Database Users

Samsung Developers - Hard Brick RFI (Samsung is working on it)

UPDATE
Samsung is now working to release a fix for this issue. Also glad to know Samsung is working closely supporting developers in this XDA community
More info here:
http://www.xda-developers.com/android/samsung-diligently-working-towards-hardbrick-fix/
Thank you to all members that helped contacting Samsung, and in a constructive way identifying the problem and report it in a professional way.
I hope Samsung is here to stay and work more collaboratively with this community
Cheers!
____
Hi
Just received a response from Samsung developers on the topic, and need your help providing more details.
Please note that, you must only refer to scenarios using the STOCK Samsung ROM (not custom, cooked, rooted) and standard flashing methods (OTA or Kies).
If we're not able to provide this information, the case is closed.
http://innovator.samsungmobile.com/...Id=1&selectedSequence=00dgu030000~&viewMode=2
Hi,
We have failed to reproduce the bug, please provide a sure way to reproduce it, otherwise we won't be able to help.
While reading through the xda developers forum where this issue is discussed, I noticed that everyone reporting this is using rooted or leaked software. We cannot help you if you don't provide us with all the information - which software version? What are the exact steps?
Regards,
Adam Panasiuk
Samsung Developers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

nCoder said:
Hi
Just received a response from Samsung developers on the topic, and need your help providing more details.
Please note that, you must only refer to scenarios using the STOCK Samsung ROM (not custom, cooked, rooted) and standard flashing methods (OTA or Kies).
If we're not able to provide this information, the case is closed.
http://innovator.samsungmobile.com/...Id=1&selectedSequence=00dgu030000~&viewMode=2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've seen at least one report of XXLPY killing someone's device in stock recovery.
Also, Sprint was able to reproduce this on their devices (and apparently is deploying a fix) - I'll try to find more on that later.
"please provide a sure way to reproduce this" - ARE THEY KIDDING? If you reproduce this, YOUR DEVICE IS DEAD. One can't provide a sure way to reproduce a bug that you can test ONCE successfully. As stated by others, even a Google engineer himself, the fwrev 0x19 ERASE bug is intermittent and won't always happen. There is no "sure" way to reproduce this. However, this is a bug that was confirmed by Google during Galaxy Nexus development and we have confirmed that we have the same chip/fwrev as ones that Google experienced problems with in GNex prototypes.

Entropy512 said:
I've seen at least one report of XXLPY killing someone's device in stock recovery.
Also, Sprint was able to reproduce this on their devices (and apparently is deploying a fix) - I'll try to find more on that later.
"please provide a sure way to reproduce this" - ARE THEY KIDDING? If you reproduce this, YOUR DEVICE IS DEAD. One can't provide a sure way to reproduce a bug that you can test ONCE successfully. As stated by others, even a Google engineer himself, the fwrev 0x19 ERASE bug is intermittent and won't always happen. There is no "sure" way to reproduce this. However, this is a bug that was confirmed by Google during Galaxy Nexus development and we have confirmed that we have the same chip/fwrev as ones that Google experienced problems with in GNex prototypes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand, but not proving evidence the bug exists in a stock rom, or reference to a reliable source (Do you have a formal statement from Sprint?) Even if the scenario is "Install ROM version N7000XXXLPx using Kies, then go to recovery and do this, then repeat XX times step 3, reboot, ...", we need to provide a scenario and examples of users that bricked their devices or else this channel to Samsung simply closes .
From what I understand, they are willing to break some devices to be able to confirm the problem.
Feel free to go to the link above and reply directly to Samsung

Weasels! I'm seriously disappointed that their "engineers" don't read up on the latest regarding their own devices....

one thing is for sure, if they can't reproduce it, they wont fix it and pretend that it has nothing to do with their roms..
same situation as franco on his kernel, he can't reproduce the wifi problem so he wont do anything.
i can't use a stock ics + cwm thinking that this bug is present...

We just need as much information as possible.
This is a privileged channel to Samsung, and we should take advantage of this opportunity.
Complaining doesn't help. We need constructive ideas and reliable information

Well, can just say one thing.
Long Live to CM9 and all CM based roms.
Seems that those will be the only safe roms for a long long time.
@nCode : Then go for it bro', break your phone and tell samsung what happend. I wont try to find a way to reproduce the bug except if they give me a Note to test on it.

Well this gonna be challenging. Actually there's no exact way to reproduce hardbrick.
Maybe Entropy or someone of the guys that understand situation to the details should simply try to EXPLAIN what is actually going on... but i agree with Samsung developers it's hard to fix something when you can't reproduce the problem ...

nCoder said:
We just need as much information as possible.
This is a privileged channel to Samsung, and we should take advantage of this opportunity.
Complaining doesn't help. We need constructive ideas and reliable information
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, they could try this scenario on a dozen phones, and they will reproduce it:
1. install a GB Rom, root it
2. make a nandroid backup
3. flash official ICS Rom, get root
4. do several factory resets and cache wipes
5. attempt to do a nandroid restore from the CWMR
They are bound to brick at least one device on step 4 or 5.

Yes, there is a sure way to reproduce the bug:
Take as many Notes as you can that have LPY or any official ICS, it doesn't matter how they got it.
Now factory reset them at least 100 times.
This is no joke, they can do it, it's quality assurance.

chasmodo said:
Well, they could try this scenario on a dozen phones, and they will reproduce it:
1. install a GB Rom, root it
2. make a nandroid backup
3. flash official ICS Rom, get root
4. do several factory resets and cache wipes
5. attempt to do a nandroid restore from the CWMR
They are bound to brick at least one device on step 4 or 5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They won't accept this since it involves root and/or CWM.
I'll try to dig up the report of a user dying on stock recovery.

Why does not Samsung contact Mr Sumrall and other Google developers who worked on the Nexus?

i thought they support developers by supplying smartphones with unlocked bootloaders... they should support rooting and cwm in a way (even the slightest consideration for the betterment of stock )

If I'm not wrong the guy who bricked his phone with stock recovery was Robotu.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/member.php?u=2526707
His brick post. He used stock recovery but was rooted though.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=26046849&postcount=140

musashiro said:
i thought they support developers by supplying smartphones with unlocked bootloaders... they should support rooting and cwm in a way (even the slightest consideration for the betterment of stock )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's not the point, if the bug can only be reproduced on a rooted/unofficial ROM then they can simply ignore it by saying that it's not a bug introduced by them. They're not liable for other people's mistakes.

Dragooon123 said:
That's not the point, if the bug can only be reproduced on a rooted/unofficial ROM then they can simply ignore it by saying that it's not a bug introduced by them. They're not liable for other people's mistakes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
and again, im just saying its like a "pathway" to fixing it and its proven to be present on official roms by Ken Sumrall..
sorry for not helping a lot, and posting chitchat...
im no big developer but whenever i troubleshoot, i make it to a point that i inspect every possible angle or scenario..
somehow reminds me of the quote "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."
just my 2 cents on this

Dragooon123 said:
That's not the point, if the bug can only be reproduced on a rooted/unofficial ROM then they can simply ignore it by saying that it's not a bug introduced by them. They're not liable for other people's mistakes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But it's a way for them to ESTABLISH that there's something wrong with their kernels. If they want to, of course.
You can wipe everything, and do restores till you drop dead on rooted GB, and everything will be fine.
Not so on ICS, as we all know only too well.

old news, everyone know/should know that samsung software support is peace of sh*t.. even if they will find that bug, they wont announce it because they dont want to reduce company reputation :/

Dragooon123 said:
That's not the point, if the bug can only be reproduced on a rooted/unofficial ROM then they can simply ignore it by saying that it's not a bug introduced by them. They're not liable for other people's mistakes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is very true. It needs to be something that "the average users" could recreate, meaning going through the "OFFICIAL" steps that Samsung put out. When I was developing for RIM/Blackberry we didn't support any custom software packages and the same thing when I was doing freelance development for Apple as we did NOT support and jailbroken software since it altered out factory coding....LOL.

Ueihtam said:
Well, can just say one thing.
Long Live to CM9 and all CM based roms.
Seems that those will be the only safe roms for a long long time.
@nCode : Then go for it bro', break your phone and tell samsung what happend. I wont try to find a way to reproduce the bug except if they give me a Note to test on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nobody is asking to break anyone's phone. We just need reliable information either from people that bricked his phone using a stock ROM, or someone that understands and is able to explain the scenarios.

GPS fix that does NOT require OS upgrade, stay on JWR66N/JSS15J/CM10.2

I noticed some folks had perfectly functioning tablets except for the GPS issue and were concerned upgrading to JSS15Q might introduce multi-touch or other issues.
They might currently be on JWR66N or JSS15J and just want the GPS fix and nothing else.
I put together a fix that will accomplish just that.
It has been tested on JWR66N and JSS15J.
I will warn you that I've made my best effort to make sure this doesn't cause additional issues, but you always take a risk when making changes to an otherwise working system, although in this case, I consider it small.
If you are already running custom recovery, ignore the instructions below, just flash as any other update.zip
You need your bootloader to be unlocked.
You need to one-time load TWRP (or CWM) into memory but do NOT need to overwrite your existing stock recovery.
You do NOT need to be rooted.
Downloads
download TWRP custom recovery
rename to twrp.img and place in your adb (platform-tools) directory
copy update-GPS-lock-fix.zip to your tablet's virtual sdcard
Within command prompt in your adb (platform-tools) directory
adb reboot bootloader
fastboot boot twrp.img
Within TWRP
install update-GPS-lock-fix.zip
reboot (do not choose to install SuperSU unless you want it)

I am willing to give it a try in a day or two if you don't get enough people to test this, I'd do it now but I upgraded to JSS15Q already so I'll have to reflash the previous version and I have some assignments to finish first.
Sort of off topic, but as someone who had very good touchscreen response on JSS15J and now has minor issues on JSS15Q, is there any way for me to extract and apply the touchscreen settings from JSS15J update into anything in the future? This is assuming that Google uses the touchscreen settings from JSS15Q in future updates since they appear to consider them a "fix".
Anyway, thanks a lot for creating this patch for us.

I don't know if the touchscreen firmware is flashed onto the tablet by the kernel persistently or loaded everytime it starts, but the touchscreen firmware is contained in the kernel.
Theoretically you may be able to get JSS15J touchscreen behavior by using the JSS15J kernel with your JSS15Q ROM.
However, if the touchscreen firmware is flashed directly into hardware and the versions can only go up, then you are stuck with the JSS15Q touchscreen firmware.
So basically try flashing the JSS15J kernel and see if the touchscreen behavior changes.

If my device is rooted, can I just flash it normally?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

It works
Hello sfhub ...
I'm in a unique situation here. I'm on Slimbean beta3 which is based on JSS15Q and the fixes should be in place. However, something
is lost in translation and the GPS issue is still there. So I applied your fixes and (so far) it appears to fix the GPS issue.
I don't know what you did there, can you explain ? Did you just just pull the google fixes off their release ?
Thanks.

chrolmesq said:
If my device is rooted, can I just flash it normally?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes.

hyperxguy said:
Hello sfhub ...
I'm in a unique situation here. I'm on Slimbean beta3 which is based on JSS15Q and the fixes should be in place. However, something
is lost in translation and the GPS issue is still there. So I applied your fixes and (so far) it appears to fix the GPS issue.
I don't know what you did there, can you explain ? Did you just just pull the google fixes off their release ?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I extracted the GPS firmware and made it available to previous releases.
It should theoretically work with any ROM as long as it is based on stock.

sfhub said:
I extracted the GPS firmware and made it available to previous releases.
It should theoretically work with any ROM as long as it is based on stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You extracted the GPS firmware from JSS15Q?

Yes.

This fix appears to be working well.
Removed testing from title.
Given that the JSS15Q touchscreen firmware is a one-way street, no going back, there may be more interest in this solution to the GPS issue, especially if your touch screen in working acceptably well on JWR66N or JSS15J.

Navigated a couple of long trips today and worked like a charm.
Thanks.
Such a clever idea !

it does work

argh, so the fix worked perfectly, GPS finally works for me!! thank you!
But I am getting spammed with "Bluetooth Share has stopped" messages so the system is unusable. I will reflash the original CM, apparently bluetooth is broken by the fix.
Any ideas?
EDIT: False alarm, it had nothing to do with this fix. It was entirely related to a Bluetooth Audio "Fix".

Wow, so we broke the berardi black cloud curse? Something good happened to your Nexii? That is really something!

sfhub said:
Wow, so we broke the berardi black cloud curse? Something good happened to your Nexii? That is really something!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes hahaha finally have a working unit GPS and all.. Thank you very much for the GPS fix!!!

I rooted my N7 and kept the stock ROM. I ran the OTA update, no problems, and it fixes the GPS issue. Still on JSS15J.
Sent from my Nexus 7 2 FHD Flo (razor)

So the GPS issue is a software issue? Not a hardware issue?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

Muikkuman said:
So the GPS issue is a software issue? Not a hardware issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For most people their GPS issue can be resolved in firmware (software).

sfhub said:
For most people their GPS issue can be resolved in firmware (software).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just tried GPS outside and had 11/20 connected.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

Muikkuman said:
I just tried GPS outside and had 11/20 connected.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, are you saying you had no GPS issues prior or are you saying you installed the GPS fix and now have no issues?
If latter, to help others, what OS were you running?

[Q] MF9 update issues

Hello everyone.
I recently got a GS4, and it has the MF9 update. I've been suffering from poor data connection, dropped signal, etc. After doing some searching, I've found that it is a well known problem.
My questions for you guys:
1) If I root and install a custom rom based on MF9, will I have the same issues?
2) Would I be better off just rooting and installing the latest OTA before MF9?
Thank you!

Custom rom might help. I'm stock rooted mf9 and have no problem whatsoever.

bjb_nyj101 said:
Hello everyone.
I recently got a GS4, and it has the MF9 update. I've been suffering from poor data connection, dropped signal, etc. After doing some searching, I've found that it is a well known problem.
My questions for you guys:
1) If I root and install a custom rom based on MF9, will I have the same issues?
2) Would I be better off just rooting and installing the latest OTA before MF9?
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sacs custom Rom and have no connectivity issues I highly recommend it.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

bjb_nyj101 said:
Hello everyone.
I recently got a GS4, and it has the MF9 update. I've been suffering from poor data connection, dropped signal, etc. After doing some searching, I've found that it is a well known problem.
My questions for you guys:
1) If I root and install a custom rom based on MF9, will I have the same issues?
2) Would I be better off just rooting and installing the latest OTA before MF9?
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your connections issues are with your phone (hardware or software), sprint's network or you location.
Doubtful that a ROM will make 'much' difference if you already have problems.
What might help is starting at complete stock MF9 - rwilco12 has a full 'one-click' with root here There is also a full wipe (clears the data partition too) that might be a better option for starting out.
Then once you get your phone activated update the PRL and then the Profile.
THEN maybe start thinking about ROMs. Spend some time looking reading and then reading some more and you will find what you need.

Im having signal issues but they are workinh on lte upgrades right now in my area I got much better connection today after flash comadose mod, I went from around 500 kbps to 2 mbps quite a change and I love it but im still having trouble with 3g dropping out completely still in areas I get 2mbps and then it comes back after like a couple mins sometimes I see an ehrpd error code when it happens
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Xparent Skyblue Tapatalk 2

leaderbuilder said:
Your connections issues are with your phone (hardware or software), sprint's network or you location.
Doubtful that a ROM will make 'much' difference if you already have problems.
What might help is starting at complete stock MF9 - rwilco12 has a full 'one-click' with root here There is also a full wipe (clears the data partition too) that might be a better option for starting out.
Then once you get your phone activated update the PRL and then the Profile.
THEN maybe start thinking about ROMs. Spend some time looking reading and then reading some more and you will find what you need.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for all the great info. I'm just at a loss as to what the problem could be. I don't think it's the phone itself; the previous owner said he had zero issues with it. I thought it could be Sprint's crappy network, but I activated my iPhone 5 for a few hours and had none of the issues I have on the GS4

bjb_nyj101 said:
Thanks for all the great info. I'm just at a loss as to what the problem could be. I don't think it's the phone itself; the previous owner said he had zero issues with it. I thought it could be Sprint's crappy network, but I activated my iPhone 5 for a few hours and had none of the issues I have on the GS4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well since you say you got it used - from someone else, I'd re-iterate reloading the entire stock MF9 from the .tar (or one-click) to reload/reset all partitions and take it back to stock. Without starting fresh you (and us here) have no real idea what is on it.
Then again with what I recommended previously.

leaderbuilder said:
Well since you say you got it used - from someone else, I'd re-iterate reloading the entire stock MF9 from the .tar (or one-click) to reload/reset all partitions and take it back to stock. Without starting fresh you (and us here) have no real idea what is on it.
Then again with what I recommended previously.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I did restore it back to stock MF9 and the problem persists

bjb_nyj101 said:
Yeah, I did restore it back to stock MF9 and the problem persists
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you restore via Odin? or just the zip(s)
If problem persists after full Odin to stock, updating PRL and Profile then I'd say it's your device. Look at warranty. You could try some tweaks like ComaDose etc. But if they don't do the trick then I don't know.

[Q] Contact Synch using loads of data after PA install

I recently installing PA 4.6 Beta 6 on my Nexus 4 because Android 5 just wasn't working out for me. Unfortunately I've encountered a serious problem: my phone is now using about a gigabyte of data per day! I only noticed this when the default data warning limit kicked in, but initially dismissed it as a side-effect of downloading/synching everything after the install. I reset the data limit and thought nothing of it until 2 days later when the 2GB limit kicked in again.
I've installed Network Connections by Anti Spy Mobile which seems to indicate all the data usage is from Google Contact Synch. I can only imagine something is looping, but seriously how could it be using so much data!?
I've un-installed anything I don't use and turned off automatic backup, but the data flood continues. A search for similar problems hasn't revealed anyone else with this problem, so I thought I'd ask on here before removing PA and switching to Cyanogen Mod.
Cheers.

It's not the ROM causing this.
#stayparanoid

Yep - was never insinuating that it was PA; just that it occurred following the install.
Sadly I haven't been able to work out what was causing it and have had to flash a new ROM before heading back to work in the morning or my mobile provider is likely to have a fit. I've flashed CM and will see how it goes, but I may well come back to PA or go the PAC ROM route. I'm definitely a fan of the PA features and am grateful for the work done by the dev team.

Did you try to accept the 5.0 update while on the 4.6 beta? It would probably have come through a notification. If you told it to download, it will never stop trying until you clean flash
#stayparanoid

Pirateghost said:
Did you try to accept the 5.0 update while on the 4.6 beta? It would probably have come through a notification. If you told it to download, it will never stop trying until you clean flash
#stayparanoid
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It was actually 4.45 I downloaded because I wanted a stable release. After install there were some OTA updates and I did download them assuming anything OTA would be fairly stable, but I didn't know/realise it would have tried to bring down a major new version (5.0). Looks like it could have been my mistake then for thinking it would just be updates to the version I'd installed.
I did take a backup before switching to CM so if I get some time I might flash the backup and check what version it is.

onyx26_uk said:
It was actually 4.45 I downloaded because I wanted a stable release. After install there were some OTA updates and I did download them assuming anything OTA would be fairly stable, but I didn't know/realise it would have tried to bring down a major new version (5.0). Looks like it could have been my mistake then for thinking it would just be updates to the version I'd installed.
I did take a backup before switching to CM so if I get some time I might flash the backup and check what version it is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it was the google ota, it wouldn't install anyway.
We have not provided an upgrade ota from 4.x to 5.x
Its likely you were still on whatever version you installed, but the ota was constantly trying to download
#stayparanoid

Non-Verizon sim, broken sms with 5.0 root

So I've replicated this problem three or four times, after which I've given up on updating to 5.0 until I have some solid solutions. Whenever I try to flash one of the rooted OA8 roms here on xda I lose the ability to send sms, that is literally the only thing that is broken (4g works, calls work, phone activates to towers fine.) My process for flashing these roms has been full wipe > flash rom > reboot download > odin OA8 kernel; that's coming from rooted NK2. I've talked to another user on here who has the same problem and our common thing is that we're both on non-verizon sims (straight talk in my case.) I've tried updating the PRL, wiping cache/dalvik, factory reset. Downgrading back to 4.4.4 fixes it every time, so it's definitely not a network issue. What's the issue here? I realize that those of us with non-verizon plans are the minority here, but if anyone who knows more about this than me has some suggestions, throw them down here.

Same problem for me.
Havent been able to send sms or mms while on lollipop. kitkat works fine. wish they would fix this. i love using lollipop.

0verdose said:
Havent been able to send sms or mms while on lollipop. kitkat works fine. wish they would fix this. i love using lollipop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried a factory reset that might help nvm just reread and saw u did

djdrews4357 said:
Have you tried a factory reset that might help nvm just reread and saw u did
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah honestly I'm thinking it's something the rom devs will have to fix on their end, if possible. I've been rooting for a while, on a number of phones, and haven't run into anything like this before. I'm afraid it's out of my little bit of android knowledge

wareju said:
Yeah honestly I'm thinking it's something the rom devs will have to fix on their end, if possible. I've been rooting for a while, on a number of phones, and haven't run into anything like this before. I'm afraid it's out of my little bit of android knowledge
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same problem, however it was only for sending mms while on wifi. Have you tried using a different app?

Yeah, stock vzw app and google's messenger neither worked for me