Develop Bugs

HELP! I rooted my phone and not touchwiz is gone

Hello,
Last night I rooted my device using this (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1265429) method and file from zedomax and everything worked great except when I booted my device there was a yellow triangle with a black “!” in it. I figured that just indicated the device was rooted or running a 3rd party kernel so I didn’t worry about it.
Today I launched my camera app and it failed to load the interface but showed the image from the camera momentary then crashed back to the home screen. I restarted my device and when the device restarted it was very slow and unresponsive and after unlocking it my live wallpaper was gone replaced with the last background I used before selecting a live background a couple weeks back. No icons or widgets loaded and I am unable to open the settings tray. The only things I am able to do with the phone is pull down the notification bar, respond to text messages, adjust the volume and hold power to restart the phone. All of which are very slow and delayed.
When I connect the device to my computer windows is no longer able to load the drivers and Kies is unable to connect with the device. I am not sure what caused this or how to resolve this issue so any advice or known fixes would be fantastic! I am unable to get to clockwork mod to restore my backup and I am unable to get to Kies or the phone settings to do a factory reset so I really don’t know what to do they were supposed to be a last resort and now I don’t even think I can do them. I am an experienced techie but I am new to android and this is the first device I have rooted so any advice would be great no matter how basic it may be.
UPDATE: I just connected the phone via USB to my laptop at work and it was able to discover and install everything it needed to connect with the phone. I am installing Kies now so at least there is hope of a factory restore, although I really hope it doesn't come to that!

Boot into download mode and flash the stock eg30 tar file from crawrj.
Sent From My Evo Killer!!!

Thanks Already started doing that waiting for it to download now

Still no touchwiz... great!

Try flashing a stock rom via clockworkmod.

efarley said:
Still no touchwiz... great!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can root again and restore your backup, or go to this website www.lostandtired.com (midnight roms blog) click on android development and download and flash the sprint bloat and TW restore zip. Hope that helps.

I flashed the stock rom which didn't change anything so then I used clockworkMod to do a factory reset which ended up trapping me into a boot loop. I could use Odin to flash new roms but the device would never go past the 4G logo
I ended up taking the device back to Best Buy and since the loading screen showed the stock rom and they couldn't get past the 4G logo I just had to say it wasn't rooted and they gave me a new one.
I would love to know if anyone has any idea of what went wrong here so that I can feel comfortable rooting again. Also if anyone has some basic articles handy that teach basics of rooting that would be great, I didn't even know about clockwork mod until after I had this problem so knowing things like that earlier would have helped a lot I think. I'll be spending the weekend looking up everything I can find on the subject so any reading you guys can suggest would be fantastic.

efarley said:
I flashed the stock rom which didn't change anything so then I used clockworkMod to do a factory reset which ended up trapping me into a boot loop. I could use Odin to flash new roms but the device would never go past the 4G logo
I ended up taking the device back to Best Buy and since the loading screen showed the stock rom and they couldn't get past the 4G logo I just had to say it wasn't rooted and they gave me a new one.
I would love to know if anyone has any idea of what went wrong here so that I can feel comfortable rooting again. Also if anyone has some basic articles handy that teach basics of rooting that would be great, I didn't even know about clockwork mod until after I had this problem so knowing things like that earlier would have helped a lot I think. I'll be spending the weekend looking up everything I can find on the subject so any reading you guys can suggest would be fantastic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you a clockwork and "stock rom" you were still rooted...Doing a factory reset will send you into bootloop when rooted. Trying to flash other roms on a bootloop is not going to work. You need to have grabbed a backup such as Zedo has on his post and put the backup in clockwork folder on your phone. Then flash that in CWM. Would of brought you out of bootloop to a stock rom with his kernal. Now you can flash Roms and kernals or could of flashed crawf or anyone else FULL stock rom and been back to stock kernel and rom and not rooted.

dallastx said:
If you a clockwork and "stock rom" you were still rooted...Doing a factory reset will send you into bootloop when rooted. Trying to flash other roms on a bootloop is not going to work. You need to have grabbed a backup such as Zedo has on his post and put the backup in clockwork folder on your phone. Then flash that in CWM. Would of brought you out of bootloop to a stock rom with his kernal. Now you can flash Roms and kernals or could of flashed crawf or anyone else FULL stock rom and been back to stock kernel and rom and not rooted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ohhhh that's what happened! Awesome thanks. I will be much better prepared with backups out the wazoo this time haha.
Now if only I could figure out why Touchwiz died in the first place hmmm....

I hope you can figure it out, just postin here to say that when I saw this thread, it reminded me of the thread over in the EVO forums about the guy who claimed that sprint removed his Sense from his phone.

Khilbron said:
I hope you can figure it out, just postin here to say that when I saw this thread, it reminded me of the thread over in the EVO forums about the guy who claimed that sprint removed his Sense from his phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
haha SPRINT removed it?! So that person thinks sprint monitors every device and has a team of techies on staff to hack your phone and brick it if you break their rules?... yeah that totally makes more sense than a file got corrupted when you were messing with the kernel.. some people maybe shouldn't be rooting their devices in the first place haha

[Q] Problem with A100

Hey! I'd like to start off that I'm new to this forum but I do have a problem with my A100 though.
After getting my Galaxy Note 2, I decided to give my old A100 some new life by rooting it and installing the Jellytime ROM. I'd like to thank the creators of the ROM (pio_masaski & others) because it was the fresh look I wanted on the tablet, however, something happened. Recently, my parents wanted to use the tablet a lot more, so I offered to just give them my tablet but only after undoing everything else I did to it. So on my way to undo everything, I had the stock recovery at hand and the full stock rom at hand on an SD card. I wiped everything and installed the stock recovery, and since it was successful, I proceeded with the stock rom (update.zip) but my tablet was hung up after it installed it. When I say this, I mean it was stuck on the Android loading screen (and it wouldn't stop flashing and looping). So I tried again, wiping one more timing but it produced the same result.
I did look around and I have reason to believe that I just bricked my tablet, maybe because of the flash controller but I'm not sure. If anyone could drop by and tell me what they think of this, it would be awesome. Also, if you have a way of undoing it if possible?
-Thanks in advance!

xdtnguyenx said:
Hey! I'd like to start off that I'm new to this forum but I do have a problem with my A100 though.
After getting my Galaxy Note 2, I decided to give my old A100 some new life by rooting it and installing the Jellytime ROM. I'd like to thank the creators of the ROM (pio_masaski & others) because it was the fresh look I wanted on the tablet, however, something happened. Recently, my parents wanted to use the tablet a lot more, so I offered to just give them my tablet but only after undoing everything else I did to it. So on my way to undo everything, I had the stock recovery at hand and the full stock rom at hand on an SD card. I wiped everything and installed the stock recovery, and since it was successful, I proceeded with the stock rom (update.zip) but my tablet was hung up after it installed it. When I say this, I mean it was stuck on the Android loading screen (and it wouldn't stop flashing and looping). So I tried again, wiping one more timing but it produced the same result.
I did look around and I have reason to believe that I just bricked my tablet, maybe because of the flash controller but I'm not sure. If anyone could drop by and tell me what they think of this, it would be awesome. Also, if you have a way of undoing it if possible?
-Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its likely bricked, but I would try to flash the update.zip again, power on holding the volume closest to the power button, hold power until it vibrates then let go, it should pick it up and try to flash again, let us know any messages, like failed to mount errors, if any, that show up.
Tapatalked from my GNex - JBSourcery 4.5.6

[Q] Tmobile Samsung Galaxy S3 bricked after install of LiquidSmooth

Hey guys,
So I desperately need some help here. I rooted my phone using the ODIN method, which worked fine. I put 2 ROMS on the internal memory in order to see which I liked best. I was only able to install one before my phone started heading downhill.
Basically after installing LiquidSmooth (the "stable" one) my phone started wigging out: not letting me access the external SD card (it didn't even see that I had one, and I popped it to reset it), not letting me even open a web browser, saying I had no connection via 3G (which is strange because it's a 4G phone, and it stated so before I installed LiquidSmooth) and just generally not letting me do anything.
Logically I figured I'd just replace the ROM with another, so I tried to install the "Pac-Man" d2tmo ROM... but LiquidSmooth was the only one starting up, no matter what I did (soft reboot, factory restore from keypad, UP vol + power + home, and even from inside the phone settings.) Nothing worked. I even tried to recover a backup I had made before I installed LiquidSmooth, but the menu just kept saying no data present (which is especially odd, since I even put the backup on my desktop, but I just can't get the phone to run it)
I figured, okay well maybe I'll just have to restore from the vol + pow + home screen. Bigger mistake. Now my phone won't boot at all, and I'm at a loss for words. I've rooted other phones with no issue before (I even had to recode a bit of a "one-click" program to root my ol' Galaxy S Vibrant) and now I just don't know what to do.
Here's what I need to know: If I can recover to factory (and if so, what other ROMs are good... I was mislead by everyone saying LiquidSmooth was great *grrr*), and if not, what exactly are my options to get this thing running at all.
Oh, and I was running Jellybean 4.1.1 and it got bumped to 4.2.2 when I installed LiquidSmooth, if that helps at all.
Thanks so much for any and all help.

OneIdiotInATree said:
Hey guys,
So I desperately need some help here. I rooted my phone using the ODIN method, which worked fine. I put 2 ROMS on the internal memory in order to see which I liked best. I was only able to install one before my phone started heading downhill.
Basically after installing LiquidSmooth (the "stable" one) my phone started wigging out: not letting me access the external SD card (it didn't even see that I had one, and I popped it to reset it), not letting me even open a web browser, saying I had no connection via 3G (which is strange because it's a 4G phone, and it stated so before I installed LiquidSmooth) and just generally not letting me do anything.
Logically I figured I'd just replace the ROM with another, so I tried to install the "Pac-Man" d2tmo ROM... but LiquidSmooth was the only one starting up, no matter what I did (soft reboot, factory restore from keypad, UP vol + power + home, and even from inside the phone settings.) Nothing worked. I even tried to recover a backup I had made before I installed LiquidSmooth, but the menu just kept saying no data present (which is especially odd, since I even put the backup on my desktop, but I just can't get the phone to run it)
I figured, okay well maybe I'll just have to restore from the vol + pow + home screen. Bigger mistake. Now my phone won't boot at all, and I'm at a loss for words. I've rooted other phones with no issue before (I even had to recode a bit of a "one-click" program to root my ol' Galaxy S Vibrant) and now I just don't know what to do.
Here's what I need to know: If I can recover to factory (and if so, what other ROMs are good... I was mislead by everyone saying LiquidSmooth was great *grrr*), and if not, what exactly are my options to get this thing running at all.
Oh, and I was running Jellybean 4.1.1 and it got bumped to 4.2.2 when I installed LiquidSmooth, if that helps at all.
Thanks so much for any and all help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you flash the latest recovery? Did you wipe data when flashing to a 4.2.2 aosp ROM from 4.1.1 tw? You'll need to do that before and not dirty flashing. Have you done a battery pull? And then tried to enter recovery?
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

monkeypaws said:
Did you flash the latest recovery? Did you wipe data when flashing to a 4.2.2 aosp ROM from 4.1.1 tw? You'll need to do that before and not dirty flashing. Have you done a battery pull? And then tried to enter recovery?
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It auto-wiped to upgrade to 4.2.2, so if there is a way to downgrade it to get it to work, I'd love to know. At the moment all I can access is the Clockwork Mod boot list from the vol+pow+home route. Did a battery pull and entered recovery. Still nothing. If I try to boot without going through the vol+pow+home method, it just vibrates and then nothing.

Update recovery.
Wipe everything except sd cards.
Install rom.
Install Gapps.
Factory reset.
Done.

Aerowinder said:
Update recovery.
Wipe everything except sd cards.
Install rom.
Install Gapps.
Factory reset.
Done.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I formatted everything from that vol+pow+home menu.
Gapps? Is that something I should install from SD?
Sorry, I'm just a bit overwhelmed by something I thought would be easy...

OneIdiotInATree said:
I formatted everything from that vol+pow+home menu.
Gapps? Is that something I should install from SD?
Sorry, I'm just a bit overwhelmed by something I thought would be easy...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gapps are Google apps that are required to flash after flashing an aosp ROM. They are usually included as a separate download in the first post of the wrong you are downloading. Make sure you download the right gapps. There shod be a setti ng in cwm to turn on USB connection when connected to comp. So you can load the gapps to your SD card. Then re wipe phone through recovery, reflash the rom , the in the same menu reflash gapps. Then reboot. It should then load properly . Otherwise. If you can access download mode, restore stock rom with Odin, reroot and try again from step one.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

If you fix your phone try using twrp instead of cwm thats what i had to do and DL the 2013 version of gapps. I have the latest pacman ROM and the only thing i had to do after install was clear data and cache for the rom control via apps-all-rom control. Well hope this helps.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

SamsungGui said:
If you fix your phone try using twrp instead of cwm thats what i had to do and DL the 2013 version of gapps. I have the latest pacman ROM and the only thing i had to do after install was clear data and cache for the rom control via apps-all-rom control. Well hope this helps.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright, I just installed both LiquidSmooth again followed by GApps, factory reset the phone, and restarted. Now the phone will not start up (even the vibration) or allow a shift into cwm. Why did this happen? Is there a way to reverse this since now I've lost the ability to even access the cwm?
At this point, I just want to restore to the original loadout, but I've been unable to do that too.
By the way, I do appreciate all the advice on this problem. I'm frazzled beyond belief and have a very expensive paperweight currently.

OneIdiotInATree said:
Alright, I just installed both LiquidSmooth again followed by GApps, factory reset the phone, and restarted. Now the phone will not start up (even the vibration) or allow a shift into cwm. Why did this happen? Is there a way to reverse this since now I've lost the ability to even access the cwm?
At this point, I just want to restore to the original loadout, but I've been unable to do that too.
By the way, I do appreciate all the advice on this problem. I'm frazzled beyond belief and have a very expensive paperweight currently.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure you have the ROM of choice and compatible Google apps on your SD card.
Now do the following
1. Pull battery out of phone
2. Put battery into phone
3. Boot into recovery (volume +, home button, power button)
4. Wipe cache
5. Wipe dalvik cache
6. Wipe data/factory reset
7. Install ROM
8. Install gapps (Google apps)
9. Wipe cache
10. Wipe dalvik cache
11. Reboot phone
Once booted up and logged into Google account, go to play store, search for goo manager, download goo manager, open goo manager and press the menu button and install the open recovery script....now you'll have twrp (team win recovery project).
|When Emotion Goes Up, Logic Goes Down|
|Even If You Fall Face First You're Still Moving Forward|

707BeastMode707 said:
Make sure you have the ROM of choice and compatible Google apps on your SD card.
Now do the following
1. Pull battery out of phone
2. Put battery into phone
3. Boot into recovery (volume +, home button, power button)
4. Wipe cache
5. Wipe dalvik cache
6. Wipe data/factory reset
7. Install ROM
8. Install gapps (Google apps)
9. Wipe cache
10. Wipe dalvik cache
11. Reboot phone
Once booted up and logged into Google account, go to play store, search for goo manager, download goo manager, open goo manager and press the menu button and install the open recovery script....now you'll have twrp (team win recovery project).
|When Emotion Goes Up, Logic Goes Down|
|Even If You Fall Face First You're Still Moving Forward|
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I finished most of these steps, but when I rebooted my phone after installing both LiquidSmooth and Gapps, it refused to start. Now I can neither turn it on or go back into recovery mode. The phone is just dead now. What would cause this? I've taken the battery (and everything else for that matter) out again and again, charged it for the last hour, and nothing has changed.

Okay follow this to get to stock and make sure it can at least do that. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2136921
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

OneIdiotInATree said:
I finished most of these steps, but when I rebooted my phone after installing both LiquidSmooth and Gapps, it refused to start. Now I can neither turn it on or go back into recovery mode. The phone is just dead now. What would cause this? I've taken the battery (and everything else for that matter) out again and again, charged it for the last hour, and nothing has changed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure you have a T-Mobile phone?

monkeypaws said:
Okay follow this to get to stock and make sure it can at least do that. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2136921
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the set of instructions, but I am unable to either start it (power button), put it in cwm (pwr+up+home) or download mode as mentioned (pwr+down+home). I don't get a vibration; I don't get anything. Is this totally bricked now? Since the device isn't on, I can't do anything with Odin or the SD card.

What country do you live in, and how did you acquire your phone? Looks like you maybe have the intl version.

I would say try to get into download mode with the physical bottons if that dint work try a jig u can get on ebay like 5 bucks they are always handy.if u can get in to dl mode odin a root66.tar then install recovery.if that dobt worj u prib install liquid rom but fir diff device abd hard brixk u f that case hope u have insurance ti replace they will never know u rooted ir have it jtaged

Its bricked, jtag repair only way .
Stop flashing in my opinion theres a huge issue with the t999 rom compatility and someone mentioned of tw roms being labeled as aosp.roms,I would root but stay away from flashing.until someone figures this out .Theres way to many brick topics lately i find to be oddly connected to the same causes .
Some will say bs but trust me theres something going on..even the most experienced flashers are bricking the t999 its to me the most easiest brickable device i ever delt with.

lojak29 said:
Its bricked, jtag repair only way .
Stop flashing in my opinion theres a huge issue with the t999 rom compatility and someone mentioned of tw roms being labeled as aosp.roms,I would root but stay away from flashing.until someone figures this out .Theres way to many brick topics lately i find to be oddly connected to the same causes .
Some will say bs but trust me theres something going on..even the most experienced flashers are bricking the t999 its to me the most easiest brickable device i ever delt with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it honestly sounds like he has he international version not the US variant. so i think thats the mistake not the phone

lojak29 said:
Its bricked, jtag repair only way .
Stop flashing in my opinion theres a huge issue with the t999 rom compatility and someone mentioned of tw roms being labeled as aosp.roms,I would root but stay away from flashing.until someone figures this out .Theres way to many brick topics lately i find to be oddly connected to the same causes .
Some will say bs but trust me theres something going on..even the most experienced flashers are bricking the t999 its to me the most easiest brickable device i ever delt with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
99% of the bricking is user error...the reason for the increase in "bricked" topics is cause by the amount of users of the T999...its the most heavily used phone by a wide margin now.
Ive far from an expert but have been flashing since the G1 days and have experience with many phones...in my opinion the t999 is darn near unbrickable unless you didnt follow the directions or use a reputable developer when selecting a rom...
To the OP:
What is the actual model of your phone ? you came with an issue and have not really posted much about the specifics of your phone...
sounds like your phone is not partitioned correctly which probably happened by not following the correct directions
there is so much more info needed to diagnose your issue its silly...
Ive been using wicked roms from day one on the t999 and I dont remember seeing anyone hardbrick a phone yet and there are thousands of users using wicked roms...
---------- Post added at 10:58 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:16 AM ----------
Also...was your phone charged when you last tried to flash something? long ago my phone died while flashing ( lessoned learned) ...
pull the battery for awhile...put it back in and try to charge it...
then try to odin back to stock after its charged...

Even if AOSP and TW ROMs were labelled wrong... what difference would it make ? Sure, it could be misleading and all but it's hardly going to brick a phone just give you something you might not have exactly wanted (if that's even actually happening).
I also wonder if this phone is actually an International version instead of the T-Mobile one.
OP, it looks like you need JTAG repair now. If you don't honestly know what exact model you have talk to the JTAG repair service people about it - since they can most likely JTAG either they can just tell you which phone you have once they've fixed it.

Pennycake said:
Even if AOSP and TW ROMs were labelled wrong... what difference would it make ? Sure, it could be misleading and all but it's hardly going to brick a phone just give you something you might not have exactly wanted (if that's even actually happening).
I also wonder if this phone is actually an International version instead of the T-Mobile one.
OP, it looks like you need JTAG repair now. If you don't honestly know what exact model you have talk to the JTAG repair service people about it - since they can most likely JTAG either they can just tell you which phone you have once they've fixed it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OP just has to remove the battery cover and battery and bam! There's a label with Sammy's logo along with device model and other info about the phone.
|When Emotion Goes Up, Logic Goes Down|
|Even If You Fall Face First You're Still Moving Forward|

step by step for rooting and installing TWRP on the Sprint S3!

Hi,
First off, let me tell the ad story.
I've been rooting and flashing roms for like 2 years with my Captivate, and att galaxy rocket. There were a few times that the phones got softbricked, but I figured out how to fix it right away.
This time, with the S3 is different. My friend wanted me to root the phone and install a custom rom on it. O I gave it a try. I think I succesfully rooted the phone. (I had super user installed, I had TWRP recovery). After that, I made a back up and ready to flash a new rom which was Rootbox Vanilla (this can be found on this forum). I was kinda carelessly flashing the rom without reading the instruction(since I thought it would be like flashing roms on my S2). I did clear cache, data, davik cache, factory reset. And then I flashed the Rom, and Gapps. After that, I rebooted the phone.But it never booted up. Nothing turned on. It was totally dead. Taking out the battery and putting it back in made no change. Couldn't even put it into download mode.
Then I went to the post to see if I missed anything, turns out I did. The last step I did not do was TO CLEAR DAVIK CACHE one more time. However, I don't think not clearing davik cache after flashing the rom makes the phone totally dead. Correct me if I'm wrong though.
So I ended up giving the dead phone back to my friend and we brought it back to Sprint, and had it replaced. My friend had to pay $40 to get a replacement.
Now, even though he wants me to root it again, I'm afraid.
So, could you please give me in details about how to root the phone, and install TWRP, and a custom that is stable on the phone, and save to flash?
Thanks a lot in advanced.

The problem might be that that rom is not for sprint, as far as I can tell. Stick to the sprint Galaxy s3 forum, everything is pretty stable.
---------- Post added at 01:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:49 PM ----------
It sounds like the rooting process isn't the issue, but you bricked the phone by flashing a non sprint rom

You carelessly flashed a rom not meant for his phone and bricked it. Our name is d2spr
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app

Also will confirm what has already been said. You flashed a rom for the international s3 not the Sprint S3 d2spr. You bricked it. 2nd or 3rd post in the development section tells you 'don't flash roms from international section'. Stick to roms for the Sprint Samsung S3.
Have a great day!

edfunkycold said:
Also will confirm what has already been said. You flashed a rom for the international s3 not the Sprint S3 d2spr. You bricked it. 2nd or 3rd post in the development section tells you 'don't flash roms from international section'. Stick to roms for the Sprint Samsung S3.
Have a great day!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This was the ROM that I flashed. Isn't it for the Sprint S3 ?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2268993

econan1214 said:
This was the ROM that I flashed. Isn't it for the Sprint S3 ?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2268993
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it is, this is the rom you flashed? You downloaded the correct version?
Have a great day!

Samsung Galaxy S4 Problem

Hello everyone,
I really need your help with my wife's Metro PCS Samsung GS4 M919N.
The thing is, we are now living outside the US so I had to unlock her phone. After ordering the unlock codes, I decided to root the phone and use a custom ROM while waiting for the codes.
That is why I found this guide here: androidforums.com/metropcs-galaxy-s4-all-things-root/790899-metropcs-galaxy-s4-all-things-root-guide.html
So while reading the guide, I aimed to have the following accomplished at the end:
Recovery: TWRP
Custom ROM: CyanogenMod 10.2.1
I then started doing the guide for the TWRP recovery by using Odin. I got the message saying that the flashing passed and went ahead to restart to recovery to install CM 10.2.1 as a custom ROM. The thing is that I keep on restarting to the stock recovery not TWRP. So I went to YouTube and found a video showing how to flash TWRP using GooManager. After following that guide, I went to restart to recovery and I successfully got into TWRP.
Now, to achieve my goal, all that's left to do is to flash CyanogenMod 10.2.1 (jfltetmo).
Before doing that, I decided to make a backup. After using TWRP to do a backup, I proceeded to installing the custom ROM + gapps (wiped with the default settings). Everything was working I think (I handed the phone to my wife so she was he one testing it). After some time, she decided she wants the stock ROM instead so I decided to download the androidforums.com/metropcs-galaxy-s4-all-things-root/783769-rom-recovery-flash-able-stock-m919nuvuamf2-rooted-deodexed-rom.html ROM.
I flashed the newly downloaded ROM + gapps (same file). This time, I couldn't get the gapps to work probably because it was meant for another version. So I decided to just restore from the backup I created earlier.
So, the usual stuff. Wipe. Restore. Restart.
Seems to be going smoothly because my wife was happy to see the old ROM she was used to.
Until the phone started to restart on it's own. (It's pretty much downhill from here on out).
At first I thought it was just a random thing that probably would never happen again. I was wrong as it became more frequent as days went by.
Recently I can't just restart the phone, I would have to remove the battery and then restart it. Now, it's getting really hard to restart the phone. Please help me fix this. I prefer to leave the phone rooted, but if the fix unroots the phone then so be it, anyway my wife prefers the stock ROM so only the unlocking was necessary.
Metro PCS Samsung Galaxy S4 M919N
Recovery:
TWRP 2.6.3.1
ROMs:
Stock Metro PCS
CyanogenMod 10.2.1
Let me know if you need more information from me. Hopefully I can restart the phone so I can give you some version numbers.
Thanks everyone!

I didn't read everything but just wanted to say
VERY GOOD THREAD!
this is how threads should be done. Very descriptive, organized, told us everything you did and asked for help! Good job man! Only negative is it prolly should have gone in Q&A section but irregardless very good thread!
About your issue, I recommend flashing stock Odin tar file to everything back to stock and reroot and start over. Flashing stock will not lock it again it will remain unlocked. But should get you back up and fresh. Just be aware it will erase all your data and all of the internal SD card.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

dokgu said:
Hello everyone,
I really need your help with my wife's Metro PCS Samsung GS4 M919N.
The thing is, we are now living outside the US so I had to unlock her phone. After ordering the unlock codes, I decided to root the phone and use a custom ROM while waiting for the codes.
That is why I found this guide here: androidforums.com/metropcs-galaxy-s4-all-things-root/790899-metropcs-galaxy-s4-all-things-root-guide.html
So while reading the guide, I aimed to have the following accomplished at the end:
Recovery: TWRP
Custom ROM: CyanogenMod 10.2.1
I then started doing the guide for the TWRP recovery by using Odin. I got the message saying that the flashing passed and went ahead to restart to recovery to install CM 10.2.1 as a custom ROM. The thing is that I keep on restarting to the stock recovery not TWRP. So I went to YouTube and found a video showing how to flash TWRP using GooManager. After following that guide, I went to restart to recovery and I successfully got into TWRP.
Now, to achieve my goal, all that's left to do is to flash CyanogenMod 10.2.1 (jfltetmo).
Before doing that, I decided to make a backup. After using TWRP to do a backup, I proceeded to installing the custom ROM + gapps (wiped with the default settings). Everything was working I think (I handed the phone to my wife so she was he one testing it). After some time, she decided she wants the stock ROM instead so I decided to download the androidforums.com/metropcs-galaxy-s4-all-things-root/783769-rom-recovery-flash-able-stock-m919nuvuamf2-rooted-deodexed-rom.html ROM.
I flashed the newly downloaded ROM + gapps (same file). This time, I couldn't get the gapps to work probably because it was meant for another version. So I decided to just restore from the backup I created earlier.
So, the usual stuff. Wipe. Restore. Restart.
Seems to be going smoothly because my wife was happy to see the old ROM she was used to.
Until the phone started to restart on it's own. (It's pretty much downhill from here on out).
At first I thought it was just a random thing that probably would never happen again. I was wrong as it became more frequent as days went by.
Recently I can't just restart the phone, I would have to remove the battery and then restart it. Now, it's getting really hard to restart the phone. Please help me fix this. I prefer to leave the phone rooted, but if the fix unroots the phone then so be it, anyway my wife prefers the stock ROM so only the unlocking was necessary.
Metro PCS Samsung Galaxy S4 M919N
Recovery:
TWRP 2.6.3.1
ROMs:
Stock Metro PCS
CyanogenMod 10.2.1
Let me know if you need more information from me. Hopefully I can restart the phone so I can give you some version numbers.
Thanks everyone!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with Elesbb. If the goal is jus tto get back to stock, just do an odin flash of the stock ROM. Be advised if you flash the latest Kit Kay update you will nto be able to go back to Jelly Bean. From your post it seems like you are partial to Jelly Bean. So if that's what you want, but sure you use the stock 4.3 ROM. You can find it around here on XDA somewhere with a quick search to make sure you have the right one.
As Elesbb said, you won't loose the 'sim unlock'. But you will lose root. However you can root the stock ROM just fine.
You might also consider one of the myriad of TouchWiz based custom ROMs. They are look just like TouchWiz that your wife wants, but have a lot of optimizations and options in them. Those should flash just like any ROM. If you still get the reboot issue then do the Odin back to stock, reroot, then flash the custom TW roms.
---------- Post added at 12:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:45 PM ----------

Thread cleaned.
Rather than bashing a ROM or user let's keep on topic and help the OP resolved the problems he's having. Arguing over the virtues of a ROM doesn't help anyone.
Thank you,
Rwilco12

Before posting this thread I sent the aforementioned guide's poster (arocker). He sent me a reply saying not to use gapps as the stock ROM for Metro PCS already comes with Google apps. I'll try his suggestion first and see if the phone still reboots a lot.
If the problem persists, I will try the solutions mentioned here. Thanks a lot!

elesbb said:
I didn't read everything but just wanted to say
VERY GOOD THREAD!
this is how threads should be done. Very descriptive, organized, told us everything you did and asked for help! Good job man! Only negative is it prolly should have gone in Q&A section but irregardless very good thread!
About your issue, I recommend flashing stock Odin tar file to everything back to stock and reroot and start over. Flashing stock will not lock it again it will remain unlocked. But should get you back up and fresh. Just be aware it will erase all your data and all of the internal SD card.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After trying arocker's suggestion to not flash gapps, the phone still reboots. So now, I am going to try your solution guys.
But before I do, I want to make sure that I am on the correct paths/links.
Here's what I found for the following:
ODIN
forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s3/themes-apps/27-08-2013-odin-3-09-odin-1-85-versions-t2189539
I've had a couple of chances to use ODIN but only using specific functions like flashing a recovery file while the phone is in download mode. I don't however have any experience using ODIN to put the phone back to stock where the phone gets unrooted. Having the phone unrooted is fine by me as I only needed to have the phone unlocked.
Any step-by-step guides for using ODIN for this specific purpose guys? I don't want to mess this up again.
Thanks and sorry for the trouble.

dokgu said:
After trying arocker's suggestion to not flash gapps, the phone still reboots. So now, I am going to try your solution guys.
But before I do, I want to make sure that I am on the correct paths/links.
Here's what I found for the following:
ODIN
forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s3/themes-apps/27-08-2013-odin-3-09-odin-1-85-versions-t2189539
I've had a couple of chances to use ODIN but only using specific functions like flashing a recovery file while the phone is in download mode. I don't however have any experience using ODIN to put the phone back to stock where the phone gets unrooted. Having the phone unrooted is fine by me as I only needed to have the phone unlocked.
Any step-by-step guides for using ODIN for this specific purpose guys? I don't want to mess this up again.
Thanks and sorry for the trouble.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No trouble at all, check out the stickies in the beginning of threads.
Look for guides similar to this.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2335109
Pp. Good luck.
sent from my bluetooth controlled toaster.

PanchoPlanet said:
No trouble at all, check out the stickies in the beginning of threads.
Look for guides similar to this.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2335109
Pp. Good luck.
sent from my bluetooth controlled toaster.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello PanchoPlanet,
Thanks for the link. I went ahead and tried to unroot without Windows (Mobile Odin) as per the instructions on the link. I downloaded everything and went ahead to install the Mobile Odin APK. When I ran it to install the Flash Kernel, the app told me that the device is not supported.
To my understanding the guide is for M919 devices but should work for my wife's device as well (M919N - Metro PCS). I would like to try the guide for using Windows but I'm not really expecting for it to work or I might mess it up more. I'll try to search some more and provide the links where this forum will lead me to. But if you have any ideas, please let me know asap. Thanks!

PanchoPlanet said:
No trouble at all, check out the stickies in the beginning of threads.
Look for guides similar to this.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2335109
Pp. Good luck.
sent from my bluetooth controlled toaster.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, here's what I found:
forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2446497
It seems like the perfect thread for what I am trying to achieve. Will let you guys know if it is successful. But it will have to wait for tomorrow. Gonna catch some sleep.

Okay, I'm running out of options. I was able to flash the stock ROM using Odin 3.07. The recovery looks like it came back to the stock recovery as I no longer have TWRP installed. When I install Root Checker, I see that I am no longer rooted. That's good.
But my original problem is still here. The phone reboots a lot. The phone is so unstable that it is barely usable.
I am now going to try one more thing.
I have a Galaxy S4 (I337M) from Rogers Canada (my wife has Metro PCS M919N). Mine got rooted and has CyanogenMod 10.2.1 as a custom ROM. My phone is working perfectly while hers reboots a lot. I was thinking it was because of a faulty battery. So I am doing an experiment by swapping the batteries. So far no reboots have occurred, but I will continue to monitor this.
Any ideas why the battery is kinda messed up?

This thread talks about battery stuff and reboots:
http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/530338/20131216/samsung-galaxy-s4-problems.htm
Batteries can go bad a lot of ways. Extreme temperature, factory defect, phone drops, moisture, etc.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Android_Monsters said:
This thread talks about battery stuff and reboots:
http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/530338/20131216/samsung-galaxy-s4-problems.htm
Batteries can go bad a lot of ways. Extreme temperature, factory defect, phone drops, moisture, etc.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And 100% of the time, they eventually just get old.

dokgu said:
Okay, I'm running out of options. I was able to flash the stock ROM using Odin 3.07. The recovery looks like it came back to the stock recovery as I no longer have TWRP installed. When I install Root Checker, I see that I am no longer rooted. That's good.
But my original problem is still here. The phone reboots a lot. The phone is so unstable that it is barely usable.
I am now going to try one more thing.
I have a Galaxy S4 (I337M) from Rogers Canada (my wife has Metro PCS M919N). Mine got rooted and has CyanogenMod 10.2.1 as a custom ROM. My phone is working perfectly while hers reboots a lot. I was thinking it was because of a faulty battery. So I am doing an experiment by swapping the batteries. So far no reboots have occurred, but I will continue to monitor this.
Any ideas why the battery is kinda messed up?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a wierd situation, by swapping batteries you basically performed a battery pull, which acts as a reset, that in it self may have cleared your issue.
Now if battery is bad that could be an unusual problem. Maybe just replacing the battery will be the end of your mystery.
Pp.
sent from my P5113 using TouchPal mind control keyboard. (Beta)

The battery should be brand new as the phone was just recently purchased this April.
Anyways, so far no reboots have happened and any instability has not been shown at all. Everything looks ok, yet.
Anyone know if it is safe to swap batteries? Our phones have different S4 models. I'm not sure what the implications would be. Also what is this battery pull which acts as a reset? We've been pulling the battery a lot of times but the reboot still happens but not when we swapped batteries.

The batteries are all the same. Don't worry about that.
Even if its a new battery if could have just been bad. A manufacturing defect perhaps.
Sent from your phone. You should be more careful where you leave that thing.

dokgu said:
The battery should be brand new as the phone was just recently purchased this April.
Anyways, so far no reboots have happened and any instability has not been shown at all. Everything looks ok, yet.
Anyone know if it is safe to swap batteries? Our phones have different S4 models. I'm not sure what the implications would be. Also what is this battery pull which acts as a reset? We've been pulling the battery a lot of times but the reboot still happens but not when we swapped batteries.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This battery thing is wacky, anyway swapping batteries should not be a problem, it's just an energy storage container. Pulling the battery isn't like powering down the phone or resetting/rebooting ,sometimes devs request a battery pull to get the proper wipe effect that reboots can't provide.
You inadvertently solved your problem by accident. That's a good thing.
Pp.
sent from my P5113 using TouchPal mind control keyboard. (Beta)

PanchoPlanet said:
You inadvertently solved your problem by accident. That's a good thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have quite literally solved the vast majority of my problems this way.
Its a preferred method.
Sent from your phone. You should be more careful where you leave that thing.

Sometimes it's that "total disconnect "of power that kind of gets all the ducks lined up in a row and everything flows in the dynaflow.
Good.
Pp.
sent from my P5113 using TouchPal mind control keyboard. (Beta)

its very important topics and it might seen for every galaxy s4 users.just wonderful topics.

This exact same thing happened on my mother's 6-month old S3. If you're still wondering, you could try putting the old battery and running a CPU stress test app. It should increase the current draw and trigger a shutdown.
EDIT: whoops, sorry to kind of zombie. Didn't check the date.
Sent from my Galaxy S4