[Q] Please help newbie with semi-bricked phone - Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi guys, I got a SGS2 just over a week ago, on Bell/Virgin network in Canada. Suffered from the battery drain issue due to being stuck with crappy UGKG2 firmware which my provider still hasn't updated.
I decided to update it myself, and did a ton of research. I successfully got Root tonight by flashing CF-Root-SGS2_ZS-OZS_KG2-v4.1-CWM4 kernel with Odin. In case it matters, I did NOT flash back my stock Kernel, so I still had the insecure kernel installed. From there, I backed up my apps with Titanium.
Went into CWM and selected boot into CWM Recovery. I followed the steps on the wiki, including creating a backup file. My only hint of what I might have done wrong was I originally selected to flash update.zip, and that process failed. I then went to the directory in which cyanogenmod is stored on my SD card, and selected that, then it installed ok. I had downloaded update-cm-7.10-GalaxyS2-signed and that's what I put on the phone. I then also installed the Google Apps.
I then hit reboot, and it only goes to the Samsung screen with the yellow triangle and just hangs there for a few minutes. Not knowing what else to do, I popped the battery out. I have since learned that I can turn it on and off, but it never goes past that screen. Wouldn't go into the recovery or download modes, always that screen. Luckily, I saw somewhere to do the 3 button thing WHILE in that screen, and that works. So I can get to recover, and download modes. So, I think I'm ok. I checked, and it does connect to Odin still.
I just want to know EXACTLY what I should do at this point. I don't want to fully brick it. There are actually two recovery files on the phone... not sure why... Or which one to pick. Should I just flash stock firmware back with Odin? One of my main goals is to get off 2.3.3 so I can have more than 8 hours of battery...
Thanks,
Rob

Boot into tecovery, do a full wipe again. (Wipe data/factory reset, wipe cache partition, advanced>wipe dalvik cache).
Now install CM7 zip twice in a row without reboot. It may take a few minutes for reboot since system is rebuilding dalvik cache. Be patient. After you see the home screen, reboot again.
Sometimes, CM won't install properly with CF root recovery. In that case reboot into download mode, flash codeworkx cwm kernel via ODIN.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1118693
Now reboot into recovery and do full wipe and twice-install !

Ok, working now with the flash twice thing. Well that's weird, would be great if it was in the wiki page...
Thanks!
Rob

Related

Q: Problems with CM7 flash

Hello all,
I need some advice. I originally followed this page http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/wiki/Sam...l_Update_Guide to flash and everything was fine for 3 or 4 days and then the fc's came. So i odin'd to stock and when getting ready to reflash i see that you need to be on 2.2 to use his guide. So another member kwkslvr (who has been very helpful and patient btw) told me his method for flashing CM7 so i attempted to straight from 2.1 with no root to the following...
(kwkslvr's method) You definitely don't need to be on Froyo. You don't need root either. What has worked best for me is to Odin to 2.1, reboot into stock recovery and flash update.zip. Since you've flashed before, update.zip will probably already be in your internal sdcard unless you removed it. You'll have to flash it twice in a row without rebooting and that will load ClockworkMod Recovery.
Once you're in CMW Recovery (probably green recovery), wipe data/factory reset then format/system. These two steps are CRUCIAL! Flash your CM7 Nightly twice. The first time you flash it, it installs blue recovery. The second time it installs CM7. After that, again without rebooting, install gapps.
From that point, wipe data/factory reset again and reboot into the OS.
So i tried that and got to where the phone restarts after the flash and it has galaxy and cyanogen below it for a few seconds and then immediately script with font like from recovery mode races down the screen for a few seconds, then back to galaxy/cyanogen in a loop. So i odin'd again and as of now am stock 2.1 with the options of kies n it to 2.2 and then follow cyan page again or trying kwkslvr's method again. I did notice he mentioned nightlies but i am attempting to flash the stable on page 1 of this thread but don't think that would make much difference. I love the way this ROM looks and performed before it went off the tracks. Any suggestions are welcomed. Thanks alot
EDIT: At the boot loop sequence i 3 buttoned to recovery and reflashed and it seems to have worked. I notice the battery gauge no longer has the # %. And the horizontal line next to it is gone too. On my market page under "not installed" i have adobe flash showcase (Reads this item is not available at top), google search which just has a open tab (Already is installed), magic 8 ball by dennis bond (Reads this not available in your country?? it was the first time i installed it) Any ideas on how to get these 3 items off the not installed section. It's mainly a minor annoyance. I have cleared cache in market with no luck. Thanks.

[Q] Mass Force Closures / Need a TAR file

I don't know exactly what caused the issue. Maybe some recent apps since that was all that I had installed. I was running the latest AOKP ICS 4-28-12 and Siyah 3.1x. I forget the exact kernal number but it wasn't the version that I read about phone bricking (R6?).
So I wake up this morning and unlock my screen and there are popups for everything force closing. Not just foreground running apps but everything including background running apps. Every time an app autorestarts in the background the force close error msg pops up again. It was running fine just 6 hours prior since I was using it before bed.
Reboot. Same issue. CMW Recovery. Wipe cache/dalvik. Reflash AOKP and GApps. Reboot. Same force closing issue. WTF. Attach USB to comp and try to move a different ROM to my Internal SD but no dice. Comp isnt recognizing phone now. [email protected]#K! Reboot into download mode. All the ROMS I downloaded are ZIP format instead of TAR format. So this time my dumb self uses Odin to reflash the TAR file I used to root my phone. After this I realize "that TAR doesn't have a ROM attached to it."
So now I can only boot into download mode. Can't load CMW. Sadly I had to leave for work and I'm without my phone until I get home at midnight. I FEEL SO DISCONNECTED! ='(
Will a simple file conversion program be sufficient to convert ZIP to TAR so I can use ODIN to flash them later? Or will I have to follow the unbrick instructions to return to stock and then start over? And after reading about that one version of Siyah bricking phones I think I'm going to leave the NEAK kernal that comes with AOKP.
Thanks for your assistance!
No, you can't build a tar from a zip.
I don't and have never used aokp or cm9 or miui, but in my experience, when you start getting massive force closes, and if a fix permissions in recovery doesn't fix it, then you're best off starting over from scratch. If you have a working nandroid backup, use that. Otherwise, flash back to stock, wipe data/factory reset, and reinstall your rom from scratch.
There are plenty of tar and one-click downloaders available. See links in my signature.
I found this on the i9100 forums, instructive. Instead of installing a stock samsung firmware and kernel, just download a rooted package (maybe go back to Gingerbread for i777) then go from there.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1457458
I'm interested to know how this recovery works for you, keep us posted! Best luck!
Any idea what would randomly cause the issue of mass force closures so I can prevent this from occuring again?
Did you do a Full Wipe when you first installed AOKP? I have ran into issues before with Rom Control by just wiping cache and dalvik and under the OP of AOKP Task even states coming from aokp or cm9 you Should be good but more likely than not, I would do a complete wipe *Factory Reset under CWM*. And when you restore your data with TiBu just restore missing apps and their data. Do not restore system data as that will be a major cause of mass FC... So first things first, I would use Odin to go back to UCKH7 *hopefully with CWM and Root* and than go back to Aokp since in my opinion is the best rom for our phones now.
HTH,
Charlie
dmnall said:
Did you do a Full Wipe when you first installed AOKP? I have ran into issues before with Rom Control by just wiping cache and dalvik and under the OP of AOKP Task even states coming from aokp or cm9 you Should be good but more likely than not, I would do a complete wipe *Factory Reset under CWM*. And when you restore your data with TiBu just restore missing apps and their data. Do not restore system data as that will be a major cause of mass FC... So first things first, I would use Odin to go back to UCKH7 *hopefully with CWM and Root* and than go back to Aokp since in my opinion is the best rom for our phones now.
HTH,
Charlie
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't do a factory wipe. I'm thinking I'll just do a factory wipe for any new rom installs. It's a little more work but if it helps prevent this sort of error I'll do it. And after reading about the bricking with that one version of Siyah I'm going to wait a couple weeks before any new installs to make sure other people have tested it first.
creepyncrawly said:
No, you can't build a tar from a zip.
I don't and have never used aokp or cm9 or miui, but in my experience, when you start getting massive force closes, and if a fix permissions in recovery doesn't fix it, then you're best off starting over from scratch. If you have a working nandroid backup, use that. Otherwise, flash back to stock, wipe data/factory reset, and reinstall your rom from scratch.
There are plenty of tar and one-click downloaders available. See links in my signature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well the first attempt didnt work using kernel + rooted UCKH7. Odin did everything it was supposed to but the phone locks at the initial Galaxy S II I-9100 ! screen. =(
Second attempt using I777_UCKH7_OCD_Root_No_BL and I'm able to get past the Galaxy S II I-9100 screen and the original AT&T boot animation shows but after the boot animation it just continuously reboots. ='(
Third attempt I tried Kernel + cache + rooted UCKK6 and after the reboot it actually rebooted into recovery mode. I thought that was a good sign so I reboot the phone normally and same issue as above. I try to reboot into recovery mode (Vol + - and pwr) again but it doesn't come up now. ='(
Forth attempt I tried Kernel + cache + rooted UCKK6 again. It reboots into recovery mode and I select the Factory Wipe option and reboot. There's a long delay after the AT&T boot animation and finally my phone starts up as if it was stock.
What a freakin nightmare! I was so worried my phone was a goner. None of the other ROMs I tried gave the option of booting into recovery mode which would have saved me so much time. Only the stock one did. The factory wipe was the key. So I'm definitely saving that file for safe keeping.
Thank you all for your suggestions and assistance. It's much appreciated.
This entire thread could have been avoided. By wiping completely. What is a complete wipe? Well, its the /system , /cache, /data, and /dalvik partition. Each of which are easily wiped in cwm in under 30 seconds. Flashing the kernel cleaning script doesn't hurt. Keep in mind these are your phones people it wouldn't hurt to do some research.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using Tapatalk 2

[Q] Stuck on bootscreen

Hey,
First off i hope i have put this on the right sub forum.
I've been stupid (I Think) I've olso looked around on the forum and the [READ THIS] Got a Boot Loop? Don't post a New Thread!
topic.
I'm using my SGS2 for a year now and was using the ressurexionRimix rom for a while.
I've been plaing around with my phone so i got lots of folder that were not used etc, so I wanted to get it back to factory settings, here is when all went down.
Via Settings-Backup and recovery i gave my phone a factory reset (while using the latest ressurexionremix rom, i think this is the misstake i made) When my phone went into the reboot is got stuck on the splash screen, it kept reapeeting the boot animation.
The second mistake i mad was not puting back my back-up but thought well i want it back to it's first state so i'll use ODIN to flash the stock ROM onto it. now, 4 hours later and about 10 trys with diferent versions of the stock roms i'm still stuck on the boot screen.
I've also tryd flashing a cwm so i could get in cwm recovery, this also without any luck
Does anyone have a idea what to do!?
go back to recovery - mounts andstorage and format the following :
cache, system, data, sdcards if you have it in recovery. reboot
you have a bkank screen as your phone has been wiped. reboot into download mode.
Connect odin and flash a stock rom. reboot and your phone should work provided that you have not damaged the flash chip on the motherboard.
Is this in CWM? the problem is i dont have that anymore because i've flashed it toc stok. I now get in the Android system recovery
The option i get there ar:
Reboot system now
apply update from external storage
Wype data/factory reset
Wipe cache parition
apply update from cash
test redbend fola[FS]
Will try this, thank..will let you know if it worked
Wiped data/factory reset and cache after this i ebooted my phone and i got the message installing application, now i'm in the setup menu. Looks like it is working.
Did'nt realice there was a recovery besides CWM Thank yoy so much Cosmic Blue!!! You saved my life!!

Please help with this flusterc*ck of issues

Hi all,
New to this whole rooting and flashing thing. I'm not as good with computers that one can hold in their hand.
Anyways, I'll try to explain this stew of issues that I have
I'm running CW Recovery (6.0.2.3) in conjunction with SlimBean (dtt 4.2.2). One day, in a far away land, my phone prompted me to update Slim. That was all and dandy because I've flashed roms from zip files before. When I tried to do that, the process was aborted and I was given a slew of error numbers that made my brain hurt.
So, I tried to start fresh and clean, like the cilantro that chipotle puts in our burrito bowls. I tried a factory reset using the CW Recovery mode so I can re-root now that jellybean is 4.3. After I wiped the cache and data/factory reset, I rebooted the phone. My phone still boots into Slim and uses clockwork for recovery mode.
Essentially, how do I de-root my phone or factory reset it to the settings that I had from day 1?
UPDATE: I just tried flashing CW Recovery from 6.0.2.3 --> 6.0.4.7. After flashing it, I rebooted my phone into recovery. Now I'm getting a never-ending boot cycle. The samsung logo pops up along with the little blue text "recovery" at the top, then shuts off and repeats that every 3 seconds or so. Methinks I broke it
Thanks
Flash stock ROM via Odin. Download [URL="http://www.sammobile.com l" ] Sammobile [/URL]
Edit: better url
Why download a flight simulator?

Bricked Samung Tab E Verizon

Hi all,
Sigh. So it looks like I bricked my Samsung Tab E Verizon. I rooted it with King root and when I removed it, it is now in a endless boot loop. I've tried all sorts of things to try and recover it.
I used SkipSoft to set it up to be flashed but odin fails everytime. I was using the new ROMS found on this Forum. I've tried putting it into download mode and manually flash it and that didn't work. I can't Re-Root it as it won't stay on long enough to Root and they always fail. Right now I'm at a loss.
Can anyone help?
Thanks.
Do you have custom recovery or default? if you have default you can hold the home button and vol up button then the power button to get into recovery, once your done with that you can wipe cache and reboot, if that STILL does not work then factory reset your phone and re wipe cache, i know losing data sucks but its better then a brick. (this will work 99% of the time because the default recovery automatically re-installs stock rom)
If you have a custom recovery, then i recommend wiping everything including dalvik cache etc, making sure EVERYTHING is squeakly clean (execpt recovery obviously) , and find the driver for your samsung phone and download it on your computer and install, once you are done with that, put your phone into download mode, find your original STOCK rom for your phone, download it and flash it with odin, from there IF successfull you should have a fresh boot of your stock rom, then you can re-root and go on with your day.
Also make sure once you re-gain root access backup your rom so you will always have a plan b if everything goes bad. i cannot recommend this enough, even if you are an expert with flashing, there is always that small percentage things will go wrong and you should always have that backup ready.
Hi!
Thank you very much for the reply. You know, that was one of the things i tried initially when it happened. When I tried it, it wouldn't go into recovery mode. I then went on the odyssey of hell in trying to recover it.
When I read your post I was thinking; "Yeah I tried that", but then I thought I would give it another shot. I went into Factory Reset, it then actually went into the recovery menu. I deleted the cache and set it to data/factory reset and it's still looping. I get an error saying; "E:failed to mount /preload (no such directory)". I then tried to run update from external storage and it's telling me that it's disabled. I tried to update from ADB and it's disabled. I tried to apply from cache and it says; "APPLY_CACHE is depreciated". It's still looping.
Urghhhhhhhhh.......

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