Replacement Phone - S3 4.1.2 - Various root/unlock questions

usho said:

Hi all,

I just received a replacement S3 from a insurance replacement and it came with 4.1.2 and I have yet to update it to 4.3. I would like to root and unlock the phone and possibly install a custom ROM.

From reading the forum I noticed that 4.3 doesn't have a way to unlock the bootloader as well as some high potential to brick your phone.

I'd like to keep the phone as fully functional as possible, but there is one big reason I want to root it. I will be going out of the country in a couple weeks and would like to be able to purchase a sim card there and use the phone as much as possible. Phone/text/data. From what I have read that is only possible if your phone is rooted. Is that correct?

I also don't mind rooting my phone, as I've done it with my other devices for the other benefits.

I'm also considering installing a custom rom, but have questions with all this.

So with all that in mind I reach out to you great minds to hopefully answer a few questions:

- If I root my device on 4.1.2, is there a way to prevent it from taking in the 4.3 update? Is there anything negative I should worry about by blocking the 4.3 update if possible.

- What would be the easiest/best way to root. Is this still a good toolkit? (http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2332825)

- From what I have gathered, the main thing to get data internationally would be to root the phone and use an app to change the APN? Is there anything else? Is this thread still valid? (http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=29640360&postcount=1) Do I need to do anything in particular for international phone/text?

- I would like to install a customer ROM, but not sure which one to install. I would like a light/stable ROM that keeps the most functionality, if not all. Is there a ROM comparison list?

- Will installing a rom break things like Microsoft Exchange, Google wallet, Google music subscriptions, etc.? I guess this could be answered with the previous question.

I've rooted and installed roms before on other devices but I was a little worried with the posts I've seen of people bricking phones due to the 4.3 update.

Thanks for any help you guys can give.

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usho said:

Thanks for the replies so far.

I used Casuals to root and unlock, but when I loaded the recovery I kept getting into boot loop. Was able to get out of it by pulling the bat. I loaded TWRP from Google play and it's working fine now.

Questions is now, which ROM to load?

Also, on the stock ROM I'm still getting the popup to install the update. How can I stop that and prevent it from installing?

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usho said:

Thanks. The which ROM question was kind of rhetorical.

My problem now is I can't load any ROMs or do any backups. When I go into TRWP and attempt to make a backup the Internal and External storage shows as 0 MB. Nothing happens when I click on them

When I click on the log I get a bunch of errors:

E: Unable to find partition size for '/boot'
E: Primary block device "...." for mount point '/data' is not present
E: Unable to mount '/data'
E: Unable to mount internal storage

and a bunch more.

Tried restoring defaults, tried to mount the internal and external but nothing happens.

I am still able to reboot into the system and bring up the stock ROM.

I tried looking up the various errors, but am not really sure what I need to do now? Should I try a different Recovery? If so, I can't load from SD because it wont recognize it.

Not sure what I need to do now? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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