yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] roirraW "edor" ehT:
Anyone and everyone can redirect all repeated questions about ND8 to here, saving yours and everyone's sanity, if you've still retained it up until now.

Full Questions and Answers in post #2.

Summary of questions:

-32767Q. Is there a Knox-free bootloader for ND8 like there was for MK3 (for Sprint)/MK5 (for Virgin Mobile and Boost)?

-32766Q. Do I need to ODIN/flash back to completely stock unrooted MD4 (4.1.2) or MK3/MK5 (4.3) before ODINing ND8 (4.4.2)?

1Q. Will ODINing the original ND8 tar brick my SPH-L710 because of random reason x, y or z?

2Q. Is it safe to ODIN

any

other Stock or other ROM like MK3, MD4, etc besides ND8 after I have already ODINed the original ND8 tar?

3Q. If I ODINed the original ND8 tar can I ever flash or nandroid random ROM "Zombie Donuts" (any AOSP or stock based off any Android version), etc just like I could before?

4Q. Where's the ND8 standalone modem to download?

5Q. I heard there was another way of getting and flashing the modem, which included the ND8 bootloader so it was thought safe. Where is it?

6Q. When will _____________ (fill in blank) mod be made for ND8?

7Q. Can I flash this on (anything but an SPH-L710)?

8Q. Would someone port thIs to some other phone?

9Q. Why won't hardly any app write to the internal and external SD cards in KitKat?

10Q. (courtesy of [MENTION=4829480]erikalin[/MENTION]) I'm on any deodexed stock MK3 (Android 4.3) ROM and I don't even have this phone activated any more, but I get a persistent notification about being ready to install the OTA? (courtesy of [MENTION=4008629]wxfreak[/MENTION]) Can I delete the OTA 4.4 source file? Where would I find it?

11Q. I use my SPH-L710 on Virgin Mobile or Boost. Can I ODIN ND8?

12Q. (courtesy of [MENTION=4572589]crazymonkey05[/MENTION]) Can ND8 be rooted?

13Q. (courtesy of [MENTION=4572589]crazymonkey05[/MENTION]) Will rooting ND8 trip Knox?

14Q. (courtesy of [MENTION=4805841]AarSyl[/MENTION]) Does the new KNOX boot loader reset the counter if you tripped KNOX for the 4.3 update?

15Q. What recovery will work for BOTH backing up and restoring ND8?

16Q. (suggested by [MENTION=5361082]marcran75[/MENTION]) Once I put ND8 on my SPH-L710 can I "downgrade" just the modem to MK3/MK5 or earlier?

Full Questions and Answers in post #2.

Sent from my Sprint Samsung Galaxy SIII with M.O.A.R. v9.0, dkp kernel dated 3/20/2014 and TWRP v2.7.0.0.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] roirraW "edor" ehT:
Reserved.

Sent from my Sprint Samsung Galaxy SIII with M.O.A.R. v9.0, dkp kernel dated 3/20/2014 and TWRP v2.7.0.0.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] roirraW "edor" ehT:
Now TapaTalk won't let me edit my OP any more. I can edit other posts of mine. LOL! I'm assuming it's just another of my quirks I'm having today. Time will tell.

Edit: And FYI, the TapaTalk Windows 8 app has other issues, inserting extraneous line feeds (blank lines) every time I re-edit a post.

TapaTalk is working to edit the second post (where I moved the bulk of the content) right now - it might've been related to the ExFat format I'm using on the external microSD - I have a USB OTG flash drive hooked up to copy the stuff from external so I can re-format it to FAT32, and maybe TapaTalk is using my USB flash drive as scratch space or something. It was working all along for editing my smaller posts.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] erikalin:
Howdy, S3 Peeps,

I'll throw this question here. Had to LOL at this thread, BTW... not that you made it (awesome idea) but that you had to ;). Lol...

After seeing a few veterans bricking their phones, I suddenly feel paranoid like I know absolutely nothing.

My goal

: Just keep my personal, custom, perfect MK3 build forever.

Problem

: Persistent notification about an automatically downloaded OTA sitting ready to install ... I had NO idea this would happen, because my S3 is not even in service anymore ... apparently it forces itself in anyway. Learn something new every day..

Question

: How can I eradicate this forced OTA download and just keep what I've got on my happy little not-in-service S3 media device here? :confused:

Thanks in advance.

P.S. A+ for your patience with the repetitive questions. What about the hotspot? Data fix? Port this to my carrier? Lol...
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] CNexus:
[MENTION=4829480]erikalin[/MENTION]

You're deodexed right? If so, let it flash and it'll fail (it checks the hashes of certain .odex files), and you won't get the OTA notification anymore either
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] rompnit:
My cat is really gonna die!? Damn.. :p

Seriously though, great idea. Love this! :thumbup:
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] roirraW "edor" ehT:
Great question!

Great answer! Adding to OP.

Yeah. :`( Sorry, I love all animals, too. :D Thank you!
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] marcran75:
I'll be referring ppl here definitely. It's crazy seeing all the misinformation going on about this. I'm seeing ppl who obviously don't know what they're talking about giving bad advice on numerous threads. Craziness!!!

Sent from my VM GS3 running Sprint 4.4.2 (ND8)
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] bilgerryan:
Everybody gets stupid when an OTA comes out... Every time
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] roirraW "edor" ehT:
Thanks! If you have any suggestions that I should add, let me know. I'm just concentrating on the stuff that gets asked over and over.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Hockeytown1970:
I don't have a cat.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Kevets:
Cat or Kat?
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] roirraW "edor" ehT:
Yes.

Sent from my Sprint Samsung Galaxy SIII with M.O.A.R. v9.0, dkp kernel dated 3/20/2014 and TWRP v2.7.0.0.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] the_original_teknikl:
You should add that you can FLASH a rom in RECOVERY still.

AND

restore nandroid backups as well in recovery.

And it also keeps getting asked if aosp is still safe to flash... yes.

Only suggesting cause you say you can't ODIN a rom but nothing about FLASH ING in recovery.... its still being asked.

Just a suggestion.... thanks for the thread...

Sent from my Virgin Mobile Samsung Galaxy S3 with Touchwiz Android Kitkat 4.4.2.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] roirraW "edor" ehT:
You're welcome and thanks for the suggestion. ☺I consider answer number 3 to address that.

Sent from my Sprint Samsung Galaxy SIII with M.O.A.R. v9.0, dkp kernel dated 3/20/2014 and TWRP v2.7.0.0.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] roirraW "edor" ehT:
Hi! Thank you! Fixed.

Sent from my Sprint Samsung Galaxy SIII with M.O.A.R. v9.0, dkp kernel dated 3/20/2014 and TWRP v2.7.0.0.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] the_original_teknikl:
Wow... I am sorry... screen must have jumped right past it and didn't realize cause I sure didn't see that one......

Or you just added it got one over on me lol...

Either way.. thanks again :)

Sent from my Virgin Mobile Samsung Galaxy S3 with Touchwiz Android Kitkat 4.4.2.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] roirraW "edor" ehT:
LOL, that's okay and you're welcome!

Sent from my Sprint Samsung Galaxy SIII with M.O.A.R. v9.0, dkp kernel dated 3/20/2014 and TWRP v2.7.0.0.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] xxSTARBUCKSxx:
Thanks again for this. Wouldn't hurt if this was linked in the OPs of ND8-related threads causing these very questions.

Then again.. Reading the OPs has become out of style apparently.

Please disregard.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] bilgerryan:
Jk
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] crazymonkey05:
Sorry if this is a stupid question but is md8 rootable??? I looked all over and have seen nothing about rooting KK
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] phaseL:
Yes, and easily done. Flash the tar, flash supersu through ODIN, update SuperSU through Google Play.

You can also flash a custom recovery through ODIN that will handle the rooting for you, like the latest Philz.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] crazymonkey05:
And will this trip Knox counter? I know it does on 4.3 ( sorry if I sound noobish I am on att varient)
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] phaseL:
It will definitely trip KNOX if you install a custom recovery. At this moment, there is no way around the KNOX bootloader.

Then again, if you don't install a custom recovery, you won't trip KNOX.

And just as an FYI, this update is currently for Sprint variants only (and Virgin). I wouldn't get this thing anywhere near an ATT variant.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] crazymonkey05:
Yea I understand the differences and I wouldn't be stupid and flash but I was thinking that the varients should be nearly identical software wise and that bootloaders should trip the same way
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] xxSTARBUCKSxx:
Haha. She couldn't have said it better!
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] roirraW "edor" ehT:
You're welcome, and yes I hope all ND8 related threads link to this on their OP anyway.

LOL!

Good question and answer for me to add to the OP!

Sent from my Sprint Samsung Galaxy SIII with M.O.A.R. v9.0, dkp kernel dated 3/20/2014 and TWRP v2.7.0.0.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] roirraW "edor" ehT:
Another good question and answer! Thanks.

Sent from my Sprint Samsung Galaxy SIII with M.O.A.R. v9.0, dkp kernel dated 3/20/2014 and TWRP v2.7.0.0.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] bob_ross:
What does ND8 mean?

How can there be other 4.4 ROMs but not a stock one? Don't they build off a stock ROM?
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] roirraW "edor" ehT:
ND8 is just Samsung's build number. As they test builds of a phone's ROM, these letters and numbers increase. MK3 for example was what the build number of our Stock Android 4.3 was. MD4 was 4.1.2.

And no, it's the reverse. Android is Open Source (basically free) and AOSP stands for Android Open Source Project. When Google releases a new version of Android / AOSP, the OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) like Samsung take Google's source and modify it with their own touches. Samsung's version of Android is called TouchWiz, HTC's is Sense, etc.

When Samsung finishes a build, they have to release the source code since it's open source. The source for the kernel gets released later than for the ROM itself, which is why it takes longer for developers to release custom kernels.

Sent from my Sprint Samsung Galaxy SIII with M.O.A.R. v9.0, dkp kernel dated 3/20/2014 and TWRP v2.7.0.0.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] AarSyl:
Hey, S3 users. I didn't see the question posted here, but does the new KNOX boot loader reset the counter if you tripped KNOX for the 4.3 update?
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] roirraW "edor" ehT:
No, it doesn't. It's an eFuse. Once tripped, it can never get reset. I'll add it to the OP. Thanks! :)
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] joaranna:
Hey all, I was wondering if I can flash the .tar via mobile Odin pro and have the ever root checked, thus having a rooted stock. Also, if flashing it through mobile Odin will flash the modem as well. Lastly, if using Goomanager to flash the custom recovery will work properly. My apologies if this is posted on the thread this one comes from. I pretty frequently read through to see what the turnout is. Figured this might be relevant and a possible alternative way to do it.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] roirraW "edor" ehT:
It's been said that we can Mobile ODIN it, but I know in one case a person reported that trying to use Mobile ODIN on it didn't work, so YMMV (your mileage may vary).

I would assume it would flash the whole tar, which would include the modem.

If you're already rooted you can probably use Goomanager to flash a custom recovery, otherwise I doubt it.

Hope that helps. Maybe if anyone else is more knowledgeable about these particular aspects.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] aschaffer35:
Greatly appreciate this Q&A... however, would like assistance with clarifying Q's 2 and 3.. I understand that if I try to odin a tar with the 4.2.1 or 4.3 bootloader after odin'd to the new ND8, it'll brick my device. However, could I just flash say MOAR 4.3 via recovery after I ODIN to the ND8 if I'm not a fan of the new 4.4?

Thanks!
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] roirraW "edor" ehT:
You're welcome! Glad you find it useful.

The answer to your question is:

3A. Yes, just like before.

I'll try to see if I can come up with a clearer way of wording the question if it's confusing.

Edit: Woot! 500 Thanks (total). :D
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] enzoevo:
Yes you can. if you are on MOAR currently, nandroid backup. You can restore it if you don't like KK. Although, I doubt you won't.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] roirraW "edor" ehT:
Yeah, I'm with you there! :)
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Dark_N1ghtmar3:
Is nd8 included in all kitkat roms or is it flashed separately?
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] aschaffer35:
Cool, thank you guys very much for clearing that up!!!
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] roirraW "edor" ehT:
ND8 is Samsung's official (also called Stock) version of KitKat for our phones - that's what this Q&A is all about. All other KitKat ROMs that aren't based on ND8 are AOSP (Android Open Source Project).

You're welcome!
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Dark_N1ghtmar3:
Thanks a lot I think I understand just dont want to brick my phone for doing something stupid
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] bilgerryan:
This deserves to be stickied lol
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] spirithandler:
Am I correct in reading I can flash the moar 9.0.1 Rom zip and run the custom kernel without issues on official kit Kat?
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] roirraW "edor" ehT:
If you flash MOAR v9.01, then you'll be running JellyBean 4.3, not KitKat. If you're asking if you can flash MOAR v9.01 after ODINing ND8 and a custom recovery, then yes answer 3A means you can flash and nandroid just as you did before ODINing ND8.

Sent from my Sprint Samsung Galaxy SIII with M.O.A.R. v9.0, dkp kernel dated 3/20/2014 and TWRP v2.7.0.0.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] roirraW "edor" ehT:
Wow! Thanks!

Sent from my Sprint Samsung Galaxy SIII with M.O.A.R. v9.0, dkp kernel dated 3/20/2014 and TWRP v2.7.0.0.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] spirithandler:
Thanks will all the post in the other threads I got confused on what is safe or not and since I bricked my phone once and was lucky enough to bring it back from the dead with the sd card trick I am extra careful now.

You see I am having major battery drain and charging issues with my phone since updating to kit kat and wanted to flash moars to see if the problem gos away or not.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] roirraW "edor" ehT:
You're welcome.

Sent from my Sprint Samsung Galaxy SIII with M.O.A.R. v9.0, dkp kernel dated 3/20/2014 and TWRP v2.7.0.0.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] bob_ross:
Thank you for clearing that all up! :good:
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] prboy1969:
+1 It certainly does :good:
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] roirraW "edor" ehT:
You're very welcome!

Thanks! ?

Sent from my Sprint Samsung Galaxy SIII with M.O.A.R. v9.0, dkp kernel dated 3/20/2014 and TWRP v2.7.0.0.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] marcran75:
Here's one I'm seeing asked and I would also like to know myself. Some have hard bricked trying to flash ND8 modem while still on Knoxed 4.3. Is it possible to revert to MK3 modem after updating? Some are reporting connectivity issues on ND8.

Sent from my BlackedOut VM GS3 running MOAR powered by DKP
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] roirraW "edor" ehT:
Very good question. As soon as someone is brave enough to try I'll certainly add the answer. In the meantime I'll put the question and that we don't know yet in the OP. Thanks!

FWIW, I'm definitely getting better signal/data in some places I didn't before on the ND8 modem and ROM.

*DISCLAIMER* - I am not responsible for anyone bricking their phone!

I am going to guess it's okay, but that's purely a guess. Knoxed MK3 users never reported any issue flashing the MK5 modem, as far as I know, and I know ND8 is even tougher Knoxed than before, but I suspect that aspect hasn't changed.

*DISCLAIMER* - I am not responsible for anyone bricking their phone!
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] marcran75:
This wasn't necessarily directed at you. I know a lot of ppl are visiting this site and I was hoping for some feedback from anyone who may have tried doing so. As of right now I'm not willing to risk it. :D

Sent from my BlackedOut VM GS3 running MOAR powered by DKP
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] roirraW "edor" ehT:
I figured it was just asking of everyone generally, but I still think it's a good Q&A to add to the OP, even before we know the answer. :) I'm not willing to risk, either.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] schlepprock:
OCD..sorry. But if I take a stock Sprint S3, take the OTA KK update, root using an ND8 tar??, install Philz recovery, and then M.O.A.R., this will work?? And after all this I would be running M.O.A.R. with an ND8 modem?? I would appreciate any and all thoughts on this..Thanks..Phil
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] roirraW "edor" ehT:
The ND8 tar won't root you, it takes the place of taking the OTA, except it'll wipe your data and internal "SD". Either take the OTA or use the tar, one or the other. You can do both but there's no particular benefit. Install the latest Philz tar using ODIN, Google Chainfire's latest SuperSU.zip (v1.94 probably), flash that zip in Philz, and then you can restore a backup of MOAR or flash MOAR from scratch and yes then you'd be using MOAR with the ND8 modem.

You're welcome!
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] schlepprock:
Like I posted in another thread, I ran over my S3 with a skid steer. I'll be getting my replacement tomorrow. I don't know if it will have KK or not, but I want to root it as well and I want M.O.A.R. Wiping data will be fine since I will not have set it up yet. Oh and I don't care about tripping the warranty bit.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] roirraW "edor" ehT:
Wow, sorry to hear about the phone skidder...I mean the skid mover.

One less step if it does have KK on it. :)

If you have any trouble, follow these completely robust directions, or just do this from the get go:

http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=52505327&postcount=2

Then as I said regarding Philz, I forgot about possibly denoxing the ROM itself might help Root to stick using http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2742937 and then flash SuperSU.zip. Some people have had success with CF-AutoRoot. Myself and others didn't have any luck at all with CF-AutoRoot under KitKat. AFAIK, SuperSU.zip hasn't had any failures.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Super Dave426:
OK, I have another question. I am on MOAR 9 now, have been rooted since I got the phone 2 years ago and had MOAR 6 and kept moving up the line so I know I do not have any Knox on the phone. I am currently looking at SlimKat and flashing this will bring KitKat to my phone, but since the modem is separate I would guess I will still be on MK3. Is there any ND8 plain modem flashes out there or are they tied together with a Knox bootloader? I keep reading that he new modem is so much stronger I know I'll want to flash it sometime, but it looks like Knox is an issue. 2 days of looking at KitKat ROMs and some wine and color me confused!!! :D
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] marcran75:
Many ppl who tried to download just the ND8 modem have hard bricked their phones. The only way to run it is on the ND8 bootloader. There was a link to the modem but it was pulled due to this. I believe Q4 & Q5 cover this pretty well.

Sent from my BlackedOut VM GS3 running MOAR powered by DKP
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Super Dave426:
Gotcha, thanks for the quick reply. That's the reason I asked, I had read that if Knox wasn't on the phone then the modem could be flashed without issue in one of the many threads, so I wanted to triple check.

I knew I saw it, here was one: http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=52446183&postcount=1888
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] BlueAngel1953:
Anyone try flashing a different modem like MK3 onto ND8 yet? I really need it as ND8 is terrible for service and MK3 was so much better.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] roirraW "edor" ehT:
Edit: Yes, [MENTION=5076590]jdsingle76[/MENTION] tested it. I'll put the correct answer in the OP now. When replacing the ND8 modem with MK5, he received no signal - the radio didn't work at all. Replacing it with MK3 should be the same since the two are compatible with each other.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] BlueAngel1953:
You have to be kidding me, so I am forever stuck with basically no LTE on my phone until I upgrade now?
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] enzoevo:
What have you done to try and get LTE working with ND8?
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] roirraW "edor" ehT:
I'm assuming you're rooted and have therefor tripped your warranty (Knox) bit? If so, I can't think of anything to suggest. Sorry for the bad news - of course it's unpredictable if Sprint changes something else or has a final "fix" for Samsung's KitKat on our phones months down the line, like HTC did after the final release of Android 2.1 on the Droid Eris, which I had. Actually it was closer to eight months after the "final" update, just to make some bug fixes IIRC.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] BlueAngel1953:
Pretty much everything I could think of, I wiped the phone several times and re-installed. Updated PRL, Profile, re-activated the phone using the dialer code (forget which) so I am at a loss here. It just takes forever to connect to LTE and it doesn't connect in a lot of places it used to without an airplane mode toggle and sometimes that doesn't even help.

Would installing Cyanogenmod help in anyway would I be able to flash the MK3 modem that way and just stay on Cyanogenmod? I wanted to stay stock but if I can get my signal back with a different rom then so be it.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] roirraW "edor" ehT:
You can install CM or any ROM but (correct me if I remember wrong from whoever tested this) you can't downgrade the modem, or rather if you do, no matter what ROM you're running, your radio won't work.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] BlueAngel1953:
Instantly feel sick to my stomach now, why the hell would they install such a modem and not allow you to roll it back... my phone is damn useless now.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] roirraW "edor" ehT:
I wasn't going to suggest this, but I think you're pretty desperate, unfortunately. Sprint may not mind doing some free work on your phone at an official Sprint Store even with the warranty bit tripped. Maybe you could flat out ask them over the phone (block your number from caller ID first).

The reason I suggest this is, related to the heart of the problem, on my E4GT they were able to change something which successfully gave me better reception where it mattered. My wife and I got our phones at the same time, and we both got different results in the same locations.

I notice on the back of our S3s, with the back cover off, there's two contacts where (maybe) similar to the Note 2, an extended antenna could be hooked up as well. The Note 2 has an antenna extension of some sort built into the inside of the back cover. Not positive if it's for cell signal, NFC or even related to wireless charging, but worth investigating.

Keep us informed of your progress.

As usual, I'm not responsible if Sprint or anyone shreds your phone or calls the bomb squad to securely blow it up.

And of course, I'd flash the stock ND8 tar once more to go back to completely stock unrooted before taking it into a store, even though the warranty bit is tripped. You can still make a nandroid of your current setup beforehand, and copy it off your phone or to your external SD at least.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] BlueAngel1953:
I'm not rooted I am still completely stock, not gonna bother with contacting Sprint about the issue it's just not worth the time. Just going to wait and see if anything changes with flashing different modems on ND8 and or different roms.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] roirraW "edor" ehT:
Delete.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] BlueAngel1953:
What are the implications of flashing a modem that doesn't work can I then just re-install the correct modem and it will correct the problem? I am willing to experiment as long as the phone won't brick itself.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] marcran75:
Read post #441 here: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=52576019
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] roirraW "edor" ehT:
Thanks for the link [MENTION=5361082]marcran75[/MENTION]. I'll up your Thank count when I'm back on TapaTalk later! :)