Questions about Unlocking or Recovering from a Soft Brick? LOOK HERE BEFORE POSTING!!

[droidstyle]

I felt the need to create a thread explaining things a bit better. Lets get started shall we!!

1) As most folks know the I605 Galaxy Note 2 shipped with a locked bootloader. This means you Can Not flash any custom roms/kernels/ or recoveries until you unlock the bootloader!! Failure to comply will result in a yellow triangle stating "unsupported software detected"!

2) If you flashed custom software on your device without unlocking, please refer to Section 1B of my GUIDE in development section. This will bring your device back up and running in stock condition!!


3) Now you can proceed to Adams latest "Jailbreak" thread for for rooting/unlocking/flashing a custom recovery. Make sure to only use the method that applies to the firmware/bootloader version that was previously on your device.

VRAMC3 - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2272066

VRALL4 - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2118348

VRALJB- http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2043636 (Unless you purchased this device within the first month of release, and never accepted a OTA, Do Not use this link).

4) And last of all, folks never accept any OTA's!! There is no reason to!! Now that your device has been rooted, unlocked, and running twrp recovery, you can now download any latest update.zip from the dev section and flash in recovery. The Devs here are always fast at packaging up the OTA into a zip format so we can update via cwm or twrp recovery. There are a couple reasons why I prefer this method,

1. Future OTA updates may relock the device permanently! There is no gurantee a unlock method will be achieved for the next OTA.

2. .Zip roms are normally smaller, so they take less time to download and imo are easier to install.

3. OTA's can sometimes fail and soft brick the device.

So please read through this thread thoroughly and remember research twice, flash once! Hopefully this helps...:good:

**Also Note the VRUEMJ9 4.3 OTA update locked the bootloader and there is no current unlock method**

 

[kintwofan]

This was way overdue good work droidstyle

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

 

[droidstyle]

This was way overdue good work droidstyle

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

now if we can just get it stickied!!

 

[bond32]

Nicely done. Maybe it will help

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

 

[droidstyle]

Nicely done. Maybe it will help

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

Thx...yea hope so! figured it couldnt hurt anyway.

 

[jayharper08]

now if we can just get it stickied!!

I see no reason why it can't be.

Good job, just be sure to keep up to date with it. :good::highfive:

 

[droidstyle]

I see no reason why it can't be.

Good job, just be sure to keep up to date with it. :good::highfive:

will do :good:

 

[kintwofan]

Nice! Now let's hope people read it.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

 

[yeyah]

Error while using Casual R311b

Noob here. Just got my Note II, on VRALL4

I am trying to unlock using the Adam's instructions to the letter (and viewing the instructional video), but I keep getting

ERROR: Protocol initialisation failed!Your device should be rebooting into Android now.

The phone stays in download mode and never reboots back into Android. I've tried different USB ports, installed the drivers from Samsung Kies (I uninstalled the Kies software after getting the drivers). Tried searching through the instructional thread, but couldn't find any concrete answers. Not sure what to try next.

 

[kintwofan]

Noob here. Just got my Note II, on VRALL4

I am trying to unlock using the Adam's instructions to the letter (and viewing the instructional video), but I keep getting

ERROR: Protocol initialisation failed!Your device should be rebooting into Android now.

The phone stays in download mode and never reboots back into Android. I've tried different USB ports, installed the drivers from Samsung Kies (I uninstalled the Kies software after getting the drivers). Tried searching through the instructional thread, but couldn't find any concrete answers. Not sure what to try next.

I haven't followed the new instructions yet, but have you tried manually turning your phone back on to see if it will just pick back up in the process?

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

 

[yeyah]

I haven't followed the new instructions yet, but have you tried manually turning your phone back on to see if it will just pick back up in the process?

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

The only way to get my phone to boot back into Android is to disconnect the USB cable, pull the battery, and boot it. After removing the USB cable, Casual still shows "DEVICE CONNECTED".

 

[kintwofan]

The only way to get my phone to boot back into Android is to disconnect the USB cable, pull the battery, and boot it. After removing the USB cable, Casual still shows "DEVICE CONNECTED".

Thought it might. Did it do Odin for you if not make sure auto reboot is checked before starting.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

 

[yeyah]

Thought it might. Did it do Odin for you if not make sure auto reboot is checked before starting.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

No, I don't believe this newest Casual uses Odin. It's just a(n almost) one-click solution. No checkboxes (see initial post in this thread for a link to the thread containing the new Casual).

Is there another way to root/unlock VRALL4? I'd be happy to try out more complex methods, as this doesn't seem to be working.

 

[kintwofan]

No, I don't believe this newest Casual uses Odin. It's just a(n almost) one-click solution. No checkboxes (see initial post in this thread for a link to the thread containing the new Casual).

Is there another way to root/unlock VRALL4? I'd be happy to try out more complex methods, as this doesn't seem to be working.

I know where the post is but haven't used it yet. No this is the only way, except maybe an older version of casual. Maybe someone who's used it will be by soon to help.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

 

[droidstyle]

yea the one click method seems to be having issues for some...maybe adam can put the other method back up until the kinks are worked out. sorry wish i could be of more help.

 

[RoNStiZz]

stuck on yellow triangle stating firmware problems

Hi all..i recently tried to unlock the bootloader however did not know the file i used was not compatible with the latest OTA. When using ODin the phone fails at the sboot.bin...now i can still get into the ODin menu but thats it. Ive been reading several threads and the only solution Ive seen was that the device would get its data wiped. However I have many sentimental things on the device, would there be a way for me to recover all that data. I thought I had backed all files onto my sd card but not all the files got transferred. Any help or tips would be appreciated thank you

 

[droidstyle]

try using root66 from section 1a of my guide it does not wipe data.

 

[RoNStiZz]

try using root66 from section 1a of my guide it does not wipe data.

Thanks!:good: Will try this method and will post the results....I downloaded the root66 file but ODin is not recognizing the file so I'm not able to load it...

 

[RoNStiZz]

Recovery

Thanks!:good: Will try this method and will post the results....I downloaded the root66 file but ODin is not recognizing the file so I'm not able to load it...

Alright so I realized i needed to extract the file, I did so followed directions and YES my phone is working again. Now I just need to run a recovery and hopefully everything will go back to how it was before i soft bricked my phone

 

[kintwofan]

Alright so I realized i needed to extract the file, I did so followed directions and YES my phone is working again. Now I just need to run a recovery and hopefully everything will go back to how it was before i soft bricked my phone

Make sure you unlock first

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