[Q] Loading ROM's - Galaxy Tab Pro 12.2, 10.1, 8.4 Q&A, Help & Trouble

Good Morning,
I've searched through the forums and so far haven't had any luck. I apologize if this is a topic that's been covered to death, which it likely has, but I haven't found a solution to my particular problem.
Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1.
I was having problems with TouchWiz crashing, usually 2 to 3 times per day. Sometimes it would lock up the unit, requiring me to reboot. Sometimes it would just come back after 5 or so minutes. Whatever the case, I decided, since I was already interested, that I would try to root the device, clear up some memory, maybe even flash a new ROM to take care of the issue.
First, I successfully rooted the device, no problem. Surprisingly easy, actually, following steps from this website.
I loaded SuperSU, Titanium Backup, Greenify - but still had (more rare) instances of TouchWiz crashing, and even the entire unit rebooting itself occasionally. So, I decided to take a stab at Cyanogenmod 11.
After attempting to load Cyanogenmod using Heimdall and Odin, and having issues I'll add, I finally realized that (theoretically) I could just use ROM Manager to load the file. Cool! So I loaded the zip file for CM11 onto the top level of my SD Card, created a recovery, and attempted to load the new ROM. The first problem I had was that the unit wouldn't just load the ROM like I expected, but it put me into recovery mode. I suspect that's not right, but I attempted to go ahead and use the menu picks to load the ROM anyway. I wiped data/factory reset, them wiped cache partition. Then, I selected "apply update from external storage". I selected the zip file for CM11, which was right where I left it, hit select, and had the following problem.
I got the following errors, two times, in red text (with other yellow text messages surrounding);
E:footer is wrong
E:signature verification failed
So...what do I need to do here, folks? Worst case scenario, obviously, I just keep using TouchWiz, as I haven't managed to brick my device yet, and I would still be able to utilize root access apps. But I have to be close, aren't I? Does anyone have the patience to help out a guy who only knows enough to be dangerous?

You need to use custom recovery to flash custom ROMs. It sounds like you are trying to use stock recovery.

redpoint73 said:
You need to use custom recovery to flash custom ROMs. It sounds like you are trying to use stock recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply. I'm not sure what I did wrong, but I decided to give TWRP recovery a shot, and was getting an error on the CM11 zip file. I re-copied over the zip file, tried again, and that did the trick. I guess I either had a bad zip file, the wrong recovery, or both.
Thanks!
Robb

Sometimes I had problems flashing zips from external storage, appeared as corrupted, never a problem when zip was in internal storage . Did you try that?

thdervenis said:
Sometimes I had problems flashing zips from external storage, appeared as corrupted, never a problem when zip was in internal storage . Did you try that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I did not try that, as simply recopying the zip file onto the SD card did the trick.
I spent all evening playing with the settings, trying out themes, setting up my apps - and my unit didn't crash one time. Pretty slick!
Now I just need to learn how to use Titanium Backup to store settings so I can play with different ROM's.

Related

My phone is constantly rebooting

I'm having a very strange issue with my device right now. Basically whenever I flash any custom ROM I end up in a boot loop. It started last night after I flashed a couple of CM10 based ROMs and then tried to revert back to Skynote which is touchwiz based. I was able to fix it by using Odin and flashing the stock Rogers ROM .tar file. That fixed everything and stock was running fine all night with no reboots or issues. This morning I did a fresh download of the ROM rebooted to TWRP wiped cache *2, Formatted system *2 and factory reset *2, installed the ROM and rebooted. I should mention I am using TWRP version 2.4.1.0. The ROM usually loads for about 1-2 mins then reboots and repeats over and over. Does anyone have any ideas? I've even formatted the internal and external storage. I did notice there is one folder on my internal SD card that I cannot seem to remove called Z and has a LMT.apk and another folder with wallpapers in it. I cannot delete or remove this folder as it keeps saying the folder is write protected. Even after formatting the internal storage that folder remains which makes me wonder if my SD card is screwed up.
Sorry for the long post but I am running out of ideas and don't want to be stuck on Stock. What could be causing this? I've tried flashing a new kernel from TWRP and still the same results, I've even tried different ROMs just in case but still the same results. The only thing that seemed to work so far was the stock ROM via Odin.
veebomb said:
I'm having a very strange issue with my device right now. Basically whenever I flash any custom ROM I end up in a boot loop. It started last night after I flashed a couple of CM10 based ROMs and then tried to revert back to Skynote which is touchwiz based. I was able to fix it by using Odin and flashing the stock Rogers ROM .tar file. That fixed everything and stock was running fine all night with no reboots or issues. This morning I did a fresh download of the ROM rebooted to TWRP wiped cache *2, Formatted system *2 and factory reset *2, installed the ROM and rebooted. I should mention I am using TWRP version 2.4.1.0. The ROM usually loads for about 1-2 mins then reboots and repeats over and over. Does anyone have any ideas? I've even formatted the internal and external storage. I did notice there is one folder on my internal SD card that I cannot seem to remove called Z and has a LMT.apk and another folder with wallpapers in it. I cannot delete or remove this folder as it keeps saying the folder is write protected. Even after formatting the internal storage that folder remains which makes me wonder if my SD card is screwed up.
Sorry for the long post but I am running out of ideas and don't want to be stuck on Stock. What could be causing this? I've tried flashing a new kernel from TWRP and still the same results, I've even tried different ROMs just in case but still the same results. The only thing that seemed to work so far was the stock ROM via Odin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I should probably add that I was coming from Android 4.2.2 and want to get back on 4.1.2
veebomb said:
I'm having a very strange issue with my device right now. Basically whenever I flash any custom ROM I end up in a boot loop. It started last night after I flashed a couple of CM10 based ROMs and then tried to revert back to Skynote which is touchwiz based. I was able to fix it by using Odin and flashing the stock Rogers ROM .tar file. That fixed everything and stock was running fine all night with no reboots or issues. This morning I did a fresh download of the ROM rebooted to TWRP wiped cache *2, Formatted system *2 and factory reset *2, installed the ROM and rebooted. I should mention I am using TWRP version 2.4.1.0. The ROM usually loads for about 1-2 mins then reboots and repeats over and over. Does anyone have any ideas? I've even formatted the internal and external storage. I did notice there is one folder on my internal SD card that I cannot seem to remove called Z and has a LMT.apk and another folder with wallpapers in it. I cannot delete or remove this folder as it keeps saying the folder is write protected. Even after formatting the internal storage that folder remains which makes me wonder if my SD card is screwed up.
Sorry for the long post but I am running out of ideas and don't want to be stuck on Stock. What could be causing this? I've tried flashing a new kernel from TWRP and still the same results, I've even tried different ROMs just in case but still the same results. The only thing that seemed to work so far was the stock ROM via Odin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have SD Card adapter for the computer? If so, try removing the card from the phone, then plug it into the computer and formatting it that way. For the ROM boot loop issue, try flashing a stock ROM using ODIN, then using whatever method you like the most to flash the ROM you want to use.
thunderx2000 said:
Do you have SD Card adapter for the computer? If so, try removing the card from the phone, then plug it into the computer and formatting it that way. For the ROM boot loop issue, try flashing a stock ROM using ODIN, then using whatever method you like the most to flash the ROM you want to use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm now pretty certain its a bootloader issue as I'm downgrading from Android 4.2.2 to 4.2.1 but thanks.
take your external sd card out and see what happens
wase4711 said:
take your external sd card out and see what happens
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wiped everythign 2x and then I flashed the file you posted in the other thread and removed my SD card but still getting reboots. Should my SD card be called sdcard0 still in my files?
yes, your card will still be called sdcard0
take your external card out completely, and see if the phone still boot loops
wase4711 said:
yes, your card will still be called sdcard0
take your external card out completely, and see if the phone still boot loops
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It still loops. This is crazy, when I used Odin to go back to stock it was working ok but everythin else has made it bootloop. I can try using Odin again when I get home and see if the restore SD card file works then. Does anything have to be done to the bootloader?
no, don't mess with the bootloader; you will probably brick it if you do
go back to stock via odin for a day or 2, and make sure its not the hardware itself..
wase4711 said:
no, don't mess with the bootloader; you will probably brick it if you do
go back to stock via odin for a day or 2, and make sure its not the hardware itself..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So its not like moving back to ICS from jellybean where you had to flash a new bootloader?
Op you're on Rogers right? Make sure that you have the Skynote without the new modem.
~PsyCl0ne
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda app-developers app
PsyCl0ne said:
Op you're on Rogers right? Make sure that you have the Skynote without the new modem.
~PsyCl0ne
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes I am on Rogers, sorry but how can I tell that?
I don't think I have flashed a new bootloader more than once in the last 6 or7 years, on an htc evo4g..
you should not ever have to do that on this phone
veebomb said:
yes I am on Rogers, sorry but how can I tell that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
oh wait I think I see what you're refering to. I wonder how many different mistakes I have actually made durring this fiasco of mine.... I'll give that a try when I get home and post back
veebomb said:
oh wait I think I see what you're refering to. I wonder how many different mistakes I have actually made durring this fiasco of mine.... I'll give that a try when I get home and psot back
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay I'm out right now but I'll check in every once in a while.
~PsyCl0ne
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda app-developers app
Same here
I am having the same exact problem you are veeboom. It's not boot-looping because it actually lets me into the phone for about one minute; then it reboots. I have tried everything that you have tried, right along with you and result is nil. It won't stay on for more than a minute. The only difference is that I am just trying to get Roger's Clean Stock ROM working. It sounds like you have accomplished that and are trying to get a custom going. I have tried Odin flashing 3 times; once without the sd card. I am pretty sure SD card is not the issue. I have wiped this phone at least 5 times (everything except the the extSdCard (AKA sdcard1).
I am going to see if I can find some other posts on this problem and will let you know if I finally find a fix. Hope you will do the same.
Happy to report the end of the boot loop!
Although I'm kind of embarrassed to admit it was caused by an incompatible modem file I flashed over and over... :silly:
Thanks for everyone's help.
floykoe said:
I am having the same exact problem you are veeboom. It's not boot-looping because it actually lets me into the phone for about one minute; then it reboots. I have tried everything that you have tried, right along with you and result is nil. It won't stay on for more than a minute. The only difference is that I am just trying to get Roger's Clean Stock ROM working. It sounds like you have accomplished that and are trying to get a custom going. I have tried Odin flashing 3 times; once without the sd card. I am pretty sure SD card is not the issue. I have wiped this phone at least 5 times (everything except the the extSdCard (AKA sdcard1).
I am going to see if I can find some other posts on this problem and will let you know if I finally find a fix. Hope you will do the same.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should have started your own thread but can you give us a run down of what you did prior to having the boot loop?
~PsyCl0ne
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda app-developers app
Things just got worse
I have have the phone for about two months. A week ago I rooted it with Samsung Note II tool box and everything was fine, until I found out that there were these "custom ROMs" available. So I flash one, but it was unstable. I flashed liquid smooth; same thing, then I tried a few ROMS that were a little more mature, but their were always things I could not live with (like no blue tooth or apps crashing). I also found out what a boot loop was all about. It sucked, but the forums help me get it fixed. Now I am tried of messing with all these custom ROMs and I just want my old reliable system back, with root. Currently I am trying to get Roger's CleanROM AT&T Special Edition 1.2 working again (with I believe I started with). I have been unable to remedy boot loops that happen about every minute. I have flashed, wiped (everything), unrooted, re-rooted, flashed with Odin, flashed core kernel via odin per instructions, called it bad names and threatened it; then said I was sorry. I have repeated all these things many times, including with and without the extSdCard. SD card does not seem to be the issue. I am still looking for more things to try. Just now it has started refusing to boot at all. I gets to the boot screen and gets stuck.
I am trying to find out more about how to use ADB to re-partition upon stock ROM flash. You know anything about that? I have been at this all day.
It sounds like you may have done the same thing I did which was flash an incompatible modem file. My suggestion would be for you to use Odin and flash back to the Rogers Stock ROM. It's easy and takes less than 10 minutes.
Basic instructions,
1. Download and unzip Odin
2. Put your phone in download mode (turn off your phone, and press the buttons together: vol down + home + power for a few seconds)
3. Run Odin then hit PDA button on the right side, then find and choose the firmware file you downloaded to be flashed.
4. Make sure your device is recognized in Odin3 (The ID: COM box near the top left part of the Odin program should go yellow once you connect your phone)
5. Make sure re-partition in NOT checked
6.Press Start to initiate flashing
7. Once finished your device should automatically reboot. You may need/want to do a factory reset which will wipe all your data and you would be back to the way your first got your phone. Enter into recovery mode by turning off your phone and next press the three buttons simultaneously: volume up + home + power. After getting into recovery, select Wipe/Factory reset.
8. Reboot
You are now stock 100%
Here is a link to download Odin,
http://www.mediafire.com/?x4356fnc1ge48hf
Here is a link to the Rogers stock ROM you flash with Odin,
http://www.hotfile.com/dl/180165074/47da708/I317MVLALJ2_I317MOYAALJ2_RWC.zip.html
Here is a link to a guide with some instructions and a few pictures,
http://www.andromods.com/unroot-locking/how-to-restore-samsung-galaxy-note-2-to-stock-rom-firmware-with-odin.html

[Q] Cyanogen 10.1 mod gone wrong.

AT&T Galaxy S3
Mac OSX 10.8
I know I can get my device back, I'm just not sure how. I successfully rooted using CASUAL, no problems there. Got the normal root applications installed, did the Clockwork backup, everything was great.
I then decided to try a custom ROM - the Cyanogen 10.1. It downloaded fine, and I selected to also install Google Apps, then it rebooted and the Cyanogen boot screen with the spinning circle came up. However, this lasted way longer than I thought it should, so I looked it up, and what I got from the research is that I had the wrong gapps on there.
So, I followed the instructions in this thread (same problem as me), and wiped the system. However, I believe I used the wrong list item, and now everything I had is gone. I can't boot from recovery because it doesn't exist, and when booting into CM I just get the same error message that setup has stopped working. I thought maybe I could put a new ROM on the sd card or phone harddrive and boot from that, but both are inaccessible through USB on my Mac.
I can get it into ODIN mode (where it says "Downloading... Do not turn off target!"), which I'm thinking is what I want, and I have Heimdall installed and it runs and recognizes my device, but I cannot for the life of me find a tar.gz file to use.
If anyone can offer any sort of help, I would super appreciate it.
chazbot7 said:
AT&T Galaxy S3
Mac OSX 10.8
I know I can get my device back, I'm just not sure how. I successfully rooted using CASUAL, no problems there. Got the normal root applications installed, did the Clockwork backup, everything was great.
I then decided to try a custom ROM - the Cyanogen 10.1. It downloaded fine, and I selected to also install Google Apps, then it rebooted and the Cyanogen boot screen with the spinning circle came up. However, this lasted way longer than I thought it should, so I looked it up, and what I got from the research is that I had the wrong gapps on there.
So, I followed the instructions in this thread (same problem as me), and wiped the system. However, I believe I used the wrong list item, and now everything I had is gone. I can't boot from recovery because it doesn't exist, and when booting into CM I just get the same error message that setup has stopped working. I thought maybe I could put a new ROM on the sd card or phone harddrive and boot from that, but both are inaccessible through USB on my Mac.
I can get it into ODIN mode (where it says "Downloading... Do not turn off target!"), which I'm thinking is what I want, and I have Heimdall installed and it runs and recognizes my device, but I cannot for the life of me find a tar.gz file to use.
If anyone can offer any sort of help, I would super appreciate it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your recovery shouldn't be affected by a wipe (unless you flashed something over it) as ROMs don't flash recovery, therefor vol up + home + power should get you in it. If you success to, You should be able to mount through recovery.
As for Heimdall, it just got S3 support (last week I believe), therefor it might not be easy to find a stock file for it. That being said, if you have access to any Windows pc, that'd be the easiest solution here (using Odin).
Yes, I can still get into the recovery menu, but when I use "backup and restore>restore" it says No files found. Is there anything I can do to just get a working OS running? Or am I just doing it totally wrong, I'm new to the rooting stuff. The Windows computer will be my last resort haha.
BWolf56 said:
Your recovery shouldn't be affected by a wipe (unless you flashed something over it) as ROMs don't flash recovery, therefor vol up + home + power should get you in it. If you success to, You should be able to mount through recovery.
As for Heimdall, it just got S3 support (last week I believe), therefor it might not be easy to find a stock file for it. That being said, if you have access to any Windows pc, that'd be the easiest solution here (using Odin).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I can still get into the recovery menu, but when I use "backup and restore>restore" it says No files found. Is there anything I can do to just get a working OS running? Or am I just doing it totally wrong, I'm new to the rooting stuff. The Windows computer will be my last resort haha.
chazbot7 said:
Yes, I can still get into the recovery menu, but when I use "backup and restore>restore" it says No files found. Is there anything I can do to just get a working OS running? Or am I just doing it totally wrong, I'm new to the rooting stuff. The Windows computer will be my last resort haha.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Windows pc is definitely the easiest option here but you try mounting your SD from recovery, redownload the ROM and Gapps you wanna use, put them on your device and flash them after a factory reset.
If you wiped your SD card, it's normal that you don't have a backup anymore.
BWolf56 said:
Windows pc is definitely the easiest option here but you try mounting your SD from recovery, redownload the ROM and Gapps you wanna use, put them on your device and flash them after a factory reset.
If you wiped your SD card, it's normal that you don't have a backup anymore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's aaaliiiiiiive! Grabbed an extra micro SD I had, threw Cyanogen 10.1.0 RC4 on it, and installed it just fine. Now updating to RC5. My only question now is how to get Google Apps on there. Does this need to be done beforehand, or can it be done after?
chazbot7 said:
It's aaaliiiiiiive! Grabbed an extra micro SD I had, threw Cyanogen 10.1.0 RC4 on it, and installed it just fine. Now updating to RC5. My only question now is how to get Google Apps on there. Does this need to be done beforehand, or can it be done after?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You usually flash the Gapps right after flashing the ROM, before rebooting.
P.S.: fully reading the instructions helps before flashing
Sent from my SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
BWolf56 said:
You usually flash the Gapps right after flashing the ROM, before rebooting.
P.S.: fully reading the instructions helps before flashing
Sent from my SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gotcha, sorry about that. Thanks for all the help good sir. This is actually way faster than my stock ROM, I'm pretty stoked on it, Google Apps or not.
chazbot7 said:
Gotcha, sorry about that. Thanks for all the help good sir. This is actually way faster than my stock ROM, I'm pretty stoked on it, Google Apps or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No need to apologize. Glad you got it back up! And it was mostly to keep you from making similar mistakes in the future
Sent from my SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
also one thing you need to know
First boot after you flash will always take longer than normal. After that, it's fine

Edit Oct 17, 2014 - Encrypt your device/phone with custom ROM

Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any damage or liability arising out of these steps. I did not invent anything, I just tried something. Only move forward at your risk
If you don't agree ... stop reading and move on...
Background: Our phone has access to so much personal information that its scary if it fell into wrong hands. The only way to fix this is to encrypt phone. I did lot of research and here is a working solution that works for me - try at your risk.
Download Links:
a) Tested with ROM Stock 4.4.4 NH7 Galaxy S4 M919/Jfltetmo by @ShinySide
b) Tested with ROM |ROM|★KANGAKAT★|►KTU84P◄|4.4.4|Xposed|►8◄|6.26.14 by @iB4STiD
c) stock recovery AT&T S4 works with M919
d) Philz/CWM custom recovery
Encrypting with custom rom
1) Assume you are on custom recovery. - Backup everything first. Create a nandroid backup
2) Do a full wipe and install one of the two roms linked above (I have tested with few other roms ... none worked). Start the phone and set it up the way you want. Install all apps etc.
3) ODIN Stock recovery. See #c under download above. Its AT&T stock recovery but works for me. You need to know how to ODIN - find out. Doing this wrong will permanently damage your phone
4) Start your phone and turn on encryption. You will need to set lock type = password and will need to connect to charger and have 80% charge.
- Phone will do blank and stay blank for 20-30 minutes. Do not do anything. Encryption is happening behind the scenes.
- You might have to do this twice or thrice if it did not encrypt first time. For me the phone went blank first time and after 25 minutes it restarted but device was not encrypted. I redid the same steps and worked second time.
- If you interrupt the encryption process (battery pull or power up) you will see error message (encryption failed, reset device)
5) If all goes well you now have a password protected encrypted phone with custom rom!!! Check in Settings -> Security
6) You may install custom recovery ... but I don't see the point because you will need stock recovery to decrypt
To install another ROM
1) Reboot into stock recovery, then wipe data and cache (this removes encryption).
2) install your recovery of choice and install ROM using recovery. Philz/CWM
Credit goes to @Tronicus and his reply Flash a Rom on an Encrypted Android
Tronicus said:
How to Flash a rom on an encrypted Android phone (specifically this one, the I9505 SGH-I337).
The Problem: Once encrypted, you can't decrypt it easily. When encrypting the phone android will tell you you can only decrypt it using a factory reset. Naturally you assume it's talking about the "Factory Data Reset" option found in Settings --> Backup and Reset. But noooo, Android is lying through its ****ing teeth. Then you'll assume you have to wipe everything from your custom recovery mod (CWM, TWRP, or one of those). Wrong again! You'll get beautiful "can't mount /data" messages and more bull****. I read about a workaround that required installing the new rom using ADB, but I had ingeniously disabled USB debugging prior to wiping everything, so I only got so far with that option (plus it's tediously long if you haven't installed all the necessary software already and don't feel like bricking your phone because you made a typo in the command line). So, apparently the only other way to really format that partition free of its encryption is to use a stock recovery. So:
Short Version for Godlike users who know automatically how to do all this **** without any help (mimicking how most help posts are finely detailed on this site): Flash stock recovery, wipe everything, flash your custom recovery and install your new rom.
Long version for us mortals who don't know everything and haven't already downloaded already every single bit of software on earth:
Backup all the stuff you want to save. This process will truly wipe EVERYTHING. You can do it manually, or you can use an app like Titanium Backup Pro to help you (find it on Google Play Store). Here's a nice guide which recommends what to restore and what not to restore: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1480343
Flash the stock recovery using Odin. You can download a stock recovery from here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=49687791&postcount=3 It's the link called "I337MK2stockrecovery.tar.md5" In case you don't know how to flash it with Odin, this short guide will help: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1506697
In step 6 replace "recovery.tar.md5" with the stock recovery you downloaded.
Wipe everything from the Stock recovery console. This little ****er will **** up the encryption all those sissies couldn't touch. You're welcome. You boot into recovery mode from a turned off phone by pressing simultaneously the volume up key + the home key + the power key until you see blue text appearing in the top left corner of your screen.
Reinstall your custom recovery. In my case I had installed the rom BEFORE flashing in the stock recovery (apparently it works, you just can't boot because of the encryption), so I was able to boot into the new rom before I returned to my custom recovery. Weird. Anyways, I recommend CWM. You can pick it up from this link: http://goo.im/devs/philz_touch/CWM_Advanced_Edition/jflte
For some weird reason they call the I337 version the "jflte" version. It's bonkers. Click there, and download the latest version that ends with .tar.md5. This version is upgradable via Odin, which we already used. Use the same instructions used as when you upgraded the stock recovery rom.
Boot into your recovery mod and flash your rom like you usually do.
A word about TWRP: it cost me many hours of work and I don't recommend it. Its website is outdated, and recommends using GooManager (which is no longer mantained) and doesn't work anymore for this. GooManager suggests using a new, different app, which doesn't have the option of installing TWRP. Then I tried using their TWRP Manager app from play store and the image file wouldn't download. Then I tried manually selecting the image file in TWRP manager that I downloaded from their site for use via the ADB method, and it bricked my phone... twice (using two different methods the app sugested). I tried so much because in theory TWRP has the ability to decrypt android's 4.4 encryption, but after looking at their github site I noticed it was filled with people's reports (including people with the S4) on how it wouldn't work decrypting squat. So I gave up, and installed CWM in 30 seconds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any damage or liability arising out of these steps. I did not invent anything, I just tried something. Only move forward at your risk
cnewsgrp said:
One of the things I needed was the ability to encrypt my phone (device only not external SD) for security purpose. Our phones today gives access to lot of information that I would rather not fall in wrong hands. I did lot of research and here is a working solution.
Credit goes to @Tronicus and his reply Flash a Rom on an Encrypted Android
The quote looks long however it is really very simple. To install another ROM
- Install and reboot into stock recovery, then wipe data and cache (this removes encryption).
- Then install your recovery of choice and install ROM using recovery. Philz/CWM
This has been tested working on |ROM|★KANGAKAT★|►KTU84P◄|4.4.4|Xposed|►8◄|6.26.14 by @iB4STiD
This did NOT work on a Touchwiz ROM by same developer
I have not tested any other ROM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know if it matters too much or not, but the stock recovery you linked to is for the AT&T S4. A good rule of thumb is to never use Odin to flash anything not specifically for your particular device... In this case the M919.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
lordcheeto03 said:
I don't know if it matters too much or not, but the stock recovery you linked to is for the AT&T S4. A good rule of thumb is to never use Odin to flash anything not specifically for your particular device... In this case the M919.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tested stock recovery on M919 .. it works
Honestly im surprised its not talked about more since there is a big push for personal privacy when it comes to data. Encryption really is a pain in the ass to work with on android. Figuring out how to switch or update custom roms while encrypted will drive you insane. The easiest way is to just odin back to stock and start over, but that requires a computer anytime you need to flash anything.
I recently was trying out one of the 4.4.4 GPE roms and turned on encryption. It worked great until i started missing touchwiz and wanted to go back to HyperDrive TW. So the journey began...
First of all, i backed up everything to external storage since i knew everything on the internal storage would have to be wiped. I loaded the phone into recovery mode (using TWRP) and tried wiping, but all i got was a bunch of "Failed to mount" errors. Fine. Got the same error when trying to factory reset or wiping /system, /data, /cache, and anything else. Tried formatting to different file systems and then formatting back to the original but no luck. Fixing permissions didnt help. I just kept trying everything available multiple times.
Eventually it started wiping everything except the /data mount. Well... At least i could install new custom roms. Im not sure exactly what did it because i was just throwing everything at it. Anyways I got it to install, and booted into it. Nope.
Now it was saying I needed the password to decrypt the internal storage. It would detect wrong passwords fine, but as soon as i put the correct password in, it would allow me in, show the green android encryption picture, then blank screen. I thought it was just decrypting and setting up my rom but after a few hours my screen was still black and nothing was happening. Pulled battery and went back to TWRP.
I started wiping everything again and again and tried doing everything i could to wipe everything on the internal storage. Again, not sure what did it, but eventually got it all cleaned up and got a new rom installed and could boot into it.
The whole process probably took about 6-7 hours...
I dont even want to enable encryption on the new rom...
p-hil said:
Honestly im surprised its not talked about more since there is a big push for personal privacy when it comes to data. Encryption really is a pain in the ass to work with on android. Figuring out how to switch or update custom roms while encrypted will drive you insane. The easiest way is to just odin back to stock and start over, but that requires a computer anytime you need to flash anything.
I recently was trying out one of the 4.4.4 GPE roms and turned on encryption. It worked great until i started missing touchwiz and wanted to go back to HyperDrive TW. So the journey began...
First of all, i backed up everything to external storage since i knew everything on the internal storage would have to be wiped. I loaded the phone into recovery mode (using TWRP) and tried wiping, but all i got was a bunch of "Failed to mount" errors. Fine. Got the same error when trying to factory reset or wiping /system, /data, /cache, and anything else. Tried formatting to different file systems and then formatting back to the original but no luck. Fixing permissions didnt help. I just kept trying everything available multiple times.
Eventually it started wiping everything except the /data mount. Well... At least i could install new custom roms. Im not sure exactly what did it because i was just throwing everything at it. Anyways I got it to install, and booted into it. Nope.
Now it was saying I needed the password to decrypt the internal storage. It would detect wrong passwords fine, but as soon as i put the correct password in, it would allow me in, show the green android encryption picture, then blank screen. I thought it was just decrypting and setting up my rom but after a few hours my screen was still black and nothing was happening. Pulled battery and went back to TWRP.
I started wiping everything again and again and tried doing everything i could to wipe everything on the internal storage. Again, not sure what did it, but eventually got it all cleaned up and got a new rom installed and could boot into it.
The whole process probably took about 6-7 hours...
I dont even want to enable encryption on the new rom...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah Encryption does not seem to work on TWZ roms. I tried on G Eye without luck.
I have updated op. Please check
Encryption will slow down your phone quite a bit. More battery usage + more CPU usage + slower phone = not worth it unless you've got some very private stuff you don't want being shared. Otherwise, 3rd party apps that lock a lot of files, can encrypt certain files, and hide others will do the trick perfectly well.'
Not trying to bash fully encrypting your phone, but I've tried it before and although I am very pro privacy, I had to eventually take it off due to all the extra hassle it created.
Don't know about slowing down. I am not seeing it. I feel differently about security.

Unable to Install ANY custom roms onto my m919

I am a frequent experience Android user and have been flashing Roms since like forever.
Owning gs4 been nice installing Roms all the time however recently when I went to install new gpe ROM (new kernel seemed prime to have) coming from HDrom rls20 I downloaded currupt zip. When I tried installing currupt zip (not knowing yet it was currupt) it gave me red errors not allowing me to proceed.. Then, I turned off device got fresh dload and made sure md5 sum was legit and it was tried again of course first factory data reset with advanced system wipe the ROM proceeded to aroma installer this time.. Attempting to install I chose all my settings and it went to progress bar to install and skipped any system extraction and went straight to Apks.. Batch completed and I hadn't a ROM installed for it took it 5seconds.. I have had this problem in the past before and I sold it they returned it (didn't like condition) and bingo I was able to install Roms again (this was way back in the day with this same gs4) I'm assuming system partition not mounting because also when I tried installing that currupt file it was saying in red unable to mount system and stuff. Luckily I downloaded NK2 firmware (took 8hs) and am fine on stock but I'm hoping someone has a clue to point me in right direction.. I saw forum of somebody with similar issue their fix was pushing zip via computer adb commands then installing. I'll have to give it a try but sticking to stock for a bit. BTW this happens with every ROM just skips system files in fact cyanogenmod just hhung at installation wouldn't fail or complete. I used TWRP LATEST. Please help developers I'm sure this ones a no brainer for y'all. Except seems like issue only I've encountered for this isn't a popular thing at all on google.
SOLVED
Thanks to somebody in gs3 forums all i had to do was push adb the rom and wow it worked installed system YAY IM HAAPPPYY
Stoowyguy said:
Thanks to somebody in gs3 forums all i had to do was push adb the rom and wow it worked installed system YAY IM HAAPPPYY
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What does it mean to "push adb" a phone's rom? Doesn't Odin automatically flash the selected rom?

[Solved] Issues activating SGS3 SPH-L710 on Sprint with Custom ROM + lots of problems

Hello all!
This is my first foray into the world of custom Android systems, and I'm having a hell of a time with it... if somebody would be able to help me out, I would greatly appreciate it.
First off, the situation:
I am on Sprint, and I recently bought a Samsung Galaxy S3 (SPH-L710) from Sprint to use as a backup phone, I used it for a while on Stock, then deactivated it so I could give it to my wife. First though, I wanted to put a custom ROM on it, and experiment/play around a bit and see what this world of options could do for me. Long story short, I ended up flashing an AICP ROM, and everything seemed to go smoothly, but when I went to activate the phone on my account again and it would not work no matter what I tried (details below). I figured maybe I could activate on the stock setup then just restore my custom setup, so I tried to revert to my stock ROM backup and I couldn't do anything because I was constantly getting messages that various programs had closed... Then I tried to wipe and restore my custom ROM backup and I get stuck in a boot loop... so I tried to flash a stock recovery and I get stuck in a boot loop... I'm out of ideas here, and now I'm stuck with a phone I can't use or do anything with, and I can't activate.
Details:
The initial rooting/install process seemed to work ok, and was fairly straightforward. I followed various guides on http://galaxys3root.com/ to get my phone rooted and backed up (Don't recall which ones now, but I've read through so much by now I don't know if it matters...).
My phone:
Samsung Galaxy S3 (Sprint) SPH-L710
Modem: L710SPRDNJ2
My Desktop:
Debian Linux
Here's the steps I performed:
Rebooted phone in Odin mode
Downloaded CWM S3 Sprint Recovery from the http://galaxys3root.com/ website (can't find the link any more)
Flashed the CWM recovery using Heimdall then rebooted phone into CWM
Installed SuperSU through CWM, then rebooted
Checked that the phone was rooted successfully (it was), then ran Titanium Backup on the whole device to my SD card, then copied the backup files to my desktop computer
Rebooted into CWM, and performed a backup through CWM, then rebooted and copied the CWM backup to my desktop.
Downloaded AICP Rom for my phone from here: http://downloadandroidrom.com/file/GalaxyS3Sprint/roms/AICP/aicp_d2spr_lp-10.0-RELEASE-20150707.zip, put it on my SD card, then installed it through CWM and rebooted
At this point, I was happy with how everything was working, so I did some minor theme customizations then made another backup through CWM, and copied it to my computer, but I did NOT run Titanium this time...
After all of this, I tried to go ahead and activate it through the Sprint web service. This process failed continuously with an unhelpful error message of "Sorry, this device can't be activated right now". I then got on Chat to see if they could activate it manually, and then the problems began. They did their thing activating the phone, but when I booted up I got no data connectivity, and couldn't make calls, and the SIM was not changing over to the new number. I was on the chat with them for over an hour trying to get the situation resolved, but that finally ended when they started asking me to punch in ## codes, because I discovered that none of them worked on my custom ROM. Some quick research told me that this was non-trivial to get around so I had them switch everything back and I started researching the issue.
I found this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1626638&highlight=sph-l710 that looked like it would let me do what I needed from the custom ROM, but I couldn't tell if it would fix my problem for sure, so I figured "I'll just restore my stock setup from that backup I took, activate it and update, then start over". This is when things got really frustrating...
First I rebooted into CWM, went to 'backup/restore', and restored my stock backup
Rebooted, and as soon as I got past the lock screen, I get inundated with messages of various apps being closed unexpectedly.
I researched a bit, discovered the issue may be caused by stale dalvik cache, so I rebooted into CWM, cleared the dalvik cache, formatted the /cache partition, then tried to restore the stock backup again, but this time I get stuck in a boot loop.
I then rebooted into CWM, tried to restore the backup of my AICP ROM, only to be stuck in a boot loop as well.
Trying to get into any usable system, I rebooted to CWM, cleared dalvik cache, then formatted /cache, /data, and /system just to be sure, and re-flashed the base AICP ROM I started with. This worked fine, and before long I had stock AICP back
Since I still couldn't get the phone to activate in the custom ROM, and my backups are apparently completely useless, I rebooted into CWM, wiped dalvik, /cache, /data, and /system again and tried to install a different stock ROM I found in the XDA forums (here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s3-sprint/development/stock-rom-4-4-2-t3010642) only to be greeted by another bootloop
At this point I've spent well over 24 man-hours trying to get this to work, reading, researching, flashing, etc all to no avail. Nothing I do seems to work, and it seems like every article, tutorial, or forum thread I read either has nothing to do with my device, is too old, or doesn't describe my problem.
I'm at wits end, and am so frustrated I'm ready to just give up and smash this device and buy a new one... My questions to the community are as follows:
I know I screwed up on a couple of things, but in my initial research of doing this there was no indication that these were even things I needed to watch out for... Is there any more organized sources of information for doing this sort of thing?
Does anybody else out there use Sprint on a custom ROM, and if so how you you pull this off
Where else have I screwed up, and how can I fix this situation? (My end goal is still to get the S3 onto Sprint with a custom ROM)
What can I do differently next time? I would like to figure this out and do it to other phones and devices I have, but if it's this much trouble every time, I just don't have the time to mess with it.
Thank you in advance, and I appreciate any information that the community can provide.
This sounds like a CWM problem to me. If I were you, I'd boot the phone into Odin Mode and flash TWRP ( www.twrp.me ) then try flashing the latest aicp nightly downloaded from the official site ( www.aicp-rom.com ). Check the md5sums on everything! Then maybe try flashing a touchwiz ROM and activating your phone. Remember that you need to wipe the internal storage when you go between KitKat and lollipop.
I'm fairly certain you have to do activation with the stock Touchwiz roms -- once the phone is activated you can flash a custom.
You should go into recovery and wipe everything (System/data/etc) EXCEPT for the External SD Card
Power off - pull the battery for a few - power on directly into download mode
Odin NJ2 back onto the phone and reboot and activate it (skip through most of the setup since you'll flash a custom after)
Once you know it's activated and working under the stock Touchwiz, then again power off and Odin TWRP recovery
Then you can go back into recovery, wipe everything except External SD, and flash the custom rom back on.
Looks like swapping CWM for TWRP did the trick.
Flashed TWRP no problems, and put CleanBean on there to get the phone activated. Still wouldn't work automatically over the Sprint website, but I got on chat with them and they fixed me right up. Downloading a fresh copy of AICP now...
Is it worth it to keep the CWM backups I made earlier, or should I just go ahead and flush them? I figured just get rid of them since restoring them wasn't working anyway, but I figured I would ask.
Now to move all the data over to the new phone. Thanks so much for your help guys!
afarris01 said:
Looks like swapping CWM for TWRP did the trick.
Flashed TWRP no problems, and put CleanBean on there to get the phone activated. Still wouldn't work automatically over the Sprint website, but I got on chat with them and they fixed me right up. Downloading a fresh copy of AICP now...
Is it worth it to keep the CWM backups I made earlier, or should I just go ahead and flush them? I figured just get rid of them since restoring them wasn't working anyway, but I figured I would ask.
Now to move all the data over to the new phone. Thanks so much for your help guys!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Get rid of them. TWRP can't restore CWM even if the backup is good

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