Develop Bugs

[Q] Is the dead Android normal when booting stock recovery?

I bought two new SG3's yesterday for my sons, and immediately commenced to root one of them via the "Easy Root" method in a how-to here (ODIN recovery, flash root.zip, rooted). I encountered all kinds of issues where no recovery (CWM, TWRP, or even a stock recovery image) would mount anything. I finally read here on XDA where the stock root that comes with the Toolkit works, so I tried that and now I'm back to stock recovery but, of course, an non-rooted phone. I didn't try to do any of this on the second phone after encountering so many issues. I assumed that something may have changed with this latest update and that this root method may not work anymore.
Anyway....
When I boot the phone that I attempted to root to stock recovery, the little Android is dead on his back with an exclamation point in a triangle. Everything seems to work though -- I can wipe cache, browse around the SD card and cache, etc. I assumed it was because of my dinking around with root and that the phone was now cranky because the flash count was at like 5 or 6 by now. However, I then booted the phone that I didn't dink around with to stock recovery and noticed that the Android was dead for it, too! I've done nothing to this second phone that a 75-year-old first-time smartphone user wouldn't do.
So my question: Is this normal? Is this something that happens when you force it into stock recovery or is there something wrong with these two phones, above and beyond the apparent inability to be rooted (at least at the moment)?

internetpilot said:
I bought two new SG3's yesterday for my sons, and immediately commenced to root one of them via the "Easy Root" method in a how-to here (ODIN recovery, flash root.zip, rooted). I encountered all kinds of issues where no recovery (CWM, TWRP, or even a stock recovery image) would mount anything. I finally read here on XDA where the stock root that comes with the Toolkit works, so I tried that and now I'm back to stock recovery but, of course, an non-rooted phone. I didn't try to do any of this on the second phone after encountering so many issues. I assumed that something may have changed with this latest update and that this root method may not work anymore.
Anyway....
When I boot the phone that I attempted to root to stock recovery, the little Android is dead on his back with an exclamation point in a triangle. Everything seems to work though -- I can wipe cache, browse around the SD card and cache, etc. I assumed it was because of my dinking around with root and that the phone was now cranky because the flash count was at like 5 or 6 by now. However, I then booted the phone that I didn't dink around with to stock recovery and noticed that the Android was dead for it, too! I've done nothing to this second phone that a 75-year-old first-time smartphone user wouldn't do.
So my question: Is this normal? Is this something that happens when you force it into stock recovery or is there something wrong with these two phones, above and beyond the apparent inability to be rooted (at least at the moment)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's been a long time since I've dealt with custom recoveries, but I believe that's just the normal background for it. It's like you're tinkering with the inner working of an Android (wiping cache, etc), so you've opened up the green robot.
That's what I recall from when I still had stock about 9 months ago...

If it shows up like that, that means you have the stock recovery...use GooManager or Rom Manager to install a custom recovery while booted up.
Sent from my buttered S3

Hmmm...any other time I've been in a stock recovery, I remember the Android being standing with that spinning wireframe in front of him. that's what displays when I successfully wipe the cache. Maybe I'm just remembering wrong and I'm being paranoid since I'm still deep in issues with being able to install a working custom recovery.
Hey, I'd love to install a custom recovery via GooManager or ROM Manager, but none of the custom recoveries are working on my SG3's. Nothing will mount so I'm stuck with stock recovery until someone more knowledgeable than me figures outwhat Sprint and/or Samsung did with the latest SG3's.

internetpilot said:
Hmmm...any other time I've been in a stock recovery, I remember the Android being standing with that spinning wireframe in front of him. that's what displays when I successfully wipe the cache. Maybe I'm just remembering wrong and I'm being paranoid since I'm still deep in issues with being able to install a working custom recovery.
Hey, I'd love to install a custom recovery via GooManager or ROM Manager, but none of the custom recoveries are working on my SG3's. Nothing will mount so I'm stuck with stock recovery until someone more knowledgeable than me figures outwhat Sprint and/or Samsung did with the latest SG3's.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know why you're having these problems but the newest update (md4) roots exactly like any other software on the s3... I and many have done it plenty of times, it roots exactly the same way... Not sure why your recovery won't mount anything but somebody else also had this problem just today... You could always try to Odin in an earlier build (lj7 maybe) and try to root from there
“It is said that power corrupts, but actually it's more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power."” ― David Brin

flastnoles11 said:
I don't know why you're having these problems but the newest update (md4) roots exactly like any other software on the s3... I and many have done it plenty of times, it roots exactly the same way... Not sure why your recovery won't mount anything but somebody else also had this problem just today... You could always try to Odin in an earlier build (lj7 maybe) and try to root from there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think something changed on the newest batch of S3's. I'm sure the OTA S3's are still rootable with this method but for some reason the brand new ones aren't. I've found at least a dozen other people complaining about the same thing only with brand new S3's.
Unfortunately I had a limited window of time to root these two phones and get them set up before going on vacation, so the phones are in use now and there's no way to backup and restore the existing configuration, data, etc.without like a day of downtime and basically starting over. And even then it's not a sure thing that reverting to an older stock ROM will work. I'll just wait for someone to figure it out and then root the phones later.
But there's definitely something new going on here. Its happening to too many people now. At least my sanity is confirmed!

internetpilot said:
I think something changed on the newest batch of S3's. I'm sure the OTA S3's are still rootable with this method but for some reason the brand new ones aren't. I've found at least a dozen other people complaining about the same thing only with brand new S3's.
Unfortunately I had a limited window of time to root these two phones and get them set up before going on vacation, so the phones are in use now and there's no way to backup and restore the existing configuration, data, etc.without like a day of downtime and basically starting over. And even then it's not a sure thing that reverting to an older stock ROM will work. I'll just wait for someone to figure it out and then root the phones later.
But there's definitely something new going on here. Its happening to too many people now. At least my sanity is confirmed!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you decide to root again here is a prerooted Odin build for mc3, after successfully flashing via Odin you will be rooted and can flash up to md4 from there... There is a prerooted that wipes everything and one that wipes and restores, make sure you read carefully and flash the one you need http://www.sxtpdevelopers.com/showthread.php?t=207
“It is said that power corrupts, but actually it's more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power."” ― David Brin

flastnoles11 said:
When you decide to root again here is a prerooted Odin build for mc3, after successfully flashing via Odin you will be rooted and can flash up to md4 from there... There is a prerooted that wipes everything and one that wipes and restores, make sure you read carefully and flash the one you need http://www.sxtpdevelopers.com/showthread.php?t=207
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this. I'm not going to attempt root again until I can get a working custom recovery going.

internetpilot said:
Thanks for this. I'm not going to attempt root again until I can get a working custom recovery going.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That build will do it all.. It is prerooted, includes the custom recovery... Just like flashing a custom rom with recovery except you do it with Odin

flastnoles11 said:
That build will do it all.. It is prerooted, includes the custom recovery... Just like flashing a custom rom with recovery except you do it with Odin
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm...but I wonder if that will end up with a working recovery or if I'll be in the same boat I am now, but with an older stock ROM?
I'm just really hesitant to try anything until someone figures out what Sprint/Samsung did with this latest batch of S3's. It's probably something relatively simple to overcome, but I'm not mobile tech enough to even guess what that is. I can't really end up with sons' new phones bricked (even soft bricked).

internetpilot said:
Hmmm...but I wonder if that will end up with a working recovery or if I'll be in the same boat I am now, but with an older stock ROM?
I'm just really hesitant to try anything until someone figures out what Sprint/Samsung did with this latest batch of S3's. It's probably something relatively simple to overcome, but I'm not mobile tech enough to even guess what that is. I can't really end up with sons' new phones bricked (even soft bricked).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may be waiting a long time then since most devs either already have the phone or have already moved to other phones... Unless a Dev happens to pick one up with the same problems you're probably S.o.l... And I'm 95%sure they didn't change anything, some phones just have issues on certain builds, there have been plenty of people the last month and even the last week reporting successfully rooting with the same method you used...
You really have nothing to lose, if it doesnt work you can just Odin full stock and be in the exact same place you are now

flastnoles11 said:
You may be waiting a long time then since most devs either already have the phone or have already moved to other phones... Unless a Dev happens to pick one up with the same problems you're probably S.o.l... And I'm 95%sure they didn't change anything, some phones just have issues on certain builds, there have been plenty of people the last month and even the last week reporting successfully rooting with the same method you used...
You really have nothing to lose, if it doesnt work you can just Odin full stock and be in the exact same place you are now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True. I always forget the Odin option for when recovery fails. But I'd be without the data and current configuration (basically starting from scratch).
In the last two days I've seen posts from over a dozen people now who are encountering this issue with brand new Sprint S3's. I'm kinda hoping more and more people encounter this problem increasing the chances of it being resolved... Haha

It doesn't matter once your rooted and booted all you do us download either rom Manager or goo manager and install the custom recovery of your choice from the running phone. Doesn't get any easier.
Sent from the future via Tapatalk 4

Until the custom recovery can't mount anything, which is the problem I'm having now. I've tried numerous versions of CWM and TWRP and none of them can mount anything on these phones so they're useless. I'm not sure how reverting back to an older stock ROM will change that...?

internetpilot said:
Until the custom recovery can't mount anything, which is the problem I'm having now. I've tried numerous versions of CWM and TWRP and none of them can mount anything on these phones so they're useless. I'm not sure how reverting back to an older stock ROM will change that...?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because you yourself feel the bootloader is the issue. If you Odin the stock tar of a previous version then that loads a previous bootloader. Pretty simple huh? I rooted 2 S3 last week brand new and did not have a single issue both where on the latest md4 right out of the box. I don't understand how you and that other person both ran into the same issue on the same day. It's really weird and like everyone else said and I just experienced just a week ago thousands of people have rooted on the latest version on brand new devices. Unless you guys are getting refurbs which by accident the bootloader has been locked.
Sent from the future via Tapatalk 4

edfunkycold said:
Because you yourself feel the bootloader is the issue. If you Odin the stock tar of a previous version then that loads a previous bootloader. Pretty simple huh? I rooted 2 S3 last week brand new and did not have a single issue both where on the latest md4 right out of the box. I don't understand how you and that other person both ran into the same issue on the same day. It's really weird and like everyone else said and I just experienced just a week ago thousands of people have rooted on the latest version on brand new devices. Unless you guys are getting refurbs which by accident the bootloader has been locked.
Sent from the future via Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flashing back to an older stock rom doesn't work either. I flashed to a 4.1.1 stock rom and followed the method for CF-Root and The Easiest Way to Root and neither of them allowed a custom recovery to mount anything.

deutscher3891 said:
Flashing back to an older stock rom doesn't work either. I flashed to a 4.1.1 stock rom and followed the method for CF-Root and The Easiest Way to Root and neither of them allowed a custom recovery to mount anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for trying that as I couldn't because I'm on vacation with the two phones in use. Well that sucks that it didn't work. I'm a retired career network engineer, so I'm not a non-tech, but I'm also not the most tech person with regard to mobile phones. Even so, I can't figure this one out so it's probably not something obvious. Also, on XDA and other forums I'm up to about 18 different people who have now encountered this on very new Sprint S3's.

internetpilot said:
Thank you for trying that as I couldn't because I'm on vacation with the two phones in use. Well that sucks that it didn't work. I'm a retired career network engineer, so I'm not a non-tech, but I'm also not the most tech person with regard to mobile phones. Even so, I can't figure this one out so it's probably not something obvious. Also, on XDA and other forums I'm up to about 18 different people who have now encountered this on very new Sprint S3's.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you purchase your phones from Sprint directly? I purchased mine through Wirefly. Thinking I may send it back for exchange and pray like heck I get one that works. I am definitely a Vanilla Android person. Touchwiz is not my cup o tea.
Enjoy your vacation, as much as you can. Us tech nerds can never get it off the mind when something isn't working. Lol
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

I purchased two s3 phones from Amazon about a month ago and haven't had any issues. Both are rooted too. The root process is pretty simple. Have you tried the unified toolkit also? Another easy method.

deutscher3891 said:
Did you purchase your phones from Sprint directly? I purchased mine through Wirefly. Thinking I may send it back for exchange and pray like heck I get one that works. I am definitely a Vanilla Android person. Touchwiz is not my cup o tea.
Enjoy your vacation, as much as you can. Us tech nerds can never get it off the mind when something isn't working. Lol
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Both directly from Sprint.
lvpre said:
I purchased two s3 phones from Amazon about a month ago and haven't had any issues. Both are rooted too. The root process is pretty simple. Have you tried the unified toolkit also? Another easy method.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem isn't really root. Depending on the method, we can get root. It's the custom recovery that's the problem -- it can't mount anything so you can't flash anything, backup, wipe, etc via recovery.

[Q] Help Please, Think i screwed my system up.

I was on Tweaked 1.0 and was loving every minute of it. Until i heard that we had just got new kit kat roms. So i made a back up and proceeded to install the new Liquid. Coming from Note 2, It felt like I was in AOSP heaven again. But needless to say i shouldn't have been so excited for a alpha build just yet. A couple of things i needed weren't working just yet so i went back into twrp and wiped everything. Once i had restored my tweaked backup i booted up and it started constantly boot looping. So this is what i did. I wiped everything again (including system) and just flashed the tweaked rom. It kept loading up over and over to a screen that said "Process System is not responding, Close it?" So i wiped again and re-flashed the Liquid and i got nothing. Lastly i grabbed the Stock MI7 md5 and flashed it with odin three times. It finishes every time, but still the same system error when booting up. Can anyone please help me fix my phone. All help is much appreciated.

Man I'm telling you the smarter the phones are becoming the more problems it gives us. I used to be a flashaholic back on the note 2 now with the note 3 I had a brickloop out of nowhere. I'm freaked as to flash things unto my rom for real
Sent from my SM-N900T using xda app-developers app

Precisely
Exactly what i mean. With my Note 2 i flashed very frequently, but almost never had problems like these. I'm also glad to hear i'm not the only one whose had those random brickloops. It doesn't seem to matter what rom it is. Everything goes fine for a good while then out of nowhere, constant rebooting. I think if I can fix my phone this time i'm gonna just go stock rooted

treytreytaylor said:
Exactly what i mean. With my Note 2 i flashed very frequently, but almost never had problems like these. I'm also glad to hear i'm not the only one whose had those random brickloops. It doesn't seem to matter what rom it is. Everything goes fine for a good while then out of nowhere, constant rebooting. I think if I can fix my phone this time i'm gonna just go stock rooted [/QUOT
If you read through the forum for the note 3 this is a common problem after a restore of the efs partition on older twrp editions. flash this to fix
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Ill flash roms and mods to my hearts content.. One thing you won't catch me doing its restoring a backup. Hell I won't even make a ⊼ nandroid .. Lol
sent from my ??????? note 3?

treytreytaylor said:
I was on Tweaked 1.0 and was loving every minute of it. Until i heard that we had just got new kit kat roms. So i made a back up and proceeded to install the new Liquid. Coming from Note 2, It felt like I was in AOSP heaven again. But needless to say i shouldn't have been so excited for a alpha build just yet. A couple of things i needed weren't working just yet so i went back into twrp and wiped everything. Once i had restored my tweaked backup i booted up and it started constantly boot looping. So this is what i did. I wiped everything again (including system) and just flashed the tweaked rom. It kept loading up over and over to a screen that said "Process System is not responding, Close it?" So i wiped again and re-flashed the Liquid and i got nothing. Lastly i grabbed the Stock MI7 md5 and flashed it with odin three times. It finishes every time, but still the same system error when booting up. Can anyone please help me fix my phone. All help is much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't restore jack. No recovery is right as of yet for this. Phones are very temper mental
NOTE 3

BACARDILIMON said:
Don't restore jack. No recovery is right as of yet for this. Phones are very temper mental
NOTE 3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
second to last release of twrp (2.6.3.7) says it fixed the efs back-up does this not address the back up issue?

slamindamalibu said:
second to last release of twrp (2.6.3.7) says it fixed the efs back-up does this not address the back up issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know they said that bit it did for a few. Just don't trust me been thru it
NOTE 3

Lesson learned. No more backing up with twrp. I was fine with good ol' Titanium Backup. But anyways, found a fix for this. Took a couple minutes.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2471421

treytreytaylor said:
Lesson learned. No more backing up with twrp. I was fine with good ol' Titanium Backup. But anyways, found a fix for this. Took a couple minutes.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2471421
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That fix works but has also failed me. Just try and not use backups
NOTE 3

treytreytaylor said:
Lesson learned. No more backing up with twrp. I was fine with good ol' Titanium Backup. But anyways, found a fix for this. Took a couple minutes.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2471421
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the file i attached is just a script that does exactly this flashed through recovery.

What about CWM?
Sent from my SM-N900T using xda app-developers app

BACARDILIMON said:
Don't restore jack. No recovery is right as of yet for this. Phones are very temper mental
NOTE 3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have restored multiple multiple backups already on twrp latest and more recently with cwm.. So they are pretty solid guys.. I do have the brickloop fix on SD though.. Thanks to twrp,, and Just in case I need it again.
Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

jdidtht said:
I have restored multiple multiple backups already on twrp latest and more recently with cwm.. So they are pretty solid guys.. I do have the brickloop fix on SD though.. Thanks to twrp,, and Just in case I need it again.
Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have used both and they both are the same. But do a restore and if ur phone likes it ur ok if not then u get boot loop or brick. As long as he knows it it is his gamble to make
NOTE 3

i was using jedi rom then i tried to flash darthstalker romnow i'm stuck in a boot loop and when it does finally boot it says process system isn't responding, if i choose wait i get the drop down menu with toggles and that's it rest of the screen is black if i hold power button i get power off or reboot option only. if i choose close it goes into a boot loop. haven't got anything that's been able to fix it yet. help pls

Yea this happened to me a couple of days ago. Im done restoring from backups now.
Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

Recovery advise wanted

For the last few days I have been googling/reading/ following threads and reading old posts. I'm having trouble deciding which version of TWRP is the most stable for N900T and allows full back up/restore with the least likely hood of bootloop. Maybe I missed something but I've tried to do my homework before asking. TIA...

drag&fly said:
For the last few days I have been googling/reading/ following threads and reading old posts. I'm having trouble deciding which version of TWRP is the most stable for N900T and allows full back up/restore with the least likely hood of bootloop. Maybe I missed something but I've tried to do my homework before asking. TIA...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The latest version works just fine. Use that.

drag&fly said:
For the last few days I have been googling/reading/ following threads and reading old posts. I'm having trouble deciding which version of TWRP is the most stable for N900T and allows full back up/restore with the least likely hood of bootloop. Maybe I missed something but I've tried to do my homework before asking. TIA...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use Philz cwm. No one has had an issue. Twrp is not worth the headaches you will get.
TWEAKED 2.0 NOTE 3

BACARDILIMON said:
Use Philz cwm. No one has had an issue. Twrp is not worth the headaches you will get.
TWEAKED 2.0 NOTE 3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had less issues with TWRP than CWM..

cun7 said:
I've had less issues with TWRP than CWM..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct less but with Philz I have not seen anyone have any issue and it is fully customized
TWEAKED 2.0 NOTE 3

BACARDILIMON said:
Correct less but with Philz I have not seen anyone have any issue and it is fully customized
TWEAKED 2.0 NOTE 3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had plenty of issues with that recovery, Reverting itself to previous versions, not saving my settings, double touches when selecting things. The UI is boring and archaic IMO. TWRP is fully customizable and since the GUI is 100% .xml I can modify it entirely simply by dropping a file on my sd card....
I use what I use, to each his own. But I wouldn't make such bogus claims about somebody else's work simply because you have a bias for whatever reason I don't know.

cun7 said:
I've had plenty of issues with that recovery, Reverting itself to previous versions, not saving my settings, double touches when selecting things. The UI is boring and archaic IMO. TWRP is fully customizable and since the GUI is 100% .xml I can modify it entirely simply by dropping a file on my sd card....
I use what I use, to each his own. But I wouldn't make such bogus claims about somebody else's work simply because you have a bias for whatever reason I don't know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you read the threads.
For the op. Check around to all 3 recovery forums and you decide for your self
TWEAKED 2.0 NOTE 3

BACARDILIMON said:
Have you read the threads. Majority are having issues with twrp cause it is junk. The devs don't help much even when log cats are sent. But you do you and I do me
For the op. Check around to all 3 recovery forums and you decide for your self
TWEAKED 2.0 NOTE 3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We all have our favorite recovery, then we have the one that works... Sometimes they are the same and sometimes they are not... But calling someones hard work Junk, when Its clearly not, is not following the spirit of XDA... Your making this way too personal...

cerj said:
We all have our favorite recovery, then we have the one that works... Sometimes they are the same and sometimes they are not... But calling someones hard work Junk, when Its clearly not, is not following the spirit of XDA... Your making this way too personal...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are right. It was personal because I know we all take risk when messing with our devices. I lost all my info. I was/am mad. Like I said to the op do your homework.
TWEAKED 2.0 NOTE 3
---------- Post added at 09:49 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:48 AM ----------
BACARDILIMON said:
For the op. Check around to all 3 recovery forums and you decide for your self
TWEAKED 2.0 NOTE 3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TWEAKED 2.0 NOTE 3

BACARDILIMON said:
Have you read the threads.
For the op. Check around to all 3 recovery forums and you decide for your self
TWEAKED 2.0 NOTE 3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apparently you haven't read the twrp thread too. The developer for note 3 is very helpful, responding and fixing bugs right away. 100% agree with @cun7. Philz CWM is so overwhelmed with all kinds of UI and touch driver settings that you can easily waste a day just to make it feel right. I personally find it too touch sensitive.
And something you probably don't know which I consider very important... it uses secure adbd binary which means no adb root r/w access for /system. Recovery is for doing " low level" stuff on the system you usually can't do when android is running and most of the time you need adb for that. I understand the secure-adbd concept in android but in recovery...? Really...?

nijel8 said:
Apparently you haven't read the twrp thread too. The developer for note 3 is very helpful, responding and fixing bugs right away. 100% agree with @cun7. Philz CWM is so overwhelmed with all kinds of UI and touch driver settings that you can easily waste a day just to make it feel right. I personally find it too touch sensitive.
And something you probably don't know which I consider very important... it uses secure adbd binary which means no adb root r/w access for /system. Recovery is for doing " low level" stuff on the system you usually can't do when android is running and most of the time you need adb for that. I understand the secure-adbd concept in android but in recovery...? Really...?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree but I going with functionality. Meaning it will flash a rom without soft bricking device. I have used twrp for years. Note2 galaxy S3 and others but I became a flashing king trying to recover from a simple rom flash. When asked in thread I would get pm telling me to change recovery. I did and no issue since. I have flashed over 20 roms and it all good. We can all agree that my statement was out of line hence I deleted it. But in same token it holds water for my experience.
TWEAKED 2.0 NOTE 3

I'm on TWRP 2.6.3.8 and have never had an issue with it. Restores everything fine. I've even flashed a ROM and then restored the data partition of a different ROM backup and it was fine. Everything restored as it should have. I also have only ever used TWRP going back to my Bionic days with Safestrap and then my VZW S4 was on TWRP.
I thought the only issue was using TiBu to restore backed up apps caused bootloops.

Eric214 said:
I'm on TWRP 2.6.3.8 and have never had an issue with it. Restores everything fine. I've even flashed a ROM and then restored the data partition of a different ROM backup and it was fine. Everything restored as it should have. I also have only ever used TWRP going back to my Bionic days with Safestrap and then my VZW S4 was on TWRP.
I thought the only issue was using TiBu to restore backed up apps caused bootloops.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used 2.6.3.8 and boot looped. I did ask what I could ha en done wrong and was told I probably used wrong recovery..? So many conflicting stories with TWRP. I used it on my S3 and note 2 and never had a notable problem. Could be the introduction of Knox etc... causing the problems. But I will give Philz a go. Touch sensitivity etc seems a bit trivial. I just want to flash/ recover and not bootloop. I want it to be functional. Thanks for your input, much appreciated.

I went with Philz. .... I like the challenge of learning a new recovery and I like the UI. No problems so far. Made a couple back ups. One stock and one of Wicked and no problems restoring either one. Also backed up my EFS using the aroma installer for CYA purposes. Thanks for all of your input.

Need help wiping EVERYTHING!!!

Okay this is really getting on my nerves and I've never had this much problem from a phone. I've been modding and helping develop for years, but I've never had this issue. So for five days now, I've been playing around with my old DINC that my daughter messed up somehow, and I can't install a ROM and make it work to save my life. I've run countless ROM's on this thing in the past with no issues. The problem now is, no matter what recovery I use or what I wipe, all of the old apps keep showing up on boot and crashes the phone. Meaning while it says "Android is upgrading" it shows every app that has ever been installed on this phone, even though I wipe and format every partition, and I haven't installed a single app. Heck... I can't even get into the system to install an app. The furthest I've gotten on a clean install is to pick a launcher in Carbon, but then it reboots.
Someone please help with a solution if you know one. I would hate to make a mess on the concrete outside with this phone, but I'm almost to that point. Thank you in advance!

ludeawakening said:
Someone please help with a solution if you know one. I would hate to make a mess on the concrete outside with this phone, but I'm almost to that point. Thank you in advance!
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What recovery are you running?
I've been using CWM 5.0.2.0 since 2011 and haven't had an issue, and I still flash things on it. I found an active mediafire link with it from a post on Rootzwiki that is flashable through HBOOT. Just put it on the root/top level of an SD card formatted FAT32 and it will load the recovery image, press volume up to flash it, then you should be on an up to date recovery and you can try wiping from there. I had issues with some of the older ones and TWRPs earlier versions.
I'd also recommend CyanogenMod 7.2 stable, but that's just what I've ran the last few years. Never had an issue with it and it is stable as can be. Always a good start. In fact, it's more stable than stock on my phone, plus I over clock a bit.
It's a good device to have around when you have to send in your current device for exchange or damage it etc. I used it full time not long ago while exchanging my M8.

BrettApple said:
What recovery are you running?
I've been using CWM 5.0.2.0 since 2011 and haven't had an issue, and I still flash things on it. I found an active mediafire link with it from a post on Rootzwiki that is flashable through HBOOT. Just put it on the root/top level of an SD card formatted FAT32 and it will load the recovery image, press volume up to flash it, then you should be on an up to date recovery and you can try wiping from there. I had issues with some of the older ones and TWRPs earlier versions.
I'd also recommend CyanogenMod 7.2 stable, but that's just what I've ran the last few years. Never had an issue with it and it is stable as can be. Always a good start. In fact, it's more stable than stock on my phone, plus I over clock a bit.
It's a good device to have around when you have to send in your current device for exchange or damage it etc. I used it full time not long ago while exchanging my M8.
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I've tried every recovery you can think of for this device. All versions of the CWM and TWRP touch and non-touch, including CWM 5.0.2.0. And I use HBOOT to flash all of the recoveries. It doesn't matter what ROM or recovery I flash, I still get the same results. And the ROM I used the most on this phone was Condemned CM7.2, but like I said, it won't matter how stable a ROM is, I can't get it to boot to even use it now. For some reason there is a partition somewhere that will not wipe. I've used VR Superwipe, which was recommended on some ROM's in the past, but it doesn't help at all either. No matter what, while booting for the first time, it still shows every app that has ever been installed to this device over the years, which causes everything to crash or just immediately reboot. All of the apps crash even if I go back completely stock by flashing a PB31IMG of stock firmware with HBOOT. That includes trying it with S-ON and S-OFF. As you can tell, this isn't my first rodeo at all. Lol
I've been doing this for years and have helped develop ROM's on a couple of sites, but I've never seen or heard of anything like this. Thanks for the input though.
I guess I'll risk completely bricking it, and manually re-partition the device and push the bootloader and everything else to it with ADB Shell. I've got nothing to lose, it's already a paperweight that just lights up. Haha

ludeawakening said:
No matter what, while booting for the first time, it still shows every app that has ever been installed to this device over the years, which causes everything to crash or just immediately reboot.
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Sounds like a bad NAND to me (like one partition is fried and is now read-only). Good luck with the repartitioning. If you're feeling adventurous, you could try this. If you're feeling really adventurous, I seem to remember reading a post from someone who had actually unsoldered the NAND chip and got the phone to boot using only an sdcard. I can't find the post right now though.

New to GN2

Hi folks,
Just decided to retire my old S3 and when looking for a new phone my main requirement was to get a good DAC built in without breaking the bank or renewing my contract, ended up with the Sprint Note 2. Naturally I was excited but quickly put off by the stock ROM so I decided to root/flash, etc. This is what happened so far;
-Rooted with newest TWRP and root verified on stock rom (followed NK2 instructions)
-Made the big mistake of flashing now without backup, after trying a couple of roms I kept having the same problem (phone gets stuck in load animation indefinitely regardless of rom flashed)
-Gave up on custom roms so I flashed a rooted stock NE2 rom and phone turned on wooohooooooo
-But wait, no network connection, no voice or data, tried to flash modem zip file from http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2139889 but it keeps saying zip is corrupt, redownloaded & recopied to SD with the same result.
Now I have a working phone but not so working since I can't place calls. What went wrong? any help is very very appreciated.

Phone works after flashing Alliance ROM but somehow now TWRP recovery is gone and phone is UnRooted which is less than ideal but it works nevertheless...
Now before I go off wasting a whole day flashing & waiting for battery to recharge can anyone please point me in the right direction?
I need to figure out the following:
-Root method that works, I'm on Alliance NE2 now
-Which recovery is best recommended for current ROMs?
-Need a kernel that enables audio features like Direct DAC & upsampling
-ROM that actually works with said Kernel and functions at least 90% with wifi tethering etc.?
Surprised it's this difficult with this phone coming from the S3 which took me no more than an hour first time rooting/flashing.

hhmmm 63 views and nobody able to help?
Currently stuck on this ROM, which is horrible because maps doesn't work well, pandora crashes, UI fc's left & right and to top it off the phone is sluggish in every way possible.
Unified Toolkit not working, drivers installed properly, ADB visible in device manager, debugging enabled yet phone can not be seen by Toolkit.
I really don't want to switch back to my cracked S3 but I'm not left with many options considering my note 2 is barely usable now.
Is anyone out there... there.... ere... ere... ere.....
lol seriously feeling like I'm the only person left in these forums.

Use odin to flash recovery but make sure you uncheck reboot option. Once flashed remove battery and while doing the recovery hotkeys insert battery. Now wipe everything and flash another rom.
Sent from my GT-N7105 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

here's what I've done now;
-Flashed newest TWRP via Odin
-Wiped & flashed Rwilco12's NE2
-Rebooted and phone booted yipeeee
-No cellular connection, crap phone i hate you
-Rebooted to recovery & flashed NE2 Modem
-Rebooted again and recovery is now gone
So either I get root but can't use the phone as a PHONE
or I loose Root and get basically the same POS I started with.
I've given up on eye candy, custom rom, custom settings and my expectations have dwindled down to just ANY ROM + Root + Tether yet that can't even be accomplished. I know I'm doing something wrong but at this point I'm over 10 hours into trying to figure this out and have no idea what to do next. Anything?

Finally:
CWM Recovery - OmniROM - Micro Gapps - Devil Kernel - Rooted
In case someone is in my shoes and hating life, I'll save you a lot of headache by telling you that TWRP recovery does not work for 90% of the ROMs that are still available for this phone so use Phil'z CWM

oceanisbleu said:
Finally:
CWM Recovery - OmniROM - Micro Gapps - Devil Kernel - Rooted
In case someone is in my shoes and hating life, I'll save you a lot of headache by telling you that TWRP recovery does not work for 90% of the ROMs that are still available for this phone so use Phil'z CWM
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Twrp 2.8.6.x works for almost every rom but you will find most users recommend philz. I as a wantabe dev will suggest philz 6.0.7.9 expect in a few rare cases with aroma installer needing twrp. Personally I have philz 6.9.7.9, twrp 2.8.6.0, shift dual recovery and devil dual recovery zip on my external sdcard. This way I always have what I need depending on what I am doing.
All this info along with solutions to every problem is here on xda already. It may take some time to find everything but really the users should do his homework before doing anything to the phone anyways.
Also if you read the rom thread (Alliance) you would know why you lost root. Simply put you updated supersu app and binary. It is a known issue on every ne2 based custom rom for this device.
Sent from my GT-N7105 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Hey thanks for the feedback.
Almost everything I tried on twrp failed, when flashing anything I follow all instructions in the OP's first page. In Alliance's case the resolution to the issue does not come up till page 23, I'll just be honest & say I haven't and probably will never read every page of comments before flashing a ROM, 10 pages okay but beyond that it's more trouble than it's worth.
Can that same issue happen with all other ROMs? on Omni I just ran Root Checker & it said not properly installed!

oceanisbleu said:
Hey thanks for the feedback.
Almost everything I tried on twrp failed, when flashing anything I follow all instructions in the OP's first page. In Alliance's case the resolution to the issue does not come up till page 23, I'll just be honest & say I haven't and probably will never read every page of comments before flashing a ROM, 10 pages okay but beyond that it's more trouble than it's worth.
Can that same issue happen with all other ROMs? on Omni I just ran Root Checker & it said not properly installed!
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I will read every page myself even if it takes a week. You say reading it is more trouble than it is worth which is why you had that issue with Alliance. Same goes for your omni issue.
If you don't want to read that is up to you. A google search will normally help with common issues. I dont mind helping but you have to help yourself first. Not to be rude but I wont answer your omni question because you have not looked. Ypir issue is the number 1 issue omni users have.
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won't argue with your opinion as I have my own

oceanisbleu said:
won't argue with your opinion as I have my own
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I see you edited that a bunch. I dont mind helping. I have been helping so far. Now about the omni gps. I only know on possible fix bit it is a pain.
1. Flash stock/stock based rom
2. Get gps lock
3. While locked and in app reboot to recovery
4. Wipe and install aosp rom & gapps or restore aosp backup
Then you might get gps lock.
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reading back I realized some clarity on my part would have been helpful rather than make a general statement.
So the issue with reading 25, 50 or a 100 pages isn't by choice (may have sounded arrogant the way I said it at first) but I work 50 hrs a week, I do work on my home myself, I rent out rooms to students, I have other projects going, etc. so a very very busy lifestyle. Not to mention the daily crap that tends to come up all the time the moment I get home from work so in short, I really can't afford the time to read in that much detail whether I want to or not.
Regardless, by no means am I lazy when it comes to research, notice my post count? yet I've been here since 2009, and since 09 I've had at least 8 different phones (windows phones too) I really try to figure out everything I need on my own so in this case I spent 3 days working on my initial issues, after that I posted this thread which was 8 days ago and had it figured out and finished yesterday (a few bugs aside), that's easily 10 days I spent at least an hour or two a day working on one thing. Surely you understand how frustrating that must begin to feel.
Regarding my last reply, haha I had to delete most of it because I realized I was beginning to take my frustration out on you when in fact you're the only person who actually offered help (still very very thankful) and to top it off I screwed up the rest of the reply when I mentioned GPS, got that mixed up with the topic we were actually discussing (losing root) this happened because I was reading through the GPS issues before I got to your reply and yah mixed it all up, so again apologies for the lack of clarity and thanks for your last reply, it's more straight forward than all the comments I found on that issue.
You won't have to explain anything else I promise haha and I did all this just now but want to verify I did it correctly so I don't come back to it again. After flashing ROM/Gaps/Kernel & supersu, never update supersu after running rom correct?. Root verified as of 30 minutes ago.
GPS, this one is a big big deal because I use it for work but I had already found the answer pretty quickly as I had read something about it before I even flashed Omni.

I do know how frustrating it can be. I have been in worse spots and had to create my own fixes which I have shared here. As far as time goes I understand that being a parent of 7 children.
I am still active here and always willing to help others long as they help themselves also. We seem to have gotten off badly. While some of your post seemed you had done nothing to help yourself. So lets forget earlier stuff and move on.
Yes you seem to have all the steps correct.
FYI android 5.0-5.0.2 all have gps issues but there is a flashable fix. Most new 5.1.1 builds have gps fixed.
If you run into any issues feel free to ask but include steps you have taken to fix the issue. The more you tell the better help you can get. Plus others wont think you are wanting to be spoon fed.
Sent from my GT-N7105 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

haha thanks for understanding, very much appreciated.
7 kids??? where do you find the time? my situation does not fare in comparison :laugh:
Now that I've resolved the "failed" issue when flashing ROMs I may be brave enough to test some 5.x.x out, I had stuck to 4.x.x because I was under the impression that they were more stable...
Would you be willing to recommend any specific ROMs based on our discussion?
By the way, I tend to ramble on and on most forums that's a bit faux pas so I've sorta been conditioned to keep it sweet & short, clearly that is a bad approach on here, we live & learn

oceanisbleu said:
haha thanks for understanding, very much appreciated.
7 kids??? where do you find the time? my situation does not fare in comparison :laugh:
Now that I've resolved the "failed" issue when flashing ROMs I may be brave enough to test some 5.x.x out, I had stuck to 4.x.x because I was under the impression that they were more stable...
Would you be willing to recommend any specific ROMs based on our discussion?
By the way, I tend to ramble on and on most forums that's a bit faux pas so I've sorta been conditioned to keep it sweet & short, clearly that is a bad approach on here, we live & learn
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Well I personally have a Frankenstein device. It started out as a sprint l900 but I removed the sdcard/sim board and put a n7100 board so I can use a cricket sim. This causes issues with calls on aosp so I run modified t0lte (n7105 international) roms.
As far as 5.1.1 roms I personally build 2. First is CyanideL (highly modified cm base) and broken (a highly modified slimroms base). Those two are really the only two worth flashing. There is also cm and I think a liquid rom but they don't have the features of the two I compile.
If you want a stock based rom I did the Community Rom (s5/n3 based) which is stable with only two issues. Spen clipping does not work and updating suoersu causes loss of root.
Sent from my GT-N7105 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

jlmancuso said:
As far as 5.1.1 roms I personally build 2. First is CyanideL (highly modified cm base) and broken (a highly modified slimroms base). Those two are really the only two worth flashing. There is also cm and I think a liquid rom but they don't have the features of the two I compile, I believe Phill'z CWM download link is down as well.
If you want a stock based rom I did the Community Rom (s5/n3 based) which is stable with only two issues. Spen clipping does not work and updating suoersu causes loss of root.
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wow CyanideL is you, how did I miss that?? looking at too many ROMs is how I suppose...
Going to CyanideL asap. Seriously thank you for keeping the CyanideL thread up to date, it drove me crazy to read & read & read in ROM threads for a while until I decided "okey let's give this one a try" only to find out that the download links are broken or the files are no longer there, had that issue with Omni till I found comparable files on another website (gapps I think it was) and Phill'z CWM thread has a dead end download link as well.
I was really really wanting CyanideL to work for me last week (when I was having the flashing issue) and was so bummed out every time I failed to flash it. I plan to make a donation as soon as I get it working, I feel like I owe you simply for the time you've spent on my thread alone and of course I love supporting people who support families :highfive:

oceanisbleu said:
wow CyanideL is you, how did I miss that?? looking at too many ROMs is how I suppose...
Going to CyanideL asap. Seriously thank you for keeping the CyanideL thread up to date, it drove me crazy to read & read & read in ROM threads for a while until I decided "okey let's give this one a try" only to find out that the download links are broken or the files are no longer there, had that issue with Omni till I found comparable files on another website (gapps I think it was) and Phill'z CWM thread has a dead end download link as well.
I was really really wanting CyanideL to work for me last week (when I was having the flashing issue) and was so bummed out every time I failed to flash it. I plan to make a donation as soon as I get it working, I feel like I owe you simply for the time you've spent on my thread alone and of course I love supporting people who support families :highfive:
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Well the donation would be nice but understand when you hit my donation button/link it will take ypu to the Red Cross donation site. That is not a mistake. I personally dont take donations and feel of someone wants to donate something it should go where it can be used by those who need it.
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