Database Info

unrecoverable soft brick even with USB JIG

so yeah i got my first replacement after the first time this happened... i tried flashing krylon360's rom with odin but got a fail at factory.rfs. keep in mind i am in no way shape or form a noob with odin, i have brought many of my buddies' devices back to life, but for some reason even though i use a USB jig ( which works in my captivate and personally tested and working on the SGS4g before the unrecoverable soft brick) any help please i dont want to have to send it back to t-mobile again... they already charge 10bucks just for shipping.

muleman said:
so yeah i got my first replacement after the first time this happened... i tried flashing krylon360's rom with odin but got a fail at factory.rfs. keep in mind i am in no way shape or form a noob with odin, i have brought many of my buddies' devices back to life, but for some reason even though i use a USB jig ( which works in my captivate and personally tested and working on the SGS4g before the unrecoverable soft brick) any help please i dont want to have to send it back to t-mobile again... they already charge 10bucks just for shipping.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm I'd say if the USB jig didn't work, you're not soft bricked. That's a hard brick.
What kind of USB jig are you using?
Was it a ROM or a kernel you flashed? which one, version etc.?

Jig - verified WORKING before the flash attempt
tried to flash [ROM-ODIN]T959VUVKB5 Stock + Root By: krylon360
new sgs4g
new USB cable
opened Odin first, set file
plugged in phone got a good port connection
clicked "Start"
failed at factory.rfs
phone--!--comp screen
unresponsive to JIG

donation rewards for anybody that can help! lol this is depressing, my old captivate isnt this sensitive and has been through hell and back, but this SGS4g.... im dissappointed in.

Uninstall all the drivers for the phone make sure you have the right ones also, and try plugging it into a usb 2.0 slot then run it again, this seemed to work for me. I ran into the same issue I plugged in my jig but it gave me a black screen, but odin recognized it and I flashedthe kd1 update and it was fixed. Hope this helps

muleman said:
Jig - verified WORKING before the flash attempt
tried to flash [ROM-ODIN]T959VUVKB5 Stock + Root By: krylon360
new sgs4g
new USB cable
opened Odin first, set file
plugged in phone got a good port connection
clicked "Start"
failed at factory.rfs
phone--!--comp screen
unresponsive to JIG
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hold your horses... I got some news for you.
you can flash at that screen
try flashing mine again, or try white's ODIN image.

Along with what krylon said, maybe a bad download, try download file again
Sent from my SGH-T959V using XDA Premium App

will do thanks guys, ill try it tonight and let ya know how it goes for me.

i still dont get how odin gets a connection but the phone itself cannot with the jig... not logical but hey in the process of flashing now

krylon360 said:
hold your horses... I got some news for you.
you can flash at that screen
try flashing mine again, or try white's ODIN image.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
youre the man.... Thanks much

muleman said:
i still dont get how odin gets a connection but the phone itself cannot with the jig... not logical but hey in the process of flashing now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Heimdall works at that same warning screen too. I've done it on my SGS4G.

I am confused..
sgyee said:
Heimdall works at that same warning screen too. I've done it on my SGS4G.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the computer is not recognizing the phone being plugged in, how is ODIN going to be able to process? I don't know if mine SGS4G is irrepairable but when I plug it in to the computer, it will not even show up on device manager. The drivers have been installed in the past and I have used ODIN before.
When I try using ODIN now it won't work since it won't recognize the phone.
I have used JIG and simply will not buzz. It's pretty much as dead as if the phone is not even on.
Any help guys??

amishraa said:
If the computer is not recognizing the phone being plugged in, how is ODIN going to be able to process? I don't know if mine SGS4G is irrepairable but when I plug it in to the computer, it will not even show up on device manager. The drivers have been installed in the past and I have used ODIN before.
When I try using ODIN now it won't work since it won't recognize the phone.
I have used JIG and simply will not buzz. It's pretty much as dead as if the phone is not even on.
Any help guys??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If its currently in the state which I'm assuming..
-won't turn on, no sign of life period...
-plugging it in the wall charger won't even show the green battery status...
-won't get recognized when plugged into pc (or odin)...
-all combinations of buttons and battery pulling+usb cable plugging does nothing...
Yea I think its safe to say it went to a land far far away just like my friend's phone and only Samsung can revive it now.. Because I remember reading all the stories how everyone brought theres back to life so easily with the button combos or the jig usage, but those phones all at least showed a sign of life with that cable screen. But if its pitch black like I'm assuming then...

Same here. The jig didn't seem to work - I still got the cell + comp but odin worked anyway and reflashed stock. It's probably better to run Odin off a desktop if you have one.

That screen scared the holy hell out of me a couple of days ago. I ended up having to re-install the samsung drivers for windows 7 and then odin picked the phone right up. The reason I *knew* the phone was recoverable from that screen was simple, though:
I read the screen. It wouldn't be telling you to try something in Kies if you couldn't do anything at that screen. So, I just kept ****ing around trying different things until it worked.
*I* have personally noticed that that screen tends to come up when you accidentally or inadvertently select "Re-Partition" on a rom/image that's not setup for it, or if for any reason your phone gets disconnected or powered off during the flashing process.

That screen scared the holy hell out of me a couple of days ago. I ended up having to re-install the samsung drivers for windows 7 and then odin picked the phone right up. The reason I *knew* the phone was recoverable from that screen was simple, though:
I read the screen. It wouldn't be telling you to try something in Kies if you couldn't do anything at that screen. So, I just kept ****ing around trying different things until it worked.
*I* have personally noticed that that screen tends to come up when you accidentally or inadvertently select "Re-Partition" on a rom/image that's not setup for it, or if for any reason your phone gets disconnected or powered off during the flashing process.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I second this. I have been running into this screen while trying to install root from the 2.3.4 leak. I have had black screen, fuzzy screen, random pixel screen. In most cases I have been able recognize the phone using odin. A few of the key steps that I have used to get the phone recognizable in odin are:
1. If the computer says "usb not recognized" when initially plugging in the phone, uplug it and plug it back in. Most of the time when I do this the phone is recognized as samsung device.
1b: If odin now recognizes the phone after running through step 1 I will try to flash the files again. it will usually fail after trying to load the flash files on the first try. I have to mess around with this process a few times and I can usually get a successful flash.
2. I had an case when having to deal with this problem yesterday. I was running through steps 1,1b and not having success. Odin was hanging, (I forget which step). I let it sit for about 10 minutes and was still hanging. I unplugged the phone with odin still hanging pulled battery, powered on, plugged back in. Odin, which was still open and still trying to connect, continued its already started process after plugging it back in!!! This was an accident to still have the odin running and trying to connect, but after reconnecting the phone it successfully flashed!
*I* have personally noticed that that screen tends to come up when you accidentally or inadvertently select "Re-Partition" on a rom/image that's not setup for it, or if for any reason your phone gets disconnected or powered off during the flashing process.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
These kind of observations are especially helpful! I can concur that I get the same <phone..!..pc> error, when odin tries to flash and gets a write fail, however, I do not have the "re-partition" option set. I then have to run through my previously mentioned steps to try to get a successful flash.
My question is what can i do to keep odin from failing to write when flashing?? I have only been using PDA packages, with the exception of using discrete packages (pit,csc,phone,pda) when loading the 2.3.4 rom leak.
It seems like the flashing write error in odin in causing the <phone..!..pc> error quite often with different flash processes. Does anyone have a solution to what might be causing this write error and what can be done to prevent this whole cycle? If so I sticky or new thread might be useful for other users. It has caused to have to warranty my first phone, urrrg!

Scariest feeling ever........ Not seeing your phone come up on Odin.
Sent from my SGH-T959V using XDA Premium App

Woops ahahahha. Was talkin to my friend. SOrry!

fvnktion said:
I second this. I have been running into this screen while trying to install root from the 2.3.4 leak. I have had black screen, fuzzy screen, random pixel screen. ..... [cut] ......
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same issue yesterday, when I tried to flash KD1 vanilla (stock) ROM
using ODIN, it failed the first 4 seconds, it boots into fuzzy looking screen and
that's it, every time I tried to boot it the fuzzy screen fades away to pitch black.
there is 2 possibilities that messed up the whole thing for me:
1) Bad ROM.. (i.e, can't be used with ODIN) although some members said it works
but don't know if there anything special to do before hand, if I want to downgrade.
2) Samsung Kies' fault, I installed just right before I used ODIN, and told me my
device is not registered.. hmm.
It could be both cases, but I suspect Kies the culprit, I had to uninstall it, and
uninstall the drivers came with it, installed the drivers found here in these forums,
and Odin recognized a COM port, although black screen on the phone, flashed
to KH1 and I am back to business. phew..
GB is awesome, but I can't stand the weak WIFI issue even with the latest KH1
I have to stand 3 feet away from my router to get a solid signal, with froyo
vanilla rom, I was able to connect like 50 feet away. but that's another problem
not for this thread.
Heh funny thing I read today in some thread, there is a conflict between Kies and
Odin after the incident happened. my fault for not reading a lot, jumping the gun
almost cost me the phone :/

[Q] Soft Brick--Stock Recovery, no bootable OS, unable to connect to ODIN

So here's a doozy. First, some background. During a routine update to a new version of my favorite rom, IMEI data got borked. My backup was apparently incomplete, so couldn't restore it that way. My phone has been unable to connect a computer via usb in more than a charging capacity for a few months, so any pc-based tools like ODIN or QPST were out of the question. Only hope was to go back to a rooted stock rom and try the dialer solution. So I try flashing root66 via Mobile ODIN. Note that this overwrites CWM to the stock recovery, in addition to overwriting pretty much everything else. For whatever reason, the OS is now borked. Can't get past the Samsung GSIII screen. I can still reach Download Mode and Recovery, though. However, as mentioned before, ODIN is not an option because no computer can see my device over USB. The recovery is now the stock recovery, so the only thing it will recognize is a signed update.zip from Verizon herself. Anything else I try to flash from external SD gets the whole signature verification error.
To sum:
The Problem
Need to get to a working OS. This likely needs to be stock.
Complications and Constraints
ODIN is not an option, nor is any other pc-based or usb-based tool.
I'm stuck with the stock recovery, which requires signature verification.
Theorized Solutions
I could either somehow flash CWM via signed zip file from stock recovery (don't know if this exists, if it does I haven't been able to find it), or,
I could flash a signed OTA zip, like what would arrive on the phone from Verizon. I've been having a lot of trouble finding one of these, since everyone and their grandmother seems to want to use ODIN to flash leaked OTAs. I'm thinking that of the OTAs, the initial upgrade to JB is probably my best bet, since it likely replaced more of the system than the other OTAs. I'm more than open to suggestions, though.
Thoughts?

Boot into recovery and do a factory reset. That typically is recommended if you're stuck on the boot logo after an Odin flash.
How did you lose usb to pc access? When you install the Samsung drivers from their website, what does your computer do? Which usb cable have you been using?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

SlimSnoopOS said:
Boot into recovery and do a factory reset. That typically is recommended if you're stuck on the boot logo after an Odin flash.
How did you lose usb to pc access? When you install the Samsung drivers from their website, what does your computer do? Which usb cable have you been using?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Factory reset was the first thing I tried. No go. I've tried every option available in the stock recovery, with no success. Gotta say, not really fond of this whole stock recovery thing. Fairly useless.
I haven't had usb to pc access ever since I played Ingress in a snowstorm a few months ago and some moisture got into the charging port, and I didn't properly dry it out. There's a little bit of corrosion in there now. It still charges fine most of the time (I'm sure not as well or as consistently as when it was new), but it can't connect to the computer in more than a charging capacity. I've tested a large variety of usb cables, most of which worked before the snowstorm, and none give me pc access. Some give me pc access for a few seconds, but none give a connection that's stable enough to run ODIN or QPST or the like.
I should note that I have a microSD to SD adapter, so I can still move files to and from my external SD card. Anything available on the internet can make its way onto my SD card so long as it's 7.96 Gb or smaller.
EDIT: I should clarify that I *did* have usb to pc access before the snowstorm. Samsung drivers worked fine, etc, the typical file transfers over usb worked fine, adb worked fine, etc.

I had the same problem a few months ago when I used mobile odin. I was lucky enough to be able to use the regular ODIN to start from the beginning flash stock everything. You need to get regular ODIN to work. Take the phone to a repair place have them clean the rust and re-soter the connections. That is what I would try. Sorry I wasn't of any more help.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

Lehocki said:
I had the same problem a few months ago when I used mobile odin. I was lucky enough to be able to use the regular ODIN to start from the beginning flash stock everything. You need to get regular ODIN to work. Take the phone to a repair place have them clean the rust and re-soter the connections. That is what I would try. Sorry I wasn't of any more help.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I took a closer look at the microUSB port on the phone. On closer inspection, with a bright light, I really don't see any corrosion, and I checked the water damage indicators, and none have been tripped. Which makes me question whether or not the port starting to fail really was related to the snowstorm, or if that was a coincidence. I've decided to just go ahead and get it replaced under warranty--even if I could rescue the system, that faulty port is actually a really huge problem, more so than I had realized. Not being able to use ODIN to un-brick is bad, I've decided. Now the big question is going to be, will they be able to tell the phone's been messed with, and if so, how can I cover my tracks with a bootlooped phone, stock recovery, and no possibility of Odin or Heimdall? I'm thinking it should mostly be okay--in Download mode, everything checks out as normal, except for system status, which says custom. I'm betting that if it came down to it, I could probably argue that it could fail to recognize a borked but otherwise stock system, and therefore call a normal system custom.
If not, though, then I better get started on cracking Samsung's update.zip encryption so I can sign my own injection package with their signature...

adiv.paradise said:
I took a closer look at the microUSB port on the phone. On closer inspection, with a bright light, I really don't see any corrosion, and I checked the water damage indicators, and none have been tripped. Which makes me question whether or not the port starting to fail really was related to the snowstorm, or if that was a coincidence. I've decided to just go ahead and get it replaced under warranty--even if I could rescue the system, that faulty port is actually a really huge problem, more so than I had realized. Not being able to use ODIN to un-brick is bad, I've decided. Now the big question is going to be, will they be able to tell the phone's been messed with, and if so, how can I cover my tracks with a bootlooped phone, stock recovery, and no possibility of Odin or Heimdall? I'm thinking it should mostly be okay--in Download mode, everything checks out as normal, except for system status, which says custom. I'm betting that if it came down to it, I could probably argue that it could fail to recognize a borked but otherwise stock system, and therefore call a normal system custom.
If not, though, then I better get started on cracking Samsung's update.zip encryption so I can sign my own injection package with their signature...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If using Windows the USB will act like there are no drivers at times. The fix I found was to connect to PC in charge mode. Then go to download mode while connected to PC. It will reactivate drivers from phone side. Have done this many times on Win8. Worth a shot.

prdog1 said:
If using Windows the USB will act like there are no drivers at times. The fix I found was to connect to PC in charge mode. Then go to download mode while connected to PC. It will reactivate drivers from phone side. Have done this many times on Win8. Worth a shot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some phone is bricked that not recognize the phone on device manager and won't charge too.

tomy1986.nt said:
Some phone is bricked that not recognize the phone on device manager and won't charge too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
His charges.That is not a brick. A brick is black screen with no access to recovery, download mode. A bricked phone will be seen by USB but just as a device and not as an S3. If you have the screens that is a soft brick and need to find what the problem is. Could just be a bad USB port on phone or PC or an operator problem. If have any screen the device is not bricked. Ok I see now. You are looking for JTag work and are in Texas. I would still say send to Josh at Mobile Tech in College Station, Tx cause we know he knows what he is doing. You don't have video of unbricking S3? S2 is old and obsolete and no where near the same device. Also must have RIFF for the device. I can make it pass warranty for free over PM.

prdog1 said:
His charges.That is not a brick. A brick is black screen with no access to recovery, download mode. A bricked phone will be seen by USB but just as a device and not as an S3. If you have the screens that is a soft brick and need to find what the problem is. Could just be a bad USB port on phone or PC or an operator problem. If have any screen the device is not bricked. Ok I see now. You are looking for JTag work and are in Texas. I would still say send to Josh at Mobile Tech in College Station, Tx cause we know he knows what he is doing. You don't have video of unbricking S3? S2 is old and obsolete and no where near the same device. Also must have RIFF for the device. I can make it pass warranty for free over PM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You do not know how the bricked phone look like, some bricked like no power, some like download mode but can not flash firmware, some phone is bricked like wont recognize on device manager.
Please check my video for knowing what kind of device I have already done, and see my feed back on ebay.

tomy1986.nt said:
You do not know how the bricked phone look like, some bricked like no power, some like download mode but can not flash firmware, some phone is bricked like wont recognize on device manager.
Please check my video for knowing what kind of device I have already done, and see my feed back on ebay.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If a device can boot to recovery or download or if it charges or is detected when connected to PC then it isn't truly bricked, it's only softbricked. A truly bricked device will not charge, has no LED when connected to PC, can't be detected by PC in any kind of way, will not boot to recovery or download mode and will not power on in any way. This is actually called a "hardbrick".
Sent from my SM-S903VL using Tapatalk

[Q] samsung conquer 4g root help

I was trying to root my brothers phone and i made a mistake.
I was on odin starting root the process by installing the FC17 update and having the phone in download mode.
When i clicked start on odin i thought the phone was supposed to go from download mode
to installing the fc17 update, but when the phone turned on and it acted normal i thought something was wrong.
When i looked on odin's message box it said something about the connection being void until something happened
(i cant really remember what it said) so i decided to unplug the phone.
After i unplugged the phone i decided to restart the rooting process.
This time the download mode screen was different and had a warning about installing a custom OS, but i just ignored it.
The problem is this time around odin wasn't recognizing my bro's phone and i don't know what the issue is.
I installed the phone's drivers and the usb ports are fine. I also tried this on a different computer but it didnt work on that one either
so i figured the problem is that something messed up when i unplugged the phone. Odin now doesn't recognize the phone when its in download mode and i need help.

Please help! I think i'm bricked but I'm not sure

So I have/had a rooted Xperia z3v D6708 and tried flashing http://forum.xda-developers.com/z3/development/d6603-23-1-1-28-t3102271/ using TWRP recovery and everything seemed to go fine. I rebooted my phone after the flash but nothing happened. I tried booting into recovery again to try and restore my phone but nothing happened. I tried plugging it into my computer and it just vibrates every 2 seconds while flashing red then immediately green. This leads me to believe its not bricked so I downloaded the stock firmware using flashtool and tried flashing it onto the phone but when it gets to the part when it asks me to put my phone into flash mode by holding the vol down and plugging it in I do that but nothing happened. I also tried fast boot mode and that seems to work because the phone stops vibrating and the light turns solid blue but there is still a black screen and my computer stays at the screen instructing me to put the phone in fast boot mode so it never recognizes the phone. What should I do?
P.S. flashtool never recognizes the phone when I connect it but it does say this
17/009/2015 14:09:29 - ERROR - Drivers need to be installed for connected device.
17/009/2015 14:09:29 - ERROR - You can find them in the drivers folder of Flashtool.
I tried installing the drivers for my device along with the ones for flashing and fast boot but it didn't work...
Someone please help me!

Tried a full restore with the Sony PC companion? Usually at least gets you out of a soft brick if nothing else is working. Good news is that it's pretty hard to hard brick a sony phone when you're just flashing roms, so your phone is probably fine. I had trouble with the flashtool drivers actually installing because of Win8/10 driver stuff, so that might also be your problem if you're on those OS's. You might want to look into disabling 'Disable Driver Signature Enforcement' and trying again to make sure.

Google the disable driver thing he mentioned ^ I had the same issue and for future reference you can't flash any roms, you can only flash roms in the z3v sections, sound mods and other things like that should be fine to flash

op6 stuck while loading, it tries to load,then reboot,then load again..

its not the usual reboot loop, it gets not even that far, its stuck to the "this phone is jailbroken,hit power to pause" after that it just reboots,while empty.
i tried to switch it off, to ensure loading, but keeping the powerbutton 10sec pressed,is impossible,there is not enough time.
i tried to switch into the bootloader, and say switch off, well it goes back into the loop 2sec later,since it got a bit power, it tries its nonsense.
i tried differend loading methods, pc usb, usb pure (2.1mAh), and the oneplus speedloader adapter with the red cable.
what happend before, well it got empty, and switched off,the apps and such didnt change for about a year, it worked, and thats it.
the accu cell got changed about a year ago, by my insurance company, the old one balooned. so they changed it,meaning its not even a old cell.
trying fastload in bootloader,didnt help getting it charged,anything else just relooped.
iam open for suggestions.
thanks and regards
Noal

I think ur phone might be soft bricked or idk. But I'm pretty sure the problems didn't caused by the new battery.
Seems the phone didn't recognize the /system/ or something on twrp that says "There's no system installed" coz i've faced that (no system installed) before.
If u can manage boot into bootloader, try to fastboot a twrp.img and flash a stock firmware.
If u can't, or let's just say you really feel ur phone in fked up state, try to reflash everything with MSM Download Tool.
Here's some threads I found :
Soft Bricked?
I apologize as I've been out of flashing ROMs for over 4 years now. I unlocked my OP6 bootloader, added TWRP, the flashed Lineage 11. One of my apps wont play nice with root so I tried to go back to stock. I tried to use TWRP 3.5.2_9-0 to...
forum.xda-developers.com
[OP6][LATEST 10.3.8] Collection of unbrick tools
Disclaimer: By attempting any of the processes listed in this thread you accept full responsibility for your actions. I will not be held responsible if your device stops working, catches fire, or turns into a hipster and claims to have been...
forum.xda-developers.com
Credits goes to them.
Hope it helped.

NoalFey said:
its not the usual reboot loop, it gets not even that far, its stuck to the "this phone is jailbroken,hit power to pause" after that it just reboots,while empty.
i tried to switch it off, to ensure loading, but keeping the powerbutton 10sec pressed,is impossible,there is not enough time.
i tried to switch into the bootloader, and say switch off, well it goes back into the loop 2sec later,since it got a bit power, it tries its nonsense.
i tried differend loading methods, pc usb, usb pure (2.1mAh), and the oneplus speedloader adapter with the red cable.
what happend before, well it got empty, and switched off,the apps and such didnt change for about a year, it worked, and thats it.
the accu cell got changed about a year ago, by my insurance company, the old one balooned. so they changed it,meaning its not even a old cell.
trying fastload in bootloader,didnt help getting it charged,anything else just relooped.
iam open for suggestions.
thanks and regards
Noal
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is much better to state the status of your device briefly. Like are you on OOS or custom ROM, unlocked bootloader, with custom recovery installed, magisk installed, etc. Then tell the story on what you did or what happen before your phone got the issue you stated. Then maybe someone can help you in more specific way.
Like Azhar_Fahry recommended, I also recommend using MSM tool and revert back to original state like you first bought your device.