Develop Bugs

problem with unrooting. please help.

I unrooted my S3 by running triangle away to reset the counter and then installing mobile odin and flashing the stock rom from sammobile.com. After flashing I did a factory reset to wipe out the apps (I.e. SuperSU).
The issue is that now in download mode it shows that there is a custom rom and the count is one. I understand that this will void my warranty. However it is no longer rooted so how can I wipe out that counter so I can send my phone in for a warranty claim?

jim.thornton said:
I unrooted my S3 by running triangle away to reset the counter and then installing mobile odin and flashing the stock rom from sammobile.com. After flashing I did a factory reset to wipe out the apps (I.e. SuperSU).
The issue is that now in download mode it shows that there is a custom rom and the count is one. I understand that this will void my warranty. However it is no longer rooted so how can I wipe out that counter so I can send my phone in for a warranty claim?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flashing stock triggers the counter, it's normal. It's their update and should be fine. If they ask questions (highly doubt they will), you just say that you updated your firmware.

You would need to reroot and run triangle away again, but you should use the desktop odin to keep from changing the flash counter again.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium

I believe mobile Odin unroot triggers the flash counter. As mentioned above, use desktop Odin.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

BWolf56 said:
Flashing stock triggers the counter, it's normal. It's their update and should be fine. If they ask questions (highly doubt they will), you just say that you updated your firmware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just curious if you have ever sent in a phone with the flash counter like this.
I just got a response back from Samsung that they will not cover the warranty repair because it was rooted. I completely removed root by using the following steps:
1. Installed Trianagle Away and reset to 0
2. Installed mobile odin and flashed sammobile stock firmware
3. Did a factory reset to wipe out all apps.
They still came back and knew it was rooted. I couldn't use the desktop version of odin because my cable wasn't working correctly and could have easily lost connection and bricked my device.
Please advise if there is anything I can do now.

jim.thornton said:
Just curious if you have ever sent in a phone with the flash counter like this.
I just got a response back from Samsung that they will not cover the warranty repair because it was rooted. I completely removed root by using the following steps:
1. Installed Trianagle Away and reset to 0
2. Installed mobile odin and flashed sammobile stock firmware
3. Did a factory reset to wipe out all apps.
They still came back and knew it was rooted. I couldn't use the desktop version of odin because my cable wasn't working correctly and could have easily lost connection and bricked my device.
Please advise if there is anything I can do now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flashing with mobile odin triggers the flash counter, therefor, they knew you used another way than theirs to flash the update. I'm not so sure what can be done from there. Maybe you can call them and make up some story, not sure.

Is there any other way to flash their stock rom? I'm running linux... I couldn't use the USB cable because I wasn't getting a PC connection so is there any way to flash a rom without the USB cable? I could tell them I did that. Or, is there any way to root a device without the USB cable. I could tell them that I followed a guide online to flash their stock rom.

[Q] Restoring S3 to factory condition?

Hi everyone,
I have a Bell GS3 that I'm going to be selling to pay for a GS4 upgrade. I have it rooted and running Liquidsmooth, I'd like to restore it so it's like it came from factory. I have the I747MVLDLK4_I747MOYCDLK4_BMC file along with the Odin flashing program. I know there's something about tripping a flash counter, is there a way to check if it's been activated and if so reset it? I have an extended warranty on the phone so if the person does need a repair will not have to deal with certain problems.
I'd appreciate any help.

Your flash counter most likely has been tripped. I'm pretty sure the only way not to trip it is to use the root injected odin files. As soon as you install custom recovery and boot into the recovery the counter will be tripped though.
Here is how I have done the process.
Factory reset device.
Install triangle away to reset the counter
boot into download mode to flash stock firmware with odin.
If coming from a cm based Rom I find it best to restore/flash a touchwiz Rom first then factory reset, triangle away, Odin.
Hope that helps
Sent from my SGH-I747

Thanks for the reply. I may be misreading what you posted, are you saying that once it's been tripped there's no way to actually go back completely?
I'll do the steps like you suggested. Thank you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzydHUG7XZE

EGM92 said:
Thanks for the reply. I may be misreading what you posted, are you saying that once it's been tripped there's no way to actually go back completely?
I'll do the steps like you suggested. Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you use triangle away before you flash stock it will be the same as it was before you rooted = 0 counter. You can root with the root injected stock images and keep the counter intact. Once you install a custom recovery it will trip your counter.
It doesn't matter to someone who flashes roms if the counter is tripped until you need to sell or return for warranty. Triangle away before flashing stock will reset the counter and give you stock with a clean counter and ready to sell/return for service.
Sent from my SGH-I747

Thanks for the help guys, really appreciate it.

[Q] Stupid question, because I am bone head!

I recently re-flashed my phone because I was unable to get it back to stock un-rooted so I could get the latest 4.4 update. Someone suggested using Triangle Away to reset my flash counter in order to show my phone was 'not modified'. I purchased Triangle Away installed etc, but it had a stern warning that resetting my flash counter could "hard brick" my phone.
I attempted to use the temporary disable of SU for OTA within Triangle Away to unroot my phone and apply the update, unfortunately the update didn't work and now I can not undo put back SU as enabled. My phone is unrooted without the ability to undo that feature in Triangle Away.
Question, is there a way to fix this with Triangle Away? Am I missing something or do I have to reflash my phone again?
Why would an app like Triangle Away have a feature within it's app that could cause this to happen and not a way to back out of it.
I hope someone can help me with this.:crying:

bigmtnskier said:
I recently re-flashed my phone because I was unable to get it back to stock un-rooted so I could get the latest 4.4 update. Someone suggested using Triangle Away to reset my flash counter in order to show my phone was 'not modified'. I purchased Triangle Away installed etc, but it had a stern warning that resetting my flash counter could "hard brick" my phone.
I attempted to use the temporary disable of SU for OTA within Triangle Away to unroot my phone and apply the update, unfortunately the update didn't work and now I can not undo put back SU as enabled. My phone is unrooted without the ability to undo that feature in Triangle Away.
Question, is there a way to fix this with Triangle Away? Am I missing something or do I have to reflash my phone again?
Why would an app like Triangle Away have a feature within it's app that could cause this to happen and not a way to back out of it.
I hope someone can help me with this.:crying:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe I should ask the question more simply:
How do I re-ROOT my phone without flashing? Is that possible?

bigmtnskier said:
Maybe I should ask the question more simply:
How do I re-ROOT my phone without flashing? Is that possible?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do u still have a custom recovery? If so, maybe flash the team epic root from recovery zip?

DMF1977 said:
Do u still have a custom recovery? If so, maybe flash the team epic root from recovery zip?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do have a custom recovery, TWRP. I think I have it running again and rooted, what I did was re-install Busybox and rebooted into recovery, then rebooted back into the System and then it seemed to work fine. Not sure if I will brave Triangle Away again, but thank you for responding and offering a good suggestion.:good:

bigmtnskier said:
I purchased Triangle Away installed etc, but it had a stern warning that resetting my flash counter could "hard brick" my phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you reset your flash counter? As far as I know this was put in place by the developer to warn people...Of knowing what they are doing before hand. This warning is mainly in place to try and make people read to see if their phone model is supported.
To the best of my knowledge, no one has hard bricked their phone on any of the I747(m) models using this app. This feature does work as I have used it multiple times.
And what update our ROM are you installing? You said 4.4... I used ODIN to restore back to complete stock 4.1.1 (not rooted, stock recovery included) and the OTA update to stock 4.1.2 went without a hitch. I used CF Auto Root (via ODIN) to root and then installed a custom recovery.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747

aybarrap1 said:
Did you reset your flash counter? As far as I know this was put in place by the developer to warn people...Of knowing what they are doing before hand. This warning is mainly in place to try and make people read to see if their phone model is supported.
To the best of my knowledge, no one has hard bricked their phone on any of the I747(m) models using this app. This feature does work as I have used it multiple times.
And what update our ROM are you installing? You said 4.4... I used ODIN to restore back to complete stock 4.1.1 (not rooted, stock recovery included) and the OTA update to stock 4.1.2 went without a hitch. I used CF Auto Root (via ODIN) to root and then installed a custom recovery.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was attempting to do the OTA to go from 4.0.4 ICS to 4.1.x Jellybean. BTW, I was able to re-set my count to 0! Thank you for the reassurance!

bigmtnskier said:
I was attempting to do the OTA to go from 4.0.4 ICS to 4.1.x Jellybean. BTW, I was able to re-set my count to 0! Thank you for the reassurance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would highly recommend flashing the pure stock 4.1.1 rom (including stock recovery) and then do the OTA. The 4.1.2 stock rom might be available through KIES or through other sites by now, but I can't say for certain. Since you are already using ODIN, then CF auto root will be a breeze for you to root 4.1.2.
No worries. I was a little nervous too about Triangle Away at first but searching did not net anything saying that reseting the flash counter had hard bricked someone's phone. That is what pushed me to use it.

aybarrap1 said:
I would highly recommend flashing the pure stock 4.1.1 rom (including stock recovery) and then do the OTA. The 4.1.2 stock rom might be available through KIES or through other sites by now, but I can't say for certain. Since you are already using ODIN, then CF auto root will be a breeze for you to root 4.1.2.
No worries. I was a little nervous too about Triangle Away at first but searching did not net anything saying that reseting the flash counter had hard bricked someone's phone. That is what pushed me to use it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I blew out Kies on my main machine because it doesn't work well, I had to re-set all my USB ports and re-install the Samsung USB drivers so no Kies for me. But where do I find a stock 4.1.1 rom from? My stock version is 4.0.4 (the original ROM when the S3 was released), I wonder if I can just use a custom 4.1.1 ROM instead or do you think it would work if I unroot/stock to 4.0.4 then OTA to 4.1.2?

bigmtnskier said:
I blew out Kies on my main machine because it doesn't work well, I had to re-set all my USB ports and re-install the Samsung USB drivers so no Kies for me. But where do I find a stock 4.1.1 rom from? My stock version is 4.0.4 (the original ROM when the S3 was released), I wonder if I can just use a custom 4.1.1 ROM instead or do you think it would work if I unroot/stock to 4.0.4 then OTA to 4.1.2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1968625
Flash in Odin..

bigmtnskier said:
I blew out Kies on my main machine because it doesn't work well, I had to re-set all my USB ports and re-install the Samsung USB drivers so no Kies for me. But where do I find a stock 4.1.1 rom from? My stock version is 4.0.4 (the original ROM when the S3 was released), I wonder if I can just use a custom 4.1.1 ROM instead or do you think it would work if I unroot/stock to 4.0.4 then OTA to 4.1.2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To ensure best results use ODIN to flash the stock ROM to 4.1.1. You should return the phone stock as if you just purchased from the store new. Then do the OTA. You can use ODIN after that to root with CF Auto root.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747

TWRP and the warranty counter

Hey guys I was wonderng if using this app will trip the counter to 1? Or are there other ways to install custom recovery that won't trip the counter?

far as i know any custom recovery. ie twrp, cwm, philz, will all trip counter. stock won't but any others will.

OvrDriVE said:
far as i know any custom recovery. ie twrp, cwm, philz, will all trip counter. stock won't but any others will.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what's stock recovery? oh crap, is stuck recovery available all the time? Like if you messsed up bad on a ROM flash, you can go into stock recovery and restore your system?
Or is that only possible through custom recovery?

the one that comes installed on the phone. i'm not sure if using the twrp app will trip it if you use it to install a custom rom but i do know if you install any recovery other then the stock recovery it will trip it
custom is required to fix a bad flash. it can't be done from stock recovery

OvrDriVE said:
the one that comes installed on the phone. i'm not sure if using the twrp app will trip it if you use it to install a custom rom but i do know if you install any recovery other then the stock recovery it will trip it
custom is required to fix a bad flash. it can't be done from stock recovery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
even if that flash doesn't replace/affect original BL?

edo101 said:
even if that flash doesn't replace/affect original BL?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what is it exactly that your trying to do. i assume it's not pop your warrenty counter. i also assume your on 4.3. from my own personal experience installing a custom rom kind of requires a custom recovery as you will want to do a backup. i also suggest using an app called samsungtool v 2.0 to backup your efs partition just in case. instructions related to installing a custom rom can be found in any rom thread on here. for the most part it's the same for every rom with exception to a few. but again you do all this on your own. btw this will pop your warrenty counter but if your sure about what your doing and your warrenty is up. might as well pop it.

OvrDriVE said:
what is it exactly that your trying to do. i assume it's not pop your warrenty counter. i also assume your on 4.3. from my own personal experience installing a custom rom kind of requires a custom recovery as you will want to do a backup. i also suggest using an app called samsungtool v 2.0 to backup your efs partition just in case. instructions related to installing a custom rom can be found in any rom thread on here. for the most part it's the same for every rom with exception to a few. but again you do all this on your own. btw this will pop your warrenty counter but if your sure about what your doing and your warrenty is up. might as well pop it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah I bought the phone used heavily on eBay, I guess I want to make it look like i never rooted it, in the future when I want to sell it or however much I can get it (phone is kinda beat up)
What I want to do is install Sky Note Air on my 4.1.2 BL without going to 4.3 BL (I hate that thing with all the stories I've heard). I wonder if I can flash Sky Air with TWRP or if I need Mobile Odin in order to do it without touching my BL?

edo101 said:
yeah I bought the phone used heavily on eBay, I guess I want to make it look like i never rooted it, in the future when I want to sell it or however much I can get it (phone is kinda beat up)
What I want to do is install Sky Note Air on my 4.1.2 BL without going to 4.3 BL (I hate that thing with all the stories I've heard). I wonder if I can flash Sky Air with TWRP or if I need Mobile Odin in order to do it without touching my BL?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
as long as the rom your trying to flash isn't a 4.3 rom you should be good on the counter. flash counter can be reset with triangle away and the warrenty counter only gets poped on 4.3 roms. 4.1.2 and 4.1.1 are fine. flash a custom recovery and flash any older rom and you should be fine

OvrDriVE said:
as long as the rom your trying to flash isn't a 4.3 rom you should be good on the counter. flash counter can be reset with triangle away and the warrenty counter only gets poped on 4.3 roms. 4.1.2 and 4.1.1 are fine. flash a custom recovery and flash any older rom and you should be fine
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OH yeah the Sky Note Air is a 4.3 ROM I just want to put it on a 4.1.2 BL

not sure that'll work then

OvrDriVE said:
what is it exactly that your trying to do. i assume it's not pop your warrenty counter. i also assume your on 4.3. from my own personal experience installing a custom rom kind of requires a custom recovery as you will want to do a backup. i also suggest using an app called samsungtool v 2.0 to backup your efs partition just in case. instructions related to installing a custom rom can be found in any rom thread on here. for the most part it's the same for every rom with exception to a few. but again you do all this on your own. btw this will pop your warrenty counter but if your sure about what your doing and your warrenty is up. might as well pop it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what is the efs partition?

efs holds all your t-mobile settings. or at&t or whichever company you go through. backing it up is just a precautionary thing. you do it just in case it gets messed up so you can restore it
i found the program i mentioned works and can restore it from your backed up file so

Flashing almost any custom ROM will increment the flash counter on any GN2. If you have the Knox bootloader it will also pop the Knox warranty bit.
The flash counter can be reset by using triangle away. No biggie. Knox can't be reset at this time. I avoid doing anything that would install the 4.3 Knox enabled bootloader it at all possible. If I need to return to stock for whatever reason I simple flash MrRobinson's root66 ROM (stock plus root) and triangle away my flash counter clean then unroot my phone to stock. No way to tell I was not on official firmware with it.
TWRP is not an application. It is a custom recovery like CWM etc. It can functionally do anything the stock recovery can and more. You have to use a custom recovery to flash a custom ROM on the gn2 with very few exceptions.
Stock recovery can be restored via an Odin flash of root66 or the Sammy stock ROM. I usually do root66 so triangle away can clean up the counter and still have stock recovery so as to avoid incrementing the counter after clearing it.
Hastily spouted for your befuddlement

Coug76 said:
Flashing almost any custom ROM will increment the flash counter on any GN2. If you have the Knox bootloader it will also pop the Knox warranty bit.
The flash counter can be reset by using triangle away. No biggie. Knox can't be reset at this time. I avoid doing anything that would install the 4.3 Knox enabled bootloader it at all possible. If I need to return to stock for whatever reason I simple flash MrRobinson's root66 ROM (stock plus root) and triangle away my flash counter clean then unroot my phone to stock. No way to tell I was not on official firmware with it.
TWRP is not an application. It is a custom recovery like CWM etc. It can functionally do anything the stock recovery can and more. You have to use a custom recovery to flash a custom ROM on the gn2 with very few exceptions.
Stock recovery can be restored via an Odin flash of root66 or the Sammy stock ROM. I usually do root66 so triangle away can clean up the counter and still have stock recovery so as to avoid incrementing the counter after clearing it.
Hastily spouted for your befuddlement
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any tips as to why my 4G Modem is not working with the Sky Note 4.3 based ROM. Everything else is working except for the modem. I'm still on 4.1.2 BL it looks like (not sure how to check) but my mobile stuff is in tact. It just says mobile network state (disconnected) but all my phone info is correct. It even still has my MetroPCS/Tmo as my Network

edo101 said:
Any tips as to why my 4G Modem is not working with the Sky Note 4.3 based ROM. Everything else is working except for the modem. I'm still on 4.1.2 BL it looks like (not sure how to check) but my mobile stuff is in tact. It just says mobile network state (disconnected) but all my phone info is correct. It even still has my MetroPCS/Tmo as my Network
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably that your APN is wrong.
Hastily spouted for your befuddlement

Coug76 said:
Probably that your APN is wrong.
Hastily spouted for your befuddlement
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You were right. I googled Metro APN and now its working. THANK YOU!!
Btw any chance you know how to change my phone to read as a Tmobile phone instead of AT&T?

edo101 said:
You were right. I googled Metro APN and now its working. THANK YOU!!
Btw any chance you know how to change my phone to read as a Tmobile phone instead of AT&T?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Build.prop edit. Do a nandroid backup first, if you make a mistake you can have problems. Reboot into android. Save a copy of the file as build.bak then edit the build.prop so that any reference to SGH-i317 is changed to SGH-T889. Also anything that shows t0lte or anything similar can be changed to t0ltetmo. There are editor apps in the play store.
If things go bad, simply restore back to your nandroid via recovery. No fuss, no muss.
Hastily spouted for your befuddlement

OvrDriVE said:
i also suggest using an app called samsungtool v 2.0 to backup your efs partition just in case.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you please give us a link to this tool, coz' it looks like a good tool to have.
Thanks.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda premium

premiatul said:
Can you please give us a link to this tool, coz' it looks like a good tool to have.
Thanks.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s3/development/tool-samsung-tool-1-0-t2602325
current version is 5.0

Lost on going back to stock?

So I was fooling around with looking for a ROM but never backed up my stock one. I can't seem to find a stock MM one. Unless I'm lost and there is another way to go back to it?

Check this link hope works for you.. http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/database/SM-G928P/
Sent from my SM-G928P using XDA-Developers mobile app

Will flashing back to the stock ROM clear a knox trip?

Not to my knowledge. Once tripped it's tripped. There was a complicated way using triangle away and and what not. But for this model, I'll lean towards no. Are you having to send it in for service? Samsung is the only one that cares about Knox. Providers really don't, so just flash stock and go with that.

Phenomenal3D said:
So I was fooling around with looking for a ROM but never backed up my stock one. I can't seem to find a stock MM one. Unless I'm lost and there is another way to go back to it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flash any of the no wipe tars
Go into setting under security (I think)
Factory reset
Or
Flash tar
Reboot stock recovery
Wipe or factory reset
Knox will always be tripped