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How to unbrick the soft bricked Captivate

NOTE:
So far this has been the only sure fire method I've found to 100% get around any brick situation regardless of firmware, etc. This only works for the captivate, not any other galaxy s variant.
Situations: phone-!-Computer / no download mode
Black Screen / RST_STATUS 0x0
Procedure:
1. Remove the battery, external SD card and SIM card.
2. Wait 10 seconds.
3. Open odin3
4. Connect usb cable.
5. Hold volume up + volume down + Power.
6. Insert battery.
7. Release POWER BUTTON ONLY.
You should now be in immediate download mode.
Please forgive me if this is duplicate some where, but I tried every procedure I could find on google to no avail, then accidentally found this method just before I was going to box it back up and see if my buddy at AT&T would make me eat it or not.
My situation was: Launched Odin3 to flash H3 firmware, died twice in the middle, and on the third time locked up half ways just at the beginning of factoryfs.rfs -- Then the phone did nothing. Blackscreen is all. Interestingly enough, while in the state if you hold volume up + power, it will give a hw diagnostic screen. Beyond that I could get no where. Just a black screen, no acknowledgement when connected to PC, no charging indicator, nothing.
If this is a dupe Im sorry but this method I could not find and hope to make it readily available to people who may think their phones bricked.
Update 12/22/2010:
How to BRICK the phone / WARNING!!!
If for whatever reason you decide to use Odin to flash a stock GTI9000 ROM and manually add the kernels and modems using a "pure" 2.2.1 sammy rom. BEWARE.
Researching a lot, it seems the consensus is that the sbl in the 2.2.1 versions of the GTI9000 has *hard* download mode crippled.. Meaning if there is a software screw up YOU CANNOT USE A USB JIG OR ANY OTHER METHOD OF GETTING THE PHONE IN DOWNLOAD MODE!!! To fix it you'll need a new one or JTAG to replace the bootloader.
As far as I can tell, beyond getting completely rid of the AT&T logo, there is no need to flash boot/sbl to get the "purity" of the 2.2.1 sammy roms.
Extract all files from the tar EXCEPT boot/sbl and re-tar and flash just those to avoid overwriting the stock captivate boot loader.
Also, it does not appear the boot/sbl from the captivate 2.2 leak suffers this same problem.
For any one iffy on bricking their phones, stay away from roms that remove COMPLETELY the AT&T logo on boot. This generally means the boot loader has been messed with any you may be screwed if you soft brick the phone. Most CWM roms dont overwrite the boot/sbl, but some can and do. Watch yourself.. if it the AT&T logo goes away COMPLETELY, I recommend flashing JF6 with One click while the roms alive using adb reboot download and try another rom.

thanks!
worked...took a few tries but some trick with this captivate to get it into download mode.. i was totally bricked too, diag screen with PC/Phone icons and exclamation mark. for me 1.) plug usb, 2.) hold power and vol up/down and connect battery (it fell out) and i was in download mode

I guess a similar procedure was on the odin3 one click thread, but there is something different in your procedure, it's not my case but it would be nice if some people confirms this as this may be useful and if it really works it should be included in odin thread

What worked for me was: Pull the battery, sim and micro sd card. Open odin on the PC. Insert the battery. Hold vol up and down then with the buttons held connect the usb cable. Just remember to plug in the usb cable with the vol up and down held in and odin must be open on the computer.
I also ran into the vol up plus power red text screen. Interesting to note that one of the fields will change depending if the usb cable is connected or not.

mine is dead
mi samsung captivate was working great but, suddenly it go black and only the touch bottom have light, when i plug it in the a/c it show is charging. i'm mac user and a read that i ned to use odin3 but it not work on mac. how i can unbrick the phone???
is rooted with one click lag
the dbdata was modif to
thats all
HEEEEELLLLLPPPPPP

Odin will not open on the mac?
Cant you use a virtual machine and use Odin on a Mac that way?
Or else take the odin 3 single click for JF6 and use on a friends Windows Computer.

Please help - unable to flash back with Odin3
I have pretty much tried it all at this point and am trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong.
I followed the directions just in case get to the big yellow triangle with the droid shoveling and the screen stays at "downloading, do not turn off target..."
Of course I had Odin3 open already but its not seeing my phone, USB drives are installed am using Odin3 ver. 1.30.
Any help would be appreciated, TIA!

TechNut* said:
I have pretty much tried it all at this point and am trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong.
I followed the directions just in case get to the big yellow triangle with the droid shoveling and the screen stays at "downloading, do not turn off target..."
Of course I had Odin3 open already but its not seeing my phone, USB drives are installed am using Odin3 ver. 1.30.
Any help would be appreciated, TIA!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Best way to get download mode is use adb and type adb reboot download.
Or follow the volume up/down held with odin open on the computer, then you plug in the usb cable to the computer.

askpcguy said:
What worked for me was: Pull the battery, sim and micro sd card. Open odin on the PC. Insert the battery. Hold vol up and down then with the buttons held connect the usb cable. Just remember to plug in the usb cable with the vol up and down held in and odin must be open on the computer.
I also ran into the vol up plus power red text screen. Interesting to note that one of the fields will change depending if the usb cable is connected or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you thank you thank you. i had a totally dead no boot or anything and this worked, i was going through the whole returning the phone senerio in my head

mattbeau said:
Thank you thank you thank you. i had a totally dead no boot or anything and this worked, i was going through the whole returning the phone senerio in my head
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just sharing the info! Makes you think twice about trying something else don't it?

does not seem to work because as soon as my battery touches the contacts it goes to the diag screen. do I have to release the power button in super human speed times there?
looked at all threads here, looked elsewhere -- there are some that are not fixable. Wanted to add that in case others come here and think that they might be the only ones that can't get it to work.
Ended up sending mine off to Samsung to reset today. :/

I love you! I called AT&T to send me documentation to sign and it was going to cost me 125 dollars to get it replaced even with warranty. And you fixed it !

i have tried just about every single method detailed in these forums, and nothing works.
Trying what OP suggested just sends me to the battery charging animation screen.
Anybody have any ideas ?

file analysis
I keep can get to the download screen and I hit start and it does the same thing everytime it just does File analysis i cant figure what i am doing wrong here somebody please help me

I think the issue was it had something to do with 64 bit windows 7 i just re did the stock rom one click solution and it worked fine

thekurrgan said:
NOTE:
5. Hold volume up + volume down + Power.
6. Insert battery.
7. Release POWER BUTTON ONLY.
You should now be in immediate download mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for sharing your experience.
I don't have a Captivate yet but am doing research on it and hopeful of getting one. I am confused about one thing.
Every where that I have read about how to enter Recovery mode or Download mode on the Captivate using the 3 button method, it says holding down both Volume UP + Volume Down (plus Power button) will enter Recovery mode. But you say it enters Download mode which is confusing to me. As I recall, to enter Download mode you must press the Vol Down only (plus Power button). Could it be because the phone won't go into Recovery mode, it goes into Download mode instead? Am I missing something?
Thank you!

Download mode is for updating the phone's firmware.
Remove battery, plug in the usb cable to the phone, open ODIN on the computer (need usb drivers installed before hand) on the phone hold volume up and down then plug the phone into the computer. Your phone will say DOWNLOADING. This method works even if you run into problems and the phone refuses to boot properly.
Recovery mode is for installing Update.zip. The method is tricky but involves holding volume up/down and power, the phone will show ATT then go black. It will repeat that but after the second time it goes black let go of power.
If that doesnt work, android debug tools ADB reboot recovery will work even better.
Or root the phone and use Clockwork Rom manager to boot into recovery, just press the menu item.

askpcguy said:
Download mode is for updating the phone's firmware.
Remove battery, plug in the usb cable to the phone, open ODIN on the computer (need usb drivers installed before hand) on the phone hold volume up and down then plug the phone into the computer. Your phone will say DOWNLOADING. This method works even if you run into problems and the phone refuses to boot properly.
Recovery mode is for installing Update.zip. The method is tricky but involves holding volume up/down and power, the phone will show ATT then go black. It will repeat that but after the second time it goes black let go of power.
If that doesn't work, android debug tools ADB reboot recovery will work even better.
Or root the phone and use Clockwork Rom manager to boot into recovery, just press the menu item.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you askpcguy! I understand the difference between Download and Recovery modes.
So the procedural difference here is having the battery in + Power button, versus battery not in (use USB cable instead) and no Power button. Can the phone get power from the PC via the USB cable? This seems to differ from what the original poster said about download mode. Perhaps OP could edit his original post for clarification? Or am I still missing something? Thanks to all

The phone does get power from the USB cable.
The difference is one procedure uses the USB cable (download mode) and the other does not (Recovery mode).
The volume up+down method does not use the power button, the phone is powered on into download mode once you plug in the USB cable.
We say pull the battery to get the phone powered off. If a firmware flash stalled or doesn't complete, pull the battery and try again!

I now understand the precedural difference.
Thank you askpcguy!

[Q] HELP! Captivate won't go into download mode with volume +/- and USB!!!

I was trying to flash my captivate with adb reboot download and the battery fell out in download mode. I tried volume +/- to fix but no luck! Please help me! Stuck at Phone warning sign computer screen!

odin1click? volumeupdown + insert usb, open odin1click click go.
should fix it.

cerjam said:
odin1click? volumeupdown + insert usb, open odin1click click go.
should fix it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doesn't go into download mode at all! Just shows the corrupted firmware every time I try it.

can you get a adb connection?

cerjam said:
can you get a adb connection?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, computer doesn't recognize it. If I had an ADB connection, I'd adb reboot download but when I try adb, it says no device found.

try plugging in usb with the battery out and then holding vol+- and inserting the battery while holding the volume buttons if not you need to make a jig.

I've had success with this method to get into Download Mode:
1. Remove battery, SIM and microSD from phone (if you have one)
2. Wait at least 10 seconds with the phone in this state
3. Plug your phone into your computer (this step has always been optional for me)
4. Hold Volume Up/Down, don't let go!
5. While holding both volume keys, insert the battery
If it worked, you should almost instantly be in Download Mode. I've omitted step 3 and still had success using those steps on my batch 1007 phone. In general, I get my phone into Download Mode first, and then plug it into the computer.

I'm probably just going to go to AT&T tomorrow and get them to exchange it if I can't get it to get into download mode tonight.

norcal einstein said:
I've had success with this method to get into Download Mode:
1. Remove battery, SIM and microSD from phone (if you have one)
2. Wait at least 10 seconds with the phone in this state
3. Plug your phone into your computer (this step has always been optional for me)
4. Hold Volume Up/Down, don't let go!
5. While holding both volume keys, insert the battery
If it worked, you should almost instantly be in Download Mode. I've omitted step 3 and still had success using those steps on my batch 1007 phone. In general, I get my phone into Download Mode first, and then plug it into the computer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Didn't work, this used to work for me but now no luck. I don't know why it just stopped going into download mode.

Could you usb connect to PC on debug mode? Is this connecton visible from your PC?

aggielover said:
I was trying to flash my captivate with adb reboot download and the battery fell out in download mode. I tried volume +/- to fix but no luck! Please help me! Stuck at Phone warning sign computer screen!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a semi-bricked screen. No, normal method to go into download mode won't work in this state.
There are instructions to recover from this state into download mode. I have posted a few links in the past but don't have it right now. IIRC, you need to hold both vol buttons and Power button and wait until screen goes blank twice before release the power button so that your phone could go into download mode.
The other way is to rig a microUSB plug with a 301k resistor connected between pin5 and one of the data pin. This will put your phone instantly into download mode. There is a thread dedicated for this. Search.

norcal einstein said:
I've had success with this method to get into Download Mode:
1. Remove battery, SIM and microSD from phone (if you have one)
2. Wait at least 10 seconds with the phone in this state
3. Plug your phone into your computer (this step has always been optional for me)
4. Hold Volume Up/Down, don't let go!
5. While holding both volume keys, insert the battery
If it worked, you should almost instantly be in Download Mode. I've omitted step 3 and still had success using those steps on my batch 1007 phone. In general, I get my phone into Download Mode first, and then plug it into the computer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, this worked for me!

aggielover said:
norcal einstein said:
I've had success with this method to get into Download Mode:
1. Remove battery, SIM and microSD from phone (if you have one)
2. Wait at least 10 seconds with the phone in this state
3. Plug your phone into your computer (this step has always been optional for me)
4. Hold Volume Up/Down, don't let go!
5. While holding both volume keys, insert the battery
If it worked, you should almost instantly be in Download Mode. I've omitted step 3 and still had success using those steps on my batch 1007 phone. In general, I get my phone into Download Mode first, and then plug it into the computer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Didn't work, this used to work for me but now no luck. I don't know why it just stopped going into download mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been having the same issue and none of the methods mentioned on the forums have worked. I recently updated to a custom 2.2.1 rom (Paragon) and when I tried to flash back to stock with odin (afterwards), it gave me the finger (got stuck in the process). I tried to unplug and plug back in the usb, restart odin, pc, reinstall drivers (none of which helped). So my dumbarse decided to take the battery out to reboot the phone. Usually after doing so in the past, I've been able to manually get into download mode using the 3 button combo, but haven't been able to so far. I haven't tried making a jig yet, knowing me, I might seriously break something that way.
I was reading somewhere that 2.2.1 breaks the 3 button combo (along with 1 click root for that matter). Just wondering if there is anything else I can try or should I just make a jig? Should I take it in to AT&T and see if they can do something or should I call them? Just wanting some advice from the Gurus here.
edit: and "no, I can't do it through ADB or I would've already".

jig it up

xrCore said:
Thank you, this worked for me!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
was going to suggest the same....thats only happened once (after install of gingerbread alpha) but that was the only thing that worked....the download screen literally jolted on the instant the battery connectors touched.

darthdave said:
I was reading somewhere that 2.2.1 breaks the 3 button combo (along with 1 click root for that matter). Just wondering if there is anything else I can try or should I just make a jig? Should I take it in to AT&T and see if they can do something or should I call them? Just wanting some advice from the Gurus here.
edit: and "no, I can't do it through ADB or I would've already".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2.2.1 puts the 3-button setup to whatever the i9000 uses, which is different from the Captivate. Nobody's made a fix yet AFAIK.

for me i managed to get it into download mode, BUT, when i try running Odin it's stuck at "DO NOT TURN OFF TARGET!!"
any thoughts?

Lawliet L Ryuzaki said:
for me i managed to get it into download mode, BUT, when i try running Odin it's stuck at "DO NOT TURN OFF TARGET!!"
any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What build is your phone, located under battery. Something like 1010

Search for Sparkfun in the dev forum for Captivate. Easy to make jig (that's been mentioned before) that will get you out of the woods.

I am having issues getting into download mode myself. Samsung Captivate SGH-I897. I just got it less than two weeks ago. Played with some of the features. Did the root. Did the ROM manager. Everything I needed to do to have Serendipity 5.12 installed. Did it. worked great. Was missing some of the apps I enjoyed from the gate(Samsung EMail). So i read up that u could make a custom Serendipity in the kitchen.
Put the phone to JH6 from Odin. Also did the master clear. So now I am at 2.1 update 1 from Odin.
However, Now I cant get Clockwork Recovery at all ( when option is selected it goes to default recovery every single time ). I did try to re-install the correct flash for Clockwork, same results.
So, i thought maybe something didnt copy or flash or clear correctly and was going to do an Odin procedure again, cant get into download mode now. NOT AT ALL.
The phone will just re-boot into JH6. It operates normally, however I can shake JH6. No download mode. No Clockwork recovery.
I am noob, I am a quick hands on learner though. Not even sure if this will get the response desired.

help please recovery mode

i cant get my captivate in recovery mode i need to master clear it because its locked and i dont know the password someone help i dont know what to do

What have you done in order to get into recovery?
Vol up and down and power, let go when at&t screen comes up
I am not sure you can just factory reset in click quirk to remove an un lock code
I think you can reflash software using odin

yea i tried using the volume buttons and power but it doesnt wanna work for nothing i been trying all damn day

Have you tried getting into download mode
Take battery sim and ext sd out
Put battery back in
Hold vol up and down
While holding plug usb in (should be connected to pc)
By the way how did your screen get locked? Do you have usb debugging enabled

a lil child was playing with it and locked it while i had it sittin down but usb debugging is off and i tried that also

what is your build number, located under battery, my guess is 1008

yep 1008 man i kno u can help me some how

There is a known issue with some 1008 build phones, where button combos don't work.
Hmmmm. No button combos, no usb debugging. Its your phone rooted, have you flashed any roms?
I am really not sure you may need to reach out to samsung/at&t

its stock not rooted

Well you have done nothing wrong and the fact that you cannot get into recovery is a product fault.
Wait, a jig should get you into download mode
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0aoabVtPJ8
Watch this. If you can get into download mode you can use odin to flash stock software back onto your phone. You will lose your contacts, settings, and apps
I an guessing you have no idea what odin is

i kno what it is thanks imma try it

Pm me if you need more help I will offer anything I got. Good luck

Odin with three button fix. If you are lucky enough to get to this point. It will hopefully fix your issue going forward
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=818439

[Q] Need help with serendipity 7 soft brick

i have a samsung captivate (build 1012) that i recently soft bricked and so far i have found no way to get it into download mode to revive it. i have used odin one click and flashed other roms before and im not new to all of this, but this one is just not working out so well. it was on serendipity 6.4 and i wanted to update to serendipity 7 beta 2 so i downloaded all the files i needed and went into download mode to flash gingerbread. odin went just fine until it reached the step where it says "do not power off target" and then froze and didnt go any further than that. so i unplugged the phone and every button combination i know to put it into download mode to run through odin one click and it simply wont do it. it is stuck on the phone-!-pc screen and thats all it will do. i have tried the gb bootloader button combinations and froyo combinations. im about to just order a jig because it looks like thats all i can do. has anyone else had something similar happen? i need all the help i can get.

I have experience in this area but not with Samsung devices. Is the bootloader unlockable, and if so have you unlocked it. Also, have you gotten any software on your computer to recognize your phone?

i have unlocked it and i do have the 64 bit drivers for my phone (im running windows 7 64 bit) and i have always been able to do this but i think odin screwed up my ability to get into download mode because of my build number :/

What Screen do you get when you power on? Phone ! Computer? Or something else?
Sent from my Galaxy S Firefly 3.0

Can you get any sign of fastboot protocol support, or Koushs Clockworkmod recovery. You said you have installed the drivers, but when you plug it into your computer does your computer recognize your device as anything. Sorry about this whole situation
Hey i found this. I have not the slightest clue if it will help you but i will post it here just in case.
So far this has been the only sure fire method I've found to 100% get around any brick situation regardless of firmware, etc. This only works for the captivate, not any other galaxy s variant.
Situations: phone-!-Computer / no download mode
Black Screen / RST_STATUS 0x0
Procedure:
1. Remove the battery, external SD card and SIM card.
2. Wait 10 seconds.
3. Open odin3
4. Connect usb cable.
5. Hold volume up + volume down + Power.
6. Insert battery.
7. Release POWER BUTTON ONLY.
You should now be in immediate download mode.
Make sure to try this a few times if it does not work imediately.
I hope it works and wish for the best

yeah i get the phone ! computer screen, thats all it will do no matter what combination i try

Try this
Here is another thing to try as button combinations, removing the sdcard and sim seem to be the only possible way out of this
What worked for me was: Pull the battery, sim and micro sd card. Open odin on the PC. Insert the battery. Hold vol up and down then with the buttons held connect the usb cable. Ju..st remember to plug in the usb cable with the vol up and down held in and odin must be open on the computer.
With your current luck this will probably not work but anything is worth a try

From the Phone ! PC screen I've flashed stocked roms. If Odin can see your phone from this screen you don't need to enter download mode because your technically already in an alternate download mode. In theory you should be able to just Flash to stock from the Phone ! PC screen.
Sent from my Galaxy S Firefly 3.0

Does Odin recognize it and did you fix it?

Well I never got the buttons to work :/ but I made a jig from a few resistors and my baby is back once again haha
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

I do have one other issue though, I still want to flash serendipity 7 but when I try it odin freezes on "do not turn off target" after setting pit file. Any advice? Its the odin version that comes with serendipity 7. I believe 1.72 or something
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

ODIN to stock without power button working? Is it possible?

Sorry for the long title but it states my predicament. Basically my power button is done and I can't boot into recovery anymore. It just is a endless cycle of reboots(vibrates everyone 15 seconds or so). I even tried to enter download mode, which it does but than restarts the bootloop issue. Anyhow, I've never used ODIN so someone please fill me in. I want to ODIN back to stock because it's my last hope and basically I can't get into recovery anymore anyway. But do I need to use my power button to ODIN? Also what if I can't get into ODIN mode because it just wants to continue to reboot. Any help? I'm at a lost here.
Oops, wrong section. Mods can you please move to Q&A...sorrrry.

tu3218 said:
Sorry for the long title but it states my predicament. Basically my power button is done and I can't boot into recovery anymore. It just is a endless cycle of reboots(vibrates everyone 15 seconds or so). I even tried to enter download mode, which it does but than restarts the bootloop issue. Anyhow, I've never used ODIN so someone please fill me in. I want to ODIN back to stock because it's my last hope and basically I can't get into recovery anymore anyway. But do I need to use my power button to ODIN? Also what if I can't get into ODIN mode because it just wants to continue to reboot. Any help? I'm at a lost here.
Oops, wrong section. Mods can you please move to Q&A...sorrrry.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Moved to Q and A. I suggest pulling your battery for at least thirty minutes or maybe an hour. Then put the battery back in(do not power on) and plug the phone into your charger and allow it to charge overnight. From what you have said the power button does indeed work but you have done something to your phone causing a boot loop. In the morning search XDA for Odin procedures (there are a plethora of them on XDA) and attempt your Odin to stock. If the phone continues to boot loop I hope you have insurance... I did this to my LG Optimus once... And couldn't save it...

VeNuM said:
Moved to Q and A. I suggest pulling your battery for at least thirty minutes or maybe an hour. Then put the battery back in(do not power on) and plug the phone into your charger and allow it to charge overnight. From what you have said the power button does indeed work but you have done something to your phone causing a boot loop. In the morning search XDA for Odin procedures (there are a plethora of them on XDA) and attempt your Odin to stock. If the phone continues to boot loop I hope you have insurance... I did this to my LG Optimus once... And couldn't save it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does "work" but not correctly. Apparency its a known issue and called SDS. basically the way it acts is that when I press the button, the phone
Is acting as if I pressed it twice. So I press it to turn screen off, screen comes right back on. Long press power button for reboot menu, flashes, dissapears and than comes right back. This I believe is why I can't boot into recovery or download mode. Not that the phones bricked, but the phone is having trouble recognizing power button hits.
So my last try was to Odin back to stock just to see if that helps. But when I hold the buttons down to get into download mode or select it in reboot menu, it boots into it real quick(I see download mode appear on screen) but than immediately starts looping. So when I use Odin, will it automatically boot into download mode for me? What about mobile Odin?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app

I had the same problem With my s3... It was out of warranty so I sent it to mobile tech videos to have the power switch repaired. It's been great ever since. I realize that doesn't really Answer your question about Odin, just figured I'd chime in with what I had to do. I was afraid to attempt to Odin or flash anything before the repair bc in my mind the phone believed the power button was being pressed repeatedly and that would make it interrupt the flash.

Also if you're under warranty, Samsung will most likely fix it despite being rooted. Mobile Tech Videos sounds like a great option too if you're out of warranty, glad to see there's an alternative way to get it fixed.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

I don't have the phone in question but for my Samsung Vibrant (Galaxy S, T-mo variant) if you press and hold the Volume Up button while plugging in the charger or say your computer's USB port the phone will boot into download mode. Not sure if it will work for the S3 though. Hopefully it does! :fingers-crossed:
Also, for my work around, I've mapped the Volume up button within ROMs to 'POWER WAKE' to replace the power button. It's not needed but its an easy way to reboot to recovery if its implemented in the Roms power menu. Occasionally the phone will crash or the battery may die. If I'm at home, that's an easy fix, just boot up download mode and flash a kernel/modem/recovery via odin and make sure auto reboot is selected. The phone should boot, granted there are no errors. The only problem I have is when it crashes or battery dies and I'm not at home I can't turn on the phone. If anyone knows a way around powering on or booting into recovery without the use of the power button or odin/download mode I will be eternally grateful. I'm try to get my Vibrant in working order for my father whose never had a Smart phone. I myself have upgraded to the s4 and am glad I stuck with what I knew instead of getting the HTC One. =]

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1931310
Read this thread. Power button issues on S2 might help and save you time and money. Or if you want to get into download mode use adb.. "adb reboot download " or can be done in terminal.
Sent from my SCH-I535