Related
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.
Hello all,
I have a friend that is wanting to uninstall the T-Mobile pre installed CRAPPS. Since the only way to do so is by rooting, he has questioned if rooting his GS2 will void his mfg warranty. Since I Sid not know and do not own a galaxy I figured I would ask here. Thanks in advanced.
-T
Sent from H1S using xda Prem
Yes it does but if your friend messes up his phone and needs to send it to tmobile I recommend to flash stock on it via Odin and then send it in.
pyrocide said:
Hello all,
I have a friend that is wanting to uninstall the T-Mobile pre installed CRAPPS. Since the only way to do so is by rooting, he has questioned if rooting his GS2 will void his mfg warranty. Since I Sid not know and do not own a galaxy I figured I would ask here. Thanks in advanced.
-T
Sent from H1S using xda Prem
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Technically it does, and if Samsung finds out that you did root it, they have the right to not honor the warranty. However, it's relatively easy to keep them from finding out that you rooted it. The basic outline of how to do it is this:
1) Flash this in CWM.
2) Flash stock kernel in CWM.
3) Flash stock ROM in Odin.
The order is important as you should only flash ROMs (and not kernels) through Odin otherwise you will trip a flash counter that Samsung can see. The first link resets the counter if you have already flashed a kernel through Odin.
Rooting will void your warranty; however, as the previous poster said, you can "unroot" and tmobile/samsung wouldn't find out in case you need a warranty repair/replacement.
yoft1 said:
Technically it does, and if Samsung finds out that you did root it, they have the right to not honor the warranty. However, it's relatively easy to keep them from finding out that you rooted it. The basic outline of how to do it is this:
1) Flash this in CWM.
2) Flash stock kernel in CWM.
3) Flash stock ROM in Odin.
The order is important as you should only flash ROMs (and not kernels) through Odin otherwise you will trip a flash counter that Samsung can see. The first link resets the counter if you have already flashed a kernel through Odin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was curious about the flash counter because I see that there is a flashable zip to reset it but I've flashed everything I can think of to this phone at least once and never made it say anything but no lol so thanks for the clarification :thumbup:
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
yoft1 said:
Technically it does, and if Samsung finds out that you did root it, they have the right to not honor the warranty. However, it's relatively easy to keep them from finding out that you rooted it. The basic outline of how to do it is this:
1) Flash this in CWM.
2) Flash stock kernel in CWM.
3) Flash stock ROM in Odin.
The order is important as you should only flash ROMs (and not kernels) through Odin otherwise you will trip a flash counter that Samsung can see. The first link resets the counter if you have already flashed a kernel through Odin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The stock file you flash in Odin includes the kernel either way. I've never had it trip the flash counter.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
Towle said:
The stock file you flash in Odin includes the kernel either way. I've never had it trip the flash counter.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As long as it's the stock official kernel it will not trip the counter
I need to return S4 White and get another S4 white.
Can I just do the nandriod backtup on Phone 1 and restore on phone 2?
Ques 2.
Is that okay that I just do the factory reset and leave the root on along with twrp?
if not then I just need to ODIN the stock rom?
I am still within the 20 days return policy
First, yes u can restore it with everything you have on that one with no issue except if your getting the s4 from another carrier, the bloat might give you issues with it.
Second, If you're returning it and it's rooted your warranty is voided so you need to go back to stock and unroot it and the flash counter that tells if you've made any unauthorized changes to the software might give you issues so I don't now how to reset the flash counter so I would wait until u can restart the flash counter and go back to stock... I hope this answered your question...
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda premium
lagunas11 said:
First, yes u can restore it with everything you have on that one with no issue except if your getting the s4 from another carrier, the bloat might give you issues with it.
Second, If you're returning it and it's rooted your warranty is voided so you need to go back to stock and unroot it and the flash counter that tells if you've made any unauthorized changes to the software might give you issues so I don't now how to reset the flash counter so I would wait until u can restart the flash counter and go back to stock... I hope this answered your question...
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
isn't if I ODIN back to stock would unroot automatically? even remove the recovery as well?
you mean there is no way to check the flash counter or reset?
Odin erases any root files but hey the only way to see if it resets the flash counter is by doing it and once you went back to stock and get on download mode again and once you proceed check at the top left where a small text will say something like, system version: official Samsung, flash counter: 0 or 1, name... Etc... And yes it will take the recovery as well
Edit: if it doesn't reset it try researching it on Google I'm pretty sure there's some way to do it..
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda premium
flash counter only increase if you ODIN anything other than Stock. Correct?
I use the exploit to get the root access, so technically I never ODIN, and my flash counter should be to 0.
question is if I do the ODIN to stock, is that gonna increase the flash counter?
Can I not just go back to stock via kies? that will not increase the flash counter I guess.
here is the screenshot showing the current status of what it is now after root and twrp installed.
Does not really show the flash counter.
I'm not really sure but try to use triangle away and see if it shows u Ur flash counter and if it does don't try to reset it with it Kuz I don't know if it's compatible with the s4 yet
Edit: I just checked and yes that app does work with the s4 so there's Ur option... Check if it's showing the flash counter nd if it does reset it nd then go back to stock nd problem solved..
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda premium
-greenboy- said:
here is the screenshot showing the current status of what it is now after root and twrp installed.
Does not really show the flash counter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
System Status is Custom, which if I remember correctly means it has at one point been flashed with a custom firmware.
I may be wrong though.
can someone who is not rooted please tell me the difference, what they see on ODIN screen?
-greenboy- said:
can someone who is not rooted please tell me the difference, what they see on ODIN screen?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean in download mode?
-greenboy- said:
can someone who is not rooted please tell me the difference, what they see on ODIN screen?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It will say Official instead of Custom. I used Odin to install the MDL update and it changed to Official. In settings > about device > scroll to the bottom and under Device Status it should also say Official.
yeah!!.
This thing is getting on my nerves now.
First that stupid Tmobile error which is forcing me to order the same phone for different line and return this.
Like I said just used an app called TRIANGLE AWAY and it will reset your flash counter...
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda premium
Triangle Away says I am not using jellybean and the app won't work
now what?
Go to recovery, do a full wipe, power off, use Odin and install the new MDL update.
the s-health is hooked up with the samsung account or I need to do the backup for that data separately?
-greenboy- said:
the s-health is hooked up with the samsung account or I need to do the backup for that data separately?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is hooked to the phone so once you get a new one it will b there but u will have to re start everything you've made on it its not good to back up system apps.. It will give you too many issues..
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda premium
follow the instructions as you said.
Now I am back to stock but the Device Status still shows "custom".
I also used the triangle away 2.90 which let me reset the counter back to 0, it showed me on the confirmation page, but looks like that didn't do the job.
Now there is no root but custom device status.
Returning phone like this would cause any issue?
I tried kies as well, its just not connecting with kies, even after re-installing drivers couple of times
Go into stock recovery and wipe cache and do a factory reset from there that should clear it up.
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
Hi everyone,
I have a Galaxy S3 LTE from T-Mobile (SGH-T999L) and I rooted it and tried to install a custom rom. However it didn't work and then I installed the stock rom. Now I want to reset the restore counter. With the Triangle Away. However, I though it needs root. So I don't want to root it and then reset the counter. Basically can someone just help me completely restore it to stock so there are no signs of rooting or modding. I need to send it to samsung. Please help!
Thank You! :fingers-crossed:
Youll have to re root. Sorry. Odin flash root66, triangle away, Odin flash official firmware, factory reset.
Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk
DocHoliday77 said:
Youll have to re root. Sorry. Odin flash root66, triangle away, Odin flash official firmware, factory reset.
Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply! After I run the triangle away and then odin flash the stock firmware won't that increase the counter to 1?
Counter only increases when you flash non official firmware with odin. (Except for root66). Itll also retrip to 1 if you have a custom recovery or kernel installed. You are talking bout the binary counter, not the warranty bit, right?
Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk
DocHoliday77 said:
Counter only increases when you flash non official firmware with odin. (Except for root66). Itll also retrip to 1 if you have a custom recovery or kernel installed. You are talking bout the binary counter, not the warranty bit, right?
Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wait. What the warranty bit? Is that something that will stop me from having samsung fix my phone. Because in download mode it says Warranty Bit is 1.
Yup, I'm afraid your warranty is void. You can try to send it in. In the Note3 forums there are several repirts of sending it in with the warranty bit tripped and still getting it serviced or replaced. No guarantees though.