Develop Bugs

[Flashable] CWM Flash-Counter Reset SGH-T989D (Telus) and SGH-T989 (Tmo)

What is a the Odin/Flash counter?
Many users call this by three different names, Odin counter, Flash counter, or the Download Counter ( Most Common). This counter appears when the device is in download mode. When you use Odin, or anything else to flash a non Samsung Kernel to the device, this counter will change from "NO" to a number, depending on how many times you flash a kernel using this method will depend on what your counter says.
Why should I care about this?
Normally you wouldn't have to care, however If you have to return your device to Samsung or the carrier. Their technicians are now trained to check this download counter and if it says ANYTHING but "NO" your warranty will be voided, they will either return the device unfixed to you or send you an invoice for the repairs.
My device is fine, is there any advantage to clearing the download counter?
If you have a custom recovery flashed, and are confident you will not be using download mode to flash a non Samsung kernel, I say YES. In the event your device becomes damaged and you are unable to flash it. You will have the confidence of sending it back knowing that the Counter reports "NO" so there is less of a chance that the device will be rejected for repair under warranty.
Is this dangerous?
In a perfect world things never go wrong, but our world is not perfect clearly. You are flashing a boot-loader, specifically the SBL1 (secondary boot-loader #1). You should not ever have an issue flashing this. But In the event your battery dies while flashing this or the zip file becomes corrupt. YOU WILL BRICK. This is not designed to let you reset your counter 100 times, each time you reset the counter, you play with fire. Too many times, and you get burnt. CHECK THE MD5sum! Don't be a fool.
How do i check my counter?
Power your device off, hold Vol Down and turn the device on, keep holding the Vol button until you see download mode appear. Press Vol Up to bypass the warning and your "Custom binary" counter will be the second line, it should say "NO" if you are clean and warranty intact, it will contain a number if not.
Ahhhhhhhh... I get it, so what's this flashable zip do again?
It resets your counter from a numbered value to "NO"
Get the Flash Counter Reset CWM Flashable Zip
Fear not, they have been tested.
Telus T989D
HERE
md5: 7230923eedcdb8268d6d951089eebc7c flash_counter_reset_Telus_SGH-T989D.zi
Tmo T989
HERE
md5: 3e117d2c5b290fb3f5d6f4ca01ac2691 flash_counter_reset_Tmo_SGH-T989.zip

-Mr. X- said:
Just dumped my untainted SBL1 and then triggered my flash counter. I have successfully reset it by flashing my SBL1 dump back to my device.
I can make one for the Tmobile SGH-T989 if some one cares to dump an untainted sbl1
Get the Flash Counter Reset CWM Flashable Zip
HERE
MD5 12978ff91f3682bdbad66a08e4295529 flash_counter_reset_Telsu_SGH-T989D.zip
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welcome back.thanks,a TMobile version would be great.
FROM A GALAXY BETTER THAN YOURS.

I assume i need some one who has not triggered their counter to dump the t989 sbl1 for me.
Id like to do a binary compare of a triggered and un triggered one as well. I cant trip mine again because im expecting a conf call with the boss shortly.
any one who wanst to dump their sbl1 off the tmo t989 do
adb shell
su
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p2 of=/sdcard/sbl1.mbn
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
then attach the sbl1.mbn for me. also don't forget to tell me if your counter is tripped and how many times it has been tripped.

Ill check but i thijk i might have a counter of one.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA

monkeypaws said:
Ill check but i thijk i might have a counter of one.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll take the dump any way and make you a flashable zip, you can flash it back and see if it still achieves a reset.
Did a compare of my untainted sbl1 to a tainted one. the counter is at the very tail end of the sbl. i may even be able to just reset yours in your sbl dump IF no one here has a tmobile T989 with an untainted counter.

X,
Just a quick question. The .zip in the OP can either be flashed through Clock Work Mod Recovery or Odin, Correct?
Thanks

Just CWM, its not an odin tar.

Can't someone reset it with a jig and then dump it clean?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using Tapatalk

bbobarino said:
Can't someone reset it with a jig and then dump it clean?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
resetting with a jig has been disabled by samsung since the sgs international GB updates.

How to dump? I do have an untouched dl mode.
Sent from the Darkside of the Force.

I have the sbl1 file posted in this post on the other thread for the Tmobile T989:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=24360211&postcount=6

Made a flashable zip and posted it in the first post. now all we need is a tmo user to flash and make sure it resets their counter as my tests have concluded for my telus device.

-Mr. X- said:
Made a flashable zip and posted it in the first post. now all we need is a tmo user to flash and make sure it resets their counter as my tests have concluded for my telus device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can confirm that your zip is working fine. My counter went from 2 to NO. Thank you very much for this.

You're welcome. i had thought about this a while back and just never got around to testing it until a user posted a thread about a user making them for the skyrocket kids.
You could also brick your device flashing junk to the sbl1 block, but that would be unethical for warranty purposes wouldn't it

Thanks for this? Quick question is the only benefit to this for insurance purposes or would this benefit the device by cleaning partitions or the counter and such? Sorry if noobish question lol
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using Tapatalk

The counter is only for warranty purposes. so unless you have to send it back, clearing the counter serves no purpose unless you have OCD like me.

Noob question. How do I check my counter
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using xda premium

dachinaman said:
Noob question. How do I check my counter
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Get your phone into Odin Mode. Power it off, remove battery, place battery again, pres Volume up+down and press the power button. keep Vol Up +down pressed until you are in Download mode

solracarevir said:
Get your phone into Odin Mode. Power it off, remove battery, place battery again, pres Volume up+down and press the power button. keep Vol Up +down pressed until you are in Download mode
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you left out that he needs to be connected to the computer. easiest way is to hold the vol buttons and connect the micro usb cable to your phone..should be connected to your computer
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

dachinaman said:
Noob question. How do I check my counter
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Once you've followed the above instructions to get into download mode, you'll see 2 lines that say whether you have a custom binary installed and your current binary. If it says "NO" to custom binary and "Samsung" to current binary installed, your counter is 0. Otherwise it will show the number your counter is at.

[Q] {Q} Returning phone to TMo

Hi, I'm returning a phone for a warranty replacement i just got today. I reflashed stock .tar via odin. I was wondering if i also had to flash the flash counter reset? I saw that in download mode the binary counter was set to non. Is there a way they can pick up the number of flashes other than in download mode? thanks for any information on this

oscar7557 said:
Hi, I'm returning a phone for a warranty replacement i just got today. I reflashed stock .tar via odin. I was wondering if i also had to flash the flash counter reset? I saw that in download mode the binary counter was set to non. Is there a way they can pick up the number of flashes other than in download mode? thanks for any information on this
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As long as it says "No" you are fine. If it says ANYTHING other than that, use the counter reset.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

Towle said:
As long as it says "No" you are fine. If it says ANYTHING other than that, use the counter reset.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do I go about using the counter reset? It's been like 2 weeks and T-Mobile hasn't charged me for the custom count thing yet after my exchange though.

Which rooting method is best?

I just got my S3 on the 1st. I've been looking here through the forums and found two different root methods: one being flashing a recovery through Odin, the other being the S3 Snapdragon toolkit, which will root and install a custom recovery as well. Do they both increase the binary count? I want to avoid that as much as possible. Although I know Chainfire's Triangle Away app will reset the counter. I came from the Epic 4G Touch, in which I used an Odin One click to root and sfhub's autoroot package to flash a custom recovery, so it was very simple. The toolkit seems like it would be the easiest, but will it work with the latest update to LI3?
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app

Flashing a custom recovery or kernel will increase the count so yes, THEY WILL BOTH INCREASE IT. You need to flash a pre-rooted system in odin to leave it untouched. I see the link is down tho. give me a few mins and ill link u to a mirror of the pre-rooted system

billard412 said:
Flashing a custom recovery or kernel will increase the count so yes, THEY WILL BOTH INCREASE IT. You need to flash a pre-rooted system in odin to leave it untouched. I see the link is down tho. give me a few mins and ill link u to a mirror of the pre-rooted system
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought only flashing a custom recovery or kernel through Odin would increase it, not through other sources? Is it different on the S3?
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app

EggosEvo said:
I thought only flashing a custom recovery or kernel through Odin would increase it, not through other sources? Is it different on the S3?
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats right. flashing a kernel or recovery through odin will increase it.The toolkit method will too because it uses odin to do it. All the toolkit is is a noob friendly/do everything for you type of deal. A pre-rooted system wont touch the counter period. Heres the link: https://rapidshare.com/files/1336263942/root66_SPR_L710VPALEN.7z Theres the stock image already rooted. Counter stays untouched

billard412 said:
Thats right. flashing a kernel or recovery through odin will increase it.The toolkit method will too because it uses odin to do it. All the toolkit is is a noob friendly/do everything for you type of deal. A pre-rooted system wont touch the counter period. Heres the link: https://rapidshare.com/files/1336263942/root66_SPR_L710VPALEN.7z Theres the stock image already rooted. Counter stays untouched
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I may just stick with the toolkit itself for now. No data will be lost, it can do everything in one click, and I should be able to use the Triangle Away app to reset the flash counter. Do you know if the toolkit works with LI3?
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app

link down
billard412 said:
Thats right. flashing a kernel or recovery through odin will increase it.The toolkit method will too because it uses odin to do it. All the toolkit is is a noob friendly/do everything for you type of deal. A pre-rooted system wont touch the counter period. Here's the link: rapidshare.com/files/1336263942/root66_SPR_L710VPALEN.7z. There's the stock image already rooted. Counter stays untouched
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks like that link is down. I just got my S3 yesterday, used Odin and then 'No triangle' app to reset flash counter.

[Q] revert back to "unrooted" phone

Hi,
I bought a Galaxy S3 T999L from craigslist and wanted to unlock it to send it overseas. My sister had a T-Mobile account so I had her contact the representative and request it. They said it would happen within 24 hours. Anyway, since I didn't have much time, I rooted it using "Method 1 - The Root66 Way" through Odin in this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2370981
Today, T-Mobile gave me an unlock code but when I used it, it didn't work. My guess is that it's because the phone is rooted. Is there a way to go back to it being unrooted so I can use the unlock code?
Thanks in advance

Open SuperSU app and select full unroot. Though I doubt its whats keeping you from getting unlocked. Worth a try though.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium

Hey Doc,
Thanks for all the guides etc. I was able to fully unroot it but when I try to look for updates, it says that phone has been modified... how does one fix that?

If its stock, factory reset.
Or Odin flash the firmware.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium

Also, is there a way to reset the binary flash counter AFTER the unrooting?
and is there a way to root it again after it has been unrooted?
much thanks and appreciation

khanfahad said:
Also, is there a way to reset the binary flash counter AFTER the unrooting?
and is there a way to root it again after it has been unrooted?
much thanks and appreciation
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No you must be rooted to use Triangle Away.
Yes there are several options to root and you can just reroot using any one. Shouldn't be any need to wipe anything if you want to use root66 again.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium

DocHoliday77 said:
No you must be rooted to use Triangle Away.
Yes there are several options to root and you can just reroot using any one. Shouldn't be any need to wipe anything if you want to use root66 again.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Either Triangle away is not working properly or I'm doing something wrong but I used your 1st method to revert back and unroot using the stock and root file, kernel and recovery files through Odin and used Triangle away at the end. It stated that counter is 0, then I unrooted from SU app and restarted but the counter read 1 after restart.
I'm not sure what's going on.

Make sure you are flashing the stock SECURE Kernel and stock recovery, then TA. Then unroot.
And you may actually want to try running triangle away, reboot download, then if the counter is zero, Odin flash the official firmware.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium

DocHoliday77 said:
Make sure you are flashing the stock SECURE Kernel and stock recovery, then TA. Then unroot.
And you may actually want to try running triangle away, reboot download, then if the counter is zero, Odin flash the official firmware.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok so this time I re-rooted using recovery method and then UNrooted using the recovery method listed by you.
Reboot into CWM or TWRP Recovery
Flash PureStock Rom
Flash the unmodified, Secure UVAMB7 Kernel
Flash Stock UVAMB7 Recovery
Next, if you want to wipe everything but your internal SD Card, Factory Reset before rebooting.
If you want a 100% clean, out of the box type device, reboot Recovery.
This should take you into the stock recovery you just flashed. Now Factory Reset.
Reboot Phone
(Last chance to run Triangle Away!)
Open SuperUser/SuperSU (app)
Find and select the option to Permanantly Unroot.
Reboot
Done!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After using TA to reset counter and after unrooting by SU, i restarted and then checked binary counter in downloading mode and it read 1... why is that? so frustrating....
the reason I want to do this is because I have an unlock code but it won't work... there's no other explanation as to why the unlock code from TMOBILE wouldn't work other than this counter issue...

It could be the wrong unlock code. Ive heard of more than a few people having to call back a few times. I was able to unlock with a count of about 8 or so. Granted I wasnt using a code, but I dont see this as being the cause. But to be sure, try this:
Triangle Away. (Close/reopen the apo to make sure it worked) then pull the battery. Reboot directly to download mode. Make sure the counter is 0. Flash the official firmware released yesterday.
No idea why its not working for you. Ive had several confirmations that it did work before. Keep in mind that if you have a custom recovery or kernel, every time you boot up the phone it will retrip the counter to 1. So be careful your not booting up w/ cwm or twrp installed.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium

[Q] What does RQT_CLOSE mean?

I am at the point where my AT&T Note 2 SGH-i317 either displays the Samsung Note II screen or I can go into the Odin screen. It will not open recovery.
If I try to install CF-Auto-Root-t0lteatt-t0lteatt-samsungsghi317.tar.md5 using Odin, I get the message from the title.
Odin appears to load the factory 4.1 rom but I end up with the same message at the end.
I had successfully restored 4.1 using Odin and then the phone auto updated to 4.3. After that, I followed the instructions for installing Jedi Master but the phone won't restart. I tried to use the same files I got 4.1 back with (this has worked twice before from 4.3) but they will no longer work. Is there anything I can do to get the phone working again?

mid_life_crisis said:
I am at the point where my AT&T Note 2 SGH-i317 either displays the Samsung Note II screen or I can go into the Odin screen. It will not open recovery.
If I try to install CF-Auto-Root-t0lteatt-t0lteatt-samsungsghi317.tar.md5 using Odin, I get the message from the title.
Odin appears to load the factory 4.1 rom but I end up with the same message at the end.
I had successfully restored 4.1 using Odin and then the phone auto updated to 4.3. After that, I followed the instructions for installing Jedi Master but the phone won't restart. I tried to use the same files I got 4.1 back with (this has worked twice before from 4.3) but they will no longer work. Is there anything I can do to get the phone working again?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which version of odin are you using?
Can you enter stock recovery or only download mode?
If you can get into stock recovery if it says anything about knox then you have the new bootloader, which you should if you updated to 4.3 via an ota update or an odin file. If you have this we can skip a few steps. If you don't, we will basically be starting from the beginning.
Assuming you have the newer bootloader, this is what I need you to do.
Go to teamw.in and download the latest twrp and make sure it's the recovery.img.tar.md5 flash that through odin.
In the mean time start a fresh download of jedi masterx2. When that download finishes make sure you verify the md5 sum. This is key. One digit off and the entire download is bad and you'll end up bootlooping again.
Once you have twrp and a good download of jmx2 boot into twrp. Do a system wipe and then flash the rom.
Let me know how it works. Just be patient and we can get this fixed for you. As long as you can power on you can recover your phone and make it work.
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

I use an app called hash droid to verify md5
Sent from my Jedi MasterX Note 2

kushXmaster said:
Which version of odin are you using?
Can you enter stock recovery or only download mode?
If you can get into stock recovery if it says anything about knox then you have the new bootloader, which you should if you updated to 4.3 via an ota update or an odin file. If you have this we can skip a few steps. If you don't, we will basically be starting from the beginning.
Assuming you have the newer bootloader, this is what I need you to do.
Go to teamw.in and download the latest twrp and make sure it's the recovery.img.tar.md5 flash that through odin.
In the mean time start a fresh download of jedi masterx2. When that download finishes make sure you verify the md5 sum. This is key. One digit off and the entire download is bad and you'll end up bootlooping again.
Once you have twrp and a good download of jmx2 boot into twrp. Do a system wipe and then flash the rom.
Let me know how it works. Just be patient and we can get this fixed for you. As long as you can power on you can recover your phone and make it work.
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Odin shows the Knox flag, so I assume I am on 4.3.
I cannot find this file, "recovery.img.tar.md5".
The most likely looking file I found was this, but it isn't an md5, "openrecovery-twrp-2.6.3.1-t0lteatt.img.tar".
In fact I find no files with an "md5" extension on that site.

mid_life_crisis said:
Odin shows the Knox flag, so I assume I am on 4.3.
I cannot find this file, "recovery.img.tar.md5".
The most likely looking file I found was this, but it isn't an md5, "openrecovery-twrp-2.6.3.1-t0lteatt.img.tar".
In fact I find no files with an "md5" extension on that site.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I apologize. For the recovery.img it needs to be the tar extension.
Once you push that to the device you're back in business.
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

kushXmaster said:
I apologize. For the recovery.img it needs to be the tar extension.
Once you push that to the device you're back in business.
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I gave you a thanks because I truly appreciate the attempt to help me, but that wouldn't load either.
Fortunately the guy at the Samsung counter was able to use a Samsung loader to force 4.3 and the phone is working again.

Just curious - is your knox warranty counter back to zero in download mode?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

mid_life_crisis said:
I gave you a thanks because I truly appreciate the attempt to help me, but that wouldn't load either.
Fortunately the guy at the Samsung counter was able to use a Samsung loader to force 4.3 and the phone is working again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm that us interesting. I wonder why it wouldn't load...
What version of odin do you use? I've been using 3.07 for a long time with no issues.
I'm curious about the knox counter as well.
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Zen Arcade said:
Just curious - is your knox warranty counter back to zero in download mode?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Neither counter reset. It still displays the count for custom roms and a "1" for the Knox toggle.

kushXmaster said:
Hmm that us interesting. I wonder why it wouldn't load...
What version of odin do you use? I've been using 3.07 for a long time with no issues.
I'm curious about the knox counter as well.
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's 3.7

That's good and weird at the same time.
Its good because its what we expected AND that the Samsung person fixed your phone even though you tripped the KNOX bit.
Its weird because the Samsung person fixed your phone even though you tripped the KNOX bit.