[Q] Kingo Root Question - AT&T Galaxy Note 3 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I used the Kingo Root method to root my Note 3 that was running 4.3. When I decided that I was ready to go ahead with the AT&T 4.4.2 FOTA; I used it to un-root so my phone would accept the update. Both processes indicated that they were successful. However; my Note 3 will not accept the update under any circumstances. It downloads the FOTA - which takes close to an hour - and gets to the 25% install point after rebooting and fails with "Invalid Signature" appearing for a few seconds after the "Installation Failed!". It then unceremoniously does a factory restore and I'm left with, yet, another setup procedure and reinstallation of all of my apps, passwords, etc.
This has happened twice with two different phones - the other being my Samsung S4. Exactly the same sequence. I took the S4 to Best Buy, after AT&T forced an update to it, and it, too, failed. Samsung did a direct flash to the S4 and it indicated that it took the 4.4.2 successfully. However, when the phone rebooted, it was still 4.3. Samsung scratched their head and couldn't figure it out. I see no sense in try to do the same with the Note 3 since it will likely be the same experience.
Neither phone show the KNOX trigger having been tripped, and both show "Official" as though nothing had ever been done. I never did any modifications to either phone, other than the root / un-root to stall the FOTA, until I was sure that I was comfortable with the update.
I sent an email to the same effect as this post to Kingo, with no response.
Has anyone had the same experience?
I know that for a while, there was a great deal of concern over the Kingo Root method, but thought that it had been resolved and that any myths had been debunked.
Did I shoot myself in the foot?

Hey friend, this has been asked A LOT in this forum. All you had to do what look through the first page and you'd see this topic.
However you're scared and our phone are probably our more personal and needed device so I understand your impatience and panic.
How to fix: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2701062
Be well, relax, everything is going to be ok. You're not alone . We're with you my new friend.
Sent from my SM-P600 using Tapatalk

Sorry for posting in the wrong thread. I searched over the weekend, but didn't see what looked like an answer.
Thank you so much for posting the direct link! And, thanks for not mountain climbing me about the gaffe.
I'm still fairly new to this, so I genuinely beg everyone's pardon for the mis-post. I'm still trying to learn how to navigate through the different sub-forums. I'll try to be more courteous in the future.

Now, I'm in a REAL pickle! AT&T is trying to cram KK down my throat on my Note 3 and I have about 4 hours (according to their website) to respond before they force it. On the AT&T variant; there is no way that I know of to block the update; except temporarily. Then; it's back to the wash, rinse, repeat cycle of having to restore my phone and apps - EVERY time the update fails!
I still haven't done the downgrade; because after rooting and installing a custom 4.4.2 ROM on my kid's phone least night; I decided that I want to re-root my Note 3 and install KNOXRAID as a custom on my Note 3.
My dilemma is; if AT&T crams the update down my throat - as they did with my S4; it's going to fail again, and I'm going to have to start from scratch again, and again until I find a solution.
I tried re-rooting my Note 3 with Kingo, but it fails every time, now.
So; what should I do? My hunch is that I'm going to have to do the 4.3 fix and restore it back to factory, but then it would allow AT&T to actually force THEIR KK into the N3, and I'd be screwed, until a root method is obtained for KK.
PLEASE! Any suggestions? I suppose, for the short term; I could cut off my N3; install my SIM into my S4 and use it until I'm able to resolve the issue with the N3. I need Total Recall to work on my N3, and KK will definitely kill it.
*UPDATE* I turned the N3 off, removed the battery and SIM and installed the SIM in the S4, and am using it for the short term. Unfortunately; my S4 already has the AT&T KK update installed, and I need to resolve the issue with the N3 as quickly as I can. My hunch is; to avoid them doing it again; I'm going to have to turn off Wi-Fi and place the N3 in "Airplane" mode and leave the SIM card out of it until I'm comfortable - and have a clear method of installing KNOXRAID.
Still hoping for a solution. At this pint; I'm not that concerned about tripping the KNOX sensor on the N3, but would prefer to be able to flash back if I needed to enforce my warranty.
Thanks!

Related

[Q] To Root or Not?

Hi so I just heard that the D3 was rooted two days ago (been keeping up until a week ago). I'm not exactly a pro in this area or have ever rooted a device before but I have spent quite a few hours today reading up on the process and any info I could find.
Basically I just want to know if I should root my D3 or wait out another week or so? I heard that a SBF (?) hasn't been found yet so the stock rom can't be recovered and there is really no recovery net yet so should anything go wrong, there aren't a lot of options.
There is a one-click method to root but I'm going to try the original method using the adb shell (lol still researching what on earth to do with that still, just installed the android sdk :x). I'm not concerned about the process of rooting my droid, it's what comes after that makes me hesitant in doing so.
I read that there is a (seemingly simple) method to unroot the D3 by deleting the su file in some directory and rebooting (can't remember, it seemed legit however). Would "unrooting" have any consequences or would your device be back to the exact same state it was in right before you rooted? I'm not planning to drastically mess around with my D3 should I root it. Just want to take a few screenshots in an app to help out a dev, freeze any bloatware that won't cause problems, do a complete nand backup, and... thats about all that comes to mind right now.
I guess what I'm trying to ask is if rooting my D3 tonight would have any irreversible consequences and if there is any benefit in holding off the root?
Oh! Btw the OTA, I know that rooting won't affect ones ability to receive the update but that it will unroot your device and keep it that way. Would the rooting-discovery process have to start anew for people who update using the OTA (Thinking Verizon might patch the root-exploit) ? I know that updating via OTA isn't too bright anyway because devs just take the update and build on it before releasing it on their own custom ROMs and whatnot, but I feel official updates are somehow more stable (most likely flawed thinking, feel free to correct me on that lol).
Yes - SBF is an important component which would guarantee 100% pre-root configuration.
Removing the su binary and the superuser app would however put the phone back in factory state for this exploit. But anything you do while rooted inside /system is your responsibility to correct. Motorola patches usually verify only file existence/checksums and not creation/modification dates, so you should be fine with simple push of the removed (or renamed) stuff back. I remember I was able to update my D2G without unrooting in the past, but that's not necessarily granted for any other updates of that or any other Motorola phone. Ideally, you want phone in factory state to guarantee update will pass.
Another issue is nand backup you mentioned. Custom recovery isn't yet available for this phone. You can't do nand backups. So even this "safety net" isn't here. Installing custom recovery is a "100% secure way" to have OTA updates fail to apply since it messes up with phone's /system files. Un-doing CWM is a bit more complex than unrooting only and if not done carefully - a sure way for a soft brick. SBF is what we all want before start messing with anything, IMO.
So if an OTA updates fails for whatever reason, your phone will get soft bricked or?
I don't think ill be updating anway, but its good info to know for the future.
Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk
I would say root the device and don't worry about unrooting. If you have to return it to the store or something, unfreeze the apps and delete su. Once you mess with it though, it will be very difficult (impossible?) to ever make /system binary identical to the factory image without an sbf. That said, I doubt VZW takes the time to investigate this very closely.
But I don't see any other reason to ever unroot. When the OTA update comes down, just don't install it. In a few days after its first released, the community developers will tell you how to install it with root and not botch anything up.
Dmw017 said:
So if an OTA updates fails for whatever reason, your phone will get soft bricked or?
I don't think ill be updating anway, but its good info to know for the future.
Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No - fortunately not. It will just say "Update failed" and phone will reboot back to normal.
Regarding updates - you may want to reconsider - updates usually fix bugs, bugs like the bluish camera or the wrong geotagging. Or stuff like phone shooting at max brightness after removal from HD dock.
But as the other poster mentioned - the community would do the hard work for you 'back-porting' the update to a rooted phone. Sure enough - we need custom recovery to be made before we can install any 'backported' updates or other customizations.
But all will come with time.
If you need to use an app that requires root (like openvpn or VPNC), or if you want to remove some of the unwanted apps Verizon stuck on the phone, you should root of course, but if you don't care about such stuff and want to be 'compliant' with stock software - stay as is, until at least SBF comes.
Yeah I rooted already but should an update come, I could always unroot my device. An update would be really welcome too. Yeah the bluish tint on the cam is bad but there are soft fixes for that. What I really really want out of the update is the huge improvement in battery life I've heard about. Im using the extended battery right now and straight up, it sucks. I've heard good things about the extended battery but mine lasts ... maybe 10 hours under light - medium usage, playing music for several hours and having the display on for about an hour. I expected a lot more. Numerous people have reported getting 24-48 hrs of life while others got 15 under normal/heavy use.
There have been a few reports of peope already receiving an OTA update (devs/testers most likely) but have said many pf the d3s current issues were fixed with it, primarily the blue tint on cam and the battery life.
Honestly, with root, I figured my battery would outlast a day like a champ, but there have been no/minimal improvements, even with every piece of bloat frozen. I even froze google Maps because it constantly showed up as using cpu (and therefore battery), have my radio set to cdma, and only have 1 gmail account syncing.
Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk

[Q] HEELLLPP!! I didnt strapsafe, now I dont know what to do!!

To the admins I apologize if this is in the wrong section if it is please move it accordingly.
Hello everyone, I have an issue, hopefully someone can hel me and it starts like this. I and everyone else have been waiting for months for a safe root method and a recovery system such as TWRP OR CWM just incase I fudge something up flashing custom roms so I can always go back to stock. I came across a safestrap article and decided it was something similar to what I was looking for. So I decided to root using the big K. I know not the best choice, you can boo me now.
After a successful root, I installed safestrap. Unfortunately safestrap kept crashing upon starting the app, I couldnt even get it to set up. thats fine, I was just going to unroot and keep on living life, but then I stumbled upon Xposed installer, that modified and tweaked like a custom rom but without all the risk according to a website. I said hey thats worth a try and I did. After the Xposed installer setup and a reboot, I wad looking for mods on the web and all of a sudden my apps and system files started crashing to the point that I could not use my phone. I immedeately uninstalled Xposed installer ss soon ad my phone stabalized and unrooted.
I thought everything was good, 4 hours later the apps and system files started crashing again, so I did a reboot and I noticed that custom with the lock came up on intial startup. though I was told I was unrooted by the K program and even double checked using a rootchecker app, which stated I had indeed an unrooted phone. I did another reboot and no custom or logo came out. At this point I just wanted a working phone and As much as I hated doing so I did a factory reset. This seemed to have fixed the problem, but 4 days later my phone randomly went into a bootloop. I couldnt get it to stop so I took out the battery and that did not fix it.It was strange becuase I thought it might have been unrelated since it wasnt doing this when I had the issue with Xposed installer.
After yet another factory reset my phone seems to be fine, its still too early to tell though since its only been about a day. I had the normal google playstore and gvoice app crashing...Sigh..the only thing different was that sometime yesterday after the second factory reset a notification popup of unfortunately a sytem file stopped working came up. I acknowledged it, but thankfully I havent gotten any problems. I forgot what the notification read. hopefully its not related to what happened the other day.I dont know if this is related to one another, but I did notice that before I rooted my android system had automatically upgraded. I looked for issues like this on the net and saw people where having random bootloops after system upgrades and that unchecking scanning for wifi fixed the problem. though I did this and it did not work, thats why I did the second factory reset.
Now Im asking for help if any further issues arise. I love my Note3 and at this point I just want a reliable working device. Im keeping my fingers crossed and hopefully that will be the end of it, but in case it started to act up again, what can I do? any information and help is greatly appreciated. thanks.
Never uninstall any Xposed app that changes system files without first reverting any changes you made with it. Some of them are permanent until they are turned off in the App. Then you can disable the module.
You may want to look into this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2559715
I cannot stress this enough.
READ READ READ.
Too many times have I seen someone read a line or 2 then rush right in ultimately turning their very nice phone into the most expensive paperweight one could own.
On that link I posted, read it until your eyes are bleeding if you truly need to start from scratch.
I am not joking here.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Thanks man. it makes sense. I will look into it. you mentioned read. I have read what I thought was plenty, but always ideas and opinions differ, sometimes knowing too much and causing what they say decision paralysis. Because I still read about the Xposed experiences and different people go about it in a different way. but what you mentioned about reverting back makes alot of sense.

Need to exchange S5, will AT&T be able to tell I'm rooted??

Hello everyone. Good to be back browsing the forums again!
I'm still within my 14 day exchange period (barely). I need to exchange my phone but I'm rooted (using Towelroot).
1. Will they be able to tell I was rooted? I didn't see anything about KNOX during root process (aside from SuperUserSU# asking if I wanted to try to disable it upon install).
2. If so, will they care? (phone works fine, no "problems" it's an S5 Active and the physical hardware buttons are turning the phone on in my pocket constantly, I'm going to try the standard S5 - I know it's somewhat prone to this but it's not nearly as bad; my wife has S5 and no issues...)
3. Anything I should / could do to avoid any potential issues? I've got system / OTA updates disabled via TB so presumably if I unfreeze and let the phone update itself I'll lose root and return to stock.
4. Has anyone exchanged an AT&T phone (during initial 14 day period)? Any issues or was it painless?
I've only got a day or two left in my exchange period so I'm hoping to get this figured out (my wife has been in the hospital the entire time so I've not had much time).
Thanks in advance for any input and guidance, I do appreciate it!
FLAWLESSVW said:
Hello everyone. Good to be back browsing the forums again!
I'm still within my 14 day exchange period (barely). I need to exchange my phone but I'm rooted (using Towelroot).
1. Will they be able to tell I was rooted? I didn't see anything about KNOX during root process (aside from SuperUserSU# asking if I wanted to try to disable it upon install).
2. If so, will they care? (phone works fine, no "problems" it's an S5 Active and the physical hardware buttons are turning the phone on in my pocket constantly, I'm going to try the standard S5 - I know it's somewhat prone to this but it's not nearly as bad; my wife has S5 and no issues...)
3. Anything I should / could do to avoid any potential issues? I've got system / OTA updates disabled via TB so presumably if I unfreeze and let the phone update itself I'll lose root and return to stock.
4. Has anyone exchanged an AT&T phone (during initial 14 day period)? Any issues or was it painless?
I've only got a day or two left in my exchange period so I'm hoping to get this figured out (my wife has been in the hospital the entire time so I've not had much time).
Thanks in advance for any input and guidance, I do appreciate it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just Odin your device with the proper files. There are multiple guides on how to do so. Once you do that, you're golden. I've exchanged within the 14 day and 60 day period of warranty. They do not bat an eye.
Sorry to hear about your wife. I hope she gets well soon.
Kenichi
Kenichi said:
Just Odin your device with the proper files. There are multiple guides on how to do so. Once you do that, you're golden. I've exchanged within the 14 day and 60 day period of warranty. They do not bat an eye.
Sorry to hear about your wife. I hope she gets well soon.
Kenichi
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply Kenichi!
I'm glad to hear that this should not be too bad. I've use Odin in the past on previous phones so I'll find the appropriate guide for my situation.
Glad to hear you had good experiences with exchanging (surprised actually!) I'll give AT&T a call today and get the ball rolling. Hoping they'll work something out where they send the new phone and let me send this one back so I'm not completely without a phone during the exchange period?
And thanks for the kind words regarding my wife. I appreciate that!
Ive done it multiple times. Its very simple to do. God bless for your wife. Thanks

Lollipop causing phone to turn off

Idk what's the problem with Samsung phones and updates. I had the same problem with my Note 3 when KitKat got released, I had to get a replacement phone. Lucky for me the replacements Note 3 didn't have the update on it. However I wasn't so lucky with the Note 4.
I accidently hit the update on my notifications when I was half sleep.
Anyways.
Every since Lollipop been installed on my Note 4, it has been a nightmare from hell.
When I installed it on my original Note 4, I kept having my keyboard become unresponsive. Force close on multiple apps (stock Web, camera, calender, and more).
I called T-Mobile to see if they could send me a replacement. They "tried" to fix it, saying that I should do a factory reset and clear cache , which I already tried before I called numerous times.
Finally they said they said they were going to send me out a replacement phone.
I also asked if anyone have been complaining about Lollipop they said no, they were totally oblivious to Lollipop having any kinks (as always ). It's crazy they said that because I have read over 100 post bashing the new update.
I received the Note 4. I turned the phone on and Lollipop was already installed. I called T-Mobile and asked why was Lollipop installed on my replacement, they informed me that they are sending out the phones with Lollipop, and assured there would be no problems with it.
With in the first hour, my phone would turn off and not turn back on. I knew there was nothing wrong with the battery because it was on 90% and it worked flawless with another phone. So I drained all the electricity out the phone and put the battery back in. That worked, but it did over 20 times within that day. I called T-Mobile again , they told me I would have to go to a store and see if they could diagnosis the phone.
The next day I went to the store, everything came back clear on the diagnosis, but they could see it turn off randomly.
I called customer care and explained the situation and told them I need a replacement.
Now I am waiting on a replacement. If this one don't work, I think I will have to get on whole different phone. I'm on the verge of getting a flip phone because I know that I don't want to have an iPhone.
Anyone having these issues with the update Lollipop?
I've never heard about an update getting positive reviews from users, most get bashed.
Fortunately I don't have those issues, nor have I had any with updates. Have you tried to odin the stock firmware? That's all I can really think of.
MajorTom_ said:
I've never heard about an update getting positive reviews from users, most get bashed.
Fortunately I don't have those issues, nor have I had any with updates. Have you tried to odin the stock firmware? That's all I can really think of.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems like I tried everything. I haven't tried that though. I will try that today, if my phone ever boots up.
W0man09 said:
It seems like I tried everything. I haven't tried that though. I will try that today, if my phone ever boots up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As long as you can get it into download mode something may be possible.
Odin to stock lollipop, factory reset / data wipe.
Additionally, I would consider a custom rom.
..........
If you really like kitkat better you could also Odin to stock kitkat, factory reset / data wipe.
MajorTom_ said:
As long as you can get it into download mode something may be possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol thanks for the help. I can't even get it to turn on, to get it in download mode. ??
. Now I'm just waiting on T-Mobile to send the replacement.

Phone goes through update process on every start up.

Hello,
I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 3, N900A, Android Version 5.0 on AT&T, Baseband N900AUEOC1, Kernal 3.4.0-4335446, rooted.
If I turn the phone off and then back on again or reboot I get a long white scree with the AT&T logo, Android is upgrading... Optimizing app # of 316, then a long time I can use the phone.
I did some online searching, and found some really old posts. I don't mess with the configuration much. I rooted it many months (years?) ago, and can't recall why. I think i wanted a hotspot, but that never worked out for me.
I suspect that AT&T is sending an over the air update and does not like the rooted phone. I searched thee settings in an effort to turn off auto update with no luck. I am hoping for something other than: wipe, reload...
Service Disabler from the Play Store ended up working.
Easy to use and dumped some bloatware while I was in there.
meyen90 said:
Hello,
I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 3, N900A, Android Version 5.0 on AT&T, Baseband N900AUEOC1, Kernal 3.4.0-4335446, rooted.
If I turn the phone off and then back on again or reboot I get a long white scree with the AT&T logo, Android is upgrading... Optimizing app # of 316, then a long time I can use the phone.
I did some online searching, and found some really old posts. I don't mess with the configuration much. I rooted it many months (years?) ago, and can't recall why. I think i wanted a hotspot, but that never worked out for me.
I suspect that AT&T is sending an over the air update and does not like the rooted phone. I searched thee settings in an effort to turn off auto update with no luck. I am hoping for something other than: wipe, reload...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Un-Fxed
Well this is a little frustrating. Went on and off with no update process yesterday. Today I rebooted and the 316 updates were optimized. I looked at the service disable app and the AT&T update service was still disabled.
Anyone have any thoughts?
Clearing the cache seemed to help. Let's see if the updates come back over the next few days...
No updates yesterday. Today there are 322 apps to optimizing... Anyone seen and fixed this before?
I started having the same problem 2 weeks ago after updating SU . Looks like they sent out 2 bad updates. Here is a link to the issue. I have been unable to solve it and their recommendations is to reroot the phone.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/supersu/stable-2016-09-01supersu-v2-78-release-t3452703
Thank you pinkpanther28. A true smoking gun. I disabled SuperSU and the update issues was gone. Enabled SuperSU and sure enough it came right back. The real irony is that I upgraded to SuperSU Pro to make sure 'Disable Service" had access. For now I will leave SuperSU disabled....
Well so much for the smoking gun. I turned my phone on this morning and the updates issue is back, even with both SuperSU and SuperSU Pro disabled. Does anyone have any ideas?

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