[Q] Boot Looping SPH-L900 Trying to downgrade from 4.3 to custom rom or remove KNOX

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cjkline83

Member
Apr 17, 2011
5
0
Early this morning I decided to try to get root and flash a custom rom, either CyanogenMod or Omni. I was able to flash touch recovery and wiped system files and cache. All custom firmwares failed to load. Now when the phone boots up, it goes into OTA activation, activates, does a PRL update, and reboots. Touch recovery repeats the system restore, unattended, and the loop repeats infinitely.

I am looking for a process that will help me cure the reboot loop to let me return to using the stock 4.3, but because of some bugginess I was experiencing, I would prefer a method that rids the knox bootloader and other protections so that I can gain root access and load custom firmwares.

I found a similar thread for a different model number, but I'm sure I'll need specific instructions for this model. Any help is greatly appreciated, as I'd rather not have to figure out a way to destroy the phone to get an insurance replacement. I'm also 23 days away from my upgrade date.

I am offering a $50 bounty for now, and when I upgrade, if possible to retain my phone while getting the upgrade price, you can have the note 2 that you helped fix.
 

jlmancuso

Senior Member
Apr 26, 2011
5,638
5,840
houston, tx
Early this morning I decided to try to get root and flash a custom rom, either CyanogenMod or Omni. I was able to flash touch recovery and wiped system files and cache. All custom firmwares failed to load. Now when the phone boots up, it goes into OTA activation, activates, does a PRL update, and reboots. Touch recovery repeats the system restore, unattended, and the loop repeats infinitely.

I am looking for a process that will help me cure the reboot loop to let me return to using the stock 4.3, but because of some bugginess I was experiencing, I would prefer a method that rids the knox bootloader and other protections so that I can gain root access and load custom firmwares.

I found a similar thread for a different model number, but I'm sure I'll need specific instructions for this model. Any help is greatly appreciated, as I'd rather not have to figure out a way to destroy the phone to get an insurance replacement. I'm also 23 days away from my upgrade date.

I am offering a $50 bounty for now, and when I upgrade, if possible to retain my phone while getting the upgrade price, you can have the note 2 that you helped fix.

Try this

Flash twrp recovery zip
Custom wipe system, data, cache
Install this http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=36388145
Install the root zip located in that op
Do not wipe anything else
Reboot it should act weird then reboot
After about 5-10 mins it will finish booting
Now flash philz 6.07.9 recovery via odin
Then boot into recovery factory reset/clean for new rom
Under mounts format data/media (internal sd)
Reboot into recovery
Flash your 4.4 rom

Sent from my SPH-L900 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
 
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cjkline83

Member
Apr 17, 2011
5
0
Pending Testing

Try this

Flash twrp recovery zip
Custom wipe system, data, cache
Install this http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=36388145
Install the root zip located in that op
Do not wipe anything else

Yeah, I wiped everything when I got home from work (don't know what I was thinking, really). TWRP even warned me no OS was installed, and I was like "so?". Anyway, as soon as it got stuck on the Samsung Galaxy Note II screen, I started the download of that rom you linked to. Still has 10 minutes left (big file is big). I'll come back with an update once I complete these first set of steps.

[Pending:]
Reboot it should act weird then reboot
After about 5-10 mins it will finish booting
Now flash philz 6.07.9 recovery via odin
Then boot into recovery factory reset/clean for new rom
Under mounts format data/media (internal sd)
Reboot into recovery
Flash your 4.4 rom
====================================
 

cjkline83

Member
Apr 17, 2011
5
0
ADB Sideload

Since the device is not bootable, and I don't have an adapter to copy to my SD card via a usb reader, I struggled, but got the ADB Sideload function of the Android Development Toolkit to work once I upgrade to Team Win Recovery 2.7.0.0 via ODIN.

sideload log is as follows:
Code:
Updating partition details...
Full SELinux support is present.
Starting ADB sideload feature...
Installing '/data/media/0/sideload.zip'...
Checking for MD5 file...
Skipping MD5 check: no MD5 file found.
UnRooted MC2 Stock Restore by blizzard412
Formatting /system and installing..
This will take a while
...Flashing temp special recovery
...Again just in case
Installing Radio...
Flashing firmware...
Flashing garwrnn & -EViL-KoNCEPTz- carrier partition fix...
You will automatically reboot to twrp to finish up...
[COLOR="Red"]E:Unable to mount '/preload'[/COLOR]
Should I be worried about the preload error?

Edit: rebooted but currently in a reboot loop without the startup sound. I'm going to let this go for about 10 minutes before I try to wipe and re-sideload? Before TouchWin rebooted it asked me if I wanted to install SU-SuperUser for root. Should I not install the root at this time?

Edit 2 THANK YOU!
[Pending:]
Reboot it should act weird then reboot
After about 5-10 mins it will finish booting
Now flash philz 6.07.9 recovery via odin.
I could not get this to flash via ODIN. The stock recovery kept loading instead :(
Decided to just try and move down the list.
Then boot into recovery factory reset/clean for new rom
Under mounts format data/media (internal sd)
Phone is now out of reboot loop once I cleared the data and cache. Text messages immediately came in after OTA activation and PRL update. I am now running stock rooted 4.1.2 without KNOX.
Reboot into recovery
Flash your 4.4 rom
Might wait on that for a minute. So thankful to at least have a working device again. Thanks for your help. Would you like the bounty? Please PM me a paypal address or your preferred methods.
 
Last edited:

jlmancuso

Senior Member
Apr 26, 2011
5,638
5,840
houston, tx
The preload error is normal with twrp and is not an issue. Now you have lots going on so let me ask you this. Do you have a custom recovery and/or root as of now?

Sent from my SPH-L900 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
 

cjkline83

Member
Apr 17, 2011
5
0
Systems nominal

The preload error is normal with twrp and is not an issue. Now you have lots going on so let me ask you this. Do you have a custom recovery and/or root as of now?

Sent from my SPH-L900 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Yes, I had a rooted stock rom, replied to my texts from the day, then loaded rom manager, installed clockwork recovery. downloaded omni directly to the phone from their website, rebooted into clockwork, flashed, and things were fine. Booted into rooted kitkat 4.4.2, and now I'm flashin the gapps update to enable google services. network and wifi working fine under omni.

Can't thank you enough for helping me out of that hole from earlier.
 

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    Early this morning I decided to try to get root and flash a custom rom, either CyanogenMod or Omni. I was able to flash touch recovery and wiped system files and cache. All custom firmwares failed to load. Now when the phone boots up, it goes into OTA activation, activates, does a PRL update, and reboots. Touch recovery repeats the system restore, unattended, and the loop repeats infinitely.

    I am looking for a process that will help me cure the reboot loop to let me return to using the stock 4.3, but because of some bugginess I was experiencing, I would prefer a method that rids the knox bootloader and other protections so that I can gain root access and load custom firmwares.

    I found a similar thread for a different model number, but I'm sure I'll need specific instructions for this model. Any help is greatly appreciated, as I'd rather not have to figure out a way to destroy the phone to get an insurance replacement. I'm also 23 days away from my upgrade date.

    I am offering a $50 bounty for now, and when I upgrade, if possible to retain my phone while getting the upgrade price, you can have the note 2 that you helped fix.

    Try this

    Flash twrp recovery zip
    Custom wipe system, data, cache
    Install this http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=36388145
    Install the root zip located in that op
    Do not wipe anything else
    Reboot it should act weird then reboot
    After about 5-10 mins it will finish booting
    Now flash philz 6.07.9 recovery via odin
    Then boot into recovery factory reset/clean for new rom
    Under mounts format data/media (internal sd)
    Reboot into recovery
    Flash your 4.4 rom

    Sent from my SPH-L900 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app