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Help Apparent stagefright patch not working

S

Spartan075

Newbie
So my phone, for some reason, keeps telling me I have a stagefright patch. The details are outlined below.

So far I have tried this 3 times with varying settings, and have failed each. There is always a notification saying "System update downloaded, with the options Later or Install. Every time I click later, it IMMEDIATELY pops up again. If I click install, it brings me to a screen saying it's a patch for the stagefright vulnerability, with one button saying "restart & install". If I click this, the phone restarts, but then boots into Teamwin Recovery mode.
If I attempt to install the update.zip from the patch there, it will say "zip verification failed". If I turn that off, it'll instead say "Error executing updater binary in zip '\cache\update.zip'. I've yet to find a way to get rid of the notification or successfully patch it, and googling the issue gives nothing. Is anyone able to help on this?

EDIT: I just learned how to take screenshots of a phone, huh. I'll upload screenshots of what I can if needed.
 
mydian said:
It's because your phone is running a custom recovery, in this case TWRP. You'll have to flash the stock rom with Odin, then take the OTA update, then re-root.
Click to expand...
oooh, okay. How would I go about flashing a stock ROM? The phone itself came with TWRP on it so I've no idea how to do it.

Also, would I have to un-root before doing it? I've rooted the phone myself with superSU.
 
What carrier? Flashing the stock rom will of course unroot the phone and return it to out of the box condition so yes you will have to root it again. It will also wipe all your data so make sure you backup everything. I guess you bought it used if it came with TWRP?
 
mydian said:
What carrier? Flashing the stock rom will of course unroot the phone and return it to out of the box condition so yes you will have to root it again. It will also wipe all your data so make sure you backup everything. I guess you bought it used if it came with TWRP?
Click to expand...
I'm okay with it being un-rooted, or the such. I bought it as part of a deal with Freedompop. It is a used phone, but was supposedly wiped before I got it.
It has some freedompop software on it as would be usual with a non-standard carrier. The service itself is gotten through Sprint though.

As for the data, I'll look around for a place to back everything up, although there isn't much on it to back up.
 
I don't know where to get your stock firmware. Maybe Samobile.com. You can try checking XDA and see if someone has posted a zip you can flash through TWRP to just update the Stagefright libraries. My S3 is on Boost (uses Sprint Roms) and that's what I did. It won't get rid of the OTA update notification though. To do that just long press the notification in your notification tray, go to the apps info, then uncheck show notifications.
 
mydian said:
I don't know where to get your stock firmware. Maybe Samobile.com. You can try checking XDA and see if someone has posted a zip you can flash through TWRP to just update the Stagefright libraries. My S3 is on Boost (uses Sprint Roms) and that's what I did. It won't get rid of the OTA update notification though. To do that just long press the notification in your notification tray, go to the apps info, then uncheck show notifications.
Click to expand...
I'll take a look around. the link you gave leads to a domain purchase thing though. As for the notification, I didn't know you could disable them that way, but I definitely will. I have little fear of stagefright hitting me at this point in time, so getting rid of the notification would be a nice step. I take it though if I tried to flash some generic sprint ROM for the galaxy S3, things could go wrong? I know the galaxy s3 goes through sprint but I don't know how embedded freedompop's software is, or if I could just install it from the market afterwards.

Thank you so much though for giving me advice on this. Even if the issue won't be completely fixed, due to the nature of my ROM and carrier, I learned quite a few new things about the phone. Taking screenshots being a great one. So many thanks for your help here.
 
Stagefright is unlike most exploits, all it takes is some malicious moron to send you a 'loaded' text (MMS) message. You the user is not actively part of the matter. It's not like you install something from an unverified source that triggers Stagefright to allow some remote takeover of your phone, your part in this is just receiving a text. That's why Stagefright is such a big deal, we as hapless users don't have a lot of control in what's going on.
The autoplay function that's part of Android itself was the problem. Google and most texting app vendors have released patches to fix the issue but there's still a lot of vulnerable phones out there. Depending on a variable mix of which carrier you use, what model phone you have, how old it is, what version of Android it's running, and which texting app(s) you use, you may or may not be OK. So while a lot of people are giving Google the stink-eye and claiming Android sucks over this matter, the real root of the problem is the patches are all out there, it's the carriers who are really screwing up, and screwing us.
 
I think you can flash sprint firmware, you would just need the freedompop apn settings. But honestly, if the phone is rooted with custom recovery, you can flash any rom built for sprint. You just need an apn backup app. Use it to backup apn, then flash rom and install the app again and restore apn. There are some great lollipop roms, and all have all of the stagefright patches. I'll ask around if anyone has a flash able zip of the freedompop apn.
 
Madbat said:
I think you can flash sprint firmware, you would just need the freedompop apn settings. But honestly, if the phone is rooted with custom recovery, you can flash any rom built for sprint. You just need an apn backup app. Use it to backup apn, then flash rom and install the app again and restore apn. There are some great lollipop roms, and all have all of the stagefright patches. I'll ask around if anyone has a flash able zip of the freedompop apn.
Click to expand...
Now what exactly is an apn? The closest thing I can think of is an apk, but that doesn't seem right. And many thanks for looking around for one for freedompop. I'll see if I can get an apn backup app on the play store. So far it seems to be saying "4.0 does not allow apn writing" so I'll keep looking on that.
 
Spartan075 said:
Now what exactly is an apn? The closest thing I can think of is an apk, but that doesn't seem right. And many thanks for looking around for one for freedompop. I'll see if I can get an apn backup app on the play store. So far it seems to be saying "4.0 does not allow apn writing" so I'll keep looking on that.
Click to expand...
Apn is access point name. It's how your phone connects to sprints data network. I found a zip file for easy flashing in recovery. Is your s3 the triband model? Is it sph-l710 or sph-l710t? The "t" is very important.
But octos L rom looks very promising for you. It's lollipop 5.1.1. I'm not sure what else you need to get freedompop to work properly, bit I will try to find out for you if you would like to try a custom rom.
You said you rooted your phone so I hope you know what custom roms are, ??
 
Madbat said:
Apn is access point name. It's how your phone connects to sprints data network. I found a zip file for easy flashing in recovery. Is your s3 the triband model? Is it sph-l710 or sph-l710t? The "t" is very important.
But octos L rom looks very promising for you. It's lollipop 5.1.1. I'm not sure what else you need to get freedompop to work properly, bit I will try to find out for you if you would like to try a custom rom.
You said you rooted your phone so I hope you know what custom roms are, ??
Click to expand...
It's a standard L710, no t there thankfully. I'm game to try a custom rom, and I know what roms are in general, but never installed one myself, TWRP just had an option to install SuperSU while I was there, and I took it. I had no idea I could install android 5.1 on a standard 4.4 OS as well, that sounds wonderful if it works.
 
Spartan075 said:
It's a standard L710, no t there thankfully. I'm game to try a custom rom, and I know what roms are in general, but never installed one myself, TWRP just had an option to install SuperSU while I was there, and I took it. I had no idea I could install android 5.1 on a standard 4.4 OS as well, that sounds wonderful if it works.
Click to expand...
It's fairly easy. Twrp basically does it for you. Then it's just a matter of setting it up, like a new phone. The only thing I worry is, I don't use freedompop. They have a special app for the dialer app I think? There a a lot of users in the octos thread on xda that are freedompop users that say it works fine. I just want to try to gather some freedompop specific steps for you.
this is the thread if you want to do a little reading.
You would start by making a full nandroid backup in twrp. just boot to twrp by powering off phone, then power on by holding power, home, and volume up. Select backup, and check boxes for system, data, and boot. That way whatever happens you can go back to where you are now.
 
Ok, I got some steps for you.
1. Make a full backup the way I mentioned.
2. Download the rom from here
Get the first 2 files (mvno apn and rom zip) don't worry about the third file. It's the md5, but you can get it if you want.
3. Download gapps. Any 5.1 arm gapps will do. I use open gapps. Get them here choose arm>5.1>stock
I'll post the next steps in a few minutes.
 
I should also mention that I can get you a zip file of the stagefright patch that you can easily install through twrp if you don't want to bother with the custom rom.
You can get it here
Just download it then boot to twrp. In twrp select install, then choose the file you downloaded. Swipe "install" at the bottom. Then reboot.
 
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Madbat said:
Ok, I got some steps for you.
1. Make a full backup the way I mentioned.
2. Download the rom from here
Get the first 2 files (mvno apn and rom zip) don't worry about the third file. It's the md5, but you can get it if you want.
3. Download gapps. Any 5.1 arm gapps will do. I use open gapps. Get them here choose arm>5.1>stock
I'll post the next steps in a few minutes.
Click to expand...
Okay, I've chosen this route over the other, as I'm confident I can do it, and I like the idea of android 5.0. A question though, is there any reason I can't do 6? Is it a limitation of the S3 or just a bad idea? Also, what would I do after downloading those files?
 
Spartan075 said:
Okay, I've chosen this route over the other, as I'm confident I can do it, and I like the idea of android 5.0. A question though, is there any reason I can't do 6? Is it a limitation of the S3 or just a bad idea? Also, what would I do after downloading those files?
Click to expand...
Its just that no one has built a 6.0 rom for this phone. They are working on it, but 5.1.1 is the newest right now.

If you've made a full backup we can move on. If you have any apps that you need backed up (any that don't get everything back with just a sign in) I usually use titanium backup. Also if you would like to backup your text msgs, I use an app called SMS backup and restore (in the play store).
Google apps and any apps that you sign in will be fine if you reinstall them after the flash and sign in to them.
Also, make sure your contacts are saved to Google and not just to your phone. (That way they come back when you sign in on the new rom).
And your contacts will always just show up on any Android device that you sign in to your Google account on.
Make sure you have the files on your phone, (rom, gapps, and apn zip) internal storage or sd card both fine.
Ok, if you're ready, boot to twrp (recovery).
In twrp, choose wipe then advanced wipe. Check boxes for system, data, cache, and dalvik cache. Swipe the arrow at the bottom to confirm. Once it's finished, go back to the home screen in twrp. Choose install, then choose the rom zip (octos rom), then select "add another zip" then choose the gapps (Google apps) package you downloaded. Choose add another zip, then select the mvno apn zip. Now swipe the install swiper on the bottom and let it flash. When it gets to the apn file an aroma installer will start. When it asks which apn you want, choose freedompop.
When everything finishes, choose reboot system.
It's going to take a while to boot up. It may sit on the boot animation for several minutes. It's normal. Then it's going to begin optimizing apps. This can take 10-15 minutes (sometimes longer).
When it boots up, go ahead and sign in to your Google account and setup your new phone. If you backed anything up with titanium or SMS backup, get those apps as well and restore your apps texts.
Sorry if this is a mess, I was a little rushed. But its all there. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

P.s. after you're all set up, go to the play store and get the freedompop messaging app. That's the part I wasn't sure about with freedompop. But I got confirmation that the app is in the play store.
 
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Madbat said:
-snipped instructions-
Click to expand...

Okay, I've completed all of these steps now. Currently it's on the "Activating cellular service" step as I type this. There's an option to skip, but not sure if I should. UI looks nice though. Aside from a strange red flash while flashing the last bit of the packages, it all went fine too. See how this goes.
 
Spartan075 said:
Okay, I've completed all of these steps now. Currently it's on the "Activating cellular service" step as I type this. There's an option to skip, but not sure if I should. UI looks nice though. Aside from a strange red flash while flashing the last bit of the packages, it all went fine too. See how this goes.
Click to expand...
Go ahead and skip
 
And now you are running a cyanogenmod/aosp based rom. No more Samsung crap bogging your phone down. Look in the app drawer for "tentacles". This is where octos puts all their customization settings. Also you can get themes. Search the play store for " CM12.1 themes". There are some cool ones.
 
Madbat said:
And now you are running a cyanogenmod/aosp based rom. No more Samsung crap bogging your phone down. Look in the app drawer for "tentacles". This is where octos puts all their customization settings. Also you can get themes. Search the play store for " CM12.1 themes". There are some cool ones.
Click to expand...
Whoa..... just got to the page, downloaded freedompop messenger and am back into the groove. This UI is gorgeous, lot less apps on the phone too. Thank you so much for getting this working, I have to say this is a wonderful upgrade to the phone, and patch too. I have a few more questions though.

Firstly, how do I take a screenshot? The previous method of hand-swipe from the left edge isn't working anymore.
And secondly, is this phone already rooted in its state, do I have to go about installing SuperSU via TWRP the way I did before, can I just install it from the market?
 
Spartan075 said:
Whoa..... just got to the page, downloaded freedompop messenger and am back into the groove. This UI is gorgeous, lot less apps on the phone too. Thank you so much for getting this working, I have to say this is a wonderful upgrade to the phone, and patch too. I have a few more questions though.

Firstly, how do I take a screenshot? The previous method of hand-swipe from the left edge isn't working anymore.
And secondly, is this phone already rooted in its state, do I have to go about installing SuperSU via TWRP the way I did before, can I just install it from the market?
Click to expand...
Yes you are rooted. SuperSU is already installed. Yeah screenshot doesn't work the same way. Hand swipe was a Samsung touchwiz feature, you no longer have any Samsung software on your phone. Screenshot is power+volume down. Plus you can add a toggle in the pulldown for it.
The basic look of your phone now is no longer Samsung, it now looks the way nexus phones look. The way Android is supposed to look. If you see a Samsung phone that is running lollipop, it will look nothing like yours. Yours is waaay better. Check out tentacles for customization options and for SuperSU. It's all in there. Check out some themes. Open the "theme" app (looks like a paint bucket with paint dripping around the rim) to apply any themes you downloaded. There are so many features in the rom, you have hours of fun ahead of you exploring features. Report back with opinions/questions/impressions.
We can start a new thread if you want.
 
You will also find that the Google app is much more useful on lollipop than it was on KitKat. Open Google and turn on "Google now". I always turn on Google now hotword detection. That way I can just say " OK Google, text my wife 'I'm on my way home'" and it sends her the message without me even touching my phone. Or you can say "ok google, turn on Bluetooth" or pretty much anything you can think of. Lollipop is very nice.
 
Madbat said:
Yes you are rooted. SuperSU is already installed. Yeah screenshot doesn't work the same way. Hand swipe was a Samsung touchwiz feature, you no longer have any Samsung software on your phone. Screenshot is power+volume down. Plus you can add a toggle in the pulldown for it.
The basic look of your phone now is no longer Samsung, it now looks the way nexus phones look. The way Android is supposed to look. If you see a Samsung phone that is running lollipop, it will look nothing like yours. Yours is waaay better. Check out tentacles for customization options and for SuperSU. It's all in there. Check out some themes. Open the "theme" app (looks like a paint bucket with paint dripping around the rim) to apply any themes you downloaded. There are so many features in the rom, you have hours of fun ahead of you exploring features. Report back with opinions/questions/impressions.
We can start a new thread if you want.
Click to expand...
It'd make sense to start a new thread for it, but I've not the foggiest where. I'll be gone for a bit, so if you're able to point me towards a thread, that'd work. So far I've found this great, root is here, UI looks amazing, went for a material glass look but gonna try others. Before I head off, is there a setting anywhere for auto brightness? That's one feature I'd enjoy having still.
 
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