Database Develop

Sprint.com Activation Warning!/Factory Data Reset!

Didn't see this anywhere, so I thought I would try and hopefully save at least one person some time/frustration. I, like many people on this site own multiple devices and swap my Sprint service back and forth between them. I normally do this through Sprint.com. I just got my GS4 and spent hours testing what launcher would be the fastest with this SOC, and setting everything up exactly the way I wanted it.(I always keep things stock for the return period so I had no real way of making a backup) After I got everything the way I wanted, I activated this beauty...but upon doing this, I didn't see the fine print that the profile update triggers a factory data wipe.. **POOF** and all my app/prefs/etc. were gone. Needless to say, I was LIVID. I waited until I was calmed down to call customer care. The rep I spoke to advised that they changed it to require a factory data wipe when switching service online and you need to call customer care to attempt a manual IMEI/DEC/HEX swap.

glassjosh said:
Didn't see this anywhere, so I thought I would try and hopefully save at least one person some time/frustration. I, like many people on this site own multiple devices and swap my Sprint service back and forth between them. I normally do this through Sprint.com. I just got my GS4 and spent hours testing what launcher would be the fastest with this SOC, and setting everything up exactly the way I wanted it.(I always keep things stock for the return period so I had no real way of making a backup) After I got everything the way I wanted, I activated this beauty...but upon doing this, I didn't see the fine print that the profile update triggers a factory data wipe.. **POOF** and all my app/prefs/etc. were gone. Needless to say, I was LIVID. I waited until I was calmed down to call customer care. The rep I spoke to advised that they changed it to require a factory data wipe when switching service online and you need to call customer care to attempt a manual IMEI/DEC/HEX swap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TiBu is your friend

rawintellect said:
TiBu is your friend
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Word.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app

glassjosh said:
Didn't see this anywhere, so I thought I would try and hopefully save at least one person some time/frustration. I, like many people on this site own multiple devices and swap my Sprint service back and forth between them. I normally do this through Sprint.com. I just got my GS4 and spent hours testing what launcher would be the fastest with this SOC, and setting everything up exactly the way I wanted it.(I always keep things stock for the return period so I had no real way of making a backup) After I got everything the way I wanted, I activated this beauty...but upon doing this, I didn't see the fine print that the profile update triggers a factory data wipe.. **POOF** and all my app/prefs/etc. were gone. Needless to say, I was LIVID. I waited until I was calmed down to call customer care. The rep I spoke to advised that they changed it to require a factory data wipe when switching service online and you need to call customer care to attempt a manual IMEI/DEC/HEX swap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Had you already activated the device at least once before you attempted the online activation that resulted in the factory reset?

So I can confirm that this is indeed the desired behavior of chameleon. Whenever activation info is changed through HFA, then the device is now supposed to hard reset.
While this is certainly inconvenient if you didn't know it would happen (as us here in the store didn't know this was going to be the behavior going forward either), the reasoning behind it is sound: chameleon is put in place so that identical models of phones that are different sprint channels (sprint post paid, prepaid, boost, etc.) can run the same firmware; chameleon handles the bloatware payload for each channel. In other words, sprint no longer has to have different software packages for the same phone just because one gets sprint zone etc. and the other gets boost stuff etc.
Now, hopefully we get to a point to where chameleon is smart enough to recognize the current payload and decide whether a hard reset is necessary, but...baby steps I suppose.
EDIT: also, profile updates on their own don't require a reset. It's part of the whole HFA process that does it.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda premium

Nope, it was a new device I wanted to set up and play with on wifi before activating it. Now I just have to call CC and have them swap the devices manually.

rawintellect said:
TiBu is your friend
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's only your friend if you're rooted, I always keep stock FW for the return period of a device since you never know. I have always had mixed experiences with restoring app data as well.

glassjosh said:
It's only your friend if you're rooted, I always keep stock FW for the return period of a device since you never know. I have always had mixed experiences with restoring app data as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've never had ONE bad experience with TiBu. Ever. If you know what you're doing it's fine. And why wouldn't you root? You can always unroot at any given time. And yes the counter can be reset.

The debate for rooting belongs elsewhere, I'm well aware you can reset counters, unroot, however, it's not worth the time when the risk of returning is high IMHO. You don't have to know what you're doing in TiBu, that's the beauty, but you still have a better chance of stability when using new app data, and it only takes 1 bad experience with some things..

glassjosh said:
The debate for rooting belongs elsewhere, I'm well aware you can reset counters, unroot, however, it's not worth the time when the risk of returning is high IMHO. You don't have to know what you're doing in TiBu, that's the beauty, but you still have a better chance of stability when using new app data, and it only takes 1 bad experience with some things..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL! You're not going to change my mind. I'm not going to change yours. I know from my own personal experience of MANY years of tinkering with android devices that you DO have to know what you're doing in TiBu or you're screwed. If you backup the wrong thing (say a system app from a different release of android) and restore it to an entirely new system you've just borked your device and are on a one way trip to bootloop city, population: YOU. And you'll have a full restore in your future.
As for "debating" on rooting? I'm not. Why even come on to XDA if you won't root? If you want stock apps stick to Google Play and sprint community forums. But don't come on to XDA and tell me or anyone else that rooting your phone is inferior to not rooting it. It just isn't. Period.
Stability is only as good as the person that coded it. That INCLUDES stock OEM ROMS or updates. I can count on two hands updates from manufacturers that have gone terribly wrong and been fixed by the devs in the XDA community LONG before they were fixed by the manufacturer. So your point about "new app data" is wrong as well.
And finally the "risk" isn't high. At all. Stop scaring folks. If your phone boots into the bootloader it's recoverable. Period. Even if it DOESN'T boot into the bootloader you can still recover it. I've had 8 HARD bricks. All of them recovered. Some even required EMMC_RECOVER to rewrite the bootloader. Don't know what that is? I'm not suprised. Let me google that for you. The WORST EVER required JTAG (again let me google that for you) to fix. But it WAS fixed.
I'm all done with this back and forth and I'll just place you on ignore and hope people see that you really have no clue what you're talking about.
Enjoy.

rawintellect said:
LOL! You're not going to change my mind. I'm not going to change yours. I know from my own personal experience of MANY years of tinkering with android devices that you DO have to know what you're doing in TiBu or you're screwed. If you backup the wrong thing (say a system app from a different release of android) and restore it to an entirely new system you've just borked your device and are on a one way trip to bootloop city, population: YOU. And you'll have a full restore in your future.
As for "debating" on rooting? I'm not. Why even come on to XDA if you won't root? If you want stock apps stick to Google Play and sprint community forums. But don't come on to XDA and tell me or anyone else that rooting your phone is inferior to not rooting it. It just isn't. Period.
Stability is only as good as the person that coded it. That INCLUDES stock OEM ROMS or updates. I can count on two hands updates from manufacturers that have gone terribly wrong and been fixed by the devs in the XDA community LONG before they were fixed by the manufacturer. So your point about "new app data" is wrong as well.
And finally the "risk" isn't high. At all. Stop scaring folks. If your phone boots into the bootloader it's recoverable. Period. Even if it DOESN'T boot into the bootloader you can still recover it. I've had 8 HARD bricks. All of them recovered. Some even required EMMC_RECOVER to rewrite the bootloader. Don't know what that is? I'm not suprised. Let me google that for you. The WORST EVER required JTAG (again let me google that for you) to fix. But it WAS fixed.
I'm all done with this back and forth and I'll just place you on ignore and hope people see that you really have no clue what you're talking about.
Enjoy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not trying to change anyone's mind, only warn others to possibly help someone out; which is the whole purpose of this site. I certainly don't have time to troll anyone's posts. Before you get more butt-hurt, read what I said. I know from my "MANY YEARS" of android tinkering and development, that you only need time to read, not to truly know what you're doing. Apparently we have different ideas of what that means. Never did I state that rooting was inferior, that's absurd. And how would you know the risk of me returning the phone in the return period? You obviously don't read or comprehend well. As stated before, I'm well familiar with the process for tweaking android devices, especially Samsung since I have 6 of them. I'm so super impressed with your vast knowledge though..

Wow. That escalated quickly for no reason. You ignores someone for having an opinion about not rooting a phone in the first seven days of owning it. I'm sure there are plenty of people on here that don't root in that first week, that includes me as one of them.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda premium

rawintellect said:
LOL! You're not going to change my mind. I'm not going to change yours. I know from my own personal experience of MANY years of tinkering with android devices that you DO have to know what you're doing in TiBu or you're screwed. If you backup the wrong thing (say a system app from a different release of android) and restore it to an entirely new system you've just borked your device and are on a one way trip to bootloop city, population: YOU. And you'll have a full restore in your future.
As for "debating" on rooting? I'm not. Why even come on to XDA if you won't root? If you want stock apps stick to Google Play and sprint community forums. But don't come on to XDA and tell me or anyone else that rooting your phone is inferior to not rooting it. It just isn't. Period.
Stability is only as good as the person that coded it. That INCLUDES stock OEM ROMS or updates. I can count on two hands updates from manufacturers that have gone terribly wrong and been fixed by the devs in the XDA community LONG before they were fixed by the manufacturer. So your point about "new app data" is wrong as well.
And finally the "risk" isn't high. At all. Stop scaring folks. If your phone boots into the bootloader it's recoverable. Period. Even if it DOESN'T boot into the bootloader you can still recover it. I've had 8 HARD bricks. All of them recovered. Some even required EMMC_RECOVER to rewrite the bootloader. Don't know what that is? I'm not suprised. Let me google that for you. The WORST EVER required JTAG (again let me google that for you) to fix. But it WAS fixed.
I'm all done with this back and forth and I'll just place you on ignore and hope people see that you really have no clue what you're talking about.
Enjoy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please don't feed the trolls...
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda app-developers app

[Q] Nand backup restore from one XZ to another?

Hi All,
I'm about to change my Z to another.
Is it possible to restore an "old" nand backup to this new phone without any issue?
Thanks a lot

If the backup taken is of the same version of jelly bean and also the firmware,only then it can be restored without any probs..the other cases,well..I dunno about them..Cheers
Hit thanks if I helped u in any way.Sent from my Killer Xperia Z(C6602) using xda premium.

GeoSpaceKing said:
If the backup taken is of the same version of jelly bean and also the firmware,only then it can be restored without any probs..the other cases,well..I dunno about them..Cheers
Hit thanks if I helped u in any way.Sent from my Killer Xperia Z(C6602) using xda premium.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why would Android version and ROM matter? I would be more worried about possibly restoring unique phone data like MAC addresses or IMEI. (Neither of which should happen on the Z anyway)

The imei and Mac addresses are unique for each device as far as I know..they don't change whatever we do..maybe we can put fake ones in their place but the original ones will still be the same..
Sent from my Killer Xperia Z(C6602) using xda premium.

GeoSpaceKing said:
The imei and Mac addresses are unique for each device as far as I know..they don't change whatever we do..maybe we can put fake ones in their place but the original ones will still be the same..
Sent from my Killer Xperia Z(C6602) using xda premium.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Say that to a Samsung phone... Honstly I used to take that for granted as well, until I soft-bricked my old SGS3's modem by wiping a partition which contained IMEI and MAC addresses (something that, in my opinion, shouldn't be possible on a production device).

Rekoil said:
Say that to a Samsung phone... Honstly I used to take that for granted as well, until I soft-bricked my old SGS3's modem by wiping a partition which contained IMEI and MAC addresses (something that, in my opinion, shouldn't be possible on a production device).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Woh..that is some serious mess..were u able to recover ur s3 back to life?where the hell did u delete those things from..I read somewhere that the device Mac and imei are related to the device's hardware..I'm not sure about that now cuz I read ur post lol
Sent from my Killer Xperia Z(C6602) using xda premium.

Such stuff should be in a read only memory... Or maybe this stuff is in the TA partition?
Yes they are unique to each phone. MAC is for the Ethernet (internet protocol layer) and IMEI is the phone unique identifier but don't know more about.
But if there are the same and the other isn't used, ( never) it can work. It will for internet at least.
"I know that my English isn't perfect, but I still hope it's comprehensible." Send over the cool Xperia Z

GeoSpaceKing said:
Woh..that is some serious mess..were u able to recover ur s3 back to life?where the hell did u delete those things from..I read somewhere that the device Mac and imei are related to the device's hardware..I'm not sure about that now cuz I read ur post lol
Sent from my Killer Xperia Z(C6602) using xda premium.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are not supposed to be able to easily delete those things, like naphets8 said, yes, the XZs TA partition is roughly what I am talking about, on the S3 this partition is called the EFS partition. I figured, hey, why not wipe the phone properly and just execute "rm -rf /" before installing CyanogenMod... turns out that's a bad idea on a Samsung device, because this special partition, which shouldn't even have been mounted in the first place on a production device, is actually also writeable on a rooted device...
Yeah I did eventually get it semi-back-to-life, but I didn't care at that point because I was fed up with the lack of developer support on the International S3 and ended up just selling it for a low price to a friend (didn't feel right selling it to some random on the internet, even if I could have gotten more money, as I wanted the device to be near me so I could help take care of it when it has its moments... as only I really know exactly what is going on with that particular device seeing as I constructed the workaround for the missing data).
For the record, keeping this kind of stuff (IMEI, MAC addresses, other unique calibration data) in a mounted file system is wrong. You keep it on a NAND, yes, but not the NAND that stores the operating system, and you certainly do not mount it through the kernel, you access it through other means like the way NVRAM is accessed for example. How a huge technology company like Samsung (arguably one of the biggest electronics manufacturers in the world) could get this wrong on a flagship device like the S3 I will never understand, as there are literally thousands of engineers on a project like that who should have put a stop to it.
But yeah, depending on how the recovery partition makes backups, the EFS partition could have ended up in one of them, at least if you used "adb backup" on the S3. Then transferring that backup to another S3 could have potentially been fatal depending on if it was the same model or even how it is set up.
Moral of the story: No, I cannot recommend low-level backups like those produced by CMW-like recoveries to be transferred between devices even of the same model, unless you know exactly what you are doing or at least check it up with someone who does first.

Rekoil said:
You are not supposed to be able to easily delete those things, like naphets8 said, yes, the XZs TA partition is roughly what I am talking about, on the S3 this partition is called the EFS partition. I figured, hey, why not wipe the phone properly and just execute "rm -rf /" before installing CyanogenMod... turns out that's a bad idea on a Samsung device, because this special partition, which shouldn't even have been mounted in the first place on a production device, is actually also writeable on a rooted device...
Yeah I did eventually get it semi-back-to-life, but I didn't care at that point because I was fed up with the lack of developer support on the International S3 and ended up just selling it for a low price to a friend (didn't feel right selling it to some random on the internet, even if I could have gotten more money, as I wanted the device to be near me so I could help take care of it when it has its moments... as only I really know exactly what is going on with that particular device seeing as I constructed the workaround for the missing data).
For the record, keeping this kind of stuff (IMEI, MAC addresses, other unique calibration data) in a mounted file system is wrong. You keep it on a NAND, yes, but not the NAND that stores the operating system, and you certainly do not mount it through the kernel, you access it through other means like the way NVRAM is accessed for example. How a huge technology company like Samsung (arguably one of the biggest electronics manufacturers in the world) could get this wrong on a flagship device like the S3 I will never understand, as there are literally thousands of engineers on a project like that who should have put a stop to it.
But yeah, depending on how the recovery partition makes backups, the EFS partition could have ended up in one of them, at least if you used "adb backup" on the S3. Then transferring that backup to another S3 could have potentially been fatal depending on if it was the same model or even how it is set up.
Moral of the story: No, I cannot recommend low-level backups like those produced by CMW-like recoveries to be transferred between devices even of the same model, unless you know exactly what you are doing or at least check it up with someone who does first.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
U sound like a person who really has an attachment to your tech.. Nice moral too... And about Samsung being cheeky is only maybe cuz they WANT people to meddle with the really dangerous stuff in their devices,no offence..I like Samsung products too...anyways this was really an intense detail u have given,thumbs up for that :thumbup:
Sent from my Killer Xperia Z(C6602) using xda premium.

GeoSpaceKing said:
U sound like a person who really has an attachment to your tech.. Nice moral too... And about Samsung being cheeky is only maybe cuz they WANT people to meddle with the really dangerous stuff in their devices,no offence..I like Samsung products too...anyways this was really an intense detail u have given,thumbs up for that :thumbup:
Sent from my Killer Xperia Z(C6602) using xda premium.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's allowing developers proper access to the device, and then there's just being reckless (which is what I consider Samsungs solution to be). Kernel, recovery, data and system (and associated partitions like lib) should be accessible by developers. But unrestricted access (as in no signature checks on what I am flashing) to device config, bootloaders, NFC and radio partitions? That is just reckless behaviour. Honestly, on the S3 there was nothing stopping me from flashing a picture of a cat to my devices bootloader... and no I don't mean a modded bootloader with a picture of a cat instead of the Samsung logo, I mean a JPG... how do you think the device would have reacted to that? I would have bricked it.
Barring obscure projects like dual-booting (which can be done in userspace or kernel anyway, even if it is easier from a modded bootloader) there is really no need to give people that kind of access, and all that happens is that some idiot goes and ruins his device when it is completely unnecessary.
ROM manager creator and CM developer @Koush said it well when speaking about S-OFF on HTC devices. While on the subject, I'd like to credit HTC for finally getting this right on the One. There, mission critical partitions are locked down (signed images can be written freely, but not unsigned), and kernel, recovery, data and system partitions are accessible to developers through the HTCdev program.

Google "rumored" full backup

How do you guys think about the rumored cloud backup of Google? I think it would be great to have such a function and! I just don't want to use apps like titanium etc. I just want my phone to recover settings, apps, mail accounts and more when doing a restore after flashing.
Back to the topic. Is there any more news on this subject?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

lowtje said:
How do you guys think about the rumored cloud backup of Google? I think it would be great to have such a function and! I just don't want to use apps like titanium etc. I just want my phone to recover settings, apps, mail accounts and more when doing a restore after flashing.
Back to the topic. Is there any more news on this subject?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In all honesty I am not a big fan of titanium backup at all.

I would actually love this, it would be good if it wasn't Nexus 5 specific but android specific so I could move to any other phone when its out and not reconfigure it.

Yeah there was some info at first, but now its all silentmode
http://m.digitaltrends.com/mobile/nexus-5-leaks-time-hints-cloud-backup-android-4-4-kitkat/
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

Helium is a great alternative to Titanium, and you don't need root. Looks much nicer as well, very Google-esque

I for one used to HATE titanium, and I found the GUI very confusing and hard to understand. But. Once I got used to it I found it to be one of the most useful apps i've purchased. Just my thoughts
On the google backup thing, I think it would be cool. But i'd have to see how it was implemented.

titanium bu is for noobs. I would NEVER use it. I'd rather lose all my data,
Backing up / restoring user data is never a good idea in IMO. I'm not saying it doesn't work, but, show me the thread with the guy/gal that has issues from not restoring from a other brand/model phone....... its just not a good idea. Even with the same model phone, its just poor practice.

apristel said:
titanium bu is for noobs. I would NEVER use it. I'd rather lose all my data,
Backing up / restoring user data is never a good idea in IMO. I'm not saying it doesn't work, but, show me the thread with the guy/gal that has issues from not restoring from a other brand/model phone....... its just not a good idea. Even with the same model phone, its just poor practice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why? I've been doing it for years across a dozen different phones and I've never had an issue. As long as you're not restoring system data, any problems are usually due to user error.
I get that you personally don't like TB, but you can't just make a broad generalization based on your own opinion. There's already too much of that going on in the N5 forums.

Same here. Been using TB since the Captivate days and still do. Never had an issue restoring user apps and data.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

apristel said:
titanium bu is for noobs. I would NEVER use it. I'd rather lose all my data,
Backing up / restoring user data is never a good idea in IMO. I'm not saying it doesn't work, but, show me the thread with the guy/gal that has issues from not restoring from a other brand/model phone....... its just not a good idea. Even with the same model phone, its just poor practice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just because YOU don't know how to use it, you shouldn't call them as 'noobs.'
been using titanium for years. it works fine. user friendly.

maxpower7 said:
Why? I've been doing it for years across a dozen different phones and I've never had an issue. As long as you're not restoring system data, any problems are usually due to user error.
I get that you personally don't like TB, but you can't just make a broad generalization based on your own opinion. There's already too much of that going on in the N5 forums.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually. I did just make a broad generalization based on my own opinion. Something i am granted to do. You won't see the threads with people complaining that their device is working fine after doing the b/u manually. These apps that fleece users for doing the dumbest **** piss me off.
1 Figure out WHY.HOW it can do the backup.
2.DO it yourself.

apristel said:
Actually. I did just make a broad generalization based on my own opinion. Something i am granted to do. You won't see the threads with people complaining that their device is working fine after doing the b/u manually. These apps that fleece users for doing the dumbest **** piss me off.
1 Figure out WHY.HOW it can do the backup.
2.DO it yourself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've gotten more utility out of TB than any other app I've ever paid for. My experience with TB has been the exact opposite of whatever your definition of "fleecing" is. But whatever, bro. If you need to be unpleasant, knock yourself out.

I'd really like the ability for a back up app to remember my Google music "pins". Since I tend to pin a ton, I don't have the space to backup the music app itself.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

esskayy said:
Helium is a great alternative to Titanium, and you don't need root. Looks much nicer as well, very Google-esque
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Helium is terrible, it looks nice but it has tons of problems(read the reviews). It has trouble restoring many apps data especially if you use the cloud storage option.

apristel said:
Actually. I did just make a broad generalization based on my own opinion. Something i am granted to do. You won't see the threads with people complaining that their device is working fine after doing the b/u manually. These apps that fleece users for doing the dumbest **** piss me off.
1 Figure out WHY.HOW it can do the backup.
2.DO it yourself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You next to chill dude. I agree that tibu has its limitations and is over sold for what it claims it can do. But it has its place. Others opinions are just as valid as yours.

aohus said:
just because YOU don't know how to use it, you shouldn't call them as 'noobs.'
been using titanium for years. it works fine. user friendly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't recall saying i never used it. weird....my computer must be posting for me.
jd1639 said:
You next to chill dude. I agree that tibu has its limitations and is over sold for what it claims it can do. But it has its place. Others opinions are just as valid as yours.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll agree with your point. Very valid. While it does work most of the time, it seriously cannot be trusted to restore between devices/versions of android.. These are my opinions, however, it has sold/worked for many.
thanks. ( i did actually thank you buy limited to 8 per day.)

apristel said:
I don't recall saying i never used it. weird....my computer must be posting for me.
I'll agree with your point. Very valid. While it does work most of the time, it seriously cannot be trusted to restore between devices/versions of android.. These are my opinions, however, it has sold/worked for many.
thanks. ( i did actually thank you buy limited to 8 per day.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just used TB and Box storage to migrate from my N4 to my N5. No problems. TB has supported syncing backups to / from cloud storage for some time now.

rg1003 said:
I just used TB and Box storage to migrate from my N4 to my N5. No problems. TB has supported syncing backups to / from cloud storage for some time now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i never said it didn't do cloud backup... local/cloud backup has nothing to do with it.....what would the difference be?
I guess i am coming off wrong... You can't expect your phone to function normally doing something it isn't intended to do.
My honda civic is running wrong. I've been beating the ish out of it all week. whats wrong? damn honda.

apristel said:
I guess i am coming off wrong...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe just cluttered. I think your trying to say restoring app DATA along with the app is a bad idea. I agree with you if you are referring to system apps. Migration from ROM to ROM will cause issues. Phone A to phone B would be an epic failure. However I see very few problems when restoring user apps and data. I personally stopped using TB and now use Android Tuner. It has about everything you could ask for in a root package app.

theesotericone said:
Maybe just cluttered. I think your trying to say restoring app DATA along with the app is a bad idea. I agree with you if you are referring to system apps. Migration from ROM to ROM will cause issues. Phone A to phone B would be an epic failure. However I see very few problems when restoring user apps and data. I personally stopped using TB and now use Android Tuner. It has about everything you could ask for in a root package app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
fair statement. I still don't believe in backing up any data (besides full nandroid). 9/10 times you won't have issues starting freshhhhh.

[Q] Bought a seemingly rooted phone on Swappa and I'm concerned...

OK, I'm going to start by saying I know pretty much nothing about rooting and I may come across as a paranoid conspiracy nut, but here goes.
I recently bought a Note 3 on Swappa. In the description, the seller said that he had removed all of the AT&T Bloatware, but the phone was not rooted. He also stated that a system reset would restore the AT&T apps. Well, the first thing I did was a system restore, but the AT&T apps were still gone. Not that I care about the apps really, but it seemed weird.
Today, I downloaded the "Root Checker" app on the Play Store and it told me that my phone was, in fact, rooted. I also downloaded SuperU and it verified that as well. I've also gotten Titanium Backup (Root) and it shows I'm rooted.
I posted a message on my sale page at Swappa mentioning this, but the seller is adamantly denying that the phone is rooted. He says they use their "own process" to remove the bloatware.
My question in all of this is is this: Is this something I should be concerned about? The seller seems less than honest about the phone being rooted. He is a "trusted seller" which is one reason I bought from him, but I'm super paranoid that there might be something on my phone that I'm unaware of. (a keylogging app, etc...) Is there any way to tell this? How do I go about truly returning my phone back to its original state? I system reset didn't unroot it.
Any advice from people out there much more knowledgeable than me about this?
EDIT: well, I took andygev35's advice and restored back to factory. However, I enjoyed playing around with the things that being rooted allowed, so I re-did it. A huge waste of time? Maybe, but at least I have some peace of mind over the whole thing now. Thanks to everyone!

If you're worried about anything unsavory that may be hidden on your phone, you could always restore back to factory condition using the guide and files in this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2838117
Sent from my AT&T Galaxy Note 3 using Tapatalk®

andygev35 said:
If you're worried about anything unsavory that may be hidden on your phone, you could always restore back to factory condition using the guide and files in this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2838117
Sent from my AT&T Galaxy Note 3 using Tapatalk®
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, and holy crap - just glancing at that it looks like a total pain in the ass. This is why I never bothered to root in the first place. Do you think I'm being too paranoid? Or is is worth doing all this?

It's actually quite simple. I know it may look overwhelming at first glance, but there's really nothing to it. Basically the easiest method is to use the all-in-one file. Just download that, put your phone in download mode, plug it into your computer, run the Odin program, place the all-in-one file in the AP slot in Odin and click start.
Sent from my AT&T Galaxy Note 3 using Tapatalk®

andygev35 said:
It's actually quite simple. I know it may look overwhelming at first glance, but there's really nothing to it. Basically the easiest method is to use the all-in-one file. Just download that, put your phone in download mode, plug it into your computer, run the Odin program, place the all-in-one file in the AP slot in Odin and click start.
Sent from my AT&T Galaxy Note 3 using Tapatalk®
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK. I may do this when I get home. Thanks.

Honestly though I do feel you're probably worrying over nothing.. But I'd go back to stock so you can obtain updates if you desire
Sent from my XT907 using XDA Free mobile app

mrkhigh said:
Honestly though I do feel you're probably worrying over nothing.. But I'd go back to stock so you can obtain updates if you desire
Sent from my XT907 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree it's probably nothing to worry about, but if he's anything like me, any doubt I have will always be there somewhere in the back of my mind nagging at me [emoji15]. Restoring wipes out any of that doubt.
Sent from my AT&T Galaxy Note 3 using Tapatalk®

Don't Worry, Be Happy
Why wouldn't anyone want access to the root files in THEIR phone ???
You have root access to your PC or Mac, why would anyone want a provider to lock down their phone making things inaccessible.
You're not renting the phone, it's Yours (always try and have root access if possible).
google up moborobo and download it, its free and gives u full access to your phone, please download it and check it out -
You will love all the stuff you can do with a rooted N3 -

andygev35 said:
I agree it's probably nothing to worry about, but if he's anything like me, any doubt I have will always be there somewhere in the back of my mind nagging at me [emoji15]. Restoring wipes out any of that doubt.
Sent from my AT&T Galaxy Note 3 using Tapatalk®
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess what bugs me the most is that the seller INSISTS that it wasn't rooted, when it clearly is. Its a "methinks he doth protest too much" situation. If he just owned up to it, I'd be less paranoid. If he can't be honest about the obvious, it makes me worry about the less obvious.
I've learned a little, and I'm kind of digging some of the options available now that I know its rooted. Considering spending this Saturday to restoring it back to "normal" and then maybe re-rooting it to have some of the things that I now realize I kind of want. I'm kind of worried I'm going to funk it up though... Jailbreaking seemed to be a much easier process, and harder to screw up.

Since we now have nc2 Odin files you are relatively safe in doing a restore.
Sent from my XT907 using XDA Free mobile app

ThePorter said:
I guess what bugs me the most is that the seller INSISTS that it wasn't rooted, when it clearly is. Its a "methinks he doth protest too much" situation. If he just owned up to it, I'd be less paranoid. If he can't be honest about the obvious, it makes me worry about the less obvious.
I've learned a little, and I'm kind of digging some of the options available now that I know its rooted. Considering spending this Saturday to restoring it back to "normal" and then maybe re-rooting it to have some of the things that I now realize I kind of want. I'm kind of worried I'm going to funk it up though... Jailbreaking seemed to be a much easier process, and harder to screw up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I too am a former Jailbreaker and am so glad I jumped the fence out of Apple's walled garden. I do have to say, at least Apple readily provides the latest firmware for their devices. I can't understand why AT&T won't let Sammy publish our Odin files. As @mrkhigh stated, we DO now have the Odin files (probably gained in some nefarious manner by a sympathizing Best Buy employee), so now you can safely let the experimenting begin without worry.
Sent from my AT&T Galaxy Note 3 using Tapatalk®

I'm curious to find out if it is actually a clone... The HDC Galaxy Note 3 is a damn good clone of the real thing and it ships rooted. They are pretty cheap and can fool almost anyone... If it is a clone, he might have been selling it to make more than he spent and didn't know it's rooted.
If it's not, it is possible that he either bought it from someone else and didn't know that it is rooted, or it is a stolen device.
I would call AT&T and give them the IMEI number to check that. Do not mention root or anything like that, just ask them to check it to see if it's flagged.

graydiggy said:
I'm curious to find out if it is actually a clone... The HDC Galaxy Note 3 is a damn good clone of the real thing and it ships rooted. They are pretty cheap and can fool almost anyone... If it is a clone, he might have been selling it to make more than he spent and didn't know it's rooted.
If it's not, it is possible that he either bought it from someone else and didn't know that it is rooted, or it is a stolen device.
I would call AT&T and give them the IMEI number to check that. Do not mention root or anything like that, just ask them to check it to see if it's flagged.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty sure it's a real AT&T - I took it to the store and had them check the IMHO when I had it activated. I finally just uprooted and flashed the 4.4.2 stock on it (I'm learning the terminology here so hope that's right) from the first post.
The guy is a trusted seller and has sold tons of phones in Swappa. He advertises on all the Samsung at&t phones that he removes the bloatware but does NOT root the phone. But, it was.
In the end, I'm happy with the phone. Seller was less than honest about his process and hopefully he didn't steal all my bank info, haha, but the phone works great.

You have to root to remove all bloatware...
---------- Post added at 10:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:32 AM ----------
Good to know though. *cheers*

Yeah, I asked him about that and he said they "have their own process to remove bloatware" that does not require root".
Like I said, he was a little squirrely about it.

ThePorter said:
Yeah, I asked him about that and he said they "have their own process to remove bloatware" that does not require root".
Like I said, he was a little squirrely about it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im sure its probably because he sells a lot of devices and didn't realize the one he sold had root.
Then when he talked to u he realized that u r uneducated about the subject so he thought he would bs u.
Of course one would have to have root access to remove root files.
I still don't understand why ur making such a big fuss?
If u don't feel like u lucked out, (like the rest of us do) just send the flipping thing back!
Did you download free moborobo?

Before he downloads that app... Excuse me... Complete PC suite.
Why do you think he needs it? I haven't seen anything on XDA about it, other than from you. And most everything I find on google/YouTube is Arabic, Chinese and Japanese.
It seems you are trying to advert it to new users that are unknowing and willing to take advice from most anyone.
I can give 2 things right now that are the same thing and one of them does not require a full PC suite.
Oh... And they are well known on XDA to be safe to use.

graydiggy said:
Before he downloads that app... Excuse me... Complete PC suite.
Why do you think he needs it? I haven't seen anything on XDA about it, other than from you. And most everything I find on google/YouTube is Arabic, Chinese and Japanese.
It seems you are trying to advert it to new users that are unknowing and willing to take advice from most anyone.
I can give 2 things right now that are the same thing and one of them does not require a full PC suite.
Oh... And they are well known on XDA to be safe to use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, you're right. I looked at it but it seems to be completely unnecessary.

Just a general reminder, use of unknown applications can be dangerous. Please use caution in downloading, using or recommending anything you don't know to be safe.

Stryke_the_Orc said:
Just a general reminder, use of unknown applications can be dangerous. Please use caution in downloading, using or recommending anything you don't know to be safe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Excuse me but this is not an unknown app, it has been around for years and works wonderfully !!!
I have been using it since I got my N3 at thanksgiving and it works great, installs downloaded apk files in a snap, allows you easy navigation to your entire phone.Doesn't spam you. It just works great. I'm only recommending it because I have USED it for 9 months, (and you guys can't even google it?)
Since when do mods and forum gurus recommend staying away from something they have never used it, or even spent 10 secs researching ????
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=moborobo+review
I was only trying to help OP out. it is a great and FREE app for rooted devices, sorry for wasting ur time OP -
(ps - I found the software while trying to transfer my contacts and sms messages from my 4s to N3, which worked perfectly and easily, (after trying other stuff). It was after that I discovered how nice it manages everything)

Is the S5 still a good phone to get in 2016?

About to get warranty replacement phone thru my carrier tomorrow.
Was offered S5 and an alternate to my G3 since they were out of stock.
If you were in my shoes, which phone would you get?!
Thanks in advance

S5

The S5 is still a very capable phone. The display is top notch. It would really depend on what carrier you are with though. I know the att variant cant be rooted or unlocked currently and verizon has theirs locked down too, but as long as it comes with lollipop (5.x.x) software the verizon variant can be unlocked all the way to the bootloader.
as far as i know they are the only two providers who secure the s5 like fort knox. I could be wrong though. I have a verizon variant (900V) and its fully unlocked and rooted. I dont think you'll find a better phone in the same price range.

S5 is still a great phone. Only issues ive had with it over the 28 mos that ive had it is the low light blurryness with the camera and the fact that you have to swipe your thump across the fingerprint scanner. Having to do that nowadays kinda makes it feel dated. Other than those 2 issues, its a great phone!!

I just got an S5 to replace my S4 and I love it. I'm on AT&T and got the Tmobile version for the unlocked bootloader. I would totally get this phone again.

Its a great phone!

Green Bastard said:
The S5 is still a very capable phone. I have a verizon variant (900V) and its fully unlocked and rooted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a s5 900v like you (verizon) & got it 12 days ago. . When did you root yours? I *had* lollipop until last Thursday after accidentally pressing the screen through my pocket....which proceded to accept the update I was avoiding. Now I have marshmellow and I'm not happy ???*
Been fishing through XDA and haven't found anything about rooting s5 on mm. Anyone have something to share with me? Thanks

http://forum.xda-developers.com/ver...t/rd-unlocking-galaxys-s5-bootloader-t3337909
That's for bootloader unlocking, some Google searching should get you root too
Sent from my SM-G900P using XDA Free mobile app

youdoofus said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/ver...t/rd-unlocking-galaxys-s5-bootloader-t3337909
That's for bootloader unlocking, some Google searching should get you root too
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried the root method (link within the thread u posted) about a week ago & had problems. To make a long story short, check out my remarks on pages 1-2 in this thread.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/verizon-galaxy-s5/help/to-root-t3330514/page2
I'm just looking to root my g900v s5. I don't want to mess around with the bootloader (not yet anyway). I just want root before Marshmellow or verizon release another update to patch the *open* vulnerability.
If the dumb MM update didn't happen I would've had time to find lollipop root. I never had a problem w/ my s4 where the screen would allow a touch through pants or shirt pocket. Thought these things were sensitive to the touch of skin not clothing?? Cause of my problem was losing my s4 over July 4th weekend that I rooted w/ towelroot in 05/2014 (that I just paid off in May over 24 months w/ verizon)

Right on. Well, if the bootloader unlock is there, root has to be possible too. I'll see what I can find later. We are busy as hell on Mondays at work
Sent from my SM-G900P using XDA Free mobile app
---------- Post added at 10:17 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:10 AM ----------
have you tried kingroot? not kingoroot

youdoofus said:
Right on. Well, if the bootloader unlock is there, root has to be possible too. I'll see what I can find later. We are busy as hell on Mondays at work
Sent from my SM-G900P using XDA Free mobile app
---------- Post added at 10:17 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:10 AM ----------
have you tried kingroot? not kingoroot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Root looked do-able by what @painiac put together, which is similar to @jkrause's is in the link you shared.
Kingroot: no go
OneClick: no go
Towelroot: no go
The root (sorry, couldn't resist) of my problem is that I can't get a PC to recognize my s5 as removable storage. Since they don't this has prevented me from going any further. Take your time and pass on whatever you can...whenever that time is.
---------- Post added at 06:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:11 PM ----------
youdoofus said:
Right on. Well, if the bootloader unlock is there, root has to be possible too. I'll see what I can find later. We are busy as hell on Mondays at work
Sent from my SM-G900P using XDA Free mobile app
---------- Post added at 10:17 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:10 AM ----------
have you tried kingroot? not kingoroot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Root looked do-able by what @painiac put together, which is similar to @jkrause's is in the link you shared.
Kingroot: no go
OneClick: no go
Towelroot: no go
The root (sorry, couldn't resist) of my problem is that I can't get a PC to recognize my s5 as removable storage. Since they don't this has prevented me from going any further. Take your time and pass on whatever you can...whenever that time is. Thanks

Lane W. said:
[/COLOR]
Root looked do-able by what @painiac put together, which is similar to @jkrause's is in the link you shared.
Kingroot: no go
OneClick: no go
Towelroot: no go
The root (sorry, couldn't resist) of my problem is that I can't get a PC to recognize my s5 as removable storage. Since they don't this has prevented me from going any further. Take your time and pass on whatever you can...whenever that time is. Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CLEVER!!! LoL! No, that was actually pretty funny! But oneclick and towel doesnt surprise me, but kingroot has been the "if nothing else works" as of late. I have a root program on my computer that i cant recall the name of off hand, and it does look like a malware program, but its been the go-to when all else fails. Ill look at my desktop icons and remind myself what it is when i get home. Its some chinese .exe is that helps in the interim
found it, its called "v root"
it looks like its malware, but the one i got works fine
here is a bit of an older article that lists it first as a good program to root stuff
http://www.3ptechies.com/9-best-software-apps-to-root-android-devices.html

tiguy99 said:
About to get warranty replacement phone thru my carrier tomorrow.
Was offered S5 and an alternate to my G3 since they were out of stock.
If you were in my shoes, which phone would you get?!
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd stay clear of Samsung from my experiences:
- issues with warranty and knox
- not easy to customise / flash / fix OEM issues with bloatware, root, other ROM issues that require root
- many variants mean even after 8 years of flashing ROMs, I still can't find what I need in the SGS5 section. I don't know what ROMs can be flashed to my device, the information is sparse and not easy to follow or understand
I'm looking to go back to HTC - they don't mind you rooting / customising (unless this has changed in the last couple years).

dieselboy said:
I'd stay clear of Samsung from my experiences:
- issues with warranty and knox
- not easy to customise / flash / fix OEM issues with bloatware, root, other ROM issues that require root
- many variants mean even after 8 years of flashing ROMs, I still can't find what I need in the SGS5 section. I don't know what ROMs can be flashed to my device, the information is sparse and not easy to follow or understand
I'm looking to go back to HTC - they don't mind you rooting / customising (unless this has changed in the last couple years).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I disagree with this (respectfully). I've never had to return a Samsung because of warranty related issues or return one period, so warranty and Knox are all but irrelevant. Customization is a snap, flashing is a breeze, and bloatware (which is caused by the carrier most often) is easily solved with titanium backup. There are many variants, yes, but all the Roms are cross compatible as long as you flash the snapdragon based processor ones on a snapdragon powered device. The only sgs5s that were problematic were the at&t and (of course) vzw ones because of the carriers deciding to lock the @&$%/!? Bootloaders. Sprint and tmob sgs5s have always been an absolute cakewalk. Hell, I've bricked mine intentionally just to see if I could actually kill it. It's actually harder than one would think to seriously screw up a sgs5 esp a g900p

youdoofus said:
I disagree with this (respectfully). I've never had to return a Samsung because of warranty related issues or return one period, so warranty and Knox are all but irrelevant. Customization is a snap, flashing is a breeze, and bloatware (which is caused by the carrier most often) is easily solved with titanium backup. There are many variants, yes, but all the Roms are cross compatible as long as you flash the snapdragon based processor ones on a snapdragon powered device. The only sgs5s that were problematic were the at&t and (of course) vzw ones because of the carriers deciding to lock the @&$%/!? Bootloaders. Sprint and tmob sgs5s have always been an absolute cakewalk. Hell, I've bricked mine intentionally just to see if I could actually kill it. It's actually harder than one would think to seriously screw up a sgs5 esp a g900p
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi mate, of course this is a difference of opinion and I'm not posting here to argue with you so much as to give reasons for my post above.
When I say warranty issues, I mean in a sense that if you flash anything to your samsung then you've voided your warranty. If you customise on day 1, knox efuse are blown and it's impossible to revert what you have done. In this case your warranty is voided and samsung can refuse to honour any warranty issues irrelevant to your flashing. Basically you make changes to software on your device and later there is a hardware issue such as microphone not working - samsung don't have to honour that claim.
Flashing is a complete pain in the bum, to be honest. What makes it harder is these forums don't contain all of the information you need in once place. Compared to my previous devices such as HTC, you simply do a wipe and install the new rom. With the samsung you need to do the same PLUS find and flash the correct bootloader and modem. And this isn't even taking into consideration the knox trip issue. The roms aren't cross-compatible unless I've missed that bit of information? You technically can flash a g900F ROM to a g900i but to get it to boot you need to do additional steps. NFC and call recording wont work, though. So, no you can't really flash that way. Samsung may have made it easier for you guys in the USA, not sure.
I disagree about the bloatware statement, samsung have their own rubbish in there as well and most of it is redundant and not necessary. There's a samsung app store and a samsung account thing that lets you find your phone - google has all of that.
Lastly, when you trip knox this actually physically prevents some functionality on your phone, but I've never tried using that functionality anyway (although I did want to try it out). From memory this is a secure parition on the phone that you set up for your work, which is completely separate from the personal things on your phone which can be seen to make it more secure.
All the best,

dieselboy said:
Hi mate, of course this is a difference of opinion and I'm not posting here to argue with you so much as to give reasons for my post above.
When I say warranty issues, I mean in a sense that if you flash anything to your samsung then you've voided your warranty. If you customise on day 1, knox efuse are blown and it's impossible to revert what you have done. In this case your warranty is voided and samsung can refuse to honour any warranty issues irrelevant to your flashing. Basically you make changes to software on your device and later there is a hardware issue such as microphone not working - samsung don't have to honour that claim.
Flashing is a complete pain in the bum, to be honest. What makes it harder is these forums don't contain all of the information you need in once place. Compared to my previous devices such as HTC, you simply do a wipe and install the new rom. With the samsung you need to do the same PLUS find and flash the correct bootloader and modem. And this isn't even taking into consideration the knox trip issue. The roms aren't cross-compatible unless I've missed that bit of information? You technically can flash a g900F ROM to a g900i but to get it to boot you need to do additional steps. NFC and call recording wont work, though. So, no you can't really flash that way. Samsung may have made it easier for you guys in the USA, not sure.
I disagree about the bloatware statement, samsung have their own rubbish in there as well and most of it is redundant and not necessary. There's a samsung app store and a samsung account thing that lets you find your phone - google has all of that.
Lastly, when you trip knox this actually physically prevents some functionality on your phone, but I've never tried using that functionality anyway (although I did want to try it out). From memory this is a secure parition on the phone that you set up for your work, which is completely separate from the personal things on your phone which can be seen to make it more secure.
All the best,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wasn't trying to argue either. It's rather hard to express tone over text I've just never had any trouble with flashing stuff on a Samsung since the epic touch 4g. Htcs have that goofy bootloader unlock that has to be done via htcdev.com. The newest Samsung I'd be willing to use is the S5 anyways because of the removable battery, external storage and waterproofing. The s6 sucks and the s7 has that dumb encrypted storage that made root hard for a while. Samsung's are far from perfect, and I'd likely be looking at a OnePlus or a Huawei in the future if I was shopping for a phone, but for those looking at either the second hand market, refurbs or a new one available for stupid cheap, S5s are great phones still.
Again, 0 arguing from me, like you said, just a differing opinion. Cheers mate! Btw, judging my the terms you used, I take it that you're in the UK, and thank goodness Jeremy Clarkson and the boys are back!!

youdoofus said:
CLEVER!!! LoL! No, that was actually pretty funny!
found it, its called "v root". it looks like its malware, but the one i got works fine
here is a bit of an older article that lists it first as a good program to root stuff
http://www.3ptechies.com/9-best-software-apps-to-root-android-devices.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Should I use the links in this "older article" to possibly get to vroot? Or do you have something more current? Thanks

Lane W. said:
Should I use the links in this "older article" to possibly get to vroot? Or do you have something more current? Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Vroot has a site. Lemme look
http://vrootdownload.info/download/

youdoofus said:
Vroot has a site. Lemme look
http://vrootdownload.info/download/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fantastic, thanks. Just to be sure, I want to use the one click root APK the part at the top under the first description, correct? The second section, as far as I can tell, is for iroot via a PC?
Is Titanium compatible with this method of root? What about recovery? Does Vroot have its own method or could I use TWRP or SafeStrap? Have you had any complications with the modem or WiFi using your device with Vroot?
Thank you!!

youdoofus said:
I wasn't trying to argue either. It's rather hard to express tone over text
...
Again, 0 arguing from me, like you said, just a differing opinion. Cheers mate! Btw, judging my the terms you used, I take it that you're in the UK, and thank goodness Jeremy Clarkson and the boys are back!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I said that I wasn't arguing for that very reason - I didn't want my second post to come across in a negative way. I could see that your post had come across in a good light and wanted to keep it that way
I am from UK but living in Australia at the moment. I last heard that Chris Evans has gone from the new Top Gear - thank F... for that, he's the biggest pleb going and watching the first couple of episodes were extremely painful and cringy. A number of things Chris said in the first show were somewhat not completely correct and I eventually switched it off.
Really looking forward to watching Clarkson and the gang - they're entertaining. Their top gear was more like a sit-com, which is what it's grown into and it works pretty well. Anyone in the family can watch it even if they know nothing about cars - I'll have to google for it because I don't know any details about their new show.