After switching carrier from AT&T to MetroPCS, ($220/mo vs. $107/mo), my Note 3 is finally malfunctioning. The SD card slot appears to have been messed up (I suspect it's the people at the MetroPCS's doing, when they tried to take out my sim card). Anyway, this phone has survived plenty, from seawater to other stuff. It's about time. This old phone cannot charge well (charging works with usb connection to PC but not with direct socket charge - phone would just jerk every 3 seconds or so). MiniSD Card content was hard to be read by phone, not to mention the PC could not detect the phone's content well.
So I ordered $240 Verizon replacement from Amazon. No good, coz it cannot root. The charging slot could be damaged as well (sudden reboots). I sent it back for full refund.
Then I got from ebay a $200 AT&TÂ white replacement. It came with Lollipop Android 5.0 version. So, in order to root it, I downgraded it to 4.4.2 (custom). Then rooted using Towelroot.
Unlocked phones are easy to be found. Rooted phones are not encouraged by sellers as they tend to void warranty.
Took a while to transfer data from old phone to new one. Using Smart Switch and the rest I had to manually update (Bible Study, Kindle, Email accounts, etc.)
I accidentally deleted Calendar Storage (which is required for any good calendar app) when I wish to replace the stock Calendar with google calendar. Had to copy the missing two files from my old phone (which is the exact same build: N900AUCUCNC2). (SecCalendarProvider.apk & .odex). Contrary to popular believe, these files are not located in system/app, but in system/priv-app. There is a reason we are told to copy these files to ext. card first, because for some reason, copying operation will fail if the files are copied to system folder from anywhere else. No installation necessary. It works right away (or maybe after a reboot).
It turns out I must have accidentally deleted Samsung Galaxy app. Thinking it was a bloatware. This somehow caused Samsung keep asking me to login to Facebook and fail. Installing the app solves it.
The other file I might have deleted by mistake affected the auto screen rotate feature. I definitely do not want Samsung Hub. But for some reason, it contains the required file for auto rotate. Simply place the file (libgnustl_shared.so) into system/lib and make permission rw-r--r--. Similar problem with stock email failing when opened from notification, restored My Magazine (3 files) to solve it.
Also, with the replacement, I was experiencing some new problem. The USB connection to the PC didn't work. It was odd, because in some handicapped way, my old Note 3 works with such USB connection, only that it doesn't always connect to PC right away (I have to reconnect it many times for it to work, the main suspect is the mini sdcard slot in the phone, which was the reason I am having a phone replacement). Then, after a long attempt to fix it (Install Samsung Kies, other USB drivers, etc.), the real solution that works: Replace the USB cable. For some reason, the USB cable stopped working with data connection, though it still charges the phone well. Perhaps the corrupted old phone had caused this.
And now my phone is flawless, for now.