I've been missing in action for awhile now but I have a question about Towelroot and my S5. I used it to gain root access back when it was first released. Some months ago, AT&T tried to force an update to my phone in the middle of me using it so I did a battery pull, rebooted, and used Titanium BackUp to freeze the updater apk. I haven't been bothered since, as previously stated back in this post http://forum.xda-developers.com/att-galaxy-s5/help/update-t2867501/page2.
Now my question is, if I do a factory reset will the update that I got around be sent to my device upon network registration? I would hate to be slapped with an OS update during an initial setup. I haven't done much to the device because I didn't plan on keeping it as long as I have. I actually grew to like it, but root access is a must.
I have no real need to upgrade to the deal breaking S6, and although the Note 4 is nice the 5 will be out soon and there's no root tool available for the Note 4 to my knowledge. I'm sure the Note 5 will be even tougher to crack, which is what's somewhat running me back to Apple. At least with iOS you know you're in for simplicity and restrictions when compared to Android whether jailbroken or not. I'm not fond of the recent changes with firmware exploits not being as available as I've seen them in the past. I switched from the iPhone 4S to the Note II when it was first released. My Note II is still as good as the day I bought it, but I'm more dependent on hardware specs now. I've been gaming on my S5 more since it has a faster processor, and better battery life. Plus charging while on Ultra Power Saving mode is great! It's been heating up a little to often and recently fried a 32 gb micro sd card which I was so not happy about.
I think I'll just keep what's been working and redirect my curiosity. That will give me time to toy around with eZKAT since I switched back to it. I will be super pissed if I lose root access on my S5 and will seriously ponder switching to another carrier over it, although I absolutely love AT&T. They've been the best to me out of all carriers I've had, but root access is a must. No root exploit being available is why I haven't been phone shopping even though I have an upgrade coming up soon.
I've also wondered if towelroot even still works, or is available to download since the thread about it is closed. Does anyone else still have an S5 that's completely stock but rooted? If so, have you done a factory reset and been able to restore root access? I never into Safestrap but I've read great things about it. I'm so "old school" so to speak I still use CWM on my Note II and Root Explorer along with Titanium BackUp are my two favorite apps to use period.
Just remove your sim card when you factory reset...that will keep it from auto updating till you can freeze the updater.
Towel root works fine but only on the ne4 kernel. If your already running a prerooted rom, though you should be fine, just reinstall supersu.
Edit: here's a copy of towelroot if you need it.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/wdk0thsz9fhi91f/Towelroot-v3 (1).apk?dl=0
Related
Hello guys,
My brother is going to get his first smartphone. Initially they offered him a galaxy ace, but now (the phone operator) gave him the offer for an S. Would you go for it?
What i recall from this phone was that it was rather cool and powerful, but with an infernal gps. Did it get fixed eventually? How is it? Any remark?
Thank you very much!
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
Hi,
I have been using SGS GT-I9000 for a year and half, and frankly, it has been the worst smartphone purchase I've made over the years.
It:
1. Hangs up for no apparent reason, even when it is sitting idle.
2. Crashes or reboots at its own every now and then
3. Performance gets extremely sluggish to a point where it becomes Royal Pain in ....... (you know what).
4. Doesn't want to connect with PC except in 'Storage Mode'. Hence I am stuck with Froyo since there is no other way of updating the OS.
Now I have sent this unit to Samsung twice but they say it is 'in perfect' condition. Anyway, long and the short of it I am poised to jump the ship and buy Lumia 800, making SGS as my first and last droid.
Megneto said:
Hi,
I have been using SGS GT-I9000 for a year and half, and frankly, it has been the worst smartphone purchase I've made over the years.
It:
1. Hangs up for no apparent reason, even when it is sitting idle.
2. Crashes or reboots at its own every now and then
3. Performance gets extremely sluggish to a point where it becomes Royal Pain in ....... (you know what).
4. Doesn't want to connect with PC except in 'Storage Mode'. Hence I am stuck with Froyo since there is no other way of updating the OS.
Now I have sent this unit to Samsung twice but they say it is 'in perfect' condition. Anyway, long and the short of it I am poised to jump the ship and buy Lumia 800, making SGS as my first and last droid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Never had that problem.
2. Never had that problem with proper ROMs.
3. Lag fix, custom ROMs like CM7 and MIUI.
4. Again, never had that problem, pretty sure you never bothered to install the Samsung drivers for the phone.
Jump ship, Android doesn't sound like it's for you anyway, but don't go telling people about how you struggled with the phone without even flashing any new firmware when that's what Android is all about.
Megneto said:
Hi,
I have been using SGS GT-I9000 for a year and half, and frankly, it has been the worst smartphone purchase I've made over the years.
It:
1. Hangs up for no apparent reason, even when it is sitting idle.
2. Crashes or reboots at its own every now and then
3. Performance gets extremely sluggish to a point where it becomes Royal Pain in ....... (you know what).
4. Doesn't want to connect with PC except in 'Storage Mode'. Hence I am stuck with Froyo since there is no other way of updating the OS.
Now I have sent this unit to Samsung twice but they say it is 'in perfect' condition. Anyway, long and the short of it I am poised to jump the ship and buy Lumia 800, making SGS as my first and last droid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) Never had that problem either
2) Never had that problem either
3) As already stated add a simple lagfix.
4) Install the correct drivers onto your PC and install Kies or use odin to flash new firmware.
Adslee is 100% correct. Android isnt for you. dont tell people horror stories about this device just because you dont knowe what your doing...
Now back to the OP.
Even though the Galaxy S is over year old now it is still a good device on the market and for the price you can pick them up on contract these days i would say they are well worth buyng still.
The XDA custom rom support for this device has been amazing and there are tons of custom roms out there to choose from if you wish to flash custom firmware, such as several MIUI version; several CM7 versions and a ton of samsung based custom roms.
There are now even a couple of active ports of ICS from the galaxy nexus for the galaxy s.
Samsung have surpassed many people expectations with the support and updates they have brought to this device.
My GPS has always worked absoloutley perfect. I believe it was just the early models that had a problem witht he GPS. Even with that said, it was found that if your GPS was poor, all you had to do was fold a piece of paper up and put it in the top corner of the phone where the GPS antenna was and put the cover back on. This added pressure on the the antenna and made the GPS better for some strange reason lol.
The galaxy s started on eclair and we are now on 2.3.6 gingerbread.
This phone still has everything the new devices have and can still handle everything very well.
Dont forget the super amoled display that this device uses aswel which is amazing.
For a first smartphone it is a good start.
That being said though if you want to spend a bit more cash you can get a more updated phone like the galaxy s 2 or maybe even a galaxy nexus if your brother really wants to splash out, and likes the look of pure android without the likes of touchwiz or HTC's sense layerd over the top.
timonoj said:
Hello guys,
My brother is going to get his first smartphone. Initially they offered him a galaxy ace, but now (the phone operator) gave him the offer for an S. Would you go for it?
What i recall from this phone was that it was rather cool and powerful, but with an infernal gps. Did it get fixed eventually? How is it? Any remark?
Thank you very much!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The first couple of version of the OS were a little buggy for the Galaxy S, but the latest one is solid, no issues with it very fast and stable. The GPS issue was fixed.
If your brother is into modding and hacking his phone he would love the Galaxy S. Mine started with Android 2.1, and now I'm running a port of Android 4.0. Just be aware that most likely this phone will not get an official upgrade from Samsung to the Android 4.0
Hi all, I've been a fan of the Note 3 since it came out but it was out of my budget (I buy unlocked), now it's very affordable, I'm very aware of the specs and hardware and what draws me to it on paper (the screen size, 1080p, removeable storage, replaceable battery, the S pen, etc.).
However, I'd like to hear from real users, do you like the phone? Do you recommend it? Is this a phone that I "have to" root+ load custom to make it "work right", or does it run ok stock? What's your take and feedback? I'd love to hear it.
What do you like about it? What do you hate about it? What's there to know before I decide to make the purchase?
Building on the root topic, how hard is it? I was on other forums and I remember many complaining about Samsung and their bloatware and how it's "unlockable" (but from what I understand it's not necessary to really have it unlocked while still being very powerful/customizable).
I looked at the LG G pro 2(5.9" screen, microsdxc, replaceable battery etc. great phone, but too expensive right now), Sony Xperia ZU (camera not that great, somewhat dated hardware, can't get it for dirt cheap anymore), Sony Xperia Z2 (smaller, but amazing camera). Any other phones to consider? (I won't consider a phone that doesn't have expandable memory, so no Nexus phones for me).
Any/all feedback welcome, thanks!
The Note 3 is fantastic phone, I had it for a week, It is faster than the Galaxy S4, I love its stock ROM that why I have the Galaxy S4 for almost a year and i did not changed it is ROM.
My Note 3 is an ATT phone and I have it unlock to use it with tmobile, rooting the phone was easy, but the ATT phone has a locked boot loader, so regular recovery does not work like other phone.
My advice is to use the stock ROM and start reas this forum, if you don't like the stock ROM after a while then think about rooting and other things, I broke my phone after one week after installing a custom ROM and have it not fixed yet.
I hope that helps
abofihmi said:
The Note 3 is fantastic phone, I had it for a week, It is faster than the Galaxy S4, I love its stock ROM that why I have the Galaxy S4 for almost a year and i did not changed it is ROM.
My Note 3 is an ATT phone and I have it unlock to use it with tmobile, rooting the phone was easy, but the ATT phone has a locked boot loader, so regular recovery does not work like other phone.
My advice is to use the stock ROM and start reas this forum, if you don't like the stock ROM after a while then think about rooting and other things, I broke my phone after one week after installing a custom ROM and have it not fixed yet.
I hope that helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Appreciate the input! I was doing some reading and found out that the T-Mobile version does not have a locked bootloader and can be rooted and unlocked. I think I might end up trying to get a n900T instead of the n900A (though I may change my mind because I just need a phone to work out of the box for the time being.. I don't know if I'll have much time to screw around with custom roms just yet).
Although... I heard of people not getting full speeds on LTE with the Tmobile version on At&t, even with correct APN settings. I found it to be "inconculsive" for now, I'll keep looking, but I probably do need a phone soooon!
My ATT note 3 gives amazing speed on T-Mobile network, speed test reports 60 mbps.
not sure how tmobile phone works over ATT network.
abofihmi said:
My ATT note 3 gives amazing speed on T-Mobile network, speed test reports 60 mbps.
not sure how tmobile phone works over ATT network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, wow, interesting how the n900a gets good speeds on T-mobile's network.
Btw, you mentioned that you broke your phone, was it a note 3? I soft bricked my Asus TF700, thank God it's working now. Yeah, flashing and reflashing can be cumbersome and risky if you don't read the details and something small goes wrong, I think I got my softbrick from a dirty flash, it was such a headache.
Yes, my note 3 is currently broken and I am waiting for the power button to come, hopefully that will bring it back.
see my post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/note-3-att/help/note-3-failed-to-charge-phone-off-t2986953
Definitely do not buy an n900a due to a locked bootloader. It's going to be a fast phone with or without root but I rooted it added firekat rom combined with nova launcher,greenify, some personal customization mods and I absolutely love it although I hardly ever use the s pen as much as I thought so I wouldn't let that be a selling point for you no matter how much you think you may use it.
I just picked up a 64GB Samsung Galaxy Edge last night from Verizon. I switched from an iPhone 6 plus. Honestly, the Edge is a little small for my liking (probably just need to adjust over the next couple of days). The first thing that I noticed about the phone that I fell in love with is the screen. It is super clear, crisp, and simply beautiful. Colors stand out and are bright. In my opinion it is the best display that you can get on a cell phone. What I hate is that Verizon insists on installing their crapware on these beautiful phones. When I first started the device, I am welcomed by Verizon's setup wizard. Once I got through all of that, I noticed that there were 17 apps from Verizon that were preinstalled. I can disable some of them but I cannot delete them. I hate that! That is why I was always fond of the Nexus devices in the past.
I have a 14 day trial period and if the stock image is not released on SamMobile (so that I can root, delete these apps, and have the ability to reflash if needed), I will be keeping my iPhone.
I know it is a bit dramatic but Verizon is pushing me away from keeping this phone.
Volkswagen04 said:
I just picked up a 64GB Samsung Galaxy Edge last night from Verizon. I switched from an iPhone 6 plus. Honestly, the Edge is a little small for my liking (probably just need to adjust over the next couple of days). The first thing that I noticed about the phone that I fell in love with is the screen. It is super clear, crisp, and simply beautiful. Colors stand out and are bright. In my opinion it is the best display that you can get on a cell phone. What I hate is that Verizon insists on installing their crapware on these beautiful phones. When I first started the device, I am welcomed by Verizon's setup wizard. Once I got through all of that, I noticed that there were 17 apps from Verizon that were preinstalled. I can disable some of them but I cannot delete them. I hate that! That is why I was always fond of the Nexus devices in the past.
I have a 14 day trial period and if the stock image is not released on SamMobile (so that I can root, delete these apps, and have the ability to reflash if needed), I will be keeping my iPhone.
I know it is a bit dramatic but Verizon is pushing me away from keeping this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bye Felicia!
The Stock image will be the same as what is on the phone. You will NOT be able to use any image from other S6 models. The phone is bootloader locked and tappering will most likely brick the phone unless root and bootloader unlock is attained.
Volkswagen04 said:
I just picked up a 64GB Samsung Galaxy Edge last night from Verizon. I switched from an iPhone 6 plus. Honestly, the Edge is a little small for my liking (probably just need to adjust over the next couple of days). The first thing that I noticed about the phone that I fell in love with is the screen. It is super clear, crisp, and simply beautiful. Colors stand out and are bright. In my opinion it is the best display that you can get on a cell phone. What I hate is that Verizon insists on installing their crapware on these beautiful phones. When I first started the device, I am welcomed by Verizon's setup wizard. Once I got through all of that, I noticed that there were 17 apps from Verizon that were preinstalled. I can disable some of them but I cannot delete them. I hate that! That is why I was always fond of the Nexus devices in the past.
I have a 14 day trial period and if the stock image is not released on SamMobile (so that I can root, delete these apps, and have the ability to reflash if needed), I will be keeping my iPhone.
I know it is a bit dramatic but Verizon is pushing me away from keeping this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You won't get root anytime soon my friend, regardless if you get the firmware or not. You can actually get the firmware yourself now through kies...
Sent from my SM-N915V
Thread has run its course
I have recently acquired an ATT Note 5 (N920A). I paid $200. (64Gb variant). Good price??
So far, I tried making calls and browsing the internet using an ATT SIM without issues.
ROM on the phone is 6.0.1 with an update in October 2016.
Can this phone be unlocked to use on a different carrier than ATT?
Can this phone be rooted? I'd like to be able to remove the ATT Bloatware.
My apologies if this was already answered .
Thanks
You can unlock the phone, but you can't root due to the locked bootloader.
Thanks for your response.
Any recommendation as to where I can get this phone unlocked??
AT&T Unlock just means you can move it another carrier it doesn't mean you can unlock the bootloader to install a custom firmware, or even another official one. You are locked into the AT&T firmware and the only way that will ever change is if you stop updating and a security flaw is realized which allows us to replace the bootloader. As it stands if you actually did get root your phone wouldn't boot. Depending what you do to it the Note 5 will turn on/off really fast. (They did a great job locking it down)
Yeah 200 bucks for that phone with package disabler is a great deal. They are working on Nougat but I will not update because I want to hold out on Nov. Security patch in the hopes I can downgrade, remove bloatware, or even better install twrp someday.
As it stands we are locked down. As always if root/custom roms are important you shoudn't update but the Note 5 never even made it to custom rom while on 5.11 so the chances aren't looking spectactular that we will conquer this in the life of the phone.
Edited: Just gave the info and lost the attitude toward AT&T
droidvoider said:
the firmware is absolutely horrible
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I disagree. I've been able to disable the AT&T stuff using package disabler. I don't see any evidence of my phone being an AT&T model other than the boot screen and when I attempt to search for a OTA update. I like the battery life of my N920A (coming from my battery-draining TMobile Note4). Once I leave my phone in power saver mode and close or uninstall apps that I don't need, I'm good. I get 13 hours battery life (the most) and 5.5 hours of on screen time.
I can do 4 hours of Youtube and 4.7 hours of watching movies on my internal storage.
Edit: Samsung locking down boot-loaders will ensure Apple's consistency in terms of the eco systems for application security (such as Samsung/ Google Pay) , battery life and system performance.
I edited my post before your response to lighten up on AT&T a little. I do not like AT&T at all but that has little to do with this persons question.
I noticed also that when I use package disabler I get much of my battery life back. While I realize that is perfectly good enough for most people I am not happy with that. I made a mistake when I purchased my phone as I didn't research how locked down it was during the grace period. I realize this is my fault and that my mistake was purchasing through AT&T when what I really wanted was freedom of true choice. Obviously I am not a majority. But for others who are very interested in even the possibility of a custom rom I think it's imperative to know the entire story.
So I have been digging around and have yet to see a solid way to root the Note8. So the next thing i need to ask myself whats a good alternative that i can root to kinda get a bit out of googles thumb, while still being able to use the playstore. I would very much prefer a head phone jack on it. I was looking at OnePlus until they dropped the headphone jack.
So if you either know of a way to root the note8 so i can install a custom ROM, or have a good suggestion for another phone i can install custom roms on, please help me out
EDIT: Also i have the SnapDragon. I was wondering if maybe upon upgrading even if its to the note 9 or 10 if going for the Exynos version would allow custom ROMs. Or even finding a Note8 with a Exynos CPU
After owning every Note except Note1, I got tired of the locked bootloader and half A$$ root. I got a Pixel 3 XL to test it out and love it. I will never look back at Samsung. Very happy with it and have never regretted my decision. Now I have full root, custom ROMs, Titanium backup and every app I desire. The phone is super responsive and easily the best phone I've ever had. It has an amazing camera. I get monthly updates directly from Google and will receive new OS (ie Android Q) updates before anyone else without having to wait 1/2 a year for them like I did with my Note 8. I'm also not locked into any provider and can change sim cards with anyone I wish in the world. I believe no Samsung carrier phone will ever receive root (look at the Note 9, S9+ etc). International versions do get root, but then you don't get all bands supported by carriers in US and you void your warrantee and Samsung pay. To me , not worth it. To me, the decision is crystal clear. As much as I loved my Note phones, I will never look back at another one. Nonetheless, I do understand some people are ok with no root and locked bootloaders. In such cases, I would stick to Samsung.