Database Users

[Q] Hardware-locked and bricked Vibrant shipped to T-Mobile with all of my data

I had a hardware-locked Vibrant and requested a replacement from T-Mobile. I get shipped a new unit, and it works perfectly. I migrated everything to the new replacement- internal sdcard files, external sdcard files, apps and data (backed up and restored using Titanium backup), etc. I'm happy with the new phone.
So I tried using ODIN to restore the defective old Vibrant back to factory firmware. I downloaded these stock firmware images, I did an MD5 integrity check and it passed, and I followed all instructions on the post. ODIN never worked or appeared to do anything (after waiting half an hour), even after installing Samsung Kies + drivers, and rebooting my PC 3 times. So after 4 or 5 hours of trying all this, I turned off my defective phone and power it back on. It appears that ODIN ****ed it up, and the connect-phone-to-PC image appears on screen. I tried every method to enter download mode, and nothing works. I already shipped the device to T-Mobile since I was close to being over my return duration limit (7 days to return defective device).
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The problem is that it's possible that my internal sdcard, system, data, and everything else is still on the phone but it just couldn't boot. OR... maybe ODIN repartitioned everything (I checked "repartition" in ODIN after a few fails) and therefore nothing is on the phone which is why it couldn't boot. I REALLY hope that my data is not on there.
My question is if T-Mobile will be responsible with my data (if it's still on there), or if some stupid hooligan working at T-Mobile will try to dump my phone's contents and take the dumped image and use it for his own purposes.
Another question is if ODIN detects the phone, but appears to be stuck in the process of flashing, will the data on the phone be formatted? If this is the case, then I do not need to worry about my data being stuck on the shipped phone.

Note 4 lagging, rebooting and mmc read error.

Hello all. I'm here today seeking help with a problem I've been having with my note 4. A few weeks ago, the phone randomly started lagging really bad, reboots by itself and sometime fails to boot giving the "mmc read error". Usually requires several battery pulls to get it working again. Had this problem during 5.1.1, upgrading to 6.0.1 has done nothing. I have tried booting in to safe mode, clearing cache partition and a factory reset, all in vain. Phone is stock and clean, called Samsung and was politely told to "go f*** myself" since the 1 year warranty is over. Phone is Canadian. Thanks to all those who can help.

Hello - I've just had this very same error in the past 2 weeks and only fixed it today.
MAKE SURE YOU BACK EVERYTHING UP ASAP - NO EXCUSES.
Its a hardware failure I'm afraid.
I had to take my phone into the Samsung service centre today, and they replaced the motherobard after they confirmed it as dead.
My phone has the exact same symptoms as yours (lag, reboots, booting only into download mode), except that mine eventually refused entirely to turn on. Im not joking; the next time that it does turn on, make ure you do a phone and SD card full back up before you lose everything (pictures and such like).
I dont know about you, or where you are located, but my Note 4 has a 2 year warranty (Im in the UK) and I received it a year last March ago. Still well within warranty.
Alternatively, you could have a look on ebay for a new motherboard and replace it yourself.
Good luck!

I was wondering..
I came across this Forum group since I was looking for boot problems with my SM-N910T3
I hope flashing pit will resolve this..
I recently started to have some low level issue and was hoping it was partition/boot related and not hardware.
Randomly phone boot directly into Download mode with error;
ddi: mmc_read failed
Often I have to pull battery and hold down /power / home for 10 sec to boot up again.
I didn't see an explanation of the purpose of the pit process ; could someone explain?
I am very familiar with custom roms and kernels, Pit is new to me..
Thanks

Wilsonb said:
Randomly phone boot directly into Download mode with error;
ddi: mmc_read failed
Often I have to pull battery and hold down /power / home for 10 sec to boot up again.
I didn't see an explanation of the purpose of the pit process ; could someone explain?
I am very familiar with custom roms and kernels, Pit is new to me..
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Wilson,
welcome to the club, I am having the exact same problem now.
And bad news first, nothing will help you/us except a change of the motherboard... So bring it to a Samsung service center, the only thing you could do.
Believe me, I tried everything there is to try, including full wiping with flashing PIT files, etc. etc.
Forget it!
This is a hardware issue, as the mmc's are faulty and die after a year. Great.
Just to inform you, a pit file contains the infos about the partitions on the phone, their sizes, file system, etc.
So if you somehow compromised the structure or filesystem of the partitions, you could revert them back to the stock format.
Yeah, but doesn't help if your flash memory is corrupt on hw level...

Swap Logic Board on Note 4 N910F 32GB possible? (due to dead/damaged eMMC)

Hello guys,
I am wondering if one could swap the logic board on a Note 4. A friend of mine gave me her Note 4 that showed signs of a hardware defect (mmc), e.g. random reboots, restarting into recovery mode or even fails to start at all.
I tried everything to fix the phone like flashing a repair Firmware including Pit-File and so on - but the phone keeps saying mmc_read fail and Odin won't flash.
So it seems to be a hardware problem, that is, the eMMC is very possibly damaged since TWRP keeps telling me that it cannot repair the file system due to Invalid Partition.
I found this exchange board on ebay: It's from a Note 4 N910F 32GB - Exact my model. However, mine is from Germany, and the one from ebay is from the US... would this be a problem?
Also I read about an EMEI code that is different on every board - anyway to solve this?
Thank you in advance!
PS: I've managed once to flash the repair FW (after a lot of tries) and it indeed worked out for a couple of hours. But then, restart and the phone didn't went back on. After battery being pulled out and back in, I only could go into recovery -> mmc_read fail. So this underpins my suggestion of a corrupted eMMC...

How did you get on with this - any solution? Where did you source your mobo? Mine's developed an issue and I'm struggling to find a replacement.

replacement hardware question

I had a S4 (sgh-i337) for the last 3 years and just replaced it with Oneplus 5T recently.
I wanted to re-purpose the S4 as a mobile DLNA server for my car, but ran into a problem when I was upgrading to the latest AOSP rom.
I had the power button replaced last year and the new one is starting to fail as well. My thought was rather than trying to replace the power button again and then figure-out why ODIN restore isn't working (I have a MDL bootloader, it boots back to MDL rom, but hangs on the at&t boot screen - my thought is that I may need a sim card to complete the boot and this is the first time that I have tried to factory reset/Odin without a sim card)... my thought was for the low-low price for $25, I could get a i9505 motherboard from aliexpress and not have to deal with the pseudo-locked bootloader anymore.
the question - can I install the motherboard of a i9505 into the sgh-i337. I know fundamentally, the hardware is the same across the "snapdragon 600 based S4's line, but just wanted to make sure before I spent money that my thought was correct or if there are any other software issues that I might have.
I am not concerned about GSM connectivity, as I am only planning on using it to host videos for tethered wifi access in the car to other android tablets.
thanks for the input and advice.

When buying a 9505 motherboard, make sure you don't get a mobo that is made for the Chinese market.

audit13 said:
When buying a 9505 motherboard, make sure you don't get a mobo that is made for the Chinese market.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
whats wrong with the ones or the chinese market?
I see that most of they say from China, but are labeled 9505_J (if the pictures are to be believed)
item 1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_Galaxy_S4#Model_variants
it looks like the chinese ones are 9508, 9502, 959

If it's made for the China, they don't have Google apps like chrome and the play store.
I recall seeing posts where people had difficulty installing the missing apps.
The aliexpress board looks fine.

if its a 9505, my plan is to root it and install cm14.1; so as long as it truely is a 9505 and there isnt a concern that it is really a 9508, 9502, 959 that hasn't been relabeled.
thanks for your help

Good luck with your project.
If you want to use the phone as a phone, you could also look for an sgh-i337m which is the same as the AT&T s4 except there is no locked bootloader

update, I received the board, installed it and booted it up. it was a clean install, knox tripped (0x1), recent baseband and bootloader. after realizing the capacitive menu and back button weren't working, I after trying to root without tripping the knox bit, via an xda tutorial to install a older kernel prior to rooting; After that caused it to not boot, i was able to replace the kernel via odin.
I tried putting my i337 board back in to see if i would get a successful odin flash and boot and see if the capacitive menu and back button will work. cant get the i337 to perform the initial boot (stuck on the att boot screen) i put the 9505 board back in and after doing some research found that it isnt even seeing the buttons
via the *#2663# screen and check to make sure it says 0x1c on 'Part's Touch key FW version', as it doesnt show the Part's Touch key as existing / attached.
so i said whatever, installed twrp, wiped, installed cm (lineage) 17.1. I was unable to find the option to show software keys, so i added a software keys app from the playstore
so, all and all, it was a successful endeavor and well worth the $30 purchase. If i had not had the problem with the Part's Touch key / capacities buttons, i wish i would have done this years ago when i started rooting my phone to avoid the frustration with the locked bootloader (even if i had a hacked mdl bootloader)
now, just to find a dlna server app, so i can have the phone be a wifi ssd for movies in the car (for the kids in the back on road trips, not for the driver)
thanks for your input

Samsung S8 Security Error During Boot

Last week I woke to my phone showing an error "System software not authorized by AT&T has been found on your phone. Please turn off your phone and go to the nearest AT&T store for help." This phone was working great when I went to sleep a few hours prior, and has not been rooted or modified in any way.
As you can probably guess, the AT&T store was not able to help, but referred me to their phone based support. When I called, the phone rep stepped me through the boot loader menu (vol up, bixby, power) and we reset the cache, then the full factory reset. Nothing made any difference.
So, I figured I would try re-flashing with official Samsung Firmware. I used Odin to flash the G8 FW that matched my AT&T model. Great news! My original error is fixed. Unfortunately it has been replaced with one just like it: "Security Error: This phone has been flashed with unauthorized software & is locked. Call your mobile operator for additional support. Please note that repair / return for this issue may have additional cost."
I also tried a slightly different version of firmware but get the same result. A third version would not flash due to a "SW_REV_CHECK_FAIL: [abl]Fused 5 > Binary 3" error, which I assume is because the firmware being flashed is too old.
Any suggestions on how to unbrick this phone?
Thanks,
Sharkus