Question about flash counter/unrooting and warranty?

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lalachata0

Member
Oct 12, 2013
12
0
Hi, sorry for these noob questions.

I have to send my device back for warranty and I just learned about the flash counter. So used triangle away to set the number back to zero but my phone's device status still says "custom." I read somewhere that a factory reset would be able to change that back to normal. I will try that soon, but I haven't unrooted yet. I was going to flash a stock rom (also read that that would change device status back to "normal") after changing the flash counter number, but wouldn't that change it to 1? How do I unroot without triggering the flash counter? Thanks in advance!
 

lalachata0

Member
Oct 12, 2013
12
0
What bootloader are you on?

how do I check that?

Also, I tried flashing stock firmware with Odin before, but nothing happened except I lost root. And I forgot about the flash counter, so I rooted again and used Triangle Away. What do I do from here? I just went into download mode again, and binary status says "custom" instead of samsung official, even though I just used triangle away.
 
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serio22

Senior Member
Jul 1, 2012
3,215
1,134
Houston
Can you post a picture of your download screen? Reason I ask is if you got knox bootloader your knox counter is most likely tripped and you can't reset it.. and to get official status you need to be completely stock, the system will check on every boot so no matter how many times you reset it, it will detect custom. You need to run triangle away, reboot straight to download mode and flash back to stock, after that reboot straight into recovery and do a factory reset. Those are the steps if I'm not mistaken
 

lalachata0

Member
Oct 12, 2013
12
0
Can you post a picture of your download screen? Reason I ask is if you got knox bootloader your knox counter is most likely tripped and you can't reset it.. and to get official status you need to be completely stock, the system will check on every boot so no matter how many times you reset it, it will detect custom. You need to run triangle away, reboot straight to download mode and flash back to stock, after that reboot straight into recovery and do a factory reset. Those are the steps if I'm not mistaken

do you mean a picture of my download mode screen? basically, this is what it says (I guess typing it out is better, since the words are very small anyways)

Odin Mode
product name: SGH-M919
current binary: custom
system status: custom
CSB-OEM_Config_LSB: 0x30
Write protection: enable

and then there's the big green android, and "downloading.. do not turn off target" under it.

I don't think I have the knox bootloader, because I never upgraded to 4.3. I was always using 4.2.2 android before I flashed a custom rom, and I also don't have the two knox lines showing up. I'm guessing I'm fine as long as I can revert back to original stock and get my phone to stop showing "custom"

I first flashed the stock rom with Odin, then I used triangle away, and then I factory reset it, which is why I don't understand why it still says "custom" in download mode, because I should be on the stock rom already. If I boot into download mode immediately after I use triangle away, it shows "official samsung," but if I try again later, it reverts back to "custom."

If I follow the steps you mentioned, would flashing the stock rom cause the flash counter to go to 1?
 

serio22

Senior Member
Jul 1, 2012
3,215
1,134
Houston
No it will not because it is official and unrooted.. was it rooted or did you have custom recovery? Just do it the way I posted and see if that works
 

lalachata0

Member
Oct 12, 2013
12
0
No it will not because it is official and unrooted.. was it rooted or did you have custom recovery? Just do it the way I posted and see if that works

your method worked! my phone's device status now says "official" and it no longer says custom when I boot into download mode. So, as long as my phone says those things and I reset the flash counter following your steps, I'll be fine right? Thank you so much!!
 

lalachata0

Member
Oct 12, 2013
12
0

sorry, I have one more question. you said to boot straight into download mode after using triangle away, so I pressed the top volume button to reboot normally, but then I immediately pulled out the battery, and then booted into download mode. The phone never had a chance to reboot, so there isn't a problem with what I did right?

I did the same thing after flashing. I just pulled out the battery, and then booted into recovery mode.

Thanks again!
 

serio22

Senior Member
Jul 1, 2012
3,215
1,134
Houston
Yeah that's not problem, that's actually what you want, to not give the system a chance to boot at all
 

shortbus1234

Senior Member
Dec 18, 2011
81
6
Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra
okay, again, thanks a lot!!

I am trying to do something similar. I want to reset counter but it does not stick. ie when I use triangle away then reboot it still shows the count as 10.

Is there any way to get a stock kernel?

I am running stock rom that is rooted but kernel does not appear to be stock.

Right now I am looking for zip flashable NB4 kernel??

Looked for hours and cant find.

Or also would like any hints on how to get triangle reset to stick.

Thanks
 

lalachata0

Member
Oct 12, 2013
12
0
I am trying to do something similar. I want to reset counter but it does not stick. ie when I use triangle away then reboot it still shows the count as 10.

Is there any way to get a stock kernel?

I am running stock rom that is rooted but kernel does not appear to be stock.

Right now I am looking for zip flashable NB4 kernel??

Looked for hours and cant find.

Or also would like any hints on how to get triangle reset to stick.

Thanks

I'm pretty sure you need to be on the stock kernal and recovery in order for triangle away to work. Maybe you should try flashing the stock rom, reroot and then use triangle away? that's what I did, because I wasn't using the stock samsung firmware
 

shortbus1234

Senior Member
Dec 18, 2011
81
6
Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra
I flashed stock Firmware. It took 2 times with ODIN. The first flash added knox then I had to flash a second time to reinstall everything else. I now have a Knox 0x0 rooted phone. I was curious so I used towelroot and rooted the phone. Still 0x0 and root was succesful. I installed triangle away and it showed the counter was at 0.

Just unrooted and I will take back to tmobile to replace under warranty.

What they don't know will not hurt them.

It would encourage everyone wishing to have root to look into and support towelroot. It works great!!!!

Knox will still be tripped 0x1 if you flash custom ROM......but IMO it is worth it :)