Verizon S3: Help Installing Clockworkmod Recovery on Stock ROM v4.3

[Switchfoot3r]

Hello, guys. My name is Israel. I'm new in this forums and community since I myself don't own an Android device, and before I explain the problem I should warn you I'm a total noob, so, please, don't take for granted I followed methods the right way or that I will understand technical terms unless you actually explain them to me. I'm also from Chile and my mother tongue is Spanish, not English, so, please excuse any bad wording communication problem.

THE PROBLEM:
A friend of mine bought a Samsung Galaxy S3 in the US and brought it here to Chile. It is the i535 (Verizon) variant and due to the firmware version (I'm guessing) it wasn't able to work on other carrier microsim cards. It was hacked here in Chile and then it started working fine except it was impossible to share Wi-Fi to other devices. My friend needs that working for her job and so she asked me to try to fix it since I had fixed some of her previous phones.

She didn't like having the Verizon logo displayed on her screen with all of its built-in apps and "not a Verizon sim card" warnings, so the first thing I tried was flashing a custom ROM. I root the phone and unlocked the bootloader and flashed the ROM. Everything went as expected except it didn't recognize the sim card. I couldn't find a solution so I decided to install a stock ROM. I thought installing the latest update would maybe fix many problems and that my friend would have to learn how to deal with the Verizon logo. However, the guide I used didn't say anything about the impossibility of unlocking the bootloader after installing the stock Android 4.3.

The phone does have signal now and can call and receive calls and stuff. However, it can't access data plan networks. I tried setting up the APN but it just doesn't access it. I found a guide that seems to fix that, but it needs a rooted phone with unlocked bootloader to install Clockworkmod Recovery.

I managed to root the phone but when I try to install Clockworkmod Recovery through ROM Manager, I get the "System software not authorized by Verizon Wireless has been found on your phone. Please turn off your phone and go to the nearest Verizon Wireless store for help" with a yellow triangle sign. I guess it's because the bootloader is locked. Then I have to reinstall the stock ROM through Odin in order to make it live again.

When I go to the Recovery Mode, I also get a dead Android sign.

Am I doing anything or everything wrong? Is there a way to install Clockworkmod Recovery without using the ROM Manager app and without soft-bricking the phone? Would flashing a custom ROM unlock the bootloader or at least make the phone fully functional (i e., being able to call and receive phone calls, send and receive SMS, access data networks, and share Wi-Fi)? And if so, can someone, please, point me to a good custom ROM which is not a .zip (I can't flash them since I can't install CWM) but a .tar file?

Any kind of help is welcome. If you guys need me to provide any other info, just let me know.

Thanks in advance!

 

[UJ95x]

Re: Help Installing Clockworkmod Recovery on Stock ROM v4.3

Hello, guys. My name is Israel. I'm new in this forums and community since I myself don't own an Android device, and before I explain the problem I should warn you I'm a total noob, so, please, don't take for granted I followed methods the right way or that I will understand technical terms unless you actually explain them to me. I'm also from Chile and my mother tongue is Spanish, not English, so, please excuse any bad wording communication problem.

THE PROBLEM:
A friend of mine bought a Samsung Galaxy S3 in the US and brought it here to Chile. It is the i535 (Verizon) variant and due to the firmware version (I'm guessing) it wasn't able to work on other carrier microsim cards. It was hacked here in Chile and then it started working fine except it was impossible to share Wi-Fi to other devices. My friend needs that working for her job and so she asked me to try to fix it since I had fixed some of her previous phones.

She didn't like having the Verizon logo displayed on her screen with all of its built-in apps and "not a Verizon sim card" warnings, so the first thing I tried was flashing a custom ROM. I root the phone and unlocked the bootloader and flashed the ROM. Everything went as expected except it didn't recognize the sim card. I couldn't find a solution so I decided to install a stock ROM. I thought installing the latest update would maybe fix many problems and that my friend would have to learn how to deal with the Verizon logo. However, the guide I used didn't say anything about the impossibility of unlocking the bootloader after installing the stock Android 4.3.

The phone does have signal now and can call and receive calls and stuff. However, it can't access data plan networks. I tried setting up the APN but it just doesn't access it. I found a guide that seems to fix that, but it needs a rooted phone with unlocked bootloader to install Clockworkmod Recovery.

I managed to root the phone but when I try to install Clockworkmod Recovery through ROM Manager, I get the "System software not authorized by Verizon Wireless has been found on your phone. Please turn off your phone and go to the nearest Verizon Wireless store for help" with a yellow triangle sign. I guess it's because the bootloader is locked. Then I have to reinstall the stock ROM through Odin in order to make it live again.

When I go to the Recovery Mode, I also get a dead Android sign.

Am I doing anything or everything wrong? Is there a way to install Clockworkmod Recovery without using the ROM Manager app and without soft-bricking the phone? Would flashing a custom ROM unlock the bootloader or at least make the phone fully functional (i e., being able to call and receive phone calls, send and receive SMS, access data networks, and share Wi-Fi)? And if so, can someone, please, point me to a good custom ROM which is not a .zip (I can't flash them since I can't install CWM) but a .tar file?

Any kind of help is welcome. If you guys need me to provide any other info, just let me know.

Thanks in advance!

Welcome to Android Central
Unfortunately, there are still no custom recoveries for the 4.3 firmware
That means no Clockwork Mod or TWRP. That's why it hasn't been working for you
You might be able to do it with Safestrap, but even then, the selection of ROMs is limited.

 

[Switchfoot3r]

Re: Help Installing Clockworkmod Recovery on Stock ROM v4.3

Welcome to Android Central
Unfortunately, there are still no custom recoveries for the 4.3 firmware
That means no Clockwork Mod or TWRP. That's why it hasn't been working for you
You might be able to do it with Safestrap, but even then, the selection of ROMs is limited.

Thanks for your reply! What is Safestrap, where can I get it and is there a guide to use it? Also, will flashing another ROM fix the problems? And lastly, is there a way I can make data networks work without having to deal with new flashings and stuff like that?

 

[UJ95x]

Re: Help Installing Clockworkmod Recovery on Stock ROM v4.3

Thanks for your reply! What is Safestrap, where can I get it and is there a guide to use it? Also, will flashing another ROM fix the problems? And lastly, is there a way I can make data networks work without having to deal with new flashings and stuff like that?

Safestrap is a modified version of TWRP. I'd to to xda.developers.com to read more about it. They usually have instructions on how to install it.
It might fix the issue, but I can't guarantee it. Doesn't hurt to try

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Switchfoot3r]

Re: Help Installing Clockworkmod Recovery on Stock ROM v4.3

Safestrap is a modified version of TWRP. I'd to to xda.developers.com to read more about it. They usually have instructions on how to install it.
It might fix the issue, but I can't guarantee it. Doesn't hurt to try

Posted via Android Central App

I'm trying to make it work but it looks like it only works with TW ROMs. I'd have no problem flashing one if I were sure it won't brick the phone. All of the TW ROMs I find seem to work on Android 4.1.2 and since I'm now running 43 and I don't have the old EFS folder backup, I'm afraid it could lose its IMEI. Is there any TW ROM running Android 4.3 that's compatible with the i535 variant? Can you guys, please, provide a link? Or is it that there's no risk losing the IMEI and I could flash any TW ROM?

 

[Mike Delucia]

Israel, I know it's been a while and I wonder if you found a resolution by now. I am in the almost exact same situation, except my stock 4.3 works perfectly in all respects. I just can't load my CWM Touch recovery back on it or TWRP either. I was on CyanogenMod 10.2.1 for months, Android 4.3.1, and loving it until I lost the ability to reply to or send SMS messages ONLY. I could get them all day long, and I could send and receive MMS with no problem...data, Wi-Fi, everything else was all good. I even got the carrier to put a brand new SIM in it, to no avail. So I flashed a rooted and trimmed 4.1.2 on it and set it up nice, the SMS was fixed, etc. and so I backed it up with CWM, flashed a fresh CM 10.2.1 on it, and expected it to fix the SMS but the problem remained. So I went to Samsung and got the stock 4.3 direct from their site and flashed it. It worked, everything in the OS works, but I lost my CWM Touch function and got the locked bootloader, like you. And I WAS able to root it. But attempts to flash my CWM back had the same result as yours. Except you didn't need to reflash to ROM to fix it.

I found that when I got that message about the system software not authorized, if I used the power button to shut it off, I could then boot it into Download mode (Odin-ready), get the message that loading custom ROM's could be hazardous, and then had the choice to hit volume up to continue and volume down to cancel. If I cancelled, I got the Samsung logo with the padlock, then the "Samsung Galaxy S-III" boot screen, and then it would load normally. Then I downloaded the "Triangle Away" app and ran that. It showed my flash counter at "1" and the "Binary" and "System" as "Custom". All I had to do was select "Clear flash counter" in Triangle Away and it would reset the counter to "0" and the binary and system to "Official" and all was good. It will hold it through boot as well. It un-softbricked it, in other words. And that's how I'm running now.

I DO have the Safestrap utility and something that sounded pretty awesome, which was "Philz Touch-Wiz ROM". The file I got was "philz_touch_6.15.4-d2vzw.tar.md5". but the thing is, my phone is working great now and I'm a little afraid to push my luck because I need this phone to last me until November, when I can upgrade to probably an S-5. So I don't want to risk bricking it. So I have all the stuff and know what to do, but I just don't have a lot of faith it will work at this point. And with Safestrap, you create another "ROM Slot" partition, where you load whatever new ROM, leaving the old one untouched, and it supposedly brings up a dual-boot screen, where you can bypass the stock ROM. Which sounds great (did you DO that, maybe) but I would rather not have the extra layers and complication...if she didn't like the boot animation, she probably wouldn't care much for that either. I could care less about the boot animation, as I rarely reboot it and when I do, it goes by pretty quick. So until somebody has a sure-cure, I think I'm going to stick where I am.