[Verizon Galaxy Note 4 General] anticloud:
Recovery of a developer edition Note 4 initally on ANJ5, after taking on an LP OTA

The following instructions will help a Note 4 Developer Edition owner recover his / her device, from a "locked state" as a result of taking on a Verizon Lollipop OTA - - Happiness :D

Most important prerequisite: Before attempting recovery, please read through this thread on how to make a flashable backup of a file called aboot.mbn from your developer device - [MENTION=5609185]radionerd[/MENTION] has a great write up of how to do this... once you have done this, please proceed below...

Assumption: your Verizon Note 4 Developer phone, when you got it, was running version N910VVRU1ANJ5, this set of instructions only applies to this version - any other version has not been tested using these instructions. I and / or radionerd (hopefully he concurs) assumes no liability for this instruction set and any unintended consequences which "could" result- However, it has been executed successfully by me, I am restored to where I was prior to taking on the Lollipop OTA.

Please note: If for some reason you do not succeed here, you can call Samsung, and they should be able to re-flash your device back to developer state (like the day you received it). As last indicated to me by them; there was no cost involved - yes, your phone is out of warranty (only has 30 days) BUT, if when you call samsung support only say that your phone received the OTA and was locked as a result - best off do not provide any other information like it was rooted etc.. it should take anywhere from 1 to 2 weeks to get your phone restored...

I am very happy to report, thanks to radionerd and other developers before him, that I did not have to send my Note 4 into samsung, the following instructions afforded that luxury -

The first 2 instructions will bring you back to a stock developer edition (unlocked) - version N910VVRU1ANJ5.

1. Download hasbadr's full firmware (full retail) edition N910VVRU1ANJ5 here - After you've download this file, extract it, make sure your phone is connected to your computer, restart the phone and put into download mode. Open Odin 3.09 or greater, using the AP option, select your ROM you just downloaded, and flash it... let the phone reboot, yet try to put in download mode before the phone returns to do setup, in preparation for the next step.

Step 1 comment: The idea behind using this ROM is, you are in a retail (locked) lollipop state now, you will be rolling back to retail (locked) kitkat N910VVRU1ANJ5 - after flashing this file, you will still be locked. If you plan on reinstalling TWRP and rooting again you must use this ROM version - as the current TWRP and root method aligns (works) with this ROM.

2. if Odin is open, close it then re-open again to let it detect the phone. Using Odin, select your aboot.tar.md5 file (you would have made this as a result of radionerd's instructions). Flash this file, let the phone reboot.

Step 2 comment: You have just flashed your phone back to developer mode - if you go back into download mode you can see MODE: Developer one line above the SECURE DOWNLOAD : ENABLE message in the upper left list on your phone's screen. if it's there, welcome back to your unlocked Note 4 :)

To return to twrp and root, please go here next.

That's it - thank you radionerd and all other developers who made this possible... I was the test crash dummy for this experiment, and survived :)

Sincerely,

Rob