[Q] I do believe I'm hard-bricked - Fascinate Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I had been having issues with my phone not connecting to my computer, Odin, or Heimdall. I was trying to start fresh. But instead, I just FTPed the stuff on my phone and flashed that way. I was on ED01 and EvilFascination 3.6. I flashed TeamHacksungs Build 1. I liked it but everybody said AOKP. So I tried it. I then flashed Icy Glitch kernel v14. No problem yet. Then I decided AOKP was overrated and I wanted to be on TeamHacksung. I flashed it and it booted. Then I flashed gApps and it rebooted. Then i tried the glitch kernel. It bootlooped. It turns on, shows Samsung, and then flashes black and starts over. I cannot get into Recovery mode. Download mode is manageable, but no Odin working or Heimdall. I have installed and reinstalled the drivers a dozen times. Tried 3 different usb data cables(only one was Samsung), all usb ports, 3 computers(two windows 7 and one xp), and I think I am bricked. Any more suggestions welcome. If worse comes to worst, will Verizon be able to tell i was rooted and had custom kernel, rom, and radio?

circaoffire said:
I had been having issues with my phone not connecting to my computer, Odin, or Heimdall. I was trying to start fresh. But instead, I just FTPed the stuff on my phone and flashed that way. I was on ED01 and EvilFascination 3.6. I flashed TeamHacksungs Build 1. I liked it but everybody said AOKP. So I tried it. I then flashed Icy Glitch kernel v14. No problem yet. Then I decided AOKP was overrated and I wanted to be on TeamHacksung. I flashed it and it booted. Then I flashed gApps and it rebooted. Then i tried the glitch kernel. It bootlooped. It turns on, shows Samsung, and then flashes black and starts over. I cannot get into Recovery mode. Download mode is manageable, but no Odin working or Heimdall. I have installed and reinstalled the drivers a dozen times. Tried 3 different usb data cables(only one was Samsung), all usb ports, 3 computers(two windows 7 and one xp), and I think I am bricked. Any more suggestions welcome. If worse comes to worst, will Verizon be able to tell i was rooted and had custom kernel, rom, and radio?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
your device is pissed at you for removing aokp...how can you call it over rated?? when you purchase a vehicle are you the type that likes the base model with hub caps, cloth, no ac, no power...or do you like the loaded version with the big motor, power everything, and nice wheels? thats the difference between ths and aokp in a nutshell.
On a side note have you tried adb to get into recovery?

ADB doesn't detect the device either. And all the unicorns and stuff was annoying. I preferred the clean smooth look of THS. All the customization, I don't even use.

I just picked up a couple of used fascinates for backup.
One works just fine with Odin the other doesn't.
With the phone booted USB functions work just fine.
Odin and Heimdall do not see it.
Looking for some guidance.

circaoffire said:
I had been having issues with my phone not connecting to my computer, Odin, or Heimdall. I was trying to start fresh. But instead, I just FTPed the stuff on my phone and flashed that way. I was on ED01 and EvilFascination 3.6. I flashed TeamHacksungs Build 1. I liked it but everybody said AOKP. So I tried it. I then flashed Icy Glitch kernel v14. No problem yet. Then I decided AOKP was overrated and I wanted to be on TeamHacksung. I flashed it and it booted. Then I flashed gApps and it rebooted. Then i tried the glitch kernel. It bootlooped. It turns on, shows Samsung, and then flashes black and starts over. I cannot get into Recovery mode. Download mode is manageable, but no Odin working or Heimdall. I have installed and reinstalled the drivers a dozen times. Tried 3 different usb data cables(only one was Samsung), all usb ports, 3 computers(two windows 7 and one xp), and I think I am bricked. Any more suggestions welcome. If worse comes to worst, will Verizon be able to tell i was rooted and had custom kernel, rom, and radio?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would try buying a new usb cord.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using xda premium

^^I second that^^
I picked up this one on Amazon after my factory cable went a little screwy. It works like a charm.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004JQ05II/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00

I have several usb cables and 3 fascinates.
2 Fascinates work just fine with multiple cables.
Just this one fassy is fussy. Will go into download mode every time but USB device is unrecognized. Tried on multiple computers with multiple cables. Works fine otherwise.

I'm just thinking out loud here, but perhaps there's a piece of dirt or hair or a bent prong somewhere in the micro usb hole. Have you ever tried disassembling, vacuuming, or sending some compressed air in there?

Related

[Q] I need help with my fascinate

I have a fascinate and have successfully rooted it, flashed the cricket info (i got talk and text) and had 3g at one point. All of the sudden 3G went out. I put CYANOGEN on there, latest 7.1 i believe for the fascinate.
Upon trying to revert back to the original ROM so I can get in there with PST and CDMA WS, I encountered a very strange set of problems and now I am just stumped. I tried to ask a couple of other people and no one seems to know what is happening.
Here is what happens, I try to put the original ROM on there, by using ODIN and doing the atlasv2.2 pit file, and the original ROM, froyo, and the other one eclair i think.
When I use odin it gets to the system part, then right after it goes to the part that would take the longest, and I forgot what its called, dataFS? it has FS at the end, and then the phone (while odin is still going) will go to either a blue screen or a green screen with no words. If you look closely, it appears there is a clock at the top right just like if the phone was on.
I have not overclocked this device at all so thats one thing that can be ruled out.
I've tried odin using both battery in and battery out method as different guides have stated different things. When the battery is out, I get a blue screen. When its in, i get a green screen.
The screen appears right after the normal odin screen, with the status bar, but it will dissapear when it comes to the dataFS part (right after system) then it will take about 20 - 45 minutes and I will get an error screen on odin.
Funny thing is i've used odin and that method and it worked the last time. It works fine if I need to flash a clockwork recovery. However, upon booting into recovery, half the time I will get an error that has to do with BUILD.prop and SCH-I500. This is when I try to flash any rom except MIUI. For some reason, MIUI kicks this phone around and its the only rom that works. CM7 wont work, stock won't and every other rom wont.
So, to sum it up, my main problem is ODIN and its funky behavior, and not being able to go back to stock so I can see if my 3g settings are correct. If you have any information, even if its just something to help get my wheels turning, then please post it up, any and all help is greatly appreciated folks, thanks.
I dont know if this would work but if u think the problem is Odin then I would uninstall odin and reinstall the newest version available. Also, make sure the phone driver software get done the same.
Then after that I would try odin again. Phone off, battery out. Open odin. Plug in usb. Make sure phone set usb to debug. Hold vol down button. Odin should see your phone.
Im sure u know all the steps up to this point but try again.
Good luck
Or u can try running odin as Admin on the comp.
Also if the problem persits I saw a user had a similar problem and of turned out to be his usb cable so try a different one if you can't fix it.
Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk
See, thats what I thought too, but I will give it a shot and see. I doubt its the drivers, odin or the program, file or anything else because it does work with clockwork, and i've downloaded it several thousand times, plus it works great when I do anything but flash the original rom, odin will go fine. Drivers seem fine, it communicates and all that perfectly so I also highly doubt that.
I will get another cable and just try it on a whole different PC to see what happens. I was really hoping someone had this happen and had a fix but I might have to do some heavy delving. THANKS GUYS! I will try this and report back.
It was the cables, used a brand new USB cable and it worked, strangest thing that a cable can work but not work and its just a bunch of wires, but almost all my audio cables have to be bent or else you will loose a channel. I guess its just poor quality materials. So thank you, it works now and it was just the USB cables.

[Q] Soft-Brick help!

Hello guys, I have (I think) soft bricked my Galaxy S2.
(Details: UK Phone, Carrier was Orange but now I am running 3 on it, official phone model Galaxy I9100T (NFC support iirc) )
Right I am curious bunny hacking away at the phone from the day I bought it, reading pages after pages on different roms and kernel and everything. Finally I settled on CyanogenMod 9 and then went straight to the CM10.1 release. Today Morning I installed the 23/02/2013 CM10.1 realease and then started browsing the XDA forums on whats new. I came across the Siyah 6.0b kernel release and saw it was compatible with cm10.1, eager and foolish I downloaded the apk without doing any further reading or any instruction, overconfident from all the flashing I have been doing for the past year, flashed the kernel via CWM recovery. Now the phone is stuck in what I assume is a boot loop (again I am pretty noobish).
So What have I tried to fix the soft brick?
I tried to go "restore" an img I had taken a week ago of the system with CWM but the phone would no longer boot into recovery.
So I went ahead and got all the recovery package (I9100TDULP9_I9100THUTLP7_HUT) to reflash my phone with Odin 3.07.
This is where I hit a brick wall and now I am truly lost at what to do, my computer doesn't recognise the phone (Download Mode). I keep getting "there is a problem with this device" error and the Device manager shows an unknown device connected. So I installed the Samsung drivers from the samsung website with no luck. Still getting unknown device error. So I googled for a solution and the only solution that came up was reformat my PC since it could be a problem within the OS, so I went forward and used two other PC and still getting the error. Please Help SOS.
tl;dr: Getting Device not recognised error when I connect phone to the computer via USB cable.
Thanks in advance to all the knights to my rescue
DNoob92 said:
I came across the Siyah 6.0b kernel release and saw it was compatible with cm10.1, eager and foolish I downloaded the apk without doing any further reading or any instruction, overconfident from all the flashing I have been doing for the past year, flashed the kernel via CWM recovery. Now the phone is stuck in what I assume is a boot loop (again I am pretty noobish).
So What have I tried to fix the soft brick?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just go to recovery menu (VOLUP+MENU+POWER) and wipe cache and wipe dalvik. That should fix it.
surplus mplieac
crocodilechris said:
Just go to recovery menu (VOLUP+MENU+POWER) and wipe cache and wipe dalvik. That should fix it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I cannot enter Recovery Mode, the screen just goes blank
EDIT: So the only thing that works atm is
1) The battery charge animation (huge green battery in the middle of the screen) when plugged in.
2) Download/Odin mode (which 3 computer refuse to recognise when connected via a USB cable)
EDIT2: The other thing I forgot to mention was, that I have lost the original SII micro USB cable which was black and now I am using the white micro USB cable I received with my Galaxy Note 2.
You could try uninstalling all Samsung-related drivers/software (Ie: Kies), download the Android Naked Driver or the Android ADB Driver (I wish I could recall where I got it from, but it also came with the driver for the Galaxy SII... Sounds like it might be more of a driver issue than it would be a cable issue..
Borrow and S2 cable.
There are a lot of guys having issues with note's cable.
Try a laptop, and install kies on any other pc you try.
Flash siyah v5 instead of flashing v6.
You can relax, if the only thing you did is flash a kernel then there is nothing wrong with your phone.
Try different cables, try Odin 1.85 (that one always worked for me), try different pc's, reinstall drivers, make sure no kies process is running in the background.
First of all thanks for the replies
I couldn't get the drivers working still (after re-installing, installing kies). But while eating lunch I remembered reading about removing battery and pressing the Power button and it doing something I couldn't quite remember. So I thought to myself it wouldn't hurt trying. Did that and the phone Finally booted in recovery mode, I took a breather of relief and than located my previous backup img and restored the phone.
But now a new problem arose, the phone went into SIM lock as soon as it booted and now I guess I have to fix that
Well thanks guys
Quick question guys is SIM network unlock pin basically same unlocking phone form a carrier?
It's asking for a SIM pin or network code?
Get galaxysim unlock by searching xda (free here, paid at play store).
Sent from the little guy

Phone won't boot... Not sure what else to try.

I installed SafeStrap 3.70 and tried to install RLS12 (on MK2). Things did not go so well. It booted to a black screen. Figured I would just ODIN back to stock and now my phone is really unhappy.
I tried flashing both of the firmwares from here (full did not work so I tried no-wipe):
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2578209&highlight=mk2
I can boot into download mode but not recovery. When I first flash a ROM via ODIN the phone will show the Samsung logo and even get to the Verizon splash screen. Problem is it will power off after a minute or so. If the phone is connected via the USB cable the charging battery screen appears. If I try to go into recovery it just powers off (verified by plugging in USB cable and getting charging screen).
One thing I have noticed is that even after flashing with Odin the Samsung custom splash screen still shows up. Usually that goes away.
I am open to any and all suggestions. My last two things to try is going through Kies Revovery. Next it to try downloading a firmware from sammobile.com.
diaftia said:
I installed SafeStrap 3.70 and tried to install RLS12 (on MK2). Things did not go so well. It booted to a black screen. Figured I would just ODIN back to stock and now my phone is really unhappy.
I tried flashing both of the firmwares from here (full did not work so I tried no-wipe):
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2578209&highlight=mk2
I can boot into download mode but not recovery. When I first flash a ROM via ODIN the phone will show the Samsung logo and even get to the Verizon splash screen. Problem is it will power off after a minute or so. If the phone is connected via the USB cable the charging battery screen appears. If I try to go into recovery it just powers off (verified by plugging in USB cable and getting charging screen).
One thing I have noticed is that even after flashing with Odin the Samsung custom splash screen still shows up. Usually that goes away.
I am open to any and all suggestions. My last two things to try is going through Kies Revovery. Next it to try downloading a firmware from sammobile.com.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've seen someone else with this problem..
Think they took the battery out for like 5-10 minutes then they were able to boot into recovery then did a factory reset and cleared Cache then that either fixed it or they Odin back. Have you tried that? Sounds like you know what you're doing. I had to do that with my s4 as well after running into some issues
Edit:
Is this all on your stock slot or is hd12 on a rom slot???
Reason I ask is I had this happen to me and even after full Wipe in Odin my s4 was doing same thing as yours it sounds and mine was all on stock slot. My phone was really pissed at me.
Verizon Galaxy S4
Safestrap 3.7
HYPERDRIVE 11
Mistertac said:
I've seen someone else with this problem..
Think they took the battery out for like 5-10 minutes then they were able to boot into recovery then did a factory reset and cleared Cache then that either fixed it or they Odin back. Have you tried that? Sounds like you know what you're doing. I had to do that with my s4 as well after running into some issues
Edit:
Is this all on your stock slot or is hd12 on a rom slot???
Reason I ask is I had this happen to me and even after full Wipe in Odin my s4 was doing same thing as yours it sounds and mine was all on stock slot. My phone was really pissed at me.
Verizon Galaxy S4
Safestrap 3.7
HYPERDRIVE 11
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, this is in the stock slot. I had been running in the stock slot since RLS8(9?) without any problems but something has definitely changed.
Some good news! I went to bed at around 12:30 with Kies left running. It had stated the download process of the restore. When I checked on it this morning I had a red light on the phone which I had not had before (charging indicator). I unplugged the phone and powered it on. Low and behold I got a setup wizard. Looks like Keis does something that Odin does not. So when in doubt restore the stock image with Keis if you are stuck. BTW, when doing that I did the "Firmware Upgrade and Initialization" method. It asks for the model # and it is case sensitive for some reason. It took "SCH-I545" but was not taking "sch-i545".
diaftia said:
Yes, this is in the stock slot. I had been running in the stock slot since RLS8(9?) without any problems but something has definitely changed.
Some good news! I went to bed at around 12:30 with Kies left running. It had stated the download process of the restore. When I checked on it this morning I had a red light on the phone which I had not had before (charging indicator). I unplugged the phone and powered it on. Low and behold I got a setup wizard. Looks like Keis does something that Odin does not. So when in doubt restore the stock image with Keis if you are stuck. BTW, when doing that I did the "Firmware Upgrade and Initialization" method. It asks for the model # and it is case sensitive for some reason. It took "SCH-I545" but was not taking "sch-i545".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well that's good news. Yea like I said that happened to me as well... I just didn't use kies. But looks like you're back up and running so you're good.
Verizon Galaxy S4
Safestrap 3.7
HYPERDRIVE 11

Status 0 in cmw

When I tried to flash cyan fox in cmw it gave me a status 0 error can anyone fix?
We need more info like what did it specifically say. Be as specific as possible
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
RedJack117 said:
When I tried to flash cyan fox in cmw it gave me a status 0 error can anyone fix?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's "usually" an error you get when the zip is corrupted.
but occasionally you'll get it if your running an i9000 roms (I've had it interchangeably with status 7 before)
I would try re-downloading and flashing the zip again.
if that doesn't work try downloading and flashing fluid kernel
then go to "advanced" and select "reboot recovery".
then try flashing the rom again.
Status 0 error on anything I try to flash using CWM
My friend gave me the Vibrant last year after getting a new phone. He gave it to me so that I could try mess around with it and try to fix it. The back and home buttons were not working. All 4 buttons light up, but only the Menu and Search responds. Phone was on stock ROM (JFD) and was not rooted - it even had the external SD that came with it. I immediately thought that re-flashing it would be a quick fix. Formatted everything and used Odin to put it back on. But, to my surprise, both buttons still did not work. It would sometimes work when I tried them on key test in CWM. Anyway, I thought that maybe a different or better ROM might do the trick. I wanted it to be more of a gaming console so I tried to put CyanAOSP on it. Got a lot of errors, but eventually, I managed to put it on. The buttons still doesn't work but at least I could navigate better using the on-screen shortcuts.
After about a month, it started to freeze and crash a lot so I decided to re-flash it again. This time, got no errors but another problem arose - it became tethered. The device always think that the USB is connected (it's always up on the notification bar) to the point that I can't even turn it back on without really attaching it to one. It was a spare phone which I use more for gaming so I was able to live with it.
A month ago, it began to freeze and crash a lot again so I thought of trying a different ROM. To my surprise, anything I try to flash using CWM gives me an error - packages would seem to load for about a quarter of the way then gives me the 'status 0' error. I get this even when I tried the ones that worked before.
I have several update.zips (1 is only 632KB while the rest are 1.7MB) and at least 2 copies of the ROMS (CyanAOSP, L-Droid and Ressurection) KERNELS (fluid, mackay, and neat), GAPPS, and MODEMS which I try to flash. I've re-visited all of the rooting threads again to cover my bases. I'm waiting for woody to respond so that I could try the files that he has because I've pretty much tried everything that I could get my hands on. (some files were pretty promising, but DL links were already down)
Regarding the update.zips that I have, I noticed that only the 632KB would root it and the others would only give me CWM 2.5.1.2 on JFD. The only way I could upgrade is by using mini kies and none of the update.zips work once I'm on KB5. (root removed and can't put it back on)
jvrey5 said:
My friend gave me the Vibrant last year after getting a new phone. He gave it to me so that I could try mess around with it and try to fix it. The back and home buttons were not working. All 4 buttons light up, but only the Menu and Search responds. Phone was on stock ROM (JFD) and was not rooted - it even had the external SD that came with it. I immediately thought that re-flashing it would be a quick fix. Formatted everything and used Odin to put it back on. But, to my surprise, both buttons still did not work. It would sometimes work when I tried them on key test in CWM. Anyway, I thought that maybe a different or better ROM might do the trick. I wanted it to be more of a gaming console so I tried to put CyanAOSP on it. Got a lot of errors, but eventually, I managed to put it on. The buttons still doesn't work but at least I could navigate better using the on-screen shortcuts.
After about a month, it started to freeze and crash a lot so I decided to re-flash it again. This time, got no errors but another problem arose - it became tethered. The device always think that the USB is connected (it's always up on the notification bar) to the point that I can't even turn it back on without really attaching it to one. It was a spare phone which I use more for gaming so I was able to live with it.
I would make sure that you realize that this phone is older and may not be up to the challenge of some of the newer games out there. Based on your PM to me, I understand that this is a secondary phone for you, so if you wanted to play some of the more graphic intensive games, I would do it on your DD.
A month ago, it began to freeze and crash a lot again so I thought of trying a different ROM. To my surprise, anything I try to flash using CWM gives me an error - packages would seem to load for about a quarter of the way then gives me the 'status 0' error. I get this even when I tried the ones that worked before.
After you PM'd me, I started looking around about the Status 0 error being thrown. All signs point to the Updater Script that in the ROMs that you are flashing. My hunch is that once you flashed the CyanAOSP, that changed your build.prop from T959 to i9000 and that is why you are getting the error. I'm pretty sure there is a way to fix it (see below)
I have several update.zips (1 is only 632KB while the rest are 1.7MB) and at least 2 copies of the ROMS (CyanAOSP, L-Droid and Ressurection) KERNELS (fluid, mackay, and neat), GAPPS, and MODEMS which I try to flash. I've re-visited all of the rooting threads again to cover my bases. I'm waiting for woody to respond so that I could try the files that he has because I've pretty much tried everything that I could get my hands on. (some files were pretty promising, but DL links were already down)
Regarding the update.zips that I have, I noticed that only the 632KB would root it and the others would only give me CWM 2.5.1.2 on JFD. The only way I could upgrade is by using mini kies and none of the update.zips work once I'm on KB5. (root removed and can't put it back on)
You should stay as far away from Kies as possible with this specific phone. It had a tendenacy to brick the Vibrants. It worked on my wife's SGS2 back when, but even then I was hesitant to use Kies on it and grinding my teath the whole time.
The zips that you mentioned are probably the standard Root.zip and the CWM zip from s15274n's thread stickied at the top of the Q&A section. Keep those handy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some answers in-line above.
**********************************
Let's get a few things straight before we start. I am still looking for the Heimdall JFD package, but I think that I know where it is. Pretty sure I put it on one of the external HDDs that I have. I'll try to upload it tonight or tomorrow night, as I am away all weekend with the family. I really don't think that you'll need it, but best to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.
Theoretically, once you Odin'd back to JFD, I would think that it would've reset your device ID back to T959, but I guess that it didn't. This is what I would do. Odin to stock JFD and then boot it up and let it settle. Root it using the Root.zip that you have already used before. At some point you'll need to pick a ROM to settle on, even if only to get past this hump. (I use Sada's CM11 for my sons' Vibrants. Not that there is anything wrong with any of the others, but I just basically set it and forget it for my boys. I think though that he may have stopped development for it though, so I guess I'll be looking through the dev section myself here in the near future.) Take a look at this thread starting with my post #3 and the response from @nirogu325. I am thinking that if you do the same as he instructed, you will boot past the Status 0 error (since everything that I have seen in searches leads me to believe it is an Updater Script issue). My issue was a Status 7 because of the device ID being changed and the Recovery/Kernel combo weren't letting me flash. I basically opened up the ROM.zip and deleted those line and re-zipped it up and then flashed it (did it all on the phone and no PC, but I'm crazy like that).
Let's let a few of the current device Devs weigh in and see what they think. Already mentioned nirogu325 above, but let's try @epicboy and @dzee206 and @sada23. If they are inclined to come and help, it would be much appreciated.
jvrey5 said:
My friend gave me the Vibrant last year after getting a new phone. He gave it to me so that I could try mess around with it and try to fix it. The back and home buttons were not working. All 4 buttons light up, but only the Menu and Search responds. Phone was on stock ROM (JFD) and was not rooted - it even had the external SD that came with it. I immediately thought that re-flashing it would be a quick fix. Formatted everything and used Odin to put it back on. But, to my surprise, both buttons still did not work. It would sometimes work when I tried them on key test in CWM. Anyway, I thought that maybe a different or better ROM might do the trick. I wanted it to be more of a gaming console so I tried to put CyanAOSP on it. Got a lot of errors, but eventually, I managed to put it on. The buttons still doesn't work but at least I could navigate better using the on-screen shortcuts.
After about a month, it started to freeze and crash a lot so I decided to re-flash it again. This time, got no errors but another problem arose - it became tethered. The device always think that the USB is connected (it's always up on the notification bar) to the point that I can't even turn it back on without really attaching it to one. It was a spare phone which I use more for gaming so I was able to live with it.
A month ago, it began to freeze and crash a lot again so I thought of trying a different ROM. To my surprise, anything I try to flash using CWM gives me an error - packages would seem to load for about a quarter of the way then gives me the 'status 0' error. I get this even when I tried the ones that worked before.
I have several update.zips (1 is only 632KB while the rest are 1.7MB) and at least 2 copies of the ROMS (CyanAOSP, L-Droid and Ressurection) KERNELS (fluid, mackay, and neat), GAPPS, and MODEMS which I try to flash. I've re-visited all of the rooting threads again to cover my bases. I'm waiting for woody to respond so that I could try the files that he has because I've pretty much tried everything that I could get my hands on. (some files were pretty promising, but DL links were already down)
Regarding the update.zips that I have, I noticed that only the 632KB would root it and the others would only give me CWM 2.5.1.2 on JFD. The only way I could upgrade is by using mini kies and none of the update.zips work once I'm on KB5. (root removed and can't put it back on)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As Woody already said, you should odin back to stock 2.1. From there root and go to Jellybean and then KitKat. I'd recommend you stay away from ports that are old and haven't been updated for a while. Not trying to say that the rom I built is the best or anything but so far I haven't ran into any issues and neither has anyone that's used SpiritRom. I say try Spirit Rom 1.5 combined with iyahman's semaphore kernel that was built using linaro 4.9 as it's been stable. If you still run into these issues again I think it may be some software that you use.
The phone only had one major issue before I started messing with it - back & home buttons not working. I honestly can't remember how and what I did to put CyanAOSP on it but I ended up with 2 issues after putting it on. Only the Menu button works (eventhough all 4 lights up) and the USB seems to be grounded. I managed to work with it the past year up until I Odin-ed it back to JFD. When the phone is off and battery still has charge, the loading button would come up followed by the empty batt image at the background. This will loop until the batt dies. The only way to turn it on is by connecting the USB to a power source. Accessing download is easier because all I needed to do is remove batt then press and hold the vol up & down before putting the batt back in. Getting into recovery is a bit trickier. You'll need to wait until you actually see the phone charging before doing the 3-button combo.
Last Saturday, my daughter had a school event and I brought this along because it took better pictures than my S3 knock-off. During the parade, after shooting a video, it would automatically take me to the preview. Since, both back and home buttons were not working, I was stuck. Only option was to reboot it. What makes it interesting is that there is no reboot option on the JFD. It was a good thing that I had my power bank with me. I really did not want to constantly reboot it so I thought of installing one of those virtual button apps. I managed to install ToucherPRO before their presentation which made it much easier. To my surprise, it somehow revived the back button on the device itself - I noticed it when I got home that night to transfer the photos and vids.
I mentioned this so that you guys will have an idea on what I need to go through to get it fixed - somewhat, at least to a more tolerable state. (you won't believe it but the tips of my fingers hurt due to the number of times I have to go into recovery or download)
@Woody
Woody said:
I would make sure that you realize that this phone is older and may not be up to the challenge of some of the newer games out there. Based on your PM to me, I understand that this is a secondary phone for you, so if you wanted to play some of the more graphic intensive games, I would do it on your DD.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup. I actually find it both weird and interesting - which games work and how they work.
Woody said:
You should stay as far away from Kies as possible with this specific phone. It had a tendenacy to brick the Vibrants. It worked on my wife's SGS2 back when, but even then I was hesitant to use Kies on it and grinding my teath the whole time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Remember I mentioned my hesitation using Heimdall and Bay_wolf's AIO toolkit regarding hijacking drivers and stuff, Kies on this PC is now useless. It won't even recognize the phone after I tried the toolkit - which is good, I guess.
Woody said:
... Take a look at this thread starting with my post #3 and the response from @nirogu325. I am thinking that if you do the same as he instructed, you will boot past the Status 0 error (since everything that I have seen in searches leads me to believe it is an Updater Script issue). ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I read about this when I started going back through the threads. As you mentioned, this is an old phone. Old phone = old threads. What I do is I read everything on page 1 then skip over to the last page, going back. Seems to be more effective specially for DL links.
I was actually reserving this one as part of my 'last option' fix. From experience, editing scripts is far more dangerous than flashing a 'working' one. I managed to root my other DD this way, but went downhill from there - ended up bricking it 3 times.
Anyway, I think I got it - or at least, the correct way of doing it. It took me 3 days....
After day 1, I ended up with 8 update.zips (7 CWM and one ROOT) and at least 2 copies of ROMS, GAPPS, MODEMS, and KERNELS on my SD card - only the update.zips worked, the rest either gave me status 0 or leave me with the 'Vibrant Samsung' bootloop. I had some progress on DAY 2. I read something like what epicboy said:
epicboy said:
As Woody already said, you should odin back to stock 2.1. From there root and go to Jellybean and then KitKat. I'd recommend you stay away from ports that are old and haven't been updated for a while. Not trying to say that the rom I built is the best or anything but so far I haven't ran into any issues and neither has anyone that's used SpiritRom. I say try Spirit Rom 1.5 combined with iyahman's semaphore kernel that was built using linaro 4.9 as it's been stable. If you still run into these issues again I think it may be some software that you use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried several JB ROMS listed on the Bible but, the problem was, I can't get into recovery - it was all 'blurry'. When I tried a different JB ROM, it also worked but was still 'blurry' during start up and on recovery. That's when I remembered Woody's post regarding rainbows and bootloaders.
DAY 3: For some reason, everything was flawless. I was able to install JB then KK. EFFORTLESSLY, if I may add.
@epicboy
I'm planning to spend a couple of days more on this Vibrant before I mess with my other phone - a knock-off SGS3. I was drawn to L-Droid because the screenshots and contents of page 1 of their thread was specifically for the T959 and not the I9000. I know it's not really a big deal because the ROM will work and changing the build.prop for 'cosmetic purposes is easy. What really concerns me is the camera. Sadly, the T959 only has only one camera and if the camera app that you're using (stock or otherwise) has a feature to switch from back-to-front and you accidentally press that, it messes it up to the point that you can't use it anymore. I have downloaded the ROM and will try it out in a couple of days. Will send you a PM or reply on the thread regarding my feedback. I've flashed it several times but really haven't been able to do it flawlessly like in DAY 3 - which I find really weird.
Tnx peeps!

[Q] Boot Loop - No Recovery

I've searched for hours for different solutions and have tried them all. I'm on my last leg, and I can't wrap my head around what is going on.
I'm running an S2 with ShoStock3 rom. It's been rooted for over a year now without any major hiccups at all. Last night, it froze on me. Usually when it does this, I just force-restart by holding the power button down until it cycles. Phone usually boots right back up, and I'm all set. This time it just stayed on the boot screen. For eternity. I let it sit like that for more than 45 min, and it never budged. Turn it off from the booth screen, it'll boot right back up. I can go into download mode, but not recovery, and every little trick I've tried works.
I've tried flashing new kernels with ODIN. Tried various recoveries, like Philz and even went as far as the one touch factory ROM and using the regular method for getting the stock ROM. Nothing. Maybe I'm doing something wrong. Most people who have this problem only recently added a new ROM or modified something. I haven't touched the ROM, kernel, etc. for over a year before this happened.
ODIN never makes it far when trying to flash anything. It depends on what is being flashed. It never gets past nand read/write. It never gets past boot.bin. It never gets past factory.img. Etc. Etc. I don't know if maybe something isn't going through between computer and phone, and that's why I'm not having success or what in the world is going on. Every tutorial or help I found confidently stated that all you have to do is flash this kernel, go to recovery, clear cache, and you're all set. But I feel like I'm the odd man out.
I'm afraid that this won't see much attentions, as the S2 is far from new, but like I said I am on my last leg. I just don't understand how it stops working from cycling power. I also don't understand how every attempt doesn't even scratch the surface. Any and all help will be greatly appreciated
The most basic step is to verify you're using the correct button combo to get into recovery: power+both volume keys, then release after the second Samsung logo.
SteveMurphy said:
The most basic step is to verify you're using the correct button combo to get into recovery: power+both volume keys, then release after the second Samsung logo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
^^ while the device is NOT USB connected to a computer.
Actually, you're lucky. This device is so popular, even though is it getting old, that there are still a handful of knowledgeable people hanging around.
You need to get into recovery. As Steve and Cyril have said, try the correct button combination, and post back here to verify that you are using the correct combo and that it will not go into recovery.
If you do get into recovery, perform a wipe data/factory reset and see if that gets your phone to boot into the system.
If you are unable to get into the recovery with the correct combo, then you may have one of several possible issues. The first possibility to troubleshoot is nand read/write corruption. Do the following:
Instructions to clear nand read/write corruption. Instructions are specific; do them in order, and don't skip.
Odin3 v1.85 is recommended.
1) Download the SBL Bootloader from the Download Repository. Flash it as PDA in ODIN, without ticking Re-Partitioning. (Please observe normal bootloader flashing caution.)
2) Download the Tar version of Siyah 2.6.14 Kernel. Flash it in PDA. Without ticking Re-Partitioning
3) Flash the Tar.md5 of the full stock Gingerbread distribution from the Download Repository, I777UCKH7 including the bootloaders and everything, in the PDA slot.
I have done the correct button combination for recovery, I promise you that. It brings up Samsung logo first, cuts off, and brings it up a second time, but releasing does nothing. I've tried it several times with different delays as well.
creepyncrawly said:
Instructions to clear nand read/write corruption. Instructions are specific; do them in order, and don't skip.
Odin3 v1.85 is recommended.
1) Download the SBL Bootloader from the Download Repository. Flash it as PDA in ODIN, without ticking Re-Partitioning. (Please observe normal bootloader flashing caution.)
2) Download the Tar version of Siyah 2.6.14 Kernel. Flash it in PDA. Without ticking Re-Partitioning
3) Flash the Tar.md5 of the full stock Gingerbread distribution from the Download Repository, I777UCKH7 including the bootloaders and everything, in the PDA slot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've actually tried this. On step one, it hangs up on "NAND Write Start!!", just like everything else that tries to get flashed.
To clarify, I should be flashing the I777 UCKH7 sbl.tar file, correct?
Luckily for me I qualified for a free upgrade from ATT for an S4, but I don't want to give up on this phone just yet. Especially with all of the data I have yet to recover from it.
XxArxAngelxX said:
I have done the correct button combination for recovery, I promise you that. It brings up Samsung logo first, cuts off, and brings it up a second time, but releasing does nothing. I've tried it several times with different delays as well.
I've actually tried this. On step one, it hangs up on "NAND Write Start!!", just like everything else that tries to get flashed.
To clarify, I should be flashing the I777 UCKH7 sbl.tar file, correct?
Luckily for me I qualified for a free upgrade from ATT for an S4, but I don't want to give up on this phone just yet. Especially with all of the data I have yet to recover from it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that is the correct secondary boot loader.
Next, you must assume that there is a connection problem between the phone and the computer. The micro usb port, the cable, the usb port on the computer and the computer itself are all possible weak links in the connection. So try different cables, different ports on the computer, escpecially one directly connected to the mother board, even try a different computer. You can not proceed until you can get the phone to receive a flash and pass. A few people have even reported that they finally were able to complete a flash just by trying repeatedly over and over until it finally passed.
creepyncrawly said:
Yes, that is the correct secondary boot loader.
Next, you must assume that there is a connection problem between the phone and the computer. The micro usb port, the cable, the usb port on the computer and the computer itself are all possible weak links in the connection. So try different cables, different ports on the computer, escpecially one directly connected to the mother board, even try a different computer. You can not proceed until you can get the phone to receive a flash and pass. A few people have even reported that they finally were able to complete a flash just by trying repeatedly over and over until it finally passed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried using different computer. Brand new cord. Multiple times tried. Different ports. I dunno, it's doing the same thing. It stops whenever it gets to NAND Write Start.
EDIT: Tried something I saw in another thread. Used stock binary with pit file. Never finished, so aborted it. Now phone doesn't come on at all for any reason whatsoever. -.- Pretty sure I fried it

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