Develop Bugs

[Discussion] Direct access to e-MMC to fix bricked KF? - CONFIRMED!

Hello! Been lurking for a while and just finally decided to post.
A little background: My first Kindle Fire 2 was rooted just fine. Everything worked for several months, then the screen went bad. Called Amazon and got a replacement sent over. The night I received said replacement, I decided that I wanted to try the 2nd bootloader + TWRP and install CyanogenMod. Unfortunately, I missed the part about reverting back to the older version of the bootloader before patching. Oops.
TLDR; Bricked KF2.
That brings me to the main focus of this topic: After reading a plethora of threads stating that there was no way to fix a bricked KF2 with the USB, I began thinking... Theoretically speaking, couldn't the e-MMC be accessed if it was taken out and mounted to an e-MMC to USB? This would allow reflashing the partitions and (hopefully) returning it to an unbricked state. Of course, that means remounting the e-MMC to the KF2 motherboard, but you can do wonders with a stencil, some solder paste, and a toaster oven, it seems.
Then, while searching for a good e-MMC to USB adapter, I stumbled across a very intriguing thread on hacking TomToms' NAV3 where the e-MMC is left on the device and wired to a MMC USB reader. Page 36 and 37 are the useful bits. (I can't post links yet, so this is the best to demonstrate): mobilescommunity.com/tomtom-discussions/178770-nav3-cracking-patching-copying-navcore-v10-v11-v12-36.html
At this point, I'm just waiting on an old, broken KF1 to arrive to track down where the leads go and possible solder points. I'll keep you posted as things progress.
Any comments, thoughts, suggestions?
P.S. I have a feeling that this would be better suited in the development forum, but as I am new, I can't post there. Assuming that this crazy idea actually works, (and considering that I'll probably have ten posts by then), I'll likely post a clean guide over on that forum.

i had my already taken apart cause of a broken screen, and one is for sure, there was no e-MMC or anything that you could take out and put into an adapter :\

I think you are not out of luck! Are you getting a red screen or is evrything dead?

Completely dead.
...and there is an e-MMC. On my KF2, it was under a piece of foam. If you look at it like you just took off the back cover (without moving the motherboard) from the bottom (the side with the usb port) it's on the right lower portion of the motherboard. It's a Samsung chip, KLM8G2FE3B-B001. There's also a line of solder points just below it. It looks like a decent number of the pins (which we can't see because it's a surface mount) go to that bank of solder points.
Since I still can't post real links/pictures: tinypic.com/r/20hppw5/5
Image credit: iFixit.
That picture is the motherboard from a KF1, but it's in the same location. It's the chip outlined in red.

Just a little update... Have a junk motherboard, the e-MMC is off, now I'm just tracking down where the pins go and possible solder points. It looks like the motherboard has exposed pads that will work well for soldering (my guess is they were originally access points for board/component testing?). I'll post again when I have more info.

Another update: I've tracked down solder points for DAT0-7, CMD, and CLK. I just need to track down the voltage (Vcc and Vss) and grounds (VccQ and VssQ). After that, I'll have pictures with it labelled. Then I need to work on soldering to said points and attaching them to a MMC reader, and praying that it works.

Hmm well if you can get your PC to recognize the emmc, with what I'm assuming is going to be Linux because of the fact the filesystem is ext4 on kindles last I checked, I'm curious if the modules that Linux have will recognize the device. If it does I wonder if u can simply use dd to flash the messed up partitions with the correct signed replacements. I wish I had your solder skills... I need a new tip for mine but I'm too lazy to go out and get one, much less do soldering on a kindle motherboard. If this works u could offer repair services to people, because I doubt most people would attempt this. I find this thread very interesting!
Sent from my Amazon Kindle Fire HD running CM10.1 Tablet UI using xda-developers app

Then good luck to you!
Hopefuly we will have an unbrick method...

Finished tracking down solder points. Attached are some pictures with them labelled. I'll be working on the actual soldering and connecting it to my computer in the next few days here as my mini-vacation is over and I have to go back to work tonight.

So! I have good news. I soldered everything together and plugged it in. Ubuntu auto-mounted all the partitions from the e-MMC! I'll post pictures on Friday as I'm about to take a nap before spending the next 24 hours at work.

I have a couple minutes on break, so I'm uploading a screenshot of Ubuntu with the partitions mounted. All my pictures of the board/SD card reader and solder job are on my camera at home, so I'll post those later.
Note: The partitions are on the bottom left of the window, the 17 MB one through the 929 MB one. Once I track down which one is the boot partition, I'm going to rewrite it with the original boot image and pray that has fixed the problem.

Wow this is awesome, I am very impressed at this. Now to just use dd to shove the boot loader down the emmc's throat. I wonder does linux recognize the fact that any of the partitions are signed in like gparted under a partitions properties? Not sure if u have gparted installed, probably have to install it from the repos. Also kinda curious about the partition layout as to how everything is ordered on the emmc, as gparted shows.
Sent from my Amazon Kindle Fire HD running CM10.1 Tablet UI using xda-developers app

stunts513 said:
Wow this is awesome, I am very impressed at this.
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Click to collapse
Thanks! Assuming this works, I'm thinking of designing a solder-less device to make all the connections. Soldering to those tiny pads on the motherboard was a pain!
stunts513 said:
I wonder does linux recognize the fact that any of the partitions are signed in like gparted under a partitions properties?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it the partition itself that's signed, or the boot files?
stunts513 said:
Also kinda curious about the partition layout as to how everything is ordered on the emmc, as gparted shows.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a really good idea. I'll make sure to take a screenshot of the partitions in gparted when I have a chance to work on it some more on Friday.

From what I understand not all, but some of the partitions are signed, like the boot loader, they have a 64kb signature in the partitions header if I remember correctly. That's also the reason we can't fix the device when we brick the boot loader, because these things show up as omap devices and we have the means to use that device and try to fix it, but we can't fix it because the initial file it loads up has to be signed. Your fix is kinda unorthodox, but hey, whatever works.:thumbup:bet amazon didn't think people would go this far to fix it. Heck technically if this works you could probably root it in this manor even if an exploit wasn't viable. Anyways for more I to on what I was talking about read q2, q3, and q4 of this post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2228539
I personally want to look into why we can't just hex edit a image that's unsigned to clone a signed images signature, but I don't feel like opening up 2 huge files in a hex editor to compare the differences to see how the signature is in the file, not to me took that would be next to impossible I think since it would be difficult to try to make a partition exactly like the one on the kindle minus a signature (because even if u copied the files over, they wouldn't necessarily be in the stored in the exact same sectors of a partition), making it even more complicated for me to see the actual signature. Soupemagnet said this is impossible to do already and he knows what he's talking about so i seriously doubt I could do this.
Sent from my Amazon Kindle Fire HD running CM10.1 Tablet UI using xda-developers app

stunts513 said:
I personally want to look into why we can't just hex edit a image that's unsigned to clone a signed images signature, but I don't feel like opening up 2 huge files in a hex editor to compare the differences to see how the signature is in the file
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Click to collapse
I'd venture an (un)educated guess that TI considered this sort of tampering and the header is essentially an encrypted checksum for the image. That would make sense when you consider the need for proprietary software to "generate" a signed header.
An interesting idea while we're going down this road... I'd think the only thing that prevents us from brute-forcing (through trial and error) our way to some sort of method of generating the signed headers is that an attempt could only be made once (assuming an incorrect algorithm) before you'd end up with a paperweight, meaning up until now you'd need a LOT of Kindles to even hope to get close; however, assuming that what I'm working on works to restore the KF2 to functioning, one could rig up a port to reflash the image (with a header generated with a new algorithm each time) until either you wore out the e-MMC or you managed upon one that worked.
Perhaps we could run the idea by soupmagnet and see what he thinks?

Yea that's an interesting idea, I have no idea how u could generate headers to try to forge what the kindle has though, and I'm assuming if it is a 64kb signature, that is a huge amount of combinations. I'm assuming figuring out how to make a signed image is similar to how some key generators are made that take a activation code and spit put another code for you to use. Though I have no idea how they figure out the common denominators for making a code based on such. Its one thing in simple math but to do it to strings of letters and numbers is beyond me. Luckily we have several partitions for reference, if it was just one we'd be pretty screwed, assuming I have any idea what I'm talking about. Feel free to run the idea by him, I chatted with him before a little about something like this in some PM's.
Sent from my Amazon Kindle Fire HD running CM10.1 Tablet UI using xda-developers app

kurohyou said:
I'd venture an (un)educated guess that TI considered this sort of tampering and the header is essentially an encrypted checksum for the image. That would make sense when you consider the need for proprietary software to "generate" a signed header.
An interesting idea while we're going down this road... I'd think the only thing that prevents us from brute-forcing (through trial and error) our way to some sort of method of generating the signed headers is that an attempt could only be made once (assuming an incorrect algorithm) before you'd end up with a paperweight, meaning up until now you'd need a LOT of Kindles to even hope to get close; however, assuming that what I'm working on works to restore the KF2 to functioning, one could rig up a port to reflash the image (with a header generated with a new algorithm each time) until either you wore out the e-MMC or you managed upon one that worked.
Perhaps we could run the idea by soupmagnet and see what he thinks?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let's say you are able to restore the device every time you brick it. In order for brute force to work, you would need to be able to flash the image, attempt to boot, restore the device when it fails, create a new disk.img while somehow generating a new signature for it, flash that one, etc....and it all has to be done automatically.
Putting that aside for a moment, there's a lot of speculation online about how long it will actually take to brute force just a simple 128bit encryption key. I've seen everything from several years to several hundred years. Multiply that by about 500 and you'll have an idea of the amount of time it would take to brute force a 64Kb signature, and that's without having to repack, flash, restore, etc. for every single iteration....so I highly doubt a brute force attack is even feasible in this situation.
You should probably just focus on getting the device restored so you can have yourself a little side business of restoring hard bricked 2nd generation Kindle Fires...although, it would be extremely nice if you shared with the community how you were able to do so...if you are ever successful that is.

soupmagnet said:
Let's say you are able to restore the device every time you brick it. In order for brute force to work, you would need to be able to flash the image, attempt to boot, restore the device when it fails, create a new disk.img while somehow generating a new signature for it, flash that one, etc....and it all has to be done automatically.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like a lot of work; although, I didn't expect anything less.
soupmagnet said:
Putting that aside for a moment, there's a lot of speculation online about how long it will actually take to brute force just a simple 128bit encryption key. I've seen everything from several years to several hundred years. Multiply that by about 500 and you'll have an idea of the amount of time it would take to brute force a 64Kb signature, and that's without having to repack, flash, restore, etc. for every single iteration....so I highly doubt a brute force attack is even feasible in this situation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What, you're telling me that cracking the encryption in a few million years from now wouldn't be useful?
It probably didn't help that in my sleep-deprived state last night, I failed to differentiate between 64kb and 64bit. Oops.
soupmagnet said:
You should probably just focus on getting the device restored
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Click to collapse
That's always been the focus, but I also figured that while we're here discussing things (and with confirmed access to the e-MMC now), why stop with just the basic restore to working when there's the possibility of more?
soupmagnet said:
although, it would be extremely nice if you shared with the community how you were able to do so...if you are ever successful that is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course I'm going to share! As soon as I finish the last few steps here and confirm that it's working, I'm going to post a guide over on the Development forum. I don't know how many people will be comfortable with the soldering part, though. It was a beast trying to solder to the motherboard. I do plan on trying to develop a solderless method, probably by fabricating a board that connects to all the important points and secures to the motherboard itself (probably using the screw holes).

Some more images, now that I'm home.
Here's what everything looks liked when it's soldered together:
Here it is connected to the computer:
...and finally, a screenshot of the partitions in gparted:

Sweet, didn't realize how many partitions the kindle had. So now all we need to figure out is which partition of those is the bootloader partition, so u can try flashing the boot loader with the dd command. Might I suggest backing up the entire emmc device with dd instead of just some of the partitions? Also was wondering if all goes well, if the kfhd's emmc pin layout is the same, be nice if a solderless bolt on version could be truly "universal" for all kindles, shape wise it wouldn't be a problem as long as the bolt-on-board has multiple hole configurations.
Sent from my Amazon Kindle Fire HD running CM10.1 Tablet UI using xda-developers app

G Pad Won't Respond - No Dowload Mode

Okay so i was on Marsh mellow 6.0.1 and then the tablet died due to battery running out. Once i rebooted it, it was stuck at the LG logo and said something like "No Secure Booting". It just froze. Then i got into download mode, opened LG Support Tool and tried Updating Software as i have had this exact problem before and this worked last time. However this time it got to around 83% then the tablet lost connection. Ive tried this multiple times now and every 4-5Mins it just disconnects.
However after many failed attempts it now doesn't enter download mode, doesn't make sound when connected to PC and doesn't show any life.
also cannot access TWRP
any help would be appreciated!

In Windows' Device Manager, does the tablet show up in the Modem or Ports section? If it shows up as "QHSUSB_BULK 9008", Google that and at least if you have a TOT file available for your particular model and variant, then you should be able to recover using directions/program you can find.

I have the same problem with a G Pad of mine. It was working fine, boot looped (with 50% battery) then switched off. No life at all, no amount of button combinations or charged plugging in will bring it back. I've resorted to finding a donor motherboard to see if it'll work with a new motherboard or if some other component is at fault!

Rackers said:
I have the same problem with a G Pad of mine. It was working fine, boot looped (with 50% battery) then switched off. No life at all, no amount of button combinations or charged plugging in will bring it back. I've resorted to finding a donor motherboard to see if it'll work with a new motherboard or if some other component is at fault!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you check what I said in my post previous to yours?

roirraW "edor" ehT said:
Did you check what I said in my post previous to yours?
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Click to collapse
Hi,
Yes, nothing in device manager under Modem or Ports. I don't get any noise when I plug or unplug it either so the computer isn't seeing it.

Rackers said:
Hi,
Yes, nothing in device manager under Modem or Ports. I don't get any noise when I plug or unplug it either so the computer isn't seeing it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That sucks, mate. Sorry to hear that! Good luck with the motherboard angle.

Thanks, fingers crossed!

roirraW "edor" ehT said:
That sucks, mate. Sorry to hear that! Good luck with the motherboard angle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to confirm; new motherboard has worked, tablet is now back to life. Not sure what could have happened to the old one but I did buy this second hand and it was a prone crasher and the tablet had already been opened so who knows what they did to it.

Rackers said:
Just to confirm; new motherboard has worked, tablet is now back to life. Not sure what could have happened to the old one but I did buy this second hand and it was a prone crasher and the tablet had already been opened so who knows what they did to it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good! Thanks for the update!

Rackers said:
Just to confirm; new motherboard has worked, tablet is now back to life. Not sure what could have happened to the old one but I did buy this second hand and it was a prone crasher and the tablet had already been opened so who knows what they did to it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm curios where you and aprox how much did you pay for the new hardware? Hopefully you it's not too rude of me to ask...
Thanks in advance

Sparks639 said:
I'm curios where you and aprox how much did you pay for the new hardware? Hopefully you it's not too rude of me to ask...
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not at all; I paid £50 for the new motherboard. Just luck of the draw somebody was selling a G Pad with a broken screen on eBay.
Thanks

Thank you, I'll keep an eye out.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

Update!!
Currently got the tablet back into working order no replacement hardware needed.
Problem:
Tablet not responding to any user input or software detection. not charging and no life of any sort.
Solution:
( 1 )Charge tablet with a powerful legitimate LG charger (not a cheap Chinese knockoff).
( 2 )Leave on charge for at least 1 and a half days.
( 3 )Press power button to check if device powers, if not continue.
( 4 )Connect USB to PC, Press and hold Volume Up and Down simultaneously and insert USB into charger port.
( 5 )Download mode should appear and you'll be able to flash stock from LG Support Tools or LG Flash Tool
Disclaimer:
May not work for all as some problems may occur for different reasons.
~Happy Un-Bricking!

Where can I send a D855 for software issues?

Some background info:
I live in Canada. I purchased a new (but non warrantied) D855 from Amazon.
Like a moron, I tried to upgrade to Marshmallow on my own and now I've completely bricked the phone. When I plug it in it doesn't even acknowledge the phone as a storage device or anything. It acts like I took the battery out (yes I've tried charging it and swapping batteries and all of that. I know I screwed it up so there isn't any point in trying too many tricks. Someone smarter than me needs to take a peek at it)
I've tried to send it to LG Canada and they said because it is an international version they can't fix it.
So my question is does anyone know where I can send it somewhere in North America?

did you try download mode?
turn off the phone, keep pressing volume up, then plugin the usb cable which connect to pc, if this work you can flash it again with lgup

DummyPLUG said:
did you try download mode?
turn off the phone, keep pressing volume up, then plugin the usb cable which connect to pc, if this work you can flash it again with lgup
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the tip, but yes I have tried that. After it happened I spend approx 5 evenings searching the old interwebs seeing if there some sort of a way to do something on my own. I have definately tried everything that I can at home. I know that I have massively screwed something up and need it to be looked at by a pro.

how about this one: http://forum.xda-developers.com/sprint-lg-g3/general/guide-fix-hard-brick-recovery-guide-t3132359

I had read that post and tried to do it but my pins were different inside. I'm assuming the 855 because of the dual sim feature has a different motherboard. I see that the thread is now up to 40 some odd pages so maybe I'll have do some reading in the later posts to see if anyone found a 855 go around and TOT file. Thanks for reminding me about it.

Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML - very slow charging, not detected by PC.

I have two pieces of ZF2 ZE551ML at home. One is my and the other one belongs to my wife. My wife's phone had a broken mini USB port - the first 2 pins from the left were visible - the plastic had broken apart. Firstly, I did not relaise it could be the problem, luckily I managed to change the whole PCB including the broken USB port, however after this change the phone is not being detected by a PC, nor it is fast charging. As I have two phones at home, I checked performance with the other unit and unfortunately, the other one does quick charge and is detected by aPC, so it is not the cable, neither is it the missing software.
I bought another PCB and changed it as well, however still no joy. Does anyone have any brilliant idea how to fix it. I should also say that all other or most of the functions of the phone are working fine (at least those I managed to check: GPS, Wi-Fi, GSM+dual SIM, torch, bluetooth, and so on).
The only problem is that the phone loops on the SMMI Test #1 and is not going any further. I have also tried to detect phone by adb, still no joy. The phone is not rooted!
I have my personal suspects that it could be the faulty main board or a software bug. Any ideas how to fix it?
My phone is running LP 5.0, soft: LRX21V.WW-ASUS_Z00A-2.20.40.198_20160930_8756_user044030427_201501060109, kernel [email protected] #1 Fri Sept 30 15:31>23 CST 2016

Sdcard slot is working?
I would check the connections on both ends of the flex cable with the sim and sd slots on it.
I am having the same problems (because of the busted sd slot). I ordered a new flex cable. When it arrives (approx. 2 weeks) I'll know if that was the cause.

Yes, SD slot is working and both SIMs, so the phone itself works fine, only very long charging and is not detected by a PC.

Mattiii said:
I have two pieces of ZF2 ZE551ML at home. One is my and the other one belongs to my wife. My wife's phone had a broken mini USB port - the first 2 pins from the left were visible - the plastic had broken apart. Firstly, I did not relaise it could be the problem, luckily I managed to change the whole PCB including the broken USB port, however after this change the phone is not being detected by a PC, nor it is fast charging. As I have two phones at home, I checked performance with the other unit and unfortunately, the other one does quick charge and is detected by aPC, so it is not the cable, neither is it the missing software.
I bought another PCB and changed it as well, however still no joy. Does anyone have any brilliant idea how to fix it. I should also say that all other or most of the functions of the phone are working fine (at least those I managed to check: GPS, Wi-Fi, GSM+dual SIM, torch, bluetooth, and so on).
The only problem is that the phone loops on the SMMI Test #1 and is not going any further. I have also tried to detect phone by adb, still no joy. The phone is not rooted!
I have my personal suspects that it could be the faulty main board or a software bug. Any ideas how to fix it?
My phone is running LP 5.0, soft: LRX21V.WW-ASUS_Z00A-2.20.40.198_20160930_8756_user044030427_201501060109, kernel 3.10[email protected] #1 Fri Sept 30 15:31>23 CST 2016
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
may be the pcb you changed is for different version. try replacing it with your other phone if you have the same model. post if works.

sukhwant717 said:
may be the pcb you changed is for different version. try replacing it with your other phone if you have the same model. post if works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, I did changed both PCBs between phones. Firstly, I had the same problem on both phones, then I made better connections and the batteries started to warm up. Finally, the new one works with the other phone, the old one from the other phone still creates the problem. Probably, it is not the PCB then, or USB connection. It must be something else.
Anyone, any idea?

Mattiii said:
Hi, I did changed both PCBs between phones. Firstly, I had the same problem on both phones, then I made better connections and the batteries started to warm up. Finally, the new one works with the other phone, the old one from the other phone still creates the problem. Probably, it is not the PCB then, or USB connection. It must be something else.
Anyone, any idea?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try fashing raw firmware
on motherboard you can inspect or clean the connector where pcb connects. use magnifying glass to inspect connector

Ok, I actually would like to flash the raw firmware, however I need some guidance here, as the phone that has a problem, is not rooted, and it cannot be detected by any PC now, so I am stuck in the middle and do not know how to proceed...

sukhwant717 said:
try fashing raw firmware
on motherboard you can inspect or clean the connector where pcb connects. use magnifying glass to inspect connector
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, I actually would like to flash the raw firmware, however I need some guidance here, as the phone that has a problem, is not rooted, and it cannot be detected by any PC now, so I am stuck in the middle and do not know how to proceed...
and the connectors are clean

Mattiii said:
Ok, I actually would like to flash the raw firmware, however I need some guidance here, as the phone that has a problem, is not rooted, and it cannot be detected by any PC now, so I am stuck in the middle and do not know how to proceed...
and the connectors are clean
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i am little confused here... you changed pcb on one mobile and fast charger do not works on that. you have other mobile which is working perfectly. both are same model.... if right!! do the following thing to find out...
Phone A:- changed PCB. no fast charge, not detected by pc.
Phone B:- working perfectly normal..
now we want to guess if pcb is faulty or there is issue with flex cable or any software related issue..
remove motherboard from phone A. and install it in Phone B.. if on Phone B. things works well then definitely its problem related to pcb.. if things don't works on phone B too. then it may be a firmware related problem..
raw cannot be installed without pc..... the thing you can ty is updating firmware from sd card via recovery mode.

sukhwant717 said:
i am little confused here... you changed pcb on one mobile and fast charger do not works on that. you have other mobile which is working perfectly. both are same model.... if right!! do the following thing to find out...
Phone A:- changed PCB. no fast charge, not detected by pc.
Phone B:- working perfectly normal..
now we want to guess if pcb is faulty or there is issue with flex cable or any software related issue..
remove motherboard from phone A. and install it in Phone B.. if on Phone B. things works well then definitely its problem related to pcb.. if things don't works on phone B too. then it may be a firmware related problem..
raw cannot be installed without pc..... the thing you can ty is updating firmware from sd card via recovery mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is correct, I say it again - I have two phones, same model, same software, kernel, etc. One had a damaged mini USB port, so I purchased 2 PCBs which have mini USB port souldered onto them. I bought them twice, as I was not sure if the first one I got was the correct one. Now, after your first message I changed the PCBs between phones and the result is the same, phone A (which is ok) works with the replacement PCB, and the PCB from working phone still does not work with phone B (the one that has a problem).
As a second step I replaced motherboards between phones now, and the result is still the same, meaning the motherboard from phone B does not seem to work better while it is in phone A body. The symptoms I'm struggling with are: charging takes over 8-9 hours, so it is considerably extended charging (battery is original factory battery 3000 mAh), the phone does not fastcharge at all and it is not detected by any PC.
The phone is not roooted so, I'm afraid I cannot make any changes to firmware through recovery, as it needs to be connected by a cable to a PC, unless there is something else I can do about it, but how to get any further?

Mattiii said:
That is correct, I say it again - I have two phones, same model, same software, kernel, etc. One had a damaged mini USB port, so I purchased 2 PCBs which have mini USB port souldered onto them. I bought them twice, as I was not sure if the first one I got was the correct one. Now, after your first message I changed the PCBs between phones and the result is the same, phone A (which is ok) works with the replacement PCB, and the PCB from working phone still does not work with phone B (the one that has a problem).
As a second step I replaced motherboards between phones now, and the result is still the same, meaning the motherboard from phone B does not seem to work better while it is in phone A body. The symptoms I'm struggling with are: charging takes over 8-9 hours, so it is considerably extended charging (battery is original factory battery 3000 mAh), the phone does not fastcharge at all and it is not detected by any PC.
The phone is not roooted so, I'm afraid I cannot make any changes to firmware through recovery, as it needs to be connected by a cable to a PC, unless there is something else I can do about it, but how to get any further?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
which firmware you are currently on? lolipop or MM? factory reset your device then apply latest lolipop update from sd card

sukhwant717 said:
which firmware you are currently on? lolipop or MM? factory reset your device then apply latest lolipop update from sd card
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was on lolipop, updated to MM now, but still no joy, charges very slowly like before and when connected to any PC it says one of the recently connected devices is not working properly, so I'm stuck ... I cannot root or apply any ADB sideloads ...

Mattiii said:
I was on lolipop, updated to MM now, but still no joy, charges very slowly like before and when connected to any PC it says one of the recently connected devices is not working properly, so I'm stuck ... I cannot root or apply any ADB sideloads ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is your ext. sd being seen in file manager ?
Can you get into 6.0 recovery ?
If yes , you can now downgrade which will reset your fone , With a factory reset in the process , check my signature below.
Your fone not being seen maybe driver issue if other zens too are not being seen...but ..let's see what happens after downgrade.
After downgrade if still slow charge, reboot while connected to charger.
If same prob ..hardware !

sukhwant717 said:
which firmware you are currently on? lolipop or MM? factory reset your device then apply latest lolipop update from sd card
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
timbernot said:
Is your ext. sd being seen in file manager ?
Can you get into 6.0 recovery ?
If yes , you can now downgrade which will reset your fone , With a factory reset in the process , check my signature below.
Your fone not being seen maybe driver issue if other zens too are not being seen...but ..let's see what happens after downgrade.
After downgrade if still slow charge, reboot while connected to charger.
If same prob ..hardware !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I was not so deeply checking all available options. SD downgrading worked well for me, however the problem still is in the phone. However, I discovered a few positive and negative signs, which tell me that there is something else - could be the connection - after upgrading to MM before the phone was restarted at least 3-4 times the screen was not going to sleep mode after a minute, it was coming back on and on and on again. After 3-4 restarts it behaved normally again. The same thing happened after downgrade to L.
Another positive discovery is that the SMMI test now works well and everything is ok now, before it got stuck on the 1st or 2nd test and was not going any further ....
One more spot, which was very hard to catch as it popped up for a 0,1 second but dissappeared then quickly so I had to record it with the other phone and play very slowly on the PC - it looks like the Asus cover window pops up and it says - move your finger around the circle to get quick access to your preferable apps and there is also a blue button: Do not show again . This is flashing now and then and I do not have Asus Cover, so the behaviour is quite odd to me.
I have a feeling that there might be something with connections, but really I do not know what else - I checked it 30 times and made sure everything was properly alligned and tight when I was changing the PCB with micro USB port.
By the way the other phone works well on PCs, so I must have all drivers installed, it is just the second phone that is half bricked... I'm wondering now if maybe flashing CM 12 or 13 will help, however as it is not rooted probably it will not work via SD card... or? Am I looking in the right direction?

Buddy , its hardware so software tweaks will be useless .

Buddy, we are on the same ****ing boat.
I tried to go back to 6.0,but i got my phone bricked and now i cant reverse it back because i need usb connection to the computer and simply it isnt recognized.
I suggest you to send the phone to the asus assistance centre or to buy a new usb port for your phone,as it is clearly damaged like mine.I need to do it too so if you want to wait me first so i can check if it works,ill maybe save you some money.

RxDave said:
Buddy, we are on the same ****ing boat.
I tried to go back to 6.0,but i got my phone bricked and now i cant reverse it back because i need usb connection to the computer and simply it isnt recognized.
I suggest you to send the phone to the asus assistance centre or to buy a new usb port for your phone,as it is clearly damaged like mine.I need to do it too so if you want to wait me first so i can check if it works,ill maybe save you some money.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, my phone successfully reversed to Lolipop, and I changed the USB port, I talked to Asus authorised service centre and they said it will cost the price of the phone, so I just give up, as everything works, but not the phone with the computer via USB and not the quick charging. Asus centre said it is a motherboard failure, but I'm asking how is that possible if all other functions work well???

timbernot said:
Buddy , its hardware so software tweaks will be useless .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I see your point, but I cannot imagine how is this possible, when all other things work well on the phone and the SMMI test shows all sensors working properly?

Mattiii said:
Yes, I see your point, but I cannot imagine how is this possible, when all other things work well on the phone and the SMMI test shows all sensors working properly?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ask yourself the same 2 questions again once more
Is your phone recognised by PC ?
Is fast charging working now ?
If answer is no after downgrade .
You know the answer

i changed mainboard and working
well, i have the same problem and i try the following possibility and all unsuccessful.
1. i tried 3 different pcb still no luck
2. i changed sim flex still no luck
3. i changed battery still no luck
4. i changed lcd and digitizer completely still no luck
5. i wiped cache from android recovery MM still no luck
6. i wiped data and factory reset from android recovery MM still no luck
7. i install same latest os (MM) for ze551ml from sd card still no luck
8. i use original ac adapter and cable and tried working different one for every step.
so i want to ask a questions. can it be ground connection somewhere on cases? or motherboard
i am tired but problem found. it is exactly motherboard problem. i bought used original mainboard and all is working.
Note: other mainboard using same android os version so it is not os failure.

Help! Hard-bricked Galaxy S9

Hi,
I got my daughter a new phone and planned to send in her s9 as AT&T was offering $800 for trade in... She got her new phone set up, then, somehow, her S9 that's been going strong for years, hard bricked itself. I've been all over the internet trying to dig up a solution, but no luck yet....
**Symptoms**
No blinking LEDs
Power + Volume Up: Nothing
Power + Volume Down + Bixby: Nothing (Boot menu screen never comes up)
Plug into computer:
Hear windows USB connect sound
See device in device manager under "Other Devices":"qusb_bulk_cid:0402..."
Unplug from computer:
Hear windows USB disconnect sound
While plugged into comuter:
Power + Vol Down + Bixby: Usb Disconnect / Reconnect Sound, device disappears / reappears from Device Manager (no boot menu)
**What I've tried so far...
FixPpo for Android: Wasted $40. Does not fix hard-bricked phone. If you can't get to the screen you can't get the firmware image onto the phone.
ODIN 3: Does not see the phone in the ID:COM field. Iinstalled the Qualcomm HS-USB drivers and restarted w/ Driver unsigned mode. Phone shows up under Ports (COM & LPT) but ODIN still doesn't see it.
QPST: Can see the phone, but that's all I could seem to do with it.
QFIL: This started out promising, until I needed "Programmer Path" and "Content XML" files, which I can't seem to find for the galaxy S9 (Or perhaps there's a generic Qualcomm one I can't find)
If someone's out there, anywhere, that's been able to resolve this I'd really appreciate some additionl info / links to the right files for QFIL. Or am I SoL if the screen doesn't come up? I feel like we would have seen some symptoms earlier if the screen was starting to burn out vs. just never coming up again...
Thanks in advance,
Steve in Massachusetts, USA

Display dead or software dead

Thanks for the reply...
That's a good question.... I think it's just the software. The phone has been working fine for years, with no degradation or dead pixels, and it wasn't abused or dropped. I've had no luck qith QFIL... was going to attempt Octoplus next, but I don't want to drop $50 for a license if I'm still going to end up bricked. I think QFIL could work if I could get it into download mode, but with no screen that's proving difficult.

stevenlmas said:
Thanks for the reply...
That's a good question.... I think it's just the software. The phone has been working fine for years, with no degradation or dead pixels, and it wasn't abused or dropped. I've had no luck qith QFIL... was going to attempt Octoplus next, but I don't want to drop $50 for a license if I'm still going to end up bricked. I think QFIL could work if I could get it into download mode, but with no screen that's proving difficult.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, you need download software for you model s9 if you want flash again

oli231 said:
Hey, you need download software for you model s9 if you want flash again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks - I did download QFIL, Odin and QPST, but b/c I can't get PC to see it as a modem, Odin doesn't work. I can't get QFIL to work b/c I can't get into download mode. I just blew $50 on Octoplus, but am still waiting for my license key...
I've put $150 into a dead phone... I probably could have got a used one for that if I looked hard enough.

stevenlmas said:
Thanks - I did download QFIL, Odin and QPST, but b/c I can't get PC to see it as a modem, Odin doesn't work. I can't get QFIL to work b/c I can't get into download mode. I just blew $50 on Octoplus, but am still waiting for my license key...
I've put $150 into a dead phone... I probably could have got a used one for that if I looked hard enough.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For my eye motherboard is dead

My S9+ died similarly. Was watching a video and suddenly it crashed and stopped working. Came back to life 2 days later just to die again after an hour. Turns out it was old liquid damage from a month prior swim. Popped it open and cleaned it with isopropyl alcohol and it's working now. If you're feeling confident you can try to open it and see if it's liquid damage or anything that a simple fix such as an alcohol clean might fix. But most likely it's a hardware not a software problem. Good Luck.