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[Q] NexusS (i9020T) hard bricked, at which step did I go wrong?

Hi everyone, I had a problem with my previous nexus s (I have since gotten a working replacement) and I was wondering where exactly I messed up so in the future I can avoid this
Here is what I did on my previous phone:
1. I flashed ics onto my device from the ota update package from androidcentral, it was 4.0.3. (This worked great and I had it on my phone for 2-3 months before I tried the next steps.)
2. I rooted my device successfully using the guide at nexusshacks.
3. I also flashed TWRP recovery (fastboot) and superuser using the above guide/links
4. When I would turn off my phone it would boot to a screen with a red triangle and an opened android bot. So what I would have to do is flash twrp recovery everytime I turned the phone on just to get it to work.
5. What I wanted to do was keep the stock rom but still have twrp recovery without it making me reflash it on every boot. So I clicked install and tried to flash the stock rom (update package from the link in step 1) with twrp recovery. It then turned off my phone and hard bricked it. I couldn't turn it on anymore and a new battery didn't fix it.
I was able to get a replacement now and I was just wondering at which step did I go wrong? I THINK that I should have wiped my cache before I tried to reflash the stock rom but maybe I'm way off base here. This is why I posted a question here so hopefully some of you guys can help.
I did think about posting in another thread, but I didn't wanna threadjack or anything... and his problem also seemed a bit different then mine. Also, sorry about not being able to provide the specific links it won't let me post them until I've posted 8 times.

I don't know for sure but team win recovery has been reported to corrupt the device's efs directory. I've even had problems myself using clockwork recovery. I've moved on to razor recovery and haven't looked back.
This is the most flash-friendly phone I've ever owned, and razor recovery rivals amon ra (which was awesome on my g1 and evo). I really think it may have just been the recovery you were using... Somebody correct me if i'm wrong.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk

I had once corrupted one of the partition. I fixed to by flashing stock recovery and stock rom.
Use adam outler's unbrickable mod tool. It can be found in android development section.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA

Thanks for the replies.
That's interesting about twrp... I didn't know that. Truth be told, the only reason I went for it over other ones like clockwork mod was because the UI looked pretty nice and easy to use. Also the guide I followed at nexusshacks used that, so I wanted to stay consistent with it.
jishnu7, it's a little late for that now however as I actually have already received a working replacement from my carrier, but in the future if something ever does go wrong (hopefully not) I will definitely check that out.
The main thing I'm wondering is if it messed up because I tried to reflash the stock rom essentially over top itself (was hoping that by doing that, it would stop making me reflash twrp on every reboot) or if it was because I didn't wipe the cache before the flash.
Also, what I really wanted to do with my phone was to keep the stock rom but be able to overclock my cpu/gpu. I was hoping I could set different overclocks for different things (I've heard of kernels where you can downclock your phone when the screens off and have it overclocked slightly while you're using it, that would be something I'd like to have). I figured to install those kernels I would have to root my phone, replace stock recovery and install superuser so that's why I tried to do that. Once again, I'm pretty new to all this stuff for my phone.

Sorry to bump this thread again, but I would really like to know how I could avoid what happened to me for the future. I think it's because I flashed the stock 4.0.3 rom over itself (was hoping that by doing that twrp recovery would stay on the phone after reboot).
What I would like to do is install something like CM9 or AOKP and use the Matr1x kernel so I could undervolt or overclock my phone.

I seriously dont get how u hard bricked your phone...
the reason you are thinking is you reflashed stock rom without wiping cache, as per my experiece its not at all the reason
now, whats my experience??
...I have some fault with my nexus device and I'm working on it,,and I did everything I could do...one of the thing out of those things was reflashing stock rom without wiping,and i did it quite a several times...my device never hard bricked,,however it was soft bricked for many times,,and i recovered from it
so reflasing a stock rom over stock rom, over ICS, over some themed custom rom,will not hard brick your device, you must be missing something none of your steps sounds suspecious
P.S:- pulling out battey while flashing something like this sounds suspecious, never tried though

I'm not sure what happened either to be quite honest with you. Since giving it another shot now with my new fresh phone I have had great success!
I did everything I wanted to do all in one go. Rooted it, install CWM touch, install AOKP (went with milestone 4 cuz I heard newest build 29 has some bugs) + gapps and installed matr1x kernel 18.5 bfs.
The only thing I did different from last time was installing CWM touch (instead of twrp) and flashed aokp this time (instead of reflashing 4.0.3 over itself).

I would just avoid step 2 at all cost.
The nexus s hacks dude is a tool.

Help! boot loop

ok so i rooted a few weeks ago and downloaded the usual apps. super user titanium back up and clock work mod. tried to flash a rom with clock work mod and got the e:signature verification failure message. found a post for a kernal that made clock work mod actually work so i tried to flash a rom. zSimplyAOKPV5_Dark to be exact. now it sticks on boot screen. i have searched for hours and cannot find a way to fix my problem. its my first rooted android and first attempted rom flash and i botched it right off the rip. please help?

Depending on what you did beforehand, you have some options.
If you have backed everything up previously, just flash back to stock with one of the one-click stock roms in the Development section (they're in a sticky).
If you haven't backed everything up, try holding V+/V-/power until it reboots. If it doesn't take you to recovery, you can try to flash a kernel (most likely one that would match the version of android/rom you were running prior to this flash) and see if it lets you into recovery. You'll have to flash it with either Odin or Heimdall, after rebooting into download mode (power off, hold V+/V-, insert USB).
If that doesn't work, though, the stock flashing would probably be your best and/or only bet.

it wont allow me into recovery though i can get to download mode by pulling the battery and pressing just the volume +- and plugging in the usb. i was trying to flash an ics slim rom. thanks for your very speedy response.
i have now tried to flash a stock rom however it is not working from there even with the stock kernal. now it is hanging on the at&t screen.
ok i got it. seems the kernal i flashed to help cwd work properly was the culprit. now i dont know how im going to flash this ics rom im looking at without it.

phoenixfriend said:
it wont allow me into recovery though i can get to download mode by pulling the battery and pressing just the volume +- and plugging in the usb. i was trying to flash an ics slim rom. thanks for your very speedy response.
i have now tried to flash a stock rom however it is not working from there even with the stock kernal. now it is hanging on the at&t screen.
ok i got it. seems the kernal i flashed to help cwd work properly was the culprit. now i dont know how im going to flash this ics rom im looking at without it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flash corn kernel if you have stock gingerbread
Sent from my SGH-I897

The utility in my signature can help you flash the Corn Kernel so that you will have CWM.

I have corn kernal and odin 3 on the computer at home. Ill do that tonight. Any suggestions on a good stable rom for a noob? Preferably ics. I hated posting for fear of being flamed as a noob. My wife keeps making fun of me for it so I kinda have to get it done. I want to fix hers also. Its a great little phone it just seem a bit buggy to me. Very laggy. Thanks for all the help.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA

Maybe start with a KK4 based rom such as Legend and then move up to ICS after that. I only say that because there is a bug in ICS that could render your internal SD unusable. It's rare, but when it happens you will not be happy.

Still unable to get corn kernal to flash. I've tried a few of your guys fixes but I'm gonna have to get some other updates to my computer first.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA

[Q] Would Samsung fix my bricked phone?

I bricked my unlocked Captivate (bought on Amazon for $240 - I was avoiding a data plan) trying to get Ice Cream Sandwich on it. The phone was rooted.
Initially, the phone was only loading a Samsung splash screen when I tried to get it into normal mode. However, recovery mode was working; it would boot into Clockworkmod. Which is a bad thing considering they would easily tell I had messed with it!
So, I loaded the phone into Download mode and tried to flash the stock ROM using Odin. Odin said "failed" and now my phone was completely soft bricked, and the infamous "[phone]-----/!\-----[computer]" screen was showing up. Download mode worked though. I tried to flash all types of stock and custom ROMs to no avail. Now, recovery and normal modes don't work while Download mode does.
So, I called Samsung and told them it wasn't working; they told me it was still under warranty and I could send it in for repairs.
My question would be: will Samsung repair my phone, or will they find out I messed with it and refuse to do so? Also, if they find out, how much will I have to pay them to fix it?
Getting a new phone is out of the question... I might just buy

If there is an odin flash counter on download mode, they will figure it out if you have messed with it. If there's not, make a good story. Was it on 2.3.6 already when you bought it?

If you can get into download your not bricked. The screen you see is kernel panic. You will have to flash a proper kernel to get it to boot back up.
Sent for a corner cell in Arkham

Yeah, you can still fix it. No need it to bring to samsung

Has anyone sent a bricked phone in to Samsung before?
I tried flashing stock Captivate Gingerbread kernels to no avail. I googled and googled, and I tried everything I found. Including Odin and heimdall.
It was running Gingerbread 2.3.5 when I updated it myself to Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.3. It was running beautifully. Then I tried to recover my backed-up data, which worked, but then I tried to reboot the phone and it wouldn't boot.
And no, I don't remember seeing any "flash counter." Would they still be able to tell?
Has anyone sent a bricked phone in to Samsung before? If so, what were the results?
Also, how much do you think Samsung would charge me to fix it if they found out and voided the warranty? Hopefully less than $50? And they would charge me for shipping too, right?

random_person1308 said:
I tried flashing stock Captivate Gingerbread kernels to no avail. I googled and googled, and I tried everything I found. Including Odin and heimdall.
It was running Gingerbread 2.3.5 when I updated it myself to Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.3. It was running beautifully. Then I tried to recover my backed-up data, which worked, but then I tried to reboot the phone and it wouldn't boot.
And no, I don't remember seeing any "flash counter." Would they still be able to tell?
Has anyone sent a bricked phone in to Samsung before? If so, what were the results?
Also, how much do you think Samsung would charge me to fix it if they found out and voided the warranty? Hopefully less than $50? And they would charge me for shipping too, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You recovered your apps thru TB? If yes, Didn't you read that you're not supposed to restore apps from titanium from GB to ICS? Might cause problem like this. No flash counter, they're not gonna notice this. Have you tried flashing again stock GB rom?(not just a kernel but a rom) And when you flashed that GB kernel, was that after you flash an ICS rom? Remember, when you're on ICS, you must use ICS kernel and not GB kernel. If it didnt work Just make a good story! Tell them you updated it through kies and updating was interrupted. Im pretty sure 2.3.6 is out on captivate. If they tell you its your fault for updating it, ask them why did they put update on kies when you can't even use it. Plus, they didn't warn you not to update it.

cessprin00 said:
You recovered your apps thru TB? If yes, Didn't you read that you're not supposed to restore apps from titanium from GB to ICS? Might cause problem like this. No flash counter, they're not gonna notice this. Have you tried flashing again stock GB rom?(not just a kernel but a rom) And when you flashed that GB kernel, was that after you flash an ICS rom? Remember, when you're on ICS, you must use ICS kernel and not GB kernel. If it didnt work Just make a good story! Tell them you updated it through kies and updating was interrupted. Im pretty sure 2.3.6 is out on captivate. If they tell you its your fault for updating it, ask them why did they put update on kies when you can't even use it. Plus, they didn't warn you not to update it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I used Clockworkmod to recover data. It worked, and then I hit "reboot system now," and the phone wouldn't boot.
I already shipped the phone off, but thanks for the help, I really appreciate it! If Samsung doesn't fix it I know what to do now!

Ok, so I've been doing some research over the past few weeks and I figured out what I did wrong. I inadvertently tried doing a Nandroid restore (i.e. - restoring the whole system) instead of just apps. And I didn't wipe data first. That's why it was failing to boot. Why I couldn't flash the stock kernel from Odin; I have no idea.
As for the phone; Samsung fixed it free of charge (all they had to do was a reset...) and sent it back to me.
After getting it back, I rooted and installed Clockworkmod recovery using Corn kernel version 7.05. Geeve420 has an excellent guide over on androidforums.com. Then I flashed Cyanogenmod9 RC2, then Slim ICS version 4.2. It's running smoothly, though in 24 hours I have had 1 freeze (I did a battery pull and restarted) and a few force closes.
I also installed that Google Now app (the thread on XDA is called "The Google Now for ICS Project"). In other words, I went from being a complete n00b to getting JellyBean software on my phone! All I did was follow the directions, step-by-step, and it worked.
Thanks to all who helped!

random_person1308 said:
Ok, so I've been doing some research over the past few weeks and I figured out what I did wrong. I inadvertently tried doing a Nandroid restore (i.e. - restoring the whole system) instead of just apps. And I didn't wipe data first. That's why it was failing to boot. Why I couldn't flash the stock kernel from Odin; I have no idea.
As for the phone; Samsung fixed it free of charge (all they had to do was a reset...) and sent it back to me.
After getting it back, I rooted and installed Clockworkmod recovery using Corn kernel version 7.05. Geeve420 has an excellent guide over on androidforums.com. Then I flashed Cyanogenmod9 RC2, then Slim ICS version 4.2. It's running smoothly, though in 24 hours I have had 1 freeze (I did a battery pull and restarted) and a few force closes.
I also installed that Google Now app (the thread on XDA is called "The Google Now for ICS Project"). In other words, I went from being a complete n00b to getting JellyBean software on my phone! All I did was follow the directions, step-by-step, and it worked.
Thanks to all who helped!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good for you then Try not to mess with it again. Haha. Do a lot of reading if you're a little hesistant. Plus, asking before doing so is not problem. We have a lot of helpful xda members here to guide you. Goodluck!

Upgrade CWM and Cyanogenmod?

I'm currently running CWM 2.5.1.2 that came with a Gingerbread ROM and I wanted to know if there is a way to upgrade it without having to lose all my data and starting from scratch. I have ROM Manager and it says that its the latest version so I figured I would have to flash it manually. After looking around I see that there are cases of people successfully getting newer versions of CWM working on their devices but most aren't stable. I also want to know if the Infuse can support Cyanogenmod 7 or above. It seems there are a lot of perks to having the mod.
Thanks!

Cwm is packed in our kernels, which means you get whatever version is used on the rom/kernel.
GB has the red one (I believe that is yours)
ICS is blue (5.x.x)
JB is blue w/ gray background (6.x.x)
We are already in cyanogenmod 10 and it is incredible. Take a look at the dev section for more options.
Sent from my sweet & buttery Infuse

So, I knew that the Red CWM was often the one that has the Voodoo Lag Fix options and all...
Which CWM was the green one?
I had never seen it before until I rooted my friend's phone, and somehow had a green CWM until I put ICS on. I'm really not sure where I grabbed the package from with CWM. <_<

Don't use ROM manager. Usually it will bootloop after flashing.
Some apps you may be able to restore settings for non-system apps from titanium backup. I've done this a couple times to restore my bookmarks in dolphin. I don't think that would work for the stock browser if you change ROMs.

Ryo Misaki said:
So, I knew that the Red CWM was often the one that has the Voodoo Lag Fix options and all...
Which CWM was the green one?
I had never seen it before until I rooted my friend's phone, and somehow had a green CWM until I put ICS on. I'm really not sure where I grabbed the package from with CWM. <_<
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it was from Froyo.. when you had to first change the 3e recovery to a modded one in order to flash an update.zip that would install cwm.
Sent from my sweet & buttery Infuse

andros11 said:
I think it was from Froyo.. when you had to first change the 3e recovery to a modded one in order to flash an update.zip that would install cwm.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OooooHHH! Yeah. That's right.
Wow, that had been so long, the green CWM felt foreign to me. =X
Froyo... Froyo... It sounds so distant and antiquated.

[Q] LG P500 help!

I am not a pro at installing android os. I am 16. I recently installed Cyanogenmod 10 (Android 4.1) on my phone (LG Optimus One) and I can't call. I use Simple Mobile. Whenever I try to call, it says,"Mobile Network not available". If you don't know a way to fix this. Can you show me how to put it back into Froyo 2.2?

Seems you are on old baseband and you have flashed a rom which is based on new baseband. Just search for ' old bb fix ' and flash this from your recovery. You will get back your network.
Sent from my LG-P500

pmvyas said:
Seems you are on old baseband and you have flashed a rom which is based on new baseband. Just search for ' old bb fix ' and flash this from your recovery. You will get back your network.
Sent from my LG-P500
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do I do that tho? Please help me. And I don't have google play on this. But the video says that I can get it from here: h t t p: // w w w. g00(dot)im/ gapps . But idk how. This is really confusing.:confused

search XDA for oldbb fix, it is a flashable zip
here in adfad's post you'll find it http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1444328

Download the old bb fix from here -
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=39893089
Boot to your recovery and flash the zip file to fix your network issue. :thumbup:
Sent from my LG-P500

help again plzz
How do I boot to recovery without the clockwork thingy ?

How did you flash the cm 10 rom? Use the same recovery.
Sent from my LG-P500

pmvyas said:
How did you flash the cm 10 rom? Use the same recovery.
Sent from my LG-P500
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nvm, I got it. I have the same problem for the Galaxy S2 model t989 too. It dropped in the water, then it can't read the sim card. So can you give me a link to old bb fix for S2 T989 plz? Thank you.

Ok, apparently, I installed a different old bb fix and now that doesn't work , then I installed the one you gave to me but then it didn't work. So I am stuck again. Please help.

goto settings, abouth phone and read what is your baseband, if it's v10 that is old, if its v20 it is new,
if it is old update via LGMDP to latest version 2.3 GB(if PC doesn't recognize your phone, boot into recovery, conect usb cable an from advance/mounts mount usb), install, reboot, now you'll have fresh oficial GB, root with Superoneclick latest version(maybe you will need to do it few times, for me it didn't go first time, if I remember it was at 3rd time or so), install CWM trough RomManager and after that you are good to go with what ever you want to put in that phone, anyway, all ccustom roms from 2.3.7 are for newbb