So,I wanted to flash a GSI pixel rom on my j6.After a while I found a twrp compatible with my device and used odin to flash the file.I made a backup of my system on my sd card and proceeded to follow the instructions on flashing the rom. Somewhere in the tutorial there was some misinformation and I decided I didn't want to risk my device,wrote a comment asking for deeper coverage, and then tried to restore my backup.I slide the thingy,call it a day and then it shows the logo like usual.After a minute or so, it vibrates and then goes black screen.Since then I have tried everything, from pressing the buttons for more than 20 seconds to nand erasing with odin v3 but nothing appears to work(nand erase fails).From what I can tell its a soft brick since it turns off and then back on every around 10 minutes by itself.Also when I plug it in my computer it makes the connected noise and odin actually detects the device.I also tried the built-in download mode in odin but it fails for some reason.I even tried downloading the 300k Samsung tool but my pc wont let me because it says its a virus(have tried different browsers and links).I assume this is a very long boot loop ~10 minutes and i have nothing else to do.Most of the hardware stores are closed because of the Corona Virus and I just want to get in download mode so I can flash the stock firmware from SamMobile but I cant access it.Does anyone have any tips or am I doing something wrong here-I don't have much experience other than 4 devices that I have rooted and flashed-any reply would be greatly appreciated take care.
Never touch nand erase since it will erase everything including efs partition. That phone is toast if you did not back up nvdata and efs partition.
Related
Are there certain types of ROMs or options in ODIN that would prevent pictures taken with the Vibrant from being wiped in the process?
My specific issue:
I uninstalled Google Maps after having some issues with it. After rebooting the screen goes into the boot cycle with the Samsung logo. The screen then turns black and the phone alternates vibrating with 1 vibrate and 3 vibrates with pauses between the two patterns
I can get to the download screen on the Vibrant, I have Odin installed and it recognizes my phone when it is in download mode. I have also installed ADB but it does not seem to recognize my phone.
My wife has a years worth of pictures and videos on the phone which I have not backed up. Is there a way to use ODIN to flash a ROM without deleting the pictures?
I read through the noob articles, but have not seen where it indicates that pictures will be deleted.
Thanks in advance,
Jason
Phone:
Vibrant phone (TMobile)
Froyo via Kies
debug mode enabled
not rooted
sim is not unlocked.
I guess this has been answered previously but I'll save you some time, based on my experience... I flashed ODIN to stock from a custom froyo ROM and all my pictures (actually all the files I added) were left intact. I even checked the repartition box on odin.
Now my question is. If that info is so important why don't you do a backup? there's always something that can go wrong when flashing.
I'm sorry, but I have to say it...
ALWAYS, do a backup before doing anything to your phone.
Secondly, ODIN shouldn't do anything to your internal or external memory... so your photos should be intact, but no promises.
Lastly, there's one thing you should know about the Vibrant...
the ONLY way you are going to hurt the thing, is by throwing it under a truck.
I have down countless things where I thought I bricked it, but it's always been fixable.
If you're trying to get into download mode, open your command prompt and cd to the tools directory of your android-sdk, and type in the following command;
Code:
adb reboot download
That should get you into download mode, and you can continue with ODIN.
Good luck
odin doesnt mess with ur internal memory
Thanks! Sorry if this was a repost, I had searched the forums and had not found it yet.
If there is some way for me to do a backup I would certainly do it. Currently I can not boot the phone all the way up (black screen after Samsung logo). When I plug in the usb cable, windows will not show it as an available drive for me to copy the files over. The only thing that seems to recognize it is Odin when the phone is in download mode.
In the future I will certainly start using Titanium or nandroid for backups.
Are the odin stock files "T959UVJFD.tar" and "s1_odin_20100512.rar" (PID) from http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=848737
Is there some other way to do the backup with my phone stuck in the boot cycle? I would love to do that first.
Thanks,
Jason
go here for odin link:
power off phone
pull out battery
GRAB THIS STUFF : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1047087
turn on odin
attach phone to pc with usb cable
now while holding down both volume buttons put battery back in.
now you should be in download mode and go back to stock with odin from here!
make sure u put the proper .pit and .pda file in there proper places on odin and ur set to go.
Enjoy and also make sure u have the proper samsung drivers
Flashing with odin is perfectly safe unless you check the PHONE EFS CLEAR or in One Click options MASTER CLEAR. I'm a bit of a flash nut so I can say that I'm sure you'll be fine. I've never lost anything
Thanks to all. It flashed successfully, phone works, and I still have the pictures.
THANKS!!!
Hello,
I have a S3 which is stuck in a bootloop at the samsung logo.
when i turn it on it shows the logo for some seconds then the screen goes black and the logo re-appears.
i can not boot into recovery mode, but download mode is working without a problem every time.
i tried flashing stock firmwares with odin and also tried kies emergency firmware recovery. the flashing always went without any problem, but it had effect. whatever i try, i am never able to boot into recovery and still stuck in the bootloop.
in some tries after flashing the screen just shows the samsung logo forever, but after rebooting it once it then is stuck in a bootloop again (shows the logo - screen goes black - shows the logo...)
i also tried flashing TWRP and CWM via odin, but again i can never boot into recovery mode.
what should i try next?
thx alot for any helpful comment
Varjo said:
Hello,
I have a S3 which is stuck in a bootloop at the samsung logo.
when i turn it on it shows the logo for some seconds then the screen goes black and the logo re-appears.
i can not boot into recovery mode, but download mode is working without a problem every time.
i tried flashing stock firmwares with odin and also tried kies emergency firmware recovery. the flashing always went without any problem, but it had effect. whatever i try, i am never able to boot into recovery and still stuck in the bootloop.
in some tries after flashing the screen just shows the samsung logo forever, but after rebooting it once it then is stuck in a bootloop again (shows the logo - screen goes black - shows the logo...)
i also tried flashing TWRP and CWM via odin, but again i can never boot into recovery mode.
what should i try next?
thx alot for any helpful comment
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can Try this:
1.) Pull out battery
2.) Put it in again
3.) Press Vol up + home + power
4.) When the Samsung Logo appears let it off
I think you press the Buttons too long.
I had the same problem!
S1ay3r666 said:
I think you press the Buttons too long.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i really tried everything, it's not working. btw with i am stuck at the very first image, where it says "samsung Galaxy sII GT-I9300".
i dont think it's just the way i press the buttons because i can reach it on my s1 and s2 without a problem, it's just not working on this device.
could some setting like "nand erase all" in odin help? in other threads there is sometimes mentioned that the internal file system might be screwed up and in those cases a simple odin reflash does not help anymore...
Nand erase will usually hard brick it. Try the rescue firmware from general forum, sticky thread. Follow the guide exactly as it includes a pit file.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk
boomboomer said:
Try the rescue firmware from general forum, sticky thread. Follow the guide exactly as it includes a pit file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thx, but i already did that (multiple times) and flashing via odin always succeeds. then the phone reboots and is stuck at the first samsung galaxy s.. screen. twice i managed somehow to get into recovery (after flashing cwm6) but it then randomly rebooted.
and i dont think that the power button is stuck because when i am in download mode it is perfectly fine it never reboots itself unexpectedly.
Had a similar issue on my tab2 p3100. It all happened when I tried flashing a custom recovery from rom manager.
A bad flash of anything related to recovery or bootloader could be a probable cause.
I remember a knowledge share on one of the threads describing this issue and as mentioned on it all I had to do is this:
1) switch off the device and plug in the charger. This would light up the display showing you the charging status. The status has to show if at least your bootloader part of the phone is fine.
2) plug out the charger and immediately press the three buttons (home + vol up + power) get into recovery mode. This step has to work and help you get to recovery mode.
***Note : the interval within which this step has to be performed is too short since the display would turn off immediately as soon as you plug out the charger. A bit tricky too so you have to be fast. If this misses getting you into recovery, pull out the battery and put it back again. Repeat step1 and 2 again.
3) upon successfully getting into recovery, perform wipe data, cache and select reboot phone from option available on recovery again.
Allow the device to boot. This could take a while since you have performed a data wipe and may prompt for first time set up.
I was able to restore functionality on my tab after these steps and like ppl learn from their mistakes, I then learnt that recoveries and bootloaders are things that needs to be done with a pc only.
Worth a try if you have tried other alternatives and found no go. may help. Who knows..
all the best.
thats also not working. i tried to get into recovery since two days now...
i also tried the steps from this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s3/help/solved-pit-bricked-dead-problem-gt-t2535367
but again, after i flash the cf-root (successfully) the phone does neither boot into recovery by itself nor can i do it by hand...
its crazy... in download mode i can see the model number (GT-I9300) and i thought as long as the model number is there and i can enter download mode there should be a way to recover the device.
but i cannot think of anything to try that i have not done yet
If the rescue firmware didn't help then it looks like the emmc chip is damaged.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk
boomboomer said:
If the rescue firmware didn't help then it looks like the emmc chip is damaged.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
is there a way to make certain of this? how can i tell if it is really a hardware damage and not just a software brick?
i just dont want to let the phone go, it looks still so shiny
is there anything else that could cause the phone not booting into recovery mode after flashing custom recoveries?
Varjo said:
is there a way to make certain of this? how can i tell if it is really a hardware damage and not just a software brick?
i just dont want to let the phone go, it looks still so shiny
is there anything else that could cause the phone not booting into recovery mode after flashing custom recoveries?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/gala...-help-t2737707
Same here, still didn't found how to fix it.. I guess our motherboard just died..
Howewer I have a solution that "almost" worked for me.
Get a stock firmware in odin and turn on Nand erase and T-flash
When it's done phone reboots and you'll see just "Downloading..." mode when you turn it on.
Then got to Kies and Select firmware recovery...
Enter s/n and model name and wait for the flash to complete.
With it , I got past boot logo and actually booted into android but the phone crashed because I guess I have a memory issue..
Well , gl. If you don't find anything else helpful , try going with this method..
Hi,
My problem started a couple days ago. I had my Samsung Galaxy S2 (I9100) charging overnight and when I woke up it was off. When I turned it back on it was stuck in a boot loop. I could not access recovery mode (although it would enter recovery mode and then drop out) but I could enter download mode. It was running a stock ROM and I had never played around with flashing before.
After leaving it for about a day without power nothing had changed so I started reading up about recovering from soft-brick and possibly the NAND read-write corruption at the guide on XDA here http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s2/general/guide-fix-unflashable-soft-bricked-gsii-t1449771
The guide is a bit old now so some links are broken which made it more difficult for me to figure out what I had to do. Particularly with what file should be going where.
I ended up downloading the same ROM that i think was already on my phone from samfirmware and tried to flash it using Odin (various versions) without success. I tried to flash just the kernel using heimdall which now stops me from even entering recovery mode. I tried to flash everything in the ROM from samfirmware using heimdall but it got stuck on the second file (cache) at 62%, the first file was the bootloader which it said was successful. However now I don’t even get the Samsung logo anymore. I only get "Firmware upgrade encountered an issue. Please select recovery mode in Kies & try again."
I still have download mode so I have hope.
I haven’t tried repartitioning yet, is that my next step? Can someone give me instructions on how to determine what the problem is and what I should or shouldn’t be flashing? I’m not against going to a completely new ROM like cyanogen mod either. I need some help from people who have more experience with this.
Thanks for your help, I should be around to answer questions.
Same thing happened to me
Hi, almost the same thing happened to me - except that I was running Cyanogenmod 10 custom rom and I'm not being able to go into recovery mode, but I can go into download mode.
So far I've only managed to worsen things while trying to use odin to write a recovery kernel, so I had a bad firmware upgrade and now instead of powering up to Samsung logo it goes into the "Firmware upgrade encountered an issue" screen. But I'm still able to boot into download mode.
Did you manage to fix your phone? If so, how did you do it?
I was recently given an S6 from a friend who won it but already had one. I was excited to try and root it, foolish of me to think about maybe getting more information, and I attempted a CF-Autoroot. The root claimed, in Odin 10, to have succeeded. However, it fails to boot entirely. The grey android screen that flashes the word "erasing" as the loading bar progresses during firmware reboot makes it half way before restarting. Now I can boot into Odin mode, and I can boot into recovery. USB debugging was off at the time the phone started to act up so that's a no go. I have tried multiple times in restoring it to no avail. The phone recovery says "failed to mount /efs."
Odin mode said custom and then, after using kies to attempt a restore, would fail to complete and once again get stuck on SAMSUNG screen. If I Return to Odin mode I would notice that the system went back from custom to Samsung again, though the knox counter was still at 1.
I am able to load TWRP and occasionally manage to format and tweat partitions to mount the phone in recovery but can't transfer any files.
I have access to a USB OTG device that loads via mini usb port in the device. This phone has caused me a lot of grief and I Can't think of any way to recover it. Essentially I am left with a brand new device that is worthless. Is there anyone out there with experience recovering this error.
Also I am unable to obtain the lost emergency firmware recovery number.
Thank you in advance for all the time and efforts that I hope will be provided. I have spent many days on this device trying to simply make it work.
Regards, Desmond
Hi all,
This is a brief guide on what are some things that could go wrong if you decide to flash a new ROM especially GSI as they are quite buggy at the time of writing this post. I'll try to mention as many issues as I can but if something remains, please feel free to write them in the reply.
The guide is aimed for complete beginners who were trying to flash something and are now stuck OR who just want to know what to be prepared for and not to panic. if you are experienced you might not need it but it might just help you with something.
also, as always, I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE IF SOMETHING DOES NOT WORK. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN ACTIONS.
So let's start with the most common problem. Bootloops!
1 - Bootloops :
What happens? : The title is pretty self-explanatory. You know you are in a bootloop if your phone turns off automatically as soon as it turned on. This generally happens BEFORE the phone actually boots up i.e. in the booting screen but could also happen after the phone completely turned on. There are various causes for this it may be due to a bug in the ROM or missing system files.
How to fix? : If you are flashing a custom ROM then you may want to reboot back to TWRP, wipe and flash it again. It works sometimes if there was an issue with the files.
I am unable to reboot to TWRP my phone is stuck even long pressing the power button does not shut it down! :crying::crying: : well if you are stuck you don't actually need to open the back panel to remove the battery or wait for it to die those won't help. all you need to do is wait for the phone to turn off and IMMEDIATELY press and hold the VOLUME UP and POWER button that should get you into TWRP if that doesn't work then you can try pressing and holding the VOLUME UP + DOWN + POWER key as the phone is about to turn on. it might boot you into download mode. if that does not work as well then as the phone is about to turn on, press and hold VOLUME UP + DOWN and plug the phone into PC that will get you booted into download mode eventually. Once you have access to one of these you can continue doing whatever you were doing. To reset everything back to normal (stock, like a new phone) checkout the solution listed below.
2 - I was doing something and now my phone is stuck at charging mode :
What happens? : This has happened to me while flashing PHH GSI. My phone was plugged into the charger and I restarted the phone. turns out it was a fatal mistake for the bugged gsi. The phone now only showed a battery icon that was charging very similar to the one that you would see if your phone is out of battery and you put it to charge. This happens before the phone actually turns on. usually, once you unplug the charger the phone automatically restarts but in my case it didn't. It was stuck at that screen with no way out.
How to fix? : turns out it's pretty easy, it might seem like its doing NOTHING, not responding to power buttons or anything but internally it is. Surprisingly, if you press and hold the VOL UP + DOWN + plug it into the PC it would get you into the download mode.
3 - I flashed GSI and ... :
What happens? : There are MANY things that can go wrong with GSI if you are a beginner I would suggest you stay away from GSI until it supports the device better. For me, I flashed PHH gsi and it went smoothly I booted in but as soon as I was finishing the setup adding fingerprint the ROM went into bootloop. you know how to fix this now. if nothing works, just refer to the reset solution listed below.
4 - "Custom binary blocked by FRP lock" :
What happens? : This usually (at least with me) happens when you are trying to flash something but forget to flash the DmVerity thing. The phone won't turn on and going to download mode will throw you with a line saying FRP lock.
How to fix? : At this point, trying to install custom binaries with Odin probably won't help as for me it simply stated that you cant install custom binaries only Samsung official updates are allowed or something similar. There might be a better/easy solution to this but I found doing a stock reset with Odin worked great. It is given below refer to that.
5 - Phone is in "Emergency firmware recovery" Mode :
What happens? : Turning on the phone throws you into a cyan screen saying that your phone needs emergency firmware recovery which can be done using Samsung smart switch
How to fix? : I believe it is a fantasy way of Samsung saying that your phone is almost dead and nothing remains on it. Fear not, turns out that cyan screen is actually the download mode. so that's a win you don't even have to boot to download mode just connect your phone to pc odin and follow the reset to stock firmware as mentioned below.
6 - I am back in some OS but my internal memory is shortened!!!
What happens? : well you are in the os you wanted but if you check the storage it appears to be shortened. i.e. if your phone has 64gb internal memory it might appear as 30gb or 20gb.
How to fix? : This is a problem caused by missing PIT file in odin. I would not suggest you to manually download the PIT file from somewhere and flash it using odin because doing so got me stuck in the FRP LOCK (4th) situation. I would suggest that you flash the stock firmware using the method given below.
MASTER SOLUTION/RESET TO STOCK FIRMWARE: if you are new to modding I would suggest that you download the stock firmware files from here BEFORE doing anything as the files exceed more than 3GB in size and not everyone has fast internet. if anything goes wrong and you have access to download mode you can follow this and get everything back to stock. Download the stock file AFH given at the link. once you download the stock firmware you just need to extract it and put the respective files in odin and begin flash. it will RESET everything and make it a new phone. I've tried this method and it works always for me.
That concludes my guide. if anyone knows any better solutions to these problems or think I've written something wrong please feel free to correct me. I've faced all of these issues back to back when I tried flashing a GSI and was able to fix all of them so this is just my personal experience.
Lastly, don't panic if something happens wrong happens there is probably a way to fix it.
Depends on many things, but now that we have a working TWRP, life is much easier, and also we have kitchen tools which help as well.
thvardhan said:
Hi all,
This is a brief guide on what are some things that could go wrong if you decide to flash a new ROM especially GSI as they are quite buggy at the time of writing this post. I'll try to mention as many issues as I can but if something remains, please feel free to write them in the reply.
The guide is aimed for complete beginners who were trying to flash something and are now stuck OR who just want to know what to be prepared for and not to panic. if you are experienced you might not need it but it might just help you with something.
also, as always, I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE IF SOMETHING DOES NOT WORK. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN ACTIONS.
So let's start with the most common problem. Bootloops!
1 - Bootloops :
What happens? : The title is pretty self-explanatory. You know you are in a bootloop if your phone turns off automatically as soon as it turned on. This generally happens BEFORE the phone actually boots up i.e. in the booting screen but could also happen after the phone completely turned on. There are various causes for this it may be due to a bug in the ROM or missing system files.
How to fix? : If you are flashing a custom ROM then you may want to reboot back to TWRP, wipe and flash it again. It works sometimes if there was an issue with the files.
I am unable to reboot to TWRP my phone is stuck even long pressing the power button does not shut it down! :crying::crying: : well if you are stuck you don't actually need to open the back panel to remove the battery or wait for it to die those won't help. all you need to do is wait for the phone to turn off and IMMEDIATELY press and hold the VOLUME UP and POWER button that should get you into TWRP if that doesn't work then you can try pressing and holding the VOLUME UP + DOWN + POWER key as the phone is about to turn on. it might boot you into download mode. if that does not work as well then as the phone is about to turn on, press and hold VOLUME UP + DOWN and plug the phone into PC that will get you booted into download mode eventually. Once you have access to one of these you can continue doing whatever you were doing. To reset everything back to normal (stock, like a new phone) checkout the solution listed below.
2 - I was doing something and now my phone is stuck at charging mode :
What happens? : This has happened to me while flashing PHH GSI. My phone was plugged into the charger and I restarted the phone. turns out it was a fatal mistake for the bugged gsi. The phone now only showed a battery icon that was charging very similar to the one that you would see if your phone is out of battery and you put it to charge. This happens before the phone actually turns on. usually, once you unplug the charger the phone automatically restarts but in my case it didn't. It was stuck at that screen with no way out.
How to fix? : turns out it's pretty easy, it might seem like its doing NOTHING, not responding to power buttons or anything but internally it is. Surprisingly, if you press and hold the VOL UP + DOWN + plug it into the PC it would get you into the download mode.
3 - I flashed GSI and ... :
What happens? : There are MANY things that can go wrong with GSI if you are a beginner I would suggest you stay away from GSI until it supports the device better. For me, I flashed PHH gsi and it went smoothly I booted in but as soon as I was finishing the setup adding fingerprint the ROM went into bootloop. you know how to fix this now. if nothing works, just refer to the reset solution listed below.
4 - "Custom binary blocked by FRP lock" :
What happens? : This usually (at least with me) happens when you are trying to flash something but forget to flash the DmVerity thing. The phone won't turn on and going to download mode will throw you with a line saying FRP lock.
How to fix? : At this point, trying to install custom binaries with Odin probably won't help as for me it simply stated that you cant install custom binaries only Samsung official updates are allowed or something similar. There might be a better/easy solution to this but I found doing a stock reset with Odin worked great. It is given below refer to that.
5 - Phone is in "Emergency firmware recovery" Mode :
What happens? : Turning on the phone throws you into a cyan screen saying that your phone needs emergency firmware recovery which can be done using Samsung smart switch
How to fix? : I believe it is a fantasy way of Samsung saying that your phone is almost dead and nothing remains on it. Fear not, turns out that cyan screen is actually the download mode. so that's a win you don't even have to boot to download mode just connect your phone to pc odin and follow the reset to stock firmware as mentioned below.
6 - I am back in some OS but my internal memory is shortened!!!
What happens? : well you are in the os you wanted but if you check the storage it appears to be shortened. i.e. if your phone has 64gb internal memory it might appear as 30gb or 20gb.
How to fix? : This is a problem caused by missing PIT file in odin. I would not suggest you to manually download the PIT file from somewhere and flash it using odin because doing so got me stuck in the FRP LOCK (4th) situation. I would suggest that you flash the stock firmware using the method given below.
MASTER SOLUTION/RESET TO STOCK FIRMWARE: if you are new to modding I would suggest that you download the stock firmware files from here BEFORE doing anything as the files exceed more than 3GB in size and not everyone has fast internet. if anything goes wrong and you have access to download mode you can follow this and get everything back to stock. Download the stock file AFH given at the link. once you download the stock firmware you just need to extract it and put the respective files in odin and begin flash. it will RESET everything and make it a new phone. I've tried this method and it works always for me.
That concludes my guide. if anyone knows any better solutions to these problems or think I've written something wrong please feel free to correct me. I've faced all of these issues back to back when I tried flashing a GSI and was able to fix all of them so this is just my personal experience.
Lastly, don't panic if something happens wrong happens there is probably a way to fix it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Absolutely well written for new users who wish to get into the world of Android on their Samsung. Might I suggest a few corrections?
Akhil99 said:
Absolutely well written for new users who wish to get into the world of Android on their Samsung. Might I suggest a few corrections?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure by all means, feel free to suggest any modifications/corrections.:highfive: