Note 4 Stuck in Boot Loop - Help
I have a Note 4 SM-N910F, never been rooted, stock rom upgraded to 5.1.1 back in October, working fine until yesterday when it got stuck in a Boot loop.
Not sure what caused it but before it got stuck I was messing around with Google Photos which was running a bit slow.
Also I put it on the Qi Charger just before the loop started. It has an aftermarket Fone charger stuck to the battery. I’ve had this and the Qi Charger for 6mths with no problems before now.
It gets to the Samsung page waits a couple of seconds then boots again.
Here’s what I’ve tried - unsuccessfully - to fix the boot loop:
1: recovery mode.
I can get the little recovery text to appear in the top left but after a few seconds it boots again.
2: volume down, home
This gets me to the screen with up/down for continue/cancel.
This is the _only_ screen I can get to stay up without rebooting. It sits there waiting for input.
- Cancel, causes restart, of course, but back into the bootloop
3: Mashing on power button. Banging it, wiggling it, blowing on it.
I read somewhere this could cause a boot loop, but I doubt it is my case because
a. I’ve never had problems with the power button before
b: When I take out the battery and put it back in, it does NOT turn on. If I do the same holding the power button, it powers into the boot loop. So if the button were jammed on I would expect it to never remain off with the battery in.
3: flashing stock rom
I’m not 100% sure what build I had before. I know it was stock 5.1.1 OTA, and I’m pretty sure it was unlocked (my wife bought the phone and i inserted my old sim, but she may have bought it from my carrier and can’t remember)
So anyway I tried all three versions of TPH (unlocked) 5.1.1 from Sammobile.
Installed Odin 3.10.7 and flashed them.
It reboots to recovery but immediately boot loops again.
I doubt its to do with the version of the rom anyway since the symptoms are identical after flashing. Only now the boot loop always shows the little ‘recovery booting...’ text in the top left.
Here’s what I have NOT tried but am thinking about:
A: Re-partition option in Odin
B: Nand Erase All option in Odin
C: Buying a new battery.
On A/B: as far as I can tell what I have done so far should have left the data intact. I’m prepared to wipe all my data if it fixes my phone (no lectures about backups please!) and I’m tempted to do one of these on the off chance that the problem is caused by data or the “disk" problems.
But I don’t want to brick it. Can someone recommend how likely these are to help
And what they actually do?
(Please refrain from responses I see elsewhere like “this will brick your phone if you don’t know what you’re doing”. I don’t know what I’m doing, thats why I’m asking - just the facts please)
On C: the battery seems ok in that the power is solid even after not being plugged in for a long time, but since it was on the Qi Charger with that aftermarket thing stuck to it when it happened, I’m suspicious. Can any one say if this is a likely cause?
If so, it might be worth waiting till I get a new batter before doing A or B (can I wait days for Amazon!?)
[UPDATE] Got a new (genuine) battery at a local electronics store. No dice. Same problem, so it's not the battery. Shall I go ahead and re-partition.
[UPDATE] Got a PIT file from another forum, and flashed again with re-partition checked and PIT loaded. same results.
Is Nand-rease worth trying?
The phone is still under warranty so maybe I can return it.
But in that case I want to erase what's on it first.
thanks for any help
rhubarb
I don't think that the Samsung service center will accept cuz u have unofficiall custom
Simple Go to ur any nearby SOFTWARE ENGINEER may be he will help u out
Even I had the same problem with my NOTE 4 EDGE
Try downloading and flashing any "COJ5" build of 5.1.1 from sammobile. Samsung has recently issued a new update "COJ5" it basically locks down the bootloader and will not allow the device to run any previous builds.....Maybe your phone updated to COJ5 in the background and then it started messing around because the phone is rooted. Flashing "COJ5" will lock your bootloader and you will not be able to flash 4.4.4 or 5.0.2 but there is nothing to lose when your phone is already pretty much dead?.....ORRR if this is not a software issue then it could be related to hardware maybe the memory of your phone is done. I am not an expert on this but this is just an advice.....i have told you what will happen if u flash coj5 build now its up to you to decide. I would suggest you wait and wait if you are lucky to get a response from an expert and do what they say .......if not then give this a try!
**EDIT** another idea....First flash a custom recovery such as TWRP....see if it lets you boot into recovery and if it does then perform all sorts of formats.....and factory resets in there see if it works....if its still rebooting after format then flash the coj5 build of 5.1.1....note that you "MUST" format it with TWRP first and then check if its working because once you have coj5...it might not let you flash custom recoveries.
dork997 said:
Try downloading and flashing any "COJ5" build of 5.1.1 from sammobile. Samsung has recently issued a new update "COJ5" it basically locks down the bootloader and will not allow the device to run any previous builds.....Maybe your phone updated to COJ5 in the background and then it started messing around because the phone is rooted. Flashing "COJ5" will lock your bootloader and you will not be able to flash 4.4.4 or 5.0.2 but there is nothing to lose when your phone is already pretty much dead?.....ORRR if this is not a software issue then it could be related to hardware maybe the memory of your phone is done. I am not an expert on this but this is just an advice.....i have told you what will happen if u flash coj5 build now its up to you to decide. I would suggest you wait and wait if you are lucky to get a response from an expert and do what they say .......if not then give this a try!
**EDIT** another idea....First flash a custom recovery such as TWRP....see if it lets you boot into recovery and if it does then perform all sorts of formats.....and factory resets in there see if it works....if its still rebooting after format then flash the coj5 build of 5.1.1....note that you "MUST" format it with TWRP first and then check if its working because once you have coj5...it might not let you flash custom recoveries.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can flash TWRP through ODIN while on COJ5 bootloader. It's locked but you still can flash recoveries and kernel and 5.1.1 ROMS
I am very interested in this thread. I have the EXACT same problem as you have after installing SimplRom, which was a ROM prior to COJ5. It could indeed be that our bootloaders are locked now?
I am using the N910F and just like you, installing any ROM/Custom Recovery/Bootloader/Kernel doesn't help. Perhaps installing a COJ5 ROM might help. I will give that a try, but I've recently used Kies to install the latest official firmware, but it didn't fix the issue.
I will report back here and we'll work on this together to make our phones work again!
Osama lakdawala said:
I don't think that the Samsung service center will accept cuz u have unofficiall custom
Simple Go to ur any nearby SOFTWARE ENGINEER may be he will help u out
Even I had the same problem with my NOTE 4 EDGE
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks but:
1: I have no custom rom. I have never had a custom rom on this device. I want to take it to Samsung, but want to clear the memory first. How can I do that?
2: I _am_ a software engineer_
dork997 said:
Try downloading and flashing any "COJ5" build of 5.1.1 from sammobile. Samsung has recently issued a new update "COJ5" it basically locks down the bootloader and will not allow the device to run any previous builds.....Maybe your phone updated to COJ5 in the background and then it started messing around because the phone is rooted. Flashing "COJ5" will lock your bootloader and you will not be able to flash 4.4.4 or 5.0.2 but there is nothing to lose when your phone is already pretty much dead?.....ORRR if this is not a software issue then it could be related to hardware maybe the memory of your phone is done. I am not an expert on this but this is just an advice.....i have told you what will happen if u flash coj5 build now its up to you to decide. I would suggest you wait and wait if you are lucky to get a response from an expert and do what they say .......if not then give this a try!
**EDIT** another idea....First flash a custom recovery such as TWRP....see if it lets you boot into recovery and if it does then perform all sorts of formats.....and factory resets in there see if it works....if its still rebooting after format then flash the coj5 build of 5.1.1....note that you "MUST" format it with TWRP first and then check if its working because once you have coj5...it might not let you flash custom recoveries.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks to you and dork97 for the ideas. First some notes:
- I have never flashed a custom ROM, nor ROOTed this Note 4. The recent upgrade to 5.1.1 was official.
the first upgrade to 5.0.1 was automatic and after that I turned off automatic upgrades and upgraded to 5.1.1. manually. So I dont think it was an upgrade that caused it and it certainly was NOT a custom ROM or ROOT. I was doing nothing at all when the boot loop started.
- I'm not sure what ROM I had, but when I went looking for the available Portugal unlocked ROM, which _should_ be what I had, the latest were CJ03 (3, not 5) and before that CH03, CI03. Presumably I had one of those (my last update was October, so probably CH03).
I have tried all 3 of these, but the symptoms are the same.
I'm tempted to try the TWRP option - but would like some more details on what is and what it does, or what problem I might have that it would fix.
However I am probably still in time for a warranty repair - especially since I didnt actually do anything for this to happen. I would like to avoid losing that chance.
If I do take it in for warranty, I'd like to wipe the memory first though. How can I do that?
Finally can anyone actually tell me if the NAND ERASE is likely to help? How does flashing TWRP compare?
I get the feeling in fact, that I have a hardware problem. Especially given there were not software system changes around the time it happened, and given that it loops while trying to boot into recovery mode. In fact the only mode that doesnt constantly cycle is download mode. (Even holding the power button in dl mode does nothing which makes me suspect that, but pulling the battery out and replacing it leaves it off until I press the power button so perhaps not)
Thanks for the replies so far. Any more ideas, details?
roverrhubarb said:
I get the feeling in fact, that I have a hardware problem. Especially given there were not software system changes around the time it happened, and given that it loops while trying to boot into recovery mode. In fact the only mode that doesnt constantly cycle is download mode. (Even holding the power button in dl mode does nothing which makes me suspect that, but pulling the battery out and replacing it leaves it off until I press the power button so perhaps not)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the exact same as you. I did install a custom recovery (multiple) and still get the bootloop. From my tries yesterday, I indeed also suspect it may be a hardware issue. Perhaps to do with the battery/charging port. When I have my device unplugged and try to start in recovery/normalboot, it does not have a bootloop but simply turns off (and then doesn't respond until I pull the battery out). I think a NAND erase wouldn't do anything as I've personally tried that already.
Have you prior (upto a week) before you got the issues had your phone in a moist environment (bathroom while showering for example). I got my problems a week after I accidentally left my phone in the bathroom and installed custom ROM (which was done earlier and had no issues).
I've read online that it may have caused oxidation on the inside and may need some cleaning/drying with alcohol.
I still hold hope that we just have a software issue as download mode is working fine (apart from the Power off not working unless we pull out the battery).
Anybody have any experience with oxidation on their phone? Perhaps have had a similar bootloop due to hardware failure?
roverrhubarb said:
Thanks to you and dork97 for the ideas. First some notes:
- I have never flashed a custom ROM, nor ROOTed this Note 4. The recent upgrade to 5.1.1 was official.
the first upgrade to 5.0.1 was automatic and after that I turned off automatic upgrades and upgraded to 5.1.1. manually. So I dont think it was an upgrade that caused it and it certainly was NOT a custom ROM or ROOT. I was doing nothing at all when the boot loop started.
- I'm not sure what ROM I had, but when I went looking for the available Portugal unlocked ROM, which _should_ be what I had, the latest were CJ03 (3, not 5) and before that CH03, CI03. Presumably I had one of those (my last update was October, so probably CH03).
I have tried all 3 of these, but the symptoms are the same.
I'm tempted to try the TWRP option - but would like some more details on what is and what it does, or what problem I might have that it would fix.
However I am probably still in time for a warranty repair - especially since I didnt actually do anything for this to happen. I would like to avoid losing that chance.
If I do take it in for warranty, I'd like to wipe the memory first though. How can I do that?
Finally can anyone actually tell me if the NAND ERASE is likely to help? How does flashing TWRP compare?
I get the feeling in fact, that I have a hardware problem. Especially given there were not software system changes around the time it happened, and given that it loops while trying to boot into recovery mode. In fact the only mode that doesnt constantly cycle is download mode. (Even holding the power button in dl mode does nothing which makes me suspect that, but pulling the battery out and replacing it leaves it off until I press the power button so perhaps not)
Thanks for the replies so far. Any more ideas, details?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well if you still have warranty then don't try anything on your own and go for the warranty repairs.
dork997 said:
Well if you still have warranty then don't try anything on your own and go for the warranty repairs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks. How can I wipe personal data without voiding the warranty, using odin or kies? Given I canNOT get it into recovery mode, only download mode.
roverrhubarb said:
thanks. How can I wipe personal data without voiding the warranty, using odin or kies? Given I canNOT get it into recovery mode, only download mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since you can get into download mode I'd flash firmware through ODIN again after verifying it's correct.
I'm seeing off the sammobile site for the 910F not all are the COJ5 locked bootloader.
Since you did update in Oct you may be on the COJ3. I'd try one of those and see if it works.
If it doesn't work and stops on the sboot.bin file then you have the COJ5
roverrhubarb said:
thanks. How can I wipe personal data without voiding the warranty, using odin or kies? Given I canNOT get it into recovery mode, only download mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i am sorry i don't know any way to remove personal data other than doing it via recovery. There is an option of "nand erase" in odin it is used while flashing firmware and it wipes everything on the phone but i have never used it (and also don't know whether it can help you or not) ... Senior members kindly help us with this.
Any update to your situation?
very interested as I am in the same situation as you are. Download mode works, recovery+normal boot not. No matter what ROMs/recoveries I install
Same issue I think
I am also in the same situation, although I can enter the recovery mode - home power and volume up - I have tried the wipe cache and then factory wipe to no avail - I have also entered download mode and flashed the stock recovery and even though Odin says pass, it is still in a boot loop. Also when I go to the download screen it has a line saying knox warranty void 0x1(4) does this mean I have voided the warranty even though I only used Odin to flash stock recovery?
Did anyone found a solution
Did anyone ever found a solution to this problem I'm having the exact same issue on a note 4 smn910a
I have a slightly different issue with my Note 4 SM-N910G, wherein am not able to start the phone at all, it is completely dead, if i put the cell phone on charge then also there is no LED on the top but if i connect the device to the PC it does make the connected sound on the PC but Odin is still not able to recognize the device neither kies. I tried draining the power by removing the battery, connected the device to PC without battery and then inserting it but the same problem. Please suggest me any resolution for this dead body am carrying from past few weeks.
hi Op,
did you find any solution for this issue?
Hello all. This is advice to use as a very last resort if you are experiencing the recovery bootloop issue AND you don't have the emmc failure bug. I had the recovery reboot, sudden shutdown with no warning, etc. issue for the past two weeks. I tried everything on Google and Youtube to fix my problem with no success. I flashed multiple stock ROMS and recovery tars (stock and TWRP) via ODIN, but nothing worked. Oddly enough, I never received the emmc error that I have read about. Also, in the few times that my phone booted normally, I even loaded the Wakelock Power Manager app, set it to partial wakelock and my phone STILL continued to bootloop. As a last resort, I bought a new battery, but the reboot problems continued in Android 4.4.4 Kitkat, 6.0 Marshmallow, 7.1 Nougat and 8.1 Oreo ROMS. Well, here is what finally helped me to get my phone back operational. I had a backup ROM from a previous install and a TWRP flashable version of the same ROM on my SD card (in case the phone did not stay on for the full restore). I put the phone into a ziplock bag into a freezer for about 20 min. (thankfully this time TWRP stayed on long enough for me to do the following):
1) copy all the files I wanted to save from internal storage to a computer.
2) performed a full wipe (Dalvic, Cache, System, etc. Like when flashing a ROM, but this time also internal storage. Note: Please do not wipe both internal and SD card, as you may have a difficult time trying to load the ROM file back on the sd card (assuming you don't have a card reader).
3) After wiping, I was able to restore my stock ROM backup (or you can just flash the stock ROM).
I can't be 100% sure, but I think my wiping internal and then flashing the stock ROM finally did the trick. Since this morning, the phone has been pretty much back to as it was before. In either case, I'm sharing this with the hope that it helps someone else.
Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk
Hi everyone, I´m really pissed about that issue; I´d really appreciate any help and thanks in advance to you all.
Story: I was using Sva´s rom for kitkat, everything normal, then I´ve seen Sasikas´s for lollipop and decided to try it out. I flashed the original firmware and then the custom, both via odin, used them normal as usual. For some reason, I decide to compare the new sva´s, also for lollipop and when I tried to flash, THE ISSUE BEGAN!
Issue: after doing the normal odin process, when the message “complete” shows up and the phone reboots, the bar of updating progress stop about 25% and the phone reboot to the normal mode, but only with a black screen. This is the screen I´m talking about: 3w generacionandroid.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Android_updating.jpg
What I already tried and it didn´t work:
1 – factory reset after the “boot”; I think the problem is that the “system isn´t being write” so …
2 – different roms, both custom and stock; something interesting about this is that the point of the bar that resets the phone varies according to the rom I use, just as follow:
Rom lollipop: at 25% of the bar the system restarts;
Rom kitkat: the bar jumps from 25% to the end and boots the system until Samsung logo. I noticed that the carrier logo sound is cutted in the end.
I can freely install any recovery and enter dl mode.
By the way, the bootloader file must be flashed at pda or bl in odin?
Flash the bootloader file in the BL slot.
about the bootloader...
I´ve installed a bootloader to try the new lollipop in sva´s rom, maybe because of this I can´t flash anymore? I´ve found this info about bootloaders, could someone tell me if I´m thinkg right about it?
"In literal terms, bootloader is code that is executed before any Operating System starts to run. "
This way what I need is a bootloader for kitkat or previous? Where can i find it?
cry for help
almost givin up...
so, happy new year to everyone, I´ll wait until January to check any replies, otherwise selling for parts. ='[.
Shortening: I can enter recovery and dl mode BUT not getting to install roms;
I know I fixed selinux permissions once and installed a bootloader said to be to install a version of lollipop, that´s all new stuff I did.
I have been trawling the internet for literally hours.
This is my final hope before I get really desperate with this device.
I bought a Samsung Galaxy Edge+ online as a demo unit so I could use it as a glorified tablet,
since it was a demo unit it had demo software which I tried to remove using the 5444 password
trick on the retail software to no avail. So I decided to root the phone using Odin and the
SM-G928 F/I/C/K/S software as i couldn't find the particular software for this phone anywhere.
This worked but every time I booted the phone it would give me the 'KERNEL IS NOT SEANDROID ENFORCING'
on the top left of the device which I promptly ignored and continued to use the device, I downloaded
root check which said my device was rooted and then I downloaded system app uninstaller to try remove all the trial
software, which unfortunately didn't work. I then attempted a hard reset, which also didn't work and just
rebooted the device, finally i decided to download Flashify and TWRP recovery to try and delete the trial software
from there. At this point I was just messing around with the phone when I noticed a thread that said i needed
titanium backup to fully delete the software, so i rebooted the phone and it has been stuck on the bootup screen
ever since, I have tried several methods to get it to work including re-flashing the software onto it,
(the SM-G928F one I mean) but i simply cannot find the correct one for my device.
Any help would be greatly appreciated :good::good::good::good:
The device is running 5.1.1
I am not sure of the kernel or anything like that as I am quite noobish.
re: phone issues
MeMyPhoneAndI said:
I have been trawling the internet for literally hours.
This is my final hope before I get really desperate with this device.
I bought a Samsung Galaxy Edge+ online as a demo unit so I could use it as a glorified tablet,
since it was a demo unit it had demo software which I tried to remove using the 5444 password
trick on the retail software to no avail. So I decided to root the phone using Odin and the
SM-G928 F/I/C/K/S software as i couldn't find the particular software for this phone anywhere.
This worked but every time I booted the phone it would give me the 'KERNEL IS NOT SEANDROID ENFORCING'
on the top left of the device which I promptly ignored and continued to use the device, I downloaded
root check which said my device was rooted and then I downloaded system app uninstaller to try remove all the trial
software, which unfortunately didn't work. I then attempted a hard reset, which also didn't work and just
rebooted the device, finally i decided to download Flashify and TWRP recovery to try and delete the trial software
from there. At this point I was just messing around with the phone when I noticed a thread that said i needed
titanium backup to fully delete the software, so i rebooted the phone and it has been stuck on the bootup screen
ever since, I have tried several methods to get it to work including re-flashing the software onto it,
(the SM-G928F one I mean) but i simply cannot find the correct one for my device.
Any help would be greatly appreciated :good::good::good::good:
The device is running 5.1.1
I am not sure of the kernel or anything like that as I am quite noobish.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First thing to do is to get into STOCK recovery and do a "Factory Data Reset"
or you can boot the phone up and go into "Settings>Backup and Reset" and
select "Factory data reset".
After doing that odin flash the proper S6 Edge+ Lollipop 5.1.1 or the new Marshmallow 6.0 firmware.
You can see the exact model of your G928 phone by going into settings and scroll down to "about"
there you will find the specific model of your phone.
Be sure to ONLY odin flash the correct firmware for your phone's model.
Once you do all the above you will no longer see:
'KERNEL IS NOT SEANDROID ENFORCING'
The only reason you see that is because the phone is rooted.
After odin flashing the proper firmware your phone will no longer be rooted
unless you root the phone again.
Good luck,
Have a great day!
Misterjunky said:
First thing to do is to get into STOCK recovery and do a "Factory Data Reset"
or you can boot the phone up and go into "Settings>Backup and Reset" and
select "Factory data reset".
After doing that odin flash the proper S6 Edge+ Lollipop 5.1.1 or the new Marshmallow 6.0 firmware.
You can see the exact model of your G928 phone by going into settings and scroll down to "about"
there you will find the specific model of your phone.
Be sure to ONLY odin flash the correct firmware for your phone's model.
Once you do all the above you will no longer see:
'KERNEL IS NOT SEANDROID ENFORCING'
The only reason you see that is because the phone is rooted.
After odin flashing the proper firmware your phone will no longer be rooted
unless you root the phone again.
Good luck,
Have a great day!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't boot the phone up, if I could I would, I can't find the software for this particular model, which is aforementioned SM-G928X,
If you could help me with that, I would appreciate it. The phone is stuck on the Saumsung boot up, it doesn't actually boot up into
the lock screen so I can't do anything with it, if you could help me with link to the SM-G928X firmware that I could use in ODIN
that would be greatly appreciated cause the phone is a paper weight at this point.
I had a moment of madness and decided to do what you said anyway, and I can't factory reset the phone from the recovery menu as it says
its due to security policies or something of that nature, which again I mentioned in the initial thread.
Also to clarify, I can't flash my own firmware because I can't find the firmware anywhere on the internet.
re: firmwares
MeMyPhoneAndI said:
I can't boot the phone up, if I could I would, I can't find the software for this particular model, which is aforementioned SM-G928X,
If you could help me with that, I would appreciate it. The phone is stuck on the Saumsung boot up, it doesn't actually boot up into
the lock screen so I can't do anything with it, if you could help me with link to the SM-G928X firmware that I could use in ODIN
that would be greatly appreciated cause the phone is a paper weight at this point.
I had a moment of madness and decided to do what you said anyway, and I can't factory reset the phone from the recovery menu as it says
its due to security policies or something of that nature, which again I mentioned in the initial thread.
Also to clarify, I can't flash my own firmware because I can't find the firmware anywhere on the internet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have done a bit of research on your G928X device and I think you are in luck.
Check out this link carefully http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=specs&id=8759&c=samsung_sm-g928x_galaxy_s6_edgeplus_lte-a_samsung_zen
and you will see that the firmware in your phone is identical to many other G928 firmwares as you will see in that link.
Odin flashing any of the ZEN firmwares in that link cannot brick your phone, the worse thing that can happen is that it will not
work. (just like it's not working for you right now).
I would go a head and odin flash the S6 Edge+ G928T firmware which is also the ZEN baseband firmware, there are many S6 Edge+ phones
using the exact same firmware. All Samsung S6 Edge+ firmwares contain the modem but not all of them will be compatible with your
carrier but at least you will be able to boot your phone normally without getting stuck on boot screen or bootlooping to start with.
You can get the G928T firmware from http://sammobile.com OR
https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=24499762636004597 (fast download)
Good luck,
Have a great day!
Hi all,
New user here, not much experience rooting or messing with firmware for phones. I was following the guide on how to flash the SM-935U firmware to the verizon model of the Galaxy S7 Edge, and may have bricked my phone. Here's what I did.
Followed the guide to the letter.
Powered off phone, booted to Download mode
Fired up Odin, selected the SM-935U firmware files, and clicked start.
It gave me an Auth error, which research revealed means that I forgot to turn off Reactivation Lock. I figured, "Fine, I'll just disable it. However, I can't get the phone to boot again. Every time I leave download mode, it boots into Android Recovery, where, no matter what I do, it just reboots into Android Recovery. I can't Wipe anything because it can't mount /system - probably due to Reactivation Lock?
I've been research and researching ways around this, and everything I find just points back to flashing it with the stock firmware. But then I read that you can't even do that if Reactivation lock is on, because Odin will still fail with the Auth error. So, I can only get it to boot to recovery mode, and I can't flash it with anything?
I did read somewhere that if I choose to wipe the phone's EFS with Odin that it should override activation lock, but then it clears the phones IMEI, which is an even bigger mess, isn't it?
I feel like I have to be missing something... since it never did the wipe, why is it that I can't get past the recovery mode. Shouldn't I still be able to get into the system somehow?
Does Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions for me? I'd really like to not be stuck with a permanently bricked S7 edge if at all possible....
Solved
Just wanted to post this to help anyone else who might have this issue. Turns out that you can flash the stock firmware, as long as you're flashing at least the same version or newer of the stock firmware as what the phone was running prior to getting stuck in recovery mode. It shows you what version it was running in the recovery mode at the top.
So for me, I googled the exact firmware version that recovery mode said the phone was running, downloaded it, flashed it with ODIN, and it worked just fine. Had to choose to wipe with the recovery mode after I flashed it, but then it booted like normal. - Then I enabled OEM unlocking under the developer menu, and tried flashing the U firmware again with ODIN, and it still failed with the auth error. Huh.
Turns out (maybe I wasn't doing it right or something) that you can't flash older versions of the firmware to the phone. But, as long as OEM unlocking is enabled, you can flash the U (unlocked) version of the current firmware to the phone and it will take just fine. Hint: I was able to determine the "version" number by looking at the last 4-5 characters of the build number... the verizon version I was running for my SM-935V was: VZW-G935VVRU4API3 - So I googled the API3 firmware and found the U (unlocked) version for my carrier (I happen to be using T-Mobile) on this site: https://samsung-firmware.org/model/SM-G935U/ and found the zip file name which was TMB-G935UUEU4API3-20161011161050.zip, googled that, got the rapidgator link, downloaded it, and that flashed just fine to the phone, and now my T-Mobile SIM works perfectly in what was previously the SM-935V, which now identifies as an SM-935U in settings. It's beautiful.
Also, you need the PIT file, but I was able to use the PIT file for the phone model number (again, found at the top of the android recovery menu), which for my phone was: HERO2QLTE_USA_VZW.pit (googled that and got it off androidfilehost) - I was able to use that PIT file for the T-Mobile U version of the firmware and it worked just fine.
Hope this helps someone.