yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] DanDroidian:
Hey guys.

I'm in Cambodia, and another American friend just showed up here with a Verizon S3.

It can use a local SIM card to make/receive calls and send/receive sms, but CANNOT edit APN settings (as there isn't any options to do so) which means no data.

It appears to be unlocked BUT no choice to edit APN settings. Is there an easy way to be able to edit APN, or will I have to follow these rooting/unlocking the bootloader instructions?

Thanks for any help!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] techspecs:
FWIW, I've been trying to do some post mortem and noticed that if I download the ODIN files on my mac or phone I end up with extensions of .tar.tar but if I download with Windows I get .tar.md5. Looking at the link targets, it appears .tar.md5 is the expected result. When I flashed (bricked) I used the Windows .tar.md5 version with matching MD5 but just in case it helps someone else out I thought I'd mention.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] hallstevenson:
Yes, .tar.md5 is the correct file extension. It's odd that the md5 part is hidden on the Mac. Macs don't *need* extensions but they don't hide them, or change them either.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] radpp16:
update unsuccesful? root gone.

Just did the new OTA update. After some recovery prompts, it rebooted and message came up saying update unsuccessful no changes made to your phone.

Multi window is working though.

Lost root. Darn.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] SlimSnoopOS:
FYI, this method still works for root/unlock on VRBMD3.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] open1your1eyes0:
Since I no longer have the device, can anyone pull the update.zip file from the cache when the receive it for VRBMD3? I can update this method to restore the new VRBMD3 bootchain, otherwise you are restoring an older one (which is not really an issue but just to be on the safe side).
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] joshua5683:
Can I use this root method on the OTA and use the VRBMB1 bootchain?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] open1your1eyes0:
Certainly, and whenever I do update to the new bootchain you can just flash that on top.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] joshua5683:
Thanks :)
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] techspecs:
Here you go...

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=41983292

I'm on my mobile so hopefully this link is to the post like it was supposed to be.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] open1your1eyes0:
VMBMD3 Bootchain has been added to OP.

Thank you techspecs for the update.zip :good:
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] DROID3R:
Allelujah!!!:D

iSheep... iSheep... Meowww that's Apple VZW GSIII
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] hallstevenson:
If you don't mind what may be a dumb question (I've had my S3 for about a week and used your method the same day to root and unlock the bootloader), what is the advised route to proceed now ?

-- Flash the new bootchain then accept the update ?

-- Accept the update, install it, then flash the new bootchain ?

It is NOT necessary to repeat the whole process from the OP, is it ?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] open1your1eyes0:
Accept the update, this removes everything back to stock. Then follow all 5 steps in OP again to restore root/recovery/unlocked bootloader.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] nicholi2789:
This is for when you accept the OTA and lose root. You then follow this procedure to regain root and unlock your bootloader again. When you accept the OTA you will lose root and your bootloader will be re-locked. Yes, if you took the OTA and lost root then you will need to follow this procedure again.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] kenbrownstone:
So in step three just download the newest dmb3 link and not the two older updates?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] hallstevenson:
How does the custom recovery (CWM or TWRP) relate to the bootloader ? I guess the important part is, it's not a concern....
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] open1your1eyes0:
You need a custom recovery to be able to flash the unlocked bootloader.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Rword69:
Bootchain

What are the advantages of flashing the new bootchain?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] nicholi2789:
The only reason you would flash this bootchain is if you took the OTA and then used this method to root and unlock. That's it. Read the OP.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Rword69:
I used this method to root back in January, took the OTA and then used EZ-Unlock to re-unlock the bootloader. So the last bootchain I flashed is the 4.1.1 one VRBLK3..
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] nicholi2789:
Okay. Well if your still on 4.1.1 then don't flash anything. Only flash this boot chain if you took the VRBMD3 OTA then followed this method and rooted/unlocked your device again.

You only flash the boot chain at the end of that procedure to restore your original partitions after rooting and unlocking.

Remember, at the beginning you flash the VRALEC boot chain to allow custom recovery, then after you flash recovery and install superSU from recovery, you flash the VRBMD3 boot chain to return to the partitions you had at the beginning of the procedure. Make sense?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] joshua5683:
open your eyes, I have done some testing and lots and lots of Odin-ing, and discovered the VRBMD3 bootchain is causing my camera to stop working. I tested every step to figure out why my camera wasn't working (the camera in instagram wasn't working either) and once I got to the last step to flash the bootchain, that's when I got the "camera failed" problem again. Then I flashed the VRBMB1 bootchain and it started working again.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] open1your1eyes0:
Anyone else having this issue?

If that's the case I'm just going to pull it until we can get the full tar for it.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] daimerion:
My cam still works fine
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] joshua5683:
And you flashed the VRBMD3 bootchain?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] daimerion:
Ya
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] joshua5683:
I'm gonna try redownloading

ok good now.. lol how do you get a bad download of a 800 kb file? and out of all things why would it affect camera functionality
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] speedingcheetah:
Many folks reporting this issue..especially from flashing the all in one firmware update .zip.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] techspecs:
The guy above you fixed it by downloading again so I don't think it's an inherent issue with the file.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] speedingcheetah:
but what rom was he on?...i am using synergy..and many posts (both here and on rootwiki)across both current aosp and tw rom are reporting issues of camera breaking ....going from vrblk3 to the new firmware....
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] landshark68:
They are not reporting the camera breaking going from vrblk3 to vrbmd3, they are reporting the camera breaking from flashing the vrbmd3 aio while still on the vrbmb1 firmware

Sent from the Shark Tank using XDA premium
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] joshua5683:
I flashed VRBLK3 in Odin, ota'd to VRBMB1, ota'd to VRBMD3 and then went through the root process in this guide. (this was before beanstown had the flashable zips) and camera stopped working when flashing the VRBMD3 bootchain, but it was somehow just a bad download

Sent from my SCH-I535
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] SlimSnoopOS:
Which camera are you using: S3 or Note II?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] joshua5683:
S3 - was completely stock with root.

Sent from my SCH-I535
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] SlimSnoopOS:
Appreciate that, every little bit helps. So far, S3 camera and VRBMD3 AIO zip work for a few of us.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] joshua5683:
I thought it was odd how the bootchain was causing it to stop working. Even more odd how did I get a bad download of such a small file and why would it affect the camera :eek:
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] mothy:
Im new to rooting the S3. I am trveling over to Poland and need to root to edit the apn (i know that part) but my question is do I need to just do the super user zip or do I need bootchain, custom recovery etc. I dont have any interest in custom roms just access to the apn settings.

Thanks
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] cnlson:
Wow! I guess I'm lucky. I had the popup browser from the note 2 flashed so the ota was failing. Copied the ota to a different folder since it kept disappearing each time I rebooted. So I saved the log in twrp and figured out what was causing the update to fail. Then removed the popup apk and rebooted to twrp, and flashed the update, and twrp asks if I want to fix su, so I say yes and load up and everything works. So I decide to reflash twrp, and since recovery is back to stock and do so with goomanager but I forget the bootloader is relocked so I get the unauthorized software message and cannot boot up. So I do a little reading here on xda and find that I can either flash a factory wipe image or simply go to download mode and cancel and it will boot up. Not wanting to set up my phone again I try the download mode cancel trick and it works. Unlock with ez unlock and all well that ends well. Ota with root and recovery preserved /restored
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] joshua5683:
Hmm the camera stopped working again.. I guess it wasn't just a bad download?

Sent from my SCH-I535
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] open1your1eyes0:
Is anyone else facing any camera issues after applying the VRBMD3 bootchain as joshua5683 has here? I would like a few more confirmations before I pull it from the OP.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] techspecs:
It's something to do with the latest modem or bootchain I heard. I flashed carbon and the camera wouldn't open. Searching the thread it was a known compatibility issue with the ota that dropped that it currently caused the camera to fail on some roms. Flashed my backup to stock rooted (I was stock anyway so I took the ota and then went through the full root process) and it works again.

---------- Post added at 06:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:00 PM ----------

I did on carbon but I didn't flash your file. I previously took the ota as I was fully stock unrooted and locked.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] joshua5683:
Thanks for the info, I'm gonna stick with the VRBMB1 roms for now

Sent from my SCH-I535
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] open1your1eyes0:
Hmm...so it's possibly just related to the OTA build and not the specific bootchain. I'll leave it for now and just monitor the comments to see what people say.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] speedingcheetah:
It seems that the only the pure stock rom of the new ota works currently....and that other roms...when u flash new firmware(not rom)...breaks stuff....but...some have issues and others don't....even on same rom...one person says it works fine, another says it doesn't ...but many more folks are having issues than not....some say if u flash some kernal..it works fine....

UPDATE: Its the tz of md3 that is causing issues....found a post of a modded aio zip that works perfectly.

from: http://bit.ly/18Btjwc

"This zip has MD3 modems and RPM with MB1 TZ"
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] touche112:
I thought I'd poke my head in here. I'm monitoring comments to see what the deal is with the new bootchain. I'm not a developer by any means, so hopefully someone can figure out the camera/other problems soon. :D
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] speedingcheetah:
UPDATE: Its the tz of md3 that is causing issues....found a post of a modded aio zip that works perfectly.

from: http://bit.ly/18Btjwc

"This zip has MD3 modems and RPM with MB1 TZ"
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] banditsw:
I came from the BMB1 stock rooted per this thread. Flashed back to stock recovery to take the OTA, and thereafter followed the instructions in this thread, including flashing the BMD3 boot chain.

Camera works fine for me.

On another note, after flashing TWRP, I did not see a "disable recovery flash" prompt as set forth in the OPs instructions. Does that only apply to CWM? The only prompt I saw when I selected reboot was a fix permission prompt (which I said yes to)

Thanks.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Rword69:
That is kind of what happened to me after my OTA. CWM asked if I wanted to fix su then everything worked fine till I tried to boot into recovery to do a back up. Then I got the same Unauthorized software. I did the same thing you did to fix that..
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] MDB2313:
Works great thanks!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] open1your1eyes0:
Seems like VRBMD3 is having issues in general: http://www.droid-life.com/2013/05/3...ith-lte-after-latest-update-other-issues-too/
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] techspecs:
That does it! I'm buying an S4! :silly:
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] usmaak:
My wife updated her S3. She's having the 4G/WiFi icon at the same time issue. She just mentioned it to me last night.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] SlimSnoopOS:
Seems like everyone on xda is saying to freeze/uninstall City ID. That's the culprit for the wifi/4g simultaneous bug.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] alpine2g:
Okay, my first attempt of rooting and unlocking went horrible. Gnex was soooo much easier! Anyways, after a few panic attacks I followed this guide and was up and running http://www.android.gs/fix-bricked-verizon-galaxy-s3/ and all was well. Forgot to unlock the bootloader again.. Ooops. Took the OTA and all was well until the big padlock on boot up popped up and after I updated my CWM recovery I got the dreaded triangle of death. As I was sitting there and cussing, I thought for the heck of it reflash “VRALEC.bootchain.tar.md5 file and all was well after taking the OTA. Never flashed the new bootchain and all is well. Should I flash the VRBMD3 bootchain? Everything is working normal, and opening ez unlock it shows unknown as the status. :confused:

I'm new to the whole locked down crap, I miss my Gnex dearly..
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] joshua5683:
Lol this post made me laugh a couple times. It sounds like you're good, you could flash the VRBMD3 boot chain, I feel like it keeps breaking the camera for me though so I use VRBMB1. And for ez unlock that's normal mine says unknown too.

Sent from my SCH-I535
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] alpine2g:
lol ya.

I installed ez lock 1.2 apk and clicked locked then unlocked and the status now says unlock.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] usmaak:
She's not rooted. If she was, she'd be using CleanROM or some similar ROM that doesn't have all of Verizon's crapware. :)
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Thank Me Later:
Can somebody please walk me through on how I root my device, unlock the bootloader and install TWRP? I'm on the latest MD3 4.1.2 OTA.

I'm aware of how to do it on the K3 Stock Build. I just want to be 100 before I try it on MD3. Sorry for the noob question.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] SlimSnoopOS:
Haha, good point. She can disable it in Settings/Application Manager since she's stock.

Follow the same process in the OP. It's absolutely no different. I've done that on the last two OTAs. At what point are you confused about?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Thank Me Later:
I'm a little confused on which bootchains am I suppose to flash and when to flash them?

Here are the steps I follow when I Rooted, unlocked bootloader, and flashed recovery on 4.1.1 K3 Stock

** Root GS3 - Verizon Wireless **

1. Open Odin

2. Power off phone (Go into download mode) + Volume Down, Home Button & Power Button (At Same Time)

3. PDA Slot - VRALEC , hit start

4. When phone boots up, power down and go back into download mode

5. Uncheck "Auto Reboot"

6. PDA Slot - CWM or TWRP (Which ever recovery I choose)

7. When it says "Reset" in odin, pull battery out of phone

8. Go into recovery - Volume UP, Home Button, and Power Button (At Same Time)

9. Install SuperSU + Unlock Bootloader

10. Reboot system - Yes Disable Recovery Flash

11. Pull battery when Samsung Blue Circle comes up on splash screen

12. Back into download mode

13. PDA Slot - VRBLK3 (Hit Start)
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] SlimSnoopOS:
I need a little clarification on step 13. Is that supposed to be VRBLK3 bootchain? If so, then yes that's the correct order. The bootchain step is optional, but at the same time its suggested to keep that up to date. So either keep it at VRBMB1 OR VRBMD3 since these are the two most recent OTAs. You won't notice any functional difference in the way you operate your phone on either. Many of us are probably still using the VRALEC bootchain either because they glossed over that step or cuz we followed the guide on Rootz which has no mention of returning to your previous bootchain.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Thank Me Later:
Yes that is the VRBLK3 Bootchain. So instead of that just flash the VRBMD3 Bootchain on the last step correct? I flashed back to Verizon Stock today and holy crap the bloat ware they added to the already annoying sh!t previous on their stock Rom. I can't stand it. The bloat ware and consistent on-going Wi-Fi notification is pissing me off. I'm going back to controlling my phone lol.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] SlimSnoopOS:
Yes indeed, flash the VRBMD3 bootchain.

I returned to stock the first day just to play with the OTA haha it's definitely every bit as bloated as I remember but it was every bit as smooth too. MultiWindow is the main highlight. There's just too much of that poor choice of color scheme for me though.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Thank Me Later:
Man I don't know what it is but being complete stock feels soooo SLOW to me. It feels sluggish? I definitely felt the difference. Multi-Window is cool but they could of gave us more. WTF Verizon!!!??? T-Mobile gets that lockscreen customization thing and sparkly lights, we can't? It's the same freaking phone for crying out loud. But hey thanks for the clearing things up for me Slim. I'm back Rooted, Unlocked bootloader, and up to date TWRP. Just waiting for Beans to update his Jelly 'Beans' Rom.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] joshua5683:
Same here! Build 16 should be fantastic.

Sent from my SCH-I535
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] speedingcheetah:
Synergy rom has had multi window for a while....I highly suggest that rom those who want a tweaked stock phone.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] usmaak:
I can verify that it is indeed that stupid caller id app that causes the problem. I went into applications and stopped it from running and the 4G icon went away. I wish that there was some way to permanently disable and/or remove it that does not involve rooting. She refuses to let me do that to her phone, because she's afraid that something will get screwed up and she'll lose all of her stuff.

Why do these phone companies insist on including crap that serves no useful purpose and screws things up? :confused:
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] radpp16:
back to OEM

Could someone provide me guidance how to return verizon S3 to OEM FACTORY standard so i can sell my phone?

I have upgraded to the verizon galaxy s4.

Excellent thread and instructions.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] techspecs:
I'm going to suggest you follow the thread with that exact title... Really can't search at all? I think it's even stickied... http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1867253

[How To] Reset your phone in order to return to Verizon(Updated 12/11/2012)
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Hockeypuck55:
Same here. Not sure if that is good or bad.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Rword69:
So, sounds like having the app Voodoo OTA RootKeeper before taking the update is a good idea..
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Mononon:
FIXED

Nevermind, I figured it out. But I do have another issue. The guide says that it will ask me to "Disable Recovery Flash" but it did not. Is that an issue?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] nicholi2789:
Yeah everybody has trouble with this part. Myself included when I did it.

Make sure that you have auto reboot unchecked. And makes sure your getting the button combo right. Volume up +home +power, and when the Samsung logo appears, release ONLY the power button until your in recovery.

When you flash it make sure you get a PASS message before you pull the battery. If it doesn't work and you still get stock recovery then do it again. Use CWMR if you have too.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Mononon:
Yeah, I was having trouble because you don't have to hold the buttons down so long on other devices.

I got it to work though. Thanks for the reply.

Now, however, I was curious about the "Disable Recovery Flash" part. I was not presented with that option when I rebooted. Is that a problem? I am using TWRP.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] landshark68:
Nope, not a problem. Didn't see that prompt when I rooted and I've had zero problems

Sent from the Shark Tank using XDA premium
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Mononon:
Ah, thank you very much.

So, suggestions on roms? I was going to try out LiquidSmooth. Seemed like a good 4.2.2 rom.

EDIT: Well, I tried LiquidSmooth v2.5, but the Wifi doesn't seem to work, so on to other roms.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] nicholi2789:
I wouldn't worry about it. From what I've read TWRP just automatically does it. It would make sense that you want to disable the recovery flash because you just flashed a custom recovery, so I think twrp just does it. Yet another reason why it's better than CWMR.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] tips14:
trouble flashing custom recovery (step 2)

Every time I try and do step 2, flashing custom recovery, I get a FAIL! (auth). I tried both recoveries, multiple different downloads. I even restarted the process and redid step 1 with different downloads of the VRALEC bootchain but with no success. I'm on the latest Verizon OTA as of 6/4/13, the one that brought us multiwindow and other S4 features. Not quite sure whats going on. I have the latest odin as well, and am correctly in download mode with USB debugging enabled. Help please!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] zachf714:
My S3 is about to get home and I wanted to know if this is compatible with the latest OTA.. Thanks :)
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] nicholi2789:
Yes as long as it is a Verizon Galaxy S3 SCH-I535. I would avoid this latest OTA if at all possible. Thousands of people are having problems with it. I even read that Verizon will be recalling it (though I'm not sure how much truth is in that). I would stay on the original 4.1.2 if you can.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] usmaak:
It seems like a lot of problems would be alleviated if they'd just release a radio fix for it. My wife's on it, and that's the only complaint she has. Oh, and she had me get rid of that "stupid blue thing on the side of the screen". :D
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] phoenixus:
I'm a tad confused by step 5...if I restore the original bootchain, is my bootloader still unlocked? Or does that relock it?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] joshua5683:
It will still be unlocked

Sent from my SCH-I535
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] zachf714:
It ota'd out of the box :(
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] phoenixus:
How much of a risk do you run with permanently bricking your device with the GS3? Coming from Motorola phones it was pretty easy to do if you weren't extra careful.

I've only had the phone for 2 weeks, so I keep going back and forth on whether to run custom or not
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] joshua5683:
I was told told it's not easy to brick even when developing

Sent from my SCH-I535
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] nicholi2789:
Yeah but that's a pretty big complaint. Big enough for me to stay away from it altogether. I'm sure Verizon will release a fix soon enough. Hopefully.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] skiddingus:
I just followed the procedure in the OP to root and unlock an otherwise stock phone that is fully updated. Now that everything is rooted, unlocked, etc, can I allow RomManager to update the recovery to the latest version? Something is telling me that this may trigger the Verizon "unauthorized software" warning and leave the phone unbootable. I've done this once before but I can't remember what triggered that warning. I just want to installed the latest recovery without another headache.