Develop Bugs

I'm I alone to think new updates bring nothing but problem?

Hi, loyal XDA subject and Note 2 lovers.
(WARNING!! THIS IS A RANT THREAD) If you don't feel like it don't read it.
I've been out of XDA for a while now(for personal reasons), keeping an eye on new update only and of course flashing them but without being really involved like before.
Honestly nothing from these new updates gave me a desire or an excitement to make a come back and get involve again. Actually I found all the new update brings some little improvement (I've been waiting for the S4-Note 3 camera app) but more trouble than it should.
This Knox thing is a nightmare and all the security around it makes flashing phones more complicated if you want to keep your warranty.
Why does Samsung doesn't give us a choice? I hate companies who decides for us and what are we getting in return if you're not a Knox user?
I'm finish, so to go back, I'm I alone to think this way? If I'm wrong don't be shy to bring me back on the right path(in a polite way of course).

I dunno, I didn't flash stock ROM but slightly modified ROM with Note 3 apps and apart from 1 small bug (there is no Samsung account) I am very satisfied with it. As a matter of fact, not only do all Note 3 apps work fine, but the ROM is stable and noticably faster than 4.1.2. I might yet update to MK9/MKD or ML3, but I'd need the Note 3 pack to work, so I'll hold for the time being. I really like the 4.3 update. On all my devices I've never experienced better update then this one.
Yes, KNOX is a nightmare, so I suggest we all skip it for the time being and use pre-rooted de-Knoxed stock ROMs (MK9 available and MKD is there too but has to be rooted manualy)... just use MJ5 bootloader and all is good!

There is a slight speed increase. Some stock apps got a slight appearance update. Some slight improvements. Nothing major and the dreadful knox is preventing me to root it and enable ad block. That is the only root app I really need but I can surely wait it out until someone gonna crack knox.
now I am waiting to get home (on holiday) so I can pop into my carrier's store to get an upgrade to my contact. Getting a note 3.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk

How many people are waiting?

I was among the many who downloaded (immediately) the OTA, but amidst the frenzy, I ended up removing the update zip and I froze the Samsung/Google update process applications because I was wasn't willing to risk the inevitable compatability issues that arise on a new OS. I'm curious, though--how many others are wading the storm until development catches up? As it stands, this is the best phone I've ever had and I can't imagine risking functionality for the sake of being on the latest OS.
Also, when do you expect development catch up to provide a viable root method that doesn't trip knox, among other things? My guess is about 30 days.
Any thoughts?
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

rhetorician said:
I was among the many who downloaded (immediately) the OTA, but amidst the frenzy, I ended up removing the update zip and I froze the Samsung/Google update process applications because I was wasn't willing to risk the inevitable compatability issues that arise on a new OS. I'm curious, though--how many others are wading the storm until development catches up? As it stands, this is the best phone I've ever had and I can't imagine risking functionality for the sake of being on the latest OS.
Also, when do you expect development catch up to provide a viable root method that doesn't trip knox, among other things? My guess is about 30 days.
Any thoughts?
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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Click to collapse
I am waiting almost indefinitely. Every now and then i restore back to stock just to make sure I'm not missing out on anything. 4K video recording? Pffft, whatever. rapid-shot? samesies. I have an 18MP DSLR that can do all of those things much better if it's that important to me. Sure, I don't always have it in my pocket, but, compared to the professional grade those features don't even qualify as also-ran to me.
can't really think of a single thing that I miss from stock.
I got this phone the second my Jump was ready and I saw CM nightlies. Been on KK for a while now.
Now, if I were a fan of TW? I'd still sit tight and ride it out. There is nothing on KK that is all that amazing compared to JB. In fact, there are quite a few deficits.
On older versions of Android (I started out on Cupcake...guh) while I was still of the "don't take OTAs unless you want to risk your phone getting stuck on the new version or locked up tight" train...and this was before that ever started happening....and back then it was hard as hell because every update added _TONS_ of functionality and improved _TONS_ of things....I can't even describe how hard it was to delay OTAs back then. Nowadays we get evolution, not revolution, from every update. Tiny incremental stuff.
I'd say sit tight and wait it out, you aren't really missing anything.
...though when the ART (Android Runtime) replaces Dalvik, officially, on stock ROMs? That'll be the next big thing that would even get me considering just doing the damned update. I've got ART running and it is awesome. It's pretty much unnoticeable at first, especially if you go looking for the massive improvement. Then over the course of using your phone for a couple days you just start realizing "holy crap, that was fast"...but only over tiny little speed improvements....all over the damned place. It smooths out Android in ways I can't even describe (and that you can't even notice if you go looking for it).
Again, be patient. Just keep in the back of your mind that you never ever know if this next OTA is the one that locks down your bootloader. Sure, this one might be safe...maybe even the next one...hell, maybe all of them. But what if the next one is the one that finally does it? Not worth it. Your phone is awesome out of the box.

I rooted both my Note 3's just to keep from getting the update. So far I am seeing lots of people complain about different issues so I am glad I did. Overall it doesn't seem like the couple of positive changes are worth the risk. I still haven't seen a straight answer on if the bootloader is actually locked or not. This is the first phone I have had that has an unlocked bootloader so I have never really looked into the difference between locked and unlocked.

chipworkz said:
I rooted both my Note 3's just to keep from getting the update. So far I am seeing lots of people complain about different issues so I am glad I did. Overall it doesn't seem like the couple of positive changes are worth the risk. I still haven't seen a straight answer on if the bootloader is actually locked or not. This is the first phone I have had that has an unlocked bootloader so I have never really looked into the difference between locked and unlocked.
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I haven't really looked into it, but, I have been on phones (or have been helping out buddies with their phones) when an update locked a previously unlocked bootloader. The forums would be a ****-show. So I feel pretty confident that this did not lock down the bootloader to prevent custom kernels and/or recoveries...those are the deal-breakers. However, you cannot roll back to 4.3 after taking this official update, so far as I understand it. It's pretty standard stuff in this day and age.
That's another reason not to take it.

I didn't update right away. I waited a couple of days until a proven root method was out. Once that came out I went for it. I'm glad I did. I was already rooted before, and tripped KNOX, so that didn't bother me. 4.3 was great, and I didn't think this phone could get much better, but after a couple of days on 4.4.2 I'm seeing some good improvements. Better battery life, less resources used, smoother overall. I'm really liking it. Plus the GEL works great. Even the hot word detection works like on Nexus devices. I know a huge issue with 4.4.2 is the SD card not having write access, but I flashed the fix, so all works like it did on 4.3. Overall a really nice update. At least for me.

I agree with daneurysm, if your happy on 4.3 jellybean there's no need to rush and flash 4.4.2 just because it's available and adds a few new features (none that I see are must have). It is always best to wait it out a bit and let the devs do their hard work on these firmware updates to provide us with a truly impressive updated rom that we can flash safely, as long as your willing to follow their directions in doing so.
I had no temptation taking the OTA or Odin to downgrade to official 4.4.2, it seems to me the update took away more vital features than it was providing. Which again is why one should wait for their favorite devs to create their masterpieces out of the official releases, and tweak/fix any mishaps that were left in official kitkat firmware so we the people can have truly great running roms for our devices.
Sent from my SM-N900T using xda premium

So, we're about a month into the update and I'm curious how many have remained idle while the folks fine tune the kitkat experience. I'm still very pleased with the functionality of my device and aside from weak LTE signal, I have no complaints.
I am hence compelled to ask again--is it worth updating yet? Or do cons continue to outweigh the pros?
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

rhetorician said:
So, we're about a month into the update and I'm curious how many have remained idle while the folks fine tune the kitkat experience. I'm still very pleased with the functionality of my device and aside from weak LTE signal, I have no complaints.
I am hence compelled to ask again--is it worth updating yet? Or do cons continue to outweigh the pros?
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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I just saw there's a way to root 4.4.2 without tripping knox if you're on a rooted 4.3, so I'm going to give that a go tonight. I'll post back with my thoughts.
Good things come to those who wait!

I wouldn't update if I had to do it again. My phone is bootlooped and completely unfixable at the moment after installing the OTA update on a bone stock non rooted phone. Can't get into recovery, can't downgrade, can't do anything except reflash the stock 4.4 rom which never boots.
There are tons of complaints on the TMO customer support forums citing poor battery life and loss of certain functions. This could turn your phone into a paperweight. Not worth it.

drathian1 said:
I just saw there's a way to root 4.4.2 without tripping knox if you're on a rooted 4.3, so I'm going to give that a go tonight. I'll post back with my thoughts.
Good things come to those who wait!
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Are you sure? I noticed that kingo updated their site with an exploit that--if I'm not mistaken--roots without tripping knox.
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Honestly, Anyone that takes an ota is a noob. Anyone that is It's all you ever hear when an ota hits that there is nothing but issuesused to android knows never take an ota until it's deemed safe to reroot. It's all you ever hear when an ota hits that there is nothing but issues. I never take Ota's as a general rule. Always wait for the ok to take an update, and even then sometimes it's never ok depending on the issues.

rhetorician said:
Are you sure? I noticed that kingo updated their site with an exploit that--if I'm not mistaken--roots without tripping knox.
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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It just worked for me. I'm rooted on 4.4.2 with knox 0x0.
Time to put it through the ringer!
This was my method: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=51766687&postcount=73

After some temptation to check out one of the growing number of ROMS in the dev forum, but am glad that I decided stick with Tweaked on 4.3. Probably won't update until Tweaked KK drops which doesn't sound like something that's going to be happening for quite a while.
How's that saying go?... "If it ain't broke, don't 'fix' it with a weak-ass update."

T-Mobile stance on rooted phones?

Food for thought. As a part of the "T-Mobile My Account" app is a device health (beta) page that will scan the phone for various settings. If you tap on either the "Battery state" or "Device performance" and look for a box that says "Show all test" being rooted is among the list. When I read over the various warranties and agreements, I was looking specifically for anything about root, rooting, rooted, "" access. The best I found only mentions that issues caused by 3rd party software are not covered.
Seeing this makes me wonder if T-Mobile as part of its "un-carrier" move may be opening up to the idea.
Sent from my LG-D851 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

I work for tmo, so far, no change in our stance on processing warranties for rooted devices
Sent from my G3

beats4x said:
I work for tmo, so far, no change in our stance on processing warranties for rooted devices
Sent from my G3
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This is why I don't understand people's hate towards Samsung's Knox when they trip it due to rooting and custom TOM's.
-Sent from my TMO LG G3 using Tapatalk

Cause on an HTC or nexus device you can completely go back to stock and have no evidence of rooting. With Knox, you're screwed. There's no resetting it. I don't know how LG works, this is my first LG device
Sent from my G3

beats4x said:
I work for tmo, so far, no change in our stance on processing warranties for rooted devices
Sent from my G3
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Just out of curiosity, what is T-Mobile's stance? I'm very new to TMo. So new, I switched/ordered my phone on Tuesday and due to a "Systems Issue" I don't even believe my phone has been shipped yet.

CrucialBT said:
Just out of curiosity, what is T-Mobile's stance? I'm very new to TMo. So new, I switched/ordered my phone on Tuesday and due to a "Systems Issue" I don't even believe my phone has been shipped yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly, if you return to stock (completely) and then go in for warranty, you should be okay. The official stance is no, but I know that 99 times out of 100 you're not gonna have an issue. Unless it's blatantly obvious that you caused your issue by messing with your phone. If you ever need anything when dealing with Tmobile feel free to pm me on here. That goes for anyone who reads this.
Sent from my G3

Returned my g2 yesterday, wiped it but left it stock rooted with twrp recovery. She didn't say anything about it.

bfranklin1986 said:
Returned my g2 yesterday, wiped it but left it stock rooted with twrp recovery. She didn't say anything about it.
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Yup, and things like this happen where reps are completely oblivious. It's not uncommon.
I only said what I did because I know quite a few managers from the bay area to Sacramento, and a good portion of them are into rooting phones and train their staff (not cause they want to screw you over, just to make sure that they retain their job) to look for it.
So yeah, you'll probably be fine if you don't unroot your phone, but an extra 10 minutes of work won't hurt you.
Sent from my G3

I usually get my best results by going into the store and being a real jerk, swear at the counter people, call them names then tell them you rooted the phone and now there are some issues....
JK,,, dont do that.
If you are nice and act dumb they will help you.

Hmm, I don't even HAVE a store around here, I'd be dealing with whoever is at the other end of the shipping tag.

beats4x said:
Honestly, if you return to stock (completely) and then go in for warranty, you should be okay. The official stance is no, but I know that 99 times out of 100 you're not gonna have an issue. Unless it's blatantly obvious that you caused your issue by messing with your phone. If you ever need anything when dealing with Tmobile feel free to pm me on here. That goes for anyone who reads this.
Sent from my G3
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thats very nice of you to offer that:good:
I agree with your comments; I have rooted every phone I have had over the years with ATT/Sprint/TMO, and NEVER "restored to stock" ANY of the phones I turned in for upgrade/repair/etc, and never once had an issue with ANY carrier.
If you act like a jerk, and hassle the store personnel, you will always have a problem; if you are polite, professional, and dont try to blame someone else for your problem, 99% of the time, you wont have a problem turning in a rooted phone.
Treat people like YOU want to be treated, and you will always be taken care of; at least that's always been my experience..

I have always just unrooted before I went in. Some times I have watched them check the phone and worried if they would try to update it. That was the case with both my HTC Evo 4g and Samsung Galaxy S3 with Sprint. I was trying to avoid the hboot 1.5 and KNOX updates. Only issue I had was when my mms stopped working. Even unrooted the stock messenger wouldn't send them. I was asked if it was rooted and was hoping the unroot file worked. Ever time the phones have finished as I was parking in the lot so I never really had a chance to make sure it was all back to stock.
When I picked up the G3 and changed to T-Mobile I asked and was told unroot it. If no one knows it was rooted then you're good.
Sent from my LG-D851 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

yeah, its so easy to unroot a phone, and if they do a quick check to see if its rooted, and they dont see that it is, they never go any further..

wase4711 said:
yeah, its so easy to unroot a phone, and if they do a quick check to see if its rooted, and they dont see that it is, they never go any further..
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I have had to over the years exchange a few phones with t-mobile, been with them going on 8 years with 5 lines. I always unroot and set back to stock with that said tho, I had to exchange a note 3 for non working GPS and although I did set it back to stock I obviously couldn't reset the knox counter. So far, haven't heard anything about it and that was almost a month ago. While I have no official comment, I do believe t-mobile doesn't care so long as the issue is not related to anything you have done.
I want the g3, but am waiting for root. Just don't care for phones I can't restore to, uninstall unneeded apps etc.

i went on store at LG G3 launch and i showed my note 3 to swap with G3. via JUMP
my phone is rooted, i even teased the girl representative that i have the coolest ROM on it lol. she just smiled and check the note 3 physically. i even let her do a factory reset on the note 3. few mins later i have the black G3 on my possession

I'm not sure what the big deal is. If we can flash a stock ROM onto a phone I'm sure they can, probably easier than we can. It's the hardware condition that really matters.

wase4711 said:
Treat people like YOU want to be treated, and you will always be taken care of; at least that's always been my experience..
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This is called The Golden Rule and XDA and the world in general would be a better place if it was practiced at every opportunity. ?

Rooting versus not Rooting

Hey guys, is rooting really worth it on this phone. I mean just look at all the threads of this issue and that issue after somebody roots. I mean for me the phone is awesome as it is with exception to it's poor SPARK speeds. But that can't be fixed by rooting. I have yet to see any real gain posted by anyone other than removal of Sprint bloatware which is much less than any other carrier. So really is the gain worth the hardship and potential issues this phone seems to have after rooting?
All I see is this phone has X issue and then next line is always the same I rooted or I installed Y ROM. It seems to me that Samsung has done something to make this phone unreliable/unstable once the Factory integrity has been compromised either through rooting or ROM replacement. I did root mine using CF auto root before seeing all these issue posted. I can say now after rooting that I as well am seeing little bugs with touch screen response, as well as other little bugs it did not have before rooting. So this just strengthens my hunch about Samsung somehow making this device less stable once it is compromised.
I don't think I am going to fool with it any further. I don't want to become one of the many help I rooted and my phone won't boot post popping up around here lately.

You dont have to install ROMs to better your device, you can root stock odexed and it will be fine.
It unlocks more capabilities the phone cant do when its pure stock, such as Freezing wake locking apps that drain battery, or enabling etc mods that make the device better under certain circumstances.
You will run into issues whether rooted or not.
Is it worth it? Depends on user opinions. Does it have more problems than usual, Sure from time to time.
The peoples reviews of custom roms are there for a reason. There are things that are fixable and others that cant be fixed or modified upon.
Its more about exploring the full capabilities your device can do when it is rooted.
How far this device has come is massively huge because of the help brought from the community and devs.

You will typically find best performance and reliability with stock android with very few modifications. I use to flash a lot of roms/kernels on my Epic 4G and 4G touch and wouldn't call either of them reliable. I stay with mostly stock roms with my GS4, just Knox removed and everything is real stable.

Solarenemy68 said:
Hey guys, is rooting really worth it on this phone. I mean just look at all the threads of this issue and that issue after somebody roots. I mean for me the phone is awesome as it is with exception to it's poor SPARK speeds. But that can't be fixed by rooting. I have yet to see any real gain posted by anyone other than removal of Sprint bloatware which is much less than any other carrier. So really is the gain worth the hardship and potential issues this phone seems to have after rooting?
All I see is this phone has X issue and then next line is always the same I rooted or I installed Y ROM. It seems to me that Samsung has done something to make this phone unreliable/unstable once the Factory integrity has been compromised either through rooting or ROM replacement. I did root mine using CF auto root before seeing all these issue posted. I can say now after rooting that I as well am seeing little bugs with touch screen response, as well as other little bugs it did not have before rooting. So this just strengthens my hunch about Samsung somehow making this device less stable once it is compromised.
I don't think I am going to fool with it any further. I don't want to become one of the many help I rooted and my phone won't boot post popping up around here lately.
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Click to collapse
I have both rooted and unrooted, stock roms and custom roms on a few devices at home. Does JUST ROOTING cause any additional problems? No. Its essentially like installing any other apk. Where majority of the bugs and problems come in is user error and custom roms. Don't get those confused as they typically are. Most "I rooted any my phone isn't booting" posts are from people that do things improperly. Or sometimes things just don't stick and you have to try again. CF Autoroot didn't work the very first time I flashed it on my wifes device (last night) after I had used it more times than I can count on my own since 1 week after device launch. I flashed it again, worked great. She didn't like stock, so I flashed my own custom rom on her device.
Custom Roms come with their own bugs if they aren't just simply stripped stock. Want less chances of bugs? Use the completely debloated and no-knoxed ones. They just make things simple by removing both carrier bloat and added items (can also be buggy themselves). Also keep in mind that the software shipped isn't always bug free . We saw some big changes to the actual code from NIE to NK2, we aren't 100% sure why they changed things in some places but I'm not an expert there at all. Ever wonder why Tmobile or verizon may have a feature thats actually turn off or locked on our device? It could be buggy for a specific carrier and the carrier just decided they wouldn't include it for their customers.
Samsung perposely sabatoging our devices because they are rooted...... eh they did have nexus devices at one point in time. So I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and say this isn't the case. You may have just experienced bad results. I don't go a device without rooting, if not only to remove carrier bloat. MY last 3 devices I did not even let sprint reps boot before I took it home and rooted (literal first boot is rooted stock) I have been to the sprint techs LESS than when I had stock devices. This also allows certain users to fix their own problems themselves, and not leave device issues in the hands of carrier techs who by default will generally do a software reset and send you out the door.
Pros vs cons of rooting? Completely down to each specific user.

Yes rooting is absolutely worth it. For hotspot tethering, and Xposed. But you do need to add a fix to Xposed if you do decide to install it on this device.
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app

beezar said:
Yes rooting is absolutely worth it. For hotspot tethering, and Xposed. But you do need to add a fix to Xposed if you do decide to install it on this device.
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app
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If you have hotspot tethering included in your plan like I do why would you need to root to have it? Unless you are trying to get it for free?

Solarenemy68 said:
If you have hotspot tethering included in your plan like I do why would you need to root to have it? Unless you are trying to get it for free?
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reguardless if you pay for it or not, it limits the amount of devices you can connect/tether to. Who's to say I only want to tether 4-5 devices? What If I'm traveling and have 6 devices?
If you don't like rooting, this certainly isn't the place to try and shun it. If you are looking to be convinced to root again? Still the wrong place. You root because you want to, or you want to do something that you can't without root. Plain and simple. Rooting is essentially controlling your own device while you OWN IT. Not owning a device someone else has complete control over.

millerboy3 said:
reguardless if you pay for it or not, it limits the amount of devices you can connect/tether to. Who's to say I only want to tether 4-5 devices? What If I'm traveling and have 6 devices?
If you don't like rooting, this certainly isn't the place to try and shun it. If you are looking to be convinced to root again? Still the wrong place. You root because you want to, or you want to do something that you can't without root. Plain and simple. Rooting is essentially controlling your own device while you OWN IT. Not owning a device someone else has complete control over.
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I root everything I own that can be rooted. My question has about the N4 as it seems like I said it has more issues after a root then it did before and that seems fishy. The way Sprint and Samsung are handling the poor data speeds is already a screw job when they are both aware it is a real problem. Add to that the more mods you do to the phone the more unstable it gets that just seems shady. I was not asking to root or not to root so much as I was asking is THIS device worth the trouble?

Solarenemy68 said:
I root everything I own that can be rooted. My question has about the N4 as it seems like I said it has more issues after a root then it did before and that seems fishy. The way Sprint and Samsung are handling the poor data speeds is already a screw job when they are both aware it is a real problem. Add to that the more mods you do to the phone the more unstable it gets that just seems shady. I was not asking to root or not to root so much as I was asking is THIS device worth the trouble?
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Seems you aren't running the right rom. I haven't had any major instabilities.

It's not the rooting that causes the problems, its what they do after they root.
Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk

Solarenemy68 said:
I root everything I own that can be rooted. My question has about the N4 as it seems like I said it has more issues after a root then it did before and that seems fishy. The way Sprint and Samsung are handling the poor data speeds is already a screw job when they are both aware it is a real problem. Add to that the more mods you do to the phone the more unstable it gets that just seems shady. I was not asking to root or not to root so much as I was asking is THIS device worth the trouble?
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Click to collapse
As we all have said before, its user opinionated and what they do regarding with root in general.
I go with rooting because of extra battery saving features such as Greenify + Xposed, Underclocking GPU and CPU. To top that off, force lower dpi resolution and tablet mode on specific apps to see more on the screen. Modifying files such as build.prop and user key controls for enhanced performance, and like everyone, changing Sounds and boot anims, moving apps from user to system to help with stability etc.
If its unstable doing certain things well thats the bummer downside to the Apps or devices capabilities. But as long as you can get more out of the device ( which you can! ) with all the freedom of not being locked to user specific controls. It makes it better!
Thats how i feel.

I mean you can root the device and just install twrp and just keep it like that just until something catches your eye. I personally say if you rooted your previous devices. You should root the note 4. I am rooted and I am just plain stock cause I almost bricked my device. So I am going to wait until 5.0 gets to our phones before I flash anymore roms but until then I'm going to be completely stock.

Root your phone immediately.
Root your phone immediately. My god, what are you thinking going around unrooted?
Oh, you want details?
Open the hidden stuff if you want details.
Just kidding. I too suffered from doubts and waited several months before popping my phones warranty cherry.
Root is nice, even on the Note 4. But:
If you don't need root for anything special and you are perfectly happy with stock without root, DON'T ROOT!
If you need superuser authority (titanium backup?), if you want to disable Exchange Security so you can have work email but still use the fingerprint scanner, or you just like having better/different looks than stock in some way not achievable without root, ROOT. ​
That advice is general and applies to all phones. If you don't need/want it, why ask?
I can vouch that rooting the Note 4, installing custom Recovery and operating the custom ROMs is the similar to any other Samsung phone of recent vintage both in manner and difficultly (e.g. S3, S4, S5). (not the same though so do your research)
I have nothing against any ROM but, from personal experience, the ROMs from Pongoface and co work extremely well and look really nice. Make sure to wipe data and let them have 10 minutes or so to settle after first boot.
Those are:
[PORT] BoBCaTROM
and
[Port] Sprint Xnote (The time to settle was important on this one for me. Else, I got forced closes, not sure

Everything is stable on my phone after rooting and a LOT of Xposed mods. It just makes my phone much better.
If you have rooted all your other phones, then really why are you asking this question? You already know the benefits and risks of rooting so there is no need for us to tell you what to do.
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app

Solarenemy68 said:
I root everything I own that can be rooted. My question has about the N4 as it seems like I said it has more issues after a root then it did before and that seems fishy. The way Sprint and Samsung are handling the poor data speeds is already a screw job when they are both aware it is a real problem. Add to that the more mods you do to the phone the more unstable it gets that just seems shady. I was not asking to root or not to root so much as I was asking is THIS device worth the trouble?
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False. False. False. What's shady is the lack of knowledge on behalf of a user which these issues are caused by. There is no "shady" business going on that would cause instability issues upon rooting your device. Instead of a carrier or Samsung playing shenanigans with it's customers by introducing bugs and instability issues if a user roots their device, it would be more logical for Sprint and Samsung to simply lock down the bootloader and take measures to prevent root in the first place... such as all the Verizon and AT&T customers who are still crying about not having root. If you want to believe otherwise that's up to you.
As already mentioned by millerboy3, rooting doesn't cause the instability issues you or anybody else might be having. The more mods you do the more unstable the rom??? That's just plain and simple ignorance my friend. Yes it could be true that a rom might be "buggy" but if a rom is well planned and time taken to ensure everything is right, then there will not be stability issues. There are roms out there with tons of mods that are 10 times more stable and faster than the stock rom. I happen to have a rom that fits that criteria along with a few other people. With that said, I do agree with you on the fact that the Note 4 is perfectly awesome straight out of the box without the need to root it. This is the first phone I've owned that I really don't feel the need to change anything because everything works great stock. There are a few mods that I find are well worth the effort and definitely worth rooting the phone for.

tx_dbs_tx said:
False. False. False. What's shady is the lack of knowledge on behalf of a user which these issues are caused by. There is no "shady" business going on that would cause instability issues upon rooting your device. Instead of a carrier or Samsung playing shenanigans with it's customers by introducing bugs and instability issues if a user roots their device, it would be more logical for Sprint and Samsung to simply lock down the bootloader and take measures to prevent root in the first place... such as all the Verizon and AT&T customers who are still crying about not having root. If you want to believe otherwise that's up to you.
As already mentioned by millerboy3, rooting doesn't cause the instability issues you or anybody else might be having. The more mods you do the more unstable the rom??? That's just plain and simple ignorance my friend. Yes it could be true that a rom might be "buggy" but if a rom is well planned and time taken to ensure everything is right, then there will not be stability issues. There are roms out there with tons of mods that are 10 times more stable and faster than the stock rom. I happen to have a rom that fits that criteria along with a few other people. With that said, I do agree with you on the fact that the Note 4 is perfectly awesome straight out of the box without the need to root it. This is the first phone I've owned that I really don't feel the need to change anything because everything works great stock. There are a few mods that I find are well worth the effort and definitely worth rooting the phone for.
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He said it much better than I.

i'll also throw a vote in for rooting. i've come to consider AdAway & Xposed as must-haves, which both require root.

The N4 was the first phone I considered not rooting, it was that good straight away. However, then I remembered why I rooted, besides custom ROM's, and it was 2 (now 3) main reasons.
1- AdFree: After seeing ads all over a bunch of my favorite apps, I remembered I didn't have AdFree installed, which requires root. This is my biggest quality of use reason, if you've ever went to tap something in an app only to have a ninja ad come out of nowhere right as your finger hit the screen and redirect you to a website or the app store, you know what I mean.
2- TWRP + Titanium Backup - The ability to backup ALL my apps and settings to a separate SD card was huge, plus all the other features of TB.
3 - Lastly, I found Xposed: I'd never used before, but now, I couldn't imagine not having it. It's allowed me to tweak things that irritated me, like color schemes on the contacts and dialer screens, without the worry of installing custom ROM's or RW editing mods.
Just my feedback, your requirements may differ.
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app

Newbie, who wants to have better use of ExtsdCard
I am looking into rooting, for the first time. After an update to my, prior, S4, I couldn't edit my ebooks, about 700, delete photos, several thousand, or remove duplicates, on my extsdcard. I just got a new Note 4, and a 128G extsdcard. If there is anyway to restore my control of the sdcard that I paid for, other than rooting, please tell me. Otherwise, Android and Samsung are forcing me to root. Am I wrong??
Thank you very much,
Randy "Pugmeister"

Pugmeister said:
I am looking into rooting, for the first time. After an update to my, prior, S4, I couldn't edit my ebooks, about 700, delete photos, several thousand, or remove duplicates, on my extsdcard. I just got a new Note 4, and a 128G extsdcard. If there is anyway to restore my control of the sdcard that I paid for, other than rooting, please tell me. Otherwise, Android and Samsung are forcing me to root. Am I wrong??
Thank you very much,
Randy "Pugmeister"
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I'm a little fuzzy on what your saying. Are you saying that you can't edit or delete the contents of your external SD card in the note 4? If so, that's not a problem root could solve, as you should have full control over everything on the external card. Rooting would allow you access to edit the main android system files on the internal storage.
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app

Updating to S6, questions about KNOX

I've been out of the game for a little while because I've been below the poverty line since I picked up my S4 a couple years ago. I'm excited to update to a galaxy s6 but I've stumbled upon this KNOX voiding business and now I'm a little worried, as I understand it there's ways to root which won't trip it but what happens if you do trip it? Will your device be locked or will you simply lose a couple features? Moreover what can potentially trip it? I tend to like switching custom roms now and again and I prefer the custom recovery method of doing so but I don't want to screw myself. Thanks in advance

It's really not a big deal, you lose Samsung Pay and can't take it in for manufacturer warranty repairs for something that might have been caused by you screwing with the software.
Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

prototype7 said:
It's really not a big deal, you lose Samsung Pay and can't take it in for manufacturer warranty repairs for something that might have been caused by you screwing with the software.
Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk
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Oh thats all? Thats no big deal at all lol. Thanks man that makes me feel a lot better.

We have an amazing processor to answer phone calls with.
Sent from my SM-G925P using Tapatalk

Also, you had Knox on your S4.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Figured I would chime in and continue the discussion. I have also not rooted yet because of the uncertainty with potential loss of (future) features.
I know Samsung Pay will not work if rooted but will there be any other features disabled? I'm not sure if I can hold out until late September to see if Samsung Pay is good enough. The S6 is sluggish at times and the bloatware needs to go. And with Xposed working for S6 now there is even more reason to root.
Still...a part of me is hesitant.

I was completely unaware that my S4 had KNOX on it!
Now, like the S5, is it POSSIBLE that software will come out again for the S6 that allows you to revert the KNOX switch back to 0? Or would one have to make a preemptive strike that required disabling KNOX prior to rooting?
I've never even had to call Sprint for anything in my 8 years of Sprint service and I have a hard case, so it's safe - and yet I've never even dropped it.
Last question: What is this lack of code for the Exynos processor? What is the Exynos processor at all?!

hamstrman said:
I was completely unaware that my S4 had KNOX on it!
Now, like the S5, is it POSSIBLE that software will come out again for the S6 that allows you to revert the KNOX switch back to 0? Or would one have to make a preemptive strike that required disabling KNOX prior to rooting?
I've never even had to call Sprint for anything in my 8 years of Sprint service and I have a hard case, so it's safe - and yet I've never even dropped it.
Last question: What is this lack of code for the Exynos processor? What is the Exynos processor at all?!
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Click to collapse
It is possible that the trigger can be reset but only time will tell.
Exynos is the name of processor developed by Samsung and is powering the S6. The S5 had one as well but usually found in the international versions. The U.S. versions along with others have a Snapdragon processor. This is why the coding is different.
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