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Root [International] How do I update a rooted phone?

M

moeburn

Newbie
So I've got a rooted Canadian Galaxy S3 (SGH-I747M), and according to Samsung, Android 4.3 is now available for it.

So about 15 minutes ago I clicked "check for updates" under Settings-System-Software Update. It has been 15 minutes, and it STILL says "Checking for software updates...."

Do I need to unroot just to see if the update is actually available?

Do I need to unroot to install the update?

Would I have to reset and wipe my entire phone and lose all my installed apps to unroot+update? Because I imagine if I didn't wipe it, it would break a lot of things when apps started asking for root access on an unrooted phone.

Is this what they call an "OTA" update? Might it be that the update is only available through "Kies"?

Thanks for any help! I know that I could probably find most of the answers by googling, but I would prefer the certainty of a helpful forum member looking at my particular situation and pointing me in the right direction.
 
1) The update is supplied by the carrier. Evidently yours is having server problems. You should get "An update is available" or "You're running the current software" or your carrier's equivalent in a couple of minutes (if not less).

2) Samsung seems to have this policy (I'm guessing - if they made it official they'd probably have to hire some hotels to hold all the attorneys lining up to sue them) that they will not update a rooted phone.

Do I agree with this? Well ... there are things you can do with a rooted phone that would cause an OTA update to er, let's just say "do strange things". They're protecting themselves from shoving software into a device that's running they have no idea what. I guess that's a good idea. Even better would be a menu item that allowed us to turn root access on and off, but Christmas is for kids.

Turning off root? If an app asks for root and doesn't get it (unless it's REALLY badly written) it'll just close out nicely and not run. It might get you a little upset but it wouldn't upset the phone.

Depending on how you rooted your phone (there are a lot of different ways), you might be able to completely unroot it, get the update and reroot it in half an hour (depending on how long the update takes) with no problem and nothing lost. But with the S3? Isn't that the update with the glue, locks, staples, welding torch and "looking at the screen voids the warranty" mod? The "once you've installed this update, you can't ever root your phone again" thing?

Maybe not - I'm not sure. But if I owned an S3, I'd do a lot more reading before planning to do an update.
 
Rukbat said:
1) The update is supplied by the carrier. Evidently yours is having server problems. You should get "An update is available" or "You're running the current software" or your carrier's equivalent in a couple of minutes (if not less).

2) Samsung seems to have this policy (I'm guessing - if they made it official they'd probably have to hire some hotels to hold all the attorneys lining up to sue them) that they will not update a rooted phone.

Do I agree with this? Well ... there are things you can do with a rooted phone that would cause an OTA update to er, let's just say "do strange things". They're protecting themselves from shoving software into a device that's running they have no idea what. I guess that's a good idea. Even better would be a menu item that allowed us to turn root access on and off, but Christmas is for kids.

Turning off root? If an app asks for root and doesn't get it (unless it's REALLY badly written) it'll just close out nicely and not run. It might get you a little upset but it wouldn't upset the phone.

Depending on how you rooted your phone (there are a lot of different ways), you might be able to completely unroot it, get the update and reroot it in half an hour (depending on how long the update takes) with no problem and nothing lost. But with the S3? Isn't that the update with the glue, locks, staples, welding torch and "looking at the screen voids the warranty" mod? The "once you've installed this update, you can't ever root your phone again" thing?

Maybe not - I'm not sure. But if I owned an S3, I'd do a lot more reading before planning to do an update.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the very helpful and very informative reply!

Turns out that yeah, the latest update to the S3 is the one that adds KNOX security, and it is completely irreversible, even if you're the kind of person that knows how to take apart a smartphone and use a JTAG unit. Although it isn't "once you've installed this update, you can't ever root your phone again", its "once you've installed this update, and then looked at it the wrong way, you've voided your warranty".

So... I think I'll be skipping the official Samsung 4.3 update, and instead use one of the community 4.3 firmwares that are compatible with TriangleAway, so that I can still send my phone back for warranty if I need to.
 
moeburn said:
Although it isn't "once you've installed this update, you can't ever root your phone again", its "once you've installed this update, and then looked at it the wrong way, you've voided your warranty".
Click to expand...
I guess my cataract is getting worse. I read their notice as "once you've looked at the phone, you've voided your warranty".
 
I wouldnt bother with the official update tbh (depending on how long you have left on your warranty)
Theres plenty excellent 3rd party 4.3 roms.
So why did samsung wait till now to activate Knox on the s3 and does it have the Efuse like the s4 has?
Im sick of samsung tbh. I understand the need for security on work phones but it should be opt-in.
Theyre always making things harder for the devs and enthusiasts who dont like their fork of android but want the hardware.
Good thing is the 3rd party devs are usually smarter than theirs lol :beer:
 
If this 4.3 update is anything like the International update released a couple of weeks ago then its probably been pulled for being garbage.

Been reading today though that a new 4.3 is being released to the International models so yours should be just around the corner. Although i agree with everyone else that you should just update your phone using custom ROMs, at least that way you have control over the bloat on your phone and you dont lose root :thumb:
 
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