Database Develop

What I'd like to see in an update thread

Every time a new version update comes out there is always lots of threads on how to get it, how to root it, when it will come...etc. Unfortunately, there is rarely any mention of exactly what changes the new version brings and whether or not it is worth updating. Seems like so many in here are more interested in just having the latest version of Android and not with what actual improvements might come with it. Being that upgrade paths for the i537 aren't exactly simple (compared to previous phones I had that did not have locked bootloaders) could someone perhaps give us a rundown of what's new and improved in 4.4.2 to make it worth the trouble of upgrading? I am on rooted stock 4.2 with a ton of frozen system apps and before I go through the trouble to get the OTA I would like to assess if it is worth it. Also, will I first have to get the OTA of 4.3 before I will get the 4.4.2 update and if I do should I just wait to root until I have the latest version? Thank you!

Miami_Son said:
Every time a new version update comes out there is always lots of threads on how to get it, how to root it, when it will come...etc. Unfortunately, there is rarely any mention of exactly what changes the new version brings and whether or not it is worth updating. Seems like so many in here are more interested in just having the latest version of Android and not with what actual improvements might come with it. Being that upgrade paths for the i537 aren't exactly simple (compared to previous phones I had that did not have locked bootloaders) could someone perhaps give us a rundown of what's new and improved in 4.4.2 to make it worth the trouble of upgrading? I am on rooted stock 4.2 with a ton of frozen system apps and before I go through the trouble to get the OTA I would like to assess if it is worth it. Also, will I first have to get the OTA of 4.3 before I will get the 4.4.2 update and if I do should I just wait to root until I have the latest version? Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You will have to flash the ML2 Odin package to be able to get the OTA for NC9 to install. Personally I would wait a couple weeks since it seems like they're getting very close to unlocking the bootloader.
To answer your question about the 4.4.2 update, I've posted the changelogs from both AT&T and Samsung in this thread. If you really want a rundown of what the 4.4.2 update will look like, just look at the regular S4. There are slight UI changes between the S4 and S4A, but you'll get the overall impression.

Thank you, Devo.:victory:

Wait, you're saying we might finally get an unlocked bootloader??

TwoStroker37 said:
Wait, you're saying we might finally get an unlocked bootloader??
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Click to collapse
From what I understand yes. At worst it looks like they will be able to develop a patch that may not unlock the bootloader, but will allow us to flash any ROM with any kernel, effectively the same as if the bootloader was unlocked. There are still some things that are over my head, but everybody seems super excited about this latest development.
If you want to read about what is going on, read these threads (they actually reference each other):
If we are serious about unlocking the bootloader
Well, It must be our lucky day
These are developer threads so try not to clog them up unless you have something to contribute.

Need explanation of locked bootloader on SM-G890A

I've got a S6 Active that when I received it was on Lollipop. I was able to flash MM (using thread here on XDA) to it before it was officially released from the carrier. Then I was able to flash back to stock Lollipop and then received the MM 6.0.1 update from the carrier. I wanted to flash back to Lollipop for testing purposes but was unable. I think it's because the bootloader is locked?
I've read a bunch of threads saying that the S6 active has nott been rooted? Has a locked bootloader? Can't run custom roms?
Can someone please give me the scoop on this. I'd like to go back to lollipop for testing but I don't think its possible. Is that the case? Thanks.
Roveer

roveer said:
I've got a S6 Active that when I received it was on Lollipop. I was able to flash MM (using thread here on XDA) to it before it was officially released from the carrier. Then I was able to flash back to stock Lollipop and then received the MM 6.0.1 update from the carrier. I wanted to flash back to Lollipop for testing purposes but was unable. I think it's because the bootloader is locked?
I've read a bunch of threads saying that the S6 active has nott been rooted? Has a locked bootloader? Can't run custom roms?
Can someone please give me the scoop on this. I'd like to go back to lollipop for testing but I don't think its possible. Is that the case? Thanks.
Roveer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi
yes it's not possible to downgrade your rom or your bootloader because of the locked bootloader that prevents any try to modify the device...

is this typical of most phones? I've read of others frutrations about the S6 active still having a locked bootloader. Did I just pick a bad platform? Is S6 the same way? How about S7 series? Thanks.

roveer said:
is this typical of most phones? I've read of others frutrations about the S6 active still having a locked bootloader. Did I just pick a bad platform? Is S6 the same way? How about S7 series? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Locked bootloaders are often the case for phones provided by carriers. While a phone purchased directly from the manufacturer is usually able to have its bootloader unlocked, carrier phones are locked by the carrier themselves, preventing any tampering by the end user. A custom ROM is any modified version of Android not developed by the company that made your phone. Think of it like a third party system. To get these custom ROMs onto your phone you must "flash" (simply, install) the ROM from your computer to your phone. However, a locked bootloader prevents this. While in some cases there are ways to get around carrier locked bootloaders, it is generally futile. If you purchased the S6 Active in hopes of tinkering around with custom ROMs, I'm afraid you have picked the wrong phone. The S6 Active, as of currently, is permanently locked to Samsung's and AT&T's "stock ROM"
EDIT: as for going back to Lollipop, the reason this is generally not possible is due to the fact that the Marshmallow update also updated critical parts related to the bootloader. It is impossible to roll back these changes once they have been made as they are strictly one way.

Thanks for the explanation. I didn't buy the phone for the express reason for changing android versions but rather to use as my daily driver. We are a BES 12 (Blackberry Enterprise Server) shop and I have found a bug that causes the VPN portion of the software to drop after an hour or so. Simply hitting the home button (waking the phone up re-establishes the vpn and mail flow continues). I'm working with BB to determine what's going on. I've disabled all power saving and doze settings yet still the problem. They are going to activate some other phones on my system to see if they see the problem. My reason for wanting to go back to lollipop is that I don't believe I saw this problem when I was on that OS so I was hoping to go back to confirm that behavior. I like the "active" phones for their ruggedness but don't have an unlimited budget to be buying handsets.
Roveer

roveer said:
Thanks for the explanation. I didn't buy the phone for the express reason for changing android versions but rather to use as my daily driver. We are a BES 12 (Blackberry Enterprise Server) shop and I have found a bug that causes the VPN portion of the software to drop after an hour or so. Simply hitting the home button (waking the phone up re-establishes the vpn and mail flow continues). I'm working with BB to determine what's going on. I've disabled all power saving and doze settings yet still the problem. They are going to activate some other phones on my system to see if they see the problem. My reason for wanting to go back to lollipop is that I don't believe I saw this problem when I was on that OS so I was hoping to go back to confirm that behavior. I like the "active" phones for their ruggedness but don't have an unlimited budget to be buying handsets.
Roveer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the software you are referring to is something provided by blackberry, perhaps they need to patch their software for compatibility with Android Marshmallow. While not all software is broken by a major Android update, there are definitely some that are. Of course enterprise level software is entirely foreign to me (I'm only 17), so getting a second opinion on this issue would definitely be a good idea.

OK, I understand locked bootloader preventing from flashing any custom roms etc. Even preventing previous official android. Here's another question: Is there a way to flash current android version? I'm on G890AUCS4CPF3 which is an AT&T build. What is the carrier's method to reflash current OS when there has been some corruption to the version that is on the phone. Not just wipe, but reload entire android, re-create file system etc... That's what I want to try next. Blackberry has activated a Samsung S6 on my server and it (so far) is not exhibiting the same problem as my S6 Active. This leads me to believe that it my be a problem with my hardware. I want to do a reload at this point. Any ideas how I can do that? Odin flash? Is there a repository for the G890AUCS4CPF3 ROM?
Thanks,
Roveer

roveer said:
OK, I understand locked bootloader preventing from flashing any custom roms etc. Even preventing previous official android. Here's another question: Is there a way to flash current android version? I'm on G890AUCS4CPF3 which is an AT&T build. What is the carrier's method to reflash current OS when there has been some corruption to the version that is on the phone. Not just wipe, but reload entire android, re-create file system etc... That's what I want to try next. Blackberry has activated a Samsung S6 on my server and it (so far) is not exhibiting the same problem as my S6 Active. This leads me to believe that it my be a problem with my hardware. I want to do a reload at this point. Any ideas how I can do that? Odin flash? Is there a repository for the G890AUCS4CPF3 ROM?
Thanks,
Roveer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Carriers can tell if your Firmware is theirs or not because official Firmware is digitally signed by Samsung and AT&T.
As for using Odin, that would be your most viable option. However, I am not aware of any Odin images for the Marshmallow update on the S6A. As far as I know, Odin cannot get around the restriction of having a newer Bootloader, so you cannot flash down.
One thing you can try is to wipe cache partition. If that fails, factory reset from within the bootloader. Just make sure you've backed your data up.
EDIT: Take note that there is a difference in Firmware between the S6 vs the S6A.
EDIT 2: In your other thread you stated you can't flash back to lollipop due to a locked bootloader. This is actually due to, as stated before, the newest bootloader tha to the latest Android Marshmallow update.

FevenKitsune said:
Carriers can tell if your Firmware is theirs or not because official Firmware is digitally signed by Samsung and AT&T.
As for using Odin, that would be your most viable option. However, I am not aware of any Odin images for the Marshmallow update on the S6A. As far as I know, Odin cannot get around the restriction of having a newer Bootloader, so you cannot flash down.
One thing you can try is to wipe cache partition. If that fails, factory reset from within the bootloader. Just make sure you've backed your data up.
EDIT: Take note that there is a difference in Firmware between the S6 vs the S6A.
EDIT 2: In your other thread you stated you can't flash back to lollipop due to a locked bootloader. This is actually due to, as stated before, the newest bootloader tha to the latest Android Marshmallow update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I wiped the cache partition and factory reset within the bootloader and tried my app again. It continued to fail. I even found the MM image in the S6 Active MM thread and sideloaded it. It was only 400+ megs though. Still the app doesn't work so I'm starting to doubt that my problems are related to my particular S6 but its always a possibility. I'm trying to get Blackberry to dig up their own S6A and test on their own. They've been testing with a S6 for the past 2 days (on my BES server) and haven't seen the same problems, so it's either my device or a problem with the S6A (which as has been pointed out does use a different firmware version than the S6), but until I can get another S6 Active device to test I won't know.
Roveer

Moto X4 Software status changed to Modified??

Okay so the software status on my Moto X4 XT1900-1 changed to Modified. I think it might be because I used Xposed, but I flashed the official stock firmware again by following this thread ( https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-x4/development/flash-official-frmware-moto-x4-t3730750 ) after using Xposed to revert it back and it's still saying Modified.. I heard getting an OTA will revert it back to official but I can't get any OTA since it is Modified... I ended up flashing the A1 version because I actually get OTA updates with that version. (My X4 came with retail) I got the OTA using the A1 version but it still says it's Modified. I tried reverting back to a 7.1 official rom to see if I could get a OTA to go back to 8.0 but still nothing. I'm stuck on what to do. How can I get my X4 software status back to official?

Does it really matter? modified or official?
if you want it official, the only way I know is, flash the original stock ROM from Fastboot and then take an OTA.. Maybe flash a previous version and then you'll get an OTA for the latest version!
Do not flash bootloader and gpt.bin just in case!

Until Lenovo releases signed factory images, theres no return from unlocking the bootloader.

Neffy27 said:
Until Lenovo releases signed factory images, theres no return from unlocking the bootloader.
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Click to collapse
Why have they not? Seems stupid to withhold such a thing.

edufur said:
Why have they not? Seems stupid to withhold such a thing.
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Click to collapse
Your guess is as good as mine. While modding our paid for devices is legal, it's not something companies want happening. It makes their product not to a standard, decreases their promised of security, or can negatively affect their branding/reputation. Compared to the population of cell phone owners overall, we're a very small niche community. Only Google releases full signed images.

Neffy27 said:
Your guess is as good as mine. While modding our paid for devices is legal, it's not something companies want happening. It makes their product not to a standard, decreases their promised of security, or can negatively affect their branding/reputation. Compared to the population of cell phone owners overall, we're a very small niche community. Only Google releases full signed images.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But that is looking at it from just one side. There are plenty of people who get a stock phone in a messed up enough state that the only real cure is a flash tool with the factory images on it. That has happened to me plenty of times. If Moto cares about smooth customer service and brand quality, seems they would release such a thing. I know they do for other phones, so there must be something else at play here.

What will I lose if I decide to root and install xposed?

I have the 12gb/512gb variant with WW rom from ebay. I am very happy with the phone and I love it a bunch. I've always been an avid android power user and with several of my previous phones I have always ran a custom rooted rom.
Now, my question is, recently I understand that Magisk and edxposed don't hide themselves all that well from banking apps. My primary concerns are google pay and the banking apps I have, is anyone right now running root with magisk and presumably edxposed with the safetynet passed? What other things may I potentially lose if I go down that road?
Additionally, does edxposed offer all the benefits xposed did when I ran it on kitkat and nougat? Thank you for your wisdom, I truly appreciate it!

I would like to know, too.
I remember I did root my phone's when Android KitKat was the latest Android version.
Xposed was very useful in customising the phone. Nowadays, companies like Samsung offer alot of customizing options from their own software.
How about with the Asus Rog Phone 2?
Sent from my SM-G9750 using Tapatalk

MrKioFLow said:
I have the 12gb/512gb variant with WW rom from ebay. I am very happy with the phone and I love it a bunch. I've always been an avid android power user and with several of my previous phones I have always ran a custom rooted rom.
Now, my question is, recently I understand that Magisk and edxposed don't hide themselves all that well from banking apps. My primary concerns are google pay and the banking apps I have, is anyone right now running root with magisk and presumably edxposed with the safetynet passed? What other things may I potentially lose if I go down that road?
Additionally, does edxposed offer all the benefits xposed did when I ran it on kitkat and nougat? Thank you for your wisdom, I truly appreciate it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but my guess is that your phone has been flashed with the WW rom. Meaning it's not the genuine software that came with the device which should be a CN rom instead since the international version isn't out yet. Unless the device is imported from one of the countries with the WW rom onboard.
How to know?, Simple have you gotten an OTA update since you got it, when you try to update manually what message you get?.
If my hypothesis is correct, then it means you will not get future updates unless you are back to the rom that came with the device. Anyway what does all of this mean, it means you have to 2 options to consider. Either go to ASUS service center near you tell them about your device and I think they will be able to flash back the CN rom that came with the device for a small fee or maybe for free depending on your luck. The other option is to simply root, might as well do it since you have lost OTA updates anyway until a solution is figured out by the community.
Coming back to your question, what are the drawbacks of rooting. Well only 2; the loss of warranty and future OTA updates pretty much that's it.

Rashad83 said:
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but my guess is that your phone has been flashed with the WW rom. Meaning it's not the genuine software that came with the device which should be a CN rom instead since the international version isn't out yet. Unless the device is imported from one of the countries with the WW rom onboard.
How to know?, Simple have you gotten an OTA update since you got it, when you try to update manually what message you get?.
If my hypothesis is correct, then it means you will not get future updates unless you are back to the rom that came with the device. Anyway what does all of this mean, it means you have to 2 options to consider. Either go to ASUS service center near you tell them about your device and I think they will be able to flash back the CN rom that came with the device for a small fee or maybe for free depending on your luck. The other option is to simply root, might as well do it since you have lost OTA updates anyway until a solution is figured out by the community.
Coming back to your question, what are the drawbacks of rooting. Well only 2; the loss of warranty and future OTA updates pretty much that's it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Loss of warranty for a $850 phone is a big deal and on top of that no OTA is a big bummer if we can't get updates to improve performance.
I just hope I don't need to root just to get Nova Launcher working with the global model.
Sent from my SM-G9750 using Tapatalk

Rashad83 said:
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but my guess is that your phone has been flashed with the WW rom. Meaning it's not the genuine software that came with the device which should be a CN rom instead since the international version isn't out yet. Unless the device is imported from one of the countries with the WW rom onboard.
How to know?, Simple have you gotten an OTA update since you got it, when you try to update manually what message you get?.
If my hypothesis is correct, then it means you will not get future updates unless you are back to the rom that came with the device. Anyway what does all of this mean, it means you have to 2 options to consider. Either go to ASUS service center near you tell them about your device and I think they will be able to flash back the CN rom that came with the device for a small fee or maybe for free depending on your luck. The other option is to simply root, might as well do it since you have lost OTA updates anyway until a solution is figured out by the community.
Coming back to your question, what are the drawbacks of rooting. Well only 2; the loss of warranty and future OTA updates pretty much that's it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By the looks of it I think you are right. I am still on the older variant of the WW rom and all my paperwork and supporting documents are in Chinese. In any case, that doesn't bother me all that much as I have 30 days to return it and hopefully the global variant is announced by then, so I can fully compare the two.
With WW already being flashed over CN then I am not worried about warranty as it is already void with them flashing WW over, and if I go the root path I can flash whatever variants I choose, presuming I know what I am doing. So to follow up, what do you think about safetynet passing? OTA and warranty are not my primary concerns, my day to day use of the phone is. If I cannot use my finance apps along with google pay, that is a bigger hit than warranty ever will be. Thank you for your response.

MrKioFLow said:
By the looks of it I think you are right. I am still on the older variant of the WW rom and all my paperwork and supporting documents are in Chinese. In any case, that doesn't bother me all that much as I have 30 days to return it and hopefully the global variant is announced by then, so I can fully compare the two.
With WW already being flashed over CN then I am not worried about warranty as it is already void with them flashing WW over, and if I go the root path I can flash whatever variants I choose, presuming I know what I am doing. So to follow up, what do you think about safetynet passing? OTA and warranty are not my primary concerns, my day to day use of the phone is. If I cannot use my finance apps along with google pay, that is a bigger hit than warranty ever will be. Thank you for your response.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Regarding SafetyNet I heard from others who flashed the latest WW rom, SafteyNet passes but not the case on the previous rom. Anyway regarding my device I have no issues with SafteyNet or banking apps. If you want my opinion i would advise to return the device if possible and to get the international version instead if not you can also get SafteyNet to pass either by updating to the latest WW rom or by rooting and altering some code lines to making it pass.

Need help with flashing firmware on Note 9 (noob question)

I have Note 9 (SM-N960U1) unlocked in USA. I am currently on AT&T.
I seem to have many dead spots inside my house so want to enable wifi calling but found out that I need to flash carrier specific firmware on my phone. As I am complete noob, have some questions:
1) What does flashing a firmware does? Pros? Cons?
2) I am currently on Android 10 (One UI 2.0 Build QP1A.190711.020.N960U1UEU3ZSL2). If I flash a new firmware, will my phone be downgraded to a lower version of Android?
3) If answer to @2 is Yes, how will I get latest Android updates? Will it depend on Samsung or AT&T?
4) Last but not the least, HOW THE HELL I FLASH THIS FIRMWARE?
Any help will be a great help. I have a interview on Friday so don't have much time to get this fixed.
TIA.

1) Flashing is a way to manually install or update firmware or operating system through the bootloader. This provides a way to restore the devices operating system during an emergency or failed OTA Update etc. The cons of this however is it is quite easy to mess up your device if you don't know what you are doing. And Flashing different firmware that is not originally meant for your device easily carries this risk. The bootloader is what tells your device how to boot the operating system and happens before any user interaction knock on wood you theoretically corrupt the bootloader or somehow mess it up you are left with a 1000 dollar doorstop. Im not sure how a carrier's firmware would react on an unlocked phone. I personally wouldn't risk it but it's up to you. I'm pretty sure that other users here have tried it you should look around and do your research. Remember this would not only be changing Android this would also change the CSC and Modem.
2) Android 10 has not yet been released for the Note 9 so I would assume that you are on the beta. You would need to factory reset and downgrade to Android 9 before flashing ATT's firmware.
3) Carrier's handle OTA updates. However im not sure you would even receive OTA's anymore.
4) You need to use Odin3 and get the firmware from somewhere like sammobile.
In conclusion I personally would advise you to contact ATT with your problem. Considering your interview tomorrow if something did for some reason go wrong you most likely wouldn't have time to fix it.

UndeadAnarchy said:
1) Flashing is a way to manually install or update firmware or operating system through the bootloader. This provides a way to restore the devices operating system during an emergency or failed OTA Update etc. The cons of this however is it is quite easy to mess up your device if you don't know what you are doing. And Flashing different firmware that is not originally meant for your device easily carries this risk. The bootloader is what tells your device how to boot the operating system and happens before any user interaction knock on wood you theoretically corrupt the bootloader or somehow mess it up you are left with a 1000 dollar doorstop. Im not sure how a carrier's firmware would react on an unlocked phone. I personally wouldn't risk it but it's up to you. I'm pretty sure that other users here have tried it you should look around and do your research. Remember this would not only be changing Android this would also change the CSC and Modem.
2) Android 10 has not yet been released for the Note 9 so I would assume that you are on the beta. You would need to factory reset and downgrade to Android 9 before flashing ATT's firmware.
3) Carrier's handle OTA updates. However im not sure you would even receive OTA's anymore.
4) You need to use Odin3 and get the firmware from somewhere like sammobile.
In conclusion I personally would advise you to contact ATT with your problem. Considering your interview tomorrow if something did for some reason go wrong you most likely wouldn't have time to fix it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot for your help mate..cheers

rockstar283 said:
I have Note 9 (SM-N960U1) unlocked in USA. I am currently on AT&T.
I seem to have many dead spots inside my house so want to enable wifi calling but found out that I need to flash carrier specific firmware on my phone. As I am complete noob, have some questions:
1) What does flashing a firmware does? Pros? Cons?
2) I am currently on Android 10 (One UI 2.0 Build QP1A.190711.020.N960U1UEU3ZSL2). If I flash a new firmware, will my phone be downgraded to a lower version of Android?
3) If answer to @2 is Yes, how will I get latest Android updates? Will it depend on Samsung or AT&T?
4) Last but not the least, HOW THE HELL I FLASH THIS FIRMWARE?
Any help will be a great help. I have a interview on Friday so don't have much time to get this fixed.
TIA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have SM-N960U1 with One UI 2.0? Did you just buy it used? You are on bootloader 3, so you cannot flash another firmware with bootloader less than 3.