[Galaxy S III General] mossy1963:
How to Guide: flash any rom you want, be rooted, retain zero custom binary download count, official/normal status and save your warranty – busting the myth

Testimony that this works! > http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=33260545&postcount=29

There is a lot of misinformation floating around these forums saying things like “if you root your phone your phone status will change from official (download mode) to custom and normal to modified (phone settings, status) and the only way to regain official / normal is to flash stock rom –WRONG.

I’m here to tell you that I’m running unbranded DLJ4 rooted with zero flash count and official status (normal – not modified in phone settings, status). It just takes a bit of fiddling about – but not a lot and it does involve a reset so a backup is required – use titanium because a nandroid restore will over flash your good work, obviously.

The only possible reason to flash stock FW after the process is if you want its original state to return to Samsung under warranty or upgrade OTA or via Kies - it is not necessary to flash stock to get official status.

First of all this is not all my work and I’m not claiming the credit, but I did not find the solution on XDA, hence my post here. Any credits go to Jayce Ooi’s paradise web site (JayceOoi.com – google it). I have edited it a bit to relect my own experience.

Prerequisites: Triangle Away, Mobile Odin (doesn’t increase flash count like PC version), Rooted Rom of your choice, cwm recovery.

Step by Step Guide – follow to the letter, especially the remove battery bits

Steps 1....11 basically preamble to check status

1.Power off Samsung Galaxy S3.

2.Press and hold down Volume Down + Home + Power buttons at the same time to enter download mode.

3.Press Volume Up button when warning prompt.

4.Odin download mode will be loaded.

5.Note your custom binary download counter number and system status.

6.Long press Power button to restart Samsung Galaxy S3.

7.Remove back cover after Android OS loaded.

8.Go to Settings.

9.Select About device.

10.Select Status ~ show status of battery, network, and other information.

11.Device status should be Modified.

The business starts here...

12.Launch Triangle Away.

13.Grant it root access when prompted.

14.Download latest update when prompted.

15.Double check counter number at Current status is the same as Odin Download Mode.

16.Select Reset flash counter if everything is correct.

17.Follow Triangle Away instructions then.

18.Note – It will boot into Triangle Away boot mode.

19.IMPORTANT – Pull out battery immediately after rebooting starts.

20.Replace battery.

21.Power off Samsung Galaxy S3.

22.Press and hold Volume Up + Home + Power buttons at the same time to enter recovery mode.

23.Release all buttons when you see SGS3 Logo.

24.ClockworkMod Recovery will be loaded.

25.Go to wipe data/factory reset with Volume Up / Down buttons.

26.Select it with Power (or Home) button.

27.Then select Yes — delete all user data.

28.Select wipe cache partition.

29.Then select Yes — Wipe cache.

30.After wiping data and cache, pull out battery.

31.Put battery and back cover back.

32.Press and hold down Volume Down + Home + Power buttons at the same time to enter download mode again.

33.Press Volume Up button when warning prompt.

34.In Odin download mode Custom binary download should be “No”, current binary to Samsung “Official”.

35.Long press power key to reboot phone

36.Go to settings, about device, status, device status will read “Normal”.

OK, now you have a rooted rom of your choice with zero flash count and official status.

From here you have choices, either:

•Do nothing – happily use your “clean” rooted phone as it is

•flash other roms of your choice, stock or custom, using mobile Odin without changing flash counter or status, or

•Flash a stock rom with mobile odin, again retaining zero flash count and normal status from which you can perform OTA updates or Kies updates, return phone to Samsung under wararanty if necessary, whatever.

Like I said above, I couldn’t find comprehensive and correct instructions elsewhere on XDA – apologies if I’m wrong. However there is a lot of BS flying around which I couldn’t ignore hence this guide.

I’ll repeat, main credit goes to Jayce Ooi, but happy if I’ve helped - hopefully you'll appreciate this guide.