Develop Bugs

Cannot boot S4 after custom ROM flashes

My T-Mobile Galaxy s4 M919 will not boot after any custom ROM flashes. I tried 4 different ROMs with success messages. As soon as I reboot my phone after the ROM flash, it's stuck at the Samsung Galaxy S4 logo and would not enter the "phone desktop". I can easily enter download mode and recovery mode without any issue.
Background: I rooted with Odin successfully. (Used both CWM and OUDHS with the same no-boot results after flashing any custom ROMs). I can restore back to stock and phone boot up fine but tried root again and then with custom ROM and it would not boot. Any help would appreciate it.

After flashing a rom, go into recovery, and erase stuff. Like cache and dalvik cache. Possibly even data
Sent from my SGH-M919 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Android_Monsters said:
After flashing a rom, go into recovery, and erase stuff. Like cache and dalvik cache. Possibly even data
Sent from my SGH-M919 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did that after each ROM flash. 1. Wipe data/factory reset, 2. wipe cache part, 3. wipe dalvik cache. Did not fix the problem. No good. Please clarify "possibly even data". I am not sure which wipe is that.

anothersaddream said:
I did that after each ROM flash. 1. Wipe data/factory reset, 2. wipe cache part, 3. wipe dalvik cache. Did not fix the problem. No good. Please clarify "possibly even data". I am not sure which wipe is that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
using CWM:
*wipe data/factory reset
*wipe cache
*wipe, dalvik cache
*wipe system
*wipe sdcard (only if you have the ROMs you plan on flashing on your external sdcard, this will erase internal sd)
now flash your ROM of choice. reboot (will take 1-2min on first boot)
use cwm touch. what ROMs have you tried so far?

I am thinking you are flashing something not specific to the TMo S4, so your not getting the right kernel installed. Try installing a TMo specific kernel immediately after flashing a rom and see what happens.

Yeah, what ROMs have you tried already? Have you tried TWRP 2.5 recovery?
Sometimes it'll take up to 10 minutes to boot up (I haven't experienced this yet with the GS4, but I have with other phones). How long did you wait before determining it was just stuck?

I switched to PhilZ Touch Recovery a couple of weeks ago and have not had Any issues as I did before.
TWRP 2.5.0.2 was issue free for months, until I started flashing ROMs with Aroma.
Nothing but issues re Samsung splash screen freezes, different solutions working sometimes and sometimes not, having to ODIN back to stock on many occasions, having to wipe INTERNAL SD on many occasions, etc., etc.
PhilZ was the solution.
This is coming from a hard core TWRP guy......
Check the link in Red in my sig for PhilZ and other good stuff

dynospectrum said:
using CWM:
*wipe data/factory reset
*wipe cache
*wipe, dalvik cache
*wipe system
*wipe sdcard (only if you have the ROMs you plan on flashing on your external sdcard, this will erase internal sd)
now flash your ROM of choice. reboot (will take 1-2min on first boot)
use cwm touch. what ROMs have you tried so far?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where do you "wipe system"? I see a format /system inside Mounts and Storage Menu. Please confirm.

DKYang said:
Yeah, what ROMs have you tried already? Have you tried TWRP 2.5 recovery?
Sometimes it'll take up to 10 minutes to boot up (I haven't experienced this yet with the GS4, but I have with other phones). How long did you wait before determining it was just stuck?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have not tried TWRP 2.5 recovery yet. I mostly use CWM. I have waited 20+ minutes after flashing a custom ROMs but to no success.
I have done the following ROMs:
Insanity v1
VirginROM

stevessvt said:
I am thinking you are flashing something not specific to the TMo S4, so your not getting the right kernel installed. Try installing a TMo specific kernel immediately after flashing a rom and see what happens.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did try the InFamous ROM for Tmobile s4. This ROM also has a kernal. Same results, stuck at Samsung Galaxy s4 Logo screen. It would not go anywhere after that.
Really needing help here.

anothersaddream said:
I did try the InFamous ROM for Tmobile s4. This ROM also has a kernal. Same results, stuck at Samsung Galaxy s4 Logo screen. It would not go anywhere after that.
Really needing help here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay let's start over from scratch.
First off can you restore the stock ROM using your nandroid backup?
Second, I don't think you are properly wiping everything prior to flashing the new ROM. You need to wipe system, data, dalvik, and cache in the CWM wipe menu prior to flashing the new ROM.
Wipe all 4 things. Wiping any less than all 4 things will cause the problems you are experiencing.
Once you've done that, then flash the ROM.zip and reboot and it should work just fine.

anothersaddream said:
Where do you "wipe system"? I see a format /system inside Mounts and Storage Menu. Please confirm.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wipe = format
yes, format system in mounts/storage.

Skipjacks said:
Okay let's start over from scratch.
First off can you restore the stock ROM using your nandroid backup?
Second, I don't think you are properly wiping everything prior to flashing the new ROM. You need to wipe system, data, dalvik, and cache in the CWM wipe menu prior to flashing the new ROM.
Wipe all 4 things. Wiping any less than all 4 things will cause the problems you are experiencing.
Once you've done that, then flash the ROM.zip and reboot and it should work just fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did exactly what you stated. Restored to stock. Rooted successfully. Wiped all 4 things. ROM flash stated success. Still NO good. Stuck samsung S4 logo. You think there is something wrong with the hardware???? The s4 does randomly reboot on stock.

anothersaddream said:
I did exactly what you stated. Restored to stock. Rooted successfully. Wiped all 4 things. ROM flash stated success. Still NO good. Stuck samsung g4 logo. You think there is something wrong with the hardware???? The s4 does randomly reboot on stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I was flashing ROMs w/Aroma using TWRP 2.5.0.2, I would sometimes get Samsung boot screen freezes. The only way I could resolve this was by wiping Internal SD, in addition to the other wipes mentioned, and flashing the ROM again.

find stock kernel, flash the roms you want and flash the stock kernel after and see if you boot

Biker1 said:
When I was flashing ROMs w/Aroma using TWRP 2.5.0.2, I would sometimes get Samsung boot screen freezes. The only way I could resolve this was by wiping Internal SD, in addition to the other wipes mentioned, and flashing the ROM again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also tried your suggestion exactly what you stated. Restored to stock. Rooted successfully. Wiped all 4 things + format /sdcard (internal SD). ROM flash stated success. Still NO good. Still Stuck Samsung S4 logo.
Is there any custom ROMs I can flash using odin?

anothersaddream said:
I also tried your suggestion exactly what you stated. Restored to stock. Rooted successfully. Wiped all 4 things + format /sdcard (internal SD). ROM flash stated success. Still NO good. Still Stuck Samsung S4 logo.
Is there any custom ROMs I can flash using odin?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ODIN Samsung Stock Firmware.
Boot.
ODIN Custom Recovery.
(I use PhilZ Touch Recovery. Flashes ROMs flawlessly )
Boot.
Flash custom ROM afterwards.
If ROM doesn't have Root, then Root with CF-AUTO-ROOT by Chainfire via ODIN prior to installing Custom Recovery.
Then flash custom ROM.

Biker1 said:
ODIN Samsung Stock Firmware.
Boot.
ODIN Custom Recovery.
(I use PhilZ Touch Recovery. Flashes ROMs flawlessly )
Boot.
Flash custom ROM afterwards.
If ROM doesn't have Root, then Root with CF-AUTO-ROOT by Chainfire via ODIN prior to installing Custom Recovery.
Then flash custom ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did as you stated. I love Philz Touch recovery UI. Very nice. Unfortunately, did not work as well. It stated successfully. I tried 2 rom, Infamous S4 v.2.5 and also the VirginROM v2.3.1. Both stated successful flashed but would not boot into the phone desktop. Stuck for over 10 minutes on black and white "Samsung Galaxy S4" logo.
I will send you a nice Starbucks gift card if anyone can fix this problem.

anothersaddream said:
I did as you stated. I love Philz Touch recovery UI. Very nice. Unfortunately, did not work as well. It stated successfully. I tried 2 rom, Infamous S4 v.2.5 and also the VirginROM v2.3.1. Both stated successful flashed but would not boot into the phone desktop. Stuck for over 10 minutes on black and white "Samsung Galaxy S4" logo.
I will send you a nice Starbucks gift card if anyone can fix this problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have no idea why it ain't working for you.
On the plus side, I don't know everything
If you ODINd Stock.
ODINd Recovery.
Did a Md5 Checksum match between the ROM file and your Download.
Wiped Internal SD.
Flashed the ROM......
and you're still having issues.......
I'm at a loss....
Try again is my only suggestion, and insure the steps taken are correct, including ODINing the proper files for your device.
Check & Double check
Including making sure you have a good usb cable, which sometimes can work and sometimes not....

If you haven't, try flashing from internal sd card. Maybe remove th external sd card just in case.

stuck at galaxy s4 screen please help

Yesterday I tried installing Danvh's 4.4.2 Google Edition ROM and I guess it must have went wrong. I backed up my current ROM and data before the installation. I did a full wipe (davick / data / cache etc.) and I also did a format of internal SD. I installed Danvh's ROM fine but when I rebooted after the installation it will not get past Galaxy S4 screen. So I figured there was something wrong with the ROM so I flashed back to my back up but when I restart my phone it will still be stuck at the S4 screen so I have to keep flashing back to the backup file. I used TWRP 2.6.1.0 for recovery and I also fixed the permissions with TWRP. Any ideas? What should I do? If my phone ever crashes I will have to restore to my only back up.

re: stuck
ragingazn628 said:
Yesterday I tried installing Danvh's 4.4.2 Google Edition ROM and I guess it must have went wrong. I backed up my current ROM and data before the installation. I did a full wipe (davick / data / cache etc.) and I also did a format of internal SD. I installed Danvh's ROM fine but when I rebooted after the installation it will not get past Galaxy S4 screen. So I figured there was something wrong with the ROM so I flashed back to my back up but when I restart my phone it will still be stuck at the S4 screen so I have to keep flashing back to the backup file. I used TWRP 2.6.1.0 for recovery and I also fixed the permissions with TWRP. Any ideas? What should I do? If my phone ever crashes I will have to restore to my only back up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You forgot to do a "factory reset" in twrp before restoring your Nandroid backup.
Most likely after doing that the phone will fully boot.
Be sure to wipe data, system, cache, dalvik cache and
do a factory reset before restoring your backup.
Good luck!
Good luck!

Nope I did do factory reset as well...

[Q] Stuck in recovery mode bootloop!

Hello everyone,
This is what is happening to me. I was trying to flash Miroslav's Cyanogenmod 11 RC2 with Philz Touch 6.07.9, but none of the recomended methods worked for me, I just got stuck on lg logo bootloop - I really want this rom but it is hard as f**k to flash -. So I tried to go back to CM 10.2.1 and got the "Status 7" error. Very frustrated, I finally used my stock recovery image and it worked fine.
From this point, i was recovering my apps and data using titanium back up and when it finished, a notification asked if I wanted the official system update. I refused it and proceded to reboot. Now the phone boots instantly to recovery mode and show the purple screen of Philz touch. First I wiped cache and dalvik and got the same bootloop. Then I wiped cache, dalvik and factory reset and got the same bootloop. Finally, I formated system, factory reset, wiped cache, wiped dalvik and flashed again my recovery image, and got again the recovery mode bootloop.
Any Ideas? Thank you for your help.
Best regards.
EDIT: I must clarify that when I flash my recovery image, it ALWAYS get suck on a part that says something like "installing android security". I have to press power button 10 seconds to restart but it boots normaly in the stock rom.

chortiman said:
Hello everyone,
This is what is happening to me. I was trying to flash Miroslav's Cyanogenmod 11 RC2 with Philz Touch 6.07.9, but none of the recomended methods worked for me, I just got stuck on lg logo bootloop - I really want this rom but it is hard as f**k to flash -. So I tried to go back to CM 10.2.1 and got the "Status 7" error. Very frustrated, I finally used my stock recovery image and it worked fine.
From this point, i was recovering my apps and data using titanium back up and when it finished, a notification asked if I wanted the official system update. I refused it and proceded to reboot. Now the phone boots instantly to recovery mode and show the purple screen of Philz touch. First I wiped cache and dalvik and got the same bootloop. Then I wiped cache, dalvik and factory reset and got the same bootloop. Finally, I formated system, factory reset, wiped cache, wiped dalvik and flashed again my recovery image, and got again the recovery mode bootloop.
Any Ideas? Thank you for your help.
Best regards.
EDIT: I must clarify that when I flash my recovery image, it ALWAYS get suck on a part that says something like "installing android security". I have to press power button 10 seconds to restart but it boots normaly in the stock rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When in vain , unbrick your phone again using unbricking guide and use CWM , not all guide is working for the same type of phone . No need to wipe system clean cache watevr **** you were told unless recommended by developer and just factory reset then flash the rom

Mr.201 said:
When in vain , unbrick your phone again using unbricking guide and use CWM , not all guide is working for the same type of phone . No need to wipe system clean cache watevr **** you were told unless recommended by developer and just factory reset then flash the rom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the answer and the advice about factory reset. Yes, I had to unbrick my phone and by the way, still could not install miroslav's cm11 RC3 using Philz touch 6.19.3.
But I have another issue: I successfully got back to CM 10.2.1 but after I restored my apps using Titanium Backup, I rebooted the phone and got stuck on CM logo for half hour. I wiped dalvik and got the same result. Then wiped cache and dalvik and still stuck. What should I do? Flash again the rom? The restored data is from CM 10.2.1 so I don't see any problem....

chortiman said:
Thanks for the answer and the advice about factory reset. Yes, I had to unbrick my phone and by the way, still could not install miroslav's cm11 RC3 using Philz touch 6.19.3.
But I have another issue: I successfully got back to CM 10.2.1 but after I restored my apps using Titanium Backup, I rebooted the phone and got stuck on CM logo for half hour. I wiped dalvik and got the same result. Then wiped cache and dalvik and still stuck. What should I do? Flash again the rom? The restored data is from CM 10.2.1 so I don't see any problem....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
check again what you restore, user apps will have no problem to restore but system apps will cause incompatibility to the rom and crash it

Mr.201 said:
check again what you restore, user apps will have no problem to restore but system apps will cause incompatibility to the rom and crash it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The phone is good now, I restored the stock rom and from there I flashed CM 10.2.1 just making a factory reset. Plus I flashed adreno drivers and gapps. Once it booted, I restored my apps without sistem data and now the phone works properly.
Thank you Mr.201

chortiman said:
The phone is good now, I restored the stock rom and from there I flashed CM 10.2.1 just making a factory reset. Plus I flashed adreno drivers and gapps. Once it booted, I restored my apps without sistem data and now the phone works properly.
Thank you Mr.201
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad it worked, make sure you untick 'system' in filter in titanium backup so that you can only see your user apps .

[Q] G2 Stuck on CM Spash Screen Loop

Hey All,
Here's a basic synopsis of my issue: I just flashed CyanogenMod on my Sprint LG G2. Now when it boots - or attempts to - it hangs on the CyanogenMod Splash Screen with the spinning cyan arrow.
Here's some more detail:
I've been trying for a few days to get this to work, and I'm finally stumped. I learned the hard way about the LS980ZVA radio and how it's not compatible with non-ZVA ROMs, and whatnot, and I've restored my phone using a .tot 3 times. This most recent time I used the LS980ZV8.tot to enable me to flash CM.
Here's what I did:
Restored phone to LS980ZV8 using LG Flash Tools
Rooted using ioroot
Checked Root
Installed FreeGee Free
Used FreeGee to install CWM 6.0.7.4
Rebooted to recovery
Made a backup
Copied backup to PC
Copied CM-11-20140708-SNAPSHOT-M8-ls980.zip to root of internal storage
Flashed said CM-11.zip from 'sdcard' (It was in sdcard/0/ for some reason)
Rebooted
Got stuck at CM screen.
Did some research on Google
Went back into CWM
Cleared cache
Reflashed CM-11.zip from sdcard
Rebooted System
Stuck at CM screen.
Posted on xda-developers
Any ideas? I can't figure this out for the life of me. I've read something about flashing the boot.img from fastboot, but I can't figure out how to get into the fastboot on the LG G2, and besides that was for an HTC. If you need more info, let me know.
=====Phone Details=====
Carrier: Sprint
Model: LG-LS980
Software: LS980ZV8
Recovery: CWM 6.0.7.4
Rooted: Yes, with ioroot
ROM: Attempted to flash CyanogenMod (cm-11-20140708-SNAPSHOT-M8-ls980.zip)

official.xian said:
Hey All,
Here's a basic synopsis of my issue: I just flashed CyanogenMod on my Sprint LG G2. Now when it boots - or attempts to - it hangs on the CyanogenMod Splash Screen with the spinning cyan arrow.
Here's some more detail:
I've been trying for a few days to get this to work, and I'm finally stumped. I learned the hard way about the LS980ZVA radio and how it's not compatible with non-ZVA ROMs, and whatnot, and I've restored my phone using a .tot 3 times. This most recent time I used the LS980ZV8.tot to enable me to flash CM.
Here's what I did:
Restored phone to LS980ZV8 using LG Flash Tools
Rooted using ioroot
Checked Root
Installed FreeGee Free
Used FreeGee to install CWM 6.0.7.4
Rebooted to recovery
Made a backup
Copied backup to PC
Copied CM-11-20140708-SNAPSHOT-M8-ls980.zip to root of internal storage
Flashed said CM-11.zip from 'sdcard' (It was in sdcard/0/ for some reason)
Rebooted
Got stuck at CM screen.
Did some research on Google
Went back into CWM
Cleared cache
Reflashed CM-11.zip from sdcard
Rebooted System
Stuck at CM screen.
Posted on xda-developers
Any ideas? I can't figure this out for the life of me. I've read something about flashing the boot.img from fastboot, but I can't figure out how to get into the fastboot on the LG G2, and besides that was for an HTC. If you need more info, let me know.
=====Phone Details=====
Carrier: Sprint
Model: LG-LS980
Software: LS980ZV8
Recovery: CWM 6.0.7.4
Rooted: Yes, with ioroot
ROM: Attempted to flash CyanogenMod (cm-11-20140708-SNAPSHOT-M8-ls980.zip)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you do a full wipe? I would recommend TWRP recovery over CWM. I've used both, but for this phone I prefer TWRP. There are numerous threads with details on how to install it. If you prefer CWM make sure to factory reset/ wipe data, wipe cache, wipe dalvik cache, then flash your rom. Manually shut down your phone then reboot. I've flashed cyanogen Roms on several different phones and they can be finicky. if you choose TWRP then you would do wipe-advanced wipe- check boot, system, data, dalvik, everything except Internal storage. In same recovery session flash your CM rom. Hope this helps. Oh and I would recommend making a backup in TWRP as well if you choose it.

shouldbeshroomin said:
Did you do a full wipe? I would recommend TWRP recovery over CWM. I've used both, but for this phone I prefer TWRP. There are numerous threads with details on how to install it. If you prefer CWM make sure to factory reset/ wipe data, wipe cache, wipe dalvik cache, then flash your rom. Manually shut down your phone then reboot. I've flashed cyanogen Roms on several different phones and they can be finicky. if you choose TWRP then you would do wipe-advanced wipe- check boot, system, data, dalvik, everything except Internal storage. In same recovery session flash your CM rom. Hope this helps. Oh and I would recommend making a backup in TWRP as well if you choose it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No I didn't do a full wipe. I'll take your advice and flash TWRP. I've been out of the Android scene for a couple years and I've had more experience with CWM, didn't know how well recommended TWRP was. I'll flash TWRP, make a new Nandroid, then follow your instructions. Thanks. I'll report back.

shouldbeshroomin said:
Did you do a full wipe? I would recommend TWRP recovery over CWM. I've used both, but for this phone I prefer TWRP. There are numerous threads with details on how to install it. If you prefer CWM make sure to factory reset/ wipe data, wipe cache, wipe dalvik cache, then flash your rom. Manually shut down your phone then reboot. I've flashed cyanogen Roms on several different phones and they can be finicky. if you choose TWRP then you would do wipe-advanced wipe- check boot, system, data, dalvik, everything except Internal storage. In same recovery session flash your CM rom. Hope this helps. Oh and I would recommend making a backup in TWRP as well if you choose it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome!! Thanks so much!! I got TWRP and wiped as you said, then I flashed the CM. It worked!! Thanks!

official.xian said:
Awesome!! Thanks so much!! I got TWRP and wiped as you said, then I flashed the CM. It worked!! Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are most welcome

Flashing any rom results in infinite boot

I have tried the roms below:
Pac-rom
LiquidSmooth
CyanogenMod 12.1
CyanogenMod 11
And the result is it always gets stuck at boot where the boot animation continues infinitely. I have gave it about 30 minutes to boot.
With LiquidSmooth I was able to run logcat, but CM12.1 I am not able to.
I have tried resetting system, data, caches in twrp and using the reset for new rom in philz.
I have tried flashing with both TWRP and Philz.
I am using the latest Philz and TWRP.
The only thing that has worked for me is samsung stock ROM, but I do not like the stock ROM.
Are there SPH-L900 phones you have to do something different?
Is there a way to get boot logs from CM12?
Am I doing something wrong?
See attachment from LiquidSmooth.

After flashing http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2086769 everything worked.

GRMrGecko said:
After flashing http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2086769 everything worked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
I see that you got it working by using that thread, but what exactly did you flash from it? I had it working with CM12.1 but decided to flash the recovery from CM for my phone and it ruined the installation. Tried re-flashing with the latest nightly to get stuck in the CM infinite boot, returned to stock (that worked fine) flashed TWRP and CWM 6.0.4.3 Touch, re-did everything again with both, but cant go past the infinite boot. This happened the last time too, but it started working out of nowhere so I continued patching until I flashed "cm-12.1-20150828-NIGHTLY-l900-recovery.img". Now it doesn't boot again and redoing what I did the last time is not working (Wiping Cache, Dalvik...)
Thanks

Raziel10000 said:
Hi,
I see that you got it working by using that thread, but what exactly did you flash from it? I had it working with CM12.1 but decided to flash the recovery from CM for my phone and it ruined the installation. Tried re-flashing with the latest nightly to get stuck in the CM infinite boot, returned to stock (that worked fine) flashed TWRP and CWM 6.0.4.3 Touch, re-did everything again with both, but cant go past the infinite boot. This happened the last time too, but it started working out of nowhere so I continued patching until I flashed "cm-12.1-20150828-NIGHTLY-l900-recovery.img". Now it doesn't boot again and redoing what I did the last time is not working (Wiping Cache, Dalvik...)
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Followed this guide from some post I found after reading for 8 hours, LOL. Don't remember who it is from... It's for the Cyanide ROM but worked perfect for CM12.1 latest nightly with the latest GAPPs
1.) revert everything to stock
Using Odin3 v3.09 I first flashed this: L900VPUCNE2_L900SPTCNE2_SPR.zip
2.) Reboot and verify it's not bricked, then use ODIN to flash Philz philz_touch_6.15.4-l900.tar.md5
3.) Reboot into Philz recovery and follow these steps exactly
1. Mounts and Storage
Format / system
Format / cache
Format / data
Format / data and /data /media (/sdcard)
(note this isn't the EXTERNAL sdcard, on to which I had loaded the ROM, Shift and gapps)
2. Power Options > reboot recovery
3. Wipe cache partition
4. Advanced > Wipe dalvik cache
5. Wipe data / factory reset > Wipe data / factory reset
6. Wipe data / factory reset > clean and install new ROM
At one point Philz asked me if I wanted to root and I said yes.
3.) Flash (from the external sdcard) the ROM (Tablet style ROM found in OP "5.0.2-RC-7.1-tablet"), Then flash Shift (Shift-LP-4.3 other versions DID NOT WORK), then flash gapps (GApps-5.0.2-20150315-signed NO OTHER VERSION WOULD FLASH, got Error 20 every time) Here's the
After everything was flashed I rebooted and got stuck at boot animation AGAIN, so I rebooted into recovery and wiped cache. Just cache, not dalvik or user data, rebooted, and it worked.
Installed Netflix from appstore, when I logged in to netflix it asked me to update google play services (I've seen it do this on other devices as well). Updated google play services and went back to Netflix, chose a random show and tapped on it, stuck at "loading" screen. Rebooted phone, tried netflix again and it works.
This was a tough one! But it's working now and I've saved all these files in one place incase it bricks again. Now to install the Note 3/4 style faux-stitched-leather back cover I got off Amazon.
Thanks all!