Is it Possible to Flash a Sprint ROM to a CDMA Cricket Galaxy S4 R970C?

Jan 21, 2016
6
0
0
Visit site
I want to update to my Galaxy S4 R970C to cyanogenmod 12.1, but sense Cricket no longer supports this phone as they switched to GSM, there are no custom ROMS (that I can find at least) that support this device. Due to this, I am wondering if I could use the build for the Sprint Galaxy S4 L720 sense the CDMA Cricket R970C is pretty much a re-branded version of that, running on the Sprint network back when Cricket was CDMA. The only experience I have with installing custom ROMS on Android devices is installing Cyanogenmod 11 on multiple Sprint Galaxy S2s, so any help/advice is appreciated. BTW the phone is already rooted, that is pretty much the first thing I do when I get any phone lol.....
 

LeoRex

Retired Moderator
Nov 21, 2012
6,223
0
0
Visit site
I think you're out of luck... it's not really a ROM question... it's a radio problem. ROMs don't fuss with radio baseband software. That firmware is extremely specific and designed for that model and that model only... and each model's hardware is often custom built for the target carrier and that target carrier ONLY. That's your problem. That ROM from the L720 may load and your S4 might even boot up with it (which I think is a long shot to begin with). But if, by some chance, it does boot, you aren't going to be able to use it for much more than just a WiFi device. It only partially supports some of the new LTE bands, but nothing else.
 
Jan 21, 2016
6
0
0
Visit site
I think you're out of luck... it's not really a ROM question... it's a radio problem. ROMs don't fuss with radio baseband software. That firmware is extremely specific and designed for that model and that model only... and each model's hardware is often custom built for the target carrier and that target carrier ONLY. That's your problem. That ROM from the L720 may load and your S4 might even boot up with it (which I think is a long shot to begin with). But if, by some chance, it does boot, you aren't going to be able to use it for much more than just a WiFi device. It only partially supports some of the new LTE bands, but nothing else.

Yes, I understand that, but sense both the phones originally ran on the Sprint Network wouldn't they have the same bands? From the specs I have compared it seems to me that the Cricket version is just a re-branded Sprint S2. You obviously know a lot more about this than I do, if my thinking is off I'll just accept that it won't work and just move on with my life.
 

LeoRex

Retired Moderator
Nov 21, 2012
6,223
0
0
Visit site
Yes, I understand that, but sense both the phones originally ran on the Sprint Network wouldn't they have the same bands?

Well... that's not a crazy assumption, but Samsung does some odd things with those models. Cricket does have its own hardware SKU, so that leads me to believe that the radio bits that it slapped in there might be slightly different and on a level not solved via a software tweak. But I am just going off some reference material I have that lists carrier support for different phones.... and in those, it lacks 2G and 3G support and only partial LTE... Now, there it could very well be possible that the lack of those bands is solely an issue with the baseband software loaded into the phone. But loading off-model frankensoftware on Samsungs is a kind of digital Russian Roulette.... it MIGHT work.... or it might turn your phone into a paperweight.

In the end, I'll defer to anyone here that might have more specific information. I don't own, nor have I ever owned, an S4... maybe the prospects aren't so bleak.
 

Snowboundless

New member
Nov 1, 2016
1
0
0
Visit site
US Cellular (I have this variant too) uses CDMA wireless tech, while AT&T uses GSM. I've read a lot into it, and I think we're just stuck unfortunately.
 

Trending Posts

Forum statistics

Threads
942,410
Messages
6,913,984
Members
3,158,404
Latest member
sem173