Reviving the Samsung Galaxy S 4G - Samsung Galaxy S (4G Model)

I wanted to share my knowledge and experience from the past 2 days. Most of the help came from guides and posts on this forum so I wanted to give that back.
We were trying to root the SGS4G and because we're noobs we made the mistake of thinking it was a Vibrant. Got a Vibrant ROM and tried to flash it though Odin WITH re-partition checked. Everything we read said if you do either one of these things, you will brick your phone.
Sure enough we bricked the phone. It was trying to boot into the Vibrant ROM but was getting stuck on the word 'Vibrant' and then showing a whole lot of weird colored pixels. We then learned we'd made a massive mistake and that the phone wasn't a Vibrant after all.
We got a stock ROM for SGS4G and started trying to push them through Odin. Faced countless FAILS and freezes and finally it took us to the Recovery Mode and we tried the Restore option. It booted into a crippled SGS4G ROM. When it booted, it vibrated every 10 seconds or so and it had a null IMEI and unknown baseband.
We tried following a guide that wanted to change some text in the nv_data.bin but the numbers we were meant to be editing (0018810?) didn't exist in our nv_data.bin. So that didn't work for us.
In the meantime we tried to flash the stock ROM in Odin but kept getting FAILs and Freezes. With this step we lost even the crippled operating system and couldn't reach anything except the 'phone --!-- computer' screen. Luckily, this acts the same as download mode, so not bricked. We kept trying to push the stock SGS4G stock ROM (Froyo 2.2) several times and failing.
At one point we got a completely black screen, wouldn't turn on. Bricked again. We found this post on RootzWiki and it worked for us that time and brought it back from the black screen to download mode http://rootzwiki.com/topic/1820-how-to-unbrick-your-sgs4g/
Somehow we ended up at this guide here on XDA for fixing the "null/null" IMEI http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1142829
We followed that guide. When you add the PIT file it automatically checks 'Re-Partition' in Odin, we didn't uncheck it. Bricked again. It was stuck on the Samsung logo and when we tried to get to download mode it got stuck on a black screen with the loading circle/lines and 2 computers were giving 'The USB device has malfunctioned' when we plugged it in. The unbrick guide above (RootzWiki) didn't help this time. We tried restarting the computer, let the phone rest without battery for half an hour, held power button for a minute without battery, still nothing.
Finally I accidentally pressed the power button (rather than the volume buttons to get into download mode) and it went to the samsung logo (as expected) and after that I was able to get into download mode. The key to this I think is to keep on trying powering on normally then try download mode over and over and eventually it should get unstuck and the computer should recognize it again.
Once I had it back in download mode, I followed this guide again BUT!!! I made sure to un-check re-partition and I did not check "Phone EFS Clear" (because I had tried that already before it was bricked and wanted to see if a straight ROM would work first). Everything worked perfectly, I got my IMEI and Baseband back, without modifying anything.
I don't know if this was a miracle, or if any of it will work for anyone else, but the moral of the story is don't give up even if you've done the absolute worst possible thing. I don't even think hardbrick exists on this phone after everything we were able to save it from.
Cheers

Hardbricks do exist on this phone but you have to try really hard to do it. A few people have managed it. Way to stick with it and recover your phone. I've done that more times than I can count.

hechoen said:
Hardbricks do exist on this phone but you have to try really hard to do it. A few people have managed it. Way to stick with it and recover your phone. I've done that more times than I can count.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't feel like i really hard bricked it until i saw the USB computer connection error "device pluged in malfunctioned" in more than one PC.
Then i really felt like its a hardware BIOS chipset level problem now but man...

That story cracked me up. That is exactly why I spend days reading before I even root my phone. I made the mistake one time on my old G1 and it could not be revived.
Congrats on getting it working. (especially without flooding the q&a with redundant questions that have been described in detail several places )

hani1400 said:
I wanted to share my knowledge and experience from the past 2 days. Most of the help came from guides and posts on this forum so I wanted to give that back.
We were trying to root the SGS4G and because we're noobs we made the mistake of thinking it was a Vibrant. Got a Vibrant ROM and tried to flash it though Odin WITH re-partition checked. Everything we read said if you do either one of these things, you will brick your phone.
Sure enough we bricked the phone. It was trying to boot into the Vibrant ROM but was getting stuck on the word 'Vibrant' and then showing a whole lot of weird colored pixels. We then learned we'd made a massive mistake and that the phone wasn't a Vibrant after all.
We got a stock ROM for SGS4G and started trying to push them through Odin. Faced countless FAILS and freezes and finally it took us to the Recovery Mode and we tried the Restore option. It booted into a crippled SGS4G ROM. When it booted, it vibrated every 10 seconds or so and it had a null IMEI and unknown baseband.
We tried following a guide that wanted to change some text in the nv_data.bin but the numbers we were meant to be editing (0018810?) didn't exist in our nv_data.bin. So that didn't work for us.
In the meantime we tried to flash the stock ROM in Odin but kept getting FAILs and Freezes. With this step we lost even the crippled operating system and couldn't reach anything except the 'phone --!-- computer' screen. Luckily, this acts the same as download mode, so not bricked. We kept trying to push the stock SGS4G stock ROM (Froyo 2.2) several times and failing.
At one point we got a completely black screen, wouldn't turn on. Bricked again. We found this post on RootzWiki and it worked for us that time and brought it back from the black screen to download mode http://rootzwiki.com/topic/1820-how-to-unbrick-your-sgs4g/
Somehow we ended up at this guide here on XDA for fixing the "null/null" IMEI http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1142829
We followed that guide. When you add the PIT file it automatically checks 'Re-Partition' in Odin, we didn't uncheck it. Bricked again. It was stuck on the Samsung logo and when we tried to get to download mode it got stuck on a black screen with the loading circle/lines and 2 computers were giving 'The USB device has malfunctioned' when we plugged it in. The unbrick guide above (RootzWiki) didn't help this time. We tried restarting the computer, let the phone rest without battery for half an hour, held power button for a minute without battery, still nothing.
Finally I accidentally pressed the power button (rather than the volume buttons to get into download mode) and it went to the samsung logo (as expected) and after that I was able to get into download mode. The key to this I think is to keep on trying powering on normally then try download mode over and over and eventually it should get unstuck and the computer should recognize it again.
Once I had it back in download mode, I followed this guide again BUT!!! I made sure to un-check re-partition and I did not check "Phone EFS Clear" (because I had tried that already before it was bricked and wanted to see if a straight ROM would work first). Everything worked perfectly, I got my IMEI and Baseband back, without modifying anything.
I don't know if this was a miracle, or if any of it will work for anyone else, but the moral of the story is don't give up even if you've done the absolute worst possible thing. I don't even think hardbrick exists on this phone after everything we were able to save it from.
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wheooooooooowwww,..you just UNBRICKED mine, I know of the Battery pull etc...but the post you referenced
is MAGIC
This was not my first Rom nor Root on this phone, it weirdly happened while doing the GB starter....via ODIN, which i also used before..no clue what went wrong, oh well...
Thank you, thank you "i did"....Yohoooo

Yup i agree i like to read, reread then read as i do. This way i got a pretty good understanding of what I'm doing. Btw i have just started using one click and it is sooooo simple. I love it.
Sent from my SGH-T959V using XDA App

The link for fixing null/null IMEI is not working.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1142829

diavel said:
The link for fixing null/null IMEI is not working.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1142829
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=881162

Im still carrying this phone, stupid baseband unlock for iphone won't come out now I am carrying 2 phones, one as an ipod touch and the galaxy s! Good story, hope it can help others, but I am prepared to jump off of this bandwagon anytime now!

Related

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 :/

[Q] Is the phone bricked?????

I tried to upgrade my brothers samsung galaxy gio with a leaked version of it's 2.3.4 upgrade via "Odin".It kinda got stuck in the process and following the guide for it I removed the battery (it said to remove the battery if it stuck at a process for more than 10 minutes). After that when I tried to power it up it got stuck with an image of a phone and a pc connected with dots and a caution mark in between. For extra info recovery mode doesn't open but the download mode does. And I have tried to upgrade it a few times but gets stuck at the process named "ididb download"or something like that.
Is the phone bricked?????? Plz reply quick.
Hi,
Don't worry: as long as you can turn the phone on you should be OK, it's only a soft brick . Have you tried going in download mode again, and reflashed another ROM or even the one you attempted? Got evering right? OPS? Evering you must tick? Re-read the whole tutorial cause generally people mess up because they don't pay enough attention ^^
P.S. At least a million threads exist for this, you obviously haven't looked far before posting..

[Q] How do I Unbrick a Samsung Conquer? SPH-D600

How do I unbrick a Samsung Conquer? Model SPH-D600, FE16 stock firmware, unmodified. I was unsuccessful obtaining root with Super One Click or the root exploit for Evo 4G which purportedly works (SPH-D710.FE16_CL579416_ROOTED-oc-sfx.exe). My phone worked fine after trying these 2 methods, but the root would never take.
Next I tried the Odin method from the files upped to this thread: [ROM] Custom Stock Samsung Conquer 4G FC17 Rooted With Tweaks
I downloaded both .rar archives to extract valid files. I followed the instructions in the included text file, puting my phone in download mode, loading the 2 files in Odin, and pressing the start button (easy, right?). After letting Odin run for several minutes, it hung on step 5/8, and the Odin program closed, but my phone remained in download mode. I couldn't get my phone to respond to any keys, so my only choice was to remove the battery. Now the phone will not power on. No bootloader, no response at all. Please help!
Hey bro what's the screen look like at the moment cause I done a very similar thing and I soft bricked my phone when I used ordinary the first time because odin closed so I pulled the USB cord out and then I softball bricked it. If its a computer then,? Triangle then Android guy on your screen then you have soft bricked it and I'll be able to have lip you fix it.
And remember do not panic as that's when you really screw stuff up.
Sent from my YP-G70 on ics using xda premium
Evoium said:
Hey bro what's the screen look like at the moment cause I done a very similar thing and I soft bricked my phone when I used ordinary the first time because odin closed so I pulled the USB cord out and then I softball bricked it. If its a computer then,? Triangle then Android guy on your screen then you have soft bricked it and I'll be able to have lip you fix it.
And remember do not panic as that's when you really screw stuff up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't get anything to show on the screen at all. No lights come on or anything.
Can you get into clockworkmod?
By holding up volume key + menu key + power key.
If yes, when you get into clockworkmod wipe data cache and do a factory reset.
Then power down or switch your mobile and then enter into download mode and use odin to flash your desired GB Rom.
Hope this solves your problem.
Once I realized it was't even responding to the charger, I knew it must be dead. I tried several button combos, and I spoke with my carrier's tech support who suggested other methods. This phone is hard-bricked with a capital B. I'm just have to deal with getting a new phone. At least the Credo people are pretty nice about discounts.
hollacoast said:
Once I realized it was't even responding to the charger, I knew it must be dead. I tried several button combos, and I spoke with my carrier's tech support who suggested other methods. This phone is hard-bricked with a capital B. I'm just have to deal with getting a new phone. At least the Credo people are pretty nice about discounts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My samsung screen loads then the warning a custom os can cause critical problems in phone are. is it bricked oh no!

LG G2 Verizon CANT FLASH ANYTHING!!!! Please HELP!!

Im not a big computer guy but for the most part can figure stuff out, i have rooted several phones before and flashed new roms. I just got the verizon g2 and rooted it, then attempted to do twrp recovery, Nothing even came close to working until i read that flashify worked, so i did that and it said it worked, took 2 seconds, when it restarted it showed my ddroid dead with a warning symbol comin outta his belly. I held down volume down and power keys and it came back on. It will not go into download mode or restore mode.
I had hoped that it worked so tried to flash malladus but once again, nothing!
I have been going at this for close to 12 hrs now and i am about to just break this thing.
Please, i need step by step instructions of what to do that for sure will work.
the forums about twrp do NOT work no matter what i do. and im not missing anything, debugging mode on, connected with ethernet, all info entered correctly, files in the correct folders, yet nothing works!!! PLEASE HELP.
I just want to get that rom! lol

[Q] CWM on new Blu Life Play

Hi all,
I've spent a good two hours trying to figure this out. Generally I'm pretty good at these things, but there just isn't that much action or information on the Blu Life Play when things go wrong (L100a)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2370987
In reference to the above link, I followed all instructions to a T. My phone is rooted just fine, all that is working perfectly. However, once I tried installing CWM using the first method, mobileuncle, not only did it fail, but it also entirely broke my recovery mode! Whenever I try to boot into recovery (vol+/power) I get a black screen until the phone eventually reboots itself.
I then tried method two using the flashing tool, SPFT. I used something similar pretty often, ODIN, with my old Samsung Epic. Again I run into a problem: I can't keep the phone connected long enough to allow SPFT to finish flashing the recovery. As instructed, I plug in the USB cable with the battery out, my computer chimes to let me know it has recognised the device, but- Three seconds later, it chimes again to let me know it has disconnected.
SPFT follows suit, detecting and starting the flash then getting interrupted 2 seconds later.
My phone is still able to boot, it is not bricked. However, it is very distressing to have no access to a recovery mode.
Help?
I have the same issue. Got my phone replaced under warranty and the new one I got yesterday will not boot to recovery. Only black screen. Hopefully we can figure out the issues.
issact said:
Hi all,
I've spent a good two hours trying to figure this out. Generally I'm pretty good at these things, but there just isn't that much action or information on the Blu Life Play when things go wrong (L100a)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2370987
In reference to the above link, I followed all instructions to a T. My phone is rooted just fine, all that is working perfectly. However, once I tried installing CWM using the first method, mobileuncle, not only did it fail, but it also entirely broke my recovery mode! Whenever I try to boot into recovery (vol+/power) I get a black screen until the phone eventually reboots itself.
I then tried method two using the flashing tool, SPFT. I used something similar pretty often, ODIN, with my old Samsung Epic. Again I run into a problem: I can't keep the phone connected long enough to allow SPFT to finish flashing the recovery. As instructed, I plug in the USB cable with the battery out, my computer chimes to let me know it has recognised the device, but- Three seconds later, it chimes again to let me know it has disconnected.
SPFT follows suit, detecting and starting the flash then getting interrupted 2 seconds later.
My phone is still able to boot, it is not bricked. However, it is very distressing to have no access to a recovery mode.
Help?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
zironia said:
I have the same issue. Got my phone replaced under warranty and the new one I got yesterday will not boot to recovery. Only black screen. Hopefully we can figure out the issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, it's good to hear I'm not alone in this. lopestom has been friendly enough to correspond with me about it and he suspects it's a new model of the same phone. I sent him a screen cap of the factory settings screen (VOL-/POW)
In the end we might be out of luck until more people get their hands on the new version of the phone.

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