Database Users

[Q] Quick Question If Someone Has a Moment, Please

I just swapped from my Amaze 4g, to a used Note 3, and I'm a little lost as far as where I should start.
It says that it's on 4.4.2, and that I cannot update due to a modified system.
Basically, I would like to get updated to 5.1.1 (or as close as is official for the Note 3), and root it.
I'm afraid I'm not familiar with Samsung devices, and because I purchased this from ebay, I don't know how to tell the exact state that the former user put it in (I expected they would return it to stock prior to selling).
It's currently a T-Mobile branded, SM-N900T, on 4.4.2, build is KOT49H, security software MDF v1.0 release 2. Kernel is 3.4.0-660648.
It is supposedly unlocked for carriers, though I have not attempted a SIM card use yet, until I can tell that what I have is a valid device and the IMEI is checked out.
Any thoughts on how to validate the IMEI, and sort out how to get my new phone up to date would be appreciated. As I stated, I expected the vendor would have returned it to stock, but that is clearly not the case, so I don't want to accidentally boot loop it by doing something I shouldn't. I have not owned a Samsung before, so I want to be careful on how it differs from my Nexus 7, Amaze 4g, and Droid X, as they're all obviously very different in the OS area.
Thank you for the help1

Download tbe stock 4.4.2 rom and use odin to install. Then you will get the OTA updates.
Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

There is no stock 5.1.1 for note 3, only cm12.1/ aosp. Latest is 5.0 and you can use odin to flash. Maybe it's rooted that's why you can't update.

bladebarrier said:
I just swapped from my Amaze 4g, to a used Note 3, and I'm a little lost as far as where I should start.
It says that it's on 4.4.2, and that I cannot update due to a modified system.
Basically, I would like to get updated to 5.1.1 (or as close as is official for the Note 3), and root it.
...
Thank you for the help1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some apps to install from Play Store...
Phone INFO Samsung - this will tell you all about your phone and the firmware etc.
Root Checker Basic - tells you if you are rooted or not.
SuperSU - this is so valuable you should buy the Pro licence. Chainfire does some great work for our phones.
TWRP - I have the zip version on my extSDCard and an Odin version on PC in case I have to rebuild from a Stock firmware. CWN works OK but most ROM builds seem to be for TWRP I think and a backup from one will not work on the other.
I don't know your previous phone so you probably need Odin v3.09 - this sits on PC and lets you flash firmware to the phone. (connected by USB)
For which you need Samsung USB drivers so the PC will recognise the phone. Install on PC before connecting phone.
Then do some browsing and find the processes to root your phone and install the ROM you want. If you just want Stock and access to all your phone, you can root it after flashing the original v5.0 download (from Sammobile or similar site - note on Sammobile you need a free account to DL) and then install Custom recovery (if wanted - it WILL trip the Knox flag but that may not matter given it's 2nd hand and might already be tripped anyway)
Read, make SURE you understand what is being said BEFORE you do anything - ask if you don't.
Good luck...

N9005 Lollipop brick
Hi All, just need a huge help here, a friend of mine has been using a N9005 which was auto restarting, she went online and downloaded this firmware...N900AUCUEOC1_N900AATTEOC1_N900AUCUEOC1_HOME.tar.md5....2.5GB in size...and flashed it, but the phone is stuck in boot loop even after recovery wiping data and cache, the phone can boot into download mode but re flashing the firmware always fails.....is there a solution for this.....please help

Thank you all for the info, especially the detailed info from Journyman16. I checked, and it is flagged as custom, which is fine, so I'm going to go ahead and try to return to mostly stock, update it, and root it.

Ok, everything went well. I had to do two attempts at rooting, but I think it's just one of those things where sometimes it doesn't restart into the process every time.
All seems good. I'm on 5.0, rooted, busyboxed, and smooth sailing.
Thank you all, again, for the tips. The Note 3 is running very well. Thank you to all of the devs that have made this process so refined. I've donated to you before, and did so again today. It's outstanding to have such well versed coders, on XDA, helping out the community.

mjmbirige said:
Hi All, just need a huge help here, a friend of mine has been using a N9005 which was auto restarting, she went online and downloaded this firmware...N900AUCUEOC1_N900AATTEOC1_N900AUCUEOC1_HOME.tar.md5....2.5GB in size...and flashed it, but the phone is stuck in boot loop even after recovery wiping data and cache, the phone can boot into download mode but re flashing the firmware always fails.....is there a solution for this.....please help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have never learned not to ask in others posts? What does your problem has to do with this topic at all?
When you need help. Just click on Q&A then Create a new thread. How hard is it?

Note 3 Lolipop Rooting

Hi!
I am trying to root my Note 3 N900V but it seems that there wasn't a root for android 5.5. So, I got 4.4.2 after 2 hours of download on SamMobile (its terribly slow) and put it on odin and pressed start. It failed and my phone was bricked. It had a message that the upgrade failed and I needed a Verizon software. I kept trying to do it again but it didn't work. So, I got a Lollipop firmware and tried it out with odin and got all my files back and unbricked it. I did usb-debugging, turned off anti-virus, and did all kinds of things but it isn't working. Could it be the firmware?
Thanks!

You'll want to do some research before going further.
Quick story short, once you're on 4.4 or 5.X, you cannot go back to 4.4.2.

You are also locked out of root likely permanently locked out.

So sad that they lock the bootloader like this...

riqmarmes said:
So sad that they lock the bootloader like this...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is old hat the big cellular providers told them they had to do it google told them they should do it so they did and they don't care what the 1% want when they sell enough handsets to the rest of everyone else that they don't need to keep the 1% same reason why everyone is copying apple it is a form factor that works and now unless you comply you get criticized for it.

Stuck in bootloop on untouched stock rom, unrooted device.

This afternoon my S7 Edge entered a boot loop. All I was doing was reading the news, in the same app I have been for the past couple of months. The device is untouched in terms of modifications since purchase, so unrooted stock rom. I can get into download mode, and occasionally, recovery mode. I wiped the cache as my first attempted fix - no change. Then did a factory reset - no change. I then thought I'd try loading twrp so I could flash a custom rom, but Odin was unable to flash it due to FRP Lock blocking it. I then downloaded the latest stock rom from sammobile, and was able to flash this via Odin. On first boot the device did start to load, and reached 10/19 in optimising the apps, before starting the boot loop again. I am kinda out of ideas now. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

re: bootloops
whitebloodcell said:
This afternoon my S7 Edge entered a boot loop. All I was doing was reading the news, in the same app I have been for the past couple of months. The device is untouched in terms of modifications since purchase, so unrooted stock rom. I can get into download mode, and occasionally, recovery mode. I wiped the cache as my first attempted fix - no change. Then did a factory reset - no change. I then thought I'd try loading twrp so I could flash a custom rom, but Odin was unable to flash it due to FRP Lock blocking it. I then downloaded the latest stock rom from sammobile, and was able to flash this via Odin. On first boot the device did start to load, and reached 10/19 in optimising the apps, before starting the boot loop again. I am kinda out of ideas now. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go into settings>developer's options and ENABLE OEM UNLOCK then
go into settings>general management>reset>factory data reset and
reset the phone.
Once you have done that the phone will work properly without rebooting
provided that you have successfully odin flashed the official samsung
G935F S7 Edge firmware prior to doing a factory data reset.
Good luck, have a great day!

Thanks for replying. Unfortunately I can't get into the phone at all. Only screen I have access to a recovery and downloader.

So I left the phone alone for a while and tried booting into safemode. This time it worked - sort of. It is asking me for a password, but I have never set one. I only ever set a pin and fingerprints. But since wiping everything that doesn't seem to apply anymore. What is the default password? I am referring to the phone password, rather than a google account obviously. I am not at that stage of the boot up.
Update: found the password (default_password), still boot looping on the optimising apps screen.

If you still can't get into the phone like the person above said, I would use Oden to reparation and reflash your stock rom. If it still gives you issues, I'd suspect hardware fault.

vsn4 said:
If you still can't get into the phone like the person above said, I would use Oden to reparation and reflash your stock rom. If it still gives you issues, I'd suspect hardware fault.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have flashed stock rom (initially the version that matches my carrier, although my phone was bought sim free and unlocked, and then the version for unlocked phones (BTU in sammobile I think)) but it still just boot loops. The phone can remain in download mode as long as it wants, and previously, when it was asking for the password, it was able to remain on that screen indefinitely. I would have thought if it was a hardware problem the boot looping would happen regardless of the action on screen. Immediately after flashing the stock rom, it did start to load before ooting. Now it just boots immediately at the Samsung Logo.

vsn4 said:
If you still can't get into the phone like the person above said, I would use Oden to reparation and reflash your stock rom. If it still gives you issues, I'd suspect hardware fault.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to be clear, do you mean repartition here? I have not checked that option before, will try it.

Even without the PIT file. Flashing stock rom should have fixed you... which carrier do you have? If Verizon, they have a recovery assistant software that works in these situations. Or if not try "samsung kies". If all else fails I'd give Sammy a call.

vsn4 said:
If you still can't get into the phone like the person above said, I would use Oden to reparation and reflash your stock rom. If it still gives you issues, I'd suspect hardware fault.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
vsn4 said:
Even without the PIT file. Flashing stock rom should have fixed you... which carrier do you have? If Verizon, they have a recovery assistant software that works in these situations. Or if not try "samsung kies". If all else fails I'd give Sammy a call.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am in the UK, and my carrier is Three, although the phone was purchased sim free. I tried samsung kies (phone not compatible apparently), samsung switch (phone does not support initialization). I may have to call Samsung, but I purchased the phone on eBay, so no warranty (never doing that again!), so I guess it'll be expensive to get them to sort it. I've taken it to a phone repair shop this afternoon and the guy reckoned he could fix it based on what I said. We shall see. I don't have to pay unless he fixes it, so worth a shot.

You can wipe your phone by entering recovery. Default recovery has the wipe option.

alehawk said:
You can wipe your phone by entering recovery. Default recovery has the wipe option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Was the first thing I tried. Didn't help.

I got the bootloop thingy and was the cache, I wiped and the phone booted up

alehawk said:
I got the bootloop thingy and was the cache, I wiped and the phone booted up
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for trying to help, but, again, already tried that.

whitebloodcell said:
I am in the UK, and my carrier is Three, although the phone was purchased sim free. I tried samsung kies (phone not compatible apparently), samsung switch (phone does not support initialization). I may have to call Samsung, but I purchased the phone on eBay, so no warranty (never doing that again!), so I guess it'll be expensive to get them to sort it. I've taken it to a phone repair shop this afternoon and the guy reckoned he could fix it based on what I said. We shall see. I don't have to pay unless he fixes it, so worth a shot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hope all goes well, let us know if you get it sorted out.

Hi
Just curious...why do u say u don't have warranty just because u brought from eBay?
Surely it doesn't matter where u brought it and it still has warranty.
Have u tried contacting Samsung?

AnubuRe said:
Hi
Just curious...why do u say u don't have warranty just because u brought from eBay?
Surely it doesn't matter where u brought it and it still has warranty.
Have u tried contacting Samsung?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty much all warranties (including Samsung - I checked) are contracts with the original purchaser only. Even if you have proof of purchase, you then need to match the records they have of the identity of the original purchaser. Whilst some manufacturers will be more lenient, others will follow the official policy strictly. Speaking from experience here.

whitebloodcell said:
Pretty much all warranties (including Samsung - I checked) are contracts with the original purchaser only. Even if you have proof of purchase, you then need to match the records they have of the identity of the original purchaser. Whilst some manufacturers will be more lenient, others will follow the official policy strictly. Speaking from experience here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For those perhaps in similar situation in the future, Samsung didn't care that it was purchased second hand, despite what the fine print says. They just looked at the serial number. In the course of trying my own repairs I flashed a custom rom, which of course tripped the knox warranty void bit. When I took it into the service centre they saw this and then wanted to charge £225 for an out of warranty repair. I refused at the time. I later called Samsung support and explained the situation (I said a phone repair shop must have done the flashing). Again on the phone I was told it would be an out of warranty repair, and this time I agreed. They collected my phone and returned it to me today however, with no invoice or mention of charges, so it looks like they just did the repair no questions asked.

I have the same issues, so far I'm getting by with flashing a stock rom with pit file and doing repartition and nand erase, normal cache/ factory reset doesn't help, it sometimes even boot loops while in twrp.
Somehow Odin flashing helps for a random amount of time, but it has thus far, crashed after a month, or a couple weeks since the last flash, etc. So far it's been my 5th boot loop event in the last 6 months
It sucks but as I got mine from another country (/win), didn't get the warranty ;( plus I tripped Knox by rooting.

sounds hardware related to me..
i had a friend with a note 4 who had similar problems it would hardly ever boot sometimes boot straight into download mode..
if by chance it did boot it would boot once the device was locked for a short time it would reboot and start over again bootlooping..
it was the emmc flash memory that was failing...
a workaround i found for this was the first thing i did when finally getting it to boot was install "Wake Lock - CPU Awake" and set it to never let the device sleep and to startup on boot...
this "fixed" it as long as your phone does not turn off... he had insurance though and sent it off and they sent him a new refirb
again this note 4 was untouched never rooted or anything

vsn4 said:
If you still can't get into the phone like the person above said, I would use Oden to reparation and reflash your stock rom. If it still gives you issues, I'd suspect hardware fault.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im having pretty much the exact same problem except ive been unsuccesful at flashing the stock firmware for my galaxy s7 active (SM-G891A). the active series isnt the most saute after, so finding the right firmware is alil more difficult. which im pretty sure is how i got into this situation! my question is what exacly does checking the "reparation" option do. i read to leave to leave it unchecked/unticked. maybe thats why ive been unsuccessful. and someone told me awhile ago not to fill in the "bt" box becuz i have a locked bootloader. this correct or no?

Boot help Galaxy S7 Edge

Folks I initially tried to root my phone *SM-G935F* using Odin and a CF hero2lte file. The flashing was all good to go with a green pass. Then upon rebooting the phone got stuck on the Samsung logo boot screen with red words at the top that said **Recovery Is Not Seandroid Enforcing**. This being the case all I was able to get into was (Download Mode). I tried to do the samething a few times and gave up after no successful attempts and the phone not being able to successfully reboot.
Fast forward to present I downloaded the phone's firmware which was a zip that contained 4 files (5 total actually because there was another CS file in the event that you wanted to preserve your data etc.). I loaded all of the files in Odin and made an attempt to flash the phone again however it got stuck on *System* and never go to Green *Pass*. So I figured I would try it a couple of more times in case Odin or something just got hung up on the first try. Any how that wasn't the case.
Now with the above being said what did change is when I would try to reboot into *Download Mode* again it said something along the lines of Emergency Smart Switch Recover. I downloaded Smart Switch onto my computer and went through the specific steps to try to Recover the phone using Smart Switch. Now after it was all done I got to the blue screen with the Android and it said *Erasing...* then the phone booted up and its now stuck at the Samsung animation screen. This being said as of current I can now access *Download Mode* and also boot into the black screen or *Recovery Mode* I think its called where I can reboot the phone through a bootloader, power off, factory data wipe / reset, etc etc.
The above being said I have tried the factory reset / wipe. The reboot in bootloader, reboot phone, all with no success.
Also would like to add that before doing all of the above I forgot to tick *USB Debugging* in Developers Mode when the phone was in its normal state. I must also mention that all of this was a first for me and I looked at doing so to try and recover lost data on my phone. Also wanna add that I am not too familiar with ADB or twrp or how to mess with any of that stuff given the limited access I have to my device because it can no longer bootup like it normally would.
I'm currently at a lost of words as to what I can do next as I am out of ideas and could really use some help. I would also be more than happy to donate a little to anyone who is able to help me boot my phone back up and get things back to normal.
Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

Folks please disregard my post above as I was finally able to figure things out and get my phone back to its factory state. Thanks.

Hydranize said:
Folks please disregard my post above as I was finally able to figure things out and get my phone back to its factory state. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bro would you tell pls , what you did to restore. Thanks

shah22 said:
Bro would you tell pls , what you did to restore. Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After me not being successful with the root or with flashing the stock OEM firmware using Odin the phone would get hung up in download mode and the only difference when it would go into download mode it would say to use SmartSwitch Emergency Recover which is what was used and that fixed the issue and the phone rebooted completely fine.
However the above being said I honestly still feel the phone has some small minor issues that I did try to resolve all with no luck. First off when loading to my home screen the icons, and clock, etc etc take about 2 or 3 seconds longer for them to appear on screen than it used like when the phone was new out of the box.
Other thing to note is for some odd reason this issue was thought to be worked out by just booting into recovery mode and doing a factory reset from there, wiping the cache, etc etc. Well this also didn't solve the issue and for some odd reason when performing this the phone didn't reboot on its own.
Basically how it should be normally is after you select that you want to do a factory reset, wipe cache, etc etc, the phone should normally reboot and go through the entire process by itself, however this was not the case. The phone instead went back to the recovery screen and I had to select reboot rather than it normally rebooting on its own.
I've honestly given up on things and given that it is in working order with just a few small minor hiccups I've decided to give the phone to a family member which they plan to use as trade-in credit towards a new Galaxy Note 8.
That being said I will always have a soft spot for the S7 Edge being it was my first smartphone after I had bought a Sony Xperia Z during the same year but returned it the day after because what was to me being poor quality of the Sony phone.

Hmm, looks strange bro , your phone didnt worked after flashing stock rom with odin , and this is the last resort , but you said it was normal before you tried to root , so i guess it was still a software issue other than some hardware problem due to software , but anyways wish you good luck in future , another thing is that my s7 edge has also a very poor build quality , has front camera issues , paint peeling around usb port , wifi issue and high battery degradation , but that happens i guess with today's phones

The version of Odin I used was v3.10.6. I had tried the most current version and a few others, and from the get go for whatever reason this was the only version that would actually pickup the phone being added. Well wait hold on a second the other version would say added when the phone was in but when hitting start nothing would happen, even after waiting an extensive amount of time, also note that the com was highlighted that blue ish color indicating the phone was being recognized by Odin but once again for some odd reason it was only version v3.10.6 that carried out the process of my root attempt and also the attempt I made flashing the original firmware on it.
As for quality the phone had no paint chip or peeling, neither the silver aluminum frame around it either. The build quality was beautiful and up to par with mine. I had a soft spot for my S7 Edge also because it was in the white color which at the time of purchasing was a bit more scarce than the other colors. I purchased the phone from an Amazon.com seller, and during that time I also purchased 2 others from other Amazon sellers but returned those because they had carrier animations for them that were Band LTE or Brand LTE, whatever its called.
This one had no carrier animation upon boot and turned out to be a UK Nougat model. Haven't really seen or came across another one since that would be from a trusted seller or source. Nowadays you never know what you're getting both on eBay and Amazon from these third party sellers.

Yeah thats really strange with odin , its good that you dont have quality issues which struck heavily on me , but yes everyone should be quite careful when ordering online and only should do with trusted resellers

Hydranize said:
Folks please disregard my post above as I was finally able to figure things out and get my phone back to its factory state. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm facing the same problem buddy. Could you pass me the process for the recovery that was used?

vini3237 said:
I'm facing the same problem buddy. Could you pass me the process for the recovery that was used?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What phone are you having the issue with and what are you using that caused the issue? I can possibly try to help you out if I know a little more about your situation and device.

Hydranize said:
What phone are you having the issue with and what are you using that caused the issue? I can possibly try to help you out if I know a little more about your situation and device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Phone is SM-G935FD
I do not know what caused it, I already got the celuar so, in status it says Custom.
I already tried to blink for odin 3 different Stocks and the same thing continues.
When I got it it could not access the recovery mode, only the download mode was accessible, after flashing the Brazilian Stock 6.0.1 I was able to access recovery mode.
The phone turns on, and hangs at boot, Samsung logo, restarts and stays in infinite looping.
Can it be Hardware?

Try to flash the original Firmware for it, make sure the Firmware is the one specific to that model, download it and load all of the Firmware files into Odin.

Hydranize said:
Try to flash the original Firmware for it, make sure the Firmware is the one specific to that model, download it and load all of the Firmware files into Odin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok now i think what was the problem , you didnt enabled usb debugging , and for flashing with odin its a must ! , for guys who want to flash firmware using odin .. please enable usb debugging in developer options or you will have much issues and may also brick your phone , so if you dont want to enable usb debugging or developer options , just use samsung smart switch on pc to flash your firmware.

Yeah that was my issue was I had OEM Unlock checked off and one other thing in Developer Options and forgot to enable USB Debugging leaving me stuck in the process when the phone couldn't reboot normally after the flash attempts. But yeah SmartSwitch Emergency Recovery should definitely be able to fix and resolve the issue if the phone can't reboot normally.

Samsung S8+ Stuck in the boot loop, I think

Hi guys and gals
I am probably duplicating a thread for which I apologise in advance, but I have no clue for what key words I should be using to search for to find an existing answer, assuming there is one!?
I have the s8+ (SM-G955f) purchased in the UK via Vodafeon.
The battery died some weeks ago and I've had no money to be able to buy a replacement until now. I did try to use it now and again, but it last no more than a minute, but what did seem to happen is what is referred to as the boot loop saga.
I have followed other threads for instructions and downloaded Odin v.3.13 along with the varoius files (BL,AP,CP,CSC) from a zip file (G955FXXU9DTF1_G955FOVF9DTF1_VOD.zip) I was doing this late last night and do no remember which website I got it from, it took sooo long to download.
I am now at the point where I have connected the phone via USB and I have run the program and the status went to green, said 'pass' and the phone rebooted, however it is back to the Samsung welcome screen and sometimes keeps rebooting, other times, just stays there.
Where do I go from here? would it be that I have used the wrong firmware? I have never done this stuff before and have no clue, but am desperate to have a working phone as I have no money to replace it
Any advice, very welcome

If the battery went bad why flash firmware. Replace the battery

TheMadScientist said:
If the battery went bad why flash firmware. Replace the battery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess the issue was when the battery had issues, it would last maybe a minute or 2 before shutting down and then having to wait a full day before trying again. I did this for about a week as needed to get phone numbers from the phone along with some other info.
On the last occassion the phone turned on before the battery finally gave up, it seemed to go into the bootloop.
So now, I have tried various versions of Firmware via Frija and using Odin 3.13 to instal, but the phone doesn't seem to want to accept it.
The phone was originally purchase via Vodafone in the UK. I have tried VOD and BTU.
I am now in Asutralia, so have also tried TEL and VAU as have had sims from them also.. if that makes a difference?
I cannot get into the recovery mode at the moment, no clue why, just the download screen. The last time it went into recovery it kept mentioning about ATT which I don't understand as the phone has never had an AT&T connection which I think is in the USA and the phone has not been there..
Does anyone have any other suggestions? Would it be crazy to try and instal a custom OS and then revert back, or does the phone always remember the original firmware? I hope this all makes sense as this is all new to me..
Thanks in advance.