[Galaxy S 4 General] krasCGQ:
Reference Thread

Samsung Galaxy S4 I9500 Lollipop Modems and Bootloaders

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Technical background

Actually, we have a dedicated thread that should host updated modems and bootloaders (for both I9500 and I9505). However, the thread was no longer updated since 2014, even the OP is never online since 2014. So, I created this thread to host all Lollipop bootloaders and modems for I9500.

Why do need we update our modem and bootloader?

As you may know, firmwares are updated often, as long as our device still get support from Samsung. Custom ROMs does the same. And often new updates are giving problems with incorrect version of your modem or bootloader (like you installed Lollipop firmware on KitKat bootloader). We need to update our modem and bootloader to ensure the maximum compatibility available and will keep us secure, everywhere (althrough we need an additional protection too).

Installation procedure

Installation via recovery (modem only):

Make sure you've installed the latest version of CWM/PhilZ/TWRP. I'd recommend TWRP.

Make sure you've done an EFS backup (just to be safe).

Reboot to Recovery mode by combination of Power+Home+Vol(+) buttons.

a. For CWM, select Install zip from sdcard.

b. For PhilZ, select Install zip then select Install zip from sdcard0 or sdcard1.

c. For TWRP, select Install.

Navigate to modem zip.

a. For CWM/PhilZ, select "Yes, instal ..."

b. For TWRP, swipe Install button.

Reboot to system.

If after installation of modem your baseband version is Unknown, restore your EFS backup.

Installation via Odin (modem and/or bootloader):

Make sure you've installed the latest version of Samsung USB Drivers on your computer.

Make sure you've done an EFS backup (just to be safe).

Reboot to Download mode by combination of Power+Home+Vol(-) buttons and proceed by pressing Vol(+).

Plug your phone to your computer.

Extract the archive (if compressed).

Open Odin and select modem and/or bootloader .tar or .tar.md5 file(s) into the corresponding location.

Select Start to proceed.

In case if your modem and/or bootloader isn't updated, repeat step 3-6, untick Auto Reboot, and select Start to proceed. Then, do a hard reboot by holding power button for 10 seconds.

If after installation of modem your baseband version is Unknown, restore your EFS backup.

How to contribute

You're welcome to send your contribution. Make sure that version you want to contribute isn't listed on this thread. You need two files: modem.bin and sboot.bin. You could obtain by extracting both files from stock firmware .tar.md5 using 7-Zip on Windows or Archive Manager on Ubuntu (remove .md5 extension first).

Packing into .tar file(s) (modem and/or bootloader):

You need an Ubuntu-installed machine or any distribution based on Ubuntu installed on your machine.

Move both files into your working directory.

Open Terminal and move it into your working directory. Example, if you're working on Desktop folder, enter this command:

$ cd Desktop

Pack one by one files using these commands:

$ tar -h ustar -c modem.bin > MODEMVER.tar [COLOR=Green]# Modem[/COLOR]
$ tar -h ustar -c sboot.bin > BOOTLOADERVER.tar [COLOR=Green]# Bootloader[/COLOR]

Replace MODEMVER.tar and/or BOOTLOADERVER.tar with version you're packing. Example, if you're packing I9500UBUHOK1 modem, change MODEMVER.tar to I9500UBUHOK1-MODEM.tar.

Add md5 checksum into .tar file(s) using this command:

$ md5sum -t PACKAGE.tar >> PACKAGE.tar

Replace PACKAGE.tar with .tar file(s) you've created. If you've more than one .tar file, insert one first and repeat this for another one.

Finally, rename file(s) using this command:

$ mv PACKAGE.tar PACKAGE.tar.md5

Replace PACKAGE with .tar file(s) you've created (without .tar extension).

Compress it into zip file(s) then attach it here or upload to somewhere else.

If you're a bit lazy to do all these steps above, grab any Odin flashable .tar files, delete everything and replace it with modem.bin or sboot.bin then rename it. :p

Packing into .zip file (modem only):

Download the attached template below.

Open it with any archiver app.

Put modem.bin inside modem folder.

Rename the .zip file to the version you've included.

Attach it here or upload it somewhere else.