Related
Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 Hacked, Touchscreen unresponsive
Hi! I need help with my tablet.
Device: Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 Tablet, model GT-P5113 TS. This model doesn't have a way to yank out the battery.
What's wrong: Touchscreen is not responding.
Current state: Attempting to drain the battery. Doesn't appear to be turned on. Factory reset apparently performed.
What happened: Sorry, this is long. It is as best as I can remember it. It may be somewhat inaccurate.
Yesterday evening, I was on my Windows laptop and logged into my Google account. I *thought* I used the Google Play Store to install Chrome to the tablet. (I had looked at the html5test website and it said Chrome had a higher HTML5 rating than the Dolphin/Jetpack browser I've been using on my tablet.)
But something went terribly wrong.
After sending Chrome to it, I unlocked the tablet and used both Chrome and Dolphin to go to html5test website. They both scored the same or nearly the same. I don't know if any of that is relevant, but I'm including it just in case.
At some point after that, I woke the tablet with the power key and used my unlock pattern on the dots lock screen.
That's when I saw what I believe was mal-ware in action. The settings menus were scrolling and sub-menus being selected, all by themselves. I couldn't say exactly what was changed because whatever program or script that was running the process was going extremely fast.
When I realized it might be trying to send out data over my Wifi network, I turned off the Wifi router in my home.
I repeatedly held down the power key to turn the system off, but doing so only rebooted back to the useless lock screen which was not responding to anything. The normal method of holding the power button for a few seconds to bring up the menu and then tapping the "Power Off" option on that menu refused to power off the system. Nothing on that menu responded to touch.
Entering my pattern on the lock screen did absolutely nothing. I didn't even see any lines traced when I ran my finger over the screen.
At some point, I pulled out the external SD card. I have no idea if whatever hacked the tablet also put a copy of itself on the SD card.
I called a friend who looked up how to restore the tablet to factory settings. I didn't understand the directions exactly, so I ended up on a screen with a Warning!! about installing a Custom OS. (Holding down the Power + Volume Up seems to get me there)
I left it on this screen, and I turned my router back on and using my laptop, contacted Live Chat at Samsung but they didn't understand my problem. They told me to reboot the device and swipe my pattern several times and then after several failed attempts I would have the chance to use my Google credentials to get into it. But the device apparently never registered that my swipe attempts were failing.
So my device was booted up with me locked out, with the WiFi router on for a little while again. I turned off the router as soon as I realized that. That disconnected the chat session, but since Samsung chat wasn't helping me anyway, I didn't bother trying to go back.
I got the device back to the "Warning!!" screen. Then turned the router back on and searched for how to do a factory reset of the device. I found a video on YouTube and followed it.
I pressed the Volume Down and Power buttons simultaneously, followed by letting go of the power button. That brought up a menu which contained several options, including an option to do a factory reset. I used the volume buttons to highlight that and pressed Power key. A second screen came up and I used the volume buttons and power button to select "Yes" to confirm the reset.
It appeared to have done a factory reset, rebooting eventually.
However, after that, when I tried to tap on the touch screen to move forward through the selections, the touch screen was still unresponsive!
So I brought back the "Warning!!" screen and ran the battery down until the screen was blank and it wouldn't start when I held the power key.
Then I charged it for about 20 minutes and rebooted it. I think when it came back it was on the Recovery menu. I think I did a second factory reset, but not 100% sure. It eventually rebooted after a lot longer than usual.
When it came up, it was saying battery was low. I tried to tap the OK button, but nothing happened. Behind the battery window was the first setting screen to set up the device for the first time after a factory reset. (I think selecting USA?)
I brought back the "Warning!!" screen and left it on overnight so that the battery would run down.
That was about 8 hours ago. When I woke up, I used clear tape to keep the power button pressed down, to ensure that the battery will continue to run down.
____________________________________________
What do I do next? How do I get the touch screen to start working again? It is not a hardware problem, unless mal-ware can break the hardware. The touchscreen had been working fine until this happened.
Should I take the tablet back to Best Buy where I bought it at least a year (maybe 2 years) ago? I don't know if it's still under warranty.
I have over 20 year of experience as a software developer, but not for Android. I am not very experienced with doing anything to hardware.
Should I try to fix it myself?
I have never rooted any Android device and I'm not sure what that means, either.
I've never re-installed the ______ ? (rom? image? Odin?)
I read on this and/or other forums that there's a way to replace something, but the instructions were beyond my level of understanding. I would need the procedures to be broken down into steps which don't assume too much about what I know.
I understand how to download a file to Windows, given a URL for it. I understand what a zip file is and how to extract it. I understand how to press hardware buttons and plug in cables, and do these steps in the order I'm told.
I don't understand what I'd use to get the downloaded whatever-they-are onto the tablet to replace whatever-the-other-thing-is so that the touchscreen works again.
As far as I know, Odin is a Norse god.
The only firmware updates I've ever done are the ones that the device does on it's own through Samsung's updates.
I'd deeply appreciate getting this device back since I have extremely limited funds and probably won't be able to buy a replacement.
Thank you,
Linda
LMurphy said:
Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 Hacked, Touchscreen unresponsive
Hi! I need help with my tablet.
Device: Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 Tablet, model GT-P5113 TS. This model doesn't have a way to yank out the battery.
What's wrong: Touchscreen is not responding.
Current state: Attempting to drain the battery. Doesn't appear to be turned on. Factory reset apparently performed.
What happened: Sorry, this is long. It is as best as I can remember it. It may be somewhat inaccurate.
Yesterday evening, I was on my Windows laptop and logged into my Google account. I *thought* I used the Google Play Store to install Chrome to the tablet. (I had looked at the html5test website and it said Chrome had a higher HTML5 rating than the Dolphin/Jetpack browser I've been using on my tablet.)
But something went terribly wrong.
After sending Chrome to it, I unlocked the tablet and used both Chrome and Dolphin to go to html5test website. They both scored the same or nearly the same. I don't know if any of that is relevant, but I'm including it just in case.
At some point after that, I woke the tablet with the power key and used my unlock pattern on the dots lock screen.
That's when I saw what I believe was mal-ware in action. The settings menus were scrolling and sub-menus being selected, all by themselves. I couldn't say exactly what was changed because whatever program or script that was running the process was going extremely fast.
When I realized it might be trying to send out data over my Wifi network, I turned off the Wifi router in my home.
I repeatedly held down the power key to turn the system off, but doing so only rebooted back to the useless lock screen which was not responding to anything. The normal method of holding the power button for a few seconds to bring up the menu and then tapping the "Power Off" option on that menu refused to power off the system. Nothing on that menu responded to touch.
Entering my pattern on the lock screen did absolutely nothing. I didn't even see any lines traced when I ran my finger over the screen.
At some point, I pulled out the external SD card. I have no idea if whatever hacked the tablet also put a copy of itself on the SD card.
I called a friend who looked up how to restore the tablet to factory settings. I didn't understand the directions exactly, so I ended up on a screen with a Warning!! about installing a Custom OS. (Holding down the Power + Volume Up seems to get me there)
I left it on this screen, and I turned my router back on and using my laptop, contacted Live Chat at Samsung but they didn't understand my problem. They told me to reboot the device and swipe my pattern several times and then after several failed attempts I would have the chance to use my Google credentials to get into it. But the device apparently never registered that my swipe attempts were failing.
So my device was booted up with me locked out, with the WiFi router on for a little while again. I turned off the router as soon as I realized that. That disconnected the chat session, but since Samsung chat wasn't helping me anyway, I didn't bother trying to go back.
I got the device back to the "Warning!!" screen. Then turned the router back on and searched for how to do a factory reset of the device. I found a video on YouTube and followed it.
I pressed the Volume Down and Power buttons simultaneously, followed by letting go of the power button. That brought up a menu which contained several options, including an option to do a factory reset. I used the volume buttons to highlight that and pressed Power key. A second screen came up and I used the volume buttons and power button to select "Yes" to confirm the reset.
It appeared to have done a factory reset, rebooting eventually.
However, after that, when I tried to tap on the touch screen to move forward through the selections, the touch screen was still unresponsive!
So I brought back the "Warning!!" screen and ran the battery down until the screen was blank and it wouldn't start when I held the power key.
Then I charged it for about 20 minutes and rebooted it. I think when it came back it was on the Recovery menu. I think I did a second factory reset, but not 100% sure. It eventually rebooted after a lot longer than usual.
When it came up, it was saying battery was low. I tried to tap the OK button, but nothing happened. Behind the battery window was the first setting screen to set up the device for the first time after a factory reset. (I think selecting USA?)
I brought back the "Warning!!" screen and left it on overnight so that the battery would run down.
That was about 8 hours ago. When I woke up, I used clear tape to keep the power button pressed down, to ensure that the battery will continue to run down.
____________________________________________
What do I do next? How do I get the touch screen to start working again? It is not a hardware problem, unless mal-ware can break the hardware. The touchscreen had been working fine until this happened.
Should I take the tablet back to Best Buy where I bought it at least a year (maybe 2 years) ago? I don't know if it's still under warranty.
I have over 20 year of experience as a software developer, but not for Android. I am not very experienced with doing anything to hardware.
Should I try to fix it myself?
I have never rooted any Android device and I'm not sure what that means, either.
I've never re-installed the ______ ? (rom? image? Odin?)
I read on this and/or other forums that there's a way to replace something, but the instructions were beyond my level of understanding. I would need the procedures to be broken down into steps which don't assume too much about what I know.
I understand how to download a file to Windows, given a URL for it. I understand what a zip file is and how to extract it. I understand how to press hardware buttons and plug in cables, and do these steps in the order I'm told.
I don't understand what I'd use to get the downloaded whatever-they-are onto the tablet to replace whatever-the-other-thing-is so that the touchscreen works again.
As far as I know, Odin is a Norse god.
The only firmware updates I've ever done are the ones that the device does on it's own through Samsung's updates.
I'd deeply appreciate getting this device back since I have extremely limited funds and probably won't be able to buy a replacement.
Thank you,
Linda
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Definitely sounds like malware. You have two choices that I see, either root and custom rom or flash back to stock. Since you are stock you'd just be overwriting your existing install. Read this thread and decide your course of action http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2203309
Hey Guys,
I´m no English native so please be patient. I`m although no noob with Android and hardware but can`t figure out some strange defects on my M8. Hope for help!
So here is the story: A week ago I woke up late. My Phone was stuck in Bootloader and I couldn’t select any option. Only my Volume Up Button did change the marking
of options. Strangely it did so in the wrong way. Means Volume Up changed up to down. Pushing the Power Button shortly to select an option didn`t do a thing at all.
But pushing it for long did what it should: It shut the Phone down. As I restarted it I again got stuck in bootloader. By trying out different ways I managed to somehow
boot in safe mode. It took me some time to figure out that my Volume Down Button was stuck and was therefore the reason for the strange booting procedure.
It´ll get more strange from here on so please remember: Bootloader, only Volume Up Button working but in the wrong way, Power Button only reacts to long periods
of pushing, probably Volume Down Button stuck.
In safe mode the Power Button worked fine again and did respond to all kinds of pushes as it should. Volume down did not do a thing (As expected). Theory seems
confirmed. To rule out software issues I did a full reset in TWRP which I had to start from cmd on my desktop as my phone still did not take any selections in bootloader.
And additionally flashed a new rom (Skydragon GPE 5). Didn´t change my problem at all so I went to bed. My phone was nearly powered out and I forgot to plug it.
In the morning I found it dead so I plugged it in and booted it up. Strange thing: It booted completely normal. All Buttons were working. Yes, even the Power Down
Button. Now I realized that Wi-Fi isn`t working which could be because of my old firmware and the new rom. So I started to learn how to update the firmware - which
took me 15 minutes. As I got back to my Phone to get it started the Volume Button was stuck again. Now it finally has to be some hardware defect right? I found the
spare parts on Ebay and wanted to give it one last shot before I placed the order. So risked to get stuck in safe mode or bootloder (again) and pushed the Power
Button down hard. But surprise my phone decided to open a new chapter of strangeness: Nothing happened at all. Now the Power Button wasn`t working any more.
No reaction to short pushes and what’s completely new, no reaction to long pushes too. So I avoided restarts form that point on and used my phone for the last days
in that condition. Decided I could life without two of the three hardware buttons But as I could not flash the firmware without restarting the phone no Wi-Fi starts
to bother.
To be honest: I don`t know what to do! I don`t want to waste money on spear parts if there’s the option of some really strange software failure. A defect over night
without any physical forces aside from really high room temperatures seems unlikely to me. Even more if you count in the strange healing over night and the factor
that it not only broke down again but although spread it´s desesse to the power button. I`m really out! Any Ideas?
FabianX2 said:
Hey Guys,
I´m no English native so please be patient. I`m although no noob with Android and hardware but can`t figure out some strange defects on my M8. Hope for help!
So here is the story: A week ago I woke up late. My Phone was stuck in Bootloader and I couldn’t select any option. Only my Volume Up Button did change the marking
of options. Strangely it did so in the wrong way. Means Volume Up changed up to down. Pushing the Power Button shortly to select an option didn`t do a thing at all.
But pushing it for long did what it should: It shut the Phone down. As I restarted it I again got stuck in bootloader. By trying out different ways I managed to somehow
boot in safe mode. It took me some time to figure out that my Volume Down Button was stuck and was therefore the reason for the strange booting procedure.
It´ll get more strange from here on so please remember: Bootloader, only Volume Up Button working but in the wrong way, Power Button only reacts to long periods
of pushing, probably Volume Down Button stuck.
In safe mode the Power Button worked fine again and did respond to all kinds of pushes as it should. Volume down did not do a thing (As expected). Theory seems
confirmed. To rule out software issues I did a full reset in TWRP which I had to start from cmd on my desktop as my phone still did not take any selections in bootloader.
And additionally flashed a new rom (Skydragon GPE 5). Didn´t change my problem at all so I went to bed. My phone was nearly powered out and I forgot to plug it.
In the morning I found it dead so I plugged it in and booted it up. Strange thing: It booted completely normal. All Buttons were working. Yes, even the Power Down
Button. Now I realized that Wi-Fi isn`t working which could be because of my old firmware and the new rom. So I started to learn how to update the firmware - which
took me 15 minutes. As I got back to my Phone to get it started the Volume Button was stuck again. Now it finally has to be some hardware defect right? I found the
spare parts on Ebay and wanted to give it one last shot before I placed the order. So risked to get stuck in safe mode or bootloder (again) and pushed the Power
Button down hard. But surprise my phone decided to open a new chapter of strangeness: Nothing happened at all. Now the Power Button wasn`t working any more.
No reaction to short pushes and what’s completely new, no reaction to long pushes too. So I avoided restarts form that point on and used my phone for the last days
in that condition. Decided I could life without two of the three hardware buttons But as I could not flash the firmware without restarting the phone no Wi-Fi starts
to bother.
To be honest: I don`t know what to do! I don`t want to waste money on spear parts if there’s the option of some really strange software failure. A defect over night
without any physical forces aside from really high room temperatures seems unlikely to me. Even more if you count in the strange healing over night and the factor
that it not only broke down again but although spread it´s desesse to the power button. I`m really out! Any Ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You might have better results by asking those that own your device.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/htc-one-m8/help/help-thread-htc-one-m8-questions-t2897783
The_Merovingian said:
You might have better results by asking those that own your device.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/htc-one-m8/help/help-thread-htc-one-m8-questions-t2897783
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did see it more as a general Problem not only related to the divice. But thanks will try!
Hi everyone, I'm throwing this out there because I've run out of ideas about what has just happened to my U12+ (64gb) today.
I woke up and used my phone as normal, caught up on Twitter and the news, the usual apps etc. nothing untoward. The same routine I've had with my phone for the past 18 months of owning it with zero issues. My handset is stock OS (Android 9) and so not rooted or anything like that. Virtually all the apps I use are standard issue from the Play Store, nothing really "out there" and I have BitDefender installed to look after security. Same setup I've had for over a year. The battery was around 35% so I plugged it into my wall charger while I went off to grab some breakfast. When I returned a couple of hours later the light on the handset was green, I unplugged the charger and attempted to unlock it with my fingerprint.
The phone asked for my PIN, no big deal so I entered it. Black screen. Tapped the power button again, it requested my PIN again, I entered and... black screen. Okay, I was a little bit concerned now. I held down the power button so the haptic buzz occurred, held for 10/20/30 seconds, a minute... nothing, no restart. Tap the power button and it asks me for my PIN again and shows yet another black screen. I held down Power + Volume Down but again, nothing and no restart.
I asked someone to call me, the screen came to life and I could take the call but each time I tried to pull down the system tray in order to try and reach Settings to restart it asked me for my PIN, I entered it = black screen. The call was unaffected.
I removed my SIM + microSD card tray = same deal as above.
The phone is clearly responsive in some way and the screen does display to ask for my PIN but I can't get into it in order to reboot it. Extremely worrying.
Does anyone have any advice? At the moment I am faced with the prospect of simply allowing the battery to run out so the phone shuts down naturally but that is going to take the best part of 2 days.
I'm really disappointed because I was planning another 1-2 years use for this handset as I just bought a 1TB microSD card which has been fine in the phone for weeks so I don't think that's the cause. It is also genuine SanDisk.
Any suggestions or advice? Thanks in advance.
Hello, I hope you have made a backup with google backup recently... This does not happen often on android, but sometimes the system could have a problem. You can try this go the bootloader with the power and volume buttons , after recovery.. after apply a wipe data/ factory reset.. is will make a factory reset of your phone except the sd card. You should by fine after that and profit again.
Thanks, I appreciate your reply.
At the moment I am running the battery down until the handset switches off naturally. When it comes back on I will try to launch the phone normally, if that doesn't work I'll run the battery down again and attempt to reach the bootloader.
My photos are backed up to the cloud, I may lose some text messages but I managed to transfer the majority of my 2FA over to another Android device bar one.
At the end of the day if it's a choice between wiping it or a bricked/unusable handset then I don't really have one. What a pain.
Magimix^ said:
Thanks, I appreciate your reply.
At the moment I am running the battery down until the handset switches off naturally. When it comes back on I will try to launch the phone normally, if that doesn't work I'll run the battery down again and attempt to reach the bootloader.
My photos are backed up to the cloud, I may lose some text messages but I managed to transfer the majority of my 2FA over to another Android device bar one.
At the end of the day if it's a choice between wiping it or a bricked/unusable handset then I don't really have one. What a pain.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At the moment I am running the battery down until the handset switches off naturally <----- why that??? Even on a bootloop or a black screen you can reset it hold the buttons power and the volume, you can go on the bootloader.
Max128 said:
At the moment I am running the battery down until the handset switches off naturally <----- why that??? Even on a bootloop or a black screen you can reset it hold the buttons power and the volume, you can go on the bootloader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The first thing I tried to do was hold down the power button or the power button in tandem with the volume buttons but the handset won't restart. I tried loads of times holding it for different amounts of time and... nothing.
Trust me, I tried.
The only way I can get the device to switch off is by draining the battery. I'm almost at 20% so it shouldn't be too much longer.
Well I already got a black screen after flashing a module magisk.. I have holding the power button and the phone have restart no problem, same thing on bootloop. You need to be sure to hold the button correctly.
Max128 said:
You need to be sure to hold the button correctly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I'm certain I was holding the buttons correctly. I tried about 20 times using different combinations just to be sure but the device would not restart. The haptic shock buttons are one of my least favourite features of the u12+, it's got to be said.
Anyway, the phone ran out of battery about 15 minutes ago. I left it alone for few minutes and switched it back on. It allowed me back in and the device appears to be fully functional again. I can unlock by thumb print, face or PIN without issue.
Basically, it's fixed. My only concern is I have no idea what caused it or if it will happen again.
Thanks for offering help though, I appreciate it. I'm not sure if this thread can be closed/locked now? I'll look into that.
Cheers.
Yes.. i love the buttons too i never got a problem with this. Great if is fixed! Maybe make a factory reset the next time.
I am wondering if the new flagship have haptic buttons too.. htc will announce it Tuesday.
The problem I have is with the galaxy z flip 3, it worked just fine inthe morning but after it ran outta juice and I charged it to a certain percentage, it stopped working properly, and got into an infinite boot loop, I tried forcing it to restart by long pressing volume down+power , but it didn't work, then I tried opening the recovery by long pressing on volume up+power and yet it also didn't work (I think that maybe it's because it was trying to boot at the time), so have you guys any solutions , please do help me cuz this phone really is important and with all honestly, isn't even mine XD, I'll be waiting for an answer
Your failsafe options are contact Samsung or do a factory reset (and then potentially contact Samsung).
If you can't boot it to anything, the only real option you have is to flash firmware, which likely won't help without wiping.
Unfortunately, not booting doesn't have a whole lot of options that don't wipe data without being rooted. Even then, you'd need recovery.
I see, then I may consider giving it to samsung, as long as they won't reset it, cuz the only reason why the phone is so important is because of the data, altough, isn't there any other way to acess recovery? Cuz I had this problem with the s10 before and I fixed it somehow (a certain Bixby key combination), but this time it seems there isn't any hidden combination.
Samsung is going to reset it. It's a required first step for them to do any work on it, even if the work has nothing to do with the software. What may help find a way to recover the data is starting with how it got to this point. Did you install anything new, change any important settings, or anything else that could have been a part of the issue? If not and it is an unexplained hardware failure, the data is likely gone already.
If it's something you might have installed or changed, it's possible that putting the phone in safe mode and undoing it may solve the issue and let you boot normally.
Booting into Safe Mode:
Make sure the device is powered off (charging is ok, as long as it is not currently trying to boot)
Hold the side key to power on and continue holding until "SAMSUNG" appears and the device vibrates
Immediately release the side key and begin holding volume down until boot completes
If the device has booted into safe mode, you will see a translucent "Safe Mode" in the bottom left
twistedumbrella said:
Samsung is going to reset it. It's a required first step for them to do any work on it, even if the work has nothing to do with the software. What may help find a way to recover the data is starting with how it got to this point. Did you install anything new, change any important settings, or anything else that could have been a part of the issue? If not and it is an unexplained hardware failure, the data is likely gone already.
If it's something you might have installed or changed, it's possible that putting the phone in safe mode and undoing it may solve the issue and let you boot normally.
Booting into Safe Mode:
Make sure the device is powered off (charging is ok, as long as it is not currently trying to boot)
Hold the side key to power on and continue holding until "SAMSUNG" appears and the device vibrates
Immediately release the side key and begin holding volume down until boot completes
If the device has booted into safe mode, you will see a translucent "Safe Mode" in the bottom left
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I just asked the original owner (my mother), and apparently she doesn't remember downloading anything new into it, and it just went crazy by itself, also something else I wanna note, I tried charging it and it booted into recovery all by itself, I taught it was weird but Still went and wiped the cache and then when I tried restarting it it suddenly ran out of juice once again, also, it's second display shows some weird curruption/bug or glitch-like lines. So based off of this, can you really find the origin of this problem and if there is really any hope of saving it's data XD. Thank you btw, and once again, I'll be waiting for an answer
There are hundreds of reasons it could do that, including a faulty board. Thanks to the removal of physical sdcard support, you'd need to get it to boot into something with at least adb support to pull anything off it. Stock recovery doesn't provide any ways to perform a decent backup, but it sounds like the only option that wouldn't wipe the device didn't work.
I see, alright, thanks a lot, I'll consider resetting it
It may be worth trying to flash firmware first. Go into it knowing it may reset the device or leave you needing to reset it, but it doesn't hurt to try if you run out of safer options.
Same here, same symptoms, happened in front of my wife's and eyes face. We are fairly techy and understand our way around our devices. We also noticed the device crashed then would make it all the way to the home screen launcher and before catching signal the crash would cause a restart at that point I went in and did a cash swipe rebooted right back into recovery by itself then I unplugged the cable and it was acting as if it has a dead battery but when the cable was last plugged in during a couple of crash and then restarts all the way to the home screen I know the battery was at 70 something percent. My next step is going to probably be flashed the current firmware that just released on top of it as a dirty flash and see if I can get it to boot. If not then I'm going to do a hard reset and see if that works. When plugged in it automatically starts exhibiting symptoms as if the buttons are stuck. The devices in the OtterBox and it's fairly brand new I would say mint. Not dirty or any smudges either. all I'm saying is I'm one of those type of technicians that say yeah right when people say it just happened I don't know where but this actually happened I don't know when I was able to witness it. I'll come back and let you guys know what works and what doesn't. (By the way excuse my grammar I was voice typing while driving )
ariveraiv said:
Same here, same symptoms, happened in front of my wife's and eyes face. We are fairly techy and understand our way around our devices. We also noticed the device crashed then would make it all the way to the home screen launcher and before catching signal the crash would cause a restart at that point I went in and did a cash swipe rebooted right back into recovery by itself then I unplugged the cable and it was acting as if it has a dead battery but when the cable was last plugged in during a couple of crash and then restarts all the way to the home screen I know the battery was at 70 something percent. My next step is going to probably be flashed the current firmware that just released on top of it as a dirty flash and see if I can get it to boot. If not then I'm going to do a hard reset and see if that works. When plugged in it automatically starts exhibiting symptoms as if the buttons are stuck. The devices in the OtterBox and it's fairly brand new I would say mint. Not dirty or any smudges either. all I'm saying is I'm one of those type of technicians that say yeah right when people say it just happened I don't know where but this actually happened I don't know when I was able to witness it. I'll come back and let you guys know what works and what doesn't. (By the way excuse my grammar I was voice typing while driving )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello everyone just a quick update. Once I got home I plugged the device into a Samsung fast charger and Samsung OEM USB type-c cable and realize the device booted all the way to the home screen but register the same battery level as I mentioned above. Device was working as if nothing happened to it. So I updated all the apps on the Galaxy store then updated all the apps left over from the Google Play store, I then proceeded to check for a firmware update because I know the April update just released and installed the update with no issues. Updated the apps that needed to be updated again somehow there's always something and unplug the device from the power cable. Everything was working if no issues about half hour later the device cuts off and does not want to power on. FYI I already had my wife contact T-Mobile and get a warranty replacement we only paid $5.00 so my thoughts and conclusion on what's going on something happened to the battery or it's defective. Btw we only use Samsung OEM cables and equipment at home and in the car while connected through Android auto. it's only working while being plugged in it's not charging all the way even though it's registering it's charge level while the device is on.
Good day, this would be a pretty lengthy post. I'd like to describe my experience clearly since I don't know what I possibly skipped over as I am very positive that my efforts have been correct basing on prior XDA forums. I even made this account solely for posting this to ask for help formally along with archiving this problem I'm having for those having a similar experience.
I've been working on my mom's phone this whole day and there are fruits of my current hard work. I am immensely stressed and despairing with my situation.
The Problems
Infinite boot looping
Can't access the recovery menu (power, volume+, even with home button)
Can access the ODIN / Download menu
Can't turn off either (holding down power button has no effect)
What I've done so far
I read XDA forums about similar experiences. Can't really access the recovery menu so I've factory reset.
We live in the Philippines and this phone is open line, so I went with those requirements while searching stock ROMs.
I downloaded the stock ROMs of the phone model via galaxyfirmware.com which was positively shared in the forums.
Did trial and error with it and eventually got the right one. I have formed a level of understanding with the filenames and eventually knew which is compatible.
Used Odin3 to Flash the BL, AP, CP, CSC, and even go Nand Erase and got the PIT file inside the CSC (Opened it using winrar)
The flashing is actually successful and quite fast to be honest.
The phone reboots itself and shows that it is still sadly boot looping.
Also, despite the several files used for the Flash, still can't access the Recovery Menu.
With that said, I have also tried using Frija which automatically downloaded the stock ROMs based on the model name and CSC type. Placed it in ODIN again and no changes, still boot looping.
I also can't put the TWRP I got here because of the FRP Lock, which can be undone via the settings of the phone. But since it's boot looping, I can't really do much about installing a custom ROM.
Currently, my dad is letting the phone drain its battery, since we can't really turn it off. The phone model doesn't have easily detachable battery as well, unlike the old days.
For some additional notes of what happened prior to this incident
My mom was just playing with her phone as her usual days went on. That day, she installed a new hotel-themed game she saw on Google Play. As I assume that it's from the app itself and not on some shady apk website, I saw no problem with it and didn't think it was the cause of all this. I went with the theory anyway and with the flashing, using CSC instead of HOME_CSC (which apparently saves the existing data on the phone from wiping), and even used the Nand Erase in the end. It's still stuck at boot looping.
I would appreciate anyone's reply to this discussion. I am truly desperate to fix this for my mom. If worse comes to it, I'll save money to buy her a brand-new phone.
You don't have a working android, so you won't remove the RFP. TWRP will not help you with this.
The symptoms you describe indicate a defective power button.
You manage to enter download mode because the power button is constantly on.
Because of the constantly on power button, you have no way to turn off the phone. Bootloop can also be the result of a constantly on power button.
To sum up, you should fix the power button.
1. The easiest way is to blow with compressed air and press the edge of the button with your fingernail, rapidly releasing the pressure. Perhaps the fuzz has blocked the button. Unfortunately, this rarely works.
2. Take the phone to a local service center.
Hi ze7zez! Me and my dad greatly appreciates your insight and we were definitely enlightened on this angle.
We didn't really think that the power button was stucked pressed on because you can clicking sounds when you press on it. The phone never had problems with the buttons along the 6 years it accompanied us, perhaps its age does start to show.
We're going to look into it tomorrow. Thank you very much! You gave us the idea that it may be shorted inside or some sort. Thank you again!
A bit of update.
I pried open only the back case of the phone so I can see and clean up the power button. I used tools specifically for it and made no damage on the phone during the process.
We couldn't really see anything busted from there. The buttons on the circuit still do the neat clicking sounds on it. Battery still looks the same.
Testing out the theory that the power button was stuck on:
We tried to only press and hold the volume down and power button. It didn't go to the download menu. We needed to press down all three together to access it. It is confusing since we believe it would be a power button issue too, as the phone instantly turns on by itself when plugged to a power source (it's completely drained by now and we still can't turn it off manually)
Perhaps it's an internal circuit problem with the power button? It's confusing with the fact we still have to press on it to access the ODIN menu if it was like "on" the entire time it's looping.
Thank you in advance for further insights.
Try restarting by pressing home, power and volume up all at once.
Hi Pranav2406,
I have tried that as well in order to access the Recovery menu to factory reset, but no luck.
We have given up on repairing the phone and went out yesterday to buy a new one in a rush.
We will still send this broken phone to a repairman.
If he fixes it, I'd ask what he did on it so I can post an update on this problem as well.
It's better to let the expert troubleshoot it.
I do suspect the problem in the phone's hardware. I'm pretty confident with all the stock ROM flashing I've done so it's not a software problem.
Thank again for everyone's insights.
Perhaps this case is too much for an amateur to fix.