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Sprint S4 Mini gets OTA Software update with LTE enhancements

November 17, 2013, 5:36 am
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Sprint has started rolling out software updates to devices they carry in order to make them able to use their new tri-band LTE network which is capable of reaching up to 60 Mbps. The network unfortunately is only available in only a few cities in the US such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Tampa and Miami.

Fortunately, the Galaxy S4 Mini is on the list and users should soon receive the OTA update.

If you happen to live in one of these cities and happen to own a S4 Mini from Sprint, you should begin enjoying a better data network experience.

Source:Sprint
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How to Deodex a ROM in Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini

November 18, 2013, 5:35 am
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I have been sent an e-mail about how to deodex the Galaxy S4 Mini's stock rom in order to be able to modify the system apk files such as theming, tweaking, etc. Seeing as there is no such guide, here it is.


So you've probably already tried the simple option in Titanium Backup which is for unlinking dalvik sys cache but it doesn't work. So this method may seem a bit complicated but really it's not that much.

WARNING:
Deodexing your rom slows down boot process by just a little bit. Not following the procedure carefully could lead to damaging your rom by either ending up with a bootloop or with multiple apps and services "has stopped working" messages. ALWAYS MAKE A BACKUP!

Prerequisites:

  • Android SDK - Click here.
  • Java - Click here.
  • Universal Deodexer v4 tool - Click here.
  • Enable USB Debugging on your phone - Settings -> More -> Developer Options -> USB Debugging
  • Create 2 folders in your internal storage - one called app and the other framework

We are going to be using the Universal Deodexer developed by abcdjdj and Alokbinafrom xda-developers forums. The tool has recently been updated to v4 with a GUI so it should make things even easier.

Instructions:

 

Part 1 - Setting up Java and Android SDK

1. Head into the Java download link above and download Java according to your Windows version and architecture (x86 or x64) and then follow the instructions on the installer program.

2. Download the Android SDK from the website above. The file should be a zip file, so use a program such as WinRAR or 7zip to extract it. Now you only need to extract the SDK from the zip file so only select the sdk folder and then click on Extract as shown in this screenshot:

3. Now it is recommended that you move this sdk folder to your system hard drive (C:\) to not get any errors if your Windows username folder happens to use unknown characters. So move the folder to your system drive and open it, go to the folder sdk -> platform tools and now hold the Shift button and right-click on an empty spot on the folder, you should see an extra option in the context menu called "Open command prompt window here":
4. Click it and you should get a command prompt window to appear:
You have now succesfully set up the Android SDK to pull and later on push the deodexed system files to your phone.


Part 2 - Pulling the files


1. Connect your Galaxy S4 Mini to your computer with your USB cable and remember to have USB Debugging option enabled.

2. Be sure to have some free space in your internal memory as we are going to copy the /system/app files and /system/framework files temporary there. Now begin to type in the following commands in the command prompt window by order, starting from the first to the last:
adb shell (you should get a popup window on your phone as you type this in asking you to allow it)
su
stop
mount -o rw,remount /system/ /system/
cp /system/app/* /mnt/sdcard/app/ (be patient while it copies)
cp /system/framework/* /mnt/sdcard/framework/ (be patient while it copies)
reboot

Example screenshot of commands being used.
3. Now at this point, your phone should reboot after typing in the last command in your internal storage, you should find the .apk and .odex files in the appropriate folders.

That's it, you are done pulling the files!

Part 3 - Deodexing


1. Now that you have collected all of the needed files, it's time you copy the two folders app and framework to your computer and open the Universal Deodexer folder. You should see some folders and files, especially the folders "apks" and "framework"

2. Move the apk and odex files from your app folder into the apks folder and the apk and odex files from your framework folder into the framework folder there.

3. Once you are done moving the files in the appropriate directories, it's time to run the program. So simply select the .jar file which you see there and open it. If it asks you with what program to open it, choose Java(TM) Platform SE binary.

4. Now select the options as shown in the screenshot below:

5. Now click on "Deodex All APKs" and at this point you really need to be patient as that is a lot of files and deodexing takes some time, especially for larger files and you will be getting cmd windows closing and popping back up for each file. After it is done, it should say "Deodexed <number> apk file(s)!"

6. The deodexed apk files should end up in the folder "deodexed". Now move all those deodexed apk files into a seperate folder name it for example deodexed_apps and move all the apk files in there. Now copy the files from the framework folder into apks folder.

7. Now click on "Deodex ALL JARs" and once again be patient. Once it is done, you should again get a popup saying it has deodexed jar files and those files will also end up in the "deodexed" folder. Now it is advisable that you also seperate these JAR files into a different folder such as deodexed_framework.

Part 4 - Pushing

1. Now that you have the apks and framework files seperated into these two folders, transfer them to your phone's internal memory.

2. Once the files have been transferred, open up the sdk command prompt window as shown in Part 1, Step 3 and 4.

3. Begin to type in the following commands by order, starting from the first to last. Once again, be patient when you will type in the cp command as that is when it will be copying.
adb shell
su
stop
mount -o rw,remount /system/ /system/
cp /mnt/sdcard/deodexed_apps/* /system/app/
rm /system/app/*.odex
cp /mnt/sdcard/deodexed_framework/* /system/framework/
rm /system/framework/*.odex
reboot

Example screenshot of commands being used.

Part 5 - The test

1. If you followed the instructions right, your phone should manage to reboot, you should see a popup "Android is upgrading..." for the first boot and your phone should start up just fine.

2. Now to see what's going on in the system directory - open up a root browsing app and head into /system/app/ and see if there are any odex files, do the same for /system/framework and see if there are only jar files or both jar and odex.

3. If you don't see any odex files anywhere and your system is functioning fine, congratulations, you have deodex your rom!
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Bell will update Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini to 4.3 in November 23rd

November 22, 2013, 4:00 am
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The Canadian carrier Bell will begin updating the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini to Android 4.3 starting from 23rd November (tomorrow as of today) according to some leaked documents obtained by Mobile Syrup. The build name is expected to be called "I257MVLUAMK5".

s4 mini 4.3

The update is also scheduled for the S4 users. It has already began spreading a while ago by other carriers for the S4 and Bell has yet to begin. As for the S4 Mini, it is on the list for Android 4.3. For now Bell seems to be the first carrier that will be updating the phone to 4.3.

s4 mini android 4.3

In a previous post I mentioned that it was said that the S4 Mini will receive an update soon that should cover support for Galaxy Gear, add KNOX implementation, give the TouchWiz a few touches and ofcourse, performance improvements.

Exciting news for Bell network users. As soon as the firmware will become uploaded at sites like SamMobile, Samsung-Updates, we're gonna give it a look.

Source:Mobile Syrup
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Deodexed, Rooted and Zipaligned ROM for Galaxy S4 Mini GT-I9195

November 23, 2013, 2:57 am
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Flash only on GT-I9195! You may end up with a bootloop if you flash on 3G or Duos variants!

catelusii recently shared this deodexed, zipaligned and rooted rom at the xda-developers forums. He claims he found it at a forum called pdafanclub where a member named lackogyerek is the person behind the mods.

s4 mini root deodex zipalign

The rom is basically a stock TouchWiz rom but with the following changes:
  • Rooted
  • Busybox added
  • Zipaligned
  • Deodexed
  • Init.d support
  • CSC containing the code XEH (Hungary)
Now this is perfect for the people who can't be bothered to use dsixda's kitchen to do all these things manually such as deodexing and zipaligning. If you've always wanted to have a rom open to modifications from the start, this is the perfect one.

Download ROM - Click here.

Installation:

  1. Be sure to have a rooted phone with a custom recovery
  2. Download the zip file to your sdcard
  3. Power off your phone and boot into recovery mode
  4. Wipe data/cache
  5. Choose to install zip
  6. Then choose to install zip from external sdcard
  7. Choose the rom zip file
  8. Choose Yes to confirm when asked
  9. After installation is complete, go back to the main menu and choose reboot system now

Troubleshooting:

Q: WiFi is refusing to turn on, what should I do?
A: Flash the kernel from the GT-I9195 root thread.
Note: You might lose init.d support.

Source:pdafanclub
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U.S. Cellular Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini is now available

November 25, 2013, 2:04 am
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A month ago, we found out that the S4 Mini will be arriving to US carriers this month and it looks like U.S. Cellular has obtained some Galaxy S4 Mini's.

s4 mini us cellular
The phone is now being sold at their online store for a price of $49.99 with a two-year contract for new customers and just $0.01 for upgrades and contract renewal customers. The no contract price seems to be $499.99.

And here is a reminder of what you are getting for the price above:
4.3-inch 960x540 Super AMOLED display, 1.7GHz dual-core processor, 16GB built-in storage, 8MP rear camera and 1.9MP front camera running Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.

On top of that, the phone features 4G capabilties for U.S. Cellular's 4G LTE network so users can experience a pleasant network speed.

Source:U.S. Cellular Store
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How to Boot Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini into Safe Mode

December 4, 2013, 3:10 am
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Safe Mode, you've all probably heard of it and are aware of how it comes of help on your computer when you need to troubleshoot things.

boot s4 mini safe mode

There are times you Galaxy S4 Mini might start causing you persistent force closing and you cannot get past the little popup to uninstall the faulty app. For those of you who are not aware, Android also supports this neat feature and it can be done very easily.

When you boot into Safe Mode, your phone only loads the most important system apps and ignores all 3rd party applications, giving you the chance to easily uninstall any faulty apps you may have gotten installed.

Thanks to Safe Mode, you will be able to uninstall unresponsive apps.

Video:


When you are done fixing whatever you needed to be fixed, you can easily and immediatelly boot back normally. Simply hold the Power button and choose Restart. Your phone will start up normally and should load up all 3rd party applications again.
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Stock firmware for Galaxy S4 Mini (SGH-I257M) is here

December 4, 2013, 8:08 am
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The firmware files for the Canadian Galaxy S4 Mini variant (SGH-I257M) have finally been extracted and packed at SamMobile.com!


Users can now officially flash a stock rom with Odin on the phone in case it is bricked or an upgrade is wanted. As of today, there are only 9 firmware files available for download, 2 of them being for an unknown carrier name.

Firmware list: 

Note: at any time new firmwares could get uploaded so be sure to keep an eye at the SamMobile or any other Samsung firmware website for updates!

All of the above listed firmware build names are I257MVLUAMK5 based with an Android version of 4.2.2 - so pick the one depending on your carrier and download it.

Prerequisites:

To succeed in unrooting/unbricking your Galaxy S4 Mini you would need the following things:

Unrooting/Unbricking steps:

Step 1:

Download the USB drivers if you haven't and install them on your computer. You can also just install Samsung Kies then connect your phone and it would install all of the left-out drivers that you might not have, but be sure to close all Kies processes when you are ready to use Odin, otherwise you may experience conflicts.

Step 2:

Download the firmware from the above links. The firmware is usually hosted at Hotfile so it will take you there.
The downloaded file will be a huge zip file approximately ~900MB in size, now extract it with a software such as WinRAR or 7Zip and you should see a .tar.md5 file inside the extracted folder.

Step 3:

Download the Odin3 program to your computer and start it up.

Step 4:

Power off your Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini completely. If you're stuck on a bootloop (e.g. the phone is displaying the boot animation over and over forever), then take off the battery and put it back in.
Now begin to hold the Volume down + Home + Power buttons at the same time and you should be in Download mode as seen in the first photo above.

Step 5:

Press the volume up button to continue and make your Galaxy S4 Mini ready to download. At this point your Windows pc may recognize some more drivers and install whatever is left-out.

Step 6:

Connect your Galaxy S4 Mini to your computer while it is in Download mode. I would highly recommend that you connect it to a USB port that is from the back of your computer because usually people experience problems such as the device not being detected or FAIL messages if using one of the ports from the front side. Also be sure to still have the Odin program opened, and you should see in the COM box your phone being detected:

Step 7:

Now remember that firmware which you extracted earlier? Click on the PDA button and you will be taken to the browsing window, now locate the .tar.md5 file and open it: (Note: Don't mind the filename on the screenshot, it's just an example. Just remember, the file which you are going to be opening with Odin needs to be a MD5 file).

Step 8:

After opening the file, you may experience a small freeze in the Odin program but don't worry, it is checking the MD5 and that could take up to 1 minute depending on your computer, so just be patient and do not panic, the program will restore itself back to it's normal state and say that MD5 check is successful: (Note: Don't mind the filename on the screenshot, it's just an example).

Step 9:

At this point, you are 100% ready to begin the process. Just make sure that the only options that are enabled are "Auto Reboot" and "F. Reset Time".

Step 10:

Click that Start button and it will begin transferring the stock firmware onto the S4 Mini. Please note that it is a large file and it could take up to 5, 6 minutes or even more. You should be given a loading bar on the Odin program aswell as on your phone to track the process.

Step 11:

Once it is done, you should see a green box on the Odin program that says PASS! and your phone should automatically reboot. Now after it reboots, you may notice that you have your old settings and old installed applications, it is highly recommended that you now do a data wipe to clean out everything from your old firmware to get rid of possible nasty bugs.

Step 12:

Power off your phone, hold Volume up + Power + Home buttons at the same time and your phone should boot into Recovery mode.

Step 13:

Choose Wipe data/factory reset and be patient for the phone to wipe out everything. Once it is done, reboot your phone and you should be in the Setup Wizard as if you just bought your S4 Mini.

At this point your device should be working like brand new. Unless, you have some hardware issue.

Source: SamMobile | True-Android
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CyanogenMod11 (Android 4.4 Kit Kat) for Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini LTE and 3G

December 7, 2013, 5:29 am
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After the long wait, CyanogenMod11 builds are finally here for the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini! The rom is still being developed by arco68 and for now there are only available nightly builds for download.


For a first nightly build available, it runs surprisingly well and some of the main functions such as telephony, WiFi, camera and the main customization options seem to function just fine. As for the performance, it is buttery smooth. If you are planning on upgrading from CM10.2 I would highly recommend you give this build a try.

The custom rom is available for LTE (GT-I9195) and 3G (GT-I9190) users and it can be downloaded from the official cyanogenmod website, there is no build available for the Duos users unfortunately. Links can be found below.

CyanogenMod11 for S4 Mini LTE - Click here.
CyanogenMod11 for S4 Mini 3G - Click here.
Gapps for CM11 S4 Mini (LTE and 3G) - Click here.

Requirements:

  • Rooted phone
  • CWM or TWRP recovery

Installation:

  1. Download the appropriate zip file depending on your model to your sdcard
  2. Download the Gapps zip file to your sdcard
  3. Power off your phone and hold the Power + Home + Volume up buttons simultaneously
  4. Choose wipe data/factory reset
  5. Once that is gone, choose install zip
  6. Then choose install zip from external sdcard
  7. Locate the cm11 zip file and choose it, then choose Yes to confirm
  8. Re-do steps 5 and 6 but this time choose the Gapps zip file
  9. Once it is installed aswell, press the back key until you get to the main menu
  10. Choose reboot system now

Video:




Source: LTE xda thread | 3G xda thread
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Custom Kernel for Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini Duos (GT-I9192)

December 13, 2013, 6:59 am
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The Duos users unfortunately don't have the luck to be supported with custom roms such as CyanogenMod, Slim Bean or any other AOSP rom, but you now have a kernel.


A member from xda-developers forums called c0bain has recently published this modified stock kernel that has some neat features. Here are some of them.

Features:

  • BLN Support
  • Rooted
  • Busybox
  • SIO default I/O Scheduler. ROW I/O Scheduler.
  • USB FastCharge support
  • Reduce battery usage: RCU_FAST_NO_HZ = ON
  • Undervolting support
  • Copiling with linaro GCC 4.8, cflags = -Os -mcpu=cortex-a9 -mtune=cortex-a15 -marm -march=armv7-a -mfpu=neon-vfpv4

Requirements:

  • Have the Duos variant 
  • Have CWM Recovery installed. Haven't already? Check this post. 
If you remember the Vikinger kernel for the other S4 Mini variants with the BLN support, this one now also has it. Another one of the notable features is the support for undervolting, so you can save up on some battery juice.

This time unfortunately for the other S4 Mini users, this is only available for the Duos variant as the developer said that he cannot test it on the other variants (supposedly because he doesn't own them) but hopefully in the future someone will volunteery agree to test.

Download kernel - Click here.

Disclaimer:

There are always risks of bricking your device by flashing custom roms/kernels so be sure to follow the instructions carefully and always make sure to have backups of your things before attempting such things. S4MiniArchive and the developer will not be responsible for any damages devices.
If you happen to be on a rom with KNOX bootloader and flash this kernel, your KNOX Warranty Flag will turn to 0x1.

Instructions:

  1. Download the zip file to your sdcard
  2. Power off your phone
  3. Hold the Power + Home + Volume up buttons simultaneously to boot into Recovery mode (
    BE SURE YOU ARE ON CWM RECOVERY WHEN FLASHING THIS!)
  4. In Recovery mode, select install zip
  5. Now select choose zip from external sdcard
  6. Choose the kernel zip file
  7. Choose Yes to confirm when asked
  8. Wait for the installation to be completed
  9. Once done, press the back button on your phone to go to the main menu and select reboot system now
  10. Enjoy your custom kernel and leave feedback. :)
Source:XDA-Developers forum thread
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Verizon's Galaxy S4 Mini gets 4.3 Update with Galaxy Gear support

December 14, 2013, 2:23 am
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A while ago, we found out that Bell was updating the Galaxy S4 Mini to give it support for Galaxy Gear. Now it seems that Verizon is also rolling out an OTA update to it's users with these changes.

s4 mini 4.3 update

Regarding the firmware update, Verizon has released this pdf file that explains what kind of goods it will bring. In the document, it is mentioned that the phone also receives the 4.3 update and not just the same 4.2.2 version with improvements and it also seems Verizon users will be getting some new bloatware aswell such as VMware, Verizon Cloud, and MyInfoZone widget.

According to some sources, the update should already be rolling out, so keep an eye for that notification or regularly check for Software update from the "About phone" settings.

It's quite a disappointment to find out that various carriers are already updrading the S4 Mini to 4.3 where the international versions such as I9190, I9192, I9195 might not ever see the 4.3 update, but the good thing is that they have rumors about 4.4 floating around for ages now and hopefully somewhere in January-February it will finally get the update.

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F4ktion Kernel 1.1.3 for Galaxy S4 Mini (GT-I9190 and GT-I9195)

December 14, 2013, 4:12 am
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You might remember Vikinger kernel, the custom kernel that was released for the 3G and LTE variants a while ago with the BLN support. It was based off the CM10.2 kernel and some users were upset that it doesn't work with CyanogenMod11. (junkyde has released a version for CM11 now).


Anyways, here is another kernel that is slightly different, developed by F4k  from xda-developers forums. This kernel for now is only available for GT-I9190 and GT-I9195 only and has the following features.

Features:

  • Linux Kernel 3.4.40
  • BLN
  • Compiled with Linaro 4.8.2
  • Governor Lionheart
  • Governor SmartASSv2
  • Governor Lulzavtive
  • Simple I/O Scheduler

Requirements:

  • A rooted phone
  • You must be running CyanogenMod11 or other 4.4 AOSP based rom
  • You must have CWM Recovery

Disclaimer:

There are always risks of bricking your device by flashing custom roms/kernels so be sure to follow the instructions carefully and always make sure to have backups of your things before attempting such things. S4MiniArchive and the developer will not be responsible for any damages devices.
If you happen to be on a rom with KNOX bootloader and flash this kernel, your KNOX Warranty Flag will turn to 0x1.

Download Kernel v1.1.3:

GT-I9190 (3G) - Click here.
GT-I9195 (LTE) - Click here.

Installation:

  1. Download the zip file according to your model to your sdcard
  2. Boot into Recovery mode by holding the Power + Home + Volume up buttons simultaneously
  3. Select install zip
  4. Now select choose zip from external sdcard
  5. Locate the kernel zip file and choose it
  6. Choose Yes when asked to confirm
  7. Once it is done, press the back button to head into the main menu and select reboot system now
  8. Enjoy your custom kernel

Video installation and quick preview:


Source: Official xda-developers thread
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How to fix "Unable to Mount Samsung_Android" error on Ubuntu 12.04

December 20, 2013, 8:32 am
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We're all aware that our device by default has the "Mass Storage" option removed whenever we connect the device to our computer to transfer data, so we're forced to use MTP (Media Transfer Protocol).


If you happen to have recently installed Ubuntu on your computer and you want to connect your phone to transfer data, you may get this error message and you will just not be able to access the phone's internal store nor it's external sdcard.

On the Windows operating system, this really shouldn't be an issue and it would immediatelly allow you to access your device's storage and it's sdcard even if you have the option enabled. Not in Ubuntu though.

The solution to this problem is very easy and can be done within just a few minutes. So first of all, you need to download an application and install it. Click here to download the file.

Download the zip file to your Desktop and extract it using the built-in Archive program (Right click the file -> Extract here) and you should get a folder called "mount_android_mtp_unity".

Now the next step is to open the Terminal, so hold CTRL + Alt + T and the Terminal window should pop up. Now enter the following commands in order:
cd Desktop
cd mount_android_mtp_unity
./install_me.sh
At this point, it might require you to type in your user password, so do that and from there on follow the on-screen instructions on installing the applications. (Type y for yes when asked, etc).

After the installation is complete, a folder should pop up with the application inside it, now drag this application to the Unity bar on the left side.

Connect your Galaxy S4 Mini to your computer, and if you happen to get the error messase again, just ignore it.

Right-click on application which you just dragged to the Unity bar and choose "Mount Android MTP" as shown in the screenshot below:
At this point, your computer should recognize your device perfectly fine and even a window should pop up with two seperate folders. One being for your internal storage and the other for your sdcard.

This method should also work for pretty much any MTP device and not just the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini.

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How to remove KNOX Bootloader from new firmware

December 21, 2013, 4:29 am
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The latest firmwares that are now coming out from Samsung always have included the locked KNOX Bootloader inside them.


Unlike the old firmwares, if you happen to flash a custom rom while with such firmware, your KNOX security flag turns to 0x1 and there is no going back as for now there is no method available to undo this.

Luckaly there is another way around. You can actually make it so that the new bootloader is not included in the new firmware that you are going to be flashing. Thanks to a member called SilviuMik from xda-developers forums for testing and sharing this information, we can easily remove the bootloader files from the new firmware.

For more information about Samsung KNOX, you can check out this post.

WARNING:

This guide is considered to be dangerous. Be very careful what you delete and how you pack the firmware file. S4MiniArchive will not be responsible for any damages caused to your device. Do this at your own risk!

Now before you begin, you need to make sure that you don't already have the KNOX booatloader. A way to test this would be to head into Download mode and see if you have anything that states "KNOX". If you don't, you're all good.

If you already have KNOX warranty, you're screwed and you may just ignore this post.

For this you would need to be in a Linux environment for example Ubuntu, Linux Mint, etc. You can either dual-boot a Linux distro with your Windows OS or you can try using VirtualBox/VMWare. This can also be done with Windows, but instructions on that will be posted a little later on this post, so keep an eye on it.

Removing KNOX Booatloader from new firmware:

Step 1:
Get your desired firmware from http://www.sammobile.com. Once the file has been downloaded, extract the zip file and you should normally see the two files SS_DL.dll and the firmware .tar.md5 file.

Step 2:
Move these two files to your Desktop inside a folder for example named "firmware".

Step 3:
Open up the Terminal (a shortcut would be to press CTRL + ALT + T) and begin to type in the following commands by order
cd Desktop
cd firmware
rm -rf SS_DL.dll
tar -xvf your-firmware-file-name.tar.md5
Be patient while it extracts the files, the file that will take the longest would be system.img.ext4. After the files have been extracted, it's time to remove the bootloader files, type in the following commands:
rm -rf aboot.mbn
rm -rf sbl1.mbn
rm -rf sbl2.mbn
rm -rf sbl3.mbn
rm -rf your-firmware-file-name.tar.md5
Step 4:
Once we have deleted the files, it is now time to pack it and later on md5 it. So type in the following command. It's quite a long command (seperate the files with spaces, this is one full command not two seperate ones):
tar -H ustar -c rpm.mbn tz.mbn boot.img recovery.img system.img.ext4 NON-HLOS.bin cache.img.ext4 hidden.img.ext4 > your-firmware-file-name.tar
Now you have just packed the files into the .tar file. Finally, it's time to md5 it and have it ready for flashing.

Step 5:
Type in the following two commands in order:
md5sum -t your-firmware-file-name.tar >> your-firmware-file-name.tar
mv your-firmware-file-name.tar your-firmware-file-name.tar.md5
That's it. Run Odin, place the file in the PDA field, wait for the md5 check to complete and begin the flashing.

Video instructions (for Linux):


Source: xda-developers thread
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Samsung Galaxy S4 mini La Fleur Edition announced in Germany

December 22, 2013, 2:32 am
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Samsung has a tendency of releasing La Fleur editions of their devices and it seems that the Samsung Galaxy S4 mini will be getting the skin aswell.

galaxy s4 mini la fleur
This was recently announced by Samsung Germany and the device will be getting the exclusive red colour with red floral patterns on the front and the back of it.

Obviously the specifications will remain the same as the original Galaxy S4 mini which are – 4.3" qHD super AMOLED display, 1.7GHz dual-core processor, 1.5GB of RAM, 8MP rear camera, 1,900mAh battery running Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.

This new edition is expected to go on sale next year in January for 417 euros, according to Sammy Hub.

Source:Sammy Hub
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Amestris Kernel V2 for Samsung Galaxy S4 mini Duos (GT-I9192)

December 22, 2013, 2:57 am
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Here is yet another custom kernel for the Galaxy S4 mini Duos developed by recognized developer M_J_Nazari from xda-developers forums.

galaxy s4 mini duos custom kernel
This custom kernel contains the usual goods such as Busybox, SuperSU, init.d support and all that and it's based off MK4 as you can see in the screenshot above.
One of the notable things to mention about this kernel are that it contains auto-root and removal of KNOX security applications, allowing you to root your phone without any problems.

Features:

  • Based off MK4
  • BusyBox
  • SuperSU included
  • init.d support
  • Auto-removal of KNOX apps after kernel installation
  • Battery tweaks for low battery consumption
  • EFS backup to your sdcard

Disclaimer: 

This custom kernel is meant to be flashed on the GT-I9192 only! Do not flash this on other models as you can brick your phone. S4MiniArchive and the developer(s) will not be responsible for any damages caused.

Download Kernel - Flashable zip | Odin tar file

Installing Ametris Kernel:

CWM Recovery:

  1. Download the zip file to your phone storage
  2. Boot into CWM Recovery by holding Volume up + Power + Home buttons simultaneously (make sure you have CWM Recovery and not stock!)
  3. Choose to install zip
  4. Locate and find the kernel zip file and choose it, then choose Yes when asked
  5. Reboot

Odin:

  1. Download the .tar file to your computer
  2. Power off your phone and hold the Volume down + Home + Power buttons simultaneously to boot into Download mode
  3. Connect your Galaxy S4 mini to your computer and press the Volume up button
  4. Start up Odin, select the tar file in the PDA or AP field
  5. Make sure F.Reset.Time option is unchecked
  6. Click on Start and wait a few seconds for the kernel to be flashed
  7. Once it is done, your phone should reboot and you should be with the new kernel
Source:xda-developers thread
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Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

December 27, 2013, 8:58 am
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As you're all probably already aware, S4MiniArchive is the one and only archive of Galaxy S4 mini goods all packed into one website and easy to navigate to. All of this is possible thanks to all the hard working developers sharing their work at the xda-developers forums.


I would like to thank you all for your feedback and for leaving comments after trying out the roms, kernels and tutorials found in this blog. It's helpful for the owner and most importantly for developer aswell.

This year was not that successful but one of the reasons is because this phone barely began being released worldwide starting from July.

Let's hope that the next year (2014) will be more successful with more custom roms, kernels, tweaks, scripts and tutorials being available to make the Galaxy S4 mini experience memorable.

P.S. Merry Christmas to all of you and a happy new year!
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Galaxy Note 3 Stock Wallpapers Pack

December 29, 2013, 2:56 am
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The Galaxy Note 3 is one of Samsung's most expensive smartphones on the market at the moment. It comes with a Super AMOLED display packed with 16M colors which is identical to our Galaxy S4 mini's with the exception that the Note 3's display has higher pixel density.

galaxy note 3 stock wallpapers
A member called -Aatif- from xda-developers forums has extracted the wallpapers from the Note 3 and has posted them at the Note 2 board.

After personally testing the wallpapers on the Galaxy S4 mini I was amazed at the quality and how beautiful they look on this colorful display. Here are two samples of the lockscreen wallpaper and the homescreen one:

galaxy note 3 stock wallpapersgalaxy note 3 stock wallpapers

Download - Galaxy Note 3 Stock Wallpapers pack

Instructions:

  1. Download the zip file to your computer or phone
  2. Using an archive program, extract the zip file and you will get the wallpapers in a folder
  3. Now you may choose which one you want to set as a lockscreen and which one as a homescreen one
Source:xda-developers forum thread
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How to root Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini (Carrier branded) with Kingo

December 31, 2013, 4:21 am
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Recently the carrier branded variants of the S4 Mini started coming out and for those of you who might be wondering if it's possible to root them, it is. The method is just not the same as the international models (I9190, I9192, I9195) where you flash another kernel and all that but slightly different.


This post is focusing on the phone models such as SGH-I257(M), SCH-I435, SPH-L520, etc, and even if you have a locked bootloader, it is claimed that this method still roots the device without any issues.

Now before we proceed to the rooting process, just know that the Kingo program was temporary banned from xda-developers forums due to it's suspicious activity but a while ago, the XDA staff has contacted the Kingo team and the controversial "IMEI collecting" rumor seems to be resolved. Here is a quote from Senior Moderator efrant at xda-developers forums:
The Kingo team has been working with the XDA staff to resolve the issues. IMEI's are no longer collected, but by virtue of how the program works, it still sends some info (such as serial number) to remote servers, and there is no real way around that. The explanations given by Kingo seem reasonable, and jive with what the XDA staff has determined by their own analysis.

Disclaimer:

Although this can be considered an easy and safe method, there are still some risks involved. S4MiniArchive will not be responsible for any damages caused to your device by following the method shown in this post. Do it at your own risk! Also note that this does not install you a custom recovery such as CWM, you need to do that manually.

Pre-requisites:

  • Your Micro USB cable
  • Have USB Debugging enabled from Developer options
  • Windows OS on your computer
  • Kingo Root program - Official website

How to Root Samsung Galaxy S4 mini Carrier Branded: 

Step 1:

First you need to enable USB Debugging from your Developer options. By default, the Developer Options are hidden so you need to unlock them. To do that, you need to head into Settings -> About phone -> Now multiply tap on where it says Build number until it says you are a developer. Now go back and you should see right above About phone the option Developer options. Head in there and enable USB Debugging.

Step 2:

Head into the Kingo Root program's official website and download it to your computer. Once you have downloaded it, run the installer to install it and then finally open the program.


Step 3:


Connect your phone to your computer and the program should detect it, followed by an installation of the required drivers (if necessary). You may later on be prompted to temporarily disconnect the phone in order to finish the driver installation. After it is done, it will tell you to connect your phone again.

Step 4:

At some point, in your phone you should get a popup to appear asking for permission to allow USB Debugging, tap on OK.

Step 5:

Finally, you should see a big Root button on the program. Click it and from there on, be patient while the program roots your phone and carefully read the on-screen instructions if it requires you to do anything.

Step 6:

After the rooting process is done, you should see a "Finish" button. Click on that and your Galaxy S4 mini should reboot. Now download an app such as Root Checker and see if the root was succesfull.

That's all you need to do, you should now have a rooted Galaxy S4 mini.

Last two image credits: Mike Baladad from WonderHowTo.
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[ROM] MIUI V5 for Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini (3G and LTE)

January 2, 2014, 8:22 am
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Recently I stumbled upon this MIUI V5 port for the Galaxy S4 mini at the russian smartphone discussion forums called 4pda. The rom was posted by narkoman88 and originally for GT-I9190 (the 3G variant).
MIUI V5 is based off Android 4.2.2 so there should be nothing new here other than the totally different UI this custom rom that offers. Now originally, this was developed and posted for the 3G Galaxy S4 mini but according to some users, it seems to function just fine on the LTE variant aswell with the exception of an LTE option being available in the network options.

Users simply need to modify the updater-script of the zip file a bit and replace I9190 with I9195 aswell as 3g with lte, which is mandatory otherwise CWM recovery would not install the rom. I have made another variant of the zip file with the modified updater-script, so now you have two available zip files.

If you are interested in a complete features list of the MIUI custom rom, you could google around.

Downloads:

MIUI V5 for GT-I9190
MIUI V5 for GT-I9195
Gapps for MIUI


Instructions:

  1. Download the rom zip file according to your model aswell as the Gapps zip file to your sdcard
  2. Boot into CWM Recovery by holding Volume up + Home + Power buttons
  3. Choose wipe data/cache
  4. Choose install zip
  5. Now choose choose zip from external sdcard
  6. Locate the rom zip file and choose it
  7. Choose Yes to confirm when asked
  8. After installation is complete, go back there and flash the Gapps zip file
  9. Once that installation is also done, go back to the main menu and choose reboot system now

Video Instructions and demo: 


    Source: 4pda forums
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    How to enable color saturation settings on CyanogenMod11

    January 3, 2014, 8:09 am
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    Just recently I was told by a person named Peter Semper about the CyanogenMod11 rom not containing any options to change the saturation of the colors on the S4 mini's display.

    So first of all, let's start off with what this color saturation means. In a few very simple words, it's the colorfulnes of your display. When you first got this phone, you were amazed at the highly saturated and colorful screen of this device. This is due to having a setting that increases these colors.

    You can actually find this setting on your stock rom under Settings -> Display ->
    Users can head there and change the colors for example to normal, so you won't be having highly saturated colors.

    It seems that no such options are available in the current CyanogenMod11 nightly builds and for those of you who do not like having a very saturated display, you can now easily have the same options that you have available in the stock rom.


    This was made possible thanks to xda-developers member called f4k who has modified and compiled an apk file called S4MiniSettings to fit CM11.

    Download APK - S4MiniSettings.apk

    Instructions:

    1. Download the apk file either to your internal storage or sdcard
    2. Using a root browsing tool such as Root Explorer, move or copy the apk file to /system/app/
    3. Once you have moved the file, long-press and go to Permissions, then change the permissions to rw-r--r--
    4. Now exit everything and reboot the phone
    5. Upon booting up, it should say that Android is optimizing apps. If you see that, you "installed" the apk sucessfully
    6. Now head into Settings -> Display -> Advanced Settings - and tweak the color profiles to your desires

    Video Instructions:


    Source: xda-developers post
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