yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] xaronax:
Correct. The physical SD card slot next to the SIM card does not read SD cards. It gives an error that it has a blank or unsupported file system, and after it tries to format it loops around and says it again. I've tried 10 SD cards that are fully functional in my PC and other Android devices. Lost cause as far as I'm concerned. I thought it was just an issue with the ROM I was using but it doesn't work in recovery either. (unmountable).

I can't follow this trail of breadcrumbs to build the tool myself. There's a chain of people that helped other people with similar issues and I loathe the structure of forums so much that I can't be bothered to trace it. Another guy in a few posts back on this thread said that there's another build on page 22 of this post, but this post only has 7 pages. No idea. I've found the github for the base version of the tool, but I don't really have the patience to install the tons of stuff required to kludge my way through building it myself. It also apparently requires me to paste a bunch of hex values for something into it before it build it.

It's just too much. I know my posts are coming across as whiny and entitled, but it's just way too much time and effort for something that should be easy. I'm not blaming anyone but Verizon and Samsung for this. I really do appreciate the level of expertise and effort that goes into this sort of thing, I just can't deal with the dozens of hoops to jump through. I don't have the hours to spend trying to fix it. If I get super bored this weekend or next week I might revisit it and try to make some progress. Not having anything remotely resembling a real internet connection makes it very very difficult to download all these pieces of software and ROM images and tools. It took me 2 days to get Android Studio working.

I appreciate the help.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] guram6:
მადლობა . ძალიან მნიშვმელოვანი სამუშაოსათვის.thx br.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] donc113:
Ok... Let's forget all the other crap... I am the one who posted the 'universal' unlock, i have the code... It is 1 line of code to remove the need to write to the sd card slot.

I will not post that here but will email (with explicit instructions on how to use) it to you if you will PM me with your email address.

Beyond that... I have nothing else to offer.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] njdan30:
I think he meant by downloading to yourself is internal memory which I use all the time also but if you can't get unlocked for recovery there's no point. (I'm speculating that's what he means)did the sd card fail after using a rom or root or was it shot while totally stock?
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] xaronax:
I haven't been stock since I bought it. I have Safestrap and root already. It's fine dude, I've burnt all the patience I have for messing with it.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] njdan30:
Trust me I hear you I've seen many come into my shop that were brand new that also had broken sd slots some were easy fix with little heat and soldering gun others were just sent back to the Samsung at the time for warranty a few were software issues very small percentage that's why I asked. I just dusted this off because honestly I hate my s6 that phone made me cross over to my iPhone 6 plus lol.i still do repairs if your looking to sell for parts instead of trashing lemme know. Sorry not much help to you .anyways good luck either way.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] wdcspurs:
Just trying to make sense of this. Ive been running the Alliance ROM on my Note 3 pretty much since I got it. If I unlock the bootloader through this method, does it factory reset my phone? Or will I lose safestrap or root? of course I will back it up before I do anything, just want to make sure I understand the outcome fully. Thanks in advance.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] bftb0:
This does not modify your "ROM" one iota, nor does it perform factory resets, etc.

It does over-write the first 256 MB of your SD card (which is effectively the same as deleting everything on the card), so you should use a spare SD card for that (certainly not the one you have your backups on!)

If something were to go horribly wrong, then you might end up going back to Odin for flashing, but even then, it should be possible to create a Odin flash file with only the stock "BL" pieces and exclude the "AP" components. In theory that would preserve your existing ROM and data too.

(Note that rectification of the "horribly wrong" scenario presumes that you do not throw away the "debrick image" created on the SD card. I should point out that so far in this thread there are no occurrences of "horribly wrong" happening as a result of this method.)
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] Mr.HQ:
Had trouble but got it done

I tried using the APK initially but it wouldn't work for me. Install kept FC'ing & would remove itself. Really weird.

Jasmine Rom 6.1 - Busybox installed, etc.

What worked for me is using the Terminal Emulator right on the phone & following the OP with samsung_unlock_n3.

Will the Safestrap 3.75 from Galaxy S5 work on the Note 3 now that it's unlocked?

Sorry if this is a stupid question.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] Niketay:
Any way without SD slot?

Can't seem to figure out the non-SD card method... not tech savvy enough to do it I guess haha. Anyone have a way to do it?
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] bftb0:
The point of unlocking the bootloader is to allow the use of a true custom recovery and ROM kernels (boot images) other than stock, so it lets you *avoid* using (late boot interception) techniques like SafeStrap. Which in turn opens up the variety of ROMs available to you. (Admittedly, since this is a new exploit on an older phone, the total number of new dev ROMs coming out is likely to be somewhat limited)

Doing this (installing a non-stock recovery or boot partion) comes at a cost of blowing the Knox "warranty" fuse, so you have to be OK with that.

This exploit modifies the behavior of your bootloader, not your currently installed kernel. (If something wouldn't work with your current kernel before, this technique won't change that)

Beyond that, using software designed for a phone with completely different hardware seems like a bad idea.

---------- Post added at 04:49 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:29 AM ----------

After verifying that your CID has been successfully reset to the developer CID (you already ran the tool once without errors and rebooted), you could try this (in a terminal emulator or adb shell) just before the 2nd invocation of the tool:

$ su
# mv /dev/block/mmcblk1 /dev/block/mmcblk1-sdcard_no_workie
# ln -s /dev/null /dev/block/mmcblk1

... and then re-run the tool the 2nd time. (Note the above mod disappears when you reboot.)

PS anyone that has a working card slot but decides to use this hack "to save time" is probably an idiot.

.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] Mr. HQ:
Thanks bftb0.

I was hoping we can use a recovery with multiple ROM slots like Safestrap.

Not sure what's out there that's equivalent.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] donc113:
Safestrap is not a true recovery... It's a boot up 'trick' that acts like a recovery. TWRP is a true recovery and can be gotten at even if your system is pretty much trashed.

Unlocking your phone allows you to use custom kernels, non-touchwiz ROMs and to have a real recovery.

Unlocking simply opens the door to the above, it does not change anything you are currently using or doing. It just adds to what you can do IF YOU WISH.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] bftb0:
I haven't followed the kexec/multiboot stuff over the past few years, so I can't offer any useful suggestions. I suppose the ability to use a replacement boot kernel makes this more likely, so if it had already showed up, it would have happened in a ROM for the DE phones (Developer Edition) first because they have had this capability from the beginning.

I used SafeStrap myself since I bought the phone until this came around (quite conservatively though - I never modded the stock slot other than SS; I just took a backup of the rooted stock slot, restored it into the first alternate slot, and then modded *that*)

You might have to do some reading in the DE threads.

I should point out that an additional wrinkle is fussiness of the bootloaders, especially older versions (e.g. if you have an "M" series BL) - even after unlocking they are fussy about booting kernels with unrecognized DTBs, including even "4.4" pure stock kernels.

---------- Post added at 08:09 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:43 AM ----------

I found out the other day - through a mishap - that having an unlocked bootloader (& blown Knox warranty flag) has an additional benefit.

I had been attempting some booting experiments in the recovery partition (splicing together combos of TWRP's ramdisk with a variety of kernels), and had left a non-bootable experiment in the recovery partition. Then, I made an unfortunate mod in my rooted ROM which boot-looped the thing.

So, I had a soft-bricked phone. (Doh!)

So I created an Odin tar file containing only twrp-3.0.2-0-hltevzw-4.3.img (renamed to "recovery.img" before the 'tar -H ustar' operation), appended a md5sum sig to the tar file, and flashed it in Odin 3.0.9 (using the AP slot)

Back in business (no need to Odin back to full stock, re-root, and re-unlock) !

With a locked bootloader you would have been able to perform the Odin flash (I think) but it would never boot.

So, with an unlocked bootloader, even losing the custom recovery isn't a huge deal so long as your USB port still works. You can easily put it back - using Odin.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] donc113:
Thanks! That's good to know!
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] seadooman:
Could have sworn there was a recommendation for the root to use. Like the one-click or yemen 2 file method? Anyone remember that or have I just read to many forums?
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] bftb0:
Even though this technique requires root, this thread is not about rooting. Try a related thread which *is* about rooting, or ask your question in the Q&A forum.

I'll agree that scouring forums isn't great compared to "what could be". On the other hand, in comparison to "what could be", forums actually do exist. ;)

Until such a time as "what could be" springs into existence, the one way to make forums less crappy than they already are is to try and stay on the thread topic when you post..
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] seadooman:
I am not asking about rooting just if there was a preferred method when going to unlock the boot loader. All forums on rooting do not refer to unlocking the bootloader so i don't see that helping.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] bftb0:
This method does not require any specific "type" of rooting, nor does it benefit from any specific "type" of rooting. You just need to be able to run an executable with root privileges. Any root you can get - on ANY ROM - will allow this to run.

.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] wdcspurs:
If I follow this thread as it had expanded, I believe this exploit, apk or adb, will not work on 4.4.2? If that is correct, 4.4.4 is where I need to be I assume? If that is the case, it sounds like u need to update, reroot and unlock the bootloader. Just trying to make sure I follow this before I start making changes.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] bftb0:
You only need a retail CID beginning with 0x15 and root to accomplish this - on any ROM of any release.*

*the caveat was that the binary in the OP did seem to have a (CID) file pathname dependency that was release dependent, but donc113 patched the code to take care of that.

His post containing both the patched binary and the source code is here - post #218.

He (donc113) used this very binary on 4.4.2.

I used his very binary on 4.3.something-or-other (MJ7).

The basic principle behind the code is release independent, but it did have implementation details (file pathnames in /sys) which potentially could change from release to release.

I don't know whether the purveyors of "one click" have kept up with changes in the binary. IIRC there was a provision for slipping an updated binary underneath the .apk, but don't quote me on that.

If someone want the clearest diagnostic details, it is best to do this without any apps - just run the binary in a root shell. If someone wants to avoid ADB, they can use a terminal emulator. Follow the same instructions in the OP and use [MENTION=1923941]donc113[/MENTION]'s binary. That's it.

It's not that hard.

[Edit 8/25/2016] Based on feedback from member shallmann, it appears that specific binary versions released within the Unlock Thread should be used depending on the firmware revision of your phone. See this post in that thread.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] wdcspurs:
Understand. I will give it a whirl. One other question about the SD card. I see that it will be formatted. Am I good to pop a random SD card in there to get it unlocked and then pop my old one back in once complete?
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] donc113:
Simple and direct... ANY SD card 2G or higher will work.

Once unlocked and booted... You no longer need that 'spare' SD card.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] wdcspurs:
What exactly am i changing when I move the unlock file into system/bin?
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] donc113:
Nothing except giving it the home the OP posted so his APK (which has a terminal emulator in it) knows how to find it.

If you wish to run it from your own terminal emulator it can reside anywhere. You mustbe able to 'su' to become root before you run the unlock binary.

Also my version just shuts power off after it runs... You reboot by pressing the power button. It doesn't auto-reboot.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] wdcspurs:
I believe I got it. When I boot into download mode, it should say," MODE: Developer", if unlocked successfully,correct?
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] bftb0:
That is correct. You now have an unlocked bootloader.

From here on out, don't Odin any boot stuff (aboot,tz,rpm,sbl, etc) or your phone will go back to being a locked retail device.

Something I discovered the other day is that doing this unlock also seems to turn off the signing checks that normally happen with Odin (not the MD5 checksums at the end of the tar file, but the Samsung crypto-signing of stuff).

That means that even if you lose your custom recovery, you can put it right back with Odin. (You certainly can't do that with a locked bootloader).
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] wdcspurs:
I appreciate it. One last thing... How the heck do I get rid of safestrap now that I have a real TWRP?
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] bftb0:
Ask that question in a new thread and I will answer. This thread isn't about safestrap. ;)
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] donc113:
Correct... And you need to run unlock 2 times (with a power off after each run) after the 2nd run is when it will be unlocked.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] RobotPhone:
Holy &*#$, my bootloader is unlocked. :D Unreal.

I stopped lurking the Note3 forums for probably close to a year because nothing new was going on. One day I checked in and saw a LP exploit was found, and a couple weeks later the bootloader unlocked. Talk about putting new life into a dying phone!

I was on 4.4.2 but installed Jasmine 6.1 to get the latest FWs on my phone. I then ran the apk two times to unlock. Flawless. Fantastic work devs! :good::good:
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] seadooman:
Is there any reason not to format the SD card that was used for this? It's not readable so I would like to a disc formatting software just to make it usable.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] njdan30:
No
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] bftb0:
The thing that's on the SD card - well, the first 256 MB of blocks on the device - are a copy of the first 256 MB of your phone's internal memory chip, prior to alteration of the "aboot" partition (p6). It includes data from the first 22 partitions of your device, and can be used as an emergency Odin boot device if the boot firmware on the phone gets corrupted.

I don't have mine sitting on the SD card. But I surely have a backup copy of it on my PC and will probably retain it until I dispose of the phone. And, I know exactly how to copy it back and forth from where it sits right now to some other SD card.

So far, there are no reports of anyone corrupting their bootloader (via this particular method).

So, it's a bit like a fire extinguisher. You never need one - until you really do, and then you need it desperately. There's an argument to be made that you should have one made up even if you are *not* unlocking your bootloader. It's only a 256 MB blob, which is about 7-8 times smaller than factory firmware Odin blobs. (Yeah, you should be archiving those, too).

Making the blob from the debrick SD card: (substitute mmcblk0 for mmcblk1 if you want to make it from the device *before* you unlock)

C:\windoze> adb shell
$ su
# dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk1 bs=4096 count=65536 of=/sdcard/debrick.img
# exit
$ exit
C:\windoze> adb pull /sdcard/debrick.img
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] seadooman:
When I put that we card in my computer it doesn't see it. Is there a program for reading it?
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] bftb0:
Probably. The data is written to the physical device as a "raw" block device, so any Windows program which is capable of reading the media as a raw device should be able to do that. For me, doing this kind of stuff on Windows seems like the hardest possible way of doing things. I suppose that 3rd-party disk partitioning tools could probably do the trick; but this might work. Can't vouch for it, I've never used it.

But even easier is just run the commands above (without the adb commands) on your rooted phone with the SDcard in the slot. Just use a terminal emulator app (e.g. jackpal) and get a root prompt with the "su" command. After that is done, the "debrick.img" file can be copied from the (internal) /sdcard to the brain-dead Windows box using MTP. You might have to reboot the phone so that the file will show up via MTP because, well MTP is brain-dead too, just like Windows.

After you get the file off the card you can reformat it any way you please. Windows tends to be fussy about dealing with media that already has been formatted or labeled by a foreign OS. If it won't behave nicely getting reformatted back to it's original size in Windows, you will probably have to use a simple trick: use a tool that can write zeros to the front of the device, say about 4 MB or so. If you had an image file that was "all zeros" of size 4M or larger, you could use that for the same purpose with "Win32diskimager" (above). Windows formatting seems to be much better behaved if it finds blank (zero-ed out) blocks at the beginning of a storage media device.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] seadooman:
Best recovery? CWM or twrp?
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] donc113:
That's just a matter of opinion... I personally like TWRP but others like CWM.

To be honest... I don't think it matters
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] seadooman:
I'm not understanding. Do these terminal commands produce a file to transfer or do I need to be connected to Windows at the same time? And the importance of this file? The failure your talking aboutif I Odin the stock of1 firmware would that not get my phone working?
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] bftb0:
The "dd" command is the swiss army knife of data movement in Unix/Linux.*

dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk1 bs=4096 count=65536 of=/sdcard/debrick.img

if= input file

of= output file

bs= block size

count= number of "block size" chunks to copy from input to output

so the above command copies 4096*65536 = 268,435,456 bytes (256 Mb) from the very beginning of

/dev/block/mmcblk1 (which is the "raw" device for your External SD Card) to

/sdcard/debrick.img (which is just an ordinary file, albeit binary)

So the answer to your Q is "Yes. It creates the file "debrick.img" which will be on your so-called "internal" sdcard. You don't need to be connected to another machine until you want to get a copy of that file somewhere off of the phone for safe keeping.

There is a failure recovery mode on the phone where if the booting firmware on the phone is corrupted or fails, an attempt is made to launch Odin mode from a exact duplicate copy of your firmware which on the external SD card.

This exploit/hack code writes to a very critical piece of that firmware - the "aboot" partition. So the author of the code (beaups) wrote it so that a "debrick" SD card would be created automatically as part of the process.

I don't think anyone has reported bricking their phone using this method yet; so... will you need it? Probably not. It's like the fire extinguisher analogy; you never need it until you do.

By the way, if you followed the above closely, you would realize that you could re-create the debrick SD card (if you had it sitting in a 256 Mb file somewhere) simply by interchanging the if= and of= values in the above command line. Then you would be writing TO the external (removable) SD card, rather than reading from it. You just need to be root to read/write data from/to the "device" files such as /dev/block/mmcblk1

* and honestly, one of the first commands an Android rooter should become familiar with, right after the "pwd", "cd", "ls", "cat" and "more" commands. It does way more than what is shown in the example above - for instance starting to read or write at a specific offset in the middle of a big file.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] seadooman:
Don't get it?

I'm a 55 year old mechanic and have only been working with android for 4 years so if at all possible could you "dumb" this down. Is there a specific command that would save this "debrick" image to the internal phone memory or to the Sd card for me to transfer? And in a place that I can find it?

There is another forum that has debrick images but not for of1, would that possibly work for an emergency? I tried the first set you listed twice and did not find the file that should or would have been saved. No doubt on my part. Sorry to waste all your time on this.

If you don't have the time I understand.

---------- Post added at 06:35 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:31 AM ----------

I'm a 55 year old mechanic and have only been working with android for 4 years so if at all possible could you "dumb" this down. Is there a specific command that would save this "debrick" image to the internal phone memory or to the Sd card for me to transfer? And in a place that I can find it?

There is another forum that has debrick images but not for of1, would that possibly work for an emergency? I tried the first set you listed twice and did not find the file that should or would have been saved. No doubt on my part. Sorry to waste all your time on this.

If you don't have the time I understand. Here was that OP with debrick images. http://xdaforums.com/verizon-galaxy-note-3/general/howto-recover-hard-brick-t2834419