forth trying to decide which 4.4.2 works best for service and style. lol right now I'm on 4.4.2 stock rooted (took FOREVER to get rooted I think it just finally clicked in I had given up). but there's already a .tar file for 4.4.2 you can just flash the .tar file and you have a OTA STOCK (unrooted) version of 4.4.2 for SPRINT only. It's the easiest way to get your phone back to working if it' soft bricked or just won't load recovery.
...NOTE... you can UPGRADE flash your bootloader (i.e. ... M2 .. MK4 ...N2) from Odin. You just CAN NOT downgrade firmware via Odin if you're going to go back to 4.1/4.2/4.3 versions. You will 99% of the time get "failed" at write to sboot .. for recovery I recommend Philz as it clears your cache and such when you flash roms and gapps and such for you.
---------- Post added at 03:10 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:05 AM ----------
SCAND1UM said:
You, sir, helped the hell out of me! I thought my phone was screwed and I've already tried everything. Thank you soo much!
Just curious, did you ever get kitkat to work? I've tried going to MC2 stock then upgrading a couple more times but it ends up doing the bootloop again every time :/ did you ever get that to update?
I'm so glad to have a working phone now though! Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're welcome lol when it happened to me I wanted to punch a wall or something because I couldn't make a call to help me and there was no way Sprint would have helped me. It took me 8 hours to find it that day lol I had almost started giving up hope

You may already know this, but you also want to read up and see what versions of odin people are having success with. As well as what custom recoverys (and versions) seem to be working.
I used Odin v3.09 with no problems. Heard that others had success with v3.07
Flashed and running Philz custom recovery v6.0.4.5
I flashed update-supersu-v1.94.zip (originally flashed cwm-supersu-v0.94.zip, which DID NOT work). Supersu is a little buggy. On both the note2 and s3, after install apk would fc. Went to play store and updated supersu, supersu will then work (even "partially" disables knox for you)
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Xparent Cyan Tapatalk 2

g_money said:
You may already know this, but you also want to read up and see what versions of odin people are having success with. As well as what custom recoverys (and versions) seem to be working.
I used Odin v3.09 with no problems. Heard that others had success with v3.07
Flashed and running Philz custom recovery v6.0.4.5
I flashed update-supersu-v1.94.zip (originally flashed cwm-supersu-v0.94.zip, which DID NOT work). Supersu is a little buggy. On both the note2 and s3, after install apk would fc. Went to play store and updated supersu, supersu will then work (even "partially" disables knox for you)
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Xparent Cyan Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah that's true I use Odin 3.09 Philz Recovery (latest version if that doesn't work the 6.07.09 has had some good success) and SU v1.93 is the one I have.

Stuck with 4.4.2 OTA
michael85tx said:
This happened to me today too. I didn't like the OTA 4.4 so I was trying to get a custom rom again. Thanks to jlmancuso he made the best solution here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=53035491&postcount=287&nocache=1&z=4473536636214703
Simply download the attached file. It is BRICKED heaven! (worked for me.) and have your recovery (twrp, philz, cwm) file. And have Odin.
1) Extract all files fix / recovery (if haven't already) / and odin (again if haven't already)
2) Open Odin in PDA put in the "fix" file. BEFORE continuing, UNCHECK Auto Reboot. (HAS TO BE UNCHECKED)
3) Connect phone to computer
4) Once the file has finished (Odin will say pass) disconnect the phone.
DO NOT TAKE THE BATTERY OUT
5) Put it back in Recovery Mode (home / volume up / power )
Give it a minute and it will load a custom recovery.
If you were stuck at a bootloop you probably don't have a rom on your phone (cleaned and empty).
If so try flashing this in Odin as well (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0CWousOd0ntTHl2RmxPbHJWODQ/edit?usp=sharing}
When the custom recovery loads you can flash what you want.
Odin will not let you downgrade from NE2 to anything below (bootloader). I suggest flash over Philz and flash that way.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2768847
Has a NE2 rooted already. Flash this and save a backup. YOU WILL NEED IT.
Once in the custom recovery that comes up I suggest to flash the M2 Stock with Count Reset. (back to complete stock) then can do what you want from there.
**If the custom recovery does not show up**
Repeat the steps above (Odin / add fix to PDA / Uncheck Auto Reboot / Connect Phone / start flash)
Then again DO NOT PULL BATTERY ... (once it shows pass) disconnect and reboot back in download mode ( home / volume down / power )
Flash over your recovery ... (do not pull battery) and try the Recovery Mode ... my first time I thought it was still stuck in bootloop so give it a second.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Followed this procedure after accepting OTA and couldn't get chainfire autoroot to work. This worked flawlessly for me and I'm flashing again !!!!

lewisyiv said:
Followed this procedure after accepting OTA and couldn't get chainfire autoroot to work. This worked flawlessly for me and I'm flashing again !!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where is the fix file for download? I cant flash the tar file, all time show fail in odin, I was try with firmware 4.4.2, 4.2, 4.1.2 and nothing my note 2 enter in download mode but not in recovery mode, alwais is in bootloop in logo... maybe I have brick?

vegitamaster66 said:
Where is the fix file for download? I cant flash the tar file, all time show fail in odin, I was try with firmware 4.4.2, 4.2, 4.1.2 and nothing my note 2 enter in download mode but not in recovery mode, alwais is in bootloop in logo... maybe I have brick?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Two post above you or in the quote above you has the link for fix. You need to follow the first link (xda thread link) and it will take you to my post that has the upload.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Second post in this thread helped me immensely. Thank you!
I broke my note 2 that I had rooted and was running rwilco's mostly stock rom on.
Got another note 2 off craigslist and decided I should root it too for speed and for tethering. Tried the liquid smooth rom and it failed leaving me with no ROM.
Every ROM I tried failed until I found this thread and used Odin to flash "ALL_SPT_L900VPUCNE2_L900SPTCNE2_1561791_REV04_user_low_ship.tar.md5" that was linked.
So phone is now running 4.4.2 can I safely try again to load a custom ROM?
What do I need to do to make sure I don't have the same problem?
I'm not really savvy with this stuff but I can follow destructions

does any of the above steps wipe internal data?