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[Q] Hard Brick

Question, was in process of using ODIN when USB became discoed. Reconnected tried the process over but unresponsive. Decided to start over, pulled battery and now the phone won't power on. Anyone else experience anything similar or am I hard bricked to anyone's knowledge?

Locobato said:
Question, was in process of using ODIN when USB became discoed. Reconnected tried the process over but unresponsive. Decided to start over, pulled battery and now the phone won't power on. Anyone else experience anything similar or am I hard bricked to anyone's knowledge?
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How much charge did the battery have when you started this process?

90% or so. Been charging it on the wall charger for the last 2 hrs but it's still not turning on.

Even though your screen Wont turn on sometimes Odin will still recognize it. Try this: turn Odin on pull battery from phone hold down volume buttons plug USB in put battery back in. see if Odin sees the phone. You may need to try several times.
Sent from my SGH-T959V using xda premium

It was just another example of my noobness. I didn't bother to try download mode. I forgot + and - with usb, so phone came on right into download. Only thing was Odin would not recognize phone. Hiemdall would but I couldn't seem to get that working. Then I moved the USB cable to different port on PC and ta da! Odin recognized the phone and the rest is history. Finally rocking the latest Valhalla.
Thanks again everyone.

Locobato said:
It was just another example of my noobness. I didn't bother to try download mode. I forgot + and - with usb, so phone came on right into download. Only thing was Odin would not recognize phone. Hiemdall would but I couldn't seem to get that working. Then I moved the USB cable to different port on PC and ta da! Odin recognized the phone and the rest is history. Finally rocking the latest Valhalla.
Thanks again everyone.
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Click to collapse
That's great. These phones are very hard to brick!

OK, so I don't have to start a new thread and waste space (on the internet?), I wanted to try and piggy-back off of this one; feel free to move it.
Basically, I thought it would be OK to flash a Vibrant ROM over my girlfriend's GS4G. That was a stupid, stupid idea. I'm thinking hard brick, but cannot be sure. I've tried all sorts of button press/hold combinations, batter in/battery out, usb in/usb out and I get ZERO response.
Suggestions, or do I need to find a replacement phone and girlfriend? She works in Social Media and kind of uses her phone ALWAYS!

Well, hopefully worst case scenario you have to replace her phone. Make sure to plug the phone up to wall charger and let sit for an hour to make sure it has juice. Next, take battery out place it back in. Hold the volume up and down buttons together then plug in USB from PC to phone. This should get you into download mode. If you can get this far then there should be hope for fixing the phone.
Sent from my SGH-T959V using XDA App

OK, I think it was shot. We ended up going to T-Mobile, told them we did a software update via USB and the gal said, "yeah, you may have gotten a corrupt file. That'll happen." Then we got charged $20 for processing and she'll have a brand new phone by next week.
Thanks anyway.

i guess 20 isnt too bad. never flash a rom that is made specifically for your phone. dam, if you did this next week, you could have paid a little (and by a little i mean like 150. lol) and upgraded to a sgs2.

The new infuse drives me mad

Okay, to make it short, I've brought home a Samsung Infuse for testing. It's not even a day yet and it's showing one hell of a problem already. Firstly, I can't install the right drivers for it. I've used Kies and tried downloading every drivers I can find but no, the phone won't even connect as mass storage. I tried going into download mode by holding the volume keys and insert the usb cable but it only gets in download mode once every 20 tries or so, the other times it just boots right into the OS. In the rare cases of successful download mode, Odin won't recognize the phone. I used SGH-i997-UCKJ4-One-Click and finally it said the phone is connected, but intructed me to install the right drivers. So I did exactly as it said but the whole process of reinstalling drivers just repeats. I put the cm7 and mosaic ROMs in the phone using wifi and flashed them, here I met another problem, the phone keeps getting into car mode. I disabled it, and the phone changed orientation although I tried disabling it back and forth. I'm raging at it here, does anybody know about these problems or should I throw the infuse at the seller's face?

Hollywings said:
Okay, to make it short, I've brought home a Samsung Infuse for testing. It's not even a day yet and it's showing one hell of a problem already. Firstly, I can't install the right drivers for it. I've used Kies and tried downloading every drivers I can find but no, the phone won't even connect as mass storage. I tried going into download mode by holding the volume keys and insert the usb cable but it only gets in download mode once every 20 tries or so, the other times it just boots right into the OS. In the rare cases of successful download mode, Odin won't recognize the phone. I used SGH-i997-UCKJ4-One-Click and finally it said the phone is connected, but intructed me to install the right drivers. So I did exactly as it said but the whole process of reinstalling drivers just repeats. I put the cm7 and mosaic ROMs in the phone using wifi and flashed them, here I met another problem, the phone keeps getting into car mode. I disabled it, and the phone changed orientation although I tried disabling it back and forth. I'm raging at it here, does anybody know about these problems or should I throw the infuse at the seller's face?
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sounds like an issue with the usb port not the drivers.
try cleaning it, or you may need to send it to samsung for repair. if you dont want to do that then i'd make you an offer on it, but you might be insulted at what id pay for a "broken" device.

Something I ran in to as well, I ended up using the ports on the back of my PC.
Something else too ... I ended up using a Blackberry USB cable.
Hope this helps
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA App

I couldn't get my infuse to transfer files to my computer but then I changed cords it worked so try that.
Sent from my SGH-I997 using xda premium

Yea not an issue with infuse but the USB port. My laptop connects to it if I use the secondary or tertiary USB ports.
Sent from my SGH-I997 using XDA App

people read the whole post. his issue is not limited to computer connectivity. the phone goes into car mode on its own. car mode is triggered by a simple resistor in the car dock. different resistor values will put the phone in the different dock modes, Adam outler had a bunch on information on USB standards when he made his own captivate car mount. what is going on is most likely that a piece of semi conducive material is trapped in USB port on the phone or the port is otherwise damaged on the phone. there could also be some physical issue or calibration issue with the chip that controls the USB. I have seen similar issues on my own phone and seen atleast one post with issues identical to mine.
the seller sold it for a reason.

Phone Bricked?

My phone will not go into download mode. The phone seems like it is dead no lights nothing. But when I plug in the phone in my computer it shows up as a Mass Storage Device. Then after about 10 secs it disconnects itself and then reconnects right back and it keeps on doing this. Anyone have any ideas?

Does the battery charge screen come up when it's plugged into the wall? Since your computer is seeing the device it is not bricked.
My Theory:
Your USB port on the phone is probably starting to go bad. You may not be getting a full charge which is why nothing shows up. When you plug it into the computer it gets a small charge and shows up. Then the port get wiggled and it loses connection.
If this is the case, you might want to get the usb port repaired before you attempt to flash anything.
If you're feeling daring, try using a jig to put your device into download mode. Wait until Odin sees your device and then flash back to stock without moving the phone.
WARNING: Disconnecting during the flash could cause additional problems. Make sure to choose a stock 1 click ODIN WITHOUT BOOTLOADERS.

I dont think anything is wrong with the USB port as this started to happen after I ran the "I897UCKK4 Odin One Click - Stock, CONTAINS Bootloaders, Re-partition, Full Wipe" It also said that everything was successful and rebooted the phone, but instead of a reboot it went to a black screen.
Does the battery charge screen come up when it's plugged into the wall? Since your computer is seeing the device it is not bricked.
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Click to collapse
No nothing comes up at all. :-(

You sir are displaying signs of it being a hard brick. This usually happens when something goes wrong while flashing bootloaders. You should try all the various methods to get to download mode (a jig will be your best best). If you can get heimdall or odin to recognize your phone you will be able to save it.
If you can't get into download mode via jig, then it is a sad day. You will need to contact someone to Unbrick the phone. Josh over at mobile tech videos could repair the device. He's an XDA member and does great work.

But if your computer can see it as mass storage then its not hard brick. Hard brick won't even turn on and computer won't recognize the life of my phone back then. I plug it in a wall or pc and nothing would show.
Try making a jig just in case or buy one and see if you can get download mode.
Edit: Your USB port gone bad. Type mobiletechvideos.com on your browser. They have a repair for that.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA

[Q] Odin won't recognize phone after botched flash

So I'm stumped... I've flashed my Charge many times, no problems until now.
I wanted to flash back to stock ROM and had my Samsung drivers installed and Odin recognizing the phone and everything was good, but then Odin was taking WAAAAAAY too long. In the past this usually took about 20 mins. This time, after 45 mins and the progress bar hanging in the same place for 30+ mins on factory.rfs I disconnected the phone (I know this is where I screwed up). Now Odin won't recognize the phone at all. It does get into download mode, but Odin won't pick it up.
Same computer, same cable, and same USB ports as I've had when flashing this phone many times before. I don't know what my options are now. I don't think I can flash either the ROM or PIT without Odin at least recognizing the phone. What can I do now?

So I've done some more tinkering - trying different cords, multiple computers, uninstall/reinstall different drivers... What I've noticed on more than one computer is that Odin doesn't recognize the phone when it's in download mode ONLY.
If I power on the phone Odin is able to detect it and windows detects it as a Samsung USB device (even though the phone hangs on the Samsung logo). When I put it into download mode both the computer and Odin don't recognize it.

dragonlady726 said:
So I've done some more tinkering - trying different cords, multiple computers, uninstall/reinstall different drivers... What I've noticed on more than one computer is that Odin doesn't recognize the phone when it's in download mode ONLY.
If I power on the phone Odin is able to detect it and windows detects it as a Samsung USB device (even though the phone hangs on the Samsung logo). When I put it into download mode both the computer and Odin don't recognize it.
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FWIW, I've also noticed a simple computer reboot fixes it....

jco23 said:
FWIW, I've also noticed a simple computer reboot fixes it....
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I neglected to mention in my OP that I was going through the right protocol with driver uninstall/reinstall and rebooting each time. I rebooted again for good measure after seeing your post but I still get the same.
It's the same result from two different computers, one with Win7 and the other XP (I read in another thread that XP had worked better for some). If the phone is powered on, even though it doesn't successfully boot, Odin and Windows recognize it properly. If it's in download mode neither one recognize it, windows says the device failed to start and shows either unrecognized device or "Gadget Serial" (which would be a great name for a band, but google searches for it aren't much help).
I don't think it's a driver problem because it's recognized when the phone is powered on. But could there be a specific driver out there for the phone when in download mode only? I've flashed this phone dozens of times and never had a problem until now. I'm on the verge of forking over the $50 and sending it to JTAG if no one can suggest something else to try. Please help

did you make sure your phone is in debugging mode?... i forget who flashed what... or where I read something about flashing and it turned off their debugging mode...so check that first...and try reinstalling Odin on your computer... i don't think jtag is necessary on a Droid charge... if your phone is being recognized then it seems your missing a step...like maybe pulling your battery before hooking up the usb... or reinstalling the battery after going in download mode... and last of all check and make sure your not accidentally making mistakes when setting up your Odin before flashing... and last efforts to get a working phone would be going into cwm... volume up... home... and power button... hold while powering up and releasing on the second Samsung logo...and install your last back up...or reflash your rom with cache and dalvik wipes
Sent from my SCH-I510 using xda premium

curious, when you are/were performing the Odin process, were you still using the computer (web-surfing, e-mail, etc.)? in my experience, whenever I tried to multi-task on my computer while running Odin on my phone, Odin freezes. this has happened on more than one occasion. also, my toddler daughter even pressed the power button while Odin was running - so on three separate occasions, I've had a reflash interrupted. however, I've clearly been able to recover.
the key was using the right cord in the right port. I had one cord working fine for awhile, but then when I switched cords, it worked again.
also, some folks have had better success when removing the battery during the process.
finally, what are your steps exactly when flashing - and which guide are you using?

lukegman said:
did you make sure your phone is in debugging mode?... i forget who flashed what... or where I read something about flashing and it turned off their debugging mode...so check that first...and try reinstalling Odin on your computer... i don't think jtag is necessary on a Droid charge... if your phone is being recognized then it seems your missing a step...like maybe pulling your battery before hooking up the usb... or reinstalling the battery after going in download mode... and last of all check and make sure your not accidentally making mistakes when setting up your Odin before flashing... and last efforts to get a working phone would be going into cwm... volume up... home... and power button... hold while powering up and releasing on the second Samsung logo...and install your last back up...or reflash your rom with cache and dalvik wipes
Sent from my SCH-I510 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't actually get the phone to boot (doesn't get past Samsung logo) so I don't know how I can tell if it's in debugging mode or how to change it if it's not.
Going in to download mode I've tried both battery in and out, using multiple USB ports and cables and can't get any version of Odin to detect it. I've tried v1.82 and 1.85 of Odin. I get the same result for both - Odin does not detect the phone when in download mode, but will detect it if it's powered on or just connected to the computer with battery in to "charge." But afaik I can't flash it when it's NOT in download mode
It won't boot into into recovery either... It never gets past Samsung logo no matter how long I hold the buttons... I've used recovery before, so I'm sure I'm giving the android 3-finger salute correctly.
I'm thinking maybe I got unlucky because the whole key to flashing is having Odin recognize the phone in download mode and that's the only time that Odin won't recognize it.
jco23 said:
curious, when you are/were performing the Odin process, were you still using the computer (web-surfing, e-mail, etc.)? in my experience, whenever I tried to multi-task on my computer while running Odin on my phone, Odin freezes. this has happened on more than one occasion. also, my toddler daughter even pressed the power button while Odin was running - so on three separate occasions, I've had a reflash interrupted. however, I've clearly been able to recover.
the key was using the right cord in the right port. I had one cord working fine for awhile, but then when I switched cords, it worked again.
also, some folks have had better success when removing the battery during the process.
finally, what are your steps exactly when flashing - and which guide are you using?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wasn't actively multitasking during the bad flash, although I may have had email running in the background. Since then I've been rebooting and only had Odin running in the foreground when trying. I did use multiple usb ports/cables and try going into download with battery in/out.
As far as guides go, I had been using trparky's awesome guide for years until he took it down and lately went to the one in the dev forum here on xda: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1160580
Like I said, I'm thinking maybe I got unlucky because Odin recognizes the phone when plugged into the computer EXCEPT when it's in download mode and without that I don't know what else to do.

dragonlady726 said:
I can't actually get the phone to boot (doesn't get past Samsung logo) so I don't know how I can tell if it's in debugging mode or how to change it if it's not.
Going in to download mode I've tried both battery in and out, using multiple USB ports and cables and can't get any version of Odin to detect it. I've tried v1.82 and 1.85 of Odin. I get the same result for both - Odin does not detect the phone when in download mode, but will detect it if it's powered on or just connected to the computer with battery in to "charge." But afaik I can't flash it when it's NOT in download mode
It won't boot into into recovery either... It never gets past Samsung logo no matter how long I hold the buttons... I've used recovery before, so I'm sure I'm giving the android 3-finger salute correctly.
I'm thinking maybe I got unlucky because the whole key to flashing is having Odin recognize the phone in download mode and that's the only time that Odin won't recognize it.
I wasn't actively multitasking during the bad flash, although I may have had email running in the background. Since then I've been rebooting and only had Odin running in the foreground when trying. I did use multiple usb ports/cables and try going into download with battery in/out.
As far as guides go, I had been using trparky's awesome guide for years until he took it down and lately went to the one in the dev forum here on xda: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1160580
Like I said, I'm thinking maybe I got unlucky because Odin recognizes the phone when plugged into the computer EXCEPT when it's in download mode and without that I don't know what else to do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also, are you sure you have enough battery juice? To make sure, leave it plugged in to a wall outlet for about 30 min to an hour.
tappin' that....

Finally fixed - Bad USB port
Just to close out the thread, I did finally get my phone fixed. The issue was a bad USB port that decided to fail during flash. This is according to Josh from MobileTechVideos, who is a great guy with amazing customer service.
Longer version: I sent it off to MobileTechVideos/JTAG and after a week I got a call back saying the JTAG process didn't work and as a last resort they could try replacing the USB port itself. Josh told me that it was either the port or the controller, that the port was a known failure point on the Charge, and if replacing the port didn't work it meant the USB controller had failed and I'd be out of luck. He also said that if the port replacement didn't fix the issue he wouldn't charge me and refund my original payment (which impressed the hell out of me given the time he had already put into it and there was no guarantee that the extra work would fix it). This was late afternoon on Valentine's Day... he said that he'd get to swapping out the port the next day but an hour later called back to tell me that he replaced the port and flash was successful. I wish everyone was as straightforward in communication and dedicated to their job.
So yeah, MobileTechVideos is legit, Josh is a rock star, and send those guys your phone if something really screwy happens. They will take the time and go above and beyond if necessary to fix it, and you will absolutely get your money's worth.
Hoping that no one else is "lucky" enough to have their USB port fail mid-flash, but if your symptoms look like mine a bad port might be your problem.

I've heard nothing but good things about them. I've never used them myself, but I have directed a couple of people to them and heard nothing but glowing reviews.

Cool I managed to finally back up my sd card after a few attempts with a bad port (went out after a month of having the phone). I've been on a rotating batteries off a wall charger system, but need to odin because everytime I get down to 110-120 ish mb of internal memory my charge says low memory blah blah, I clear cache, play store , etc.
Needless to say people have said resorting back to stock ep4 etc with Odin should work, but I'm afraid mid flash something will happen. I have to jam the cord in, wrap extremenly tight while holding the phone at a perfect angle and sometimes it still will beep like being disconnected.

I have no idea if this would be possible for you, but I wonder if Mobile Odin could help you?

Phone will not connect as USB

I'm currently on Beans 13 rom and noticed that I cannot connect my phone to my computer via usb, all it will do it charge, I will not get a notification to use usb mass storage or anything like that. I uninstalled the drivers, rebooted my computer and phone, installed the drivers again and still does not give me the usb notification.
I then remembered that I did a nandroid on Beans 12 so I loaded that up and tried connecting to my computer and had the same exact issue. I took my phone to my roommate's laptop who also has a verizon S3 and tried connecting to his laptop. Still just charges, no notification.
I connected his S3 using the same exact cord to my computer and my computer recognizes his phone (although he is 100% stock).
I decided to try and Odin back to 100% stock. I loaded up Odin on my computer (Win 7 Pro 64 bit) and rebooted my computer into the odin/download mode and my computer/odin didn't recognize my phone. At this point I am at a lost. I have a suspicion that maybe the usb port on my phone went bad but in order to replace it with Verizon, I need to odin back to stock. Any one have any ideas?
I apologize if this has been covered before, I used the search and didn't see anything relating this.

NITRO_2 said:
I'm currently on Beans 13 rom and noticed that I cannot connect my phone to my computer via usb, all it will do it charge, I will not get a notification to use usb mass storage or anything like that. I uninstalled the drivers, rebooted my computer and phone, installed the drivers again and still does not give me the usb notification.
I then remembered that I did a nandroid on Beans 12 so I loaded that up and tried connecting to my computer and had the same exact issue. I took my phone to my roommate's laptop who also has a verizon S3 and tried connecting to his laptop. Still just charges, no notification.
I connected his S3 using the same exact cord to my computer and my computer recognizes his phone (although he is 100% stock).
I decided to try and Odin back to 100% stock. I loaded up Odin on my computer (Win 7 Pro 64 bit) and rebooted my computer into the odin/download mode and my computer/odin didn't recognize my phone. At this point I am at a lost. I have a suspicion that maybe the usb port on my phone went bad but in order to replace it with Verizon, I need to odin back to stock. Any one have any ideas?
I apologize if this has been covered before, I used the search and didn't see anything relating this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm having the exact same problem with my GS3. The problem started after I flashed Beans B13 as well. I directly downloaded MDOB (it's a stock rooted ROM) and flashed it, but I am still having the issue. I haven't been able to figure it out either. Hopefully someone on here can help us out!

Well I think I solved the problem - at least for me. I tried the USB cable from my Dad's Droid X. Plugged the phone into the computer and everything works. No errors and the drivers installed correctly. I tried the cable that came with my phone (the one I have always used and has worked up until now) and it doesn't work. I get the error with it, but as soon as I use the one from the DX again, it works! Not sure why that is but I would say give it a try for sure! Let me know if it works for you too!
By the way, I got the idea from this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1719539
Take a look if trying the new cable doesn't work!

DROIDLOVERX2 said:
Well I think I solved the problem - at least for me. I tried the USB cable from my Dad's Droid X. Plugged the phone into the computer and everything works. No errors and the drivers installed correctly. I tried the cable that came with my phone (the one I have always used and has worked up until now) and it doesn't work. I get the error with it, but as soon as I use the one from the DX again, it works! Not sure why that is but I would say give it a try for sure! Let me know if it works for you too!
By the way, I got the idea from this thread:
http://http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1719539
Take a look if trying the new cable doesn't work!
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Click to collapse
Thanks for replying back! I meant to add a post. I got my phone working again. My roommate and I took apart the tip of my usb cable (the one that came with the phone) and noticed the green wire was broken off, so we soldered it back on and my phone was able to connect to my computer finally. Although it wasn't a strong connection and kept disconnecting.
For now I'm using a different cable from my hp touchpad and it's working perfectly fine so everything is all good now
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

NITRO_2 said:
Thanks for replying back! I meant to add a post. I got my phone working again. My roommate and I took apart the tip of my usb cable (the one that came with the phone) and noticed the green wire was broken off, so we soldered it back on and my phone was able to connect to my computer finally. Although it wasn't a strong connection and kept disconnecting.
For now I'm using a different cable from my hp touchpad and it's working perfectly fine so everything is all good now
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
That's good to hear! I guess both of our cables just went bad from use or something. Wish I would have tried another cable sooner instead of spending 4 hours installing and uninstalling drivers and wiping and installing ROMs over and over trying to solve the issue! :silly: But good thing we both figured it out! :victory:

I'm having the same problem as well...have now tried 4 different cables, hard reset, and every USB port on my machine and my buddy's computer to no avail. I verified the cables were 'good' on my buddy's gf's gs3 and it worked fine...just wont see mine. Charges just fine just no go on getting any data pass through it seems???