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- Introduction -
This is a primer on why phones get bricked, how to recover from a brick, and how to prevent bricking your expensive hardware. I wrote this because I noticed the same questions popping up over and over, perhaps due to an instant onset of panic, from people that bricked their phones and there doesn't seem to be a single stickied thread that is dedicated to bricks. Sorry for my inability to be brief, but I would still highly recommend that you read this article in its entirety.
- The Android Boot Process -
In order to get a good understanding of why phones brick, we must have a good understanding of the boot process. All android phones have a similar boot process, so most of this information should be applicable to the i897 and any other Android handset.
So, here is what happens when you press the power button on your phone.
1. BOOT ROM - Your phone waits for the power to stabilize, then runs a piece of code that is stored in permanent rom on your cpu called the Boot Rom. The main job of this code is to detect the boot media and load it into memory (in this case, it is the First Stage Bootloader). This code is hard wired and can never be overwritten.
2. First Stage Bootloader - Once the boot rom loads the boot media, it hands control over to the First Stage Bootloader (you may see this in some roms as boot.bin). The job of this bootloader is basically to "find more ram" and load the second stage bootloader into it. When computers first boot up (even PC's), the default memory model usually only allows for very tiny programs to be loaded into memory. For this reason, there is usually two bootloaders, the first of which detects and sets up external ram and loads the second stage bootloader into it. NOTE: The first stage bootloader can be overwritten! If you damage your bootloader, you will have a permanent UNRECOVERABLE brick at this point!
3. Second Stage Bootloader - The first stage bootloader hands off execution to the Second stage bootloader (you may see this in some roms as sbl.bin) once it is loaded into memory. The job of the SBL is to "set everything up" so the main kernel can take over. It is in charge of setting up the file systems, setting up any additional memory, setting up all the hardware, bringing up the modem cpu and setting any sort of low level security that may need to be set. Fun fact: This is where your 3 button combo and "download mode" is handled. Once the hardware is set up, the sbl will look for the kernel. NOTE: The SBL can also be overwritten, meaning if you damage your SBL, you can lose your ability to boot into download mode and thus have a permanent, unrecoverable brick!
4. Kernel - The kernel, if one were to put it simply, is essentially "the os". I know there is far more to it, especially in the case of Android with Dalvik providing most of the things we typically think of as "Android". But for all intents and purposes, the kernel is the core part of the OS that handles all of the hardware interrupts, memory management, memory protection, manages file systems and drivers, threading and access to the processor, and so forth. Once the kernel is loaded into memory, it sets up anything else that needs to be set up, loads Dalvik, and from there the rest of Android is brought up. Fun fact: This is where recovery resides. NOTE: You can still brick your device at this step, though it is only a soft brick and very recoverable - nothing to lose sleep over.
Now that you have a general understanding of how Android boots, let's move on.
- But my phone is bricked -
You probably arrived at this article because it's too late and you've already botched something. You've probably read through the first part and are thinking "Ok professor, that's all good and well, but my phone is dead. Do I have to shoot myself in the head now?" The short answer is "Maybe."
The most important part of analyzing a brick is to figure out what part of the boot procedure it crapped out on. Fortunately, most of the time this is pretty easy to figure out IF YOU REMEMBER WHAT YOU WERE DOING IMMEDIATELY BEFORE THE BAD THINGS HAPPENED. If you look at the previous section, you'll notice a color coding of the various boot steps.
The reason why bad things happen to good telephones is something bad is happening during the boot process, preventing successive stages from completing. If you were flashing a rom (either through CWM or Odin) that included bootloaders and you saw that it died somewhere around the part where it was flashing boot.bin or sbl.bin, you may have a hard brick. If you think about it, it makes sense logically. It's crapping out at the part (or before) where the code that handles the key combos for download mode is being set up. If you've damaged that part of the process, there aren't really any other (easy) alternatives.
Here is a good barometer for checking if you have a hard brick:: Does something show up on your screen when you press power? (This can literally be anything - error messages, boot loops, naked chicks, that infuriating AT&T logo). If it does, congratulations! You're probably in the orange section of the boot process and can recover your phone. If not, and no matter how many times you mash the power button it stays at a black screen, you probably messed it up somewhere in the red part of the boot process and have a hard brick.
- How to recover from a brick -
If you have a hard brick (Black screen, power button isn't doing anything, multiple battery pulls didn't get you anywhere), you're probably out of luck. Sorry, dude. You can still recover it, but it'll require some surgery on your part.. You'll have to order a riff box (http://www.jtagbox.com/), remove the motherboard, and connect it to the riff box and flash your two bootloaders back onto the rom chips directly. Or, you can just do what everyone else here does and mail it back to Samsung or AT&T, with some story about how kies wrecked your junk and you have no idea wtf.
If you have a soft brick (something shows up on your screen), it's just a matter of getting your phone into recovery or download mode. Basically, when dealing with a soft brick, you want to be as unintrusive as possible to NOT MESS IT UP WORSE THAN YOU ALREADY DID. So here are a few basic procedures.
1. Don't panic.
2. Can you get into recovery?
Pull the battery out.
Put the battery back in!
Press and hold Volume Up, Volume Down, and Power, and wait until something shows up on the screen.
Release power! Keep holding Vol up+Vol down.
Did it go into recovery?
If that worked, try flashing a different kernel from recovery. If it still doesn't work, it's probably not the kernel but something else in the rom, so flash a different rom altogether. NOTE: The key combo for recovery is different with the new 2.3 bootloaders! It is now Vol up+power instead of Vol up+Vol down+Power.
3. If not, boot it into download mode.
Pull the battery out and make sure the phone is NOT connected by a usb cable.
Put the battery back in!
Hold vol up+Vol down. DO NOT PRESS POWER.
Plug in the USB cable.
NOTE: The key combo is different with the new 2.3 bootloaders. It is now Vol down+Power. You no longer need to connect the usb cable.
The phone should boot into download mode. If it still does not, you can try using a USB jig. They are very easy to build - it is just a 301k resistance across pins 4 and 5 of the microusb slot. You can find plenty of instructions by searching the General section. You can also find a usb breakout board here: http://www.sparkfun.com/products/10031 and 100k (make sure it's 100k and not 100) resistors at radio shack. To use the jig, simply pull the battery out, put the jig in the microusb slot, DO NOT TOUCH THE JIG WITH YOUR FINGERS AS YOU MAY CHANGE THE RESISTANCE, and put the battery back in. It should kick you into download mode within 3 seconds.
Once you are in download mode, flash back to stock. Refer to the Odin guide at the end of this article for instructions. ***NOTE***: DO NOT FLASH A ROM THAT INCLUDES BOOTLOADERS - THIS INCLUDES THE ODIN ONE CLICK PACKAGE - IT IS AN UNNECESSARY RISK AS YOUR PHONE ALREADY HAS PROPER WORKING BOOTLOADERS
I actually don't like the one-click package very much in general, simply because there seems to be an element of randomness around it. It seems to work with a certain build of phone, and seems to cause problems with newer phones.
- You may have to flash bootloaders -
So you're probably thinking, "What if I don't have a working 3 button combo?" Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but to my understanding a certain batch of phones were shipped out with corrupt sbl's. If you're one of those unlucky folks that has a phone with a busted 3 button combo, you'll have to flash new bootloaders to fix it. There is a bootloader fix package you can flash somewhere in the dev section, and if I'm not mistaken, the Cognition rom also flashes properly working bootloaders.
You will also have to flash new bootloaders if you want to upgrade from 2.1/2.2 to the official Samsung 2.3 roms (or any custom roms based off of the official 2.3's). Don't try to flash these individually if you happen to find them somewhere. The best way to get the new bootloaders is to download the stock JVB rom from www.samfirmware.com and flash it using Odin3.
Be warned - by flashing bootloaders, you may brick your phone permanently. Remember, you're flashing the red part of the boot process at this point. If things go boom, your phone ends up in an unrecoverable state. The chances of it crapping out while flashing the bootloaders may be a million to one, but there's still a chance it might happen and I've seen people brick their phone from this several times.
Be warned #2 - If you've successfully flashed working bootloaders, don't flash other bootloaders for sport. There isn't any point to it and it doesn't give you anything "extra", and even though the chances of things going sour are slim, keep it up and sooner or later you'll end up with an unresponsive device.
Be warned #3 (for 2.3 people only): Do not flash roms or odin packages that include bootloaders. I'm not entirely sure why some phones are bricking when being flashed back to stock, but something tells me that some of the odin packages are only flashing the second stage bootloader instead of both the first stage and second stage. There is probably some major incompatibility between the 2.1/2.2 first stage bootloader and the 2.3 sbl (perhaps the 2.3 sbl has a different entry point?). Either way, I've noticed that some people have perma-bricked their devices trying to flash back to stock using some of the odin packages. Flashing back to stock using a package that contains both the main bootloader and sbl should be fine (in theory), but I have not tried it and don't know how things will end up. If someone has, let me know and I'll ad it to the guide! Also - there isn't much of a point of going back to the old bootloaders once you have the new ones. I tried flashing 2.1 (JH2) and 2.2 (Serendipity 6.3) roms with the new bootloaders and everything works as expected. I didn't experience any problems or instability with either rom, and was able to boot into download mode and recovery with both.
edit: Apparently some people are reporting success with Odin one-click (JF6). Dunno dudes! Flash at your own risk.
edit edit: According to TRusselo, the odin one-click downloader (JF6) flashes both bootloaders, so it should be fine to use it to flash back to stock. Keep in mind that the JF6 one-click downloader does not work with certain handsets, and if yours is build# 1010 or above (you can check your build number by removing your battery, it should be printed on a label in the battery compartment), you should refer to this guide for how to flash back to stock:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=10056254&postcount=36
Also, I'm pretty sure the above guide will NOT flash new bootloaders. If for whatever reason you really really need the old bootloaders, I would suggest finding a package on samfirmware.com that flashes BOTH bootloaders.
- How to prevent perma-bricking -
Soft bricking is always going to happen. It's a minor software error that isn't a big deal, and common when we fiddle with our devices in ways the manufacturer never intended. The thing we worry about is hard bricking, which is fortunately for us, is easy to prevent!
Here are a few simple rules to help you avoid disaster:
Don't flash roms that flash bootloaders (sbl.bin)
Don't try to flash bootloaders individually.
If you have working bootloaders and can do the 3 buttom combo, don't use Odin packages that include bootloaders, they are an unnecessary risk.
Don't flash when you know your battery is low! Seriously, I see this happening all the time. We know you're excited about a new rom, but it can wait. Put your phone on the charger and let it sit there for a while until you have >50% charge.
Don't mess with your boot partition. I noticed CWM has an option to format your boot partition; I have no idea why.
- Odin guide -
You can find odin by searching the dev section. I use odin3 1.0 simply because that is what I have. I don't know if other versions are better or more stable, but it kind of doesn't matter if you aren't flashing bootloaders anyway.
There are a few videos in this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=919816 But I'll try to explain in text anyway.
So the first thing you need to do is DOWNLOAD THE DRIVERS! Odin won't recognize your phone in download mode if you don't have the proper drivers. You can find them here:
Windows 64bit: http://www.mediafire.com/?3dh4d6up72me9re
Windows 32bit: http://www.mediafire.com/?0b45zo7o75rc5d5
The next thing you want to do is find a rom to pop in to odin. There are a few in the dev section. There are also a lot of completely stock roms at www.samfirmware.com (WARNING: most of these include bootloaders). When I need to flash back to stock, I use this one: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=751518 as it does not include bootloaders.
Open Odin and you'll notice a bunch of options. You can ignore most of them. Here is what you need to do: examine your rom package that you downloaded. If it was from samfirmware.com, just pick the files that correspond to the option name, ie if the file starts with PDA, put it in the pda slot. If it starts with CRC, put it in the CRC slot. If it's a rom you found on here, it should have come with instructions, so refer to those.
Choose a pit file. The rom should have come with a pit file, but if it didn't, you can use any pit file and it should work fine. Seriously dudes, the differences between the different pit files is negligible, there isn't any mysticism around how they work.
Unless otherwise noted, leave F. Reset Time and Auto Reboot checked. There isn't any need for repartitioning unless you are flashing back to stock from Cyanogenmod 7, in which case you NEED to select repartition.
The next thing you need to do is put your phone into download mode. Once it's in download mode and odin is set up properly, connect it to the computer. It should show up in odin under ID:COM. Once it's there, simply hit start and kick back for a while until it's done. It should reboot and you should be in Android 2.1 JH2.
*If you are using the Odin One-click downloader (JF6), the process is greatly simplified. Simply open odin, put your phone into download mode, connect it to the computer via usb, wait for odin to recognize it and hit start. Also, keep in mind that the one click downloader will flash bootloaders.
Edit: I just remembered something important. MAKE SURE YOU PLUG YOUR CABLE INTO A USB PORT THAT IS DIRECTLY CONNECTED TO THE MOTHERBOARD, OR ODIN WILL NOT RECOGNIZE IT. This usually means a usb port on the back of your computer. So, if you've installed the drivers and odin still isn't recognizing your phone, you might want to try different usb ports. If it's still not recognizing your phone, you might have a bad cable.
- Some additional ways to get into download mode or recovery -
Just thought I should point this out - you can get into both download mode and recovery through adb. You can download adb by downloading the android sdk at http://developer.android.com. It is in the 'platform-tools' folder.
To get into recovery, simply connect your phone and type 'adb devices' to make sure it is being detected. If it shows up in the list of devices, type 'adb reboot recovery'.
To get into download mode, do the above, but type 'adb reboot download' instead.
**Belatedly amending this document in lieu of old man Outler's unbrickable mod. Any place you see the word "unbrickable" in the article above, take it to mean "unbrickable (if the mod hasn't been applied)". - Jul 27 2012
Good read thanks
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA Premium App
Hmmm. About the 2.3 part and flashing back to stock.i am currently on the i9k gb and have flashed the bootloaders .and i also have flashed back to stock.no problems here. Any more info on that part?
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA Premium App
What did you use to flash back to stock?
very good read. Thank you
i used odin one click
bulletproof1013 said:
i used odin one click
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which one, jf6?
Edit: Nevermind, the only one I could find is JF6, I was under the impression that there were others. Weird! Thanks for the info, made a note of it in the article.
modest_mandroid said:
Which one, jf6?
Edit: Nevermind, the only one I could find is JF6, I was under the impression that there were others. Weird! Thanks for the info, made a note of it in the article.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great read! Good stuff too, should be very helpful!
But im currently on Darky 10.0 RC5.3. With the stock JVB bootloaders. I have not had to flash back to stock with GB but in theory wouldnt this be the best way to flash back to stock with GB Bootloaders because it contains NO BOOTLOADERS, thus the only things that would be wrong when flashing back to stock are button combos, and the weird mix and different images at the boot up?
Here is the Odin Flash back to stock from icezar1:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=995143
Can anyone else comment on flashing back to stock with GB bootloaders? Im a build 1010 so I cannot use Odin One click or it just reboots the phone after a "Successful" flash and it flashes AT&T screen then turns off. So that makes me think if I were to do that let the phone "soft"-brick where it just flashes the AT&T screen. Boot it into download mode via. Jig and use this method to get back to stock: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=10056254&postcount=36
Any help is GREATLY appreciated
Well if you flashed back to stock from 2.3 without bootloaders you would still have the gb bootloaders installed .correct?
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA Premium App
bulletproof1013 said:
Well if you flashed back to stock from 2.3 without bootloaders you would still have the gb bootloaders installed .correct?
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya thats why Im thinking the thing I posted above about flashing back to stock without bootloaders would be the safest way possible
Idk. It works fine for me.(one click stock)
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA Premium App
great work but a couple minor edits you refer to " other odin one-click packages " (eg 3button fix) there is only ONE "odin3 one-click downloader". The other odin3 is " odin3 flashing utility " and the packages for that would not be one click packages. it is these incorrect references everywhere that are confusing to the noobs.
also in the same paragraph in red, about gingerbread bootloaders, you CAN flash other bootloader packages (eg 3button fix) BUT ONLY AFTER "Odin3 One click". (the real one click) as it repalces BOTH bootloaders and 3 button fix flashes only the 2nd bootloader, but they are still compatible so it is all good. All the other "odin packages that cause problems, only flash 2nd bootloader as well, and you cant mix a 2.3 with a 2.1/2 bootloader. So ONE CLICK FIRST then you are back to stock, test if you have working 3 button, then if not flash that, or whatever other rom with bootloader.
to be extra safe on those other odin packages, open up the tar file and look for "sbl.bin" (Secondary Boot Loader) and remove it from the odin package... before flashing. but dont do this to the 3 button fix package, it would defeat the purpose
besides that Great article!
after you edit, ill edit this.
and you might want to link to my Rogers Stock rom thread in my sig, for those odin packages and super awesome instructions AND NO BOOTLOADERS!!! (bootloader version coming though)
Dlev7 said:
But im currently on Darky 10.0 RC5.3. With the stock JVB bootloaders. I have not had to flash back to stock with GB but in theory wouldnt this be the best way to flash back to stock with GB Bootloaders because it contains NO BOOTLOADERS, thus the only things that would be wrong when flashing back to stock are button combos, and the weird mix and different images at the boot up?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
bulletproof1013 said:
Well if you flashed back to stock from 2.3 without bootloaders you would still have the gb bootloaders installed .correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Should work fine. I flashed the stock JVB from samfirmware.com, then flashed back to stock a few times using the JH2 firmware mentioned in the article. I didn't flash the old bootloaders and had no problems booting up 2.1 with the new 2.3 bootloaders. The only difference I saw was the i9000 bootup screen before the AT&T logo; other than that there was no problems with the functionality of the phone.
greentshirt said:
Also, why is this not a sticky?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Zelendel is busy enjoying his easter
TRusselo said:
great work but a couple minor edits you refer to " other odin one-click packages " (eg 3button fix) there is only ONE "odin3 one-click downloader". The other odin3 is " odin3 flashing utility " and the packages for that would not be one click packages. it is these incorrect references everywhere that are confusing to the noobs.
also in the same paragraph in red, about gingerbread bootloaders, you CAN flash other bootloader packages (eg 3button fix) BUT ONLY AFTER "Odin3 One click". (the real one click) as it repalces BOTH bootloaders and 3 button fix flashes only the 2nd bootloader, but they are still compatible so it is all good. All the other "odin packages that cause problems, only flash 2nd bootloader as well, and you cant mix a 2.3 with a 2.1/2 bootloader. So ONE CLICK FIRST then you are back to stock, test if you have working 3 button, then if not flash that, or whatever other rom with bootloader.
to be extra safe on those other odin packages, open up the tar file and look for "sbl.bin" (Secondary Boot Loader) and remove it from the odin package... before flashing. but dont do this to the 3 button fix package, it would defeat the purpose
besides that Great article!
after you edit, ill edit this.
and you might want to link to my Rogers Stock rom thread in my sig, for those odin packages and super awesome instructions AND NO BOOTLOADERS!!! (bootloader version coming though)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks dude! I didn't get a chance to proof read what I wrote; had to go to the parents' house for dinner tonight. I'll give it a read and edit per your suggestions in a bit, after I take the dog out for a walk.
TRusselo said:
great work but a couple minor edits you refer to " other odin one-click packages " (eg 3button fix) there is only ONE "odin3 one-click downloader". The other odin3 is " odin3 flashing utility " and the packages for that would not be one click packages. it is these incorrect references everywhere that are confusing to the noobs.
also in the same paragraph in red, about gingerbread bootloaders, you CAN flash other bootloader packages (eg 3button fix) BUT ONLY AFTER "Odin3 One click". (the real one click) as it repalces BOTH bootloaders and 3 button fix flashes only the 2nd bootloader, but they are still compatible so it is all good. All the other "odin packages that cause problems, only flash 2nd bootloader as well, and you cant mix a 2.3 with a 2.1/2 bootloader. So ONE CLICK FIRST then you are back to stock, test if you have working 3 button, then if not flash that, or whatever other rom with bootloader.
to be extra safe on those other odin packages, open up the tar file and look for "sbl.bin" (Secondary Boot Loader) and remove it from the odin package... before flashing. but dont do this to the 3 button fix package, it would defeat the purpose
besides that Great article!
after you edit, ill edit this.
and you might want to link to my Rogers Stock rom thread in my sig, for those odin packages and super awesome instructions AND NO BOOTLOADERS!!! (bootloader version coming though)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So are you saying even for someone like me who uses the One-Click and it sends my phone into a boot loop of AT&T screen then off. I should use that because it replaced the bootloaders.
Then use either button combo or my Jig to boot it into Download mode and flash the JH2 Odin via Odin3 for Build 1010+?
Dlev7 said:
So are you saying even for someone like me who uses the One-Click and it sends my phone into a boot loop of AT&T screen then off. I should use that because it replaced the bootloaders.
Then use either button combo or my Jig to boot it into Download mode and flash the JH2 Odin via Odin3 for Build 1010+?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i didnt mention bootloop so slow down, boot-loaders.
you are wondering if? you used " Odin3 One-Click-Downloader " so you should use that?... - WHAT?
you shouldnt get boot loop,
everyone, including the OP says " Odin3 one click downloader " is THE WAY to flash stock. PERIOD.
after that it should boot.
THE ONLY REASON to flash ANY other stock is IF "3 button combo" doesnt work, or to flash my rogers stock. BUT ONLY AFTER one click.
thats what i said.
if you are in bootloop. try booting into recovery and doing facotry reset, clear everything. reboot.
if it doesnt work from there, try flashing one click again.
it works.
all else fails flash back to gingerbread with bootloaders, and flash back without bootloaders, using the many instructions above.
Edit dont mind me
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA Premium App
Been itching to flash a GB rom but scared of all the brick reports. So just to make sure, http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=731989&highlight=odin+click&page=178 This is the Odin One Click we should use to flash back to stock from a GB rom is that correct? Since it has both bootloaders?
There is only ONE odin one click. if that is it, that is it.
if you really want THE ONE. get it from THE GB INSTRUCTIONS!
TRusselo said:
i didnt mention bootloop so slow down, boot-loaders.
you are wondering if? you used " Odin3 One-Click-Downloader " so you should use that?... - WHAT?
you shouldnt get boot loop,
everyone, including the OP says " Odin3 one click downloader " is THE WAY to flash stock. PERIOD.
after that it should boot.
THE ONLY REASON to flash ANY other stock is IF "3 button combo" doesnt work, or to flash my rogers stock. BUT ONLY AFTER one click.
thats what i said.
if you are in bootloop. try booting into recovery and doing facotry reset, clear everything. reboot.
if it doesnt work from there, try flashing one click again.
it works.
all else fails flash back to gingerbread with bootloaders, and flash back without bootloaders, using the many instructions above.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Odin One Click puts my build 1010 into an AT&T screen then off bootloop. I can boot it into download mode.
So that's why I used the JH2 way to flash back to stock in the method above.
You don't understand what I'm trying to say, I CANNOT USE ODIN ONE CLICK.
I may just use the JH2 method and deal with the i9000 screen flashing and different button combos
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App
so you went back to gingerbread bootloaders, then flashed stock without bootloaders, keeping gingerbread ones because odin one click gave you boot-loop.
see how easy that was to say and understand?
and that method is in POST 1...
if your ability to flash is anything like your ability to explain your situation... boot-loop un-avoidable
Almost everyone uses ONE CLICK. that is not my idea! read the first post (its not me!) then read my post again.
EVERYONE suggests it if you want stock bootloaders back.
its the only way and it is KNOWN to work.
Good day, XDA.
Recently, I became the proud owner of a Nexus S 4G, primarily because whomever had the phone prior to me had decided that flashing a GSM rom onto their Nexus S 4G would be a good idea. Needless to say, and as you can all probably guess, this did not benefit the functionality of this phone.
So lets start from the top, the phone is able to power on and boot up, it is running 2.3.6 stock. About phone reads the following:
Model Number: Nexus S
Android Version: 2.3.6
Baseband Version: Unknown
Kernel Version: 2.6.35.7-gf5f63ef [email protected] #1
Build Number: GRK39F
It has no SU binary. While powered up in this mode, it can charge VIA usb, but is unable to be seen by the computer with debugging mode on, or with debugging mode off. Neither option would seem to result in the phone being picked up by either Windows or Linux (Odd that it charges fine though. I did confirm this was not a "Charge Only" cable.)
Moving on, I can boot into fastboot, where I am presented with the following:
Product Name - Herring
HW Version - Rev 03 (JTAG)
Bootloader Version - I9020XXKA3
Baseband Version - I9020XXKF1
Carrier Info - SPR
Lock state - Unlocked.
At the bottom when booting into fastboot, it shows me "USB Control Init", followed immediately by "USB Control Init End". The computer does not see the device when plugged in here either. So no pushing fastboot or adb commands.
Booting into recovery, I am presented with Andy, standing next to a White triangle with a yellow exclaimation mark in it. After fiddling around with the power and volume buttons, I am eventually presented with a screen that states
"Android system recovery <3e>". Oh boy! Stock recovery. How lucky I am. It has the option to apply update from /sdcard, but these need to be signed; and it seems every update.zip file for the Nexus S 4G that I can find makes the assumption that you are on the previous android version, and will not flash if you are not.
So here is where I currently am. I can download zip files over wifi and attempt to push them out to the phone, but there is no PC connectivity, which seems to hinder my attempts at making it work a bit better. I will admit, I am new to the Nexus S (Having never used one before), and to the Samsung devices rooting community (Having been exclusively HTC prior to this). So I might be missing something; does anyone have any thoughts on where to go from here? Sorry for the long post.
SoberSquid said:
Good day, XDA.
Recently, I became the proud owner of a Nexus S 4G, primarily because whomever had the phone prior to me had decided that flashing a GSM rom onto their Nexus S 4G would be a good idea. Needless to say, and as you can all probably guess, this did not benefit the functionality of this phone.
So lets start from the top, the phone is able to power on and boot up, it is running 2.3.6 stock. About phone reads the following:
Model Number: Nexus S
Android Version: 2.3.6
Baseband Version: Unknown
Kernel Version: 2.6.35.7-gf5f63ef [email protected] #1
Build Number: GRK39F
It has no SU binary. While powered up in this mode, it can charge VIA usb, but is unable to be seen by the computer with debugging mode on, or with debugging mode off. Neither option would seem to result in the phone being picked up by either Windows or Linux (Odd that it charges fine though. I did confirm this was not a "Charge Only" cable.)
Moving on, I can boot into fastboot, where I am presented with the following:
Product Name - Herring
HW Version - Rev 03 (JTAG)
Bootloader Version - I9020XXKA3
Baseband Version - I9020XXKF1
Carrier Info - SPR
Lock state - Unlocked.
At the bottom when booting into fastboot, it shows me "USB Control Init", followed immediately by "USB Control Init End". The computer does not see the device when plugged in here either. So no pushing fastboot or adb commands.
Booting into recovery, I am presented with Andy, standing next to a White triangle with a yellow exclaimation mark in it. After fiddling around with the power and volume buttons, I am eventually presented with a screen that states
"Android system recovery <3e>". Oh boy! Stock recovery. How lucky I am. It has the option to apply update from /sdcard, but these need to be signed; and it seems every update.zip file for the Nexus S 4G that I can find makes the assumption that you are on the previous android version, and will not flash if you are not.
So here is where I currently am. I can download zip files over wifi and attempt to push them out to the phone, but there is no PC connectivity, which seems to hinder my attempts at making it work a bit better. I will admit, I am new to the Nexus S (Having never used one before), and to the Samsung devices rooting community (Having been exclusively HTC prior to this). So I might be missing something; does anyone have any thoughts on where to go from here? Sorry for the long post.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what model is your nexus s? i9020A i9023 ect..? the link below has a ton of stock roms for various nexus s versions and most are flashable via Stock Recovery
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1063664
It is the SPH-D720, my appologies for leaving that out. Unfortunately, it seems the D720 has the misfourtune of not having a fully flashable ROM listed on that page.
SoberSquid said:
It is the SPH-D720, my appologies for leaving that out. Unfortunately, it seems the D720 has the misfourtune of not having a fully flashable ROM listed on that page.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its a shame it wont connect to adb because that's one of the few nexus s that has signed images flashable via fastboot.
Sent from my Nexus S using xda premium
Indeed. It is quite odd - It can boot into fastboot, download mode, etc just fine, but it isn't picking it up at all on the PC. I'm thinking it has to do something with the kernel-mode USB drivers, prehaps there are different drivers used for the CDMA and GSM varients? It is a bit frustrating because it would be a fairly simple fix if fastboot could pick it up.
SoberSquid said:
Indeed. It is quite odd - It can boot into fastboot, download mode, etc just fine, but it isn't picking it up at all on the PC. I'm thinking it has to do something with the kernel-mode USB drivers, prehaps there are different drivers used for the CDMA and GSM varients? It is a bit frustrating because it would be a fairly simple fix if fastboot could pick it up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You might want to try reinstalling the drivers, I use an apple computer & they dont require those drivers so i cant be much help there. Here's another link to check out. Pete Alfonso makes roms from the Nexus S and has the original signed software images for the Nexus S 4g and some other stuff that might help you... http://download.peteralfonso.com/crespo4g
Hmm, looking at his site, he has quite a lot of good stuff, most of it requires a non-stock recovery though. The Nexus S 4G (When it came out), was running 2.3.4, in contrast to the normal Nexus S. I wonder, Since my phone is currently reading on a GSM rom/radio, could I flash the phone to 2.3.3 (Android 2.3.3/GRI40/XXKB1 Radio/KA3 Bootloader), use gingerbreak to gain SU, install CWM, and possibly flash back to a proper baseband and rom from there? Or is that really looking at mucking things up?
SoberSquid said:
Hmm, looking at his site, he has quite a lot of good stuff, most of it requires a non-stock recovery though. The Nexus S 4G (When it came out), was running 2.3.4, in contrast to the normal Nexus S. I wonder, Since my phone is currently reading on a GSM rom/radio, could I flash the phone to 2.3.3 (Android 2.3.3/GRI40/XXKB1 Radio/KA3 Bootloader), use gingerbreak to gain SU, install CWM, and possibly flash back to a proper baseband and rom from there? Or is that really looking at mucking things up?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldnt flash any rom with a bootloader not made for your phone.
---------- Post added at 01:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:18 PM ----------
scott8281 said:
I wouldnt flash any rom with a bootloader not made for your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you might try this flashable update... Look down towards the bottom of the page... they are flashable via stock recovery.... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1063664 D720:
Android 2.3.4 (Build GRJ06D/PRKC9 Radio/KC5 Bootloader)
2.3.4 (GRJ06D) -> 2.3.4 (GRJ22)
2.3.4 (GRJ06D) -> 2.3.5
2.3.4 (GRJ06D) -> 2.3.7
Android 2.3.4 (Build GRJ22/PRKD8 Radio/KC5 Bootloader)
2.3.4 (GRJ22) -> 2.3.5
2.3.4 (GRJ22) -> 2.3.7
Android 2.3.5 (Build GRJ90/PRKE5 Radio/KC5 Bootloader)
2.3.5 -> 2.3.7
Tried all 3 of those, they state the following:
-- Install /sdcard/Download ...
Finding update package...
Opening update package...
Verifying update package...
E:failed to verify whole-file signature
E:signature verification failed
Installation aborted.
I believe all 3 of those are expecting you to be on the prior android version, and when it sees that you are not, it fails.
SoberSquid said:
Tried all 3 of those, they state the following:
-- Install /sdcard/Download ...
Finding update package...
Opening update package...
Verifying update package...
E:failed to verify whole-file signature
E:signature verification failed
Installation aborted.
I believe all 3 of those are expecting you to be on the prior android version, and when it sees that you are not, it fails.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well crap! im officially out of ideas... Best of luck to you, Im certain that with your phone able to boot into bootloader that its fixable
Ahh, well thanks anyway for trying to assist! Anyone else have ideas on how to fix this, or anyone else experience this before?
Assuming I cannot recover this, as it is slowly looking fairly unrecoverable, does anyone have a recommended JTAG service (Preferably in the US)? I'm not aware of any around my area. I did see a few online, but I'm unsure as to how trustworthy any of them are...
Did you try the roms listed here?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1078213
Hmm. Without fastboot its tough to flash a rom, Did you try the factory data reset option in your settings, IS it showing error?
you're lucky i just did this last week.
seems that jerk flashed a gsm radio to that phone.
what you'll need to do is ODIN the phone to flash the CDMA radios back. you can find that HERE just follow the steps in that program and then you should be booting 2.3.4.
from there take the updates from sprint to get back to 2.3.7.
something about flashing a gsm radio hosed the MEID of my new phone, so keep that in mind. you may need to repair it afterwards before you can use it on sprint.
if you need help get back with me but that program should do the trick for you.
saranyan said:
Did you try the roms listed here?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1078213
Hmm. Without fastboot its tough to flash a rom, Did you try the factory data reset option in your settings, IS it showing error?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried those; those were the ones listed on Peter Alfonso's Site (Who I assume is BuglessPete? Like I said, I'm new in this section ). Unfortunately the Odex/Deodex require signature verification to be off, and the other updates are only partial updates, so they make the presumption you are on the prior Android revision, and promptly fail signature verification if you are not, so yeah unfortunately none of those had worked :/
thedudejdog said:
you're lucky i just did this last week.
seems that jerk flashed a gsm radio to that phone.
what you'll need to do is ODIN the phone to flash the CDMA radios back. you can find that HERE just follow the steps in that program and then you should be booting 2.3.4.
from there take the updates from sprint to get back to 2.3.7.
something about flashing a gsm radio hosed the MEID of my new phone, so keep that in mind. you may need to repair it afterwards before you can use it on sprint.
if you need help get back with me but that program should do the trick for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks much - I downloaded the program, ran setup.exe, installed all of it (Wow, this looks familiar from way back when I had a Samsung Moment, lol.). Threw the phone into download mode and waited. Unfortunately, it went downhill from here - It just sits there stating "Detect Port...", and shows disconnected. In Windows, under device manager, I went to view>devices by connection, then expanded out to my USB Port Hub. I don't show any devices there. So it seems that my phone is simply not being picked up by my computer - I did verify the USB cable I had was a data cable, and not a charge-only cable. And while hard to see them, the pin connectors in the charging port on the phone look good.
When I go into download mode (Or fastboot, for that matter), it shows the following on the screen, which I think is part of the cause of this issue:
"USB Control Init"
"USB Control Init End"
These happen right after one another. I'm not really sure why the USB controller wouldn't be working in this case, but I think whomever had the phone before me (in an attempt to fix an issue), decided to restore this phone back to stock using the I9020T files. I believe the Nexus S GSM variant may have a different USB controller in it, which is causing the drivers to malfunction on the CDMA variant, but I could be wrong. I haven't seem something like this occur before, lol.
Here are some fancy photos:
Download mode (Plus the error message given):
http://i.imgur.com/T4wOE.jpg
USB Port:
http://i.imgur.com/COAhb.jpg
Its an odd error, and looking online, some others who had it just had a bent usb port, but mine appears to be good, and all 5 pins look A-OK.
(Also, as a side note: Man, look a the viewing angles on that thing in the second shot, you can still see the error from the first pretty clearly. That is awesome.)
SoberSquid said:
Here are some fancy photos:
Download mode (Plus the error message given):
http://i.imgur.com/T4wOE.jpg
USB Port:
http://i.imgur.com/COAhb.jpg
Its an odd error, and looking online, some others who had it just had a bent usb port, but mine appears to be good, and all 5 pins look A-OK.
(Also, as a side note: Man, look a the viewing angles on that thing in the second shot, you can still see the error from the first pretty clearly. That is awesome.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In download mode it should show up as a Samsung diag modem or something like that.
I'll bet it's your cord or usb port on your PC. Can you try a different port or cable?
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using xda premium
Tried different ports (And different computers, My linux box is the same) - I have also been through 3 different cords trying this. - That message comes up immediately, even if there is no USB cable connected.
SoberSquid said:
Tried different ports (And different computers, My linux box is the same) - I have also been through 3 different cords trying this. - That message comes up immediately, even if there is no USB cable connected.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
are you seeing any com port at the bottom of the window? mine is com4
SoberSquid said:
When I go into download mode (Or fastboot, for that matter), it shows the following on the screen, which I think is part of the cause of this issue:
"USB Control Init"
"USB Control Init End"
These happen right after one another. I'm not really sure why the USB controller wouldn't be working in this case, but I think whomever had the phone before me (in an attempt to fix an issue), decided to restore this phone back to stock using the I9020T files. I believe the Nexus S GSM variant may have a different USB controller in it, which is causing the drivers to malfunction on the CDMA variant, but I could be wrong. I haven't seem something like this occur before, lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
and don't worry about that error, mine says that too
Hey all,
I had an adventure today. I soft bricked my tablet phone (SM-T311 unlocked). On a later post I will give instructions on how I successfully rooted this device and installed ROMs, but here I will tell you what I did wrong and how to fix it.
First some background. After installing 2 ROMs and downloading a bunch of apps for rooted phones I felt pretty confident in myself. I figured I'd try one more ROM to see if it might have better phone functionality. I read through the instructions on the developer's page and proceeded. I usually go very slow and proceed one step at a time, but this time I quickly read through the 5-6 steps and thought, ok, I got this. Well, I got one of the steps reversed and soft bricked my phone. What a pain!! I ended up missing work to get my phone fixed. After researching and trying different stuff, I found what worked. Here's what I did to unbrick my soft-bricked tablet.
Unfortunately I cannot post attachments yet, but when I can I will attached the tar.md5 stock firmware file for anyone who needs it. If you have an emergency you can send me a message with you E-mail, or post it below, and I'll send it to you.
INSTRUCTIONS:
1 - Download ODIN (I used version 3.07)
2 - Download original firmware from sammobile dot com / firmware (I do not mind E-mailing it to anyone who needs this until I can get it posted)
a. Sign up for a free account
b. On firmware page, scroll down midway and search for T311 (you can find just about any Samsung firmware here)
c. My tablet is unlocked and not tied to a carrier so I chose "unknown" source
d. It will take an hour to download because it's a "free" account. Make sure your phone is charging in the meantime. When finished downloaded proceed.
3 - Get your phone into download mode (hold down Power+Down+Home).
4 - Plug your phone into your computer
5 - Run Odin as administrator, make sure "auto reboot" and "reset time" boxes are checked, will say "Added!" in Message box when it reads your phone. NOTE - if it is not reading your phone you need to install Samsung drivers, you can find them on XDA or Samsung website. I assume you are, however, able to connect to your computer if you got as far as bricking your tablet.
6 - Put the downloaded file into the Odin folder (though I really don't think it matters where you put it, but that's what everyone says to do)
7 - Push PDA button and attached tar.md5 firmware file
8 - Push run and let it go its course (appx 20 minutes)
Your phone will restart and work like new.
UPDATE//
..removed my ROM observations, was confusing to some...More importantly:
If you do a fresh install with firmware and a PIT file to complete a nand erase and then your phone gets stuck on the Samsung logo after it reboots, please re-root and then install CWM 6.0.4.5. I cleared caches on CWM and rebooted. Then my phone worked new.
My lessons learned after all this... I'm just sticking to a simple root for access to my favorite apps, and not doing anything else beyond that.
For anyone who messed your T311 up and need to restore it to new, hopefully this helped!!
Wrong forum... This one is for thr 7" one, not the 8" version...
Sent from my XT1052 using XDA Free mobile app
All links to articles that I tried to follow are at the bottom of this post. Attempt this root at your own risk!
Let me start out by saying I have successfully rooted Android phones before (Motorola Droid from 2009 and LG G3 Vigor from but this phone was not wanting to cooperate from the very start. My intention was to root my Galaxy S8 so that I can install a custom ROM and get rid of unneeded software (i.e. Google, Sprint software, etc...). As it turns out, this is easier said then done. After A LOT of searching on this site and DuckDuckGo, I came across a few articles that seemed like they were legit and would get the job done. So, I prepared by downloading all the necessary files (the new firmware, Odin, adb, etc...) and factory resetting my device. I then tried to follow along with the first tutorial. Everything looked good. I was able to get everything set up just fine. My problem started when I was in the Download mode on the device (the light blue screen that says "Downloading..." in the center).
Before even connecting the device, I had PrinceComsy Odin fired up and ready to go being sure to follow the tutorial steps completely and accurately. Then, I connected my device and hit start.
...It's looking good!...
...Added!...
After a few other very promising log outputs .... nothing happened. I thought to myself, "Okay, no big deal. It said I may have to retry a couple times to get it to work." So, I reset everything back up and rebooted the phone back into Download mode. This time I tried the regular Odin version instead. However, I was presented with an error after hitting start: "SHA256 Invalid". After some searching, I found out that if you get that error in the regular Odin you should try the PrinceComsy Odin. Wow, okay, so I went back to PrinceComsy Odin and tried again to no avail. Still didn't work.
This is when I started to become concerned that I wouldn't be able to root this phone. Note: At this point, the phone still booted back into the OS with no problems. i.e. It was not bricked...yet!
I wasn't even past the Odin part of the root and already I was having problems. What was going on? I did some more searching around the web and these forums and found something interesting. Supposedly having your device plugged into the USB3.0 ports on your computer can sometimes mess Odin up. I tried plugging the phone into the normal USB2.0 ports on the back of my computer and restarted the whole process again.
Now, I was getting some weird errors. Stuff like "odin fail complete(write) operation" and "fail (no pit partition)". I started to sweat a little bit. I can't screw this phone up! I rebooted the phone just to make sure everything was still fine on the device. It booted into OS perfectly fine, again.
Okay, so one more try, and then I'll stop. I did everything again (booted phone into download mode, fired up PrinceComsy Odin, added firmware to appropriate slots, connected the device, and hit start). Once again, everything looked fine until I got another error, "Error SW REV CHECK FAIL : [aboot] Fused 4 > Binary 2". It was at this point I looked more closely at the text on the top left of the Download mode.
My bootloader was locked and for some reason that had something to do with all this failing. After all, I wasn't trying to change the bootloader at all; just trying to gain access to root permissions. Most of the tutorials I looked at said to enable the "OEM Unlocking" option in settings. However, I didn't have this option at all. I didn't think it would matter that much but boy was I wrong. I decided to give up, boot back into the OS, and call it a day.
I rebooted the phone and it took longer than normal. Like way longer. It was stuck at the Samsung splash screen for about an hour before I realized that the device was probably bricked. "Great," I thought. So, I managed to find the stock firmware on Sam Mobile. Once again, I used Odin and tried flashing the stock firmware. This time however, Odin actually completed! I thought I had done it. I successfully restored my phone, right? Nope, turns out the firmware I installed wasn't actually Sprint's original stock firmware. I'm not sure exactly what it was but everything looked fine until I entered the setup device screen. Some settings were greyed out and I was getting some weird error messages (I don't remember what they were). Then, after completing the setup, I noticed that I was no longer on the Sprint network. I also had some of Cricket's and MetroPCS apps installed by default. It was like the phone was in a so called "carrier limbo" and unable to connect to any one carrier. The weird thing is I was still able to send and receive phone calls and receive text messages. It was at this point, I realized I royally screwed up my phone I tried to factory reset (through the Recovery mode) hoping that would fix some issues but nope. Didn't seem to fix anything.
The next day, I took the phone back to the Sprint store to see if they could do anything. Of course, I knew they were just going to try factory resetting it as well. The tech came back and said they could ship it off to Samsung and have them repair it or replace it. I am really crossing my fingers and hoping that they just replace the phone. That would fix all of my issues (including the cracked screen ). Now, I have to wait 5-7 business days before I know if I'm going to be stuck without a Galaxy phone or if I'm going to get a new phone straight from the factory. Who knows? As of now, I am using my old LG G3 Vigor temporarily while Samsung looks at my phone.
TL;DR: If you are on the Sprint network, have a Samsung Galaxy S8, model sm-g950u, US variant, ATTEMPT ROOTING AT YOUR OWN RISK! Sprint apparently has some pretty intense software locks on their phones which is rather unfortunate seeing as I believe Android to be an open-source and modifiable OS. Basically, we have to use the phone as it is from Sprint or we can't use it all. This is unacceptable.
I will update this post with any new information as it becomes available.
Links
LG G3 Vigor: https://support.sprint.com/support/device/LG/LG_G3_Vigortrade-dvc8360002prd
Motorola Droid: https://www.cnet.com/products/motorola-droid-verizon-wireless/review/
1st Root Method: http://www.stechguide.com/root-galaxy-s8-and-s8-plus-snapdragon-variants/
2nd Root Method: https://forum.xda-developers.com/ga...on-sampwnd-t3658911/post73455543#post73455543
3rd Root Method: https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s8/development/root-partcyborgrom-aqi6-deodexed-t3702988
Restoring Stock Firmware: http://rootmygalaxy.net/stock-firmware-on-galaxy-s8-and-galaxy-s8-plus/
Before rooting, flash it with the unbranded "U1" firmware which is much cleaner (bloat free), and also works on all carriers as long as the sim lock is unlocked.
I just use the regular Odin and flash TWRP for the correct Samsung device then find a nice custom ROM you can install using TWRP I wrote several guides for it using Samsung phones, A3(2017, A5(2017, A7(2017, A5(2014, J8(2018 other than the button sequence for DL/recovery it is pretty much works the same, installing a stock ROM I did with Odin but finding a good stock ROM that you can download at a decent pace is harder. The OEM unlock is under Dev option in your phone though combined with USB debugging so you would need to do that before using Odin. But I get where you are coming from most guides are confusing as hell.
I've looked through the forums to identify a similar problem to mine in hopes I can resolve this issue but I've not found one. So here's my problem.
I have a UK Galaxy S7 running on the 6.0 firmware that came with the phone when it first released (Yes I know it's very old and should have updated along the way but I had plans to root and install customs at some point which obviously didn't happen). The phone is unrooted and the stock rom is the XEU version with Multi-CSC (according to recovery)
The phone was running fine until a few days ago when all of a sudden it shut off and wouldn't power on via the power button. So I pressed and held Home + Volume Down + Power. The green screen appeared and selected Volume Down to restart the device (as you do in odd situations like this).
PHONE IS NOW STUCK IN BOOTLOOP!!!
I have tried various means (not including flashing) to get the phone to boot to the home screen with no success. I have not performed a factory reset from recovery because I have various data, including pictures, music and other software on the internal storage which I wish to keep and not lose. The phone is still under warranty so I can take it to a Samsung repair outlet to get them to fix it for me but due to data privacy or whatever, they have to format it clean to then install the most recent firmware.
I've been scouring the forums for help on flashing OTA updates which retain data on phone whilst possibly allowing my phone to boot into the home screen so I can access my data. Is such a thing possible?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
You can flash the latest firmware without losing data (as long as the hardware is not faulty) by downloading it from either sammobile, updato.com or using the samfirm tool here on XDA (Fastest option)
Then extract the firmware and add all 4 parts to ODIN 3.12.7 (Do not use ODIN 3.13.1 unless you want to flash BTU Oreo 8.0)
AP << (Takes quite a long time to add, be patient as ODIN will look frozen)
BL
CP
HOME_CSC
If you use CSC instead of HOME_CSC it will wipe the device after the flash, HOME_CSC will not wipe it
Put the phone into download mode (Home & Power & Volume Down)
Connect to PC USB and hit start on ODIN
Wait for the flash to complete (It can take quite a while) and the phone should hopefully boot back into Android
Thank you for the quick response.
It's imperative I get this right and ensure I've understood your reply correctly.
I have downloaded the following:
SM-G930F_1_20180417125627_cz5yqc22v0_fac - from SamFirm as it was much quicker like you said.
Odin3+v3.12.7 - This particular version was quite difficult to get a hold of. Various sites redirecting me to various pages without a direct link to download but I hope that is the correct one.
The firmware zip contains the following files:
AP_G930FXXS2DRDI_CL12365438_QB17789072_REV00_user_low_ship_meta.tar -------1
BL_G930FXXS2DRDI_CL12365438_QB17789072_REV00_user_low_ship.tar -------2
CP_G930FXXU2DRB6_CL648265_QB8952207_SIGNED.tar -------3
CSC_XEU_G930FXEU2DRB5_CL13061583_QB16917099_REV00_user_low_ship.tar
HOME_CSC_XEU_G930FXEU2DRB5_CL13061583_QB16917099_REV00_user_low_ship.tar -------4
I have labelled the files 1-4 in the order of flashing/installation (I presume?)
I will also follow your instruction of flashing HOME_CSC_XEU_G930FXEU2DRB5_CL13061583_QB16917099_REV00_user_low_ship.tar as this will NOT wipe any existing data on the phone?
Will following the above steps act as an upgrade to the phone and not wipe apps/pictures etc in the internal storage?
Have I missed out any other steps?
Cassie` said:
Thank you for the quick response.
It's imperative I get this right and ensure I've understood your reply correctly.
I have downloaded the following:
SM-G930F_1_20180417125627_cz5yqc22v0_fac - from SamFirm as it was much quicker like you said.
Odin3+v3.12.7 - This particular version was quite difficult to get a hold of. Various sites redirecting me to various pages without a direct link to download but I hope that is the correct one.
The firmware zip contains the following files:
AP_G930FXXS2DRDI_CL12365438_QB17789072_REV00_user_low_ship_meta.tar -------1
BL_G930FXXS2DRDI_CL12365438_QB17789072_REV00_user_low_ship.tar -------2
CP_G930FXXU2DRB6_CL648265_QB8952207_SIGNED.tar -------3
CSC_XEU_G930FXEU2DRB5_CL13061583_QB16917099_REV00_user_low_ship.tar
HOME_CSC_XEU_G930FXEU2DRB5_CL13061583_QB16917099_REV00_user_low_ship.tar -------4
I have labelled the files 1-4 in the order of flashing/installation (I presume?)
I will also follow your instruction of flashing HOME_CSC_XEU_G930FXEU2DRB5_CL13061583_QB16917099_REV00_user_low_ship.tar as this will NOT wipe any existing data on the phone?
Will following the above steps act as an upgrade to the phone and not wipe apps/pictures etc in the internal storage?
Have I missed out any other steps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Almost, you must flash all 4 files at the same time, load them all into ODIN before hitting start, doesn't matter which order you load them in as long as they are all loaded before flashing
And you are correct with the rest, HOME_CSC will not wipe anything, and yes it will act as an upgrade although it is a full ROM you are flashing, to you the user, it will appear exactly the same as an upgrade as long as you use HOME_CSC
No other steps needed
I have loaded all 4 files as seen in the screenshot however, after clicking on Start, about 5 or so minutes later, it says FAIL in the first box above where it initially said RECOVERY. It's stopped and not done anything else.
I'm not sure what to do here.
I've also added a shot of the top left of odin screen
Cassie` said:
I have loaded all 4 files as seen in the screenshot however, after clicking on Start, about 5 or so minutes later, it says FAIL in the first box above where it initially said RECOVERY. It's stopped and not done anything else.
I'm not sure what to do here.
I've also added a shot of the top left of odin screen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea it's failed, you can close ODIN and disconnect now
You can try doing it again, but that should have worked, you could try downloading the latest 6.0.1 ROM and flashing that the same way first, it looks like your bootloader is version 1 where this ROM is version 2 as shown by the S2 number in the middle of the firmware version
*Detection* said:
Yea it's failed, you can close ODIN and disconnect now
You can try doing it again, but that should have worked, you could try downloading the latest 6.0.1 ROM and flashing that the same way first, it looks like your bootloader is version 1 where this ROM is version 2 as shown by the S2 number in the middle of the firmware version
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've gone to https://updato.com/firmware-archive-select-model?record=0DB04AD4C34211E69215FA163EE8F90B
From there I've selected the most recent 6.0.1 ROM which is dated 4th December 2016. Problem is that the download is EXTREMELY slow and I have no idea how to use SamFirm to download that particular ROM.
I guess all I can do now is play the waiting game and repeat the steps with the 6.0.1 ROM once it's downloaded.
Thank you for your responses and I will post back here once the download has finished.
Cassie` said:
I've gone to https://updato.com/firmware-archive-select-model?record=0DB04AD4C34211E69215FA163EE8F90B
From there I've selected the most recent 6.0.1 ROM which is dated 4th December 2016. Problem is that the download is EXTREMELY slow and I have no idea how to use SamFirm to download that particular ROM.
I guess all I can do now is play the waiting game and repeat the steps with the 6.0.1 ROM once it's downloaded.
Thank you for your responses and I will post back here once the download has finished.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea unfortunately all alternatives other than samfirm tool are slow, and samfirm only downloads the latest ROM
Judging by the bootloader version and the ROM version you have chosen, if this also fails, then I would assume a hardware failure
The only other thing I could suggest if this doesn't work, is to pick an older version of ODIN to flash the older firmware, ODIN 3.11.1 was used for MM 6.0.1 ROMs if I'm remembering correctly
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2711451
or
https://odindownloader.com/download/odin3-v3-11-1
I've restarted the device and it said An error has occurred while updating the device software use the emergency recovery function.
I attempted to reboot the phone a couple of times to get into recovery and I was successful. I now see the the Bootloader version is now 2 as opposed to 1. After seeing this I attempted to flash version 7 as initially suggested yet it did not work.
I'm not sure how Bootloader changed from 1 to 2 and is still failing to flash in odin. I am still waiting for the 6.0.1 ROM to download, fluctuating between 16-19 hours as of writing this response. Once it's ready I'll try and load up odin 3.11.1 as a second solution and try 6.0.1, even though Bootloader says 2.
Cassie` said:
I've restarted the device and it said An error has occurred while updating the device software use the emergency recovery function.
I attempted to reboot the phone a couple of times to get into recovery and I was successful. I now see the the Bootloader version is now 2 as opposed to 1. After seeing this I attempted to flash version 7 as initially suggested yet it did not work.
I'm not sure how Bootloader changed from 1 to 2 and is still failing to flash in odin. I am still waiting for the 6.0.1 ROM to download, fluctuating between 16-19 hours as of writing this response. Once it's ready I'll try and load up odin 3.11.1 as a second solution and try 6.0.1, even though Bootloader says 2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your ODIN screenshot looks like it managed to flash the bootloader before it failed, so it's possible you are going to need to use a version 2 ROM from now on, I have the same phone, XEU G930F and it is running Bootloader version 2 (Running the BTU Oreo 8.0 stock ROM)
But if the 7.0 Nougat ROM failed again it's looking more like a hardware issue, seems to be failing when it should be starting to flash SYSTEM (AP)
You can try flashing the 7.0 ROM section AP on it's own with ODIN 3.12.7, see if that fails immediately, if it does that's likely where the problem lies, it's not unheard of for these S7's to fail like this out of the blue, I see it maybe a couple of times a month on XDA
Only solution is to get the mainboard replaced
But yea, give 6.0.1 a shot anyway, worth a try saying as everything else has failed up to now
(Looking for mirrors for that 6.0.1 ROM, I've got it on my main machine but it is offline right now with no graphics card so I can't access any files, stuck with a laptop, I always download and save every new firmware release for this reason)
There is Samsung SmartSwitch software for Windows for the emergency firmware recovery, but it WILL wipe your phone back to factory and delete all your data (Last resort if nothing else works, although if ODIN doesn't work, I'd say hardware failure)
Right so I've managed to download the most up to date 6.0.1 ROM and attempted to flash it with ODIN V3.11.1 and it idles at the recovery.img part and fails like the previous efforts.
I'm not sure if attempting to get OREO running with the latest ODIN might work? If not then I may have to give up and do a factory reset through Samsung SmartSwitch.
It probably is a hardware failure as I had noticed the lightning bolt appearing when the phone is off whilst plugged in the charge, it take about a minute or so for the percentage bar to appear, usually it was about 2 seconds before this disaster occurred.
Cassie` said:
Right so I've managed to download the most up to date 6.0.1 ROM and attempted to flash it with ODIN V3.11.1 and it idles at the recovery.img part and fails like the previous efforts.
I'm not sure if attempting to get OREO running with the latest ODIN might work? If not then I may have to give up and do a factory reset through Samsung SmartSwitch.
It probably is a hardware failure as I had noticed the lightning bolt appearing when the phone is off whilst plugged in the charge, it take about a minute or so for the percentage bar to appear, usually it was about 2 seconds before this disaster occurred.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Worth a try flashing Oreo, BTU on samfirm tool will give you it for the G930F
If you're seeing problems with the charging now, you might get lucky and find the USB port is the only thing needing replacing, but if you send it off for repair it's unlikely even if that is the case that they won't just charge you for a new mainboard, you can likely get USB ports from eBay but opening the S7 isn't as straight forward as the back is glued on for IP68 water resistance and needs a heatgun to remove, not sure if anything else like the screen needs removing for USB, I've not opened mine
You've tried a new USB cable and a different PC too ?
*Detection* said:
Worth a try flashing Oreo, BTU on samfirm tool will give you it for the G930F
If you're seeing problems with the charging now, you might get lucky and find the USB port is the only thing needing replacing, but if you send it off for repair it's unlikely even if that is the case that they won't just charge you for a new mainboard, you can likely get USB ports from eBay but opening the S7 isn't as straight forward as the back is glued on for IP68 water resistance and needs a heatgun to remove, not sure if anything else like the screen needs removing for USB, I've not opened mine
You've tried a new USB cable and a different PC too ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The charging issue occurred immediately when the phone shut off by itself and wouldn't power on conventionally. The phone is still under warranty so if the Samsung SmartSwitch software is unable to recover the phone then I will take it to the repair center and have them fix/replace it. If it's a case of undoing the glue and whatnot then I'd rather they give me a replacement.
I did change the USB cable to a different one, and I've attempted to flash the 2 different ODINS with the 2 different ROMS on a laptop as opposed to the desktop I was using. Still fails at the recovery.img part of ODIN.
I'm going to try Samsung SmartSwitch now and see if this will give it some life. If THAT doesn't work then it's 100% hardware issue and my data was lost to begin with.
Considering both versions of ODIN didn't work with either ROM, I don't think I'll be looking for the BTU version of OREO to attempt to install with. If there's a direct download that's quick I might but I think I'll attempt to Emergency Recover through the Samsung tool.
I want to thank you plenty for your help and knowledge on this. It certainly has been helpful and given me better understanding of the problem I'm facing and potential solutions. I have a feeling that the SmartSwitch recovery won't work either and still be posting back here hahaha.
OK I've got bigger problems on my hands now.
SmartSwitch and Kies both say "SM-G930F" does not support initializing. Please contact our service center.
I've already inputted my serial number and it gives me the same message on both programs. When I called up customer support they said my warranty is till the end of May this year.
Would the service center be able to solve this problem?
Cassie` said:
OK I've got bigger problems on my hands now.
SmartSwitch and Kies both say "SM-G930F" does not support initializing. Please contact our service center.
I've already inputted my serial number and it gives me the same message on both programs. When I called up customer support they said my warranty is till the end of May this year.
Would the service center be able to solve this problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea I'd get it repaired under warranty asap then if it runs out soon, they will most likely replace the mainboard I'd say, which means 100% data loss as the storage is on a chip on that board, or might even send you a new S7
Really does sound like hardware failure if all of these recovery options have failed, just keep quiet about what you've done to try and fix it, just act dumb and say it won't turn on or they could claim you nulled your warranty messing with ODIN
And no probs, that's what XDA is all about Let us know how the repair goes and buy a MicroSD card to save your important files to this time so you don't lose anything if it happens again
*Detection* said:
Yea I'd get it repaired under warranty asap then if it runs out soon, they will most likely replace the mainboard I'd say, which means 100% data loss as the storage is on a chip on that board, or might even send you a new S7
Really does sound like hardware failure if all of these recovery options have failed, just keep quiet about what you've done to try and fix it, just act dumb and say it won't turn on or they could claim you nulled your warranty messing with ODIN
And no probs, that's what XDA is all about Let us know how the repair goes and buy a MicroSD card to save your important files to this time so you don't lose anything if it happens again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had an SD card inside with all my pictures I took whilst in Japan (Thank GOD!). I took it out when this issue arose to avoid potential data loss there.
As far as ODIN is concerned, warranty still appears intact but yes I'll keep hush hush when I'm there. I believe they said they'd give me a refurbished S7 if they couldn't reflash it there.
Cassie` said:
I had an SD card inside with all my pictures I took whilst in Japan (Thank GOD!). I took it out when this issue arose to avoid potential data loss there.
As far as ODIN is concerned, warranty still appears intact but yes I'll keep hush hush when I'm there. I believe they said they'd give me a refurbished S7 if they couldn't reflash it there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, ODIN will not void warranty if you only flash stock, but telling them you used ODIN might, it's not a tool meant for us, it's Samsung's internal flashing tool not meant to be leaked online, sometimes they'll use any reason to blame you and not have to pay out / replace it so yea best not say anything other than official recovery methods suggested by Samsung themselves, if anything at all, I'd just say I didn't do anything, an OTA update came through and it never rebooted or something
Good job with the pics, I don't save any media to the phone itself, I create folders on the SDCard and move it over if I can't have it save there automatically, that way wiping the phone is nothing but a pain to set back up again, nothing actually lost
*Detection* said:
Yes, ODIN will not void warranty if you only flash stock, but telling them you used ODIN might, it's not a tool meant for us, it's Samsung's internal flashing tool not meant to be leaked online, sometimes they'll use any reason to blame you and not have to pay out / replace it so yea best not say anything other than official recovery methods suggested by Samsung themselves, if anything at all, I'd just say I didn't do anything, an OTA update came through and it never rebooted or something
Good job with the pics, I don't save any media to the phone itself, I create folders on the SDCard and move it over if I can't have it save there automatically, that way wiping the phone is nothing but a pain to set back up again, nothing actually lost
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm going to give flashing one last try.
I am currently downloading Android 8.0.0 for United Kingdom (BTU, NOT XEU). I have to head to work in a few minutes. When I get back I'll attempt to flash that without BootLoader as that will change it to version 3 and you can't downgrade from that from what I've read here and there. If that fails then it's off to the repair center. If it's some sort of hardware failure then it won't flash regardless what stock rom/ODIN version I'm using.
Not sure if BTU update with home CSC will retain my data (assuming it works)
Cassie` said:
I'm going to give flashing one last try.
I am currently downloading Android 8.0.0 for United Kingdom (BTU, NOT XEU). I have to head to work in a few minutes. When I get back I'll attempt to flash that without BootLoader as that will change it to version 3 and you can't downgrade from that from what I've read here and there. If that fails then it's off to the repair center. If it's some sort of hardware failure then it won't flash regardless what stock rom/ODIN version I'm using.
Not sure if BTU update with home CSC will retain my data (assuming it works)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your CSC will remain XEU as it is Multi-CSC containing BTU, and BTU contains XEU, I'm running it now with BTU firmware & XEU CSC
Bootloader for this Oreo 8.0 BTU firmware is still 2, with it being a new Android version you'll need to flash the BL too anyway
*Detection* said:
Your CSC will remain XEU as it is Multi-CSC containing BTU, and BTU contains XEU, I'm running it now with BTU firmware & XEU CSC
Bootloader for this Oreo 8.0 BTU firmware is still 2, with it being a new Android version you'll need to flash the BL too anyway
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had no luck flashing it with Oreo. It's definitely going to the repair centre. Such a shame.
I'm very grateful for your time and help with this. I will report back this weekend with the results of what the repair centre will do regarding the device. Don't like to leave a thread without an end result.
Many thanks again!