Phone: Samsung Galaxy S3 - i747m 16GB
Rom: Cyanogenmod 10.2.1
This is an FYI, and curiosity post. FYI in case somebody else thinks to try what I did, and curiosity as I'm not 100% sure what I did wrong. Apologies if this is the wrong place for this - first post.
So, I flashed a bad modem update, and hardbricked my phone. Used the methods described here to debrick via SDCARD (SGH-I747M-UEMK5, so I guess I was using 4.3 bootloader - figured this out later - used a SANDISK Ultra 32GB UHS-1 card BTW). Got my phone back to the point where I needed the SDCARD inserted for the phone to function. Attempts to flash the bootloader via recovery didn't work (didn't check, but seemed that it "worked", but might have gone to the SDCARD, and not internal memory). Reading further, posts suggested that I revert to stock.
As I now had download mode available again, fired up ODIN, and with "I747MVLUFNE6_I747MOYCFNE6_BMC" (which is 4.4, and I didn't realize I had a 4.3 bootloader at this time) from sammobile, proceeded to flash with no warnings. Succeeded. Phone rebooted, and I received the "stock" samsung boot animation with sound. It did its thing for a bit, and then came to the "decrypt phone" prompt. My phone had been encrypted a while back, but wasn't when I started this "journey". I recalled having this problem once before when reverting to stock, and no code entered worked (needed to wipe data). For fun, I entered the code that was previously used to encrypt the device. It actually appeared to start working (that green Android picture with gears showed up when you put in the right code), and I could see the outline of the statusbar. It sat there for about 30 seconds, and then powered off. I thought it would reboot, but it didn't. No powerup, or lights visible, and I've tried virtually every debrick image on SDCARD (NE6) to no avail.
So, I'm getting the phone JTAG'ed tomorrow, but thought I'd throw this out as I initially thought I had solved the problem, but guess not. The only thing I can think of is flashing 4.4 stock vs. 4.3, however, the phone initially booted. Could it have flashed the bootloader again after ODIN and during the subsequent initial boot, and somehow screwed itself up?
Update after JTAG:
Took the phone to a reputable repair shop. Unfortunately, the JTAG was unsuccessful. Speaking briefly with the tech, he said that they tried writing at different speeds a couple of different times, and each time the write was successful, however, still no dice. They were using a Riffbox.
Unless something drastic happens, I feel that this is the end of this one (also, open to more "exotic" methods now lol)
Related
I want to start out stating that i am very familiar with android's but have never experienced anything like this.
The first thing I tried was to oem unlock it from fastboot, which it claimed to do however i am skeptical as nothing else seems to stick, attempted to install cwm and TWRP neither with any success, even though it says the action was performed successfully.
The strangest thing is that i deleted all the apps on the device from settings/app, but when i rebooted my device they all came back!
All i wanted to do was do a factory reset, which also claims to finish successfully but after rebooting from recovery mode, i am back where i started.
App Updates also do not work as every time the tablet reboots, the apps have to be re-updated.
Its like the tablet is stuck in a read only state and when it reboots all changes are lost.
Like i said, this thing is acting weird and i have no idea where to go from here. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
[Update: Tried RSDLite, same results, Result is PASS however after system reboot everything is the same.]
Another update, tried downloading HWI69 which is the stock rom, tried to fastboot each image but nothing sticks even though it seems to say it writes it to the system. I'm starting to think the NAND memory is locked up and cannot be written to anymore if that's even a possibility.
BUMP
Where to start...
First, as a disclaimer, I may use language or terms that sound noobish. I have rooted and run custom ROMs on several devices in the past, however generally when I get a ROM I like I stick with it, so I'm not constantly tinkering. I've done my best to search and find solutions so please go easy on me.
17 days ago I was running stock 4.3 on my SGNII when the battery died. Upon charging I found I was stuck in bootloop and had a bad /efs mount. I searched and searched and spent around 15 hours trying this and that but to no avail. I finally threw my hands in the air and got ahold of Josh at mobiletechvideos and he was able to fix the efs mount issue. However, he left me in factory mode which required me to root to get out of, and once I did this I was unable to activate data on my carrier (Ting). I was so happy to have my phone "back" though that I used it like this for 4 or 5 days. I could get on wifi and I could call and send text messages. I had been off the grid so this felt like something I'd fix fully later.
Well I kept reading and found "fix" after "fix", flashed this and that and still no dice. FINALLY, last night, I found this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2086769 which helped immensely. I was able to get TWRP flashed by unchecking the "auto-reboot" option in Odin and pulling the battery after the update took, and via TWRP I was able to install the ROM. I booted up, the device activated, I was running 4.1.2, I made and received some calls, the birds were chirping, the air was sweet...
I had struggled for so long and I had finally achieved success! Then, for seemingly no reason at all, I accepted an OTA update which bricked my Note2. Devastation.
The current state of things...
* Cannot get past the initial "Samsung Galaxy Note 2" screen
* Cannot boot into recovery
* I CAN get into dl mode,
* but, I CANNOT successfully flash anything. TWRP will flash like it took, but upon reboot I'm not able to boot into it. I'm also able to flash a ROM but it fails when it gets to sbin, and upon rebooting I'm greeted by the screen "Firmware upgrade encountered an issue. Please select recovery mode in Kies & try again."
When I try to use Kies it doesn't find the device. I've installed all of the most recent drivers and I'm running Kies as administrator. I select Tools > Emergency Firmware Recovery, THEN connect my device as instructed.
I'm at the apex of frustration. I beg thee to help!!
Well, I've had my unit rooted since about a week after I bought it, 2 1/2 years ago. Everything fine - even after using SlimLP 5.02 February Alpha version. Up until yesterday. Something happened, very slow, and wouldn't get into any Google app/site. Kept saying "Google Play" not installed when it was.
Anyway, tried to reflash to Omni 4.4.4 - had MAJOR issues seeing the screen (auto dimming enabled - and simply too dark). Finally worked through the startup/config stuff, and decided since it had an issue - go back to stock a few days and make sure hardware was ok.
So, fired up Odin, flash the old stock firmware I had from Sammobile a while back - now it's stuck at the flashing "SAMSUNG" label. I'm charging fully (was around 50% when I flashed), and will try to reflash again with latest Sammobile firmware (slightly newer that the one I've got).
Now - to the question - anyone know of CWM 6.0.1.1 (I believe) or SlimLP Lollipop would have re-partitioned the device? IF it did, anyone got a PIT file to get the partitions lined back out for the GT-P3113 (Galaxy Tab 2 7)?
No need to repartition. Just enter recovery mode and factory reset it.
Sent from my LGUS990
Ok - it's finally working - I hope. I honestly have no idea what shook it loose.
Process - updated a stock Samsung image for that unit half a dozen times using Odin 3.10. Would always reboot, play the "Samsung Chime", and get to the colored "SAMSUNG" logo and hang. Hooked up to Kies to see if I could do an Emergency Firmware Reload - no dice. Kies would know that something was hooked up, but it wouldn't ever get to saying model, etc. Tried Kies3 - it immediately said it wasn't the correct version - so it knew enough to know Kies3 wouldn't work.
Anyway, loaded a slightly newer version of the stock firmware, using Odin 3.10.0, AND got a stock PIT file for my 8GB unit and applied that - same results. Went into the now Stock Recovery mode (vol+ & power), wiped cache, data, reset - 4 times. Every time, it would reboot and hang. Finally went in, and instead of wiping anything, just rebooted (hit the power button) - this time it took off "updating xx of xx apps". Booted up, went into "I'm a new system - configure me". Afterwards, downloading updates for apps. Seems to be functioning.
So - I don't know what was hanging it up, I don't know if the eMMC is going bad (I haven't loaded it that much, unless the SlimLP Lollipop did something to cause issues). I wouldn't mind the stock firmware so much, except for the 8 tons of crap they load onto it, and you can't get rid of.
There was a "decrappify" that could be applied - but wasn't terribly successful 2 years ago (early 2013). Does anyone know of one that works for the GT-P3113? I'm going to stay stock for a couple of weeks, and watch it to see if it starts acting up again.
Hi,
First I want to say that although I am not a total newbie, I can be considered as a newbie. I have windows 7 32 bit. I am starting from the beginning.
Until about 1.5 years ago, I was used to connect my phone to Kies and do a "firmware upgrade and initialisation" after feeling that it is time to do so in order to speed up the phone back. Does it speed up the phone back? I'm not sure, but as a guy that still formats his pc from time to time maybe it's a habit.
But about 1.5 years ago when Kies told me that my phone is not supported any more I couldn't do that. Then I made some search and found out cm.
I first installed cwm 6.0.4.3 to my phone by heimdall 1.4.0 then installed cm 10.2.0 and gapps-jb-20130813. I thought it would be good and my phone would be faster since I wouldn't have the unnecessary att apps. It also supported Turkish whereas the stock only supports English and Spanish.
I actually liked it at first except for some parts. Then a few months later the phone switched its language to English itself and started to behave abnormally, so I switched back to latest att stock rom by using odin3-v1.85.
Then about 3 months ago my phone got some water inside when I was under the rain with my phone in my pocket and my pocket not being sealed enough. The phone at first said please insert sim card when it was actually inserted, then I noticed it got wet. I immediately turned it off and removed the battery. Then opened it up and let it dry for a few days.
The phone got back to normal except for a single issue. When I charge the battery the screen behaves abnormally. The abnormality increases with time during the charging, I thought it is related with the phone getting warmer during charging. After the phone turns the screen off after timeout, It does not always turn it on after I press the power button. It starts at first by turning on after a few trials up to not being able to turn on during the charging process. When I unplug the charging cable, I can turn the screen on after a few trials. The phone gets back to nearly normal after 10-15 minutes. Although the screen does not turn on it still responds, for example I can answer a call. And sometimes the screen turns on with being upside down and flickering but responding as if its not upside down.
I hope I could describe the problem well. So this may be a hardware or hopefully a software problem. So I decided to first go back to factory settings. The problem with the screen continued. Then I installed the stock rom by odin. The problem continued but I noticed that the two applications I installed after resetting to factory settings remained in the phone. odin either not installs the rom or installs it by copying files, not formatting the system partition. I thought maybe formatting and reinstalling stock would solve the problem with the screen.
I made some research and noticed that I could actually increase the system partition, which is awesome since I always encounter filled memory problem when I try to install an app so I uninstall some apps to install the new ones. If I manage to repartition the system drive, it also has to format it.
Then I installed the stock rom using the pit file someone uploaded (6GB system partition), I did it but got an error from cwm upon first boot saying something like "unable to mount F", when I ignored the error the phone seemed to turn on but got stuck with att sign. When I pull the battery and turn it back on the phone got stuck at the same place without an error from cwm. Then I installed the stock rom with the original pit file, now the phone turns on but I still have previous apps. I repeated thes a few times (6gb pit file, original pit file) but nothing changed.
Then cm came to my mind, it would format the system drive. I repeated the same procedure I did 1.5 years ago. The phone turned on. I noticed that the internal sd drive had the previous folders,so I wiped the sd drive with cm. Everything was fine but the problem with the screen continued which stated that the it was a hardware problem. There was no reason to stay with cm so I installed the stock rom.
The phone asked a password from me since it had encrypted folders ???. I didn't provide a password, I think it did not recognise the sd drive wiped by cm.
I couldn't install cwm 6.0.4.3 with heimdall, it gave an error at the end. I decided to install a recovery with odin so I installed twrp 2.8.7.0.
I installed cm with 6gb pit, with original pit, installed stock rom with 6gb pit, with original pit with random order and how many times I don't remember that I brought the phone to a state that it won't boot. It turned on with odin mode though. Even the twrp did not recognise the drives. So I wiped all with ext4 format.
Now I have cm with 6 gb system but I want to go back to stock rom. cm drains up my battery. I also noticed that I really got used to the stock rom. I would appreciate it if I have 6 gb system like now. But if I have to reduce it back to 2 gb I don't care.
Can someone please help me?
Sorry for the long post, I wanted to state the problem as good as possible.
Not getting even a single reply probably means I am facing a really extraordinary problem.
I'll try to reformat the partitions. Maybe the OS thinks the unrecognised partition as encrypted. I previously made them both FAT.
Can someone please tell me what should be the filesystems of the system and the internal sd? Are they the same or different?
bloodcurdler said:
Not getting even a single reply probably means I am facing a really extraordinary problem.
I'll try to reformat the partitions. Maybe the OS thinks the unrecognised partition as encrypted. I previously made them both FAT.
Can someone please tell me what should be the filesystems of the system and the internal sd? Are they the same or different?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I could be wrong but Ext4 is the most common filesystem so try that
Okay. I was messing around with my firmware which I've done in the past. I've had a few problems then due to my phone model being obscure (Samsung Galaxy S6: SM-S906L). I've always had a copy of the firmware saved to my computer in the event of a bootloop or a similar issue, I figured I could just flash it with Odin to fix it. I have also done this in the past. After accidently wiping my phone, I went to re-install Magisk, but noticed my phone trying to push an update. I let it go through without much though and after it finished saw it didn't change much. I carried on with re-installing Magisk when I figured I might as well fix some problems I had with booting the phone (I would have to boot it into download mode then recovery to get it out of a bootloop each time I turned it off). I carried on with flashing my saved firmware to fix the problem. Everything flashed fine except the bootloader. It's come to my understanding now that because I let the update carry through with my phone, my saved firmware is no longer compatiable dispite the fact that it didn't change my android version. So now I have a bootloader installed that is meant for a higher update without my known ability to downgrade. Due to the obscurity of my phone model, I can't find anything to bring my firmware up to what my bootloader is at. So now my phone is stuck in a bootloop with the ability to access download mode, but recovery mode simply gives me a "recovery is not seandroid enforcing" error. I would greatly appreciate it if someone has any advise they could give me.