Develop Bugs

[Q] Unable to flash custom roms

I'm unsure of what exactly is causing the problem but My T-Mo Galaxy Note 3(SM-900t. Hltetmo) is unable to successfully flash any custom roms. It's running the official 4.4.2 kitkat as well as the bootloader installed from kies 3. Currenty I have a beta version of twrp installed that works with the 4.4 bootloader and I've tried a few different roms with varying issues. Is it just not possible to flash custom roms on this official bootloader currently?
The roms I've tried flashing to name two are Tweaked and W03's Slim. I've only done clean installs and even cleaned out all of the SD card / internal before attempting but the roms either won't boot, and the phone just heats up or loop endlessly. I made a nandroid backup of my stock rooted which I have no problem going back to after each unsuccessful attempt but I've yet to figure out why. If anyone has any tips or advice it's much appreciated.

peanutsrule said:
I'm unsure of what exactly is causing the problem but My T-Mo Galaxy Note 3(SM-900t. Hltetmo) is unable to successfully flash any custom roms. It's running the official 4.4.2 kitkat as well as the bootloader installed from kies 3. Currenty I have a beta version of twrp installed that works with the 4.4 bootloader and I've tried a few different roms with varying issues. Is it just not possible to flash custom roms on this official bootloader currently?
The roms I've tried flashing to name two are Tweaked and W03's Slim. I've only done clean installs and even cleaned out all of the SD card / internal before attempting but the roms either won't boot, and the phone just heats up or loop endlessly. I made a nandroid backup of my stock rooted which I have no problem going back to after each unsuccessful attempt but I've yet to figure out why. If anyone has any tips or advice it's much appreciated.
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Tweaked is 4.3 the ROMs are not interchangable
TWEAKED 2.0 ELEMENT V3.0 NOTE 3

That would definitely explain it for tweaked, but Will's seems to be a kitkat 4.4.2 rom. I'm unable to get that one to work either when many seem to have no issue. Due to my post count I'm not able to directly ask in each of their threads so there's it's anything I can do I'm willing. I'll research if it's possible to downgrade back to 4.3 but from what I read already it doesn't look like it.
- Edit
After some research it looks like Will's is modded in some way to have kitkat's version with the 4.3 loader. So that would explain why I'm unable to flash that as well.

peanutsrule said:
That would definitely explain it for tweaked, but Will's seems to be a kitkat 4.4.2 rom. I'm unable to get that one to work either when many seem to have no issue. Due to my post count I'm not able to directly ask in each of their threads so there's it's anything I can do I'm willing. I'll research if it's possible to downgrade back to 4.3 but from what I read already it doesn't look like it.
- Edit
After some research it looks like Will's is modded in some way to have kitkat's version with the 4.3 loader. So that would explain why I'm unable to flash that as well.
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They need different sections here for this. One for 4.3 another for 4.4.2.
TWEAKED 2.0 ELEMENT V3.0 NOTE 3

nsaveer composed
It would probably help sort out things a lot better, yeah. Shame.. I didn't think an update could possibly go this bad but lesson learned. If anything.. I've had zero problems with kitkat it actually does run better and smoother but the locked down issues are unacceptable with Knox.

peanutsrule said:
It would probably help sort out things a lot better, yeah. Shame.. I didn't think an update could possibly go this bad but lesson learned. If anything.. I've had zero problems with kitkat it actually does run better and smoother but the locked down issues are unacceptable with Knox.
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What lock down issue.
TWEAKED 2.0 ELEMENT V3.0 NOTE 3

From what I understand once updated to the official 4.4.2 kitkat the updated bootloader in 4.4 makes it so you can't downgrade. It's much more locked down compared to the official 4.3 JB. As such I'm stuck on 4.4. From my research there's only one model of the note 3 that can downgrade and it's the W8 model.

[Q] 4.4.2 OTA Problems

I have had several issues with the 4.4.2 OTA update on my I747 . The most annoying is the battery drain and "hot phone syndrome" which apparently is a bug related related to the camera daemon. Details can be found here http://tinyurl.com/KK-Batt
My goal is to throw 4.4.2 in the bit bucket and go back to stock 4.3 (when life was perfect), however I am leery of the older ROM's running on the newer NE4 bootloader and modem. I have done much reading on XDA for the past week (scortched eyeballs) but haven't found a 4.3 ROM that gives me any confidence ( they all state specifically to flash the MJB or MJ2 level firmware)
Has anyone sucessfully accomplished running 4.3 on the new NE4 bootloader / modem ?
I read a post from @DocHoliday77 that said this "should" be possible .....but I cannot afford a brick. The phone is my ISP, as I have no cable or DSL available , just a mediocre LTE signal from ATT (for which I am grateful)
I am considering this ROM http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2504903
Thanks for any info or suggestions that you may have

You can flash any ROM you like as long as the ROM does not attempt to flash a new bootloader or modem.
The reason many ROMs require the 4.3 bootloader and modem is the fact that the ROM requires these two things to function properly.

audit13 said:
You can flash any ROM you like as long as the ROM does not attempt to flash a new bootloader or modem.
The reason many ROMs require the 4.3 bootloader and modem is the fact that the ROM requires these two things to function properly.
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Thanks for the response audit13 , that all makes perfect sense ..... I was hoping maybe someone out there had suffered the same plight and tried this solution.
I read that the problem won't be corrected until android "L" (they attempted to fix it in 4.4.3 but failed). To me this is like Ebola for Android so I don't understand the lack of urgency by Google to correct it ??? Also, one would think a developer would have suffered this plague and been motivated to fix it.

This is not necessarily a Google problem. Samsung ROMs use Samsung kernels, not stock Google kernels.
Samsung is on 4.4.2 while custom ROMs are at 4.4.4.

audit13 said:
This is not necessarily a Google problem. Samsung ROMs use Samsung kernels, not stock Google kernels.
Samsung is on 4.4.2 while custom ROMs are at 4.4.4.
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Yes but the problem exists in the Nexus line as well, looks like Sam inherited it in the source code. I have thought about trying a different kernel , but IDK if the problem is with the kernel or the daemon or a combination of both.
@audit13 since I am mostly a NOOB here maybe you can help me. I am about to try a custom ROM but am leery that they may mess with my bootloader and modem (NE4) is that possible or typical when you flash a ROM? or do they always state it if they do?

I was running the latest version of Liquid Smooth 4.4.4 and never experienced excessive battery drain or a hot phone on my Nexus 4. After a few days, I installed a custom kernel and my battery life improved but not by very much. Maybe I have been lucky with my Nexus 4. I tried Android L on my Nexus 4 for a while but didn't like the interface. Again, battery drain did not appear excessive on L.
I Don't have KK on my s3 as it is running 4.3 bootloader and modem with a custom ROM.
It is possible that a custom ROM will attempt to flash a bootloader or modem but I have never seen this happen other than a couple of ROMs for a Nexus 4. To ensure that a new bootloader/modem is not going to be flashed to your phone, make sure you look at the first few posts for instructions and warnings.

audit13 said:
I was running the latest version of Liquid Smooth 4.4.4 and never experienced excessive battery drain or a hot phone on my Nexus 4. After a few days, I installed a custom kernel and my battery life improved but not by very much. Maybe I have been lucky with my Nexus 4. I tried Android L on my Nexus 4 for a while but didn't like the interface. Again, battery drain did not appear excessive on L.
I Don't have KK on my s3 as it is running 4.3 bootloader and modem with a custom ROM.
It is possible that a custom ROM will attempt to flash a bootloader or modem but I have never seen this happen other than a couple of ROMs for a Nexus 4. To ensure that a new bootloader/modem is not going to be flashed to your phone, make sure you look at the first few posts for instructions and warnings.
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Thanks for the feedback @audit13 much appreciated ...... I feel better now. I think I will try upgrading first since there has been no specific feedback on downgrading and my gut tells me it may not be the best idea SlimKat 4.4.4 looks interesting.
Hopefully you will not see a post from me in the future that starts with HELP !!!

I also have never seen a rom that flashes the bootloader or modem. Doing so would be a HUGE mistake!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

DocHoliday77 said:
I also have never seen a rom that flashes the bootloader or modem. Doing so would be a HUGE mistake!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk
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@DocHoliday77 ....... Thanks Doc

[Q] Virgin Mobile update to cm11 m11 help

Hey guys. I just got a galaxy s3 from virgin mobile SPH-L710 last week and I managed to install cyanogenmod 11 m10 on it. But to go to cm11 m11 asI've recently learned needs the latest bootloader and baseband.
I know there's two threads in the development section on how to get the latest stock nd8 update.
One had a link to download and open in Odin however the link doesn't seem to be good anymore.
The second thread is for the Odin one click full restore but when I run it it fails on aboot.nbm. I've tried using different USB cables too but it doesn't seem to do any good. Any ideads on how else to upgrade?

I can assure you this is false. I have a Virgin Mobile SPH-L710 on baseband MK5 and I am running a nightly build that is newer than M11 and have no issues.
You should be fine with a dirty flash over M10. Just wipe the cache before flashing.

OK that's intriguing. How did you get MK5 baseband? I just got my s3 last week and its on NF4 which I have no idea where that is in relation to any of the others i've seen around.
I've used the cm updator in settings to try one of the m11 nightlys earlier last week but I had no service so I restored a recovery of m10. Would performing a dirty flash of a nightly build be any different?

Erunur said:
OK that's intriguing. How did you get MK5 baseband? I just got my s3 last week and its on NF4 which I have no idea where that is in relation to any of the others i've seen around.
I've used the cm updator in settings to try one of the m11 nightlys earlier last week but I had no service so I restored a recovery of m10. Would performing a dirty flash of a nightly build be any different?
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My phone came with MK5 on it, when the phones were shipping with 4.3 installed.
To be honest with you, I would disregard the modem/baseband concerns altogether if I were you. These phones do come with KNOX on them and flashing bootloaders and modems is seriously a huge risk. Flashing a bootloader older than the one you are currently on will trip the killswitch and you will have an irreparable hard brick.
The only time I could possibly think considerations with the bootloader would need to be made is if you were looking to flash a rooted stock TouchWIZ ROM that needed newer bootloaders/modems. But, I really can't speak to that, as I am trying to avoid TouchWIZ and am only familiar with AOSP ROMs.
You may need to flash an APN fix in addition to the ROM and GAPPs. I also use @decimalman's custom kernel, the DKP kernel and have no issues. Basically, when I am clean flashing nightlies the order goes like this:
In PhilZ Recovery found here: https://goo.im/devs/philz_touch/CWM_Advanced_Edition/d2lte/
ROM
GAPPs
Kernel
APN fix
Re-Root system for SuperSU
Reboot
I sent you the link for the APN fix, available in another active VM S3 forum, in your inbox. Download and flash the zip and that should fix any service-related issues you're having.

OK I did a clean flash of the latest nightly, flashed the apn fix then booted. Still no service. No apn are on the device nor is it able to save any I manually put in. And settings shows the baseband version as unknown as well as anything else that has to do with cell service.

Erunur said:
OK I did a clean flash of the latest nightly, flashed the apn fix then booted. Still no service. No apn are on the device nor is it able to save any I manually put in. And settings shows the baseband version as unknown as well as anything else that has to do with cell service.
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And, you tried flashing all of those with the lateat version of PhilZ recovery?

Yes. I tried it with the latest version of philz and flashed all the zips you had listed in order but still the same old issues. However I noticed that WiFi still works. I can also go back to M10 and have no service issues. The other thing im noticing is that CyanogenMod thinks this is a SPH-L710 but apperently its really a SPH-L710T. The difference being that my phone has a tri-band radio for something to do with Sprints Spark.

Erunur said:
Yes. I tried it with the latest version of philz and flashed all the zips you had listed in order but still the same old issues. However I noticed that WiFi still works. I can also go back to M10 and have no service issues. The other thing im noticing is that CyanogenMod thinks this is a SPH-L710 but apperently its really a SPH-L710T. The difference being that my phone has a tri-band radio for something to do with Sprints Spark.
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When you're on M11, have you checked in system root --> /etc folder to see if the apns-conf.xml is there? You might tru copying that over from the M10 build.
In the meantime, I'll look into the modem a bit more. The CM forum users all seemed to agree on that as a fix.

Wipe to update/reflash...or ODIN.

I posted a thread a while back but I apparently posted the wrong type of thread. This one should be the right of the right type and in the right place.
On the Samsung devices I've had in the past, the boot loader was always a big deal when flashing new versions of android. I've had this tablet for a while now and haven't updated it since I bought it...and Odin flashed/rooted/installed TWRP on it.
From reading the megathreads, from threads, flashing threads, etc...it's not very clear if this is like the other Samsung devices I've had, or if this is like the EEEpad Transformer and Nexus 7 I had...and could move freely between android versions, stock roms...and nonstock ROMs, etc.
I'm running 5.0.2 and I play hearthstone competitively. I bought this for the display mainly, and now that I've loaded it with some crap, I'd like to flash a custom from/update. It seems my crap+samsungs crap saturates the ram quite well. Can I pretty much flash what I'd like? Or do I have to ODIN from stock to the latest build and then worry about number versions.
Also...I used to run an all that kept my TWRP version up to date. Goomanager I believe...but there are dozens of apps that claim to do this now...can I get a trusted suggestion?
Rooted on stock.
Android Version: 5.0.2
Kernel: 3.4.106 IronKernel V2.0 (mainly for s tweaks to boost audio)
Build LRX22G.T800XXU1BOC3

Forget about using an app to flash twrp.
Do it manually and be safe. Plus the official updates are lacking in features compared to the unofficial builds. Just check out the dev section and you'll see what I mean.

Thanks for the advice. And as far as flashing roms...can I pretty much flash what I'd like? Ex: go back and forth between Cm and stock builds...and between version builds while ignoring the boot loader? I'm basically trying to see if I've missed something critical since I rooted and flashed so long ago.

Jamesyboy said:
Thanks for the advice. And as far as flashing roms...can I pretty much flash what I'd like? Ex: go back and forth between Cm and stock builds...and between version builds while ignoring the boot loader? I'm basically trying to see if I've missed something critical since I rooted and flashed so long ago.
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As long as you don't flash a firmware build that is incompatible with your current bootloader you can flash what you want back and forth.

ashyx said:
As long as you don't flash a firmware build that is incompatible with your current bootloader you can flash what you want back and forth.
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Click to collapse
Thats what I figured. I'm running the stock rom rooted. I don't know what boot loader I'm on, or how to get to the latest one. I have all the access in the world-- recovery, root. But there isn't a place here...or anywhere that clearly says what am going on. I have a charging issue and would like to foahh a new Kernel, and I might as well update in the process,...by there is no "Upgrade from Xxx while on the stock rooted ROM" guide. Plus my laptop has a crappy USB port, so If I need to Odin something on here, itd be quite the process.
Ive asked around for months, literally. I've never been in this position before. Have always kept up to date. But once you fall behind, in forums like these (especially given the fact hat there are multiple devices in this section), you need something explicit to get back where you need to be.
Last time I looked, there weren't any instructions. Ill look against today to see if I can just download the latest..zip of a 10.5 stock ROM from somewhere in the dev section and then wipe, and flash that. If you know if its alright to just wipe and flash a new ROM, lemme know. Or if I have to Odin to a new one in order to get a new boot loader before I flash the latest Kernel, which I think then one I'm trying to use his BOJ. IRONKernel. I use it for S Tweaks, the sound, and a few performance tweaks.

You have to flash the bootloader with Odin they are posted in the bootloader thread.
You can flash the stock firmware with flashfire.

Flash new ROM from Dinosaur Lollipop 5.0.2. Rooted with TWRP.

So...
I got the tablet coming up on a year ago, and I rooted and installed TWRP immediately.
I'm currently running a stock ROM, and would like to continue to run stock based roms, but I've had issues with the custom kernel I'm running. The skyhigh thread is meager when it comes to details, but it also includes a few cryptic warnings about base and source and boot loader. Because I have no idea which one I'm running, or what to flash in TWRP, I'm in a terrible spot.
Searches, P.M.s and thread posts haven't gotten me anywhere.
Even if I could use Odin, the stock firmware thread, and the TW-Based ROM threads don't include the requirements, how you can test to see if you meet them, and if you don't, how you'd go about letting the requirements for base, etc.
Because of the introduction of threads like the stock firmware thread early on, root and odin methods used obscure FW, and now when selecting a few to download you have to choose between FW from France....from no country at all, or from the made up country of Us Cellular. So again, even if I wanted to broach the idea of Odin back to some semblance of stock, I couldn't.
But I ****desperately need a reflash/wipe/update***
Id like to run ironrom and kernel....
So how would I get there....from here? And preferably with TWRP?
Rooted 5.0.2 with TWRP and a really really old version of sky high.