[Jaxidian (OP)]

(This first post is all about the process. The tutorial is in the second post.)

A member of the Android community (mrRobinson at XDA) has been gracious enough to prepare some Odin files for us to use that will allow us to very easily root our devices without triggering the Custom ROM Flash Counter. All of the "standard" methods for rooting trigger this counter. However, it's possible to "slipstream" root into a specific Odin file in a specific way and BAM - you have root access without triggering the counter! Then all that's left is to get a custom Recovery installed without triggering the counter (details below - certain methods DO trigger the counter, so be careful).

(What is this counter thing? Any related questions about what the counter is and why you care, please put into that thread there and keep out of this thread.)

Before any details, some warning info...

If you follow steps in this post, your phone will probably brick, catch on fire, explode, then become possessed and eat your goldfish! After that, your toilet will explode and your house will be flooded with sewage. Also, there is a risk that this process will not work and your flash counter could be triggered anyways. Simply by trying any of these steps, you void your warranty FOREVER. Jaxidian, RootzWiki, nor anybody other than YOU are responsible for any of these consequences! So proceed with caution! Better yet, close this window now and leave your phone running stock. You shouldn't be doing this!


Before we get started, I want you to understand the following prerequisites:

• You must be using a Windows computer. Windows XP, Vista, and 7 have all been tested. I'm unsure if Windows 8 works (there are some known fastboot issues there - I've not tested this method on it though).
  (P.S. Mac/Linux users might be able to use Heimdall but I in absolutely no way have any idea if it will work and I strongly encourage you to NOT try it unless you're ready for your phone to turn into a newt and to try to see if you float in order to determine if you're a witch or not.)
  
• You must get your drivers installed for your phone! I believe all of the different carriers use the same drivers but Samsung has different download URLs and filenames for each carrier, so I encourage you to find them yourself. Just for convenience, here's a link to T-Mobile's 64-bit drivers. For all other carriers, use this link and simply type your phone's model number in the search box (for T-Mobile, I just had to type "t999" without quotes and it popped right up).
  
• You must have Odin. If you don't, go download it from here.
  
• DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP!!!!!!!!! As soon as you have rooted your phone, you MUST BACKUP YOUR EFS PARTITION!!! Failure to do so may render your phone 100% useless once you start flashing ROMs!!! (this step may or may not apply to CDMA users - I simply do not know.) Learn and discuss more about the EFS partition here.
  
• Be prepared to brick your phone into oblivion. If you're not willing to accept that possible consequence, stop right now.
  
• Each carrier has files specific to them. Do NOT try to use files from one carrier with another. If you do, you will have a bad day. It should be recoverable but don't try it. Just for clarification, that means each carrier and not each model number (as evidenced by AT&T, Bell, Rogers, and Telus all having an i747 but different images).

Don't follow these 3 steps - they're just so you know what you'll be doing. So the 30-second version of what you're doing (for those who are comfortable with bricking their phones and repairing them):

• Download the custom Odin file and unzip it from the .7z archive.
  
• Flash the custom Odin file in using the PDA field in Odin.
  
• Flash your custom Recovery via the dd command in ADB SHELL or a terminal. DO NOT USE ODIN FOR RECOVERY!

[Jaxidian (OP)]

ACTUAL GUIDE:


Step 1:
Download your file:

• AT&T - 653fac8617dff19e58968d173d5ffbf6
  
• Bell - 17a0c7a9699290370d5026c8061aeb22
  
• Canada Virgin Mobile - 17a0c7a9699290370d5026c8061aeb22 (NOTE: Filename says "Bell")
  
• Sprint - 6862c92679f8066a29659e851bb7895b
  
• Telus - 791987911d42f67e0ff3e5bb34972a75
  
• T-Mobile - 057d7d1c39dd415ee9091297c53b8ceb
  
• Verizon - Please see this thread

This downloaded file should be a .7z file. You will need 7-zip or some other application to extract it. In the future, the .tar file you extract out of the .7z file will be referred to as The Odin File.

Step 2:
Flash The Odin File:

When you flash The Odin File, it will effectively flash rooted stock onto your phone. It will replace pretty much everything. However, I don't believe it will wipe your user data. Additionally, I don't believe it will wipe your internal storage (pseudo sdcard). I can confirm that the T-Mobile one doesn't. So this will allow you to root your device so you can then create backups of what you have on your currently non-rooted phone (a nice plus). However, don't take my word for it. Assume it's going to factory reset your phone. (Consequently, if you're already rooted and running a custom ROM and you flash this file, you will want to reset as your user data will be incompatible with this stock ROM.)

Open up Odin, boot your phone into download mode (for my phone, it's VolDown + Home + Power but I hear it's slightly different for some models), tell your phone to continue with a custom ROM (this will NOT trigger the counter), connect your phone to your computer (use the cable that came with your phone for best results), and ensure that Odin sees your phone in the left-most box. Ensure that only Auto Reboot and F. Reset Time boxes are checked - no others! Click the PDA button and go find The Odin File.

AT NO TIME AFTER THIS MAY YOU INTERRUPT THE PHONE, COMPUTER, CABLE, or NEIGHTBOR'S CAT! In fact, don't even multi-task on your computer while this is flashing! If you do, you increase the likelihood of your computer causing a blue-screen-of-death. So just go make yourself a sandwich and make sure no children, pets, roommates, or spouses can disturb anything! (This means your cat stepping on a power strip and powering it off as well - yes, I've had that happen before while flashing something!)

Click the Start button. DO NOT DISTURB ANYTHING WHILE FLASHING! When Odin's box turns green and says Pass, then and only then may you disturb things. NOT BEFORE!

Step 3:
Flash your recovery:
There are a few methods for doing this. I recommend that you use TWRP which can easily be installed by Goo Manager. If you want standard CWM, then you can use ROM Manager to easily install this. If you want to manually install CWM (or want CWM Touch for free), you can get the recovery images here. Beyond that help, flashing your recovery is beyond the scope of this post. However, DO NOT USE ODIN TO FLASH RECOVERY! Flashing it via Odin will trigger your counter (it won't brick your device or anything if you do it right, though).

The method I recommend involves running ADB SHELL and then executing the dd command. It can be found in this post (that post may or may not have the recovery file you want to flash - you must go get your own recovery file, just refer to that post for how to execute the dd command). Just in case that post changes, here is the necessary command to execute on your recovery image.

**NOTE: This has been tested for Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile. I don't know if it's been tested for other models/carriers. Please research this yourself if you're on another carrier. That said, I believe it's fine for you. But it's not my phone on the line when you execute it!

Quote

to install:
-have root
-have adb

adb push recovery.img /sdcard/recovery.img
adb shell
su
dd if=/sdcard/recovery.img of=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/recovery
reboot recovery

Q/A:
Q: I did this but now my phone FCs a lot or bootloops. What did I do wrong?
A: Try to do a factory reset. These images are from fairly old images so if you've flash this on top of a newer version, that would be the problem.

Q: What happens to my modem when flashing these?
A: These images are from fairly old images so if you've flash this on top of a newer modem, then that means you just downgraded your modem. Simple enough - just go update your modem from one of the many lovely threads dedicated to that. Be careful to flash only the right ones, though!

Q: I did this and it triggered my flash counter!
A: You didn't do something right, then. Flashing Recovery via Odin is the most likely way to do this. Some custom ROMs being flashed via Odin can also trigger this. Fortunately, there's a tool called "Triangle Away" that can fix this for you. Be careful, though. It's a dangerous app! Most don't have problems with it but it messes with some nasty areas of your phone that weren't meant to be messed with, so be careful!

Q: The links are dead. Where can I find the files?
A: The links are hosted via Goo.IM. See if they're having any infrastructure issues. If they continue to be dead but Goo.IM seems to be alive, PM me and I'll see if I can re-upload the files.

Q: What about the lost IMEI issue? Will this cause me to lose my IMEI?
A: I'll be frank here. We don't really understand the IMEI issue completely. So I absolutely cannot say "No" with certainty. That said, I've not heard this method ever triggering the issue. At current, the theory is that a flawed version of CWM was the primary culprit for this but this is a very vague theory at this time. It's theorized that using TWRP will keep you safe, hence why I previously mentioned that was the "preferred" recovery to use. Another current theory is that Samsung goofed and has a protection system that is SUPPOSED to keep this problem from happening but instead it actually CAUSES this problem! Ultimately, nobody really knows so you really need to be careful to always follow directions and realize that any modding/rooting/romming you do comes with some serious risks!

Q: I'm still concerned about the lost IMEI issue. Any suggestions?
A: Yes! Absolutely EVERYBODY should go read this thread in its entirety to be better informed. That thread even has some procedures (for certain models, please read more there) that can help you recover if you ever lose your IMEI! That thread has been around for a while and was just updated yesterday (as of 9/4) with some significantly new information. Keep it bookmarked!

[shep8228]

No love for US Celluar, or am I missing something O.o? Good work otherwise

Edited by shep8228, 16 July 2012 - 04:40 AM.

[RMarkwald]

shep8228, on 16 July 2012 - 04:40 AM, said:

No love for US Celluar, or am I missing something O.o? Good work otherwise

+1 to that.

I wonder if you'd be willing to look into adding this for US Cellular Jax once they release their stock firmware for the phone? I know that the Sprint root method/flashing recovery works.

Great work with this!

[Jaxidian (OP)]

Let me know when the USCC stock firmware is available somewhere and either I'll try to create it myself or ask mrRobinson to do so. I'd prefer to have him do it since he's mastered the process but I've yet to get 100% through the process (since he provided what I was attempting to create).

I think it'll be available at this link some day.

[RMarkwald]

Jaxidian, on 16 July 2012 - 08:29 AM, said:

Let me know when the USCC stock firmware is available somewhere and either I'll try to create it myself or ask mrRobinson to do so. I'd prefer to have him do it since he's mastered the process but I've yet to get 100% through the process (since he provided what I was attempting to create).

I think it'll be available at this link some day.

Awesome I can do that for you! Thank you!

[johnomaz]

How does one see how many times they've flashed? Can we see it or is it only something Samsung/Verizon can see?

[Jaxidian (OP)]

johnomaz, on 16 July 2012 - 11:43 AM, said:

How does one see how many times they've flashed? Can we see it or is it only something Samsung/Verizon can see?

Boot into "Download Mode" (or Odin mode or whatever you want to call it) and then hit Vol Up to agree that custom roms are bad, m'kay? Once you do that, you get a few status messages at the top.

[Shark]

Too bad I already rooted.

[djj624]

How do you get out of Odin mode once your in it.? Also can you get to recovery from Odin mode?

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