yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] ianmacd:
Yes, that's what I suspect, too. Sorry, I thought I had been clear about that.

I'm afraid that when I get to the bottom of this, I'm going to deserve a good slap for missing something obvious or doing something stupid.

On the other hand, I did follow Samsung's instructions to the letter, and am building with their own build script (only slightly modified by me), rather than how I would normally do this.

For the sake of completion, I'll include that here:

#!/bin/bash

export PATH=~/Android/Sdk/ndk-bundle/toolchains/aarch64-linux-android-4.9/prebuilt/linux-x86_64/bin:$PATH
export SEC_BUILD_OPTION_HW_REVISION=02

mkdir out

make -j$(nproc) -C $(pwd) O=$(pwd)/out ARCH=arm64 SUBARCH=arm64 CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-android- KCFLAGS=-mno-android VARIANT_DEFCONFIG=msm8996_sec_gts3lwifi_eur_open_defconfig msm8996_sec_defconfig SELINUX_DEFCONFIG=selinux_defconfig SELINUX_LOG_DEFCONFIG=selinux_log_defconfig TIMA_DEFCONFIG=tima_defconfig DMVERITY_DEFCONFIG=dmverity_defconfig

make -j$(nproc) -C $(pwd) O=$(pwd)/out ARCH=arm64 SUBARCH=arm64 CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-android- KCFLAGS=-mno-android

cp -p out/arch/arm64/boot/Image $(pwd)/arch/arm64/boot/Image

And as I paste this, I'm now noticing for that SEC_BUILD_OPTION_HW_REVISION flag. Time to grep the source and find out what consequence that has.... and... none at all. It's mentioned nowhere except in the build script itself.
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] ashyx:
I see no reason why that build script would cause it not too boot. However I don't use the silly OUT folders. Can cause issues, so just build as it should be, directly into arch/arm64/boot.

I have also compiled the kernel if you'd like to try it out. It think it's quite likely it will be the same issue and won't boot, probably Samsungs fudged sources again.

Not sure on the build option flag and why it's rev 2 as it seems to refer to hardware.

https://expirebox.com/download/6700eb814845b7b04c3a9f25bbffb527.html
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] ianmacd:
Cheers. You're continuing to be very gracious with your time.

I flashed your boot.img as is, and it failed to boot in the same way as my own. The only difference was a warning in red that your kernel isn't seandroid enforcing; which, I suppose, is an indication that something is at least inspecting the kernel before failing to boot it.

So it would appear that the source code as supplied by Samsung doesn't yield a working kernel, or relies on factors implicit to Samsung's build environment that don't apply elsewhere. It could be a dozen different things at least.

This is disappointing. Is this common practice with Samsung's kernel source, or do some of them actually build and boot out of the box, or at least with very little effort? Shipping sources that yield a working kernel, if not byte-for-byte identical to the stock kernel, seems like the minimum one ought to be able to expect from any company attempting to fulfil its obligations under the GPL.
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] ashyx:
Might be worth trying to flash the kernel along with the meta_data folder packed into a tar archive. Oddly this has worked in the past.

Failing that might just have to wait until the Qualcomm S7 boys get up to speed with Oreo and see if they have the same issue.
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] namitutonka:
Nice that xposed is baked into this. However my favorite module, Amplify (wakelock limiter), refused to run. Now it does after installing XposedInstaller_3.1.5.apk from rovo89's xposed thread, and xposed-v90-sdk26-arm64-beta3.zip from rovo89's online archive. Sure am enjoying my SM-T820, with twrp and root from this thread.
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] ianmacd:
Huh? Xposed isn't baked into TWRP.

Personally, I recommend you install systemless Xposed via Magisk. It's much cleaner and easier to disable if you run into a problem.

---------- Post added at 18:47 ---------- Previous post was at 18:44 ----------

Thanks for the idea. I'll try it later. Otherwise, yes, I think the point of cutting my losses may be approaching.
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] namitutonka:
xposed

This thread is titled [RECOVERY][ROOT]TWRP..... So when I rooted via Magisk, as per thread instructions it did have systemless xposed baked in. Greenify, an xposed module worked out of the 'baked in' box, but Amplify did not, it simply quit after checking whether root and xposed was present. It quit without reporting errors. So the systemless xposed did not work with Amplify....the screen just blanked out black. Tried one more with the same result. Installing xposed as I posted above resulted in Amplify working.

So, [MENTION=7187684]ianmacd[/MENTION] saying "Huh? Xposed isn't baked into TWRP.", is correct, but it still is baked in to the OP. You simply misunderstood.
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] ianmacd:
Xposed isn't baked into Magisk, either. It's available as a module, but you still have to download that module and install it, along with the Xposed installer itself. That's why Amplify baulked when you tried to run it. The required framework wasn't present.

Greenify worked for you, because Greenify runs fine with just root, and needs Xposed only for boost mode, which enables a few additional features. So it was working in root mode until you installed Xposed.

Again, systemless Xposed is the cleaner choice if you're rooted with Magisk, buy system-based works, too, as you have found.
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] namitutonka:
Thank you [MENTION=7187684]ianmacd[/MENTION], indeed it is I who simply misunderstood. :good:
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] DeHAWK:
Hey bro

Just to let you know; mtp not working in your TWRP for the T825 - Oreo version.

Working fine in your latest Nougat version.

Can't transfer files from neither Windows or Linux when in your Oreo TWRP. But works fine in Nougat version.

Regards

DeHAWK
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] ashyx:
Have you tried quickly disabling then re-enable mtp mode?

Also can you post the recovery log(file only don't post the output here)?
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] DeHAWK:
Yep, have tried it several times - no difference.

So you need the log after TWRP has been installed? - I think that's what you mean.

Regards

DeHAWK
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] ashyx:
I need the log after attempting to enable mtp.
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] HippoMan:
Fixing my error which caused a boot loop

I have a Galaxy Tab S3 SM-T825C which I started rooting via these instructions ...

https://www.**********.com/install-twrp-recovery-and-root-samsung-galaxy-tab-s3-sm-t820-t825/

...where "**********" is "d r o i d v i e w s.com" with no spaces.

I got TWRP successfully installed, but in my carelessness, I accidentally misread this paragraph:

Because of my careless reading, I rebooted before applying no-verity-no-encrypt_ashyx.zip, and now, the device is in an infinite boot loop if I try to go to either Recovery or System. I can still get into bootloader mode, however.

Does anyone know how I can get my SM-T825C back to a usable state? The bootloader seems OK, and I know I can re-install software via Odin, so is there perhaps an Odin-based way to install something that will get the system out of the boot loop, or perhaps to reinstall the original factory recovery, so I can do this again correctly? Also, I reinstalled TWRP via Odin, but I am having the same problem.

I've looked through this thread, but I didn't find anything which explains how to fix this error. I think I need to wipe data, but since I can't get into recovery mode now I don't see how to do this. However, there are hundreds of messages here, and I might have missed something. Please forgive me if so.

Thanks in advance for any help and suggestions that could be offered.

PS: I found something which allegedly is the stock recovery for the SM-T825C. I installed it via Odin which stated that the install was successful. But upon reboot, I'm still in the boot loop.
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] HippoMan:
I solved my problem. I found the firmware for my SM-T825C and reflashed it via Odin. I then ended up back in more or less factory reset mode. I then repeated the rooting process, this time more carefully following the instructions. Now, it's all working.

The firrmware is something Chinese without any play store, but I got it working, and now I'm going to put a custom ROM on the device, anyway.

So ... all's well that ends well.

Excelsior! (Latin for "Onward and upward!")
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] jd1639:
Flash the entire factory firmware package for the 825C in Odin. That should get you going again.
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] HippoMan:
Thank you. I finally found the factory firmware package (it took me a while to locate it). I now flashed it and all is well.
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] xpil:
Help needed for T825

I have posted the following question elsewhere but I did not get any help, so I am submitting it here as well (sorry about this...)

I have just upgraded to Oreo (no root any more) with Samsung SmartSwitch. Everything works fine but the date-time settings.

Each time I boot the tablet it sets the time to a strange default. After a couple of minutes it goes to the correct time, if I am connected to the internet. Otherwise the default (faulty) date-time remains for ever. I switched off the automatic (via wifi) synchronization and set the date-time manually. Unfortunately this did NOT solve the problem, as whenever the T825 is turned off the date-time I put are apparently lost, and the next time I boot the phone those default values reappear. The problem must be related to Oreo, since I did not have it with nougat....

Question number 2:

When I upgraded to Oreo with SmartSwitch all the applications I had installed under Nougat remained functional. This makes me hesitant to reroot my T825. Is there any way to back them up, so that I can restore them after applying the OP root process? Will SmartSwitch do it? I saw you can back up with it, but I do NOT know if it will restore the applications after rooting the tablet.

Are there any suggestions?

Thanks
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] StardustGeass:
Have you tried reflashing a whole ROM via odin for said Tab S3? Not just recovery?

Also, what happened when you tried to reinstall the TWRP again via Odin? Have you be able to boot into recovery successfully?
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] pankozin:
Hello. Do I need every time, when I want to update my rom with Odin, flash all the patches and format data? As I remember from s2 when u flash an update u need to boot first and only then install recovery or the system will be brocken, as it so here too? Or I can flash updates and go into recovery directly without formating data flash root? Coz as I understand if I boot into system after updating via Odin it will encrypt? How do you people update new versions? Always format data after flashing via Odin or not? I'm totally confused, just got the device.
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] joseph0042:
even after doing the oreo install steps and encryption install files, I still can't mount /data. Any ideas?
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] ianmacd:
Then it's almost certainly encrypted. Check your Device Security settings. If you're not offered an option to encrypt the device, it's already encrypted. In that case, you will have to format /data to remove the encryption.
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] joseph0042:
ianmacd, thanks for the advice. I just went into security and see that I can click encrypt device still, but still no luck in mounting data. Since I can't mount data, I also can't format it lol...

Edit. Got it to work. flashed back to 7.0 utilized stock recovery to wipe data. flashed back to 8.0 did it again and now data mounts after flashing twrp.
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] pankozin:
Hello. When flashing in twrp latest magisk on oreo stock BRE2, and then booting, the system lags like hell. Sometimes tab even hardly responds to touches, and system process loads cpu to max. Had anyone experienced the same and maybe knows how to solve this?
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] ianmacd:
Glad you got it fixed. I don't know why you couldn't mount /data in TWRP if the file-system wasn't encrypted, but note that you don't need to be able to mount a file-system in order to delete it and replace it with a new one. If you did, you'd never be able to create file-systems on brand new storage devices.
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] ashyx:
As [MENTION=7187684]ianmacd[/MENTION] stated mounting isn't required to Format.

You obviously tried to wipe not Format. I've tried to make the distinction clear in the OP yet it still gets ignored. :rolleyes:
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] HippoMan:
Getting the SM-T825C to work with T-Mobile?

I have rooted my SM-T825C (LTE).

However, during the process of rooting, I made an error and I had to reflash the factory ROM. I didn't have the original ROM backed up, so I found the Hong Kong LTE version of the factory ROM (Nougat) and flashed it, and then I successfuily repeated the rooting procedure.

Now, on my device under Settings->Service provider, it shows KT twophone service without any way to change this. I want to use this device with my T-Mobile account, and I installed my T-Mobile SIM card. It works for phone calls and data upload/download, but SMS does not work. I presume it's because the factory ROM or maybe the device itself might somehow be configured to use this KT twophone service.

Do any of you know of a way to get my device to function under T-Mobile service, so that my SMS messaging will function?

If I have to install a different factory ROM, I'm glad to do so, but I don't know where to find such a ROM that will enable my SM-T825C to fully connect to the T-Mobile network. Or perhaps do I have to install a different radio module? Or any other ideas?

By the way, there is no problem with the SIM card itself. When I install it into a different device, the phone, data, and SMS all work fine.

Thank you in advance for any help that any of you might be able to offer.

.​
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] esgie:
Guess you haven't flashed CSC or flashed the one not for your region.
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] HippoMan:
Thank you very much.

I didn't specifically flash the CSC, but the CSC I downloaded along with the ROM I flashed is for the Hong Kong region, and I doubt it would work for me.

Does anyone know where I could find a CSC for the SM-T825C that would work for T-Mobile in the U.S.?

Thank you.

.​
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] ianmacd:
The phenomenon you're seeing is indicative of the device having no CSC at all, rather than the CSC for Hong Kong. The service you see named on your device is Korean, and I recently had it, too, when my upgrade to Oreo failed to flash my local Dutch CSC.

The solution is about 10 pages back in this thread. Basically, extract sec_csc.zip from the CSC file found inside the standard Samsung firmware ZIP, and flash that in TWRP after manually mounting /system. sammobile.com should be able to supply you with the required firmware ZIP.
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] HippoMan:
Thank you very much!

This is exactly the information I need.

---------- Post added at 21:52 ---------- Previous post was at 21:28 ----------

... except it turns out that the CSC within the firmware zip doesn't contain any sec_csc.zip file.

This was from the 7.0 version of the ROM. I tried the 8.0 version, since you said that your issue was related to flashing Oreo. However, the 8.0 CSC file contains files with the same names, and no sec_csc.zip, either ...

Could this be due to the fact that the SM-T825C doesn't come with a valid CSC at all? (I'm just guessing)

.​
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] ashyx:
The file you require is in the cache.img.ext4

Tbh I'd just flash the whole Hong Kong firmware.

You should be able to modify your APN settings afterwards.
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] HippoMan:
Thank you very much.

I will try that. In case that doesn't work, how do I extract the sec_csc.zip file from cache.img.ext4? I tried unzip and tar, but the file isn't in either zip nor tar format.

Seems like maybe I would have to somehow mount the entire cache.img.ext4 file as a disk image and then extract that zip file.

Or are you suggesting that I could flash the entire cache.img.ext4 file instead of sec_csc.zip? If so, can TWRP flash a *.img.ext4 file directly, or do I have to preprocess it in some way first?

UPDATE:

I figured out how to get sec_csc.zip out of cache.img.ext4. That image file is an "Android sparse image", and it can't be mounted directly using the unix mount command. However, there is a utility called simg2img which converts sparse images to images that are mountable under linux:

https://github.com/anestisb/android-simg2img

After cloning, building, and installing simg2img, I did the following (as root):

# simg2img cache.img.ext4 newcache.img
# mkdir /media/tmp
# mount -o loop -t ext4 ./newcache.img /media/tmp
# cd /media/tmp
# find . -ls
2 4 drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 4096 Dec 31 1969 .
11 4 drwx------ 2 root root 4096 Dec 31 1969 ./lost+found
12 4 drwxrwx--- 2 ljz 2001 4096 Jan 18 02:13 ./recovery
13 4 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 99 Jan 18 02:13 ./recovery/command
14 79228 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 81128327 Jan 18 02:13 ./recovery/sec_csc.zip

.​
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] ianmacd:
Sorry. I was going on my memory and had forgotten that sec_csc.zip was nested yet another level deeper in the firmware.

Have you already un-lz4-ed the image file? if so, you'll be left with an Android sparse image, which you can convert to a raw image with simg2img on Linux. Then, you can loopback-mount it and pull sec_csc.zip from the file-system.

As [MENTION=4899305]ashyx[/MENTION] says, you may just want to flash the HOME_CSC file in Odin, rather than peeling all of the layers off to get to the file that actually contains the payload.
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] HippoMan:
Thank you! Our messages crossed. You can see in my "UPDATE" above that I finally managed to figure out how to get sec_csc.zip out of the CSC file using simg2img, as you recommend.

So, should I flash HOME_CSC or CSC. I'm still confused about the difference.

---------- Post added at 10:38 ---------- Previous post was at 10:32 ----------

Never mind. I need HOME_CSC, so that I don't wipe out the rest of my ROM installation.

Excelsior! (Latin for "Onward and upward!")

.​
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] ianmacd:
I was about to post and tell you indeed, no, don't use the non-HOME variant.

You may yet wish to refer to the posting in which I detailed how I finally fixed the CSCless state of my device.
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] HippoMan:
... and ...

SUCCESS!!!!

Yes, I had already read your earlier post. Once I figured out how to get sec_csc.zip out of that img file, I followed your procedure.

It turns out that flashing HOME_CSC didn't change anything, probably for the same reason it didn't work for you.

So, I extracted sec_csc.zip from the img file, went into TWRP, mounted /system. and then flashed sec_csc.zip via sideload.

After reboot, my device does indeed see T-Mobile as my provider, and SMS works fine, along with phone and data.

Thank you!!! -- to you, esgie, and ashyx -- for all your help.

.​
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] ianmacd:
Ah yes, of course. Flashing the HOME_CSC file from Odin doesn't actually install sec_csc.zip until the device reboots to stock recovery, but if you no longer have stock recovery, this stage fails and the CSC isn't installed. That's how you (and I) got into this mess to start with!

Glad you got it fixed.
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] HippoMan:
Just out of curiosity (only for future reference) ...

Let's suppose I'm reflashing stock on this device -- either 7.x or 8.x. Immediately after reflashing the AP, suppose I then flash the CSC or the HOME_CSC (either one, because I would not have done any other work on the device).

If I do that and then reboot to the stock recovery, will the proper sec_csc.zip get installed, so that I don't later have to go through this extract-from-the-img-file-and-then-reflash procedure after I later root the device and install TWRP?

Also, what about the BL file in the stock ROM bundle? After installing AP and [HOME_]CSC, should I also flash that BL file before rooting and installing TWRP?

.​
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] ashyx:
As previously stated you should have just flashed the whole firmware. This would have flashed stock recovery and flashed the csc correctly.

You could the reflash twrp and reroot.

Messing about mixing and matching firmware can cause issues.
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] HippoMan:
Got it, and sorry for misunderstanding that earlier.

Thank you.

.​
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] ianmacd:
Do bear in mind that even flashing the entire firmware (i.e. BL, CP, AP and HOME_CSC in Odin) won't have the intended effect as far as the CSC is concerned if, afterwards, you install TWRP without first rebooting to stock recovery. That's precisely how I messed up my device when upgrading to Oreo.
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] ashyx:
Stock recovery will be flashed when the firmware is flashed.

It should auto boot into stock recovery and flashed the csc.
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] ianmacd:
Yes, but plenty of people, myself included, have been conditioned to untick the auto-reboot option in Odin in an effort not to have the device reboot to Android and inadvertently re-encrypt /data. It's not obvious there is still outstanding work to be done once Odin successfully completes its job, and it's even less obvious that installing TWRP at this stage will effectively cancel that work.
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] HippoMan:
Yes, I do understand that now. This is exactly the same mistake that I originally made myself. Your earlier posts on this subject clearly explained this, and it's because of those posts of yours that I learned how to fix my problem.

And I agree with what you wrote your post above: that our error is easy to make, given our Odin flashing habits (that are common among many people), which involve the disabling of auto-reboot.
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] finotti:
I wanted to install TWRP in my Tab S3, and reading the instructions I saw that wiping data is necessary, which I would rather avoid (of course).

I was wondering if it would be possible to install TWRP, immediately make a backup, flash the dm-verity patch and then, if successful, restore the initial backup. Would that work? If not, any other suggestions?

Thanks!
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] filjusz:
No, it wont work
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] ianmacd:
This would only work if your device wasn't encrypted. Otherwise, TWRP wouldn't be able to read /data. Presumably, though, your device is encrypted, as this is the default nowadays.
[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, &] finotti:
I imagined that was the case... Thanks for the reply! I will leave it for when I have some time to reconfigure everything.