Have I bricked my phone ? :( - Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

My phone was running KE7 stock (rooted with CFroot 4).
Today I tried to flash a new rom via Odin 1.85. For some reason it failed (red box). Btw re-partition was not checked (I followed instructions to the letter).
Now when I activate the phone with the power button, or with the VolUP+Home+Power button, this is what I get:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
(edit: now I see that I get this image even when I try to charge the phone when it's off. I don't get the big battery icon anymore...)
I can still get to the download mode (VolDown+Home+Power button), but I tried to flash a new ROM (Lightning 5) via Odin 1.85, and it got stuck at the factoryfs stage. I tried to flash this rom again and now it failed (red box).
I saw that on the Lightning 5 thread he say to make sure to be in debugging mode before going to the download mode (is this true for every rom flashed with Odin ?), but I didn't do this because I can't get into android now to change to debugging mode.
Have I bricked the phone ?, is there anything I can still do ?
Thank you very much to anyone who can help !

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Wow, 29 views and not a single reply, I guess this is not good...
Ok, I've downloaded the KE7 stock ROM, and tried to install it via Odin 1.85.
This is the initial Odin screen (before I press start):
And this is what I see after I press start. It stays like this for several minutes so I gues it's stuck
What now ?

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What you have to do is wait, it does not say fail yet.

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Ok, I was under the impression the sbl.bin stage shouldn't take more than one minute max... (and I gave it about 5 minutes before I gave up).
I started it again and now will give it 30 minutes...
Can flashing via Odin be done without first enabling debug mode in android ?, because I didn't enable it as far as I remember (the guide that I followed forgot to mention this...). Could this be why Odin can't write to the phone ?

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Ok, you need to use odin in a very specific way. Follow my directions exactly and see if it works.
Turn off your phone.
Open Odin and load the correct file/files.
Boot your phone into download mode.
Connect your usb cable to the phone/computer.
Once you get the yellow connection block, hit flash.
Do all of this in the right order and you should be ok.
If you have the usb cable plugged in while entering download mode, it won't work.
If you unplug the usb cable and plug it back in while in download mode, it won't work.
If you have the usb cable plugged in before you open odin, it might not work.
Sent from my GT-I9100M

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Electroz said:
Ok, you need to use odin in a very specific way. Follow my directions exactly and see if it works.
Turn off your phone.
Open Odin and load the correct file/files.
Boot your phone into download mode.
Connect your usb cable to the phone/computer.
Once you get the yellow connection block, hit flash.
Do all of this in the right order and you should be ok.
If you have the usb cable plugged in while entering download mode, it won't work.
If you unplug the usb cable and plug it back in while in download mode, it won't work.
If you have the usb cable plugged in before you open odin, it might not work.
Sent from my GT-I9100M
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Electroz.
I've followed your instructions carefully, to no avail. I'm still stuck at this sbl.bin... (I've waited for 30 minutes, surely something is wrong).
What else can I try ?
I'm using a Nokia micro-usb cable, could this be a problem ?, also, the USB cable is not connected directly to a USB socket in the motherboard, rather to a USB splitter (it worked ok with Kies like this). I tried connecting the phone directly to a USB socket in the motherboard, but I get a "USB Device Not Recognized" message, not sure why...

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I don't have whatever phone your using( just saw this as a new post didn't see the name) but I assume it's a samsung. With the epic it's usually the usb cable and get a blackberry cable for 1-2$ that's what helped me. Also try pulling the battery first and plug it into the computer and then go into download mode. Taking the sd card might help too.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

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Yes, the splitter could be the issue. Try directly to the computer. Also, trying a different cable, also directly connected might work too.
Sent from my GT-I9100M

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I am not sure about the s2 but the galaxy s that I have would get the same icon in the screen when Odin failed. Doing Odin again though would always fix it because I could get to download mode. Try using different ports on your PC and if that doesn't work try another PC. Also do you have the stock Odin parts to flash not a new rom.
Sent from my T959 using XDA Premium App

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that's definitely not bricked though, that screen of the phone and computer with an error sign is a good sign. Samsung phones are basically unbrickable. But try a different cable and pulling the battery
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

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I'm trying to connect the phone to a USB socket directly on the motherboard (tried with 2 different computers), and every time I get a "USB device not recognized" message. The only way that the phone is recognized correctly is if I connect it to a USB splitter that I have.
Maybe this Nokia cable is not good for the SGS2 (Nokia CA-101 cable), but it is advertized as compatible with the Galaxy devices...
Hopefully this is a cable issue, tomorrow I will try with an original samsung galaxy S cable and maybe this will solve it....
Thanks for all you help for now guys !

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Don't bother with the stock samsung cable, it's terrible, like I said before try to find a cheap blackberry cable. All micro usb cables are compatible because they charge and transfer data. But not all are good quality.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

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I would also suggest downloading new copy of Odin again
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App

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First off, no you do not have a bricked phone. Just follow my instructions exactly and you will get everything running again.
1. Download a stock rom from your country from samfirmware.com.
2. Boot your phone into download mode and flash the stock rom.
3. Impotant. Boot your phone into recovery mode immediately after u flahed the stock rom and wipe data/factory reset, and your phone should be running just fine after reboot.
Sent from my GT-I9003 using XDA Premium App

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bobthemarley said:
Don't bother with the stock samsung cable, it's terrible, like I said before try to find a cheap blackberry cable. All micro usb cables are compatible because they charge and transfer data. But not all are good quality.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you'll find this is not the case. So many people ending up with failed flash because they use Nokia and HTC cables to flash the device.
Just use the Samsung cable to flash and it will complete successfully.

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I would also suggest downloading new copy of Odin again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried, still stuck at sbl.bin
First off, no you do not have a bricked phone. Just follow my instructions exactly and you will get everything running again.
1. Download a stock rom from your country from samfirmware.com.
2. Boot your phone into download mode and flash the stock rom.
3. Impotant. Boot your phone into recovery mode immediately after u flahed the stock rom and wipe data/factory reset, and your phone should be running just fine after reboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried to do what you say, but the thing is that the Odin flash process always get stuck right at the beginning at sbl.bin
I'm starting to think this must be a hardware problem, either the USB cable or the phone's USB port. This could explain the following problems that I have:
1. Stuck at sbl.bin when trying to flash a stock ROM with Odin.
2. Stuck at Factoryfs when trying to flash Lightning Rom 5 with Odin.
3. When the phone was working, I could connect with Kies through USB, but when I went to the "Contact" tab in Kies, it never showed the contacts, it got stuck during the reading process.
4. Everytime I try to connect the phone (when in DL mode) to a USB port directly on the motherboard (and I tried different ports on different computers) I get a "USB Not Recognized" message. The phone is only recognized when connected to a USB splitter.

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I already had this kind of problem.
I think i solved it by reinstalling the drivers (you can do it through the Kies interface).
You can also try to launch Odin as administrator.

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Another method that gives excellent results is a Jig.
You can buy one on ebay, it's something like 3€

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You could try to download everything again. (Odin,drivers,files)
And make sure that KIES is NOT running.
Also directly put the Samsung usb cable in your pc.
You have a good chance to bring it back to life.
If this won't work maybe your Galaxy is bricked because of bad usb cable/usb port or whatever.

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BadWolfy said:
Another method that gives excellent results is a Jig.
You can buy one on ebay, it's something like 3€
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you had actually read the thread you would have known he has no problem getting into download mode.
Protip smartypants: USB jigs arent magical things that fix everyones phones with a snap of the fingers.