Root [Virgin Mobile] [MK5 4.3] All Things Knox Discussion

[Darien153]

Interesting article for sure. I remain convinced, however, that custom 4.3 such as Carbon or Hellfire is vastly superior to stock Touchwiz 4.3; undoubtedly a lot of rooted users have encountered a negative, headache-inducing experience courtesy of Samsung this weekend.

The more I read about knox the more I kind of think about hating it. You can't downgrade or it be void forever AND nothing can ever fix it.

All you wanted to know about KNOX Void Warranty 0x1

 

[ron scubadiver]

Clockworkmod Tether for non root works. For those not familiar with it the connection is over USB and requires a client app on the tethered PC or Mac.

I don't see any of the settings mentioned in the article for disabling Knox on the 4.3 update for the S3.

 

[struckn]

Seems that we could flash another bootloader which would enable us to revert back to older android versions. Does anyone know which bootloaders we could revert to?

It seems the new bootloader is also disabling tethering because of selinux.

Does anyone with better knowledge have insight on how to install a different bootloader?

One of the Sprint threads on XDA had a user hard brick their phone trying to flash different bootloaders once they had accepted the upgrade to MK3 (Sprint baseband for this update, equivalent to MK5 for VM). As far as I can tell flashing ROM's is still something that can be done if you don't care about tripping Knox, but messing with bootloaders has very serious potential consequences; it seems that once you have MK5, no more possibility for MG2
[STOCK] 4.3 and up Discussion Thread (NOT CM or AOSP) - Page 166 - xda-developers

 

[ron scubadiver]

Clockworkmod Tether works on my unrooted stock 4.3.

 

[Darien153]

One of the Sprint threads on XDA had a user hard brick their phone trying to flash different bootloaders once they had accepted the upgrade to MK3 (Sprint baseband for this update, equivalent to MK5 for VM). As far as I can tell flashing ROM's is still something that can be done if you don't care about tripping Knox, but messing with bootloaders has very serious potential consequences; it seems that once you have MK5, no more possibility for MG2
[STOCK] 4.3 and up Discussion Thread (NOT CM or AOSP) - Page 166 - xda-developers

Yes as knox is part of the bootloader. Any form of downgrade or change in bootloaders that is unauthorized by Samsung will change the setting from 0x0 to 0x1. Having that said, now that your warranty is void, you will no longer be able to downgrade or upgrade firmware and will have to stick with the firmware you have forever. Use complete caution.

All you wanted to know about KNOX Void Warranty 0x1

 

[Darien153]

Clockworkmod Tether for non root works. For those not familiar with it the connection is over USB and requires a client app on the tethered PC or Mac.

I don't see any of the settings mentioned in the article for disabling Knox on the 4.3 update for the S3.

Apparently it's for the AT&T S3 I think. It really screws us over. Sorry man I should have mentioned that. I feel like we are in a trap from Samsung. Never did they mention about Knox (or maybe it's just me).

 

[Darien153]

I hope this would work for anyone:
DroidViews | How to Disable KNOX Security Service on Samsung Galaxy Devices

 

[TheBritton]

I hope this would work for anyone:
DroidViews | How to Disable KNOX Security Service on Samsung Galaxy Devices

It looks like both methods require root access which Knox is preventing for some. I have successfully removed Knox with Titanium but only after finally getting SuperSU to work.

Now that I'm more awake I will go over what I believe will make that happen.

Flash SuperSU with a custom recovery. This puts superuser.apk in the system/app folder. Once you boot up the first time and you try to open a root only app you will get the security alert saying SuperSU has been blocked and you will also notice that is missing from the app drawer. What I did was navigate to system/app with Root Explorer and click on superuser.apk and install it. Then I saw SuperSU in the app drawer and was able to open it up. Do not open a root app just yet.. once in SuperSU click on settings and select "Reinstall: Cleanup for reinstallation from Google Play" and once that completes (it should reboot) reinstall SuperSU from Google Play and you should be good to go. Open Titanium Backup and see if it achieves root access. If it does, freeze the following apps before rebooting to get rid of the Knox security software:
ContainerAgent.apk
KLMSAgent.apk
KnoxAttestationAgent.apk
KNOXStub.apk
Those are the steps that I took and it worked for me. Good luck!

 

[struckn]

For what it is worth, if you open the .zip file and navigate to system/app, all the Knox-related .apk's are there and I presume one could remove them, repackage the .zip, then flash. I don't know what that would do in terms of the actual boot loader however, it is just a thought. There is also one Knox-related file in patch/system/app. I remove unwanted .apk's all the time when flashing custom ROM's so I would assume the procedure holds true here as well. Definitely not doing this "upgrade" that isn't even remotely a real upgrade myself, just thought I would throw this out there.

 

[ron scubadiver]

After reading Britton's post, I have some thoughts. It appears that Knox can be temporarily disabled to get around it. He also flashed a custom recovery with Odin. I am wondering if that blew the e-fuse for sure and reverting to stock and future OTA's are no longer possible.

 

[Darien153]

It looks like both methods require root access which Knox is preventing for some. I have successfully removed Knox with Titanium but only after finally getting SuperSU to work.

Now that I'm more awake I will go over what I believe will make that happen.

Flash SuperSU with a custom recovery. This puts superuser.apk in the system/app folder. Once you boot up the first time and you try to open a root only app you will get the security alert saying SuperSU has been blocked and you will also notice that is missing from the app drawer. What I did was navigate to system/app with Root Explorer and click on superuser.apk and install it. Then I saw SuperSU in the app drawer and was able to open it up. Do not open a root app just yet.. once in SuperSU click on settings and select "Reinstall: Cleanup for reinstallation from Google Play" and once that completes (it should reboot) reinstall SuperSU from Google Play and you should be good to go. Open Titanium Backup and see if it achieves root access. If it does, freeze the following apps before rebooting to get rid of the Knox security software:
ContainerAgent.apk
KLMSAgent.apk
KnoxAttestationAgent.apk
KNOXStub.apk
Those are the steps that I took and it worked for me. Good luck!

Does this method trip up knox?? Or did you not care about warranty. Lol and what superuser did you use?

 

[Darien153]

After reading Britton's post, I have me thoughts. It appears that Knox can be temporarily disabled to get around it. He also flashed a custom recovery with Odin. I am wondering if that blew the e-fuse for sure and reverting to stock and future OTA's are no longer possible.

The moment you root, knox will know. And the count should go to 0x1 . Maybe he doesn't care. Its just my issue is flashing firmware.

 

[peter counias]

Finally rebooted I think the key this is flash the zip to disable knox flash the super user zip you posted force stop knox a crew times an reinstall the super app from system thanks to TheBritton!! Thanks TheBritton for all his good work!!!

 

[Darien153]

Finally rebooted I think the key this is flash the zip to disable knox flash the super user zip you posted force stop knox a crew times an reinstall the super app from system thanks to TheBritton!! Thanks TheBritton for all his good work!!!

Where is the flashable zip and do I need a custom recovery?

 

[richking34]

Someone needs to make a thread with all the links and steps so its more organized

 

[TheBritton]

Does this method trip up knox?? Or did you not care about warranty. Lol and what superuser did you use?

It allows supersu to work so one can disable Knox with Titanium or other methods.
The supersu is linked in my original post. Just click on it. I would link again but I'm on my phone.

 

[TheBritton]

Someone needs to make a thread with all the links and steps so its more organized

I agree. I'll do that once the steps are more certain.

 

[TheBritton]

After reading Britton's post, I have some thoughts. It appears that Knox can be temporarily disabled to get around it. He also flashed a custom recovery with Odin. I am wondering if that blew the e-fuse for sure and reverting to stock and future OTA's are no longer possible.

Possibly. I'm okay with stock I just need root access. I should be able to flash another rom though if it's based on 4.3

That is a good question though and I wonder if I will be able to take another ota or flash another rom. I still am trying to learn more about this.

 

[Darien153]

Possibly. I'm okay with stock I just need root access. I should be able to flash another rom though if it's based on 4.3

That is a good question though and I wonder if I will be able to take another ota or flash another rom. I still am trying to learn more about this.

I know that you cannot flash any firmware lower than 4.3. You will not be able to update nor downgrade. I know you able to flash ota 4.3 or higher but idk about unofficial. Its just me but i woudnt want to test the limits right now. I will read and let you know.

 

[TheBritton]

I know that you cannot flash any firmware lower than 4.3. You will not be able to update nor downgrade. I know you able to flash ota 4.3 or higher but idk about unofficial. Its just me but i woudnt want to test the limits right now. I will read and let you know.

This is very insightful and answers questions about what you can and can't do when your Knox counter ox tripped.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2492022

 

[Deleted User]

I'll be calling VM soon to add the $15 hotspot. It's a nice feature and I will be relying on it heavily for storm chasing next spring.

Don't add the 15 hotspot plan just get https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.googlecode.android.wifi.tether&hl=en you don't have to pay if you have root access. I use it to play on xbox live. Your profile should be set for s4 and everything else is good to go

 

[SgtMacabre]

For what it is worth, if you open the .zip file and navigate to system/app, all the Knox-related .apk's are there and I presume one could remove them, repackage the .zip, then flash. I don't know what that would do in terms of the actual boot loader however, it is just a thought. There is also one Knox-related file in patch/system/app. I remove unwanted .apk's all the time when flashing custom ROM's so I would assume the procedure holds true here as well. Definitely not doing this "upgrade" that isn't even remotely a real upgrade myself, just thought I would throw this out there.

That's exactly what im doing...just in the process of backing up everything then I flash that trimmed zip....using zarchiver to remove files from zip on the fly...will post back with results..

 

[Darien153]

That's exactly what im doing...just in the process of backing up everything then I flash that trimmed zip....using zarchiver to remove files from zip on the fly...will post back with results..

The sad thing is it doesn't matter off you remove it. You still will trigger the KNOX because knox is part of the boot loader. So either way the warranty will be void. Can't reset the counter. As far as I know and have read, it is impossible.

 

[TheBritton]

The sad thing is it doesn't matter off you remove it. You still will trigger the KNOX because knox is part of the boot loader. So either way the warranty will be void. Can't reset the counter. As far as I know and have read, it is impossible.

Correct. Knox is heavily integrated and extends far beyond the apk's

The benefit for removing the Knox apk's is to allow supersu to gain root access.. assuming you don't mind tripping the Knox flag (which I do not)

 

[TheBritton]

Don't add the 15 hotspot plan just get https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.googlecode.android.wifi.tether&hl=en you don't have to pay if you have root access. I use it to play on xbox live. Your profile should be set for s4 and everything else is good to go

Well found out the $15 plan isn't available for the S3
I haven't been able to get that app to work since updating but I'll keep trying.