[GUIDE] (OB6/OF1) Root, Bootloader Unlock, and Custom Recovery!

[jamesalynch]

Disclaimer:
I am not responsible for anything that happens to your device after following this guide. Also, I'm not entirely sure if this works 100% for OF1, although I can guarantee that this guide works for OB6 because I just successfully rooted, unlocked the bootloader, and flashed a custom recovery onto my Galaxy Note 3 running the OB6 update.

This guide was compiled for the sole purpose of convenience for other users here on XDA Forums. My reason for making this guide was to make it as easy as possible for Verizon Galaxy Note 3 owners to root, unlock the bootloader, and flash a custom recovery without jumping from thread to thread, searching for answers.

ONLY FOLLOW THIS GUIDE IF YOU KNOW WHAT IT MEANS TO BE ROOTED, HAVE AN UNLOCKED BOOTLOADER, AND WHAT A CUSTOM RECOVERY IS USED FOR



If you are the proud owner of a Verizon Galaxy Note 3 (SM-N900V) and would like to root, unlock the bootloader, and/or flash a custom recovery onto it, you've come to the right place. Included in this guide are methods of doing these exact things, which also happen to be generally easy to perform.

Before you begin, you'll need a few things:

• a Verizon Galaxy Note 3 (running OB6 or OF1, obviously)
• a computer of some sort (running Windows)
• a micro SD card (make sure there isn't anything on it, because it WILL be erased)
• Odin 3.09 *
• TWRP 3.02-1 *
• ArabicTool *
• eMMC Brick Bug Checker app
• unlock_n3 (for unlocking the bootloader, attached) *

* place these files in a location that you know the path of. e.x. C:\ or C:\Users\...\Desktop

Once you are 100% sure that you have all of these things, continue to the rest of the guide.



Root

1. Open ArabicTool
2. Make sure your phone is connected to your computer
3. In ArabicTool, click on the "Version" field and select your firmware version (OB6/OF1)
4. Click on "Read phone info" and wait for the information above to show your phone's status
5. Check the logs on the bottom right to make sure that everything is correct, then click on "Root" below the "Phone info" box (if there is an error about not being on 5.0, close the app, set the compatibility mode to W7, and run as admin)
6. Once your phone restarts, continue to the next part of the guide

Unlocking the Bootloader

Just follow this tutorial. The consequences of messing this part up can lead to bricking your phone, although the process itself is fairly simple. Just remember that you need to unzip samsung_unlock_n3.zip and rename the file in there to unlock_n3. Follow the instructions from there.

Flashing TWRP

Honestly, this part was the easiest for me.

1. Unzip and open Odin 3.09
2. Reboot your phone into download mode (with it plugged into the computer, obviously)
3. In Odin, click "AP" and find the flashable TWRP tar that you downloaded earlier
4. Start the flashing process by clicking "Start" in the bottom right hand corner

If, after this process, your phone reboots and shows an error about the recovery partition in the top left hand corner (in blue), then goes into a bootloop:

1. Download the stock recovery.tar from the attached files at the bottom of this post
2. Open Odin again
3. Click "AP", find the file you just downloaded, and start the flashing again
4. Follow the instructions to unlock your bootloader again, but only do the second set of code. The first set is irrelevant to us at this point.
5. Flash TWRP onto your phone again. This time, it should work if it didn't already.
6. To make sure, boot your phone into recovery mode. If TWRP boots up, success (obviously )!

If you have any issues whatsoever that I haven't covered in this guide, please either PM me or reply to this thread. Also, if I have made any mistakes in outlining the instructions in this guide, do the same.

Credit to:
@androidyemen and others for finding the root method,
@ryanbg for finding the bootloader unlock method,
@beaups for finding the eMMC backdoor,
and Team Win for creating TWRP

Source posts:
[Official] Note 3 Verizon Bootloader Unlock by ryanbg
OB6 & OF1 N900V Note 3 Verizon Oneclick SuperSU Rooted Successfully

If in any case you would like to donate to me for this post (which in no way am I asking you to), here is my PayPal email:
[email protected]

 

[i420bdawg1]

Any thoughts on if this will work on OF1 partial firmwares such as the one included for jasminerom 6.1 retail edition?

Since I'm rooted already, I would be picking up from after the rooting steps.

Also, can you provide the steps for bootloader unlock. The link provides is coming up as invalid link in xda mobile app.

Sent from my SM-N900V using XDA-Developers mobile app

 

[jamesalynch]

Any thoughts on if this will work on OF1 partial firmwares such as the one included for jasminerom 6.1 retail edition?

Since I'm rooted already, I would be picking up from after the rooting steps.

Also, can you provide the steps for bootloader unlock. The link provides is coming up as invalid link in xda mobile app.

I'm not entirely sure if it will work on JasmineROM 6.1 specifically, but it won't hurt your device to try. Unless your CID doesn't start with 15 for some reason. If it does, the worst that can happen is the unlock file won't work.

I'll have to edit that part when I get home. I'm only going to be gone for about 20 minutes or so.

Sent from my LG-H634 using XDA Labs

 

[bftb0]

Any thoughts on if this will work on OF1 partial firmwares such as the one included for jasminerom 6.1 retail edition?

Since I'm rooted already, I would be picking up from after the rooting steps.

It really only needs root, although the spot it looks for the eMMC CID value changed from kernel release to kernel release, so there were some minor release dependencies.

[Edit 8/25/2016] Based on feedback from member shallmann, it appears that specific binary versions released within the Unlock Thread should be used depending on the firmware revision of your phone. See this post in that thread.


The version which seems to be most compatible with M*, N*, and O* kernels is the build posted (along with source code) in post #218 of the bootloader unlock thread.

( The newly-rebuilt version in the OP of that thread is still incompatible with 4.3 and 4.4 (M*, N*) releases. )

Man up and use your browser if the XDA app is broken.


.

 

[thunderblaster88]

Any thoughts on if this will work on OF1 partial firmwares such as the one included for jasminerom 6.1 retail edition?

Since I'm rooted already, I would be picking up from after the rooting steps.

Also, can you provide the steps for bootloader unlock. The link provides is coming up as invalid link in xda mobile app.

Sent from my SM-N900V using XDA-Developers mobile app

Yes it will, I did it already months ago when all this first came out.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

 

[bftb0]

@jamesalynch

I know you are trying to help and everything, but you've kind of screwed the pooch in a couple of different ways. First, the binary that you attached doesn't work on any 4.3.x (M*) or 4.4.x (N*) series ROMs, and I'm not sure it ever worked even on OB1 and OF1.

Second, you should not be re-attaching files that are available in other people's posts. Just provide a link to the original post; if there is an ambiguity as to what download is desired, then describe it in your post.

Third, you should not be taking other people's downloads, unpacking them, and then renaming the included files to match filenames used elsewhere - that is only going to increase people's confusion.

Fourth, in that OP (@ryanbg 's post) he mentions re-building the code and NOT USING the version that you provided as an attachment. Unfortunately, he was in a hurry when he rebuilt the code, and even the new version he built still does not work on 4.3.x and 4.4.x ROMs.

[Edit 8/25/2016] Based on feedback from member shallmann, it appears that specific binary versions released within the Unlock Thread should be used depending on the firmware revision of your phone. See this post in that thread.

The version that will work for everyone is in @donc113's post #218 in that thread.

$ find . -type f \( \! -name '*.zip' -a \! -name '*.c' \) -exec md5sum {} \;
[b][color=green]ea856efcb7de0ca8ff428522dbdc0267  ./donc113-post218/unlock[/color][/b]   [b]<<<====  Use this for NK1 and prior.[/b]
0bcb409af65e311ce4b67faf7ed3f0af  ./ryanbg0804/unlock_n3   [b]<<<====  Use this for OB6 and OF1.[/b]
cba959357ed1d0207dbde56bb6b6a1b7  ./ryanbgORIG/samsung_unlock_n3
cba959357ed1d0207dbde56bb6b6a1b7  ./JAL/unlock_n3  [b]<<<==== Your version with name change from 'samsung_unlock_n3'.[/b]

 

[i420bdawg1]

Thanks to everyone who posted. I will be going back to the post mentioned in the comments.

Sent from my SM-N900V using XDA-Developers mobile app

 

[RaaidR]

This is kinda confusing, to be honest.

Once bootloader is unlocked you could just download FlashFire and download and flash TWRP from there rather than using Odin.

The root tool you linked didn't work for me, even on Windows 7, granted others said it worked for them. If they are on Windows 10, there is a different tool to use.

 

[Tremo419]

stock recovery?

I need the stock recovery file, that you said would be attached. My phone is not booting with the Recovery warning..

 

[jamesalynch]

I need the stock recovery file, that you said would be attached. My phone is not booting with the Recovery warning..

http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/download/45906/N900VVRUEOB6_N900VVZWEOB6_VZW/

Open that file and extract the recovery image. Compress it in a TAR. Flash.

Sent from my LG-H634 using XDA Labs

 

[ozz200127]

I have the sm-900v on 5.0 and I rooted and unlocked bootloader and twrp and flash a rom but didn't go through so I Odin stock rom back to begin fresh and now it won't root...as soon as I do the root process and it restarts my phone into stock recovery...so I clean cache and reboot and goes right back to stock recovery...can anyone help

Sent from my SM-N900V using XDA-Developers mobile app

 

[bftb0]

I have the sm-900v on 5.0 and I rooted and unlocked bootloader and twrp and flash a rom but didn't go through so I Odin stock rom back to begin fresh and now it won't root...as soon as I do the root process and it restarts my phone into stock recovery...so I clean cache and reboot and goes right back to stock recovery...can anyone help

Sent from my SM-N900V using XDA-Developers mobile app

Firstly, if you have an unlocked bootloader, you never have to flash STOCK again.

So - after you have gotten this problem fixed - learn how to avoid using Odin with STOCK firmware bundles.

Odin can flash a custom recovery when the bootloader is unlocked. That will save you trouble in the future. You need to learn how to build Odin ".tar.md5" files. In a nutshell, for doing what I just mentioned, you take a TWRP .img file, rename it to "recovery.img", put it in a "ustar" format tar file, and then compute the md5 signature of that and append it to the end of the file. Search for "Odin md5 ustar" in these forums.

For your current problem, I can't tell exactly what you are saying. If you are saying "I am stuck in a vicious cycle of nothing but recovery reboots (the stock recovery)", then

- pull the battery and wait ten seconds
- put the battery back in
- start in download mode with Vol_Down+Home+Power. When you get the pop-up screen, select cancel.

- if it still boots into the stock recovery, the do a full wipe (yes the whole phone, data+cache) and try booting. If the same trouble persists, go back and do the Odin STOCK flash again. (You can't flash a custom recovery with a locked bootloader).

If it still doesn't work, make sure your next problem report includes far more details than the one above, for instance:

- what version of firmware was on your phone before this mess started
- what version of firmware you were trying to flash with Odin
- what version of Odin you were using
- the name of the Odin file and it's MD5 signature.

that's a start.

 

[Omegastorm]

VZW Note 3+Root+Jasmine Rom+Partial Firmware
CID starts with 15 (verified with EMMC)
Android Ver: 5.0
N900VVRUEOF1

Ive ran the unlock countless times I gets nothing no unlock of the bootloader at all

 

[bftb0]

VZW Note 3+Root+Jasmine Rom+Partial Firmware
CID starts with 15 (verified with EMMC)
Android Ver: 5.0
N900VVRUEOF1

Ive ran the unlock countless times I gets nothing no unlock of the bootloader at all

It produces error messages when it encounters a problem and exits without completing it's job.

Is there some reason why you believe we should be able to intuit what those countless error messages were? (It would be simpler if you just cut-n-paste that output into your post.)

You might also want to state which version of the tool you used - there are at least 3 in the original thread.

 

[Jaws4God]

im thinking about getting a verizon note 3.. does this work for all variants to get root, twrp and custom roms?

thanks

 

[donc113]

im thinking about getting a verizon note 3.. does this work for all variants to get root, twrp and custom roms?

thanks

No

You can root all variants but can not unlock all variants, thus can't use TWRP or use custom ROMS or kernel.

Must be model SM-N900V, must have a specific Samsung eMMC (cid must start with 15) and the external SD card slot must work along with the USB port.



Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

 

[Omegastorm]

It produces error messages when it encounters a problem and exits without completing it's job.

Is there some reason why you believe we should be able to intuit what those countless error messages were? (It would be simpler if you just cut-n-paste that output into your post.)

You might also want to state which version of the tool you used - there are at least 3 in the original thread.

Oh wow didn't know there was three I'm gonna go back and check that out again thanks

 

[xcal_tau]

This is awesome man, great thanks to you. I'm new on n3 verizon, i like unleashing the power of my phone, =D

 

[1Xfan]

THANK YOU!

Nice post! I hadn't looked at XDA/ note 3 development in awhile. Awesome to see an exploit found! BAM!
Has anyone made a STOCK deodex/? CM is cool, but I like the S-pen. I have the n900V.
Thanks again

 

[Sczar]

Nice post! I hadn't looked at XDA/ note 3 development in awhile. Awesome to see an exploit found! BAM!
Has anyone made a STOCK deodex/? CM is cool, but I like the S-pen. I have the n900V.
Thanks again

There are some Stock out there:

[LP] [5.0] [RE/DE] [Xposed] [MultiSystem] JasmineROM v6.1
mostly stock N900VVRUEOF1[debloated/deodexed/wifi fixed]