What I would like to compile is a list of things one could do to brick there phone. One way is if you lose your RSA private keys, what else can cause you to walk around with a paper weight?
flashing a radio image from another phone, especially GSM. It will actually fry the circuits. Saw someone do that in the Hero forums (didn't check what hero a rom was for and literally toasted it. Completely dead.) I don't think there are that many other ways to truly brick the phone beyond repair. There are plenty of ways to soft brick, but generally if the phone turns on, there is at least some way to fix it, though it might be out of reach for less technical users.
I was reading multiple threads this morning about people soft bricking (or hard bricking their phones) and I was wondering (because I'm still learning)
Is there a lasting effect of soft bricking or hard bricking (aside from needing a jtag etc)
If I for some reason soft brick and get it back to stock is everything going to be perfect or is there a possibility for damage?
It might sound like a dumb question but...
KorGuy123 said:
I was reading multiple threads this morning about people soft bricking (or hard bricking their phones) and I was wondering (because I'm still learning)
Is there a lasting effect of soft bricking or hard bricking (aside from needing a jtag etc)
If I for some reason soft brick and get it back to stock is everything going to be perfect or is there a possibility for damage?
It might sound like a dumb question but...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
JTag repair will restore it to stock, no issues... A soft-brick means signs of life but won't boot properly, or a bootloop, etc... Fix it with flashing, and no ill effects...
Excellent thanks.
Its good to know how to
A) avoid a brick
B) fix a brick
and now
C) if you brick and fix you can go back to normal.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
So I want to start off saying my device is not bricked. Just have have a question about knowing If a phone is bricked or if a hardware issue. I know the difference between a soft brick and hard brick but can a hard brick only happen after flashing some zip. Or can it still happen randomly without flashing or even entering the recovery in over a week.
I ask this cause it has happened to me before. Where one day my A100 wouldnt turn on. Not even the boot screen. The only sign of life was the light by power button while charging.
SO is it possible still to hard brick if nothing was flashed in over a week or most likely a hardware issue?
I thought the same thing happened to my note 2 yesterday. But all it was, was this damn new update draining my battery so fast. I thought somehow it was bricked lol
ANy answer to my question will be thanked
Yes, a device can get hard bricked without flashing or messing around with the recovery. That will most likely be a hardware failure issue.
But as you found out with your GN2, that the problem can be something else. That is where the art of troubleshooting becomes important.
That's not called hard brick. That's call device failure because of age or defect.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2
whatsitsnamenow said:
That's not called hard brick. That's call device failure because of age or defect.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hard brick is the effect. Device failure (hardware failure) can be a cause of a hard brick. Not always, but can be a cause.
Hard brick is a non-recoverable bricked device (no matter how the device became non-recoverable bricked).
Good night xda,
I am once again turning to the forum for help,this time for my older SGS3. While I upgraded to the S4,I gave my ATT s3 to my sister. I've had the phone since it was released. It does not have any physical or water damage.
Initially,I had a custom rom on it and all was well. When I gave it to my sister she did not like the rom so I flashed the stock ATT rom back on it. She used the phone for about 6 months after that with no issue,but about a month ago she complained that the phone sometime shut down randomly with no warning. The screen just went black completely,sometimes when she was not using it at all. I did witness this a few times while looking at it so I was pretty puzzled with what could cause that.
Now yesterday,she called me because the phone was completely dead. It shut down randomly again but she was not able to power it up again this time. I investigated,tried different batteries and plugged it in the pc and had to concur. It does not react at all. Black LCD,no battery logo,no even the power up vibration so I cannot access download mode. I understand the phone is now hard bricked.
I am extremely surprised the phone bricked over a certain period while I was not even flashing it. I did not flash it in the past 3 months. How could it get brick with no flash ?
I tried the SD Card image file from this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2345860 but it did not work. However,I do not have a 16GB micro sd like the thread suggest using,so I will try again tomorrow after I buy one.
Any ideas regarding this situation ? Is the s3 dead completely ? Would a jtag service work ? Or the sd card method ?
Thanks.
kiwi32 said:
Good night xda,
I am once again turning to the forum for help,this time for my older SGS3. While I upgraded to the S4,I gave my ATT s3 to my sister. I've had the phone since it was released. It does not have any physical or water damage.
Initially,I had a custom rom on it and all was well. When I gave it to my sister she did not like the rom so I flashed the stock ATT rom back on it. She used the phone for about 6 months after that with no issue,but about a month ago she complained that the phone sometime shut down randomly with no warning. The screen just went black completely,sometimes when she was not using it at all. I did witness this a few times while looking at it so I was pretty puzzled with what could cause that.
Now yesterday,she called me because the phone was completely dead. It shut down randomly again but she was not able to power it up again this time. I investigated,tried different batteries and plugged it in the pc and had to concur. It does not react at all. Black LCD,no battery logo,no even the power up vibration so I cannot access download mode. I understand the phone is now hard bricked.
I am extremely surprised the phone bricked over a certain period while I was not even flashing it. I did not flash it in the past 3 months. How could it get brick with no flash ?
I tried the SD Card image file from this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2345860 but it did not work. However,I do not have a 16GB micro sd like the thread suggest using,so I will try again tomorrow after I buy one.
Any ideas regarding this situation ? Is the s3 dead completely ? Would a jtag service work ? Or the sd card method ?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
is it possible that the LCD went bad?? when you plug it into charge does it react (lcd or vibrate?) I would also suggest trying out a known battery. could be that if it is the original battery that it is so dead that I got "spikey" and finaly just died.
hope it is that simple
kiwi32 said:
Good night xda,
I am once again turning to the forum for help,this time for my older SGS3. While I upgraded to the S4,I gave my ATT s3 to my sister. I've had the phone since it was released. It does not have any physical or water damage.
Initially,I had a custom rom on it and all was well. When I gave it to my sister she did not like the rom so I flashed the stock ATT rom back on it. She used the phone for about 6 months after that with no issue,but about a month ago she complained that the phone sometime shut down randomly with no warning. The screen just went black completely,sometimes when she was not using it at all. I did witness this a few times while looking at it so I was pretty puzzled with what could cause that.
Now yesterday,she called me because the phone was completely dead. It shut down randomly again but she was not able to power it up again this time. I investigated,tried different batteries and plugged it in the pc and had to concur. It does not react at all. Black LCD,no battery logo,no even the power up vibration so I cannot access download mode. I understand the phone is now hard bricked.
I am extremely surprised the phone bricked over a certain period while I was not even flashing it. I did not flash it in the past 3 months. How could it get brick with no flash ?
I tried the SD Card image file from this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2345860 but it did not work. However,I do not have a 16GB micro sd like the thread suggest using,so I will try again tomorrow after I buy one.
Any ideas regarding this situation ? Is the s3 dead completely ? Would a jtag service work ? Or the sd card method ?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If she wasn't trying to flash anything, doesn't sound like a brick which, to my understanding, results from software failures. The procedure posted in the thread applies when you are trying to recover from a brick caused by firmware failure from attempting to flash the wrong bootloader so I'd be doubtful if it would help you here. This could be a specific hardware failure which is not unheard of with equipment like this. Also sounds like it gave warning of the gradual failure. When you plug it into a charging outlet, does it show any sign of life - a light or vibration? If it's an LCD failure, it probably wouldn't affect charging or recognition by your PC. If there is no sign of life at all even with different batteries, you may want to try a professional repair service as I presume exercising the warranty is not an option in view of the firmware history.
Hi,
Thanks for the replies.
I did try different batteries. The phone does not vibrate or react at all even when plugged in which does not suggest an LCD failure.
I guess you are right,it must be a hardware failure. I'm quite suprised,I thought these phones were well buit and resistant.Oh well.
She's getting a Nexus 5 now.
Thanks for the help !
On a recent related thread I asked if there was any way to confirm if my tablet is in fact hard bricked. aside from me trying to find someone that knows enough about electronics and electricity to check the battery and power input/output using a Multimeter, the general idea is that it is in fact dead for random and unknown reasons T_T life sucks right now.
anyway, the question I want to pose here is: Assuming my tablet is in fact hard bricked, is there any way to ensure that all the data is wiped? If there is any sliver of a chance that I can salvage this to someone for a few bucks, I need to make sure the data cannot be retrieved. I feel that this is far too random to be a straight Hard Brick situation and think that Im just missing something. Im sure someone could bring it to life, but if they do, theres stuff on there that I cant let them have.
Any thoughts?