(UK) Rooted S3, Soft Bricked after using Fontster, what now? No recovery. - Galaxy S III Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hello everyone, firstly I want to apologise for having my first post here be a forgettable and generic cry for help but I'm at my wits end and I hope that the community is nice enough; I would be very grateful. I rooted my phone as the idea really excited me as the phone had been really behaving erratically, since rooting it the phone performed brilliantly, I was thinking of installing CyanogenMod but it was lost on me, the entire process and caveats frightened me away... And I put my hands in the air admitting I probably didn't respect the process enough, thinking if the worse happened - c'est la vie! Well now it has and I'm feeling sick.
I rooted a few months ago, the Android version was 4.3. Basically I know what I've done and to quote Chromium himself in his thread for the app - I love the app, I'd done nothing at all exotic since rooting the phone - no custom ROM, no custom OS, just did it for the improved performance it affords, and I've been using Fontster all this time. Only recently, thinking I'm really clever I put a ttf font file on the phone via USB, a font that was unavailable in the app itself and thought nothing of it, promptly forgetting I ever did it to be honest.
Chromium said:
https://github.com/Chromium1/Fonts/raw/master/RestoreStockFonts.zip
This feature was available in one of the previous beta versions, but I decided to remove it from the app. One of the key points of this app is that it replaces all styles of fonts included in the rom and that I personally collected (or in some cases made) full sets of the fonts. In addition I edited the classifications of all the fonts so that they dont result in a bootloop when installed. If the user was able to pick their own files the classifications of the fonts will very likely be incorrect and they will soft brick their phone. Considering I already have a bunch of ignorant, uneducated reviews on the play store from people who failed to read the description, I cant imagine how much worse it would get if I left this option in the app.
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Click to collapse
I did not know this prior to I've done; last night I had grown tired of the font I had been using and started installing other fonts and had actually rebooted the phone a few times, and then I did it, didn't I? I must have chosen the font that I had put on the phone manually, the phone reboots and it hanged.
Since then, I've tried Odin and Kies. I needed to flash the stock recovery again and I have access to both Download and Recovery mode, Odin is detecting it all good and most of the internet is in agreement that as I have access to Download mode I am able to save the phone.
I have downloaded the stock ROM from multiple services, I currently have one downloading from http://samsung-updates.com/device/?id=GT-I9300 however but there is no mtd tar file no matter how many times I unzip the folder, using Windows' own file manager and 7zip, and there is no discussion about this anywhere on the Internet, though I am on Windows 8.1!?
Please help, I'm thinking I just need that mtd/tar file to be put in the PDA box?!
Additionally when in recovery mode there is red text -
E: failed to mount /system (Invalid argument)
can't mount '/system' (Invalid argument)
E: failed to mount /system (Invalid argument)
Am I boned?
Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated; this has really opened my eyes to the pitfalls of dealing in something I have no idea about, I'm through and through a Windows techie.

When you extract the downloaded files what do you see in the folder?

Darke5tShad0w said:
When you extract the downloaded files what do you see in the folder?
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Thank you DarkestShadow for your reply; it's still downloading (but going from memory; but I'll edit when it's finished) there was a boot image, a META-INF folder, a Modem file, a system file and others - I know this isn't thorough enough. From what I've seen on YouTube and from guides online once the zip is extracted it all becomes a single mtr5 / tar file. And that just isn't happening, it's perplexing as much as it is infuriating.

JJKirby said:
Thank you DarkestShadow for your reply; it's still downloading (but going from memory; but I'll edit when it's finished) there was a boot image, a META-INF folder, a Modem file, a system file and others - I know this isn't thorough enough. From what I've seen on YouTube and from guides online once the zip is extracted it all becomes a single mtr5 / tar file. And that just isn't happening, it's perplexing as much as it is infuriating.
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Click to collapse
Just did some quick research and if you don't get the tar file the stock rom zip can be flashed with recovery

Darke5tShad0w said:
Just did some quick research and if you don't get the tar file the stock rom zip can be flashed with recovery
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Click to collapse
Thank you very much. So if I am reading you correctly, if I can get the stock rom as a zip folder on the phone and flash via the stock recovery it should be good to go?
How would I go about getting the zip on the device? I have an SD card, although it has a lot of personal files which I don't want to lose. Could I use a tablet and computer connection to backup and get the stock rom zip on the SD card, put the SD card in my phone and then....??

JJKirby said:
Thank you very much. So if I am reading you correctly, if I can get the stock rom as a zip folder on the phone and flash via the stock recovery it should be good to go?
How would I go about getting the zip on the device? I have an SD card, although it has a lot of personal files which I don't want to lose. Could I use a tablet and computer connection to backup and get the stock rom zip on the SD card, put the SD card in my phone and then....??
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Click to collapse
Does not matter what method you choose as long as you get your personnel files off and get the zip in.
I did not realize you had stock recovery, so there is a chance it may not work. If not we will have to get you the proper odin type file.
Where are you from? what region/carrier stock are you trying flash on it?

JJKirby said:
Thank you very much. So if I am reading you correctly, if I can get the stock rom as a zip folder on the phone and flash via the stock recovery it should be good to go?
How would I go about getting the zip on the device? I have an SD card, although it has a lot of personal files which I don't want to lose. Could I use a tablet and computer connection to backup and get the stock rom zip on the SD card, put the SD card in my phone and then....??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just take out your sd card and copy all your stuff to pc.then put the zip file on your sd card and flash it, but you do need custom recovry.
Sent from my C6603 using XDA Free mobile app

Arrowblue said:
Just take out your sd card and copy all your stuff to pc.then put the zip file on your sd card and flash it, but you do need custom recovry.
Sent from my C6603 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is my understanding (And I could be wrong) you can flash stock zips with stock recovery? but of course you need custom recovery for anything else.

Darke5tShad0w said:
Does not matter what method you choose as long as you get your personnel files off and get the zip in.
I did not realize you had stock recovery, so there is a chance it may not work. If not we will have to get you the proper odin type file.
Where are you from? what region/carrier stock are you trying flash on it?
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Click to collapse
I am in the UK. I am downloading I9300XXUGMK6_I9300OXAGMK6_BTU.zip , but even so, it's the whole issue with the fact I can't see the tar / md5 file.
The phone is the Samsung GT-i9300 Galaxy SIII, it's carrier unlocked.

Although I am perfectly happy and confident in flashing a different recovery, I just want to make the phone usable again. I managed to flash the stock recovery no problem. I don't care about flash count and the warranty, I'm upgrading my contract soon anyway, I just need the phone obviously!

JJKirby said:
Although I am perfectly happy and confident in flashing a different recovery, I just want to make the phone usable again. I managed to flash the stock recovery no problem. I don't care about flash count and the warranty, I'm upgrading my contract soon anyway, I just need the phone obviously!
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Click to collapse
Then I suggest this one
https://goo.im/devs/philz_touch/CWM_Advanced_Edition/i9300/philz_touch_6.48.4-i9300.zip.md5

Thank you DarkestShadow you have really surprised me, thank you so much for your assistance. I mean it from the bottom of my heart. Okay so with this file, this will go in the PDA box of Odin yes? And then flash it to the phone, with that done I can then put the stock rom zip on the card, put the card in the phone, boot up to CWM and then presumably follow the on screen prompts?
In the mean time though, I will wait for the download of the zip to finish to see if there is a tar file, if not I will flash CWM and be straight back on here for further assistance which I hope you'll be happy to provide? Do I need to name the zip file of the stock rom anything?
Thanks again.

JJKirby said:
Thank you DarkestShadow you have really surprised me, thank you so much for your assistance. I mean it from the bottom of my heart. Okay so with this file, this will go in the PDA box of Odin yes? And then flash it to the phone, with that done I can then put the stock rom zip on the card, put the card in the phone, boot up to CWM and then presumably follow the on screen prompts?
In the mean time though, I will wait for the download of the zip to finish to see if there is a tar file, if not I will flash CWM and be straight back on here for further assistance which I hope you'll be happy to provide? Do I need to name the zip file of the stock rom anything?
Thanks again.
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Click to collapse
Of course I will continue to help.
Yes in pda, then if it does not auto restart into recovery shut phone off and hold Home, Volume up and Power buttons together. When you see the samsung logo, let go and you'll see it go into custom recovery.
Then choose install zip, storage/sdcard1 and the file should be there, does not need to be named anything special or changed at all just aslong as you recognize it then confirm.

Darke5tShad0w said:
Of course I will continue to help.
Yes in pda, then if it does not auto restart into recovery shut phone off and hold Home, Volume up and Power buttons together. When you see the samsung logo, let go and you'll see it go into custom recovery.
Then choose install zip, storage/sdcard1 and the file should be there, does not need to be named anything special or changed at all just aslong as you recognize it then confirm.
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Click to collapse
Thank you Darkest, probably another silly question; I can just chuck the zip anywhere on the SD card, regardless of all the crap Android has formatted on/for it? - like DCIM, Android etc. as long as it's in the root of the card and I know what it's named.

JJKirby said:
Thank you Darkest, probably another silly question; I can just chuck the zip anywhere on the SD card, regardless of all the crap Android has formatted on/for it? - like DCIM, Android etc. as long as it's in the root of the card and I know what it's named.
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Click to collapse
Nope it doesn't matter as you can navigate around to find it but in the root of the sdcard is the easiest

Darke5tShad0w said:
Nope it doesn't matter as you can navigate around to find it but in the root of the sdcard is the easiest
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Okay then Darkest, finished downloading SGS3INT-XXUGMK6-BTU-20131216, extracted the zip and lo and behold I have the md5 file! As well as a dll file named SS_DL
Now what? I've completely forgotten, put that md5 file into the PDA box in Odin and commence the flashing, however if I wanted could I flash the custom recovery at a later date? If I intend on using custom OS's / rooting again / just for the ease of mind knowing it's a lot more thorough if I ever soft brick again.
I'm going to sleep now, it's 05:25AM for me, I hope that this help and advice and continue as I really appreciate talking with someone so versed in these matters, my friends and colleagues are all ****ing clueless!

JJKirby said:
Okay then Darkest, finished downloading SGS3INT-XXUGMK6-BTU-20131216, extracted the zip and lo and behold I have the md5 file! As well as a dll file named SS_DL
Now what? I've completely forgotten, put that md5 file into the PDA box in Odin and commence the flashing, however if I wanted could I flash the custom recovery at a later date?
I'm going to sleep now, it's 05:25AM for me, I hope that this help and advice and continue as I really appreciate talking with someone so versed in these matters, my friends and colleagues are all ****ing clueless!
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Yes that is right here are some instructions ill copy from another post
4.4 Go to DOWNLOAD mode by
4.5 Press the Home, Volume Down and Power buttons together.
4.6 Press Volume Up to continue when prompted.
4.7 Run ODIN on your computer and connect your phone.
4.8 When it recognizes it, check "Auto Reboot" and "F.Reset Time".
4.9 Everything else should be left unchecked.
4.11 Press "PDA" on ODIN and select this file.
4.12 Everything should be as shown here: http://gyazo.com/fea7a1c8b7a7b5bb287fb0a0c70056dc
4.13 Click Start and wait for it to do it's thing. It'll take quite a few minutes.
4.14 When it's finished, you're DONE!!!!
IMPORTANT: If when rebooting, it hangs at the samsung logo for a while then perform STEP 3 (Wipe Device) and then reboot it. Should work. If not then post here and someone may help you OR you can attempt reflashing your stock ROM again.
Yes after all this you can reflash that custom recovery that I posted earlier.

Darke5tShad0w said:
Yes after all this you can reflash that custom recovery that I posted earlier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for being here for me Darkest, I will try it tomorrow and report back, in the meantime is it possible to flash a custom recovery at any point? I don't want to ever have to go through something this stressful again, and this experience has only made me all the more cautiously confident ie: rom manager/custom roms/rooting etc.

JJKirby said:
Thank you for being here for me Darkest, I will try it tomorrow and report back, in the meantime is it possible to flash a custom recovery at any point? I don't want to ever have to go through something this stressful again, and this experience has only made me all the more cautiously confident ie: rom manager/custom roms/rooting etc.
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Click to collapse
Yes with the i9300 we have the luxury of not having to worry about locked boot loaders etc so it should be able to be flashed with odin when ever you choose.

Darke5tShad0w said:
Yes with the i9300 we have the luxury of not having to worry about locked boot loaders etc so it should be able to be flashed with odin when ever you choose.
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Thank you for all your help DarkestShadow, it worked like a charm, my S3 is now functioning, basically from the factory condition.
I have since rooted my S3 using CF Auto Root, what would you suggest my course of action to be?
Definitely install a custom recovery and from custom recovery? Can I then install say, a custom ROM but as long as I backup the current state of the phone I could then go back to back; if I wanted to?

Related

[Q] help a noob out!!

i have a fascinate that ive had for a while. ive managed to root it(took 4ever to find out how) but im rooted with everything else stock. no custom rom kernel or anything(i know im rooted cuz i can use wireless tether with superuser) HOWEVER, ive been reading on this cyanogen mod 7 and would really like to put this on my phone and get rid of touchwiz once and for all, and don't suggest adw it lags my phone down. can somebody plz give me a tutorial on how to download and flash whatever that is. i can't handle the sluggishness of tw anymore. btw i have odin but really don't know what to do with it. oh and sorry if this is already posted but ive searched and don't really feel like going through every thread in existence. please help me!!
Well before I would go and post a tutorial about this we need to address one thing.
You said
and don't suggest adw it lags my phone down.
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Click to collapse
You understand that the default launcher in Cyanogenmod7 (CM7) is ADW correct? I just would hate for you to go through the touch n go process of flashing CM7 and end up hating it because of this
Well... you can switch away from ADW. For instance, I switched to the GO launcher, and it ran like a dream.
Alright, here's a n00b guide.
0)Download these files to you SD card: http://www.mediafire.com/?dfjjclddzq6fl5q, http://goo-inside.me/gapps/gapps-gb-20110613-signed.zip
1) Flash this in Odin: http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=657960&d=1310959789
2) Boot into recovery by turning off the phone/pulling battery and holding volume up, volume down and power at the same time
3) Select wipe cache, then select wipe data
4) Select install zip from sd card or something like that and flash CM7 (The file you downloaded from mediafire above)
5)Once phone finishes installing, hit reboot phone or if your phone is off turn it back on
6) Hold down power button, select reboot, select recovery
7) From here, select install zip from sd card again, and install the gapps from the second link.
8) Reboot, and enjoy. If you don't like adw, install GO launcher from the market
more noob please! how do i flash a file on odin? and what the hell is gapps and what do i do with it?
beefsmith said:
more noob please! how do i flash a file on odin? and what the hell is gapps and what do i do with it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Install this on your computer: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?7946i8tdbe0yv50
Open Odin, remove your phone's battery, hold the "volume down" button on your phone while plugging it into your computer and a little android with a shovel should come up.
On your computer, download the file from step 1. In odin, click the PDA button (NOT THE PHONE BUTTON) and select that downloaded file. Hit start or flash or whatever the button like that says. It will take a while. Once done, you will have cwm, so do step 2.
Once in CWN, use the volume buttons to go up and down and use the power button as the "enter button". Follow the rest of the steps from there.
Also, GAPPS is just the technical name for that second file you downloaded. Install it through CWM exactly as the steps say.
beefsmith said:
more noob please! how do i flash a file on odin? and what the hell is gapps and what do i do with it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gapps...is abbreviated for google apps. Ie. Google talk, gmail, google voice, google chrome to phone, ect...this is a zip file package that contains a lot of googles apps that are not pre packaged into the rom
Odin is a software program for pc to push a modified recovery program or complete stock rom files, or patches and some other goodies and this recovery abbreviated cwm(clock work mod ) is the program you use to install custom roms and kernels. All odin file formats will end in .tar while files for flashing via recovery end in .zip
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
ok so i tried to flash that file using odin, but it just told me succeded0 failed1 and now my phone has the phone to ! to pc logo, and appears bricked
beefsmith said:
ok so i tried to flash that file using odin, but it just told me succeded0 failed1 and now my phone has the phone to ! to pc logo, and appears bricked
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Follow this to fix your phone: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1124391
Just to let you know, you should probably read up on some more of the threads in the general and development section after you fix your phone before trying this again. You really need to know what you're doing or you'll break your phone for real next time.
skafan2 said:
Follow this to fix your phone: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1124391
Just to let you know, you should probably read up on some more of the threads in the general and development section after you fix your phone before trying this again. You really need to know what you're doing or you'll break your phone for real next time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While skafan is right, you probably won't completely bork your device but you can get in deep real quick if you screw up anything major...like flashing a rom not for the fascinate. Go to the link he posted and do it exactly to return to complete stock and then read read read before flashing again, but it is very hard to completely destroy our phones besides physically smashing it. His warning is of just cause....that said..everything I learned(and I'm sure some will agree with me) for the most part is out of necessity..meaning I started tinkering with my phone and learned what I had to as I made mistakes and needed to know how to get out of a boot loop or force closes. There were even a few times where I thought I just turned my fassy into an expensive paper weight! You'll get there and, if nothing else borking builds character!
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
i followed those instructions to the letter, same result, success(0) failed (1)
this sucks
borking does not build character for me
it engenders a sense of helplessless and makes me cry

Samsung Galaxy Note II stuck at bootscreen [OS flashing?]

Well. It's my worst fear. Launched the DPI changer app, attempted to change my DPI (to a valid amount) and nothing happened, no big deal. My wireless connections stopped working and my shop stopped working. I downloaded a different DPI changer, everything was working except Google Play. I attempted everything then decided to tell it to "change" my DPI to default. Went to reboot then bam.
I get the following:
The standard splash with the Verizon 4GLite then it goes on to loop at the Samsung splash for a bit then loops from the beginning (4GLite).
I've tried getting into "recovery" mode but it won't go, I do not know why. (Vol up + home + power). Need help please, thanks.
(Noob alert, if you mention anything that I might need, if you could please supply a DL link to minimize any more mess ups I might make)
EDIT: I got into recovery mode I forgot you were able to remove the battery (I was panicking, I apologize) I am also rooted with 4.2
EDIT2: I've attempted a factory reset, nothing new happened.
EDIT3: I need to reflash an OS. I'm really freaking out. It says I don't have a bootloader (OS).
Bottom line: This problem kinda... multiplied itself most likely based on my own stupidity. I'm keeping it at the "Team Win Recovery Project v2.5.0.0" recovery menu because I don't even want to boot into anything. Awaiting instructions.
Solkrieg said:
Well. It's my worst fear. Launched the DPI changer app, attempted to change my DPI (to a valid amount) and nothing happened, no big deal. My wireless connections stopped working and my shop stopped working. I downloaded a different DPI changer, everything was working except Google Play. I attempted everything then decided to tell it to "change" my DPI to default. Went to reboot then bam.
I get the following:
The standard splash with the Verizon 4GLite then it goes on to loop at the Samsung splash for a bit then loops from the beginning (4GLite).
I've tried getting into "recovery" mode but it won't go, I do not know why. (Vol up + home + power). Need help please, thanks.
(Noob alert, if you mention anything that I might need, if you could please supply a DL link to minimize any more mess ups I might make)
EDIT: I got into recovery mode I forgot you were able to remove the battery (I was panicking, I apologize) I am also rooted with 4.2
EDIT2: I've attempted a factory reset, nothing new happened.
EDIT3: I need to reflash an OS. I'm really freaking out. It says I don't have a bootloader (OS).
Bottom line: This problem kinda... multiplied itself most likely based on my own stupidity. I'm keeping it at the "Team Win Recovery Project v2.5.0.0" recovery menu because I don't even want to boot into anything. Awaiting instructions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I saw you posted this in the att forums but I think I can help. Just download any ROM and flash it. Twrp has a failsafe now that will basically prevent you from bricking your phone if no os is detected. Do you have an external memory card? If you do transfer a ROM to your card, put it in your device, and flash it. Your not bricked.....your just soft bricked. Or you can always go back to stock. I'm sure your device thread has instructions on how to Odin back to stock. Hope this helps
Sent from my SGH-I317 using xda premium
roughneckboren said:
I saw you posted this in the att forums but I think I can help. Just download any ROM and flash it. Twrp has a failsafe now that will basically prevent you from bricking your phone if no os is detected. Do you have an external memory card? If you do transfer a ROM to your card, put it in your device, and flash it. Your not bricked.....your just soft bricked. Or you can always go back to stock. I'm sure your device thread has instructions on how to Odin back to stock. Hope this helps
Sent from my SGH-I317 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So if I wanted to flash stock, I just need to put the stock rom on my ESD put it into my phone and flash it from the recovery menu? Is there more to it than that? Or do I need to do that all externally with "Odin"? Where would I obtain the stock rom? And thank you for your response.
Solkrieg said:
So if I wanted to flash stock, I just need to put the stock rom on my ESD put it into my phone and flash it from the recovery menu? Is there more to it than that? Or do I need to do that all externally with "Odin"? Where would I obtain the stock rom? And thank you for your response.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm talking a touchwiz ROM one of your developers has made. You can find it in your forums. It sounds like you don't have much experience with this stuff. Did you make a nandroid backup at all?
Sent from my SGH-I317 using xda premium
roughneckboren said:
I'm talking a touchwiz ROM one of your developers has made. You can find it in your forums. It sounds like you don't have much experience with this stuff. Did you make a nandroid backup at all?
Sent from my SGH-I317 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sadly, no. I didn't. You are correct, I am very new to this sort of thing, I've rooted other devices before (simple one click only, I'm good with computers, but not smart phones) but nothing has blown up this bad before. I've placed this rom (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2261478) on my ESD however, when I put my ESD back in, it reads it as blank. I'm assuming I need to relaunch recover mode to refresh its directories. However I'm very scared to do that because I have no OS anymore.
Solkrieg said:
Sadly, no. I didn't. You are correct, I am very new to this sort of thing, I've rooted other devices before (simple one click only, I'm good with computers, but not smart phones) but nothing has blown up this bad before. I've placed this rom (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2261478) on my ESD however, when I put my ESD back in, it reads it as blank. I'm assuming I need to relaunch recover mode to refresh its directories. However I'm very scared to do that because I have no OS anymore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just navigate in your recovery back to your internal SD then back to your external. If that does not work then go to the reboot menu in TWRP and and hit recovery. It will restart your recovery only and should refresh what is sees on your external card. If that does not work go to mount and make sure external SD is ticked in the settings, if not then tick it, Reboot recovery again. If still that doesnt work then go to Advanced, file manager, and navigate to your external SD (if you can) and find the file you downloaded, pick the zip file and move it to your internal SD. Then flash it. Regardless of any of these steps if you can find the .zip file flash it. Then reboot. Hope that helps you. You should be able to reboot to recovery any time you need to regardless of no OS. Please keep your phone charging during this whole process. If this works then make a nandroid backup in Twrp.
---------- Post added at 03:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:40 AM ----------
roughneckboren said:
Just navigate in your recovery back to your internal SD then back to your external. If that does not work then go to the reboot menu in TWRP and and hit recovery. It will restart your recovery only and should refresh what is sees on your external card. If that does not work go to mount and make sure external SD is ticked in the settings, if not then tick it, Reboot recovery again. If still that doesnt work then go to Advanced, file manager, and navigate to your external SD (if you can) and find the file you downloaded, pick the zip file and move it to your internal SD. Then flash it. Regardless of any of these steps if you can find the .zip file flash it. Then reboot. Hope that helps you. You should be able to reboot to recovery any time you need to regardless of no OS. Please keep your phone charging during this whole process. If this works then make a nandroid backup in Twrp.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Edit- If none of this works then you'll probably have to adb sideload your phone to transfer the rom to your internal SD card. Otherwise you can ODIN back to 100% stock which involves a huge download and you'll have to reroot your phone. If you don't know how to ODIN to stock then get on youtube and there are plenty of videos to help you along. The basis for the note 2 (att, verizon, sprint,....) should all be the same just a different file to download.
roughneckboren said:
Just navigate in your recovery back to your internal SD then back to your external. If that does not work then go to the reboot menu in TWRP and and hit recovery. It will restart your recovery only and should refresh what is sees on your external card. If that does not work go to mount and make sure external SD is ticked in the settings, if not then tick it, Reboot recovery again. If still that doesnt work then go to Advanced, file manager, and navigate to your external SD (if you can) and find the file you downloaded, pick the zip file and move it to your internal SD. Then flash it. Regardless of any of these steps if you can find the .zip file flash it. Then reboot. Hope that helps you. You should be able to reboot to recovery any time you need to regardless of no OS. Please keep your phone charging during this whole process. If this works then make a nandroid backup in Twrp.
---------- Post added at 03:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:40 AM ----------
Edit- If none of this works then you'll probably have to adb sideload your phone to transfer the rom to your internal SD card. Otherwise you can ODIN back to 100% stock which involves a huge download and you'll have to reroot your phone. If you don't know how to ODIN to stock then get on youtube and there are plenty of videos to help you along. The basis for the note 2 (att, verizon, sprint,....) should all be the same just a different file to download.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I rebooted into recovery. I only hesitated because it warned me I didn't have an OS. That worked, I saw the ROM and am now flashing it. I will edit and let you know if all works.
EDIT: It worked, thank you so much for your time and effort! I'm sure it's a pain dealing with noobies, I hope this helps people in the future since it's very friendly to beginners. I hope to not come back to this thread and say something isn't working properly.
Solkrieg said:
I rebooted into recovery. I only hesitated because it warned me I didn't have an OS. That worked, I saw the ROM and am now flashing it. I will edit and let you know if all works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please do.
ROOTBOXED!
roughneckboren said:
Please do.
ROOTBOXED!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It worked, thank you so much for your time and effort! I'm sure it's a pain dealing with noobies, I hope this helps people in the future since it's very friendly to beginners. I hope to not come back to this thread and say something isn't working properly.
Solkrieg said:
It worked, thank you so much for your time and effort! I'm sure it's a pain dealing with noobies, I hope this helps people in the future since it's very friendly to beginners. I hope to not come back to this thread and say something isn't working properly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem man. Not everyone here is a butthole. Its not a pain because I was there once too. Just make sure you run a backup in twrp. You can name it too! Just practice and read around. Watch YouTube videos (I learn by visual)
And I keep my backups on PC in case a memory card goes bad. If you wipe system in recovery make sure you flash a ROM because system is obviously your OS and twrp prevents it from booting and bricking your device. Good choice on the recovery. :thumbup:
If it will at least boot to something there's always hope. be sure to hit the thanks button. It always helps. Glad to have gotten you up and running. If you need more help just pm me.
ROOTBOXED!

Please help to return LGOG to original at&t stock rom

Hello,
I have an unlock E970 running custom rom on T-mobile right now, and I would like to return it back to original stock rom. I've been reading threads in in the last couple days, but still not finding a clear procedure to do this. From what I understand I have to do it in phone download mode instead of install by zip file. Please someone can spare some times to show me the steps and needed files to do this.
BTW: Will my phone still be carrier unlock after return to stock, it will lock backto at&t again?
Thank you,
airbornesapper said:
Hello,
I have an unlock E970 running custom rom on T-mobile right now, and I would like to return it back to original stock rom. I've been reading threads in in the last couple days, but still not finding a clear procedure to do this. From what I understand I have to do it in phone download mode instead of install by zip file. Please someone can spare some times to show me the steps and needed files to do this.
BTW: Will my phone still be carrier unlock after return to stock, it will lock backto at&t again?
Thank you,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sim unlock persists after returning to stock. If you are not restoring so you can do warranty exchange there is a stock+root flashable zip you could use.
adfurgerson said:
Sim unlock persists after returning to stock. If you are not restoring so you can do warranty exchange there is a stock+root flashable zip you could use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did try the stock zip file, but that is not what I'm looking for. I need to flash the phone back to original stock like the new one.
Please help
airbornesapper said:
I did try the stock zip file, but that is not what I'm looking for. I need to flash the phone back to original stock like the new one.
Please help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is exactly the same as stock jellybean.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2067871
Adfurgerson is correct. Unless you need it to go in for warranty service or get inspected for modifations by your employer, his link will get you to where you want to be. If you are in one of the aforementioned scenarios, post back soon and I'll point you over to #lg-g2 on freenode, or if you know what that means and how to get there, just show up and I or someone else will get you squared away.
Sent from my LG Optimus G using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
adfurgerson said:
This is exactly the same as stock jellybean.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2067871
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've try this rom, but the installation does not go right:
If some one can shed some light of what I have done wrong:
1 First I boot into Teamwin Recovery
2.Select factory wipe
3 Select advange wipe, then I choose cache, davik cache, system, data wipe ( the only one I do not include is Internal Storage)
4 After it done wiping, I choose install then select the zip file
5 Here is the problem start: my screen show extracting....t then installing... for like a mimutes, then it said finished.
6.Now I choose Reboot then the screen showed that I have no OS at all
7.Now I have to go back and select intall zip again (this time without any wipping) then the phone this time take a little longer to install. And I does boot into new Rom just install.
8.Here is it get weird: If I connect my phone to my pc I can see the phone all most have double folders. (It has all the normal files folder plus a 0 FODERS when I open that 0 file folder it contain all the other folders that I have in the upper level
It seem like it extract most of the files and folds twice.
I have not experience this with other custom rom
Did I miss a step???
Please advise
Thank you!

[Q] Need help installing clockwork recover on my Atrix HD MB886

Hello XDA members,
I was hoping somebody would help me out, I'm fairly new when it comes to installing custom roms so I require your patience. I don't know how to install a custom rom onto my Bell Atrix HD MB886, everytime I try it says abortion failed, what can I do to fix this. I have wiped data and all that probably 5 times in the past week alone. I would like to know how to successfully install roms without errors. Both the times that I have done this I had my bootloader unlocked, and I had clockword recovery mod latest version 6.0.4.4. I bought an SD card today to help install the roms because otherwise I can't do it from my internal storage. I really hope somebody can help me out.
Regards,
Roger
riekkir said:
Hello XDA members,
I was hoping somebody would help me out, I'm fairly new when it comes to installing custom roms so I require your patience. I don't know how to install a custom rom onto my Bell Atrix HD MB886, everytime I try it says abortion failed, what can I do to fix this. I have wiped data and all that probably 5 times in the past week alone. I would like to know how to successfully install roms without errors. Both the times that I have done this I had my bootloader unlocked, and I had clockword recovery mod latest version 6.0.4.4. I bought an SD card today to help install the roms because otherwise I can't do it from my internal storage. I really hope somebody can help me out.
Regards,
Roger
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi there. A failed abortion certainly seems like an issue... I guess I am not totally clear on the status here. You say that you had CWM. Do you still have it? Bootloader is still unlocked? What rom are you trying to install? Are you certain it's for the Bell version and not like the AT&T one? What is the exact error message?
es0tericcha0s said:
Hi there. A failed abortion certainly seems like an issue... I guess I am not totally clear on the status here. You say that you had CWM. Do you still have it? Bootloader is still unlocked? What rom are you trying to install? Are you certain it's for the Bell version and not like the AT&T one? What is the exact error message?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No I don't have it atm as I just wiped the data/cache last night but will I already have CWM, I just need to unlock the bootloader and try again...I'm trying to install this one:
Android 4.4.2 KitKat Mokee Rom, and it says the version is a nightly. Yes I'm positive it's the Bell Version as I purchased it at a Bell Store and my carrier is Bell. The error message is "Installation Aborted." It begins installing, and then halfway through I get that error message. How do I fix this?
I figured you knew what phone you had. I was wondering if you had a rom built for the Bell version vs an ATT one. But since you are using a CM based rom, it obviously doesn't matter. Curious as to why you are bothering with relocking the bootloader? But I suggest to either try a different version of the rom, or to change your recovery to one of the Philz Touch versions as that's what some of the other users in that thread for the rom for your phone were using. You can find them here:
http://goo.im/devs/philz_touch/CWM_Advanced_Edition/moto_msm8960
es0tericcha0s said:
I figured you knew what phone you had. I was wondering if you had a rom built for the Bell version vs an ATT one. But since you are using a CM based rom, it obviously doesn't matter. Curious as to why you are bothering with relocking the bootloader? But I suggest to either try a different version of the rom, or to change your recovery to one of the Philz Touch versions as that's what some of the other users in that thread for the rom for your phone were using. You can find them here:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No I was bothering to unlock it again, not lock it. Where can I find different versions for the 4.4.2 Mokee Rom? I've tried using the Philz Touch version: Motorola Atrix HD One Click Philz recovery installer and when I tried it a couple of times it said it failed to install although I'm not sure why. I came across these images the other day but how do I use the .img files on my device, as I'm not sure to proceed from here once I have them downloaded.
riekkir said:
No I was bothering to unlock it again, not lock it. Where can I find different versions for the 4.4.2 Mokee Rom? I've tried using the Philz Touch version: Motorola Atrix HD One Click Philz recovery installer and when I tried it a couple of times it said it failed to install although I'm not sure why. I came across these images the other day but how do I use the .img files on my device, as I'm not sure to proceed from here once I have them downloaded.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was curious as why you relocked it in the first place.
Where are you getting Mokee from that doesn't have a link to their Downloads?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2619489
For installing recovery:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2262726
es0tericcha0s said:
I was curious as why you relocked it in the first place.
Where are you getting Mokee from that doesn't have a link to their Downloads?
For installing recovery:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks will try this out and let you know later how it works! I download the custom rom from true android blogspot.ca (can't post links just yet, annoying).
riekkir said:
thanks will try this out and let you know later how it works! I download the custom rom from true android blogspot.ca (can't post links just yet, annoying).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right on. Well, you should bookmark the thread here on XDA because that's typically where the action happens.
es0tericcha0s said:
Right on. Well, you should bookmark the thread here on XDA because that's typically where the action happens.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay so I'm trying it now and the program won't even open :/
Odd. I just downloaded it to test and I didn't have any issues. If you can't get the actual application / exe file to open, then just use the Main-Skip.bat. Does the same thing.
If it doesn't open still, make sure that you have your anti-virus off as sometimes those interfere with programs like this. Might also try as admin.
es0tericcha0s said:
Odd. I just downloaded it to test and I didn't have any issues. If you can't get the actual application / exe file to open, then just use the Main-Skip.bat. Does the same thing.
If it doesn't open still, make sure that you have your anti-virus off as sometimes those interfere with programs like this. Might also try as admin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay I wasn't looking at the actual .exe sorry, I got it to work and all I installed the Philz One Touch Recovery from that program, just downloaded a different rom and all and then I select the apply update from external storage and when it gets to the verifying update package, it gave me the same error message as yesterday, Installation Aborted.
So again, how do I fix this, am I doing something wrong? Why won't my custom rom install?
riekkir said:
Okay I wasn't looking at the actual .exe sorry, I got it to work and all I installed the Philz One Touch Recovery from that program, just downloaded a different rom and all and then I select the apply update from external storage and when it gets to the verifying update package, it gave me the same error message as yesterday, Installation Aborted.
So again, how do I fix this, am I doing something wrong? Why won't my custom rom install?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think that is the most updated version. What's the version number of the recovery that was installed? It should be listed on the main page of it when you boot there. I was suggesting to use one of the new ones. It might have something to do with the SELinux support that KK roms need. You just have to put the img file in the tools folder and rename the new one the same. But here's no other error that shows up other than Installation Aborted? I was thinking usually it would have an error code or some other message.Have you checked the md5 of the rom zip to make sure it's not corrupted (if the dev provided it)?
es0tericcha0s said:
I don't think that is the most updated version. What's the version number of the recovery that was installed? It should be listed on the main page of it when you boot there. I was suggesting to use one of the new ones. It might have something to do with the SELinux support that KK roms need. You just have to put the img file in the tools folder and rename the new one the same. But here's no other error that shows up other than Installation Aborted? I was thinking usually it would have an error code or some other message.Have you checked the md5 of the rom zip to make sure it's not corrupted (if the dev provided it)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use one of the new versions of that program or to use the latest CWM which I have been. Okay I really don't know how to do that and where to move it to, how do I do such a thing? No it just says Installation Aborted... How would I do that? And yes I downloaded the new rom directly from his site.
riekkir said:
Use one of the new versions of that program or to use the latest CWM which I have been. Okay I really don't know how to do that and where to move it to, how do I do such a thing? No it just says Installation Aborted... How would I do that? And yes I downloaded the new rom directly from his site.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look in the tools folder of the zip you downloaded. Download the newest Philz Touch img from the other link from earlier. Rename it to replace the one in the tools folder. Redo the recovery install. But you didn't say what version you already have.
es0tericcha0s said:
Look in the tools folder of the zip you downloaded. Download the newest Philz Touch img from the other link from earlier. Rename it to replace the one in the tools folder. Redo the recovery install. But you didn't say what version you already have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay that did the trick, properly got philz recovery installed, did the install again, this time it worked, clicked reboot and now it's stuck at the Dual Core bootlogo screen
riekkir said:
Okay that did the trick, properly got philz recovery installed, did the install again, this time it worked, clicked reboot and now it's stuck at the Dual Core bootlogo screen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you do a full wipe, including wiping /system?
If you didn't, it should be under Mounts and Storage > Format /system of something of that sort.
es0tericcha0s said:
Did you do a full wipe, including wiping /system?
If you didn't, it should be under Mounts and Storage > Format /system of something of that sort.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No I forgot to do that dammit, can't get into recovery mode and my computer doesn't recognize my phone now, think I bricked it.
riekkir said:
No I forgot to do that dammit, can't get into recovery mode and my computer doesn't recognize my phone now, think I bricked it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pop the battery out for a bit, then pop it back in and hold Volume Down while powering up. Should get you into fastboot where you can skip to the recovery.
es0tericcha0s said:
Pop the battery out for a bit, then pop it back in and hold Volume Down while powering up. Should get you into fastboot where you can skip to the recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The battery doesn't come out of my phone as you can't take the back off. I got into fast boot easily them selected recovery and nothing happened, I think my phone is screwed
riekkir said:
The battery doesn't come out of my phone as you can't take the back off. I got into fast boot easily them selected recovery and nothing happened, I think my phone is screwed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh yea, forgot you have to undo the screws on the bottom. So you scroll down to hit recovery and use the Power button to select and it doesn't do anything? That's odd.. Try and reflash the recovery since you can still get to fastboot. If that doesn't work, you're not totally screwed since you can still get to fastboot, that means you should be able to restore it to stock and start over.
Alternatively, if you have fastboot set up, you could make sure that philz touch is in the fastboot folder and use this command:
fastboot boot recovery nameofphilztouchfile.img
If you don't have fastboot, then just grab this one: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2317790 , drop the recovery img in that folder and open the CMD prompt on your computer and change directories to it and run the command.

Samsung S3 memory full

My work colleague is an idiot - Despite warnings from his S3 that phone memory was low he continued taking videos and pictures and he has no sd card in the phone. Now the phone boots up but the pattern unlock screen is unresponsive. I offered to try to help him as he said "The last 2 years photos of my life are on there" so clearly a factory reset will lose them all so that's not an option.
So I installed Kies, thinking I'll just grab them to my PC for him - but alas no. MTP USB driver installation fails every time and yes I've googled my socks off, tried all the regedit fixes, even tried installing Win 7 32 bit on a spare hard drive.
I've checked that the ribbon connector for the screen is attached, tried linux boot disks that don't see the phone and now I'm all out of ideas. Any help would be vastly appreciated :fingers-crossed:
Hello,
Welcome to XDA.
Most of the time the screen being locked wont let PC interact with the device. There are many different models of S3, give me your model number and I'll guide you to where you can find answers.
You may can flash a custom recovery or a temporary recovery(not sure because I don't know what is available for the model you're working with and what isn't), if you can get one of those recoveries then you may can use the factory reset in recovery(it wont wipe his photos) or adb to get the phone working.
Remember to create an XDA account so you can post and reply in the forums.
Droidriven said:
Hello,
Welcome to XDA.
Most of the time the screen being locked wont let PC interact with the device. There are many different models of S3, give me your model number and I'll guide you to where you can find answers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi there and many thanks for the welcome. The model number is GT-19300 :fingers-crossed:
Azarameus said:
Hi there and many thanks for the welcome. The model number is GT-19300 :fingers-crossed:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your issue is unusual because of how it got that way, I'm not certain exactly which subforum or thread you need but I will link you to the GT I9300 Main Forum linked below:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s3
You can check through the subforums there for anything you think applies, the Q&A and the 2 development subforums are most likely where you will find help, this thread will be moved to the GT I9300 Q&A forum linked below:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s3/help
If you get replies you can check them and respond there, you might want to find some off topic threads to post in until you have at least 10 posts so that you can post in the development forums there if you need to, there is a 10 post minimum before you can post there. Good luck.
Droidriven said:
Your issue is unusual because of how it got that way, I'm not certain exactly which subforum or thread you need but I will link you to the GT I9300 Main Forum linked below:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s3
You can check through the subforums there for anything you think applies, the Q&A and the 2 development subforums are most likely where you will find help, this thread will be moved to the GT I9300 Q&A forum linked below:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s3/help
If you get replies you can check them and respond there, you might want to find some off topic threads to post in until you have at least 10 posts so that you can post in the development forums there if you need to, there is a 10 post minimum before you can post there. Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok thanks again. I can get it into Recovery mode but all I've tried so far is clearing the cache, as I don't want to do anything that might lose his pictures.
Azarameus said:
Ok thanks again. I can get it into Recovery mode but all I've tried so far is clearing the cache, as I don't want to do anything that might lose his pictures.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it is stock recovery then I believe if you can get to download mode then you can flash a custom recovery and flash the superSU zip to root the device then factory reset/wipe data, wipe cache and wipe dalvik cache, this will clear the lockscreen but won't erase his pictures, music, etc., it may let him back into his phone, he will just have to be careful because the device will be rooted and he could make things worse if he doesn't know what he's doing. If that works and he gets back in his phone but isn't comfortable with the risk of having a rooted device without understanding its usage then the device can be un rooted by going into the superSU settings and choosing the unroot and uninstall option. He'd still have custom recovery though. You might even be able to just flash the recovery to do the wipes and not have to root, I'm not sure about that though because I've never used recovery without root so I can't speak from personal experience.
I've never owned the i9300 so I'm not sure if you can do that or not safely from the state you are in so you may want to verify in this forum before you try it, but I don't see an issue with you doing it, its commonly used to root the S3 variants and doesn't wipe any important data or factory reset the device
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
Droidriven said:
If it is stock recovery then I believe if you can get to download mode then you can flash a custom recovery and flash the superSU zip to root the device then factory reset/wipe data, wipe cache and wipe dalvik cache, this will clear the lockscreen but won't erase his pictures, music, etc., it may let him back into his phone, he will just have to be careful because the device will be rooted and he could make things worse if he doesn't know what he's doing. If that works and he gets back in his phone but isn't comfortable with the risk of having a rooted device without understanding its usage then the device can be un rooted by going into the superSU settings and choosing the unroot and uninstall option. He'd still have custom recovery though. You might even be able to just flash the recovery to do the wipes and not have to root, I'm not sure about that though because I've never used recovery without root so I can't speak from personal experience.
I've never owned the i9300 so I'm not sure if you can do that or not safely from the state you are in so you may want to verify in this forum before you try it, but I don't see an issue with you doing it, its commonly used to root the S3 variants and doesn't wipe any important data or factory reset the device
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whew, most of that went right over my head lol. An idiot's guide please? Bearing in mind that my PC can't currently connect to the phone I'm guessing that I need to put the custom recovery file (where to find one?) on an SD card via a PC card reader and try it from there in download mode? I think he'll be delighted just to get his pictures and videos back even if the phone never works again, so it being rooted won't be an issue.
Azarameus said:
Whew, most of that went right over my head lol. An idiot's guide please? Bearing in mind that my PC can't currently connect to the phone I'm guessing that I need to put the custom recovery file (where to find one?) on an SD card via a PC card reader and try it from there in download mode? I think he'll be delighted just to get his pictures and videos back even if the phone never works again, so it being rooted won't be an issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, to get to download mode you need to have the phone off, then press and hold the volume down+home+power button, when you see the caution screen you press up, if you can get to this mode you may can flash a TWRP recovery through Odin from PC to phone.
But first, before we get to Odin, do you or he know what android version he had before this happened, Kit Kat? Lollipop? I need to see if there are locked bootloaders on your device builds and which ones they are and which are safe to flash TWRP, if the i9300 is like some of the other Samsung devices with certain locked bootloaders that can't be unlocked or downgraded then flashing TWRP could and probably would brick the device. I need some info so I can check for you.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
Droidriven said:
No, to get to download mode you need to have the phone off, then press and hold the volume down+home+power button, when you see the caution screen you press up, if you can get to this mode you may can flash a TWRP recovery through Odin from PC to phone.
But first, before we get to Odin, do you or he know what android version he had before this happened, Kit Kat? Lollipop? I need to see if there are locked bootloaders on your device builds and which ones they are and which are safe to flash TWRP, if the i9300 is like some of the other Samsung devices with certain locked bootloaders that can't be unlocked or downgraded then flashing TWRP could and probably would brick the device. I need some info so I can check for you.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I honestly have no idea which android build it is running on, as I can't get into the settings page or anything else and I very much doubt if my friend knows as he is pretty much clueless on such things, hence the problem. All I know is that its a few years old and when it starts up there is a three.co.uk white screen icon before it gets to the unresponsive lockscreen. I am also almost as clueless with android devices (I'm only a PC guy) - so far my only experience has been to set up kodi with addons for TV viewing which is why I came here to ask you expert guys
Methinks I won't try to get into download mode just yet in case it makes things worse
All your help is much appreciated, thank you!
Azarameus said:
I honestly have no idea which android build it is running on, as I can't get into the settings page or anything else and I very much doubt if my friend knows as he is pretty much clueless on such things, hence the problem. All I know is that its a few years old and when it starts up there is a three.co.uk white screen icon before it gets to the unresponsive lockscreen. I am also almost as clueless with android devices (I'm only a PC guy) - so far my only experience has been to set up kodi with addons for TV viewing which is why I came here to ask you expert guys
Methinks I won't try to get into download mode just yet in case it makes things worse
All your help is much appreciated, thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The device was never updated, it never had stock upgrades? If not then I can narrow down what was on it, when was the device bought?
If you can boot to download mode and if it is recognized in Odin then you've got a chance, at the moment your PC isn't recognizing the phone but if it successfully connects to Odin then you've got a chance, otherwise I'm not sure what success you'll have.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
Droidriven said:
The device was never updated, it never had stock upgrades? If not then I can narrow down what was on it, when was the device bought?
If you can boot to download mode and if it is recognized in Odin then you've got a chance, at the moment your PC isn't recognizing the phone but if it successfully connects to Odin then you've got a chance, otherwise I'm not sure what success you'll have.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would put a spare miniSD card in, flash TWRP recovery in odin, access the storage from there and copy the files to the SD card. Easy as pie.
The international version of the S3 (GT-i9300) already has an unlocked bootloader. So no problem there.
Important to note is that if the device is not rooted the TWRP recovery won't "stick" when the device is allowed to reboot automatically after the odin flash. So in odin you have to UNTICK(!) the reboot option and after flash reboot directly to recovery via holding Vol UP + Home + Power for about 7 sec.
Droidriven said:
The device was never updated, it never had stock upgrades? If not then I can narrow down what was on it, when was the device bought?
If you can boot to download mode and if it is recognized in Odin then you've got a chance, at the moment your PC isn't recognizing the phone but if it successfully connects to Odin then you've got a chance, otherwise I'm not sure what success you'll have.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I showed him this thread at work earlier and although he growled somewhat at being called an idiot in my OP, he had to agree he was lol. It turns out he bought his partner the same phone around the same time so I checked and it has Automatic upgrades ticked and is on build 4.3 so we can hopefully assume the problematic one is on the same version. When I mentioned the possibility of bricking to him he became unsure as to whether I should proceed with flashing. If he was to send the phone to Samsung themselves would they be able to retrieve his data safely, albeit with some cost and waiting?
Thanks again for your input
Hawaiihemd said:
I would put a spare miniSD card in, flash TWRP recovery in odin, access the storage from there and copy the files to the SD card. Easy as pie.
The international version of the S3 (GT-i9300) already has an unlocked bootloader. So no problem there.
Important to note is that if the device is not rooted the TWRP recovery won't "stick" when the device is allowed to reboot automatically after the odin flash. So in odin you have to UNTICK(!) the reboot option and after flash reboot directly to recovery via holding Vol UP + Home + Power for about 7 sec.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That sounds good - all he wants is his files back safely. It certainly isn't rooted. So once that is done and I'm back in recovery mode how do I get out of there, just reboot it from there?
Thanks for the help, it is much appreciated
Azarameus said:
That sounds good - all he wants is his files back safely. It certainly isn't rooted. So once that is done and I'm back in recovery mode how do I get out of there, just reboot it from there?
Thanks for the help, it is much appreciated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, after you copied the files via the "File Manager" in TWRP you simply choose "reboot system". Rebooting to system will automatically restore the original recovery you are used to. Or you can choose to shutdown in TWRP, remove the SDcard "safely" first and then reboot.
Even more: After you copied all the photos/videos from internal storage (which should be under /storage/sdcard0/DCIM/camera) to SDcard you could simply delete a few of those.
If them taking up too much space is the problem for the lockscreen not working, deleting a few would of course free up some space again, which would then most likely make the lockscreen work again.
But let me make one thing clear: Flashing anything always brings with it the slight(!) possibility something could go wrong, because you are writing to the EMMC of the phone. BUT I can't imagine a samsung staff member doing anything different. He/she would also need to gain access somehow...
After all it's your choice but hundreds of people (including me) have used odin and twrp on different devices for years now without any problem whatsoever. :good:
--- Edit ---
Ah one more thing. I would definitely make a full backup (System/Data, EFS and bootloader) while I'm at it! You just choose "backup" in twrp, then the "MicroSD card" under "storage" and go from there. Pretty self explanatory. Never hurts to have a backup!
Hawaiihemd said:
Yes, after you copied the files via the "File Manager" in TWRP you simply choose "reboot system". Rebooting to system will automatically restore the original recovery you are used to. Or you can choose to shutdown in TWRP, remove the SDcard "safely" first and then reboot.
Even more: After you copied all the photos/videos from internal storage (which should be under /storage/sdcard0/DCIM/camera) to SDcard you could simply delete a few of those.
If them taking up too much space is the problem for the lockscreen not working, deleting a few would of course free up some space again, which would then most likely make the lockscreen work again.
But let me make one thing clear: Flashing anything always brings with it the slight(!) possibility something could go wrong, because you are writing to the EMMC of the phone. BUT I can't imagine a samsung staff member doing anything different. He/she would also need to gain access somehow...
After all it's your choice but hundreds of people (including me) have used odin and twrp on different devices for years now without any problem whatsoever. :good:
--- Edit ---
Ah one more thing. I would definitely make a full backup (System/Data, EFS and bootloader) while I'm at it! You just choose "backup" in twrp, then the "MicroSD card" under "storage" and go from there. Pretty self explanatory. Never hurts to have a backup!
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Ok thanks again. I am going to attempt this tonight, will update on any progress
Azarameus said:
Ok thanks again. I am going to attempt this tonight, will update on any progress
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Well, that worked! My idiot friend is happy now. Thanks a million for the help - you guys ROCK!
Azarameus said:
Well, that worked! My idiot friend is happy now. Thanks a million for the help - you guys ROCK!
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Nice! And were you able to get the lockscreen working again?
Hawaiihemd said:
Nice! And were you able to get the lockscreen working again?
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Click to collapse
Yes indeed, all is working now as it should. The village idiot actually danced off to his car when I returned his phone - he has strict orders from me to move all his stuff to the SD card and make regular backups to his PC!
Thanks again - would never have done it without you guys

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