[Q] Need help reinstalling Kitkat

Okay, so I updated my Galaxy S3 AT&T to Kitkat the other day, and I rooted it yesterday, and attempted to install Cyanogenmod today. The Cyanogenmod installer said everything installed just fine, but when my GS3 booted up it was still 4.4.2 Stock TouchWiZ, I just figured it was a lost cause, and just to be happy with Xposed modules and forget about Cyanogenmod. However, the attempted install of Cyanogenmod did something to my GS3 that I just can't seem to be able to fix. Apps will download, but they aren't able to store any data. For example, Spotify won't run because it says there is no where for it to install its data, and the camera starts, but won't take any pictures because it says you have to put in a micro SD card. So, I went and found a MicroSD, put it in, and that still didn't work. I finally just decided to try and find the stock Kitkat firmware for my phone, and I would flash it because I couldn't think of any other fix. I backed up my phone before the Cyanogenmod Installer tried to install the rom, but the backup doesn't seem to be working. So, I have two main questions. 1. Is there a way to fix this issue? 2. Does anyone know where I can get the stock Kitkat firmware for the Samsung Galaxy S3 AT&T running Kitkat already.

Thank you, your help is very appreciated.

P.S. This is actually my first post on Xda, although I've used Xda many times before....

EDIT: If I can downgrade to 4.3 and then update back to Kitkat that'd be fine. But I'm not sure if I'm able to do so with the Odin version that Kitkat updated..

Would I have to get a different version of Odin or is the one that came with the Kitkat update fine? I don't want to brick the phone...

I did a factory reset three times. Still didn't work. I would try that firmware, however I'm not really in the position to fix the phone if something went wrong. Sorry.

DocHoliday77 said:

I think he already updated to kk via OTA, so flashing 4.3 firmware via Odin would either fail, or hard brick.







I only recommend using either Odin 3.07 or 3.09. You can get it from the link in my sig if you need it. Odin doesnt come with the firmware or ota btw. You might be thinking of Kies.






Not a problem. I don't blame you a bit for not wanting to take the risk. The only other thing I can think of is to flash the stock rom from cwm/twrp. Look for enewman17's thread in the development section.

---------- Post added at 10:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:41 PM ----------

You could also try using ktoonsez' kt747 kernel and/or an edit to the platform.xml. ill post the edit in a few....don't trust myself to go purely from memory on this.

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Thanks a lot! Do you know how I might go about checking which version of Odin I have? It doesn't display the version number in Odin itself.

DocHoliday77 said:

Edit platform.xml

Open /system/etc/permissions/platform.xml with a text editor.
Look for the permission "WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE"
Add a 3rd gid to make it look like this:

<permission name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" >
<group gid="sdcard_r" />
<group gid="sdcard_rw" />
<group gid="media_rw" />
</permission>

Save and reboot.

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It says there was an error during saving.

DocHoliday77 said:

If one of the buttons says AP on it, its 3.09. Otherwise its probably 3.07. The title should say Odin 3 or something similar if I remember right.







What did you use to edit it? What steps? And you are rooted, correct?

I use the built in text editor with Root Explorer. Most file managers should have the same. If doing this on the computer, make sure you are using Notepad++.

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Yes, I am rooted. I used File Manager HD. It has a built in text editor as well. I'll try using Root Explorer though.

DocHoliday77 said:

Not sure about File Manager HD, but was /system mounted with r/w permission? Anyway, hope Root Explorer works for you. Its a paid app though, so if you dont already have it you can try with Root Browser by jrummy.

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I did what you said to the xml file, I rebooted, still didn't work.

DocHoliday77 said:

Ok. You may also nerd an insecure kernel with seLinux disabled. Did you try flashing the kt747 kernel? If that or flashing the stock rom I mentioned earlier doesn't help, the only other thing I could think to try is flashing the firmware, but we've already discussed that....
Maybe a factory reset again since editing that file? A long shot, but you never know!

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

Okay, it finally finished downloading so I'm going to try and flash enewman17's rom with CWM. Before I do so, is there any way for me to downgrade from 4.4.2 to 4.3? I'm not quite sure if that's possible because of the bootloaders..
If I flash that kt747 kernel will that brick the device? In your post on the thread about enewman17's rom you said it didn't work with stock kernels.

Thank you so much for you help!

Thank you so much for your help Doc. You pointed me in the right direction, and I was able to fix the issue. It was seLinux doing the trouble. I did what OkAstro did: "I installed SELinuxMode Changer and NextApp SDfix from Play Store and my internal and external seem to work fine...stock kernel" on enewman17's rom thread. It worked. Thanks!