Database Info

unrecoverable soft brick even with USB JIG

so yeah i got my first replacement after the first time this happened... i tried flashing krylon360's rom with odin but got a fail at factory.rfs. keep in mind i am in no way shape or form a noob with odin, i have brought many of my buddies' devices back to life, but for some reason even though i use a USB jig ( which works in my captivate and personally tested and working on the SGS4g before the unrecoverable soft brick) any help please i dont want to have to send it back to t-mobile again... they already charge 10bucks just for shipping.

muleman said:
so yeah i got my first replacement after the first time this happened... i tried flashing krylon360's rom with odin but got a fail at factory.rfs. keep in mind i am in no way shape or form a noob with odin, i have brought many of my buddies' devices back to life, but for some reason even though i use a USB jig ( which works in my captivate and personally tested and working on the SGS4g before the unrecoverable soft brick) any help please i dont want to have to send it back to t-mobile again... they already charge 10bucks just for shipping.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm I'd say if the USB jig didn't work, you're not soft bricked. That's a hard brick.
What kind of USB jig are you using?
Was it a ROM or a kernel you flashed? which one, version etc.?

Jig - verified WORKING before the flash attempt
tried to flash [ROM-ODIN]T959VUVKB5 Stock + Root By: krylon360
new sgs4g
new USB cable
opened Odin first, set file
plugged in phone got a good port connection
clicked "Start"
failed at factory.rfs
phone--!--comp screen
unresponsive to JIG

donation rewards for anybody that can help! lol this is depressing, my old captivate isnt this sensitive and has been through hell and back, but this SGS4g.... im dissappointed in.

Uninstall all the drivers for the phone make sure you have the right ones also, and try plugging it into a usb 2.0 slot then run it again, this seemed to work for me. I ran into the same issue I plugged in my jig but it gave me a black screen, but odin recognized it and I flashedthe kd1 update and it was fixed. Hope this helps

muleman said:
Jig - verified WORKING before the flash attempt
tried to flash [ROM-ODIN]T959VUVKB5 Stock + Root By: krylon360
new sgs4g
new USB cable
opened Odin first, set file
plugged in phone got a good port connection
clicked "Start"
failed at factory.rfs
phone--!--comp screen
unresponsive to JIG
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hold your horses... I got some news for you.
you can flash at that screen
try flashing mine again, or try white's ODIN image.

Along with what krylon said, maybe a bad download, try download file again
Sent from my SGH-T959V using XDA Premium App

will do thanks guys, ill try it tonight and let ya know how it goes for me.

i still dont get how odin gets a connection but the phone itself cannot with the jig... not logical but hey in the process of flashing now

krylon360 said:
hold your horses... I got some news for you.
you can flash at that screen
try flashing mine again, or try white's ODIN image.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
youre the man.... Thanks much

muleman said:
i still dont get how odin gets a connection but the phone itself cannot with the jig... not logical but hey in the process of flashing now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Heimdall works at that same warning screen too. I've done it on my SGS4G.

I am confused..
sgyee said:
Heimdall works at that same warning screen too. I've done it on my SGS4G.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the computer is not recognizing the phone being plugged in, how is ODIN going to be able to process? I don't know if mine SGS4G is irrepairable but when I plug it in to the computer, it will not even show up on device manager. The drivers have been installed in the past and I have used ODIN before.
When I try using ODIN now it won't work since it won't recognize the phone.
I have used JIG and simply will not buzz. It's pretty much as dead as if the phone is not even on.
Any help guys??

amishraa said:
If the computer is not recognizing the phone being plugged in, how is ODIN going to be able to process? I don't know if mine SGS4G is irrepairable but when I plug it in to the computer, it will not even show up on device manager. The drivers have been installed in the past and I have used ODIN before.
When I try using ODIN now it won't work since it won't recognize the phone.
I have used JIG and simply will not buzz. It's pretty much as dead as if the phone is not even on.
Any help guys??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If its currently in the state which I'm assuming..
-won't turn on, no sign of life period...
-plugging it in the wall charger won't even show the green battery status...
-won't get recognized when plugged into pc (or odin)...
-all combinations of buttons and battery pulling+usb cable plugging does nothing...
Yea I think its safe to say it went to a land far far away just like my friend's phone and only Samsung can revive it now.. Because I remember reading all the stories how everyone brought theres back to life so easily with the button combos or the jig usage, but those phones all at least showed a sign of life with that cable screen. But if its pitch black like I'm assuming then...

Same here. The jig didn't seem to work - I still got the cell + comp but odin worked anyway and reflashed stock. It's probably better to run Odin off a desktop if you have one.

That screen scared the holy hell out of me a couple of days ago. I ended up having to re-install the samsung drivers for windows 7 and then odin picked the phone right up. The reason I *knew* the phone was recoverable from that screen was simple, though:
I read the screen. It wouldn't be telling you to try something in Kies if you couldn't do anything at that screen. So, I just kept ****ing around trying different things until it worked.
*I* have personally noticed that that screen tends to come up when you accidentally or inadvertently select "Re-Partition" on a rom/image that's not setup for it, or if for any reason your phone gets disconnected or powered off during the flashing process.

That screen scared the holy hell out of me a couple of days ago. I ended up having to re-install the samsung drivers for windows 7 and then odin picked the phone right up. The reason I *knew* the phone was recoverable from that screen was simple, though:
I read the screen. It wouldn't be telling you to try something in Kies if you couldn't do anything at that screen. So, I just kept ****ing around trying different things until it worked.
*I* have personally noticed that that screen tends to come up when you accidentally or inadvertently select "Re-Partition" on a rom/image that's not setup for it, or if for any reason your phone gets disconnected or powered off during the flashing process.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I second this. I have been running into this screen while trying to install root from the 2.3.4 leak. I have had black screen, fuzzy screen, random pixel screen. In most cases I have been able recognize the phone using odin. A few of the key steps that I have used to get the phone recognizable in odin are:
1. If the computer says "usb not recognized" when initially plugging in the phone, uplug it and plug it back in. Most of the time when I do this the phone is recognized as samsung device.
1b: If odin now recognizes the phone after running through step 1 I will try to flash the files again. it will usually fail after trying to load the flash files on the first try. I have to mess around with this process a few times and I can usually get a successful flash.
2. I had an case when having to deal with this problem yesterday. I was running through steps 1,1b and not having success. Odin was hanging, (I forget which step). I let it sit for about 10 minutes and was still hanging. I unplugged the phone with odin still hanging pulled battery, powered on, plugged back in. Odin, which was still open and still trying to connect, continued its already started process after plugging it back in!!! This was an accident to still have the odin running and trying to connect, but after reconnecting the phone it successfully flashed!
*I* have personally noticed that that screen tends to come up when you accidentally or inadvertently select "Re-Partition" on a rom/image that's not setup for it, or if for any reason your phone gets disconnected or powered off during the flashing process.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
These kind of observations are especially helpful! I can concur that I get the same <phone..!..pc> error, when odin tries to flash and gets a write fail, however, I do not have the "re-partition" option set. I then have to run through my previously mentioned steps to try to get a successful flash.
My question is what can i do to keep odin from failing to write when flashing?? I have only been using PDA packages, with the exception of using discrete packages (pit,csc,phone,pda) when loading the 2.3.4 rom leak.
It seems like the flashing write error in odin in causing the <phone..!..pc> error quite often with different flash processes. Does anyone have a solution to what might be causing this write error and what can be done to prevent this whole cycle? If so I sticky or new thread might be useful for other users. It has caused to have to warranty my first phone, urrrg!

Scariest feeling ever........ Not seeing your phone come up on Odin.
Sent from my SGH-T959V using XDA Premium App

Woops ahahahha. Was talkin to my friend. SOrry!

fvnktion said:
I second this. I have been running into this screen while trying to install root from the 2.3.4 leak. I have had black screen, fuzzy screen, random pixel screen. ..... [cut] ......
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same issue yesterday, when I tried to flash KD1 vanilla (stock) ROM
using ODIN, it failed the first 4 seconds, it boots into fuzzy looking screen and
that's it, every time I tried to boot it the fuzzy screen fades away to pitch black.
there is 2 possibilities that messed up the whole thing for me:
1) Bad ROM.. (i.e, can't be used with ODIN) although some members said it works
but don't know if there anything special to do before hand, if I want to downgrade.
2) Samsung Kies' fault, I installed just right before I used ODIN, and told me my
device is not registered.. hmm.
It could be both cases, but I suspect Kies the culprit, I had to uninstall it, and
uninstall the drivers came with it, installed the drivers found here in these forums,
and Odin recognized a COM port, although black screen on the phone, flashed
to KH1 and I am back to business. phew..
GB is awesome, but I can't stand the weak WIFI issue even with the latest KH1
I have to stand 3 feet away from my router to get a solid signal, with froyo
vanilla rom, I was able to connect like 50 feet away. but that's another problem
not for this thread.
Heh funny thing I read today in some thread, there is a conflict between Kies and
Odin after the incident happened. my fault for not reading a lot, jumping the gun
almost cost me the phone :/

Getting Rainbow screen on every boot and when trying to get to recovery mode

Getting Rainbow screen on every boot and when trying to get to recovery mode
For some reason I cannot get my computer to detect my device thus I can not even get into download mode. when I launch Odin and and not able to access my SD. I am at a lost here since now I cannot flash nor can I odin to get back to stock can anyone help here? I think I have tried everything I can find.
I just recently flashed octane 2.x per the instructions under development

rozzko said:
Getting Rainbow screen on every boot and when trying to get to recovery mode
For some reason I cannot get my computer to detect my device thus I can not even get into download mode. when I launch Odin and and not able to access my SD. I am at a lost here since now I cannot flash nor can I odin to get back to stock can anyone help here? I think I have tried everything I can find.
I just recently flashed octane 2.x per the instructions under development
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you came from Froyo, follow this guide: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=16762954
Hope this helps.
sent from my CommandCenter using xda premium

sounds like the bootloader.
flash a froyo rom, then try to odin. AFTER you have tried installing the drivers linked in the previous post. That guide should work.

Did you get this fixed?
Sent from my SGH-T959V using xda premium

I bought a Jig an can get into download mode but still cant get into recover (because of the rainbow screen) and i cannot get my computer to recognize my my phone either via sd or via odin or i think i could solve this.
thanks in advance

I bought a Jig an can get into download mode but still cant get into recover (because of the rainbow screen) and i cannot get my computer to recognize my my phone either via sd or via odin or i think i could solve this.
thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go into the control panel & uninstall the USB drivers & kies mini if installed. Then reinstall Kies Mini & use the menu option to reinstall the drivers. See if that helps.
Sent from my SGH-T959V using XDA App

I re installed drivers several times and used a different machine. I feel like I am stuck and there might now be a solution to this except toss the phone in the ocean!

rozzko said:
I re installed drivers several times and used a different machine. I feel like I am stuck and there might now be a solution to this except toss the phone in the ocean!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could it be the cable you're using? I've seen quite a few posts here about people using cables that were bad and/or too long and it prevented the phone from being recognized via USB. People could charge the phone but not use ODIN or anything.
Do you have a different cable to try?

ive tried two different cables, i could try another one thats a good idea. somehow i think maybe i messed up the mounting, i thought i followed the instructions to a t. UMMU .. i will try a few different cables when i get home tonight... actually just tried at work no dice, my system storage is also only showing 126 MB

rozzko said:
ive tried two different cables, i could try another one thats a good idea. somehow i think maybe i messed up the mounting, i thought i followed the instructions to a t. UMMU .. i will try a few different cables when i get home tonight... actually just tried at work no dice, my system storage is also only showing 126 MB
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought the phone did not boot up. How are you seeing how much storage you have left?
I'm curious to know what state it really is in. There has to be a way to get it going for you.

the phone boots fine during the boot after the initial boot screen where it says galaxy s 4g it goes into rainbow patterns. so every time i try to get into recovery when I am in the recovery menu (or into where the recovery menu should be) i cannot see anything because of the rainbow screen. I was told maybe i have the wrong boot loaders installed.
because i cant see recovery and I cannot get my computer to see my phone I have no idea what to do get my phone back to stock to start over.
This is why I am stuck.
If i could get my computer to see the phone I think i could odin back to stock, using the dongle is half the battle as i can get in recovery

rozzko said:
the phone boots fine during the boot after the initial boot screen where it says galaxy s 4g it goes into rainbow patterns. so every time i try to get into recovery when I am in the recovery menu (or into where the recovery menu should be) i cannot see anything because of the rainbow screen. I was told maybe i have the wrong boot loaders installed.
because i cant see recovery and I cannot get my computer to see my phone I have no idea what to do get my phone back to stock to start over.
This is why I am stuck.
If i could get my computer to see the phone I think i could odin back to stock, using the dongle is half the battle as i can get in recovery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pardon me if I'm not getting it....but yo said it boots fine but then you get the rainbow screen when the Galaxy S 4G logo should appear? The rainbow screen is definitely a boot loader issue. I'm just trying to figure out a way to either get you into a download mode where the phone is recognized or into recovery so you can get it going again.
How are you getting it into recovery mode?
I'm wondering if Heimdall would be your best bet? You could try to download it from here, extract it somewhere, then go into the Drivers folder and double-click zadig.exe. Select Options from the menu bar, select List All Devics then select Samsung Android Composite (something along those lines), then click Install Driver. This is a different driver than the one that comes from Samsung.
After that, maybe try Bhundven's [Heimdall][One-Click][UVKJ6] The KJ6 Heimdall One-Click Collection [12/11/2011]. Select whichever one-click file you want to go for and follow his instructions. They all have the GB bootloaders in them, so you should be set.

Usually both volume buttons power button for a few secs or through rom mgr

rozzko said:
Usually both volume buttons power button for a few secs or through rom mgr
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I've read ROM Manager is a no-no on this model phone. I dunno why, but I've read that on a few threads.
Let me know if you're able to install Heimdall and the open source drivers that come with it. If you can, you can get into download mode, and it sees the phone, then you can try the One Clicks or even just flash the boot loaders from a ROM that contains them.

I will try when i go home tonight.
just an fyi every time i plug in my phone, it does not show up on my computer. i have tried using debugging mode and mass storage and neither work.

rozzko said:
I will try when i go home tonight.
just an fyi every time i plug in my phone, it does not show up on my computer. i have tried using debugging mode and mass storage and neither work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ugh...well let's hope for the best. I would uninstall any drivers and programs like Kies you have installed first, then install the Heimdall drivers. Let me know how it goes.

so i uninstalled drivers executed Heimdall and put phone in download mode with dongle. the computer still did not detect phone, however i got my replacement SGS4 today put it in download mode and it was detected immediately.
I dont know what else I can do do get the phone detected or fix the boot loader to get into recovery

rozzko said:
I will try when i go home tonight.
just an fyi every time i plug in my phone, it does not show up on my computer. i have tried using debugging mode and mass storage and neither work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe I'm missing something. How are you switching between debugging mode and mass media if you can't boot the phone?
The way I understood the problem, you would get to the SgS logo screen during boot, then the whole screen would be covered by the rainbow effect, which renders the screen unreadable, nd thus the phone unusable. Is that correct, or is the problem different?

the rainbow screen happens right after the SGS Logo then fades out once the lock screen comes on.
it also shows up once I try to get into recovery but from that point I cannot see anything and have to reboot.
Phone works after fully booted
both debugging and mass storage have been tried

You need to flash the "GINGERBREAD" bootloaders. This issue is 100% caused by froyo bootloaders. Once you obtain the GINGERBREAD bootloader, there is a 100% chance that the issue will go away. Flash THISTHIS/download. in heimdall. Get into recovery, then flash a rom of your choice.

Question regarding odin (solved)

Ok I have looked at thread after thread and saw some similar issues but no real solution that has worked for me. Long story short, my brother tried updating his SGS4G and "says" the cable came out during update. Basically phone was stuck in communication with pc screen. After tons of trial and error button combos, jig, etc. I was about to give up as I couldn't get it into download mode. Well got bored so tried again and somehow got Odin to recognize the phone and started to flash the K1. Unfortunately, it failed before completing and now I can get the phone into DL mode but Odin nor the PC will recognize it. It sort of boot loops a couple times then loads up to home screen for a few seconds during media scanning then trips right back to Galaxy S 4g screen and starts the boot loop deal over again. I was able to check before it cut off and it has unknown baseband. Is there any other way to get Odin to recognize while in download? I have done all the steps then plug in phone etc. Odin just sits there and PC said usb not recognized. Tried 3 different PCs with XP, Linux, and Win 7. Is the baseband the issue for getting it recognized now? If I can ever get Odin to recognize I was hoping to manage a full backup to stock and then worry about the baseband issues but for now I am stuck and would have pulled all my hair out by now but I am bald. Any advice or pointing in the right direction would be great.
Edit: Thanks for the help. After tons of attempts I got Heimdall to recognize and got it flashed back to stock.. Still isn't recognizing all the time but hopefully it will enough to allow me to root it before I give it back to him. Thanks again I read and read and tried all sorts of stuff multiple times.

If you can get into download mode. Just start ODIN whether it recognizes phone or not and see what happens. And double check your settings are correct in ODIN. Make sure u have latest version as well. Or try Heimdall.
EDIT: Go ahead and tell us whether you were on FROYO or GB. And why were you flashing K1? And what is K1? KC1?
Are you using FB's GB Ext4 Starter Pack?

Odin can sometimes be a pain. If the computer gives you the "un recognized device" keep trying. Tried different cable and USB port and reinstalling drives and such? Lots of others have had luck using the one click.. Heimdel package. But, I'm an Odin fan... If you get any sign of life from PC while it loops, that's a start.
if you have adb loaded, have you tired to spam the reboot download command while the phone loops?? Its another way to see if it does/can get into download mode..

Did you get it working? If so mark the the title [SOLVED].

Bricked phone. Odin doesnt seem to work. Now what?

Originally one cm7, tried out cm9 but apparently i never got the bootloader right so i was getting rainbows. I tried to switch to emancipation and that loaded up fine. went and made one more attempt to cm9 but no luck. i am not stuck at the samsung logo. If Odin connects it gets to the step that says setup connection but never moves past. What are my options? I don't even care what rom i'm on as long as i can use the phone. cm9 gives and error if i try and flash. i can still access red CWM. emancipation will flash and say complete but if i reboot it just sits as the samsung logo. i checked mounts and no matter what i cant mount system which i think is my problem. i can no longer see the phone from my pc either. so i don't believe i can get another rom to it from the pc.
Any help is appreciated, screen shots or explanation for dummies is much appreciated. I've done this before but have never been stuck like this where i couldn't get back to a working rom stock or otherwise.
Thanks,
Joe

Try qksters heimdal to stock and see. If no luck, try Odin again(gtgs unbrick)but try with every USB port until it works. Sometimes Odin likes to prefer a certain one. Anyways, I prefer using the heimdall package. A lot more easier in my opinion
Try a pizza taco sometime, if you don't know what it is, look it up then

did you wipe user data,cache,and delvic

yes. also finally got hemidall to load on the home pc but phone would never connect. even if i went through cwm and put it into download mode.

Kies wont see phone ive tried that too. pc sees it and load drivers but it wont connect. i cant even see it as a mass storage on the pc anymore. gunna try odin from my work pc. If anyone can help it would be great i need to fix this asap as im in the middle of purchasing a house and have quite few people im going back and forth with.

asadjewonxmas said:
yes. also finally got hemidall to load on the home pc but phone would never connect. even if i went through cwm and put it into download mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to install the drivers that come with hemidall before it will connect to your phone
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

got odin to work. i needed a different usb cable.

I had a similar problem, except I was unable to flash any from after attempting to flash cm9. Im on vacation away from my computer so I was unable to Odin, I just kept using the three finger method to get into recovery. And kept trying to flash a different roms always getting stuck at the Samsung logo...after about 1-2 hours of continuesly flashing i was finally able to flash a rom-after my phone finally booted up I booted into recovery which was now red again and instead of flashing the kernel I just flashed cm9 again. Got stuck on Samsung logo booted into recovery which was once again rainbowish and reflashed and then I booted up into cm9!!!
So basically for those who are away from a computer just keep attempting to flash-it worked for me just took a looooong time
Sent from my SGH-I997 using XDA

[Q] Failed Valhalla Final flash

Hello all, any help would be greatly appreciated.
My wife's phone has been rather buggy so I decided to root and rom it. Rooted the phone with the oneclick method. Moved on to getting CWM up and running (it is what I'm familiar with from my G2x). I liked what I was seeing with the Valhalla Final rom OP and decided to give it a try. Read the instructions to install but things have steadily gone down hill.
I am comming from stock. I did a NANDROID backup. Wiped, wiped, wiped and then flashed the ROM. I do believe that I just didn't read carefully enough where it says I "must have pre-installed kernel" . When I rebooted I got a pixelated screen unreadable screen. There was a voice in the background describing what was going on but I plugged along and waited the 5-7 minutes. Figured if it didn't work correctly I would just go back into CWM and restore my nandroid backup. However I can no longer get back into CWM or the recovery prompt that comes before CWM. I just get the Galaxy S 4g screen which then goes to the weird pixelated screen and then it continues in a boot loop.
I tried to follow this debricking thread but got stuck a couple of times. First, that I can't find the boot.bin and sbl.bin files. I google around and found this but the download link no longer works. Does anyone have the boot.bin and sbl.bin files handy?
Also, the Zadig program to install the Heimdall driver doesn't show me any driver options. I suspect that this is because Heimdall or Zadig had not run on the computer before I had the phone properly connected. I saw that it was the Samsung Composite driver that was being asked for. Not sure if I found the correct one but either way it didn't work. I was unable to get the computer to recognize the phone (also phone would continue on its boot loop, also it doesn't change anything whether I am holding down the volume buttons when I turn the phone on or not).
I have stayed up half the night looking for something but am wondering if I just straight up bricked the phone and need to send it to someone with JTAG experience. Let me know if there is something I am missing or some suggestions you have.

Go here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=21953878&postcount=2
The problem is that you tried flashing a gingerbread rom even though your phone still had Froyo bootloaders. If you flash a gingerbread rom using one of the one click files mentioned in the guide, you'll be able to flash more GB custom roms.
Don't worry your phone is fine, you just need to read a little more and you'll be good to go.

Thank you very much for the link, the post is very through. I am getting stuck because my phone appears to not want to go into "Download Mode." Every time I press the up + down vol buttons and plug in the usb I just get the attached images and they go in an infinite boot loop.
I have tried every usb port on the computer and followed the instructions near the first of the post and uninstalled all ports which had Android or Samsung associated with them. I also tried all the different ways I could to get into download mode based on this link.
I am currently in the process of uploading a clip of the infinite boot loop I am in on Youtube and will post it if it helps.
Again thank you all for your help. The XDA community is the best!

That is the rainbow screen indicating you need GB bootloaders. Just pull your battery. You need to flash twice - second time checking the 'flash bootloaders'.
For the driver issue/phone not recognized by the computer - There is a tool in the guide called USBDeview (in the notes). Use it to make sure you have uninstalled all android related/unknown drivers. Go into uninstall programs and make sure you uninstall Samsung drivers. Restart your computer. I also run the CCleanner reg cleaner. Then restart computer again.
For Download Mode - Pull battery. Plug your USB into your computer only. Make sure you are pushing both the volume up and down buttons simultaneously. Without putting battery back in, plug your USB cable into your phone while continuing to hold volume up and volume down buttons. Keep holding volume buttons with USB plugged into phone and computer and put the battery back in.
Start guide over and read thoroughly.

Fb that's the screen I got coming back from nand back up!!! I had to flash a diff kernel with Odin to fix it

Thanks for all your help. Ironically I was doing everything correctly, but my usb cable had gone bad on me the night that it all happened. So thanks all, espicially lumin30 for the excellent guide and for FBis251 pointing me to it. After switching to a working cable and completing lumin30's guide all is now working great!
As a random side note the driver section showed up slightly differently for me (the device I had to pick was [usb composite] but once I figured that out everything went well).

Glad you figured it out