yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] Kelevro:
I'm a little confused. The original link to download root66 (the one that you push with ODIN), can I use this to get rid of root and reset my flash counter? -- I REALLY want to unroot, but from the looks of it, it keeps root.

If I can't remove root access with that, that's fine. Would I be able to use the OTHER file, the other one you made flashable via CWM, to get back to stock? Would this keep CWM recovery? Would this work if I'm using XquiziT's Jellybean ROM?

Sorry for the questions, just don't want to goof.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] Towle:
If you want to go back to stock unrooted, you need the full Odin file. You can get it from sammobile.com or DocHoliday has a sticky in the dev section with a mirror.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] Kelevro:
Damn, I hate using ODIN, haha. I wonder if it's really beneficial to keep CWM and root. The only reason I want to get rid of them is because as soon as I rooted and flashed XquiziT's ROM, my phone occasionally whacks-out.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] Towle:
Just being rooted won't affect anything. If you want to be completely stock with root access, that's what the Odin files in this thread give you. But I would use Odin either way to upgrade. It just comes down to if you want root use this thread, or if you don't want root use Doc's thread. Everything else is exactly the same.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] WhoWhere:
Thanks for the reply. I did load TWRP from GooManager. That would explain it.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] mrRobinson:
yes, sorry, that is new for JB. It wouldn't have tripped it on ICS. I've updated the OP recovery section to note that.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] DocHoliday77:
Yeah, its kinda strange how this is working now. I currently have a theory that SysScope checks your partitions for modifications at every boot. Remove that apk, and itll stop. HOWEVER, there is something else checking the entire system partition, so even if all you do is deodex, itll still trip it at boot. Thats the short version and Im still investigating it and will post a thread if I figure it out. Just thought id share what I do know so far. If anyone has further insight, do let me know!

Now, back on topic, sorry bout that!
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] DsturbD:
worked great! did the odin flash for my tmo S3 that i just put back to stock to get the OTA (i like to do that just to make sure everything like that still works LOL) using your rooted 4.1.1 stock image. was surprised to see all my stuff still there, thought it would wipe everything, so all is good.

wifi tethering is working fine for me
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] scifan:
I think it's something lower level... (prior to the boot image that you flash...) I know if I use the method I shared in PM, I don't trip the counter... but neither you or Wild seems to think that what I've done is a "good" idea...

I do know that if you load the Root66 rom, you have root... and won't have tripped the flash counter... but I like the 3rd party recoveries... simply for the ability to make a backup...

*sigh*
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] Towle:
So this is obviously why triangleaway isn't sticking for a lot of people.. I'm still doing a lot of digging on this topic myself. I just came from the s2 about 2 weeks ago so this is all new to me.

But from what I understand so far, it doesn't matter what your flash counter is at and you can flash stock recovery, use triangleaway, then you're back to zero.. Is this right?

And now is it going up every time a rom is flashed? Or is it only when a custom recovery is flashed? I'm still stock rooted with stock recovery, so I haven't had any first hand experience yet. Boy do I hate feeling like a noob :p
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] karipay:
Have you tried tethering to your laptop and surfed successfully? I did the same thing. Odin'ed 4.1.1 to my phone, enabled wifi tether but my laptop cannot see the SSID. Even tried to uninstall/install wifi tether and same thing happened.

It seems most users have this problem and some were able to tether successfully :confused:
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] mrRobinson:
Yes to your first question. Haven't tried loading a custom rom and then loading stock recovery to see if counter can be reset then or not.

Check out the sprint and tmobile note 2 forums, this stuff about the recovery was figured out there last week. That's the only way I knew.

I do agree it is something lower than sysscope.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] DocHoliday77:
Welcome to our little corner of xda bro! Seems to me you wont have too much trouble getting caught up! Let me know if you need anything.

Thanks for the tip man! Ive only done limited searching on the issue. Ill go check out what theyre saying later tonight.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] Towle:
Thanks bro! I just need to spend some time reading through the forums. With taking 16 credits at school + working 40 hours/week it can be a little slow moving. I definitely appreciate what you and Mr Robinson have done around here, it's helped me out tremendously so far! :good:
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] scifan:
IF your wanting to be stock without a flash counter... use triangle away, boot into recovery or into download mode, odin the stock JB or stock ICS (your choice) if your downgrading to ICS, make sure you do a data wipe... if your going to JB, you can just odin the stock image, and your flash counter should remain zero... (I've odined my phone while putzing with the new flash counter issue in JB about 5-10 times... you can verify that your flash counter is zero prior to odining it if you want... but if you boot back into JB, it will set it back to 1 if your rooted and have an alternative recovery and a deodexed rom...

---------- Post added at 09:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:20 PM ----------

it's not supposed to increment unless you flash a non signed file from Odin... however, the newest JB seems to have something that scans some combination of your system and/or recovery and increments your flash counter if it detects an abnormality... (I think it's the recovery... but haven't tested enough to verify that.)

Whats more is that the Media Hub app will refuse to play video's if your flash counter isn't zero...
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] Towle:
Samsung is obviously trying to get some money back from the crApple lawsuit by refusing warranty replacements :p

But seriously, what a PIA!
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] CAR1977:
Just something I noticed after upgrading to the official jb, anything I flash through Recovery will trip my flash counter. Triangle away will reset it till I Flash something else. This happened with completely stock, flashing a stock kernel with init.d , flashing the deodexed stock ROM, and flashing a custom ROM. Also my all share cast dongle is not working I am sure because of this.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Xparent Cyan Tapatalk 2
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] scifan:
That's different behavior than I experienced... simply booting into the deodexed rom again would cause that flash counter to be incremented...

(eg TA it away, boot into download and verify it's gone... boot back into the rom, and BAM, it's magically updated to one again...)

I don't know if it increments for each time you flash something from recovery... but something's definitely there to cause it to increment at boot time now...
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] CAR1977:
I just realized what you said. **** Samsung seriously. It happens every time I boot.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Xparent Cyan Tapatalk 2
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] mrRobinson:
But you guys have non stock recovery right? That is what is keeping counter incremented and this was already known. Has nothing to do with the deodexed rom.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] scifan:
Once I discovered that it was like OCD kicked in... couldn't handle it... ticked me off pretty badly... I've found a work around, but have had others tell me that what I've done isn't advisable... (it works, no flash counter with an LGA radio and rom... but it could potentially have repercussions later).

---------- Post added at 10:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:17 AM ----------

To be honest, I don't have a reasonable way to test that at this point... I should google/search for that and re-flash a stock recovery to test that theory... just to rule things out.

I know it definitely shows on the root66 image once you flash an alternative recovery... TWRP - I'm assuming CWM also fits into that category, but I haven't personally tested that.

My guess it's tied to the recovery... but I haven't tested/verified that...
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] reapur:
Reading the latest post is confusing me.

I had originally only done the 3 steps in the OP

Then I accepted the OTA and used ota rootkeeper.

The update is finally installed and I seem to have JB (although I can't really much diff from ICS)

1- My flash counter is still zero (I do have CWM)

2- OTA updates are now disabled, when I go to System Settings>About phone> Software update I get this message

"Your device has been modified. Software updates are not available"

The only thing I really care about is that I have the full insurance from tmobile in case I break the phone. But it sounds like I can odin the original ICS image and all would be back to stock.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] mrRobinson:
you can odin the JB image and be back to stock. You can even odin my root66 JB, uninstall supersu, and be back to stock then return it no problem.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] atb1183:
slow guy here. been on stock ICS. did official JB OTA. now I want to root with your method. read a significant portion of this 65pg thread but want to confirm:

that shouldn't increment right?

and what if I want to go custom recovery? use your method to go to stock ICS (w/ root) then install custom recovery?
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] mrRobinson:
if you odin flash the root66 JB, just follow the OP to flash the recovery. No reason to go back to ICS for anything ever.. old release. :)
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] DocHoliday77:
Front Page News!

WTG! You made the Portal bro!

Congrats on the mention! :good:
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] jjlean:
Goo for touch recovery is ok right?
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] mrRobinson:
Yep. Works well.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] jjlean:
Made for an easy upgrade. :thumbup:

Thanks for doing the rooted odin. We appreciate it.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] DsturbD:
yes i did, tethered my wife's laptop and my Xoom tablet, both able to surf fine.

like i said before though (not sure if this matters) but i had just went back to stock via ODIN and did the OTA update, then flashed this rooted stock firmware via ODIN, dont know if that has anything to do with being able to tether through wifi or not
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] jjlean:
I read a few pages back and didn't see anything about this, but I am getting "android upgrading - starting apps" at boot. I thought that was the phone building cache or something. I just did the Odin rooted earlier tonight and this is the first time I rebooted.

Also, it is brief... Maybe 5 to 10 seconds.

Anyone else experiencing this?
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] yogieajuz:
CWM.tar

can anyone share cwm.tar file (not touch) to flash via odin ?

Thanks
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] reapur:
Guys so a little bit a go I realized that I had lost root.

What I had was the JB OTA update over the ICS root66 from MrRobinson. I used ota rootkeeper to backup root. During the install it asked if I wanted to preserve root and I said yet.

Right after the first boot, Titanium backup complained about the superuser not having the right permissions and offered to fix them, I said yes. somewhere root access broke.

Tonight I said the hell with this and used Odin to install root66_TMO_T999UVDLJA.7z

Things seem to have gone well but now I have "superuser" and "supersu". It seems that all the apps asked for permission again and this time supersu is handling root.

So what happened? I'm assuming this change was made on purpose but I just want to double check, do I need to delete superuser now?

Thanks
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] jjlean:
I don't know what happened, but you can delete superuser and keep supersu.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] rakeshchn:
I am on the very first stock firmware VALEM. Can i just directly odin the latest JB firmware or has to odin a more recent ICS firmware and then odin the latest JB?

Sent from my SGH-T999
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] DocHoliday77:
This is normal. Its rebuilding dalvik cache.

Go straight for JB!.

Skip em all!
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] mrRobinson:
Yes on purpose. For ics I think superuser is best. Once you get to jb it seems general consensus is supersu is better. I Googled, read, and researched. Either will work but overall consensus I could find pointed to stick with superuser on ics but for jb make the switch to supersu. That's what I did. Have used both extensively.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] nodwink:
"Your device has been modified"

I been on XDA for quite some time now, and have rooted just about everything I can get my hands on, thanks to you guys. I have a Galaxy s3, SGH-T999, the first thing I did was root it. I didn't use this method, (I used the longer method where you use Odin to put the .tar file on your sdcard, and then use CWM to install it from there), after I did that method, everything was good. Then my husband mentioned that he rooted his NOTE2 using this method so I decided to go this route when I got the JB update a few days ago.

After I used the long method when I was in ICS, I could still get software updates. I mean, when I went in and checked to see if my software was up to date, it would check, and say that it was up to date. Now, when I click on "Software update", I get the message, "Your device has been modified. Software updates are not available." I have also tried temporarily un-rooting using voodoo OTA Rootkeeper, but still get the same message.

My question is this, is it now showing that my system has been modified because Jellybean has more advance root sensing capabilities, (lol), or because the image file has root injected into it? If I reset, and root the long way, will it then show updates again? I realize that I can always do the updates myself, I'm just wondering, (really), what else they know.

********* Edited ********* I installed TriangleAway, and it is now checking for updates again, however, it is taking a long time. It's been "checking for software updates" for several minutes now. It is usually almost instant.

Thank you again for everything you do!!!
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] reapur:
Thanks to everyone who helped me. This has been a learning exercise. I wanted to run all the routes and see what happens. Obviously the OTA update kind of worked but it wasn't 100%, from recovery kept failing no matter what I tried. MrRobinson Odin method is the best way to do this, it works just fine and even tho my counter got reset I'll use triangleaway to reset it in case I need warranty work.

When I had done the OTA update, system update broke, weird, but it game me that msg the post above this mentions.

Going with the Odin method doesn't break system update. go figure.

The new image comes with a very stubborn "MyTmobile". I freeze it with TB, reboot and there it is again!!! it unfreezes itself :) SO I uninstalled it, I don't use it anyway.

cheers
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] scifan:
Their new root checking code seems to be checking sometime during bootup... Doc's trying to determine if he can figure it out...

If you feel "excitable" try this...

Use triangle away

directly boot into download mode...

and re-odin the boot image found in the OP of this thread... you'll have an Odexed rooted phone that will be happy (not identified as modified)... this will work with no alert unless you flash a modified recovery.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] k8108:
Well, just got my S3 yesterday during Tmo's big 'give-away.' I have been reading forums for about a week, waiting to get my phone. Yesterday I installed the JB update that was ready after I got home from the store, I decided that I would really like root - mainly to change DPI (I am a 54 year old grandma with tired eyes!). I am a noob to the S3 and samsung, but not a newbie to flashing. I have been flashing rom's on my blackberry, HTC HD2 and Nook Color for the past 5 years.

I followed instructions to a T - downloaded drivers and installed them on my laptop (WinVista 64bit). Downloaded and unzipped Odin using 7-zip. Downloaded the root66_TMO_T999UVDLJA.7z. Unzipped the file, leaving the .tar image zipped.

Put my phone in download mode, connected it to my laptop (using cord that came with my phone), opened Odin. Clicked PDA, selected root66 tar image. Auto Reboot and F reset time were checked. Clicked Start.

It looked like everything was going okay. MD5Sum checked out. Files being loaded, etc. Then at the end I got a Failed message and the last lines in the message box looked like this:

Sb12.mbn

Sb13.mbn (the rest of the lines all have the ID:0.004 in front of them)

>System.img.ext4

>_XmitData_Read...

>XmitDataFail...

>Complete(Write)OperationFailed

All threads completed. (Succeed 0/failed 1)

I have tried twice and both times failed.

Now I am left with a message that says to connect to Kies for recovery. I installed Kies, but it won't recognize my phone.

What can I do to unbrick my phone?????

Edit: After another unsuccessful attempt, I downloaded and used the file for ICS. That was somewhat successful in that at least the phone rebooted, but I couldn't get past the Samsung logo screen. Then I ran Odin again and loaded the JB file. This time it worked! Craziness!!
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] mrRobinson:
Well few good things.

1. Not bricked

2. you didn't seem to do anything wrong.

3. Can recover

My only guess is for some reason it just lost connection to your phone. It looks like it got past bootloader and recovery.

So if you can get into recovery, (pull battery, put battery in, hold vol up + power + home). then do a factory wipe.

If you can't get into recovery then get into download mode again, connect to computer. Open odin as admin (right click, run as administrator).

try again.

If it works, Upgrade to windows 7 and enjoy phone. If not, post back.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] karipay:
Finally able to tether successfully.

Here's what I did, maybe this can help people who are experiencing the problem I had.

Note: for the modified wifi tether to work, you should have SuperSU and Busybox installed first.

1. Install latest modified wifi tether by TrevE - Linky

2. Open Modified Wifi Tether and under settings, just select Netd-ndc from Setup-Method,

3. Start tethering :D

All instructions can be found from here - Linky
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] DocHoliday77:
TrevE. I love this guys work!

Thanks for the heads up on it!
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] RaymondPJR:
I would like to start absolutely fresh and want to reformat my internal SD card. I've never done this before so am unsure of the process. This is what I plan to do: Enter recovery and format internal SD which should erase it. Stay in recovery and flash Wicked V5 again. Reboot then enter download mode and Odin root66 Jelly Bean. Would this be the safest way?:confused:

EDIT: I've already saved everything I want from my internal SD to my PC.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] jjlean:


---------- Post added at 11:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:27 PM ----------

Yea, but you probably do not need to flash wicked before you Odin root66.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] DocHoliday77:
Yeah, id skip thst step. If you choose format data instead of factory reset it should wipe everything. Then just odin root66 and youre done!
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] RaymondPJR:
Thanks guys. Since I posted that, Wicked Jelly Bean is ready, so now I'm not sure which one I want. I'll decide in the morning.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] 3sr3v3r:
Hey guys, I'm a little confused on how I should go about updating without tripping my flash coutner. Right now, I have ICS (TMO T999UVALJ4) installed, rooted via the root66 method, and have ClockwordMod recovery installed.

Can I just Odin the JB (TMO T999UVDLJA) image over my current rooted ICS image, or will that trip the flash counter? If it will, do I have to flash the stock ICS image (without root) first, and then the rooted JB image? I've finally finished customizing things on my S3 and really don't want to wipe anything.

I really appreciate the work that's gone into this, hopefully my question makes sense!
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] mrRobinson:
Yes just flash that latest jb root66 via odin. Then do not put cwm back and you'll be on stock rooted no counter trip.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] ndwgs:
Hey Doc or mrRobinson,

You guys have any compatible .pit file for TMO S3? Im trying to re partition my betsy. Start a fresh partition. I did the OP and I still have old partition on the phone, and if I remember it right.... if u tick the "re-partition" on Odin, it reformats the entire phone drive. Bbasically full wipe. That's how I remember it in the Vibrant days. We got a 512 pit file. And I've searched the whole tmo s3 thread for a compatible pit file.

I don't have internet yet. So im doing this via phone download and transfer it to my laptop. So if I bork... well. Craps to me then... lol.

Ty!
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] mrRobinson:
I don't have a pit file but i'm not sure why going into recovery, do a full factory reset, then going into download mode and flashing the latest with odin won't do what you want to accomplish.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] ndwgs:
Eh.. thought I'd ask. Since I'm used to doing it that way. Thanks again :)
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] scifan:
There was a PIT file posted for the latest JB OTA over in one of the "stock Deodexed Rom" posts... don't remember exactly where though, just remember seeing it... not sure if this would give you want you want.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] phia:
IDK if this was asked but ima ask it cause i don't want to read every single post, thank u. and Im not a noob but i just got this phone had sgs2 before and i was the master at that one lol ...... So im flashing from odin and the only way i can go into cwr is if i don't reboot after i flash the tar. once i reboot and go into cwr manualy it goes back to stock recovery. How can I make cwr stick?? wat am i doing wrong? btw iam rooted.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] mrRobinson:
going off top of my head.... I think in /system/etc there is a install-recovery.sh or something close to that. delete it. install cwm. will stick.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] phia:
When I delete it can I flash it with ROM manger to flash cwr or Odin? I did deleted that and flashed with rm and nothing, still stock. And is mobile Odin any good cause I'm not home. Thanks in advanced :)
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] fryrice8850:
not such if this question has been asked but when i load one of these stock rom images does it wipe all my user's data? i am currently running ICS rooted with custom boot. what is the best way of upgrading to JB?
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] scifan:
Actually, it doesn't wipe your data... though your milage may vary as to how well it works for you... (if it's close to stock, you could be cooking with gas... if it's not, you might find yourself being best friends with your nandroid to restore...)

Whatever you do, make sure you do a nandroid before you try it...
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] mrRobinson:
yes rom manager should be fine for cwm or goo manager for twrp. without that file and then installing these should be able to boot into the non-stock recovery fine.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] phia:
So, i had to do it from odin, it worked. Thanks
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] titaneds73:
first thanks for the work,im new to the s3 but i am not a noob,i did have one question though regarding the counter,i odined and installed twrp and i used triangle away by chainfire and it did reset the flash counter my question is ,am i not suppose to use it with this phone cuz as far as i know it does work or am i possibly looking at a brick? thank you for your time