Related
Hey there!
So here's my situation: I recently got rid of a Rogers cellphone plan and decided to sell my GS3. Someone I know, immediately showed interest and decided to buy it from me. Good! At that moment, the device was locked to Rogers and was running stock Samsung GS3 (SGH-i747M) firmware.
That person decided to play with the phone, try to root it, flash Cyanogenmod or whatever it may be, and having failed several times, he decided to return the phone and get his money back. I shouldn't have accepted to reimburse him knowing how much he fiddled with it but I did.
Anyways too late now. The good thing is that I believe the phone is 100% functional (it boots, runs perfect and under system info shows everything as usual except under Status > Device Status, it shows modified.
I am not 100% sure of that what means but I believe it has something to do with a modified ROM or something like that.
That person supposedly unlocked the device because he was with another carrier.
Now I am putting the phone in the classifieds. Obviously I would like to have the phone back to 100% factory settings and ROM, no aftermarket stuff whatsoever BUT I'd like to keep it unlocked (if that's possible).
That way, it will be easier to resell.
So here's my questions:
What does "Device Status: Modified" really means?
How can I find out if the phone has been altered in any ways?
If it has been altered, is there a LINUX based procedure to restore EVERYTHING back to factory?
If I restore whatever has to be restored, will it re-lock the device?
As you can see, I am a total noob in that field. I would appreciate if someone can help me to prepare this device to be resold.
I don't want to cause any problems to anyone, that wouldn't be fair.
I appreciate. Thanks!!!
Okay a lot of questions, you can download the stock firmware from Samsung updates and if it is rooted you can get triangle away on the play store and reset the counter the using kies or the Samsung galaxy s3 toolkit from mskip's to flash the original firmware, your phone should be unlocked as none of the procedures should/could reloj the simple card
Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk 4
jimchee said:
Okay a lot of questions, you can download the stock firmware from Samsung updates and if it is rooted you can get triangle away on the play store and reset the counter the using kies or the Samsung galaxy s3 toolkit from mskip's to flash the original firmware, your phone should be unlocked as none of the procedures should/could reloj the simple card
Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok I have verified with an app called Root Checker Basic, and it said that the device wasn't rooted. I wonder if this is reliable.
I wiull check mskip's toolkit or Kies to restore the stock firmware.
What a pain..
Thanks jimchee for replying!!
Actually it's pretty easy but you can probably sell it just as easy if it's rooted and that way you can clear the counter, there is also a post in the Samsung sIII THREAD for AT&T that will walk you through restoring to stock, just make sure you download the file for your device the link is also in the att thread, if you have any trouble pm me and I can help, I am just a tinkerer but been doing it since my 1st original Motorola Droid
Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk 4
Probably the easiest approach would be to look for the Samsung S3 V7.0 toolkit post. This is a flash (programming) tool. It would easily root your phone if it needs that. Then you can use the app referred to earlier to reset the phone to an "unmodified" status.
Then finally go to the Samsung updates site as suggested and flash the phone with a stock Rogers firmware. I'd recommend a 4.1.1. version. Probably your phone will still be unlocked at this point. But if not, the stock v 4.1.1. Rogers firmware will allow you to unlock it again from an onscreen menu (search for "S3 unlock code *#197328640#"). And your phone will report an unmodified status at the end.
mrwhite0732 said:
Hey there!
So here's my situation: I recently got rid of a Rogers cellphone plan and decided to sell my GS3. Someone I know, immediately showed interest and decided to buy it from me. Good! At that moment, the device was locked to Rogers and was running stock Samsung GS3 (SGH-i747M) firmware.
That person decided to play with the phone, try to root it, flash Cyanogenmod or whatever it may be, and having failed several times, he decided to return the phone and get his money back. I shouldn't have accepted to reimburse him knowing how much he fiddled with it but I did.
Anyways too late now. The good thing is that I believe the phone is 100% functional (it boots, runs perfect and under system info shows everything as usual except under Status > Device Status, it shows modified.
I am not 100% sure of that what means but I believe it has something to do with a modified ROM or something like that.
That person supposedly unlocked the device because he was with another carrier.
Now I am putting the phone in the classifieds. Obviously I would like to have the phone back to 100% factory settings and ROM, no aftermarket stuff whatsoever BUT I'd like to keep it unlocked (if that's possible).
That way, it will be easier to resell.
So here's my questions:
What does "Device Status: Modified" really means?
How can I find out if the phone has been altered in any ways?
If it has been altered, is there a LINUX based procedure to restore EVERYTHING back to factory?
If I restore whatever has to be restored, will it re-lock the device?
As you can see, I am a total noob in that field. I would appreciate if someone can help me to prepare this device to be resold.
I don't want to cause any problems to anyone, that wouldn't be fair.
I appreciate. Thanks!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Give this a shot.........works well. I've used it a number of times on both my phones ( SH-I747M/SH-I747 )
[ROM/RESTORE][AT&T/ROGERS/TELUS/BELL]Return to UNROOTED STOCK WITH FLASH COUNT RESET
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2363882
Once the phone is unlocked it will stay that way whether you go back to stock or not.
Hello community, I have looked for the stock Samsung s3 I747 AT&T firmware. I have found it but its a download from Hotfile, which has been shut down. I was wondering if the android forums could provide me with the Stock firmware? I plan on using Odin3 in installing the firmware. This is why I am wanting to do this, it appears I am stuck on edge network. I have manually set the phone to use 4g and 3g it still reverts back to edge. This occurred after I updated to 4.3, so my plan is to install stock firmware and re-do the 4.3 update maybe something went wrong somewhere during the update. If you have other suggestions other than trying to install the initial stock firmware, I am open to anything.
Xander98 said:
Hello community, I have looked for the stock Samsung s3 I747 AT&T firmware. I have found it but its a download from Hotfile, which has been shut down. I was wondering if the android forums could provide me with the Stock firmware? I plan on using Odin3 in installing the firmware. This is why I am wanting to do this, it appears I am stuck on edge network. I have manually set the phone to use 4g and 3g it still reverts back to edge. This occurred after I updated to 4.3, so my plan is to install stock firmware and re-do the 4.3 update maybe something went wrong somewhere during the update. If you have other suggestions other than trying to install the initial stock firmware, I am open to anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You'll have to have a look in development. Since you already took the 4.3 update, you can no longer "start with stock and redo the update". You will hard brick. AT&T was not nice enough to provide an ODIN flashable 4.3 rom. In development or general is a custom recovery flashable ROM that should help you out, but that is assuming you have a rooted and custom recovery phone. If not, there should be someone along to help.
pre4speed said:
You'll have to have a look in development. Since you already took the 4.3 update, you can no longer "start with stock and redo the update". You will hard brick. AT&T was not nice enough to provide an ODIN flashable 4.3 rom. In development or general is a custom recovery flash able ROM that should help you out, but that is assuming you have a rooted and custom recovery phone. If not, there should be someone along to help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Re-installing the stock update probably wouldn't help me anyhow. This phone has had a IMEI repair, assuming this is the problem now.
The phone, after a re-boot will do 4g, well at least it shows the 4g emblem, then shortly after it will go to edge. Some people I talked to said it could be a weak antenna or some other hardware issue. I think it has to do with the IMEI repair! Well I guess this phone is garbage, its a shame, it looks brand new, my fault for going the craigslist route
When you say IMEI repair, you mean the IMEI was injected into the phone using NV writer?
self aouncil
audit13 said:
When you say IMEI repair, you mean the IMEI was injected into the phone using NV writer?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. I did not do this myself.
However, I did find another program well actually two programs, QCN Generator and DanX which I created a back up and injected the IMEI number into my back up QCN bin myself. With no luck I am still a 2g AT&T user.
I am thinking that the original QCN back up (the initial) was corrupted or something.
Is there anyway to rebuild a QCN? lets say, someone has a back up of a Sammy g3, and I injected my IMEI to a spare QCN. Does that make any sense? sorry still learning, I have learned this with in 24hrs, I am a Xbox 360 Rooter, not an android guru.
I bought the phone from craigslist, which was a bad idea in the first place. So I am now stuck with this paper weight, I have managed to get this phone in at least a working state. I wish to get 3 or 4g back on the phone. I can re-boot it will show 4g with 3 bars then will drop to one and go back up to 3 bars, then drop to 2,1 then it will then automatically switch to edge. I know this is a 4g area, maybe not LTE, but 4g. I have changed APN settings, also manually set the phone to GSM and WCMDA, Still working on it.
I have a T999L and have flashed pretty much every ROM, and with all of them, I have no signal. I wipe cache/factory reset, installed, rebooted, and never have a signal. When I go into mobile networks, there's no apn. I've tried everything I could find from others with this problem and can't get it to work. What am I doing wrong? I have literally been doing this all day. Since 10 am and it's now 12:30 am. I would've flashed the stock ROM sooner, but my phone hasn't been working right, so I figured a newer one would be beneficial.
Oh, and I've only been trying the ones that say they're for t999l or d2lte.
Flash stock firmware with Odin. If you're having problems on every single rom something is wrong with your device or firmware. Only way to know is the Odin flash.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk
DocHoliday77 said:
Flash stock firmware with Odin. If you're having problems on every single rom something is wrong with your device or firmware. Only way to know is the Odin flash.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for replying.
I had been using what you provided (thanks for that, btw - that was super fast and easy, so even if I don't have a custom ROM, at least I'm rooted!) I ended up flashing back to that so it at least works. I think before I found your thread, though, I tried flashing ROMs a and stopped because not many said specifically for LTE, so I just didn't want to keep messing around. Once I realized my device was different, I dug more an was saved by your thread. Anyway, is it possible I messed something up when I had originally flashed non-functioning ROMs?
Wow, so I think I figured out my problem, and it's indicative that I shouldn't have been messing around with flashing... I didn't realize firmware and ROMs were different. So since I was flashing 4.4 ROMs with the old firmware, would that result in my problem or a brick? Sounds like unfixable brick, so I'm clearly very fortunate to have a working phone right now! lol
I'm doing a backup now and downloading LUVUBNC1. I know to use Odin for the firmware, but it's a .zip file, which Odin doesn't do... Sorry, I've flashed plenty of ROMs on my old phones, so doing anything outside of a regular .tar in Odin or .zip in recovery is a new concept to me and I'm not having the easiest time finding directions.
Sorry I haven't replied sooner. Had a lot going on lately and its just been hard to do much online.
The firmware you downloaded just needs to be extracted. Its zipped just to make it a smaller download. when you unzip it, the resulting file should be a .tar.md5 file. This is what you flash with Odin.
As for Roms, as long as you stay in the T-Mobile subforums, you will be relatively safe. Just do not flash any firmware or modems that are not specifically for your model. Some people have had some issues with certain roms not working quite right on the T999L, but its nothing that causes permanent harm. If this happens you can always just flash back to a known good rom, or your stock firmware.
So for future reference, you can flash all of the Roms, Kernels and Recoveries found in these T-Mobile forums. (In fact, I suggest flashing either the d2lte or d2tmo recoveries over the d2ltetmo). Just remember, Firmware and Modems are ok ONLY if they are for your model.
And with regard to flashing 4.4 roms on old firmware, you don't need to worrry about a brick as long as you stick to what I just said. The only thing different is for 4.4.2 touchwiz roms (which are all ported from Sprint or AT&T). To run a 4.4.2 TW rom, you must be updated to the 4.3 firmware (which you are if you are running NC1). But even so, if you were on earlier firmware, it wouldnt hard brick, it would just hang at boot.
I hope that clears things up a bit for you!
These issues started with the upgrade to latest T-Mobile 4.3 software pack at the end of November. Phone operated perfectly before then. After the update, the phone would periodically not receive/place calls/texts/use data. The issue kept worsening daily. It is not related to the SIM card or location, as the card has been replaced and tested in an alternate phone where it performs perfectly.
The T999L was then consequently rooted, KNOX flagged (it's already past warranty, Samsung wouldn't give a rat's ass about it), flashed to CM11 M12 and later a variety of modems was tried. Same issues persisted. Restored to stock 4.1.2, same issues. Did 3 updates OTA to get to latest 4.3, same issues.
Messed around with 4636 menu, 2263 menu, etc. Some changes had a temporary result but nothing permanent. Calls to the phone are redirected to voicemail. When placing a call, it takes 5-10 seconds to either place it or disconnect it (as it can't connect to the network, I guess?). The bars on the phone show 3-4 bars typically, but the phone is rarely able to acquire a data connection. Again, this is not the case with other phones the SIM is tried on.
Any suggestions? I've spent probably close to 10 hours researching this and trying everything out and I am absolutely stumped. This is my mom's phone and a replacement Alcatel OneTouch Fierce 2 just "doesn't look nice", so I'm getting a fair bit of *****ing for trying to help solve this, even though it's not my fault. Would appreciate some help before Christmas.
Have you tried updating the modem?
systemcode said:
Have you tried updating the modem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
flashed to CM11 M12 and later a variety of modems was tried. Same issues persisted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd say so. Used this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1880987 and flashed the 4.3 basebands for T999L and T999N, total of 3. I'm thinking this is something to do with the 4.3 bootloader or basebands... any methods to go back to 4.1.2 without a brick?
tagging this for later use:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2121736
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2258238
dwegiel said:
I'd say so. Used this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1880987 and flashed the 4.3 basebands for T999L and T999N, total of 3. I'm thinking this is something to do with the 4.3 bootloader or basebands... any methods to go back to 4.1.2 without a brick?
tagging this for later use:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2121736
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2258238
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have a T999L stick to the designated T999L modems and nothing else, or you may damage the device. If you have a 4.3 bootloader there is no way back. Have you tried to use ODIN to flash the latest NF4 firmware for your T999L and then do a factory reset using the stock recovery? I posted NF4's link in this post. Good luck.
nirogu325 said:
If you have a T999L stick to the designated T999L modems and nothing else, or you may damage the device. If you have a 4.3 bootloader there is no way back. Have you tried to use ODIN to flash the latest NF4 firmware for your T999L and then do a factory reset using the stock recovery? I posted NF4's link in this post. Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Downloading right now, and will test. Pretty sure this is the firmware update after which this problem started occurring.
Any other ideas for what might be affecting this besides baseband? I have a feeling something else might be causing this. I'm not familiar with Samsung partitions though and what is flashed by OTA/Odin.
dwegiel said:
Downloading right now, and will test. Pretty sure this is the firmware update after which this problem started occurring.
Any other ideas for what might be affecting this besides baseband? I have a feeling something else might be causing this. I'm not familiar with Samsung partitions though and what is flashed by OTA/Odin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, OTA updates can sometimes fail, that's why I gave you the ODIN firmware link. It's the best help I can offer.
Hello,
I just bought my first Galaxy device (had a CDMA LG for a while, and I have a Nexus Tablet), and I am looking at how to get this new phone set up right. I bought my i747 retail, so I was unable to unlock it. However, now I'm struggling with finding the right method for upgrading, rooting, etc. I know nothing about knox or any of these Samsung intricacies. Could someone please give me a little guidance on how to go about getting to the OS and status that I'm looking for? This is what I've done so far:
Came unrooted with 4.1.2 stock rom
Unlocked using legit unlock code
Tried OTA updates, but none were available (must be because of unlock)
Rooted w/ ODIN using 4.1.1 file based of MrRobinson method. (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1739426)
Now I keep getting popups like process. ... .acore,media, etc. stopped.
I'm looking to ideally get a custom recovery (either CWM or TWRP, whichever is better) and either kitkat Touchwiz or possibly kitkat nexus stock (I read somewhere that it was possible). Also, i just bought it, and have the code still, so I don't mind deleting everything if needed. Regardless, I'd like the ability to get it back to pure stock with no flash counter (I have a manufacturer's warranty I want to use if need be).
Could someone please just give me a little guidance? I'm pretty capable with rooting, etc., so you'd only need to lead me to other threads, etc. that will take me where I want to go. Thank you very much.
Before flashing or doing anything else, confirm the bootloader on your phone. Download and install the Samsung Phone Info app from the playstore and post your bootloader.
audit13 said:
Before flashing or doing anything else, confirm the bootloader on your phone. Download and install the Samsung Phone Info app from the playstore and post your bootloader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, the bad news is I already flashed using MrRobinson's instructions, and now my phone is barely workable, as things like process.android.media and Touchwiz keep crashing. I was able to install the info app though, and my bootloader is listed as I747UCDLK3. Thanks again though, and let me know what else you need from me.
I recommend starting over by flashing the stock AT&T 4.1.1 firmware from sammobile. Once flashed, boot the phone and make sure your phone is sim unlocked. If it isn't sim unlocked, unlock it using the free method or your unlock code.
http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/database/SGH-I747/
After sim unlocking, run OTA updates until you have the latest stock AT&T ROM on your phone. Upgrading the phone's bootloader and modem is the easiest way to do it for someone that is new to the phone and custom ROMs.
audit13 said:
I recommend starting over by flashing the stock AT&T 4.1.1 firmware from sammobile. Once flashed, boot the phone and make sure your phone is sim unlocked. If it isn't sim unlocked, unlock it using the free method or your unlock code.
http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/database/SGH-I747/
After sim unlocking, run OTA updates until you have the latest stock AT&T ROM on your phone. Upgrading the phone's bootloader and modem is the easiest way to do it for someone that is new to the phone and custom ROMs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, but wouldn't OTA updates install Knox, which would basically void my warranty if I tried to flash anything after that? And, I've checked for OTA updates twice, once on 4.1.2 and on 4.1.1, and both times it said my software was up to date.
I spoke with StoneyJSG about my situation, and he suggested that I go to stock 4.1, root w/ saferoot, then flash a kitkat custom rom without Knox through TWRP. That way, I could use triangle away and flash stock unrooted if I needed to send it in.
Although, I'm not sure if I should do that, as I thought I read that you need to update the radio and bootloader first before you can install a custom kitkat rom from jelly bean, but I'm still not entirely sure how that works.
The most recent release of many custom ROMs will not work but you may not have a signal without an updated modem and you should not be running updated modems on an older bootloader. Doing this could brick your phone.
With a rooted system, OTA updates will not work.
Thank you again for helping walk me through the minutia around this phone.
I think I have a much better understanding of everything now. I read the following article on Knox (http://omegadroid.co/wanted-knox-void-warranty-0x1/) and with an understanding of that, I get now that there is no way to load any custom rom on 4.3 or higher without losing my warranty.
So, basically my options are to stay at 4.1 and flash whatever, using triangle away to erase my tracks. Or, I could update to 4.3, but only be able to use saferoot/towelroot, otherwise I'd trip the warranty void. But, if all I did use was towelroot (no custom recovery or rom), then I could just unroot the phone using the full unroot option in SuperSU and send it on in for service if needed, right?
Also, I did unroot my phone and did a factory reset, so it's back at 4.1.1 and unrooted. Yet, I still do not see any software updates available from Samsung. I even plugged it into Kies, and nothing (http://i.imgur.com/E0xPGpf.png). Does anyone know why this could be? Does it have something to do with my not having a carrier for the phone yet? I'm sorry for all the questions, but I do appreciate your help.
jateed said:
Thank you again for helping walk me through the minutia around this phone.
I think I have a much better understanding of everything now. I read the following article on Knox (http://omegadroid.co/wanted-knox-void-warranty-0x1/) and with an understanding of that, I get now that there is no way to load any custom rom on 4.3 or higher without losing my warranty.
So, basically my options are to stay at 4.1 and flash whatever, using triangle away to erase my tracks. Or, I could update to 4.3, but only be able to use saferoot/towelroot, otherwise I'd trip the warranty void. But, if all I did use was towelroot (no custom recovery or rom), then I could just unroot the phone using the full unroot option in SuperSU and send it on in for service if needed, right?
Also, I did unroot my phone and did a factory reset, so it's back at 4.1.1 and unrooted. Yet, I still do not see any software updates available from Samsung. I even plugged it into Kies, and nothing (http://i.imgur.com/E0xPGpf.png). Does anyone know why this could be? Does it have something to do with my not having a carrier for the phone yet? I'm sorry for all the questions, but I do appreciate your help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is your cell service? If not AT&T, you will never get OTA.
Whether you get OTA can vary from carrier to carrier and phone to phone in my opinion.
I have a Rogers HTC One X that gets OTA updates from HTC even though I am on the Bell network.
I have a Bell S3 that is running on the Rogers network and it receives OTA updates from Bell even though it has a Rogers sim card in the phone.
I have a Telus Moto G running on the Bell network and it received the Telus KK OTA update while connected to the Bell network.
audit13 said:
Whether you get OTA can vary from carrier to carrier and phone to phone in my opinion.
I have a Rogers HTC One X that gets OTA updates from HTC even though I am on the Bell network.
I have a Bell S3 that is running on the Rogers network and it receives OTA updates from Bell even though it has a Rogers sim card in the phone.
I have a Telus Moto G running on the Bell network and it received the Telus KK OTA update while connected to the Bell network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I have an AT&T model which I unlocked and will be putting on Cricket at the end of the week (when my plan month is set to end). Right now there's no SIM in it, and I've been doing everything over wifi. I looked up whether the carrier had something to do with the OTAs, and I was told that Samsung sent the updates out, not AT&T, so I figured that the carrier info was irrelevant. I now wonder what my options are.
Can I manually flash 4.3 stock without tripping the knox warranty void?
Does Towelroot/Xposed framework trip the Knox void flag?
If I can update to 4.3/4.4 and root without tripping the knox flag, I might just manually update and just run towelroot and xposed to modify my OS the best I can until my warranty runs out.
If I can't root it at all once I'm on 4.3+, then I'll just sit on 4.1.1 for a few months until I can't stand it anymore and just void the warranty anyway.
Thanks again everyone. This whole knox/binary counter thing is not something I dealt with on my CDMA LG or Nexus, so I was totally in the dark about how it all worked. This is also my first GSM phone, so all those intricacies are new to me too. Once I know about manually flashing stock and running towelroot/xposed, I think I'll be in good shape.
Flashing the stock 4.3 ROM should not trip the counter as long as you do not need to install a custom recovery to flash it.
Apparently, the latest KK stock ROM cannot be rooted using Towelroot.
If you want a custom ROM, use one that will work with a 4.1.1 bootloader and modem. Once on 4.3 or higher, it's a little harder to recover from a soft brick.
audit13 said:
Flashing the stock 4.3 ROM should not trip the counter as long as you do not need to install a custom recovery to flash it.
Apparently, the latest KK stock ROM cannot be rooted using Towelroot.
If you want a custom ROM, use one that will work with a 4.1.1 bootloader and modem. Once on 4.3 or higher, it's a little harder to recover from a soft brick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Excellent. If I did flash stock, i would just use ODIN, then factory reset to wipe the caches. And that's good to know about the KK rom, as I would probably update straight to 4.4 if at all (I've read a lot of bad things about 4.3 on the S3), but not if it means I cannot root safely and cleanly.
I'll check out the custom roms for 4.1.1. I know that flashing the rom and/or a custom recovery will trip the binary counter, but I can just use triangle away to clean that up. Do you know if there is a list of custom 4.1.1/4.1.2 roms somewhere, or do I need to scour the older threads here?
Thank you very much audit13 (thanks to StoneyJSG and pre4speed as well). You have been immensely helpful and really brought me up to speed on everything surrounding S3 customization. Needless to say it's way more complicated than what I've dealt with from LG and Google/Asus. (I mean, i could root my nexus with a single click using Wugfresh's toolkit)
4.1.1 is the only complete stock ROM that AT&T released for flashing via Odin.
4.3 ROMS and higher were prepared by XDA members for flashing in either a custom recovery or Odin.
audit13 said:
4.1.1 is the only complete stock ROM that AT&T released for flashing via Odin.
4.3 ROMS and higher were prepared by XDA members for flashing in either a custom recovery or Odin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, so what other way can you flash a stock rom, if not through ODIN or a custom recovery? Regardless, it seems as though I really should not dive into 4.3+ until I'm ready to concede that my warranty is over. There are just too many potential pitfalls and headaches.
On the lighter side, I've found a few 4.1.2 based custom roms that have some promise. I'm going to post them here in case anyone has opinions on them, or if someone else in my situation sees this thread and wants to go custom 4.1 too:
Hyperdrive RLS16
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2176793
Slim Bean-d2
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1865262
Jedi Academy
http://www.teamandroid.com/2013/12/...oid-412-jedi-academy-jelly-bean-custom-rom/2/
Jelly ‘Beans’
http://www.teamandroid.com/2013/04/...ndroid-412-att-galaxy-s3-sgh-i747-custom-rom/
I was also torn when I got my s3 that was running 4.1.2. I downgraded to 4.1.1, sim unlocked the phone, used it on stock 4.1.2 for about a week to make sure everything was working, hardware wise, upgraded to stock 4.4.2, installed a custom recovery and a custom ROM. I wasn't too concerned about the warranty since I got the phone as a free upgrade and had no intention of using the s3 as my daily phone. I kept it as a backup until my niece needed and phone and then it went to her. It's been over a year and there are still no problems with the phone.