Database Info

Power Off = Reset

I wonder if anyone else has encountered this issue.
This began about 2 weeks ago.
About 50% of the time, when I choose Power Off on my Skyrocket, the phone goes through the whole "powering off" procedure but then, instead of shutting down, it reboots.
It resets completely as if it had been powered off and then immediately been powered back on.
Sometimes this will even happen a second time in a row when I again try to shut down - other times it will shut down on the second try...

What rom are you using? Any other info you could provide such as when it started happening would help us help you.
At any rate, without knowing the details, I'd say it could be a hardware issue with your power button. The reason I say this is that if you hold down the power button for ten seconds or so the phone will re-boot. Additionally, I've seen a few cases of stuck power buttons with users in this forum (in their cases the phone was unusable--one got it repaired by mobiletech and the other hasn't yet fixed it to my knowledge.
If I were you I'd back up all the files you don't want to lose (pics, music, etc) to a pc just in case the button gets fully stuck, in which case your phone will do nothing but start up and restart over and over.
And if it is a hardware problem, you should be covered under warranty provided that you don't have any water damage or other physical damage to the phone.

I had a couple of ROMs do this. The phone wouldn't turn off if the battery was in it or it was plugged in.

eagercrow said:
I had a couple of ROMs do this. The phone wouldn't turn off if the battery was in it or it was plugged in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What you're describing sounds more like you flashed one of the ICS leaks. A lot of people ran into the freeze at shutdown/reboot issue with those roms before the devs ironed out the kinks.
The OP's situation seems a bit different, since it is just rebooting instead of powering down.

Yes I am fully stock everything.

If you haven't flashed any roms and are just on stock, I'd get a warranty replacement. You'll have to play the waiting game with them but they'll get you a brand new (or refurbed, but good as new) phone within a couple weeks.
And again, I recommend backing up all your stuff asap before the button gets fully stuck.
If you have flashed roms in the past, you'll want to make sure you get fully back to stock, including flashing the reset binary counter .zip found in the development section so your phone looks nice and clean.

OK -
So I went to back up my data as suggested above.
When I tried to switch into USB mode, I got to the point where the USB is in and it says "Press to Connect to Mass Storage" (something like that).
When I clicked on that button, the phone reset.
Then after it restarted I tried again to click to enter Mass Storage Mode and the phone shut off and would not start again until I pulled the battery.
Sounds like more going on than a stuck power button...?
EDIT: After pulling the battery, I restarted and again tried to enter USB Storage Mode. The phone again shut down and would not start until I pulled battery.

lirong said:
OK -
So I went to back up my data as suggested above.
When I tried to switch into USB mode, I got to the point where the USB is in and it says "Press to Connect to Mass Storage" (something like that).
When I clicked on that button, the phone reset.
Then after it restarted I tried again to click to enter Mass Storage Mode and the phone shut off and would not start again until I pulled the battery.
Sounds like more going on than a stuck power button...?
EDIT: After pulling the battery, I restarted and again tried to enter USB Storage Mode. The phone again shut down and would not start until I pulled battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah...that does not sound good at all. I'm still convinced it's a hardware issue. You might want to just pick up an external sd card if you don't have one and push your important files onto that. I got a 16gb card for only about $10 online, not sure what they sell for at electronics stores.
Something tells me your phone is going to give up the ghost soon and just completely crap out on you. Don't wait!

Samsung Infused problems...

Note: I did search and looked at "Similar Threads"
Hi, I'm having problems with my samsung infuse... I installed [ODIN][UCLB3] AT&T 2.3.6 Gingerbread with root and CWM recovery option onto my phone using odin, worked fine for a few months.
After that it started to mess up and occasianally brick itself.. so i wanted to put a different mod on, Tried using GTG unbrick and now its bricked...
Every time i try to load either 2.3.6 GB or stock firmware, it works for all of 2 minutes, and bricks itself again.
I have tried everything, except for this. Help?

I'm not sure I'd really be able to help, but people are going to want to know what it does exactly when it "bricks"
Back to stock is usually a pretty safe bet and has worked for me every time I've botched my phone. It almost sounds like a hardware problem if back to stock isn't working. I'm pretty sure it erases pretty much all data from your phone.
Two minutes in to boot up your phone might still be checking your SD card. back to stock doesn't affect the SD card. Perhaps try running without the SD card to eliminate that as a problem.

I think I may have found what the problem is, The modified recovery file is still on the internal memory.. Any way I can get that off? or am i stuck.
brian Marshall said:
I'm not sure I'd really be able to help, but people are going to want to know what it does exactly when it "bricks"
Back to stock is usually a pretty safe bet and has worked for me every time I've botched my phone. It almost sounds like a hardware problem if back to stock isn't working. I'm pretty sure it erases pretty much all data from your phone.
Two minutes in to boot up your phone might still be checking your SD card. back to stock doesn't affect the SD card. Perhaps try running without the SD card to eliminate that as a problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Thanks to qkster :good:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1524081

Well
Well I did this. It says to re-do the flash and use "Flash Bootloader" Well now my phone wont go into download mode AT ALL. I've tried ever singe way possible.
Phone is stuck on Samsung loop, or when its plugged in, it keeps disconnecting and reconnecting and is stuck between a blank screen and the loading bar. I've been trying for hours to put it into download mode, and this isn't the first time this has happened. but everything on the phone is now stock.
Oh, I still got the Rainbow pixel screen when it did boot up...
Pony Express said:
Thanks to qkster :good:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1524081
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

If it boots, it should go into download mode... be sure you are following the right process... some people hold the power button in and it won't work that way...
DOWNLOAD mode: Power off. Open back cover. Remove battery. Press and hold both volume buttons - (do not hold power button) Insert battery while holding volume buttons. Plug in USB cable.
It can also be achieved by open back cover, Remove battery. Press and hold both volume buttons. Plug in USB cable and then insert battery.
thanks, qkster
Edit: You may need to try a different USB port on your puter, remember that you have to use the same port each time for Heimdall to execute properly... good luck.

Umm...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1724993
This is exactly what is happening to my phone right now, after I booted up the fix you sent me.

That being the case it is most likely the power button is stuck.
Here is a video that, although it is a "how to" replace the screen, the point is it shows the phone being taken apart thus allowing one to get to the power button and clean it. This worked for another user that had the same problem - hope it is helpful for you as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WS5I0SpL6c

[Q] Phone dead, but the problem is not the battery

Last night I changed the SIM of my Nexus S, put back the battery but did not close the phone with its battery cover since I was going to change the SIM again soon after. I turned the phone on, but the battery fell down and obviously the phone turned off. However, when I tried to put the battery back and turned on the phone, it did not. The phone seems dead and I'm pretty sure the problem is not the battery as it has always been working fine. Any help?

mimimouchi said:
Last night I changed the SIM of my Nexus S, put back the battery but did not close the phone with its battery cover since I was going to change the SIM again soon after. I turned the phone on, but the battery fell down and obviously the phone turned off. However, when I tried to put the battery back and turned on the phone, it did not. The phone seems dead and I'm pretty sure the problem is not the battery as it has always been working fine. Any help?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No charging animation right? Same here. it seems we have bricked our phones beyond repair.

Cache?
I am not too sure if this would work but try these steps however this will only work if you phone is rooted (ONLY UP TILL STEP 5, AFTER STEP 5 ROOT WILL BE NEEDED):
1) Pull of the back cover of the phone and then plug it into the computer via a usb cable
2) Hold down the power button for 15 seconds, in some lucky chances the phone may turn on if not continue to step 3
3) Pull out the battery but keep the usb plugged in DO NOT UNPLUG
4) Now hold down the power button for a further 15 seconds, in some lucky chances the phone may turn on if not continue to step 5
5) After this unplug the phone from the usb, reinsert the battery IF YOUR PHONE IS ROOTED attempt to turn it on but holding the volume UP button and the power button then navigate to the recovery section from here clear your cache then attempt to turn your phone on. IF YOU PHONE IS NOT ROOTED you can only try and turn it on the normal way (by holding down the power button).
Hope this works for you.

mine too, pulled off battery after it hang, and now it can't be turn on.
---------- Post added at 10:55 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:49 AM ----------
purebasshavoc said:
I am not too sure if this would work but try these steps however this will only work if you phone is rooted (ONLY UP TILL STEP 5, AFTER STEP 5 ROOT WILL BE NEEDED):
1) Pull of the back cover of the phone and then plug it into the computer via a usb cable
2) Hold down the power button for 15 seconds, in some lucky chances the phone may turn on if not continue to step 3
3) Pull out the battery but keep the usb plugged in DO NOT UNPLUG
4) Now hold down the power button for a further 15 seconds, in some lucky chances the phone may turn on if not continue to step 5
5) After this unplug the phone from the usb, reinsert the battery IF YOUR PHONE IS ROOTED attempt to turn it on but holding the volume UP button and the power button then navigate to the recovery section from here clear your cache then attempt to turn your phone on. IF YOU PHONE IS NOT ROOTED you can only try and turn it on the normal way (by holding down the power button).
Hope this works for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nope, didn't work for me.

JUST STOP !!!
My phone is getting scared.. :laugh:
Do you know how many times i've just pulled the battery when it hangs, or I was stupid and didn't have on the back cover, or it Was wednesday and I was bored?.. Here my phone is, all in a panic, and I'm afraid to pull it's battery to ease the pain of it being frozen, or pull it's battery when it gets sick with a bootlooping bug.. How am I supposed to pull the battery when my hands are shaking and my mind is telling me NO, but my heart just wants to help?? How am I supposed to look my phone in the camera and say, "I can't help you"??
I just can't do it,..
I just can't..
:crying:
:silly:

This sh1t happen to me last night, from my research the emmc is bricked the phone needs a new emmc or a repair using a tool like riff box or an external programmer of a kind.
The cost for this operation is really high i will try to do it with a simple smd work station and see how it goes
@mimimouchi if u don't have warranty, u will have to pay a huge amount to fix the phone which doesn't worth it if u take into consideration the current price and age of the phone
Why this happen on samsung mobiles ? is this company going down ? ffs

Bump

ross231 said:
Bump
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From my research, people which pull the battery during boot have a dead/bricked or whatever, emmc. Your first bet is the unbrickable mod if u have the soldering skills and the proper tools, after u apply the mod and u can't flash the phone ur emmc crapped and u need to replace it with a new one, u will need an smd station to remove the chip and solder the new one.
The cost of the operation is around 100$, another option is to try and find a new motherboard from a user / broken whatever nexus still at the price range of 100$++
My opinion ? ur phone is dead blame samsung for this **** and go buy a new one without samsung parts ....

Magusxd said:
From my research, people which pull the battery during boot have a dead/bricked or whatever, emmc. Your first bet is the unbrickable mod if u have the soldering skills and the proper tools, after u apply the mod and u can't flash the phone ur emmc crapped and u need to replace it with a new one, u will need an smd station to remove the chip and solder the new one.
The cost of the operation is around 100$, another option is to try and find a new motherboard from a user / broken whatever nexus still at the price range of 100$++
My opinion ? ur phone is dead blame samsung for this **** and go buy a new one without samsung parts ....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same situation, my battery fell out in my nexus-s phone the other day, and in my son nexus-s phone a few weeks ago. Now I have two dead nexus-s phone. WTF. Has anyone solved this issue or is the emmc mod the only option ? I've read about jtag etc. Has anyone tried that ?

jay55555 said:
Same situation, my battery fell out in my nexus-s phone the other day, and in my son nexus-s phone a few weeks ago. Now I have two dead nexus-s phone. WTF. Has anyone solved this issue or is the emmc mod the only option ? I've read about jtag etc. Has anyone tried that ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If ur battery fell during the boot sequence then ur emmc is bricked, and u need to replace it ther is no mod to fix this nor jtag can fix it, if u have experience with smd soldering desoldering reballing reflowing etc etc then u can fix it urself
The cost for this will run around 100euros depends on the shop and the method that they will use to solder the new chip
You can ask local technicians how much they charge for something like this, my opinion is that if they want more than 50euros ur better off buying a newer phone

Magusxd said:
If ur battery fell during the boot sequence then ur emmc is bricked, and u need to replace it ther is no mod to fix this nor jtag can fix it, if u have experience with smd soldering desoldering reballing reflowing etc etc then u can fix it urself
The cost for this will run around 100euros depends on the shop and the method that they will use to solder the new chip
You can ask local technicians how much they charge for something like this, my opinion is that if they want more than 50euros ur better off buying a newer phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
actually the battery fell out during the shutdown. Does that change the diagnosis ?

jay55555 said:
actually the battery fell out during the shutdown. Does that change the diagnosis ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no cause ur phone acts completely dead 99% when a nexus s can't give a signal of life (despite battery heating when u plug the charger) it's an emmc brick which can be resolved only if u replace the actual chip all the emmc bricks happen when the battery is removed during boot / shutdown and rarely when the phone is already running android
But if u want to be 100% sure the only cheap solution IF U HAVE THE EXPERIENCE is to perform the unbrickable mod, which requires to remove a resistor on the motherboard and bridge 2 pads, then ur phone will be detected and if u can't flash a rom in this stage then u need to replace the emmc
As for me i'm sure that ur phone has an emmc brick, a nexus s that acts dead, no vibration, no lights, no nothing, except heating when u plug the charger indicates a hardware failure
You have 2 solutions bring it to a shop or fix it urself if u can ... nothing can be done with software at this point that's my opinion

[Q] Bricked Photon Q by wiping partition table of internal sdcard?

Hey, I was trying to root my photon Q and installed CWM + Cyanogen mod 10.1 but I got stuck in the bootanimation.
I was trying the usual stuff like wiping cache but it told me it was unable to mount /data.
After searching a web I found out that CWM may not read the file system so i tried to change the partions of the internal flash rom using this tutorial: (sorry i am not allowed to post the link so search google: "SOLVED: messed up partitions on internal storage - CyanogenMod page 1 #11"
and look at post #7.)
After altering the partition tables on /dev/block/mmcblk0 the phone does absolutely nothing anymore when pressing the powerbutton. Did I brick the phone? Is there a way getting it back to live using an external sd card?

have you tried to boot into recovery ?
(hold power button + volume up). if this works you can maybe copy i.a. cyanogenmod 10 or so to your sd card and install it).
if this wont work, try to reinstall the stock photon q firmware fxz files. this is what i would try to do if my phone is "bricked".
here is a small tutorial which i wrote (sorry for my bad english).
i have uploaded the fxz files and the tools which are needed to wuala (like dropbox) as a personal backup for myself.
Please read this tutorial first one time complete and start then!
With this you will lose all your data which is stored on your phone (internal storage, an external sd card shouldnt be affected), but its better to put it out.
1. install RSD Lite 6.1.5 + MTK Patch (install first rsd lite and then the mtk patch)
2. boot into bootloader (hold power + volume down)
3. plug your photon q into your computer with the usb cable. (you must use a usb port on the "backside" of your pc. on all computer which i have testet RSD Lite didn't noticed the photon q if it was plugged with one of the front usb ports. on a laptop it is doesnt matter)
4. Run RSD Lite as Administrator.
5. Select the downloaded firmware unter "Filmename:"
6. click on "Decompress and start flashing".
7. if you get an error message on step 6, open the .zip file with 7zip or winrar and edit the .xml file
filename: asanti_c_sprint-user-4.1.2-9.8.2Q-122_XT897_FFW-5-6-release-keys-cid9.xml
in the .xml you have to delete the 2 lines
<step operation="getvar" var="max-download-size" />
after you deleted the 2 lines save the xml file in the zip archive.
8. select on under "Filmename:" the new .zip file.
9. now it should work, wait until it finishes.
10. now your photon q should be back on stock.
here are all files:
firmware:
(you have to select your carrier, in my example my photon q is from sprint, as you can see in the beginning of the file name (asanti_c_sprint-user.... for sprint model or asanti_c_cspire-user... for CSpire))
i prefer you to install the newest (last in the list, which is jelly bean 4.1.2, you can see the android version after the asanti_c_sprint-user-4.1.2
THE RIGHT FIRMWARE IS REALLY IMPORTANT !
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2095536
RSD Lite + MTK Patch.
https://www.wuala.com/gangster123/Android/?key=XQYzh52Wj4yn

Hi,
thanks for your affords but the problem is, the phone doesen't do anything when pressing the power button. The screen just remains black. Therefore it's not possible to get into recovery mode. What I did was doing the parted /dev/block/mmcblk0 mkfs ext2 command on adb shell. The /dev/block/mmcblk0 (internal sd card) had alot of partitions (about 39) and I guess also the recovery mode files are stored there. (I assumed it is stored somewhere else on a dedicated memory) The phone just can't read it anymore, since the partition table is damaged.
Maybe I could restore it by using the dd command and rewrite the original partition table. But I have to get access to the internal sd card chip for that.
If nothing helps, I have to desolder it and flashing it manually. But I realy wan't to do that as the realy last step.
Maybe there is a possible mod for getting a 32GB or more as internal flash lol.
I also read something about the possibility of using the JTAG debugging port. Will I get access using that? If yes, where are the pins on the mainboard?
Anyway I downloaded RSD Lite + Stock rom and did everything you mentioned (except getting in recovery mode) but RSD lite doesen't show anything when clicking on Show Device and there is nothing happening when clicking on start. But it can't be bad having the stock rom so thanks for that.

can you boot into the bootmanager ?
and try other usb ports (dont use usb hubs or, only direct connection from phone to pc)

The phone is absolutely doing nothing when pressing the power button. I tried connecting it on the usb 3.0 port an my laptop. I will try another one as soon as I am home but I doubt it will make any difference, since the boot manager is stored on the internal flash i guess.

coon42 said:
The phone is absolutely doing nothing when pressing the power button. I tried connecting it on the usb 3.0 port an my laptop. I will try another one as soon as I am home but I doubt it will make any difference, since the boot manager is stored on the internal flash i guess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I'm not quite sure why you decided to repartition... sounds dangerous ! Especially using ext2, that is not appropriate for this device at all.
I guess you know that now... At any rate, have you tried pressing & holding power+camera? Hold it, you should get a menu.
If that doesn't work, does the device actually charge? Do you get any indication that it's charging from AC or USB?
RSD Lite won't show anything unless you are in fastboot mode, and the phone is plugged in/recognized by your PC - and of course, you have the proper drivers installed.

arrrghhh said:
Well, I'm not quite sure why you decided to repartition... sounds dangerous ! Especially using ext2, that is not appropriate for this device at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because clockwork mod was not able to mount it so I i wasn't able to wipe data and cache. I assumed that was the reason cyanogenmod was hanging on boot.
I guess you know that now... At any rate, have you tried pressing & holding power+camera? Hold it, you should get a menu.
If that doesn't work, does the device actually charge? Do you get any indication that it's charging from AC or USB?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The screen just remains black whatever I do but in background the phone seems to run and crash immediately, because there is no readable bootloader. After I let the phone laying around and plugged it in again, the upper led was lighing green for a short time (indicating that the battery is empty and that the phone can't be turned until it reached 5%)
RSD Lite won't show anything unless you are in fastboot mode, and the phone is plugged in/recognized by your PC - and of course, you have the proper drivers installed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am pretty sure it is not possible getting it run just by an using USB cable since the processor cant mount the system filesystem and immediately crashes.
Only solution should be JTAG but for that I need to find the JTAG pins first...

coon42 said:
Because clockwork mod was not able to mount it so I i wasn't able to wipe data and cache. I assumed that was the reason cyanogenmod was hanging on boot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you changed the partition table!?! Seems like a drastic solution.
coon42 said:
The screen just remains black whatever I do but in background the phone seems to run and crash immediately, because there is no readable bootloader. After I let the phone laying around and plugged it in again, the upper led was lighing green for a short time (indicating that the battery is empty and that the phone can't be turned until it reached 5%)
I am pretty sure it is not possible getting it run just by an using USB cable since the processor cant mount the system filesystem and immediately crashes.
Only solution should be JTAG but for that I need to find the JTAG pins first...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Battery does sound dead, if you can't get to fastboot mode... JTAG is probably the only option. I would keep trying to get the phone into fastboot mode if I was you. JTAG isn't exactly easy to use.

arrrghhh said:
So you changed the partition table!?! Seems like a drastic solution.
Battery does sound dead, if you can't get to fastboot mode... JTAG is probably the only option. I would keep trying to get the phone into fastboot mode if I was you. JTAG isn't exactly easy to use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fastboot is also just a tool which is on the internal flash and can't therefore booted.
It seems the phone is still charging but I cant realy test it. The only thing I could do is measuring the voltage with a multimeter...
It says 2.891V now. I will plug it in for two or three hours and try again... If the voltage get higher we know that the phone still charges and that the problem can't be the battery.

Meanwhile i did some photos of the mainboard:
Front:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Front upper:
Front bottom:
Back side:
There are already two consumptions where the JTAG port could be located:
On 1 there are a few connectors. When these connectors aren't closed by the backcover the phone won't start. Maybe some connectors are JTAG. I also spotted an unused connector on 2. I asume that this is some kind of debugging port because it is just covered by the battery and not connected on normal use.
What are 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 for? Looks like connectors for antennas...

Okay, battery doesen't get warm and voltage didn't change so charging doesen't seem to work.
Is there a way powering the phone without battery? I heard something about a factory cable... may I just connect 3,3V on the battery pins or will i screw up the charging electronics by doing that?
coon42 said:
Fastboot is also just a tool which is on the internal flash and can't therefore booted.
It seems the phone is still charging but I cant realy test it. The only thing I could do is measuring the voltage with a multimeter...
It says 2.891V now. I will plug it in for two or three hours and try again... If the voltage get higher we know that the phone still charges and that the problem can't be the battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Connector #1 is the set of contact point for the antennas (one for 3G, one for LTE, one for wifi, etc.), and presumably the battery also, since the phone refuses to boot up without it being connected (and because I didn't make out any battery contacts in the photos provided). #2 is most likely the JTAG, since as you say, it's completely unconnected during normal phone operation. 3-7 are usually antenna connections, but they could also be used as diagnostic test points to make sure the local circuitry (or the phone as a whole) works as it's supposed to while the phone is going through the manufacturing process.
As for connecting voltage straight to the phone, it shouldn't be a problem as long as the polarity is correct, and you use no more voltage AND current as is supplied by the charger that came with the phone (5.1V and 850mA).

Ok, I also asume to 90% that 2 is the jtag port. So, any idea how to find out the pinout? Is it some standardized port by motorola? I didn't find anything on google yet but I'm still searching...
I'd like to measure directly on the CPU but since the pins are unreachable when soldered (since all pins are UNDER the cpu) I can't.

xaelith said:
Connector #1 is the set of contact point for the antennas (one for 3G, one for LTE, one for wifi, etc.), and presumably the battery also, since the phone refuses to boot up without it being connected (and because I didn't make out any battery contacts in the photos provided). #2 is most likely the JTAG, since as you say, it's completely unconnected during normal phone operation. 3-7 are usually antenna connections, but they could also be used as diagnostic test points to make sure the local circuitry (or the phone as a whole) works as it's supposed to while the phone is going through the manufacturing process.
As for connecting voltage straight to the phone, it shouldn't be a problem as long as the polarity is correct, and you use no more voltage AND current as is supplied by the charger that came with the phone (5.1V and 850mA).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
#1 is the audio headphone jack. Check the chassis where it mates.
The battery terminals (screw posts) are below the hdmi & usb ports, next to #4 on your pic.
The antennas have different connection points around the mobo, eg, the gps antenna connects and is located around the volume rocker location.
I wouldn't recommend a higher voltage than the battery is rated at if you are going to power the phone directly. Chargers are generally all USB spec now days (5vDC), so that most (any) phone can be charged from a usb port/power adapter. This is then regulated by the internal charging circuit to charge the Lithium battery, typically a 3.7vDC (nominal) cell.
Your battery is too discharged to start the phone. Research lithium battery cell voltages to understand. Get a lithium cell charger, or if you understand the risks & how to do it, you could revive the battery another way.
Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems you are getting in too far without understanding your phone & the terminals/components. This may lead to more trouble than you first had.
Good luck with it.
Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app

schmandroid said:
Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems you are getting in too far without understanding your phone & the terminals/components. This may lead to more trouble than you first had.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, the phone is bricked anyway. I can't make it any more worse yet.
Sending it to a repair service wouldn't also make any sense. For about 50$ - 80$ I could just buy a "new" cracked screen bad ESN photon q and replace the mainboard with my mint chassis, that's not the point.
I'm also interested in electronics so why not trying to rescue it? If I screw it up, so what, I just buy a "new" one then. But if I will be successfull I maybe help other people with a tutorial who also softbricked their phones.

so it seems that the battery is the "problem". maybe the bootloader would work if the battery has some more power (more as 5% or so)

pujdo1 said:
so it seems that the battery is the "problem". maybe the bootloader would work if the battery has some more power (more as 5% or so)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly - Shows you are thinking.
Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app
---------- Post added at 11:39 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:20 AM ----------
coon42 said:
Well, the phone is bricked anyway. I can't make it any more worse yet.
Sending it to a repair service wouldn't also make any sense. For about 50$ - 80$ I could just buy a "new" cracked screen bad ESN photon q and replace the mainboard with my mint chassis, that's not the point.
I'm also interested in electronics so why not trying to rescue it? If I screw it up, so what, I just buy a "new" one then. But if I will be successfull I maybe help other people with a tutorial who also softbricked their phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm giving you feedback. I am guessing you are posting in order to get assistance?
If it is bricked, then a charged battery won't help, however, if it just has a flat battery, problem solved. (Unbricked by voltage mod)
Would you pull an engine out of a car that won't start because of a flat battery?
Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app

schmandroid said:
I am guessing you are posting in order to get assistance?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep. As I already mentioned I see two possibilities here:
1. Finding the JTAG port and reflashing the internal sd card using a JTAG Programmer (RIFF Box for example)
2. Finding the sd card chip, desolder it, reprogramm it, resolder it.
I already repaired a harddrive by replacing the circuit board and desoldering / resoldering the flash rom chip from the broken one to the new one.
Doing this on the phone shouldn't be any big difference.
The question is, if the internal sd rom chip of the photon q does - similiar to the CDMA chip - does only have about 10 pins and is therefore pin compatible to a real sd card and behaves like a real one so it can be read and written using SPI or SDIO. In that case rewriting the bootloader will be very easy using an arduino or if only SDIO works, a STMF4 microcontroller for example. If there are hundreds of pins on the chip it meight be too hard till impossible.
The Problem is, I just don't know where the flash chip and the JTAG pads / pins are exactly placed nor the pinout of the JTAG. That's where I need your help. If nobody knows, I will post another picture with all metal covers removed.
If it is bricked, then a charged battery won't help, however, if it just has a flat battery, problem solved. (Unbricked by voltage mod)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is definitely softbricked since I screwed the partition table of the rootfs so I don't think a working battery will help here. Anyway I will try making a factory cable and look what happens then.

OK,
Some earlier phone chargers (Sony Ericsson etc) were 3.5-3.9vdc, if you use one of these, you may get it to power up - the phone 'may' require more power on startup than the adapter can supply though, so a bench supply may be the better option if this is the case. Try it & see.
If you are gung-ho on electronics, then you'll probably have something lying around.
Swapping SMD bios chips etc is a quick way around bad flashes & locked bios. Been there, done that. Sounds like you are familiar with TSOP etc, seeing as you are discussing JTAG etc???
I have acquired a few phones that won't power on (including these), & poor (dead) battery volts is usually the culprit. The batteries won't charge from the phone charger due to the battery internal protection ccts exceeding the lower limit, but if you have a multi-chemistry charger they can be revived by directly connecting to the power terminals & then they often work well.
This is also a good reason to not let the phone self discharge as a way of rebooting when things go wrong. People are doing this, & it is not ideal for this reason.
Try the power adapter & report how it goes.
By the way, there is already an image of the mobo showing what is under the shields. Look at cornholio's thread on the sim mod to find it.
Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app

schmandroid said:
OK,
Some earlier phone chargers (Sony Ericsson etc) were 3.5-3.9vdc, if you use one of these, you may get it to power up - the phone 'may' require more power on startup than the adapter can supply though, so a bench supply may be the better option if this is the case. Try it & see.
If you are gung-ho on electronics, then you'll probably have something lying around.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am doing all of my electronics works on a hackerspace so I have more than enough of equipment i need. (bench suppy, oscilloscope, rework station) I also may get a bus pirate if I ask someone there.
I will try powering it up using a bench suppy but I assume the screen will just remain black. But I will let you know as soon as I tried that.
Swapping SMD bios chips etc is a quick way around bad flashes & locked bios. Been there, done that. Sounds like you are familiar with TSOP etc, seeing as you are discussing JTAG etc???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't call me an expert but I already did some simple TSOP works.
I have acquired a few phones that won't power on (including these), & poor (dead) battery volts is usually the culprit. The batteries won't charge from the phone charger due to the battery internal protection ccts exceeding the lower limit, but if you have a multi-chemistry charger they can be revived by directly connecting to the power terminals & then they often work well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
May I use any Li-ion charger? I have a HTC Desire Z / (HTC Vision or G2 in the USA) which has a 3.7V battery but photon Q has only 3.6V so I am afraid killing the battery when charging it using the HTC.
This is also a good reason to not let the phone self discharge as a way of rebooting when things go wrong. People are doing this, & it is not ideal for this reason.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had no choice. I bricked the software when I was at home. Since I have no T5 screwdriver there I wasn't able to remove the battery so the battery just got discharged on the bootloop.
Try the power adapter & report how it goes.
By the way, there is already an image of the mobo showing what is under the shields. Look at cornholio's thread on the sim mod to find it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will do. Thanks for that info, I found a tomographic scan of the whole phone made by ikv:
I already PMed him for sending me a higher resolution version of that picture so I may find the sd card IC.
When reading cornholio's thread I also found out the reason why my sd card actually wasn't got detected in recovery mode:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=35151506&postcount=194
I indeed removed some SMD resistors while removing the CDMA IC so that seems to be the real reason while the SD card wasn't detected.
I just wonder why it still got detected by adb then
Whatever, knowing that the resistors are connected to the sd card IC will make it very easy to find it by a multimeter.

Is My VZW S3 Dead? (Symptoms in Text)

About three days ago, in the middle of the day, I tried to unlock my Verizon S3 using the power button, but it remained on a black screen. I pulled the battery, replaced it, and tried again. It came on.
Over the next day, it performed this behavior three more times; this time, however, the "black screen, unresponsive" happened while I was using the device (e.g., reading reddit in Reddit Sync when the screen darkens and the device becomes unresponsive and silent). The first two times, a battery pull let me restart the device.
The third time, however, nothing would restart the S3. A different, fully charged (and tested working) S3 battery would not start it. Plugging it into multiple chargers and multiple computers--both with and without a battery--would not start it. Plugging it into a PC fails to install drivers, and the S3 is identified as a "QHSUSB_DLOAD" device by Windows.
Plugging it in sans battery will sometimes briefly illuminate the red charging light, but it eventually turns off on its own, or goes off if I hold the Power button or put a battery in. I cannot access Recovery or Download Mode using the standard button combinations; there is no vibration, no flash on the screen, no change on the LED, and no sound. No input I give the phone appears to have any effect at all.
----------------------------------------------
The phone was running an unlocked, rooted version of 4.1.2, but had no other modifications, and had not had any major system changes in the months prior to this starting. I haven't recently messed with the bootloader, taken the 4.3 update, unrooted, rerooted, or anything else aside from letting apps update naturally and using the phone as always (reading reddit, using Hangouts to chat, listening to music with PowerAmp).
I read about the "Sudden Death Syndrome," but that supposedly applies only to International S3s. I read about hardbricking via screwing up your bootloader or triggering the eFUSE protections, but since I wasn't messing around with any of that for months now and also since I did not take the 4.3 update, I suspect it wasn't the cause.
Reps at the store weren't able to resuscitate the device, but told me I was ineligible for warranty service (I have extended) due to a hairline fracture on the case an inch below the power button (this crack has been there for months).
The device hasn't suffered any water damage or recent drops and was otherwise fully functional before the first blackscreen a few days back. I can't afford an Insurance swap right now, so self-repair is my only hope of having a working phone before my next paycheck hits in a few weeks

Armando Penblade said:
About three days ago, in the middle of the day, I tried to unlock my Verizon S3 using the power button, but it remained on a black screen. I pulled the battery, replaced it, and tried again. It came on.
Over the next day, it performed this behavior three more times; this time, however, the "black screen, unresponsive" happened while I was using the device (e.g., reading reddit in Reddit Sync when the screen darkens and the device becomes unresponsive and silent). The first two times, a battery pull let me restart the device.
The third time, however, nothing would restart the S3. A different, fully charged (and tested working) S3 battery would not start it. Plugging it into multiple chargers and multiple computers--both with and without a battery--would not start it. Plugging it into a PC fails to install drivers, and the S3 is identified as a "QHSUSB_DLOAD" device by Windows.
Plugging it in sans battery will sometimes briefly illuminate the red charging light, but it eventually turns off on its own, or goes off if I hold the Power button or put a battery in. I cannot access Recovery or Download Mode using the standard button combinations; there is no vibration, no flash on the screen, no change on the LED, and no sound. No input I give the phone appears to have any effect at all.
----------------------------------------------
The phone was running an unlocked, rooted version of 4.1.2, but had no other modifications, and had not had any major system changes in the months prior to this starting. I haven't recently messed with the bootloader, taken the 4.3 update, unrooted, rerooted, or anything else aside from letting apps update naturally and using the phone as always (reading reddit, using Hangouts to chat, listening to music with PowerAmp).
I read about the "Sudden Death Syndrome," but that supposedly applies only to International S3s. I read about hardbricking via screwing up your bootloader or triggering the eFUSE protections, but since I wasn't messing around with any of that for months now and also since I did not take the 4.3 update, I suspect it wasn't the cause.
Reps at the store weren't able to resuscitate the device, but told me I was ineligible for warranty service (I have extended) due to a hairline fracture on the case an inch below the power button (this crack has been there for months).
The device hasn't suffered any water damage or recent drops and was otherwise fully functional before the first blackscreen a few days back. I can't afford an Insurance swap right now, so self-repair is my only hope of having a working phone before my next paycheck hits in a few weeks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Quite a story, somehow you hard bricked it, This happens sometimes and I can't really explain why, but here's your fix:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2581166
Make sure you have all the necessary equipment and use the 4.1 debrick image in the thread, you should be able to get it working again without a jtag repair.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

BadUsername said:
Quite a story, somehow you hard bricked it, This happens sometimes and I can't really explain why, but here's your fix:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2581166
Make sure you have all the necessary equipment and use the 4.1 debrick image in the thread, you should be able to get it working again without a jtag repair.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This doesn't seem to have any effect on the proceedings.
I created the recovery IMG SD Card, but after putting it into the S3, pressing the power button on the phone (or plugging it into a PC) still has zero effect. It's like it's not even trying to boot and failing (or failing over to SD Card). Basically, pressing the power button/plugging in has zero effect at all, not just an unsuccessful effect.

Armando Penblade said:
This doesn't seem to have any effect on the proceedings.
I created the recovery IMG SD Card, but after putting it into the S3, pressing the power button on the phone (or plugging it into a PC) still has zero effect. It's like it's not even trying to boot and failing (or failing over to SD Card). Basically, pressing the power button/plugging in has zero effect at all, not just an unsuccessful effect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But that's what it's supposed to look like when it's hard bricked, keep trying to write it then boot with it. Eventually it's going to work, unless you somehow fried your motherboard.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

Is it possible that writing to the SD card via another smartphone (my old Droid 1) would cause the write operation to fail? I don't have any other method of getting the PC to communicate with a microSD card except via cellphones, since I don't have a USB adapter or even a microSD to SD adapter.
Edit: The D1/PC do recognize that something has happened to the SD card after Win32diskimager is done with it, because the D1 reports that it's now a "blank SD card (unsupported file system)" and Windows can't properly mount it anymore in that state. So, W32DI is definitely doing something to it. Tried 3 times now; is there some upper bound on how many to go for before assuming the motherboard died?

Armando Penblade said:
Is it possible that writing to the SD card via another smartphone (my old Droid 1) would cause the write operation to fail? I don't have any other method of getting the PC to communicate with a microSD card except via cellphones, since I don't have a USB adapter or even a microSD to SD adapter.
Edit: The D1/PC do recognize that something has happened to the SD card after Win32diskimager is done with it, because the D1 reports that it's now a "blank SD card (unsupported file system)" and Windows can't properly mount it anymore in that state. So, W32DI is definitely doing something to it. Tried 3 times now; is there some upper bound on how many to go for before assuming the motherboard died?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not really, if you're getting that error message I'm assuming this should work. At the very least you could get a jtag repair and that'll definitely fix it. You could always try the other debrick file available from that thread also.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2