Haaaalp! Another victim of the OTA update screwing my phone after debloat...possible to recover some files via recovery or download mode? - Samsung Galaxy S21 Questions

Hello all...hoping to get some assistance with this thing. Long story short, debloated it due to horrid battery life and high heat. Everything was great until about a week ago when my settings app go renamed somehow. Tried fixing it but couldn't find the com.android.settings file with the correct signature for my phone (AT&T, US Model, unlocked, not rooted).
It's been working fine except no settings...so I backed up the usual stuff and had plans to do a factory reset this weekend. A few hours ago I picked it up and it went all wonky on me. Upon boot, it comes up to the lock screen and then the screen just starts turning on/off. I'm unable to bring up the passcode screen...but, am able to bring up the power menu by holding the power button. But, can't power down or get into safe mode that way. After about 5 seconds of doing this, it reboots. Rinse and repeat. Safe mode via buttons starts, but, does the same thing.
I am able to get into both recovery mode and download mode though. I can view logs/etc.
Normally, I'd just ***** and moan, then do the factory reset, However, I made one huge oversight when I backed up my data earlier this week and forgot to backup my notes. There's about a dozen of them, pages and pages long with all the medical details regarding my sons illness that I've been tracking for years. It's a nightmare dealing with different Dr's all the time so I've logged it all on the phone. Unfortunately, the best app I've found for it doesn't do cloud storage and keeps them saved as local txt files on the device.
Is there any hope I can somehow pull the files using recovery/download mode or utilize the logs to determine the errors and fix it enough to be able to get them? I'm fairly tech savvy and have ADB installed. I'm super ADD though and my head is just spinning trying to sort through all the possible posts regarding trying to do this...many being for older phones.
Absolute worst case, is there a legitimate service that would be able to do it?
Any help recovering my son's medical notes would be really really appreciated.

RiBBiTeDD said:
Hello all...hoping to get some assistance with this thing. Long story short, debloated it due to horrid battery life and high heat. Everything was great until about a week ago when my settings app go renamed somehow. Tried fixing it but couldn't find the com.android.settings file with the correct signature for my phone (AT&T, US Model, unlocked, not rooted).
It's been working fine except no settings...so I backed up the usual stuff and had plans to do a factory reset this weekend. A few hours ago I picked it up and it went all wonky on me. Upon boot, it comes up to the lock screen and then the screen just starts turning on/off. I'm unable to bring up the passcode screen...but, am able to bring up the power menu by holding the power button. But, can't power down or get into safe mode that way. After about 5 seconds of doing this, it reboots. Rinse and repeat. Safe mode via buttons starts, but, does the same thing.
I am able to get into both recovery mode and download mode though. I can view logs/etc.
Normally, I'd just ***** and moan, then do the factory reset, However, I made one huge oversight when I backed up my data earlier this week and forgot to backup my notes. There's about a dozen of them, pages and pages long with all the medical details regarding my sons illness that I've been tracking for years. It's a nightmare dealing with different Dr's all the time so I've logged it all on the phone. Unfortunately, the best app I've found for it doesn't do cloud storage and keeps them saved as local txt files on the device.
Is there any hope I can somehow pull the files using recovery/download mode or utilize the logs to determine the errors and fix it enough to be able to get them? I'm fairly tech savvy and have ADB installed. I'm super ADD though and my head is just spinning trying to sort through all the possible posts regarding trying to do this...many being for older phones.
Absolute worst case, is there a legitimate service that would be able to do it?
Any help recovering my son's medical notes would be really really appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Man, i'm so sorry to hear that :/
Sience you have access to recovery, did you try to wipe only cache partition and hit repair apps(also in recovery)?
I'm also using debloated device and i dont have any problems with it

nocio said:
Man, i'm so sorry to hear that :/
Sience you have access to recovery, did you try to wipe only cache partition and hit repair apps(also in recovery)?
I'm also using debloated device and i dont have any problems with it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah...that's the first thing I tried after safe mode failed. :\
There's quite a few folks reporting similar issues since the last OTA update a couple weeks ago.
Usually I delay until I get a chance to restore then allow it...this one didn't even give me a chance. I was using my phone when it popped up. No option to remind me later. When I tried to exit it counted down from 10, rebooted and installed.

RiBBiTeDD said:
Yeah...that's the first thing I tried after safe mode failed. :\
There's quite a few folks reporting similar issues since the last OTA update a couple weeks ago.
Usually I delay until I get a chance to restore then allow it...this one didn't even give me a chance. I was using my phone when it popped up. No option to remind me later. When I tried to exit it counted down from 10, rebooted and installed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have one idea, it may seem unusual but it may work.
Try to remove sim card and than boot device

nocio said:
I have one idea, it may seem unusual but it may work.
Try to remove sim card and than boot device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the idea. But, yeah, tried that to already...cleared cache and repaired apps afterwards too. Tried it with cable, tried a 2.0 cable too.
No dice.
The app repair works just fine and then it does the same thing when lock screen tries to appear.

RiBBiTeDD said:
Thanks for the idea. But, yeah, tried that to already...cleared cache and repaired apps afterwards too. Tried it with cable, tried a 2.0 cable too.
No dice.
The app repair works just fine and then it does the same thing when lock screen tries to appear.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only thing that came to my mind is to download latest firmware for your device than flash it via odin
EDIT: but be carefull with that. Odin have box to untick factory reset but i didnt do that a loooooooooong time so i dont know if something is changed

nocio said:
Only thing that came to my mind is to download latest firmware for your device than flash it via odin
EDIT: but be carefull with that. Odin have box to untick factory reset but i didnt do that a loooooooooong time so i dont know if something is changed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I figured that'd be my last shot at it... I've read the horror stories of tripping Knox even with factory firmware.
Was just really hoping there was some way to yank the stuff using recovery or download modes.

RiBBiTeDD said:
Yeah, I figured that'd be my last shot at it... I've read the horror stories of tripping Knox even with factory firmware.
Was just really hoping there was some way to yank the stuff using recovery or download modes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that you can't trip Knox only when you flash official firmware over unlocked bootloader and custom ROM, but I'm not so sure.
Last time I did that is when I had Samsung Galaxy S2 and flashing official firmware over official firmware and that didn't trip the Knox counter

Does flashing genuine firmware trip knox?
Hi It's been a while since I bothered flashing firmware so I am not upto date with how things work now. My questions are I am currently on 02s version of firmware and would like to go samsungs version so I can take part in things like the one...
forum.xda-developers.com
Here you can see that flashing official firmware over official firmware(i'm guessing that you are not rooted) won't trip knox counter

nocio said:
Does flashing genuine firmware trip knox?
Hi It's been a while since I bothered flashing firmware so I am not upto date with how things work now. My questions are I am currently on 02s version of firmware and would like to go samsungs version so I can take part in things like the one...
forum.xda-developers.com
Here you can see that flashing official firmware over official firmware(i'm guessing that you are not rooted) won't trip knox counter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome! Thank you!

I was able to get the files...for others in the same boat, here's a link to what worked for me:
Help finding correct firmware and installing for AT&T SM-G991U.
Hello all...I'm a fellow victim of the OTA updates screwing us debloaters currently stuck in a boot-loop. I'm trying to recover my the past several years text notes containing all the medical details for my son's illness. Details on that can be...
forum.xda-developers.com

Related

[Q] Can't Get into Samsung Recovery Mode to Root

Hello folks,
Generally loving my Vibrant, of course hungry for Froyo. I have two Vibrants, the first I've been using and have modded it with root and other enhancements. I gave the other phone to a friend as a gift, but when I wanted to root theirs using the same method I've used on multiple occasions, it would NOT boot into the recovery mode. I use the UP + DOWN push, plus the power button. No dice, just get the cheesy "come together" Tmobile screen, I tried up, down, waited for the Samsung to flash twice, no dice. It was not that complicated on my phone and I can continue to do so. I have looked up threads and there is suspicion that T Mobile disabled this on later vesrions? This version was shipped to me slightly after my own, within a week or so.
It would be disheartening if I couldn't root and make his phone more efficient to deal with the battery hog issues as well as other enhancments. Maybe I'm doing it wrong but I've treid multiple combinations and never get into the utility/recovery screen.
Any thoughts on this? I tried rooting before that with the Ryan one click lag fix, and it seemed to indicate it was done,b ut then Iwhen I opened ROM manager, it said it was not rooted yet. Then when I tried the one click app fix again, it mentioned it couldn't because soemthing about the SD card mounting,etc. I could put the stock PIT file on it via ODIN could I not? But I dont' want to go to all that hassle if it's something else. Is there a another app solution that can root for you? I can mount and drag the update zip there, but can't get tot he screen to reinstall packages.
Hopefully TMobile isn't stripping this down so we can't customize and it's something else but I'm trying all combinations short of doing the hokey pokey.
Thanks in advance!
Kelly
Samsung Vibrant
Apparently either Samsung or Tmobile are having the option disabled via the normal ways to get into recovery. There are numerous other threads regarding this throughout the forums detailing other peoples experiences regarding this.
Take a look here for one:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=771247
Join the club. I'm on my third vibrant with this same issue. I am returning it this week for a refund. My first....and last samsung phone.
thank you guys, I was afraid of that. one of the phones greatest assets was it's hackability. Froyo had better do something with battery consumption, speed, etc, or this phone will be a great screen and not much more. boo to hardware lockdowns! let the hackers hack and if you want to void the warranty, do it. I'll see about this ADB mode, I'm wondering if someone can create an app that would successfully root so ROM manager will work. I wonder why the one click fix lag app, which supposedly roots, did not. It seems like an overall lock down on this access?
At any rate, I'll try the other options but it's looking like more and more, my buddy will be a slave to Samsung release timeframe, and thats assuming froyo and updates will fix significant bugs and improve battery life.
thanks again guys! I'll keep trying.
And what about the download mode, can you get in it?
not sure, you mean the little digging android feller? I will try that, I gave the phone to my friend but sent him the page in this thread earlier regarding multiple attempts to get into either / or mode. would that actaully help install the packages aka root the phone? I only used that last time to reinstall via Odin, the T Mobile factory build because it was soft bricked due to a bad lag fix that froze the phone on the Samsung logo.
download mode , can that get it rooted? Or just wanting to know if all hardware access has been blocked?"
not sure, you mean the little digging android feller? I will try that, I gave the phone to my friend but sent him the page in this thread earlier regarding multiple attempts to get into either / or mode. would that actaully help install the packages aka root the phone? I only used that last time to reinstall via Odin, the T Mobile factory build because it was soft bricked due to a bad lag fix that froze the phone on the Samsung logo.
download mode , can that get it rooted? Or just wanting to know if all hardware access has been blocked?
Yeah, that the digging guy. It won't help you to get rooted, but i can't get in download mode, so if you can advise me how can i do that, i appreciate

Recovery mode asks for my pin, then just keeps rebooting

I'm trying to go back to stock after an AT&T OTA update bricked my wifes phone.
It just boots over and over over again. I followed the instructions to get into recovery mode, which it then asks for a password, I figured it was the pin code to get into the device. Problem is, after I enter the pin, it just starts doing its boot loop thing, over and over.
I can get the phone into download mode, and looking at ODIN, it appears it will take roms, but it will go back to the boot loop, and again recovery mode will ask for a password, which when giving the password it goes to boot loop mode again.
If I give it the wrong password it too many times it tells me its going to wipe the data.
I have been searching the forums all last night and part of the day at work today and I can't seem to find anyone who has had the same problem as me... either that, I'm having trouble articulating the correct syntax in the search menu to locate the problem.
I probably should have just took it into AT&T the next morning, but since they were closed I couldn't resist fiddling with it....
any ideas?
There was one other person who had that problem. I think his final solution was to go through the wrong password until the phone wiped and then he could use it. Found the thread for you here.
There might be another solution if that doesn't work.
creepyncrawly said:
There was one other person who had that problem. I think his final solution was to go through the wrong password until the phone wiped and then he could use it. Found the thread for you here.
There might be another solution if that doesn't work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the gentlemen in the thread you posted had a device that was at least booting.
My device cannot even get that far.... I tried putting the incorrect code in to the recovery password field and it just goes back to reboot loop.
Thank you for the reply though.
I hope AT&T will take it back.
They probably will.
You might be able to completely reset the phone using the stock firmware package from sammobile.com (not the one available in our forums). It flashes everything, so the phone will be just like from the factory. See this post if you want to try it.
But that is somewhat risky, though should work. I have not tested the flash, of course. If it was my phone, I would probably try to exchange it under warranty.
being the daredevil I am, I went to that site and downloaded it and fired up odin... it comes back with an error on line 1874 such and such., then gives a fail flag.
I don't think they will let me return it. Because I think I already flashed a non-standard rom last night just trouble shooting this problem.
But thanks for the replies, maybe someone else will see this thread and have an idea.
I have seen many posts reporting returning a phone that was not stock, or still had the counter incremented, or one that would not boot. These users have stated that the person accepting the return did not even check the phone.
Of course, this is only anecdotal evidence, but it would be worth your time to try, especially if it is a store.
creepyncrawly said:
I have seen many posts reporting returning a phone that was not stock, or still had the counter incremented, or one that would not boot. These users have stated that the person accepting the return did not even check the phone.
Of course, this is only anecdotal evidence, but it would be worth your time to try, especially if it is a store.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1, in my many exchanges and returns, not once has an employee powered the device on.
I'm kind of surprised stock recovery doesn't have a way to do a full wipe without a password...
Simba501 said:
+1, in my many exchanges and returns, not once has an employee powered the device on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm going to try tonight after work.
yesterday I went to the local AT&T store and they claimed they couldn't help me because they don't handle warranty's and gave me directions to a store 20 miles away.
I don't know if he was just being a typical jerk or what, but I'll guess I'll find out tonight.
Well I do have one idea - it's possible in theory (but I've never successfully done it) to wipe /data in Odin/Heimdall.
(Last time I tried it, it bombed and I had to reformat - but that might get you out of this mess to have corrupted /data that requires a reformat.)
More later.

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

[PLEASE HELP] T-Mobile Galaxy S5 Random Reboots, Freezes and Force Closes.

Hello, This is my first Post on XDA so please help me to familiarize myself with rules and procedures and I apologize if I break any in any way.
Okay, So My phone (SM-G900T) is about 5 months old. I bought it in August, Without insurance (Terrible Idea), and now it is having problems. In the amount of time I've had it, I rooted it in mid to late September and used only an app called Xmod for a game. I then started using greenify, solid explorer and eventually used Xposed installer to try a few Xposed modules. Specifically I used, the YouTube adaway, Rich Pandora notification and that's about it. I also later installed Samsung Tools to backup my IMEI and important partitions.
A few days ago my phone randomly rebooted in the middle of a YouTube video so I let it reboot, but it rebooted again, and again, and again. I pulled the battery and turned it back on but the same problem persisted. I couldn't do anything to fix it so I just decided to factory reset the device through the stock recovery. Also, I did not install any custom roms or anything either. The factory reset did nothing. Now when I was in setup, everything force closed, froze and rebooted, repeatedly. So I found the original firmware that my phone came with and flashed it to my phone through Odin because I literally had no hope of what to do anymore. The problem lessened so I didn't install all my apps and overload the device as it would reboot when the RAM would get pretty full or too many things were running simultaneously in the background or foreground. The problem got a little worse so I factory reset one more time and it lessened again but now it came back and factory Resetting isn't lessening the problem. Now it just force closes a bunch of stuff and freezes and reboots into a bootloop midway through initial setup. I am desperate at this point right now and I need help from you guys. I don't have warranty because I rooted and I made the Extremely stupid decision of not getting insurance. So please can anyone help me out? I will be eternally grateful if you can help me turn this $609 brick into a phone again.
I will try to check this thread daily, but I go to school and I may not respond immediately, so please understand.
ahmed12534 said:
Hello, This is my first Post on XDA so please help me to familiarize myself with rules and procedures and I apologize if I break any in any way.
Okay, So My phone (SM-G900T) is about 5 months old. I bought it in August, Without insurance (Terrible Idea), and now it is having problems. In the amount of time I've had it, I rooted it in mid to late September and used only an app called Xmod for a game. I then started using greenify, solid explorer and eventually used Xposed installer to try a few Xposed modules. Specifically I used, the YouTube adaway, Rich Pandora notification and that's about it. I also later installed Samsung Tools to backup my IMEI and important partitions.
A few days ago my phone randomly rebooted in the middle of a YouTube video so I let it reboot, but it rebooted again, and again, and again. I pulled the battery and turned it back on but the same problem persisted. I couldn't do anything to fix it so I just decided to factory reset the device through the stock recovery. Also, I did not install any custom roms or anything either. The factory reset did nothing. Now when I was in setup, everything force closed, froze and rebooted, repeatedly. So I found the original firmware that my phone came with and flashed it to my phone through Odin because I literally had no hope of what to do anymore. The problem lessened so I didn't install all my apps and overload the device as it would reboot when the RAM would get pretty full or too many things were running simultaneously in the background or foreground. The problem got a little worse so I factory reset one more time and it lessened again but now it came back and factory Resetting isn't lessening the problem. Now it just force closes a bunch of stuff and freezes and reboots into a bootloop midway through initial setup. I am desperate at this point right now and I need help from you guys. I don't have warranty because I rooted and I made the Extremely stupid decision of not getting insurance. So please can anyone help me out? I will be eternally grateful if you can help me turn this $609 brick into a phone again.
I will try to check this thread daily, but I go to school and I may not respond immediately, so please understand.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have SD card installed? If you do try taking it out and leave out or replace with another SdCard. Then flash the original stock firmware as you said you did before through (odin!) Then if that dont work try kias3 and use the emergency firmware recovery tool. Before you do any of this make sure you factory reset through stock recovery if possible.
Sent from my SM-G900T?
---------- Post added at 03:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:07 PM ----------
Have you tried this tool? I had the same issue with my phone and reinstalled firmware and stock recovery through this tool and it stopped. If none of these tips work id say your phone may be borked or have faulty hardware. Take a look here as welll. Hope you can get your phone back to normal. I can understand what you're going through, like i said i had same issue with mine and mine has seems to be fine as of now. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2721146 . GOOD LUCK
Sent from my SM-G900T ?
beachbum40 said:
Do you have SD card installed? If you do try taking it out and leave out or replace with another SdCard. Then flash the original stock firmware as you said you did before through (odin!) Then if that dont work try kias3 and use the emergency firmware recovery tool. Before you do any of this make sure you factory reset through stock recovery if possible.
Sent from my SM-G900T?
---------- Post added at 03:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:07 PM ----------
Have you tried this tool? I had the same issue with my phone and reinstalled firmware and stock recovery through this tool and it stopped. If none of these tips work id say your phone may be borked or have faulty hardware. Take a look here as welll. Hope you can get your phone back to normal. I can understand what you're going through, like i said i had same issue with mine and mine has seems to be fine as of now. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2721146 . GOOD LUCK
Sent from my SM-G900T ?
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Okay, so I'm resetting it back to stock firmware through Odin as we speak. And yes, I had an SD card and have already taken it out and left it out and reset but still the problem has persisted, I will definitely try the solution you just mentioned, here I go. And thank you for replying...
Edit:
Hold on, which do you want me to try first? kias3(can you please link it if possible) with emergency firmware recovery tool? OR the Unified Android Toolkit?
Also... I don't exactly know how to use the toolkit, can you verify the steps to take to use the toolkit properly if I should use this solution? I'm sorry but I'm not very advanced at Android development, just intermediately experienced I suppose...
ahmed12534 said:
Okay, so I'm resetting it back to stock firmware through Odin as we speak. And yes, I had an SD card and have already taken it out and left it out and reset but still the problem has persisted, I will definitely try the solution you just mentioned, here I go. And thank you for replying...
Edit:
Hold on, which do you want me to try first? kias3(can you please link it if possible) with emergency firmware recovery tool? OR the Unified Android Toolkit?
Also... I don't exactly know how to use the toolkit, can you verify the steps to take to use the toolkit properly if I should use this solution? I'm sorry but I'm not very advanced at Android development, just intermediately experienced I suppose...
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Click to collapse
Try kies first that dont work try toolkit. Just Google how to use the toolkit it's pretty self explanatory but I don't think you'll need to use the tool kit anyways. http://www.sammobile.com/kies/
HOW TO USE RECOVERY TOOL IN KIES
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2261153&page=4
beachbum40 said:
Try kies first that dont work try toolkit. Just Google how to use the toolkit it's pretty self explanatory but I don't think you'll need to use the tool kit anyways. http://www.sammobile.com/kies/
HOW TO USE RECOVERY TOOL IN KIES
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2261153&page=4
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okay, I tried resetting it using Kies3 but the device was not recognized so I had to find a different way because the guide on how to use Kies advised using Odin if Kies didn't recognize your phone. I don't have a code either, So I tried reflashing the stock firmware through Odin and it started up, froze and went into what I presume to be a bootloop as it is stuck on the T-Mobile splash screen with the notification light pulsing continuously. Did I also mention where my phone says Knox warranty void 0x1 there is another statement that says "Counter: 4" or something like that, while I am in download mode, does this have any significance? but yeah, other that Kies and Odin, I'm not sure if the android toolkit will help, because it's basically doing that same thing as I am with Odin, just more automated... Or am I wrong?
but as far as I know, that toolkit is literally the last option I have left, I guess I'll be trying that out tomorrow, with option 10 I believe where it says "10. Download, Extract + Flash Stock Firmware via Odin" but I'm not sure what ADB mode means... I can't really boot up the device so I don't know if that applies
Also, on a side note, how much do you think this will cost if I were to send the phone to Samsung and pay for repairs out of pocket, and do you think they could even repair it at all?
You know what... Do you think if I somehow installed CM12 on the device that the problem would fix itself? Because to me it seems like it's the Samsung software itself that is causing all this trouble along with a few Google apps. Now how would I root it and flash CM12 if it won't boot up fully...
Not sure if this would brick my phone either, let me know if it would if I tried to root through Odin and try to install CM12 through CWM recovery or something
Just throwing ideas, hoping this thread doesn't die before my problem is solved
Also, does geeksquad repair Samsung phones one time for a low fee if you've voided warranty?? If so then this could possibly be my final solution.
Also Never EVER buying a Samsung device again, they just aren't what they used to be back in the day, the other OEMs have caught up and left Samsung and their revenue in the dust...
ahmed12534 said:
Also Never EVER buying a Samsung device again, they just aren't what they used to be back in the day, the other OEMs have caught up and left Samsung and their revenue in the dust...
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I disagree with this completely. Very few other handsets can hold a candle to the S5 or the Note 4. I don't know of anybody that has the problems you are describing with their phones without a hardware issue of some type or bad app. The Samsung software runs perfectly on millions of devices without the issues you're having. Therefore it's probably a bad app you've gotten a hold of, or you have a bad phone. CM12 will only introduce more issues and probably won't solve anything.
A stripped down custom rom might be a good bet because you can then start adding your apps back to find out where the issue is, or if it still has the same issues then it almost guarantees that there is some kind of a hardware issue.

How to produce a temporarily defect S III I9300?

Sorry for a very strange problem.... My wife still uses her old S III (I9300), although it is so outdated and partly broken. Some time ago we flashed CM 12, so that some apps who need a more up-to-date android can be used. But the phone is too slow, there is a crack in the display and sometimes it starts to reboot without any reason. There is not enough memory to install additional apps and without LTE it is no fun.
=> I want to buy a new smartphone for her, but she doesn't want to. She wants to save money and use it, until it is not usable any more.
Of course I could give it a good strike with a hammer or give it a treatment in the microwave oven, but I would prefer only a temporary lack of functions, so that perhaps later I can use it as backup phone for the kids. Therefore I am looking for some trick, app or system setting to SIMULATE, that the phone is broken. When she is happy with her new phone, I intend to "repair" it "by chance"....
Any ideas? How can I simulate, that the phone is broken? Thanks!
You need to hardbrick it.I dont know how to but you can Google it.
ArdaCsknn said:
You need to hardbrick it.I dont know how to but you can Google it.
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Thanks for the reply! I googled, but i think i want to SOFTbrick it, not to hardbrick it. As I wrote above, I want to "revive" it after some time....
I think the simplest way may be to take the phone, create a backup of all data, put the phone into download mode, start flashing a stock ROM, remove the USB cable when it starts to flash the final file, and reboot the phone. Hopefully, the phone will display the "firmware upgrade encountered an error" message which can be resolved by re-flashing the stock ROM with Odin.
Based on my experience with flashing a stock ROM over a stock ROM, this procedure always leaves the data and apps intact.
cm_new said:
Thanks for the reply! I googled, but i think i want to SOFTbrick it, not to hardbrick it. As I wrote above, I want to "revive" it after some time....
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Ah,sorry I read it but while replying I forgot somehow.Yeah, then you need to soft brick it .It can be achieved by deleting some system files.So phone can got into bootloop.If your wife doesnt now how to get in to recovery then you should be ok.
Stock rooted phone needed for this, activate factory app. It will give a black window with device information over everything onscreen. Disable factory app to remove it later on.
By flashing the stock firmware in an attempt to make it all better gives the perfect opportunity to pretend the process buggered it.
Put some clear tape on the battery contacts ?

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