Develop Bugs

Possibility of bricking & how to avoid it..

Is anyone manage to brick the phone already?
How likely/ or stupidity you need to actually bricking the phone?
What is a NO NO and how to avoid it?
That's the question.. thanks!

Main thing is read as much as you can before you do any changes, it helps to check what few sites say.
When I rooted my phone I could not get it to run the update part, tried time and time again, one site said "rename the file to update.zip and paste it" then I read on another site to just call it update as it is already a zip file.....and then it worked, small bit of detail like that stopped it working to start with so if I was you I check a few sites and get all the info you need, but also as many would say if you are that unsure dont take the risk and wait for samsung updates with Kies.

voodoochild2008 said:
if you are that unsure dont take the risk and wait for samsung updates with Kies.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kies actually failed to update my phone, I have the Korean Galaxy S SHW-M100S, and it showed an update was available. So, I thought I was bricked for about 30 mins, kept trying to get it to work itself out of the problem in recovery mode, after about 4 tries (1 reboot of Windows, plus changing USB ports and 2nd try with this static new config) eventually it did, thank God.

Do not remove usb while in the middle of flashing with odin
Wanna know HOT TO BRICK YOUR PHONE? Right when ODIN start flashing, pull the battery on your phone and see what happens.
I can't even boot up!
****

amerikian said:
Wanna know HOT TO BRICK YOUR PHONE? Right when ODIN start flashing, pull the battery on your phone and see what happens.
I can't even boot up!
****
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was gonna say something along the lines of a smart ass, but I can't. That sucks.
why would you do a battery pull?

madjsp said:
I was gonna say something along the lines of a smart ass, but I can't. That sucks.
why would you do a battery pull?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been flashing all night and wanted to do it "right" this time....realized my SIM and SD card were still in there mid-flash so wanted to pull them and start clean..........................
Yeah....don't do that.
Guess I'll be that "guy" paying a visit to the local AT&T shop tomorrow....
Luckily I'm w/in my 14 days since getting it....

delete. ......

amerikian said:
Wanna know HOT TO BRICK YOUR PHONE? Right when ODIN start flashing, pull the battery on your phone and see what happens.
I can't even boot up!
****
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've removed the cable half way and rebooted, and it was fine..
You simply remove the USB cable, battery again, put the battery in, and you'll be able to get to downloader mode.
The phone seems to have a component that ODIN doesn't touch that is read-only that handles download mode. Most hardware devices tend to have safeguards. I haven't confirmed this, but I've noticed the same applies to NAS devices (which tend to have a special redboot which uses tftp).
I have still yet to have seen any evidence of anyone permanently bricking their phone, but I've seen a few cases of "oops, got it working again".
Remember, Samsung are eager to reduce their support costs, and failsafe's are cheap and easy to add.

yes, the odin doesn't touch the 'bootloader' , or the small piece of code that enable the download mode, so there's no way you can brick the phone.
I have tried to repartition the phone while flashing firmware that has nothing except the csc data (i.e. no kernel, no factory rfs, etc) and the flash procedure went succesfully but in actual fact, my phone contains a new set of partitions that contain nothing except the small csc data.
and i still able to reflash, although I must make sure that the phone is totally shutdown (i.e. take out battery, let it stay for awhile before putting back)

andrewluecke said:
I've removed the cable half way and rebooted, and it was fine..
You simply remove the USB cable, battery again, put the battery in, and you'll be able to get to downloader mode.
The phone seems to have a component that ODIN doesn't touch that is read-only that handles download mode. Most hardware devices tend to have safeguards. I haven't confirmed this, but I've noticed the same applies to NAS devices (which tend to have a special redboot which uses tftp).
I have still yet to have seen any evidence of anyone permanently bricking their phone, but I've seen a few cases of "oops, got it working again".
Remember, Samsung are eager to reduce their support costs, and failsafe's are cheap and easy to add.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought in the Big FAQ, it said... do not disconnect the usb-cable but to remove the battery if want to interrupt it...
7.The phone will be flashed and once it’s finished, it will boot up. (Do NOT disconnect the usb-cable, remove the battery or otherwise interrupt this process!)

amerikian said:
Wanna know HOT TO BRICK YOUR PHONE? Right when ODIN start flashing, pull the battery on your phone and see what happens.
I can't even boot up!
****
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Similar happened to me,although I didnt pull the battery, the phone just disconnected halfway through the flash.
Had half hour of panic,where I thought it was bricked.
Had to do a few battery pulls,restart PC a couple of times and mess around with different USB ports,but finally got it working.
Have flashed a 3 times since without a problem.

chluk2425 said:
I thought in the Big FAQ, it said... do not disconnect the usb-cable but to remove the battery if want to interrupt it...
7.The phone will be flashed and once it’s finished, it will boot up. (Do NOT disconnect the usb-cable, remove the battery or otherwise interrupt this process!)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That means you shouldn't do any of those things! So don't disconnect usb, don't remove the battery and don't interrupt the process.

zenkinz said:
yes, the odin doesn't touch the 'bootloader' , or the small piece of code that enable the download mode, so there's no way you can brick the phone.
I have tried to repartition the phone while flashing firmware that has nothing except the csc data (i.e. no kernel, no factory rfs, etc) and the flash procedure went succesfully but in actual fact, my phone contains a new set of partitions that contain nothing except the small csc data.
and i still able to reflash, although I must make sure that the phone is totally shutdown (i.e. take out battery, let it stay for awhile before putting back)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure that flashing (through ODIN) in any case never touch that "Download Mode" piece of code ? Even you select all the options in ODIN ?
Can anyone confirm this ? Actually I want to play with Kernel and RFS (have some ideas to try) but afraid of full bricking. So if this download mode is always present then I can play with it without any problem.
Waiting for response.

amerikian said:
I've been flashing all night and wanted to do it "right" this time....realized my SIM and SD card were still in there mid-flash so wanted to pull them and start clean..........................
Yeah....don't do that.
Guess I'll be that "guy" paying a visit to the local AT&T shop tomorrow....
Luckily I'm w/in my 14 days since getting it....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Believe me! you can still access the download menu

The bootloader is almost always writeprotected and cannot be overwritten. You would probably have to connect a cable to some internal port like Jtag to be able to reflash the bootloader section. Atleast that is the case in 99% of all bootloaders. Im very certain that you cannot cripple the bootloader.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

jackiechan8 said:
That means you shouldn't do any of those things! So don't disconnect usb, don't remove the battery and don't interrupt the process.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
gosh man, thanks correcting me but if that's the case, what should i do if it doesn't reboot by itself?

take out the battery, wait for 30 to 60 secs, put the battery in and start phone with vol down + menu + power

Don't disconnect the usb or do anything else while flashing!!!
I removed the usb cable when it started flashing (i thinked it was stuck, happens sometimes), and since it does not boot anymore. I press the power button, volUp + home + power, volDown + home + power... nothing happens.... it's dead, doesn't turn on at all...

after all i have read i think it's almost impossible to brick the sgs since you always get back into download-mode. the only case i read where i believe that it's a goner is flashing with the wrong (in this case the at&t) odin version. those guy's just got a white sreen with at&t logo at boot. they didn't get into download mode any more because the button mapping on the captivate is different ... so thats really bad luck, dont't try that at home

jodue said:
after all i have read i think it's almost impossible to brick the sgs since you always get back into download-mode. the only case i read where i believe that it's a goner is flashing with the wrong (in this case the at&t) odin version. those guy's just got a white sreen with at&t logo at boot. they didn't get into download mode any more because the button mapping on the captivate is different ... so thats really bad luck, dont't try that at home
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well, mine doesn't boot at all, and i flashed (technically not, because i removed the usb cable at the very start) with the RIGHT odin version
Maybe if it fails when flashig sbl (secondary boot loader ) you can't go into download/recovery mode...

no power after flash

I flashed a rom from CWM recovery.
Here's the part where I get laughed at....
The rom I flashed ended up being a GSM rom.
I can't boot into recovery or even get a charge indicator.
Just a dead phone at this point.
Is there any recovering from this blunder?

teamfdn said:
I flashed a rom from CWM recovery.
Here's the part where I get laughed at....
The rom I flashed ended up being a GSM rom.
I can't boot into recovery or even get a charge indicator.
Just a dead phone at this point.
Is there any recovering from this blunder?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try booting up into download mode
and ODIN the stock image

Wolfbeef123 said:
try booting up into download mode
and ODIN the stock image
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It won't boot into download or recovery.
USB and wall charger won't even charge anymore.

teamfdn said:
It won't boot into download or recovery.
USB and wall charger won't even charge anymore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
DANG!
if you can't boot into anything ,then your most likely bricked.
If you have insurance, and your ODIN counter was at zero, you can probably say you dropped it or that it just stopped working and get a replacement for cheaper.
It's dishonest, but oh well.
Next time, please check what you flash...
I've had many close calls too, but I'm sorry about what happened.
If i had some money, (which i'm dead broke) I'd help you out, but like i said, I'm dead broke, i can't even afford a screen protector lol

Ya its ****ed.ya return if insured/has warranty. Odin counter don't matter much. They ain't gonna see it now.. and if u don't have insurance, this is the place to go http://mobiletechvideos.mybigcommerce.com/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-jtag-brick-repair/. Good luck in tha future

Are you sure they won't see the counter?
Someone can fix it for $60 but the flash count won't be noticed?
Anyway, I'm still under 14 day guarantee and I do have TEP so hopefully this all works out.

If still under 14 days then go to sprint and just tell them how you "woke up and it just wouldnt turn on". Its immoral i know but wat can ya do. You'll leave with a new one or at worst one on the way. And no they wont see it. If u do the 14 day sprint return thing cuz its "defective" then it def won't matter wat ur count is.

[Q] Can't unroot and lock phone, what to do?

Finally somewhat fixed the phone, was on CM9 and had major issues with bugs, stuck on bootloader, etc. Recovered back to when I first rooted, but usb won't recognize phone, won't even charge through usb, so I think the port is broken. Problem is, I claimed the broken phone under warranty months ago, but forgot to fix and send in. Need to do that now, but since I can't unroot the thing, should I send it back and hope for the best or tell them I've since lost the phone and see if they will let me claim it under asurion? Thanks in advance!

Download a ROM/Kernel not for your device and flash. It won't boot and with the broken usb is for all intents and purposes bricked. Should be enough to pass the cursory check assurion/carriers give.

063_XOBX said:
Download a ROM/Kernel not for your device and flash. It won't boot and with the broken usb is for all intents and purposes bricked. Should be enough to pass the cursory check assurion/carriers give.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No worries about the unlocked symbol under google? They won't even be able to get to it?

The only other option is to try using adb wireless to push a stock zip to at least be on a stock rom. 9/10 technicians won't think there's anything to the unlocked symbol and the 1 that would probably wouldn't care. In my early days with Android I must've gone through 4 Evo's and didn't bother to re lock a single one. Never heard anything about it.

S3 won't boot - black screen

Hey folks,
I was trying to flash a custom kernel (Phenomenal Extreme 4.0) from Clockworkmod on a rooted stock 4.1.2 rom and kernel. I placed the zips on my sd card, then flashed, but it was unsuccessful. Then, when I rebooted from CWM's main menu, the phone went dead. Nothing worked, no buttons, no nothing. Any combination I tried failed, from a simple reboot, to reboot into recovery, to a reboot into download mode. Took battery out, and placed it back in, still nothing.
I'd appreciate any help you can give me! If there's anything like a factory cable, that is still better than nothing. I think I bricked it, and no warranty (Samsung's 3 month is quite short). When I plug the phone in, the laptop responds with a sound but it's not the usual sound when you dock the device. A balloon says that device driver installation failed. Then nothing happens. In any case, I rooted it and there's a flash counter of 1 on it, even if I'm running stock everything. Again, I appreciate any help!

seokhun said:
Hey folks,
I was trying to flash a custom kernel (Phenomenal Extreme 4.0) from Clockworkmod on a rooted stock 4.1.2 rom and kernel. I placed the zips on my sd card, then flashed, but it was unsuccessful. Then, when I rebooted from CWM's main menu, the phone went dead. Nothing worked, no buttons, no nothing. Any combination I tried failed, from a simple reboot, to reboot into recovery, to a reboot into download mode. Took battery out, and placed it back in, still nothing.
I'd appreciate any help you can give me! If there's anything like a factory cable, that is still better than nothing. I think I bricked it, and no warranty (Samsung's 3 month is quite short). When I plug the phone in, the laptop responds with a sound but it's not the usual sound when you dock the device. A balloon says that device driver installation failed. Then nothing happens. In any case, I rooted it and there's a flash counter of 1 on it, even if I'm running stock everything. Again, I appreciate any help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What forum did you find that kernel? Hopefully it was made for d2tmo.
+Bound for Valhalla!

I just checked, it wasn't. It's actually made for the international version -- my fault. Oh crap, I'm totally screwed, aren't I? *rolling eyes and a long sigh*
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1917234 My question is, it failed regardless, and why would it die AFTER I reboot the phone? It should've died right when I tried to install it through CWM.

seokhun said:
I just checked, it wasn't. It's actually made for the international version -- my fault. Oh crap, I'm totally screwed, aren't I? *rolling eyes and a long sigh*
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1917234 My question is, it failed regardless, and why would it die AFTER I reboot the phone? It should've died right when I tried to install it through CWM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google jtag repair.

That's an expensive paper weight.
|When Emotion Goes Up, Logic Goes Down|

I made a Nandroid before messing around.
Once I do the JTAG repair, can I restore using that Nandroid after re-rooting and flashing CWM? The guy who will be doing the JTAG said that it's dangerous because there's a risk of bricking involved.

I would just restore things individually, personally. I don't know what you had on there, but is there anything that you can't restore some other way ?

That happened to me when i flash wromg kernel. And I had a panic attack...but I somehow manage to go into recovery mod....if you can go into recovery mod...have no fear back up is there lol
Just wipe everything and restore your backup.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium

Send it back
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium

seshaz said:
Send it back
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hopefully you can get odin to recognise it...

tdotdot said:
Hopefully you can get odin to recognise it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same problem when I first got my S3. I flashed a file that was for my S2 not realizing and the phone responded the same way or didnt respond at all. Im not saying this will work but you can try. Do the proper button combo to get into download. It wont show anything on your scrren but the phone could still be in download mode. Go ahead and try connecting it to your computer and see if odin will recognize it. Make sure you have your drivers installed and dont forget to push volume up to get all the way into download mode. It worked for me once before and I hope to never have to try it again. If you have already tried this then your out of luck and will have to jtag.

JTAG is no scam. It is a VERY reliable source! Go for it.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

Never mind, warranty exchange. I don't want to send my phone to strangers, even if it's legitimate. Still $45-$60 on the credit card.
I have a question though, as long as the phone is under warranty, I can exchange for a replacement an unlimited number of times, right?

Warranty Exchange!
seokhun said:
Never mind, warranty exchange. I don't want to send my phone to strangers, even if it's legitimate. Still $45-$60 on the credit card.
I have a question though, as long as the phone is under warranty, I can exchange for a replacement an unlimited number of times, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you can...I did it with my S2 until I got one that did'nt have any signs of being refurbished. It looked brand new! I have even told them that something was wrong with the phone (hardware issue) when there was nothing wrong just because the one year warranty was about to run out and it had a few cosmedic blemishes..I have given them a lot of money in the past 9 years so I do'nt feel too bad... I did it with my Vibrant as well.

Sudden death of n2 n7100

I have been using my n2 for 1 year. but, I found my note 2 not turning on two days back. I just kept it fully charged and the next morning its not turning on. It was first stuck on the boot logo. then, I pulled the battery out and try to factory reset from stock recovery. but, I couldn't enter. then I tried installing the stock rom via odin. but, no luck. my android version was 4.1. can anyone tell me where is the problem and how I can solve?
oh one thing, now its not even turning on. just going to download mode. if I connect it to charger a battery icon shows up with a refresh circle on middle.

Sorry for hear that, mine have died on Sunday night u_u after flashing Agni kernel but I don't think the fault was for the kernel, the days before flashing it was already showing an erratic behavior like freezing and rebooting by it self. I thought it was because an undervolt or something like that (some custom roms do it) so i tried changing the kernel =( to see how it will die.
I took my phone to an external service center on yesterday morning (It doesn't have warranty anymore), and there they used Riffbox and Jtag to trying come back to life :laugh: and it worked for a couple of hours. They told me it had the bootloader bricked. I have my doubts because I have not even touched the bootloader just once when I rooted it after bought It (if it was touched after it, should be on an update or custom rom flashing, I don't know).
But last night was died again, so I started to search on web and I found this SDS, all the stuff described are the same that my phone suffered (but It was on 4.3 Ditto Note 3 soooo I though it was already solved since 4.1.2).
Is very sad but now I'm going back to the Service Center to tell them what I found. Maybe they will need to change the emmc or the motherboard =S I hope it doesn't cost a lot.u_u
Whatever, maybe yours one can have the bootloader broken, because yours turn on into download, mine doesn't turn on to recovery/samsung logo/download. Perhaps you can have luck and a chip solution just trying to flash another bootloader with odin and if you can get back working your Android, don't forget to download the "emmc check" app from playstore. It will give you any clue about this, if it says your emmc is vulnerable you will need to do the same as me changing emmc or motherboard but if you have luck and says it is not a bad batch you will no have problems again just flashing a good bootloader.

Service Center in Slovenija
badtzo said:
Sorry for hear that, mine have died on Sunday night u_u after flashing Agni kernel but I don't think the fault was for the kernel, the days before flashing it was already showing an erratic behavior like freezing and rebooting by it self. I thought it was because an undervolt or something like that (some custom roms do it) so i tried changing the kernel =( to see how it will die.
I took my phone to an external service center on yesterday morning (It doesn't have warranty anymore), and there they used Riffbox and Jtag to trying come back to life :laugh: and it worked for a couple of hours. They told me it had the bootloader bricked. I have my doubts because I have not even touched the bootloader just once when I rooted it after bought It (if it was touched after it, should be on an update or custom rom flashing, I don't know).
But last night was died again, so I started to search on web and I found this SDS, all the stuff described are the same that my phone suffered (but It was on 4.3 Ditto Note 3 soooo I though it was already solved since 4.1.2).
Is very sad but now I'm going back to the Service Center to tell them what I found. Maybe they will need to change the emmc or the motherboard =S I hope it doesn't cost a lot.u_u
Whatever, maybe yours one can have the bootloader broken, because yours turn on into download, mine doesn't turn on to recovery/samsung logo/download. Perhaps you can have luck and a chip solution just trying to flash another bootloader with odin and if you can get back working your Android, don't forget to download the "emmc check" app from playstore. It will give you any clue about this, if it says your emmc is vulnerable you will need to do the same as me changing emmc or motherboard but if you have luck and says it is not a bad batch you will no have problems again just flashing a good bootloader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Service Center in my country told me, that i have modified the software and that there is no warranty to it even if it was SDS, for which they know...
New motherboard and that's it...:crying:

U should have done factory reset by stock recovery and bring binary count to 0 by that. I had same problm. Went to service centre there they told to replace motherboard which was almost costing very high. Luckily I had made everything on phone normal before going to service centre so I had done all in warranty《free》
Sent from my GT-N7100 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

starlut said:
I have been using my n2 for 1 year. but, I found my note 2 not turning on two days back. I just kept it fully charged and the next morning its not turning on. It was first stuck on the boot logo. then, I pulled the battery out and try to factory reset from stock recovery. but, I couldn't enter. then I tried installing the stock rom via odin. but, no luck. my android version was 4.1. can anyone tell me where is the problem and how I can solve?
oh one thing, now its not even turning on. just going to download mode. if I connect it to charger a battery icon shows up with a refresh circle on middle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you can go into download mode try flashing a stock rom via ODIN and report back. If it says NO PIT PARTITION in ODIN then you need to flash the pit file and then a stock rom .

zeeshanonlyme said:
if you can go into download mode try flashing a stock rom via ODIN and report back. If it says NO PIT PARTITION in ODIN then you need to flash the pit file and then a stock rom .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i tried to flash the stock rom. its not flashing the kernel. and, I don't know whats wrong with it.
I don't have warranty and I am stuck in it.

aNtRx said:
Service Center in my country told me, that i have modified the software and that there is no warranty to it even if it was SDS, for which they know...
New motherboard and that's it...:crying:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry to hear that, but they told you nonsense. If it's really SDS they have to repair for free. Ask a friend in your country who is envolved in legal things, a lawyer best.
One in general: As long as one can start eg. download mode, it is no SDS, mostly a software prob.