Develop Bugs

[Q] Bricked, can Samsung tell if it's rooted?

Sent my phone in for repair. I installed a ROM I downloaded from ROM Manager that I didn't verify, dumb I know. The phone is 100% unresponsive, tried everything. When plugged into my computer the only trace of it is when I looked it up in device manager, it appears as some random device. So, my question is, will Samsung be able to look at the software for evidence of rooting? Is there anything I should/should not tell them? Are there any common problems I can stear them towards to avoid suspicion?

I sent a Galaxy Europa back after flashing the wrong recovery (Oops!) and they replaced it.
Sent from my HTC Sensation XL with Beats Audio X315e using xda premium

just take it in and say "I tried to turn it on this morning and it didn't turn on".... act really dumb... they can't tell a difference if its a true brick
I've returned my glacier that was rooted and didn't even brick it, just returned to factory with s back on and they happily warranty replaced with no issues...

martialbob said:
just take it in and say "I tried to turn it on this morning and it didn't turn on".... act really dumb... they can't tell a difference if its a true brick
I've returned my glacier that was rooted and didn't even brick it, just returned to factory with s back on and they happily warranty replaced with no issues...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Glacier didn't have a flash counter though. I've heard some people get lucky and others don't. It's entirely luck of the draw.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

Got a new phone
They sent a replacement. I told them it was stalling a lot, then I found it turned off in my pocket and it never came back to life.
I think my rooting days are over. It is very cool, but unlike with my iPhone, it is not really necessary. Plus, if I brick it again they will surely dig a little deeper.
***FYI*** DO NOT TRUST THAT A ROM IN ROM MANAGER IS ACTUALLY FOR YOUR PHONE. I found that out the hard way. Should of checked, I'm an ass.

gariputo said:
They sent a replacement. I told them it was stalling a lot, then I found it turned off in my pocket and it never came back to life.
I think my rooting days are over. It is very cool, but unlike with my iPhone, it is not really necessary. Plus, if I brick it again they will surely dig a little deeper.
***FYI*** DO NOT TRUST THAT A ROM IN ROM MANAGER IS ACTUALLY FOR YOUR PHONE. I found that out the hard way. Should of checked, I'm an ass.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have an android device and you want to get the most out of it then rooting is a must. iOS is too user friendly and has its pros over android. Just be careful with what you download and follow the guides available. Do that an you will never experience a brick. I've rooted an HTC Leo, HTC Magic, HTC Glacier, LG Optimus V, and the Hercules and have not experienced a single brick following the guides here on xda

I think he should stick to the iPhone.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA

My little brother bricked his while trying to root it. i ended up sending it off to mobiletechvideos and they were able to fix it quickly. I paid 70 bucks for the repair and expedited shipping. Well worth it.

I flashed AOKP and now my phone is dead (doesn't wanna turn on)

Hi guys I flashed this rom from this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1993996
the guy posted a link to facebook with download links in there
eventually after I flashed the ROM I saw that he named the file for my phone:
Liquid JB v2.0 RC8 (D2TMO) but I flashed this one: Liquid JB v2.0 RC8 (D2ATT)
which is probably the AT&T version, first of all I wanna say to this DEV - thank you very much for not making this clear to everybody that you have different roms for 20 different phones on one spot, now my phone is bricked thanks to you, yea yea yea you flashing is your own responsibility but how you could not make this thing clear just take a look at his thread it doesn't say nowhere that the right rom for me is somewhere down there, I assumed that the link on the top is the newest for my phone.
My phone is dead now, it doesn't wanna turn on, it doesn't wanna go into download mode, it doesn't wanna go into recovery, please help.
Thank you in advice!

martybg said:
Hi guys I flashed this rom from this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1993996
the guy posted a link to facebook with download links in there
eventually after I flashed the ROM I saw that he named the file for my phone:
Liquid JB v2.0 RC8 (D2TMO) but I flashed this one: Liquid JB v2.0 RC8 (D2ATT)
which is probably the AT&T version, first of all I wanna say to this DEV - thank you very much for not making this clear to everybody that you have different roms for 20 different phones on one spot, now my phone is bricked thanks to you, yea yea yea you flashing is your own responsibility but how you could not make this thing clear just take a look at his thread it doesn't say nowhere that the right rom for me is somewhere down there, I assumed that the link on the top is the newest for my phone.
My phone is dead now, it doesn't wanna turn on, it doesn't wanna go into download mode, it doesn't wanna go into recovery, please help.
Thank you in advice!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey buddy,
I don't wanna be the bearer of bad news, however, it looks like you may have bricked your phone by flashing two roms made for other phones...
Liquid JB v2.0 RC8 (HERCULES)*
SIZE: 93 MB
MD5: 467aa4c3894e444e649fd18e7f89b6ef
MAINDL: http://bit.ly/SPAkAc
This is the one that you should have flashed. The "codename" for our phone is Hercules, you picked two roms for phones codenamed D2TMO and D2ATT (Droid 2, maybe)

I'm sorry but this is completely your fault, not the devs. About 9 links down lies a big fat HERCULES in plain text.
Call T-Mobile, get a warranty exchange, and watch this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmvCpR45LKA&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

you know nowhere in the Thread it says that I would have all kinds of roms over there so this is the first time this thing is happening to me and I do not consider this my fault, can you please tell me how do I fix it ?

martybg said:
you know nowhere in the Thread it says that I would have all kinds of roms over there so this is the first time this thing is happening to me and I do not consider this my fault, can you please tell me how do I fix it ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you just download the first link you saw when there were clearly loads of them? What kind of logic is that??? Sorry, but people like you shouldn't be rooting and flashing. I would have stopped and made a post in the original inquiring about which was the right download. Your phone is BRICKED. There's nothing you can do except get a warranty exchange from T-Mobile. It's a painless $5 fee and you'll get your new handset next day. Hope this was a lesson learned. READ READ READ. And when in doubt if you can't find your answer by reading, ASK.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

martybg said:
you know nowhere in the Thread it says that I would have all kinds of roms over there so this is the first time this thing is happening to me and I do not consider this my fault, can you please tell me how do I fix it ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
omg thats the exact same rom i flashed and frigged my phone up.i did it 4 monthes ago and have been desperately trying to fix it.no one has any idea how to fix it.baught mine out right so now i have a 600 dollar paper weight.

RushAOZ said:
So you just download the first link you saw when there were clearly loads of them? What kind of logic is that??? Sorry, but people like you shouldn't be rooting and flashing. I would have stopped and made a post in the original inquiring about which was the right download. Your phone is BRICKED. There's nothing you can do except get a warranty exchange from T-Mobile. It's a painless $5 fee and you'll get your new handset next day. Hope this was a lesson learned. READ READ READ. And when in doubt if you can't find your answer by reading, ASK.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have read that it can be fixed with JTAG is that true?

martybg said:
I have read that it can be fixed with JTAG is that true?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
JTAG might fix it ..no guarantees though
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

martybg said:
I have read that it can be fixed with JTAG is that true?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably. But JTAG repair services are probably anywhere from $50 - $100 and a TMO warranty replacement is $25 though they will reimburse if you call and complain.
FYI... the D2TMO is the Galaxy S III for Tmobile.

I have been following the liquid jelly bean thread and I was amazed as to how many people bricked their phones by not knowing their devices code name..(Hercules) there is no difference between how the downloads are displayed and labeled in the Liquid jelly download page vs any other aosp based rom download page dont blame the developer or the OP ..just learn from it and move on
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

Yeah honestly I don't see why your so upset with the Dev, are you paying him money for the rom? Not paying attention to what your flashing IS your fault not his. The fact that you choose the first link download it, then flash means you either don't read or don't pay enough attention to what your doing.
Sorry you brick your phone hope you get it resolve but seriously learn from it and stop blaming other people for your mistakes.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

Okay when you mean you bought yours right out. Meaning you bought in full at tmobile or from someone on craigslist ?
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

Unbrick your phone by use usb JIG
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

And the d2att is the Atat galaxy SIII. If u don't go thru exchange service look up JTAG repair thru mobiletechvideo. They might be ur second chance.
Sent from my SGH-I747 using xda premium

martybg said:
I do not consider this my fault, can you please tell me how do I fix it ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you look in the ROM thread you will see that other have posted links to places to have phone repaird , some did warranty.

guys please stop, the fact that so many people bricked their devices from this single thread should'a say something right? I mean come on, i'm not crying to anybody I moved on and I'm trying to fix it, it's just that if this thing happens to you tomorrow I doubt that you would support the dev so much.

martybg said:
guys please stop, the fact that so many people bricked their devices from this single thread should'a say something right? I mean come on, i'm not crying to anybody I moved on and I'm trying to fix it, it's just that if this thing happens to you tomorrow I doubt that you would support the dev so much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, no. The vast majority of people on XDA manage to download and flash the correct ROM's for their phones on a daily, for some hourly, basis. These people take the time to understand not only the process involved but also the consequences. You say there were many links and it was not clear which was correct for your phone? Well, why did you not ask? There is nothing wrong with taking whatever steps necessary to protect your $500 device. If you are unsure, ask. If you, for whatever reason, are afraid to ask, don't flash.
This mentality of not taking responsibility for one's own actions has permeated so much through society it should be labeled a virus. Next time, do the research that so many others do every day, ask the questions you need to ask and you'll avoid posts like the ones in this thread as well as the frustration of a damaged device.
Good luck to you.

I did the same thing for this rom. Bricked it solid. I don't blame the dev, I blame myself. After flashing so many times, I got careless. Luckily Walmart took it back after 30 days.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

sigsour said:
I did the same thing for this rom. Bricked it solid. I don't blame the dev, I blame myself. After flashing so many times, I got careless. Luckily Walmart took it back after 30 days.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What's this? An individual taking responsibility and admitting oversight without casting around for someone to place the blame on?
OP could learn from you, brother.
T989, AOKP JB MS1 (KK nightly)

I don't mean to offend you or anything but you clearly downloaded a file and flashed it when it has ATT in its file name. The file is obviously for a AT&T phone and considering that you are rooted and got CWM installed on your phone you must atleast know something about your device. You should of learned that its called the "hercules" and that flashing something else would brick it. Most roms have hercules or the phone's name in the file name and that is a clear tell on how to fix it.
Lucky for you I did the same mistake except I downloaded the Galaxy S2 rom from CyanogenMod site and flashed it on my hercules (thinking all galaxys2's were the same) and then it got hard bricked. (My first attempt ever to install a rom yes I fail) but it was under the 20 day t-mobile exchange warranty and I got a brand new (not refurbished from the 1 year warranty) overnighted to me for free of charge. Your best bet would be to use the 20 day exchange if its new and the refurbished replacement if it isnt (normally cost 20$ for restocking fee, etc.) but thats good to get a phone back.

New to Sprint & L900. What's the 411?

Okay, so I've been on Tmobile since taking the dive into the wonderful world of Android. I had the S2 for a few months and thdn after becoming infatuated I went out and got me an S3. Recently I decided to move on to Sprint as the coverage I received at work was, well, nonexistent. So, I am completely new to CDMA and my beautiful new Note 2, and after reading through the forums I've discovered that I am bout back to square one. Well, maybe not entirely, but definitely been knocked back quite a bit. Which when considering I've only been involved in the xda community for about 9 months pretty much leaves me with the feeling that I'm stuck in Paris with no map and no translator. So, I was hoping I could reach out to the wise and informed members of xda and ask a broad, but simple, question. What do I need to know so I don't F up my new mistress? I'm not asking for a tutorial on rooting or flashing, nothing generic. Just some helpful specifics. I saw somewhere that they were talking about resetting Wallet before flashing a new ROM or else it may be blocked on the phone, I guess, forever. I'm also unfamiliar with the modems and the updates yall have gotten. Etc, etc. And as I said, not looking for another, what is the benefit of rooting, what is CWM and TWRP, can I get rid of all the darned Sprint apps baloney. I was just hoping to basically just kinda do a crash course intro, a CDMA and/or L900 101 kinda thing so to speak. Any info you can offer up would be greatly appreciated!
Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

Psychotic-Cerebellum said:
Okay, so I've been on Tmobile since taking the dive into the wonderful world of Android. I had the S2 for a few months and thdn after becoming infatuated I went out and got me an S3. Recently I decided to move on to Sprint as the coverage I received at work was, well, nonexistent. So, I am completely new to CDMA and my beautiful new Note 2, and after reading through the forums I've discovered that I am bout back to square one. Well, maybe not entirely, but definitely been knocked back quite a bit. Which when considering I've only been involved in the xda community for about 9 months pretty much leaves me with the feeling that I'm stuck in Paris with no map and no translator. So, I was hoping I could reach out to the wise and informed members of xda and ask a broad, but simple, question. What do I need to know so I don't F up my new mistress? I'm not asking for a tutorial on rooting or flashing, nothing generic. Just some helpful specifics. I saw somewhere that they were talking about resetting Wallet before flashing a new ROM or else it may be blocked on the phone, I guess, forever. I'm also unfamiliar with the modems and the updates yall have gotten. Etc, etc. And as I said, not looking for another, what is the benefit of rooting, what is CWM and TWRP, can I get rid of all the darned Sprint apps baloney. I was just hoping to basically just kinda do a crash course intro, a CDMA and/or L900 101 kinda thing so to speak. Any info you can offer up would be greatly appreciated!
Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The worst part about the android community, unfortunately, is the fragmentation of general knowledge. The rooting process for a Nexus is probably identical to a Note 2 but the names of everything and builds and versions are all different, so you have to learn new 'words' like it is a new language. Fortunately you have a great community so you just have to learn how to search for things. Check the general section for android development I think there is a sticky that has a glossory of terms that explains all the acronyms.
I've had mine for 3 months but I would still welcome a crash course as well.

Well I prefer twrp as my custom recovery. Depending on your firmware version you can root without your phone ever going to download mode. I did. I used exynos abuse to get root. Then used mobile odin to flash a new rom. Always reset google wallet if you are reseting or flashing a new rom. Its tempermental. I would stay around only the sprint veraion for now. There is a way to use roms from other note 2 variants. I believe its in the dev section. Recovery is standalone. So swirching roms doesnt change it. You cannot talk on the phone and be on the internet at the same time unless you are using wifi or 4glte. If you like to draw or doodle there is sketchbook mobile which is awesome. Btw ma7 is the most current firmware that I know of. Also you can sideload the google wallet apk with no extra work to get it working. Goodluck and read alot.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

Psychotic-Cerebellum said:
what is the benefit of rooting
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need root to do most modifications to your phone. I find that I need root for everyday stuff too (Titanium backup, Stweaks, Root app delete, etc).
Psychotic-Cerebellum said:
what is CWM and TWRP
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ClockWork Mod and TeamWin Recovery Project. Both have custom recovery pieces. I personally had some troubles with CWM on this phone and just use Odin now. I head TWRP works better than CWM on the Note 2, but Odin is the Tool Samsung suggests. Note that TWRP is MUCH more feature-rich than Odin. You might choose TWRP (or CWM) if you wanted to flash stuff from your SD card rather than from your PC- good for jumping around between kernels on the fly, for example.
Odin and the other two are all ways to flash stuff to your phone. That's all Odin does; the other two have lots more features.
Psychotic-Cerebellum said:
can I get rid of all the darned Sprint apps baloney
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Heck yeah! Simplest way is to root it and uninstall everything you don't like (Root App Delete from the Play Store seems to work pretty well; be sure you have a backup before you start blowing stuff away).
If you'd like to take it a step further, get a custom ROM that's been debloated; they normally require a full wipe, so bye bye sprint stuff. (Again, root it and back it up first!)

tpeef said:
You need root to do most modifications to your phone. I find that I need root for everyday stuff too (Titanium backup, Stweaks, Root app delete, etc).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I appreciate you taking the time to go through all that, but I think maybe I didn't explain too well what I was trying to get. I wasn't asking for the general info, just things specific to CDMA and the L900. Like what was replying about. Not trying to be a jerk, but I know there's already a thousand threads on recoverys, ROMs, and rooting. Just didn't wanna do anything to my phone that would be irreversible (i.e. The resetting Google Wallet thing) or something that would cause signal issues (I read stuff on flashing certain ROMs on certain modems may create issues). Stuff like that. Like I said though appreciate the time you took, and any info you may have like that would certainly be appreciated.
Sent from my cellular telephone

Oh I forgot. If you are on ljc expect to not go back to it if you update to ma7. For some reason lots of people have had trouble going back. It would cause slot of problems. Ma7 is just fine for me though. Great battery life and what not. I would say do the update. If you are going custom rom and are currently unrooted just do the ota. Or there is a firmware file around here to flash. I updated firmware before going to ma7. Although I was already rooted using exynos abuse. Ma7 eliminates the exploit. So be prepared to do that before going to ma7. If there is anything I am missing that you still need answers to or don't understand just ask. Its also a good habit to update profile and prl when switching roms or modems.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

patrao_n said:
...If you are going custom rom and are currently unrooted just do the ota. Or there is a firmware file around here to flash. I updated firmware before going to ma7. Although I was already rooted using exynos abuse. Ma7 eliminates the exploit. So be prepared to do that before going to ma7...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I picked up something along those lines from reading around. It took all of 15 minutes out of the box before I got all rooted with new ROMs being flashed after playing around on stock just to get a baseline with all the ROM hoping that was sure to follow. Needless to say I didn't read up on anything modem wise before doing all this as I, admittedly, jumped the gun a little (I was just so excited to have a whole new community with new dev teams and all these foreign ROMs to explore). I used Max's trusty galaxynote2root site to root (love that guy). And used the GalaxyNote2RootSprint.zip to obtain root. Then, went straight into the original development section and immediately flashed the absolutely amazing Liquid Smooth. Now I should say, I did receive a message saying the was an update to the phone through sprint and I did proceed with the OTA while dling the zip and giving root instructions a quick once over. So, I'm guessing that took care of going to ma7 for me? Cuz I'm definitely using the ma7 modem. Now I did leave my beloved aosp as I did want to see if I would actually use all the S pen features that aosp sadly doesn't offer us. I jumped around from Whapasaurous to Venom Ice a d finally to Macks All Star, but I'm assuming that unless it's totally different from GSM that flashing a new ROM has no effect on your modem (but by all means correct me if I'm wrong). So just wanna make sure I went about things the right way here.
P. S. I did use the zip to revert the sd cards file format when returning from aosp so I didn't have to deal with all that "0" and "legacy" nonsense.
Thanks again!
Sent from my Window to the World

P.P.S. I don't really seem to have any data issues so I'm guessing all is well, but I am having an issue where my wifi keeps turning itself on, like multiple times a day. I thought at first I may have been accidently hitting it, but upon further review, nope, not me. Sounds more like a ROM issue to me though, but as it seems like it may pertain I figured I'd bring it up
Sent from my diminishing marginal utility

Psychotic-Cerebellum said:
Okay, so I've been on Tmobile since taking the dive into the wonderful world of Android. I had the S2 for a few months and thdn after becoming infatuated I went out and got me an S3. Recently I decided to move on to Sprint as the coverage I received at work was, well, nonexistent. So, I am completely new to CDMA and my beautiful new Note 2, and after reading through the forums I've discovered that I am bout back to square one. Well, maybe not entirely, but definitely been knocked back quite a bit. Which when considering I've only been involved in the xda community for about 9 months pretty much leaves me with the feeling that I'm stuck in Paris with no map and no translator. So, I was hoping I could reach out to the wise and informed members of xda and ask a broad, but simple, question. What do I need to know so I don't F up my new mistress? I'm not asking for a tutorial on rooting or flashing, nothing generic. Just some helpful specifics. I saw somewhere that they were talking about resetting Wallet before flashing a new ROM or else it may be blocked on the phone, I guess, forever. I'm also unfamiliar with the modems and the updates yall have gotten. Etc, etc. And as I said, not looking for another, what is the benefit of rooting, what is CWM and TWRP, can I get rid of all the darned Sprint apps baloney. I was just hoping to basically just kinda do a crash course intro, a CDMA and/or L900 101 kinda thing so to speak. Any info you can offer up would be greatly appreciated!
Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you should have stayed with Tmobile and there 70 dollar unlimited because in a few months to a year you would have had lte and hspa+42 &21 as a fall back before you went to slow data. Im making the jump slowly but surely. My wife is getting the S4 on Tmobile and when the note3 comes out ill be going as well im sick of cdma amd the slow data when there is no LTE
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda app-developers app

Psychotic-Cerebellum said:
P.P.S. I don't really seem to have any data issues so I'm guessing all is well, but I am having an issue where my wifi keeps turning itself on, like multiple times a day. I thought at first I may have been accidently hitting it, but upon further review, nope, not me. Sounds more like a ROM issue to me though, but as it seems like it may pertain I figured I'd bring it up
Sent from my diminishing marginal utility
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sprint Connection Optimizer will do that
Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

Psychotic-Cerebellum said:
P.P.S. I don't really seem to have any data issues so I'm guessing all is well, but I am having an issue where my wifi keeps turning itself on, like multiple times a day. I thought at first I may have been accidently hitting it, but upon further review, nope, not me. Sounds more like a ROM issue to me though, but as it seems like it may pertain I figured I'd bring it up
Sent from my diminishing marginal utility
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to turn off sprint connection optimizer in setting more settings I believe
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda app-developers app

budde2 said:
I think you should have stayed with Tmobile and there 70 dollar unlimited because in a few months to a year you would have had lte and hspa+42 &21 as a fall back before you went to slow data. Im making the jump slowly but surely. My wife is getting the S4 on Tmobile and when the note3 comes out ill be going as well im sick of cdma amd the slow data when there is no LTE
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really only made the move due to the fact that T-mobile is the only service provider that gets absolutely no coverage inside my work, and, unfortunately, I work 12 hour days, 4-5 days a week. So, being as my contract was up, I didn't wanna sign up for 2 more years with lte "coming soon." I know you all with Sprint know how that has the possibility of turning out. Plus, just because they were getting lte doesn't mean I'm going to see any improvement at work. Now I'm getting consistent 3g inside work and I'm loving it. Actually typing this inside, infamously, the worst service area in the entire building and still getting an almost constant connection. Occasionally I am getting 4g, not often, but it's happened. Playing around with modems tonight though. Did end up trying LJC after being on MA7,no problems so far, actually seeing improvement. Thanks for the heads up on the Sprint Connection Optimizer, gonna check that out now. Super annoying, especially as I do work 12 hour shifts and with wifi turning randomly on, don't wanna look to see my battery down to nada. That's just the kinda info I was hoping to get here, thanks again!
Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

Psychotic-Cerebellum said:
I really only made the move due to the fact that T-mobile is the only service provider that gets absolutely no coverage inside my work, and, unfortunately, I work 12 hour days, 4-5 days a week. So, being as my contract was up, I didn't wanna sign up for 2 more years with lte "coming soon." I know you all with Sprint know how that has the possibility of turning out. Plus, just because they were getting lte doesn't mean I'm going to see any improvement at work. Now I'm getting consistent 3g inside work and I'm loving it. Actually typing this inside, infamously, the worst service area in the entire building and still getting an almost constant connection. Occasionally I am getting 4g, not often, but it's happened. Playing around with modems tonight though. Did end up trying LJC after being on MA7,no problems so far, actually seeing improvement. Thanks for the heads up on the Sprint Connection Optimizer, gonna check that out now. Super annoying, especially as I do work 12 hour shifts and with wifi turning randomly on, don't wanna look to see my battery down to nada. That's just the kinda info I was hoping to get here, thanks again!
Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah the wifi thing Will kill your battery. Sprint is not as bad as everyone thinks and says I have great LTE in 90% of where I go. I'm thinking of going to T-Mobile because I'm sick of cdma devices we are always are considered last ro none over GSM. If sprint keeps up the good work with the LtE and 3g ill be saying. Glad you hot it figured out for rh the most part.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app

Strange amount of Bricked devices anyone else notice

I seen someone mention that
People have been labeling tw roms and aosp roms incorrectly,There have been an unusual amount of brick topics lately, anyone else wondering if we are dealing with standard "flashing" user error, or actual misleading info on certain roms . Many of the most novice to longtime xda members have even been bricking over the stupidist stuff.
This device t999 specifically

bricking this(any) phone by flashing an incorrect rom isnt that easy to be honest... plus the worst that can happen by flashing is usually a softbrick a.k.a bootloop. (unless your an idiot and you flash stuff from a different device)
i mean i may just be way too experienced after 8 years of hacking away at android, but its not simple to brick a phone. its usually caused by lack of attention. for example, most people dont even read the OP of roms threads the whole way. they just download and flash and come back and say "why doesnt this work?"
im also curious how many people actually tried to use ODIN to restore there phone before they proclaimed "hard brick"

ziggy46 said:
i mean i may just be way too experienced after 8 years of hacking away at android, but its not simple to brick a phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have literally 4.5 months of experience with Android and I feel the way you do so I think it's largely lack of paying attention or not doing the research and reading first. I've tried multiple ROMs on my phone and I've helped friends learn how to root and understand the process of installing ROMs and no one has had a brick yet.
If you jump out of an airplane without learning how to use your parachute what do you expect ?
The S3 most likely has a high number of bricks because it has a huge user-base - thus even if the proportions are the same as other devices there are more people by number who are trying things without knowing what they're doing and those people are going to end up with bricks.
I've certainly seen times when the ROM was to blame, but it's almost always not a hard brick. That's the chance you take with installing a custom ROM - sometimes there are bugs and stuff happens. If you can't accept that possibility don't flash.

Pennycake said:
I have literally 4.5 months of experience with Android and I feel the way you do so I think it's largely lack of paying attention or not doing the research and reading first. I've tried multiple ROMs on my phone and I've helped friends learn how to root and understand the process of installing ROMs and no one has had a brick yet.
If you jump out of an airplane without learning how to use your parachute what do you expect ?
The S3 most likely has a high number of bricks because it has a huge user-base - thus even if the proportions are the same as other devices there are more people by number who are trying things without knowing what they're doing and those people are going to end up with bricks.
I've certainly seen times when the ROM was to blame, but it's almost always not a hard brick. That's the chance you take with installing a custom ROM - sometimes there are bugs and stuff happens. If you can't accept that possibility don't flash.
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Click to collapse
ahh the userbase! thats a good one thanks for pointing it out. i also believe that users from other variants end up here and flash the incorrect rom by google-ing "roms for s3" and going to the first xda link they see. which may lead to flashing improper roms resulting in the $400 paper weight

999 times out of 1000 it's user error.

DaMn NoObS
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

Yes user error is to blame nobody likes to search or even read for that matter

Reading fixes 99.999% of all common newb problems
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

If anyone hard bricks this device they deserve it. You literally almost have to intentionally try to brick in order to do so.
On another note... I haven't seen many brick threads with ppl that actually broke their devices
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

Most brick threads I've seen lately are either softbricks, boot loops or not bricked at all, just errors from dirty flashing.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium

ziggy46 said:
ahh the userbase! thats a good one thanks for pointing it out. i also believe that users from other variants end up here and flash the incorrect rom by google-ing "roms for s3" and going to the first xda link they see. which may lead to flashing improper roms resulting in the $400 paper weight
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 i definitely agree with what you said. my friend searched on google "how to root galaxy s3" attempting to root her AT&T GS3, and almost ended up with a brick (she found an international s3 root method) had she not came and asked me first...phew that was close.

It's just called common sense, not many have it.

Most I have seen are soft breaks and user panics before either: clearing cachy and factory reset or Odin. They just jump straight to I have a break.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium

Name of post should be "Strange amount of idiots bricking their phones"
Sent from Flip's S3

ziggy46 said:
bricking this(any) phone by flashing an incorrect rom isnt that easy to be honest... plus the worst that can happen by flashing is usually a softbrick a.k.a bootloop. (unless your an idiot and you flash stuff from a different device)
i mean i may just be way too experienced after 8 years of hacking away at android, but its not simple to brick a phone. its usually caused by lack of attention. for example, most people dont even read the OP of roms threads the whole way. they just download and flash and come back and say "why doesnt this work?"
im also curious how many people actually tried to use ODIN to restore there phone before they proclaimed "hard brick"
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Click to collapse
Wow bro 8 years of android hacking? Can I borrow your flux capacitor? First android phone released 10/2008

sbell7105 said:
Wow bro 8 years of android hacking? Can I borrow your flux capacitor? First android phone released 10/2008
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Click to collapse
i over-exaggerated a little its actually only about 5 years... im 16 now and i started when i was 10-11ish

ziggy46 said:
i over-exaggerated a little its actually only about 5 years... im 16 now and i started when i was 10-11ish
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aww man 16? does that mean I wasted my flux capacitor reference? Just messing around I figured it was a typo or something I just couldn't resist :laugh:

NoOooOoOObs
ziggy46 said:
bricking this(any) phone by flashing an incorrect rom isnt that easy to be honest... plus the worst that can happen by flashing is usually a softbrick a.k.a bootloop. (unless your an idiot and you flash stuff from a different device).........
im also curious how many people actually tried to use ODIN to restore there phone before they proclaimed "hard brick"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm one. (lol)
Aerowinder said:
999 times out of 1000 it's user error.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
bfranklin1986 said:
DaMn NoObS
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Click to collapse
Google and XDA Premium have been my friend throughout my past few years with T-Mobile... since the days of my Behold, Memoir, Samsung Galaxy S 4g, and now my SGS3... I've found a great piece of mind in knowing I'm not a complete idiot, nor am I the first to screw something up.
And while I have made a few devices "boot-loop" from time to time, rooting is easy as pie. And if you happen to research before you do any job, you might learn a thing or two. I specifically love the threads (on any forum, not just here) where someone posts "READ CAREFULLY" followed by "DOWNLOAD LINK" and just two or three replies later, there has to be that one r-tard that asks "What do I do? Where's the download link? I'm so confused!". I want to piss in their coffee and break their mug over their face. Literacy is depleting; and there's little we can do about it.
sbell7105 said:
Wow bro 8 years of android hacking? Can I borrow your flux capacitor? First android phone released 10/2008
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hilarious!

Things have gotten so much easier. My only brick was a g1 (HTC dream). Things were a lot trickier then. It had an IPL-initial program loader (bootloader) and an SPL-secondary program loader (radio). Some roms required the bootloader from the the HTC magic (mytouch3g). Not all dream radios were compatible with the magic bootloader. So you always flashed a magic compatible radio first then bootloader. One night when it was really late, I was repeating the flash I had already done I my own g1 but on my wife's g1 this time. I accidentally reversed the order and BOOM, hard brick. In that state, the ipl can't hand off to the spl. Only option was hardware jtag that hadn't been discovered yet.
She was pissed.
Sent from my SGH-T999

Remember when I rooted my first (lg optimus v) I thought with a recovery I could flash any Rom...thankfully I have learned otherwise and didn't have to learn by looking like an idiot.I came very close to flashing some random Rom probably from the evo4G
Fortunately laziness actually served me well lol
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium

[Q][HELP]S3 Hard Bricked after Flashing Illusions

I FIXED IT
Here's the Link to my Guide.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2369125
Okay, So here's what I did.
I flashed the latest Illusions ROM for my S3 and the Slim AIO 7 for 4.2.2 (since Illusions is based out of SLIM, AOKP, PA, CM, ETC). Then TWRP 2.6.0.0 said that SuperSu wasn't installed (what the heck?!?!?) and it prompted me to install su so I was like "What the heck, why not" so I swiped for yes. Then the screen went black for a good 20 minutes. I got worried, did a battery pull and tried to but straight to recovery... no bueno. Same for booting to dl mode. I plugged my phone in to my computer without the battery and the red LED comes on for 10 seconds and then it dies. It prompted windows to install the QHUSB_DL driver and it failed. WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED?!?
Is there anything I can do to unbrick it?
Do I have to JTAG/JIG or what? If so, can anyone direct me to it? (Last resort)
I'm on the MD4 bootloader and modem.
I really need to get this phone fixed before I go to basic on the 23rd of July.
Other info: Yes, I already went to the local Sprint store (not to get a replacement. That would be irresponsible of me considering my S3 is built by me from the MoBo on up) to get help on flashing it back to stock.

Jtag is the only way and you need to send it to someone who does that.
Sent from the future via Tapatalk 4

deBricker said:
Okay, So here's what I did.
I flashed the latest Illusions ROM for my S3 and the Slim AIO 7 for 4.2.2 (since Illusions is based out of SLIM, AOKP, PA, CM, ETC). Then TWRP 2.6.0.0 said that SuperSu wasn't installed (what the heck?!?!?) and it prompted me to install su so I was like "What the heck, why not" so I swiped for yes. Then the screen went black for a good 20 minutes. I got worried, did a battery pull and tried to but straight to recovery... no bueno. Same for booting to dl mode. I plugged my phone in to my computer without the battery and the red LED comes on for 10 seconds and then it dies. It prompted windows to install the QHUSB_DL driver and it failed. WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED?!?
Is there anything I can do to unbrick it?
Do I have to JTAG/JIG or what? If so, can anyone direct me to it? (Last resort)
I'm on the MD4 bootloader and modem.
I really need to get this phone fixed before I go to basic on the 23rd of July.
Other info: Yes, I already went to the local Sprint store (not to get a replacement. That would be irresponsible of me considering my S3 is built by me from the MoBo on up) to get help on flashing it back to stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I take it that post I linked to in my thread didnt work then?
And FYI
http://mobiletechvideos.mybigcommerce.com/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-jtag-brick-repair/

What was the name of the file for Illusion ROM?
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app

Notorious said:
What was the name of the file for Illusion ROM?
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FML, I made a noob mistake. Flashed a i9300 Illusion Rom. But I got it from the link on the page. It's Illusion i9300 4.2.2 07132013

billard412 said:
I take it that post I linked to in my thread didnt work then?
And FYI
http://mobiletechvideos.mybigcommerce.com/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-jtag-brick-repair/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. Looks like I'm going back to my ogEvo. Won't be able to use that service until after the Navy is done with me. FML. I still can't believe I made a noob mistake. -_____- I have never bricked a phone and this is ironic because i usually de-brick phones... not brick 'em.

Have you looked at this thread
[HOW TO] Unbrick your Sprint phone from flashing an International gsm boot imag

jdelano said:
Have you looked at this thread
[HOW TO] Unbrick your Sprint phone from flashing an International gsm boot imag
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I JUST FIXED IT! LOL. I'm in the middle of Barnes and noble and I just fixed it. I'll put down directions for a HOW TO for my method, but it involves having Linux.
HARD BRICK FIX W/O THE JTAG!
and I'll have to give credit. I finally figured out how to dd that file that was posted by (I don't have his username atm) but yeah! I got it to work. His method needs a little more instruction.

Just booted to DL mode

Yeah, if I may, please don't make a guide thread for that. It will only encourage people to flash international roms.
Sent from my S3 on Sense 5 (you jelly?)

glad to hear you got it working.

CNexus said:
Yeah, if I may, please don't make a guide thread for that. It will only encourage people to flash international roms.
Sent from my S3 on Sense 5 (you jelly?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, well, some people would like the convenience of not having to send their phone off and spending 60 dollars to get it fixed. And there are many ways to hard brick an S3 and I think that this would be a convenient way of fixing their phone.
Mine was a legit mistake. I'm a veteran flasher of ROMs and everyone does slip up.

deBricker said:
Yes, well, some people would like the convenience of not having to send their phone off and spending 60 dollars to get it fixed. And there are many ways to hard brick an S3 and I think that this would be a convenient way of fixing their phone.
Mine was a legit mistake. I'm a veteran flasher of ROMs and everyone does slip up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well if you do something like that, you should own up to it and pay the $60 bucks to get it fixed. International roms don't magically wind up on your flashing queue in recovery.
I obviously can't stop you from posting anything, but just keep that in mind.
Good day.

CNexus said:
Well if you do something like that, you should own up to it and pay the $60 bucks to get it fixed. International roms don't magically wind up on your flashing queue in recovery.
I obviously can't stop you from posting anything, but just keep that in mind.
Good day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, well. I can't exactly do that since I'm in the Navy and I'm going to be gone for the next two months. I prefer to find a method BEFORE paying the 60 dollars to unbrick. Dude, this to help everyone. YES I MADE A MISTAKE. We all do. I understand its frustrating. Even I get frustrated. But why should I pay 60 dollars to have someone else fix my phone when I can fix it myself? I'm not a noob at flashing.

deBricker said:
Yes, well. I can't exactly do that since I'm in the Navy and I'm going to be gone for the next two months. I prefer to find a method BEFORE paying the 60 dollars to unbrick. Dude, this to help everyone. YES I MADE A MISTAKE. We all do. I understand its frustrating. Even I get frustrated. But why should I pay 60 dollars to have someone else fix my phone when I can fix it myself? I'm not a noob at flashing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a fine line we walk... We here at XDA want to be helpful to "noobs," but we also want to express the importance of reading and critical thinking before acting.
This argument came up a month or two ago. There's an easy way to make the ROMs check the phone model prior to flashing. This would be a great way to prevent hard-bricks, as the installation will abort on the wrong device. The issue that arises is two-fold:
1) There are many Devs and not all will implement this device check.
2) People will start getting lazy with their flashing, as it seems "idiot proof."
We are actually seeing this with the newest CM10.1 releases. Despite it being clearly spelled out in installation threads (if they read the last 3-4 pages of the thread), a lot of people are trying to flash them without updating their bootloader. They then get the infamous system 7 error. I was answering threads one after the next with people asking the exact same question about the system 7 error. A simple 5-minute perusal of the forums (or even just the CM thread) would've yielded the results, but people don't want to put in the "hard work."
In the case of hard-bricks and your guide, I don't fully agree with CNexus (it happens from time-to-time, but he's a quality guy and dev). If it works a good percentage of the time, I think it's a valuable tool that can help a lot of people. That being said, one of the "good" things about a hard-brick is that people generally learn their lesson after one. I've seen people here on XDA that hard-bricked their device (due to carelessness), had to get it JTAG-ed, then came back to become advocates for reading the posts/directions thoroughly. It's amazing how $60 and losing your phone for a week will make people a lot more sober about flashing a Rom.
I don't doubt for a minute that having an "easy" fix for hard-bricks will reduce the impact of this lesson.
That being said, I also believe that having this guide is a good thing. My recommendation would be to rewrite the beginning of the guide to include a strong disclaimer about the dangers of flashing a Rom not meant for your device. I understand that you're trying to take the approach of "hey, we are all noobs at times, it's not that big of a deal," but I think it'll reinforce the lazy mentality of a good number of flashers.
Just my two cents. I'm glad you were able to fix your phone and to find a way to boot into download mode from the SD card so you can rewrite the bootloader partition from Odin.