GS5 verizon 4.4.4 to rooted marshmallow

[bkenobi69]

I have a Verizon GS5 that has been towelrooted on 4.4.4 for close to 2 years. It's worked ok, but I've started seeing various issues that required a factory reset. Since I'm back to no settings, I was thinking updating the OS would be a good idea. I would like to move to either Lollipop or Mashmallow but it looks like the latter may be a problem with my phone (CID 11 and Verizon) while keeping Knox 0x0.

I'm having a problem following the guide that I've found here:
https://www.androidinfotech.com/2016/07/root-samsung-galaxy-s5-sm-g900v-verizon.html

The issue is that I can't get the phone to connect to my PC for Kies or ODIN. It fails to load the MTP driver for my GS5 but works fine with my wife's GS5. Hers is stock Lollipop or Marshmallow and mine is still on JB but is rooted.

I guess what I'm wondering is what my options are. Should I remove root so that I can hopefully connect to the PC to transfer the files over and updating? Or, is there something else I should try first? I haven't worked on many phones and I'm a little nervous about doing something irreversible at this point. I don't know that I need Knox at 0x0, but since I can't get back if I trip it, I'd rather not trip it.

 

[bbsc]

The issue is that I can't get the phone to connect to my PC for Kies or ODIN. It fails to load the MTP driver for my GS5 but works fine with my wife's GS5. Hers is stock Lollipop or Marshmallow and mine is still on JB but is rooted.

I guess what I'm wondering is what my options are. Should I remove root so that I can hopefully connect to the PC to transfer the files over and updating? Or, is there something else I should try first? I haven't worked on many phones and I'm a little nervous about doing something irreversible at this point. I don't know that I need Knox at 0x0, but since I can't get back if I trip it, I'd rather not trip it.

Try to dial *#0808# in the stock phone application.
You should see a menu with several options.
Select "MTP+ADB" under USB settings and press "OK".
Then you'll be able to connect your phone via MTP or ADB to your PC.

If there's no menu, then (assuming you're rooted) open a good file browser (ES, Root Explorer or something) and open the file /efs/carrier/HiddenMenu (it's a simple text file) and replace OFF with ON there.
Save the changes and reboot the phone.
Now the menu should be operational.

 

[bkenobi69]

Unfortunately, I already tried to update to 6.0.1 so this very helpful info is a little to late.

I followed all directions on the linked page above but didn't get things working. I repeated 2 or 3 times now and I'm clearly missing something. I can get through installing busybox, but then when I reset, it hangs at the samsung screen and just vibrates 3 times repeatedly. I'm going to have to figure this out tonight as I don't really have a backup phone.

 

[bbsc]

Unfortunately, I already tried to update to 6.0.1 so this very helpful info is a little to late.

I followed all directions on the linked page above but didn't get things working. I repeated 2 or 3 times now and I'm clearly missing something. I can get through installing busybox, but then when I reset, it hangs at the samsung screen and just vibrates 3 times repeatedly. I'm going to have to figure this out tonight as I don't really have a backup phone.

Currently root is impossible for MM on G900V CID11.
Impossible means you cannot gain it now, most likely it's forever.
There's no internet site which can help.

You must choose: root on LP or unrooted MM.
You must decide if you want a stock ROM or something (TW-based) else too.

It's a good idea to flash and use a stock firmware for the time while you're thinking.

 

[bkenobi69]

Interesting... I guess I must have been reading things wrong because I thought I could go to MM with root. I'll try going to Lollipop then but first I'm going to just flash back to JB 4.4.4.

 

[bkenobi69]

I downloaded 4.4.4 from Samsung and was going to write it with Odin, but it says FAIL when I try to flash. I suspect I just tripped Knox...

SW REV CHECK FAIL : [aboot]Fused 2 > Binary 1

I'll look around to find a guide, but if you have a suggestion, I'd certainly listen!

 

[bbsc]

SW REV CHECK FAIL : [aboot]Fused 2 > Binary 1

This means that you've upgraded your phone's firmware while experimenting.
Now you cannot directly flash 4.4.4 with Odin, you're limited to 5.0 (BOK3) and above.

 

[bkenobi69]

Ok. I'll read the guides on the head of this list and see if I can find the right information.

 

[bkenobi69]

FWIW, I was following the same how-to that most of the stickies point to and say is safe. I wonder how I got to a position that I'm in now when I did the same as recommended. Painiac's thread points to the same thing I did:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ve...al/guide-painiacs-essential-guide-to-t3319848

I think I may have tried to flash a MM stock rom though when it got into a boot loop. I suspect that would be the issue.

 

[bbsc]

Bootloop is not a problem in this case.
Just reboot to the recovery and perform a factory reset from there.
The phone will boot but the first boot will take 10-15 min.

 

[Security Researcher]

I have a Verizon GS5 that has been towelrooted on 4.4.4 for close to 2 years. It's worked ok, but I've started seeing various issues that required a factory reset. Since I'm back to no settings, I was thinking updating the OS would be a good idea. I would like to move to either Lollipop or Mashmallow but it looks like the latter may be a problem with my phone (CID 11 and Verizon) while keeping Knox 0x0.

I'm having a problem following the guide that I've found here:
https://www.androidinfotech.com/2016/07/root-samsung-galaxy-s5-sm-g900v-verizon.html

The issue is that I can't get the phone to connect to my PC for Kies or ODIN. It fails to load the MTP driver for my GS5 but works fine with my wife's GS5. Hers is stock Lollipop or Marshmallow and mine is still on JB but is rooted.

I guess what I'm wondering is what my options are. Should I remove root so that I can hopefully connect to the PC to transfer the files over and updating? Or, is there something else I should try first? I haven't worked on many phones and I'm a little nervous about doing something irreversible at this point. I don't know that I need Knox at 0x0, but since I can't get back if I trip it, I'd rather not trip it.

Marshmallow can not be rooted on CID 11 devices. The Samsung drivers are found here: https://www.samsung.com/us/support/owners/product/galaxy-s5-verizon You can follow the 5.0 root guide here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/ve.../testers-required-easier-root-method-t3561529 to downgrade to 5.0. If you want to downgrade past that to a version lower than 5.0, you will still have to follow that guide then follow the instructions here (I recommend you to follow the root guide for 5.0 above then skip steps 1 and 2 on this page): https://forum.xda-developers.com/ve.../guide-downgrade-to-kk-nk2-ncg-mm-lp-t3686858 . You can find stock firmwares here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2784880 (stock firmware, kernel, and modem files) and if you get bootlooped or bricked, just reflash the combination file from the root guide. If you want to root 4.4.4, follow the downgrade method using all of the NK2 files but the flash the NGC kernel, run through the setup, then use towelroot and flash the NK2 kernel after that. If you ever get stuck on the red Verizon screen, just pop the battery out and reboot.

That's about all anyone can do and a run down of everything.

 

[bkenobi69]

Thank you for posting specific guides. I'll go back to step 1 and try again. The primary issue I have at this point isn't reading the guide and following directions, its finding the right guide to reduce the number of images I need to download. I'm on 1.5mbps DSL so d/l a 2GB file takes most of a day. I have several that don't appear useful at this point which means I've lost several days.

 

[Security Researcher]

Thank you for posting specific guides. I'll go back to step 1 and try again. The primary issue I have at this point isn't reading the guide and following directions, its finding the right guide to reduce the number of images I need to download. I'm on 1.5mbps DSL so d/l a 2GB file takes most of a day. I have several that don't appear useful at this point which means I've lost several days.

Understandable, I can't believe it is 2018 and we still haven't invented a way to compress 1.7GB into 1.7MB archives to make life easy on low connections. How is battery life on 4.4.4 and which update of 4.4.4 are you on? I've been having an issue with my phone dropping a percent every 2 minutes on 5.0/6.0. It would be nice find a version to root along with excellent battery life.

 

[bkenobi69]

The reason I was looking at updating was due to battery issues. I had the phone for around a week before I rooted it (a couple years ago). After rooting, I started seeing immediate battery issues. My wife has the same unrooted phone (currently on MM) and has never had the type of issues I have. I figured the issue was likely a bad kernel and was thinking I'd just update to something newer (LL or MM) to help. I assume a new battery would help since mine is 1-2 years old, but I swapped with my wife's phone and she still gets lots better performance. Once I get this back up, I'll probably buy a new battery for each phone.

So it appears that I must have upgraded the bootloader to a point where towelroot no longer works as was previously suggested. I believe then that I need to follow the second guide to be able to downgrade to a rootable Lollipop version:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ve.../guide-downgrade-to-kk-nk2-ncg-mm-lp-t3686858

I am downloading the PB1 rom and lolliroot and need to also get a system restore, kernel, and modem. As I said, my connection is terrible so it would be great if someone could suggest which version of restore I should go with. I was going to install Lollipop in the end (that was the original goal). I figured I'd just get OC4 since it's likely to have the least bugs and best performance. If that is a mistake and I should go with an earlier version of LL PLEASE throw it out there!

 

[bkenobi69]

Ok, I tethered to my wife's phone and am burning her data (shhhh, don't tell her).

I grabbed all of the OC4 files, the PB1 rom, and lolliroot. I think I have everything I need so long as OC4 is a good place to end up.

 

[Security Researcher]

The reason I was looking at updating was due to battery issues. I had the phone for around a week before I rooted it (a couple years ago). After rooting, I started seeing immediate battery issues. My wife has the same unrooted phone (currently on MM) and has never had the type of issues I have. I figured the issue was likely a bad kernel and was thinking I'd just update to something newer (LL or MM) to help. I assume a new battery would help since mine is 1-2 years old, but I swapped with my wife's phone and she still gets lots better performance. Once I get this back up, I'll probably buy a new battery for each phone.

So it appears that I must have upgraded the bootloader to a point where towelroot no longer works as was previously suggested. I believe then that I need to follow the second guide to be able to downgrade to a rootable Lollipop version:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ve.../guide-downgrade-to-kk-nk2-ncg-mm-lp-t3686858

I am downloading the PB1 rom and lolliroot and need to also get a system restore, kernel, and modem. As I said, my connection is terrible so it would be great if someone could suggest which version of restore I should go with. I was going to install Lollipop in the end (that was the original goal). I figured I'd just get OC4 since it's likely to have the least bugs and best performance. If that is a mistake and I should go with an earlier version of LL PLEASE throw it out there!

Here are some files (that I been hunting for about an hour for). Just gonna reference this for future use and anyone who comes across this thread. http://rootjunkysdl.com/files/?dir=Galaxy S5

 

[bkenobi69]

Nice find!

I have the phone up and running on stock PB1 currently. I'm going to let it sit to see what the battery is like prior to rooting. While I haven't gotten it hooked back up to my account yet nor do I have it rooted, I feel pretty confident now that I'm on the right track. Thanks!

 

[bkenobi69]

Just to finish out this topic, I have not successfully completed attaining root on 5.0. I flashed PB1 to the phone and then followed this guide for installing KingRoot:

https://androidforums.com/threads/root-question.1120150/

I got the lolliroot files from here:

https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=312968873555011514

Thanks to all who offered help!

 

[bkenobi69]

Qyuck question... I've got my phone working well bow, but there's one issue with apps I'm not sure how to address. I want to use Verizon Visual Voicemail but I can't find it on the Play store. I disabled updates so I wouldn't get the marshmallow update and break root. but, with updates turned off, VVM won't get pushed. Any suggestions?