From bricked to custom ROM in 2019 (GUIDE)

[SilentNightx]

Here you go:
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AshkuG2cY1T0xPZArSsy6iO1e_UnPw

This is a zip file with all the tools and files you need and instructions on how to use them.

What it covers:
Restoring bricked device (as long as download mode still works)
Unlocking bootloader (firmware dependent)
Rooting (any firmware)
Installing a custom recovery (any firmware)
Installing a custom ROM (any firmware)

I made this because all the guides for this phone were seemingly outdated, and some required tools and files were incredibly hard to find. Didn't want anyone else going through the pain I went through to break this phone open.

 

[yambag]

Thank you so much for uploading this. The charging port on my Nexus died and I have to use my old Note 2 as a backup, but I forget how this old piece of junk works. This should be very helpful.

 

[robles4242]

I rooted and flashed twrp to boot to a triangle saying system software not authorized. Tried 3 firmwares and wont boot correctly. I got error about firmware update failed use kies... Kies won't do anything and kies 3 says unsupported device. On the 3rd firmware (root66 rooted stock ) firmware file I now am back to the original triangle system software not authorized by Verizon ..

How do I fix this?!?

 

[SilentNightx]

I rooted and flashed twrp to boot to a triangle saying system software not authorized. Tried 3 firmwares and wont boot correctly. I got error about firmware update failed use kies... Kies won't do anything and kies 3 says unsupported device. On the 3rd firmware (root66 rooted stock ) firmware file I now am back to the original triangle system software not authorized by Verizon ..

How do I fix this?!?

Did you read my guide? You can't flash TWRP unless you successfully unlocked your bootloader with Casual, otherwise you are limited to SafeStrap. Also you can't restore with Kies, you have to use Odin and the files I've included to restore.

 

[SilentNightx]

Thank you so much for uploading this. The charging port on my Nexus died and I have to use my old Note 2 as a backup, but I forget how this old piece of junk works. This should be very helpful.

Nice to see people still looking for something like this, so my guide wasn't for nothing!

 

[ugzz]

I was geeked to see this!! but then i got "This item might not exist or is no longer available"

I take it back.. i let it sit on the "failed" page for like 2 min, and randomly it popped up with a download!

 

[ugzz]

Well the auto bootloader didn't work, so now i'm at the root section. However i'm getting an error where ADB isn't detecting my phone. USB debug is on, and i'm definitely in media mode and not installer. The phone shows up in windows and looks good, but adb doesnt detect. I opened command prompt and ran adb /? and found adb devices -l, and it reports "list of devices" and theres nothing in the list. I can't imagine why it's not seeing it. I tried turning on and off debug mode, switching from camera mode to media, changing usb ports. still nothing comes up, but windows sees it fine. grrrr


*edit, well since we can't delete posts i'll leave this here, because i have to. But what i did was re-open the "no you verizon" and it showed DISCONNECTED also. I changed usb ports like 3 times, turned usb debug on and off, changed from installer mode, to camera, to media mode, restarted the phone and the computer multiple times.. and then it just all of a sudden was detected again. So i went with it and it seems to have worked.
-it took 3 times to actually work, you noted it may take multiples, and it sure did. I ran it through the command prompt so i could read the text, and it took 5 times longer and reported much more stuff when it actually worked.
-final edit: if you can't unlock your bootloader, you're still stuck with ditto or alliance from 2014, and lots of apps won't update on android that old. So if you thought this guide was some holy grail, it is not. But still useful if you need the assist, so thanks to the author.

 

[PixPusher]

Hi, total noob here, I just bought Verizon note 2 at a yard sale but there is a pin I don't know. When I went to do a factory reset it booted into TWRP, so I am assuming is rooted. Do I need to be able to get into the phone to use your tools? I know nothing about TWRP. I would like to install a newer Android version and unlock it so I can use TMobile. Thanks

 

[erilyn127]

Something wrong...

when i try to load this file from the packages folder i get an error message:
"md5 error! Binary is invalid"

none of the other three works for me. they all come back ailed.
any suggestions?

 

[Darmelc]

awesome! thanks for posting this, just found my old note 2 and want to get it up and running again for the kids.

 

[dasx86]

Kudos!

Used this to get my Note 2 up and going again temporarily until the Pixel 4a release...

NOTE: I had strange issues with Odin on my modern X570 board (USB 3.2 Gen 2) where I did not receive any errors, yet the process would randomly seem to time out. Sometimes I'd get stuck at flashing boot.img, sometimes it would hang up at the start, once I got to flashing system.img and it seemed to hang....

Used an older PC circa 2013, no issues! Not the first time I've had issues with this newer motherboard and older USB flashing interfaces; had the same issue on my Note 8 (RIP) as well.

 

[bracca]

excited to try this.
I'm on some rooted 4.4.2 stock-looking rom. Recovery doesn't look custom.
Hoping to be able to install a working Oreo or Pie ROM

 

[bigsteve62275]

great post, bought a couple of these for almost nothing and am having fun playing with them. sadly they are both 4.4.2 but its great fun anyway.