Your way to update to MD4

[Golfdriver97]

http://i.imgur.com/Q0ZukFF.png?2
When rebooted it simply says Sprint. I do occasionally see the android guy on his back with an exclamation point after trying to update, but it reboots normally and no update takes effect. In recovery mode it says android system recovery. I did try running SuperSU to unroot it but it didn't change the device status from modified after reboot.

Any ideas?

rwilco12 dot com is a repository of Sprint stock ROMs. You can download them there, choose to be rooted or not, Full Restore=Complete wipe and reset, while No Data=Preserve User Data. If you don't want to lose apps/game saves etc, go with No Data. You can even download the stock version to get rid of root. (warranty is void, I would just keep it) and you should download the entire .exe file. You will also have to download 7Zip. Google it, it is free a lot of places including CNet , I think.

Unzip the file, and is should have the ODIN One Click, so basically unzip and open the program. Put the phone into download mode, plug it in, and wait for ODIN to bring up COM and a number. When it does, you can click start.

YouTube QBKing77 for videos on how to update, etc. His examples are good. At the moment I am getting tired...I know I am missing some steps.

Any questions..shout. Hopefully more coherent in the morning.

 

[Golfdriver97]

Here...watch this. This might be a better expalination. Manually Install Official Android 4.1.2 MD4 on Sprint Samsung Galaxy S3 - YouTube

 

[meyerweb#CB]

Amanda, one more thing, and I should have thought of this last night (but it was late ). Download the rootchecker app: https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...m.rootcheck&feature=nav_result&token=FAQb1qEj.. and see what it tells you.

You have the stock recovery, so my suspicion is that your phone was previously rooted, then unrooted, but not correctly, which left the modified flag set. I would suggest trying to update using the method in post #1 of this thread. The worst that will happen is that the update fails to run, which will leave your phone exactly as it is now. If it doesn't work, let us know if you want to end up rooted or not.

 

[Golfdriver97]

Amanda, one more thing, and I should have thought of this last night (but it was late ). Download the rootchecker app: https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...m.rootcheck&feature=nav_result&token=3tdqaS-2.. and see what it tells you.

You have the stock recovery, so my suspicion is that your phone was previously rooted, then unrooted, but not correctly, which left the modified flag set. I would suggest trying to update using the method in post #1 of this thread. The worst that will happen is that the update fails to run, which will leave your phone exactly as it is now. If it doesn't work, let us know if you want to end up rooted or not.

That is a good starting point too. I didn't think of it either.

 

[Golfdriver97]

http://i.imgur.com/Q0ZukFF.png?2
When rebooted it simply says Sprint. I do occasionally see the android guy on his back with an exclamation point after trying to update, but it reboots normally and no update takes effect. In recovery mode it says android system recovery. I did try running SuperSU to unroot it but it didn't change the device status from modified after reboot.

Any ideas?

Amanda, loading a custom recovery gives you more options for flashing ROMs anyway. There are some that can only be done via the External SD card, and executed through a custom recovery.

 

[Amanda Zittel]

Amanda, one more thing, and I should have thought of this last night (but it was late ). Download the rootchecker app: https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...m.rootcheck&feature=nav_result&token=lQyWd1Z8.. and see what it tells you.

You have the stock recovery, so my suspicion is that your phone was previously rooted, then unrooted, but not correctly, which left the modified flag set. I would suggest trying to update using the method in post #1 of this thread. The worst that will happen is that the update fails to run, which will leave your phone exactly as it is now. If it doesn't work, let us know if you want to end up rooted or not.

Ok, downloaded root checker and it said something to the effect of sorry you don't have a valid root. Tried to update with post 1 method and it failed. I thought it might be because I'm on lj7 instead of mb1. Also tried method to update to mb1, but again it failed. Possibly because I don't even have ma6, but couldn't find a file to go from lj7 to ma6. If I can't get that I might try the method to unroot
I am too much of a root virgin to have to go through all of this with every update! I think I'd rather go back to stock, update, and figure out how to properly root and customize later. Provided the unroot method will fix the poorly done previous unroot? Or is there more I'll need to do?

 

[meyerweb#CB]

Sorry Amanda, it didn't register that you were still on LJ7. Here's the thread to update from LJ7 to MA6: http://forums.androidcentral.com/sprint-galaxy-s-iii/252327-your-way-update-ma6.html

If that doesn't work, or you just don't want to bother, this should get you back to stock, unrooted: http://forums.androidcentral.com/sp...-30-2012-sprint-only-unroot-return-stock.html

Read the instructions carefully, download all the required files, and then make sure you don't skip any steps. Let us know if you have any questions.

 

[jimesek]

for some reason when i download the zip file it says it is on my sdcard but when im at the reboot menu, its not listed. does anyone know why that is and what i can do about it

 

[Golfdriver97]

Ok, downloaded root checker and it said something to the effect of sorry you don't have a valid root. Tried to update with post 1 method and it failed. I thought it might be because I'm on lj7 instead of mb1. Also tried method to update to mb1, but again it failed. Possibly because I don't even have ma6, but couldn't find a file to go from lj7 to ma6. If I can't get that I might try the method to unroot
I am too much of a root virgin to have to go through all of this with every update! I think I'd rather go back to stock, update, and figure out how to properly root and customize later. Provided the unroot method will fix the poorly done previous unroot? Or is there more I'll need to do?

The links meyer provided look to be pretty easy to follow, just read through them a couple times, and if you have any questions, ask. I am sure meyer will help out if he can. I can help you out with flashing too. This is all pretty easy, and believe it or not, it's collecting all your files, programs and getting everything set up that is the time consuming part. For me, it took a few hours getting all the files and programs, and only like ten or fifteen minutes to (in my case) root and flash. Best thing is, once you have all the programs, unless you delete them, you won't have to go through all these hoops again.

 

[seanskiT1]

for some reason when i download the zip file it says it is on my sdcard but when im at the reboot menu, its not listed. does anyone know why that is and what i can do about it

Have you looked in download folders? Make sure you aren't accidentally inside another folder an just can't see it.

Sent from my GS3 sporting Wicked Sensations...

 

[Ramer84015]

for some reason when i download the zip file it says it is on my sdcard but when im at the reboot menu, its not listed. does anyone know why that is and what i can do about it

If you're using TWRP, make sure it's looking at the right card, meaning either SD or ExtSD, TWRP gives you the option to choose.

 

[meyerweb#CB]

for some reason when i download the zip file it says it is on my sdcard but when im at the reboot menu, its not listed. does anyone know why that is and what i can do about it

It's probably downloading into a folder on the SD card, and recovery is looking, by default, in the root directory (the top level, not in a folder). Find where the file got downloaded, then copy it to the root of the SD card, and see if that solves it.

 

[slbutts]

How do you figure out if your rooted or not and which version

 

[meyerweb#CB]

Your phone as it comes from Sprint is not rooted. It's only rooted if you took specific actions to do that. So if you've not rooted your phone, you can assume you're not rooted, and used the Post 1 version.

 

[Golfdriver97]

How do you figure out if your rooted or not and which version

You can download a root check app.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Android Central Forums

 

[Amanda Zittel]

Sorry Amanda, it didn't register that you were still on LJ7. Here's the thread to update from LJ7 to MA6: http://forums.androidcentral.com/sprint-galaxy-s-iii/252327-your-way-update-ma6.html

If that doesn't work, or you just don't want to bother, this should get you back to stock, unrooted: http://forums.androidcentral.com/sp...-30-2012-sprint-only-unroot-return-stock.html

Read the instructions carefully, download all the required files, and then make sure you don't skip any steps. Let us know if you have any questions.

Awesome, I unrooted following the instructions. This brought me up to MB1 then I manually updated to MD4 using the method in post 1. Both worked beautifully. Thank you for all of your help! Now that it all seemd a little less scary I plan to do some more research on rooting so I can customize more to fit my desire. Again thank you so much, I couldn't have done it with out all of your help.

 

[Golfdriver97]

Awesome, I unrooted following the instructions. This brought me up to MB1 then I manually updated to MD4 using the method in post 1. Both worked beautifully. Thank you for all of your help! Now that it all seemd a little less scary I plan to do some more research on rooting so I can customize more to fit my desire. Again thank you so much, I couldn't have done it with out all of your help.

Glad meyer was able to help. He rocks!!!

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Android Central Forums

 

[meyerweb#CB]

Glad I could help, Amanda. We all started off at the beginning. In a few months it'll be you answering questions like this.

 

[bstillwell15]

does this require baseband MB1 or build number MB1?

 

[Golfdriver97]

does this require baseband MB1 or build number MB1?

I believe so.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Android Central Forums