I'm seeing lots of people on these fora either saying they're getting a USB jig or advising somebody to get a USB jig to fix a problem they're having with firmware. I just wanted to take the time to explain a few things.
It is true that a USB jig was needed to get the phone into download mode with the i9000 (Galaxy S) and all it's variants, this was because download mode wasn't freely accessible and required special hardware (The USB jig simulates what the Samsung programmer does). It appears as if Samsung has dropped this policy and on our devices, the i9100 (Galaxy S2), download mode is freely accessible by using the key-combo at boot.
What Samsung has done instead is implement a counter which counts the times you flash an INSECURE kernels onto the device. Insecure means anything which isn't official and didn't come from Samsung. So if you flash an insecure ROM onto your device this counter goes and, if you then break your device and bring it in for servicing Samsung can see you flashed an insecure ROM onto your device. What the USB jig does on our devices is reset this counter, nothing more nothing less.
So onto the important part. If you can't get into download mode by using the key-combo the USB jig won't work either. The USB jig is not a magical device which will fix your bricked unit with fairy dust, also it will not allow you to access an ultra secret menu which will allow you to debrick your device. This might change with future updates to the bootloader but current it's like this.
I wanted to share this information because I'm seeing too much people placing their hopes on an USB jig, wishing it will allow them to debrick their device. This isn't so. Our devices are pretty idiot proof and real hard to brick. Unless you did something really dumb download mode is always available and this will allow you to debrick your device. If download mode is a no go, then debricking at home is a no go too.
So remember, no download mode through key-combo equals no download mode through USB jig which in turn equals to no debricking at home.
I am about to buy a SGS2 and i have a self-made jig that saved both my SGS1's numerous times before. I will try it anyway to confirm if it does or does not.
EDIT:
also, im not sure about my argument but these jigs are made with mostly electrical engineering in mind, NOT software engineering. the self-made jigs
are made of soldered resistors (301k total resistance) onto a microUSB's 4th and 5th pins to sort of SHORT the microUSB port of the i9000s making
the phone boot on download mode (which is activated by a switch once the SHORT is done). i have ZERO experience with the i9100s so i can't prove if my statement is true for i9100s as well.
atlaswingpasaway said:
I am about to buy a SGS2 and i have a self-made jig that saved both my SGS1's numerous times before. I will try it anyway to confirm if it does or does not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This post is dumb and you should feel dumb.
OP is 100% right, if you can't access download mode through the keycombo a USB jig will not work.
If you want to confirm it, make sure to flash some SGS1 files to your SGS2 and pull the battery in the process, then see if your magical USB jig will save you.
Download mode was infact freely available on many SGS I9000s without the jig. However a notable portion have a fault with the bootloader. Samsung (Canada I think?) did release an official patch for this I believe.
The common 301k resistor jig, does interact with a micro controller, that can not be overwritten and can force download mode if that part (download mode) of the bootloader is not damaged, even if the button controls were. The JIG was a proven method of repairing the device in some but not all cases of devices that no longer responded to the 3 button combination.
Assuming the SGS2 uses the same system (which to my knowledge it does, but I haven't looked into it extensively), then the 301k jig may not be a blanket solution but should not be discounted as useless.
EDIT: Some of the OP is outright fallacious when dealing with the S1 but I don't have much to say about its effectiveness on the S2
Even if it does not boot into download mode on a phone that fails to answer the key combo its a useful tool at the cheap price to remove yellow triangle and rom count .
jje
All these problems with bricked phones can easily be avoided by repackaging leaked firmwares to not update included bootloaders unless absolutely neccessary. So remove sbl.bin and boot.bin and flash away and you'll never not be able to get to download mode.
Sent from my GT-I9100
Idan73 said:
All these problems with bricked phones can easily be avoided by repackaging leaked firmwares to not update included bootloaders unless absolutely neccessary. So remove sbl.bin and boot.bin and flash away and you'll never not be able to get to download mode.
Sent from my GT-I9100
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OP: LOL! Only a small portion of SGS 1 handsets had the bootloader issue most of the time you could enter recover/download mode with 3 button combo. There was a fault with many batches of SGS 1 phones that could not boot into recovery/download modes. In some occasions after flashing new firmwares you might face the same issue and the only way to get into download mode would be through ADB if the handset was still on or with a JIG cable if the phone was off. Plus the JIG cable now resets the flash stats and yellow triangle so I am happy to still have it around for my SGS 2
Idan73: param.lfs can also create a dead phone if interrupted during flash
Lol.
Not completely correct. My phone wouldn't stay off due to a dodgy usb port long enough to do the three button combo. Pulled battery, jig inserted, battery inserted, into download mode.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
I think the vast majority of people on here know what the jig is for. People get them to reset the flash counter, not to go into download mode.
Hell for a couple of Quid its handy to have around, i used it to get rid of the triangle 2 secs done good money well worth spent
Oh My Yellow Triangle!
Same here used it on my Captivate as it was hard to get into download mode, on my SGS2 it is convenient with the added bonus of getting rid of the yellow triangle (which is the main use now)!!
There is a few things not right in the OP:
1) "insecure kernel": an insecure kernel is a kernel that runns ADB with root privs's, has nothing to do with who made it. "secure kernels" run adbd with only user privs.
2) the counter counting: has nothing to do with secure/insecure kernels! The counter counts how may not-Samsung-signed (=custom) kernels have been flashed
3) unbrick: the SGS2 has 2 secondary bootloaders, there's a theory that the JIG may cause the phone to boot into the backup when the current active one is corrupted
@OP: please check your facts before making such a thread, thank you.
Also OP, you're not right. I've been able to force download mode on SGS II that wouldn't enter into download mode with the 3 button combo after a failed flash using a Jig and reflashed the firmware. So you should make stupid statements without checking your facts.
uppon2 said:
OP: LOL! Only a small portion of SGS 1 handsets had the bootloader issue most of the time you could enter recover/download mode with 3 button combo. There was a fault with many batches of SGS 1 phones that could not boot into recovery/download modes. In some occasions after flashing new firmwares you might face the same issue and the only way to get into download mode would be through ADB if the handset was still on or with a JIG cable if the phone was off. Plus the JIG cable now resets the flash stats and yellow triangle so I am happy to still have it around for my SGS 2
Idan73: param.lfs can also create a dead phone if interrupted during flash
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know what the situation was in Australia but here the bootloader was locked through an update. Download mode was available at first but was later on disabled. I'm not sure which specific update it was I think it came after the 2.1 update or something.
HellcatDroid said:
There is a few things not right in the OP:
1) "insecure kernel": an insecure kernel is a kernel that runns ADB with root privs's, has nothing to do with who made it. "secure kernels" run adbd with only user privs.
2) the counter counting: has nothing to do with secure/insecure kernels! The counter counts how may not-Samsung-signed (=custom) kernels have been flashed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did I go into details about insecure kernels? Without going into too much tehcnical detail I think I explained it quiet well, don't you think?
3) unbrick: the SGS2 has 2 secondary bootloaders, there's a theory that the JIG may cause the phone to boot into the backup when the current active one is corrupted
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please open your SGS2 and point me to the physical location of this second chip? Or else point me to the locations within the PIT file? Or anything that might even hint at the presence if this secondary loader.
Intratech said:
Also OP, you're not right. I've been able to force download mode on SGS II that wouldn't enter into download mode with the 3 button combo after a failed flash using a Jig and reflashed the firmware. So you should make stupid statements without checking your facts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make me a video then. I'll even ship you a JIG. Brick your device and recover it with a JIG. I dare you!
drspikes said:
Lol.
Not completely correct. My phone wouldn't stay off due to a dodgy usb port long enough to do the three button combo. Pulled battery, jig inserted, battery inserted, into download mode.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That has nothing todo with this issue, you said it yourself, dodgy USB port. Hardware failures are not included.
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"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
GIR said:
Did I go into details about insecure kernels? Without going into too much tehcnical detail I think I explained it quiet well, don't you think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I don't
GIR said:
Please open your SGS2 and point me to the physical location of this second chip? Or else point me to the locations within the PIT file? Or anything that might even hint at the presence if this secondary loader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Partitions 2 and 3, SBL1 and SBL2 respectively, that's the Secondary BootLoaders. Two of them, one active, one backup in case of corruption of active one.
HellcatDroid said:
No, I don't
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Everybody has an opinion.
Partitions 2 and 3, SBL1 and SBL2 respectively, that's the Secondary BootLoaders. Two of them, one active, one backup in case of corruption of active one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Except for the fact that SBL stands for Secure Bootloader, you might be right.... oh no you are not! SBL1 and 2 are just a safeguard. When you're updating the SBL it doesn't flash to the active but to the other one and once verified as being operational it's marked as being active.
You can read all about it here.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1104139
Doing a wrong flash to one of the SBL's will still allow you to access download mode through the key-combo.
/edit:
Oh btw, just so you know, the PIT file suggestion was a trick. The phone will always be able to access download mode unless you destroy your partitioning by pulling the battery mid process or using a wrong pit file, this is the only way to brick your device.
If you do either and destroy your partitioning then those SBL's wont help you either. The only way to have a secondry bootloader is by having a secondary flash chip on the device. And guess what? There is none!
OK, I stand corrected on that one.
Doesn't change the fact the original post is flawed and wrong at many things as well.
HellcatDroid said:
OK, I stand corrected on that one.
Doesn't change the fact the original post is flawed and wrong at many things as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Boohoo cry me a river! Point of the post was to debunk the jig debrick myth. If you want to get into side issues you'll find your livingroom wall will be more interested. If you want to claim these side issues as being many, well then you apparently can' t count because it's just one, the secure kernel thing.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
A bit agressive, aren't we?
Related
Please don't advertise or provide any external shopping link in my thread, as this thread is meant to provide information only. I want to prevent a amazon/ebay-link cycle which will initially divert the purpose for this thread. Thank you for your co-operation.
Greeting to all fellow android fans!!! i am starting this FAQ merely for USB jig for the Samsung Galaxy S2 as i have search long enough for a topic merely like this, however i couldn't find a topic that will exactly give a proper guide or explanation for this.
i am making this so it would be easier for a noob like me to have just the answers for USB jib.
i claim no credit for myself. all the answers here are compile after going through couple of threads/posts (not sure how many, but i know its many).
What is USB Jig?
- USB jig is actually a micro-USB device which consist of soldering a micro USB plug, and resistors/resistor (as long as you get value of 301k, however, some claim it will still work even between 300k - 400k, not exactly 301k).
The USB jig (not the home made one) should look like this:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Where to get one?
There are actually 2 ways to obtain this tiny piece yet important device for most samsung android users. You can either purchase it from ebay or make it yourself!
- Actually it is selling very cheap at ebay (roughly around US$ 2.00) and worth to invest. However, in my opinion, it is a MUST for everyone (you are exclude if you are not into rooting and flashing your phone).
- I will not go into how to make a homemade USB jig. You can refer to the link below for reference.
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKRrTZayRxU - thanks to zedomax
Step by step instructions:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=819551 - thanks to TheBeano
What does USB Jig do?
In short, USB Jig has 3 functions:
- Get into download mode (main function)
If you soft brick your phone, you can force into download mode using USB jig and reflash new kernel or ROM. As far as i concern, there are few ways to force into download mode, however this is the most simple way to get into it. If USB jig doesn't work, i don't think other method will work either.
If your phone is hard brick, i don't think this will work.
- Remove the yellow triangle
Once you flash your s2 with insecure kernel, a yellow triangle with exclamation mark will appear at boot splash. USB jig can do the trick to remove it for you. (i know flashing S2 with original will remove the triangle as well, but i just wanna point out USB jig function.)
- Reset Odin counter/Reset custom binary counter
If you flash custom ROM into your s2, the binary counter will record it, even after you unroot your phone and set everything to its original, Samsung can still keep track by referring to binary counter. No worry, USB jig will clear the counter. However, some manage to get away with it and still get a warranty, but better to be safe than sorry.
Quote from zedomax:
"And also works on these Samsung phones too:
Samsung Nexus S, Captivate Samsung i9000 Galaxy S, Samsung Vibrant , Samsung Fascinate, Epic 4G, Samsung Omnia 7, Samsung S 4G, Samsung Infuse SGH-i997, Samsung Galaxy S Ace"
There are question about I9100G version. It should work as well, since the different between G and non-G version is the processor only. However, the new G version come with GB 2.3.6, which means new bootloader (Newly G set sold in Malaysia come with it)! No worry, it is being solved! Scroll down and read on.
How do you use USB jig? (courtesy to mrsaccess for remind me this part )
actually this part is quite straight forward. however, i will still try to provide step by step guide (i prefer to do/read it this way, easier to read and understand).
a) how to unbrick your phone
- Turn off your phone and pull out the battery for 2 seconds.
- Put the battery back in the device and don't turn it on.
- Plug the jig into the micro USB port on the phone.
- After about few seconds, your phone should boot up automatically and bring you straight into download mode.
- Unplug the jig.
- Connect your phone with USB cable to computer and then flash your phone via the program "odin".
b) how to remove the yellow triangle
- Turn off you phone.
- Plug in the jig.
- After about few seconds, your phone should boot up automatically and bring you straight into the download mode.
- Unplug the jig.
- Turn off your phone by long pressing the power button.
- Turn it on again and the annoying sign should be gone.
c) how to reset custom binary counter
- Turn off you phone.
- Plug in the jig.
- After about few seconds, your phone should boot up automatically and bring you straight into the download mode(you should be able to see your custom binary counter here). The below message should appear below the counter in green.
ERASING DOWNLOAD INFORMATION SUCCEEDED.
- Unplug the jig.
- Turn off your phone by long pressing the power button.
- If you wanna check the counter, turn your phone on again using the 3 button combo or by using the jig.
HOWEVER...!!! YEAH, HOLD YOUR HORSES!!! I am not finish yet!!!
The nightmare is not finish, you will be sorry if you don't read on, this is where the problems start.
PROBLEM
Is there any problem you ask?
YES! Samsung does indeed keep track of every hack and trick out there. They eventually realize a lot of people is using this dirty USB jig method to reset the custom binary counter/remove the yellow triangle, in order to get a warranty, as they should have void your warranty and charge you for repairs!
Eventually they implement new bootloader into GB ver 2.3.4 onward to prevent USB jig from resetting the custom binary counter/removing the yellow triangle (confirmed by some owners in this forum).
However, this is random as i read that an owner with GB ver 2.3.6 manage to flash the custom binary counter. I assume it depends on which bootloader version they put into your phone then.
However, you can still get into download mode! Which is the most important purpose of all! Phew!!!
SOLUTION
Yes, you are lucky, this problem can be solve.
My many thanks and all credit goes to Intratech (don't forget to thank him for that )
Actually, you can refer to his thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1075278
However, the solution is actually at the middle of the thread. To make it easy, i will quote it out.
Quote from Intratech:
"All packages below this point have the old bootloader so you can safely reset the binary counter with a Jig.
If you've already flashed a full package from elsewhere or updated using KIES and cannot reset your binary counter using the Jig just flash this package in the PDA or Bootloader section of Odin to replace the bootloaders and then you can reset the counter: http://www.multiupload.com/LQQBRQVJUD
Here are the new bootloader tarball if you want to flash them back after resetting your binary counter: http://www.multiupload.com/5LNOCL7KPV"
everything tested and worked fine! really a sign of relief for me and i guess its a good news to everyone too!
once again, this thread is meant for reference, and all credits will go back to respective person. I TAKE NO CREDIT FOR ANY INFORMATION HERE. just trying to put everything together as i don't want anyone to go through the hard time like i did.
lastly, all the credits go to:
Intratech
zedomax
TheBeano
if i made a mistake, do let me know, i will correct it. i will take any comment or suggestion so that this can be an easy reference regarding USB jig for everybody.
Android RULEZZZ!!!
EDIT(ADD ON INFO) - credit to rathian for the kind reminder:
New USB Jig V2
To be honest, i really not sure about the new usb jig. And i don't really have the chance to test it out. If someone of you tried it, maybe you can enlighten us here. Thank you.
Does USB Jig works for ICS ROM?
There is much debate for this topic. Some say yes, some say no. However, this is actually what happen in ICS. Samsung actually change a new bootloader for ICS. Basically, the USB Jig presumably will not work for ICS. That is bad news for all of us.
However, base on rathian, he did an experience of trying to flash old gingerbread bootloader into ICS, and you know what? It works! I don't actually recommend this as you might screw things up and end up bricking your phone.
If you want, you can try it out. Please bear in mind you are doing that at your own risk!
I also get some info, if you really wanna get ICS, get a custom ROM. Some developers actually use old bootloader for their custom ROM. That mean you can actually use USB Jig for custom ICS ROM. Please don't ask me which one as i don't really remember, and i might or might not be wrong. I will confirm it once i find out. Until then, better stick to gingerbread!
EDIT:
New ICS bootloader is added here for everyone to download it! FULL CREDIT TO INTRATECH!
Use it as per normal, flash with odin if you wanna use your USB jig. After that, flash back with ICS bootloader.
Please becareful before you do anything. Neither me nor intratech will be responsible for any damages. TAKE YOUR OWN RISK!
Great info buddy.
Can someone please make this a sticky?
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Very good summary of how the jig works, definitely needs to be stickied so noobs have less chance of missing it.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
Nicely written and I agree, we should get this stickied.
Absolutely fantastic summary even I the owner of this handy device and know how to use it.
Cheers
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
Thank you for putting the info together in one place.
Very helpful
cheers
Thanx for compiling this! *favorite on tapatalk*
thank you very much guys! actually you guys also did a very great job, especially intratech. i totally respect you .
whatever info i need, i can just use search function and i get the all the info i need. however, this (usb jig) is the only missing info here. its not totally missing, but you definitely need to search very hard and combine everything before it start make sense.
since everyone here is so helpful, i was thinking, why not i try to contribute a bit by compiling the info.
if there is any updates or whatsoever, just let me know, i will update it so other ppl can get every info in one place. let's continue with the helping culture here.
not to forget, HO HO HO, MERRY MERRY XMAS!!!
As I understand, the only way to brick your phone is when flashing bootloaders, so its a little scary. So basically, flash new firmware, then flash older bootloaders to remove triangle? Do we lose anything by going back to older bl? I would say only do this if taking phone back to shop, is this a reasonable statement
Sent using TCP/IP
Nice guide but you didn't write how we use the jig.
I mean, should we connect it to the device with the phone powered on? Should the phone be powered down? Do we have to go through a menu or something?
wondering is it work for i9100G model as well?
I tried to apply the old bootloader intratech had in his thread with Odin, flashed passed correctly and still nothing. When the phone is turned off and the jig is inserted, nothing happens (bought it on Ebay) , how can I check the bootloader version? Anything else I can do?
Sent from my GT-I9100
mrsaccess said:
Nice guide but you didn't write how we use the jig.
I mean, should we connect it to the device with the phone powered on? Should the phone be powered down? Do we have to go through a menu or something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Simply power off the phone and when she's completely turned off just stick the Jig in her, all the way in, and simply wait for the it to turn her on and put her into download mode. It will auto reset the binary counter. From here just pull it out of her and hold down the power button and it will turn her off after a few seconds.
ahwai84 said:
wondering is it work for i9100G model as well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have access to a G model but don't try to flash the bootloader from the international model (the one in this thread) or you'll have a nice brick.
NXUS said:
I tried to apply the old bootloader intratech had in his thread with Odin, flashed passed correctly and still nothing. When the phone is turned off and the jig is inserted, nothing happens (bought it on Ebay) , how can I check the bootloader version? Anything else I can do?
Sent from my GT-I9100
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you stick the Jig in her when she's turned off and she doesn't get turned on into download mode then your Jig is faulty.
mrsaccess said:
Nice guide but you didn't write how we use the jig.
I mean, should we connect it to the device with the phone powered on? Should the phone be powered down? Do we have to go through a menu or something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
oh, yeah! thanks mrsaccess for pointing that out. how can i miss that!
i will re-edit and compile it.
edit: btw, forget to thanks intratech for helping me out ^^
credit to author of this post ;p
Thanks for the great write up, I was beginning to think I had a bad jig as it would go into download mode but not reset the counter!
gsw5700 said:
As I understand, the only way to brick your phone is when flashing bootloaders, so its a little scary. So basically, flash new firmware, then flash older bootloaders to remove triangle? Do we lose anything by going back to older bl? I would say only do this if taking phone back to shop, is this a reasonable statement
Sent using TCP/IP
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm curious on this as well, is there any benefit to flashing the new bootloader after the counter is reset?
MagicMan3 said:
Thanks for the great write up, I was beginning to think I had a bad jig as it would go into download mode but not reset the counter!
I'm curious on this as well, is there any benefit to flashing the new bootloader after the counter is reset?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
personally, i don't really bother with the triangle thing and the counter thing.
unless you wanna bring back your phone to Samsung for warranty, then it would be better to get everything back to its original. As they would have record all your version (kernel, bootloader, etc.) in their database, and they might void ur warranty if version is incorrect. (they might have different policies for different countries)
unless you have Samsung frens to confirm you that they don't really check on the bootloader version.
For me, possible future Samsung support is the reason I bought a jig. This guide is excellent!
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
quincy6688huang said:
credit to author of this post ;p
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AllSeeyinEye said:
For me, possible future Samsung support is the reason I bought a jig. This guide is excellent!
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you very much. i am glad to know that i am providing helpful info to all.
however, all 99.9% effort should remain credit back to the people who crack it. i am just doing 0.1% effort to compile all the info into one place, for reference.
Thank you for the explanation, very useful
Hello there fellow X8/W8 users!
This post is intended to point your attention to the simple fact that there's a hardware imposed danger to hard brick your Xperia X8 and W8, applies to E15i/a and E16i/a, at the attempt to unlock the boot loader!
The phones affected by the problem are units being manufactured at, and after, 11W29!
To check if your device is affected by the problem follow this simple steps:
Turn off the phone and open it up
Take out the battery
Look at the sticker below
If the date code on the sticker reads 11W29, or any later date (11W30, 11W31, 11W32, 11W33, ...), DO NOT attempt to unlock the boot loader.
These phones ship with a revamped chipset configuration having the security hole the boot loader unlock uses effectively closed. This means that upon unlocking the boot loader your phone will end up as a hard brick - and you will have NO means to revive the phone yourselves. You either have to send it off to Sony for repair (recommended solution) or find a phone repair shop being able to resurrect shot devices!
The symptom you will experience when unlocking the boot loader on an affected device is like this:
The boot loader unlock will most likely go through fine
At restart the phone will show NO signs of life anymore.
NO LED, NO LCD output, NO vibration.
This is the point where you can not do anything anymore yourself to resurrect the device.
You have been warned, DO NOT TRY to unlock the boot loader on phones manufactured PAST 11W29!
But it has been seen that there are few devices with manufacturing code above 11W29 have also successfully unlocked their bootloader.
For example me,i have 11W34 and unlocked the bootloader just fine..
But let me remind you again that this was just a matter of luck.
You might not be so lucky...
Also if you have manufacturing code above 11W29 and are desperate to unlock your bootloader then there are paid methods for it as reported by few users who had successfully unlocked their bootloader with manufacturing date above 11W29.
Update (2012/02/23):
To clear up the "no means to resurrect the phone yourself": This is true unless you are a experienced electronics technician. If you own a JTAG box (RIFF Box, Medusa Box) you may attempt to resurrect the device through JTAG. It may also be possible to resurrect the device through UART flash by using a test pin connection. Google is your friend here to dig up the required informations.
As posted by baiclark: There's an option to unlock the boot loader on 11W29+ devices, though this involves some Software (setool2) where you need to buy credits to perform the unlock. This is an untested procedure. If you decide to jump the gun please report your experience.
Update: Home-Brew unbricking with Omnius
Forum member aze2learn posted a guide about how to unbrick your hard bricked W8/X8 by using a modified Nokia CA-42 cable and Omnius. Find his valuable contribution at this post.
/!\ Be warned that this requires basic electronics skills to make it happen. /!\
Unbrick your briked X8/W8 via flashtools
Hi all
I made this thread since some guys were having trouble unbricking their X8/W8 via FLASHTOOLS...
And let me make it clear that the following post wont help you if your phone has bricked in attempt to unlock your bootloader when your phones manufacturing code was above 11W29.
In such a case the only (period) solution is to send it off to SONY to have it repaired.
How to unbrick your Soft Bricked phone..
What do you need?
Flashtools.(thanks to androxyde and bin4ry)
X8 stock firmware.
Or from here.
Or here.
X8 drivers installed.
WinRar
Your X8/W8 phone
A USB cable
A PC
Relaxed mind..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now lets begin.
1.First of all download and install Flashtools from the link provided above.
2.Download SE firmware in *.ftf file format and put it in Flashtool/firmwares folder.
3. Now, run the FlashTool and click the
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"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
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"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
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Lighting bolt button to start flash.
4.Now click flashmode and choose Xperia X8 (E15i).
4.Now wait for a while till it says you to "remove your phone,press the back button and hold it and install the USB".
Do it and wait for the flashing proceedure to finish...
If everything works fine then CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! you have successfully unbricked your phone and installed the 2.1.1.A.0.6 version with 015 baseband, fresh and stock!
If your phone doesnt boots up still, then you might have gone wrong somewhere in the flashing process..
So read the steps carefully and do it again..
[OPTIONAL STEP]
Guide for installing the required drivers for flashing, skip this if you have PC Companion installed and connected your phone in flash mode at least once!
If your phone is not recognized by Flashtool that means you don’t have the required drivers installed.
Open folder /Flashtool/drivers and install ggsetup-2.2.0.11
If after the above Flashtool still doesn’t recognize your phone, do the following:
From Flashtool/drivers folder extract the zip file XXX_ADB_driver which corresponds to your phone model
Open “Device manager” on the computer and find the device which is with an exclamation mark on it (do this with connected to the computer phone)
Right click on the device and choose Uptade driver
Choose to find the driver manually and browse to the folder where you’ve extracted the zip file.
That should install the required drivers on your computer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now as you have successfully unbricked your phone, the first thing you would possibly do is rooting your phone...
So here i show you how to Root your phone with flashtools..
1.Start Flashtool
2.Connect the device to the computer and wait until it's recognized
3.Click the icon with the "Padlock [the second in a row]
4.FT will start pushing files, wait till it finishes. Meanwhile the phone will reboot once.
5.When it's over Flashtool will notify "Root Access Allowed"
6.Open the application list on the phone and look for the app "Superuser".
7.If "Superuser" is there you have Rooted your device successfully.
Congrats!
That's it...........
If you found this thread useful don't forget to click the THANKS button for me...
Thanks to
Bin4ry and androxyde..(for flashtools)
crowds for the original guide..
Leajian for allowing me to use content from his guide.
BlackRabbit1703 for the mirror of firmware.
And all the people who liked my work...
See ya..
um, mine's an 11W29 and it unlocked just fine. it's only the one's AFTER it that have issues.
I have 11W33 and unlocked 2 times now without a problem ! and works fine
Realtbhuion said:
um, mine's an 11W29 and it unlocked just fine. it's only the one's AFTER it that have issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We also had a few phones in the 11W3x region that unlocked perfectly, but the hard bricks we observed so far all start at 11W29 - and newer.
The source from where we got the information about the hard brick danger is a post of the_laser on setool.net ...
seems most of lately produced msm7227-based phones have chipset with FIXED security hole, which used to altbypass unlock.
(that is not 100% confirmed, we only have few reports, however better be warned)
such phones will DIE after successful unlock procedure.
such dead phones CAN NOT be recovered. ( perhaps, jtag can fix that, perhaps, qualcomm fixed jtag security hole too )
there is NO WAY to determine if phone has fixed chipset or chipset with security hole.
the ONLY safe way is to use unlock by resurrection cables.
if phone can be connected and booted by resurrection cables, phone is safe to unlock.
if phone can not be booted by resurrection cables, phone has fixed chipset and could not be unlocked.
you have been warned.
get and use resurrection cables.
update:
e16 phone with manufacture date 11w38 affected, i think we should care about phones which produced after 11w26
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As you can see the_laser referenced 11W26 as the "threshold" where our observation is that 11W29 is where the trouble really starts.
EDIT: See this thread for reference - post #62 and #63 where we summed up a few hard bricks. But that's just the tip of the iceberg, there have been way more.
You're of course free to dismiss the warning and do as you please, just don't come ranting about your hard brick - you've been warned.
My phone is 11W30 (I forgot to check this before unlock bootloader) but all works fine for me.
Mine was 11W37, and I said "was" 'cause I just bricked it.
So Im reading this thread too late lol
However, this situation only hurries things because I'm getting Xperia Ray soon. Now I have to get it sooner.
For now, I have a fa(i)lPhone, wich was a present from my dad. So no worries at all. But having my X8 completely bricked will be a good challenge, as I'll try to bring it back to life no matter if you say there is nothing I can do.
Of course, in case I achieve it, I'll share it! If not, then I'll have a nice modern piece of decoration for my living room: a smartphone XD
x8-11w37 new phone HARD BRICK!
I was lucky ennough they replaced my bricked x8. . No unlocked bootloader for me.
El Brillantinas said:
Mine was 11W37, and I said "was" 'cause I just bricked it.
But having my X8 completely bricked will be a good challenge, as I'll try to bring it back to life no matter if you say there is nothing I can do.
Of course, in case I achieve it, I'll share it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be precise - there is something that can be done, it's just not very easy.
On the one hand you can try to read up over at setool.net. The latest versions of SETool are able to resurrect shot W/X8's. However, you either need to know to which test-pins to you need to connect the cable from your computer or simply try to get one of the Qualcomm resurrection cables fitting the W/X8. Apart from that you need "credits" for SETool to actually perform the operation. This means you have to pry your W/X8 apart to gain access to the PCB - that's not exactly something everyone around here is able to do - and connect to the right pins to flash in UART mode.
On the other hand you can always try to find someone (private person / repair shop) having a RIFF Box to see if the phone can be resurrected by JTAG, though the way it sounds (the post I read on setool.net about UART resurrection) a JTAG restore seems to be impossible - but feel free to try.
If you can work out a working, and relatively simple to follow, solution to restore shot W/X8's be our guest to write up a post.
thks, for the info, My x8 manuf.code is 11W28, is it safe for unlock BL?
Can i unlock my bootloader?
My W8 code is 11W25 can i unlock my bootloader??
B.Jay said:
If the date code on the sticker reads 11W29, or any later date (11W30, 11W31, 11W32, 11W33, ...), DO NOT attempt to unlock the boot loader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NarutoDroid said:
thks, for the info, My x8 manuf.code is 11W28, is it safe for unlock BL?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
akhi24nick said:
My W8 code is 11W25 can i unlock my bootloader??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So ... 11W28 and 11W25 are below 11W29, right?
No guarantee given as there's always the chance that you may mess up, but it should be safe to try and unlock the boot loader.
Mine is 11W21 (uhm semms a old version or something like that...?), soon I'll try unlocking...
But it has a f..... sinaptic touchscreen, damn...
Hmmmm..... I got 11W34 and i can unlock my Droid
11W48
Hi there,
actually I was following guides in the manner google -> blogs -> direct links to oneclickroot/roms -> direct links to bootloader unlocker and...
Well, unfortunately 11W48 (pretty fresh, huh?) got hard bricked xD
I understand it's motherboard failure now and we can do NOTHING more than sending my new paperweight back to SE?
Also I'm looking forward to finding another way to unlock bootloader with new chips in case the one I get back won't be <11W29
Thanks in advance for your reply
Ahh i wish so much i had red this thread and didn't act too much excited about unlocking it.
10W48 ---> unlock with flashtool!
2010matej said:
10W48 ---> unlock with flashtool!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Man.... You are exceptional on EARTH.....
You unlocked bootloader with 11w48 making. You have battery backup beyond 6 days.
May be you can overclock your X8 upto 1Ghz and have Multitouch instead of dualtouch even its also possible that SE will make a firmware 4.0 only for you....
Really, you are an amazing guy...
that's very good to warn everyone here before attempting ^^
my is 11w06
Since there have been several reports about bricking their tablet when doing the factory reset in recovery, I think it is useful to open the thread about this problem so we can gather all the facts in one place and keep other topics clean.
Below are the facts that I have gathered so far. I will update this post in the future with new info.
PROBLEM:
When doing factory reset in recovery the Galaxy Tab may freeze. After that it will no longer turn on. Most if not all of these problems happened when using cm-9-20120901-EXPERIMENTAL-p4.zip and ClockWork recovery 6, that was available in the same directory. But in theory this problem can also happen when doing factory reset from stock ICS.
DIAGNOSE:
It seems that the problem is in the faulty firmware of the eMMC chip. When erasing the data, a command mmc_cap_erase is executed which can corrupt data in the chip and make in unusable. After restarting the the only APX device is visible in device manager and the tab does not turn on.
Also worth noting is that the brick may happen already the first time you do the factory reset, but on the other hand you can wipe several times without any problems. So it's a little bit random.
There have been several reports with the same problem also on other Samsung devices and a lot of info on this bug can be found in the thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1644364
IS YOUR CHIP DANGEROUS OR SAFE?
There is an application made which will check which eMMC chip and firmware is loaded on your tab and will tell you if you are safe or not.
App can be found in thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1693704
WHAT TO DO IF YOU HAVE A FAULTY eMMC CHIP
There are three conditions that all need to be satisfied to for corruption to occur:
1. You have a faulty eMMC chip
2. kernel needs to support mmc_cap_erase command
3. A recovery binary that triggers calls to mmc_cap_erase()
Gingerbread recoveries don't issue this command, so if you are still on Gingerbread you are safe. Pershoot also removed support for this command from his kernels, so they should also be safe. Additionally this problem can be avoided if by flashing CWM 5 or CWM 6 from droidbasement.com CM10 folder either with mobile odin or odin.
WHAT KIND OF INFO WOULD BE HELPFUL and WHAT TO DO:
1. How many users were affected by this bug. Please report in this topic if you have encounter this problem on Galaxy Tab 10.1
2. What have you tried to solve the problem?
One possible solution which worked in the past was to fully discharge the battery. So far most of the users are still waiting for their tab to discharge, but some reports already indicate that this will not help. There have also been some users saying that their device will not charge after the battery has been completely discharged so maybe it is not the best idea to fully discharge the tab. I will update this when we will have more reports from tab 10.1 users. More about this procedure can be read in http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1478361
Another approach for solving this problem would be by using nvflash utility which can work in APX mode that our tab is currently in. If you are lucky and you have unlocked bootloder
you can try to load new image and recovery. If you receive error 0x4 error it means that you bootloader is locked and this approach will not work.
Details on this procedure can be found in http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1130574
3. Warranty - How many users have taken the tab to Samsung service center and did the fix it?
Also please add any other info that might be useful and I will try to keep this post updated .
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Conclusions
- At the moment there is no known way to repair it yourself.
- So far those claiming warranty had not problems and tab was repaired free of charge.
- Avoiding brick:
The only danger now seems to bi if you are on stock ICS ROM and you execute factory/data reset in Samsung recovery.
If you are using custom ROMs and CWM you should be safe because all custom ROMs/krenels have now removed mmc_cap_erase() from list of capabilities.
I have installed the bootloader and CWR 6 from the p4 folder on the droidbasement.
After that I have installed three or four different ROMs through recovery without any problems.
When I finally wanted to load the CM9 rom for the last time and selected "clear data", the tab has frozen at "formatting cache ..".
I waited for a while and then pressed power button. It turned off and now I am also stuck in APX mode.
I am still waiting for battery to discharge, although based on some posts I doubt it will help.
I had this problem with cm-9-20120828-EXPERIMENTAL-p4wifi.zip and the associated recovery.tar.md5 hosted by pershoot. The device froze while doing the clear data option in CWM. It will only show up as APX in device manager.
I've been waiting about a week and a half for the battery to drain. It is still not drained yet.
Based on the Epic 4G Touch thread it looks like the draining method is not likely to work.
Background
As many of you are aware since ICS has come out, there has been a nagging issue where in some situations flashing ROMs with an ICS-based kernel and custom recovery has left the phone with EMMC corruption. This EMMC corruption is so far non-recoverable, even with JTAG bit blasting, which should bypass all but hardware issues.
...
Complicating the testing/debugging is the issue that once the problem is triggered, your phone is basically not recoverable. You can try and ODIN a stock ROM on top which will basically work for all the components except the /data partition. Once it reaches the /data partition, ODIN will hang. Similarly if you try and wipe data/factory reset, it will hang or timeout after a while. Attempts to repartition and reformat using ODIN have not changed this behavior. Attempts to edit the partition info manually have not been successful. JTAG bit blasting has not been successful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The fact that this does not affect GB kernels could explain why nobody seems to have reported success with the draining method yet in the recent brick bug cases. The draining method may have worked in the past with whatever issue(s) were causing the devices to be stuck in APX mode with GB. This does not seem to be the case so far with ICS and this corruption bug. The EMMC corruption bug seems like a more serious issue than simply doing a battery drain will solve.
If this is the case then wouldn't it be inadvisable to be suggesting the battery drain method to people? I mean if the drain method is not a solution to this problem then users will be left with their devices in a worse state. There have been users saying that their device will not charge after the battery has been completely discharged.
So, ¿What do I do if I have a faulty chip?
rayoco said:
So, ¿What do I do if I have a faulty chip?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Either Samsung Warranty or see if Mobile Tech Video can repair. I've seen people say they were able to get their phones revived by Mobile Tech.
Link to Mobile Tech Video, please? Lost a Tab 7 to this bug.
PookiePrancer said:
Link to Mobile Tech Video, please? Lost a Tab 7 to this bug.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't know how to contact them, just read others able to get it fixed by them.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium
I have an eMMC-related issue (Galaxy Tab 10.1 Google I/O Edition/ p4wifi), which leaves the tablet as bricked, but I am not sure it is the exact same problem.
1) running pershoot's cm10, not cm-9
2) no more boot in recovery (but from an external recovery using fastboot, which is still working)
3) heimdall no longer working (see )
4) normal boot loops (only) because /data is mounted read-only (I have the adb logcat) presumably due to fs-errors
At the end, the tablet is bricked, even if it is in a boot loop. Any interest in the logcat?
RE:
nakedninja42 said:
Either Samsung Warranty or see if Mobile Tech Video can repair. I've seen people say they were able to get their phones revived by Mobile Tech.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My tab isn't screwed in this moment. But what I do to prevent a Brick?
fix.kowalski said:
I have an eMMC-related issue (Galaxy Tab 10.1 Google I/O Edition/ p4wifi), which leaves the tablet as bricked, but I am not sure it is the exact same problem.
1) running pershoot's cm10, not cm-9
2) no more boot in recovery (but from an external recovery using fastboot, which is still working)
3) heimdall no longer working (see )
4) normal boot loops (only) because /data is mounted read-only (I have the adb logcat) presumably due to fs-errors
At the end, the tablet is bricked, even if it is in a boot loop. Any interest in the logcat?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you do not have a brick.
fastboot boot the stock IO recovery and do a factory reset in there. this will format /data. you will be revived.
rayoco said:
So, ¿What do I do if I have a faulty chip?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From my point of view, these following steps should prevent the device to be bricked:
* Flashing CWM 5 or CWM 6 from droidbasement.com CM10 folder either with mobile odin or odin.
* Flashing A1 kernel 1.6.4 that has MMC_CAP_ERASED disabled.
These are applied for those that have Stock ICS or CM9 build 09/01.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
What I would also like to know is how many users of Galaxy Tab 10.1 are using faulty eMMC chip?
This can be simply checked with BrickBug application:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1303502&d=1346829980
Please report in this topic which eMMC chip is used in your device.
Additionally what would also be helpful for others is information if default ICS kernel supports MMC_CAP_ERASED command and if there is any situation that this happens on stock ICS if you issue Factory reset. Maybe someone with more knowledge can answer this.
podtalje said:
Additionally what would also be helpful for others is information if default ICS kernel supports MMC_CAP_ERASED.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes, the stock ICS kernel does support mmc_cap_erased (as is the published source). this is how it ships from nvidia. removing it is an after thought. the root of the issue is the chip inside.
P7510 here.
eMMC chip
Type: MAG4FA
Date: 02/2012
CID: 1501004d414734464112e20982d12f00
FwRev: 0x12
Brick Bug?
YES. Insane chip.
I'm running a memory test right now. EDIT: My test passed. Took about 10 minutes to run with the app. I was on CM10 for a short time but have since moved back to Infamous2 ICS with the A1 kernel.
djmatt604 said:
P7510 here.
eMMC chip
Type: MAG4FA
Date: 02/2012
CID: 1501004d414734464112e20982d12f00
FwRev: 0x12
Brick Bug?
YES. Insane chip.
I'm running a memory test right now. EDIT: My test passed. Took about 10 minutes to run with the app. I was on CM10 for a short time but have since moved back to Infamous2 ICS with the A1 kernel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got the same result as djmatt604 (as far as the brick bug goes that is, not tried the memory test)
podtalje said:
What I would also like to know is how many users of Galaxy Tab 10.1 are using faulty eMMC chip?
This can be simply checked with BrickBug application:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1303502&d=1346829980
Please report in this topic which eMMC chip is used in your device.
Additionally what would also be helpful for others is information if default ICS kernel supports MMC_CAP_ERASED command and if there is any situation that this happens on stock ICS if you issue Factory reset. Maybe someone with more knowledge can answer this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What now?? I don't want to brick. I'm on CM10 cwm6.
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My tab have eMMC Brickbug (i tested it with the little apk soft).
I am lucky ! Three days ago i flashed A1 kernel and when i choose to wipe i selected wipe data reset factory (i did it fastly and wipe partition line is just under) !!!!!! Happy to see my previous kernel had applied git patch to disable mmc_cap_erase !!!!! so all have been ok when reboot ! ouf !!!
This happened to me about a week ago, I was flashing 'cm-9-20120901-EXPERIMENTAL-p4.zip' using TWRP, now I can only see the tab in 'apx' mode.
Trying to send commands via 'nvflash' gives an 0x4 response, which indicates a locked bootloader (I believe).
Currently trying the 'battery drain' option, but as my tab had just been fully charged this is taking a while.
Of course, my tab is over 12 months old and therefore out of warranty!
eMMC chip
Type: SEM16G
CID: 02010053454d3136479061538a135e00
Revision: 0x90
Verdict: Unknown Chip, don't know if dangerous. At least it isn't one of the chips known to be bad.
I have been using TWRP and CWM 6 various times and did a full reset (inlcuding data wipes on TWRP), no bricks. I assume my chip is safe.
I got the brick bugger.
Although oddly enough, never bricked while doing a factory reset.
So after 20 hours of fiddling... I can safely say that this LG G2 D803 is completely done.
Given by a friend, the phone started off by booting straight to fastboot, and had download mode available after he flashed a ROM designed for a tablet.
I attempted the .TOT method described here, where I used LGTools. I then only realized that this method was only suitable for an US device, such as AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon (couldn't find a Rogers .TOT). I didn't modify the phone in any way.
I then continued to download the Rogers KDZ file here. Using the method described in the same post above, I performed the upgrade, only to realize that this was method wasn't working either.
I then did some scouring to find a way to boot into TWRP (which was already installed). I found this trick: If you hold the power button down until the phone turns off, you can hold power and down until you see the LG symbol, and then depress and press them again immediately to get into TWRP!
In TWRP... I realized that the partitions were all messed up. It was showing 6GB internal, and countless errors were popping up. Another dead end. ADB was working, but I was unable to push anything.
I then realized I should attempt to flash updated partitions using fastboot. Using the cmd line in Windows, I erased and flashed partitions I downloaded here after putting the phone in fastboot mode.
This is where I did something stupid.
Instead of clicking and downloading on that site, I right-clicked "save-as" and downloaded 8kb corrupted partition files. I continued and flashed them unknowingly... and right after, the phone decided to not boot at all.
Using VMWARE and Ubuntu 14.04, I attempted to reflash the partitions using Linux commands described here. Unfortunately, the device would not show the /sd* partitions. Certainly, the bootloader that communicates with the PC does not allocate the partitions properly anymore.
Alright, the phone wont boot, because I flashed a bad bootloader. No biggie right? I would see the device as Qualcomm hs-usb qdloader 9008.
That's when I scoured for a new method to fix the partitions. I came across QPEST and eMMC Software App to get this device back alive.
I spent hours trying to find the right .hex and .mbn file on Chinese websites. I found 8974_msimage.mbn, MPRG8974.hex, flash.xml, rawprogram0.xml and patch0.xml. I had to create accounts of a bunch of sites to finally download the correct files.
Carefully using QPST, I was able to get the phone in Download Mode (Qualcomm download mode, not LG download mode), and pushed the instructions to the device.
... too bad. I thought I did everything right. The device times out in the process EVERYTIME.
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The phone is officially dead, there isn't a way I know of to get it started (at least to fastboot again). It really pays off to check what you're flashing before you do it. The internet is full of crap.
BuffMcBigHuge said:
So after 20 hours of fiddling... I can safely say that this LG G2 D803 is completely done.
Given by a friend, the phone started off by booting straight to fastboot, and had download mode available after he flashed a ROM designed for a tablet.
I attempted the .TOT method described here, where I used LGTools. I then only realized that this method was only suitable for an US device, such as AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon (couldn't find a Rogers .TOT). I didn't modify the phone in any way.
I then continued to download the Rogers KDZ file here. Using the method described in the same post above, I performed the upgrade, only to realize that this was method wasn't working either.
I then did some scouring to find a way to boot into TWRP (which was already installed). I found this trick: If you hold the power button down until the phone turns off, you can hold power and down until you see the LG symbol, and then depress and press them again immediately to get into TWRP!
In TWRP... I realized that the partitions were all messed up. It was showing 6GB internal, and countless errors were popping up. Another dead end. ADB was working, but I was unable to push anything.
I then realized I should attempt to flash updated partitions using fastboot. Using the cmd line in Windows, I erased and flashed partitions I downloaded here after putting the phone in fastboot mode.
This is where I did something stupid.
Instead of clicking and downloading on that site, I right-clicked "save-as" and downloaded 8kb corrupted partition files. I continued and flashed them unknowingly... and right after, the phone decided to not boot at all.
Using VMWARE and Ubuntu 14.04, I attempted to reflash the partitions using Linux commands described here. Unfortunately, the device would not show the /sd* partitions. Certainly, the bootloader that communicates with the PC does not allocate the partitions properly anymore.
Alright, the phone wont boot, because I flashed a bad bootloader. No biggie right? I would see the device as Qualcomm hs-usb qdloader 9008.
That's when I scoured for a new method to fix the partitions. I came across QPEST and eMMC Software App to get this device back alive.
I spent hours trying to find the right .hex and .mbn file on Chinese websites. I found 8974_msimage.mbn, MPRG8974.hex, flash.xml, rawprogram0.xml and patch0.xml. I had to create accounts of a bunch of sites to finally download the correct files.
Carefully using QPST, I was able to get the phone in Download Mode (Qualcomm download mode, not LG download mode), and pushed the instructions to the device.
... too bad. I thought I did everything right. The device times out in the process EVERYTIME.
The phone is officially dead, there isn't a way I know of to get it started (at least to fastboot again). It really pays off to check what you're flashing before you do it. The internet is full of crap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there is a lot of crap on the internet but when you start fastbooting or dding partitions without verifying the integrity of the stuff you downloaded you will eventually brick something. Perhaps this experience will goad you into checking md5 or sha1 before you go about flashing things.
DeathmonkeyGTX said:
there is a lot of crap on the internet but when you start fastbooting or dding partitions without verifying the integrity of the stuff you downloaded you will eventually brick something. Perhaps this experience will goad you into checking md5 or sha1 before you go about flashing things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's very rare that I ensure the md5 is correct. In this case, the file sizes were completely off (8kb rather than 512kb), which is more noticeable than the hash. You're absolutely right. I sent the phone to MobileTechVideos for a JTag repair. I'll post the results when I get it returned.
You made a valiant effort, good luck man.
My hat goes off to you, man. Is it under a warranty that covers accidental damage? A good smashy-smashy would cover your tracks and relieve your stress all at once
I tell you though - fine attempt. Made my day reading this. Never stop at no. Hope you get your phone fixed.
Onward.
Sent from my LG-D802 using XDA Premium HD app
1 LG G2 down
20 million+ units still in combat working the daily grind!
Now phone is dead so go to the warranty method.
BigBoyPL said:
Now phone is dead so go to the warranty method.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
he did the RIGHT thing and sent it to be repaired at his cost. to do what you are implying is to be a thief.
xlr8me said:
1 LG G2 down
20 million+ units still in combat working the daily grind!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
make it 2 lg g2 mine is dead too...
mine is back to life finally
Can you not use a fastboot cable and re flash the correct partition images from there. I used that method to recover a completely bricked Kindle fire recently.
ClawOfDoom said:
Can you not use a fastboot cable and re flash the correct partition images from there. I used that method to recover a completely bricked Kindle fire recently.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think this are the cases when the warranty should be used. The phone is not on it's best condition, so that should take care of this.
Any updates on the repair? I have a bricked D801 too...
zPacKRat said:
he did the RIGHT thing and sent it to be repaired at his cost. to do what you are implying is to be a thief.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I respectfully disagree. everything described is software related. The hardware is still fine. At least from what I was reading. Which means the phone could be sent back, under warranty and repaired in probably under 5 minutes. It might get a dollars worth of new plastic on it. Repackaged up and sent off to somebody else to replace their broken phone. The losses on the replacement phone would be recouped almost instantly.
Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk
Can you help me.
Dear BuffMcBigHuge!
I have a situation same you, Now my LG G2 L-01F - NTT DOCOMO total Dead, it show Qualcomm HS-USB QDLoader only.
I searched many forum, but havent find out these file.
Can you give me these file for me to try unbrick My G2.
My email: [email protected]
Many thanks you.
dm6939 said:
Dear BuffMcBigHuge!
I have a situation same you, Now my LG G2 L-01F - NTT DOCOMO total Dead, it show Qualcomm HS-USB QDLoader only.
I searched many forum, but havent find out these file.
Can you give me these file for me to try unbrick My G2.
My email: [email protected]
Many thanks you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 = I have the same here...
So after sending the device to MobileTechVideos, I was able to get it fully repaired and back into working order! They converted it to a D801, and its back in full working order!
Highly recommended!
BuffMcBigHuge said:
So after sending the device to MobileTechVideos, I was able to get it fully repaired and back into working order! They converted it to a D801, and its back in full working order!
Highly recommended!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fantastic news glad there are still teams that are dedicated to there work and know what they are doing
Danzano's happy place
Danzano said:
Fantastic news glad there are still teams that are dedicated to there work and know what they are doing
Danzano's happy place
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any more updates here ? looks like we need 2 important files specific to the G2 . The .hex and the mnb file to enable writing to eMMC.
zathus said:
I respectfully disagree. everything described is software related. The hardware is still fine. At least from what I was reading. Which means the phone could be sent back, under warranty and repaired in probably under 5 minutes. It might get a dollars worth of new plastic on it. Repackaged up and sent off to somebody else to replace their broken phone. The losses on the replacement phone would be recouped almost instantly.
Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
bc OP stated:
"Given by a friend, the phone started off by booting straight to fastboot, and had download mode available after he flashed a ROM designed for a tablet"
so when a device is broken, (whether it be hardware or software) by the user, that is not a manufacturer defect. That is misuse, nonwarranty. thats why the guy you responded to said "he did the RIGHT thing and sent it to be repaired at his cost. to do what you are implying is to be a thief." and i agree with him. I actually cringe when i see people on here brick their phones, then ask for ways to unroot so they can get it repaired under warranty. Manufacturers are going to continue to make it harder to gain root access bc im sure theyre tired of wasting time on people who broke their phones themselves, then want it repaired for free. sigh...
I'm reviving an old VZW S5 that's rooted on 5.0. Can it be updated to 6.0 without losing root? Or, being greedy, 7.0?
If I need to wipe the phone, that's OK.
RBEmerson said:
I'm reviving an old VZW S5 that's rooted on 5.0. Can it be updated to 6.0 without losing root? Or, being greedy, 7.0? If I need to wipe the phone, that's OK.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your best bet is to post this question within the following Q&A thread that's specific to your device.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2700073
Good Luck!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I DO NOT PROVIDE SUPPORT VIA PM UNLESS ASKED/REQUESTED BY MYSELF.
PLEASE KEEP IT IN THE THREADS WHERE EVERYONE CAN SHARE
Ibuprophen said:
Your best bet is to post this question within the following Q&A thread that's specific to your device.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2700073
Good Luck!
[/...]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!
RBEmerson said:
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not a problem at all!
Just keep in mind that, even though the following area of the forum is specific to the Verizon GS5 (kltevzw)...
https://forum.xda-developers.com/verizon-galaxy-s5
... the following area of the forum is specific to the Galaxy S5 (klte...) variants because of the "Unified Developments" that also include the Verizon GS5 (kltevzw) device.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s5
Also (in case you may have wondered about it) the Verizon GS5 (kltevzw) device has the "Snapdragon" processor. Be sure NOT to use anything that falls under the "Exynos" category or similar.
I wish you the best of luck!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I DO NOT PROVIDE SUPPORT VIA PM UNLESS ASKED/REQUESTED BY MYSELF.
PLEASE KEEP IT IN THE THREADS WHERE EVERYONE CAN SHARE
Quick question before I follow your suggested links - is there a quick way to determine what processor is in the phone? I distinctly remember the issue of the processors when rooting. AFAIK the only hardware info is G900V.05. When I booted into recovery with TI, no TWRP, etc., just the stock recovery screen.
RBEmerson said:
I'm reviving an old VZW S5 that's rooted on 5.0. Can it be updated to 6.0 without losing root? Or, being greedy, 7.0?
If I need to wipe the phone, that's OK.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. It's impossible to update from 5.0 to 6.0 witout losing root. You will have to gain it again if possible.
2. Root is possible on 6.0 for G900V with Samsung EMMC chips.
3. You can check which chip your phone has with EMMC Brickbug Test app from the Market. Just run it and look at the first two figures in CID line on the info screen.
They will be 15 or 11.
15 - Samsung memory, root is possible on 6.0.
11 - Toshiba memory, root is impossible on 6.0.
For both variants root is possible on 5.0.
RBEmerson said:
Quick question before I follow your suggested links - is there a quick way to determine what processor is in the phone? I distinctly remember the issue of the processors when rooting. AFAIK the only hardware info is G900V.05. When I booted into recovery with TI, no TWRP, etc., just the stock recovery screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had stated on the last statement that the G900V has a Snapdragon Processor.
I can't state that what your looking to do is possible since I've never performed this but, the threads i had provided are where you can, at least, get some additional member guidance.
Good Luck!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I DO NOT PROVIDE SUPPORT VIA PM UNLESS ASKED/REQUESTED BY MYSELF.
PLEASE KEEP IT IN THE THREADS WHERE EVERYONE CAN SHARE
Ibuprophen said:
I had stated on the last statement that the G900V has a Snapdragon Processor.
I can't state that what your looking to do is possible since I've never performed this but, the threads i had provided are where you can, at least, get some additional member guidance.
Good Luck!
[/...]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think bbsc pretty much nailed down the go-nogo for me. Thanks again, guys. Good on ya!
CID begins 15... woohoo!
RBEmerson said:
CID begins 15... woohoo!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad to see it makes you happy.
Now you have to look around and decide what ROM you want.
Should it be a stock ROM or something other?
There're several good guides on flashing and rooting in Verizon Galaxy S 5 General section.
A) where is a good place to continue this discussion? I don't want to be OT B) I've managed to screw myself into the ground and somehow lost the basic ability to load anything via Odin. The problem's in the phone. I somehow landed in what seems to be an engineering version of 4.4.2. Which would be annoying but OK IF... Power/Home/Vol Down brought me to push Vol Up letting Odin do the rest. Instead, all I get is "Power Reset or Unknown Upload Mode". The only way out is the same three buttons (Pwr is ignored). Booting up, I get a generic Samsung background, across the bottom, four Andy's with 15 on one, possibly numeric keypad on the next, app drawer, HW on the next Andy, and FAIL on the last (oh how so true!).
Apps on the screen include CPUStress, Waterproof, SEMI, Factory IME, RX_AGC_LE and MIC2 Echo.
Where am I? How do I get back normal uploading? Odin has utterly no idea about how to do anything useful with the phone, although it acknowledges it's there. Ditto for file explorer on Win10.
Oh yeah, and I have a black window filled with yellow info describing the phone, memory, cameras, etc. The first two lines might help (or not):
PDA: FA44_G900VVRU2APA1
Phone: G900VVRU2AOI1
The window doesn't appear to close, move, or go away. Attempts to open the app drawer are covered by a not totally opaque black foreground.
"Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."
The ugly wreckage:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
RBEmerson said:
Where am I? How do I get back normal uploading?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The ugly wreckage:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you want to achieve?
Just practice in flashing or something else?
bbsc said:
What do you want to achieve?
Just practice in flashing or something else?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I want to be back to a sane loader and 6.0.1. The instructions I followed clearly were brainless in recommending, after, G900VVRU2DQF2_G900VVZW2DQF2_G900VVRU2DQF2_HOME.tar.md5, using COMBINATION_VZW_FA44_G900VVRU2APA1_VZW2APA1_2572656_REV00_user_mid_noship_MULTI_CERT.tar.md5. If I can flash the first file, I'll be back to 6.0.1 and then I can spend a lot more time planning rooting that.
As a side question, I assume that VZW's seriously locked code is still present on my S5, right?
RBEmerson said:
I want to be back to a sane loader and 6.0.1. The instructions I followed clearly were brainless in recommending, after, G900VVRU2DQF2_G900VVZW2DQF2_G900VVRU2DQF2_HOME.tar.md5, using COMBINATION_VZW_FA44_G900VVRU2APA1_VZW2APA1_2572656_REV00_user_mid_noship_MULTI_CERT.tar.md5. If I can flash the first file, I'll be back to 6.0.1 and then I can spend a lot more time planning rooting that.
As a side question, I assume that VZW's seriously locked code is still present on my S5, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, "VZW's seriously locked code" is there forever.
But we're trained to live with it at present time.
Try to take the battery off for 10-20 sec, insert it back and boot to Odin mode.
But don't flash anything more, just tell me if there is any success.
No change. BTW, there's some text in the UL corner:
Wait...
Done
UDC Start
And then a standing Andy with a little speech balloon and then "POWER RESET or UNKNOWN UPLOAD MODE" as before. IIRC there may have been an error code in the UL but that's not there. Maybe the battery pull changed that, maybe not. Meanwhile, I'm going to try some other button "gestures" to see if the produce something else. Probably not... "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - - ≠ Einstein
The situation is definitely abnormal. This shouldn't happen.
A USB jig can help to get to Odin mode but I don't think you have one.
I'd try these variants:
1. Boot the phone into this abnormal boot mode, run Odin and connect the phone to the PC. Then press and hold Power, Vol- and Home till the phone reboots (more than 10 sec) and see if it reboots to Odin mode.
The second variant will be later.
No change. BTW, there's some text in the UL corner:
Wait...
Done
UDC Start
And then a standing Andy with a little speech balloon and then "POWER RESET or UNKNOWN UPLOAD MODE" as before. IIRC there may have been an error code in the UL but that's not there. Maybe the battery pull changed that, maybe not. Meanwhile, I'm going to try some other button "gestures" to see if the produce something else. Probably not... "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - - ≠ Einstein
And this is about the only result:
Vol Up + Pwr
Ok, here's the second variant:
- Boot to system.
- Press "Andy" with black dialpad and dial *#9900#
- You should see a menu. Press "Debub Level ..." button and select High.
- Power off the phone and try to boot to Odin mode.