Develop Bugs

How I (accidentally) got into download mode on my Bell i9000m

This is not the kind of recipe you'd want to follow to get download mode on a phone with 3 button recovery disabled, but this might clue someone in as to how to make it accessible under simpler circumstances.
This worked for me, dont assume anything:
- Got brand new Bell Samsung Galaxy S from store this morning.
- Tested general funcs, installed nothing.
- Tested every possible way of getting into Recovery or Download mode. None worked.
- Loaded up Kies
- Plugged in phone
- Clicked upgrade firmware
- Started the firwmare update process
- At around 20% progress, unplugged the phone (dont ask)
- Phone was now Purple screen bricked.
- Popped and re-inserted battery.
- Came back with "disconnted" graphic (phone-warning-pc)
- Held HOME, then VOLUME-DOWN, then power (with usb plugged in)
- Held till it came back in download mode.
- Voila!
I then used Odin to flash JH2 onto my phone. Phone works fine now. Impossible to get into recovery or download mode again.
Conclusions:
- If you are completely mad, you could try this technique to get into download mode.
- The blocking of the mechanism is clearly software, not hardware.
- Erasing or damaging the firmware erases the block.
- You may not be able to get into download mode voluntarily, but when you need it most (ie phone bricked) it's there for you.
I hope this somehow ever so slightly advances us toward a hack or fix for this problem. Good luck all.

davidke said:
- At around 20% progress, unplugged the phone (dont ask)
- Phone was now Purple screen bricked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad you got it working. I'm able to boot into recovery/download mode when my phone is warmish. Try explaining that!

risky stuff good job

mInes saying device cannot be updated

taurean376 said:
mInes saying device cannot be updated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because you already have the latest....
Smart to test that method when brand new. In an emergency that isn't a bad thing to try. But they need to fix that, we bought the phone in good faith that it was complete and it might kill warranty but we should be able to get into download mode as designed. If we do then there isn't an issue with people wanting to exchange them cause we can fix our mistakes. Isn't that the better less evil way?...

taurean376 said:
mInes saying device cannot be updated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
God I hate that angry face emoticon. It's like QQ more red face dude!
Anyway, mine says that too. Who cares. Just use odin.

my phone will only go into download mode if the back is warm. i flashed it 4 or 5 times yesterday and each time it would not go into download mode until i left it plugged in long enough for the back to become a little warm, then i could enter download mode at will

I have to sacrifice the lives of 1000 virgins to get mine into recovery/download mode Pain in the ass...
[/sarcasm]
Actually mine works fine. Mind you, I've had a locked out one. It Bricked

it's not true, i got mine into the ultimate bricked mode
and no matter what trick you tried
it will not go into download mode holding the 3 combo keys
on the NEW phone i got after that, it will easily go into download mode at my will, EVEN WHEN THE PHONE IS ON
so, it really just comes down to, if it works, it will work regardless
if it doesn't work... better return it before it is too late, and when you really really need it and it's not there for you

AllGamer said:
it's not true, i got mine into the ultimate bricked mode
and no matter what trick you tried
it will not go into download mode holding the 3 combo keys
on the NEW phone i got after that, it will easily go into download mode at my will, EVEN WHEN THE PHONE IS ON
so, it really just comes down to, if it works, it will work regardless
if it doesn't work... better return it before it is too late, and when you really really need it and it's not there for you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had that picture on my screen yesterday and I almost swallowed my tongue! I was able to get it into download mode and flash with odin. Pretty scary as I mentioned earlier that my phone needs to be warm for it to have any chance of entering download mode.

from what i can gather, people that are able to to get into download mode, it was because it was working fine to begin with, just not hittings the buttons in the correct time or sequence
because if the heat mode worked, or the usb plugged mode worked, then it should have worked as well on the one i sent back for repair, but it didn't work because i tried those methods already

I definately cannot get back into download mode. I tried 100 times. Yet, yesterday, when I had the black screen of death, I could do it at will easily.
So there are circumstances that will let you in and others that wont.
For some it's "warmth", for me it's when it's bricked. Or maybe I killed a virgin that day... not sure.

i like the new term "Black Screen of Death"
lets keep using it more often, so it becomes the norm
it's much easier than say i got bricked at the phone -- ! -- pc screen as most people have been trying to describe

I can't get mine into d/l mode for the life of me.
question: I've had my phone for about a month now. Is it too late? I'm not even sure if I have the receipt (although my buddy is a manager at the bell store)
Should I replace mine? and if so, how do I go about doing it ?
Is it really necessary?
Can't you get into download mode via ADB ?????????????

i'll say wait for froyo to be out
then see if Samsung includes a fix for the 3 button issue.
if they don't or if the froyo upgrade dies half way
then you can comment it all here
http://www.facebook.com/samsungmobilecanada

AllGamer said:
i like the new term "Black Screen of Death
lets keep using it more often, so it becomes the norm
it's much easier than say i got bricked at the phone -- ! -- pc screen as most people have been trying to describe
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
plz help to bass this problem

I dont think you can "brick" an android device. I've had customers come in with all sorts of failed atemps of rooting and hacking and have fixed them all.
Device list:
Samsung Galaxy s
Samsung Galaxy
Samsung Apollo
HTC Wildfire
HTC Desire
Sony X10
Sony X10 Mini Pro
LG Intouch Max
T-Mobile G2
T-Mobile G1
There are a few things like when people dont make back ups of there efs folder etc but that is just user "school boy" errors by people who would play Russian roulette with a fully loaded gun and go first.
Why do people jump into things without thinking and expect others to fix it when they f**k it up. My advice is that if you cant afford to buy a new one when you brake it then leave it alone.

Flashing the software shouldn't "brake" it. It shouldn't break it either. Point is, the phones have a method of recovering from a bad flash, and that isn't working for some of us. We shouldn't have to be ready to buy a whole new phone, just to try different software.
Sent from my GT-I9000M using XDA App

Seeking Assistance Q.Q!

Hi guys! I'm new to the board. I've done some searching and still haven't been able to resolve my issue so hopefully, with your expertise, I can get this fixed.
Here's the story: I bought a Galaxy Nexus (GSM) second hand from a guy on Craigslist. He showed me the phone, works and looks like new. Yippee!! Well, when I got home I see that there's a lock code on it.. Tried calling the seller a few times and left a VM - now it says the number is disconnected... Emailed, no response. So I looked on here and learned how to get into the Bootloader menu...except when I hit Power and VOL+/-, it just boots straight back into the lock screen..
I've installed the appropriate Samsung drivers on my PC and tried to get it to be recognized that way. However, it seems to be in mass storage mode because when plugged in it just mounts it like a drive. I've tried the "Toolkits" but since my PC isn't seeing the phone properly it never makes a data connection for ADB. So, what're my options? Am I completely SOL?
The phone is beautiful and would love to use it =(

Not sure what exactly you mean by "lock code". But could be a stolen and locked phone.
How does the prompt look like?

You can't get to the bootloader? Really? That's the weirdest thing I've heard actually ...
Are you SURE you pressed both volume up and down then pressed power? Sometimes, you might boot into the ROM first, then press the volume buttons.
Also, I believe that you gotta unlock to install drivers and use ADB commands at first. My phone didn't let me install driver on my computer when it was locked (screen turned off)
If you can't get to the bootloader, you ARE pretty much screwed.. since you can't use fastboot and adb commands either

abnah said:
Not sure what exactly you mean by "lock code". But could be a stolen and locked phone.
How does the prompt look like?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's just the standard lock screen. Keypad, Date/Time.
kyokeun1234> Yes, I am certain I'm holding the buttons in - there is a "click" on both VOL+ and VOL- as well as the Power button.
I've tried holding them all in. Holding just the VOL- button (for ODIN) - same result. OS just boots normally and goes back to the keypad requesting the code.

HerroKitty said:
It's just the standard lock screen. Keypad, Date/Time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, that looks like the phone just wasn't reset (resetted? Help, please, English isn't my native =D) properly. If you somehow manage to get into the bootloader, no worst case. But how you can do that when the button-combo isn't workling is above my knowlegde. Sorry. :/

There is a "special" micro USB cord called a Jig that can be used to coax the device into download (Odin) mode simply by plugging it into the device.
Hopefully someone will come along and give information as to where you can obtain one.
Once the device is in download mode you should be able to use Odin to return the device to a factory state.
Edit: I read an article that claimed this jig is compatible with the Galaxy Nexus:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0053H73JQ/ref=redir_mdp_mobile?redirect=true&ref_=ox_ya_os_product
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Random now permanent black screen issue

Bought this phone off the electronic bay, arrived totally fine, no signs of any damage, worked just fine. Upgraded it with the sony OTA updates to 4.1 and then the screen started acting a little funny. Sometimes when hitting the unlock button it would just light up the backlight. Then a few days later it stopped ever doing anything besides lighting up the backlight. Then it progressed to doing what I show in the video.
It still plays alert tones when i get messages or calls, but obviously the phone is totally unusable, but charges up fine.
any ideas what is going on here? Called Sony for a repair, but I was unaware they just charge a flat $185 irregardless of what the problem is...ridiculous.

foofiebeast said:
Bought this phone off the electronic bay, arrived totally fine, no signs of any damage, worked just fine. Upgraded it with the sony OTA updates to 4.1 and then the screen started acting a little funny. Sometimes when hitting the unlock button it would just light up the backlight. Then a few days later it stopped ever doing anything besides lighting up the backlight. Then it progressed to doing what I show in the video.
It still plays alert tones when i get messages or calls, but obviously the phone is totally unusable, but charges up fine.
any ideas what is going on here? Called Sony for a repair, but I was unaware they just charge a flat $185 irregardless of what the problem is...ridiculous.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
The best way to rule out any software problems would be to flash the latest 6.2.B.1.96 ftf using Flashtool. So, first make sure that the phone has enough charge, then press and hold the volume up+power combination until you get three vibrations. Then press and hold the volume down key and simultaneously connect the USB cable when Flashtool prompts you to. Once the flashing is complete, disconnect your phone and turn it on normally.
Regards,
abcdjdj
Sent from my LT26i using xda app-developers app

I already flashed back to stock just using the sony bridge app. It seemed to work fine (nothing showed up on the screen the entire time). After the phone boots up I can hear notification sounds as it gets all my texts and voicemails/whatever else. But otherwise it still does what is shown in the video below:
here is the video again, not sure if it worked last time:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbrpsWburMw

foofiebeast said:
I already flashed back to stock just using the sony bridge app. It seemed to work fine (nothing showed up on the screen the entire time). After the phone boots up I can hear notification sounds as it gets all my texts and voicemails/whatever else. But otherwise it still does what is shown in the video below:
here is the video again, not sure if it worked last time:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbrpsWburMw
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What bug u reported is the bug of .200 and .211 official bug.. Its fixed in .96fw.. Wipe everything when u flash .96fw... So there won't be any problems..

sudhindrakv said:
What bug u reported is the bug of .200 and .211 official bug.. Its fixed in .96fw.. Wipe everything when u flash .96fw... So there won't be any problems..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well there is a slight problem.
The phone does not have an unlocked bootloader yet, so I can't use flashtool. It has been flashed back to stock using the method I mentioned above. I have just finished installing ADB because (bear with me please) there is no way to turn the phone into fastboot mode without turning it off (I cannot currently turn it off because I can't see what is happening on the screen and don't remember how this phone works when you hold down the lock key to turn it off). I can perform a hard reset, but no way to just get it to turn off entirely.
So I thought I could use adb to shut it down, but adb won't work unless I have debugging enabled, which again I can't do unless I could basically just blindly navigate the menu to those buttons.
Although if I wait until the phone is fully dead then I can hopefully get it into fastboot mode, but that only gives me one chance. Plus it has a full charge right now, so that's going to be awhile.
Any suggestions?

I can get it in to fast boot if I'm quick, but I still can't enable debugging beforehand so its semi worthless.
I've been trying to watch videos to see where the button placement is to navigate through the menu to blindly enable debugging, but I can't seem to figure it out. It also doesn't help that I have no idea what version of android is now on the phone. I used the mac sony bridge app to restore the phone, but i'm not sure if that set it back to stock stock, or what version of android it set it to.
I am also now even more confused because I connected the phone to the computer and when I browsed it, all the pictures I took were still there...which should have been wiped when I restored it with sony bridge...

figured out it was 4.1 and watched review videos until i found one that showed the menu layout (although now I realize google images would have been more helpful).
Now going to see if I can get the bootloader unlocked.
I still feel like flashing 6.2.B.1.96 isn't going to do anything, because I assume that is what the sony bridge app flashed to it. Also I don't see where you are talking about that the issue I am having was a known issue, if you could point me in that direction that would be very helpful.
EDIT: Actually I'm not sure I enabled debugging after all, as when I do adb devices, no device is listed as running, just a blank space. Though I'm still not convinced doing the above would do anything, as it is basically what I have already done, just with flash tool as opposed to the official sony route.

Anyone have any ideas? I got a torx 6 and opened the phone, checked the connection between the motherboard and phone and it is fine. Screen is still having same issue.
I would be happy to just buy a replacement part for it, but i have no idea what part is messing up. Is it the display (the touch works fine) or is it the motherboard (it seems weird that it would be this because the phone functions completely normally, I even accidentally answered a call yesterday).
If i was to try and replace the LCD (or whatever it is) would I have to replace the digitizer as well? At which point it would make more sense to just sell the phone for parts I suppose.

You can use the flash tool by bin4ry with a locked bootloader. Not sure if you're past that stage though.
Sent from my LT26i using xda app-developers app

dkconor said:
You can use the flash tool by bin4ry with a locked bootloader. Not sure if you're past that stage though.
Sent from my LT26i using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll go ahead and try that out, but is there really much of a point do you think? Considering I've technically flashed the phone back to stock using the official software, why would it be any different doing it this way?
I am asking honestly btw, not trying to sound rude. I'm thinking it is more of a hardware failure, i just have no idea what part exactly is failing.
The phone itself works totally 100% fine, the touch works totally 100% fine, the only thing that is not happening is the data getting to the screen and displaying. The screen just flashes white for a second and then fades out (as you can see in the youtube link). Or it flashes a solid block of white at the top in the middle and faded white the rest of the way down and then it slowly all fades out (or disappears immedaitely if i press the lock button. The buttons all work fine (physical and touch) and i can navigate around the phone, albeit totally blindly.
This is really frustrating, and I'm pretty disappointed to see how sony had no interest at all in helping me resolve this situation.

Flashtool works with lock and unlocked bootloader
XDAプレミアムを使用 して私のLT28hから送ら れてきた

UchihaDareNial said:
Flashtool works with lock and unlocked bootloader
XDAプレミアムを使用 して私のLT28hから送ら れてきた
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
....right i know, but why does that matter. Why would reflashing my phone help at all at this point. Did you even read my post?

Listen to us
Alright so you came to this thread for...help
We have told you numerous times to flash using this tool (dev host link):
http://d-h.st/Kb8
install the flashtool created by Binary (sorry for username spelling error)
Download the ftf
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B18FXPCopQhkeXNoWGVWbzlRaG8/edit?pli=1
now USING FLASHTOOL (link 1)
FLASH the FTF (link 2)
A clean flash. This flash is different from the flash that Sony will provide you for obvious reasons.
Using this method will COMPLETELY remove any doubt whether the issue is regarding software or hardware. Then you dont have to "think" whether the issue is hardware related or software related.
Sorry if i sounded rude but i had a hard time comprehending why you would not use the advice given by i believe 2 different indiviuals on a questions and answers thread.

424aca said:
Alright so you came to this thread for...help
We have told you numerous times to flash using this tool (dev host link):
http://d-h.st/Kb8
install the flashtool created by Binary (sorry for username spelling error)
Download the ftf
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B18FXPCopQhkeXNoWGVWbzlRaG8/edit?pli=1
now USING FLASHTOOL (link 1)
FLASH the FTF (link 2)
A clean flash. This flash is different from the flash that Sony will provide you for obvious reasons.
Using this method will COMPLETELY remove any doubt whether the issue is regarding software or hardware. Then you dont have to "think" whether the issue is hardware related or software related.
Sorry if i sounded rude but i had a hard time comprehending why you would not use the advice given by i believe 2 different indiviuals on a questions and answers thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
because I could not follow the advice from the first user because the bootloader is locked. The second person gave me the advice, but honestly it seemed like pretty pointless advice. I don't understand how it is "obviously different" if it is literally flashing the same firmware (at least the first advice was that). I don't think it's that strange to ask why it would be any different.
To me it sounds like I had a broken window in my house and I asked someone how to fix it. I bought the replacement glass from store A and it didn't fit. I asked for help and someone pointed me to the exact same item at store B and said that surely it would work. Do you understand why this could be confusing? I feel like about half the time people give help on XDA it is very general and people are just looking for "thanks"...
I'll definitely try this though if you think there's a chance that it might work out differently. I'll try and get it set up tonight, thanks for the encouragement, I understand I probably sound stupid, just trying to figure out what to do.

Also, I assume this flash tool won't work if USB debugging isn't enabled. As I've said in previous posts, I can click things just fine, but because I can't see what I am doing, I don't have way of knowing where to click on the menu.
Does anyone have their phone set up with this version of android still. If you could take screen shots of each click to make to get to the dubugging box (and if there is a confirmation box) i would greatly appreciate it. I only had the phone for a week before this randomly happened, so I hadn't thought to enable debugging yet, as I hadn't even thought about custom firmware yet.
EDIT: Or even just a picture of what the screen that comes up when you long press to shut the phone down. I have no way of turning off this phone right now without just waiting for it to run out of battery.
Holding down the power button for a long time does nothing, holding vol up and power restarts it, but I need a way to turn it off. If i hold the power button for like a second so instead of locking it, the menu comes up, I just can't seem to find the freakin button for power off.
(please remember I can see nothing on the screen, it is just blank).

flashtool does not need debugging when you doing the actual flashing
to turn off the phone
SIMULTANEOUSLY hold down
Power+ Vol up + Vol Down (AT THE SAME TIME)
wait for about maybe less than 25 seconds and you will experience THREE short consecutive vibrations
at this time...the phone is off
then you can begin the flashtool method

Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition not booting up/ firmware issue

i have this awesome tablet for a good time. it's the wifi edition with 16gb black. this week i noticed when the tablet goes on rest mode, the screen turns dark (as usual) but when i want to us the tablet, the screen remains dark. i could hear the notification. i had to restart the device and quickly start using the tablet before the screen goes dark again. i noticed the message on the screen stating "firmware upgrade encountered an issue. please select recovery mode in kies and try again." i connected my tablet to my laptop and no success. i called samsung and they told me to press the vol+, power button & home key for 40 secs and nothing happened.
i am turning to the great forum to ask for help. all my stuffed are on the tablet memory. at this point i don't care about it as long as someone can help me bring my awesome tablet back to life. i never rooted it at all.
please, help me.

I'm not the most knowledgeable when it comes to this kind of thing, but I do know that on the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 edition booting into recovery is slightly different than it is on most other Samsung devices. Where most Samsung's are power button + volume up + home key (like Samsung rep said), with the Note 10.1 2014 edition it's just the first two, power + volume up. Here is a link that will describe step by step how to do it as getting the timing right can be a little bit tricky if you have not done it before. http://mobileaddons.blogspot.com/2014/05/how-to-hard-reset-factory-reset-samsung_9205.html There is probably the same instructions here on xda somewhere if you do a search... I just googled it and that is what it gave me. If you need end up having to boot it in download mode, thats the power and volume down keys, just push and hold both (if I remember correctly). It sounds like it may have attempted to update to lollipop but the update failed for whatever reason, but I could be wrong. What exactly did the Samsung rep tell you to do? a hard reset/factory reset (which will wipe all your stuff), or did they say to attempt the update via kies? Just curious

hi thebadwrench, i followed and tried the instructions you shared and my tablet does not respond at all it stays dark and does not even respond when i plug the charger in. there are no feedback or sounds at all. i do not know what else to do.

Hmmmm. You may have a hardware failure if it is not responding to anything at all. I know others have experienced problems with the screen flickering and/or quit working as result of a loose or disconnected electrical connection internally. It might be worth removing the rear cover of your tablet to look for something like that. I don't know how comfortable you'd be with that, but it's actually pretty easy to do. I recently replaced both the battery and charging port on mine and posted some pictures in this thread here http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-note-10-2014/help/q-instructions-tips-replacing-usb-t3345093 I'd just disconnect both ribbon cables and reconnect them. While your in there (and this has worked for some people) simply unplugging the battery for a few minutes then reconnect it. Kinda resets the tablet (you shouldnt lose anything saved on tablet, assuming your able to revive it). If your not comfortable with digging into your tablet, take it to a phone/electronics repair place and for a fee they could do it for you, or better yet they may be able to diagnose the problem definitively. Other than that, I'm out of ideas. Sorry to hear that your having issues, let us know what happens

I followed the steps and my screen is back on but it is stuck in recovery mode. It shows the green Android guy and says downloading but nothing for the last 10 minutes. What do I do?

Good to hear you got your screen back on. As for it being stuck in recovery mode... just to clarify, what exactly did you do to get it to the screen its on now (i. e. did you just attempt to power it on, or pwr + vol. up buttons, etc). It might be best to just send me a personal message...

How do I send you a personal message?

Just click on my username, then click "send message"

Force power-off change

Just read "purpose of this forum", and definitely questioning myself, so please feel free to delete or redirect as appropriate. This is mainly a question, but probably cross-device, (Sony)...
Ever since Omni 5.1, (unofficial), was built for Z1c, and now with all 4 MM ROMs I've tried, I've had an issue where the traditional 'power+volume up' force power-off doesn't work like it used to, (hold 3 seconds, get 3 vibrations, phone shuts down). Instead, I eventually discovered that I now have to hold the buttons for 8 seconds, and there's no vibration, but it does shut down, (others reported the same - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=66376361&postcount=214). Once I figured it out, I didn't really think about it again, since, as long as I could shut down if I had to, I didn't care how, but just figured it was some kernel thing I didn't understand. I just became curious today about it, when someone else who's using the same AOSP MM ROM as me said that they don't have the problem, and the old-fashioned 3-second-with-vibration method works fine, (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=66376361&postcount=214). So I just thought it would be good to put it out there and see what insight/experiences people are having with this, and figure out if it means anything dev-wise.
Note: old-fashioned-3-second-vibration still works normally if I use any >6.0 ROM besides Omni.