Database Users

[Q] Noob help

I just bought a GS4 I-337 at&t model. I've got it unlocked so I can use when I travel. I want to root it so I can go ahead and put a tethering app.
after reading a bit I figured i'd just ask.....
how do I know if I have the new firmware I keep reading about that people are being told to avoid via OTA updates...I don't have At&t service and I haven't plugged the phone into my computer to use Kies or anything yet.
I've had a gs3 and a note 2 that I rooted with toolkits....is there a toolkit I can use for this device and can someone kindly point me to where I can find it.
thanks

JonBlaze25 said:
I just bought a GS4 I-337 at&t model. I've got it unlocked so I can use when I travel. I want to root it so I can go ahead and put a tethering app.
after reading a bit I figured i'd just ask.....
how do I know if I have the new firmware I keep reading about that people are being told to avoid via OTA updates...I don't have At&t service and I haven't plugged the phone into my computer to use Kies or anything yet.
I've had a gs3 and a note 2 that I rooted with toolkits....is there a toolkit I can use for this device and can someone kindly point me to where I can find it.
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go into settings, about phone and see what your baseband says. If it end in mf3 you have that firmware. Other possibilities are mdb or mdl.

JonBlaze25 said:
I just bought a GS4 I-337 at&t model. I've got it unlocked so I can use when I travel. I want to root it so I can go ahead and put a tethering app.
after reading a bit I figured i'd just ask.....
how do I know if I have the new firmware I keep reading about that people are being told to avoid via OTA updates...I don't have At&t service and I haven't plugged the phone into my computer to use Kies or anything yet.
I've had a gs3 and a note 2 that I rooted with toolkits....is there a toolkit I can use for this device and can someone kindly point me to where I can find it.
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Read this...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2413746
Read the "pinned" threads in the general section also.

Canadian i337m root with Mac help!
Has anybody successfully rooted a Canadian i337m using a Mac? I have tried multiple times with motochopper but the root never works. I get the superuser icon but it is not rooted. Has anybody tried using this method on a Mac, [TOOL](OneClick)UPDATED 7-8-13 CANADIAN I337m ROOT & RECOVERY? Has anyone had any success with it? Are there instructions?

cory.l.83 said:
Has anybody successfully rooted a Canadian i337m using a Mac? I have tried multiple times with motochopper but the root never works. I get the superuser icon but it is not rooted. Has anybody tried using this method on a Mac, [TOOL](OneClick)UPDATED 7-8-13 CANADIAN I337m ROOT & RECOVERY? Has anyone had any success with it? Are there instructions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know why it wouldn't but you have no link. If you need adb to work, try this thread. Ashton is pretty helpful in getting you adb on a Mac. I did it and I am a dummy. Don't you Kies on your Mac. Delete it.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1917237
This is also a root thread, but I prefer finding XDA how to's
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2252500
I don't have i337m so confirm your steps first and do whatever backups you can do
---------- Post added at 11:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:24 PM ----------
cory.l.83 said:
Has anybody successfully rooted a Canadian i337m using a Mac? I have tried multiple times with motochopper but the root never works. I get the superuser icon but it is not rooted. Has anybody tried using this method on a Mac, [TOOL](OneClick)UPDATED 7-8-13 CANADIAN I337m ROOT & RECOVERY? Has anyone had any success with it? Are there instructions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, I found your Tool thread and dl'd and unzipped it. As I thought you need adb working on your Mac. So, go to thread I posted and set up adb.

[Q] Unlock Help! Samsung S4 SGHI337 MF3 on ATT

Hi,
My current phone Samsung S4 SGHI1337 with software version ending MF3 is not eligible for unlock until the contract expires with AT&T. I was told that this phone with the IMEI number can be unlocked but I have to make sure once it's unlocked, AT&T will still service this unlocked phone.
I don't know what this all means. I need to take this phone with me abroad. I don't want to pay for expensive international roaming with a locked phone.
Also, has anyone used cellunlocker with positive experience?
Thank you.

I have used them, and it worked great on my i337m here in Canada. 25 bucks, got the code a couple hours later, threw it in with a non-Rogers SIM, and boom, it worked. HOWEVER, I am using the i337m from Canada, not the i337 from AT&T, so YMMV./

I unlocked my i337 by flashing the MDL modem file using the instructions for the dial codes then flashing current build modem back worked and did not trip knox

Thanks...but technically challenged.
gottech said:
I unlocked my i337 by flashing the MDL modem file using the instructions for the dial codes then flashing current build modem back worked and did not trip knox
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For the technically challenged such as myself, how do you manage to do that step by step? Thanks.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2597973
all the step by step I used

gottech said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2597973
all the step by step I used
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much. Yours truly here has turned brain dead looking at the steps. I don't even have a card reader..... I am afraid to try this.. I probably end up damaging my phone, LOL...

Have you tried regionlock away available through play store some people have luck with that but you need to be rooted

gottech said:
Have you tried regionlock away available through play store some people have luck with that but you need to be rooted
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I have not. Not sure how to do that either. I read some of the posts here, but still have not a clear clue. If you could point me to a more step by step post, I'd very much appreciate it. :cyclops::cyclops::cyclops::cyclops:
FYI - my current phone does not have international roaming with AT&T. I have it disabled. Would this matter when it comes to regionlock? Can you region unlock EU Zone? I just want to be able to take the phone with me to Europe and insert the local SIM so that I don't get outrageous charge on international roaming. I do text a lot while abroad.

More Confused Than Ever
I am the OP in this thread. I am more confused than ever.
I just used the code *#12580*369# and found that the RF Cal is 20131114 Date of Manufacture
I then used *#1234# and found out that all the AP,CP,CS ended with MK2. But on the phone box, the S/W version ended in MF3. So I don't know if I have MF3 or MK2 firmware version.
When I use the code *#197328640#. I cannot see the #6 Network Unlock screen. So I guess it's hidden from me.
Sorry for all these questions. I am a newbie at this.

confused2014 said:
I am the OP in this thread. I am more confused than ever.
I just used the code *#12580*369# and found that the RF Cal is 20131114 Date of Manufacture
I then used *#1234# and found out that all the AP,CP,CS ended with MK2. But on the phone box, the S/W version ended in MF3. So I don't know if I have MF3 or MK2 firmware version.
When I use the code *#197328640#. I cannot see the #6 Network Unlock screen. So I guess it's hidden from me.
Sorry for all these questions. I am a newbie at this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks like you have mk2 firmware. Your phone came with mf3 but you must have taken an ota update to mk2. That's pretty normal.

[Q] T-mobile AWS enabling on sgh-i337

Okay guys, I read the other posts and watched the video. I followed everything step by step. It worked until I went to install the new file. It stopped at 5%. I don't know what to do now.
If someone could link me a way to fix this it would be greatly appreciated.
I've been using these forums to mod my phones forever. Thanks for everything.

sm17 said:
Okay guys, I read the other posts and watched the video. I followed everything step by step. It worked until I went to install the new file. It stopped at 5%. I don't know what to do now.
If someone could link me a way to fix this it would be greatly appreciated.
I've been using these forums to mod my phones forever. Thanks for everything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you on mf3 or mk2?

Thr33-F0ur said:
Are you on mf3 or mk2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mk2
Also I tried upgrading through att to 4.4 a d it stopped in the middle of that last night as well but that's a whole different thing.

sm17 said:
Okay guys, I read the other posts and watched the video. I followed everything step by step. It worked until I went to install the new file. It stopped at 5%. I don't know what to do now.
If someone could link me a way to fix this it would be greatly appreciated.
I've been using these forums to mod my phones forever. Thanks for everything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd give up. I am on MF3, it works fine on that. I recently opened another thread about this very topic asking if updates would break the AWS support on HSPA+ with Tmobile. It does, and it doesn't appear with anything newer than MF3 that you can successfully update it. On my friends phone who had it flashed with MF3 to begin with and had AWS was updated to MK2 and it did away with the AWS support and now cannot be flashed to support it. So if AWS support is important for you on AWS I would NOT upgrade the OS at all.

Is there not a way to flash back to the old one so I can do the AWS unlock? I really want to use T-Mobile prepaid. They seem to be the best prepaid service available. Currently using net10 and it sucks. They throttle something fierce. T-Mobile on the other hand supposedly does not.
Sent from my Samsung SGH-i337

sm17 said:
Is there not a way to flash back to the old one so I can do the AWS unlock? I really want to use T-Mobile prepaid. They seem to be the best prepaid service available. Currently using net10 and it sucks. They throttle something fierce. T-Mobile on the other hand supposedly does not.
Sent from my Samsung SGH-i337
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can flash the MF3 modem only and it will work. That's what I had to do when I upgraded to MK2. Just flash the MF3 modem found here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2496517 with safestrap and then follow the AWS guide.

[Q] how to unlock galaxy s4 from straighttalk SM-S975L

So I looked everywhere and no one seems to know how to unlock a straighttalk s4
since this site the best with cellphones problem solving I'm askin for some help :/
its a SM-S975L

when i ran the network unlock tool it was already unlocked the boot loader wasn't locked either the only thing we need now is rom development to include our devices. I have twrp and used towel root to root the device.

meya_20 said:
So I looked everywhere and no one seems to know how to unlock a straighttalk s4
since this site the best with cellphones problem solving I'm askin for some help :/
its a SM-S975L
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm dealing with this same issue right now. Bought an SM-S975L for straight talk last night and I want to use it on Metro PCS. Metro says all is well on their end and I just have to wait, but all I see is "Invalid Sim" on the status bar. How did you unlock the SM-S975L? There's very limited information around the internet about this model. I'm tearing my hair out and the wifey is driving around without a phone. Figured you (or anybody else) could point me in the right direction.

meya_20 said:
So I looked everywhere and no one seems to know how to unlock a straighttalk s4
since this site the best with cellphones problem solving I'm askin for some help :/
its a SM-S975L
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

BoominSVX said:
I'm dealing with this same issue right now. Bought an SM-S975L for straight talk last night and I want to use it on Metro PCS. Metro says all is well on their end and I just have to wait, but all I see is "Invalid Sim" on the status bar. How did you unlock the SM-S975L? There's very limited information around the internet about this model. I'm tearing my hair out and the wifey is driving around without a phone. Figured you (or anybody else) could point me in the right direction.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL, the $249 deal was hard to pass up. I got a couple of them, one for me and one for the misses. She'll be fine with the 4.3 that is on the phone out of the box, but I wanted to convert mine to be like the I9505G (GPE). I was thinking it would be simple as I've heard all of the LTE models were like the I9505 and they seem fairly broken into. But I think this is more like the SGH-I337 and maybe boot loader locked, but looking into ways to test that. I did root it already using towelroot. Installed SuperSU and Titanium Backup and root is working, now so see if I can get CMW and a GPE rom on it. If I find a way I'll be sure it is mentioned here as a working method for the SM-S975L. I'm not using it yet as I have my GT-I9500 that I'm using, but seeing better support for the qualcomm for custom roms I decided to get it. The I9500 should get Android 5.0 official rom first though.

For what it's worth, I just picked up this phone from the Black Friday sale, and I would *really* like to put a custom ROM on it. I won't even pretend to be proficient in this. How difficult would it be to convert the custom ROMs on other models of Galaxy S4's to this one?

I am unsure my self the closest variant is the att s4. Both the att one and this one is bootloader locked. Since we have 4.3 version of Android safestrap would be likely what to use. I am afraid of this my self so I have not attempted it
Sent from my SM-S975L using XDA Free mobile app

Whoa whoa whoa. What am I looking at? It looks like that's the model of the T-mobile variant, but the baseband is the same as the S975L!?

aromerblz said:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even a custom kernel flashed! What.
Sent from my SM-T310

It is the SM-S975L with a T-Mobile ROM and the custom kernel. The SGH-I337 ROM does not work, it erases the system partition every flash.

Awesome work aromerblz. Anything special you had to do to load the ROM with the S975 baseband...or any issues you're experiencing? Will be testing this out later in the week when I get some free time.
-JC

That is cool, at the very least its Kit Kat. I still would like to find a method to convert completely to GT-I9505G. Just no time. I'm hoping with jtag access it can be completely reconfigured, then just make sure the IMEI is set to that the device should be. Ideally the only way to see it was a SM-S975L would be to look under the battery. I don't really care about removing the SIM lock though, I plan to stick with my ST SIM. I did get a new BYOD SIM and it is showing 4G now (Not sure if it should indicate LTE like old ATT S3 does) as my old BYOD SIM would not and ST support said that I could not move the included SIM to any other device as it would be bound to the S975L.

I would love to get off the Tracfone ROM. I'm going to assume that Samsung/Tracfone will never upgrade this phone beyond Android 4.3. The last native update was in February of this year, and it was just a minor patch. I'm not too concerned about unlocking, but being able to use a different ROM seems to be a step in the right direction. If anyone could post a tutorial or what ROMs they used, that would be extremely helpful. I've looked everywhere and this info is not available anywhere.
For what it's worth, someone over on GSM Forums has claimed to have flashed the AT&T ROM too. They also were unable to unlock it, however. Unfortunately, I can't post the direct link until I have hit 10 posts That poster has been inactive for two months, and before that, he was inactive for three years. It may be hard to get in touch with him..

carlyman said:
Awesome work aromerblz. Anything special you had to do to load the ROM with the S975 baseband...or any issues you're experiencing? Will be testing this out later in the week when I get some free time.
-JC
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I first flashed a T-Mobile TWRP recovery v27.1, but the latest v28 works fine. After that i downloaded the TMB firmware NB4 from sammobile.com created a custom rom with the android kitchen. After that the usual flashing of the rom via TWRP. Without a custom kernel the phone does not boot up. So i used the ktoonsez kernel. Once booted i rooted with towelroot and pjone has been working fine. Only things to know is that when booting up it says "Kernel is not SeAndroid"
"Set Warranty Bit: Kernel"
As that specifies it trips the knox flag. Which i dont care if it does as am not in the USA.

You used the TWRP for jfltetmo, correct? Did you use Odin to flash it?
Also, this might seem obvious, but even if I do this, it'll still work/remain locked to ST/AT&T, correct?

lilmul123 said:
You used the TWRP for jfltetmo, correct? Did you use Odin to flash it?
Also, this might seem obvious, but even if I do this, it'll still work/remain locked to ST/AT&T, correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah TWRP for jfltetmo. The jflteatt does not seem to work at all on this model. I flashed with odin, no need to use safestrap on this phone as i think the bootloader is not locked like the one found on the SGH-I337, although its the identical variant.
Yes the phone remains locked to ST/AT&T. A friend of mines was able to get the unlock cod for this phone but even with the unlock code its not a permanent lock. Reason is because you can unlock and be able to use all the features available to the phone but once restarted it asks for the code again. Not sure why it does that, I believe the radio has to be the culprit for that here. Not sure how TracFone will handle the unlocks for this phone after 01/01/15. does the same even on full stock TF firmware.

lilmul123 said:
I would love to get off the Tracfone ROM. I'm going to assume that Samsung/Tracfone will never upgrade this phone beyond Android 4.3. The last native update was in February of this year, and it was just a minor patch. I'm not too concerned about unlocking, but being able to use a different ROM seems to be a step in the right direction. If anyone could post a tutorial or what ROMs they used, that would be extremely helpful. I've looked everywhere and this info is not available anywhere.
For what it's worth, someone over on GSM Forums has claimed to have flashed the AT&T ROM too. They also were unable to unlock it, however. Unfortunately, I can't post the direct link until I have hit 10 posts That poster has been inactive for two months, and before that, he was inactive for three years. It may be hard to get in touch with him..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you PM me that GSM forums link you are talking about. I want to take a look.

Np, just a sec. (building up my post count)

GSM Forum stating AT&T-based ROM...not much detail I could glean from it tho. http://forum.gsmhosting.com/vbb/f286/unlock-samsung-sm-s975l-tracfone-straighttalk-1866981

These are my only unlocking options?

OK, I just come across an S4 SGH-i337M running 5.0.1 locked to Bell. Searching Google is fairly mind boggling as everyone has their own method. In my situation, I'm pretty sure I have come to this solid conclusion. Two options only,,
1. Buy unlock code or
2. Downgrade to at least 4.4.2 and use the hidden codes method.
Can #2 be done safely? Some sites say if you do try downgrade from Lollipop to KK, it will brick. What would a safe procedure be if possible.
Thanks

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=64978235&postcount=713
Substitute Bell firmware for Fido firmware.

audit13 said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=64978235&postcount=713
Substitute Bell firmware for Fido firmware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, seen this but wasn't sure. I assume that flashing back to Lollipop isn't necessary if one chooses to stay at 4.4.2 for a while. Heard some comments about increased battery drainage etc. on Lollipop.
Will try this once the new charge port shows up and I can replace.

The hidden codes method won't work, unfortunately. Let me know if you are successful.
Thanks.

audit13 said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=64978235&postcount=713
Substitute Bell firmware for Fido firmware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
audit13 said:
The hidden codes method won't work, unfortunately. Let me know if you are successful.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, will do. Hopefully will be getting to it tonight. Here's one of the confusing things I was talking about. Been doing alot of reading, and in your instructions, you install TWRP to flash SuperSU and such. Then, reading elsewhere, I see this "SAFESTRAP IS THE ONLY RECOVERY WE CAN USE!
Don't even try flashing another one.", posted in a thread about AT&T SGH-I337 model. Well, here it is, halfway down in the second post, bolded in red. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2616221 Just trying to get things figured out, it's been a couple years since I last played with the Galaxy, just getting back into it now.

The AT&T version of the s4 is the Sgh-i337 and, if it was running stock 5.01, the bootloader would be locked and twrp cannot be used.
The Canadian version of the s4 has the letter "m" at the end of the model number and the bootloader is not locked which allows the installation of twrp and custom ROMs that are not based on a tw kernel.

audit13 said:
The hidden codes method won't work, unfortunately. Let me know if you are successful.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, this method seemed to work,,just one problem I overlooked, but I just assumed this phone would work on AWS1700,,wrong lol. I was reading the 141 page thread and there seems to be a few different methods for doing this. With my S3, I only had to flash the NV and run a script on every boot as the nv rewrite would not stick. Is this so as well with the s4 too,,or is there a method to make it a permanent stay. I didn't plan on updating to 5.0.1 quite yet,,but will do if needed. Do you no of a recommended/preferred method for this?

Did you test the phone with another sim card? Hopefully, you will not be prompted to enter a network unlock code.
For AWS, I'm not sure what needs to be done as I am using a Telus s4 on Bell.

audit13 said:
Did you test the phone with another sim card? Hopefully, you will not be prompted to enter a network unlock code.
For AWS, I'm not sure what needs to be done as I am using a Telus s4 on Bell.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It was locked with Bell, my provider is Eastlink,,I finally got the AWS1700 band working, but kept losing it when the phone went to sleep. Updated to the NE1 modem, then had to flash the AWS again and all seems to be working fine. Hopefully it holds up. Thanks for everything.

Glad it is all working. We're all here to help and learn from each other.