Root [Verizon] Verizon bootloader unlock

Yea right I wish it was that easy did you try it yet cuz I def dont wanna brick my phone I got vzw rooted 4.4.2 with safestap installed but im told we can only download stock tw rom

Yes I've tried it and it worked make sure u have the unofficial safestrap the one for your phone and do the busy box and terminal emulator thing and it works if you try to install safestrap without the other things you will brick I did it twice but it very easy to unbrick so download busybox terminal emulator and the correct safestrap for you device and also I'm on 4.4.2 also and there is only one rom i have found that works and its called superliter there ya go hope I help would provide download links but I'm not home
Also I forgot to mention your bootloader won't be unlocked it'll be bypassed and you will have a custom recovery

We all knew how to do that the thing we were trying to figure out is either how to unlock bootloader or how to downgrade

I just got a VZW S3 a couple days ago and i bricked the hell out of it trying to downgrade to pre 4.3 but it is easy as hell to unbrick it with the mighty Odin at your side and the 4.4.2 tar.md5 file. I got mine directly from Sammobile.com and it worked like a charm. Use towelroots apk from their site directly (free download) and safestrap 3.75 and you shouldnt have any issues. Its working perfectly on mine, only thing is that apparently you ccant flash AOSP/AOKP ROMs on it with a locked bootloader. Thats what ive been reading anyways. I have yet to try this due to lack of time and im trying to un-carrier lock it which requires a TW ROM. So ill look more into it and see what i can dig up

ok, so apparently you cant flash modems either. Bricked it again LAWL!!! I got that stupid "there seems to have been an issue with the software on this device" or whatever it actually said. I looked at it and said to myself, darn... there goes another 12 minutes waiting for Odin to fix this bork-up lol but its back up and running, rooted, safestrapped and like i had never borked it to begin with... the splash screen now has the same open padlock logo that my rooted and rommed Nexus 7 (FLO) does. Im not convinced that we lowly users cant achieve the bootloader unlock/firmware downgrade if some dude can do it for $50 if you send him your device. Ive read somewhere that all it requires is that ever illusive JTAG that i cant seem to find on amazon. Ive found the $100 JTAG interface device, but not the little dongle that just has the resister soldered into it. Ive found it on other sites, but im too paranoid to use my card on an untrusted site and too lazy to go to walmart and buy a prepaid card to get it ordered LOL anyways, im not feeling that im utterly thwarted yet, THERE MUST BE A WAY!!!! LoL

There must be away

duecefromcalab said:

There must be away

Click to expand...

Turns out, there is a way... Altho the way requires a devices known as a Medusa box aka JTAG. Its basically an external device that goes one step further than odin, and two steps further than an aftermarket recovery and 3 steps past safestrap. There is a site that you pay a guy 50 bones to have him use his Medusa box to force 4.1 firmware on it with the unlocked bootloader. I hard bricked mine trying to unlock it with an apk. And if anyone else does the same, apparently this same guy will unbrick it and downgrade the bootloader for 75. Not a terrible cost to revive a paperweight. When i send mine in to the guy and get it back, ill chime back in with the Paul Harvey(the guy who did the radio show called "The Rest of the Story")

heres the site MobileTechVideos.COM

Turns out, my turns out comment wasnt entirely correct. My S3 IS BACK FROM THE DEAD!!!!!!! Heres how i did it, mind you I was running 4.4.2 at the time of brick so the file link im gonna post works for 4.4.2 but there is a file for 4.3 also. Here goes...


Debrick your bricked Galaxy s3!

Note: This will only work if you have hardbricked your phone (tried downgrading bootloader) and it doesn't turn on AT ALL. No Odin mode, no recovery, etc.
If you can still get into recovery or download mode, but not the ROM itself, try HERE.

A few prerequisites,
1) This may or may not work, there's no guarantees.
2) If this does not work, you will need a JTAG.
3) If it does work, you will be forced to keep 4.3, there's no downgrades.
4) If you CAN boot into the ROM or Recovery, either one, more instructions in the second post.
5) None of this is my personal work, as I said, I'm just a crash test dummy.
6) I'm just moving most of what's on the other threads to this one, so you don't have to search for this info.
7) ???
8) Profit!

What you will need:
-A hardbricked verizon galaxy s3
-A microSD Card
-Windows or Linux computer
-Debrick file

Windows
1) Download win32diskimager
2) Download the debrick file for your OS version
3) Unzip the debrick.zip and extract debrick.bin
4) Run win32diskimager
5) Connect your SD to your computer
6) In win32diskimager, browse for the extracted debrick file
7) Select your microSD in the dropdown box
8) Write!

Last instructions,
1) Remove the microSD card from computer
2) Remove the battery from your device
3) Insert your debrick microSD into your phone
4) Insert battery into phone
5) Turn on device, if you're lucky, it'll boot all the way.
*It may take a few burns to your SD for it to work. Keep trying!
6) ???
7) Profit!

Then do this,

Restoring stock bootloader
1) You were able to boot into the ROM
2) Plug your phone into a computer and use MTP mode
3) Move the debrick file onto your internal sdcard (/sdcard/debrick.bin)
4) Disconnect your phone
5) Open up a Terminal Emulator on your phone and input this code

Code:
su
dd if=/sdcard/debrick.bin of=/dev/block/mmcblk0


6) Reboot


you now no longer need the sd card with the bootloader image in the phone, the process outlined above restored it to the internal storage


4.4.2 debrick image d/l location

SCH-I535_d2vzw_4.4.2_debrick - Download - 4shared - Omar Gonzalez


this process will wipe everything on the sd card, so buyer beware


None of this was my work, im just reposting from XDA and cleaned up a little

[GUIDE] Debrick your bricked SCH-I535! [BOOT… | Verizon Galaxy S3 | XDA Forums


just to clear this process up, whats happening is that your bootloader is likely borked. In the event that the phone cannot use the BL on internal memory, it looks for it elsewhere, in this case the external SD. The critical part of the SD card requirements is that it matches the size of the internal memory (eg, if you have a 16 gig internal, use a 16 gig card, 32 gig card for 32 gig model phone). The debrick image is essentially the bootloader itself. And which bootloader image you use depends on what android os you were running at the time you bricked it. Once you do the terminal commands, which move the fixed bootloader image to the internal memory, you no longer need the image mounted to the sd card and the phone will boot like nothing ever happened. Anyways, lemme know if you have any other questions, and ill try to be diligent about watching this thread to help where i can

i also have a galaxy s3 that is on 4.4.2 i have root access through towel root and installing supersu i was wondering what would happen if i download a custom os, i ask this because after installing cwm and trying to boot into recovery my phone then starts booting to the screen of software not autherized and when i hold volume down, home, and power it brings me to a screen that asks me if i want to or not i just dont want to brink my phone.

HI, newbie here.
Has anyone been able to carrier unlock a 4.4.2 GS3 from Verizon? I dont care about a new ROM or anything, I just want to be able to insert a foreign SIM card...

I have a rooted and unlocked SCH-i535. I've had mine since 4.1 though, it's been almost 2 years.