[Q] Is my GS4 bricked, or recoverable

[oldwolf613]

I experienced spontaneous reboots, & I use Safestrap 3.65 & I noticed that SS was missing in the Stock slot. I'm rooted & running HyperDrive 10.2 & Android OS 4.2.2 - or was....

I d/l'ed SS3.65 & to be sure I used the app to remove the recovery & then reinstalled the recovery on the Stock side & rebooted & recreated slot 1 w/HyperDrive 10.2 via a nand backup.

However, I kept getting spontaneous reboots, so I tried to do a full factory reset on the Stock side & when I tried to reboot the only thing that shows is the "Custom" warning & it doesn't move from there.... I have to remove the battery to turn off the phone.

I did some homework & looking back at it, I shouldn't have done the full factory reset before removing the recovery...

I do NOT have nor do I know ADB, but I need to get back my S4 if possible, I would greatly appreciate any help.

I am in New York City, so if there are any locals that can help, but need to look at it; I can get around to the 5 boros.....

Thanks very much in advance, Oldwolf

 

[riker147]

If you know what your original build was you could use Odin to get back to stock.

Sent from my NCC-1701 using Tapatalk.

 

[oldwolf613]

Riker, tnx so much for ur tip! I was on MI1, can I just Odin that?, or do I need the version that was 'native' to the phone.

Also, I need input on how to get into the mode needed for Odin to work- I forgot the button-press sequence… also, please tell me where to find the required driversto get my new PC (Win7) to 'see' the S4.

Unfortunately, most of my hacking b4 has been on the Moto platform; so I'm still 'Green' w/the Sammy stuff…

Thanks again! oldwolf

 

[Raymondlikesroot]

Riker, tnx so much for ur tip! I was on MI1, can I just Odin that?, or do I need the version that was 'native' to the phone.

Also, I need input on how to get into the mode needed for Odin to work- I forgot the button-press sequence… also, please tell me where to find the required driversto get my new PC (Win7) to 'see' the S4.

Unfortunately, most of my hacking b4 has been on the Moto platform; so I'm still 'Green' w/the Sammy stuff…

Thanks again! oldwolf

You should be able to recover easily. It's not a hard brick by all means.
First, follow this link http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2301259 and donwload the MI1 odin file. It should come as a zip but you unzip it and then you get a .tar file.

Then, download odin 3.09. A simple google will give a link.

Then, put phone in download mode. From a power off state, hold home button+volume down+power button. To get it powered off, you may have to pull battery and reinsert. Plug in usb cable into cpu and phone.

Then in odin, leave everything the same, click AP, choose the mi1 tar file.

Run odin

Done! :good::good:

 

[oldwolf613]

Richard, thanks so much for your clear steps. What about rooting once I get MI1 up & running? It feels funny; in the Moto world I wouldn't have to ask… but so far in the Sammy world I've only rooted & Odin'ed once a long while back…

Also, what about taking an OTA update?, from what I've seen, it is not a good idea b/c of tougher security fm Sammy- but I heard there is an NC5 image that is rootable & you can even roll back… anybody have any ideas?

I'm also considering a diff ROM, but suggestions would be welcome- I've been spending a lot of time on my PC…

thanks in advance to all, Oldwolf

 

[oldwolf613]

To All, never mind about the re-rooting question. I didn't know the link in the prev answer provided guidance for this.

I really appreciate getting timely responses & people being willing to help me get into the Sammy side of hacking…

Custom ROM suggestions?

What is the feel about taking the OTA update once I have MI1 Stock - it seems that there are more updates for HyperDrive available for 4.3 or 4.4x, or even Lollipop- but t_ere were reports of probs w/diff things, Wifi I believe & now that VZW has enticed me to give up unlimited data (for a sweethevrt deal on unlimited talk & text) I can't afford yo be w/out wifi…

regards, Oldwolf

 

[Raymondlikesroot]

Richard, thanks so much for your clear steps. What about rooting once I get MI1 up & running? It feels funny; in the Moto world I wouldn't have to ask… but so far in the Sammy world I've only rooted & Odin'ed once a long while back…

Also, what about taking an OTA update?, from what I've seen, it is not a good idea b/c of tougher security fm Sammy- but I heard there is an NC5 image that is rootable & you can even roll back… anybody have any ideas?

I'm also considering a diff ROM, but suggestions would be welcome- I've been spending a lot of time on my PC…

thanks in advance to all, Oldwolf

My personal, non-richard, suggestion would be to odin to nc5, towelroot, get safestrap 3.75, then download either eclipse, hyperdrive or a safestrap compatible google play edition rom. This is because nc5 is simply a newer version and MI1 doesn't give you any special tweaks that nc5 doesn't have.

there are many threads around these forums discussing each step of the process that I've listed. Try searching for them first. I like to simply type in google " towelroot s4 xda" for example. If you can't find a thread that helps, i'll be happy to assist you.

p.s. I'm not richard.

 

[oldwolf613]

Raymond, er, um, uh?!

Sorry about calling you that other name.... guess I was distracted... you know, w/my S4 sitting corrupted on the table & all.... & it looks like I gotta get more sleep.....

I noted in the thread you mentioned SafeStrap 3.75 & Towel Root, & a SS-compatible Google Play Edition Rom.... mine is a retail VZW S4, I'm guessing if you mentioned it that it'd be OK. BTW, I thought that Eclipse is no longer being developed for the S4... just older versions made for earlier versions of the Android OS.... via updates fm Eclipse's author...:laugh:

Also, do you know any issues related to Hyperdrive for NC5? I'd given up on updating b/c I heard about wifi issues & I must have wifi....

Also, can you go directly fm a soft-bricked MI1 to NC5 just thru Odin, or are there intermediate steps. I ask b/c I've seen postings in my email box w/forum updates - even if I haven't been involved in the forums... & someone posted a non-data-wiping image to go to NC5, but you had to be on M2 first....

Another point- I saw in a referred thread that being stuck on the Sammy logo means data corruption & it seems that I'd need a ready-for-Odin wiping image; do you have anything on that?

Anyway, thanks for the search tips, I haven't been good at internet searching, I guess that I will have those skills improved also...

Thanks again for the non-Richard help, Raymond- Oldwolf

 

[Raymondlikesroot]

Raymond, er, um, uh?!

Sorry about calling you that other name.... guess I was distracted... you know, w/my S4 sitting corrupted on the table & all.... & it looks like I gotta get more sleep.....

I noted in the thread you mentioned SafeStrap 3.75 & Towel Root, & a SS-compatible Google Play Edition Rom.... mine is a retail VZW S4, I'm guessing if you mentioned it that it'd be OK. BTW, I thought that Eclipse is no longer being developed for the S4... just older versions made for earlier versions of the Android OS.... via updates fm Eclipse's author...:laugh:

Also, do you know any issues related to Hyperdrive for NC5? I'd given up on updating b/c I heard about wifi issues & I must have wifi....

Also, can you go directly fm a soft-bricked MI1 to NC5 just thru Odin, or are there intermediate steps. I ask b/c I've seen postings in my email box w/forum updates - even if I haven't been involved in the forums... & someone posted a non-data-wiping image to go to NC5, but you had to be on M2 first....

Another point- I saw in a referred thread that being stuck on the Sammy logo means data corruption & it seems that I'd need a ready-for-Odin wiping image; do you have anything on that?

Anyway, thanks for the search tips, I haven't been good at internet searching, I guess that I will have those skills improved also...

Thanks again for the non-Richard help, Raymond- Oldwolf

Don't sweat the Richard thing! Haha, I'm just fooling around. But I still don't know where you got Richard from.

~Eclipse works very well for nc5 even though the last update was in June. Its still a perfectly good rom.
~If you set up everything correctly, Hyperdrive will work fine for you. No bugs for me.
~As long you can get to download mode, you're set for odin. You can always odin to a official new version, just not a older one.

 

[oldwolf613]

Raymond, I'm on my old Razr = small scrn; but I'll be sure to give you official forum props for all of your help when I get back to my PC.

I do like HyperDrive, but once upon time I saw that some of the versions in earlier teens had probs w/wifi & that's crucial to me… I also missed screen rotation since HD 10.2 for viewing pix & reading text/books but it was stable… & I have to admit I was a little worried
about having to go back & forth recovering fm Sammy hacking errors as its still new to me… if I were rich I wouldn't care, but I have to update my PC as well as other expenses, so spending a lot on phones is not on my horizon.

I suppose your help will crank things up a notch for me, there's nothing like experience w/a more experienced person pointing you in the right direction.

Which version are of HD are you on?

Which version of safestrap is needed for NC5? If I can find an official image to flash, I may want to go directly there, but I vlso heard that newer OTAs fm Sammy are harder if not impossible to root & I like root too!

BTW, your demeanor & willingness to help twigged me to the fact that you weren't all that upset at the slip w/your name, & I actually got a laugh out of how you reacted.

All the best, Oldwolf

 

[oldwolf613]

Raymond,

Great news! Success on the first try.... I did have some minor blips, but all seems to be working. I tested first via wifi & then contacted VZW to re-attach my service back to my S4 & so far so good.

BTW, since I had a nand backup of MI1, I just restored that version via Odin b/c I wasn't sure if a nand made on an older version of the Android OS would work on a newer version of the OS & I needed to be back up & running quickly.

Of course, if using a nand backup made on MI1 can be restored to a device running NC5... I now feel comfortable about going ahead based on this experience you helped me to gain & I would just Odin NC5 & restore fm my old MI1-based nand b/u set -

I also anticipate that there might be a problem if the nand backup was made on SafeStrap 3.65 & one wanted to restore it on a device running SS 3.75....

One of the blips was that after running the tar.md5 for DeLaVega root, the last 2 items of that driver installation failed; but root worked & so far so good.

I am very excited to be back on the S4, & you can know that much more than the forum thanks I put on your post here, I am appreciative.

All the best, Oldwolf