Develop Bugs

[SOLVED] Can't Access Download Mode... :(

I'm trying to access the Download Mode for my Epic 4g but can't seem to do so. I've flashed my phone back to stock several times in the past so I know I'm following the correct procedure.
The problem started after flashing my phone to Eclair DI18 using Odin and using the one click root & recovery 2.55. I was constantly receiving 2.2 OTA update notices so I clicked install thinking that I could restore back to stock if something went wrong. I received an error message during the update but the phone was able to start into Eclair so I didn't think anything of it.
Well, I tried flashing my phone back to stock today for the purpose of updating the phone, but I couldn't get download mode to start. Thinking that I could restore the download mode using one of my old back up files from CW3, I tried the restore option but it was a no go.
Is there any way to restore my phone without using Odin? I'm still able to boot into recovery mode. If that's not possible, is there anyway to remove clockworkmod recovery so I can bring the phone into a Sprint store?
Thank you in advance!

jpark623 said:
I'm trying to access the Download Mode for my Epic 4g but can't seem to do so. I've flashed my phone back to stock several times in the past so I know I'm following the correct procedure.
The problem started after flashing my phone to Eclair DK28 using Odin and using the one click root & recovery 2.55. I was constantly receiving 2.2 OTA update notices so I clicked install thinking that I could restore back to stock if something went wrong. I received an error message during the update but the phone was able to start into Eclair so I didn't think anything of it.
Well, I tried flashing my phone back to stock today for the purpose of updating the phone, but I couldn't get download mode to start. Thinking that I could restore the download mode using one of my old back up files from CW3, I tried the restore option but it was a no go.
Is there any way to restore my phone without using Odin? I'm still able to boot into recovery mode. If that's not possible, is there anyway to remove clockworkmod recovery so I can bring the phone into a Sprint store?
Thank you in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Download mode is built into the phone. ROMs shouldn't kill it. Pull out the battery, plug the phone into the computer. Now hold the 1 key and then press and hold the power button. If it goes into download mode then you can put the battery back in.

Just tried it but I get stuck in a boot loop. It boots into samsung screen, reboots, samsung screen, reboots...
With the battery in and usb out, i'm able to boot into CW recovery...

If you are holding the 1 button first then holding power you shouldnt go to the Samsung boot screen.
If you are I dont know of any other way to get into download mode. Sorry.

Neckberg said:
If you are holding the 1 button first then holding power you shouldnt go to the Samsung boot screen.
If you are I dont know of any other way to get into download mode. Sorry.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Darn... that sucks... Thanks for the reply guys.

Try flashing a rom it might get you out of the boot loop
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App

I found this old thread, which looks promising, but the link to the stock DI18 file is dead...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=861259
Trying to search for the file on google but no luck so far.

Maybe your 1 key is broken.
Do you BONSAI?

if the 1 and power= no download mode then maybe keeny is right and ur 1 key is broken, maybe use the samsung update tool with eb13 in it?
Does that make it go in download mode automatically?

Look in the dev section for the re-rfs rom and install that.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

Or lookup the usb jig that will put you in download mode...
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

kennyglass123 said:
Maybe your 1 key is broken.
Do you BONSAI?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tested key in CWM and it works fine.

davidrules7778 said:
if the 1 and power= no download mode then maybe keeny is right and ur 1 key is broken, maybe use the samsung update tool with eb13 in it?
Does that make it go in download mode automatically?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried it but it did not. I had to manually activate download mode.

deano0714 said:
Look in the dev section for the re-rfs rom and install that.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the first rom that actually flashed! Once the rom is flashed, I reboot the phone and it goes back into CWM recovery... Gawwwd, this is so frustrating!

R u flashing right type of rom
Rfs roms go with green recovery
Ext4 roms go with orange recovery
Blue recovery means your screwed
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App

gtuansdiamm said:
R u flashing right type of rom
Rfs roms go with green recovery
Ext4 roms go with orange recovery
Blue recovery means your screwed
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya, I think so. From what I can tell, re-rfs should have worked on either green or orange recovery.

deano0714 said:
Look in the dev section for the re-rfs rom and install that.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I took out the battery for awhile, plugged in my usb, and tried accessing download mode and it WORKED! Awesome! Thanks, man! re-rfs was the way to go

SOLVED! Thanks everyone for all of your replies

I am also having similar problem.
On pressing power on botton or Volume Down+Cam+ power button.. NOTHING HAPPENS.
However I can boot into Download Mode (on battery only).
1) Computer do not recognize USB Drive. (tried uninstalling drivers > rebooting > reinstalling > rebotting ) still USB device not recognized. Even tried with different USB cable. And different ports.
2) However I managed it on my other computer. Where only 1 out of 4 USB port recognize my device.
3) Tried Odin to flash EC05 Stock... It hangs at some place or the other, and screen goes off or some times green (very rare).
4) Phone do not restart in Download mode without battery.
I tried to boot download mode without battery (plugged into computer).. but it wont.
Battery+USB = phone wont boot in download mode.
Phone boots to download mode only on Battery.
After that If i plug in the phone and remove the battery.. screen still stays on.

Odin flashable stock ROM?

After playing around wth ROMs I've got bootloop (although should not - just factory reset and cache/dalvik wipe).
Now I need odin flashable stock (preferably) ROM. I tried to find it here and no luck.
Can some1 help me? Canadian or AT&T version should work

POWER OFF PHONE....... Once it’s turned off, press volume up + power button + home button simultaneously and keep them pressed until you see the recovery mode...
Now clear cache, and dalvik cache....then do a factory reset within this menu. Once done reboot....This helps when bootloops occur...try this before using odin..its worked for me and many others...

wish777 said:
POWER OFF PHONE....... Once it’s turned off, press volume up + power button + home button simultaneously and keep them pressed until you see the recovery mode...
Now clear cache, and dalvik cache....then do a factory reset within this menu. Once done reboot....This helps when bootloops occur...try this before using odin..its worked for me and many others...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda premium

Go to download mode and try restarting phone from download / odin mode first and if phone doesnt restart then you follow instructions above. Had bootloop once and stuck at samsung logo and all I did was go to download mode and restart phone from there.
Sent from my SGH-I317M using xda premium

wish777 said:
POWER OFF PHONE....... Once it’s turned off, press volume up + power button + home button simultaneously and keep them pressed until you see the recovery mode...
Now clear cache, and dalvik cache....then do a factory reset within this menu. Once done reboot....This helps when bootloops occur...try this before using odin..its worked for me and many others...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Buddy, I know what bootloop is and how to get rid of it I tried this yesterday night couple of times - it doesn't work.
Now, I cannot mount internal sdcard as USB device. in advanced I'm choosing this option, but nothing happens. I do not have (yet) external microsdxc card (ordered a day before).
So, the only way for me to fix that is to find odin flashable ROM. Have some1 saw it somewhere?

jon3sh said:
Go to download mode and try restarting phone from download / odin mode first and if phone doesnt restart then you follow instructions above. Had bootloop once and stuck at samsung logo and all I did was go to download mode and restart phone from there.
Sent from my SGH-I317M using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does not work either...

sammobile has the stock firmware for at&t note 2
starche_old said:
After playing around wth ROMs I've got bootloop (although should not - just factory reset and cache/dalvik wipe).
Now I need odin flashable stock (preferably) ROM. I tried to find it here and no luck.
Can some1 help me? Canadian or AT&T version should work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.sammobile.com/firmware/
Ive used this a bunch of times.. hope it helps you..

starche_old said:
Does not work either...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well you dont have choice if you cant flash anything since you cant get to recovery mode pick your rom here and flash via odin. They are all root injected rom already just make sure you use rom that matches your network.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2004650
Sent from my SGH-I317M using xda premium

steeldragonnyc said:
http://www.sammobile.com/firmware/
Ive used this a bunch of times.. hope it helps you..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks a lot, that's what I need. How come I forgot about that? The only reason I can think I was so pissed off Yday night on myself
jon3sh said:
Well you dont have choice if you cant flash anything since you cant get to recovery mode pick your rom here and flash via odin. They are all root injected rom already just make sure you use rom that matches your network.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2004650
Sent from my SGH-I317M using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot, this exactly what I need, it even rooted thanks a lot
The thing is - I CAN get to CWM, but due to lack of space (well, to be completely honest with ya - my stupidy) I deleted good CWM flashable ROM (Jedi 3.2) which was working for me to give a space for the new one (Jedi 3.3). I broke my personal rule #1 - all the times have a chance to reflash back thus to have a copy of good working ROM on sdcard. Now I'm stuck:
- in CWM I can flash smth, but there's no good ROM on sdcard
- I tried to to hook up the phone as USB storage. It was working for me on my previous Captivate w/o any hiccups and I was thinkng it will do the job on Note2. As I can see - not really: I'm selecting "USB Storage", but nothing happends. I tried linux and windows PCs, different cables and ports (front and back ones), I installed Samsung drivers on windows machines - nothing. That mean I cannot put anything on sdcard.
- the most funny thing - an hour before that I bought Sandisk 64GB microsdxc card on ebay to be able to keep ROMs on my phone. But for now I don't have one to put firmware on it to be able to flash it.
- I checked download mode - I can get there as well. Looks the only way for me to alive my phone.
Again, thanks a lot, guys, really appreciate your help I'll download this tonight and will flash. I'll keep you posted with results.
BTW, I think it's a good idea for some1 like me stuck in bootloop to be able to get these ROMs from "[REF] Your one-stop shop for the Note II (Kernels, Roms, Guides, Modems, Etc.)" topic. I think I have to PM moderators to ask them to do so.

jon3sh said:
Well you dont have choice if you cant flash anything since you cant get to recovery mode pick your rom here and flash via odin. They are all root injected rom already just make sure you use rom that matches your network.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2004650
Sent from my SGH-I317M using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks again Flashed that stock and now I'm on custom ROM.

[Q] Black Screen - Won't Boot

Was using the Galaxy S3 toolkit to update cwm, went to flash an AOSP rom intended for d2att models, went to reboot the device... It flashes the samsung logo briefly then sits at a black screen with a solid amber LED. ODIN does not see it, my PC sees the device but I can't flash anything at all. Can't get to download mode either holding the power and any combination of the volume keys does nothing. Someone please help point me in the right direction to fix this. Thanks in advance.

If or PC sees it u could check and see if ADB sees it and maybe wipe and flash from there
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium

Download mode is Vol down + home + power. Can you get into recovery?

Thanks. I can only get into download mode at the moment. I'm downloading the stock firmware now and going to try flashing it in ODIN. Hopefully I'll get something to work here.

SirFork said:
Thanks. I can only get into download mode at the moment. I'm downloading the stock firmware now and going to try flashing it in ODIN. Hopefully I'll get something to work here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds good. Keep us posted.
Update cwm in rom manager next time

ODIN passed the flash. How long should the first boot take?

SirFork said:
ODIN passed the flash. How long should the first boot take?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it takes longer than 10 or so minutes, pull the battery, replace and booting into stock recovery. Wipe data and cache. Reboot

It take bit longer than normal but it should boot within a minute or two
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium

Pbwizkid said:
It take bit longer than normal but it should boot within a minute or two
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's common to have to pull the battery and wipe data in recovery after flashing stock in odin

Root back to stock help needed

I recently rooted my phone then returned it back to stock due to it locking up constantly.. I went to check for updates and I now see this message (see photo) . I did reset the counter.... After looking at this I am assuming I did not do it correctly.. Will this be a problem later when the new system comes out please help
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

re: return to stock
bgbagz said:
I recently rooted my phone then returned it back to stock due to it locking up constantly.. I went to check for updates and I now see this message (see photo) . I did reset the counter.... After looking at this I am assuming I did not do it correctly.. Will this be a problem later when the new system comes out please help
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not a problem now and it won't be a problem when new firmware comes out either but if you want to flash
your phone back to stock so it will allow the Samsung OTA upgrade in your phone follow these steps carefully.
Here is the step by step guide:
After you have followed these instructions your phone will be in the same condition as it was the day you purchased it.
Download the stock T999 firmware: http://www.hotfile.com/dl/179444770/6dc329c/T999UVDLJA_T999TMBDLJA_TMB.zip.html
After downloading it make a folder on your desktop and unzip the file
using Winzip or 7zip so the .TAR file is in the new folder you just made.
Here is a link for ODIN which is required for flashing the stock rooted firmware (a windows app) http://d-h.st/Q14
Download and extract Odin into the same folder you made containing the TAR file.
Download the firmware of T999 Tmobile odin flash firmware
Run Odin by double clicking the Odin.exe within the same folder as the TAR file you extracted
Turn off your phone and boot into DOWNLOAD MODE (Volume Down + Home + Power Hold until phone powers up, then release and press Volume Up to enter Download Mode)
Once in Download Mode, connect the USB/Charger cable to the phone and plug into the USB port on your computer.
You should now see a COM** port listed toward the top-left of Odin (under ID:COM)
Click on the PDA button in the middle-right area of Odin.
Browse to and select the FW you downloaded (TAR file)
Make sure Auto-Reboot and F. Reset Time are the only options checked and that PDA is the only other thing checked.
TRIPLE CHECK your settings and that you have selected the correct firmware for your model phone and are using the correct options.
If you are using a laptop, make absolutely sure you are plugged in, or if on battery, that it is charged enough and will not go into sleep mode during flash.
Click Start to begin the flash. This will take a while, so be patient!
Once complete, in the top-left box in Odin, it will say PASS and the phone should have automatically rebooted.
You may unplug the phone and close Odin if you wish.
Wait at least 5-10 minutes for the system to boot the first time and then build its cache! (It may seem to hang during boot, this is normal and you must be patient!!!)
Good Luck!

Did you triangle away before going back to stock? That takes away how many times the phone has been modified and makes it normal.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

Triangle away resets the flash counter, it doesn't remove modified status. After you Odin back to stock, you need to do a factory reset (sometimes 2) to change your status back to normal.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

Thanks Guys will purchase the triangle away... This time
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

Towle said:
Triangle away resets the flash counter, it doesn't remove modified status. After you Odin back to stock, you need to do a factory reset (sometimes 2) to change your status back to normal
So I did the all of the above to include purchasing the triangle away this time along with odin and I still can not receive the current update... still saying deice is modified.
Lost!!??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Check this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2136921

Towle said:
Check this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2136921
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks doing it now... appreciate the timely response:good:

THANKS AL BILLION I had only one modified step I downloaded the new updated 4.1.2 and I could NOT use triangle away due my phone running on stock from a previous attempt to un root and reset the counter.... so I just flashed the new updated continued on from there... thanks a Billion

[Q] Note II stuck on boot screen (Not Rooted!)

Hi everyone!
My friend has a Sprint Galaxy Note II that's stuck on the Samsung logo and I have no idea how to fix it. They had been having weird problems with it for a while before this started. For instance, it would start working in "slow motion", It would run out of storage space very quickly, and for a couple of days before this happened my friend was having a hard time getting it to charge (the light wouldn't even come on.). Now, whenever they plug it in, it shows the battery icon but... It's sort of stuck. It has the loading icon on the battery, but it doesn't go around and around like it should. They tried pulling the battery out and then turning it back on, but it just shows the Samsung logo. The logo doesn't do that blue glowing thing either. They have VERY IMPORTANT information on it, so doing a factory reset isn't an option. It is NOT ROOTED. it has never been rooted or modified in any way. I had to confiscate it so they wouldn't break it out of frustration, so it's in my possession now. As I said, WIPING IT ISN'T AN OPTION. Can you please help me fix it?
Thanks in advance!

N074N008 said:
Hi everyone!
My friend has a Sprint Galaxy Note II that's stuck on the Samsung logo and I have no idea how to fix it. They had been having weird problems with it for a while before this started. For instance, it would start working in "slow motion", It would run out of storage space very quickly, and for a couple of days before this happened my friend was having a hard time getting it to charge (the light wouldn't even come on.). Now, whenever they plug it in, it shows the battery icon but... It's sort of stuck. It has the loading icon on the battery, but it doesn't go around and around like it should. They tried pulling the battery out and then turning it back on, but it just shows the Samsung logo. The logo doesn't do that blue glowing thing either. They have VERY IMPORTANT information on it, so doing a factory reset isn't an option. It is NOT ROOTED. it has never been rooted or modified in any way. I had to confiscate it so they wouldn't break it out of frustration, so it's in my possession now. As I said, WIPING IT ISN'T AN OPTION. Can you please help me fix it?
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would suggest trying to get it to boot into download mode. While powered off press and hold vol -, home key, and power. If it goes into download flash a custom recovery (twrp suggested) and use file manager to copy important information to an external sdcard.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Try a different charger/usb cord and if that don't work maybe it's time for a new battery as that one sounds like it might be no good and completely dead.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using XDA Free mobile app

Another question
jlmancuso said:
I would suggest trying to get it to boot into download mode. While powered off press and hold vol -, home key, and power. If it goes into download flash a custom recovery (twrp suggested) and use file manager to copy important information to an external sdcard.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks jlmancuso! I feel like I should know this already, but I won't lose any files in the process of rooting, will I? I've only rooted one phone before and it was my S4. I rooted it straight out of the box, so I didn't have any files on it. It's very important that I don't lose the files on my friend's phone. Do you (or anyone else here) know of a way to get the files off without rooting it? Or a way to get it working again without losing the important files?
Thanks!

N074N008 said:
Thanks jlmancuso! I feel like I should know this already, but I won't lose any files in the process of rooting, will I? I've only rooted one phone before and it was my S4. I rooted it straight out of the box, so I didn't have any files on it. It's very important that I don't lose the files on my friend's phone. Do you (or anyone else here) know of a way to get the files off without rooting it? Or a way to get it working again without losing the important files?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well actually if you follow the steps i gave you then you are not actually rooting only installing a recovery. This will not cause you to lose any info and will aid you later to get the phone running again.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Thanks again jlmancuso! You're awesome!
How do I flash the custom recovery? I always thought I knew a lot but I guess I don't...
If you can continue to help me with this, that would be great!
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Free mobile app

N074N008 said:
Thanks again jlmancuso! You're awesome!
How do I flash the custom recovery? I always thought I knew a lot but I guess I don't...
If you can continue to help me with this, that would be great!
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well here are the basics
Using a windows pc with samsung drivers installed along with odin. Boot phone into download mode and connect to pc. Open odin and uncheck the reboot option. Click the pda button and select the twrp recovery file i linked. Once it flashes (should only take a moment) disconnect the phone and remove battery. No insert and remove battery several times very quickly. This prevents the phone from automatically booting. Now boot into recovery mode and use the built-in file manager to copy important data from internal sdcard to an external card.
Volume down + home button + power button = download mode
Volume up + home button + power button = recovery mode
Make sure you hold all three keys till you see the bootscreen
Twrp link.... http://goo.im/devs/OpenRecovery/t0ltespr/openrecovery-twrp-2.6.3.7-t0ltespr.img.tar
Now have linked you to twrp because it has a built-in file manager but if you want to install aosp 4.4 custom roms or backup/restore stock 4.3 roms then you will want to use philz 6.07.9
Sent from my SPH-L900 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Thanks again! I'll do what you said when I have the time. I'll let you know whether or not it boots into download mode successfully.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Free mobile app

Sorry it took me so long. The phone will boot into both recovery and download mode. We spoke to someone at our local Sprint store who was able to determine that the problem is not being caused by the battery, the charging port, or any other hardware. He told us that we have two options: we can either flash the custom recovery, or he can try to flash it back to the official software, which isn't supposed to wipe it. My friend has been without a phone for a long time, but they aren't sure what to do. They really don't want to lose any data because there are pictures and text messages that are needed for a legal issue. Can you help us figure this out? Thanks again!
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Free mobile app

N074N008 said:
Sorry it took me so long. The phone will boot into both recovery and download mode. We spoke to someone at our local Sprint store who was able to determine that the problem is not being caused by the battery, the charging port, or any other hardware. He told us that we have two options: we can either flash the custom recovery, or he can try to flash it back to the official software, which isn't supposed to wipe it. My friend has been without a phone for a long time, but they aren't sure what to do. They really don't want to lose any data because there are pictures and text messages that are needed for a legal issue. Can you help us figure this out? Thanks again!
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well now you talked with Sprint let me fill you in on something. Sprint techs know very little. If you let them re-flash it then you will lose the data.
As I stated earlier flash twrp recovery and use its file manager to move things from your internal sdcard to an external sdcard.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Thanks again! Do you think there's any way to recover text messages?
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Free mobile app

Yes but it will be a bit more involved. Are the real important? They are stored in a database file.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Yes, they are VERY important. My friend needs them as proof in a legal matter.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Free mobile app

N074N008 said:
Yes, they are VERY important. My friend needs them as proof in a legal matter.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok I will double check the location of the file. Couple of questions first. What os was installed stock? 4.1.2, 4.3, or 4.4.2? Second are there mms messages that you need? Last what os is on your pc? This way I can gather up links to the needed software.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. 1. My PC has Windows 7. 2. There were important MMS messages. 3. We don't know about the version of Android, but we think it might have been 4.4.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Free mobile app

N074N008 said:
Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. 1. My PC has Windows 7. 2. There were important MMS messages. 3. We don't know about the version of Android, but we think it might have been 4.4.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay. I will gather up everything I can and get you a nice guide (well readable anyways) made. Will be a day or two.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Thank you so much! :thumbup:
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Free mobile app

N074N008 said:
Thank you so much! :thumbup:
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay first off here is a list of things you will need.
1. twrp recovery http://goo.im/devs/OpenRecovery/t0ltespr/openrecovery-twrp-2.6.3.7-t0ltespr.img.tar
2. odin 1.85 http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...6_0obQ6fr_QnBsA&bvm=bv.68693194,d.aWw&cad=rja
3. samsung usb drivers http://downloadcenter.samsung.com/c...NG_USB_Driver_for_Mobile_Phones_v1.5.33.0.exe
4. sdcard (anything over 1 GB will be fine) inserted in phone
Now steps to perform
1. On your pc install odin and then samsung drivers
2. Place the twrp-xxxx.tar file into the odin folder
3. Boot phone into download mode -- with power off press and hold vol -, home key, and Power
4. It will boot and ask you to press vol + to continue
5. Open the odin program and uncheck auto reboot
6. Click on the button that says PDA and then select the TWRP file
7. Connect phone to PC
8. Click on start and it will flash the recovery
9. After it says done disconnect phone from pc and remove battery
10. Now with battery out press and hold vol +, home key, and power
11. It should boot into TWRP
12. Go to mounts and mount /data and /system if they are not already mounted
13. Back to main menu and choose Advanced...File Manager
14. Select data ... data ... com.android.providers.telephony ... databases
15. Now copy mmssms.db, mmssms.db-shm, mmssms.db-wal to sdcard (press on the file ... Copy file ... external_sdcard)
16. Once all the files are copied press the (Up A Level) till you are back to the root
17. Select system then build.prop Copy to external_sdcard
Now you have all the important sms/mms files and you can power off your phone. Remove the sdcard and copy (dont move) those files to your PC.
Now you have a couple of choices. You can extract the database files and try and use them in court or you can fix the phone and place the database files back where they came from.
If you plan on putting the files back on the phone (suggested method) then you will need to open the build.prop with a text editor (wordpad is fine). Then look through it for the version you were running. Below is part of a build.prop the two red lines are what you want to know. This will tell me what the original rom was so I can get you a link and instructions on how to flash it.
ro.build.id=KOT49H
ro.build.display.id=Community Rom
ro.build.version.incremental=Beta 2
ro.build.version.sdk=19
ro.build.version.codename=REL
ro.build.version.release=4.4.2
ro.build.date=Thu May 8 00:01:36 KST 2014
ro.build.date.utc=1399474896
ro.build.type=user
ro.build.user=dpi
ro.build.host=SWDD5716
ro.build.tags=release-keys
ro.product.model=SPH-L900
ro.product.brand=samsung
ro.product.name=t0ltespr
ro.product.device=t0ltespr
If you plan on just extracting the files let me know and I will get you links and info on how to do that.
If you have any questions about the steps or problems performing any step just let me know (dont skip any step) and I will help you.

Thank you SO much! :thumbup:
I still have Odin and the Samsung drivers on my computer from last November when I rooted my S4, will those work? By the way, my friend wants me to ask you if there's a way to get a list of her text messages from Sprint. Do you know of a way? Thanks again!
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Free mobile app

N074N008 said:
Thank you SO much! :thumbup:
I still have Odin and the Samsung drivers on my computer from last November when I rooted my S4, will those work? By the way, my friend wants me to ask you if there's a way to get a list of her text messages from Sprint. Do you know of a way? Thanks again!
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Free mobile app
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Click to collapse
The drivers and odin you have should be fine. Now I dont know if sprint can/will have the messages. I know most providers can do a list of calls. I can only suggest that she call Sprint and ask.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app