Develop Bugs

[Q] Flashing back to stock for a clean official At&t jellybean update

I just flashed my at&t GS3 to Cyanogens Cm10 m2 using clockworkmod and am wondering what the procedure to flash back to stock is, so as to receive the official JB update from at&t whenever that may be.
I made a back up of my stock rom in clockworkmod but what if a user did not make a backup of the stock rom?
Thanks

rootitnbootit said:
I just flashed my at&t GS3 to Cyanogens Cm10 m2 using clockworkmod and am wondering what the procedure to flash back to stock is, so as to receive the official JB update from at&t whenever that may be.
I made a back up of my stock rom in clockworkmod but what if a user did not make a backup of the stock rom?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The following thread has a section that explains with YouTube video demonstrations how to unroot and return to stock ROM.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1728824
I am not entirely sure if I followed that particular instructions video or another, but in summary I downloaded the Stock ICS ROM which can be found in a thread somewhere around here in XDA, then I downloaded ODIN (also can be found on XDA) and used it to flash the Stock ICS ROM through it after having booted the phone into Download Mode and connected it. Check the thread and see if the instructions are similar to what I just described.

I know with my last phone (skyrocket aka i727) you can oden the stock firmware from sammobile with original recovery without triggering the flash counter.
Does this work with the s3?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747M

Yes as long as it is the OEM rom.

Question about rooting with odin

I recently took the ota update to 4.1.2 mb1 and lost root. My question is can I use odin to flash [ROM|Stock Rooted] 3/3/13 Sprint Touchwiz Jelly Bean 4.1.2 (L710VPBMB1) Odex/DeOdex? And If so do I use the full ROM odex? And Do I have to flash anything besides the ROM? Or can I keep everything else stock?

Monoclypsus said:
I recently took the ota update to 4.1.2 mb1 and lost root. My question is can I use odin to flash [ROM|Stock Rooted] 3/3/13 Sprint Touchwiz Jelly Bean 4.1.2 (L710VPBMB1) Odex/DeOdex? And If so do I use the full ROM odex? And Do I have to flash anything besides the ROM? Or can I keep everything else stock?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey there buddy, welcome to XDA (I see this is your second post).
Anyways, do you still have a custom recovery? I'm assuming you don't, since it sounds like you went all the way back to stock unrooted in order o get the update (in the future, Freeza typically has the update for Root users a week or so after the OTA release, so no need to go back to stock unrooted).
Anyways, back to your current situation. Since you most-likely have the stock recovery, you'll have to go back to being rooted with either CWM or TWRP (I prefer TWRP, but they're both good). I personally use mskip's toolkit, it's fairly straightforward. You could also follow qbking77's rooting method. He does a good job explaining how to root. Samsung hasn't locked their bootloader and don't try to in their updates, so these rooting methods stand the test of time (and updates).
Once you have a custom recovery installed (or if you already have one installed), FIRST THING to do is perform a nandroid backup. THIS IS KEY. Once you have one done, go ahead and flash Freeza's Stock Rooted ROM. I'd recommend doing a clean flash, as it's the best way to minimize the chances of errors and bugs. Just wipe system and cache and dalvik cache, and then flash the downloaded ROM. And speaking of downloading, be sure to check the md5 sum of the download before you flash. Most problems with the stable ROMs here on XDA stem from bad downloads.
You can also check out other ROMs. I won't go too crazy on advertising here, but scroll through these two sub-forums, Android Development and Original Android Development. I've enjoyed most ROMs I've tried.
Hope this helps!

ok
topherk said:
Hey there buddy, welcome to XDA (I see this is your second post).
Anyways, do you still have a custom recovery? I'm assuming you don't, since it sounds like you went all the way back to stock unrooted in order o get the update (in the future, Freeza typically has the update for Root users a week or so after the OTA release, so no need to go back to stock unrooted).
Anyways, back to your current situation. Since you most-likely have the stock recovery, you'll have to go back to being rooted with either CWM or TWRP (I prefer TWRP, but they're both good). I personally use mskip's toolkit, it's fairly straightforward. You could also follow qbking77's rooting method. He does a good job explaining how to root. Samsung hasn't locked their bootloader and don't try to in their updates, so these rooting methods stand the test of time (and updates).
Once you have a custom recovery installed (or if you already have one installed), FIRST THING to do is perform a nandroid backup. THIS IS KEY. Once you have one done, go ahead and flash Freeza's Stock Rooted ROM. I'd recommend doing a clean flash, as it's the best way to minimize the chances of errors and bugs. Just wipe system and cache and dalvik cache, and then flash the downloaded ROM. And speaking of downloading, be sure to check the md5 sum of the download before you flash. Most problems with the stable ROMs here on XDA stem from bad downloads.
You can also check out other ROMs. I won't go too crazy on advertising here, but scroll through these two sub-forums, Android Development and Original Android Development. I've enjoyed most ROMs I've tried.
Hope this helps!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, just out of curiousity... Before I took the OTA i was rooted 4.1.1 stock with stock recovery. Is there any way to do it the same? The method I used before was this [HOWTO] [ROOT] No Tripping Flash Counter [SPR L710VPBLJ7] JB 4.1.1. It was super quick and easy.

Monoclypsus said:
Ok, just out of curiousity... Before I took the OTA i was rooted 4.1.1 stock with stock recovery. Is there any way to do it the same? The method I used before was this [HOWTO] [ROOT] No Tripping Flash Counter [SPR L710VPBLJ7] JB 4.1.1. It was super quick and easy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, that same method should work. I personally like the custom recoveries, but understand your desires to leave it at stock recovery (not triggering the flash counter).
Like I mentioned before, Samsung hasn't (and most likely won't) locked their bootloaders, so any rooting method that has worked in the past should work in the future. Just make sure to read the last 3-4 pages of the thread for whatever method you're trying to use to see if there are any issues. I know an earlier version of mskip's toolkit was having issues with JB for a little bit (it's updated now).

Well I'm gonna give it a shot. Ill let you know how it turns out.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app

Just went with cf autoroot. Worked fine.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app

I've got a problem I installed the OTA and now I cant boot into android. Its stuck on starting apps. I have the stock recovery. How can I fix this?. What do I do? I can get to ODIN download mode. *edit** can get into safemode too. And I now have a custom recovery installed.
I still dont know what to do from here. How do I flash the downloaded rom because the new file I downloaded seems to be a zip and can only be flashed with CWM not ODIN. I cant place it in the right directory of my phone to do that.

jkj said:
I've got a problem I installed the OTA and now I cant boot into android. Its stuck on starting apps. I have the stock recovery. How can I fix this?. What do I do? I can get to ODIN download mode. *edit** can get into safemode too. And I now have a custom recovery installed.
I still dont know what to do from here. How do I flash the downloaded rom because the new file I downloaded seems to be a zip and can only be flashed with CWM not ODIN. I cant place it in the right directory of my phone to do that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I replied to your thread. I hope it works for what you need.

Kernels

I have a T-Mobile Galaxy S2. Rooted it withe hercules tar kernel on Android 2.3. When I upgraded to JB the kernel no longer worked (couldn't root). I tried flashing Cyangoen 10.0 and 9.0 but neither wokred (Waited 20 minutes and nothing). Is there a kernel I need to flash with ODIN?
Also, looking for a good place to learn abot kernels in genral.
Many thanks.
FezK

FezK said:
I have a T-Mobile Galaxy S2. Rooted it withe hercules tar kernel on Android 2.3. When I upgraded to JB the kernel no longer worked (couldn't root). I tried flashing Cyangoen 10.0 and 9.0 but neither wokred (Waited 20 minutes and nothing). Is there a kernel I need to flash with ODIN?
Also, looking for a good place to learn abot kernels in genral.
Many thanks.
FezK
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kernel is causing the problem. Flash only kernel which is made for specific rom/android version. follow this if you want to flash via Odin. I recommend you to install CWM because its easy,safe and time saving.

Installed CWM Recovery, tried to flash Cyanogen 9...now it keeps rebooting back into CWM...can't access the Recovery menu. I downloaded the updated kernel. How do I get it flashed?

I was able to connect via ODIN. Can't get recovery-clockwork-touch-6.0.3.1-hercules.tar to flash.

restart your computer log back in and use a different USB port and make sure you have all the DRIVERS for the phone plug it in flash the ODIN CWM file then you should flash an ICS ROM then flash JB to avoid any hiccups 2.3.4 is a big jump to JB might be giving you errors and you are rooted correct ?

Thank you. Yes I'm rooted an runnning smoothly with Juggernaut ROM for now. Want to change to Cyanogen 9.0. I'll flash the ODIN CWM file as you recommend. Where can I find a good ICS ROM and JB? Didn't know the jump from 2.3.4 to JB would be so big.
Many thanks.

what do you prefer the more stocky looking approach or you into AOKP/CM if you like stock then anything from PTMR and JAMISON904 are on point and very stable if you want some options and custom stuff look into the CM/AOKP around here in the development forums since you are rooted i would download a nice ICS you wont be on it long so doesnt matter lol and then finally jump ship to JB give it time for the battery to settle in becuase there was nothin like GB as far as the battery life goes this one guy who has amazing work and dedication http://goo.im/devs/Cl3Kener anything on there will do you justice when you get to the JB stage good luck and happy flashing!!

C13Kener DOES have some amazing stuff. Thanks. I see that he has a nice ICS stock ROM (Samsung-Stock-4.1.2-Tiberius-Kernel-1.1.zip). Can I just flash that from recovery or do I need to flash a new kernel via ODIN beforehand? Apprecaite your patience and help.

FezK said:
C13Kener DOES have some amazing stuff. Thanks. I see that he has a nice ICS stock ROM (Samsung-Stock-4.1.2-Tiberius-Kernel-1.1.zip). Can I just flash that from recovery or do I need to flash a new kernel via ODIN beforehand? Apprecaite your patience and help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think there is some confusion here. A ROM is not the same thing as a kernel.

I think thats where I'm having trouble. I have an older kernel (recovery-cwm-hercules.tar) and need to upgrade it before I can flash an ICS ROM. Don't know where to find kernels for the ROMS I want to flash. I thought some ROMs came with the kernel embedded in their zipfile, but finding thats not the case. ODIN is fairly easy to use, but I don't know where to find the right kernels for ROMs like Cyanogen.

FezK said:
I think thats where I'm having trouble. I have an older kernel (recovery-cwm-hercules.tar) and need to upgrade it before I can flash an ICS ROM. Don't know where to find kernels for the ROMS I want to flash. I thought some ROMs came with the kernel embedded in their zipfile, but finding thats not the case. ODIN is fairly easy to use, but I don't know where to find the right kernels for ROMs like Cyanogen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Recovery is a tool used to flash ROMs and do backups.
TWRP and CWM are recoveries.
ROMs are the operating system of the phone. They come with a kernel. The kernel is what boots the phone into the OS. You can flash a different kernel if it matches the type of ROM you are on. I hope that clears up some of the confusion.

[Fix] 4.3 ROMs stuck on splash screen after first reboot

For those of you who keep getting stuck on the splash screen after trying to restart your phone after installing a 4.3 ROM.
My steps were (and I take no credit for this, I can't remember who had said to do this and I wasn't logged in so I couldn't click the thank you button):
*Note* If you were already on the Stock 4.3 ROM you do not want to flash the 4.0.4, 4.1.1 or 4.1.2 Stock ROM since you will brick your phone. The Stock ROM contains the Bootloader which should never be downgraded. Fyi: the Bootloader is not the Baseband, the Baseband is just what Modem you're using.
1. Use Odin to flash the latest stock ROM
2. Enter the stock recovery and do a factory reset and clear the cache (I did both twice just to make sure)
3. Use Odin to flash the stock rooted ROM.
4. Enter the stock recovery and do a factory reset and clear the cache. (This might not be necessary but I did anyways just to make sure)
5. Use Odin to flash a custom recovery (TWRP 2.6.0.0 was the newest recovery when I did this last week)
6. Enter the custom recovery and wipe everything, then flash whatever 4.3 based ROM and then flash GApps if you want.
*Note* It seemed like the phone was hanging on the splash screen after either the initial boot or the first restart (I can't remember which, it's been a week) but it did boot and reboot fine.
I hope this helps out some people since I found it to be quite irritating that I could install a 4.3 ROM and set everything up but when I went to restart it would hang at the splash screen (going into the recovery and clearing the cache/dalvik cache wasn't helping).

Are you basically saying to revert back to stock settings and redo the entire root process again?
Sent from my SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app

bullet2binary said:
Are you basically saying to revert back to stock settings and redo the entire root process again?
Sent from my SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, from what I had read that seemed to be necessary since I had used Odin to update the bootloader (MF1 since my phone is the M variant) by itself when the newest Stock ROM had come out a while ago. I still flashed the newest Stock ROM (same MF1 bootloader for the M variant) but the first time I did it I forgot to enter the Stock Recovery to do a Factory Reset and Clear the Cache and ended up stuck on the splash screen of a 4.3 ROM after flashing a custom recovery. So I needed to reflash back to stock and start over.
Going into the Stock Recovery and doing a Factory Reset and Clearing Cache is necessary and doesn't take much time at all so you may as well do it just to be sure. I also recommend backing up your IMEI if you haven't done it yet.

spongdangly said:
Yeah, from what I had read that seemed to be necessary since I had used Odin to update the bootloader (MF1 since my phone is the M variant) by itself when the newest Stock ROM had come out a while ago. I still flashed the newest Stock ROM (same MF1 bootloader for the M variant) but the first time I did it I forgot to enter the Stock Recovery to do a Factory Reset and Clear the Cache and ended up stuck on the splash screen of a 4.3 ROM after flashing a custom recovery. So I needed to reflash back to stock and start over.
Going into the Stock Recovery and doing a Factory Reset and Clearing Cache is necessary and doesn't take much time at all so you may as well do it just to be sure. I also recommend backing up your IMEI if you haven't done it yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This seems to have done the job. Running PAC 4.3 right now. I've rebooted successfully once so far.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app

Exactly what I ended up doing after nothing else was working. After getting it hanging the first time, even flashing 4.2 roms was giving me boot issues. After reverting back to stock and reflashing I'm now running the 9/1 Pac nightly and the 8/31 kt747 kernel.
I'm probably 10+ reboots in without issue and I flashed the kernel separately!

bullet2binary said:
This seems to have done the job. Running PAC 4.3 right now. I've rebooted successfully once so far.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
exodus454 said:
Exactly what I ended up doing after nothing else was working. After getting it hanging the first time, even flashing 4.2 roms was giving me boot issues. After reverting back to stock and reflashing I'm now running the 9/1 Pac nightly and the 8/31 kt747 kernel.
I'm probably 10+ reboots in without issue and I flashed the kernel separately!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm glad to hear that this seems to be the proper fix. That's odd that you were having trouble with 4.2 ROMs, but then again I'd been running 4.2 ROMs on my phone since they first started rolling out. It's kind of annoying that everyone's S3 seems to be slightly different then the next.

Yeah this was a weird one all right. Just glad this post had a solution
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app

glad i found this otherwise my first noob post would have truly been a noob move. Thanks wouldn't have guessed that fix for a few days at least.
verified it works. but it did require some weird time dealing with a bootloop issue on stock recoveries. had to find a .tar version of CWM to flash via odin for the final result.

Still Stuck at Splash Screen after trying to upgrade to 4.3
Background:
I had been running task's rom since 4.1.x. Upgraded to 4.2 with not problems and I kept the rom current. Tried to upgrade to 4.3 and that is where the problems started. It appeared to work, saw that Google was updating a number of apps but then then I kept getting error messages regarding various about various processes stopping unexpectedly. Rebooted the phone and it came up with Task's kernel splash screen where it remains frozen.
I can get into TWRP (v2.3.3.1) recovery and into Download mode.
I have tried wiping Cache and Dalvik Cache
I have wiped System
I have done a Factory Reset
I have Formatted Data
I have used Odin twice to get back to stock (I747UCDLK3) and both times it says "passed."
When I try to reboot it, however, it comes back to Task's Kernel splash screen (I do not see the Samsung screen)
Any help or suggestions would be great.
UPDATED: Found an older update from April and was able to restore it. Still wondering why 4.3 wouldn't take.

This Works
I was skeptical, but this actually works! Now running Task's 4.3 on my bell i747m without any problems!
Thanks for the tip OP :good:

spongdangly said:
For those of you who keep getting stuck on the splash screen after trying to restart your phone after installing a 4.3 ROM.
My steps were (and I take no credit for this, I can't remember who had said to do this and I wasn't logged in so I couldn't click the thank you button):
1. Use Odin to flash the latest stock ROM
2. Enter the stock recovery and do a factory reset and clear the cache (I did both twice just to make sure)
3. Use Odin to flash the stock rooted ROM.
4. Enter the stock recovery and do a factory reset and clear the cache. (This might not be necessary but I did anyways just to make sure)
5. Use Odin to flash a custom recovery (TWRP 2.6.0.0 was the newest recovery when I did this last week)
6. Enter the custom recovery and wipe everything, then flash whatever 4.3 based ROM and then flash GApps if you want.
*Note* It seemed like the phone was hanging on the splash screen after either the initial boot or the first restart (I can't remember which, it's been a week) but it did boot and reboot fine.
I hope this helps out some people since I found it to be quite irritating that I could install a 4.3 ROM and set everything up but when I went to restart it would hang at the splash screen (going into the recovery and clearing the cache/dalvik cache wasn't helping).
I hope I posted this in the right section but apologies if it's not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If this works you're a life saver! I've been posting around 4.3 threads about this for weeks and no one came up with a decent answer....
Tried reflashing stock with root but didn't work... i'll try your way, see if that works
Gonna try this tonight!!!
Thanks!

I posted in the CM thread about this, but thought I would pass it along.. I didn't have to go back to stock non-rooted. What I did:
I odin'd Mr. Robinson's LK3 rooted
Factory reset from the 3e recovery
Rebooted
Odin'd twrp
Restored nandroid of CM
Good to go.

Solved
Thanks, also works for i727 skyrocket

wont this brick people phones flashing back 4.1.1 stock ? im on stock 4.3 stuck on samsung galaxy s3 logo meaning flashing back to latest stock rom using odin 4.1.2? 4.3 stock rom or 4.3 custom roms?

Kastro1784 said:
wont this brick people phones flashing back 4.1.1 stock ? im on stock 4.3 stuck on samsung galaxy s3 logo meaning flashing back to latest stock rom using odin 4.1.2? 4.3 stock rom or 4.3 custom roms?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
spongdangly said:
1. Use Odin to flash the latest stock ROM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you were already on the Stock 4.3 ROM you do not want to flash the 4.0.4, 4.1.1 or 4.1.2 Stock ROM since you will brick your phone.
I'll add a note to the OP about not attempting to downgrade to an older Stock ROM though.

spongdangly said:
If you were already on the Stock 4.3 ROM you do not want to flash the 4.0.4, 4.1.1 or 4.1.2 Stock ROM since you will brick your phone.
I'll add a note to the OP about not attempting to downgrade to an older Stock ROM though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what framware did you flash to get 4.3 back working ? a leaked 4.3 Rom with no root ? thien reflash the stock 4.3 ?

Kastro1784 said:
what framware did you flash to get 4.3 back working ? a leaked 4.3 Rom with no root ? thien reflash the stock 4.3 ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I had done this back in August, I flashed the Rogers 4.1.2 Stock ROM since that was the latest stock firmware at the time and I have a Canadian S3.
If you had already flashed or been on the Stock AT&T 4.3 ROM, I'd recommend reflashing the latest Stock AT&T 4.3 ROM and following the instructions in the OP. Just make sure that you don't attempt to flash an older version of the Stock ROM that you were already on since you will brick your phone. The Stock ROM contains the bootloader and that cannot be downgraded. I don't have an American S3 since I'm Canadian so I don't know which 4.3 bootloader is the newest although I'm sure a quick search would answer that for you.

spongdangly said:
When I had done this back in August, I flashed the Rogers 4.1.2 Stock ROM since that was the latest stock firmware at the time and I have a Canadian S3.
If you had already flashed or been on the Stock AT&T 4.3 ROM, I'd recommend reflashing the latest Stock AT&T 4.3 ROM and following the instructions in the OP. Just make sure that you don't attempt to flash an older version of the Stock ROM that you were already on since you will brick your phone. The Stock ROM contains the bootloader and that cannot be downgraded. I don't have an American S3 since I'm Canadian so I don't know which 4.3 bootloader is the newest although I'm sure a quick search would answer that for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no latest Stock AT&T 4.3 ROM right now to reflash if you're already on the Stock AT&T 4.3 ROM. We cannot keep telling people this. If so, tell us how, because no one has, as of yet.
I've seen entirely too many posts telling people who are having trouble or phone is soft bricked on the Stock AT&T 4.3 ROM to flash or Odin back to stock. Then when asked how, the discussion ends.
That's also one of the reasons why I refuse to upgrade to 4.3 right now. At least I can still Odin back to stock as an option if something does goes wrong, but who am I to tell anyone to stay away from the latest toy, I mean update?

shortydoggg said:
There is no latest Stock AT&T 4.3 ROM right now to reflash if you're already on the Stock AT&T 4.3 ROM. We cannot keep telling people this. If so, tell us how, because no one has, as of yet.
I've seen entirely too many posts telling people who are having trouble or phone is soft bricked on the Stock AT&T 4.3 ROM to flash or Odin back to stock. Then when asked how, the discussion ends.
That's also one of the reasons why I refuse to upgrade to 4.3 right now. At least I can still Odin back to stock as an option if something does goes wrong, but who am I to tell anyone to stay away from the latest toy, I mean update?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sorry that I'm unable to help. As I had mentioned I have a Canadian Rogers phone (since I'm in Canada) so I don't know what's going on with the AT&T Stock 4.3 ROMs other then the fact that lots of people are having problems.
If you never flashed or did an OTA update to 4.3 then I'd suggest flashing the Stock 4.1.2 ROM. That or try what Ozark_8125 did since it saves you a couple steps (just make sure that LK3 isn't an older ROM than the one you were on).
If you're unsure what bootloader is currently on your phone and your phone is rooted I'd highly recommend downloading one of the many Root Check apps from the Play Store to verify which bootloader you're currently on.
*Note* I don't know which bootloader is for the 4.1.2 AT&T ROM nor do I know which bootloader came with the 4.3 ROMs. I'm sure a simple search would answer that for you.
Ozark_8125 said:
I posted in the CM thread about this, but thought I would pass it along.. I didn't have to go back to stock non-rooted. What I did:
I odin'd Mr. Robinson's LK3 rooted
Factory reset from the 3e recovery
Rebooted
Odin'd twrp
Restored nandroid of CM
Good to go.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Samsung fixed my phone free thanks for the help
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

[Q] Sprint GS3 - Unroot to stock 4.3?

So a couple of days ago I got a GS3 running the OTA stock 4.3. I wasn't sure if I wanted to use it because I find Touch Wiz kind of clunky. So I decided I would try out Cyanogenmod. I installed it via their new handy installer (as the sprint GS3 is one of the compatible devices). All went well and I got Cyanogenmod 10.2 running smoothly. Now I want to activate the device, but apparently you can't activate a rooted device on sprint. So now i need to get it back to stock 4.3 and I can only seem to find solutions to his problem for devices that have not gotten the 4.3 OTA update and are still running 4.1.2. On the Cyanogenmod installer guide says:
You may perform a full backup from recovery, after flashing recovery (you will have to do this manually, at the moment) and then copy it off the device, if you don't have an external sdcard. If you've already run the installer, you will have to find stock images and flash them using fastboot or Odin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My problem Is I can't locate any stock 4.3 images with which to try this. If I can get my hands on a stock 4.3 image, would the process be just going into the bootloader and using Odin to flash the 4.3 image?
Can anyone help me out?

You only need to be on a stock tw rom, even if you are rooted it should activate. There are a couple in the development section.

metalfan78 said:
You only need to be on a stock tw rom, even if you are rooted it should activate. There are a couple in the development section.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see, do you know of any any good 4.3 based tw roms? All the ones I'm finding are based on 4.1. Also, do I need to do anything special to flash from Cyanogenmod 10.2 to a touchwiz rom (as Cyanogenmod is AOSP)? I already have ClockworkMod recovery installed.

Nothing special, flash like anything else
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2541900
[STOCK ROM] Stock 4.3 MK3 ROM [ROOTED/UNROOTED]