One way to "fix" a phone with 3-button recovery/download disabled - Galaxy S I9000 General

This is not quite as insane as heating your phone in the oven, and you probably won't want to do this but...
Try bricking your phone, and then sending it to Samsung. I did, and I now can use the 3-button grips to enter download and recovery mode.
If I had the option, and prior knowledge of the importance of the 3-button method of getting into recovery or download mode I would have been more careful when I got my phone. I wasn't, and I purchased a phone with a disabled 3-button recovery. Darn.
Because I have flashed firmware onto different devices without any past problems, I elected to flash the Bell JH2 firmware (from JG9, using Odin), despite the lack of recovery options. In truth, I had little choice, as somewhere along the customization road I messed something up badly enough that continual force close messages made the phone unusable.
Obviously the flash failed, and I was left with the black screen of death.
I took the phone back to Bell, and they sent it along to Samsung (last Wednesday). Today I got the phone back and, just on the off-chance, tried the 3-button grip to enter download mode; less than a second later I was in download mode. I can now enter download and recovery mode with ease. Samsung also upgraded the phone to JH2.
I could't find any mention in the forums that Samsung would enable the 3-button features, or that JH2 enabled the features, but it appears that one or the other has done so. Draw what conclusions you will.
Before anyone asks: I have confirmed that the phone is the same phone (the s/n and imei stickers on the phone match the stickers on the original box, which wasn't sent with the phone to Samsung, and the phone remains sim unlocked), and I employed the same 3-button procedure this time as in all previous, failed attempts (actually I tried every trick of timing, grip, battery insertion, sim card and xd card in the previous failures).

wow! you got the phone back so quickly?!?!?!
it's been more than 5 weeks already for me, and i still don't have my original phone back
good thing i bough a few...

Yeah. I was a little surprised myself.
While I didn't like the sinking sensation I experienced when I bricked the phone, all-in-all I am not unhappy with the result, as I expected to have to wait a month or two before I would be able to unlock the phone, cancel the Bell plan and use the phone with my Rogers.
Now I have a fully functional, unlocked phone after less than two weeks of ownership (yep, I bricked the phone 4 days after I got it - I guess I should be more appreciative of the features of my former HTC Hero )

i beat you, i bricked my first SGS on the 3rd day of owner ship trying to flash Froyo Alpha, knowing i had a disabled 3 button phone

I am happy to hear you got your phone back so quickly. Mine was sent off by Bell on Wednesday, it died on its own accord though, no rooting or anything.
This loaner N97 is killing me, why on earth these phones are so popular in other parts of the world boggles my mind. Its most clunky slow ass OS I have ever used.. resistive touch screen on top of that makes me want to kill something.

Related

Bell phones and the lack of 3 button combo

I'm starting a new thread because it doesn't necessarily fall in to unlocking of the phone (as I've been asked).
I'm guessing any new purchases of this phone will have the recovery/download 3 button combo feature completely disabled.
The reason why I say this is that I've been to 5 different stores between yesterday and today (with the most recent one having a stock amount of 9 phones) and here are my findings:
Every single boxed up phone has the feature disabled. (All I did was have them install the battery (no sim or anything) and pass the phone to me).
However, every one of those 5 stores that I went to, I did it flawlessly on their demo phones.
So my guess is, as the demo phones would have been the first batch Bell provided (and some being on display before any actual product released to the public), all subsequent batches of these phones will have this feature disabled.
I went to 2 different best buys that have ample stock of the phones because it is onsale this week, and none of them worked... nor did they work at the future shop I attended or the 2 bell stores (including the one I purchased and returned initially).
But every single demo did.
So if anyone got their hands on the very first batch of phones and it works then you're a lucky one. For the rest of us, I think we are S.O.L.
There's got to be a way to do it... Anyone know a Bell Representative or better yet a person inside samsung that will leak that info to you?
Heck I don't even want to unlock the phone. I'll stay on Bell's network, I just want to be able to load new versions of Android without any risk of bricking my phone.
Thank you! It was annoying reading all those posts abt this in that thread.
And I'm not too sure that the new phones don't have it. There have been a few people on the thread that have said that they got the phone at launch, and it didn't have the feature, but when they went to return it and get a new one (from the new shipment) it was fine...
So really I dont think its very easy to tell if its gonna work or not...
I think I'll wait til september to buy the phone.
I don't care too much about custom roms and the like, the stock one is fine, but Bell has a history (See the i7500L) of not updating their firmwares in a timely fashion. The i7500L is still on 1.5. Terrible if you ask me, considering the "open-source" feel of android.
So there are rumours, I don't know if its true or not, that bell is going to have an official 2.2 update in september. Maybe then I'll buy it and by then all phones will have the 3 button combo on them.
I just went to a local future shop here, and the phone representative contacted their Bell Rep, who was at another store, he couldn't do it on the phones they had there, but promised to call Samsung on Monday to find out if their is an alternate way.
Maybe you have to hit a reset button along with it. I remember doing something similar on my old HTC diamond phone, maybe this is the same thing (sort of).
Too bad, I loved this phone all the 4 days I had it (up until reading about the 3 button combo). I sort of miss it.
I just put a call in to Samsung to find out why some work and some don't, they said because the phone was so new that I had to call a number specifically set up for support on the Galaxy S but they are only open Monday to friday..
So hopefully with all this calling around I'm doing something will be figured out.
I got my Vibrant on launch day, 3 button combo didn't work. Swapped it out for a new one, from a new shipment last Thursday (august 12th) 3 button combo works.
arr0ww,
Can you confirm what i've been reading on wiki then?
It states:
"Note: There are many Bell I9000M floating around with this feature disabled, without the Download Mode enable you wont be able to restore from a failed firmware flash. We highly recommend you to take it back and exchange it for a model that can work properly with the 3 button combination. The first batch from around Aug 5 or Serial # ending with 6000000 have the 3 buttons combo disabled, the new batch after Aug 11 with Serial # ending with 6500000 have the working 3 buttons.
example of full Serial # 89302610202006500000"
Do your last 7 digits end with 65 and not 60?
Also, where did you get yours exactly? I think if its close to me, I'll just pop by that store and get it (assuming your somewhere in the GTA).
I got mine first thing Launch morning. My serial is 59XXXXX. 3 button combo IS working.
it shouldn't be hard to fix the issue. from what i've read, and people have said, the 3-button combo is written into the SPL part (256kb) part of the Nand. all we would theoretically have to do is flash our SPL with some else's 3-button enabled SPL. now two of my friends bought their phones same day as me, and have theirs enabled, and both are rooted, so it's not hard to get our hands on a copy.
i have posted another thread in the software technical section about this and haven't gotten any replies (maybe it's the wrong section). the g1 users flash their spl, but they don't talk about how to make an image of the current spl. so i'm stuck here. i know it can be done, just don't know how yet.
apparently nandroid backup doesn't backup the spl, so that's useless to us. from the SPL backup kit for the g1 users, i read the batch file, and it reads specific hex addresses in the nand and writes them to a file, but i would assume these addresses are different for our nand. so once again, useless.
For all those that have their 3 button disabled... can you confirm if your serial ends with 60XXXXX? Maybe its limited to just that batch of s/n's.
As for wang1chung.. hopefully its a simple fix.. but i'll refuse to buy one again unless I get one that is confirmed working or easily fixable to get it working without a cable.
Thanks
Electroz said:
I got mine first thing Launch morning. My serial is 59XXXXX. 3 button combo IS working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it is possible the bug was only in the batch with numbers ending in 60xxxxxxxx
since the ones on 59xxxxxxxx works, and 65xxxxxxxx works
that seems to be the logical sense
this would be nice
problem is, no one has been able to get a way to extract, and flash back the good SPL to the bad phones
wang1chung said:
it shouldn't be hard to fix the issue. from what i've read, and people have said, the 3-button combo is written into the SPL part (256kb) part of the Nand. all we would theoretically have to do is flash our SPL with some else's 3-button enabled SPL. now two of my friends bought their phones same day as me, and have theirs enabled, and both are rooted, so it's not hard to get our hands on a copy.
i have posted another thread in the software technical section about this and haven't gotten any replies (maybe it's the wrong section). the g1 users flash their spl, but they don't talk about how to make an image of the current spl. so i'm stuck here. i know it can be done, just don't know how yet.
apparently nandroid backup doesn't backup the spl, so that's useless to us. from the SPL backup kit for the g1 users, i read the batch file, and it reads specific hex addresses in the nand and writes them to a file, but i would assume these addresses are different for our nand. so once again, useless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey guys, are you still able to start in recovery mode with a cable and ADB. I would like to know cause my G-sensor is dead and I went to Best Buy to exchange it and the phones were all lacking this mode.
I didn't swap ysterday because of this but I have to do something before aug. 20. After that I will have to see with bell what they want to do and it will surely go for a repair. I would prefer to have a new one working right away but the lack of recovery mode is discouraging me.
my s/n is 52xxxxx and 3button is disabled
sp991, recovery mode is still accessible via adb to those with the 3button disabled.
allgamer, i only suggested that as no one else had suggested anything else? i assumed it would be possible since the g1 users can read their spl via the command " pmemdump -a 0x8c000000 0x40000 " and save it to a .nb file to update later. maybe this would be better accomplished in the hands of talented coders/developers.
Mine is 64xxxxx and it is disabled.
adb works.
I exchanged my first i9000m coz the download mode wasn't working.
The second one I got two days ago goes into download/recovery mode without problem!! This one has IMEI ending with 65xxxxxx and manufactured in Aug.
I also tested new one at Bell store today which had IMEI # 65xxxx as well, but it didnt go into download mode. The guy at the store said it was the newest batch as they received it yesterday, and now i'm totally confused....coz I thought all newer batchs are download mode enalbed..
sp991 said:
Hey guys, are you still able to start in recovery mode with a cable and ADB. I would like to know cause my G-sensor is dead and I went to Best Buy to exchange it and the phones were all lacking this mode.
I didn't swap ysterday because of this but I have to do something before aug. 20. After that I will have to see with bell what they want to do and it will surely go for a repair. I would prefer to have a new one working right away but the lack of recovery mode is discouraging me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
do you have any other best buy store that you can go to?
try testing with the Download mode, it's easier than testing with the Repair mode
the Download mode kicks in right away, after you put in the battery, and do the 3 button test
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=Samsung_Galaxy_S/Vibrant_GT-I9000M
check the wiki for some visuals
you can do it even with the plastic back and screen protector on top
trueimage said:
Mine is 64xxxxx and it is disabled.
adb works.
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Click to collapse
ADB will always work, but it's useless if it gets bricked
good to know 64xxxxxxxx is not good
so i guess batches between 60xxxxxxxx to 64xxxxxxx are bad?
since the 59xxxxxxxx were good, and 65xxxxxxxxxx are also good
karakake said:
I exchanged my first i9000m coz the download mode wasn't working.
The second one I got two days ago goes into download/recovery mode without problem!! This one has IMEI ending with 65xxxxxx and manufactured in Aug.
I also tested new one at Bell store today which had IMEI # 65xxxx as well, but it didnt go into download mode. The guy at the store said it was the newest batch as they received it yesterday, and now i'm totally confused....coz I thought all newer batchs are download mode enalbed..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's exactly what we are trying to find out, to see if there is any pattern
but if the one you tested with 65xxxxxxxxxxx didn't work, then i guess we can't really identify it via the serials numbers, and only can be tested manually.
Try downloading the new firmware for bell the JH2 that you can download via Kies this might fix the 3 button combo for people have issues. as the recovery screen is a bit different. give your a warning now that you have entered the system menu. the old recovery screen did not have this.
Someone that can't get into recovery should try this update..
no dice, just updated
EDIT: what's worse is i thought it would've at least helped with the gps lag, and now i can't find my location at all. under the gps performance testing option, i can't pickup any satellites whatsoever.
i'm pissed now, as i needed it to go on a roadtrip tomorrow

[Q] Suddenly won't boot, help

I have a Galaxy S as shipped by Bell Canada. It doesn't have the 3 button download mode so I'm staying away from 3rd party roms for now.
It is unlocked and rooted. All has been well until today. I had it off for a while to use the SIM in another phone. When I turned it back on it asked for the SIM unlock code. I Dismissed that and checked the phone, all seemed well other than no SIM activation. I turned it off and removed the SIM and now it won't boot. I get the usual logo, the song, and for a long time the S logo. If I wait long enough it then appears to be off. If I press the back or menu key they will light up but that's it. I can't do anything else other than pull the battery.
I tried the hard reset with holding volume down and tap the power button. That only turns it back on with the same problem. The actual SIM is fine and working in another phone.
Is there anything I can do? If I could hard reset it I'd take it back to the store but I hesitate for now while it still contains my data.
this is a problem i have just posted about a couple of mins ago
but i can get it recovery mode and fatory reset with the vol up, home and power
then it will boot but obviously i have to then reset everything from scratch which is really annoying so anyone got any idea re this
lucky for you that you can get into recovery. Right now I'd be happy with a hard reset, it doesn't take long to rebuild the setup. I'd like to know who decided to remove the recovery mode, that's evil and keeps me from simply resetting the device.
its all the apps re downloading and installing them and resetting up accounts and swype and all that lot need a fix asap
do you know what version of andoid you are running
yes but at least you can get a working phone again, I can't without being able to get into any boot menus. Honestly it only takes 30 minutes to setup again from scratch. I'm on 2.1 and what I find at least on my HTC when it had 2.1 is that I setup the google account, let it sync contacts etc, then from Market Downloads I'll see listed all my apps that were previously installed. As long as I don't leave that screen I can install each app one after the other. Or a proper backup....
Any other magic key combos to reset this thing???
did you try hooking up to kies?
Yes but that does nothing since it never fully boots.
3rdcoast said:
I have a Galaxy S as shipped by Bell Canada. It doesn't have the 3 button download mode so I'm staying away from 3rd party roms for now.
It is unlocked and rooted. All has been well until today. I had it off for a while to use the SIM in another phone. When I turned it back on it asked for the SIM unlock code. I Dismissed that and checked the phone, all seemed well other than no SIM activation. I turned it off and removed the SIM and now it won't boot. I get the usual logo, the song, and for a long time the S logo. If I wait long enough it then appears to be off. If I press the back or menu key they will light up but that's it. I can't do anything else other than pull the battery.
I tried the hard reset with holding volume down and tap the power button. That only turns it back on with the same problem. The actual SIM is fine and working in another phone.
Is there anything I can do? If I could hard reset it I'd take it back to the store but I hesitate for now while it still contains my data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same thing happened to my phone, but a factory reset did nothing. The internal SD card gave out. Phone is now sent away for 3 - 6 weeks awaiting repair.
my phone did this to me today too, I was just about to post about this when I saw this thread.
So its an SD Card problem? theres no hope of getting it fixed without sending it in?
Yes I think it is the internal card meaning there isn't anything good enough to reset to. I walked the phone over to the store and I'll have to wait for new stock next week. Actually I'm lucky they will exchange it since I bought it outright which apparently is "against policy" even though they list a no contract full price. We'll see how it goes next week but overall I despise the telco industry in this country.
3rdcoast said:
Yes I think it is the internal card meaning there isn't anything good enough to reset to. I walked the phone over to the store and I'll have to wait for new stock next week. Actually I'm lucky they will exchange it since I bought it outright which apparently is "against policy" even though they list a no contract full price. We'll see how it goes next week but overall I despise the telco industry in this country.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i went to best buy today to try and exchange it, and apparently they only have a 14 day exchange policy with phones despite it saying 30 day on the receipt, anyhow i phoned samsung and they said i have to go through bell, even though im using the phone on telus, so that should be interesting.
So all the people that are having this problem have the Bell model?
Today i got mine off eBay, as soon a i turned it on, i get exactly the same thing.
It wont load into Android, i see that galaxy S logo and then black screen.
If i go into recovery i see "cant mount SD Card".
The more is search this forum the more i see that all the people with this problem are owners of the Bell i9000M model.
I seriously think they have some defect with the manufacturing line of the phone.
Have you guys installed any firmware on your phone before this happened?
mine is like that out of the box.
Mine is the same Bell model. There seems to be some issues with them which makes the lack of download mode even more dangerous. Right now it doesn't feel like the warranty is going to cover us for problems not our fault. I hope they replace it next week but if it still lacks download mode I'll remain nervous.
Seems like everyone is with the Bell model but my questions is:
Have you guys installed another firmware than the factory one which caused this to happen?
Are you running Stock?
We need to try and narrow this down as i am seeing too many posts about this issue, and they are with the Bell model.
clubtech said:
Seems like everyone is with the Bell model but my questions is:
Have you guys installed another firmware than the factory one which caused this to happen?
Are you running Stock?
We need to try and narrow this down as i am seeing too many posts about this issue, and they are with the Bell model.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i put new firmware on it last week, can't remember what it was but it was upgraded through kies so it's one samsung pushed to me, not a froyo unstable one.
bigc_13 said:
i put new firmware on it last week, can't remember what it was but it was upgraded through kies so it's one samsung pushed to me, not a froyo unstable one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. if it was pushed to you via Kies i assume you were running stock JH2.
So it just stopped booting out of the blue?
To the OP: have you install any firmware on your device before this happened?
clubtech said:
Seems like everyone is with the Bell model but my questions is:
Have you guys installed another firmware than the factory one which caused this to happen?
Are you running Stock?
We need to try and narrow this down as i am seeing too many posts about this issue, and they are with the Bell model.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't flashed any 3rd party roms. I did do the official update via Keis which even at the store today they reminded me that I should do the update.. That update seemed to go well and has been working for over a week until I turned it off for an hour. It still isn't clear if the disabled 3 button mode is hardware or software related but we all seem to have that in common too. So before they dismiss the whole thing and we get hosed over technicalities such as unlocking it should be clear that there are clear defects in these phones as far as I can tell.
I want to be comfortable that I'm not left out of hundred of dollars just because I choose to buy it outright and not be tied to contracts. Samsung has to play nicely because it is their phone. Bell has to play nicely because they are bringing them in and distributing to retail. What carrier I use should be irrelevant because the problems are not related to usage.
FYI, the clerks went off for conference to decide if I somehow got the phone against policy. Either they trust my story or I got mine moments before they got the memo about not selling outright.
clubtech said:
Thanks. if it was pushed to you via Kies i assume you were running stock JH2.
So it just stopped booting out of the blue?
To the OP: have you install any firmware on your device before this happened?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here, stock JH2 from Kies. Not rooted. Boots to Galaxy S logo, then black screen. Mine is sent in for repair... Almost two weeks now.
Seeing more and more of this being posted. There is obviously some issues with this phone.
clubtech said:
Thanks. if it was pushed to you via Kies i assume you were running stock JH2.
So it just stopped booting out of the blue?
To the OP: have you install any firmware on your device before this happened?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Our posts crossed..
Yes I believe mine had the JH2, the official keis offered firmware. I was looking forward to the biggie update at the end of the month so wasn't about to risk bricking before then. Irony stepped in anyway.
I'm a bit nervous until I get a new one. At that point if the 3 button mode still doesn't work I'll remain nervous that I'll get another potential brick.
edit-> yes, I simply shut it down for an hour or two to use the SIM in another phone to test that phone. At next boot it died. I knew something was wrong when the logo stayed up for much longer.
I have the 3 buttons enabled so it is not related to the 3buttons being disabled, however when i boot into recovery it clearly displays an error that it can not find the internal SD.
There is definitely something wrong with the Bell Galaxy S corrupting itself.
I bought mine from an eBay seller, he is saying the phone booted fine when he shipped it but when i opened the box today i only got this black screen after logo.
Gladly the seller will take it back.
Maybe this is why there are shortages everywhere in Canada. I hope the caught this up and are fixing it with the new batch.

Samsung S5 reboots casually, and then does not boot for a certain period of time

Hi,
Not sure if it's a right place to ask, but let it be my first post here. I own an S5 device, and it's sort of crazy. Let me explain.
Three months ago my device suddenly rebooted and got almost-soft-bricked in sense of being unable to boot to the operating mode normally: its display just got black after the splash screen, however I could tap the display and watch 1 FPS "live stream" using `adb screencap` at my PC. So the device was not dead and I could take out all private not synced data I needed (it was really hard once for an application that has the backup facility disabled in its application manifest) -- blind tapping everywhere. My first attempt to fix the device was re-flashing another compatible ROM having all important data backed up. Well, I got it bricked and could not boot anymore. The recovery mode was not available (the device just frozen if trying to enter the recovery), however I could enter the download mode.
Unfortunately, no reflashing helped, so I decided to let it be fixed by a repaire service (since an official Samsung service center in my country has rejected the repair request _with payment_ because the device was not intended for sale here -- well, "thanks Samsung"). Ok, the alternative service took the device and asked almost a half of the device price for the display replace. Honestly, I forgot to ask why there was an idea to replace the display if it worked perfect while it was waiting in the Download mode. Again, it just got black after the splash screen, but the display worked fine in the Download mode until the device was powered off or reset. So after a few days they gave it back to me, and the device was really good now -- it worked fine. They also re-fllashed the device to Android 6 (previously Android 5) and the device was unrooted. Well, that's fine to me.
But after a few hours of rooting, testing and re-installing the software and migrating the data back to the device, the device rebooted again being unable to boot to the "operating mode". Now it just got stuck at the Samsung S5 splash screen or rebooted in a loop. But after a long time (it might took more than a day; the battery seems to be inserted in the device and not pulled off) the device was able to boot normally and (this might be odd) upgrade the installed apps. If I remember, this was a cyan screen with two or three animated white gears. So about 150 apps were upgraded and the normal "operating" mode activated -- so I could use the device. Now after working a few hours, the device falls into a reboot loop / splash freeze coma again for undetermined time, and then, for unknown to me reason, the device woke up.
In short:
1) The device reboots or shuts down suddenly.
2) Instant rebooting does not work for whatever reason.
3) Just wait for some undetermined time without the device battery pulled off.
4) ... It boots again.
5) The upgrading process starts after the boot.
6) Working with the device until paragraph 1: "The device reboots or shuts down suddenly".
Now I don't know if it's a hardware or a software issue: the repair service guys didn't explain much, and now I'm feeling cheated for the replacement of the display that worked perfect in the Download mode that I gave half device price just because it was an idea of theirs. Yes, I have the repair warranty paper for their service, but I just would like to know the real context.
What I could be deservedly blamed for:
* I rooted the device after their repair in a wrong way.
* When I rooted the device, I removed most Samsung bloatware I used to remove earlier. I don't tend to think that I could kill some important software, though. But, to me, it's hard to believe that a software issue might cause such an odd device behavior (I mean the booting just after a certain period of time).
So... I would really and really appreciate getting the real issue behind the symptoms or just a hint spark of light to reveal possible root causes. And was I really cheated by the repair service?
* My device: Samsung SM-G900P S5, Sprint
* Firmware before the repair: stock, Android 5.0.x (?), root, most Samsung bloatware removed
* Firmware after the repair: stock, Android 6.0.1, root, most Samsung bloatware removed (yes, the bloatware list difference is significant now)
* The battery: seems to work fine and does not get drained when the device is in coma
Thank you!
hurricane flow said:
Hi,
Not sure if it's a right place to ask, but let it be my first post here. I own an S5 device, and it's sort of crazy. Let me explain.
Three months ago my device suddenly rebooted and got almost-soft-bricked in sense of being unable to boot to the operating mode normally: its display just got black after the splash screen, however I could tap the display and watch 1 FPS "live stream" using `adb screencap` at my PC. So the device was not dead and I could take out all private not synced data I needed (it was really hard once for an application that has the backup facility disabled in its application manifest) -- blind tapping everywhere. My first attempt to fix the device was re-flashing another compatible ROM having all important data backed up. Well, I got it bricked and could not boot anymore. The recovery mode was not available (the device just frozen if trying to enter the recovery), however I could enter the download mode.
Unfortunately, no reflashing helped, so I decided to let it be fixed by a repaire service (since an official Samsung service center in my country has rejected the repair request _with payment_ because the device was not intended for sale here -- well, "thanks Samsung"). Ok, the alternative service took the device and asked almost a half of the device price for the display replace. Honestly, I forgot to ask why there was an idea to replace the display if it worked perfect while it was waiting in the Download mode. Again, it just got black after the splash screen, but the display worked fine in the Download mode until the device was powered off or reset. So after a few days they gave it back to me, and the device was really good now -- it worked fine. They also re-fllashed the device to Android 6 (previously Android 5) and the device was unrooted. Well, that's fine to me.
But after a few hours of rooting, testing and re-installing the software and migrating the data back to the device, the device rebooted again being unable to boot to the "operating mode". Now it just got stuck at the Samsung S5 splash screen or rebooted in a loop. But after a long time (it might took more than a day; the battery seems to be inserted in the device and not pulled off) the device was able to boot normally and (this might be odd) upgrade the installed apps. If I remember, this was a cyan screen with two or three animated white gears. So about 150 apps were upgraded and the normal "operating" mode activated -- so I could use the device. Now after working a few hours, the device falls into a reboot loop / splash freeze coma again for undetermined time, and then, for unknown to me reason, the device woke up.
In short:
1) The device reboots or shuts down suddenly.
2) Instant rebooting does not work for whatever reason.
3) Just wait for some undetermined time without the device battery pulled off.
4) ... It boots again.
5) The upgrading process starts after the boot.
6) Working with the device until paragraph 1: "The device reboots or shuts down suddenly".
Now I don't know if it's a hardware or a software issue: the repair service guys didn't explain much, and now I'm feeling cheated for the replacement of the display that worked perfect in the Download mode that I gave half device price just because it was an idea of theirs. Yes, I have the repair warranty paper for their service, but I just would like to know the real context.
What I could be deservedly blamed for:
* I rooted the device after their repair in a wrong way.
* When I rooted the device, I removed most Samsung bloatware I used to remove earlier. I don't tend to think that I could kill some important software, though. But, to me, it's hard to believe that a software issue might cause such an odd device behavior (I mean the booting just after a certain period of time).
So... I would really and really appreciate getting the real issue behind the symptoms or just a hint spark of light to reveal possible root causes. And was I really cheated by the repair service?
* My device: Samsung SM-G900P S5, Sprint
* Firmware before the repair: stock, Android 5.0.x (?), root, most Samsung bloatware removed
* Firmware after the repair: stock, Android 6.0.1, root, most Samsung bloatware removed (yes, the bloatware list difference is significant now)
* The battery: seems to work fine and does not get drained when the device is in coma
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
someone said after an OTA to 6.0.1 it borked the phone into a reboot loop too. I had mine rooted for maybe a week or 2 and now I have reboot Loops, not even twrp can fix this issue. I am trying a battery like this person said here http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s5/help/marshmallow-6-0-1-ota-update-boot-loop-t3425838,
spending 9 bux and change beats spending 250 for another Unlocked G900T
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s5/help/marshmallow-6-0-1-ota-update-boot-loop-t3425838
eidairaman1 said:
someone said after an OTA to 6.0.1 it borked the phone into a reboot loop too. I had mine rooted for maybe a week or 2 and now I have reboot Loops, not even twrp can fix this issue. I am trying a battery like this person said here http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s5/help/marshmallow-6-0-1-ota-update-boot-loop-t3425838,
spending 9 bux and change beats spending 250 for another Unlocked G900T
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s5/help/marshmallow-6-0-1-ota-update-boot-loop-t3425838
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hm, that's interesting, thank you. I also noticed that the loop happens after some time only, it's like the more you have your phone running in the normal mode, the more your phone can get into the loop again. However, I don't think it's a battery overheat issue or so (sorry, I may use silly terms not being an expert at all). So in short:
1) After some pretty long power-off time you power on the device. It's working really stable unless...
2) ... unless something happens (battery? some intricate software or hardware issue?) and the device gets rebooted.
3) Here comes the boot loop, and usually no reboot helps to get out of the reboot loop.
4) Just power off the device and let it just be alone for some time, and now you're back to the step 1 until the "unless..."
My coma device is powered off for long time (thus I think that the step 4 still works for me after that long time) and I'm going to give it to the repair service again, just comparing what the service guys say and what the forum folks say.
I will follow up on the battery swap when mine arrives.
hurricane flow said:
Hm, that's interesting, thank you. I also noticed that the loop happens after some time only, it's like the more you have your phone running in the normal mode, the more your phone can get into the loop again. However, I don't think it's a battery overheat issue or so (sorry, I may use silly terms not being an expert at all). So in short:
1) After some pretty long power-off time you power on the device. It's working really stable unless...
2) ... unless something happens (battery? some intricate software or hardware issue?) and the device gets rebooted.
3) Here comes the boot loop, and usually no reboot helps to get out of the reboot loop.
4) Just power off the device and let it just be alone for some time, and now you're back to the step 1 until the "unless..."
My coma device is powered off for long time (thus I think that the step 4 still works for me after that long time) and I'm going to give it to the repair service again, just comparing what the service guys say and what the forum folks say.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I received a battery yesterday, charged it up and started using it today, no reboots or bootloops so far.
The battery that came in my phone was made in china, the one I just got yesterday was made in Vietnam.
I'm wondering if Samsung really needs to stop using china to make batteries lol, Surefire flashlights state not to use batteries made in china lol.
eidairaman1 said:
I received a battery yesterday, charged it up and started using it today, no reboots or bootloops so far.
The battery that came in my phone was made in china, the one I just got yesterday was made in Vietnam.
I'm wondering if Samsung really needs to stop using china to make batteries lol, Surefire flashlights state not to use batteries made in china lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hm, that's really interesting. It's hard to believe that replacing the old battery might affect it that much and get rid of bootloops -- I mean, I just thought that it might be a software/firmware failure (let's say I removed some system apps [actually Samsung bloatware] improperly), or something very core hardware might fail, but I have never thought of a batter as the root cause. Hard to say, sorry. But I'll take your solution into account. Thank you!
hurricane flow said:
Hm, that's really interesting. It's hard to believe that replacing the old battery might affect it that much and get rid of bootloops -- I mean, I just thought that it might be a software/firmware failure (let's say I removed some system apps [actually Samsung bloatware] improperly), or something very core hardware might fail, but I have never thought of a batter as the root cause. Hard to say, sorry. But I'll take your solution into account. Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought it was a bad rom flash as well or SuperSU causing it, well I found another article stating they replaced the battery and the issue went away. I think the phone was stating a bad POST so it would restart

Note 4 wont turn on, "cannot boot normal" and "downlaoding target, dont turn off"

Note 4 wont turn on, "cannot boot normal" and "downlaoding target, dont turn off"
Its a Note 4 SM-N910F, Android 6.0.1, BB N910FXXU1DPE2, kernel 3.10.40-7733605 [email protected] #1
i feel I have tried everything... History:
Phone has been working fine for a year, upgraded to 6.0.1 no problems about 2 or 3 months ago. no new apps installed. Last week it started getting very laggy, keyboard strokes took for ever to register. I thought, ok, time to to a factory reset to blow out any old cobwebs. Did it via the menu. However the phone froze midway thought. I left it for an hour and then pulled out the battery. I popped it back in and it performed the reset without me having to press anything. Cool, thats good I thought.
Now I was going to change the battery, so I powered off as normal and put my other 2 week old original samsung battery in, and it would not power on. After a few reinsertions it powered back on. I though i have to do another reset. So I tried, and it would not reset. It just died. I cant restart the phone, it dies. If I shut it down normally. it wont turn on back on, I have to take out and reinsert the battery multiple times, holding down the powerbutton between to discharge. this can take up to 10 tries now. Sometimes it will go th the unable to bot in normal mode and "downloading , do not turn of target, but it will stay there for ever, more than an hour.
Every 15-20 tries it would turn on, let me get in via pin, only to start freezing up within a min, and then die again. Somewhere I read that a guy hada similar problem, and he used wakelock and that worked, on level 4. I managed to download that and used it, and hey presto, it works!
Now I had to power down the phone for a reason, and it took me about 30 min of battery and powerbuttonholding before it managed to boot up, and I was quick enough to start wakelock on level 4.
It wont boot in to safe mode, it wont boot in to recovery mode, it wont boot in to the factory reset mode. Its the same with either battery, and different cables.
Any ideas what i can do here, or what could be wrong? I havent gotten it wet or banged it.
I am having the same exact issue on a N910A. Phone was functioning correctly and in December it started getting really laggy. Performed various resets, purchased new battery. Still laggy. Up until two weeks ago the phone was slow but now it will not power on . The phone will not charge as well.
Mine did same, 6 months old, not rooted stock firmware. Locked up yesterday, couldn't do anything. Pulled battery and restarted. Samsung logo comes on screen goes black for android boot then it hangs with blue led flashing. Nothing I do gets it past that point. Tried safe boot but it doesn't fully launch with correct button combo and volume up. In the end I re-installed firmware using Keis. All went well, everything as per youtube tutorial. Except one thing, at end of download phone didn't re-start. Still can't get it to boot, any ideas?
Edit: Lock up didn't coincide with any new apps being loaded or updates of existing. Only change was a week ago which was an automatic update of the stock firmware (Lollipop)
armstrongracer said:
Mine did same, 6 months old, not rooted stock firmware. Locked up yesterday, couldn't do anything. Pulled battery and restarted. Samsung logo comes on screen goes black for android boot then it hangs with blue led flashing. Nothing I do gets it past that point. Tried safe boot but it doesn't fully launch with correct button combo and volume up. In the end I re-installed firmware using Keis. All went well, everything as per youtube tutorial. Except one thing, at end of download phone didn't re-start. Still can't get it to boot, any ideas?
Edit: Lock up didn't coincide with any new apps being loaded or updates of existing. Only change was a week ago which was an automatic update of the stock firmware (Lollipop)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
are you still under warranty? i sent mine to a samsung center, the guy recognized the problem as the motherboard, said I wasnt the first. That was 3 weeks ago, they are STILL waiting for the parts. They say the Samsung factory are way behind with repair parts, etc etc. I am hoping it will go under warranty. Ill update when I know!
I've been having the same problem that started yesterday morning. I've tried a few different solutions but nothings worked, I get the feeling that my phone is dead and I'm not in warranty either. I'm going to approach Samsung but my guess is they will want more than the phone is worth to repair it. I've read about so many people having the same issues, its horrendous engineering on Samsungs part considering how much their phones cost to start with
neils0911 said:
I'm going to approach Samsung but my guess is they will want more than the phone is worth to repair it. I've read about so many people having the same issues, its horrendous engineering on Samsungs part considering how much their phones cost to start with
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your guess is probably correct and I totally agree with you. I seriously think manufacturers do not want their devices to be problem free for more than two years. Probably why they have stopped making phones with batteries that simply pop out.
bonfilet said:
Your guess is probably correct and I totally agree with you. I seriously think manufacturers do not want their devices to be problem free for more than two years. Probably why they have stopped making phones with batteries that simply pop out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Definitely...surely it couldn't have been that hard to make a device with a battery that was still removable on the newer phones. It's frightening how many forum posts I've found with people having their phones just brick out of nowhere (and that's just the note 4). I've given up trying to fix mine, I've tried every method I could find and nothings worked. I can only assume that this problem is simply the motherboard of the phone not working anymore. I'm not even sure what phone to buy now but it certainly won't be a Samsung.
neils0911 said:
. I'm not even sure what phone to buy now but it certainly won't be a Samsung.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you do not care about the camera thera are a lot of rather affordable options which can be tossed in the bin when they start malfunctioning and if their warranty has run out. If you care about the camera being as good as the Note 4's than the range of phones you can buy is quite limited.
mymigi said:
I am having the same exact issue on a N910A. Phone was functioning correctly and in December it started getting really laggy. Performed various resets, purchased new battery. Still laggy. Up until two weeks ago the phone was slow but now it will not power on . The phone will not charge as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are able to boot it into Download Mode then you should Download Stock Rom file for Galaxy Note 4 from Sammobile and Flash it through Odin..
Everything will be OK... ?
Unfortunately, SAMMOBILE does not have the SM-N910A firmware.
mymigi said:
Unfortunately, SAMMOBILE does not have the SM-N910A firmware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can find here firmware for N910A , 5.1.1 and 6.0.1 : https://simunlockremote.com/firmware-support/
bonfilet said:
If you do not care about the camera thera are a lot of rather affordable options which can be tossed in the bin when they start malfunctioning and if their warranty has run out. If you care about the camera being as good as the Note 4's than the range of phones you can buy is quite limited.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the camera on the note 4 is absolutley terrible. I might even go so far as to say the pictures are unusable. the applied noise reduction renders everything splotchy, colors are off and its not sharp at all. and Im not talking dark conditions here.
Anyway, my phone was repaired under warranty and is back to working as it should. It was indeed the motherboard, so if you have the same troubles I had, those are your best bets.
I don't think replacement via warranty will be available. I will attempt to power into download mode and verify if I can get it back up and running. If not, a good ole paperweight.
mymigi said:
Unfortunately, SAMMOBILE does not have the SM-N910A firmware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can download the Firmware from here ..
https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=24459283995298017
---------- Post added at 05:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:41 AM ----------
mymigi said:
Unfortunately, SAMMOBILE does not have the SM-N910A firmware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can download the Firmware from here. .
https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=24459283995298017
Sounds like the problems I have: with my first N910F: started with lagging apps / freezing, then random reboots now and then, eventually giving error messages when booting. Finally, now it will only start after the battery has been out for at least 30 minutes, but hangs on error message. When pulling battery out and putting back in it, wont give a single sign of life. Since I was just out of warranty it has been lying around, and I bought a second hand N910F for replacement, sadly its starting to give the same errors too and is just out of warranty too (its currently still working, but with freezes / reboots / and already a event with boot error).
I read It could be memory chips or some power chip on the motherboard, appears to be a common problem. So.... Last month I bought a new motherboard on ebay (chinese delivery, 80€). Received it last week and put it back in; phone is back to life. (putting it in is a very simple task, with iFixit teardown / guide)
Anyway, I love the Note 4 for performance / size / looks, and have been Samsung fan for a while, but this recent breakdowns and information that it is fairly common, has diminished being a fan fairly quickly and I guess the Note 4 will be the last Samsung device for a while after this new motherboard breaks down as well
onno72 said:
Sounds like the problems I have: with my first N910F: started with lagging apps / freezing, then random reboots now and then, eventually giving error messages when booting. Finally, now it will only start after the battery has been out for at least 30 minutes, but hangs on error message. When pulling battery out and putting back in it, wont give a single sign of life. Since I was just out of warranty it has been lying around, and I bought a second hand N910F for replacement, sadly its starting to give the same errors too and is just out of warranty too (its currently still working, but with freezes / reboots / and already a event with boot error).
I read It could be memory chips or some power chip on the motherboard, appears to be a common problem. So.... Last month I bought a new motherboard on ebay (chinese delivery, 80€). Received it last week and put it back in; phone is back to life. (putting it in is a very simple task, with iFixit teardown / guide)
Anyway, I love the Note 4 for performance / size / looks, and have been Samsung fan for a while, but this recent breakdowns and information that it is fairly common, has diminished being a fan fairly quickly and I guess the Note 4 will be the last Samsung device for a while after this new motherboard breaks down as well
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My phone is also random Rebooting
It also shuts down at 25% of battery remaining, Have you also faced similar issue?
Download the app "Wake Lock" and run the Partial Wake Lock option. Apparently the updated software impacts the CPU. For the restarting issue, put it in the freezer for a couple minutes. You may have to take the battery out once, but it has worked for me every time.
This looks very much like the issue reported here:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/no...-error-fix-t3434335/post72944466#post72944466
There are temporary fixes (wakelock), but ultimately this is a harware issue, and the fix is a new motherboard.
I think that underlying it is a problem with heat affecting the eMMC chip or its connection to the motherboard.
See also:
https://us.community.samsung.com/t5...ePhones/thread-id/12183/highlight/true/page/1
http://www.classlawdc.com/2017/04/25/investigation-samsung-galaxy-note-4-mmc_read-failed-defect/
Hey can u pls get me the stock firmware for n910gddu1dpb4
You might find this interesting. Since I couldn't get mine to power up at all, I called Samsung tech and they quoted me $75 to fix it and they would pay for shipping. I figured it was better then getting another phone off Swappa. 2-3 weeks later i get an email that they are repairing it under warranty at no cost to me. I got a refurbished phone since i know my IEMI number was different. they didn't explain why. Anyway, I got lucky i guess.

So, My Galaxy Is Nearly Useless

I'm in college and I recently busted my little LG HD Tribute and I decided I would look at the market for a new phone.
One of the new college students fixes busted up phones and sells them so I went to see what he had.
He was selling a brand new Galaxy S7 Edge for 50$ and I thought it was a steal, so I looked at it and it was working well for about 3 days.
I had it turned off charging the other night and I went to turn it on and it began to flicker the Samsung Galaxy Edge screen it shows whenever you turn it on, and just kept flashing. and does literally nothing else. I didn't know what to do, so I tried to reboot it in recovery and all it does is flash "recovery booting" and that's it. So, I can't even get into the BIOS settings of the phone to try and reset it to factory settings or anything like that.
The only thing I can get to pop up is the Custom OS Downloading screen and the "An error has occurred while updating the device software. Use the Emergency recovery function in the Smart Switch PC Software." screen. So, I downloaded the Smart Switch PC program and ran it, plugged it in and it doesn't recognize the S7 Edge as a supported device. I tried changing USB ports and all, but it just doesn't recognize it. I tried the Emergency feature and that doesn't help either. Even with the SN and the Model ID it still can't fix it.
So I'm guessing it updated while I was sleeping? And something went wrong? I don't know, I didn't physically buy the phone from the carrier myself so I don't think I can just walk into T-Mobile and ask them to help. I'm not sure what to do. Any advice would be wonderful.
Have you tried reflashing everything with odin?
jsbarrett said:
I'm in college and I recently busted my little LG HD Tribute and I decided I would look at the market for a new phone.
One of the new college students fixes busted up phones and sells them so I went to see what he had.
He was selling a brand new Galaxy S7 Edge for 50$ and I thought it was a steal, so I looked at it and it was working well for about 3 days.
I had it turned off charging the other night and I went to turn it on and it began to flicker the Samsung Galaxy Edge screen it shows whenever you turn it on, and just kept flashing. and does literally nothing else. I didn't know what to do, so I tried to reboot it in recovery and all it does is flash "recovery booting" and that's it. So, I can't even get into the BIOS settings of the phone to try and reset it to factory settings or anything like that.
The only thing I can get to pop up is the Custom OS Downloading screen and the "An error has occurred while updating the device software. Use the Emergency recovery function in the Smart Switch PC Software." screen. So, I downloaded the Smart Switch PC program and ran it, plugged it in and it doesn't recognize the S7 Edge as a supported device. I tried changing USB ports and all, but it just doesn't recognize it. I tried the Emergency feature and that doesn't help either. Even with the SN and the Model ID it still can't fix it.
So I'm guessing it updated while I was sleeping? And something went wrong? I don't know, I didn't physically buy the phone from the carrier myself so I don't think I can just walk into T-Mobile and ask them to help. I'm not sure what to do. Any advice would be wonderful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"selling a brand new Galaxy S7 Edge for 50$" a phone that cost around 700$?
The fact that it was sold "brad new" for 50$, didn't trigger some warning light in your brain?
Your s7e is no more than a cheap replica of the original, so "good luck" with the fix!!!
jsbarrett said:
I'm in college and I recently busted my little LG HD Tribute and I decided I would look at the market for a new phone.
One of the new college students fixes busted up phones and sells them so I went to see what he had.
He was selling a brand new Galaxy S7 Edge for 50$ and I thought it was a steal, so I looked at it and it was working well for about 3 days.
I had it turned off charging the other night and I went to turn it on and it began to flicker the Samsung Galaxy Edge screen it shows whenever you turn it on, and just kept flashing. and does literally nothing else. I didn't know what to do, so I tried to reboot it in recovery and all it does is flash "recovery booting" and that's it. So, I can't even get into the BIOS settings of the phone to try and reset it to factory settings or anything like that.
The only thing I can get to pop up is the Custom OS Downloading screen and the "An error has occurred while updating the device software. Use the Emergency recovery function in the Smart Switch PC Software." screen. So, I downloaded the Smart Switch PC program and ran it, plugged it in and it doesn't recognize the S7 Edge as a supported device. I tried changing USB ports and all, but it just doesn't recognize it. I tried the Emergency feature and that doesn't help either. Even with the SN and the Model ID it still can't fix it.
So I'm guessing it updated while I was sleeping? And something went wrong? I don't know, I didn't physically buy the phone from the carrier myself so I don't think I can just walk into T-Mobile and ask them to help. I'm not sure what to do. Any advice would be wonderful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think it was brand new. Because it only started acting weird just after three days. The screen would never flicker only because of an update, so it is definitely a defective phone or a fake one because no body in this world would sell such an expensive device for such a low price, considering that it costs more than 700$ brand new.
It may have been a brand phone, but since the guy according to you sells refurbished phones.
In your mind you should of known, he may have worked on it because it was defective for some reason.
To get it for a cheap price.
Not even defective refirbs would sell for that cheap.. most likely a fake goophone s7 there less than $100 New and they don't last long at all
Post some pics of it :good:
imgur com/a/zd8J8
^ That is the album everyone has requested.
It's spaced out because of spam filter xda-developers website has, so just add period.
I went back to the guy today and he admitted that he had actually stolen the phone from his step dad which makes a ton of sense.
This man had stolen the phone and apparently couldn't get into his step dad's Google account so he flashed it with Odin himself and that's how he got it working. He said he couldn't keep the phone due to his step dad would eventually found out he had it but honestly, I don't want the phone knowing this now. It's hot, and it's almost a brick. I seriously feel like a criminal having it, but I spent my work-study money on it and if I'm going to have it in my possession, I want it to at least work.
I left prior to him telling me that he had stolen the phone because I was disgusted and frankly I don't want to associate with this guy knowing this, even if he was honest...
I took it upon myself to try and fix it. I have tried flashing it with Odin myself like one of the users have suggested using the SM-G935T that is on the back of the phone as a reference for downloading the necessary files for the phone's model.
Every time I run Odin while it's plugged in saying it's "Downloading Custom OS" I get the error message: FAIL! (Auth) in Odin.
I don't know what to do.
Any advice would be lovely.
Thanks in advance.
The information you might want:
SM-G935T UD FCC ID:A3LSMG935US
Designed & Engineered by Samsung Manufactured in Vietnam
IMEI: 356164075069116
Sorry for the poor quality of the pictures BTW, was taken with the aforementioned HD Tributed.
can you go in to download mode? you need it in download mode for it to flash with odin.
power+vol down+home button
edan1979 said:
can you go in to download mode? you need it in download mode for it to flash with odin.
power+vol down+home button
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did, it was installing it for like 5 secs then after a few logs it says FAIL! (Auth) and that's it lol.
I put it in custom os download mode and all, tried Odin. idk

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