Install Stock 4.3 L900VPUBMK4 Samsung Galaxy Note 2 L900 (Sprint)

For those Samsung Galaxy Note 2 L900 (Sprint) users who still runs on unofficial firmware and eventually can’t can’t update or facing failure issues via OTA, you can use this method. All you need is  grab the original stock ROM L900VPUBMK4 and manually flash it using Odin. The stock ROM is unmodified, untouched nor rooted or anything and it was directly pulled from Samsung Kies firmware server.

If your device is currently rooted you will loss root after flash, but you can still root it again if you want. This will not trip the binary flash counter since this is an official firmware from Samsung.

Disclaimer: Use of this method is solely at your own risk! Please proceed with precautions, for we will not take any responsibility if anything happens to your device by using this guide.

Important Reminders before Flashing Stock ROM

• Make sure that your Galaxy Note 2 battery is fully charge.
• Stock ROM packages comes in two formats the ‘Full-Wipe’ (delete your stored data after flashing) and the ‘Non-Wipe’ (it doesn’t delete your phone’s stored data) but it is highly recommended to make a back up all important files stored from your phone’s internal memory – contacts, messages, etc.  before flashing no-matter if it is Full-WIpe or Non-Wipe,  just to be safe and ensure that your stored data are in  safe  if something went wrong during the flashing process.
• Use a PC or laptop that runs in Windows OS, with a good and perfectly working USB serialport.  Odin will not work on MAC OS.
• Use the supplied USB cable for your Galaxy Note 2.
• Enable USB debugging from your phone’s settings. If running on 4.2 firmware Go to Settings > Applications > Development, and tick the box that says ‘Enable USB Debugging’, while if you are on 4.3 just hit Settings>About Phone> then scroll down to the build number and tap that number for around 7-times ’til the Developer option appear.
• Ensure that KIES is closed and not running in the system tray! Kies and Odin are both created by Samsung but Kies will interrupt and doesn’t like Odin, it will block you from flashing.

The Android 4.3 now comes with a new protected bootloader that might cause issues when you try to downgrade to the old software updates. This also applies if you are planning into rooting and installing any custom recovery and any unsigned firmware once you are on 4.3, so please be aware with that.

Download the needed tools for flashing

Odin3.v3.09 link
USB driver link
Grab your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 SPH-L900 (U.S. Sprint) Original Firmware or Stock ROM
L900VPUBMK4 4.3 Stock:  (link)
Install the USB Driver first to get rid of flashing failures. Also  need to extract the downloaded file which is packed in zip or rar files, so that you’ll get the tar.md5 file.

Run and Configure Odin

Run Odin downloader Odin3_v3.09 on your PC desktop. Watch out the check-boxes options on the right top of Odin, ensure that the ‘RE-PARTITION’ is unchecked, only  the ‘AUTO-REBOOT and ‘F.RESET TIME’ checkboxes are both remained checked.

Reboot your Galaxy Note 2 into Download Mode

To reboot the Galaxy Note 2 into  download mode , you need to turn the power off.  After it completely shut off,  just  press and hold the Volume Down key,  Home button and thePower ON/OFF button simultaneously.

You should then prompted into a warning screen and asking you  to press volume up if you want to continue or volume down to cancel, just simply press volume up to get into download mode. The download mode then displays an Android robot and say’s “Downloading.. Do not turn off target!!”

Connect your Phone to PC or Laptop

Once you already reboot the phone in download mode,  simply connect the phone to your PC or laptop USB.
In Odin window – the ID:COM box will turn to blue color and indicates the COM port numberand a word “Added” on a log box will prompt you that the device is already detected or recognized by Odin. Your COM port number might be different from mine. If you do not see a COM port number then there’s something missing or wrong. You may read again from the top of this post.

Load the stock 4.3 L900VPUBMK4 firmware file

T he stock ROM is pack in One .tar.md5 file only.  Now, you need to just simply click on the AP button, then browse to the folder where the file you have previously extracted and then select and load it.
“L900VPUBMK4_L900SPTBMK4_HOME.tar.md5″

Start Flashing or Installing the stock ROM

Once if all set and ready to fire-up, hit the “START” button in Odin to begin flashing the stockROM.
Do not ever interrupt the phone while already in flashing progress, like disconnecting the cable or turning off the device. Just wait until it completely finish.

Wait ’till it PASS!!

When the Stock ROM installation successfully completes, you will then see a word “PASS” in Odin. This indicates that the flashing was already finish, and on the log box it says “All threads completed  (succeed 1 / failed 0)”. The phone will just then automatically reboot, then it’s about time to remove it from PC or laptop USB connection.
Confirm if you successfully installed the stock firmware
Confirm your fresh firmware installed by typing *#1234# or
Go to Settings>About Phone>Firmware info.
You can also do factory reset by dialing *2767*3855#.

Possible errors that you may encountered, this is based on my own experience while flashing stock ROM on Samsung Android devices. These are just a few hints on how to resolved it.

Q: I got an error message that says “Set-up connection Failed” ?
A: 1. Check your USB connection from the phone to PC,
2. Connect to another PC USB port
3. Check and or try to another USB cable
4. Re-install the USB driver.
Q: Odin just suddenly stuck in the middle of nowhere while in flashing progress, it isn’t responding at all?
A: Check for possible program that might interrupt the process, like disabling the anti-virus and closing any running programs. Also try to use another computer or laptop,
Q: I experienced bootloop or the phone just stuck on Welcome Logo (phone always stop at bootanimation) and it won’t boot normally?
A: This eventually happens if your device came from custom firmware but you can fix it via recovery mode option, do this:
Boot in recovery mode
1. Press and hold Volume Up, Home and Power button.
2. Use volume keys to select, Up and Down and Power or Home key to select the option
3. Select Wipe Data/Factory Reset using the Home button.
4. Next select the Wipe Cache Partition
5. Lastly, select Reboot System Now to reboot your Galaxy Note 2 in Normal mode.
That’s it! Any further questions, just drop it on our comment form below.