Database Users

Pc Odin Stuck on Factoryfs.img! Please Help!

Guys,
I need your urgent assistance .. I think I have bricked my phone and need assistance.. Basically I was running the Official ICS ROM which I got from XDA website it was the LQ2 kernel for the Galaxy Note.
Last night I custom flashed the Criskelo ICS v7 ROM but wasn't too happy and wanted to go back to stock ICS .. So I went into PC Odin and flashed the stock ICS Firmware.. upon booting I went into CWM (Volume up + home+power) did a factoy reset and cache, dalvik cache wipe.. Then reboot system.. The phone was stuck on the Samsung Galaxy Note screen .. So I tried to Flash the Stock ICS LQ2 rom again via PC Odin and now it just hangs almost at 90% at factoryfs.img?
Am I completely messed up or is there a way to resolve this please can you guys assist me in what I must do.. I don't know if this is a soft or super brick..
Many Thanks..
PS: I even did the PIT file thing and still no joy

you custom flashed??
what do u mean u custom flashed??

Get a rom with bootloader in it. Don t use repartition. Make sure you flash the bootloader.

Sounds like you wiped from a stock Samsung kernel, which is a big no no. The only way to fix this is to repartition your phone with a .pit file that has been designed not to use the the corrupted sectors of your internal storage. If you search hard enough, you'll find a thread about it. I successfully recovered a phone I bricked way back with the first LP1 ICS kernel. It does work! You'll lose some space though.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1667886
And there's the thread I was talking about.

tibosee said:
Get a rom with bootloader in it. Don t use repartition. Make sure you flash the bootloader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you send me a link with a rom which has this please?

Here i had the same problem when I tried to flash my first rom. Just tried to flash on another computer and guess what... Successfully done!
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

smalmagal said:
Sounds like you wiped from a stock Samsung kernel, which is a big no no. The only way to fix this is to repartition your phone with a .pit file that has been designed not to use the the corrupted sectors of your internal storage. If you search hard enough, you'll find a thread about it. I successfully recovered a phone I bricked way back with the first LP1 ICS kernel. It does work! You'll lose some space though.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1667886
And there's the thread I was talking about.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I factory reset a STOCK ICS ROM .. please can you assist in what I need to do.. Which PIT file and which ROM Shall I try to flash with.. please assist.. Many thanks..

Thanks for your help guys .. followed the german dudes tutorial and downloaded the .PIT file and managed to re flash stock ICS .. Now the only issue is my internal memory is showing 8.24 GB.. what happened to the other approx 8GB? I thought the Note was 16GB? Before windows used to show it as 11GB but now showing 8.24 GB is there a fix for this or is the bad or do I have to live with it.. ?

read the whole tut again it tells you why since you have to move partition tables.

Yes...it's a rather small deal anyway...there are 64gb SD card after all.

mkohman said:
Thanks for your help guys .. followed the german dudes tutorial and downloaded the .PIT file and managed to re flash stock ICS .. Now the only issue is my internal memory is showing 8.24 GB.. what happened to the other approx 8GB? I thought the Note was 16GB? Before windows used to show it as 11GB but now showing 8.24 GB is there a fix for this or is the bad or do I have to live with it.. ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My advice is "live with it". Coz what the "German dudes" pit files do is avoid the "locked" sectors in your internal card. While you can try different pit files or try create new partitions via adb -- you probably wont gain much.
Or you could send it to Sammy for a warranty claim, after resetting the flash counter and then bricking it again via odin using the original pit file. Basically what you need to do is erase all evidence that u tampered with it. This is a risky option... (You can tell them phone got messed up in kies upgrade). This happened to me (on an almost new note, so i kinda did the same, except that i went a step further and deleted the boot-loader as well = hard brick. However i dont recommend it). And they replaced the phone.
I emphasize again this is risky -- and do more research before if you do this.
Problem as of now is since you've modified the pit -- and also the phone is working, you cant claim now.

nipuna said:
My advice is "live with it". Coz what the "German dudes" pit files do is avoid the "locked" sectors in your internal card. While you can try different pit files or try create new partitions via adb -- you probably wont gain much.
Or you could send it to Sammy for a warranty claim, after resetting the flash counter and then bricking it again via odin using the original pit file. Basically what you need to do is erase all evidence that u tampered with it. This is a risky option... (You can tell them phone got messed up in kies upgrade). This happened to me (on an almost new note, so i kinda did the same, except that i went a step further and deleted the boot-loader as well = hard brick. However i dont recommend it). And they replaced the phone.
I emphasize again this is risky -- and do more research before if you do this.
Problem as of now is since you've modified the pit -- and also the phone is working, you cant claim now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your assitance bro.. I will live with it. .I don't mind loosing 3 gb .. Already got 32GB SD card so no issue. Just happy its all back up and running really.. Big thanks to the German brother you the man

Its Forest1971 who first wrote this workaround and it was hg42 who rewrote the pit file and it was Dr null who proposed this way, Its all XDA members who helped you out of this brick. Not some German sites. Google throws up German results first
I am not harsh by anyway saying this. Just want to write it as it happened.
Was witnessing all the issues.
I am writing a guide for Noobies for bricks. Guess I get some help ....

prabhu1980 said:
Its Forest1971 who first wrote this workaround and it was hg42 who rewrote the pit file and it was Dr null who proposed this way, Its all XDA members who helped you out of this brick. Not some German sites. Google throws up German results first
I am not harsh by anyway saying this. Just want to write it as it happened.
Was witnessing all the issues.
I am writing a guide for Noobies for bricks. Guess I get some help ....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually followed his guide and repartioned manually and only lost about one Gbyte vs using the pit file and losing over 3 G bytes. Took a lot of trial and error though
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

RE:
mkohman said:
Guys,
I need your urgent assistance .. I think I have bricked my phone and need assistance.. Basically I was running the Official ICS ROM which I got from XDA website it was the LQ2 kernel for the Galaxy Note.
Last night I custom flashed the Criskelo ICS v7 ROM but wasn't too happy and wanted to go back to stock ICS .. So I went into PC Odin and flashed the stock ICS Firmware.. upon booting I went into CWM (Volume up + home+power) did a factoy reset and cache, dalvik cache wipe.. Then reboot system.. The phone was stuck on the Samsung Galaxy Note screen .. So I tried to Flash the Stock ICS LQ2 rom again via PC Odin and now it just hangs almost at 90% at factoryfs.img?
Am I completely messed up or is there a way to resolve this please can you guys assist me in what I must do.. I don't know if this is a soft or super brick..
Many Thanks..
PS: I even did the PIT file thing and still no joy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi! i was in the same state as you! now, listen very carefully. Now, all you have to do is to use another PC and run ordin. Everything should work fine! My note was soft-bricked yesterday night and i had tried endless counts of tries just to get it up and running. Just earlier today,I saw someone who posted a comment in a similar forum and suggested that you should try a different PC it worked. AND IT worked for me now, just use this pit file that i had upload and download any (G-N7000)stock firmware that has (code.md5, modem.md5 and csc.md5). just place the pit file in ordin. ( do note you will lose 3gb of your internal memory) and click start hopefully it worked for you
-yours truly-
zairui from Singapore

can you contact entropy before sending your unit to samsung??
entropy is looking, if im not mistaken, for a purely stock bricked note... kindly pm him

zairui said:
hi! i was in the same state as you! now, listen very carefully. Now, all you have to do is to use another PC and run ordin. Everything should work fine! My note was soft-bricked yesterday night and i had tried endless counts of tries just to get it up and running. Just earlier today,I saw someone who posted a comment in a similar forum and suggested that you should try a different PC it worked. AND IT worked for me now, just use this pit file that i had upload and download any (G-N7000)stock firmware that has (code.md5, modem.md5 and csc.md5). just place the pit file in ordin. ( do note you will lose 3gb of your internal memory) and click start hopefully it worked for you
-yours truly-
zairui from Singapore
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not necessary to use the 3gb regain patch.
There's a 1gb or 2gb regain patch also. And it's enough.
WJ
Sent from xda-developers Galaxy N7000 ICS 4.0.4 LRK / CriskeloROM v.11.1 / Speedmod K3-12
---------- Post added at 11:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:26 PM ----------
mkohman said:
Guys,
I need your urgent assistance .. I think I have bricked my phone and need assistance.. Basically I was running the Official ICS ROM which I got from XDA website it was the LQ2 kernel for the Galaxy Note.
Last night I custom flashed the Criskelo ICS v7 ROM but wasn't too happy and wanted to go back to stock ICS .. So I went into PC Odin and flashed the stock ICS Firmware.. upon booting I went into CWM (Volume up + home+power) did a factoy reset and cache, dalvik cache wipe.. Then reboot system.. The phone was stuck on the Samsung Galaxy Note screen .. So I tried to Flash the Stock ICS LQ2 rom again via PC Odin and now it just hangs almost at 90% at factoryfs.img?
Am I completely messed up or is there a way to resolve this please can you guys assist me in what I must do.. I don't know if this is a soft or super brick..
Many Thanks..
PS: I even did the PIT file thing and still no joy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Though so many ppl told u alrd, i just want to say, in any case, when u r in ICS alrd, it is totally prohibited to do factory reset through CWM with samsung ICS original kernel.
When u need to wipe or factory reset, make sure u r on a safe kernel like speedmod or notecore.
If u want to recover ur note, just use the pit file method. It works.
Make sure u use the correct patch of 16gb or 32gb, depends on ur note.
Always try from the smallest patch, so u won't loose so many storage.
Anyway, latest CriskeloROm with speedmod is the best for battery life nd performance.
WJ
Sent from xda-developers Galaxy N7000 ICS 4.0.4 LRK / CriskeloROM v.11.1 / Speedmod K3-12

I'm having the same issue now.
I did wipe data / factory reset with stock ICS kernel and I think, I bricked the Note.
I didn't know there were such issue.
I couldn't find a ROM with 3 files (code.md5, modem.md5 and csc.md5).
Please kindly guide me where to find such ROM.

i bricked mine last week and used the patched pit files to restore i went through a few pit files b4 i found one that worked i now have about 9 gb nand left but my phone works and has jb on it now

anubis1126 said:
i bricked mine last week and used the patched pit files to restore i went through a few pit files b4 i found one that worked i now have about 9 gb nand left but my phone works and has jb on it now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So we dont need 3 files ROM?

[GUIDE] Upgrading and modding NTT DoCoMo SC-01C (Japanese P1000)

Kind of a niche guide, but at least non-Japanese people owning an SC-01C have some sort of guidelines.
Before we begin
The SC-01C is the rebranded Japanese version of the P1000, locked exclusively to NTT DoCoMo. If you have this model and want to upgrade and/or flash custom ROMs with it, this guide may be able to help you.
Before beginning, you have to check your firmware version. What you'll have to download will depend on it. If you have Android 2.2 Froyo, read on, otherwise, if you're already running Android 2.3 Gingerbread skip to the Gingerbread Users section.
Also, based on experience, if you want to upgrade to other ROMs in the future you will have to keep your stock GB ROM file, your gt-p1000_mr.pit, the dbdata.tar and the entire Overcome kit (kernel and ROM). You will need all of them in the future because I've found that to install a new ROM you have to repeat the entire process of restocking to GB, then installing Overcome Kernel and ROM, then installing whatever ROM you want. It sucks, but it's the only way I've seen so far.
Froyo Users
If you're planning to install a custom ROM, you can't do it on Froyo straight away, at least not on a stock ROM with a protected bootloader. If you don't know if your bootloader is protected or not, the safest thing to do is to first upgrade your firmware to the stock Japanese Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Then you can follow the Gingerbread guide afterwards.
Froyo Users Will Need
Stock Japanese GB ROM (you can get it from here or from SamFirmware.com). The ROM is a .tar archive file, so you will also need 7-Zip or another file extracting utility to extract files from the tar file.
Odin 1.7 (higher versions will likely not hurt either)
Heimdall (in case Odin doesn't work or you aren't running Windows)
Upgrading to Gingerbread
Make sure your PC has the drivers for your Tab. If you've already connected your PC to the Tab before, you already have them. Otherwise, plug your Tab into your PC and let the drivers install automatically. This works even if you're in Download Mode. If they don't install automatically, you might need to download Samsung Kies or just the Samsung USB Driver for Mobile Phones to get the driver to install.
[FOR HEIMDALL USERS]
You will need to plug in your Tab and run zadig.exe for your drivers, which is found either in the same folder as your Heimdall.exe or in the Drivers folder in that same folder, depending on which version you have. From there, select Options -> List All Devices, then select Gadget Serial or Android USB Composite Interface, then click Install Driver.
After getting the drivers, unplug your Tab (you can keep the PC end plugged in). Turn off your Tab and plug your USB Interface cord into your PC (not the Tab just yet), then put your Tab into Download Mode. You can do this by either holding down the Power and Volume Down keys while the Tab is off, or simply holding down the Volume Down key while plugging in the cord to your Tab. If done correctly, you should see a screen with a yellow Android with a shovel, together with the words "DOWNLOAD MODE, DO NOT TURN OFF TARGET!"
If you're running Windows and using Odin, extract the gt-p1000_mr.pit from the .tar archive into the same folder as the archive. Otherwise, if you're running Heimdall, extract the entire archive into the same folder as your Heimdall.exe.
Plug your Tab back in if you haven't already. The next step will vary for Odin and Heimdall users.
[FOR ODIN USERS]
Open Odin and check if there is a yellow box amongst all the white ones which says [COM4] or something like that, it doesn't matter as long as the box is yellow.
Click PIT and select the gt-p1000_mr.pit you extracted from the stock Japanese GB .tar file, then click Start. This will re-partition the device, and it is absolutely critical that this is done first, as missing this step can cause a brick.
After the PIT flashing is successful, click Reset, then click PDA and select the stock Japanese GB .tar file, and click Start. You will have to wait for a few minutes while the ROM flashes. Progress bars will appear both on the Tab screen and Odin.
NOTE: If after flashing you boot into Recovery Mode and you get the following error:
Code:
E: part(1) DATA Checksum Error
E: part(1) Checksum Error
Internal MMC checksum verify failed.
Then you will have to download and flash dbdata.tar as PDA (Google "P1000 dbdata.tar"; it's about 1.25MB or so). That should solve it.
[FOR HEIMDALL USERS]
Since you already extracted the contents of the stock Japanese GB .tar file into the same folder as your Heimdall.exe, all you have to do is run the following command from a Terminal window (or Command Prompt if you're running Windows):
Code:
heimdall flash --repartition --primary-boot boot.bin --cache cache.rfs --dbdata dbdata.rfs --factoryfs factoryfs.rfs --pit gt-p1000_mr.pit --modem modem.bin --param param.lfs --secondary-boot Sbl.bin --kernel zImage --verbose
Wait a few minutes while Heimdall flashes the ROM. It should inform you when the flashing is successful.
After the flashing is successful, you should now be running stock Android 2.3 Gingerbread. You can stop here or continue on to the Gingerbread Users section for flashing a custom ROM.
Gingerbread Users
Since you're already on Gingerbread, which is the latest stock Android version you have, you're probably reading this guide to find out how to install custom ROMs. Personally I've found, after bricking my Tab a couple of times, that trying to flash custom ROMs from the stock Japanese GB ROM doesn't work unless you flash the Overcome kernel and ROM first.
Hence, the first step to getting a custom ROM running on an SC-01C is to flash the Overcome kernel. For instructions on how to do this, go to the guide thread at the end of the paragraph. You can skip the restocking part, as you're already running stock GB. Instead, follow the instructions from Step 7 of the guide, found on Page 10. After following the instructions there and flashing the Overcome kernel and ROM, you should now be able to flash any other custom ROM you want, following the instructions for the regular P1000.
Getting the Overcome kernel and ROM: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1881981
Questions, Answers and Possible Issues
My SC-01C is stuck at boot logo after trying (and failing) to flash custom ROM.
Solving this issue depends on your firmware version and whether or not you can still get into Download Mode. If you can, just follow the instructions in this guide exactly and the problem should be solved.
My SC-01C is stuck at phone-exclamation mark!-computer screen.
This is also likely because of a failed ROM flashing or firmware upgrade. In that case, you can use Heimdall OneClickUnbrick to fix it. A guide to do so can be found here.
My SC-01C isn't detected by Odin, and/or Heimdall produces a "Claiming interface failed" error.
Your drivers aren't being detected and either need to be installed or reinstalled. To force a driver reinstall on Windows, plug in your Tab, go to the System Tray, right-click Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media, then select Open Devices and Printers. Find your Tab's device name from there, then right-click it and select Remove Device, then unplug your Tab and plug it in again. The drivers should reinstall automatically. If they still don't reinstall, download Samsung Kies or the Samsung USB Driver for Mobile Phones and try again.
For other possible questions or concerns, please reply to this thread.

After successful repair, No Network/ No service
I followed the first method and recovered a bricked P1000 docomo
But No network/service
Any ideas ?

dannyogolo said:
I followed the first method and recovered a bricked P1000 docomo
But No network/service
Any ideas ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You'll need to modify it further to get it to work with other providers. I'm personally not sure if it's a hardware or a software hack, because I paid someone to unlock my Tab back when I didn't know jack **** about modding. If it was already unlocked prior to being bricked, try to flash a new ROM over it. Either way, please hit back if you find the answer so I can add it to the FAQ section.

Hi! I just got the SC-01C & it was already loaded with a custom ICS firmware. Would it be ok to flash another custom firmware DIRECTLY? or Do I still need to flash the GB first?

only root
how to root without change stock rom?
It is possible ?
Thank you

zmeus said:
how to root without change stock rom?
It is possible ?
Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it's possible, just Google "how to root galaxy tab". There's a few methods, so just pick one.
Sent from my GT-P1000 using xda app-developers app

Thank you
This it will help me for sure.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 4

"Hi im a noob and i hate myself"
finally found a thread that that covers japanese p1000.
I have a one it was given to me and still on android froyo 2.2 it is been unlocked by software and i don't know if its been rooted or not.
for the past days i've been looking over the net for this particular device to be upgrade to the latest jellybean rom.this will be very helpful for me since i dont know anything about flashing. been reading threads over and over bec i dont want to brick this device for i use it as a secondary phone
Will flashing to the original docomo GB 2.3... stock firmware make the tab in an locked state again? and is the new rom like the cyanogenmod 10.1 or 10.2 have a built in unlock?

joevinz said:
"Hi im a noob and i hate myself"
finally found a thread that that covers japanese p1000.
I have a one it was given to me and still on android froyo 2.2 it is been unlocked by software and i don't know if its been rooted or not.
for the past days i've been looking over the net for this particular device to be upgrade to the latest jellybean rom.this will be very helpful for me since i dont know anything about flashing. been reading threads over and over bec i dont want to brick this device for i use it as a secondary phone
Will flashing to the original docomo GB 2.3... stock firmware make the tab in an locked state again? and is the new rom like the cyanogenmod 10.1 or 10.2 have a built in unlock?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, 2,3 has an unlocked bootloader. Just follow the guide carefully step by step and you should be fine.

geno93n0 said:
No, 2,3 has an unlocked bootloader. Just follow the guide carefully step by step and you should be fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok that's good to know, i'll prep up first before having a go. just be patient with me pls. bec from time to time i'll be asking you alot if i mess up. . thank in advance. thank button has been used.:good:

joevinz said:
ok that's good to know, i'll prep up first before having a go. just be patient with me pls. bec from time to time i'll be asking you alot if i mess up. . thank in advance. thank button has been used.:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem, ask away. I made a lot of mistakes by experimenting on my own, so I made this guide to make the process easier for people with our model.

Hi i have a problem with SC-01C Gingerbread OMKE2, ive been stuck in boot.bin and it fails to flash the overcome using ODIN, what should i do? pls help

Help I think I am bricked
I have a sc-01c bought in japan...I tried flashing and now all i get is the docomo screen...I think i may have deleted everything on the tab...I can get into dl mode but whether flashing with odin or heimdall i get errors...Is there a way to wipe totally and reinstall from scratch....

WILLIEFRANCE said:
I have a sc-01c bought in japan...I tried flashing and now all i get is the docomo screen...I think i may have deleted everything on the tab...I can get into dl mode but whether flashing with odin or heimdall i get errors...Is there a way to wipe totally and reinstall from scratch....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What are you Trying to do? and what errors?

SC-01C
rence.slvdr said:
What are you Trying to do? and what errors?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am trying to install the stock rom using odin. I flash the pit then reboot go back to dl mode and flash the tar(stock) i think i hosed the device...Odin says it passed and it reset...but all i get is docommo screen then after the samsung galaxy screen and it keeps blinking ever few minutes like it cant reboot...I ALSO tried flashing the newer Stock 2.3? and the same issue...
I think I may have mucked up the software but can get into DL mode...any ideas?
I followed the directions but still no joy....Perhaps I am dense...
But basically
Flash pit
reboot
Flash stock
Blinking samsung
Odin says reset and no errors...

WILLIEFRANCE said:
I am trying to install the stock rom using odin. I flash the pit then reboot go back to dl mode and flash the tar(stock) i think i hosed the device...Odin says it passed and it reset...but all i get is docommo screen then after the samsung galaxy screen and it keeps blinking ever few minutes like it cant reboot...I ALSO tried flashing the newer Stock 2.3? and the same issue...
I think I may have mucked up the software but can get into DL mode...any ideas?
I followed the directions but still no joy....Perhaps I am dense...
But basically
Flash pit
reboot
Flash stock
Blinking samsung
Odin says reset and no errors...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This happened to me as well, it's why I wrote this guide. Try the Overcome method that I posted in the guide, or search for it in this forum. Also, are you using the stock Japanese GB ROM or just a normal stock ROM? You need to use the stock Japanese Gingerbread ROM. I provided links in the guide.

rence.slvdr said:
Hi i have a problem with SC-01C Gingerbread OMKE2, ive been stuck in boot.bin and it fails to flash the overcome using ODIN, what should i do? pls help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't flash them all at once. Look at the Overcome guide carefully.

pls help
hi.. im new here and i have a problem with modding my sc01c tab. im already running on official gingerbread SC01COMKE2 firmware and im also rooted. i followed all the steps but always ended up with a soft brick. heres what i did.. i downloaded overcome files from http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1881981 and followed step by step guide. i flashed Overcome_Kernel_v4.0.0.tar and boot into recovery mode.. then flashed Overcome_7_Series_v4.1.0_Wipe.. but it says cannot open BAD FILE. i redownload even the no wipe version but same happens. i tried to restock using GB-Stock-Safe-v5 but it failed in odin.. whats weird is that when i flashed my tab with official firmware it succeeded without a problem.. can you guys help me here? what did i miss or do wrong? pls dont hate me much im just a noob.

geno93n0 said:
No problem, ask away. I made a lot of mistakes by experimenting on my own, so I made this guide to make the process easier for people with our model.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ah finally had the time to modd my docomo tab, heres what happened, fashing the pit file went ok, but flashing the rom went haywire ended up brick. i did everything to the letter but to no success. i manage to unbrick the tab and redo the whole thing but i always end up bricking it. rom fails to flash. any ideas? should i be rooted in froyo before doing this?

ah finally after countless trial and error finally updated my tab to gingerbread, now next step is to root and install clockwork recovery mod. i will not rst until my tab gets the lates jellybean rom hahahah,

[Q] I believe I have also soft bricked my Rogers (Canadian) S4 i337m

Hi all,
I think I have soft bricked my S4 i337m rogers Canadian variant.
I had rooted / unlocked the bootloader with motochopper successfully.
- I am using CWM
First thing I tried to do was backup the phone onto the external SD which would not work so I just went onto the next step.
I tried flashing a ROM onto the phone after doing phone restore and clearing cache. All installed correctly (apparently) and now when I boot up the phone the Samsung logo will appear for about 5 seconds then the phone will go black and try to boot up again.
The good:
- i have access the recovery mode still
The bad:
- no recovery made for the phone
- seems to be boot looping
As a side not I have tried installing a couple other ROMs which all result in the same issue.
Is there anything that can possibly be done?
I would happily put the stock ROM back on the phone.
All help would be greatly appreciated!
Rob.

9 times out of 10 a factory reset will get you out of a boot loop. Do that in recovery and reboot.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda app-developers app

Hi thanks for the reply. I have tried the factory reset and still does not fix the issue

Robby29 said:
Hi thanks for the reply. I have tried the factory reset and still does not fix the issue
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are flashing a custom ROM that is not specifically for your phone, say a i9505 rom, you need to flash a Canadian kernel right after or you will bootloop. You also cannot flash any loki based roms either. As for the CWM backups, are you trying to back up to your external SD? If so, ensure the card is formatted fat32. To help get through your softbrick, just get into download mode and flash with odin

kiru said:
If you are flashing a custom ROM that is not specifically for your phone, say a i9505 rom, you need to flash a Canadian kernel right after or you will bootloop. You also cannot flash any loki based roms either. As for the CWM backups, are you trying to back up to your external SD? If so, ensure the card is formatted fat32. To help get through your softbrick, just get into download mode and flash with odin
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay great I will try these. Does the kernel have to be specific to the ROM?

Robby29 said:
Okay great I will try these. Does the kernel have to be specific to the ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The kernel is specific to your device. so you would use the i337M kernel.
So the procedure would be flash the rom of your choice, then before you boot flash YOUR i337M kernel, it will boot.
Good luck.

And make sure you do not flash a rom for the i9500 as you will hard brick

Also,
Make sure you choose the right i337m kernel. ie. a TouchWiz kernel for TW Roms and an AOSP kernel for CM10.1/AOSP Roms.
You should be able to:
remove your sdcard,
format it to fat32,
download the correct rom and kernel for you i337m to your freshly formatted sdcard,
put the card back into your phone,
boot into recovery,
install ROM zip from ext-sdcard,
install Kernel zip from ext-sdcard,
reboot.
phew....sounds like a lot of steps but not really I guess.

we good up in here....

Soft Brick S4
TheAxman said:
we good up in here....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello,
Greetings to you, I am sorry you have come to this point. I myself have bricked my phone just yesterday from flashing a bad ROM and not backing up my ROM properly. But I hope I can help you with some tips that i did to recover my phone fully. I apply some links to help you out but I recommend some patience lots of HW. ( Kies didn't work for me bugger =p.)
Unbrick S4 [Guide] -- http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2265477&page=40
there is a user by the name of samersh72. you can request for a link to download your correct firmware it's best to get back to stock, ( don't forget to thank the user . )
this is someones video on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3a3qghhpDxg ( this helped me out as well)
I have these files/programs readied when I reverted back to stock
odin 1.3 ( i have odin 3.0 and didn't work for me reverting stock as it couldnt detect my tar.md5 file, but for some reason it worked for odin 1.3)
have your correct firmware ( I downloaded mine from http://www.sammobile.com, but for some reason I can't find yours, there is one on this site for sure just have the patience to look) make sure its for your correct carrier too.
im pretty sure you know how to do the DL mode, but just incase ill assume that you may or may not know, ill type this in anyway:
Get your S4 Download mode, [pressing up+power+home], (sometimes if i feel its not kicking in, just quick release then do it again)
open your odin 1.3, plug your phone in, tick auto-reboot, and F. reset time. PDA ticked, then find your correct firmware. hit start, then i hope from this something good will come out.
Best of wishes in your journey here in xda.
Cheers!

car154 said:
Hello,
Greetings to you, I am sorry you have come to this point. I myself have bricked my phone just yesterday from flashing a bad ROM and not backing up my ROM properly. But I hope I can help you with some tips that i did to recover my phone fully. I apply some links to help you out but I recommend some patience lots of HW. ( Kies didn't work for me bugger =p.)
Unbrick S4 [Guide] -- http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2265477&page=40
there is a user by the name of samersh72. you can request for a link to download your correct firmware it's best to get back to stock, ( don't forget to thank the user . )
this is someones video on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3a3qghhpDxg ( this helped me out as well)
I have these files/programs readied when I reverted back to stock
odin 1.3 ( i have odin 3.0 and didn't work for me reverting stock as it couldnt detect my tar.md5 file, but for some reason it worked for odin 1.3)
have your correct firmware ( I downloaded mine from http://www.sammobile.com, but for some reason I can't find yours, there is one on this site for sure just have the patience to look) make sure its for your correct carrier too.
im pretty sure you know how to do the DL mode, but just incase ill assume that you may or may not know, ill type this in anyway:
Get your S4 Download mode, [pressing up+power+home], (sometimes if i feel its not kicking in, just quick release then do it again)
open your odin 1.3, plug your phone in, tick auto-reboot, and F. reset time. PDA ticked, then find your correct firmware. hit start, then i hope from this something good will come out.
Best of wishes in your journey here in xda.
Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for posting this. I hope many people read it. Anyone who flashes needs to know how to return to stock before they start flashing roms. You will need it someday!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda app-developers app

Problem after firmware flash

Hey there people from XDA Forums,
I kind of figure I messed my S4 (I9505) up. I tried to flash a DBT-firmware (branding free for Germany) on a phone I got from Switzerland including a netlock. After Odin started I got a write error and now the phone tells me there was an issue please ask Kies about recovery mode. But Kies doesn't recognice my Phone at all. Is there any chance i can get a new working firmware onto it?
greetings

SirHanni said:
Hey there people from XDA Forums,
I kind of figure I messed my S4 (I9505) up. I tried to flash a DBT-firmware (branding free for Germany) on a phone I got from Switzerland including a netlock. After Odin started I got a write error and now the phone tells me there was an issue please ask Kies about recovery mode. But Kies doesn't recognice my Phone at all. Is there any chance i can get a new working firmware onto it?
greetings
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi mate
This is an extract from this thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2265477
Odin troubleshooting: If Odin accidentally gives you "fail" try the following:
- Repeat procedure.
- Make sure that all actions of Kies are disabled from task manager.
- Change usb port.
- Try another usb cable (make sure it is the original).
- Try another Odin version.
- Uninstall and re-install driver.
- Use pit file.
- Try another computer.
Flashing firmware from other country should not be a problem , download file again

Where do I find a correct pit file? When flashing PIT is it always nessecary to check repartition in odin?

SirHanni said:
Where do I find a correct pit file? When flashing PIT is it always nessecary to check repartition in odin?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi
In your case it would be :
File Type: zip I9505_pit file.zip - [Click for QR Code] (1.2 KB, 43344 views)
Is on the thread i posted before , you only check repartition when you use a PIT file , any other case you do not

finally I managed to flash a new recovery and where able to restart the phone. As it seems the problem was my Computer. through the old notebook from my wife it went quite flawless. Now i am back to my original problems. I am on a branded rom with a sim lock and dont like both of it
will it work to just flash the complete firmware from my region? will it overwrite the netlock or where is it located?
Thanks for your help so far

SirHanni said:
finally I managed to flash a new recovery and where able to restart the phone. As it seems the problem was my Computer. through the old notebook from my wife it went quite flawless. Now i am back to my original problems. I am on a branded rom with a sim lock and dont like both of it
will it work to just flash the complete firmware from my region? will it overwrite the netlock or where is it located?
Thanks for your help so far
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
Glad you manage it to work.
Flashing a new firmware will not network unlock you phone , use to be possible to do it using this guide:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2282683
not anymore as far as i know , you will need an unlock code.

yeah, tried this one allready, but after key input I dont get a new menu. I guess this method is not working for newer austrian firmwares

SirHanni said:
yeah, tried this one allready, but after key input I dont get a new menu. I guess this method is not working for newer austrian firmwares
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, i think the only way is with a unlock key..........

got myself a key and everything works fine now! thanks a lot for the help and inspiration.

SirHanni said:
got myself a key and everything works fine now! thanks a lot for the help and inspiration.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any time mate..that is why we are here for

[Q] ODIN stuck at Initialization step

hi all.. im a beginner at installing custom roms.. i own a Samsung Galaxy S4 i9500.. a few days ago, i updated it to CyanogenMod c-11 (kitkat 4.4.4 based) ROM, then to CyanogenMod c-12 (lollipop based) ROM, so try out its new features.. however, since yesterday, my phone is not booting up.. neither is it able to go into recovery mode.. (the boot logo displays endless).. i can only go into the download mode..
so i downloaded ODIN.. and tried flashing I9500XXUFNI2_I9500ODDFNI1_INS.zip onto it.. however, no matter what i do (removing battery, restarting PC, restarting ODIN), i cannot go past the "initialization" step.. no matter which ROM i try, it never goes past the "initialization" step.. please help..

awesim said:
hi all.. im a beginner at installing custom roms.. i own a Samsung Galaxy S4 i9500.. a few days ago, i updated it to CyanogenMod c-11 (kitkat 4.4.4 based) ROM, then to CyanogenMod c-12 (lollipop based) ROM, so try out its new features.. however, since yesterday, my phone is not booting up.. neither is it able to go into recovery mode.. (the boot logo displays endless).. i can only go into the download mode..
so i downloaded ODIN.. and tried flashing I9500XXUFNI2_I9500ODDFNI1_INS.zip onto it.. however, no matter what i do (removing battery, restarting PC, restarting ODIN), i cannot go past the "initialization" step.. no matter which ROM i try, it never goes past the "initialization" step.. please help..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you try to unzip the stock ROM to receive the .tar file for ODIN?

Joku1981 said:
Did you try to unzip the stock ROM to receive the .tar file for ODIN?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes i did.. the .zip file contains two files:
- SS_DL.dll
- I9500XXUFNI2_I9500ODDFNI1_INS.tar.md5
according to instructions in different online threads, im putting this .tar.md5 in the PDA/AP slot..

awesim said:
yes i did.. the .zip file contains two files:
- SS_DL.dll
- I9500XXUFNI2_I9500ODDFNI1_INS.tar.md5
according to instructions in different online threads, im putting this .tar.md5 in the PDA/AP slot..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Change USB cable/port, other pc or close Kies 3 on the task bar.

It sounds more like a hardware failure.

Joku1981 said:
Change USB cable/port, other pc or close Kies 3 on the task bar.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ive already tried changing USB ports.. I dont have Kies installed in the first place.. I'll try repeating the procedure on a different system though..

i certainly hope it is not a hardware failure.. i literally slept with the phone on charge and woke up to a dead phone.. the phone boots up into the bootloop.. the recovery mode ends in the bootloop as well.. only the download mode ends up in the correct "downloading.. do no turn off target" screen.. and odin detects the phone just fine.. but upgrading any firmware via odin gets stuck on the "initialization" step.. i can answer more questions if required.. at this point i dont care which ROM works for my phone.. or if i lose data.. i just wanna revive my phone..

awesim said:
i certainly hope it is not a hardware failure.. i literally slept with the phone on charge and woke up to a dead phone.. the phone boots up into the bootloop.. the recovery mode ends in the bootloop as well.. only the download mode ends up in the correct "downloading.. do no turn off target" screen.. and odin detects the phone just fine.. but upgrading any firmware via odin gets stuck on the "initialization" step.. i can answer more questions if required.. at this point i dont care which ROM works for my phone.. or if i lose data.. i just wanna revive my phone..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
did you solve your problem?

jkamz said:
did you solve your problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am also facing the same problem. Were you able to solve it.

no

Buy another motherboard.that solved my problem.There is no other work around

I'm also facing same issue

Bro's, gotta start somewhere, right!
The fact that you're phones are boot looping is actually a good sign - it means that they're not totally useless but salvageable.
Question: Are you able to boot into your custom recoveries, e.g. TWRP? If yes, please reply.
If no, kindly uninstall your old samsung driver, reboot pc, install new driver, put your phone into "Download mode", connect phone to pc, run Odin & hope for the best! If you can get passed this step, then it's smooth sailing...

jkamz said:
no
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm having this issue with mine today, anyone able to resolve this without going true warranty?

Is the phone recognized by Odin? Post a screenshot of the Odin error or post the Odin error.

audit13 said:
Is the phone recognized by Odin? Post a screenshot of the Odin error or post the Odin error.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'm facing the same problem with mine,any Fix??need help guys:crying::crying:

Odin is not working because the phone was not assigned a com port.

audit13 said:
Odin is not working because the phone was not assigned a com port.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He is right should be blue in com port is it latest Odin 10.7
Sent from my SM-A720F using Tapatalk

The obligatory obvious question here. Do you have the Samsung driver installed?

Just repartition the eMMC chip using .pit file with odin that it is suitable for galaxy S4 i9500.
If anyone has tried, please tell us, that it is work or not.
http://www.droidviews.com/how-to-unbrick-your-bricked-samsung-galaxy-s4-gt-i9500-gt-i9505/
Thanks!