i337 Canada on Bell is hard to root or even install TWRP
Installed TWRP from Odin and my computer gave me the bluescreen at the end but it seemed to be successful (after ODIN said reset).
TWRP mode does not seem to enter, instead you get the Android recovery mode with Volume up + Home
http://galaxys4root.com/galaxy-s4-root/how-to-root-att-or-verizon-galaxy-s4-on-android-4-4-2/
1.)........
It really seems that 4.4.4 is not ready or stable for the i717 yet and this makes sense since it takes a lot of work/development and testing to get the factory stock ROMs working well. In the end I used the 4.1.2 based Blackstra BlackJelly because it was fast, stable and just works and feels great. The aftermarket support is great but many devs are focussed on adding features and customization that most of us don't want or need rather than getting things smooth and stable.........
I chose this because I heard a lot of stories about scams and that many providers I contacted said they can't unlock the Canadian I717s (one said "my Bell server" is down).
This method worked perfectly on my Bell I717M and should work for all I717 in Canada, I was able to insert a foreign SIMcard. This will work abroad too but remember entering CWM mode is different for I717's in other countries (at least theUS).
Step 1 - Root + CWM........
This was partitioned as a single 32GB VFAT but when I inserted it into the phone it said that it can't read it and now here is how the partition table looks. Interestingly enough the data works and reads fine from the computer still.
Disk /dev/sdb1: 32.1 GB, 32085360640 bytes
64 heads, 32 sectors/track, 30598 cylinders, total 62666720 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum........
This pops up when connecting the phone and it doesn't seem to charge. The phone keeps showing a status message every few seconds "Connected as a media device".
It's ridiculous why this phone doesn't just default as a simple USB Mass storage device.
Here's what I see in /var/log/messages:
Jan 30 18:51:27 QuadCoreAM2 kernel: [18038228.144046] usb 1-3: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 24
Jan 30 18:51:28 QuadCoreAM2 ke........
I backed up everything in the /mnt/sd_card directory thinking that some dataloss could occur for some reason but purposely left my microSDHC unbacked up thinking that "it won't touch that since it's external" and Samsung's and other manufacturers website even say this (that it won't be affected and not to worry etc).
Apparently I was wrong, my microSD was "undetected" and asked to be formatted after the upgrade (there goes 3-months worth of family photos). No........
I searched for days after getting my Galaxy Note and couldn't find a way to do this (at least not without buying programs for either Android/Windows). All I read was ways to sync and import the contacts to GMail but I don't want to use GMail for privacy reasons. GMail/Google steal all of your personal information and use it for whatever purposes they want to and may sell or release it to who knows where (I don't care what their policy says but this stuff happens), just like the default........