[Q] Has anyone (with experience) ever ACTUALLY bricked a Vibrant - Vibrant Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I am beginning to think it isn't actually possible. I've tried everything, but I can't seem to brick my Vibrant to a point that I can't recover and Odin back to life. I read that flashing ROMs over bootloaders that aren't compatible can do it, but I was still able to force DL mode (never used a jig--haven't had a need yet) and Odin to stock even after doing that.
I say "with experience" because it is obvious that there are probably thousands of Vibrants that either hit the trash or are sitting in desk drawers somewhere..."bricked." I consider myself experienced with this phone. Been flashing on it for a year, tweaking signal settings, build.prop settings, and scheduler settings. The guys on here that have abused and really pushed their devices to discover the limitations are the ones who I want to hear from if possible. I don't particularly know if, short of dunking it in my coffee, I can be more abusive to this thing. This is one limitation I haven't yet discovered. Is it TRULY unbrickable?

It is possible. I have bricked 2 - most of the older devs have bricked at least one. This sucks for the guys that did the bricking but is good for the guys just starting out because they come into it knowing what not to do.
True bricks generally come about by way of flashing an incorrect sbl or have even happened by interrupting the flashing of a proper sbl.
Most non sbl "bricks", however, are nothing more than soft bricks that patience and perseverance will remedy.

I bricked my phone twice since I started rooting my vibrant. The first one when the usb disconnected from the laptop while it was half way odin. The second time was a hardware brick. The phone just simply has no light lolz. What happened was that I selected all the checkboxes when I odin the GB loader. However, I was able to bring her back to life after trying every possible combination while my heart was pumping 3,000 gallons of my blood in every minutes and my forehead was soaking with smelling sweat. lolz

Oh it can be done, install gb bootloaders from the old days, through light roms, flash the original axura rom, try to flash to stock. spend a week with a black screen, get warranty. Bootloaders are the kiss of death. Odin really only works if you can boot, and p.c. recognizes, through yellow com. If you dont have that your attitude will change dramatically. Youve only had soft bricks, not "The BlackScreen Of Death"
okies try harder, yada yada, yada

yea just try to update your phone using kies
Sent from my T959 using XDA App

S#*T, how could anyone forget, my bad....

jellette said:
It is possible. I have bricked 2 - most of the older devs have bricked at least one. This sucks for the guys that did the bricking but is good for the guys just starting out because they come into it knowing what not to do.
True bricks generally come about by way of flashing an incorrect sbl or have even happened by interrupting the flashing of a proper sbl.
Most non sbl "bricks", however, are nothing more than soft bricks that patience and perseverance will remedy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And I definitely do appreciate the work that you guys do--I was sitting nearly in tears (ok, maybe a little buzz brought the tears) about a month after I bought my vibrant in October 2010. The kid in the T-Mobile store actually rooted it for me when I went back for some help with my bill, so I had access to files that I didn't know what to do with. I tried to apply some crap theme that, at the time, I thought destroyed my phone and turned it into a piece of $400 coffee table art. My wife would have probably beaten me if I hadn't discovered XDA and the brilliant work you guys do. After that little ordeal, I got heavy into reading the threads here and slowly but surely, got pretty fearless thanks to the research you guys had already done for me.
One other question for you: If you had those bricked phones today, would you be able to revive them after an sbl brick?

I believe even the worst brick can be fixed via JTAG Service.

from my understanding and from my noob experiences this phone is unbrickable

Don't forget about the hardware mod that let's you flash boot loaders
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA Premium App

It's NOT unbrickable. It's just hard to, unless if your just a total absolute idiot or a accident happens. I know my dogs pulled my usb cord while i was odining once, it caused a brick.

As the vibrant and the sgs are nearly the same, I've never bricked it at all... I just lost my IMEI that's all but that doesn't seem to make any problems at all. That's the only bad thing that happened to me : )

xriderx66 said:
It's NOT unbrickable. It's just hard to, unless if your just a total absolute idiot or a accident happens. I know my dogs pulled my usb cord while i was odining once, it caused a brick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is unbrickable you can fix it even if bootloader get deleted the only way you can brick it is if USB port is broken
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

Hi,
I've soft bricked my phone several times and restored it with no problems till last night. I had GB bootloader on my vibrant flashed back stock rom using odin and then upgraded to stock 2.2 rom using KIES. Now phone is not responding to anything. I've spend hours on forums and chats i've tried almost every thing and nothing could bring back my phone I even let it chard over night like some people say did not help.
Please let me know if there any way to restore it? Again it has GB bootloader with stock 2.1 and than upgraded to stock 2.2 via KIES.
Thanks in advance!

Did u get a USB jig yet that should work
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

manus ferrera said:
Did u get a USB jig yet that should work
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No not yet...I still want to find a way to restore it without JIG. It should be a way!
I think problem is that most of solutions where posted for Vibrant stock Bootloader not a GB Bootloader. May be there are different steps are required for GB Bootloaders. I don't want to give up

With GB BL you have to use vol+ and power to get into download mode. Just an fyi in case you didnt know.

What he said!
bfranklin1986 said:
yea just try to update your phone using kies
Sent from my T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats exactly how I bricked mine, and found out a day after by stumbling across a thread on the dangers of using KIES, when I was newbee dumb!
Also, if you can power the phone on in any way shape or form, meaning if you see anything on the screen, or the LED's illuminate, then you are NOT HARDBRICKED, that is still a softbrick senario!!
And BTW the primary Btloader is what powers the phone one, and the 2ndary Btloader is what loads the OS or ROM!
And when the primary is corrupted, that's a TRUE HARDBRICK scenario, because if you cant power the phone on, then nothing short of JTAGing it , will resurrect it!!
Although Adam Outler, supposedly has a Resurrection program, to JTAG the solder-less way, using pin point test probes and his Resurrection program, to inject and re-flash the Btloaders and thus, bring a dead non powered phone to life!
Link to Adam's Work: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1397393
---------- Post added at 11:09 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:58 AM ----------
anatoliyus said:
No not yet...I still want to find a way to restore it without JIG. It should be a way!
I think problem is that most of solutions where posted for Vibrant stock Bootloader not a GB Bootloader. May be there are different steps are required for GB Bootloaders. I don't want to give up
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A JIG will not work, if the primary Bootloader is corrupted it wont power on , JIG's only work with phones that will power on, and in his case he corrupted the primary, and only JTAGing it will resurrect it, unless he has the intelligence to try this alternative below, otherwise send it to Adam or TechMobile, the only two guys I know who are true Ninja's with this type of micro surgery!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1397393

It sucks...Just 2 weeks ago I've installed FFC, ordered 1800 Battery...invested money.
Don't want to spend any more money on this old cell phone I may just go and buy new phone then.
---------- Post added at 05:19 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:48 AM ----------
dseldown said:
Thats exactly how I bricked mine, and found out a day after by stumbling across a thread on the dangers of using KIES, when I was newbee dumb!
Also, if you can power the phone on in any way shape or form, meaning if you see anything on the screen, or the LED's illuminate, then you are NOT HARDBRICKED, that is still a softbrick senario!!
And BTW the primary Btloader is what powers the phone one, and the 2ndary Btloader is what loads the OS or ROM!
And when the primary is corrupted, that's a TRUE HARDBRICK scenario, because if you cant power the phone on, then nothing short of JTAGing it , will resurrect it!!
Although Adam Outler, supposedly has a Resurrection program, to JTAG the solder-less way, using pin point test probes and his Resurrection program, to inject and re-flash the Btloaders and thus, bring a dead non powered phone to life!
Link to Adam's Work: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1397393
---------- Post added at 11:09 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:58 AM ----------
A JIG will not work, if the primary Bootloader is corrupted it wont power on , JIG's only work with phones that will power on, and in his case he corrupted the primary, and only JTAGing it will resurrect it, unless he has the intelligence to try this alternative below, otherwise send it to Adam or TechMobile, the only two guys I know who are true Ninja's with this type of micro surgery!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1397393
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks...will try this solution. Downloading Ubuntu...

heysoos said:
I am beginning to think it isn't actually possible. I've tried everything, but I can't seem to brick my Vibrant to a point that I can't recover and Odin back to life. I read that flashing ROMs over bootloaders that aren't compatible can do it, but I was still able to force DL mode (never used a jig--haven't had a need yet) and Odin to stock even after doing that.
I say "with experience" because it is obvious that there are probably thousands of Vibrants that either hit the trash or are sitting in desk drawers somewhere..."bricked." I consider myself experienced with this phone. Been flashing on it for a year, tweaking signal settings, build.prop settings, and scheduler settings. The guys on here that have abused and really pushed their devices to discover the limitations are the ones who I want to hear from if possible. I don't particularly know if, short of dunking it in my coffee, I can be more abusive to this thing. This is one limitation I haven't yet discovered. Is it TRULY unbrickable?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are several of us that have including myself, heathen and Eugene just to name a few. We've actually taken the bullet previously so you don't have to. We pretty much know now what will cause a hard brick and that's why you rarely here of one now.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using xda premium

Related

[Q] What to i do if my sgs2 i777 wont boot? (tryed all other solutions

call me a noob, but i thought that Odin was taking too long (45 mins)(tried to switch from CM7 to stock firmware) and was stuck, so i closed out and turned off my phone by taking out the battery (idiot, i know) and now my phone wont turn on, and ive tried taking out the battery, pressing a number of button combos, and the people at radioshack didnt help (big suprise). any ideas?
Try holding the power button alone, for like 15 or more seconds.
Not sure beyond that....
didnt help...what i think the problem is that i dont have a firmware on my phone to boot it from...
You need enter download mode. It's not clear from your post if you tried to enter download mode or not. Can you get into download mode? Do you have a jig?
Btw, 45 minutes was definitely too long for Odin, so there probably wasn't any thing else you could have done.
no, i cannot get into download mode, and i do not have a jig. would that fix the problem completely?
Unsure - seems like somehow you killed your bootloader, not sure how since no return-to-stock package has bootloaders.
You should be able to get into download mode by this method: With the phone powered off, plug in the usb cable while holding the vol up + vol down buttons (but not the power button). When the warning screen appears, press Volume up to continue into download mode.
The jig is just another way to get into download mode, and certainly worth a try if you have one or can borrow one. With the phone powered off, plug in the jig, and the phone will immediately go into download mode.
You must have enough charge on the battery for the phone to turn on.
If the battery has charge, and you are unable to get into download mode by any method, and if you are unable to get any signs of life from your phone in any way, then as Entropy said, you may have damaged bootloaders.
The only way to damage one of the bootloaders, as far as I know, is for Odin to be interrupted while it is flashing the bootloader. So this begs the question, what exactly were you trying to flash that didn't complete in 45 minutes?
If your phone is truely hard bricked, the only way to recover it is to send it to a professional like connexion2005 of Mobile Tech Videos who can use jtag to reset the bootloaders.
Oh oh, I feel bad for the OP.
People keep saying this device is "unbrickable" but apparently not.
votinh said:
Oh oh, I feel bad for the OP.
People keep saying this device is "unbrickable" but apparently not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He should be able to clear it with a jig, but no one can guarantee that this will work. I have seen it fix this issue before though.
votinh said:
Oh oh, I feel bad for the OP.
People keep saying this device is "unbrickable" but apparently not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No one claims it's unbrickable - just that it's damned hard to brick.
I'm still curious what he was trying to flash - I have NEVER heard of anyone hardbricking their devices unless:
1) They screwed with bootloaders - which is why I have included gigantic red warnings with anything I post that includes a bootloader
2) They flashed something not intended for the device
Iskor12 said:
He should be able to clear it with a jig, but no one can guarantee that this will work. I have seen it fix this issue before though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the bootloader somehow got corrupted (like crawly and Entrophy mentioned) then a jig won't do any good, I think.
It's good that some guru can access and reprogram the bootloader via JTAG.
I keep fingers crossed for OP.
---------- Post added at 09:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:44 PM ----------
Entropy512 said:
No one claims it's unbrickable - just that it's damned hard to brick.
I'm still curious what he was trying to flash - I have NEVER heard of anyone hardbricking their devices unless:
1) They screwed with bootloaders - which is why I have included gigantic red warnings with anything I post that includes a bootloader
2) They flashed something not intended for the device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Experienced people can avoid those fundamental mistakes but newbies often get hair pulling, head scratching before mumbling "dang, why would I do that in first place"
Entropy512 said:
No one claims it's unbrickable - just that it's damned hard to brick.
I'm still curious what he was trying to flash - I have NEVER heard of anyone hardbricking their devices unless:
1) They screwed with bootloaders - which is why I have included gigantic red warnings with anything I post that includes a bootloader
2) They flashed something not intended for the device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personal experience here. Flashed a one click for a captivate and bricked it a year ago. Went through everything, reported a success, and even sent reboot command to phone when it was done. 'Rebooted' to a black screen. For the better part of a week I tried everything, and I mean everything. Just unbricked last night/this morning with the 'unbrickable mod'. Wow micro soldering.
What led up to this was flashing a friends captivate with another one click odin package. Bricked it too (really need to quit doing that) but I think a usb jig might have worked on that one, but didn't have one with me. After doing the unbrickable mod to the phone that sat for over a year, I flashed it with the same package that just bricked the second captivate, and it worked fine. I did nothing different. I'm very patient in doing things the right way. Same steps, same software, same computer, no brick.
Sent from my páhhōniē
To the OP
Is getting Samsung Tech support an option, if everything else fails, then you dont have anything to lose, they support by phone and was pleseantly suprised with their help.
AdamOutler is willing to work on bringing the unbrickable mod to the i777. All he needs is an i777, bricked or not. If anyone has one that is bricked, by all means send it to him. He said not only will he
unbrick it using jtag, he'll attempt to do the unbrickable mod to it.
I'd be willing to donate to him and anybody who helps make it possible by sending him their phone.
Sent from my páhhōniē

Completely bricked i777

My friend broke his i777 when trying to update to the newest AOKP (he used rom manager) I wasn't home to help him fix it and he accidentally used some vibrant tool to fix it instead of normal Odin.
So it is hard bricked, he got a jig and that's not working either. Any ideas?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
If it is a hard brick and the jig does not work then i think you need to buy a new phone
If it's truely hard bricked, then the only option is jtag recovery. Mobile Tech Videos is a reputable vendor who can do that.
If there is absolutely no sign of life, then that is your only option. If there is any sign of life at all, then you possibly might recover the phone without that.
dirtbikerr450 said:
If it is a hard brick and the jig does not work then i think you need to buy a new phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Negative. There is plenty of JTAG brick repairs. Google: mobile tech videos
Edit: sorry creepy, didn't see your post
Sent from my SGH-I897 using xda premium
MTV repaired my captivate when i hard bricked it. Odin hanged on me during a boot-loader revert and it was toast. The guy that does the repair must have some special tools cause you'd never even know my phone had been opened up just by looking at it.
He flashed a vibrant rom with bootloaders?, that's the only way to hard brick a galaxy s2 from what I've read. Did you try connecting to computer and pressing volume up and down to enter in download mode?
Provide more information.
I don't know what vibrant thing he used it could have had boot loaders he doesn't know also yes I tried all those combinations
Also I am looking into JTAG repair now thanks for the help
Edit: are we sure this will work 50$ is allot (although not too much if it works) also where can I find this MTV guy?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
bbm21 said:
I don't know what vibrant thing he used it could have had boot loaders he doesn't know also yes I tried all those combinations
Also I am looking into JTAG repair now thanks for the help
Edit: are we sure this will work 50$ is allot (although not too much if it works) also where can I find this MTV guy?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go to mobiletechvideos.com. $50 is worth it and he can fix it. And for whatever reason, they can't get it working , they refund your money. But they're a trusted site. They unbricked my captivate
Sent from my SGH-I897 using xda premium
Before you send it in for jtag repair...
If you havn't tried it already, try putting the phone into download mode by first removing the battery, then holding down Vol+ and vol- (but not power) while you plug in the usb cable connected to your pc. The key here is to have the battery out. If this puts you into download mode, then go to the Download Repository and flash the I777UCKH7-CL503881 Stock Binaries including bootloaders.
Re: jtag. From what I have read, you can trust mobile tech videos. $50.00 is a bit less than replacing the phone. The XDA developer Adam Outler also has done some jtag repair for folks on the captivate, and may also do the sgsII. I havn't heard lately, but some time ago he was a little cheaper than MTV.
Yes Mobile Tech videos will work perfectly for getting it fixed. I have also spoken to him on the phone many of times and he is a really cool person and very knowledgeable. He fixed my cappy back in the day and he got it to work with our sgs2s back when they first came out. Also you may see if he can apply the unbreakable mod for you while he is at it. Makes it darn near impossible to ever brick it again with bad flashes of even wrong/bad boot loaders. And $50 is way cheaper than a new phone or even insurance if you now decide to accident run it over with your car before calling att.
Sent From My KickAss ATT SGS2 SPORTING my CobraRom
I bricked my mother-inlaws captivate a while back and sent it to MTV. Had it back in 8 days, he also keeps you updated of the process. Seeing the "your phone has been resurrected " e-mail arrive was a sigh of relief. Didn't feel like hearing the wife or mom-inlaws grief
Sent from my SGH-I777 using XDA
Nuskul said:
I bricked my mother-inlaws captivate a while back and sent it to MTV. Had it back in 8 days, he also keeps you updated of the process. Seeing the "your phone has been resurrected " e-mail arrive was a sigh of relief. Didn't feel like hearing the wife or mom-inlaws grief
Sent from my SGH-I777 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Erhmm, if it's not broken, don't fix it. Should've thought of that before you flashed her device lol
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2 Beta-5
Thanks guys I guess I'll have him do that
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
SGS2 AT&T Brick
Hey, Is that problem solved? I did not flash the wrong ROM but was flashing CM9 nightly on top of LD3.
Now my phone wont turn on.
I don't have JIG so if you say your problem got resolved, then I will send it to MobileTechVideo.com
thershope said:
Hey, Is that problem solved? I did not flash the wrong ROM but was flashing CM9 nightly on top of LD3.
Now my phone wont turn on.
I don't have JIG so if you say your problem got resolved, then I will send it to MobileTechVideo.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
Pretty much the same problem here,tried to update hydrogen rom,wiped cache/dalvik through CWM. Installation was hanging for 10-15 minutes,i pressed power button and phone died.Doesnt respond to any button and action.
I am awaiting jig to arrive today ,and will post back if it worked,i doubt though...
2 months later...
Sent from my SGH-I777 using XDA
Jig couldnt bring it to life. Probably only thing that helps is jtag...
I felt twice with my I777..I 'played" different options, and use SuperOneClick and Odin. I did know how, but Unroot, install Stock Kernel, reinstal CWMR 5.0.5.4 and enter in Download Mode and later ..uuulaaa.....Dont ask me how...In my desesperation test all I can imagine and had a good look to save my phone.
RockRatt said:
Yes Mobile Tech videos will work perfectly for getting it fixed. I have also spoken to him on the phone many of times and he is a really cool person and very knowledgeable. He fixed my cappy back in the day and he got it to work with our sgs2s back when they first came out. Also you may see if he can apply the unbreakable mod for you while he is at it. Makes it darn near impossible to ever brick it again with bad flashes of even wrong/bad boot loaders. And $50 is way cheaper than a new phone or even insurance if you now decide to accident run it over with your car before calling att.
Sent From My KickAss ATT SGS2 SPORTING my CobraRom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am wondering if AT&T would go to this level of trouble to determine if a ROM was uploaded to a phone or not to determine whether or not the warranty was voided? My phone froze under normal usage under one of the more popular ROMs. I wrote about it elsewhere so I won't write about it here again.. but it said something about encryption when rebooting and never came back from black.
My only concern is when sending it in under warranty at&t will reject and stick me for replacement bill..
Hp
---------- Post added at 08:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:46 PM ----------
jcomana said:
I felt twice with my I777..I 'played" different options, and use SuperOneClick and Odin. I did know how, but Unroot, install Stock Kernel, reinstal CWMR 5.0.5.4 and enter in Download Mode and later ..uuulaaa.....Dont ask me how...In my desesperation test all I can imagine and had a good look to save my phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you have a continually black nonresponsive screen?
HP
heartspeace said:
I am wondering if AT&T would go to this level of trouble to determine if a ROM was uploaded to a phone or not to determine whether or not the warranty was voided? My phone froze under normal usage under one of the more popular ROMs. I wrote about it elsewhere so I won't write about it here again.. but it said something about encryption when rebooting and never came back from black.
My only concern is when sending it in under warranty at&t will reject and stick me for replacement bill..
Hp
---------- Post added at 08:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:46 PM ----------
Did you have a continually black nonresponsive screen?
HP
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why post in a dead thread?
Bleh

Can Samsung Refurbish a Hard Bricked Device?

Hi There,
I did search around and didn't find a specific answer to this, I did see someone was looking to modify some binary values but no confirmation if it worked. Anyways I have successfully used many roms on my phone and tablet but last night after using CWM and the rom flashed successfully I rebooted the device and then nothing. Blank screen. Nothing happens when I charge. Used the wife's battery fully charged to see if it would help. Tried three-button boot method. All nothing. It's just dead.
Now I'm guessing I must have missed a step somewhere and fully take responsibility for what happened, and would pay for a repair - but can Samsung even repair a device in this state? I talked to an agent on the phone last night and openly told them what happened and asked how much it would be to repair and he said he couldn't give me any information without sending the device in. This is my mistake to get my phone in this state so I don't want to sneak my way into a warranty replacement. Is it worth the wait as Samsung can fix this, or should I just buy a new phone?
Cheers and any information is much appreciated.
www.mobiletechvideos.com
They can repair bricked phones for a very reasonable cost. Samsung may see it and void your warranty. I'd go with Mobiletech. I've heard they do great work on bricked phones.
The above advice is good, assuming your device is truely hard bricked.
However, from your description, it's hard to figure how you bricked it. A true brick usually happens when an attempt to flash a bootloader partition gets interrupted in the middle. There are possibly other ways, but it's not very easy, actually. So, is there absolutely no sign of life? Nothing you can do will even get a flicker of light on the screen? You cannot enter download mode, or recovery mode. You have tried all of these? No point in spending $50 on a jtag repair if you can recover the phone yourself.
I would also be interested in a complete description of the steps that led up to the problem.
I'm a little embarrassed to post this but don't want to waste anyone's time. It is totally bricked but I know why.
I just noticed I downloaded a rom from the i777 forum, and my device is a i727.
Oooops! Guess I'm learning a valuable $50 (plus shipping) lesson.
Thanks for the help, my phone is off Mobile Tech.
Still might not be hard bricked. Mine did this a few weeks ago for no reason. Had been running fine then wouldn't boot one day. Wouldn't boot at all. Could not get into recovery.Nothing. Only thing that worked was connecting through Odin. Had to then flash original Gingerbread. Phone then booted fine. I have since rooted again and I'm now dual-booting SHOstock and Rootbox. Try Odin first.
SPatMobile said:
I'm a little embarrassed to post this but don't want to waste anyone's time. It is totally bricked but I know why.
I just noticed I downloaded a rom from the i777 forum, and my device is a i727.
Oooops! Guess I'm learning a valuable $50 (plus shipping) lesson.
Thanks for the help, my phone is off Mobile Tech.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't really know much about the I727 architecture, but I seriously doubt if your device is hard bricked. You should still be able to get into download mode via the normal procedure (maybe, or if not with a usb jig) for your phone, and then flash a good I727 rom, I believe. There are no bootloaders or partition information, or param files in any of the I777 roms, as far as I know, so there's really not much of anything that can do serious damage.
Try getting in to download mode by With your phone off and unplugged. Enter download mode by pressing and holding the power and volume down buttons and plugging in the USB cable before the lights blink. I don't know it will work on i727 but worth a try..GL
This is a good thread to help you read all you can....
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1652398
creepyncrawly said:
I don't really know much about the I727 architecture, but I seriously doubt if your device is hard bricked. You should still be able to get into download mode via the normal procedure (maybe, or if not with a usb jig) for your phone, and then flash a good I727 rom, I believe. There are no bootloaders or partition information, or param files in any of the I777 roms, as far as I know, so there's really not much of anything that can do serious damage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. Well I suppose it is possible I had a legitamite hardware failure completely unrelated to the software issues. I did some searching around for hardware failures instead and found some very similar cases to this.
Exactly what happened. I downloaded the wrong rom, rebooted in cwm, wiped, then flashed the rom. It went successfully and I rebooted from cwm then during boot right after the samsung logo all the lights went off and the screen went black. I left it like this for about 45 mins to an hour and had dinner just in case it was still doing something. The battery was fully charged at the time I started the procedure, and I have tried using the wife's battery to make sure mine wasn't dead. My battery also functions without issues in her phone. I had done this successfully multiple times on my phone before and tablet, and successfully flashed two or three different roms on my wifes phone last night.
I tried every suggestion mentioned, and followed the guide as well. There is no glimar of life. If this is hardware I might be wasting my money with Mobile Tech but I suppose we'll know for sure soon. Phone is shipping off today.
Have you tried a jig?
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda app-developers app
you're doing the right choice, mobile tech is your best bet
OP got his answer. And his device is an i727. Let's let this one die before we attract trolls
Sent from my SGH-I777 using Tapatalk 2
Ya good idea
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using XDA
In case anyone was interested it looks like the device was a hardware failure.
"Unfortunately, I was not able to repair your device. The device's onboard EMMC controller was in a non-responsive state. It is advised to try out warranty replacement if possible or to search for a parts device and use it's mainboard for the swap."
*edit - I tried to use the thanks meter for everyone, but thanks for all the help!
Never was really a samsung fan until I got my i777. Blackjack? wth was that? Browsing with opera was off the hook though so the phone grew on me. Now I tried simply flashing a different i777 kernal because ICS constantly freezes and the phone bricks? Sent it to Mobile Tech Videos.... EMMC is in non responsive state for me too wtf Samsung? Had my nexus one twice as long and flashed twice as many times and its still rockin. Now will definitely think twice before going Sammy.
paulfrankie said:
Never was really a samsung fan until I got my i777. Blackjack? wth was that? Browsing with opera was off the hook though so the phone grew on me. Now I tried simply flashing a different i777 kernal because ICS constantly freezes and the phone bricks? Sent it to Mobile Tech Videos.... EMMC is in non responsive state for me too wtf Samsung? Had my nexus one twice as long and flashed twice as many times and its still rockin. Now will definitely think twice before going Sammy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you wipe in ICS's stock recovery before flashing that different kernel? Because there's a well known brickbug with the I777's stock ICS kernel, where if you use it to do anything before you flash custom kernels, it'll mess up your EMMC and brick your phone. If this is what happened to you, I would suggest you do more reading before flashing anything again; different phones operate differently, and even if you're a pro at flashing stuff on a galaxy nexus that doesn't mean squat when it comes to flashing an I777. I don't mean to be harsh or offend you, I just want you to know that reading more is always a good idea, and that there's a chance that it wasn't Samsung's fault you wound up with a bricked device.
He could always try the jig to kick it into download mode. Read up about it. It may save you some money.
HTC = Hate The Consumer
Mobile tech will fix ya but in all seriousness, phones are way different from model to model. As previously stated. Read a lot before doing anything. may Atrix is way different than this phone,.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using Tapatalk 2

Telus Fascinate Brick

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---This first post is outdated. My current question is one post below. I've left the content of this post for other noobs to see.
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Hey folks, sorry to bother you all but all input would be greatly appreciated. I'm rather unfamiliar with android flashing and kernels, and have spent the last 8 hours trying to figure this out to no avail.
Following this (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1238070) (section 5) guide on how to get back to stock gingerbread on my phone (after a few partially failed attempts flashing other roms), I was using Odin, had the .pit 2.2 as well as CI500_VZW_EH03_GB_CM.tar.md5 loaded into the program and left it running. About 20 mins in, the phone stopped progressing and I started to get concerned. After two hours, I powered down the phone and proceeded to reattempt the flash. This is when things got weird. My phone was unable to enter the Download Mode and instead showed Android system recovery when plugged in, or a black screen with a phone and a computer, with arrows between when not plugged in. The weirdest part is that the phone no longer recognized vol+ or the power button when in Android Recovery, and could only vol- to go down the menu, then was stuck at the bottom of the list.
I've searched everywhere on this site, and google to try and come up with a solution.
When pluggin into the computer, I hear a connection sound, but the device is not recognized by Odin. Pressing the running a blind vol+ and vol-, then a vol- to hope Odin recognizes the device, as pointed out in this (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1764022) thread, resulted in nothing. Holding vol- while pluggin in the usb cable, doesn't show the download mode. All of the steps in this (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1026746) thread proved futile, as most of them required download mode anyways.
I'm going to keep searching and keep you posted as things come. Your help as always will be greatly appreciated!
Edit: Things just got weirder... After a few more attempts at making this work, I'm now getting an "Unable to charge non-supported battery. See user manual." With this error, I'm not able to get into Android Recovery anymore. More searching...
Edit 2: AFAIK I'm gonna need a jig. Anyone confirm?
Edit 3: Got a jig, Download Mode working, all is well. Please remove this thread, or leave it for other noob flashers to see.
Hey Folks, its been a while since I last posted in this forum, but I ran into a pretty serious issue earlier this evening. I was attempting to flash CM9 to my T959D and was running into tonnes of trouble. Throughout my attempts I was restoring back to stock rom, kernel and bootloader. During one of these restores, Odin froze in Win 7. Since then I've been unable to detect any form of life from the phone. It simply sits in a black screen. Holding the vol down while booting, blind vol up and down cable inserting, using my Jig and inserting the cable/battery in various orders results in nothing. The most I hear is a device failure to connect sound in Windows with no sign of life in Odin.
What can I do?
Someone posted stating leaving the battery out for multiple days would reset something on the motherboard, allowing me to get into download mode. Though I was hoping to have this resolved tonight. I realize that there aren't many people left with these phones, but I hope someone has a solution to this.
I'm going to be installing ubuntu tonight on an older desktop in a effort to resolve this. Though my experience with it is very limited, and success is unknown.
NOT GOOD... You should wait and see if others have a better solution, but Unbrickable Mod may be your only option.
Posted from my Fascinate using XDA Premium
MultipleMonomials said:
NOT GOOD... You should wait and see if others have a better solution, but Unbrickable Mod may be your only option.
Posted from my Fascinate using XDA Premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats not good to hear. Well, I was snooping around looking for someone who could solder this for me, to no avail. My soldering skills are non existent. The most I fixed was a door bell, and I did a terrible job. I won't be able to get my hands on a soldering iron until tomorrow, is it worth trying?
I have located someone who can do a jtag on this model but have a few questions in regards to this:
Since my bootloader was corrupted, would the jtag service put a new bootloader on?
Would it prevent the same thing from happening again?
Are jtags designed on a per-phone basis?
Since there is a telus fascinate T959D as well as a verizon fascinate, and both phones are completely different, would I need to make sure the jtag is meant for this phone?
Is there anything I need to be made aware of before doing this that I haven't mentioned?
I've haven't had any experience with JTAG, but I've heard Unbrickable Mod is preferable. If you're looking for someone who can solder, check out your local RC/hobby store. If that fails, check out an electronics store, though it may take some searching to find one.
Posted from my Galaxy Tab with CM10
TheMegosh said:
Thats not good to hear. Well, I was snooping around looking for someone who could solder this for me, to no avail. My soldering skills are non existent. The most I fixed was a door bell, and I did a terrible job. I won't be able to get my hands on a soldering iron until tomorrow, is it worth trying?
I have located someone who can do a jtag on this model but have a few questions in regards to this:
Since my bootloader was corrupted, would the jtag service put a new bootloader on?
Would it prevent the same thing from happening again?
Are jtags designed on a per-phone basis?
Since there is a telus fascinate T959D as well as a verizon fascinate, and both phones are completely different, would I need to make sure the jtag is meant for this phone?
Is there anything I need to be made aware of before doing this that I haven't mentioned?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure you use the stock Samsung cable see if you can reinstall the drivers hook it into the computer and hold volume down if you can get any type of signal from the phone your good.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk 2
---------- Post added at 04:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:24 PM ----------
MultipleMonomials said:
I've haven't had any experience with JTAG, but I've heard Unbrickable Mod is preferable. If you're looking for someone who can solder, check out your local RC/hobby store. If that fails, check out an electronics store, though it may take some searching to find one.
Posted from my Galaxy Tab with CM10
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey no offence but stop telling everyone on the street they need too soljeir there phone with unbrickable mod before they can fix I'm tired of having too calm the person down after you said they have too open up the phone its utter bull****. 1 out of 10 soft bricks you may need it I've been without download mode and fixed mine just fine.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk 2
An update:
Took my phone in to get the jtag service... He said some of my partitions were corrupted, one of which was the boot layer. He put a new bootloader on, and showed it could be placed back into recovery and download mode, but when I got home the device was even more dead than when I left; no device failed to connect sound in windows, just nothing. I'm taking it back to him in a week after exams to get this resolved. Maybe the battery has reached the end of its life...? I checked it with a volt meter, and it had 3v+ so I really don't know.
Sent using Science!
As bbrad pointed out, there may be other solutions, and my answer could be totally wrong, but if even your bootloader is cooked, Unbrickable Mod may be your only hope. Since UM affects startup code literally hardwired into the chip, it should work as long as the JTAG doesn't interfere.
Posted from my Fascinate using XDA Premium
Another update. So apparently I flashed a bootloader from another phone, which royally screwed up the partition, kernel and mounted drives. The technician managed to get the original bootloader, kernel and rom on the phone and everything is working from stock again.
Why on earth is the 959d Telus version such a pain in the ass to customize?
Is there anyone on here that uses a 959d that can direct me to a proper method to leaving stock? Before this entire situation I had vodoo kernel on, with cwm, but every time I flashed a kernel it would hang on reboot and either sit on a black or white screen. In a lot of cases I would flash in cwm, reboot, then I would be brought back to cwm as if there was no rom on the phone at all, no matter what I formatted and wiped.
When I'm not on my phone I can link all of the guides I've tried that leave me back where I started. So I re flash back to stock using Odin.
At the end of the day, I have to ask, is it really worth it in the end? I've rooted and flashed many roms on other phones but have never run into as many problems as with this fascinate t959d
Sent using Science!

[Q] Well. My curiousity led to a hard-bricked phone

Well. My curiousty led to a hard-bricked phone
It's definetly official. I am not going to install any more custom roms after this. To make my story breif. I aquired a motorola atrix 2 phone, and had read it could accomdate a custom rom, so I used a one click root method program and the program said it had done its job. I booted into the recovery and installed the rom, which ended in an infinite reboot. Great, so I read more on how to revert back to firmware using rsd lite. I did this, but the battery was dead. so I went out and purchased anther battery, attempted the restore, phone restart, then BOOM. it stayed black and now it wont come on. wtf.
Can any please recommend the proper cable I have to order to get the phone back working>?
Sunaj1 said:
Well. My curiousty led to a hard-bricked phone
It's definetly official. I am not going to install any more custom roms after this. To make my story breif. I aquired a motorola atrix 2 phone, and had read it could accomdate a custom rom, so I used a one click root method program and the program said it had done its job. I booted into the recovery and installed the rom, which ended in an infinite reboot. Great, so I read more on how to revert back to firmware using rsd lite. I did this, but the battery was dead. so I went out and purchased anther battery, attempted the restore, phone restart, then BOOM. it stayed black and now it wont come on. wtf.
Can any please recommend the proper cable I have to order to get the phone back working>?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you flashed rom with stock recovery?
Sent from my Sony Tablet S using xda app-developers app
smgdev said:
Did you flashed rom with stock recovery?
Sent from my Sony Tablet S using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I tried to. Unless i acidentally downloaded the wrong file.
Sunaj1 said:
Yes, I tried to. Unless i acidentally downloaded the wrong file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should flash roms with custom recoveries that built for your device like clockworkmod or twrp recovery.
Sent from my Sony Tablet S using xda app-developers app
smgdev said:
You should flash roms with custom recoveries that built for your device like clockworkmod or twrp recovery.
Sent from my Sony Tablet S using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I am aware of that. The problem is now my phone is hard bricked and it wont turn on at all, not even to display an error message.
How can I fix this? whats that special cable That i need?
I would love to help you but I don't have the device and I think you should ask to your device's q/a forum. It will more helpful for you.
Sent from my Sony Tablet S using xda app-developers app
Sunaj1 said:
Well. My curiousty led to a hard-bricked phone
It's definetly official. I am not going to install any more custom roms after this. To make my story breif. I aquired a motorola atrix 2 phone, and had read it could accomdate a custom rom, so I used a one click root method program and the program said it had done its job. I booted into the recovery and installed the rom, which ended in an infinite reboot. Great, so I read more on how to revert back to firmware using rsd lite. I did this, but the battery was dead. so I went out and purchased anther battery, attempted the restore, phone restart, then BOOM. it stayed black and now it wont come on. wtf.
Can any please recommend the proper cable I have to order to get the phone back working>?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, I guess you can use THIS LINK to try and fix your problem. Thank you for consulting the forums, and have a nice day.
ATkeneiville said:
Hi, I guess you can use THIS LINK to try and fix your problem. Thank you for consulting the forums, and have a nice day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. But an experienced repair guy said my phone wasn't responding to neither the USB jtag or the fast boot. So my phone is dead forever? Should I start digging its grave?
Sure sounds this way, and you shouldn't be doing JTAG through the USB port anyway unless your phone is something special I've never heard of
But in truth rooting your phone won't damage it, it just gives someone the opportunity to do so. I'm a firm believer in rooting all androids so long as they read and understand what they are doing, its very hard to brick a phone if you know what you're doing
So although this phone may be dead forever (unless you find someone who for sure knows the proper way to JTAG it) then still consider rooting your next one, just be sure to completely understand what's going on, and try to stay away from one click roots, its hard to learn anything from this
Best of luck on your next phone
*side note, if you still have warranty and your phone is completely unresponsive chances are you will get your warranty exchange, just play dumb and say "I was playing angry birds and it just froze, now it won't turn on"
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
I wish I had warranty on this thing. I got it second hand from craigslist. However i've managed to acquire an HTC inspire 4G, what an upgrade from a motorola cliq xt! I would love to install jelly bean on this thing but after messing up the Atrix 2 i'm scared I will F*ck this one up too. I can never find clear and concise instructions on the internet. Every web page I visit, it seems to be someones personal way of doing it. Steps not mentioned, or instructions written for intermediate users. For example, Every video or piece of instruction i've watched on youtube regarding booting into the fast boot on the atrix 2, said something about holding volume up and power button upon booting and I would see something on the top of the screen. However that did not work, First I had to use the volume down and power button, then I would get to this fastboot screen where those recovery options werent available, from there I had to hold both volume buttons down and press the power button twice which would bring me to the recovery options screen. thats just one example, and even then for some reasons I didn't have all the recovery options the instructions spoke of... for example. Very annoying and frustrating. On a side note, is there anyone on this site who lives in the US that can unbrick my atrix 2? The guy who repair phones I took it to said theres a device for 250.00 bucks he's waiting to get that can unbrick any device. However he doesnt have the funds and had gotten laid off work. I am just having a hard time believing a simple soft user error could permanently damage my device forever and that as sophiscated as our technology has gotten there's absolutely no way to revive it.
demkantor said:
Sure sounds this way, and you shouldn't be doing JTAG through the USB port anyway unless your phone is something special I've never heard of
But in truth rooting your phone won't damage it, it just gives someone the opportunity to do so. I'm a firm believer in rooting all androids so long as they read and understand what they are doing, its very hard to brick a phone if you know what you're doing
So although this phone may be dead forever (unless you find someone who for sure knows the proper way to JTAG it) then still consider rooting your next one, just be sure to completely understand what's going on, and try to stay away from one click roots, its hard to learn anything from this
Best of luck on your next phone
*side note, if you still have warranty and your phone is completely unresponsive chances are you will get your warranty exchange, just play dumb and say "I was playing angry birds and it just froze, now it won't turn on"
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't attest to the videos you saw, but for most androids this is the best site with the most info, I only suggest being sure how to root before you do it, and to understand how the method works as well. When your not understanding this is when bricks happen.
I know it can be lots of reading and lots of questions but in the long run its worth the time
As for the JTAG equipment there are many who have it and you can easily spend less than 250 on getting the proper stuff.
Every logicboard is different so maybe this machine he speaks of has a wide variety of cables that come with it, but he's still paying too much
Anyway, most people seem to charge 50$ or so to JTAG it back, if that's more than the phone is worth to you just sell it on eBay for parts
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
demkantor said:
I can't attest to the videos you saw, but for most androids this is the best site with the most info, I only suggest being sure how to root before you do it, and to understand how the method works as well. When your not understanding this is when bricks happen.
I know it can be lots of reading and lots of questions but in the long run its worth the time
As for the JTAG equipment there are many who have it and you can easily spend less than 250 on getting the proper stuff.
Every logicboard is different so maybe this machine he speaks of has a wide variety of cables that come with it, but he's still paying too much
Anyway, most people seem to charge 50$ or so to JTAG it back, if that's more than the phone is worth to you just sell it on eBay for parts
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you link me to clear and concise instructions on how to upgrade my 2.3.7 ( i think) to jellybean on an htc inspire 4g? and is there anyone here who can fix my phone that you know of?
HERE IS YOUR PHONES FORUM
you will find links to all the guides you need here, always read the stickies in each section, this tends to have the important info you need
then anything your not sure about should be asked in the proper place within this forum for the best answers
example, question on how to root should be asked in the how to root thread for best chance of a good answer, question on how to flash a new radio should be asked in a thread pertaining to this
im sorry but i dont know enough about your phone specificly to help further but hopefully the members in your device specific forum will
best of luck!

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