Develop Bugs

[Q] Quick Question about Rooted Phone at Sprint

I'm 100% positive I just bricked my phone. I was not thinking last night and pulled the battery while flashing a radio update. I know that I've got a literal brick on my hands but I had a couple quick questions:
Can Sprint tell that my phone is rooted at all if I take the SD card out when I bring it in?
Is there are actual solution to this problem that involves NOT taking my phone to Sprint?
I'm prepared for ****ty answers, but I've got high hopes that I'll just eat the insurance cost and get a new one.

thistimearound said:
I'm 100% positive I just bricked my phone. I was not thinking last night and pulled the battery while flashing a radio update. I know that I've got a literal brick on my hands but I had a couple quick questions:
Can Sprint tell that my phone is rooted at all if I take the SD card out when I bring it in?
Is there are actual solution to this problem that involves NOT taking my phone to Sprint?
I'm prepared for ****ty answers, but I've got high hopes that I'll just eat the insurance cost and get a new one.
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Click to collapse
There are quite a few threads about brick restores...might want to look them up...but if you can get to recovery most problems will be solved. I would confirm brick before panic...I mean it will all good intentions.

thistimearound said:
I'm 100% positive I just bricked my phone. I was not thinking last night and pulled the battery while flashing a radio update. I know that I've got a literal brick on my hands but I had a couple quick questions:
Can Sprint tell that my phone is rooted at all if I take the SD card out when I bring it in?
Is there are actual solution to this problem that involves NOT taking my phone to Sprint?
I'm prepared for ****ty answers, but I've got high hopes that I'll just eat the insurance cost and get a new one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did something like that to my captivate on at&t and all I did was take it in and told them that when I woke up there was a black screen and I couldn't do anything, and I just acted really stupid and told them that I had no idea what happened to it. Play real stupid and it might work or idk, see they can jtag that device
Sent from my SGH-T959V using xda premium

I appreciate it. As for the brick restore methods, unless there's one for a "completely dead, USB doesn't recognize it, and LED doesn't turn on" brick, then I'm just wasting time. I looked at most of them, and they all require the phone to actually do something... which mine will not.

Damn, sorry to hear that. Yeah if its not doing ANYTHING I would just bring it in an claim insurance on it, tell them you have no clue what happened, just woke up and it was like that (like someone else said to do). Good luck. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

It could be if your lucky you might have just fried your battery somehow maybe and I mean MAYBE you still get lucky and that's all it is assuming you haven't tried switching batteries yet lol if that's not it, sorry for your bad luck. I'm pullin for ya man
Sent from my PC36100 using xda premium

I wouldn't worry about it. If the phone won't turn on and you take it in & just play dumb, they'll give you a replacement. You won't have to pay the deductible. You lost whatever data you didn't have backed up, but other than that you don't have much to worry about.
There's no coming back from pulling the battery during a radio update, and I doubt Sprint will make it difficult for you. If they do happen to tell you that you have to pay the deductible, argue against it or take it to a different store. Most likely they'll just file a claim and get you a new (or refurbished) phone within a day or two.
Good luck!
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

I went to my Sprint store the other day. They said they don't care if it's rooted or not. Just bring it in and they will look at it. They said usually they can fix most problems.

Just to update you folks that may have also been interested:
I went in and played stupid. I also pulled my SD Card so they couldn't use that against me. This was the dumbest thing I've ever done to brick my phone, but it looks like all is well. As of today they said they've already ordered me a free replacement due in on Monday. Apparently it won't even cost $100 due to having TEP. I'm not sure that I believe that, but that's what the guy said on the phone. If anyone is interested I can update this once I know more.

Sprint openly supports rooting.. Idk if anyone else knows that.. After the new policy kicked in, they might as well just say that seeing as how the TCs are required to work on rooted devices. If they can't fix them, its a DHRP. that's the word on the street anyway
Sent from my nocturnally stocked EVO using xda premium

That's good to know. I took my phone in 2 or 3 weeks after the Gingerbread update and all the tech did was ask if it was rooted. Someone looked at it the day before and and I had just unrooted it about an hour before that. Someone else was telling the tech to look for the s-on/s-off. I really don't think the tech cared. Glad they might have changed.

Yet my friend Rachel, who is a tech at the local store confirms yet again that they are NOT authorized to work on Rooted phones......

HipKat said:
Yet my friend Rachel, who is a tech at the local store confirms yet again that they are NOT authorized to work on Rooted phones......
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Well that's funny seeing as how I am a TC for a corp. Store in Texas. Hmm... Seems like we're getting two different stories from the same company... Our superiors within our region have confirmed what I have said verbatim. We are required to work on them if they are rooted. If we can not fix the device we must replace it.
Sent from my PC36100 using xda premium

Best bet is to fully unroot just to be on the safe side. Then whether or not techs are authorized to work on the phone is moot.

Confirmed by three stores in Connecticut, 2 corp stores, 1 authorized reseller/repair store.. That they do not support rooted phones.. Had to unroot to get my replacement phone when the USB started only partial charging and was clearly a hardware defect and had nothing to do with software.. They opened it confirmed so physical damage after I brought it back unrooted.

Didn't mean to abandon this post guys. I just simply forgot about it. Sprint replaced my phone free of charge since I truly did fry it. They couldn't recover anything and I didn't leave the SD card in for them to check.
Best bet: unroot if it works at all or brick the **** out of it. Also note I had TEP. So, that's important. All in all I think Sprint is still a bit douche on the root business, but they handled this situation relatively easy and painless.

[Q] Am I completely screwed?

I just got my E4GT a couple weeks ago...all of a sudden, it started going to hell. The touchscreen stopped working pretty much completely, it won't charge and won't acknowledge the USB cable at all, so I can't connect to Odin or flash a stock firmware, or use a usb jig.
It's a hardware issue, I know but can I still take it in? What are the chances they'll say I can't return it because I rooted it? All of the employees at my sprint store seem pretty clueless...is it worth a try just to see if they can fix/replace it?
I really don't want to pay 100 bucks for a new phone just because I rooted it -__-
Also, my parents are REALLY, REALLY pissed.
Thanks, for the love of god, help me.
I have to go on a trip in 3 days and I NEED my phone.

Isnt this same post in General?
One post in one section is all you really need...
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

First you say it's a hardware issue then you blame root. You should just take it back for a replacement. And never root again unless you know what you're doing.
Sent from the future.

I've posted this message before in the og epic forum: my grandfather always told me, of you can't afford to replace it, you have no business messing with it. Don't get started modding unless you are willing to buy another phone.
And I agree with the other guy, its either your flash issue or hardware. Not both.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App

Your screwed
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App

I saw a video that someone posted here today. Let me try and find it, it's hella funny and it reminds me of you.
Here you go
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=19597685#post19597685

If the battery is dead resulting in a phone that won't power on... there is no solution that can be offered here besides finding a cable that works to charge it.
If you bought this phone "a couple weeks ago" I'm going to bet we are past your window for returns, and if you modified your phone and don't know how to fix it, or can't do a simple troubleshoot of the USB cable/port... yes, you are completely screwed for the timeline you have setup.
Bring it to a sprint store, ask if you can test to see if their charger will charge your phone. If it does, its the cable and you can go buy a new one (better one) and all the other problems are probably moot.
If it doesn't charge, then its hardware issue on your phone (or an issue with something you did that we cannot reverse without the phone gaining power plus being able to be in download mode,) and you already know what I'm going to say.

SocialReject said:
First you say it's a hardware issue then you blame root. You should just take it back for a replacement. And never root again unless you know what you're doing.
Sent from the future.
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Click to collapse
This. Don't root your phone if you don't have the means or the willingness to deal with it if you bust it!

Weird issues with my 2nd HTC Desire Z

Love the phone but getting kind of sick of this stuff. The phone has been crashing lately, went into a boot loop today that took me at least half an hour to get working again (pulled the sim, sd card and battery till it worked), about 5 minutes ago my phone was on charge and I was sending sms messages using browser texting, and I noticed I hadn't received any replies for a while, so I looked at my phone and noticed it was a phone icon with a red triangle and a red exclamation mark, I pulled the battery and everything booted up like normal, then I went to unlock my phone a minute later and it wasn't responding, but the green notification led was flashing. This is the second phone I've bought, this time with warranty so that's good, I generally really like the phone and I feel if I can fix these weird problems and get the battery life a little better it'll be perfect. Anyone have any ideas? I was thinking of doing a factory restore but I basically just got this phone, and I have so many apps installed (May possibly the problem). I'm running Juice Defender Beta... I think I might try and use Ultimate and not beta and see if that helps the situation, other then that, any ideas guys?
Okay so right now after rebooting my phone again, the phone locked and isn't responding again with the bottom soft keys lit up. This phone is driving me crazy I'm going to uninstall juice defender see if that helps.

Is the phone rooted? If you installed a buggy custom rom it could cause the problems you're seeing.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

jgummeson said:
Is the phone rooted? If you installed a buggy custom rom it could cause the problems you're seeing.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply, my phone is completely stock running the 2.3.3 OTA firmware. I uninstalled a few programs, juice defender beta being one of them and everything is working wonderfully now hmmm, besides my poor battery life of course.

Just had another crash while downloading 2 things from the market and now I have the red triangle and exclamation mark thing again..

And now my phone isn't turning on again!. I'm having so much luck with these wonderful devices. What should I do?

the only things, that comes to my mind needs root. root breaks your warranty.
So - i would try factory reset and after this, if it wount help, give it back to the shop for repair.

The red triangle/exclamation mark is stock recovery, you can pull up a menu in it by pressing vol up + power.
Do you get any error messages in that recovery? especially along the lines of:
E: Can't mount cache
If so, it might be a bad emmc chip.
-Nipqer

I didn't see any errors and now the phone wont turn on at all. Looks like I'll have to take it back

Okay so I got a brand new one replaced through warranty, it was the 28th day of the 28 day return period and it was the last one in stock, this one has nothing wrong with the screen which is good. Anyway I was wondering if anyone is willing to bounce ideas off me as to why this has happened to me twice. Bad apps? Juice defender? Custom launcher? (Zeam)? I find it hard to believe this is possible, but it could be.

Definitely don't think it was Zeam. Could just be rotten luck. Perhaps try installing your desired apps one at a time to verify that wasn't the cause. Best of luck.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

Ditamae said:
Definitely don't think it was Zeam. Could just be rotten luck. Perhaps try installing your desired apps one at a time to verify that wasn't the cause. Best of luck.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
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Good because I like Zeam . The problem with that is it's pretty much impossible to narrow it down like that, the first one took 3 months to die, second one took 2 weeks, I can't install an app then wait until it dies then determine that's the app that does it.

Don't think it was apps that caused your device to behave like that. Probably just faulty device...
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

mikk_ said:
Don't think it was apps that caused your device to behave like that. Probably just faulty device...
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
I think this has to be the case, an app couldn't fry the device like that could it? Even if it was trying to? I just sincerely hope this one isn't faulty... 3rd times the charm . So basically everyone's in agreement I don't have to do anything special just use the device like normal? Some people are saying don't install too many things, while others are saying just use it like normal what do you guys think. I don't think the amount of apps installed would do that, I had plenty of space left on my phone.

JDogg1329 said:
Okay so I got a brand new one replaced through warranty, it was the 28th day of the 28 day return period and it was the last one in stock, this one has nothing wrong with the screen which is good. Anyway I was wondering if anyone is willing to bounce ideas off me as to why this has happened to me twice. Bad apps? Juice defender? Custom launcher? (Zeam)? I find it hard to believe this is possible, but it could be.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's probably closer to what Nipqer said with bad EMMC chip. I fully bricked my Desire Z and boy the s--t I did to that phone warranty would have been gone in a few seconds of research. I mean I rooted it, flashed it well over a hundred times. I took it into the HTC repair shop opened up my phone into CWM -- remember if a tech sees CWM -- warranty voided period. I showed him the E:/ can't mount error and he replaced the phone no questions asked. I think this is something that HTC is keeping under wraps instead of doing a massive recall just replacing any unit where this occurs no questions asked. Probably worried about getting a massive class action lawsuit where a judge will force them into doing a recall and giving thier customers a major settlement. Obviously this is only speculation, but I also talked to a good friend who is the west coast business manager for all of Rogers in Canada and he said that every Desire Z that is having problems is getting returned no questions asked, and he said that is completely out of the ordinary for HTC. So my guess something is up and we will never really find out the truth, just count your blessings with this.

Hmm interesting, thanks for your reply gave me something to think about. I guess it makes sense, the phones over a year old and HTC doesn't want to deal with it. I was surprised how quickly and easily I walked out of the Vodafone store with a brand new desire z, tho I've never done it before and it could be standard procedure. Anyway I hope this ones okay, otherwise I'll just take it back again.

HTC Warranty Workaround ?

I read through few posts about people being able to claim their warranty even after unlocking their bootloader , now these people had almost the same problem ..there screen wouldn't display anything or their phone wouldn't boot up at all. So I guess HTC won't check for your warranty if your phone is not booting up ...they'll just check your bill and see if its under warranty and do it for free ...
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app

Well I've seen people get away with this, but I still darent unlock/root.
Because I know what my luck is like and I would be the only one that doesn't get repaired !!

It took me 4 weeks to pluck up the courage to unlock my phone and I'm glad I did. I now have no warrenty but I do have an awesome phone.
Also I heard that if your phone is completely dead there is no way to tell if the phone is unlocked or not. So there is a reasonable chance you'll get your phone replaced.

Awt67 said:
It took me 4 weeks to pluck up the courage to unlock my phone and I'm glad I did. I now have no warrenty but I do have an awesome phone.
Also I heard that if your phone is completely dead there is no way to tell if the phone is unlocked or not. So there is a reasonable chance you'll get your phone replaced.
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Click to collapse
lol sounds like a good plan, now everyone who needs repair will burn it's phone and get new replacement under warranty

Awt67 said:
It took me 4 weeks to pluck up the courage to unlock my phone and I'm glad I did. I now have no warrenty but I do have an awesome phone.
Also I heard that if your phone is completely dead there is no way to tell if the phone is unlocked or not. So there is a reasonable chance you'll get your phone replaced.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I've been debating for about 3 weeks now, would you really say its worth it?
What ROM you using?
And, about the warranty, what does completely dead mean?
Not booting?
Or bricked etc?
Cheers mate.

I am using Cyanogen Domination 10. It is still work in progress but it stable enough for everyday use. I would also say if you do unlock your phone try roms other as well because they all offer something different.
Dead as in bricked, although if you follow unlock steps carefully there is little chance of bricking your phone

I unlocked my phone the day I bought it ... I'm not regretting it all but the little yellow spot in the bottom left corner is annoying sometimes ..
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app

lets just make this clear, its certainly posted here already in many many threads...
if you read the unlocking stuff properly on the htc website, it clearly says that the warranty will be invalid for anything caused by unlocking the bootloader
so if you have a blatant hardware problem, ie the wifi antenna problem, they still have to repair it foc
so basically, unless you brick your device, you still have a warranty.
they might try insisting on replacing the main board for a cost, which i've heard quite often. the wifi fix requires changing the main board anyway, so for at least that problem, they shouldn't charge to fix.
still, it does depend on the type of problem as to whether you could convince them not to change the main board..

I Just bricked My Galaxy s iii

I cant even get it to start in bootloader

grunted said:
I cant even get it to start in bootloader
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you asking for help? Or just announcing?
Sent From My Rooted, S-OFF'd Blackberry Curve using the iOS XDA Application for Android.

help
Whiplashh said:
Are you asking for help? Or just announcing?
Sent From My Rooted, S-OFF'd Blackberry Curve using the iOS XDA Application for Android.
Click to expand...
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Help please

I hit the power button nothing happens not even boot loop please help

grunted said:
I hit the power button nothing happens not even boot loop please help
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Give us the story of what you were doing before or when it crapped.

epic4GEE said:
Give us the story of what you were doing before or when it crapped.
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Click to collapse
I tried to flash cwm touch

grunted said:
I tried to flash cwm touch
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hold volume down and power and home
Does it do anything? If so, get Odin and flash a stock tar for jellybean.
******WARNING: THIS WILL WIPE EVERYTHING ON PHONE (not external sdcard, the PHONE).*******
Sent From My Rooted, S-OFF'd Blackberry Curve using the iOS XDA Application for Android.

Whats the name of the cwm file you flashed and how you flashed it
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app

evo4gnoob said:
Whats the name of the cwm file you flashed and how you flashed it
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
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Click to collapse
This ^
Also, if you did it through the app, I've heard a lot of reports lately of people bootlooping after updating their recovery.
So if you can get it recognized in ODIN, flash a recovery through that and then see if you can get into it

I think i did the same. i was installing liquidsmooth for the S3 and went to reboot it and bam! bricked. i realized i did not do a wipe i just did an install on top of the rom. I have since then tried all button combos but no luck. I have installed odin and seems like when i plug in the phone to the computer and hold VOL UP+home+power my PC recognizes it but i dont think odin does. So I plan on going and buying one off craigslist and activating it in the morning if i cant do anything by then.

CNexus said:
This ^
Also, if you did it through the app, I've heard a lot of reports lately of people bootlooping after updating their recovery.
So if you can get it recognized in ODIN, flash a recovery through that and then see if you can get into it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My phone is dead can't get it in to Odin or recovery nothing happens

grunted said:
My phone is dead can't get it in to Odin or recovery nothing happens
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then it sounds to me like you have yourself a fancy paperweight. Where did you find the ROM you were flashing when it occurred?

tkepk181 said:
Then it sounds to me like you have yourself a fancy paperweight. Where did you find the ROM you were flashing when it occurred?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He was trying to flash cwm touch

I sent my phne to mobiletechvideo and got it fixed to stock. Cheaper than buying a new phone
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

They fix a hard brick
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

FYI if you had a hard brick call Samsung and tell them it just stopped working and they will send you a box pre paid to send your phone in and a refurbished phone for your replacement. I end up getting a new phone as a replacement as I bricked mine a few weeks after the phone can out. I did this three times and the last time got a refurbished one. You don't pay nothing and the phone come in about a week the only thing that stuck is you have to setup your phone all over again. There really nice on the phone and didn't ask me about flashing or rooting my phone they just tried to have me trouble shoot the phone which I couldn't. Oh one thing our phone I's covered for one year manufacture warranty that has nothing to do with the carrier.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using XDA Premium App

bonebeatz1234 said:
FYI if you had a hard brick call Samsung and tell them it just stopped working and they will send you a box pre paid to send your phone in and a refurbished phone for your replacement. I end up getting a new phone as a replacement as I bricked mine a few weeks after the phone can out. I did this three times and the last time got a refurbished one. You don't pay nothing and the phone come in about a week the only thing that stuck is you have to setup your phone all over again. There really nice on the phone and didn't ask me about flashing or rooting my phone they just tried to have me trouble shoot the phone which I couldn't. Oh one thing our phone I's covered for one year manufacture warranty that has nothing to do with the carrier.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Shouldn't be doing this when you hard brick your phone, that's for actual phone defects and your dumb mistake doesn't fall into that category... :banghead:
SPRINT GS3 FAQ

bonebeatz1234 said:
FYI if you had a hard brick call Samsung and tell them it just stopped working and they will send you a box pre paid to send your phone in and a refurbished phone for your replacement. I end up getting a new phone as a replacement as I bricked mine a few weeks after the phone can out. I did this three times and the last time got a refurbished one. You don't pay nothing and the phone come in about a week the only thing that stuck is you have to setup your phone all over again. There really nice on the phone and didn't ask me about flashing or rooting my phone they just tried to have me trouble shoot the phone which I couldn't. Oh one thing our phone I's covered for one year manufacture warranty that has nothing to do with the carrier.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You hard bricked three times!!!! Don't experiment use stuff you know will work!!!
Sent from my blue galaxy

bonebeatz1234 said:
FYI if you had a hard brick call Samsung and tell them it just stopped working and they will send you a box pre paid to send your phone in and a refurbished phone for your replacement. I end up getting a new phone as a replacement as I bricked mine a few weeks after the phone can out. I did this three times and the last time got a refurbished one. You don't pay nothing and the phone come in about a week the only thing that stuck is you have to setup your phone all over again. There really nice on the phone and didn't ask me about flashing or rooting my phone they just tried to have me trouble shoot the phone which I couldn't. Oh one thing our phone I's covered for one year manufacture warranty that has nothing to do with the carrier.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using XDA Premium App
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Click to collapse
This is called fraud. It's not a manufacturer defect that you screwed up. It's a you defect :thumbdown: people like you are the reason prices keep going up instead of going down.
☆SoA: Son's of Android™☆
I like to break stuff!

bonebeatz1234 said:
FYI if you had a hard brick call Samsung and tell them it just stopped working and they will send you a box pre paid to send your phone in and a refurbished phone for your replacement. I end up getting a new phone as a replacement as I bricked mine a few weeks after the phone can out. I did this three times and the last time got a refurbished one. You don't pay nothing and the phone come in about a week the only thing that stuck is you have to setup your phone all over again. There really nice on the phone and didn't ask me about flashing or rooting my phone they just tried to have me trouble shoot the phone which I couldn't. Oh one thing our phone I's covered for one year manufacture warranty that has nothing to do with the carrier.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
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Please do not encourage other members to commit fraud.
Fraud: A false representation of a matter of fact—whether by words or by conduct, by false or misleading allegations, or by concealment of what should have been disclosed—that deceives and is intended to deceive another so that the individual will act upon it to her or his legal injury.
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Whether or not they do replace it is irrelevant. When you decided to root your phone, you voided any and all claims on your warranty (which covers manufacturers defects only). If all of the people who hard-brick their phones claim it on the sprint warranty, you'll see a drastic increase in one (or all) of the following:
Phone Costs
Plan pricing
TEP Costs
"Premium Data" charges
By "claiming ignorance," you are willfully misrepresenting your situation to Sprint, with the intent to deceive Sprint so that they may pay for your mistake. This, by definition, is fraud. Now, you probably won't be sitting in front of a Grand Jury because of one (or three) replaced phones, but it honestly speaks volumes to your moral character if you see no problem with this.
What you're doing is passing the buck on your mistake off to Sprint. Sprint, in turn, will pass that cost onto us. Please don't recommend this course of action again.