[Q] Is my Vibrant dead? - Vibrant Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Greetings everyone. Reader for a while, but this is my first post, and unfortunately it's because I'm quite sure I should be preparing a burial plot for my phone unless someone can help.
Here's the situation:
I installed the Cyanogen Mod beta on my Vibrant and it was pretty cool, but I couldn't get passed the gps and video recording (I was warned, I know, but I wanted to try it anyway). This was not the first rom I had flashed, and was familiar with CWM and ODIN, so this was not a problem for me. I wanted to have something working so I decided to go back to the DeOdexed JL5 rom, which I was running before, so I went into ODIN to restore back to stock before flashing, and it hung up after clicking repartition. I pulled the battery on my phone, and when I went to put it into Download mode again, it wouldn't go into it. Hell, it wouldn't do anything.
How totally screwed am I?

the phone won't turn on?
try plugging first the usb then hold the volume buttons then put back the battery.

That would put it in Download mode. It won't go into that.

you can't put it into download mode?

Nope... =/

sharkethicx said:
Nope... =/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
did u take the sim and ex sd card out, than repeat?

ZachLL88 said:
did u take the sim and ex sd card out, than repeat?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah. Always did before I tried putting it in download mode out of some (probably irrational) fear that they would get wiped as well

There have been a handful of others recently who have had their vibrants in the state where they aren't booting, aren't even showing a charging icon when plugged in. Persistence is the key. The steps posted by iynfynity do work, even from your current state, according to the individuals who have found themselves in the same state lately, no power, phone doesn't respond to anything. You can find these posts around these forums here at xda. Keep trying, if you get frustrated, walk away for a little bit and try again later.
-Remove battery and all cards, have odin open, files loaded and ready to go.
-Plug in usb, holding both volume, pop the battery in
Again, persistence is the key, and a little patience doesn't hurt either.

I can vouch for that... I always used the 3 button combo and had this happen. I tried everything. I even have a replacement sitting here still in the box not opened. I tried 1 more time with just pulling the battery sim and sd card out, plugging in the usb to pc, held down just the volume buttons, plugged in usb to phone, put the battery in and right to download mode.
I'm keeping my old phone and sending the replacement back..This one just won't die... : )

Thank you, you lovely gentlemen. Persistence and patience was key. I'd pretty much given up all hope on it once I plugged it in and it wouldn't even pop up with the battery charge indicator.
I wish I was more patient because I already bought a Captivate, rooted, unlocked, ROMed it. Oh well at least now I have a backup phone.

Glad you got it back up at least. Hopefully your captivate wont start shutting itself off when your battery gets below 85%, as many others are plagued with, if it does though, you have your backup.
Ginger Clone's of the World Unite! Via the XDA App

did it worked?
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

iynfynity said:
did it worked?
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it did =) and for now, I'm using my Captivate as my PMP. I loaded my music on there and I'll keep my games on there as well to save room on my Vibrant. Guess I got the Galaxy Player early

Related

HELP!! I flashed my vibrant with update.zip and now it wont even power on!

Today I was trying to learn to flash my vibrant, i was following directions found here on xda and right after I flashed the update.zip file my phone turned off and now it wont come on at all! help! is there anything I can do to get it working again?!
Odin
Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk
possible fix
how about you try taking the phone and pulling the plug and taking out the battery
after you do that odin back to stock
First you want to post in q&a. Second as to your phone does it do anything. Does the bottom row of lights come on. Does it boot to any screen? Third have you read the vibrant directory (bible)? Forth have you downloaded odin?
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
PM me and I'll try and walk you through.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
The phone doesnt do anything.. it was fine before i flashed the update.zip file. now i put the battery in and power it doesnt turn on at all i dont even see the samsung boot logo.. when i plug the charger in it doesnt even show that its charging.
Sgreaves23 said:
The phone doesnt do anything.. it was fine before i flashed the update.zip file. now i put the battery in and power it doesnt turn on at all i dont even see the samsung boot logo.. when i plug the charger in it doesnt even show that its charging.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check to see if your battery died somehow, but if you can't turn on your device even with a full battery, you have a real bricked phone.
Battery I fine, if I plug the charger in it doesn't charge or show that it's charging. How could this happen just from flashing a file?
Call tmobile and tell them that your phone said it was updating and once it restarted, it never came back on. They will have you check a few things and then send you a replacement for free. In the future be very careful when learning to mod your phone, ask questions when your not sure. This replacement trick will only get you a phone one time.
I was thinking to do that, only that my carrier is simple mobile, they do not offer insurance, sigh, I think I may be out of a phone
where did you get this update.zip?/
What update.zip did you flash?
Sgreaves23 said:
I was thinking to do that, only that my carrier is simple mobile, they do not offer insurance, sigh, I think I may be out of a phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No; it is unlikely that you are out of a phone. Try this method, either buying or making a USB "test jig." (You can make it if you know how to solder.)
http://board.teamwhiskey.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=209
If this does not work, there is another method that is expensive (but less than $500 for a new phone). You will need to find a technician with a "JTAG" test device who has a special bootloader software module from Samsung. The device uses an interface other than USB to access bootloader memory and downloads the bootloader file to the bootloader memory in order to boot the phone into a recovery environment.
The only way that your phone would be completely unrecoverable is if there was a hardware failure at the same time that you were playing around, which is unlikely.
Sgreaves23 said:
Battery I fine, if I plug the charger in it doesn't charge or show that it's charging. How could this happen just from flashing a file?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Dude it's bricked....game over. Call tmobile and just tell them your phone doesn't turn on anymore, don't tell them how it happened, just that it stopped working. They will send you a replacement for free, if you're still under warranty it is. I bricked mine 2 weeks ago and got my replacement the next day. I tried EVERYTHING to get it back to life....but nothing. Sometimes it happens even though you follow all steps, especially if it messed around with your bootloader.
Good luck. It's no ones effen business what you say happened...most likely they do the same.
You shouldn't even be flashing the update.zip... you should be using like OCLF to do it for you. This should help:
http://androidspin.com/2010/08/09/how-to-restore-or-recover-your-samsung-vibrant/
I would STRONLGY suggest to listen what BruceElliott says, read and follow the directions carefully. In 99% cases you can recover just fine. It's very hard to truly brick vibrant...
bobbbb said:
You shouldn't even be flashing the update.zip... you should be using like OCLF to do it for you. This should help:
http://androidspin.com/2010/08/09/how-to-restore-or-recover-your-samsung-vibrant/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You've got to be able to get into download mode to do that though. I think that's the problem.
I'd mess around with it for a bit and try all of the tips to get into download mode. I can't believe you'd hard brick it based on what you said. You are positive your battery is okay?
I had the same problem. It would not turn on at all. I called Samsung and they paid to send it back for warrenty repair. It takes 6 business days. They didn't even ask how it happened. I think the number was 800-samsung
Nah, you don't need a Jig just yet
I've ran into that problem MANY TIMES!! The first time it freaked me out too.
Take out the battery, take out the sim card. Leave it for about 5 minutes. Then do these steps:
- plugged the phone in without the battery
- Hold down the 2 volume buttons
- As you're holding those 2 buttons down, insert the batter
- You should be in download mode
- Proceed with Odin
Can you tell us what update.zip you used? Good luck!

Odin flash help

I downloaded the 2.3 rom on my tmobile vibrant. Well, i messed it up. It was for like international phones and stuff. So i decided to odin back to stock 2.2. It did it, but now my phone gives me a black screen and i cant do anything. It wont even turn on. Last time this happened i had to send my phone to samsung and get a new one. Someome please help, i dont want to wait for a new phone again.
Sent from my SGH-T959V using XDA Premium App
kevho00 said:
I downloaded the 2.3 rom on my tmobile vibrant. Well, i messed it up. It was for like international phones and stuff. So i decided to odin back to stock 2.2. It did it, but now my phone gives me a black screen and i cant do anything. It wont even turn on. Last time this happened i had to send my phone to samsung and get a new one. Someome please help, i dont want to wait for a new phone again.
Sent from my SGH-T959V using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you able to get in download mode @ all ? ?
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA Premium App
Take out battery, run odin, plug usb into computer, plug usb into phone, hold volume up and down but not the power button, replace battery at same time as you hold the two buttons. You really can't kill this phone.
Sent from my Vibrant/ GT9000
get/make a jig as long as your battery still has juice this will force your phone into download mode, from there odin back to stock 2.1 (JFD) i have had the least issues when odining back to JFD
What is a jig? This is op on friends account
Sent from my SGH-T959V using XDA Premium App
rickdossantosjr said:
What is a jig? This is op on friends account
Sent from my SGH-T959V using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A usb jig is a micro usb connector with 301k ohm resistance e across two specific connections ( don't rmr which two connections) that rocks the phones circuitry into pushing the phone into download mode, if I recall correctly instructions on the formation of a jig can be found in the vibrant general section
Sent from my AXURA powered voodoo infused Categorically Worthless Vibrant
The guide on making a jig saids that it wont help me
I really need to get my phone in download mode.
Taking out the battery was no help
kevho00 said:
The guide on making a jig saids that it wont help me
I really need to get my phone in download mode.
Taking out the battery was no help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it would help you get into download mode, but aside from that when you press the power button do you see the home keys turn on? if you do id imagine a jig would help. However if not even that helps you probably need to send the phone in.
No, not even the home keys light up.
Crap dont tell me i have to turn it in :/
you try the jig first, its like 5 dollars worth of parts and can only help. Give it a shot, who knows you may get lucky, it could also be that your battery is just drained try charging it in a friends vibe or captivate and see what happens. but at this point it sure looks like you might have to turn it in
This is the second time this happens to me.
Ill just tell Samsung that my phone wont turn on again. Thats what i did when i was rooted and decided to flash my phone to froyo via kies. I didnt get charged $400, so look like they never got it back on either.
did you end up sending it in? this exact same thing just happened to me
^ can you see Anything? Battery charging, cutting it on, trying recovery or download? If so, you are fine. If not, removebattery, wait a while, try again still nothing? Brick likely. What did you do, very hard to brick this phone.
just like the OP said. upgraded to 2.3..didnt like it, tried to go back to 2.2 using odin. it said passed! and has not booted up since..no d/l, no recovery, just black...no nothin
Are the buttons at the bottom lit? Or is it like your phone is just dead? If not the latter, try Eugene's froyo that doesn't brick.
it's like the phone is dead. i cant get anything
Doesn't sound good if you can't see anything. I've seen some say they've removed the battery avg let some time pass and then they were able to get it working, but that seems crazy to me.
unfortunately, i'm not one of those people. i left the battery out for 8+ hrs. and tried again..to no avail....

[Q] vibrant being weird

Hi,
So, I've flashed many ROMs on my vibrant and other smart phones but today was the first time I had a problem. I flashed cyanogen and I think it bricked my vibrant. It won't turn on, won't go into any mode, even the buttons won't light up, I've tried all the button holding tricks btw. When plugged in, and the battery is in, the only thing I can get is the little loading star as if it's about to show the battery charging but it never does. Other than that, I'm pretty sure it is bricked. I want to know what I should do now? I don't know anything about fixing bricked phones, I read a lot of topics but I'm still confused. Would something like a jig off of ebay fix it? Thanks for any help. Also, know of any repair shops that could fix something like this? Please let me know. I live in tampa bay fl if that matters.
Sounds like a soft brick to me (but I'm often wrong lol).
Try this.
1. Take out everything from your phone (SIM card, SD card, Battery).
2. Open ODIN
3. Plug your Vibrant into your computer through USB.
4. Hold Vol up and Vol down and put your battery in while holding them.
That should put your phone into download mode, and then you can flash back to stock.
I love you longcat
ginseng8888 said:
I love you longcat
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yay. <3
So I'm guessing that your phone works now?
Sent from my SGH-T959
ginseng8888 said:
Hi,
So, I've flashed many ROMs on my vibrant and other smart phones but today was the first time I had a problem. I flashed cyanogen and I think it bricked my vibrant. It won't turn on, won't go into any mode, even the buttons won't light up, I've tried all the button holding tricks btw. When plugged in, and the battery is in, the only thing I can get is the little loading star as if it's about to show the battery charging but it never does. Other than that, I'm pretty sure it is bricked. I want to know what I should do now? I don't know anything about fixing bricked phones, I read a lot of topics but I'm still confused. Would something like a jig off of ebay fix it? Thanks for any help. Also, know of any repair shops that could fix something like this? Please let me know. I live in tampa bay fl if that matters.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah CM7 is nothing to mess around with if you dont know what youre getting yourself into. It is the most powerful ROM out there but as of right now it is nowhere close to stable for the Vibrant.
its very stable!! i havent had any probs and it was easy to flash as long as u follow instructions, plus with it being on the rom manager premium its as easy as 123. click flash clockwork 3x, then check off all 3 boxes and press download. any of the nightlies from 8 and under, very stable except for no gps!

i777 not turning on, please help

Hi people, I have a i777 but the phone does not turn on at all, what happens is that it will turn the screen on when you plug it in, show the battery image for less then a second and do that 2-3 times before it just stays blank. computer doesnt recognize it or do anything when pluged to it.
Left it plugged in to charge and the phone got very hot. I have not attempted anything with the phone its not even rooted, just stopped working.
Please if any one has any tips or anything that can assist I would really appreciate it.
When did you buy it?
Did you try a battery pull, wait a bit, then put it back and connect the charger without turning it on.
Cetus90 said:
Hi people, I have a i777 but the phone does not turn on at all, what happens is that it will turn the screen on when you plug it in, show the battery image for less then a second and do that 2-3 times before it just stays blank. computer doesnt recognize it or do anything when pluged to it.
Left it plugged in to charge and the phone got very hot. I have not attempted anything with the phone its not even rooted, just stopped working.
Please if any one has any tips or anything that can assist I would really appreciate it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would say return it for a replacement.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
chadrick.7 said:
I would say return it for a replacement.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea but first it would be good to remove any personal things and backup what you can before doing so.
Have you tried getting into recovery or download mode.
sent from my Shostock Sgh-I777 running siyah!
Hey guys sry for reviving this thread its just ive been reading and its driving me kinda crazy. ( i miss my Palm !!!)
So i figured out somethings about the phone, It does go into bootloader mode only if i take out the battery and plug it in, with battery it does nothing at all.
Theres so much info about roms and all this other things i cant quite figure exactly what i need to do with the phone. I'm trying to find a stock rom, but like i said i don't know if its the room, bootloader, kernal or what the hell it needs to fix it.
Please anytips or questions or leads that can guide me.
Model is SGH I777
(Also can't really return it or do anything with at&t since I'm in Colombia, plus att just sucks)
Cetus90 said:
Hey guys sry for reviving this thread its just ive been reading and its driving me kinda crazy. ( i miss my Palm !!!)
So i figured out somethings about the phone, It does go into bootloader mode only if i take out the battery and plug it in, with battery it does nothing at all.
Theres so much info about roms and all this other things i cant quite figure exactly what i need to do with the phone. I'm trying to find a stock rom, but like i said i don't know if its the room, bootloader, kernal or what the hell it needs to fix it.
Please anytips or questions or leads that can guide me.
Model is SGH I777
(Also can't really return it or do anything with at&t since I'm in Colombia, plus att just sucks)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It would be helpful if you could give some details of the problem that you have. We can't just assume that you have the exact same issue that the original poster described in the first post. Please describe your problem in detail. The phone will/won't turn on. The screen is/isn't completely dead. etc.
A little background would also be helpful. How long have you had the phone? Was it working before? Where did you get it? etc.
Need enough information to begin trouble shooting the problem. Will be happy to help if I can.
I had exactly the same problem with my SII. I bought an external charger for the battery, recharged the battery using that and worked fine afterwards (the charger I bought came with a couple of spares which was a bonus as well ;-).
My guess is the battery is empty, leave it on the charger for a bit and try again
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda premium
creepyncrawly said:
It would be helpful if you could give some details of the problem that you have. We can't just assume that you have the exact same issue that the original poster described in the first post. Please describe your problem in detail. The phone will/won't turn on. The screen is/isn't completely dead. etc.
A little background would also be helpful. How long have you had the phone? Was it working before? Where did you get it? etc.
Need enough information to begin trouble shooting the problem. Will be happy to help if I can.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL creepy he is the op.
sent from my Shostock Sgh-I777 running siyah!
Hey there,
I had a similar problem with my battery, it turns out that the charger I was using essentially fried my battery.
Go to an AT&T store (which stock i777 batteries and USB chargers) and explain your problem to them. If this just happened without installing any ROMs or rooting, there's no reason to flash anything, and it's likely a hardware problem. Explain the problem and they will let you borrow a new battery and charging cable to see if it makes a difference.
Otherwise, if this happened out of the blue like that, without any interventions or changes on your part, you should take the advice of the other posters and make use of your warranty.
- Flaw
Intub8 said:
LOL creepy he is the op.
sent from my Shostock Sgh-I777 running siyah!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Blind... lol
Thanks guys for the responses.
*story is i sold the phone to someone and i brought it back since it was not turning on*
Ive had time now to research a bit on android and this phone.
I think its hard bricked the phone does not go to download mode when you press the keys even with a full battery *charged it in anoher phone*
I can get it into download mode only when he battery is taken out of the phone... Once its in download mode i tried to flash the stock rom with Odin and stock kernel, but when its done flashing the phone tries to restart but nothing happens the screens turns on and off and the bottom keys flash in and out.
Ive read that you can use a Jtag or w/e you call it *the micro usb with the resistors in i* but since im in Colombia its hard to find those type of electronics off he shelf*
Anyway if any one has any thoughts or ideas to fixing it with out the battery in it while its in download mode i would really appriciate it ^_^
thanks again for the responses
warranty exchange
Cetus90 said:
Hi people, I have a i777 but the phone does not turn on at all, what happens is that it will turn the screen on when you plug it in, show the battery image for less then a second and do that 2-3 times before it just stays blank. computer doesnt recognize it or do anything when pluged to it.
Left it plugged in to charge and the phone got very hot. I have not attempted anything with the phone its not even rooted, just stopped working.
Please if any one has any tips or anything that can assist I would really appreciate it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im just asking since you didnt mention it... Did you press the power button for at least 3 seconds? My Grandfather did this. Took back his phone only to discover that he had not pushed the power button long enough to turn it on. Sometimes you never know...
I had this same problem. Discovered it was just a dead battery. Battery in, I get nothing. Battery out and I can see the buttons flash when connected to a power source. So obviously its the battery.
edit: Since I still have the dead battery thought I would test out the download mode. Got it to boot into download mode without the battery, then started to put in the battery. As soon as the contacts touched, my phone turned off. No idea what happened to this battery..
Cetus90 said:
Thanks guys for the responses.
*story is i sold the phone to someone and i brought it back since it was not turning on*
Ive had time now to research a bit on android and this phone.
I think its hard bricked the phone does not go to download mode when you press the keys even with a full battery *charged it in anoher phone*
I can get it into download mode only when he battery is taken out of the phone... Once its in download mode i tried to flash the stock rom with Odin and stock kernel, but when its done flashing the phone tries to restart but nothing happens the screens turns on and off and the bottom keys flash in and out.
Ive read that you can use a Jtag or w/e you call it *the micro usb with the resistors in i* but since im in Colombia its hard to find those type of electronics off he shelf*
Anyway if any one has any thoughts or ideas to fixing it with out the battery in it while its in download mode i would really appriciate it ^_^
thanks again for the responses
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure what you used to flash back to stock, but if you didn't try it already, I would try the full stock package with bootloaders, param.lfs and all. Go to the Download Repository and flash the I777UCKH7-CL503881 Stock Binaries. The one-click downloader would be fine.
As far as the battery goes, even though you charged it in another phone, it may still be faulty. To test, use a known good battery from another phone.
Oh, and one other thing. Just curious, was the phone working normally when you sold it?
creepyncrawly said:
Not sure what you used to flash back to stock, but if you didn't try it already, I would try the full stock package with bootloaders, param.lfs and all. Go to the Download Repository and flash the I777UCKH7-CL503881 Stock Binaries. The one-click downloader would be fine.
As far as the battery goes, even though you charged it in another phone, it may still be faulty. To test, use a known good battery from another phone.
Oh, and one other thing. Just curious, was the phone working normally when you sold it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it was working.
Thanks alot for that info ill try it tonight or tomorrow!
Also i think ill be making a video showing whats going on and ill get a battery from a friend to test out, thanks alot again this really has helped me understand more ^^
Cetus90 said:
Yes it was working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems to me you were generous to take it back. I wouldn't be surprised if the person flashed some firmware not intended for the I777, with bootloaders and param.lfs and such.
Yeah but kinda had a deal so not loosing much but i still want to fix it.
Let me ask you guys will it be fine to flash without the battery in the phone? Since it does open up the bootloader to and Odin detects it.

REALLY bricked!!!...

I was trying to Odin back to 2.2 eugene, and after about 30 secs...screen went red...and stayed there. I unplugged the battery, and tried to get back to DL mode...FAIL. I tried all methods , searched the forum and google for hours and can find no solution. The phone is flat out dead. Will not power on, cannot get to DL mode...nothing. I did notice before this happened, that when I was trying to transfer CWM files for a new ROM to flash, the SD card didn't seem to mount. Didn't realize it until I went into recovery, and I was looking at only the ex/sd. Any ideas short of using it for spare parts ( i have two, this one is my wifes) and buying a new one?
Please help!
2.2, are you on a 4g?
No...its the old 3G...was going to redo GB on it because it had been acting up as of late...ROMs I were using were switching back and for from #G to "H" though... This thing is super dead, no pwer nothing. Been flashing and dealing with brick problem for a while on these things, and I usually can get them going...I think this one is gone though...
I've tried every method i can think of or find to get back to DL mode...it's just not happening. Damn thing is TOTALLY unresponsive...no power up, no charging icon...no lights...I mean nothing...no matter what I have tried, unless there is some new way I am unaware of. I even contemplated the "Unbrickable Mod" but that seemed more trouble than its worth, plus I don't have small enough tips for my iron...any ideas?
Yeah i black screened one about 4 monthes ago, and I could tell it was getting hinky. Keep working odin, sometimes you can get the yellow recognition to blink on.
Are you saying that Odin may pick it up even if the phone doesn't show DL mode?
Yes, if odin shows the yellow comfirmation com port, Ive heard odin will run it.
Wow...never heard of that, but I will definately keep trying and see if will pop up...thanks
Yeah if it goes into screens like upload mode, or anything try to connect it and see if Odin notices the phone. If it does, you're good.
I think you may need a JIG
Sent from my SGH-T959 using xda premium
If the phone doesn't power on, there is absolutely no hope of a software fix (odin/adb/etc), common sense.
Your only possible solution is sending it into JTAG, but if they can't fix it, they'll still usually charge you a procesing fee + shipping. Unbrickable Mod merely switches the boot order (so you can force it into dl mode with a jig), it won't magically bring a dead phone back to life. Then again you have nothing to lose trying if it's dead to begin with.
I'm willing to buy it off you for spare parts if you want as well.
j tag service is the way to go....
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium

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