Related
I wanted to start a thread for those of us that have bricked our Sensation by formatting the SD card while using a AOSP style or AOKP ROM.
Let's use this thread to collaborate ideas and ways to possibly un-brick our devices.
What we know
-Formatting the SD card in past versions of AOSP and AOKP caused the device to "brick" due to possibley reformatting the NAND memory or at least the eMMC partition.
-Our devices are unresponsive and are only recognized by a PC in "download mode"
-AOSP and AOKP ROMs did brick the devices. Instead of formatting the external SD card, it formatted the internal SD card or what is more commonly known as NAND flash memory of the device(Thanks to T-Macgnolia for this explination)
-Only hope may be to try JTAG and RIFF box.
So let's try a think tank and see what happens. If you have any experience with JTAG and RIFF Box PLEASE put in your 2cents.
I am willing to tear my Sensation apart and go at it with a RIFF box since I just ordered a Galaxy Nexus from Google.
I will start researching JTAG and RIFF tonight, but I figured some one should start a thread like this to clear up the HTC Unbricking Project thread.
You got two thanks from me for this, one here and one in the Unbricking Project thread in the development forum. I am like you I can see this subject clogging up the Unbricking Project thread, so this is a good idea here if members will just use it.
Now as for how to revive devices that fall victim to the awful bug that was in the AOSP and AOKP ROMs. I truly hate that such a bad bug was not noticed before so many had fallen victim to it. I also hope someone or a group of someones can come up with a working solution. But from my knowledge JTAG will more than likely be the only option to revive these devices. I hope I am wrong though. Best of luck to all of you.
I don't know much about JTAG at this point, but if it's the only way I'm willing to go for it and share my experience. As it stands now, my Sensation is just a nice expensive paper weight, so I'm not afraid to tear it down
Well best advice I can do is tell you to start eoing searchs on Youtube. Here is a link to the only video I have found on the Sensation so far. You will need to try to find s video that shows the tear down process that will get you to the point the video I linked shows. But at least the video shows the proper way to attach the JTAG and external power supply. I suggest you aleo see if you can not get in touch with josh from Mobile Tech Videos as I know he can give you some very sound advice on JTAGing a Sensation, or just about any other device for that matter. He is known as connexion2005 here on XDA. It also might not hurt to drop ole AdamOutler a PM asking if he has any advice or input.
well im in this boat with my bricked sensation xe, im taking my phone upto http://www.fonefunshop.co.uk/ on wednesday to get it jtaged with the riff box.
but on some good news, if you read the updates on the riffbox it says it can jtag a htc phone via usb (without opening it) but you need a riffbox plugged in to open the software... so if someone could make a hack to open the software without the box connected you might be able to flash the phone
http://www.jtagbox.com/
Guys,
I'm going to RMA my phone with HTC (i got the SD card brick format issue with AOSP)
Assuming the whole of the internal memory got wiped - HTC cannot tell anything can they? So they should repair it with no hassle?
Any advice is appreciated.
just for those of us that are new has this bug been fixed?? as it seems like a pretty big deal. also jupuntobear deals with the sensation devices in download mode to do its s-off so maby they know a way to flash the firmware back onto it?? some sort of homebrew usb/jtag kit maby?
I want to confirm that jtag solution works ... I bricked my phone and now its back to life
I am not the one who actually done the jtagging thing, I will ask him to post a tutorial here on how to do it step by step ...
heavy_metal_man said:
just for those of us that are new has this bug been fixed?? as it seems like a pretty big deal. also jupuntobear deals with the sensation devices in download mode to do its s-off so maby they know a way to flash the firmware back onto it?? some sort of homebrew usb/jtag kit maby?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The latest Open Sensation builds have that problem corrected, check the change log for more details.
Swypesation
szunyimen said:
Hello pplz,
I just wanted to let you know about my story:
I had lots of unused crap that was left behind by different ROMs and APPLICATIONs on my sd card, so I used this app called SD MAID.
Then when my phone's battery dead that day, the phone turned off and I could never revive it...
I had AOKP rel 34, the one just before milestone 5.
SO probably that was the cause of the brick.
BE CAUTIOUS with any kind of sd card related app on AOSP/AOKP!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I Don't think your Device is bricked...i saw somewhere that sometimes or maybe in some ROMs, when you used up full juice of your Battery, it usually takes time to start..i am obviously not sure if i am right, i just read that quickly and ignored it because i never consume the Battery till it goes to 0% and phone turns off...by the way i think this SD CARD Format doesn't cause bricking in Virtuous Inquisition? it's also AOSP..Although senseless..but maybe some files could be used in V.I As well which causes this.i don't have PC..So my Sensation fullfils my PC Needs (Almost)..so definitely cannot fancy tearing my phone a part...
It seems like JTAG w/ RiffBox is the only way....boooooo.
Does anyone have or know someone with a box, or at least where to get one???
Alipk52 said:
I Don't think your Device is bricked...i saw somewhere that sometimes or maybe in some ROMs, when you used up full juice of your Battery, it usually takes time to start..i am obviously not sure if i am right, i just read that quickly and ignored it because i never consume the Battery till it goes to 0% and phone turns off...by the way i think this SD CARD Format doesn't cause bricking in Virtuous Inquisition? it's also AOSP..Although senseless..but maybe some files could be used in V.I As well which causes this.i don't have PC..So my Sensation fullfils my PC Needs (Almost)..so definitely cannot fancy tearing my phone a part...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't really know what happen to Alipk52's Sensation. But I can tell you this, the bug that was in the AOSP and AOKP ROMs did brick the devices. Instead of formatting the external SD card, it formatted the internal SD card or what is more commonly known as NAND flash memory of the device. Now with the internal memory formatted this means you have no bootloader which means the device can not boot, which means brick. So yes the SD card format bug did cause bricking.
Hi!
I've read about jtagging withot soldering but via usb cable. So, maybe someone will compile the software emulator of riff box presence...
I sent mine out to HTC since it's still under warranty. Let's see what they do to fix it.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
kmmxracer said:
I sent mine out to HTC since it's still under warranty. Let's see what they do to fix it.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
they will replace the board.
szunyimen said:
GUYS!!!!
OLEGOR215 ON EBAY fixed my phone (JTAG)!
I sent my phone from Vancouver to Philadelphia for $4CAD (!) it got there in 5 days and he fixed it in 1 day, it took a week though for receiving it - so I had my phone back to life in just 2WEEKS!
Thanks and you guys should go ahead and do it!
good luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sending your phone somewhere out whitout knowing the person ? Pretty risky.
Sent From My Sexy Sensation Running Aokp.
szunyimen said:
GUYS!!!!
OLEGOR215 ON EBAY fixed my phone (JTAG)!
I sent my phone from Vancouver to Philadelphia for $4CAD (!) it got there in 5 days and he fixed it in 1 day, it took a week though for receiving it - so I had my phone back to life in just 2WEEKS!
Thanks and you guys should go ahead and do it!
good luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem you had was not the one described in this thread, and I would put money on him not using JTAG on it at all. I find that often if I let my phone battery die completely it will not turn back on, even if I leave it on charge.
I have to charge it up a bit, unplug it, turn it on, then plug it back in again.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1205983
i think this guy was on to something. if we could create a generic copy of the sensation using this program, with imei and other sensitive things removed and then flash it back using that program. thoughts?
I would just like to offer my Sensation as a sacrifice to the cause. It's bricked either because of the AOKP SD brick or failure to update to the ICS radio before upgrading from 2.3 to 4.0.
Sent from my HTC Sensation using Tapatalk 2
Not updating the firmware only causes bootloops, not a brick.
You'll know if it's proper bricked as it wont even charged.
I think my ATT htc one x may be hard bricked...
I was playing around with ROMs and lost track of time. The last recovery I had on there was clockworkmod (was going back and forth between it and twrp).
I was trying to install the new jellybean rom and it kept on giving me an "assert failed" error. At this point, I deleted the assert lines from the recovery script as advised by one of the posters, and ran the install again. Went through... rebooted and...
The phone is completely dead now. I think it may have discharged? I plugged it in to the wall socket and nothing... absolutely no lights, no screen..... Power+ vol down does not work either....
Please help me, is there any way to recover from this situation?
Wrong subforum.
You don't flash a Tegra One X ROM to your Qcom S4 One X did you? I assume the partition layouts are quite different, so this is bad.
Rusty! said:
You don't flash a Tegra One X ROM to your Qcom S4 One X did you? I assume the partition layouts are quite different, so this is bad.
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Click to collapse
Doesn't seem like a rare thing occurring. Either people are overseeing this or they are not really aware that for you can't flash a rom made for a tegra quad core device onto a dual krait.
I used this....
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1763240
Sheesh..... Is this meant for the tegra? I never thought I would do such a thing.... I was aware of the issue/hardware differences....
Is there any hope? Actually, in device manager it shows up as QHSUSB_DLOAD and I heard thats a bad sign?
If it cannot be fixed, does anyone have an estimate about how much HTC would charge to reflash/fix it?
My signficant other is as po'ed at me as can be... especially since I had really pushed for the upgrade.... man...
Yes it's meant for the Tegra One X, that's why it wouldn't install (that, and it's not in the AT&T One X section). You bypassed the check the install script does to make sure you're installing it on the right phone.
In short, yes you have buggered it, QHUSUSB_DLOAD is a state where you can write things to the phone, but whether anyone as done any research into it on the S4 One X I don't know.
As for getting it fixed, I have no idea on cost, however... if you convince HTC that you didn't do it yourself, it might be possible to get it done under warranty.
Edit: Did a bit of research and /system on the Tegra One X is is HBOOT on the S4 One X, that's why it's ruined your phone.
htc would just replace the motherboard and charge for that - loads of people have reported the cost its something like £169 to replace motherboard, which would of course un brick it.
Have you tried to keep it plugged in to a charger for an hour or so? My HOX was dead too but started to flash red light after an hour, moment after solid light and it booted
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
He doesn't have an HBOOT any more, there is nothing he can do.
This is why people should stop being stubborn and call that phone HTC One XL. These kinds of situations would happen sooner or later.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app
I guess I did... I actually had come to that page via google and since, perhaps I was a bit sleepy, did not verify the source... should have....
Is there any fix at all? Like loading the drivers and reformatting it or something?
Im a bit confused about the motherboard replacement: since its a software issue, cant HTC fix it with a software update? Ill call them today and post the answer on this group as well, but knowing what I am dealing with may help in talking with them.
Thanks to everyone again
No fix that I'm aware of. You really need to be asking this in the XL section though. The phones really are quite different, we don't have the mode you're stuck in (not being Qualcomm based).
Rusty! said:
No fix that I'm aware of. You really need to be asking this in the XL section though. The phones really are quite different, we don't have the mode you're stuck in (not being Qualcomm based).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks... Someone in that section has kindly agreed to see if he/she can help me... Keeping fingers crossed... doent feel right to tell att that my phone stopped working for a replacemenf...
Hate to say it but your phone is dead. It's not revivable ar this time and so your only option is jtag or warranty replacement because you overwrote the Hboot.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using xda app-developers app
Don't let morals get you on that one. Lie to them, if not for yourself than for me.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app
RobertX1 said:
I used this....in device manager it shows up as QHSUSB_DLOAD ..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am sorry, QHSUSB_DLOAD is dead end at every HTC phone. There is nothing you can do. I know what I am speaking, I hardbrick my last HTC in the same way.
But quarrantee will work, HTC cannot find out that you root it. They will replace you mainboard..as someone already mentioned
Not quite, there is a debricking method for the Sensation that can recover from it.
In most cases though, you're right.
Castellano2 said:
I am sorry, QHSUSB_DLOAD is dead end at every HTC phone. There is nothing you can do. I know what I am speaking, I hardbrick my last HTC in the same way.
But quarrantee will work, HTC cannot find out that you root it. They will replace you mainboard..as someone already mentioned
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i already revived 2 sensation xe's from the qhusb_dload.
need linux though but it definetly is possible:-o
Please move this thread to the XL subforum
miniterror said:
i already revived 2 sensation xe's from the qhusb_dload.
need linux though but it definetly is possible:-o
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks... any hope for this being possible for the one XL? Also, could the mods please move this thread to the ATT section (sorry for posting it in the wrong section... but I really didnt know the importance of the difference.... wanna look at my phone? )
Thanks everyone. I think I might send the phone to HTC to get it repaired.... although the s***ty thing with that is that Ive heard they take that opportunity to replace the motherboard instead of just replacing the software, and hit me with a big bill rather than a reasonable/fair price....
So.... trying to be honest (by not returning the phone as defective to HTC) ensures that I get scammed by them... :victory:
Possible? Yes of course, that's the point of that mode as I understand it, with some other HTC phones you can hook it up to a RIFF Box and load it up.
Likely? Probably not, as it'll take people looking into it in depth to figure it out and as far as I can see, no-one has/is looked/is looking into it on the OXL.
It really does look like you'll need to send it to HTC, which (as you sound quite honest) will probably be expensive.
Hello, so here is the story the best I can tell it. I have done quite a bit of work on Iphones, Ipods, and roms on my own phones, because of this my friends son asked if I had ever JTag'd a phone before, which I had never heard of at the time. Apparently a friend of his was trying to load a custom ROM on his Verizon Galaxy S3 and something went wrong. Unfortunatly, I have no idea what ROM he tried loading or how he tried loading it. All I do know is, there is no response on the phone at all, the screen stays black. When you plug it into the computer, the computer recognizes a device but asks for a qhsusb_dload driver. I have read that this is a hard brick, and needs Jtag service, however I have also read that it is really hard to actually hard brick a phone, and this is actually more of a soft brick. Can anyone confirm this, and is it possible that just a USB jig will work to force it into download mode? I have ordered a Jig and it should be here next week, but I wanted to ask some questions in the mean time. Thanks for your help.
pedenspeed said:
Hello, so here is the story the best I can tell it. I have done quite a bit of work on Iphones, Ipods, and roms on my own phones, because of this my friends son asked if I had ever JTag'd a phone before, which I had never heard of at the time. Apparently a friend of his was trying to load a custom ROM on his Verizon Galaxy S3 and something went wrong. Unfortunatly, I have no idea what ROM he tried loading or how he tried loading it. All I do know is, there is no response on the phone at all, the screen stays black. When you plug it into the computer, the computer recognizes a device but asks for a qhsusb_dload driver. I have read that this is a hard brick, and needs Jtag service, however I have also read that it is really hard to actually hard brick a phone, and this is actually more of a soft brick. Can anyone confirm this, and is it possible that just a USB jig will work to force it into download mode? I have ordered a Jig and it should be here next week, but I wanted to ask some questions in the mean time. Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good luck. That qhsusb tag denotes a hard brick.
pedenspeed said:
Hello, so here is the story the best I can tell it. I have done quite a bit of work on Iphones, Ipods, and roms on my own phones, because of this my friends son asked if I had ever JTag'd a phone before, which I had never heard of at the time. Apparently a friend of his was trying to load a custom ROM on his Verizon Galaxy S3 and something went wrong. Unfortunatly, I have no idea what ROM he tried loading or how he tried loading it. All I do know is, there is no response on the phone at all, the screen stays black. When you plug it into the computer, the computer recognizes a device but asks for a qhsusb_dload driver. I have read that this is a hard brick, and needs Jtag service, however I have also read that it is really hard to actually hard brick a phone, and this is actually more of a soft brick. Can anyone confirm this, and is it possible that just a USB jig will work to force it into download mode? I have ordered a Jig and it should be here next week, but I wanted to ask some questions in the mean time. Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That sucks, that my friend, is a hardbrick, fixable, but its a process and tedious.
Sent from my Secret Base in Outer Space
I had the same thing happen to me. See here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1770341
I pushed a corrupt ROM and it borked. Contrary to your post, it is easy to brick this S3. I've hard bricked twice.... Just be sure the files you flash are for your variation of the S3 (ie don't flash an ATT rom onto a VZW fone) and make sure you got a good download by checking the md5.
FWIW, Josh over at MobileTechVideos.com has JTAG'd me back both times. Fair price and quick service. I believe he's the only dude in the US doing it...
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
hi there, unfortunately i flash the wrong rom, and the result is the same of the first poster
what i can do? what is jtag?
i have bought a j usb someone have used it? it works?
what is "jtag?"
It's a debugging port that can be used to push firmware onto memory. Mostly used for diagnostics and initial programming since it allows debugging after the first cpu instruction.
UnEZ said:
It's a debugging port that can be used to push firmware onto memory. Mostly used for diagnostics and initial programming since it allows debugging after the first cpu instruction.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have bought the jig usb, i'll try, if download mode starts, then what i should do? follow this guide? http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1840030
Interested to see if you are able to get the jig to work. I have not heard of a jig working on a hard brick. Yes if you get back into download mode just start the process over with Odin
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
arkas90 said:
i have bought the jig usb, i'll try, if download mode starts, then what i should do? follow this guide? http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1840030
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey arkas90 did JIG work for you i am in the same boat trying to revive my s3 . Please let us all know if that works
Hi everybody.
I just got a bricked HTC Sensation to play with from a guy who messed up with a Rom installation. As far as he told me, he tried to upgrade from GB to ICS directly and bricked it. The problem is that I don't know what he tried to do after that to recover it. He first told me that the phone was detected on Windows (with the typical USB alert sound) but nothing happened after that. I supposed that the phone was able to get QHSUSB_DLOAD mode and accepted the challenge!
The truth is that the phone is not recognized at all. I tried the HTC Unbricking Project under Linux (Mint 16 - 64bits) but the phone was not recognized at the first step (./brickdetect.sh). Then, just to make sure, I checked linux's log messages (tail -f /var/log/syslog) but the phone was not even detected by the USB port when was plugged or unplugged. Finally, as I had nothing to lose, I tried the wire trick as in this video as the guy successfully returned to life a completely bricked phone at least up to QHSUSB_DLOAD state. ...nothing, zero, nada, finito.
Is there anything else I could try to revive this phone before trying to sell it as for spare parts? Another extra challenge is that I don't really know if it is S-On, S-Off nor hboot version. I was just told that it was fully unlocked (I suppose it it S-off)
Well, that's the story. Any orientation will be more than welcome! Please, also If I'm missing any important detail let me know.
Thanks!
santasemilla said:
Hi everybody.
I just got a bricked HTC Sensation to play with from a guy who messed up with a Rom installation. As far as he told me, he tried to upgrade from GB to ICS directly and bricked it. The problem is that I don't know what he tried to do after that to recover it. He first told me that the phone was detected on Windows (with the typical USB alert sound) but nothing happened after that. I supposed that the phone was able to get QHSUSB_DLOAD mode and accepted the challenge!
The truth is that the phone is not recognized at all. I tried the HTC Unbricking Project under Linux (Mint 16 - 64bits) but the phone was not recognized at the first step (./brickdetect.sh). Then, just to make sure, I checked linux's log messages (tail -f /var/log/syslog) but the phone was not even detected by the USB port when was plugged or unplugged. Finally, as I had nothing to lose, I tried the wire trick as in this video as the guy successfully returned to life a completely bricked phone at least up to QHSUSB_DLOAD state. ...nothing, zero, nada, finito.
Is there anything else I could try to revive this phone before trying to sell it as for spare parts? Another extra challenge is that I don't really know if it is S-On, S-Off nor hboot version. I was just told that it was fully unlocked (I suppose it it S-off)
Well, that's the story. Any orientation will be more than welcome! Please, also If I'm missing any important detail let me know.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
did you try to see if you have access to the bootloader at all?
if yes and you don't have access then go for jtag
rzr86 said:
did you try to see if you have access to the bootloader at all?
if yes and you don't have access then go for jtag
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! Noup, I don't have access to anything, its a USB potato. Unfortunately, I'm not in the US so I can't go for jtag
I think I'm toasted
santasemilla said:
Thanks! Noup, I don't have access to anything, its a USB potato. Unfortunately, I'm not in the US so I can't go for jtag
I think I'm toasted
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gonna sound simple but does the battery have charge in it? It sounds like there may have been a time gap between them breaking it and you getting it only takes a few hours on the charge to be sure
Sent from my HTC Desire S using Tapatalk
heavy_metal_man said:
Gonna sound simple but does the battery have charge in it? It sounds like there may have been a time gap between them breaking it and you getting it only takes a few hours on the charge to be sure
Sent from my HTC Desire S using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey! Thanks for your reply. Yes, I left the phone charging a whole night and it was dead cold. I tried again after this charge and nothing happened. Tried with and without battery (as HTC Unbricking Project states) and nothing.
Anyway, I already have a person interested in the phone for spare parts so I guess that was "Mary Jane's last dance"
santasemilla said:
Hey! Thanks for your reply. Yes, I left the phone charging a whole night and it was dead cold. I tried again after this charge and nothing happened. Tried with and without battery (as HTC Unbricking Project states) and nothing.
Anyway, I already have a person interested in the phone for spare parts so I guess that was "Mary Jane's last dance"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fair enough pal
Sent from my HTC Desire S using Tapatalk
I wanted to know what cellphones to go with that are hard or near impossible to brick as I have a Samsung Galaxy S Captivate and flash it so many times and even tried to brick one but there was always a way to unbrick it. Is it just good documentation or the phone it self? or is no such thing as a unbrickable phone?
osalot said:
I wanted to know what cellphones to go with that are hard or near impossible to brick as I have a Samsung Galaxy S Captivate and flash it so many times and even tried to brick one but there was always a way to unbrick it. Is it just good documentation or the phone it self? or is no such thing as a unbrickable phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If nothing helps --> Take a hammer to brick it...
LS.xD said:
If nothing helps --> Take a hammer to brick it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not looking to brick a cellphone just looking for a newer cellphone that would be hard to brick as I had to many phones die by incorrectly flashing it or something goes wrong and ends up bricked and only fixable by the manufacturer so far only phone I had come across or heard about is the Samsung Galaxy S Captivate. But that cellphone is getting old quick and any helpful info on some cellphones to choose from would be greatly appreciated.