Having the root access of an Android device is what essentially makes Android world going. Not many like to stick to stock capabilities and functionality. But OEMs seem to despise it and hence the losing of warranty with rooting your device. Thankfully though, Samsung smart phones aren't very hard ones to unroot and reclaim warranty when you need to. Follow this tutorial to unroot Samsung Galaxy S4 and reclaim warranty of your Android phone. This tutorial applies to every variant of SGS4 and also ends with some instructions to fix bootloop problem.
Required files and prerequisites to unroot Samsung Galaxy S4 and reclaim warranty:
Required files: Please select the file appropriate for your SGS4 variant. To check your device model, go to Settings > More tab > About
- Samsung Galaxy S4 international GT-I9500: download
- Galaxy S4 international LTE GT-I9505: download
- China Unicom Galaxy S4 Duos GT-I9502: download
- AT&T Galaxy S4 SGH-I337: download
- Canadian Galaxy S4 GT-I337M: download
- T-Mobile USA Galaxy S4 SGH-M919: download
- Verizon Galaxy S4 SCH-I545: download
- Sprint Galaxy S4 SPH-L720: download
- U.S. Cellular Galaxy S4 SCH-R970: download
To reclaim warranty on your Galaxy S4, download the Triangle Away app from Play Store. Also download the Odin3_v3.04.Zip ODIN tool. Download the relevant firmware from this link according to your device model, country code.
- Create a backup of all important data in your Galaxy device.
- Download and install USB drivers for Galaxy S4 in your computer.
- Enable USB debugging option by pressing Menu > Settings > Applications. Navigate and tap on Developer Options to ensure that USB Debugging is enabled.
- Ensure that your SGS4 carries more than 70% of charge.
How to unroot your Samsung Galaxy S4:
- Open the app drawer and run Triangle Away app downloaded earlier and follow the on screen instructions to reset the flash binary counter to zero.
- Triangle Away app is capable of making your device system think that it is not rooted thus enabling you to reclaim warranty.
- To completely unroot your Samsung Galaxy phone, boot into Download mode: press and hold Volume Down, Center and Power keys together for a few seconds until you see a warning screen. Now press Volume Up to enter into Download mode.
- Open ODIN folder and run the exe. Connect your SGS4 to PC using a data cable.
- The device drivers would be installed and then Odin will detect the phone indicated by the ID:COM port turning to Blue and an “Added!!” message shown in the message box on Odin.
- Ensure that only Auto Reboot and F Reset Time checkboxes are selected. Now click on PDA and select the firmware file with .tar.md5 extension.
- Once selected and checking the settings, press the START button to initiate installation.
- Once the installation is successfully finished, you will get a PASS!! message in Odin and your SGS4 will reboot automatically.
When your phone boots up now, it would be one unrooted Samsung S4!
Add-on: how to fix bootloop on Galaxy S4:
At times, Galaxy S4 gets stuck on the Samsung logo for more than 5 minutes and is caught into a bootloop. When it happens, follow the instructions below:
- Pull out the battery, wait for about 30 seconds and then put the battery back in its place.
- Boot the device into Stock Recovery mode by holding down Volume Up, Center and Power keys till the Samsung logo blinks twice. Release the Power button then but keep other two keys pressed till you see a blue menu. Use the volume keys to scroll and power keys to select.
- From the menu, wipe data: select wipe data/factory reset option followed by wipe cache partition. Finally reboot the system by selecting reboot system now.
This should have fixed the bootloop issue.
About the author: Rafia joined Wccftech in 2012 as a tech reporter. She is currently working on stories focusing on people and technologies that are turning Microsoft into a “company to watch” again. She is also responsible for collaborating with tech makers and e-commerce platforms to bring annoying but tempting deals to our readers.
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