Same problem. Had Cyanogenmod installed, but my modem wasn't working, so I flashed it back to stock to fix that issue. I figured I'd just re-install CM after.
I had some issues getting stock to work. At first I thought it was soft-bricked, as it was boot-looping. But I noticed it didn't always reboot immediately , and sometimes it would boot up and it seems it wouldn't reboot until I swiped it. So I let it go, rebooting over and over for an hour or so, and eventually it stopped.
So I now have a working 4.4.2. But it just won't take the root. It does what the others are describing: Odin says it passed, it boots into the red android screen, lots of text, then reboots normally and looks good. But root-check says it is not rooted properly, and any attempt to flash recovery fails.
p.s. Also the CyanogenMod auto-installer does not work. I assume this is because it is failing to root the phone as well.