Database Users

[Q] Help! I keep digging myself further into a hole

I have a Samsung Galaxy S4, the Sprint version. I wasn't able to send or receive picture messages and I thought it might have something to do with my APN being wrong (I bought the phone on eBay and had it flashed to nTelos, my provider) but I wasn't able to edit the APN and nTelos was, as usual, no help. So I figured I'd just root it and be able to edit it then!
It was at that moment I stuck my shovel into the soft dirt and started digging.
Essentially, I believe my phone is without an OS at this point. I have tried using ODIN to put a recovery on there so I can at least do something, but now even ODIN is freezing up when I try and flash the Clockwork recovery. I am stuck on the Samsung S4 logo screen and while I can enter download mode I don't think I can enter recovery mode - at least, it hasn't been working tonight. I don't remember everything I've done to my poor phone, but it has to be hurting after the beating I've put it through. I originally tried to root it though I don't think I was successful because the Root Checker said I wasn't, though I'm not sure what I was doing wrong then. Things went downhill from there.
I've read through thread after thread hoping for something that would work, but I've given up trying to use other people's problems to solve my own. This is me saying "Uncle". I require assistance. Let me know what you need from me to provide me with the help I need.
Also - I have ADB on my computer and I think I have a basic understanding of how to use it, but since I can't enter recovery mode I can't do anything other than pat myself on the back for figuring it out. I think my first problem at this point is ODIN. I uninstalled KIES so that's not interfering (and don't even get me started on KIES - I installed KIES and it told me to install KIES3 which told me my device wasn't supported... which is crap because it's running Android 4.3 - or was before I got to it).
Thanks,

If you're sure the phone was on 4.3, then your options are limited thanks to Knox. You can only restore a 4.3 (MJA) based ROM to the phone via Odin, whether it is stock or custom. Easiest giveaway is if you see a line for "Knox" on the Download Mode screen.
At this point you should look in the ROM directory here for a full ROM (xxxxx.tar.md5), either MF9 (4.2.2) if it doesn't have Knox or MJA (4.3) if it does. If you cannot use Odin to put a full ROM on there, then you will need some more serious help.

Odin the stock 4.3 MJA OEM. Will return your phone to a stock unrooted state.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2522810

Samsung Galaxy SM-G928X stuck on startup screen!

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!

Remove the latest (broken) OTA package from the SM-G928V

Hey all,
I'm trying to get my brother's Verizon S6 Edge+ out of a bootloop due to the lastest OTA gone bad.
My thinking is if I could find that OTA somewhere online, I could ODIN it in, and maybe clear it the problem. I don't know if that'll work, but I can't test my theory because I can't find the OTA for download anywhere.
Smart Switch doesn't work because even though I can get into Download Mode and run Smart Switch's Emergency Recovery all I want, I enter the model number SM-G928V and it asks for the S/N next. No matter what I try, nothing works. I've gone through the logs, pulled serial number from the build.prop. I've tried everything on the original packaging. I've tried the IMEI and all the barcodes right before entering Download Mode - just no S/N registers.
I can reflash the old firmware, PJ3, on there via ODIN, and each time I reflash it tries to install the OTA again. It runs through the update up to 32% and then I get a droid guy on his back with a yellow triangle - every. single. time.
I don't understand where the heck this OTA is stored and how the hell I can zero it out or remove it. I've tried popping in a new PIT, repartitioning, etc. Hell, I've tried a NAND RE-WRITE (against everyone's cries this is a terrible idea).
Does anyone have the very latest G928VVRS3BPL3 that was pushed Dec 29, 2016 to VZW S6 Edge+ devices? I'm even willing to PayPal for a good copy that will ODIN into the VZW S6 Edge+...
Alternatively, if you don't have a copy of PL3, do you know of anyway I could ADB my way into wiping the corrupt PL3 patch away? I can't seem to ADB right now, but maybe you know a trick I don't? I'm thinking I could perhaps zero out the instructions that initiate the patch at launch or something? If I can simply boot up - fantastic, but I'm in this infinite boot loop of installing PL3 to 24% and going belly-up.
I'm almost embarrassed to say I PAID for a copy of PJ3... but I can't find this latest Dec 1st security update patch anywhere on the web.
The phone is out of warranty. Contrary to Verizon store morons (sorry!), my brother didn't try to root the phone. He doesn't know how to do any of that stuff. The OTA is corrupt - plain and simple. Knox isn't even tripped. They accused him of trying to root the thing - heh.
Since the phone is out of warranty, no one will fix it for him. I'm his only hope, and I'm not much of a hope right now.
You're MY only hope.
This is a great phone, too. I feel bad for the guy. He woke up to his phone dead one morning. That's it.

I need help, my s7 edge in bootloop after a factory reset and other things.

I have a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, I thought I was smart enough to try and root the phone but I was wrong. Now it is in a bootloop. I have tried everything...I did a factory reset, flashed, cleared the cache partition, I have used Kies3, Smart Switch, ADB server, Odin , I tried it all and now I am just needing help if anyone can help me.
I tried to go back to Kies3 but it keeps rejecting my serialnumber for some reason, I even went back to the recovery log in the recovery console to make sure the serial number was right. I also thought maybe I flashed the wrong firmware with Odin? I am not sure I got the right one because I amnot sure what PDA means on the download site, so I am just lost now. The only thing it does is a bootloop and I can get to recovery console, and the bootloader.
If anyone can help I would so appreciate it.

pinkgeek said:
I have a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, I thought I was smart enough to try and root the phone but I was wrong. Now it is in a bootloop. I have tried everything...I did a factory reset, flashed, cleared the cache partition, I have used Kies3, Smart Switch, ADB server, Odin , I tried it all and now I am just needing help if anyone can help me.
I tried to go back to Kies3 but it keeps rejecting my serialnumber for some reason, I even went back to the recovery log in the recovery console to make sure the serial number was right. I also thought maybe I flashed the wrong firmware with Odin? I am not sure I got the right one because I amnot sure what PDA means on the download site, so I am just lost now. The only thing it does is a bootloop and I can get to recovery console, and the bootloader.
If anyone can help I would so appreciate it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have Bootloader it can be fixed. Download the firmware from sammobile and put the files in the spot it says it is. PDA file will go to PDA etc.
Edit. Sorry forgot that PDA is the old Odin. Download the newer version v3.12 and put the AP files in the AP slot and the same with the CP file and CSC. You might wanna try leaving the BL file out as when I did mine it would only work if I didn't add BL.

I had quite the same thing. I rooted my S7 Edge abd installed Lineage, but I was not satisfied of it, so I decided to come back to stock ROM. This was impossible : flash with Odin, with TWRP, etc... All came to a bootloop or freeze when the phone booted.
And yesterday, after a new attempt, the phone booted and now, it works very well. I don't really understand what changed or what I did more, but it seems that your phone is not bricked. Try another Odin flash with forcing CSC maybe.

Flashing ROM help on Samsung S8

Hello Everyone,
First of all I am a newbie when it comes to Android, so forgive me for asking such a noob question.
So here is the story, my girlfriend's dad passed away few months ago. He used an old Samsung S8, sadly we do not know what the login pattern is or his Google account password (We did try recovery options but to no avail)
As there was no other option, I went ahead and had the phone factory reset, and from what I learned the phone is now FRP locked.
After a reading a few more guides I downloaded a tool called Odin and some 'Stock ROM' and flashed it hoping that would resolve the issue (Oh boy, how wrong I was) and the phone is now stuck on a screen saying "Error occurred while updating the device software, use the emergency recovery function"
My girlfriend just wanted to be able to use it for some time, and now I feel really bad for screwing it up.
Just wondering what my options are and if the phone is salvageable at all?

Hey, are you sure you downloaded the right ROM for this S8? Since there are two models of this phone, each with a different chipset (Exynos / Qualcomm Snapdragon). I feel like this error could come from a bad firmware? Does Odin still see the phone when you connect it to the PC?
Edit: Apparently people solved this problem using Samsung's Smart Switch on PC.

Yes, I think I downloaded the correct one. The phone is from Telstra Australia and so downloaded the ROM from Samfrew that was listed as Telstra, I typed in the model number which is SM-G950F it is this firmware that came up.
Yes when I put the phone into Recovery mode and connect to PC, Odin detects it, but the flash gets stuck halfway. I've loaded the BL, AP, CP and CSC that came within the ZIP file from Samfrew and under options only ticked 'Auto Reboot' and 'F.Reset Time'
Also tried just with the BL and AP but same deal.

blackslash said:
Also tried just with the BL and AP but same deal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried Samsung's Smart Switch app on PC? Apparently people successfuly fixed this error with it.

blackslash said:
Also tried just with the BL and AP but same deal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've never had to deal with a Samsung that has a FRP lock, that could just be the reason why the flashing fails, i wouldn't know. I hope you can get the Factory Reset to work :/

Also tried the Smart Switch app but it would recognize the phone. Thank you for looking into this.

You could send a message to this user "makeyourself" : https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/i-think-i-screwed-the-pooch-on-this-one.3939572/post-79729654 , he seems aware about the FRP locks / flashing issues.
Good luck with your S8.

@Derbi75 thanks heaps, will message makeyourself now.

Ideas? Anyone?

blackslash said:
Ideas? Anyone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I know, the error only appears if the phone was interrupted during flashing. Such as, Odin was writing into phone but you probably removed the USB or stuff. The screen you see is actually download mode. It is just renamed. Try plugging in your device when it's on the error screen then re-flash it.