Not exactly 'bricked', but my phone does not appear to be usable - Captivate General

All,
Noob here as far as Android goes. I picked up a Galaxy S Captivate a few months ago from AT&T and I got a notification saying Froyo was available. Of course, Samsung made it near impossible to do, so I figured "I'm a computer programmer, I can do these kinds of things".
Using Odin, I put on a version of Froyo. It was... not a good ROM by far (I didn't know all the great ones were here) and after the 4th or 5th random crash, I decided to try something different. However, at one point the phone bricked. I was finally able to get Odin to push back 2.1 Eclair (the stock AT&T version), but since then, I get a "SIM Network Unlock Pin" prompt. I followed the instructions to grab the unlock code from the bml3.back file, but it doesn't work. I've tried upgrading to various Froyo's, but they don't work either. AT&T tried a new SIM card, but that didn't work.
At this point, my Android abilities are done. I have no idea how to fix my phone. AT&T can't help and of course, Samsung will charge me for a repair (I have no idea how much that is).
Can anyone think of a way to get rid of the SIM Network Unlock PIN thing? This is a legitimate phone on a legit plan. The Continuum 3.5 Froyo runs great, it just can't see my SIM Network card and a phone without that is...well, bunk
Thanks for the help, I wish I could retrace all my steps but I was an idiot and didnt write it all down.
R

I have never heard of anyone overcoming a lost PIN issue without completely reformatting the phone and reinstalling a ROM.

Try flashing a new 2.2 rom and using the froyo unlock method in the dev section (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=831569).
Since you mentioned you're a programmer, I'm going to assume you're comfortable with adb. Make sure you back up /efs/ to your sd card, then again to your computer before you try it as rom flashes will typically not overwrite this partition. I suspect your nv_data.bin or some other part of your /efs partition is messed up, which is why flashing most roms won't fix it. I'm not sure if the one click stock odin will do anything, but it's also worth a shot if you haven't tried it yet.
There's also a backup of nv_data.bin in /efs, you can try copying that over your existing nv_data.bin and rebooting to see if it helps.

modest_mandroid said:
Try flashing a new 2.2 rom and using the froyo unlock method in the dev section (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=831569).
Since you mentioned you're a programmer, I'm going to assume you're comfortable with adb. Make sure you back up /efs/ to your sd card, then again to your computer before you try it as rom flashes will typically not overwrite this partition. I suspect your nv_data.bin or some other part of your /efs partition is messed up, which is why flashing most roms won't fix it. I'm not sure if the one click stock odin will do anything, but it's also worth a shot if you haven't tried it yet.
There's also a backup of nv_data.bin in /efs, you can try copying that over your existing nv_data.bin and rebooting to see if it helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you thank you thank you thank you. That was exactly it. I now have a phone again!
This place is great, but it's a bit overwhelming when you first join. Couldn't find that article on my own, but it was there!

Cool, glad to hear you got it running again.

Related

[Q] T-Mobile G2X - Recovery From Attempting Flash/ROM install via CWM

Hello:
I'm having a frustrating experience attempting my first root of my G2X.
I've had a previous thread from yesterday, attempting to do things from the Mac side:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1172487&highlight=velanche
As of now, I've decided to revert to Windows 7 on my Mac to try and rectify things. I'm able to use One-Click Recovery Flasher, following the instructions, to flash the phone. I then downloaded an earlier nightly version of CM7, installed it on my flash drive, and did the install via ClockworkMod.
I had no errors from CWM, from the wipe to the install. I then choose the reboot open, and it powers off my phone.
Upon attempting to turn on my phone, I would get the LG screen, followed by a quick flash, followed by another LG screen with some horizontal blue background behind it. I'm taking it that it means that it's stuck, because I've waited 10 minutes before having to do a battery pull.
I did at one time attempted to flash back to the stock T-Mobile, but when the LG screen came it, it would just remain there without any progress.
At this stage, I don't know where else to go. I'm not sure if there's something amiss, because my phone, as far as I know, as been erased. If there's a way to progress to CM7, I'm game. But one thing I really need to do is to get my phone back.
I didn't backup my phone's contents initially because I was going to recreate everything anyway. Now I'm in a not-so-good place, save having to get a phone exchange.
Any assistance would be appreciated; thanks so much.
V.
Download one of the "Stock Rooted Nandroid Backups" from the development section, stick it on your SD card and do a Nandroid restore from CWM. That should get your phone working again...
On the CM7 installation problem, I have no idea what that could be. I've been flashing ROMs on Android devices since the G1 first came out a few years ago and the only reasons I had bootloops were from me trying to flash without wiping or flashing an unstable build.
Sorry to digress for a second here, but you DO have the T-Mobile branded G2x and NOT the Optimus2x, right?
Working on It
Hey thanks for the help.
I have a T-Mobile G2X, so I should have done everything the way I expected. Then again, things should have worked if I did.
So I installed the Nandroid recovery for my phone, and attempted recovery via CWM, but ended up with a MD5 mismatch error (whatever that means).
I even went so far as move select files from my SD card. I formatted it, then put in those select files i wanted to keep.
I tried again, and no change.
Any suggestions on how I should proceed? Thanks!
V.
I get the same kind of "just not going to happen" errors when I try to install EaglesBlood. I've found no solution, though CM7 works just fine. I don't know what to tell you, really...
Sent from my Nexus 5g using XDA Ultimate App
velanche said:
Hey thanks for the help.
I have a T-Mobile G2X, so I should have done everything the way I expected. Then again, things should have worked if I did.
So I installed the Nandroid recovery for my phone, and attempted recovery via CWM, but ended up with a MD5 mismatch error (whatever that means).
I even went so far as move select files from my SD card. I formatted it, then put in those select files i wanted to keep.
I tried again, and no change.
Any suggestions on how I should proceed? Thanks!
V.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The md5 mismatch will happen if you try to copy and past the files. Try it again but this time unzip it directly to the fold where it should be. Do not copy and past the unzipped folder. This is also someones backup so you must go through the restore option in cm
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App
LordButtersI said:
I get the same kind of "just not going to happen" errors when I try to install EaglesBlood. I've found no solution, though CM7 works just fine. I don't know what to tell you, really...
I don't know if this might have anything to do with why I've had problems getting CM7 to work, but I've noticed that when I plug the phone either into Windows or OS X, I've somehow lost the internal drive. I know that it's there because I've found a whole bunch of files on it while in CWN, but I'm suspecting that there's some link between neither computer seeing the internal drive and the issue with getting the phone to boot.
Yes, I can mount the external drive, either from CWM's mount on both platforms or when I press both volumes on my phone and plug in to Windows 7 via USB.
Do you have any insight on this? I was watching a few of The Unlockr vids, and I noticed that even though the guy's phone was rooted and flashed, he still could boot into his phone until he was ready to put on the new ROM (CM7, in this case).
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
scooter247 said:
The md5 mismatch will happen if you try to copy and past the files. Try it again but this time unzip it directly to the fold where it should be. Do not copy and past the unzipped folder. This is also someones backup so you must go through the restore option in cm
I tried on the OS X side to do this, having to download an RAR app. I found the LG file, and told the app to extract it to the backup directory on my phone. I tried the restore again in CWM, but still a mismatch.
I will try it in Windows 7 tomorrow, and will let you know the outcome.
I'm beat; spent the whole weekend on this phone modding biz. I suspect I'll be really good by the time I finally am able to get things working.
V.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is this an old SD card? Perhaps some bad sectors on it? Without holding the phone in my hands I can't think of anything else. Other than double check your steps, re-copy the files and try, try again.
The SD card is not old; about 2 months old. I tried formatting the card via Windows 7, but did it in FAT32. I take it that it's supposed to be formatted differently? The card is 16GB, but when I looked into CWM it's limit is 4GB.
I tried the steps again, and still get the same md5 mismatch. Is my guess correct that the card is supposed to be formatted a certain way? Unfortunately, I can access the previous OS via my phone, nor will the internal memory appear when the phone is plugged into the computer. However, I am able to mount the SD card within the computer's OS.
I almost feel like walking away from it for a week, but that means I'll be stuck without phone access for awhile. Tips or suggestions are most welcome.
BTW, there's apparently alternate instructions to deal with the md5 mismatch error. Though in Windows the NDIVIA driver is loaded for the phone, I tried the adb shell command but my device isn't detected by the software.
Thanks again,
V.

[Q] Skyrocket on Simple Mobile (tmobile) - Brain is fried

Alright, so i am having a bit of an issue. And it's probably because i'm a complete noob....
So, I have a new GS3, and wanted to give my (already rooted and flashed with Cyanogenmod 10) Skyrocket to my mom to use on Simple mobile (a company using T-mobile's towers).
I read that you can flash radios for T-mobile onto the phone, and so I figured everything would work.
Here is what I did.
I unlocked the phone while in Cyanogenmod10
Flashed LiquidSmooth RC9 - read it had less bugs
tried flashing multiple Tmobile Radios
I get NO service. I cant pick any of them up..
Baseband comes up as UNKNOWN...
So i'm currently downloading ODIN and going to try to flash to stock and just start from scratch...
Any suggestions on what to do?
Do you still have an imei?
Try unlocking the phone after you've gone back to stock. I don't know how you did it with cm10. I don't think it works with anything but stock.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I957 using xda app-developers app
No, the IMEI is blank when i do the *#06# code....
also, when i put the simple mobile sim in the phone, it automatically came up asking for the network unlock code. That's how i was able to unlock it.
Did you ever backup your imei? Flashing back to stock will hopefully bring it back if not you may have some issues. Also as mentioned above it's better to unlock from a stock ROM or at least stock based.
Alright, Flashed to stock, IMEI is back (thank god), and i'm getting service.
Now here are the issues ahead of me, and any help would be greatly appreciated.
I am on STOCK ATT ICS Rom.
I GET SERVICE (however, it's only 2g) i know i need to flash the radios for Tmobile,
Was going to use this ---> Blaze_4G_LB7_ICS_Radio_MOD ...... Direct DL, CAN BE USED FOR T-MOBILE/WIND ON ICS (from the skyrocket reference thread)
First i know i have to root, install CWM, all that.
Now, should i flash a custom rom? If so, which one would you suggest. ( i assume, i have to give her ICS, not JB, right?)
Also, you said backup my IMEI, i'll look this up in the meantime, but if you could include a link in your post on a how-to just in case i dont find it, i would really appreciate it.
Also, is there anything else i should do to get this working properly?
thank you very much for all your help.
eternalcold said:
Alright, Flashed to stock, IMEI is back (thank god), and i'm getting service.
Now here are the issues ahead of me, and any help would be greatly appreciated.
I am on STOCK ATT ICS Rom.
I GET SERVICE (however, it's only 2g) i know i need to flash the radios for Tmobile,
Was going to use this ---> Blaze_4G_LB7_ICS_Radio_MOD ...... Direct DL, CAN BE USED FOR T-MOBILE/WIND ON ICS (from the skyrocket reference thread)
First i know i have to root, install CWM, all that.
Now, should i flash a custom rom? If so, which one would you suggest. ( i assume, i have to give her ICS, not JB, right?)
Also, you said backup my IMEI, i'll look this up in the meantime, but if you could include a link in your post on a how-to just in case i dont find it, i would really appreciate it.
Also, is there anything else i should do to get this working properly?
thank you very much for all your help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Custom ROM is your choice. There are a lot of JB ROMS that are pretty stable. Also a new stock JB leak in the dev section. As far as backing up your imei. You'll need to root first as soon as you do get a file explorer and copy the whole EFS folder to your external SDcard. Then also copy it to your computer. The imei is held within the EFS folder. From now on do this as soon as you root BEFORE you flash anything. lol
hechoen said:
Custom ROM is your choice. There are a lot of JB ROMS that are pretty stable. Also a new stock JB leak in the dev section. As far as backing up your imei. You'll need to root first as soon as you do get a file explorer and copy the whole EFS folder to your external SDcard. Then also copy it to your computer. The imei is held within the EFS folder. From now on do this as soon as you root BEFORE you flash anything. lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much! I'll start rooting now and back it up immediately. I would love to give her a JB rom, mainly for google now. However, that radio is for ICS. Is that going to cause a problem? or will it even work on JB?
I've been on JB for months using an ICS radio. I'm on ATT so I can't say for certain but it shouldn't be an issue. Just go to the DEV thread and spend a few hours reading up on what's available. Like I said most of the ROMs are pretty stable at this point.
FYI, on skyrocket the IMEI is stored in mmcblk0p18 and mmcblk0p19, not /efs partition. Might really want to back those up, especially before attempting a usb unlock. The /efs only really stores exports of certain properties from mmcblk0p18.
cschmitt said:
FYI, on skyrocket the IMEI is stored in mmcblk0p18 and mmcblk0p19, not /efs partition. Might really want to back those up, especially before attempting a usb unlock. The /efs only really stores exports of certain properties from mmcblk0p18.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the heads up. lol I thought for sure they'd be stored in the same place they where for my SGS4G. So what is stored in the imei folder in EFS then?

Strange efs/imei problem, wont flash to stock

so I have a SR I just put a new (used, off ebay but new to me) motherboard in, and it works fine except for no imei/baseband, so obviously no data/voice/etc.
the efs folder seems to be fine...imei folder is in there, keystr file is there...I don't understand what the problem is.
the worst part is, only certain roms will flash...I cannot flash to stock, I've tried with odin and from recovery, a couple different stock versions of GB, ICS, and still no luck. It actually flashes, then does the "android is upgrading" screen, but then bootloops on the optimizing apps part. I've tried to flash to stock probably 20 times now, wiped everything, fixed permissions, etc...without fail it bootloops every time.
the only roms Ive gotten to flash are slim and jedi...no stock rom will flash, nor avatar and a couple others I've tried. but slim and jedi flash and boot right up...just have blank imei/baseband.
I've scoured threads for days trying to figure out what to do here...nobody seems to have my exact problem, and everything I've found about restoring efs/imei/baseband has involved flashing to stock...which I can't do.
anyone have any ideas?
Have you tried flashing different radios (baseband)?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1785999
causticfix said:
so I have a SR I just put a new (used, off ebay but new to me) motherboard in, and it works fine except for no imei/baseband, so obviously no data/voice/etc.
the efs folder seems to be fine...imei folder is in there, keystr file is there...I don't understand what the problem is.
the worst part is, only certain roms will flash...I cannot flash to stock, I've tried with odin and from recovery, a couple different stock versions of GB, ICS, and still no luck. It actually flashes, then does the "android is upgrading" screen, but then bootloops on the optimizing apps part. I've tried to flash to stock probably 20 times now, wiped everything, fixed permissions, etc...without fail it bootloops every time.
the only roms Ive gotten to flash are slim and jedi...no stock rom will flash, nor avatar and a couple others I've tried. but slim and jedi flash and boot right up...just have blank imei/baseband.
I've scoured threads for days trying to figure out what to do here...nobody seems to have my exact problem, and everything I've found about restoring efs/imei/baseband has involved flashing to stock...which I can't do.
anyone have any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take a look at this thread, it may help. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=25172599#post25172599
thanks for the replies...
I've flashed UCM1 and UCLL3 radios, they flash fine but no change...still can't flash to stock and no imei/baseband/service.
That fix thread was one of the first I found, but as I still have my keystr file in the efs folder, I didn't think it would apply to me...I suppose I could make an external backup of my efs, delete it and try one of those methods from scratch.
read through the restore to stock sticky http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1652398 and go through the trouble shooting sections, if that doesn't help u could have bad hw
causticfix said:
so I have a SR I just put a new (used, off ebay but new to me) motherboard in, and it works fine except for no imei/baseband, so obviously no data/voice/etc.
the efs folder seems to be fine...imei folder is in there, keystr file is there...I don't understand what the problem is.
the worst part is, only certain roms will flash...I cannot flash to stock, I've tried with odin and from recovery, a couple different stock versions of GB, ICS, and still no luck. It actually flashes, then does the "android is upgrading" screen, but then bootloops on the optimizing apps part. I've tried to flash to stock probably 20 times now, wiped everything, fixed permissions, etc...without fail it bootloops every time.
the only roms Ive gotten to flash are slim and jedi...no stock rom will flash, nor avatar and a couple others I've tried. but slim and jedi flash and boot right up...just have blank imei/baseband.
I've scoured threads for days trying to figure out what to do here...nobody seems to have my exact problem, and everything I've found about restoring efs/imei/baseband has involved flashing to stock...which I can't do.
anyone have any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, Im facing the exact same problem! just that my imei turned to 0 and basband to unknown after i upgraded to cynogenmod 10.1-rc.2.
It was working fine till suddenly one day i lost network. I tried everything like you did. So far ive had no luck fixing my efs!
What you can do is download QTPS and in it there is a RF NV Item manager to rewrite your efs. For that you need to put you phone into DIAG mode unfortuantely i cant get to that on 10.1nightly cynogenmod that im using.
I m stuck. I know for sure flashing roms or radios wont help at all. the same boot loop problem happens when I flash using odin, it use to work perfectly fine earlier.
Some how the nv_data.bin and such files are missing from my efs>imei folder that contain the imei data.
If you find something please lemme know too [email protected]
Vgkiller said:
Hey, Im facing the exact same problem! just that my imei turned to 0 and basband to unknown after i upgraded to cynogenmod 10.1-rc.2.
It was working fine till suddenly one day i lost network. I tried everything like you did. So far ive had no luck fixing my efs!
What you can do is download QTPS and in it there is a RF NV Item manager to rewrite your efs. For that you need to put you phone into DIAG mode unfortuantely i cant get to that on 10.1nightly cynogenmod that im using.
I m stuck. I know for sure flashing roms or radios wont help at all. the same boot loop problem happens when I flash using odin, it use to work perfectly fine earlier.
Some how the nv_data.bin and such files are missing from my efs>imei folder that contain the imei data.
If you find something please lemme know too [email protected]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just factory reset when it boot loops
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2
Vgkiller said:
Hey, Im facing the exact same problem! just that my imei turned to 0 and basband to unknown after i upgraded to cynogenmod 10.1-rc.2.
It was working fine till suddenly one day i lost network. I tried everything like you did. So far ive had no luck fixing my efs!
What you can do is download QTPS and in it there is a RF NV Item manager to rewrite your efs. For that you need to put you phone into DIAG mode unfortuantely i cant get to that on 10.1nightly cynogenmod that im using.
I m stuck. I know for sure flashing roms or radios wont help at all. the same boot loop problem happens when I flash using odin, it use to work perfectly fine earlier.
Some how the nv_data.bin and such files are missing from my efs>imei folder that contain the imei data.
If you find something please lemme know too [email protected]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
will do.
also, you may know this already, but just in case, be aware the skyrocket doesn't use nv_data.bin...I thought it did too when I first started searching around about this, and when i couldnt find it I was pretty freaked out...but then i found out the skyrocket actually uses 3 encrypted partitions rather than a nv_data file. so if you have at least some files in your efs/imei folder you may be in a better spot than it seems. of course if its totally empty, you'll likely have a lot more work to do.
I'll update if I have any luck.
causticfix said:
will do.
also, you may know this already, but just in case, be aware the skyrocket doesn't use nv_data.bin...I thought it did too when I first started searching around about this, and when i couldnt find it I was pretty freaked out...but then i found out the skyrocket actually uses 3 encrypted partitions rather than a nv_data file. so if you have at least some files in your efs/imei folder you may be in a better spot than it seems. of course if its totally empty, you'll likely have a lot more work to do.
I'll update if I have any luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I have two files in my imei folder i,e keystr and mps_code.dat!
I tired changing them from root explorer! pasted someones else's efs folder! but still I cant fix my imei is stays 0.
i donno how to get to diag mode with this rom, otherwise i could have tried my luck with QPTS.
Incase you have broken your imei without backing it up, there is another way. And yes it is legal.
Here's the tutorial http://goo.gl/wtW29 and here's the needed tools (software & hardware) http://goo.gl/54mtk.
lingowistico said:
Incase you have broken your imei without backing it up, there is another way. And yes it is legal.
Here's the tutorial http://goo.gl/wtW29 and here's the needed tools (software & hardware) http://goo.gl/54mtk.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually have octopus box as well as the z3x samsung tool installed, however, they're both server activation based...the software is useless without an $89 (octopus) to $120( (z3x) activation.
I'd rather not spend that kind of money for something I'll likely only need once, so I'm gonna do as much as I can in the way of free solutions, and if I have no luck there I'll probably just send it to mobiletechvideos for their $40 efs/imei repair. I'm guessing they use one or more of these repair box programs themselves anyway, and will do the same job for only $40.
thanks for the suggestion anyway though..
causticfix said:
I actually have octopus box as well as the z3x samsung tool installed, however, they're both server activation based...the software is useless without an $89 (octopus) to $120( (z3x) activation.
I'd rather not spend that kind of money for something I'll likely only need once, so I'm gonna do as much as I can in the way of free solutions, and if I have no luck there I'll probably just send it to mobiletechvideos for their $40 efs/imei repair. I'm guessing they use one or more of these repair box programs themselves anyway, and will do the same job for only $40.
thanks for the suggestion anyway though..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's this polish guy who probably also has all the same boxes and he takes €10 for imei repair by remote desktop.
http://forum.samdroid.net/f70/repair-imei-s2-5729/
And finally you could try helping the op of this thread to add compatibility for skyrocket, this would be free.
lingowistico said:
There's this polish guy who probably also has all the same boxes and he takes €10 for imei repair by remote desktop.
http://forum.samdroid.net/f70/repair-imei-s2-5729/
And finally you could try helping the op of this thread to add compatibility for skyrocket, this would be free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Isn't there any way to fix my imei on my own ?
Mt efs folder also looks good now with all the files it should have but still the imei remains unaffected.
Also i'd like to know that the qualcom nv tool showed my esn as dead and mied as 000....000 does the dead thing mean it isnt repairable ?
I tried using QPTS but this is where I get stuck.. (img attatched)
Vgkiller said:
Isn't there any way to fix my imei on my own ?
Mt efs folder also looks good now with all the files it should have but still the imei remains unaffected.
Also i'd like to know that the qualcom nv tool showed my esn as dead and mied as 000....000 does the dead thing mean it isnt repairable ?
I tried using QPTS but this is where I get stuck.. (img attatched)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Obviously there is since some random polack can do it for you on his PC, the problem is the lack of knowledge.
Those who know won't tell you how, because they want € for it :crying:
lingowistico said:
Obviously there is since some random polack can do it for you on his PC, the problem is the lack of knowledge.
Those who know won't tell you how, because they want € for it :crying:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This totally defeats the purpose of this forum then. Its sad.
Vgkiller said:
This totally defeats the purpose of this forum then. Its sad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
People want money for it because it's mostly used for making stolen phones work again.
That means real life risks like fines, jail etc.
Of course there are lots of examples when people experiment with this or that and delete their imei accidentally, or want to change the imei for some other reason. But these are more rare.
An update...
I managed to finally get flashed to stock...still null/null imei & baseband unknown. Efs folder is still there with files, keystr file is on...not sure what else I can do myself at this point so, I guess its time for the Polish dude or mobiletechvideos.
Hi People,
Did any1 found any solution?
talk2sharn said:
Hi People,
Did any1 found any solution?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
unfortunately not for me. I finally got the polish dude to try restoring the imei remotely...he used like 3 or 4 different programs, nothing worked.
so, i just got a broken SR with a cracked lcd off ebay for $50 and used the motherboard from it.
causticfix said:
unfortunately not for me. I finally got the polish dude to try restoring the imei remotely...he used like 3 or 4 different programs, nothing worked.
so, i just got a broken SR with a cracked lcd off ebay for $50 and used the motherboard from it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ohkies.
Did you ask the polish guy about the reason why he was not able to fix your mobile. Coz, I'm just having similar problem like yours. I tried working with all the local samsung service centre guys, nothing worked. One guy said that my mobile IMEI is locked in some database, so it is not picking or detecting my SIM, hence locked. I know that my mobile is unlocked and is valid, I ignored his comments.
I assume you changed your MotherBoard of the mobile with the new cracked SR's, so that it could take new IMEI instilled in new board. Is it so?
Also, please suggest me about any alternatives on how to fix this problem.:crying:

[Q] Help with SGH-T959W only booting into recovery

Hello, all. I hope someone can help me with my SGH-T959W. Right now I'm at the point where the phone has CWM installed, but will only boot into recovery no matter what I do. I've followed the N00b guide to Flashing/Fixing the SGS4G, but clearly I'm missing something.
I tried to follow the Windows-based procedure for the SGH-T959W, but was unable to get version 1.40 to execute, and was unable to locate version 1.31.
So, given that the SGH-T959W and SGH-T959V are the same phone except for the bootloader, I tried the Java-based Stock KJ-6 + Root. The first time I tried it, the upload failed after the PIT, and the phone was no longer able to boot into anything other than download mode. I eventually managed to get it to the point where it tried to flash the modem, but I was never able to get the modem to flash successfully. I tried both under Windows and Linux, using two different PCs and every USB cable I could find, since I know those tend to be dodgy. Still, I've never gotten past flashing the modem, though sometimes it's done worse.
But at this point, I had a phone that would dutifully boot into CWM, so I could change strategy anyway. So I grabbed the unofficial Cyanogenmod 10.1, copied it to the root of the SD card, and tried to load that via CWM. It failed the hardware check.
That's problem #1. Is it possible to modify Cyanogenmod to check for the 959W instead of only the 959V?
Now, problem #2. I decided to give Slim ICS a whirl, since it's light on requirements and a 512MB/1GHz device would probably appreciate a lighter load. The two packages claim to install, but the progress bar never reaches 100%, and when I try to boot the phone, it just boots into CWM. It's a newer version of CWM now, and the startup logo is different, so something worked, but clearly not everything.
When installing, I did mount UMMU, factory reset, wipe the cache and the Davlik cache, mount UMMU, install, then fix perms. But I still get that loop back to CWM.
So something critical didn’t take, however many times I tried (I've lost count, but I think I'm going on 10), and I don't know the architecture well enough to know where to start looking. I'm pretty comfortable with other operating systems, but this is only the second Android device I've tried to customize.
I suspect I can’t solve any other problem until I solve problem #2, regardless of which distro I end up wanting to run.
Sorry for the long-winded post, but I figured the more questions I answered up front, the better the chances of fixing this would be.
Thanks for any help you're willing to offer a n00b.
Dave F.
I think what you were doing with heimdall is the way to go except the t959w doesn't like modems and I think there's some way to leave out the modem part but eh.. I'm not that well versed. Anyway here's a link that may or may not be relevant
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1956025
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Questions and request for assistance go in the Q&A section.
Thread has been moved.
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Have a great day!
dfarquhar said:
Hello, all. I hope someone can help me with my SGH-T959W. Right now I'm at the point where the phone has CWM installed, but will only boot into recovery no matter what I do. I've followed the N00b guide to Flashing/Fixing the SGS4G, but clearly I'm missing something.
I tried to follow the Windows-based procedure for the SGH-T959W, but was unable to get version 1.40 to execute, and was unable to locate version 1.31.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look here for 1.3.1.
dfarquhar said:
So, given that the SGH-T959W and SGH-T959V are the same phone except for the bootloader, I tried the Java-based Stock KJ-6 + Root. The first time I tried it, the upload failed after the PIT, and the phone was no longer able to boot into anything other than download mode. I eventually managed to get it to the point where it tried to flash the modem, but I was never able to get the modem to flash successfully. I tried both under Windows and Linux, using two different PCs and every USB cable I could find, since I know those tend to be dodgy. Still, I've never gotten past flashing the modem, though sometimes it's done worse.
But at this point, I had a phone that would dutifully boot into CWM, so I could change strategy anyway. So I grabbed the unofficial Cyanogenmod 10.1, copied it to the root of the SD card, and tried to load that via CWM. It failed the hardware check.
That's problem #1. Is it possible to modify Cyanogenmod to check for the 959W instead of only the 959V?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, not a CWM issue. Ever since TeamAcid and I started on CM9 (and I believe the last few CM7 builds) added support for T959W. Almost everyone (thankfully! ) has kanged those device trees and also support T959W. I'm sure other T959W users will chime in to tell you that 97% of all roms here work on T959W. (GB and forward)
dfarquhar said:
Now, problem #2. I decided to give Slim ICS a whirl, since it's light on requirements and a 512MB/1GHz device would probably appreciate a lighter load. The two packages claim to install, but the progress bar never reaches 100%, and when I try to boot the phone, it just boots into CWM. It's a newer version of CWM now, and the startup logo is different, so something worked, but clearly not everything.
When installing, I did mount UMMU, factory reset, wipe the cache and the Davlik cache, mount UMMU, install, then fix perms. But I still get that loop back to CWM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Crazy mount setups shouldn't matter anymore. That was an oldschool Froyo/Early GB thing. Almost all new CWM install scripts do the right thing now.
dfarquhar said:
So something critical didn’t take, however many times I tried (I've lost count, but I think I'm going on 10), and I don't know the architecture well enough to know where to start looking. I'm pretty comfortable with other operating systems, but this is only the second Android device I've tried to customize.
I suspect I can’t solve any other problem until I solve problem #2, regardless of which distro I end up wanting to run.
Sorry for the long-winded post, but I figured the more questions I answered up front, the better the chances of fixing this would be.
Thanks for any help you're willing to offer a n00b.
Dave F.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like the long posts! Especially when then they contain more detail for me to help you figure out your problem with. I'm also partial to the short posts that include logs!
TwitchyEye said:
I think what you were doing with heimdall is the way to go except the t959w doesn't like modems and I think there's some way to leave out the modem part but eh.. I'm not that well versed. Anyway here's a link that may or may not be relevant
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1956025
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@TwitchyEye you're right That is the heimdall oneclick that should be used.
@dfarquhar I think using the heimdall oneclick that @getochkn made should be the right path for you. Make sure you use the right version of heimdall. Make sure you completely remove the old version (software and drivers), use zdiag to make absolutely sure!
If all else fails, post here again! (maybe with logs )
Thanks everyone. I grabbed v 1.3.1, so I'm getting ready to try it now.
If anything goes wrong, I'll look into where the logs are stored and how to retrieve them, and I'll be back. Assuming I can't use the logs to figure it out on my own of course.
dfarquhar said:
Thanks everyone. I grabbed v 1.3.1, so I'm getting ready to try it now.
If anything goes wrong, I'll look into where the logs are stored and how to retrieve them, and I'll be back. Assuming I can't use the logs to figure it out on my own of course.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sometimes, it's just the output you see on your screen is a good enough log
bhundven said:
Sometimes, it's just the output you see on your screen is a good enough log
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got it working! Heimdall 1.3.1 was the key. I then turned around and flashed Slim ICS since I had it on the SD card already, and it worked. I'm debating whether to move on to Slim Bean, but maybe I need to leave well enough alone for a few days now that I have a working phone.
Thanks again,
Dave

Help: Recovering Phone to Working Condition from Wrong Firmware

Edit: I got it back to proper firmware, but now have an issue with re-locking the bootloader so that I can install an OTA and make my sim card recognizable again. "Still waiting for signed boot.img"; can anybody provide a DL link to a signed boot.img for my specific model? [PCO29.114-54-2]
I'll try to keep this short and simple. It's my first post to these forums (hi), so sorry if I say stuff that sounds really simple or silly.
So, for a while now, I was dealing with a lot of really minor issues on my phone that I was told by those I asked was corruption in the android stock firmware. It wasn't anything major, but the issues were building up, and factory resets weren't fixing any of them. So, with my phone already out of warranty, I decided there wouldn't be any harm in trying to fix it myself. After reading up on it a little, I unlocked my bootloader, then I decided I would try flashing a custom ROM.
Well... I didn't even get that far. I was trying really hard to use the TWRP to back up my phone, but it kept getting errors. Looking it up, people said you just have to delete corrupted files to make it work, so I went back and forth wiping the files that gave it issues, until eventually I just decided to give up because there were so many corrupted files, just in the boot folder alone. When I went to turn the phone on and throw in the towel... I got the dreaded bootloop.
I freaked out, and decided that since I could still get into fastboot mode, I would try to stock the flash firmware to fix it. So, I went online, just found stock firmware, ran a batch file that did it all automatically, and...
When I turned my phone on, it was for the complete wrong carrier. Previously, it was a device I bought from T-Mobile, and thus, I was using a sim card and all that from them. Now the device is tied to Cricket, and so, of course, that stuff doesn't work.
Weirdly, there's other issues on the device now too, like when trying to add a Google account, the phone just closes out of everything...
Well.
I do know there's a guide here for how to flash the phone back to original firmware (although they don't have my firmware (M3DE6) listed), but there's other issues now, too. Stuff like the IMEI are totally wiped from the phone's memory now, just being listed as "Unknown" in the phone's settings. Not to mention, everytime I turn on the phone, I get text that says "bad ID" and it takes an additional 10-15 seconds to turn on. Is there any way to fix all this stuff? I don't mind if I have to restore it to OG stockware or if flashing a custom ROM will fix the problem- I just really need my phone to be able to work with my sim card again so I can take and make calls/texts.
I've still got to pay on my phone for a year still via the contract I made with T-Mobile, so it'd really suck if my phone got stuck in an unusable condition like this. If there's anybody who could just help me get it back to WORKING condition (calls/texts, google accounts, etc.), then I would greatly appreciate that. Thanks.
Tsukomasi said:
I'll try to keep this short and simple. It's my first post to these forums (hi), so sorry if I say stuff that sounds really simple or silly.
So, for a while now, I was dealing with a lot of really minor issues on my phone that I was told by those I asked was corruption in the android stock firmware. It wasn't anything major, but the issues were building up, and factory resets weren't fixing any of them. So, with my phone already out of warranty, I decided there wouldn't be any harm in trying to fix it myself. After reading up on it a little, I unlocked my bootloader, then I decided I would try flashing a custom ROM.
Well... I didn't even get that far. I was trying really hard to use the TWRP to back up my phone, but it kept getting errors. Looking it up, people said you just have to delete corrupted files to make it work, so I went back and forth wiping the files that gave it issues, until eventually I just decided to give up because there were so many corrupted files, just in the boot folder alone. When I went to turn the phone on and throw in the towel... I got the dreaded bootloop.
I freaked out, and decided that since I could still get into fastboot mode, I would try to stock the flash firmware to fix it. So, I went online, just found stock firmware, ran a batch file that did it all automatically, and...
When I turned my phone on, it was for the complete wrong carrier. Previously, it was a device I bought from T-Mobile, and thus, I was using a sim card and all that from them. Now the device is tied to Cricket, and so, of course, that stuff doesn't work.
Weirdly, there's other issues on the device now too, like when trying to add a Google account, the phone just closes out of everything...
Well.
I do know there's a guide here for how to flash the phone back to original firmware (although they don't have my firmware (M3DE6) listed), but there's other issues now, too. Stuff like the IMEI are totally wiped from the phone's memory now, just being listed as "Unknown" in the phone's settings. Not to mention, everytime I turn on the phone, I get text that says "bad ID" and it takes an additional 10-15 seconds to turn on. Is there any way to fix all this stuff? I don't mind if I have to restore it to OG stockware or if flashing a custom ROM will fix the problem- I just really need my phone to be able to work with my sim card again so I can take and make calls/texts.
I've still got to pay on my phone for a year still via the contract I made with T-Mobile, so it'd really suck if my phone got stuck in an unusable condition like this. If there's anybody who could just help me get it back to WORKING condition (calls/texts, google accounts, etc.), then I would greatly appreciate that. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
U in USA if so I could try the reuts think that's how it spelled TMobile is same as crickit if I member right so u can flash the retail firm where if u in the states.I on cc but not the firmware for them I'm in the retail version works great no added junk ware either
roadkill42 said:
U in USA if so I could try the reuts think that's how it spelled TMobile is same as crickit if I member right so u can flash the retail firm where if u in the states.I on cc but not the firmware for them I'm in the retail version works great no added junk ware either
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did find my device's actual stock firmware from another website and installed it, but now the sim card doesn't work. I've heard that if I perform an OTA update, it'll make it work again, but... I can't perform an OTA update because the bootloader is unlocked. I can't re-lock it, because everytime I try, it gives me a message that says "Still waiting for signed boot.img".
Someone said to use the rescue and smart assistant app, but it doesn't recognize my phone, so that's a no-go.
Tsukomasi said:
I did find my device's actual stock firmware from another website and installed it, but now the sim card doesn't work. I've heard that if I perform an OTA update, it'll make it work again, but... I can't perform an OTA update because the bootloader is unlocked. I can't re-lock it, because everytime I try, it gives me a message that says "Still waiting for signed boot.img".
Someone said to use the rescue and smart assistant app, but it doesn't recognize my phone, so that's a no-go.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have u done the factory reset after flashing the software? U might have to reflash the modem look through this sight or tellagram for how to
roadkill42 said:
Have u done the factory reset after flashing the software? U might have to reflash the modem look through this sight or tellagram for how to
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried a ton of different fixes and approaches, and I still can't get it to work. I'm gonna make a new thread now since I've got a new main issue to deal with. This is... a mess.
Tsukomasi said:
I tried a ton of different fixes and approaches, and I still can't get it to work. I'm gonna make a new thread now since I've got a new main issue to deal with. This is... a mess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry
roadkill42 said:
Sorry
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nah, don't worry about it. I'm the one who messed up my phone.
Tsukomasi said:
Nah, don't worry about it. I'm the one who messed up my phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is the bat fille just change the zip to bat then get the retus file I'm looking for the link of the software I used it is lol. https://www.lolinet.com/. Pm me I can tell u how to set it up. https://mirrors.lolinet.com/firmware/moto/ocean/official/RETUS/

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