[How To] Reset your phone in order to return to Verizon(Updated 12/11/2012)

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sghrush

Member
Nov 5, 2012
24
2
Have any of you returned your phone for the IMEI issue? I reset mine finally, apparently the backup I had made in QPST had failed because it wasn't working. I'm now always in roaming, which is ridiculous. If you have returned it for that reason, what was your excuse?

Yes, I returned it due to losing IMEI because I did not know until too late how to backup IMEI. I just told them my phone suddenly lost the ability to make or receive calls. They sent me a replacement. I locked boot loader first then flash back to stock via Odin. However, I did not do a factory wipe because the stock version I used was full wipe. I probably made a mistake by not wiping. I'm hoping Verizon did not catch on. So far so good. No emails or texts stating I owe $.
 

kkurtz78

Member
Mar 14, 2011
18
0
erie
I rooted my phone and flashed a rom and next thing i know it will not go into recovery only odin mode, tried to flash a few things to get it back and nothing,,, PLEASE HELP ME. The screen says found software that verizon wireless doesnt recognize. ?????
 

TheDriller

Senior Member
Jan 31, 2012
4,299
6,681
Augusta, GA
I rooted my phone and flashed a rom and next thing i know it will not go into recovery only odin mode, tried to flash a few things to get it back and nothing,,, PLEASE HELP ME. The screen says found software that verizon wireless doesnt recognize. ?????

Flash a stock UNROOTED official rom. Then reroot your phone, then unlock your bootloader, then flash a recovery... THEN flash your rom. Follow those instructions to the letter and you should be fine. It sounds to me that you forgot to unlock your bootloader before flashing the rom, which will cause that. When you return your phone to stock use the ICS stock rom mentioned in the OP.

After I threw up in my mouth a little bit... I realized i don't have an iPhone
 

Marine59

New member
Jan 31, 2013
1
0
Wabash
worried

I have a black screen and rooted and unlocked bootloader. Must send my phone back to Verizon in 3 days. Have Certified replacement in hand and rooted. Is there anyway to force it back to stock without being able to see screen? Phone makes all the right sounds , has blue led flashing and white buttons come on when I touch the screen.but once powered up,,, the power button will not turn it off, have to pull battery to power off.
 

Jsjr88

Member
Dec 18, 2012
13
2
I pulled together some advice from this guide, and some other guides(how to use usb mouse to navigate without the touchscreen), my phone was rooted running cm10 when the touchscreen became unresponsive. The device is in Verizon possession now and so far no word of detection. Will let you know how it goes.
 
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Psychotacon

Member
Jan 12, 2013
32
6
Thank you

Thank you so much for this post. I've been into rooting and jailbreaking for several years now, and with all my experience over the iPhone, PSP, Droid X, and now my sleek and sexy (and much beloved) Galaxy S3, I've never encountered something like the counter when flashing. I've also taken my Droid X in a few times, having forgotten to flash my phone to stock, and the guy in the Verizon store would say there's nothing he can do since the phone has "third party software" on it.

So I always wondered, other than flashing to stock - is there a truer way of getting the phone back to REAL stock recovery? Especially with the trip counter now, on the S3, it seemed like all hope was lost.

Thanks again, this guide has come in handy!
 

SlimSnoopOS

Senior Member
Jan 29, 2011
8,052
3,348
Thank you so much for this post. I've been into rooting and jailbreaking for several years now, and with all my experience over the iPhone, PSP, Droid X, and now my sleek and sexy (and much beloved) Galaxy S3, I've never encountered something like the counter when flashing. I've also taken my Droid X in a few times, having forgotten to flash my phone to stock, and the guy in the Verizon store would say there's nothing he can do since the phone has "third party software" on it.

So I always wondered, other than flashing to stock - is there a truer way of getting the phone back to REAL stock recovery? Especially with the trip counter now, on the S3, it seemed like all hope was lost.

Thanks again, this guide has come in handy!

Trip counter is easily reset to 0 if you use Triangle Away while rooted. Put in another way, nothing is more complete than using Odin. Flashing a stock tar via Odin is the true way to return to stock.
 

Psychotacon

Member
Jan 12, 2013
32
6
Trip counter is easily reset to 0 if you use Triangle Away while rooted. Put in another way, nothing is more complete than using Odin. Flashing a stock tar via Odin is the true way to return to stock.

Thank you for reminding me of that. For some reason, whether I found a bad stock file or corrupted download, etc. I just had so many issues flashing back to stock.

Does that automatically knock out root?
 

SlimSnoopOS

Senior Member
Jan 29, 2011
8,052
3,348
Thank you for reminding me of that. For some reason, whether I found a bad stock file or corrupted download, etc. I just had so many issues flashing back to stock.

Does that automatically knock out root?

Using Triangle Away only resets your count in download mode, nothing else but I am quite sure you need to be rooted to use it. Flashing a stock image will remove root and lock your bootloader. You only need to worry about that count though if you're up for warranty. Otherwise its just a number that has no impact.
 

hanismj

Member
Jun 1, 2012
37
3
MN
Going back to stock will unroot your phone unless it is a rooted stock.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA Premium HD app
 

mentality513

Member
Feb 4, 2013
12
0
Oops..

I rooted my Verizon s3 a few months ago via Odin and was running synergy until it crashed (tried to set a AOSP lock screen, which crashed it) and I restored to the stock rom and have been running it for a few weeks now (just haven't took time to load another custom rom). I was using cwm for bootloader. This morning I accidently accepted Verizon’s ota update and... Well it tried to update only to give me a fail message at the end. Now I'm getting to" Yellow triangle. System software not authorized" message and can't get into cwm (from my understanding my phone is soft-bricked?). I was wondering if anyone could direct me in how to update my phone with the latest ota software and have cwm back. I would actually like to try the latest Cleanrom. I don’t know all the technical terms and have tried to provide as much info as I could of the top of my head. I have done some research in these forums but haven't found anything or anyone who has done what I've done. My phone is working right now but I don't have access to the bootloader. Rootchecker says it’s still rooted.

My system info says:

Android Version 4.1.2
Baseband I535VRBMB1
Build Number JZ054K.I535VRBMB1

If that helps...

If anyone could help and provide me with steps on how to correct my issues I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks in advance.
 

Brian Gove

Senior Member
Jul 26, 2012
989
346
Land of Oz
I rooted my Verizon s3 a few months ago via Odin and was running synergy until it crashed (tried to set a AOSP lock screen, which crashed it) and I restored to the stock rom and have been running it for a few weeks now (just haven't took time to load another custom rom). I was using cwm for bootloader. This morning I accidently accepted Verizon’s ota update and... Well it tried to update only to give me a fail message at the end. Now I'm getting to" Yellow triangle. System software not authorized" message and can't get into cwm (from my understanding my phone is soft-bricked?). I was wondering if anyone could direct me in how to update my phone with the latest ota software and have cwm back. I would actually like to try the latest Cleanrom. I don’t know all the technical terms and have tried to provide as much info as I could of the top of my head. I have done some research in these forums but haven't found anything or anyone who has done what I've done. My phone is working right now but I don't have access to the bootloader. Rootchecker says it’s still rooted.

My system info says:

Android Version 4.1.2
Baseband I535VRBMB1
Build Number JZ054K.I535VRBMB1

If that helps...

If anyone could help and provide me with steps on how to correct my issues I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks in advance.


I've been away from the S3 scene for a bit, but more than likely what happened is that the OTA re-locked your bootloader. You will have to ODIN back to stock and start over. Start at the 3rd step then follow the rooting thread to be able to install cleanrom. Once you've done the 3rd step in this thread and the rest, the "guide" thats linked in my sig should bring you to where you wan't to be.


My boot up screen says custom with a padlock thats open, is that normal or does it mean im still unlocked?

I forget exactly what that means, but it does mean something is still altered on your device. Like I said to the guy before it's been a bit since I've been around. Maybe someone can chime in and remind us all what the padlock means. Tho, if you followed the instructions, you shouldn't have gotten a padlock.
 

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  • 59
    A lot of people have been starting new threads asking how to reset their phone to stock in order to return it to Verizon with all their modifications undetected. It's really simple and easy to do.

    This is to remove any ROM you've installed, un-root and re-lock your bootloader. I'll also post a link to reset your flash counter if you've tripped it.

    Basically I'm just going to post a few links to guides that are already here.

    -First is to backup:

    Backup literally everything on your phone and external sd card just to be safe. Just imagine that if you lost your phone what you would've wanted backed up. (I'm not saying you're going to mess up your phone, just that the internal sd card will be wiped clean. Pics, settings, videos, etc... all wiped off the internal card. Backup up your ext is just to have your bases 100% covered, none of this process actually uses your ext card. You can just remove it if you'd like also.


    -Second, Check your Flash counter:

    More than likely unless you've been flashing custom stuff through Odin you haven't tripped it. In otherwords if you haven't used Odin or just rooted your phone using Odin and then flashed everything else in CWM or TWRP, you haven't tripped it.

    To check your flash counter you need to enter download mode - 'Vol down+Home button+Power button'

    You will need to be in download mode for the next step anyways, so just doublecheck the counter first.

    If you have tripped it, use this app from the play store Triangle Away


    -Third is to flash the stock rooted image via Odin:(This image version will re-lock your bootloader and un root you)
    Go to section #5 of this Guide and follow the instructions. Use the UN rooted official version and Just to clarify, there is really only ONE option to choose if you plan on returning your phone to Verizon.(Official VRALG1 4.0.4)

    (Shortcut to the file if you are familiar and already have Odin, Here)

    -Lastly, perform a wipe via recovery just for safety's sake:
    Hold 'Volume up+Home button+Power' from your phone being power off. And do this BEFORE you boot up the stock version otherwise you could get stuck in a bootloop and have to do a battery pull.


    It's that simple and this will leave your phone in an "out of the box" state therefor safe to return to Verizon without them catching on.
    2
    so can I flash backwards to 4.1.1 ? Things are different without rsd

    You can flash to any stock image (doesn't matter what version) using odin.

    Yes, you should be able to. What's "rsd"?

    Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

    I assume hes talking about rsd lite, which is kind of like odin to flash images to phones.
    2
    Thread cleaned of troll arguments and profanity.

    There shall also be no discussion, or intimation, of fraud in these threads - ever.

    Last warning in here, troll at your own peril from here on out.
    2
    It does? I'll remove the re locking part then.

    yes because the stock odin package has the secure aboot.img. the relock function on the ez unlock app is pointless. the only time the bootloader should be locked is when flashing back to stock.
    2
    If its unlocked it goes quick and if its locked it take a few seconds, right?

    Tap'n

    Correct.


    @shojus: When it is unlocked it literally just flashes on and off the screen before going to the boot animation. When locked you can see it for a couple/three or so seconds before the boot animation.