Develop Bugs

[Q] What Am I Doing Wrong...?

I have unbricked this phone probably 15 times in the past day trying to just install a custom ROM.
I run through the unbricking process, get root, load the stock AT&T ROM, factory reset, and it boots just fine from there. However, after I load Clockwork Mod and try to load any custom ROMs at all, the phone will just bootloop forever. It also appears to remove the Clockwork Mod recovery image as well, since I no longer am able to get back into recovery after the flash of the new ROM.
I've scoured this forum for hours, and I'm at a complete loss. Any ideas?
P.S. I made a backup of my ROM before doing all of this using the latest version of Clockwork Mod, but was unable to restore it. It seems that the 6.x.x.x version of the recovery for this phone is busted in some way, it always reports that it can't access any of the root folders, even though the phone has been rooted. The 5.x.x.x versions don't seem to do this, but I still have issues flashing.

SectorNine50 said:
I have unbricked this phone probably 15 times in the past day trying to just install a custom ROM.
I run through the unbricking process, get root, load the stock AT&T ROM, factory reset, and it boots just fine from there. However, after I load Clockwork Mod and try to load any custom ROMs at all, the phone will just bootloop forever. It also appears to remove the Clockwork Mod recovery image as well, since I no longer am able to get back into recovery after the flash of the new ROM.
I've scoured this forum for hours, and I'm at a complete loss. Any ideas?
P.S. I made a backup of my ROM before doing all of this using the latest version of Clockwork Mod, but was unable to restore it. It seems that the 6.x.x.x version of the recovery for this phone is busted in some way, it always reports that it can't access any of the root folders, even though the phone has been rooted. The 5.x.x.x versions don't seem to do this, but I still have issues flashing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it possible that your hosts file needs modifying when installing the AT&T ROM? If the LG Support tool connects to LG's servers instead of your local http you set up, it will load the official ICS and completely wipe your phone to install that ROM... With my limited amount of knowledge, that's about all I could see if the process removes CWM Recovery.
Also, CWM 6.x is working fine for me, even manually flashed the touch recovery a few minutes ago, backed up my ROM and installed an updated ROM. No problems at all.

SectorNine50 said:
I have unbricked this phone probably 15 times in the past day trying to just install a custom ROM.
I run through the unbricking process, get root, load the stock AT&T ROM, factory reset, and it boots just fine from there. However, after I load Clockwork Mod and try to load any custom ROMs at all, the phone will just bootloop forever. It also appears to remove the Clockwork Mod recovery image as well, since I no longer am able to get back into recovery after the flash of the new ROM.
I've scoured this forum for hours, and I'm at a complete loss. Any ideas?
P.S. I made a backup of my ROM before doing all of this using the latest version of Clockwork Mod, but was unable to restore it. It seems that the 6.x.x.x version of the recovery for this phone is busted in some way, it always reports that it can't access any of the root folders, even though the phone has been rooted. The 5.x.x.x versions don't seem to do this, but I still have issues flashing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know if anyone has tried the unbrick method with the new version of cwm but you might try twrp. When a similar version of cwm was in beta there were all sorts of issues. So maybe they haven't been fixed. Also are you installing cwm from GB? ICS has a locked boot loader so that might also be an issue.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1888910
Now I would start with the unbricking guide for a 16th time but follow the directions to install twrp instead of cwm. You might also find you like it better. Good luck.
Sent from my LG-P930 using xda app-developers app

lordcheeto03 said:
Is it possible that your hosts file needs modifying when installing the AT&T ROM? If the LG Support tool connects to LG's servers instead of your local http you set up, it will load the official ICS and completely wipe your phone to install that ROM... With my limited amount of knowledge, that's about all I could see if the process removes CWM Recovery.
Also, CWM 6.x is working fine for me, even manually flashed the touch recovery a few minutes ago, backed up my ROM and installed an updated ROM. No problems at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't believe that the unbricking process would work if the hosts file was wrong, but I checked it again anyway, and it appears to be correct.
The AT&T ROM gets pushed via the abd shell after the unbrick and rooting process. The root appears to work, as the AT&T ROM that I push works fine, it's just not the ROM I want!
Swetnes said:
I don't know if anyone has tried the unbrick method with the new version of cwm but you might try twrp. When a similar version of cwm was in beta there were all sorts of issues. So maybe they haven't been fixed. Also are you installing cwm from GB? ICS has a locked boot loader so that might also be an issue.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1888910
Now I would start with the unbricking guide for a 16th time but follow the directions to install twrp instead of cwm. You might also find you like it better. Good luck.
Sent from my LG-P930 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After the unbricking process (after I get through all the nonsense on the Korean ROM), the phone is running the GB AT&T ROM, from there I push the CWM recovery.img to the phone using the abd shell. All seems to be working perfectly up until I go to flash the custom ROM! I don't get any errors when I flash the .zip either.
Initially I had installed CWM 6.x.x.x using the ROM Manager application. That's before all this nonsense started, and the phone was on the stock (but rooted) AT&T ICS ROM, so I know that's why I "bricked" my phone the first time.
I'll give TWRP a shot, hopefully that will work.

SectorNine50 said:
I don't believe that the unbricking process would work if the hosts file was wrong, but I checked it again anyway, and it appears to be correct.
The AT&T ROM gets pushed via the abd shell after the unbrick and rooting process. The root appears to work, as the AT&T ROM that I push works fine, it's just not the ROM I want!
After the unbricking process (after I get through all the nonsense on the Korean ROM), the phone is running the GB AT&T ROM, from there I push the CWM recovery.img to the phone using the abd shell. All seems to be working perfectly up until I go to flash the custom ROM! I don't get any errors when I flash the .zip either.
Initially I had installed CWM 6.x.x.x using the ROM Manager application. That's before all this nonsense started, and the phone was on the stock (but rooted) AT&T ICS ROM, so I know that's why I "bricked" my phone the first time.
I'll give TWRP a shot, hopefully that will work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok so we know it's not the boot loader issue of ICS after dozens if not hundreds of successful installs using the unbricking guide the only thing left is the new version of cwm. Hopefully twrp will do the trick for you. Has anyone out there successfully completed the unbricking guide with the new version of cwm?
Sent from my LG-P930 using xda app-developers app

Swetnes said:
Ok so we know it's not the boot loader issue of ICS after dozens if not hundreds of successful installs using the unbricking guide the only thing left is the new version of cwm. Hopefully twrp will do the trick for you. Has anyone out there successfully completed the unbricking guide with the new version of cwm?
Sent from my LG-P930 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't tried the TWRP recovery a shot yet, since I haven't been home, but I figured it was worth pointing out that the CWM 5.x.x.x (can't remember exact version numbers right now) didn't work for me either. Every time I flashed a ROM, I'd end up with a boot loop on first boot, and then when I'd try to go back into recovery, I'd find that it wouldn't go back in there either.
It was basically acting like when I flashed the ROM that it overwrote the recovery partition, except no one else seems to have this same issue. Yet, if I didn't flash a ROM, I was able to go in and out of CWM recovery as often as I wanted.
Bah.

SectorNine50 said:
I haven't tried the TWRP recovery a shot yet, since I haven't been home, but I figured it was worth pointing out that the CWM 5.x.x.x (can't remember exact version numbers right now) didn't work for me either. Every time I flashed a ROM, I'd end up with a boot loop on first boot, and then when I'd try to go back into recovery, I'd find that it wouldn't go back in there either.
It was basically acting like when I flashed the ROM that it overwrote the recovery partition, except no one else seems to have this same issue. Yet, if I didn't flash a ROM, I was able to go in and out of CWM recovery as often as I wanted.
Bah.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you clarify exactly what method you are using to flash the ROM? I just can't imagine a scenario where flashing a ROM would overwrite the recovery. What ROM are you flashing?
Also, please confirm what phone you have.

drumist said:
Can you clarify exactly what method you are using to flash the ROM? I just can't imagine a scenario where flashing a ROM would overwrite the recovery. What ROM are you flashing?
Also, please confirm what phone you have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure, I may be using the wrong term (my first experiences with custom ROMs date back to Windows Mobile, so the terminology probably blends together), but I'm basically loading the .zip from the SD Card in CWM. I've tried both the CM9 P930 ROM and Paranoid Android CM10.
That was my thought too, I didn't think that the custom ROMs even had recovery images in them. I may be wrong in saying that it deletes CWM, but after the wipe and flash I am no longer able to access it.
I have the LG Nitro HD, and from what I can gather, that is the P930, correct? I hope the issue I'm having is as simple as I'm flashing for the wrong phone...
By the way, thank you all for your help and input, I really appreciate it!

SectorNine50 said:
Sure, I may be using the wrong term (my first experiences with custom ROMs date back to Windows Mobile, so the terminology probably blends together), but I'm basically loading the .zip from the SD Card in CWM. I've tried both the CM9 P930 ROM and Paranoid Android CM10.
That was my thought too, I didn't think that the custom ROMs even had recovery images in them. I may be wrong in saying that it deletes CWM, but after the wipe and flash I am no longer able to access it.
I have the LG Nitro HD, and from what I can gather, that is the P930, correct? I hope the issue I'm having is as simple as I'm flashing for the wrong phone...
By the way, thank you all for your help and input, I really appreciate it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are correct, the Nitro is P930. And I'm sure this doesn't need pointing out, but when you download the ROM, make sure it's for P93x and not SU640. Most of the ROMS in the developer section have versions for both models.
Also, when you say you can't access CWM after flashing a ROM, how are you trying to access it? Holding Power+Volume down until the Factory Reset screen pops up? It still shows that screen even with CWM installed, but when you press the power button to perform the factory reset it SHOULD take you into CWM Recovery instead.

SectorNine50 said:
Sure, I may be using the wrong term (my first experiences with custom ROMs date back to Windows Mobile, so the terminology probably blends together), but I'm basically loading the .zip from the SD Card in CWM. I've tried both the CM9 P930 ROM and Paranoid Android CM10.
That was my thought too, I didn't think that the custom ROMs even had recovery images in them. I may be wrong in saying that it deletes CWM, but after the wipe and flash I am no longer able to access it.
I have the LG Nitro HD, and from what I can gather, that is the P930, correct? I hope the issue I'm having is as simple as I'm flashing for the wrong phone...
By the way, thank you all for your help and input, I really appreciate it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To access recovery, turn the device completely off. (If you're in a bootloop, pull battery or hold power button for ~20 seconds until screen stays off.) Then when phone is off, press and hold volume down and power buttons at the same time, not releasing until you see text asking if you want to factory reset. Press power button twice to confirm and you'll get to recovery.
Is this the method you're using to try to get to CWM?
My guess as to why you are getting bootloops is that you aren't wiping data first.

Yup, that's how I'm accessing CWM. After the flash, after I press the power button twice, I get something similar to a boot loop. A recovery boot loop, if you will.
Well, I've tried a couple ways now. I've tried using the "factory reset/wipe user data" menu item in CWM, and I've tried going into each partition and wiping them individually before flashing as well.
Just got home, I'll try flashing using the TWRP and let you guys know.

SectorNine50 said:
Yup, that's how I'm accessing CWM. After the flash, after I press the power button twice, I get something similar to a boot loop. A recovery boot loop, if you will.
Well, I've tried a couple ways now. I've tried using the "factory reset/wipe user data" menu item in CWM, and I've tried going into each partition and wiping them individually before flashing as well.
Just got home, I'll try flashing using the TWRP and let you guys know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good luck. Other possible things to try:
1) Check zip MD5 hash (or just redownload and replace) to make sure it's not corrupted.
2) Reformat entire SD card.

Interesting update:
I decided to give getting back into CWM recovery one more shot before I went through the process of re-unbricking again, and this time it managed to get in (for whatever reason).
So, I did a factory wipe, cleared dalvik cache, flashed the ParanoidAndroid ROM, backed out, did another factory wipe, and tried to reboot into the newly flashed ROM.
No luck. Boot looped, and didn't even get to the ROM animation. Following that, I had trouble getting back into the CWM recovery. Managed to try about 5 times and finally got in, however CWM stated:
Code:
CWM-based Recovery v5.0.2.7
E:Error in /cache/recovery/last_log
(Read-only file system)
So... my phone may have potentially unrooted it's self, somehow... Interestingly, it still shows the file systems as mounted.
So, now I'm doing a full SD card reformat. Figured I'd get that variable out of the way before I go any further.

SectorNine50 said:
Interesting update:
I decided to give getting back into CWM recovery one more shot before I went through the process of re-unbricking again, and this time it managed to get in (for whatever reason).
So, I did a factory wipe, cleared dalvik cache, flashed the ParanoidAndroid ROM, backed out, did another factory wipe, and tried to reboot into the newly flashed ROM.
No luck. Boot looped, and didn't even get to the ROM animation. Following that, I had trouble getting back into the CWM recovery. Managed to try about 5 times and finally got in, however CWM stated:
Code:
CWM-based Recovery v5.0.2.7
E:Error in /cache/recovery/last_log
(Read-only file system)
So... my phone may have potentially unrooted it's self, somehow... Interestingly, it still shows the file systems as mounted.
So, now I'm doing a full SD card reformat. Figured I'd get that variable out of the way before I go any further.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are installing the wrong version of CWM. Never use anything older than 5.8.2.0. This is the one you want: http://download2.clockworkmod.com/recoveries/recovery-clockwork-5.8.2.0-p930.img
Anything older than that is known to not work.
Second thing: You seem to have an incorrect understanding of what "root" means. Having "root" simply means you have administrator access to your current ROM. When you install a new ROM, whether you had root access to your old ROM is meaningless frankly.

drumist said:
You are installing the wrong version of CWM. Never use anything older than 5.8.2.0. This is the one you want: http://download2.clockworkmod.com/recoveries/recovery-clockwork-5.8.2.0-p930.img
Anything older than that is known to not work.
Second thing: You seem to have an incorrect understanding of what "root" means. Having "root" simply means you have administrator access to your current ROM. When you install a new ROM, whether you had root access to your old ROM is meaningless frankly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, thank you! I must've been viewing an old thread. Now that I look at the version number, it appears that's the version I had been hunting for since the newest one didn't work.
Interesting, I most certainly misunderstood, I was under the impression that "rooting" the device was a filesystem level permission change. Good to know!
It seems like we are getting closer to a solution here. Thanks for your patience!

Well, that appears to have been my problem the whole time! That's kind of embarrassing, considering how much time I sunk into this and how simple the solution was!
Anyway, thank you all very much! I assume that TWRP would have also solved my problems as well. It would seem that both the older and newest versions of CWM have some problems (at least for me!).

SectorNine50 said:
Well, that appears to have been my problem the whole time! That's kind of embarrassing, considering how much time I sunk into this and how simple the solution was!
Anyway, thank you all very much! I assume that TWRP would have also solved my problems as well. It would seem that both the older and newest versions of CWM have some problems (at least for me!).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, the new one (6.0.1.5) just came out. I'll have to test it to see if it works for me.

For what it's worth, I haven't had any issues with 6.0.1.5 yet. The touch version is a must, though.

Malnilion said:
For what it's worth, I haven't had any issues with 6.0.1.5 yet. The touch version is a must, though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you had a chance to compare to twrp?
Sent from my LG-P930 using xda app-developers app

Swetnes said:
Have you had a chance to compare to twrp?
Sent from my LG-P930 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really enjoy the integration Rom Manager/CM Updater has with CWM. If twrp is capable of running the install scripts those two use, I might consider trying it out, but I don't really like manually going through the steps to flash a rom every day.

Strange issues with latest TWRP for device and restoring / installing?

Hello all,
I'm running the latest TWRP for this device (that fixes most of the restore/backup issues). I had wicked v2 installed and running successfully for awhile. now I'm having a strange issue.
I made a nandroid backup of my stock as well as of my wicked install and played with some other roms. (aosp ones). Went back to wicked as they are all "not there yet" and the initial restore works.
Unfortunately if I shut down or rebootI basically find myself unable to boot. It hangs on "Samsung Galaxy S4". screen and doesn't finish.
If I reboot into recovery from here and try to say, clear the dalvik or something it asks me for a password like it's encrypted, and wiping dalvik for example fails.
My nandroid did not have an encrypted FS. On top of that, I tried reflashing wicked completely from scratch and I have the same issue.
Essentially I cannot reboot my phone now once flashed.
I can get into recovery no issue but I'm stuck in a cycle here.
Thanks for any help.

bezerker said:
Hello all,
I'm running the latest TWRP for this device (that fixes most of the restore/backup issues). I had wicked v2 installed and running successfully for awhile. now I'm having a strange issue.
I made a nandroid backup of my stock as well as of my wicked install and played with some other roms. (aosp ones). Went back to wicked as they are all "not there yet" and the initial restore works.
Unfortunately if I shut down or rebootI basically find myself unable to boot. It hangs on "Samsung Galaxy S4". screen and doesn't finish.
If I reboot into recovery from here and try to say, clear the dalvik or something it asks me for a password like it's encrypted, and wiping dalvik for example fails.
My nandroid did not have an encrypted FS. On top of that, I tried reflashing wicked completely from scratch and I have the same issue.
Essentially I cannot reboot my phone now once flashed.
I can get into recovery no issue but I'm stuck in a cycle here.
Thanks for any help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it wasn't just latest update, people were taking about this issue for weeks now... not sure what the fix will be I think Odin back to stock... supposedly is a TWRP problem and it doesn't happen in CWM but I heard CWM has its own share of problems...
Sent from my SGH-M919

aLdaRiS said:
it wasn't just latest update, people were taking about this issue for weeks now... not sure what the fix will be I think Odin back to stock... supposedly is a TWRP problem and it doesn't happen in CWM but I heard CWM has its own share of problems...
Sent from my SGH-M919
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting.
I was about to try odin'ing back to stock and reflashing twrp.
The only thing I wonder if may be related is when you restore a backup with TWRP it gives options of all sorts of partitions besides system/data/cache etc... preload etc. It's possible it doesn't like mucking with those.

Interesting to note: If I install a CM nightly, it will allow me to reboot. Wickedv2 or my backup of wickedv2 no go.
Testing further.

Maybe when you flashed CM it messed with a partition or something. I would suggest to ODIN back to stock and then re-root and try again.

saldebot said:
Maybe when you flashed CM it messed with a partition or something. I would suggest to ODIN back to stock and then re-root and try again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Righto. Sounds like a valid idea.
Unfortunately, the download links in konane's thread are timing out for me mid download. Tragic.

Managed to snag it from another location. Flashed back to stock firmware/recovery via odin.
Letting it boot to see what it does.
EDIT:
That did it.
Restored my backup and most everything is working correctly (restoring my titanium backup of all apps now.)
Few things were messed up (swiftkey was missing a language pack etc?)
But looks like AOSP/AOKP roms do something to the partition table as you said that requires flashing back the original.
Good to know and thanks for the help!

Don't wipe system in twrp.

makomek said:
Don't wipe system in twrp.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does this cause issues? Didn't know.
I found that only CM nightlies would reboot fine. restoring via odin stock official then going back and putting on wicked again seemed to work to fix it and I can now reboot in a touchwhiz based rom.

re: stuck
bezerker said:
Hello all,
I'm running the latest TWRP for this device (that fixes most of the restore/backup issues). I had wicked v2 installed and running successfully for awhile. now I'm having a strange issue.
I made a nandroid backup of my stock as well as of my wicked install and played with some other roms. (aosp ones). Went back to wicked as they are all "not there yet" and the initial restore works.
Unfortunately if I shut down or rebootI basically find myself unable to boot. It hangs on "Samsung Galaxy S4". screen and doesn't finish.
If I reboot into recovery from here and try to say, clear the dalvik or something it asks me for a password like it's encrypted, and wiping dalvik for example fails.
My nandroid did not have an encrypted FS. On top of that, I tried reflashing wicked completely from scratch and I have the same issue.
Essentially I cannot reboot my phone now once flashed.
I can get into recovery no issue but I'm stuck in a cycle here.
Thanks for any help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want a 95% sure way of fixing it so it boots completly,
then try this, it usually always works.
Get the phone into recovery mode twrp/cwm does not matter.
Then simply do a "factory reset" and I am fairly certain that it
will boot completly, I have seen this issue so many times
already not just here in the S4 thread but also in the S3.
The factory reset will not delete any of your music, videos and pictures.
Good luck!

Replacement GS3

I have received a replacement GS3 2 days ago. I rooted the phone no problems and it came with MK3 already on it. But no matter what rom I flash, they all cause a lot of random reboots and lockups. TW and CM based roms ive tried with the same results. I do multiple wipes before installing any rom so I know that cant be the problem. It got so annoying that i just flashed the stock tar in odin even though i hate not being rooted. Can anyone shed some light on this?

cbond007 said:
I have received a replacement GS3 2 days ago. I rooted the phone no problems and it came with MK3 already on it. But no matter what rom I flash, they all cause a lot of random reboots and lockups. TW and CM based roms ive tried with the same results. I do multiple wipes before installing any rom so I know that cant be the problem. It got so annoying that i just flashed the stock tar in odin even though i hate not being rooted. Can anyone shed some light on this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you flashing 4.3 TW ROMs? Do you format system before flashing the ROMs (if they do not say that they do it for you)?

Yes, I'm flashing 4.3 roms. I do wipe the system, I don't know if that is the same as formatting the system though(?)
kennyglass123 said:
Are you flashing 4.3 TW ROMs? Do you format system before flashing the ROMs (if they do not say that they do it for you)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

cbond007 said:
Yes, I'm flashing 4.3 roms. I do wipe the system, I don't know if that is the same as formatting the system though(?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In CWM the option is format /system. Is wipe system an option in TWRP? And when you flashed the ROMs and the FCs show up, have you tried a factory data reset to clear all data?

Yes, in TWRP in the wipe options, (wipe system) is an option. I haven't gotten any FC's on the 4.3 roms i were flashing. Moar's rom is the main one i used after i got the replacement. Wicked's rom in recovery when I tried to flash would always say unable to mount \system. I can flash CM 11 nightlies fine, but they just have too many random reboots for my liking. I havent tried to factory reset after flashing a rom yet though.
kennyglass123 said:
In CWM the option is format /system. Is wipe system an option in TWRP? And when you flashed the ROMs and the FCs show up, have you tried a factory data reset to clear all data?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

cbond007 said:
Yes, in TWRP in the wipe options, (wipe system) is an option. I haven't gotten any FC's on the 4.3 roms i were flashing. Moar's rom is the main one i used after i got the replacement. Wicked's rom in recovery when I tried to flash would always say unable to mount \system. I can flash CM 11 nightlies fine, but they just have too many random reboots for my liking. I havent tried to factory reset after flashing a rom yet though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The thing is with Knox in the bootloader you are stuck with and the warranty bit in the secondary bootloader you need to stick with 4.3 and above ROMs as they include compatible kernels. Your options are more limited now than they were. If the Wicked ROM is 4.3 you might try flashing with CWM.

Cool. I will try it with CWM. This sucks because my replacement phone came with Knox already on it. I just wish CM 11 roms werent so buggy on my phone so I could stick with that. Thanks for all your help.
kennyglass123 said:
The thing is with Knox in the bootloader you are stuck with and the warranty bit in the secondary bootloader you need to stick with 4.3 and above ROMs as they include compatible kernels. Your options are more limited now than they were. If the Wicked ROM is 4.3 you might try flashing with CWM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

cbond007 said:
Cool. I will try it with CWM. This sucks because my replacement phone came with Knox already on it. I just wish CM 11 roms werent so buggy on my phone so I could stick with that. Thanks for all your help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would also suggest trying Philz Touch recovery instead of CWM or TWRP.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2446393
---------- Post added at 10:36 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:25 AM ----------
If you do decide to try Philz (highly recommended!), the option for wiping prior to a ROM install is under Wipe Data/Factory Reset and then choose "Clean to Install New ROM" this will take care of everything you need to start properly. CM11 has run flawlessly for me since its release in early December, but I also am Knox-free. I don't believe that should make a difference though, sounds more like you are not getting a good install, as @kennyglass123 is suggesting. Additionally, some users find that you need to let the ROM "settle in" before doing anything. This means flash just the ROM, and once it boots up don't do anything-no WiFi setup, no fiddling around with apps, nothing for a few minutes. Then, boot back into recovery, flash GApps, boot back into system, and let it sit for a few minutes more. Then, go ahead and setup WiFi connection, Google account, etc.

[Q] GAPPS stops responding after CWM restore

O.K. People, I kinda dropped off the map for a while and hadn't kept up with all the latest info but it appears I need some help. I'll try and drop the cliff notes version with as much data as I can here and see if anyone has some input for me:
I took the 4.3. O.T.A. and knox did just that..knocked me into the dirt. I was able to root and install custom recovery using CFAuto root and afterwards, disabled knox and reconfigured the stock ROM the way I wanted to. I reinstalled CWM and proceeded to create a backup of my 4.3 stock rooted rom. After the backup completed I proceeded to restore my backed up ROM as a sanity check to make sure all was well and it certainly wasn't.
When CWM restored my backup I rebooted, got back into the ROM w/out problems but as soon as I swiped to access the home screen I get the com process GAPPS has stopped responding....I get this over and over and over....I have to wipe caches and reset to factory default from CWM in order to get into the ROM w/out this message. Does anyone have any insight into what I might be doing wrong, i've never experienced this before and have had plenty of experience doing these backups and restores. I'm at a loss and I don't want to have to factory reset every time I want to restore the rom as I like to make changes, and customize the stock rooted rom. Please help. If you want version specifics and such let me know and I'll post them as they're needed, and thanks in advance!
P.S. Sig file needs to be updated....that's the version info from which I updated to 4.3
~Fred

gapps stops after cwm restore
Phederico said:
O.K. People, I kinda dropped off the map for a while and hadn't kept up with all the latest info but it appears I need some help. I'll try and drop the cliff notes version with as much data as I can here and see if anyone has some input for me:
I took the 4.3. O.T.A. and knox did just that..knocked me into the dirt. I was able to root and install custom recovery using CFAuto root and afterwards, disabled knox and reconfigured the stock ROM the way I wanted to. I reinstalled CWM and proceeded to create a backup of my 4.3 stock rooted rom. After the backup completed I proceeded to restore my backed up ROM as a sanity check to make sure all was well and it certainly wasn't.
When CWM restored my backup I rebooted, got back into the ROM w/out problems but as soon as I swiped to access the home screen I get the com process GAPPS has stopped responding....I get this over and over and over....I have to wipe caches and reset to factory default from CWM in order to get into the ROM w/out this message. Does anyone have any insight into what I might be doing wrong, i've never experienced this before and have had plenty of experience doing these backups and restores. I'm at a loss and I don't want to have to factory reset every time I want to restore the rom as I like to make changes, and customize the stock rooted rom. Please help. If you want version specifics and such let me know and I'll post them as they're needed, and thanks in advance!
P.S. Sig file needs to be updated....that's the version info from which I updated to 4.3
~Fred
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same issue. Did you find an answer?

psawood said:
I have the same issue. Did you find an answer?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NOPE...no one's said a word and I've just been rolling back to my last stock rooted ROM and then taking the O.T.A. then re-rooting whenever I do something stupid. LOL If you have an answer for me..or anyone does for that matter, I'd sure like to hear it!
P.S. sorry, gave up on this thread, so hadn't kept up on it...just now saw your post.
~Fred

I ran into this issue.
What I did is :
DL Rom Manager
Open Rom Manager
Fix Permissions
Boot into Recovery
Wipe Cache
Wipe Dalvik
Reboot
Haven't had the issue since.

[Q] Multiple problems after flashing Stock

Hello everyone,
After a long fight to try and get this phone back to normal, everything seemed good,
except not really
I started on a buggy CM11 version. Sick of it, I downloaded a 4.4.4 stock rom. I had to disable firewall and defender, but I got Odin to flash my md5. I got through everything and it booted successfully. After signing in and all that jazz, I find out that my WiFi isn't working. After a few reboots, My 4G finally works and everything seems to be steady.
Then, after exploring the rest of the phone I find out that all my apps from last ROM are still there. I know that you are supposed to wipe before flashing, but I was told that Odin will take care of that. It obviously didn't.
After THAT, I try to boot into Recovery as the next sensible step is to try to wipe my data and cache. I turn the phone off and press (Vol up + Home + Pwr) and the first boot screen shows for a moment. It says in blue "RECOVERY BOOTING" in the corner. Right after, it disappears and in another second it does the same screen without the "RECOVERY BOOTING". And as presumed, it does a regular boot.
What did I miss? How can I wipe my phone from recovery? How can I fix my problem with Wifi?

Reflash in Odin.
Make sure you have the correct stock rom. If you flash the "md5" you may have flashed the wrong thing. The md5 is not tge firmware, that is just the code that verifies your firmware file is not corrupted.
If your old apps were still there, you flashed the wrong thing. There is no way to flash stock firmware in odin and not wipe the data partition.

You are correct then
Yeah, I flashed a tar.md5 in Odin. It gave me a new ROM but all my apps are there. After all that, I still can't go to recovery. I tried using the terminal and ROM Toolbox to go there, both didn't work. Can I just leave it as it is and find a way to recovery or is the only way to go to bootloader and flash a correct file to get to recovery?

Flash twrp and see if it will reboot into recovery, then factory reset and flash latest firmware with Odin right after. Odin will NOT wipe data. It has to be done manually

serio22 said:
Flash twrp and see if it will reboot into recovery, then factory reset and flash latest firmware with Odin right after. Odin will NOT wipe data. It has to be done manually
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It depends on what you ate flashing.
If you are flashing a full stock factory image it will wipe user data. If you are just flashing a system partition it won't.

Essem G said:
Hello everyone,
After a long fight to try and get this phone back to normal, everything seemed good,
except not really
I started on a buggy CM11 version. Sick of it, I downloaded a 4.4.4 stock rom. I had to disable firewall and defender, but I got Odin to flash my md5. I got through everything and it booted successfully. After signing in and all that jazz, I find out that my WiFi isn't working. After a few reboots, My 4G finally works and everything seems to be steady.
Then, after exploring the rest of the phone I find out that all my apps from last ROM are still there. I know that you are supposed to wipe before flashing, but I was told that Odin will take care of that. It obviously didn't.
After THAT, I try to boot into Recovery as the next sensible step is to try to wipe my data and cache. I turn the phone off and press (Vol up + Home + Pwr) and the first boot screen shows for a moment. It says in blue "RECOVERY BOOTING" in the corner. Right after, it disappears and in another second it does the same screen without the "RECOVERY BOOTING". And as presumed, it does a regular boot.
What did I miss? How can I wipe my phone from recovery? How can I fix my problem with Wifi?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fkash twrp and format system, data, cache and preload and install a deodexed stock os

g7755725 said:
Fkash twrp and format system, data, cache and preload and install a deodexed stock os
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also this. This gives you more control over the whole process

Skipjacks said:
Also this. This gives you more control over the whole process
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do I know whatever I download is deodexed? And I went to a page of ROMs someone gave me and I downloaded the NK2 version, which also gave me a tar.md5. If I want the correct thing to flash, what should I flash?

Essem G said:
How do I know whatever I download is deodexed? And I went to a page of ROMs someone gave me and I downloaded the NK2 version, which also gave me a tar.md5. If I want the correct thing to flash, what should I flash?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The first post of any customized stock rom will tell you if its deodexed. If it doesn't say it...its not.

@Essem G:
Any updates for us? I'm following this thread because I have similar problems with my WiFi not working after upgrading from 4.2.2.
Any luck getting TWRP flashed?
Also I believe that the stock firmwares do come as tar.md5's, as in the file: M919UVUFNK2_M919TMBFNK2_M919UVUFNK2_HOME.tar.md5 from ShinySide's stock firmware thread.
As for the WiFi issue, from the hours of reading I've done it looks like this problem occurs when you upgrade your firmware, but it no longer matches the bootloader. Such as bootloader (Baseband) showing MDL, but Build Number showing NH7, NK2, etc. What does your show?
This thread may be of use to you when you get back to a working ROM. Good luck!

@RavenMind1
Everyone has been saying different answers and i've put off fixing my device for a while. I'm just afraid i'll brick it forever and have another nightmare after this current one. So no, there has been no progress. I think i'm gonna try to flash Philz and format my system, then flash a deodexed rom. @g7755725 said that you can flash TWRP, but I usually use Philz. It appears to be that I have lost root access because no root features work and SuperSU won't recognize it. Will everything work or am I setting my self up for disaster?
Edit: Where can I find a deodexed rom? I desperately need one, thanks

Essem G said:
@RavenMind1
Everyone has been saying different answers and i've put off fixing my device for a while. I'm just afraid i'll brick it forever and have another nightmare after this current one. So no, there has been no progress. I think i'm gonna try to flash Philz and format my system, then flash a deodexed rom. @g7755725 said that you can flash TWRP, but I usually use Philz. It appears to be that I have lost root access because no root features work and SuperSU won't recognize it. Will everything work or am I setting my self up for disaster?
Edit: Where can I find a deodexed rom? I desperately need one, thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look in the forums for deodexed rom theirs a bunch and untouched as well i had philz but it eoukdnt boot my s4 so i had to switch to twrp because it does better then any recovery

g7755725 said:
Look in the forums for deodexed rom theirs a bunch and untouched as well i had philz but it eoukdnt boot my s4 so i had to switch to twrp because it does better then any recovery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the support so far, but has this problem occured before? do you think the steps i've listed will solve this? Im just trying to make sure that I know exactly what to do before I go in. Thanks

Essem G said:
Thanks for the support so far, but has this problem occured before? do you think the steps i've listed will solve this? Im just trying to make sure that I know exactly what to do before I go in. Thanks[/Q] it should
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

@g7755725 I downloaded a deodexed rom from the SkipJacks guy (different page than what you sent me) and it's a little under 9MB... how could this possibly be a ROM?

Essem G said:
@g7755725 I downloaded a deodexed rom from the SkipJacks guy (different page than what you sent me) and it's a little under 9MB... how could this possibly be a ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried my gamerrom Ultimate 1 its basically stock touchwiz of if Official NK2 M919UVUFNK2 with stweaks and no bloatware here is the thread gru 1 is in.the botyom of the thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4-tmobile/development/stock-os-gamerrom-ultimate-2-touchwiz-t3078467

Sounds cool but i would have been interested a few months ago. I'm trying to sell the phone so I need to get it back to stock. Appreciate all the help and I think it's cool that you make ROMs

Essem G said:
Sounds cool but i would have been interested a few months ago. I'm trying to sell the phone so I need to get it back to stock. Appreciate all the help and I think it's cool that you make ROMs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're trying to go back to complete stock then just Odin NK2 firmware. http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4-tmobile/general/firmwares-official-mdl-mk2-nb4-t2816508 I used the NK2 from here about 2 days ago to go back to stock.