yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Toddricks:
Wish I could help with this. I got my dev edition before there was much root discussion on it. Needless to say I flashed consumer kernel on it so wifi would work on beans rom. Patiently waiting on an odinable factory image for a backup. I wish I had been more patient in rooting and flashing roms.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] samiamapirate:
Rajat12345 - please bestow upon us some infinitely good news. I am not-so-patiently awaiting a new post!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Cruiserdude:
Can we PLEASE be patient with this, while I'm sure he can take it, it does him no good for people to keep asking for an update, or just being negative about it. He'll update us when he's ready to, this is obviously a fairly big deal.

I too would like to hear something good, but he's either 1) still on vacation or busy with other things 2) working on this with nothing new to report 3) found something that he's decided would be imprudent to share at this time for any number of reasons that I won't speculate on. I'd love to hear something good, but most of all I want this to work for as many people as possible for as long as possible.

No harm in speculating ways around it, though on one hand it seems almost like doing Verizon's work for them. I'm just asking that we treat this like any other development and not ask for ETAs.

:thumbup:

Sent from my VZW Galaxy S4 Google Play Edition :)
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] rajat12345:
I'm Back

I'm back from vacation (it was great btw)

My phone actually broke and I got it replaced, it came with mdk I've decided to stay on it until I or someone else figures out me7.

So I will need testers.

Anyway, on to progress

I think I figured out why the unlock was not permanent.

There is usually a file in system called recovery.img that is flashed every time you shut down the phone but so far I cant find that so until I do there isn't much I can do
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Galaxys4bean:
What do you need us to do?

I dont have the dev edition im just saving a question!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] magicalwilly:
Well back to waiting :p
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] ntb81:
Do you mean "recovery from boot"? It's in the system folder. I think recovery.img is just the recovery image itself
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] SamuriHL:
Are you sure about that last part? I know there's an install-recovery.sh script but I've never seen a recovery.img on any phone I've owned. In fact, the update on the S4 GPE (which I admit is a COMPLETELY different phone) constructs a new recovery partition by patching the boot partition using applypatch.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] rajat12345:
Oh that makes sense my bad. I'll keep working on it.

Edit: Theres no install-recovery.sh there either and what is recovery from boot?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] bajasur:
Am I being overly nervous that some of this conversation should be moved to an invite only Google hangout?

I think those of you who are making progress should start one.. just a thought.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Galaxys4bean:
They should but then update the progress every once in a while!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] RaptorMD:
I am up for testing and helping out. All I need is some guidance and help if I get into any trouble :silly:
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] SamuriHL:
It should be in /system/etc/ and is used to overwrite custom recoveries like TWRP and CWM. This is what the one for my S4 GPE looks like:

#!/system/bin/sh
if ! applypatch -c EMMC:/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/recovery:9775360:6a1bef2e13ea3b9a4284565d560f7a2c0a17bf5d; then
log -t recovery "Installing new recovery image"
applypatch EMMC:/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/boot:8296704:07f4bc5b3cb20428a40d74dd0cff8a147d7155ef EMMC:/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/recovery 6a1bef2e13ea3b9a4284565d560f7a2c0a17bf5d 9775360 07f4bc5b3cb20428a40d74dd0cff8a147d7155ef:/system/recovery-from-boot.p
else
log -t recovery "Recovery image already installed"
fi

if [ -e /cache/recovery/command ] ; then
rm /cache/recovery/command
fi
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] ntb81:
The full file name is "recovery-from-boot.p" It reflashes the stock recovery over a custom recovery at every boot. On the gnex and some other phones you have to delete it or rename it (i.e., recovery-from-boot.p.bak) to get a custom recovery to stick
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] RaptorMD:
Paranoia is a good thing and I would say yes, it needs to be kept under the hat and only brought into discussion when necessary. It's like Fight Club.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] SamuriHL:
Just a small correction. The recovery-from-boot.p file is a patch file that's applied to the boot partition to create the recovery partition.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] asharad:
Why?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] bajasur:
Pm sent
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] sub1287:
Mostly 'cause people actually think that Verizon hasn't already considered the developer edition would eventually be used against their rather strategic attempt of locking the s4 down on their network.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] asharad:
I didn't receive one

If it comes to fruition, they'll find out anyways.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] sokrboot:
:rolleyes: ahh sarcasm! Nice one [MENTION=5135380]sub1287[/MENTION]. I tend to agree with you that Verizon SHOULD and likely does already have this route covered...BUT on the other hand I work for a large, global company and many times the "silo effect" takes over communication and cooperation arent fully realized within an organization. Its worth exploring even if we just find it to be a dead end.

Serial Flasher: Droid 1 -> HTC Rezound -> Galaxy S4.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] SamuriHL:
The whole "work in secrecy cause 'they' may be watching" is ridiculous nonsense. Do you guys know how long it takes to get an update pushed out on a VZW phone? What exactly do you think is going to happen? They read a forum post and suddenly send Samsung to work writing an update to block whatever's being discussed? It took them how long to push out a patch to counter Loki? A day? No? A little longer? And that's after they had the exploit and studied it. VZW is not known for doing things.....quickly. And since THEY aren't the ones writing the patches, only putting up barriers for patches to be released, I wouldn't worry too much about it.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] bajasur:
Point well taken. I'll pm you my reason.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Covert_Death:
guys even if someone from verizon does read this (besides me, i work as a rep but want bootloader unlocked again haha) we don't have to accept whatever update they send to counteract it... it seems like some good headway is being made on ME7 and we've already learned our lesson once with accepting the update on this phone so even if they do patch it ill just ride it out and stay on ME7
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] SamuriHL:
Finally. Someone understands. :)
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Stauf99:
Ha, wish I got to talk to you at my verizon store today. I'm getting a CLNR and I doubt it'll be MDK.

Lesson learned, just don't send phone to Sammy. They will stab you in the back just as much as verizon.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Surge1223:
I don't get the need for secrecy either. Anyways, this is what the install-recovery.sh file for me7 looks like..I myself am on mdk and there's no install-recovery.sh in system/etc on my mdk so I extracted it from the me7 ota update.zip I have on my sd card. Its just a little different than SamuriHL's.

#!/system/bin/sh

if ! applypatch -c EMMC:/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/recovery:9728256:2e92aeb7a7865fb86add86a68ba754e405860ced; then

log -t recovery "Installing new recovery image"

applypatch EMMC:/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/boot:8278272:148c25299651131dbe575908ec01fe7c7beb65ee EMMC:/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/recovery 2e92aeb7a7865fb86add86a68ba754e405860ced 9728256 148c25299651131dbe575908ec01fe7c7beb65ee:/system/recovery-from-boot.p

else

log -t recovery "Recovery image already installed"

fi
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Bloodcrav:
Really sucks with the secrecy. Im in the learning phase off development. Was a lot of great info then it went dark about findings. The n00b in me says get rid of the auto recovery block and install a custom recovery. I refused the me7 update so no big deal there its the potential unlock thats making me drool.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] ozzzzysh:
I'm a noob obviously, but I went and looked for that install script.. I'm on a rooted consumer ME7 device.

Is this what the script is supposed to look like?

#!/system/bin/sh

# If you're implementing this in a custom kernel/firmware,

# I suggest you use a different script name, and add a service

# to launch it from init.rc

# Launches SuperSU in daemon mode only on Android 4.3+.

# Nothing will happen on 4.2.x or older.

# If you want to force loading the daemon, use "--daemon" instead

/system/xbin/daemonsu --auto-daemon &

# Some apps like to run stuff from this script as well, but the

# installer will have done "chattr +i" on this file to prevent

# accidental modification and deletion. In your code, just search

# this file for "install-recovery-2.sh", and if present, write

# there instead.

/system/etc/install-recovery-2.sh

Also, in the file posted above me, to me it looks like it's flashing a file called boot, but checking it against an md5 or something. Is it as simple as swapping that boot file for a different one and putting in a new md5? Or is that string of characters not even and md5... Haha just speculation.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Surge1223:
What are you guys trying to do with the recovery from boot delta patch? I don't think you can do much with it while its a delta patch...
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] ozzzzysh:
An if then statement that looks at recovery and edits boot just looks promising. I honestly have no idea what's going on though. Lol
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] jignasze:
noob question on Service Menu

I've read that there is a "service menu" and that has a Golden Image on the phone. I've never been able to get to it, so has that been shut down too? Has anyone been able to look and see what version that is? I know this will only work for us unlucky enough to take the update if it's MDK, but if it's a way to get back to MDK??

& if this is considered off topic - OP please delete.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] SamuriHL:
Oh boy. Let's see. First, the install-recovery script posted above is from supersu and not a stock file. So that's of little help.

Second, the boot partition is NOT changed by the patch file. Quite the opposite. The boot partition is the basis for the recovery partition.....the recovery partition is created by applying the patch to the boot partition in memory and writing the result to the recovery partition.

I have no idea what anyone thinks they're going to do with this process, but, it's not going to help install something that isn't signed. IOW, you don't just replace stock recovery with a custom recovery and hope the system is tricked into installing it. The OP mentioned something about having a temporary unlocked bootloader. I thought that's what was being focused on...making that more permanent. But I don't see how the two are connected.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] rajat12345:
Never Mind not going to help
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] ozzzzysh:
Awesome, thanks for the clarification!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Surge1223:
Ok does that mean your still looking for recovery.img in the system partition? or that you were incorrect in thinking that a recovery.img is flashed from /system everytime you shutdown?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] ozzzzysh:
Did we ever get confirmation that the OP did get it unlocked? How do you check to see if your boot loader is unlocked? I'm just curious.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] TechSavvy2:
I think people took my comment on keeping things hush-hush a little too far..... What I meant was that transferring files around, finding what files do what, replacing them etc etc was fine. "Exploit lies right here, inject code here, mod this file to this" is the type of stuff people get weird about. Dan said it, Adam Outler said it, Justin said it, need i go on? And yes, Verizon did not patch it in a day.....they patched it in 2 weeks. If you think they don't pump out security patches for bootloaders faster than android version updates, you'd be mistaken.

However, we're CLEARLY not to that phase yet, except that OP hasn't clarified the "temp unlock" part yet.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] RobertoIsRad:
I'm not sayin' I'm just sayin' most of the work on this thread has been done by people other than OP. Stories are starting not to add up...It would be nice to have any sort of proof or theory from OP...

In response to the bounty OP's question

Look no further than your own thread...

I think we're going to need a little more to go off of OP because your recent post history makes it seem like you have no idea what you're doing...
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] nicholi2789:
I really doubt that Verizon or Assurion have any Certified like new replacement phones, or new phones that already have ME7 on them. When I got replacements of my S3 from Assurion (more than 6 months after the 4.1.1 update rolled out for it in November) it still had version 4.0.4 that it came out of the factory with. Seriously. It will be a long time yet before they deplete their current stock of MDK phones, and it's not like there is somebody in a warehouse somewhere updating every single S4 they have in stock to ME7 to make sure we can't hack them.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Stauf99:
Thanks for the reassurance (not sarcasm, this has really been eating me up inside just a lil bit). I'll post my findings here on thur when it arrives just to add to the history books.

as for the guy in the warehouse.... after the way i've been treated by Sammy and Verizon I would bet that there is.

That being said, I know very little about company structure :p
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] mrjinglesusa:
Spot on. When I read through this thread this is

EXACTLY

what I was thinking. :good:

All this excitement over what exactly?

:rolleyes:
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] asharad:
The excitement was when we realized we were uploading our userdata partition for OP.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] SamuriHL:
Nice theory. However, someone on another forum I belong to just ordered an S4 online and it came with ME7.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] saltytaco:
I recently ordered it and mine came with ME7
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Stauf99:
Awesome....

yea i figured Assurion was not Verizon
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] r4ph:
sorry i'm a lil late to the show...

Have dev edition rooted on stock rom... i was posting in another thread where someone was asking for a boot.img.

Pm me or lemme know if you need any help with files.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Surge1223:
I would suggest anyone just reading this wait and see if the OP can confirm his claim of unlocking the boatloader temporarily. I would wait for either proof from the OP or someone trusted who can confirm his claim. Thats just a suggestion though, read the entire thread and decide for yourself.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] samiamapirate:
...

yeah.. Id really love to see some proof. not saying i dont believe he did it but I dont believe he did it.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] sokrboot:
Hey guys good news! Ive figured out the bootloader temp unlock! I just need a couple testers to send me your social security and credit card numbers. Then im gonna go on vacation. :sarcasm:

Im sorry...it had to be done and I had to be the one! :D

Serial Flasher: Droid 1 -> HTC Rezound -> Galaxy S4.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] asharad:
:laugh: ... :) ... :mad: ... :rolleyes:
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] UK_Wildcats_Fans:
Call me my number is 867-5309. LOL
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] saltytaco:
That was the exact face I made lol
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] :
What if he had mistaken the unlock icon at the boot screen as to having an unlocked boot loader?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] SamuriHL:
Then this would have been a huge waste of time for all involved in this thread. :)
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Surge1223:
What if I told you guys that I can confirm that system/recovery.img does exist at shut down?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Erievon:
I got bad news for ya. I got mine from the online system last night. Came with ME7. Went to a corp store near my work to see if they had any MDK in stock (gave them a real good reason why), he checked his stock, white and black, all have ME7. Will be checking the store by my house tonight, but it doesn't look good.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] SamuriHL:
I'd have a VERY difficult time believing that it is created by the stock system. How is this file created?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] sub1287:
lol I've been thinking that this whole time.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Galaxys4bean:
But can you confirm it?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Surge1223:
mount("ext4", "EMMC", "/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/system", "/system");T

assert(file_getprop("/system/build.prop", "ro.build.fingerprint") == "Verizon/jfltevzw/jfltevzw:4.2.2/JDQ39/I545VRUAMDK:user/release-keys" ||

file_getprop("/system/build.prop", "ro.build.fingerprint") == "Verizon/jfltevzw/jfltevzw:4.2.2/JDQ39/I545VRUAME7:user/release-keys");

mount("ext4", "EMMC", "/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/hidden", "/preload");

assert(getprop("ro.product.device") == "jfltevzw" ||

getprop("ro.build.product") == "jfltevzw");

ui_print("Verifying current system...");

show_progress(0.100000, 0);

assert(apply_patch_check("/system/app/AccessControl.apk", "e081c42311464073cf612e8e4e2811b5fe48aeb1", "e8f9c290bbf1c12849c556db5186ec954dbb96bb"));

set_progress(0.000114);

-------------------------------------this goes on for a while-------------------------------------------

ui_print("Removing unneeded files...");

delete("/system/CSCVersion.txt", "/system/SW_Configuration.xml",

"/system/VODB/en_US/checked", "/system/VODB/en_US/en_US-ak

------------------------------then we finally reach this little

gem

--------------------------------

"/system/lib/libSGIEffect_SmartController.so",

"/system/lib/libSecAvatar.so", "/system/lib/libSmartPhotographer.so",

"/system/lib/lib_SamsungRec_V03009.so",

"/system/lib/lib_SoundAlive_V01013h.so",

"/system/lib/libgoogle_recognizer_jni.so",

"/system/lib/libsensorhubcontext.so",

"/system/tts/lang_SVOX/lh0pt2en-US22_sg.pil",

"/system/tts/lang_SVOX/lh0pt2en-US22_sg_0.pil",

"/system/tts/lang_SVOX/lh0pt2en-US22_sg_1.pil",

"/system/tts/lang_SVOX/lh0pt2en-US22en-US_ta.pil",

"/system/tts/lang_SVOX/svox-lh0pt2en-US22.pil",

"/system/recovery.img");

---------so just before the OTA is done installing it says its there----------------------

("patch/modem.img.p"));

set_progress(0.994503);

show_progress(0.100000, 10);

ui_print("Unpacking new files...");

package_extract_dir("system", "/system");

ui_print("Unpacking new recovery...");

package_extract_dir("recovery", "/system");

ui_print("Symlinks and permissions...");

----------1,2 skip a few-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

set_perm_recursive(0, 2000, 0755, 0755, "/system/xbin");

ui_print("Update boot ota");

assert(package_extract_file("boot.img", "/dev/block/mmcblk0p20"));

ui_print("Package boot Done.");

ui_print("Update sbl2 ota");

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

assert(erase_backup_fota("/dev/block/mmcblk0p22"));

ui_print("Package tz Done.");

ui_print("Patching remaining system files...");

apply_patch("/system/build.prop", "-",

44b76d836652039047f68befd73be0f8bf20969c, 7597,

b6b0938af1a65f1cd1f0db87a3e53b0a4a3e2aed, package_extract_file("patch/system/build.prop.p"));

set_perm(0, 0, 0644, "/system/build.prop");

show_progress(1.000000, 0);

unmount("/preload");

unmount("/system");
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] ozzzzysh:
The smilies add a nice touch.. :) Interesting though.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] SamuriHL:
Well that's different. They're actually creating a recovery file on your S4 variant whereas on mine they patch the recovery partition directly. Do you have a link to the ME7 update zip so I can take a look at it? Don't anyone get excited...I'm just curious as to what else differs from my S4 update.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] rajat12345:
:\ It seems like I've reached a dead end. Really sorry to all those who had there hopes up.

I'm stuck and theres nothing I can really do, I will keep trying to find some other way, but until then I can't do anything.

Again I'm really sorry about it
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] :
If you don't mind me asking, how did you verify that your bootloader was unlocked temporarily?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] jboogie555:
phew thought you got whacked by the verizon/samsung hit squad. Thanks for trying dude.:good:
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Surge1223:
I can post the me7 ota update.zip I extracted from my phone.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] rajat12345:
Just guessing but what would happen if you pushed the aboot.img from a dev edition to the s4?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] SamuriHL:
That'd be awesome. I just want to take a look at it so I have a better understanding. I can't say that I'll be able to do anything for you guys but I like knowing how these things work and how they differ from what I already know. I find the fact that they create a recovery.img file for your update rather fascinating as that's very different from the update we just got.

---------- Post added at 03:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:06 PM ----------
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] ztkryan:
Rajat12345 how did you know the bootloader was temp unlocked?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] rajat12345:
Thanks for clearing that up

There was a dialer code you could check with but after reboot it relocked
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Surge1223:
Its uploading now, yeah I was kinda shocked too I also have at&t's ota update.zip so Im just looking through that now. Let me know if you find anything interesting. I'll pm you the link. If more people want it to investigate ill post it though.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] SamuriHL:
Thank you that'll be very helpful.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Surge1223:
PM sent
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] asharad:
Can you share the code?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] SamuriHL:
Thanks. So what I found is that it is the same as the GPE update...recovery is created exactly as I stated. There's an install-recovery.sh inside the OTA update zip. That uses the boot partition (after it's been updated with the boot.img inside the update zip), applies the recovery-from-boot.p to the boot partition, and writes it to the recovery partition. It never creates a recovery.img.

What you saw and posted earlier that contained the /system/recovery.img line is NOT what you think it is. It's from the update-script of the OTA and it's not creating that file...it's making damn sure that file doesn't exist. The line you posted was from a delete command making sure "outdated files" no longer exist on the /system partition. Nowhere in the update can I find any code where they are creating a recovery.img file.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] sokrboot:
Now I feel sad again.

««I used to be a Serial Flasher...now I'm just a Cereal Flasher.»»
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] SamuriHL:
Why? Even if the recovery.img file had been there, what was anyone hoping would come of it? Replacing it with a custom recovery img and magically hoping the phone would somehow install it for them? LOL! Everything is signed. The phone refuses to even touch things that aren't signed. Ever try to modify an OTA zip file and flash it? Didn't work well, right? Cause modifying it in any way breaks the signing and causes it to become invalid. The security on these phones wasn't dreamt up by a five year old. They spent a lot of time and effort and engineering to lock these phones down. It requires someone with the skill of Dan R and others like him to reverse engineer this kind of stuff and expose and exploit holes. Dan R does this for a living. People who hope for a "simple" solution are fooling themselves, unfortunately. It may never be exploited again. That's the sad reality.