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unbrick samsung galaxy s vibrant.

i have a real problem, trying to flash my samsung vibrant with odin, (installing the unofficial update) my phone was bricked, i cant get into download mode, the key combination vol-up + vol-down to get to download mode is not working, i can't get into recovery mode either, (well getting into recovery mode has never worked) i tried using adb reboot recovery with sdk and it comes as device not found.
Am i screwed or there is any way to unbrick?

cervantesjc said:
i have a real problem, trying to flash my samsung vibrant with odin, (installing the unofficial update) my phone was bricked, i cant get into download mode, the key combination vol-up + vol-down to get to download mode is not working, i can't get into recovery mode either, (well getting into recovery mode has never worked) i tried using adb reboot recovery with sdk and it comes as device not found.
Am i screwed or there is any way to unbrick?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take out the battery, wait a full minute. put it back in and the case back together without inadvertantly hitting either the power or up/down keys. Now press the down key. While holding it down, hold down the power key. If that doesn't put you into download mode, you have done the impossible. These phones are (almost) impossible to brick.

I have seemed to have done the something similar as I was trying to reflash with ODIN and the phone went black, I left it alone for several minutes and now when I try to turn the phone on I just have a graphic with a phone and a computer with a little triangle with an exclaimation mark in the middle and nothing else happens.

djallen1 said:
Take out the battery, wait a full minute. put it back in and the case back together without inadvertantly hitting either the power or up/down keys. Now press the down key. While holding it down, hold down the power key. If that doesn't put you into download mode, you have done the impossible. These phones are (almost) impossible to brick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really think i have the done impossible, there is no download mode nor recovery mode, (well, this has never worked) i don't know what to do, i'm getting my phone replaced.
I tried using adb on my computer, but the device is not found, my computer doesn't recognize my device.

cervantesjc said:
I really think i have the done impossible, there is no download mode nor recovery mode, (well, this has never worked) i don't know what to do, i'm getting my phone replaced.
I tried using adb on my computer, but the device is not found, my computer doesn't recognize my device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
UGH
I have the SAME problem...but I always had download AND recovery working...
after a few flashes in a short span...they just dissapeared...
screen just turns black after the "S" logo animation....
ADB can't see the device either

Same Here Too :-|
i've been searching and trying to get into dowload mode for a week and i't not working. i can hear it boot up but just stuck on the darn Vibrant screen

philthyman21 said:
i've been searching and trying to get into dowload mode for a week and i't not working. i can hear it boot up but just stuck on the darn Vibrant screen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was there, use Odin to reflash to stock.

huh
djallen1 said:
Take out the battery, wait a full minute. put it back in and the case back together without inadvertantly hitting either the power or up/down keys. Now press the down key. While holding it down, hold down the power key. If that doesn't put you into download mode, you have done the impossible. These phones are (almost) impossible to brick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i beg to differ
nothing is working for me either

So I went to This Site pathikshah. com /blog / install-android-2-2-froyo-galaxy-s/ (sorry about the spaces new user and xda wont let me post links, not spamming honest), I did exactly as it said it was working as planned until it reset after install. First instead of the vibrant screen coming up it now says:
Galaxy S
GT-I9000
Then It goes to:
Android System Recovery <3e>
on that screen it says twards the bottom:
update media please wait
E:Cant mount /dev/block/mmcblk0p1
(Invalid argument)
E:copy_dbdata_media:Cant mount SDCARD:
your storage not prepared yet, please use UI me
nu for format and reboot actions.
copy default media content failed.
so when I try to scroll through the recovery menu I have to push vol Up to scroll down
also it does nothing when i press the ok button (power button), unless I hold it down then it resets and goes back to the same recovery screen

I rooted the samsung galaxy s then added a rom and the rom is crashing my phone I've tried aboslutely everything don't know what else to do.

i also have a problem
i have install ROM manager and make a back up
went i try to recovery my backup it give me first the original recovery mode i know i have to select update.zip to access the clockworkmod recovery (ver 2.5.1.2 last one) i use the option restore and start it
now my phone just reboot in recovery mode
i'm looking if some one have a working ROM backup
tnx for your help
Drago.

cervantesjc said:
i have a real problem, trying to flash my samsung vibrant with odin, (installing the unofficial update) my phone was bricked, i cant get into download mode, the key combination vol-up + vol-down to get to download mode is not working, i can't get into recovery mode either, (well getting into recovery mode has never worked) i tried using adb reboot recovery with sdk and it comes as device not found.
Am i screwed or there is any way to unbrick?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Read instructions and download files from thread here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=734475
Watch this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnY7P14JSWQ
Good luck

fstathes said:
Read instructions and download files from thread here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=734475
Watch this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnY7P14JSWQ
Good luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the video link. I was up to that point unable to get the download/shoveling droid screen. Now I'm in the process of finally getting the phone back to stock after downloading the t-mobile update that cam through and bricked the phone.

no downloading mode
Hi i was hoping this will help me to reenabeling my bricked samsung. But i cant get it in to downloanding mode. the 3 button way isnt working and the way showed in the movie neither. Is there an other way to get the phone back to work?

I have tried all the methods posted here as well as many others from the link posted above. But to no avail.
I did everything successfully up until the reboot. Whereupon, it would not start. No amount of button combination helped me. And taking out the battery pack is no help either. It just won't start. I could use any advice.
Thank you.

I'm in the same boat now, attempted to odin back to stock and now I have a brick. It's just blank, I cant get it into download or recovery mode using any method described.
Is my only shot the jig method I've read about now?
EDIT
Nevermind, I got it. Pulled the battery, replaced it, held down both power buttons, inserted usb (already plugged in comp w/ odin open), boom..entered download mode and flashed..

cervantesjc said:
i have a real problem, trying to flash my samsung vibrant with odin, (installing the unofficial update) my phone was bricked, i cant get into download mode, the key combination vol-up + vol-down to get to download mode is not working, i can't get into recovery mode either, (well getting into recovery mode has never worked) i tried using adb reboot recovery with sdk and it comes as device not found.
Am i screwed or there is any way to unbrick?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Remove the battery and insert it again, now keep pressing the volume buttons and connect the USB cable to your phone, the usb cable must be connected to your pc first.

hey, i also experienced bricking my phone. is there a step by step process how to unbrick it? i need urgent help please. by the way im using samsung galaxy s 4g (

after i have gone to download mode. my computer cannot recognize my device. help me please.

to the post above me. Sounds like you have a bad usb data cable. Grab you a new cable online and you should be good to go
I'm assuming you have already downloaded the drivers to your computer. Sasmung.com will have them

[Q] Unable to boot into recovery/bootloader

Basically neither adb reboot recovery nor ROM Manager/QuickBoot will boot me into recovery. The device just reboots as normal. So I'm unable to flash new CWM or Prime :\
The device has root (su is installed and showing prompts for superuser access).
Is there something I should do which I'm not or I am, in fact, booted into recovery and just don't realize it?

None of those work to get you into recovery.
You can look for Gnufabio's boot to recovery app or
Hold volume down plus power button, soon as you see two lines of words appear at the to left corner, press volume up within 5 seconds, that will take you into recovery.

Thank you. It worked.

do you know of a way to do this without root i can bairly get my transformer to boot normally let alone recovery...

AFAIK you don't need root to boot into recovery.
I'm still wondering why these forums provide misleading and clearly wrong directions of getting into recovery...

drksilenc said:
do you know of a way to do this without root i can bairly get my transformer to boot normally let alone recovery...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The above method will get you into stock recovery if you're not rooted.

... the reason i posted this is because this method DOES not work for me... those programs require root. i do not have root. i am trying to get root. i have been rooting rom loading since my htc touch way back the only reason i want to root is so i can get netflix cause asus didnt update that lib file...

drksilenc said:
... the reason i posted this is because this method DOES not work for me... those programs require root. i do not have root. i am trying to get root. i have been rooting rom loading since my htc touch way back the only reason i want to root is so i can get netflix cause asus didnt update that lib file...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The button combo method is the default way of getting into recovery stock or custom. To get root you have to follow one of the many way to root.
How are you rooting by getting into stock recovery?

what i am saying is the default button combo isnt working for me to get into recovery mode.
i cannot get the device into apx mode at all
i need a way to do this
the default button combo is not working.

drksilenc said:
what i am saying is the default button combo isnt working for me to get into recovery mode.
i cannot get the device into apx mode at all
i need a way to do this
the default button combo is not working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The APX mode is different, the combo above is for recovery.
For APX you need to power off the tablet.
-Plug the tablet to pc with your usb cord.
-Hold volume up while powering on
-Your screen will stay off but you should hear a "Ding" on your PC (or what ever noise your PC make when USB device is plug in)

well... they really should post that... i guess i did have apx working properly

[Q] Any other way to boot to APX mode? I'm bricked.

My transformer suffered what appears to be a hardware failure today. My screen won't turn on at all. I can hear the tablet click on and off, I can see it in windows, but the screen won't turn on. Second screen issue I've had with it, there may have been a loose cable from the last time or something. I need to send it back.
I don't want to send it back with a custom rom unless I have to. I want to NVFlash back to stock. Unfortunately, I can't seem to get into APX mode, and I can't see why I'm having problems.
I can hold the power off button till I hear the click that it has turned off, and it is no longer seen by windows. Power + Volume Up, and nothing happens, or it boots normally. No idea why.
I do have a version of CWM on there that has been intercepting normal booting, so that may be causing the problems? I don't know, can someone confirm that they can get to APX mode with a bad CWM? Is there any way to fix CWM without looking? Better yet, is there a different way to boot to APX mode? Maybe through command line or something. Windows or linux. Any help would really be appreciated. The last thing I need is for them to refuse repairs, or try and charge me $100 for repairs/shipping on this tablet. At that point, the investment to fix it may not be worth it.
Finally, although I'm 99% certain it's a hardware problem due to the symptoms and the fact I haven't flashed anything for a while, I would like to be 100% sure. I don't feel any particular need for Asus to repair my device for free if I screwed it up. An NVflash to completely reset the thing would be a good way to know for sure.
Edit: Not sure if it matters, but this is a B30K serial number.

Re: My screen won't turn on at all. I can hear the tablet click on and off, I can see it in windows, but the screen won't turn on. Second screen issue I've had with it, there may have been a loose cable from the last time or something. I need to send it back.
The screen stays off in apx mode. If you can see the tab in windows, then my understanding is that you're in apx mode.
You then need to do the nvflash commands. See unbrick guides on xda for that.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1123429

Did a little hunting and there doesn't seem to be a command to get into apx mode.
If your computer can detect it I'm not sure why it won't go into apx mode.. is the vol-up key working?

To get into APX Mode it's Vol up + power button. The screen will be black and blank (there's nothing telling you is in APX mode).
If you have the correct APX driver installed, you'll get the "ping"sound on the PC.
Your B30 should be nvflash compatible

bradysd4 said:
Re: My screen won't turn on at all. I can hear the tablet click on and off, I can see it in windows, but the screen won't turn on. Second screen issue I've had with it, there may have been a loose cable from the last time or something. I need to send it back.
The screen stays off in apx mode. If you can see the tab in windows, then my understanding is that you're in apx mode.
You then need to do the nvflash commands. See unbrick guides on xda for that.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1123429
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand that. My screen won't turn on in any mode. As is, I can't see the recovery, can't see the main OS. Anything. That is why I'm RMAing it in the first place. As for seeing the tab in windows, I see it mounting like it does on a normal boot, not in APX mode. I did try running download.bat anyway, just in case. Did not see anything mounted.
Thing O Doom said:
Did a little hunting and there doesn't seem to be a command to get into apx mode.
If your computer can detect it I'm not sure why it won't go into apx mode.. is the vol-up key working?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, the volume up key was working. I appreciate looking for a command though. Is there perhaps an easy way to reflash the recovery to stock at least?
baseballfanz said:
To get into APX Mode it's Vol up + power button. The screen will be black and blank (there's nothing telling you is in APX mode).
If you have the correct APX driver installed, you'll get the "ping"sound on the PC.
Your B30 should be nvflash compatible
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do have the APX driver, it's simply not going into APX mode. I'm holding volume and power. I'm aware there's nothing to tell me I'm in APX mode. However, there's currently nothing on screen at all in any mode. That's my problem. The screen isn't working at all, so it's very difficult for me to tell if I've gone into some mode besides APX. I'm hoping there is another way to get into APX I can try, or at least a way to flash stock recovery easily.

alright, can you get into normal cwm recovery?
If you memorized the screens very carefully you could wipe data and flash a stockrom/recovery.
Sorry that's about all I can think of at this point.
Does the HDMI-out port work? you could cable out and use that to navigate easily.

If you can get into adb in recovery then you can flash anything you want through the staging partition. It sounds like you have the recovery bootloops, so you'll have to clear out the reboot command in the /misc partition. Search for the troubleshooting thread for cwm 5.5.0.4 in the dev section(I think?) to fix the bootloops. Then search for how to flash blobs through the staging partition. viola! easy as pie!
Of course, you might get APX mode back after you fix the bootloops, then you can skip the blob and flash via nvflash.

Thing O Doom said:
alright, can you get into normal cwm recovery?
If you memorized the screens very carefully you could wipe data and flash a stockrom/recovery.
Sorry that's about all I can think of at this point.
Does the HDMI-out port work? you could cable out and use that to navigate easily.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have been trying along these lines. It is very confusing though. If someone was able to guide me through the button presses of getting to factor reset, and getting to the filesystem when choosing what to flash. I imagine I could just name whatever I needed to flash zzzzzzz.zip and simply pressing up at the top of the lest would get me too it. Oh, and how many times I need to press down to get to yes I want to flash.
I don't believe the HDMI out is active that early on. Worth a shot I guess.
gee one said:
If you can get into adb in recovery then you can flash anything you want through the staging partition. It sounds like you have the recovery bootloops, so you'll have to clear out the reboot command in the /misc partition. Search for the troubleshooting thread for cwm 5.5.0.4 in the dev section(I think?) to fix the bootloops. Then search for how to flash blobs through the staging partition. viola! easy as pie!
Of course, you might get APX mode back after you fix the bootloops, then you can skip the blob and flash via nvflash.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I'll try that.
Edit: I'm looking for the troubleshooting thread, and cannot find it. Does anyone have a link?

Not sure how, but I managed to get it to boot to APX. Everythings good now, minus the hardware problems. Time for a second screen-related RMA.

Broken CWM

I have flashed the CWM from TF201 by accident. Now the tablet is stuck in that CWM mode. I can't connect to usb using adb mode. Power+volume down does not work anymore. Any way I can reflash the correct CWM?
THanks

If you can boot to OS - you can use fastboot to flash any recovery.. or flash TWRP from goomanager.
upd: sry..don't see about "stuck".

abe_cedar said:
I have flashed the CWM from TF201 by accident. Now the tablet is stuck in that CWM mode. I can't connect to usb using adb mode. Power+volume down does not work anymore. Any way I can reflash the correct CWM?
THanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have made the same mistake. Although I can get the device to fastboot USB mode. I have tried to use CWM with the restore I made before I put in Cyanogenmod 9, as well as putting on the Cyanogenmod experimental #2 for TF300. No error messages at all and it wipes data and cash without any problems.
But I get locked on the Asus boot screen and it does not continue ie I am stuck as well.
I have as well tried to use the TWRP 2.1.5. I get the Teamwin loggo screen, it wipes all the data and verifies all the filesystems and reboots. Still stuck.
Is the device bricked ?
upd:The TF300 can not be shutoff either. When you hold the power button the screen goes black, but after ~5 s the device is starting again and is still stuck on the Asus bootup screen.

if you reboot it holding vol down and power, can you get back into the boot menu, to reselect fastboot?
if holding the power button doesn't switch it off, what happens if you leave it to run out of batteries then do this?
then you can flash the correct recovery.img

cheedear said:
if you reboot it holding vol down and power, can you get back into the boot menu, to reselect fastboot?
if holding the power button doesn't switch it off, what happens if you leave it to run out of batteries then do this?
then you can flash the correct recovery.img
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I can get access to the fastboot and I have already tried to flash with the recovery.img. I have as well let the battery run out and tried it once more with the same result.
Still stuck on the asus bootup screen.

power
Hare,
I have same problem.tab cannot power off. Just reboots into cwm.
I was thinking to drain bat. Thanks for sharing that info.

There are a lot of topics about people who broke their devices with TF201's recovery.
Afaik, no one recovered it. Send to Asus.

So the device is bricked then :'(.
Thanks for clearing it up.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA

RMA..
Guillaume,
Thanks for clarification.
I have read that ASUS wants 700USD for replacing/reflashing the bootloader. That was for the tf201. Any way to nvflash it back to factory? I don't believe that they have to change the MB.
I have no warranty left, but I don't want to be gouged by them either.
Any thoughts, info?

Hi,
I've do the same mistake, but I can use adb.
Do youhave any news about our problem?
Thanks
Midyr

unable to power off
My issue is that I have the CWM for the tf201. I did the update from the CWM app in Android. Bad idea. So now the tab does not power off s.t. I can get into the power+vol down mode. Adb does not work since I cannot ( don't know how) to make it go into the usb debugging mode. I have tried several things none of which have worked. Still stuck.
I wanted some feedback for a RMA from ASUS, posted it here but sor far no answers.

Not sure if it would really work, but on my Evo, I don't have to completely power off the phone to do the recovery sequence. I can do it during a normal reboot. There is a point just before the device starts booting again where it is technically "off", and if I hold volume down (don't even have to hold power on my Evo; volume down seems to be the only necessary button) starting at this point, the phone will boot into the bootloader.
So, next time the device reboots, just start holding volume down (possibly power also, just in case) at the "off" point.

nexus s power button not working

im stuck in the loading animation of ICS right now and my phone wont start, since my power button is broken i cant boot into recovery to wipe cache... is there some way i can boot into recovery console without the power button? can i used odin to start into recovery console?
please help!

if your phone is off the only way to connect it to your pc is booting it(bootloader or normally).. so power button is the only way. I was using android sdk and the toolkit but I hope there is a program for this situation even if I don't think so
instead if you can start your phone in bootloader mode but when you boot it loops in the starting animation means there is something wrong with your rom/kernel and you have to flash something new (you can do it in fastboot mode using one of the two programs I've mentioned before)
However I've not understand the situation fully... if your power button is broken how can you be in the loading animation??? :/

serafo said:
if your phone is off the only way to connect it to your pc is booting it(bootloader or normally).. so power button is the only way. I was using android sdk and the toolkit but I hope there is a program for this situation even if I don't think so
instead if you can start your phone in bootloader mode but when you boot it loops in the starting animation means there is something wrong with your rom/kernel and you have to flash something new (you can do it in fastboot mode using one of the two programs I've mentioned before)
However I've not understand the situation fully... if your power button is broken how can you be in the loading animation??? :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i can restart the phone by putting a USB or power cord into the phone, i cant turn it on with the power button.. because of that is why i cant get to recovery console, but i can get into the bootloader screen, but none of my buttons work there... also i got a jig USB, so i can get into download mode, but im missing the files to use ODIN to re-image the phone...

WolfShooterX said:
i can restart the phone by putting a USB or power cord into the phone, i cant turn it on with the power button.. because of that is why i cant get to recovery console, but i can get into the bootloader screen, but none of my buttons work there... also i got a jig USB, so i can get into download mode, but im missing the files to use ODIN to re-image the phone...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not familiar with odin but if you can boot your phone in fastboot mode I think you can flash every file or make a wipe from your pc like with sdk for example.. you have just to search for the commands.. sorry if I can't be helpful

Did you explore the idea of repairing your power button ? Seems like a good solution

petenatas said:
Did you explore the idea of repairing your power button ? Seems like a good solution
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol, yeah... but want to boot it at least.... which i did with Odin :victory:
now, does anyone know where i can get the files to root a nexus s with odin?

WolfShooterX said:
lol, yeah... but want to boot it at least.... which i did with Odin :victory:
now, does anyone know where i can get the files to root a nexus s with odin?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have never used Odin with Nexus S, never needed that. As you are able to boot, you may look at the following thread to get the script for rooting your phone.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1544940
Remember, this process will unlock the boot loader if it is locked and unlocking boot loader will delete all files, even from the internal SD card. So you may consider having a complete backup on your computer.

I make a little trick to fix this case. I disassembled my phone for get motherboard with button in my hands. After it I "played" with power button: push, sway from side to side and kick it by finder nail. After all assembled phone and now the power button works fine.