Hard Brick I747: yes, there are options - AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III

The definition of "Hard Brick" is a phone that cannot be booted into any mode (including download, recovery). Worse case is a phone that does not respond to the buttons at all (power, menu, home, back, and volume). I have searched through all XDA forums and keyworded the net for hours, convinced that there had to be a free or cheep way to unbrick my hard bricked I747. I found leaked instructions that outlined how to bridge a specific (very small) transistor (named R313) inside the phone in order to trigger "SD Card Mode." The SD card was prepared to reinstall boot img and stalk ROM prior to triggering SD Card Mode. However, after opening my phone I found that the phone used to illustrate and show where the R313 transistor was located was designed totally different than my model. There was no way to know where the R313 was. Evidently, the S3 design can differ depending on carrier or maybe time purchased.
So, if it is unlikely for most of us that we will be able to find and bridge the R313 transistor, then there are only two other solutions that I was able to find. TJig, which is about $60, or send phone to Samsung for warranty service (if still under warranty). My phone is still under warranty and I just sent my phone in to Samsung. The question remains, "will Samsung be able to see if a hard bricked phone is customized or has a flash count?" or do they even look. If phone hard bricked, one can boot the phone into download mode with the right equipment. Download mode reveals the flash count. If Samsung checks flash count, then I assume TJig may be my only option. Or maybe Samsung will offer to unbrick my "out of warranty" phone for less than the price of a TJig. Hard to say. I will post my results when I get them.
If you are out of warranty, you may try calling around to service providers. The S3 is still the most popular phone on the planet; there is a good chance that a serve provider somewhere has a TJig and would charge you $20 or so to fix your phone with it.
Please add to this post if you can contribute. Especially if you have gone the warranty route and can report what happened.

I hard bricked my S3 by flashing LK3 bootloader, and I sent my phone to following ebay JTAG service, he is really helpful.
http://www.ebay.com/usr/patrickwalls
If anyone there hard bricked his phone like me and do not feel comfortable with SD card method, I would recommend him.
floykoe said:
The definition of "Hard Brick" is a phone that cannot be booted into any mode (including download, recovery). Worse case is a phone that does not respond to the buttons at all (power, menu, home, back, and volume). I have searched through all XDA forums and keyworded the net for hours, convinced that there had to be a free or cheep way to unbrick my hard bricked I747. I found leaked instructions that outlined how to bridge a specific (very small) transistor (named R313) inside the phone in order to trigger "SD Card Mode." The SD card was prepared to reinstall boot img and stalk ROM prior to triggering SD Card Mode. However, after opening my phone I found that the phone used to illustrate and show where the R313 transistor was located was designed totally different than my model. There was no way to know where the R313 was. Evidently, the S3 design can differ depending on carrier or maybe time purchased.
So, if it is unlikely for most of us that we will be able to find and bridge the R313 transistor, then there are only two other solutions that I was able to find. TJig, which is about $60, or send phone to Samsung for warranty service (if still under warranty). My phone is still under warranty and I just sent my phone in to Samsung. The question remains, "will Samsung be able to see if a hard bricked phone is customized or has a flash count?" or do they even look. If phone hard bricked, one can boot the phone into download mode with the right equipment. Download mode reveals the flash count. If Samsung checks flash count, then I assume TJig may be my only option. Or maybe Samsung will offer to unbrick my "out of warranty" phone for less than the price of a TJig. Hard to say. I will post my results when I get them.
If you are out of warranty, you may try calling around to service providers. The S3 is still the most popular phone on the planet; there is a good chance that a serve provider somewhere has a TJig and would charge you $20 or so to fix your phone with it.
Please add to this post if you can contribute. Especially if you have gone the warranty route and can report what happened.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

OK, so I sent in my bricked S3 (out of warrantee due to multiple flashes) to Samsung's Warrantee Service Department in Texas. They replaced something and sent it to QC, who put there stamp of approval on it and sent it to shipping. It is now on it's way back to me via 2 day air UPS. So I guess know one noticed the flash count or modified status. It is being sent back to me a warrantee S3.
I can't wait to brake the warrantee again
Results may very, but if your phone is with-in the warrantee window it can't hirt to try warrantee repair. You may know that you broke the warrantee, but they might be to busy to notice. They do pay for shipping both ways. Service is fast. All I had to pay for was the packaging materials.
The EBAY service mentioned above also looks lioke a good deal, for those of you with no warrantee. Check it out.
Sent from my GT-N7105 using xda app-developers app

Uhhh......how many flashes before it's bricked? Just wondering, I've been getting carried away latley. Thanks
Sent from my SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app

simpson173 said:
Uhhh......how many flashes before it's bricked? Just wondering, I've been getting carried away latley. Thanks
Sent from my SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL, I am up over 200 flashes on my note II, but my daughter's S3 bricked when Iflashed an international kernal to an AT&T specific ROM. I guess that is a no no. There are certain things that will brick your phone; as long as you don't do those things, you can flash 5 times a day if you want. The important thing is to read all threads and ask questions before you flash. However, even the experienced and careful flashercan make a mistake. It is important to know what to do if this happens to you.

Related

Samsung warranty repair - too good to be true?

I just finished a conversation with a Samsung support person, regarding my hard bricked T989. It seems that either there was some major misunderstanding between the two of us, or Samsung's policy is unexpectedely too firendly.
The bottom line was this: if you hard brick your phone due to firmware update - they will fix it and the repair is under warranty. Huh? Does anyone have a personal experience with getting a phone to be unbricked by manufacturer?
Here are some quotes.
Q: The phone had a firmware update which went wrong and now the phone is 100% inoperable. But there is no mechanical or any other damage whatsoever - only the firmware updated wrong.
Answ.: We can repair the phone, if it is still under warranty and has not been physically damaged. [...] Provided there is no physical damage to the phone and the failure is not due to any type of liquid damage, the phone will be repaired under warranty.
I think I was clear describing the bricking, and the answer was just as clear. Did I miss something?
BTW, the chat was exactly to clarify the question. Originally I emailed them asking a question on a different topic. The reply suggested that the phone could be covered by warranty. Surprise.
Yes Samsung can unbrick it. But they will take like 3 weeks. My friend he bricked his 7 inch galaxy tab and he sent it to Samsung and they unbricked it and sent it back.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA App
Well, having the phone back working 3 weeks late late is better than never. I am aboroad, bought the phone from a tiny retailer, and returning to it to T-Mo wasn't an option. After figuring out that unbicking is not an option either - no one offers the service, because they dont know how to unbrick it yet, - I was thinking that either the phone will go to Adam or will spend a six months in the desk, loosing its value to something like $50. Three weeks is soon.
But the point was slightly different: normally the warranty is void as soon as a product used not as intended. Bricking, I think, is mainly caused by reckless flashing, no paying attention, not reading the instuctions, etc. I expected that if one admits that it is him who made his own phone inoperable, then... well - it's his loss.

Phone life after death. Breaking the Jtag taboo.

I had some research yesterday, yet I still can't find a proper answer to most of my questions about the following subject. Hoping some of the experts here can contribute some of their knowledge and hopefully I will edit this thread to a guide, or at least spare others the need for wondering around the web as I did.
Well, Few days ago I turned off my phone, and it wont turn on or response to any physical key combination, usb connection (Except for charging the battery) or even that famous Samsung jig (301KΩ Between pin 4 and 5 on the usb connection). It is not recognizable by any device while connected through usb interface. It is permabricked. The worst thing that can happen to a phone while the hardware is intact.
Although the name indicates otherwise, some things can be done in order to get the device working again.
It is a process in which the phone's main bored is exposed, than a special device (e.g riff box) is connected to certain areas on the pcb that were made that way for the initial configuration of the phone back in the factory. The pinout of the connection varies in each model, but the interface is the same and called "Jtag". Than, that device connects to a pc through usb interface.
So the first step would be to get that device and to connect it to both pc and phone's motherboard through a certain pinout that is mostly hard to get. You'll need a driver for that jtag flashing device and a compiled file which you would like to flash in to your phone. I don't know if that file is specific to each model or to the certain chip the phone is using (Can different models with the same chip be flashed the same way? Reply if you know and I'll edit it here).
By what I know, after flashing that file the phone will be accessible through usb interface for further flashing of the rom.
Alternatively, There are some companies that offer that kind of service. I couldn't find any who work with T989, and prices for that kind of service.
I would like to have as much information as possible and maybe eventually I'll be able to get my phone fixed. In that case I'll add some photos and document the process.
Michael.fri said:
I had some research yesterday, yet I still can't find a proper answer to most of my questions about the following subject. Hoping some of the experts here can contribute some of their knowledge and hopefully I will edit this thread to a guide, or at least spare others the need for wondering around the web as I did.
Well, Few days ago I turned off my phone, and it wont turn on or response to any physical key combination, usb connection (Except for charging the battery) or even that famous Samsung jig (301KΩ Between pin 4 and 5 on the usb connection). It is not recognizable by any device while connected through usb interface. It is permabricked. The worst thing that can happen to a phone while the hardware is intact.
Although the name indicates otherwise, some things can be done in order to get the device working again.
It is a process in which the phone's main bored is exposed, than a special device (e.g riff box) is connected to certain areas on the pcb that were made that way for the initial configuration of the phone back in the factory. The pinout of the connection varies in each model, but the interface is the same and called "Jtag". Than, that device connects to a pc through usb interface.
So the first step would be to get that device and to connect it to both pc and phone's motherboard through a certain pinout that is mostly hard to get. You'll need a driver for that jtag flashing device and a compiled file which you would like to flash in to your phone. I don't know if that file is specific to each model or to the certain chip the phone is using (Can different models with the same chip be flashed the same way? Reply if you know and I'll edit it here).
By what I know, after flashing that file the phone will be accessible through usb interface for further flashing of the rom.
Alternatively, There are some companies that offer that kind of service. I couldn't find any who work with T989, and prices for that kind of service.
I would like to have as much information as possible and maybe eventually I'll be able to get my phone fixed. In that case I'll add some photos and document the process.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1st off, it's "taboo" not tabu. Secondly there is already a pretty good amount of threads that have covered this in detail, I'm certain because I have posted in them. Lastly, please SEARCH the existing threads before creating a new one; the answers to all your questions are already there.
1. Thanks, Changed to "Taboo".
2. I searched, I really did. I went all over google with many key words and covered up this forum as well. All I got is some articles about the jtag protocol, which is good for knowledge but too general for the application I need, and some threads in which people writing that their phone is bricked and asks what to do about it. Not a single post is about how to fix that independently, and what does it require. If you could give me link to these threads you say that covers up the subject, I'll delete this thread at once.
Michael.fri said:
1. Thanks, Changed to "Taboo".
2. I searched, I really did. I went all over google with many key words and covered up this forum as well. All I got is some articles about the jtag protocol, which is good for knowledge but too general for the application I need, and some threads in which people writing that their phone is bricked and asks what to do about it. Not a single post is about how to fix that independently, and what does it require. If you could give me link to these threads you say that covers up the subject, I'll delete this thread at once.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
don't pay attention to that guy he like to troll every where he goes. Try to google search for mobile tech or Adam Outler, and check if he get the Jtag service for our phone. If I'm not wrong the charge for the Vibrant was $50.00 plus shipping and handling. I hope you can fix your phone.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
Do you know what caused the brick?
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
Searched, and yet no result. Sending the phone to the U.S is quite risky. I have no idea how they're intended to pack it before sending it back. I would rather doing this in Israel.
I saw on ebay several devices associated with Jtag. the price starts from 10$ for a simple usb dongle, through 30$ devices, which is the price of most of the jtag devices I found, to the 150$ riff box that is associated with phone unbricking.
By what I know Jtag is a simple serial protocol. I just need sort of "bridge" to translate the logic 1's and 0's with the right voltage level and certain clock speed to a usb interface or even RS232. How expensive can that be?
I also contacted several ebay sellers which offer a jtag repair service. they all answered this model is not supported.
I would go to Samsung labs in Israel and see what they can do to get it working.
I just thought to invest 20$, get that sort of device and to get it done by my own.
Another issue is the pinout. The pinoput of the Jtag connection is not shown in any website, so I have no way of knowing how to connect on this specific PCB.
Last thing I need is that new bootloader I can flash, and a software to flash it through. Where can I download it?
About the reason for bricking the phone, I have no Idea. As I said, last time I've installed new rom was more than a week prior to the incident. I've used some overclocking app mostly to underclock my phone, cause it drained the battery like hell before, even while it was running on stock and after changing the rom several times.
I also used some usb otg device which worked normally, but was not plugged to the device even few hours before it was bricked.
Hopefully we can figure out the cause of these permabricks so we can prevent it from happening to more people.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
I gotta say, this is quite alarming. That the phone can just hard brick itself like this spontaneously.
I've had some scary experiences with the phone myself. Like a couple of random reboots that required the long power press for the phone to power back on. At least it always came back on.
I'm also from Israel myself so a similar scenario can bring me to the same situation as you.
Good luck with getting any kind of solution.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
parusia said:
don't pay attention to that guy he like to troll every where he goes. Try to google search for mobile tech or Adam Outler, and check if he get the Jtag service for our phone. If I'm not wrong the charge for the Vibrant was $50.00 plus shipping and handling. I hope you can fix your phone.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Troll for advising to follow the posted rules of membership ? WOW
I just contacted Adam and still no jtag for this device .
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
did you look for a service manual?
- the manual may cover schematics for jtag device.
Been flashing phones since the Razr and never bricked a phone I couldn't repair myself. That is until I tried to flash my GSII back to stock through odin. Sent it to Samsung and they had to replace motherboard. Now I'm a little nervous about using odin.
reocej said:
Been flashing phones since the Razr and never bricked a phone I couldn't repair myself. That is until I tried to flash my GSII back to stock through odin. Sent it to Samsung and they had to replace motherboard. Now I'm a little nervous about using odin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I recommend splurging on the $2-3 for a jig, I have had moments where I thought I was SOL & the jig saved my arse.
Michael.fri said:
Last thing I need is that new bootloader I can flash, and a software to flash it through. Where can I download it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you solve your problem?
I was looking at using QPST
QPST is a program often frowned upon here at xda. It is commonly used to flash phones, and has little to do with android coding. The software is made for Qualcomm (or by them) and this device has a chip from them in it. This has tools for building and installing bootloaders and partition tables. Our device after a hard brick (and still serviceable by JTAGing) has a com port open still and if you load the driver in windows you will see a port number as others here on XDA have said. The driver allows ODIN to see the device but not connect. QPST does connect, but I have not attempted to flash anything to it since I have not built any files to load. I'm kind of stuck creating the needed xml that makes the partition table and headers and file that are to be loaded to partitions. This is really a softbrick, in my opion, but nobody has the knowledge for this level of building and coding, with this tool, here at XDA. If somebody does, it may make those selling JTAG services mad, but that would mean we could fix our phones on our own. On my own, I'm a few weeks away from this solution, with some help from people here that know how to write xml for partition tables and can help me locate files for a build, I can generate the files, test them, make a write up and post the solution in just a few days.
By the way, this is a multi-device solution in the long run. We get one fixed and we can start on the others with this same issue, where the only life left in the device is the Qualcomm download mode driver showing in windows device manager.
Michael.fri said:
I had some research yesterday, yet I still can't find a proper answer to most of my questions about the following subject. Hoping some of the experts here can contribute some of their knowledge and hopefully I will edit this thread to a guide, or at least spare others the need for wondering around the web as I did.
Well, Few days ago I turned off my phone, and it wont turn on or response to any physical key combination, usb connection (Except for charging the battery) or even that famous Samsung jig (301KΩ Between pin 4 and 5 on the usb connection). It is not recognizable by any device while connected through usb interface. It is permabricked. The worst thing that can happen to a phone while the hardware is intact.
Although the name indicates otherwise, some things can be done in order to get the device working again.
It is a process in which the phone's main bored is exposed, than a special device (e.g riff box) is connected to certain areas on the pcb that were made that way for the initial configuration of the phone back in the factory. The pinout of the connection varies in each model, but the interface is the same and called "Jtag". Than, that device connects to a pc through usb interface.
So the first step would be to get that device and to connect it to both pc and phone's motherboard through a certain pinout that is mostly hard to get. You'll need a driver for that jtag flashing device and a compiled file which you would like to flash in to your phone. I don't know if that file is specific to each model or to the certain chip the phone is using (Can different models with the same chip be flashed the same way? Reply if you know and I'll edit it here).
By what I know, after flashing that file the phone will be accessible through usb interface for further flashing of the rom.
Alternatively, There are some companies that offer that kind of service. I couldn't find any who work with T989, and prices for that kind of service.
I would like to have as much information as possible and maybe eventually I'll be able to get my phone fixed. In that case I'll add some photos and document the process.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mobile Tech offers the JTag service. There is even a discount for XDA members. They offer the service for all variants of the S2
Here you go!
http://mobiletechvideos.mybigcommerce.com/samsung-galaxy-s-ii-jtag-brick-repair/
daxxone said:
QPST is a program often frowned upon here at xda. It is commonly used to flash phones, and has little to do with android coding. The software is made for Qualcomm (or by them) and this device has a chip from them in it.*snip* On my own, I'm a few weeks away from this solution, with some help from people here that know how to write xml for partition tables and can help me locate files for a build, I can generate the files, test them, make a write up and post the solution in just a few days..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any word on a fix using QPST?

Wrong Rom: A Cautionary Tale

I'd like to share with you all my tale of rom flashing gone horribly wrong. It's really only important for 2 pieces of misinformation that I've seen kicking around the forums. First, the story.
I had already rooted my Telus Galaxy S3 (SGH-i747M), but was still running stock. I started looking around for compatible roms running JB, but didn't have much luck (finding ones that support the Canadian version is not easy). At the same time, I had to update and reset my old Galaxy S2 for a relative who was taking it off my hands. I found a JB rom that was available for both the S2 and S3, from the same dev. I decided to try both out, downloaded them and copied the respective files to the S2 and S3, but quickly realized that the S3 version didn't support my Canadian phone. No problem, I'll leave the S3 as rooted stock.
I proceeded to flash and install the rom on my S2. Everything seemed to be going fine until the first reboot after flashing. The phone appeared to be completely dead. I tried putting the phone into download mode but it was completely dead and would not even show signs that it was plugged into a power outlet. Then, horror. Both my S2 and S3 are in Otterbox Commuter cases. They look very similar. At 1 in the morning in a dimly lit room, they look identical.
Yes. Like an idiot, I had installed the incompatible S3 rom to my Canadian S3. I had, in fact, hard bricked my phone. I set aside my grief for 10 minutes and got the S2 done, as that was the original goal of this adventure. That worked fine. Of course.
For the next several hours and most of the following day, I searched and searched. I ended up on the posts talking about QHSUSB_DLOAD and how I'd screwed myself. No hope. Only option is either JTAG service or, and this brings me to misinformation #1, sending it back to Samsung. Why send a rooted and screwed phone back to Samsung? Well, the argument was that in all likeliness they wouldn't be able to tell and would probably just get it up and running anyway, perhaps with some nominal fee. Also, and here comes misinformation #2, there was a good chance that they would have to fix the problem in order to verify it.
Thankfully, in my only intelligent move in the last year, I had opted to choose the extra device protection offered by my carrier. Which meant, if it wasn't covered under warranty, I could get a brand new phone at a significantly reduced rate. But it did mean I had to send it in to Samsung first. And so, I walked into a carrier store and simply stated that it wouldn't power up. I neglected to mention the whole "I'm an idiot and accidentally installed an incompatible rom at 1AM". At the end of the day, they don't care anyway.
So I waited for almost 3 weeks before getting an update from my carrier. Samsung had looked at it and had a quote. I called the store to find out the cost. The phone needs a new mainboard. $350+ (I remember it being more than $350 but less than $400). Ah, no thank you. I politely declined and contacted the company providing the device protection. No problem, phone would be in my hands in 2-3 business days. I just need to send the damaged phone back when I get it from Samsung.
When the phone did get back from Samsung (within 24 hours, I might add), it came with a note to the carrier indicating that the phone had been rooted. The store manager actually made a good point too. If they were able to get it up and running to figure out it was rooted, why did it need a new mainboard? In all likeliness, they just wanted to teach me a $350+ lesson in voiding the warranty. So, what did I learn from this experience?
1) If you are rooting multiple phones, don't leave them all laying around in identical cases in a dimly lit room at 1AM.
2) Don't root phones in a dimly lit room at 1AM.
3) If you royally mess up your bootloader and it won't boot up, Samsung can still boot up that phone.
4) If that same phone is rooted, Samsung can not only tell, but ensure that the phone remains in it's screwed state for return.
5) They might just try and teach you a $350+ lesson; my guess is this ultimately depends on who looks at it (just like walking into an Apple store and walking out with a replacement, prior to Applecare+).
If anyone is curious why I didn't JTAG service the phone, it's simply because I can't afford to wait that long without a phone and the cost difference between JTAG and my device protection plan is not significant.
I think the are full of it.. I bet they did not even boot it up.
It would be possible for them to boot into download mode using a JTAG device, flash a working bootloader and at the very least load up a recovery environment terminal to check for root access. This is assuming of course they couldn't do this directly from their JTAG skipping having to fix the bootloader. Even so whats to stop them flashing a non working bootloader back to the device after they found what they are looking for. Not only would this not take very long, for the chance at turning 350 bucks work of profit vs a warranty fix im sure the techs are required to do this. This of course doesn't justify the obvious fact that a replacement motherboard is completely ridiculous. I'm of the opinion that it isn't right to cheat the manufacturers by getting warranty replacements on user created errors, however if they are attempting to gouge the end user instead of just charge them to fix the problem then i say all's fair. Lets face it, its not as if they don't take these warranty devices, especially the hard bricked ones, and simply fix the software, repackage and sell them again.
Exactly. I sent it in and fully expected some kind of charge, like labor, to get it working again. But not almost $400.
Yea, that is pretty lame. Its no different than a damaged led lens, which they charge the full LED assembly price of $175 instead of just fixing the problem. I just did this today on my phone for $20 and an hour or so of my time.
Wow that sucks. At least your other phone still works.
sent from my rooted galaxy 3.6
Noob question:
Did you use Triangle Away? If they can just boot up the device and find if you have root access, is the point of Triangle Away just aesthetics?
I think that is more or less an easy give away the uneducated rep at the sales counter can look for.
i must confess i've rooted my phone dozens of times, and i can say that over 80% of those were in the dark after midnight.
Yeah, me too. It only takes one mistake though ...
yes rooting is such another .apk on the phone and certainly does not void the hardware warranty... Obviouisly they should charge you for software issues which you did.. did you get the phone back and have someone else jtag and fix it?
No. I have to send it back in to the company I have device protection through. But I have a new S3 already. JTAG would probably work, but it would take too long and isn't much cheaper than getting the new one.
Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk 2
And yeah your full of it lmao. I had a galaxy s3 that just stopped working after being left in charger a night. Took it.to a rsi (Samsung official customer service and service center here in dallas Texas) and they said the motherboard was ruined. And it was stock non rooted. And it was covered under warranty and they had to create a new imei for the phone. So $350? Yeah right
Sent from my SGH-I747 using xda premium
Sorry, I'm full of it? Your phone is non rooted, so your point is completely moot. Your phone legitimately died. Mine was screwed because of my own fault of flashing the wrong rom. There was and is nothing wrong with the motherboard on this phone. They were just trying to teach me a $350 lesson in rooting/voiding my warranty. But thanks for your insightful comment.
JTAG
bionemesis said:
Sorry, I'm full of it? Your phone is non rooted, so your point is completely moot. Your phone legitimately died. Mine was screwed because of my own fault of flashing the wrong rom. There was and is nothing wrong with the motherboard on this phone. They were just trying to teach me a $350 lesson in rooting/voiding my warranty. But thanks for your insightful comment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
happened to be last night,only option was to JTAG it so sent it to MTV Mobile Tech Videos,sucks ass....will se how long i am in Texas and sent it to Bryan Texas.Hopefully Get it back albeit in one piece by Wednesday Meanwhile i have no Phone.
This is not to offend anyone or cause a flamme war.
But I don't think people should be lying to Samsung or any carrier, that 1. Your phone isn't bricked/rooted and 2. That you have no idea of what's going on and it just wouldn't turn on.
You as a user should hold all responsibility for a bricked device. Should they charge you 400$? Damn right they should.
That's one of the many reasons why Samsung and many other carriers either ship their devices with locked bootloaders or don't release source code. And don't say the whole "I played 500$ for my phone I get to do what I want," yeah you're completely right. But let's say you're changing your cars oil and the person being the n00b that they are decides to mix synthetic oil and convention oil in the engine. Oh no you're screwed. You dont take your car to the dealership saying "I don't know what happened the engine just won't turn on," THEYRE GOING TO KNOW lol, and expect to get a free car or not get charged for your miss hap. C'mon. If you screw up at least be responsible to pay some kind of fee to get it fixed. I despise folks who "try to play the system" because of them phones will be locked down in the near future. Now its illegal to carrier unlock your device unless its paid for because of folks like that. I understand the OPs mistake. Yeah I've done it. But I paid to fix my mistake. Be responsible people. We're grown ups here. Same with flashing stuff. Do a little reading before you start a thread on how you "bricked your phone" but its really stuck in a boot loop.
Just my 2¢
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
I couldn't read all of that I must have a terrible attention span these days.
But I did read that you were with telus, not at&t; but of course its morally wrong to lie to at&t but the way I see it is I pay them $2000+ over the course of my contract for this phone and if I want to take advantage of their warranty system to save $300-400 (a small fraction of what they're making off of 1 customer) and try my best to get a free replacement you can bet your ass I will.
Heisenberg420 said:
I couldn't read all of that I must have a terrible attention span these days.
But I did read that you were with telus, not at&t; but of course its morally wrong to lie to at&t but the way I see it is I pay them $2000+ over the course of my contract for this phone and if I want to take advantage of their warranty system to save $300-400 (a small fraction of what they're making off of 1 customer) and try my best to get a free replacement you can bet your ass I will.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see were you're getting at but you pay ATT for a service, not a phone. Those 300-400$ are for Samsung, which is different. They're kind of giving you a discount. Phone cost 700$ but they'll kindly replace it for 300$ they're being lenient about it.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
bionemesis said:
If anyone is curious why I didn't JTAG service the phone, it's simply because I can't afford to wait that long without a phone and the cost difference between JTAG and my device protection plan is not significant.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
JTAG costs $50 and has a two day return.
Did you try a jig to force the phone into download mode.?

[Q] Bricked Question? Please Help.

For the record I did search the forum (pretty quickly) and didn't find what I was looking for so I hope I'm not reposting the same issue.
So I was flashing the Slim Bean 4.2.2 rom to my galaxy s3 using goomanager and i think my phone is hard bricked.
In goomanager it allows you to select multiple zips to flash, and I'm pretty sure they flash in the order they are listed. Well i planned to flash the Slim-i9300-4.2.2.build.6-OFFICIAL (the rom itself), Slim_Gapps.4.2.2.build.6 (google apps for the rom), and Extras.4.2.2.build.6 (extras specific to the rom) for the Slim Bean rom from the slimroms site.
I had the Extras.4.2.2.build.6 zip listed first then accidentally pressed the flash button and without thought confirmed my actions in the pop up window (Yes i'm an idiot). So it rebooted and went through some script then my phone went black.
It wont go into download mode (home, power, vol down), it won't display anything on the screen, and it wont power on. My computer recognizes it and shows that it is connected. I don't know if that will do anything it terms of fixing it on my own? I haven't read up on bricked phones too much but i'm pretty sure its hard bricked.
Sooooooo, first off does anyone have any suggestions as to what i should do?
-If i were to take it to a Sprint store what would they say? I've had it for a year and I don't think i have any warranty (granted i know rooting my phone would technically void it anyways). If it doesn't power on or do anything could I say it turned off in the middle of the 4.1.2 OTA update and resulted in its current state?
-Would a usb JIG boot my phone into download mode and fix my problem?
-Is a jtag service my only option?
-If it is jtag does anyone know a place around the Louisville, KY area that does this sort of thing? I google searched but didn't find anything local.
-If not i guess mobiletechvideos is my best option?
Any help would be much appreciated. I'm in dire need of this phone to be fixed as I start my new job in a 2 weeks and need it for obvious communication reasons.
DrewFerg11 said:
For the record I did search the forum (pretty quickly) and didn't find what I was looking for so I hope I'm not reposting the same issue.
So I was flashing the Slim Bean 4.2.2 rom to my galaxy s3 using goomanager and i think my phone is hard bricked.
In goomanager it allows you to select multiple zips to flash, and I'm pretty sure they flash in the order they are listed. Well i planned to flash the Slim-i9300-4.2.2.build.6-OFFICIAL (the rom itself), Slim_Gapps.4.2.2.build.6 (google apps for the rom), and Extras.4.2.2.build.6 (extras specific to the rom) for the Slim Bean rom from the slimroms site.
I had the Extras.4.2.2.build.6 zip listed first then accidentally pressed the flash button and without thought confirmed my actions in the pop up window (Yes i'm an idiot). So it rebooted and went through some script then my phone went black.
It wont go into download mode (home, power, vol down), it won't display anything on the screen, and it wont power on. My computer recognizes it and shows that it is connected. I don't know if that will do anything it terms of fixing it on my own? I haven't read up on bricked phones too much but i'm pretty sure its hard bricked.
Sooooooo, first off does anyone have any suggestions as to what i should do?
-If i were to take it to a Sprint store what would they say? I've had it for a year and I don't think i have any warranty (granted i know rooting my phone would technically void it anyways). If it doesn't power on or do anything could I say it turned off in the middle of the 4.1.2 OTA update and resulted in its current state?
-Would a usb JIG boot my phone into download mode and fix my problem?
-Is a jtag service my only option?
-If it is jtag does anyone know a place around the Louisville, KY area that does this sort of thing? I google searched but didn't find anything local.
-If not i guess mobiletechvideos is my best option?
Any help would be much appreciated. I'm in dire need of this phone to be fixed as I start my new job in a 2 weeks and need it for obvious communication reasons.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"Slim-i9300-4.2.2.build.6-OFFICIAL" that is the international model version of the ROM. Flashing International ROMs hard brick your phone. So yes, you do have a hard brick. As to taking it to sprint, Idk if they'll do anything for you especially if you have no insurance or warranty. Sorry bud
Well your problem is not that you flashed in the wrong order. Your problem is that you flashed a rom from the International S3 (i9300) not the sprint SPH-L710. You attempted to turn your Sprint phone into an International S3. This flashed completely different partitions onto your device. JTAG is the only way to fix it. They have to open the device and repartition everything. Mobiltech is the way to go. My advice in the future is if you don't find the rom in the Sprint Galaxy S3 forums do not flash it.
Sent from the future via Xparent Green Tapatalk 2
solis888 said:
"Slim-i9300-4.2.2.build.6-OFFICIAL" that is the international model version of the ROM. Flashing International ROMs hard brick your phone. So yes, you do have a hard brick. As to taking it to sprint, Idk if they'll do anything for you especially if you have no insurance or warranty. Sorry bud
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well i feel retarded.... should have done some more research and not trusted a youtube video.
Is JTAG service the only way to fix it/will that fix it?
Ya, I didn't know what they'd do if i played dumb (i know, thats bad, but im desperate) and said it did this during the official OTA update.
DrewFerg11 said:
Is JTAG service the only way to fix it/will that fix it?.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
JTAG is in fact the only way to repair it. Yes guaranteed it will be fixed.
Sent from the future via Xparent Green Tapatalk 2
DrewFerg11 said:
Well i feel retarded.... should have done some more research and not trusted a youtube video.
Is JTAG service the only way to fix it/will that fix it?
Ya, I didn't know what they'd do if i played dumb (i know, thats bad, but im desperate) and said it did this during the official OTA update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just do more research next time before flashing. And as the person above said, don't flash anything that isn't on the sprint GS3 forums.
DrewFerg11 said:
Well i feel retarded.... should have done some more research and not trusted a youtube video.
Is JTAG service the only way to fix it/will that fix it?
Ya, I didn't know what they'd do if i played dumb (i know, thats bad, but im desperate) and said it did this during the official OTA update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately yes you are hard bricked and it sucks. JTAG will fix it Google it there are good services out there for about $60 and week or so turn around.
If you pay for insurance you could also take it to sprint and tell them it won't boot and they should replace it for a deductible. Some will call this fraud but the way I see it if you pay for insurance it is there to cover mistakes. You didn't mean to brick it just like some one who dropped it in a pool didn't mean to ruin their phone.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda premium
Thanks for the quick response everyone. I really appreciate it. I feel dumb. I usually do my research, but I was bord and a spur of the moment action got me in trouble this time.
I guess I'll run to the sprint store tomorrow and see what they can do, if anything.
If they can't do anything, mobiletech it is! It looks to be a reliable site. Will my phone be active on the sprint network still after the JTAG? or will I have to do anything to it? I also assume I will get all the text messages and what not that my phone is currently incapable of receiving now?
Any thing else I should know about the JTAG or my phones hard bricked state before I go ahead with it since we are on the subject and I don't want this to happen again.
DrewFerg11 said:
Thanks for the quick response everyone. I really appreciate it. I feel dumb. I usually do my research, but I was bord and a spur of the moment action got me in trouble this time.
I guess I'll run to the sprint store tomorrow and see what they can do, if anything.
If they can't do anything, mobiletech it is! It looks to be a reliable site. Will my phone be active on the sprint network still after the JTAG? or will I have to do anything to it? I also assume I will get all the text messages and what not that my phone is currently incapable of receiving now?
Any thing else I should know about the JTAG or my phones hard bricked state before I go ahead with it since we are on the subject and I don't want this to happen again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I doubt you will get any texts, sprint is not saving to deliver them later. Unless your using Google Voice. Your phone will be up and running rom flashed but it won't activate until you log into it with your google ID, just like when you get in the box brand new.
Sent from the future via Xparent Green Tapatalk 2

Note 10+ stuck at watchdog reset

Hi all. I am baffled as to what happened to my phone. It has no mods and is running stock android 11. It was absolutely fine, not having any issues at all, and I realized I hadn't rebooted it in a few weeks. So, I did a plain old restart.
And it died.
It won't do anything no matter how long I hold the power button down. The battery is fully charged.
Tried to get to the recovery screen by holding down volume up and power, which did nothing. Then I tried vol down and power and got a screen I've not seen before: SS RDX Watchdog Reset.
And here I am stuck. I plugged in a usb cable to my laptop and now there's a device connected on my laptop called msm_upload which I can only see from the windows Bluetooth and other devices panel.
I have no idea what to do from here and I'm desperate.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
did you see this
https://www.reddit.com/r/galaxynote10/comments/k6c4l5
raul6 said:
did you see this
https://www.reddit.com/r/galaxynote10/comments/k6c4l5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I saw that. If you read the thread, the solution was to "play around with the buttons and it will eventually work." LOL.
mellie815 said:
Yes I saw that. If you read the thread, the solution was to "play around with the buttons and it will eventually work." LOL.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes. i thought if it is software issue than it might be timing issues with pressing correct keys combo. possibly wishful thinking. i assume you've seen one other thread on xda with similar issue with no direct resolution. Still try smart switch
raul6 said:
yes. i thought if it is software issue than it might be timing issues with pressing correct keys combo. possibly wishful thinking. i assume you've seen one other thread on xda with similar issue with no direct resolution. Still try smart switch
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've never used smart switch before. If my pc doesn't see the phone, how would that work? My phone doesn't show up in my laptop except as a Bluetooth device called msm_upload that I can't figure out how to interact with? I guess I'll need to install smart switch on the laptop and hopefully it will see the device?
mellie815 said:
I've never used smart switch before. If my pc doesn't see the phone, how would that work? My phone doesn't show up in my laptop except as a Bluetooth device called msm_upload that I can't figure out how to interact with? I guess I'll need to install smart switch on the laptop and hopefully it will see the device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's true and who knows it might work. essentially trying anything to see if it will somehow make a difference. fingers crossed
Watchdog
Very strange.
Sort of sounds like it's bricked.
Play with new firmware/software, win new prizes. I could go on...
You need to navigate to the boot menu somehow. Keep playing with the buttons; sequence and ***timing*** is everything.
If you can drain the battery until it auto shutdown that might get it... much latter.
Disconnect the battery and force a hard reboot.
Otherwise it's repair shop time.
blackhawk said:
Watchdog
Very strange.
Sort of sounds like it's bricked.
Play with new firmware/software, win new prizes. I could go on...
You need to navigate to the boot menu somehow. Keep playing with the buttons; sequence and ***timing*** is everything.
If you can drain the battery until it auto shutdown that might get it... much latter.
Disconnect the battery and force a hard reboot.
Otherwise it's repair shop time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I went to a repair shop out of desperation. Had to drive over an hour to get to it as I live in the country, and he basically said it's dead. The fun part is, I called my warranty co and of course, they aren't honoring the warranty because "they don't insure phones that cost over $999" which mine did when I got it. But of course, there was nothing that said they didn't cover my phone, which is why I bought their lease/warranty plan.
So, basically, I have a brick that I owe $591 on yet, and they couldn't care less. At this point, I am willing to try anything at all because I have no other options. I already filed a BBB report against them after spending over an hour on the phone with them to no avail.
Any ideas at all would be very helpful at this point.
Also, I CAN still get to that SS RDX Watchdog Reset screen and it will scan an SD card (because I tried it). The problem is, I cannot for my life find a stock Note 10+ ROM anywhere that I can actually download. Wondering if I should just try to throw a custom ROM on it instead? It's obviously not going anywhere otherwise.
mellie815 said:
Also, I CAN still get to that SS RDX Watchdog Reset screen and it will scan an SD card (because I tried it). The problem is, I cannot for my life find a stock Note 10+ ROM anywhere that I can actually download. Wondering if I should just try to throw a custom ROM on it instead? It's obviously not going anywhere otherwise.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's a stock rom for it, obviously.
If you can degrade to 10, do so.
The boot loader version will dictate if you can or can't.
I'm not experienced enough to advise you on this but that's what might be needed.
Again play with the button sequence/timing and try to get into the boot menu.
Just a slight difference in timing or the wrong sequence and it won't go to the boot menu.
It's not likely but possible the buttons were remapped.
Try taking out the Sim and SD card.
My guess is you can get it to go to the boot menu but until today I never heard of this happening.
A apk timed out because of not rebooting for so long? Don't do that again... at least reboot every couple days.
Malware is another possibility.
Last resort talk/send to Samsung.
Play with it... Androids wuv attention.
I'm having a RIDICULOUS time trying to find a clean copy of stock ROM for my Note. Every single one I've found either ends in a dead link or I download it and it ends up being corrupt. This is no small feat as I live in the middle of nowhere and the only ISP is Hughesnet, which is neither fast, nor unlimited. It literally took me 4 hours to download a 5gb alleged stock ROM only to have it be corrupt.
Isn't there anywhere to get a clean copy of stock??? I see a lot of mods here in XDA, but as far as regular stock SM-N975UI, either I'm totally missing something or there isn't one here.
Can someone please help me find one that is clean? SamMobile's download is limited to 15kbps for non paying members and their copy has been downloading literally since yesterday and is only at 900mb. Living in the country has its perks, but high speed internet isn't one of them. Nothing worse than checking on a download that was running all night to see it say it still has 2 days to go.
mellie815 said:
I'm having a RIDICULOUS time trying to find a clean copy of stock ROM for my Note. Every single one I've found either ends in a dead link or I download it and it ends up being corrupt. This is no small feat as I live in the middle of nowhere and the only ISP is Hughesnet, which is neither fast, nor unlimited. It literally took me 4 hours to download a 5gb alleged stock ROM only to have it be corrupt.
Isn't there anywhere to get a clean copy of stock??? I see a lot of mods here in XDA, but as far as regular stock SM-N975UI, either I'm totally missing something or there isn't one here.
Can someone please help me find one that is clean? SamMobile's download is limited to 15kbps for non paying members and their copy has been downloading literally since yesterday and is only at 900mb. Living in the country has its perks, but high speed internet isn't one of them. Nothing worse than checking on a download that was running all night to see it say it still has 2 days to go.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You'll need a much faster connection; that slow, that much data, the download has a great chance of being corrupted.
Maybe have a 3rd party download it and send it to you by mail etc. Samsung could... if you could harang them into doing so.
blackhawk said:
You'll need a much faster connection; that slow, that much data, the download has a great chance of being corrupted.
Maybe have a 3rd party download it and send it to you by mail etc. Samsung could... if you could harang them into doing so.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
According to the authorized service center I visited yesterday, they don't even have access from Samsung. They are directed to send the phone directly to Samsung, which just floors me. I asked the tech if he could at least flash stock and see if we could get it to load, since I definitely can get to the SD card from Watchdog and it will read it. His reply was nope. I called 2 other repair shops since I was in the city already and got the same story.
Back in the day, rooting Android 4 was easier than this! Do you know of any reputable sites for stock roms? SamMobile is definitely out. And many I've gone to will list my stock, but when you follow the links, the file is no longer available. This feels like a bad X files episode at this point. LOL.
mellie815 said:
According to the authorized service center I visited yesterday, they don't even have access from Samsung. They are directed to send the phone directly to Samsung, which just floors me. I asked the tech if he could at least flash stock and see if we could get it to load, since I definitely can get to the SD card from Watchdog and it will read it. His reply was nope. I called 2 other repair shops since I was in the city already and got the same story.
Back in the day, rooting Android 4 was easier than this! Do you know of any reputable sites for stock roms? SamMobile is definitely out. And many I've gone to will list my stock, but when you follow the links, the file is no longer available. This feels like a bad X files episode at this point. LOL.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Talk, write to Samsung and lean on them.
You'll probably end up sending it in. Take detailed pictures of the phone before boxing it and as boxing it. Double box it and pack/seal it well. Insure the package!
Fight with Samsung if they try to charge you more than $50. Expect trouble... Samsung's tech support is one of the worst on this planet.
Finding stock ROM should not be that difficult, by browsing through the forum, Guides, News & Discussions:
Links to US-firmwares: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/n975u-and-n975u1-firmware-links-here.3957648/
Following thread describes how to download FW using Frija and flashing using Odin: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...-25-feb-21-galaxy-note10-sm-n975f-ds.3957812/
There's a YouTube video...,
https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DQe94cBd_fSc&ved=2ahU
He shows you how to fix it. Has FB page "How to Solution"
Check it out
mellie815 said:
According to the authorized service center I visited yesterday, they don't even have access from Samsung. They are directed to send the phone directly to Samsung, which just floors me. I asked the tech if he could at least flash stock and see if we could get it to load, since I definitely can get to the SD card from Watchdog and it will read it. His reply was nope. I called 2 other repair shops since I was in the city already and got the same story.
Back in the day, rooting Android 4 was easier than this! Do you know of any reputable sites for stock roms? SamMobile is definitely out. And many I've gone to will list my stock, but when you follow the links, the file is no longer available. This feels like a bad X files episode at this point. LOL.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you ever get this fixed?
I have similar problem. N975u1 stuck in SS Rdx unknown mode. No way to gt to recovery or bootloader
mellie815 said:
I went to a repair shop out of desperation. Had to drive over an hour to get to it as I live in the country, and he basically said it's dead. The fun part is, I called my warranty co and of course, they aren't honoring the warranty because "they don't insure phones that cost over $999" which mine did when I got it. But of course, there was nothing that said they didn't cover my phone, which is why I bought their lease/warranty plan.
So, basically, I have a brick that I owe $591 on yet, and they couldn't care less. At this point, I am willing to try anything at all because I have no other options. I already filed a BBB report against them after spending over an hour on the phone with them to no avail.
Any ideas at all would be very helpful at this point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
File a complaint with your state attorney general's office.
Against the warranty company and especially the carrier.
Lean on the carrier, verbal breach of contract because the warranty company refused to repair it.
I'd stiff the carrier out of principle. It's likely they wouldn't bother to take it to small claims court.
Before you do that though lean on them like a cheap suit, call, call, call. Talk to their retainment group. Don't give them a moments peace. One time I called Verizon close to 30 times in a week before they finally issues a full credit over a Direct TV breach of contract. If I was you I be seeing red...

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