Official Verizon update???

[Quimolhado]

I don't suppose anyone has found a method of rooting while on the new PL1 update? I was trying to unlock the bootloader, ran into some issues, and when I used Odin to restore the firmware, I was on PL1 and unrooted, naturally. The Yemen root and Arabic root methods don't seem to be effective on this version, sadly.

 

[jfalcon]

I don't suppose anyone has found a method of rooting while on the new PL1 update? I was trying to unlock the bootloader, ran into some issues, and when I used Odin to restore the firmware, I was on PL1 and unrooted, naturally. The Yemen root and Arabic root methods don't seem to be effective on this version, sadly.

I actually just now was able to walk it back to OB6 from PL1. I was trying various things on here and managed to get it to just go directly to the bootloader with the "Use the Verizon Software Repair Assistant" screen coming up. So I did and it still was broken.. but it lead me to get in there with Process Monitor and get the path of the image it was downloading. After that was copied to another drive (along with it in it's decrypted form), I fired Odin back up and began trying to flash it with roughly the same results. As I was thinking I was ****ed at that point, I began to use the switches that we shouldn't be using.. notably the PIT file to wipe the partitions, reference the OB6 image instead of PL1 and probably the most important, Wipe and Reinstall NVRAM and Bootloader.

Now mind you, on my screen I knew I did something different was when it would repeat something like "Erasing/Deleting USERDATA partition" over and over again each time I pressed the Start button (Oh, and I wasn't using autoboot). After a while, I again rebooted it into the loader, then just did a normal restore from OB6. Then when it finished, it did a few things and then hung at the Samsung screen. But from there I knew what to do. Rebooted and wiped the cache/data. It booted into Verizon then hung. Then I just rebooted into safe mode. That brought me up to the GUI.

From there it was just to get dev mode re-enabled, use ArabicTool to root and hop onto the market for SuperSU.

I'm not sure if I did anything but just jam on it like a tester monkey, but I had brought this phone out intending to hack on it after a failed bootloader change attempt a few months ago - when I restored it, it was sadly the day after the PL1 update went out.. so when I went to Kies, it didn't give me the option to roll to OB6.. only PL1.

So yeah, I was hard ****ed - kingroot would get nailed, no root tools as it's patched to December's android vulnerability update and bootloader gave me fuse errors. I'm frankly surprised that I got around the bootloader like that after jamming it. But something tells me that the download I got from verizon's app opened the bootloader up for me to reflash down to OB6.

 

[bftb0]

@jfalcon

So long as the anti-rollback fuses have not been incremented from

RP SWREV: S1, T1, R1, A4, P1

you should be able to use the standalone version of Odin to go all the way back to NK1 or OB6 or OF1 (so long as you have those full stock ROMs).

Using Kies or VZW Software Repair or something else besides Odin probably just complicates matters.

Having said that there's no root for NK1, but I guess OB6 and OF1 are rootable

If you check your Download mode screen, is your device still showing S1, T1, R1, A4, P1?


PS: You didn't happen to capture the PL1 download did you?

 

[jfalcon]

@jfalcon

So long as the anti-rollback fuses have not been incremented from

RP SWREV: S1, T1, R1, A4, P1

you should be able to use the standalone version of Odin to go all the way back to NK1 or OB6 or OF1 (so long as you have those full stock ROMs).

Using Kies or VZW Software Repair or something else besides Odin probably just complicates matters.

Having said that there's no root for NK1, but I guess OB6 and OF1 are rootable

If you check your Download mode screen, is your device still showing S1, T1, R1, A4, P1

Yes, in fact it does.
It also states Mode: Developer (fwiw)

 

[bftb0]

Yes, in fact it does.
It also states Mode: Developer (fwiw)

If you applied a full stock ROM including the bootloader components without also running the unlock method it wouldn't say Developer mode. Unless the (modified) aboot partition was never touched by whatever you did.

But that's good to know - it means that someone on PL1 can roll back to NK1, OB6 or OF1 using Odin and the full stock ROMs; it doesn't increment any of the anti-rollback flags. (They will have to run the bootloader unlock method again after rooting - 2 passes if they never did it previously, or only the 2nd pass if they had previously used it - the CID change would not get touched by the ROM flash, even if bootloader components were flashed)

 

[Quimolhado]

@jfalcon

So long as the anti-rollback fuses have not been incremented from

RP SWREV: S1, T1, R1, A4, P1

you should be able to use the standalone version of Odin to go all the way back to NK1 or OB6 or OF1 (so long as you have those full stock ROMs).

Using Kies or VZW Software Repair or something else besides Odin probably just complicates matters.

Having said that there's no root for NK1, but I guess OB6 and OF1 are rootable

If you check your Download mode screen, is your device still showing S1, T1, R1, A4, P1?


PS: You didn't happen to capture the PL1 download did you?

If you applied a full stock ROM including the bootloader components without also running the unlock method it wouldn't say Developer mode. Unless the (modified) aboot partition was never touched by whatever you did.

But that's good to know - it means that someone on PL1 can roll back to NK1, OB6 or OF1 using Odin and the full stock ROMs; it doesn't increment any of the anti-rollback flags. (They will have to run the bootloader unlock method again after rooting - 2 passes if they never did it previously, or only the 2nd pass if they had previously used it - the CID change would not get touched by the ROM flash, even if bootloader components were flashed)

Mine is showing RP SWREV: S1, T1, R1, A4, P1 as well.

Then it would only be a matter of flashing the OF1 stock rom using Odin? Where would I go about finding a copy of this ROM?

 

[jfalcon]

Then it would only be a matter of flashing the OF1 stock rom using Odin? Where would I go about finding a copy of this ROM?

I got the file here: https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/knowledge-base-80200/

 

[bftb0]

@Quimolhado

I would guess that you have to get older versions from sammobile or similar firmware archive site.

I think the method that jfalcon describes (discovering the download location used by the VZW software assistant while it runs using Winternals "procmon"*) would only allow you to capture whatever version that software attempts to download, which would likely just be the latest (PL1)
@jfalcon is that what you experienced? Did you keep a copy? (If so can you provide file size and MD5 hash for the PL1 firmware?)


* on Windows you can (usually) just poke around in the active user's Temporary Files folders and intuit where it is by size and file datestamp

 

[BlaiseB]

I did the update 2 days ago on my non-rooted note 3.

Everything is pretty much the same I dont notice any difference really.

Only thing is it seems my battery life has become worse.

I agree. Battery life has gotten way worse after this update. Anyone have a way of going back to previous firmware version?

 

[QuimaxW]

I downloaded PL1 via Kies (couldn't get any other site to even download the last version...)
Files size is 2620047567 bytes
MD5 sum: 67de72847d3c1f34c212068bbf325687
File name: ALL_VZW_N900VVRSEPL1_N900VVZWEPL1_CL4445722_QB11902054_REV03_user_low_ship_MULTI_CERT.tar.md5

 

[NachoAndroid]

Has anyone had errors with the screen not really functioning after doing this update? This problem developed after this update. When you power on the phone it shows the Verizon screen but then when it loads the Android software (lock screen) the screen goes blank except for the notification bar, and you can drag that down and view it, but you can’t see anything else. (basically it bypasses the lock screen [even though I have a password] to the home screen, but doesn't show the home screen)

Now a few days later the battery life has suddenly gotten terrible, it will drop huge percentages and suddenly die. Now I can't get the phone to boot, as soon as it gets to the lock screen it automatically restarts. It was also getting very hot near the camera. I tried clearing cache, closing apps, removing SD card, even removing the SIM card but nothing resolved it. Won't boot in safe mode. Phone is not rooted.

 

[bftb0]

This problem developed after this update.

My money is on a hardware failure that was contemporaneous with the patch application but not caused by it - a coincidence in time.

Post hoc ergo propter hoc

Hard to say for sure though; heat acts as an accelerant of a variety of electronics failure mechanisms & others are making the claim that battery life has been reduced. (More rapid discharge = warmer phone, all else being equal)

 

[cssr]

Has anyone tried this? If you have the PL1 update and a unlocked boot loader. Flash TWRP with odin, Boot twrp and flash superSU. That's how I rooted my 2 other samsung phones. Maybe too easy, but it may work.

 

[bftb0]

Has anyone tried this? If you have the PL1 update and a unlocked boot loader. Flash TWRP with odin, Boot twrp and flash superSU. That's how I rooted my 2 other samsung phones. Maybe too easy, but it may work.

For the condition you describe - where the bootloader is already unlocked, yeah that does work - but ONLY if the bootloader is already unlocked. I did it once because I was running some kernel replacement experiments in the recovery partition and accidentally left a non-bootable recovery in place, and then also wedged the rooted ROM as well. Odin to the rescue, but as I say, it booted the custom recovery only because my bootloader was already unlocked.

Hard to imaging though why someone would unlock their bootloader and then apply a OTA update to a rooted-stock OB6 device. Stranger things have happened, though.

 

[cssr]

For the condition you describe - where the bootloader is already unlocked, yeah that does work - but ONLY if the bootloader is already unlocked. I did it once because I was running some kernel replacement experiments in the recovery partition and accidentally left a non-bootable recovery in place, and then also wedged the rooted ROM as well. Odin to the rescue, but as I say, it booted the custom recovery only because my bootloader was already unlocked.

Hard to imaging though why someone would unlock their bootloader and then apply a OTA update to a rooted-stock OB6 device. Stranger things have happened, though.

I only posted that because some people said the update was forced on their phone. I was thinking of a way to get root back without using Odin to clean install OF1/OB6, rerooting the phone and unlocking the bootloader.

 

[bftb0]

I only posted that because some people said the update was forced on their phone. I was thinking of a way to get root back without using Odin to clean install OF1/OB6, rerooting the phone and unlocking the bootloader.

No worries, your advice is absolutely correct. Just thought I'd emphasize the unlocked requirement in case someone wasn't reading carefully. There will no doubt be 100% stock PL1 owners that come in here later on looking for a way to root.

Actually, I suspect you can *flash* whatever you like to the recovery partition using Odin, even when the bootloader is locked. I haven't confirmed that by trying it though, mostly because you wouldn't be able to boot non-Samsung recoveries in that (locked bootloader) circumstance anyway.

 

[cssr]

Actually, I suspect you can *flash* whatever you like to the recovery partition using Odin, even when the bootloader is locked. I haven't confirmed that by trying it though, mostly because you wouldn't be able to boot non-Samsung recoveries in that (locked bootloader) circumstance anyway.

No you cannot!!! It will not boot until you reflash stock recovery. I found out the hard way!

 

[recDNA]

Has anyone had a problem free experience after updating a stock vzw version?

 

[donc113]

Has anyone had a problem free experience after updating a stock vzw version?

From a stock version OTA upgrade to a newer version went fine for me several times. Then, once rooted.. NEVER take another OTA nor flash via ODIN if you want things to go smooth and keep root.

There are several versions that can be rooted (4.4.2 and below + OF1 [5.0]) and several that can not be rooted, 4.4.4, OB6 (5.0) and the latest version PL1 (5.0)

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

 

[recDNA]

I'm not rooted and don't need to be. My question is directed to stock users. Did anyone have a neutral or. positive experience or does everyone experience poor battery life after update? Thanks.