I have a Hungarian N7105 which randomly reboots - it's been doing it since the day I took it out of the box. I've done the usual cache clear, and no change. It's running stock 4.1.2 (XXDMB2).
Samsung's warranty advice is to update it to the latest version before sending it in, and indeed some forum comments suggest that a later ROM will fix the reboot problem. However, if I do that, presumably I will activate Knox? I'd rather not do that because I might want to flash something else later on.
So is there a way I can flash something like CyanogenMod instead in a way that will leave no traces if I have to send it in for warranty? I'd be going straight from 4.1 so will I avoid tripping the Knox fuses? To revert to stock afterwards this presumably means reflashing the recovery to be stock, locking the bootloader again and unrooting? Is this all possible?
I've been reading dozens of threads and am a bit confused by the combinations of Knox, warranty, 4.1, bootloader unlock, rooting and third-party firmware, how they all relate with each other, and how to unpick everything back to stock.
Thanks...
Related
AFAIK nobody has asked anything about KNOX on the T999, so I have a few things I want to know before updating my phone to 4.3.
I bought my phone off-contract at full price and its flash counter has already been incremented many times from rooting, so I obviously don't care about setting the "KNOX warranty void" flag either, nor the enterprise-grade security features KNOX provides.
However, there is a rumor that once the KNOX warranty void flag is set to 0x1 you can't upgrade the ROM anymore, not even via Odin. Is this actually true? I know you can't OTA unless you're stock, but I don't care about OTA since I'd just upgrade via Odin anyways. But the fact you can't even upgrade via Odin seems a bit far-fetched.
Another variant of this rumor that seems more believable is that updating to a KNOX-enabled ROM also updates the bootloader to a KNOX-enabled variant, and that you can't upgrade to new KNOX-enabled ROMs if you decide to downgrade to a non-KNOX ROM after the bootloader has been updated. But if I never downgrade, can I continue to install updates, assuming Samsung releases ROMs for the S3 after 4.3?
Can anyone shed some light on this?
I somehow can't trust the first one. However the second one sounds more plausible. Anyway doc Holliday has removed KNOX from the most recent leaked Stock Rom. So this question becomes moot really.
Perseus71 said:
I somehow can't trust the first one.
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Click to collapse
Which is exactly why I asked this. I just wanted some more opinion.
Perseus71 said:
Anyway doc Holliday has removed KNOX from the most recent leaked Stock Rom.
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Click to collapse
And does this also mean that the bootloader isn't KNOX-enabled?
jim45 said:
Which is exactly why I asked this. I just wanted some more opinion.
And does this also mean that the bootloader isn't KNOX-enabled?
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Click to collapse
I don't think so. I flashed that Leak to test out the features. Afterwards flashed back my regular AOSP Rom.
NOTE - With the Leak, some reported that the Bootloader didn't get updated. I explicitly asked as well. If you are concerned with Knox'd Bootloader, you can Flash back UVDMD5 Bootloader too!
Here's what I know so far.
First, we do not have to worry about the Knox counter. One of my sources sent me a pic of their download mode and it was not there.
Second, I have reliable doubts that our official release will NOT include Knox. It's only included now for ease of using the same builds across multiple devices during internal testing.
Third, the bootloader is not included in any of the leaks. I do have a copy of it and have been considering releasing a recovery flashable firmware update, but haven't decided yet if I want to do this.
One of my sources ran into a problem at one point and soft bricked. Samsung simply connected remotely and flashed the firmware via Odin.
As for not being able to downgrade or flash certain things, I do not think this is the case at all. If you do something Knox doesn't like, it will lock down the secure containers it uses and you will not be able to regain access. I do not belie e it will restrict you from flashing something else, old or new, firmware or Rom, etc.
There is still a lot I do not know about it, but the information is out there. I stopped putting time into it when I found we probably won't need to worry about it anyway.
A quick Google search will net you more info, but if you really want an education on it I'd suggest visiting the S4 and Note3 forums. S4 users have been dealing with Knox longer than anyone, and the Note3 is the first device to ship with it fully implemented.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk
Phone was lost, just got replacement this morning.
My last S4 had been rooted running custom firmware for months w/o issue.
Read through a bunch of threads, ranging from the opinion that the bootloader change + knox wont be a big issue to the sky is falling.
Is it recommended to root my phone at this time, I do have JUMP and would be replacing it once something better comes out? The phone is running 4.2.2, caught it trying to update to already.
Thanks.. I know this may seem redundant but haven't been active on these boards since I got my CFW going. Not seeking help in flashing or anything.. just advice
skrewler said:
Phone was lost, just got replacement this morning.
My last S4 had been rooted running custom firmware for months w/o issue.
Read through a bunch of threads, ranging from the opinion that the bootloader change + knox wont be a big issue to the sky is falling.
Is it recommended to root my phone at this time, I do have JUMP and would be replacing it once something better comes out? The phone is running 4.2.2, caught it trying to update to already.
Thanks.. I know this may seem redundant but haven't been active on these boards since I got my CFW going. Not seeking help in flashing or anything.. just advice
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Up to you. If the stock rom is bearable and you wanna run the 4.3 stock rom then by all means, go for it.
skrewler said:
Phone was lost, just got replacement this morning.
My last S4 had been rooted running custom firmware for months w/o issue.
Read through a bunch of threads, ranging from the opinion that the bootloader change + knox wont be a big issue to the sky is falling.
Is it recommended to root my phone at this time, I do have JUMP and would be replacing it once something better comes out? The phone is running 4.2.2, caught it trying to update to already.
Thanks.. I know this may seem redundant but haven't been active on these boards since I got my CFW going. Not seeking help in flashing or anything.. just advice
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Being that your'e using the T-Mobile M919, the whole KNOX bootloader situation doesn't pertain to you as long as you're sure you're on 4.2.2. Root it, flash it, theme it with Hello Kitty... whatever, it doesn't matter; you can still revert back to stock and reset any tripped counters. 4.3 is when the problems begin and the KNOX counter is implemented and can't be reset.
lordcheeto03 said:
Being that your'e using the T-Mobile M919, the whole KNOX bootloader situation doesn't pertain to you as long as you're sure you're on 4.2.2. Root it, flash it, theme it with Hello Kitty... whatever, it doesn't matter; you can still revert back to stock and reset any tripped counters. 4.3 is when the problems begin and the KNOX counter is implemented and can't be reset.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I second this.
SO LONG AS YOU ARE ON 4.2.2
- You can root flash do whatever, theme with hello kitty or barbie xD like lordcheeto said or keep it stock
- Install recovery and flash away.
- Will always be able to revert back to 100 percent stock
TAKE 4.3 UPDATE
- I think you are still able to root it without tripping knox counter. Can't remember the last status of that was. But as long as you root it without a custom recovery, i think you are ok. From what i can remember, the bootloader checks the recovery status and trips the knox counter based off the recovery that is on the device. If its different then stock, it trips. But double check with Google about this first.
- If you trip knox counter, you will NEVER (as of now and possibly forever) get it back to zero.
Rooting with safe root won't trip knox and also disables it. But recoveries, kernels, roms, etc will trip the flag
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk
Root it with chain fire and never look back.
You're on 4.22, so you're golden. Just flash a rooted stock ROM that's on 4.3 and you'll avoid Knox.
I'm running 4.4.2 and never seen this Knox stuff.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
elesbb said:
- I think you are still able to root it without tripping knox counter. Can't remember the last status of that was. But as long as you root it without a custom recovery, i think you are ok.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ShinySide said:
Rooting with safe root won't trip knox and also disables it. But recoveries, kernels, roms, etc will trip the flag
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct. I've rooted my my second GS4G on 4.3 MK2 and it did not trip the KNOX counter. If you're still on 4.2.2 MDL, then there is no need to update your bootloader. Simply flash ROMs through recovery and flash the 4.3 modem. You will have the goodness of 4.3 on KNOX-less 4.2.2 bootloader. :highfive:
Hello everybody,
My current device is a Captivate, and I'm thinking about upgrading to an i747. After doing some research in the forums I found out about knox, but find it a little bit confusing, let's see..
1) Has there been any known cases of devices that were shipped with a knox bootloader?
2) In a i747, what does a knox bootloader look like in Download Mode (as opposite to a non-knox one, does it say knox warranty void or something else?)
3) This is where I'm most confused. If you've got a knox bootloader, then you can't downgrade it, and can't flash anything except for new official otas? would anything except the ota void it? can you flash CM11 for example? and if it's void, that means that it's a hard brick? or does it still work? Can you go foward if it's void (again, like cm11)?
4) Let's say the one I get comes with 4.0, I can root and move freely between CM and stock as long as I don't flash 4.3?
I also have the option to go for a S4 Mini, but given it has the same issue and similar hw.. love the S3 screen
Thanks in advance!
Samsung s3, s4, Note 3, etc. that shipped with 4.3 will include Knox.
If the device shipped with Knox, you will see something like warranty bit in the text at the top of the download screen.
If you have a knox bootloader, you cannot downgrade to an earlier bootloader but you can still install a custom recovery and custom ROMs which voids the warranty but does not brick the phone.You can flash any ROM you want with a 4.3 Knox bootloader as long as the ROM does not try to flash a new bootloader.
If you have a stock 4.3 phone and try to load anything that is not official Samsung software, it will trigger the knox counter (change from 0 to 1 or 0x0 to 0x1) and void your warranty. At the moment, there is no way to reset the knox counter to 0.
Yes, if you get a 4.04 phone, you can install a custom recovery, custom ROM, and move freely among custom ROMs if these ROMs are support but the installed bootloader.
I have done all of this with an i747m (Bell version of the s3).
That's crystal clear, I was confused and thought that if you had knox and flashed anything else over it it would brick... but I see now, just avoid bootloaders.
Thanks!
Hello,
I haven't been here in so long. After reading through the forum I am a little confused.
I am on stock 4.1.2, rooted, and using CW recovery.
I see all the discussion about not updating to 4.3, but I'm not sure if what I have read is up to date or not.
Is there still a problem updating to 4.3? KNOX?
How should I update to 4.3? Do it need to undo root and go back to stock recovery? I'm not sure how to do this. I have used custom ROMS in the past but it's been too long.
Also, it seems that rooting 4.3 is no problem. Is this true?
Thanks,
rblancrt
rblancrt said:
Hello,
I haven't been here in so long. After reading through the forum I am a little confused.
I am on stock 4.1.2, rooted, and using CW recovery.
I see all the discussion about not updating to 4.3, but I'm not sure if what I have read is up to date or not.
Is there still a problem updating to 4.3? KNOX?
How should I update to 4.3? Do it need to undo root and go back to stock recovery? I'm not sure how to do this. I have used custom ROMS in the past but it's been too long.
Also, it seems that rooting 4.3 is no problem. Is this true?
Thanks,
rblancrt
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure, you can upgrade to 4.3 if you want to
the reason why people said not to upgrade to 4.3 is because a lot of people DO NOT READ and come asking for help this or that after they upgrade
and the main reason why people mention not to upgrade is because you can unlock for free as long as you can downgrade your phone to 4.1.1, mainly the bootloader since 4.3 bootloader comes with KNOX
since you're still on 4.1.2, you can downgrade and unlock your phone for free while you still can before upgrading it to 4.3
so this is what you should do, check, if your phone is fully unlocked, if not, unlock it then upgrade
or if you're rich and you don't care, just upgrade and then if you wish to unlock later, pay for unlock code =D
and rooting shouldn't be any problem regardless of which version of android you're on.
to upgrade, you can just download the stock img and flash it through recovery or just use odin flash it
or if you're prefer the old fashion way, the long way in fact, is to unroot, upgrade through system update
I would say don't upgrade. The new bootloader has a warranty bit (aka the Knox counter) that, once tripped, can't be reset. Ever. By anyone. The ONLY way I would even consider upgrading is if you need Knox security for work (the majority of us don't). I wouldn't even upgrade if I were selling the device. Let the new owner make that decision for themself. But, I would unlock it. Even if you never need it, it may add a few bucks to the selling price of the phone later on.
mrhaley30705 said:
I would say don't upgrade. The new bootloader has a warranty bit (aka the Knox counter) that, once tripped, can't be reset. Ever. By anyone. The ONLY way I would even consider upgrading is if you need Knox security for work (the majority of us don't). I wouldn't even upgrade if I were selling the device. Let the new owner make that decision for themself. But, I would unlock it. Even if you never need it, it may add a few bucks to the selling price of the phone later on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But what exactly is the effect of this Knox counter. If it's only that I can't reflash a stock ROM and send it back to Samsung that time has long passed.
I guess I'm getting bored with my phone, had it almost two years, and thought updating to the latest firmware might help.
What are the repercussions of going to 4.3 or higher?
Thanks again for the great info.
If you are out of warranty, the only drawback, imo, to updating is you cannot downgrade the firmware or modem. You could still flash older roms and kernels, just not the full firmware and not the modem.
Personally, I wouldn't let knox deter me from updating, or recommending it. This is for each person to decide, but I feel the benefits outweigh any drawbacks. knox is easily removed or disabled, and I find the latest builds to be some of the best in terms of performance and battery. (of course there are always some who disagree with that on every update!) of course there are no guarantees, but most seem to be quite happy with both 4.3 and 4.4.2.
As for downgrading.....I have never found a real need for doing so. Some have though, so thats something you need to decide for yourself.
You can try some of the available roms w/o updating the firmware btw. But if you decide you like them, I do suggest going back and fully updating for stability and performance, but thats something for you to decide if you want to go that route.
There will be some who agree and some who do not, so in the end its up to you make an educated decision whether or not you want to.
NOOB alert!
Please forgive me in advance if this question is totally off the mark.
I've been using Fenny's 4.4.2 ROM for a while, under the impression that it is MDL based and I'd still be able to flash back to stock 4.2 if needed, and set the flash count back to 0 -- i.e. keep the warranty.
If I'm totally wrong and my warranty is already voided, can any of you let me know? I can then begin playing with custom roms to my heart's content!
If I was right ... anyway to enjoy any 4.4.4 ROM without voiding the warranty (i.e. with the ability to move back to something which will not have tripped the switch)? If yes, where can I find that info, or can you post detailed instructions?
[I've read that if I switch to MK2 there is no way to keep the warranty if I root. That true? I see many roms claiming to have removes knox ... does that help? ]
I thank you in advance for bearing with me.
It all depends which boot loader your phone has.
If your phone was on the 4.2 MDL firmware, it has no Knox counter active, and you can flash away without making any permanent changes. Note, the firmware on the phone isn't the same as the ROM... for example, I'm using a 4.4.4 ROM (Dirty Unicorns) on my phone which still has the 4.2 MDL firmware. So, if I wanted to, I could return it to stock and there would be no sign it ever was used in a nonstandard way.
However, any newer firmware version on the phone has the Knox counter that gets permanently, irreversibly tripped if you flash a nonstandard recovery (such as the TWRP or CWM most of us use). So, in these phones, there's no way to play with ROMs without making irreversible changes.
Marc