[Q] i9300 Bricked, No Download Mode - Galaxy S III Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Experts,
After 2 days of searching, I could not find a solution to my specific problem. If I missed it, please accept my apologies, and send me the link to the existing thread.
My Samsung Galaxy SIII (i9300) has been playing up. I did a factory reset 4 times during the last 2 months. Two days ago, it started by itself. Then, I could not get into factory reset, anymore. Whenever I start it, the screen is full of some white pattern (no readable text). I can get into the download mode (Volume Down, Power, Home buttons), though.
I thought of downloading a new firmware. I tried using ODIN 3.10, with no luck. I got a message complaining about the PIT file (sorry, forgot the exact message), although I was not using one. Then, I tried to use some PIT files, none of them helped
I tried Heimdall ver 1.4.0. I fiddled around many times, until I figured out that the firmware files in samMobile.com cannot be used as is by Heimdall. I had to unzip them, and get a PIT file. By the time, I got this far, my mobile won't respond in any way or form. Did I use all of the battery charge doing the above? Does it need to be "working" for battery charging to work?
1. Do I need a charged battery to resume my trials to fix it, or it now became hard bricked :crying:?
2. Is there a way to tell for sure if an i9300 is hard bricked?
3. On another note, and with the assumption that it is NOT hard bricked and that a charged battery would help, I suppose the use of a JIG dongle won't be any different than using ODIN/Heimdall. Right?
Thank you very much for your effort and time in trying to help me.

Try another battery first, usb jig can force download mode.
The white pattern sounds like emmc corruption or failure, go read the dead boot restore thread in general forum.

Related

[Q] Bricked SGS2 GT-i9100M (Bell/Virgin)

Okay, So I am as NOOB as NOOB can be,
I got a used SGS2 (Bell/Virgin), I am on Telus so I figured, how hard can it be to unlock it instead of paying some dude to do it for me? (First mistake, and have been humbled every step of the way since!...)
Anyway I will try to keep this relatively short (it will be difficult)... ...I read a few things online and saw that I needed ODIN and a Rooting software, I originally used SuperOneClick, and to download the right insecure kernel to match my original one etc... ...problem is I obviously didn't read nearly enough when I started because I was almost done and then there was a hiccup when SuperOneClick said that I needed to enable SU in Kies. So I decided to go into Kies to try and do so but the instructions before I started Rooting said to put the phone in USB debugging mode. Apparently Kies doesn't see the phone if it is in that mode. Well by this time I can't get past the logo screen and this is where my downward spiral begins.
I then tried to unroot the phone to go back to stock but didn't really know what I was doing and then I read something about the cache needing to be wiped and then after that I read that maybe my OS was wiped. So at this point I did lots of reading (what I should have done in the first place) and most of anything useful I found was on XDA so that is why I am here. It seemed like yes, in fact my OS was wiped because of one of my not so S-M-R-T actions. So I fumbled through and found the right OS for my S2 and I had ODIN going strong and I had the OS loading, the green bar getting bigger in ODIN and the blue bar working it's way across the screen of my S2...I thought "finally!!, I rock!!"... ...then for some reason everything stopped! I had seen in a post that I had to uninstall Kies before doing anything, which I did...but I didn't see until after the fact that my anti-virus likely interfered (I didn't disable it for the process before I started).
At that point of course I was left with a phone that says "Firmware upgrade encountered an issue. Please select recovery mode in Kies & try again."
So then I was afraid to try anything else because many say to steer clear of Kies and also I had read that I may need a USB jig to be able to get it back into download mode because all I was getting was the "firmware upgrade issue" screen. I did make a USB jig with a resistance of 300K Ohms and I *can* get the phone into download mode. (Though another concern is that when I plug the USB jig in and it brings the phone into download mode, the counter is not reset and I read that that was supposed to be reset by the jig.)
So last night I got brave and decided to try and run ODIN and to have another attempt at installation of OS. Now I can get ODIN to detect the phone, but I put the I9100MUGLD3_I9100MBMCLD3_I9100MXXLD3_HOME.tar.md5 file into the PDA section of ODIN and it starts and gets to the part where it says loading firmware or something and then bootload.bin and it stayed like that for like, an hour and then I gave up, fearing that I am just going to screw it up even more.
So now I decided that I am not even close to knowing what to do next but every time I found anything to move forward it was on this site so I figured I may as well join the site since I have been here so often. Now I am hoping for some kind of miracle...so, in advance, please please please and thank you thank you thank you all for your input. (Sorry for the length of this I just wanted to get all the info I could into this)
Its quite a long story and didnt bother reading it.
If you can still access your phone via odin at downloadmode. Flash a stock firmware for your device and it should fix if it is just a soft brick.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
UnwiredDroid said:
Its quite a long story and didnt bother reading it.
If you can still access your phone via odin at downloadmode. Flash a stock firmware for your device and it should fix if it is just a soft brick.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for the length of the story, I thought there may be alot of useful info mixed in with the useless info... ...when you say use stock firmware do you mean the kernel or the actual OS? I tried loading ICS onto it (which I thought was stock but I may be wrong). Is it supposed to be gingerbread or something else? Also where would I find a good file for it.
Thank you again for any input, very much appreciated!
Hey ,
I also have a Virgin Samsung S2 i9100 and the first time I tried rooting it, it got stuck on the screen with the yellow triangle and wouldnt move at all. I believe it was bricked?
anyways, I m not sure I totally understand your situation, but I solved my problem using this thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=21493413
look it under the i9100M section. hope this helps
schtiven said:
Hey ,
I also have a Virgin Samsung S2 i9100 and the first time I tried rooting it, it got stuck on the screen with the yellow triangle and wouldnt move at all. I believe it was bricked?
anyways, I m not sure I totally understand your situation, but I solved my problem using this thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=21493413
look it under the i9100M section. hope this helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you all so much for your help, I could not get it to work after several tries, I even tried three or 4 different USB cables and ports on my PC and still no. I read on another thread that one person tried another PC and it worked so I tried my friend's laptop and it worked!...my SGS2 boots up and all that now! Very very happy thank you all.

Horridly softbricked SII, need help

Hello everyone,
As this is my first post, i'd like to apologise in advance if this issue i'm about to detail has been posted before, but after about a month's worth of trial and inevitable error, reading everything i could find and following every walkthrough i've come across to the t...i'm at wit's end here.
So, i've got a Galaxy SII GT i9100, standard euro version i suppose, my provider is Vodafone Romania (wretched buggers the lot of 'em).
My troubles had started ever since the update from 2.3 with which the phone had arrived, to 4.0.3. I made the update through my home wifi, and i'm guessing the software was provided by either Google, Samsung or Vodafone Ro.
In any case, 4.0.3 was a lot more sluggish and badly calibrated in terms of touch responses and video lag while streaming.
About a month ago i got another notification to update to 4.0.4. This update worked fine for about 20 minutes till the thing decided to freeze up completely, and not turn off from the power button held down a while.
After i had removed the battery and turned it back on, i simply got the following message: "Firmware upgrade encountered an issue. Please select recovery mode in Kies & try again."
Naturally Kies is a steaming pile and recovery fails every time with a message composed only of empty squares instead of text, i'm guessing it's because i lack a certain language pack, but the only option is "OK".
So i turned to Odin, when that failed, instead of wiping the counter before sending it into the warranty, i did not. so they voided my warranty because it seems Odin is "unauthorized".
Multiple tries and failures later, quite a few attempts by other people that know more about this than myself...some have said i've got corrupt flash memory while other say "NAND rw corruption".
I'm a rather experienced pc builder...but this seriously stumps me.
I've also tried the walkthrough here on XDA with the same results.
So any new input would be much appreciated...be it through skype or another medium.
can you enter the download mode, if yes then try flashing stock firmware which comes with .PIT file (using odin)......may be that will help
try this thread as well http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1457458
RazorwireClouds said:
Hello everyone,
As this is my first post, i'd like to apologise in advance if this issue i'm about to detail has been posted before, but after about a month's worth of trial and inevitable error, reading everything i could find and following every walkthrough i've come across to the t...i'm at wit's end here.
So, i've got a Galaxy SII GT i9100, standard euro version i suppose, my provider is Vodafone Romania (wretched buggers the lot of 'em).
My troubles had started ever since the update from 2.3 with which the phone had arrived, to 4.0.3. I made the update through my home wifi, and i'm guessing the software was provided by either Google, Samsung or Vodafone Ro.
In any case, 4.0.3 was a lot more sluggish and badly calibrated in terms of touch responses and video lag while streaming.
About a month ago i got another notification to update to 4.0.4. This update worked fine for about 20 minutes till the thing decided to freeze up completely, and not turn off from the power button held down a while.
After i had removed the battery and turned it back on, i simply got the following message: "Firmware upgrade encountered an issue. Please select recovery mode in Kies & try again."
Naturally Kies is a steaming pile and recovery fails every time with a message composed only of empty squares instead of text, i'm guessing it's because i lack a certain language pack, but the only option is "OK".
So i turned to Odin, when that failed, instead of wiping the counter before sending it into the warranty, i did not. so they voided my warranty because it seems Odin is "unauthorized".
Multiple tries and failures later, quite a few attempts by other people that know more about this than myself...some have said i've got corrupt flash memory while other say "NAND rw corruption".
I've also tried the walkthrough here on XDA with the same results.
So any new input would be much appreciated...be it through skype or another medium.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sorry i forgot to mention that i can enter Download mode using Vol. down + home + power, BUT...i can't enter recovery mode or whatever it's called with Vol. up + home + power...that button combo only starts the phone with the same old error message.
also, i've tried this walkthrough
as far as i know if you can enter into download mode, your phone is not dead...........................i don't know much about android development but i am sure that your phone can be revived...........keep searching the forum and try contacting some of the sgs2 developers they might be able to help you
cheers
RazorwireClouds said:
sorry i forgot to mention that i can enter Download mode using Vol. down + home + power, BUT...i can't enter recovery mode or whatever it's called with Vol. up + home + power...that button combo only starts the phone with the same old error message.
also, i've tried this walkthrough
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
pretty much what i'm thinking as well, there should be a way to restore it without resorting to cannibalism and taking a broken phone's mobo.
but i have been searching and being new to these forums i've no clue who to contact, but anyways, thanks for the reply sir. my thanks
bumpdonkey.
Come on,are you trying different things like disabling kies/USB cables/ports/different PC.
Have you tired flashing the stock Rom through Odin? You can find it at sammobile.com.
Sent from my SGH-I727 using xda app-developers app
as i've stated in the first post, i've tried almost everything. this includes flashing a series of different roms, kernels, pits etc.
as well as trying it with kies uninstalled, and since it's been attempted by other people, i'm guessing it's superfluous to try it on another PC than my own because others have already done so with it. and the cable is just a cable.
i have the same problem and i still searching
when i try to mount the data partition it fail
i tried all things but still no solution
come on guys help us to revive our sgs2
so far, the most i've accomplished was bringing it from the error message to the boot screen where it remains forever...by flashing the bootroom.
but if i tick "nand erase all" it fails to do anything.
No bumping
Do not bump this thread. The answer will come because someone knows it, not because it's bumped every few hours.
which reatmne
sorry about that, i'll cut the bumping then...i'm just...beyond frustrated at this point...it's been a brick for about a month now...nobody seems to know how to fix the blasted thing
Maybe...
I had once got stuck.
If you could get to the recovery, i think you can try wipe data, wipe data, wipe data....................
Then flash stock rom, or those you think is reliable.
wipe and flash. wipe and flash.
If you can't, use ODIN....... the only way
flash and flash the stock rom or any others.............
if it works, there you are.
Hope it works!!
you may wanna read the whole topic before replying, just saying
Your phone's obviously stuffed and only one of two (but 95% likely only one) things is going to fix it (nothing anyone here can suggest will).
I think you know what they both are. Continuing to post to this thread is simply delaying getting your phone fixed or getting another phone.
RazorwireClouds said:
you may wanna read the whole topic before replying, just saying
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly pal.Surprised he didnt say "if only you could boot up the phone you wouldnt need to get it repaired"......lol
MistahBungle said:
Your phone's obviously stuffed and only one of two (but 95% likely only one) things is going to fix it (nothing anyone here can suggest will).
I think you know what they both are. Continuing to post to this thread is simply delaying getting your phone fixed or getting another phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if i may ask what are thee two things which are going to fix the phone cuz mein is in the same situation thanks
I'm stuck in a similar position I'm stuck at galaxy s2 boot screen can get to download mode but not recovery I havnt tryed Odin yet only because I don't know what I'm.doing with Odin could somebody direct me on where to get the right files n stuff for Odin please I would be really gratfull thanks
Sent from my HTC Sensation XL with Beats Audio X315e using xda app-developers app
Google Odin 3, use the 1.85 version. Get the stock Rom from sammobile.com for your device. Unzip Odin and then run it. In PDA browes to the stock Rom. Make sure only auto re boot and F. Reset are checked in odin. Then hit start. Check the stickies for more details. See vincom's in the development forum.
Sent from my SGH-I727 using xda app-developers app
Cheers mate am all sorted now bk rooted with the rom I wanted lol
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium

[Q] Galaxy S3 i9300 stuck at odin mode, not going to recovery mode either

Hey, so I was trying to flash my friend's s3, and apparently, I did something wrong which got me stuck up at odin mode.
Initially, I could hold the vol up + home + power button to go to recovery, but now, even that won't work as it would just show me
Samsung's logo and a red exclamation mark on top left corner.
I've downloaded the firmware stock and tried to flash it using odin however it just won't work.
It says "NAND Write Start!!!" and it just stops there (stuck forever). It should (as I know it) show a progress bar on my android and
on it's interface to tell how much it has been done, but as soon as I start, the progress bar instantly fills up (on my android, the blue line)
and its just stuck there.
I've tried to take out the battery, clear cache/reset factory, take out sd and sim. But it simply won't work.
It's just stuck on "Downloading....do not turn of target!!!"
I cannot even get the flash counter to reset (I don't know how, since I can only open up odin mode)
counter: 4
binary: yes
Currently, I don't even know if it's suppose to be charging or the battery is just draining out.
Region for this phone is Turkey.
Yes I've also unrooted the phone using KingoRoot (previously, when it could go into recovery) but no luck.
Note: I have searched other threads on this forum but I cannot get anywhere around even close to fix my device.
It's soft-bricked (I assume, of course it is).
Any idea how to fix this?
Odin Screenshot (since it's my first post, it won't allow me to post outside links, sigh,):
http: // i.imgur .com/eBVZ3NN . png
^^ Just been stuck there....
Meanwhile on my android, it just shows a full-blue progress bar. And that downloading do not turn of target.
UPDATE:
THE PROBLEM HAS BEEN RESOLVED. I DOWNLOADED A CUSTOM FIRMWARE, (LUCKILY, CLOCKWORK MOD WORKED, JUST HAD TO WAIT AFTER GOING TO RECOVER)
FLASHED IT THROUGH THERE, WAITED FOR IT TO INSTALL, RESTART. BAM.
Did the 'something wrong' include flashing a firmware for another model?
What does the model number in download mode read?
You can try the rescue firmware, search general forum,.
Yeah, wrong firmware I suppose
boomboomer said:
Did the 'something wrong' include flashing a firmware for another model?
What does the model number in download mode read?
You can try the rescue firmware, search general forum,.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was seeing this tutorial on how to install KitKat (4.4.4) on Galaxy S3. I must've made a mistake while trying to do so.
In other words, yes, flashing a firmware for another model.
You have a hard brick, sorry.
Yeah, no.
boomboomer said:
You have a hard brick, sorry.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No I don't lol. The problem has been solved anyway.
Im' glad to see you didn't give up on this, and came back to let us know what was wrong
I know this could be seen as off-topic, but the reality of devices becoming bricked isn't really possible luckily, it just takes longer to get around sometimes. If the item is worth fixing, then I always say keep at it, because I've never had an android device stay stuck so far. The only thing that really went nuts and refused to work, were 2 of the Iconia A500 tablets that lost access to their memory - but this is a common hardware fault as the RAM chips break away and need reflowing before you can even format the internal memory (it cant even see the SD cards either because the RAM comes and goes - same idea as plugging/unplugging a USB drive in Windows/Linux - it just doesn't know what to believe lol).
Great forum by the way, there's so much great information on here I get lost reading

Help! Phone is stuck like Ive never seen! Mobile Odin!

Hey guys, I'm really hoping someone can tell me of a solution Ive not though of.... So Ive got the note 3 from sprint. currently had 4.4.4. I shoulda just left wellenough alone, I realize, But I tried to flash just a modem via mobileOdin and upon reboot, it will say "recoverybooting" and then I get the blue android. Thats all. This was just over 6 hours ago I did this and Im dead in the water, Ive SEARCHED the internet high and low and there are other facing similar problems, but it seems like every mishap Ive read about EVENTUALLY gets fixed. This just will not do anthing with any button combo as far as recovery and/or download mode. I cant access download mode either. recovery never actually boots, just a forever frozen blue android.. Now, with the phone attached via usb to my PC, it DOES see it as COM7, BUT REGARDLESS what ive tried it just remains at the "recovery booting" spot then blue android until I pull the battery again. Please HELP.! IF ANYONE HAS ANY SUGGESTIONS I would be just delighted if you may have some other approaches to this matter. THANKS! Please let me know iTs DESPERATE!
Zscott87 said:
Hey guys, I'm really hoping someone can tell me of a solution Ive not though of.... So Ive got the note 3 from sprint. currently had 4.4.4. I shoulda just left wellenough alone, I realize, But I tried to flash just a modem via mobileOdin and upon reboot, it will say "recoverybooting" and then I get the blue android. Thats all. This was just over 6 hours ago I did this and Im dead in the water, Ive SEARCHED the internet high and low and there are other facing similar problems, but it seems like every mishap Ive read about EVENTUALLY gets fixed. This just will not do anthing with any button combo as far as recovery and/or download mode. I cant access download mode either. recovery never actually boots, just a forever frozen blue android.. Now, with the phone attached via usb to my PC, it DOES see it as COM7, BUT REGARDLESS what ive tried it just remains at the "recovery booting" spot then blue android until I pull the battery again. Please HELP.! IF ANYONE HAS ANY SUGGESTIONS I would be just delighted if you may have some other approaches to this matter. THANKS! Please let me know iTs DESPERATE![/QUOTE
Have you tried removing the battery for a couple of minutes ? If you have read a couple of my threads on NH7 4.4.4, once your there downgrading anything is risky. Here is a link to read http://forum.xda-developers.com/note-3-sprint/help/4-4-4-download-mode-t2877528 . Here is a link for a recovery from a hard brick, by creating a boot image and then copy and paste it on a sdcard http://www.rom-central.com/showthread.php?87-GUIDE-HOWTO-Recover-from-a-HARD-BRICK-N900V-NC2-NC4 there are several sites on this type of fix, I just can't remember where they are. However, I do have something that may help, on one of those sites there was a link for someone who has already created a SM-N900P Unbrick img for Sprint and I downloaded it just in case. Here is the link http://www.mediafire.com/download/l6q1152x5c9d4h6/N900PUnbrick my copy. From what I understand you need to format/erase your sd card then copy and paste the unbrick img to the sd card from a PC. Pull the battery and install the sdcard back in the device, then try and boot the phone into download mode. Here is another link http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2439367 I have not had to do this so you will have to do a little reading to be sure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The fact that it still shows up as COM is a good sign.
Get a hold of ODIN 3.07+ I had issues with ODIN 3.06.
Here are a few things to try:
1.Take the battery out and hold all the buttons that you normally would to boot into recovery. While holding all the buttons, plug in the usb cable. If it boots into download mode, awesome, just put the battery in before you flash.
2. .Take the battery out and hold all the buttons that you normally would to boot into recovery. While holding all the buttons, plug in the battery. Hopefully it will boot into download mode.
3. try different cables, remember regular micro usb cables work with the note 3.
Make sure you put the modem file in the phone slot, and the rom/system tar in the pda slot.
Best of luck
Thanks for the suggestions guys! Iguess time is just what it needed. I actually fell asleep after trying for so long, and when I woke up I decided to try once more and VOILA... It let me into download mode! Went back to stock and have since been rebuilding . ha! Thanks again

[Q] GT-I9300 (semi)Bricked?

Hello All!
My first post here, even though I have long been a lurker. I hope I'm posting in the right place. If not, apologies, and Mods - please redirect me, and I shall re-post in the correct place.
Phone: SAMSUNG GALAXY S3 GT-I9300 International version
Last known installed/running OS: Official SAMSUNG JB ROM (Unsure WHICH version) after having run on CM 4.4 for a couple of weeks.
PROBLEM:
a few months after going back to stock, Phone suddenly developed issues of random reboots. These would happen at any point in time, with no predictability whatsoever. One fine day, it rebooted, and wouldn't get past the Samsung splash screen. Pulling the battery and trying to restart phone resulted in the same stuck at Samsung logo issue.
Left the phone alone for a couple of months after this as I had a spare, but finally decided to try and revive the S3.
Phone does not charge when connected to charger. At least, it shows no visible signs of it. It DOES, however, try booting itself when plugged in, but gets stuck on the first screen of ODIN Download mode, instead of the Samsung logo splash screen as it used to earlier. Also note that this screen it gets stuck on is a pixellated screen, not the clear normally seen screen when entering ODIN mode.
The Vol UP, Home and power button combo brings me to this very same screen, there is no recovery menu to be seen, as would be normally. The Vol DOWN, Home and power button combo brings me to the regular clear ODIN mode as usual.
The headings at this screen read:
ODIN MODE
PRODUCT NAME: GT-I9300
CUSTOM BINARY DOWNLOAD: No
CURRENT BINARY: Samsung Official
SYSTEM STATUS: Custom
I have read through most posts regarding similar issues on XDA as well as other forums, and tried flashing stock firmwares (single AND multiple part ones) through ODIN, with no success. The error i always get is as in the attached screen captures.
I've tried ALL versions of ODIN, and many PIT files. All were failures.
So, is this a dead for all purposes phone, or do I still have hope since ODIN mode is still available?
I don't think USB debugging was checked before bricking, because ADB toolkits just keep waiting for phone to be detected.
All drivers are up to date and installed correctly. Kies is not installed.
Any help is welcome.
@Mohanms04: if you flash a 3part-PIT, what result views ODIN after finishing?
I have a Device here which seems to have the same or at least a similar problem, however, i got it for free from someone else to experiment with, so there is no urgent need to repeir it.
I tried flashing a pit and erasing nand, but when i start to do it, odin just gets stuck at "erasing", if i try to flash a full firmware it just hangs at "getting pit for mapping" so i assume the nand is gone for good... however, i have one more dead s3 arround that seems to have a burned cpu, probably i manage to solder over the nand or the cpu
rp158 said:
@Mohanms04: if you flash a 3part-PIT, what result views ODIN after finishing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ODIN stays at "Setup Connection" without any progress. I've left it overnight a few times, just to ensure I was giving it enough time.
When the cable is pulled, it reads "there is no pit partition"
@Mohanms04: I suppose, it's hardbricked
rp158 said:
@Mohanms04: I suppose, it's hardbricked
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aargh.. was afraid of that. Well, guess its JTAG to try next, and then paperweight if that dont fix it.
Thanks anyways!!
Mohanms04 said:
Aargh.. was afraid of that. Well, guess its JTAG to try next, and then paperweight if that dont fix it.
Thanks anyways!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try this recovery firmware, if not the jtag is required.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=30087735

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