Will I be able to root 4.4.2 if I take the OTA

[anon(107890)]

Is the Verizon 4.4.2 OTA rootable? Thanks in advance!

 

[shallow_1]

Is the Verizon 4.4.2 OTA rootable? Thanks in advance!

Yes....towelroot.com

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

 

[AxlMyk]

I tried Saferoot, and it didn't work.

AC App on SGS3

 

[MrDoh]

I tried Saferoot, and it didn't work.
AC App on SGS3

Here's the xda-developers thread on towelroot...despite the "GS5" in the thread title, this works for GS3 and others:

I'm throwing a party and you should come **GS5 ROOT THREAD** - xda-developers

 

[AxlMyk]

That worked. Thanks.
Don't forget to reboot after rooting.

AC App on SGS3

 

[sammy303]

How do I unroot to take the OTA install? Factory Reset?

 

[GSDer]

How do I unroot to take the OTA install? Factory Reset?

No, performing a Factory Reset will not unroot your device.
Since there are so many variables (custom recovery vs. stock recovery; bloatware removed or not; etc) your most straightforward method is to just use Odin to load the latest firmware (http://samsung-updates.com/details/30088/Galaxy_S_3_Verizon/SCH-I535/VZW/I535VRUDNE1.html) and be done with it. Then you can look at rooting that.

Sent from my rooted, debloated, deodexed Sinclair ZX-80 running CM -0.001 using Tapatalk

 

[Bulkybear]

What about other than bootstrap roots? As in is samsung still using the knox bootloader with the kitkat update?

 

[GSDer]

is samsung still using the knox bootloader with the kitkat update?

Yes sir - Knox was introduced in 4.3 and is still present in 4.4.x (for Samsung variants). There are a few root methods (see post #4 for Towelroot; someone else mentioned CF Autoroot) but there are limitations due to the bootloader constraint.

Sent from my rooted, debloated, deodexed Sinclair ZX-80 running CM -0.001 using Tapatalk

 

[Bulkybear]

Dang. That means still not able to replace bootloader and run aosp roms... thx for the info. I just figured eventually samsung would release a way to disable that crap because of all the people complaining.

 

[GSDer]

Nope, Samsung is gung-ho on the whole Enterprise Security topic; if you don't want to deal with that then it's time to look for a different manufacturer.

My next phone won't be a Samsung for this very reason. (Along with all of the SD card issues I've had.)

Sent from my rooted, debloated, deodexed Sinclair ZX-80 running CM -0.001 using Tapatalk

 

[MrDoh]

I just decided to do the same thing when I found that there would be no CleanROM 9. Odin'd the full factory image for 4.4.2, and then used towelroot to root it, and cleared the cache via the stock recovery. I used a no-wipe image from xda-developers, but it turns out I might have as well have used a version that did a wipe...3% idle battery usage in the first 40 minutes after I got it configured *smile*. So I did a "factory reset" using settings (wasn't sure whether to use the factory reset in customer recovery or settings, but I'll bet they do the same thing *smile*). After that, I was still rooted, and went and got SuperSU again from the Play Store and it was able to disable KNOX again to get itself set up.

So at this point, I have all my favorite rooted stuff working, TB with a whole ****load of stuff frozen, AdFree, etc., using TB widgets for my calendar and skype, and so on.

The only bump in the road so far is that TB insists that my external SD card is not writeable, even though it clearly is...so I put my TB backups on the internal SD card, and copied that to the external SD card manually. I think that this is a TB bug, since I've tried everything I can think of or find to be able to have TB use the external SD card for backups directly, like it used to on 4.3, but no luck. I even changed external SD cards, nope.

Anyways, seems fine, I have it set up just about like I had CleanROM 8.2 set minus TWRP recovery and the Lean Kernel, but you can't have everything. I might be able to get TWRP installed, a friendlier recovery would be nice, but I need to make sure that it's not going to disable my phone due to KNOX, and that it will work before I do it. This phone has to last me until October, when my upgrade comes along. I think that I'm done with Samsung, though, KNOX is about the most obnoxious thing I've seen.

 

[GSDer]

I was still rooted, and went and got SuperSU again from the Play Store and it was able to disable KNOX again to get itself set up.

At one point weren't you running a pre-rooted Jelly Bean image that had the Knox bootloader removed?

Now you're running the stock Verizon firmware with the Knox bootloader component, but you've removed the Knox apps?
Does Odin mode show 'Warranty Bit: 1'?

Sent from my rooted, debloated, deodexed Sinclair ZX-80 running CM -0.001 using Tapatalk

 

[MrDoh]

At one point weren't you running a pre-rooted Jelly Bean image that had the Knox bootloader removed?

I rooted manually back in the transition to Jelly Bean a little bit after getting my phone, and have kept it rooted since then. I unlocked the boot loader at some point, so that I could flash a custom ROM. Flashed CleanROM 6, 6.1, 7, 8 and 8.2, just keeping root and keeping my bootloader unlocked. Yes, CleanROM 8+ were 4.3, where the stock had KNOX, but I made sure to steer clear of the contaminated firmware pieces, just flashed the ROMs and the modem. They worked well, but I like variety, so had to move on to 4.4.2.

Now you're running the stock Verizon firmware with the Knox bootloader component, but you've removed the Knox apps?
Does Odin mode show 'Warranty Bit: 1'?

Well, let me go take a look *smile*. Don't really care what Odin mode says at this point, but here's what I see there:

PRODUCT NAME: SCH-I535
CURRENT BINARY: Samsung Official
SYSTEM STATUS: Official
QUALCOM SECUREROOT: ENABLE
BOOTLOADER AP SWREV: 2

No warranty bit in sight. And yes, all the KNOX apps are frozen using TB, so I don't think that they're running. Although I've found that's not an absolute guarantee that they're never going to be running *smile*. But I haven't seen them running, and they're not listed in the cached process list, either.

I think I'm on the right track here, since I let my phone set around idle for 6 hours after finishing configuring it today, and it went down from 100% to 98% battery. Not too bad. Nice and smooth too, and has everything that I need (I think). It'll take me a while to sort everything out, but all the basic functionality is there and working. Seems better than 4.3 so far, we'll see. Like I said, only 3 more months, and then no more Samsung for me.

Edit: It occurs to me that the warranty status may not be shown because I'm out of warranty, anyways, so they don't want to imply that there is an active warranty on my phone.