Database Users

[Q] Suddenly won't boot, help

I have a Galaxy S as shipped by Bell Canada. It doesn't have the 3 button download mode so I'm staying away from 3rd party roms for now.
It is unlocked and rooted. All has been well until today. I had it off for a while to use the SIM in another phone. When I turned it back on it asked for the SIM unlock code. I Dismissed that and checked the phone, all seemed well other than no SIM activation. I turned it off and removed the SIM and now it won't boot. I get the usual logo, the song, and for a long time the S logo. If I wait long enough it then appears to be off. If I press the back or menu key they will light up but that's it. I can't do anything else other than pull the battery.
I tried the hard reset with holding volume down and tap the power button. That only turns it back on with the same problem. The actual SIM is fine and working in another phone.
Is there anything I can do? If I could hard reset it I'd take it back to the store but I hesitate for now while it still contains my data.

this is a problem i have just posted about a couple of mins ago
but i can get it recovery mode and fatory reset with the vol up, home and power
then it will boot but obviously i have to then reset everything from scratch which is really annoying so anyone got any idea re this

lucky for you that you can get into recovery. Right now I'd be happy with a hard reset, it doesn't take long to rebuild the setup. I'd like to know who decided to remove the recovery mode, that's evil and keeps me from simply resetting the device.

its all the apps re downloading and installing them and resetting up accounts and swype and all that lot need a fix asap
do you know what version of andoid you are running

yes but at least you can get a working phone again, I can't without being able to get into any boot menus. Honestly it only takes 30 minutes to setup again from scratch. I'm on 2.1 and what I find at least on my HTC when it had 2.1 is that I setup the google account, let it sync contacts etc, then from Market Downloads I'll see listed all my apps that were previously installed. As long as I don't leave that screen I can install each app one after the other. Or a proper backup....
Any other magic key combos to reset this thing???

did you try hooking up to kies?

Yes but that does nothing since it never fully boots.

3rdcoast said:
I have a Galaxy S as shipped by Bell Canada. It doesn't have the 3 button download mode so I'm staying away from 3rd party roms for now.
It is unlocked and rooted. All has been well until today. I had it off for a while to use the SIM in another phone. When I turned it back on it asked for the SIM unlock code. I Dismissed that and checked the phone, all seemed well other than no SIM activation. I turned it off and removed the SIM and now it won't boot. I get the usual logo, the song, and for a long time the S logo. If I wait long enough it then appears to be off. If I press the back or menu key they will light up but that's it. I can't do anything else other than pull the battery.
I tried the hard reset with holding volume down and tap the power button. That only turns it back on with the same problem. The actual SIM is fine and working in another phone.
Is there anything I can do? If I could hard reset it I'd take it back to the store but I hesitate for now while it still contains my data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same thing happened to my phone, but a factory reset did nothing. The internal SD card gave out. Phone is now sent away for 3 - 6 weeks awaiting repair.

my phone did this to me today too, I was just about to post about this when I saw this thread.
So its an SD Card problem? theres no hope of getting it fixed without sending it in?

Yes I think it is the internal card meaning there isn't anything good enough to reset to. I walked the phone over to the store and I'll have to wait for new stock next week. Actually I'm lucky they will exchange it since I bought it outright which apparently is "against policy" even though they list a no contract full price. We'll see how it goes next week but overall I despise the telco industry in this country.

3rdcoast said:
Yes I think it is the internal card meaning there isn't anything good enough to reset to. I walked the phone over to the store and I'll have to wait for new stock next week. Actually I'm lucky they will exchange it since I bought it outright which apparently is "against policy" even though they list a no contract full price. We'll see how it goes next week but overall I despise the telco industry in this country.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i went to best buy today to try and exchange it, and apparently they only have a 14 day exchange policy with phones despite it saying 30 day on the receipt, anyhow i phoned samsung and they said i have to go through bell, even though im using the phone on telus, so that should be interesting.

So all the people that are having this problem have the Bell model?
Today i got mine off eBay, as soon a i turned it on, i get exactly the same thing.
It wont load into Android, i see that galaxy S logo and then black screen.
If i go into recovery i see "cant mount SD Card".
The more is search this forum the more i see that all the people with this problem are owners of the Bell i9000M model.
I seriously think they have some defect with the manufacturing line of the phone.
Have you guys installed any firmware on your phone before this happened?
mine is like that out of the box.

Mine is the same Bell model. There seems to be some issues with them which makes the lack of download mode even more dangerous. Right now it doesn't feel like the warranty is going to cover us for problems not our fault. I hope they replace it next week but if it still lacks download mode I'll remain nervous.

Seems like everyone is with the Bell model but my questions is:
Have you guys installed another firmware than the factory one which caused this to happen?
Are you running Stock?
We need to try and narrow this down as i am seeing too many posts about this issue, and they are with the Bell model.

clubtech said:
Seems like everyone is with the Bell model but my questions is:
Have you guys installed another firmware than the factory one which caused this to happen?
Are you running Stock?
We need to try and narrow this down as i am seeing too many posts about this issue, and they are with the Bell model.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i put new firmware on it last week, can't remember what it was but it was upgraded through kies so it's one samsung pushed to me, not a froyo unstable one.

bigc_13 said:
i put new firmware on it last week, can't remember what it was but it was upgraded through kies so it's one samsung pushed to me, not a froyo unstable one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. if it was pushed to you via Kies i assume you were running stock JH2.
So it just stopped booting out of the blue?
To the OP: have you install any firmware on your device before this happened?

clubtech said:
Seems like everyone is with the Bell model but my questions is:
Have you guys installed another firmware than the factory one which caused this to happen?
Are you running Stock?
We need to try and narrow this down as i am seeing too many posts about this issue, and they are with the Bell model.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't flashed any 3rd party roms. I did do the official update via Keis which even at the store today they reminded me that I should do the update.. That update seemed to go well and has been working for over a week until I turned it off for an hour. It still isn't clear if the disabled 3 button mode is hardware or software related but we all seem to have that in common too. So before they dismiss the whole thing and we get hosed over technicalities such as unlocking it should be clear that there are clear defects in these phones as far as I can tell.
I want to be comfortable that I'm not left out of hundred of dollars just because I choose to buy it outright and not be tied to contracts. Samsung has to play nicely because it is their phone. Bell has to play nicely because they are bringing them in and distributing to retail. What carrier I use should be irrelevant because the problems are not related to usage.
FYI, the clerks went off for conference to decide if I somehow got the phone against policy. Either they trust my story or I got mine moments before they got the memo about not selling outright.

clubtech said:
Thanks. if it was pushed to you via Kies i assume you were running stock JH2.
So it just stopped booting out of the blue?
To the OP: have you install any firmware on your device before this happened?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here, stock JH2 from Kies. Not rooted. Boots to Galaxy S logo, then black screen. Mine is sent in for repair... Almost two weeks now.
Seeing more and more of this being posted. There is obviously some issues with this phone.

clubtech said:
Thanks. if it was pushed to you via Kies i assume you were running stock JH2.
So it just stopped booting out of the blue?
To the OP: have you install any firmware on your device before this happened?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Our posts crossed..
Yes I believe mine had the JH2, the official keis offered firmware. I was looking forward to the biggie update at the end of the month so wasn't about to risk bricking before then. Irony stepped in anyway.
I'm a bit nervous until I get a new one. At that point if the 3 button mode still doesn't work I'll remain nervous that I'll get another potential brick.
edit-> yes, I simply shut it down for an hour or two to use the SIM in another phone to test that phone. At next boot it died. I knew something was wrong when the logo stayed up for much longer.

I have the 3 buttons enabled so it is not related to the 3buttons being disabled, however when i boot into recovery it clearly displays an error that it can not find the internal SD.
There is definitely something wrong with the Bell Galaxy S corrupting itself.
I bought mine from an eBay seller, he is saying the phone booted fine when he shipped it but when i opened the box today i only got this black screen after logo.
Gladly the seller will take it back.
Maybe this is why there are shortages everywhere in Canada. I hope the caught this up and are fixing it with the new batch.

Hard bricked and possible hardware issue. I need advice please.

I recently received a used epic 4g when a friend replaced his phone, all was good but then yesterday the phone froze. I took the battery out and powered it back on it then took a long time to boot (2 minutes+) and once it finally did boot it was unusable and very unresponsive. I looked online and got into restore mode and then encountered a problem, my buttons at the bottom don't work therefore I could not hit the home button to select an option.
So I then used Odin to restore it (Used stock stuff). After I restored it it was working fine again. Then today i dropped it 2 feet off my bed and it went back to booting slow and then being unresponsive once booted. I then tried to restore it with Odin again but I made a mistake and didn't put the PDA file in and now my phone seems to be hard bricked (noob move I know).
I am considering sending it in for JTAG but I have some questions. Do you guys think the SLOW booting and unresponsive once booted issues were hardware issues? Will it just do that again eventually after I pay for it to be JTAG fixed? Also do you think they would be able to fix the buttons at the bottom? I would appreciate any advice.
Also please don't kick me when I am down, I know not double checking my Odin stuff was a dumb move, that's not what this thread is about.

So to just be sure, you can't power it on at all? The slow booting seems like a ROM problem. If you can get into Download mode you can fix it. If not, then you are definitely bricked and need to take it in.
If you could though, just reodin the proper files WITHOUT rushing.
I've dropped my phone everyday (I've even found out gorilla glass is ass since it cracked) but its always booted unless I did some dumb **** to it.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium

A_Flying_Fox said:
So to just be sure, you can't power it on at all? The slow booting seems like a ROM problem. If you can get into Download mode you can fix it. If not, then you are definitely bricked and need to take it in.
If you could though, just reodin the proper files WITHOUT rushing.
I've dropped my phone everyday (I've even found out gorilla glass is ass since it cracked) but its always booted unless I did some dumb **** to it.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply
Correct I can't get it to power on at all. A second opinion on whether or not there was a hardware issue would nice, it just seems odd to me that the exact same thing would happen again a day later. When I bricked it I accidentally only used a pit file. When I did it right the first time I followed a guide and had a pit file and a PDA file, I assume one of those is(or includes) the ROM but I don't really know a lot about this stuff. I am considering just selling this one on ebay as-is if you guys think its a hardware issue and getting a new phone but if not I'll send it to be fixed.

JoeCow said:
Thanks for the reply
Correct I can't get it to power on at all. A second opinion on whether or not there was a hardware issue would nice, it just seems odd to me that the exact same thing would happen again a day later. When I bricked it I only had a pit file. When I did it right the first time I followed a guide and had a pit file and a PDA file, I assume one of those is(or includes) the ROM but I don't really know a lot about this stuff. I am considering just selling this one on ebay as-is if you guys think its a hardware issue and getting a new phone but if not I'll send it to be fixed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try removing the battery. then try to get into download mode with it plugged into the computer only no battery also remove sd card.

tazfanatic said:
try removing the battery. then try to get into download mode with it plugged into the computer only no battery also remove sd card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!! that did it. I had actually already tried that but tried it again when you suggested it I couldn't get it initially but kept trying and eventually tried unplugging it and plugging it back in while holding one and power the whole time and that got it. So was the slow boot thing happening twice just unlucky or is there something else I need to root or whatever?

JoeCow said:
Thanks!! that did it. I had actually already tried that but tried it again when you suggested it I couldn't get it initially but kept trying and eventually tried unplugging it and plugging it back in while holding one and power the whole time and that got it. So was the slow boot thing happening twice just unlucky or is there something else I need to root or whatever?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My guess is the slow booting was data corruption. A clean install should fix that. After Odining in the stock EL30 run it like that for a few days to see how it is working before looking into rooting it and a custom ROM.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium

kennyglass123 said:
My guess is the slow booting was data corruption. A clean install should fix that. After Odining in the stock EL30 run it like that for a few days to see how it is working before looking into rooting it and a custom ROM.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what kenny said

Thanks guys, saved me $50s should i have sent it in. I appreciate it. I watched a few of the videos on rooting it and I saw the recovery program used to root things lets you use the camera button as apposed to the home button for selecting things. Think I should switch to that since my bottom buttons are broken? It looked like I probably wouldn't be able to navigate back in menus after selecting something but that would be better then not being able to select anything.

JoeCow said:
Thanks guys, saved me $50s should i have sent it in. I appreciate it. I watched a few of the videos on rooting it and I saw the recovery program used to root things lets you use the camera button as apposed to the home button for selecting things. Think I should switch to that since my bottom buttons are broken? It looked like I probably wouldn't be able to navigate back in menus after selecting something but that would be better then not being able to select anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If they are still broken after a fresh Odin then yes the newer CWM will work fine for you. There are widgets somewhere (don't remember) to add those buttions to your screen once you get it working right.

If the buttons really are toasted there are two fairly good onscreen button apps available. One is called Zmooth and the other is called Button Savior.

What to do when taking phone in for swap?

My S4 got REALLY hot today, and I turned it off for a wihle.
When I turned it back on, the screen is messed up. It comes on a shade of green with lots of lines. It makes it all but impossible to read anything on the screen.
Looks like I have to return it to get a swap.
Whats the best way to remove the root and anything that shows the phone was rooted... and return it to all stock...??

Since it's a hardware problem, I'd doubt they'd care whether it's rooted or not. Return it and you should be fine
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S4 (SGH-i337) via Tapatalk 4

If you get an exchange, it would be a good idea for you to do some research and reading before you root the next phone so you will have the information you need in case something else happens to the next one. Good luck.

I hate that I may get an MF3, as Im on AMDL now.
Im not sure where you are going with your post, its not a rooting problem, Ive had it rooted from day one.
The ATT service center has one in stock, they said they have to refresh the software before giving me a replacement....... If I can get to triangle away Im going to try to reset the counter, and try to wipe and try to get the software back to factory.
I think I can get to download mode so I can get to odin...........

I let the phone sit (battery out) for a while and the screen came back to life. I thought everything was fine until I noticed when I plugged it into power it showed charging and beeped, then stopped charging, and then returned to charging again.
I plugged it into a computer and got a warning about a power surge on the usb port and the phone isnt recognized by the computer.
If its not back to normal in the AM, Im going to take it to the service center (after I remove my apps and hopefully restore root)

Check the port on your phone for a bent pin.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Nothing bent. Used an otoscope to get a good view~

Try a different charge cable?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Got the warranty exchange and yes, it is MF3
Had to send it back rooted with TWRP installed.
If they just hook it to a computer, then they will not be able to talk to the phone, lets hope thats all they do.
If they boot to the recovery screen they will see TWRP.
Im hoping they are just looking at them, seeing no visible damage and shipping them to Samsung for refurbishment..........

Dec 20th 2013 Verizon LG G2 Update

OK Did the update. Now screen will not respond to anything. All I can do is reboot but holding down the power or the up/dn buttons and go into the apps. Screen doesnt register touches.Am I the only one?

I have not taken the update. I was scared to lose root and not get it back. were you rooted? And Custom recovery?
Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

Nope I was stock no mods. But now am thinking of going non-stock if all of their updates might come with a price. They need to do better QA before rolling out updates.

rdskl said:
OK Did the update. Now screen will not respond to anything. All I can do is reboot but holding down the power or the up/dn buttons and go into the apps. Screen doesnt register touches.Am I the only one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Might need to take it into a store. Can you do a hard reset?
http://support.verizonwireless.com/support/devices/knowledge_base.html/87344

Something in the update killed the digitizer as everything worked fine before the update. The phone itself was fine as well on 4G, WIFI, getting calls but I couldn't answer them by touching the screen just bringing it to my ear. Did hard reset. Didn't help. In fact its no longer activated so before the reset I at least had a half working phone. Took it to the store and they couldn't swap it out since this is a corporate account. Verizon Business is FedEx me one tomorrow worst case Monday. Which means I'm stuck with a brick phone until then and using the Gvoice for calls on my nexus 7. Yea I had a bad day.
Lesson learned though, I need to find a way to backup my phone prior to an update. Well in this case its a hardware issue so I guess it wouldnt have mattered, but still. Verizon took out the LG backup tool. Is there anything similar that would back up everything like a nandroid on a stock phone?
BTW - thanks for the responses

[Q] My note 3 suddenly died and won't power on. Please help...

I have a UK N-9005 Note 3 that won't turn on. It's all stock on the EE network.
It's been nearly 2 hours and I've tried pulling the battery out and reinserting. Power button, home and volume down for 15 secs and still no response. Also tried a different charger but nothing. Even tried attaching it via USB to my laptop and still no sign of life. There's no red light or vibration when I plug the usb cable from the charger or laptop. What else could I try?
It's nearly midnight here so I can't get hold of a spare battery to try and also try my battery in another Note 3. I did have a micro sd card in there which I've taken out but I'm just worried about my data on the phone. I hadn't even backed up my contacts or whatsapp logs or pics that were on the phone's memory. Anyone else faced this problem? What could it be and how can I recover my data?

If it's not a battery then look here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2624203
Or google other similar thread about 'debrick image'
Or get a warranty replacement before you make it worse.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

Rosli59564 said:
If it's not a battery then look here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2624203
Or google other similar thread about 'debrick image'
Or get a warranty replacement before you make it worse.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I will try that in the morning. But 1st I'll try another battery and hopefully that'll be it.
My top priority is the data on the phone, do you know if the method in the thread you mentioned wipes everything? I'll take the phone to the Samsung store in the morning and see what they have to say. Cheers.

xmob101 said:
Thanks, I will try that in the morning. But 1st I'll try another battery and hopefully that'll be it.
My top priority is the data on the phone, do you know if the method in the thread you mentioned wipes everything? I'll take the phone to the Samsung store in the morning and see what they have to say. Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure but I think it will. After reflash firmware with odin maybe you'll need to wipe data.

xmob101 said:
I have a UK N-9005 Note 3 that won't turn on. It's all stock on the EE network.
It's been nearly 2 hours and I've tried pulling the battery out and reinserting. Power button, home and volume down for 15 secs and still no response. Also tried a different charger but nothing. Even tried attaching it via USB to my laptop and still no sign of life. There's no red light or vibration when I plug the usb cable from the charger or laptop. What else could I try?
It's nearly midnight here so I can't get hold of a spare battery to try and also try my battery in another Note 3. I did have a micro sd card in there which I've taken out but I'm just worried about my data on the phone. I hadn't even backed up my contacts or whatsapp logs or pics that were on the phone's memory. Anyone else faced this problem? What could it be and how can I recover my data?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don’t know whats the issue. But after this fixed if you’re using any antivirus then move to Avast and use its backup added app. It will take a backup of contact, call logs and sms every day or even during every activities.
Any phone can dead/down any time. So its better to take backup all time.

Yep, absolutely. And the funny thing is yesterday morning I was looking at some backup apps but as most of them require ROOT for full functionality I didn't download them. You think it'll never happen to you and then BAM, phone is dead.
Anyway I'm going to the Samsung service centre in an hour so let's see what they say first. Will update thread with the result.

It's likely a dead motherboard.
As for backup apps, in the future, try Helium.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk 2

Ok so I handed the phone in to the service centre yesterday afternoon and was told it's not the battery and they'll need to keep the phone and run some tests. I was told I'll get the phone back in 2 or 3 days and they'll call me when it's done and in the mean time I can track the progress online.
Yesterday evening I thought I'll check to see if they've started work on the phone and the online tracking system said the repair has been completed. I Quickly drove down to pick it up and was told they replaced the motherboard and the data is obviously lost. The phone wasn't rooted or anything but all that time I've had it I tweaked everything to my satisfaction and now I'll have to start all over again.
@ ShadowLea I've used Helium before to back up my Note 2 before I sold it and transferred the data on to the Note 3. It didn't back up all the app settings properly and messed up my Whatsapp folder big time, with different pics under different contacts and so on. I'll give it another shot and see how I get on once I've set up my phone again.
And I'd advise everyone to at least have some basic back up solutions in place to insure against the worst happening to your device.
On a separate note, what's the best ROOT method right now? I don't wish to install custom roms and kernals and would prefer not to trip knox in case I need to get the phone repaired again. I have the SM-N9005 running on 4.4.2.