Root [Verizon] As a noob, I posted this on the general support thread - reposting

My main phone is a Verizon (SCH-I545) Galaxy S4. Build: NC5, Android: KitKat 4.4.2 (OTA disabled immediately after rooting).

I rooted it with towelroot and it currently has Chainfire SuperSU Pro 2.46 and BusyBox Pro 1.23.1 (and, yes, I did install it after downloading it [grin]).

I have stayed away from flashing custom ROMs due to the unlockable bootloader and my lack of experience with Safestrap (I've flashed various ROMs on previous unlockable phones and all of my tablets). Also, I was always a touch CWM user and Safestrap has TWRP-based recovery (which I'm eager to try).

So, I have located and downloaded three seemingly appropriate versions of the Safestrap apk and need advice on which to load (unless anybody has better suggestions). The three are:

1. Safestrap-KLTEVZQ-NCG-3.75-B03.apk
2. Safestrap-I545-3.75-KitKat-A03.apk
3. Unofficial-Safestrap-D2VZW-3.75.B03.apk

#1 would seem the reasonable choice, but I've seen increasing mention of D2VZW (though the "Unofficial" part of the name makes me a bit hesitant), so #3 also looks interesting. I looked on goo.im and couldn't find anything newer than last June, and none newer than v 3.70.

Does anybody have any advice that might help me here?

funkylogik said:

Noob question here sorry. What is safestrap? I've never needed it on a Samsung as far as I know.
And what's stopping you from just flashing twrp?
Cheers

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My version of the S4 (the Verizon SCH-I545 build) has a locked bootloader that nobody (to my knowledge) has yet figured an exploit to unlock. A locked bootloader prevents flashing custom ROMs to your phone and leaves you stuck with the stock ROM. There are several phones out there with locked bootloaders. In the case of the Verizon S4, only a couple of build versions have unbreakable locks (to date) - one being my relatively recent NC5 build. A workaround was created by Hashcode (on xda-developers.com as well as YouTube). It is called SafeStrap and bypasses or works-around the locked bootloader to allow you to load up to four custom ROMs in separate slots (it keeps a slot with the stock ROM as well). This gives you the ability to beat the bootloader locking and install custom ROMs.

It is integrated with TWRP recovery v. 2.7.1.0. I could install TWRP or CWM standalone if all I wanted was a recovery program, but that wouldn't solve the bootloader locker. What I'm primarily looking for is a way to flash multiple custom ROMs on a particular phone that normally blocks their installation.

Note that there are a variety of different Safestrap apks for different phones (Verizon and AT&T can't use the same version, for example). There are also newer and older versions of each Safestrap variant with different enhancements, and I'm looking for advice on which version is the newest, most dependable, and most appropriate for my particular phone and build model. It ain't about the recovery, but about the custom ROMs.

Thanks, anyway, for the reply.

funkylogik said:

Noob question here sorry. What is safestrap? I've never needed it on a Samsung as far as I know.
And what's stopping you from just flashing twrp?
Cheers

Click to expand...

EarlyMon said:

Merged these for you so people helping don't get confused going to side-by-side threads - no big deal - hope this helps.

Click to expand...

Thanks, though the two questions are really different issues and I didn't want to get them conflated and only get partial responses.

EarlyMon said:

OK, so I merged these based on thread titles.

If you want them split again, no problem, how about you give me some better titles for each - descriptive titles tend to get more views.

Click to expand...

The main question is "which version of Safestrap is most recommended for my particular config?" I can repost with a new title and just leave the other question hanging on - it's not really important at this time.

If you can easily repost the original post under a better title, I'd suggest "Which is best version of Safestrap v 2.75 for SCH-I545 build NC5?"

If necessary, I'll repost myself.

Tnx, the Cat