[Q] Vibrant Data partition not formating/wiping - Vibrant Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi Guys,
I think the internal memory of my wifes phone is dead. Her phone all of the sudden turned off, then it was stuck in a bootloop. I tried to play back a nandroid backup but I always got an error message that the data partition was not being wiped... I used Odin then to flash back to stock and do a repartitioning of the phone. Odin works fine, then the phone reboots trying to apply the new rom, but it stops, telling me that the data partition again could not be formatted.
Is the nand-flash broken or is there a way to make it work? I can only use the download mode now, or use the regular 2e recovery... any tips are highly appreciated.

With the influx if new inexperienced vibe users I must ask, does your device have a stock front facing camera?
Paranoid, sitting in a deep sweat...

Lol,
no it does not, it is really the Vibrant T959 not the V not anything else. I am used to flash custom roms. It happened before, even playing Nandroid backups back, most of the time I had to do it twice, since data partition could not be mounted... 2nd try always worked and that was only for this specific phone. I simply guess the flash memory is corrupt...

We've seen some of this.. what rom was she on that fc'd and what rewrite odin files are you flashing? Are you familiar with the encryption Bug?

She was using the Passion Rom, v13.1 with Touchkernel 8.2 and the data.fix.
The phone had this problem like 3 times already. It simply shuts down, when you turn it back on, bootloop. Only thing that helped was playing a nandroid backup back. When doing this, nandroid already had problems mounting the data partition, so I had to flash it twice to go through.
This time, the 3rd time, the phone told me about a failed data encryption... this time, no nandroid backup is working, due to failing data partition.
When I Odin back to Elcair, I use the PIT file that comes with the AIO Toolbox and the Elcair Rom for Odin. I set the phone into download mode, Odin gets a connection to my phone. Then i select the PIT and PDA files, enable re-partition,autoreboot and F.reset time. I flash, everything works fine, Odin is done, the phone reboots, but then I get the red error message telling me that formatting the data partition did not work.
I did read about that ICS bug and about the workaround, but this kinda only works if you still have a working phone? Or did I get something wrong?

Yep. Sounds like EU bug. You'll find lots of info on that and things to try to get around it.
I'd go to Google and type in: XDA Samsung Vibrant encryption Unsuccessful and see what it brings up.
Happy trails and good luck!

Not sure if it is EU, sounds similar. Hers the work around guide
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=24418319
Paranoid, sitting in a deep sweat...

Related

[Q] Help with ODIN and flashing a rom

So I go through the whole ODIN process and everything works fine until my phone reboots and is supposed to wipe the data and flash the new rom. At that point the i get an error that says "data wipe failed". The phone just reboots and gets past the tmobile logo and the galaxy s logo and then to just a blank screen.
Why wont my data wipe?
Possibly you have a bad copy of the pit or jfd file or the drivers could be bad I would say get a flesh batch of files and drivers and try again
V5 custom vibrant
Odin back to stock and start from new, its alway better anyways
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
i am flashing the original stock firmware and i get that error.
Redownload all the files and try again
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Maybe I should elaborate.
I already had a rooted phone with a custom rom. I decided I wanted to partition the memory card so i could have a ext drive. The problem is that I assumed when I selected the "partition memory card" option, it would partition my replaceable memory card and not the internal card. Needless to say my internal memory card got formatted and my phone ****ed up. It still booted into android but most of my apps and other things were missing, so I decided to just reflash a new rom and be done with it. So i downloaded the new macnut r13 and rebooted my phone into the recovery menu from the reboot screen. Once there I selected to install the new rom but I got some kind of error and it couldn't install. At that point my phone woudlnt get past the vibrant stage if rebooted so I just decided to odin back to factory and start over and that is where I am now.
I am using ODIN files I have used in the past and know work.
I will post a video of what I am talking about in a few minutes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Vhp1B3g_2w
Here it is.
Ok, so I know that adb works now, i Have been trying a few things but I think my problem is that I need to reformat my internal sd card back to factory settings.
my question is how to do that with adb
Ok I dont really know how to reformat the sd card back to stock but I used to get that error every time when flashing back to stock with odin until I used eugenes no brick rom. Have you tried that?
No, I thought you could only use that if you didn't have 2.2 already installed at soe point.
I had axura 2.2 and I had to still flash eugenes no brick to go back to stock. I would try that.
So I tried the eugene's rom and it works at least some what.
I can boot into android but now it says I have no storage for apps and 14 gigs of storage on the phone. So I still have the partitioning issues.
Thanks for the help so far but I still need a little bit more.
anybody got anything?
Once you get to the point where your on eugenes froyo that doesn't brick you have to reload odin and then go back to stock with the jfd or ji6 files and the 512 pit file
V5 custom vibrant
I tried that and I still get the same problem, the data fails to wipe during the ODIN and I get a black screen after the galaxy s logo.
I went back to the no brick rom but I have no storage for apps so I am very limited to what I can do on the phone.
anybody, anything?
When you flash with ODIN make sure re-partition is checked. I have never seen this issue before but I think that should take care of it. From what I gather, you removed the /data partition so it fails to format the /data partition because there isn't one. Hope this helps. Lemme know if it works. Gdluck
same problem, still happens
I installed the clockwork recovery mod on my phone and boot into it. Once there i went into the partitions menu to try and format my "data" partition and it couldn't find it for me.
So it looks like my problem is more than likely the missing data partition on my phone, Does anyone know how to use ADB to fix that?
Here is a video of the ODIN process
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYNUgYlg5IA

Phone flashes files but is still on older version

A friend of mine sent me his SGS2 which has some strange issue that happened after trying to root and/or simunlock. (not sure what caused this issue).
The phone has stock rom (Telcel Mexico) and is rooted, has CWM and boots properly, but two issues happen:
* Each time your reboot it kind of "factory resets", deleting wifi networks, apps, settings, etc.
* If you flash anything, it succeeds apparently but after rebooting it's still on the same ROM/kernel versions it was before flashing. NO ERRORS. This applies for Odin, with CWM, I have tried installing CM7 and CM9 roms (downloaded 2-3 times) and all say "Can't open /sdcard............./....zip (bad)"
I was hoping that following this thread would help:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1457458
However, even flashing the bootloader makes no difference. The count on download mode is stuck on 2 no matter if I install ROMs, kernels, bootloader, etc.
Edit: what's even wirder, I put my microSD card in the phone and it formatted it and replaced my content with my friend's last snapshot. How can such a thing happen? It's as if the phone was locked into some strange "restore" mode...
What can I do with this? I feel kind of stuck with this situation... Have not found any information so far...
Regards
there was similar thread some time ago, it seemedvthat I think the whole system was read only, I'll try to search a bit for that
EDIT: I could't find it but try to mount system and data and stuff in cwm and then tey to flash aome rom, then unmount (I'm not pro but this is what I would try)
Sent from my sgs2 running cm9
Well,
I think the FS mounting issue would work with cwm installable roms, but if I have reinstalled everything from odin, even the bootloader, isn't it strange in that way? I also don't understand why rebooting the phone even rewrites an SD card.
Even the counter on the download mode is stuck on 2, no matter how many times I flash a kernel, rom, bootloader. Odin always reports a successfull upload...
Yep, thag sd card thingy is pretty weird and I have no ide what's causing that.
Sent from my sgs2 running cm9
Well,
I have researched a bit more and found this for the Nexus S:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=993403
This phone has exactly the same symptoms, but as the yellow triangle is on and it always boots into a rooted version, I would like to see if I can do anything so the phone can be sent back for warranty...
Any thoughts?
If you can .
Clean Slate for those that balls up the firmware .Or need to return to service or decide if its hardware/firmware problem .
Backup data first if phone is working .
Boot CWM recovery
Mounts and Storage
Format cache data system sd card .
Remove battery
Boot to download mode
Open Odin
Install correct stock firmware .
Still problems use usb jig to set rom counter to zero .
Return to service centre .
Well,
Have tried everything, but no success. This is really weird, it's as if the whole phone had a backup and restores to this point on every reboot including sd card. Every odin flash comes out as "succeed", but nothing changes.
Will try to build a usb jig and test if it at least gets rid of the yellow triangle. I also can't flash anything via CWM as somehow the memory is "locked"... An external SD card is overwritten if inserted...
Regards

I think I killed my phone...

I have a Galaxy S 2, I777 from AT&T. I had been running UnNamed 2.0 for a while. I started messing around with different modem files trying to get my data rate a little higher. When those failed to work, I decided to go back to stock and start from scratch. This is where my trouble begins:
I flashed with ATTGalaxyS2Unroot_SGH-i777.tar using Odin 1.85. I've used that before and all was well. After this flash, I'm stuck in a boot loop. The galaxy s 2 logo just keeps recycling.
I have tried a lot of other items I've found on here in various threads about getting out of a boot loop, but have not been successful. I was able to get to the stock recovery mode, chose to wipe user data and did the "yes I'm sure" option. The phone rebooted and I have not been able to get back to it. When it tries, I get in yellow "deleting cryption meta data" and then the phone reboots.
My last attempt was flashing with i777uckh7-cl503881 full. Odin writes everything, says pass and the phone reboots. After it restarts, it quickly goes through some items:
-- Intalling package...
Finding update package...
Opening update package...
Verifying update package...
Installing update...
Successfuly installed package...
-- Copying media files...
successfully copied meida files (yes, media is misspelled on the screen)
-- Wiping cache...
Formatting /cache...
Cache wipe complete.
--Updating application...
Successfully updated application.
--Appling Multi-CSC...(again yes, applying is mispelled on the screen)
installing Multi-CSC
Can't access to '/system/csc/02U/system/'.
Successfully applied multi-CSC
Rebooting.
then I get the boot loop all over again. I am still able to get to download mode using the volume button, and my jig still boots to download mode too, so I think there's still hope, but I don't know what to do next.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
The "deleting cryption meta data" error has been a particularly difficult one to get out of. I only remember seeing one person solve the problem, and I believe that the solution was to flash the siyah kernel. But you may find more details if you search on "deleting cryption meta data xda" or possibly "deleting cryption meta data siyah" as keywords.
Creepyncrawly:
Thank you for your post. I didn't find anything searching for that, but, I downloaded and flashed siyah kernel and was able to get to a recovery mode.
I am now restoring the nandroid backup that I made (luckily I was smart enough to do that) before I started messing with modems and stuff.
We'll see how this goes
you sir are a life saver. I was able to restore the nand backup and boot into the os again.
creepyncrawly said:
The "deleting cryption meta data" error has been a particularly difficult one to get out of. I only remember seeing one person solve the problem, and I believe that the solution was to flash the siyah kernel. But you may find more details if you search on "deleting cryption meta data xda" or possibly "deleting cryption meta data siyah" as keywords.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think (but I'm not sure), but any custom kernel with CWM should be able to do this... It's only the stock kernel that has a recovery which does anything when device encryption is found.
Entropy512 said:
I think (but I'm not sure), but any custom kernel with CWM should be able to do this... It's only the stock kernel that has a recovery which does anything when device encryption is found.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did not think of that, but it makes sense now. At the time, I figured I would stop and get help before I made it worse. Why I didn't restore to my backup to begin with is beyond me.
Do you think I could return to stock now, or is it more of a "once you have this problem you always have it" type thing? I'm going to leave it as is for now because it seems to be working fine. There may come a day though when I need to return to stock.
For those who are experiencing the "Deleting Cryption Meta Data" problem, creepyncrawly is correct, it is difficult to solve, but the following steps seem to solve it reliably:
Download and install the I777UCKH7-CL503881 Stock Binaries from creepyncrawly's download repository. Use heimdall or odin to load the stock binaries. You may need to load the param.lfs and/or the bootloaders. However, it may work without loading these files (and loading the bootloaders can be in the "danger zone")*.
With the stock binaries installed, the device will be in a boot loop, and entering recovery mode will either indicate that the device is installing CSC (unsuccessfully), or indicate that it is "Deleting Cryption Meta Data". In either case, you will be unable to actually access anything in the recovery.
In order to get to a working recovery, load the SGH-I777_ClockworkMod-Recovery_5.0.2.3. You'll need to untar this file to get to the zImage kernel file*.
With the CWM kernel installed, you should be able to actually enter recovery mode by holding down Volume Up + Volume Down + Power until the Samsung logo appears for a second time. Note: In this version of CWM recovery, the home button is the 'select' button and the power button acts as the back button. This is different than most versions of CWM.
Using the recovery run both clear data/factory rest and format sd card (in mounts and storage).
Finally, install the Siyah Kernel, using either heimdall* or CWM.
At this point, the phone should be restored, and you can re-flash the I777UCKH7-CL503881 stock kernel (on any other compatible kernel).
onecoolpilot said:
Do you think I could return to stock now, or is it more of a "once you have this problem you always have it" type thing? I'm going to leave it as is for now because it seems to be working fine. There may come a day though when I need to return to stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can re-flash any kernel you like.
Thanks everyone who directed me to the steps for solving this problem!
* To load these kernel files, put the phone in ODIN mode by holding down the "Volume Down" button while the phone is connected to USB. Use either the ODIN or Heimdall tool to actually flash the device. See this post for complete instructions on flashing the files.
I've followed these directions multiple times but I can't seem to get past the Rethink Possible screen.
Steps I have taken:
Flashed full binaries
Went back into download mode with no reboot and flashed CWM (listed above)
Went straight into CWM
Wiped Data
Formatted SD
Flashed Siyah via CWM
Rebooted
Saw I was stuck at Rethink Possible
Cussed
I seem to get stuck at the boot screen on ANY Gingerbread rom I flash. I can flash ICS roms and they boot successfully. However, my device has the 0x19 FW bug and I would like to not make it a paperweight.
Red_81 said:
I've followed these directions multiple times but I can't seem to get past the Rethink Possible screen.
Steps I have taken:
Flashed full binaries
Went back into download mode with no reboot and flashed CWM (listed above)
Went straight into CWM
Wiped Data
Formatted SD
Flashed Siyah via CWM
Rebooted
Saw I was stuck at Rethink Possible
Cussed
I seem to get stuck at the boot screen on ANY Gingerbread rom I flash. I can flash ICS roms and they boot successfully. However, my device has the 0x19 FW bug and I would like to not make it a paperweight.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is this the "Oh crap its stuck in a bootloop I'll sell it cheap on eBay" SGII that you bought on ebay for cheap, or a different phone?
Do you know the history of this phone? Knowing it can help with troubleshooting.
Did you ever see the "Deleting cryption meta data" error message?
As far as having vulnerability to the eMMC firmware bug, you are safe as long as you don't use the buggy kernel, which is pretty much out of the picture by now.
LOL, you read my other post. It is one and the same. The standard story from the seller. "I gave it to my Brother in Law and now it is like this." He stated it did boot properly before. Liquid indicator checks out (haven't pulled the back off to check the full indicator).
I don't get the "Deleting cryption meta data" but I do get the "multi-csc error". Wiping data doesn't seem to take care of that one.
It's really odd because I can flash ICS roms with no problems, but the GB ones stick at the bootscreen every time. Even CM7 stuck there.
I may have to try to rule out hardware damage at this point
OK, so you don't really know exactly what was done to the phone. I wouldn't rule out hardware damage, but I seriously doubt it, at least let's assume that there is some explanation in firmware. Really, the only things that could be wrong:
bootloaders
param.lfs
partitioning
Which stock package did you flash, the one from the return to stock guide (that doesn't have bootloaders, etc.) or the one from the Download Repository that does have bootloaders?
And where exactly is the phone right now firmware wise?
creepyncrawly said:
OK, so you don't really know exactly what was done to the phone. I wouldn't rule out hardware damage, but I seriously doubt it, at least let's assume that there is some explanation in firmware. Really, the only things that could be wrong:
bootloaders
param.lfs
partitioning
Which stock package did you flash, the one from the return to stock guide (that doesn't have bootloaders, etc.) or the one from the Download Repository that does have bootloaders?
And where exactly is the phone right now firmware wise?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The one from the repository with bootloaders. I tried the one without bootloaders first, but it did not fix it.
Currently I flashed over to ShoStock2. However, I'm getting alot of problems on that too (Com.android.phone not responding).
I can try to flash back to stock at any moment because I have no data on the phone.
I did try using the latest version of Heimdall, but it kept crashing at 42% (from what I read that is a known bug)
So the one thing you have not tried is flashing PIT? I wouldn't try that next if it was my phone, however, since it is the area I know the least about. There is not a whole lot of information available about using PIT with the I777 (as in nothing I could find).
The behavior of flashing to ICS and running OK but bootlooping on Gingerbread is new to me.
If you have a jig, does the jig boot the phone to download mode?
The phone should be recoverable. If it was mine, I would start by flashing the full stock package with bootloaders and param.lfs again. Then wipe data/factory reset from 3e recovery. Then flash the Gingerbread Siyah kernel. And then wipe data/factory reset from CWM Recovery.
Actually, I thought I typed that before.
I did flash the PIT file at one point out of desperation.
I have a jig that works beautifully (wipes the counter too) and has been a big help through this whole thing. That tells me I should at least have the correct bootloaders.
Do I need to let it attempt to boot between each flash or just go directly one to the other?
After a little Google, I think your phone has a problem with efs, corrupted or some such. Read this.
creepyncrawly said:
After a little Google, I think your phone has a problem with efs, corrupted or some such. Read this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually found and tried that a few days ago. Never got that error message before. But I flashed the repair anyway. No change.
I did manage to just let the phone run for a while and all the process error messages went away, but the dialer refuses to start. I also noticed I don't think I'm getting any sound out of the earpiece.
I think I'm going to have to take the back off to check for water damage and to make sure they didn't bleach the dot.
I'll attempt to do some more flashing later tonight if the wife lets me.
Under normal circumstances, if you get the multi csc error after flashing back to stock, a wipe data/factory reset will clear it, and it will boot successfully.
creepyncrawly said:
Under normal circumstances, if you get the multi csc error after flashing back to stock, a wipe data/factory reset will clear it, and it will boot successfully.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol. Under normal circumstances indeed. I appreciate all the help so far. I wonder if there is something borked with the chip.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA
Not sure if it helps much since you said you think the correct bootloaders are there but I had the exact same problem as you a couple months back. Like an idiot I flashed the original "one click" ATT ICS leak from Rootzwiki that updated my bootloaders. After this attempting to go back to CM7 resulted in me soft bricking the phone. The ONLY rom that would flash and work was that same ICS one click. Everything else Odin just failed on. Eventually I managed to get the complete stock GB back on it by flashing the full package in creepys guide several times. I gave up on Odin on my pc and had to remove Kies from my Mac so Heimdall would work but it flashed finally and I was saved. If you search through my posts here and find that thread maybe there's something in there that will help cause it sounds like you're having a bootloader issue like I did..
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using Tapatalk
Thanks. I'll take a look.
On a side note.... I can't get any sound from the device. I'm thinking now that it might be hardware related.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda premium

[Q] Encryption prevents custom ROMs being used

OK so let me start off with, great site. I have read a ton of information.
First: Siyah 4.3.3 (Latest) Kernel which now has been put to AJK v1.48s
ROM; SHOstock3 v2.5.9
PreMod Settings: SGS2 AT&T SGH-i777. Started with GB > AT&T OTA (KIES) 4.0.3 > AT&T OTA WIFI 4.0.4 (caused huge freaking headaches with battery, charging, turn off the phone loop, battery draining, etc.)
Issues:
Original Issue posted in this thread (viewing Single Post) http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=39350619&postcount=18
Creepy offered something to try. That never worked as all I was able to do was download mode or stare at the Samsung Galaxy S2 Splash Screen. Well, I took to his download repository and other links and used his One-Click Recovery to stock GB Rom to make part of my phone usable, using this link here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=18859438&postcount=199
While it is Gingerbread at least my phone is usable. I want to try his STOCK ICS method but that mentions the eMMC super-brick bug.
So this is what I have tried so far. I have tried installing Siyah 4.3.3 nomswap for my kernel using Mobil-Odin Lite. That works but it never reboots or actually says finished. What it does do is stay at the wicked purple splash with the yin yang symbol. I left it like that last night until I woke up this morning and it never changed. So I rebooted the phone and the Kernel is on there. I reboot into recovery so that I can install SHOstock3 v2.5.9. That goes off flawlessly except here the last few times it won't reboot when I go to the GO BACK. It sticks and doesn't do anything. Rebooting shows the SHOstock3 Engine Boot Animation. Once it stops it goes to ask me for the encryption password. Well I put in my password (was the same one to the unlock screen) and it reboots and you see the nifty Samsung animation logo and then goes to the Samsung Galaxy S2 Animation Logo and then just stays there. It really pisses me off.
So after all that I finally put a new Kernel on there,AJK 1,48s. Pretty cool it loads up and then reboots. Well AJK shows up after the light-blue bar fills up and then goes black and the 4 touch sensitive row keys are lit up for a bit before going dark but the phone is still on. So I rebooted to recovery (CWM now with the Kernel) fixed tweaks, went to advanced and saw all sorts of options. Tried clearing caches for ROM 2 and restarting,no effect. I removed ROM 2 and went through reboot and nothing. Restored ROM 2 and nothing. Re installed SHOstock3 v2.5.9. Did the same thing after install and not backing out when I hit GO BACK. Rebooted, same scenario that happened before with requiring password. Entering password does the same thing with a reboot and then staying on Samsung Splash Screen. If I Don't enter the password and reboot,same thing happens. So after being irritated and pissed off I ran Creepy's One-Click Fix again and paid attention to the phone and noticed it mentioned not being able to access the AT&T section or partition or something like that. So while part of my phone works under normal circumstances I want to figure out how to remove that encryption part of the phone and get full access (even though full memory and space are shown under Windows 7 and the files on the phone). The password I put on there isn't taking and I don't know if using PC methods for removing encryption (which could take awhile I know) needs to be employed (and if so which methods) or if that part is just screwed and I can't put on any other kernels or custom ROMs. Perhaps tell me where I messed up. Should I try swapping the ROMs from Advanced setting in CWM Recovery? Can I try a different ROM (kernel didn't seem to help)? I have done several factory resets dalvik cache wipes cache wipes formats,etc. and it is still there. I can say that before the whole encryption debacle (even though I was encrypted I did get in my phone after encrypting it) my pin unlock for my SIM wouldn't work and I actually SIM locked my phone. Had to go to AT&T and get a new SIM and was up and running. I put a 4 digit pin lock for the SIM (it let me do it) and when I went to unlock it after a reboot, it wanted an 8 pin for the PUK and wouldn't take what I put. I tried to change the PIN but to no avail. Once that happened I guess it snowballed. Any help is appreciated. I have searched and tried some things that looked to match my issue but none have totally helped. I do have ADB set up on my wife's laptop which I use to restore my phone to GB Stock ROM. I haven't been able to reboot the phone into Bootloader to do any fastboot commands as when I tried to do it the commands just sent the phone into normal reboot (though adb reboot recovery does boot to recovery). I Haven't tried booting to the bootloader using the new Kernel though so I will wait for confirmation or additional information before I try. Thanks guys.
Eagle
Couple of comments. Siyah 4.3.3 (and ajk) kernels are for 4.x ICS and JB so that explains why your stock Gingerbread system would not flash after you installed it. If you flash back to stock Gingerbread again, and then flash a custom kernel, use a kernel that is compatible with Gingerbread if you want to boot the system.
After doing a little research, it seems that a wipe data/factory reset will not clear the encryption, but a format data will. This information is not from a Samsung forum; it's from the Droid DNA forum. I'm thinking that the same thing may apply to the I777. See the thread here.
It might be worth a try anyway. Flash stock plus root Gingerbread, install mobile odin or mobile odin lite, and use it to flash Siyah 2.6.14. Boot into recovery and go to the Mounts and Storage section. There you can format data, (and all the other partitions, separately.)
creepyncrawly said:
Couple of comments. Siyah 4.3.3 (and ajk) kernels are for 4.x ICS and JB so that explains why your stock Gingerbread system would not flash after you installed it. If you flash back to stock Gingerbread again, and then flash a custom kernel, use a kernel that is compatible with Gingerbread if you want to boot the system.
After doing a little research, it seems that a wipe data/factory reset will not clear the encryption, but a format data will. This information is not from a Samsung forum; it's from the Droid DNA forum. I'm thinking that the same thing may apply to the I777. See the thread here.
It might be worth a try anyway. Flash stock plus root Gingerbread, install mobile odin or mobile odin lite, and use it to flash Siyah 2.6.14. Boot into recovery and go to the Mounts and Storage section. There you can format data, (and all the other partitions, separately.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much creepy. I will give that a try later and see how it goes. I hope the information I gave actually gives enough info. I know folks usually want enough. Ill post back my findings.
Eagle
quick follow up and what I tried
creepyncrawly said:
Couple of comments. Siyah 4.3.3 (and ajk) kernels are for 4.x ICS and JB so that explains why your stock Gingerbread system would not flash after you installed it. If you flash back to stock Gingerbread again, and then flash a custom kernel, use a kernel that is compatible with Gingerbread if you want to boot the system.
After doing a little research, it seems that a wipe data/factory reset will not clear the encryption, but a format data will. This information is not from a Samsung forum; it's from the Droid DNA forum. I'm thinking that the same thing may apply to the I777. See the thread here.
It might be worth a try anyway. Flash stock plus root Gingerbread, install mobile odin or mobile odin lite, and use it to flash Siyah 2.6.14. Boot into recovery and go to the Mounts and Storage section. There you can format data, (and all the other partitions, separately.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey Creepy, I have a quick follow up and want to tell you what I have tried.
So I had already used Kies to move to AT&T v 4.0.4 ICS on my phone when I read your post. Rather than flashback again to GB I went ahead and put Siyah 4.3.3 on my phone. Went great, rebooted and installed quick and everything. Well I rebooted into recovery and went to mounts and storage and formatted the data and all that there and even formatted the secondrom data and all that. Did it a couple times to make sure everything was clean and good to go. Even put AJKs kernel on there after I ran the cleanrom script and it went flawlessly. I did factory resets and wipes and all that and installed SHOstock3 v2.5.9 and started up great. Well it got past the animation and the damn Password for encryption popped up. Well I put the wrong password in and it rebooted without the SAMSUNG screen and went through the boot ani and back to the password for encryption screen. I put the right password in, it reboots and you see the Samsung logo flash quickly and then it sticks on the Samsung Galaxy S2 Splash screen. I don't know what is holding it up from going forward unless when I messed up the first go around and it deleted everything if it didn't take out the bootload command or what have you. So I don't know if this idea will work but I am going to flashback to GB and put the siyah version on there that you linked and see if that will work.
One tihng, when Iencrypted the device the first go round, I onlydid the used data and area not the whole thing. Is this affecting it somehow? Any other ideas to try? I figured a full data format would remove the encryption but it never pops up saying all encryption will be removed. What I need is access to that area of the phone if I could just mount it on the computer. Is it possible after formatting the data, or before, that I should mount internal USB, DATA, etc and try another format/wipe or at least mount them to see if they can be used? Thanks for the help. For anyone else viewing this post (which actually is a lot) any help or ideas are appreciated. I am thinking I may need to format everything and get ahold of Samsung to see if they will reset my phone for me. I just wonder if the PIN lock on my SIM card that got locked when it wouldn't take my PIN didn't mess something up as well.
Eagle
WarEagleUS said:
Hey Creepy, I have a quick follow up and want to tell you what I have tried.
So I had already used Kies to move to AT&T v 4.0.4 ICS on my phone when I read your post. Rather than flashback again to GB I went ahead and put Siyah 4.3.3 on my phone. Went great, rebooted and installed quick and everything. Well I rebooted into recovery and went to mounts and storage and formatted the data and all that there and even formatted the secondrom data and all that. Did it a couple times to make sure everything was clean and good to go. Even put AJKs kernel on there after I ran the cleanrom script and it went flawlessly. I did factory resets and wipes and all that and installed SHOstock3 v2.5.9 and started up great. Well it got past the animation and the damn Password for encryption popped up. Well I put the wrong password in and it rebooted without the SAMSUNG screen and went through the boot ani and back to the password for encryption screen. I put the right password in, it reboots and you see the Samsung logo flash quickly and then it sticks on the Samsung Galaxy S2 Splash screen. I don't know what is holding it up from going forward unless when I messed up the first go around and it deleted everything if it didn't take out the bootload command or what have you. So I don't know if this idea will work but I am going to flashback to GB and put the siyah version on there that you linked and see if that will work.
One tihng, when Iencrypted the device the first go round, I onlydid the used data and area not the whole thing. Is this affecting it somehow? Any other ideas to try? I figured a full data format would remove the encryption but it never pops up saying all encryption will be removed. What I need is access to that area of the phone if I could just mount it on the computer. Is it possible after formatting the data, or before, that I should mount internal USB, DATA, etc and try another format/wipe or at least mount them to see if they can be used? Thanks for the help. For anyone else viewing this post (which actually is a lot) any help or ideas are appreciated. I am thinking I may need to format everything and get ahold of Samsung to see if they will reset my phone for me. I just wonder if the PIN lock on my SIM card that got locked when it wouldn't take my PIN didn't mess something up as well.
Eagle
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Should I try TWRP instead of CWM and if so where should I grab it from?
Status Update
So this is what I have tried so far as of this moment.
I reflashed using your Stock + Root Gingerbread ROM.
Wiped DATA and everything in recovery menu several times.
Used Kernel Wipe and ROM Nuke for extra cleaning power.
Reinstalled the Kernel AJK and SHOstock3 ROM
Haven't installed any themes though I had Johns Blue and Villians Poison Base Theme (I believe that is what it is) on there when this all went down. Should I put them back on there?
Password still pops up. So what it looks like is that unless I stick with the unencrypted portion of the phone, I am screwed with any custom ROMs as the correct password has the phone restart and then stick at the Samsung Galaxy S2 Splash Screen. Apparently I still cannot access that area of the phones memory to wipe it at all no matter what I do. I need to access it somehow. Really driving me crazy and thinking I may need to talk with AT&T(as Samsung told me to earlier this morning lol) and see what they can do.
One thing I do notice is when I use your stock root program it actually removes the encryption or decrypts the section of the phone for the stock ROM to go on the phone which is cool.
Eagle
Any other things to try from anyone is greatly appreciated.
Been away all day. Sorry, I can't offer any other suggestions, but I have no experience with encryption. As you said, what you need to know is where the encryption is stored in memory so you can wipe or format that and restore it to original. If you can get to the right person, probably not level 1 tech support, then maybe you can find out. Somebody somewhere knows the answer to this.
would restoring my original EFS before this whole process help or is the encryption section totally blocked off?
WarEagleUS said:
would restoring my original EFS before this whole process help or is the encryption section totally blocked off?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have no idea whether the encryption is stored there. What kind of efs backup did you take?
creepyncrawly said:
Been away all day. Sorry, I can't offer any other suggestions, but I have no experience with encryption. As you said, what you need to know is where the encryption is stored in memory so you can wipe or format that and restore it to original. If you can get to the right person, probably not level 1 tech support, then maybe you can find out. Somebody somewhere knows the answer to this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thx bro. yeah I need to run some forensic tools and see if I can mount the whole phone system on my PC and run the tools.
creepyncrawly said:
I have no idea whether the encryption is stored there. What kind of efs backup did you take?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
a full efs backup. I made two or three actuakky using advanced efs, nitrality, and recovery.
WarEagleUS said:
a full efs backup. I made two or three actuakky using advanced efs, nitrality, and recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A little research indicates that there is quite a bit of stuff stored in efs besides carrier specific data. So maybe encryption could be in there. Of those tools, nitrality for sure and maybe advanced efs should be able to restore the entire efs partition. If you are comfortable with the risk - a damaged efs would render the phone useless - then you might try this to see if it clears up the encryption issue. BTW, you should learn how to back up the efs partition yourself using terminal and linux commands.
creepyncrawly said:
A little research indicates that there is quite a bit of stuff stored in efs besides carrier specific data. So maybe encryption could be in there. Of those tools, nitrality for sure and maybe advanced efs should be able to restore the entire efs partition. If you are comfortable with the risk - a damaged efs would render the phone useless - then you might try this to see if it clears up the encryption issue. BTW, you should learn how to back up the efs partition yourself using terminal and linux commands.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I should have used ADB to do that from the get go. I should have used the wife's laptop like I started to instead of my WIN 8 machine has it seems to be finicky with Android SDK (the portion at least needed to run ADB). Linux commands really aren't much different than terminal and I have done both. I was actually trying to get fastboot commands to work but my bootloader wasn't cooperating and for the life of me I couldn't find how to unlock it. I may try restoring that EFS. If nothing else I would love to be able to format that EFS and replace it with my original copy though as you said a damaged EFS may actually cause issues (who knows if it is damaged). I do know that I am fixing to chat with AT&T support. I hope I don't have to drive down to Hoover, AL to the repair facility. I would rather them send me a phone and send this one back. I am on stock 4.0.4 ICS from AT&T and any root that may be on there (though I doubt there is now) I can remove and what not
Thanks for the advice and insight Creepy. I know you tried like hell to get me an answer but in doing research on here with other problems I found out some useful information going forward my friend.
Eagle
Well, looks like I will be getting a special early upgrade and the wife will as well. I will be keeping this phone, however, to mess with this and see if I cannot get this problem fixed. Thanks Creepy so much. I appreciate your research and help more than you know. If possible I would love to keep this thread open for a while just in case I figure this out and fix the issue. It may take me a week or so but I will get back to messing with it again.
A side note. You don't need the whole sdk to get adb. You can download just the files you need from my signature.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda premium

Have I bricked my phone? (I9300)

I've been using CM13 on my phone for a long while, but it was heavily bugged (my camera kept crashing, I've kept losing cell reception, couldn't receive calls etc), so I finally decided to try another ROM. I've heard good things about ResurrectionRemix ROMs, so I've decided to give it a try. I did factory reset and wiped cache (using CWM 6. something) and flashed RR 7.1 along with the appropriate gapps and rebooted the phone. It's worth noting that I've put the ROM and Gapps zip files on USB stick and connected it to the phone via micro USB cable. It all went smoothly, and the phone booted right up. However, once I got into the startup setting and choosing the language suddenly it just rebooted all on its own. Same thing happened 2 more times, and I got stuck in a bootloop after that.
So I figured I should flash another ROM, and I wanted to give RR 6.0 a try. I've downloaded it and saved it to my USB stick, however, when I tried to flash any zip files from my stick, it just kept randomly unmounting, disrupting the process, giving me "USBdisc0 idle-unmounted" message. Since I don't have an SD card, only thing I could do was push files to my phone, and I've managed to do so via Quick ADB Pusher. This time, flashing went without a hitch, however, I've tried cleaning my phone completely (formatting all the data and system files), and I think I messed it up a bit when I did that, since I didn't flash SuperSU along with ROP and gapps. Again, I got stuck in a bootloop without any signs of the ROM working.
So I decided to flash CM13 again. At least I was sure it was working on my phone, and I figured it was better to have a crappy phone than no phone at all. So I pushed the CM13 file onto the phone and flashed it, but still got stuck in bootloop. I finally remembered about SuperSU and tried to flash it too, but now my phone kept restarting in the middle of the flashing process. I've tried doing the factory reset and cache wipe, but I can't flash any files now without it restarting only few seconds into the process.
I have no idea what's going on, but seems that my phone is doing worse and worse as time moves on. At least I can still boot into recovery and download mode, so (hopefully) something can still be done. As it's probably painfully obvious, I'm not too knowledgeable about this stuff, I'm just following instructions people smarter than me put out, but seems I've messed it up good this time. Am I beyond help?
Try to download newest firmware from sanmobile.com and flash it with odin. Then root it make backup flash recovery and flash rom that you choose with recovery. There are lots of tutorials here on xda and on youtube. Just remember that flashing stock firmware with odin will delete all of your data so try to back them up somehow (i think that if you boot phone in recovery (twrp) the pc will see it like a pendrive)
Sirius8 said:
...
As it's probably painfully obvious, I'm not too knowledgeable about this stuff, I'm just following instructions people smarter than me put out, but seems I've messed it up good this time. Am I beyond help?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TBH you made the mistake many beginners make... Going ahead too fast with insufficient knowledge. But never too late to learn that lesson
Since you are getting more and more confused and your phone seems acting strange I recommend starting from scratch an be analytic about it. This will take just a few minutes more but you can be sure where a problem comes from.
First of all: Take 30 minutes to get acquainted with the basics and read through the first thread in my signature (just do it...)
If you can still get in download mode, get your latest stock rom e.g. from sammobile.com and flash it via ODIN. Run stock for a few minutes to see if everything works correctly (test camera, outgoing/incoming calls, mobile data, wifi, gps etc.). If something does not work STOP HERE and report back.
If all is fine go back to ODIN and install latest TWRP (cwm is seriously outdated, can cause lots of errors). Then boot into TWRP and flash whatever custom rom you like. If you install e.g. LOS 14.1 or RR 7.1.1 make sure you install gapps direcly after you flash the rom (do not reboot in between).
Any questions pop up: Shoot. I'm happy to help.
---------- Post added at 04:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:42 PM ----------
McXred said:
Try to download newest firmware from sanmobile.com and flash it with odin. Then root it make backup flash recovery and flash rom that you choose with recovery. There are lots of tutorials here on xda and on youtube. Just remember that flashing stock firmware with odin will delete all of your data so try to back them up somehow (i think that if you boot phone in recovery (twrp) the pc will see it like a pendrive)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since he already wiped system and data there is no point in a backup of those partitions. Only thing worth saving would be the efs partition.
And you don't need to root stock rom to go further...
If you are unrooted you have to REMOVE the "auto-reboot" checkmark in odin options and then - after the flash of twrp - reboot to recovery (TWRP) manually via holding Power+Home+VolUp for a few seconds.
If you do not uncheck that "auto-reboot" box, an thus allow the unrooted system (stock samsung system) to boot, it will overwrite the new twrp recovery you flashed 2 seconds before...
This is the point where I believe many confusion comes from. If you root first, any recovery you flash will not be overwritten. That is - I think - why many tutorials/tips say you must root stock first before installing a custom rom, which is simply not true.
But you are right that it would help to flash TWRP fist as outlined above, boot into it and make a backup to a microSD card... but of the efs partition (!) as the very first step. Then keep that backup safe and go from there with stock rom, testing for any problems.
So to reiterate the steps I would go:
1) Flash TWRP via odin and boot directly into it
2) Backup efs partition to a microSD card
3) Flash stock rom via ODIN and test
4) Go from there / report baback
Thank you so much for the replies guys, I'm glad there's still hope for my trusty SIII.
Are there any alternatives for sammobile.com though, since it requires premium account for the firmware I need. I've found another mirror on the site mrcrab.net/stockrom/2444.html (mirror 1 leads to sammobile.com, while mirror 2 leads directly to rapidgator), but can I trust it not to mess my phone up further?
Try updato.com for the firmware.
Hawaiihemd said:
If you can still get in download mode, get your latest stock rom e.g. from sammobile.com and flash it via ODIN. Run stock for a few minutes to see if everything works correctly (test camera, outgoing/incoming calls, mobile data, wifi, gps etc.). If something does not work STOP HERE and report back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've manage to flash stock ROM via Odin, however, as soon as the phone booted up it gave me the "low battery" message, even though I think there was plenty of battery left. But I figured the flashing process must have drained it. As I've tried to tap the OK button, the screen just froze and remained frozen for over 5 minutes. I took battery out and reinserted it, since nothing else worked, and got stuck in bootloop again, just as before flashing stock firmware.
Sirius8 said:
I've manage to flash stock ROM via Odin, however, as soon as the phone booted up it gave me the "low battery" message, even though I think there was plenty of battery left. But I figured the flashing process must have drained it. As I've tried to tap the OK button, the screen just froze and remained frozen for over 5 minutes. I took battery out and reinserted it, since nothing else worked, and got stuck in bootloop again, just as before flashing stock firmware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try to charge phone without turning it on, when it says its fully charged try to flash it again.
McXred said:
Try to charge phone without turning it on, when it says its fully charged try to flash it again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good idea. I would also keep it on the charger while booting.
This could be a symptom of a defective battery. So these steps might help.
Looks like you were right guys. I've recharged the battery and tried to flash the stock firmware again, but for some odd reason (it seems like I can't do the same thing twice with this phone ) Odin was giving me grief and couldn't establish proper connection with my phone, even though it recognized it at the beginning of the process. I've tried changing cables and ports, but with no avail.
After I gave that up, I tried booting the phone up anyway, but keeping it plugged in the charger this time. It booted right up, but I expected it to crash and reboot at any moment. So I sped up through the settings a and login processes, but it still worked like a charm. I've checked the camera and everything worked perfectly. So I kept it on charger for a couple of hours, to check if I would have any random crashes, but nothing happened. After I was sure it was stable, I unplugged the charger, and within the second I did that the phone crashed and got stuck in the bootloop again.
I've plugged the charger back in and it booted up just fine. The battery level was 89%, and I left it on charger the whole night (12+ hours). It had 90% when I woke up, it's back at 89% right now.
So, everything points to a faulty battery, but it seems strange to me this happened just as I was flashing another ROM, even though I never had any problems with it before. And even though it wouldn't let me boot, I could use recovery and download mode for as long as I liked, and once I did boot with the charger plugged in, the battery wasn't drained but it was around 90%.
Hawaiihemd said:
TBH you made the mistake many beginners make... Going ahead too fast with insufficient knowledge. But never too late to learn that lesson
Since you are getting more and more confused and your phone seems acting strange I recommend starting from scratch an be analytic about it. This will take just a few minutes more but you can be sure where a problem comes from.
First of all: Take 30 minutes to get acquainted with the basics and read through the first thread in my signature (just do it...)
If you can still get in download mode, get your latest stock rom e.g. from sammobile.com and flash it via ODIN. Run stock for a few minutes to see if everything works correctly (test camera, outgoing/incoming calls, mobile data, wifi, gps etc.). If something does not work STOP HERE and report back.
If all is fine go back to ODIN and install latest TWRP (cwm is seriously outdated, can cause lots of errors). Then boot into TWRP and flash whatever custom rom you like. If you install e.g. LOS 14.1 or RR 7.1.1 make sure you install gapps direcly after you flash the rom (do not reboot in between).
Any questions pop up: Shoot. I'm happy to help.
---------- Post added at 04:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:42 PM ----------
Since he already wiped system and data there is no point in a backup of those partitions. Only thing worth saving would be the efs partition.
And you don't need to root stock rom to go further...
If you are unrooted you have to REMOVE the "auto-reboot" checkmark in odin options and then - after the flash of twrp - reboot to recovery (TWRP) manually via holding Power+Home+VolUp for a few seconds.
If you do not uncheck that "auto-reboot" box, an thus allow the unrooted system (stock samsung system) to boot, it will overwrite the new twrp recovery you flashed 2 seconds before...
This is the point where I believe many confusion comes from. If you root first, any recovery you flash will not be overwritten. That is - I think - why many tutorials/tips say you must root stock first before installing a custom rom, which is simply not true.
But you are right that it would help to flash TWRP fist as outlined above, boot into it and make a backup to a microSD card... but of the efs partition (!) as the very first step. Then keep that backup safe and go from there with stock rom, testing for any problems.
So to reiterate the steps I would go:
1) Flash TWRP via odin and boot directly into it
2) Backup efs partition to a microSD card
3) Flash stock rom via ODIN and test
4) Go from there / report baback
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Still on charger, still 90 percent.

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