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Possible to flash radio / rom / anything with broken USB?

After I got my skyrocket, many of my friends and family also decided on the skyrocket Well, now it's up to me to make sure they're all in working order.
So one of my family members left her skyrocket in a bag of water for a while while she was at the beach, and it was completely unresponsive. I fully disassembled it (not my first time), dried out the majority of the water, then left the phone in rice for a few days. The good news is, the phone boots up and seems to work. The battery still works and it charges over USB.
The bad news is, the cellular radio does not work, IMEI comes up as unknown, bluetooth mac is "unavailable", front facing camera is also unresponsive. Really bad news: data/adb over usb does not register at all. A few more days in rice haven't helped.
The phone is completely stock. My first thought was that flashing a new radio might reset the cellular somehow, but not having cwm/odin makes that impossible. I can't seem to get the phone into download mode either because of the USB problem.
One thing that DOES work is the stock recovery. I can tell it to flash the official ATT ICS build, which contains a radio!
However when I try flashing it says.. "E: Short write of /tmp/sideload/package.zip (No space left on device) Installation aborted". Other zips "failed to verify whole-file signature"
Any ideas? My next step will be buying a used skyrocket with a cracked screen, and transplanting the working screen from this unit...
Tom

First off, please use the Q&A section for, you know, questions and answers. Don't create a new thread; I'm going to ask the mods to move this one instead.
Second, your issue is that the hardware radio is dead. The stock ROM only has a software radio included. To put it a different way, the stock ROM includes programming that tells the cell radio what to do. It can't fix the cell radio if it's broken, though. Unfortunately, based on the amount of damage you've got there, I'd say your phone is pretty much toast.
If you're completely stock, try to warranty it out. Just be up front with Sammy about what happened (because, in this instance, they will figure it out if you make up a story or play dumb), and the worst thing they can say is no. You might get a sympathetic rep who'll help you out. If they won't take it, you've already got your backup plan in the working SR.

T.J. Bender said:
First off, please use the Q&A section for, you know, questions and answers. Don't create a new thread; I'm going to ask the mods to move this one instead.
Second, your issue is that the hardware radio is dead. The stock ROM only has a software radio included. To put it a different way, the stock ROM includes programming that tells the cell radio what to do. It can't fix the cell radio if it's broken, though. Unfortunately, based on the amount of damage you've got there, I'd say your phone is pretty much toast.
If you're completely stock, try to warranty it out. Just be up front with Sammy about what happened (because, in this instance, they will figure it out if you make up a story or play dumb), and the worst thing they can say is no. You might get a sympathetic rep who'll help you out. If they won't take it, you've already got your backup plan in the working SR.
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Click to collapse
Meant to post this in Q&A, woops. Too many xda tabs open trying to figure this out. Sorry about that
I do know the difference between the hardware/software radios... My thought was that while the phone was turned on and submerged, the software radio could have become corrupt... A long shot perhaps
I'll try contacting samsung, but somehow I doubt they'll cover it. Sidenote, do you really think they have a more sophisticated way to check for water damage than the internal water-damage indicator sticker?
The question still stands though, if anyone is interested. Even without a cell radio, I'd like to be able to root it for other purposes
Thanks for the advice
Tom

dutchthomas said:
Meant to post this in Q&A, woops. Too many xda tabs open trying to figure this out. Sorry about that
I do know the difference between the hardware/software radios... My thought was that while the phone was turned on and submerged, the software radio could have become corrupt... A long shot perhaps
I'll try contacting samsung, but somehow I doubt they'll cover it. Sidenote, do you really think they have a more sophisticated way to check for water damage than the internal water-damage indicator sticker?
The question still stands though, if anyone is interested. Even without a cell radio, I'd like to be able to root it for other purposes
Thanks for the advice
Tom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, based on the amount of things going wrong, it's hardware. If the software radio was corrupt, it would be because the internal storage had been corrupted, and your phone likely would not boot.
And yes, they can find water damage beyond the sticker. They can see corrosion plain as day when they open it up and look at the internals.
You can root it without USB working. Is your wifi working? If so, download GooManager off the market, then follow the instructions in the TWRP thread to get TWRP on your phone. Download a custom ROM to your PC, then transfer it to your external SD using an adapter/card reader so you can place it on the card directly (instead of going through the USB port). Use TWRP to flash the pre-rooted ROM onto your phone and viola. Unless there's a pre-rooted stock out there (and I don't think there is for SR), a custom ROM is the only way I can think of to do it.
Be advised, though, that because of the amount of damage done to your phone's internals, there's a better-than-normal chance that something won't work and you'll brick. I'm not responsible for your decisions or for the brick if that happens.
Long story short, just get a replacement SR.

Same thing happened to my girls Atrix. She gave it a nice bath in Green Tea. After shutting it down and pulling it apart I gave it the rice treatment for 48 hours. Booted but returned a radio error. Her USB port was working so I was able to root it and install a few custom ROMs on it. No change. So I would bet you actually fried the chip. Call Sammi and get a quote to cover the repair which will be a new mobo. They pay shipping both ways and are usually pretty cheap.

hechoen said:
Same thing happened to my girls Atrix. She gave it a nice bath in Green Tea. After shutting it down and pulling it apart I gave it the rice treatment for 48 hours. Booted but returned a radio error. Her USB port was working so I was able to root it and install a few custom ROMs on it. No change. So I would bet you actually fried the chip. Call Sammi and get a quote to cover the repair which will be a new mobo. They pay shipping both ways and are usually pretty cheap.
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Click to collapse
Heh, this is my mother's phone actually. First she ripped the screen ribbon cable on a nokia E75. Then she smashed her Atrix's screen, tried to fix it herself with a new screen, and managed to rip part of a ribbon cable... so it no longer has a working touch digitizer. Now she left her skyrocket in a bag of water. The girlfriend managed to crack her skyrocket's screen, which I replaced... I've also had to fix 2x nokia N95's, an N97, and a bunch of water damaged dumb phones over the years...
FWIW, the skyrocket seems to have the best repairability / internal layout of any of the phones I've messed with
The cracked screen skyrockets on ebay seem to be going for more than I thought, so I'll be giving sammy a call for sure

How to UN-ROOT and go back to stock??

After a bunch of ROMS with near Zero support for WiFi Calling/MMS, Im left with no choice but to go back to stock as TMO has no coverage in my community.
The closest I've gotten is by "RELOCKING" the bootloader and trying to load the latest stock rom, but I get this error;
Hboot version is older! Update Fail! Press <power> to reboot.
Any ideas?

You could always run Bulletproof, MikTouch, or Undeads Expresso. They are all based on stock (MikTouch is the latest and is basically stock). This will allow you to pull nandroids and back up your apps using the root required apps that are available. I don't remember the stock ROMs doing MMS over wifi but if they did those ROMs would do it too.
I have no advice for getting back to stock other than using the search fcn. Then again I don't see what the point is in going back when there are ROMs that do everything the stock one does and more.
Hastily spouted for your befuddlement

Warranty Return
I would like to know how to return to factory-delivered S-ON. I've read that many people return HTC phones S-Offed and unlocked and such, with no issue, but I still prefer to put it back to factory condition. I had a digitizer hardware failure completely unrelated to ROMs and I don't want to give them any reason to snub their noses at me.
I've gotten the phone back to a factory ROM but when I go into bootloader it says "*** RELOCKED ***" (kinda like, "we know what you did last summer"). Anyone know how to get back to the original locked state?
I'm currently S-ON, never S-Offed. Was rooted, and fastboot flashed my kernels and recovery flashed my ROMs, and to return to stock ROM I used the PG59IMG.ZIP from November 2011. The 1.55 one. It wouldn't let me do the 1.28 one.

cj chitwood said:
I would like to know how to return to factory-delivered S-ON. I've read that many people return HTC phones S-Offed and unlocked and such, with no issue, but I still prefer to put it back to factory condition. I had a digitizer hardware failure completely unrelated to ROMs and I don't want to give them any reason to snub their noses at me.
I've gotten the phone back to a factory ROM but when I go into bootloader it says "*** RELOCKED ***" (kinda like, "we know what you did last summer"). Anyone know how to get back to the original locked state?
I'm currently S-ON, never S-Offed. Was rooted, and fastboot flashed my kernels and recovery flashed my ROMs, and to return to stock ROM I used the PG59IMG.ZIP from November 2011. The 1.55 one. It wouldn't let me do the 1.28 one.
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Click to collapse
If you'll go to This Thread & scroll down to the HBoot section I have a link to the OTA HBoots that were sent by TMobile that match your build. Two of them look like they would probably match your issue (not positive which one). Both being OTA they have to be the signed ones and would most likely give you a "Locked" bootloader. Good Luck.

I thought I had an OTA, and flashing it returned me to stock build with stock apps and no root, but didn't return the bootloader to the factory state. I'll download one of these that matches and maybe have better luck?
Are these supposed to relock the bootloader?
Also, there is an "HTC Update" available when I go on wifi and check. I should avoid using that, right?
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Turns out, there are three OTAs I found (I couldn't find your handle there specifically, but I found the OTA links) and I have the middle one. The kernel, the HBoot version, and the radio all match up byte for byte.
And just to be clear (I think you know what I'm doing, just making sure), going S-ON isn't what I need, as I never was S-OFF. I had the HTCDev-unlocked bootloader and upon relocking it, it says "Relocked" like a tattletale. Does T-Mo care if that's even on the phone as far as warranty goes?

From everything I heard, they couldn't care less since it was provided by HTC in the first place. I returned my last one with S-Off and all they did was check the little tattletail moisture dot. Had a new one in 3 days.
Yeah, I understood you were just looking to get a "locked" header again that's why I kinda figured the OTA HBoot would get you there. It did everyone that accidently took the OTA when they were already S-Off and they ended up Locked, S-On with the 1.45.xxx HBoot and had to do the wire trick to get back to where they were before. I DO think you're worrying about something you don't need to though.

Just flash a PG59IMG.zip via bootloader if you really want to unroot.

WeekendsR2Short said:
From everything I heard, they couldn't care less [...] I returned my last one with S-Off and all they did was check the little tattletail moisture dot. [...] It did everyone that accidently took the OTA when they were already S-Off and they ended up Locked, S-On with the 1.45.xxx HBoot and had to do the wire trick to get back to where they were before. I DO think you're worrying about something you don't need to though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, then I shall quit worrying about it. Thanks!
I'll go ahead and download the HTC update then, too, just to see what it does. Since I'm not keeping this particular phone anyway... Before I do, I'll say, I expect it not to go back to locked because if they're going to go through the trouble of making it tattle like that in the first place, they'll check for that particular tattle in the updates and not reset that part of it. But I could be wrong. Lemme OTA update this thing and see what happens! :highfive:
Thanks again!
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Congratulations! My phone has been updated successfully to version 1.63.531.2 710RD. Sys Info says radio is 11.59.3504.00_11.16.3504.20_2. Seems to match the latest offering here.
Okay, let's reboot to bootloader and see what it says.
Nope, still "*** RELOCKED ***". Oh well, no biggie.

Those stinkers! LOL. You were right. I guess they're just not going to allow us the cover THOSE footprints. I sure do appreciate the feedback!

WeekendsR2Short said:
Those stinkers! LOL. You were right. I guess they're just not going to allow us the cover THOSE footprints. I sure do appreciate the feedback!
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Click to collapse
I figured this was coming. I've said for months that HTC is starting to adopt crApple's business model, and now they're starting to sell phones with no replaceable battery and no SD slot in addition to no hardware keyboard (the One series).
Sent from Spaceball One.

Yep. In my searching around here, someone was asking how it was done that e.g. Revolutionary and Juopunutbear were able to change their banners. If there were a tool or method for that, I'd consider it, but since HTC and T-Mo don't seem to care (and since I have a hardware issue and I never messed with anything that could have damaged that particular piece of hardware) I'm really no longer worried about it.
I've been on Google+ too much lately. I keep wanting to +1 the posts I agree with.

blackknightavalon said:
I figured this was coming. I've said for months that HTC is starting to adopt crApple's business model, and now they're starting to sell phones with no replaceable battery and no SD slot in addition to no hardware keyboard (the One series).
Sent from Spaceball One.
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Click to collapse
BOY! They're sure going to loose alot of support if they start adopting those ideas! And I'd not even heard about the "no replaceable battery" issue. That alone will cause me to jump ship considering the lousy battery they insist on using. I'm not about to buy one of those car batteries to hang off my belt so I can make phone calls in the afternoon PLUS I just don't trust a car charger after I cooked my CrackBerry on one.
---------- Post added at 10:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:37 AM ----------
cj chitwood said:
Yep. In my searching around here, someone was asking how it was done that e.g. Revolutionary and Juopunutbear were able to change their banners. If there were a tool or method for that, I'd consider it, but since HTC and T-Mo don't seem to care (and since I have a hardware issue and I never messed with anything that could have damaged that particular piece of hardware) I'm really no longer worried about it.
I've been on Google+ too much lately. I keep wanting to +1 the posts I agree with.
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Click to collapse
This is just a guess on my part but I ASSUME that a person would have to decompile the code for that particulat HBoot then find the area that the graphics for the banner is contained in, then with a hex editor change the text that it displys then recompile it again. BUT.....I'm no programmer either.

WeekendsR2Short said:
BOY! They're sure going to loose alot of support if they start adopting those ideas! And I'd not even heard about the "no replaceable battery" issue. That alone will cause me to jump ship considering the lousy battery they insist on using. I'm not about to buy one of those car batteries to hang off my belt so I can make phone calls in the afternoon PLUS I just don't trust a car charger after I cooked my CrackBerry on one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't believe it until I had a coworker's brand-new One S in my hand. My first question was "how do you change the battery in this thing?" Then I looked it up and saw that you actually had to take the phone apart for that.

blackknightavalon said:
I didn't believe it until I had a coworker's brand-new One S in my hand. My first question was "how do you change the battery in this thing?" Then I looked it up and saw that you actually had to take the phone apart for that.
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Click to collapse
GEEZE! What are they afraid of? Someone will put one in that doesn't overheat the cpu & kill it prematurely?

blackknightavalon said:
I didn't believe it until I had a coworker's brand-new One S in my hand. My first question was "how do you change the battery in this thing?" Then I looked it up and saw that you actually had to take the phone apart for that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The HTC EVO LTE is the same way with the battery. A buddy of mine got a brand new one when they came out and shortly later it hard bricked overnight on charge and was replaced with a refurb. So this is the crap we are gonna have to start dealing with from HTC.
Sent from my myTouch 4G Slide using Tapatalk 2

strapped365 said:
The HTC EVO LTE is the same way with the battery. A buddy of mine got a brand new one when they came out and shortly later it hard bricked overnight on charge and was replaced with a refurb. So this is the crap we are gonna have to start dealing with from HTC.
Sent from my myTouch 4G Slide using Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
"We" are not dealing with this. If Samsung keeps coming out with slider phones with high-end specs like the Relay I won't be dealing with HTC's bulls**t.

If this is the path that HTC has chosen for their future then they are well on their way to becoming the Hasbeen Telephone Corporation.

@BlackKnightAvalon: Fully agreed.
If I may go further OT for a moment here, this nonsense about hermetically sealing the phones together reminded me of shopping for the G1.
See, back then, I made a list of things I required in a phone. It was to be my first phone, one I would pay for myself (instead of using someone else's old hand-me-down they no longer were using). My now wife at the time had the old Sidekick LX, which while not a smartphone by today's standards opened my eyes to a realm of possibilities beyond handheld computers like the Palm and iPaqs. I had a personal cheapie freebie Nokia bar phone, and my work phone was the top of the line version of the same form factor. Then work provided me with a flip about the same time my wife upgraded from her flip to a Sidekick. So at the time, I had her flip, and it was more than I needed. But the work flip, being a motorola, was hackable, by design. I was able to put my own sounds, ringtones, bootup sequence graphics, all that into it. So I knew what I wanted.
My list included a few things:
Be Linux based or at least open source so I could hack it to suit my tastes (I was thinking more along the lines of theming)
Be GSM so I can swap SIMs when I need to (if another phone borks, and I want to loan them mine without giving out *my* number to everyone...)
have a qwerty keyboard and not just a number pad (I hadn't considered the possibility of a touchscreen keyboard)
have a camera
have a standard USB charging port
have Internet capability (back then this wasn't on every phone you could buy)
have wifi
GPS was a plus, but not a requisite
Bluetooth was a plus
And a whole slew of other things, but basically, the G1 satisfied that list and more.
Because of iPhone and now HTC practices, I'm now forced to add a few things to that list, and I'm not sure my next phone won't be a Samsung. I really hate the bluish hue of the AMOLEDs, but it may be worth it. Depending on whether Google can bring Motorola out of crapzone I might consider a moto. Anyway, the new list will include all of the old one, plus:
Removable battery of at least 1800mAH rating
PHYSICAL keyboard -- my MT4GS just proved the need for that, though admittedly if the screen wasn't a slider the cable inside might not have failed
PHYSICAL Call Start/Stop buttons a definite plus, almost a requirement
REMOVABLE media
Headphone jack
TV Out, whether HDMI (MHL/microUSB) or composite (headphone jack)
For that matter, digital TV OTA receive and low-power transmit
FM Radio receive, preferably transmit
HD Screen
1.5GHz+ dual+ core
Doodooflinger capable
2-meter and 70-cm Amateur Radio band capable, a definite plus (should be not too difficult to do methinks and would help for those times when I'm out of signal in the mountains). The 33- and 23-cm amateur bands should be easy enough to come into, at the very least.
Satellite TV dish aiming
Dishwasher autoloader
... ?
EDIT: Add Police scanner and aircraft band receive...
Clearly, I have raised the bar by which I will judge handset manufacturers.
I'm not joking about that amateur radio bit. That's some serious geek creds waitin' to happen right there.
But yeah, back on-topic, I think I'm okay with HTC / T-Mo knowing I rooted the phone, as long as they don't start holding software choices against me in the realm of hardware failure. After all, I know the difference, and nothing I've done with the software had any bearing on their hardware breaking down before designed lifespan is up.
Here's something to be sure NOT to include:
Genius button
.com/www. button
duplicated buttons from the faceplate on the slideout keyboard
similar stupidity

cj chitwood said:
[*]PHYSICAL keyboard -- my MT4GS just proved the need for that, though admittedly if the screen wasn't a slider the cable inside might not have failed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll risk a failed cable
( neither of my doubleshots have that problem - my original one has slid the keyboard in/out in the terminal command cycle so much words simply can't express the heightened level of wear it's suffered through...consider how much dev i've done on the device...)
Over a worthless, aggravating, real-estate stealing, non-feeling, spelling error making (chrome-dome, etc...etc... - enter tin-tin)
...
Seriously, my spelling and grammer have dropped significantly. I pretty much only type in landscape because portrait is just impossible.
I've gotten to the point where I just let some go through in defeat, simply because I have to edit EVERY OTHER WORD on this worthless S3.
The bigger screen is nice, but losing the feel of individual buttons pretty much guarantees what you intend to type is only a close approximation of what appears on the screen at the best of times.
From now on I am either going to have to figure out how to get one of my doubleshots back on service that reaches nowhere, usa like the verizon S3 does, or move on to some qwerty device "the network" can handle.
I mean, my professional image is being held hostage by a lack of proper hardware. Sometimes I may only have a minute, maybe two at the most to snap out a reply.
So either I send something that looks so unprofessional I might have been better off just not sending it and forging a reputation for being unreliable, or preserve the respect of those above me in my company as far as the grasp of language goes and embrace that horrid representation of myself as someone who couldn't be bothered to respond to someone who needed my response.
Seriously, I don't have time to turn on bluetooth and connect s keyboard, even if I could carry it on shift, and then deal with keeping it powered too on top of it.
I sure can't talk-to-text when talking about a client within earshot, amongst a variety of other situations where the information i'm conveying is confidential to the people around me
I'm really not liking losing the keyboard, it's literally and solely ruined my android experience by making me dislike to the point of _hate having to input textual data. Be it commands or communication I see having to do so as a chore, one I hate, one I can't stand and annoys the living .... outta me.
It makes trying to work on the device downright scary, if not the equivalent of playing russian roulette. When the result of spelling errors in your command can have disastrous results, 10 times out of 10 I abstain. So here I sit with a device i'm afraid to hack on because I know i'll miss catching something stupid and wreck it.
To be quite blunt - having to fix every other word, if not every word for the majority of all of this reply has taken gargantuan strength not to snap the phone in half on my steering wheel. If I wasn't nestled in the depth of a valley located in a state park miles from any kind of civilization, i've freakin had it with this and this just could've been that time.
This S3 owes nature big time.
I'll never own an android phone without a hardware keyboard again, and being required to have a smartphone for my job will see me end up rocking froyo or something if it comes to it.
Sorry for all the hate, but really passionate about this. The S3 has become my most hated and aggravating electronic device i've ever owned. I'll never get another like it.

Quick question.
I got a warranty exchange last week BUT, turns out the cursed headphone jack does not work on the "new" replacement plus the camera has a circular area where its a tint of red, not too noticeable tho. i want to return it to stock even with a relocked bootloader but i was wondering, since i have a backup of the stock rom (which is what im restoring to on nandroid right now), can i just relock the bootloader or do i have to flash the PG591IMG.zip?

is there any way to access the internal sd card and remove it?

My mt4gs ended up bricking itself one day during a charge. won't turn on...tried every method to turn it on. Concluded that it's hard bricked. Only thing it does (every once in a while), is give me a dim red light in the trackpad. in summary, phone's dead.
One Problem:
I have crucial info stored in the phone's internal memory. I'm willing to sacrifice the phone (and any chance to unbrick it) simply for the data. is there any way I could open up the phone and access the internal SD card and remove it? Does it even use an actual SD card for internal memory? Anyone know? Thanks

im guessing the mt4gs uses emmc. is there any way to pull data off the emmc? even though a phone is bricked

the only thing I can think of is if someone has jtag knowledge and also knows where to make the connections. not even sure if you could pull info from the nand or if you can only write. this isn't the same as a computer harddrive and getting info of a dead flash device is trick (as far as I know)
id suggest googling to see if someone local has the ability. hey who knows, maybe there is someone who could restore your phone as well
Sent from my HTC Vision using xda premium

demkantor said:
the only thing I can think of is if someone has jtag knowledge and also knows where to make the connections. not even sure if you could pull info from the nand or if you can only write. this isn't the same as a computer harddrive and getting info of a dead flash device is trick (as far as I know)
id suggest googling to see if someone local has the ability. hey who knows, maybe there is someone who could restore your phone as well
Sent from my HTC Vision using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response. Finding someone who has that knowledge wont be easy. I tried contacted jtag brick repair service but no response from them

Funny you should make such a thread...just had something very similar happen to my original doubleshot.
Was playing netflix out to tv, wasn't watching at the time my back was turned, and it just shut off and won't turn on.
Was at full charge, and swapped through 6 different fully charged batteries and couldn't get it to turn on...just a dim light in the trackpad, solid...no flashes.
I left it behind me, i am in long island, new york city this week putting it back together...so leaving things like the doubleshot behind was at the expense of things like the 14 gallons of gas in cans i'm carrying or the wealth of first aid supplies, so be a week bare minimum before i can get back to it.

Blue6IX said:
I left it behind me, i am in long island, new york city this week putting it back together...so leaving things like the doubleshot behind was at the expense of things like the 14 gallons of gas in cans i'm carrying or the wealth of first aid supplies, so be a week bare minimum before i can get back to it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is great, I know off topic but damn, good for you, I can't believe the devastation out there. That's tremendous that you're helping. :beer: cheers

CoNsPiRiSiZe said:
That is great, I know off topic but damn, good for you, I can't believe the devastation out there. That's tremendous that you're helping. :beer: cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, good times. I have a ton of first aid training, more tools then I know what to do with and a couple grand invested in 18volt batteries, so I can run my tools for days without power. Nothing like being able to cut a whole house apart while the power is out. ...and I like to be helpful.
Back on topic, though, I wish I knew what happened to my doubleshot. It just died out of the clear blue, was running fine until the moment it wasn't.
I haven't tried to plug it into a computer yet to see what I can see, but I remember seeing a whole lot of info on connecting to it and talking to the radio direct through linux pre-boot, so i'll exhaust all software avenues before disassembly.
I am well out of warranty now, since it's the one I got at device launch, so I do think taking it apart will be in my near future. Definitely gonna take a lot of pics on that.
As that ds was my first android cellular device, haven't had something like this happen before. Definitely gonna cripple my devving if I can't get it running again. Devving with two of the same device and seeing differences in real time in front of you is like the first time you hook up a second konitor to a computer. You just can't accurately articulate how much more productive you can be.
Definitely appreciate any tidbits of knowledge anyone can drop here to give a leg up when I can get back to it.

[Q] SK4G drains fast...Too fast. And SD card Module probably damaged

I need a bit of help concerning the SK4G sd card reader: This phone may take quite a few drops and scratches, but the SD reader doesn't seem able to. If i drop my phone just the right way, the sd card seems to malfunction and certain stuff crashes. The thing is, my sd card is just fine. Tested it multiple times. I can take it out, wait a few seconds, put it back and reboot til it works. WHAT IS HAPPENING TO MY PHONE? PS: I think some part of my phone that reads the battery is fried. I get rediculous battery drain, like 1 percent gone every minute. This isnt normal, is it? Any insght solutions or help would be appreciated.

RenaldiDroidXDA said:
I need a bit of help concerning the SK4G sd card reader: This phone may take quite a few drops and scratches, but the SD reader doesn't seem able to. If i drop my phone just the right way, the sd card seems to malfunction and certain stuff crashes. The thing is, my sd card is just fine. Tested it multiple times. I can take it out, wait a few seconds, put it back and reboot til it works. WHAT IS HAPPENING TO MY PHONE? PS: I think some part of my phone that reads the battery is fried. I get rediculous battery drain, like 1 percent gone every minute. This isnt normal, is it? Any insght solutions or help would be appreciated.
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No, it's not normal. How old is the battery on your phone? Is it bulging out at all anywhere? It could be in need of replacement. Also, which ROM are you using? Maybe something got corrupted or didn't load correctly? Fishing a bit...

I would be aware of the rom being used as already said. Try out a battery calibrating app.
As for the SD card, is it partitioned? If so maybe that could be affecting it oddly. Just some ideas, hopefully it isn't hardware /:
Sent from my SGH-T759 using xda app-developers app

I've seen this effect on stock and on every other rom I've tried. The Sidekick was a gift from an uncle, so I'm not sure what he did to it....nevertheless, the battery is reported by most battery apps as "good". The battery is not bulging, and it charges. I'm guessing its hardware; I just hope I can afford to fix it.
Sent from one of my various Droid gadgets

Zydrate_blue said:
I would be aware of the rom being used as already said. Try out a battery calibrating app.
As for the SD card, is it partitioned? If so maybe that could be affecting it oddly. Just some ideas, hopefully it isn't hardware /:
Sent from my SGH-T759 using xda app-developers app
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ged92781 said:
No, it's not normal. How old is the battery on your phone? Is it bulging out at all anywhere? It could be in need of replacement. Also, which ROM are you using? Maybe something got corrupted or didn't load correctly? Fishing a bit...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope sd card not partitioned, rom seems fully loaded, its GloriousOverdosev5 although I do have some issues with it not related to battery.
Is there anyone here on this forum who could make sense of the inner circuitry of my phone and see if there is something wrong here? I could take my phone apart (maybe).
This phone is so difficult!
Sent from one of my various Droid gadgets

I just thought of something. How exactly are you dropping the phone? XD I mean, it wasn't meant to be dropped. Hell, I think I have dropped this maybe once since I got it, it's staying strong
Sent from my AOSP GingerCloned Sidekick 4G (awaiting full GB ;D)

Zydrate_blue said:
I just thought of something. How exactly are you dropping the phone? XD I mean, it wasn't meant to be dropped. Hell, I think I have dropped this maybe once since I got it, it's staying strong
Sent from my AOSP GingerCloned Sidekick 4G (awaiting full GB ;D)
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Only 2-3 times like straight down, sideways, it never landed on the sd card side, just the usb side. It seemed fine at the time..that reminds me, it seems to not play nice with non micro usb based/samsung chargers; refuses to charge
Sent from one of my various Droid gadgets

For such crappy software it has a surprising good ability to take a hit or two...except maybe for the sd module, I don't know why it refuses to work properly
Sent from one of my various Droid gadgets

RenaldiDroidXDA said:
Only 2-3 times like straight down, sideways, it never landed on the sd card side, just the usb side. It seemed fine at the time..that reminds me, it seems to not play nice with non micro usb based/samsung chargers; refuses to charge
Sent from one of my various Droid gadgets
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That's one of the biggest issues with every single device in the Sidekick series of phones. When it comes to chargers they have always been "finicky". I'm pretty sure it has to do with wattage, but it's a problem that has stayed consistant.
And I guess that's not so bad, maybe it really is something in it's circuitry. I wish I could be more help my friend. /=
Sent from my AOSP GingerCloned Sidekick 4G (awaiting full GB ;D)

Aw well zydrate, might not need to deal with it too much longer. I might get an s4 or note 2 for 329, I just need to choose which one I want...what do you think?
And anyway, we're almost getting that real gingerbread so maybe I can deal with this crappy sidekick's quirks a little while longer
Sent from one of my various Droid gadgets

GS4
RenaldiDroidXDA said:
Aw well zydrate, might not need to deal with it too much longer. I might get an s4 or note 2 for 329, I just need to choose which one I want...what do you think?
And anyway, we're almost getting that real gingerbread so maybe I can deal with this crappy sidekick's quirks a little while longer
Sent from one of my various Droid gadgets
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True-true I personally would jump for the s4. I like the idea of a waterproof phone, because lets face it, we may not all send our devices toilet-bound but rain and spills are just things that happen. Heck I'd test it myself xD I'm curious exactly what extent this can be used in water...(underwater? ;D) But yeah, I would definitely take the s4

Whoa! The s4 is waterproof?
I suppose it could be battery messing with things, maybe I could carry a spare and avoid dropping this
If sidekicks will continue, tmo had better learn from thier mistakes or this will be like the 4g
Sent from some droid

RenaldiDroidXDA said:
Whoa! The s4 is waterproof?
I suppose it could be battery messing with things, maybe I could carry a spare and avoid dropping this
If sidekicks will continue, tmo had better learn from thier mistakes or this will be like the 4g
Sent from some droid
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I double checked and I guess the S4 Active is a different strain of the S4.... so honestly I'm confused but google it xD as far as I have seen on commercials I really think that is awesome I want one now lol.
EDIT-- Sorry to be a killjoy but I just watched this and it was disappointing. :/
--> http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/samsung-galaxy-s4-active/4505-6452_7-35783536.html

Yesterday I yanked out my battery because of a critical crash after binge web browsing - the battery was at 34 percent but after rebooting it was at less than 10!
This morning I tried to balance my phone on a perch 4 ft off the ground and it fell. Stright on its back. Next thing I know, its crash-booting and I have to yank out, put batt back in turn on and hope SD comes back on. Now I turn it on and SD was working until i accidentally just unplugg it and it booted into charge mode and batt has 1 percent, even though I know its supposed to have like TWENTY percent.
Any way, I have it in charge mode at like 1 percent and I'm trying to turn it back on by accident just well turn it right back to charge mode (you know what I mean right)
and when it starts charging again the battery level is 20 percent. TWENTY!!!!!!!! UGH I CANT STAND THIS THING GOD GIVE ME PATIENCE TIL I GET GINGERBREAD
Sent from a sidekick in dire need of magic jellybeans (or tasty gingerbread either will work :/)

Just had to share this experience....

Well I have been a owner of a LG Nexus 5 for the past (almost) 2 years now, in fact I am coming to the end of my contract very soon and will be able to either goto another company or get a new phone.
Anyways, sometime ago I experienced a problem with my microphone and external speakers not working, or at at least some of the time... After a bit of research online I found out my problem was related to a connection inside the phone that connected the bottom assembly to the main board at the top of the phone. It required me to remove the back panel and a few screws to remove the plastic cover, but the poster suggested putting some tape on top of that connection to hold it down more firmly to the socket it connected too. So I did this. I put some black tap (electrical tape cut to fit.) on top and then assembled the phone again. Viola, It worked!
Well, a short time after I decided that I wanted to update my phone from stock kitkat (4.4.4). Always been curious about custom ROMs and gave Cyanogenmod a try. Not only that I got bold and tried the nightly releases of the new marshmellow update. After some time I started experiencing things not working, like the camera, and a lot of freezing, hang ups and random reboots (not so much the reboots as the constant freezing). Often I couldn't get anything on the screen or the phone to respond from a locked state and when I did, often the phone would lag so much, that doing anything would take a long time and proved to be impossible.
I started thinking it was the nightly releases as the source of my problem and just kind of shrugged it off and figured "they will eventually fix the problem". I kept this thinking for quite some time. But it occurred too me one day that something else was causing the issue I was facing for the simple fact that the lag started showing up in the recovery mode (also custom) and a lot of times would continue to show up after I rebooted my phone. Hence, would rule out any 'software' issues I was facing.
I began to think that my problem was hardware. Maybe it was just time for a new phone. But still months away from the end of my contract, this meant I would have to pay off the 'problematic' phone first before getting a new one. I really didn't like that idea. So while looking into this problem, in a last ditch effort, I opened my phone again. Dunno why but I also decided to get rid of the tap on the connection I tried to fix before... I popped off the connection there and had a look at it. It didn't seem damaged in any way nor did the socket. Strange as it was I put that connect back in the socket and put the cover plate back on making sure not to torque the screws and assembled everything back up....
Now the mic and ext speakers work just fine and the phone is working like I just opened the box and took it out for the first time. And I have not once seen any problems... I understand what's happening here... still just wanted to share that for it was definitely weird or what?

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0pUNVcVRCJ7MThMc0NHLUNkSEU
Sorry about the link, only way I can upload an image.
Just so there is no confusion... an image of the effected area, inside the phone. The arrow points to the connector and more importantly the area of the connector that seems damaged. If I press lightly where the arrow is pointing on this image, the assemable at the bottom (speaker/mic) will work, indicating a loose connection. Although after visual inspection, I cannot see any damage to connector or the socket. I suppose the only way to really "fix" the issue is to order a new part. As stated previously, already tried tape on the socket to help hold it down, but that seem to cause just as many issues with the phone performance. Any other suggestions?

When ordering a replacement part, you need to be careful because there was another XDA member replaced the same part with a cheap 3rd party solution and the phone would not charge until he replaced it with an oem part.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/google-nexus-5/help/to-buy-usb-charging-port-flex-cable-t3314357

Does anyone else have issues with there ext. speaker and mic not working?
An update on the phone;
back to square one. My ext speaker and mic will not work. And that socket has something to do with the LCD connection on the screen as it will black out if just the right area on the back of the phone is pressed. Only way to revive the phone is to long-press the power button for a reboot. Then will come up fine but speaker and mic still do not work.

audit13 said:
When ordering a replacement part, you need to be careful because there was another XDA member replaced the same part with a cheap 3rd party solution and the phone would not charge until he replaced it with an oem part.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/google-nexus-5/help/to-buy-usb-charging-port-flex-cable-t3314357
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Click to collapse
Wow, that sounds pretty low level tactics of LG... just shameful really, but not hard to believe these days...
Quite honestly, I am just going to replace the phone. Think I got a pretty good run out of it and think its pretty well time for an upgrade. Anyway, for the reason I got the phone, it wont matter the speaker and mic don't work. Just going to use it for development and it will be a good test device.

Oh an this post is related to this thread so I thought I would link it for it may help someone else facing similar problems....
https://forum.cyanogenmod.org/topic/125227-nightly-cm13-releases-make-my-nexus-5-very-slow/

I'm not sure that LG had anything to do with the low-quality replacement parts.
If I were you, look for a n5 with a smashed screen that is suitable for parts.

audit13 said:
I'm not sure that LG had anything to do with the low-quality replacement parts.
If I were you, look for a n5 with a smashed screen that is suitable for parts.
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Good idea, except the iphone is the most popular phone around here ... find it pretty hard to find one, been looking. But thanks.

I have seen quite a few busted n5 phones in Toronto. I have managed to get working phones with a smashed screen for as little as $30 which is rare for Toronto. Average I pay is $40 to $50. For this price, I either use the phone for parts in several phones or I get third part screen from Aliexpress for around $40 CAD.

I just want to update this as well...
I am fairly certain (now thinking about causes) its not really a design flaw, but more so because I frequently sat on my phone when it was in my back pocket...

audit13 said:
When ordering a replacement part, you need to be careful because there was another XDA member replaced the same part with a cheap 3rd party solution and the phone would not charge until he replaced it with an oem part.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/google-nexus-5/help/to-buy-usb-charging-port-flex-cable-t3314357
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It was not me but I had that same experience. Replaced with a cheap oem and it didn't charge after that.
I found out why. The charger usb socket was not connected to anything ! Unbelievable! It lacked the black plastic backing for that part of the cable to connect to.