Database Develop

Pre-Update, Research of Chinese Galaxy S

Dear all
I write this post as I hope to get some input and some expert suggestions on the course of action I should take with my phone.
For many years I have been supplied with a phone through my company but it seems to be always the crappy old Nokia. Good for making telephone calls but worthless for anything else.
So recently I bought a Galaxy S on a business trip to China. I love the phone, it works and by now I have almost no Chinese letters and applications left anymore. This is really something else; I'll never go back to the company Nokia. Never!
I think most of the applications are working and I have access to the Android Marked. However, Youtube is not installed or working and I think that the GPS is a little off.
Now I read a lot about Froyo and I bet I would want to get that on my phone, I am also pretty sure that I want to get the phone totally de-Chinese and preferably into something Danish or at least English.
What do I do next?
I have been reading so much on this site that I am getting dizzy. Flashing, rooting, updating, kies(hey, I actually got it working now (again) ) Odin, JM1, JPK etc.
Now my phone has the following;
ProductCode: I9000HKDVD2
PDA: I9000XXXXX
Phone: I9000BUJG1
CSC: I9000GVD2JG1
SalesCode: VD2
Reading through posts on this forum I never saw anyone with the same codes as mine.
Model number: GT-I9000
Firmware version: 2.1-update1
Kernel version: 2.6.29 [email protected] #2
Build number: ECLAIR
As mentioned, I bought the phone in China and I have no idea if it is branded (with Google printed on the back cover) has been unlocked, but I suspect it has. It has been rooted (I have a little black ninja guy giving Superuser Permission) and there is a folder-like icon named "root(and some Chinese letters)"
Well, as I said I have Kies running again. First it was running fine then it stopped connecting to the phone and now after unmounting the external SDcard I can again access the phone from my PC.
Through Kies I can do a firmware update. But should I?
Will it be re-locked?
Will it get all the Chinese stuff back?
Will it somehow be converted into a European phone?
Should I wait for the official Froyo or just go ahead and update?
I can update again when the Froyo finally arrive?
Do I need to make backup of any of my "system" files before doing anything?
Any help suggestions and/or warnings will be appreciated.

If you can do an upgrade through Kies it will aslo tell you what the update is (JG2 for example) since you have what I gues is a chine salescode, you will probably get a chinese update .. What you can do, is goint to the devlopers section and read the topic about spoofing your productcode in the registry so Kies thinks you have phone from another provider / country than that what you have now
I am almost certain that if you can enter an old danish firmware in the registry and a danish productcode you will get offeren a new new danish firmware through kies ..This will not relock your phone ( if it was locked before) as far as I know only the froyo builds will do that.

I have been reading some more on the forum and found that the phone is actually branded.
Model [Country of Origin](Branded Phone Carrier) = Code
I9000 [Germany](Vodafone) = GT-I9000HKDVD2
I have also checked out the 3-button combo which seems to be disabled on my phone. I'll get this fixed before doing anything.
So I want to update to the froyo release and will probably be uding the Kies hack to do this. I'll use the XEE code which I believe will give me the danish language as an option.
Do I need to make backup of some of the system files before doing this?
In some poste there is talk about backing up some system files before upgrading as there is some information which is needed to unlock the phone again.

Well. I am still investigation this issue.
Now I am looking into using odin and firmware from samfirmware . com. Probably to JPA or JPO? Then I have been reading about the DocRambone ROM and will probably try that.
However they suggest to "- Check Simlock and Network lock is OFF *#7465625#". When I do this I am promted with a "Rejected" message.
Can anybody please tell me what this means?
I do not want to start messing with it before I know that the phone will not be locked after flashing to new firmware?
If it will be locked then what is the procedure of unlocking anagin. I have already made backup of the "nv_data.bin.md5" and the "nv_data.bin". Having these files is the same as having backup of the /efs? Reason for asking is that I cannot find /efs on the root of my phone.
Please help!

[Q] Trouble going back to Stock

From what I have gathered... this seems to be a problem that only I have encountered, or at the very least something that I have deemed annoying enough that now I have to solve it... but I recently threw Gingerbread onto my i9000, quite successfully I might add, but I decided I wanted to go back to Froyo until the official release of 2.3 comes out of Samsung, since I am a big fan of "stock".
Problem is, every single ROM (I am at ten and counting) always results in Kies telling me that there is no update available. I have been loading only stock ROMs onto my device, so I am a little confused by this, since even the 2.1 firmwares have given me the same message. I know that, when I had Froyo loaded on stock, the message read that everything was up to date or something along those lines. Having that knowledge just means I won't be able to stop trying to put things back to stock until I see that same message again.
Anyone able to shed some light on what is happening here and how to fix it? Ideally I would love to load up 2.1 Eclair, update to Froyo using Kies and then just call it a day.
(PS. on Gingerbread I am getting some weird "static" screen popping up every time I restart... is that normal? I will take a picture and post it into the Gingerbread review forum if I can capture it.)

i was in a similar boat as you, loading 2.3 was no problem but going back is a pain in the ass.
BE WARNED! I spent nearly a day and i know a fair amount about what im doing, i even had to make the USB jig to force download mode at one point (testing different ideas) so be prepared for some issues.
what i did was use odin to flash stock JL2 (9000M bell version here), with 512 pit and a CSC file from another build (sorry i forget), bootloader update repartition clear efs checked. Thats the ONLY thing i could find to get me back to stock without any internal SD error messages.
IF YOU FLASH THE WRONG THING OR THE FLASHING PROCESS SCREWS UP YOU CAN BRICK YOUR PHONE. Read twice, do once.
See if you can find a stock rom for your area, what your phone came with, with the proper pit file and csc file.
Best of luck, you are not alone. I will definately be waiting for a less buggy leak before i switch back to gingerbread.

Kies reads and looks for the correct software for your product code and firmware tied to the supplying network .Once you install different roms you may change those details and Kies cannot find the correct details on your phone to recognise and match it to a firmware .
Spoof product keys and Kies registry patcher posts may help .
jje

Thanks for the quick answers guys... I shall plug-and-chug a bit more tonight and see if I cannot get something to work... then I will be back to post of my success (or failure).

You can use SpoofFw to trick Kies think you are on an official fw, the let Kies do the stock upgrade for you.

Having quite a bit of trouble getting Busybox installed properly, apparently... SpoofFW always starts up with "BusyBox not found. Spoof not possible." I have installed BusyBox a couple of different times from different sources and different versions... nothing seems to work. Am I missing something?
Also, when loading certain ROMs... the phone doesn't seem to register the modem anymore. There is a 2.2 ROM (forgot which) and the 2.3.3 ROM (without Bootloader) which, unusually enough, are the only ones WITH a working modem. Just tried loading up the 2.3.3 ROM w/Bootloader but the modem file from the non-bootloader version, and that seems to work... weirdly enough.
Since I am betting that there will be a "official" update through Kies to 2.3.x at some point, perhaps I will stick with this... since I am using an official ROM, will Kies recognize my phone properly and offer me an update, or has my product code become screwed up?

Wirebrook. I already replied to one of these today. Same happened to me. flashed back to jpu with a view to using kies to upgrade me to jpy but it wouldn't. So flashed eclair jm1 and kies upgraded me to jpy so I suggest that. You'll have to flash bootloader afterwards though as you'll lose 3 button reboot. But don't panic
Sent from my GTI9000 using XDA App, gingerbread 2.2.3 rooted, ADW launcher + gingerbread theme

I am using an official ROM, will Kies recognize my phone properly and offer me an update, or has my product code become screwed up?
Its not an official rom its a Samsung stock rom not the rom that was supplied with your phone . Kies might update it or might not .
You have firmware provided by the original phone seller and product codes hardware id firmware id for that . Kies will see that and update .
But its going to show not the firmware supplied by the original phone seller and tied to product code etc . Then requires you to Spoof Kies for an update .
jje

@Mossy1963
I'll give it a shot this evening... I have the JM1 firmware glaring at me in the face on my desktop right now, though... not sure that worked right the first time.
@JJEgan
As long as it is all "stock" I am pretty much fine with it at the moment. Not too bothered with having it tied to it's specific product code so much, although that would be nice.

wirebook said:
Having quite a bit of trouble getting Busybox installed properly, apparently... SpoofFW always starts up with "BusyBox not found. Spoof not possible." I have installed BusyBox a couple of different times from different sources and different versions... nothing seems to work. Am I missing something?
Also, when loading certain ROMs... the phone doesn't seem to register the modem anymore. There is a 2.2 ROM (forgot which) and the 2.3.3 ROM (without Bootloader) which, unusually enough, are the only ones WITH a working modem. Just tried loading up the 2.3.3 ROM w/Bootloader but the modem file from the non-bootloader version, and that seems to work... weirdly enough.
Since I am betting that there will be a "official" update through Kies to 2.3.x at some point, perhaps I will stick with this... since I am using an official ROM, will Kies recognize my phone properly and offer me an update, or has mys product code become screwed up?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That error message its actually wrong, you get it because nv_data.bin could not be found in /efs folder.
This could be due to a faulty flash where Csc was not applied correctly in recovery on the first boot.
Reflash with Odin is the solution.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA Premium App

@Mossy1963
No cigar whatsoever... Kies simply stated there was no update to be done. Oh well.
@LuffarJoh
Tried reflashing... didn't work either.
Aaaaand to make things weird, that sometimes-working Antenna suddenly started working with an Eclair ROM that it hadn't worked before. Then after a reboot... nothing anymore. And now I have flashed the thing back to Gingerbread and what do you know... no more antenna. I would much rather have a working phone as opposed to a "perfect-stock" phone, so it looks like I might have to get an exchange... and perhaps acquire what I was after in the first place at the beginning of this thread anyways.

Hi, I was wondering exactly the same thing after flashing 2.3.3 today. I just like the idea of being able to plug the phone into kies to get a proper release although, I've no doubt the exact same version will be available for download. Has anyone got any useful info ?

[Q] Kies Not Showing the Newest Open European Firmware for my Note

I recently purchased a Galaxy Note (Unlocked) and am loving the device. I was reading online that there was a newer open european firmware (LA3) but was perplexed as my phone was saying there are no upgrades for it. I installed Kies (the UK version) and it updated it's self to 2.2 yet it still does not show any newer firmware than what is on my phone (KKA).
Is there a way to force Kies to let me update? or am I missing a step (I never did create a samsung account).
Thank you in advance...

Hi there,
I also recently purchased a Note, and have been spending FAAAR tooo much time lurking on this forum trying to work out whats what with rooting/roming and all things GNote.
Fairly new to all this android malarky and tbh i'm kinda just responding to your question as a way to clarify what, i have, thus far, gleaned from by lurksome xda ways! And as an attempt to stop lurking so much and try and give back some of the understanding xda has given me.
Your question is something I was also rather confused by, but from what I understand - It seems that Samsung rolls out OTA and Kies updates to phones with different CSC codes at different times.
I think it is only the German (DBT) phone which has had the latest LB1 update. I know that my XEU phone is also still on KKA, with no ota or kies updates available.
From what I understand, the way one gets the updates without rooting is through flashing them with a Windows app called PC Odin with the phone in download mode.
Or via rooting your KKA rom
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1329360
and then flashing the updated firmware with either Mobile Odin or Clockwork Mod.
In all cases I believe you must download the firmware from either the sammobile site or http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1424997
If any (or all!) of that is totally wrong - please someone with greater experience wade in and put me straight, but I just thought that seeing as no-one else had responded - i'd try and make something of all the hrs i've spent lurking on here since i got this phone
Anyhow I'm sure if you just follow the links i've posted to the brilliant work of Dr Ketan - you won't go far wrong
Personally, I've not actually put any of this to the test yet - wanna make sure I really do know my arse from my elbow or in this case - my dalvik from my build.prop before I go messing with a £500 phone....

knowayback said:
Hi there,
I also recently purchased a Note, and have been spending FAAAR tooo much time lurking on this forum trying to work out whats what with rooting/roming and all things GNote.
Fairly new to all this android malarky and tbh i'm kinda just responding to your question as a way to clarify what, i have, thus far, gleaned from by lurksome xda ways! And as an attempt to stop lurking so much and try and give back some of the understanding xda has given me.
Your question is something I was also rather confused by, but from what I understand - It seems that Samsung rolls out OTA and Kies updates to phones with different CSC codes at different times.
I think it is only the German (DBT) phone which has had the latest LB1 update. I know that my XEU phone is also still on KKA, with no ota or kies updates available.
From what I understand, the way one gets the updates without rooting is through flashing them with a Windows app called PC Odin with the phone in download mode.
Or via rooting your KKA rom
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1329360
and then flashing the updated firmware with either Mobile Odin or Clockwork Mod.
In all cases I believe you must download the firmware from either the sammobile site or http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1424997
If any (or all!) of that is totally wrong - please someone with greater experience wade in and put me straight, but I just thought that seeing as no-one else had responded - i'd try and make something of all the hrs i've spent lurking on here since i got this phone
Anyhow I'm sure if you just follow the links i've posted to the brilliant work of Dr Ketan - you won't go far wrong
Personally, I've not actually put any of this to the test yet - wanna make sure I really do know my arse from my elbow or in this case - my dalvik from my build.prop before I go messing with a £500 phone....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I appreciate the help to answer your question you are in part correct (from what I can gather). Samsung does issue updates based on CSC codes and there is nothing for the UK CSC code. However they also release what is called open updates. Meaning any carrier in a given country can use a open update for that country. Beyond that they release what is called open European updates that any unlocked phone in Europe can use.
My question is the latest open European update is LXA or LLA or something like that which is farther along than the KK5 I am on. Since it is open European I should be able to update to it I would think. There could be something to the fact that the UK is considered part of the EU so it might not fall under even an open European release and if that is the case than so be it.
I am just trying to find out why my unlocked international version of the note can not seem to update to the latest open European update

Ok, so from the sounds of it - i think your definitely better informed than me on Samsung update protocol
Haven't heard any of that before. I was under the impression that the XEU code was the unlocked open euro code....
Anyway, just thought i'd let u know that i took the plunge today - deciding that I trusted XDA more than Samsung to update my phone
Rooted my stock KKA rom using dr ketans posts as my guide, then flashed the stock LB1 firmware and have since flashed Franco's kernel.....all seems well so far
Although one thing i did notice is that my Antutu score was significantly lower after flashing Lb1, but before flashing Franco's kernel (haven't tested since)....
Anyway good luck waiting for an official update - in my limited experience - I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for OEM's to issue OTA updates...

Valdeck said:
I am just trying to find out why my unlocked international version of the note can not seem to update to the latest open European update
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is cool. But how to find whether my phone is locked or not?
And what about if we try to involve the Samsung support on this question? I'm also stuck with kk5 and i'm also in Europe.

Spo0f said:
This is cool. But how to find whether my phone is locked or not?
And what about if we try to involve the Samsung support on this question? I'm also stuck with kk5 and i'm also in Europe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want to know what region your phone is from plug it into the computer after you have installed samsung kies. Once you do if you look at the screen for your phone you will see three sets of letters and numbers. The last one in the string will have your CSC once you get that do a google for where it is from.
If you are on kk5 like me then you probably have a UK code.
An phone is unlocked by default when you import it from Europe as they use a different model for cell carriers than we do in the states.

The simple way to get the latest updates is....change your CSC with *#272*imei# in the dialer pad to the lastest update ( csc)! You don't need root or odin or mobile odin. Just change your country code. This will wipe your phone...but after restart you will get a promt to update your software as soo. As wou are connected to a wifi. There are many post about it...the csc change is described in sgs2 foruns and all over the net. About the country code, please visit sammobile.com and in firmware section you will find detailed info about those codes.
P.S. My note was originaly in XEH ( open Hungary), I'm from Romania so I changed my CSC to Open Germay (DBT-debitel) and after restart i got 2 consecutive updates.
Hope to help, sorry for my bad english
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium

The easiest way to get updates is via XDA. Download PC Odin, and choose whatever Rom you fancy from the first sticky thread in Note development.

My gnote issue

hey all,
i'm new to the forums here at xda-developers but i'm in ire need of some advice/help if you would not mind sharing your experience.
Okay the issue.
I have a galaxy note gt-n7000, it will not update via kies or via the phone itself at all for months. I'm from England and i purchased it on contract from carphone warehouse; some vital information about the phone are as follows:
Android version - 2.3.6
Baseband version - N7000XXLPT
Kernel Version - 2.6.35.7-N7000LA6-CL907341 [email protected] #2
Build bumber - GINGERBREAD.XXLA6
CSC - XEU
I have tried several things to fix this such as:
Factory restting everything - the sd card, the phone... No eval.
Attempting to change the CSC to a different one from XEU
Waiting to see if any more updates are as followed
reconnecting/rebotting my phone to ensure the connection is okay to Kies
Another issue of this phone is that it will not download anything from the website such as bus timetable PPFs in which it used to be beforehand, i am completely stumped by it
thanks for your time to read this and hopefully help,
Nozz.
P.S I don't really want to root my phone cause my warranty will void otherwise.

have you updated the kies? use latest version of kies to update it should work.

Since youre factory resetting, i presume you dont care for any data loss... You can go to recovery (turn off phone then press and hold volume up+power+home until the phone turns on) then do the factory reset there... (this is not touch interface.. You have to use volume buttons and the power button to select your option):highfive:
I entrust you to do this since you said youre running 2.3.6 but DONT DO THIS if you manage to get to Ice cream sandwich!!! We can never stop reminding people of this... DONT EVEN DARE to factory reset under settings on a stock Ice cream sandwich n7000..

londoneye said:
have you updated the kies? use latest version of kies to update it should work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
This method should work if your phone is still a "virgin"

londoneye said:
have you updated the kies? use latest version of kies to update it should work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, according to Kies it is the updated version, and i also updated a galaxy s2 with it to ICS the other day...
Will going into recovery mode then factory resetting it work ?
thanks for your help,
Nozz.

Just factory resetted it, and once again it is coming up with it saying it is not possible tp update Via Kies :/
And Kies is fully updated

Also another thing i forgot to mention, the phone wants an update has it says new firmware is available through downloading from the phone then installing that way, however when i try this, it all goes okay, reboots, comes up with the little andriod symbol then it stops at roughly 20%, reboots and says it was unsuccessful, try updating via samsung kies.
thinking of just getting rid of it, but it's a contract.... Sigh.
nozz.

somebody made a program that you can use instead of KIES, it is called Checkfus.
google for it, or search the forum, i am sure you will find it.

Nozz360 said:
Also another thing i forgot to mention, the phone wants an update has it says new firmware is available through downloading from the phone then installing that way, however when i try this, it all goes okay, reboots, comes up with the little andriod symbol then it stops at roughly 20%, reboots and says it was unsuccessful, try updating via samsung kies.
thinking of just getting rid of it, but it's a contract.... Sigh.
nozz.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi there,
I would suggest not to update more on Kies as Kies sometimes KIES(OTA OR the PC one) is quite not more reliable sometimes, sometimes you can upgrade sometimes you can't.(Just like a woman on her monthly periods )
Anyway, I would you recommend by just flashing it thru PC ODIN. Download your stock ICS software from this page -> www.samfirmware.com and look for the firmware on your region. Flash it and you should be good to go.
:good:

i'm quite new to flashing phones, i've flashed computer motherboard bios, but i can get inside them and change the mobo if it goes wrong however i cannot do that with a phone :/
Which one is safe for my phone, considering it's current build etc?
Advice would be appreciated.
I can't seem to find firmware that is suited for my PDA, CSC and Phone codes... Or will any UK firmware work?
Nozz.

Nozz360 said:
i'm quite new to flashing phones, i've flashed computer motherboard bios, but i can get inside them and change the mobo if it goes wrong however i cannot do that with a phone :/
Which one is safe for my phone, considering it's current build etc?
Advice would be appreciated.
I can't seem to find firmware that is suited for my PDA, CSC and Phone codes... Or will any UK firmware work?
Nozz.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here you go bud ->http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1424997 (courtesy of Doc Ketan, of course)
If you narrow down a bit, there's a firmware for UK there(Carphone Warehouse to be exact)

According to CheckFus there is no such ICS update for my specific phone, aka pda/phone/csc.... hmm... and also i can't seem to find any roms for my specific phone either...
I really don't know what to do now
Could someone take alook at my numbers in my first post and help me, as i'm pretty much at the end of my tether with this phone
i'll relist my phones information:
PDA: N7000XXLA6
PHONE: N7000XXLPT
CSC: N7000XEULP4
Build Info: Friday, January 20 05:38:08 KST 2012
That build info looks slightly dodgy considering this is supposed to uk phone, and i'm pretty sure UK gingerbread didn't come out at that point... hmmm.. got me thinking.
anyhow
Thanks,
Nozz

[Q] No call sound after back to stock

Hi guys,
I know there are many similiar threads to this one and I'm sure I've read most of them. Either my issue is different, or, if the answer was in one of them, I was too stupid to realize it.
With my S4 Active GT-I9295 I had to go back to stock ROM for the Samsung S-Health and Gear related apps.
I came from spegelius' (absolutely awesome) Google Edition for SGS4A (int'l) v0.9.9.-od2 and flashed the Samsung Stock 4.4.2 with Odin (*). The procedure was: Flash -> Factory Reset -> Flash again to be absolutely sure all files are updated. Currently, I rooted the phone.
My problem persists:
After a reboot I (usually; not always) am able to make normal phone calls.
After some time (sometimes minutes, sometimes hours) I no longer have sound.
I do not hear ringing, the callee can't hear me, I can't hear the callee.
Same problem if I'm being called
Establishing a connection though works always.
Mobile Data is not affected.
WiFi works
Also observed after factory reset -> re-flash, only enter WiFi PW and Google Login Data -> try phone call
I know this problem often arises from a baseband/modem mismatch. So I investigated my CWM backup of the pre-installed 4.2.2 ROM.
That's what was pre-installed:
Bootloader: I9295XXUBMK3
CSC: I9295OXXBMK3
Modem: *I did not find the info in my backup*
This corresponds to the Romanian 4.2.2: http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/download/22586/I9295XXUBMK3_I9295OXXBMK3_ROM.zip/
That's why I flashed the direct successor http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/download/37083/I9295XXUCNI1_I9295OXXCNI1_ROM.zip/
PDA: I9295XXUCNI1
CSC: I9295OXXCNI1
MODEM: I9295XXUCNI1
I tried everything I could find online, nothing helped. I am really running out of ideas. Is it possible to go back to 4.2.2 to see if the problem persists?
I do have logcat logs of the radio module before and after the problem occured. But its thousands of lines. If it helps I can upload it!
Thank you guys for your help
(*): I did some intermediate flashing of several other firmware versions (especially different baseband / CSC versions of the same 4.4.2). But I assume this does not affect the result. I used Odin v3.07 & v3.09
Edit: PS: I still think that I might have the wrong CSC Version. I know the 4.2.2 PDA/CSC matches, but I am not from Romania. I'm actually from Germany. And what makes me wonder is that I cannot select the German Keyboard Style without downloading it first. I can't remember doing something similar after unboxing the phone and setting it up for the first time.

Are you aware of this thread?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=56955843
Bevare the Thanks Button

Thanks for the answer O-T!
Yes, I was aware of that thread. However, I never made it until here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=50787570
Although I did the things basically as described in that posts I have a new question:
Which country is relevant for the search on sammobile? I mean, do they ask me "Where do you live" or "For which country was your device produced?".
Edit: Okay actually they ask me for the 'product code', so it's probably the latter question.
I realized that my 4.2.2 PDA and CSC also match the French version. That would match the language of my original packaging. I already flashed the French 4.4.2 once but heard only noise when calling someone. So I gave up on that one quickly. But I'll give it another shot now.
Is it possible that I had a factory installation of the firmware for country A, and when I first registered with my local carrier I received a modem update OTA for country B?
That would really surprise me. But it could explain my issues, since there is no 4.4.2 for o2 Germany, i.e. I probably wouldn't receive another modem update OTA.
(I never looked into the carrier specific firmwares because I figured they are for sim-locked devices.)
If the above is true, I understand that the only option would be to somehow downgrade my device back to 4.2.2.
I know I'm asking a lot of questions that have been asked and answered elsewhere. But by now I tried so much and nothing worked that I'm really confused and need your guidance.

I know I type too much, so a short summary.
Everything I tried so far didn't help, the stock ROM from sammobile.com doesn't help, currently I'm on 4.4.2 XEF (France)
I'm 80% sure I have the firmware for the correct country
From factory-side I definitely had an XX PDA and OXX CSC, so shouldn't all XX/OXX versions work, even if not the exact country?
What should I try next?
Is there a way to uniquely identify the country code from a backup of the /system or /data parition?

hyperion89 said:
I know I type too much, so a short summary.
Everything I tried so far didn't help, the stock ROM from sammobile.com doesn't help, currently I'm on 4.4.2 XEF (France)
I'm 80% sure I have the firmware for the correct country
From factory-side I definitely had an XX PDA and OXX CSC, so shouldn't all XX/OXX versions work, even if not the exact country?
What should I try next?
Is there a way to uniquely identify the country code from a backup of the /system or /data parition?
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Click to collapse
I am not sure if you have done this, but one thing I always recommend is a phone factory reset from settings (not CWM/TWRP) when you are on stock firmware as this is known to correct a lot of issues caused mainly due to faulty partition / corruption. However beware of the fact that this will wipe your internal SD card therefore back it up before you do that.
If you have flashed the correct firmware for your country & carrier (if it has a separate one) where you are using the phone, and done the above then I do no see any other issue than a faulty IC that requires replacement

JASONRR said:
I am not sure if you have done this, but one thing I always recommend is a phone factory reset from settings (not CWM/TWRP) when you are on stock firmware as this is known to correct a lot of issues caused mainly due to faulty partition / corruption. However beware of the fact that this will wipe your internal SD card therefore back it up before you do that.
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Click to collapse
Yes, I always did a factory reset. Most of the times I even flashed the firmware a second time after the factory reset. (This was recommended somewhere else.)
JASONRR said:
If you have flashed the correct firmware for your country & carrier (if it has a separate one) where you are using the phone, and done the above then I do no see any other issue than a faulty IC that requires replacement
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Click to collapse
Now that really helps me! Thanks. BUT: There is a seperate firmware for my carrier. However, I did not purchase the phone from that carrier. That's why I never tested the carrier specific firmware. Moreover, there is only the old 4.2.2 available, so I can't test it, since I cannot downgrade.

hyperion89 said:
Now that really helps me! Thanks. BUT: There is a seperate firmware for my carrier. However, I did not purchase the phone from that carrier. That's why I never tested the carrier specific firmware. Moreover, there is only the old 4.2.2 available, so I can't test it, since I cannot downgrade.
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You can flash only the modem & non-holos from the 4.2.2 firmware and check

JASONRR said:
You can flash only the modem & non-holos from the 4.2.2 firmware and check
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Tried it and it didn't work; completely crashed my Phone Application. It rang on the other side, but no conversation was possible. Is this because of the bootloader / modem mismatch?
Does anyone have instructions to safely downgrade to 4.2.2 again? Should I open another thread for this discussion?

hyperion89 said:
Tried it and it didn't work; completely crashed my Phone Application. It rang on the other side, but no conversation was possible. Is this because of the bootloader / modem mismatch?
Does anyone have instructions to safely downgrade to 4.2.2 again? Should I open another thread for this discussion?
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Identify the bootloader version and Knox state:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=57332718
Knox is not a counter - it's a like a fuse.

Hi O-T,
the bootloader is I9295XXUBMK3 and it does not yet have the warranty bit which I assume you mean by KNOX state.
Are there maybe any new ideas?

hyperion89 said:
Hi O-T,
the bootloader is I9295XXUBMK3 and it does not yet have the warranty bit which I assume you mean by KNOX state.
Are there maybe any new ideas?
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There's 3 stock 4.2.2 TW ROM I9295XXUBMK3 to choose for flash by Odin. All have different Germany CSC (Carrier Specific Code) - Generic, O2, T-Mobile. PDA=MODEM=I9295XXUBMK3 for all of them. Not sure if O2 or T-Mobile versions are locked, but they usually have operators bloat apps.
Remember to power OFF before entering download mode, flash ROM in Odin, factory reset.
https://www.samdownloads.de/download/i9295xxubmk3-dbt-4-2-2-germany/
https://www.samdownloads.de/download/i9295xxubmk3-via-4-2-2-germany-o2/
https://www.samdownloads.de/download/i9295xxubmk3-dtm-4-2-2-germany-t-mobile/
Your choice.

O-T I'm so sorry. My post from yesterday was a lie; I can't read my own OP. :crying: :angel:
I9295XXUBMK3 was preinstalled
Now I'm on I9295XXUCNH2, which implies 4.4.2 and makes a downgrade to 4.2.2 impossible (afaik).
Please note that I already tried the generic German (4.4.2) firmware. I never had operater bloat apps and I bought a simlock-free version of the device. Thus I never tested the o2 / T-Mobile ones. (I did, however, once flash the o2 modem over the generic 4.4.2, which turned out to be a bad idea).
I would love to extract the modem info from my CWM backup. The bootloader / CSC strongly suggest I have a French phone, but the modem would ultimately clarify that.
What is your opinion on trying a different custom-ROM? I never built one so I have no idea from where designers obtain their NON-HLOS and modem files. I know many don't come with any of those and require an already working ROM before flashing so these drivers can be kept. On the other hand, Darkman's StockyROM has an additional modem pack.... which, in my case, didn't help.
I simply cannot believe that it's a hardware issue. Everything worked fine until the update to 4.4.2 and new radio drivers should be thoroughly tested before distribution.