Develop Bugs

Download Mode Not working?(CM9 Alpha 2)

i was trying to flash back to gingerbread with odin but my pc no longer recognizes the phone when it's in download mode. Never had a problem with this until i flashed CM9 Alpha 2? Am i the only one with this problem ? is there another way i can go back to gb ?

19fonzy said:
i was trying to flash back to gingerbread with odin but my pc no longer recognizes the phone when it's in download mode. Never had a problem with this until i flashed CM9 Alpha 2? Am i the only one with this problem ? is there another way i can go back to gb ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check drivers and cable. I can almost guarantee that CM9 Alpha 2 didn't break download mode.
Just to verify ... and because I'm bored at work ... I'm on CM9 A2 and using odin to go back to el29 as we speak. No problems with pc recognizing the phone.
As for another way to go back ... no, you'll definately need odin.

19fonzy said:
i was trying to flash back to gingerbread with odin but my pc no longer recognizes the phone when it's in download mode. Never had a problem with this until i flashed CM9 Alpha 2? Am i the only one with this problem ? is there another way i can go back to gb ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use mobile Odin to flash back to stock also buT can almost guarantee that it won't fix it...I could go into download from cm9 also ...something else with your setup ....drivers or USB probably
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2 Beta-5

I'm pretty sure it is not my cable because i use it for when i'm charging my phone and it works perfectly fine. when i connect it to my pc, the computer makes a sound but nothing happens. The notification light on my phone turns on but that's about it, it doesn't even charge when connected to my pc.

i've been trying to use mobile odin but whenever i select the stock rom it says partition not found? a little help.

19fonzy said:
I'm pretty sure it is not my cable because i use it for when i'm charging my phone and it works perfectly fine. when i connect it to my pc, the computer makes a sound but nothing happens. The notification light on my phone turns on but that's about it, it doesn't even charge when connected to my pc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To tell you the truth it might sound like a faling usb port. My friend had the same problem with his phone. First it would not connect to transfer data then eventually it would not even charge but in his case the notification light came on as well just nothing else happened.

19fonzy said:
I'm pretty sure it is not my cable because i use it for when i'm charging my phone and it works perfectly fine. when i connect it to my pc, the computer makes a sound but nothing happens. The notification light on my phone turns on but that's about it, it doesn't even charge when connected to my pc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
USB power and AC charging are separate lines. You could have nicked the usb and still be able to charge the device.
The fact that you can charge doesn't have any bearing on your ability to use any USB functionality. Only using the same cord on another device completely rules that out.
Have you installed any drivers or software on your computer since the last time you used odin?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

well like i said before odin worked perfectly fine before i installed cm9. But i'll try installing the drivers. You guys are probable right though I could have nicked the usb and still be able to charge the device. I just want to go back to Stock Gingerbread (el29) just to see if it was CM9 that was causing the problem or if i really did nick the usb port. Can any of you help me with Mobile odin ?

19fonzy said:
well like i said before odin worked perfectly fine before i installed cm9. But i'll try installing the drivers. You guys are probable right though I could have nicked the usb and still be able to charge the device. I just want to go back to Stock Gingerbread (el29) just to see if it was CM9 that was causing the problem or if i really did nick the usb port. Can any of you help me with Mobile odin ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1433101
You just need to download EL29 tar file and put it on your sd card, then in mobile odin choose open file and it will look at the file in your external or internal sd card, once it locates it you hit flash and you should be back to stock roooted el 29

i tried and tried but it just keeps saying " partition not found in file"

are I using the one click self extract....or a tar file
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2 Beta-5

It has been noted on another thread: Are you using the Sammy USB cable or another? My LG one will charge the E4GT but will not function USB - Sammy one works fine.

[Q] USB/Computer connection issue

Hello XDA!
I don't want to post a wall of text (not that tall of a wall, at least), so, I'll try to get to the point quickly. And yes, I have done a lot of searching, both on XDA and Google, and that will be proved soon enough with the solutions that I've tried so far.
The problem I'm currently experiencing is when I connect my phone to my computer, it charges but it isn't recognized. There is no USB notifications, no phone in My Computer, and no Windows pop up, whether it's a pop up asking me to install drivers or an unknown device has been connected, nothing. Mind you, everything has been working flawlessly, this just randomly, and I really do mean randomly, started happening. The phone has never been dropped and there is no water damage. I'm still using the USB cable that came with the phone. And, if it matters, I'm rooted, running the leaked LI8 JB ROM, stock kernel, and UVLEM baseband.
Here's a list of said solutions that I've tried so far:
Using a thin paint brush, wet the tip a little with alcohol and tried cleaning out the USB port
Connecting to a different computer, connecting with a different cable, connecting to any other USB ports on the computer
After making Nandroid backup: Data wipe/factory reset, flashing a different ROM
Remove Samsung USB drivers and reinstalling, also tried installing Samsung Kies
Uncheck USB debugging and restarting, checking USB debugging and restarting
Dialled *#7284#, select Modem, then reselect PDA, changing Qualcomm USB settings and changing it back to MTP + ADB
Turn off phone, remove battery for 30 sec, reinsert and boot up (soft reset to reset internal circuitry as described by a Samsung live chat service tech)
I might've left out a couple, but please do enlighten me of methods that you might know, I'll be sure to try it or let you know if it's already been attempted.
..also, when connected to my PC, under Settings > Battery, it shows "Charging (AC)" IIRC, this should be showing "Charging (USB)".
This next attempt stood out to me. I decided I would try and go back to the stock firmware, one where I would have to use Odin3. So, I put the phone in Download Mode, open up Odin3, connect the phone, and I get a pop up in Windows! It's trying to install drivers, and fails. I can't flash the stock Samsung firmware if I wanted to, even for warranty purposes. I do currently have the USB drivers installed, but my PC hasn't gone through the driver installation for when the phone is connected to the computer. So, I'm assuming that is why this is failing? I'm not entirely sure. But, when I saw this, I unplug the phone and plug it back in numerous times, to rule out that this might be a hardware problem. And, every time I plug it back in, it tries to install the drivers but fails. So, it's detecting my phone in Download Mode. I reboot and hope that it will detect normally, but no, it doesn't...
As a last resort, I went to Samsung.com and chatted with a service tech, he runs me through two procedures that I haven't done, the 'soft reset' and a 'master reset', which is done through Settings > Back up and Reset > Factory Data Reset. Neither worked, so, he then checks my IMEI and finds that I am still under the 1 year warranty and files a ticket for repair service. I asked him if there is a replacement warranty and he says that is done through my service provider (T-Mobile) with the Premium Handset Protection service, which I didn't add. Not because I didn't want to, but I can explain in later posts if someone is interested in why it wasn't added. So, now I have the return label in my inbox ready to be printed, taped onto a box containing my phone, and sent out. But, I can't go through with this because I have a custom ROM on the phone. There is no counter because I've already used Triangle Away, AFTER this started happening.
I am completely stumped... Any information is greatly appreciated!
EDIT: Also, I've disassembled the phone to check the MicroUSB port to see if any pins or prongs might've came loose. Everything is in tact.. I also wanted to see if the MicroUSB port was replaceable because I was able to find a spare MicroUSB ports on a website. But, it seems that the port isn't easily replaceable. It doesn't look removable, and I'm uncertain if it can be de-soldered to solder a replacement one on. Also, some thing caught my eye when I had it disassembled. There were two components of the phone that had SGH-I747 imprinted on them. I wasn't able to take pictures as I was in a rush to get it put back together, but thought it was of interest to bring up.

How do you have a custom ROM if you flashed the stock one? I'm confused..
Try installing drivers through the toolkit.

If windows recognized it in Download Mode, keep trying to unplug and replug the cable in the same and different ports until it installs?
This happened once on my Galaxy S 4G.

Uninstall all related drivers, kies, etc. Restart pc and download and install these drivers. (Should be latest)
http://d-h.st/zya
Or download and install latest version of kies. Drivers included.
Try connecting again.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

psykhotic said:
How do you have a custom ROM if you flashed the stock one? I'm confused..
Try installing drivers through the toolkit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was never able to flash the stock firmware because my computer fails to install drivers for it. I've also tried using the drivers from the toolkit and it gave me no results.
theexel said:
If windows recognized it in Download Mode, keep trying to unplug and replug the cable in the same and different ports until it installs?
This happened once on my Galaxy S 4G.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just hopped on right now after trying the different USB ports on my computer while in Download Mode. Same deal, it detects, tries to install drivers, then fails. It's coming up as an Unknown Device.
DocHoliday77 said:
Uninstall all related drivers, kies, etc. Restart pc and download and install these drivers. (Should be latest)
Or download and install latest version of kies. Drivers included.
Try connecting again.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I currently have the latest Kies installed. I'm going to uninstall and give that link a shot, though. Hopefully, Odin3 will be able to detect it, at least, so I can get the stock firmware back on this thing...

DocHoliday77 said:
Uninstall all related drivers, kies, etc. Restart pc and download and install these drivers. (Should be latest)
Or download and install latest version of kies. Drivers included.
Try connecting again.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No luck with those drivers neither..... =/

What version of Windows are you running?

Aerowinder said:
What version of Windows are you running?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Windows 7 x64

I had the same problem. Tried uninstalling and and reinstalling drivers. Only thing that worked was restoring my pc to factory condition and starting over. Sucked but it worked
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium

jasonpantuliano said:
I had the same problem. Tried uninstalling and and reinstalling drivers. Only thing that worked was restoring my pc to factory condition and starting over. Sucked but it worked
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your input, but I doubt this would work in my situation. Ive tried connecting it to my laptop and another computer in the house and they both do not detect the phone. However, i would consider going that route as a last resort if there arent any other ideas.. i just need Odin3 to recognize it so i can revert and send it back in..
Any other suggestions, XDA? And thank you to those that responded!

johnx818 said:
Thank you for your input, but I doubt this would work in my situation. Ive tried connecting it to my laptop and another computer in the house and they both do not detect the phone. However, i would consider going that route as a last resort if there arent any other ideas.. i just need Odin3 to recognize it so i can revert and send it back in..
Any other suggestions, XDA? And thank you to those that responded!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same issue. Got my phone replaced and it worked fine.

eldgrim said:
I had the same issue. Got my phone replaced and it worked fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And that is exactly what im trying to do..

[Q] Can I get root w/o USB?

So the short question is if there is any way for me to get root without a working usb port?
Last week I plugged in to charge my phone overnight with the phone off. In the morning, I was surprised to find that the screen was on and what should have been a full green battery was instead a scrambled image that kind of looked like a battery. I powered on the phone and it worked so I thought nothing of it but later on that night I needed to pull a file off my phone via usb and realized that the phone will no longer detect the usb host, ie. no mtp options whatsoever. It at least does still charge.
Since then I have tried cleaning the usb connector, pulling the battery/sim, setting the UART using *#7284#(PDA, mtp+adb), multiple computers, and multiple cables(including the Samsung one) and the phone still doesn't ever think its connected to a host. So today I decided to use my php warranty service which meant I had to restore stock recovery and rom. So I grabbed mobile odin and a stock UVLDJA image. Ran Triangle away once to clear the counter, and another time to verify it was at zero, and installed the full image via mobile Odin. When the phone booted back up, it successfully installed the rom only the flash counter is back at one and now I have lost root. If I had used my head I should have flashed just the recovery first but I wasn't thinking....
Any suggestions on how to get root back? I read these forums quite a bit and I am thinking that I am SOL but hoping maybe someone has a suggestion I haven't seen yet.

Dlkiser said:
So the short question is if there is any way for me to get root without a working usb port?
Last week I plugged in to charge my phone overnight with the phone off. In the morning, I was surprised to find that the screen was on and what should have been a full green battery was instead a scrambled image that kind of looked like a battery. I powered on the phone and it worked so I thought nothing of it but later on that night I needed to pull a file off my phone via usb and realized that the phone will no longer detect the usb host, ie. no mtp options whatsoever. It at least does still charge.
Since then I have tried cleaning the usb connector, pulling the battery/sim, setting the UART using *#7284#(PDA, mtp+adb), multiple computers, and multiple cables(including the Samsung one) and the phone still doesn't ever think its connected to a host. So today I decided to use my php warranty service which meant I had to restore stock recovery and rom. So I grabbed mobile odin and a stock UVLDJA image. Ran Triangle away once to clear the counter, and another time to verify it was at zero, and installed the full image via mobile Odin. When the phone booted back up, it successfully installed the rom only the flash counter is back at one and now I have lost root. If I had used my head I should have flashed just the recovery first but I wasn't thinking....
Any suggestions on how to get root back? I read these forums quite a bit and I am thinking that I am SOL but hoping maybe someone has a suggestion I haven't seen yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Checking your flash counter in TA trips your counter, that's why it's at 1. Use mobile Odin to flash root66 to get rooted again.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

Towle said:
Checking your flash counter in TA trips your counter, that's why it's at 1. Use mobile Odin to flash root66 to get rooted again.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, thanks for the explanation on the counter. Don't I need root already to run mobile Odin?

Dlkiser said:
Ok, thanks for the explanation on the counter. Don't I need root already to run mobile Odin?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, duh! Yes lol you do. There would be no other way. Have you tried a factory reset then try to connect your phone? You could also try to install Kies on your PC to make sure all drivers are correctly installed.
If you wouldn't have said you have tried other cables, I would have for sure thought defective cable. Some cables are also charge only.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

Towle said:
Oh, duh! Yes lol you do. There would be no other way. Have you tried a factory reset then try to connect your phone? You could also try to install Kies on your PC to make sure all drivers are correctly installed.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, did the factory reset along with all of the other suggestions I could find. I typically try to avoid Kies and since I cannot even get the device to enumerate I'm pretty sure it's not driver related.
I think my only hope would be getting root or twrp intalled via stock recovery or adb over wifi.
Thanks, I appreciate the help.

download Odin3 v1.85
Put your phone in download mode (vol down=menu=power then after the screen comes up press vol up
plug the phone usb to the computer,
run odin
the first box on the top left should have a colored highlight (the ID:COM )
if that pops up, your phone is 99% functioning correctly, and only problem is in your computer.
When trying do do a regulad usb transfer to the computer:
I have noticed, sometimes I have to connect, wait a bit (like maybe 2 minutes)
then disconnect the cable for about 15 sec then connect again, and it pops up after a minute
you could also try this:
open explorer on the computer(double click on my computer) and see if there is a t999 in your left pane. Sometimes the autorun function in the
computer gets farkled and it does not open automatically and you have to do it manually,
Good luck & Aloha !

Go to galaxys3root.com and follow his t.mobile root tutorial WORD FOR WORD. USE THE USB THE PHONE CAME WITH AND KILL SAMSUNG KIES. also run Odin before you connect the phone to Pc, should be no problem bruh once it took me a couple of hours making love to my comp before I got a colored com box. And use a windows PC Mac suxx for this kind of.
Sent from my SGH-T999

I've basically given up trying to get the usb port working... I am convinced this is a hardware issue. Nothing shows up in the device manager when I plug in the phone whether USB debugging is on/off or I am in normal mode or download mode. The phone will never bring up the MTP options in the notification bar either. Again this is with multiple cables on 2 different comps where it used to work just fine. I think whatever bad charge experience I had last week damaged the USB host controller on the phone.
I think what looks promising now is using adb over wifi(http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=26844535) along with root via adb(http://galaxys3root.com/galaxy-s3-root/how-to-root-u-s-canadian-dual-core-galaxy-s3-on-mac-osx/). I can't do this at work but I'll follow up tonight on what will hopefully be success in case this could help someone else out.
Edit: Ugh, some quick googling shows that I need either root or working USB to make adb over wifi work.

Would you want to replace your chatging port?
Sent from my SGH-T999

AppzTheGawd said:
Would you want to replace your chatging port?
Sent from my SGH-T999
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think so.... the micro usb port is mounted on the main board and short of replacing that entire board it would be a ton of time/effort for something that I don't exactly think is the problem.

Dlkiser said:
I've basically given up trying to get the usb port working... I am convinced this is a hardware issue. Nothing shows up in the device manager when I plug in the phone whether USB debugging is on/off or I am in normal mode or download mode. The phone will never bring up the MTP options in the notification bar either. Again this is with multiple cables on 2 different comps where it used to work just fine. I think whatever bad charge experience I had last week damaged the USB host controller on the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This happened to me, and it was from using different devices in the same port (with same cable). I switched ports and it worked. Might not work for you, but worth a mention - it really stumped me and I tried everything including restoring the OS to an earlier point.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

Dlkiser said:
I don't think so.... the micro usb port is mounted on the main board and short of replacing that entire board it would be a ton of time/effort for something that I don't exactly think is the problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now that S3's are getting older, more people will be losing their functional USB ports. I found holding the phone vertically with steady even pressure on the plug was the trick to getting a solid connection on my flaky port, at least enough to get stock back (to send it back). That was the longest 15 minutes of my life (OK, not, but it was in the top 10, mostly because it was simultaneously nerve-wracking and insanely boring).
I tried de-soldering a usb port on a Galaxy S. Yeah.... To say it mildly, the way Samsung sets them up is booby-trapped. You can't get the existing silver solder hot enough to melt without toasting the board somehow. The boards are also wafer-thin and dimensional on both sides. Despite generally having a knack for fine tuning and detail work (thanks to estrogen or something), I felt like an ogre in a doll house. I definitely would suggest having all the (exactly) right tools in place before tackling it. Even then it might not be the port itself, but something between the actual port and the other components.
One other thing to note, Mobile Odin is an amazing tool, but it's even ***more crucial*** than regular Odin to get your ducks in a row before you flash. Know exactly what you are flashing what your next steps are, and what your results are supposed to be. One thing in particular: if you flash a stock ROM, it includes stock recovery, and you will lose root. make sure you've run Triangle Away before you flash stock (which won't trigger your counter, but anything else will).
I plan to keep the Triangle Away and Mobile Odin apk's ready on ExtSD to install, and a copy of a stock image (ROM) as well, from now on, on all my phones. You never know when that port is going to give up the ghost.

Just thought I'd add a couple things here. More times than not, when someone thinks their usb port on the phone is bad, it's actually just the cable. Even if the cable works on something else, or works to charge the phone. They ruin much, much, more easily than anyone wants to believe! Especially when you plug/unplug it as often as with a phone.
As for Mobile Odin, I fully agree! It's one of my favorite apps by far! But if you're going to keep stock firmware handy, which I highly recommend, you may as well keep the root66 version. Flash back with that, then run triangle away, then in SuperSU, choose full unroot. Then all you need is a factory reset. Making TA the last step makes for far fewer user mistakes.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 4

[Q] Stuck in Download Mode (can't get to recovery)

My wife has a T-Mobile GSII. I successfully rooted it via ODIN to CWM-SuperSU-v0.87. My wife wanted me to put it back to stock so I unrooted it to T989UVLE1. It was killing the battery (and some other weird things began happening) so I want to re-root it but now the USB port is not working so I can't ODIN it back to the rooted MOD.
When I plug in the USB cable connected to my PC it charges but it doesn't connect for data. My computer doesn't see it, and it doesn't show the USB icon in my notifications on the phone either. When I try to boot to recovery, it goes into download mode (even if it's not connected to a USB cable). ODIN doesn't see that it's connected so I can't change the ROM.
Now, I also have the SGH-T989 and used this same process successfully. When I connect it to the same PC with the same cable I can do anything I want, ODIN works, I can get to recovery mode when it's not plugged into a USB. It's as if my wife's phone thinks it's connected to a USB even though it's not and when it is connected it doesn't recognize it. I'm thinking I could send it in for warranty figuring the USB port is dead but the ROM that's on there isn't stock and I'm afraid I'll get into hot water with TMO. For grins, I uninstalled all of my Samsung drivers and reinstalled them, and did the same thing with Kies. My phone connects fine, my wife's doesn't at all.
Anyone have a good idea? I've looked around on here all day and can't find anything that will work for me.

Once you Odin back to stock on your wife's phone you lost the recovery. Use [URL="https://www.dropbox.com/s/jdfj55rcj6p5c7c/odin3%20v1.85.exe]this version of Odin[/URL].
Remove battery
Open Odin (the one I provided)
Put battery back in after about 20 seconds
Hold volume up and volume down
Connect phone to computer via USB
Download mode should pop up on the phone and Odin should recognize your phone
After that just Odin a recover onto her phone and flash supersu to root
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using xda app-developers app

Problem with your link...
The ODIN in your post doesn't lauch an ODIN session. Instead I get a dialog box that says, "Odin3.ini" and then seven boxes with an OK button. Now I'm really baffled.

stecina said:
The ODIN in your post doesn't lauch an ODIN session. Instead I get a dialog box that says, "Odin3.ini" and then seven boxes with an OK button. Now I'm really baffled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry about that man. That was my faul, the dialogue means you need the ini file for Odin. I've reuploaded everything in a zip file here. Just unzip to your desktop and follow the same steps I provided earlier.
*note* the zip file includes the two Odin files you need...just open Odin.exe. A recovery tar file and a superuser zip file...the superuser zip I provided outdated so just use your root zip file.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using xda app-developers app

Didn't Work
Okay, so that returned the same result as before. Your method also didn't make my computer (or ODIN) think it was connected to anything, so I'm unable to get the root onto the phone.
What can I try next?

stecina said:
Okay, so that returned the same result as before. Your method also didn't make my computer (or ODIN) think it was connected to anything, so I'm unable to get the root onto the phone.
What can I try next?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can try reinstalling the drivers. If you don't have them you can download it here. Just run the exe file. Also if you have Samsung kies on your computer that could be causing the interference so remove it
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using xda app-developers app

I have uninstalled and reinstalled drivers as well as Kies. Remember, I have another phone of the same model that is easily recognized by my computer AND ODIN. I'm pretty sure there is something wrong with my wife's USB port. That's why I want to restore it to stock, so I can get a warranty replacement.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda app-developers app

stecina said:
I have uninstalled and reinstalled drivers as well as Kies. Remember, I have another phone of the same model that is easily recognized by my computer AND ODIN. I'm pretty sure there is something wrong with my wife's USB port. That's why I want to restore it to stock, so I can get a warranty replacement.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a flashable stock zip on the first post here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1858435
Scroll down to T-Mobile t989 UVLH1 and click show content. It's at the bottom.
---------- Post added at 11:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:45 PM ----------
meekrawb said:
There is a flashable stock zip on the first post here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1858435
Scroll down to T-Mobile t989 UVLH1 and click show content. It's at the bottom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After re-reading your OP I see you can't even get into recovery. I don't think there is anything you can do but take it to T-Mobile and hope for the best. Or send it to Samsung...

Have you tried using a PC which you have not used for flashing your own?
I realize its unlikely to make a difference, but trying to flash your wifes using a "virgin" PC is at least worth a shot...
Chris

Another thing you could try is disconnect the phone from the PC (leave it powered up and everything), load up device manager in windows then plug the phone in and watch for device manager to flicker or do anything. I'm thinking maybe your phones are the same (T989's) but possibly a different revision that requires a different driver. Device manager will tell you if the phone was able to start or not. One thing that SOMETIMES works with windows computers (although it sounds silly) is to use a different USB port. I always use the one on the back of my computer as it is directly connected to the motherboard and thus offers a shorter path for the data to travel. I have had issues using front USB ports with devices before (my MP3 player will time out during large data transfers if I use the front USB port sometimes).
Also, is "debug mode" turned on on your phone? It is under development tools. If it is off, try turning it on. And with it on, do you get any results from running "adb devices" (presuming you have the android SDK installed or a copy of adb floating around on your computer from some other tools)?
And lastly, does the phone charge when the USB cable is plugged in? It is unlikely that 2 of the pins on the USB connection are bad without them all being bad.

Good Ideas!
Well, I've tried a couple of those ideas. The Device Manager idea revealed nothing. Nothing changes in the Device Manager when I plug in the phone. The phone DOES charge, so like you said, it's likely a software issue not hardware since two of the pins seem to work fine. BTW- the phone acknowledges it has been plugged in, too, by beeping. The computer does not.
I had tried using different computer USB ports because I have found the same to be true as you: the ports on the back go directly to the motherboard but the ones on the front are actually going through a hub, though it's inside the case, the computer sees it as a hub.
I don't have ADB Devices. I don't have any experience with that program...can you advise me? Next up, trying on a virgin computer...
Thanks for the ideas. I've got to get this worked out or my wife's going to DIE. Currently, the home button doesn't take her home, it takes her to this weird Clock App based lock screen/screen saver. Anyone have an idea how to correct that problem itself?
UPDATE: I tried to install and run ADB Devices and it didn't result in recognition by my computer.

Sending in For Warranty
It appears that this is my problem.
I took it to TMO and they approved a warranty replacement for a faulty USB port. Just in case anyone wondered.

[Q] Help Flashing Back To Stock

I recently upgraded to the S5 and wanted to turn my phone back in to Sprint for a credit. When I went to flash it back to stock using Odin the USB connected then randomly disconnected during the flash. Now it won't boot into anything but emergency mode and wont stay connected in Odin long enough to flash. I made sure the drivers installed and the pc could see the phone when plugged in. I am using a cord that is only a couple of weeks old. At this point are there any options to put it back to stock or am I out of luck? I never used Kies either. Thanks in advance for the help.

sunflowerstarr said:
I recently upgraded to the S5 and wanted to turn my phone back in to Sprint for a credit. When I went to flash it back to stock using Odin the USB connected then randomly disconnected during the flash. Now it won't boot into anything but emergency mode and wont stay connected in Odin long enough to flash. I made sure the drivers installed and the pc could see the phone when plugged in. I am using a cord that is only a couple of weeks old. At this point are there any options to put it back to stock or am I out of luck? I never used Kies either. Thanks in advance for the help.
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so you want to put an S5 back to stock or a S3?

6th_Hokage said:
so you want to put an S5 back to stock or a S3?
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My S3 so I can get a credit for it.

sunflowerstarr said:
My S3 so I can get a credit for it.
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i would say try a different PC or USB Cable or a Different port on the PC your currently on....you can try a emergency restore in Kies or you can try to flash on Heimdall

6th_Hokage said:
i would say try a different PC or USB Cable or a Different port on the PC your currently on
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I've tried about three different cables, all three USB ports and the only other laptop is a Windows 8 machine I can't get to detect the phone at this point. So it is sounding like my suspicions are confirmed on a successful flash. Thank you for the advice, love the signature btw!

sunflowerstarr said:
I've tried about three different cables, all three USB ports and the only other laptop is a Windows 8 machine I can't get to detect the phone at this point. So it is sounding like my suspicions are confirmed on a successful flash. Thank you for the advice, love the signature btw!
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oh check what i added on the other post and and my laptop is a windows 8.1 machine just sometimes even if the drivers installed i have to check in the Device Manager and Manually make the correct driver work for my phone