[Firmware/OTA's] [root66] SGH-T999(All Variants!) Official & Root66 FW & OTA Updates!

[Firmware/OTA's] [root66] SGH-T999(All Variants!) Official & Root66 FW & OTA Updates!

For models T999, T999L, T999V and T999N





Below you will find listed all stock official firmware as well as official and leaked OTA updates! It never hurts to have an extra source! I figured it could prove useful to have all of the official and leaked releases together in one place. Especially for the leaked OTA's, considering that a few of them are no longer available through the original source, and there is no guarantee that we will always have access to them. I will be hosting the OTA's from my androidfilehost.com and dev-host.org accounts. I will also list the original hotfile link as obtained from Sammobile and/or samsung-updates. Considering the size of the official firmware files, I am only hosting the latest version, currently UVALJ4.. For now I am just posting the links to the rest of these files. (I would like to host these in the future, if I can warrant the space used, or if anyone would like to send me a link to a mirror of their own, I will add it as well).
Sammobile and Samsung-Updates Links are the sites links to hotfile slow downloads.
Latest releases listed first.
I hope some of you find this useful!

How to Flash Firmware and OTA's!

How to Flash the OTA's​

USING STOCK RECOVERY
As Samsung Intended It!

A quick note about this method: If you want to flash in Stock Recovery, you MUST be fully stock on the correct build. For example, if updating from UVALEM to UVALH2, you must be running a fully stock UVALEM system, including recovery, kernel, modem, etc. This also means no mods, no additions/removals to and from the /system partition, no build.prop edits, etc. Otherwise the update will fail! I will explain why a little later.

• Download the OTA to your phones External sdcard.
  [*]Backup any important data, just in case!
  [*]If you want to stay rooted, install Voodoo OTA Rootkeeper from the Play Store (skip this if you are not rooted)
  [*]Preserve root with Rootkeeper
  [*]Reboot into Recovery (Power off the phone. Hold Volume Up + Home + Power. When you see the blue text flash at the top, release the buttons)
  [*]Select Install Zip from External Storage
  [*]Find your downloaded OTA zip file, select it and confirm to flash.
  [*]Once complete, reboot your phone.
  [*]If you used Rootkeeper to preserve root, Open the app and restore root.
  [*]Open Superuser/SuperSU and then a root requiring app to confirm you are rooted.
  [*]DONE!!! :victory:

:highfive:


USING CLOCKWORKMOD (CWM) RECOVERY Ver. 6.0.1.2 recommended.

Note about Rootkeeping: With the CWM method, I am putting the Rootkeeper steps here simply because if anyone ever wants to try it, they won't have to ask! This method will allow you to keep CWM Recovery, however, which will let you re-root quite easily anyway!

• Download the correct OTA zip to your phone. (Either internal or external storage should work just fine)
• Backup any important data, just in case! (I suggest backing up your contacts using the export to vcard file function in Contacts Settings)
• If you want to stay rooted, install Voodoo OTA Rootkeeper from the Play Store (skip this if you are not rooted)
• Preserve root with Rootkeeper (Alternatively, you could just download the Superuser/SuperSU flashable zip, and re-root after flash)
• Reboot into Recovery (Power off the phone. Hold Volume Up + Home + Power. When you see the blue text flash at the top, release the buttons)
• NANDROID!!! NANDROID!!!
• Select Install Zip from sdcard
• Select either "choose zip from sdcard" or "choose zip from external sdcard"
• Browse to and select the OTA zip file you downloaded.
• Confirm to start the flash.
• Once complete, (if you choose not to use the rootkeeper method) browse to your flashable Superuser/SuperSU zip and flash following the same steps above.
• Select Reboot System Now.
• CWM should now warn that recovery will be rewritten, choose the option which prevents this in order to preserve your CWM recovery.
• If you used Rootkeeper to preserve root, Open the app and restore root.
• Open Superuser/SuperSU and then another root-requiring app to confirm you are rooted.
• DONE!!! :victory:

:highfive:


USING MOBILE ODIN PRO
My Personal Favorite! Highly recommend!

Note about paid vs free: The following instructions are based upon Mobile ODIN Pro. The Pro version naturally has more options than the free one, most notably is its ability to inject root during the flashing process. It costs $5 in the Play Store and IMO, is ABSOLUTELY worth the price!!! It is also supporting Chainfire, one of our Elite Devs, and his amazing work! For those of you who, for whatever reason, cannot or will not pay for the Pro version, there is a Free version here on XDA! The Free version does NOT inject root during the flashing process, and is basically what you would expect from a Lite version. It will still work for our purposes here. I will explain how to use the Free version after these instructions for Pro.
MOBILE ODIN IS ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVORITE APPS!!!!! :good:

• Download the correct OTA zip to your phone's internal or external storage.
• Backup any important data, just in case! (I suggest backing up your contacts using the export to vcard file function in Contacts Settings)
• NANDROID!!!
• Start Mobile Odin Pro
• If this is the first time run, allow it to download its additional files
• Scroll down and select OTA / Update ZIP
• Choose Internal/External Storage depending on where your OTA zip is located
• Browse to and select the OTA you wish to flash
• Verify that under the OTA / Update ZIP line, it shows the path to your file
• Scroll down to the EVERROOT section
• Make sure that all 3 are checked, Enable EverRoot, Inject Superuser (SuperSU), and Inject Mobile ODIN
• Under the WIPE section you have the option to Wipe data and cache, and/or Wipe Dalvik Cache. You may choose to select one or both of these, however, I recommend leaving un-checked for now. (I have run into problems with EverRoot in the past when selecting these options. You can always wipe AFTER updating.)
• Select Flash Firmware, then Continue to confirm. Also continue at the prompt about replacing Maps. (We have enough memory so it does not actually do this.)
• Mobile ODIN will now take over and flash the OTA!
• Once complete, it may reboot into recovery. Reboot system if it does.
• Open Superuser/SuperSU and then another root-requiring app to confirm you are rooted.
• DONE!!! :victory:

:highfive:


USING MOBILE ODIN FREE
Note about free version: Mobile ODIN Lite does not have the EverRoot ability. Also it will not automatically download its required files, so you will have to manually download and install the Flash Kernel from the thread.

• Go to Chainfire's thread for Mobile ODIN
• Read, Read, Read, and Read! Read all of Posts 1-3.
• Download and install Mobile ODIN Lite attached to Post 1.
• Go to Post #8 and download and install the correct Flash Kernel. MobileODIN_FlashKernel_T999-v2.0.apk
• Download the correct OTA zip to your phone's internal or external storage.
• Backup any important data, just in case! (I suggest backing up your contacts using the export to vcard file function in Contacts Settings)
• NANDROID!!!
• If you want to stay rooted, install Voodoo OTA Rootkeeper from the Play Store (skip this if you are not rooted)
• Preserve root with Rootkeeper
• Start Mobile Odin
• Scroll down and select OTA / Update ZIP
• Choose Internal/External Storage depending on where your OTA zip is located
• Browse to and select the OTA you wish to flash
• Verify that under the OTA / Update ZIP line, it shows the path to your file
• DO NOT CHECK WIPE DATA OR DALVIK!!! This will prevent Rootkeeper from working! (You can always wipe AFTER updating.)
• Select Flash Firmware, then Continue to confirm. Also continue at the prompt about replacing Maps. (We have enough memory so it does not actually do this.)
• Mobile ODIN will now take over and flash the OTA!
• Once complete, it may reboot into recovery. Reboot system if it does.
• If you used Rootkeeper to preserve root, Open the app and restore root.
• Open Superuser/SuperSU and then another root-requiring app to confirm you are rooted.
• DONE!!! :victory:

:highfive:

How to Flash the Stock Firmware​

The stock firmware comes in a .tar or .tar.md5 file format intended to be used in ODIN. The root66 version of the firmware is the full official stock firmware with ONLY ONE CHANGE! It is pre-rooted! Don't forget to follow the link to the original thread so you can Thank mrRobinson for all of his work on these! Flashing EITHER the original or the root66 versions will NOT trip the flash counter! They are identical except for root.

Tip: I keep a copy of the root66 firmware on my computer for use in ODIN. This way I am always ready to go if I have to Odin back to stock for any reason. I also keep an unmodified copy of the firmware on my phone for use with Mobile Odin PRO. (No need for root66 version since Mobile Odin injects root during flash)

I will cover flashing the full stock firmware .tar files using both regular (or PC) ODIN, and Mobile ODIN Pro.


USING ODIN

• Download and install the latest Samsung USB Drivers
• Download and extract Odin
• Download the firmware of your choosing (use the root66 version if you want root)
• Run Odin by double clicking the Odin.exe within the folder you extracted
• Turn off your phone and boot into DOWNLOAD MODE (Volume Down + Home + Power Hold until phone powers up, then release and press Volume Up to enter Download Mode)
• Once in Download Mode, connect the USB/Charger cable to the phone and plug into the USB port on your computer.
• You should now see a COM** port listed toward the top-left of Odin (under ID:COM)
• Click on the PDA button in the middle-right area of Odin.
• Browse to and select the FW you downloaded
• Make sure Auto-Reboot and F. Reset Time are the only options checked and that PDA is the only other thing checked.
• TRIPLE CHECK your settings and that you have selected the correct firmware for your model phone and are using the correct options.
• If you are using a laptop, make absolutely sure you are plugged in, or if on battery, that it is charged enough and will not go into sleep mode during flash.
• Click Start to begin the flash. This will take a while, so be patient!
• Once complete, in the top-left box in Odin, it will say PASS and the phone should have automatically rebooted.
• You may unplug the phone and close Odin if you wish.
• Wait at least 5-10 minutes for the system to boot the first time and then build its cache! (It may seem to hang during boot, this is normal and you must be patient!!!)
• DONE!!! :victory:

:highfive:


USING MOBILE ODIN PRO
Note about EverRoot: With Mobile Odin Pro, you can flash the unmodified stock firmware and using the EverRoot option, root will be injected during the flash. This has NEVER failed for me!

• Download the firmware of your choice to your phone's internal or external storage.
• Backup any important data, just in case! (I suggest backing up your contacts using the export to vcard file function in Contacts Settings)
• NANDROID!!!
• Start Mobile Odin Pro
• If this is the first time run, allow it to download its additional files
• Scroll down and select Open file...
• Choose Internal/External Storage depending on where your firmware .tar or .tar.md5 is located
• Browse to and select the firmware you wish to flash. Mobile Odin will tell you which partitions will be flashed.
• Depending on the contents of the file, each of the partitions listed will show the path to the selected firmware.
• You have the option of selecting which partitions you want to flash. For example, if you do not want to flash recovery, just press the recovery option and select Clear. Mobile Odin will now flash the firmware minus the recovery partition! (Alternatively, if you want to only flash recovery, you can either deselect everything else, or extract the recovery.img, press Recovery in Mobile Odiin and browse to the .img file. Yet another great function of this app!)
• Scroll down to the EVERROOT section
• Make sure that all 3 are checked, Enable EverRoot, Inject Superuser (SuperSU), and Inject Mobile ODIN
• Under the WIPE section you have the option to Wipe data and cache, and/or Wipe Dalvik Cache. You may choose to select one or both of these, however, I recommend leaving un-checked for now. (I have run into problems with EverRoot in the past when selecting these options. You can always wipe AFTER flashing.)
• Select Flash Firmware, then Continue to confirm. Also continue at the prompt about replacing Maps. (We have enough memory so it does not actually do this.)
• Mobile ODIN will now take over and flash the firmware!
• Once complete, it may reboot into recovery. Reboot system if it does.
• Open Superuser/SuperSU and then another root-requiring app to confirm you are rooted.
• DONE!!! :victory:

:highfive:

FaQ / Troubleshooting / Info / Misc

FaQ​

[Q] After updating via OTA, I can no longer boot into CWM or TWRP recovery! Stock recovery always boots up! What do I do??

[A]
This is actually a very simple fix!
Using your root capable file explorer, browse to and delete or rename the following two files:

• /system/recovery-from-boot.p
• /system/etc/install-recovery.sh

Now, reinstall TWRP or CWM (I suggest using Goo or Rom Manager to do this)
Reboot recovery to verify the correct one is installed and working!


[Q] Why does flashing the OTA install these files that prevent me from using a custom recovery?

[A]
Simply put, this is how recovery is updated as part of the OTA. Because recovery is in use during the OTA update, it cannot be updated at the same time as everything else. So the OTA copies these two files to be run at boot time. During boot, the install-recovery.sh script is run which will reinstall the stock recovery, it then will use the second file, recovery-from-boot.p to patch the recovery, updating it to the OTA's target version.

As I understand it so far, Knox is a security feature which meets DoD requirements for use on an enterprise network. It detects any sort of modification you might do, including root, and logs it in much the same way as our current flash counter. If this is tripped, Knox security is permanently disabled. This normally would probably only matter to the few people who actually want Knox. But, I believe it matters to us for the same reason they didn't make Knox enabled devices separately available for business purchases. It basically can be used as a secondary flash counter to deny warranty claims. This still won't matter to most of us, but when we go to new devices such as the Note3, it'll matter. I'm not aware of anyway to reset this yet. I've heard they have ways around both Knox and seLinux for the S4, but I don't know what all this entails.

As for effect on hardware, I don't think we have to worry about that. Right now I am expecting to simply just follow the same precautions as before. Meaning the same compatibility between the T999, I747, and their variants as before. I don't promise this in any way, but I don't think we have much to worry about.

As for the modem, well, of course we cannot use any from other models, but this already doesn't matter!

Merry Christmas!
http://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=23196940996969671

Thanks goes to an anonymous source!

Sent from my SGH-T999N using Tapatalk

OP Updated!!!

:victory: Finally!!! OP is Update!!!

I know, I know....
I am very sorry for letting this get outdated like it did. Never intended to let that happen....

All latest FW for T999 and T999V has been added, including links to the Root66 versions. The only thing not updated is the OTA sections. I will add these as I obtain them. I should be able to get the T999 OTA pretty easily, but I will need someone else to grab the latest OTA off of their phone for the T999V variants.

If you are willing, while on version VLLH2, select check for updates from the Settings menu. After it downloads it will ask you if you want to update. Dont select anything, open your file browser and copy the downloaded OTA, then upload it to a file sharing site and let me know.
I remember it is in a folder titled /fota, but I cant remember if it was in /data, or /cache.

Sorry again for being gone so long, and for any problems it may have caused. I will be doing my best to get everything caught up as quickly as I can. Thanks for your patience!
Doc