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Help Verizon downgrade to KitKat - Dummies Guide

It appears that sammobile is having "bad gateway" issues and also don't offer the sm-g900v kitkat for download any longer. Does anyone have a link to somewhere else thats reputable to download?
 
Cenzo said:
It appears that sammobile is having "bad gateway" issues and also don't offer the sm-g900v kitkat for download any longer. Does anyone have a link to somewhere else thats reputable to download?
Click to expand...

I have all of the Verizon Kit Kat firmware on my PC,
if you cannot get a download, send me a PM and let me know your email address.
Please, not in the open forums.
I will need a few hours to upload it first to my server, as my ADSL is barely walking for uploads at 800 kBps

will need to know which version you want, I have all 3 of them.
 
For some reason I keep on getting Failed in Odin when I try and downgrade. I've followed the directions again and again, even did a factory reset and put it back into USB mode. I have the original white USB3.0 cable. I've tried a bunch of different 4.4.x ROMs including the oldest 4.4.2 that's posted in this thread.

Any ideas?
 
DanInSD said:
For some reason I keep on getting Failed in Odin when I try and downgrade. I've followed the directions again and again, even did a factory reset and put it back into USB mode. I have the original white USB3.0 cable. I've tried a bunch of different 4.4.x ROMs including the oldest 4.4.2 that's posted in this thread.

Any ideas?
Click to expand...

Hello and welcome to Android Forums DanInSD :)

I am surprised that anyone might want to downgrade from the latest Verizon release, OE1, as this is the most, "usable", Lollipop release from Verizon, to-date although, you may still need to do a Full Wipe and Factory Data Reset to get it operating properly, (a feature of Verizon's own releases it would seem), as per post #2 of S5 Lollipop Update Problems - Dummies Guide.

When you get the, "Fail", in Odin, what is the reason given?
 
While this may be the most "usable" Lollipop release, I put CM12.1 on my Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 and it is wonderful. I was hoping to root and find a ROM for my S5 that is as nice as that. Plus, my battery life has just died lately. Maybe a full wipe will help (which I just did).

I get this in ODIN:

<ID:0/003> aboot.mbn
<ID:0/003> NAND Write Start!!
<ID:0/003> FAIL! (Auth)
<ID:0/003>
<ID:0/003> Complete(Write) operation failed.
<OSM> All threads completed. (succeed 0 / failed 1)

On my phone I get:
SW REV CHECK FAIL : [aboot]Fused 2 > Binary 1
 
Have either of you previously been on the latest 2 Lollipop releases from Verizon, OD5 or OE1?
 
If you are at present, running the latest, U.S. carrier, Verizon OE1 or OG5 firmwares, or above, on model G900V you will be unable to downgrade your firmware at all and particularly to Android 4.4.2, to root your phone thanks to Verizon's own new and unique bootloader. See, here.

Verizon does not allow you to... refuse an update... downgrade from an update or... want you to root their phones!

WARNING! Verizon are rolling the OE1 and OG5 updates out to customers and unless you are already rooted and have disabled OTA updates, there is no way of stopping it.

"You will be assimilated! Resistance is futile!" (The Borg)

Thanks Verizon... welcome to, "the land of the free!"




Have amended post #1 accordingly.
 
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It seems that it is not just the Galaxy S5 that Verizon has chosen to make unrootable.

Verizon have also released their new, own version, firmwares for the Galaxy S6 Edge and Motorola Droid Turbo that contain new, unrootable, bootloaders, as this article confirms...

"That’s because latest updates from Verizon — whether that be for S5 or Galaxy S6 Edge or Droid Turbo — patch up the root exploits and thus blocks root solution available at the moment. Thus leaving you stuck with unrootable device until new exploit is discovered and presented as root solution."

Strange, that Samsung are currently rolling out a later bootloader to Verizon's OE1, the OE5, to its worldwide models, that continues to allow rooting and down grading! :rolleyes:

For more information on your model of Galaxy S5, see 40 Galaxy S5 models - Dummies Guide
 
Kudos to whomever is hosting that website, I downloaded that file in 21 minutes!
Compared to 10-12 hours at the Samsung site.

Thanks for the update IronAss


I already have that update, but via OTA... have not tried to do a root yet, that article did not specify if the OTA was still rootable?
 
AZgl1500 said:
Kudos to whomever is hosting that website, I downloaded that file in 21 minutes!
Compared to 10-12 hours at the Samsung site.

Thanks for the update IronAss


I already have that update, but via OTA... have not tried to do a root yet, that article did not specify if the OTA was still rootable?
Click to expand...
if the phone is running OE1, it is not rootable at present, is the way I read the article
 
yeah, that's possible, I guess. since you already have OE1, I hope that's the case <wink>
 
Forget it lads!

You are clutching at straws! ;)

Odin or OTA... the end result is the same with the Borg Verizon, OE1, firmware.

Borg Verizon are assimilating rolling it out to users and there is no option to refuse...

 
Drag down on the notification bar, tap the gear in the upper right (Settings); scroll all the way down to 'About phone' & tap; either (or both) the Baseband version or Build number will end in OE1 if you have that firmware.

EDIT: I'm too slow…if you don't have it, and want to root, do that NOW, before it's forced on you OTA
 
Hey thanks a lot, @ironass & @RA_BH. My baseband is G900VVRU1BOC4.

Build # is the same thing only prefixed with: LRX21T. Kernal is 3.4.0.

I bought this off of eBay because I still have Verizon's unlimited data plan and have been using a Droid X for the past 4 years! I'm a developer so I can easily follow the instructions for restoring 4.4.4. However, I'm a never rooted before. I'm afraid I'd get lazy and forget something.
 
to the best of my knowledge, just turning back the version won't stop VZW from forcing the OTA upgrade on you, at which point you'll be at their mercy. And unrootable (at present, anyway). This thread, here: http://androidforums.com/threads/verizon-rooting-samsung-galaxy-s5-sm-g900v.908621/ has good information on rooting the VZW S5, and in post 13 I have a link for the procedure I followed, to get root. Good luck!

P.S.: if you have any questions, ask! There are *lots* of knowledgeable & helpful folks here. <yup!>
 
Thanks a lot, @RA_BH! Actually I do have a question. Right now it's not on the network and it doesn't have a SIM card. Should I:

a) Downgrade to 4.4.4, then root, then take to Verizon to activate?

OR

b) Take to Verizon to activate, get SIM card, etc., then put in airplane immediately so OTA won't update, then proceed with everything else?

I'm kind of concerned because Androiduser4232 said his was really slow going to 4.4, but I'll take that as an isolated case.
 
tough question; as long as you are ultra-clear that you do not want *ANY* sort of upgrade I'd activate / SIM card / airplane mode, simply because bringing in an already rooted device to Verizon might end poorly for you -- they might have some fine-print policy somewhere that disallows activating a rooted phone - this is speculation on my part, but just because you're paranoid doesn't mean someone isn't out to get you. Someone else here may have first-hand experience, which I don't -- I've rooted after the device was activated. btw, that DroidX was a little tank, wasn't it? ;)
 
Yeah, that makes sense...That's probably a good idea... :) not to bring a rooted phone into Verizon. Although, they're pretty cool there.
Yes, the Droid X is a little tank! :-) I like it for that. It's actually getting slow and it's my second Droid X. The first one started to have screen problems, so then I bought a second one on eBay. It still runs 2.3! The other problem is that it won't run a lot of the newer apps even if they've been compiled for 2.3.
 
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