Database Users

Brick

Brick is the slang term for an electronic device which cannot function (or has been rendered useless by damaged firmware). This comes from the fact that the device in question can be considered only as useful as a brick, and little else. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brick...

Haha lol I know a few ppl that can only use their devices as bricks lol...

It should be added that if you can fix the device (by reflashing it or whatever), then it's not truly bricked.

athompson said:
It should be added that if you can fix the device (by reflashing it or whatever), then it's not truly bricked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any brick is fixable technically.
Sent from my Tardis

ArianaGrande said:
Any brick is fixable technically.
Sent from my Tardis
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not all. What you are referring to is a soft brick. A hard brick has no coming back.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

boborone said:
Not all. What you are referring to is a soft brick. A hard brick has no coming back.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Still not true. On my device's forums (HTC One S), hard bricks are being fixed by JIG boxes and J-Tagging the device. So it is still possible.

kylepont said:
Still not true. On my device's forums (HTC One S), hard bricks are being fixed by JIG boxes and J-Tagging the device. So it is still possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Still not true. Not all devices haves JTAG. And don't argue semantics. On the general, hard bricks, by very nature of the name, have no recovery. And soft bricks do.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

boborone said:
Still not true. Not all devices haves JTAG. And don't argue semantics. On the general, hard bricks, by very nature of the name, have no recovery. And soft bricks do.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just stumbled upon this, hah! I can't believe this debate about the correct usage of "bricked" was going on even back then (2013 apparently). To me it is obvious that a bricked device is, and will always be, non-functioning. The term "paperweight" has also been around for a *long* time.
If it is "bricked" it is dead, period. There is no such thing "soft-bricked". It's like saying someone is kinda' dead. They either are dead or are they not dead.
Hmm, do zombie-esque terms apply here? [emoji4]
......TiTiB (tweak it 'til it breaks)......
Galaxy Tab S | SMT-T700 | klimtwifi

TiTiB said:
I just stumbled upon this, hah! I can't believe this debate about the correct usage of "bricked" was going on even back then (2013 apparently). To me it is obvious that a bricked device is, and will always be, non-functioning. The term "paperweight" has also been around for a *long* time.
If it is "bricked" it is dead, period. There is no such thing "soft-bricked". It's like saying someone is kinda' dead. They either are dead or are they not dead.
Hmm, do zombie-esque terms apply here? [emoji4]
......TiTiB (tweak it 'til it breaks)......
Galaxy Tab S | SMT-T700 | klimtwifi
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think everyone in android has it easy. WinMo and before, Motorola and Nokia devices, if you messed up, you were ****ed. You had a brick.
I also think bd needs to be added to the definition of a brick.

boborone said:
I think everyone in android has it easy. WinMo and before, Motorola and Nokia devices, if you messed up, you were ****ed. You had a brick.
I also think bd needs to be added to the definition of a brick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Soft brick: can fix, bootloader, download mode or recovery are still accessible....
Hard brick: device is kill.... No power on.... You're screwed, enjoy your new paperweight...
My definition of a brick and arguably the most important

^^ and she throws em BTW, ^^
Don't piss her off

TiTiB said:
It's like saying someone is kinda' dead. They either are dead or are they not dead.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Comas are the definition of kinda dead..

boborone said:
^^ and she throws em BTW, ^^
Don't piss her off
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While you're sleeping, so you wont even know it's coming.

2008, wow!

Is it me or is the galaxy s the easiest phone to brick

I have had the nexus and g1 and sprint hero and these phone have never bricked or failed..abrielle I flash a rom on my vibrant i start to get nervous and cross my fingers it doesn't brick again..
There are probably more threads on"help I bricked my vibrant" here than there if on other phones?
What do you think?
Do any of you agree
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

That might be because its the only phone u can fix from a brick.

Most people who think they bricked there phones only soft bricked it which is easily fixed.. This phone is actually pretty hard to brick imo..
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

No it is you
Most of these "I brick my phone" are due to PEBKAC or OTA update.
Most of these "bricks" are fixable.

Alanrocks15 said:
I have had the nexus and g1 and sprint hero and these phone have never bricked or failed..abrielle I flash a rom on my vibrant i start to get nervous and cross my fingers it doesn't brick again..
There are probably more threads on"help I bricked my vibrant" here than there if on other phones?
What do you think?
Do any of you agree
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The term brick is being tossed around to much. Bricked mean no nothing, nothing at all happening, no lights turning on, no vibrations nothing...nadda...
Not "OMG I BRICKED MY PHONE IT SHOWS A COMPUTER AND A PHONE ON THE SCREENNNN HALPPP"
The Vibrant is the hardest phone I have ever seen to brick. I cant speak for other Galaxy S phones cuz I only have the Vibrant. So far I have only heard of one fool proof way of bricking the phone, it was something that had to do with pulling the usb while using odin.

ipeench said:
The term brick is being tossed around to much. Bricked mean no nothing, nothing at all happening, no lights turning on, no vibrations nothing...nadda...
Not "OMG I BRICKED MY PHONE IT SHOWS A COMPUTER AND A PHONE ON THE SCREENNNN HALPPP"
The Vibrant is the hardest phone I have ever seen to brick. I cant speak for other Galaxy S phones cuz I only have the Vibrant. So far I have only heard of one fool proof way of bricking the phone, it was something that had to do with pulling the usb while using odin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 and even a USB pull during Odin will only soft brick,, I have done that several times.

Alanrocks15 said:
I have had the nexus and g1 and sprint hero and these phone have never bricked or failed..abrielle I flash a rom on my vibrant i start to get nervous and cross my fingers it doesn't brick again..
There are probably more threads on"help I bricked my vibrant" here than there if on other phones?
What do you think?
Do any of you agree
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have come from a Nexus One and i agree 100%.

ipeench said:
So far I have only heard of one fool proof way of bricking the phone, it was something that had to do with pulling the usb while using odin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually. I did this and even that didn't brick the phone. I managed to get out of the brick by using volume buttons and usb cable. But my phone seemed dead to the world. No power button. Nothing when plugging it into the usb. But some more reading was done and I got life into it.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

really? I think its easier to brink my psp then the vibrant

Yea but the other phones don't even soft brick never noe even for an ota..
Constantly fixing a soft bricked vibrant
Don't get h me wrong I love my vibrant
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Alanrocks15 said:
Yea but the other phones don't even soft brick never noe even for an ota..
Constantly fixing a soft bricked vibrant
Don't get h me wrong I love my vibrant
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Trust me, i have bricked it almost once a day.
Never on the Nexus One.

A lot of the bricks are due to lag fix. Other phones don't deal with this. If you don't mess with lag fixes it updates quite well. Also the leaked firmware we get from samsung to play with probably isn't as stable. The hardware is good, samsung doesn't do the software well.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Yea but like other phones also have their perks as well but I don't know you have to do a lot of things to the vibrant before you can use it s power
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Alanrocks15 said:
I have had the nexus and g1 and sprint hero and these phone have never bricked or failed..abrielle I flash a rom on my vibrant i start to get nervous and cross my fingers it doesn't brick again..
There are probably more threads on"help I bricked my vibrant" here than there if on other phones?
What do you think?
Do any of you agree
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the vibrant is probably one of the hardest phone to brick. all these "bricks" are caused by user error on their part. and from what I can tell from your signature, you're not very smart either. a g1 should never use 256swap.

Technically...
I always thought "Brick" meant just that. literally a worthless device best used,like a brick, as a paperweight or something heavy to throw through your ex-girlfriends window. i have abused the vibrant in unspeakable ways and with a 5 minute odin, little nandroid maybe and good as new.

questgraves said:
I always thought "Brick" meant just that. literally a worthless device best used,like a brick, as a paperweight or something heavy to throw through your ex-girlfriends window. i have abused the vibrant in unspeakable ways and with a 5 minute odin, little nandroid maybe and good as new.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with this. "brick(ed)" has become to general now.

I think we all KNOW that BRICK = DEAD PHONE/PAPER-WEIGHT. I have always been bothered by people throwing that term around way too easy... I used to fight it, but so many do it, it's unfortunately become the norm.
Perhaps we just need a new name for SOFT-BRICK....
How about thread titles like this so it's more clear it IS NOT a Brick:
[Q] Help, I just LIMP-DICKED my Vibrant!!!

s15274n said:
I think we all KNOW that BRICK = DEAD PHONE/PAPER-WEIGHT. I have always been bothered by people throwing that term around way too easy... I used to fight it, but so many do it, it's unfortunately become the norm.
Perhaps we just need a new name for SOFT-BRICK....
How about thread titles like this so it's more clear it IS NOT a Brick:
[Q] Help, I just LIMP-DICKED my Vibrant!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its annoying to me to ... This tells me that some of the users on here still DON'T understand enough of what they are doing , if every time they get a BOOTLOOP , they say that they Bricked the phone ....
Bricked means just that , Brick....
The only known way to revive a phone that has been bricked is by the use of JTag(mostly used to revive Bricked windows mobile phones) , to date theres been only one ANDROID phone for which JTag has been developed , and thats the G1 ......

My g1 ran superb on 256 swap on 2.1 hero
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Imo, the iphone is the easiest phone to brick. Even with one touch jailbreaks and such...
Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk

Wrong question. please delete

a Nexus is pretty unbrickable unless someone is very dumb or simply a hardware bug ****s the device up. If anyone bricks this device or any Nexus I'll award him idiot of the year trophy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
-franco
As a pretty unknowledgeable semi-active member of XDA who reads every single root/return to factory related post before rooting his phone, who tries to help other members a little bit when I can, who learns some code when he has time, I also mess and play with my phone a lot. Occasionally, I do stuffs with my phone that I don't really understand because of the confidence that I (probably) won't brick my phone and as long as I can boot to the boot loader then I am fine.
But... I still feel that doing stuffs without knowing what is the really idiotic stuffs to avoid is kinda dumb.
So my question is, what kind of actions from the phone/adb would lead to a permanent dysfunction of a Nexus 4?

KyraOfFire said:
So my question is, what kind of actions from the phone/adb would lead to a permanent dysfunction of a Nexus 4?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly, I don't even know anything that can brick the Nexus 4. The only thing that comes to mind is that red blinking LED that people get but I'm not even sure where that comes from, as far as I can tell its from benchmarking with AnTuTu.
Most of the "brick" threads from the Nexus 4 are misleading because their devices aren't really bricked. They just dont know how bootloader mode + fastboot works and are unable to get themselves flashed back to stock.
This is also a illegal topic to talk about on XDA, http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1849195

Thanks for your answer.
I'll stop discussing this then.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

I accept that Trophy with honor.

QHSUSB_DLOAD Problem

Hej Guys,
I normally used my Nexus 4 - then it´s shut down(used hells-core + slimbean).
Now nothing will work(no normal booting, no fastboot and no charging etc) - only when I try to connect it with my PC the N4 wants to install drivers(QHSUSB_DLOAD anything).
Any ideas from your side, how to solve the problem?
BR,
Rash

Rashiel said:
Hej Guys,
I normally used my Nexus 4 - then it´s shut down(used hells-core + slimbean).
Now nothing will work(no normal booting, no fastboot and no charging etc) - only when I try to connect it with my PC the N4 wants to install drivers(QHSUSB_DLOAD anything).
Any ideas from your side, how to solve the problem?
BR,
Rash
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
whats hells-core?

Rashiel said:
Hej Guys,
I normally used my Nexus 4 - then it´s shut down(used hells-core + slimbean).
Now nothing will work(no normal booting, no fastboot and no charging etc) - only when I try to connect it with my PC the N4 wants to install drivers(QHSUSB_DLOAD anything).
Any ideas from your side, how to solve the problem?
BR,
Rash
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your phone is screwed. Send it to get repaired
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

@simms22 -> A core from a german dev(Hellsgod - I think he is here on xda too).
@urmothersluvr -> Mhm, seems so No possibility to fix it myself?
Btw. I rooted my phone(as Custom-Kernel/Custom-Rom says).. May any problems with warranty? Not really(because phone don´t starts, right)?
BR,
Rash

Rashiel said:
@simms22 -> A core from a german dev(Hellsgod - I think he is here on xda too).
@urmothersluvr -> Mhm, seems so No possibility to fix it myself?
Btw. I rooted my phone(as Custom-Kernel/Custom-Rom says).. May any problems with warranty? Not really(because phone don´t starts, right)?
BR,
Rash
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know when I had a sensation if your phone got in that mode it ment u bricked it. They can't tell what is on your phone cause that mode is used to flash firmware by manufacturers. Send it in and they will reflash it for you and send it back. Dont tell them u rooted it or unlocked it or flashed a ROM/kernel.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

Uhm - not really good...
Because I don´t do anything "hard" things with the Nexus - only played a little game..
I won´t tell anything to Media-Markt...^^
Hope this will be done fast
Thanks for help!

Your device is bricked. Only way will be to send it back to have the motherboard replaced.

zelendel said:
Your device is bricked. Only way will be to send it back to have the motherboard replaced.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks - as I wrote above, there should no problems with warranty or?
I mean, how should they see, if there was a Custom-Kernel/Custom-Rom on the Nexus?

Rashiel said:
Thanks - as I wrote above, there should no problems with warranty or?
I mean, how should they see, if there was a Custom-Kernel/Custom-Rom on the Nexus?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It depends on if they can bring the board back. If they can then they will see that and may charge you for the repair but the chances are slim.

zelendel said:
It depends on if they can bring the board back. If they can then they will see that and may charge you for the repair but the chances are slim.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay - so my chances are 50/50
That´s really bad - any ideas of how much they would invoice me, if they see it?

Rashiel said:
Okay - so my chances are 50/50
That´s really bad - any ideas of how much they would invoice me, if they see it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would say more like 95/5 That they wont see it. It is really hard to bring the board back. If they do it depends on them. Could be cheaper to get new device but wouldnt count on them seeing it.

zelendel said:
I would say more like 95/5 That they wont see it. It is really hard to bring the board back. If they do it depends on them. Could be cheaper to get new device but wouldnt count on them seeing it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If they won´t find it and make a new board in it - i´ll never flash or root a Smartphone again
And I thought, Nexus is unbrickable

Rashiel said:
If they won´t find it and make a new board in it - i´ll never flash or root a Smartphone again
And I thought, Nexus is unbrickable
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No device is unbrickable. All you have to do is make sure you understand what your doing before you do it. Spend a week or so researching what you are doing then and understand what you are doing first.

zelendel said:
No device is unbrickable. All you have to do is make sure you understand what your doing before you do it. Spend a week or so researching what you are doing then and understand what you are doing first.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flashed rooted SGSII / Galaxy Nexus..
I have a bit experience..
But I don´t exactly know what happened to N4...

Rashiel said:
Flashed rooted SGSII / Galaxy Nexus..
I have a bit experience..
But I don´t exactly know what happened to N4...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is exactly what happened. There is no SGSII rom that will work on the Nexus. Only Nexus roms will work on the Nexus.

zelendel said:
That is exactly what happened. There is no SGSII rom that will work on the Nexus. Only Nexus roms will work on the Nexus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think we missunderstood..
I had an S2 and flashed Roms for that..
I had a Nexus and flashed Roms for that..
And now for Nexus 4 - and I flashed the correct ones..

Rashiel said:
I think we missunderstood..
I had an S2 and flashed Roms for that..
I had a Nexus and flashed Roms for that..
And now for Nexus 4 - and I flashed the correct ones..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I misunderstood your post. So lets see if we can figure out what happened. What was the last thing you did before it happened?

zelendel said:
Yeah I misunderstood your post. So lets see if we can figure out what happened. What was the last thing you did before it happened?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Downloaded PA - played a bit.

Rashiel said:
Downloaded PA - played a bit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It sounds like you flashed a ROM/kernel for another device. Can you post the file you flashed?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

Hej..
Now more Information..
Loaded PA for Mako..
Played Pocket Legends..
Not more..
And while im playing my power goes to zero, so it booted down..
Now after i did nothing with it and loaded 2 minutes..
I could boot and my Nexus is repaired
Thanks for your help guys!
Gesendet von meinem Nexus 4 mit Tapatalk 2

[Q] How do I purposely "brick" a nexus?

I like to "brick" my nexus 4 or make it boot loop or stuck at the google logo or in other words make it appear to be dead or defective. But also retain recovery so I can easily fix it without the need for a computer.
How do i do it?
I did it many times accidentely on different devices while flashing different roms, but never on purpose and not on the nexus 4. So i am not sure how to do it.
I was thinking maybe flashing a kernel from a different device will do it, but not sure if that would be reversible.
So before I start to blindingly tinker with the phone, what is the best way to do it?

This doesn't sound shady at all.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

Why'd you do that lol?
Anyways, wipe system partition.

Biporch said:
Why'd you do that lol?
Anyways, wipe system partition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, ill give it a try.
Exodian said:
This doesn't sound shady at all.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol...
Well, if you must know, I like to send my phone to a relative in another country but don't like to pay 34% costumes taxes, so if it is a "Non working phone for parts only", i can claim its value to be under the allowable value and avoid taxes altogether.
Shady??? Maybe, but if I can save $100 then why not?

ronkoni said:
Thanks, ill give it a try.
Lol...
Well, if you must know, I like to send my phone to a relative in another country but don't like to pay 34% costumes taxes, so if it is a "Non working phone for parts only", i can claim its value to be under the allowable value and avoid taxes altogether.
Shady??? Maybe, but if I can save $100 then why not?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, you could also remove the back plate and disconnect the battery.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

Exodian said:
Well, you could also remove the back plate and disconnect the battery.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a lot of work, considering that the screws are non-standard and the back is tricky to get off. Not to mention the battery screws are REALLY easy to strip.
Just delete System, though the reason that your previous phone would bootloop was most likely a result of you not wiping System before flashing a new ROM, resulting in a corrupted System partition. I've done this a few times on my old Vibrant, back when I started using custom ROMs.
Best of Luck, keep the Update.zip file on the phone for a quick fix.

Astonishing !!!
Although, wiping just system wont help !
I may suggest you to wipe everything from FASTBOOT MODE.
Wipe even Bootloader and Radio.
It may help ! :good:

Really? Your asking how to commit fraud? Nice way to get banned.