Rooting your Samsung device unlocks many tweaks and features on your device, as you have root access, you can push your device hardware beyond limits set by the company. Rooting is cool but the biggest drawback of rooting is that Samsung will void your warranty if they found out that you've rooted your device. So what to do? As I said Samsung will void your warranty if they FIND OUT that your device was rooted. Got it? So we will destroy all the evidence which points that your device was rooted, in short un-rooting your device can save your warranty.
When you flash a custom firmware on your Samsung device, it keeps the track of how many times custom firmware was flashed. Sometimes a yellow or red visual warning will start to appear when booting. If you'll take your device to the Samsung service center, they'll find out about rooting by checking the binary counter and your device warranty will be terminated. The best way to save your device warranty is by resetting the binary counter back to zero, after doing this no body will be able to know that your device was rooted in the past and thus your device will qualify for the warranty.
Checking Current Binary Status
If you want to check the current status of binary counter on your Samsung device then just boot into Download Mode and when asked tap the Volume UP key. If you don't know how to enter Download Mode then follow the steps given below.
- Power Off your Samsung Device.
- Simultaneously Press and Hold - Power+Home+Volume Down
- Keep holding the above three buttons for few seconds.
- Your device will boot into Download Mode.
- Press 'Volume Up' key
- Here you'll be able to see Binary status.
What is TriangleAway?
TriangleAway is a tool created by xda developer chainfire. With this tool one can easily flash binary and flash counter, official xda thread here.
Supported Devices
Below listed devices are International versions. for complete list of supported devices click on the link.
How to Reset Binary and Flash Counter with TriangleAway
To reset the binary and flash counter, you need root access, so your device must be rooted at the time when resetting.
Note: The process of resetting the binary counter is dangerous and if not done properly, you may BRICK YOUR DEVICE. So do it AT YOUR OWN RISK, the author of this blog is not responsible for any damages whatsoever. This guide is only for educational purpose.
Follow the steps given below for resetting binary and flash counter on your samsung device.
Step 1: Download TriangleAway Free from the official XDA thread. The app also available on Play Store but for that you have to pay a fee.
Step 2: Install the apk on to your device and Run it.
Step 3: Tap on 'Reset Flash Counter' - I assume that you already know the current count before flashing.
Step 4: Now the device will reboot into special mode where TriangleAway will ask permission to continue resetting flash counter. Tap Volume Up key to allow resetting flash counter
(If at this point you want to cancel the process then tap on Volume down button to reboot)
Step 5: After resetting flash counter, you'll see a 'success' message with option to reboot device.
After rebooting, enter Download mode (VolDown+Power+Home) and check the current status. If everything was done properly, you'll see the following:
Binary: Samsung Official
Flash counter: 0
Known Bugs
For some devices, after resetting the binary and flash counter the count remains '1' no matter how many times you flash it. I tested it on a Samsung Galaxy S3 International version GT-I9300 and it worked perfectly and the counter was reset to 0
When to Reset Binary Counter?
If your device was rooted and have some serious problem with hardware or software and it is still covered by warranty, then before taking it to the service center, you must make sure that you've un-rooted your device and binary counter is zero. Un-rooting does not reset binary counter, you'll have to do it manually after un-rooting.
I hope you liked this tutorial, thanks to XDA Developer Chainfire who created this awesome tool called 'TriangleAway', see the official thread here.
Image Source: DroidLessons.com | Google Play store
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