Develop Bugs

Samsung "Flash Counter" Discovered in SGSII's

Check this out guys. The following is a post from a member named coomb on the darkyrom.com forums. Check this out...its almost scary
"Hello everyone!
As I was surfing the web to look for a jig for the first SGS, I've discovered the SGS II has an internal counter which goes up by 1 everytime you flash something that's custom
What does this counter do exactly?
It's very simple: it counts the number of times you flash a custom ROM or kernel on your SGS II, so the guys over at Samsung know of it when you return the phone to them for any kind of problem you may have (this is done so they can say whether you've voided your warranty or not). Even using Odin to get back to stock won't help you and will let the counter go up by one
The good news is that the counter can be reset by using one of those jigs we all know very well
Ha, Samsung! You thought you could fool us that easy?
No, unfortunately Samsung has very clear in mind what it's doing.
It seems there is a second counter, which counts the number of times the custom flash counter has been reset, and the bad news is that its position/folder has not been discovered yet.
So, it seems all the future SGS II owners and flash addicts over here (and not only here) will have a hard time returning their SGS II to Samsung after having flashed something... I hope someone over at XDA will get everything sorted out (Chainfire is already working on it).
Speaking about XDA, here's the source of this article: XDA-SGS II flash counter.
That's it for now, bye! "
Link to the original thread, remove spaces http://www. darkyrom. com/community/index.php?threads/attention-the-sgs-ii-has-a-custom-rom-kernel-flash-counter.3827/

a couple of points:
1.) I deal with Sprint, not Samsung. Sprint's front-lines CS people aren't typically known for their technical prowess (my apologies to those in present company)
2.) This sounds doubtful. The way this is phrased makes it seem as if it's a file in the current file system we have all the tools required to wipe that clean. If that's true they should expect that someone here *will* figure it out.
3.) All this is going to do is encourage those of us with insurance/TEP et al to render the phone completely inoperable within the scope of our insurance (or return period). Poof, problem solved.
So even if this is in fact true, and it could very well be, I don't see the immediate threat to us and I don't see how Sprint would use this ability to prevent us from using our insurance or return ability given that it would be trivial to render the phone and any file system or electronic counter completely inaccessible by any practical means. Coming up with a process to read the "counter" would involve more time and inconvenience for both the customer and the carrier than either would find acceptable to bear. Though there is that suspicious hole right about the volume rockers that may be a nearly fool-proof direct port to a "counter" it would be impossible to make that a 100% reliable mechanism either.
EDIT: after thinking about this some more I am of the belief that while in our unique circumstance (in the US) it wouldn't be too big a hurdle to pass, should we need to, that it is definitely possible if inconvenient/implausible in practice. (In most of the world you just buy the phone and then hook it up to a carrier, in the US you pick your carrier and get your phone from them....so while everyone else would have to deal with Samsung for warranty claims we do not.)
However I was also wondering what it was counting. Writes to /system and/or any directories/partitions that are typically R/O without root?
There are plenty of times in your phones life where that may be flashed for legitimate purposes. Upgrading the OS comes to mind (cue "Samsung never updates" jokes), as would any carrier provided "flash to stock" (which at my area stores is their last, and usually only, attempt to repair a device for just about any reason). There are likely other scenarios that escape me at the moment.
Any reason legitimate is enough to place a reasonable doubt on any claims of tampering that would cause any court of law to demand far more compelling evidence than merely "the counter went up" in order to find you guilty/uncovered by warranty. "What if the counter is unreasonably high?" You say...well what if you tried desperately to flash and reflash and reflash your broken phone attempting to repair it to get your data back? That's a pretty likely scenario.
EDIT²: ...and if "legitimate writes" don't tick the counter up a notch then there is a mechanism to avoid flash detection and it will be found.

daneurysm said:
3.) All this is going to do is encourage those of us with insurance/TEP et al to render the phone completely inoperable within the scope of our insurance. Poof, problem solved.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That.
Let's see them prove I've flashed custom roms after I pass the phone under a powerful electromagnet a few times.

daneurysm said:
a couple of points:
1.) I deal with Sprint, not Samsung. Sprint's front-lines CS people aren't typically known for their technical prowess (my apologies to those in present company)
2.) This sounds doubtful. The way this is phrased makes it seem as if it's a file in the current file system we have all the tools required to wipe that clean.
3.) All this is going to do is encourage those of us with insurance/TEP et al to render the phone completely inoperable within the scope of our insurance (or return period). Poof, problem solved.
So even if this is in fact true, and it could very well be, I don't see the immediate threat to us and I don't see how Sprint would use this ability to prevent us from using our insurance or return ability given that it would be trivial to render the phone and any file system or electronic counter completely inaccessible by any practical means. Coming up with a process to do so would involve more time and inconvenience for both the customer and the carrier than either would find acceptable to bear. Though there is that suspicious hole right about the volume rockers that may be a nearly fool-proof direct port to this "counter" it would be impossible to make that a 100% reliable mechanism either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In response.
1. As far as phone returns, you never deal with the the phone maker anyway, you ALWAYS deal with the returns per the carrier. My thoughts on this is that Sprint has been supplied with the tools and info from samsung to verify if the phone has been flashed or not, seeing as how it would be pointless for samsung to include such a feature when they wont be doing the warranty checks.
2. This doesnt sound beyond the scope of samsung in my opinion. And as far as how it was "phrased" this was from a regular user with no real dev experience or technical experience. So if what he said sound a bit odd or simpleton in terms of terminology or his guess as to where this counter would be, thats why. Just because he made a guess that its in the filesystem somewhere doesnt mean much. Also where do we all get these magical tools that you say we have to delete this data that no one knows the location of yet?
3.If you render the phone completely useless in a way that there could be no data pulled from the phone (aka smashing it) then you wouldnt be able to redeem your warranty anyway. bricking the phone wouldnt matter as sprint/samsung have the tools to easily access and repair any bricks that you or I could perform, and then read the information that they need.
Also the fact that the user ChainFire is working on this confirms its vailidity to me, as he is a major dev in the Galaxy S I & II Scenes.

HaiKaiDo said:
3.If you render the phone completely useless in a way that there could be no data pulled from the phone (aka smashing it) then you wouldnt be able to redeem your warranty anyway. bricking the phone wouldnt matter as sprint/samsung have the tools to easily access and repair any bricks that you or I could perform, and then read the information that they need.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TEP covers all that.
I guarantee after I put the phone internals into the microwave for a few seconds there is no tool in the world that's going to be able to repair the brick.

eagercrow said:
TEP covers all that.
I guarantee after I put the phone internals into the microwave for a few seconds there is no tool in the world that's going to be able to repair the brick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well for the 90% of people out there that dont pay 30 dollars a month for the protection plan, and just want a warranty exchange for something that actually wasnt their fault and at one time or another had a custom rom on their phone, they will be out of luck. So this is a problem for people like myself. Ive never bricked a phone, but i did have my captivate radio antennae die and was getting no signal whatsoever and was able to get att regular warranty to replace it. Had i been in that situation NOW, with this counter in place, i would be screwed. for something that wasnt caused by myself.
---------- Post added at 10:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:42 PM ----------
Torethyr said:
That.
Let's see them prove I've flashed custom roms after I pass the phone under a powerful electromagnet a few times.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I remember correctly flash based storage isnt effected by magnetic fields. Also if that did work, good for you....but where do the rest of us get an expensive highpowered electromagnet lol.

I think this is very low of Samsung ... but i doubt anything will change ... sprint employees know less about this stuff than we do on here .. and haven't people already mess their phones up and got them replaced easily ? ..
Sprint can't accuse you and deny you a replacement if you play stupid and never admit to rooting/ modding ..

HaiKaiDo said:
In response.
1. As far as phone returns, you never deal with the the phone maker anyway, you ALWAYS deal with the returns per the carrier. My thoughts on this is that Sprint has been supplied with the tools and info from samsung to verify if the phone has been flashed or not, seeing as how it would be pointless for samsung to include such a feature when they wont be doing the warranty checks.
2. This doesnt sound beyond the scope of samsung in my opinion. And as far as how it was "phrased" this was from a regular user with no real dev experience or technical experience. So if what he said sound a bit odd or simpleton in terms of terminology or his guess as to where this counter would be, thats why. Just because he made a guess that its in the filesystem somewhere doesnt mean much. Also where do we all get these magical tools that you say we have to delete this data that no one knows the location of yet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it's in the file system I would use "rm". If it is being stored in a non-standard way as to escape a deep directory/partition inspection I would have to say that it's outside of the file system. A pedantic gripe of mine, to be fair.
3.If you render the phone completely useless in a way that there could be no data pulled from the phone (aka smashing it) then you wouldnt be able to redeem your warranty anyway. bricking the phone wouldnt matter as sprint/samsung have the tools to easily access and repair any bricks that you or I could perform, and then read the information that they need.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't even have to present the damn phone to get a new one , it must be lost or stolen....or flashed to boost, lol. Not that I ever have or would, but, that's pretty feasible.
Also the fact that the user ChainFire is working on this confirms its vailidity to me, as he is a major dev in the Galaxy S I & II Scenes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't doubt the veracity of the claim. Nor do I doubt the word of chainfire. What I am not certain of is what exactly they found and what it is counting and how that counter can be used as incontrovertible proof of a warranty damning activity.
I updated my post above which partially addresses this.

I checked into this before I returned my 1 day old bricked epic touch 4 g, and Sprint replaced it no questions asked.

akkord64 said:
I checked into this before I returned my 1 day old bricked epic touch 4 g, and Sprint replaced it no questions asked.
BTW - After you use the JIG it resets the counter..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But what about the counter-counter?

akkord64 said:
I checked into this before I returned my 1 day old bricked epic touch 4 g, and Sprint replaced it no questions asked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol yeah it resets the FIRST counter...but thats not the problem. Theres appearently some mechanism in place the count how many times youve reset that first counter lol. Im sure itll be killed in a few days if not weeks by people here on XDA, but i sure do find these kind of things interesting.

HaiKaiDo said:
Well for the 90% of people out there that dont pay 30 dollars a month for the protection plan, and just want a warranty exchange for something that actually wasnt their fault and at one time or another had a custom rom on their phone, they will be out of luck. So this is a problem for people like myself. Ive never bricked a phone, but i did have my captivate radio antennae die and was getting no signal whatsoever and was able to get att regular warranty to replace it. Had i been in that situation NOW, with this counter in place, i would be screwed. for something that wasnt caused by myself.
---------- Post added at 10:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:42 PM ----------
If I remember correctly flash based storage isnt effected by magnetic fields. Also if that did work, good for you....but where do the rest of us get an expensive highpowered electromagnet lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bro, you are high if you think this has any bearing on Sprint users being able return an Epic Touch 4G. Moreover, Steve Kondick...hired by Samsung. Team CM, given GS2's to hack by Samsung.
Also, if this is an issue with the Galaxy SII international variant, why don't you POST IT IN THAT FORUM?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

All you have to do is flash something in odin with the OG Epic Pit and check re-partition. Start it, run it for a minute or 2 and pull the cord. Completely inoperable.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

Hope you people that want to make the phone inoperable and stuff under stand you are the reason the insurance deductible keeps going up......
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

abowlby said:
Bro, you are high if you think this has any bearing on Sprint users being able return an Epic Touch 4G. Moreover, Steve Kondick...hired by Samsung. Team CM, given GS2's to hack by Samsung.
Also, if this is an issue with the Galaxy SII international variant, why don't you POST IT IN THAT FORUM?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh god you called me bro -_-. second off, im not high, i just found this interesting.
Also Steve being hired by samsung doesnt make him president of the "i get to do whatever the **** i want" club lol. He still has to adhere to NDA and the like.
and finally, its in our phones too. our phones are SGS II's lol. Sprint just gave ours a "fancy" name.
---------- Post added at 10:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:54 PM ----------
SAShady said:
All you have to do is flash something in odin with the OG Epic Pit and check re-partition. Start it, run it for a minute or 2 and pull the cord. Completely inoperable.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Inoperable to you sure. To the people with the equiptment MADE to run diagnostics and access low level bootloaders, not a problem. Half flashing a bootloader isnt the end all to a warranty claim. Also i dont know why you all are taking this almost personally as if i was saying this is something that will never be patched or worked out here on xda. And continue to come up with scenarios where you are above the counter lol.

As long as mine doesn't count how many times it sees me masturbate I'm happy...

Something else im curious about.....it says that Odin wont help reset the second counter. To my mind that makes me think that theres something hardware based thats keeping track. Lol exbawkz eFUZE

paniro187 said:
Hope you people that want to make the phone inoperable and stuff under stand you are the reason the insurance deductible keeps going up......
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While I agree and would never do that to my phone, I would just find somewhere else to return it that would accept it. That always works.
But the main point here is that it is the natural "next thing to do" when you go about punishing people for treating their own hardware as, well, their own hardware and installing whatever software they would like on a device that they own...
...Why don't they expend this type of effort on making the phones unbrickable? That would surely save them far more money than "catching the bad guys" and denying people warranty service for things issues that have nothing to do with the software you chose to install on a device you own.
If my PC were to **** itself and something broke because I was running linux/macos/beos/MSDOS/Windows/Xenix/AmigaOS/etc do you know what that means? That the computer was a piece of crap and the computer (or component responsible) should be replaced if it was under warranty... do you suggest that a piece of hardware failing is the softwares fault?
Most (non oem) motherboards come with overclocking tools built into the BIOS these days with safeguards to keep you from blowing your isht up.
This has less to do with hardware failures than it has to do with the freedom to run whatever you want on a computer you purchased....with a dual-core 1.2ghz chip and 1 gig of ram you can be damn sure this is a computer.

alnova1 said:
As long as mine doesn't count how many times it sees me masturbate I'm happy...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Best post of the day +1 lol
xDDDD

HaiKaiDo said:
Well for the 90% of people out there that dont pay 30 dollars a month for the protection plan, and just want a warranty exchange for something that actually wasnt their fault and at one time or another had a custom rom on their phone, they will be out of luck. So this is a problem for people like myself. Ive never bricked a phone, but i did have my captivate radio antennae die and was getting no signal whatsoever and was able to get att regular warranty to replace it. Had i been in that situation NOW, with this counter in place, i would be screwed. for something that wasnt caused by myself.
---------- Post added at 10:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:42 PM ----------
If I remember correctly flash based storage isnt effected by magnetic fields. Also if that did work, good for you....but where do the rest of us get an expensive highpowered electromagnet lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wasn't sure you were crazy, until you said TEP was thirty bucks. It's 8. Honestly not having it on your plan is crazy at this point, unless you have a good backup device you aren't planning on selling.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

[Q] Stock S III froze while listening to Pandora

Hi,
Just got my Galaxy SIII and I was listening to Pandora the other day. I had the screen off when all of a sudden the music stops. I hit the power button to see what was going on when it showed my lock screen and where the icons for my time and signal is suppose to be there was a blinking prohibition symbol, the circle with the forward slash going through it. Anyway I couldn't unlock my phone as it seemed frozen. Than I noticed after a minute the time showed and I got signal again, than the screen blinked and I was able to unlock my phone and get to my home screen. Started up Pandora and it was good for the rest of the day. This is the first hiccup this phone had. Something to be concerned about?
I'm a old member of this site that went iPhone but now I'm back and boy has things changed!

Yes my phone locked up on me a hundred times , im trying to sell it and use my iphone 5 instead too many problems on it and the keyboard is slow and lags alot .theres no music display on the lockscreen u should get rid of it and buy something else you're gonna have more problems in the future so prepare for it.
Sent from my SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

rootyourphones said:
Yes my phone locked up on me a hundred times , im trying to sell it and use my iphone 5 instead too many problems on it and the keyboard is slow and lags alot .theres no music display on the lockscreen u should get rid of it and buy something else you're gonna have more problems in the future so prepare for it.
Sent from my SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like the first reason I left to go iPhone...hahahaha...oh great...I would have thought it was all figured out by now.

Please read forum rules before posting
Questions go in Q&A
Thread moved
FNM

rootyourphones said:
Yes my phone locked up on me a hundred times , im trying to sell it and use my iphone 5 instead too many problems on it and the keyboard is slow and lags alot .theres no music display on the lockscreen u should get rid of it and buy something else you're gonna have more problems in the future so prepare for it.
Sent from my SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe you just have no idea how to use root to fix your issues. Love my S3, it crushes your puny, boring iPone.
Seriously man, why are you even here? I looked at your posts and you're obviously a iPone fanboy. Are you just here to troll? Do you work for Apple?
OP, if your phone is freezing up on you, try a custom rom and see if that fixes it. Or, if you haven't rooted yet (or even if you have and know how to flash back to stock), get a warranty replacement since your device may be defective.

skrambled said:
Maybe you just have no idea how to use root to fix your issues. Love my S3, it crushes your puny, boring iPone.
Seriously man, why are you even here? I looked at your posts and you're obviously a iPone fanboy. Are you just here to troll? Do you work for Apple?
OP, if your phone is freezing up on you, try a custom rom and see if that fixes it. Or, if you haven't rooted yet (or even if you have and know how to flash back to stock), get a warranty replacement since your device may be defective.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Finally a light at the end of the tunnel. I love the S3 too. I came from a iPhone 3GS but I have lots of usage time with the 4, 4S and 5. The S3 to me is a lot more fun. You can do so much more. I admit I don't miss the hiccups though. Just this morning I had to restart it because it wasn't picking up a network signal and after the restart it was fine. Probably a network issue but those are the things that never happened on a iPhone. I guess you have to give up comfort for cool features on the androids. A friend of mine says root another says don't cause that leads to more problems....I know rooting would give me lots more control though right?

t-tyme01 said:
Finally a light at the end of the tunnel. I love the S3 too. I came from a iPhone 3GS but I have lots of usage time with the 4, 4S and 5. The S3 to me is a lot more fun. You can do so much more. I admit I don't miss the hiccups though. Just this morning I had to restart it because it wasn't picking up a network signal and after the restart it was fine. Probably a network issue but those are the things that never happened on a iPhone. I guess you have to give up comfort for cool features on the androids. A friend of mine says root another says don't cause that leads to more problems....I know rooting would give me lots more control though right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, rooting would give you a lot more control. Just make sure you read carefully and know what you're doing, the stickies at the top of the Development and General sections include everything you need to know to get started.
But you may just want to start with doing a factory data reset. This would delete all your saved files, pictures, music, etc, but you can back anything up on a pc before doing it and you'll still have it. Just go into Settings/Back up and reset/ and select Factory Data Reset. This will format your data and will remove any bad data that could be causing you problems, and you'll be back to the out-of-the-box state.
Or, if you want to try rooting, after reading up of course, this is the place to start: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1739426
After rooting you can install custom roms with built-in fixes for certain issues, or you can just be rooted and use apps like Titanium Backup to freeze the bloatware that AT&T and Samsung put on the device which could be causing lag and other issues.
That said, read these posts (and any others that may apply) before doing anything root:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1802160
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1725839
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1699450
Good luck! :good:

skrambled said:
Yeah, rooting would give you a lot more control. Just make sure you read carefully and know what you're doing, the stickies at the top of the Development and General sections include everything you need to know to get started.
But you may just want to start with doing a factory data reset. This would delete all your saved files, pictures, music, etc, but you can back anything up on a pc before doing it and you'll still have it. Just go into Settings/Back up and reset/ and select Factory Data Reset. This will format your data and will remove any bad data that could be causing you problems, and you'll be back to the out-of-the-box state.
Or, if you want to try rooting, after reading up of course, this is the place to start: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1739426
After rooting you can install custom roms with built-in fixes for certain issues, or you can just be rooted and use apps like Titanium Backup to freeze the bloatware that AT&T and Samsung put on the device which could be causing lag and other issues.
That said, read these posts (and any others that may apply) before doing anything root:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1802160
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1725839
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1699450
Good luck! :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've only had the phone two weeks now. I'll wait for the factory reset until it really starts tweaking on me. I haven't really done much besides add apps. Thanks for the links I'll look into it.

skrambled said:
Maybe you just have no idea how to use root to fix your issues. Love my S3, it crushes your puny, boring iPone.
Seriously man, why are you even here? I looked at your posts and you're obviously a iPone fanboy. Are you just here to troll? Do you work for Apple?
OP, if your phone is freezing up on you, try a custom rom and see if that fixes it. Or, if you haven't rooted yet (or even if you have and know how to flash back to stock), get a warranty replacement since your device may be defective.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My phone is rooted and on serenity rom so what else u got.
Sent from my SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
---------- Post added at 04:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:39 AM ----------
If u say its defective cause it freezeing than samsung should do a recall on all if them lmao
Sent from my SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

heads up att note owners

I just went to best buy and had the Samsung rep reflash my phone and holy cow its much snappier!
Seems to have less lag and doesn't freeze as much.
Also. When they flash it it doesn't delete anything on the phone. All my files and apps were still there!!!

"reflash" isn't a thing. What did they actually do?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A

JasonJoel said:
"reflash" isn't a thing. What did they actually do?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol OK. I watched him connect it to the computer. It went into download mode showed and android guy logo with a 1 and it showed it downloading and then it went to the update screen and here I am.

I think he just cleared the cache.
Sent from the TermiNOTEr 4!
---------- Post added at 08:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:06 PM ----------
Let me know if anyone has tried this so I can do it. Don't want to clear cache and lose everything. Sorry I am used to TWRP2.
Sent from the TermiNOTEr 4!

borijess said:
I think he just cleared the cache.
Sent from the TermiNOTEr 4!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol okay. What ever you say. I know how to clear that it was a completely different screen

raiu said:
Lol okay. What ever you say. I know how to clear that it was a completely different screen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did your build number change or kernel version?

raiu said:
Lol okay. What ever you say. I know how to clear that it was a completely different screen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is an option to update and clear cache in recovery. Maybe there's a recovery software on the phone that let's you do a dirty flash. Just guessing.
Sent from the TermiNOTEr 4!

raiu said:
Lol okay. What ever you say. I know how to clear that it was a completely different screen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a proprietary software for Samsung devices that phone companies/certified repair centers have that make everything one click.
For the life of me I can't remember the name of it atm.

Jspex said:
There is a proprietary software for Samsung devices that phone companies/certified repair centers have that make everything one click.
For the life of me I can't remember the name of it atm.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Samsung Smart tool. It's somewhere between a cache wipe and a full Odin flash. I've heard it equated to resubmitting an OTA. Don't know how accurate that is.

First of all what do you mean samsung rep at best buy...second why the hell would you need to flash your brand new device in the first place....if there was some "rep" from Samsung it would be likely that protocol for flashing anything to a device from a customer entering your customers(best buy in this case) store is not likely and there is no reason for it....unless you ruined your phone by trying to "flash" something it would be the only reason to send it into download mode and reflash the Ota to fix it....but that would be a service center from att which would never exist in a bestbuy....and you would have lost all unless you store files and apps to either the sd card or the transfer program att uses not sure exactly what it's called but they can save what you want then just put it back when they are done usually only contacts apps and data files that are direct but you lose the saved Info from the apps because the cache has been wiped then when you turn on your phone it will be a little snappier...there is nothing besides the Ota that's even available to flash to it so you probably just cleaned up your cached and the phone isn't having to look for it anymore...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using XDA Free mobile app

AcquiredIntellect said:
First of all what do you mean samsung rep at best buy...second why the hell would you need to flash your brand new device in the first place....if there was some "rep" from Samsung it would be likely that protocol for flashing anything to a device from a customer entering your customers(best buy in this case) store is not likely and there is no reason for it....unless you ruined your phone by trying to "flash" something it would be the only reason to send it into download mode and reflash the Ota to fix it....but that would be a service center from att which would never exist in a bestbuy....and you would have lost all unless you store files and apps to either the sd card or the transfer program att uses not sure exactly what it's called but they can save what you want then just put it back when they are done usually only contacts apps and data files that are direct but you lose the saved Info from the apps because the cache has been wiped then when you turn on your phone it will be a little snappier...there is nothing besides the Ota that's even available to flash to it so you probably just cleaned up your cached and the phone isn't having to look for it anymore...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using XDA Free mobile app
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Some of you are real dicks. Sorry. Not sorry . I'm not a noon and I've had every note device that's been put out. I don't have to prove myself to anyone this was said to help people and all you do is flame people . go back to 4chan or reditt
He flashed the last update for my phone. I watched him do it.
Sometimes when the phone is made there could be errors when the files are migrated for the first time.

I too have had best buy flash proper firmware to my note 3 when it was in an odd state due to my shenanigans. It is a full rom install.

The Smart tool does flash firmware. Generally it's non carrier specific Sammy "stock" FW but it's been a long time since I've seen it so that may have changed. You should upload a system dump for the devs to look at. It's probably nothing but it does have the off chance of being something they could use to find an exploit.
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AcquiredIntellect said:
First of all what do you mean samsung rep at best buy...second why the hell would you need to flash your brand new device in the first place....if there was some "rep" from Samsung it would be likely that protocol for flashing anything to a device from a customer entering your customers(best buy in this case) store is not likely and there is no reason for it....unless you ruined your phone by trying to "flash" something it would be the only reason to send it into download mode and reflash the Ota to fix it....but that would be a service center from att which would never exist in a bestbuy....and you would have lost all unless you store files and apps to either the sd card or the transfer program att uses not sure exactly what it's called but they can save what you want then just put it back when they are done usually only contacts apps and data files that are direct but you lose the saved Info from the apps because the cache has been wiped then when you turn on your phone it will be a little snappier...there is nothing besides the Ota that's even available to flash to it so you probably just cleaned up your cached and the phone isn't having to look for it anymore...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using XDA Free mobile app
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Apparently you have not heard of the Samsung Experience Centers inside of BestBuys. We have one in my BB and there are a few hundred of them nationwide.
They are not carrier reps and they are not BB employees. They are Samsung sales reps and technicians and have full access to a multitude of proprietary tools.

I'm not a noon either (proud to be n00b) but raiu is tight, stop being dicks on here. Right now a number of devs have said they don't want to work on this device because the user community.

n00b1269 said:
I'm not a noon either (proud to be n00b) but raiu is tight, stop being dicks on here. Right now a number of devs have said they don't want to work on this device because the user community.
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Sadly this is the nature of the internet. It is full of armchair experts, who feel the need to comment negativly on everything that is posted. You get used to ignoring it. As you can see from this post, every post draws some (or a lot) of crap, and there are a few nuggets mixed in that make the questions, and comments worth it. Thanks for your information.
Could you imagine if it is a different build number, we would all storm Best Buy and push them to update out devices. It would be cool to watch. We would post lists of reps and their locations and schedules who were the easiest to talk into doing the reflash. Lets do it!
What is the build number on your system? Maybe you got the mystery update that AT&T hasn't (and likely won't) release....

n00b1269 said:
I'm not a noon either (proud to be n00b) but raiu is tight, stop being dicks on here. Right now a number of devs have said they don't want to work on this device because the user community.
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I know it's a shame. My friends a dev and said the same exact thing. But I don't Blame them at all. Idk what happened to the community and helping one another but all it seems like it's so can bash someone the best and it's an absolute shame...just my two cents
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using XDA Free mobile app

We need mod that will close the threads, move the fights out of root threads, and possibly block the people stirring the ****. If this community wants to act like children, treat them as such, we have had to do it at xda many a time...... that being said, I have been here a long, long while. Back when ppcgeeks was actually competition, that long. In all the time I have been here, this community right here seems to be comprised of some of the whiney-iest assholes I have seen. Grow the **** up. You want root so badly, attract devs with more than a bounty. And remember it is a pledge if you go that route, it's a donation, not that dev works for you.
Be adults and more devs will come, or keep being like this and watch the empire fall, you guys decide

n00b1269 said:
We need mod that will close the threads, move the fights out of root threads, and possibly block the people stirring the ****. If this community wants to act like children, treat them as such, we have had to do it at xda many a time...... that being said, I have been here a long, long while. Back when ppcgeeks was actually competition, that long. In all the time I have been here, this community right here seems to be comprised of some of the whiney-iest assholes I have seen. Grow the **** up. You want root so badly, attract devs with more than a bounty. And remember it is a pledge if you go that route, it's a donation, not that dev works for you.
Be adults and more devs will come, or keep being like this and watch the empire fall, you guys decide
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Couldn't ******* agree more. ..nicely said
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using XDA Free mobile app

The best are the people on here that say that they "need" root and act like it is owed to them. The reality is that nobody needs root, we simply want it. And it's certainly not owed to us.
With that being said, I want root just as much as the next guy or girl. But I'm not gonna cry or lose sleep over it if we don't get it. I love this phone as is.

So, back on subject.... Did you see anything change in the versions of about phone?

JTAG Repair

Does anybody know of a reputable company in the U.S. that does JTAG repair for the M8? I've seen a few on Ebay but I'm still kind of skeptical of them. Anyone had any experience sending their phone off to get fixed via JTAG.
Like a damn fool, I flashed the recovery for a galaxy note 2 to my M8. Now the phone will not turn on or boot up, I've tried every button combination. Plugged phone into computer and I get qsb_bulk error. I am s-off as well. I was informed JTAG might fix it.
Any advice or recommendations are greatly appreciated.

dnkeyhnter said:
Does anybody know of a reputable company in the U.S. that does JTAG repair for the M8? I've seen a few on Ebay but I'm still kind of skeptical of them. Anyone had any experience sending their phone off to get fixed via JTAG.
Like a damn fool, I flashed the recovery for a galaxy note 2 to my M8. Now the phone will not turn on or boot up, I've tried every button combination. Plugged phone into computer and I get qsb_bulk error. I am s-off as well. I was informed JTAG might fix it.
Any advice or recommendations are greatly appreciated.
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It might. That's a hard brick, my friend. NEVER flash recoveries, ROMs or kernels not made for your device, because this is what will happen.
You could try calling cell phone repair shops. Some of them do JTAGs. Good luck!

xunholyx said:
It might. That's a hard brick, my friend. NEVER flash recoveries, ROMs or kernels not made for your device, because this is what will happen.
You could try calling cell phone repair shops. Some of them do JTAGs. Good luck!
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Lol, thanks. I actually didn't mean to flash it, I had the recoveries on the same external sd card and I selected the wrong one like an idiot not paying attention.

dnkeyhnter said:
Lol, thanks. I actually didn't mean to flash it, I had the recoveries on the same external sd card and I selected the wrong one like an idiot not paying attention.
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Yeah, I almost restored a backup from an old device to a new one a couple of years ago. Luckily, I noticed before I confirmed the flash. My next step was deleting all of the old stuff. It's an easy mistake to make. Now when I get a knew device and use the old card, I format it. The only thing I really lose is music I can reinstall since it is mostly all on my PC.

xunholyx said:
Yeah, I almost restored a backup from an old device to a new one a couple of years ago. Luckily, I noticed before I confirmed the flash. My next step was deleting all of the old stuff. It's an easy mistake to make. Now when I get a knew device and use the old card, I format it. The only thing I really lose is music I can reinstall since it is mostly all on my PC.
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Smart man! We live and we learn… I have definitely learned from this mistake, ha ha

dnkeyhnter said:
Smart man! We live and we learn… I have definitely learned from this mistake, ha ha
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I also flashed a kernel not specifically made for my device in my early days. The first and hopefully last hard brick.

xunholyx said:
I also flashed a kernel not specifically made for my device in my early days. The first and hopefully last hard brick.
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Hopefully this will be my last as well! Lol.. I hope that I can find a way to get it fixed! I feel pretty stupid knowing with the swipe of a thumb I might have thrown a few hundred $$ in the trash. Ha ha

dnkeyhnter said:
Hopefully this will be my last as well! Lol.. I hope that I can find a way to get it fixed! I feel pretty stupid knowing with the swipe of a thumb I might have thrown a few hundred $$ in the trash. Ha ha
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I know that feeling. It sucks.

Luckily I've never had a hard brick I accidently fastboot flashed an m8 recovery to my nexus 7 2013 but thank goodness fastboot caught my mistake and it failed to flash

I bricked a LG Optimus G I had a few years ago, by trying to flash a file I had from my T-Mobile G1 days. Wrong carrier and wrong kind of file. You would think I would have great knowledge on HTC devices (having the G1 and I4G;however, both devices were S-on,but rooted). I'm somewhat new to the m8 and still trying to learn through a freaking tablet and phone..dang computer finally died on me
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As far as JTAG is concerned. Im with you on the skepticism of someone playing around with my phone,and me not personally being there to ask a bunch of questions.

Lg g4 in refridgerator.?????

mods please delete

next time, use reddit or twitter to ***** about people doing whatever they want with their stuff.

Levent2101 said:
next time, use reddit or twitter to ***** about people doing whatever they want with their stuff.
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You need to watch your language. Cursing is against the rules.
And i am allowed to complain if i want too. My givin right. If u dont like my complaints dont post on em.

TheMadScientist420 said:
You need to watch your language. Cursing is against the rules.
And i am allowed to complain if i want too. My givin right. If u dont like my complaints dont post on em.
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TheMadScientist420 said:
Really???
I mean i understand that this is a kindof temp fix to get data off device
But. Wtf. You guys in reality all your doing is voiding waranty. Absorbimg moisture from the fridge. Setting off the moisture strips.
Like this is the first time ive heard this one and thats got to be the dumbest idea ive ever heard. And from what i read it dont even work half the time or more. Its boots up for 30 40 seconds. Isnt a fix.
Then as the device heats up in the fridge just makes even more condensation.
WOW. Ive heard it all now
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Err... Do you know what WTF actually means? You need to watch your language also!
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

tharweb said:
Err... Do you know what WTF actually means? You need to watch your language also!
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
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i didnt come out and say it if thats the case corecting me or not u just said i too so u watch yours too
im just making a point that putting a phone in a fridge is a dumb idea and all its doing is tripping the indicators
and voiding any waranty anyone had of getting their g4 fixxed
come on.
this is stupid to be arguing over wtfs and other words
i hold a completly valid point thats its a stupid idea
just because someone says it works and it may have temp worked lets jump a bridge ive read about people claiming lg says their craps been wet and the same people put their crap in a fridge

both of you ive been in this game a long time 100 post apiece for u guys memebers since 2011
so not much input from either of u ove what like 6 years. at least im trying to help people.
risking my device for testing porposes to help the community. says ure on a nexus on tapatalk. do u even own a g4?
im just trying to keep people from making stupid desicions based off others "findings"

Snooping around my profile now lol. Do i own one? Well i bought two back in November 15, so i own two actually, (one of which died a couple of weeks ago), and think that qualifies me to follow this thread, if that's ok with you?
By the way the "c" word is "cussing" also [emoji14]
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

tharweb said:
Snooping around my profile now lol. Do i own one? Well i bought two back in November 15, so i own two actually, (one of which died a couple of weeks ago), and think that qualifies me to follow this thread, if that's ok with you?
By the way the "c" word is "cussing" also [emoji14]
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
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Yea u kinda got one. Lol. Hate it for you that one of the ure g4s died. Just please dont put it in the fridge before sending it in. Lol.
Well having 2 i guess doe qualify u into the threads.

What's the matter? My G4 suddenly got the bootloop problem, and I had no backup of some data.
I did put it in the freezer and luckily managed to complete a full backup.
It worked and didn't harm my device... send it for repair, got the mobo replaced.
This thread should be deleted, I don't get the point of creating a topic to complain about that, seriously.

bel57 said:
What's the matter? My G4 suddenly got the bootloop problem, and I had no backup of some data.
I did put it in the freezer and luckily managed to complete a full backup.
It worked and didn't harm my device... send it for repair, got the mobo replaced.
This thread should be deleted, I don't get the point of creating a topic to complain about that, seriously.
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its just a point just cause ures made it ok
we all know that moisture can form as the device heats up in a cool place its common science
aside from if it works or not its dangerous and can lead to tripping the moisture indicators

mods please delete my thread here its just causing issues and arguments.
no one sees my point and i see no need to keep this thread alive either

No comment
I left it 30 minutes max in the freezer. It's no problem.
Putting a device in the fridge is not the same as throwing it in water.
I can't imagine LCI being triggered by fresh air. Smh.