[Q] Stuck in TWRP - Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note II

I just tried to upgrade to Alliance build 30 from build 26. I also loaded TWRP latest version after using CWM for a few years now. I had no idea CWM files would not restore with TWRP. Yes I was stupid but now I cannot install anything or get out of recovery having no working recovery file in TWRP. Do I have to start over with Odin? Can I somehow get back to CWM recovery files and bypass TWRP? I see my counter does not show any custom files and is still at zero. Please help me!

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NB2A said:
I just tried to upgrade to Alliance build 30 from build 26. I also loaded TWRP latest version after using CWM for a few years now. I had no idea CWM files would not restore with TWRP. Yes I was stupid but now I cannot install anything or get out of recovery having no working recovery file in TWRP. Do I have to start over with Odin? Can I somehow get back to CWM recovery files and bypass TWRP? I see my counter does not show any custom files and is still at zero. Please help me!
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Click to collapse
When you are in twrp have you tried flashing the cwm recovery zip to switch back yo cwm?

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bigmarv31 said:
When you are in twrp have you tried flashing the cwm recovery zip to switch back yo cwm?
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Yes I did try that too. I was finally able to get Alliance rom to load but it gets stuck at logo never completing. In fact now it put into yellow triangle saying return to Verizon store so even Odin cannot see it.
Thank you for helping anyway

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Did you put phone in download mode then try to use odin

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I just put it in Odin mode
I guess I need to start all over again
Should I use Adam's thread?
bigmarv31 said:
Did you put phone in download mode then try to use odin
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Click to collapse

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where you on stock 4.1.2?
If you were on stock 4.1.2 use odin with the proper files then you can use Adams Casual No You Verizon.

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bigmarv31 said:
where you on stock 4.1.2?
If you were on stock 4.1.2 use odin with the proper files then you can use Adams Casual No You Verizon.
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NB2A said:
Thank you for responding with such detail. It finally started to boot into Alliance logo but never completed. Now it says with yellow triangle phone needs to be returned to Verizon. It does not even work in Odin. I do have an external reader for the card but I guess I am screwed now anyway.I wonder if Verizon will even help me at all back to stock.
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@NB2A - I see where you have 2 threads on this.... so I'm just going to respond in this thread to avoid confusion.
If you can get into download mode again with Volume Down+Home+Power button combo.... then you should be able to use ODIN to restore the phone to whatever firmware version would be appropriate. Like bigmarv31 said, you should be able to restore back to 4.1.2 as long as you never installed factory stock 4.3 or 4.4.2. If you did install 4.3 or 4.4.2, then your bootloader has been locked and you would have to restore back to one of those firmwares and can't go back to 4.1.2 because of locked bootloader. (I had assumed you were still on 4.1.2 bootloader because you said you had TWRP CWM on the phone). If you can't get into download mode, then do a Google search for tricks to force phone into download mode. I've read where people say you can pull the battery and plug in the phone... or use a special usb jig to get the phone into download mode if the button combo doesn't work anymore. These tricks aren't guaranteed to work, but would be worth a shot.
You can buy a usb jig from eBay for less than $5. (This may be a good one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/MICRO-USB-J...er_Cell_Phone_Accessories&hash=item1e6d6cc865).
Good luck.
PS: If you can get the phone into download mode again, use section 1b of Droidstyle's restore guide to restore the phone ( http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=34891181).

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Thank you again
I was able to finally get phone to work using Odin. Now I need to root it and since it is using a 4.3 build My options are only touch wiz apps I am told and can only use safestrap to use another rom. I would be happy to simply be back on what I had working fine in it before this yesterday. I had Beanstown build 26 before Alliance build 30 messed me up. I cannot seem to find root to use now.
Thank you again
mattnmag said:
@NB2A - I see where you have 2 threads on this.... so I'm just going to respond in this thread to avoid confusion.
If you can get into download mode again with Volume Down+Home+Power button combo.... then you should be able to use ODIN to restore the phone to whatever firmware version would be appropriate. Like bigmarv31 said, you should be able to restore back to 4.1.2 as long as you never installed factory stock 4.3 or 4.4.2. If you did install 4.3 or 4.4.2, then your bootloader has been locked and you would have to restore back to one of those firmwares and can't go back to 4.1.2 because of locked bootloader. (I had assumed you were still on 4.1.2 bootloader because you said you had TWRP on the phone). If you can't get into download mode, then do a Google search for tricks to force phone into download mode. I've read where people say you can pull the battery and plug in the phone... or use a special usb jig to get the phone into download mode if the button combo doesn't work anymore. These tricks aren't guaranteed to work, but would be worth a shot.
You can buy a usb jig from eBay for less than $5. (This may be a good one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/MICRO-USB-J...er_Cell_Phone_Accessories&hash=item1e6d6cc865).
Good luck.
PS: If you can get the phone into download mode again, use section 1b of Droidstyle's restore guide to restore the phone ( http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=34891181).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

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NB2A said:
I was able to finally get phone to work using Odin. Now I need to root it and since it is using a 4.3 build My options are only touch wiz apps I am told and can only use safestrap to use another rom. I would be happy to simply be back on what I had working fine in it before this yesterday. I had Beanstown build 26 before Alliance build 30 messed me up. I cannot seem to find root to use now.
Thank you again
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Click to collapse
Cool. Glad you got it restored. If you're on factory stock 4.3, then you can use safeRoot to gain root access. Here's the link to saferoot-- http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=48392009.
---------- Post added at 01:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:00 PM ----------
Oh... and you probably know, but you need to use the modified TWRP called Safestrap in order to run Alliance 26 again.

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mattnmag said:
Cool. Glad you got it restored. If you're on factory stock 4.3, then you can use safeRoot to gain root access. Here's the link to saferoot-- http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=48392009.
---------- Post added at 01:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:00 PM ----------
Oh... and you probably know, but you need to use the modified TWRP called Safestrap in order to run Alliance 26 again.
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This looks like a real PIA to root. Thank you so much.

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Saferoot
NB2A said:
This looks like a real PIA to root. Thank you so much.
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I unzipped that file on that thread and there does not seem to be any install bat file to use for step 5.

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NB2A said:
I unzipped that file on that thread and there does not seem to be any install bat file to use for step 5.
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Click to collapse
This rooting process is actually very easy. I just downloaded and unzipped the saferoot zip package, and the batch file is definitely there. (see the below screenshot) It's not named "install.bat" -- just "install" (but you can see which one is the batch file).
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}

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mattnmag said:
This rooting process is actually very easy. I just downloaded and unzipped the saferoot zip package, and the batch file is definitely there. (see the below screenshot) It's not named "install.bat" -- just "install" (but you can see which one is the batch file).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No matter what either saferoot or safestrap does not seem my phone
The drivers are there too when I plug phone

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NB2A said:
No matter what either saferoot or safestrap does not seem my phone
The drivers are there too when I plug phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sorry, but I don't really understand what you mean. You mean when you followed all the steps in the saferoot thread, and double clicked on the install batch file.... that the saferoot install script could not see your phone? Did you make sure to enable usb debugging in the developer settings on your phone? When you connect your phone to your computer with the usb cable, open a command terminal screen... then type "adb devices" (without the quotes) into the terminal... does it show your phone's serial number to ensure your phone is being seen by the computer? If not, you probably need to install the stand alone Android SDK tools from here:
( https://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html#Other ).
Also.... I don't understand what safeStrap would have to do with this. SafeStrap is a modified version of TWRP that you would install onto your phone only after you get the phone rooted with safeRoot. You would need to use SafeStrap as the recovery now because the bootloader was locked permanently after you put factory stock 4.3 on the phone... and regular TWRP and CWM won't work with locked bootloaders. After you get Safestrap on there, you would boot into it to flash the Alliance 26 ROM back onto the phone. You'll need to research in the Safestrap thread for the steps, as I am actually still on 4.1.2 bootloader and don't need to use Safestrap.... so I've never used it. As I recall though, you need to make a full backup of your stock ROM first (also backup the efs if you haven't already). Then you have to flash the custom ROM over the stock ROM slot in Safestrap. Here's a link for the Safestrap thread for your reading pleasure : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2704992
PS: I see where you're posting in the Alliance Build 30 thread for help. To avoid confusion, make sure they know you're on factory stock 4.3 and your trying to root and install Alliance 30 (which is based on Android version 4.4.2). You're going to end up soft bricking the phone again if you try to install Alliance 30 in SafeStrap with stock 4.3. Alliance 30 is based on 4.4.2 and uses a different kernel than Alliance 26 (which is 4.3 based).

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I appreciate your help. One major unexplained problem I had was safestrap or saferoot could not see my device at all using a machine with XP. After switching to a machine with windows 7 both worked and saw device fine. I am now running Beans build 26 and used Safestrap as well. I now ned to make a recovery copy of 26. I did make a copy of the working stock room too just in case. I just need to determine what is the best place to save it off the device too.

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NB2A said:
I appreciate your help. One major unexplained problem I had was safestrap or saferoot could not see my device at all using a machine with XP. After switching to a machine with windows 7 both worked and saw device fine. I am now running Beans build 26 and used Safestrap as well. I now ned to make a recovery copy of 26. I did make a copy of the working stock room too just in case. I just need to determine what is the best place to save it off the device too.
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Click to collapse
Save them to your sd card and if u want copy them to your computer just in case you ever need them.

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mattnmag said:
PS: I see where you're posting in the Alliance Build 30 thread for help. To avoid confusion, make sure they know you're on factory stock 4.3 and your trying to root and install Alliance 30 (which is based on Android version 4.4.2). You're going to end up soft bricking the phone again if you try to install Alliance 30 in SafeStrap with stock 4.3. Alliance 30 is based on 4.4.2 and uses a different kernel than Alliance 26 (which is 4.3 based).
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Click to collapse
I was one of the guys trying to help over there. It was confusing to say the least. There was never any mention of whether the bootloader was unlocked or not. I assumed it was and made suggestions based on that premise. I'm sorry I didn't ask for more detail before I did.
If I had known it was locked I would have never said a word. I know nothing about SafeStrap. I've been on the unlocked VRALJB Bootloader ever since I've had my phone. Sorry I stuck my nose in where it didn't belong.
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