Develop Bugs

New To Android, but bricked my phone?

Well i think it is. I rooted my phone last night and installed the beats drivers from the Play Store. Shortly, it froze and went straight to the Samsung logo. I can still go into both recovery and download mode, but what do I do after that? I've heard about Odin....but how do i exactly put the custom roms into my phone, and which ones? And if any one can point me to a guide or tutorial, ill be extremely relieved. I'm new to the website as well as android, so if anyone could please help me out, thanks

When you rooted did you NANDROID backup ? If not go into recovery and clear cache and then go into advanced and wipe delvik cache. reboot
If that fails go back into recovery and do a factory reset and you should be ok.

touchdownadrian said:
Well i think it is. I rooted my phone last night and installed the beats drivers from the Play Store. Shortly, it froze and went straight to the Samsung logo. I can still go into both recovery and download mode, but what do I do after that? I've heard about Odin....but how do i exactly put the custom roms into my phone, and which ones? And if any one can point me to a guide or tutorial, ill be extremely relieved. I'm new to the website as well as android, so if anyone could please help me out, thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1727401

This is why noobs shouldn't be rooting, hell I'm on my 4th android phone and I'm still holding off on rooting it. And I was constantly popping new ROMS on my Vibrant, never bricked any phone

z0phi3l said:
This is why noobs shouldn't be rooting, hell I'm on my 4th android phone and I'm still holding off on rooting it. And I was constantly popping new ROMS on my Vibrant, never bricked any phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I disagree as long as you are willing to learn from the mistake all is good. I had a Samsung Exhibit II and deleted touch wiz launched (I was using go launcher) later I would do a factory reset and well... learned that system files do not get restored when you do a factory reset...oops
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium

I agree, we all were NOOBS at some point. That's the one thing I love about XDA is that with patience and the help of the users any noob can learn how to mod their devices. One piece of advice that I can offer is before you do any type of modding is READ and keep on READING. I have bricked the first device I ever rooted because I did not READ the forums as they are meant to be read.

z0phi3l said:
This is why noobs shouldn't be rooting, hell I'm on my 4th android phone and I'm still holding off on rooting it. And I was constantly popping new ROMS on my Vibrant, never bricked any phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, not cool dude..remember that WE were all NOOBS at some point in time, therefore we should support and help one another. As for what to do next, follow "Saldebot's" instructions and you should be fine. Sounds like it's only a soft brick. Just keep reading and learning as much as you can bud.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium

Thanks guys, it worked. And my bad for not reading alot, im kinda new to this lol
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium

not fair
z0phi3l said:
This is why noobs shouldn't be rooting, hell I'm on my 4th android phone and I'm still holding off on rooting it. And I was constantly popping new ROMS on my Vibrant, never bricked any phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude the vibrant is bullet proof . Now HTC that's a mother.
:silly:

touchdownadrian said:
Thanks guys, it worked. And my bad for not reading alot, im kinda new to this lol
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not the noobs who shouldn't be rooting... It's the lazy and careless who should stick to stock. If you are careful and diligent, rooting and all the good stuff that comes with it is easy and rewarding.

TheSeanTeam said:
It's not the noobs who shouldn't be rooting... It's the lazy and careless who should stick to stock. If you are careful and diligent, rooting and all the good stuff that comes with it is easy and rewarding.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I whole-heartily agree, I was a freshman noob August 1st this year, by August 4th I was flashing like a pro. Left and right, ROMs, Kernels, Modifying system files, you name it. I wanted to streamline my phone and future proof it somewhat by overclocking. I spent 3 days researching and educating myself, finding the best ROMs, weighing pros and cons, and when it came time to flash, I was on my PC all day making sure whatever I did wouldn't brick me. I carefully analyzed and learned about virtually all methods of flashing by watching tons of videos and reading a bunch of tutorials by several sources. I MD5 checksum'd every zip to be flashed on my phone using an app (to ensure download and transfer was successful). I must have verified that the files I was preparing to flash were indeed for my device make and model about a dozen times before ever touching a button. When I went to flash over my first custom Kernel (even though I had already flashed 2 custom ROMs shortly before that), on that last button my hands were literally shaking, I could not afford a second Galaxy S III. Everything went beautifully, all of my careful planning and hours of invested research payed off. I had done everything right and was rewarded with better battery life (about +50% on heavy load and +500% on idle) and performance (+25%).
My girlfriend also has a Galaxy s3 and she wanted the same performance I was getting. I flashed the exact same software to her device I had to mine, no changes.
Total time invested in flash on my device: 36 hours, at least
Total time invested in flash on her device: 1 hour... if that
The bottom line is yes, if you're not willing to put forth the effort and educate yourself first, you probably shouldn't be doing this. There are guides and tutorials out there for noobs and I would recommend you go there first until you know your way around your device. That way at least you have a little experience on your belt before you start doing anything too advanced (I did this when I was rooting my device for the first time).
As a side note, I know there are a lot of people out there worried about doing anything that could potentially brick their device. That is always a real possibility, I'm not going to lie to you, it happens more often than you think. However in just about every case of bricking you'll ever hear about, it's usually someone flashing something they're not suppose to, like a ROM designed for a different make and model of device, or something experimental that wasn't ready yet. Do all your homework (from multiple corroborating sources) before you undergo a flash and as long as you do everything "by the book" (so to speak) and don't rush through things by being lazy, you should be fine. Some even flash nightlies (yeah they're called that for a reason, updated versions of the ROM they currently have) EVERY NIGHT!!! In the end when you have an android device, you have an open source platform at your fingertips and you should take advantage of that, it would be a waste not to. If not, your next device might as well be an iPhone. They're great for noobs and as long as you're ok drinking whatever punch Apple gives you, they're pretty much impossible to brick since you can't do a whole lot with them. Apple will be happy to take your money and stiff you with closed source for it.

lordazoroth said:
I whole-heartily agree, I was a freshman noob August 1st this year, by August 4th I was flashing like a pro. Left and right, ROMs, Kernels, Modifying system files, you name it. I wanted to streamline my phone and future proof it somewhat by overclocking. I spent 3 days researching and educating myself, finding the best ROMs, weighing pros and cons, and when it came time to flash, I was on my PC all day making sure whatever I did wouldn't brick me. I carefully analyzed and learned about virtually all methods of flashing by watching tons of videos and reading a bunch of tutorials by several sources. I MD5 checksum'd every zip to be flashed on my phone using an app (to ensure download and transfer was successful). I must have verified that the files I was preparing to flash were indeed for my device make and model about a dozen times before ever touching a button. When I went to flash over my first custom Kernel (even though I had already flashed 2 custom ROMs shortly before that), on that last button my hands were literally shaking, I could not afford a second Galaxy S III. Everything went beautifully, all of my careful planning and hours of invested research payed off. I had done everything right and was rewarded with better battery life (about +50% on heavy load and +500% on idle) and performance (+25%).
My girlfriend also has a Galaxy s3 and she wanted the same performance I was getting. I flashed the exact same software to her device I had to mine, no changes.
Total time invested in flash on my device: 36 hours, at least
Total time invested in flash on her device: 1 hour... if that
The bottom line is yes, if you're not willing to put forth the effort and educate yourself first, you probably shouldn't be doing this. There are guides and tutorials out there for noobs and I would recommend you go there first until you know your way around your device. That way at least you have a little experience on your belt before you start doing anything too advanced (I did this when I was rooting my device for the first time).
As a side note, I know there are a lot of people out there worried about doing anything that could potentially brick their device. That is always a real possibility, I'm not going to lie to you, it happens more often than you think. However in just about every case of bricking you'll ever hear about, it's usually someone flashing something they're not suppose to, like a ROM designed for a different make and model of device, or something experimental that wasn't ready yet. Do all your homework (from multiple corroborating sources) before you undergo a flash and as long as you do everything "by the book" (so to speak) and don't rush through things by being lazy, you should be fine. Some even flash nightlies (yeah they're called that for a reason, updated versions of the ROM they currently have) EVERY NIGHT!!! In the end when you have an android device, you have an open source platform at your fingertips and you should take advantage of that, it would be a waste not to. If not, your next device might as well be an iPhone. They're great for noobs and as long as you're ok drinking whatever punch Apple gives you, they're pretty much impossible to brick since you can't do a whole lot with them. Apple will be happy to take your money and stiff you with closed source for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. It took me months of researching on my vibrant before flashing my first rom (bionix 1.6 by teamwhiskey). As I progressed, I did brick left and right but I always managed to bring it back to life with my prior knowledge. Now I'm eagerly waiting for my computer to be done downloading the root files and get started.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

Cr vibe said:
Dude the vibrant is bullet proof . Now HTC that's a mother.
:silly:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Omg I LOVED THE VIBRANT! Restoring it from a brick was a piece of cake
Sent from my SGH-T999

Cr vibe said:
Dude the vibrant is bullet proof . Now HTC that's a mother.
:silly:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+++++++1 on that.... DAMN talk about headaches....

dmarco said:
Yea, not cool dude..remember that WE were all NOOBS at some point in time, therefore we should support and help one another. As for what to do next, follow "Saldebot's" instructions and you should be fine. Sounds like it's only a soft brick. Just keep reading and learning as much as you can bud.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:good::good:

Yeah one of the only other IMPORTANT thinks i could add would be always do a factory reset before flashing roms.. some people like to flash "dirty" i wouldnt recommend it cause you will ALWAYS have issues maybe not in a hour but guaranteed you will... but knowledge is power dude.. i two read for about 36 hours before rooting my phone.. i rooted my wifes phone days after a rooted mine back in the day it only took like 15 mins.. another thing let phone sit 10 mins before ya play with it... gotta let the cache settle... the ten min wait is well worth it.. ive been doing it that way since the vibrant bro.. happy flashing and welcome..

I read constantly things change hourly like when that new leaked kernels came out for sgs2 and the emmc was trashed never to come back from a brick again. To anyone that cares if you love your phone read more than just the root and flash stuff learn what makes your phone tick from the factory hardware software and added crap from your carrier it all play's a part in the end result. Its as easy as you make it.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

Nabeel10 said:
Omg I LOVED THE VIBRANT! Restoring it from a brick was a piece of cake
Sent from my SGH-T999
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ive passed down two vibrants (both rooted) to my sons so they can learn to flash roms and everything else that comes from the joys of root.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

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.

GSIII will not turn on

I just rooted and installed the JellyBomb rom for the GS3 for a friend. They didn't like the rom, so I remembered that there was a GS3 version of Android Revolution HD. I flashed the phone and hit reboot in TWRP and now nothing. I realized just now that the roms are different for the carriers but I possibly installed a rom for a different carrier. Nonetheless, the phone still isn't doing anything. It won't power on. I get no screen. Nothing. Is it completely bricked? How can I at least get back to Download mode for Odin?

MrAutomatic said:
I just rooted and installed the JellyBomb rom for the GS3 for a friend. They didn't like the rom, so I remembered that there was a GS3 version of Android Revolution HD. I flashed the phone and hit reboot in TWRP and now nothing. I realized just now that the roms are different for the carriers but I possibly installed a rom for a different carrier. Nonetheless, the phone still isn't doing anything. It won't power on. I get no screen. Nothing. Is it completely bricked? How can I at least get back to Download mode for Odin?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good friend. You bricked his phone. Way to not read.

The Root said:
Good friend. You bricked his phone. Way to not read.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's all you have to say? Can I unbrick the phone?

MrAutomatic said:
That's all you have to say? Can I unbrick the phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, probably should have done some more research before breaking someone else's phone for them. Hope you got a good job cuz I'd make you buy a brand new one
I like to break stuff!

-EViL-KoNCEPTz- said:
Nope, probably should have done some more research before breaking someone else's phone for them. Hope you got a good job cuz I'd make you buy a brand new one
I like to break stuff!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your words of encouragement. It's nice to know there are still jack-asses around when you are in a tight spot to criticize your mistake.

It's bricked if it was an international version Rom. There's usually nothing you can do. Hopefully your friend can take it back to store say it was doing update and it never came back on. I hope he's a good friend. You can't get back into download mode at all because the partitions are different and your download and recovery are no longer in existence.
Transmitted with a portable device using Xparent Blue Tapatalk 2

edfunkycold said:
It's bricked if it was an international version Rom. There's usually nothing you can do. Hopefully your friend can take it back to store say it was doing update and it never came back on. I hope he's a good friend. You can't get back into download mode at all because the partitions are different and your download and recovery are no longer in existence.
Transmitted with a portable device using Xparent Blue Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for giving me a real explanation and not just running your mouth. She works for the carrier so she won't have an issue getting the phone replaced. I just hate inconveniencing them. It's just ridiculous that everything went smooth up until that point. What I don't understand is why the phone won't even power back on, at all, but oh well. She says they can have another to her within a day.

MrAutomatic said:
Thank you for giving me a real explanation and not just running your mouth. She works for the carrier so she won't have an issue getting the phone replaced. I just hate inconveniencing them. It's just ridiculous that everything went smooth up until that point. What I don't understand is why the phone won't even power back on, at all, but oh well. She says they can have another to her within a day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
here ill explain on the International S3 their Kernel partition is stored where on the US variant our bootloader is stored. So when you flash a international rom it wipes your bootloader because thats where the kernel goes on the international

This same thread will come up in about five hours. I will insult that person too. Learn what you're doing. I'm tired of these threads and they won't ban people who do this. I don't think you should be doing custom stuff to phones if you know this little. Is that more clear?

evo4gnoob said:
here ill explain on the International S3 their Kernel partition is stored where on the US variant our bootloader is stored. So when you flash a international rom it wipes your bootloader because thats where the kernel goes on the international
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This will prevent it from even powering on or getting into Download mode? Sheesh.

MrAutomatic said:
Thanks for your words of encouragement. It's nice to know there are still jack-asses around when you are in a tight spot to criticize your mistake.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I get that those replies probably werent the most soothing, but all of this could have been avoided and replying like that does not help you resolve you problem.
Now I dont know who you are or how much you looked into it, but next time make sure you stick to the development sections of the phone you're trying to flash
Sent from my PG06100

MrAutomatic said:
Thanks for your words of encouragement. It's nice to know there are still jack-asses around when you are in a tight spot to criticize your mistake.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problemo! Happy to help
I like to break stuff!

MrAutomatic said:
Thanks for your words of encouragement. It's nice to know there are still jack-asses around when you are in a tight spot to criticize your mistake.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, I'm not trying to be a jackass. Maybe I am, but you have to imagine the frustration of people like myself who read for months before even trying to root a phone. You have to understand what you're doing with your device and especially a friend's. Every phone that goes back and was exchanged because a of a "bad OTA" helped create the excuse for an off-contract $500 Samsung Epic to become a $600-$700 Samasung Galaxy S3. I have never bricked a device. I tested Triangle Away for the first time on this phone for Chainfire and tested countless leaked kernels for Agat on the Epic Touch. My devices are fine because i knew what I was doing. This is why you should read.

MrAutomatic said:
This will prevent it from even powering on or getting into Download mode? Sheesh.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes since the partitions are different so let's say its supposed to format cache then on the US variant it will format something else. So the System doesn't get installed and the wrong things get formatted. You'd think you could just go back to boot loader but its wiped since the partition was different
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app

evo4gnoob said:
Yes since the partitions are different so let's say its supposed to format cache then on the US variant it will format something else. So the System doesn't get installed and the wrong things get formatted. You'd think you could just go back to boot loader but its wiped since the partition was different
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For a little comparison, go install linux beside windoze on a separate partition using wubi, then delete the linux install and see if your computer will boot up. Oh no it won't boot because windows can no longer find the MBR (Master Boot Record, which is a PC bootloader) Just like borking the bootloader on a mobile device means that the device no more worky.
I like to break stuff!

-EViL-KoNCEPTz- said:
For a little comparison, go install linux beside windoze on a separate partition using wubi, then delete the linux install and see if your computer will boot up. Oh no it won't boot because windows can no longer find the MBR (Master Boot Record, which is a PC bootloader) Just like borking the bootloader on a mobile device means that the device no more worky.
I like to break stuff!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah. Hahaha. Good memories
I did this exact thing on my first linux install. Yay for recovery disks lol
Second time around I made sure I chainloaded into windows first and wrote the vista MBR. :good:
Sent from my PG06100

CNexus said:
Ah. Hahaha. Good memories
I did this exact thing on my first linux install. Yay for recovery disks lol
Second time around I made sure I chainloaded into windows first and wrote the vista MBR. :good:
Sent from my PG06100
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I keep a rescatux disk taped to the bottom of my laptops for just such emergencies. I can't tell you how many times I've decided to upgrade or change my linux distro and hosed the MBR. Even done it a few times when the install was "successful" and linux would boot fine but windoze was MIA :banghead: only problem with a mobile device is once the bootloaders blown there's no rescue disk equivalent for the home user. Sometimes jtag can fix it but not if it doesnt come on at all
I like to break stuff!

Lol..... You did almost the same mistake I managed to do (Was my first time EVER rooting and flashing a rom). Just call sprint an play dumb. You might have to pay a fee but that's all you can really do at this point. After that mistake, I always stay in the Sprint GS3 forum along with researching all my roms, add ons, along with themes that I flash beforehand and reading the reviews on them.

Not to defend anyone but everyone was a newbie at one point but I do agree with if your not sure ask questions and read before flashing
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app

The root is blunt but speaks the truth. If you read. You would have seen that there are threads of people who have bricked their phone. So if you would have searched you would have seen what to do. Sheesh there's even a sticky to remind you not to flash international ROMs on the US variants.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2156714
http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TexasEpic/ThePeoplesROM-KennyGlass123/daniel4653.png

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.
Click to expand...
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"
Click to expand...
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
Click to expand...
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
Click to expand...
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

Warning: Non-noobs get it wrong too - bricked SGS3

Although I wouldn't term myself a pro at all, I am not a noob when it comes to rooting and installing other ROMs. I have rooted many of my Android phones over the years and have diligently read and re-read posts when it comes to rooting and installing ClockworkMod recovery and other ROMs.
Last week, I made a big boo-boo!
I searched for "Sprint SGS3 alternate ROMs" and found a CNet article (http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/mobile-phones/top-5-samsung-galaxy-s3-custom-roms-50009440/) listing the different ROMs. I downloaded a couple (Hawkish and Energy) and promptly tried to install them. I got some error message in CWM. I then rebooted after cleaning caches, dalvik etc.
My phone wouldn't start at all!!!
I tried all the keypresses to get things working but absolutely nothing. The unit wouldn't turn on even with a separately fully charged battery. I tried to borrow a USB Jig from a user in this post (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1869203) but no-one was able to help. As the phone was my only phone (no landline) I was readying myself to pay the $60 that one of the other sites charged to JTag the unit.
Before I did that, I decided to take it in to Sprint, and told the technician I made a mess up. They didn't ask anything about what I did and took it to the back for about half an hour. They weren't able to do anything as the unit didn't switch on, but said that I could get a replacement for $50.
I did that and a few days later they swapped out the non-working unit for a working one. I was expecting to pay a whole lot more.
I learned the lesson the hard way: even if I search for "Sprint" the results aren't necessarily going to be for my unit. I should have read (and re-read!) the posts a whole lot more clearly about the other ROMs - they were not for the Sprint unit.
I hope my hard lesson will help others be a wee bit more cautious - even if you have been customizing a long time!

This is about the 100th post this month of people flashing roms for other carriers on a Sprint S3. A simple search in the Q&A would have probably alerted you to the facts.
Transmitted with a portable device using Xparent Blue Tapatalk 2

I *do* realize that I flashed the wrong ROM. The point of my post was to illuminate that it's not only noobies who get things wrong.
Even though I read what I thought was for Sprint, my presumption got in the way and I didn't realize until it was too late that it was not the ROM in the Sprint section of Http://www.xda-developers.com/ that I thought I was reading about.
I took responsibility for my mistake and paid the money to rectify my error.
I am hoping that my misfortune with be a cautionary tale for others to double (and triple) check.
Just because we've done things successfully many times before doesn't mean we're avert to the same errors as noobies.

IconBoy said:
I *do* realize that I flashed the wrong ROM. The point of my post was to illuminate that it's not only noobies who get things wrong.
Even though I read what I thought was for Sprint, my presumption got in the way and I didn't realize until it was too late that it was not the ROM in the Sprint section of Http://www.xda-developers.com/ that I thought I was reading about.
I took responsibility for my mistake and paid the money to rectify my error.
I am hoping that my misfortune with be a cautionary tale for others to double (and triple) check.
Just because we've done things successfully many times before doesn't mean we're avert to the same errors as noobies.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you would've read more carefully you wouldn't have made that mistake... noob! Jk
SPRINT GS3 FAQ

Feel bad but at the same time I dont. You should know a bit better to be sure that you can use that ROM/kernel/zip etc. If you doubt yourself ask in the thread or forum. We all don't know everything there is to rooting and flashing
http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TexasEpic/ThePeoplesROM-KennyGlass123/daniel4653.png
Odexed Blue by Strong Steve + Ktoonz w/ Team Kernelizers tweaks

In the cnet article it had this in the "getting started section"
Just bear in mind that if your S3 handset is not version number I9300 -- and it almost certainly is if you bought it in the UK -- then bad things can happen. So it's worth quickly checking your phone's settings before proceeding.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Discuss...
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app

I have to give you credit Iconboy for taking responsibility and paying for a new phone. Even though you messed up you admitted it. A lot of people that have done the same thing have posted things like "can I throw my phone in a river" or "can I just tell sprint that the OTA broke my phone". Thanks for doing it right.

metalfan78 said:
I have to give you credit Iconboy for taking responsibility and paying for a new phone. Even though you messed up you admitted it. A lot of people that have done the same thing have posted things like "can I throw my phone in a river" or "can I just tell sprint that the OTA broke my phone". Thanks for doing it right.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I agree. I don't know why people are bashing him. He maned up and payed for a replacement phone and now he is just letting other people know what can happen.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda premium

I did the same thing with my S3 about a month ago, Was on a flashing frenzy and didn't read enough about the rom i was flashing. After the flash my phone wouldn't do anything at all, just a paperweight. Took it into sprint and paid for a new one. Mistake learned, its part of being human.

musclehead84 said:
Yeah I agree. I don't know why people are bashing him. He maned up and payed for a replacement phone and now he is just letting other people know what can happen.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No one is bashing him, just having some fun at his expense, but you're right, thanks for doing the right thing op!
SPRINT GS3 FAQ

Like others have said, props for owning your mistake. However, the "noob" label applies to you, whether you think so or not. There were so many signs you were walking down the wrong path (including an explicit warning on the very page) the very first being that you were on a .uk website. I'm not posting this about that though, I just don't seem to understand why so many people feel the need to venture away from xda to acquire ROMs, this site if full of great ROMs made by great devs, not sure what more people need to end up flashing things they find on international news sites. Yes, there are other established sites, but usually they overlap with this site. That is to say, if there's something awesome happening somewhere else, you'll hear about it here (with a few exceptions).

Whether I am classified as a "noob" or not ... I have flashed custom ROMs on four or five different Android phones over the years.
The Motorola Photon was one where I thought I had a paperweight (nope...not an int'l ROM that time - Ha! Ha!) but because of XDA, I was able to get it working again after many errors. Decent little phone that one.
My error, my expense, my fault on the SGS3. Thankfully I have a working unit and can put the old EVO in the drawer as a backup - it is sloooow!

IconBoy said:
Whether I am classified as a "noob" or not ... I have flashed custom ROMs on four or five different Android phones over the years.
The Motorola Photon was one where I thought I had a paperweight (nope...not an int'l ROM that time - Ha! Ha!) but because of XDA, I was able to get it working again after many errors. Decent little phone that one.
My error, my expense, my fault on the SGS3. Thankfully I have a working unit and can put the old EVO in the drawer as a backup - it is sloooow!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad you got it worked out. Its not easy admitting (and on the internet to say the least) that you had made a mistake even as a seasoned flasher. Its never easy to admit an error, at all
I agree with metalfan above and I applaud you, you made a mistake and you paid for it, lesson learned

Well... Don't re-read is for noobs. Sorry if that hurts you.
Sent from my SPH-L710

IconBoy said:
Whether I am classified as a "noob" or not ... I have flashed custom ROMs on four or five different Android phones over the years.
The Motorola Photon was one where I thought I had a paperweight (nope...not an int'l ROM that time - Ha! Ha!) but because of XDA, I was able to get it working again after many errors. Decent little phone that one.
My error, my expense, my fault on the SGS3. Thankfully I have a working unit and can put the old EVO in the drawer as a backup - it is sloooow!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may not be a "noob" in the technical sense of that term, but as you already know, the mistake you made was an amateurish one. For one, you were on a .uk website, and second, the very article mentions that you have to be mindful of your model number and specifically mentions buying in the UK. There were at least 3 checkpoints in that article that should have prompted further scrutiny on your part. I do commend you for taking responsibility for your actions and for you PSA to be careful about what you flash, and I do understand how you got tripped up. This is probably the first Android phone that was released to multiple carriers worldwide. Also, what I would like to see from devs is a conspicuous message in the OP of their ROM about specifically which carrier/version their ROM is for. Often that is not mentioned.

So let me prose this question to everyone calling him a noob (including our devs) - why don't devs write their install scripts to read the current build.prop to check for the correct model before the wipe & install begins? If this is happening hundreds of times per month, a pretty small amount of scripting could probably stop this from happening 99% of the time.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app

rocket321 said:
So let me prose this question to everyone calling him a noob (including our devs) - why don't devs write their install scripts to read the current build.prop to check for the correct model before the wipe & install begins? If this is happening hundreds of times per month, a pretty small amount of scripting could probably stop this from happening 99% of the time.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good point. Bad code leads to bad problems. And its actually a very simple line of code in the updater-script that would abort, but increasingly people are dropping that habit and changing to a no-check install
Code:
assert(getprop("ro.product.device")=="DEVICE_NAME" && getprop("ro.product.board")=="DEVICE_NAME")

IconBoy said:
Although I wouldn't term myself a pro at all, I am not a noob when it comes to rooting and installing other ROMs. I have rooted many of my Android phones over the years and have diligently read and re-read posts when it comes to rooting and installing ClockworkMod recovery and other ROMs.
Last week, I made a big boo-boo!
I searched for "Sprint SGS3 alternate ROMs" and found a CNet article (http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/mobile-phones/top-5-samsung-galaxy-s3-custom-roms-50009440/) listing the different ROMs. I downloaded a couple (Hawkish and Energy) and promptly tried to install them. I got some error message in CWM. I then rebooted after cleaning caches, dalvik etc.
My phone wouldn't start at all!!!
I tried all the keypresses to get things working but absolutely nothing. The unit wouldn't turn on even with a separately fully charged battery. I tried to borrow a USB Jig from a user in this post (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1869203) but no-one was able to help. As the phone was my only phone (no landline) I was readying myself to pay the $60 that one of the other sites charged to JTag the unit.
Before I did that, I decided to take it in to Sprint, and told the technician I made a mess up. They didn't ask anything about what I did and took it to the back for about half an hour. They weren't able to do anything as the unit didn't switch on, but said that I could get a replacement for $50.
I did that and a few days later they swapped out the non-working unit for a working one. I was expecting to pay a whole lot more.
I learned the lesson the hard way: even if I search for "Sprint" the results aren't necessarily going to be for my unit. I should have read (and re-read!) the posts a whole lot more clearly about the other ROMs - they were not for the Sprint unit.
I hope my hard lesson will help others be a wee bit more cautious - even if you have been customizing a long time!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd say your a noob. Title is wrong. Lol.
.co.uk <----- not even us website.
Did you see "sprint" or d2spr any where? No.
Derp.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda premium

rocket321 said:
So let me prose this question to everyone calling him a noob (including our devs) - why don't devs write their install scripts to read the current build.prop to check for the correct model before the wipe & install begins? If this is happening hundreds of times per month, a pretty small amount of scripting could probably stop this from happening 99% of the time.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How about a counter point, if the noobs would read before flashing, it would stop this from happening 100% of the time! If you don't have time to read before trying to mod your device, you shouldn't be doing it in the first place...

Will always wonder why people find the right place just a second after they turn theirs phones into a fully functional brick.
Sent from my SPH-L710