Root [Virgin Mobile] I ran into a predicament

[FatalIll]

I was on MK5, CM11, CWMTouch and all was well. I decided to try Philz Touch recovery to play around with and then flash the newest CM11 nightly... Unfortunately, when I grabbed the Philz ZIP and flashed it in CWM, I hard bricked my phone (QHUSB_DLOAD) and was not able to recover. I must have tripped KNOX, even though I don't know exactly what I did.
I'm getting the phone replaced, but I want to know, when I get the new phone, how do I NOT do that again? Is there a way to remove KNOX while keeping the MK5 update/Modem?

 

[Rukbat]

You can remove all the Knox files - they don't cause the phone to brick. Either the copy of Philz you got was bad or you did something wrong. (Many, many people have tripped Knox without bricking their phones - I know, I'm one of them.)

 

[ajnycguy]

I was on MK5, CM11, CWMTouch and all was well. I decided to try Philz Touch recovery to play around with and then flash the newest CM11 nightly... Unfortunately, when I grabbed the Philz ZIP and flashed it in CWM, I hard bricked my phone (QHUSB_DLOAD) and was not able to recover. I must have tripped KNOX, even though I don't know exactly what I did.
I'm getting the phone replaced through Best Buy, but I want to know, when I get the new phone, how do I NOT do that again? Is there a way to remove KNOX while keeping the MK5 update/Modem?

"One cannot simply remove Knox."

If you want 4.3 then I suggest going over and looking into @jdsingle76's Knox free Rom. If you don't have Knox that's a easy way to upgrade without having to worry about Knox.

Link to Thread: Here

If you just want to upgrade the baseband to MK5 I'm sure there is a download link floating around here somewhere. Again assuming your phone doesn't come with 4.3 installed and you don't take the OTA. If your phone has Knox, downgrading your baseband will hard brick your device.

As for your hard brick, I have a guess. Are you sure you used the d2spr version? Other wise a hard brick can happen, easily.

For recoveries I have always used Odin, maybe that was your problem. To upgrade your recovery (ex. V1 to V2) I would use the current recovery to do that. To install another recovery I would use Odin.

Philz Thread: Here

Side note:
I had CWM when I was on 4.1.2 and switched to TWRP to try it out (wasn't for me). So I switched back to CWM (all using Odin). Now I'm on CM11 w/Knox using Philz from Odin.

I have Knox as well so if you have any questions feel free to ask since I took the OTA and I'm Knoxed Up! Glad you were able to get a new phone though!

P.S. Tripping Knox doesn't brick your device. Knox cares about your Bootloader. For more info about Knox visit @TheBritton's Myths and Truths about Knox sticky.

Link to thread: Here

 

[FatalIll]

"One cannot simply remove Knox."

If you want 4.3 then I suggest going over and looking into @jdsingle76's Knox free Rom. If you don't have Knox that's a easy way to upgrade without having to worry about Knox.

Link to Thread: Here

If you just want to upgrade the baseband to MK5 I'm sure there is a download link floating around here somewhere. Again assuming your phone doesn't come with 4.3 installed and you don't take the OTA. If your phone has Knox, downgrading your baseband will hard brick your device.

As for your hard brick, I have a guess. Are you sure you used the d2spr version? Other wise a hard brick can happen, easily.

For recoveries I have always used Odin, maybe that was your problem. To upgrade your recovery (ex. V1 to V2) I would use the current recovery to do that. To install another recovery I would use Odin.

Philz Thread: Here

Side note:
I had CWM when I was on 4.1.2 and switched to TWRP to try it out (wasn't for me). So I switched back to CWM (all using Odin). Now I'm on CM11 w/Knox using Philz from Odin.

I have Knox as well so if you have any questions feel free to ask since I took the OTA and I'm Knoxed Up! Glad you were able to get a new phone though!

P.S. Tripping Knox doesn't brick your device. Knox cares about your Bootloader. For more info about Knox visit @TheBritton's Myths and Truths about Knox sticky.

Link to thread: Here

Thank you so much for your help and guidance. I just got the phone replaced, It came with 4.1.2 and without KNOX (Checked download mode). Currently put Philz Touch on it, and going to put MK5 modem & Deodexed stock 4.3 on it for now, until I can get CM11 and all that squared away.
Really hope I never have to encounter KNOX

 

[Tokens210]

Thank you so much for your help and guidance. I just got the phone replaced, It came with 4.1.2 and without KNOX (Checked download mode). Currently put Philz Touch on it, and going to put MK5 modem & Deodexed stock 4.3 on it for now, until I can get CM11 and all that squared away.
Really hope I never have to encounter KNOX

As long as you don't take the OTA update or allow it to fully update thru kies, once you put a ROM on I believe it disables those so I you should be good

Enjoy your device lol