Hard bricked my phone, unresponsive - Samsung Galaxy A51 Questions & Answers

I’ve been asked to restore data and repair bootlooping A51. I’ve tried basic steps and resorted to updating firmware with odin. Recovery mode failed and I couldn’t enter it or fastboot. I’ve used home_csc to hopefully keep user data. Odin shows it passed, left my phone for 10 mins but it still was stuck. Maybe I’ve given it too little time to setup the new firmware.
Anyways now it’s unresponsive, nothing shows up anymore, no button combination works, nothing detected by my PC. Tried disconnecting the battery.
Everything was stock, pretty sure I’ve used the correct system version.
What can I do at this point?

piotrekkrzewi said:
I’ve been asked to restore data and repair bootlooping A51. I’ve tried basic steps and resorted to updating firmware with odin. Recovery mode failed and I couldn’t enter it or fastboot. I’ve used home_csc to hopefully keep user data. Odin shows it passed, left my phone for 10 mins but it still was stuck. Maybe I’ve given it too little time to setup the new firmware.
Anyways now it’s unresponsive, nothing shows up anymore, no button combination works, nothing detected by my PC. Tried disconnecting the battery.
Everything was stock, pretty sure I’ve used the correct system version.
What can I do at this point?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have it repaired. It sounds like something got corrupted and the bootloader won't start. The only way to fix this is with a board level flash, and Samsung/Qualcomm do not make the tools or the files available to do this. Most repair centers don't even have the ability to do this; they'll just replace the mainboard and program it with the original IMEI. Of course, this means that all user data will be lost.

V0latyle said:
Have it repaired. It sounds like something got corrupted and the bootloader won't start. The only way to fix this is with a board level flash, and Samsung/Qualcomm do not make the tools or the files available to do this. Most repair centers don't even have the ability to do this; they'll just replace the mainboard and program it with the original IMEI. Of course, this means that all user data will be lost.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does it make a difference that after a while the phone responded and I can access download mode? I’m trying third firmware from a different source and still using home_csc to hopefully save the damn data.
Is there anything else I could try at this point? Still no access to recovery though.

What I am going to try now is to get twrp on the device and get the data off the phone this way. I don’t know if I can since I didn’t enable OEM Unlocking or whatever it’s called in the settings. Hoping for some tips, thanks!

piotrekkrzewi said:
Does it make a difference that after a while the phone responded and I can access download mode? I’m trying third firmware from a different source and still using home_csc to hopefully save the damn data.
Is there anything else I could try at this point? Still no access to recovery though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're able to get into download mode, reflash the OEM firmware. You can try using HOME_CSC. Data wipe might be necessary if it bootloops.
piotrekkrzewi said:
What I am going to try now is to get twrp on the device and get the data off the phone this way. I don’t know if I can since I didn’t enable OEM Unlocking or whatever it’s called in the settings. Hoping for some tips, thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you didn't unlock the bootloader, this won't do you any good.
Are you seeing any error message on the download mode screen?
I forget if the A51 is a Mediatek device

Right now the device is dead again. I will be leaving it to charge and I hope it comes back alive, like it did before.
I’ve had bootloader errors on the download mode screen when I tried to install the firmware. At this point I am lost in what happened when, but I believe I got the bootloader errors when I tried to install the same firmware I’ve tried prior, so that doesn’t make sense.
I think the battery might be the problem here. It would turn off randomly before it bootlooped and it doesn’t hold charge now. The battery might’ve failed when an update was installing, but that’s just my detective work.
I will be replying with further tests when it turns on.

So, there is some weird behavior. After the phone charges for a few hours it tries to boot. If I hard reset it twice it dies. I need to hard reset it after it comes back and immadietly hold vol buttons to get it into download mode.
I can now experiment more. The original firmware version the phone came to me with is unable to install. Probably because I’ve already installed a newer version of android and it doesn’t allow me to go back. I’ve tried installing a newer bootloader and leave AP, CSC, CP. It fails harder, but I’m still able to try new firmware.
What do I try now? Data recovery is expensive, I’d love to try some stuff, but I don’t have enough time to do proper research and conduct experiments unfortunately.

Sounds like hardware problem if you can control temperature very precisely, you can try to remelt the solder if you know the temperature from the Service Manual. If not - leave to specialized service center who does this kind of thing all the time (ask them if they do).
In terms of flashing, to boot, maybe try Samsung Switch as it should be designed to preserve data however I am not vouching for it.
With Odin just skip the USERDATA and PIT
Doublecheck the exact model SM-Axxx ? Firmware files should be different per exact model.
Share pictures when you hit a problem.

Related

Cannot load Android System. Your data may be corrupt.

Backstory: I upgraded to android 10 a few weeks ago, aside from a few user apps breaking, there weren't any system issues. Recently, I received another update (seems like a patch ?) to android 10 and updated as well. I'm not sure if this recent update actually completed.
Last night, it seems like my phone went into a boot loop while I was sleeping. When I woke up the phone was hot, and each boot was so short that there was no opportunity to go into recovery mode. I pretty much had no choice other than to let the battery drain.
So I walked away and came back a while later to a peculiar recovery screen that said "Cannot load Android system. Your data may be corrupt. If you continue to get this message, you may need to perform a factory data reset and erase all user data stored on this device."
There's only 2 options: "Try again" and "Factory data reset". `adb devices` from the PC is unable to detect my pixel 3 here. "Try again" simply attempts to boot, and I just return to this same screen again (at least it doesn't loop now). I'm reluctant to factory reset as I want to at least have the chance to back up some data.
I am able to enter fastboot from this screen using Power + Volume Down. `fastboot devices` from the PC is able to detect the phone. However, because the bootloader is locked (haven't unlocked the bl since i started using nexus/pixel phones), I don't know if there's much i can do here.
My question is, is there anything that I can try at this point to boot into android 10, recover some data, then do a factory reset ?
From fastboot, what happens if you try entering recovery? If you can get into recovery, you could sideload the OTA. https://developers.google.com/android/ota
sliding_billy said:
From fastboot, what happens if you try entering recovery? If you can get into recovery, you could sideload the OTA. https://developers.google.com/android/ota
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not the "normal" recovery mode. There was the message "Cannot load android system. Your data may be corrupt." Other only options are:
- "Try again" , basically a reboot, which eventually brings me back to this screen
- "Factory Data Reset"
adb is unable to detect the phone in this mode, so I am unable to sideload an OTA.
superc0w said:
It's not the "normal" recovery mode. There was the message "Cannot load android system. Your data may be corrupt." Other only options are:
- "Try again" , basically a reboot, which eventually brings me back to this screen
- "Factory Data Reset"
adb is unable to detect the phone in this mode, so I am unable to sideload an OTA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not knowing what is available with the BL locked... Is the new rescue mode option one of the power up/down choices from your BL/Fastboot screen? That rescue mode is supposed to allow ADB command to work. If not, you are going to have to do a factory reset and if that doesn't help contact Google and RMA. Ability to get out of bricks is the biggest reason to unlock your BL (if you purchased a Google unlockable BL phone) unless you purchased a Verizon phone and can't. In that case, back to the last comment about factory reset/RMA.
superc0w said:
It's not the "normal" recovery mode. There was the message "Cannot load android system. Your data may be corrupt." Other only options are:
- "Try again" , basically a reboot, which eventually brings me back to this screen
- "Factory Data Reset"
adb is unable to detect the phone in this mode, so I am unable to sideload an OTA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Had this happen and I had to do a factory reset prior to unlocking bootloader ,which as was mentioned above is way easier to fix because you can reflash factory image without wiping all data
same thing happened to me; the previous comments gave me the outline of what was needed, so thank you. now for the op:
1. on the screen that offers try again or factory erase, choose "try again"
2. IMMEDIATELY press and hold volume down
3. when you reach the bootloader screen, you may release volume down
4. this is the standard bootloader screen for pixel 3. you should be able to cycle options do so to select 'recovery" (or whatever it says. I'm not going to reboot my phone to see exactly what it says, but I'm sure you get the idea)
Hi, I have encountered device corrupt error on my pixel 4Xl few days back, after reaching out to google support and waiting for 4hrs I haven't received any resolution. In few instances device worked normally for few hours but kept on switching off. I did factory reset once as suggested but currently issue is still persistent. I am out of warranty by few months so I cannot send it google support. Please help me in fixing this issue.
Prudhvi89 said:
Hi, I have encountered device corrupt error on my pixel 4Xl few days back, after reaching out to google support and waiting for 4hrs I haven't received any resolution. In few instances device worked normally for few hours but kept on switching off. I did factory reset once as suggested but currently issue is still persistent. I am out of warranty by few months so I cannot send it google support. Please help me in fixing this issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like this problem. https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...xxxx_sn-xxxxxxxx.4205331/page-7#post-85981389
Prudhvi89 said:
Hi, I have encountered device corrupt error on my pixel 4Xl few days back, after reaching out to google support and waiting for 4hrs I haven't received any resolution. In few instances device worked normally for few hours but kept on switching off. I did factory reset once as suggested but currently issue is still persistent. I am out of warranty by few months so I cannot send it google support. Please help me in fixing this issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So we know you get the corrupt message, support isn't helping, that in a few instances it worked normally for short periods, a factory reset didn't help, and yer out of warranty.
But can u get to fastboot? Is OEM unlocking on? Can u turn oem unlocking on in one of the "few instances", if it's not on?
If u can do the above, i'd follow googles instructions to unlock the bootloader and use the flash-all script and flash the latest firmware.
AsItLies said:
So we know you get the corrupt message, support isn't helping, that in a few instances it worked normally for short periods, a factory reset didn't help, and yer out of warranty.
But can u get to fastboot? Is OEM unlocking on? Can u turn oem unlocking on in one of the "few instances", if it's not on?
If u can do the above, i'd follow googles instructions to unlock the bootloader and use the flash-all script and flash the latest firmware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, thanks for responding back. Yes OEM is enabled on my device. I did reach out to google forums as well for support, they redirected to XDA for support with respect to flashing device.
PS: I am not at all a tech person and have very limited understanding in this area, I am just trying to save my phone.
Prudhvi89 said:
Hi, thanks for responding back. Yes OEM is enabled on my device. I did reach out to google forums as well for support, they redirected to XDA for support with respect to flashing device.
PS: I am not at all a tech person and have very limited understanding in this area, I am just trying to save my phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so then first follow this link and choose which version of android you'd like to flash to your 4xl (probably the latest one).
On that site click 'link' next to the chosen version and it will download the firmware zip file (this is the latest generic version: SP1A.211105.002, Nov 2021 --- if you have verizon or other choose the latest for that carrier).
Then you'll need to follow the directions near the top of that page that starts with the following:
Flashing instructions​The factory image downloaded from this page includes a script that flashes the device, typically named flash-all.sh (On Windows systems, use flash-all.bat instead).
etc etc etc.
If you have trouble, post back here and people will try to assist you.
cheers
AsItLies said:
so then first follow this link and choose which version of android you'd like to flash to your 4xl (probably the latest one).
On that site click 'link' next to the chosen version and it will download the firmware zip file (this is the latest generic version: SP1A.211105.002, Nov 2021 --- if you have verizon or other choose the latest for that carrier).
Then you'll need to follow the directions near the top of that page that starts with the following:
Flashing instructions​The factory image downloaded from this page includes a script that flashes the device, typically named flash-all.sh (On Windows systems, use flash-all.bat instead).
etc etc etc.
If you have trouble, post back here and people will try to assist you.
cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, thanks for quick response. I am getting below error, not sure how to correct it.
Prudhvi89 said:
Hi, thanks for quick response. I am getting below error, not sure how to correct it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you're getting an error indicating you're trying to do something but it can't do it because the boot loader is locked. Obvious.
but here's what's not obvious; what are u trying to do? and why are u trying to do it?
from the looks of the output, yer trying to switch slots? why? there's nothing in those instructions I referenced above that tells u to switch slots? All yer gonna do is first unlock the bootloader and then use the flash all script.
maybe yer reading the wrong directions? Look again what I posted, find those exact words in the directions, do what's under that heading, not any other heading.
Currently I am not able to switch on my phone !!!
AsItLies said:
So you're getting an error indicating you're trying to do something but it can't do it because the boot loader is locked. Obvious.
but here's what's not obvious; what are u trying to do? and why are u trying to do it?
from the looks of the output, yer trying to switch slots? why? there's nothing in those instructions I referenced above that tells u to switch slots? All yer gonna do is first unlock the bootloader and then use the flash all script.
maybe yer reading the wrong directions? Look again what I posted, find those exact words in the directions, do what's under that heading, not any other heading.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Currently I am not able to switch on the device !!
Prudhvi89 said:
Currently I am not able to switch on the device !!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That sounds ominous. You may now be afflicted with the pixel 'stuck in edl mode' problem, which unfortunately there's no solution for.
Try this; plug the device to pc using usb cable, then look in device manager, if you see the device connected with QUSB_BULK_CID (etc), that means it's in EDL mode.
if that's the case, follow this thread to learn more about that, but unfortunately there is no fix, as yet. And I've read just yesterday google is replacing devices with this issue for some.
Just an fyi, if your device is in this state, it's not anything you did, it's the fault of the device. Some believe it to be hardware failure, which seems the most plausible explanation.
AsItLies said:
That sounds ominous. You may now be afflicted with the pixel 'stuck in edl mode' problem, which unfortunately there's no solution for.
Try this; plug the device to pc using usb cable, then look in device manager, if you see the device connected with QUSB_BULK_CID (etc), that means it's in EDL mode.
if that's the case, follow this thread to learn more about that, but unfortunately there is no fix, as yet. And I've read just yesterday google is replacing devices with this issue for some.
Just an fyi, if your device is in this state, it's not anything you did, it's the fault of the device. Some believe it to be hardware failure, which seems the most plausible explanation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok got it !! Thanks for your prompt response & support.
The "Cannot load Android system, Your data may be corrupt" error is known as Rescue Party. Fortunately, fixing it should be relatively simple.
Try dirty flashing the factory image. Do not attempt to flash a patched boot image; leave everything stock.
If that fails, select "Factory data reset". It will wipe your phone, but it should reboot into Android system.
That bootloader message "Your device is corrupt. It can't be trusted" means that the signed key for Verified Boot somehow got screwed up. In this case, I would also recommend reflashing the factory image.
In both cases, the easiest option is to use the Android Flash Tool. It's like a GUI for flashing the factory image.

Semi-Bricked S7

Been having problems a while now, they've been progressively getting worse. Seemed to happen after an update.
Basically the phone freezes and reboots. Can be anything, unlocking, playing games, opening internet browser, opening gmail. Just frustrating, the phone just freezes, then reboots and loads up. Progressively getting worse and just gets hotter and hotter which seems to throw it off more. With the exception of a Software problem from the update (Damaged O/S and/or Bootloader), I'm starting to think the phone may be damaged. I've dropped it a fair share of times, but it's in a case :cyclops: so shouldn't be too bad
What I've done so far
- Cleared cache via Recovery Mode, this temporarily fixes it, the phone boots up again normally, but randomly freezes and reboots again
- Booted phone in safe mode - same problems
- Factory Restore --> Phone restores, but even when installing the apps again in goes through 3/4 reboots
I've enabled Dev Options and USB Debugging (and also OEM Unlock). If I try flashing with ODIN I just get a SW Check Revision failed message.
When the phone gets stuck in it's boot, it just displays the initial "Samsung Galaxy S7 Android" screen and nothing else, the occasional Samsung loading screen, but that sometimes freezes too. The times when I can get into the recovery mode, I've looked at the last log files, and there's sometimes errors relating to /mnt and a couple of directories, but I don't know enough about the O/S to troubleshoot and sometimes it fails to get into Manual Mode, I'll see if I can get photos of the last log file. The reboot reason is UNKNOWN
I've installed ADB, when the phone is loaded up into Windows, and I use adb devices it shows up. When I go into download mode, it says "List of attached devices" and then shows nothing. So I'm assuming it's a different issue, otherwise it wouldn't work in windows either
Bit stumped now. The phone isn't rooted, I'm not bothered about losing data, since I backed it up the first time I factory restored, so there's nothing valuable on there. I'm just getting tired of factory restoring it, since I don't think that's the problem. I'm thinking either the Factory Restore image is damaged or the phone is.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Phone is UK Based on Giff Gaff network. These are the files I'm trying to use to flash it
The option isn't ticked in ODIN (3.14.4) to Wipe Partition either
AP_G930FXXS4ESAE_CL14843133_QB21796491_REV00_user_low_ship_meta.tar
BL_G930FXXS4ESAE_CL14843133_QB21796491_REV00_user_low_ship.tar
CP_G930FXXU4ESAE_CL987828_QB11799217_SIGNED.tar
HOME_CSC_OXA_G930FOXA4ERKF_CL14843133_QB21796491_REV00_user_low_ship.tar
I read somewhere if I use this file it wipes the data. So haven't tried this
CSC_OXA_G930FOXA4ERKF_CL14843133_QB21796491_REV00_user_low_ship.tar
GrabAndSmash said:
Been having problems a while now, they've been progressively getting worse. Seemed to happen after an update.
Basically the phone freezes and reboots. Can be anything, unlocking, playing games, opening internet browser, opening gmail. Just frustrating, the phone just freezes, then reboots and loads up. Progressively getting worse and just gets hotter and hotter which seems to throw it off more. With the exception of a Software problem from the update (Damaged O/S and/or Bootloader), I'm starting to think the phone may be damaged. I've dropped it a fair share of times, but it's in a case :cyclops: so shouldn't be too bad
What I've done so far
- Cleared cache via Recovery Mode, this temporarily fixes it, the phone boots up again normally, but randomly freezes and reboots again
- Booted phone in safe mode - same problems
- Factory Restore --> Phone restores, but even when installing the apps again in goes through 3/4 reboots
I've enabled Dev Options and USB Debugging (and also OEM Unlock). If I try flashing with ODIN I just get a SW Check Revision failed message.
When the phone gets stuck in it's boot, it just displays the initial "Samsung Galaxy S7 Android" screen and nothing else, the occasional Samsung loading screen, but that sometimes freezes too. The times when I can get into the recovery mode, I've looked at the last log files, and there's sometimes errors relating to /mnt and a couple of directories, but I don't know enough about the O/S to troubleshoot and sometimes it fails to get into Manual Mode, I'll see if I can get photos of the last log file. The reboot reason is UNKNOWN
I've installed ADB, when the phone is loaded up into Windows, and I use adb devices it shows up. When I go into download mode, it says "List of attached devices" and then shows nothing. So I'm assuming it's a different issue, otherwise it wouldn't work in windows either
Bit stumped now. The phone isn't rooted, I'm not bothered about losing data, since I backed it up the first time I factory restored, so there's nothing valuable on there. I'm just getting tired of factory restoring it, since I don't think that's the problem. I'm thinking either the Factory Restore image is damaged or the phone is.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Phone is UK Based on Giff Gaff network. These are the files I'm trying to use to flash it
The option isn't ticked in ODIN (3.14.4) to Wipe Partition either
AP_G930FXXS4ESAE_CL14843133_QB21796491_REV00_user_low_ship_meta.tar
BL_G930FXXS4ESAE_CL14843133_QB21796491_REV00_user_low_ship.tar
CP_G930FXXU4ESAE_CL987828_QB11799217_SIGNED.tar
HOME_CSC_OXA_G930FOXA4ERKF_CL14843133_QB21796491_REV00_user_low_ship.tar
I read somewhere if I use this file it wipes the data. So haven't tried this
CSC_OXA_G930FOXA4ERKF_CL14843133_QB21796491_REV00_user_low_ship.tar
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello the SW Check error means the firmware your trying to flash is older than the firmware already on device. You can only flash the same or up, never down.
The firmware you've posted is quite old. The unbranded original for United Kingdom you need is BTU. I linked it off Sammobile but if you know how to use Sam Firm tool you can get it much faster direct from Samsung.
If problems persist after flashing this, then yes it's a hardware problem.
https://www.sammobile.com/samsung/galaxy-s7/firmware/SM-G930F/BTU/download/G930FXXS8ETC1/327922
cooltt said:
Hello the SW Check error means the firmware your trying to flash is older than the firmware already on device. You can only flash the same or up, never down.
The firmware you've posted is quite old. The unbranded original for United Kingdom you need is BTU. I linked it off Sammobile but if you know how to use Sam Firm tool you can get it much faster direct from Samsung.
If problems persist after flashing this, then yes it's a hardware problem.
https://www.sammobile.com/samsung/galaxy-s7/firmware/SM-G930F/BTU/download/G930FXXS8ETC1/327922
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks,
I've got the SamFirm download tool because I was irritated waiting for the download, I'll try downloading and flashing it.
Should I flash the lot, or just one specific thing?
Also, I used Sam Firm to download the firmware for the phone but using the Auto Method.
What is the "Version" I need to enter based on SamFirm, is it listed somewhere, or is it the phone itself? G930FXX8ETC1 ?
GrabAndSmash said:
Also, I used Sam Firm to download the firmware for the phone but using the Auto Method.
What is the "Version" I need to enter based on SamFirm, is it listed somewhere, or is it the phone itself? G930FXX8ETC1 ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't need to specify a version just put in SM-G930F, then BTU in region. It will automatically find the correct firmware for download.
Download, let it do its checks. A zip file with 5 files inside, 2xCSC, only one goes in Odin. CSC_home will keep files and settings on device but can often cause problems. I alsway use just CSC for a clean install. Obviously put the other files where they need to go too.
Sorry yes, flash all files, you'll have a clean new phone.
First boot can take about 5-10 mins, and the updating, erasing screens are normal.
cooltt said:
You don't need to specify a version just put in SM-G930F, then BTU in region. It will automatically find the correct firmware for download.
Download, let it do its checks. A zip file with 5 files inside, 2xCSC, only one goes in Odin. CSC_home will keep files and settings on device but can often cause problems. I alsway use just CSC for a clean install. Obviously put the other files where they need to go too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, I managed to figure it out, I'm sure it's what I did last time, not sure if it just picked up the wrong version somewhere. IT seems to match the info in your post anyway.
I don't give a toss about the data since I'm over writing it all anyway. Do I still ignore the option to wipe the partition in ODIN, or should that be included to?
GrabAndSmash said:
Thank you, I managed to figure it out, I'm sure it's what I did last time, not sure if it just picked up the wrong version somewhere. IT seems to match the info in your post anyway.
I don't give a toss about the data since I'm over writing it all anyway. Do I still ignore the option to wipe the partition in ODIN, or should that be included to?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Leave the default options already ticked in Odin. You don't need to change anything there.
cooltt said:
Leave the default options already ticked in Odin. You don't need to change anything there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks,
Just finished flashing the image now, so going about the restore process to see if it's fixed it or not.
(still think it's buggered though, my phone froze/rebooted even when doing android config)
If needed I'll just keep using it in a semi-working state until I buy a new one and put up with it
EDIT - Just froze / rebooted configuring the main O/S after connecting to google account. New phone time by looks of it
Only other possible thing I can think of is the battery. There were alarms in the log file and the phone does reboot more when it gets hot. Given the phone is 4 years old now, I wonder if the battery is damaged and the phone is having a hissy fit
GrabAndSmash said:
Thanks,
Just finished flashing the image now, so going about the restore process to see if it's fixed it or not.
(still think it's buggered though, my phone froze/rebooted even when doing android config)
If needed I'll just keep using it in a semi-working state until I buy a new one and put up with it
EDIT - Just froze / rebooted configuring the main O/S after connecting to google account. New phone time by looks of it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah look like battery overheating making it reboot
cooltt said:
Yeah look like battery overheating making it reboot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll give it a try for now, I've got the correct files for flashing it at least this time thanks, I''ll try replacing the battery in the future, and if I find out it fixes the problems I'll update the post. Or if I figure out what's causing it

I need help flashing firmware on my bootlooping s10e to recover some files

After the most recent update my phone got put into a bootloop that wouldnt stop for some reason, it would boot and then after I wanna say less than 20 seconds it would reboot itself, and just kept going on in this cycle unless I powered it off when it was booted. Anyway I've been trying everything I can to get the damn thing working again so I can at the very least get my pictures off of it without factory resetting it and nothing is working, and I sorta feel like I've made things worse. I tried flashing with Odin but after that the thing just stopped booting alltogether so that kinda limited my options a lot. Now I'm trying to sideload an update from an sd card which might work if i can find the right thing to sideload onto it but before it gets anywhere it tells me error in /sideload/package.zip (status 7) so either I just need a different thing to sideload or something's broken. Either way I don't know how to get it working cause I have no idea what I'm doing here so now I need help.
My phone is SM-G970U SPR
Sounds like you are in a bad spot. If your pictures are on internal storage then flashing anything in Odin will wipe that.
I think you need to accept that they may be lost.
not so fast, i've used home_csc in all my flashes and when I finally got one working all my stuff was still intact. Now i just need to figure out how to get it to stop bootlooping.
Hello friends, I am currently crying in the same boat!
So, similar to Oske829 my phone ( Samsung Galaxy S10e ) has entered into a bootloop after a recent update that occurred roughly on February 06, 2021.
I am also experiencing the same symptoms as well:
My phone starts to boot up, then fails and Approximately 20 seconds after, it repeats that cycle. The phone continues to bootloop until drained of its battery then repeats this cycle again once if it is charged. **this is the current situation**
After playing around with the buttons, the only progress I've made is reaching the Download Mode. Ive yet to try odin or anything else and would like to ask for some help please! I really want to be able to save the data on there (pictures, music, apps, etc..)
Any help is appreciated, Thanks!
AlphaFeedback said:
Hello friends, I am currently crying in the same boat!
So, similar to Oske829 my phone ( Samsung Galaxy S10e ) has entered into a bootloop after a recent update that occurred roughly on February 06, 2021.
I am also experiencing the same symptoms as well:
My phone starts to boot up, then fails and Approximately 20 seconds after, it repeats that cycle. The phone continues to bootloop until drained of its battery then repeats this cycle again once if it is charged. **this is the current situation**
After playing around with the buttons, the only progress I've made is reaching the Download Mode. Ive yet to try odin or anything else and would like to ask for some help please! I really want to be able to save the data on there (pictures, music, apps, etc..)
Any help is appreciated, Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Download the latest official firmware with Frija tool (no download caps unlike websites like Sammobile etc). Just be aware that if you download and use Android 11 you wont be able to downgrade to Android 10.
After you have downloaded it unpack the zip and run Odin. In order to preserve your data flash the HOME_CSC file not the regular CSC... file. Once you unpack the files you will see.
The phone needs to be in download mode for flashing and battery is suggested to be at 40% or more.
Btw a good way to get out of bootloop and get the phone to shut down is to connect the USB cable (could be from charger or PC) and then press Volume Down+Power buttons to force a restart. It may be nessesary to do this a few times.
At one point you will not see the boot screen but instead it will show the lightning bolt charging logo and the percentage. After that you can simply unplug the cable and the phone will turn off.
In order to enter Download mode the best way is to start with phone turned off. Hold Bixby+Volume Down buttons and connect the USB cable from PC. Once you see the confirmation screen you can release the buttons and press Volume Up to continue.
AlphaFeedback said:
Hello friends, I am currently crying in the same boat!
So, similar to Oske829 my phone ( Samsung Galaxy S10e ) has entered into a bootloop after a recent update that occurred roughly on February 06, 2021.
I am also experiencing the same symptoms as well:
My phone starts to boot up, then fails and Approximately 20 seconds after, it repeats that cycle. The phone continues to bootloop until drained of its battery then repeats this cycle again once if it is charged. **this is the current situation**
After playing around with the buttons, the only progress I've made is reaching the Download Mode. Ive yet to try odin or anything else and would like to ask for some help please! I really want to be able to save the data on there (pictures, music, apps, etc..)
Any help is appreciated, Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So incredibly glad to hear I'm not a lone soul dealing with this issue. I've tried a whole bunch of things to fix this issue but nothing is getting me anywhere. I tried flashing android 10 but as that other lad said you can't flash older versions of android.
At this point I think my only chance of saving the phone is to wait for a new system update to release and flash that in case it somehow magically fixes the phone for some reason. I wouldn't recommend trying to flash atm because it doesn't seem to help currently and if you donk it up you'll lose your data which is not something either of us want to do.
I'll let you know what happens if I try flashing a future update.
Well i had an even bigger problem initially. Not only was my S10e bootlooping. My EFS partition was missing files (dont know how that happened). That meant that IMEI was blank and there was not network connectivity aside from Wi-Fi.
Unfortunately even the stock firmware flash does not fix EFS. Thankfully i had a backup (multiple actually) stored away including EFS. So with some fiddiling around in custom recovery file manager (TWRP) i manged to get that restored. I did lose bunch of pictures in intrernal storage tho. Thankfully it was nothing important. Now i keep everything on SD card and SD Cards backup in PC.
Now im trying to get the phone rooted with Magisk but the damn thing is not working.
This underscores the importance of regular (i had weekly TWRP) backups. I had backups of all partitions except internal data like pictures etc. Lesson learned i guess.
Hey RaXelliX thanks for lending a hand! Unfortunately I'm using a Mac Pro and Frija is a Windows exclusive *tears*
it seems that my next best alternative is to use Samloader instead of Frija, and JOdin3 instead of Odin. After some research ive realized that I am way out of my depth , but shall continue nonetheless. I'm gonna try your method with these alternatives and hope for the best, that sounds good in theory I was just curious to the thoughts of others more experienced.
And Oske829 your definitely not alone, stay strong and best of luck
Thanks!
There was a new firmware on Sammobile that I just tried flashing, didn't fix the problem, still bootlooping. I am officially out of ideas on how to fix this. I think there's something funky at the hardware/software level that's throwing a fit about having to run android 11 that's causing this, but I have no clue what it could be or how to resolve it. Not sure if there's anything i can do at this point to save my data.
Oske829 said:
There was a new firmware on Sammobile that I just tried flashing, didn't fix the problem, still bootlooping. I am officially out of ideas on how to fix this. I think there's something funky at the hardware/software level that's throwing a fit about having to run android 11 that's causing this, but I have no clue what it could be or how to resolve it. Not sure if there's anything i can do at this point to save my data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could try flashing a custom recovery (i suggest TWRP: https://eu.dl.twrp.me/beyond0lte/ S10e Exynos version) and the once in recovery connect USB cable to move the data off. If you succeed then you could wipe the phone and get out of bootloop.
When flashing recovery via Odin use the AP field and select the twrp-3.5.0_9-4-beyond0lte.img.tar file and make sure NAND Erase and Re-Partition are OFF. Auto-Reboot could be on or off.
This would touch only the recovery partition and will not wipe data unless you do it yourself inside TWRP.
There are a few caveats with this. The phone may complain about missing VBMETA header. If that's the case i will share a modified TAR file that includes that and TWRP itself. Or the phone could fail flashing custom recovery due to Vaultkeeper that prevents flashing unofficial binaries. This usually happens a day or two after flashing firmware. After that Vaultkeeper disengages.
Obviously your bootloader should be unlocked. You can do that by pressing Bixby+Vol Down before connecting the cable (with phone off) and then long press Vol Up to enter bootloader unlock mode. Bootloader can later be relocked again.
RaXelliX said:
You could try flashing a custom recovery (i suggest TWRP: https://eu.dl.twrp.me/beyond0lte/ S10e Exynos version) and the once in recovery connect USB cable to move the data off. If you succeed then you could wipe the phone and get out of bootloop.
When flashing recovery via Odin use the AP field and select the twrp-3.5.0_9-4-beyond0lte.img.tar file and make sure NAND Erase and Re-Partition are OFF. Auto-Reboot could be on or off.
This would touch only the recovery partition and will not wipe data unless you do it yourself inside TWRP.
There are a few caveats with this. The phone may complain about missing VBMETA header. If that's the case i will share a modified TAR file that includes that and TWRP itself. Or the phone could fail flashing custom recovery due to Vaultkeeper that prevents flashing unofficial binaries. This usually happens a day or two after flashing firmware. After that Vaultkeeper disengages.
Obviously your bootloader should be unlocked. You can do that by pressing Bixby+Vol Down before connecting the cable (with phone off) and then long press Vol Up to enter bootloader unlock mode. Bootloader can later be relocked again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is this exclusively for exynos phones or can I run twrp on a qualcomm device?
nevermind i found the snapdragon version of twrp
I'm trying to unlock the bootloader the way you described but that doesn't seem to be doing anything, and any guides I'm seeing on how to unlock it all involve doing something that resets the phone which isn't what I'm going for.
Oske829 said:
I'm trying to unlock the bootloader the way you described but that doesn't seem to be doing anything, and any guides I'm seeing on how to unlock it all involve doing something that resets the phone which isn't what I'm going for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You might be out of luck as Snapdragon versions do not allow bootloader unlocks. At least as far as i know. I wrongly assumed you had Exynos version. If the data is important the last resort might be to contact some data recovery company. Im sure they have tools to access the internal memory even if the phone bootloops or flat out refuses to boot.
Flash 4 file firmware
Use Home_csc
If you want keep your data
Hucin44 said:
Flash 4 file firmware
Use Home_csc
If you want keep your data
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe he already tried that and the phone is still bootlooping. Im betting that whatever causes the bootloop is in the data, the data he needs to access.
A bad situation all around because if he wipes the data it will likely fix the bootloop but he will lose the data. If he keeps the data the phone will keep bootlooping and he wont be able to access it. Although i would argue that the data you cant access is effectively lost anyway and that the proper functioning of the phone is more important.
I've heard that theres tools you can use to recover deleted data after resets and stuff since data doesnt get wiped when its deleted its just marked as stuff that can be written over. So I would think there would be a way for me to reset my phone to get it working and then recover the data with one of those programs, but the problem is from what I've heard you need a rooted device to do any of that and since I can't unlock my bootloader I don't think that can happen.
The one last thing I'm going to try before I seek out help from data recovery people is to try pushing the smartswitch apk onto the phone with adb and then hoping I have enough uptime to install it before the phone reboots cause I've heard you can use smartswitch in download mode to backup data, but I haven't found any guides anywhere about how this is done so I don't know if its actually doable.
Oske829 said:
I've heard that theres tools you can use to recover deleted data after resets and stuff since data doesnt get wiped when its deleted its just marked as stuff that can be written over. So I would think there would be a way for me to reset my phone to get it working and then recover the data with one of those programs, but the problem is from what I've heard you need a rooted device to do any of that and since I can't unlock my bootloader I don't think that can happen.
The one last thing I'm going to try before I seek out help from data recovery people is to try pushing the smartswitch apk onto the phone with adb and then hoping I have enough uptime to install it before the phone reboots cause I've heard you can use smartswitch in download mode to backup data, but I haven't found any guides anywhere about how this is done so I don't know if its actually doable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I find myself here after 48 hours of s10e hell, with an almost identical issue. After a couple attempts and a trip to our local cell phone repair place, we ended up doing a factory reset, with the same hopes -- that the files were still there but the space marked as "free" and a 3rd party data recovery program could bring them back from the dead.
But they all require your phone to be rooted first - and this being my first venture into phone rooting I'm not really sure which route to go, or if it'll even be worth the effort. Does rooting the phone mean flashing it with a new OS, or simply unlocking superuser access so the recovery software can do its bit? (bear in mind, a lot of these products try to root the phones themselves, but none of them seem to work - I've tried about 4 different products thus far).
I'm convinced that if I can root this phone, the recovery software WILL find those lost sectors and recover the lost data, even after a factory reset -- there's plenty of youtube videos out there that say you can do this, but the rooting bit is what's got me tied up in knots!
huh.. jeah, latest update bricked my s10e too.
but my case, when power on phone, nothing happens, just black.. when conect cable to pc , then i can enter recovery and download mode..
till now nothing helped..
oem locked, frp locked, cant flash custom binaries!
hope next update will fix this madnes..
or need to find same firmware as update.zip what we can flash using stock recovery option (sadly saamsung dont give any update.zip files, i gues its money thing)
so, odin dont help, chimera tools dont help, and enginering combination file give some approval error to flash factory binaries!
houdini987 said:
I'm convinced that if I can root this phone, the recovery software WILL find those lost sectors and recover the lost data, even after a factory reset -- there's plenty of youtube videos out there that say you can do this, but the rooting bit is what's got me tied up in knots!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well ,as far as i know, thease all recovery lost data works with HDD type disks, flash memory are out of luck..
because, i easy restored deleted data from my HDD, if it wasnt multiple times formated or writed full hdd , deleted, writed full etc.. but with SSD that software isnt working, due flash memory.. but, maybe im just to old, and there are new softs who can do that, just, i have not seen any jet!

Samsung s20FE somehow bricked

Hello
my sister's phone somehow broke down. It's not rooted or anything, was use for mainly day to day use. She called me yesterday that her phone randomly resets (like 1x per hour).
I plugged phone to computer, wanted to transfer pictures and "important" data to pc and during the transformation phone closed and I am unable to open it again. I managed to transfer around 60% of pictures but mostly important ones so the loss is not that big.
-phone started "looping" at start screen logo to samsung for like 30minutes. After a while it somehow booted into the system and I tried to do software update. Downloaded the update and then installed it but at some point phone closed down and started looping loading screen again. Since then im unable to boot it into the system....
-I entered recovery mode and did Factory reset. Doesnt help. Wiped cache, doesnt help.
-i know little to nothing about android but my guess is that i somehow bricked the system when i did factory reset just when the phone was updating?
is there any solution to somehow "install" fresh android on the phone via PC? Phone is not rooted but it has activated USB debugging options.
****EDIT***
I was thinking that it could be hardware issue but phone can stay open in recovery mode for hours so I suppose it is software problem?
Phone is still under warranty but i cba dealing with services and would rather fix it myself.
Thank you for any help
You should simply done a factory reset.
It will need reflashed. In the long run it may be best to let Samsung hash it out.
Yeah i should've done factory reset while phone was still usable. But I wanted to recover all of the photoa, thats why i tried to do system update first....
dehumless said:
Yeah i should've done factory reset while phone was still usable. But I wanted to recover all of the photoa, thats why i tried to do system update first....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Updates don't help especially in this case where the OS was teeter toddling on the abyss. Safe mode. The first mistake was not having the critical data redundantly backed up. All you can do is learn from the mistakes.
blackhawk said:
Updates don't help especially in this case where the OS was teeter toddling on the abyss. Safe mode. The first mistake was not having the critical data redundantly backed up. All you can do is learn from the mistakes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well, right now im trying to find android firmware images and will try to flash them on with Odin later.
But I am sure that i will face several problems on the way
dehumless said:
well, right now im trying to find android firmware images and will try to flash them on with Odin later.
But I am sure that i will face several problems on the way
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use SmartSwitch to do that, but I'm a total novice at flashing Androids and the best method. Pick and use the safest method...
A Samsung Experience center at Best Buy can also do it. They might be able to give you more insight as to why it failed.

New Samsung Update for A51 is Bricking phones

Good evening folks. Over the Past week, for some reason, people who downloaded the new Samsung update for A51 have had their phones bricked. FOR SOME REASON, this seems to only be happening here in South Australia. I haven't seen anywhere reporting on this issue other than local news. I have had three A51 phones come into my IT store, all with the same problem.
here is a link to one article talking about it: https://7news.com.au/technology/sam...ng-priceless-photos-vital-contacts--c-9340963
Upon installing the update, their phone will restart then it will not progress past the SAMSUNG logo. I have been able to get each and every phone into recovery mode however I when I try and reboot the phones into bootloader, they simply say "entering fast boot" and then don't progress any further.
Since I have been unable to boot the phone to bootloader I don't have many solutions in front of me, I can either factory reset the phone which has been proven to work, or I can try some alternative method. Simply put, I refuse to take the simple way out and simply factory reset the phone, I don't want my customers to go through the trouble of losing their photos.
The only real option I see is using ADB to install either a new update or new firmware, however, I have had ALOT of trouble finding the necessary software. I have been able to get ADB to detect the devices with a USB connection, so I tried installing some firmware, I found for my device. I didn't trust that this was the correct software, but it couldn't hurt to see if it worked.
Using a515fxxu5gvk6, I was able to find a website where I could download Firmware https://samfw.com/firmware/SM-A515F/TEL I don't believe this to have the correct software but it was the only option I could find that didn't require money or an account.
upon extracting the zip file and typing ADB sideload <file name> it would start the process of installing the software however, it would only install for a single second and then stop working. I would be greeted with the messages: "footer is wrong", "update package took 0.3s", and "signature failed". I believe this means I have either grabbed the wrong software or I have tried installing the software wrong
I really don't know where to find the correct software, and I don't even know if I will be able to update the phone using ADB since I never was able to enable developer tools.
I have already spent quite a few hours on this, and it's starting to drive me insane. I have gone down so many rabbit holes researching different options only to come back up empty-handed. Im lost and really don't know where to turn.
any help would be literally amazing, if someone could even point me in the right direction that's all I need. even if you tell me there is nothing that can be done and I need to factory reset the phone I can at least go to sleep knowing I god damn tried.
Well, one thing you should know is that Samsung doesn't use fastboot to flash software like many other brands. It's unfortunate to say that a lot of the guides you read online are just copy-paste of guides that do use fastboot. Adb doesn't really flash software without elevated permissions afaik.
You can flash firmware using Odin for Samsung devices. There should be plenty of guides online on how to use it, your main goal right now is figuring out how to boot into download mode for Samsung.
What I would do is try to turn the phone off completely if you've been able to boot to recovery. After that, hold both the volume buttons and while you're holding them, connect your phone to a PC. This should force the phone to boot to download mode. Read the screen as it may ask you to press VOL + to proceed.
After that, you can flash the files
AP_XXXX
BL_XXXX
CP_XXXX
HOME_CSC_XXXX (Use HOME_CSC instead of CSC_ so that the phones don't lose any data)
And after that, you should be able to flash firmware
ShaDisNX255 said:
Well, one thing you should know is that Samsung doesn't use fastboot to flash software like many other brands. It's unfortunate to say that a lot of the guides you read online are just copy-paste of guides that do use fastboot. Adb doesn't really flash software without elevated permissions afaik.
You can flash firmware using Odin for Samsung devices. There should be plenty of guides online on how to use it, your main goal right now is figuring out how to boot into download mode for Samsung.
What I would do is try to turn the phone off completely if you've been able to boot to recovery. After that, hold both the volume buttons and while you're holding them, connect your phone to a PC. This should force the phone to boot to download mode. Read the screen as it may ask you to press VOL + to proceed.
After that, you can flash the files
AP_XXXX
BL_XXXX
CP_XXXX
HOME_CSC_XXXX (Use HOME_CSC instead of CSC_ so that the phones don't lose any data)
And after that, you should be able to flash firmware
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much for your reply. I have spent the past few hours setting up Odin and installing the firmware.
I have run into another problem, I select all the firmware I wish to install then click start. It loads for two seconds then says "PASS!". However the phone is still stuck in a boot loop
I believe this is because I haven't turned in USB debugging, since I can't get into the phone I can't turn it on even if I want to.
Is there another option?
USB debugging isn't needed when flashing through Odin. You're most likely just missing the Samsung dev drivers. Try and installing them: https://developer.samsung.com/android-usb-driver

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