Flash counter and other question

[lou1210]

I've been reading a lot about a flash counter, but can't seem to find good rock solid information.

First, I apologize if this has been posted somewhere. I've been reading a lot about rooting the GSIII and want to make sure I have all of my facts and informations. So I have some questions:

1. What is the flash counter and why is it important? I hear it can cause your phone not to work??
2. What method is the best to use to flash? Method #2 used here seems to be the better one, in my opinion.
3. I would like to use a JB ROM once I root, but again, there seems to be differing opinions. I previously had an HTC Thunderbolt and had no problems finding ROMS. But with the different root methods and Jelly Bean being speculation, where is the latest and greatest information regarding the most stable ROMS.
4. There were some bad roms that were created for my old phone and it caused me to have to do Radio upgrades. Are there radio upgrades or anything like that for this phone?


Again, sorry if this information is all in one place, but I've been reading so much constantly and reading many different posts, it's hard to digest it all. I'm very grateful for all of the information in these boards. The Dev's are awesome with coming up with new versions of ROMs, themes, etc. It's awesome that so many people want something better than the standard Stock ROMs that Verizon is putting on their phones. I'm almost ready to root, but I'm not quite there yet.

Thanks in advance for the help and information.


Sent from my Galaxy S3 using Tapatalk.

 

[PsYcHoNeWb]

I've been reading a lot about a flash counter, but can't seem to find good rock solid information.

First, I apologize if this has been posted somewhere. I've been reading a lot about rooting the GSIII and want to make sure I have all of my facts and informations. So I have some questions:

1. What is the flash counter and why is it important? I hear it can cause your phone not to work??
2. What method is the best to use to flash? Method #2 used here seems to be the better one, in my opinion.
3. I would like to use a JB ROM once I root, but again, there seems to be differing opinions. I previously had an HTC Thunderbolt and had no problems finding ROMS. But with the different root methods and Jelly Bean being speculation, where is the latest and greatest information regarding the most stable ROMS.
4. There were some bad roms that were created for my old phone and it caused me to have to do Radio upgrades. Are there radio upgrades or anything like that for this phone?


Again, sorry if this information is all in one place, but I've been reading so much constantly and reading many different posts, it's hard to digest it all. I'm very grateful for all of the information in these boards. The Dev's are awesome with coming up with new versions of ROMs, themes, etc. It's awesome that so many people want something better than the standard Stock ROMs that Verizon is putting on their phones. I'm almost ready to root, but I'm not quite there yet.

Thanks in advance for the help and information.


Sent from my Galaxy S3 using Tapatalk.

1. The flash counter is something that Samsung put in so that it can keep track of how many ROMs where flashed on your device. Flashing stock ROMs like rooted/stock or factory ROMs do not trip the flash counter to add to the count, just custom ROMs. No, it will not make your phone not work. If that where true then it would have been set at such an insanely high number it wouldn't matter since I have flashed over 30 ROMs on my phone and haven't had an issue with the flash counter.

2. Best method to flash is using manual recovery. Either CWM or TWRP should be used.

3. If you want a Jelly Bean ROM on your phone then you will need to root your phone and unlock the bootloader. This is a very simple process and you can find many guides here on Android Central providing you will all of the information you will need. Once you do that you can flash a Jelly Bean ROM of your choice. Notable ROMs are AOKP and CM10. I am currently running AOKP B4 and it has been a very solid JB based ROM with no major flaws that take away from the overall experience. I am planning to try the new CM10 nightlies but if you want a ROM that you don't have to keep up with nightlies, then flash AOKP B4 or CM10 M1.

As long as you are rooted and unlocked you will be fine flashing a JB based ROM. Again it will make this point again, you need to unlock your bootloader. If you don't, you will have a bricked device. Unlocking the bootloader is insanely easy once you are rooted. I prefer the ODIN method of rooting, but thats just me. Once you are rooted, you can get an app that will unlock the bootloader no problem.

4. There are radio upgrades for this phone but they are optional. You don't have to flash them if you don't want to but they are very easy to flash. You can use ODIN or your manual recovery to flash them and you will be good to go.

 

[lou1210]

Ok. Thanks for that information. I saw on this forum somewhere that rooting your phone font void your warranty. But the last I hears that wasn't true. How easy is it to unroot in the event of warranty replacement? Can the flash counter be reset so Verizon doesn't know it's been rooted?

Sent from my Galaxy S3 using Tapatalk.

 

[PsYcHoNeWb]

Ok. Thanks for that information. I saw on this forum somewhere that rooting your phone font void your warranty. But the last I hears that wasn't true. How easy is it to unroot in the event of warranty replacement? Can the flash counter be reset so Verizon doesn't know it's been rooted?

Sent from my Galaxy S3 using Tapatalk.

Rooting your phone or unlocking it and doing anything of that nature makes the warranty VOIDABLE, not void. Big difference. It will come down to who you speak to if it comes to that.

Very easy, I had to do it already and it was cake. Yes it can be reset there is an app for it that a dev from XDA came up with... https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.chainfire.triangleaway&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImV1LmNoYWluZmlyZS50cmlhbmdsZWF3YXkiXQ... Yea its $2.49 but if you are paranoid about it then its worth it. I sent mine back to Verizon without reseting the flash counter and I didn't have an issue.

 

[lou1210]

Last question... one of the steps says to use ez-recovery and flash c.w.m6.0.1... does this install cwm or does it flash a different Rom or something? If It's CWM, why does the 5.0.2.1 from the play store not work? I want to completely understand this part before I do anything. I want to back up my existing Rom but also I've downloaded a stock Rom after the last update, already. Just in case I need a clean stock Rom.

Thanks again for all of the great information!!

Sent from my Galaxy S3 using Tapatalk.

 

[PsYcHoNeWb]

Last question... one of the steps says to use ez-recovery and flash c.w.m6.0.1... does this install cwm or does it flash a different Rom or something? If It's CWM, why does the 5.0.2.1 from the play store not work? I want to completely understand this part before I do anything. I want to back up my existing Rom but also I've downloaded a stock Rom after the last update, already. Just in case I need a clean stock Rom.

Thanks again for all of the great information!!

Sent from my Galaxy S3 using Tapatalk.

This will flash a custom recovery not an app. CWM from the market will install an app not a recovery.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Xparent SkyBlue Tapatalk 2