[Q] Is it safe to OTA update to 4.3 on my rooted phone? - T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII

So I rooted my phone using the method outlined in this thread here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1771687
I used odin to flash the 4.1.2 T-Mobile image and I stopped at the part that said "If you just want a stock, rooted phone with no custom recovery, no plans to flash custom roms, etc. then you can stop HERE" because I only wanted root so I could fix the keyboard bug (keyboard would revert to stock one after resets).
So my question is, can I update to 4.3 via the OTA update that is in the About Device > Software Update section in the phone? Looking elsewhere the official instructions say that the phone should not be rooted before updating. If so, can I get rid of the root in order to update? (As far as I know, the keyboard bug doesn't exist in 4.3 anyway so I don't think I need the root anymore). If not, how can I update to 4.3?
Lastly, and somewhat unrelated, can I use the factory data reset in the Back up and reset section of the settings? Previously in my experience with roms, this would lead to a boot loop but I'm not sure if that is the case with this so-called rooted stock rom.
Thanks in advance.

You can use OTA RootKeeper to temporarily disable Root so that you will receive the update. Or you could also visit the Root66 thread you have linked. There you will see Rooted version of the 4.3 update.
Having said that, You will want to Research the consequences of the 4.3 Stock update. In particular you wish to research the consequences of CIQ, KNOX and the new EFuse Bootloader.

I am by no means an expert but I figure I just did this so it may help you out. I updated my phone to 4.3 accidentally on purpose and then I decided to root my phone like the next day. I used Mr Robinson's method and then used his third method to download the ROM manager and install CWM Recovery and then I put Cyanogen on it. I have not had any issues except the app Trailer Addict doesn't work with it but that is not a big issue. I have everything else that I wanted and more. I don't care about the flash counter since I am not under warranty. Oh and you can use Titanium Backup to back up your apps. I didn't do this the first time so I had to back up from Kies 3 by dragging files onto my SD card and not all worked. I hope I helped a little.

Related

Some questions about rooting (phone is already rooted)

I just want to say that I have successfully rooted the phone and I am running root required apps just fine. But I have some further questions about where to go from here.
#1: Flashing ROMs using ClockworkMod--do I have to wipe my phone every time I want to change a ROM or can I just install a new ROM on top of the old one?
#2: I keep getting a message about needing to update the Firmware... I heard there was some kind of update which kills root so I have been avoiding the Firmware update. Is this the update that kills root? How do I get this OTA update message to stop showing up & is there an updated rooted firmware I can install to not lose root and still have an up to date phone?
#3: What are the benefits of doing all the junk listed in the rooting tutorial after rooting the phone like unlocking the nand? Why would I ever want to make a nand backup?
AlphaWhelp said:
I just want to say that I have successfully rooted the phone and I am running root required apps just fine. But I have some further questions about where to go from here.
#1: Flashing ROMs using ClockworkMod--do I have to wipe my phone every time I want to change a ROM or can I just install a new ROM on top of the old one?
#2: I keep getting a message about needing to update the Firmware... I heard there was some kind of update which kills root so I have been avoiding the Firmware update. Is this the update that kills root? How do I get this OTA update message to stop showing up & is there an updated rooted firmware I can install to not lose root and still have an up to date phone?
#3: What are the benefits of doing all the junk listed in the rooting tutorial after rooting the phone like unlocking the nand? Why would I ever want to make a nand backup?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. You have to wipe every time you flash a rom of different build...example: you have Fresh Rom and you want to go to Damage Control, then yes you would have to wipe. If you are just updating Fresh .3 to Fresh .5 then you would not have to wipe.
2. There are updated roms out using the latest software patch. I know Damage Control's latest utilizes this...not sure of the others, as I have only run his since the last update.
3. Making a "nand backup" is nothing more than backing up the current rom you are using in case you screw something up you can just revert to your backup. Unlocking nand also allows you to "write" within Android vs. having to do it using adb commands.
hope this helps...I'm sure others will chime in.
pretty much what admorris said.
#2 make sure never ever to take an ota update!!! you could lose your root forever Wait for a dev to incorporate the update (you should find an updated rom and the update messages will stop)
#3 You want to unlock nand because that is full root. The first part of rooting is only the half of it Most custom roms now require nand be unlocked in order for the rom to properly function
thanks. Is there any app I can download to make a backup of my settings & apps? I'm tired of wiping my phone and starting over from scratch.
titanium backup

random noob questions...

OK,
1st Hi all and thanks for not bashing my lack of knowledge. I have done many searches and am now more confused than before.
I am comming from a droid X, I did the z4 root on it to get wifi tether working, it was on 2.2.1 I believe. Well it went very good, but I never got a push for an update. Got the new GN on verizon and tried to restore it back to stock, didn't work, so instead of selling it I gave it to my mom. Also, did this on a friends and he did get the update push and lost the root and superuser access.
This story is just so you know I am a complete noob. Other than following someones set by set on using Z4 I have really not done anything and have some questions on my new phone.
1. why would I want to unlock the bootloader?
2. after reading about the wifi hotspot by svtp do I need to root?
3. If i root and/or unlock the bootloader will this stop the updates from google (main reason I bought the phone)?
4. I am not into overclocking or modding but I want to be able to have wifi if I ever need it. That is the only thing I want.
Basically I am looking to unlock the wifi and still get all the google updates, is this possible? As of right now I think buying the svtp app is my best bet, I just don't want an unexpected bill showing up.
ok, still not rooted or unlocked. cannot get svtp to work wifi
Follow this guide --> http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1382163
re #1: you need to unlock the bootloader to do pretty much anything non standard with your phone.
Since unlocking the bootloader wipes all data on the phone it's a good idea to do it early. You can leave it otherwise stock while you think about it, you can even relock it if you need to return the phone for some reason.
Neither unlocking nor rooting the phone will stop you getting the OTAs, it's custom roms that will do that. However most OTAs will stop your root access because they reset the permissions on your su files.
hth
Clancy_s said:
Neither unlocking nor rooting the phone will stop you getting the OTAs, it's custom roms that will do that. However most OTAs will stop your root access because they reset the permissions on your su files.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to add further to this... not only will custom ROMs stop you from getting OTA updates, having custom recovery (ClockworkMod) will prevent them from applying, even with the stock ROM. If using a stock ROM with custom recovery, you'll need to do the update manually. If you wait until you get the update notification, your phone should have downloaded the update to /cache. You can then use the custom recovery to apply the update. Alternatively, you can look on these forums for someone to post the URL to the OTA update zip file, download it, and flash it manually (this way you don't need to wait until your phone gets the update, you can download it and have it sooner).
In either case, you'll usually need to re-root, as stated. This is easier with a custom recovery, because you should just have to flash superuser immediately after flashing the update, before rebooting.
Until CM9 is stable, I'm running the stock ROM with ClockworkMod recovery. I can download the OTA updates manually and flash them with ClockworkMod then flash superuser and I'm good to go. Custom recovery makes it nice and easy to retain root, as well as the ability to do nandroid backups, etc.

Will I still be able to upgrade to ICS if I root my phone?

Hi, I'm really tired of all the custom software installed on my xplay that I don't use and would like to root my phone so I can get rid of it. My only fear is that I will have trouble updating to ICS once it is released.
I know I would be able to flash the ROM manually once it's posted here but I don't like relying on that, I'd prefer to do it the "official" way.
Is there a way to unroot your phone so you can use the vendor provided update method? If not, can someone explain to me the process of applying an official update to a rooted phone?
Thanks
Rooting the phone only adds a few files to the phone giving it root permissions.
I got my phone as 2.3.3 from rogers, rooted it. Then I updated it the official way to 2.3.4. It removed the root permissions, but it updated fine, then I just rooted it again.
You shouldn't have a problem.
And if all else fails, reflash back to the stock rom, then update.
Masters2150 said:
Rooting the phone only adds a few files to the phone giving it root permissions.
I got my phone as 2.3.3 from rogers, rooted it. Then I updated it the official way to 2.3.4. It removed the root permissions, but it updated fine, then I just rooted it again.
You shouldn't have a problem.
And if all else fails, reflash back to the stock rom, then update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! I'll give it a go

Do Official OTA Updates and Factory Resets Work After Rooting?

Maybe someone can throw a new guy a bone here? ....
One thing I had on my jailbroken iPhone was free tethering. My Xfinity went down the other day and I realized I couldn't tether my new Android without paying AT$T. So from what I understand, like the iPhone I need to root it and then download a third party tethering app?
If I root now, I'll probably be tempted to give Black Jelly or Frost ROMs a try. I know with this 'Odin' program or 'Nandroid' backup with CWP (still figuring all this out) I can switch between ROMS pretty easily. It takes me about an hour though to download all my apps and reconfig my phone after a reset though. I think Titanium backup or something solves this, but seems to me using something like that with custom ROM, as opposed to a 'clean' install and just start installing/configuring from scratch may pose higher risk of having issues?
So my question is, if I root and install custom ROM, how hard is it to get the official update installed, or any more official future updates installed if I decide I don't want to stay on a custom ROM?
Being an experimental person and my first time to Android, I'm sure I'm going to eventually cave (for sure root) and try a custom ROM. I see SO many posts though in these ROM forums with all sorts of little issues. I want to go back to stock and get official updates if I need to.
When the official jb drops there will most likely be some debloated version on here in a day or so. If you're rooted with a custom recovery it will take no time to install. I would also seriously consider titanium backup, it makes the process much easier.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
OTA after Rooting - Yes and No....
jazee said:
Maybe someone can throw a new guy a bone here? ....
So my question is, if I root and install custom ROM, how hard is it to get the official update installed, or any more official future updates installed if I decide I don't want to stay on a custom ROM?
Being an experimental person and my first time to Android, I'm sure I'm going to eventually cave (for sure root) and try a custom ROM. I see SO many posts though in these ROM forums with all sorts of little issues. I want to go back to stock and get official updates if I need to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are two issues you mention: 1) Having a custom ROM and doing an Custom OTA, and 2) OTA with stock ROM and after you you have rooted your phone.
Stock ROM and OTA after Rooting
In times past, there have been vendors that look for rooting and refused to OTA the phone. Citing it violated warantee, contract, whatever. AT&T use to do it, but with current ROMs, especially with the S3, they simply turn off the SUID bit on /system/xbin/su during the update.(They turn off the Root modification, of sorts). The current OTA of 4.0.4 does this trick. Making near impossible to root afterwards.
Usually it is always best to flash back to stock to insure you get a clean OTA.
Some versions of rooting will allow you to keep root even after OTA, but I would not count on it.
The other issue that some forget is any modification to the ROM may trip a counter which may cause OTA's to fail. In the S3 there is a counter on how many times the ROM has been flashed by custom software. Once it is tripped, any warantee you have on the device is voided. You can see the information when you set your phone into flash mode.
There are programs to reset the counter, and other methods, but it gets pretty ugly and you can hard brick your phone in some cases. Just use them with care.
Custom ROM and OTA after Rooting
With custom ROM's rooting is the norm. OTA's will usually not affect them. In fact some OTA's will include updated 'su' programs. There are some custom ROM's that are not able to OTA.
So it sounds to me like if I plan on rooting to get the free tethering, I should always wait until there's a stock ROM available here and manually install it? That way, I don't lose my root and I don't increase the counter unnecessarily?
Thanks for your help.

[Q] Root Lost after 4.1.2 OTA Update What is the Best Practice to restore

I had rooted my SGS3 while on 4.0.4 using the stock Samsung rom and Odin without issue no custom ROMS were installed just root access. Early August of 2013 the OTA for 4.1.2 was rolled out and I had accepted the update which was installed without issue, which apparently should not have been the case (everything I can find says OTAs will fail if you have root access, but this was not the case). I now want to either return to a full stock to get the 4.3.3 update at which point I may remain unrooted, or gain root again and update to 4.3.3 with root. I'm cautious about how to proceed here since I've read about a lot of people bricking their phones while attempting to root after 4.3.3. My primary concern is that my flash counter is tripped at 1, but I don't have root access and am not sure how to proceed with out potentially damaging my phone. So I'm essentially getting the worst of both worlds (unable to receive stock updates from carrier, no root access to update otherwise.) and don't want to be stuck on 4.1.2 for the life of this phone. I still have SuperSU installed, but when I open it it says "There is no SuperSU Binary installed and Super SU cannot install it. This is a problem!"
I have searched these forums and a few related to it, and from what I can gather I should just reroot the phone following instructions for 4.1.2, but if I want to make the jump to 4.3.3 I wasn't clear if this would be needed or not, but none of the threads I could find directly addressed the issue for the ATT SGS3 i747. The closest I found was a thread posted last month where the OP was directed to the CF Root procedures, but there was no followup after that. I'm just a little leery about what might happen if I reroot with another method and end up with duplicate files/.apks etc related to the root process on my phone.
I also wanted to be sure that rerooting using a different method wouldn't somehow damage my phone.
Can someone with some experience please advise of the safest best practice for me to either recover root and update, or remove root and update so I can start fresh later? From what I can gather this should be an easy fix, but I would prefer to rely on the expertise of someone more knowledgable as opposed to winging it on a gut feeling I will be ok.

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