Database Info

Reviving the Samsung Galaxy S 4G

I wanted to share my knowledge and experience from the past 2 days. Most of the help came from guides and posts on this forum so I wanted to give that back.
We were trying to root the SGS4G and because we're noobs we made the mistake of thinking it was a Vibrant. Got a Vibrant ROM and tried to flash it though Odin WITH re-partition checked. Everything we read said if you do either one of these things, you will brick your phone.
Sure enough we bricked the phone. It was trying to boot into the Vibrant ROM but was getting stuck on the word 'Vibrant' and then showing a whole lot of weird colored pixels. We then learned we'd made a massive mistake and that the phone wasn't a Vibrant after all.
We got a stock ROM for SGS4G and started trying to push them through Odin. Faced countless FAILS and freezes and finally it took us to the Recovery Mode and we tried the Restore option. It booted into a crippled SGS4G ROM. When it booted, it vibrated every 10 seconds or so and it had a null IMEI and unknown baseband.
We tried following a guide that wanted to change some text in the nv_data.bin but the numbers we were meant to be editing (0018810?) didn't exist in our nv_data.bin. So that didn't work for us.
In the meantime we tried to flash the stock ROM in Odin but kept getting FAILs and Freezes. With this step we lost even the crippled operating system and couldn't reach anything except the 'phone --!-- computer' screen. Luckily, this acts the same as download mode, so not bricked. We kept trying to push the stock SGS4G stock ROM (Froyo 2.2) several times and failing.
At one point we got a completely black screen, wouldn't turn on. Bricked again. We found this post on RootzWiki and it worked for us that time and brought it back from the black screen to download mode http://rootzwiki.com/topic/1820-how-to-unbrick-your-sgs4g/
Somehow we ended up at this guide here on XDA for fixing the "null/null" IMEI http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1142829
We followed that guide. When you add the PIT file it automatically checks 'Re-Partition' in Odin, we didn't uncheck it. Bricked again. It was stuck on the Samsung logo and when we tried to get to download mode it got stuck on a black screen with the loading circle/lines and 2 computers were giving 'The USB device has malfunctioned' when we plugged it in. The unbrick guide above (RootzWiki) didn't help this time. We tried restarting the computer, let the phone rest without battery for half an hour, held power button for a minute without battery, still nothing.
Finally I accidentally pressed the power button (rather than the volume buttons to get into download mode) and it went to the samsung logo (as expected) and after that I was able to get into download mode. The key to this I think is to keep on trying powering on normally then try download mode over and over and eventually it should get unstuck and the computer should recognize it again.
Once I had it back in download mode, I followed this guide again BUT!!! I made sure to un-check re-partition and I did not check "Phone EFS Clear" (because I had tried that already before it was bricked and wanted to see if a straight ROM would work first). Everything worked perfectly, I got my IMEI and Baseband back, without modifying anything.
I don't know if this was a miracle, or if any of it will work for anyone else, but the moral of the story is don't give up even if you've done the absolute worst possible thing. I don't even think hardbrick exists on this phone after everything we were able to save it from.
Cheers

Hardbricks do exist on this phone but you have to try really hard to do it. A few people have managed it. Way to stick with it and recover your phone. I've done that more times than I can count.

hechoen said:
Hardbricks do exist on this phone but you have to try really hard to do it. A few people have managed it. Way to stick with it and recover your phone. I've done that more times than I can count.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't feel like i really hard bricked it until i saw the USB computer connection error "device pluged in malfunctioned" in more than one PC.
Then i really felt like its a hardware BIOS chipset level problem now but man...

That story cracked me up. That is exactly why I spend days reading before I even root my phone. I made the mistake one time on my old G1 and it could not be revived.
Congrats on getting it working. (especially without flooding the q&a with redundant questions that have been described in detail several places )

hani1400 said:
I wanted to share my knowledge and experience from the past 2 days. Most of the help came from guides and posts on this forum so I wanted to give that back.
We were trying to root the SGS4G and because we're noobs we made the mistake of thinking it was a Vibrant. Got a Vibrant ROM and tried to flash it though Odin WITH re-partition checked. Everything we read said if you do either one of these things, you will brick your phone.
Sure enough we bricked the phone. It was trying to boot into the Vibrant ROM but was getting stuck on the word 'Vibrant' and then showing a whole lot of weird colored pixels. We then learned we'd made a massive mistake and that the phone wasn't a Vibrant after all.
We got a stock ROM for SGS4G and started trying to push them through Odin. Faced countless FAILS and freezes and finally it took us to the Recovery Mode and we tried the Restore option. It booted into a crippled SGS4G ROM. When it booted, it vibrated every 10 seconds or so and it had a null IMEI and unknown baseband.
We tried following a guide that wanted to change some text in the nv_data.bin but the numbers we were meant to be editing (0018810?) didn't exist in our nv_data.bin. So that didn't work for us.
In the meantime we tried to flash the stock ROM in Odin but kept getting FAILs and Freezes. With this step we lost even the crippled operating system and couldn't reach anything except the 'phone --!-- computer' screen. Luckily, this acts the same as download mode, so not bricked. We kept trying to push the stock SGS4G stock ROM (Froyo 2.2) several times and failing.
At one point we got a completely black screen, wouldn't turn on. Bricked again. We found this post on RootzWiki and it worked for us that time and brought it back from the black screen to download mode http://rootzwiki.com/topic/1820-how-to-unbrick-your-sgs4g/
Somehow we ended up at this guide here on XDA for fixing the "null/null" IMEI http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1142829
We followed that guide. When you add the PIT file it automatically checks 'Re-Partition' in Odin, we didn't uncheck it. Bricked again. It was stuck on the Samsung logo and when we tried to get to download mode it got stuck on a black screen with the loading circle/lines and 2 computers were giving 'The USB device has malfunctioned' when we plugged it in. The unbrick guide above (RootzWiki) didn't help this time. We tried restarting the computer, let the phone rest without battery for half an hour, held power button for a minute without battery, still nothing.
Finally I accidentally pressed the power button (rather than the volume buttons to get into download mode) and it went to the samsung logo (as expected) and after that I was able to get into download mode. The key to this I think is to keep on trying powering on normally then try download mode over and over and eventually it should get unstuck and the computer should recognize it again.
Once I had it back in download mode, I followed this guide again BUT!!! I made sure to un-check re-partition and I did not check "Phone EFS Clear" (because I had tried that already before it was bricked and wanted to see if a straight ROM would work first). Everything worked perfectly, I got my IMEI and Baseband back, without modifying anything.
I don't know if this was a miracle, or if any of it will work for anyone else, but the moral of the story is don't give up even if you've done the absolute worst possible thing. I don't even think hardbrick exists on this phone after everything we were able to save it from.
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wheooooooooowwww,..you just UNBRICKED mine, I know of the Battery pull etc...but the post you referenced
is MAGIC
This was not my first Rom nor Root on this phone, it weirdly happened while doing the GB starter....via ODIN, which i also used before..no clue what went wrong, oh well...
Thank you, thank you "i did"....Yohoooo

Yup i agree i like to read, reread then read as i do. This way i got a pretty good understanding of what I'm doing. Btw i have just started using one click and it is sooooo simple. I love it.
Sent from my SGH-T959V using XDA App

The link for fixing null/null IMEI is not working.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1142829

diavel said:
The link for fixing null/null IMEI is not working.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1142829
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=881162

Im still carrying this phone, stupid baseband unlock for iphone won't come out now I am carrying 2 phones, one as an ipod touch and the galaxy s! Good story, hope it can help others, but I am prepared to jump off of this bandwagon anytime now!

[Q] System software not authorized by Verizon?

Yesterday I got the update on my S3. I am rooted and bootloader unlocked with EZ apps. when I got the update it went into EZ recovery and thinking maybe I could get the update I tried to install it. It looked like alot of it installed but it did kick me out in the end, or gave me an error or something. Anyway when I went to see if the update had gone through under info I saw I was on G1 still not G7 and it said I had an error 401. So I didn't think it had gone through. I tried to change my phone to CM-10 nightlies by invisiblek just now and followed all the steps in the tutorial and when I did my final reboot I get a exclamation point in a sign and a quote, "System software not authorized by Verizon Wireless has been found on your phone. Please turn off your phone and go to the nearest Verizon Wireless store for help. I know there is a way to load to easy recovery and I will find that and go back to where I was but I thought I should post this as I have been researching quite a bit and hadn't seen this happen to anyone else. Maybe I missed it but just in case maybe this will help someone else. If someone could respond on how to boot into ez recovery I will do that or if someone has a different idea on what I should do I'm open to suggestions. Thanks in advance...
OK, read something about download mode so tried that. Power-Volume down-Home at same time. Screen came up asking if I wanted to install a custom OS and warning that a custom OS could be dangerous. Same exclamation point thing as not authorized so maybe another Verizon message? Anyway I said yes and it went to Downloading... screen and says do not turn off target. In the upper left hand corner it says Odin mode, product name: SCH-I535, Custom binaryDownload: no, Current Binary: Samsung official, System status: Official, Qualcomm secureboot: enable...
I'm guessing this is how you get into ODIN but as I have never done that and don't have the phone connected to my computer now I'm guessing it's safe to shut off my phone even though it says Do not turn off target!!!
Anyone know how I get to the bootloader? I'm guessing I can load my saved boot from there...UGH!
Tried shutting down phone but it won't. Do I have to remove battery?
Got Odin open but since my backup is a nandroid backup don't see how I can get to it through ODIN. I'm really stuck. Haven't pulled the battery yet as I was hoping someone would chime in here but guess I will have to soon. THere must be a way to get to the bootloader screen as why else would you do a nandroid backup? I also did a full backup on Titanium Backup bt again how do I get there?
OK loaded root66 through odin...phone restored...now what do i need to do to get cm10 on here....
Went and looked at phone under settings and that build was different now and the 401 error was gone so I installed CM10 and it's loading now! Yeah for me

Odin would be your best bet, if you can do that you should be golden, as to recovery ,I believe it's hold volume down, home then power button hold till you feel the vibration then release that should take you to either recovery or download mode.to Odin you need download mode.hope this helps a little
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium

[Q] Samsung Galaxy S4 mini I9192 , soft bricked.

Hello , looking for help to unbrick a partially bricked phone that allows me to turn on and use mostly everything , it seems to reboot itself every once in awhile. I can goto Kies and and try to repair but that doesn't work , also have odin with factory file and that shows Fail every time i try that. Hoping someone can help try to get back to factory settings.
Oh and i have read for 2 days here downloaded files and tried everything i can , but nothing seems to work. And when i restart phone it seems to go back to exactly where i left when it got bad root file or something. In the phone part even after i erase calls , it shows the people that called that day every time it gets restarted.
If anyone can help and walk me through , i'd be greatly appreciated. And i've watched i don't know how many youtube vid's on trying to get this back to factory mode.
Thank you.

just go into download mode and flash stock rom through odin.....

mohit378 said:
just go into download mode and flash stock rom through odin.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried mutiple times and always comes up FAILED.
Tried Kies option also....
Apparantly its stuck in Titanium backup mode and occasionally does a reboot on its own sometimes. But even if i try to reboot after erasing tons of stuff out of it.... it comes back to what it was or how it was. So basically the titanium even though it shows up nowhere in my apps or phone... it keeps reverting my phone back to where it was when it got messed up.....

Try this
redskies4you said:
Hello , looking for help to unbrick a partially bricked phone that allows me to turn on and use mostly everything , it seems to reboot itself every once in awhile. I can goto Kies and and try to repair but that doesn't work , also have odin with factory file and that shows Fail every time i try that. Hoping someone can help try to get back to factory settings.
Oh and i have read for 2 days here downloaded files and tried everything i can , but nothing seems to work. And when i restart phone it seems to go back to exactly where i left when it got bad root file or something. In the phone part even after i erase calls , it shows the people that called that day every time it gets restarted.
If anyone can help and walk me through , i'd be greatly appreciated. And i've watched i don't know how many youtube vid's on trying to get this back to factory mode.
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know if the fail you get in Odin may be caused by having the wrong settings. I have ran into a few tutorials online that use odin, each one had a specific way. Try running it again with all the options unchecked except for the Auto Reboot. Also make sure you place the correct file(s) in the correct slot. example: any bootloader file goes into the bootloader slot, etc. make sure its checked. Then run again, this may be the only reason your getting a fail, it may have nothing to do with Odin or your phone.
Of course disregard this message if you had already fixed you problem. Also another possible fix would be to use ADB command to push the files to your phone, I suggest looking into it, there is a good amount of info on it online. It could help down the line with future issues to know ADB. Here is a website I found helpful, it is a guide to using ADB sideload to save bricked devices. ------- (android-revolution-
hd.blogspot.com/2013/12/ow-to-use-adb-sideload.html) note: just copy everything after the dashes and in between the parenthesis and paste into url bar on browser. sorry i have to be difficult, first time posting on this site and they wont let me post in a link, but this guide may be the answer to all your phone trouble. Plus I know how you feel, I just bricked my phone too and I know how agravating it is when nothing works.
Good luck and let me know how it goes

Thanks
BAMTek.Inc said:
I don't know if the fail you get in Odin may be caused by having the wrong settings. I have ran into a few tutorials online that use odin, each one had a specific way. Try running it again with all the options unchecked except for the Auto Reboot. Also make sure you place the correct file(s) in the correct slot. example: any bootloader file goes into the bootloader slot, etc. make sure its checked. Then run again, this may be the only reason your getting a fail, it may have nothing to do with Odin or your phone.
Of course disregard this message if you had already fixed you problem. Also another possible fix would be to use ADB command to push the files to your phone, I suggest looking into it, there is a good amount of info on it online. It could help down the line with future issues to know ADB. Here is a website I found helpful, it is a guide to using ADB sideload to save bricked devices. ------- (android-revolution-
hd.blogspot.com/2013/12/ow-to-use-adb-sideload.html) note: just copy everything after the dashes and in between the parenthesis and paste into url bar on browser. sorry i have to be difficult, first time posting on this site and they wont let me post in a link, but this guide may be the answer to all your phone trouble. Plus I know how you feel, I just bricked my phone too and I know how agravating it is when nothing works.
Good luck and let me know how it goes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Bam.... I'm just in need of all stock files Including the PIT file which is like impossible to find it seems to try and get this phone back to factory reset mode..... The phone actually works but anytime it reboots or save anything...ect.... it just reverts back to when it got tripped up. Thanks again for anyone's help.

[Completed] [Q] SM-T330NYKAXAR Odin Mode UDC Start

I had put the tablet into root for the remote play app (which is great by the way) once i had it up and running i wanted to see if i unrooted the tablet if the remote play would work. At that time after checking unroot on SU i had restarted the Tablet. Now it goes into Odin Mode and UDC Start. I know somewhere i had to have done something wrong somewhere. Are there any suggestions. Im also having issues finding the stock firmware for this particular tablet. When I try flashing the tablet i get stuck in random places like on aboot.mbn or it will fail or it wont finish initializing. If someone could help it would be greatly appriciated.
make:SM-T330NU
Model: SM-T330NYKAXAR

Fixed it!!!!!
So sometimes the tablet would get stuck in random spots that would freeze up and not allow me to continue flashing the firmware. I found a couple different places that had the same firmware that i needed to use. I also found the firmware by searching what kies was trying to upload on the tablet. So what i had done was allowed the tablet to die completely (since there is no battery to take out and the vol up and the power button was not doing a hard reset). As soon as powered on the tablet i had put it in download mode then bam flashed the firmware and it recovered. Thank you guys with all the extensive knowledge that you post on here i would have never fixed this tablet if you guys hadn't had all the threads on here.

Krazekain said:
So sometimes the tablet would get stuck in random spots that would freeze up and not allow me to continue flashing the firmware. I found a couple different places that had the same firmware that i needed to use. I also found the firmware by searching what kies was trying to upload on the tablet. So what i had done was allowed the tablet to die completely (since there is no battery to take out and the vol up and the power button was not doing a hard reset). As soon as powered on the tablet i had put it in download mode then bam flashed the firmware and it recovered. Thank you guys with all the extensive knowledge that you post on here i would have never fixed this tablet if you guys hadn't had all the threads on here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great, This thread will be closed.
Questions for this device should be asked in Galaxy Tab 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting .

In a boot loop after flashing device... what next?

I inherited a Galaxy S7 from my brother after he recently passed away. He was with T-Mobile, so it's a G930T (I have the original box, too, which has come in handy). I brought it back home with me... to France. I figured I'd have it unlocked and replace my old smartphone with this newer one.
Since I didn't know what his pin was, I did a factory reset... and found myself stuck in FRP!
At that point I called T-Mobile and was able to have myself added as an authorized user on my brother's account. They gave me the pin (too late! gah!) and unlocked the phone on their end, as it had been fully paid for. But as far as the FRP thing they were unable to help.
After a lot of googling, I found a bunch of how-to videos explaining how to bypass FRP, I thought I was in luck... except none of them worked for me. Then I came across a comment stating that flashing the device might do the trick. So I decided to try that... but now I'm locked in a boot loop (on the Samsung Galaxy S7 screen that keeps flashing on and off).
Here's what I did, step by step:
1) I installed Odin 3.13.1 from samsungodin.com
2) I downloaded & unpacked a stock ROM from sammobile.com, more specifically this one:
G930TUVS8CRJ1 - GALAXY S7 SM-G930T TMB USA (T-MOBILE)
3) I connected the phone to the laptop
4) I ran Odin and selected (with the AP button) the AP_GS30T* file & hit "start"
Odin said PASS! and I thought all was good... except it wasn't.
So I went googling some more and found a great page... which I am not allowed to link to yet, apparently, but it's on thedroidguy's website.
Only problem is that I can NOT get into the Recovery Menu. When I try the procedure (Home+Volume Up+Power) all I get is "recovery booting" in a bright blue font and THAT starts flashing on and off instead of the Galaxy S7 screen. If I redo the same button sequence, it just switches back to the other screen.
The ONLY other screen I can get to (unless there's another trick I haven't heard of yet) is the blue 'Warning' screen from which you can install ROM's (Home+Volume Down+Power).
So I tried to reinstall that same ROM two other times. First because I wasn't sure if I'd ran Odin as an administrator the first time around, figured that might be the issue, but that didn't change anything. Then I gave it another shot, this time using the phone's original USB cable (I had initially used mine), hoping that would make a difference... but of course, it did not.
So... is there anything I can do at this stage? Did I maybe go for the wrong ROM? Is there another one I can try?
I just hope it's not permanently bricked :-o

So I managed to unbrick my device, yay me! It took me some time to figure it out, but the solution was quite simple. Up until that point I had only been flashing the AP file alone. What fixed my problem was to also flash the bootloader (BL) file. This got me out of that boot loop.
I still haven't managed to bypass that annoying FRP lock, though. Every technique I've tried has failed.
On the plus side, I'm becoming an expert at flashing :-o
I just came across a method that, I think, could work: flash the factory combination file, enable usb debugging, then flash the regular firmware (with all files except CP).
My problem is that I can only find ONE combination file for the G930T but it doesn't match ANY of the firmwares available on sammobile... is this a problem?
The filename is similar to the v6 firmwares, only the last 4 characters don't match.
The other issue is that none of the v6 firmwares will flash on my device (they all fail pretty quickly while going through the AP file)... will using the combination file fix this?
Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.