Database Info

Some Captivates Unable to Use Three Button Recovery

It appears that some newer Captivates being sold suffer from not being able to reboot into download or recovery mode using the three button (VOL UP + VOL DOWN and PWR) combination. These phones will not respond to these key combinations. If you have one of these phones, you have a significantly higher risk of bricking your phone irreversibly since you cannot three button reboot into download mode from a failed flash.
The first two Captivates I used did not have this problem. The two Captivates I got this week both DO have this problem. Others who have purchased their Captivate recently (in the past week) have discovered this problem as well. This indicates it may be more common in newer Captivates.
A number of Galaxy S I9000 have experienced this problem and they have put pressure on Samsung Canada via Facebook to fix the problem. For those affected, I suggest we do the same for our Captivates:
http://www.facebook.com/SamsungMobile?v=wall
Examples of Captivates that can't use three button recovery:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=8066648
and from I9000 users:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=765703

Asked and answered my own question. Relevant information condensed into the post above.

Pretty sure you can still do it... try this
shut down your phone, plug in the usb cable and wait for the battery to come up, then do the key combo.

I call user error. How and why stop key combos? I wouldnt think it would happen.

smokestack76 said:
I call user error. How and why stop key combos? I wouldnt think it would happen.
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I've went through 2 cap's also, both cannot do it. I have to use ADB to kick into recovery. Also, in the SRE thread another user had the same issue. All bought within the last week..

Thanks for the heads up. I was planning on swapping mine out because it isn't consistently detecting my SIM card; looks like I should wait for a bit and see if this is a temporary issue.

I swapped mine so its the so called newer one. And i can still use the buttons just fine. Even tried with another one today and still worked fine. So i dunno.

To clearify some issues. Power off. Hold power and BOTH volume buttons down. Thats the key here. Once the att screen comes on wait. Dont do anything. The screen turns off. THEN the screen comes back on. Thats right twice. THEN release the power button. ONLY the power button and continue holding the volume up AND down. You will see recovery menu.

thats exactly how we are doing it. its the download that is having issues though, not recovery. thats holding both vols, pluggin in USB. it should go to Download mode, but it doesnt.

Ok just tested. Same thing with usb plugged in takes you to download.

Make sure odin is up and running. And usb is plugged in when u power off. Not sure if its needed but thats how i tested it.

Worked fine here plugging in a usb after powed off.

If this does not work for you please post a system dump. Or pm me for more help. Kinda wonder why so many users have these issues :-(

I was having these problems as well.. When I first got that phone I tried to boot it into recovery mode, and it wouldn't work.. THe only way I was able to get it into recovery mode was through quick boot.
So while I was flashing the SRE v 1.2.2a somehow it got stuck in a loop of installing the files over and over..
I tried putting the phone into download mode via every button combination people suggested.. I literally am not exaggerating that I spent 4 hours trying over and over..
Today i sent it back rma.

Take your phone back if 3 button recovery mode does not work
malfuncion said:
I've went through 2 cap's also, both cannot do it. I have to use ADB to kick into recovery. Also, in the SRE thread another user had the same issue. All bought within the last week..
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Here is my suggestion. Take your phone back if it does not do the 3 button recovery mode. Otherwise you will sooner or later brick it and not be able to recover:cool. Take it from someone who has bricked one that could not do the 3 button recovery mode. I lucked out and got a new phone that does do the 3 button rec now LOL. Test the phone in the store to ensure it can go into recovery mode.

smokestack76 said:
To clearify some issues. Power off. Hold power and BOTH volume buttons down. Thats the key here. Once the att screen comes on wait. Dont do anything. The screen turns off. THEN the screen comes back on. Thats right twice. THEN release the power button. ONLY the power button and continue holding the volume up AND down. You will see recovery menu.
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Click to collapse
Did this for about 2 hours on both devices. No joy. If you follow the links I posted in the first post, you'll see that a number of I9000 devices have this problem and now a couple of ours do as well. It has to do with the way they are flashed from the factory.
I can certify (unless I have gone completely mental) than I am doing it the right way. I had two Captivates before this that I could put into download and recovery easily using the vol up + vol down + pwr combo. The last two, no way. Also cannot do the vol up + vol down then plug in USB with ODIN running and ready to get out of brick mode (i.e. computer -!- phone). Which means once bricked, always bricked.
I've attached build info for the device. JF6, built 8.11.2010, hardware is REV0.4.

ok so I am basically screwed then. I just called AT&T and they wont warranty the device. Do I have to call samsung? I got that number: 18889874357.
AT&T didnt even know what a recovery mode was, they wanted to walk me through the factory reset on the phone itself.
Has this issue been confirmed with Samsung?

Called Samsung this morning- actually just got off the line. I spoke to about 3 people, then finally got to level 3 support. They stepped me through the same steps I have read everywhere- the 3 button reset. He actually had me try it a few different ways too. After a second, he put me on hold to see if there is some other way to put the phone into recovery or download mode, but after 5 minutes he came back and had no good news. He had a couple things he googled but they didnt work- of course. He basically resolved the call with "I don't know what to do..." So I then asked if this is an RMA'able problem and he said he didnt think so since the phone functions fine but put me on hold again for another 5 minutes. Finally he came back and said he can setup an RMA to do a factory reflash. It is a 2day air to send it to them, then a flashing, and a 2day back. Should take about a week or so. He suggested I maybe go to AT&T and possibly get it replaced that way first so I will head over to corporate this evening. If that doesnt work then I'm sending it off to Samsung...

I had much difficulty getting into recovery. But it turned out to be a matter of timing. Using the usb cable plugged in seems to change the criteria and made it easier to get into recovery.
What I do now. Phone is off. Wait at least 10 sec after shutdown to ensure it is fully off. In low light you may see a small amount of light coming from the screen then it goes black.
Press both volumes then the power button and hold till the att screen pops up. After att screen is on (the initial screen not the animation) for one or two second. Release power then volume quickly. If that doesn't work try it as design gears describes with the usb cable.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk

Dani897 said:
What I do now. Phone is off. Wait at least 10 sec after shutdown to ensure it is fully off. In low light you may see a small amount of light coming from the screen then it goes black.
Press both volumes then the power button and hold till the att screen pops up. After att screen is on (the initial screen not the animation) for one or two second. Release power then volume quickly. If that doesn't work try it as design gears describes with the usb cable.
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Click to collapse
Tried umpteenth different timings. Now that I have one of my original Captivates back, the difference is clear. I can get it into recovery/download 100% of the time. On both the new ones, 0% -- as in never. It's gonna be a fun conversation at the AT&T store trying to tell them that:
1. The phone is broken because I can't get it to switch into a mode mainly reserved for engineers.
2. I will test the replacement they give me for the same problem and return it if doesn't work.
3. Repeat step 2 until I find one that works.

Hardware problem?

I bought an used infuse the other day to fix and sell to a friend. The owner said it was bricked, but I've since gotten it into recovery mode, download mode, and a normal power on. It goes into a bootloop most of the time though, the endless bootloop people seem to be getting when the power button gets stuck.
I've completely disassembled the phone and I can't find the problem. The power button (the white one on the inside) moves completely freely. I've tried booting up the phone with the back housing off so the power button is bare but it still bootlooped. The only way I can get it to boot up is to repeatedly hit the back of the phone onto my hand as its booting up. Even then, the phone will only stay on for 30 seconds or so once it boots. I've read of people fixing this by simply throwing the phone on the ground, but is there a better way to fix this? What could be the problem?
Edit: I think I may try this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2235435&highlight=bootloop
It could be a weak connection on the mobo somewhere.
Edit 2: Yep! I re-soldered the connection around the power button on the back of the motherboard and the phone is working. Got it reset and now I'm running it without the second power button thing in the case.

Soft Bricked?

My Galaxy s3 turned off randomly today at about 50% battery life. I tried getting it to turn back on, but my power button is broken. So, if I take out the batter and put it back in, it will say "Samsung" for about 2 seconds, and just turns off again. If I plug it in, it doesn't do anything. Sometimes if I take out the battery, put it in, then plug it in while it's turning on, it'll show an empty battery for about a second, then turn off. What can I do? I can't take it to Verizon because it's rooted. This isn't newly rooted, it's been rooted for about 4-5 months, so I don't think that's the problem. There is no custom rom and I've tried a new battery. I want to fix my phone, but I really want to keep the pictures on it. Any help?
Edit: The problem is my power button being defective. If I could just boot one time to backup everything, I'll be happy.

michael1026 said:
My Galaxy s3 turned off randomly today at about 50% battery life. I tried getting it to turn back on, but my power button is broken. So, if I take out the batter and put it back in, it will say "Samsung" for about 2 seconds, and just turns off again. If I plug it in, it doesn't do anything. Sometimes if I take out the battery, put it in, then plug it in while it's turning on, it'll show an empty battery for about a second, then turn off. What can I do? I can't take it to Verizon because it's rooted. This isn't newly rooted, it's been rooted for about 4-5 months, so I don't think that's the problem. There is no custom rom and I've tried a new battery. I want to fix my phone, but I really want to keep the pictures on it. Any help?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What rom are you on and what were you doing just before it turned off? Can you boot into Download mode from a powered off state? That's the key thing.

SlimSnoopOS said:
What rom are you on and what were you doing just before it turned off? Can you boot into Download mode from a powered off state? That's the key thing.
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Click to collapse
Thank you for the reply.
I'm on whatever the default rom is. I never loaded a custom one. And before it turned off, I wasn't doing anything. I believe I simply pulled it out of my pocket. I figured I accidentally turned it off on my own because since my power button is broken, it will ask me if I want to turn it off at random times. I'm not sure if I can boot into download mode. I thought I saw a tutorial on getting into download mode without using the power button, but I'll have to find it again and try it out.

Hold volume up, home and then put the battery in. Sounds like the power button is stuck on, so you should be able to boot into the stock recovery and wipe day. Though with the power stuck on, it's probably the signal from the button that says the issue.
Do you have the vz extended warranty insurance? If so, take it in and they'll give you a new one. It covers any phone you activate (I'd never consider not having that coverage)

beepea206 said:
Hold volume up, home and then put the battery in. Sounds like the power button is stuck on, so you should be able to boot into the stock recovery and wipe day. Though with the power stuck on, it's probably the signal from the button that says the issue.
Do you have the vz extended warranty insurance? If so, take it in and they'll give you a new one. It covers any phone you activate (I'd never consider not having that coverage)
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Click to collapse
Thank you.
Well, I tried what you said and saw "Recovery booting", but then it shut off.
I have insurance, but my phone is also cracked, so they won't replace it.
Edit: I've been able to get it into download mode, but it just turns off still. It's definitely the power button because I don't even have to hold it to go into download mode.

michael1026 said:
I have insurance, but my phone is also cracked, so they won't replace it.
Edit: I've been able to get it into download mode, but it just turns off still. It's definitely the power button because I don't even have to hold it to go into download mode.
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Click to collapse
Damn.
Honestly, if it were me, I'd raise Hell at a store with a manager until they did a warranty replacement. Crack or no, its the power button you're complaining about, so if there are no marks on the power button, they can't claim it's user-damage (like a drop).

beepea206 said:
Damn.
Honestly, if it were me, I'd raise Hell at a store with a manager until they did a warranty replacement. Crack or no, its the power button you're complaining about, so if there are no marks on the power button, they can't claim it's user-damage (like a drop).
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Click to collapse
Thank you.
So there's no way I could at least get it to boot temporarily? Or back it up in any way?

VZW Galaxy S6 won't turn on

Got a perculiar problem with the S6. The screen suddenly went black with just the blue LED blinking in the upper left hand corner of the sreen. I am assuming the phone went off completely as I cannot access it via the PC also. I have tried all possible button combinations for reset but no luck so far.
Anyone else experience this? Did you find a fix?
Sent from my SM-G920V using XDA Free mobile app

Well the phone is not off if the blue led light is blinking, I've never had it happen to me where the phone didn't come back though. I was using an app one day (YouTube I think) and the app crashed and bugged the phone out to where the screen went black but the led was blinking. I left the phone alone after several attempts of hitting home and power to get the screen to come back on and finally I think I plugged it into the charger and it kind of just fixed it self and has not happened again. This is the scary parts of not having a removable battery.
Sent From My Rooted Galaxy S6

I've got the 128GB and yes I have experienced this as well, twice! I hold down both volume buttons the home button and the power button at the same time, this will put you in maintenance mode. It'll take a couple of seconds holding those buttons but just keep them pressed. Be careful because when it does come on it comes on fast and factory reset is the second selection in that mode. The first time I did it I wiped my phone, the second time it happened I lifted my fingers fast enough not to make a selection. Give that a try and see what happens.

frostysax said:
I've got the 128GB and yes I have experienced this as well, twice! I hold down both volume buttons the home button and the power button at the same time, this will put you in maintenance mode. It'll take a couple of seconds holding those buttons but just keep them pressed. Be careful because when it does come on it comes on fast and factory reset is the second selection in that mode. The first time I did it I wiped my phone, the second time it happened I lifted my fingers fast enough not to make a selection. Give that a try and see what happens.
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Click to collapse
Thanks very much.

Hey guys, i really need someones help. Everything in my life runs on my phone. The phone is Samsung Galaxy Note 5. Its screen is black and there is a blue blinking light. I have tried to hold the volume down and power buttons but it didnt do anything. It doesn't respond even after plugging in.

chaudharysafi said:
Hey guys, i really need someones help. Everything in my life runs on my phone. The phone is Samsung Galaxy Note 5. Its screen is black and there is a blue blinking light. I have tried to hold the volume down and power buttons but it didnt do anything. It doesn't respond even after plugging in.
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Click to collapse
Sounds like you have the same problem as stated in OP. You could try doing what was recommended earlier in the thread. By the way, this is an inappropriate location to put your problem. Read the forum rules

Never rooted.
I am having the same issue. I have tried everything. Factory reset. Reboot/wiped cache and even trying to install verizon's Fireware again as it come only up to the Samsung S6 logo then goes blank. This is now my 4th replacement with Verizon and getting sick of it. How do I fix this? Odin stops at Get Pit mapping then when I do that says it can not install NAND. Using Odin 3.10.6 and 3.10.7. Tried mutli cables and restarted computer as well. This is driving me insane these phones keep doing this.

same problem except nothing comes on. no led, no reset, no computer recognition...

Same issue. Boots into and displays recovery fine and download mode. I can also bring up the safe mode menu ... just can't boot into the OS. Blue light on. I get a response in ADB when powered on, just can't enter any commands due to not being able to authorize access via phone screen.
Update:
Well as strange as it sounds, as soon as I plopped it down on the wireless charger for my S7 the screen came to life. It was at 95% battery prior to. Whatever gremlins got into the gizmos within the wireless charging apparatus seems to have caused this strange occurrence.

Cant shutdown to charge devic

I just purchased the 6x and I was going to root and get some stuff done before getting it setup for a relative.
However, i screwed up the twrp recovery flash and messed it up. I've found the directions to get it back on track, however I can't charge it enough to actually let the recovery run. The battery is dead and when i plug it into the charger it just keeps turning back on and sticking at the "Your Device is booting now". I've attempted holding the power button down to force it to shutoff, but it doesn't seem to have any effect.
Anyone else run into this issue and managed to get past this problem?

You can try pressing the up volume + power. Also you can try down volume + power. Also you can press all 3 buttons and keep them held down. Hopefully one of those combinations can help you. Else you will have to let the phone battery completely die (overnight) and then plug the charger in.

fc3211 said:
You can try pressing the up volume + power. Also you can try down volume + power. Also you can press all 3 buttons and keep them held down. Hopefully one of those combinations can help you. Else you will have to let the phone battery completely die (overnight) and then plug the charger in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately I've done all of these options. Letting it drain over night is what got me into this situation actually. I can get myself into fastboot to follow the instructions I have, install the boot/recovery/system images. And can even get the boot for installing update.app to start, but from what i can tell it doesn't have the juice it loses power and shuts down. then when it gets just a enough juice, it automatically turns back on and sits at the "booting now" screen.

Are you sure you held down the power button long enough? Try holding it for 5 minutes straight and dont let go no matter what
I am not sure what else to suggest to you, will wait for one of the more experienced members to chime in. You may have to physically open the phone and disconnect the battery if nothing else works. And that is not an easy job if you look on YouTube to replace the battery on this phone takes at least an intermediate level of skill with micro-electronics.
All I can tell you is to please not lose hope. I had a situation 3 or 4 days ago where I had FRP lock on and nothing I tried worked and I was ready to sell the phone on eBay for $50 and cut my losses but the older members of this forum helped me and after hours of frustration I finally have a working phone again. If worse comes to worse comes to worse than your final option will be to try to get service from Huawei, maybe lie to them and say that you accepted ota update and that the Huawei update caused all the problems. Or better story than that: Tell them you where mugged at the Mall and thief stole your phone but then 3 days later you saw the same thief again at another Starbucks and confronted the thief and took your phone back again. But it appears the thief must have tried to flash TWRP or something because now phone is messed up. Maybe they will believe that. Haar-Haarr
But that is a worst case scenario, probably it wont come to that. My phone was doing the same thing as yours, I forget what I did to interrupt it from rebooting on its own. But really all you can do is try a combination of the buttons and hope the dang phone will finally just power off. Its too bad you cannot boot into TWRP and select POWER OFF

Try booting into eRecovery. Plug your device to the charger and turn the phone on. When you're on the bootloader warning, press and hold Vol+ button until it boots. eRecovery should let you to charge your device. It also has a battery indicator.
BTW, don't forget to download your phone firmware. It may be necessary for fixing your phone if you messed up an important partition.

Panchoso4D said:
Try booting into eRecovery. Plug your device to the charger and turn the phone on. When you're on the bootloader warning, press and hold Vol+ button until it boots. eRecovery should let you to charge your device. It also has a battery indicator.
BTW, don't forget to download your phone firmware. It may be necessary for fixing your phone if you messed up an important partition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't seem to get to recovery.
After working on it more yesterday, i'm not entirely convinced it is the battery causing me the issues. After flashing the .img files in fastboot, i can sometimes get it to start recovery (both volume buttons and power) and it will start installing the update but it stalls and reboots at 5%. Based on what i've read on the other threads, this has to do with not getting the right firmware matched from what as on there before. Problem is i jumped so quickly into unlocking the bootloader and trying to root i never paid attention to my build number in the OS to know what to flash back to. I've tried multiple TeamMt firmware search website, as well as the official one from Huawei.