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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
I installed TWRP bootloader onto my OEM Unlocked Samsung Galaxy Core Prime G360P Via Odin, and afterwords attempted to boot into Bootloader.
Upon doing so the phones screen goes black, and it acts like its turned off. My computer can't detect it with ADB, and I can't boot it back on without removing the battery and then inserting it again, after which it boots normally.
So yes my phone is working, but I need to get the bootloader working, I don't even have the normal android one right now because of this odd bug, i have rooted phones and tablets before both via Kingroot, and ADB depending on the needs of the device, and have some slight experience with it but limited technical knowledge, i have found seemingly similar problems but all said to solve via ADB, which doesnt really work as my ADB cant detect my phone when it is in this dead state it goes into instead of bootloader.
I would like a fix that will allow me to have TWRP installed, nothing that requires root as i have attempted all one-click rooters and none work for my phone, and i cannot install a custom OS as I am on textnow wireless and getting it to work with one is the biggest pain on earth (plus my calling would become sh^te without the custom textnow rom calling)
So basically i need to fix the bootloader without installing a new OS altogether, without deleting any of my inbuilt apps, and without factory resetting as I cant get to the bootloader to factory reset anyway, honestly i just need a way to get TWRP to work. If the answer involves another way of rooting my phone via Odin (yes i can still get to the odin downloader) and then running a root requiring app to fix my recovery thats fine but i dont know how to do that or what it would entail
im using: twrp-3.0.2-0-cprimeltemtr
Textnow wireless uses a custom os that is slightly modified from the default, I don't know what that entails but i know that affects what fixes may/may not work so i am mentioning it
before i get the same answers i have tried:
redownloading TWRP and flashing the new copy instead in case of corrupted image
removing the battery after flashing and then booting directly into bootloader so as to stop it restoring anything
I have tried flashing other recoverys, however upon doing so found that when i tried to boot into the bootloader it would then boot to Odin instead and give me an error saying it was unable to boot normally, so i reflashed the TWRP one and it gave me the same blackscreen once again.
Any advice would be very helpfull, im at my wits end and id like to be able to recover my phone should it have problems later, id much prefer i not get stuck
Software Version: G360PVPS2APE2
Hardware Version: G360P .03
Model #:SM-G360P
Android Version : 4.4.4
Android Security Patch Level: 2016-06-01
Kernel Version:2.10.28-675169
Build #: TNG360PVPS2APE2
SOLVED
http://forum.xda-developers.com/gal...ime-sm-g360p-root-t3217885/page2#post70113291
I found something that worked highly reccomend this autoinstaller for Odin
Search the forums for stock rooted deodexed sm-g360p, thats the TWRP that I use ... almost to much. The rom is also alot more susceptible to root,mods,and tweaks. The rom is sprint, boosts a sprint partner. Its helped me get the 4glte i couldnt pickup with the boost. But definitely find that post. Twrp isn't official to our variant(that i know yet) but it works the same tho a lil dated.
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.
Excellent news and a solution i havent found anywhere else yet!
Follow up from - https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s8/help/restore-imei-attempt-stock-rom-flash-t3802527
TL;DR attempted to re-root as soon as the bootloader unlocked. It all seemed to stick again, and got the big red message of doom again.
"Official Binaries Only" - Last time i was able to restore to at least switch on the phone to run down the rmm state timer to zero to flash again.
Tried the several methods of flashing through a locked bootloader (old BL file, quickly restart download mode and spam start on odin, etc) - literally nothing would allow me to flash anything that included the BL file. IMEI and baseband remained unknown. Phone went in drawer for a few days.
Just went and downloaded the latest XSA (Australia, Unbranded) build - https://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/galaxy-s8/SM-G950F/XSA/ and guess what boys and girls?
This sucker flashes straight away with Odin 3.13.1
It has completely restored my IMEI and baseband, i now have full Cell connectivity again, and its all back and working again. OEM unlock is still disabled, Samsung Pay still locked out which is fine, but otherwise, i have gone from brick to fully working Exynos S8 again.
TL;DR IF YOU HAVE ISSUES WITH A BRICKED PHONE BECAUSE IT WONT LET YOU FLASH ANY STOCK ROMS TRY THAT ONE.
Thanks for the replies to my other threads trying to help out with this. Much appreciated.
Peace out.
For heads up for other after this, how to get OEM unlock to pop up again.
Go-to date and time, change the date to 8 days prior, disable automatic update of time.
Reboot phone and it may take a few tries, but OEM unlock should pop up again in developer settings.
Just went through all this without any help and it sucked lol. Thanks for making this thread for everyone.
kratosjohn said:
For heads up for other after this, how to get OEM unlock to pop up again.
Go-to date and time, change the date to 8 days prior, disable automatic update of time.
Reboot phone and it may take a few tries, but OEM unlock should pop up again in developer settings.
Just went through all this without any help and it sucked lol. Thanks for making this thread for everyone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ive had a few cracks at this now but the date keeps resetting itself when you reset the phone despite having the automatic update option switched off.
Thanks for the info tho ill keep trying.
kratosjohn said:
For heads up for other after this, how to get OEM unlock to pop up again.
Go-to date and time, change the date to 8 days prior, disable automatic update of time.
Reboot phone and it may take a few tries, but OEM unlock should pop up again in developer settings.
Just went through all this without any help and it sucked lol. Thanks for making this thread for everyone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sunuva....
I havent been inside since i replied to you before. Gave up trying to fix that and was doing other things. Just reset both the s8 and s8+ to look at download mode... noticed the rmm flag was GONE rebooted and sure enough OEM Unlock is done.
You genius.
So - Anyone actuallly reading this -
Lost root, reflashed and cant install TWRP etc, "OFFICIAL BINARIES ONLY" crash, cant replace bootloader, missing IMEI/Unknown baseband -
TRY FLASHING XXU2CRED stock rom from 18/6/18 or later. This will flash despite a locked bootloader.
Once up and running set up the phone for use. Reboot as normal. Then turn off automatic time and date set date to 8 days prior, reset phone a couple of times. Get annoyed because you keep having to reset the date backwards. Reboot phone again and set automatic tin me and date again. Reboot. Bamf unlocked and completely restored SN-G950F.
Courtesy of Funkmonkey and @kratosjohn (the little legend)
Ah I should have also mentioned I also did the same, flashed the same firmware when I was desperate and after some bit I also noticed prenormal change to official in download mode (the tell tale). I had OEM unlock on always, just was stuck in prenormal mode and couldn't flash anything.
To speed up the OEM unlock trial and error process do this as well:
1. After setting time/date back 8 days (and auto update time off). Go-to updates in settings, select manual update and check the server (it will error probably but that sets a check on their server to allow the RMM state to change next time it's connected properly).
2. Do this quite a few times, with reboot and constantly fighting the date auto update.
3. Flash the CRED firmware mentioned, boot it and setup once. Then reboot and go-to download mode.
4. You should see official as the RMM state now and you can happily OEM and flash away!
kratosjohn said:
Ah I should have also mentioned I also did the same, flashed the same firmware when I was desperate and after some bit I also noticed prenormal change to official in download mode (the tell tale). I had OEM unlock on always, just was stuck in prenormal mode and couldn't flash anything.
To speed up the OEM unlock trial and error process do this as well:
1. After setting time/date back 8 days (and auto update time off). Go-to updates in settings, select manual update and check the server (it will error probably but that sets a check on their server to allow the RMM state to change next time it's connected properly).
2. Do this quite a few times, with reboot and constantly fighting the date auto update.
3. Flash the CRED firmware mentioned, and reboot and go-to download mode.
4. You should see official as the RMM state now and you can happily OEM and flash away!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have just flashed TWRP, used the Comsy version to be safe (3.13.1 fine for the stock rom flash) - I used comsy as it is mentioned in hte post OREO S8 update. It allows TWRP to be flashed but maybe thats whats breaking everything else. Ill try magisk next.
Fire up TWRP and enable system changes. FIRST - Advanced wipe and format system (Im 99% sure this is what screwed my last couple of roots), hit yes and do it. Reboot into recovery again.
Flash no-verity, then SuperSU (or your preferred root, i use Aroma installer first, THEN you have to flash the SuperSU binary with that)
Wipe dalvik etc. Reboot into system. As i type this its now in the 'Welcome' screen. Gimme a minute and ill check all is good.
UPDATE - Everything restored installed titanium backup root held. Rebooted phone aaaaaaaaand - "Only official released binaries are allowed to be flashed" - Back to square one. Will attempt same reflash now, but the root procedure kills everything. Back in download mode again. RMM State: Prenormal returned.
It is now succesfully flashing the stock rom in Odin 3.13.1 - Accidentally started it with Comsy and it DID NOT WORK. You MUST use the normal version to flash the rom im using.
Looks like we def have a stable way to refire up the phone again, and get around RMM state prenormal nice and quickly, so ill go ahead now and try and find whats going on with things breaking afterwards!
Thanks again guys.
Did nearly the same as you, dejavu.
I use magisk though. Be sure to flash a rom or kernel with RMM state fixed lol, or you'll be back here soon.
Funkmonkey said:
Have just flashed TWRP, used the Comsy version to be safe (3.13.1 fine for the stock rom flash)
Fire up TWRP and enable system changes. FIRST - Advanced wipe and format system (Im 99% sure this is what screwed my last couple of roots), hit yes and do it. Reboot into recovery again.
Flash no-verity, then SuperSU (or your preferred root, i use Aroma installer first, THEN you have to flash the SuperSU binary with that)
Wipe dalvik etc. Reboot into system. As i type this its now in the 'Welcome' screen. Gimme a minute and ill check all is good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Someone should clean this up and get it stickied.
I imagine there are alot of users here with this same issue, after the CRED update we can't downgrade our bootloader, and in a panic you can get stuck here.
kratosjohn said:
Did nearly the same as you, dejavu.
I use magisk though. Be sure to flash a rom or kernel with RMM state fixed lol, or you'll be back here soon.
Looks like that wont be an issue any more to be honest this phone is now a backup thankfully so i can play around with it to my little hearts desire.
Im about to try the magisk install. SuperSU/Aroma definately breaking something somewhere. Or verity. I dont know but rooting the phone at the moment is killing it again.
Also, i have NOT lost IMEI or baseband this time. At the very least for Australian SN-G950F phones, this is a 100% flashable stock rom regardless of your RMM or phone status. I cannot say this for any other model in any other country on any other carrier, but this is all working for a carrier free Exynos S8.
Maybe y'all better archive the actual stock somewhere before someone realises theyve made a mistake somewhere and it gets pulled. Im definantly backing it up.
I just got that oem unlock trick to happen in 2 shutdown/restarts NOT reboots. BUT. I did NOT enable developer mode until i had disabled automatic time updates and turned the date back 8 days. The option came up instantly. Is something comparing a hardware clock deep in the system to a software clock in the os to and developer mode comparing something in between? Either way, on to reflash TWRP again now. This is a good day.
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Hokay so - From a factory refresh, to the OEM unlock trick -
Flashing TWRP with 3.13.1 and allowing the phone to reboot - Phone will reboot as normal, TWRP doesnt stick. Shutdown and reboot into recovery gives you stock recovery.
Flashing but ensuring phone reboots directly into recovery gives you TWRP. A format data and reboot directly into twrp again lets me install no-verity.
- AFTER DOING THIS I AM GETTING THE RED LINE OF DEATH - Something in the system isnt letting the modifications stick.
Reflashing with the Home_CSC still seems to work as normal and i havent had to go through the welcome stuff this time...
Funkmonkey said:
Hokay so - From a factory refresh, to the OEM unlock trick -
Flashing TWRP with 3.13.1 and allowing the phone to reboot - Phone will reboot as normal, TWRP doesnt stick. Shutdown and reboot into recovery gives you stock recovery.
Flashing but ensuring phone reboots directly into recovery gives you TWRP. A format data and reboot directly into twrp again lets me install no-verity.
- AFTER DOING THIS I AM GETTING THE RED LINE OF DEATH - Something in the system isnt letting the modifications stick.
Reflashing with the Home_CSC still seems to work as normal and i havent had to go through the welcome stuff this time...
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Click to collapse
Have you found and used this after getting your phone setup right (w/twrp)?
I think you should flash magisk, then this after.
After I had this "panic" I flashed the custom rom I was aiming for (once RMM: Official). That rom has a kernel with the RMM state fixed/locked.
Maybe look for a custom kernel if you want root, I believe this is the fight we have to put up even on stock w/root.
Download the Australian stock rom and install it but do not recover IMEI or coverage. I think it's because my G950F (singlesim) cell phone thinks it's G950FD (double sim). This causes the cell phone to get confused and not recognize any imei or sim. Does anyone know how to fix it?
Funkmonkey said:
Sunuva....
I havent been inside since i replied to you before. Gave up trying to fix that and was doing other things. Just reset both the s8 and s8+ to look at download mode... noticed the rmm flag was GONE rebooted and sure enough OEM Unlock is done.
You genius.
So - Anyone actuallly reading this -
Lost root, reflashed and cant install TWRP etc, "OFFICIAL BINARIES ONLY" crash, cant replace bootloader, missing IMEI/Unknown baseband -
TRY FLASHING XXU2CRED stock rom from 18/6/18 or later. This will flash despite a locked bootloader.
Once up and running set up the phone for use. Reboot as normal. Then turn off automatic time and date set date to 8 days prior, reset phone a couple of times. Get annoyed because you keep having to reset the date backwards. Reboot phone again and set automatic tin me and date again. Reboot. Bamf unlocked and completely restored SN-G950F.
Courtesy of Funkmonkey and @kratosjohn (the little legend)
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Do we need to factory rest or just reboot phone after we change date?
Funkmonkey said:
Sunuva....
I havent been inside since i replied to you before. Gave up trying to fix that and was doing other things. Just reset both the s8 and s8+ to look at download mode... noticed the rmm flag was GONE rebooted and sure enough OEM Unlock is done.
You genius.
So - Anyone actuallly reading this -
Lost root, reflashed and cant install TWRP etc, "OFFICIAL BINARIES ONLY" crash, cant replace bootloader, missing IMEI/Unknown baseband -
TRY FLASHING XXU2CRED stock rom from 18/6/18 or later. This will flash despite a locked bootloader.
Once up and running set up the phone for use. Reboot as normal. Then turn off automatic time and date set date to 8 days prior, reset phone a couple of times. Get annoyed because you keep having to reset the date backwards. Reboot phone again and set automatic tin me and date again. Reboot. Bamf unlocked and completely restored SN-G950F.
Courtesy of Funkmonkey and @kratosjohn (the little legend)
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Click to collapse
Can you please help me? so when you say reset phone you are talking about restarting it? I have tried this a few times and not working for me. My oem has always been unlocked, but still have prenormal
Smartphones13 said:
Can you please help me? so when you say reset phone you are talking about restarting it? I have tried this a few times and not working for me. My oem has always been unlocked, but still have prenormal
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Click to collapse
I was stuck here too, flash the latest CRED firmware he linked.
Then boot it one time (setup til you see launcher).
Do the OEM unlock method.
You can follow the steps after if you want root.
I suggest magisk and a custom ROM, that had RMM state fixed (so you won't get locked again).
Good luck!
Smartphones13 said:
Can you please help me? so when you say reset phone you are talking about restarting it? I have tried this a few times and not working for me. My oem has always been unlocked, but still have prenormal
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Click to collapse
Sorry i missed your reply i hope you got it fixed if not post again and ill see if i can help. Ive definantly gotten that oem unlock trick working which is awesome but its fiddly. I dont think it works if you turn on flight mode and you have to let the phone fight you between 'no automatic date and time' and the network forcing the time.
Of course now i cant get the oem unlock trick working...
RE the dual sim issue... i think you would need the stock rom specific to your model try sammobile, see if there is a CRED release for your model. I cant guarantee it will work tho.
kratosjohn said:
I was stuck here too, flash the latest CRED firmware he linked.
Then boot it one time (setup til you see launcher).
Do the OEM unlock method.
You can follow the steps after if you want root.
I suggest magisk and a custom ROM, that had RMM state fixed (so you won't get locked again).
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your help, I am on the latest firmware now and into my Google and Samsung accounts. I am a little confused on the wording in the oem steps. I have tried it a bunch of times. Prenormal is still there, I already have the OEM unblocked, I can toggle OEM on and off but it doesn't change my rmm status. I am not sure what I am doing wrong.
Smartphones13 said:
Thank you for your help, I am on the latest firmware now and into my Google and Samsung accounts. I am a little confused on the wording in the oem steps. I have tried it a bunch of times. Prenormal is still there, I already have the OEM unblocked, I can toggle OEM on and off but it doesn't change my rmm status. I am not sure what I am doing wrong.
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Thats exactly what im now struggling with. It absolutely did work twice but i cant get it to go now.
Heres the thing - both times i did it before, i would turn off automatic time and date and set the date backwards, then reboot the phone, when it reboots, automatic time and date were rechecked, and the date reset to now (hence the 'fighting with the date' comments) ... i think thats important, because now when i try it, automatic time and date stay OFF, the date does not reset, and i cant get the trick to work anymore. No amount of wifi/airplane/mobile data on/off seems to change owt.
If anyone reading has any ideas it would help.
Funkmonkey said:
Thats exactly what im now struggling with. It absolutely did work twice but i cant get it to go now.
Heres the thing - both times i did it before, i would turn off automatic time and date and set the date backwards, then reboot the phone, when it reboots, automatic time and date were rechecked, and the date reset to now (hence the 'fighting with the date' comments) ... i think thats important, because now when i try it, automatic time and date stay OFF, the date does not reset, and i cant get the trick to work anymore. No amount of wifi/airplane/mobile data on/off seems to change owt.
If anyone reading has any ideas it would help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see, so you suppose to set date back 8 days and turn off auto time and date and restart phone? When it comes back on to and set the date back to 8 days again? I thought you have to check the software? And then do those steps? So after I change the date back after that first restart, then what? Do I just turn OEM lock on and check download mode to see what the status is? I am not trying to be a pain o am just confused a little on the steps. Thank you for all your help
Smartphones13 said:
I see, so you suppose to set date back 8 days and turn off auto time and date and restart phone? When it comes back on to and set the date back to 8 days again? I thought you have to check the software? And then do those steps? So after I change the date back after that first restart, then what? Do I just turn OEM lock on and check download mode to see what the status is? I am not trying to be a pain o am just confused a little on the steps. Thank you for all your help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think we might be looking at different issues.
This is to fix a semi bricked phone that has locked up its bootloader. In the past to resurrect a samsung all you had to do was flash twrp and your new rom but since Oreo some funkiness has been added to the system which only lets you flash a stock rom, (i.e. restoring a phone to factory settings and software) via ODIN/HEIMDALL then it locks up the bootloader for a week so you CANNOT flash anything into the phone that modifies the bootloader (i.e. TWRP OR *any* rom) until its timer runs out. This is most likely an anti theft feature esp with samsung and google pay use as it means there is no way to easily break into a stolen phone and use it as normal, and reflashing breaks all of the security features of the phone (e-fuse) - no knox no samsung or google pay no samsung pass as your device is insecure and could spoof false banking details etc.
The rom i linked to is important as it is a new AUSTRALIAN unbranded STOCK rom, that for some reason you can flash OVER a locked bootloader, meaning you can resurrect (australian at the very least) SN-G950F phones (exynos)
If you already have a working phone and can get to your developer settings then most of this thread is irrelevant to you.
Now - OEM unlock - You just bought a brand new galaxy from samsung (or youre me and you bought a MINT second hand one from cash converters for $700 less) - your phone is factory standard and schmicky. THE BOOTLOADER IS LOCKED. THE RMM STATE SHOULD NOT be triggered. If right now you went to flash something it would fail.
So you go to about phone - software information and you tap 'build number' seven times to unlock developer mode. Hit back twice and developer mode will be at the bottom of settings.
Click into this and you should see without swiping down 'OEM UNLOCK' - If you enable this, you can then reboot straight into download mode (power vol down and bixby) and flash twrp or whatever rom.
If you dont see this option, you either have a snapdragon model (youre **** outta luck permanently) or RMM is PRENORMAL and you either have to try the unlock trick(s) or leave your phone SWITCHED ON for 1 week and it will unlock itself.
The biggest issue at the moment is that i keep breaking something after i attempt to root so not sure whats happening there so use major caution.
Now as i said the trick posted above to unlock without having to wait a week (which i think youre asking about) im now not sure how it works because i cant get it to work any more.
Automatic time and date off, set date back 8 days, reset the phone. Do this a couple of times, then turn on automatic date and time again. HERE THERE BE ISSUES. When i first did it - i switch off time and date and change then reset, when the phone came on, auto date and time was on again. Turn off, change date, reset. Again, its back on. Turn off, change date, reset. Its back on. I give up and leave it, and notice later the option was available, so it worked. I broke the phone, reflashed again, did the trick in ONE reboot. Fcked something again, reflashed, now auto time and date stays off and the trick wont work so i cant help you with that until someone comes up with more info im sorry! Its a bit zarbis.
Im not going too nuts trying to fix it as i now have a fully working stock backup phone that sits on DeX plugged into my bedroom tv full time and im not into custom roms, root keeps breaking the phone, and ive sonce replaced it with a mint S8+ that im not even THINKING about considering rooting until its replaced maybe next year. Its not as easy to get around anymore and thankfully a) picasa and hangouts are no longer stock apps and can be banished and b) you can now disable all the other built in apps natively so its now a lot more bearable with a totally stock phone.
Edit 3: TL;DR: This is appears to be an S8 exclusive error, it's shown in the recovery:
"Product device tree not found, couldn't verify firmware" or something like that. For solutions, please look that up.
So, I bought a bootlooping S8 in the hopes of fixing it.
Since OEM and FRP lock are on, I went with installing Samsung firmware on it, as installing a custom recovery at this point is not possible.
The default recovery wouldn't work, so I wasn't able to know which firmware exactly to flash, because I couldn't find out which model exactly I have bought.
I do not know the carrier of the device either, but it should be from some german provider.
All of the firmwares I tried just bootlooped, but the recovery works again, except for ADB, which is quite unfortunate, and I have no idea why it fails, the device shows up when I'm in the recovery menu, but as soon as I activate ADB, it's gone from the list of connected devices.
Combination firmwares sometimes show some turning gears animations, but then crash with some, thought often memory related, pretty random crash issue.
Another problem I am now facing is that in the process of trying to find a working firmware I now upgraded the devices "binary level"? (forgot what exactly it was called) to 6, so I can't flash any older firmware or combination firmware than 6, since downgrading isn't allowed.
I received the device with either binary level 1 oder 2.
My theory is that I don't have the right firmware, since I keep seeing dm-verity and license errors...
I am happy to provide logs if necessary.
The goal is to have an unlocked bootloader/ custom recovery.
I literally am going INSANE over this FRP blocking me from flashing TWRP and being done with this in under 10 minutes, please help :c
PS: Some random info attached
Edit 1: With the IMEI code i found while opening the phone I now know my model number: SM-G950FZKADBT.
Any tips for finding the PDA code of the originally installed system? Or finding a matching firmware?
Is this even neccesary? Why do official firmwares not work for me? :c
Edit 2: Somewhat solution: I think the only way to recover this device would be to find it's firmware, which is just NOT to be found...
So, until a miracle happens I'm gonna keep reading "Firmware is not valid" errors in the log
Did you look in samfrew.com ? ? ? I just grabbed a fw from there.
The dnld was loooong so I purchased a privilege for faster speed . . .