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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
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.

[Q] Bricked Nexus S. Faulty power button?

Hi guys.
I noticed a few weeks ago my power button started to work when it felt like it. Sometimes it would be fine, other times it would take about 30 presses before it registered I was attempting to use it..
Now it has completely failed.
The phone is currently off, whenever I try to press the power button it never turns on. But as soon as I attach a charger to it (AC and USB), without even pressing the power button, the phone vibrates and the google screen flashes up, but never gets past that screen.
If I hold the volume up button as I attach a charger it attempts to enter recovery/bootloader mode(?), but freezes as soon as it comes on. No buttons work and it requires a battery pull to turn it off.
The phone is also not recognised by my computer, or by odin, or anything.
Not really sure what to do. Would try and flash things back to stock, but can't find a way to do that. Not really sure it would help either?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance
Oh and I looked through current threads and searched on google but I couldn't find anyone with a similar problem :/

It seems, your power button is constantly pressed. Maybe you dropped it? You should try to carefully move the button in every direction instead of pressing it, hopefully it clicks back to its right place. Other option is taking it back to the shop, and get it repaired. It's a hadware problem, so you won't be able to use neither recovery nor the ROM. The bright side is, that probably it's an easily repairable problem, and won't take too long

mkoch820 said:
It seems, your power button is constantly pressed. Maybe you dropped it? You should try to carefully move the button in every direction instead of pressing it, hopefully it clicks back to its right place. Other option is taking it back to the shop, and get it repaired. It's a hadware problem, so you won't be able to use neither recovery nor the ROM. The bright side is, that probably it's an easily repairable problem, and won't take too long
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought it was a hardware thing, they guy at the shop told me it wasn't..
And yeah that's fair enough..
But yeah I will get it repaired, thank you very much

i kind of had the same problem....
are u runing ICS 4.0.3 update by google????
if yes then that is the problem,
even my power buton stoped working and then wheni went into recovery mode it freezed..
it was my luck taht suddenly the power button started working on its own and i formated the phone with clockworkmod and reinstalled 2.3.6..... and been working fine now...

karan_chopra said:
i kind of had the same problem....
are u runing ICS 4.0.3 update by google????
if yes then that is the problem,
even my power buton stoped working and then wheni went into recovery mode it freezed..
it was my luck taht suddenly the power button started working on its own and i formated the phone with clockworkmod and reinstalled 2.3.6..... and been working fine now...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was on an ICS ROM, can't remember which one, but the button started playing up when I was on a GB ROM..
Here's hoping the button just suddenly starts working though.. :L
Cheers for the reply

Just in case anyone else has this problem. My situation looked horrible.. but I brought a USB Jig from eBay and after months of problems. I got into recovery mode and flashed back to stock. Everything is perfect now
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA

Though I am officially out of the Nexus S great community (mine was sold) but a great lesson I learned here is to BABY the power button...I also disabled the screen lock so I can get screen to wake with vol rocker.... take care of the power button folks on Nexus S lol

AnthonyG92 said:
Just in case anyone else has this problem. My situation looked horrible.. but I brought a USB Jig from eBay and after months of problems. I got into recovery mode and flashed back to stock. Everything is perfect now
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats fix your power button?seriously?
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium

Well no lol. It started working on its own after I reflashed. It works on and off.. but I only flash roms now that have volume rocker wake and 'sleep' in the notification bar.. i.e CM based etc. Just in case the power button decides to fail completely
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA

AnthonyG92 said:
Well no lol. It started working on its own after I reflashed. It works on and off.. but I only flash roms now that have volume rocker wake and 'sleep' in the notification bar.. i.e CM based etc. Just in case the power button decides to fail completely
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha...okay...my power button already dead..
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk 2

AnthonyG92 said:
Well no lol. It started working on its own after I reflashed. It works on and off.. but I only flash roms now that have volume rocker wake and 'sleep' in the notification bar.. i.e CM based etc. Just in case the power button decides to fail completely
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock ICS has a feature to wake the screen using the vol rocker.
And you can search the market for "Lock screen widget" to shut the screen.
In this case you minimize the need for the power button..That what I was doing..

Phone won't boot

Hey guys,
My phone shut off unexpectedly today and now won't turn back on. When I try to power it on I see the Google logo for a couple seconds and then it'll just shut off again. I tried holding the volume up/down buttons to access the bootloader, but right after I get to the screen it just restarts itself again.
Connecting to power (AC or USB) causes it to constantly reboot over and over, it just shows the Google logo for a couple seconds and then restarts again.
Any ideas on what I can do?

rosscarrothers said:
Hey guys,
My phone shut off unexpectedly today and now won't turn back on. When I try to power it on I see the Google logo for a couple seconds and then it'll just shut off again. I tried holding the volume up/down buttons to access the bootloader, but right after I get to the screen it just restarts itself again.
Connecting to power (AC or USB) causes it to constantly reboot over and over, it just shows the Google logo for a couple seconds and then restarts again.
Any ideas on what I can do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Provide more information for a starter - stock? unlocked bootloader? rooted? third party recovery? rom and if yes which?
If it's stock I'd RMA it.
If not what did you do immediately before the problem started?
try holding the power button for > 2 seconds which should turn it off completely, leave it on a wall charger for at least a couple of hours then turn it back on - I doubt it'll fix the problem but it's a simple thing to try...

Clancy_s said:
Provide more information for a starter - stock? unlocked bootloader? rooted? third party recovery? rom and if yes which?
If it's stock I'd RMA it.
If not what did you do immediately before the problem started?
try holding the power button for > 2 seconds which should turn it off completely, leave it on a wall charger for at least a couple of hours then turn it back on - I doubt it'll fix the problem but it's a simple thing to try...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Everything on it is stock, no ROM, not rooted. I had just taken it out of my pocket to check the time, put it back in my pocket and then felt it vibrate, took it back out to see it at the Google logo and haven't been able to get it started since. There was one or two times when it got past the Google logo and started to show the start up animation (the four colours bouncing around or whatever it is) but then it shut off again.
I tried holding the power button to completely turn it off, but plugging it into the wall charger just causes it to repeatedly attempt to boot like I mentioned earlier. I'll leave it for a while and hope for the best

Sounds like the mobo is bad. Most likely will have to rma it.

rosscarrothers said:
Hey guys,
My phone shut off unexpectedly today and now won't turn back on. When I try to power it on I see the Google logo for a couple seconds and then it'll just shut off again. I tried holding the volume up/down buttons to access the bootloader, but right after I get to the screen it just restarts itself again.
Connecting to power (AC or USB) causes it to constantly reboot over and over, it just shows the Google logo for a couple seconds and then restarts again.
Any ideas on what I can do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have a case on? The case could be faulty.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

jd1639 said:
Sounds like the mobo is bad. Most likely will have to rma it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe not. Sounds like a stuck power button to me.
OP does the phone just endlessly repeat this cycle? If so it's rebooting itself do to a stuck power button. One other users already reported similar issues and his power button was indeed stuck. Mash the power button hard for a minute to see if you can unstick it.

theesotericone said:
Maybe not. Sounds like a stuck power button to me.
OP does the phone just endlessly repeat this cycle? If so it's rebooting itself do to a stuck power button. One other users already reported similar issues and his power button was indeed stuck. Mash the power button hard for a minute to see if you can unstick it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You got it!
Thanks so much, really wasn't looking forward to waiting for weeks while the RMA went through. The button didn't appear to be stuck - it was still clicky - but after mashing it for a minute it started up normally and appears to be fine now.

Did you flash any ROMs or anything previously?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

scottdouglasdick said:
Did you flash any ROMs or anything previously?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
brother the issue is gone, as mentioned "sticky power button" was causing it. read the thread before posting. btw thanks for effort anyway... haha
:laugh::silly:

Hi all. Sorry to reopen an old thread (but xda suggested I check here before making my own thread).
I think we have the exact same problem with a Nexus 5. Unfortunately, bashing the power button doesn't seem to be helping (and makes me feel slightly silly .
Anyone know how much effort it would be to take it apart to get to the part that's stuck? Any good instructions?
Thanks.

Weird, I have the same issue starting a few hours ago. I updated to the Oct 17 beta of Cataclysm then a hour later it happened. But was told it sounds like the power button issue.
Took it apart, tried to fix it. If plugged in I can get into the bootloader, but then it reboots again. I've tried tapping it on a hard surface, and it gets seems like it almost fixes it because it'll connect to my laptop but then reboots again.
Could it be the battery? It was fully charged but then died as I was deleting hundreds of photo's in Dropbox to move photo's over from my phone because it was full.

I too am running into this same issue. My screen cracked so I replaced the digitizer with some success. In the process I damaged the battery and needed to replace it. When I got the new battery and replaced it my phone is now unusable.
When unplugged: I turn on the phone and it's running the ANDROID animation then turns off.
When plugged in: I turn on the phone, the ANDROID animation runs then the phone restarts and continues the process over and over again.
I then flashed the phone with Marshmallow and the same thing happens. Except now that I flashed it I get the Android icon with the spinning gear. So; I flashed it back to 5.1.1, but the same result.
Could I have physically damaged something inside or is it a battery issue? Thanks for any insight.

Boot loop after rooting MMB29V. Please help.

I was running the latest stock image (MMB29V) since yesterday on my Nexus 5 and today I used the Nexus root toolkit as always to root the device. Well TWRP flashed once and it said it copied the root files to the device. I had it in my pocket for a few minutes and after that it went into a crazy constant boot loop. It will stop eventually but if I keep the charging cable in it won't stop. I cannot get into recovery because I get the "Start" screen but I cannot advance because it reboots too quickly. I have found a few you tube videos where people push the power button like they are playing the old school game "Track and Field" but this does not work for me nor do I think it's a power button issue. I think I stupidly might have hit some kind of button combo while I'm my pocket believe it or not. I pulled the cover off and was hoping to pull the battery but Im not a fan of doing that since its not a simple task. Any help appreciated. This phone is dead to me and that is NOT good. I need to get this working.
TIA
Bill

Will the phone stay in fastboot mode or does it quickly restart?
Possible power button problem?

audit13 said:
Will the phone stay in fastboot mode or does it quickly restart?
Possible power button problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It quickly restarts. I want to say its not a problem with the power button because it has been fine for a few years now w/out issue and only happened after rooting earlier today. Right now the only way I can even get the phone to turn on is the plug the charging cable in and then the restarting commences. Does it sound like a power button issue? Possibly but its hard to believe, I dunno. Waiting on a call back from Google tech support to see if they are any help.

It could be a power button issue. You'll have to remove the motherboard to find out.
Once removed from the housing, quickly press and release the power button several times in a row using more pressure than normal. While the motherboard is out of the phone, clean around the power button with pure alcohol.

audit13 said:
It could be a power button issue. You'll have to remove the motherboard to find out.
Once removed from the housing, quickly press and release the power button several times in a row using more pressure than normal. While the motherboard is out of the phone, clean around the power button with pure alcohol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there a write up on that here somewhere? Guess I will have to search around for it.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/google-nexus-5/general/nexus-5-power-button-broken-heres-to-t3049747

audit13 said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/google-nexus-5/general/nexus-5-power-button-broken-heres-to-t3049747
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did NOT want to screw up my phone so I sent it to LG. Took a few weeks but it cost me 78.00 total for them to repair the power button issue. Whatever they replaced also fixed the low volume issue I was experiencing as well so it worked out.

TWRP seemingly bricked my pixel

So I was trying to make a backup with the latest twrp and I got this error code: createTarFork() process ended with ERROR=255.
I figured, to hell with it I'll reboot. Twrp asked if I wanted to install the twrp app, I said no. Screen goes back, never to turn on again. No button combo holding for any length of time helps. Bummer, right? I was running DU at the time.
Now I'm worried about the RMA, I hope they don't deny me after they get it back into the warehouse.

stonew5082 said:
So I was trying to make a backup with the latest twrp and I got this error code: createTarFork() process ended with ERROR=255.
I figured, to hell with it I'll reboot. Twrp asked if I wanted to install the twrp app, I said no. Screen goes back, never to turn on again. No button combo holding for any length of time helps. Bummer, right? I was running DU at the time.
Now I'm worried about the RMA, I hope they don't deny me after they get it back into the warehouse.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does anything happen when you plug the phone into the wall or into the PC?
Have you tried just holding down power for a while?

are you on beta hardware. i noticed today my phone was unresponsive installing twrp it would go black and disconnect from pc. what i had to do to get it to turn back on since it stayed lik that even holding the power button for a while was just hold the volume key and power for a couple min down and power if that dont work try volume up and power just random pushes to get the phone it will go to some debugging screen then just holding buttons till it restarts

exad said:
Does anything happen when you plug the phone into the wall or into the PC?
Have you tried just holding down power for a while?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cgrimm9 said:
are you on beta hardware. i noticed today my phone was unresponsive installing twrp it would go black and disconnect from pc. what i had to do to get it to turn back on since it stayed lik that even holding the power button for a while was just hold the volume key and power for a couple min down and power if that dont work try volume up and power just random pushes to get the phone it will go to some debugging screen then just holding buttons till it restarts
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried every button combo. Plugged it in to wall overnight and computer. No response. Makes me paranoid about twrp for pixel because I was rebooting from there, but then again it doesn't seem to be a big problem in the community

stonew5082 said:
I've tried every button combo. Plugged it in to wall overnight and computer. No response. Makes me paranoid about twrp for pixel because I was rebooting from there, but then again it doesn't seem to be a big problem in the community
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought I was in trouble a couple times. I had to hold volume down and power button for a long time. Finger started to go to sleep

cgrimm9 said:
are you on beta hardware. i noticed today my phone was unresponsive installing twrp it would go black and disconnect from pc. what i had to do to get it to turn back on since it stayed lik that even holding the power button for a while was just hold the volume key and power for a couple min down and power if that dont work try volume up and power just random pushes to get the phone it will go to some debugging screen then just holding buttons till it restarts
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also had the same situation go on as well. I'm not sure what's is happening but when I boot TWRP the thing just becomes unresponsive and a black screen. I had to hold the buttons for nearly 30 seconds before it worked. Pixel isn't a friendly device to mod. :-/

mac796 said:
I thought I was in trouble a couple times. I had to hold volume down and power button for a long time. Finger started to go to sleep
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's bizarre! I'll try when I get home. I wonder what's causing this. Did it ever happen again to you? And were you using twrp when it happened?

stonew5082 said:
That's bizarre! I'll try when I get home. I wonder what's causing this. Did it ever happen again to you? And were you using twrp when it happened?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I was using twrp, I was flashing test build. But it put me into a loop. U got a black screen, and if your computer won't even recognize it , you may be out of luck. I have been using rc2 I know it's not great for restoring backups, but it works good for everything else

That is so strange. I have never come across this issue before. Unfortunately, if you can't seem to get your PC to recognize the device, I don't think there's anything you can do. I guess we will have to be wary about using TWRP. I haven't had any weird issues myself with TWRP but I know others have. Here's hoping google will honor your warranty. I think they will, I don't think see them spending the time to look into what caused your phone to die so I think you'll be able to get a replacement without much hassle.
If you wouldn't mind, please keep us updated.

exad said:
That is so strange. I have never come across this issue before. Unfortunately, if you can't seem to get your PC to recognize the device, I don't think there's anything you can do. I guess we will have to be wary about using TWRP. I haven't had any weird issues myself with TWRP but I know others have. Here's hoping google will honor your warranty. I think they will, I don't think see them spending the time to look into what caused your phone to die so I think you'll be able to get a replacement without much hassle.
If you wouldn't mind, please keep us updated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So far so good, sent then phone in and sold the replacement. I'm getting the OnePlus 3t instead.